呼伦贝尔沙区土壤细菌群落结构与功能预测

以呼伦贝尔沙区裸沙地、草地、沙地樟子松（Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica）人工林和沙地樟子松天然林四种生境土壤为研究对象,采用野外调查、16S rRNA基因高通量测序和PICRUSt功能预测相结合的研究方法比较分析不同生境土壤细菌群落结构和潜在功能组成特征.结果显示：呼伦贝尔沙区沙地樟子松天然林土壤细菌多样性最高,人工林土壤细菌多样性最低,Shannon指数分别为（8.623±0.193）和（7.432±0.028）,不同生境土壤细菌alpha和beta多样性存在显著差异.草地、沙地樟子松人工林和天然林土壤中变形菌门（Proteobacteria）相对丰度最高,均值分别为29.83%±1.14%、34.73%±1.99%、31.95%±0.21%,裸沙地土壤放线菌门（Actinobacteria）相对丰度最高,均值为26.13%±0.43%.不同生境土壤细菌主要优势属为慢生根瘤菌属（Bradyrhizobium）、RB41,其相对丰度在四种生境中的均值分别为5.29%±2.24%、4.22%±1.23%.PICRUSt功能预测共得到6个一级功能层,40个二级功能层,土壤细菌功能较为丰富,土壤细菌群落在环境信息处理、代谢、遗传信息处理和有机系统方面功能活跃.沙地樟子松天然林核苷酸代谢、酶家族、氨基酸代谢、碳水化合物代谢功能基因较为丰富,保证了沙地樟子松天然林土壤细菌的存活,使其具有较高的多样性.呼伦贝尔沙区不同生境土壤细菌功能基因丰度波动,反映了四种生境的土壤细菌群落组成及多样性的变化,指示了不同生境功能基因对土壤细菌群落的影响规律,可为预测和理解沙区土壤细菌代谢潜力和功能提供参考借鉴.     

1980—2015年京津冀地区雁鸭类潜在栖息地连接度变化及驱动因素

近几十年来,京津冀地区湿地面积萎缩,生态功能下降,严重影响了湿地水鸟的栖息地质量及栖息地间的连接,对水鸟类的迁徙、繁殖产生较大干扰,为了从整体上定量分析近几十年来湿地栖息地质量及连接度的变化,采用MaxEnt模型（maximum entropy model,最大熵模型）,基于京津冀地区雁鸭类的出现点和环境因子反演其潜在栖息地,并根据图论法原理,利用ECA指数（equivalent connected area,等效连接指数）,度量1980-2015年潜在栖息地连接度的变化.结果表明:①1980-2015年京津冀雁鸭类潜在栖息地面积总体呈下降趋势,由1980年的6 898 km2减至2015年的3 764 km2,减少了45.0%,其中,低适宜区面积降幅最为明显,为50.5%;2009-2015年高适宜区有增加趋势.②1980-2015年雁鸭类潜在栖息地连接度呈持续下降趋势,2000年以后的连接度下降速率大于2000年以前;潜在栖息地连接结构的空间分布有向环渤海地区转移的趋势,连接结构变化最为明显的区域为京津冀中部平原地区.研究显示,区域气候趋暖变干、水资源的供需失衡、水利工程设施建设以及人口增加与经济发展带来的土地利用变化是潜在栖息地面积与连接度下降的主要影响因子,而近些年保护区的建立及生态补水措施等生态保护政策对高适宜区的退化有一定缓解作用.      

Renovation of food-processing wastewater by a Riparian wetland

Treated wastewater from a food-processing plant, together with intermittent outflow from a hypereutrophic pond, were discharged over a 20-year period to a cattail-dominated wetland and hence to a small stream. Organics and nutriet levels in the effluent were comparable to levels in domestic wastewater. Fifteen variables were monitored upstream and downstream from the plant over 18 months. Means for most variables were slightly higher downstream, but differences between stations were not statistically significant. Wetland processing of nitrogen was markedly affected by a change from drought to flood conditions. After accounting for dilution, the overall effect of the wetland on the effluent was to reduce biological oxygen demand 43.7%, ammonia N 46.3%, nitrate/nitrite N 17.4%, and conductivity 15.6%. However, total suspended solids were increased 41.4%, total organic nitrogen 28.8%, and total phosphorus 24.7%. It was concluded that the wetland effectively renovated the effluent but the removal efficiency would be improved if the effluent were pretreated to reduce phosphorus and dispersed to increase residence time in the wetland.     

Population Viability Analysis for the Przewalski's Gazelle

The Przewalski's gazelle, Procapra przewalskii, is now isolated in four local populations on the east and northwest shores of Qinghai Lake. We have been being conducting field surveys in the Qinghai Lake region since 1994. Based on the information we gathered from those surveys, we carried out a Population Viability Analysis (PVA) on the Przewalski's gazelle. We discovered that the Przewalski's gazelle would be extinct within 200 years if no management measures were taken. Since the local population size of the gazelle is small, the most effective measures are to control the wolf density and to reduce the impact of climatic catastrophes. In order to increase the population of the gazelle, we should also take measures to increase primary production of the grassland, to establish a habitat corridor, and to increase the rate of migration of individuals among different local populations.     

Spatial interactions in habitat conservation: Evidence from prairie pothole easements

We examine the role of spatial interactions in conservation easements placed on prairie pothole habitat in western Canada. One of the goals of the conservation easement program we study is to protect contiguous habitat. We identify endogenous spatial interactions among conservation easements and government protected land, independent of spatially correlated landscape features and local economic shocks that influence easement enrollment. We present evidence that easements increase the likelihood of subsequent easements on neighboring land. Government-protected land appears to have little effect on the location of conservation easements. These results imply that conservation agencies have leveraged past conservation investment to enroll more contiguous habitat in permanent easements through a combination of targeting and positive social interactions among neighboring landowners.     

Patterns and biases of climate change threats in the IUCN Red List

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments rely on published data and expert inputs, and biases can be introduced where underlying definitions and concepts are ambiguous. Consideration of climate change threat is no exception, and recently numerous approaches to assessing the threat of climate change to species have been developed. We explored IUCN Red List assessments of amphibians and birds to determine whether species listed as threatened by climate change display distinct patterns in terms of habitat occupied and additional nonclimatic threats faced. We compared IUCN Red List data with a published data set of species’ biological and ecological traits believed to infer high vulnerability to climate change and determined whether distributions of climate change‐threatened species on the IUCN Red List concur with those of climate change‐threatened species identified with the trait‐based approach and whether species possessing these traits are more likely to have climate change listed as a threat on the IUCN Red List. Species in some ecosystems (e.g., grassland, shrubland) and subject to particular threats (e.g., invasive species) were more likely to have climate change as a listed threat. Geographical patterns of climate change‐threatened amphibians and birds on the IUCN Red List were incongruent with patterns of global species richness and patterns identified using trait‐based approaches. Certain traits were linked to increases or decreases in the likelihood of a species being threatened by climate change. Broad temperature tolerance of a species was consistently related to an increased likelihood of climate change threat, indicating counterintuitive relationships in IUCN assessments. To improve the robustness of species assessments of the vulnerability or extinction risk associated with climate change, we suggest IUCN adopt a more cohesive approach whereby specific traits highlighted by our results are considered in Red List assessments. To achieve this and to strengthen the climate change‐vulnerability assessments approach, it is necessary to identify and implement logical avenues for further research into traits that make species vulnerable to climate change (including population‐level threats).     

Effects of pond salinization on survival rate of amphibian hosts infected with the chytrid fungus

The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has been implicated in the decline and extinction of amphibian populations worldwide, but management options are limited. Recent studies show that sodium chloride (NaCl) has fungicidal properties that reduce the mortality rates of infected hosts in captivity. We investigated whether similar results can be obtained by adding salt to water bodies in the field. We increased the salinity of 8 water bodies to 2 or 4 ppt and left an additional 4 water bodies with close to 0 ppt and monitored salinity for 18 months. Captively bred tadpoles of green and golden bell frog (Litoria aurea) were released into each water body and their development, levels of B. dendrobatidis infection, and survival were monitored at 1, 4, and 12 months. The effect of salt on the abundance of nontarget organisms was also investigated in before and after style analyses. Salinities remained constant over time with little intervention. Hosts in water bodies with 4 ppt salt had a significantly lower prevalence of chytrid infection and higher survival, following metamorphosis, than hosts in 0 ppt salt. Tadpoles in the 4 ppt group were smaller in length after 1 month in the release site than those in the 0 and 2 ppt groups, but after metamorphosis body size in all water bodies was similar . In water bodies with 4 ppt salt, the abundance of dwarf tree frogs (Litoria fallax), dragonfly larvae, and damselfly larvae was lower than in water bodies with 0 and 2 ppt salt, which could have knock‐on effects for community structure. Based on our results, salt may be an effective field‐based B. dendrobatidis mitigation tool for lentic amphibians that could contribute to the conservation of numerous susceptible species. However, as in all conservation efforts, these benefits need to be weighed against negative effects on both target and nontarget organisms.     

Spatio-temporal use of the urban habitat by feral pigeons (Columba livia )

Feral pigeons are descendants of wild rock pigeons that have adapted to the urban habitat. They have partially conserved the foraging behaviour of their wild ancestors (flights to agricultural areas) but have also developed new habits. Previous studies on the foraging strategies of feral pigeons have given various results, e.g. maximum distances reached by the pigeons (measured in a straight line from the resting places) differed between 0.3–0.5 km and 18–25 km. This study focuses on the spatio-temporal activity of feral pigeons in the urban habitat. We equipped 80 free-living feral pigeons from Basel, Switzerland with GPS receivers. We found three different foraging strategies for pigeons in Basel: (1) in the streets, squares and parks near the home loft, (2) in agricultural areas surrounding the city, (3) on docks and railway lines in harbours. The maximum distance reached by a pigeon was 5.29 km. More than 32% of the pigeons remained within 0.3 km of the home lofts and only 7.5% flew distances of more than 2 km. Females covered significantly longer distances than males, preferring to fly to more abundant and predictable food sources. Temporal activity patterns showed to be influenced by sex, breeding state and season. In contrast to wild rock pigeons and to feral pigeons in other cities, pigeons in Basel showed a clear bimodal activity pattern for breeding birds only. The differences between our results and those of other studies seem to be partly method-dependent, as the GPS-technique allows to record the pigeons’ localisations continuously in contrast to other methods. Other differences might be due to different kinds of food supply in the various cities. Our study shows that feral pigeons have individual foraging strategies and are flexible enough to adapt to different urban environments.Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available for this article at