Threats to at-risk salmonids of the Canadian Rocky Mountain region

Trout and charr, members of the salmonid family, have high conservation value but are also susceptible to anthropogenic threats in part due to the specificity of their habitat requirements. Understanding historical and future threats facing these species is necessary to promote their recovery. Of freshwater trout and charr in the Canadian Rocky Mountain region, westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi), bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus; a charr species) and Athabasca rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are of conservation concern. And indeed, range contractions and declining populations are evident throughout much of their ranges. Range contraction was most evident in the southern Alberta designatable unit (DU) of westslope cutthroat trout. Diminished populations were also evident in the downstream watersheds of the Alberta bull trout range, and throughout the Athabasca rainbow trout range. We assessed historical and future threats to evaluate the relative importance of individual threats to each DU and compare their impact among species. Individual threats fall into the broad categories of angling, non-native species and genes, habitat loss and alteration, and climate change. Severity of each threat varies by DU and reflects the interaction between species’ biology and the location of the DU. Severity of threats facing each DU has changed over time, reflecting extirpation of native populations, changes in management and industry best practices, expansion of non-native species and progressing climate change. The overall threat impact for each DU indicates a high probability of substantial and continuing declines and calls for immediate action.     

植物群落的内禀冗余

植物落处于各种扰动之中，扰动导致群落的总体功能降低，为适应各种形式的扰动，群落的功能补偿作用就发生了，并由此产生了生长冗余，组分冗余及内颤冗余，内禀冗余是植物群落中组分冗余的一种特殊形式，是对波动的环境及人为或动物扰动适应的结果，是落功能最大化的产物，内禀冗余的作用是使群落多样性，物种多样性得以保持，使群落对各种扰动的抵抗能力增强，在一定条件下，内禀冗余阻碍了群落中当前有益物种产量最大限度地实现，但从生态学观点看，它对植物群落中目标物种的持续较高水平的输出具有重要作用，因此，保留以内禀冗余形式存在的非目标植物种对群落的稳定是有益的。     

松嫩平原羊草草地水淹干扰恢复过程的群落动态

根据随机取样的测定数据，经过幂函数和多元回归分析及相关检验，揭示了草地水淹干扰对羊草 寸草苔、羊草 杂类草群范数量性状的变化规律。水淹干扰对草地植被的物种组成及其比例有明显的影响。水淹后基本恢复到正常草地的种类数量和生产量配置大约需要6—7年。随着生境水分减少和土壤变干，羊草种群的数量和生物量均以幂函数形式增加，而寸草苔和杂类草的数量和生物量则呈先增后降的变化过程。     

Electrocorticogram disturbances detected in rats exposed from early stages of life to residual doses of lindane

Functional brain alterations induced by lindane were examined in Rat chronically exposed to low doses of lindane (1 and 2 μg L⁻¹ in drinking water) from conception. Histological and electrophysiological investigations were conducted at 14 weeks of age. Lindane did not induce histological changes. It did not significantly modify the sleep-wakefulness cycle and EEG did not show major alterations. The spectral EEG analysis, by recording cortical variations in both energy spectrum and energy levels of different frequency bands, showed an increase in the 11-15 Hz activity in both groups exposed to lindane. This activity was characterised by spindles well-depicted during slow wave sleep or associated with fast activity during wakefulness and theta activity in paradoxical sleep. These data suggest that chronic exposure to lindane doses as low as 1 μg L⁻¹ in drinking water could lead to central electrophysiological effects possibly involving GABA-benzodiazepine mechanisms.     

额尔齐斯河流域生态系统格局及变化

本文首先对额尔齐斯河流域气候，地貌，水文等环境因子特征进行了评述，进而阐述了流域生态系统的特征和格局以及在自然和人为干扰作用下的变化。分析结果表明在自然干扰作用下流域生态系统的格局与流域水文情势变化相适应，处于准稳定变化状态，而在人为对流域水文情势扰动下，流域生态系统的格局间接地受到影响。从而产生新的格局，其作用的强度，持久性和生态系统的格局变化程度过错大于大于自然干扰作用下的变化。引额调水工程对额尔齐斯河流域河谷生态系统内部单元格局变化具有重要影响。     

Characterizing historical and modern fire regimes in Michigan (USA): A landscape ecosystem approach

We studied the relationships of landscape ecosystems to historical and contemporary fire regimes across 4.3 million hectares in northern lower Michigan (USA). Changes in fire regimes were documented by comparing historical fire rotations in different landscape ecosystems to those occurring between 1985 and 2000. Previously published data and a synthesis of the literature were used to identify six forest-replacement fire regime categories with fire rotations ranging from very short (<100 years) to very long (>1,000 years). We derived spatially-explicit estimates of the susceptibility of landscape ecosystems to fire disturbance using Landtype Association maps as initial units of investigation. Each Landtype Association polygon was assigned to a fire regime category based on associations of ecological factors known to influence fire regimes. Spatial statistics were used to interpolate fire points recorded by the General Land Office. Historical fire rotations were determined by calculating the area burned for each category of fire regime and dividing this area by fifteen (years) to estimate area burned per annum. Modern fire rotations were estimated using data on fire location and size obtained from federal and state agencies. Landtype Associations networked into fire regime categories exhibited differences in both historical and modern fire rotations. Historical rotations varied by 23-fold across all fire rotation categories, and modern forest fire rotations by 13-fold. Modern fire rotations were an order of magnitude longer than historical rotations. The magnitude of these changes has important implications for forest health and understanding of ecological processes in most of the fire rotation categories that we identified.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

稻鸭共作中CH4和N2O排放规律及影响因素

稻鸭共作是目前稻田种养中的一种典型模式,其主要特点是利用鸭子在稻田内的活动,实现经济效益和生态效益的双赢。鸭子的存在丰富了生物多样性,充分利用了稻田生态位。鸭子的持续运动、觅食、排泄等活动会影响稻田温室气体甲烷(CH_4)和氧化亚氮(N_2O)的排放和全球增温潜势(GWP)。本文结合稻鸭共作中鸭子对稻田环境的扰动行为,从水体、土壤、CH_4和N_2O转化功能菌及种植技术等角度,总结探讨了稻鸭共作中温室气体CH_4和N_2O产生、输送和释放的过程与机理。针对当前稻鸭共作温室气体排放研究中存在的问题,提出了一系列建议和展望,以期为稻田种养温室气体减排的研究提供参考。     

地表火对宝天曼栎类森林生态系统服务功能的影响研究

2008年4月至2010年6月采用时间序列代替空间序列的方法,对宝天曼栎类森林生态系统服务功能受地表火影响在不同时间的涵养水源、保育土壤、固碳释氧、生物保育、积累营养物质、负离子提供和森林病虫害防治等7个方面进行了初步评估。结果表明,地表火干扰造成宝天曼栎类森林生态系统服务功能损失的价值在时间序列上依次为1年是24.95万元.hm-2,5年是11.68万元.hm-2,10年是4.91万元.hm-2,15年是0.68万元.hm-2;各项服务功能价值量损失排序为保育土壤>涵养水源>病虫害防治>固碳释氧>积累营养物质>净化大气>生物保育,其中保育土壤和涵养水源两项的损失占总损失量的70%左右,这表明地表火主要影响宝天曼栎类森林生态系统中的保育土壤和涵养水源功能。     

Anthropogenically disturbed potentially toxic elements in roadside topsoils of a suburban region of Bishkek,Central Asia

The ecological environment in Central Asia is vulnerable to pressure from human activity due to the physical geography and climatic fragility of this region. A set of indicators suitable for the future assessment of this pressure needs to be proposed. Thirty‐six topsoil samples (0–5 cm) were collected from roadsides in a suburban region of Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic in Central Asia, and a risk assessment of anthropogenically disturbed potentially toxic elements (PTEs) was systematically conducted with classic statistical methods. The results of detrended correspondence analysis and principal component analysis clearly showed that topsoil samples with high contents of PTEs (Pb, Zn and Cu) were strongly affected by traffic within a distance threshold of 200 m and that anthropogenic effects decreased significantly with increasing distance from the highway. The enrichment factor and anthropogenic contribution for Pb were the highest among the three PTEs, with average values of 2.0% and 47.4%, respectively, suggesting enrichment. However, the results of the human health risk assessment also indicated that noncarcinogenic risks did not occur for any of the anthropogenic PTEs. The reported method provides a new systematic pathway to reveal anthropogenic influences on the geochemical composition of soil. The conclusions of this work will be highly valuable as important guidelines for agriculture, and the results of the PTE contents will provide a scientific basis for soil collection in future studies.     

干旱矿区不同干扰强度下土壤种子库特征

土壤种子库是矿区植被恢复的重要因素,其特征在一定程度上反映了区域的植被恢复潜力。本研究通过样地调查和室内萌发法对乌海新星煤矿区3种不同干扰条件下的土壤种子库及与其地表植被之间的关系进行分析。结果表明:1)新星矿区土壤种子库共有18种植物,隶属于7科16属,物种生活型以多年生草本植物为主;2)新星矿区土壤种子库平均储量较小(226.51~739.17粒·m^?2),并且随着土层深度增加而呈递减趋势,其90%以上的种子储藏在0?10 cm的表层土壤;3)研究区土壤种子库植物与地上植被的共有物种数少,土壤种子库与地上植被的植物群落相似性较低;4)随着干扰强度的增大,种子库的植被恢复潜力呈现先增大后减少的趋势:道路周边受到中度干扰的自然植被区朝着有利的方向发展,而采矿周边受重度干扰的自然植被区会受到较大负面影响,其多样性以及与其他分区植物群落的相似性较小,种子密度显著降低(P<0.05)。