Restoration of plant diversity on ditch banks: Seed and site limitation in response to agri-environment schemes

Recently it has become clear that seed limitation is probably a much more important factor in plant recovery than has often been recognized. However, in practice, restoration measures that are focussed on decreasing site limitation may actually increase seed limitation. We tried to determine whether the effects of restoration measures affect site or seed limitation or both. An experiment was set up on ditch banks in the Netherlands which applied agri-environment schemes (AES). To investigate whether nature reserves (seed source) can improve species diversity on the surroundings and to what extent AES is improving this function, we studied the plant diversity (presence of individual species and species richness) of ditch bank vegetations in relation to increasing distance from nature reserves. The presence or absence and species richness of 25 target plants were assessed in 26 ditch banks with AES and 36 non-AES at 15 plots each differing in distance to a nature reserve. Data were analyzed using a Hierarchical Generalized Linear Model (HGLM) with species richness and presence of individual species as response variables and distance to nature reserve and application of AES as factors, controlling for possible confounding factors. Results were interpreted as the effects of AES on seed and site limitation of the species. The results showed that plant diversity decreased significantly with distance from source populations. There were considerable differences in species diversity between AES and non-AES ditch banks, with the former showing greater plant diversity especially in the first 200 m from nature reserves. Presences of all individual species decreased with distance to nature reserve, but the strength of this relationship and the AES effects differed among species. AES ditch banks had lower site limitations for most plant species, but did not have lower seed limitation.     

Synergy between nature reserves and agri-environmental schemes in enhancing ditch bank target species plant diversity

The issue of what conservation strategies to apply in agricultural landscape for the most effective protection of biodiversity has been debated for some years. The creation and maintenance of nature reserves is often hampered by both ecological and economic factors, while the ecological effectiveness of agri-environment schemes (AES) is still being queried. Our study examined how the spatial pattern of nature reserves and AES affects the diversity of 25 target species of conservation interest in ditch banks and how this information might be used to develop a strategy resulting in synergy between protected areas and enhanced matrix quality. We studied target species plant diversity on 92 ditch banks under AES and on 102 banks not under such a regime; all of them running parallel to nature reserves. We compared the results with those obtained from a previous study which focused on ditch banks running transverse. On non-AES ditch banks running parallel to nature reserves, there was a significant decline in species richness with increasing distance from the nature reserve while this was not the case for AES ditch banks. The effect of AES differed between the two directions, with a significant effect beyond 200 m in the parallel direction and within 200 m in the transverse direction. Our results indicate that synergy between nature reserves and AES can enhance plant diversity and, since the AES effect was different in different direction due to wind direction and nitrogen input to adjacent fields, location of AES should be chosen carefully.     

排水沟渠水-底泥-植物协同作用下非点源溶质氮运移模拟研究

沟渠系统"过程拦截"是现阶段农业非点源污染控制和管理的重要手段。针对当前农田排水沟渠水体-底泥-植物系统内各介质间非点源溶质迁移转化机制不清的现状,在简要分析农田排水沟渠水-底泥-植物复合生态结构及其各组分功能特征的基础上,以沟渠中水体为中心,解析了非点源溶质氮在沟渠系统单一介质以及不同介质间的迁移转化过程;考虑到排水沟渠中水体和污染物均以沿沟渠方向线性迁移为主,应用水流连续方程和非保守性污染物迁移扩散方程,构建了农田排水及其中非点源污染物在排水沟渠中的一维迁移模型,并结合试验沟渠具体情况进行了适度简化;通过内业可控性监测试验,同时提出了沟渠系统水-底泥-植物不同介质对水体中非点源污染物衰减程度影响的量化计算方法;将所建模型与计算参数应用于野外试验沟渠,以氨态氮和硝酸盐氮为例进行模拟,结果表明模拟结果与实测值结合较好,其中氨态氮模拟效率系数为0.87,硝态氮模拟效率系数0.93,表明所建模型及模拟手段符合试验沟渠实际情况,具有较好的适用性。     

宁夏引黄灌区农田排水沟渠水生植物物种多样性

为探索宁夏引黄灌区农田排水沟水生植物物种组成和多样性,采用样方调查法在灌区农田选取典型支沟、斗沟和农沟,并在每条沟渠布设上、中、下游断面,断面上设置样方大小进行退水沟渠水生植物物种种类、数量、多度、盖度调查。结果表明：宁夏引黄灌区排水沟水生植物由11个科,13个属,20个种组成,其中,芦苇、蔗草、水莎草、香蒲、龙须眼子菜和浮叶眼子菜是分布较广的优势种。群落垂直分层明显,但以芦苇及其伴生种组成的挺水群落多见。灌区农田排水沟各层次植物种类分布和多样性指数差异较大,表现为农沟〉斗沟〉支沟。水位和流速是影响沟渠水生植物形态及分布的主要因素。农沟中水流速度较慢,生长环境稳定,有利于多种植物的繁殖,为科学合理布局优势物种富集农田排水中的养分,以达到控制农田非点源污染目的提供了可能。     

Agricultural drainage ditches, their biological importance and functioning

We reviewed studies on the biological state of agricultural drainage ditches in the temperate and boreal zones of the Northern Hemisphere. We looked at the relative importance of ditches for farmland biota as compared to that of other habitats, and assessed the degree to which biological communities of ditches contribute to the provisioning of ecosystem services. We evaluated impacts pertaining to replacement of open drains by subsurface drainage, removal of main ditches, rehabilitation of old drainage systems, and maintenance of ditches. Most ditches support species also common elsewhere. Whenever comprehensive surveys were conducted, ditches were shown to provide valuable wet vegetated non-cropped habitats to both aquatic and terrestrial taxa, supply food resources lacking in otherwise dry and intensively managed cropland, and perform connectivity functions within a wider landscape. Regionally ditches were shown to harbour rare species or species not found presently in other farmland habitats. Some functions of drainage ditches, such as regulating water flow and nutrient retention, are likely to depend on the composition and structure of biological communities of ditches, though the issue remains poorly explored. The biggest threat to the quality of ditch networks as ecosystems is presented by a severe runoff from the fields, management in disregard of a habitat value of ditches, and removal of ditches.     

Will climate change reduce the efficacy of protected areas for amphibian conservation in Italy?

Amphibians are an important and imperiled component of biodiversity. In this study we analyze the efficacy of Italian reserve network for protecting multiple amphibian species in a climate change scenario, considering both nationally designated areas and Natura 2000 sites. Our approach is based on ensemble niche modeling estimate of potential range shift under two carbon emission scenarios (A1FI and B1) and two dispersal assumptions. The predicted distributions were used to perform gap and irreplaceability analyses. Our findings show that the current Italian reserve network incompletely represents current amphibian diversity and its geographic pattern. The combination of the nationally designated protected areas and the Natura 2000 sites improves current representation of amphibians, but conservation targets based on geographic range extent are achieved for only 40% of species. Under the future scenarios, Natura 2000 sites become a crucial component of the protected areas system. Nonetheless, we predict that climate change decreases for many species the amount of suitable range falling into reserves, regardless of our assumptions about dispersal. We identify some currently unprotected areas that have high irreplaceability scores for species conservation and that maintain their importance under all the future scenarios we considered. We recommend designation of new reserves in these areas to help guarantee long-term amphibian conservation.     

Effects of non-cropped landscape diversity on spatial dynamics of farmland birds in intensive farming systems

Increasing habitats diversity in agricultural landscapes has been proposed as a key measure for reversing the decline of farmland biodiversity in Europe. However, indicators used for assessing such a potential compensation effect usually only rely on species diversity and abundance while ignoring variations in species-specific vulnerability. The extent to which habitat diversity may reverse the decline of specialist species in Europe to farming systems is thus still unclear. In this study, we investigate whether the effect of non-cropped habitat diversity on farmland birds’ occurrences was dependent on species’ specialization for habitats. In particular, we focused on the relative effects of non-cropped habitat diversity on species’ abilities to persist or to colonize new vacant areas. We used a capture-recapture statistical framework to study the spatial dynamics of 20 farmland bird species in France monitored from 2001 to 2007. We found that non-cropped landscape diversity reduces both the probabilities that a species becomes extinct locally and that a species colonizes new vacant areas, and the occupancy rate. Although this suggests a possible stabilizing effect of the surrounding habitat diversity on species occurrence in farming systems, the occupancy was only weakly affected. Moreover, we found that the most specialist species were the more negatively affected by this landscape diversity in terms of colonization abilities. We argue that accounting for the differences in habitat specialization among farmland species can improve conservation policies dedicated to the management of landscape diversity.     

改进灰色模式识别模型评价洱海雨季灌排沟渠水质

为揭示洱海流域农田生产与农村生活单元交替分布对灌排沟渠水质的综合影响及污染物贡献率,选取流域典型灌排沟渠不同断面进行连续取样观测,在分析化学需氧量(chemical oxygen demand,COD)、总氮(total nitrogen,TN)、总磷(total phosphorus,TP)及铵态氮(ammonium nitrogen,NH_4~+-N)浓度变化特征基础上,采用"中心化"灰色模式识别模型和综合平均污染指数对沟渠农田入口-农田出口-村落出口-农田出口-村落出口-农田出口断面水质进行综合评价。结果表明:沟渠断面TP和总可溶磷(totaldissolved phosphate,TDP)浓度沿水流方向持续增加,TN和硝态氮(nitrate nitrogen,NO_3~--N)浓度先增加随后稳定,沟渠农田出口段NH_4~+-N和COD浓度分别削减13.43%～57.88%和2.88%～19.33%,而流经村落段浓度相应增加。灰色模式识别模型分析发现沿水流方向沟渠断面水质类别分别为Ⅲ类、Ⅱ类、Ⅳ类、Ⅳ类、Ⅴ类和Ⅴ类,综合平均污染指数法表明沟渠中TN和COD是水体主要污染因子,而NO3--N是水体TN的最主要形态。该研究可揭示洱海流域氮磷污染来源与贡献,为明确面源污染防治的主要污染因子提供科技支撑。     

滇池宝象河流域水体氮素特征及影响因素

非点源流失的氮是造成水体污染的主要因素之一.通过对滇池宝象河6个点位沟渠水和河道水体氮素的动态监测,研究了流域水体氮污染特征和影响因素.结果表明,农田沟渠水总氮平均浓度高于相应河道水总氮浓度,沟渠水总氮平均浓度范围为3.86～22.86 mg/L,河道水总氮浓度3.14～6.63 mg/L,总体趋势是从上游到下游水体氮素浓度逐渐升高、并且沟渠水体和河道水体氮素随时间变化呈现同样的趋势.农田沟渠水与河道水体总氮之间、农田沟渠水总氮与沟渠周边表层土壤全氮及沟渠沉积物全氮均呈显著相关性.     

Amphibian distribution in a traditionally managed rural landscape of Eastern Europe: Probing the effect of landscape composition

A massive decline of biodiversity is caused by land-use changes. Efforts must therefore be made to better understand the factors that govern organismal distribution, especially for countries where traditional management is about to be intensified such as in Romania. We here document the spatial distribution of amphibians from a Romanian rural landscape where land-use is still largely traditional. We related the occurrence of nine amphibian species and species richness to measures of composition and configuration of the landscape surrounding 54 ponds at three spatial scales: circular areas of 400, 600 and 800 m radii. Busy roads most severely impacted single species and amphibian richness whereas landscape composition measures, such as cover of urban areas, agricultural areas, pastures, forests and wetlands were of little importance. We suggest that the relative unimportance of landscape compositional measures on amphibians is a consequence of the traditional management of these landscapes that keep the environmental conditions favorable for most species.     

水库防渗措施及坝后排水沟距离对周边农田地下水埋深的影响

干旱区平原水库渗漏对下游农田土壤的水盐动态变化影响较大,易造成土壤的次生盐渍化和沼泽化。水库常采用"上防下排"措施来降低坝后农田地下水埋深,但排水沟参数如何选择,与坝基防渗体如何联合使用,治理效果如何等都值得深入研究。该文基于非饱和土体渗流理论,以恰拉水库周边农田为研究对象,针对"上防下排"措施进行数值模拟,分析恰拉水库采用水平铺盖、悬挂式防渗墙或无防渗措施时,坝后农田地下水埋深与坝后排水沟位置及深度的关系,并针对下游坝坡稳定及坝后积水进行分析,并通过田间试验进行验证。研究表明:在不同的渗流控制方案下,农田地下水埋深均以排水沟中轴线为对称轴呈现"漏斗形"降落趋势,排水沟前地下水埋深逐渐增大,排水沟后的地下水位有一小幅度的减小,因此,"上防下排措施"从"源头"处减小渗水进入坝后农田,增大农田地下水埋深。3种方案对比显示,不同"上防下排"渗流控制方案在遏制水库渗漏和减小坝后农田地下水的效果不同。悬挂式防渗墙和无防渗体工况不能有效减小水库的渗漏量,联合排水沟使用效果较差。22倍水头的水平铺盖在渗流控制方面优于悬挂式防渗墙和无防渗体时的工况,联合坝后排水沟及时排水后,可有效的将地下水埋深控制在2.72 m左右,大于当地的地下水临界水位2.45,有效遏制坝后土壤的盐渍化趋势。排水沟设置的位置和深度对大坝稳定存在一定影响,计算实际工况(22倍水平铺盖)时下游坝坡抗滑安全系数为1.358,大于下游坝坡最小抗滑安全系数1.242,下游坝坡处于安全状态。排水沟设置后,坝趾至沟间的积水长度是产生坝后沼泽化的主要原因。计算和实测实际情况下的积水长度为0.27 m,沼泽化面积较小。此外,计算还发现避免农田沼泽化对应的排水沟最小深度为5.18 m,实际工程中排水沟深度为6 m,可见当前的防渗形式以及排水沟至坝趾的距离及深度是合理的。库水位变动、排水沟排水的及时性对坝后地下水埋深也有较大的影响,排水沟作为辅助措施应与农田排水沟(渠)、水库防渗体以及农田灌溉制度配合使用,才能更加有效的发挥作用。     

农田缓冲带规划建设与天敌保护效果研究

缓冲带建设可以提供多种生态服务功能,是国内外现代生态农业发展的重要实践措施。论文以北京市顺义区都市型现代农业示范区建设项目为例,探讨农田缓冲带的规划和建设方法,并针对天敌保护效果进行监测,旨在探索村镇尺度下生态农业建设的景观规划途径。主要研究结论:1)经过目标确定、现状调查、总体空间布局设计、工程设计、施工监管与管护5个步骤,在研究区完成了渠道、道路和防护林3种类型共7种模式的农田缓冲带空间布局规划、种植模式设计与建设;2)害虫与天敌取样监测结果表明,人工林地缓冲带具有最大的蜘蛛活动密度,渠道、道路缓冲带等人工边界的天敌/蚜虫比例最高,初步证明了农田缓冲带建设的天敌保护效果;3)今后的生态农业建设应当加强农田缓冲带等生态景观化技术的大尺度空间规划与集成示范,其生态服务功能提升效果还需要针对不同农田类型进行长期监测试验进行验证。     

Small mammals in agricultural landscapes: Opposing responses to farming practices and landscape complexity

Organic farming often counteracts the decline of various taxa owing to agricultural intensification, but little is known about the relative importance of local management and landscape context for small mammals. We examined the abundance, species richness and diversity of small mammal communities in 22 organically and conventionally managed winter wheat fields pairwise located along a gradient of landscape structural complexity (41–94% arable land). Complex landscapes significantly increased small mammal abundance and (with marginal significance) species richness and diversity, but only in conventional fields, whereas organic farming increased small mammals in simple landscapes. These results indicate the importance of landscape complexity for small mammal populations in an intensified agriculture. Analyses at multiple spatial scales (100 m, 250 m, 500 m radii around focal fields), showed opposing responses of the three most abundant species to landscape complexity. Apodemus agrarius PALLAS abundance increased with increasing landscape complexity at a spatial scale of 100 m, whereas Microtus arvalis PALLAS and Sorex araneus L. abundances decreased with increasing landscape complexity at spatial scales of 100 m and 500 m, respectively, suggesting species-specific ecological needs as well as functional spatial scales for conservation management. In conclusion, agri-environmental measures for small mammals such as organic farming are most effective in simple landscapes, while complex landscapes presumably function as source habitats and can compensate for local agricultural intensification in conventional fields.     

The distribution of three uncommon freshwater gastropods in the drainage ditches of British grazing marshes

Marshland drainage channels (=ditches) in the UK are relicts of a once extensive habitat whose management requires quantitative information on the ecology of marshland organisms. Three freshwater gastropods in the UK Red Data Book (RDB), Segmentina nitida, Anisus vorticulus and Valvata macrostoma, are particularly poorly known, and we examined their macro-distribution across 106 ditches on four grazing marshes in SE England. Distribution reflected natural water quality, vegetation and anthropogenic factors. S. nitida occupied shallow calcareous ditches with dense emergent vegetation while A. vorticulus occupied less calcareous ditches with high plant diversity. Ditches with V. macrostoma were dominated by floating plants and slightly elevated chloride. S. nitida and V. macrostoma were absent from otherwise suitable ditches that had elevated nitrate and nitrite indicating effects from eutrophication. Conservation of these three gastropods at the regional scale requires reductions in catchment fertiliser use and also the protection of enough sites to provide the required range of natural factors (e.g., Cl and Ca). At the marsh scale, we suggest that quasi-traditional and rotational ditch clearance can provide the vegetation dynamics and diverse ditch network to ensure suitable habitat for all three species. Better information is required about dispersal, about the effectiveness of reintroduction, and about the most sensitive methods of ditch management.     

基于ASP.net的海南省耕地资源储备数据库管理系统的设计与实现

随着经济的发展和开发建设,海南有限的耕地资源在不断减少。海南省耕地储备资源数据库的建立,能妥善解决重点项目建设占用耕地历史的遗留问题,确保海南省实现耕地总量动态平衡和耕地占补平衡,推动海南省耕地资源储备与土地开发整理产业化。本文主要介绍了采用B/S结构的海南省耕地资源储备数据库管理系统的设计与实现过程。该系统以Asp.net和SQL Server 2000数据库技术为开发工具,实现了海南省耕地资源储备管理的系统化、网络化、规范化和自动化。     

东北平原典型玉米种植区农业景观植物多样性研究——以昌图县为例

非耕作生境是农业景观中的重要组成部分,为生物提供食物和栖息地,对生物多样性保护具有重要意义。本文以辽宁省昌图县为例,选取了20个非耕作生境比例为0~50%的网格(1 km?1 km)为样区,采用典型样地法对调查区域内农业景观中的林地、田间路、草地、沟渠、果园5类主要非耕作生境中的植物群落进行调查,探讨不同非耕作生境类型和比例中植物多样性及其与景观异质性之间的关系。研究结果表明,随着非耕作生境比例增加,植物物种多样性和均匀度先增加后减小,在20%~30%时达到峰值;非耕作生境比例在0~40%范围内时,植物物种丰富度同样呈现先增加后减小,且在20%~30%时达到峰值;非耕作生境比例高于40%时,植物物种丰富度再次出现峰值且高于20%~30%。随着非耕作生境比例的增加,农业景观香浓多样性、香浓均匀度指数和景观斑块形状复杂程度逐渐增加,蔓延度恰好相反。不同生境中重要值最高的均为禾本科植物,但植物种不同;优势种优势度为果园沟渠草地田间路林地。果园、草地和沟渠的物种多样性和均匀度指数显著高于林地和田间路,丰富度指数为草地林地沟渠果园田间路,且草地、果园和田间路的不同调查区域间植物群落指数存在较大的变异性。草地、果园、沟渠、田间路和林地中景观异质性与物种多样性相关性顺次降低。研究结论表明,东北平原典型玉米种植区农业景观中,最适宜非耕作生境比例为20%~30%;非耕作生境中林地、沟渠对物种多样性维持、湿生植物多样性保护具有积极作用;不同生境干扰类型和方式不同,景观异质性与植物物种多样性相关性程度也不同。在今后农业景观生物多样性保护中应综合考虑非耕作生境的类型和比例,干扰的类型和方式等多种因素对生物多样性、生态服务及农业产量的影响。     

松嫩-三江平原湿地自然保护区面临的问题及管理对策

松嫩-三江平原地区湿地是我国最大的湿地集中分布区,大面积农垦及其它人类生产和生活活动使天然湿地丧失和退化。该区域湿地自然保护区在全国占有重要地位,它目前面临的主要问题有:保护区内的生产生活活动干扰冲击天然湿地生态环境,保护区外的水利工程设施及工农业生产和生活活动对保护区湿地环境产生负面影响,保护区自身建设和管理基础薄弱等。针对松嫩-三江平原湿地自然保护区发展面临的问题,从保护区自身建设和保护区政策措施2方面探讨了区域湿地自然保护区的管理对策。     

Declining plant species richness of grassland ditch banks—a problem of colonisation or extinction?

Small-scale landscape elements, such as ditch banks are an important remaining source of biodiversity in many agricultural landscapes, including the Western Peat District in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, plant species richness is declining even in these habitats. To understand the factors threatening biodiversity, we studied demographic traits (occupancy, trend, colonisation and extinction) for a large number of plant species, in a 25-year long data set. We developed a method to investigate the relative importance of colonisation and extinction for species increase and decrease in multi-species assemblages. We show that colonisation has been more important for determining species trends than extinction. Decreasing species were small and characterised by low nutrient tolerance and high light requirements, indicating that competitive ability influences species trends. The mechanism by which high nutrient levels reduce plant diversity appears to be closely related to colonisation (germination and seedling establishment). Local management should therefore continue to focus on nutrient reduction and the creation of regeneration sites. Yet, these measures will be insufficient for restoring species richness since isolation also hampers species increase. Therefore, to maximise the effects of local management, additional regional management solutions are required to improve seed dispersal for example, from nature reserves.     

Agri-environment schemes as a tool for reversing declining populations of grassland waders: Mixed benefits from Environmentally Sensitive Areas in England

Agri-environment schemes (AES) are a key tool in attempts to reverse long-term declines in farmland biodiversity within the European Union (EU). Approximately 20% of EU farmland is under AES agreement, at a cost of over €24 billion between 1994 and 2003. Despite this huge investment, few studies have investigated the effectiveness of schemes and those studies that do exist have often been inadequately designed or analysed. In southern England, repeat censuses of lowland breeding waders provide a rare opportunity to evaluate effectiveness of the Environmentally Sensitive Areas scheme (ESA), an AES designed with broad environmental objectives, including the maintenance or enhancement of the populations of these birds. The censuses provide a quasi-experimental approach, allowing a comparison to be made of breeding population trends of three species, Lapwing, Redshank and Snipe, on scheme and non-scheme land. The results show mixed success. For all three species, population trends were most favourable (increasing or declining less rapidly) in the more expensive ESA options aimed at enhancing habitat; the less expensive, habitat maintenance options, appear to have little benefit for Lapwing and Snipe, although Redshank has benefited. The results also show the increasing importance of nature reserves for these species in southern England. We suggest that although AES can result in significant benefits, especially when monetary investment is high, delivery of biodiversity targets are by no means guaranteed.