Caribbean reef development was independent of coral diversity over 28 million years

The relationship between natural variations in coral species diversity, reef development, and ecosystem function on coral reefs is poorly understood. Recent coral diversity varies 10-fold among geographic regions, but rates of reef growth are broadly similar, suggesting that diversity is unimportant for reef development. Differences in diversity may reflect regional differences in long-term biotic history in addition to environmental conditions. Using a combination of new and published fossil and stratigraphic data, we compared changes in coral diversity and reef development within the tropical western Atlantic over the past 28 million years. Reef development was unrelated to coral diversity, and the largest reef tracts formed after extinction had reduced diversity by 50%. High diversity is thus not essential for the growth and persistence of coral reefs.     

Sibling Species in Montastraea annularis, Coral Bleaching, and the Coral Climate Record

Measures of growth and skeletal isotopic ratios in the Caribbean coral Montastraea annularis are fundamental to many studies of paleoceanography, environmental degradation, and global climate change. This taxon is shown to consist of at least three sibling species in shallow waters. The two most commonly studied of these show highly significant differences in growth rate and oxygen isotopic ratios, parameters routinely used to estimate past climatic conditions; unusual coloration in the third may have confused research on coral bleaching. Interpretation or comparison of past and current studies can be jeopardized by ignoring these species boundaries.     

Long-term region-wide declines in Caribbean corals

We report a massive region-wide decline of corals across the entire Caribbean basin, with the average hard coral cover on reefs being reduced by 80%, from about 50% to 10% cover, in three decades. Our meta-analysis shows that patterns of change in coral cover are variable across time periods but largely consistent across subregions, suggesting that local causes have operated with some degree of synchrony on a region-wide scale. Although the rate of coral loss has slowed in the past decade compared to the 1980s, significant declines are persisting. The ability of Caribbean coral reefs to cope with future local and global environmental change may be irretrievably compromised.     

中国畜牧业环境约束的量化分析——基于土地环境承载力和生态足迹

聚焦高质量发展背景下畜牧业环境约束主题,从土地环境承载力和生态环境承载力两个方面量化分析畜牧业环境约束水平,明确中国畜牧业环境约束的时空分异特征以及养殖、需求规模分别同土地、生态环境的匹配程度。采用养分平衡法和三维生态足迹模型分别测算了畜牧业土地环境承载力和生态环境承载力,并进行时空特征分析。结果显示:2001—2018年,土地环境可载猪当量增长45.21%,土地环境承载力指数下降36.07%,畜牧业土地环境承载状况明显好转;人均畜牧业生态足迹和生态承载力分别提升22.81%和42.96%,生态承载强度呈缓和趋势,但截至2018年,畜牧业生态足迹仍高达承载力的2.46倍,生态赤字为2.08×10~8hm~2;综合两维度来看,中国畜牧业仍面临严峻的生态环境压力,区域间环境约束不平衡现象显著,土地环境约束"南重北轻"、生态环境约束"东重西轻",东南沿海地区土地、生态环境承载压力最重。研究表明,中国畜牧业环境约束严峻,但正在趋向缓和状态,特别是土地环境约束明显好转,但生态环境约束形势依然不容乐观,生态环境约束总体要重于土地环境约束且长期未得到足够重视。     

Rapid asymptotic species accumulation in phytophagous insect communities: the pests of cacao

The number of cacao insect pests is described by a species-area curve. Either annual cacao productivity or area in cultivation of the crop predicts the number of associated insect pest species, when the world's cacao-producing regions are compared. Analysis of covariance does not discriminate different species-area regressions for native as opposed to nonnative cacao-producing regions; the numbers of insect pest species per unit area of cacao in regions of long-standing cultivation do not exceed the numbers in regions of recent introduction. This demonstrates that the number of cacao insect pest species rises rapidly to an asymptote set by the area in cultivation in each region.     

山西小麦生态研究Ⅰ生态监测点的产量反应及结构分析

本文采用不同冬春类型品种在我省南、中、北不同生态麦区的１５个县、市，１７个不同栽培条件试点上进行定位观察，获得１６个生态监测点，１１９个环境×品种的组合产量，明确了样点产量与产量结构的变异特点：穗数＞粒数＞粒重，表明穗数是最易受自然与栽培环境影响而变化的关键产量因素。试验在６０万穗之内，穗数与产量几乎呈线性关系，相关系数达０．８２。在对产量的作用力上，环境作用力占到９０％多，远大于品种对产量的作用，并相对表现为环境对穗数作用力较大，而品种对穗粒重作用力较大，试验年份由于越冬气温偏高，半冬性小麦在晋中忻州都安全越冬，春性小麦在霍县以南及太原小气候下亦安全越冬。     

西沙群岛海域砗磲资源的调查

砗磲是珊瑚岛礁的构成物种,对维护珊瑚礁生态系统平衡起着重要作用。近年来,由于非法捕捞和海洋生态环境影响,对我国西沙砗磲资源造成严重威胁。为掌握西沙海域砗磲资源现状,笔者于2017年6—7月采用截线样带法,对西沙主要岛礁海域砗磲的种类、分布及其与环境相关性进行了分析。结果显示,调查海域共发现4种砗磲：鳞砗磲(Tridacna squamosa)、长砗磲(T.maxima)、番红砗磲(T.crocea)和砗蚝(Hippopus hippopus),分别占总数的71.9%、15.6%、9.4%和3.1%。西沙不同岛礁海域砗磲密度、物种多样性指数存在显著差异,砗磲平均密度为0.026个·m^-2。砗磲密度与珊瑚覆盖率呈显著正相关(P<0.05,R²=0.706 5),表明珊瑚覆盖率是影响砗磲分布的重要因素。     

大型底栖动物入侵种:它们是否对德国水生动物群落构成威胁?

在水体中发现大型底栖动物入侵种是一种世界范围普遍的现象。人类移动的同时将物品从一个大陆带到另一个大陆,这使许多水生动物物种能够突破自然的防线侵入到其他的区域和大陆。藉由人类现代的旅行方式,在不同区域间移动的物种数量显著增加,成功入侵种的数量也随之增多。成功入侵种需要具备一些特征,如可动性,小体型,适应性强和繁殖率高等,这些均有利于物种跨区域的入侵。当然,新生活环境也必须满足可适应的标准。对一个受人类活动破坏而丧失其原有物种的水环境来说,它对新物种入侵的抵抗力会很弱甚至缺乏。德国水体受人类活动的胁迫非常严重,许多自然水体受到的破坏已无法挽回,有些甚至已经完全成为了人工环境。这些水体由相互连接着的溪流河川网络组成,这很容易使新物种的入侵范围扩大。在外来物种的入侵面前,受人类活动胁迫和直接破坏的水体,比尚保持着天然环境状况的水体更加脆弱。     

大型底栖动物入侵种:它们是否对德国水生动物群落构成威胁?

在水体中发现大型底栖动物入侵种是一种世界范围普遍的现象。人类移动的同时将物品从一个大陆带到另一个大陆,这使许多水生动物物种能够突破自然的防线侵入到其他的区域和大陆。藉由人类现代的旅行方式,在不同区域间移动的物种数量显著增加,成功入侵种的数量也随之增多。成功入侵种需要具备一些特征,如可动性,小体型,适应性强和繁殖率高等,这些均有利于物种跨区域的入侵。当然,新生活环境也必须满足可适应的标准。对一个受人类活动破坏而丧失其原有物种的水环境来说,它对新物种入侵的抵抗力会很弱甚至缺乏。德国水体受人类活动的胁迫非常严重,许多自然水体受到的破坏已无法挽回,有些甚至已经完全成为了人工环境。这些水体由相互连接着的溪流河川网络组成,这很容易使新物种的入侵范围扩大。在外来物种的入侵面前,受人类活动胁迫和直接破坏的水体,比尚保持着天然环境状况的水体更加脆弱。     

Complex species interactions and the dynamics of ecological systems: long-term experiments

Studies that combine experimental manipulations with long-term data collection reveal elaborate interactions among species that affect the structure and dynamics of ecosystems. Research programs in U.S. desert shrubland and pinyon-juniper woodland have shown that (i) complex dynamics of species populations reflect interactions with other organisms and fluctuating climate; (ii) genotype x environment interactions affect responses of species to environmental change; (iii) herbivore-resistance traits of dominant plant species and impacts of "keystone" animal species cascade through the system to affect many organisms and ecosystem processes; and (iv) some environmental perturbations can cause wholesale reorganization of ecosystems because they exceed the ecological tolerances of dominant or keystone species, whereas other changes may be buffered because of the compensatory dynamics of complementary species.     

Evolution of a vertebrate social decision-making network

Animals evaluate and respond to their social environment with adaptive decisions. Revealing the neural mechanisms of such decisions is a major goal in biology. We analyzed expression profiles for 10 neurochemical genes across 12 brain regions important for decision-making in 88 species representing five vertebrate lineages. We found that behaviorally relevant brain regions are remarkably conserved over 450 million years of evolution. We also find evidence that different brain regions have experienced different selection pressures, because spatial distribution of neuroendocrine ligands are more flexible than their receptors across vertebrates. Our analysis suggests that the diversity of social behavior in vertebrates can be explained, in part, by variations on a theme of conserved neural and gene expression networks.     

Paleoceanography of coral reefs in the hawaiian-emperor chain

The fossil record of shallow marine organisms in the Hawaiian Archipelago and Emperor seamount chain indicates that reef corals were absent during the first half of the Tertiary. Their appearance during the early Oligocene, 34 million years ago, is associated with several paleoceanographic events that appear to have combined to intensify gradually gyral surface currents in the north Pacific. This association suggests that corals were absent in the early Tertiary because of isolation of the Hawaiian Archipelago from the Indo-West Pacific (IWP), the center of reef coral abundance and diversity in the Pacific. Today, the number of species of reef corals in Hawaii is less than 10 percent of the number of species in the IWP. Since their initial colonization, reef corals have been present continuously in the Hawaiian Archipelago, although not without taxonomic change. Episodes of extinction and recolonization are the most likely cause of change in species composition. Recolonization from the IWP may also explain the low rate of endemism (about 20 percent) in the present-day coral fauna.     

Anthropogenic Albedo Changes and the Earth's Climate

The human species has been altering the environment over large geographic areas since the domestication of fire, plants, and animals. The progression from hunter to farmer to technologist has increased the variety and pace more than the geographic extent of human impact on the environment. A number of regions of the earth have experienced significant climatic changes closely related in time to anthropogenic environmental changes. Plausible physical models suggest a causal connection. The magnitudes of probable anthropogenic global albedo changes over the past millennia (and particularly over the past 25 years) are estimated. The results suggest that humans have made substantial contributions to global climate changes during the past several millennia, and perhaps over the past million years; further such changes are now under way.     

Phenotypic diversity, population growth, and information in fluctuating environments

Organisms in fluctuating environments must constantly adapt their behavior to survive. In clonal populations, this may be achieved through sensing followed by response or through the generation of diversity by stochastic phenotype switching. Here we show that stochastic switching can be favored over sensing when the environment changes infrequently. The optimal switching rates then mimic the statistics of environmental changes. We derive a relation between the long-term growth rate of the organism and the information available about its fluctuating environment.     

Marine biodiversity hotspots and conservation priorities for tropical reefs

Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse of shallow water marine ecosystems but are being degraded worldwide by human activities and climate warming. Analyses of the geographic ranges of 3235 species of reef fish, corals, snails, and lobsters revealed that between 7.2% and 53.6% of each taxon have highly restricted ranges, rendering them vulnerable to extinction. Restricted-range species are clustered into centers of endemism, like those described for terrestrial taxa. The 10 richest centers of endemism cover 15.8% of the world's coral reefs (0.012% of the oceans) but include between 44.8 and 54.2% of the restricted-range species. Many occur in regions where reefs are being severely affected by people, potentially leading to numerous extinctions. Threatened centers of endemism are major biodiversity hotspots, and conservation efforts targeted toward them could help avert the loss of tropical reef biodiversity.     

浑太河春季不同水生态功能区大型底栖动物群落结构及其与环境因子的关系

为评价浑太河流域影响大型底栖动物群落结构的环境因子在不同水生态功能区间的差异性,于2012年春季对浑太河65个采样点进行大型底栖动物和水体理化环境因子的取样调查。结果表明:浑太河流域3个水生态功能区大型底栖动物的物种组成比例、指示种有显著性差异(P0.05),大型底栖动物的Shannon-Wiener多样性指数、Pielou均匀度指数和物种丰富度有显著性差异(P0.05),且不同水生态功能区环境因子也存在显著性差异(P0.05);典范对应分析显示,水生态功能Ⅰ区的驱动因子是海拔、水深、总氮,水生态功能Ⅱ区的驱动因子是高锰酸钾盐指数、盐度,水生态功能Ⅲ区的驱动因子是溶解氧、电导率、盐度;相关性分析显示,水生态功能Ⅰ区海拔、总氮与Shannon-Wiener多样性指数显著相关,高锰酸钾盐指数与Pielou均匀度指数显著相关(P0.05),溶解氧、海拔、总氮与物种丰富度显著相关(P0.05);水生态功能Ⅱ区环境因子与Shannon-Wiener多样性指数相关性不明显(P0.05),海拔、电导率、盐度、总溶解固体与Pielou均匀度指数显著相关,海拔与物种丰富度相关(P0.05);水生态功能Ⅲ区环境因子与这些指数相关性不明显(P0.05)。研究表明,浑太河流域不同水生态功能区大型底栖动物群落结构组成具有空间异质性,环境因子有显著性差异,不同水生态功能区影响大型底栖动物群落结构的环境因子存在差异性。     

Global trajectories of the long-term decline of coral reef ecosystems

Degradation of coral reef ecosystems began centuries ago, but there is no global summary of the magnitude of change. We compiled records, extending back thousands of years, of the status and trends of seven major guilds of carnivores, herbivores, and architectural species from 14 regions. Large animals declined before small animals and architectural species, and Atlantic reefs declined before reefs in the Red Sea and Australia, but the trajectories of decline were markedly similar worldwide. All reefs were substantially degraded long before outbreaks of coral disease and bleaching. Regardless of these new threats, reefs will not survive without immediate protection from human exploitation over large spatial scales.     

Preindustrial to modern interdecadal variability in coral reef pH

The oceans are becoming more acidic due to absorption of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems is unclear, but it will likely depend on species adaptability and the rate of change of seawater pH relative to its natural variability. To constrain the natural variability in reef-water pH, we measured boron isotopic compositions in a approximately 300-year-old massive Porites coral from the southwestern Pacific. Large variations in pH are found over approximately 50-year cycles that covary with the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation of ocean-atmosphere anomalies, suggesting that natural pH cycles can modulate the impact of ocean acidification on coral reef ecosystems.     

Adaptation of photosynthetic processes to stress

I have focused on examples of plant adaptations to environmental conditions that range from adjustments in the allocation of metabolic resources and modification of structural components to entirely separate mechanisms. The result of these modifications is more efficient performance under the stresses typically encountered in the plants' native habitats. Such adaptations, for reasons which are not entirely clear, often lead to poorer performance in other environmental conditions. This situation may be a fundamental basis for the tendency toward specialization among plants native to specific niches or habitats. The evolutionary mechanisms that have resulted in these specializations are very large-scale processes. It seems reasonable to suppose that the plants native to particular habitats are relatively efficient in terms of the limitations imposed by those habitats, and that the adaptive mechanisms these plants possess are, compared to those which have evolved in competing organisms, the most succesful biological means of coping with the environmental stresses encountered. I believe that we can learn from nature and utilize the adaptive mechanisms of these plants in agriculture to replace in part our present reliance on resources and energy to modify the environment for plant growth. By analogy with natural systems, improved resource utilization will require specialization and greater knowledge of the limitations of a particular environment and plant genotype. For example, the cultural conditions, plant architecture, and physiological responses necessary to achieve high water use efficiency from our crop species with C(4) photosynthesis probably differ from those required to achieve maximum total growth. Also, efforts to control water application to eliminate waste carry with them the risk that the crop could be injured by inadequate water. Thus, greater demands would be placed on the crop physiologist, the plant breeder, and the farmer. Planting and appropriate management of adapted crop genotypes could enable cultivation of many areas presently considered unusable because of environmental extremes or shortage of resources, and may lead to more efficient resource utilization on land already under cultivation. The costs or benefits of this cannot yet be estimated. However, I suspect that the greatest potential for application of such techniques will be in the developing rather than the developed regions of the world. The genetic and functional diversity of plants is a tremendous biological resource. The capacity of plants to adjust in the future to changing environmental conditions depends on this diversity and on evolutionary processes of nature. Wild plants may provide a source of genetic material to improve crop plants. Also, as advocated by McKell (22), wild plants can be utilized to a greater extent directly by man. Long-term research efforts and commitment to preserve natural habitats and their populations of wild plants will be required to maintain and more effectively utilize this resource.     

回头岸礁区4 种造礁珊瑚中可培养细菌的多样性

采用稀释涂布平板法,分离三亚鹿回头岸礁区4种造礁珊瑚及其周围海水中的细菌,并基于16S r RNA基因序列进行了系统发育分析,从而探讨造礁珊瑚中可培养细菌的物种多样性。从澄黄滨珊瑚(Porites lutea)、鹿角珊瑚(Acropora sp.)、盔形珊瑚(Galaxea sp.)、扁脑珊瑚(Platygyra sp.)样品中分别分离获得细菌60、61、54、20株,从珊瑚周边海水中分离获得细菌31株。16S r RNA基因序列分析表明,珊瑚来源的细菌分布于放线菌门(Actinobacteria)、α-变形菌纲(Alphaproteobacteria)、γ-变形菌纲(Gammaproteobacteria)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)和拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)。在属级水平上对4种珊瑚及海水来源细菌群落组成分析,发现在4种珊瑚中均有分布的属有3个,为Brachybacterium、Microbacterium和Ruegeria,珊瑚来源细菌类群有一定差异。同时发现4种珊瑚来源细菌与海水来源细菌类群差异较大。在分离的菌株中,有7株菌与已有效描述的细菌物种典型菌株的全长16S r RNA基因相似性低于97%,代表着潜在新属或新种。试验结果表明,三亚鹿回头岸礁区珊瑚中存在较为丰富的细菌多样性,并潜藏较多的新物种资源。