Effects of vegetation type on soil microbial community structure and catabolic diversity assessed by polyphasic methods in North China

Soil microbes play a major role in ecological processes and are closely associated with the aboveground plant community.In order to understand the effects of vegetation type on the characteristics of soil microbial communities,the soil microbial communities were assessed by plate counts,phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and Biolog microplate techniques in five plant communities,i.e.,soybean field (SF),artificial turf (AT),artificial shrub (AS),natural shrub (NS),and maize field (MF) in Jinan,Shandong Province,North China.The results showed that plant diversity had little discernible effect on microbial biomass but a positive impact on the evenness of utilized substrates in Biolog microplate.Legumes could significantly enhance the number of cultural microorganisms,microbial biomass,and community catabolic diversity.Except for SF dominated by legumes,the biomass of fungi and the catabolic diversity of microbial community were higher in less disturbed soil beneath NS than in frequently disturbed soils beneath the other vegetation types.These results confirmed that high number of plant species,legumes,and natural vegetation types tend to support soil microbial communities with higher function.The present study also found a significant correlation between the number of cultured bacteria and catabolic diversity of the bacterial community.Different research methods led to varied results in this study.The combination of several approaches is recommended for accurately describing the characteristics of microbial communities in many respects.     

Effect of organic matter and pH on mercury release from soils

An investigation was conducted on the effect of organic matter(OM)and pH on mercury(Hg)release from soils.Hg release flux was measured using the dynamic flux chamber(DFC)combined with the Lumex multifunctional mercury analyzer in both laboratory experiment and field monitoring.The results showed that Hg emission from the OM-added soils was apparently low because of the high affinity of OM to Hg,resulting in the reverse order as the amount of OM addition.Meanwhile,Hg release flux from different pH value soils exhibited the same trend for both Hg~(2 )and Hg_2~(2 )treatment,increasing the Hg flux with pH value of soils increasing.The trend of Hg release in the pH dependence experiment has been well in agreement with that from the field test.In addition,Hg release seemed to be related to its species in the soil,the flux from Hg~(2 )-added soil was obviously higher than that of Hg_2~(2 )-added soil by the laboratory experiment.     

Effect of Sb dopant amount on the structure and electrocatalytic capability of Ti/Sb-SnO2 electrodes in the oxidation of 4-chlorophenol

Ti/Sb-SnO_2 anodes were prepared by thermal decomposition to examine the influence',of the amount of Sb dopant on the structure and electrocatalytic capability of the electrodes in the oxidation of 4-chlorophenol.The physicochemical properties of the Sb-SnO_2 coating were markedly influenced by different amounts of Sb dopant.The electrodes,which contained 5% Sb dopant in the coating, presented a much more homogenous surface and much smaller mud-cracks,compared with Ti/Sb-SnO_2 electrodes containing 10% or 15% Sb dopant,which exibited larger mud cracks and pores on the surface.However,the main microstructure remained unchanged with the addition of the Sb dopant.No new crystal phase was observed by X-ray diffraction(XRD).The electrochemical oxidation of 4-chlorophenol on the Ti/SnO_2 electrode with 5% Sb dopant was inclined to electrochemical combustion;while for those containing more Sb dopant,intermediate species were accumulated.The electrodes with 5% Sb dopant showed the highest efficiency in the bulk electrolysis of 4-chlorophenol at a current density of 20 mA/cm~2 for 180 min;and the removal rates of 4-chlorophenol and COD were 51.0% and 48.9%,respectively.     

不同污染区对绿化树种可溶性糖含量的影响

为了了解兰州市大气污染的情况,选择兰州市的主要绿化树种为研究对象,对叶片中的可溶性糖含量进行了测定,并且运用statistic软件进行分析。结果表明:同一树种在不同污染区的可溶性糖含量不同,存在极显著性的差异,同一污染区的各种绿化植物的可溶性糖含量也存在显著性的差异。5种树种的抗污染能力为:杨树>小叶黄杨>椿树>国槐>圆柏,兰州主要功能区的污染程度为:兰炼厂区>兰化厂区>橡胶厂>西关>西站>交大>兴隆山。研究结果可以为兰州市的大气污染治理提供理论和实践依据。     

青藏高原冰川雪细菌与气候环境的关系

通过荧光显微镜测定细菌密度,利用DGGE图谱和Shannon-Weaver指数分析细菌种类多样性,对青藏高原北部老虎沟12号冰川、南部东绒布冰川和东南部海螺沟2号冰川雪坑的细菌密度和种类多样性做了差异性分析. 结果表明:老虎沟12号冰川雪坑细菌密度平均值比东绒布冰川和海螺沟2号冰川高,老虎沟12号冰川雪坑细菌种类多样性比东绒布冰川高,这与高原南、北部不同大气环流引起的大气微粒含量的差异性有关. 海螺沟2号冰川雪坑细菌种类多样性均最高,与该冰川所受的大气环流多样性最高相一致. 东绒布冰川雪坑细菌密度平均值与南极点相近,与其远离人类污染,因而大气环境本底值低有关. 海拔高的东绒布冰川雪坑细菌密度和种类多样性均比海拔低的海螺沟2号冰川和老虎沟12号冰川低,即二者与海拔高度呈反比.      

Logistic和Gompertz曲线及其最优组合模型在沉降预测中的运用

堆载预压法处理的软土地基沉降变化规律与Logistic和Gompertz曲线的变化规律极为相似,有着明显的出生、成长和成熟的过程。通过对Logistic和Gompertz曲线参数的合理取值,能够较好地拟合S—t曲线,预估最终沉降量。同时,以平均绝对百分误差最小为目标,建立了组合预测模型,拟合结果显示,该组合模型对于S—t曲线的拟合,比Logistic和Gompertz曲线更具优越性。     

随机森林算法在新疆物种丰富度影响因素研究中的应用

基于多源遥感数据及其产品,以2010年新疆地区鸟类与哺乳动物物种丰富度空间分布数据为基础,结合土地利用、植被、气候、地形等遥感数据产品,探讨了影响新疆地区鸟类和哺乳动物物种丰富度的各环境因子空间分布及其差异.通过随机森林算法对影响鸟类和哺乳动物种数的环境解释变量进行了重要性评估,同时采用探索性回归分析对物种丰富度与环境...     

The importance of incorporating functional habitats into conservation planning for highly mobile species in dynamic systems

The distribution of mobile species in dynamic systems can vary greatly over time and space. Estimating their population size and geographic range can be problematic and affect the accuracy of conservation assessments. Scarce data on mobile species and the resources they need can also limit the type of analytical approaches available to derive such estimates. We quantified change in availability and use of key ecological resources required for breeding for a critically endangered nomadic habitat specialist, the Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor). We compared estimates of occupied habitat derived from dynamic presence‐background (i.e., presence‐only data) climatic models with estimates derived from dynamic occupancy models that included a direct measure of food availability. We then compared estimates that incorporate fine‐resolution spatial data on the availability of key ecological resources (i.e., functional habitats) with more common approaches that focus on broader climatic suitability or vegetation cover (due to the absence of fine‐resolution data). The occupancy models produced significantly (P < 0.001) smaller (up to an order of magnitude) and more spatially discrete estimates of the total occupied area than climate‐based models. The spatial location and extent of the total area occupied with the occupancy models was highly variable between years (131 and 1498 km²). Estimates accounting for the area of functional habitats were significantly smaller (2–58% [SD 16]) than estimates based only on the total area occupied. An increase or decrease in the area of one functional habitat (foraging or nesting) did not necessarily correspond to an increase or decrease in the other. Thus, an increase in the extent of occupied area may not equate to improved habitat quality or function. We argue these patterns are typical for mobile resource specialists but often go unnoticed because of limited data over relevant spatial and temporal scales and lack of spatial data on the availability of key resources. Understanding changes in the relative availability of functional habitats is crucial to informing conservation planning and accurately assessing extinction risk for mobile resource specialists.     

Improving effectiveness of systematic conservation planning with density data

Systematic conservation planning aims to design networks of protected areas that meet conservation goals across large landscapes. The optimal design of these conservation networks is most frequently based on the modeled habitat suitability or probability of occurrence of species, despite evidence that model predictions may not be highly correlated with species density. We hypothesized that conservation networks designed using species density distributions more efficiently conserve populations of all species considered than networks designed using probability of occurrence models. To test this hypothesis, we used the Zonation conservation prioritization algorithm to evaluate conservation network designs based on probability of occurrence versus density models for 26 land bird species in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. We assessed the efficacy of each conservation network based on predicted species densities and predicted species diversity. High‐density model Zonation rankings protected more individuals per species when networks protected the highest priority 10‐40% of the landscape. Compared with density‐based models, the occurrence‐based models protected more individuals in the lowest 50% priority areas of the landscape. The 2 approaches conserved species diversity in similar ways: predicted diversity was higher in higher priority locations in both conservation networks. We conclude that both density and probability of occurrence models can be useful for setting conservation priorities but that density‐based models are best suited for identifying the highest priority areas. Developing methods to aggregate species count data from unrelated monitoring efforts and making these data widely available through ecoinformatics portals such as the Avian Knowledge Network will enable species count data to be more widely incorporated into systematic conservation planning efforts.     

Conservation of biodiversity through taxonomy,data publication,and collaborative infrastructures

Taxonomy is the foundation of biodiversity science because it furthers discovery of new species. Globally, there have never been so many people involved in naming species new to science. The number of new marine species described per decade has never been greater. Nevertheless, it is estimated that tens of thousands of marine species, and hundreds of thousands of terrestrial species, are yet to be discovered; many of which may already be in specimen collections. However, naming species is only a first step in documenting knowledge about their biology, biogeography, and ecology. Considering the threats to biodiversity, new knowledge of existing species and discovery of undescribed species and their subsequent study are urgently required. To accelerate this research, we recommend, and cite examples of, more and better communication: use of collaborative online databases; easier access to knowledge and specimens; production of taxonomic revisions and species identification guides; engagement of nonspecialists; and international collaboration. “Data‐sharing” should be abandoned in favor of mandated data publication by the conservation science community. Such a step requires support from peer reviewers, editors, journals, and conservation organizations. Online data publication infrastructures (e.g., Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Ocean Biogeographic Information System) illustrate gaps in biodiversity sampling and may provide common ground for long‐term international collaboration between scientists and conservation organizations.