Sacred sites as habitats of culturally important plant species in an Indian megacity

Cultural ecosystem services related to urban green spaces contribute significantly to liveable cities. While previous studies highlight the intersection of cultural ecosystem services with societal values, spiritual or religious values associated with urban nature have received less attention. In India, as in other parts of the world, sacred sites are known for their biological richness, but analyses from urban sacred sites are largely missing. Based on a stratified random sampling approach, we analysed the cultivated and wild plant species assemblages of 69 sacred sites in the megacity of Bengaluru, India, in relation to biological and cultural features, and parameters related to the urban matrix and type of sacred sites (temple vs. katte). Unlike other urban studies, we found a dominance of native species in the cultivated and spontaneous species pools (121 species in total), with Ficus religiosa and Azadirachta indica as most frequently planted species. Culturally relevant species prevailed in the species pool (89%), with overlaps between religious (36%), medicinal (50%) and ornamental (62%) plants; only 11% of species were weeds. Urban matrix parameters (age of development, housing density) and size and type of sacred sites were related to differences in species assemblages. We identified key species for different classes of age and housing density, and for types of sacred sites. Our study demonstrates that urban sacred sites have an important potential in harbouring both native and culturally significant species that can support urban livelihoods in developing countries by a range of cultural and provisioning ecosystem services, including medicinal uses. As such sites are conserved by communities for spiritual or cultural beliefs, local biodiversity can be enhanced, e.g. by adapting management practices through community participation. This would strengthen the important contribution of sacred sites within the green infrastructure of rapidly growing megacities.     

捕食线虫性真菌菌种保存技术的研究

本试验对捕食线虫性真菌菌种保存技术进行了研究,测定了在不同介质保存条件下,捕食线虫真菌分生孢子和菌丝的存活情况及其不是寄生性线虫的能力.结果表明:在设定的保存条件下,分别经过1周冷冻融化或2周反复冷冻融化,被保存的分生孢子接种于玉米粉琼脂培养基上能生长发育:在加入线虫第3期幼虫后,能生产捕食器,对虫体发挥捕食作用.     

木质材料的表面劣化与木材保护的研究

本试验以枫桦(Betula costata Trautv)、紫椴(Tilia amurensis Rupr)木材单板和凸版纸、新闻纸、条纹牛皮纸、书写纸、胶版纸和朴克原纸为试材,借助于电子自旋共振波谱仪和扫描电子显微镜观测和分析了经室内、外暴露和人造紫外光辐射期间各种木质材料表面化学和表面性状的变化;提出了抑制木材表面劣化,保护木材的处理方法。研究结果表明,采用电子自旋共振波谱仪和扫描电子显微镜可以监测木质材料的劣化过程。采用化学药剂处理和油漆涂饰处理均可抑制紫外光对木材表面的光化降解,其中用浓度为5％的三氧化铬溶液或三氯化铁溶液处理木材其保护作用显著,能够改善木材的耐候性能。     

大型液化气低温储罐结构及其保冷设计

根据储存液化气大容量储罐的超低温特点，对液化石油气和液化天然气低温储存储罐的隔冷保温材料及其保温结构设计进行了研究，并对几种大型圆筒型立式储罐的结构设计及其技术经济特性进行了讨论和比较。     

植物群落的内禀冗余

植物落处于各种扰动之中，扰动导致群落的总体功能降低，为适应各种形式的扰动，群落的功能补偿作用就发生了，并由此产生了生长冗余，组分冗余及内颤冗余，内禀冗余是植物群落中组分冗余的一种特殊形式，是对波动的环境及人为或动物扰动适应的结果，是落功能最大化的产物，内禀冗余的作用是使群落多样性，物种多样性得以保持，使群落对各种扰动的抵抗能力增强，在一定条件下，内禀冗余阻碍了群落中当前有益物种产量最大限度地实现，但从生态学观点看，它对植物群落中目标物种的持续较高水平的输出具有重要作用，因此，保留以内禀冗余形式存在的非目标植物种对群落的稳定是有益的。     

烫漂及冻结对青头菌营养价值的影响

研究了在不同的烫漂温度和烫漂时间下青头菌过氧化物酶(Peroxidase，POD)活性的变化．烫漂及冻藏对青头菌过氧化物酶活性、氨基酸、矿质元素、维生素及氨基酸态氨等成分的影响结果表明：采用95～96℃烫漂温度效果最好，在4min内过氧化物酶活性降低了95．5％；烫漂及冻藏都使青头菌营养成分受到不同程度的损失建议采用一70℃以下温度不经烫漂而冻结，冻品在-26℃冰箱中贮藏12个月，其营养价值保持很好。     

景观生态学原理与方法在荒漠化研究中应用的理论分析

荒漠化发生发展的过程实际上是指在自然和人为因素的作用下，生态系统结构遭受破坏、功能过程受阻和演变发生异化的过程，其防治的根本措施是恢复和重建健康的生态系统。所以，景观生态学理念在荒漠化的研究和防治中有着重要的意义。本文从荒漠化与生态系统结构、功能变化、荒漠化与生物多样性、荒漠化生态系统的物质循环和能量流动以及荒漠化生态系统的稳定性等方面论述了景观生态学理念在荒漠化研究中应用的可行性，并重点分析了景观生态学关于景观格局变化的评价指标与荒漠化土地动态变化之间的关系。     

The re-emergence of indigenous forest in an urban environment, Christchurch, New Zealand

Christchurch, the second largest city in New Zealand is a planned city on a coastal plain on the east coast of the South Island. The birth of the city and the subsequent century of development was characterised by colonial values and tree and garden planting with familiar European species along with those from Australia, North America, and eventually all other continents. The image of an “English garden city” with classical parks of oaks and willow-lined rivers became the accepted norm and the way in which the city has been promoted to potential tourists. Gardening is one of the top two recreational activities and exotic species greatly outnumber native species in the flora and in gardens. This has had serious consequences for the highly fragmented and degraded indigenous vegetation and its co-adapted wildlife. A few hardy indigenous species continued to regenerate through this period, but since the 1970s, there has been a progressive change of attitude and interest in reclaiming the natural heritage of the city, manifest in widespread private and public planting of indigenous species and active habitat restoration. In this article we examine the indigenous and exotic shrub and tree components of the Christchurch flora as planted street trees, in domestic gardens, and in parks. We also present data on shrub and tree regeneration in parks and domestic gardens in the city. Indications are that the more sensitive, less intrusive management of urban environments, combined with the greater density of indigenous seed sources, has allowed regeneration of a wide range of indigenous species across a broad spectrum of habitats – from neglected gardens to pavement cracks to exotic plantations. This is despite the competition from the prodigious seed banks and density of exotic trees, shrubs, and ground covers and albeit minimal impacts of introduced browsing and seed eating mammals. If the present trends continue through appropriate management and facilitation, these tentative signs of native forest regeneration should eventually proliferate into a sustainable mixed origin urban forest that resurrects and preserves the natural character of the region.     

从可持续发展浅谈森林保护与利用对策——以森林生物多样性保护与病虫害控制为例

通过分析森林生物多样性与森林病虫害的现状及其对森林可持续发展的意义,提出了提高意识、加强管理,依靠科技手段保护生物多样性和防治病虫害等措施建议,以期可持续发展森林保护与利用。     

Effects of burning on soil macrofauna in a savanna-woodland under different experimental fuel load treatments

In West African savanna-woodland, the use of prescribed burning as a management tool has ecological implications for the soil biota. Yet, the effects of fire on soil inhabiting organisms are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine the responses of soil macro-invertebrates to early fires in a Sudanian savanna-woodland on a set of experimental plots subject to different fuel load treatments. The abundance of major macro-invertebrate taxa and functional groups, and taxon richness were quantified in soil cores collected from three different soil layers before and immediately after burning. The results indicated that, overall, there was substantial spatial and temporal variation in the composition of macro-invertebrate assemblages. The immediate effects of fire were to reduce total invertebrate numbers and numbers of many invertebrate groups dramatically. This is probably due to the fact that many of the surface-dwelling macrofauna perished as a result of less favorable microclimate due to fire, diminished resources, or migrate to safer environments. Fuel load treatment did not affect the community taxonomic richness or abundance of the soil-dwelling fauna. Furthermore, annual changes in community composition were more pronounced at the burnt site than in the control. This could be related to the inter-annual difference in precipitation pattern recorded during the two-year study period at our site. Since soil macrofauna population declines in fire-disturbed areas, increasing fire prevalence may jeopardize the long-term conservation of fire sensitive macrofauna groups. Special fire management attention is therefore recommended with due consideration to the type of burning and fuel properties to avoid the detrimental effects of intense fire affecting the resilience of savanna soil macrofauna species.