Ecological and Economic Services Provided by Birds on Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Farms

Abstract: Coffee farms can support significant biodiversity, yet intensification of farming practices is degrading agricultural habitats and compromising ecosystem services such as biological pest control. The coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) is the world's primary coffee pest. Researchers have demonstrated that birds reduce insect abundance on coffee farms but have not documented avian control of the berry borer or quantified avian benefits to crop yield or farm income. We conducted a bird‐exclosure experiment on coffee farms in the Blue Mountains, Jamaica, to measure avian pest control of berry borers, identify potential predator species, associate predator abundance and borer reductions with vegetation complexity, and quantify resulting increases in coffee yield. Coffee plants excluded from foraging birds had significantly higher borer infestation, more borer broods, and greater berry damage than control plants. We identified 17 potential predator species (73% were wintering Neotropical migrants), and 3 primary species composed 67% of migrant detections. Average relative bird abundance and diversity and relative resident predator abundance increased with greater shade‐tree cover. Although migrant predators overall did not respond to vegetation complexity variables, the 3 primary species increased with proximity to noncoffee habitat patches. Lower infestation on control plants was correlated with higher total bird abundance, but not with predator abundance or vegetation complexity. Infestation of fruit was 1–14% lower on control plants, resulting in a greater quantity of saleable fruits that had a market value of US$44–$105/ha in 2005/2006. Landscape heterogeneity in this region may allow mobile predators to provide pest control broadly, despite localized farming intensities. These results provide the first evidence that birds control coffee berry borers and thus increase coffee yield and farm income, a potentially important conservation incentive for producers.     

潮滩生态特征及开发利用模式——以江苏大丰潮滩研究为例

根据自然地理、海洋动力、生物等特征!本文研究受大河作用的大丰潮滩地貌、沉积过程,讨论老黄河和长江对该潮滩发育的影响和潮滩生物群落空间分布及演变规律。本文评价了大丰潮滩开发利用现状,分析了它们的经济效益和环境效益,提出把目前受到强烈改造、过度利用的模式改变为顺应潮滩自然演变、有步骤合理开发利用潮滩的模式。     

太湖水中降解苯酚细菌的分布与降解能力研究

太湖水中降解苯酚的细菌有3个属，分别是假单胞菌属、微球菌属和芽孢杆菌属。芽孢杆菌属和假单胞菌属是降解苯酚的主要细菌。未驯化细菌对1mg/L苯酚的降解率介于70％～85％。驯化细菌对苯酚的降解能力有了很大提高，对60mg／L苯酚的降解率达到了60％，86％。CS1培养基适宜测试未驯化细菌对苯酚的降解能力，测试驯化细菌则要用CS2培养基。     

内蒙古典型草原土壤不同剖面深度CO_2通量格局及其驱动因子

土壤CO2的释放能够显著增加大气牛CO2的浓度,增强温室效应,从而对全球气候和环境变化产生重要影响.但是,不同的土壤层对CO2通量的贡献量有很大的差异.文章通过挖坑法结合红外气体分析法研究了内蒙古草原典犁针茅(Stipa krylovii)群落和羊草(Leymus chinensis)群落不同剖面深度土壤CO2通量格局以及影响CO2通量的驱动因素.结果表明,表层土壤移走后,土壤CO2通量的变化可分为瞬时、短期、长期三种格局.新剖面上最初的0～21 min内释放的CO2通量最均大于初始土壤表层CO2通量,而且两者比值随土壤深度增加而增大,也随土壤CO2生产能力增强而增大.2～4 d后,新剖面CO2通量持续下降至低于初始土壤表层CO2通量的水平.形成短期稳定状态.更长时间后,新剖面则逐渐表现出与初始土壤剖面表层相近的CO2通量特征.我们认为,(1)在新剖面形成时的CO2通量瞬时和短期格局主要受土壤中存留的原始CO2的浓度及其扩散过程控制,(2)长期格局则由资源水平和环境条件共同决定的土壤CO2生产能力主导.文章进一步揭示了建立包含垂直分层的SOC分解和CO2扩散过程的生态系统模型的必要性.     

夏季富营养化滆湖中沉水植物群落重建及水质净化效果

通过滆湖原位围隔试验分析了不同单种及混种沉水植物群落随环境变化的生长状况及对水质的净化效果.结果表明:(1)夏季,沉水植物生物量的平均值与透明度/水位存在显著线性相关性,进一步表明沉水植物的生长在很大程度上依赖于光强和水深.(2)各植物区(除马来眼子菜区外)的高锰酸盐指数、TN高于空白对照区.(3)对比空白对照区,苦草...     

Modeling water and sediment contamination of Lake Pontchartrain following pump-out of Hurricane Katrina floodwater

Levee failure and overtopping as a result of Hurricane Katrina caused major flooding of New Orleans, Louisiana. Floodwaters, which were contaminated with heavy metals, organic chemicals, and fecal coliform bacteria (FCB), were pumped into neighboring Lake Pontchartrain during dewatering. The impact of levee failure on water and benthic sediment concentrations in the lake was investigated by applying a numerical water quality model coupled to a three-dimensional, numerical hydrodynamic model. The model was used to compute water and benthic sediment concentrations throughout the lake for lead, arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (DDE), and water concentrations for FCB. Computed concentrations resulting from actual pumped discharges with levee failure and overtopping were compared to computed concentrations resulting from pumped discharges without levee failure or overtopping, and concentrations from both sets of conditions were compared to ecological water and sediment quality screening guideline values. The model indicated that incremental increases above pre-Katrina benthic sediment concentrations are about a factor of 10 greater with dewatering of the floodwaters than with dewatering of storm water without flooding. However, these increases for the metals are small relative to pre-Katrina concentrations. The results showed that the ecological screening-level sediment quality guideline values were exceeded for BaP and DDE in areas near the south shoreline of the lake as a result of floodwater pump-out, whereas, this was not the case for storm water removal without flooding. The model showed that lake water column concentrations should be about the same during both dewatering conditions regardless of whether there is flooding or not.     

Characteristics that influence male reproductive success on a lek of Lethrinops c.f. parvidens (Teleostei: Cichlidae)

Sexual selection has long been proposed as a mechanism leading to the diverse cichlid (Teleostei: Cichlidae) fauna of Lake Malawi, Africa. Many of the shallow-water, sand-dwelling, bower-building cichlid species are particularly well suited for studies of sexual selection because they participate in leks. Since females in lekking systems appear to acquire only genetic material from their mates, it has been suggested that leks are ideal systems to study female mate choice. The objectives of the investigation were to examine Lethrinops c.f. parvidens male bower characteristics (i.e., bower size and location) as well as other male characteristics (i.e., length, gular color, and duration on the lek) for their influence on male mating success as measured by the number of visits, circles, and eggs laid by females. These measures are nested in that a visit by a female may or may not lead to circling, and circling by a female may or may not lead to egg-laying. We found increased bower height and higher numbers of conspecific neighbors (analogous to shallow-water, near-shore bower positions) to be positively, significantly associated with the number of visits by females. The only significant correlate with the number of circles was visits, and similarly circles was the only significant correlate with the number of eggs laid. The R ² value for the egg-laying regression was quite low (19.8%) compared with visits (54.3%) and circling (78.9%), suggesting that females may be using additional cues, that we failed to measure, when in close proximity to males or simply that a small proportion of the females were ready to spawn. Both indirect selection and direct selection pressure due to egg predation may have influenced female choice on the lek. Received: 10 April 1999 / Received in revised form: 26 July 1999 / Accepted: 18 September 1999     

一种城市生态系统健康评价方法及其应用

将健康概念引入城市生态系统研究,从复合生态系统角度评价和辨析城市生态环境问题,为生态城市建设提供决策依据极具现实意义．基于城市复合生态系统健康内涵,提出用距离指数和协调指数表征系统发展水平和协调状况,构建整合距离指数和协调指数的城市生态系统健康评价模型,并设定了城市生态系统健康状态的评价标准,建立城市生态系统健康评价指标体系．对宁波的实例分析揭示了宁波城市生态系统健康特征和地域空间分布,表明模型能够很好地辨识城市生态系统的复合特征和地域空间特征,指示城市生态规划和建设的重点行动领域,为城市实施可持续发展战略提供决策依据．     

基于TM影像的乌梁素海叶绿素a浓度反演

首先选取预处理后乌梁素海TM影像的单波段及波段组合与实测叶绿素a浓度进行分析,发现相关性很低。然后,结合乌梁素海的水利条件和自身特点,把湖区分为两个区,发现波段组合(TM1+TM2+TM4)/TM3和TM4/TM3与叶绿素a浓度有较高的相关性。最后,选取误差较低的波段组合(TM1+TM2+TM4)/TM3建立线性模型,实时、快速地反演乌梁素海湖区叶绿素a浓度,与实地情况吻合,为乌梁素海"黄苔"预警提供理论依据。