Deforestation patterns and their effects on forest patches

Five identifiable patterns of deforestation are recognized - internal, indentation, cropping, fragmentation, and removal - and each has a distinct effect on habitat quality of forest patches in the eastern United States. By overlaying land use maps from 1973 and 1981 for three counties in the State of Maryland (Prince Georges, Anne Arundel, and Wicomico), changes in the interior core area and edge length of individual patches were measured. Forest interior declined by 23.8 km² in Anne Arundel, 16.3 km² in Prince Georges, and 8.4 km² in Wicomico. Within Anne Arundel and Prince Georges Counties, deforestation increased edge length by 52.1 km and 31.2 km, respectively, whereas, within Wicomico, it decreased edge length by 8.7 km. Differences among counties resulted from current land use patterns, percentage of forest cover, and the dominant deforestation pattern.     

Landscape and habitat factors affecting cabot's tragopan Tragopan caboti occurrence in habitat fragments.

Cabot's tragopan Tragopan caboti is an endemic and endangered pheasant of the lower montane forests of southeastern China. The typical habitats of the tragopan have been seriously fragmented because of forest management for timber production and farmland reclamation in recent years. The effects of the fragment size and isolation on the distribution of the cabot's tragopan were studied in Wuyanling Natural Reserve. Thirty one habitat fragments (2.5-48.5 ha) surrounded by non-habitat sapling coniferous forests, in an intensively managed forested landscape, were surveyed over four seasons for the occurrence of cabot's tragopan. Five of the 31 fragments were occupied in all four seasons and nine were not occupied. Both landscape and habitat factors affected the occurrence of cabot's tragopan, with landscape factors having the greatest effect. Large and less isolated habitat fragments containing a larger amount of the tree Daphniphyllum macropodum were occupied significantly more often than small, isolated fragments. The appearance of cabot's tragopan in the habitat fragments was best explained by the size of the fragments, the distance to the nearest suitable habitat and the amount of macropdous daphniphyllum trees. Our results could be used to improve the management of the forests where Cabot's tragopan occurs in southeastern China.     

Effects of land ownership and landscape-level factors on rare-species richness in natural areas of southern Ontario,Canada

Surprisingly few studies have considered the extent to which the nature of the ownership of land is associated with differences in biodiversity. We analysed ownership and other landscape-level effects on rare-species richness for both globally- and regionally-rare biota (including birds, herpetofauna, butterflies, mammals, and plants) in 289 designated natural areas (NAs) in southern Ontario, Canada. Information about each NA −including area, number of plant communities, ownership status and details of species diversity were collected from published sources. Length of perimeter of NA, relative isolation, and an estimate of fragmentation were measured using image analysis and GIS techniques. NAs were in general relatively small, with mean area of 158 ha (median 85 ha, range from 0.9 to 1278 ha) for private NAs; public NAs had mean area of 132 ha (median 16 ha, range from 0.1 to 1481 ha). Mean number of plant communities was 4.6 (median 4, range 1- 13) at private NAs and 3.8 (median 3, range 1-16) at public NAs. Our results show that, of several landscape-level factors, area had the greatest effects on rare-species richness and other biotic indices. Effects of area were followed by effects of plant community diversity, however this was itself significantly affected by area and the extent of perimeter of the NA. Both these factors were followed by effects of ownership of the NA and by effects of isolation of the NA (represented by minimum distance to nearest NA and by number of NAs in 10 km radius). Other landscape- level factors did not appear to have overall significant effects. Variation in area accounted for 0.1% to 29% of variation in number of rare species, with lower values for globally-rare, than for regionally-rare taxa. For all biotic groups, public ownership of NAs was associated with significantly greater rare-species richness compared to private ownership, even after other factors such as area were controlled. For all globally-rare biota except butterflies, area of NA had greater effects on rare-species richness than did ownership. Richness of regionally- rare birds was more affected by plant community diversity than by area of NA. Number of recorded plant communities accounted from 2.1% of variation in number of globally-rare plant species to as high as 31% of variation in regionally-rare butterflies. The diversity of plant communities was itself influenced by total site area (accounting for 45% of variation), extent of elongation of the NA, and both external- and interior- edge perimeters. Public NAs had greatest numbers of rare biota and so should be a significant focus for conservation programs. Smaller, privately-owned patches of natural area dominate (by number and area) in this densely populated region and their significance should not be overlooked. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Anthropogenic influences on potential fire spread in a pyrogenic ecosystem of Florida, USA

Fire has historically been an important ecological factor maintaining southeastern U.S. vegetation. Humans have altered natural fire regimes by fragmenting fuels, introducing exotic species, and suppressing fires. Little is known about how these alterations specifically affect spatial fire extent and pattern. We applied historic (1920 and 1943) and current (1990) GIS fuels maps and the FARSITE fire spread model to quantify the differences between historic and current fire spread distributions. We held all fire modeling variables (wind speed and direction, cloud cover, precipitation, humidity, air temperature, fuel moistures, ignition source and location) constant with exception of the fuel models representing different time periods. Model simulations suggest that fires during the early 1900's burned freely across the landscape, while current fires are much smaller, restricted by anthropogenic influences. Fire extent declined linearly with patch density, and there was a quadratic relationship between fire extent and percent landscape covered by anthropogenic features. We found that as little as 10 percent anthropogenic landcover caused a 50 percent decline in fire extent. Most landscapes (conservation or non-conservation areas) are now influenced by anthropogenic features which disrupt spatial fire behavior disproportionately to their actual size. These results suggest that land managers using fire to restore or maintain natural ecosystem function in pyrogenic systems will have to compensate for anthropogenic influences in their burn planning. This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Contribution of spray droplet pinning fragmentation to canopy retention

Drop behaviour during impact affects retention. Increasing adhesion is usually seen as an objective when applying crop protection products, while bouncing and shattering are seen as detrimental to spray retention. However, observation of drop impacts on barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) using high speed shadowgraphy shows that bouncing and fragmentation can occur in Cassie–Baxter as well as in Wenzel wetting regimes. In this last regime, a part of the drop may remain stuck on the surface, contributing to retention. Using simultaneous measurements of drop impacts with high speed imaging and of retention with fluorophotometry for spray mixtures on excised barley leaves using a Teejet 11003 nozzle at 0.2 MPa, it was observed that about 50% of the drops that fragmented in the Wenzel state remain on the horizontal leaf. Depending on the spray mixture, these impact outcomes accounted for 28–46% of retention, the higher contribution being correlated with bigger VMD (Volume Median Diameter). This contribution is not negligible and should be considered when modelling spray retention processes.     

磷酸、膦酸酯类农药的质谱裂解规律研究

在对23种磷酸、膦酸酯类农药及其氧化物的质谱数据进行归纳整理的基础上,明确了这类农药质谱裂解规律。结果表明:电子轰击离子化条件下,磷酸、膦酸酯类农药分子极易裂解,且分子离子峰较弱。发现C_2H_6O_3P~+(m/z109)是其最具代表性的特征碎片离子。磷酸酯类农药裂解规律是二甲氧基磷酸酯P-0键易发生a断裂,生成m/z 109特征碎片离子。二乙氧基磷酸酯易脱去中性碎片C_2H_4,形成m/z81的特征离子。R'含有烯烃结构,易产生m/z127的特征碎片离子。膦酸酯类农药裂解规律与磷酸酯类似,特征性弱,膦键容易发生a断裂。选定了磷酸、膦酸酯类农药在质谱分析中常见的碎片离子,为农药残留筛查、确证分析提供参考。     

Variation among stallions in sperm quality after single layer centrifugation

Although single layer centrifugation (SLC) selects robust spermatozoa from stallion semen, the effect of individual variation has not been studied in detail. The objective of this study was to determine the variation among stallions in the effects of SLC on sperm quality during cooled storage for up to 48 hr. Semen samples from seven stallions (18 ejaculates) were split, with one portion being used for SLC and the other serving as a control (CON). Sperm quality (kinematics, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, membrane integrity (MI) and chromatin integrity) were analysed at 0, 24 and 48 hr using computer-assisted sperm analysis and flow cytometry. Sperm quality was better in SLC than in CON at all timepoints, especially chromatin integrity and MI (p < .0001 for both), and some categories of ROS production (e.g. proportion of live hydrogen peroxide negative spermatozoa, p < .0001), but the degree of improvement varied among stallions and type of ROS (p < .05–p < .0001). Total and progressive motility were also better in SLC samples than in CON at 24 and 48 hr (p < .0001), although the effect on sperm kinematics varied. The interaction of treatment, time and stallion was not significant. In conclusion, sperm quality was better in SLC samples than in CON, although there was considerable individual variation among stallions. The improvement in sperm quality, particularly in chromatin integrity, was clearly beneficial, and therefore the use of this technique would be warranted for all stallion semen samples.     

高压水射流破碎岩石数值模拟

针对高压水射流破碎岩石的特性，结合多物质流固耦合算法与ALE(任意拉格朗日欧拉)算法，利用显示动力学有限元程序对该复杂过程进行数值模拟，得出岩石破碎过程中的流体与固体的相互作用及岩石的破碎动态扩展过程并对连续射流冲击与脉冲射流冲击对岩石的切割效果进行对比。     

纳板河自然保护区景观连接度变化分析

自然保护区是保护物种栖息地的重要基础,但频繁的人类活动干扰导致自然保护区内生物栖息地斑块破碎化的问题依然存在,景观连接度定量评价对于保护区生物栖息地保护具有重要作用。以纳板河自然保护区为例,基于图论的指数方法利用2014年和2018年高空间分辨率遥感数据,对保护区栖息地的景观连接度指数的变化及其驱动力因素进行分析。结果表明:1)2014—2018年的景观连接度指数中整体性连接度指数(IIC)、概率连接度指数(PC)都呈现下降趋势,IIC和PC指数分别下降0.29和0.53,指示保护区内栖息地破碎化加剧;2)最大斑块的重要性指数从85.14减少到84.19,重要性前十的斑块时空变化表明了自然保护区栖息地斑块面积不断减小,中部、中西部地区破碎化显著;3)土地利用变化对保护区景观连接度产生重要影响,其中橡胶林、耕地、水库、茶园4类土地利用增加是栖息地破碎化的驱动力因素。研究结果可为纳板河自然保护区栖息地保护管理提供科学依据。     

耕地细碎化、耕地质量认知与化肥施用效率 ——基于湖北省水稻种植户的调查数据

在中国倡导农业农村绿色发展的大背景下,化肥投入的政策导向逐渐由增量增产转变为减量增效,如何提高化肥施用效率成为当前重点关注的问题。本文依据湖北省水稻种植户微观调查数据,运用随机前沿法测算水稻种植户化肥施用效率,并在此基础上运用CLAD模型进一步分析耕地细碎化程度与耕地质量认知对化肥施用效率的影响。结果表明:当前水稻种植户化肥施用效率仅为63.85%,若完全消除效率损失,化肥施用效率仍有36.15%的提升空间;耕地细碎化程度显著降低了化肥施用效率,可能与农户的避险行为有关;耕地质量认知显著促进了化肥施用效率提升,说明农户对耕地质量的科学认识能够改善化肥施用效率。因此,提出加快耕地整合与耕地连片经营法律法规建设,加速耕地细碎化治理经验与创新结合,加强引导农户对化肥施用的正确认知,推行科学种植生产模式以提升化肥施用效率的政策建议。