Radiation ecology of soil animals

Summary In this paper the use of animals in organic litter and in the mineral part of soils as bioindicators of ionizing radiation is reviewed. Soil animals are the most suitable biological indicators of radioactive pollution because they are parts of nutritional chains and webs, occur in relatively high numbers and can be collected during most parts of the year. Insects and other forest-dwelling invertebrates are more resistant to radioactive pollution than vertebrates, probably because of the shielding effects of soil constituents. In experiments with ⁹⁰Sr, ¹³⁷Cs, ¹⁰⁶Ru, ⁹⁵Zr, ⁶⁵Zn ¹²⁵Sb and ²³⁹Pu on different components of the mesofauna, earthworms (Oligochaeta) and Myriapoda (Diplopoda and Chilopoda) were affected most intensively, probably because these organisms have an intimate inside and outside contact with soil constituents in the upper layers of the soils. Soil dwellers that are only transitorily in soil or characterized by rapid distribution (predatory Coleoptera, flying insects) are less affected by radiation. Under natural conditions, the doses of irradiation of animals in the upper forest layers are lower than those of dwellers within soil. Forest insects that hibernate in soils at the egg or larval stage are most intensively affected and reduced by radiation. Earthworms prove particularly sensitive to an increased Ra-radiation background. They are among the best bioindicators of polluted soils.In honour of my teacher and colleague Prof. Dr. M.S. Ghilarov     

传统耕作和免耕的红壤生态系统土壤动物种群的分异

In a field experiment ,the popultions of major soil fauna groups including earthworms,enchytraeids,arthropods and nematodes were examined in conventional tillage(CT) and no-tillage(NT) red soil ecosystems to evaluate their responses to tillage disturbance.Earthworms,macro- and micro-arthropods were stimulated under NT with earthworms showing the highest population increase by four times ,while enchytraeids and nematodes favored CT system predicting certain adaptability of these animals to plow-disturbed soil envi-ronment ,On the basis of relative response index it was found that soil fauna was more sensitive to tillage than soil resource base(C and N pools) and microflora.The population structure of soil fauna was also affected by tillage treatments.Analysis on nematode trophic groups showed that bacteria-feeding and plant parasitic nematodes were more abundant in CT soil whereas the proportions of fungivores and onmivore-predators increased in NT soil.Possible reasons for the differentiaion in both size and structure of the fauna populaion were discussed and the ecological significance involved in these changes was emphasized.     

Diversity and function of decomposer fungi from a grassland soil

Despite the substantial interest to ecologists of the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem functioning, little is known about how the high species richness of decomposer (saprotrophic) fungi and their relative frequencies of occurrence influence the decomposition of organic matter. Three experiments were conducted to test the ability of culturable saprotrophic fungal isolates to utilise a range of artificial and more natural substrates that occur in organic matter, with the aims of (1) characterising the functional potential of ‘common’ and ‘occasional’ taxa in an upland grassland soil and (2) determining whether there was a high degree of apparent functional redundancy in these communities. ‘Function’ was defined as the ability of a fungal isolate to utilise broad categories of substrates (e.g. sugars, cellulose, lignin) that occur in organic matter and which change in proportion during decomposition. The terms ‘common/abundant/frequent’ and ‘occasional/infrequent’ usually referred here to the frequencies of occurrence of taxa estimated using Warcup soil plates. Accepting the difficulties of sampling fungi in soil, this appeared to be the most useful isolation method to produce a general picture of the microfungal community with an estimate of frequency of occurrence for every taxon obtained, and to provide cultures for use in function tests. The influence of this technique on the interpretation of the results is discussed.Forty-eight fungal isolates, obtained from an upland grassland in Roxburghshire, UK, were selected to cover the most ‘abundant’ taxa and a range of ‘occasionals’. Pure cultures of anamorphic fungi and members of the Zygomycota, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were tested. Although there was apparently a high degree of functional redundancy (equivalence) in assemblages of culturable decomposer fungi, with ‘frequent’ and ‘infrequent’ taxa largely utilising the same substrates, the ‘infrequent’ taxa played important roles in decomposition. ‘Infrequent’ microfungi tested were potentially more active in decomposition than the ‘frequent’ taxa, i.e. several had a higher overall activity, were able to utilise a wider range of substrates and were more combative than the ‘abundant’ taxa. When ‘abundant’ and ‘occasional’ taxa from the same putative guild were inoculated together on grass litter, there was slight evidence of ‘positive’ indirect effects on decomposition and cellulose degradation. Some ‘negative’ effects on lignin degradation, probably as a result of combat, were observed.It is possible that the ‘occasional’ taxa increased the temporal resilience of the ecosystem process of decomposition, and were ‘waiting in the wings’ to replace the abundant taxa. Nevertheless, greater functional diversity could be associated with the uncultured taxa not studied here.     

大明山的生物多样性及其保护

大明山位于北纬 2 3°10′～ 2 3°38′,东经 10 8°18′～ 10 8°4 5′之间 ,总面积 110 0 km2 。由于人类经济活动的影响 ,大明山的生物多样性遭受了较大规模的破坏。本文介绍了这一地区植物生物多样性现状 ,从物种多样性和生态系统多样性上研究了其生物多样性的特点 ,并提出了与本地区经济发展相协调的生物多样性保护策略     

变化环境下土壤生物多样性潜在威胁与影响因素

作为地球上生物最为丰富的生境,土壤生态系统具有高度的生物多样性,并与地上生态系统有着密切联系。随着经济快速发展,人为干扰日益严重,土壤生物多样性遭受严重威胁,在物种大量灭绝及对土壤生物多样性总体认识相对局限的双重背景下,有效保护土壤生物多样性迫在眉睫。首先,提出了土壤生物多样性的威胁框架,并详述了土地利用变化、农业管理措施、土壤退化、转基因作物、外来植物入侵五大威胁因素在生态系统,物种,基因三个尺度下的不同作用过程。其次,阐明了各威胁因素对土壤生物多样性的具体影响及其驱动机制。最后指出,尽管人们对于上述威胁因素的研究已经有了部分成果,但对于研究各威胁因素在不同尺度下的影响,明确因素间相互作用方式及贡献程度,进行土壤生物多样性威胁的空间精细化制图等方面还面临着巨大挑战。分析土壤生物多样性潜在威胁能够为实现对其综合定量评估、保护土壤生物多样性以及城市规划等提供有力依据。     

有机肥施用对农田中小型土壤动物群落的影响

2016年玉米生长季6～9月,以农田土壤为研究对象,设置了有机肥4个不同施用量处理,即0 kg·hm~(-2)(CK)、15 000 kg·hm~(-2)(OF1)、30 000 kg·hm~(-2)(OF2)、45 000 kg·hm~(-2)(OF3),并对其中小型土壤动物群落及其多样性的变化进行调查研究。研究结果表明,1)从试验样地共捕获中小型土壤动物2 821只,其中:OF处理显著提高了中小型土壤动物个体密度(P0.05),OF1、OF2和OF3处理分别较CK提高2.28%、31.93%和60.70%;有机肥施用有降低类群数的趋势,但无显著差异(P0.05);2)各处理对中小型土壤动物多样性指数无显著影响(P0.05);3)农田中小型土壤动物具有明显表聚性,各处理0～10 cm土层的个体密度和类群数显著高于10～20和20～30 cm土层的个体密度(P0.05)。有机肥施用对农田中小型土壤动物具有一定的影响,有机肥对土壤的影响是深远的,目前的结果着重表现在对个体密度的影响较大,对多样性的变化,需要长期观测。     

Relationships between soil properties and feeding activity of soil fauna in acid forest soils

We investigated the relationships between soil chemical properties, humus form, and feeding activity in eight forest sites in Northrhine‐Westphalia, Germany. The study sites varied in forest type (oak, oak‐hornbeam, spruce, and pine). Three study sites were located under the same climatic conditions, and five study sites were distributed all over Northrhine‐Westphalia. We determined humus form, soil chemical properties, and feeding activity in three replication plots per site. We used the bait‐lamina test to determine feeding activity of soil fauna. Independent of forest type, all study sites were very acid with pH(CaCl₂) values in the Ah horizon between 2.8 and 4.0. The three study sites located under the same climatic conditions showed very homogenous soil chemical properties (pH in Ah: 2.9–3.0), whereas the five other sites varied significantly due to their soil chemical parameters (pH in Ah: 2.8–4.0). All single sites presented feeding activities with a very low spatial heterogeneity. Forest types and climatic conditions were not related to activity of soil fauna. Feeding activity and thickness of the O layer were strongly negatively correlated, whereas the activity was strongly positively correlated to soil pH in the five study sites with a wide range of soil chemical parameters. The three extremely acid forest sites presented significant differences in feeding activities that were not related to soil chemical properties.     

保护性耕作下土壤动物群落及其与土壤肥力的关系

保护性耕作不仅能改善土壤特性,增加作物产量,也是缓解农田生物多样性损失的重要措施之一。为了探讨保护性耕作下土壤动物群落结构及其与土壤肥力的关系,试验采用裂区设计,主区为翻耕和免耕,副区为3种秸秆还田处理。结果表明：秸秆还田显著增加了土壤动物优势类群弹尾目和蜱螨目,耕作方式和秸秆还田量之间存在显著的交互效应。免耕和秸秆还田的结合增加了土壤有机质含量,但pH值下降;秸秆还田增加了土壤全氮和速效磷;与初始条件相比,过氧化氢酶和蔗糖酶活性下降,而尿酶活性有所增加。土壤有机质和全氮对土壤动物特别是弹尾目和蜱螨目有显著的正效应,土壤速效磷含量也与优势类群表现为正相关;鞘翅目、双尾目和唇足纲表现了能适应相对较高pH值的土壤环境。总之,保护性耕作在一定程度上增加土壤碳库,缓解温室效应,同时也提高了土壤动物丰富度;土壤动物与土壤养分密切相关,表现其在作物对养分利用的有效性上起着重要的作用。     

Effect of Geogenic Lead on Fungal and Collembolan Communities in Garden Topsoil

Geogenic lead (Pb) is considered to be less bioavailable than anthropogenic Pb and exerts less effect on the soil fauna. However, Pb contamination in vegetables has been reported in the case of geogenic anomalies, even at moderate concentrations (around 170 mg kg^–1). In this study, we investigated collembolan communities using both taxonomic- and trait-based approaches and observed fungal communities to assess the effects of a moderate geogenic Pb anomaly on collembolans and fungi in an urban vegetable garden soil. Results indicated that geogenic Pb indeed modified fungi communities and altered the functional structure of collembolan communities in garden soils. Although geogenic Pb presented low bioavailability, it affected soil fauna and vegetables similar to anthropogenic Pb.     

金沙江干热峡谷中退化的土壤生态系统生物学特征初探

Distribution characteristics of soil animals,microorganisms and enzymatic activity were studied in the dry red soil and Vertisol ecosystems with different degradation degrees in the Yuanmou dry hot valley of the Jinsha River,China.Results showed that Hymenoptera,Araneae and Collembola were the dominant groups of soil animals in the polts studied.The numbers of groups and individuals and density of soil animals in the dry red soil series were higher than those in the Vertisol series,and the numbers of individuals and density of soil animals decreased with the degree of soil degradation.Bacteria dominated microbiococnosis not only in the dry red soils but also in the Vertisols.Microbial numbers of the dry red soil series were higher than those of Vertisol series,and decreased with the degree of soil degradation.The activities of catalase,invertase,urease and alkaline phosphatase declined with the degradation degree and showed a significant decline with depth in the profiles of both the dry red soils and the Vertisols,but activities of polyphenol oxidase and acid and neutral phosphatase showed the same tendencies only in the Vertisols.It was concluded that the characteristics of soil animals,microorganisms and enzymatic activity could be used as the bio-indicators to show the degradation degree of the dry red soils and Vertisols.Correlation among these soil bio-indicators was highly significant.     

水源涵养基本功能区水力侵蚀现状分析简

针对全国水土保持区划中确定的22个具有水源涵养功能的基本功能区,利用第1次全国水利普查获取的水力侵蚀数据,分析这些区域的水力侵蚀现状.结果表明：1）水源涵养基本功能区水力侵蚀以轻中度侵蚀为主,超过80％,强烈、极强烈、剧烈面积分布较少,与全国基本状况相似;2）与第2次全国土壤侵蚀遥感调查成果相比,水源涵养基本功能区水力侵蚀整体上有所好转,水力侵蚀总面积减少3.75％,轻中度侵蚀面积大幅减少,减幅超过20％;3）水源涵养基本功能区局部地区水力侵蚀形势严峻,极强烈和剧烈侵蚀面积虽然不大,但是与第2次遥感调查成果相比,面积均有所增加,相对增幅较大,说明局部地区存在水力侵蚀恶化的现象.     

山东省不同植被类型土壤有机碳及其组分分布特征研究

为了研究山东省不同植被类型森林土壤有机碳及其组分分布特征,选取山东省黑松林、柏木林、针阔混交林3种植被类型下的森林土壤为研究对象,比较分析不同土层(0－20cm、20－40cm)的土壤有机碳(SOC)、可溶性有机碳(DOC)、易氧化有机碳(EOC)和颗粒有机碳(POC)的含量变化。结果表明:(1)0－40cm土层黑松林、柏木林和针阔混交林的SOC含量变化依次为4.35－15.04 g·kg-1、5.72－34.87 g·kg-1和3.71－10.72 g·kg-1,各土层中柏木林的SOC含量最高;(2)土壤有机碳及其组分在不同植被类型下存在一定差异,SOC和POC含量表现为柏木林＞针阔混交林、黑松林,DOC含量在上、下土层间表现为柏木林＞针阔混交林＞黑松林,EOC含量表现为针阔混交林＞柏木林、黑松林;(3)除黑松林的DOC和EOC外,其余各植被类型的SOC、EOC、EOC、POC含量均表现为随着土层深度的增加而减少;(4)SOC与POC存在极显著正相关关系(P＜0.01),其余各碳组分之间关系不显著,冗余分析表明土壤碳组分受土壤理化因子影响较大,全氮对土壤碳组分的影响极显著(P<0.01),速效钾、全钾和pH对土壤碳组分的影响显著(P<0.05)。黑松林、柏木林、针阔混交林土壤的有机碳及其活性组分之间存在差异性,总体上柏木林的有机碳含量最高,说明SOC及其组分受到植被类型和土层深度的影响。     

Biodiversity and functioning of ecological communities — why is diversity important in some cases and unimportant in others?

The paper gives an overview of ecological theories and hypotheses that have been raised in order to predict diversity‐function relationships. In particular, those reasons are discussed that may explain the discrepancy between the theoretical expectation for widespread effects of diversity on functioning and the ambiguous empirical evidence for such effects. Structural differences in the ecology of plants, invertebrates, and micro‐organisms are considered which lead to differences in diversity‐function relationships among these groups of organisms. Four criteria are derived that determine diversity‐function relationships: (1) motility of the organisms under consideration, (2) decoupling of population persistence and functional activity in these organisms, (3) species richness of the organisms' community, and (4) equilibrium stability of the considered ecological process. From these criteria the authors predict that measurable effects of diversity on functioning are (a) likely to be found in plants and in micro‐organisms while they are (b) unlikely to be found in the soil fauna. They predict that diversity is (c) likely to affect primary production, soil energy turnover, and nutrient losses from the system, while it is (d) unlikely to durably influence litter decomposition rate. It is shown that these predictions are largely corroborated by empirical evidence compiled from the literature. The issue of spatial and temporal scale is briefly discussed.     

放牧和刈割对草甸草原中小型土壤动物群落的影响

为了解放牧和刈割对草甸草原中小型土壤动物群落结构的影响,于2019~2020年在内蒙古呼伦贝尔市鄂温克旗贝加尔针茅草甸草原采用自由放牧、刈割和围封3种不同草地利用方式下,研究了内蒙古草甸草原中小型土壤动物群落结构特征。调查研究在草地返青期、生长期和枯黄期3个时期进行,共捕获中小型土壤动物284只,隶属于12目34个类群。结果表明:放牧导致中小型土壤动物数量、类群数和多样性指数降低,而刈割影响相对较轻;返青期、生长期、枯黄期对应的春、夏、秋三季中小型土壤动物群落结构存在明显差异,土壤动物个体数、类群数和多样性指数均在草地枯黄期最多。放牧和刈割利用方式下改变了草甸草原中小型土壤动物在草地生长期Shannon-Weiner指数、Margalef指数、Pielou指数的变化趋势。中小型土壤动物群落表聚性在刈割利用方式中表现最为典型,放牧利用方式下0~10 cm土层中小型土壤动物有向10~20 cm 土层移动趋势;土壤pH和速效钾含量与中小型土壤动物类群有密切关系。     

Functional diversity of microbial communities in saline soils of the semidesert zone

The health status of microbial communities in soils of the Sulak Lowland (Dagestan) was estimated on the basis of data on their functional diversity. The health status of the microbial communities decreased in the following soil sequence: typical meadow soil > meadow-chestnut soil > dark chestnut soil > saline soil (solonchak). The low concentration of soluble salts (<1 meq/100 g of soil) had a positive effect on the functioning of the microbial communities. The health status of the microbial communities also depended on the soil humus content and pH conditions.     

黄淮海平原小麦保护性耕作对土壤动物总量和多样性的影响

强度的耕作管理使土壤生物多样性下降,也使农业可持续发展面临困难,而实行保护性耕作可以缓解这一问题。通过调查小麦季保护性耕作下土壤动物群落结构,分析了耕作方式和秸秆覆盖对土壤动物群落的影响,采用冗余分析（RDA）并设置协变量的方法对土壤动物数量变异进行了研究。结果表明,弹尾目和蜱螨目是土壤动物优势类群,两者数量之和占总数比例约为80％,土壤动物在表层（0～10cm）分布较大,约占总数的75％。土壤动物类群数免耕高于翻耕,覆盖量越大,个体数量越多。免耕在小麦拔节期有更高的多样性指数,但在成熟期土壤动物优势类群明显,多样性指数下降。相似性指数表现为土壤动物类群对环境具有选择性,翻耕和免耕之间类群差异较大。耕作方式、覆盖数量、土壤层次和时间共解释了土壤动物数量变异量的28．7％,其中时间占最大的变异量,为12．2％,其次是秸秆覆盖处理（8．7％）和土壤层次（6．4％）。耕作方式直接解释的变异量较小,但耕作方式显著影响了秸秆覆盖的作用形式,进一步影响了土壤动物的垂直分布状况。     

Soil fauna community in the black soil of Northeast China under different tillage systems

Soil fauna is an important component in soil ecosystems. This study tested whether conservation tillage or conventional tillage of a black soil (Udic Mollisol) field in Northeast China could affect its soil fauna communities. Two different conservation tillage systems, no-tillage (NT) and reduced tillage (RT), as well as a conventional rotary tillage system (CT), were chosen for this study. There were 4562 individuals isolated from this study, which included two orders and 35 families. Acariformes was the most abundant family and represented 91.56% of the total faunal abundance. The abundance and the number of faunal families were higher in conservation tillage systems than in the CT. The RT system had the highest individual number of soil fauna among three tillage methods. The faunal accumulation in the soil surface also was significantly higher in the two conservation tillage systems than in the CT. Our results indicate that the conservation tillage systems could protect the soil fauna in the soil ecosystem better than the CT.     

Catabolic response and phospholipid fatty acid profiles as microbial tools to assess soil functioning

Microbial properties may help to provide an integrated view of changes in soil functioning associated with soil management or soil status. The fatty acid profiles of membrane phospholipids (PLFA) can give the composition of ecophysiological groups of soil microbial communities, while catabolic response profiles (CRP) estimate the heterotrophic functional diversity in soils, both relevant to the understanding of the role of micro‐organisms in the functioning of the soil. The objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate the CRP and PLFA as microbial tools to characterize changes in soil functioning and (ii) clarify the relation among these microbial measurements, with other physical, chemical and biochemical soil properties. We compare the same soil subjected to different managements and degrees of erosion. An undisturbed soil (UN), an old pasture soil (OP) and soils under continuous cultivation (NT) with four different depth of A horizon: 25 cm (NT 25), 23 cm (NT 23), 19 cm (NT 19) and 14 cm (NT 14) were tested. Substrate‐induced respiration of most substrates diminished when cropping pressure increased (UN > OP > NT), and soil catabolic evenness, as a diversity index, decreased by increasing production pressure and soil erosion. The correlation found among most of the measured physical, chemical and biochemical soil properties with the catabolic evenness showed the potential of this measurement to provide an integrated view of soil functioning. The PLFA analysis showed that the composition of microbial community denoting a partial recovery after 10 yr under grazed grassland. The stress indicators showed that farming practices increased microbial stress with the highest values found in the most eroded soils.     

Functional implications of soil fauna diversity in boreal forests

This paper is a review of recent experiments dealing with the role of soil fauna in decomposition, mineralisation and primary production in coniferous forest soils. The experiments have been grouped according to the degree and nature of the ‘diversity gradient' between the ‘more diverse' community and its control: single animal species or an uncontrolled mixture of species versus microbiota only, several known animal species of the same trophic group versus one species only (species diversity), two or more functional groups versus one only, and food chains with predators versus microbes and microbivores only. The evidence available at present suggests that taxonomic diversity and predation have no consistent effects on the process rates in soil, while adding to the ‘functional' or ‘trophic group diversity' results in a more predictable enhancement in mineralisation. Especially the enchytraeid Cognettia sphagnetorum seems to be a keystone species in boreal forest soils. However, there are only few experiments in which species diversity per se has been taken as a separate factor, without a simultaneous change in the number of trophic groups or in total decomposer biomass.