Effect of dung deposition on small-scale patch structure and seasonal vegetation dynamics in mountain pastures

Cattle activity greatly influences plant species composition and biomass production of grassland ecosystems. Dung deposition by cattle together with grazing and trampling can be considered as one of the important factors driving vegetation dynamics in pastures. The objective of this study was to investigate at 10-cm and 1-month resolution the plant community dynamics induced by dung deposition in two plant communities (a mesotrophic and an oligotrophic grassland) in a pasture of the Swiss Jura Mountains. Vegetation was sampled four or three times during the vegetation period in contiguous 10 cm × 10 cm quadrats from the centre of the dung pat to a distance of 60 cm. A lower grazing intensity near the dung pat was recorded for all observation periods. In the mesotrophic grassland the canopy was higher near the dung pat already one week after dung deposition. Vegetation around dung pats was submitted to two opposite fertilizing and grazing gradients, which induced changes in vegetation texture and structure at fine scale and short term. We observed a positive rank correlation between species turnover and distance to the dung for both communities, suggesting a seasonal stabilizing effect of dung on the plant composition of their direct surroundings (0–10 cm) likely due to cattle avoidance. Since dung pats are dropped every year in different locations, they create in the pasture a shifting mosaic of nutrient availability and grazing intensity inducing at seasonal scale micro-successions in plant communities.     

Mercury exposure of a wetland songbird,Agelaius phoeniceus,in the New York metropolitan area and its effect on nestling growth rate

The potential for mercury accumulation in free-living passerine birds is now recognized to be much greater than previously assumed. However, lowest observable effect levels have yet to be well established for this taxonomic group and it is usually unknown whether levels observed in the wild are causing adverse effects. We measured total blood mercury (THg) levels and took repeated morphological measurements from nestling red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus; N?=?39) in the New York metropolitan area to investigate whether mercury affected their growth rate. We also compared THg levels of nestlings (and parents; N?=?14) between our two study sites, which included riparian habitats along a city river and surrounding ponds in a nearby suburb, to examine differences between birds within and beyond the urban core. THg levels ranged 0.009–0.284 ppm in nestlings and 0.036–0.746 ppm in adults. Adults and nestlings had significantly higher THg outside of the city than within, possibly due to the ability of rivers to flush contaminants and the higher methylation potential of ponds. Among our candidate sets, models containing THg had minimal support for explaining variation in nestling growth rate. Summed Akaike weights further showed that THg had little relative importance. Mercury pollution in our sites may be low, or feather growth may have been sufficient to protect nestlings from accumulating harmful mercury levels in living tissues.     

Spatio-temporal population and reproductive responses in Perinereis gualpensis (Polychaeta: Nereididae) from estuaries under different anthropogenic influences

Reproductive and population-level responses are ecologically relevant diagnostic tools for revealing the cost of long-term tolerance to contaminants. Spatial density distribution, seasonal density, biomass, size frequency histograms and oocytes stages in Perinereis gualpensis (Polychaeta: Nereididae) from a highly anthropogenically impacted estuary (Lenga, south-central Chile) were compared with low-polluted estuaries (Tubul and Raqui). Spatial distribution showed that the highest P. gualpensis abundances occur in the central (middle) estuarine area, establishing them as suitable zones for comparisons of estuaries. Middle areas also showed differences among estuaries in terms of population and reproductive responses. Mature stage oocytes and juvenile recruitment limited to certain seasons and low adult survival led to significant low densities and biomasses in Lenga individuals (p?相似文献   

The use of directional traps for the assessment of short-term phenanthrene effects upon soil springtail communities

Directional traps, both horizontal and vertical, were used to assess the behavioural impact of phenanthrene application on soil springtail communities. Avoidance was not detected. Rather, a vertical attraction of the dominant species, Folsomia manolachei, was demonstrated, as well as a decrease in horizontal movements of Lepidocyrtus lanuginosus, another important species mainly captured at the soil surface. Ecological consequences of the results are discussed.     

Herbicides interactions with cow manure and field soil organic matter

The direct interaction of the herbicide metazachlor ‐chosen as an example‐ with the soil organic matter has been studied by laboratory incubation of old and young cow manures containing metazachlor. The extraction efficiencies of solvents of increasing polarities indicated the formation of association compounds by bonds weaker than covalent between metazachlor and the organic matter: electron donor‐acceptor complexes, hydrogen bonding complexes, and complexes by both bonding types. Laboratory incubation of metazachlor in soil of low organic matter content indicated that the soil mineral part only had a diluting effect on the soil organic matter capacity to adsorb metazachlor. Similar association compounds were observed in the soil of a cauliflower field crop. Their concentrations were greater in the plots treated with organic fertilizers than in the organic fertilizers untreated plots. The free‐ unbound metazachlor was faster metabolized than the one bound to the soil organic matter, explaining why the organic fertilizer treatments slow down the herbicide soil biodegradation during the main first crop period. Inclusion of metazachlor in the field soil humic acids lattice ‐another kind of herbicide association compound with the soil organic matter‐ occurred at crop end when most of the metazachlor was metabolized; the soil concentrations of this kind of association compound thus was low, so that the release after crop of metazachlor in the environment has no practical significance.     

Transport of the insecticides chlorpyrifos,chlorfenvinphos, carbofuran,carbosulfan, and furathiocarb from soil into the foliage of cauliflower and Brussels sprouts plants grown in the field

In several field assays made in different locations in 1988 and 1989, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts plants were treated some days after plantation by pouring onto soil around the stem of the plant one of the insecticides chlorpyrifos, chlorfenvinphos, carbofuran, carbosulfan, or furathiocarb, for protection against the root fly. During plant growth, each of the insecticides (and their soil metabolites) was transported from soil into the plant foliage, where it could give—during a certain period of time—a secondary plant protection against the foliage insects. The foliage concentrations of the non systemic chlorpyrifos and chlorfenvinphos were equal or greater than 1 mg/kg fresh weight during a period of about 44 days after soil treatment in Brussels sprouts crops, and 35 days in cauliflower crops. Comparison of 1988 and 1989 however showed that these periods of time changed according to the weather conditions, especially rainfall. These periods of time were greater when the insecticide soil concentrations were greater—and thus when the rates of insecticide soil metabolism were smaller— and when the rainfall were greater—water transporting the insecticides from soil to the foliage. Similar relationships were observed with the systemic insecticides carbofuran, carbosulfan and furathiocarb; the weights per plant of insecticide compounds transported from soil into the foliage however were greater with these systemic insecticides than they were with the non systemic chlorpyrifos and chlorfenvinphos. The extreme values observed for the periods of time of insecticide foliage concentrations equal or greater than 1 mg/kg fresh weight thus were: 1. in cauliflower crops: 21 to 36 days for chlorpyrifos, and 23 to 39 days for chlorpyrifos + oxon; 24 to 37 days for chlorfenvinphos; 20 to 48 days for carbofuran; 2. in Brussels sprouts crops: 43 to 49 days for chlorpyrifos; 47 to 53 days for chlorpyrifos + oxon; 41 to 45 days for chlorfenvinphos; between 2 to 3 months for carbofuran, carbofuran + carbosulfan, and carbofuran + furathiocarb in the fields treated respectively with either carbofuran, carbosulfan, or furathiocarb. Moreover, in the spring and summer cauliflower crops made on fields onto which continuous cauliflower crops—with their soil insecticide treatments—had been made since a greater number of years (greater soil “history”), the insecticide compounds soil and foliage concentrations generally were lower.     

Responses of Three Heathland Shrubs to Single or Repeated Experimental Trampling

In the last few decades, trampling has become a cause of major disturbance to natural areas. Trampling can occur regularly either seasonally or throughout the year, or as a single impact depending on a recreational activity or an event. This study, carried out on a coastal heathland in north Brittany (France), was based on the hypothesis that the vegetation response can differ depending on whether the trampling is repeated or due to a single event. The aim was to compare the resistance and the short-term recovery capacity of selected species in coastal heathland communities subjected to a trampling experiment, applied once or five times (with equal total number of passes from 0 to 800). The temporal distribution of the trampling did not affect the response of Erica ciliaris, whereas for Erica cinerea and Ulex gallii, trampling was slightly less damaging when applied once rather than five times. These differences could be linked to the lower resistance and the higher recovery capacity of E. ciliaris, compared with the two other species. This study also emphasized the influence of site location by comparing observations with previous studies. Plant resistance calculated here appeared to be lower than that calculated for a less stressful site. The relationship between plant traits and response to trampling was also investigated. The effects of the different times between disturbance application and observations of the short-term response of woody vegetation to experimental trampling is also discussed.