Postemergence Control of Microstegium vimineum on Riparian Restoration Sites with Aquatic‐Use Registered Herbicides

Microstegium vimineum is an invasive grass introduced from Asia that has spread throughout riparian areas of the eastern United States threatening native riparian vegetation. Postemergence (POST) herbicides registered for aquatic use were evaluated for control of M. vimineum on two riparian restoration sites in the Piedmont and Upper Coastal Plain of North Carolina. This study found that standard and lower than standard rates of diquat, fluridone, flumioxazin, glyphosate, imazamox, and imazapyr reduced weed stem density and biomass at 6 and 30 weeks after treatment (WAT). Both rates of bispyribac and penoxsulam provided less control of M. vimineum. Visual ratings showed both rates of diquat, flumioxazin, imazamox, and imazapyr controlled 63‐100% of M. vimineum at 6 WAT and 84‐100% at 30 WAT. Fluridone and glyphosate provided slightly less control. Bispyribac and penoxsulam treatments provided less control at 6 and 30 WAT compared to the other treatments. Plots treated with both rates of diquat, flumioxazin, imazamox, and imazapyr were nearly devoid of all vegetation at 30 WAT. Recommendations include POST application of lower than standard rates of diquat, flumioxazin, fluridone, glyphosate, imazamox, and imazapyr on riparian restoration sites infested with M. vimineum. Immediate vegetation management measures including temporary and permanent plant cover should be employed on treated sites where weeds are completely eradicated to prevent erosion.     

土壤种子库研究的几个热点问题

土壤种子库是指存在于土壤表层凋落物和土壤中全部活性种子的总和。土壤中有活性的种子是植物群落的一部分,是新植株的来源。土壤种子库可以分为瞬时土壤种子库和持久土壤种子库。随着群落生态学的发展,土壤种子库的研究已经成为植物生态学重要的一部分,研究内容主要包括:(1)土壤种子库的组成和分布;(2)土壤种子库的动态;(3)地上植被与土壤种子库的关系;(4)干扰对土壤种子库的作用;(5)土壤种子库在生态恢复中的作用。文章在对目前土壤种子库的研究方法、主要研究内容方面总结的基础上,认为土壤种子库在合适的干扰作用下对退化生态系统的恢复以及植被更新发挥重要的作用,同时需进一步加强对这一过程中种子萌发、幼苗建立限制因素的研究。     

怀来盆地弃耕地自然恢复过程中土壤养分动态

研究了怀来盆地丘陵区弃耕地自然恢复过程中土壤养分的变化规律。采取空间代替时间的方法,确定了代表弃耕地初期阶段、草地阶段和灌丛地阶段的3种样地,通过分层取样测定了土壤有机质、全量养分和速效养分含量。结果表明,全量养分对生态系统恢复的响应与其相应的速效养分明显不同。随着弃耕地的恢复,土壤有机质有明显增加的趋势,P循环和K循环由物质控制向生物控制转换,但速效P在恢复初期增加缓慢。速效N由于耕种期施肥的影响表现出先降低而后增加的特点。全量养分中,只有全N在弃耕地自然恢复中有增加的趋势。灌丛可以在更深的层次上影响土壤养分。植被的恢复与土壤肥力的提高密切相关,这种作用随着植被的恢复而不断增强。     

Macroinvertebrate Responses to Constructed Riffles in the Cache River,Illinois, USA

Stream restoration practices are becoming increasingly common, but biological assessments of these improvements are still limited. Rock weirs, a type of constructed riffle, were implemented in the upper Cache River in southern Illinois, USA, in 2001 and 2003–2004 to control channel incision and protect high quality riparian wetlands as part of an extensive watershed-level restoration. Construction of the rock weirs provided an opportunity to examine biological responses to a common in-stream restoration technique. We compared macroinvertebrate assemblages on previously constructed rock weirs and newly constructed weirs to those on snags and scoured clay streambed, the two dominant substrates in the unrestored reaches of the river. We quantitatively sampled macroinvertebrates on these substrates on seven occasions during 2003 and 2004. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) biomass and aquatic insect biomass were significantly higher on rock weirs than the streambed for most sample periods. Snags supported intermediate EPT and aquatic insect biomass compared to rock weirs and the streambed. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordinations for 2003 and 2004 revealed distinct assemblage groups for rock weirs, snags, and the streambed. Analysis of similarity supported visual interpretation of NMDS plots. All pair-wise substrate comparisons differed significantly, except recently constructed weirs versus older weirs. Results indicate positive responses by macroinvertebrate assemblages to in-stream restoration in the Cache River. Moreover, these responses were not evident with more common measures of total density, biomass, and diversity.     

Measuring bed shear stress along vegetated river beds using FST-hemispheres

The measurement of the bed shear stress along vegetated river beds is essential for accurately predicting the water level, velocity and solute and sediment transport fluxes in computational hydroenvironmental models. Details are given herein of an experimental and theoretical study to determine the bed boundary shear stress along vegetated river beds introducing a novel field measuring method, namely the FliessWasserStammtisch (FST)-hemispheres. Although investigations have been conducted previously for sedimentary channels using the FST-hemispheres, this preliminary study is thought to be the first time that such hemispheres have been used to investigate the bed shear stresses in vegetated channels. FST-hemispheres were first developed by Statzner and Müller [1989. Standard hemispheres as indicators of flow characteristics in lotic benthos research. Freshwater Biology 21, 445-459] to act as an integrated indicator of the gross hydrodynamic stresses present near the bed. Test and validation data were found to be at least of the same order of magnitude for the stresses predicted from literature for sedimentary channels, with this study establishing the commencement of a database of calibrated FST-hemisphere laboratory data for vegetated channel beds. In a series of experiments, depths ranging from 0.1 to 0.28m were considered, equating directly to comparable conditions in small rivers or streams. The results of this study provide a basis for enabling the FST-hemispheres to be used to evaluate the boundary shear stress for a wider range of applications in the future, including vegetated river beds.     

Projecting Cumulative Benefits of Multiple River Restoration Projects: An Example from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River System in California

Despite increasingly large investments, the potential ecological effects of river restoration programs are still small compared to the degree of human alterations to physical and ecological function. Thus, it is rarely possible to “restore” pre-disturbance conditions; rather restoration programs (even large, well-funded ones) will nearly always involve multiple small projects, each of which can make some modest change to selected ecosystem processes and habitats. At present, such projects are typically selected based on their attributes as individual projects (e.g., consistency with programmatic goals of the funders, scientific soundness, and acceptance by local communities), and ease of implementation. Projects are rarely prioritized (at least explicitly) based on how they will cumulatively affect ecosystem function over coming decades. Such projections require an understanding of the form of the restoration response curve, or at least that we assume some plausible relations and estimate cumulative effects based thereon. Drawing on our experience with the CALFED Bay-Delta Ecosystem Restoration Program in California, we consider potential cumulative system-wide benefits of a restoration activity extensively implemented in the region: isolating/filling abandoned floodplain gravel pits captured by rivers to reduce predation of outmigrating juvenile salmon by exotic warmwater species inhabiting the pits. We present a simple spreadsheet model to show how different assumptions about gravel pit bathymetry and predator behavior would affect the cumulative benefits of multiple pit-filling and isolation projects, and how these insights could help managers prioritize which pits to fill.     

Effects of Riparian Vegetation and Watershed Urbanization on Fishes in Streams of the Mid‐Atlantic Piedmont (USA)1

Abstract: The joint influences of riparian vegetation and urbanization on fish assemblages were analyzed by depletion sampling in paired forested and nonforested reaches of 25 small streams along an urbanization gradient. Nonforested reaches were narrower than their forested counterparts, so densities based on surface area differ from linear densities (based on reach length). Linear densities (based on number or biomass of fish) of American eel, white sucker and tesselated darter, and the proportion of biomass of benthic invertivores were significantly higher in nonforested reaches, while linear densities of margined madtom and the number of pool species were significantly higher in forested reaches. Observed riparian effects may reflect differences in habitat and algal productivity between forested and nonforested reaches. These results suggest that relatively small‐scale riparian restoration projects can affect local geomorphology and the abundance of fish. Dense vegetative cover in riparian zones and similar or analogous habitats in both forested and nonforested reaches, the relatively small scale of the nonforested reaches, and the low statistical power to detect differences in abundance of rare species may have limited the observed differences between forested and nonforested reaches. There was a strong urbanization gradient, with reductions of intolerant species and increases of tolerant species and omnivores with increasing urbanization. Interactions between riparian vegetation type and urbanization were found for blacknose dace, creek chub, tesselated darter, and the proportion of biomass of lithophilic spawners. The study did not provide consistent support for the hypotheses that responses of fish to riparian vegetation would be overwhelmed by urban degradation or insignificant at low urbanization.     

Responding to a policy mandate to collaborate: structuring collaboration in the collaborative forest landscape restoration program

The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) aims to expand the pace and scale of forest restoration on national forests in the United States. The program requires candidate projects to develop landscape-scale forest restoration proposals through a collaborative process and continue to collaborate throughout planning, implementation, and monitoring. Our comparative case analysis of the initial selected projects examines how existing collaborative groups draw on past experience of collaboration and the requirements of a new mandate to shape collaborative structures as they undertake CFLRP work. While mandating collaboration appears contrary to what is often defined as an informal and emergent process, mandates can encourage stakeholder engagement and renew commitment to overcome past conflict. Our findings also suggest that a collaborative mandate can lead to increased attention and scrutiny, prompting adjustments to collaborative process and structure. As such, mandating collaboration creates dynamic tensions between past experience and new requirements for collaborative practice.     

Biological complexity confounds the separation of point- and non-point sources of human impact on the natural world

Identifying process from pattern is one of the most vexing tasks inenvironmental monitoring. Given information on the distribution of speciesin a pre-defined area, together with comprehensive data on how environmentalconditions in that area have altered through time, is it possible toidentify the factors controlling the species‘ layout? Here, the practicalsignificance of this quandary is demonstrated using a series ofenvironmentally-degraded coastal lagoons in New South Wales. The TuggerahLakes (33°17′S,151°30′E) have over the last 50 yearsexperienced significant changes in species‘ distributions. Seagrasses,macroalgae, phytoplankton, molluscs, prawns and the jellyfish Catostylus mosaicus have altered in spatial pattern. Two human activitieshave been blamed for these perturbations: (1) agricultural clearance ofnative vegetation from the catchment, with associated input of top-soil andnutrients; (2) the commissioning of a coal-fired power station in 1967, withmassive uptake and recirculation of lake water for cooling purposes. In thispaper, spatial changes in macrophyte distributions over the last 50 yearsare reviewed in an attempt to identify the true source(s) of perturbation.The model adopted assumes that the power station is a point source of impactwhile nutrient inputs from the catchment are a diffuse source of impact;changes in species distributions can hypothetically be related back to thesesources according to whether they are localised or widespread. However,after a comprehensive analysis of available macrophyte data derived frominterviews, aerial photography and line transect methodologyies theconclusion is reached that changes in biogeographical pattern around theTuggerah Lakes cannot be attributed to specific anthropogenic pressures atanything beyond the coarsest of levels. This is considered to be the normfor most coastal management situations where natural background variation(’noise‘) and the complexity of linkages between physical, chemical andbiological components confounds the identification of causal relationships.The practical implications of this conclusion are discussed in the contextof litigation and remedial management design. Emphasis is placed on theneed to adopt an adaptive approach to estuarine management, incorporatingexplicit recognition of the limitations of available data, and to developnew techniques for identifying cause-effect relationships.     

某河口复合生态净化系统浮游植物群落特征与水质健康状况分析

针对阳澄湖某入湖河口复合生态净化系统实际工程,在探究各净化单元水体浮游植物群落季节性构成特征的基础上,采用综合营养状态指数和浮游植物多样性指数对水质健康状况进行综合评价及分析。结果表明：复合生态净化系统中共鉴定浮游植物8门97属143种,种类组成以硅藻门、绿藻门和蓝藻门为主;系统进、出水浮游植物密度分别为5.81×10⁵ ~1.76×10⁷、4.96×10⁵ ~1.65×10⁷ 个/L,进、出水生物量分别为0.292~5.21、0.194~4.66 mg/L,净化系统对水体浮游植物生长具有较好的控制效应;按照浮游植物功能群（functional group,FG）分类方法,净化系统浮游植物可划分为26个功能群,其中B、D、MP、P、S1、W1、X2、Y、G、J、L_O和M为优势功能群;各单元优势功能群的演替与水温、COD_Mn、DO和TN等水质指标具有良好相关性。研究期间复合生态净化系统水体处于中营养到轻度富营养状态,净化系统有效地提升了入湖水体的生态健康水平。