Archaeal community structure in sediments from a seamount in the Mariana Volcanic Arc

Seamounts are subsurface mountains in the ocean. Examination of the abundance and distribution of Archaea in seamount ecosystems may provide a better understanding of their ecological functions. Most studies of marine archaeal assemblages in seamount area have focused on hydrothermal vents or ferromanganese crusts. We investigated the archaeal communities from a seamount of the Mariana Volcanic Arc, in the tropical western Pacific Ocean by using high-throughput sequencing. Thaumarchaeota was dominant in the sediments of all sample stations. Community diversity and species richness were greatest at stations near the top of the seamount, and lowest at the deepest station. One sample station on the steep southeast slope that faced the Yap-Mariana trench had a unique composition of Archaea. In summary, depth has an important influence on archaeal community structure, and the geographic properties and sediment characteristics may explain the unique distribution patterns of Archaea in this seamount. This study provides a foundation for future research on Archaea in seamounts.     

社区生活圈公共服务设施配置的空间分异分析——以大连市沙河口区为例

城市公共服务设施的配置水平直接影响到居民的生活品质。论文基于高德地图获取的地图数据,使用城市网络分析工具(Urban Network Analysis Toolbox, UNA)对大连市沙河口区内的6类公共服务设施分布进行空间分异分析,并对区内90个社区的居民出行可达设施的数量及类别进行测度,最后对各个社区进行总体评价。结果表明：① 大连市沙河口区公共服务设施空间分布不均,北多南少,呈现出“一主多次”的“廾”字形的结构,主要分布在西安路商业区周边和各个街道的次级商业区;② 居民可达设施数量空间差异大,北多南少,各街道均有1或2个区域可达设施数量较多;③ 居民可达设施类型数量存在一定差异,70%以上的住宅楼中的居民可以获得全部6类公共服务设施;④ 各社区居民可达设施总体处于差异较小的均衡状态,但仍有个别社区存在内部差异较大的现象。设施的分布、地物的阻隔和社区的封闭程度对居民获取各类公共服务设施影响较大,建议构建“设施完善、便捷可达”的15 min社区生活圈。     

Hierarchical community detection and functional area identification with OSM roads and complex graph theory

An in-depth analysis of the urban road network structure plays an essential role in understanding the distribution of urban functional area. To concentrate topologically densely connected road segments, communities of urban roads provide a new perspective to study the structure of the network. In this study, based on OpenStreetMap (OSM) roads and points-of-interest (POI) data, we employ the Infomap community detection algorithm to identify the hierarchical community in city roads and explore the shaping role roads play in urban space and their relation with the distribution of urban functional areas. The results demonstrate that the distribution of communities at different levels in Guangzhou, China reflects the urban spatial relation between the suburbs and urban centers and within urban centers. Moreover, the study explored the functional area characteristics at the community scale and identified the distribution of various functional areas. Owing to the structure information contained in the identification process, the detected community can be used as a basic unit in other urban studies. In general, with the community-based network, this study proposes a novel method of combining city roads with urban space and functional zones, providing necessary data support and academic guidance for government and urban planners.     

Species Abundance Distribution Patterns of a Toona ciliata Community in Xingdoushan Nature Reserve

With the goal of model fitting species abundance distribution patterns of the tree, shrub and herb layers of the natural Toona ciliata community in Xingdoushan Nature Reserve, Enshi Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Province, we used the data collected from the field survey and employed different ecological niche models. The models tested were the broken stick model (BSM), the overlapping niche model (ONM) and the niche preemption model (NPM), as well as three statistic models, the log-series distribution model (LSD), the log-normal distribution model (LND) and the Weibull distribution model (WDM). To determine the fitted model most suitable to each layer, the fitting effects were judged by criteria of the lowest value of Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Chi-square and the K-S values with no significant difference (P>0.05) between the theoretical predictions and observed species abundance distribution values. The result showed: (1) The fitting suitability and goodness of fit of the tree, shrub and herb layers by using the three ecological niche models were ranked as: NPM>BSM>ONM. Of the three statistical models, by accepting the fitting results of the three layers, WDM was the best fitting model, followed by LND. By rejecting the fitting tests of the herb layer, LSD had the worst fitting effect. The goodness of the statistical models was ranked as: WDM>LND>LSD. In general, the statistical models had better fitting results than the ecological models. (2) T. ciliata was the dominant species of the tree layer. The species richness and diversity of the herb layer were much higher than those of either the tree layer or the shrub layer. The species richness and diversity of the shrub layer were slightly higher than those of the tree layer. The community evenness accorded to the following order: herb>shrub>tree. Considering the fitting results of the different layers, different ecological niche models or statistical models with optimal goodness of fit and ecological significance can be given priority to in studying the species abundance distribution patterns of T. ciliata communities.     

防城河口湾鱼类群落结构及其与环境因子关系研究

文章根据2016年5月、8月、11月和2017年2月在防城河口湾海域进行的渔业资源和环境调查数据, 研究了河口湾鱼类群落结构及其空间和季节变化, 分析了鱼类群落结构与主要环境因子的关系。结果表明: 全年调查共渔获鱼类95种, 隶属于2纲12目37科69属, 适温性以暖水性鱼类为主, 生态类型以底层和近底层鱼类为主。其中, 春季60种, 夏季59种, 秋季54种, 冬季46种, 夏—秋季间种类相似性指数最高。全年优势种为褐菖鲉Sebastiscus marmoratus和长鳍篮子鱼Siganus canaliculatus, 主要种有黄鳍棘鲷Acanthopagrus latus、条马鲾Equulites rivulatus、李氏?Callionymus richardsoni和真赤鲷Pagrus major等10种; 夏、秋季的最大优势种均为长鳍篮子鱼, 春、冬季的最大优势种分别为褐菖鲉和条马鲾。全湾鱼类年均资源密度为45836尾·km ^-2和 435.21kg·km ^-2, 资源密度具有明显的空间差异和季节变化。全年各站位种数变化范围在2~21种, 多样性指数H′在0.468~4.031, 丰富度指数d在0.120~1.926, 均匀度指数J在0.181~0.969。聚类分析、单因子相似性分析(ANOSIM)及相似性百分比(SIMPER) 分析表明该海域鱼类群落存在一定程度的时空异质性。相关性分析表明影响防城河口湾鱼类群落结构的主要环境因子为水温、盐度和硝酸盐。     

Mapping of aggregated floodplain plant communities using image fusion of CASI and LiDAR data

Combined optical and laser altimeter data offer the potential to map and monitor plant communities based on their spectral and structural characteristics. A problem unresolved is, however, that narrowly defined plant communities, i.e. plant communities at a low hierarchical level of classification in the Braun-Blanquet system, often cannot be linked directly to remote sensing data for vegetation mapping. We studied whether and how a floristic dataset can be aggregated into a few major discrete, mappable classes without substantial loss of ecological meaning. Multi-source airborne data (CASI and LiDAR) and floristic field data were collected for a floodplain along the river Waal in the Netherlands. Mapping results based on floristic similarity alone did not achieve highest levels of accuracy. Ordination of floristic data showed that terrain elevation and soil moisture were the main underlying environmental drivers shaping the floodplain vegetation, but grouping of plant communities based on their position in the ordination space is not always obvious. Combined ordination-based grouping with floristic similarity clustering led to syntaxonomically relevant aggregated plant assemblages and yielded highest mapping accuracies.     

Long-term stability of the fish assemblages in a warm-temperate South African estuary

Little is known about long-term changes in estuarine fish populations and related environmental variations. Fishes in the temporarily open/closed East Kleinemonde Estuary were sampled bi-annually, in summer and winter, using seine and gill nets between December 1994 and July 2005. A total of 18 families, represented by 33 species, were recorded. The 10 most abundant species caught were consistently recorded in catches each year, but CPUE of individual species varied on an annual basis and this can often be related to mouth state. Multivariate analyses of the annual marine fish community identified two distinct groups, with more species recorded during years that succeeded spring (September to November) mouth-opening events than in years following no mouth-opening events in spring. Interannual community stability (IMD) and seriation (IMS) also increased from the years following no opening events in spring to the years that succeeded spring opening events. These results highlight the importance of the timing of mouth opening to the marine fish community in a temporarily open/closed estuary. This study reinforces the importance of long-term studies to understanding community changes in estuaries caused by environmental variations over different time scales.     

Inter-season and interannual variations in fish and macrocrustacean community structure on a eastern English Channel sandy beach: Influence of environmental factors

The intertidal zone of an exposed sandy beach on the French coast of the English Channel was sampled with a 1.5 m beam-trawl over five years (2000 and 2003–2006) at weekly intervals. The fish and macrocrustacean catches were analysed to determine the inter-season and interannual variation in community structure and relate these variations to changes in the major environmental variables. Only six species (plaice Pleuronectes platessa, common goby Pomatoschistus microps, sprat Sprattus sprattus, sand eel Ammodytes tobianus, brown shrimp Crangon crangon and shore crab Carcinus maenas) from the 27 species captured can be considered as dominant species of the intertidal zone, and they accounted for >90% of total numbers. Most individuals caught were young-of-the-year or juvenile. Analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) and similarities percentage (SIMPER) indicated that inter-season variability of community structure (mean average similarity = 47%) was more pronounced than interannual variability (mean average similarity = 65%). Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicates that a substantial component (32.2%) of the measured inter-season variation in community structure can be explained by environmental factors (mainly water temperature). The main inter-season changes in the abundance and community structure were due to the variation of the six key species and reflect the different times of their recruitment. During the five years of the study, the structure of the fish and macrocrustacean spring community persisted from year to year, with the dominant species reappearing consistently even though their abundances fluctuated from year to year. This interannual variation probably reflects variable recruitment success influenced by physico-chemical conditions. In spite of the considerable interannual variation (40 times) in the spring bloom of the prymnesiophyte alga Phaeocystis globosa we found no effect of this bloom on either fish and macrocrustacean species densities or diversity index.     

Inter-annual variability in phytoplankton summer blooms in the freshwater tidal reaches of the Schelde estuary (Belgium)

The inter-annual variability in phytoplankton summer blooms in the upper reaches of the Schelde estuary was investigated between 1996 and 2005 by monthly sampling at 10 stations. The large inter-annual variations of the chlorophyll a concentration in the freshwater tidal reaches were independent from variations in chlorophyll a in the tributary river Schelde. Summer mean chlorophyll a concentrations were significantly negatively correlated with flushing rate (Spearman correlation: r = −0.67, p = 0.05, n = 9) but not with temperature, irradiance and suspended particulate matter or dissolved silica (DSi) concentrations. During dry summers, low flushing rates permitted the development of dense phytoplankton populations in the upper part of the estuary, while during wet summers high flushing rates prevented the development of dense phytoplankton blooms. Flushing rate was also found to be important for the phytoplankton community composition. At low flushing rates, the community was dominated by diatoms that developed within the upper estuary. At high flushing rates, chlorophytes imported from the tributary river Schelde became more important in the phytoplankton community. The position of the chlorophyll a maximum shifted from the head of the estuary when flushing rates were low, to more downstream when flushing rates were high. Although DSi concentrations tended to be lower during years of high phytoplankton (mainly diatom) biomass, the relation with flushing rate was not significant.     

Spatial changes in a macrozoobenthic community along environmental gradients in a shallow brackish lagoon facing Sendai Bay, Japan

The spatial distribution, abundance, and assemblage structure of macrozoobenthos were examined at 45 stations in a brackish lagoon (Idoura Lagoon, Japan) to examine the animal–environmental relations in estuarine soft-bottom habitats. We found a total of 23 taxa; the polychaetes Heteromastus sp., Hediste spp., and Prionospio japonica and the isopod Cyathura muromiensis numerically dominated the community. Cluster analysis and one-way analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) identified seven groups of stations that had significantly different macrozoobenthic communities; these were subsequently consolidated into five habitat groups according to their association with environmental characteristics. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that salinity, silt-clay content, and the oxidation–reduction potential (ORP) of the sediment strongly affected the macrozoobenthos distribution pattern in the lagoon, whereas other factors (e.g., relative elevation of the habitat and sediment organic content) had much weaker effects. Similarity percentages (SIMPER) procedures indicated that the polychaete Notomastus sp. and the bivalve Macoma contabulata were specific to habitats with low salinity and reduced mud, whereas the bivalve Nuttallia olivacea was specific to sandy bottoms. Heteromastus sp. and Hediste spp. achieved their highest densities in rather oxidized sediments. The acid-volatile sulfide (AVS) content in the sediment was suggested as another possible factor affecting macrozoobenthic density. Our results clearly demonstrate that macrozoobenthic assemblages in estuarine soft-bottoms have high spatial heterogeneity on a small scale (e.g., hundreds of meters) related to physical and chemical environmental changes. Our data also suggested the importance of sediment redox condition (e.g., ORP and AVS content) and sediment grain size as structuring factors in estuarine soft-bottom communities as well as the salinity in the habitat.