Comparison of community composition and species diversity of understorey and overstorey tree species in a dry tropical forest of northern India

The study focuses on understorey-overstorey plant community dynamics in a dry tropical forest to facilitate appropriate management decisions. We compare community composition and species diversity of the understorey vegetation among five dry tropical forest sites in northern India. A total of 1500 quadrats distributed over 15 one-ha permanent plots in five sites differing in the degree of disturbance, were used to enumerate the understorey tree species and the results were compared with overstorey tree layer. The non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordination revealed that human disturbance intensity, as well as the overall disturbance regimes, and soil water holding capacity controlled the organisation of dry tropical forest understorey composition through effects on soil organic matter. The alpha-diversity and its components decreased with increasing human disturbance intensity, reflecting utilisation pressure and decreased soil fertility, as also revealed by the analysis of overstorey tree layer. There was a significant positive relationship between overstorey and understorey diversity. Results suggest that in the future, the existing understorey tree communities may replace the current dry tropical forest communities under prevailing environmental conditions. The study also asserts that the rate of species accumulation will be greater in more disturbed sites as well as at small spatial scale within each disturbance level.     

Elevated ozone affects the genetic composition of Plantago lanceolata L. populations

The genetic composition and diversity of Plantago lanceolata L. populations were analysed using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) as well as simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to test for differences in an old semi-natural grassland after five years of treatment with ambient or elevated ozone (O3) using a free-air fumigation system. Genetic diversity in populations exposed to elevated O3 was slightly higher than in populations sampled from control plots. This effect was significant for AFLP-based measures of diversity and for SSR markers based on observed heterozygosity. Also, a small but significant difference in genetic composition between O3 treatments was detected by analysis of molecular variance and redundancy analysis. The results show that micro-evolutionary processes could take place in response to long-term elevated O3 exposure in highly diverse populations of outbreeding plant species.     

Mercury methylation by a microbial community from sediments of the Adour Estuary (Bay of Biscay, France)

In order to study the influence of microorganisms on the mercury biogeochemistry, the metal content and the structure of microbial communities were determined in sediments from stations along the Adour Estuary. The comparison of the bacterial communities and their distribution in function of the environmental parameters by Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) revealed the influence of metals on the bacterial communities structure. Sediments where the bacterial communities are mostly influenced by methylmercury were incubated in slurries with or without mercury, under oxic and anoxic conditions. Methylmercury production was detected in the anoxic biotic slurries with a net methylation yield of 0.3% after 24 h. CCA based on T-RFLP profiles revealed the impact of mercury addition on the bacterial communities structure. In addition, 17 bacterial strains, mainly sulphate-reducing bacteria involved in mercury methylation, were isolated and identified.     

西洞庭湖鱼类物种多样性及其时空变化

洞庭湖是长江中游现存仅有的两大通江湖泊之一,研究其鱼类资源对了解湖泊通江的生态作用有着重要意义。为此,在2002年9月~2004年6月每月定期定点在西洞庭湖区开展鱼类调查,结果如下：① 实地调查到鱼类111种,隶属9目20科,包括中华鲟、胭脂鱼等珍稀物种;②鱼类物种数年动态波动较大,最高月份达69种,最低为26种,月均50±13种;③物种多样性指数年动态与物种数年动态大体一致,最高达3.34,最低为1.89,月均2.84±0.38;④空间分布上,位于入湖口的调查点物种数和多样性指数高于内湖,且差异有显著性(p<0.05);⑤在数量上,湖泊定居型鱼类占50%以上,其中,鲫数量最多,占16%左右。可见：西洞庭湖作为通江湖泊在鱼类多样性的保护上起到避难所和交流场所的作用;目前,西洞庭湖鱼类在生态组成上,湖泊定居型鱼类比重有逐渐增加的趋势。     

鄱阳湖湿地细菌群落多样性和可培养细菌功能基因丰度

鄱阳湖湿地中蕴含着丰富的微生物资源,参与并维持着湿地生态系统的物质循环和稳定.为探明鄱阳湖湿地土壤细菌分布规律,分析可培养细菌群落结构和功能特征,采用Illumina MiSeq高通量测序技术分析了鄱阳湖湿地土壤全部细菌（AW）和湿地外围周边土壤全部细菌（AS）群落结构多样性特征;又结合可培养方法和qPCR功能基因芯片技术,分析了湿地可培养细菌（CW）和湿地外围周边土壤可培养细菌（CS）功能基因丰度差异.研究发现鄱阳湖湿地土壤细菌多样性低于湿地外围周边土壤细菌,变形菌门和酸杆菌门是两种土壤环境中共有的细菌优势菌门,放线菌门、厚壁菌门、绿弯菌门和热脱硫杆菌门也是存在于两种土壤中的主要菌门,但相对丰度均差异显著;网络分析显示湿地土壤较周边土壤细菌网络结构更简单.采用可培养方法获得的不同采样点土壤细菌群落多样性差异不明显.但湿地土壤可培养细菌功能基因的拷贝数高于周边土壤,其中参与氮循环的UreC基因和参与碳固定的acsE基因在两种土壤可培养细菌中相对丰度较高.研究结果可为深入挖掘调控、维持湿地土壤养分循环和促进鄱阳湖湿地生态系统功能稳定性的潜在有益微生物提供理论依据.     

不同形态氮添加对多年生高寒栽培草地土壤理化性质和微生物群落结构的影响

探究不同氮素形态对多年生高寒栽培草地土壤理化性质和微生物群落结构的影响,以期为制定多年生高寒栽培草地氮添加方案提供科学依据.于2022年6月,在青海省海南藏族自治州共和县巴卡台农牧场以建植4龄的青海草地早熟禾（Poa pratensis Qinghai）+青海中华羊茅（Festuca sinensis Qinghai）混播草地为研究对象,以不施肥为对照（CK）,设置3个不同形态氮素处理,分别为U:尿素（酰胺态氮）、A:硫酸铵（铵态氮）和N:硝酸钙（硝态氮）,各处理的氮素施用量均为67.5 kg·（hm²·a）^-1,对不同处理下土壤养分和微生物群落组成及多样性进行分析.结果表明,外源铵态氮输入显著提高了NH₄ ⁺-N含量、AP含量和EC,酰胺态氮输入显著提高了SOC含量和TN含量,硝态氮输入显著提高了NO₃ ^--N含量、AN含量和TC含量.外源氮输入改变了土壤细菌和真菌群落结构以及优势菌门和属的相对丰度,但对细菌和真菌群落的Alpha多样性没有显著影响.主坐标分析（PCoA）表明,不同形态氮添加对细菌群落的Beta多样性具有显著影响,而对真菌群落影响不显著.冗余分析（RDA）表明,氮添加主要通过土壤铵态氮来改变微生物群落组成和结构.综合而言,在青藏高原多年生栽培草地土壤修复过程中,应优先考虑铵态氮肥.     

北运河京津冀段河道浮游微生物群落多样性变化分析

再生水在缓解城市水资源短缺方面发挥重要作用,但再生水中痕量污染物质与病原体对受纳水体中浮游微生物群落产生影响.基于OTUs和门水平的片段数量和片段丰度的浮游微生物数据矩阵探究北运河京津冀河道微生物群落多样性空间变化机制,结果表明,再生水的频繁汇入引起的物理和化学扰动改变了水体的水文和水质,使浮游微生物群落沿地理尺度分为...     

Reliability of a Higher-Taxon Approach to Richness, Rarity, and Composition Assessments at the Local Scale

Abstract:  A promising shortcut for quantifying species patterns is to use genera and families as surrogates of species. At large spatial scales, concurrence between patterns of richness, rarity, and composition of species and higher taxa is generally high. Only a few researchers, however, have examined this relationship at the local scale, which is frequently the relevant scale in land-use conflicts. We investigated the reliability of the higher-taxon approach in assessing patterns of species richness, rarity, and composition at the local scale. We studied diversity patterns of three commonly used surrogate taxa: vascular plants, ground-dwelling beetles, and moths. We conducted year-round field surveys for these taxa in the Jerusalem Mountains and the Judean foothills, Israel. Richness and composition of species were highly correlated with richness and composition of genera for all taxa. At the family level, correlations with richness and composition of species were much lower. Excluding monotypic genera and families did not affect these relations. Rarity representation based on higher taxa varied considerably depending on the taxon, and rarity scale and was weaker compared with richness and composition representation. Cumulative richness curves of species and genera showed similar patterns, leveling off at equivalent sampling efforts. Genus-level assessments were a reliable surrogate for local patterns of species richness, rarity, and composition, but family-level assessments performed poorly. The advantage of using coarse taxonomic scales in local diversity surveys is that it may decrease identification time and the need for experts, but it will not reduce sampling effort.     

Ecological Characteristics of Small Rodents Living in Collective Gardens

The small-rodent populations of five collective gardens have been studied. The example of one of the populations has been used to monitor the annual cycle of population size. The species composition and animal number depends on the biotope, climatic conditions, and the anthropogenic load. The ratios between species in the gardens and neighboring biotopes differ from each other, with different species being dominant. It is assumed that small mammals use garden plots as refugia.