外源钙盐对盐胁迫下沙拐枣渗透调节和膜脂过氧化的影响

为了解外源钙对缓解沙拐枣（Calligonum mongolicum）盐胁迫的主要生理机制,采用盆栽法探究在0、100、200 mmol/L的NaCl胁迫下,分别添加5、10、15和20 mmol/L的Ca（NO₃）₂对沙拐枣同化枝中w（脯氨酸）、丙二醛含量、w（可溶性蛋白）、w（可溶性糖）的影响.结果表明,单独添加Ca（NO₃）₂使沙拐枣同化枝内w（脯氨酸）、丙二醛含量、w（可溶性蛋白）以及w（可溶性糖）增加,即Ca（NO₃）₂对沙拐枣的生长造成了胁迫.对w（脯氨酸）、丙二醛含量、w（可溶性蛋白）、w（可溶性糖）来说,NaCl和Ca（NO₃）₂之间均存在极显著的交互作用,与对照相比,在c（NaCl）分别为100、200 mmol/L,添加c[Ca（NO₃）₂]为10、20 mmol/L时,w（脯氨酸）显著增加,分别达到最大值（736.7、1 086.3 μg/g）;丙二醛含量分别降低了37.8%和40.5%,w（可溶性蛋白）以及w（可溶性糖）均增加.总之,适宜浓度的钙盐通过增加渗透物质w（脯氨酸）、w（可溶性蛋白）及w（可溶性糖）,降低丙二醛的含量来有效缓解盐胁迫对沙拐枣幼苗产生的伤害,当c（NaCl）/c[Ca（NO₃）₂]为10:1时,缓解作用最佳,并且钙盐对沙拐枣盐胁迫的缓解属于抗性诱导的调节作用.      

秦岭山地丹江流域土地利用变化的土壤侵蚀效应评价

论文采用ArcGIS 10.0及InVEST土壤保持模型,分析2000—2010年秦岭山地丹江流域土地利用类型变化特征,模拟流域不同时期不同土地利用类型土壤侵蚀及土壤保持量的变化规律,并着重探讨土地利用类型方式转变对流域土壤侵蚀的影响。结果表明：1）2000—2010年间,流域裸地大比例减少90.18%（831.06 hm²）,主要转移至水域,耕地大面积减少5 197.24 hm²（4.11%）,主要流向灌丛和城镇;坡耕地还林还草初见成效,湿地的保护与恢复成效显著。2）2000—2010年间,流域土壤侵蚀状况较为严重,整体处于中度侵蚀至强度侵蚀级别,但10 a间侵蚀状况有减缓趋势;在该研究时段内,耕地大面积转为灌丛是该流域由土地利用类型变化引起的土壤侵蚀减缓的主要原因;另外,耕地转为林地以及裸地面积的减少也起到了减轻土壤侵蚀的作用;以自然生态系统为主的林地、灌丛及草地转为耕地时,土壤侵蚀强度则会明显增加。3）生态系统土壤保持功能受多方因素共同影响;2000、2010年研究区实际土壤保持量分别为5.35×10⁸、5.47×10⁸ t;占全区面积一半以上的林地和灌丛单位面积土壤保持量较为稳定,全区土壤保持功能有所提高。保证一定面积的林地、在人工干预下合理安排坡耕地还林还草区域的空间分布是秦岭山地丹江流域减少土壤侵蚀的必要措施,同时应注重对可利用耕地的保护。     

Mega-Development Trends in the Amazon: Implications for Global Change

This paper describes four global-change phenomena that are having major impacts on Amazonian forests. The first is accelerating deforestation and logging. Despite recent government initiatives to slow forest loss, deforestation rates in Brazilian Amazonia have increased from 1.1 million ha yr^–1 in the early 1990s, to nearly 1.5 million ha yr^–1 from 1992–1994, and to more than 1.9 million ha yr^–1 from 1995–1998. Deforestation is also occurring rapidly in some other parts of the Amazon Basin, such as in Bolivia and Ecuador, while industrialized logging is increasing dramatically in the Guianas and central Amazonia.The second phenomenon is that patterns of forest loss and fragmentation are rapidly changing. In recent decades, large-scale deforestation has mainly occurred in the southern and eastern portions of the Amazon — in the Brazilian states of Pará, Maranho, Rondônia, Acre, and Mato Grosso, and in northern Bolivia. While rates of forest loss remain very high in these areas, the development of major new highways is providing direct conduits into the heart of the Amazon. If future trends follow past patterns, land-hungry settlers and loggers may largely bisect the forests of the Amazon Basin.The third phenomenon is that climatic variability is interacting with human land uses, creating additional impacts on forest ecosystems. The 1997/98 El Niño drought, for example, led to a major increase in forest burning, with wildfires raging out of control in the northern Amazonian state of Roraima and other locations. Logging operations, which create labyrinths of roads and tracks in forsts, are increasing fuel loads, desiccation and ignition sources in forest interiors. Forest fragmentation also increases fire susceptibility by creating dry, fire-prone forest edges.Finally, recent evidence suggests that intact Amazonian forests are a globally significant carbon sink, quite possibly caused by higher forest growth rates in response to increasing atmospheric CO₂ fertilization. Evidence for a carbon sink comes from long-term forest mensuration plots, from whole-forest studies of carbon flux and from investigations of atmospheric CO₂ and oxygen isotopes. Unfortunately, intact Amazonian forests are rapidly diminishing. Hence, not only is the destruction of these forests a major source of greenhouse gases, but it is reducing their intrinsic capacity to help buffer the rapid anthropogenic rise in CO₂.     

Combustion characteristics of asphalt and sodium compounds

Risk evaluation of mixtures of asphalt and inorganic salts such as sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, sodium carbonate and sodium dihydrogenphosphate was conducted. The ignition and the combustion characteristics of mixtures of asphalt and oxidizing salts were obtained. Quasi-heat-accumulation experiments of asphalt–salt mixtures were conducted using about 1 kg samples. Six types of asphalt–salt mixtures were made and their ignition characteristics were examined in the quasi-heat-accumulation experiments. Then to clarify burning behavior of the asphalt–salt mixtures, experiments for understanding their combustion characteristics were conducted using a cone calorimeter.

The main results are as follows.

(1) In the quasi-heat-accumulation experiment, a region with high concentration of the salt mixture particles was made at the bottom of the sample vessel through the process of their sedimentation. An exothermic reaction started in this region. Just before the asphalt–salt mixture was ignited, a huge amount of white smoke was released. A kind of jet flame of a few meters in height was created.

(2) Based on the data of ignition temperature from the cone calorimeter experiments, ignition of asphalt was caused by a chemical reaction of asphalt with an oxidizing salt. The combustion of the asphalt–salt mixture contained the self-heating reaction.     

基于生态保护的道路规划策略

分析了路段与景观两个尺度上的道路生态环境影响,结合当今景观生态学、道路生态学的研究成果,系统论述了与道路交通规划建设相关的生态策略：（1）在区域尺度上,依据生态敏感度规划路网密度、保持大型自然空间的生态完整性、提倡非生态敏感地段的交通集中、增加路网的区域水平渗透性;（2）在路段规模上,自然空间的生境避让、保持重要地段的自然连续性、打破交通生态瓶颈、减少道路交通的环境影响、补偿道路建设的生态影响等。这些策略旨在为可持续道路交通提供基于生态合理性的规划原则与方法。     

Forecasting population trend from the scaling pattern of occupancy

Forecasting the temporal trend of a focal species, its range expansion or retraction, provides crucial information regarding population viability. To this end, we require the accumulation of temporal records which is evidently time consuming. Progress in spatial data capturing has enabled rapid and accurate assessment of species distribution across large scales. Therefore, it would be appealing to infer the temporal trends of populations from the spatial structure of their distributions. Based on a combination of models from the fields of range dynamics, occupancy scaling and spatial autocorrelation, here I present a model for forecasting the population trend solely from its spatial distribution. Numerical tests using cellular automata confirm a positive correlation, as inferred from the model, between the temporal change in species range sizes and the exponent of the power-law scaling pattern of occupancy. The model is thus recommended for rapid estimation of species range dynamics from a single snapshot of its current distribution. Further applications in biodiversity conservation could provide a swift risk assessment, especially, for endangered and invasive species.     

Dispersal connectivity and reserve selection for marine conservation

Although larval dispersal is crucial for the persistence of most marine populations, dispersal connectivity between sites is rarely considered in designing marine protected area networks. In particular the role of structural characteristics (known as topology) for the network of larval dispersal routes in the conservation of metapopulations has not been addressed. To determine reserve site configurations that provide highest persistence values with respect to their connectivity characteristics, we model nine connectivity topological models derived from graph theory in a demographic metapopulation model. We identify reserve site configurations that provide the highest persistence values for each of the metapopulation connectivity models. Except for the minimally connected and fully connected populations, we observed two general ‘rules of thumb’ for optimising the mean life time for all topological models: firstly place the majority of reserves, so that they are neighbours of each other, on the sites where the number of connections between the populations is highest (hub), secondly when the reserves have occupied the majority of the vertices in the hub, then select another area of high connectivity and repeat. If there are no suitable hubs remaining then distribute the remaining reserves to isolated locations optimising contact with non-reserved sites.     

Scientists' opinions on the global status and management of biological diversity

The large investments needed if loss of biological diversity is to be stemmed will likely lead to increased public and political scrutiny of conservation strategies and the science underlying them. It is therefore crucial to understand the degree of consensus or divergence among scientists on core scientific perceptions and strategies most likely to achieve given objectives. I developed an internet survey designed to elucidate the opinions of conservation scientists. Conservation scientists (n =583) were unanimous (99.5%) in their view that a serious loss of biological diversity is likely, very likely, or virtually certain. Scientists' agreement that serious loss is very likely or virtually certain ranged from 72.8% for Western Europe to 90.9% for Southeast Asia. Tropical coral ecosystems were perceived as the most seriously affected by loss of biological diversity; 88.0% of respondents familiar with that ecosystem type agreed that a serious loss is very likely or virtually certain. With regard to conservation strategies, scientists most often viewed understanding how people and nature interact in certain contexts and the role of biological diversity in maintaining ecosystem function as their priorities. Protection of biological diversity for its cultural and spiritual values and because of its usefulness to humans were low priorities, which suggests that many scientists do not fully support the utilitarian concept of ecosystem services. Many scientists expressed a willingness to consider conservation triage, engage in active conservation interventions, and consider reframing conservation goals and measures of success for conservation of biological diversity in an era of climate change. Although some heterogeneity of opinion is evident, results of the survey show a clear consensus within the scientific community on core issues of the extent and geographic scope of loss of biological diversity and on elements that may contribute to successful conservation strategies in the future.     

Knowledge gain and behavioral change in citizen-science programs

Citizen-science programs are often touted as useful for advancing conservation literacy, scientific knowledge, and increasing scientific-reasoning skills among the public. Guidelines for collaboration among scientists and the public are lacking and the extent to which these citizen-science initiatives change behavior is relatively unstudied. Over two years, we studied 82 participants in a three-day program that included education about non-native invasive plants and collection of data on the occurrence of those plants. Volunteers were given background knowledge about invasive plant ecology and trained on a specific protocol for collecting invasive plant data. They then collected data and later gathered as a group to analyze data and discuss responsible environmental behavior with respect to invasive plants. We tested whether participants without experience in plant identification and with little knowledge of invasive plants increased their knowledge of invasive species ecology, participation increased knowledge of scientific methods, and participation affected behavior. Knowledge of invasive plants increased on average 24%, but participation was insufficient to increase understanding of how scientific research is conducted. Participants reported increased ability to recognize invasive plants and increased awareness of effects of invasive plants on the environment, but this translated into little change in behavior regarding invasive plants. Potential conflicts between scientific goals, educational goals, and the motivation of participants must be considered during program design.