evaluation of a measurement method for forest vegetation in a large-scale ecological survey

We evaluate a field method for determining species richness andcanopy cover of vascular plants for the Forest Health MonitoringProgram (FHM), an ecological survey of U.S. forests. Measurementsare taken within 12 1-m² quadrats on 1/15 ha plots in FHM.Species richness and cover are determined for four height classes(strata) within each quadrat and aggregated by stratum over the entireplot. We estimated (1) the agreement between experienced trainers andinexperienced technicians who collected the data on this survey(accuracy) and (2) the agreement among the technicians (precision) forresults on species richness and cover from 3 test plots at 3 timeintervals. The methods appear to be highly precise, although somediscrepancies with the values obtained by the trainers were found.Trainers found significantly more species in the ground stratum (0–0.6 m) and measured significantly more cover in the uppermost stratum(>4.9 m). The proportion of variation due to measurement error andtemporal variability was less than 13% for species richness (all strata)and cover (all but one stratum). This indicates that the method issuitable for monitoring changes in species richness and canopy coverfor a large-scale synoptic monitoring project such as FHM.     

Integrated biomonitoring of air quality with plants and lichens: a case study on ambient ozone from central Italy

A biennial integrated survey, based on the use of vascular plants for the bioindication of the effects of tropospheric ozone together with the use of automatic analysers of ozone, as well as the mapping of lichen biodiversity was performed in the area of Castelfiorentino (Tuscany, central Italy). Photochemically produced ozone proved to be a fundamental presence during the warm season, with maximum hourly means reaching 114 ppb, exceeding the information threshold as fixed by EU: the use of supersensitive tobacco Bel-W3 confirmed the opportunity of carrying out detailed cost-effective monitoring surveys. The potential for didactical and educational implications of this methodology are appealing. Critical levels set up for the protection of vegetation have exceeded considerably. The comparison of biomass productivity in sensitive and resistant individuals (NC-S and NC-R white clover clones, in the framework of an European network) provided evidence that ambient ozone levels are associated with relevant reduction (up to 30%) in the performance of sensitive material; effects on flowering were also pronounced. The economic assessment of such an impact deserves attention. Mapping of epiphytic lichen biodiversity – which has been used to monitor air quality worldwide – was not related to ozone geographical distribution as depicted by tobacco response.     

新型树脂对氯酚类物质的吸附研究

合成了乙酰氯修饰树脂NDA-O,与Purolite公司的MN-200相比,合成的树脂比表面积较小,但酸性官能团较多.用两种树脂吸附2-氯酚、4-氯酚和2,4-二氯酚发现,吸附结果可以用Langmuir和Freundlich等温吸附方程很好地模拟,合成的NDA-O对3种氯酚类物质的吸附能力优于MN-200.两种树脂对氯酚类物质的吸附量随着温度的升高而减少,表明吸附是放热过程,同时对氯酚类物质的吸附焓变随着吸附量的增大而减小.对同一种树脂来说,吸附量随着氯代程度的增加而增加,取代氯数相同的时候,吸附量与吸附质的K..成正相关.进一步研究了pH对吸附的影响,在pH大于9时,3种氯酚类物质的吸附量均急剧减少.     

农村黑臭水体沉积物细菌群落结构特征

沉积物微生物是农村黑臭水体物质循环和有机物降解等过程的主要驱动者,其群落结构组成常因外界环境的微小变化而变化.以菏泽市东明县29个农村黑臭水体为研究对象,测定农村黑臭水体上覆水和沉积物氮、磷及重金属等污染物指标,结合Illumina测序结果,分析农村黑臭水体沉积物细菌群落组成和多样性特征及其与环境因子的相关性.结果表明,该区域农村黑臭水体上覆水和沉积物中污染物分布范围均较广.与农业面源相比,以农村生活污水为主要污染来源的农村黑臭水体上覆水中氮、磷污染物浓度更高,分别是农业面源的3.1倍和1.5倍.此外,该区域农村黑臭水体沉积物中重金属含量处于较低水平,普遍低于菏泽市土壤元素背景值.该区域农村黑臭水体沉积物细菌群落的优势菌门为变形菌门、放线菌门、绿弯菌门、厚壁菌门和酸杆菌门,这5种优势菌门的序列总和占全部序列的70.3%～83.6%.γ-变形菌纲、α-变形菌纲、厌氧绳菌纲和放线菌纲是沉积物细菌群落的优势菌纲;硫杆菌属和假节杆菌属是其优势菌属.Spearman相关性分析结果表明,环境因子中DO、 COD、 TN、 TP和有机质对农村黑臭水体沉积物细菌菌属有显著影响(P<0.05),沉...     

三峡库区消落带落羽杉人工林土壤细菌群落结构多样性及动态变化

消落带是连接陆地与水域的交错地带,具有重要的生态功能,其适生木本植物的种植对消落带土壤的生物地球化学循环起着重要的作用.为探究适生植物对三峡库区消落带环境的适应机制,采用高通量测序技术对消落带退水后适生植物落羽杉(Taxodium distichum)不同生长时期(T1:5月、 T2:7月和T3:9月)的土壤细菌群落组成及多样性进行研究,同时采用PICRUSt2对细菌功能进行预测.结果表明,土壤pH值、硝态氮、铵态氮、土壤蔗糖酶、磷酸酶和脲酶等理化指标随时间变化显著(P<0.05);土壤细菌多样性、丰富度和结构也随时间变化而变化,除Chao1以外,根际土壤细菌的α多样性均表现为：T1>T2>T3,非根际土壤细菌α多样性则表现为：T3>T1>T2. RDA分析表明,影响细菌群落的理化指标主要有土壤pH值、脲酶、铵态氮和硝态氮.所有土壤样本中共检测到细菌60门,其中以变形菌门和酸杆菌门为优势细菌门.根据PICRUSt2预测,代谢是落羽杉土壤细菌群落中普遍存在的基本功能,与C、 N和P有关的各代谢途径存在一定的时间差异.以上研究结果有助于加深对三峡消落带植被修复...     

Metabolic diversity of the heterotrophic microorganisms and potential link to pollution of the Rouge River

The heterotrophic microbial communities of the Rouge River were tracked using Biolog Ecoplates to understand the metabolic diversity at different temporal and spatial scales, and potential link to river pollution. Site less impacted by anthrophogenic sources (site 1), showed markedly lower metabolic diversity. The only substrates that were utilized in the water samples were carbohydrates. Sites more impacted by anthrophogenic sources (sites 8 and 9) showed higher metabolic diversity. Higher functional diversity was linked to the physico-chemical and biological properties of the water samples (i.e. higher concentrations of DO, DOC, chlorophyll, and bacterial density). Biolog analysis was found to be useful in differentiating metabolic diversity between microbial communities; in determining factors that most influence the separation of communities; and in identifying which substrates were most utilized by the communities. It can also be used as an effective ecological indicator of changes in river function attributable to urbanization and pollution.     

Microbiological characteristics in a zero-valent iron reactive barrier

Zero-valent iron (Fe⁰)-based permeable reactive barriertreatment has been generating great interest for passivegroundwater remediation, yet few studies have paid particularattention to the microbial activity and characteristics withinand in the vicinity of the Fe⁰-barrier matrix. The presentstudy was undertaken to evaluate the microbial population andcommunity composition in the reducing zone of influence byFe⁰ corrosion in the barrier at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plantsite. Both phospholipid fatty acids and DNA analyses were usedto determine the total microbial population and microbialfunctional groups, including sulfate-reducing bacteria,denitrifying bacteria, and methanogens, in groundwater andsoil/iron core samples. A diverse microbial community wasidentified in the strongly reducing Fe⁰ environment despitea relatively high pH condition within the Fe⁰ barrier (up topH 10). In comparison with those found in the backgroundsoil/groundwater samples, the enhanced microbial populationranged from 1 to 3 orders of magnitude and appeared to increase from upgradient of the barrier to downgradient soil. Inaddition, microbial community composition appeared to change overtime, and the bacterial types of microorganismsincreased consistently as the barrier aged. DNA analysisindicated the presence of sulfate-reducing and denitrifyingbacteria in the barrier and its surrounding soil. However, theactivity of methanogens was found to be relatively low,presumably as a result of the competition by sulfate/metal-reducing bacteria and denitrifying bacteria because of the unlimited availability of sulfate and nitrate in the site groundwater. Results of this study provide evidenceof a diverse microbial population within and in the vicinity ofthe iron barrier, although the important roles of microbial activity, either beneficially or detrimentally, on the longevityand enduring efficiency of the Fe⁰ barriers are yet to be evaluated.     

Quantifying biases in marine-protected-area placement relative to abatable threats

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a critical defense against biodiversity loss in the world's oceans, but to realize near-term conservation benefits, they must be established where major threats to biodiversity occur and can be mitigated. We quantified the degree to which MPA establishment has targeted stoppable threats (i.e., threats that can be abated through effectively managed MPAs alone) by combining spatially explicit marine biodiversity threat data in 2008 and 2013 and information on the location and potential of MPAs to halt threats. We calculated an impact metric to determine whether countries are protecting proportionally more high- or low-threat ecoregions and compared observed values with random protected-area allocation. We found that protection covered <2% of ecoregions in national waters with high levels of abatable threat in 2013, which is ∼59% less protection in high-threat areas than if MPAs had been placed randomly. Relatively low-threat ecoregions had 6.3 times more strict protection (International Union for Conservation of Nature categories I–II) than high-threat ecoregions. Thirty-one ecoregions had high levels of stoppable threat but very low protection, which presents opportunities for MPAs to yield more significant near-term conservation benefits. The extent of the global MPA estate has increased, but the establishment of MPAs where they can reduce threats that are driving biodiversity loss is now urgently needed.     

Diverging response patterns of terrestrial and aquatic species to hydromorphological restoration

Although experiences with ecological restoration continue to accumulate, the effectiveness of restoration for biota remains debated. We complemented a traditional taxonomic analysis approach with information on 56 species traits to uncover the responses of 3 aquatic (fish, macroinvertebrates, macrophytes) and 2 terrestrial (carabid beetles, floodplain vegetation) biotic groups to 43 hydromorphological river restoration projects in Germany. All taxonomic groups responded positively to restoration, as shown by increased taxonomic richness (10–164%) and trait diversity (habitat, dispersal and mobility, size, form, life history, and feeding groups) (15–120%). Responses, however, were stronger for terrestrial than aquatic biota, and, contrary to our expectation, taxonomic responses were stronger than those of traits. Nevertheless, trait analysis provided mechanistic insights into the drivers of community change following restoration. Trait analysis for terrestrial biota indicated restoration success was likely enhanced by lateral connectivity and reestablishment of dynamic processes in the floodplain. The weaker response of aquatic biota suggests recovery was hindered by the persistence of stressors in the aquatic environment, such as degraded water quality, dispersal constraints, and insufficient hydromorphological change. Therefore, river restoration requires combined local- and regional-scale approaches to maximize the response of both aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Due to the contrasting responses of aquatic and terrestrial biota, the planning and assessment of river restoration outcomes should consider effects on both components of riverine landscapes.     

Bacterial diversity in paclobutrazol applied agricultural soils

The aim of this study was to investigate the bacterial communities on paclobutrazol [(2RS, 3RS)-1-(4-Chlorophenyl)-4, 4-dimethyl-2-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl) pentan-3-ol]–applied agricultural soils by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified 16S rDNA gene fragments. Three different agricultural soil samples were collected from paclobutrazol applied mango and waxapple orchards, peanut fields and untreated rice fields as a control for DGGE analysis. The DGGE pattern of PCR- generated 16S rDNA gene fragments indicated that the bacterial populations from four paclobutrazol–applied soils of peanut fields were closely related to each other and two paclobutrazol–applied soils of mango and waxapple orchards harbored closely related bacterial communities. But, paclobutrazol–free agricultural soils comprised relatively a different bacterial group. However, the bacterial populations of mango and waxapple orchard are completely different from the bacterial communities of peanut field. Further purification and sequence analysis of 40 DGGE bands followed by phylogenetic tree assay showed similar results that soil bacteria from paclobutrazol applied mango and waxapple orchard are phylogenetically related. Based on the phylogenetic analysis, the clone M-4 was clad 100 % (bootstrap value) with Mycobacterium sp. The Mycobacterium sp. has been proved to degrade the phenolic compounds such as phenol, 4-chlorphenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol and paclobutrazol molecule containing chlorobenzene ring.