Growth and Competition of Fourteen Herb Species in Experimental Microcoenosiums

Growth and competition of 14 herb species were investigated in the experimental microcoenosiums in laboratory under the following environmental factors and treatment levels: high and low fertility, clipping and un-clipping, and with and without microbial infusion. The most intense competition and the biggest difference in biomass among the species were detected in the high fertility microcoenosiums subjected to no clipping disturbance. Clippings or low fertility reduced the growth of the competitors and resulted in more even biomass distribution among the species. Successive clippings reduced the total accumulative biomass of the microcoenosiums. Microbial infusion significantly increased the growth of legume species Lotus corniculatus L. and Trifolium pratense L. The growth of Alopecurus pratensis L. was also raised by microbial infusion, whereas Dactylis glomerata L. had more biomass in without-microbial-infusion microcoenosiums than in microbial infusion ones. Most of the 14 species were not obviously affected. The positive effect of microbial infusion was more marked in the low fertility microcoenosiums.

Response of meiofaunal and nematode communities to sewage pollution abatement:a field transplantation experiment

To assess the recovery rate of meiofaunal and nematode communities upon abatement of sewage pollution, a field transplantation experiment was conducted in Tat Tam, which is a non-polluted, shallow subtidal habitat on the southern portion of Hong Kong Island. The sediments used were from one site located in Victoria Harbour that was heavily influenced by sewage pollution, and one site in the outside-harbor area, which was relatively clean. In addition, sediments from Tat Tam were used as a control. Fresh sediments with meiofauna were collected from the aforementioned sites, placed in plastic trays and transplanted to Tat Tam. Sediments were retrieved at the beginning of the experiment and at 1-, 3-, and 8-weeks after transplantation for analysis of the meiofaunal and nematode communities as well as the sediment characteristics. The results showed that the meiofaunal and nematode communities in the control sediments were consistent at the four sampling periods, while it took three and eight weeks, respectively, for the nematode communities from the outside-harbor and inside-harbor sites to become similar to the control. These findings indicated that the relatively poor habitat quality and the nematode community composition in the sewage polluted inside-harbor sediments required a longer time for recovery than samples from the better habitat quality and the nematode community composition in the outside-harbor sediments.

Variations in Laboratory-Scale Actinomycete Communities Exposed to Cadmium as Assessed by Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis Profiles

The actinomycete populations and functions in cadmium （Cd） contaminated soil were investigated by the cultivation- independent molecular methods. The genomic DNA was extracted and purified from soil adulterated with various con- centrations of Cd in the laboratory. The partial 16S rDNA genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction （PCR） using specific primers bound to evolutionarily conserved regions within these actinomycete genes. The diversity in PCR- amplified products, as measured by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （EGGE）, was used as a genetic fingerprint of the population. Principle component analysis and Shannon-Weaver diversity index （H） analyses were used to analyze the DGGE results. Results showed that the two principal components accounted for only a low level of the total variance. The value H in contaminated soil was lower than that in the control at later stages of cultivation, whereas at earlier stages it was higher. Among the six sampling time points, the first, fifth and sixth weeks had the highest values of H. Significantly negative correlations between bioavallable Cd concentration and H values existed in the samples from weeks 2 （R = 0.929, P 〈 0.05） and 4 （R = 0.909, P 〈 0.05）. These results may shed light on the effect of Cd on the soil environment and the chemical behavior and toxicity of Cd to actinomycetes.

Site-Floristic Variability of Foxteil Meadows in Poland

On the basis of multifaceted investigations of approximately 600 phytosociological surveys of foxtail meadows taken in years 2002-2012 in river valleys with the assistance of the Braun-Blanquet method, the authors carried out evaluation of the floristic composition with respect to phytosociological structure, floristic variability, degree of synanthropisation and life form structures. In addition, they ascertained the dependence of floristic variability of Alopecuretum pratensis phytocenoses on site conditions determined using： the phytoindication method and the laboratory analyses assessed the soil content of available forms of P and K and of Mg. The greatest areas among the recognised syntaxons are taken up by patches of a typical sub-association developed in fresh sites on soils of lightly acid reaction and moderate nitrogen availability. Floristic variability of Alopecuretum pratensis is characterised by： presence in the phytosociological structure of species characteristic for other syntaxons, floristic abundance and botanical structure, domination of species of the 1 st and 2nd degree of stability, high proportion of synanthropic species, values of the floristic diversity index （H＇）, natural and fodder score values. Geobotanical variability of foxtail meadows confirms difficulties with unequivocal determination of the systematic position of the Alopecuretum pratensis association.

Responses of Soil Microbial Activity and Biomass to Salinity After Repeated Additions of Plant Residues

Microbial adaptation to salinity can be achieved through synthesis of organic osmolytes,which requires high amounts of energy;however,a single addition of plant residues can only temporarily improve energy supply to soil microbes.Therefore,a laboratory incubation experiment was conducted to evaluate the responses of soil microbes to increasing salinity with repeated additions of plant residues using a loamy sand soil with an electrical conductivity in saturated paste extract(EC_e) of 0.6 dS m^(-1).The soil was kept non-saline or salinized by adding different amounts of NaCl to achieve EC_e of 12.5,25.0 and 50.0 dS m^(-1).The non-saline soil and the saline soils were amended with finely ground pea residues at two rates equivalent to 3.9 and 7.8 g C kg^(-1) soil on days 0,15 and29.The soils receiving no residues were included as a control.Cumulative respiration per g C added over 2 weeks after each residue addition was always greater at 3.9 than 7.8 g C kg^(-1) soil and higher in the non-saline soil than in the saline soils.In the saline soils,the cumulative respiration per g C added was higher after the second and third additions than after the first addition except with3.9 g C kg^(-1) at EC_e of 50 dS m^(_1).Though with the same amount of C added(7.8 g C kg^(-1)),salinity reduced soil respiration to a lesser extent when 3.9 g C kg^(-1) was added twice compared to a single addition of 7.8 g C kg^(-1).After the third residue addition,the microbial biomass C concentration was significantly lower in the soils with EC_e of 25 and 50 dS m^(_1) than in the non-saline soil at3.9 g C kg^(-1),but only in the soil with EC_e of 50 dS m^(-1) at 7.8 g C kg^(-1).We concluded that repeated residue additions increased the adaptation of soil microbial community to salinity,which was likely due to high C availability providing microbes with the energy needed for synthesis of organic osmolytes.

Large manipulative experiments reveal complex effects of food supplementation on population dynamics of Brandt's voles

Although food supplementation is well known to increase population density,there is still debate on the causative effects of food supplementation on reproduction,survival,and immigration.Large manipulative experiments,which exclude any confounding effects of dispersal and predation,are essential for clarifying the debate.In this study,we investigated the effects of food supplementation on Brandt's vole population dynamics and plant community in eight large enclosures(0.48 ha each) from2010 to 2014.Food supplementation showed significant positive effects on population density due to increases in recruitment;however,it showed a complex effect on survival of voles:positive in non-breeding seasons,but negative in breeding seasons.In addition,food supplementation increased the quality of plants(as reflected by increased crude protein content),but decreased the quantity of less preferred plants in experimental enclosures.Thus,food seems to have direct positive effects on small rodents through improvement of food supply and indirect negative effects through food-induced density-dependent effects,and may have long-term effects on rodents through altering plant community composition and abundance.