Association of extinction risk of saproxylic beetles with ecological degradation of forests in Europe

To reduce future loss of biodiversity and to allocate conservation funds effectively, the major drivers behind large‐scale extinction processes must be identified. A promising approach is to link the red‐list status of species and specific traits that connect species of functionally important taxa or guilds to resources they rely on. Such traits can be used to detect the influence of anthropogenic ecosystem changes and conservation efforts on species, which allows for practical recommendations for conservation. We modeled the German Red List categories as an ordinal index of extinction risk of 1025 saproxylic beetles with a proportional‐odds linear mixed‐effects model for ordered categorical responses. In this model, we estimated fixed effects for intrinsic traits characterizing species biology, required resources, and distribution with phylogenetically correlated random intercepts. The model also allowed predictions of extinction risk for species with no red‐list category. Our model revealed a higher extinction risk for lowland and large species as well as for species that rely on wood of large diameter, broad‐leaved trees, or open canopy. These results mirror well the ecological degradation of European forests over the last centuries caused by modern forestry, that is the conversion of natural broad‐leaved forests to dense conifer‐dominated forests and the loss of old growth and dead wood. Therefore, conservation activities aimed at saproxylic beetles in all types of forests in Central and Western Europe should focus on lowlands, and habitat management of forest stands should aim at increasing the amount of dead wood of large diameter, dead wood of broad‐leaved trees, and dead wood in sunny areas.     

Trait space of rare plants in a fire‐dependent ecosystem

The causes of species rarity are of critical concern because of the high extinction risk associated with rarity. Studies examining individual rare species have limited generality, whereas trait‐based approaches offer a means to identify functional causes of rarity that can be applied to communities with disparate species pools. Differences in functional traits between rare and common species may be indicative of the functional causes of species rarity and may therefore be useful in crafting species conservation strategies. However, there is a conspicuous lack of studies comparing the functional traits of rare species and co‐occurring common species. We measured 18 important functional traits for 19 rare and 134 common understory plant species from North Carolina's Sandhills region and compared their trait distributions to determine whether there are significant functional differences that may explain species rarity. Flowering, fire, and tissue‐chemistry traits differed significantly between rare and common, co‐occurring species. Differences in specific traits suggest that fire suppression has driven rarity in this system and that changes to the timing and severity of prescribed fire may improve conservation success. Our method provides a useful tool to prioritize conservation efforts in other systems based on the likelihood that rare species are functionally capable of persisting.     

Systematic Temporal Patterns in the Relationship Between Housing Development and Forest Bird Biodiversity

As people encroach increasingly on natural areas, one question is how this affects avian biodiversity. The answer to this is partly scale‐dependent. At broad scales, human populations and biodiversity concentrate in the same areas and are positively associated, but at local scales people and biodiversity are negatively associated with biodiversity. We investigated whether there is also a systematic temporal trend in the relationship between bird biodiversity and housing development. We used linear regression to examine associations between forest bird species richness and housing growth in the conterminous United States over 30 years. Our data sources were the North American Breeding Bird Survey and the 2000 decennial U.S. Census. In the 9 largest forested ecoregions, housing density increased continually over time. Across the conterminous United States, the association between bird species richness and housing density was positive for virtually all guilds except ground nesting birds. We found a systematic trajectory of declining bird species richness as housing increased through time. In more recently developed ecoregions, where housing density was still low, the association with bird species richness was neutral or positive. In ecoregions that were developed earlier and where housing density was highest, the association of housing density with bird species richness for most guilds was negative and grew stronger with advancing decades. We propose that in general the relationship between human settlement and biodiversity over time unfolds as a 2‐phase process. The first phase is apparently innocuous; associations are positive due to coincidence of low‐density housing with high biodiversity. The second phase is highly detrimental to biodiversity, and increases in housing density are associated with biodiversity losses. The long‐term effect on biodiversity depends on the final housing density. This general pattern can help unify our understanding of the relationship of human encroachment and biodiversity response. Patrones Sistemáticos Temporales en la Relación entre Desarrollos Urbanos y la Biodiversidad de Aves de Bosque     

Trait‐based prediction of extinction risk of small‐bodied freshwater fishes

Small body size is generally correlated with r‐selected life‐history traits, including early maturation, short‐generation times, and rapid growth rates, that result in high population turnover and a reduced risk of extinction. Unlike other classes of vertebrates, however, small freshwater fishes appear to have an equal or greater risk of extinction than large fishes. We explored whether particular traits explain the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List conservation status of small‐bodied freshwater fishes from 4 temperate river basins: Murray‐Darling, Australia; Danube, Europe; Mississippi‐Missouri, North America; and the Rio Grande, North America. Twenty‐three ecological and life‐history traits were collated for all 171 freshwater fishes of ≤120 mm total length. We used generalized linear mixed‐effects models to assess which combination of the 23 traits best explained whether a species was threatened or not threatened. We used the best models to predict the probability of 29 unclassified species being listed as threatened. With and without controlling for phylogeny at the family level, small body size—among small‐bodied species—was the most influential trait correlated with threatened species listings. The k‐folds cross‐validation demonstrated that body size and a random effect structure that included family predicted the threat status with an accuracy of 78% (SE 0.5). We identified 10 species likely to be threatened that are not listed as such on the IUCN Red List. Small body size is not a trait that provides universal resistance to extinction, particularly for vertebrates inhabiting environments affected by extreme habitat loss and fragmentation. We hypothesize that this is because small‐bodied species have smaller home ranges, lower dispersal capabilities, and heightened ecological specialization relative to larger vertebrates. Trait data and further model development are needed to predict the IUCN conservation status of the over 11,000 unclassified freshwater fishes, especially those under threat from proposed dam construction in the world's most biodiverse river basins.     

Application of environmental risk assessment for strategic decision-making in coastal areas: case studies in China

Environmental risk assessment (ERA) is a powerful technical tool for analyzing potential and extreme adverse environmental impacts, and has found wide application in supporting decision-making processes over the last two decades. However, to date there has been no interrelated application of ERA to support the processes of strategic decision-making (SDM), especially in coastal areas.

In this paper, we attempt to verify the feasibility of the proposed integrated ERA–SDM approach and its methodology by applying it to two case studies (in Xiamen Bay and Luoyuan Bay) of the principal coastal functional zoning (PCFZ, a kind of SDM and similar to the coastal and marine spatial planning in western). The results show that the integrated ERA–SDM approach could integrate ERA into the entire SDM process, directly support the PCFZ, and avoid or mitigate dire environmental risk that can be introduced by SDM processes.     

周期性的温度扰动对藻类群落结构演替的影响

为了研究水库生境扰动对藻类水华的作用机制,以中度扰动理论为基础,结合藻类群落生境选择学说和藻类生态功能组,开展了不同温度扰动周期、相同扰动幅度下藻类多样性变化特性和群落结构演替特征的室内控制实验.结果表明:1适度的扰动会促进藻类的生长且增加其多样性.中度扰动组Δ22℃/48 h藻类生物量最大,但多样性最高,不存在绝对占优藻种,而高频次扰动组Δ22℃/24 h生物多样性较小,但可降低藻类生物量.2温度的周期性变化对浮游藻类群落的演替有明显的影响,优势种也呈现一定的差异性.藻类优势功能组演替基本规律为:X_1(小球藻)→J(栅藻)→S_1(席藻)或X_2(衣藻),群落结构呈现出C/CR型藻类先行占优向R型演替的趋势.高温扰动频繁时,R型藻类(S_1)明显占优;无扰动或低扰动时,群落结构组成特点以C/R策略为主.适度的扰动组Δ22℃/48 h形成了多种生长策略的藻类共存的格局,且耐受高温胁迫的S策略藻类(L_0)开始出现.     

生物炭添加对半干旱地区土壤温室气体排放的影响

为确定生物炭添加对半干旱地区农田土壤温室气体释放的影响,采用小区定位试验,利用锯末(J)和槐树皮(H)及3种添加比例(1%、3%、5%,质量百分比),研究了生物炭添加6个月内表层土壤CO2、CH4和N2O等3种温室气体排放的动态变化.结果表明,与对照相比,各处理土壤CO2排放通量随生物炭的添加呈现增加的趋势,锯末和槐树皮等两种生物炭处理的土壤CO2平均排放通量分别增加了1.89%和3.34%,但差异不显著.CH4排放随着生物炭添加量的增加而降低,各生物炭处理的土壤表层CH4排放量平均降幅分别为:J1:1.17%、J3:2.55%、J5:4.32%、H1:2.35%、H3:5.83%、H5:7.32%.其中,锯末生物炭仅在5%添加量时较对照差异显著(P0.05),而槐树皮生物炭处理在3%和5%的添加量与对照差异均达显著水平(P0.05).生物炭对N2O的排放影响没有明显规律性.研究表明,生物炭在短期内对半干旱地区农田土壤CO2和N2O的排放没有显著影响,而对CH4排放则影响显著(P0.05).就生物炭类型而言,槐树皮生物炭在抑制CH4排放方面优于锯末生物炭,差异显著(P=0.048).     

硝基苯气相氟代脱硝反应热安全性的理论研究

为研究硝基苯气相氟代脱硝反应的热安全性,采用Gaussian98软件,运用密度泛函理论(DFT)B3LYP,在6-31G(D)基组水平上,全优化计算气相条件下氟离子对硝基苯进攻的氟代脱硝反应的微观机理,得到反应路径并通过IRC验证,并对反应过程中反应物,各中间体、过渡态、产物进行分子几何构型优化,标准热力学函数计算。理论计算研究表明:该反应属于SN2亲核取代反应;反应能垒较低,反应所需能量可以从过程R→IM1和TS3→P所释放的能量(279.06 kJ/mol,143.34 kJ/mol)中获得;与席曼反应相比较,该反应速率下降3个数量级,热安全性更高,符合化工工程设计的本质安全化要求,具有广阔的应用前景。     

贵阳市中心城区土壤重金属污染现状及其评价

以贵阳市中心城区五大功能区(工业区、商业区、行政区、文教区、居民区)的土壤为对象,研究土壤中重金属(Hg、As、Cu、Cr和Zn)污染的特征,采用单因子污染指数和内梅罗(N.L.Neiow)综合污染指数法对土壤重金属污染现状进行了检测与初步评价,Hakanson潜在生态危害指数评价法评价了土壤重金属的潜在生态危害,其结...     

太湖上游城市宜兴城区主干道路径流污染特征解析

通过监测2015年8月—2016年9月7场典型降雨事件,系统分析太湖上游城市宜兴城区3个不同功能区(环科园、新城区和老城区)主干道路径流污染特征.研究表明:宜兴市城区主干道路径流浊度、COD、TN、NH_3-N、TP浓度分别为(77.2±66.9)NTU、(97.2±79.7)、(3.0±1.9)、(0.93±0.59)和(0.35±0.36)mg·L~(-1).COD和TN超出地表水环境Ⅴ类标准,是该地区径流特征污染物.降雨过程中污染物浓度整体呈下降趋势,伴随有不同程度的波动,主要受地表残留污染物及降雨强度的影响.3个区域TN浓度差异不大,且主要以溶解态存在(60%);环科园、新城区TP浓度差异不大,且主要以颗粒态存在(70%);然而,受居民生活活动的影响,老城区TP主要以溶解态存在(60%).此外,受交通及道路坡度影响,新城区道路径流浊度和COD污染最为严重.不同降雨事件径流污染物浓度变化较大,主要受干期长度和降雨强度的影响.干期长度越长、降雨强度越小,污染物累积量及可冲刷量越大.因此,加强控制宜兴市道路初期径流、路面颗粒物、径流颗粒物和TN以及老城区TP,对保护径流主要受纳水体南溪水系及太湖水体具有重要意义.