The primary productivity of marine macrophytes from a rocky intertidal community

This study represents the first report of primary production rates for Southern California intertidal producers. The production rates of 18 marine macrophytes near Wilson Cove, San Clemente Island, are close to those for other marine algal communities. No apparent relationship was revealed between the productivity of an alga and the division to which it belongs; however, productivity was associated with growth form. Encrusting prostrate forms were the lowest producers in terms of g C/m²/h and g C/g dry weight/h; sheet-like and finely-branched forms showed a greater productivity than coarsely-branched forms. Gelidium pusillum and Ulva californica had considerably greater production rates than the other algae measured.     

Net primary productivity of some aquatic macrophytes in sewage-sullage mixture

Sewage-sullage mixture from Raipur city is spread over a vast area surrounding the city. This mixture has a pH always above neutrality with high turbidity. Transparency was nil with the absence of phenolphthalein alkalinity and dissolved oxygen. Hardness was high with low nitrogen and phosphorus concentration. Human consumable. acquatic macrophytes are cultivated in such waste water. Net primary productivity of three macrophytes: Ipomoea aquatica, Marsilea quadrifolia and Nelumbo nucifera were evaluated while being cultivated in such sewage-sullage mixture. Productivity was determined either with periodic biomass removal (I. aquatica and M. quadrifolia) or through removing the biomass only once at the time of growing season (N. nucifera). Growing season productivity of up to 27.48. 19.81 and 9.49 g m(-2) and day(-1) and extrapolated productivity of up to 100.30, 72.31 and 34.64 mt. ha(-1) yr(-1) was recorded for I. aquatica. M. quadrifolia and N. nucifera respectively. Thus, these macrophytes are yielding a high amount of human consumable biomass from an area which neither be a useless wetland.     

Antipredator defenses along a latitudinal gradient in Rana temporaria

Antipredator defenses are expected to decrease toward higher latitudes because predation rates are predicted to decrease with latitude. However, latitudinal variation in predator avoidance and defense mechanisms has seldom been studied. We studied tadpole antipredator defenses in seven Rana temporaria populations collected along a 1500-km latitudinal gradient across Sweden, along which previous studies have found increasing tadpole growth and development rates. In a laboratory common garden experiment, we measured behavioral and morphological defenses by raising tadpoles in the presence and absence of a predator (Aeshna dragonfly larva) in two temperature treatments. We also estimated tadpole survival in the presence of free-ranging predators and compared predator densities between R. temporaria breeding ponds situated at low and high latitudes. Activity and foraging were generally positively correlated with latitude in the common garden experiment. While all populations responded to predator presence by decreasing activity and foraging, high-latitude populations maintained higher activity levels in the presence of the predator. All populations exhibited defensive morphology in body and tail shape. However, whereas tail depth tended to increase with latitude in the presence of predator, it did not change with latitude in the absence of the predator. Predator presence generally increased larval period and decreased growth rate. In the southern populations, predator presence tended to have a negative effect on metamorphic size, whereas in the northern populations predators had little or a positive effect on size. Latitude of origin had a strong effect on survival in the presence of a free-ranging predator, with high-latitude tadpoles experiencing higher mortality than those from the low latitudes. In the wild, predator densities were significantly lower in high-latitude than in mid-latitude breeding ponds. Although the higher activity level in the northern populations seems to confer a significant survival disadvantage under predation risk, it is probably needed to maintain the high growth and development rates. However, the occurrence of R. temporaria at high latitudes may be facilitated by the lower predator densities in the north.     

Inversion of plant dominance-diversity relationships along a latitudinal stress gradient

Species interactions affect plant diversity through the net effects of competition and facilitation, with the latter more prevalent in physically stressful environments when plant cover ameliorates abiotic stress. One explanation for species loss in invader-dominated systems is a shift in the competition-facilitation balance, with competition intensifying in areas formerly structured by facilitation. We test this possibility with a 10-site prairie meta-experiment along a 500-km latitudinal stress gradient, quantifying the relationships among abiotic stress, exotic dominance, and native plant recruitment over five years. The latitudinal gradient is inversely correlated with abiotic stress, with lower latitudes more moisture- and nutrient-limited. We observed strong negative effects by invasive dominant grasses on plant establishment, but only in northern sites with lower-stress environments. At these locations, disturbance was critical for recruitment by reducing the suppressive dominant (invasive) canopy. In more stressful environments to the south, the impacts of the dominant invaders on plant establishment became facilitative, and diversity was more limited by seed availability. Disturbance prevented recruitment because seedling survival depended on a protective plant canopy, presumably because the canopy reduced temperature or moisture stress. Seed limitation was similarly prevalent in all sites. Our work confirms the importance of facilitation as an organizing process for plants in higher-stress environments, even with transformations of species composition and dominance. It also demonstrates that the mechanisms regulating diversity, including invader impacts, can vary within the same plant community depending on environmental context. Because limits on native plant recruitment are environmentally contingent, management strategies that seek to increase diversity, including invader eradication, must account for site-level variations in the balance between biotic and abiotic constraints.     

Breeding success of tree swallows along a gradient of agricultural intensification

The intensification of agricultural practices has been identified as the main cause of population decline in farmland birds since the 1960s in both Europe and North America. Although the links between species richness or abundance and various components of agricultural intensification are well established, the mechanisms underlying these trends have rarely been addressed along a gradient of intensification or have been quantified at only one spatial scale. Here we quantified the influence of landscape structure on the nest box occupancy and breeding success of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) at seven spatial scales (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, and 20 km radii) over a 10 200-km2 gradient of agricultural intensification in southern Québec, Canada. A network of 400 nest boxes distributed among 40 farms was visited every two days over three breeding seasons, 2004-2006. Nest box occupancy decreased with the proportion of intensive cultures (maize, cereals, and soybeans) in the landscape, especially when manure heaps and tanks were abundant, and was also determined by local variables (i.e., nest box clearance, interspecific competition) and by previous-year fledging success. Clutch size decreased as the breeding season progressed and with the proportion of intensive cultures in the landscape, with no consistent variation across spatial scales. Hatching success was not related to any landscape variables but increased with clutch size. Both the number of fledglings and fledging probability increased with the proportion of extensive cultures (hayfields, pastures, and fallows). These effects increased with spatial scale and reached a plateau at the 5 km radius: the maximum distance from the nest reached by foraging Tree Swallows. Our results can likely be attributed to lower food availability in intensive cultures compared to extensive ones. This study suggests that several components of breeding that impact on population structure and dynamics of insectivorous birds will be negatively affected by agricultural intensification.     

Shifts in positive and negative plant interactions along a grazing intensity gradient

Isolating the single effects and net balance of negative and positive species effects in complex interaction networks is a necessary step for understanding community dynamics. Facilitation and competition have both been found to operate in harsh environments, but their relative strength may be predicted to change along gradients of herbivory. Moreover, facilitation effects through habitat amelioration and protection from herbivory may act together determining the outcome of neighborhood plant-plant interactions. We tested the hypothesis that grazing pressure alters the balance of positive and negative interactions between palatable and unpalatable species by increasing the strength of positive indirect effects mediated by associational resistance to herbivory. We conducted a two-year factorial experiment in which distance (i.e., spatial association) from the nearest unpalatable neighbor (Stipa speciosa) and root competition were manipulated for two palatable grasses (Poa ligularis and Bromus pictus), at three levels of sheep grazing (none, moderate, and high) in a Patagonian steppe community. We found that grazing shifted the effect of Stipa on both palatable grasses, from negative (competition) in the absence of grazing to positive (facilitation) under increasing herbivore pressure. In ungrazed sites, belowground competition was the dominant interaction, as shown by a significant reduction in performance of palatable grasses transplanted near to Stipa tussocks. In grazed sites, biomass of palatable plants was greater near than far from Stipa regardless of competition treatment. Proximity to Stipa reduced the amount of herbivory suffered by palatable grasses, an indirect effect that was stronger under moderate than under intense grazing. Our results demonstrate that facilitation, resulting mainly from protection against herbivory, is the overriding effect produced by unpalatable neighbors on palatable grasses in this rangeland community. This finding challenges the common view that abiotic stress amelioration should be the predominant type of facilitation in arid environments and highlights the role of herbivory in modulating complex neighborhood plant interactions in grazing systems.     

Variability in trophic dominance of crustaceans along a gradient of urban and industrial contamination

The trophic organization of the crustacean fauna belonging to a photophilic assemblage exposed to an urban and industrial contamination gradient in the Gulf of Fos (South of France) was studied over a period of 16 mo (May 1974 to August 1975). An increasing destabilization of the four major trophic groups from clean waters towards those most polluted was noted. Carnivores dominated at the relatively cleanwaterCystoseira stricta station; at the second, moderately pollutedC. stricta station, carnivores were replaced by suspension-feeders. Deposit-feeders dominated theCorallina cf.mediterranea stations affected by the warm-water effluent of a power plant. Other polluted stations, dominated byMytilus galloprovincialis andUlva cf.rigida, were dominated by grazers. The faunal destabilization was related to changes in the structural composition of the photophilic algal assemblage which were, in turn, related to the industrial contamination gradient along this coast.     

Vocal dialect and genetic subdivisions along a geographic gradient in the orange-tufted sunbird

At least four hypotheses have been suggested to explain the formation and maintenance of song dialects among birds: historic processes (epiphenomenon), genetic or local adaptation, acoustic adaptation, and social adaptation. We studied spatial and temporal distribution of dialect in the orange-tufted sunbird (Nectarinia osea), a small nectarivorous bird that expanded its breeding range in Israel during the past 100 years from the southern part of Rift Valley to the entire country. Sunbird range expansion was concurrent with the establishment of many small settlements with an ethos of gardening, which introduced many ornithophilous plants. We recorded songs and genetically screened individual sunbirds in 29 settlements distributed across a 380 km north–south gradient along the Rift Valley. We show that dialects cluster together into geographical regions in 70% of cases, a moderate concurrence to geography. Settlement establishment date, geographical position, and genetic distance between local populations (i.e., settlements) were all poor predictors for the variance among song dialects. The specific effect of habitat was not tested because all sampled localities were similar in their physical and acoustic properties. Using a network analysis, we show that dialects seem to aggregate into several network communities, which clustered settlement populations from several regions. Our results are best explained by either the epiphenomenon hypothesis or the social adaptation hypothesis, but at present our data cannot state unequivocally which of these hypotheses is better supported. Last, we discovered a negative association between network centrality and genetic diversity, a pattern that requires further examination in other systems.     

Nocturnal accumulation of CO2 underneath a tropical forest canopy along a topographical gradient

Flux measurements of carbon dioxide and water vapor above tropical rain forests are often difficult to interpret because the terrain is usually complex. This complexity induces heterogeneity in the surface but also affects lateral movement of carbon dioxide (CO2) not readily detected by the eddy covariance systems. This study describes such variability using measurements of CO2 along vertical profiles and along a toposequence in a tropical rain forest near Manaus, Brazil. Seasonal and diurnal variation was recorded, with atmospheric CO2 concentration maxima around dawn, generally higher CO2 build-up in the dry season and stronger daytime CO2 drawdown in the wet season. This variation was reflected all along the toposequence, but the slope and valley bottom accumulated clearly more CO2 than the plateaus, depending on atmospheric stability. Particularly during stable nights, accumulation was along lines of equal altitude, suggesting that large amounts of CO2 are stored in the valleys of the landscape. Flushing of this store only occurs during mid-morning, when stored CO2 may well be partly transported back to the plateaus. It is clear that, for proper interpretation of tower fluxes in such complex and actively respiring terrain, the horizontal variability of storage needs to be taken into account not only during the night but also during the mornings.     

Regional coexistence and local dominance in Chaoborus: species sorting along a predation gradient

Variation in the intensity of predation across the well-known environmental gradient of freshwater habitats from small, ephemeral ponds to large, permanent lakes is a key factor in the development and maintenance of aquatic community structure. Here, we present data on the distribution and abundance of four species of Chaoborus (Diptera: Chaoboridae) across this environmental gradient. Chaoborus show a distinct pattern of species sorting when aquatic systems are divided into fish and fishless environments, and this pattern is consistent with species traits known to influence their vulnerability to fish predation (i.e., pigmentation, diel vertical migration [DVM] behavior, and body size). To test whether fish are the drivers of this pattern, we created a gradient in fish density by stocking bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) into 15 experimental ponds in southwestern Michigan, USA, and then allowed Chaoborus species to colonize. There was clear evidence of species sorting along the predation gradient; Chaoborus americanus was most abundant in the fishless ponds, C. flavicans was neutral in response to fish, and C. punctipennis and C. albatus were most abundant at high fish biomass, a response consistent with their field pattern. Furthermore, prey preference experiments confirm that size selective predation and differences in Chaoborus species traits contribute to the pattern of Chaoborus abundance and distribution.     

Effects of productivity on biodiversity in forest ecosystems across the United States and China

In the global campaign against biodiversity loss in forest ecosystems, land managers need to know the status of forest biodiversity, but practical guidelines for conserving biodiversity in forest management are lacking. A major obstacle is the incomplete understanding of the relationship between site primary productivity and plant diversity, due to insufficient ecosystem‐wide data, especially for taxonomically and structurally diverse forest ecosystems. We investigated the effects of site productivity (the site's inherent capacity to grow timber) on tree species richness across 19 types of forest ecosystems in North America and China through 3 ground‐sourced forest inventory data sets (U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis, Cooperative Alaska Forest Inventory, and Chinese Forest Management Planning Inventory). All forest types conformed to a consistent and highly significant (P < 0.001) hump‐shaped unimodal relationship, of which the generalized coefficients of determination averaged 20.5% over all the forest types. That is, tree species richness first increased as productivity increased at a progressively slower rate, and, after reaching a maximum, richness started to decline. Our consistent findings suggest that forests of high productivity would sustain few species because they consist mostly of flat homogeneous areas lacking an environmental gradient along which a diversity of species with different habitats can coexist. The consistency of the productivity–biodiversity relationship among the 3 data sets we examined makes it possible to quantify the expected tree species richness that a forest stand is capable of sustaining, and a comparison between the actual species richness and the sustainable values can be useful in prioritizing conservation efforts.     

Size- and food-dependent growth drives patterns of competitive dominance along productivity gradients

Patterns of coexistence among competing species exhibiting size- and food-dependent growth remain largely unexplored. Here we studied mechanisms behind coexistence and shifts in competitive dominance in a size-structured fish guild, representing sprat and herring stocks in the Baltic Sea, using a physiologically structured model of competing populations. The influence of degree of resource overlap and the possibility of undergoing ontogenetic diet shifts were studied as functions of zooplankton and zoobenthos productivity. By imposing different size-dependent mortalities, we could study the outcome of competition under contrasting environmental regimes representing poor and favorable growth conditions. We found that the identity of the dominant species shifted between low and high productivity. Adding a herring-exclusive benthos resource only provided a competitive advantage over sprat when size-dependent mortality was high enough to allow for rapid growth in the zooplankton niche. Hence, the importance of a bottom-up effect of varying productivity was dependent on a strong top-down effect. Although herring could depress shared resources to lower levels than could sprat and also could access an exclusive resource, the smaller size at maturation of sprat allowed it to coexist with herring and, in some cases, exclude it. Our model system, characterized by interactions among size cohorts, allowed for consumer coexistence even at full resource overlap at intermediate productivities when size-dependent mortality was low. Observed shifts in community patterns were crucially dependent on the explicit consideration of size- and food-dependent growth. Accordingly, we argue that accounting for food-dependent growth and size-dependent interactions is necessary to better predict changes in community structure and dynamics following changes in major ecosystem drivers such as resource productivity and mortality, which are fundamental for our ability to manage exploitation of living resources in, e.g., fisheries.     

Element mobility and partitioning along a soil acidity gradient in central Ontario forests, Canada

The potential environmental risk posed by metals in forest soils is typically evaluated by modeling metal mobility using soil-solution partitioning coefficients (K(d)), although such information is generally restricted to a few well-studied metals. Soil-solution partitioning coefficients were determined for 17 mineral elements (Al, As, Be, Ba, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, K, Li, Mg, Rb, Sr, Tl, U and V) in A-horizon (0-5 cm) soil at 46 forested sites that border the Precambrian Shield in central Ontario, where soil pH(aq) varied from 3.9 to 8.1. Sites were dominated by mature sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) or white pine (Pinus strobus L.). Log K(d) values for all elements could be predicted by empirical linear regression with soil pH (r (2) = 0.17-0.77) independent of forest type, although this relationship was greatly affected by positive relationships between acid-extractable metal concentration and pH(aq) for 13 of the 17 elements. Elements that exhibited strong or moderate (r (2)> 0.29; p < 0.001) relationships with soil pH(aq) in soil water extracts include Al, Ba, Fe, Ga, K, Li, Rb, Tl, V (negative) and Ca (positive). Elemental partitioning in mineral soil was independent of forest type; tree species differed in their response to chemical differences in mineral soil. For example, Rb, Ba, and Sr concentrations in foliage of sugar maple and white birch significantly increased with increasing soil acidity, whereas Rb, Ba, and Sr concentrations in balsam fir and white pine foliage exhibited no response to soil pH(aq). While K(d) values can provide useful information on the potential mobility and bioavailability of mineral elements in forest soils, care must be used when interpreting the relative contribution of solid and aqueous phases to this relationship and the differing responses of vegetation in elemental cycling in forests must also be considered.     

Avifaunal responses to fire in southwestern montane forests along a burn severity gradient.

The effects of burn severity on avian communities are poorly understood, yet this information is crucial to fire management programs. To quantify avian response patterns along a burn severity gradient, we sampled 49 random plots (2001-2002) at the 17351-ha Cerro Grande Fire (2000) in New Mexico, USA. Additionally, pre-fire avian surveys (1986-1988, 1990) created a unique opportunity to quantify avifaunal changes in 13 pre-fire transects (resampled in 2002) and to compare two designs for analyzing the effects of unplanned disturbances: after-only analysis and before-after comparisons. Distance analysis was used to calculate densities. We analyzed after-only densities for 21 species using gradient analysis, which detected a broad range of responses to increasing burn severity: (I) large significant declines, (II) weak, but significant declines, (III) no significant density changes, (IV) peak densities in low- or moderate-severity patches, (V) weak, but significant increases, and (VI) large significant increases. Overall, 71% of the species included in the after-only gradient analysis exhibited either positive or neutral density responses to fire effects across all or portions of the severity gradient (responses III-VI). We used pre/post pairs analysis to quantify density changes for 15 species using before-after comparisons; spatiotemporal variation in densities was large and confounded fire effects for most species. Only four species demonstrated significant effects of burn severity, and their densities were all higher in burned compared to unburned forests. Pre- and post-fire community similarity was high except in high-severity areas. Species richness was similar pre- and post-fire across all burn severities. Thus, ecosystem restoration programs based on the assumption that recent severe fires in Southwestern ponderosa pine forests have overriding negative ecological effects are not supported by our study of post-fire avian communities. This study illustrates the importance of quantifying burn severity and controlling confounding sources of spatiotemporal variation in studies of fire effects. After-only gradient analysis can be an efficient tool for quantifying fire effects. This analysis can also augment historical data sets that have small samples sizes coupled with high non-process variation, which limits the power of before-after comparisons.     

三江平原不同水位梯度湿地地上生物量动态特征

水分条件变化直接影响湿地植物群落的分布及其生产量,为了阐明不同水分条件湿地初级生产力的形成规律,揭示水文格局对湿地生态系统物质生产过程的调控机理,采用收获法研究了三江平原不同水位梯度上的小叶章(Calamagrostics angustifolia)、乌拉苔草(Carex meyeriana)和毛苔草(Carex lasiocarpa)湿地地上生物量的结构动态及其增长速率,结果表明:3类湿地地上及其各器官生物量均呈单峰型变化,小叶章湿地和乌拉苔草湿地地上生物量的峰值出现的时间早于毛苔草湿地,而且小叶章湿地和乌拉苔草湿地各季节地上生物量均大于毛苔草湿地.茎对小叶章湿地地上生物量的平均贡献率与毛苔草湿地相近,均大于乌拉苔草湿地;叶对小叶章湿地地上生物量的平均贡献率与毛苔草湿地相近,均小于乌拉苔草湿地.3类湿地地上生物量的绝对增长率和相对增长率的变化趋势基本相同,但不同阶段绝对增长率和相对增长率值的大小存在差异.3类湿地地上生物量及各组分生物量的季节动态变化均符合抛物线模型,并且各模型拟合精度均较高,R2基本都在0.92以上.     

Ammonia excretion by zooplankton and its significance to primary productivity during summer

Excretion rates of ammonia have been determined for zooplankton off the coasts of Washington and Oregon (USA). Rates varied from 0.16 to 0.60 g-at NH ₄ ⁺ -N/mg dry weight/day for most planktonic animals, and from 0.02 to 0.06 for jellyfishes. Ammonia concentration in seawater was low in offshore regions. Ammonia released by zooplankton was studied in relation to primary productivity during summer. It was found that, in the Columbia River plume offshore, excreted ammonia contributed about 90% of the total nitrogen requirements of observed production rates. The ammonia-N contribution was 36% in oceanic waters, and was relatively unimportant in the inshore region. The significance of eddy diffusivity in offshore waters and upwelling in inshore waters is also discussed.Contribution No. 747 from the Department of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.     

Simulation of germination of pioneer species along an experimental drought gradient

The germination of ten plant species from the Iberian Peninsula was assessed along a water deficit gradient between -0. 1652 (moist) and -0.4988 MPa (dry) of osmotic potential, created by addition of increasing concentrations of polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000) to distilled water in which plants were grown hydroponically. The level and rate of germination of Daucus carota and Thapsia villosa significantly decreased with decreasing psi. Seeds of Dactylis glomerata and Dittrichia viscosa had positive germination responses to low osmotic potentials; germination of Epilobium hirsutum was not affected by osmotic potential. Germination of Medicago arabica, Cynosurus cristatus, Cistus ladanifer and Cistus albidus, was no favored by the addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG). Germination of Foeniculum vulgare and Thapsia villosa was inhibited by PEG.     

Differential meiospore size and tolerance of ultraviolet light stress within and among kelp species along a depth gradient

 Kelp are differentially stratified along a gradient of UV exposure (as a function of water depth). The role of ultraviolet light in seaweed zonation has not been fully explored. This study found a significant meiospore size difference within and among the kelp species examined: Pterygophora californica Ruprecht (high to mid-subtidal), Macrocystis integrifolia Bory (high to mid-subtidal), Laminaria groenlandica Rosenvinge (high-subtidal), Alaria marginata Postels and Ruprecht (low-intertidal) and Hedophyllum sessile Setchell (mid-intertidal). This size difference was correlated with the depth distribution of adult plants, with the largest meiospores originating from shallow-dwelling adult kelp exposed to high UV light. Under UV stress in the laboratory, meiospores from adults growing in high-UV environments displayed greater germination and survival rates than the progeny of adult kelp occupying lower-UV environments. This suggested that in Barkley Sound, British Columbia, Canada, differential tolerance to UV (possibly determined by meiospore size) may limit the upper settlement position of kelp species and individuals. Tolerance to UV may be an important determinant of kelp zonation on rocky shores. Received: 16 June 1998 / Accepted: 6 January 2000