Plant uptake of inorganic and organic nitrogen: neighbor identity matters

The importance of interspecific competition as a cause of resource partitioning among species has been widely assumed but rarely tested. Using neighbor removals in combination with 15N tracer additions in the field, we examined variation among three alpine species in the uptake of 15N-NH4+, 15N-NO3-, and 15N-13C-[2]-glycine in intact neighborhoods, when paired with a specific neighbor, and when all neighbors were removed. Species varied in the capacity to take up 15N-labeled NH4+, NO3-, and glycine in intact neighborhoods and in interspecific pairs. When interspecific neighbor pairs were compared with no neighbor controls, neighbors reduced 15N uptake in target species by as much as 50%, indicating competition for N. Furthermore, neighbor identity influenced the capacity of species to take up different forms of N. Thus, competition within interspecific neighbor pairs often caused reduced uptake of a particular form of N, as well as shifts to uptake of an alternative form of N. Such shifts in resource use as a result of competition are an implicit assumption in studies of resource partitioning but have rarely been documented. Our study suggests that plasticity in the uptake of different forms of N may be a mechanism by which cooccurring plants reduce competition for N.     

Shifts of the feeding niche along the size dimension of three juvenile fish species in a tidal mudflat in southeastern Brazil

The diet of three cooccurring abundant fish species (Eucinostomus argenteus, Diapterus rhombeus and Micropogonias furnieri) and its ontogenetic changes in a mudflat area of a tropical bay in southeastern Brazil were described. The working hypothesis is that these three species shift the use of the available resources throughout their growth. Early juveniles of D. rhombeus and M. furnieri fed mainly on Cyclopoida copepods, shifting to Nematoda (D. rhombeus) and errant Polychaeta (M. furnieri) as they increased in size. In contrast, the early life stages of E. argenteus fed mainly on errant Polychaeta and Calanoida copepods, with increasing niche breadth as they grew. The relative degree of individual specialisation in resource use indicated specialism for M. furnieri and E. argenteus, and generalism for D. rhombeus. The largest intraspecific overlap was found for the smallest size classes. Niche breadth increased during ontogeny, with a higher average niche breadth at lower prey length/predator length ratios. Therefore, species-specific differences in diet across the resource gradient and increased niche breadth during ontogeny characterised the shifts of resource use, and probably account for the coexistence of these species in zones of sympatry in mudflat areas of southeastern Brazil.     

宁夏盐池不同封育措施下的植物生态位研究

运用Levins生态位宽度指数及Pianka生态位重叠指数,对宁夏盐池柳林堡人工封育草场不同措施（老封育区、新封育区、对照区）下的植物生态位宽度及生态位重叠度进行计算,从生态位角度揭示不同措施下的植被恢复情况。结果表明：老封育区、新封育区和对照区的主要建群种生态位宽度均有较大的差异,老封育区宽度值最大的是耐旱性极强的阿尔泰狗哇花（Heteropappus altaicus（Willd.）Novopokr.）、丝叶山苦荬（Lxeris chinensis var.graminifolia（Ledeb.）H.C.Fu）、叉枝鸦葱（Scorzonera divaricata Turcz.）,说明随着封育时间的延长,封育区植被有旱生化方向发展的趋势;新封育区的优势种是丝叶山苦荬、黑沙蒿（Artemisia ordosica Krasch.）、苦豆子（Sophora alopecuroides）、刺沙蓬（S.ruthenica Iljin）,且4种植物生态位宽度接近,对资源环境的利用更为均衡;对照区的优势种是黑沙蒿、苦豆子、刺沙蓬,宽度值分别为0.729、0.666、0.540。同时,3种措施的生态位重叠结果均表明,生态位宽度大的物种不一定和其他物种有大的重叠指数,较高的生态位宽度和较高的生态位重叠度之间并不存在直接的线性关系。这一现象从另外一个角度说明植被恢复过程中环境资源存在着高度的空间异质性。     

Testing hypotheses on shape and distribution of ecological response curves

Niche theory with hypotheses on shape and distribution of ecological response curves is used in the studies of resource sharing of competing plant species. Predictions based on theory should be applicable when, e.g., effects of competing species on the ecological tolerances are assessed or species’ diversity along a resource gradient is evaluated. We studied the ecological response curves of competing plant species along a resource gradient in boreal forests. The study was based on nation-wide soil and vegetation data collected from 455 sample plots on boreal forests in Finland. Species response curves along a soil fertility gradient (in terms of C/N ratio) were estimated using generalized additive models. Distribution of species optima and the relationship of niche width and skewness to the location of the optimum were analyzed with new bootstrap tests. The developed tests can account for the effects of truncation observed in the response curves of several species and for the uneven distribution of observations on the gradient.The estimated response curves of the major field layer species of boreal forests were not evenly distributed along soil C/N gradient. The density of optima peaked with relatively high nitrogen availability. Species with optima at low nitrogen availability had relatively broad realized niches. Niche width was negatively correlated with the density of optima. Species optima were packed and niches were narrow at high resource levels. This result suggests that a greater number of more specialized species can occur and interspecific competition decreases niche widths at high resource levels. Species were packed in the gradient where the C/N ratio was lower than 25, i.e., in conditions where nitrification can take place. This indicates that the majority of the vascular plants of boreal forests are favoured by the availability of NO₃⁻. Those few species thriving at high C/N ratios have broader realized niches.     

沙质海岸带木麻黄林与天然林主要种群的生态位特征比较

通过样地调查比较分析了沙质海岸带木麻黄(Casuarina equisetifolia)林与天然林主要种群的生态位宽度和生态位重叠这2种重要的生态位特征。结果表明,依照各种群在2种林分中生态位宽度的变化,可将其划分为生态位扩展型、衰退型、敏感型和稳定型4个种群类型;天然林中的演替优势种在木麻黄林的灌木种群中已有较大数量的分布,且具有较大的生态位宽度值,但由于人工林生态位分化不良,种间竞争相对激烈,群落组成不稳定;天然林中大部分乡土树种生态位宽度较之在木麻黄林中大为增加,但除敏感型种群和潺槁木姜子(Litsea glutinosa)、雀梅藤(Sageretia thea)以外,天然林中其他种群的生态位重叠值较之在木麻黄林中有所降低,说明经过长期的协同进化,天然林种间生态位分化程度高,竞争相对缓和。总体来看,以乡土树种为优势种的天然林生态位配置比人工林更优化,对维持群落的稳定更有意义,因此实现乡土树种与木麻黄的合理配置对建设稳定型沿海防护林体系具有重要的参考价值。     

Recovery of plant diversity following N cessation: effects of recruitment, litter, and elevated N cycling

Plant species richness has declined and composition shifted in response to elevated atmospheric deposition of biologically active nitrogen over much of the industrialized world. Litter thickness, litter nitrogen (N) content, and soil N mineralization rates often remain elevated long after inputs cease, clouding the prospects that plant community diversity and composition would recover should N inputs be reduced. Here we determined how N cycling, litter accumulation, and recruitment limitation influenced community recovery following cessation of long-term N inputs to prairie-like grasslands. We alleviated each of these potential inhibitors through a two-year full-factorial experiment involving organic carbon addition, litter removal, and seed addition. Seed addition had the largest effect on increasing seedling and species numbers and may be necessary to overcome long-term burial of seeds of target perennial grassland species. Litter removal increased light availability and bare sites for colonization, though it had little effect on reducing the biomass of competing neighbors or altering extractable soil N. Nonetheless, these positive influences were enough to lead to small increases in species richness within one year. We found that, although C addition quickly altered many factors assumed favorable for the target community (decreased N availability and biomass of nearby competitors, increased light and site availability), these changes were insufficient to positively impact species richness or seedling numbers over the experimental duration. However, only carbon addition had species-specific effects on the existing plant community, suggesting that its apparent limited utility may be more a result of slow recovery under ambient recruitment rather than from a lack of a restorative effect. There were dramatic interactions among treatments, with the positive effects of litter removal largely negated by carbon addition, and the positive effects of seed addition generally amplified by litter removal. It remains unclear whether each mechanism explored here will induce community recovery, but over different temporal scales. Long-term monitoring will help resolve these remaining questions. Regardless, our results suggest that reversal of species loss and compositional shifts from N deposition in prairies may be more inhibited by habitat fragmentation, recruitment limitation, and long-term suppression of fire than from continued effects of elevated N.     

Differential tree and shrub production in response to fertilization and disturbance by coastal river otters in Alaska

We explored the interacting effects of marine-derived nutrient fertilization and physical disturbance introduced by coastal river otters (Lontra canadensis) on the production and nutrient status of pristine shrub and tree communities in Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA. We compared production of trees and shrubs between latrines and non-latrines, while accounting for otter site selection, by sampling areas on and off sites. Nitrogen stable isotope analysis (delta15N) indicated that dominant tree and shrub species assimilated the marine-derived N excreted by otters. In association with this uptake, tree production increased, but shrub density and nonwoody aboveground shrub production decreased. The reduced shrub production was caused by destruction of ramets, especially blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), through physical disturbance by river otters. False azalea (Menziesia ferruginea) ramets were less sensitive to otter disturbance. Although surviving individual blueberry ramets showed a tendency for increased production per plant, false azalea allocated excess N to storage in leaves rather than growth. We found that plant responses to animal activity vary among species and levels of biological organization (leaf, plant, ecosystem). Such differences should be accounted for when assessing the influence of river otters on the carbon budget of Alaskan coastal forests at the landscape scale.     

人工封育区沙化草地植被生态位研究

采用样线和样方结合法对宁夏人工封育草原进行野外调查,运用重要值、Levins生态宽度指数和Pianka生态位重叠指数对封育外围区、边缘区、核心区3种不同措施下的植物生态位宽度及生态位重叠进行分析,以揭示人工封育区沙化草地植被生态位变化规律。结果表明：在整个人工封育区,重要值之和较大的为黑沙蒿（Artemisia ordosica Krasch.）和刺沙蓬（Salsolaruthenica IIjin.）,分别为689.53、455.83。外围区与边缘区生态位宽度最大的均为黑沙蒿,生态位宽度分别为0.846、0.790,核心区生态位宽度最大的是阿尔泰狗娃花（Heteropappus altaicus（Willd.）Novopokr.）,生态位宽度为0.640,是人工封育区的优势种。生态位重叠计测结果表明,植被的生态位宽度和生态位重叠并不存在直接的线性关系;生态位重叠度平均值和重叠对百分数表现为外围区〉核心区〉边缘区。不同封育措施间生态位宽度和生态位重叠度的差异表明适度封育有利于草地植被恢复,但随着封育时间延长,植物的再生和幼苗的形成会受到一定程度抑制。     

Ecology and Conservation of the Endangered American Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus americanus)

Field studies were conducted on the western population of the endangered American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) in Oklahoma and Arkansas to determine its habitat affinities. A common cause of declining populations is some specialized adaptation that makes it difficult to respond to a rapidly changing habitat. We evaluated the hypothesis that N. americanus is a habitat specialist in its search for food, preferring mature forests with deep, humic soils. This hypothesis was rejected. Based on comparisons of niche breadth among syntopic congeners and niche overlap, N. americanus is relatively generalized in its use of a range of habitats when searching for food. It is likely that the generalist nature and the endangered status of N. americanus both derive from the fact that it is the largest member of its guild. In comparison to smaller species, N. americanus breeds on larger carcasses, which are more unpredictable in space and time. It is likely, therefore, that N. americanus must search over a larger area and greater diversity of habitats than its smaller congeners.     

毛竹混交林主要种群多维生态位特征

应用生态位空间分割法，分别考虑资源利用率与否测定毛竹混交林多维资源空间中主要种群多维生态位宽度及多维生态位重叠，结果表明：考虑资源利用率与否对多维生态位宽度的测定有较大的影响，毛竹混交林中主要种群的多维生态位宽度与物种的生物学特性及竞争力密切相关，同一生境中物种的多维生态位重叠可通过生态位分化而减少竞争，研究毛竹混交林主要种群多维生态位特征对毛竹混交林营造具有指导作用．表8参24．     

Resource availability and the abundance of an N-based defense in Australian tropical rain forests

Plant defense theories predict that relatively resource-rich environments (those with more fertile soil) will support a greater abundance of plants with nitrogen-based chemical defense, but this has yet to be adequately tested. We tested this prediction by measuring the diversity and contribution to total biomass of cyanogenic plants (those that release hydrogen cyanide from endogenous cyanide-containing compounds) in the Australian tropical rain forest. We examined 401 species in thirty 200-m2 plots, six at each of five sites, for cyanogenesis. In upland/highland rain forest, two pairs of sites similar in rainfall and altitude, but differing in soil nutrients, were selected, as well as one site in lowland rain forest. Sites differed markedly in species composition and foliar N was positively related to soil fertility. Holding altitude constant, we did not detect significant differences in the proportion of cyanogenic species with soil fertility, nor did we consistently detect significant increases in the contribution of cyanogenic species to total biomass on higher nutrient sites. Thus we found no clear evidence that soil fertility affects the distribution and prevalence of species investing in a constitutive N-based defense at the community level.     

An invader differentially affects leaf physiology of two natives across a gradient in diversity

Little is known about how exotics influence the ecophysiology of co-occurring native plants or how invader impact on plant physiology may be mediated by community diversity or resource levels. We measured the effect of the widespread invasive forb spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa) on leaf traits (leaf dry matter content, specific leaf area, leaf nitrogen percentage, leaf C:N ratios, and delta13C as a proxy for water use efficiency) of two co-occurring native perennial grassland species, Monarda fistulosa (bee balm) and Koeleria macrantha (Junegrass). The impact of spotted knapweed was assessed across plots that varied in functional diversity and that either experienced ambient rainfall or received supplemental water. Impact was determined by comparing leaf traits between identical knapweed-invaded and noninvaded assemblages. Virtually all M. fistulosa leaf traits were affected by spotted knapweed. Knapweed impact, however, did not scale with its abundance; the impact of knapweed on M. fistulosa was similar across heavily invaded low-diversity assemblages and lightly invaded high-diversity assemblages. In uninvaded assemblages, M. fistulosa delta13C, leaf nitrogen, and C:N ratios were unaffected by native functional group richness, whereas leaf dry matter content significantly increased and specific leaf area significantly decreased across the diversity gradient. The effects of spotted knapweed on K. macrantha were weak; instead native functional group richness strongly affected K. macrantha leaf C:N ratio, delta13C, and specific leaf area, but not leaf dry matter content. Leaf traits for both species changed in response to spotted knapweed or functional richness, and in a manner that may promote slower biomass accumulation and efficient conservation of resources. Taken together, our results show that an invader can alter native plant physiology, but that these effects are not a simple function of how many invaders exist in the community.     

岷江干旱河谷灌木幼苗的土壤养分适应性研究

岷江上游干旱河谷地区的植被恢复是目前急需解决的问题,小马鞍羊蹄甲（Bauhinia faberi var. microphylla）是干旱河谷地区的优势乡土灌木,并作为当地植被恢复过程中的重要备选物种,因而进行小马鞍羊蹄甲种群在土壤贫瘠的干旱河谷的养分限制研究十分必要。针对性地进行施肥将影响到小马鞍羊蹄甲幼苗存活、生长和定殖,而如何有效提高该物种的存活和生长速率对于干旱河谷植被恢复将具有重要的意义。采用野外调查与模拟实验相结合的方法,分别研究了干旱河谷地区3个典型群落（干旱河谷的核心区——飞虹,干旱河谷灌丛与亚高山森林的过渡区——北部的石大关、干旱河谷灌丛与温性森林的过渡区——南部的蓝新镇）中小马鞍羊蹄甲幼苗叶片的化学计量特征,和施肥试验[w（有效氮）分别为100、280、460 mg·kg–1、w（有效磷）分别为12、24、48 mg·kg–1、w（氮）分别为40、70、100 mg·kg–1、w（磷）分别为12和24 mg·kg–1]中叶片化学计量特征及幼苗生长参数（叶片数、基径和株高）和各器官（根茎叶）生物量。结果表明：在野外各演替阶段的小马鞍羊蹄甲幼苗生物量和营养元素质量分数都随着磷肥的增加而增加,表明磷素是植物生长的限制因子,同时N∶P比均大于16,也暗示其受到P养分的限制;在室内施肥试验中,施加N肥没有促进小马鞍羊蹄甲生物量的积累,反而抑制了幼苗生长;施加P肥促进了幼苗生物量的积累,表明幼苗缺乏P元素,养分限制类型为P限制。     

Plant winners and losers during grassland N-eutrophication differ in biomass allocation and mycorrhizas

Human activities release tremendous amounts of nitrogenous compounds into the atmosphere. Wet and dry deposition distributes this airborne nitrogen (N) on otherwise pristine ecosystems. This eutrophication process significantly alters the species composition of native grasslands; generally a few nitrophilic plant species become dominant while many other species disappear. The functional equilibrium model predicts that, compared to species that decline in response to N enrichment, nitrophilic grass species should respond to N enrichment with greater biomass allocation aboveground and reduced allocation to roots and mycorrhizas. The mycorrhizal feedback hypothesis states that the composition of mycorrhizal fungal communities may influence the composition of plant communities, and it predicts that N enrichment may generate reciprocal shifts in the species composition of mycorrhizal fungi and plants. We tested these hypotheses with experiments that compared biomass allocation and mycorrhizal function of four grass ecotypes (three species), two that gained and two that lost biomass and cover in response to long-term N enrichment experiments at Cedar Creek and Konza Long-Term Ecological Research grasslands. Local grass ecotypes were grown in soil from their respective sites and inoculated with whole-soil inoculum collected from either fertilized (FERT) or unfertilized (UNFERT) plots. Our results strongly support the functional equilibrium model. In both grassland systems the nitrophilic grass species grew taller, allocated more biomass to shoots than to roots, and formed fewer mycorrhizas compared to the grass species that it replaced. Our results did not fully support the hypothesis that N-induced changes in the mycorrhizal fungal community were drivers of the plant community shifts that accompany N eutrophication. The FERT and UNFERT soil inoculum influenced the growth of the grasses differently, but this varied with site and grass ecotype in both expected and unexpected ways suggesting that ambient soil fertility or other factors may be interacting with mycorrhizal feedbacks.     

Disrupting mycorrhizal mutualisms: a potential mechanism by which exotic tamarisk outcompetes native cottonwoods

The disruption of mutualisms between plants and mycorrhizal fungi is a potentially powerful mechanism by which invasives can negatively impact native species, yet our understanding of this mechanism's role in exotic species invasion is still in its infancy. Here, we provide several lines of evidence indicating that invasive tamarisk (Tamarix sp.) negatively affects native cottonwoods (Populus fremontii) by disrupting their associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi. At a field site in the early stages of tamarisk invasion, cottonwoods with tamarisk neighbors had reduced EM colonization and altered EM fungal community composition relative to cottonwoods with native neighbors, leading to reductions in EM propagule abundance in the soil beneath tamarisk. Similarly, AM colonization of cottonwoods was reduced with a tamarisk neighbor, but there were no significant changes in AM fungal spore communities or propagule abundance. Root colonization by nonmycorrhizal fungi, including potential pathogens, was higher in cottonwoods with tamarisk neighbors. A greenhouse experiment in which AM and EM inoculation and plant neighbor were manipulated in a fully factorial design showed that cottonwoods benefited from mycorrhizas, especially EM, in terms of shoot biomass when grown with a conspecific, but shoot biomass was similar to that of nonmycorrhizal controls when cottonwoods were grown with a tamarisk neighbor. These results are partially explained by a reduction in EM but not AM colonization of cottonwoods by a tamarisk neighbor. Tamarisk neighbors negatively affected cottonwood specific leaf area, but not chlorophyll content, in the field. To pinpoint a mechanism for these changes, we measured soil chemistry in the field and the growth response of an EM fungus (Hebeloma crustuliniforme) to salt-amended media in the laboratory. Tamarisk increased both NO3- concentrations and electrical conductivity 2.5-fold beneath neighboring cottonwoods in the field. Salt-amended media did not affect the growth of H. crustuliniforme. Our findings demonstrate that a nonnative species, even in the early stages of invasion, can negatively affect a native species by disrupting its mycorrhizal symbioses. Some of these changes in mycorrhizal fungal communities may remain as legacy effects of invasives, even after their removal, and should be considered in management and restoration efforts.     

Can stable isotope ratios provide for community-wide measures of trophic structure?

Stable isotope ratios (typically of carbon and nitrogen) provide one representation of an organism's trophic niche and are widely used to examine aspects of food web structure. Yet stable isotopes have not been applied to quantitatively characterize community-wide aspects of trophic structure (i.e., at the level of an entire food web). We propose quantitative metrics that can be used to this end, drawing on similar approaches from ecomorphology research. For example, the convex hull area occupied by species in delta13C-delta15N niche space is a representation of the total extent of trophic diversity within a food web, whereas mean nearest neighbor distance among all species pairs is a measure of species packing within trophic niche space. To facilitate discussion of opportunities and limitations of the metrics, we provide empirical and conceptual examples drawn from Bahamian tidal creek food webs. These examples illustrate how this methodology can be used to quantify trophic diversity and trophic redundancy in food webs, as well as to link individual species to characteristics of the food web in which they are embedded. Building from extensive applications of stable isotope ratios by ecologists, the community-wide metrics may provide a new perspective on food web structure, function, and dynamics.     

Using carbon and nitrogen isotopic values of body feathers to infer inter- and intra-individual variations of seabird feeding ecology during moult

To determine whether stable isotope measurements of body feathers can be used to investigate the isotopic niche of moulting (inter-nesting) adult seabirds, we examined the stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotopic composition of body feathers of breeding wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) from Crozet Islands, southern Indian Ocean. First we showed that the isotopic composition of body feathers was not significantly different from that of wing feathers, being thus a safe alternative to flight feathers whose collection impairs the birds’ flying ability. Second, we looked at the variances in δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values resulting from the isotopic measurement of a single feather, four different feathers, and a pool of four feathers per bird, to delineate the best isotopic analytical procedure. A two-step protocol is proposed that allows investigating both the intra- and inter-individual components of the niche width of the species. In a first step, isotopic measurements on a single feather per bird are used to define isotopic specialist from isotopic generalist populations. In a second step and for generalist populations only, measurements on additional (three) feathers per bird are used to delineate type A from type B isotopic generalists (Bearhop et al. in J Anim Ecol 73:1007–1012, 2004). Third, from a biological point of view, our data showed different moulting isotopic niches for adult males and females, and also within female wandering albatrosses. Since the isotopic composition of body feathers in this species reflects that of wing feathers, our results suggest that, after validation, body feathers have the potential for investigating the foraging ecology of other Procellariiforms and seabirds during the poorly known inter-nesting period.     

滹沱河流域湿地植被优势种群生态位研究

采用Shannon-Wiener生态位宽度指数和Petraitis生态位重叠指数测定了滹沱河流域湿地植被20个优势种群的生态位宽度和生态位重叠.结果表明,浮叶眼子菜、莎草、藨草等占据较窄的生态位,生态位发生明显特化.苔草、海乳草、黄花蒿、赖草等占据较宽的生态位,生态位泛化比较明显.根据生态位宽度指数将湿地植物分为4个生态类群.在20个优势种群构成的380个种对中,有71个种对间表现出生态位重叠,占整个种对的18.68%.说明优势种群间生态位重叠现象并不普遍,各种群间生态位明显分离,因此不同种群利用资源的方式具有较为显著的差异性.图1表3参15     

Consequences of niche overlap for ecosystem functioning: an experimental test with pond grazers

While the number of studies investigating the effects of species diversity on ecosystem properties continues to expand, few have explicitly examined how ecosystem functioning depends quantitatively on the degree of niche complementarity among species. We report the results of a microcosm experiment where similarity in habitat use among aquatic snail species was evaluated as a predictor of changes in community and ecosystem properties due to increasing species richness. Replicate microcosms with all possible one- and two-species combinations of a guild of six snail species were stocked with identical initial snail biomass. Microcosms with two species of snails had greater final snail biomass, lower attached algae biomass, and less total organic matter than monocultures. Snail species differed in their use of five distinct habitat types in the microcosms. Similarity in habitat use between a species pair was negatively related to the magnitude of change (e.g., deltaEF [change in ecosystem function]) in dissolved oxygen. periphyton biomass, and accrual of organic matter with a change in diversity. However, using the most stringent criterion for complementarity effects (e.g., Dmax [proportional deviation of the total polyculture yield from the highest yielding monoculture]), a relationship between species' niche similarity and changes in function with increasing species richness was only observed for dissolved oxygen. The identity of snail species present in the microcosms had strong effects on total organic matter, snail biomass, dissolved oxygen, periphyton biomass, and sedimentation rate. In this study, herbivore identity, sampling effects, and niche complementarity all appear to contribute to species richness effects on pond ecosystem properties and community structure. The analytical approach employed here may profitably be used in other systems to quantify the role of niche complementarity in species richness-ecosystem function relationships.     

生态修复后九曲湾水库浮游动物优势种演替及生态位特征分析

探究生态修复后九曲湾水库浮游动物优势种生态位特征及主要影响因素,为九曲湾水库及相关饮用水源地水库生态系统的保护、修复提供理论和技术支撑。于生态修复前2014年4月(平稳期)、2014年7月(爆发期),2015—2016年生态修复后12月(枯水期)、4月(平水期)、7月(丰水期)进行数据采集,采用优势度、Levins生态位宽度、Petrailis生态位重叠指数等方法,对九曲湾水库浮游动物优势种演替、生态位特征及主要影响因素进行分析。结果表明,九曲湾水库生态修复前共鉴定浮游动物30种,其中轮虫类26种,桡足类4种,枝角类未检出;生态修复后共鉴定浮游动物50种,其中轮虫类30种,枝角类13种,桡足类7种。生态修复前,平稳期到爆发期优势种的更替率为75%,爆发期到生态修复后枯水期优势种的更替率为80%。生态修复后,枯水期到平水期优势种的更替率为66.6%,平水期到丰水期季节更替率为57.14%,共同优势种为裂足臂尾轮虫(Brachionus diversicornis)、汤匙华哲水蚤(Sinocalanus dorrii)。九曲湾水库浮游动物优势种生态位宽度在0.250—0.931之间,生态修复前和生态修复后广生态位种类占全部优势种的75%、58.33%、70%、33%、0。优势种生态位重叠指数在0—0.998之间,生态位重叠程度差异较大,平稳期、爆发期、枯水期、平水期、丰水期生态位重叠指数大于0.6的分别占53.57%、50%、73.33%、66.67%、66.67%。生态修复前影响浮游动物优势种生态位分化的主要因素是水温(WT)、溶解氧(DO),生态修复后影响浮游动物优势种生态位分化的主要因素是总磷(TP)、叶绿素(Chl.a)。研究表明,生态修复前蓝藻水华发生期影响浮游动物生态位分化的环境因子为物理因子,生态修复后影响浮游动物生态位分化的环境因子为营养盐。