Air Temperature Changes in a Steppe Marmot Burrow in the Summer–Autumn Period

Observations of air temperature changes in a steppe marmot burrow were performed from late July to mid-October. Until early September, temperature in the burrow remained relatively constant, but then it began to decrease rapidly. This occurred after air temperature above the ground became equal to the temperature in the burrow. Supposedly, it is in this particular period that marmots begin to plug the entrance to the burrow with earth, thus reducing heat exchange between the increasingly cold aboveground air and the air in the burrow.     

Paleosols of the Solonchanka IX site and climate of the Transural steppe zone in the fourth century AD

Studies on paleosols under an archaeological landmark of a rare type (a complex of kurgans with “whiskers”) dating from the Early Iron Age (the fourth century AD) have been performed in the steppe zone of the Transural Plateau. The size and shape of third-order soil polygons under stony ridges (“whiskers”) between the kurgans have been described in detail. The results have shown that the paleosol under the kurgans erected at the turn of the Late Sarmatian and Hun times (1600 years ago) is characterized by a higher humus content and deeper location of the carbonate horizon, compared to the recent soil. This indicates that an increase in atmospheric humidity took place in the fourth century AD.     

羊草草原和贝加尔针茅草原生态系统呼吸的差异分析

应用静态暗箱-气相色谱法对羊草草原和贝加尔针茅草原的生态系统呼吸CO2通量进行了测算,分析了生态系统呼吸的影响因素,比较了2种草原生态系统呼吸的差异并分析了产生差异的原因.观测期间羊草草原生态系统呼吸CO2通量平均为(12.03±2.10)mg·(m2·min)-1,显著低于贝加尔针茅草原[(20.09±4.41)mg·(m2·min)-1];而羊草草原生物量显著大于贝加尔针茅草原(p0.001).羊草草原和贝加尔针茅草原生态系统呼吸都与温度(箱内气温、5cm和15cm地温)具有显著的指数函数关系.通过偏相关分析发现,在地温作为控制变量时,生态系统呼吸与土壤Eh、pH间不再具有显著的相关性,Eh、pH对CO2通量的影响可能是由地温变化间接引起的,而CO2通量与活体生物量呈现出了一定的相关性,与凋落物生物量无显著相关性.2种草原的CO2通量都可以用温度指数模型进行很好地模拟,基于地温的模拟效果(R2为0.568～0.639)显著好于基于箱内气温的(R2为0.323～0.426).地温是2种草原生态系统呼吸最重要的影响因素,它掩盖了地上部植物体对生态系统呼吸的影响.在该区域,土壤呼吸占生态系统呼吸比例较高,贝加尔针茅草原较高的有机质含量导致了其生态系统呼吸CO2通量较高.     

内蒙古羊草草原根呼吸和土壤微生物呼吸区分的研究

利用根生物量回归法对内蒙古锡林河流域羊草草原根呼吸和土壤微生物呼吸进行了区分.结果表明,根呼吸占土壤呼吸的比例在13%~52%之间,平均为(24±3)%;土壤微生物呼吸占土壤呼吸的比例在48%~87%之间,平均为(76±3)%.土壤呼吸与根生物量的线性相关性不稳定.根呼吸活力与根冠比具有负指数相关关系(R2=0.661,P=0.20),与0~10、10~20、20~30和30~40 cm土壤含水量均有极显著的正指数相关关系(P<0.000 1).根呼吸与根呼吸活力具有极显著的指数相关关系(R2=0.848,P=0.01),根呼吸对土壤呼吸的贡献量与根呼吸活力具有显著的指数相关关系(R2=0.818,P=0.01).     

温带典型草原土壤总有机碳及溶解性有机碳对模拟氮沉降的响应

2008年5月～2011年10月,以内蒙古温带典型草原为研究对象,利用小区模拟控制试验,设置对照[0 g·(m2·a)-1]、低氮[5 g·(m2·a)-1]、中氮[10 g·(m2·a)-1]、高氮[20 g·(m2·a)-1]这4个净氮输入量处理,模拟研究了大气氮沉降水平变化对土壤总有机碳(TOC)以及溶解性有机碳(DOC)含量、年际变化及其垂直分布格局的影响,并分析了两者之间的关系.结果表明,除个别年份外,土壤TOC与DOC含量均随土壤深度增加而递减,4 a的连续施氮并未改变土壤TOC与DOC的垂直分布规律,但施氮降低了土壤TOC的垂直变异,增加了土壤DOC的垂直变异;施氮4 a对于草地表层0～20 cm土壤TOC与DOC含量的变化并未表现出显著影响(P>0.05).不同氮输入水平处理0～20 cm土层有机碳密度在3.9～5.6 kg·m-2之间变动,试验前两年不同氮处理0～20 cm土壤有机碳密度均低于对照或与对照接近,试验后两年,施氮对土壤总有机碳密度逐渐呈现出一定的促进作用,但与对照的差异仍不显著(P>0.05);不同处理0～20 cm土层DOC/TOC约为0.32%～1.09%,氮输入增加普遍降低了DOC在整个TOC中所占的比例;草地土壤TOC与DOC的变化呈显著正相关(P<0.01).不同处理草地土壤DOC随时间的变异均远大于TOC,与TOC相比,草地土壤DOC的变化更为迅速,是研究草地土壤碳库对氮沉降变化响应的重要敏感性指标.     

Profile of Methane Concentrations in Soil and Atmosphere in Alpine Steppe Ecosystem on Tibetan Plateau

The methane concentration profile from -1.5m depth in soil to 32m height in air was measured in alpine steppe located in the permafrost area. Methane concentrations showed widely variations both in air and in soil during the study period. The mean concentrations in atmosphere were all higher than those in soil, and the highest methane concentration was found in air at the height of 16m with the lowest concentration occurring at the depth of 1.5m in soil. The variations of atmospheric methane concentrations did not show any clear pattern both temporally and spatially, although they exhibited a more steadystable state than those in soil. During the seasonal variations, the methane concentrations at different depths in soil were significantly correlated （R^2〉0.6） with each other comparing to the weak correlations （R^2〈0.2） between the atmospheric concentra- tions at different heights. Mean methane concentrations in soil significantly decreased with depth. This was the compositive influence of the decreasing production rates and the increasing methane oxidation rates, which was caused by the descent soil moisture with depth. Although the methane concentrations at all depths varied widely during the growing season, they showed very distinct temporal variations in the non-growing season. It was indicated from the literatures that methane oxidation rates were positively correlated with soil temperature. The higher methane concentrations in soil during the winter were determined by the lower methane oxidation rates with decreasing soil temperatures, whereas methane production rates had no reaction to the lower temperature. Relations between methane contribution and other environmental factors were not discussed in this paper for lacking of data, which impulse us to carry out further and more detailed studies in this unique area.     

Measuring Plant Diversity in the Tall Threetip Sagebrush Steppe: Influence of Previous Grazing Management Practices

In July 2000, a 490-ha wildfire burned a portion of a long-term grazing study that had been established in 1924 at the US Sheep Experiment Station north of Dubois, Idaho, USA. Earlier vegetation measurements in this tall threetip sagebrush (Artemisia tripartita spp. tripartita) bunchgrass plant community documented significant changes in vegetation due to grazing and the timing of grazing by sheep. A study was initiated in May 2001 using 12 multiscale modified Whittaker plots to determine the consequences of previous grazing practices on postfire vegetation composition. Because there was only one wildfire and it did not burn all of the original plots, the treatments are not replicated in time or space. We reduce the potential effects of psuedoreplication by confining our discussion to the sample area only. There were a total of 84 species in the sampled areas with 69 in the spring-grazed area and 70 each in the fall- and ungrazed areas. Vegetation within plots was equally rich and even with similar numbers of abundant species. The spring-grazed plots, however, had half as much plant cover as the fall- and ungrazed plots and the spring-grazed plots had the largest proportion of plant cover composed of introduced (27%) and annual (34%) plants. The fall-grazed plots had the highest proportion of native perennial grasses (43%) and the lowest proportion of native annual forbs (1%). The ungrazed plots had the lowest proportion of introduced plants (4%) and the highest proportion of native perennial forbs (66%). The vegetation of spring-grazed plots is in a degraded condition for the environment and further degradation may continue, with or without continued grazing or some other disturbance. If ecosystem condition was based solely on plant diversity and only a count of species numbers was used to determine plant diversity, this research would have falsely concluded that grazing and timing of grazing did not impact the condition of the ecosystem.     

基于CVM方法分析牧民对禁牧政策的受偿意愿——以锡林郭勒草原为例

确定居民对生态措施实施的受偿意愿,对目前迫切需要的生态补偿政策制定以及生态恢复和保护的有效性具有重要的现实意义。选用锡林郭勒草原为案例区域,通过入户调查及在那达慕大会集中调查相结合的方式,调查锡林郭勒草原地区牧民对禁牧措施的态度和受偿意愿。分析结果显示:53%的牧民愿意参加禁牧,而不愿意参加禁牧主要是由于补偿标准不合理引起的。计量经济学模型分析表明,牧民对禁牧的支持态度与牧民的收入和草地面积呈正相关,与养羊数量呈负相关。牧民的受偿意愿由牧民养羊数量、受教育年限、草地现状以及对禁牧政策的支持程度决定。根据意愿调查法初步估算锡林郭勒草原地区禁牧措施实施后牧民的补偿意愿,牧民家庭对禁牧政策的平均受偿意愿为每年每户2.7717万元,人均受偿意愿为8399元,平均每1hm2草地受偿意愿为85.95元。