Biodiversity of the ground-dwelling spider fauna of afforestation habitats

The aim of this study was to assess spider diversity among habitats that are typically used for afforestation in Ireland, and to identify habitat parameters which could potentially be used as indicators of their biodiversity value. Ground-dwelling spiders were surveyed in 24 sites across Ireland, with eight sites of each of the following habitat types: improved grassland, wet grassland and peatland. The spiders were sampled using pitfall traps which were located within the major vegetation types present in each site as well as within supplementary habitat features which may add to biodiversity value of the whole site such as hedgerows, flushes and the edges of ditches and streams.Each habitat supported distinct spider assemblages that reflect major differences in both environmental conditions and management regime. The improved grasslands had low spider species richness and low variation in assemblage structure which is probably related to the intensive management of this habitat. In this case hedgerows maybe an important aspect of the spider diversity within agricultural landscapes. The peatlands, and to a lesser extent wet grasslands, supported a diverse and specialist spider fauna, including a number of rare species; this may be due to differences in soil moisture and plant architecture. Indicators of biodiversity value identified included wet flushes in the peatlands and low grazing pressure in the wet grasslands. This study suggests that in terms of biodiversity value improved grassland is the preferable habitat for afforestation, because of the poor baseline spider diversity. However, it may be unrealistic to expect land owners to afforest their most productive agricultural land, so the management and habitat indicators identified in this study may be of use for assessing habitat quality among the wet grassland and peatlands to allow sites with lower biodiversity value to be identified.     

Grass feedbacks on fire stabilize savannas

Savannas commonly consist of a discontinuous cover of overstory trees and a groundcover of grasses. Savanna models have previously demonstrated that vegetation feedbacks on fire frequency can limit the density of overstory trees, thereby maintaining savannas. Positive feedbacks of either savanna trees alone or trees and grasses together on fire frequency have been shown to result in a stable savanna equilibrium. Grass feedbacks on fire frequency, in contrast, have resulted in stable equilibria in either a grassland or forest state, but not in a savanna. These results, however, were derived from a system of differential equations that assumes that fire occurrence is strictly deterministic and that vegetation losses due to fire are continuous in time. We develop an alternative formulation of the grass-fire feedback model that assumes that fires are discrete and occur stochastically in time to examine the influence of these assumptions on the predicted state of the system. We show that incorporating fire as a discrete event can produce a recurring temporal refuge in which both grass and trees co-occur in a stable, bounded savanna. In our model, tree abundance is limited without invoking demographic bottlenecks in the transition from fire-sensitive to fire-resistant life history stages. An increasing strength of grass feedback on fire results in regular, predictable fires, which suggests that the system can also be modeled using a set of difference equations. We implement this discrete system using modified Leslie/Gower difference equations and demonstrate the existence of a bounded savanna state in this model framework. Our results confirm the potential for grass feedbacks to result in stable savannas, and indicate the importance of modeling fire as a discrete event rather than as a loss rate that is continuous in time.     

三江源国家公园不同草地土壤微生物功能基因的差异性分析

土壤微生物在陆地生物地球化学循环过程中起着非常重要的作用。为了探索青藏高原高寒草地类型地上植被特性和地下土壤环境与土壤微生物功能基因之间关系,以三江源国家公园高寒草原、高寒沼泽化草甸及高寒草甸3种典型草地类型为研究对象,利用基因芯片(GeoChip 5.0)技术测定其微生物功能基因丰度,并分析它们之间的差异及影响因素。结果表明:(1)3种草地类型地上群落结构和地下土壤环境存在差异性,其中高寒草原物种多样性指数、pH值较高,沼泽化草甸中土壤含水量、微生物量碳、地上生物量、土壤速效氮含量较高,高寒草甸中则是土壤微生物量氮含量较高;(2)3种高寒草地类型的碳循环、氮循环、磷循环、有机修复的土壤微生物功能基因丰度存在显著差异,其中这些功能基因的丰度在高寒沼泽化草甸最高,高寒草甸、高寒草原次之;(3)地上植物物种多样性虽对功能基因丰度变化的解释率(r2)在57.1%-61.2%之间,但统计学上不显著(P>0.05),而微生物基因丰度随地上生物量的增加而增加,且解释率(r2)为77.5%-80.0%(P<0.05)。在pH、土壤含水量、土壤微生物量等地下土壤环境因子中,pH对功能基因丰度存在显著影响(P<0.01)解释率在83.4%-87.5%间,且土壤微生物功能基因丰度随土壤pH的增加而降低;土壤含水量、土壤微生物量对土壤微生物功能基因丰度的解释率分别为81.9%-83.1%(P<0.05)和76.8%-86.2%(P<0.05),微生物功能基因丰度随这两者含量的增加呈上升趋势。进一步运用RDA分析发现,pH、土壤微生物量、地上生物量是影响微生物功能基因丰度的主要因子,其中土壤微生物量是土壤有机质的重要组成部分,土壤有机质又是通过地上植被凋落物沉积所得到的。因此,地上植被特性的自上而下控制因子影响了土壤环境中自下而上的控制因子,间接的影响了微生物功能基因丰度。由此得出,地上植被特性和地下土壤环境因子共同作用控制了微生物功能基因丰度使其出现差异性。     

草场蝗虫的种群密度与受害程度及经济阈值的探讨

以野外实测为基础,应用统计学方法,探讨了天山北坡中段草场蝗虫虫口密度与草场产量的关系,并依此建立了半荒漠草场意大利蝗虫危害防治的经济阈值,即69头／m23令前意大利蝗虫。     

Urbanization and environmental policy effects on the future availability of grazing resources on the Mongolian Plateau: Modeling socio-environmental system dynamics

The rangelands of the Mongolian Plateau are dynamic socio-environmental systems that are influenced by a complex network of drivers, including climate, social institutions, market forces, and national-scale policies affecting land access and management. The sustainability and resilience of rangelands in this region depend on the ability of residents and policy makers to quickly respond by adapting livelihoods and land uses to changes in environmental and socio-economic conditions, but the responses of the system to these changes are often non-linear and difficult to predict. We developed a system dynamics model to understand how the human, natural, and land-use processes in the Mongolian rangeland ecosystem interact to produce dynamic outcomes in both grassland productivity and livestock populations. We developed two separate models based on a common integrative framework for two case study areas: Suhkbaatar Aimag in Mongolia and Xilingol League in Inner Mongolia. We used future scenarios for each region generated with stakeholder input to forecast trends in grassland area, livestock numbers, and biomass under alternative climate, socioeconomic, and land-use futures. By incorporating stakeholder-developed scenarios, we were able to explore future scenarios tailored to the particular questions and concerns relevant to the individual study areas. We find that while there are many similarities in the factors driving system dynamics in the two countries, the trajectories of key grassland resources are quite different, both between the two study regions and across the individual scenarios. Environmental policies play a key role in Xilingol, while economic development is a key driver in Sukhbaatar. Urbanization dynamics will be a major influence on the availability of grassland resources in the future.     

Road traffic and nearby grassland bird patterns in a suburbanizing landscape

An extensive road system with rapidly increasing traffic produces diverse ecological effects that cover a large land area. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of roads with different traffic volumes on surrounding avian distributions, and its importance relative to other variables. Grassland bird data (5 years) for 84 open patches in an outer suburban/rural landscape near Boston were analyzed relative to: distance from roads with 3000–8000 to >30,000 vehicles/day; open-habitat patch size; area of quality microhabitat within a patch; adjacent land use; and distance to other open patches. Grassland bird presence and regular breeding correlated significantly with both distance from road and habitat patch size. Distance to nearest other open patch, irrespective of size, was not significant. Similarly, except for one species, adjacent land use, in this case built area, was not significant. A light traffic volume of 3000–8000 vehicles/day (local collector street here) had no significant effect on grassland bird distribution. For moderate traffic of 8000–15,000 (through street), there was no effect on bird presence although regular breeding was reduced for 400 m from a road. For heavier traffic of 15,000–30,000 (two-lane highway), both bird presence and breeding were decreased for 700 m. For a heavy traffic volume of ≥30,000 vehicles/day (multilane highway), bird presence and breeding were reduced for 1200 m from a road. The results suggest that avian studies and long-term surveys near busy roads may be strongly affected by traffic volume or changes in volume. We conclude that road ecology, especially the effects extending outward >100 m from roads with traffic, is a sine qua non for effective land-use and transportation policy.     

Developing an Environmental Indicator System for Sustainable Development in China: Two Case Studies of Selected Indicators

Environmental indicator systems are a fundamental tool in quantifying the environmental component of sustainable development. They are useful because they quantify the status and trends of key environmental parameters and provide information on the environment that allows authorities and communities to make informed decisions. This article analyzes the basic framework for Chinese environmental indicator systems and presents a “core” set of environmental indicators. In our research, we used a theme approach to develop the environmental indicator systems. We performed two case studies of selected indicators. In the first, we used an urban ambient air pollution composite index and an urban ambient air pollution indicator for three main pollutants to examine trends in urban air pollution in China from 1990 to 2000 at regional and national levels. The results indicate that China has made some progress towards controlling urban air pollution, but must do more in order to reach acceptable pollution levels. We think that an aggregated index and disaggregated indicators have important complementary roles in the policy-making processes. In the second case study, we developed and constructed a grassland degradation index that aggregates information on the extent and severity of grassland degradation. Taking the Xilinhaote region of Inner Mongolia as the study area, we calculated this index by combining remote-sensing data, a geographical information system (GIS), and field investigation. Based on these results, we provide recommendations regarding further development and measurement of environmental indicators in China.     

"雪尘暴"灾情形成的多因素灰色关联分析--以2001年初锡林郭勒草原牧区特大"雪尘暴"为例

以2000年12月31日至2001年1月1日发生在内蒙古锡林郭勒草原上的“雪尘暴“为例,应用灰色系统理论的关联分析方法,以“雪尘暴“持续时间、能见度、积雪深度、退化草场比例、NDVI距平、冷季超载比例、畜棚圈面积等14个因子作为比较数列,对“雪尘暴“灾情形成进行了多因素关联分析.研究结果客观、定量地揭示了“雪尘暴“灾情形成与各因素间的相互关系,认为“雪尘暴“灾情的发生是偶然中的必然,其形成是自然因素和人类活动共同作用的结果,其中,人类活动对“雪尘暴“强度的加大起到了促进的作用.     

Dynamics of grass–clover mixtures—An analysis of the response to management with the PROductive GRASsland Simulator (PROGRASS)

A dynamic plot-scale model PROGRASS was developed to simulate the seasonal and inter-annual dynamics of productive, cut grass/clover mixtures in response to management, and specifically to examine the role of root development on grass/clover interactions. The model was parameterized by virtue of data for dry matter yield, leaf area index, root mass, soil mineral N uptake and biological N fixation from a long-term field trial in north-eastern Switzerland. It was tested using 5 years of independent data for yield and clover fraction from a field experiment with two management regimes carried out on the Swiss Central Plateau. The results of transient simulations indicated that under intensive fertilization grass dominance was initiated by preferential allocation of assimilates to the roots. The rapid growth of the grass root system lowered the substrate C:N ratio, favouring carbon allocation to the shoot, which eventually provided competitive advantages with respect to light interception. Under extensive management, limited N acquisition capacity of the grass root system maintained preferential allocation to the roots, limiting shoot development in the grass and leading to clover dominance. Co-existence regimes with dominance by one of the components were also found in equilibrium experiments, with a transition regime from clover to grass dominance for annual N applications in the range 100–200 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ that reflected adjustments of the root system to fertilization. It is concluded that the dynamics of grass/clover mixtures is driven by negative and positive feedbacks in the soil–plant system that are strongly controlled by root development and therefore by the allocation patterns of the grass component.     

草原生态补偿:生态绩效、收入影响和政策满意度

草原生态保护补助奖励机制的第一轮实施期(2011-2015)即将结束,系统地评估草原生态保护补助奖励机制,对于完善下一期补助奖励机制具有重要的借鉴意义。本文利用2014年内蒙古自治区阿拉善左旗、四子王旗、陈巴尔虎旗三个旗县的470户牧户样本数据,从生态绩效、收入影响、政策满意度三个方面对草原生态补偿政策(即草原生态保护补助奖励机制)进行了评估。生态绩效评估结果表明:草原生态环境得到了一定的改善,草原利用方式更趋合理,平均牲畜超载率下降明显,但超载过牧的现状没有得到根本的转变,样本调研旗县2011-2014年减畜任务达成比例为42%,总体减畜任务达成情况一般。收入影响评估结果表明:平均每户理论收入影响为-8 607元,草原生态补偿标准偏低,需要在原有基础上提高35%;平均每户的实际收入影响为16 686元,牧民没有严格按照政策要求进行完全的减畜;草原生态补偿标准不只是单纯标准偏低的问题,同时也有标准差别化问题,需要在不同地区之间做出调整。政策满意度评估结果表明:草原生态补偿政策的满意度为57%,其中陈巴尔虎旗的政策满意度最高,为87%;四子王旗其次,为62-63%;阿拉善左旗最低,为18-32%。政策满意度与实际收入影响之间存在显著的相关关系,实际收入影响正向越大,政策满意度越高。牧民对草原生态补偿政策的政策满意度越高,并不意味着草原生态补偿的政策设计和执行就越好,政策满意度越高,实际收入影响正向越大,但生态效果可能不佳。