Conservation of Epiphyte Diversity in an Andean Landscape Transformed by Human Land Use

Abstract: Epiphytes are diverse and important elements of tropical forests, but as canopy‐dwelling organisms, they are highly vulnerable to deforestation. To assess the effect of deforestation on epiphyte diversity and the potential for epiphyte conservation in anthropogenically transformed habitats, we surveyed the epiphytic vegetation of an Ecuadorian cloud forest reserve and its surroundings. Our study was located on the western slopes of the Andes, a global center of biodiversity. We sampled vascular epiphytes of 110 study plots in a continuous primary forest; 14 primary forest fragments; isolated remnant trees in young, middle‐aged, and old pastures; and young and old secondary forests. It is the first study to include all relevant types of habitat transformation at a single study site and to compare epiphyte diversity at different temporal stages of fragmentation. Epiphyte diversity was highest in continuous primary forest, followed by forest fragments and isolated remnant trees, and lowest in young secondary forests. Spatial parameters of habitat transformation, such as fragment area, distance to the continuous primary forest, or distance to the forest edge from inside the forest, had no significant effect on epiphyte diversity. Hence, the influence of dispersal limitations appeared to be negligible or appeared to operate only over very short distances, whereas microclimatic edge effects acted only in the case of completely isolated trees, but not in larger forest fragments. Epiphyte diversity increased considerably with age of secondary forests, but species assemblages on isolated remnant trees were impoverished distinctly with time since isolation. Thus, isolated trees may serve for recolonization of secondary forests, but only for a relatively short time. We therefore suggest that the conservation of even small patches of primary forest within agricultural landscape matrices is essential for the long‐term maintenance of the high epiphyte diversity in tropical cloud forests.     

Local Land‐Use Planning to Conserve Biodiversity: Planners’ Perspectives on What Works

Abstract: Because habitat loss due to urbanization is a primary threat to biodiversity, and land‐use decisions in urbanizing areas are mainly made at the local level, land‐use planning by municipal planning departments has a potentially important—but largely unrealized—role in conserving biodiversity. To understand planners’ perspectives on the factors that facilitate and impede biodiversity conservation in local planning, we interviewed directors of 17 municipal planning departments in the greater Seattle (Washington, U.S.A.) area and compared responses of planners from similar‐sized jurisdictions that were “high” and “low performing” with respect to incorporation of biodiversity conservation in local planning. Planners from low‐performing jurisdictions regarded mandates from higher governmental levels as the primary drivers of biodiversity conservation, whereas those from high‐performing jurisdictions regarded community values as the main drivers, although they also indicated that mandates were important. Biodiversity conservation was associated with presence of local conservation flagship elements (e.g., salmonids) and human‐centered benefits of biodiversity conservation (e.g., quality of life). Planners from high‐ and low‐performing jurisdictions favored different planning mechanisms for biodiversity conservation, perhaps reflecting differences in funding and staffing. High performers reported more collaborations with other entities on biodiversity issues. Planners’ comments indicated that the term biodiversity may be problematic in the context of local planning. The action most planners recommended to increase biodiversity conservation in local planning was public education. These results suggest that to advance biodiversity conservation in local land‐use planning, conservation biologists should investigate and educate the public about local conservation flagships and human benefits of local biodiversity, work to raise ecological literacy and explain biodiversity more effectively to the public, and promote collaboration on biodiversity conservation among jurisdictions and inclusion of biodiversity specialists in planning departments.     

Conservation Goals and the Relative Importance of Costs and Benefits in Reserve Selection

Abstract: Including both economic costs and biological benefits of sites in systematic reserve selection greatly increases cost‐efficiency. Nevertheless, limited funding generally forces conservation planners to choose which data to focus the most resources on; therefore, the relative importance of different types of data must be carefully assessed. We investigated the relative importance of including information about costs and benefits for 3 different commonly used conservation goals: 2 in which biological benefits were measured per site (species number and conservation value scores) and 1 in which benefits were measured on the basis of site complementarity (total species number in the reserve network). For each goal, we used site‐selection models with data on benefits only, costs only, and benefits and costs together, and we compared the efficiency of each model. Costs were more important to include than benefits for the goals in which benefits were measured per site. By contrast, for the complementarity‐based goal, benefits were more important to include. To understand this pattern, we compared the variability in benefits and in costs for each goal. By comparing the best and the worst possible selection of sites with regard to costs alone and benefits alone for each conservation goal, we introduced a simple and consistent variability measure that is applicable to all kinds of reserve‐selection situations. In our study, benefit variability depended strongly on how the conservation goal was formulated and was largest for the complementarity‐based conservation goal. We argue that from a cost‐efficiency point of view, most resources should be spent on collecting the most variable type of data for the conservation goal at hand.     

关于环境保护与经济建设同步发展的问题

环境保护是我国的基本国策，它应与经济建设同步发展。所以，迫切需要对国家未来的环境发展有所规划，制定明确的生态目标。本文从四个方面，探讨这些问题。１．保护人类健康１２．保护生物多样性；３．管理自然资源；４．保护自然及文化景观。     

山西历山山地草甸生物多样性、优势种和土壤因素对群落生产力的影响

自然生态系统生产力同生物多样性、优势种功能性状和土壤性质等多因素紧密关联,因此,受到多变量过程的综合调控。利用结构方程模型研究了山西历山山地草甸物种多样性、功能多样性、优势种功能性状和土壤等多变量因素对群落生产力的影响。结果表明：除了物种多样性外（γ=0.10,P=0.69）,优势种功能性状（γ=0.61,P=0.00）、功能多样性（γ=0.47,P=0.04）和土壤因素（γ=0.34,P=0.02）直接影响群落生产力,并且土壤因素还通过改变优势种功能性状和功能多样性的方式间接影响群落生产力（间接影响系数分别为0.35、0.27）。优势种功能性状是预测群落生产力变化的最佳变量,其次是功能多样性和土壤因素。因此,理解自然生态系统生产力变化应在引入多元方法的前提下,重点考虑优势种功能性状因素。     

鄱阳湖大型底栖动物时空演变特征及驱动因素

于2019年7月对鄱阳湖133个样点大型底栖动物进行调查,分析其群落结构与环境因子之间的关系.结果表明,共记录底栖动物48种,隶属7纲16目22科38属,全湖底栖动物的平均密度和生物量分别为158.38ind/m²和173.76g/m²,现阶段优势种主要为河蚬、铜锈环棱螺和大沼螺.将全湖分为5个湖区：北部湖区、西北部湖区、中部湖区、东部湖区和南部湖区,单因素方差分析表明不同湖区水体理化指标差异显著（ANOVA,p<0.05）,沉积物环境指标差异不显著.相似性分析结果表明不同湖区底栖动物群落结构差异性显著,北部湖区生物多样性显著高于其它湖区.典范对应分析表明水深、溶解氧、浊度、总磷、叶绿素a、烧失量和底质类型与底栖动物群落结构显著相关.与历史研究相比,鄱阳湖底栖动物多样性下降明显,优势种由大型软体动物逐渐演变成小型软体动物和昆虫类.鄱阳湖采砂、水文情势变化和水生植被衰退是影响鄱阳湖大型底栖动物群落结构演替的主要环境因素.     

广东省蛭态轮虫物种多样性及其系统发育研究

为了解广东省蛭态轮虫物种多样性,采集广东省不同水陆生境样品98份,记录蛭态轮虫3目4科12属66种（含亚种）.陆生环境中鉴定出蛭态轮虫56种,其中苔藓生境42种、落叶生境40种、地衣生境12种,水生生境蛭态轮虫15种,陆生生境的蛭态轮虫种类明显多于水生生境蛭态轮虫.为验证形态鉴定的准确性,获取蛭态轮虫COⅠ基因序列4属16种37条,种间遗传距离8.59%~23.17%,其中楔足盘网轮虫（Adineta cuneata）和迅捷旋轮虫（Philodina rapida）的COⅠ基因序列为全球首次报道.COI基因序列中腺嘌呤（A）与胸腺嘧啶（T）的总含量（71.2%）远大于鸟嘌呤（G）与胞嘧啶（C）（28.8%）的含量.系统发育树的聚类结果与形态学物种鉴定结果一致;同属形态相近的物种,具有较高的同源性.研究结果表明,形态学鉴定与DNA条形码技术相结合,有助于提高蛭态轮虫种类鉴定的准确性和探究蛭态轮虫各属的发育地位,促进蛭态轮虫物种多样性和生态学研究.     

草木灰对亚甲基蓝的吸附研究

本实验目的是研究草木灰对吸附亚甲基蓝的去除效果,探讨了亚甲基蓝初始量、吸附时间、pH值等对吸附效果的影响,并运用伪一级、伪二级反应动力学模型和Laugmuir、Freundlich等温线模型进行拟合。结果表明,草木灰对亚甲基蓝溶液的吸附在5 min~30 min速率比较快,约在65 min内达到吸附平衡,pH越大越有利于吸附,浓度在5mg/L时草木灰对亚甲基蓝的吸附最佳。与伪二级动力学曲线模型拟合效果较好,由Laugmuir等温线模型计算得出理论最大吸附容量Qm为2.275 mg/g,吸附性能优异。     

Clinch River Freshwater Mussels Upstream of Norris Reservoir,Tennessee and Virginia: A Quantitative Assessment from 2004 to 2009

The Clinch River is located in northeastern Tennessee (TN) and southwestern Virginia (VA) of the United States, and contains a diverse mussel assemblage of 46 extant species, including 20 species listed as federally endangered. To facilitate quantitative monitoring of the fauna, quadrat data were collected from 2004 to 2009 at 18 sites in the river, including 12 sites in TN and 6 sites in VA. Thirty‐eight mussel species were collected alive in total from quadrat samples taken annually at sites in the TN section of the river. Over the five‐year study period, mussel density averaged 25.5 m^?2 at all sites sampled in TN. In contrast, mussel density averaged only 3.1 m^?2 at sites sampled in VA. The best historical site in VA was Pendleton Island in Scott County, where mussel density was estimated as high as 25 m^?2 in 1979, comparable to current densities recorded in TN. Mussel densities are now <1 m^?2, indicating a collapse of the fauna. A severe reduction in mussel abundance has occurred in a 68‐km section of the river from St. Paul, VA, downstream to approximately Clinchport, VA (river kilometers 411.5‐343.3). While the environmental factors responsible for the faunal decline are largely unknown, they must have been severe and sustained to reduce such large populations to their current low levels. Long‐term water and habitat quality monitoring is needed to determine whether environmental degradation is still occurring in the river.     

Study on Community Diversity of Coastal Shelter Forest in Jiaonan

Abstract

Based on the research of the plots in coastal areas in Jiaonan city, Shandong Province, the indices of richness, evenness and diversity of different community types are analyzed. The results show that: The richness indices indicates that arbor layers are close to shrub layers, and both are lower than herbage layers; the ranges among communities vary a little except those of the arbor ones. Mostly the biodiversity indices reveal that herbage, the arbor, the shrub; Biodiversity of communities has great influences on microclimate to a certain extent and is under the control of regional environment.