Impact of multispecies diatom bloom on plankton community structure in Sundarban mangrove wetland,India

A multispecies bloom caused by the centric diatoms, viz. Coscinodiscus radiatus, Chaetoceros lorenzianus and the pennate diatom Thalassiothrix frauenfeldii was investigated in the context of its impact on phytoplankton and microzooplankton (the loricate ciliate tintinnids) in the coastal regions of Sagar Island, the western part of Sundarban mangrove wetland, India. Both number (15–18 species) and cell densities (12.3 × 10³ cells l⁻¹ to 11.4 × 10⁵ cells l⁻¹) of phytoplankton species increased during peak bloom phase, exhibiting moderately high species diversity (H′ = 2.86), richness (R′ = 6.38) and evenness (E′ = 0.80). The diatom bloom, which existed for a week, had a negative impact on the tintinnid community in terms of drastic changes in species diversity index (1.09–0.004) and population density (582.5 × 10³ to 50 × 10³ ind m⁻³). The bloom is suggested to have been driven by the aquaculture activities and river effluents resulting high nutrient concentrations in this region. An attempt has been made to correlate the satellite remote sensing-derived information to the bloom conditions. MODIS-Aqua derived chlorophyll maps have been interpreted.     

Identifying transit corridors for elephant using a long time-series

The role of corridors in mitigating the effects of landscape fragmentation on biodiversity is controversial. Recent studies have highlighted the need for new approaches in corridor design using long-term datasets. We present a method to identify transit corridors for elephant at a population scale over a large area and an extended period of time using long-term aerial surveys. We investigated environmental and anthropogenic factors directly and indirectly related to the wet versus dry season distribution of elephant and its transit corridors. Four environmental variables predicted the presence of elephant at the landscape scale in both seasons: distance from permanent water, protected areas and settlements and vegetation structure. Path analysis revealed that altitude and monthly average NDVI, and distance from temporary water had a significant indirect effect on elephant distribution at local scale in dry and wet seasons respectively. Five transit corridors connecting Tarangire National Park and the northern as well as south-eastern wet season dispersal areas were identified and matched the wildlife migration routes described in the 1960s. The corridors are stable over the decades, providing landscape connectivity for elephant. Our approach yielded insights how advanced spatial analysis can be integrated with biological data available from long-term datasets to identify actual transit corridors and predictors of species distribution.     

从热力学角度探讨构造热液中铀的溶存形式,迁移及沉淀机理

本文从热力学计算入手，以２００℃的Ｕ－Ｃ－Ｏ－Ｈ体系为例，从Ｅｈ，ｐＨ，Ｔ，Ｐｃｏ＿２及∑Ｕ五方面探讨构造热液中铀的溶存形式及其迁移、沉淀机理。结果表明：Ｅｈ，ｐＨ降低不仅改变铀的溶存、迁移形式，而且使其还原成低价态沉淀析出；Ｔ升高会降低构造热液的Ｅｈ，ｐＨ值，使ＵＯ＿（２（ｓ））稳定区间增大，从而控制了溶存、迁移形式的优势分布；Ｐｃｏ＿２降低会使构造热液产生沸腾，逸出ＣＯ＿２，有利于铀的还原析出，而铀矿床的形成离不开丰富的活性铀源，这是维持构造热液具一定浓度的铀，从而使矿化顺利进行的不可缺少的前提。     

Analysis of the extinction of the Late Cretaceous foraminifer Afrobolivina afra

Afrobolivina afra, a Late Cretaceous bolivinid foraminifer, became extinct in the Early Paleocene. It was succeeded by the smaller, morphologically similar species Afrobolivina africana. Morphological variation in A. afra was in part correlated with environmental factors showing a pattern of random fluctuations about long-term ecological trends. A gradual, persistent and unbroken environmental trend, related to a eustatic fall in sea-level, is significantly correlated with the morphological evolution of the species. The micro-biogeography of A. afra at the time it was approaching extinction is consistent with its having given rise to A. afracana allopatrically in a manner which can be described by a fold-catastrophe adaptive model. This mode predicts that A. afra should undergo quantum evolution to A. africana in a restricted area in a near-shore environment.However, detailed study of borehole material reveals an apparent parabolic increase in the overall size of A. afra prior to extinction and it is argued that as a result, A. africana cannot be the direct descendant of A. afra without there having been some “discontinuity” in the environment or evolutionary process. This suggests that the sudden replacement of a species by a smaller, morphologically similar form may not be a straightforward succession. The apparent parabolic increase in size of A. afra can be modelled by the fold catastrophe of Thom theory if interpreted as representing the initial phase of a form of adaptive quantum evolution in which a gradual environmental change causes a fitness peak to be absorbed into the flank of a higher peak.In terms of such a model, the absence of a larger descendant species suggests that A. afra could have been replaced by A. africana before the quantum threshold had been reached. A possible cause for this could be that the changes in the environment might have lowered the height of the fitness function in the vicinity of the peak for A. afra to below that of the peak for A. africana, or vice versa.     

Beeinflusst die Strukturgüte von Fließgewässern das Vorkommen von Makrophyten?

Does the Structural Quality of Running Waters Affect the Occurrence of Macrophytes? The morphological structure plays, besides e.g. nutrient concentration, an important role for the integrated assessment of running waters. This paper focuses on the relationship between structural quality and macrophyte vegetation. During summer 2000 structural quality according to LAWA, macrophyte vegetation, and selected habitat parameters were recorded in 135 mapping sections in running waters in Southern Germany. In streams of high structural diversity, generally higher species richness is expected than in rivers of low diversity of habitats. However, no significant differences in macrophyte species richness were detected between different classes of structural quality. In contrast, bryophytes alone showed a significant decrease in species richness with degradation of structural quality. The number of species of other macrophytes increased, respectively. The relationship between occurrence of macrophytes, structural quality, and other environmental variables was analysed using canonical correspondence analysis. Rivers of high structural quality mostly showed high flowing velocities and were heavily shaded. These environmental conditions, which characterize river types of mountainous regions, were predominantly tolerated by bryophytes. Vascular plants and charophytes generally prefer slowly flowing and unshaded habitats. River types exhibiting these environmental conditions often are more influenced by human activities and are more structurally degraded, respectively. With respect to these fundamental differences between river types, species richness of macrophytes and class of structural quality are not correlated when all types of rivers are taken into account. Type‐specific ecomorphological parameters, which conceal the differences in species richness caused by structural quality, are discussed. Structural degraded rivers can provide good environmental conditions for vascular plants and charophytes. To predict macrophyte species richness from structural quality, a differentiation of river types is essential.     

Community succession along a chronosequence of vegetation restoration on sand dunes in Horqin Sandy Land

Species diversity influences plant community structure and function. This paper examines the patterns and dynamics of species diversity along a chronosequence of vegetation recovery on sand dunes in a semi-arid region to assess the probability of vegetation recovery via succession, and provides some implications for revegetation practices in this region. Species richness and diversity indices gradually increased with succession, except for a decline in the community of 18 years, which is attributed to the strong dominance of Artemisia halodendron. In each stage of the restoration process, there was a dominant species with particular life history traits which contribute to the dominance of this species. Species replacement and habitat changes were the main drivers of succession, while plant species and community succession drove the process of vegetation recovery. Results showed that restoration via succession holds promise for vegetation recovery and desertification control within protected, fenced enclosures.     

Riparian plant species richness along lateral and longitudinal gradients of water stress and flood disturbance, San Pedro River, Arizona, USA

Diversity theory predicts that species numbers should be highest at intermediate levels of both disturbance and environmental stress. We examined woody and herbaceous plant species richness and cover in the San Pedro River flood plain, along lateral gradients of water availability (ground-water depth), flood disturbance (inundation frequency), and distance from and elevation above the channel, and along longitudinal gradients of water availability (ground-water depth, surface flow permanence, and rainfall) and flood disturbance (total stream power). Herbaceous species were recorded during four sampling periods, and spatial patterns for this group were time-dependent, reflecting temporal variation in limiting factors. During the summer dry season of a dry year, when overall richness was low, richness and cover of herbaceous species declined laterally from the stream channel with increasing ground-water depth, consistent with the idea that low resource levels can limit species richness. Following the summer monsoon rains and floods, when water was less limiting and annuals were seasonally abundant, lateral patterns shifted such that herbaceous species richness and cover increased with increasing plot location above or from the channel. The relationship of herbaceous species richness with tree canopy cover also varied seasonally, shifting from positive (greater richness under canopy) in dry seasons to negative (lesser richness under canopy) in wet seasons. Longitudinally, herbaceous species richness and cover were limited primarily by stream flow and/or ground-water availability during the summer dry season of a dry year. Following the summer monsoon rains and floods, patterns were weighted by the seasonally abundant annuals, and richness increased among sites primarily with distance upstream (and related rainfall gradients). Richness and cover patterns also varied between years with different flood conditions. During the two sampling seasons in the year following a large flood, herbaceous species richness increased with flood disturbance intensity but declined at the few most intensely disturbed sites, consistent with intermediate disturbance theory.For woody species, richness within plant functional groups varied in opposing ways along the lateral gradients: hydromesic pioneer species decreased and hydromesic and xeric competitors increased with distance from or above the channel, with no overall change in species richness. Among sites, woody species richness patterns were related to water availability, but not to flood disturbance. However, richness of woody hydromesic pioneer species increased with both increasing site moisture and flood disturbance. Woody and herbaceous species richness both increased among sites as a function of increasing flood-plain width, likely due to species–area effects. Overall, results indicate that flood disturbance and water availability both influence species richness of riparian plants in the flood plain of this semi-arid region river, with the relative influence of each factor varying among plant groups and over time.     

Effect of ‘species weighting’ on conservation status evaluation: a case study with light-traped adult caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera)

Wildlife conservation requires methods to express the conservation status of assemblages in order to identify those of importance. Expressions of diversity and a number of different conservation status indices are widely used techniques for assessing assemblages. Some of these indices are based on species lists, while others use abundances. In this study, the conservation statuses of 21 light-traped adult caddisfly assemblages were compared using species lists and abundance data. The results showed that the assessment based on species list provided a higher conservation status than that based on species abundances. Consequently, indices incorporating species abundances were not comparable with indices using only species lists. The difference between the two measures might be derived from the unequal weighting of species categories. In conclusion, incorporating species abundance reduces sampling method bias and increases the precision of the conservation status evaluation.     

Phytomass and plant functional diversity in early restoration of the degraded, semi-arid grasslands in northern China

We analysed vegetation data recorded in the degraded lowland grasslands in Otindag Sandland during the first 4-years of restoration (2001–2004) to investigate: (1) the contribution of individual plant functional type (PFT) to PFT diversity of community and (2) the relationships between primary productivity and biodiversity both at species and PFT levels. Sixteen PFTs were distinguished based on the following traits: (1) life-span (annual vs. perennial); (2) photosynthetic pathway (C₃ vs. C₄); (3) reproductive mode (clonal vs. non-clonal); and (4) growth form (grass vs. forb). Analysis of data indicates that density, coverage, number of species, phytomass, and relative importance of PFTs depended strongly on life-span, photosynthetic pathway, reproductive mode and growth form. Phytomass was significantly correlated with PFT diversity, but not species diversity. However, the relationship between phytomass and PFT diversity varied greatly with year, with a positive relationship in 2001 and 2004 and a negative one in 2002 and 2003. As the restoration proceeds, the perennial C₃ clonal grass became the greatest contributor to PFT diversity.