Abstract: Genebank collection databases can be used for ecogeographical studies under the assumption that the accessions are a geographically unbiased sample. We evaluated the representativeness of a collection of wild potatoes from Bolivia and defined and assessed four types of bias: species, species-area, hotspot, and infrastructure. Species bias is the sampling of some species more often than others. Species-area bias is a sampling that is disproportionate to the total area in which a species is found. Hotspot bias is the disproportionate sampling of areas with high levels of diversity. Infrastructure bias is the disproportionate sampling of areas near roads and towns. Each of these biases is present in the Bolivian wild potato collection. The infrastructure bias was strong: 60% of all wild potato accessions were collected within 2 km of a road, as opposed to 22%, if collections had been made randomly. This analysis can serve as a guide for future collecting trips. It can also provide baseline information for the application of genebank data in studies based on geographic information systems. 相似文献
Abstract: The consequences of rapid rainforest clearance on native avifauna are poorly understood. In Southeast Asia, Singapore, a newly developing country, has had 95% of its native lowland rainforest cleared. Most of the rainforest was lost in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. We compared avifauna checklists from 1923, 1949, and 1998 to determine the extent of extinctions between 1923 and 1998 in Singapore. Of 203 diurnal bird species, 65 were extirpated in Singapore in the past 75 years. Four of these species were nonforest- dependent species, whereas 61 (94%) were forest bird species dependent on the primary or old secondary forest to survive. Twenty-six forest bird species became extinct between 1923 and 1949, whereas 35 forest species disappeared after 1949. We compared the body lengths, feeding guilds, and vertical feeding zones between extinct and extant forest bird species to determine whether extinction patterns were dependent on these characteristics. Larger forest bird species went extinct between 1923 and 1949. Body sizes, however, did not affect the loss of forest bird species between 1949 and 1998. We observed high losses of insectivorous birds; the insectivore-carnivore and insectivore-granivore guilds lost> 80% of the species present in 1923. The highest losses were among birds that fed in the canopy. None of the forest bird species are currently common (>100 individuals/species) within Singapore. Our study shows that more than half the forest avifauna became locally extinct after extensive deforestation. Based on this fact, the countries within Southeast Asia should reconsider their heavy deforestation practices. 相似文献
Gradients of genetic distances (GGDs) between 26 adjacent cenopopulations of Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) along the transects through the distinct landscape-ecotopic isolation borders were analyzed graphically. The results
made it possible to reveal and quantitatively estimate gradients and borders of gene-pool structural patterns in populations
of this species in the central part of Northern Eurasia. In lowland areas, the most distinct borders were found between pine
populations growing on dry lands and bogs (Pineta sphagnosa) in the forest zone of the Transural region, as well as between the Arakaragaiskii and Amankaragaiskii island pine forests
in the steppe zone (Northern Turgai). In highland areas (the Urals and the Carpathians), the greatest GGDs were observed between
low-mountain (about 600 m above sea level) and middle-mountain (850–900 m) populations. Analysis of GGDs is a promising gene-geographic
method for determining population borders and studying the chorogenetic structure of species. 相似文献
This study deals with the emission of methane in relation to changing environmental conditions and human impact, in three
mangrove ecosystems of south India. Time-varying fluxes of methane adopting the close chamber technique were used to estimate
CH4 emission from an unpolluted site (Pichavaram mangroves) and two polluted sites viz. (1) Ennore Creek mangroves (affected
by fertilizer effluents and crude oil discharges) and (2) Adyar estuary mangroves (affected by the discharges of organic and
industrial wastes), covering monthly and seasonal variations. The results indicate annual average CH4 emissions of 7.4, 5.02 and 15.4 mg m−2 h−1 from the sediment–water interface of the Pichavaram, Ennore Creek and Adyar estuary respectively. Emission characteristics
obtained at Pichavaram mangroves represent a natural variability with changing physico-chemical factors, whereas the emission
characteristics at Ennore Creek and Adyar estuary mangroves show anthropogenic influence. Several environmental factors such
as oxygen availability, organic matter, soil physical and chemical properties, in addition to human-mediated interventions
have been identified as influencing emission rates in the mangrove ecosystems. Preliminary CH4 emission estimates for the mangrove ecosystems along the Indian sub- continent and the tropical and subtropical coastline
of the world by linear extrapolation based on surface area range from 0.05 to 0.37 and 2.8 to 19.25 Tg CH4 year−1 respectively. Our results also highlight the impact of human activities on future emission of methane from the mangrove ecosystems.
Received: 3 March 1999 / Accepted: 14 September 1999 相似文献
Three-dimensional (3D) models are often utilised to assess the presence of sand and gravel deposits. Expanding these models to provide a better indication of the suitability of the deposit as aggregate for use in construction would be advantageous. This, however, leads to statistical challenges. To be effective, models must be able to reflect the interdependencies between different criteria (e.g. depth to deposit, thickness of deposit, ratio of mineral to waste, proportion of ‘fines’) as well as the inherent uncertainty introduced because models are derived from a limited set of boreholes in a study region. Using legacy borehole data collected during a systematic survey of sand and gravel deposits in the UK, we have developed a 3D model for a 2400 km2 region close to Reading, southern England. In developing the model, we have reassessed the borehole grading data to reflect modern extraction criteria and explored the most suitable statistical modelling technique. The additive log-ratio transform and the linear model of coregionalization have been applied, techniques that have been previously used to map soil texture classes in two dimensions, to assess the quality of sand and gravel deposits in the area. The application of these statistical techniques leads to a model which can be used to generate thousands of plausible realisations of the deposit which fully reflect the extent of model uncertainty. The approach offers potential to improve regional-scale mineral planning by providing an enhanced understanding of sand and gravel deposits and the extent to which they meet current extraction criteria.
Russian Journal of Ecology - Abstract—The study of the effect of mycorrhiza symbiosis on the transformation of carbon and nitrogen compounds in soils is important in view of the necessity to... 相似文献
The growing recognition that climate change mitigation alone will be inadequate has led scientists and policymakers to discuss climate geoengineering. An experiment with a US sample found, contrary to previous research, that reading about geoengineering did not reduce conservatives’ skepticism about the existence of anthropogenic climate change. Moreover, depending on how it is framed, geoengineering can reduce support for mitigation among both conservatives and non-conservatives. When geoengineering is framed as a major solution, people worry less about climate change, leading to reduced mitigation support. When framed as disastrous, people perceived geoengineering as riskier, also leading to a decrease in mitigation support. A more moderate framing of geoengineering as a partial solution is less susceptible to moral hazard effects. Overall, results suggest that geoengineering will not lessen political polarization over anthropogenic climate change, and could undercut support for mitigation efforts. Instead, framing geoengineering as a small piece to solving a big puzzle seems to be the best strategy to weaken this potential moral hazard. 相似文献