The apportionment of quadratic entropy: a useful alternative for partitioning diversity in ecological data

Many methods that study the diversity within hierarchically structured populations have been developed in genetics. Among them, the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) (Excoffier et al., 1992) has the advantage of including evolutionary distances between individuals. AMOVA is a special case of a far more general statistical scheme produced by Rao (1982a; 1986) and called the apportionment of quadratic entropy (APQE). It links diversity and dissimilarity and allows the decomposition of diversity according to a given hierarchy. We apply this framework to ecological data showing that APQE may be very useful for studying diversity at various spatial scales. Moreover, the quadratic entropy has a critical advantage over usual diversity indices because it takes into account differences between species. Finally, the differences that can be incorporated in APQE may be either taxonomic or functional (biological traits), which may be of critical interest for ecologists.     

Resilience of Southwestern Amazon Forests to Anthropogenic Edge Effects

Abstract:  Anthropogenic edge effects can compromise the conservation value of mature tropical forests. To date most edge-effect research in Amazonia has concentrated on forests in relatively seasonal locations or with poor soils in the east of the basin. We present the first evaluation from the relatively richer soils of far western Amazonia on the extent to which mature forest biomass, diversity, and composition are affected by edges. In a southwestern Amazonian landscape we surveyed woody plant diversity, species composition, and biomass in 88 × 0.1 ha samples of unflooded forest that spanned a wide range in soil properties and included samples as close as 50 m and as distant as >10 km from anthropogenic edges. We applied Mantel tests, multiple regression on distance matrices, and other multivariate techniques to identify anthropogenic effects before and after accounting for soil factors and spatial autocorrelation. The distance to the nearest edge, access point, and the geographical center of the nearest community ("anthropogenic-distance effects") all had no detectable effect on tree biomass or species diversity. Anthropogenic-distance effects on tree species composition were also below the limits of detection and were negligible in comparison with natural environmental and spatial factors. Analysis of the data set's capacity to detect anthropogenic effects confirmed that the forests were not severely affected by edges, although because our study had few plots within 100 m of forest edges, our confidence in patterns in the immediate vicinity of edges is limited. It therefore appears that the conservation value of most "edge" forests in this region has not yet been compromised substantially. We caution that because this is one case study it should not be overinterpreted, but one explanation for our findings may be that western Amazonian tree species are naturally faster growing and more disturbance adapted than those farther east.     

城市生态系统中的生物资源保护

本文讨论了城市生态系统中的生物资源保护问题,论述了动物园、植物园及博物馆等在生物多样性保护方面所作的研部.作者并对今后需要进一步研究的课题提出了建议.     

营口市柳树镇景观格局变异及其生态意义

据营口市柳树镇三个不同时期的土地利用资料,计测了景观中各类嵌块体的优势度、多样性和均匀性,分析了该区景观基质和格局的变化特点,小嵌块体的归并趋势及某些嵌块体优势度增加,各类嵌块体的转移速率等。结果表明,20多年来当地经济向城郊型农业发展,生态环境水平逐年提高。     

厌氧发酵过程pH对微生物多样性和产物分布的影响

采用PCR-DGGE技术,研究了不同pH条件下蔬菜类有机垃圾厌氧发酵过程中的微生物多样性,探讨了微生物群落结构与发酵产物分布的关系.Shannon指数分析表明,pH=7和pH=8时的微生物多样性较高,随时间变化规律相似,而pH=5时的微生物多样性较低.UPGMA聚类分析和PCA分析结果也表明,pH=7和pH=8时的微生物群落结构相似,pH=5与之显著不同.在不同pH条件下的优势菌属都是乳酸细菌和梭菌。微生物多样性的变化与发酵产物分布具有一定相关性,pH通过影响微生物群落结构的变化最终影响发酵产物的分布.图4表2参27     

Use of Biotic Community Structure as a Measure of Ecological Degradation

The benthic macroinvertebrate communities of two lotic aquatic habitats,namely,the Churni River(C-R)and the Jalangi River(J-R)were compared in this study.One lotic aquatic system(C-R)was polluted by organic pollutants due to discharge of unprocessed sewage water,while the other(J-R)was not affected by such pollution.Evaluations of various physico-chemical properties of water,sediment and different macroinvertebrate communities of the two tropical lotic systems were done in a period from January,2002 to December,2003.A long term temporal change in the macroinvertebrate communities was recorded due to increase in sediment rH value.Sediment redox potential affected by the anthropogenic activities was found to be an important factor for alteration of macroinvertebrate communities in these aquatic ecosystems.A positive correlation has been established between rH and Margalef index in this study.Potassium and the total count of coliform bacteria in water showed significantly higher values for the polluted Churni River than those for the Jalangi River.Fig 3,Tab 4,Ref 34     

京杭运河徐州段底栖动物与水质的关系

本研究利用生物监测方法，探明了京杭运河徐州段大型底栖无脊椎动物的生物种群及其分布。运用污染生物指数（Ｇｏｏｄｎｉｇｈｔ）和生物多样性指数（Ｓｈａｎｎｏｎ）统计表达，对京杭运河徐州段进行生物综合评价，同时，指出了该水体污染，将给徐州的两个地面饮用水厂及国家南水北调工程带来威胁和危险。通过生物指标与理化指标对比，综合分析研究，冲破了理化指标的限制，说明生物指标对水体污染的评价更全面、可靠而直观。     

三江平原湿地植物物种空间分异规律的探讨

研究了三江平原典型湿地在地形、水分等因素制约下的植物物种空间分异规律,包括垂直分异规律和水平分异规律。首先,按照地形和水分的分异组合特点,把湿地生境分为较干燥生境、季节积水生境和常年积水生境。然后,在各个生境内采用样方法和样线法调查植物物种。调查分为20世纪70年代、80年代和2003年3个时期,范围包括三江平原的典型湿地植物群落。数据分析时采用了生境组合法。即把3个不同的生境组合成一个水分(或地形)梯度带,根据频度和多度指标筛选出主要物种,然后按照其空间位置,列出主要植物物种沿水分梯度带的分布序列。研究发现:三江平原湿地不同生境的植物物种组合和垂直分异差别明显。较干燥生境的植被类型以岛状林群落为代表,乔木、灌木和草本植物层次分明。季节性积水生境的植被类型以小叶章群落为代表,是典型的湿草甸植物群落,垂直结构不明显。常年积水生境以毛果苔草群落为代表,植物群落层次也比较明显。植物物种水平分异规律,基本上可由植物物种空间分布序列图来代表。随着地势降低,水分增多,乔、灌植物,湿草甸植物,水生草本植物在特定的空间依次出现。     

A Global Indicator for Biological Invasion

Abstract:  "Trends in invasive alien species" is one of only two indicators of threat to biodiversity that form part of the Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) framework for monitoring progress toward its "2010 target" (i.e., the commitment to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss). To date, however, there is no fully developed indicator for invasive alien species (IAS) that combines trends, derived from a standard set of methods, across species groups, ecosystems, and regions. Here we provide a rationale for the form and characteristics of an indicator of trends in IAS that will meet the 2010 framework goal and targets for this indicator. We suggest single and composite indicators that include problem-status and management-status measures that are designed to be flexible, readily disaggregated, and as far as possible draw on existing data. The single indicators at national and global scales are number of IAS and numbers of operational management plans for IAS. Global trends in IAS are measured as the progress of nations toward the targets of stabilizing IAS numbers and the implementation of IAS management plans. The proposed global indicator thus represents a minimum information set that most directly addresses the indicator objective and simultaneously aims to maximize national participation. This global indicator now requires testing to assess its accuracy, sensitivity, and tractability. Although it may not be possible to achieve the desired objective for a global indicator of biological invasion by 2010 as comprehensively as desired, it seems possible to obtain trend estimates for a component of the taxa, ecosystems, and regions involved. Importantly, current indicator development initiatives will also contribute to developing the mechanisms necessary for monitoring global trends in IAS beyond 2010.