Effects of uncertainty and variability on population declines and IUCN Red List classifications

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Categories and Criteria is a quantitative framework for classifying species according to extinction risk. Population models may be used to estimate extinction risk or population declines. Uncertainty and variability arise in threat classifications through measurement and process error in empirical data and uncertainty in the models used to estimate extinction risk and population declines. Furthermore, species traits are known to affect extinction risk. We investigated the effects of measurement and process error, model type, population growth rate, and age at first reproduction on the reliability of risk classifications based on projected population declines on IUCN Red List classifications. We used an age‐structured population model to simulate true population trajectories with different growth rates, reproductive ages and levels of variation, and subjected them to measurement error. We evaluated the ability of scalar and matrix models parameterized with these simulated time series to accurately capture the IUCN Red List classification generated with true population declines. Under all levels of measurement error tested and low process error, classifications were reasonably accurate; scalar and matrix models yielded roughly the same rate of misclassifications, but the distribution of errors differed; matrix models led to greater overestimation of extinction risk than underestimations; process error tended to contribute to misclassifications to a greater extent than measurement error; and more misclassifications occurred for fast, rather than slow, life histories. These results indicate that classifications of highly threatened taxa (i.e., taxa with low growth rates) under criterion A are more likely to be reliable than for less threatened taxa when assessed with population models. Greater scrutiny needs to be placed on data used to parameterize population models for species with high growth rates, particularly when available evidence indicates a potential transition to higher risk categories.     

韶关市3座供水水库蓝藻种群及微囊藻毒素的季节变化

为了解供水水库的蓝藻种群和微囊藻毒素的季节变化,于2012年1—12月对韶关的苍村、瀑布和花山3座供水水库进行了采样分析。结果表明,3座水库为中营养型水库,监测蓝藻共9属(种),优势种为鱼腥藻和微囊藻,蓝藻最高丰度为5.67×107L-1;降水导致营养盐物质带入水库和水体不稳定性是蓝藻种群和优势种在夏秋两季季节变化和占优势的主要影响因子。3座水库ρ(微囊藻毒素)为0.1~0.9μg/L,最高值接近世界卫生组织对饮用水中MC-LR的指导性限制值(1μg/L)标准。微囊藻与微囊藻毒素呈显著正相关性(R=0.871,P0.01),表明产微囊藻毒素的蓝藻主要为微囊藻,当水库发生微囊藻水华时有发生微囊藻毒素的风险。     

Effects of life history and reproduction on recruitment time lags in reintroductions of rare plants

Reintroductions are important components of conservation and recovery programs for rare plant species, but their long-term success rates are poorly understood. Previous reviews of plant reintroductions focused on short-term (e.g., ≤3 years) survival and flowering of founder individuals rather than on benchmarks of intergenerational persistence, such as seedling recruitment. However, short-term metrics may obscure outcomes because the unique demographic properties of reintroductions, including small size and unstable stage structure, could create lags in population growth. We used time-to-event analysis on a database of unusually well-monitored and long-term (4–28 years) reintroductions of 27 rare plant species to test whether life-history traits and population characteristics of reintroductions create time-lagged responses in seedling recruitment (i.e., recruitment time lags [RTLs]), an important benchmark of success and indicator of persistence in reintroduced populations. Recruitment time lags were highly variable among reintroductions, ranging from <1 to 17 years after installation. Recruitment patterns matched predictions from life-history theory with short-lived species (fast species) exhibiting consistently shorter and less variable RTLs than long-lived species (slow species). Long RTLs occurred in long-lived herbs, especially in grasslands, whereas short RTLs occurred in short-lived subtropical woody plants and annual herbs. Across plant life histories, as reproductive adult abundance increased, RTLs decreased. Highly variable RTLs were observed in species with multiple reintroduction events, suggesting local processes are just as important as life-history strategy in determining reintroduction outcomes. Time lags in restoration outcomes highlight the need to scale success benchmarks in reintroduction monitoring programs with plant life-history strategies and the unique demographic properties of restored populations. Drawing conclusions on the long-term success of plant reintroduction programs is premature given that demographic processes in species with slow life-histories take decades to unfold.     

Effects of urbanization on the population structure of freshwater turtles across the United States

Landscape‐scale alterations that accompany urbanization may negatively affect the population structure of wildlife species such as freshwater turtles. Changes to nesting sites and higher mortality rates due to vehicular collisions and increased predator populations may particularly affect immature turtles and mature female turtles. We hypothesized that the proportions of adult female and immature turtles in a population will negatively correlate with landscape urbanization. As a collaborative effort of the Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN), we sampled freshwater turtle populations in 11 states across the central and eastern United States. Contrary to expectations, we found a significant positive relationship between proportions of mature female painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) and urbanization. We did not detect a relationship between urbanization and proportions of immature turtles. Urbanization may alter the thermal environment of nesting sites such that more females are produced as urbanization increases. Our approach of creating a collaborative network of scientists and students at undergraduate institutions proved valuable in terms of testing our hypothesis over a large spatial scale while also allowing students to gain hands‐on experience in conservation science.     

Genetically informed captive breeding of hybrids of an extinct species of Galapagos tortoise

Hybridization poses a major challenge for species conservation because it threatens both genetic integrity and adaptive potential. Yet, hybridization can occasionally offer unprecedented opportunity for species recovery if the genome of an extinct taxon is present among living hybrids such that selective breeding could recapture it. We explored the design elements for establishing a captive-breeding program for Galapagos tortoises (Chelonoidis spp.) built around individuals with admixed ancestry involving an extinct species. The target individuals were hybrids between the extinct species from Floreana Island, C. niger, and an extant species, C. becki, which were recently found in the endemic range of C. becki, from Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island. We combined genotypic data from 35 tortoises with high ancestry from C. niger with forward-in-time simulations to explore captive breeding strategies that maximized overall genetic diversity and ancestry from C. niger while accommodating resource constraints, species biology, and the urgency to return tortoises to Floreana Island for facilitating ecosystem restoration. Overall genetic diversity was maximized when in the simulation tortoises were organized in relatively small breeding groups. Substantial amounts of the C. niger genome were captured despite limited resources available for selectively breeding tortoises in captivity. Genetic diversity was maximized when captive-bred offspring were released to the wild rather than being used as additional breeders. Our results provide genetic-based and practical guidance on the inclusion of hybrids with genomic representation from extinct taxa into species restoration programs and informs the ongoing debate on the value of hybrids in biodiversity conservation.     

短期填埋龄垃圾堆体内微生物群落结构与种群分布特征

填埋垃圾的稳定化过程一般经历好氧过渡、水解酸化、初期产甲烷及稳定产甲烷阶段,固相垃圾的厌氧水解酸化阶段常被视为垃圾降解的限速步骤,而这一阶段微生物的降解作用是影响垃圾稳定化进程的关键.以青岛市小涧西生活垃圾填埋场短期填埋龄垃圾为研究对象,采用MiSeq高通量测序研究了填埋龄0～1、1.0～1.5、1.5～2 a垃圾堆体内微生物的群落结构多样性及种群分布特征.结果表明,0～1 a填埋龄垃圾微生物多样性高于1.0～1.5 a和1.5～2 a垃圾堆体,且微生物多样性整体上随填埋深度呈降低趋势.参与垃圾降解细菌多样性比真菌更丰富,而真菌多样性随填埋区域、填埋龄的不同呈现更显著的差异.参与短期填埋龄垃圾降解的细菌中,Firmicutes在填埋层上层为优势菌门,最大比例达到65%,Proteobacteria在填埋层中下层为优势菌门,最大比例达到88%.填埋上层细菌菌属以Defluviitoga、Aerococcus、Clostridium III和Proteiniphilum为主,而在中下层以Thiopseudomonas、Sporosarcina和Eionea为主.真菌主要包括3个菌门,Ascomycota在各点位均为最优势菌门,属水平上Kernia及Aspergillus作为常见的腐生菌属,在不同点位均有较高的丰度.冗余分析表明短期填埋龄垃圾堆体内微生物不同时空分布存在显著差异性,且细菌群落结构的变化受pH值影响较大,而真菌群落结构的变化与垃圾有机质密切相关.     

受引黄影响的河流沉积物细菌群落季节变化

河流沉积物细菌群落的季节变化对碳、氮循环和水环境演化有明显的影响.然而,受调水干预的河流沉积物细菌群落季节性变化尚不明确.本文基于16S rRNA高通量测序技术,研究了中纬度地区受引黄影响的汾河上游沉积物细菌群落组成、结构和多样性的季节变化.结果表明,在引黄调水干预下受水河流细菌群落的季节性变化仍然显著.夏季温度适宜,河流沉积物细菌群落多样性较冬季高.核心菌群组成和结构随季节变化,然而丛毛单胞菌、黄杆菌、黄单胞菌和红环菌等的优势地位不随季节改变.河水水温和ORP的季节变化显著,是造成河流沉积物细菌群落季节变化的主导因子.水质较差的黄河水引入汾河后导致沉积物细菌群落多样性显著提高.引水对河流沉积物细菌群落的影响在夏季较冬季高20%左右.引黄调水对汾河沉积物细菌群落的影响大于季节变化的影响.     

Anaerobic oxidation of methane coupled to sulfate reduction: Consortium characteristics and application in co-removal of H2S and methane

Anaerobic sludge from a sewage treatment plant was used to acclimatize microbial colonies capable of anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to sulfate reduction. Clone libraries and fluorescence in situ hybridization were used to investigate the microbial population. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) (e.g., Desulfotomaculum arcticum and Desulfobulbus propionicus) and anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) (e.g., Methanosaeta sp. and Methanolinea sp.) coexisted in the enrichment. The archaeal and bacterial cells were randomly or evenly distributed throughout the consortia. Accompanied by sulfate reduction, methane was oxidized anaerobically by the consortia of methane-oxidizing archaea and SRB. Moreover, CH₄ and SO₄^2 ? were consumed by methanotrophs and sulfate reducers with CO₂ and H₂S as products. The H₃CSH produced by methanotrophy was an intermediate product during the process. The methanotrophic enrichment was inoculated in a down-flow biofilter for the treatment of methane and H₂S from a landfill site. On average, 93.33% of H₂S and 10.71% of methane was successfully reduced in the biofilter. This study tries to provide effective method for the synergistic treatment of waste gas containing sulfur compounds and CH₄.     

黄水溪砷环境地球化学迁移行为及其细菌群落分析

湖南石门雄黄矿区As（砷）污染问题由来已久,黄水溪更是长期受矿区影响.为进一步指导对矿区As污染的综合治理,通过分析河流As质量浓度及其通量、沉积物ATR-FTIR（衰减全反射傅里叶红外光谱）及其溶解释放As的能力、沉积物细菌群落多样性,对黄水溪石门雄黄矿河段中As的地球化学迁移行为及其河流沉积物的生态风险进行了调查.结果表明:①石门雄黄矿区河段水系中ρ（As_T）为0.28~10.43 mg/L,并且主要以As（Ⅴ）形式存在,少量为As（Ⅲ）.②As年通量在该河段区域增加约5.71 t.③ATR-FTIR分析沉积物显示,463、875和910 cm-1处吸收带来自AsO₄3-（砷酸根）的振动,775和796 cm-1处吸收带来自AsO₃3-（亚砷酸根）的振动,表明该沉积物中存在含As矿物.④在沉积物溶解试验中同时释放As（Ⅴ）和As（Ⅲ）,振荡6 h后ρ[As（Ⅴ）]和ρ[As（Ⅲ）]分别达0.014~0.550和0.002~0.291 mg/L.⑤沉积物的细菌群落多样性分析显示,黄水溪As污染已对水生生态系统造成了一定的影响,表现为ρ（As_T）较高水环境影响下,沉积物细菌群落丰富度和多样性减少,同时出现未鉴别属;变形菌门（Proteobacteria）和拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes）是黄水溪沉积物中的优势菌群.研究显示,黄水溪中As主要迁移途径可能为,在废弃选矿区域段含As尾矿颗粒进入河道,之后溶解进入水环境,在下游河段又再次被吸附/沉淀,并且吸附的As并不稳定,易再次释放.      

铜尾矿白羊草叶际和根际细菌群落特征

植物叶际、根际微生物及其生存环境共同形成复杂的生态系统,其中,根际微生物也是土壤物质循环的主要动力,可以为植物的生长发育提供基础.叶际和根际微生物也可作为生态学指标,在矿区生态稳定与生态恢复中具有显著作用.本研究选择铜尾矿优势禾草白羊草为研究对象,采用高通量测序的方法,研究白羊草叶际和根际细菌群落特征,探究影响白羊草叶际和根际微生物群落结构与多样性的关键生态因子.结果表明,白羊草叶际和根际细菌群落结构具有显著差异.其中,白羊草叶际细菌优势属包括假单胞菌属、肠杆菌属和鞘脂单胞菌属,根际细菌优势属为Solrubrobacter和酸杆菌属.白羊草根际细菌群落的香农指数、ACE指数和Chao1指数均显著高于叶际细菌.土壤水分含量、pH、土壤砷和锌含量,白羊草总氮和总硫,及叶片和根内的镉和铬是影响白羊草叶际和根际优势细菌属的主要生态因子.此外,根际细菌群落香农指数与根内铜含量显著负相关,辛普森指数与根的总氮含量显著正相关,叶际细菌群落ACE指数与叶片总硫含量显著正相关.本研究结果可为铜尾矿生态恢复中发掘和利用叶际或根际细菌资源及提高矿区生态修复效率提供科学依据.