Effectiveness of tropical grass species as sediment filters in the riparian zone of Lake Victoria

The effectiveness of tropical grass species in strips of different length in trapping sediment from cropland was assessed, and the influence of filter length was determined. The assessment was made under natural rainfall which induced sheet and rill erosion in run‐off plots and then using simulated run‐off which caused concentrated erosion. The evaluated grasses were elephant grass, lemon grass, paspalum and sugarcane. Run‐off plots were on a 10% slope in a randomized complete block design replicated three times. Filter lengths were 2.5, 5 and 10 m against a 10‐m‐long sediment source area planted with maize on a clay loam soil. The results show that sediment trapping effectiveness (TE) increases nonlinearly with increasing filter length for all grasses. Under natural rainfall, more than 70% of sediment was trapped in the first 5 m, and lengthening the strip to 10 m only resulted in a marginal increase in TE. With concentrated run‐off, more than 70% of sediment was trapped in the first 5 m and lengthening the strip to 10 m resulted in a significant increase in TE. Paspalum and lemon grass performed significantly better than other grasses (P < 0.05), owing to their spreading growth pattern over the soil surface. Paspalum also has the highest root density in the upper 0.3‐m layer of the soil followed by lemon grass, hence offering the greatest resistance to erosion from concentrated flow. The results demonstrate that tropical grass filter strips provide a viable means for reducing the sediment flux from cropland.     

基于生态系统服务功能的东江流域关键性生态空间识别

东江流域生态环境脆弱,水土流失现象频发,进行关键性生态空间识别对维护其生态环境安全和促进区域可持续发展有着极其重要的意义。该研究通过重要性-敏感性构建关键性生态空间识别评价体系,使用NPP（Net Primary Productivity）定量评价法、模型评价法,定量揭示其关键性生态空间的分布特征。结果表明：1）东江流域的关键性生态空间面积为16 734.48 km2,面积占比50.49%,主要位于在中游、下游地区。其中,底线型生态空间面积为5 481.21 km2,集中分布在自然保护地、风景名胜区之中;危机型生态空间面积为11 253.27 km2,主要位于下游的经济发达的珠三角城市中;2）面积占比分别高达47.04%、66.66%的建设用地、耕地占用关键性生态空间,且都集中分布在危机型生态空间中,各生态空间地类以林地和耕地为主。最后将识别结果与土地利用状况结合分析,以期为东江流域分区管控的实施、生态保护策略的制定提供参考。     

焉耆盆地气候变化和人类活动对生态系统服务 价值的影响研究

环境变化下的生态服务功能研究,对生态环境与社会经济持续发展具有重要的科学意义和应用价值。本文以新疆焉耆盆地作为研究对象,基于Landsat遥感影像数据、DEM数据和气象要素数据,运用非参数气候变化突变点检验(MK,Mann-Kendall-Sneyers test)、趋势分析方法(Mann-Kendall,MK),通过计算生态服务价值(ESV)和土地利用/覆盖变化(LUCC)动态度,对新疆焉耆盆地近40 a(1973—2014年)生态服务功能的变化及其驱动因素进行了分析。结果显示:1)生态系统服务价值和功能的变化是气候变化和人类活动共同作用的结果;2)山区冰川面积的缩小是山区生态服务价值减少的主要原因;3)平原区的生态系统服务价值以2004年为转折点呈现先减少后增加的趋势,整个研究区的生态服务价值分别为1973年85.86×108元、1977年94.46×108元、1994年84.15×108元、2004年89.40×108元和2014年96.47×108元,这与降水量和蒸发量变化趋势吻合。人类活动如长期开垦、扩大绿洲面积和有益的气候变化支撑(降水量增加、蒸发量减少)是平原区生态服务价值增加的主要原因。在山区,生态服务价值随着降水量、蒸发量的变化而变化,在绿洲区生态服务价值的变化是人类开荒耕地、还林、还耕,以及人工栽培芦苇等活动和气候变暖共同作用的结果。     

长江中游生态系统服务供需平衡与居民福祉耦合的时空特征

生态系统服务供给、需求与居民福祉的相互复杂关系是自然生态系统和社会经济系统研究中重要的交叉科学问题,也是生态系统服务和居民福祉研究的热点难点问题和矛盾多发领域。然而,已有研究更为关注生态系统服务供给对居民福祉的贡献,忽视了生态系统服务需求以及供需平衡对居民福祉的影响。选择长江中游地区作为研究靶区和2000—2018年作为研究时段,建立生态系统服务供需量化矩阵测度生态系统服务供需平衡,采用年度组合赋权法和线性函数加权法评估居民福祉,引入弹性系数模型划分生态系统服务供需平衡与居民福祉耦合关系类型,并进一步研究其时空特征。结果表明：1）生态系统服务供需平衡与居民福祉耦合关系可划分为“供需改善－福祉增加”“供需恶化－福祉增加”“供需改善－福祉减少”以及“供需恶化－福祉减少”4种,分别对应最优、次优、次差以及最差耦合关系类型;2）长江中游地区生态系统服务供需平衡与居民综合福祉耦合关系表现为以权衡关系为主导且逐渐增强,其中“供需恶化－福祉增加”县域单元占比由2000—2010年的81.99%增至2010—2018年的91.57%;3）生态系统服务供需平衡与居民福祉耦合关系会随着福祉类型、服务类型、空间尺度、时间范围、经济社会发展水平等表现出不同形式的反馈。长江中游地区各县域单元和有关部门应当结合地区自然地理条件、经济发展水平等多方面因素,因地制宜、因时制宜地推进生态环境保护与修复工程,尽可能地规避“生态诅咒”或“生态魔咒”效应,充分发挥经济社会发展过程中的“生态祝福”效应。     

Changes in microbial community metabolism and labile organic matter fractions as early indicators of the impact of management on soil biological quality

 Changes to the metabolic profiles of soil microbial communities could have potential for use as early indicators of the impact of management or other perturbations on soil functioning and soil quality. We compared the relative susceptibility to management of microbial community metabolism with a number of soil organic matter (OM) and microbial parameters currently used as indicators of changes in soil biological quality. Following long-term cereal cropping, plots were subjected to a 16-month treatment period consisting of either a mixed cropping sequence of vetch, spring barley and clover or a continuous grass-clover ley which was periodically mown and mulched. The treatments had no effect on soil biomass N or respiration of microbial populations inoculated into Biolog Gram negative (GN) plates. After 16 months there were no management-induced changes to total OM, light-fraction OM C and N, labile organic N or water-soluble carbohydrates. However, patterns of substrate utilization by the soil microbial population following inoculation into Biolog GN plates were found to be highly sensitive to management practice. In the mixed cropping sequence, substrate utilization changed markedly following plough-in of the vetch crop, with a smaller change occurring after harvesting of the barley. In the ley treatment, substrate utilization was not affected until the onset of mowing, when the pattern changed to become similar to that in the mixed cropping sequence. Metabolic diversity of the Biolog-culturable microbial population was increased by the ley treatment, but was not affected by the cropping sequence. We conclude that patterns of microbial substrate utilization and metabolic diversity are more sensitive to the effects of management than are OM and biomass pools, and therefore have value as early indicators of the impacts of management on soil biological properties, and hence soil quality. Received: 7 April 1999