Response of Savanna Fire Regimes to Changing Fire-Management Policies in a Large African National Park

Abstract:  Approaches to fire management in the savanna ecosystems of the 2-million ha Kruger National Park, South Africa, have changed several times over the past six decades. These approaches have included regular and flexible prescribed burning on fixed areas and a policy that sought to establish a lightning-dominated fire regime. We sought to establish whether changes in management induced the desired variability in fire regimes over a large area. We used a spatial database of information on all fires in the park between 1957 and 2002 to determine elements of the fire regime associated with each management policy. The area that burned in any given year was independent of the management approach and was strongly related to rainfall (and therefore grass fuels) in the preceding 2 years. On the other hand, management did affect the spatial heterogeneity of fires and their seasonal distribution. Heterogeneity was higher at all scales during the era of prescribed burning, compared with the lightning-fire interval. The lightning-fire interval also resulted in a greater proportion (72% vs. 38%) of the area burning in the dry season. Mean fire-return intervals varied between 5.6 and 7.3 years, and variability in fire-return intervals was strongly influenced by the sequencing of annual rainfall rather than by management. The attempt at creating a lightning-dominated fire regime failed because most fires were ignited by humans, and the policy has been replaced by a more pragmatic approach that combines flexible prescribed burning with lightning-ignited fires.     

High genetic diversity of the symbiotic dinoflagellates in the coral Pocillopora meandrina from the South Pacific

Symbioses between dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodinium (commonly referred to as zooxanthellae) and scleractinian corals are an essential feature for the maintenance of coral reefs. The fine-scale diversity and population structure of the zooxanthellae inhabiting the coral Pocillopora meandrina, a major reef building species in Polynesia, was examined. We used two polymorphic microsatellites to study seven populations from the South Pacific, whose host structuring has been previously investigated. The symbionts of P. meandrina showed high levels of diversity, with more than one zooxanthella genotype being identified in most of the host individuals. Genetic differentiation between symbiont populations was detected at a large scale (2,000 km) between the Tonga and the Society Archipelagos. Within the Society Archipelago, the two most remote populations (Tahiti and Bora-Bora; 200 km apart) were only weakly differentiated from each other. Statistical tests demonstrated that the symbiont genetic structure was not correlated with that of its host, suggesting that dispersal of the symbionts, whether they are transported within a host larva or free in the water, depends mainly on distance and water currents. In addition, the data suggests that hosts may acquire new symbionts after maternal transmission, possibly following a disturbance event. Lastly, the weak differentiation between symbiont populations of P. verrucosa and P. meandrina, both from Moorea, indicated that there was some host-symbiont fine-scale specificity detectable at the genetic resolution offered by microsatellites.     

On the study of aerosol composition at the Great Wall Station, South Pole

The South pole aera offers one of the best locations on the Earth for studying the composition of the background aerosol. For this purpose, aerosol samples were collected in particle size fractions by 8 stages cascade impactors. Aerosol sampling was begun in Jan. and finished in Dec. 1986 at the St. Great Wall, South Pole. The samples were analysed by Proton Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) method. In order to learn the enrichment factors of various elements all the results were separated into two groups: coarse (> 10μm) and fine (< 10μm) particles. The correlation coefficients of elements of both coarse and fine particles were discussed. The aerosol levels measured at St. Great Wall were compared to those recently measured at some other locations. It can be concluded the South Pole is a good background area on the Earth.     

江南复合混杂岩带基本特征

江南复合混杂岩带是扬子板块与华夏板块长期活动所致，构造极为复杂。江南大地构造重新划分为三个1级构造单元：扬子板块、江南复合混杂岩带及华夏板块。江南复合混杂岩带又可进一步划分II级构造单元5个(宜丰一景德镇一歙县构造混杂岩亚带、万年构造单元、赣东北蛇绿混杂岩亚带、怀玉构造单元及丰城一鹰潭一龙游构造混杂岩亚带)；各构造单元之间以构造(蛇绿)混杂岩亚带或韧性剪切带相拼接。沿宜丰一景德镇一歙县发育一条构造花岗岩浆带；而沿赣东北断裂带形成了该区重要的燕山期构造岩浆带及Cu、Au、Ag、Pb、zn及金刚石等成矿带。     

Conservation Assessment of Southern South American Freshwater Ecoregions on the Basis of the Distribution and Genetic Diversity of Crabs from the Genus Aegla

Abstract:  We assessed the conservation priority of 18 freshwater ecoregions in southern South America on the basis of Aegla (genus of freshwater crabs) genetic diversity and distribution. Geographical distributions for 66 Aegla species were taken from the literature and plotted against ecoregions and main river basins of southern South America. Species richness and number of threatened and endemic species were calculated for each area. To assess taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity, we generated a molecular phylogeny based on DNA sequences for one nuclear (28S) and 4 mitochondrial (12S, 16S, COI, and COII) genes. All species richness and phylogenetic methods agreed, to a large extent, in their rankings of the importance of conservation areas, as indicated by the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient ( p < 0.01); nonetheless, some of the lowest correlations were observed between taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity indices. The 5 ecoregions of the Laguna dos Patos Basin (Eastern Brazil), Central Chile, South Brazilian Coast, Chilean Lakes, and Subtropical Potamic Axis (northern Argentina and southern Uruguay and Paraguay) had the highest biodiversity scores. Conservation of these regions will preserve the largest number of species and the greatest amount of genetic diversity within the South American freshwater Aegla fauna. Biodiversity across rivers and within areas was heterogeneously distributed in the ecoregions of Upper Paraná, Ribeira do Iguape, Upper Uruguay, and South Brazilian Coast (i.e., one river showed significantly more biodiversity than any other river from the same ecoregion), but homogeneously distributed in the other ecoregions. Hence, conservation plans in the former regions will potentially require less effort than plans in the latter regions.     

Nitrogen to phosphorus ratios of two understory plant species in response to nitrogen and phosphorus addition in tropical forest of southern China北大核心CSCD

The secondary tropical forests in southern China have suffered from frequent human disturbance and increasing high N deposition. In order to explore the nutrient limitation status in secondary tropical forests of South China, this 3-year field experiment of nitrogen (+N) and phosphorus (+P) addition investigated nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations of the aboveground tissue (leaf and branch) of two widely distributed understory native species Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum and Uvaria microcarpa in a secondary tropical forest of South China. The results showed that: 1) the N and P concentrations of the two species were significantly different (P < 0.001); N and P concentrations of different tissues in the same species were different; N&P addition greatly affected N and P concentrations in branch rather than new leaf and older leaf. 2) +N treatment had no significant effect on N or P concentrations of either species, but significantly decreased N:P ratios (P = 0.001), at the level of 9% for C. cyrtophyllum and 50% for U. microcarpa, respectively. 3) +P treatment had no significant effect on tissue N concentrations, but significantly increased plant P concentrations (P < 0.001), at 54% for C. cyrtophyllum and 88% for U. microcarpa, respectively; +P treatment significantly decreased plant N:P ratios (P < 0.001), at 28% and 60%, respectively. 4) The alterations of P concentrations of two species had significantly negative correlations with N:P alterations under +N/+P treatment (P < 0.001), suggesting that the alteration of P concentrations in plant tissue was the major driver for N:P alteration. Our results show that N and P addition would affect tissue N and P concentrations of the two species, with +P treatment having relatively greater effect on nutrient concentrations than +N treatment; the branch is more sensitive than new or older leaf in response to nutrient addition. Therefore, P availability may be the limiting factor for plant growth in the tropical forests.     

四平市南湖重金属污染及健康风险评价研究

在分析南湖水质的基础上,对重金属进行Pearson相关性分析,并进行了健康风险评价。结果表明Cr、Cu、Zn未超过生活饮用水卫生标准,Cd 和Pb严重超标。 Cu、Zn、Cd、Cr污染存在一定的同源性,而Mn、Fe、Ni、Pb污染具有多源性。污染物通过皮肤接触途径造成的危害要远小于饮水途径,致癌物风险比非致癌物高1～8个数量级,其中Cd对总风险贡献率为62.16％,成为主要的风险污染物。8个监测点都检测到致癌物,且风险度高于可接受水平,应引起环境治理部门的关注。     

南水北调东线水源核心区浮游植物多样性状况与评价研究

分别于2013年4月、8月、10月和2014年1月对南水北调东线水源核心区河流浮游植物群落结构、浮游植物密度进行调查,并利用多样性指数进行水质评价.区域共检出浮游植物5门34科67属118种,春秋两季物种数较多,夏冬两季物种数较少.优势种为蓝藻门小席藻( Phormidium.tenue)、绿藻门小球藻( Chlorella.pyrenoidosa)、硅藻门变异直链藻( Melosira.varians).区域浮游植物密度为3.5 ×105 cells/L,Shannon-wiener指数为2.32,Margalef指数为1.06,Pielou均匀度指数为0.54,水质为寡污-中污水平.     

The governance of ecosystem services in river basins: An approach for structured data representation and analysis

River basins provide a wide range of ecosystem services important for human well-being. Ecosystem functions and their value to humans have been thoroughly studied. However, the role of governance characteristics for the sustainable management of ecosystem services has been largely ignored up to now. To close this gap, this article introduces the latest modifications to a database building on the Management and Transition Framework (MTF) that serve to study the relationship between water governance and management systems and their performance with regard to impacts on ecosystem services. This comprehensive approach facilitates structured data collection and representation in order to analyze single case studies or compare case studies regarding the governance and management of water resources and associated ecosystem services. It allows the user to investigate whether certain water governance characteristics, such as stakeholder involvement or vertical integration of governance levels, are associated with a change in the management of ecosystem services or a measurable change in their state. A simplified case from South Africa shows how the database modifications allow addressing links between governance and management processes on the one side and ecosystem services and the way they are handled on the other side. Applying the MTF database leads to evidence-based insights into best practices as well as failed management approaches and interventions. This in turn provides knowledge that can be transferred from science to practice supporting sustainable governance of ecosystem services.