Paying the Extinction Debt in Southern Wisconsin Forest Understories

Abstract: The lack of long‐term baseline data restricts the ability to measure changes in biological diversity directly and to determine its cause. This hampers conservation efforts and limits testing of basic tenets of ecology and conservation biology. We used a historical baseline survey to track shifts in the abundance and distribution of 296 native understory species across 82 sites over 55 years in the fragmented forests of southern Wisconsin. We resurveyed stands first surveyed in the early 1950s to evaluate the influence of patch size and surrounding land cover on shifts in native plant richness and heterogeneity and to evaluate changes in the relative importance of local site conditions versus the surrounding landscape context as drivers of community composition and structure. Larger forests and those with more surrounding forest cover lost fewer species, were more likely to recruit new species, and had lower rates of homogenization than smaller forests in more fragmented landscapes. Nearby urbanization further reduced both alpha and beta understory diversity. Similarly, understory composition depended strongly on local site conditions in the original survey but only weakly reflected the surrounding landscape composition. By 2005, however, the relative importance of these factors had reversed such that the surrounding landscape structure is now a much better predictor of understory composition than are local site conditions. Collectively, these results strongly support the idea that larger intact habitat patches and landscapes better sustain native species diversity and demonstrate that humans play an increasingly important role in driving patterns of native species diversity and community composition.     

A survival-analysis-based simulation model for Russian wheat aphid population dynamics

A simulation model for Russian wheat aphid (RWA), Diuraphis noxia (Mordvilko), populations is built by integrating survival-analysis-based development and survivor functions and the same-shape reproduction distribution model in the framework of Leslie [Leslie, P.H., 1945. On the use of matrices in certain population mathematics. Biometrika 33, 183–212] matrix structure. Survival analysis is utilized to model both the development and survival of RWA populations, and the Cox (1972) proportional hazards model is fitted with the data sets from our laboratory observation of 1800 RWA individuals under 25 factorial combinations of five temperature regimes and five barley plant-growth stages. Rather than using simple age-specific survivor rates as in the traditional Leslie matrix, the survivor functions based on survival analysis describe age-specific, temperature and plant stage-dependent RWA survival probabilities. Similarly, a probability model from survival analysis to estimate the probability that an individual will reach mature adult stage is utilized to describe the development process; this makes the transition from nymphal stage to mature adult stage dependent on RWA age as well as temperature and plant-growth stage.Inspired by the same-shape distribution and rate-summation approach for modeling insect development, a similar approach for modeling insect reproduction under variable temperature is developed. This new same-shape reproduction distribution model incorporates individual variation in reproduction capability, as well as the effects of RWA age, temperature and plant-growth stage. Consequently, the same-shape reproduction distribution model replaces the simple age-specific fecundities in Leslie matrix model. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first to introduce survival analysis to simulation modeling in entomology and ecology and also the first to integrate our newly developed same-shape reproduction distribution model into application.     

Spatial and temporal dynamics at manakin leks: reconciling lek traditionality with male turnover

Leks, display grounds where males congregate and females visit to copulate, are typically traditional in location, despite often high turnover of individual males. How leks can persist in face of male turnover is not well understood, in part due to a lack of detailed field data allowing for a clear understanding of lek dynamics. We followed the fate of individual males at 11 to 15 leks of the blue-crowned manakin Lepidothrix coronata across four breeding seasons to gain insights on how leks are formed and changed in space and time. Between years, leks were traditional in location despite changes in territory ownership due to male disappearance and recruitment. New males were equally likely to recruit by taking over existing territories or by establishing new territories. Recruitment was influenced by age, as recruits were more likely to be adults than subadults. Lek size did not affect the probabilities of a male recruiting or persisting at a territory, and vocalization rate, a correlate of mating success in this population, did not affect male persistence. We used our field data to model changes in lek size and composition over longer periods of time (100 years) to understand how lek traditionality can be reconciled with high male turnover. Our simulations showed that leks in our population rapidly stabilize in size despite changes in territory ownership and that rates of male recruitment and disappearance compensate each other, such that leks have the potential to persist for several decades after the original males have disappeared from them.     

The narrow-skulled vole (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Microtus gregalis</Emphasis> Pall.) in the dynamics of zonal rodent communities of northern Eurasia

On the basis of abundant fossil and subfossil bone remains, the ecological and faunal role of the narrow-skulled vole in zonal rodent communities of northern Eurasia is analyzed over the period from the Late Pleistocene to the present time. Special attention is given to the correlated dynamics of relative abundance of Microtus gregalis and other rodent species in the course of transition from one zonal type to another and to specific features of this correlation in the southern, middle, and northern parts of the species range. It is shown that distinctive dimensional and morphotypic features of the two currently existing subspecies, Microtus gregalis major Ogn. and M. g. gregalis Pall., are the product of concordant development of the species and environmental conditions in the past 3000–4000 years (transition from the Holocene optimum to the present-day climate and state of the natural environment). Published in Russian in Ekologiya, 2007, Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 117–123. The article was translated by the authors.     

西南某退役化工厂场地地下水污染特征及污染物迁移规律分析

针对某退役化工厂场地受有机物污染的地下水含水层,开展地下水污染特征调查,通过风险评价模型、DRASTIC模型分别对研究区进行人体健康风险及地下水脆弱性评价,构建污染物地下水迁移扩散模型,进一步剖析典型污染物迁移扩散的影响因素及动力学模式。结果表明：研究区地下水受1,2-二氯乙烷、苯、三氯甲烷的污染,1,2-二氯乙烷的总致癌风险为4.00×10⁻⁶,超过人体健康风险可接受水平,主要暴露途径为吸入室内空气中来自地下水的气态污染物;研究区地下水脆弱性指数为4.912~5.305,整体处于中等脆弱性水平,地下水系统抵御污染能力较强,地下水埋深、净补给量和含水层厚度是影响地下水脆弱性的主要因素;1,2-二氯乙烷迁移扩散受地下水对流作用、含水介质吸附阻滞作用、生物化学作用共同影响,地下水对流作用是其迁移扩散的主要动力,含水介质吸附阻滞作用及生物化学作用对于其分布范围影响显著。

     

Miseq测序分析活性污泥系统中细菌群落的动态变化

采用基于16S rRNA基因的Miseq测序方法,分析了某小试序批式反应器(SBR)中,细菌群落结构在1年中的动态变化。在研究中,系统运行稳定,COD出水浓度均在40 mg/L以下,总氮(TN)和总磷(TP)出水浓度分别在20 mg/L和0.3 mg/L之下。细菌的群落组成变化明显,在检测到的2094个OTU中,有176个OTU只存在于3个以下的样品中。在385个属的细菌中,有54个属的微生物只存在于3个以下的样品中。移动窗口分析表明,系统中细菌群落的平均变化率Δt(30 d)为21.3%±6.2%,稳定的系统功能并未耦合稳定的细菌群落结构。Mantel test分析表明,溶解氧(DO),进水COD浓度和温度对细菌群落结构有显著影响。方差分解分析(VPA)结果表明,水质参数及运行参数可分别解释23.6%和21.5%的群落结构变化。     

低能耗脉冲喷吹袋式除尘器的三维数值模拟及工程应用

以袋式除尘器装置为研究对象,考虑射流偏移,建立了脉冲喷吹清洁的三维CFD数值模型,并进行实验验证;对喷嘴与文丘里管优化设计,修改数值模型,研究了低能耗下的脉冲喷吹清灰效果;在将改进的喷嘴与文丘里管进行工程应用的过程中,研究了其对大气粉尘排放的影响。结果表明,建立的三维CFD模型展现出了高瞬态行为和可压缩效应,即在射流中表现出涡流环与冲击单元现象。与孔喷嘴相比,改进后的喷嘴设计对射流偏移进行了调整,并且使滤袋内脉冲压力增加了5.1%~13.3%,提升了清灰效果。对比喉部直径为85 mm的文丘里管,无文丘里管的设计使得射流不易进入滤袋中,导致滤袋内脉冲压力降低了41.4%~46.3%,引起清灰效果的下降;减小文丘里管喉部直径,可以减少回流,提升滤袋内脉冲压力,改善清灰效果。对比原始装置,安装了改进喷嘴与文丘里管的袋式除尘器能明显降低大气粉尘排放,以上研究结果可为脉冲喷吹清灰除尘器的优化设计提供参考。     

Mechanisms Providing for Species Coexistence in the Herb-Dwarf Shrub Layer of a Southern Taiga Birch Forest

Individual species coexisting in the herb-dwarf shrub layer of a mature southern taiga birch forest were studied with respect to their limitation by different environmental resources and differences in the time or localization of the intensive utilization of deficient resources. The results made it possible to estimate the significance of different mechanisms of species coexistence in multispecific communities for herbaceous and dwarf shrub species of the forest phytocenosis studied.     

Relationship between the Population Dynamics of the Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar L., Lymantriidae: Lepidoptera) and the Genetic Polymorphism of the Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus

The population dynamics of the gypsy moth and the genomic DNA of the nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) pathogenic for this insect were simultaneously studied using nucleic acid molecular hybridization (NAMH). It was demonstrated that population outbreaks of the gypsy moth were accompanied by an increase in its sensitivity to NPV and in the genetic polymorphism of NPV strains circulating in the insect populations. The hybridization activity of the virus strains isolated at the phase of gypsy moth population growth was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than the activity of the strains isolated at the phase of population decrease.     

Spatial and temporal dynamics of hedgerows in three agricultural landscapes of southern Quebec,Canada

Noncrop areas such as hedgerows in agricultural landscapes can perform several ecological and agronomic functions (e.g., habitat, movement corridors, windbreak, etc.), but their dynamics and drivers of changes are often poorly known. We conducted a study in three agricultural landscapes of southern Quebec, Canada, to assess and compare the spatial and temporal (1958–1997) dynamics of three hedgerow networks in relation to geomorphic conditions (marine, glacial, and mixed deposit) and land-use changes. Hedgerow networks were mapped and described in terms of their structure (density, degree of connectivity, and presence of trees or shrubs) and their relationship to other components of the landscape (connection to woodland). Relationships were assessed in time and space using nonparametric correlation, Mantel test, and principal components analysis (PCA). Results show significant differences between hedgerow structure for the three landscapes and distinct temporal and spatial dynamics that can be related to changes in management practices and agricultural policies. On marine deposits, increases in hedgerow density did not always correspond to an increase in their degree of connectivity, suggesting a possible reduction in network quality. On glacial deposits, hedgerow density declined following abandonment of agricultural land, but rather than disappearing, these linear structures were integrated into adjacent brush or forested areas. Our analysis reveals the complex spatial and temporal dynamics of the hedgerow networks and highlights the need to take into account spatial attributes such as connectivity and connection to woodland to evaluate more accurately overall network quality.