Ecosystems emerging. 5: Constraints

Ecosystem constraints are both ontic and epistemic. They limit activity, and as problems to be solved they drive organization, which is our hypothesis:

The driver of organization is constraint.

Solutions proliferate further constraints in an unending spiral of problem (constraint) generation and solution. As constraints proliferate, behavior narrows, and species diversify to compensate (paradox of constraint). Resource enrichment reduces constraints, releases behavior, and reduction of challenges decreases diversity (paradox of enrichment)—high diversity is expressed in low-resource environments and low diversity in high-resource environments. A three-part model of constraints is formulated for non-living systems, and also for goal-directed, problem-solving biota. Mode 1: dynamical means behavior is co-determined by internal states and external inputs. Mode 2: cybernetic employs negative feedback to keep dynamics within goal-oriented operating limits. Mode 3: model-making entails ability to represent (model) physical reality and respond to both phenomenal (modeled) and physical inputs; this property distinguishes living from nonliving systems. Principal sections of the paper elaborate dynamical constraints (three classes), boundary constraints (expressed in edge effects and trophic dynamics), physical constraints (space, time, temperature), chemical constraints (environment fitness, ecological stoichiometry, chemical evolution, limiting factors), coding constraints (environmental vs. genetic coding), network and pathway constraints (connectivity), and natural selection constraints (fitting to the biosphere). Consideration of how the world would look without constraints suggests how fundamental these are in ecosystem emergence, and how the next property in this series, differentiation, would be unmotivated without them. We conclude that constraints as a category are under-studied in ecology, poorly understood in ecological phenomenology, and (our hypothesis) comprise a ubiquitous organizing force in nature.     

Small mammals as indicators of short-term and long-term disturbance in mixed prairie

Disturbance by military maneuvers over short and long time scales may have differential effects on grassland communities. We assessed small mammals as indicators of disturbance by military maneuvers in a mixed prairie in southern Oklahoma USA. We examined sites on two soil series, Foard and Lawton, across a gradient of disturbance intensity. A MANOVA showed that abundance of small mammals was associated (p = 0.03) with short-term (cover of vehicle tracks) disturbance but was not associated (p = 0.12) with long-term (loss of soil organic carbon, SOC) disturbance intensity. At the individual species level, Sigmodon hispidus (cotton rat) and Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mouse) occurred across all levels of disturbance and in both soil types. Only P. maniculatus abundance changed (p < 0.01) with short-term disturbance and increased by about one individual per 5% of additional track-cover. Abundance of P. maniculatus also increased (p = 0.04) by about three individuals per 1% increase in soil carbon. Chaetodipus hispidus (hispid pocket mouse) and Reithrodontomys fulvescens (fulvous harvest mouse) only occurred in single soil types limiting their potential as more general indicators. Abundance of P. maniculatus was positively related to shifts in plant species composition and likely reflected changes in vegetation structure (i.e. litter depth) and forage availability resulting from disturbance. Peromyscus maniculatus may be a useful biological indicator of ecosystem change because it responded predictably to both long-term and short-term disturbance and, when coupled with soil, plant, and disturbance history variables, can reveal land condition trends.     

太湖水-气界面CO2交换通量观测研究

基于2003-01～2005-06利用静态箱法对太湖水-气界面CO₂交换通量的观测,对太湖水-气界面交换通量的变化特征进行了分析研究.结果表明:太湖水-气界面CO₂交换通量存在明显的日变化,春、夏、秋、冬4季日平均通量分别为-0.79mg/(m²·h)、-4.89 mg/(m²·h)、-4.06 mg/(m²·h)和-2.56 mg/(m²·h),太湖均是CO₂的汇.一般污染越重的区域,CO₂通量值越大.藻型湖区水-气界面CO₂交换通量季节变化不明显,草型湖区水-气界面CO₂交换通量季节变化很明显,夏秋季高,冬春季低.CO₂通量变化的可能相关因子还有天气情况、太阳辐射、风速及水温、pH、TA、Chla、TC、TN和TP等.     

电催化氧化技术处理硝基苯废水的试验研究

用实验室自制的活性炭粒子填充电极电催化氧化反应器对模拟硝基苯废水进行了降解处理。初步探讨电催化氧化反应的机理,考察了电流强度、反应时间、进水浓度等对硝基苯去除率的影响。用一元线性回归方程对不同初始浓度和电流强度降解后硝基苯的相对残余浓度对反应时间的相关性进行了分析,结果发现相关系数大于临界相关系数,硝基苯的降解符合表观一级反应动力学模型,求出了各反应条件下的一级速率常数。通过用spss软件分析,表明不同的初始浓度和电流强度下ln(C0/C)对时间的相关性显著。实验结果表明,在本实验条件下,硝基苯的去除率达到95%以上,能有效的催化降解硝基苯。     

西安市雁塔区大气NO_x垂直分布及影响因素

根据2013年3月西安市雁塔区高层建筑的昼夜观测资料,分析近地层大气ρ(NOx)的垂向变化及其影响因素。结果表明,观测期间ρ(NOx)日均值为0.100~0.120 mg·m-3,逐日波动不大;其值随高度上升而增大,但不同时段存在差异,在53~65 m高处达到最大值;≤29 m高处在14:00—16:00达到最大值,22:00—00:00降至最低;35~65 m高处白天持续升高,20:00达到最大值,22:00降至最低值后缓慢升高;71~83 m高处则在22:00—00:00降至最低后又很快升高。认为ρ(NOx)变化受人为源排放、大气稳定度、天气形势、城市冠层及其他气象条件的综合影响,与气压、风速呈显著负相关,与气温呈显著正相关。     

Triton X-100对土壤中柴油的解吸特征及影响因素

为考察非离子表面活性剂Triton X-100对土壤中柴油解吸特性及土壤理化性质对其解吸的影响,通过振荡平衡法研究Triton X-100对浙江水稻土、重庆紫壤、江西红壤、海南沙土、青海灰漠土和黑龙江黑土中柴油解吸行为及其影响因素.结果表明,Triton X-100对浙江水稻土、重庆紫壤、江西红壤、海南沙土、青海灰漠土和黑龙江黑土中柴油的解吸均符合先快后慢、最后达到解吸平衡的规律,平衡时解吸量分别1.61、1.85、1.80、2.29、2.01和1.13 mg/g.其解吸动力学过程均符合准二级动力学模型（R2>0.99）;6种典型土壤中柴油的等温解吸特征可较好地用修正的米氏方程模型进行描述（R2>0.92）.Q_max（柴油最大解吸量）介于1.81~2.23 mg/g之间,浙江水稻土、重庆紫壤、江西红壤、海南沙土、青海灰漠土和黑龙江黑土中ρ_max（柴油最大解吸率）分别为73.20%、78.06%、75.63%、90.36%、79.89%和62.92%;土壤各理化性质对Triton X-100解吸土壤中柴油的影响起综合作用,其中土壤w（砂粒）与ρ_max呈显著正相关（R2=0.993 6,P < 0.01）,对Triton X-100解吸柴油的影响最大;而CEC（阳离子交换量）、w（OM）、w（黏粒）均与ρ_max呈显著负相关（P < 0.05）.研究显示,修正的米氏方程可用于描述柴油在土壤-水-表面活性剂Triton X-100系统中的解吸行为,w（砂粒）是影响不同土壤中柴油解吸的关键因子,可为应用Triton X-100修复柴油污染土壤提供理论基础.      

Efficacy of created and restored nesting sites for the conservation of colonial Laridae in the South of France

By rapidly modifying key habitat components, habitat restoration is at risk of producing attractive cues for animals without providing habitats of sufficient quality. As such, individual fitness components, such as reproduction, could be reduced and restored habitats could become ecological traps. This risk notably appears by using artificial constructions in restoration projects, yet few studies have evaluated their efficacy in a robust way. We investigated this by analyzing 154 islets that were created or restored to improve the conservation status of 7 colonial Laridae species in the South of France. From 2007 to 2016, we compared occupancy dynamics and breeding parameters of these species between the restored sites and 846 unmanaged nesting sites. We also explored species’ preference for different nesting site characteristics and their respective effect on breeding parameters. Restored nesting sites were 2–9 times as attractive as unmanaged sites for all species except the Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus). Colonization probability was up to 100 times higher in sites already used by other species the previous year and increased with distance to the shore until >0.2 when distance was over 250 m. Abandonment probability was 29–70% lower when breeding was successful the previous year in all species except the Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis). Productivity and breeding success probability were 2 times higher on managed sites. Distance from the shore was an important attractive characteristic of artificial nesting sites in all species. Other nesting site characteristics had species-specific effects on colonization, abandonment, and breeding success. Our results indicate that managed nesting sites are successful conservation tools for colonial Laridae in the Mediterranean and do not act as ecological traps. Our study showed that testing the ecological trap hypothesis is a robust way to evaluate the success of restoration projects of breeding habitats.     

Great Basin Land Management Planning Using Ecological Modeling

This report describes a land management modeling effort that analyzed potential impacts of proposed actions under an updated Bureau of Land Management Resource Management Plan that will guide management for 20 years on 4.6 million hectares in the Great Basin ecoregion of the United States. State-and-transition models that included vegetation data, fire histories, and many parameters (i.e., rates of succession, fire return intervals, outcomes of management actions, and invasion rates of native and nonnative invasive species) were developed through workshops with scientific experts and range management specialists. Alternative restoration scenarios included continuation of current management, full fire suppression, wildfire use in designated fire use zones, wildfire use in resilient vegetation types only, restoration with a tenfold budget increase, no restoration treatments, and no livestock grazing. Under all the scenarios, cover of vegetation states with native perennial understory declined and was replaced by tree-invaded and weed-dominated states. The greatest differences among alternative management scenarios resulted from the use of fire as a tool to maintain native understory. Among restoration scenarios, only the scenario assuming a tenfold budget increase had a more desirable outcome than the current management scenario. Removal of livestock alone had little effect on vegetation resilience. Rather, active restoration was required. The predictive power of the model was limited by current understanding of Great Basin vegetation dynamics and data needs including statistically valid monitoring of restoration treatments, invasiveness and invasibility, and fire histories. The authors suggest that such computer models can be useful tools for systematic analysis of potential impacts in land use planning. However, for a modeling effort to be productive, the management situation must be conducive to open communication among land management agencies and partner entities, including nonprofit organizations.