Belowground Bud Bank Is Insensitive to Short-Term Nutrient Addition in the Meadow Steppe of Inner Mongolia

Human activities and industrialization have significantly increased soil nutrients,such as nitrogen(N)and phos-phorus(P),profoundly impacting the composition and structure of plant community,as well as the ecosystem functions,especially in nutrient-limited ecosystems.However,as the key propagule pool of perennial grasslands,how belowground bud bank and its relationship with aboveground vegetation respond to short-term changes in soil nutrients was still unclear.In this study,we conducted a short-term(2021–2022)soil fertilization experiment with N addition(10 g N m^(-2) yr^(-1))and P addition(5 g N m^(-2) yr^(-1))in the meadow steppe of Inner Mongolia,China,to explore the responses of belowground bud bank,aboveground shoot population and their relationships(represented by the ratio of bud to shoot density-meristem limitation index(MLI))for the whole community and three plant functional groups(perennial rhizomatous grasses-PR,perennial bunchgrasses-PB,and perennial forbs-PF)to nutrient addition.The short-term nutrient addition had no significant influences on belowground bud density,aboveground shoot density,and MLI of the whole plant community.Plant functional groups showed different responses to soil fertilization.Specifically,N addition significantly increased the bud density and shoot density of PR,especially in combination with P addition.N addition reduced the shoot density of PF but had no influence on its bud density and MLI.Nutrient addition had significant effects on the three indicators of PB.Our study indicates that the belowground bud bank and its relationship with aboveground vegetation in temperate meadow steppe are insensitive to short-term soil fertilization,but plant functional groups exhibit specific responses in terms of population regeneration,which implies that plant community composition and ecosystem functions will be changed under the ongoing global change.

Phytoplankton Community Dynamics in West Lake After Drawing Water from the Qiantang River

Seventeen phytoplankton dominant species of 218 taxa were found to have contributed to more than 80% of the biomass after analysis of the January, 1955 to December, 1996 phytoplankton population at five stations in West Lake after Qiantang River water had been drawn into the lake for a decade. The seasonal fluctuations were obvious; the maximum cell density of 90.91×10 7-93.58×10 7 cells/L and biomass of 57.41-58.61 mg/L occurred mainly in summer of 1996,largely as a result of the development of Lyngbya contorta, Merismopedia tenuissima, Oscillatoria limnetica, Spirulina laxissima and Scenedesmus quadricauda, etc. at Stations 2 and 4. At Station 1 located near the inlet for drawing water from the Qiantang River, the species number, cell density, biomass, chlorophyll a concentration and physico-chemical parameters (except for total nitrogen) were obviously greater than those at the other four stations, also greater than the corresponding parameters before the drawing of water from the Qiantang River into the lake. Compared with the results of study on the phytoplankton community in 1980 before the drawing of Qiantang River into the lake, the species number and the total individual density were increased, the dominant species changed somewhat, the biomass was decreased. The water quality was improved (especially at Station 1) after the drawing of river water into the lake. Based on criteria for evaluating trophic status, the biological and chemical indicators such as species composition and dominant species, and other parameters such as annual mean value cell densities (36.06×10 7-51.27×10 7 cells/L), biomass (29.03-39.74 mg/L), chl a concentrations (41.29-67.67μg/L), total nitrigen (1.72-2.89 mg/L), total phosphorus (0.12-0.16 mg/L) obtained at Stations 2, 3, 4 and 5, showed that West Lake is still at eutrophic lake.

Relationship between diversity of forest plant and community dynamics in eastern mountain area of Heilongjiang Province, China

The biodiversity was studied in 26 communities with different structures in Maoershan National Park and Liangshui Natural Reserve of Northeast Forestry University in Heilongjiang Province, China. Composition index （CI） was taken as a parameter to quantify the community dynamics, which can nicely describe forest community dynamics, meanwhile, the relationship between diversity and community dynamics were also investigated and analyzed. Results showed that the total number species of community, richness, evenness, and Shannon-Wiener diversity index were obviously different in every community. The richness decreased with the increasing CI of every community, which means richness was in inverse proportion to community dynamics. The Shannon-Wiener index of every community increased from the initial stage to the middle stage of succession, and then decreased in the climax stage. The coverage weighted foliage-height diversity index increased along with the increase of CI, which was similar as the oattem diversity.

Effects of community succession dynamics on forest biodiversity in eastern mountainous area of Heilongjiang Province

Plant, insect and forest structures of 25 forest communities were investigated in Mao'ershan Experimental Forest Farm and Liangshui Experimental Forest Farm during 1994–1995. The paper used continuum index (C i) as a parameter, to quantitatively describe forest community succession stage. Relationships between the biodiversity and continuum index of forest community were studied. The annual species and family diversities in forest plant community showed nonlinear correlation with continuum index, and the largest diversities were during the middle stage of succession. The diversities of total insect community and herbivorous insect group were negatively related withC i, that of spide group and parasitic insect group was positively related. The pattern diversity and coverage weight diversity index foliage height increased with continuum index.

Plant community dynamics during the growing season of typical ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau

The relationships between vegetation and environmental factors have always been a core concern of ecologists.The dynamic characteristics of plant communities during the growing season can directly reflect these relation-ships,so we examined this issue for three typical ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau.During the growing season,the dominant species remained stable while non-dominant species changed significantly in the alpine meadow and alpine steppe and a mono-dominant community was found in the temperate desert shrub.Due to the seasonal variations of temperature and soil water content,plant species diversity varied significantly during the growing season.Patrick richness,Pielou evenness and Simpson diversity indices differed significantly in the alpine meadow and alpine steppe.The total biomass of these three ecosystems was the largest during the middle growing season.Biomass was greater in the alpine meadow than the alpine steeps or temperature desert.The root-to-shoot ratio was the lowest during the middle growing season for the alpine meadow and alpine steppe and largest during the early growing season for temperate desert shrub.RDA showed the belowground and total biomass were greatly affected by soil physicochemical factors.Multiple linear stepwise regression showed the above ground biomass was greatly affected by relative atmospheric humidity and belowground and total biomass were greatly affected by soil organic carbon,total nitrogen at 0-20 cm soil depth and pH at 10-20 cm soil depth.These findings pro-vide insights into understanding the relationships between vegetation and environmental factors and promote the sustainable utilization of local grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau.

Degeneration of foundation cushion species induced by ecological constraints can cause massive changes in alpine plant communities

Foundational cushion plants can re-organize community structures and sustain a prominent proportion of alpine biodiversity,but they are sensitive to climate change.The loss of cushion species can have broad consequences for associated biota.The potential plant community changes with the population dynamics of cushion plants remain,however,unclear.Using eight plant communities along a climatic and community successional gradient,we assessed cushion population dynamics,the underlying ecological constraints and hence associated plant community changes in alpine communities dominated by the foundational cushion plant Arenaria polytrichoides.The population dynamics of Arenaria are attributed to ecological constraints at a series of life history stages.Reproductive functions are constrained by increasing associated beneficiary plants;subsequent seedling establishment is constrained by temperature,water and light availability,extreme climate events,and interspecific competition;strong competitive exclusion may accelerate mortality and degeneration of cushion populations.Along with cushion dynamics,species composition,abundance and community structure gradually change.Once cushion plants completely degenerate,previously cushion-dominated communities shift to relatively stable communities that are overwhelmingly dominated by sedges.Climate warming may accelerate the degeneration process of A.polytrichoides.Degeneration of this foundational cushion plant will possibly induce massive changes in alpine plant communities and hence ecosystem functions in alpine ecosystems.The assessment of the population dynamics of foundation species is critical for an effective conservation of alpine biodiversity.

Comparative study on bioleaching of two different types of low-grade copper tailings by mixed moderate thermophiles

The bioleaching of two different types of low-grade copper tailings,acid-leaching tailings(ALT)and copper flotation tailings(CFT)by mixed moderate thermophiles,and the variation of mineralogical and microbiological characteristics during their dissolution processes were comparatively investigated.Results showed that bioleaching behaviors of the two types of tailings were significantly different.In ALT bioleaching,lower redox potential,higher[Fe3+]/[Fe2+]ratio and higher cell density in solution were obtained.These resulted in higher total copper,primary copper sulfide and secondary copper sulfide extractions,compared with CFT bioleaching.X-ray diffraction analysis suggested that gypsum and some metal organic complexes were detected in CFT bioleaching,which could cause the sluggish oxidation of sulphide minerals.The shifts of microbial community in the leachates and leaching residues varied greatly between ALT and CFT bioleaching.The percentage of iron-oxidizing bacteria in ALT bioleaching was higher than that of CFT,but the sulfur-oxidizing bacteria percentage was the opposite.The archaeon F.thermophilum L1 was detected in ALT but not in CFT.

Role of Fe/S ratios in the enhancement of uranium bioleaching from a complex uranium ore by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans consortium

The role of Fe/S ratios(ω, g/g) in the uranium bioleaching from a complex uranium ore by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans consortium was investigated. The results showed good uranium extraction with over 90% at the Fe/S ratio of 5:0.5, 5:1 and 5:5, while poor extraction(<46%) at the Fe/S ratio of 5:0 and 5:10.Furthermore, the bacterial community analysis based on species-specific gyrB numbers indicated that, absent sulfur or excessive sulfur would be not conducive to the synergistic growth for A. ferrooxidans and A. thiooxidans, and then not conducive to the uranium dissolution. Meanwhile, the sulfur-oxidizers could play an important role in the process of uranium synergistic bioleaching by mixed bacterial consortia. Additionally, the characteristics of mineral residue was detected by SEM-EDS. The results showed appropriate sulfur dosage would change the structure and improve the porosity of passivation substance. Lastly, the uranium dissolution kinetics and biochemical reaction mechanism was analyzed. It indicated that the biochemical reaction coupling iron and sulfur had a pleiotropic effect on the uranium dissolution from the ore particles, appropriate Fe/S ratio is the key factor for uranium bioleaching by chemoautotrophic acidophiles.

Individual knowledge sharing behavior in dynamic virtual communities： the perspectives of network effects and status competition

Purpose： While most literature concerning knowledge sharing examines it as an organizational method for innovation and value creation, this paper considers online knowledge sharing as an individual behavior decision embedded in a virtual community. We attempt to explore which sharing behavior can help individual participants gain a better position in an online community, improving social status, reputation, and other social networking interests. Design/methodology/approach： We collected and measured the knowledge sharing activities and discussion from a Chinese online expertise knowledge network in Business Management Consulting. We tested the mediating effects of the sharing behavior of the major members of the online knowledge network on members＇ status （network centrality） in different time units （days）. Findings： In a dynamic virtual community, the direct result of knowledge sharing behavior is reflected in the individual status position （the degree of node centrality）. At the same time, individual knowledge sharing behavior has an ＂inertia effect＂： individual prior status （the degree of node centrality） affects current knowledge sharing behavior, while current knowledge sharing behavior affects current status in the knowledge network, forming an inertial circuit between personal behavior and network status. Originality/value： We expound the theory of individual knowledge sharing in the context of an inter-person dynamic virtual community; we provide action ＂strategies＂ for individual knowledge shating behavior choice, for better understanding the nature of individual knowledge behavior, and we also propose and test the ＂inertia effect＂ of knowledge sharing behavior and the knowledge network, and demonstrate the theory of network effects from an individual perspective.

STUDY ON COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND SELF-SUSTAINING MECHANISM OF BROAD-LEAVED/KOREAN PINE FORESTS IN NORTHEAST CHINA

The regeneration, tree growth, and community structure and dynamics were studied in old-growth Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) forest.The results showed that the formation of tree form and growth character have been obviously related with the gap-phase regeneration.The ecological effects of the gap suppress the tree growth in diameter,and control that young tree stem fork in early stage.The heterogeneity of tree growth in time and space is the results of high quality in tree height and diameter.The hardwood species mixth Korean pine have different ecological effect on regeneration and tree growth of Korean pine in the early stage of gap reconstructing. Community dynamics depends on tree gaps oceurs,in which a 'cyclic sucession'between Korean pine and hard wood species may occurs.The process would take about 200 yers.

Coral community dynamics and shallow-water carbonate deposition of the reef-flat around Yongxing Island, the Xisha Islands

Microbes and microbial carbonates in reef-flat and coral community dynamics and submarine geomorphologic features in reef crest and fore reef of Yongxing Island,the Xisha Islands,South China Sea,were studied by means of scuba diving,underwater investigation,and line intercept transect survey.Studies indicate a very high coral mortality with few living corals in the reef flat of Yongxing Island.Moreover,macro algae,sea grass and cyanobacteria are common in reef flat.Microbes and microbially induced carbonates occur in reef flat.Living corals grow mainly in the reef crest and fore reef,but are also declined dramatically.From coast to off shore,the southeast reef flat of Yongxing Island can be divided into beach,inner reef flat,outer reef flat,reef flat front(reef crest and fore reef),and fore-reef slope settings.Sedimentary facies include coast,reef flat,reef crest and fore reef,and fore-reef slope.Reefal carbonate sediments are composed of coral skeletons and framework,coral fragments,bioclasts,and lime mud.With the deterioration of environment and water quality,the coral communities tend to be distributed in the reef crest and fore reef with clean sea water,well circulation and moderate water energy.Reef flat is occupied mainly by the macro algae and Heliopora coerulea communities.The coverage statistics on the reef crest demonstrate that the coverage of Acropora cytherea is more than 28% and represents a dominant species with wave-resistant ecological type.Sedimentary characteristics and geomorphologic features are different between the southeast and northwest reef-flat fronts(reef crest and fore reef) of Yongxing Island.The former shows discontinuously tidal channels in outer reef flat and different dimensional and deep reef ponds in reef crest and fore reef,and the latter presents a typical spur-and-groove system.Microbes(cyanobacteria Lyngbya sp.) occur generally in the inner reef flat and reef ponds of reef crest with restricted water circulation.Widely algae growth indicates a eutrophic environment,and the common microbes on the coral surface in the reef flat and reef ponds also demonstrate eutrophication in seawater and deteriorated water quality.

Community dynamics of ammonia oxidizing bacteria in a fullscale wastewater treatment system with nitrification stability

To determine whether the functional stability of nitrification was correlated to a stable community structure of ammonia oxidizing bacteria(AOB)in a fullscale wastewater treatment plant,the AOB community dynamics in a wastewater treatment system was monitored over one year.The community dynamics were investigated using specific PCR followed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism(T-RFLP)analysis of the amoA gene.The T-RFLP results indicated that during the period of nitrification stability,the AOB community structure in the full-scale wastewater treatment system was relatively stable,and the average change rate every 15 d of the system was 6.6%±5.8%.The phylogenetic analysis of the cloned amoA gene showed clearly that the dominant AOB in the system was Nitrosomonas spp.The results of this study indicated that throughout the study period,the AOB community structure was relatively stable in the full-scale wastewater treatment system with functional stability of nitrification.

Characterization of bacterial community dynamics in a full-scale drinking water treatment plant

Understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics of microbial communities in drinking water systems is vital to securing the microbial safety of drinking water.The objective of this study was to comprehensively characterize the dynamics of microbial biomass and bacterial communities at each step of a full-scale drinking water treatment plant in Beijing,China.Both bulk water and biofilm samples on granular activated carbon（GAC） were collected over 9 months.The proportion of cultivable cells decreased during the treatment processes,and this proportion was higher in warm season than cool season,suggesting that treatment processes and water temperature probably had considerable impact on the R2 A cultivability of total bacteria.16 s rRNA gene based 454 pyrosequencing analysis of the bacterial community revealed that Proteobacteria predominated in all samples.The GAC biofilm harbored a distinct population with a much higher relative abundance of Acidobactena than water samples.Principle coordinate analysis and one-way analysis of similarity indicated that the dynamics of the microbial communities in bulk water and biofilm samples were better explained by the treatment processes rather than by sampling time,and distinctive changes of the microbial communities in water occurred after GAC filtration.Furthermore,20 distinct OTUs contributing most to the dissimilarity among samples of different sampling locations and 6 persistent OTUs present in the entire treatment process flow were identified.Overall,our findings demonstrate the significant effects that treatment processes have on the microbial biomass and community fluctuation and provide implications for further targeted investigation on particular bacteria populations.

Soil properties and habitats determine the response of bacterial communities to agricultural wastewater irrigation

Increasing temperatures and variability of precipitation events due to climate change will lead in the future to higher irrigation demands in agroecosystems.However,the use of secondary treated wasterwater(TWW)could have consequences for the receiving soil environment and its resident microbial communities.The objective of this study was to characterize the importance of soil properties and habitats to the response of soil bacteria and archaea to irrigation with TWW.Two agricultural soils with contrasting textures(loamy sand or silt loam)and,for each,three variants differing in soil organic carbon and nitrogen,as generated by long-term fertilization,were analyzed.For each of these six soils,prokaryotic communities from two habitats,i.e.,root-free bulk soil and the rhizosphere of developing cucumber plants in the greenhouse,were characterized.Communities were analyzed by the quantity and diversity of their polymerase chain reaction(PCR)-amplified 16S rRNA genes.To account for TWW-associated nutrient effects,potable water(PW)served as a control.Amplicon sequence analysis showed that prokaryotic communities mainly consisted of bacteria(99.8%).Upon irrigation,regardless of the water quality,prokaryotic diversity declined,p H increased,and no bacterial growth was detected in bulk soil.In contrast,the growth of cucumbers was stimulated by TWW,indicating that plants were the main beneficiaries.Moreover,strong responses were seen in the rhizosphere,suggesting an indirect effect of TWW by altered rhizodepositions.The main bacterial responders to TWW were Proteobacteria,Bacteroidetes,Actinobacteria,and Planctomycetes.Changes in bacterial communities due to TWW were less pronounced in all variants of the silt loam,indicating the importance of clay and soil organic carbon for buffering effects of TWW on soil bacterial communities.Hence,soil organic carbon and soil texture are important parameters that need to be considered when applying TWW in agriculture.

Comparative Effects of Avoidance and Immunization on Epidemic Spreading in a Dynamic Small-World Network with Community Structure

Considering the actual behavior of people’s short-term travel,we propose a dynamic small-world community network model with tunable community strength which has constant local links and time varying long-range jumps.Then an epidemic model of susceptible-infected-recovered is established based on the mean-field method to evaluate the inhibitory effects of avoidance and immunization on epidemic spreading.And an approximate formula for the epidemic threshold is obtained by mathematical analysis.The simulation results show that the epidemic threshold decreases with the increase of inner-community motivation rate and inter-community long-range motivation rate,while it increases with the increase of immunization rate or avoidance rate.It indicates that the inhibitory effect on epidemic spreading of immunization works better than that of avoidance.

Effect of a high strength chemical industry wastewater on microbial community dynamics and mesophilic methane generation

A high strength chemical industry wastewater was assessed for its impact on anaerobic microbial com- munity dynamics and consequently mesophilic methane generation. Cumulative methane production was 251 mL/g total chemical oxygen demand removed at standard temperature and pressure at the end of 30 days experimental period with a highest recorded methane percentage of 80.6% of total biogas volume. Volatile fatty acids （VFAs） analysis revealed that acetic acid was the major intermediate VFAs produced with propionic acid accumulating over the experimental period. Quantitative analysis of microbial communities in the test and control groups with quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction highlighted that in the test group, Eubacteria （96.3%） was dominant in comparison with methanogens （3.7%）. The latter were dominated by Methanomicrobiales and Methanobacteriales while in test groups increased over the experimental period, reaching a maximum on day 30. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profile was performed, targeting the 16S rRNA gene of Eubacteria and Archaea, with the DNA samples extracted at 3 different time points from the test groups. A phylogenetic tree was constructed for the sequences using the neighborhood joining method. The analysis revealed that the presence of organisms resembling Syntrophomonadaceae could have contributed to increased production of acetic and propionic acid intermediates while decrease of organisms resembling Pelotomaculum sp. could have most likely contributed to accumulation of propionic acid. This study suggested that the degradation of organic components within the high strength industrial wastewater is closely linked with the activity of certain niche microbial communities within eubacteria and methanogens.

Nutrient depletion is the main limiting factor in the crude oil bioaugmentation process

The biodegradation was considered as the prime mechanism of crude oil degradation.To validate the efficacy and survival of the crude oil-degrading strain in a bioremediation process,the enhanced green fluorescent protein gene(egfp)was introduced into Acinetobacter sp.HC8-3 S.In this study,an oil-contaminated sediment microcosm was conducted to investigate the temporal dynamics of the physicochemical characterization and microbial community in response to bacterium amendment.The introduced strains were able to survive,flourish and degrade crude oil quickly in the early stage of the bioremediation.However,the high abundance cannot be maintained due to the ammonium(NH 4^(+)-N)and phosphorus(PO 4^3--P)contents decreased rapidly after 15 days of remediation.The sediment microbial community changed considerably and reached relatively stable after nutrient depletion.Therefore,the addition of crude oil and degrading cells did not show a long-time impact on the original microbial communities,and sufficient nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients ensures the survive and activity of degrader.Our studies expand the understanding of the crude oil degradative processes,which will help to develop more rational bioremediation strategies.

Alien plant species coexist over time with native ones in Chilean Mediterranean grasslands

Aims Alien species are commonly considered as harmful weeds capa-ble of decreasing native biodiversity and threatening ecosystems.Despite this assumption,little is known about the long-term patterns of the native-alien relationships associated with human disturbed managed landscapes.This study aims to elucidate the commu-nity dynamics associated with a successional gradient in chilean Mediterranean grasslands,considering both native and alien species.Methods Species richness(natives and aliens separately)and life-form(annu-als and perennials)were recorded in four chilean post-agricultural grazed grasslands each covering a broad successional gradient(from 1 to 40 years since crop abandonment).A detrended correspondence analysis(DcA),mixed model effects analyses and cor-relation tests were conducted to assess how this temporal gradient influenced natives and aliens through community dynamics.Important Findings Our results show different life-form patterns between natives and aliens over time.Aliens were mainly represented by annuals(especially ruderals and weeds),which were established at the beginning of succession.Annual aliens also predominated at mid-successional stages,but in old grasslands native species were slightly more representative than alien ones within the community.In the late successional states,positive or no correlations at all between alien and native species richness suggested the absence of competition between both species groups,as a result of differ-ent strategies in occupation of the space.community dynamics over time constitute a net gain in biodiversity,increasing natives and maintaining a general alien pool,allowing the coexistence of both.Biotic interactions including facilitation and/or tolerance processes might be occurring in chilean post-agricultural grasslands,a fact that contradicts the accepted idea of the alien species as contenders.

Understorey plant community assemblage of Australian Eucalyptus woodlands under elevated CO_(2)is modulated by water and phosphorus availability

Aims Given the key functional role of understorey plant communities and the substantial extent of forest cover at the global scale,investigating understorey community responses to elevated CO_(2)(eCO_(2))concentrations,and the role of soil resources in these responses,is important for understanding the ecosystem-level consequences of rising CO_(2)concentrations for forest ecosystems.Here,we evaluated how experimentally manipulating the availabilities of the two most limiting resources in an extremely phosphorus-limited eucalypt woodland in eastern Australia(i.e.water and phosphorus)can modulate the response of the understorey community to eCO_(2)in terms of germination,phenology,cover,community composition and leaf traits.Methods We collected soil containing native soil seed bank to grow experimental understorey plant communities under glasshouse conditions.Important Findings Phosphorus addition increased total plant cover,particularly during the first 4 weeks of growth and under high water conditions,a response driven by the graminoid component of the plant community.However,the treatment differences diminished as the experiment progressed,with all treatments converging at〜80%lant cover after〜11 weeks.In contrast,plant cover was not affected by eCO_(2).Multivariate analyses reflected temporal changes in the composition of plant communities,from pots where bare soil was dominant to high-cover pots dominated by a diverse community.However,both phosphorus addition and the interaction between water availability and CO_(2)affected the temporal trajectory of the plant community during the experiment.eCO_(2)also increased community-level specific leaf area,suggesting that functional adaptation of plant communities to CO_(2)may precede the onset of compositional responses.Given that the response of our seed bank-derived understorey community to CO_(2)developed over time and was mediated by interactions with phosphorus and water availability,our results suggest a limited role of eCO_(2)in shaping plant communities in water-limited systems,particularly where low soil nutrient availability constrains productivity responses.

Large-scale spatial synchrony and the stability of forest biodiversity revisited

Aims Mechanisms contributing to species coexistence have at least one of two modes of action:(i)stabilization of populations through restoring forces and(ii)equalization of fitness across individuals of different species.Recently,ecologists have begun gleaning the relative roles of these by testing the predictions of neutral theory,which predicts the properties of communities under pure fitness equalization.This null hypothesis was rejected for forests of southern Ontario based on large-scale(;100 km)spatial synchrony evident in the fossil pollen record over the entire Holocene,and the argument that a species’relative abundance would instead vary independently at such distances in the absence of stabilizing mechanisms.This test of neutral theory was criticized based on the idea that the synchrony might be produced by dispersal alone.Here,I revisit this test of neutral theory by explicitly calculating the synchrony expected in these forests using a novel simulation method enabling examination of the distribution of a species over large spatial and temporal scales.Methods A novel neutral simulation algorithm tracking only the focal species was used to calculate the neutral expectation for spatial synchrony properties examined empirically by Clark and MacLachlan[(2003)Stability of forest biodiversity.Nature 423:635–8]using fossil pollen data from eight lake sites.The coefficient of variation(CV)in a species’relative abundance across the eight sites(initiated at about 10%with a small CV)was calculated for 10 runs over a 10000 year time interval.The CV reflects the level of spatial synchrony in that less synchronous dynamics should lead to more variation across space(a higher equilibrium CV),and in particular,a greater increase in the CV over time from a small initial value.A‘two dimensional t’fat-tailed dispersal kernel was assumed with parameters set to the median derived from seed trap data for deciduous wind-dispersed trees.Robustness of results to assumed dispersal distance,density of trees on the landscape,site sizes,age at maturity and starting spatial distribution were checked.Important Findings In contrast to the prediction of Clark and MacLachlan that,in the absence of stabilization,the CV across the sites should increase over time from levels observed at the beginning of the Holocene,under fat-tailed dispersal my neutral model robustly predicted only a brief(50 years)and small increase in the CV.I conclude that purely fitnessequalized species coexistence cannot be rejected based on the observed lack of increase in the CV across the eight sites in southern Ontario over the Holocene.Synchronous variation in environmental factors could alternatively explain the observed synchrony without the need for stabilization.However,neither dispersal nor environmental synchrony seems likely explanations for the quick widespread recovery of Tsuga in the Holocene after its seeming decimation,likely due to a pest outbreak.