Interacting effects of soil degradation and precipitation on plant productivity in NE Patagonia,Argentina

Our objective was to examine the effects of inter-annual variation of precipitation on productivity of two dominant species (Chuquiraga avellanedae, an evergreen shrub, and Nassella tenuis, a perennial grass) in two communities of contrasting soil degradation: a herbaceous steppe with shrubs (HSS) and a degraded shrub steppe (SS). Data were collected during two consecutive years with different annual precipitation. Aboveground productivity was determined nondestructively using a double sampling approach. The number of inflorescences per plant was recorded too. Perennial grass productivity was lower in SS than in HSS in both years, while shrub productivity was lower in SS only during the year of below average precipitation. With rising precipitation the perennial grass increased the number of inflorescences while the evergreen shrub augmented vegetative biomass. In summary, the effects of precipitation on plant productivity are community dependent; abiotic factors, such as superficial and sub-superficial soil characteristics, and biotic factors, such as leaf area index (LAI) or tussock sizes, may interact to influence the responses of species to precipitation. Our results suggest that if precipitation increased, this would favor the dominance of shrubs over grasses.     

生态农业的一种模式——农林复合

生态农业是当今世界上生态脆弱区农业发展的方向,也是持续农业在该区的体现。我国黄土高原水土流失严重、生态环境恶化,发展生态农业十分必要。本文以淳化县泥河沟流域综合治理为背景,提出了农林复合生态农业模式,较系统的阐述了建立的思路、结构,主要工作和技术,并分析了该系统的功能,给出评价,最后提出不足作为今后努力的方向。     

干旱荒漠区斧形沙芥露地人工种植关键技术

斧形沙芥是一种低糖高蛋白的绿色蔬菜,具有很高的开发利用价值和推广前景。为了有效地保护野生资源。通过开展斧形沙芥的露地人工种植试验,从种植时间、种植土壤、土壤施肥、土壤杀菌消毒、苗床整理、种子选择及处理、播种后期管理、病虫害防治、鲜叶采收和种子采收等方面系统性地总结了干旱荒漠区斧形沙芥露地人工种植关键技术。     

基于GIS的星云湖流域生态敏感性评价

基于GIS技术,根据星云湖流域主要生态问题选取6个因子,采用多因子加权求和模型对星云湖流域生态敏感性及其空间分布进行了评价分析,并按生态敏感性评价值将研究区划分为高度敏感区、中度敏感区、低度敏感区和不敏感区4个等级。结果表明:研究区高度敏感、中度敏感、低度敏感和非敏感区域面积分别为104.08km~2,124.52km~2,102.78km~2,39.30km~2;中度及以上敏感区面积约为228.60km~2,占流域总面积的61.67%,生态敏感性总体较高,空间上主要分布在江城镇、星云湖及其湖滨和雄关乡等;建议将高度敏感区划定为生态保护区加以重点保护,中度敏感区划定为控制发展区,低度敏感区和非敏感区为适宜发展区。评价结果能较好地反映流域综合生态敏感性空间分布特征,可作为流域土地资源开发建设和环境规划与保护的依据,并为高原湖泊流域开展类似研究提供参考。     

Impact of land degradation on soil respiration in a steppe (Stipa tenacissima L.) semi-arid ecosystem in the SE of Spain

Climate change scenarios predict increases in temperature, changes in precipitation patterns, and longer drought periods in most semi-arid regions of the world. Ecosystems in these regions are prone to land degradation, which may be aggravated by climate change. Soil respiration is one of the main processes responsible for organic carbon losses from arid and semi-arid ecosystems. We measured soil respiration over one year in two steppe ecosystems having different degrees of land degradation under three ground-covers: with vegetation, bare soil, and an intermediate situation between plants and bare soil.The largest differences in soil respiration rates between the sites were observed in spring, coinciding with the highest level of plant activity. The degraded site had drier and hotter soils with less soil water availability and a longer drought period. As a result, vegetation on the degraded site did not respond to spring rainfall events. Soil respiration showed a strong seasonal variability, with average annual rates of 1.1 and 0.8 μmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹ in the natural and degraded sites, respectively. We did not observe significant differences in soil respiration rates associated with ground-cover i.e., the temporal variation was much larger than the spatial variation. At both sites, soil moisture was the controlling driver of soil respiration for most of the year, when temperatures were above 20 °C and constrained the response to temperature for the few months when the temperature was below 20 °C. An empirical model based on soil temperature and soil moisture explained 90% and 72% of the seasonal variability of soil respiration on the natural and degraded sites, respectively. For the first time, this study suggests that land degradation may alter the carbon balance of these ecosystems through changes in the temporal dynamics of soil respiration and plant productivity, which have important negative consequences for ecosystem functioning and sustainability.     

新疆干旱区土地盐渍化信息提取及实证分析

对提取干旱区盐渍化信息的若干方法进行了评述,并且选取位于干旱区地带的盐渍化典型区域——阿克苏地区的库车、新和、沙雅县以及和田地区的于田县作为研究区进行实证分析。并采用同一时相的ETM+数据,运用K-T变换、比值变换以及通过NDVI指数和分类来提取信息发现效果明显。通过实证分析发现:虽然研究区都地处塔里木盆地周边地区,一个是塔北绿洲,另一个是塔南绿洲。但由于水文(盐渍化形成的关键)、气候(形成盐渍化土壤的驱动力)、地形(盐渍化土壤分布及差异的主要因素)、人类活动(盐渍化土壤形成的重要因素)等因素差异的存在,导致了盐渍化情况的差异。     

Effects of quinestrol and levonorgestrel on populations of plateau pikas, Ochotona curzoniae, in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

BACKGROUND: Plateau pikas ( Ochotona curzoniae , Hodgson, 1858) are viewed as a pest in the Tibetan Plateau meadow ecosystem when their population densities are high. Traditional culling using rodenticides often poses a high risk to non‐target species and even to humans. In this study, an investigation was made of the infertility effects of quinestrol (E), levonorgestrel (P) and a combination of the two (EP, ratio E:P = 1:2) on plateau pikas during 2007 and 2008. RESULTS: Treatment with E or EP significantly decreased the pregnancy rate of female pikas in 2007. In 2008, there was a cross‐year effect that still suppressed male reproduction in treated groups. Treatment with E obviously reduced the reproduction of pikas but not their population abundance in 2007; the reduction in population size was significant in 2008. CONCLUSIONS: Single baiting of quinestrol in early breeding season reduced the reproduction and population size of pikas throughout 2007. The effect of infertility lasted into the next breeding season through a cross‐year effect, which resulted in a significant reduction of population size in 2008. Quinestrol is a very promising non‐lethal approach to managing pika populations; however, several factors need to be investigated further to improve the practicality of this method. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

黄土高原丘陵沟壑区川地和梯田茄子光合特性比较

采用Li-6400便携式光合系统仪,对黄土高原丘陵沟壑区川地和梯田茄子在覆膜与不覆膜两种栽培方式下的光合特性日变化进行了测定。结果表明:(1)茄子在川地与梯田不同栽培模式下光合速率、蒸腾速率和气孔导度的日变化均表现为"双峰"曲线,都具有明显的"午休"现象;引起川地茄子产生光合"午休"现象的主要原因是气孔因素;引起梯田茄子产生光合"午休"现象的一个重要原因是非气孔因素;(2)梯田茄子在不同栽培方式下的光合速率、蒸腾速率、气孔导度、胞间CO2浓度日均值均显著高于川地茄子(P<0.01),而叶片水平水分利用效率日均值却显著低于川地茄子(P<0.01);(3)茄子在覆膜与不覆膜两种栽培方式下的光合特性日变化参数没有显著性差别(P>0.05)。     

青藏高原低云量的年际变化及其稳定性

利用青藏高原80个测站1961-2000年1～12月低云量资料,分析了青藏高原低云量的年际变化规律.结果表明:青藏高原的低云量从东南向西北减少,云量的稳定性夏季高于冬季,南部高于北部.江河上游区域、藏东谷地、川西高原、甘南高原和祁连山区是青藏高原低云量多,且比较稳定的地区;青藏高原西部低云量月变化振幅大,尤以西南部为最,夏季云量最多;高原东南部江河上游区和藏东谷地3～9月低云量多,且起伏变化小,6月和9月出现峰值;高原东南部低云量稳定性较好;低云量的年际变化总体呈下降趋势, 江河上游区和高原东南部的低云量变化缓慢,高原西北部有显著上升趋势;变化趋势在季节上表现为冬、春、夏、秋西北上升西南下降,春、秋季中东部持平,夏、冬略降.     

天然草地放牧牦牛采食行为及食性选择的研究

对青南地区玉树县境内2牧场的草地植被及成年母牦牛的采食行为和选择性采食习性及其关系进行了探讨,结果表明：B牧场禁牧区的生物量显著高于A牧场的禁牧区及A,B牧场的放牧区（P〈0.05）,B牧场的可食植物量显著高于A牧场（P〈0.05）,A牧场的可食植物量只占地上生物量的一半以下;B牧场分别以小嵩草,矮嵩草,披碱草,针茅,蒲公英等优良牧草为优势种,次优势种,而A牧场以线叶嵩草为优势种,凤毛菊,狼毒,黄帚橐吾等毒杂草及早熟禾等为次优势种;B牧场以小嵩草、矮嵩草等莎草科和为主要采食植物,而在A牧场除以莎草科植物为主要采食植物外,由于可食牧草量的不足,还采食一些本不喜食的植物。矮嵩草和小嵩草是牦牛最喜食,选择性最高的植物;斑块内采食口数A牧场为50.6 bite/patch显著少于B牧场的81.1 bite/patch（P〈0.01）;斑块内采食站数A牧场为8.4 FS/patch显著多于B牧场的5.2 FS/patch（P〈0.001）;采食站内采食口数A牧场为6.6 bite/FS显著少于B牧场的17.4 bite/FS（P〈0.001）;采食速度A牧场为1.32 bites/sec显著慢于B牧场的1.46 bites/sec（P〈0.01）。放牧草地的食物资源的匮乏,使放牧牦牛的食物选择性降低,采食行为的内容变劣,A牧场草地处于严重退化状态;牦牛处于缺营养状态,草地的退化对牦牛的生产性能有很大的影响。