Establishment of apparent quantum yield and maximum ecosystem assimilation on Tibetan Plateau alpine meadow ecosystem

The alpine meadow is widely distributed on the Tibetan Plateau with an area of about 1.2×106kn2. Damxung County, located in the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau, is the place covered with this typical vegetation. An open-path eddy covariance system was set up in Damxung rangeland station to measure the carbon flux of alpine meadow from July to October,2003. The continuous carbon flux data were used to analyze the relationship between net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange (NEE) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), as well as the seasonal patterns of apparent quantum yield (α) and maximum ecosystem assimilation (Pmax).Results showed that the daytime NEE fitted fairly well with the PAR in a rectangular hyperbola function, with α declining in the order of peak growth period (0.0244 μmolCO2 · μmol-1pAR) ＞early growth period ＞ seed maturing period ＞ withering period (0.0098 μmolCO2 · μmol-1pAR).The Pmax did not change greatly during the first three periods, with an average of 0.433mgCO2· m-2· s-1, i.e. 9.829 μmolCO2· m-2· s-1. However, during the withering period, Pmax was only 0.35 mgCO2 · m-2 · s-1, i.e. 7.945 μmolCO2 · m-2 · s-1. Compared with other grassland ecosystems, the α of the Tibetan Plateau alpine meadow ecosystem was much lower.     

Experimental study on soil CO2 emission in the alpine grassland ecosystem on Tibetan Plateau

The Tibetan Plateau, the Roof of the World, is the highest plateau with a mean elevation of 4000 m. It is characterized by high levels of solar radiation, low air temperature and low air pressure compared to other regions around the world. The alpine grassland, a typical ecosystem in the Tibetan Plateau, is distributed across regions over the elevation of 4500 m. Few studies for carbon flux in alpine grassland on the Tibetan Plateau were conducted due to rigorous natural conditions. A study of soil respiration under alpine grassland ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau from October 1999 to October 2001 was conducted at Pangkog County, Tibetan Plateau (31.23°N, 90.01°E, elevation 4800 m). The measurements were taken using a static closed chamber technique, usually every two weeks during the summer and at other times at monthly intervals. The obvious diurnal variation of CO2 emissions from soil with higher emission during daytime and lower emission during nighttime was discovered. Diurnal CO2 flux fluctuated from minimum at 05:00 to maximum at 14:00 in local time. Seasonal CO2 fluxes increased in summer and decreased in winter, representing a great variation of seasonal soil respiration. The mean soil CO2 fluxes in the alpine grassland ecosystem were 21.39 mgCO2 · m-2 · h-1, with an average annual amount of soil respiration of 187.46 gCO2 · m-2 · a-1. Net ecosystem productivity is also estimated, which indicated that the alpine grassland ecosystem is a carbon sink.     

北冰洋海冰和海水变异对海洋生态系统的潜在影响

最近30年来,北冰洋海冰和海水发生了急剧变化:海冰覆盖面积减少、冰层变薄、水温升高、淡水输入增加、污染加剧,正威胁着现有与海冰关系密切的生态系统。预期随着变化的持续,与海冰相关的食物链将在部分海域消失并被较低纬度的海洋物种所取代、总初级生产力有望增加并为人类带来更多的渔获量、而北极熊和海象等以海冰作为栖息和捕食场所的大型哺乳动物的生存前景堪忧。今后人类将更为重视对北冰洋生态环境变化规律的认识并加以运用、关注北冰洋特有物种的命运并加以力所能及的保护、评估北冰洋生态系统的变化对人类社会经济的影响以期及早采取应对措施。数据积累是目前制约北极研究的最大障碍,但随着 SEARCH 等大型国际研究计划的实施,对北冰洋生态系统的监测和研究将更为系统和全面。     

Are peatlands in different states with respect to their thermodynamic behaviour? A simple test of peatland energy and entropy budgets

Whilst all ecosystems must obey the second law of thermodynamics, these physical bounds and controls on ecosystem evolution and development are largely ignored across the ecohydrological literature. To unravel the importance of these underlying restraints on ecosystem form and function, and their power to inform our scientific understanding, we have calculated the entropy budget of a range of peat ecosystems. We hypothesize that less disturbed peatlands are ‘near equilibrium’ with respect to the second law of thermodynamics and thus respond to change by minimizing entropy production. This ‘near equilibrium’ state is best achieved by limiting evaporative losses. Alternatively, peatlands ‘far-from-equilibrium’ respond to a change in energy inputs by maximizing entropy production which is best achieved by increasing evapotranspiration. To test these alternatives this study examined the energy balance time series from seven peatlands across a disturbance gradient. We estimate the entropy budgets for each and determine how a change in net radiation (ΔR_n) was transferred to a change in latent heat flux (ΔλE). The study showed that: (i) The transfer of net radiation to latent heat differed significantly between peatlands. One group transferred up to 64% of the change in net radiation to a change in latent heat flux, while the second transferred as little as 27%. (ii) Sites that transferred the most energy to latent heat flux were those that produced the greatest entropy. The study shows that an ecosystem could be ‘near equilibrium’ rather than ‘far from equilibrium’.     

Simulation of site-scale water fluxes in desert and natural oasis ecosystems of the arid region in Northwest China

The study of water fluxes is important to better understand hydrological cycles in arid regions. Data-driven machine learning models have been recently applied to water flux simulation. Previous studies have built site-scale simulation models of water fluxes for individual sites separately, requiring a large amount of data from each site and significant computation time. For arid areas, there is no consensus as to the optimal model and variable selection method to simulate water fluxes. Using data from seven flux observation sites in the arid region of Northwest China, this study compared the performance of random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), back propagation neural network (BPNN), and multiple linear regression (MLR) models in simulating water fluxes. Additionally, the study investigated inter-annual and seasonal variation in water fluxes and the dominant drivers of this variation at different sites. A universal simulation model for water flux was built using the RF approach and key variables as determined by MLR, incorporating data from all sites. Model performance of the SVM algorithm (R² = 0.25–0.90) was slightly worse than that of the RF algorithm (R² = 0.41–0.91); the BPNN algorithm performed poorly in most cases (R² = 0.15–0.88). Similarly, the MLR results were limited and unreliable (R² = 0.00–0.66). Using the universal RF model, annual water fluxes were found to be much higher than the precipitation received at each site, and natural oases showed higher fluxes than desert ecosystems. Water fluxes were highest during the growing season (May–September) and lowest during the non-growing season (October–April). Furthermore, the dominant drivers of water flux variation were various among different sites, but the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), soil moisture and soil temperature were important at most sites. This study provides useful insights for simulating water fluxes in desert and oasis ecosystems, understanding patterns of variation and the underlying mechanisms. Besides, these results can make a contribution as the decision-making basis to the water management in desert and oasis ecosystems.     

Thrombolite fabrics and origins: Influences of diverse microbial and metazoan processes on Cambrian thrombolite variability in the Great Basin,California and Nevada

Thrombolites are a common component of carbonate buildups throughout the Phanerozoic. Although they are usually described as microbialites with an internally clotted texture, a wide range of thrombolite textures have been observed and attributed to diverse processes, leading to difficulty interpreting thrombolites as a group. Interpreting thrombolitic textures in terms of ancient ecosystems requires understanding of diverse processes, specifically those due to microbial growth and metazoan activity. Many of these processes are reflected in thrombolites in the Cambrian Carrara, Bonanza King, Highland Peak and Nopah formations, Great Basin, California, USA; they comprise eight thrombolite classes based on variable arrangements and combinations of depositional and diagenetic components. Four thrombolite classes (hemispherical microdigitate, bushy, coalescent columnar and massive fenestrated) contain distinct mesoscale microbial growth structures that can be distinguished from surrounding detrital sediments and diagenetic features. By contrast, mottled thrombolites have mesostructures that dominantly reflect post‐depositional processes, including bioturbation. Mottled thrombolites are not bioturbated stromatolites, but rather formed from disruption of an originally clotted growth structure. Three thrombolite classes (arborescent digitate, amoeboid and massive) contain more cryptic textures. All eight of the thrombolite classes in this study formed in similar Cambrian depositional environments (marine passive margin). Overall, this suite of thrombolites demonstrates that thrombolites are diverse, in both internal fabrics and origin, and that clotted and patchy microbialite fabrics form from a range of processes. The diversity of textures and their origins demonstrate that thrombolites should not be used to interpret a particular ecological, evolutionary or environmental shift without first identifying the microbial growth structure and distinguishing it from other depositional, post‐depositional and diagenetic components. Furthermore, thrombolites are fundamentally different from stromatolites and dendrolites in which the laminae and dendroids reflect a primary growth structure, because clotted textures in thrombolites do not always reflect a primary microbial growth structure.     

地球观测数据共享的发展和趋势

地球观测数据共享是地球科学和相关学科科研活动中非常重要的基础性工作,是对地观测信息生命周期中的重要环节。受到由资源提供者、资源消费者和资源加工者组成的社会生态系统发展变化的影响,共享模式经历了无共享、项目共享、部门共享、社会共享等渐进的4个发展阶段,并呈现出区域差异和阶段差异。地球观测数据共享的概念体系包含数据开放、数据共享、数据互联等不同层次的问题,并受到信息技术等使能技术的驱动。其中开放性代表数据在网络中可被访问的状态,共享性是对于数据重复使用的授权和模式,互联性则是强调可共享数据资源在科学含义上的相互理解。而地球观测数据共享的技术体系则包含数据开放技术、数据共享技术和数据出版与引用技术。目前地球观测领域的数据共享正在经历巨大的文化、政策、技术和应用变革,下一代的地球观测数据设施集中体现了数据的共享和协作,并将呈现国际化、多学科化、标准化、设施化、大数据化和公众社会化等新的技术特征,将对相关科学活动产生重大影响。     

Coevolution between Terrestrial Ecosystem and Earth Environment

Coevolution between terrestrial ecosystem and Earth environment is a hot research topic in both biology and geology. Last progresses in these field are reported from following research subjects: evolution of jawed vertebrates(gnathostomata) from Silurian; occurrence of earliest forests from Devonian of Xinjiang; biodiversity of insects in amber from Cretaceous of Myanmar; Evolution of primates and geochemistry studies from Eocene/Oligocene; studies of Longdan fauna from Lingxia basin, Gansu Province of earlier Pleistocene and endemic cloven-breast fishes from Pliocene Tibet; the correlations thick-boned fish,Hsianwenia wui, and the aridification of the Qaidam Basin; monsoon climate and its impact on biodiversity; study on the flora from Mankang, Tibet of Miocene and its palaeoclimate; depositional environment and its impact on the preservation of fossils; contraction of high resolution Stratigraphic series by using data of paleomagnetism and mammal fossils.     

围填海对海洋水动力与生态环境的影响

近10年来,中国海岸带围填海活动呈现出规模大、速度快的发展态势。围填海能带来显著的经济效益,但对海洋环境与生态的负面影响也不可忽视。针对围填海对海洋环境和生态的影响及作用机制,分别从水动力和生态系统两个方面进行了概述。围填海改变了海洋的自然几何属性(原始岸线、地形地貌、海湾面积),引起水动力环境的变化(潮汐系统和海湾水交换能力),进而影响了海湾的环境容量;围填海破坏了生物栖息地、导致生物多样性的丧失,影响到生态系统结构与功能的稳定性;水动力与生物多样性的变化可显著影响到生物地球化学过程,加速富营养化进程,恶化水质,增加生态灾害风险。目前,围填海后的生态修复策略主要有增加生物量、建设自然保护区、退陆还海3种方式;而生态补偿策略则多基于“生态系统服务功能与生境面积的大小为线性关系”,通过对其经济价值的量化后进行生态补偿与实施相关政策。国际上,生态系统服务功能的量化参数逐步纳入实际管理,并在线性关系研究的基础上,逐步纳入一些非线性的理念,使生态补偿机制更为合理化;而我国对于围填海生态效应的定量化研究及科学理论在管理政策中的实际应用仍亟待提高。整体而言,全面、准确地评估围填海对海洋环境与生态的影响离不开自然科学与社会科学的交叉与融合。     

Cutting of Phragmites australis as a lake restoration technique: Productivity calculation and nutrient removal in Wuliangsuhai Lake, northern China

Reed is one of the most frequent and dominant species in wetlands all over the world, with common reed (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.) as the most widely distributed species. In many wetlands, P. australis plays a highly ambivalent role. On the one hand, in many wetlands it purifies wastewater, provides habitat for numerous species, and is a potentially valuable raw material, while on the other hand it is an invasive species which expands aggressively, prevents fishing, blocks ditches and waterways, and builds monospecies stands. This paper uses the eutrophic reed-swamp of Wuliangsuhai Lake in Inner Mongolia, northern China, as a case to present the multiple benefits of regular reed cutting. The reed area and aboveground biomass production are calculated based on field data. Combined with data about water and reed nutrient content, the impact of reed cutting on the lake nutrient budget (N and P) is investigated. Currently, at this lake around 100,000 tons of reed are harvested in winter annually, removing 16% and 8% of the total nitrogen and phosphorus influx, respectively. Harvesting all available winter reed could increase the nutrient removal rates to 48% and 24%, respectively. We also consider the effects of summer harvesting, in which reed biomass removal could overcompensate for the nutrient influx but could potentially reduce reed regrowth.