Effects of restoration and reflooding on soil denitrification in a leveed Midwestern floodplain.

River floodplains have the potential to remove nitrate from water through denitrification, the anaerobic microbial conversion of nitrate to nitrogen gas. An important factor in this process is the interaction of river water with floodplain soil; however, many rivers have been disconnected from their historic floodplains by levees. To test the effect of reflooding a degraded floodplain on nitrate removal, we studied changes in soil denitrification rates on the Baraboo River floodplain in Wisconsin, USA, as it underwent restoration. Prior to this study, the site had been leveed, drained, and farmed for more than 50 years. In late fall 2002, the field drainage system was removed, and a gate structure was installed to allow controlled flooding of this site with river water. Soil moisture was extremely variable among zones and months and reflected local weather. Soil organic matter was stable over the study period with differences occurring along the elevation gradient. High soil nitrate concentrations occurred in dry, relatively organic-poor soil samples and, conversely, all samples with high moisture soils characterized by low nitrate. We measured denitrification in static cores and potential denitrification in bulk samples amended with carbon and nitrogen, one year before and two years following the manipulation. Denitrification rates showed high temporal and spatial variability. Static core rates of individual sites ranged widely (from 0.00 to 16.7 microg N2O-N x [kg soil](-1) x h(-1), mean +/- SD = 1.10 +/- 3.02), and denitrification enzyme activity (DEA) rates were similar with a slightly higher mean (from 0.00 to 15.0 microg N2O-N x [kg soil](-1) x h(-1), 1.41 +/- 1.98). Denitrification was not well-correlated with soil nitrate, organic matter content, or moisture levels, the three parameters typically thought to control denitrification. Static core denitrification rates were not significantly different across years, and DEA rates decreased slightly the second year after restoration. These results demonstrate that restored agricultural soil has the potential for denitrification, but that floodplain restoration did not immediately improve this potential. Future floodplain restorations should be designed to test alternative methods of increasing denitrification.     

Species phylogenetic relatedness, priority effects, and ecosystem functioning

Species immigration history can structure ecological communities through priority effects, which are often mediated by competition. As competition tends to be stronger between species with more similar niches, we hypothesize that species phylogenetic relatedness, under niche conservatism, may be a reasonable surrogate of niche similarity between species, and thus influence the strength of priority effects. We tested this hypothesis using a laboratory microcosm experiment in which we established bacterial species pools with different levels of phylogenetic relatedness and manipulated the immigration history of species from each pool into microcosms. Our results showed that strong priority effects, and hence multiple community states, only emerged for the species pool with the greatest phylogenetic relatedness. Community assembly also resulted in a significant positive relationship between bacterial phylogenetic diversity and ecosystem functions. Interestingly, these results emerged despite a lack of phylogenetic conservatism for most of the bacterial functional traits considered. Our results highlight the utility of phylogenetic information for understanding the structure and functioning of ecological communities, even when phylogenetically conserved functional traits are not identified or measured.     

Sources and dynamics of large logs in a temperate floodplain river.

Large logs, important agents of biophysical heterogeneity in temperate floodplain rivers, have been virtually eliminated from modified systems. Our purpose was to quantify the sources and dynamics of large logs (> or = 1 m diameter) in the mainstem of a nearly pristine system: the Queets River, Washington, USA. Erosion of forests by the river supplies 0.40 logs x (100 m)(-1) x yr(-1) to the channel. Most (72%) are new logs entering the river for the first time as the river undercuts mature fluvial terraces dominated by large conifers. Retrospective airphoto analyses demonstrate that, over 63 years, the Queets River recruits 95% of new logs from a riparian corridor extending 265 m laterally on both banks, mostly through channel meandering. However, input rates are patchy, with 10% of the valley length supplying 38% of the new logs. As the river moves laterally, remnant logs are left on channel surfaces that later develop riparian forests and reenter the river when those forests erode. Remnant logs lying on the floodplain forest floor surface or buried in alluvium constitute 21% and 7% of the annual inputs from bank erosion, respectively. We estimate that 50% of logs deposited in the channel in a given year, including those underpinning logjams, are transported downriver within five years. Over the next 55 years, bank erosion reclaims an additional 23%, leaving 27% of the logs stable for > 60 years. Simulations indicate that recurrent transport is common, with half of the large conifers being deposited in > or = 3 locations and transported > or = 1.5 km prior to disintegrating. One in ten logs links distant reaches by occupying > or = 7 locations spanning > or = 12.0 km. Instream supplies are therefore a mixture of new and old logs from nearby and upstream forests, sustained by the recapture and transport of stockpiled remnant logs during periods when new inputs are low. We propose that patchy input rates and the periodic rearrangement of large logs are important drivers of temporal variation in river valley habitats, adding to the spatial complexity created by stable logs. These findings underscore the importance of extensive mature forests and connectivity in temperate floodplain rivers.     

Shear layer over floodplain vegetation with a view on bending and streamlining effects

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Shrubby and woody vegetation growing on floodplains profoundly influences hydrodynamic and transport processes in riverine systems. Existing hydrodynamic research is...     

植被恢复的生态效应研究进展

植被在水土保持、水源涵养及生态系统的固碳过程中起着重要的作用。植被恢复是指运用生态学原理,通过保护现有植被、封山育林或营造人工林、灌、草植被,修复或重建被毁坏或被破坏的森林和其他自然生态系统,恢复其生物多样性及其生态系统功能。目前,植被的自然及人工恢复是改善脆弱生态系统及退化生态系统生态环境现状最有效的措施。植被在恢复过程中对地上植被生态系统,物种多样性的恢复有着重要影响,同时通过凋落物及根系的输入,可以有效改善地下生态系统,增加土壤的养分含量、改善土壤的物理结构、增加土壤生物的生物量及活性。文章以地上及地下生态系统为出发点,综述了植被恢复过程中自然及人工恢复过程中不同的植被类型、不同的恢复时间下植物物种组成和多样性、土壤理化性质及土壤微生物群落的变化。植被的自然及人工恢复在一定程度上均能增加植物物种的多样性,随着恢复年限的增加物种的组成发生改变且多样性呈增加趋势,但一些特殊环境下不当的人工恢复可造成植被演替向退化方向发展,降低生物多样性。不同的植被类型由于其生长方式的不同对土壤理化性质和土壤微生物的影响存在差异,随着恢复年限的增长,土壤理化指标及微生物学指标呈现先增加而后趋于平稳的状态。针对已有的研究进展,提出在未来的研究过程中,一方面应该增加更多的对比研究,对不同环境下,不同的恢复物种,不同的恢复方式进行更深入地探讨;另外一方面应增加不同尺度的研究,现有的研究多集中在样地尺度,未来应在更大尺度上进行分析;再者,地上及地下生态系统之间的相互关系及影响机理一直是土壤学科研究的热点,植被恢复过程中应增加更多该方面的机理研究。     

鄱阳湖双退区受损湿地植被恢复对水质的影响

退化湿地的植被恢复有助于提高湿地生物多样性和净化水体功能。通过监测鄱阳湖双退区（湿地）生态恢复过程中前后水质变化,分析了不同植被覆盖率和植物残体分解对水质的影响。结果表明,在植物生长期间,湿地水体TN质量浓度下降65.4%～71.3%,NO3--N也呈较大幅度下降,并能降低水体TP浓度水平;高植被覆盖增加水体叶绿素质量浓度水平,中低植被覆盖不影响水体叶绿素质量浓度,植被覆盖能有效保持水体较高透明度,但不能降低水体COD质量浓度。在枯水期,高植被覆盖因为植物残体分解使氮素回流水体,导致水体含TN,NH4＋-N,NO3-_N质量浓度显著升高,中低植被覆盖植物残体分解同样显著增加水体氮素,但增加程度小于高植被覆盖;植物残体分解不影响水体TP质量浓度水平;高植被覆盖植物残体分解增加水体叶绿素质量浓度,中低植被覆盖则无影响;高中低植被覆盖区植物残体分解都显著增加水体混浊度,也提高了水体的BOD,对水体COD没有影响。     

科尔沁沙地植被恢复及其对土壤的改良效应

探讨了对科尔沁沙地乌兰敖都地区流动沙丘采取生物和工程措施建立起人工固沙植被的相关配套技术,并就植被恢复程度对土壤改良效应进行了对比研究.结果表明:在流动沙丘进行人工固沙时采用1.0 m×1.0 m草方格内播种小叶锦鸡儿(Caragana microphylla)种子的措施具有较好的固沙效果,一般经过2年可使沙丘表面得到固定.在围栏封育条件下实施适宜的植被恢复措施,一般可在23年获得明显的固沙效果.小叶锦鸡儿人工固沙群落内土壤养分随着群落的生长发育而发生变化,在030 cm土层中,有机质、速效钾、全氮、水解性氮、全磷、有效磷含量都表现为:11年生群落＞6年生群落＞流动沙丘;小叶锦鸡儿人工群落的建立可大幅度提高土壤微生物生物量,并随着年龄的增加,微生物生物量C、N、P的含量均呈现增加趋势.     

Understanding the effects of different social data on selecting priority conservation areas

Conservation success is contingent on assessing social and environmental factors so that cost‐effective implementation of strategies and actions can be placed in a broad social–ecological context. Until now, the focus has been on how to include spatially explicit social data in conservation planning, whereas the value of different kinds of social data has received limited attention. In a regional systematic conservation planning case study in Australia, we examined the spatial concurrence of a range of spatially explicit social values and land‐use preferences collected using a public participation geographic information system and biological data. We used Zonation to integrate the social data with the biological data in a series of spatial‐prioritization scenarios to determine the effect of the different types of social data on spatial prioritization compared with biological data alone. The type of social data (i.e., conservation opportunities or constraints) significantly affected spatial prioritization outcomes. The integration of social values and land‐use preferences under different scenarios was highly variable and generated spatial prioritizations 1.2–51% different from those based on biological data alone. The inclusion of conservation‐compatible values and preferences added relatively few new areas to conservation priorities, whereas including noncompatible economic values and development preferences as costs significantly changed conservation priority areas (48.2% and 47.4%, respectively). Based on our results, a multifaceted conservation prioritization approach that combines spatially explicit social data with biological data can help conservation planners identify the type of social data to collect for more effective and feasible conservation actions.     

The importance of space, time, and stochasticity to the demography and management of Alliaria petiolata

As population modeling is increasingly called upon to guide policy and management, it is important that we understand not only the central tendencies of our study systems, but the consequences of their variation in space and time as well. The invasive plant Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) is actively managed in the United States and is the focus of a developing biological control program. Two weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Ceutorhynchus) that reduce fecundity (C. alliariae) and rosette survival plus fecundity (C. scrobicollis) are under consideration for release pending host specificity testing. We used a demographic modeling approach to (1) quantify variability in A. petiolata growth and vital rates and (2) assess the potential for single- or multiple-agent biocontrol to suppress growth of 12 A. petiolata populations in Illinois and Michigan studied over three plant generations. We used perturbation analyses and simulation models with stochastic environments to estimate stochastic growth rates (lambda(S)) and predict the probability of successful management using either a single biocontrol agent or two agent species together. Not all populations exhibited invasive dynamics. Estimates of lambda(S) ranged from 0.78 to 2.21 across sites, while annual, deterministic growth (lambda) varied up to sevenfold within individual sites. Given our knowledge of the biocontrol agents, this analysis suggests that C. scrobicollis alone may control A. petiolata at up to 63% of our study sites where lambda >1, with the combination of both agents predicted to succeed at 88% of sites. Across sites and years, the elasticity rankings were dependent on lambda. Reductions of rosette survival, fecundity, or germination of new seeds are predicted to cause the greatest reduction of lambda in growing populations. In declining populations, transitions affecting seed bank survival have the greatest effect on lambda. This contrasts with past analyses that varied parameters individually in an otherwise constant matrix, which may yield unrealistic predictions by decoupling natural parameter covariances. Overall, comparisons of stochastic and deterministic growth rates illustrate how analyses of individual populations or years could misguide management or fail to characterize complex traits such as invasiveness that emerge as attributes of populations rather than species.     

Demographic stochasticity reduces the synchronizing effect of dispersal in predator-prey metapopulations

Dispersal may affect predator-prey metapopulations by rescuing local sink populations from extinction or by synchronizing population dynamics across the metapopulation, increasing the risk of regional extinction. Dispersal is likely influenced by demographic stochasticity, however, particularly because dispersal rates are often very low in metapopulations. Yet the effects of demographic stochasticity on predator-prey metapopulations are not well known. To that end, I constructed three models of a two-patch predator-prey system. The models constitute a hierarchy of complexity, allowing direct comparisons. Two models included demographic stochasticity (pure jump process [PJP] and stochastic differential equations [SDE]), and the third was deterministic (ordinary differential equations [ODE]). One stochastic model (PJP) treated population sizes as discrete, while the other (SDE) allowed population sizes to change continuously. Both stochastic models only produced synchronized predator-prey dynamics when dispersal was high for both trophic levels. Frequent dispersal by only predators or prey in the PJP and SDE spatially decoupled the trophic interaction, reducing synchrony of the non-dispersive species. Conversely, the ODE generated synchronized predator-prey dynamics across all dispersal rates, except when initial conditions produced anti-phase transients. These results indicate that demographic stochasticity strongly reduces the synchronizing effect of dispersal, which is ironic because demographic stochasticity is often invoked post hoc as a driver of extinctions in synchronized metapopulations.     

The effect of temperature on leaching and subsequent decomposition of dissolved carbon from inundated floodplain litter: implications for the generation of hypoxic blackwater in lowland floodplain rivers

Dissolved organic carbon export from floodplain litter during flood events is an important energy subsidy for lowland rivers. Temperature affects both the release and decomposition of dissolved organic carbon from floodplain plant litter. Unseasonally warm flood conditions have resulted in the release and consumption of carbon at a rate so rapid that water column oxygen has been depleted, causing the death of aquatic organisms upon exposure to this ‘hypoxic blackwater’. To date, there has not been a systematic investigation of the role of temperature on hypoxic blackwater dynamics. In a series of laboratory experiments, we investigated the temperature dependence of both leaching and decomposition of carbon from a common floodplain litter component in south-eastern Australia – the leaves of the river red gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis. The leaching rate increased with temperature and approximated Arrhenius kinetics. Additionally, the solubility of the leaf carbon increased substantially at temperatures above ～25°C. The rate of organic carbon respiration also increased with temperature, and the relationship with temperature was approximately linear. These data can be used to improve models for the prediction of hypoxic blackwater risk.     

Simulation of cumulative effects of nearshore restoration projects on estuarine hydrodynamics

Many nearshore restoration projects are currently underway at coastal locations where human influence and development have disrupted natural habitat and coastal ecological systems. The objectives of these projects in general are to restore the lost estuarine functions to the tidal marshland. Often these projects are conducted with little understanding of the potential effects of other nearby projects within the ecosystem, and similarly, it is easy to neglect the effect of the local project on the larger estuarine scale. In this paper, a modeling study is presented to evaluate the hydrodynamic responses of multiple restoration projects and their cumulative effect in the Snohomish River estuary in Washington, USA. The concept of absolute mean tidal transport is introduced and used to measure the cumulative effect of the proposed restoration projects on the estuarine hydrodynamics. The results show that the hydrodynamic responses due to multiple restoration projects are additive in the estuary, and the effect is nonlinear. The hydrodynamic response under restoration conditions depends on the size of the restoration area and the geometric configuration of the existing river channels. Within a complex braided estuary such as the Snohomish, the influence of a specific restoration project is not only experienced locally, but also found to significantly affect tidal transport in all distributary branches within the system.     

华南退化生态系统三种典型生态恢复模式的小气候效应研究

为了评价南亚热带典型退化生态系统典型生态恢复模式的小气候调节效应,从而为退化生态系统生态恢复方式和造林树种的选择提供参照,作者在广东鹤山森林生态系统国家野外科学观测研究站的3种典型生态恢复模式样地,自然恢复草坡、马尾松林（Pinus massoniana）、马占相思林（Acacia mangium）中安装了HOBO小气候仪,对光辐射、风速风向、降水、土壤含水量、地温、气温等小气候指标进行为期1年的自动观测,并进行了对比分析,结果表明,（1）华南退化生态系统3种典型生态恢复模式具有不同的小气候效应,在林间温度调节方面,人工林和草坡的平均林间温度相差不大,但草坡的最低、最高温度均比人工林低和高。人工林的林间温度变化较草坡小,具有更好的保温调节作用。对比2种人工林,不管是平均温度还是最高温度马占相思林都略大于针叶林,而二者最低温度相差不明显。针叶林的保温调节作用略优于阔叶的马占相思林;（2）在土壤温度方面,地表温度全年基本都表现为草坡〉马占相思林〉针叶林,草坡的地表温度的波动远大于2种人工林;全年20 cm土壤温度3─12月都表现为草坡〉马占相思林〉针叶林,1─2月相反,草坡20 cm土层的土壤温度波动相对较大,人工林的波动很小。（3）3种恢复模式中,自然恢复草坡的辐射强度明显高于2种人工林,年辐射总量分别马占相思林和针叶林的1.9和5.8倍,马占相思林的年辐射量为针叶林的3倍。人工林,特别是乡土的针叶林能给林下生物构建更为稳定、适中的辐射环境。（4）人工林的平均林间风速、最大阵风风速均少于草坡,针叶林的风速小于阔叶林,针叶林降低风速的效果好于相思林和草坡。（5）人工林的林间相对湿度均高于草坡,针叶林的林间空气湿度略大于相思林,针叶林的保湿效果更好。在退化生态系统恢复过程中?     

Temporal turnover in the composition of tropical tree communities: functional determinism and phylogenetic stochasticity

The degree to which turnover in biological communities is structured by deterministic or stochastic factors and the identities of influential deterministic factors are fundamental, yet unresolved, questions in ecology. Answers to these questions are particularly important for projecting the fate of forests with diverse disturbance histories worldwide. To uncover the processes governing turnover we use species-level molecular phylogenies and functional trait data sets for two long-term tropical forest plots with contrasting disturbance histories: one forest is older-growth, and one was recently disturbed. Having both phylogenetic and functional information further allows us to parse out the deterministic influences of different ecological filters. With the use of null models we find that compositional turnover was random with respect to phylogeny on average, but highly nonrandom with respect to measured functional traits. Furthermore, as predicted by a deterministic assembly process, the older-growth and disturbed forests were characterized by less than and greater than expected functional turnover, respectively. These results suggest that the abiotic environment, which changes due to succession in the disturbed forest, strongly governs the temporal dynamics of disturbed and undisturbed tropical forests. Predicting future changes in the composition of disturbed and undisturbed forests may therefore be tractable when using a functional-trait-based approach.     

Processesof Tamarix invasion and floodplain development along the lower Green River, Utah.

Significant ecological, hydrologic, and geomorphic changes have occurred during the 20th century along many large floodplain rivers in the American Southwest. Native Populus forests have declined, while the exotic Eurasian shrub, Tamarix, has proliferated and now dominates most floodplain ecosystems. Photographs from late 19th and early 20th centuries illustrate wide river channels with largely bare in-channel landforms and shrubby higher channel margin floodplains. However, by the mid-20th century, floodplains supporting dense Tamarix stands had expanded, and river channels had narrowed. Along the lower Green River in eastern Utah, the causal mechanism of channel and floodplain changes remains ambiguous due to the confounding effects of climatically driven reductions in flood magnitude, river regulation by Flaming Gorge Dam, and Tamarix invasion. This study addressed whether Tamarix establishment and spread followed climate- or dam-induced reductions in annual peak flows or whether Tamarix was potentially a driver of floodplain changes. We aged 235 Tamarix and 57 Populus individuals, determined the hydrologic and geomorphic processes that controlled recruitment, identified the spatial relationships of germination sites within floodplain stratigraphic transects, and mapped woody riparian vegetation cohorts along three segments of the lower Green River. The oldest Tamarix established along several sampling reaches in 1938, and 1.50-2.25 m of alluvium has accreted above their germination surfaces. Nearly 90% of the Tamarix and Populus samples established during flood years that exceeded the 2.5-year recurrence interval. Recruitment was most common when large floods were followed by years with smaller peak flows. The majority of Tamarix establishment and Green River channel narrowing occurred long before river regulation by Flaming Gorge Dam. Tamarix initially colonized bare instream sand deposits (e.g., islands and bars), and most channel and floodplain changes followed the establishment of Tamarix. Our results suggest that Tamarix recruitment was triggered by large annual floods that were followed by years with lower peak flows, not by periods of low flow alone. Tamarix appears to have actively invaded floodplains, while Populus colonization has been limited. Thus, Tamarix invasion may have greatly influenced floodplain development and riparian vegetation composition along the lower Green River since the early 20th century.     

Geomorphological controls of Fraxinus excelsior growth and regeneration in floodplain forests

Geomorphological changes can alter river hydrology and thus influence floodplain forest growth and regeneration. In this paper we quantify the effect of changes in channel elevation at the scale of four decades on hydrological conditions, overbank sediment deposits, water availability, and their impacts on common ash (Fraxinus excelsior) growth and recruitment in floodplain forests of the Ain River, France. Ash is a drought-sensitive species, and its regeneration is influenced by flood disturbance. We compared ash growth between 20 sample plots located in two contrasting geomorphological contexts using dendrochronological measurements: 11 along reaches degrading over the last 80 years and nine along stable or slightly aggrading reaches. In each context, half of the plots were located near the channel, and the remainder were within the floodplain. Ash regeneration was also quantified in each plot. This work showed that sites which undergo channel degradation are associated with less frequent overbank flows. Whereas there is no trend in either the climatic or stream flow timeseries over the last four decades, the growth patterns of ashes of these sites are significantly different as opposed to plots located in stable or aggraded reaches (bell shaped curve vs. constant increase in tree ring width). The variance through time due to climatic or stream flow control is masked by variance due to topographical changes. Currently plots located in degraded reaches show a lower ash growth (mean of 0.20 cm/yr vs. 0.34 cm/yr over the last decade) and less frequent ash seedling establishment. We have identified a hydrologic threshold for ash growth response when stand elevation values reach 1.5-2 m above the mean annual flow stage. Our results confirm that, at a many-decade timescale, changes in channel elevation must be considered in addition to other hydrological controls of hardwood species growth and recruitment.     

Long-term reactions of plants and macroinvertebrates to extreme floods in floodplain grasslands

Extreme summertime flood events are expected to become more frequent in European rivers due to climate change. In temperate areas, where winter floods are common, extreme floods occurring in summer, a period of high physiological activity, may seriously impact floodplain ecosystems. Here we report on the effects of the 2002 extreme summer flood on flora and fauna of the riverine grasslands of the Middle Elbe (Germany), comparing pre- and post-flooding data collected by identical methods. Plants, mollusks, and carabid beetles differed considerably in their response in terms of abundance and diversity. Plants and mollusks, displaying morphological and behavioral adaptations to flooding, showed higher survival rates than the carabid beetles, the adaptation strategies of which were mainly linked to life history. Our results illustrate the complexity of responses of floodplain organisms to extreme flood events. They demonstrate that the efficiency of resistance and resilience strategies is widely dependent on the mode of adaptation.     

Effects of stream restoration on denitrification in an urbanizing watershed.

Increased delivery of nitrogen due to urbanization and stream ecosystem degradation is contributing to eutrophication in coastal regions of the eastern United States. We tested whether geomorphic restoration involving hydrologic "reconnection" of a stream to its floodplain could increase rates of denitrification at the riparian-zone-stream interface of an urban stream in Baltimore, Maryland. Rates of denitrification measured using in situ 15N tracer additions were spatially variable across sites and years and ranged from undetectable to >200 microg N x (kg sediment)(-1) x d(-1). Mean rates of denitrification were significantly greater in the restored reach of the stream at 77.4 +/- 12.6 microg N x kg(-1) x d(-1) (mean +/- SE) as compared to the unrestored reach at 34.8 +/- 8.0 microg N x kg(-1) x d(-1). Concentrations of nitrate-N in groundwater and stream water in the restored reach were also significantly lower than in the unrestored reach, but this may have also been associated with differences in sources and hydrologic flow paths. Riparian areas with low, hydrologically "connected" streambanks designed to promote flooding and dissipation of erosive force for storm water management had substantially higher rates of denitrification than restored high "nonconnected" banks and both unrestored low and high banks. Coupled measurements of hyporheic groundwater flow and in situ denitrification rates indicated that up to 1.16 mg NO3(-)-N could be removed per liter of groundwater flow through one cubic meter of sediment at the riparian-zone-stream interface over a mean residence time of 4.97 d in the unrestored reach, and estimates of mass removal of nitrate-N in the restored reach were also considerable. Mass removal of nitrate-N appeared to be strongly influenced by hydrologic residence time in unrestored and restored reaches. Our results suggest that stream restoration designed to "reconnect" stream channels with floodplains can increase denitrification rates, that there can be substantial variability in the efficacy of stream restoration designs, and that more work is necessary to elucidate which designs can be effective in conjunction with watershed strategies to reduce nitrate-N sources to streams.     

Spider, bee, and bird communities in cities are shaped by environmental control and high stochasticity

Spatially organized distribution patterns of species and communities are shaped by both autogenic processes (neutral mechanism theory) and exogenous processes (niche theory). In the latter, environmental variables that are themselves spatially organized induce spatial structure in the response variables. The relative importance of these processes has not yet been investigated in urban habitats. We compared the variance explained by purely spatial, spatially structured environmental, and purely environmental components for the community composition of spiders (Araneae), bees (Apidae), and birds (Aves) at 96 locations in three Swiss cities. Environmental variables (topography, climate, land cover, urban green management) were measured on four different radii around sampling points (< 10 m, 50 m, 250 m, 1000 m), while Moran's eigenvector maps (MEMs) acted as spatial variables. All three taxonomic groups showed weak spatial structure. Spider communities reacted to very fine-scaled environmental changes of lawn and meadow management and climate. Bird community composition was determined by woody plants as well as solar radiation at all radii, the scale of the influence varying among species. Bee communities were weakly explained by isolated variables only. Our results suggest that the anthropogenic structuring of urban areas has disrupted the spatial organization of environmental variables and inhibited the development of biotic spatial processes. The near absence of spatial structure may therefore be a feature typical of urban species assemblages, resulting in urban community composition mainly influenced by local environmental variables. Urban environments represent a close-knit mosaic of habitats that are regularly disturbed. Species communities in urban areas are far from equilibrium. Our analysis also suggests that urban communities need to be considered as being in constant change to adapt to disturbances and changes imposed by human activities.