Response of a Group of Sichuan Snub-Nosed Monkeys to Commercial Logging in the Qinling Mountains, China

Abstract:  Habitat destruction is one of the greatest threats to primates worldwide. To understand the impact of forest logging on the habitat use of primates in temperate mixed forest, we compared the range, habitat used, population size, and diet of a troop (ERT) of Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys ( Rhinopithecus roxellana ) in the Qinling Mountains before (1989), during (1997), and after (2002–2003) commercial logging. Logging significantly changed the composition of the forest and the food supply for the troop. Some areas were heavily logged and formed patches in the forest that lacked canopy cover. The troop moved 7 km away from their original range when logging took place and returned to their original range after logging stopped, but they avoided heavily logged areas that lacked canopy cover. Their movement indicated some degree of site fidelity in this species. Diet and home range changed after logging, but the population size remained stable, which suggests that this species has some ability to adapt to habitat changes. Our results may reflect a natural flexibility in primates to adapt to the changing food resources in temperate areas with marked seasonal variations in food availability and distribution. This flexibility may have contributed to their higher degree of resilience to habitat alterations caused by human activities compared with tropical forest primates that have a more specialized diet. Our findings provide important baseline information that will help decision makers in their efforts to conserve primates, especially in temperate regions, and to sustainably manage primate habitat.     

秦岭南部地区农业气候资源的变化及其对油菜的影响

秦岭南部地区地形及气候条件复杂,作为油菜主要种植区之一,研究其农业气候资源的变化特征及其对油菜的影响,可以为该区有效利用农业气候资源、合理安排农事活动提高油菜生产提供实践参考。以1960~2014年秦岭南部33个站点的逐日气象数据和近25a各省市统计年鉴资料,通过滑动平均、线性倾向估计、灰色关联分析等方法,研究秦岭南部农业气候资源的时空变化特征及对油菜产量的影响。结果表明:(1)近55a来,秦岭南部地区油菜生长季内平均气温和≥5℃积温呈上升趋势,平均速率分别为0.2、29.3℃/10 a,冻害指数、降水量、开花期降水量和相对湿度与日照时数都呈减少趋势,平均每10 a分别减少0.3、14.8 mm、1.4 mm、0.6%、32.2 h。(2)近55a来研究区油菜生长季内平均气温与≥5℃积温的多年平均空间分布都表现为由西南向东北方向递减,冻害指数的空间变化与二者相反,表明越冬期极端最低气温值在空间上由西南向东北逐渐减小;其水资源指标多年平均空间分布由南向北递减,日照时数则由西南向东北递增。(3)1960~2014年秦岭南部油菜生长季内平均气温与≥5℃积温在空间上均呈极显著的增加趋势,研究区西部变化幅度较小,东部变化幅度较大,冻害指数的空间变化趋势与二者相同;水资源与日照时数在空间上均呈极显著的减少趋势,只有少数站点表现为极显著的增加趋势,而日照时数在研究区东部变化幅度相对较大,其余区域变化幅度相对较小。总体上,平均气温和≥5℃积温高值区的变化幅度小,低值区变化幅度大,其他指标与之相反。(4)近25a来秦岭南部油菜气候产量呈不明显的上升趋势,平均速率为3.79 kg/(a·hm~2),其空间变化幅度差异大,且大部分站点的变化趋势均不显著;由关联度得作用于各区域油菜气候产量的主要影响因子存在差异。各农业气候资源指标的变化幅度越大,对油菜单产的可能影响相对较大。     

Assessing the Potential Impacts to Riparian Ecosystems Resulting from Hemlock Mortality in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae) is spreading across forests in eastern North America, causing mortality of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis [L.] Carr.) and Carolina hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana Engelm.). The loss of hemlock from riparian forests in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) may result in significant physical, chemical, and biological alterations to stream environments. To assess the influence of riparian hemlock stands on stream conditions and estimate possible impacts from hemlock loss in GSMNP, we paired hardwood- and hemlock-dominated streams to examine differences in water temperature, nitrate concentrations, pH, discharge, and available photosynthetic light. We used a Geographic Information System (GIS) to identify stream pairs that were similar in topography, geology, land use, and disturbance history in order to isolate forest type as a variable. Differences between hemlock- and hardwood-dominated streams could not be explained by dominant forest type alone as forest type yields no consistent signal on measured conditions of headwater streams in GSMNP. The variability in the results indicate that other landscape variables, such as the influence of understory Rhododendron species, may exert more control on stream conditions than canopy composition. The results of this study suggest that the replacement of hemlock overstory with hardwood species will have minimal impact on long-term stream conditions, however disturbance during the transition is likely to have significant impacts. Management of riparian forests undergoing hemlock decline should, therefore, focus on facilitating a faster transition to hardwood-dominated stands to minimize long-term effects on water quality.     

乌蒙山山脉药用植物资源调查研究

通过野外考察、标本采集、资料查阅整理及标本鉴定,对乌蒙山山脉药用植物资源进行了调查。结果表明,乌蒙山山脉共有药用植物272科1189属3184种（含变种和亚种）,其中地衣植物8科9属13种、苔藓植物40科74属116种、蕨类植物45科108属358种、裸子植物10科22属37种、被子植物169科976属2660种。对其物种组成、生态类型、分布、优势科属、药用部位、功效等进行了统计分析,对常用中药、国家重点保护野生药材、民间习用药物进行了简要介绍,并对其开发利用提出了建议。     

Is tourism damaging ecosystems in the Andes? Current knowledge and an agenda for future research

Despite the popularity of tourism and recreation in the Andes in South America and the regions conservation value, there is limited research on the ecological impacts of these types of anthropogenic use. Using a systematic quantitative literature review method, we found 47 recreation ecology studies from the Andes, 25 of which used an experimental design. Most of these were from the Southern Andes in Argentina (13 studies) or Chile (eight studies) with only four studies from the Northern Andes. These studies documented a range of impacts on vegetation, birds and mammals; including changes in plant species richness, composition and vegetation cover and the tolerance of wildlife of visitor use. There was little research on the impacts of visitors on soils and aquatic systems and for some ecoregions in the Andes. We identify research priorities across the region that will enhance management strategies to minimise visitor impacts in Andean ecosystems.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-014-0550-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

The effect of nitrogen additions on oak foliage and herbivore communities at sites with high and low atmospheric pollution

To evaluate plant and herbivore responses to nitrogen we conducted a fertilization study at a low and high pollution site in the mixed conifer forests surrounding Los Angeles, California. Contrary to expectations, discriminant function analysis of oak herbivore communities showed significant response to N fertilization when atmospheric deposition was high, but not when atmospheric deposition was low. We hypothesize that longer-term fertilization treatments are needed at the low pollution site before foliar N nutrition increases sufficiently to affect herbivore communities. At the high pollution site, fertilization was also associated with increased catkin production and higher densities of a byturid beetle that feeds on the catkins of oak. Leaf nitrogen and nitrate were significantly higher at the high pollution site compared to the low pollution site. Foliar nitrate concentrations were positively correlated with abundance of sucking insects, leafrollers and plutellids in all three years of the study.     

Sustainability Assessment of Future Scenarios: Methodology and Application to Mountain Areas of Europe

BioScene (scenarios for reconciling biodiversity conservation with declining agriculture use in mountain areas in Europe) was a three-year project (2002–2005) funded by the European Union’s Fifth Framework Programme, and aimed to investigate the implications of agricultural restructuring and decline for biodiversity conservation in the mountain areas of Europe. The research took a case study approach to the analysis of the biodiversity processes and outcomes of different scenarios of agri-environmental change in six countries (France, Greece, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom) covering the major biogeographical regions of Europe. The project was coordinated by Imperial College London, and each study area had a multidisciplinary team including ecologists and social and economic experts, which sought a comprehensive understanding of the drivers for change and their implications for sustainability. A key component was the sustainability assessment (SA) of the alternative scenarios. This article discusses the development and application of the SA methodology developed for BioScene. While the methodology was objectives-led, it was also strongly grounded in baseline ecological and socio-economic data. This article also describes the engagement of stakeholder panels in each study area and the use of causal chain analysis for understanding the likely implications for land use and biodiversity of strategic drivers of change under alternative scenarios for agriculture and rural policy and for biodiversity management. Finally, this article draws conclusions for the application of SA more widely, its use with scenarios, and the benefits of stakeholder engagement in the SA process.     

Effect of temperature and moisture on soil organic carbon mineralization of predominantly permafrost peatland in the Great Hing’an Mountains, Northeastern China

Boreal peatlands represent a large global carbon pool.The relationships between carbon mineralization,soil temperature and moisture in the permafrost peatlands of the Great Hing'an Mountains,China,were examined.The CO2 emissions were measured during laboratory incubations of samples from four sites under different temperatures(5,10,15,and 20°C) and moisture contents(0%,30%,60%,100% water holding capacity(WHC) and completely water saturated).Total carbon mineralization ranged from 15.51 to 112.92 mg C under the treatments for all sites.Carbon mineralization rates decreased with soil depth,increased with temperature,and reached the highest at 60% WHC at the same temperature.The calculated temperature coefficient(Q10) values ranged from 1.84 to 2.51 with the soil depths and moisture.However,the values were not significantly affected by soil moisture and depth for all sites due to the different peat properties(P 0.05).We found that the carbon mineralization could be successfully predicted as a two-compartment function with temperature and moisture(R2 0.96) and total carbon mineralization was significantly affected by temperature and moisture(P 0.05).Thus,temperature and moisture would play important roles in carbon mineralization of permafrost peatlands in the Great Hing'an Mountains,indicating that the permafrost peatlands would be sensitive to the environment change,and the permafrost peatlands would be potentially mineralized under future climate change.     

乡村旅游诱导下农户能源消费模式的演变——基于六盘山生态旅游区的农户调查分析

以旅游业为主要产业业态的乡村已经成为我国乡村发展转型的4种类型之一。显然,乡村旅游业的发展必然会对乡村农户能源消费模式产生深远的影响。研究以六盘山生态旅游区农户调查数据为基础,从农户人均能源消费总量、结构以及最终消费用途为切入点,探讨了乡村旅游诱导下农户家庭能源消费模式演变的问题。结果表明:在能源消费总量上,乡村旅游农户家庭人均能源消费显著增加,比传统农户高42.96%,达到707.35 kgce。在消费结构上,乡村旅游农户商品能源占主导地位,新型能源(太阳能)广泛采用,传统能源比重逐渐降低,三者的比例93.10 ∶5.15 ∶1.75,而传统农户比例是46.30 ∶0.48 ∶53.22。在能源最终用途上,乡村旅游农户生活用能(炊事、取暖、家电、交通、热水、照明)总量大幅度增加,而与传统农业生产耗能有关的饲养和农机耗能已基本消失。传统农户能源耗能仍局限于炊事、取暖、饲养等基本的生产生活方面,与生活享受相关的家电、照明、热水、交通仍处于较低水平。研究还表明,农户能源消费模式的转变主要受家庭生产方式、农户用能方式、农户人均收入以及主观认知等因素的影响。在乡村旅游发展诱导下,六盘山生态旅游区乡村家庭农户能源消费正经历着由内向型"生活-生产系统"内部自循环模式向外向型"生活-旅游系统"外部输入型模式的转变。     

湖南南岭草地植被类型的数量分类、排序及其合理利用

湖南南岭山区的地带性植被是常绿阔叶林,由于不合理的利用,森林遭受严重破坏而出现了大面积的草山,面积约1497.2万亩(99.8万ha),占土地总面积的1/4强。本文运用二元指示种分析TWINSPAN和无倾向对应分析DCA的数学方法对草地植被进行分类与排序。利用48个样方和150个植物种的资料进行计算,在第4级水平上划分出12个主要草地植被类型,其中将近似的类型合并成10个类型。在第1级水平上明显地将海拔1000m以上的与600m以下的分成2大组;在其它水平上则根据其他不同生态因子(岩性、pH值等)将出现的区别种逐级分开。所得结果与定性分类基本相同,说明该方法是适用于亚热带草地分类的。 不同类型在开发利用上有很大差异,高海拔的植被类型应以造林或封山育林为主,并可适当发展木本药材;在平缓的山原上虽可开辟人工草地发展畜牧业,但必须要防止水土流失,坡度在25。以上的应封育;15—20°的地方可以发展林业与畜牧业;在海拔300—600m的丘陵岗地类型上可以发展薪炭林、经济林;在海拔300m以下,水源充足的地方可以发展果木林(柑桔等),缓坡丘陵地类型可建立人工草地,但应与林业相结合,在农区可进行粮草轮作。总之,应该建立人工生态系统,以提高经济效益和生态效益。