Some determinants of the spatio-temporal fire cycle in a mediterranean landscape (Corsica,France)

Based on recent needs to accurately understand fire regimes and post-fire vegetation resilience at a supra-level for carbon cycle studies, this article focusses on the coupled history of fire and vegetation pattern for 40 years on a fire-prone area in central Corsica (France). This area has been submitted since the beginning of the 20^th century to land abandonment and the remaining land management has been largely controlled by frequent fires. Our objectives were to rebuild vegetation and fire maps in order to determine the factors which have driven the spatial and temporal distribution of fires on the area, what were the feed backs on the vegetation dynamics, and the long-term consequences of this inter-relationship. The results show a stable but high frequency of small fires, coupled with forest expansion over the study period. The results particularly illustrate the spatial distribution of fires according to topography and vegetation, leading to a strong contrast between areas never burnt and areas which have been burnt up to 7 times. Fires, when occuring, affect on average 9 to 12% of the S, SE and SW facing slopes (compared to only 2 to 5% for the N facing slopes), spread recurrently over ridge tops, affect all the vegetation types but reburn preferentially shrublands and grasslands. As these fire-proning parameters have also been shown to decrease the regeneration capacity of forests, this study highlights the needs in spatial studies (both in terms of fire spread and vegetation dynamic) to accurately apprehend vegetation dynamic and functionning in fire-prone areas.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Assessing the potential impacts of alternative landscape designs on amphibian population dynamics

An individual-based, spatially explicit population model was used to predict the consequences of future land-use alternatives for populations of four amphibian species in two central Iowa (midwest USA) agricultural watersheds. The model included both breeding and upland habitat and incorporated effects of climatic variation and demographic stochasticity. Data requirements of the model include life history characteristics, dispersal behavior, habitat affinities, as well as land use and landcover in geographic information systems databases. Future scenarios were ranked according to change in breeder abundance, saturation, and distribution, compared to baseline conditions. Sensitivity of simulation results to changes in model parameters was also examined. Simulated results suggest that while all four species modeled are likely to persist under present and future scenario conditions, two may be more at risk from future landscape change. Although the study species are all widespread generalists regarded as having a low conservation priority, they depend on wetlands and ponds, increasingly endangered habitats in agricultural landscapes. Broader conservation strategies in the region would ensure that these currently common organisms do not become the endangered species of the future.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A leakiness index for assessing landscape function using remote sensing

The cover, number, size, shape, spatial arrangement and orientation of vegetation patches are attributes that have been used to indicate how well landscapes function to retain, not ‘leak’, vital system resources such as rainwater and soil. We derived and tested a directional leakiness index (DLI) for this resource retention function. We used simulated landscape maps where resource flows over map surfaces were directional and where landscape patch attributes were known. Although DLI was most strongly related to patch cover, it also logically related to patch number, size, shape, arrangement and orientation. If the direction of resource flow is multi-directional, a variant of DLI, the multi-directional leakiness index (MDLI) can be used. The utility of DLI and MDLI was demonstrated by applying these indices to three Australian savanna landscapes differing in their remotely sensed vegetation patch attributes. These leakiness indices clearly positioned these three landscapes along a function-dysfunction continuum, where dysfunctional landscapes are leaky (poorly retain resources). This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Key issues and research priorities in landscape ecology: An idiosyncratic synthesis

Landscape ecology has made tremendous progress in recent decades, but as a rapidly developing discipline it is faced with new problems and challenges. To identify the key issues and research priorities in landscape ecology, a special session entitled “Top 10 List for Landscape Ecology in the 21st Century” was organized at the 16th Annual Symposium of the US Regional Association of International Association of Landscape Ecology, held at Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona, USA) during April 25–29, 2001. A group of leading landscape ecologists were invited to present their views. This paper is intended to be a synthesis, but not necessarily a consensus, of the special session. We have organized the diverse and wide-ranging perspectives into six general key issues and 10 priority research topics. The key issues are: (1) interdisciplinarity or transdisciplinarity, (2) integration between basic research and applications,(3) Conceptual and theoretical development, (4) education and training, (5)international scholarly communication and collaborations, and (6) outreach and communication with the public and decision makers. The top 10 research topics are: (1) ecological flows in landscape mosaics, (2) causes, processes, and consequences of land use and land cover change, (3) nonlinear dynamics and landscape complexity, (4) scaling, (5) methodological development, (6) relating landscape metrics to ecological processes, (7) integrating humans and their activities into landscape ecology, (8) optimization of landscape pattern, (9)landscape sustainability, and (10) data acquisition and accuracy assessment. We emphasize that, although this synthesis was based on the presentations at the“Top 10 List” session, it is not a document that has been agreed upon by each and every participant. Rather, we believe that it is reflective of the broad-scale vision of the collective as to where landscape ecology is now and where it may be going in future. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

我国北部农牧交错区城郊土地利用时空变化—以包头市为例

以包头市城郊区为例 ,在地理信息系统支持下 ,以乡镇 (苏木 )为研究单元 ,研究本地区土地利用时空动态变化过程 ,并分析其变化驱动因素。从微观角度分析了北方农牧交错区城郊区土地利用变化特征。农牧交错区是人类活动影响强烈之地带 ,土地利用变化与土地持续研究利用 ,对生态安全和地区持续发展具有十分重要的意义。     

Characterizing historical and modern fire regimes in Michigan (USA): A landscape ecosystem approach

We studied the relationships of landscape ecosystems to historical and contemporary fire regimes across 4.3 million hectares in northern lower Michigan (USA). Changes in fire regimes were documented by comparing historical fire rotations in different landscape ecosystems to those occurring between 1985 and 2000. Previously published data and a synthesis of the literature were used to identify six forest-replacement fire regime categories with fire rotations ranging from very short (<100 years) to very long (>1,000 years). We derived spatially-explicit estimates of the susceptibility of landscape ecosystems to fire disturbance using Landtype Association maps as initial units of investigation. Each Landtype Association polygon was assigned to a fire regime category based on associations of ecological factors known to influence fire regimes. Spatial statistics were used to interpolate fire points recorded by the General Land Office. Historical fire rotations were determined by calculating the area burned for each category of fire regime and dividing this area by fifteen (years) to estimate area burned per annum. Modern fire rotations were estimated using data on fire location and size obtained from federal and state agencies. Landtype Associations networked into fire regime categories exhibited differences in both historical and modern fire rotations. Historical rotations varied by 23-fold across all fire rotation categories, and modern forest fire rotations by 13-fold. Modern fire rotations were an order of magnitude longer than historical rotations. The magnitude of these changes has important implications for forest health and understanding of ecological processes in most of the fire rotation categories that we identified.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

草原灌丛化入侵:过程、机制和效应

草原灌丛化已成为全球性问题,也是生态学、畜牧学研究的热点问题。紧扣草原灌丛化过程、发生机理及其生态学后效等关键问题,介绍了国内外的最新研究进展。灌木入侵途径包括有意识引进入侵和自然入侵2类,入侵过程分为传播到达、定居建群和扩散入侵3个阶段。放牧、火烧、温室气体增加,干旱以及降水格局改变等均可导致草本向木本的转化,且机制复杂,主要有影响草本,木本植物盖度、水分利用效率、化感作用等。木本植物入侵打破了草原生态系统的稳定,表现出沃岛效应,影响动植物的分布以及生态系统的功能和服务。阐明草原“草本-木本”群落演替机制,可为我国研究草原灌丛化和管理提供理论借鉴。     

日本北海道北部寒温带森林流域林冠层凋落物及其养分归还量的景观格局(英文)

Within a forested watershed at the Uryu Experimental Forest of Hokkaido University in northern Hokkaido, overstory litterfall and related nutrient fluxes were measured at different landscape zones over two years. The wetland zone covered with Picea glehnii pure stand. The riparian zone was deciduous broad-leaved stand dominated by Alnus hirsuta and Salix spp., while the mixture of deciduous broadleaf and evergreen conifer dominated by Betula platyphylla, Quercus crispula and Abies sachalinensis distributed on the upland zone. Annual litterfall averaged 1444, 5122, and 4123 kg.hm^-2·a^-1 in the wetland, riparian and upland zones, respectively. Litterfall production peaked in September-October, and foliage litter contributed the greatest amount （73.4%-87.6 %） of the annual total litterfall. Concentrations of nutrients analyzed in foliage litter of the dominant species showed a similar seasonal variation over the year except for N in P glehnii and A. hirsuta. The nutrient fluxes for all elements analyzed were greatest on riparian zone and lowest in wetland zone. Nutrient fluxes via litterfall followed the decreasing sequence： N （11-129 kg.hm-2.aq） 〉 Ca （9-69） 〉 K （5-20） 〉 Mg （3-15） 〉 P （0.4-4.7） for all stands. Significant differences were found in litterfall production and nutrient fluxes among the different landscape components. There existed significant differences in soil chemistry between the different landscape zones. The consistently low soil C：N ratios at the riparian zone might be due to the higher-quality litter inputs （largely N-fixing alder）.     

源库调节对小麦籽粒灌浆及光合特性的影响

为探讨不同穗型超高产小麦品种的源库关系,通过剪叶和去穗处理研究了两个不同穗型小麦品种“兰考矮早八”和“豫麦49—198”的籽粒灌浆和光合特性。结果表明,两个品种的籽粒体积、千粒重、灌浆速率在花后15d之后均表现为去穗处理〉对照〉去叶处理。去叶处理使两个品种的千粒重、灌浆速率均有所下降．其中豫麦49—198较对照下降最大比例分别为24．4％和22％,兰考矮早八下降的最大比例分别为7．6％和9％;去穗处理使两个品种的千粒重和灌浆速率均有所增加,其中豫麦49—198较对照增加的最大比例分别为11．1％和17％,兰考矮早八增加的最大比例分别为12．2％和17．25％。源库改变对两个品种的光合特性均有影响,表现为对照旗叶〉去穗旗叶〉去叶倒二叶〉对照例二叶。随着灌浆进程,豫麦49—198去叶处理的倒二叶光舍速率较对照增加的比例从40％减为25％．兰考矮早八去穗处理的旗叶光合速率较对照下降的比例从27％减为20％。