Effect of Mountain Relief and Industrial Air Pollution on Biometric Characteristics of Pine Stands

The effect of mountain relief and industrial air pollution on biometric parameters of pine stands was studied. The empirical–statistical models of the dependence of biometric characteristics on the parameters of forest sites were developed using raster modeling and multivariate analysis. The possibility of predicting changes in the biometric parameters at any site on the basis of these models is shown.     

Higher Plants As Bioindicators Of Sulphur Dioxide Emissions In Urban Environments

The evaluation of certain vascular plants that grow in the city of Madrid as biomonitors of SO₂ air pollution in urban environments has been carried out. Total concentration of sulphur in leaves of the chosen higher plants as well as other parameters in close relation to this contaminant (visible injury symptoms, chlorophyll a- and b-content and peroxidase activity) have been determined in order to study the spatial distribution and temporal changes in SO₂ deposition. Results obtained show that coniferous species such as Pinus pinea, were more sensitive to SO₂ atmospheric concentration than leafy species as Quercux ilex subspecies ballota and, in the same way, bush species, such asPyracantha coccinea and Nerium oleander, were more sensitive than wooded species, such as Cedrus deodaraandPinus pinea, respectively. There is a higher accumulation of sulphur in vegetable species located near highways and dense traffic incidence roads and near areas with high density of population. The minimum values for accumulation of SO₂ were registered in winter and spring seasons (from January to April) due to the vegetative stop; while maximum values are obtained during the summer season (from June to September), due to the stoma opening. The highest increments in sulphur concentration, calculated as the difference between two consecutive months, are obtained in May and June for all considered species except forCedrus deodara and Pyracantha coccinea, both species have few seasonal changes during the whole year. Some species are more sensitive to natural washing than others, showing a decrease in sulphur concentration after rainfall periods.     

大树杜鹃Rhododendron protistum var.giganteum和蓝果杜鹃Rhododendron cyanocarpum的濒危原因研究

大树杜鹃ＲｐｒｏｔｉｓｔｕｍｖａｒｇｉｇａｎｔｅｕｍＦｏｒｒｅｓｔｅｔＴａｇｇＣｈａｍｂｅｎｉａｉｎ和蓝果杜鹃ＲｃｙａｎｏｃａｒｐｕｍＦ．Ｗ．Ｓｍｉｔｈ被定为国家三级保护植物［１］。本文对这两种保护植物从资源调查、原产地的土壤分析、种子繁殖和贮存方式、异地保护和异地栽培条件下幼苗生长等４个方面作了濒危原因研究。研究结果表明：大树杜鹃应就地和异地保护并用，蓝果杜鹃则应采取就地保护为宜。     

天山云杉天然林分土壤呼吸速率的时空变化规律分析

天山云杉(Picea schrenkiana var.tianschanica(Rupr.)Chen et Fu)是构成天山山地森林生态系统的主体。在天山中部,从天山云杉在此区域分布的底线开始,结合天山云杉自然分布特征,沿每隔约100m的海拔梯度选择典型地段设置样地。根据远红外气体分析原理,采用LI-6400-09土壤呼吸室和LI-6400便携式光合作用测量系统,于2006年6-9月,测定了天山云杉天然林分在生长季内土壤呼吸速率随海拔高度和时间的变化规律。在空间上,林分的土壤呼吸速率并非随海拔高度呈线性增加或减少的关系,而是有规律的波动,在海拔1950～2110m之间,土壤呼吸速率是随着海拔高度的增加而降低,在2110～2428m之间是随着海拔高度的增加而升高,在海拔2428m处达到最大的呼吸速率值后又降低。不同海拔高度林分的土壤呼吸速率主要受土壤表面空气相对湿度及土壤温度的影响。在时间上,林分的土壤呼吸速率在生长季内随不同月份的变化为单峰曲线,其最大值出现在7月份;生长季内土壤呼吸速率与土壤温度呈显著负相关,与土壤表面空气相对湿度呈极显著正相关。而林分土壤呼吸速率的日变化在各时间点上的大小排序为7月>6月>8月>9月。它的变化与土壤温度具有极显著的正相关性,与土壤表面空气相对湿度具有显著的负相关性。     

闽江河口潮汐沼泽湿地CO_2排放通量特征

以闽江河口区面积最大的鳝鱼滩湿地分布的3种植物沼泽湿地：土著种咸草（Cyperus malaccensis Lam.var.brevifolius Bocklr.）沼泽湿地、芦苇（Phragmites australis）沼泽湿地及外来入侵种互花米草（Spartina alterniflora Loisel.）沼泽湿地...     

模拟氮沉降对太岳山油松林土壤呼吸的影响及其持续效应

以太岳山油松林为研究对象,对林地分别作3种凋落物处理:对照(C)、去凋(B)、去凋+切根(A),并设计了4个氮水平:对照(CK,0 kg·hm-2·a-1,以N计,下同)、低氮(LN,50 kg·hm-2·a-1)、中氮(MN,100 kg·hm-2·a-1)和高氮(HN,150 kg·hm-2·a-1),研究了土壤呼吸速率在施氮后的连续变化,以及与温度、湿度、微生物生物量C、N、土壤酶活性的关系.结果表明:去凋+切根、去凋、对照样方不同施氮水平下土壤呼吸速率基本都在施N后的第1 d处在最高峰,随即下降,切根+去凋、去凋处理样方的土壤呼吸速率在施氮后第3 d趋于稳定,而对照处理样方的土壤呼吸速率一直处于下降状态.施氮在一定程度上抑制了切根+去凋处理的土壤呼吸速率,而促进了去凋处理、对照处理的土壤呼吸速率,并且土壤微生物生物量C、N的变化与土壤呼吸速率变化一致,土壤呼吸速率与土壤酶活性、土壤湿度的拟合关系不显著(p0.05),而与土壤温度的拟合关系显著(p0.05).以土壤温度、土壤湿度构建的复合模型R s=aebTWc预测土壤呼吸的准确性高于单因子模型,施氮降低了每种凋落物处理指数关系模型(R s=aebT)的决定系数R2,并且施氮降低了切根+去凋、去凋处理的温度敏感性指数Q10,而对对照处理的Q10无明显影响.     

花叶芦竹水平潜流人工湿地脱氮性能研究

采用花叶芦竹水平潜流人工湿地处理生活污水，对其脱氮性能进行研究。结果表明：在HRT＝5 d，对TOC，NH⁺₄-N，NO^-₂-N，NO^-₃-N和TN的去除效果分别达到92％、93％、84％、51％和88％，相应空白湿地的去除率分别为91％、85％、-232％、-203％和66％。大部分TOC在湿地的前端被去除。花叶芦竹可以直接吸收氮素，向湿地输送氧气，通过根系分泌物提供碳源。因此，花叶芦竹人工湿地具有很好的硝化反硝化能力，实现了良好的脱氮性能。     

Woodland restoration in Scotland: ecology, history, culture, economics, politics and change

In the latter half of the 20th century, native pine woodlands in Scotland were restricted to small remnant areas within which there was little regeneration. These woodlands are important from a conservation perspective and are habitat for numerous species of conservation concern. Recent developments have seen a large increase in interest in woodland restoration and a dramatic increase in regeneration and woodland spread. The proximate factor enabling this regeneration is a reduction in grazing pressure from sheep and, particularly, deer. However, this has only been possible as a result of a complex interplay between ecological, political and socio-economic factors. We are currently seeing the decline of land management practices instituted 150-200 years ago, changes in land ownership patterns, cultural revival, and changes in societal perceptions of the Scottish landscape. These all feed into the current move to return large areas of the Scottish Highlands to tree cover. I emphasize the need to consider restoration in a multidisciplinary framework which accounts not just for the ecology involved but also the historical and cultural context.     

DROUGHT INDICATED IN CARBON-13/CARBON-12 RATIOS OF SOUTHWESTERN TREE RINGS1

ABSTRACT: Stomatal closure during periods of moisture deficiency should theoretically lead to elevated ¹³C/¹²C ratios as reduction of available CO₂ leads to diminished photosynthetic discrimination against ¹³C in favor of ¹²C. Stable-carbon isotope ratio chronologies developed from 5-yr tree-ring groups at 17 sites in six southwestern states were tested for a drought relationship by first fitting a spline curve to each chronology to remove the long-term trend and calculating indices as the ratio of actual to spline curve value. The time series of “Del Indices” so developed are significantly correlated with 5-yr mean Palmer Hydrological Drought Indices (post-1930 period) and reconstructed July Palmer Drought Severity Indices from respective areas. Overall, in the period since 1790, the driest pentads were 1900–04 and 1960–64, whereas the wettest were 1980–84 and 1915–19. Maps of drought represented for two pentads seem to be reasonable representations, although spatial correlations of Del Indices with PHDI were generally not significant. These Del Index drought reconstructions may provide a useful measure of past physiological response to drought (stomatal closure), although the present cost of analysis would prevent this from being a routine method.     

Habitat, Landscape and Bird Composition in Mountain Forest Fragments

The study attempts to separate the effects of forest fragmentation related to landscape (patch area, isolation) and habitat (altitude, vegetation structure) on bird community composition in a mountain pine forest. Bird composition was related, using a multivariate approach (canonical correspondence analyses), to either habitat or to landscape, eliminating the effect of habitat statistically. Bird composition and species richness varied with patch area and isolation from large pine stands, but this effect could be assigned principally to variation in vegetation structure and altitude. Another effect, that of increasing occurrence and numbers of Anthus trivialis with decreasing distance to nearest low-altitude forest, could be assigned to both habitat (grass cover) and landscape (connectivity effects). Management implications are drawn from the results.