Soil and vegetation seasonal changes in the grazing Andean Mountain grasslands

Andean grasslands ecosystems are fragile environments with rigorous climatologic conditions and low and variable food for the grazing. The Apolobamba area is located in the Bolivian Andean Mountains. Its high grasslands provide a natural habitat for wild and domestic camelids such as vicuna（Vicugna vicugna） and alpaca（Lama pacos）. The botanical diversity plays an essential role in maintaining vital ecosystem functions. The objectives of this research were to determine the seasonal changes in soil properties, to study the vegetation changes during the wet and dry seasons and the influence of soil properties and camelid densities on the vegetation in the Apolobamba grasslands. Four zones with different vicuna populations were selected to be studied. The following soil parameters were determined： total organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorous, cation exchange capacity, exchangeable cations, pH and texture. The vegetation season changes were studied through botanical identification, above-ground biomass, plant cover and species richness. Results showed that some soil properties such as C/N ratio, CEC, silt and clay percentages kept stable against the seasonal changes. Generally, soil nutrients were relatively higher during the dry season in the surface and subsurface. The results did not point out the predominant vegetation growth during the wet season. The seasonal vegetation growth depended on each species. Thegood soil fertility corresponded to the highest plant cover. Soil fertility presented no influence on the above-ground biomass of the collected species. The negative influence of camelid grazing on soil properties could not be assessed. However, overgrazing could affect some plant species. Therefore, protection is needed in order to preserve the biodiversity in the Andean mountain grasslands.     

Elevation,slope aspect and integrated nutrient management effects on crop productivity and soil quality in North-west Himalayas,India

On farm bio-resource recycling has been given greater emphasis with the introduction of conservation agriculture specifically withclimate change scenarios in the mid-hills of the north-west Himalaya region（NWHR）. Under this changing scenario, elevation, slope aspect and integrated nutrient management（INM） may affect significantly soil quality and crop productivity. A study was conducted during 2009-2010 to 2010-2011 at the Ashti watershed of NWHR in a rainfed condition to examine the influence of elevation, slope aspect and integrated nutrient management（INM） on soil resource and crop productivity. Two years of farm demonstration trials indicated that crop productivity and soil quality is significantly affected by elevation, slope aspect and INM. Results showed that wheat equivalent yield（WEY） of improved technology increased crop productivity by -20%-37% compared to the conventional system. Intercropping of maize with cowpea and soybean enhanced yield by another 8%-17%. North aspect and higher elevation increased crop productivity by 15%-25% compared to south aspect and low elevation（except paddy）. Intercropping of maize with cowpea and soybean enhanced yield by another 8%-15%. Irrespective of slope, elevation and cropping system, the WEY increased by -30% in this region due to INMtechnology. The influence of elevation, slope aspect and INM significantly affected soil resources（SQI） and soil carbon change（SCC）. SCC is significantly correlated with SQI for conventional（R2 = 0.65＊）, INM technology（R2 = 0.81＊） and for both technologies（R2 = 0.73＊）. It is recommended that at higher elevation.（except for paddy soils） with a north facing slope, INM is recommended for higher crop productivity; conservation of soil resources is recommended for the mid hills of NWHR; and single values of SCC are appropriate as a SQI for this region.     

Higher species diversity occurs in more fertile habitats without fertilizer disturbance in an alpine natural grassland community

Are there some relationships among species diversity and soil chemical properties of high altitude natural grasslands？ Plant community composition and chemical properties of soil samples were compared to investigate the relationship between soil and species diversity, and the richness in Tibetan alpine grasslands. Results showed that species diversity was significantly positively related to soil organic matter （SOM）, total nitrogen （TN）, available nitrogen （AN）, total phosphorus （TP）, available phosphorus （AP）, and available potassium （AK） in the high alpine grasslands. Margalefs species richness index was also significantly positively related to SOM, TN, AN, and TP. Most soil chemical properties showed significantly positive correlation with species diversity and Margalef＇s richness index. Our results suggested that higher plant species richness index and diversity occurred in more fertile soil habitats in high altitude natural grassland community. In practice, fertilization management for the restoration of degraded grassland should be conducted with reference to the nutrient levels ofnatural grassland without the additional artificial fertilizer and with higher species-diversity and richness index.     

Root structure,distribution and biomass in five multipurpose tree species of Western Himalayas

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The tree root distribution pattern and biomass of seventeen year old trees of Grewia optiva, Morus alba, Celtis australis, Bauhinia variegata and Robinia pseudoacacia were studied by excavation method. B. variegata roots penetrated to a maximum depth of 4.78 m, whereas, M. alba roots were found down to 1.48 m depth. Lateral spread was minimum in B. variegata （1.10 m）and maximum inR. pseudoacacia （7.33 m）. Maximum root biomass of 6.30 kg was found in R. pseudoacacia and minimum （2.43 kg） was found in M. alba. For four species viz.,G. optiva, M. alba, C. australis andR. pseudoacacia, 68%-87% root biomass occurred within top 0-30 cm soil depth, but forB. variegata this was only45%. The soil binding factor was maximum in G. optiva and minimum in B. variegata. Soil physico-chemical properties also showed wide variation. The study suggests thatB. variegata with a deep root system is the most suitable species for plantation under agroforestry systems. R. pseudoacacia and G. optiva with deep root systems, more lateral spread and high soil binding factor are suitable for plantation on degraded lands for soil conservation.     

Uptake and recovery of soil nitrogen by bryophytes and vascular plants in an alpine meadow

Due to their particular physiology and life history traits, bryophytes are critical in regulating biogeochemical cycles and functions in alpine ecosystem. Hence, it is crucial to investigate their nutrient utilization strategies in comparison with vascular plants and understand their responses to the variation of growing season caused by climate change. Firstly, this study testified whether or not bryophytes can absorb nitrogen(N) directly from soil through spiking three chemical forms of 15N stable isotope tracer. Secondly, with stronger ability of carbohydrates assimilation and photosynthesis, it is supposed that N utilization efficiency of vascular plants is significantly higher than that of bryophytes. However, the recovery of soil N by bryophytes can still compete with vascular plants due to their greater phytomass. Thirdly, resource acquisition may be varied from the change of growing season, during which N pulse can be manipulated with 15N tracer addition at different time. Both of bryophytes and vascular plants contain more N in a longer growing season, and prefer inorganic over organic N. Bryophytes assimilate more NH4+ than NO3– and amino acid, which can be indicated from the greater shoot excess 15N of bryophytes. However, vascular plants prefer to absorb NO3– for their developed root systems and vascular tissue. Concerning the uptake of three forms N by bryophytes, there is significant difference between two manipulated lengths of growing season. Furthermore, the capacity of bryophytes to tolerate N-pollution may be lower than currently appreciated, which indicates the effect of climate change on asynchronous variation of soil N pools with plant requirements.     

Snake Model for the Extraction of Loess Shoulder-line from DEMs

Shoulder lines are the most important landform demarcations for geographical analysis,soil erosion modeling and land use planning in the Loess Plateau area of China.This paper proposes an automatic,effective and accurate method of determining loess shoulder line from DEMs by integrating a hydrological D8 algorithm and a snake model.The watershed boundary line is adopted as the initial contour which evolves to identify the exact position of loess shoulder-line by the guidance of an external force of snake model from DEMs.Experiments show that the method overcomes the difficulties in both threshold selection for edge detection and the disconnecting issues in former extraction approaches.The accuracy evaluation of shoulder-line maps from the two test sites of the loess plateau area show obvious improvements in the extraction.The average contour matching distance of the new method is 12.0 m on 5 m resolution DEM,and shows improvement in the accuracy and continuity.The comparisons of accuracy evaluations of the two test sites show that the snake model method performs better in the loess plain area than in the area with high gully density.     

湘湖简介

湘湖位于杭州市萧山区,钱塘江、富春江和浦阳汀三汀交汇口的东侧,与西湖隔钱塘汀南北相望,是西湖的“姊妹湖”．区位优越．交通便捷,湘湖南为杭州绕城高速公路,东有杭州地铁1号线,距市中心20公里,往返于西湖与湘湖之间只需30分钟,距杭州萧山国际机场也仅30公里。     

基于SDCORS的车载RTK高程注记点连续采集精度分析

为提高航测法数字线划图(DLG)的生产效率,尽可能减少外业作业时间,基于山东省卫星定位连续运行综合服务系统(SDCORS)的车载RTK技术进行高程注记点采集。采用不同时间(白天、晚上)、不同车速条件进行高程注记点连续采集,并与常规方法(全站仪、单基站RTK)采集高程点进行比较,求取高程中误差,认为在夜间以不大于20 km/h的车速进行采集精度较高。在数字海阳基础地理信息数据采集项目中,利用车载RTK采集346 km2范围内的沿路高程注记点,结果表明能够满足1∶500航测法成图精度要求。     

基于GIS的白银区耕地耕层土壤重金属空间分异及污染评价

为评估白银区耕地耕层土壤(0~20 cm)的重金属污染,应用X射线荧光光谱仪(XRF-7000)对1 070个土壤样品中Cu、Zn、Ni、Pb、As、Cr、V、Co 8种重金属含量进行了测定,参照最新土壤环境质量标准(GB15618-2008),使用单因子和内梅罗法并结合GIS手段分析耕层土壤重金属空间分布及污染程度等。结果表明:8种重金属平均污染程度由大到小为As、V、Pb、Zn、Cu、Co、Ni、Cr,平均变异程度顺序为Pb、Cu、Zn、Co、As、Cr、V、Ni,空间相关性大小顺序为Zn、Cu、As、Pb、Ni、Cr、V、Co;Cu、Pb的最佳拟合模型为Pentaspherical模型,Zn、V为Gaussion模型,Ni、As为Exponential模型,Cr、Co为Circular模型;8种重金属中Cu、Zn、Pb、As表现出不同程度的污染,评价结果显示安全级、警戒级、轻污染、中污染和重污染分别占全区耕地面积的69.56%、23.88%、2.95%、2.55%和1.06%,受污染面积达到763.4 hm2。     

吉尔吉斯斯坦表土元素组合及分布特征

通过对吉尔吉斯斯坦境内40个不同采样环境下采集的表土中元素含量的分析,结合系统聚类(HCA)、降趋势对应分析(DCA)等方法,研究了吉尔吉斯坦境内不同采样环境下表土中元素的组合差异及其控制因素。结果表明:(1)大部分路边采集的表土、农田采集的表土和河边采集表土在聚类分析中各自组成独立的类别,显示出具有不同于其它采样环境下表土的元素组合特征。(2)由于Ca、Mg、Sr在表生地球化学上具有一定共性,这些活动性元素容易发生相对明显的迁移或富集,DCA分析显示其与Al、Fe等稳定性元素的相对含量存在反相关,Ca、Sr、Mg等含量高低直接影响了Al等稳定元素的相对含量。P、Pb、Zn、Cu与Al、Fe、Ti等稳定元素含量受不同的影响因素控制。在上述基础之上,结合不同采样环境下表土中元素含量的对比分析,路边采集的表土中Pb、Zn、Cu元素富集显著,而农田采集的表土中P和Cu元素明显富集,反映了P、Pb、Zn、Cu元素已经受到了人为因素的影响,导致在DCA分析中具有不同于Al、Fe等稳定元素的显著特征。