西藏高原草地生态系统及其生态修复研究

文章在查阅相关文献的基础上,开展实地考察、咨询专家学者和有关管理部门,对西藏高原草地研究进行梳理归纳形成了4个时段;同时评析了不同调查结果的西藏草地面积,认为第二次西藏草原普查的8 820.15×104hm2比较符合现状;对西藏高原草地生态系统目前面临的最大问题—草地退化进行了探究,截至2012年,西藏天然草地退化面积...     

A biome-scale assessment of the impact of invasive alien plants on ecosystem services in South Africa

This paper reports an assessment of the current and potential impacts of invasive alien plants on selected ecosystem services in South Africa. We used data on the current and potential future distribution of 56 invasive alien plant species to estimate their impact on four services (surface water runoff, groundwater recharge, livestock production and biodiversity) in five terrestrial biomes. The estimated reductions in surface water runoff as a result of current invasions were >3000 million m³ (about 7% of the national total), most of which is from the fynbos (shrubland) and grassland biomes; the potential reductions would be more than eight times greater if invasive alien plants were to occupy the full extent of their potential range. Impacts on groundwater recharge would be less severe, potentially amounting to approximately 1.5% of the estimated maximum reductions in surface water runoff. Reductions in grazing capacity as a result of current levels of invasion amounted to just over 1% of the potential number of livestock that could be supported. However, future impacts could increase to 71%. A ‘biodiversity intactness index’ (the remaining proportion of pre-modern populations) ranged from 89% to 71% for the five biomes. With the exception of the fynbos biome, current invasions have almost no impact on biodiversity intactness. Under future levels of invasion, however, these intactness values decrease to around 30% for the savanna, fynbos and grassland biomes, but to even lower values (13% and 4%) for the two karoo biomes. Thus, while the current impacts of invasive alien plants are relatively low (with the exception of those on surface water runoff), the future impacts could be very high. While the errors in these estimates are likely to be substantial, the predicted impacts are sufficiently large to suggest that there is serious cause for concern.     

Seed bank composition of open and overgrown calcareous grassland soils--a case study from Southern Belgium

The success of calcareous grassland recreation following abandonment depends to a large extent on the composition of the soil seed bank. We studied the species richness and composition of the seed bank along a chronosequence from well-developed calcareous grassland to scrub and forest vegetation, which had developed on calcareous grassland over the last 225 years. The seed bank density was highest in the calcareous grassland soils (930 seeds/m(2)). However, the seed bank was mainly composed of rather common species of nutrient poor grassland, which were poorly represented in the surface vegetation. There were no significant differences in soil seed bank density and species composition between the calcareous grassland and scrub vegetation that was less than 15 years old, largely because several grassland species had persisted in the scrub vegetation and were therefore able to replenish the soil seed bank. In contrast seed density and species richness declined significantly after 40 years of grassland abandonment. Indeed, forest soils had the lowest seed densities (214 seeds/m(2)) with only a few grassland species represented. This reflects the lack of grassland species in the field layer of the forest, and, therefore, the lack of seed production and seed bank replenishment. It is clear that recreation of calcareous grassland on long abandoned sites cannot rely on germination of target species from the seed bank alone. Even in the calcareous grassland soil, seeds of target species are not abundant as the majority produces transient seeds, which decay rapidly if they do not germinate immediately. Successful grassland recreation on such sites therefore may require seeds of target species to be introduced artificially (e.g. as seed mixtures, green hay, etc.). Alternatively, reinstatement of traditional practices, such as grazing or mowing, will increase the natural dispersal potential of these species, allowing population reestablishment in the long term.     

浅论西藏草原生态建设与牧区经济可持续发展

本文在调研西藏草原生态状况的基础上，分析了西藏草原生态退化原因，阐述了西藏草原生态建设与牧区经济发展的关系，并提出了相关对策。     

Plant colonization of ex-arable fields from adjacent species-rich grasslands: The importance of dispersal vs. recruitment ability

Species-rich semi-natural grasslands have declined drastically in Europe over the last century and occur in modern landscapes as small and isolated fragments. Recreation of these species-rich plant communities and increasing connectivity of remaining grasslands are important goals for nature conservation. Ex-arable fields located adjacent to species-rich grasslands have been suggested as targets for such recreation, but we still lack knowledge about the processes determining colonization from grasslands to ex-arable fields. We examined transects from species-rich semi-natural grasslands to ex-arable fields in a nature reserve located in southeast Sweden, and analysed relationships between observed colonization of ex-arable fields and two characteristics of species: dispersal ability and recruitment ability. Colonization of ex-arable fields was not related to dispersal ability, assessed as adhesive potential to animal coat, wind dispersal potential and seed mass (related to seed production), but was positively related to recruitment ability, assessed by sowing experiment. The same relationships appeared when using a performance index from sowing experiments conducted in the UK. We conclude that recruitment ability is a key factor for colonization of ex-arable fields. In our study, around 50% of semi-natural grassland species were able to colonize adjacent ex-arable field margins spontaneously within a time window of less than 50 years. Seed sowing is however needed to increase the speed of the colonization process, because increasing seed density promotes colonization of species with poor recruitment in ex-arable fields. Actions to increase area and connectivity of species-rich grasslands should consider incorporating ex-arable fields.     

Development of the Pasture Simulation Model for assessing livestock production under climate change

To simulate climate change impacts on pastures and domestic herbivores as well as feedbacks to the atmosphere in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, we have improved a process-based biogeochemical pasture model, PaSim. The overall aim was to simulate the meat and milk production of cattle (suckler cows with their calves, dairy cows and heifers) in response to climate and management, as well as feedbacks to the atmosphere through enteric methane emissions. Herbage intake at grazing was calculated from animal characteristics, herbage availability, diet digestibility and air temperature. With suckler cows, milk production and changes in daily liveweight and body condition were calculated from net energy balance. The net energy intake of dairy cows and their body reserves at turnout to pasture were used to simulate milk production at pasture, daily liveweight and body condition changes, taking into account cow energy requirements and intake capacity. Heifer growth was determined from heifer net energy intake and liveweight. Net energy intake was used to assess enteric methane production through a conversion factor, which depends both on the energy level of the diet and on the herbivore type. The model was assessed against experimental data for animal performance and methane emissions at grazing. Predictions show good agreement with observations. On average, the root mean square error was 6.5, 4 and 2.5% for the liveweights of suckler cows, suckler calves and heifers, respectively, 18% for dairy milk production and 12% for enteric methane emissions. By comparing this new version of the PaSim model to the previous version, we show that a greater accuracy in animal performance modelling improves the sensitivity of the model to interannual climate variability. However, long term (30 years) projections of climate change impacts on grasslands and of radiative feedbacks to the atmosphere are not significantly modified. The originality and the validity domain of the model are discussed.     

Environmental effects of oil and gas lease sites in a grassland ecosystem

The northern Great Plains of Saskatchewan is one of the most significantly modified landscapes in Canada. While the majority of anthropogenic disturbances to Saskatchewan’s grasslands are the result of agricultural practices, development of petroleum and natural gas (PNG) resources is of increasing concern for grassland conservation. Although PNG developments require formal assessment and regulatory approval, follow-up and monitoring of the effects of PNG development on grasslands is not common practice. Consequently, the effects of PNG activity on grasslands and the spatial and temporal extent of such impacts are largely unknown. This paper examines the spatial and temporal extent of PNG development infrastructure from 1955 to 2006 in a grassland ecosystem in southwest Saskatchewan. The effects of PNG development on grassland ecology were assessed from measurements of ground cover characteristics, soil properties, and plant community composition at 31sites in the study area. PNG lease sites were found to have low cover of herbaceous plants, club moss (Lycopodiaceae), litter, and shallow organic (Ah) horizons. Lease sites were also characterized by low diversity of desirable grassland plants and low range health values compared to off-lease reference sites. These impacts were amplified at active and highly productive lease sites. Impacts of PNG development persisted for more than 50 years following well site construction, and extended outward 20 m–25 m beyond the direct physical footprint of PNG well infrastructure. These results have significant implications with regard to the current state of monitoring and follow-up of PNG development, and the cumulative effective of PNG activity on grassland ecosystems over space and time.     

呼伦贝尔沙质草原风蚀坑积沙区的植被分带性

呼伦贝尔沙质草原现代风蚀坑主要包括平缓草地的简单风蚀坑、复合风蚀坑和固定沙丘的简单风蚀坑3种类型。坑后积沙区植被出现明显的分带性,且随风蚀坑及其下风侧积沙体的形态、尺度而发生变化。在平缓草地简单风蚀坑下风侧积沙体平面形态呈顺风向的舌状,由坑口至原生草地,随积沙厚度顺风向减小,依次出现沙蓬、冰草和百里香3个植被带;平缓草地复合风蚀坑后缘形成具有滑落面的大型流动沙丘,在沙丘背风侧顺风向依次出现舌状裸沙带、舌状拂子茅带及两侧的冰草带;固定沙丘风蚀坑坑后积沙呈裸沙形式穿越沙丘原有的山刺玫和小叶锦鸡儿两个灌木带,并在裸沙带外围形成舌状拂子茅带。风蚀坑下风侧积沙区植被的分带性反映了草地植被对风沙活动的响应,即随着坑后积沙体的扩大,草地植被由原生向沙生逆向演替。