Reproductive Investment of a Lacertid Lizard in Fragmented Habitat

Abstract:  We studied the effect of habitat fragmentation on female reproductive investment in a widespread lacertid lizard (  Psammodromus algirus ) in a mixed-forest archipelago of deciduous and evergreen oak woods in northern Spain. We captured gravid females in fragments (≤10 ha) and forests (≥ 200 ha) and brought them to the laboratory, where they laid their eggs. We incubated the eggs and released the first cohort of juveniles into the wild to monitor their survival. Females from fragments produced a smaller clutch mass and laid fewer eggs (relative to mean egg mass) than females of similar body size from forests. Lizards did not trade larger clutches for larger offspring, however, because females from fragments did not lay larger eggs (relative to their number) than females from forests. Among the first cohort of juveniles, larger egg mass and body size increased the probability of recapture the next year. Thus, fragmentation decreased the relative fecundity of lizards without increasing the quality of their offspring. Reduced energy availability, increased predation risk, and demographic stochasticity could decrease the fitness of lizards in fragmented habitats, which could contribute to the regional scarcity of this species in agricultural areas sprinkled with small patches of otherwise suitable forest. Our results show that predictable reduction of reproductive output with decreasing size of habitat patches can be added to the already known processes that cause inverse density dependence at low population numbers.     

Biological Connectivity of Seasonally Ponded Wetlands across Spatial and Temporal Scales

Many species that inhabit seasonally ponded wetlands also rely on surrounding upland habitats and nearby aquatic ecosystems for resources to support life stages and to maintain viable populations. Understanding biological connectivity among these habitats is critical to ensure that landscapes are protected at appropriate scales to conserve species and ecosystem function. Biological connectivity occurs across a range of spatial and temporal scales. For example, at annual time scales many organisms move between seasonal wetlands and adjacent terrestrial habitats as they undergo life‐stage transitions; at generational time scales, individuals may disperse among nearby wetlands; and at multigenerational scales, there can be gene flow across large portions of a species’ range. The scale of biological connectivity may also vary among species. Larger bodied or more vagile species can connect a matrix of seasonally ponded wetlands, streams, lakes, and surrounding terrestrial habitats on a seasonal or annual basis. Measuring biological connectivity at different spatial and temporal scales remains a challenge. Here we review environmental and biological factors that drive biological connectivity, discuss implications of biological connectivity for animal populations and ecosystem processes, and provide examples illustrating the range of spatial and temporal scales across which biological connectivity occurs in seasonal wetlands.     

太子河流域硅藻群落与驱动因子的定量关系

定量研究水生生物对水环境参数的适宜值是评估栖息地质量和维持生物完整性的主要途径. 以辽宁省太子河流域为研究范例,选择Y(优势度指数)大于0.000 1的硅藻为研究对象,结合水环境参数,采用CCA(典范对应分析)、CART(分类回归树)和WA(加权平均回归分析)等方法,分析硅藻与水环境因子的关系,并计算硅藻对驱动因子的最适值. CCA结果表明,IOS(底质指数)、ρ(TDS)(TDS为总溶解固体)和ρ(COD_Mn)是硅藻群落的驱动因子;CART预测结果表明,IOS高的水环境硅藻密度高于IOS低的水环境,ρ(TDS)和ρ(COD_Mn)低的水环境硅藻密度高于ρ(TDS)和ρ(COD_Mn)高的水环境;WA结果显示,96种硅藻对IOS、ρ(TDS)和ρ(COD_Mn)的最适值范围分别为1.00~6.44、60.29~820.30 mg/L和0.46~2.89 mg/L. 钝端菱形藻解剖刀变种和尖端菱形藻适宜栖息于IOS较低而ρ(COD_Mn)较高的水环境, Gomphonema trancatum和肿大桥弯藻则适宜栖息于IOS较高的水环境;缠结异极藻二叉变种和尖细异极藻适宜栖息于ρ(TDS)较高的水环境,弧形峨眉藻和克洛钝脆杆藻则适宜栖息于ρ(TDS)较低的水环境;弧形峨眉藻和隐头舟形藻威蓝变种适宜栖息于ρ(COD_Mn)较低的水环境. 针杆藻和桥弯藻对IOS的最适值高于舟形藻和菱形藻以及其他藻种,96种硅藻对ρ(TDS)和ρ(COD_Mn)的最适值均表现为菱形藻和异极藻较高、针杆藻和桥弯藻较低.      

Effects of Recent Volcanic Eruptions on Aquatic Habitat in the Drift River, Alaska, USA: Implications at Other Cook Inlet Region Volcanoes

/ Numerous drainages supporting productive salmon habitat are surrounded by active volcanoes on the west side of Cook Inlet in south-central Alaska. Eruptions have caused massive quantities of flowing water and sediment to enter the river channels emanating from glaciers and snowfields on these volcanoes. Extensive damage to riparian and aquatic habitat has commonly resulted, and benthic macroinvertebrate and salmonid communities can be affected. Because of the economic importance of Alaska's fisheries, detrimental effects on salmonid habitat can have significant economic implications. The Drift River drains glaciers on the northern and eastern flanks of Redoubt Volcano. During and following eruptions in 1989-1990, severe physical disturbances to the habitat features of the river adversely affected the fishery. Frequent eruptions at other Cook Inlet region volcanoes exemplify the potential effects of volcanic activity on Alaska's important commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries. Few studies have documented the recovery of aquatic habitat following volcanic eruptions. The eruptions of Redoubt Volcano in 1989-1990 offered an opportunity to examine the recovery of the macroinvertebrate community. Macroinvertebrate community composition and structure in the Drift River were similar in both undisturbed and recently disturbed sites. Additionally, macroinvertebrate samples from sites in nearby undisturbed streams were highly similar to those from some Drift River sites. This similarity and the agreement between the Drift River macroinvertebrate community composition and that predicted by a qualitative model of typical macroinvertebrate communities in glacier-fed rivers indicate that the Drift River macroinvertebrate community is recovering five years after the disturbances associated with the most recent eruptions of Redoubt Volcano. KEY WORDS: Aquatic habitat; Volcanoes; Lahars; Lahar-runout flows; Macroinvertebrates; Community structure; Community composition; Taxonomic similarity     

基于文献计量分析的珊瑚礁生态修复技术研究现状及发展趋势

珊瑚礁是海洋生态系统的重要组成部分,具有食物资源、药用价值、海岸防护等生态功能.近年来受到自然气候及人类活动的影响,珊瑚礁生态系统发生了大规模的退化,因此,珊瑚礁生态修复技术逐渐成为研究热点.本文从Web of Science核心合集、CNKI、德温特数据库等获得相关文献,对全球及国内珊瑚礁生态修复技术研究热点进行全面...     

Validating graph-based connectivity models with independent presence–absence and genetic data sets

Habitat connectivity is a key objective of current conservation policies and is commonly modeled by landscape graphs (i.e., sets of habitat patches [nodes] connected by potential dispersal paths [links]). These graphs are often built based on expert opinion or species distribution models (SDMs) and therefore lack empirical validation from data more closely reflecting functional connectivity. Accordingly, we tested whether landscape graphs reflect how habitat connectivity influences gene flow, which is one of the main ecoevolutionary processes. To that purpose, we modeled the habitat network of a forest bird (plumbeous warbler [Setophaga plumbea]) on Guadeloupe with graphs based on expert opinion, Jacobs’ specialization indices, and an SDM. We used genetic data (712 birds from 27 populations) to compute local genetic indices and pairwise genetic distances. Finally, we assessed the relationships between genetic distances or indices and cost distances or connectivity metrics with maximum-likelihood population-effects distance models and Spearman correlations between metrics. Overall, the landscape graphs reliably reflected the influence of connectivity on population genetic structure; validation R² was up to 0.30 and correlation coefficients were up to 0.71. Yet, the relationship among graph ecological relevance, data requirements, and construction and analysis methods was not straightforward because the graph based on the most complex construction method (species distribution modeling) sometimes had less ecological relevance than the others. Cross-validation methods and sensitivity analyzes allowed us to make the advantages and limitations of each construction method spatially explicit. We confirmed the relevance of landscape graphs for conservation modeling but recommend a case-specific consideration of the cost-effectiveness of their construction methods. We hope the replication of independent validation approaches across species and landscapes will strengthen the ecological relevance of connectivity models.     

Boosting large-scale river connectivity restoration by planning for the presence of unrecorded barriers

Conservation decisions are invariably made with incomplete data on species’ distributions, habitats, and threats, but frameworks for allocating conservation investments rarely account for missing data. We examined how explicit consideration of missing data can boost return on investment in ecosystem restoration, focusing on the challenge of restoring aquatic ecosystem connectivity by removing dams and road crossings from rivers. A novel way of integrating the presence of unmapped barriers into a barrier optimization model was developed and applied to the U.S. state of Maine to maximize expected habitat gain for migratory fish. Failing to account for unmapped barriers during prioritization led to nearly 50% lower habitat gain than was anticipated using a conventional barrier optimization approach. Explicitly acknowledging that data are incomplete during project selection, however, boosted expected habitat gains by 20–273% on average, depending on the true number of unmapped barriers. Importantly, these gains occurred without additional data. Simply acknowledging that some barriers were unmapped, regardless of their precise number and location, improved conservation outcomes. Given incomplete data on ecosystems worldwide, our results demonstrate the value of accounting for data shortcomings during project selection.     

Near-term forecasts of stream temperature using deep learning and data assimilation in support of management decisions

Deep learning (DL) models are increasingly used to make accurate hindcasts of management-relevant variables, but they are less commonly used in forecasting applications. Data assimilation (DA) can be used for forecasts to leverage real-time observations, where the difference between model predictions and observations today is used to adjust the model to make better predictions tomorrow. In this use case, we developed a process-guided DL and DA approach to make 7-day probabilistic forecasts of daily maximum water temperature in the Delaware River Basin in support of water management decisions. Our modeling system produced forecasts of daily maximum water temperature with an average root mean squared error (RMSE) from 1.1 to 1.4°C for 1-day-ahead and 1.4 to 1.9°C for 7-day-ahead forecasts across all sites. The DA algorithm marginally improved forecast performance when compared with forecasts produced using the process-guided DL model alone (0%–14% lower RMSE with the DA algorithm). Across all sites and lead times, 65%–82% of observations were within 90% forecast confidence intervals, which allowed managers to anticipate probability of exceedances of ecologically relevant thresholds and aid in decisions about releasing reservoir water downstream. The flexibility of DL models shows promise for forecasting other important environmental variables and aid in decision-making.     

三叶爬山虎叶片解剖结构和光合生理特性对3种生境的响应

藤本植物生活环境的时空变化较为剧烈,为适应异质性生境常表现出较大的可塑性,其形态解剖结构及光合生理特征被认为能很好地体现对异质生境的适应。为了明确藤本植物叶片结构和光合作用对不同生境光强的响应策略,以木质藤本三叶爬山虎（Parthenocissus himalayana）为对象,采用光合仪测定和解剖显微观察的方法研究了哀牢山亚热带湿性常绿阔叶林的林外（全光照）、林缘（遮荫）和林内（荫生）3种自然生境中三叶爬山虎的叶片解剖结构和光合生理特征的变化,以期阐述三叶爬山虎对不同光环境的生态适应能力及策略,为森林生态系统的管理和物种多样性的保护及群落优化配置提供理论依据。结果表明：从林内到林外随着生境光强增加,叶片厚度（157.77～299.17μm）、上表皮厚度（21.30～28.40μm）、栅栏组织厚度（30.83～124.65μm）、栅栏组织细胞面积（430.95～652.97μm2）显著增大（P〈0.01）,栅栏组织细胞长度（29.23～49.54μm）和周长（86.58～155.17μm）、下表皮厚度（16.14～19.01μm）、气孔长度（24.13～27.10μm）和气孔密度（86.20～129.41个·mm-2）呈显著上升趋势（P〈0.05）。栅栏组织细胞宽度（19.67～22.81μm）在3种生境中无显著差异。叶片解剖结构性状的平均可塑性值为0.37,其中最大值是栅栏组织细胞长度（0.67）,最小值是气孔长度（0.11）。光饱和点（201.27～1299.17μmol·m-2·s-1）、光补偿点（3.86～29.88μmol·m-2·s-1）、饱和光强最大光合速率（2.20～12.03μmol·m-2·s-1）、暗呼吸速率（0.17～2.19μmol·m-2·s-1）、CO2补偿点（83.01～237.26μmol·m-2·s-1）、饱和CO2最大净光合速率（2.07～25.49μmol·m-2·s-1）、光呼吸速率（0.36～7.57μmol·m-2·s-1）、初始羧化效率（0.006～0.035μmol·μmol-1）随着生境光强的增高呈上升趋势,而表观量子效率（0.067～0.031μmol·?