Effects of Warming Conditions in Eastern North American Forests on Red-Backed Salamander Morphology

Abstract:  Several studies have reported climate-associated changes in phenotypically plastic traits of amphibians, yet it remains unknown whether amphibians can manifest an evolutionary response to global climate change at the rate and magnitude that it is occurring. To assess this issue, we examined temporal change in the morphology of the red-backed salamander ( Plethodon cinereus ), a small, abundant woodland salamander distributed widely in eastern North America with two distinct morphotypes: striped individuals associated with cooler microclimates and unstriped individuals associated with warmer microclimates. We compiled morph frequencies for 50,960 individual salamanders from 558 sites as recorded in the published literature and in unpublished field notes of herpetologists between 1908 and 2004. We observed that striping probability increased with increasing latitude, longitude, and elevation and decreased (from 80% to 74% range wide) with time. The combined forces of regional climate warming and, particularly, forest disturbance have evidently been sufficient to cause morphological evolution in this amphibian over the last century.     

南洞庭湖湿地鱼类生境景观变化及其人为驱动

通过实地调查和制图分析,研究1983~2013年南洞庭湖区万子湖湿地和鱼类生境景观变化及其人为驱动,结果表明:湿地洲滩面积由1.410×104 hm2增加到2.135×104 hm2,敞水面面积由1.363×104 hm2减少到0.631×104 hm2;芦苇洲减少,但林地由0.056×104 hm2增加到0.728×104 hm2并扩展到保护区核心区;新增泥围21个、网围10个,引淤、沥水排水设施长度增加了201.71km。人为干扰对景观变化有极大影响,其中引种意大利杨及芦苇改变了地形和群落结构,挤占了自然演替条件下应有的草洲景观空间,使鱼类产卵、索饵的适宜生境减少;泥围作为有害渔法,与网围都处于建设发展阶段,占据了草洲、洼地等鱼类产卵、索饵的适宜生境;引淤渠建设使大面积湖泊快速淤积成洲,将水生生态景观转变为大多数时间干露的以陆相生态景观为主的水陆相生态景观,鱼类生境被压缩,并对南洞庭自然保护区核心区继续发挥促淤作用。     

湖泊沉积物短时间反复扰动下悬浮物上生物有效磷的动态变化

以太湖梅梁湾、月亮湾的沉积物和上覆水为材料,研究了较短时间尺度和沉积物反复扰动条件下,悬浮物中不同形态生物有效磷数量分布的变化特征.结果表明,随着扰动次数的增加,上覆水中藻类可利用磷(AAP)占溶解态总磷(DTP)的百分比均有所降低.试验期间,悬浮物中弱吸附态磷(NH4Cl-P)、可被生物利用颗粒态磷(BAPP)占总磷(Tot-P)的百分比平均值分别增加了3.5%、37.3%(梅梁湾)和2.0%、50.7%(月亮湾).梅梁湾悬浮物上AAP含量及其占Tot-P的百分比随扰动次数增加而增加,月亮湾则恰好相反.扰动期间,悬浮物上BAPP含量始终大于NH4Cl-P和AAP之和,表明BAPP的80%是由NH4Cl-P和AAP组成的.这也暗示了,仅仅以悬浮物中NH4Cl-P、AAP来估算BAPP存在一定的不合理性.     

水体扰动条件下物质在沉积介质中的迁移

为了研究在上覆水体扰动条件下物质在沉积介质中的迁移,本实验建立了简单的沉积物再悬浮发生装置,并分别利用不同粒径大小的沙粒作为均质沉积物,同时利用500μg·cm-3的溶解性罗丹明B作为示踪剂,观察在紊流扰动条件下物质在不同的均匀沉积介质中的迁移情况.结果表明,在粒径不同的各类沉积介质中,由于不同颗粒的孔隙度、渗透率不同,在各沉积介质中形成的孔隙水压力差产生了孔隙水对流现象,从而导致了物质在多孔介质中发生垂向或水平迁移,并且其平均迁移速度受到染色剂的埋深和多孔介质的粒径大小的影响.而在均匀的沉积层中,200 r·min-1的扰动主要影响各沉积介质中物质的垂向迁移,并且当适当增加介质的粒径时,这种垂向对流迁移现象相对增强.     

物理和生物组合扰动对底泥微界面过程的影响

借助Rhizon间隙水采样技术、Unisense微电极技术,解析了物理扰动和摇蚊幼虫组合扰动对底泥微界面和微环境特征的协同作用.结果表明,组合扰动、生物扰动均导致溶解氧渗透深度(OPD)、总氧气交换速率(TOE)、含水率、总微生物活性显著增加,并保持在高于对照实验的水平.并且,组合扰动下,这些指标随着物理扰动强度增加而有所增加.对于Fe2+而言,组合扰动和生物扰动均导致Fe2+含量明显降低,且降低幅度明显大于对照实验.Fe2+、含水率、总微生物活性在底泥0~4 cm内受扰动影响变化幅度较大.这可能是内源磷形态转化的"活性区域".对组合扰动下OPD、TOE、Fe2+、含水率、总微生物活性与物理扰动强度进行曲线拟合.结果表明,各拟合方程均符合2阶多项式,且当扰动强度≥34 r·min-1,组合扰动对上述指标产生"跃变式"叠加作用.这种改造效应可能是内源磷形态转化的主要诱发机制.     

藻类与扰动共存下水体中不同形态磷的数量分布规律

以太湖梅梁湾的沉积物和上覆水为研究材料,研究了铜绿微囊藻(Microcystis aeruginosa)和羊角月牙藻(Selenastrum capricornutum)与扰动共存下,水体中不同形态磷的数量分布以及不同藻类对水体中形态磷分布的贡献.结果表明,无论扰动与否,上覆水中总磷(TP)、溶解性总磷(DTP)、溶解性磷酸盐(DIP)、生物有效磷(BAP)均呈降低趋势.但是,在扰动和无扰动条件下,铜绿微囊藻和羊角月牙藻对DTP和DIP的吸收能力恰好相反.水体中磷的消失主要归于颗粒物质的物理化学吸附和藻类的生物利用作用,但扰动与否两者对磷消失的贡献率明显不同.无扰动状态下,铜绿微囊藻和羊角月牙藻对DTP和DIP的吸收能力均在60%左右;而扰动状态下,两者对DTP和DIP的吸收能力分别下降至40%和25%.磷在沉积物不同形态磷间的数量分布也发生明显变化.无论扰动与否,NH_4Cl-P与钙磷(Ca-P)均有所降低,Fe/Al-P则增加,但扰动下NH_4Cl-P与Ca-P下降幅度与Fe/Al-P升高幅度均更大.与铜绿微囊藻相比,羊角月牙藻更有利于Ca-P的释放和Fe/Al-P的形成.     

Estimating California ecosystem carbon change using process model and land cover disturbance data: 1951-2000

Land use change, natural disturbance, and climate change directly alter ecosystem productivity and carbon stock level. The estimation of ecosystem carbon dynamics depends on the quality of land cover change data and the effectiveness of the ecosystem models that represent the vegetation growth processes and disturbance effects. We used the Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS) and a set of 30- to 60-m resolution fire and land cover change data to examine the carbon changes of California's forests, shrublands, and grasslands. Simulation results indicate that during 1951-2000, the net primary productivity (NPP) increased by 7%, from 72.2 to 77.1 Tg C yr⁻¹ (1 teragram = 10¹² g), mainly due to CO₂ fertilization, since the climate hardly changed during this period. Similarly, heterotrophic respiration increased by 5%, from 69.4 to 73.1 Tg C yr⁻¹, mainly due to increased forest soil carbon and temperature. Net ecosystem production (NEP) was highly variable in the 50-year period but on average equalled 3.0 Tg C yr⁻¹ (total of 149 Tg C). As with NEP, the net biome production (NBP) was also highly variable but averaged −0.55 Tg C yr⁻¹ (total of -27.3 Tg C) because NBP in the 1980s was very low (-5.34 Tg C yr⁻¹). During the study period, a total of 126 Tg carbon were removed by logging and land use change, and 50 Tg carbon were directly removed by wildland fires. For carbon pools, the estimated total living upper canopy (tree) biomass decreased from 928 to 834 Tg C, and the understory (including shrub and grass) biomass increased from 59 to 63 Tg C. Soil carbon and dead biomass carbon increased from 1136 to 1197 Tg C.Our analyses suggest that both natural and human processes have significant influence on the carbon change in California. During 1951-2000, climate interannual variability was the key driving force for the large interannual changes of ecosystem carbon source and sink at the state level, while logging and fire were the dominant driving forces for carbon balances in several specific ecoregions. From a long-term perspective, CO₂ fertilization plays a key role in maintaining higher NPP. However, our study shows that the increase in C sequestration by CO₂ fertilization is largely offset by logging/land use change and wildland fires.     

Impacts of Fire-Suppression Activities on Natural Communities

Abstract:  The ecological impacts of wildland fire-suppression activities can be significant and may surpass the impacts of the fire itself. A recent paradigm shift from fire control to fire management has resulted in increased attention to minimizing the negative effects of suppression. While the philosophy behind minimum-impact suppression tactics has provided a good first step in this direction, increased attention to the ecological effects of suppression is needed, especially in the management of public lands. We reviewed the potential impacts of suppression on land, air, and water resources and the impacts of using fire to help control fire. Effects on land resources include erosion, which is exacerbated by the construction of fire lines, temporary roads, and helicopter pads, and some postfire rehabilitation activities. Although the fire itself is the most obvious source of air pollution, the vehicles used in suppression activities contribute to this problem and to noise pollution. Water resources, including aquatic flora and fauna, may be seriously affected by suppression activities that can increase erosion, sedimentation, turbidity, and chemical contamination. Finally, the use of backburns and burnout operations contributes to the risk of soil and water contamination, increases the total area burned, and promotes more intense fires or more homogeneous burned areas. Although no fire-management strategy should be applied uniformly, some general techniques such as use of natural clearings, natural barriers, and appropriately sized fire lines, "leave no-trace" camping, and careful application of fuels and retardants can be employed to minimize the impacts of suppression.     

南京、新沂地震台地电地磁同场观测对地磁干扰的改善

根据南京地震台一系列地电地磁同场观测时对地磁干扰的研究试验结果,南京地震台在新地电场地建设和新沂地震台在地电外线路的改造中,都注意使供电线路的“单线段”远离地磁观测室,使地电对地磁的干扰得到了明显的改善。     

中国中强地震与天气异常探讨

从我国６．０级以上中、强地震的时空分布状态入手,选择台湾附近（北纬２０°─２５°,东经１２０°─１２３°）的中、强地震作为样本,对地震前后的５００ｈＰａ环流特征和５００ｈＰａ波谱等进行了分析,发现地震发生时产生的热能能够激发大气波谱的活跃和增幅,从而引导了地震前后冷空气的南下,进而讨论了地震爆发往往伴随强风现象的物理机制．