Nitrogen dynamics during ecosystem development in tropical forest restoration

We considered whether ecological restoration using high diversity of native tree species serves to restore nitrogen dynamics in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We measured δ¹⁵N and N content in green foliage and soil; vegetation N:P ratio; and soil N mineralization in a preserved natural forest and restored forests of ages 21 and 52 years. Green foliage δ¹⁵N values, N content, N:P ratio, inorganic N and net mineralization and nitrification rates were all higher, the older the forest. Our findings indicate that the recuperation of N cycling has not been achieved yet in the restored forests even after 52 years, but show that they are following a trajectory of development that is characterized by their N cycling intensity becoming similar to a natural mature forest of the same original forest formation. This study demonstrated that some young restored forests are more limited by N compared to mature natural forests. We document that the recuperation of N cycling in tropical forests can be achieved through ecological restoration actions.     

Drought and fire suppression lead to rapid forest composition change in a forest-prairie ecotone

Altered fire regimes and increased drought can lead to major vegetation changes, especially in ecotones. A decrease in fire can lead to woody species encroachment in prairies and increasing forest stand density. The threat of global climate change raises questions about potential increases in the length, severity, and incidence of droughts substantially altering species composition. Re-measured upland forests in south-central North America's midcontinent forest-prairie ecotone exhibited major changes in woody species composition and structure over fifty years and successional trajectories appeared to favor invasive Juniperus virginiana L. over the previous dominant Quercus species. The objective of this study was to determine whether climate and fire exclusion affected the recruitment history of dominant woody species in these upland forests located near the xeric western edge of the eastern deciduous forest biome of North America. We removed cores and cross-sections from 992 J. virginiana, Quercus marilandica Münchh. and Q. stellata Wangenh. trees from eleven forest stands located across central and northwest Oklahoma, and determined their ages using standard dendrochronological methods. Recruitment of all species increased following a severe mid-20th century drought, but a rapid increase in J. virginiana recruitment and decrease in Quercus recruitment appeared to be linked to a decrease in fire. Future fire regime changes and increased drought due to global climate change could lead to widespread shifts from Quercus- to Juniperus- dominated forests and cause substantial changes to ecosystem services.     

Threshold responses of songbirds to long-term timber management on an active industrial forest

Forest managers often seek to balance economic benefits from timber harvesting with maintenance of habitat for wildlife, ecosystem function, and human uses. Most research on the relationship between avian abundance and active timber management has been short-term, lasting one to two years, creating the need to investigate long-term avian responses and to identify harvest thresholds when a small change in habitat results in a disproportionate response in relative abundance and nest success. Our objectives were to identify trends in relative abundance and nest success and to identify landscape-scale disturbance thresholds for avian species and habitat guilds in response to a variety of harvest treatments (clear-cuts, heavy and light partial harvests) over 14 years. We conducted point counts and monitored nests at an industrial forest in the central Appalachians of West Virginia during 1996-1998, 2001-2003, and 2007-2009. Early successional species increased in relative abundance across all three time periods, whereas interior-edge and forest-interior guilds peaked in relative abundance mid-study after which the forest-interior guild declined. Of 41 species with >10 detections, four (10%) declined significantly, 13 (32%) increased significantly (only three species among all periods), and 9 (22%) peaked in abundance mid-study (over the entire study period, four species had no significant change in abundance, four declined, and one increased). Based on piecewise linear models, forest-interior and interior-edge guilds’ relative abundance harvest thresholds were 28% total harvests (all harvests combined), 10% clear-cut harvests, and 18% light partial harvests, after which abundances declined. Harvest thresholds for the early successional guild were 42% total harvests, 11% clear-cut harvest, and 10% light partial harvests, and relative abundances increased after surpassing thresholds albeit at a reduced rate of increase after the clear-cut threshold. Threshold confidence intervals for individual species overlapped their guild threshold intervals 91% of the time. Even though relative abundance of most species (80%) did not decline as the area affected by timber management increased, implementing management at or below our approximate forest-interior and interior-edge harvest thresholds would reduce the number of declining species by half, maintain higher relative abundances of four species with a net decline in abundance but that peaked in abundance mid-study, and maintain higher relative abundances of ten additional species. In contrast, this management strategy also would prevent the increase in relative abundance of seven species and limit the increase in abundance of three species that increased throughout the study.     

Carbon fluxes in soil food webs of increasing complexity revealed by C labelling and C natural abundance

Soil food webs are mainly based on three primary carbon (C) sources: root exudates, litter, and recalcitrant soil organic matter (SOM). These C sources vary in their availability and accessibility to soil organisms, which could lead to different pathways in soil food webs. The presence of three C isotopes (¹²C, ¹³C and ¹⁴C) offers an unique opportunity to investigate all three C sources simultaneously. In a microcosm experiment we studied the effect of food web complexity on the utilization of the three carbon sources. We choose an incomplete three factorial design with (i) living plants, (ii) litter and (iii) food web complexity. The most complex food web consisted of autochthonous microorganisms, nematodes, collembola, predatory mites, endogeic and anecic earthworms. We traced C from all three sources in soil, in CO₂ efflux and in individual organism groups by using maize grown on soil developed under C₃ vegetation and application of ¹⁴C labelled ryegrass shoots as a litter layer. The presence of living plants had a much greater effect on C pathways than food web complexity. Litter decomposition, measured as ¹⁴CO₂ efflux, was decreased in the presence of living plants from 71% to 33%. However, living plants increased the incorporation of litter C into microbial biomass and arrested carbon in the litter layer and in the upper soil layer. The only significant effect of food web complexity was on the litter C distribution in the soil layers. In treatments with fungivorous microarthropods (Collembola) the incorporation of litter carbon into mineral soil was reduced. Root exudates as C source were passed through rhizosphere microorganisms to the predator level (at least to the third trophic level). We conclude that living plants strongly affected C flows, directly by being a source of additional C, and indirectly by modifying the existing C flows within the food web including CO₂ efflux from the soil and litter decomposition.     

种植模式对苜蓿固氮和固氮产物转移的影响

田间小区试验研究了不同种植模式下苜蓿的共生固氮贡献,并利用~(15)N同位素示踪技术评估了苜蓿的％Ndfa和Ndfa,以及与之混作生长的牛尾草植株中来自苜蓿固氮产物的转移量。研究表明,豆科与禾本科牧草混作对发挥草地的优势有一定影响,混作条播在干草产量、全氮产量、％Ndfa和Ndfa等方面均优于间作与混作撒播模式,且高于单作苜蓿与牛尾草的平均值。用~(15)N同位素稀释法与~(15)N天然丰度法评估苜蓿的％Ndfa与Ndfa值时,无明显差异(P<0.05),前者还能准确测出混种牛尾革植株中的固氮产物转移量,后者则大大低估,甚至不能测出固氮产物转移。     

Soil organic carbon and phosphorus availability regulate abundance of culturable phosphate-solubilizing bacteria in paddy fields

Low availability of phosphorus(P) is a major constraint for optimal crop production, as P is mostly present in its insoluble form in soil. Therefore,phosphate-solubilizing bacteria(PSB) from paddy field soils of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, India were isolated, and their abundance was attempted to be correlated with the physicochemical characteristics of the soils. Ninety-four PSB were isolated on Pikovskaya's agar medium, and quantitative phosphate solubilization was evaluated using NBRIP medium. The isolates solubilized P up to a concentration of 1 006 μg mL~(-1) from tricalcium phosphate with the secretion of organic acids. These isolates were identified by 16 S rRNA gene sequence comparison, and they belonged to Gammaproteobacteria(56 isolates),Firmicutes(28 isolates), Actinobacteria(8 isolates), and Alphaproteobacteria(2 isolates). Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the identification by clustering the isolates in the clade of the respective reference organisms. The correlation analysis between PSB abundance and physicochemical characteristics revealed that the PSB population increased with increasing levels of soil organic carbon, insoluble P, K~+, and Mg~(2+). The promising PSB explored in this study can be further evaluated for their biofertilizer potential in the field and for their use as potent bio-inoculants.     

Wild-reared aplomado falcons survive and recruit at higher rates than hacked falcons in a common environment

The northern aplomado falcon (Falco femoralis septentrionalis) has been the subject of a large-scale reintroduction effort conducted by The Peregrine Fund since 1993. Intensive monitoring during 2002-2004 revealed approximately 38 breeding pairs and numerous non-territorial individuals in two study areas centered on Matagorda Island National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and Laguna Atascosa NWR. Continued releases (“hacking”) of captive-bred young after pair establishment and successful wild breeding provided an opportunity to compare survival and recruitment histories of wild-reared and hacked falcons hatched during 2001-2003. We used Program MARK to rank multi-state models of apparent survival and recruitment rates with Akaike’s Information Criterion scores, corrected for small samples. The top model candidate, with almost 3.5 times more support than the next best model, detected differences due to falcon origin (wild or captivity): although breeder survival was independent of origin, juvenile hacked falcons survived and recruited at lower rates than wild-reared falcons. Given the high density of territorial adult falcons in the study areas, the difference in apparent survival may reflect greater dispersal by hacked falcons, increased tolerance of wild falcons in territory margins due to prior socialization, or other factors effecting higher intrinsic fitness of wild falcons. However, natal dispersal did not differ between the two groups, strengthening the hypothesis of a difference in true survival. Disproportionately greater recruitment of wild falcons into the breeding population again suggests their higher intrinsic fitness. These findings show how close monitoring of population vital rates can efficiently guide adaptive management of recovering populations.     

Moderate impacts of plant invasion and management regimes in coastal hind dune seed banks

Plant invaders may directly or indirectly affect ecosystem resilience through their impact on soil seed banks. The invaders, and the application of control measures, change seed bank dynamics by altering the number of seeds entering and leaving the seed bank. We tested the impact of bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera ssp. rotundata), on the seed bank. We examined seed banks in heavily-invaded, sparsely-invaded and managed dunes, where bitou bush biomass had been controlled. While management of bitou bush may have reduced the density of bitou bush seeds in the soil, it did not reduce the richness of other weed species. Native tree species richness was significantly higher in seed banks of sparsely-invaded than either heavily-invaded or managed sites, perhaps indicating a permanent shift in community structure following invasion. However, remaining indices of native seed bank diversity were similar across all invasion categories, indicating that seed banks of many native species were unaffected by both invasion and management. While examination of seed banks is informative in assessing past and potential community dynamics, low similarity between the standing vegetation and seed bank at all sites indicated that many hind dune species had other storage or regeneration modes and seed banks cannot be relied upon for comprehensive dune restoration.     

玉米秸秆对土壤微生物性质的影响

以黑钙土为供试土壤，初步研究了玉米秸秆对黑钙土微生物数量及种群丰富度、种群更替的影响。180d的培养试验结果表明：玉米秸秆对土壤微生物的数量、活性具有促进作用。其中，玉米秸秆对土壤真菌数量的影响大于对细菌数量的影响，细菌与真菌的数量比（B／F）由1.42降低到1.25。微生物种群丰富度下降，具有使土壤微生物区系由细菌型向真菌型转化的趋势。     

鸡粪菌渣好氧堆肥过程中氨氧化古菌及氨氧化细菌群落的动态变化

以amo A基因为标记,通过Real-Time PCR和限制性片段长度多态性(Restriction fragment length polymorphism,RFLP)法对鸡粪菌渣好氧堆肥过程中的氨氧化古菌(Ammonia-oxidizing archaea,AOA)和氨氧化细菌(Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria,AOB)进行了丰度及群落结构的分析。结果表明,在堆制初期、好氧发酵高温期及后熟期,AOB的amo A基因丰度均占主导优势,是AOA的38~992倍。进入好氧发酵高温期,AOA amo A基因丰度下降至发酵前的0.9%,AOB下降至17.6%,后熟期AOA与AOB的amo A基因丰度与好氧发酵高温期相当。在上述3个阶段AOA与AOB各自存在一个绝对优势菌群,分别为Cluster 3和Nitrosomonas europaea,其中Cluster 3克隆子数目分别占整个克隆文库的70.73%、54.28%、72.45%,Nitrosomonas europaea克隆子数目分别占整个克隆文库的78.44%、93.20%、94.27%。堆肥3个阶段AOA的多样性指数变化不大,Shannon-Wiener值维持在1.53~1.60,但群落结构发生明显演替,随着堆肥温度升高,堆肥前期的一些菌群(Cluster 4、Cluster 5、Cluster 6)逐渐消失,新的菌群Cluster 1出现并成为堆肥中后期的第二大优势菌群。AOB无论是多样性指数还是群落组成,都发生剧烈的变化。AOB在堆肥前期Shannon-Wiener指数值最大(1.47),种群数最多(6个基因簇,分别为Nitrosomonas europaea Cluster,Nitrosomonas halophila Cluster,Nitrosomonas communis Cluster,Nitrosomonas nitrosa Cluster,Nitrosospira briensis Cluster,Nitrosospira multiformis Cluster);进入高温发酵期,Shannon-Wiener下降至0.45,群落结构单一,只有Nitrosomonas europaea Cluster和Nitrosomonas halophila Cluster;进入后熟期,AOB多样性及种群数得到一定程度的回升。