盐分与水分胁迫对两种猪毛菜种子萌发的影响

通过对盐分与水分胁迫对钠猪毛菜和紫翅猪毛菜种子萌发的影响的分析,结果显示:钠猪毛菜与紫翅猪毛菜种子萌发的最适温度分别为25℃和20℃。在盐溶液和PEG溶液中,两个种子的萌发规律相似,都是随着水势的降低,萌发率和萌发速率下降。在盐胁迫下钠猪毛菜种子萌发的最低水势接近-7.2 MPa,紫翅猪毛菜种子萌发的最低水势接近-6.15 MPa;在水分胁迫下两种种子萌发的最低水势均未超过-2.0 MPa。并且在相同水势下,钠猪毛菜的最终萌发率、萌发指数高于紫翅猪毛菜。两个种对盐分胁迫的忍耐能力超过对水分胁迫。适宜萌发温度下,钠猪毛菜与紫翅猪毛菜的耐盐极限值分别为-6.29 MPa和-6.03 MPa。     

Using maps of continuous variation in species compositional turnover to supplement uniform polygon species range maps

Species ranges are often represented using polygons, with the attendant issues that they show uniform ranges with abrupt boundaries and can overestimate species ranges. We demonstrate that such uniform species ranges can be supplemented by mapping the gradational variation in species turnover across a landscape. Directional variation in species turnover for 15 skink species (Reptilia: Scincidae) and topographic and climatic turnover in south-eastern Australia were measured using directional moving window analyses, rotated through 360°. The resultant species turnover maps were compared with published polygon range maps for two species within the group (Liopholis whitii and L. inornata). We also assessed how the relationships between species and environmental turnover varied in areas of low or high species turnover. Continuous transitions between distinct areas of low and high species turnover were mapped. Low turnover comprised only 19% of the L. whitii polygon species range within the study area extent. These low turnover areas were more densely populated by L. whitii (67% of observations), whereas areas of medium to high turnover contained substantially fewer observations (25%). Regions with the highest species turnover contained only 6% of observations. L. inornata observations were also clustered in low species turnover areas. Averaged climatic and elevation values were higher in low-turnover areas despite their close adjacency to high-turnover zones. The environmental turnover in low species turnover regions was also lower than in high-turnover areas. Correlations between environmental turnover and low species turnover areas were positive, whereas the opposite relationship applied in high species turnover areas. We identified both abrupt and gradual distributional breaks between separate reptile assemblages; an example of the latter is located in the Hunter Valley in the south-eastern coastal region. This break has been mapped using solid, uniform lines in species ranges and thus implicitly as an abrupt break. Environmental conditions may be more favourable to skinks in low-turnover areas. Since L. whitii and other skink species have very large populations in low-turnover areas, other squamate species may also be more likely to occur in these areas. This has potential implications for conservation prioritisation. The turnover maps used here can supplement the information provided about reptile distributions by the equivalent polygon ranges. This approach can be applied to point occurrence data for any taxonomic group or any similar georeferenced diversity data set.     

The change of geographical distribution of two Asian species of rhinoceros in Holocene

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Latitudinal variation of leaf morphological traits from species to communities along a forest transect in eastern China

Comprehensive information on geographic patterns of leaf morphological traits in Chinese forests is still scarce. To explore the spatial patterns of leaf traits, we investigated leaf area (LA), leaf thickness (LT), specific leaf area (SLA), and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) across 847 species from nine typical forests along the North-South Transect of Eastern China (NSTEC) between July and August 2013, and also calculated the community weighted means (CWM) of leaf traits by determining the relative dominance of each species. Our results showed that, for all species, the means (± SE) of LA, LT, SLA, and LDMC were 2860.01 ± 135.37 mm², 0.17 ± 0.003 mm, 20.15 ± 0.43 m² kg^–1, and 316.73 ± 3.81 mg g^–1, respectively. Furthermore, latitudinal variation in leaf traits differed at the species and community levels. Generally, at the species level, SLA increased and LDMC decreased as latitude increased, whereas no clear latitudinal trends among LA or LT were found, which could be the result of shifts in plant functional types. When scaling up to the community level, more significant spatial patterns of leaf traits were observed (R ² = 0.46–0.71), driven by climate and soil N content. These results provided synthetic data compilation and analyses to better parameterize complex ecological models in the future, and emphasized the importance of scaling-up when studying the biogeographic patterns of plant traits.     

寒旱环境盐胁迫条件下两种草本植物的根系力学特性研究

本项研究选取适宜于西宁盆地及其周边地区生长的2种优势草本植物垂穗披碱草(Elymus nutans Griseb)和细茎冰草(Agropyron trachycaulum (Linn.) Gaertn.)作为供试种,通过室内种植培育方式,采用浓度梯度分别为50mmol/L、100mmol/L、150mmol/L、200mmol/L的Na₂SO₄溶液对2种植物进行盐胁迫处理。在盐胁迫试验处理后的第15d、30d和45d时,分别测定2种植物单根抗拉力和单根抗拉强度。试验结果表明：相同盐胁迫浓度时,2种植物单根抗拉力随生长期增长呈逐渐增大,单根抗拉强度随生长期增加表现为逐渐降低的变化规律;相同生长期时,2种植物单根抗拉力随着胁迫液浓度由0mmol/L增加至200mmol/L时表现为逐渐减小趋势,单根抗拉强度则随着胁迫液浓度增加呈逐渐增大的变化规律;进一步研究表明,在相同胁迫浓度和相同生长期条件下,细茎冰草单根抗拉力和单根抗拉强度分别较垂穗披碱草高0.008N~0.025N和9.646MPa~72.807MPa;2种草本植物单根抗拉力与根径之间呈指数函数关系;2种草本单根抗拉强度分别随根径的增加而逐渐减小,且均与根径呈幂函数关系。本该研究成果对于进一步探讨寒旱环境盐胁迫条件下,草本植物根系力学强度特征及其变化规律具有重要理论研究价值,同时对于有效防治研究区水土流失、浅层滑坡等地质灾害的发生具有实际指导意义。     

Effects of drought stress on antioxidant enzyme, photosynthetic pigment and flavonoid pathway in two desert shrubs

Antioxidant enzyme activity, photosynthetic pigment content, and free malondialdehyde (MDA), as well as flavonoid content and the key enzyme activity in the flavonoid pathway were determined in two desert shrubs, Caryopteris mongolica Bunge and Reaumuria soongorica (Pall.) Maxim. under drought stress. The free MDA content was enhanced during the experimental period, which may be an indicator of oxidative stress. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities in C. mongholica showed a significant increase during the experiment, but catalase (CAT) activity was slightly decreased. On the other hand, POD and APX activities showed a significant increase and SOD and CAT activity data had no significant changes in R. soongorica. APX, SOD, and CAT activities were higher in R. soongorica than in C. mongholica, but MDA content was lower, indicating that the lower values of MDA were attributed to higher activities of antioxidant enzyme in R. soongorica. Chlorophyll content decreased significantly in the two shrubs during the experiment, which indicated that there was a photoprotection mechanism through reducing light absorbance by decreasing pigments content. Caretonoids content increased in C. mongholica and decreased in R. soongorica. The ratio of Chla/Chlb decreased significantly but caretonoids/Chl revealed a significant increase in the two shrubs, which could be explained as no decrease of peripheral light-harvesting complexes and a higher tolerance to drought. Total flavonoid content and the activities of phenylalanine ammonialyase (PAL) and chalcone isomerase (CHI) showed different changes between C. mongholica and R. soongorica after treatment. These values decreased in R. soongorica and increased in C. mongholica except for PAL activity. However, anthocyanin content increased in the two shrubs, indicating that there was a different regulation response in the flavonoid pathway in the two shrubs under drought stress, and anthocyanin should be an important antioxidant both in the shrubs. Our results demonstrated the different responses of antioxidant defense and drought tolerance ability between the two shrubs.     

Supply and accumulation of metals in two Egyptian desert plant species growing onwadi-fill deposits

Sandy soils of thewadisin the Eastern Desert of Egypt have a poor retentive capacity for metals. The contents of Ca, Mg, K, Na, Fe, Al, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn in 37 soils from this area were highly variable. The metal contents of two dominant plant species of the Eastern Desert (Senna alexandrinaandCleome droserifolia) showed no correlation with soil metals. Metals accumulated in the leaves, withCleomehaving overall higher contents of Fe, Al, Mn, Co, Ni, Na and Si thanSenna, even thoughCleometended to grow in soil with low contents of these metals.     

Response to climate change of different tree species and NDVI variation since 1923 in the middle arid region of Ningxia, China

The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is used extensively to describe vegetation cover and ecological environment change. The purpose of this study was to contrast the response of different tree species growing in the same habitat to climate change and retrieve past NDVI using tree-ring width data from tree cores collected from the transitional zone of Pinus tabulaeformis and Picea crassifolia in the Luoshan Mountains in the middle arid region of Ningxia. Correlation analysis indicated that radial growth of P. tabulaeformis is more sensitive to precipitation and temperature change than that of P. crassifolia. Natural factors such as water availability and heat at this elevation are more suited to the growth of P. crassifolia, and are more advantageous to its renewal and succession. P. crassifolia is probably the better of the two species for protecting the forest ecosystem and conserving water in the Luoshan desertification area. Ring width of P. crassifolia correlates significantly with average NDVI for April–May (r =0.641, p <0.01), and both of them are influenced positively by precipitation in April–May. The reconstructed NDVI for 1923–2007 shows the relatively low vegetation cover occurred in the 1920s–1930s, the 1960s–1970s, and the early 21st century. The reconstructed NDVI better reflected the drought climate in the study area.     

Response to climate change of different tree species and NDVI variation since 1923 in the middle arid region of Ningxia, China

The normalized difference vegetation index （NDVI） is used extensively to describe vegetation cover and ecological environ- ment change. The purpose of this study was to contrast the response of different tree species growing in the same habitat to climate change and retrieve past NDVI using tree-ring width data from tree cores collected from the transitional zone of Pinus tabulaeformis and Picea crassifolia in the Luoshan Mountains in the middle arid region of Ningxia. Correlation analysis indi- cated that radial growth ofP tabulaeJbrmis is more sensitive to precipitation and temperature change than that ofP crassifolia. Natural factors such as water availability and heat at this elevation are more suited to the growth ofP crassifolia, and are more advantageous to its renewal and succession. P. crassifolia is probably the better of the two species for protecting the forest ecosystem and conserving water in the Luoshan desertification area. Ring width of P. crassifolia correlates significantly with average NDVI for April-May （r =0.641, p 〈0.01）, and both of them are influenced positively by precipitation in April-May. The reconstructed NDVI for 1923-2007 shows the relatively low vegetation cover occurred in the 1920s-1930s, the 1960s-1970s, and the early 21 st century. The reconstructed NDVI better reflected the drought climate in the study area.     

Differences in production and mortality of reproductive structures in two Prosopis L. (Mimosaceae) shrub species from Patagonia, Argentina

Prosopis L. pods have been proposed as a source of gum (galactomannans), with potential applications as a thickening agent in the food industry. The objective of this work was to compare, under field conditions, the production and mortality of reproductive structures in two sympatric shrub species of Prosopis: P. alpataco Phillipi and P. denudans Bentham. Our results indicate that fruit production in Prosopis denudans and P. alpataco is very low and erratic in non-irrigated lands. Although large quantities of flowers (15,000–25,000 flowers*0.40 m⁻²) can be found in one flowering season, 70–80% are shed before they reach anthesis and 20–28% are aborted between anthesis and fruit set. We conclude that the utilization of native populations of Prosopis denudans and P. alpataco for fruit production in Patagonian steppe, could not guarantee a consistent supply for the food industry.     

Proline and soluble sugars accumulation in three pepper species (Capsicum spp) in response to water stress imposed at different stages of growth

Drought is a major production constraint for major fruits and vegetable crops in the tropics.This study was conducted to investigate the effect of limited water supply at three growth stages (vegetative,flowering and fruiting) on the accumulation of proline and soluble sugars in three pepper species.Seeds of the three pepper species,Capsicum chinense Jacq.,C.annuum L.and C.frutescens L.were raised in a nursery and the seedlings were transplanted into seventy two plastic pots arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replicates,25 days after planting.Four water treatments,200 mL of water supplied twice daily (W₁),once in every three days (W₂),once in every five days (W₃),and zero water supplied throughout growing period (W₀) were imposed at three vegetative,flowering,and fruiting growth stages.Data were collected on relative water content,free proline and total soluble sugar.Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and means were separated using Duncan''s multiple range test.Results show that the concentration of proline and soluble sugar in leaves of the three pepper species were found to be remarkable at the different stages of growth in the stressed plants.     

Body size and leg length variation in several species of darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) along a rainfall and altitudinal gradient in the Negev Desert (Israel)

We studied body size (elytra length) and leg length variation in seven tenebrionid species along a rainfall and environmental gradient from the Ramon erosion cirque (Israel). Body size was not correlated with altitude in three species, while four species demonstrated changes in body size with altitude. Three species decreased their body size along the altitudinal gradient, whereasSepidium dathandemonstrated the opposite trend. The pattern of variation of body size along the altitudinal gradient inAdesmia metallica, Erodius edomitusandZophosis complanatamay be explained by ambient temperature rather than productivity variation. Neither elevation nor species abundance affected variance in body size of any species. Femur length changed significantly along the altitudinal gradient inA. metallicaonly. Both males and females had relatively longer legs in low elevations and relatively shorter legs in high elevations. Individuals with the longest legs were recorded on soils with low clay and high rock and gravel content. The texture of the soil had no noticeable effect on the leg length of all other beetle species.     

The replacement of arborescent cactus species along a climatic gradient in the southern Chihuahuan Desert: competitive hierarchies and response to freezing temperatures

In the southern region of the southern Chihuahuan Desert three common species of arborescent cacti are distributed over a north-west to south-east climatic gradient; Opuntia leucotricha, O. streptacantha, and Myrtillocactus geometrizans. In general, O. leucotricha is more abundant in the colder north-west section; M. geometrizans in the warmer south-east zone, not occurring in the north-west; and O. streptacantha reaches its greatest abundance in the centre of the region. We studied the potential replacement process between the three species due to canopy interference as well as the effect of a disturbance, freezing temperature, on their survivorship. Canopy interference between adjacent individuals of M. geometrizans/O. streptacantha and O. streptacantha/O. leucotricha indicated a potential replacement sequence of O. leucotricha replaced by O. streptacantha which, in turn, is replaced by M. geometrizans. In contrast, the damage caused by an extreme low-temperature event hardly affected O. leucotricha. It did however cause severe damage to individuals of O. streptacantha in the north-west of its distribution with little or no damage to individuals in the more south-eastern populations studied. M. geometrizans had a similar pattern of damage to O. streptacantha over its range in the region but at each site where the two species occurred together, that damage was more severe. Our observations suggest that disturbance in the form of extreme freezing temperatures is the mechanism that limits the distribution of these three arborescent cacti in the southern Chihuahuan Desert and allows their co-existence regionally.