放牧对浑善达克沙地丘间低地植被群落及土壤的影响

为探究放牧对丘间低地植被群落及土壤的影响,分析了浑善达克沙地丘间低地在重度和轻度放牧下植被的地上生物量、物种重要值、物种丰富度、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数、Pielou均匀度指数、Simpson生态优势度指数及0~10 cm土壤中黏粒、粉粒、砂粒、有机碳和全氮含量。结果表明：（1）植被地上生物量、土壤黏粒、粉粒、砂粒、土壤有机碳和全氮含量在不同放牧程度下存在极显著差异（P<0.01）,物种丰富度、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数和Pielou均匀度指数在不同放牧程度下差异不显著（P>0.05）,Simpson生态优势度指数在不同放牧程度下差异显著（P<0.05）。（2）放牧区植被以禾本科为主,禾本科植被地上生物量占整个植被群落的54.88%~57.76%;重度放牧区植被地上生物量为63.59 g·m^-2,比轻度放牧区低26.61%。（3）羊草（Leymus chinensis）和狗尾草（Setaria viridis）是放牧区的优势种,其重要值依次为14.16%（重度放牧区）和19.10%（轻度放牧区）、13.40%（重度放牧区）和15.42%（轻度放牧区）,重度放牧下雾滨藜（Bassia dasyphylla）、克氏针茅（Stipa krylovii）和猪毛蒿（Artemisia scoparia）的重要值较显著高于轻度放牧区,而羊草则低于轻度放牧区。（4）重度放牧加剧了土壤沙漠化,使砂粒含量增加,草地生产力下降,土壤有机碳和全氮含量降低。     

2017年春季季风间期南海中北部浮游植物生长与微型浮游动物摄食

Phytoplankton growth rates and mortality rates were experimentally examined at 21 stations during the 2017 spring intermonsoon(April to early May) in the northern and central South China Sea(SCS) using the dilution technique, with emphasis on a comparison between the northern and central SCS areas which had different environmental factors. There had been higher temperature but lower nutrients and chlorophyll a concentrations in the central SCS than those in the northern SCS. The mean rates of phytoplankton growth(μ_0) and microzooplankton grazing(m) were(0.88±0.33) d~(–1) and(0.55±0.22) d~(–1) in the central SCS, and both higher than those in the northern SCS with the values of μ_0((0.81±0.16) d~(–1)) and m((0.30±0.09) d~(–1)), respectively.Phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing rates were significantly coupled in both areas. The microzooplankton grazing impact(m/μ_0) on phytoplankton was also higher in the central SCS(0.63±0.12) than that in the northern SCS(0.37±0.06). The microzooplankton abundance was significantly correlated with temperature in the surface. Temperature might more effectively promote the microzooplankton grazing rate than phytoplankton growth rate, which might contribute to higher m and m/μ_0 in the central SCS. Compared with temperature, nutrients mainly affected the growth rate of phytoplankton. In the nutrient enrichment treatment,the phytoplankton growth rate(μn) was higher than μ_0 in the central SCS, suggesting phytoplankton growth in the central SCS was nutrient limited. The ratio of μ_0/μn was significantly correlated with nutrients concentrations in the both areas, indicating the limitation of nutrients was related to the concentrations of background nutrients in the study stations.     

The impact of rural land management changes on soil hydraulic properties and runoff processes: results from experimental plots in upland UK

To develop an evidence base to help predict the impacts of land management change on flood generation, four experimental sites were established on improved grassland used for sheep grazing at the Pontbren catchment in upland Wales, UK. At each site, three plots were established where surface runoff was measured, supplemented by measurements of soil infiltration rates and soil and vegetation physical properties. Following baseline monitoring, treatments were applied to two of the plots: exclusion of sheep (ungrazed) and exclusion of sheep and planting with native broadleaf tree species (tree planted), with the third plot acting as a control (grazed pasture). Due to a particularly dry summer that occurred pre‐treatment, the soil hydrological responses were initially impacted by the effects of the climate on soil structure. Nevertheless, treatments did have a clear influence on soil hydrological response. On average, post‐treatment runoff volumes were reduced by 48% and 78% in ungrazed and tree‐planted plots relative to the control, although all results varied greatly over the sites. Five years following treatment application, near‐surface soil bulk density was reduced and median soil infiltration rates were 67 times greater in plots planted with trees compared to grazed pasture. The results illustrate the potential use of upland land management for ameliorating local‐scale flood generation but emphasise the need for long‐term monitoring to more clearly separate the effects of land management from those of climatic variability. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Identification of rural land management signals in runoff response

Rural land management signals in catchment‐scale runoff have proven difficult to identify in general. The Pontbren experimental catchment in upland Wales, UK, provides a new data set with which to address this challenge. This data set includes more than 4 years of data from six tipping bucket rainfall gauges and eight stream flow gauges representing different land management regimes at different scales. Data‐based mechanistic rainfall–runoff models were fitted to this data set using the CAPTAIN toolbox. The spatial and temporal variabilities of model parameters were identified and interpreted where possible. The analysis highlighted a dependency between the modelled residence time and the presence of agriculturally improved grassland, which produced a flashier response than grassland in a more natural condition. Another factor found to strongly affect the spatial variability of runoff response was the presence of lakes, while catchment area had a less pronounced effect, and the influence of trees, steepness and soil type could not be identified. Some time variability of response was observed but this was not consistent across the catchment and could not easily be interpreted. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Increased benthic grazing: An alternative explanation for low phytoplankton biomass in northern San Francisco Bay during the 1976–1977 drought

Among the consequences of extremely low river flow into northern San Francisco Bay during a two-year drought were (1) a gradual increase in salinity, (2) an unusual decline in chlorophyll a concentration, and (3) the upstream migration of estuarine benthic invertebrates to the normally brackish area of the bay. Total abundance in the benthos at a shallow monitoring site increased from a normal 2000 to greater than 20 000 individuals m^?2 during the summer of 1977, presumably in response to the increased salinity. Estimated filtration rates derived from equations in the literature for one of the species, the suspended-feeding bivalve Mya arenaria ranged from 1 to 4 m³ m^?2 day^?1 during 1977 depending on abundance and mean size on sampling dates. Because water depth at this site is less than 2 m, Mya could have filtered all of the particles (including diatoms) from the water column on the order of once per day. Several other immigrant species undoubtedly contributed to the removal of particles from the near-bottom water as well. Increased benthic grazing, therefore, could have accounted for the anomalously low phytoplankton biomass observed during the drought. These results suggest that during periods of prolonged low river flow and increased salinity benthic food webs could become more important than planktonic food webs in the upper part of the estuary.     

Riparian management and stream bank erosion in New Zealand

Improvements in riparian management, such as shrub/tree planting and livestock exclusion, are often assumed to result in reduced stream bank erosion and associated catchment sediment yield. Studies that quantify the effectiveness of riparian interventions aimed at reducing bank erosion and river sediment yields are, however, rare. This paper discusses how bank erosion processes can vary throughout catchments (with particular reference to their scale dependence) and hence how the effectiveness of different riparian interventions can be variable. The findings of known published accounts of the effectiveness of riparian management interventions for reducing stream bank erosion in New Zealand are also summarised. Only nine relevant studies were identified and most used qualitative or semi-quantitative analysis methods. Most studies compared stream banks in pasture catchments (with unlimited livestock access) with stream banks where livestock were excluded and riparian shrubs/trees were present. Many studies reported that managed stream banks were in better condition than unmanaged banks. The exclusion of livestock from riparian areas was generally reported as the principal factor in the measured improvements or differences. Only two studies specifically attributed reduced stream bank erosion to the presence of riparian vegetation. The dearth of research identified here highlights the need for further quantitative studies to determine the effectiveness of riparian management measures for reducing bank erosion.     

Filter-feeding ascidians (Ciona intestinalis) in a shallow cove: Implications of hydrodynamics for grazing impact

The grazing impact by a dense population of filter-feeding ascidians Ciona intestinalis on horizontally flowing water (driven by density circulation) in a shallow cove (Kertinge Nor, Denmark) has been described and quantified by means of a simple one-dimensional numerical model. The agreement between observations and modelled predictions was satisfactory. The applied numerical model has the following analytical solution in the idealized case: Cx = C₀e^−(fx/Y₂), where C_x = algal concentration at a downstream distance x, C₀ = initial concentration, f = F/v_c; F = area specific population filtration rate; v_c = current velocity; Y₂ = depth of mixed layer below halocline. The numerical model quantifies the actual grazing impact while the analytical model illustrates the governing physics in well-known terms. To describe situations with no current (i.e. stagnant water), we performed simulation studies in the laboratory and measured vertical profiles of algal cells over filter-feeding C. intestinalis. The results showed that phytoplankton became reduced in a near-bottom water layer of 20–30 cm thickness. Such water layers may develop in stagnant water (calm days and no advective currents), thus uncoupling the pelagic food and the filter feeders which within a short time will experience extremely meagre food conditions.     

Resource Competition and Selective Grazing of Plankton in a Multispecies Pelagic Food Web Model*

Abstract. An idealized mathematical, multispecies model of the pelagic foodweb was used to explore the impact of resource competition, selective grazing, and species composition within each trophic level on the structure and functioning of a foodweb at a variety of light irradiance and nutrient levels. This concept is based on the general assumption that poorly edible species are poor competitors. The concept demonstrates that with increasing eutrophication, specialists in competition will be replaced by generalists and subsequently by poorly edible primary producers. Controlling factors not only determine the growth rate of primary producers but also select predators according to their ability to utilize the energy fixation of the system. Plankton community structure seems to adapt in such a way that the energy fixation rate of the system is optimized at a given set of nutrients and light. Red tides, dense algal blooms in shallow lakes and the varying results of biomanipulation in shallow lakes, can be explained by the concept of selective grazing. If this assumption is correct, the same ecosystem concept may be applicable for terrestrial ecosystems.     

放牧对内蒙古羊草群落土壤呼吸的影响

采用静态暗箱法,比较测定了放牧对内蒙古锡林河流域羊草群落土壤呼吸的影响以及水热等相关环境因子与土壤呼吸的关系。结果表明:放牧没有改变羊草群落土壤呼吸的季节性变化特征,但降低了土壤呼吸速率的年幅度;生长季放牧样地土壤呼吸速率显著低于封育样地,非生长季两样地土壤呼吸强度均处于较低水平,而且出现负通量的现象,放牧使羊草群落土壤呼吸年总量下降了约33.95％;从全年来看,无论是围栏还是放牧样地,封育样地和放牧样地土壤呼吸与温度因子均显著正相关(p<0.01,n=15),其中与10cm处地温相关性最好,但放牧降低了土壤呼吸对温度变化的敏感性;生长季水分影响作用高于温度,围栏封育样地0~10cm土壤含水量的变化可以解释土壤呼吸变异的87.4％,放牧样地10~20cm和20~30cm土壤含水量的变化共同可以解释土壤呼吸变异的74.9％。