Cutting the lawn − Natural burial and its contribution to the delivery of ecosystem services in urban cemeteries

This article investigates the impact of natural burial on the delivery of ecosystem services (ESs) in urban cemeteries in England that are owned and managed by local authorities. Local authority natural burial sites have received far less attention from researchers than independent sites developed by farmers, charitable trusts, funeral directors and land owners. Here we argue that the local authority hybrid cemeteries that combine natural burial with traditional graves may have a far greater impact in delivering regulatory and cultural ecosystem services than the much larger and frequently more environmentally ambitious natural burial grounds developed by the independent sector. The article presents three case studies of cemeteries, each of which represents a different interpretation of natural burial. Two have retrofitted natural burial into an existing cemetery landscape. The third is a new cemetery where natural burial was included with traditional burial in the original design brief and planning application. The research reveals how natural burial is transforming the traditional cemetery, with its focus on an intensively managed lawn aesthetic, towards a more habitat rich and spatially complex landscape with its own distinctive identity. The research also reveals how natural burial (within the unique constraints of UK burial culture that does not permit the recycling of burial space) is increasing the burial capacity of urban cemeteries by accessing land and grave space that might not be suitable or appropriate for more traditional forms of burial.     

集体林权流转主体若干问题研究——以福建集体林权制度改革为研究对象

在分析福建省实践中的林权流转主体范围的基础上,重点对主体之一的联户法律性质及其权利行使进行了探讨,并结合《物权法》的规定,指出林权证是确定林权主体资格的法律依据。     

城市污泥应用于毛白杨林地施肥试验

为了妥善处置和利用城市污泥,使之变废为宝,采用城市污泥对毛白杨进行了不同立地施肥量、施肥时期试验.结果表明,污泥施肥改善了林地土壤的理化性状,对土壤具有修复作用.在不同施肥时期,不同立地条件下,施入一定量的城市污泥对毛白杨株高、胸径的生长均有促进作用,平原林地毛白杨净生长量优于丘陵地,污泥施入量以75 kg/株效果最佳.     

浅谈广汉市林地与耕地的矛盾

本文阐述了林地与耕地的关系,分析了退耕还林以及土地相邻权问题所带来的林地与耕地的矛盾,针对以上问题,进一步提出了有效解决耕地与林地矛盾的相关对策。     

广州南沙典型林地土壤理化性质的研究

研究了南沙的尾叶桉林、窿缘桉林、大叶相思林、荔枝林、木麻黄林、尾叶桉×马占相思混交林、尾叶桉×台湾相思×马尾松混交林、赤桉×台湾相思混交林和无林地的土壤理化性质。大叶相思林地肥力最高,荔枝林的肥力较低,木麻黄林地和无林地的肥力低,其余林地的肥力中等。     

Decomposition in five woodland soils: relationships with some invertebrate populations and with weather

Summary In two alluvial forests, a beech forest, an oakhazel-wood and a spruce forest, correlations between abiotic factors and the different groups of soil animals on the one hand and the decomposition rate (mean rate of disappearance) on the other hand have been the subject of investigation. There is a positive correlation between Lumbricidae and Brachycera imagines and the pH and the decomposition rate, but a negative one with Enchytraeidae and Nematocera imagines.Varying weather conditions are of great importance for decomposition processes. The influence of temperature seems to be insignificant. In the deciduous forests fluctuations of precipitation correlate fairly well with fluctuations in rates of decomposition, because of the high abundance of lumbricids. The spruce forest has very few lumbricids and the influence of weather on the course of decomposition is insignificant. Yet there is only a very loose relationship with the annual fluctuations of weather conditions. Only a major event such as the relatively low temperature and precipitation of 1980 is capable of inhibiting the development of sciarid larvae and enchytraeids and hence reducing the ensuing decomposition rate in 1981 and possibly even in 1982. The reason for this is that sciarid larvae and imagines, for example, go through critical periods during their development, which are influenced by the weather, frequently with a time lag of 1 year.Long-term investigations in the spruce forest have established a high correlation between sciarid larvae and enchytraeids and the decomposition rate.Dedicated to the late Prof.Dr. M.S. Ghilarov     

Response of snails and slugs to fragmentation of lowland forests in NW Germany

Habitat fragmentation is a major cause for species loss, but its effect on invertebrates with low active dispersal power, like terrestrial gastropods, has rarely been studied. Such species can not cross a hostile habitat matrix, for which the predictions of island theory, such as positive relations between species richness and patch size, should apply. In order to test this prediction, we studied gastropod species diversity by assessing gastropod assemblage characteristics from 35 sites in 19 fragments of deciduous old-growth forests in the Lower Rhine Embayment, Germany. Assemblages differed between larger (≥700 ha) and smaller forests (<400 ha), those of large forests held a higher percentage of forest species. Although α-diversity was similar between the two forest size classes, small forests often comprised matrix species, resulting in a higher β-diversity. Edge effects on the species richness of matrix species were noticeable up to 250 m into the forest. Hierarchical partitioning revealed that distance to disturbances (external edge, internal edges like roads) explained most assemblage variables, whereas forest size and woodland cover within a 1 km radius from the sites explained only a few assemblage variables. Densities of two forest-associated species, Discus rotundatus and Arion fuscus, decreased with forest size. Yet, forest size was positively correlated with richness of typical forest species and densities of Limax cinereoniger. The latter species seems to need forests of >1,000 ha, i.e., well above the size of most fragments. In conclusion, the prediction is valid only for forest species. The response to fragmentation is species specific and seems to depend on habitat specialization and macroclimatic conditions. Jean-Pierre Maelfait: Deceased.     

论人参种植业发展途径

讨论了传统伐林栽参模式的缺陷及农田栽参、林下护育山参的优势,明确了农田栽参是我国人参种植业发展的首要途径;林下护育山参是人参种植业发展的主要途径;同时提出解决老参地问题是目前人参种植业的关键所在。     

Are hedgerows effective corridors between fragments of woodland habitat? An evidence-based approach

Anthropogenic modification of the countryside has resulted in much of the landscape consisting of fragments of once continuous habitat. Increasing habitat connectivity at the landscape-scale has a vital role to play in the conservation of species restricted to such remnant patches, especially as species may attempt to track zones of habitat that satisfy their niche requirements as the climate changes. Conservation policies and management strategies frequently advocate corridor creation as one approach to restore connectivity and to facilitate species movements through the landscape. Here we examine the utility of hedgerows as corridors between woodland habitat patches using rigorous systematic review methodology. Systematic searching yielded 26 studies which satisfied the review inclusion criteria. The empirical evidence currently available is insufficient to evaluate the effectiveness of hedgerow corridors as a conservation tool to promote the population viability of woodland fauna. However, the studies did provide anecdotal evidence of positive local population effects and indicated that some species use hedgerows as movement conduits. More replicated and controlled field investigations or long-term monitoring are required in order to allow practitioners and policy makers to make better informed decisions about hedgerow corridor creation and preservation. The benefits of such corridors in regard to increasing habitat connectivity remain equivocal, and the role of corridors in mitigating the effects of climate change at the landscape-scale is even less well understood.     

Effects of area and isolation of woodland patches on herbaceous plant species richness across Great Britain

Richness of Ancient Woodland Indicator plant species was analysed in 308 woodland patches that were surveyed during the Countryside Survey of Great Britain carried out in 1998. The Countryside Survey recorded vegetation plots and landscape structure in 569 stratified 1 km sample squares and developed a remotely-sensed land cover map of the UK. Using these datasets, we tested the hypothesis that Ancient Woodland Indicator species richness in woodland fragments was limited by patch area, shape and spatial isolation and that woodland patches located in the lowland region of Great Britain would respond differently than those in the upland region. The variation in Ancient Woodland Indicator species richness in the British lowlands (n = 218) was mainly explained by patch area and two measures of connectivity, the length of hedgerows and lines of trees in the 1 km square and the area of woodland within 500 m of the vegetation plot. By contrast, variation in Ancient Woodland Indicator species richness in the British uplands (n = 90) was related to Ellenberg scores of the vegetation communities sampled – a surrogate for habitat quality – and no significant effect of spatial structure was detected. It therefore appears that the degree of fragmentation of woodland in the British lowlands limits the distribution of Ancient Woodland Indicator species, while in the uplands, failed colonisation is a matter of habitat quality rather than a result of landscape structure.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.