Microbes do not follow the elevational diversity patterns of plants and animals

The elevational gradient in plant and animal diversity is one of the most widely documented patterns in ecology and, although no consensus explanation exists, many hypotheses have been proposed over the past century to explain these patterns. Historically, research on elevational diversity gradients has focused almost exclusively on plant and animal taxa. As a result, we do not know whether microbes exhibit elevational gradients in diversity that parallel those observed for macroscopic taxa. This represents a key knowledge gap in ecology, especially given the ubiquity, abundance, and functional importance of microbes. Here we show that, across a montane elevational gradient in eastern Peru, bacteria living in three distinct habitats (organic soil, mineral soil, and leaf surfaces) exhibit no significant elevational gradient in diversity (r2<0.17, P>0.1 in all cases), in direct contrast to the significant diversity changes observed for plant and animal taxa across the same montane gradient (r2>0.75, P<0.001 in all cases). This finding suggests that the biogeographical patterns exhibited by bacteria are fundamentally different from those of plants and animals, highlighting the need for the development of more inclusive concepts and theories in biogeography to explain these disparities.     

Root respiration and oxygen flux in salt marsh grasses from different elevational zones

Plants growing in waterlogged environments are subjected to low oxygen levels around submerged tissues. While internal oxygen transport has been postulated as an important factor governing flooding tolerance, respiration rates and abilities to take up oxygen under hypoxic conditions have been largely ignored in plant studies. In this study, physiological characteristics related to internal oxygen transport, respiration, and oxygen affinity were studied in low intertidal marsh species (Spartina alterniflora and S. anglica) and middle to high intertidal species (S. densiflora, S. patens, S. foliosa, a S. alterniflora × S. foliosa hybrid, S. spartinae, and Distichlis spicata). These marsh plants were compared to the inland species S. pectinata and the crop species rice (Oryza sativa), corn (Zea mays), and oat (Avena sativa). Plants were grown in a greenhouse under simulated estuarine conditions. The low marsh species S. anglica was found to transport oxygen internally at rates up to 2.2 μmol O₂ g fresh root weight⁻¹ h⁻¹. In contrast, marsh species from higher zones and crop species were found to transport significantly less oxygen internally, although rice plants were able to transport 1.4 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹. Under hypoxic conditions, low marsh species were better able to remove dissolved oxygen from the medium compared to higher marsh species and crops. The oxygen concentration at which respiration rates declined due to limited oxygen (P _crit) was significantly lower in low marsh species compared to inland and crop species; P _crit ranged from <4 μM O₂ in the low marsh species S. anglica up to 20 μM in the inland species corn. Flooding-sensitive crop species had significantly higher aerobic respiration rates compared to flooding-tolerant species in this study. Crop species took up 3.6–6.7 μmol O₂ g⁻¹ h⁻¹ while all but one marsh species took up <3.5 μmol O₂ g⁻¹ h⁻¹. We conclude that oxygen transport, aerobic demand, and oxygen affinity all play important and interrelated roles in flood tolerance and salt marsh zonation.     

Multiple techniques confirm elevational differences in insect size that may influence spider sociality

Social and subsocial spiders of the genus Anelosimus exhibit an altitudinal pattern in their geographic distribution at tropical latitudes in the Americas. Social species, which capture prey cooperatively, occur primarily in the lowland rain forest and are absent from higher elevations, whereas subsocial species are common at higher elevations but absent from the lowland rain forest. Previous studies have suggested that differences in the size of potential insect prey along altitudinal gradients may explain this pattern as insects were found to be, on average, larger in lowland rain forests than at higher elevations. These studies, however, may have under-sampled the insect size composition of each habitat because only one sampling technique was used. Using a number of collection methods we sampled the insect size composition in the environments of social and subsocial spiders in this genus. We found that the average insect size in lowland rain forest habitats was indeed larger than at high-elevation cloud forests in eastern Ecuador. We also found that, even though the various techniques differed in the size of the insects they captured (visual searching and blacklighting yielding larger insects than beating, sweeping, or malaise trapping), they all caught, on average, larger insects in the lowlands. Overall, spider colonies in the lowlands caught larger prey than did spider colonies at higher elevations, paralleling differences in insect size distribution obtained by the various techniques in their respective environments.     

High seagrass diversity and canopy-height increase associated fish diversity and abundance

Seagrass species function as typical foundation species that unifies most ecosystem processes. This ecosystem role depends largely on the morphological characteristics and structural complexity of seagrass beds, including their ecological importance for fish species. This study examined relationships between seagrass bed characteristics and associated fish communities in mixed seagrass beds. Correspondence analysis (CA) and canonical correlation analysis (CCoA) were performed to estimate relationships for individual seagrass bed characteristics. The CCoA results revealed that species richness and three-dimensional structure of seagrass had great effect on the biomass and richness of the associated fish community. The CA results revealed that the relative importance of seagrass bed characteristics differed among fish functional groups including fishes appearing on the surface of, inside, and on the bottom of seagrass beds. The fishes found on the surface of the beds preferred beds with low seagrass biomass and high three-dimensional structure, those inside the beds preferred beds with high seagrass biomass and high three-dimensional structure, and those on the bottom of the beds preferred locations with low seagrass biomass and low three-dimensional structure. The results of this study provide compelling evidence that seagrass beds with high species diversity and high three-dimensional structure, but intermediate biomass, may provide the great benefit to the associated fish community. Such niche complementarity among fishes may be a process facilitated by seagrass diversity for secondary production as an ecosystem functioning.     

Predator diversity and trophic interactions

The recognition that predators play important roles in ecosystems has prompted research to resolve how combinations of predator species influence ecosystem functions. Interactions among predator species and their prey can lead to a host of linear and nonlinear effects. Understanding the conditions causing these effects is critical for assigning predator species to functional groups in ways that lead to predictive theory of predator diversity effects on trophic interactions. To this end, I provide a synthesis of experiments examining multiple-predator-species effects on mortality of single shared prey. I show how experimental design and experimental venue can determine the conclusion about the importance of predator diversity on trophic interactions. In addition, I link natural history insights on predator species habitat and hunting behavior with linear and nonlinear multiple-predator effects to derive a new concept of predator diversity effects on trophic interactions. This concept holds that the nature of predator diversity effects is contingent upon predator species hunting mode plus predator and prey species habitat domain (defined as the spatial extent to which a microhabitat is used by a species). This concept allows the classification of multiple-predator effects into four broad functional categories: substitutable, nonlinear due to predator species interference, nonlinear due to intraguild predation, and nonlinear due to predator species synergism. Experimental evidence so far provides ample and comparatively equal support for substitutable, interference, and intraguild effects, and equivocal support for nonlinear synergisms. The paper closes by discussing ways to further a research program aimed at using the building blocks presented here to understand predator functional diversity and trophic interactions in complex ecological systems.     

Estimates of species- and ecosystem-level respiration of woody stems along an elevational gradient in the Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico

We measured CO₂ efflux from stems of seven subtropical tree species situated along an elevational gradient in the Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico and scaled these measurements up to the landscape level based on modeled and empirical relations. The most important determinants of ecosystem stem respiration were species composition and stem temperature. At a species scale, measured CO₂ efflux per unit bole surface area at a given temperature was highest in the early successional species Cecropia schreberiana and lowest in species that inhabit high elevations such as Micropholis garciniifolia and Tabebuia rigida. Carbon dioxide efflux rates followed a diel pattern that lagged approximately 6 h behind changes in sapwood temperatures. At an ecosystem scale, our simulation model indicates a decreasing trend of stem respiration rates with increasing elevation due to shifts in species composition, lower temperatures and reductions in branch surface area. The highest estimated stem respiration rates were present in the lowland tabonuco forest type and the lowest rates were present in the elfin forest type (mean 7.4 and 2.1 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, respectively). There was slight temperature-induced seasonal variation in simulated stem respiration rates at low elevations, with a maximum difference of 19% between the months of February and July. Our results coincide well with those of Odum and Jordan [Odum, H.T., Jordan, C.F., 1970. Metabolism and evapotranspiration of the lower forest in a giant plastic cylinder. In: Odum, H.T., Pigeon, R.F. (Eds.), A Tropical Rain Forest: A Study of Irradiation and Ecology at El Verde, Puerto Rico. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Oak Ridge, TN, pp. I165–I189] for the tabonuco forest type and extend their work by presenting estimates and spatial patterns of woody tissue respiration for the entire mountain rather than for a single forested plot.     

Measuring biological diversity

The diversity of a set of species refers to the joint dissimilarity of the species in the set. This paper discusses the measurement of diversity from the set of pairwise distances between the species in the set. A measure called the effective number of species is developed from a non-parametric probability inequality and is shown to have a simple interpretation in terms of comparing linear experiments.     

Hydrologic connection between ponds positively affects macrophyte alpha and gamma diversity but negatively affects beta diversity

Connections between habitat patches can positively influence the number of species in respective patches, providing a basis for preferentially conserving interconnected patches. However, from a regional perspective, it is not known whether conserving multiple sets of interconnected habitat patches would include more species (i.e., show higher gamma diversity) than conserving multiple, unconnected, solitary patches. We studied aquatic macrophytes in 15 sets of unidirectionally interconnected ponds and 19 unconnected ponds and also tested whether alpha and beta diversity, expressed as the number of species and dissimilarity in species composition, respectively, differed between connected and unconnected ponds. We found that gamma diversity was higher in connected ponds than in unconnected ponds, even after controlling for surface area. This resulted from a higher alpha diversity in connected ponds, despite lower beta diversity. These results suggest that connections between habitat patches positively influence diversity at both local and regional scales. When the total surface area available for conservation is limited, interconnected habitat patches should be preferentially conserved.     

Species diversity modulates predation

Predation occurs in a context defined by both prey and non-prey species. At present it is largely unknown how species diversity in general, and species that are not included in a predator's diet in particular, modify predator-prey interactions. Therefore we studied how both the density and diversity of non-prey species modified predation rates in experimental microcosms. We found that even a low density of a single nonprey species depressed the asymptote of a predator's functional response. Increases in the density and diversity of non-prey species further reduced predation rates to very low levels. Controls showed that this diversity effect was not due to the identity of any of the non-prey species. Our results establish that both the density and diversity of species outside a predator's diet can significantly weaken the strength of predator-prey interactions. These results have major implications for ecological theory on species interactions in simple vs. complex communities. We discuss our findings in terms of the relationship between diversity and stability.     

茄子植物内生细菌群落结构与多样性

采用平板分离纯化不同来源地茄子健株和青枯病株内生细菌,利用细菌脂肪酸鉴定技术进行鉴定.共获得内生细菌18属28种,健株共分离到内生细菌15属23种,含量为5.96×105CFU·g-1.病株分离到内生细菌14属16种,含量为3.191×108CFU·g-,其中青枯雷尔氏菌含量为3.187×108CFU·g-.根部分离到的内生细菌最多,其次为茎部,叶部最少.不同种植地来源的茄子健株内生细菌的种类数量有较大差异,来自晋江的健株分离到13属17种,来自东洋的健株分离到7属9种,而来自福清的健株仅分离到3属4种.来自晋江的植株内生细菌的SIMPSON(D)优势度指数和SHANNON(H1)多样性指数分别为0.963 2和3.572 5,均高于来自东洋植株(D:0.9444,H1:2.725 5)和福清植株(D:0.833 3,H1:1.5).而均匀度则以来自东洋植株最高(0.970 8),来自晋江和福清的植株分别为0.9654和0.9464.不同生长环境下不同生长状态的茄子植株内生细菌群落结构与多样性存在较大的差异.该研究对于通过微生物标记植物生长的生态环境具有重要的实验意义,对于科学说明生防机理具有重要作用.     

Mycorrhizal fungal identity and diversity relaxes plant-plant competition

There is a great interest in ecology in understanding the role of soil microbial diversity for plant productivity and coexistence. Recent research has shown increases in species richness of mutualistic soil fungi, the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), to be related to increases in aboveground productivity of plant communities. However, the impact of AMF richness on plant-plant interactions has not been determined. Moreover, it is unknown whether species-rich AMF communities can act as insurance to maintain productivity in a fluctuating environment (e.g., upon changing soil conditions). We tested the impact of four different AMF taxa and of AMF diversity (no AMF, single AMF taxa, and all four together) on competitive interactions between the legume Trifolium pratense and the grass Lolium multiflorum grown under two different soil conditions of low and high sand content. We hypothesized that more diverse mutualistic interactions (e.g., when four AMF taxa are present) can ease competitive effects between plants, increase plant growth, and maintain plant productivity across different soil environments. We used quantitative PCR to verify that AMF taxa inoculated at the beginning of the experiment were still present at the end. The presence of AMF reduced the competitive inequality between the two plant species by reducing the growth suppression of the legume by the grass. High AMF richness enhanced the combined biomass production of the two plant species and the yield of the legume, particularly in the more productive soil with low sand content. In the less productive (high sand content) soil, the single most effective AMF had an equally beneficial effect on plant productivity as the mixture of four AMF. Since contributions of single AMF to plant productivity varied between both soils, higher AMF richness would be required to maintain plant productivity in heterogeneous environments. Overall this work shows that AMF diversity promotes plant productivity and that AMF diversity can act as insurance to sustain plant productivity under changing environmental conditions.     

Wildfire, landscape diversity and the Drossel-Schwabl model

How simple can a model be that still captures essential aspects of wildfire ecosystems at large spatial and temporal scales? The Drossel-Schwabl model (DSM) is a metaphorical forest-fire model developed to reproduce only one pattern of real systems: a frequency distribution of fire sizes resembling a power law. Consequently, and because it appears oversimplified, it remains unclear what bearings the DSM has in reality. Here, we test whether the DSM is capable of reproducing a pattern that was not considered in its design, the hump-shaped relation between the diversity of succession stages and average annual area burnt. We found that the model, once reformulated to represent succession, produces realistic landscape diversity patterns. We investigated four succession scenarios of forest-fire ecosystems in the USA and Canada. In all scenarios, landscape diversity is highest at an intermediate average annual area burnt as predicted by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. These results show that a model based solely on the dynamics of the fuel mosaic has surprisingly high predictive power with regard to observed statistical properties of wildfire systems at large spatial scales. Parsimonious models, such as the DSM can be used as starting points for systematic development of more structurally realistic but tractable wildfire models. Due to their simplicity they allow analytical approaches that further our understanding under increasing complexity.     

Zoogeography and diversity of euphausiids around southern Africa

Published and unpublished records of euphausiid distributions around southern Africa are examined for zoogeographic pattern and the results compared with patterns generated from intertidal data sets. Two basic groups of euphausiids are discerned from cluster analysis, corresponding to neritic and oceanic assemblages. Superimposed upon these are Indian Ocean (Agulhas Current) and Atlantic Ocean (Benguela Current) groups. Patterns of diversity and zoogeography generally conform to the large-scale hydrological features in the area. Diversity is higher in the oceanic than in neritic regions. Maximum diversity is recorded off Cape Point, where Indian, Atlantic and southern Ocean waters interact. Diversity is otherwise higher along the east coast, and particularly low in the nearshore waters of the Benguela Current. While particular species of euphausiids can be associated with Agulhas Current and Angola Current waters, westcoast communities lack any distinctive species, and this is discussed. Although the patterns of zoogeography observed for euphausiids are generally similar to those observed for rocky shore communities, there are clear differences between them that reflect their respective habitats and the influence that large-scale water movement has on each.     

Metabolic diversity in oceanic animals

Relatively little overlap exists in faunal assemblages in the oceanic waters found north of, and over the reef-like structure south of, Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA. To better understand the mechanisms influencing the zoogeography of these animals, metabolic-temperature patterns have been characterized for both larvae and adults of animals collected in waters north and south of Cape Hatteras and from the Caribbean Sea. Southern affinity species from north of Cape Hatteras are the most metabolically labile of the groups, based on seasonal and laboratory-acclimated studies. Adults having a northern affinity found north of Cape Hatteras are metabolically depressed at high temperatures, whereas species from the reef area and the Caribbean are metabolically depressed at low temperatures. Metabolic rates of first stage zoea of crabs from the reef area are depressed at lower temperatures than larvae of the same stage of other species of crabs from the Cape Hatteras region or the Caribbean Sea.Supported by Grant NSF GB 7435 from the National Science Foundation. The authors thank Duke University Marine Laboratory and the Cooperative Program of Biological Oceanography for the use of the R.V. Eastward. The Co-operative Program is supported through the National Science Foundation Grant GB-8189.     

土壤微生物生物量及多样性测定方法评述

土壤微生物作为土壤中重要的分解者,在养分的循环与转化中起着重要的作用。另外,由于其与土壤理化性质相比,对外界环境的变化更为敏感,因此,土壤微生物性质常被用作表征土壤质量的灵敏性指标,而土壤微生物生物量与微生物多样性是土壤微生物学研究中应用最广泛的指标。土壤环境复杂,微生物种类丰富多样,需要合适的研究方法才能真正打开土壤系统这个黑箱,自19世纪60年代以后,土壤微生物学在研究方法上取得了重要的进展,本文综述了微生物生物量及多样性的概念及微生物生物量和多样性研究方法的发展状况,重点就已有应用比较多的研究方法如测定微生物生物量的熏蒸法,测定微生物多样性的平板计数法、Biolog微平板计数法、磷脂脂肪酸法及分子生物学等研究方法进行了详细介绍及优缺点分析。结合现有微生物生物量及多样性的测定方法,在未来的研究中,一方面应该引入更多的新技术,发展新方法,以期探索更多的未知微生物种群;其次应该根据实验要求,完善和改进现有研究方法,使其更为统一和准确;再者,在微生物数据的分析上应该探索和借鉴更多的分析方法和手段,从而更深入更全面的解读实验当中所得到的微生物的信息。     

土壤微生物生物量及多样性测定方法评述

土壤微生物作为土壤中重要的分解者,在养分的循环与转化中起着重要的作用。另外,由于其与土壤理化性质相比,对外界环境的变化更为敏感,因此,土壤微生物性质常被用作表征土壤质量的灵敏性指标,而土壤微生物生物量与微生物多样性是土壤微生物学研究中应用最广泛的指标。土壤环境复杂,微生物种类丰富多样,需要合适的研究方法才能真正打开土壤系统这个黑箱,自19世纪60年代以后,土壤微生物学在研究方法上取得了重要的进展,本文综述了微生物生物量及多样性的概念及微生物生物量和多样性研究方法的发展状况,重点就已有应用比较多的研究方法如测定微生物生物量的熏蒸法,测定微生物多样性的平板计数法、Biolog微平板计数法、磷脂脂肪酸法及分子生物学等研究方法进行了详细介绍及优缺点分析。结合现有微生物生物量及多样性的测定方法,在未来的研究中,一方面应该引入更多的新技术,发展新方法,以期探索更多的未知微生物种群;其次应该根据实验要求,完善和改进现有研究方法,使其更为统一和准确;再者,在微生物数据的分析上应该探索和借鉴更多的分析方法和手段,从而更深入更全面的解读实验当中所得到的微生物的信息。     

Functional and phylogenetic diversity as predictors of biodiversity--ecosystem-function relationships

How closely does variability in ecologically important traits reflect evolutionary divergence? The use of phylogenetic diversity (PD) to predict biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning, and more generally the use of phylogenetic information in community ecology, depends in part on the answer to this question. However, comparisons of the predictive power of phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity (FD) have not been conducted across a range of experiments. To address how phylogenetic diversity and functional trait variation control biodiversity effects on biomass production, we summarized the results of 29 grassland plant experiments where both the phylogeny of plant species used in the experiments is well described and where extensive trait data are available. Functional trait variation was only partially related to phylogenetic distances between species, and the resulting FD values therefore correlate only partially with PD. Despite these differences, FD and PD predicted biodiversity effects across all experiments with similar strength, including in subsets that excluded plots with legumes and that focused on fertilization experiments. Two- and three-trait combinations of the five traits used here (leaf nitrogen percentage, height, specific root length, leaf mass per unit area, and nitrogen fixation) resulted in the FD values with the greatest predictive power. Both PD and FD can be valuable predictors of the effect of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning, which suggests that a focus on both community trait diversity and evolutionary history can improve understanding of the consequences of biodiversity loss.     

山东省濒危物种多样性调查与评价

以县级行政区域为单元,调查了山东省高等动植物濒危物种的种类、濒危等级及其县域分布状况,建立了各县域濒危物种名录,计算了各县域濒危物种丰度指数,分析了濒危物种空间分布格局,提出了濒危物种保护对策。结果表明：山东省濒危野生高等动物物种有80种,其极危、濒危、易危和近危物种种类分别为3、11、34和32种。濒危野生维管束植物物种有24种,其极危、易危和近危物种种类分别为1、6和17种。濒危野生高等动物在全省120个县域均有分布,物种种类在21．50之间变化;濒危野生维管柬植物仅分布在74个县域,物种种类变化范围在1-18之间。山东省濒危物种丰度指数较小,各县域濒危物种丰度指数变化范围在3．75％-6．76％之间。濒危物种多样性空间分布规律反映了山东省实际情况。     

Technological pluralism and diversity as fundamental prerequisites for sustainability

SUMMARY

A definition of technological pluralism and diversity is presented, together with a concept of viability, within the context of sustainable development. The existing contrast with technological homogeneity is also discussed in order to show that the former concept is a necessary prerequisite for the pursuit of sustainability, whereas the latter has led to a process of cultural homogenisation, with the generally acknowledged repercussions for past and present forms of development. The availability of a number of different viable options can be considered a fundamental prerequisite for the most appropriate choice to be made by both producers and consumers; whereas, if only one technical solution is available and ready to be implemented (or requires only marginal modifications), then producers from the various socioeconomic sectors are obliged to implement that solution. This may sometimes have its advantages but very often will have serious drawbacks which may well impede the pursuit of sustainability.

The question of the current form of product diversification is also analysed to see whether it may be advantageous within a sustainable society, and to discover if there is any contrast between this type of diversification and technological pluralism/diversity, and how this contrast may be overcome.     

青岛奥运帆船赛区及邻近海域海水环境质量分析与评价

2002年7月对青岛市2008年奥运会帆船赛区及邻近海域监测,结果表明,海水质量总体状况良好,能够满足功能要求,无机氮、铅和粪大肠菌群在局部海域略有超标。今后仍要有针对性的加大治理力度,确保2008年奥运会帆船比赛的顺利进行。