Influence of contrasting urban edges on the abundance of arboreal mammals: A study of squirrel gliders (Petaurus norfolcensis) in southeast Queensland, Australia

The primary impacts of urban development on biodiversity are loss and fragmentation of habitat, and changes in the structure, composition and function of remnant native ecosystems. Forest dependent species, including arboreal mammals, are particularly sensitive to these changes due to their highly specific habitat requirements and inability or reluctance to cross the urban matrix. We addressed this problem using a case study of the squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) in fragmented urban landscapes of southeast Queensland, Australia. We applied a mixed effect modeling approach clustered by patch to quantify the importance of site-level habitat factors relative to edge contrast and habitat patch size on squirrel glider abundance. Analysis of variance was used to test for differences in glider age and sex in interior habitats compared to road and residential edges. We found that edge contrast had a strong negative effect on the abundance of squirrel gliders but is conditional on the presence of a low numbers of unreliable flowering overstorey trees and the availability of critical resources such as nest hollows at a site. We also found that older male gliders prefer forest fragment interiors over road and residential edge habitats. We conclude that although interior habitats are ideal to maintain large stable populations, the conservation value of low contrast edges containing key site-level resources should not be underestimated for arboreal mammals such as the squirrel glider.     

The regional distribution of large gliding possums in southern Queensland, Australia. I. The yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis)

Generalised linear modelling (logistic regression) was used to predict habitat suitability for the yellow-bellied glider (Petaurus australis) from data collected from 620 sites throughout southern Queensland, Australia. Of 42 potential explanatory biotic and abiotic variables, 12 were selected in the final model including an index describing bark characteristics of the overstorey, five climatic variables, three topographic/lithological variables, two landscape metrics and one survey covariate. The predictive capacity of the final model was evaluated using Receiver Operating Characteristic curves and an independent validation dataset (ROC = 0.75; n = 180). Of the extant forest and woodlands of the southern Queensland study region, the interpolated model predicted that approximately 19% was yellow-bellied glider habitat. The majority of predicted habitat occurred within public-owned forests, which are managed under a set of prescribed standards in a Code of Practice for commercial forest management. An important issue for conservation management of the yellow-bellied glider will be management of habitat on privately owned land, which incorporates over 27% of potential glider habitat.     

Plant species richness and composition in managed grasslands: The relative importance of field management and environmental factors

Decline of grassland diversity throughout Europe within the last decades is threatening biological diversity and is a major conservation problem. There is an urgent need to determine the underlying factors that control vascular plant species richness and composition in managed grasslands. In this study, 117 grasslands were sampled using standardised methods. Explanatory variables were recorded for each grassland site, reflecting the local field management, site-specific environmental conditions and large-scale spatial trends. Using variation partitioning methods, we determined the pure and shared effects of these three sets of explanatory variables on the plant species richness and composition in grasslands. Most of the explained variation in plant species richness was related to the joint effect of local field management and environmental variables. However, the applied variation partitioning approach revealed that the pure effect of spatial variables contributed relatively little to explaining variation in both the plant species richness and species composition. The largest fractions of explained variation in plant species composition were accounted for by the pure effects of environmental and local field management variables. Moreover, the results revealed that the main mechanisms by which these sets of explanatory variables affect plant species vary according to the type of management regime under study. From our findings we could conclude that particularly a reduction of nitrogen fertilisation on meadows and grazing at a low stocking rate on pastures can help to conserve biodiversity.     

The importance of inorganic carbon in soil carbon databases and stock estimates: a case study from England

Many national and regional databases of soil properties and associated estimates of soil carbon stock consider organic, but not inorganic carbon (IC). Any future change in soil carbon stock resulting from the formation of pedogenic carbonates will be difficult to set in context because historical measurements or estimates of IC concentration and stock may not be available. In their article describing a database of soil carbon for the United Kingdom published in this journal, Bradley et al. [Soil Use and Management (2005) vol. 21, 363–369] only consider data for organic carbon (OC), despite the occurrence of IC‐bearing calcareous soils across a substantial part of southern England. Robust techniques are required for establishing IC concentrations and stocks based on available data. We present linear regression models (R² between 0.8 and 0.88) to estimate IC in topsoil based on total Ca and Al concentrations for soils over two groups of primary, carbonate‐bearing parent materials across parts of southern and eastern England. By applying the regression models to geochemical survey data across the entire area (18 165 km²), we estimate IC concentrations on a regular 500‐m grid by ordinary kriging. Using bulk density data from across the region, we estimate the total IC stock of soil (0–30 cm depth) in this area to be 186 MtC. This represents 15.5 and 5.5% of the estimated total soil carbon stock (OC plus IC) across England and the UK, respectively, based on the data presented by Bradley et al. [Soil Use and Management (2005) vol. 21, 363–369]. Soil geochemical data could be useful for estimating primary IC stocks in other parts of the world.     

The challenge of maintaining Atlantic forest biodiversity: A multi-taxa conservation assessment of specialist and generalist species in an agro-forestry mosaic in southern Bahia

Recent developments have highlighted the importance of forest amount at large spatial scales and of matrix quality for ecological processes in remnants. These developments, in turn, suggest the potential for reducing biodiversity loss through the maintenance of a high percentage of forest combined with sensitive management of anthropogenic areas. We conducted a multi-taxa survey to evaluate the potential for biodiversity maintenance in an Atlantic forest landscape that presented a favorable context from a theoretical perspective (high proportion of mature forest partly surrounded by structurally complex matrices). We sampled ferns, butterflies, frogs, lizards, bats, small mammals and birds in interiors and edges of large and small mature forest remnants and two matrices (second-growth forests and shade cacao plantations), as well as trees in interiors of small and large remnants. By considering richness, abundance and composition of forest specialists and generalists, we investigated the biodiversity value of matrix habitats (comparing them with interiors of large remnants for all groups except tree), and evaluated area (for all groups) and edge effects (for all groups except trees) in mature forest remnants. Our results suggest that in landscapes comprising high amounts of mature forest and low contrasting matrices: (1) shade cacao plantations and second-growth forests harbor an appreciable number of forest specialists; (2) most forest specialist assemblages are not affected by area or edge effects, while most generalist assemblages proliferate at edges of small remnants. Nevertheless, differences in tree assemblages, especially among smaller trees, suggest that observed patterns are unlikely to be stable over time.     

应用反射光谱法估测矿区附近农田土壤As, Cu污染

Concentrations of Iron (Fe), As, and Cu in soil samples from the fields near the Baoshan Mine in Hunan Province, China, were analyzed and soil spectral reflectance was measured with an ASD FieldSpec FR spectroradiometer (Analytical Spectral Devices, Inc., USA) under laboratory condition. Partial least square regression (PLSR) models were constructed for predicting soil metal concentrations. The data pre-processing methods, first and second derivatives (FD and SD), baseline correction (BC), standard normal variate (SNV), multiplicative scatter correction (MSC), and continuum removal (CR), were used for the spectral reflectance data pretreatments. Then, the prediction results were evaluated by relative root mean square error (RRMSE) and coefficients of determination (R²). According to the criteria of minimal RRMSE and maximal R², the PLSR models with the FD pretreatment (RRMSE = 0.24, R² = 0.61), SNV pretreatment (RRMSE = 0.08, R² = 0.78), and BC-pretreatment (RRMSE = 0.20, R² = 0.41) were considered as the final models for predicting As, Fe, and Cu, respectively. Wavebands at around 460, 1 400, 1 900, and 2 200 nm were selected as important spectral variables to construct final models. In conclusion, concentrations of heavy metals in contaminated soils could be indirectly assessed by soil spectra according to the correlation between the spectrally featureless components and Fe; therefore, spectral reflectance would be an alternative tool for monitoring soil heavy metals contamination.     

青海三江源地区土壤容重转换函数的建立与比较

Bulk density (BD) is an important soil physical property and has significant effect on soil water conservation function. Indirect methods, which are called pedotransfer functions (PTFs), have replaced direct measurement and can acquire the missing data of BD during routine soil surveys. In this study, multiple linear regression (MLR) and artificial neuron network (ANN) methods were used to develop PTFs for predicting BD from soil organic carbon (OC), texture and depth in the Three-River Headwater region of Qinghai Province, China. The performances of the developed PTFs were compared with 14 published PTFs using four indexes, the mean error (ME), standard deviation error (SDE), root mean squared error (RMSE) and coefficient of determination (R²). Results showed that the performances of published PTFs developed using exponential regression were better than those developed using linear regression from OC. Alexander (1980)-B, Alexander (1980)-A and Manrique and Jones (1991)-B PTFs, which had good predictions, could be applied for the soils in the study area. The PTFs developed using MLR (MLR-PTFs) and ANN (ANN-PTFs) had better soil BD predictions than most of published PTFs. The ANN-PTFs had better performances than the MLR-PTFs and their performances could be improved when soil texture and depth were added as predictor variables. The idea of developing PTFs or predicting soil BD in the study area could provide reference for other areas and the results could lay foundation for the estimation of soil water retention and carbon pool.     

杉木及其混交林的结构与功能模型——以福建省将乐国有林场为例

为提高森林多功能经营水平和森林效益,以福建省将乐国有林场内典型的杉木及其混交林为例,以17个易测因子为自变量,分别以森林生物量积累功能、水源涵养功能、保育土壤功能以及生物多样性保护功能为因变量,建立林分结构与功能的多元线性回归模型,并利用主成分分析法得到森林综合功能模型.结果表明:1)林分年龄、平均胸径和密度对森林的各项功能均具有一定的影响,林分平均高更侧重于影响森林的水源涵养功能.2)决定森林多功能水平的林分因子主要为林分年龄和林分平均胸径.3)在55块调查标准地中,森林综合功能指数最高为453,最低为-153.将乐国有林场82％的杉木林综合功能良好,18％的杉木林木材生产能力和多样性保护能力较弱,需针对这部分林分进行结构调整以提高森林的多功能性.     

The importance of ecological scale for wildlife conservation in naturally fragmented environments: A case study of the brush-tailed rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata)

Determining the ecologically relevant spatial scales for predicting species occurrences is an important concept when determining species-environment relationships. Therefore species distribution modelling should consider all ecologically relevant spatial scales. While several recent studies have addressed this problem in artificially fragmented landscapes, few studies have researched relevant ecological scales for organisms that also live in naturally fragmented landscapes. This situation is exemplified by the Australian rock-wallabies’ preference for rugged terrain and we addressed the issue of scale using the threatened brush-tailed rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata) in eastern Australia. We surveyed for brush-tailed rock-wallabies at 200 sites in southeast Queensland, collecting potentially influential site level and landscape level variables. We applied classification trees at either scale to capture a hierarchy of relationships between the explanatory variables and brush-tailed rock-wallaby presence/absence. Habitat complexity at the site level and geology at the landscape level were the best predictors of where we observed brush-tailed rock-wallabies. Our study showed that the distribution of the species is affected by both site scale and landscape scale factors, reinforcing the need for a multi-scale approach to understanding the relationship between a species and its environment. We demonstrate that careful design of data collection, using coarse scale spatial datasets and finer scale field data, can provide useful information for identifying the ecologically relevant scales for studying species-environment relationships. Our study highlights the need to determine patterns of environmental influence at multiple scales to conserve specialist species such as the brush-tailed rock-wallaby in naturally fragmented landscapes.     

坝上地区退耕还林还草措施对土壤细菌的影响

以河北坝上地区实施退耕还林还草18年后的耕地、林地、灌丛和草地为研究对象,通过测定土壤理化性质并结合氯仿熏蒸浸提法和高通量测序技术,分析了坝上地区退耕还林还草措施对土壤微生物生物量、细菌多样性和群落结构特征的影响.结果发现:林地的土壤含水量有微弱下降趋势,但不同植被恢复类型下土壤中的碳、氮、磷、钾等元素含量无显著差异....     

Hand-feel soil texture observations to evaluate the accuracy of digital soil maps for local prediction of soil particle size distribution: A case study in Central France

Digital maps of soil properties are now widely available. End-users now can access several digital soil mapping (DSM) products of soil properties, produced using different models, calibration/training data, and covariates at various spatial scales from global to local. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide easy-to-understand tools to communicate map uncertainty and help end-users assess the reliability of DSM products for use at local scales. In this study, we used a large amount of hand-feel soil texture (HFST) data to assess the performance of various published DSM products on the prediction of soil particle size distribution in Central France. We tested four DSM products for soil texture prediction developed at various scales (global, continental, national, and regional) by comparing their predictions with approximately 3 200 HFST observations realized on a 1:50 000 soil survey conducted after release of these DSM products. We used both visual comparisons and quantitative indicators to match the DSM predictions and HFST observations. The comparison between the low-cost HFST observations and DSM predictions clearly showed the applicability of various DSM products, with the prediction accuracy increasing from global to regional predictions. This simple evaluation can determine which products can be used at the local scale and if more accurate DSM products are required.     

The difference in soil organic carbon distribution between natural and planted forests: A case study on stony soils mountainous area in the Upper Min River Arid Valley,China

Few studies have been conducted on the factors and distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) in plantation forests in arid mountainous regions, especially in orchards. We aimed to unravel the SOC distribution among land-use types and the effects of altitude gradients and rock fragment content (RFC) on SOC accumulation and sequestration in the Upper Min River Arid Valley, China. The differences in SOC distribution among land-use types were quantified. The correlation analysis of SOC with various factors, such as altitude and RFC, was conducted. The variation percentage in SOC content and stocks was explained by the factors' contribution using mixed-effects models. SOC distribution was characterized by high content and low stocks in native forests and shrubs, high content and high stocks in eco-forest, and low content and high stocks in orchards. At the surface (0–30 cm), SOC content and stocks in orchards (cherry, plum, and apple) were significantly lower than those in eco-forests. There was a significant positive correlation between altitude and SOC content at the surface but not at the subsoil (30–60 cm). With RFC increased, the surface SOC content decreased in native forests, shrubs, and eco-forests, while it increased in orchards. Our results suggest that land management is the main factor controlling the variation in SOC distribution. Enhancing the surface SOC stability in orchards by land management is a priority for soil carbon pool management in the Arid Valleys.     

基于农牧户视角的荒漠化治理中退牧还草技术综合评价——以内蒙古鄂托克旗为例

农牧户作为退牧还草技术的实施者和重要利益相关者,其对技术的感知度和认可度对于调整和完善退牧还草技术具有重要的现实意义。本文以草地荒漠化典型区域——内蒙古鄂托克旗为例,采用主观层次分析法和客观熵权法相结合的方法,构建包括技术成熟度、技术应用难度、技术相宜性、技术效益和技术推广潜力5个方面的退牧还草技术综合评价指标体系,基于农牧户视角对内蒙古鄂托克旗退牧还草技术进行综合评价。结果表明:1)基于农牧户视角的鄂托克旗退牧还草技术综合评价结果为0.469 8,说明农牧户对于退牧还草技术的综合评价处于中等水平,技术满意度一般,技术可持续性较弱。具体表现为农牧户对于技术自身的草地生态系统退化修复功能持以肯定态度,生态效益评价较高;而对于经济效益和技术可持续性评价较低。2)分项退牧还草技术评价结果由高到低的排序为:技术相宜性、技术效益、技术成熟度、技术应用难度、技术推广潜力。3)分区域研究得出,鄂托克旗退牧还草技术综合评价的区域差异性较小。因此,退牧还草技术的综合评价结果能够反映农牧户对于该项技术的满意程度,为退牧还草技术的持续有效实施提供参考。     

The dynamics of N2O near the groundwater table and the transfer of N2O into the unsaturated zone: A case study from a sandy aquifer in Germany

The research area was the Fuhrberger Feld aquifer (FFA) in northern Germany. It is situated about 30km northeast of the city of Hannover and covers about 300km². Six multilevel sampling wells along a representative strip under predominantly arable land along a groundwater flow-line were sampled from the groundwater table down to a depth of 10m below the soil surface. We measured N₂O, CO₂, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, DOC, pH, redox potentials and O₂ concentrations.N₂O accumulated at four out of six wells close to the groundwater table. About 20% of N₂O that occurred between the groundwater table and 7–8m below it resided in the top 0.4m. An exchange zone for N₂O at the interface between the saturated and the unsaturated zone extended 0.55 ± 0.22m below the groundwater table and acted as a source and sink for N₂O. N₂O below the exchange zone cannot be transferred from the groundwater to the atmosphere. The upward fluxes from the exchange zone into the unsaturated zone at the six wells ranged between 0.0009 and 0.3kg N₂O ha^{− 1} year^{− 1}. The yearly downward fluxes into the exchange zones had about the same order of magnitude as the upward fluxes. The upward and downward fluxes of N₂O at the (fluctuating) water table did cancel out each other, but this does not yet imply, that the N₂O fluxes at the soil surface also cancel out each other.N₂O–N:NO₃–N ratios were highly variable ranging from 0.0002 to 0.0417.A multiple regression for the monthly N₂O amounts in the exchange zone could explain 66% of the yearly variation. The significant variables were NO₃⁻, CO₂, pH, and O₂. Therefore, a combination of the land use (NO₃⁻), the geochemical boundary conditions (pH) and the type of denitrification reaction (O₂ and CO₂ indicate the importance of a heterotrophic denitrification process) governed the N₂O dynamics in the surface groundwater of the FFA and its transfer into the unsaturated zone.     

基于景观功能的山区旅游公路水土保持设计思路——以湖北神农架木鱼坪至兴山县昭君桥旅游公路为例

为了充分发挥山区旅游公路水土保持措施的景观功能,以湖北神农架木鱼坪至兴山县昭君桥旅游公路为例,从景观美化功能和景观协调功能2方面进行水土保持设计。景观美化功能方面,根据项目沿线的自然、人文和公路本身的特点,分为3类景观特色带、3个景观过渡带和8个景观特色点,并配置相应的水土保持措施。景观协调功能方面,依据沿线的具体情况,使用渐缩式（阶梯式）空心砖护面墙、上挡墙L形种植槽、路基外侧悬墙式植槽和木桩栅栏式挡墙等绿化技术,进行公路沿线的绿化和美化。     

外来调水对华北低平原区地表水和地下水 水化学特征的影响* ——以河北省南皮县为例

华北低平原区有着巨大的粮食增产潜力,同时也是粮食生产和农业水资源矛盾突出的地区。外来调水与浅层微咸水的联合利用是解决区域水资源问题的有效途径之一,同时也将引起区域水循环和水环境的改变。为明确外来调水对华北低平原区地表水和地下水水化学特征的影响,本研究在华北低平原区河北省南皮县域内对调水后不同季节地表水和地下水进行调查和采样,利用水文地球化学和氢氧(d~2H、d~(18)O)稳定同位素相结合的方法,研究外来调水对地表水和地下水转化及其水化学特征的影响。研究结果表明,11月至翌年7月,受蒸发作用的影响,地表水电导率(EC)和钠吸附比(SAR)增加,d2H、d18O同位素不断富集;由于地表水和周围土壤的交换吸附作用使其水化学类型向Na~+、Cl~-和SO_4~(2-)增加、HCO_3~-减少的咸水转变。调水改变了地表水和浅层地下水之间的补给关系,11月至翌年3月,沟渠附近浅层地下水受外来调水直接或者灌溉补给,使得3月浅层地下水EC降低,埋深变浅,部分采样点分布在外来调水的SAR-EC区域。受调水影响,3月沟渠附近浅层地下水水化学类型为Na·Mg·Ca-Cl·SO_4、Na·Mg-Cl·SO_4·HCO_3、Na·Mg-SO_4·Cl·HCO_3等,是11月调水(Na·Mg·CaSO_4·HCO_3·Cl)和浅层地下水(Na·Mg-Cl·SO_4)的过渡类型。3月至7月浅层地下水补给沟渠水,地下水埋深变深,7月浅层地下水水化学类型与3月相似。调水可以季节性地改善区域内沟渠水及其附近的浅层地下水水质,而对深层地下水和坑塘水的水质无改善作用。调水对沟渠水水质的改善体现在调水季节,对浅层地下水水质的改善存在滞后性,2014年11月调水之后,2015年3月浅层地下水的水质得到改善。因此,采用调水和浅层地下水、坑塘水混合灌溉,对合理开发利用区域咸淡水资源以及深层地下水压采,恢复地下水位意义重大。     

Combining pedometrics,remote sensing and field observations for assessing soil loss in challenging drylands: A case study of Northwestern Somalia

Soil loss is a major concern for land managers due to its influence on biomass production, surface water quality and landscape beauty. In Somalia, the risk of soil loss is accelerated by the removal of vegetation, bad land use practices and negative impacts of urbanization. The political upheavals and consequent insecurity in the country are major limitations for detailed database and research in soil loss. This study tested opportunities in pedometrics, remote sensing, limited field data collection and the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) to model the risk of soil loss in northwestern Somalia. The approach successfully predicted the risk of soil loss with accuracy of 79 per cent. It also showed that RUSLE is only relatively accurate and stable in identifying areas with low risk of soil loss and therefore is useful in modelling early warning signs of erosion. About 24 per cent of northwestern Somalia was depicted to have no significant human‐induced soil loss while 68 per cent of the region is in threat of soil loss if no action is taken against the removal of vegetation, land use practices and policies on land tenure systems. About 8 per cent of the area is at high risk of soil loss due to negative effects of urbanization and lack of proper management of steep slopes. It is anticipated that this approach can be integrated in the assessment of soil erosion in areas with poor database. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predator-prey relationships and responses of ungulates and their predators to the establishment of protected areas: A case study of tigers, leopards and their prey in Bardia National Park, Nepal

Interactions among sympatric large predators and their prey and how they respond to conservation measures are poorly known. This study examines predictions concerning the effects of establishing a protected area in Nepal on tigers (Panthera tigris), leopards (Panthera pardus), and their ungulate prey. Within a part of the park, after 22 years the total density of wild ungulates had increased fourfold, to ca. 200 animals/km², almost exclusively due to a remarkable increase in chital deer (Axis axis). Tiger density also increased markedly to nearly 20 animals/100 km², whereas leopard density did not and was ca. 5 animals/100 km². The prediction that grazers should increase more than browsers was only partially supported. The prediction of positive density dependence in prey selection was not supported. Instead, the most abundant species (chital and hog deer, Axis porcinus) were killed less frequently than expected, whereas the lower-density wild boar (Sus scrofa) was preferred. Predictions that (i) initially rare species suffer highest predation was partially supported, that (ii) predation is highest among the most abundant prey was not supported, and that (iii) predation is highest among the most preferred prey independently of their densities was supported. Clearly, the conservation efforts adopted in Bardia were successful, as both tigers and their natural prey base increased. However, the positive numerical response of tigers limited and depressed the abundance of some prey species. Thus, conservation activities aimed at restoring large predators are likely to change in the composition of the overall mammal community, potentially eliminating rare but preferred prey species.