Mapping the Microenvironment for Seed Germination in the Field

Gaps in the canopy have a major influence upon the microenvironmentfor seed germination in natural vegetation. Two methods formeasuring gaps in grasslands are described. The first uses afield-portable instrument for mapping R/IR ratios under thecanopy, and the second employs infrared photography and imageanalysis to measure gaps from above. The methods are illustratedwith results from an experiment in which grazing sheep are theprinciple influence upon the structure of the grass canopy.Results of both methods show that the effects of current andpast grazing regimes may be detected in the canopy structureof the grassland. Seeds of Geranium dissection sown into gapsof different sizes showed greater establishment in small gaps(1–2 cm²) than under a closed canopy Canopy gap, germination, grassland, grazing, Geranium dissectum     

The Continuous Culture of Luminous Bacteria: a Luminostat

A method has been designed for the continuous culture of luminous bacteria. The control system for the culture uses a combination of luminescence and optical density as a light signal received by a photomultiplier. This combined signal operates pumps which exchange the growth medium. Using this method, a culture of brightly luminescing bacteria was maintained for periods up to 3 weeks.     

Response of plant species richness and primary productivity in shrublands along a north–south gradient in Europe to seven years of experimental warming and drought: reductions in primary productivity in the heat and drought year of 2003

We used a nonintrusive field experiment carried out at six sites – Wales (UK), Denmark (DK), the Netherlands (NL), Hungary (HU), Sardinia (Italy – IT), and Catalonia (Spain – SP) – along a climatic and latitudinal gradient to examine the response of plant species richness and primary productivity to warming and drought in shrubland ecosystems. The warming treatment raised the plot daily temperature by ca. 1 °C, while the drought treatment led to a reduction in soil moisture at the peak of the growing season that ranged from 26% at the SP site to 82% in the NL site. During the 7 years the experiment lasted (1999–2005), we used the pin‐point method to measure the species composition of plant communities and plant biomass, litterfall, and shoot growth of the dominant plant species at each site. A significantly lower increase in the number of species pin‐pointed per transect was found in the drought plots at the SP site, where the plant community was still in a process of recovering from a forest fire in 1994. No changes in species richness were found at the other sites, which were at a more mature and stable state of succession and, thus less liable to recruitment of new species. The relationship between annual biomass accumulation and temperature of the growing season was positive at the coldest site and negative at the warmest site. The warming treatment tended to increase the aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) at the northern sites. The relationship between annual biomass accumulation and soil moisture during the growing season was not significant at the wettest sites, but was positive at the driest sites. The drought treatment tended to reduce the ANPP in the NL, HU, IT, and SP sites. The responses to warming were very strongly related to the Gaussen aridity index (stronger responses the lower the aridity), whereas the responses to drought were not. Changes in the annual aboveground biomass accumulation, litterfall, and, thus, the ANPP, mirrored the interannual variation in climate conditions: the most outstanding change was a decrease in biomass accumulation and an increase in litterfall at most sites during the abnormally hot year of 2003. Species richness also tended to decrease in 2003 at all sites except the cold and wet UK site. Species‐specific responses to warming were found in shoot growth: at the SP site, Globularia alypum was not affected, while the other dominant species, Erica multiflora, grew 30% more; at the UK site, Calluna vulgaris tended to grow more in the warming plots, while Empetrum nigrum tended to grow less. Drought treatment decreased plant growth in several studied species, although there were some species such as Pinus halepensis at the SP site or C. vulgaris at the UK site that were not affected. The magnitude of responses to warming and drought thus depended greatly on the differences between sites, years, and species and these multiple plant responses may be expected to have consequences at ecosystem and community level. Decreases in biodiversity and the increase in E. multiflora growth at the SP site as a response to warming challenge the assumption that sensitivity to warming may be less well developed at more southerly latitudes; likewise, the fact that one of the studied shrublands presented negative ANPP as a response to the 2003 heat wave also challenges the hypothesis that future climate warming will lead to an enhancement of plant growth and carbon sequestration in temperate ecosystems. Extreme events may thus change the general trend of increased productivity in response to warming in the colder sites.     

Contrasting effects of repeated summer drought on soil carbon efflux in hydric and mesic heathland soils

Current predictions of climate change include altered rainfall patterns throughout Europe, continental USA and areas such as the Amazon. The effect of this on soil carbon efflux remains unclear although several modelling studies have highlighted the potential importance of drought for carbon storage. To test the importance of drought, and more importantly repeated drought year-on-year, we used automated retractable curtains to exclude rain and produce repeated summer drought in three heathlands at varying moisture conditions. This included a hydric system limited by water-excess (in the UK) and two mesic systems with seasonal water limitation in Denmark (DK) and the Netherlands (NL). The experimental rainfall reductions were set to reflect single year droughts observed in the last decade with exclusion of rain for 2–3 months of the year resulting in a 20–26% reduction in annual rainfall and 23–38% reduction in mean soil moisture during the drought period. Unexpectedly, sustained reduction in soil moisture over winter (between drought periods) was also observed at all three sites, along with a reduction in the maximum water-holding capacity attained. Three hypotheses are discussed which may have contributed to this lack of recovery in soil moisture: hydrophobicity of soil organic matter, increased water use by plants and increased cracking of the soil. The responses of soil respiration to this change in soil moisture varied among the sites: decreased rates were observed at the water-limited NL and DK sites whilst they increased at the UK site. Reduced sensitivity of soil respiration to soil temperature was observed at soil moisture contents above 55% at the UK site and below 20% and 13% at the NL and DK sites, respectively. Soil respiration rates recovered to predrought levels in the NL and DK sites during the winter re-wetting period that indicates any change in soil C storage due to changes in soil C efflux may be short lived in these mesic systems. In contrast, in the hydric UK site after 2 years of drought treatment, the persistent reduction in soil moisture throughout the year resulted in a year-round increase in soil respiration flux, a response that accelerated over time to 40% above control levels. These findings suggest that carbon-rich soils with high organic matter content may act as a significant source of CO₂ to the atmosphere following repeated summer drought. Nonrecovery of soil moisture and a persistent increase in soil respiration may be the primary mechanism underlying the reported substantial losses of soil carbon from UK organic soils over the last 20 years. These findings indicate that the water status of an ecosystem will be a critical factor to consider in determining the impact of drought on the soil carbon fluxes and storage.     

Modelling the ecosystem effects of nitrogen deposition: Simulation of nitrogen saturation in a Sitka spruce forest,Aber, Wales,UK

A new model for simulating nitrogen leaching fromforested ecosystems has been applied to data from anexperimentally manipulated 30-year-old Sitka sprucestand. The manipulation experiment (at Aber, in north-western Wales, UK) was part of the European NITREXproject and involved five years of additions ofinorganic nitrogen to the spruce stand. The model(MERLIN) is a catchment-scale, mass-balance model thatsimulates both biotic and abiotic processes affectingnitrogen in ecosystems.The structure of MERLIN includes representationsof the inorganic soil, one plant compartment and twosoil organic compartments. Fluxes in and out of thesimulated ecosystem and transfers between compartmentsare regulated by atmospheric deposition, hydrologicaldischarge and biological processes such as plantuptake, litter production, immobilization,mineralization, nitrification and denitrification.Rates of nitrogen uptake, cycling and release amongpools are regulated by carbon productivity, inorganicnitrogen availability and the C:N ratios of theorganic pools. Inputs to the model are temporalsequences of carbon fluxes and pools, hydrologicaldischarge and external sources of nitrogen.The NITREX experiment at Aber began in 1990 withweekly additions of ammonium nitrate(NH4NO3) at a rate of 35 kg N ha-1 yr-1.Data were collected from both control andtreatment plots within the stand. The site-intensivedata from the control plots at Aber were augmented bydata taken from a chronosequence of 20 Sitka sprucestands and data from a survey of 5 moorland catchmentsin the same region to providecalibration data for the model. The data were used toestablish current conditions at the Aber site and toreconstruct historical sequences of carbon fluxes andpools from 1900 to the present day with which to drivethe model. The reconstructed sequences included anincrease in nitrogen deposition and a vegetationchange from moorland to plantation forest in 1960. Thecalibrated model was then used to predict the effectsof the experimental nitrogen additions begun in 1990.MERLIN successfully reproduced the observedincrease in NO3 leaching from aging spruce standsthat results from forest maturation and increasednitrogen deposition (as inferred from thechronosequence and forest survey data in the region).MERLIN also correctly predicted the increases insoilwater NO3 concentrations, the changes innitrogen content of tree and soil organic matterpools, and the changes in nitrogen fluxes that occurin spruce stands in response to increased nitrogeninputs (as observed in the nitrogen additionexperiment).     

Using metabolic fingerprinting of plants for evaluating nitrogen deposition impacts on the landscape level

Nitrogen emissions and atmospheric deposition are globally significant with the potential to alter ecosystem nutrient balance, provoking changes in vegetation composition. Shifts in plant biochemistry are good indicators of nitrogen pollution and have been used to monitor vegetation health. Fourier transform‐infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy has previously been shown to be a rapid and relatively inexpensive method for evaluating leaf biochemistry. In the present study, FT‐IR spectra were collected from Galium saxatile samples taken from sites across the United Kingdom. Spectral changes in the tissue samples were correlated with a gradient of N deposition using partial least squares regression analysis. We show that FT‐IR analysis of G. saxatile leaf tissue is an effective way to evaluate nitrogen deposition across the entire UK landscape.     

Characterization of 18 microsatellite loci for woodrats of the Neotoma lepida group (Rodentia,Cricetidae, Neotominae)

The desert woodrat complex (Neotoma lepida group) is a set of four closely related species occupying the arid lands of western North America. We have developed 18 polymorphic microsatellite loci to analyse the population structure, mating patterns, and hybridization at points of contact between the contiguously allopatric species in the complex.     

A Comparison of Membrane Filters for Counting Thermoactinomyces Endospores in Spore Suspensions and River Water

Streptococci were isolated from dental plaque samples collected from 25 animals representing 18 species. Strains were characterized by biochemical, physiological and serological tests. Extracellular polysaccharide-producing strains of Streptococcus mutans, Str. sanguis and Str. salivarius were found to be confined mainly to primate species. Streptococcus mutans was not widely distributed, being isolated from 2 of 18 animal species. Enterococci were isolated from the mouths of about one-third of the animals, whilst Str. bovis was found mainly in the herbivores. Strains resembling Str. mitior were isolated from most animals. Of 271 strains. 34 could not be allocated to any known species. Streptococci known to be associated with diseases of animals, especially those belonging to Lancefield group C, were not isolated. A few strains representing Lancefield groups D, L, G and M were found, but with low frequency.     

Changing demography and population decline in the Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris: a multisite approach to Integrated Population Monitoring

Understanding demography is critical for understanding the causes underlying population declines, and for initiating and monitoring policies to reverse them. A method of fitting demographic models directly to avian count data recorded at a sample of census sites is described. The model is applied to national and regional counts of Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris in Britain for the period 1965–2000. Starlings have declined markedly during this time and are now on the list of birds of highest conservation concern. Although there have been small changes in various aspects of breeding success over this time, the analysis shows that these are unlikely to have made much impact on the long-term status of the species. By incorporating estimates of survival, based upon recoveries of ringed birds, the model suggests that the pronounced national decline in Starling numbers since a period of stability in the 1970s is most likely to be due to changes in the survival of first-year birds. This narrows the candidate range of environmental factors which might influence the decline and implicates changes in resource availability.