陆地生态系统植物和土壤微生物群落多样性对全球变化的响应与适应研究进展

生态系统植物和土壤微生物群落多样性受氮沉降、气候变暖、大气CO_2浓度升高(eCO_2)、极端干旱等全球变化的强烈影响,深入认识和理解全球变化下植物群落-土壤微生物群落的关系对生物多样性保护至关重要。文章综述了陆地生态系统植物和土壤微生物群落多样性对以上4种全球变化单因子和多因子(双因子、三因子及四因子)交互作用的响应与适应规律。主要结论为,(1)氮沉降、气候变暖和极端干旱均改变了植物和土壤微生物的群落组成,呈现降低、增加和无影响3种效应,大多数研究结果是降低效应,例如高氮沉降和长期低水平氮沉降减少了植物多样性,微生物群落多样性的下降幅度随氮沉降时间和量的增加而加强;气候变暖改变了植物的物候,降低了植物多样性,促使土壤微生物群落的演替分异;极端干旱导致植物组成发生了方向性的变化,植物多样性降低并促进盐生植物的生长,土壤微生物量和活性降低并促使转向渗透胁迫型策略。(2)eCO_2增加促进植物光合作用从而刺激植物的生长,对植物多样性的影响取决于资源可利用性,一般增加根际细菌和土壤真菌的相对丰度以加快土壤的碳源利用。(3)全球变化多因子交互作用下植物-土壤微生物群落多样性的关联效应主要为协同、累加、抵消或非加性等,其中氮沉降×气候变暖为累加;氮沉降×eCO_2对植物生物量的影响为协同增效,而对植物群落可能是相反或抵消;气候变暖×eCO_2对土壤微生物群落为累加;三因子和四因子交互作用对植物和土壤微生物群落为非加性,较难预测。最后指出当前的研究不足和今后的发展方向:(1)加大不同时空尺度的植物和土壤微生物群落研究;(2)精确全球变化多因子交互作用对植物和土壤微生物群落多样性影响的估算。     

增温对高寒灌丛土壤呼吸不同组分的影响机制

陆地生态系统土壤呼吸对气候变暖的响应研究方面目前还没有一致的结论,其原因可能为土壤呼吸不同组分对土壤温度变化的敏感性及相应的非生物和生物机制存在显著差异。文章分别从非生物因素和生物因素系统地论述了增温对青藏高原东部窄叶鲜卑花(Sibiraea angustata)高寒灌丛土壤呼吸不同组分的影响机制,发现增温可通过提高土壤微生物群落和植物根系的生理活性直接促进土壤异养呼吸和根系呼吸。同时增温能通过改变非生物因子影响土壤呼吸各组分速率,如增温显著提高土壤养分含量和土壤酶活性,进而间接促进土壤呼吸;而增温引起土壤水分含量较小程度的降低不足以抑制土壤呼吸过程。增温还能通过改变植物群落生产和土壤微生物群落结构等生物因子影响土壤呼吸各组分速率,如增温导致植物细根生产量、死亡量和分解速率提高,非根际土壤微生物生物量与活性增加;增温还导致土壤微生物功能群向革兰氏阳性菌和放线菌群落转变,从而导致土壤微生物对土壤惰性有机碳的利用增加。受根际土壤可利用碳含量较高的影响,根际微生物呼吸对增温的响应不敏感,增温对根际微生物生物量的影响也不显著。由此可见,在青藏高原东部高寒灌丛生态系统中,气候变暖将通过改变非生物与生物因子影响土壤呼吸等碳释放过程。以上结果有利于更加全面地认识全球气候变暖背景下高寒灌丛土壤碳循环过程。     

基于MicroResp~(TM)不同施肥方式对土壤微生物群落的影响

土壤微生物群落代谢变化被认为是反映土壤质量和健康状况的敏感指标。通过5 a定位试验,采用MicroResp~(TM)方法分析不同施肥方式对农田土壤微生物群落功能多样性及其代谢结构的影响。结果表明,适量施用有机肥和沼液肥有利于提高土壤微生物代谢活性,并对土壤微生物群落代谢结构产生明显影响,但长期高量施用沼液肥不利于维持土壤微生物代谢活性和群落多样性。相关性分析结果表明,土壤pH值、全磷含量和Cu含量与土壤微生物代谢活性及其群落结构关系最密切,其中土壤Cu含量为主要影响因子。能明显提高土壤养分含量及导致土壤重金属Cu、Zn累积是有机肥较其他施肥方式对土壤微生物群落代谢功能产生显著影响的关键因素。     

甘南亚高寒草甸不同坡向土壤微生物群落分布特征

为了探究坡向变化对土壤微生物群落分布的影响,采用稀释涂布平板法和最大可能数(MPN)法测定了亚高寒草甸3年间(2014年、2015年和2016年)不同坡向土壤微生物类群及2016年微生物功能群的分布特征,并分析了微生物类群及功能群分布与植物生物量、土壤理化性质等环境因子的关系。结果表明,不同坡向土壤微生物群落分布差异显著(P0.05),由阳坡向阴坡变化时,土壤微生物类群总数整体呈上升趋势。同一坡向土壤细菌数量所占比例最大,放线菌次之,真菌最小;2016年微生物总数较2014年与2015年分别下降了61.75%和68.23%。土壤微生物功能群总数随阳坡向阴坡变化呈现先增加后减少的趋势,氨化细菌数量显著高于固氮菌与硝化细菌数量(P0.05)。相关分析表明,亚高寒草甸坡向梯度上土壤微生物群落分布是多种环境因子共同作用的结果,其中,土壤含水量、全磷和土壤p H值是影响土壤微生物类群分布的主导因子,固氮菌、硝化细菌数量与有机碳含量相关性达到显著水平。综合分析表明,阴坡土壤环境明显优于阳坡,更适宜土壤微生物进行生命活动。     

重金属污染降低水稻土微生物商并改变PLFA群落结构——苏南某地污染稻田的案例研究

重金属污染可能影响土壤中微生物生物量与活性及群落结构.但这种影响随土地利用和土壤类型、污染物类型而异.采集了江苏南部某市金属冶炼产业区周边重金属污染的稻田和未明显污染稻田的表土样品,分析了重金属复合污染下土壤微生物生物量以及PLFA群落结构的变化.结果表明,重金属污染下稻田土壤的微生物生物量碳、氮及微生物商比未明显污染的土壤显著降低(约20%);PLFA分析显示,重金属污染下土壤微生物群落结构发生了明显的变化,细菌和真菌PLFA的变化幅度达到30%以上,革兰氏阳性菌与革兰氏阴性菌的脂肪酸比值升高,而真菌/细菌的比例降低了约70%.这种改变可能进一步影响到土壤中C、N等养分的生物地球化学循环,这有待深入的研究.     

平顶山、长白山、赛罕乌拉森林土壤微生物群落结构分析

土壤微生物是整个生态系统养分和能源循环的关键和动力。土壤的生物多样性比陆地上其他任何生态系统都要丰富,这种丰富的生物多样性导致了对其群落结构和生态功能难以预测。在一系列基于分子微生物学、生物地球化学和生理学的土壤微生物群落结构研究方法中,磷脂脂肪酸技术(PLFA)以磷脂作为分析成分,因其组成和含量在同一种微生物中通常相对稳定、可遗传,且具有仅在活体微生物中存在的特性,所以,PLFA技术可指示特定生物或生物种群的存在和状况,现已被广泛运用于土壤微生物群落结构分析中,监测微生物群落的动态变化。本研究选取了中国东北地区海拔高度达1000 m以上的典型森林生态系统:小兴安岭平顶山、吉林长白山、内蒙赛罕乌拉森林土壤为研究对象,采用PLFA方法,分析了土壤中微生物的生物量和细菌Bacteria、真菌Fungus、革兰氏阳性菌Gram+Bacteria和革兰氏阴性菌Gram-Bacteria 4种微生物群落结构。在此基础上使用相关分析、主成分分析等统计方法,揭示了土壤微生物群落结构与海拔高度、森林类型及其土壤理化因子的相互关系,为开展森林生态系统生物多样性与元素循环和气候变化的相关研究提供基础资料。研究得出以下结论:(1)对我国平顶山、长白山和赛罕乌拉背景森林中不同植被类型12个土壤样品的现场测定与采样分析,结果表明,土壤总有机碳(TOC)范围为3.15%~16.3%,pH值范围为3.5~4.8,碳氮比(C/N)为12.1~18.4,土壤含水率范围为13.3%~74.5%,采样时土壤温度为8.0~18.8°C。(2)样品的PLFAs总含量代表了土壤微生物总生物量,范围为27.39~237.63μg·g-1。赛罕乌拉土壤中微生物的生物量(PLFAs总量)最高;而平顶山土壤中的细菌含量、真菌含量和革兰氏阳性菌显著高于其余两座山。革兰氏阳性菌与阴性菌的比值在平顶山土壤中最大(4.19),明显高于长白山(3.14)和赛罕乌拉(2.39);而真菌与细菌比值却与之相反(平顶山0.55、长白山0.69、赛罕乌拉1.05)。(3)利用SPSS软件,对不同微生物群落与环境因子进行相关分析,结果表明:细菌的含量与纬度呈显著正相关,而和土壤C/N呈显著负相关(P0.01);真菌群落总体上与土壤C/N呈现负相关性(P0.05)。进一步对细菌群落和代表真菌群落的两个主要PLFAs成分(C18:1ω9、C18:2ω6,9)与土壤碳氮比做相关分析发现:C18:1与土壤碳氮比呈现显著负相关(P0.01),而C18:2ω6,9与土壤碳氮比的相关关系并不明显。因此,我们认为单一种类PLFA作为生物标记物随土壤碳氮比变化的灵敏度更高。(4)主成分分析表明:土壤微生物多样性主要受纬度所导致植被类型差异的影响(P0.01),且与土壤碳氮比呈负相关、土壤含水率呈正相关(P0.05)。     

生物炭对土壤中微生物群落结构及其生物地球化学功能的影响

生物炭是由生物质在完全或部分缺氧的情况下经热解炭化产生的一类高度芳香化难熔性固态物质,具有改善土壤理化性质、调控营养元素循环、防治重金属、多环芳烃等污染物迁移转化等功能,因此,在土壤改良与修复领域具有较好的应用前景。但是,生物炭的施用将对土壤中的微生物群落结构组成带来影响,从而改变整个生态系统的物质循环过程。本文综述了近年来国内外有关生物炭对土壤微生物分布影响的研究进展,探讨了生物炭对土壤微生物生长代谢的作用机制,阐述了生物炭对于微生物主导的土壤生物地球化学过程产生的影响作用。相关研究发现,土壤总微生物生物量在生物炭施用后或增加,或不变,或呈现下降趋势;不同种类微生物对于生物炭的响应非常复杂,从而呈现出各异的土壤微生物群落结构组成。生物炭对微生物生长代谢的影响源于改变p H环境、影响水分分布、调节养分循环等多种机制的协同作用,而生物炭在对环境物质的吸附以及对微生物的直接吸附方面扮演着重要角色。同时,生物炭对于土壤微生物群落结构组成的影响还会随着时间的推移而发生变化。生物炭对土壤中微生物分布的改变还会进一步影响微生物的生物地球化学功能,对温室气体排放、碳氮循环和有机污染物降解等生物地球化学过程产生重要影响。因此,有待开展更多关于生物炭对于土壤微生物分布及其生态功能的影响的深入研究,以期更全面地评价生物炭对土壤环境质量的影响作用,为生物炭的实际应用提供依据。     

苯并[a]芘累积污染对土壤微生物群落功能多样性的影响

本文采用低剂量叠加的方式模拟苯并[a]芘(Benzo(a)pyrene,Ba P)在实际土壤中的累积过程,利用Biolog-ECO方法研究Ba P不同污染方式对土壤微生物群落功能的影响,以期揭示Ba P累积污染对土壤微生物群落功能多样性的影响.结果表明,在累积和一次污染方式下,土壤Ba P可提取态和有效态含量随土壤培养时间的延长而降低,前期(1—28 d)下降速率较快,后期(28—56 d)下降速率减缓.土壤微生物代谢活性AWCD值在培养初期(1 d)表现出LCK-YYCK-L的规律,培养7 d表现为YCK-YCK-LL,而后(8—56 d)各处理的AWCD值表现与培养7 d的规律一致.微生物群落物种丰富度指数和常见物种优势度指数的变化趋势与AWCD值变化规律一致.累积污染处理在土壤培养过程中先促进(1 d)后抑制(7—56 d)了土壤微生物群落功能多样性;一次污染处理与之相反,先抑制(1 d)后刺激(7—56 d)了土壤微生物群落功能多样性.累积污染处理的微生物代谢活性和多样性指数与Ba P含量的相关性大于一次污染.累积污染更能反映Ba P在土壤中的真实生物毒性.     

三江源区不同建植年代人工草地群落演替与土壤养分变化

研究了了三源区不同建植期人工修复草地在不同演替阶段毒杂草[主要是甘肃马先蒿(Pedicularis kansuensis)]的入侵规律、数量特征,植物群落物种组成、生物苗和草地质最以及土壤养分、微生物活性的变化规律.结果表明,不同建植期人工修复草地植物群落的种类组成、植物功能群组成和群落数量特征存在显著差异.随着演替时间的推移,人工草地群落盖度、高度、物种数、生物最和多样性指数均表现出"V"字型变化规律,杂类草--甘肃马先蒿的数量特征变化尤为明显,在4 a的人工草地群落中开始局部入侵,在5～6 a的人工草地群落中大面积入侵,其入侵速度、入侵面积达到高峰期.土壤的含水量、容重、土壤中有机质、氮素和磷素在演替过程(7 a、9 a草地)中逐渐降低,到一定时期又逐步增加;随着演替的进行,不同建植期人工草地的土壤微牛物生物量碳和酶活性均呈"V"字型,变化.对于退化生态系统的恢复首先是植被恢复,其次是土壤肥力的恢复.土壤有机质等养分的积累、微生物活性的改善不仅能使土壤-植物复合系统的功能得以恢复,同时也能促进物种多样性的形成,有利于人工草地群落稳定性的提高.在试验区尽管植被恢复演替进行得比较缓慢,但从土壤发展的角度看,仍属进展演替.所以,在退化高寒草甸的恢复过程中,若降低和有效控制外界的干扰(如围栏封育),可为退化草地恢复提供繁殖体与土壤环境,实现人工草地逐步向恢复(正向)演替进行.图3表6参34     

大气CO2升高对土壤碳循环影响的研究进展

土壤有机碳是陆地碳库的重要组成部分,其积累和分解的变化直接影响全球的碳平衡。据估计,全球土壤（表层1m）有机碳积累总量相当于大气中碳总量的2～3倍。土壤是温室气体的源或汇,土壤碳库的变化将影响大气C02的浓度,因此,土壤碳库对人类活动的响应也是全球碳循环和全球变化研究的热点。在全球变化的大背景下,大气CO2升高导致植被生态系统碳平衡的改变进而对土壤碳循环产生影响。总结了陆地生态系统碳循环对大气C02浓度升高响应的主要生物学机制及过程,简述了大气C02浓度升高对影响土壤碳输入和输出的各因素的研究进展,并指出未来研究的主要方向。在大气C02浓度升高条件下,陆地生态系统碳循环的变化主要反映在以下几个方面：1）不同类型植物群落的净初级生产力（NPP）显著增加,但湿地植物的净初级生产力也有可能降低;2）光合产物向根系分配的数量增加,地上／地下生物量降低,根系形态发生变化,根系周转速率和根系分泌等过程的碳流量提高;3）植物含氮量降低,C／N提高,次生代谢产物增加,微生物生长受到抑制,植物残体分解速率降低;4）土壤呼吸速率显著增加,提高幅度受植物类型与土壤状况的影响;5）进入土壤的植物残体及分泌物的数量和性质影响土壤酶的活性,脱氢酶和转化酶活性增加,酚氧化酶和纤维素酶受植物类型与环境条件的影响;6）土壤中真菌的数量的增加幅度要高于细菌;7）CH4释放量增加,在植物的生长期表现更为明显。由于陆地生态系统碳循环的复杂性,研究结果仍有很大的不确定性。大气C02浓度升高与全球变化的其它表现间的交互作用将是今后研究的重点,同时由于土壤碳循环是一个由微生物介导的生物地球化学循环过程,因此,加强陆地生态系统碳循环的微生物机制研究也将为全面理解碳循环的过程提供更加准确的研究理论基础。     

Ecological consequences of carbon substrate identity and diversity in a laboratory study

Plants return a wide range of carbon (C) substrates to the soil system. The decomposition rate of these substrates is determined by their chemical nature, yet few studies have examined the relative ecological role of specific substrates (i.e., substrate identity) or mixtures of substrates. Carbon substrate identity and diversity may alter soil chemistry and soil community composition, resulting in changes in belowground ecosystem functions such as decomposition and nutrient transfer, creating feedbacks that may affect plant growth and the aboveground community. A laboratory experiment was set up in which eight C substrates of varying chemical complexity were added to a base soil singly, in pairs, fours, or with all eight together every four days over a 92-day period. After 92 days these soils were analyzed for changes in chemistry, microbial community structure, and components of ecosystem functioning. The identity of the added C substrates significantly affected soil chemistry, microbial basal and substrate-induced respiration, and soil microbial community structure measured by either the catabolic response profile (CRP) technique or phospholipid fatty acid composition. These belowground changes strongly affected the ability of the soil microflora to decompose cellulose paper, probably because of differential effects of the C substrates on soil energy supplies and enzyme activities. The addition of C substrates to soils also reduced plant growth compared to the unamended control soil, but less so in soils amended with a tannin than those amended with other substrates. Carbon substrate diversity effects saturated at low diversity levels, tended to have neutral or negative effects on ecosystem functions, and depended strongly on which C substrates were added. It increased CRP compound use but had little effect on other measures of the soil microbial community. Overall, results showed that the chemical nature of C substrates added to soil, and sometimes their diversity, can affect the soil microbial community and soil chemistry, which subsequently affect other ecosystem processes such as decomposition and plant growth. The identity and diversity of substrates that plants add to soil may therefore have important consequences for both above- and belowground ecosystem functions.     

Interactive effects of plant species diversity and elevated CO2 on soil biota and nutrient cycling

Terrestrial ecosystems consist of mutually dependent producer and decomposer subsystems, but not much is known on how their interactions are modified by plant diversity and elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Factorially manipulating grassland plant species diversity and atmospheric CO2 concentrations for five years, we tested whether high diversity or elevated CO2 sustain larger or more active soil communities, affect soil aggregation, water dynamics, or nutrient cycling, and whether plant diversity and elevated CO2 interact. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pools, symbiotic N2 fixation, plant litter quality, soil moisture, soil physical structure, soil nematode, collembola and acari communities, soil microbial biomass and microflora community structure (phospholipid fatty acid [PLFA] profiles), soil enzyme activities, and rates of C fluxes to soils were measured. No increases in soil C fluxes or the biomass, number, or activity of soil organisms were detected at high plant diversity; soil H2O and aggregation remained unaltered. Elevated CO2 affected the ecosystem primarily by improving plant and soil water status by reducing leaf conductance, whereas changes in C cycling appeared to be of subordinate importance. Slowed-down soil drying cycles resulted in lower soil aggregation under elevated CO2. Collembola benefited from extra soil moisture under elevated CO2, whereas other faunal groups did not respond. Diversity effects and interactions with elevated CO2 may have been absent because soil responses were mainly driven by community-level processes such as rates of organic C input and water use; these drivers were not changed by plant diversity manipulations, possibly because our species diversity gradient did not extend below five species and because functional type composition remained unaltered. Our findings demonstrate that global change can affect soil aggregation, and we advocate that soil aggregation should be considered as a dynamic property that may respond to environmental changes and feed back on other ecosystem functions.     

植被恢复的生态效应研究进展

植被在水土保持、水源涵养及生态系统的固碳过程中起着重要的作用。植被恢复是指运用生态学原理,通过保护现有植被、封山育林或营造人工林、灌、草植被,修复或重建被毁坏或被破坏的森林和其他自然生态系统,恢复其生物多样性及其生态系统功能。目前,植被的自然及人工恢复是改善脆弱生态系统及退化生态系统生态环境现状最有效的措施。植被在恢复过程中对地上植被生态系统,物种多样性的恢复有着重要影响,同时通过凋落物及根系的输入,可以有效改善地下生态系统,增加土壤的养分含量、改善土壤的物理结构、增加土壤生物的生物量及活性。文章以地上及地下生态系统为出发点,综述了植被恢复过程中自然及人工恢复过程中不同的植被类型、不同的恢复时间下植物物种组成和多样性、土壤理化性质及土壤微生物群落的变化。植被的自然及人工恢复在一定程度上均能增加植物物种的多样性,随着恢复年限的增加物种的组成发生改变且多样性呈增加趋势,但一些特殊环境下不当的人工恢复可造成植被演替向退化方向发展,降低生物多样性。不同的植被类型由于其生长方式的不同对土壤理化性质和土壤微生物的影响存在差异,随着恢复年限的增长,土壤理化指标及微生物学指标呈现先增加而后趋于平稳的状态。针对已有的研究进展,提出在未来的研究过程中,一方面应该增加更多的对比研究,对不同环境下,不同的恢复物种,不同的恢复方式进行更深入地探讨;另外一方面应增加不同尺度的研究,现有的研究多集中在样地尺度,未来应在更大尺度上进行分析;再者,地上及地下生态系统之间的相互关系及影响机理一直是土壤学科研究的热点,植被恢复过程中应增加更多该方面的机理研究。     

生物多样性的海拔分布格局研究及进展

生物多样性的海拔分布格局受制于气候、空间、环境等多种因子的影响,综合大量研究发现,无论是动植物还是微生物,环境因子对其影响与驱动的作用最明显。海拔梯度是决定分布格局的重要因素之一,因此探讨生物多样性在环境因子驱动下的海拔分布格局具有重要意义。文章分别探讨了植物、土壤动物和土壤微生物多样性沿海拔梯度的变化规律,揭示了温度、湿度及人为干扰等因素下植物多样性沿海拔梯度的5种分布格局及可能机制,土壤动物多样性沿海拔梯度的3种分布格局及可能机制,同时揭示土壤微生物在海拔分布格局虽然有物种模式,但是机制不是很明确;最后对植物、土壤动物、土壤微生物生物多样性耦合关系的认识作了阐述。并在此基础上,认为生物多样性的分布格局与尺度密切相关,因此开展不同尺度的生物多样性的研究以及它们对全球气候变化的响应是未来研究的重要方向;土壤动物群落的多样性的变化规律研究,应致力于其生理型、营养型、生态型的多样性的研究;在不同的研究尺度上,驱动微生物群落构建机制的差异导致了群落演变规律的变化,仍需要以地理学和生物学等相关学科理论为支撑,并与微生物群落构建理论相结合,对海拔分布格局下生物多样性的保护和生态系统稳定性研究提供科学依据。     

枯草芽孢杆菌Bs-15对板栗土壤微生物种群数量及功能多样性的影响

土壤微生物是维持土壤质量的重要组成部分,是土壤中生物活性的具体体现。土壤微生物多样性的变异可反映其对环境的响应与适应,能敏感反映生态系统的功能演变和生态环境的变化。本研究采用固体平板法研究了枯草芽孢杆菌（Bacillus subtilis）Bs-15对板栗（Castanea mollissimaBL）土壤微生物种群数量的影响,并通过BIOLOG ECO微孔板法分析Bs-15对板栗土壤功能多样性的影响。结果表明,接种Bs-15后,土壤中细菌数量比对照略有增加,但差异不显著;接种后放线菌的数量与对照相比有所减少,第7天达到极显著（p〈0.01）差异,之后差异变小,第14 d开始,处理与对照之间放线菌数量基本持平;真菌数量则先增加后减少,第7天开始接种后的真菌数量与对照相比达极显著（p〈0.01）差异。BIOLOG ECO微孔板分析显示,Bs-15使得土壤中微生物的AWCD值变大,72小时以后,AWCD值与对照相比差异达到极显著（p〈0.01）水平;接种Bs-15后增大了土壤微生物多样性指数,其中Shannon多样性指数、Simpson多样性指数和McIntosh多样性指数分别增加了4.09%、6.01%和7.20%,对对照相比差异均达到极显著水平（p〈0.01）,Simpson均匀度和McIntosh均匀度分别增加了2.07%和2.53%,与对照相比差异均达到显著水平（p〈0.05）。本研究结果表明,Bs-15不但提高了板栗土壤微生物的整体活性,丰富了土壤微生物种群,有利于保持和促进土壤肥力和健康状况;还提高了板栗土壤微生物功能多样性,使板栗土壤微生态系统功能更加稳定。     

Native fish diversity alters the effects of an invasive species on food webs

Aquatic communities have been altered by invasive species, with impacts on native biodiversity and ecosystem function. At the same time, native biodiversity may mitigate the effects of an invader. Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is a ubiquitous, invasive fish species that strongly influences community and ecosystem processes. We used common carp to test whether the potential effects of an invasive species are altered across a range of species diversity in native communities. In mesocosms, treatments of zero, one, three, and six native fish species were used to represent the nested subset patterns observed in fish communities of lakes in Illinois, USA. The effect of the invader was tested across fish richness treatments by adding common carp to the native community and substituting native biomass with common carp. Native species and intraspecific effects reduced invader growth. The invader reduced native fish growth; however, the negative effect was minimized with increasing native richness. The zooplankton grazer community was modified by a top-down effect from the invader that increased the amount of phytoplankton. Neither the invader nor richness treatments influenced total phosphorus or community metabolism. Overall, the invader reduced resources for native species; and the effect scaled with how the invader was incorporated into the community. Higher native diversity mitigated the impact of the invader, confirming the need to consider biodiversity when predicting the impacts of invasive species.     

Prioritizing Conservation Effort through the Use of Biological Soil Crusts as Ecosystem Function Indicators in an Arid Region

Abstract: Conservation prioritization usually focuses on conservation of rare species or biodiversity, rather than ecological processes. This is partially due to a lack of informative indicators of ecosystem function. Biological soil crusts (BSCs) trap and retain soil and water resources in arid ecosystems and function as major carbon and nitrogen fixers; thus, they may be informative indicators of ecosystem function. We created spatial models of multiple indicators of the diversity and function of BSCs (species richness, evenness, functional diversity, functional redundancy, number of rare species, number of habitat specialists, nitrogen and carbon fixation indices, soil stabilization, and surface roughening) for the 800,000‐ha Grand Staircase‐Escalante National Monument (Utah, U.S.A.). We then combined the indicators into a single BSC function map and a single BSC biodiversity map (2 alternative types of conservation value) with an unweighted averaging procedure and a weighted procedure derived from validations performance. We also modeled potential degradation with data from a rangeland assessment survey. To determine which areas on the landscape were the highest conservation priorities, we overlaid the function‐ and diversity‐based conservation‐value layers on the potential degradation layer. Different methods for ascribing conservation‐value and conservation‐priority layers all yielded strikingly similar results (r= 0.89–0.99), which suggests that in this case biodiversity and function can be conserved simultaneously. We believe BSCs can be used as indicators of ecosystem function in concert with other indicators (such as plant‐community properties) and that such information can be used to prioritize conservation effort in drylands.     

Increasing litter species richness reduces variability in a terrestrial decomposer system

Debate on the relationship between diversity and stability has been driven by the recognition that species loss may influence ecosystem properties and processes. We conducted a litterbag experiment in the Scottish Highlands, United Kingdom, to examine the effects of altering plant litter diversity on decomposition, microbial biomass, and microfaunal abundance. The design of treatments was fully factorial and included five species from an upland plant community (silver birch, Betula pendula; Scots' pine, Pinus sylvestris; heather, Calluna vulgaris; bilberry, Vaccinium myrtillus; wavy-hair grass, Deschampsia flexuosa); species richness ranged from one to five species. We tested the effects of litter species richness and composition on variable means, whether increasing litter species richness reduced variability in the decomposer system, and whether any richness-variability relationships were maintained over time (196 vs. 564 days). While litter species composition effects controlled variable means, we revealed reductions in variability with increasing litter species richness, even after accounting for differences between litter types. These findings suggest that higher plant species richness per se may result in more stable ecosystem processes (e.g., decomposition) and decomposer communities. Negative richness-variation relationships generally relaxed over time, presumably because properties of litter mixtures became more homogeneous. However, given that plant litter inputs continue to enter the belowground system over time, we conclude that variation in ecosystem properties may be buffered by greater litter species richness.     

A direct comparison of the consequences of plant genotypic and species diversity on communities and ecosystem function

Biodiversity loss is proceeding at an unprecedented rate, yet we lack a thorough understanding of the consequences of losing diversity at different scales. While species diversity is known to impact community and ecosystem processes, genotypic diversity is assumed to have relatively smaller effects. Nonetheless, a few recent studies suggest that genotypic diversity may have quantitatively similar ecological consequences compared to species diversity. Here we show that increasing either genotypic diversity of common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) or species diversity of old-field plant species resulted in nearly equivalent increases (approximately 17%) in aboveground primary production. The predominant mechanism explaining this effect, niche complementarity, was similar for each type of diversity. Arthropod species richness also increased with both types of plant diversity, but the mechanisms leading to this effect differed: abundance-driven accumulation of arthropod species was important in plant genotypic polycultures, whereas resource specialization was important in plant species polycultures. Thus, similar increases in primary productivity differentially impacted higher trophic levels in response to each type of plant diversity. These results highlight important ecological similarities and differences between genotypic and species diversity and suggest that genotypic diversity may play a larger role in community and ecosystem processes than previously realized.