The impact of fragmentation and density regulation on forest succession in the Atlantic rain forest

The Atlantic Rain Forest, an important biodiversity hot spot, has faced severe habitat loss since the last century which has resulted in a highly fragmented landscape with a large number of small forest patches (<100 ha). For conservation planning it is essential to understand how current and future forest regeneration depends on ecological processes, fragment size and the connection to the regional seed pool. We have investigated the following questions by applying the forest growth simulation model FORMIND to the situation of the Atlantic Forest in the state of São Paulo, SE Brazil: (1) which set of parameters describing the local regeneration and level of density regulation can reproduce the biomass distribution and stem density of an old growth forest in a reserve? (2) Which additional processes apart from those describing the dynamics of an old growth forest, drive forest succession of small isolated fragments? (3) Which role does external seed input play during succession? Therefore, more than 300 tree species have been classified into nine plant functional types (PFTs), which are characterized by maximum potential height and shade tolerance. We differentiate between two seed dispersal modes: (i) local dispersal, i.e. all seedlings originated from fertile trees within the simulated area and (ii) external seed rain. Local seed dispersal has been parameterized following the pattern oriented approach, using biomass estimates of old growth forest. We have found that moderate density regulation is essential to achieve coexistence for a broad range of regeneration parameters. Considering the expected uncertainty and variability in the regeneration processes it is important that the forest dynamics are robust to variations in the regeneration parameters. Furthermore, edge effects such as increased mortality at the border and external seed rain have been necessary to reproduce the patterns for small isolated fragments. Overall, simulated biomass is much lower in the fragments compared to the continuous forest, whereas shade tolerant species are affected most strongly by fragmentation. Our simulations can supplement empirical studies by extrapolating local knowledge on edge effects of fragments to larger temporal and spatial scales. In particular our results show the importance of external seed rain and therefore highlight the importance of structural connectivity between regenerating fragments and mature forest stands.     

紫茎泽兰与伴生植物小藜的竞争效应及其生理生化特征

外来入侵物种紫茎泽兰（Ageratina adenophora Sprengel）是一种世界性入侵杂草,其与本地物种的竞争会对生态系统结构和演替造成严重影响,带来较大经济损失;拟通过分析紫茎泽兰与本地物种小藜的竞争效应及生理生化特征,以探讨外来入侵物种紫茎泽兰的竞争机理。在温室条件下,设置紫茎泽兰、小藜（Chenopodium serotinum）的种内和种间竞争盆栽试验,测定了两种植物不同处理下的植株生物量;并通过氮蓝四唑光化还原法、紫外吸收法、三氯乙酸法和酸性茚三酮法,分别测定了功能叶片的超氧化物歧化酶活性、过氧化氢酶活性、丙二醛含量、脯氨酸含量。结果表明：紫茎泽兰与小藜混种时,紫茎泽兰的单株生物量、相对产量（RY）均显著高于小藜对应指标,其竞争平衡指数（CB）显著大于0,而相对产量总和（RYT）显著小于1。混种与单种的结果比较表明,紫茎泽兰的混种生物量比在单种时显著增高,增幅达22.01%;而小藜的混种生物量比在单种时显著降低,降低了44.81%。在混种中,紫茎泽兰功能叶片的丙二醛、脯氨酸含量均比在单种时显著降低,而超氧化物歧化酶、过氧化氢酶活性均比在单种时显著升高;小藜功能叶片的丙二醛含量显著高于单种,而脯氨酸含量、超氧化物歧化酶活性、过氧化氢酶活性与单种无显著变化。这说明紫茎泽兰的相对竞争能力比小藜强,紫茎泽兰通过调整生理生化特征来应对种间竞争可能是其竞争取胜的重要策略。     

Improving safety and availability of complex systems using a risk-based failure assessment approach

This paper presents a structured risk-based failure assessment (RBFA) approach, which provides a complete solution to avoid repeated and potential failures to improve overall plant safety and availability. Technological advancements and high product demand have encouraged designers to design mega-capacity systems to enhance system utilization and improve revenues. However, these benefits make the systems more complex and thus prone to unnoticed failure. It is an overwhelming task to address all the failures due to the limited resources and time constraints. This leads to substandard and poor quality failure assessments, which cause repeated failures. To address this common industry concern, a four phase RBFA framework is proposed which is not limited to the identification of root cause(s) but also includes other actions such as failure monitoring. The four phases include the plan phase, the assessment phase, the analysis phase and the implementation-tracking phase. These phases cover identification of failure, failure analysis, root cause(s) analysis, and failure monitoring. In this paper, the applicability and advantages of the proposed approach are examined through two real case studies pertaining to bearing failure and drive coupling failure. By implementing the proposed approach, significant improvements have been experienced in the system availability in both the cases.     

Trace element uptake in plants grown on fly ash amended soils

Four crop plants were grown in a greenhouse in soils amended with 0, 5, 10, and 20% by weight of coal combustion fly ash to evaluate potential trace element uptake by the vegetation. The leaves and stems from each plant were harvested and analyzed for As, Cd, Co, Cu, Mn, Mo, Pb, Se, Tl, and Zn content during early, middle, and late growth. The trace element data were statistically analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to determine whether the trace element uptake in the four crop plants differed significantly between the soil treatments, and to identify significant differences in trace element uptake through time. The results show that the amount of amended fly ash does not significantly influence the concentration of most trace elements in plant tissue, and that some concentrations actually decrease with time. Although this study did not find a significant increase in trace element uptake, care must be taken in a natural environment where plants may behave differently.     

What enables coexistence in plant communities? Weak versus strong species traits and the role of local processes

Explaining the coexistence of species that basically depend on the same resources has been a brainteaser for generations of ecologists. Different mechanisms have been proposed to facilitate coexistence in plant communities, where space is an important resource. Using a stochastic cellular automaton simulation model we analyze - separately and in combination - the influence of different species traits and processes which alter local competition on the coexistence of plant species over a fixed time horizon. We show that different species traits operate on different time scales in competition. We therefore suggest the concept of weak versus strong traits according to short- or long-term exclusion of species differing in these traits. As a consequence, highly non-linear trade-offs between weak and strong traits can result in communities. Furthermore, we found that trade-offs based on physiological species traits such as plant lifetime, dispersal range and plant growth, did not support broad and long-term coexistence—further processes such as density-dependent mortality and light-dependent colonization were necessary. This suggests that coexistence in plant communities requires (stabilizing) local processes to support the (equalizing) trade-offs in species traits.     

Basic principles and ecological consequences of changing water regimes: riparian plant communities

Recent research has emphasized the importance of riparian ecosystems as centers of biodiversity and links between terrestrial and aquatic systems. Riparian ecosystems also belong among the environments that are most disturbed by humans and are in need of restoration to maintain biodiversity and ecological integrity. To facilitate the completion of this task, researchers have an important function to communicate their knowledge to policy-makers and managers. This article presents some fundamental qualities of riparian systems, articulated as three basic principles. The basic principles proposed are: (1) The flow regime determines the successional evolution of riparian plant communities and ecological processes. (2) The riparian corridor serves as a pathway for redistribution of organic and inorganic material that influences plant communities along rivers. (3) The riparian system is a transition zone between land and water ecosystems and is disproportionately plant species-rich when compared to surrounding ecosystems. Translating these principles into management directives requires more information about how much water a river needs and when and how, i.e., flow variables described by magnitude, frequency, timing, duration, and rate of change. It also requires information about how various groups of organisms are affected by habitat fragmentation, especially in terms of their dispersal. Finally, it requires information about how effects of hydrologic alterations vary between different types of riparian systems and with the location within the watershed.     

The Effectiveness of Plant Conservation: A Case Study of Opole Province,Southwest Poland

This work presents a method of assessing plant conservation effectiveness in a given region, which takes into account the legal, species-centered protection, ecosystem conservation, ex situ conservation, restorations and translocations, reintroductions, and monitoring. In order to illustrate the conservation effectiveness, both legally protected species of plants and threatened species were examined. The conservation effectiveness of legally protected species was estimated to have a low value of 23.328 points (pts) according to the methods of calculation. Habitat conservation is insufficient for these species. Almost 40% of all localities are deprived of any ecosystem protection. The conservation effectiveness of the threatened group of species scored a very low value of 13.46 pts. The major reason for this result is a very low level of species protection. Less than 30% of the threatened taxa are under legal preservation and some species from the Orobanche and Cuscuta genera are treated as harmful organisms, which it is obligatory to control within the province territory. Almost 30% of all localities of threatened species are deprived of any ecosystem protection and only 10% lie inside nature reserves. It is suggested that the conclusion of this investigation be used in the preparation and realization of the regional floristic diversity preservation strategy.Published online     

大港发电厂温排水对附近海域浮游动物影响研究

分别于2010年夏、冬季对大港发电厂温排水口附近海域浮游动物进行调查。结果表明:调查区浮游动物以桡足类和幼虫类占优势,群落结构相对稳定,但丰度明显低于渤海湾其他海区,种类组成、丰度和多样性指数具有夏季高于冬季、近岸低于远岸的时空变化特征。临近温排水口的TJHS1117站位的浮游动物群落物种数、丰度及多样性等在6个调查站位中都处于最低,可见温排水对浮游动物群落结构及平面分布有一定的影响。     

寒冷地区滨岸缓冲带植物筛选

为在寒冷地区建立高效的滨岸缓冲带水体工程,选择早熟禾、高羊茅、3种本地耐寒性植物,研究剪股颖构建河流滨岸缓冲带植物的经济性、生长特性、光合作用及其对悬浮物、氮、磷的净化能力。结果表明,3种植物在经济性方面高羊茅与早熟禾差别不大,远低于剪股颖;在生长特性方面,早熟禾与高羊茅的表现相近,高羊茅略好,但比剪股颖表现优秀,早熟禾在净光合作用速率、蒸腾速率以及水分利用效率方面比高羊茅及剪股颖出色;在面源污染物去除率方面,地表径流悬浮物的去除中,早熟禾表现突出;在溶解性磷与总氮的净化中,3种植物表现差异不大,早熟禾略有优势。综合比较各项指标,早熟禾可作为寒冷地区构建滨岸缓冲带较为理想的备选植物。