Distribution of Calculated Indices and an Attempt of Its Biological Interpretation Using the Production Characteristics of Grass Communities

The distribution of indices characterizing the productivity structure of natural, semicultivated, and cultivated grass communities has been analyzed. The proportion of normally distributed series accounts for more than half of all series in wheat fields and herb–reedgrass meadows and less than one-third of all series in sown grass mixtures.     

Shrub communities as inhibitors of plant succession in southern Quebec

The purpose of our research was to identify shrub species growing in southern Quebec that inhibit ecological succession in power-line corridors. Results are presented in three parts. First, clonal characteristics that allowed the establishment of stable communities were identified. Second, successional vector analysis identified those species that have the potential to inhibit succession. In poorly drained sites those species wereCornus stolonifera, C. obliqua, Salix petiolaris, andSpiraea alba. In well-drained sites, those species wereZanthoxylum americanum, Rubus idaeus, Spiraea alba, Rhus typhina, andThuja occidentalis. Third, analysis of variance showed that there is a significantly larger number of tree seedlings found in adjacent herbaceous communities than found under the dense cover ofCornus stolonifera, C. obliqua, Salix petiolaris, Spiraea alba, Rhus typhina, Rubus idaeus, Thuya occidentalis, andZanthoxylum americanum. These results indicate that the planting of selected shrub species could, through biological control, delay reforestation.     

Effective removal of antibiotic resistance genes and potential links with archaeal communities during vacuum-type composting and positive-pressure composting

As a major reservoir of antibiotics, animal manure contributes a lot to the augmented environmental pressure of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). This might be the first study to explore the effects of different ventilation types on the control of ARGs and to identify the relationships between archaeal communities and ARGs during the composting of dairy manure. Several ARGs were quantified via Real-time qPCR and microbial communities including bacteria and archaea were analyzed by High-throughput sequencing during vacuum-type composting (VTC) and positive-pressure composting (PPC). The total detected ARGs and class I integrase gene (intI1) under VTC were significantly lower than that under PPC during each stage of the composting (p < 0.001). The relative abundance of potential human pathogenic bacteria (HPB) which were identified based on sequencing information and correlation analysis decreased by 74.6% and 91.4% at the end of PPC and VTC, respectively. The composition of archaeal communities indicated that methane-producing archaea including Methanobrevibacter, Methanocorpusculum and Methanosphaera were dominant throughout the composting. Redundancy analysis suggested that Methanobrevibacter and Methanocorpusculum were positively correlated with all of the detected ARGs. Network analysis determined that the possible hosts of ARGs were different under VTC and PPC, and provided new sights about potential links between archaea and ARGs. Our results showed better performance of VTC in reducing ARGs and potential HPB and demonstrated that some archaea could also be influential hosts of ARGs, and caution the risks of archaea carrying ARGs.     

水氮控制对荒漠草原中小型土壤动物的影响

为了解模拟氮沉降和降雨变化对短花针茅荒漠草原中小型土壤动物的影响,本试验设计主区为自然降雨（CK）、增雨30%（W）和减雨30%（R）3个水分处理,副区为0（N0）,30（N30）,50（N50）和100（N100） kg/（hm²·a）4个氮素处理共12个处理.研究表明：在相同的水分处理中随着氮浓度的不断增高,表层土壤中中小型土壤动物的个体密度呈先上升后下降趋势.W-N30处理下中小型土壤动物个体密度高于其他处理（P<0.05）,类群数随着氮浓度升高呈下降趋势,减雨与过量施氮对表层土壤中中小型土壤动物个体密度具有抑制作用.短花针茅荒漠草原中小型土壤动物在土层中具有明显的表聚特性.另外,冗余分析（RDA）表明,研究区内中小型土壤动物的优势类群与常见类群受环境因子影响较显著,土壤pH值、温度、含水量、有机质和植物全C、全N、C/N对中小型土壤动物个体密度影响均较大,但短期内对类群数的影响不显著.当短花针茅荒漠草原面临全球变化时,随着氮沉降量逐渐增加,表层土壤中中小型土壤动物个体密度先逐渐增加,当达到不同水分条件下氮浓度阈值时,则对表层土壤中中小型土壤动物产生抑制作用.     

堆肥对土壤中石油烃的去除及微生物群落的影响

为研究堆肥对石油污染土壤中不同组分烃的去除作用及土壤微生物群落结构变化的影响,利用重量法和GC-MS测定土壤中总石油烃、烷烃和多环芳烃的含量,采用高通量测序技术研究了堆肥对土壤微生物群落结构和多样性的影响作用.结果表明,向石油污染土壤中施加堆肥进行42d的修复处理,土壤中石油烃、烷烃、多环芳烃去除率分别为（12.4±0.01）%、（10.2±0.01）%、（9.38±0.02）%;自然放置的土壤中3种烃去除率分别为（3.21±0.02）%、（-3.00±0.01）%、（-6.59±0.02）%.自然放置的土壤香农指数、ACE指数和Chao1指数分别为4.30、3489.3和2691.0,加入堆肥进行修复处理后,土壤香农指数、ACE指数和Chao1指数分别增加为5.80、4684.7和3851.8.油污土壤中放线菌门（Actinobacteria）所占丰度由47.3%降低为28.2%,拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes）丰度由0.78%增加至16.2%.变形菌门（Proteobacteria）丰度为37.4%,修复结束后几乎不变.属水平上,油污土壤中的优势菌属包括原小单孢菌属（promicromonospora）、微小杆菌属（Exiguobacterium）、诺卡氏菌属（Nocardioides）、分支杆菌属（Mycobacterium）、柠檬酸细菌属（Citrobacter）.施入堆肥使土壤中的这些优势菌属丰度降低,土壤中出现氮单胞菌属（Azomonas）、藤黄单胞菌属（Luteimonas）、假鞘氨醇杆菌属（Pseudosphingo bacterium）、紫单胞菌属（Parapedobacter）等新菌属.研究结果表明,与自然放置的土壤相比,向石油污染土壤中施入有机堆肥可有效去除土壤中的石油烃、烷烃和多环芳烃.并使土壤微生物群落结构发生明显变化.     

An ecosystem report on the Panama Canal: monitoring the status of the forest communities and the watershed

In 1996, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Republic of Panama's Environmental Authority, with support fromthe United States Agency for International Development, undertook a comprehensive program to monitor the ecosystem of the Panama Canal watershed. The goals were to establish baselineindicators for the integrity of forest communities and rivers. Based on satellite image classification and ground surveys, the2790 km² watershed had 1570 km² of forest in 1997, 1080 km² of which was in national parks and nature monuments. Most of the 490 km² of forest not currently in protected areas lies along the west bank of the Canal, and its managementstatus after the year 2000 turnover of the Canal from the U.S. to Panama remains uncertain. In forest plots designed to monitorforest diversity and change, a total of 963 woody plant specieswere identified and mapped. We estimate there are a total of 850–1000 woody species in forests of the Canal corridor. Forestsof the wetter upper reaches of the watershed are distinct in species composition from the Canal corridor, and have considerably higher diversity and many unknown species. Theseremote areas are extensively forested, poorly explored, and harbor an estimated 1400–2200 woody species. Vertebrate monitoring programs were also initiated, focusing on species threatened by hunting and forest fragmentation. Large mammals are heavily hunted in most forests of Canal corridor, and therewas clear evidence that mammal density is greatly reduced in hunted areas and that this affects seed predation and dispersal. The human population of the watershed was 113 000 in 1990, and grew by nearly 4% per year from 1980 to 1990. Much of this growth was in a small region of the watershed on the outskirts of Panama City, but even rural areas, including villages near and within national parks, grew by 2% per year. There is no sewage treatment in the watershed, and many towns have no trashcollection, thus streams near large towns are heavily polluted. Analyses of sediment loads in rivers throughout the watershed did not indicate that erosion has been increasing as a result ofdeforestation, rather, erosion seems to be driven largely by total rainfall and heavy rainfall events that cause landslides.Still, models suggest that large-scale deforestation would increase landslide frequency, and failure to detect increases inerosion could be due to the gradual deforestation rate and the short time period over which data are available. A study of runoff showed deforestation increased the amount of water fromrainfall that passed directly into streams. As a result, dry season flow was reduced in a deforested catchment relative to aforested one. Currently, the Panama Canal watershed has extensive forest areasand streams relatively unaffected by humans. But impacts of hunting and pollution near towns are clear, and the burgeoningpopulation will exacerbate these impacts in the next few decades.Changes in policies regarding forest protection and pollution control are necessary.     

The Fish Fauna of the Doubs River Prior to Completion of the Rhine–Rhône Connection

/ The part of the Doubs River between Montbeliard and Dole (France), i.e., downstream from the confluence with the Allan River, will be affected by the Rhine- Rhone connection project. In order to improve the understanding of the Doubs ichthyofauna, aquatic environments of the Doubs were sampled by electrofishing. Fish diversity and the presence of some rheophilic species demonstrated the good ecological quality of some stretches of the Doubs. This quality was due to alternating areas with very diversified aquatic environments (riffles, islands and side-arms, backwaters) and a considerable range of flow velocities. The differences in the structure of the fish communities of the different types of aquatic environments were more qualitative (fish species) than quantitative (number of species and number of fish). However, the mean number of fish was statistically lower in the canals (Freycinet canal and channelized part of the Allan River) than in the main course and in the backwaters. The natural parts of the Doubs (unnavigable reaches) showed the most diversified environmental structure and had the most rheophilic fish communities. Thus, the rheophilic species were well represented, but they proved also the most vulnerable to river regulation. However, the most abundant fishes throughout the Doubs River were generalists with no special requirements for food sources or spawning substrate.KEY WORDS: Fish communities; Regulation; Restoration; Floodplain; Large ship canal; Doubs River     

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea) of Roxborough State Park, Colorado, USA: Baseline Inventory, Community Attributes, and Monitoring Plan

/ Roxborough State Park in Colorado's Front Range was established in 1975 following a history of cattle and sheep ranching by private ownership. Survey work conducted from 1979 to 1995 resulted in the documentation of 93 species of butterflies. A variety of factors are responsible for the composition of the butterfly community: (1) overgrazing and its effect on the presence or absence of specific butterfly host plants; (2) habitat differences resulting from topographical and geological features; and (3) ecological and historical biogeography. This study provides data on community sampling adequacy, along with estimates of effort needed to monitor trends in abundance by using a community self-similarity curve and power analysis. An annual monitoring plan is proposed to assess trends in community composition. The plan includes collection of presence/absence and abundance data for select butterflies based on natural history information.KEY WORDS: Butterfly communities; Grazing; Inventory; Monitoring; Natural history     

潮间带生物多样性与生境的相关性调查

本文从潮间带沉积物的粒径、分选系数及底栖生物群落结构阐明潮间带生态现状。潮间带生物群落的特征是环境及生物内部竞争相互作用的结果。以滨海规划工业区为例,调查了化工厂设计排污口所在滩涂的潮间带生态现状,其多样性与沉积物机械组成、海浪作用及生物群落内部竞争的平衡有关,并依此预测排污后的生态效应。     

Conservation Value of Clustered Housing Developments

Abstract:  Traditionally, exurban lands in Colorado have been subdivided into a grid of parcels ranging from 2 to 16 ha. From an ecological perspective, this dispersed pattern of development effectively maximizes the individual influence of each home on the land. Clustered housing developments, designed to maximize open space, are assumed to benefit plant and wildlife communities of conservation interest. They have become a popular alternative for rural development despite the lack of empirical evidence demonstrating their conservation benefits. To better inform rural land-use planning, we evaluated clustered housing developments by comparing their spatial pattern with that of dispersed housing developments and by comparing their conservation value with that of both dispersed housing developments and undeveloped areas in Boulder County, Colorado. We used four indicators to assess conservation value: (1) densities of songbirds, (2) nest density and survival of ground-nesting birds, (3) presence of mammals, and (4) percent cover and proportion of native and non-native plant species. Clustered and dispersed housing developments did not differ on the majority of variables we examined. Both types of housing development had significantly higher densities of non-native and human-commensal species and significantly lower densities of native and human-sensitive species than undeveloped areas. More rigorous ecological guidelines and planning on a regional scale may help create clustered developments with higher conservation value.