Abiotic constraints eclipse biotic resistance in determining invasibility along experimental vernal pool gradients.

Effective management of invasive species requires that we understand the mechanisms determining community invasibility. Successful invaders must tolerate abiotic conditions and overcome resistance from native species in invaded habitats. Biotic resistance to invasions may reflect the diversity, abundance, or identity of species in a community. Few studies, however, have examined the relative importance of abiotic and biotic factors determining community invasibility. In a greenhouse experiment, we simulated the abiotic and biotic gradients typically found in vernal pools to better understand their impacts on invasibility. Specifically, we invaded plant communities differing in richness, identity, and abundance of native plants (the "plant neighborhood") and depth of inundation to measure their effects on growth, reproduction, and survival of five exotic plant species. Inundation reduced growth, reproduction, and survival of the five exotic species more than did plant neighborhood. Inundation reduced survival of three species and growth and reproduction of all five species. Neighboring plants reduced growth and reproduction of three species but generally did not affect survival. Brassica rapa, Centaurea solstitialis, and Vicia villosa all suffered high mortality due to inundation but were generally unaffected by neighboring plants. In contrast, Hordeum marinum and Lolium multiflorum, whose survival was unaffected by inundation, were more impacted by neighboring plants. However, the four measures describing plant neighborhood differed in their effects. Neighbor abundance impacted growth and reproduction more than did neighbor richness or identity, with growth and reproduction generally decreasing with increasing density and mass of neighbors. Collectively, these results suggest that abiotic constraints play the dominant role in determining invasibility along vernal pool and similar gradients. By reducing survival, abiotic constraints allow only species with the appropriate morphological and physiological traits to invade. In contrast, biotic resistance reduces invasibility only in more benign environments and is best predicted by the abundance, rather than diversity, of neighbors. These results suggest that stressful environments are not likely to be invaded by most exotic species. However, species, such as H. marinum, that are able to invade these habitats require careful management, especially since these environments often harbor rare species and communities.     

Dominant species identity, not community evenness, regulates invasion in experimental grassland plant communities

While there has been extensive interest in understanding the relationship between diversity and invasibility of communities, most studies have only focused on one component of diversity: species richness. Although the number of species can affect community invasibility, other aspects of diversity, including species identity and community evenness, may be equally important. While several field studies have examined how invasibility varies with diversity by manipulating species identity or evenness, the results are often confounded by resource heterogeneity, site history, or disturbance. We designed a mesocosm experiment to examine explicitly the role of dominant species identity and evenness on the invasibility of grassland plant communities. We found that the identity of the dominant plant species, but not community evenness, significantly impacted invasibility. Using path analysis, we found that community composition (dominant species identity) reduced invasion by reducing early-season light availability and increasing late-season plant community biomass. Nitrogen availability was an important factor for the survival of invaders in the second year of the experiment. We also found significant direct effects of certain dominant species on invasion, although the mechanisms driving these effects remain unclear. The magnitude of dominant species effects on invasibility we observed are comparable to species richness effects observed in other studies, showing that species composition and dominant species can have strong effects on the invasibility of a community.     

Compositional and functional stability of arthropod communities in the face of ant invasions

There is a general consensus that the diversity of a biotic community can have an influence on its stability, but the strength, ubiquity, and relative importance of this effect is less clear. In the context of biological invasions, diversity has usually been studied in terms of its effect on a community's invasibility, but diversity may also influence stability by affecting the magnitude of compositional or functional changes experienced by a community upon invasion. We examined the impacts of invasive ants on arthropod communities at five natural area sites in the Hawaiian Islands, and assessed whether differences among sites in community diversity and density variables were related to measures of stability. Ant invasion was usually associated with significant changes in overall community composition, as measured by Bray-Curtis distances, particularly among endemic subsets of the communities. Changes in mean species richness were also strong at three of the five sites. Among sites, diversity was negatively related to stability as measured by resistance to overall compositional change, but this effect could not be separated from the strong negative effect of invasive ant density on compositional stability. When compositional stability was measured as proportional change in richness, the best predictor of stability among endemic community subsets was endemic richness, with richer communities losing proportionately more species than species-poor communities. This effect was highly significant even after controlling for differences in invasive ant density and suggested that communities that had already lost many endemic species were resistant to further species loss upon ant invasion, while more intact communities remained vulnerable to species loss. Communities underwent strong but idiosyncratic functional shifts in association with ant invasion, both in terms of trophic structure and total arthropod biomass. There were no apparent relationships, however, between functional stability and community diversity or density measures. Instead, invasive ant density was the best among-site predictor of the magnitude of functional change. Overall, diversity appeared to be a poor predictor of stability in the face of ant invasion in these communities, possibly because any actual diversity effects were overshadowed by community-specific factors and variation in the magnitude of the ant-mediated perturbation.     

Effect of Invasive Plant Species on Temperate Wetland Plant Diversity

Abstract:  Invasive species are a major threat to global biodiversity and an important cause of biotic homogenization of ecosystems. Exotic plants have been identified as a particular concern because of the widely held belief that they competitively exclude native plant species. We examined the correlation between native and invasive species richness in 58 Ontario inland wetlands. The relationship between exotic and native species richness was positive even when we controlled for important covarying factors. In addition, we examined the relationship between the abundance of four native species (  Typha latifolia, T. angustifolia, Salix petiolaris, Nuphar variegatum ) and four invasive species (  Lythrum salicaria, Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, Phalaris arundinacea, Rhamnus frangula ) that often dominate temperate wetlands and native and rare native species richness. Exotic species were no more likely to dominate a wetland than native species, and the proportion of dominant exotic species that had a significant negative effect on the native plant community was the same as the proportion of native species with a significant negative effect. We conclude that the key to conservation of inland wetland biodiversity is to discourage the spread of community dominants, regardless of geographical origin.     

High richness and dense seeding enhance grassland restoration establishment but have little effect on drought response

Restorations commonly utilize seed addition to formerly arable lands where the development of native plant communities is severely dispersal limited. However, variation in seed addition practices may profoundly affect restoration outcomes. Theory and observations predict that species-rich seed mixtures and seeding at high densities should enhance native plant community establishment, minimize exotic species cover, and may promote resistance and resilience to, and recovery from, environmental perturbations. We studied the post-seeding establishment of native plant communities in large grassland restoration plots, which were sown at two densities crossed with two levels of species richness on formerly arable land in Nebraska, USA, and their responses to drought. To evaluate drought resistance, recovery, and resilience of restored plant communities, we erected rainfall manipulation structures and tracked the response of seeded species cover and total plant biomass during experimental drought relative to controls and in the post-drought growing season. High seed richness and high-density seeding treatments resulted in greater richness and cover of native, seeded species per 0.5 m2 compared to low-richness and low-density treatments. Cover differences in response to seed mixture richness were driven by native forbs. Richness and cover of exotic species were lowest in high-richness and high-density treatments. We found little evidence of differential drought resistance, recovery, and resilience among seeding treatments. Increases in exotic species across years were restricted to drought subplots, and were not affected by seeding treatments. Grassland restoration was generally enhanced and exotic cover reduced both by the use of high-richness seed mixtures and high-density seeding. Given the lack of restoration treatment effects on the resistance, recovery, or resilience of seeded species exposed to drought, and the increases in exotic species following drought, other forms of active management may be needed to produce restored plant communities that are robust to climate change.     

Zooplankton biodiversity and lake trophic state: explanations invoking resource abundance and distribution

While empirical studies linking biodiversity to local environmental gradients have emphasized the importance of lake trophic status (related to primary productivity), theoretical studies have implicated resource spatial heterogeneity and resource relative ratios as mechanisms behind these biodiversity patterns. To test the feasibility of these mechanisms in natural aquatic systems, the biodiversity of crustacean zooplankton communities along gradients of total phosphorus (TP) as well as the vertical heterogeneity and relative abundance of their phytoplankton resources were assessed in 18 lakes in Quebec, Canada. Zooplankton community richness was regressed against TP, the spatial distribution of phytoplankton spectral groups, and the relative biomass of spectral groups. Since species richness does not adequately capture ecological function and life history of different taxa, features which are important for mechanistic theories, relationships between zooplankton functional diversity (FD) and resource conditions were examined. Zooplankton species richness showed the previously established tendency to a unimodal relationship with TP, but functional diversity declined linearly over the same gradient. Changes in zooplankton functional diversity could be attributed to changes in both the spatial distribution and type of phytoplankton resource. In the studied lakes, spatial heterogeneity of phytoplankton groups declined with TP, even while biomass of all groups increased. Zooplankton functional diversity was positively related to increased heterogeneity in cyanobacteria spatial distribution. However, a smaller amount of variation in functional diversity was also positively related to the ratio of biomass in diatoms/chrysophytes to cyanobacteria. In all observed relationships, a greater variation of functional diversity than species richness measures was explained by measured factors, suggesting that functional measures of zooplankton communities will benefit ecological research attempting to identify mechanisms behind environmental gradients affecting diversity.     

The invasion paradox: reconciling pattern and process in species invasions

The invasion paradox describes the co-occurrence of independent lines of support for both a negative and a positive relationship between native biodiversity and the invasions of exotic species. The paradox leaves the implications of native-exotic species richness relationships open to debate: Are rich native communities more or less susceptible to invasion by exotic species? We reviewed the considerable observational, experimental, and theoretical evidence describing the paradox and sought generalizations concerning where and why the paradox occurs, its implications for community ecology and assembly processes, and its relevance for restoration, management, and policy associated with species invasions. The crux of the paradox concerns positive associations between native and exotic species richness at broad spatial scales, and negative associations at fine scales, especially in experiments in which diversity was directly manipulated. We identified eight processes that can generate either negative or positive native-exotic richness relationships, but none can generate both. As all eight processes have been shown to be important in some systems, a simple general theory of the paradox, and thus of the relationship between diversity and invasibility, is probably unrealistic. Nonetheless, we outline several key issues that help resolve the paradox, discuss the difficult juxtaposition of experimental and observational data (which often ask subtly different questions), and identify important themes for additional study. We conclude that natively rich ecosystems are likely to be hotspots for exotic species, but that reduction of local species richness can further accelerate the invasion of these and other vulnerable habitats.     

Using community‐level metrics to monitor the effects of marine protected areas on biodiversity

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are used to protect species, communities, and their associated habitats, among other goals. Measuring MPA efficacy can be challenging, however, particularly when considering responses at the community level. We gathered 36 abundance and 14 biomass data sets on fish assemblages and used meta‐analysis to evaluate the ability of 22 distinct community diversity metrics to detect differences in community structure between MPAs and nearby control sites. We also considered the effects of 6 covariates—MPA size and age, MPA size and age interaction, latitude, total species richness, and level of protection—on each metric. Some common metrics, such as species richness and Shannon diversity, did not differ consistently between MPA and control sites, whereas other metrics, such as total abundance and biomass, were consistently different across studies. Metric responses derived from the biomass data sets were more consistent than those based on the abundance data sets, suggesting that community‐level biomass differs more predictably than abundance between MPA and control sites. Covariate analyses indicated that level of protection, latitude, MPA size, and the interaction between MPA size and age affect metric performance. These results highlight a handful of metrics, several of which are little known, that could be used to meet the increasing demand for community‐level indicators of MPA effectiveness.     

Biotic Impoverishment and Homogenization in Unfragmented Forest Understory Communities

Abstract:  Ecological change is often hard to document because of a lack of reliable baseline data. Several recent then-versus-now surveys of temperate forest and grassland communities demonstrate losses of local plant species, but most are based on data from a single site. We resurveyed understory communities in 62 upland forest stands in northern Wisconsin (U.S.A.) for which quantitative baseline data exist from 50 years ago. These stands are within a largely unfragmented region but vary in species composition and successional stage. We collected data on changes in (1) total and native species richness, (2) the ratio of exotic to native species, (3) the relative abundance of habitat generalists, and (4) community similarity among sites. We also compared how these rates of change varied over time. Over the past 50 years, native species density declined an average of 18.5% at the 20-m² scale, whereas the ratio of exotic species to native species increased at 80% of all sites. Habitat generalists increased, and habitat specialists declined, accounting in part for an 8.7% rise in average similarity in species composition among sites. Most of these changes cannot be related to succession, habitat loss, or invasion by exotic species. Areas without deer hunting showed the greatest declines in native species density, with parks and research natural areas faring no better than unprotected stands. Animal-pollinated and animal-dispersed species also declined, particularly at unhunted sites. These results demonstrate the power of quantitative multistand data for assessing ecological change and identify overabundant deer as a key driver of community change. Because maintaining forest habitats alone fails to preserve plant diversity at local scales, local biotic simplification seems likely to continue in the region unless active efforts are taken to protect diversity.     

The importance of quantifying propagule pressure to understand invasion: an examination of riparian forest invasibility

The widely held belief that riparian communities are highly invasible to exotic plants is based primarily on comparisons of the extent of invasion in riparian and upland communities. However, because differences in the extent of invasion may simply result from variation in propagule supply among recipient environments, true comparisons of invasibility require that both invasion success and propagule pressure are quantified. In this study, we quantified propagule pressure in order to compare the invasibility of riparian and upland forests and assess the accuracy of using a community's level of invasion as a surrogate for its invasibility. We found the extent of invasion to be a poor proxy for invasibility. The higher level of invasion in the studied riparian forests resulted from greater propagule availability rather than higher invasibility. Furthermore, failure to account for propagule pressure may confound our understanding of general invasion theories. Ecological theory suggests that species-rich communities should be less invasible. However, we found significant relationships between species diversity and invasion extent, but no diversity-invasibility relationship was detected for any species. Our results demonstrate that using a community's level of invasion as a surrogate for its invasibility can confound our understanding of invasibility and its determinants.     

Impacts of Alternative Timber Harvest Practices on Leaf-Chewing Herbivores of Oak

Abstract:  Studies of the effects of logging on Lepidoptera rarely address landscape-level effects or effects on larval, leaf-feeding stages. We examined the impacts of uneven-aged and even-aged logging on the abundance, richness, and community structure of leaf-chewing insects of white ( Quercus alba L.) and black ( Q. velutina L.) oak trees remaining in unharvested areas by sampling 3 years before and 7 years after harvest. After harvest, white oaks in uneven-aged sites had 32% fewer species of leaf-chewing insects than control sites. This reduction in species richness may have resulted from changes in microclimate (reducing plant quality and/or changing leaf phenology) that affected a much larger total area of each site than did even-aged cuts. For black oak after harvest, species richness in uneven- and even-aged sites increased relative to levels before harvest. Harvesting did not alter total insect density or community structure in the unlogged habitat for either oak species with one exception: insect density on black oak increased in the oldest forest block. Community structure of herbivores of black and white oaks in clearcut gaps differed from that of oaks in intact areas of even-aged sites. Furthermore, both richness and total insect density of black oaks were reduced in clearcut gaps. We suggest that low-level harvests alter herbivore species richness at the landscape level. Treatment effects were subtle because we sampled untreated areas of logged landscapes, only one harvest had occurred, and large temporal and spatial variation in abundance and richness existed. Although the effects of logging were greater in uneven-aged sites, the effects of even-aged management are likely to increase as harvesting continues.     

Modifying native and exotic species richness correlations: the influence of fire and seed addition.

An important goal in restoration is to increase the richness of native species while reducing exotic species. However, native species richness is often positively correlated with exotic species richness. In a grassland-savanna system in Michigan (USA), we show that management that focuses on changing the nature of the exotic-native richness relationship can be used to restore native communities. Native and exotic species richnesses were positively correlated, likely due to a shared coupling with aboveground live biomass (a surrogate for productivity). The addition of native seed shifted the exotic-native richness relationship from a linear positive to a monotonic relationship: in areas of intermediate levels of exotic species richness, seed addition increased native diversity without an associated effect on exotic diversity, but in areas of high or low exotic richness, it did not affect native species richness. Prescribed burning broke the correlation between native and exotic richness with no consistent effect on the richness of either group. However, when burning was combined with native-seed addition, the relationship between native and exotic richness was maintained and was shifted upwards, enhancing native recruitment. Although aboveground productivity was strongly related to species richness across the landscape, changes in productivity did not drive these shifts.     

Beyond Species Richness: Community Similarity as a Measure of Cross-Taxon Congruence for Coarse-Filter Conservation

Abstract:  The use of a surrogate taxon in conservation planning has become questionable because recent evidence suggests that the correlation of species richness between pairs of taxa is highly variable both taxonomically and geographically. Species richness is only one measure of species diversity, however, and recent studies suggest that investigations of cross-taxon congruence should consider a broader range of assessment techniques. The cross-taxon congruence of community similarity between sites among taxa has rarely been examined and may be the most relevant measure of species diversity in the context of coarse-filter conservation strategies. We examined cross-taxon congruence patterns of species richness and community similarity (Bray-Curtis similarity) among birds, butterflies, and vascular plants in montane meadow habitats in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Although patterns of species richness (Spearman rank correlation) varied between taxa, we consistently found a positive correlation in community similarity (Mantel test) between all pair-wise comparisons of the three taxa (e.g., sites with similar bird communities also had similar butterfly communities). We suggest that the success of a surrogate taxon depends on the technique used to assess surrogacy and the specific approach to conservation planning. In the context of coarse-filter conservation, measures of community similarity may be more appropriate than measures of species richness. Furthermore, the cross-taxon congruency of community similarity in our study suggests that coarse-filter conservation may be tenable in montane meadow communities.     

Evaluation of Central North American Prairie Management Based on Species Diversity, Life Form, and Individual Species Metrics

Abstract:  Reintroduction of fire and grazing, alone or in combination, has increasingly been recognized as central to the restoration of North American mixed-grass and tallgrass prairies. Although ecological studies of these systems are abundant, they have generally been observational, or if experimental, have focused on plant species diversity. Species diversity measures alone are not sufficient to inform management, which often has goals associated with life-form groups and individual species. We examined the effects of prescribed fire, light cattle grazing, and a combination of fire and grazing on three vegetation components: species diversity, groups of species categorized by life-form, and individual species. We evaluated how successful these three treatments were in achieving specific management goals for prairies in the Iowa Loess Hills (U.S.A.). The grazing treatment promoted the greatest overall species richness, whereas grazing and burning and grazing treatments resulted in the lowest cover by woody species. Burning alone best achieved the management goals of increasing the cover and diversity of native species and reducing exotic forb and (predominantly exotic) cool-season grass cover. Species-specific responses to treatments appeared idiosyncratic (i.e., within each treatment there existed a set of species attaining their highest frequency) and nearly half of uncommon species were present in only one treatment. Because all management goals were not achieved by any one treatment, we conclude that management in this region may need refining. We suggest that a mosaic of burning and grazing (alone and in combination) may provide the greatest landscape-level species richness; however, this strategy would also likely promote the persistence of exotic species. Our results support the need to consider multiple measures, including species-specific responses, when planning and evaluating management .     

Community assembly in experimental grasslands: suitable environment or timely arrival?

It is hard to defend the view that biotic communities represent a simple and predictable response to the abiotic environment. Biota and the abiotic environment interact, and the environment of an individual certainly includes its neighbors and visitors in the community. The complexity of community assembly calls forth a quest for general principles, yet current results and theories on assembly rules differ widely. Using a grassland microcosm as a model system, we manipulated fertility, disturbance by defoliation, soil/microclimate, and arrival order of species belonging to two groups differing in functional attributes. We analyzed the outcome of community assembly dynamics in terms of species richness, invasibility, and species composition. The analyses revealed strong environmental control over species richness and invasibility. Species composition was mainly determined by the arrival order of species, indicating that historical contingency may change the outcome of community assembly. The probability for multiple equilibria appeared to increase with productivity and environmental stability. The importance of arrival order offers an explanation of the difficulties in predicting local occurrences of species in the field. In our experiment, variation in fertility and disturbance was controlling colonization with predictable effects on emergent community properties such as species richness. The key mechanism is suggested to be asymmetric competition, and our results show that this mechanism is relatively insensitive to the species through which it works. While our analyses indicate a positive and significant correlation between richness and invasibility, the significance disappears after accounting for the effect of the environment. The importance of arrival order (historical contingency) and environmental control supports the assumption of the unified neutral theory that different species within a trophic level can be considered functionally equivalent when it comes to community assembly. However, our results indicate that variation in asymmetric competition is the key factor determining the richness of the resulting communities, and this is far from neutral.     

Diversity-invasibility across an experimental disturbance gradient in Appalachian Forests

Research examining the relationship between community diversity and invasions by nonnative species has raised new questions about the theory and management of biological invasions. Ecological theory predicts, and small-scale experiments confirm, lower levels of nonnative species invasion into species-rich compared to species-poor communities, but observational studies across a wider range of scales often report positive relationships between native and nonnative species richness. This paradox has been attributed to the scale dependency of diversity-invasibility relationships and to differences between experimental and observational studies. Disturbance is widely recognized as an important factor determining invasibility of communities, but few studies have investigated the relative and interactive roles of diversity and disturbance on nonnative species invasion. Here, we report how the relationship between native and nonnative plant species richness responded to an experimentally applied disturbance gradient (from no disturbance up to clearcut) in oak-dominated forests. We consider whether results are consistent with various explanations of diversity-invasibility relationships including biotic resistance, resource availability, and the potential effects of scale (1 m2 to 2 ha). We found no correlation between native and nonnative species richness before disturbance except at the largest spatial scale, but a positive relationship after disturbance across scales and levels of disturbance. Post-disturbance richness of both native and nonnative species was positively correlated with disturbance intensity and with variability of residual basal area of trees. These results suggest that more nonnative plants may invade species-rich communities compared to species-poor communities following disturbance.     

Species richness and stand stability in conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada

Theoretical and empirical studies have long suggested that stability and complexity are intimately related, but evidence from long-lived systems at large scales is lacking. Stability can either be driven by complex species interactions, or it can be driven by the presence/absence and abundance of a species best able to perform a specific ecosystem function. We use 64 years of stand productivity measures in forest systems composed of four dominant conifer tree species to contrast the effect of species richness and abundance on three stability measures. To perform this contrast, we measured the annual growth increments of > 900 trees in mixed and pure forest stands to test three hypotheses: increased species richness will (1) decrease stand variance, (2) increase stand resistance to drought events, and (3) increase stand resilience to drought events. In each case, the alternate hypothesis was that species richness had no effect, but that species composition and abundance within a stand drove variance, resistance, and resilience. In pure stands, the four species demonstrated significant differences in productivity, and in their resistance and resilience to drought events. The two pine species were the most drought resistant and resilient, whereas mountain hemlock was the least resistant and resilient, and red fir was intermediate. For community measures we found a moderately significant (P = 0.08) increase in the community coefficient of variation and a significant (P = 0.03) increase in resilience with increased species richness, but no significant relationship between species richness and community resistance, though the variance in community resistance to drought decreased with species richness. Community resistance to drought was significantly (P = 0.001) correlated to the relative abundance of lodgepole pine, the most resistant species. We propose that resistance is driven by competition for a single limiting resource, with negative diversity effects. In contrast resilience measures the capacity of communities to partition resources in the absence of a single limiting resource, demonstrating positive diversity effects.     

The invasibility of marine algal assemblages: role of functional diversity and identity

The emergence of the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning debate in the last decade has renewed interest in understanding why some communities are more easily invaded than others and how the impact of invasion on recipient communities and ecosystems varies. To date most of the research on invasibility has focused on taxonomic diversity, i.e., species richness. However, functional diversity of the communities should be more relevant for the resistance of the community to invasions, as the extent of functional differences among the species in an assemblage is a major determinant of ecosystem processes. Although coastal marine habitats are among the most heavily invaded ecosystems, studies on community invasibility and vulnerability in these habitats are scarce. We carried out a manipulative field experiment in tide pools of the rocky intertidal to test the hypothesis that increasing functional richness reduces the susceptibility of macroalgal communities to invasion. We selected a priori four functional groups on the basis of previous knowledge of local species characteristics: encrusting, turf, subcanopy, and canopy species. Synthetic assemblages containing one, two, three, or four different functional groups of seaweeds were created, and invasion by native species was monitored over an eight-month period. Cover and resource availability in the assemblages with only one functional group showed different patterns in the use of space and light, confirming true functional differences among our groups. Experimental results showed that the identity of functional groups was more important than functional richness in determining the ability of macroalgal communities to resist invasion and that resistance to invasion was resource-mediated.     

围封6年对温带典型草原坡地物种多样性及其与地上生物量的关系的影响

以内蒙古太仆寺旗地区典型克氏针茅-羊草草原为研究对象,通过调查围封6年后围栏内外典型草原群落特征,分析围封、放牧处理下典型草原植物群落结构及地上生物量的动态变化,揭示围封放牧对植被群落结构、物种丰富度和地上生物量的影响。结果发现,在围封6年后,各功能群物种丰富度与盖度围栏内外的空间变化趋势基本一致。群落物种丰富度和地上生物量均随坡位下降而显著增加,初步显示了物种多样性与生态系统功能的空间变化的一致性。围栏内物种丰富度显著低于围栏外,而地上生物量却显著大于围栏外。围栏内多年生禾草、一年生植物物种丰富度显著低于围栏外,而半灌木盖度、生物量显著高于围栏外。围栏内外在禁牧和放牧不同处理下,表现出不同的草原退化方式：在禁牧条件下,尽管生物量有所恢复,但灌木和半灌木的增加却代表了草原的退化;放牧、刈割等人类活动增加了耐牧物种和不适口植物生长的可能,表现为草原退化指示物种增加,同样是草原退化的表现。围栏外一年生植物盖度和生物量显著高于围栏内,而一年生植物的频数也远远大于围栏内（围栏内外频数比13：71）,且独行菜、猪毛菜等仅出现于围栏外。同时,地上生物量随着物种丰富度的增加而增加,但只有围栏外的关系达到统计显著程度,说明围封调制了生物多样性与生态系统功能的关系。本研究表明,对于干旱半干旱典型草原的恢复,不能简单地采用长期完全禁牧措施,应当根据区域环境、植被以及社会经济情况,制定季节性放牧或者间歇性禁牧的恢复措施,从而保证草场的可持续性恢复利用。     

Multi-scale marine biodiversity patterns inferred efficiently from habitat image processing

Cost-effective proxies of biodiversity and species abundance, applicable across a range of spatial scales, are needed for setting conservation priorities and planning action. We outline a rapid, efficient, and low-cost measure of spectral signal from digital habitat images that, being an effective proxy for habitat complexity, correlates with species diversity and requires little image processing or interpretation. We validated this method for coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, across a range of spatial scales (1 m to 10 km), using digital photographs of benthic communities at the transect scale and high-resolution Landsat satellite images at the reef scale. We calculated an index of image-derived spatial heterogeneity, the mean information gain (MIG), for each scale and related it to univariate (species richness and total abundance summed across species) and multivariate (species abundance matrix) measures of fish community structure, using two techniques that account for the hierarchical structure of the data: hierarchical (mixed-effect) linear models and distance-based partial redundancy analysis. Over the length and breadth of the GBR, MIG alone explained up to 29% of deviance in fish species richness, 33% in total fish abundance, and 25% in fish community structure at multiple scales, thus demonstrating the possibility of easily and rapidly exploiting spatial information contained in digital images to complement existing methods for inferring diversity and abundance patterns among fish communities. Thus, the spectral signal of unprocessed remotely sensed images provides an efficient and low-cost way to optimize the design of surveys used in conservation planning. In data-sparse situations, this simple approach also offers a viable method for rapid assessment of potential local biodiversity, particularly where there is little local capacity in terms of skills or resources for mounting in-depth biodiversity surveys.