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.     

海南儋州海域造礁石珊瑚种类组成及动态变化研究

文章通过断面法调查分析了儋州海域海花岛沿岸、南华墟沿岸和磷枪石岛沿岸造礁石珊瑚的种类组成与群落分布,结果表明：儋州海域造礁石珊瑚共有12科25属55种,相较于此前的研究增加了10个种,优势种为斯氏角孔珊瑚、澄黄滨珊瑚、柱角孔珊瑚;活造礁石珊瑚覆盖率急剧下降,由2012年的42.92%下降至现在的22.24%,降幅高至48.18%;造礁石珊瑚死亡率高居不下,长期维持在35%左右;初级群落以团块状造礁石珊瑚为优势种的趋势愈发明显,且单一绝对优势种的情况频繁出现,说明该海域造礁石珊瑚群落受到了较为严重的破坏,导致群落退化演替,分析认为这种破坏是由自然因素和人为活动共同造成的。     

Response of Plant Community Carbon and Nitrogen Stoichiometry to Experimental Warming on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Low temperature is an important limiting factor for alpine ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau. This study is based on data from on-site experimental warming platforms (open top chambers, OTC) at three elevations (4300 m, 4500 m, 4700 m) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry characteristics of plant communities, both above-ground and below-ground, were observed in three alpine meadow ecosystems in August and September of 2011 and August of 2012. Experimental warming significantly increased above-ground nitrogen content by 21.4% in September 2011 at 4500 m, and reduced above-ground carbon content by 3.9% in August 2012 at 4300 m. Experimental warming significantly increased below-ground carbon content by 5.5% in August 2011 at 4500 m, and the below-ground ratio of carbon to nitrogen by 28.0% in September 2011 at 4300 m, but reduced below-ground nitrogen content by 15.7% in September 2011 at 4700 m, below-ground carbon content by 34.3% in August 2012 at 4700 m, and the below-ground ratio of carbon to nitrogen by 37.9% in August 2012 at 4700 m. Experimental warming had no significant effect on the characteristics of community carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry under other conditions. Therefore, experimental warming had inconsistent effects on the carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry of plant communities at different elevations and during different months. Soil ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen content were the main factors affecting plant community carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry.     

基于组合赋权的改进集对模型在流域生态健康评价中的应用

流域生态健康评价是流域管理、水资源开发利用、生态保护的重要决策依据,也是促进流域社会经济可持续发展的重要措施。在确定石羊河流域生态健康评价指标体系和等级标准的基础上,采用组合赋权法确定评价指标的权重,建立了改进集对模型评价方法。定量评价结果表明,石羊河流域上游、中游、下游生态健康分别为基本健康、亚健康、病态等状态。     

粗木质残体(CWD)的水文生态功能——当前森林水文研究中被忽视的重要环节

目前对森林生态系统粗木质残体的研究主要着眼于数量动态、分布格局、分解速率以及生物多样性保护的作用上，而对江河上游森林生态系统中粗木质残体的水文调蓄、缓洪滞淤等功能至今还未能引起足够的重视。CWD作为森林生态系统的重要部分，茯水文生态功能的发挥主要是通过影响降水在林内的再分配以及林内微环境来实现的。森林CWD水文功能的发挥要同时受到外界环境和其本身持水性能的影响。CWD腐朽级别愈高，自然相对含水量愈高，而且愈容易吸水达到饱和。在长江上游亚高山暗针叶林生态系统中，自然状态下CWD可以蓄持约7.41mm的降水，若使CWD全部达到饱和则可以蓄持降水达9.91mm，这意味着自然状态下的CWD的有效持水量可达到2.50mm，无疑对于长江上游森林生态系统的蓄水调水、滞洪防蚀功能是一大贡献。     

海州湾底层鱼类物种多样性与生物量的关系

随着生物多样性的丧失,全球许多海洋生态系统的功能发生了显著变化。为了解生物多样性和生态系统功能之间的关系,科学的海洋生态保护与管理显得尤为重要。本研究根据2013−2022年春季在海州湾及其邻近海域进行的底拖网调查数据,基于结构方程模型（SEM）探究了底栖鱼类群落中环境因素、生物多样性（物种丰富度与均匀度）和生态系统功能指标（以总生物量表示）之间的关系。结果表明：物种丰富度和生物量之间存在显著的正相关,而均匀度和生物量存在显著的负相关。环境因素中盐度对物种丰富度和生物量均有显著的影响,而对于温度来说,夏季与冬季的温度比年平均温度对生物量的影响更强烈。本研究表明,生态位互补效应和选择效应这两种机制可能同时对维持海州湾底层鱼类群落中的生物多样性−生物量关系发挥了作用,此外这种关系还依赖于它们所生存的环境和栖息条件。     

城市化进程对氮循环格局及动态的影响研究进展

氮循环是全球生物地球化学循环的重要组成部分,随着城市化进程的不断加快,高强度的人类活动和城市景观格局的改变不仅影响了氮的循环过程,而且加重了氮污染的程度,对城市生态环境造成了严重的影响。城市尺度的氮循环研究不仅是全球关注的氮研究热点,而且也是城市生态学和城市地理学研究的前沿。本文基于城市生态系统的氮循环特征,综述了城市化进程对城市氮污染物来源、沉降、输移和累积影响研究的国内外大量研究成果,介绍了卫星遥感、稳定同位素、物质流模型等分析方法在城市氮循环研究中的应用,针对未来几十年活性氮增加可能带来的不利影响,提出对活性氮的减缓策略,以有效抑制活性氮对环境的影响。未来城市氮循环研究需要开展长期系统监测、深化城市氮循环机理研究、创新研究范式和研究方法,并将研究成果与城市规划和城市发展研究相结合,提升城市氮管理能力。     

Effects of Enclosure on Plant and Soil Nutrients in Different Types of Alpine Grassland

Enclosure is one of the most widely used management tools for degraded alpine grassland on the northern Tibetan Plateau, but the responses of different types of grassland to enclosure may vary, and research on these responses can provide a scientific basis for improving ecological conservation. This study took one site for each of three grassland types (alpine meadow, alpine steppe and alpine desert) on the northern Tibetan Plateau as examples, and explored the effects of enclosure on plant and soil nutrients by comparing differences in plant community biomass, leaf-soil nutrient content and their stoichiometry between samples from inside and outside the fence. The results showed that enclosure can significantly increase all aboveground biomass in these three grassland types, but it only increased the 10-20 cm underground biomass in the alpine desert. Enclosure also significantly increased the leaf nutrient content of the dominant plants and contents of total nitrogen (N), total potassium (K), and organic carbon (C) in 10-20 cm soil in alpine desert, thus changing the stoichiometry between C, N and P (phosphorus). However, enclosure significantly increased only the N content of dominant plant leaves in alpine steppe, while other nutrients and stoichiometries of both plant leaves and soil did not show significant differences in alpine meadow and alpine steppe. These results suggested that enclosure has differential effects on these three types of alpine grasslands on the northern Tibetan Plateau, and the alpine desert showed the most active ecological conservation in the responses of its soil and plant nutrients.     

Climate change and coral reef bleaching: An ecological assessment of long-term impacts,recovery trends and future outlook

Since the early 1980s, episodes of coral reef bleaching and mortality, due primarily to climate-induced ocean warming, have occurred almost annually in one or more of the world's tropical or subtropical seas. Bleaching is episodic, with the most severe events typically accompanying coupled ocean–atmosphere phenomena, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which result in sustained regional elevations of ocean temperature. Using this extended dataset (25+ years), we review the short- and long-term ecological impacts of coral bleaching on reef ecosystems, and quantitatively synthesize recovery data worldwide. Bleaching episodes have resulted in catastrophic loss of coral cover in some locations, and have changed coral community structure in many others, with a potentially critical influence on the maintenance of biodiversity in the marine tropics. Bleaching has also set the stage for other declines in reef health, such as increases in coral diseases, the breakdown of reef framework by bioeroders, and the loss of critical habitat for associated reef fishes and other biota. Secondary ecological effects, such as the concentration of predators on remnant surviving coral populations, have also accelerated the pace of decline in some areas. Although bleaching severity and recovery have been variable across all spatial scales, some reefs have experienced relatively rapid recovery from severe bleaching impacts. There has been a significant overall recovery of coral cover in the Indian Ocean, where many reefs were devastated by a single large bleaching event in 1998. In contrast, coral cover on western Atlantic reefs has generally continued to decline in response to multiple smaller bleaching events and a diverse set of chronic secondary stressors. No clear trends are apparent in the eastern Pacific, the central-southern-western Pacific or the Arabian Gulf, where some reefs are recovering and others are not. The majority of survivors and new recruits on regenerating and recovering coral reefs have originated from broadcast spawning taxa with a potential for asexual growth, relatively long distance dispersal, successful settlement, rapid growth and a capacity for framework construction. Whether or not affected reefs can continue to function as before will depend on: (1) how much coral cover is lost, and which species are locally extirpated; (2) the ability of remnant and recovering coral communities to adapt or acclimatize to higher temperatures and other climatic factors such as reductions in aragonite saturation state; (3) the changing balance between reef accumulation and bioerosion; and (4) our ability to maintain ecosystem resilience by restoring healthy levels of herbivory, macroalgal cover, and coral recruitment. Bleaching disturbances are likely to become a chronic stress in many reef areas in the coming decades, and coral communities, if they cannot recover quickly enough, are likely to be reduced to their most hardy or adaptable constituents. Some degraded reefs may already be approaching this ecological asymptote, although to date there have not been any global extinctions of individual coral species as a result of bleaching events. Since human populations inhabiting tropical coastal areas derive great value from coral reefs, the degradation of these ecosystems as a result of coral bleaching and its associated impacts is of considerable societal, as well as biological concern. Coral reef conservation strategies now recognize climate change as a principal threat, and are engaged in efforts to allocate conservation activity according to geographic-, taxonomic-, and habitat-specific priorities to maximize coral reef survival. Efforts to forecast and monitor bleaching, involving both remote sensed observations and coupled ocean–atmosphere climate models, are also underway. In addition to these efforts, attempts to minimize and mitigate bleaching impacts on reefs are immediately required. If significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved within the next two to three decades, maximizing coral survivorship during this time may be critical to ensuring healthy reefs can recover in the long term.     

黄河下游沿岸农业景观中蜘蛛对非农生境的响应（英文）

Non-crop habitats have been suggested to impact local biodiversity significantly in agricultural landscapes. However, there have been few studies of the effects of less-focused non-crop habitats(orchard, wetland, pit and ditch) on variation of spider abundance. In this study, spiders in 30 woodlands were captured using pitfall traps in Fengqiu County, China, and the effects of local and landscape variations at different scales(50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 350 m and 500 m) on spider abundance were analysed. The most important variation that influenced spider abundance at the 500 m scale was the less-focused non-crop habitat(LNH) cover, and 10% was an appropriate proportion of LNH cover to sustain high level of spider diversity in the investigated landscape. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analyses revealed that there were significant differences in the spider composition among the high, medium and low LNH coverage. Based on indicator species analysis, different spider species were associated with landscapes with different levels of LNH cover. Lycosidae, which accounted for 48% of the total specimens, preferred woodland habitats neighbouring areas with high LNH cover. Compared with woodland habitats, LNH provided more diverse food sources and habitat to sustain more spider species in the study area. Furthermore, linear elements composed of vegetation, such as pits and ditches, may prevent agricultural intensification by enhancing landscape connectivity and providing habitats for different spiders. Our findings may provide a theoretical basis for biodiversity conservation in agro-ecosystems and top-down control of pests.