Chromatographic measurement of molecular markers of sources of atmospheric aerosol particles

Various organic compounds in aerosol particles in ambient air near a coniferous forest fire in Boulder, Colorado were identified as molecular markers of wood burning and forest fires. Particle samples were collected by filtering small volumes of air. The samples were analysed using thermal desorption followed by gas chromatographic separation and detection, a highly sensitive analytical method. Several compounds unique to softwood combustion were identified in the samples. Additionally, a predominance of odd-carbon-numbered n-alkanes over the corresponding even-carbon-numbered n-alkanes was observed. This predominance is a well-documented molecular pattern indicative of epicutical waxes in plants.     

Salvage Logging, Ecosystem Processes, and Biodiversity Conservation

Abstract:  We summarize the documented and potential impacts of salvage logging—a form of logging that removes trees and other biological material from sites after natural disturbance. Such operations may reduce or eliminate biological legacies, modify rare postdisturbance habitats, influence populations, alter community composition, impair natural vegetation recovery, facilitate the colonization of invasive species, alter soil properties and nutrient levels, increase erosion, modify hydrological regimes and aquatic ecosystems, and alter patterns of landscape heterogeneity. These impacts can be assigned to three broad and interrelated effects: (1) altered stand structural complexity; (2) altered ecosystem processes and functions; and (3) altered populations of species and community composition. Some impacts may be different from or additional to the effects of traditional logging that is not preceded by a large natural disturbance because the conditions before, during, and after salvage logging may differ from those that characterize traditional timber harvesting. The potential impacts of salvage logging often have been overlooked, partly because the processes of ecosystem recovery after natural disturbance are still poorly understood and partly because potential cumulative effects of natural and human disturbance have not been well documented. Ecologically informed policies regarding salvage logging are needed prior to major natural disturbances so that when they occur ad hoc and crisis-mode decision making can be avoided. These policies should lead to salvage-exemption zones and limits on the amounts of disturbance-derived biological legacies (e.g., burned trees, logs) that are removed where salvage logging takes place. Finally, we believe new terminology is needed. The word salvage implies that something is being saved or recovered, whereas from an ecological perspective this is rarely the case.     

林窗大小和位置对丽江云杉自然更新幼苗存活和生长的影响

通过 1997～ 2 0 0 0年对 32个林窗的连续观测调查 ,研究了滇西北玉龙雪山自然保护区云杉坪亚高山丽江云杉林林窗大小和林窗位置对自然更新幼苗存活和生长的影响 .4个生长季节的观测结果表明 :林窗与林下非林窗内的幼苗大小和幼苗存活数量差异明显 .林窗由小到大 ,单位面积内的自然更新苗木数量逐渐减少 ,小林窗中更新苗为大林窗的 5倍左右 ,而林下的更新苗很少 ,0 .2ind .10m-2 .中等林窗和小林窗内的幼苗数量在从南到中心到北的位置上几乎没有明显的差异 ;大林窗中存在由南到北的位置差异 ,更新幼苗数量逐渐减少 .从更新幼苗的生长来看 ,中等林窗内的幼苗 ,高度最大、生长最快 ,定居阶段的平均年高生长为 (7.1± 0 .5 )cma-1,小林窗次之 ,大林窗和林下幼苗个体最小 ,生长最慢 .进一步从林窗位置来看 ,中、小林窗幼苗大小几无位置差异 ,大林窗则由南到北 ,幼苗由大变小 .从幼苗存活数量和大小来看 ,中等林窗大小是丽江云杉幼苗更新的适宜面积 ,对该类型退化亚高山针叶林恢复提供了一定的参考 .图 4表 2参 2 3     

云南金沙江流域主要森林植被类型分布格局

云南金沙江流域具有复杂的地形地貌,从地貌格局及气候系统差异上,可将该区域的森林植被类型分异划分为3个区,即西部高山峡谷区、中部中山峡谷和滇中高原区、东部中山山原峡谷区,不同的区域决定不同的植被类型,而典型的植被类型具有指示特定区域的作用。通过分析,把云南金沙江流域不同区域的植被特点、类型进行了阐述。对于该区域的植被恢复,特别是植被类型,是遵照自然规律的原则,保证恢复效果的重要举措。同时,对不同区域森林植被类型及不同区域森林植被垂直差异的论述,阐明了云南金沙江流域不同区域的顶极和亚顶极植物群落,为人工按“近自然化”的原则恢复森林植被提供了参考依据。     

Spot遥感影像照片在森林资源二类调查上的应用

为了提高森林资源二类调查质量,提高工作效率,辽宁省森林资源二类调查改变以往的地形图调绘、实测等传统调绘方法,利用法国Spot5遥感影像照片作为外业调绘的图面资料,结合现地调查,取得较好效果。Spot5遥感影像经PCI软件处理后具有明显特征,根据遥感影像中各地类的色调、形状、阴影、纹理、位置、大小等特征直接沿影像特征的边缘准确勾划出地类界线,即可完成森林资源二类调查野外调绘工作。大大降低了野外调绘人员的劳动强度,省时、省工、省钱。     

亚热带农田和林地大气氮湿沉降与混合沉降比较

本研究在位于我国亚热带区域的湖南省长沙县金井河流域,设置一个农田监测点和一个林地监测点,开展了完整的2a(2011年3月至2013年2月)大气氮素(N)湿沉降和混合沉降(湿沉降+部分干沉降)的监测,评价两种方法监测的大气氮素沉降的差别,并建立一种采用氮素混合沉降来估算氮素湿沉降的方法.结果表明采样点氮素湿沉降和混合沉降以NH_4~+-N沉降量最高,其中农田点大气氮湿沉降、混合沉降量分别为26.2 kg·(hm~2·a)~(-1)、28.9 kg·(hm~2·a)~(-1),湿沉降、混合沉降NH_4~+-N、NO_3~--N和可溶性有机氮(DON)分别占湿沉降、混合沉降总氮(TN)的49.7%、31.3%、19.0%和48.7%、31.6%、19.7%.林地点大气氮湿沉降、混合沉降量分别为23.6 kg·(hm~2·a)~(-1)、27.8 kg·(hm~2·a)~(-1),湿沉降、混合沉降NH_4~+-N、NO_3~--N和DON分别占湿沉降、混合沉降TN的53.9%、34.8%、11.4%和49.6%、31.6%、18.9%.研究区域降雨量与湿沉降、混合沉降雨水中NH_4~+-N、NO_3~--N和TN浓度均有极显著负相关关系,而与沉降量有显著正相关性.两监测点湿沉降与混合沉降的雨水中N素浓度具有极显著线性相关性(决定系数大于0.82),根据二者之间建立的回归方程,农田点采用混合沉降估算湿沉降中NH_4~+-N、NO_3~--N和TN沉降的系数值分别为0.875、0.774和0.852;林地点相应的系数值分别为0.859、0.783和0.819,该系数值主要与监测点的氮素湿沉降量及大气颗粒态氮的污染水平有关.亚热带区域采用大气氮素混合沉降替代氮素湿沉降,将导致氮素湿沉降被高估10%~18%,利用氮素混合沉降和氮素湿沉降之间的回归方程,可以较好实现采用混合沉降来估算湿沉降.     

FOREST HYDROLOGY ISSUES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: A CONSULTANT'S VIEWPOINT1

ABSTRACT: Forest hydrology should be a mature science with routine use of hydrological procedures to evaluate the effect of past, current and proposed harvesting practices on water resources. It is not. However, water users are pressuring forest managers to exercise their role in managing forested watersheds for water supply. Most forest managers are poorly equipped to carry out this role. Forestry schools need to ensure that their graduates, whether employed in forest management positions or as specialists in watershed management, understand that all forestry operations may affect instream or downstream water users. Specialists in forest hydrology should be fully aware of the following: (1) climate and watershed characteristics influence streamflow in separate ways; (2) forestry practices produce changes in water yield and quality, and that only these changes need to be evaluated to estimate their effects; (3) watershed storage is a critical factor in evaluating the effects of harvesting on streamflow; and (4) the effect of harvest on one watershed cannot be extrapolated to another without consideration of the processes affected. Research is needed to assist watershed managers in applying models to watersheds for which climate and streamflow data are insufficient. Research is also needed to incorporate climate, streamflow and other data for hydrological models into geographic information systems. Joint research projects are needed to develop physical relationships between stream channel characteristics of importance to fisheries biologists and streamflow characteristics affected by forest harvest.     

MODELING THE HYDROLOGIC IMPACTS OF FOREST HARVESTING ON FLORIDA FLATWOODS1

ABSTRACT: The great temporal and spatial variability of pine flat-woods hydrology suggests traditional short-term field methods may not be effective in evaluating the hydrologic effects of forest management. The FLATWOODS model was developed, calibrated and validated specifically for the cypress wetland-pine upland landscape. The model was applied to two typical flatwoods sites in north central Florida. Three harvesting treatments (Wetland Harvesting, Wetland + Upland Harvesting, and Control) under three typical climatic conditions (dry, wet, and normal precipitation years) were simulated to study the potential first-year effects of common forest harvesting activities on flatwoods. Long-term (15 years) simulation was conducted to evaluate the hydrologic impacts at different stages of stand rotation. This simulation study concludes that forest harvesting has substantial effects on hydrology during dry periods and clear cutting of both wetlands and uplands has greater influence on the water regimes than partial harvesting. Compared to hilly regions, forest harvesting in the Florida coastal plains has less impact on water yield.     

Thresholds in Songbird Occurrence in Relation to Landscape Structure

Abstract:  Theory predicts the occurrence of threshold levels of habitat in landscapes, below which ecological processes change abruptly. Simulation models indicate that below critical thresholds, fragmentation of habitat influences patch occupancy by decreasing colonization rates and increasing rates of local extinction. Uncovering such putative relationships is important for understanding the demography of species and in developing sound conservation strategies. Using segmented logistic regression, we tested for thresholds in occurrence of 15 bird species as a function of the amount of suitable habitat at multiple scales (150–2000-m radii). Suitable habitat was defined quantitatively based on previously derived, spatially explicit distribution models for each species. The occurrence of 10 out of 15 species was influenced by the amount of habitat at a landscape scale (≥500-m radius). Of these species all but one were best predicted by threshold models. Six out of nine species exhibited asymptotic thresholds; the effects of habitat loss intensified at low amounts of habitat in a landscape. Landscape thresholds ranged from 8.6% habitat to 28.7% (     = 18.5 ± 2.6%[95% CI]). For two species landscape thresholds coincided with sensitivity to fragmentation; both species were more likely to occur in large patches, but only when the amount of habitat in a landscape was low. This supports the fragmentation threshold hypothesis. Nevertheless, the occurrence of most species appeared to be unaffected by fragmentation, regardless of the amount of habitat present at landscape extents. The thresholds we identified may be useful to managers in establishing conservation targets. Our results indicate that findings of landscape-scale studies conducted in regions with relatively high proportions of habitat and low fragmentation may not be applicable in regions with low habitat proportions and high fragmentation.