Communities of different plant diversity respond similarly to drought stress: experimental evidence from field non-weeded and greenhouse conditions

Accelerating rate of species loss has prompted researchers to study the role of species diversity in processes that control ecosystem functioning. Although negative impact of species loss has been documented, the evidence concerning its impact on ecosystem stability is still limited. Here, we studied the effects of declining species and functional diversity on plant community responses to drought in the field (open to weed colonization) and greenhouse conditions. Both species and functional diversity positively affected the average yields of field communities. However, this pattern was similar in both drought-stressed and control plots. No effect of diversity on community resistance, biomass recovery after drought and resilience was found because drought reduced biomass production similarly at each level of diversity by approximately 30?%. The use of dissimilarity (characterized by Euclidean distance) revealed higher variation under changing environments (drought-stressed vs. control) in more diverse communities compared to less species-rich assemblages. In the greenhouse experiment, the effect of species diversity affected community resistance, indicating that more diverse communities suffered more from drought than species-poor ones. We conclude that our study did not support the insurance hypothesis (stability properties of a community should increase with species richness) because species diversity had an equivocal effect on ecosystem resistance and resilience in an environment held under non-weeded practice, regardless of the positive relationship between sown species diversity and community biomass production. More species-rich communities were less resistant against drought-stressed conditions than species-poor ones grown in greenhouse conditions.     

不同材质水窖沉积物中真菌群落差异及其与环境因子的相关性

集雨窖水沉积物中蕴含丰富多样的真菌群落,这些真菌作为连接窖水生态系统与沉积物之间物质交换的桥梁和纽带,在窖水生态系统中发挥着重要作用;真菌群落结构特征的变化也通常与环境因子的变化有着紧密的联系.运用16S rRNA基因-Illumina MiSeq高通量测序技术,对两种不同集流面环境下的水窖沉积物中真菌群落多样性及差异进行研究.结果表明,混凝土集流环境下的水窖沉积物较黄土地集流环境下的水窖沉积物具有更高的真菌群落多样性与丰富度,两种集流环境下的真菌群落优势菌门相同,分别为子囊菌门（Ascomycota）、担子菌门（Basidiomycota）和接合菌门（Zygomycota）,它们构成了菌门丰度的90%以上,但前者具有更好的均一性和稳定性.基于LEfSe分析得到的标志物种显示,在黄土地集流环境中对差异性贡献最大的菌群是Basidiobolales,贡献最小的是Mycosphaerella;在混凝土集流环境中对差异性贡献最大的菌群是Saccharomycetales,贡献最小的是Periconia.微生物群落-环境因子共现性网络显示真菌和真菌之间,真菌和环境因子之间均为正向关系大于负向关系.研究结果加深了对水窖沉积物中真菌群落多样性的认识,可为保障集雨窖水人畜饮用安全和改善窖水水质提供了借鉴.     

Urbanization reduces resource use efficiency of phytoplankton community by altering the environment and decreasing biodiversity

Urbanization often exerts multiple effects on aquatic and terrestrial organisms, including changes in biodiversity, species composition and ecosystem functions. However, the impacts of urbanization on river phytoplankton in subtropical urbanizing watersheds remain largely unknown. Here, we explored the effects of urbanization on phytoplankton community structure（i.e., biomass, community composition and diversity） and function（i.e., resource use efficiency） in a subtropical river at watershed sca...     

Effects of vegetation type on soil microbial community structure and catabolic diversity assessed by polyphasic methods in North China

Soil microbes play a major role in ecological processes and are closely associated with the aboveground plant community.In order to understand the effects of vegetation type on the characteristics of soil microbial communities,the soil microbial communities were assessed by plate counts,phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and Biolog microplate techniques in five plant communities,i.e.,soybean field (SF),artificial turf (AT),artificial shrub (AS),natural shrub (NS),and maize field (MF) in Jinan,Shandong Province,North China.The results showed that plant diversity had little discernible effect on microbial biomass but a positive impact on the evenness of utilized substrates in Biolog microplate.Legumes could significantly enhance the number of cultural microorganisms,microbial biomass,and community catabolic diversity.Except for SF dominated by legumes,the biomass of fungi and the catabolic diversity of microbial community were higher in less disturbed soil beneath NS than in frequently disturbed soils beneath the other vegetation types.These results confirmed that high number of plant species,legumes,and natural vegetation types tend to support soil microbial communities with higher function.The present study also found a significant correlation between the number of cultured bacteria and catabolic diversity of the bacterial community.Different research methods led to varied results in this study.The combination of several approaches is recommended for accurately describing the characteristics of microbial communities in many respects.     

Effects of plant diversity on greenhouse gas emissions in microcosms simulating vertical constructed wetlands with high ammonium loading

Wastewater with relatively high nitrogen concentrations is a major source of nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane (CH₄) emissions and exerts multiple stresses on the environment. Studies have shown that plant diversity plays an important role in ecosystem functioning. However, the effects of plant species diversity on CH₄ and N₂O emissions under high ammonium (NH₄⁺-N) loading rates remain unclear. In this study, a microcosm experiment simulating vertical constructed wetlands supplied with high NH₄⁺-N water levels was established. The treatments included four species richness levels (1, 2, 3, 4) and 15 species compositions. There was no significant relationship between species richness and N₂O emissions. However, N₂O emissions were significantly reduced by specific plant species composition. Notably, the communities with the presence of Rumex japonicus L. reduced N₂O emissions by 62% compared to communities without this species. This reduction in N₂O emissions may have been a result of decreased N concentrations and increased plant biomass. CH₄ emissions did not respond to plant species richness or species identity. Overall, plant species identity surpassed species richness in lowering N₂O emissions from constructed wetlands with high NH₄⁺-N water. The results also suggest that communities with R. japonicus could achieve higher N removal and lower greenhouse gas emissions than other wetland species.     

Effects of Oxalis pes-caprae L. invasion in olive groves

The present work aimed at studying the effect of Oxalis pes-caprae invasion in the herbaceous understory of olive groves in the island of Lesvos, Greece. The number of species, their biomass and dead plant material production was followed throughout the vegetative period in invaded and non-invaded plots. Species richness in the area invaded by O. pes-caprae gradually declined and was significantly smaller in comparison with the natural vegetation. Although biomass was equal in the invaded and non-invaded areas 1 month after germination, annual net primary production (NPP) was three times smaller in the invaded than the non-invaded area. Moreover, aboveground dead plant material of O. pes-caprae decomposed faster than a mixture of litter species of the natural vegetation. Lower biomass production in combination with increased decomposition rates of O. pes-caprae is expected to lead to reduced soil C sequestration in invaded areas. It was concluded that although O. pes-caprae does not add a new life form or functional type to the invaded herbaceous system it has considerable impacts on the diversity and ecosystem functions in olive groves.     

青藏高寒草地植被生产力与生物多样性的经度格局

沿昌都到噶尔县的经度梯度,对西藏典型高寒草地植被生产力与植物多样性开展了1 700 km的野外样带调查。实验结果表明：高寒草地的群落结构特征（地上生物量、地下生物量、盖度和密度）与生物多样性（物种丰富度、物种多样性和物种均匀度）均具有明显的经度分布格局。整体而言,这些特征参数均表现出自西向东沿荒漠草原—典型草原—草甸草原呈逐渐递增的趋势;其经度格局主要受降雨量和平均气温所趋动,但降雨量和平均温度的影响在不同指标间存在较大差异;地上生物量由二者共同决定,而物种丰富度受降雨量的影响更大。西藏高寒草地的物种丰富度与地上生物量间存在显著的幂指数关系（y=0.219 7 x 0.754 9, R²= 0.61, P< 0.01）。上述规律的发现,不仅有利于我们更好地理解高寒草地对未来气候变化的响应机制与适应途径,也将帮助我们合理制定放牧策略以实现该地区高寒草地的可持续发展。     

Small-scale response of plant species to land-use intensification

Plant communities are affected by land-use and landscape heterogeneity and can be used as indicators of environmental change. At small-scale, species composition and species richness of plant communities are influenced by local environment and by diaspores from the surroundings. Thus, they reflect the influence of both land-use type and land-use diversity. Plant community composition was studied along a gradient of agricultural disturbance in the Morvan Regional Natural Park (Burgundy, France). Six landscape units of 1 km² were selected along a range of increasing land-use intensity. Sixteen 0.2 m² sampling plots per unit were selected according to a grid-based design to estimate the percent cover of all plant species. Pattern analysis showed that local species richness increased from woodland to crop to grassland, and also increased with land-use diversity. Local plant biodiversity was maximized under intermediate disturbance intensity and minimized at low (woodland) and high (crop) disturbance levels.     

浙江沿海无居民海岛植物群落物种组成及多样性

无居民海岛是自然资源的宝库,人类活动对无居民海岛的影响日益剧烈,掌握它们的植物群落物种组成和多样性现状有利于进行海岛植被多样性的监测和保护。本文运用植物群落生态学方法,对浙江沿海5个无居民海岛的植被物种组成及多样性进行了研究。结果如下:(1)调查区域共记录到高等植物77科,166属,226种,其中草本151种,木本植物75种。基于双向指示种分析方法(TWINSPAN)分析,将该区域植物群落分为17个类型。(2)17个群落的物种Shannon指数均在1.91?—?2.60,Pielou指数(均匀度指数)值在0.80附近浮动,Margalef指数(丰富度指数)在1.86?—?3.80,各个群落的丰富度指数与多样性指数变化趋势大体一致,与群落均匀度无明显关系。植物区系成分多样,主要为泛热带成分和北温带成分。本研究可为我国沿海无居民海岛的资源保护及其开发利用提供科学数据。     

陕北黄土丘陵区撂荒演替过程中的土壤水分效应

根据陕北黄土丘陵区17块不同撂荒年限样地土壤水分的普查和10块样地土壤水分的定位测定,利用多元回归分析和通径分析法研究了植被恢复过程中土壤水分的变化和各植被、土壤因子对土壤水分的作用效应:①农田撂荒后,随着植被的恢复,因群落生物量、植被盖度和土壤有机质等这些对土壤水分有直接作用因子的变化,而间接表现为随着撂荒年限的增加,土壤含水量越来越低,而土壤水分的波动却越来越大;②用地形因子(包括坡度、坡向和海拔)、土壤因子(地表土壤容重和有机质含量)和植被因子(地上生物量和植被盖度)可以较好地对土壤水分做出多元拟合,影响表层土壤水分含量和根系层水分波动的主导因子是植被盖度,而影响深层土壤水分波动的主导因子是地上生物量;③土壤水分两次测定期间深层储水量差值与累积降雨量成显著正相关,说明土壤水分测定下边界存在上渗与下渗运动,而且储水量差值多数为正值,说明是以下渗为主。因此O根据土壤水分来估算群落蒸散时会有正的系统误差。为此论文将深层储水量差值作为补偿调节因子自变量,以提高多元拟合精度。拟合结果说明群落蒸散可由群落生物量、群落盖度、坡度、坡向和土壤表层容重或坚实度来估计。在植被恢复过程中影响群落蒸散的最大因子是群落蒸腾,其次是植被盖度。     

Effects of landscape complexity on farmland birds in the Baltic States

Data on birds occurring in farmland in the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were related to the spatial organisation of farmed habitats in three different agricultural landscape types. Species richness, abundance, and diversity of farmland bird communities, as well as abundance of the most frequently observed species were positively related to the number of residual non-cropped elements within farmland, the local mixture of annual crop and grass fields, and the variety of field types. The positive association of the species richness and abundance of the farmland bird community with richness in residual habitats and crops was most prominent in open landscapes. The results suggest that, by simplifying farmland structure and making it more homogenous, EU agricultural policies will have a detrimental effect on farmland bird populations in Eastern Europe. Ways of better targeting of the agri-environment schemes are suggested.     

互花米草入侵对广西北海光滩大型底栖动物群落的影响

为探讨互花米草入侵对广西北部湾光滩的生态影响,于2012年7月—2013年9月对北海市青山头地区的互花米草群丛和光滩2种生境分别连续进行5次大型底栖动物群落采样,分析不同采样时间和生境下大型底栖动物的物种组成、生物量、总栖息密度、群落生物多样性、群落结构等群落特征. 结果表明:①该区域内大型底栖动物共15种,隶属于4门5纲11科,其中中国绿螂(Glauconome chinensis)占互花米草群丛大型底栖动物个体总数的86.7%,为绝对优势物种;短指和尚蟹(Mictyris brevidactylus)为光滩的优势物种. ②双因素方差分析(two-way ANOVA)结果显示,互花米草入侵光滩后大型底栖动物物种数量显著增加,并且互花米草群丛中中国绿螂个体数量的剧增也显著增加了大型底栖动物的生物量和总栖息密度,而采样时间对大型底栖动物物种数、生物量和总栖息密度的影响不显著;不同生境和采样时间均未对大型底栖动物的多样性指数产生显著影响. ③非度量多维度分析(non-metric multidimensional scaling,NMDS)结果表明,互花米草群丛与光滩的大型底栖动物物种群落相似度较高,但与2012年10月相比,2013年9月互花米草和光滩大型底栖动物群落相似度降低,因此可能随着互花米草入侵时间的增加,其对大型底栖动物群落的影响也不同.      

土壤多功能性对微生物多样性降低的响应

土壤微生物群落在驱动多种生态系统功能和生态过程中发挥着重要作用,是维持生物地球化学循环的主要驱动力.鉴于全球背景下观察到土壤微生物多样性随着土地利用集约化、气候变化而降低的现象,对土壤微生物多样性的减少是否会对土壤多功能性产生影响进行调查显得尤为重要.利用稀释灭绝法构建土壤微生物多样性梯度,结合高通量测序等技术手段,探究细菌、真菌和原生生物多样性降低对土壤多功能性的影响.结果表明,与未灭菌土壤相比,稀释处理土壤微生物α多样性（丰富度指数和香农指数）显著降低.主坐标分析（PCoA）表明,未灭菌土壤微生物群落结构与稀释处理土壤存在显著分异,而且细菌和真菌群落对稀释处理的响应高于原生生物.回归模型显示,土壤多功能性与微生物多样性指标呈显著的负线性关系,表明土壤微生物群落变化是调节土壤多功能性的关键因素.其次,通过集成推进树（ABT）和回归模型预测分析发现,一些特定的微生物类群如真菌短柄菌属（Solicoccozyma）、瓦湖胶珊瑚菌（Holtermanniella）和细菌属Rudaea相对丰度与土壤多功能性显著负相关,说明关键微生物类群在生物过程中发挥了指示性作用.进一步通过结构方程模型揭示,细菌、真菌和原生生物多样性都对土壤多功能性存在直接或间接影响,其中细菌是驱动土壤多功能性变化的关键生物因子.研究为土壤微生物多样性对土壤多功能性的影响提供了试验证据,并认为在单一农业生态系统中维持一定的土壤微生物群落多样性,特别是关键微生物类群的多样性对未来生态系统功能的可持续发展具有重要意义.     

湿地植物对外源氮、磷输入的响应研究

通过人工控制试验,研究了氮、磷输入对沼泽湿地植物地上生物量,相对密度以及植物对氮、磷吸收量的影响.结果表明:营养物质氮、磷的长时间累积,导致湿地植物地上生物量和相对密度均呈逐渐下降的年际变化趋势,地上生物量和相对密度之间表现为微弱的单峰变化关系.在氮输入下,随着氮施用量的升高,氮的吸收率从62.3%下降到5.5%;在磷输入下,随着磷施用量的升高,磷的吸收率从3.1%下降到0.8%.氮、磷的施用量愈高,植物对氮、磷的吸收率愈小.氮、磷输入有可能改变湿地生态系统的物种组成和结构及湿地生态系统的稳定和保护,应当考虑湿地中营养物质的长期作用.      

黄骅港附近海域浮游植物群落结构特征及其与环境因子的关系

为探究黄骅港生产运营对周边海洋生态环境产生的影响,本研究以2017年4个月黄骅港附近海域的生态现状调查数据为基础,分析该海域浮游植物群落结构特征,同时,应用冗余分析（RDA）研究了环境因子对黄骅港附近海域浮游植物群落结构的影响。结果显示,4个月共发现浮游植物74种,分隶于硅藻、甲藻以及蓝藻3个植物门、35个属;浮游植物优势种主要为硅藻,4个月的浮游植物优势种存在明显的交叉与季节演替;4个月浮游植物丰度为（19.4～2095.6）×104 cells/m3,平均为762.2×104 cells/m3,以秋季最高,春季最低,浮游植物丰度空间分布整体均表现出近岸高远岸低的分布趋势;4个季度浮游植物多样性均处于较好水平,多样性指数（H′）为2.23～2.88,夏季最高,春季最低。聚类分析（CA）结果表明,该海域浮游植物群落可以明显分为4个地理类群;RDA分析结果显示,溶解氧、悬浮物、温度、石油类以及溶解无机磷是影响该海域浮游植物群落结构的最主要环境因子,除关注港口清淤、锚地船舶排污等生产过程外,黄骅港还应加强对附近入海河流的监测,及时预警浮游植物群落结构剧变或赤潮等生态灾害。     

不同类型施肥水平对甘南沙化高寒草甸植物群落特征及生产力的影响

以中度沙化高寒草甸为研究对象,研究了不同类型施肥水平对草地群落物种组成、多样性格局、群落结构及生产力的影响,旨在寻求不同类型施肥的最佳施肥水平。 结果表明:①在各个不同施肥水平处理中(除钾肥3个水平处理外),主要优势物种的重要值之间均有显著差异;②各物种多样性指标在有机肥3个水平处理和氮肥3个水平处理中均随施肥量增加而增大,而在磷肥3个水平处理和氮磷钾肥配施3个水平处理中均随施肥量增加显凸形变化趋势;③植被平均高度和4个功能群地上生物量在有机肥3个水平处理和氮肥3个水平处理中均随施肥量增加而增大,在磷肥3个水平处理和氮磷钾肥配施3个水平处理中均随施肥量增加显凸形变化趋势;④钾肥3个水平处理对物种组成、多样性变化、植被高度及地上生物量均没有极显著影响。 从草地生产力、群落结构的合理性以及群落的稳定性综合考虑,O3、P2、N3和N-P-K2是高寒沙化草甸施肥的最佳水平。     

科尔沁沙地不同沙漠化阶段植物种多样性与沙地草场地上生物量关系研究

论文从植被的种丰富度和功能多样性两个方面研究不同沙漠化阶段科尔沁沙地植物种多样性与沙地草场地上生物量的关系。相关分析表明,在科尔沁沙地不同沙漠化阶段,植物种多样性和沙地草场地上生物量的关系与多样性指数计算的基本单位有关。研究结果显示:①依据一年生、多年生和灌木等生活型为划分标准的功能多样性,在固定沙丘、半流动沙丘和流动沙丘阶段与沙地草场地上生物量的关系最密切,关联系数分别为-0.534、-0.574和-0.431。以豆科植物、C₃植物和C₄植物为划分标准的功能多样性,在半固定沙丘阶段与沙地草场地上生物量的关系最密切,关联系数为0.722。②在不同的沙漠化阶段,生活型多样性与地上生物量的关系呈负相关。说明在不同沙漠化程度的草场中,植物生活型组成的不均匀,有利于提高沙地草场地上生物量。③从不同生活型在各个沙漠化阶段中的种丰富度特征来看,一年生植物最高,多年生植物次之,灌木最低,平均值分别为9(±6.0)、3(±2.6)和1.8(±1.0),说明一年生植物在沙地植被组成中占主导地位。同时,研究结果表明,在不同沙漠化阶段中,以豆科植物、C₃植物和C₄植物划分的功能类型组的平均重要值以C₄植物最高,C₃植物次之,豆科最低,分别为48(±12.3)、39.7(±3.6)和12.3(±14.3),说明C₄类植物在科尔沁沙地植     

Structural and functional variations of phytoplankton communities in the face of multiple disturbances

The global decline of freshwater biodiversity caused by climate change and human activities are supposed to disrupt ecosystem services related to water quality and alter the structure and function of aquatic communities across space and time, yet the effects of the combination of these factors on plankton community ecosystem has received relatively little attention. This study aimed to explore the impacts of disturbances (e.g. human activity, temperature, precipitation, and water level) on phytoplankton community structure (i.e. community evenness and community composition) and function (i.e. resource use efficiency) in four subtropical reservoirs over 7 years from 2010 to 2016. Our results showed that community turnover (measured as community dissimilarity) was positively related to disturbance frequency, but no significant correlation was found between phytoplankton biodiversity (i.e. evenness) and disturbance frequency. Phytoplankton resource use efficiency (RUE = phytoplankton biomass/ total phosphorus) was increased with a higher frequency of disturbance with an exception of cyanobacteria. The RUE of Cyanobacteria and diatoms showed significantly negative correlations with their community evenness, while the RUE of Chlorophyta exhibited a positive correlation with their community turnover. We suggest that multiple environmental disturbances may play crucial roles in shaping the structure and functioning of plankton communities in subtropical reservoirs, and mechanism of this process can provide key information for freshwater uses, management and conservation.     

土壤微生物对环境胁迫的响应机制

微生物在生态系统物质循环和能量流动过程中起重要作用.研究土壤微生物对各种环境胁迫的响应有助于认识微生物对环境变化的适应与演变机理,维持土壤生态系统功能的稳定.土壤微生物群落多样性是衡量土壤生态系统稳定性的一个重要指标.多数研究表明,土壤微生物群落多样性越高,土壤生态系统越稳定.本文在总结土壤微生物群落多样性及其与环境胁迫响应关系的基础上,进一步讨论了土壤微生物对环境胁迫响应的生态学机制,包括:①抗性微生物的出现及抗性基因的水平转移.该过程导致了土壤微生物群落结构和多样性的改变,产生了更多抵抗能力较强的微生物类群,从而达到对外源干扰的适应,使土壤微生物群落对环境胁迫的抵抗力和恢复力随之提高.②土壤微生物群落功能的冗余.这些冗余程度越高,冗余组分缓冲维持生态系统正常功能的能力越强,从而提高微生物群落对环境胁迫的抵抗力和恢复力.研究土壤生态系统的稳定性与微生物多样性之间的关系,不仅有助于揭示土壤生态系统稳定性的内在机制,为合理调控提供科学依据,也可以为土壤环境质量管理提供参考.     

围封对固沙樟子松林下植被群落数量特征及多样性的影响

为揭示围封对人工樟子松固沙林林下植被群落及生态系统的影响,选择章古台围封37年生和46年生固沙樟子松林为研究对象,以邻近未围封林地为对照,采用野外调查法研究不同条件下樟子松林下植被的群落特征与物种多样性。结果表明:研究区共发现林下植被58种,分属18科42属,围封条件下促进禾本科植物与多年生植物种有所增加,多年生及灌木植物的重要值增大。围封降低先锋物种的重要值,明显增加羊草的重要值。围封有利于增加固沙樟子松林下植被群落的平均盖度、高度和生物量,而且随着围封年限的增加呈现不同程度的增长趋势;林下植被群落的物种多样性指数、优势度指数、均匀度指数在半围封5年较未围封状态略高,而在全围封10年则均低于未围封状态。因此,围封有利于樟子松林下植被群落的恢复与生长,适度的围封有利于林下群落多样性,进而保障群落的演替及生态系统稳定性的维持。