Nonrandom processes maintain diversity in tropical forests

An ecological community's species diversity tends to erode through time as a result of stochastic extinction, competitive exclusion, and unstable host-enemy dynamics. This erosion of diversity can be prevented over the short term if recruits are highly diverse as a result of preferential recruitment of rare species or, alternatively, if rare species survive preferentially, which increases diversity as the ages of the individuals increase. Here, we present census data from seven New and Old World tropical forest dynamics plots that all show the latter pattern. Within local areas, the trees that survived were as a group more diverse than those that were recruited or those that died. The larger (and therefore on average older) survivors were more diverse within local areas than the smaller survivors. When species were rare in a local area, they had a higher survival rate than when they were common, resulting in enrichment for rare species and increasing diversity with age and size class in these complex ecosystems.     

荒漠啮齿动物群落对开垦干扰的响应及其种群生态对策

开垦对功能相对脆弱的荒漠生态系统是重要的干扰,这种干扰往往导致栖息地破碎化,并对动植物群落产生强烈影响。作为荒漠生态系统的重要成分,啮齿动物群落受到开垦干扰后对环境的响应及其群落中种群的生态对策,是荒漠生态系统生物多样性及其功能维持稳定的重要基础。2006～2011年,采用标志重捕法对内蒙古阿拉善荒漠区未开垦和开垦草地啮齿动物群落格局及其不同生态对策种群的数量组成进行了专门研究。目的（1）明确开垦干扰下啮齿动物群落格局时间尺度变化;（2）验证假设：人为干扰区（开垦区）啮齿动物群落中r?对策者占据优势,未干扰区（未开垦区）以K?对策者为主;（3）依据啮齿动物群落中不同生态对策种群的数量组成来判断群落所受干扰的程度。结果表明,开垦干扰降低了啮齿动物群落多样性,改变了群落中不同生态对策种群的数量组成,种群以r?对策者为优势;未开垦区啮齿动物群落中以K?对策种群为主。开垦区啮齿动物群落受到严重干扰。     

Enigmatic biodiversity correlations: ant diversity responds to diverse resources

A pattern noted in ecology is that diversity at one level begets diversity at other levels. In the case of consumers competing for similar resources, the diversity of those resources is thought to provide some degree of niche diversification in which a diverse set of consumer species can coexist. If, however, the diverse resources are not sufficiently distinct from one another, from the standpoint of the consumer species, such niche diversification will not exist. We experimentally show that a diverse array of twigs attracted 80% more species of twig-nesting ants than a monospecific collection of twigs. The specific tree species from which the twigs were derived did not explain the pattern. It appears that diversity per se at one level (twigs) creates conditions that promote diversity at another level (nesting ants).     

Recent synchronous radiation of a living fossil

Modern survivors of previously more diverse lineages are regarded as living fossils, particularly when characterized by morphological stasis. Cycads are often cited as a classic example, reaching their greatest diversity during the Jurassic-Cretaceous (199.6 to 65.5 million years ago) then dwindling to their present diversity of ~300 species as flowering plants rose to dominance. Using fossil-calibrated molecular phylogenies, we show that cycads underwent a near synchronous global rediversification beginning in the late Miocene, followed by a slowdown toward the Recent. Although the cycad lineage is ancient, our timetrees indicate that living cycad species are not much older than ~12 million years. These data reject the hypothesized role of dinosaurs in generating extant diversity and the designation of today's cycad species as living fossils.     

Dissecting and exploiting intermodular communication in polyketide synthases

Modular polyketide synthases catalyze the biosynthesis of medicinally important natural products through an assembly-line mechanism. Although these megasynthases display very precise overall selectivity, we show that their constituent modules are remarkably tolerant toward diverse incoming acyl chains. By appropriate engineering of linkers, which exist within and between polypeptides, it is possible to exploit this tolerance to facilitate the transfer of biosynthetic intermediates between unnaturally linked modules. This protein engineering strategy also provides insights into the evolution of modular polyketide synthases.     

Context modularity of human altruism

Whereas altruism drives the evolution of human cooperation, ethno-religious diversity has been considered to obstruct it, leading to poverty, corruption, and war. We argue that current research has failed to properly account for the institutional environment and how it affects the role diversity plays. The emergence of thriving, diverse communities throughout human history suggests that diversity does not always lead to cooperation breakdown. We conducted experiments in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina with Catholic Croats and Muslim Bosniaks at a critical historic moment in the city's postwar history. Using a public goods game, we found that the ability to sanction is key to achieving cooperation in ethno-religiously diverse groups, but that sanctions succeed only in integrated institutional environments and fail in segregated ones. Hence, we show experimentally for the first time in a real-life setting that institutions of integration can unleash human altruism and restore cooperation in the presence of diversity.     

多树种合理配置抗御光肩星天牛灾害控灾阈值的研究

为了明确多树种合理配置抗御天牛灾害措施的可行性,首次提出了控灾阈值的概念．在宁夏引黄灌区选择对不同诱饵树配置、不同树龄的样地35块进行调查,并对15株平均标准木进行树干解析,建立虫口模型及其材积损失模型,结合综合效益评价结果并根据目前市场木材收购标准,确定了光肩星天牛控灾阈值模型．结果表明:诱饵树比例应控制在［7,093%,25%］的区间内,同时可以根据对不同树种的不同要求计算出适宜的控灾阈值,体现了控灾阈值的动态性、灵活性．      

The illusion of invariant quantities in life histories

Life-history theory attempts to provide evolutionary explanations for variations in the ways in which animal species live their lives. Recent analyses have suggested that the dimensionless ratios of several key life-history parameters are the same for different species, even across distant taxa. However, we show here that previous analyses may have given a false picture and created an illusion of invariants, which do not necessarily exist; essentially, this is because life-history variables have been regressed against themselves. The following question arises from our analysis: How do we identify an invariant?     

新疆果园常见介壳虫的识别及防治

观察记载了新疆果园常见介壳虫12种,其中粉蚧科1种,绵蚧科2种,蚧科5种,盾蚧科4种.以雌成虫制定介壳虫检索表,并提出介壳虫综合防治方法.     

沙坡头国家级自然保护区荒漠植被关键群落的最小面积与物种多样性

以处于腾格里沙漠东南缘的沙坡头国家级自然保护区干旱荒漠生态系统的植被关键群落为研究对象,采用“种-面积曲线”的方法确定关键群落最小面积,并在此基础上使用α多样性指数表征物种多样性.共选取4种饱和曲线模型进行拟合,研究结果表明对荒漠植被群落而言,S=c/（1 ＋ae-bA）和S=c-ae-bA模型具有更好的拟合优度和更高的准确性.当比例因子ρ取0.6、0.7、0.8时,群落最小面积分别为18 m2、24 m2、32 m2,可满足包括总群落的60％、70％、80％的植物种类的中等精度要求;当比例因子ρ取0.9时,群落最小面积为45 m2,可满足包括总群落的90％的植物种类的高等精度要求.该区域物种多样性并不十分复杂,灌木层的生态学地位极其显著,发挥着不可替代的作用,群落的稳定性和生态功能也主要由灌木层中的优势种决定.     

The importance of demographic niches to tree diversity

Most ecological hypotheses about species coexistence hinge on species differences, but quantifying trait differences across species in diverse communities is often unfeasible. We examined the variation of demographic traits using a global tropical forest data set covering 4500 species in 10 large-scale tree inventories. With a hierarchical Bayesian approach, we quantified the distribution of mortality and growth rates of all tree species at each site. This allowed us to test the prediction that demographic differences facilitate species richness, as suggested by the theory that a tradeoff between high growth and high survival allows species to coexist. Contrary to the prediction, the most diverse forests had the least demographic variation. Although demographic differences may foster coexistence, they do not explain any of the 16-fold variation in tree species richness observed across the tropics.     

生态理论视角下高校研究性教学发展策略

研究性教学及其相关影响因素组成一个生态系统,借鉴生态系统理论,探索研究性教学发展中存在的问题及其对教学效果的影响,可以从系统性、协同进化、关键物种、环境适应性等方面提出生态化的管理原则,并从观念培育、关键物种识别、管理制度改革、教学资源共享、教学方法链完善等方面提出推进研究性教学的生态化发展策略。     

基于改进PSO的洞庭湖水源涵养林空间优化模型

以结构化森林经营思想为理论基础,从与水源林涵养水源、保持水土功能密切相关的林分物种组成(树种混交)、种内及种间竞争、空间分布格局、垂直结构4个方面选择混交度、竞争指数、角尺度、林层指数、空间密度指数、开阔比数作为水源林健康经营和林分空间结构优化的目标函数,建立洞庭湖水源林林分多目标空间优化模型,应用改进的群智能粒子群算法求解林分空间结构优化模型,并针对模型输出的目标树空间结构单元制定周密的经营策略。研究结果表明,优化模型能准确定位林分空间关系的薄弱环节,调控措施能显著改善林分空间结构,有利于促进森林生态系统的正向演替,为恢复洞庭湖水源林生态功能和健康经营提供理论依据和技术支撑。应用优化模型进行水源涵养林健康经营突破了传统森林经营模式,为智能信息技术在森林空间经营中的应用提供了新的思路。     

江淮稻区三化螟灾变规律和防治技术

分析了江淮稻区三化螟的起伏历史、回升过程及其特点和对粳稻、杂交籼稻生育期的为害特性及其后效应,并从它与水稻的多层次互作协同性和农田生态系结构与功能动态,探讨了三化螟灾变的生态学规律和地方主导因子。根据稻作特点,分析了三化螟发生趋势,提出综合治理对策和关键技术。     

Amazonian ecology: tributaries enhance the diversity of electric fishes

Neotropical rivers support a diverse array of endemic taxa, including electric fishes of the order Gymnotiformes. A comprehensive survey of the main channels of the Amazon River and its major tributaries (>2000-kilometer transect) yielded 43 electric fish species. Biogeographical analyses suggest that local mainstem electric fish diversity is enhanced by tributaries. Mainstem species richness tends to increase downstream of tributary confluences, and species composition is most similar between tributaries and adjacent downstream mainstem locations. These findings support a "nodal" or heterogeneous model of riverine community organization across a particularly extensive and diverse geographical region.     

Reinterpreting space, time lags, and functional responses in ecological models

Natural enemy-victim interactions are of major applied importance and of fundamental interest to ecologists. A key question is what stabilizes these interactions, allowing the long-term coexistence of the two species. Three main theoretical explanations have been proposed: behavioral responses, time-dependent factors such as delayed density dependence, and spatial heterogeneity. Here, using the powerful moment-closure technique, we show a fundamental equivalence between these three elements. Limited movement by organisms is a ubiquitous feature of ecological systems, allowing spatial structure to develop; we show that the effects of this can be naturally described in terms of time lags or within-generation functional responses.     

Evolutionary paths underlying flower color variation in Antirrhinum

To understand evolutionary paths connecting diverse biological forms, we defined a three-dimensional genotypic space separating two flower color morphs of Antirrhinum. A hybrid zone between morphs showed a steep cline specifically at genes controlling flower color differences, indicating that these loci are under selection. Antirrhinum species with diverse floral phenotypes formed a U-shaped cloud within the genotypic space. We propose that this cloud defines an evolutionary path that allows flower color to evolve while circumventing less-adaptive regions. Hybridization between morphs located in different arms of the U-shaped path yields low-fitness genotypes, accounting for the observed steep clines at hybrid zones.     

Climatic niche shifts are rare among terrestrial plant invaders

The assumption that climatic niche requirements of invasive species are conserved between their native and invaded ranges is key to predicting the risk of invasion. However, this assumption has been challenged recently by evidence of niche shifts in some species. Here, we report the first large-scale test of niche conservatism for 50 terrestrial plant invaders between Eurasia, North America, and Australia. We show that when analog climates are compared between regions, fewer than 15% of species have more than 10% of their invaded distribution outside their native climatic niche. These findings reveal that substantial niche shifts are rare in terrestrial plant invaders, providing support for an appropriate use of ecological niche models for the prediction of both biological invasions and responses to climate change.     

Impacts of biodiversity loss escalate through time as redundancy fades

Plant diversity generally promotes biomass production, but how the shape of the response curve changes with time remains unclear. This is a critical knowledge gap because the shape of this relationship indicates the extent to which loss of the first few species will influence biomass production. Using two long-term (≥13 years) biodiversity experiments, we show that the effects of diversity on biomass productivity increased and became less saturating over time. Our analyses suggest that effects of diversity-dependent ecosystem feedbacks and interspecific complementarity accumulate over time, causing high-diversity species combinations that appeared functionally redundant during early years to become more functionally unique through time. Consequently, simplification of diverse ecosystems will likely have greater negative impacts on ecosystem functioning than has been suggested by short-term experiments.