Studies on Ecological Monitoring of Plant Community and Plant Diversity in Shenzhen, Southern China

From Jan. 2013 to Nov. 2018, we carried out the investigation on vegetation studies in the ecological monitoring programs, Shenzhen and totally researched 170 plant communities of mountain areas etc., few areas of street regions and parks etc., for communities’ structural characteristics and plant diversity. We comparatively analyzed natural forests, semi-natural forest and artificial forest composition and structural characters and family, genus and species diversity level and the main affected factors. We also researched and analyzed these communities’ structural characteristics and pant diversity, comparatively analyzed natural forests, semi-natural forest and artificial forest composition and structural characters and family, genus and species diversity level, the main affected factors;researched and analyzed the relationship between plant community structure characteristics with the absorbing ability to PM2.5 pollutants. The result showed that the structure and plant diversity of natural forest were obviously better than artificial disturbed forest or artificial forest, the semi-natural forest was the middle level of the forests, In the indices of height, DBH, coverage and crow width etc. of tree layer, natural forests and semi-natural forests were obvious higher than that of artificial disturbed forest or artificial forest;in some forests of artificial disturbed forest or artificial forest, though their richness indices of family and genus were a slightly higher, but this contribution was majorly due to herb layer plants, and some shrub layer plants. Analyzing three kinds of communities, the number of tree layer species of natural forest was the largest, and their every α-diversity index value was the highest;these characteristics values of semi-natural forest were second, artificial disturbed forests or artificial forests were the lowest;in shrub layer, and herb layer, few α-diversity indices of artificial disturbed forest or artificial forest were a slightly higher than that of some natural forests, but the integral values of the diversity indices of natural forest and semi-natural forest were obviously higher than the former. The research showed that in the artificial disturbed forest or artificial forest, because there have some little scale clearing areas, so some pioneer plant species could enter the community and formed a temporarily increase of species diversity, however, these species major were some shrub and herb plants;but tree layer possessed obviously more, even surpassed several ten times biomass than shrub and herb layers. Therefore, the respects of maintain ecosystem stability and other ecological efficient have major and dominated position and so on;and then this community can be natural recovery and succession, those forementioned new entire plants shall withdraw from the community and are replaced by the original plants of the community;but this process has already caused the ecological efficient loss and ecosystem unstable. Above research results are better evidence and theory reference to the argument problems on that are natural forest and natural restoration forest biodiversity higher? or is artificial forest biodiversity higher? and or is more artificial disturbed forest higher? Our researches showed that used random investigation method set quadrats, and combined typical investigation method, the structural indices in the all layer of community and all diversity indices of tree, shrub and herb layers and the integral values were similar, same or usually these indices in the community which set 600 m2, 800 m2 total quatrat area were higher (α-diversity) than that of more than 3000 m2, 4000 m2 or 7000 m2, even more than 17,000 m2 total quadrat area of communities. These lots of researches further proved that according to minimum area method for vegetation survey, in subtropical region, using random investigation method combined with typical investigation set 400 m2 or 400 m2 - 500 m2 total quad

Ecological Impact Asessment and Ecological Monitoring of a Strategic Landfill-A case study in Hong Kong

This paper discusses ecological and monitoring studies covering vegetation, stream fauna, birds, mammals and other vertebrates at the West New Territories (WENT)Landfill, Hong Kong. Recommendations for the protection of vegetation on and around the site, including control of the erosion and run off from the construction site were proposed and implemented, resulting in effective protection of the local vegetation cover. Stream macrobenthos were low in species diversity and abundance and did not show a changing trend during the construction and the operation of the land fill. Birds attracted to the active dumping site were dominated by Crested Mynah Acridotheres cristatellus and the Tree Sparrow Passer montanus. After an increase in the population during the warmer months, the number of birds seen on the land fill site decreased to 10 in December 1994. Mammal monitoring by live trapping revealed that the rat population did not increase after the land fill operation started. This project was the first comprehensive’ ecological study and monitoring of an urban land fill in Hong Kong and it demonstrated that careful environmental planning and implementation of mitigation measures can successfully limit environmental impacts of landfills to acceptable levels.

Effects of Ecological Restoration of Mangrove Wetlands Using Native Mangrove Species to Replace Spartina alterniflora: A Case Study in Southern China

Within the expanse of China’s coastline, the invasive alien cordgrass species Spartina alterniflora has caused profound nationwide damage and has emerged as a critical factor contributing to the degradation of mangrove wetlands, especially in the study area in Beihai, Guangxi. However, current treatments for S. alterniflora remain less effective and limited research focuses on the preliminary changes after artificial plantation. A comprehensive approach combining physical interventions with biological control measures has been employed to eradicate smooth cordgrass and facilitate the restoration of native mangrove wetlands. The study involved the periodic monitoring of the growth conditions of mangroves and the biodiversity of avian and benthic organisms, conducted at three to four-month intervals following the artificial plantation with one-year-old seedlings and propagules of native mangrove species Rhizophora stylosa. Results indicated that through the allometric equation, the above-ground biomass of planted seedlings had a ~20 g increase in average but the growth conditions were not significant over an eight-month period. High percentage of important avian species underlined the potential of the study site to serve as a worthwhile habitat and notable seasonal variations were observed in the biodiversity of bird species. Biodiversity indices of bird and benthos species also followed a similar fluctuation and reached a peak in April 2023. This research underscores the initial lack of distinct improvements during the early stages of the ecological restoration project, thorough maintenance, long-term monitoring, holistic considerations on a larger scale would be imperative for ongoing projects in the future.

Networking Observation and Applications of Chinese Ocean Satellites

This paper presents the networking observation capabilities of Chinese ocean satellites and their diverse applications in ocean disaster prevention,ecological monitoring,and resource development.Since the inaugural launch in 2002,China has achieved substantial advancements in ocean satellite technology,forming an observation system composed of the HY-1,HY-2,and HY-3 series satellites.These satellites are integral to global ocean environmental monitoring due to their high resolution,extensive coverage,and frequent observations.Looking forward,China aims to further enhance and expand its ocean satellite capabilities through ongoing projects to support global environmental protection and sustainable development.

Climate Variability in Niger： Potential Impacts on Vegetation Distribution and Productivity

Since 2003, the sites of the national environmental monitoring system （DNSE） of Niger, set up by the long term ecological monitoring observatories network （ROSELT） with the support of the Sahel and Sahara Observatory （OSS）, were used to collect ecological data with harmonized methods for spatio-temporal comparisons purpose. Floristic and phytoecological data were collected using the phytosociological methodology of Braun-Blanquet （1932）. Ecosystem vital attributes used included the specific diversity, alpha diversity, equidistribution, biological types and herbaceous phytomass. At the whole system scale, the analysis revealed that the specific diversity, the alpha diversity and the phytomass values were higher in less disturbed biotopes of the north soudanian and south sahelian bioclimates where the rainfall rate is relatively high. Regarding the north sahelian and saharian bioclimates, the topography may play a critical role in the redistribution of this phytodiversity. Besides, the distribution of the biological types showed the prevalence of therophytes （56.8 ± 11%） regardless of the bioclimate and, to a lesser extent, the perennial species （26.5 ± 7.3%）, the later group showing higher values for the north soudanian bioclimate.

Building African Ecosystem Research Network for Sustaining Local Ecosystem Goods and Services

A new form of producing and sharing knowledge has emerged as an international(United States of America,Asia,and Europe) research collaboration,known as the Long-Term Ecological Research(LTER) Network.Although Africa boasts rich biodiversity,including endemic species,it lacks the long-term initiatives to underpin sustainable biodiversity managements.At present,climate change may exacerbate hunger and poverty concerns in addition to resulting in ecosystem degradation,land use change,and other threats in Africa.Therefore,ecosystem monitoring was suggested to understanding the effects of climate change and setting strategies to mitigate these changes.This paper aimed to investigate ecosystem monitoring ground sites and address their coverage gaps in Africa to provide a foundation for optimizing the African Ecosystem Research Network(AERN) ground sites.The geographic coordinates and characteristics of ground sites-based ecosystem monitoring were collected from various networks aligned with the LTER implementation in Africa.Additionally,climatic data and biodiversity distribution maps were retrieved from various sources.These data were used to assess the size of existing ground sites and the gaps in description,ecosystems and biomes.The results reveal that there were 1089 sites established by various networks.Among these sites,30.5%,27.5%,and 28.8% had no information of area,year of establishment,current status,respectively.However,68.0% of them had an area equal to or greater than 1 km2.Sites were created progressively over the course of the years,with 68.9% being created from 2000 to 2005.To date,only 41.5% of the sites were operational.The sites were scattered across Africa,but they were concentrated in Eastern and Southern Africa.The unbalanced distribution pattern of the sites left Central and Northern Africa hardly covered,and many unique ecosystems in Central Africa were not included.To sustain these sites,the AERN should be based on operational sites,seeking secure funding by establishing multiple partnerships.