湖泊生态系统稳态转换理论与驱动因子研究进展

湖泊生态系统会在长期的人为胁迫和短期的强扰动下发生稳态转换,稳态转换前后湖泊生态系统的结构和关键过程会发生明显的变化,探求浅水湖泊稳态转换驱动因子是科学合理确定湖泊管理策略的关键所在。对湖泊生态系统稳态转换的理论内涵、驱动机制进行了总结和探讨。湖泊生态系统稳态转换的概念主要含有发生的突然性和难以预知性、系统的结构与功能发生明显变化以及存在多稳态现象等内涵;具有非线性、多阈值、多稳态,以及修复过程中的迟滞效应等特征。湖泊生态系统稳态转换的驱动因子可分为外部驱动和内部驱动两种类型。外部驱动包括外源性氮磷负荷、气候变化、风浪、湖泊水位等因子;外源性氮磷负荷和气候变化的影响具有长期性和累积性,通过逐步削弱湖泊生态系统恢复力进而引发稳态转换;风浪、湖泊水位等为突发性因子,往往表现为稳态转换的直接诱因。内部驱动包括鱼类、水生植物等因子;鱼类主要通过对水生植物、湖泊底质、浮游动物等生态组分的影响引发湖泊生态系统稳态转换;水生植物对湖泊清水稳态可能不仅存在正反馈作用,也会在一定条件下存在负反馈作用。今后应加强沉水植物生长消亡的主要环境与生物要素综合作用机理、湖泊稳态类型与主控因素等方面的研究。     

荒漠生态系统中生物的信息联系特征

探讨了生物与水分、植物与植物以及植物与动物之间的信息传递方式,信息传递在维持荒漠生态系统正常运转中的作用。阐明了把握荒漠生态系统信息传递的特征及过程对认识干旱环境形成机制、演变规律及发展趋势,构建退化生态系统重建及恢复模式的重要意义。     

湖滨带生态系统恢复与重建的理论、技术及其应用

从湖滨带的基本概念入手，简述了湖滨带生态系统恢复与重建的基本内涵、恢复与重建的目标、原则及对健康生态系统的判定方法。介绍了湖滨带生态系统恢复与重建的理论。文中还对湖滨带生态恢复与重建的过程进行了论述，对主要应用的技术进行了详细的对比分析。文章最后对未来技术研究的方向和思路进行了展望。     

城市生态系统承载力研究进展

承载力一词来自生态学，最初应用于对自然生态系统中生物数量的研究。从城市生态学与城市生态系统理论的发展角度介绍了城市生态学中承载力一词含义及其发展过程，并重点介绍了国内外学者对资源承载力、环境承载力及生态承载力的研究与应用。针对城市所具有的明显自然-社会-经济复合生态系统特征，笔者认为应该在城市生态系统承载力研究中强调社会经济系统能力的贡献。     

珠海—澳门红树林湿地生态系统的恢复与建设

论述了恢复和建设珠海－澳门红树林湿地生态系统的重要性,必要性和可能性,并提出了恢复和建设珠海－澳门红树林湿地生态系统的可行建议。     

流域生态系统服务研究进展与展望

在分析国内外流域生态系统服务研究动态的基础上,归纳全球流域(河流、湿地)尺度生态系统服务研究案例的分类和评估方法,重点阐述以水循环和水生态过程为纽带的流域生态系统产品和服务的特点和内涵,总结提出流域生态系统服务的研究重点是与水有关的水资源服务和水生态服务.强调今后要加强流域尺度上的科学研究与政策、管理的对接和应用,通过科学规范的流域生态系统服务评估,为流域生态补偿、生态修复机制的建立和流域水环境综合管理提供有力支撑.     

运用能量10%定律恢复浑善达克退化生态系统

运用生态系统能量10%定律,在浑善达克沙地退化生态系统,按照高级营养级能量需求,在实验区域1%的土地上建立了高产高效饲料基地,以向上一营养级(草食动物)提供足够的能量。结果表明,牲畜的压力逐步向高效地(小范围的土地)集中,而大面积的退化草地(99%),在围栏保护后借助自然力逐步恢复。群落生物量、平均高度和总盖度2年后均随恢复时间增加而增加(P<0.05)。植被组成方面,恢复前固定沙地以冷蒿(Artemisiafrigida)、糙隐子草(Cleistogenssquarrosa)和寸草苔(Carexduriuscula)等为主,恢复2年后冰草(Agropyronmichnoi)、木地肤(Kochiaprostrata)等占优势;滩地植被中,羊草(Leymuschinensis)、披碱草(Elymusdahuricus)等逐步取代了灰绿藜(Chenopodiumglaucum)和尖头叶藜(Chenopodiumacumi-natum)等,优质牧草比例提高。生态恢复不仅使自然生态系统得以保护,而且带动了社会经济的发展,项目中的正蓝旗巴音胡舒嘎查牧民,在实验示范以前后,由每年每户投入1万元买草养畜转变为每户得到2万斤优质牧草;幼畜成活率约提高10%;产奶量100%,牧民收入提高了32%。实验表明,高产高效基地建成后,生态系统能量流动趋于稳定,占试验区域71%的退化草地得到了恢复,从而带动了该地的可持续发展。     

湿地生态系统固碳潜力研究进展

固碳是湿地生态系统一项重要的服务功能。文章通过对各种类型湿地的固碳量及其潜力进行分析,发现湿地的固碳潜力要高于其他类型的生态系统,维持和恢复湿地的固碳潜力对全球碳循环具有重要的意义。如果湿地遭到破坏或转为他用,其固碳能力就会随之下降,所以保护湿地是保证湿地固碳潜力优先考虑的管理措施。此外通过对泥炭湿地、沿海湿地、森林湿地和人工湿地的恢复措施及效果的分析,发现恢复和创造湿地可以恢复并增强湿地生态系统的固碳潜力,但针对湿地碳库的固碳措施需要进一步的探索和实践。     

退化生态系统植被恢复研究中信息系统的建立

经过对退化生态系统植物被恢复研究产生的大量数据进行分析,建立了中国退化生态系统植物被恢复研究信息系统。     

恢复生态学相关概念

在综述国内外恢复生态学有关概念的基础上,作者提出,恢复生态学有关生态恢复的科学,旨在研究生态退化和生态恢复的机理和过程。生态恢复包括狭义的恢复和广义的恢复,狭义的恢复指严格意义上的整个生态系统的恢复,广义的恢复指人类社会需求意义上的恢复,也就是依据生态学原理,利用生物技术和工程技术,通过恢复、修复、改良、更新、重建受损或退化的生态系统和土地,恢复生态系统的功能,提高土地生产力的过程。     

The effects of landscape structure on space competition and alternative stable states

Many species that compete for space live on heterogeneous landscapes and interact at local scales. The quality, amount, and structure of landscapes may have considerable impact on the ability of species to compete or coexist, yet basic models of space competition do not include that level of detail. We model space competition between two species with positive feedback through recruitment facilitation, which creates the potential for alternative stable states to occur. We compare the predictions of a spatially implicit model with a simulation model that includes explicit space and landscape structure. We create structured landscapes in which we specify the amount of habitat and degree of fragmentation and ask how landscape structure, dispersal strategy, and scale affect the presence of alternative stable states, or bistability. We find that structured landscapes can reduce the range of parameter values that lead to bistability in our model, but they do not eliminate bistability. The type of landscape and the dispersal distance for each species also influence the amount of environmental change needed for abrupt community shifts to occur. Coexistence of the two competitors is possible under certain conditions when connectivity is low. Consequently, landscape structure may lead to considerable disparity between the predictions of simple models and actual dynamics on complex landscapes during environmental change.     

Tree cover in sub-Saharan Africa: rainfall and fire constrain forest and savanna as alternative stable states

Savannas are known as ecosystems with tree cover below climate-defined equilibrium values. However, a predictive framework for understanding constraints on tree cover is lacking. We present (a) a spatially extensive analysis of tree cover and fire distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, and (b) a model, based on empirical results, demonstrating that savanna and forest may be alternative stable states in parts of Africa, with implications for understanding savanna distributions. Tree cover does not increase continuously with rainfall, but rather is constrained to low (<50%, "savanna") or high tree cover (>75%, "forest"). Intermediate tree cover rarely occurs. Fire, which prevents trees from establishing, differentiates high and low tree cover, especially in areas with rainfall between 1000 mm and 2000 mm. Fire is less important at low rainfall (<1000 mm), where rainfall limits tree cover, and at high rainfall (>2000 mm), where fire is rare. This pattern suggests that complex interactions between climate and disturbance produce emergent alternative states in tree cover. The relationship between tree cover and fire was incorporated into a dynamic model including grass, savanna tree saplings, and savanna trees. Only recruitment from sapling to adult tree varied depending on the amount of grass in the system. Based on our empirical analysis and previous work, fires spread only at tree cover of 40% or less, producing a sigmoidal fire probability distribution as a function of grass cover and therefore a sigmoidal sapling to tree recruitment function. This model demonstrates that, given relatively conservative and empirically supported assumptions about the establishment of trees in savannas, alternative stable states for the same set of environmental conditions (i.e., model parameters) are possible via a fire feedback mechanism. Integrating alternative stable state dynamics into models of biome distributions could improve our ability to predict changes in biome distributions and in carbon storage under climate and global change scenarios.     

Wetlands as an alternative stable state in desert streams

Historically, desert drainages of the American southwest supported productive riverine wetlands (ciénegas). Region-wide erosion of ciénegas during the late 19th and early 20th century dramatically reduced the abundance of these ecosystems, but recent reestablishment of wetlands in Sycamore Creek, Arizona, USA, provides an opportunity to evaluate the mechanisms underlying wetland development. A simple model demonstrates that density-dependent stabilization of channel substrate by vegetation results in the existence of alternative stable states in desert streams. A two-year (October 2004-September 2006) field survey of herbaceous cover and biomass at 26 sites located along Sycamore Creek is used to test the underlying assumption of this model that vegetation cover loss during floods is density dependent, as well as the prediction that the distribution of vegetation abundance should shift toward bimodality in response to floods. Observations of nonlinear, negative relationships between herbaceous biomass prior to flood events and the proportion of persistent vegetation cover were consistent with the alternative stable state model. In further support of the alternative-state hypothesis, vegetation cover diverged from an approximately normal distribution toward a distinctly bimodal distribution during the monsoon flood season of 2006. These results represent the first empirically supported example of alternative-state behavior in stream ecosystems. Identification of alternative stable states in desert streams supports recent hypotheses concerning the importance of strong abiotic-disturbance regimes and biogeomorphic mechanisms in multiple-state ecosystems.     

The role of sponge competition on coral reef alternative steady states

Sponges constitute an abundant and functionally important component of coral reef systems. Given their demonstrated resistance to environmental stress, it might be expected that the role of sponges in reef systems under modern regimes of frequent and severe disturbance may become even more substantial. Disturbances have recently reshaped the community structure of many Caribbean coral reefs shifting them towards a state of persistent low coral cover and often a dominance of macroalgae. Using competition and growth rates recorded from Glover's Atoll in Belize, we parameterise a mathematical model used to simulate the three-way competition between sponges, macroalgae and coral. We use the model to determine the range of parameters in which each of the three species might be expected to dominate. Emergent properties arise from our simple model of this complex system, and these include a special case in which heightened competitive ability of macroalgae versus coral may counter-intuitively prove to be advantageous to the persistence of corals. Importantly, we show that even under scenarios whereby sponges fail to invade the system, inclusion of this third antagonist can qualitatively affect the likelihood of alternative stable states - generally in favour of macroalgal dominance. The interplay between multi-species competition and predation is complex, but our efforts highlight a key process that has, until now, remained unexplored: the extent to which sponges dissipate algal grazing pressure by providing generalist fish with an alternative food source. We highlight the necessity of identifying the extent by which this process takes place in tropical systems in order to improve projections of alternative stable states for Caribbean coral reefs.     

Alternative stable states and phase shifts in coral reefs under anthropogenic stress

Ecosystems with alternative stable states (ASS) may shift discontinuously from one stable state to another as environmental parameters cross a threshold. Reversal can then be difficult due to hysteresis effects. This contrasts with continuous state changes in response to changing environmental parameters, which are less difficult to reverse. Worldwide degradation of coral reefs, involving "phase shifts" from coral to algal dominance, highlights the pressing need to determine the likelihood of discontinuous phase shifts in coral reefs, in contrast to continuous shifts with no ASS. However, there is little evidence either for or against the existence of ASS for coral reefs. We use dynamic models to investigate the likelihood of continuous and discontinuous phase shifts in coral reefs subject to sustained environmental perturbation by fishing, nutrification, and sedimentation. Our modeling results suggest that coral reefs with or without anthropogenic stress can exhibit ASS, such that discontinuous phase shifts can occur. We also find evidence to support the view that high macroalgal growth rates and low grazing rates on macroalgae favor ASS in coral reefs. Further, our results suggest that the three stressors studied, either alone or in combination, can increase the likelihood of both continuous and discontinuous phase shifts by altering the competitive balance between corals and algae. However, in contrast to continuous phase shifts, we find that discontinuous shifts occur only in model coral reefs with parameter values near the extremes of their empirically determined ranges. This suggests that continuous shifts are more likely than discontinuous shifts in coral reefs. Our results also suggest that, for ecosystems in general, tackling multiple human stressors simultaneously maximizes resilience to phase shifts, ASS, and hysteresis, leading to improvements in ecosystem health and functioning.     

Exploring alternative states in ecological systems with a qualitative analysis of community feedback

Demonstrating and predicting the existence of alternative states in natural communities remains a challenge for ecologists and is essential for resource managers. Positive feedback is often presented as central in maintaining alternative ecosystem states, but no formal approach relates this part of theory to real world applications. Through qualitative modelling of community response to long-term perturbations, we define generic mechanistic links between positive feedback and the occurrence of alternative states. Positive feedback diminishes a system's overall resistance to change, and can create and maintain correlations in the relative abundance of variables that coincide with alternative states.Through specific models of the dynamics of Tasmanian rocky-reef communities, which are affected by climate and fishing and persist within alternative states, we demonstrate the ability of our theoretical framework to predict alternative states in ecosystems and inform management intervention. A qualitative knowledge of community structure permits a thorough analysis of system feedback and an assessment of the potential for an ecosystem to exhibit alternative states. We illustrate the usefulness of the approach to inform management priorities, and to focus monitoring and field research on the key drivers of ecosystem dynamics.     

Transport,distribution and toxic effects of polychlorinated biphenyls in ecosystems: Review

Investigation of various aspects of the ecological problems of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has grown and continues to grow with remarkable intensity. However, it appears that certain areas of PCBs research are developed further than the others. For example, chemical and physical behavior and synthesis of PCBs are well studied, while the metabolism of PCBs and other routes of degradation, including toxicological significance and environmental impact, continue to challenge the scientists.In this paper, the chemical and physical properties of PCBs as well as the implications of these properties for the behavior of PCBs in ecological systems are discussed. The effect of PCBs on interrelated ecological systems are described. The distribution and fate of PCBs in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere, and transport of PCBs through these systems are discussed. The toxic significance, biological accumulation and ecological magnification are described at various trophic levels.     

Feedbacks between bivalve density, flow, and suspended sediment concentration on patch stable states

We explore the role of biophysical feedbacks occurring at the patch scale (spatial scale of tens of meters) that influence bivalve physiological condition and affect patch stability by developing a numerical model for the pinnid bivalve, Atrina zelandica, in cohesive sediments. Simulated feedbacks involve bivalve density, flow conditions (assumed to be primarily influenced by local water depth and peak current speed), suspended sediment concentration (evaluated through a balance between background concentration, deposition, and erosion), and changes in the physiology of Atrina derived from empirical study. The model demonstrates that high bivalve density can lead to skimming flow and to a concomitant decrease in resuspension that will affect suspended sediment concentration over the patch directly feeding back on bivalve physiology. Consequently, for a given flow and background suspended sediment load, the stability of a patch directly depends on the size and density of bivalves in the patch. Although under a range of conditions patch stability is ensured independently of bivalve density, simulations clearly indicate that sudden changes in bivalve density or suspended sediment concentration can substantially affect patch structure and lead to different stable states. The model highlights the role of interactions between organisms, flow, and broader scale environmental conditions in providing a mechanistic explanation for the patchy occurrence of benthic suspension feeders.     

A 200-year perspective on alternative stable state theory and lake management from a biomanipulated shallow lake

Multiple stressors to a shallow lake ecosystem have the ability to control the relative stability of alternative states (clear, macrophyte-dominated or turbid, algal-dominated). As a consequence, the use of remedial biomanipulations to induce trophic cascades and shift a turbid lake to a clear state is often only a temporary solution. Here we show the instability of short-term manipulations in the shallow Lake Christina (Minnesota, USA) is governed by the long-term state following a regime shift in the lake. During the modern, managed period of the lake, three top-down manipulations (fish kills) were undertaken inducing temporary (5-10 years) unstable clear-water states. Paleoecological remains of diatoms, along with proxies of primary production (total chlorophyll a and total organic carbon accumulation rate) and trophic state (total P) from sediment records clearly show a single regime shift in the lake during the early 1950s; following this shift, the functioning of the lake ecosystem is dominated by a persistent turbid state. We find that multiple stressors contributed to the regime shift. First, the lake began to eutrophy (from agricultural land use and/or increased waterfowl populations), leading to a dramatic increase in primary production. Soon after, the construction of a dam in 1936 effectively doubled the depth of the lake, compounded by increases in regional humidity; this resulted in an increase in planktivorous and benthivorous fish reducing phytoplankton grazers. These factors further conspired to increase the stability of a turbid regime during the modern managed period, such that switches to a clear-water state were inherently unstable and the lake consistently returned to a turbid state. We conclude that while top-down manipulations have had measurable impacts on the lake state, they have not been effective in providing a return to an ecosystem similar to the stable historical period. Our work offers an example of a well-studied ecosystem forced by multiple stressors into a new long-term managed period, where manipulated clear-water states are temporary, managed features.