植被恢复对高寒沙区土壤性质的影响

[目的]明确高寒沙区不同植被类型对土壤性质改良效果的差异,探讨各植被区沙地土壤恢复过程的异质性和人工林木的可开发利用潜力。[方法]以沙珠玉治沙试验林场内不同生长年限的人工植被为研究对象,分析高寒沙区6种植被类型区(乌柳、青杨、赖草、柠条、沙棘、柽柳)以及3个对照区(农田、流动沙丘、丘间沙地)土壤的机械组成、p H值、有机质及全N、全P、全K等理化性质指标。[结果](1)植被恢复生长51年后,从黏粒和粉砂粒增加的比例角度分析,土壤质地改良顺序为沙棘(206.3%)柠条(108.5%)青杨(70.5%)乌柳(56.8%)赖草(54.1%)柽柳(42.3%);从全N、全P和全K增加的比例角度分析,土壤养分改良顺序为青杨(198.2%)柠条(166.7%)沙棘(155.3%)乌柳(82.6%)赖草(75.4%)柽柳(53.9%),土壤全P含量偏低,平均0.42 g·kg-1;(2)植被恢复生长51年后,柠条、沙棘、青杨、赖草、乌柳和柽柳林下0 30 cm土壤有机质含量依次为20.19、18.25、30.81、23.57、22.13和10.62 g·kg-1,比流动沙丘或丘间沙地相应的提高了766.7%、702.4%、689.8%、517.4%、491.5%和343.9%。[结论]随着植被恢复年限的增加,土壤质地和养分状况得到显著改善,但土壤p H值的变异系数较小;各样地土层间有机质含量差距不断扩大,表聚性越来越明显,并且随深度增加各土层恢复效果存在滞后性。柠条和沙棘适宜在共和盆地推广种植,建议实施适当地抚育管理措施,以促进高寒沙区林场实现可持续经营发展。     

南方竹林地土壤有机碳空间异质性研究

土壤养分空间异质性是土壤质量评价的一个重要内容,为提高竹林有机碳估算精度,利用2013年永安六乡镇138个竹林地土壤有机碳样点数据,运用GIS技术和地统计学方法分析了永安市竹林地土壤有机碳数据的空间变异特征与格局。结果表明:竹林土壤养分有机碳含量极为丰富,全剖面及各层土壤有机碳含量在空间上属于中等变异;空间自相关Morans'I系数总体上随空间距离的增加而呈现递减趋势;全剖面、A层、B层及C层最佳理论模型依次为指数、高斯、指数、球状模型;半方差拟合决定系数分别为0.684、0.831、0.506、0.538,空间上均表现出强烈的自相关性,块金效应值分别为10.330%、13.100%、10.160%、0.120%;分形维数值为A层(1.964)B层(1.962)C层(1.944)全剖面(1.938);从空间分布特征看,永安市毛竹林地土壤有机碳明显呈带状和斑块状分布,东部和西部有机碳含量明显高于中部。研究结果可为永安市竹林有机碳含量空间插值、制图和野外取样的设计提供参考,同时也可为精准农业和土壤可持续经营发展提供科学依据。     

艾比湖流域不同生态系统土壤水盐空间异质性分析

运用传统统计学和地统计学相结合的方法对艾比湖流域山前人工绿洲—绿洲—荒漠过渡带—湖滨湿地生态系统土壤表层(0~20 cm)盐分、含水量、pH的空间异质性特征进行分析,结果表明:(1)山前人工绿洲属中度盐化土,绿洲—荒漠过渡带和湖滨湿地均属于重度盐化土;艾比湖流域土壤pH和盐分均由山前人工绿洲向湖滨湿地逐渐增大,含水量由山前人工绿洲向湖滨湿地递减;艾比湖流域土壤pH属于弱变异性,盐分和含水量均属于中等变异强度;(2)受结构因素影响,山前人工绿洲土壤pH、绿洲—荒漠过渡带土壤盐分和含水量、湖滨湿地土壤pH和盐分具有较强的空间相关性;受结构因素和随机因素综合影响,山前人工绿洲土壤盐分和含水量以及湖滨湿地土壤含水量具有中等的空间相关性;(3)艾比湖流域土壤pH和盐分呈现斑块状分布,均由山前人工绿洲向绿洲—荒漠过渡带到湖滨湿地依次递增;土壤含水量呈现条带状分布,由山前人工绿洲向绿洲—荒漠过渡带到湖滨湿地依次递减、艾比湖北部向南部逐渐减少;土壤盐分与pH和含水量分别呈现极显著正相关、显著负相关。     

放牧对西藏高寒嵩草草甸地上生物量空间分布的影响

以西藏自治区工布江达县的高寒嵩草（Kobresia）草甸为研究对象,利用地上生物量测定法对草地群落进行实地调查,并结合γ分布模型,从空间异质性角度来探索放牧对西藏高寒草甸地上生物量及其空间分布格局的影响,以期为高寒牧区退化草地的恢复及生产力的提高提供理论指导。结果表明：未放牧区（N）、适度放牧区（M）和重度放牧区（H）植物种地上生物量的空间分布与γ模型均具有很好的吻合性;样方内的平均生物量随着放牧强度的增大而减少,且适度放牧、重度放牧与未放牧区生物量之间均差异极显著（P<0.01）;群落的空间异质性表现为N>H>M,且草地植物种的生物量与其空间异质性负相关。因此在草地的管理与利用中,应有效控制植物群落的空间异质性来提高草地生产力,实现草畜平衡。     

庆阳市土地利用变化的景观生态效应研究

本文以甘肃省庆阳市为研究对象,选取2005年和2010年Landsat TM影像作为基本信息源,借助GIS技术和Fragstas 4.0软件,研究庆阳市的土地利用/覆被变化及其景观生态效应。结果表明:（1）研究时段内土地利用/覆盖变化较大,各土地类型间转换频繁。落叶阔叶林面积大幅度减少,减少的落叶阔叶林转变为灌木林,且落叶阔叶林减少量大于灌木林增加量。耕地面积逐渐减少,草地、居住地和交通用地明显增加。（2）庆阳市斑块数目较多,平均斑块面积在增加,但景观丰富度、边缘密度和斑块密度呈减小趋势。斑块破碎化程度在减小,景观空间异质性减小和均质化发展使得景观稳定性降低。林草地边缘效应的降低,使其景观生态功能减弱。     

Environmental and spatial characterisation of bacterial community composition in soil to inform sampling strategies

Soil physicochemical properties and microbial communities are highly heterogeneous and vary widely over spatial scales, necessitating careful consideration of sampling strategies to provide representative and reproducible soil samples across field sites. To achieve this, the study aimed to establish appropriate sampling methodology and to determine links between the variability of parameters, utilising two sampling strategies. The first (design 1) involved extracting 25 cores from random locations throughout the field and pooling them into five sets of five cores. The second (design 2) involved a further 25 cores within five 1 m² sub-plots. Sub-samples from each sub-plot were pooled in order to determine between and within sub-plot variability. All samples were analysed independently and as pooled sub-samples. Results indicate that pooling spatially separated samples significantly reduced the variability in pH, compared to individual samples. Pooling samples from a small area resulted in lower within sub-plot variability than between sub-plots for pH and bacterial community composition assessed by terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Following multivariate statistical analysis, a large amount of variation in community composition was explained by soil pH, which is remarkable given the relatively small size of the sampling area and minor differences in pH. Moisture content was also important in determining bacterial communities in the random design (design 1). In the 1 m² sub-plot design (design 2), the spatial location of the plots explained a large degree of the variation in bacterial community composition between plots, which was due to spatial autocorrelation of pH and possible additional environmental parameters. This study emphasises the importance of sampling design for obtaining representative samples from soil.     

Stand-scale spatial patterns of soil microbial biomass in natural cold-temperate beech forests along an elevation gradient

This study focuses on spatial heterogeneity in the soil microbial biomass (SMB) of typical climax beech (Fagus crenata) at the stand scale in forest ecosystems of the cold-temperate mountain zones of Japan. Three beech-dominated sites were selected along an altitudinal gradient and grid sampling was used to collect soil samples at each site. The highest average SMB density was observed at the site 1500 m a.s.l. (44.9 gC m⁻²), the lowest was recorded at the site 700 m a.s.l. (18.9 gC m⁻²); the average SMB density at the 550 m site (36.5 gC m⁻²) was close to the overall median of all three sites. Geostatistics, which is specifically designed to take spatial autocorrelation into account, was then used to analyze the data collected. All sites generally exhibited stand-scale spatial autocorrelation at a lag distance of 10-18 m in addition to the small-scale spatial dependence noted at <3.5 m at the 550 m site. Correlation analysis with an emphasis on spatial dependency showed SMB to be significantly correlated with bulk density at the 550 and 1500 m sites, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) at the 700 and 1500 m sites, and nitrogen (N) at the 550 and 700 m sites. However, no soil parameter showed a significant correlation with SMB at every site, and some variables were also differently correlated (negative or positive) with SMB at different sites. This suggests that the factors controlling the spatial distribution of SMB are very complex and responsive to local in situ conditions. SMB regression models were generated from both the ordinary least-squares (OLS) and generalized least-squares (GLS) models. GLS performance was only superior to OLS when cross-variograms were accurately fitted. Geostatistics is preferable, however, since these techniques take the spatial non-stationarity of samples into account. In addition, the sampling numbers for given minimum detectable differences (MDD_s) are provided for each site for future SMB monitoring.     

Production and quality of senesced and green litterfall in a pine–oak forest in central-northwest Mexico

Litterfall is an important ecological process in forest ecosystems, influencing the transfer of organic matter, carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and other nutrients from vegetation to the soil. We examined the production of different litterfall fractions as well as nutrient content and nutrient inputs by senesced and green leaf-litter in a semiarid forest from central Mexico. From September 2006 to August 2007, monthly litter sampling was carried out in monospecific and mixed stands of Quercus potosina and Pinus cembroides. Litterfall displayed a marked bimodal pattern with the largest annual amount (5993 ± 655 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) recorded in mixed stands, followed by Q. potosina (4869 ± 510 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), and P. cembroides (3023 ± 337 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). Leaves constituted the largest fraction of total litterfall reaching almost 60%, while small branches contributed with 20–30%. Overall, N content in leaf-litter was higher while lignin content was significantly lower for Q. potosina than for P. cembroides. Thus, greater litter quality together with higher litter production caused the largest C, N and P inputs to forest soils to occur in monospecific Q. potosina stands. Green leaf fall displayed significantly lower lignin:N and C:N ratios in Q. potosina than P. cembroides suggesting faster decomposition and nutrient return rates by the former. Although we recorded only two green leaf fall events, they accounted for 18% and 11% of the total N and P input, respectively, from leaf-litter during the study period. Apart, from the large spatiotemporal heterogeneity introduced by differences in litter quantity and quality of evergreen, deciduous and mixed stands, green litterfall appears to represent a much more important mechanism of nutrient input to semiarid forest ecosystems than previously considered.     

Canopy vs. understory: Does tree diversity affect bee and wasp communities and their natural enemies across forest strata?

Bees and wasps provide important ecosystem services such as pollination and biocontrol in crop-dominated landscapes, but surprisingly little information is available on hymenopteran communities in temperate forest ecosystems. Species richness and abundance of bees and wasps can be hypothesised to increase with plant diversity, structural complexity, and availability of food and nesting resources. By experimentally exposing standardised nesting sites, we examined abundance and species richness of cavity-nesting bees (pollinators), wasps (predators) and their associated parasitoids across a tree diversity gradient in a temperate deciduous forest habitat. In addition, spatial distribution of individuals and species across forest strata (canopy vs. understory) was tested. Abundance and species richness was high for predatory wasps, but generally low for pollinators. Species-rich forest stands supported increased abundance, but not species richness, of pollinators and predatory wasps, and also increased abundance and species richness of natural enemies. In addition, the forests showed a distinct spatial stratification in that abundance of bees, wasps and parasitoids as well as parasitism rates were higher in the canopy than understory. We conclude that particularly the canopy in temperate forest stands can serve as an important habitat for predatory wasp species and natural enemies, but not bee pollinators. Enhanced tree diversity was related to increased hymenopteran abundance, which is likely to be linked to an increase in nesting and food resources in mixed forest stands.     

Nearby rainforest promotes coffee pollination by increasing spatio-temporal stability in bee species richness

Natural tropical forests are highly diverse and are known to contribute to forest-based services such as pollination of nearby crops. Landscape changes cause spatial and temporal bee community changes, but consequences how the community changes affect pollination is not well analyzed. This paper addresses the effects of rainforest distance and on site flower resources in agro-forests on spatial and temporal variation in pollinator communities and the consequences for coffee pollination.