Biodiversity,productivity, and temporal stability in a natural grassland ecosystem of China

Understanding the effect of biodiversity on ecosystem function is critical to promoting the sustainability of ecosystems and species conservation in natural ecosystems. We observed species composition, species richness and aboveground biomass,and simulated the competitive assemblages in a natural grassland ecosystem of China, aiming to test some assumptions and predictions about biodiversity–stability relationships. Our results show that aboveground productivity and temporal stability increased significantly with increasing species richness, and via a combination of overyielding, species asynchrony, and portfolio effects. Species interactions resulted in overyielding caused by trait-independent complementarity, and were not offset by a negative dominance effect and trait-dependent complementarity effect. Therefore, the mechanisms underlying the biodiversity effect shifted from the selection effect to the complementarity effect as diversity increased, and both effects were coexisted but the complementarity effect represent a mechanism that facilitates long term species coexistence in a natural grassland ecosystem of China.     

Ecological and socio-economical thresholds of land and plant-community degradation in semi-arid Mediterranean areas of southeastern Spain

The climate of semi-arid Mediterranean areas is characterized by highly variable rainfall and seasonal droughts, which favor highly specialized flora, high biodiversity, and the emergence of a large number of endemic species. Such highly specialized complex ecosystems are expected to be more difficult to return to a previous state following perturbation than are more mild ecosystems and lead to dramatic transitions in vegetation. An understanding of the circumstances under which irreversible transition shifts occur is vital in an age of climate change and socio-economic globalization. This will have significant consequences for those highly specialized areas unless management practices, conservation, and preventive measures are increased. Within ecosystems, the interactions between multiple factors acting at multiple temporal and spatial scales, and the inertia of ecological processes, make the consequences of current management practices persist for a long time. To understand the relative importance of the underlying mechanisms that influence the resilience of drylands in southeastern Spain, we reviewed what is known about plant–soil interactions and the spatial distribution of vegetation to detect early warning signs of desertification. We analyzed the role of the self-organizing capacity of vegetation in the formation of vegetation spatial patterns at multiple spatial scales. In addition, we evaluated the importance of threshold indicators as early detectors of transition shifts in dryland ecosystems.     

湿地景观变化过程与累积环境效应研究进展

湿地在流域中处于水陆交错的特殊过渡区域,是地表重要的景观覆盖类型和生态系统。湿地具有独特的水文、土壤和植被特征,在维护区域/流域生态平衡和环境稳定方面发挥巨大作用。湿地景观变化过程主要表现为景观格局和过程在时间和空间尺度上的相互作用过程。该过程对系统的能量流动、物质循环以及物种迁移产生作用,对地理环境也产生巨大环境效应。湿地景观变化与土地利用/覆盖变化紧密相关,与人类活动影响息息相联。至今,人类已把天然的湿地景观格局改变为受人类支配的土地利用格局。自然湿地景观格局的变化过程对湿地生态系统以及其他系统的生物多样性、初级生产力产生显著影响,对局地、区域及全球气候环境、水文环境、生物多样性等方面产生显著而深刻的影响。湿地景观变化是全球变化研究的重要内容,尤其对认识全球气候变化、土地利用/覆盖变化和生物多样性变化的区域响应具有重大意义。     

地球暖化促进植物迁移与入侵

在当今快速的全球气候变化 ,特别是快速而急剧的地球暖化情况下 ,现有植物及其系统被迫 :1)重新适应这种变化了及仍在变化着的环境条件 ;2 )往高海拔及极地方向迁移寻找合适的生存环境 ;或者 3)因其迁移的速度赶不上气候变化的速度而消亡。同时 ,气温升高和降水模式 (包括降水量及其分配 )的变化 ,以及与此相关联的干扰型式 (包括干扰种类、强度及延续时间 )的变化 ,一方面将使现有植物及其生态系统对外来生物的抗性弱化 ,另一方面将激活外来物种的活性 ,导致外来生物的快速扩散与大规模入侵 ,进而排挤和“杀死”当地乡土种 ,减少生物多样性 ,改变原有生态系统的组成、结构和功能 ,最终导致严重的社会经济与生态环境问题。在制定域、国家及全球经济与环境政策时 ,应充分考虑到这些问题 ,以防患于未然     

Three California annual forbs show little response to neighbor removal

In semi-arid systems, competition among plants has limited effects on performance compared to facilitative interactions and abiotic factors. However, the balance between competition and facilitation can change over the course of plant development. Determining when each interaction is important for plant productivity allows us to identify factors limiting plant growth. In this field study, neighbor removal mid-way through the growing season did not result in a size change for any species (Clarkia purpurea, Plantago erecta, and Micropus californicus) in the first year. In the second year, two species had greater biomass when neighbors were removed very early in the growing season, indicating a competitive effect. The third species neither benefited nor suffered from neighbor removal. In some years, P. erecta and M. californicus may be negatively affected by competition at early growth stages and are later unable to capitalize on newly-available resources after removals of competitors. This study shows that early-stage competition can drive biomass production in some annual plants, even in semi-arid systems.     

Mediterranean saline streams in southeast Spain: What do we know?

Many Mediterranean streams in arid and semiarid areas are naturally saline systems due to the presence of evaportic rocks of Miocene or Triassic origin. Despite the fact that these aquatic ecosystems are rare in Europe, they are common in southeast of Spain. The environmental constraints of these semiarid saline streams are imposed by both geological and climatic conditions. This paper is a compilation and summary of the principal results obtained from various studies on semiarid saline streams in the Iberian southeast. Available data for these typical environments in the region covers diverse issues such as those regarding their physical and chemical features, typology, biodiversity, community structure and ecosystem functioning, as well as different ecological and evolutionary aspects of their biota (e.g. ecophysiological responses, life cycles and phylogeography). Issues concerning the conservation of these habitats, such as the main human uses, impacts, threats and their management are also summarised. Finally, topics in need of further research are provided. The current knowledge of saline streams in southeastern Spain highlights the physical and ecological singularity of these environments, and their high conservation value. Saline streams are particularly interesting due to their halotolerant/halophilic biota and high number of rare and endemic species.     

Modelling plant canopy effects on variability of soil temperature and water: model calibration and validation

Temperature conditions and the availability of moisture in the near-surface soil environment drives many important plant and other biological processes. Vegetation, which can be controlled by management, affects the spatial and temporal variability of heat and water in the soil. Land managers need to address the interactions between physical, chemical and biological factors in the near surface, but lack the necessary information. The ability to predict temperature and water within the soil–plant–atmosphere system enhances our ability to evaluate management options and enables better understanding of interactions between surface processes and the atmosphere. The Simultaneous Heat and Water (SHAW) Model, a detailed model of heat and water movement in a plant–snow–residue–soil system, was applied to 2 full years of data on semi-arid sagebrush rangeland to simulate vegetation effects on the spatial and temporal variation of soil temperature and water. Minor calibration was necessary to match the drop in measured soil water potential as the soil dried in the late spring and early summer. The model accounted for over 93% of the variation in average daily soil temperature for a sagebrush-covered area and over 96% of the variation in temperature for a bare soil surface for 2 years. Rapid changes in surface water potential and drying of the soil profile as simulated by the model closely tracked measured observations.     

European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) engineering effects promote plant heterogeneity in Mediterranean dehesa pastures

Mammalian herbivores can have dramatic effects on the vegetation through different mechanisms, and may therefore modify resource distribution or create habitat for other species. Organisms that cause such changes are classified as ecosystem engineers. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a semi-fossorial mammal native to the Iberian Peninsula and a keystone species in Mediterranean foodwebs. Rabbits are central-place foragers, but few studies have analysed their ecosystem engineering effects in the vicinity of warrens. Here, we explored the role of rabbits as ecosystem engineers in Mediterranean pastures in central Spain. We studied the spatial patterns and internal heterogeneity in the vegetation community of different spatial subunits created by rabbits (warrens, the warren influence area, and latrines). Within the different subunits, rabbit activities gave rise to patches and gradients with different plant species richness, diversity and height, and a high internal heterogeneity (dissimilarity) in floristic composition. Through different mechanisms, they have a significant effect on species coexistence and competitive interactions, and increase the number of available niches for plants which otherwise would not be able to establish. In conclusion, rabbits can act as allogenic ecosystem engineers in Mediterranean pastures, increasing heterogeneity and contributing to the high biodiversity of Mediterranean annual pastures.     

气候变化对植物多样性的影响研究综述

植物多样性是生态系统结构和功能的基础,气候变化已对其产生了深刻的影响,甚至于严重威胁.植物多样性的减少或丧失必然会影响生态系统结构和功能的稳定性,导致严重的生态、经济和社会后果.植物多样性对气候变化的响应受控于气温和水分的动态平衡.本文系统总结了气候变暖和降水格局变化对植物多样性的影响,分析了气候变化对不同生态系统、群...     

20世纪末30 a里全球生态退化状况

 生态退化主要包括陆地生态系统和水域生态系统的退化。陆地生态系统包括农田、森林和草地,水域生态系统包括近海、河流和湖泊。生态系统退化的生态后果主要体现为生产力下降、生物多样性损失以及生态服务功能下降,直观地体现于土地退化、森林毁坏、物种濒危和绝灭以及淡水短缺。借助联合国相关网站上发布的报告,对20世纪末30 a里全球生态退化状况进行综述,旨在促进生态恢复。     

人类土地利用的主要生态后果及其缓解对策

通过对土地利用尤其是以集约农业为主的土地利用已经产生的陆地生态系统生物侵入、生物多样性损失及碳循环、氮循环和水循环改变等生态后果的综述。主要论述了物种特性及其组成的改变对生态系统的影响及不同特性物种组成对土地利用带来的负面环境效应响应的特点。提出了在建立可持续土地利用的框架体系下,发展精确农业为特色的可持续农业和恢复重建退化生态系统等对策来调控不合理土地利用的负面环境效应。     

Plant impacts on nitrogen and carbon cycling in the Monte Phytogeographical Province,Argentina

In arid and semiarid ecosystems, primary productivity and nutrient cycling are directly related to the amount and seasonal distribution of precipitation. However, depending on morphological, phenological, physiological, and biochemical traits, plants may influence the quality and quantity of organic matter inputs to the soil and thus the biomass and activity of the soil biota responsible for carbon and nitrogen dynamics. In this paper, we review the available knowledge on plant functional traits and their impacts on ecosystem processes such as N and C cycling throughout the Monte Phytogeographical Province. We address the mechanisms of N conservation, the quantity and quality of leaf litterfall and root traits of the dominant plant life forms and their effects on decomposition processes, soil organic matter accretion, and soil-N immobilization and mineralization. We conclude that plant functional traits affect ecosystem processes in the Monte Phytogeographical Province since the chemistry of senesced leaves and root biomass exerts an important control on organic matter decomposition and N availability in soil.     

中国生态脆弱区全球变化风险及应对技术途径和主要措施

自工业革命以来,全球环境发生深刻变化。生态脆弱区生态系统稳定性差、抗干扰和自我恢复能力弱,在全球变化背景下,自然资源供给能力下降、土地退化、生物多样性减少、灾害频发,生态系统面临巨大风险,亟需开展生态脆弱区全球变化风险应对研究。本文重点对中国典型生态脆弱区全球变化风险来源、全球变化对生态脆弱区的影响、全球变化风险应对等研究进行总结,并提出未来全球变化应对策略,以期促进中国典型生态脆弱区生态系统对全球变化响应的深入理解,提高生态脆弱区应对全球变化的能力。生态脆弱区全球变化风险源于环境变化对自然、社会、经济复杂系统的影响。全球变化对生态脆弱区的影响是显著的,以气候变化为主要标志,人类活动为主要驱动力,引起极端气候事件、灾害频发、土地退化、植被生产力降低、生物多样性减少、冰川冻土消融和水资源格局改变等环境问题,并在未来全球变化持续影响下可能加剧,而生态建设工程的实施显著改善了生态环境。今后应加强自然、社会、经济系统耦合,加强资源环境要素监测和全球变化风险评估与预警等方面的研究。     

Spatial Patterns of Forest Ecosystem Services and Influencing Factors in the Ganjiang River Basin

As the major component of terrestrial ecosystems, forests play an irreplaceable role in providing ecosystem services and products (e.g. biodiversity, carbon sequestration, water yield and timber). Spatially quantifying ecosystem services and interactions will shed light on sustainable forest management. Main forest ecosystem services including carbon storage, water yield, soil retention and wood volume in the Ganjiang River Basin (GRB) were evaluated and mapped through the integrated use of InVEST3.1.0, CASA modeling and ArcGIS10.2, and relationships between forest ecosystem services and natural or social-economic factors were quantified and discussed based on ArcGIS10.2 and SPSS19.0. Results showed that the spatial pattern of the four ecosystem services is heterogeneous. Forests dominated by broad-leaved forest and bamboo forest in mountainous regions around the GRB provided the largest carbon storage and wood volume services, while forests dominated by Masson pine plantations or Chinese fir plantations in the northeast provided the largest water yield service. The spatial pattern of the soil retention service is more discrete than others, and forests in the southwestern regions showed larger soil erosion modulus than in the northeastern regions. Ecosystem services are closely related to the environmental process and human activities. With altitude or slope increases, the carbon storage and wood volume of forests increased and water yield depth and soil retention decreased. When the regional total population decreased or GDP per capita increased, carbon storage and wood volume increased. Further research into the interactions between environmental factors and ecosystem services is needed in order to understand environmental constraints when dealing with ecological problems.     

Climatic change and rainfall patterns: Effects on semi-arid plant communities of the Iberian Southeast

The structure and functioning of semi-arid ecosystems are strongly influenced by precipitation patterns. Water availability in such environments is highly pulsed, and discrete rainfall events interspersed with drought periods are important components of the annual water supply. Plant communities do not only respond to rainfall quantity, but also to variations in time, so that relatively small changes in rainfall frequency (i.e., pulsed inputs) may have strong effects on communities. Within the Mediterranean basin, climate change models forecast a decrease in mean annual precipitation and more extreme events (i.e., less rainy days and longer drought periods between events), along with seasonal changes. However, little is known on the consequences of these future precipitation changes on plant communities, especially in semi-arid environments. Here, we summarize the few experiments that have manipulated rainfall patterns in arid and semi-arid areas worldwide, and introduce the first results of a pioneer, long-term rainfall exclusion in the semi-arid southeast region of the Iberian Peninsula. The experiment is not only manipulating the amount of rainfall, but also its frequency and seasonal distribution in a grassland-shrubland in the Tabernas desert (Almería, Spain). This work monitored the effect of precipitation changes on different ecosystem processes for five years, at the species and community level, concluding that this plant community (as other communities studied in the same area) exhibited great resilience to changes in rainfall availability, likely caused by plant adaptation to large intra- and inter-annual precipitation variability.     

树轮稳定氮同位素记录的进展与展望

树轮稳定同位素比率是研究气候变化与环境演变的有效代用资料,耦合分析树轮稳定同位素记录的信息可揭示森林生态系统碳—水—氮时空变化特征及相互作用,反映环境变化对植物特定化合物的生理影响.树轮稳定氮同位素比率(δ15N)与树木生长的环境条件密切相关,其变化可以反映长时间尺度森林生态系统氮循环的动态特征,弥补监测资料的不足.本...     

A method for estimating vegetation change over time and space

Plant diversity is used as an indicator of the well-being of vegetation and ecological systems. Human activities and global change drive vegetation change in composition and competition of species through plant invasions and replacement of existing species on a given scale. However, species diversity indices do not consider the effects of invasions on the diversity value and on the functions of ecosystems. On the other hand, the existing methods for diversity index can not be used directly for cross-scale evaluation of vegetation data. Therefore, we proposed a 3-dimensional model derived from the logistic equation for estimating vegetation change, using native and non-native plant diversity. The two variables, based on the current and the theoretical maximum diversity of native plants on a given scale, and the result of the model are relative values without units, and are therefore scale-independent. Hence, this method developed can be used directly for cross-scale evaluations of vegetation data, and indirectly for estimating ecosystem or environmental change.     

陆地生态系统模拟研究中IBIS模型开发应用的回顾和展望

全球动态植被模型(DGVM)是研究生态系统复杂过程和全球变化的强有力工具。本文基于过去20多年全球已发表的文献,对得到广泛关注和应用的DGVM之一——集成生物圈模拟器(Integrated Biosphere Simulator,IBIS)的开发、改进、发展及应用进行了总结。IBIS是一个在全球变化等多领域中有着广泛应用的模型。自1996年诞生以来,IBIS在陆地生态系统的碳、氮、水循环,植被动态、陆气耦合、水域系统耦合和气候变化影响等多个方面取得了验证和应用。本文较为系统地阐述了IBIS模型在V2.5版本后的不同发展方向,主要针对IBIS模型在水文过程(蒸散、土壤水分、地下水、径流)、植被动态(植被功能型、土地覆盖变化)、植被生理过程(植被物候、光合作用、植被生长、碳分配)、土壤生物地球化学过程(土壤碳氮循环及反馈、温室气体排放等)以及包括土地利用变化、干扰与管理等人类活动过程等方面的改进与发展进行了全面的综述;在此基础上,对模型在生态系统生产力、碳水收支、水分利用效率、温室气体排放、自然干扰(干旱、火灾、虫害)和人类活动(土地利用变化、农业经营)等方面的应用,以及模型的技术性改进方面进行了回顾;最后对模型的前景和进一步发展提出了一些见解。     

Reindeer in tundra ecosystems: the challenges of understanding system complexity

The resilience of tundra ecosystems is limited, with relatively few key biotic components determining the general pattern of the dynamics of these systems. Sustainable use of reindeer pastures, which are natural tundra ecosystems, should take into account interactions within the whole complex of key components. Among the most important are the small herbivorous rodents. For example, during peak densities lemmings may reduce above-ground plant biomass by 50-70%. At the same time, rapid turnover of nutrients in the form of significant amounts of potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen that lemmings excrete in urine promotes vascular plant growth. It is concluded that these kinds of studies are essential for the sustainable management of Russia's grazing lands: 1) comparative studies of productivity, biological diversity and structure of plant communities under the different pressures exerted by the main groups of herbivorous animals (reindeer and small rodents), as well as under varying levels of industrial development; 2) studies of the direct and indirect effects of herbivorous mammals on biological turnover and energy flow within the system; 3) studies of the role of industrial contamination on the turnover of nutrients in tundra ecosystems.     

植被时空变化的估算方法

Plant diversity is used as an indicator of the well-being of vegetation and ecological systems. Human activities and global change drive vegetation change in composition and competition of species through plant invasions and replacement of existing species on a given scale. However, species diversity indices do not consider the effects of invasions on the diversity value and on the functions of ecosystems. On the other hand, the existing methods for diversity index can not be used directly for cross-scale evaluation of vegetation data. Therefore, we proposed a 3-dimensional model derived from the logistic equation for estimating vegetation change, using native and non-native plant diversity. The two variables, based on the current and the theoretical maximum diversity of native plants on a given scale, and the result of the model are relative values without units, and are therefore scale-independent. Hence, this method developed can be used directly for cross-scale evaluations nf vegetation data, and indirectly for estimatinu ecosvstem or environmental chanue.