Effects of landscape design of forest reserves on Saproxylic beetle diversity

Increasing the density of natural reserves in the forest landscape may provide conservation benefits for biodiversity within and beyond reserve borders. We used 2 French data sets on saproxylic beetles and landscape cover of forest reserves (LCFR) to test this hypothesis: national standardized data derived from 252 assessment plots in managed and reserve stands in 9 lowland and 5 highland forests and data from the lowland Rambouillet forest, a forested landscape where a pioneer conservation policy led to creation of a dense network of reserves. Abundance of rare and common saproxylic species and total saproxylic species richness were higher in forest reserves than in adjacent managed stands only in highland forests. In the lowland regional case study, as LCFR increased total species richness and common species abundance in reserves increased. In this case study, when there were two or more reserve patches, rare species abundance inside reserves was higher and common species richness in managed stands was higher than when there was a single large reserve. Spillover and habitat amount affected ecological processes underlying these landscape reserve effects. When LCFR positively affected species richness and abundance in reserves or managed stands, >12‐20% reserve cover led to the highest species diversity and abundance. This result is consistent with the target of 17% forested land area in reserves set at the Nagoya biodiversity summit in 2010. Therefore, to preserve biodiversity we recommend at least doubling the current proportion of forest reserves in European forested landscapes.     

Influence of Political Opposition and Compromise on Conservation Outcomes in the Tongass National Forest,Alaska

Abstract: To understand how a highly contentious policy process influenced a major conservation effort, I examined the origins, compromises, and outcomes of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA) for the Tongass National Forest. Tongass wilderness designation was among the most controversial issues in the ANILCA debate, and it faced strong opposition from influential lawmakers, land managers, and Alaska residents. To investigate the influence of this opposition on Tongass conservation outcomes, I conducted a gap analysis of Tongass reserves and a policy analysis of the ANILCA debate and traced the influence of specific interests through the amendments, negotiations, and resulting compromises needed to enact ANILCA. Overall, I found that Tongass reserves comprise a broadly representative cross‐section of ecosystems and species habitats in southeastern Alaska. Redrawn reserve boundaries, industry subsidies, and special access regulations reflected compromises to minimize the impact of wilderness conservation on mining, timber, and local stakeholder interests, respectively. Fragmentation of the Admiralty Island National Monument—the most ecologically valuable and politically controversial reserve—resulted from compromises with Alaskan Native (indigenous peoples of Alaska) corporations and timber interests. Despite language to accommodate “reasonable access” to wilderness reserves, ongoing access limitations highlight the concerns of Alaska residents that opposed ANILCA several decades ago. More broadly, the Tongass case suggests that early and ambitious conservation action may offset strong political opposition; compromises needed to establish key reserves often exacerbate development impacts in unprotected areas; and efforts to minimize social conflicts are needed to safeguard the long‐term viability of conservation measures.     

Evaluation of Biogeographic Classification Schemes for Conservation Planning: Application to New Zealand's Coastal Marine Environment

Abstract:  For many regions worldwide, multiple and often contrasting biogeographic classifications exist that are derived from a variety of taxa and techniques. This presents a challenge for managers who must choose appropriate large-scale spatial frameworks for systematic conservation planning. We demonstrate how systematically collected community data can be used to evaluate existing biogeographic classifications, identify the most appropriate metric for biogeographic patterns seen in other taxonomic groups, and develop an independent biogeographic classification scheme for systematic conservation planning. We evaluated 6 existing biogeographic classifications for New Zealand's nearshore marine environment with community-similarity metrics derived from abundance and presence–absence data for macroalgae (107 species) and mobile macroinvertebrates (44 species). The concordance between community metrics and the previous classifications was high, as indicated by a high multivariate classification success (CS) (74.3–98.3%). Subsequently, we carried out an independent classification analysis on each community metric to identify biogeographic units within a hierarchical spatial framework. The classification derived from macroalgal presence–absence data achieved the highest CS and could be used as a mesoscale classification scheme in which 11 regional groupings (i.e., bioregions) (CS = 73.8–84.8%) are nested within northern and southern biogeographic provinces (CS = 90.3–98.7%). These techniques can be used in systematic conservation planning to inform the design of representative and comprehensive networks of marine protected areas through evaluation of the current coverage of marine reserves in each bioregion. Currently, 0.22% of the territorial sea around mainland New Zealand is protected in no-take marine protected areas in which 0–1.5% of each bioregion represented.     

北洛河流域植物多样性地理格局与环境关系

通过野外调查和历史文献及标本统计分析,确定并分析北洛河流域种子植物信息数据.结果表明：该区共有种子植物123科581属1671种,占黄土高原种子植物的83.67%、67.24%、51.83%,集中分布于大型科（>50种）、较大科（21~50种）和单种属（1种）、小型属（2~5种）内.11个干流流经的地理单元植物相似性聚类分为5组,较早分离的是黄龙县,最大类因子午岭山脉连接而包含4个地理单元（富县、合水县、宜君县、黄陵县）.富县、合水县和黄龙县植物丰富度SD值最高,洛川县、华池县和甘泉县SD值最低.该区地理成分在属级水平上有15个分布区类型16个变型,以温带分布及其变型为主（287属,占49.40%）,并与热带分布及其变型联系紧密（115属,占19.79%）,植物丰富度SD值与温带成分显著正相关;黄陵县、洛川县、黄龙县R/T值最高,热带性质最强,华池县、定边县R/T值最低,热带性质最弱.R/T值受海拔影响,随温度和降水从东南向西北递减.该区植物起源古老,分化程度高,物种多样性丰富,地理成分复杂,是重要的植物种质资源库.植物物种多样性地带性格局过渡性明显,体现出这些类群的生态位需求.需加强保护该区原生环境和植物,合理开发利用,可选择6大优势科（菊科、禾本科、蔷薇科、豆科、唇形科和毛茛科）中适地适树适草的物种（温带性质）,进行植被恢复和水土流失治理.     

ATMOSPHERIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO FOREST NUTRIENT CYCLING1

The atmosphere is a significant source of plant nutrients that partially replenishes losses due to timber harvesting. The relative importance of wet and dry deposition depends upon the specific nutrient and site. Nitrogen in bulk precipitation (wetfall and dryfall) is equivalent to at least 70 percent of the nitrogen incorporated annually in above-ground woody tissues of some temperate hardwood forests. Atmospheric sources of calcium and potassium supply between 20 and 40 percent of the nutrients sequestered in woody increments. Annual nutrient inputs in bulk precipitation can exceed removals associated with sawiog harvest over a rotation period. Atmospheric inputs of nitrogen are only slightly less than hydrologic losses immediately after timber harvesting. The deposition of nutrients is highly variable in both time and space; interpretations of nutrient inputs and forest management impacts require quantification of inputs for a variety of ecosystems over long periods of time.     

A Natural Experiment on the Impact of Overabundant Deer on Forest Invertebrates

Abstract:  In large parts of North America and Europe, deer overabundance threatens forest plant diversity. Few researchers have examined its effects on invertebrate assemblages. In a natural experiment on Haida Gwaii (British Columbia, Canada), where Sitka black-tailed deer ( Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis ) were introduced, we compared islands with no deer, with deer for fewer than 20 years, and with deer for more than 50 years. We sampled invertebrates in three habitat categories: forest edge vegetation below the browse line, forest interior vegetation below the browse line, and forest interior litter. In forest edge vegetation, invertebrate abundance and species density decreased with increasing length of browsing history. In forest interior vegetation, decrease was significant only on islands with more than 50 years of browsing. Insect abundance in the vegetation decreased eightfold and species density sixfold on islands browsed for more than 50 years compared with islands without deer. Primary consumers were most affected. Invertebrates from the litter showed little or no variation related to browsing history. We attributed the difference between vegetation-dwelling and litter-dwelling invertebrates to differences in the effect of browsing on their habitat. In the layer below the browse line deer progressively removed the habitat. The extent of litter habitat was not affected, but its quality changed. We recommend more attention be given to the effect of overabundant ungulates on forest invertebrate conservation with a focus on edge and understory vegetation in addition to litter habitat.     

模拟氮沉降对干旱半干旱温带草原土壤细菌群落结构的影响

随着社会经济发展,活性氮源随人为活动逐年递增,导致氮沉降相应增加,由此带来的生态环境问题也日益严重.本研究基于细菌16S rRNA基因高通量测序技术,分析长期人工模拟氮沉降氮输入量为0、1、4、8、32 g·(m~2·a)~(-1)对干旱半干旱区草原土壤微生物群落结构的影响.结果表明,模拟氮沉降7 a增加了土壤中可利用氮含量,引起草原土壤酸化.高通量测序结果表明,细菌OTU(operational taxonomy unit)数量随氮输入量的增加呈现增加的趋势,高氮处理[8 g·(m~2·a)~(-1)和32g·(m~2·a)~(-1)]显著高于低氮和对照处理;细菌α多样性指数呈现先增加后降低的趋势.不同氮输入水平下土壤细菌群落结构差异显著,且与土壤p H和氮的有效性显著相关.不同细菌相对丰度在纲的水平对氮输入的响应趋势不同.氮的长期大量输入可直接或间接通过改变土壤性状而影响草地土壤细菌群落结构和多样性.     

温带风暴潮灾害链的识别与区分--以莱州湾风暴潮为例

我国温带风暴潮灾害主要集中在渤海、黄海沿岸,其中莱州湾沿岸是频繁发生的重灾区。以识别莱州湾沿岸发生的温带风暴潮灾害链的组成为研究目标,通过2次典型灾害事件分析了温带风暴潮灾害的成因、发生及其演化规律等问题,进而识别了温带风暴潮灾害链发生过程中的灾害类别及相应致灾因子,根据致灾过程提出了5种灾害链条,最后区分了不同行业灾害损失中主要致灾因子的作用。研究结果可对温带风暴潮灾害链的预警及减灾工作提供决策支持。     

温带落叶林的植物物候特征及其对气候变化的响应

植被物候是气候变化对生物圈产生长期或短期影响的重要指示因子。气候变化已经明显改变了许多物种的营养生长和繁殖物候,尤其是在温带地区。研究温带森林物候变化及其对全球变暖的响应,对认识森林物种共存,协同进化以及森林保护和经营等有重要意义。通过概述温带森林下物候研究的进展发现,光照和积温是影响木本植物展叶及繁殖物候的关键因素,林下层树木通过更早展叶,以尽量减少生长季林冠层遮阴对下层树木生长的影响,更早时期开花的树木具有从顶部向四周次第开花的时空格局,林冠层树种开花具有较好的同步性。而草本植物的物候通常受融雪时间和冠层动态的影响更大,并且,温带森林下不同生活史对策的草本植物的物候特征对气候变化的响应也不尽相同,存在明显的季节动态。繁殖物候、光照的季节变化、光合特征、授粉成功之间的联系决定了林下不同繁殖特性的草本植物的繁殖成功率。量化的、多指标、多对象的定位监测是精准物候研究的基础,物候变化的机理和建立可预测的物候模型将是未来研究的重点。     

基于RUE的不同草地类生态评价研究——以河西走廊为例

选择降水利用效率（RUE）作为评价指标,对河西走廊代表性草地类--温性荒漠、高寒草甸、温性草原进行生态评价研究。通过植被指数提取、降水Co-Kriging插值、图层叠加,得到河西走廊区域2006-2010年的RUE(NDVI)、RUE(PVI)、RUE(TSAVI)数据,并与地上生物量进行相关分析,筛选出适合不同草地类的RUE作为该区域生态评价的指标。结果表明：1）温性荒漠区RUE(PVI)与草地生物量风干重正相关性最高（R²=0.879）,高寒草甸区RUE(NDVI)与草地生物量风干重的正相关性最高（R²=0.876）,温性草原区RUE(TSAVI)与草地生物量风干重的正相关性最高（R²=0.895）。2）温性荒漠区、温性草原区生态均处于退化过程,高寒草甸区处于恢复过程。研究认为选择合适的RUE值可作为不同草地类生态评价指标,并具有理论的可行性和实践的可靠性。