Effect of Invasive Plant Species on Temperate Wetland Plant Diversity

Abstract:  Invasive species are a major threat to global biodiversity and an important cause of biotic homogenization of ecosystems. Exotic plants have been identified as a particular concern because of the widely held belief that they competitively exclude native plant species. We examined the correlation between native and invasive species richness in 58 Ontario inland wetlands. The relationship between exotic and native species richness was positive even when we controlled for important covarying factors. In addition, we examined the relationship between the abundance of four native species (  Typha latifolia, T. angustifolia, Salix petiolaris, Nuphar variegatum ) and four invasive species (  Lythrum salicaria, Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, Phalaris arundinacea, Rhamnus frangula ) that often dominate temperate wetlands and native and rare native species richness. Exotic species were no more likely to dominate a wetland than native species, and the proportion of dominant exotic species that had a significant negative effect on the native plant community was the same as the proportion of native species with a significant negative effect. We conclude that the key to conservation of inland wetland biodiversity is to discourage the spread of community dominants, regardless of geographical origin.     

岷江上游林草交错带祁连山圆柏群落的物种多样性及乔木种群的分布格局

应用5种多样性指数对祁连山圆柏群落的物种多样性进行了研究，并采用相邻格子样方法测定了乔木种群及其各立木级的分布格局．结果表明，灌木层的物种多样性偏低，而草本层多样性较高，群落总的物种多样性(以丰富度表示)较高．群落总的物种多样性较高是由于较低的灌木层多样性与较高的草本层多样性综合作用的结果，与放牧影响、阳坡的干燥环境有关，可能是林草交错区固有的特点．乔木种群的分布格局呈现出集群分布，但在其发育过程中显示了动态变化的特征，即在幼苗和小树阶段为集群分布，到了大树阶段转变为随机分布或均匀分布．表6参32     

金钟藤的地理分布

对已有的标本信息进行研究，并对野外做进一步的补充调查，结果表明，金钟藤虽然主要分布于热带，但亚热带也有分布；以往认为该种是热带植物的观点是不确切的。金钟藤的地理分布原有三个中心，第一个是中国的海南岛；第二个是加里曼丹岛（现在的马来西亚的沙劳越和印尼的东加里曼丹岛）；第三个在中越边界的是越南北部的沙巴、先安等，老挝的湄公河流域，以及中国广西、云南靠近越老边界的地区。而广州及其附近地区正逐渐成为金钟藤新崛起的一个分布中心。     

Ecological Networks as Conceptual Frameworks or Operational Tools in Conservation

Abstract:  The establishment of ecological networks (ENs) has been proposed as an ideal way to counteract the increasing fragmentation of natural ecosystems and as a necessary complement to the establishment of protected areas for biodiversity conservation. This conservation tool, which comprises core areas, corridors, and buffer areas, has attracted the attention of several national and European institutions. It is thought that ENs can connect habitat patches and thus enable species to move across unsuitable areas. In Europe, however, ENs are proposed as an oversimplification of complex ecological concepts, and we maintain that they are of limited use for biodiversity conservation for several reasons. The ENs are species specific and operate on species-dependent scales. In addition, the information needed for their implementation is only available for a handful of species. To overcome these limitations, ENs have been proposed on a landscape scale (and for selected "focal" species), but there is no indication that the structural composition of core areas, corridors, and buffer areas could ensure the functional connectivity and improve the viability of more than a few species. The theory behind ENs fails to provide sufficient practical information on how to build them (e.g., width, shape, structure, content). In fact, no EN so far has been validated in practice (ensuring connectivity and increasing overall biodiversity conservation), and there are no signs that validation will be possible in the near future. In view of these limitations, it is difficult to justify spending economic and political resources on building systems that are at best working hypotheses that cannot be evaluated on a practical level.     

Metropolitan Open-Space Protection with Uncertain Site Availability

Abstract:  Urban planners acquire open space to protect natural areas and provide public access to recreation opportunities. Because of limited budgets and dynamic land markets, acquisitions take place sequentially depending on available funds and sites. To address these planning features, we formulated a two-period site selection model with two objectives: maximize the expected number of species represented in protected sites and maximize the expected number of people with access to protected sites. These objectives were both maximized subject to an upper bound on area protected over two periods. The trade-off between species representation and public access was generated by the weighting method of multiobjective programming. Uncertainty was represented with a set of probabilistic scenarios of site availability in a linear-integer formulation. We used data for 27 rare species in 31 candidate sites in western Lake County, near the city of Chicago, to illustrate the model. Each trade-off curve had a concave shape in which species representation dropped at an increasing rate as public accessibility increased, with the trade-off being smaller at higher levels of the area budget. Several sites were included in optimal solutions regardless of objective function weights, and these core sites had high species richness and public access per unit area. The area protected in period one depended on current site availability and on the probabilities of sites being undeveloped and available in the second period. Although the numerical results are specific for our study, the methodology is general and applicable elsewhere.     

我国城市地价评估模型及其空间分布规律研究

本文以城市地价产生地区差异的理论分析为依据,提出了城市地价的主要影响因素、因子,并以城市土地批租资料为基础运用逐步回归分析方法建立城市地价评估模型。根据模型估测了我国５１７个城市１９９２年的地价水平,最后分析了我国城市地价空间分布的规律及其未来走势展望。     

斜坡稳定性的二级模糊推断

根据对斜坡稳定性影响的大小,选取了七个主要因于,引用了山西明水河流域几个斜坡样点实测数据．应用模糊近似推论方法及信息分配原理,对斜坡稳定性进行了单因子灰色隶属度分析及综合二级模糊近似推论,该方法克服了传统单因子评价的弊端,能比较真实地反映实际,为布设护坡工程提供了理论依据。     

新构造运动对安徽土壤分布的影响

安徽地跨亚热带与温带,过渡性特征明显,境内有山地,丘陵和平原,自然地理景观复杂多样,各区域由于所处大地构造单元不同,其新构造运动的表现形式也不同,它制约着区域地貌的发育,成土母质类型和地面气候状况,从而影响了该区域土壤的分布特征。     

Distribution of Poly(β-propiolactone) Aerobic Degrading Microorganisms in Different Environments

The distribution of degading microorganisms of high molecular weight poly(-propiolactone) (PPL), whose individual structural units are similar to those of poly(-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and poly(€-caprolactone) (PCL), was examined. Despite the fact that PPL is a chemosynthetic polymer, many kinds of PPL-degrading microorganisms were found to be distributed as resident populations widely in natural environments. A total of 77 strains of PPL-degrading microorganisms was isolated. From standard physiological and biochemical tests, at least 41 strains were referred to as Bacillus species. Microbial degradation of fibrous PPL proceeded rapidly in some enrichment cultures but was not as complete as that of PHB. Most of the isolated PPL-degrading microorganisms were determined to be PCL degraders and/or PHB degraders. Therefore, it can be assumed that mostly PPL is recognized by the microorganisms as PHB or another natural substrate of the same type as which PCL is regarded. Microbial degradation of PPL was confirmed by some Bacillus strains from type culture collections. The similarity of microbial degradation between PPL and PCL was found to be very close.     

Impending Recovery of Kirtland's Warbler: Case Study in the Effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act

Dendroica kirtlandii ). This particular recovery program actually began before passage of the federal ESA, when biologists alerted the Michigan Department of Natural Resources of the perilously low population of this bird, which only breeds under jack pine (Pinus banksiana) trees in Michigan. By the time an ESA Recovery Team was formed for this bird in 1975 (the first such team created under the ESA), a legacy of consensus and interagency cooperation was well established. This has led to successful efforts at habitat management and control of its nest parasite, the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater). While the Kirtland's warbler is not yet recovered, its population is near an all-time high, and its recovery is possible within the next decade. When (and if) this happens, it will be clearly attributable to this successful model of federalism for natural resources management.