Alternative stable states in Australia’s Wet Tropics: a theoretical framework for the field data and a field-case for the theory

The vegetation of the Wet Tropics bioregion of Far North Queensland is a complex system whose components (mainly tropical rainforests and fire-prone forests and woodlands) have mostly been studied independently from each other. We suggest that many characteristics of the vegetation are consistent with those of a complex, dynamic, spatially heterogeneous system which exhibits alternative stable states. We propose these states are driven and maintained by the interaction of vegetation-specific positive feedback loops with the regions’ environmental parameters (such as topography, steep humidity gradients and seasonality) and result in the rainforest/fire-prone vegetation mosaic that characterises the area. Given the regions’ magnitude, biodiversity and complexity, we propose the Wet Tropics as an important new example and a good testing ground for alternative stable state and resilience theories in large heterogeneous natural systems. At the same time, thinking in terms of alternative stable states and resilience creates a new context for understanding the regions’ biological dynamics.     

迷宫流道内沙粒壁面碰撞模拟与PTV实验

以单个沙粒为对象,研究了沙粒与灌水器流道壁面的碰撞过程.采用计算流体力学CFD数值模拟方法,分析了沙粒与壁面碰撞反弹系数Rc对灌水器抗堵性能的影响.结果表明,反弹系数对灌水器抗堵性能影响较大.利用粒子跟踪测速技术PTV,观测了复杂迷宫流道内沙粒与壁面碰撞过程,测定了不同压力点下矩形流道的碰撞反弹系数,为灌水器数值模拟时反弹系数的设定提供了实验依据,从而可以更加准确评估灌水器抗堵性能.     

Changes in soil chemical and microbial properties after a wildfire in a tropical rainforest in Sabah, Malaysia

Changes in soil caused by drought and wildfire in a Dipterocarp rainforest in Sabah, Malaysia were assessed by phosphorus fractionation, extractable nitrogen and nutrient limited respiration kinetics (after addition of glucose+N or P). Fire increased the concentration of total phosphorus (P) in the litter layer (per ha and per dry soil) by raising the 0.2 M NaOH extractable-P. In the soil organic layer, membrane exchangeable P was reduced by fire while 1.0 M HCl extractable-P, and 0.5 M NaHCO₃ extractable-P increased. Microbially available P increased after the fire and was most closely related to NaOH extractable-P that has been considered available to plants only over long time-scales. Total nitrogen (N) increased in the litter layer (per ha and per dry soil) due to post-fire litter fall, while the NO₃⁻ increased up to 10-fold down to the 10 cm mineral soil. In contrast, the microbially available N decreased by 50%. Basal respiration and substrate-induced respiration increased in the litter layer and decreased in the organic horizon (per dry soil and per organic matter). P limited microbial growth resulted in a slow and non-exponential increase in respiration, presumably reflecting the P-fixing nature of the soils, while N limitation resulted in a fast exponential increase. However, higher respiration rates were eventually achieved under P limitation than under N limitation.     

Biodiversity management in the face of climate change: A review of 22 years of recommendations

Climate change creates new challenges for biodiversity conservation. Species ranges and ecological dynamics are already responding to recent climate shifts, and current reserves will not continue to support all species they were designed to protect. These problems are exacerbated by other global changes. Scholarly articles recommending measures to adapt conservation to climate change have proliferated over the last 22 years. We systematically reviewed this literature to explore what potential solutions it has identified and what consensus and direction it provides to cope with climate change. Several consistent recommendations emerge for action at diverse spatial scales, requiring leadership by diverse actors. Broadly, adaptation requires improved regional institutional coordination, expanded spatial and temporal perspective, incorporation of climate change scenarios into all planning and action, and greater effort to address multiple threats and global change drivers simultaneously in ways that are responsive to and inclusive of human communities. However, in the case of many recommendations the how, by whom, and under what conditions they can be implemented is not specified. We synthesize recommendations with respect to three likely conservation pathways: regional planning; site-scale management; and modification of existing conservation plans. We identify major gaps, including the need for (1) more specific, operational examples of adaptation principles that are consistent with unavoidable uncertainty about the future; (2) a practical adaptation planning process to guide selection and integration of recommendations into existing policies and programs; and (3) greater integration of social science into an endeavor that, although dominated by ecology, increasingly recommends extension beyond reserves and into human-occupied landscapes.     

Strategic Adaptive Management in freshwater protected areas and their rivers

Aquatic ecosystems are connected over large spatial scales, have varied drivers, strong and often conflicting societal interests and interacting management processes. Many of the world’s protected areas (>100,000, ∼12% of land) include freshwater ecosystems, some specifically declared for freshwater protection, but often supplied by rivers outside their protected boundaries. Such complex socio-ecological systems have considerable challenges. We report on Strategic Adaptive Management (SAM), a management framework that should be implemented, irrespective of resourcing, in protected areas of any river system, ranging from heavily managed or regulated through to pristine rivers. We briefly outline the four stages of the SAM process for aquatic protected areas and present three case studies from South Africa and Australia in different stages of SAM implementation. Progress is incremental, reflecting gaps, problems, and socio-ecological dynamism. Real-world implementation usually means such management is passive although experimentation with environmental flows remains possible. While maturity in SAM is incremental over years or decades, it can and should be applied even if environmental problems are urgent and contentious. The stages of SAM should produce an agreed vision and/or mission among stakeholders, with an appropriate hierarchy of objectives that determines indicators to be measured, allowing ongoing reflection, learning and adaptation. There is no panacea for achieving aquatic conservation, but Strategic Adaptive Management offers hope with its interlinked processes for navigating complexity and learning. SAM in freshwater conservation is progressing because of the imperative for sustainability, history of interaction between scientists and managers and the need for transdisciplinary governance of rivers.     

Permanence of resilience and protection efficiency in mountain Norway spruce forest stands: A simulation study

An objective of mountain forest management is to increase the ability of forest stands to protect human activities against natural hazards such as rock-falls and snow avalanches in a sustainable way. The challenge is to find a compromise between efficient instantaneous protection, favoured by dense stands, and continuous renewal, minimizing time periods of low protection efficiency. We used a Norway spruce stand dynamics model to compare the respective advantages of individual tree and gap selection silviculture in this context. We simulated stand dynamics over 800 years with either individual tree or gap thinning every 20 years with several thinning intensities. At each time step, we evaluated stand resilience, protection efficiency against rock-falls, protection efficiency against avalanches, and structural complexity with four indicators based on stand structure. Every scenario produced short time periods with low stand resilience and protection efficiency. Such periods can be tolerated if they are sufficiently rare compared to the local disturbance regime. We characterized the permanence of resilience and protection of a forest stand as its ability to remain within boundary values of the different indicators, without going out of them during continuous time periods longer than fixed maximum durations. Permanence of resilience and permanence of protection decreased with thinning intensity. Efficient protection against rock-falls was obtained with gap thinning of intermediate intensity while protection against avalanches was obtained only for very low thinning intensities. For our ecological context, the best compromise between resilience and protection was obtained with three 10 m radius gaps per hectare every 20 years (9.5% of the area of a stand). This strategy led to uneven-aged stand structures with a high diversity of diameters classes. Our results suggest that small gap silviculture may be a good way to combine forest renewal and protection efficiency in mountain regions.     

Host differences in response to trickle infection with Fasciola gigantica in buffalo, Ongole and Bali calves

Progressive weight gain, faecal egg counts, packed cell volume, percent eosinophils in blood, serum antibody and serum levels of glutamate dehydrogenase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase were recorded in seven swamp buffalo (Bubalis bubalis), 7 Ongole (Bos indicus) and four Bali calves (Bos sundiacus) which were infected orally with 15 metacercariae of Fasciola gigantica twice weekly for 32 weeks. Similar observations were made on four buffalo, 4 Ongole calves and 3 Bali calves maintained fluke-free as controls. Flukes were counted at slaughter 36 weeks after initial infection. Mean daily weight gains of infected Bali (228 ± 100 (SD) g/day) and infected Ongole calves (328 ± 57 (SD) g/day) were lower (p = 0.026 and 0.067, respectively) than those of control calves (405 ± 107 (SD) g/day), but infected buffalo calves (379 ± 78 (SD) g/day) had similar weight gains to those of the controls (p = 0.57). Throughout the trial, faecal Fasciola egg counts in buffaloes were about one-fifth of counts of Ongole calves, and counts in Bali calves were intermediate. Ongole calves had three times the number of flukes at slaughter in their liver compared to buffalo and Bali calves, which had similar numbers. However, there was evidence that Bali calves had acquired a degree of resistance about 24 weeks after infection commenced and may have lost adult flukes as a consequence.     

川西茶区3个主栽茶树品种抗寒性间接指标的比较研究

以国家级绿茶良种福鼎大白茶为对照,测定了名山白毫、名山特早芽213、福选9号3个川西茶区主栽品种的超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)、过氧化物酶(POD)以及脯氨酸(Pro)、丙二醛(MDA)含量和电导率(CMP),以间接鉴定3个主栽品种抗逆能力的强弱.结果表明:福选9号的SOD、CAT、POD活性及Pro含量均显著低于其它品种,且丙二醛含量和电导率最高,其抗逆能力最弱;名山白毫的SOD、CAT、POD活性及Pro含量显著高于其它品种,分别比对照高:19.96％、41.87％、39.7％、13.34％,且丙二醛含量和电导率最低,分别比对照低39.55％和20.83％,其抗逆能力最强.名山特早芽213和对照的上述抗性指标接近,抗逆性与福鼎大白茶相当.     

Potential impacts of water harvesting and ecological sanitation on crop yield, evaporation and river flow regimes in the Thukela River basin, South Africa

In this study we explore the potential impacts of two strategies, namely in situ water harvesting (in situ WH) and fertilisation with stored human urine (Ecosan), to increase the water and nutrient availability in rain-fed smallholder agriculture in South Africa's Thukela River basin (29,000 km²). We use the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) to simulate potential impacts on smallholder maize yields, river flow regimes, plant transpiration, and soil and canopy evaporation during 1997-2006. Based on the results, the impacts on maize yields are likely to be small with in situ WH (median change: 0%) but significant with Ecosan (median increase: 30%). The primary causes for these effects are high nitrogen stress on crop growth, and low or untimed soil moisture enhancement with in situ WH. However, the impacts vary significantly in time and space, occasionally resulting in yield increases of up to 40% with in situ WH. Soil fertility improvements primarily increase yield magnitudes, whereas soil moisture enhancements reduce spatial yield variability. Ecosan significantly improves the productivity of the evaporative fluxes by increasing transpiration (median: 2.8%, 4.7 mm season⁻¹) and reducing soil and canopy evaporation (median: −1.7%, −4.5 mm season⁻¹). In situ WH does not generally affect the river flow regimes. Occasionally, significant regime changes occur due to enhanced lateral and shallow aquifer return flows. This leads to higher risks of flooding in some areas, but also to enhanced low flows, which help sustain aquatic ecosystems in the basin.     

新生代农民工城市融入过程中的抗逆力研究

对新生代农民工抗逆力的现状进行了分析,并提出了新生代农民工抗逆力培养的内在机制,即：从社会方面建立和完善社会支持网络,提高对新生代农民工的社会接纳能力,为解决新生代农民工生活和就业问题提供保障措施等。