The Vegetation of Wet Meadows in Relation to Their Land-use

Wetland biomonitoring approaches are needed to determine when changes in response to stressors are occurring and to predict the consequences of proposed land-use changes. These approaches require an understanding of shifts in biota that occur in response to land-use, data that are lacking for most kinds of wetlands. Changes in floristic composition corresponding to land-use differences at multiple scales (site to 2500 m radius) were characterized for 40 wet meadows associated with prairie glacial marshes in Minnesota (U.S.A.). In general, guild was more useful than species composition for indicating land-use impacts. Site impacts (stormwater, cultivation) and landscape disturbance (agriculture and urbanization, combined), coincide with a reduction in native graminoid and herbaceous perennial abundance (e.g., Carex lasiocarpa, Calamagrostis canadensis, Spartina pectinata). This vegetation is replaced with annuals (e.g, Bidens cernua, Polygonum pensylvanicum) in recently cultivated sites or introduced perennials (e.g., Phalaris arundinacea, Typha angustifolia) and floating aquatics (lemnids) in stormwater impacted wetlands. Ditches also reduce native perennial importance and increase perennials, but only when they are in highly impacted landscapes.     

Application of a coupled ecosystem-chemical equilibrium model, DayCent-Chem, to stream and soil chemistry in a Rocky Mountain watershed

Atmospheric deposition of sulfur and nitrogen species have the potential to acidify terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, but nitrate and ammonium are also critical nutrients for plant and microbial productivity. Both the ecological response and the hydrochemical response to atmospheric deposition are of interest to regulatory and land management agencies. We developed a non-spatial biogeochemical model to simulate soil and surface water chemistry by linking the daily version of the CENTURY ecosystem model (DayCent) with a low temperature aqueous geochemical model, PHREEQC. The coupled model, DayCent-Chem, simulates the daily dynamics of plant production, soil organic matter, cation exchange, mineral weathering, elution, stream discharge, and solute concentrations in soil water and stream flow. By aerially weighting the contributions of separate bedrock/talus and tundra simulations, the model was able to replicate the measured seasonal and annual stream chemistry for most solutes for Andrews Creek in Loch Vale watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park. Simulated soil chemistry, net primary production, live biomass, and soil organic matter for forest and tundra matched well with measurements. This model is appropriate for accurately describing ecosystem and surface water chemical response to atmospheric deposition and climate change.     

我国学者在青藏高原生态系统甲烷排放研究方面取得重要成果

中国科学院西北高原生物研究所网页上发布信息:《自然》等著名学术刊物、媒体报道我国科学家在青藏高原生态系统甲烷排放研究方面的最新成果(http://www.nwipb.ac.cn/xwzx/zhxw/200808/t20080829_1674857.html)报道,高寒草甸植物能够释放甲烷,但是草本植物群落和木     

UV-B辐射增强对麻花艽叶片光合作用及相关生理参数的影响

采用20 W和40 W的UV-B灯辐射增强处理,测定分析了UV-B辐射增强对麻花艽(Gentiana straminea Maxim)叶片净光合速率及相关生理参数的影响. 结果显示:2008年8月3日,研究区大气温度从09:00开始上升,到14:00达到最高点,叶温和大气饱和水气压变化与气温变化趋势相似;光合有效辐射强度从07:00开始上升,至13:00达到最高,之后下降;麻花艽叶片净光合作用速率(P_n)、气孔导度(G_s)、胞间CO₂浓度(C_i)、蒸腾速率(E)和水分利用效率在对照下最高,在40 W UV-B辐射下最低;P_n在08:00—10:00最高,G_s在07:00—08:00最高,C_i在日出及日落时最高,E在09:00—13:00及14:00—18:00最高,水分利用效率在日出后最高;P_n与G_s,叶片温度,大气温度,光合有效辐射和大气饱和水气压亏缺呈正相关,与C_i呈负相关,与光合有效辐射强度的相关系数较高. P_n在光合有效辐射强度为0～800 μmol/(m2·s)时随光合有效辐射强度增加而增加,在2 200～3 000 μmol/(m2·s)时变化不大;G_s和E随光合有效辐射强度的增加而增加;C_i在光合有效辐射强度为0～800 μmol/(m2·s)时,随光合有效辐射强度的增加而呈下降趋势;水分利用效率在光合有效辐射强度为0～800 μmol/(m2·s)时随光合有效辐射强度的增加而呈增加的趋势,在800～3 000 μmol/(m2·s)时呈下降趋势. 说明UV-B辐射增强将使高寒草甸植物叶片P_n,G_s,C_i,E和水分利用效率降低.      

The design and implementation of sustainable plant diversity conservation program for alpine meadows and pastures

The paper describes the design and implementation of a plant biodiversity conservation program that was developed under funding and time constraints for diverse ecological, social, and institutional environments. The biodiversity program for alpine meadows and pastures located in the Swiss Canton of the Grisons is used as an example. The design of the sustainable program relied on existing legislation, accounted for limited ecological knowledge and expertise, and considered biodiversity as a common-pool resource. The trend to intensified cultivation of restricted areas required fast action, while the sustainability of the program design had to take into account institutional diversity. Fifteen habitats and plant communities worth conserving were known, and 57 plant species were identified as indicator species for establishing an inventory and for monitoring purposes. A small subset of 16 well known plant species was presented to the farming communities. They were invited to notify the areas in which they observed the presence of these plants. In different regions of the Canton a total number of 39 paraecologists were trained to inspect the areas notified by farmers and to recommend possible incorporation into the Cantonal inventory. This was done once the farmers signed a contract in which they agreed to follow adequate management practices. The farmers received subsidies to compensate for their losses. Communal authorities controlled the fertilizer input and cutting dates, while the paraecologists were trained to monitor plant biodiversity. The program started in 1992 and the initial phase of the inventory was terminated in 1996. At the beginning of 1996, an inventory of 2617.19 ha, most of which are meadows, was taken and managed according to the rules specified in the contract. The program was considered successful because (i) of the size of the area in the inventory, (ii) about 30%of the farmers participated, and (iii) farmers started cultivating previously abandoned farmland.     

Meadow management and occurrence of corncrake Crex crex

The aim of this study was to analyse the occurrence of corncrakes in two Swedish meadow sites managed by mowing and grazing, but also with abandoned meadows. Most corncrakes (58%) on meadows were found in unmanaged areas without subsidies to the farmers (i.e. areas with tall vegetation). Several corncrakes (62%) were found in restored areas, managed for less than 10 of the last 40 years, fewer (38%) in areas under continuous management. Vegetation height was negatively associated with number of years of management the last 40 years, and the continuously managed areas were avoided by corncrakes. Sites where corncrake territories occur regularly should be managed to maintain tall vegetation suitable for the species, which requires increased use of mowing. However, the results from our study also suggest that yearly mowing might result in a vegetation structure that is avoided by corncrakes. To achieve a balance between tall grassy vegetation and prevention of succession to scrub a possible management regime would therefore be mowing at intervals of a few years.     

围栏封育对巴音布鲁克草原土壤理化性质的影响

为明确长期围栏封育对新疆亚高山草原土壤理化性质的影响,本研究以巴音布鲁克草原围封26年的高寒草甸、高寒草甸草原和高寒草原为研究对象,对三种类型草地围栏内外土壤理化性质进行对比分析,结果表明:(1)高寒草甸和高寒草原围栏内表层土壤饱和含水量、田间持水量和土壤含水量均高于围栏外样地,而土壤容重均低于围栏外,其中高寒草甸围栏内外的田间持水量、土壤含水量和土壤容重的差异达到显著水平;(2)高寒草甸围栏内表层土壤有机质含量显著高于围栏外,全氮则显著低于围栏外;三种类型草地围栏内表层土壤全磷含量均低于围栏外;(3)相关性分析表明,土壤含水量高的草地,其饱和含水量和田间持水量也较高,土壤容重较小;土壤容重高的草地其有机质含量较低;速效钾含量高的草地,其全磷含量也较高。围栏封育有利于草地土壤理化性质的恢复,但长时间围封会降低土壤磷素含量,需要通过施肥等管理措施补充以促进草地生态系统保持良性状态,本研究对草地土壤质量调控和退化草地恢复研究具有参考意义。     

Changes in the structure of chortobiont invertebrate community exposed to emissions from a copper smelter

The aboveground phytomass of meadow plants and the density of chortobiont invertebrates in secondary upland meadows were estimated using a biocenometer in three areas differing in the level of pollution with emissions from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter (Revda, Sverdlovsk oblast) in 2006 and 2007. As the smelter is approached, the total amount of phytomass (dry weight) decreases by a factor of 1.3–1.9, with the proportion of grasses reaching 100%; the total abundance of invertebrates increases two-to threefold due to sucking phytophages, which account for up to 80% of the invertebrate community. The abundance of gnawing phytophages near the smelter is reduced, with some taxa entirely missing (e.g., mollusks and phalangiid harvestmen). Rearrangements in chortobiont community structure are attributable to changes in the physiological state of plants and in the species diversity and architecture of the herbaceous layer, with consequent modification of hydrothermal conditions in it, as well as by the direct toxic effect of heavy metals.     

Meadow Restoration Increases Baseflow and Groundwater Storage in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California

In mountains of the western United States, channel incision has drawn down the water table across thousands of square kilometers of meadow floodplain. Here climate change is resulting in earlier melt and reduced snowpack and water resource managers are responding by investing in meadow restoration to increase springtime storage and summer flows. The record‐setting California drought (2012–2015) provided an opportunity to evaluate this strategy under the warmer and drier conditions expected to impact mountain water supplies. In 2012, 0.1 km² of meadow floodplain was reconnected by filling an incised channel through Indian Valley in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Despite sustained drought conditions after restoration, summer baseflow from the meadow increased 5–12 times. Before restoration, the total summer outflow from the meadow was 5% more than the total summer inflow. After restoration, total summer outflow from the meadow was between 35% and 95% more than total summer inflow. In the worst year of the drought (2015), when inflow to the meadow ceased for at least one month, summer baseflow was at least five times greater than before restoration. Groundwater levels also rose at four out of five sites near the stream channel. Filling the incised channel and reconnecting the meadow floodplain increased water availability and streamflow, despite unprecedented drought conditions.     

Evaluation of Storage and Filtration Protocols for Alpine/Subalpine Lake Water Quality Samples

Many government agencies and other organizations sample natural alpine and subalpine surface waters using varying protocols for sample storage and filtration. Simplification of protocols would be beneficial if it could be shown that sample quality is unaffected. In this study, samples collected from low ionic strength waters in alpine and subalpine lake inlets and outlets in the western United States were used to evaluate (1) effects of refrigerated storage time on the chemistry of unfiltered samples, and (2) differences in sample filtration protocols. No analytes exhibited significant changes when stored less than 48 h. Six analytes (pH, sodium, ammonium, potassium, chloride, sulfate) exhibited statistically significant (but small) changes when storage time exceeded 48 h. Two analytes (calcium, nitrate) were significantly higher when samples were field filtered than when filtered in the laboratory, but the differences were also small. For waters similar to those in this test, unfiltered refrigerated samples may be stored up to 48 h without compromising sample quality. The small differences between field and lab filtration do not justify the expense, training, and contamination risk of field filtration.