Vast grasslands are found in the walnut-fruit forest region of southern Kyrgyzstan,Middle Asia.Located above the worldwide unique walnutfruit forests and used for grazing,they play a pivotal role in the mixed mountain...Vast grasslands are found in the walnut-fruit forest region of southern Kyrgyzstan,Middle Asia.Located above the worldwide unique walnutfruit forests and used for grazing,they play a pivotal role in the mixed mountain agriculture of local farmers.Accordingly,these pastures are subject to an increasing utilization pressure reflecting the changing political and social conditions in the transformation process from a Soviet republic to an independent state.A first detailed analysis of mountain pasture vegetation in the Ferghana Range answers the following questions:What are the main plant community types among Kyrgyzstan's mountain pastures? What are the main environmental gradients that shape their species composition? Which phytogeographical distribution types are predominant? How does grazing affect community composition and species richness in these grasslands? Species composition was classified by cluster analysis;underlying environmental gradients were explored using DCA.A dataset of 395 relevés was used for classification,and a subset of 79 relevés was used in a DCA to analyze the correlation between vegetation,environment,and grazing impact.The investigated pastures were classified into four distinctive plant communities.The site factors altitude,heat load,inclination and grazing impact were found to be the major determinants of the vegetation pattern.A significant overlap between floristic composition and structural and spatial properties was shown.The majority of the species pool consisted of Middle Asian endemics and Eurosiberian species.However,disturbance-tolerant species played a significant role with respect to species composition and coverage of the herbaceous layer in vast areas of southern Kyrgyzstan's mountain pastures.In general,an intense grazing impact is clearly reflected by both species composition and structural variables of plant communities.The highly diverse and unique ecosystem is modified by an increasing utilization pressure.In order to maintain vital processes and functioning of this valuable ecosystem-in both economical and ecological terms-,it is indispensable to adopt appropriate pasture management strategies.展开更多
The ecotone, the spatial transition zone between two vegetation communities, is claimed to have more species than the adjoining communities. However, empirical studies do not always confirm higher richness at the ecot...The ecotone, the spatial transition zone between two vegetation communities, is claimed to have more species than the adjoining communities. However, empirical studies do not always confirm higher richness at the ecotone. The ecotone position and structure are dynamic over time and space and it is driven by the changes in climate, land use or their interaction. In this context, we assessed the forest- grassland ecotone of temperate mountains in central Nepal by i) comparing species composition and richness across the ecotone, ii) analyzing if the forestgrassland ecotone is shifting towards the grassland center by colonizing them with trees, and iii) discussing the consequence of changed disturbance regime in the dynamics of this ecotone and the surrounding grasslands. We analyzed vegetation data sampled from belt transects laid across the forest- grassland ecotone in semi-natural grassland patches. Vegetation data consisting of species richness and composition, and size structure and regeneration of the two most dominant tree species, namely Rhododendron arboreum and Abies spectabilis, from the transects, were used to analyze the trend of the forest-grassland ecotone. Forest and grasslands were different in terms of floristic composition and diversity. Vascular plant speciesrichness linearly increased while moving from forest interior to grassland center. Spatial pattern of tree size structure and regeneration infers that forest boundary is advancing towards the grasslands at the expense of the grassland area, and tree establishment in the grasslands is part of a suceessional process. Temporally, tree establishment in grasslands started following the gradual decline in disturbance. We argue that local processes in terms of changed land use may best explain the phenomenon of ecotone shift and consequent forest expansion in these grasslands. We underpin the need for further research on the mechanism, rate and spatial extent of ecotone shift by using advaneed tools to understand the process indepth.展开更多
This on-farm study was conducted in Zamfara reserve of north western Nigeria between July, 2002 and June, 2003 to assess feed intake and liveweight of 12 indigenous Red Sokoto castrated bucks, separated into two group...This on-farm study was conducted in Zamfara reserve of north western Nigeria between July, 2002 and June, 2003 to assess feed intake and liveweight of 12 indigenous Red Sokoto castrated bucks, separated into two groups of six, supplemented and nonsupplemented respectively. The nonsupplemented group grazed natural pasture and crop stubble of crop fields, whereas the supplemented group grazed natural pasture, crop stubbles and received concentrate supplementation. Concentrate supplement (wheat offal) was fed at 1% of the metabolic weight of the animals which corresponds to the mean of the farmers offer. The total faecal collection method and grab samples of feed were used to estimate total intake of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and metabolizable energy (ME). Liveweight of the animal was recorded at five weekly intervals. Results of the study indicated that nutrients intake of supplemented animals were generally higher than those of the nonsupplemented group, but not significantly different (P 〉 0.05). However, it was observed that supplementation significantly (P 〈 0.05) affected the liveweight of the supplemented bucks during early dry season in December, During this period feed became more available to the grazing animals from crop residues. It was therefore concluded that supplementation with wheat offal at 1% metabolic weight may not be enough to counteract weight loss of grazing goats during the other periods of dry season in this environment.展开更多
A high-altitude peat sequence from the heart of the Spanish Central System(Gredos range) was analysed through a multi-proxy approach to determine the sensitivity of high-mountain habitats to climate, fire and land use...A high-altitude peat sequence from the heart of the Spanish Central System(Gredos range) was analysed through a multi-proxy approach to determine the sensitivity of high-mountain habitats to climate, fire and land use changes during the last seven hundred years, providing valuable insight into our understanding of the vegetation history and environmental changes in a mountain pass close to a traditional route of transhumance. The pollen data indicate that the vegetation was dominated by shrublands and grasslands with scattered pines in high-mountain areas, while in the valleys cereals, chestnut and olive trees were cultivated. Strong declines of high-mountain pines percentages are recorded at 1540, 1675, 1765, 1835 and 1925 cal AD, which may be related to increasing grazing activities and/or the occurrence of anthropogenic fires. The practice of mountain summer farming and transhumance deeply changed and redesigned the landscape of the high altitudes in central Spain(Gredos range) since the Middle Ages, although its dynamics was influenced in some way by climate variability of the past seven centuries.展开更多
As a new fishery mode of low-carbon economy, marine ranching has played an important role in promoting sustainable development of fishery and construction of ocean economic zone in China. Since the year of 2000, envir...As a new fishery mode of low-carbon economy, marine ranching has played an important role in promoting sustainable development of fishery and construction of ocean economic zone in China. Since the year of 2000, environment improvement, stock enhancement and mariculture development have been given very high degree of importance along the coast of Shandong Province of China. Studies and tests on artificial reefs and marine ranching, including effect investigation of artificial reefs set up in Jiaonan coastal areas in 1980s, hydrodynamic characteristics experiment of artificial reef, study on material and configuration of artificial reef models, algae transplantation and seaweed beds construction, stock enhancement and releasing etc., have been carried out in recent years. Furthermore, the Restoration Plan of Fishery Resources of Shandong Province has been implemented since the year of 2005, which greatly boosted the construction of artificial reefs and marine ranching along the coast of Shandong. By June of 2010, the total investment on the construction of artificial reefs and marine ranching is over $77 million USD. One hundred artificial reef districts, with total area about 33,350,000 m2 have been set up. The construction of marine ranching along the coast of Shandong Province has been in certain scale and the economic, social and ecological effects are obvious.展开更多
Transhumant pastoralism is an important activity in southern Morocco. Migration pattern of transhumant pastoralists can be affected by physical factors (e.g. droughts and diseases) or socioeconomic factors (e.g. schoo...Transhumant pastoralism is an important activity in southern Morocco. Migration pattern of transhumant pastoralists can be affected by physical factors (e.g. droughts and diseases) or socioeconomic factors (e.g. schooling options for children and migration costs). We studied the spatio-temporal rangeland usage of the three tribes Ait Mgoun, Ait Zekri, and Ait Toumert in the south-central Atlas region with a two-fold approach. First, we tracked the migration movements of one representative transhumant herd using the Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS) collars, which record coordinates from satellite signals. Second, we interviewed herders to obtain information about general grazing practices of the respective tribe and to gain more direct information on motivations underlying decisions. For each tribe we observed small-, medium- and large-scale movements. We found that the most important drivers of migration decisions were seasonal fodder availability and weather conditions in combination with herd-specific risk and cost assessment, as well as personal factors. In conclusion, general migration patterns vary in time, both between and within the tribes, but according to a regulatory framework. Moreover, it appears that both the customary rules and its flexible adaptation to physical constraints are generally beneficial in terms of conservation of the arid and semiarid rangeland resources.展开更多
Vegetation cover is the main factor of soil loss prevention.The C-factor of the RUSLE(Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) was predicted with NDVI,ground data and exponential regression equation for mountain rangelan...Vegetation cover is the main factor of soil loss prevention.The C-factor of the RUSLE(Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) was predicted with NDVI,ground data and exponential regression equation for mountain rangelands of Kyrgyzstan.Time series of C-factor,precipitation and temperature were decomposed into seasonal and trend components with STL(seasonal decomposition by loess) to assess their interrelations.C-factor,precipitation and temperature trend components indicated significant lagged correlation,whereas seasonal components indicated more complex relations with climate factors which can be promoting as well as limiting factors for vegetation development,depending on the season.Rainy springs and hot summers may increase soil loss dramatically,whereas warm and dry springs with rainy summers can decrease it.Steep slopes indicated higher soil loss ratio,whereas flat areas were better protected by vegetation.展开更多
Data material of a long-term high mountain ecosystem research project was used to interpret thegrazing impact of reindeers. In central Norwayinvestigations were conducted to both, areas wherereindeer grazing is exclud...Data material of a long-term high mountain ecosystem research project was used to interpret thegrazing impact of reindeers. In central Norwayinvestigations were conducted to both, areas wherereindeer grazing is excluded, and areas whereintensive pasturing is present for a long period oftime. The comparative analysis of grazing impact was based on similar environmental conditions. Theresults were transposed to northern Norway wheredramatic overgrazing had been exceeding thecarrying capacity. Using landscape ecologicalmappings, especially of vegetation and soils, theimpact of reindeer grazing in different areas becameobvious. Non-grazed lichen-dominated ecosystems of the snow-free locations functioned sensitively nearthe limit of organism survival. These localities weremost influenced by grazing as they offer the winterforage to the reindeers. So, intensive grazing incentral Norway led to landscape degradation bydestruction of the vegetation and superinduced bysoil erosion. Those features were comparable to thesituation in northern Norway, where a broad-scale destruction of the environment combined with adepression of the altitudinal belts had occurred dueto overgrazing. Functioning principles of intact high mountain systems were explained and used to interpret theenvironmental background for the understanding ofdegradation phenomena. Finally, the use of a newmodel calculating the carrying capacity of high mountain landscape was discussed.展开更多
Several abiotic and biotic factors were investigated as possible predictors of local species richness in two sub-alpine grasslands of Jenna and Belles Mountains in Northern Greece.For species richness modelling a hier...Several abiotic and biotic factors were investigated as possible predictors of local species richness in two sub-alpine grasslands of Jenna and Belles Mountains in Northern Greece.For species richness modelling a hierarchical modelling framework based on generalized additive models was adopted.The two sub-alpine grasslands differed in aspect,altitude and soil parent material(volcanic origin,mostly trachyte,and andesite(TA) for Jenna and metamorphic rocks,mostly gneiss(G) for Belles).12 fenced squared plots,16 m2 each,were used per grassland,where soil properties,herbage production,species presence and cover of grasses,legumes and forbs were estimated.Mean herbage production was significantly affected by slope and altitude,soil K content and floristic composition as expressed by an ordination axis.Soil p H,floristic composition and average herbage production were significant predictors of forbs and total species richness.For the former,soil N content and for the latter the occurrence of Agrostis capillaris,were also included as significant terms in the predictive model.Thepredictors for grasses species richness were N content,having a positive effect,and average herbage production.In all cases higher species richness was predicted for intermediate values of average herbage production.Differential responses were found between forbs and grasses.The predictors of their species richness were different while for the case of the common predictor(N) the responses of the two groups were also different(grasses species numbers increase and forbs species numbers decreased with increasing N).Maximum species richness of grasses was observed at relatively low production levels while forbs species richness maximized at relatively high production levels.展开更多
今天,"金融"被用来翻译英语名词"finance"及形容词"financial",人们早已习惯,以至于认为"金融"就是为翻译"finance"而创造出来的词。其实不然。因为无论日语还是汉语,早期的"金融"虽表示与货币、信用有关的经济活动,却并不...今天,"金融"被用来翻译英语名词"finance"及形容词"financial",人们早已习惯,以至于认为"金融"就是为翻译"finance"而创造出来的词。其实不然。因为无论日语还是汉语,早期的"金融"虽表示与货币、信用有关的经济活动,却并不用来翻译"finance"。它们形成对译关系,还是在"金融"流行几十年之后的事。日本人翻译英文著作中较早出现"金融",是明治十年(1877)牧山耕平译的《初学经济论》(The Primer of Political Economy,1875),书中将"a commercial crisis"造成的货币紧缩后果意译为"金融壅塞",英文原书中并无finance或financial一词。展开更多
Aims Grazing exerts profound effects on grassland ecosystem service and functions by regulating species composition and diversity,and structuring community assembly worldwide.However,adaptions of phylogenetic diversit...Aims Grazing exerts profound effects on grassland ecosystem service and functions by regulating species composition and diversity,and structuring community assembly worldwide.However,adaptions of phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic community structure to long-term grazing disturbance remain poorly studied,especially for ecosystems distributed in extreme environments.Methods Here,we conducted an experiment with multigrazing intensities to explore the impacts of grazing disturbance on plant phylogenetic diversity and community structure in an alpine grassland of the Tibetan Plateau.Important Findings Grazing disturbance enriched plant species richness(SR),and stimulated species turnover from regional species pool,consequently changing community species composition.Under low intensities,grazing exerted no obvious effects on phylogenetic diversity and community structure,whereas communities changed from overdispersion to clustering under high grazing intensity.High grazing intensity resulted in stronger environmental filtering,which consequently selected those species with high resilience to grazing disturbance.The observed clustering structure was associated with the colonizing species which were closely related to resident species,and locally extinct species,and distantly related to residents.At the plant functional trait level,high grazing intensity increased species colonization largely by altering the effect of root depth on species colonization compared to light grazing.Our results highlight that solely utilization of SR and diversity cannot fully represent grassland communities responses to grazing.The effects of species turnover on community phylogenetic diversity and structure are entailed to be explored in the future grazing studies.展开更多
Warming increases competition among plant species in alpine communities by ameliorating harsh environmental conditions,such as low temperatures. Grazing, as the main human activity, may mitigate the effect of warming,...Warming increases competition among plant species in alpine communities by ameliorating harsh environmental conditions,such as low temperatures. Grazing, as the main human activity, may mitigate the effect of warming, as previously reported.However, it is critical to refine the effects of warming on biotic interactions among species, for example, by taking the competitive ability of species into consideration. Based on a 10-year warming and grazing experiment in a Tibetan alpine meadow, we evaluated interspecific biotic interactions of dominant and subordinate species, using the approach of interspecific spatial associations. Warming significantly increased competition between subordinate and dominant species as well as among subordinate species, but not among dominant species. Moreover, facilitation of dominant-subordinate species also increased under warming. Simulated rotational grazing had similar effects to warming, with increasing interspecific competition. Our results show that, when studying the effects of warming on biotic interactions among species, it is necessary to characterize different species pairs relative to their competitive ability, and that simulated rotational grazing does not mitigate the effects of warming in the long term. Our results also provide evidence that the spatial pattern of species is a critical mechanism in species coexistence.展开更多
Grazing and over-grazing may drive changes in the diversity and functioning of below-ground meadow ecosystems. A field soil survey was conducted to compare microbial biomass carbon (Cmin) and soil fauna communities ...Grazing and over-grazing may drive changes in the diversity and functioning of below-ground meadow ecosystems. A field soil survey was conducted to compare microbial biomass carbon (Cmin) and soil fauna communities in the two main grassland management systems in subalpine regions of Yunnan Province, China: perennial grazing currently practiced due to increasing herd sizes and traditional seasonal grazing. A three-year exclosure experiment was then conducted to further compare the effects of different grazing practices, including treatments of no mowing, perennial grazing (NM + G), mowing followed by seasonal grazing (M + G), mowing and no grazing (M + NG), and no mowing or grazing (NM + NG). The comparative survey result revealed that Cmin and total density of soil fauna were significantly lower at a perennially grazed site than at a seasonally grazed site. The experiment results showed that in comparison to non-grazing treatments (M + NG and NM + NG), grazing (NM + G and M + G) reduced total fauna density (by 150 individuals m-2) and the number of taxonomic groups present (by 0.32 taxa m-2). Mowing decreased Cmin (by 0.31 mg g-l). Furthermore, the NM + G treatment (perennial grazing) had the lowest density of Collembola (16.24 individuals m-2), one of the two most common taxonomic groups, although other taxonomic groups responded differently to the treatments. Treatment effects on soil fauna were consistent with those on above-ground grasses, in which C:N ratios were greatly reduced by grazing, with this effect being the greatest for the NM + G treatment. In contrast, different grazing treatments had little effect on C:N ratio of soil. Furthermore, the traditional grazing method (mowing followed by seasonal grazing) may have less severe effects on some taxonomic groups than perennial grazing. Therefore, an appropriate management should aim to protect soil fauna and microbes in this area from over-grazing and against further degradation.展开更多
基金the joint project "The Impact of the Transformation Process on Human-Environmental Interactions in Southern Kyrgyzstan" supported by the Volkswagen Foundation
文摘Vast grasslands are found in the walnut-fruit forest region of southern Kyrgyzstan,Middle Asia.Located above the worldwide unique walnutfruit forests and used for grazing,they play a pivotal role in the mixed mountain agriculture of local farmers.Accordingly,these pastures are subject to an increasing utilization pressure reflecting the changing political and social conditions in the transformation process from a Soviet republic to an independent state.A first detailed analysis of mountain pasture vegetation in the Ferghana Range answers the following questions:What are the main plant community types among Kyrgyzstan's mountain pastures? What are the main environmental gradients that shape their species composition? Which phytogeographical distribution types are predominant? How does grazing affect community composition and species richness in these grasslands? Species composition was classified by cluster analysis;underlying environmental gradients were explored using DCA.A dataset of 395 relevés was used for classification,and a subset of 79 relevés was used in a DCA to analyze the correlation between vegetation,environment,and grazing impact.The investigated pastures were classified into four distinctive plant communities.The site factors altitude,heat load,inclination and grazing impact were found to be the major determinants of the vegetation pattern.A significant overlap between floristic composition and structural and spatial properties was shown.The majority of the species pool consisted of Middle Asian endemics and Eurosiberian species.However,disturbance-tolerant species played a significant role with respect to species composition and coverage of the herbaceous layer in vast areas of southern Kyrgyzstan's mountain pastures.In general,an intense grazing impact is clearly reflected by both species composition and structural variables of plant communities.The highly diverse and unique ecosystem is modified by an increasing utilization pressure.In order to maintain vital processes and functioning of this valuable ecosystem-in both economical and ecological terms-,it is indispensable to adopt appropriate pasture management strategies.
基金financial support from the NOrad's Program for MAsters Studies (NOMA) at Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepalfunded by the Norwegian Research Council (190153/V10)Grolle Olsens Legat
文摘The ecotone, the spatial transition zone between two vegetation communities, is claimed to have more species than the adjoining communities. However, empirical studies do not always confirm higher richness at the ecotone. The ecotone position and structure are dynamic over time and space and it is driven by the changes in climate, land use or their interaction. In this context, we assessed the forest- grassland ecotone of temperate mountains in central Nepal by i) comparing species composition and richness across the ecotone, ii) analyzing if the forestgrassland ecotone is shifting towards the grassland center by colonizing them with trees, and iii) discussing the consequence of changed disturbance regime in the dynamics of this ecotone and the surrounding grasslands. We analyzed vegetation data sampled from belt transects laid across the forest- grassland ecotone in semi-natural grassland patches. Vegetation data consisting of species richness and composition, and size structure and regeneration of the two most dominant tree species, namely Rhododendron arboreum and Abies spectabilis, from the transects, were used to analyze the trend of the forest-grassland ecotone. Forest and grasslands were different in terms of floristic composition and diversity. Vascular plant speciesrichness linearly increased while moving from forest interior to grassland center. Spatial pattern of tree size structure and regeneration infers that forest boundary is advancing towards the grasslands at the expense of the grassland area, and tree establishment in the grasslands is part of a suceessional process. Temporally, tree establishment in grasslands started following the gradual decline in disturbance. We argue that local processes in terms of changed land use may best explain the phenomenon of ecotone shift and consequent forest expansion in these grasslands. We underpin the need for further research on the mechanism, rate and spatial extent of ecotone shift by using advaneed tools to understand the process indepth.
文摘This on-farm study was conducted in Zamfara reserve of north western Nigeria between July, 2002 and June, 2003 to assess feed intake and liveweight of 12 indigenous Red Sokoto castrated bucks, separated into two groups of six, supplemented and nonsupplemented respectively. The nonsupplemented group grazed natural pasture and crop stubble of crop fields, whereas the supplemented group grazed natural pasture, crop stubbles and received concentrate supplementation. Concentrate supplement (wheat offal) was fed at 1% of the metabolic weight of the animals which corresponds to the mean of the farmers offer. The total faecal collection method and grab samples of feed were used to estimate total intake of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and metabolizable energy (ME). Liveweight of the animal was recorded at five weekly intervals. Results of the study indicated that nutrients intake of supplemented animals were generally higher than those of the nonsupplemented group, but not significantly different (P 〉 0.05). However, it was observed that supplementation significantly (P 〈 0.05) affected the liveweight of the supplemented bucks during early dry season in December, During this period feed became more available to the grazing animals from crop residues. It was therefore concluded that supplementation with wheat offal at 1% metabolic weight may not be enough to counteract weight loss of grazing goats during the other periods of dry season in this environment.
基金funded by the project HAR2013-43701-P (Spanish Economy and Competitiveness Ministry)Excellence Research Projects Program from the Andalusian Government P11-RNM-7033
文摘A high-altitude peat sequence from the heart of the Spanish Central System(Gredos range) was analysed through a multi-proxy approach to determine the sensitivity of high-mountain habitats to climate, fire and land use changes during the last seven hundred years, providing valuable insight into our understanding of the vegetation history and environmental changes in a mountain pass close to a traditional route of transhumance. The pollen data indicate that the vegetation was dominated by shrublands and grasslands with scattered pines in high-mountain areas, while in the valleys cereals, chestnut and olive trees were cultivated. Strong declines of high-mountain pines percentages are recorded at 1540, 1675, 1765, 1835 and 1925 cal AD, which may be related to increasing grazing activities and/or the occurrence of anthropogenic fires. The practice of mountain summer farming and transhumance deeply changed and redesigned the landscape of the high altitudes in central Spain(Gredos range) since the Middle Ages, although its dynamics was influenced in some way by climate variability of the past seven centuries.
文摘As a new fishery mode of low-carbon economy, marine ranching has played an important role in promoting sustainable development of fishery and construction of ocean economic zone in China. Since the year of 2000, environment improvement, stock enhancement and mariculture development have been given very high degree of importance along the coast of Shandong Province of China. Studies and tests on artificial reefs and marine ranching, including effect investigation of artificial reefs set up in Jiaonan coastal areas in 1980s, hydrodynamic characteristics experiment of artificial reef, study on material and configuration of artificial reef models, algae transplantation and seaweed beds construction, stock enhancement and releasing etc., have been carried out in recent years. Furthermore, the Restoration Plan of Fishery Resources of Shandong Province has been implemented since the year of 2005, which greatly boosted the construction of artificial reefs and marine ranching along the coast of Shandong. By June of 2010, the total investment on the construction of artificial reefs and marine ranching is over $77 million USD. One hundred artificial reef districts, with total area about 33,350,000 m2 have been set up. The construction of marine ranching along the coast of Shandong Province has been in certain scale and the economic, social and ecological effects are obvious.
基金funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education (Grant no. 01 LC 0601A)
文摘Transhumant pastoralism is an important activity in southern Morocco. Migration pattern of transhumant pastoralists can be affected by physical factors (e.g. droughts and diseases) or socioeconomic factors (e.g. schooling options for children and migration costs). We studied the spatio-temporal rangeland usage of the three tribes Ait Mgoun, Ait Zekri, and Ait Toumert in the south-central Atlas region with a two-fold approach. First, we tracked the migration movements of one representative transhumant herd using the Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS) collars, which record coordinates from satellite signals. Second, we interviewed herders to obtain information about general grazing practices of the respective tribe and to gain more direct information on motivations underlying decisions. For each tribe we observed small-, medium- and large-scale movements. We found that the most important drivers of migration decisions were seasonal fodder availability and weather conditions in combination with herd-specific risk and cost assessment, as well as personal factors. In conclusion, general migration patterns vary in time, both between and within the tribes, but according to a regulatory framework. Moreover, it appears that both the customary rules and its flexible adaptation to physical constraints are generally beneficial in terms of conservation of the arid and semiarid rangeland resources.
基金project “The Impact of the Transformation Process on Human-Environment Interactions in Southern Kyrgyzstan”funded by the Volkswagen Foundation,Hannover,Germany
文摘Vegetation cover is the main factor of soil loss prevention.The C-factor of the RUSLE(Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) was predicted with NDVI,ground data and exponential regression equation for mountain rangelands of Kyrgyzstan.Time series of C-factor,precipitation and temperature were decomposed into seasonal and trend components with STL(seasonal decomposition by loess) to assess their interrelations.C-factor,precipitation and temperature trend components indicated significant lagged correlation,whereas seasonal components indicated more complex relations with climate factors which can be promoting as well as limiting factors for vegetation development,depending on the season.Rainy springs and hot summers may increase soil loss dramatically,whereas warm and dry springs with rainy summers can decrease it.Steep slopes indicated higher soil loss ratio,whereas flat areas were better protected by vegetation.
文摘Data material of a long-term high mountain ecosystem research project was used to interpret thegrazing impact of reindeers. In central Norwayinvestigations were conducted to both, areas wherereindeer grazing is excluded, and areas whereintensive pasturing is present for a long period oftime. The comparative analysis of grazing impact was based on similar environmental conditions. Theresults were transposed to northern Norway wheredramatic overgrazing had been exceeding thecarrying capacity. Using landscape ecologicalmappings, especially of vegetation and soils, theimpact of reindeer grazing in different areas becameobvious. Non-grazed lichen-dominated ecosystems of the snow-free locations functioned sensitively nearthe limit of organism survival. These localities weremost influenced by grazing as they offer the winterforage to the reindeers. So, intensive grazing incentral Norway led to landscape degradation bydestruction of the vegetation and superinduced bysoil erosion. Those features were comparable to thesituation in northern Norway, where a broad-scale destruction of the environment combined with adepression of the altitudinal belts had occurred dueto overgrazing. Functioning principles of intact high mountain systems were explained and used to interpret theenvironmental background for the understanding ofdegradation phenomena. Finally, the use of a newmodel calculating the carrying capacity of high mountain landscape was discussed.
基金The Greek Ministry of Agriculture is gratefully acknowledged for their support
文摘Several abiotic and biotic factors were investigated as possible predictors of local species richness in two sub-alpine grasslands of Jenna and Belles Mountains in Northern Greece.For species richness modelling a hierarchical modelling framework based on generalized additive models was adopted.The two sub-alpine grasslands differed in aspect,altitude and soil parent material(volcanic origin,mostly trachyte,and andesite(TA) for Jenna and metamorphic rocks,mostly gneiss(G) for Belles).12 fenced squared plots,16 m2 each,were used per grassland,where soil properties,herbage production,species presence and cover of grasses,legumes and forbs were estimated.Mean herbage production was significantly affected by slope and altitude,soil K content and floristic composition as expressed by an ordination axis.Soil p H,floristic composition and average herbage production were significant predictors of forbs and total species richness.For the former,soil N content and for the latter the occurrence of Agrostis capillaris,were also included as significant terms in the predictive model.Thepredictors for grasses species richness were N content,having a positive effect,and average herbage production.In all cases higher species richness was predicted for intermediate values of average herbage production.Differential responses were found between forbs and grasses.The predictors of their species richness were different while for the case of the common predictor(N) the responses of the two groups were also different(grasses species numbers increase and forbs species numbers decreased with increasing N).Maximum species richness of grasses was observed at relatively low production levels while forbs species richness maximized at relatively high production levels.
文摘今天,"金融"被用来翻译英语名词"finance"及形容词"financial",人们早已习惯,以至于认为"金融"就是为翻译"finance"而创造出来的词。其实不然。因为无论日语还是汉语,早期的"金融"虽表示与货币、信用有关的经济活动,却并不用来翻译"finance"。它们形成对译关系,还是在"金融"流行几十年之后的事。日本人翻译英文著作中较早出现"金融",是明治十年(1877)牧山耕平译的《初学经济论》(The Primer of Political Economy,1875),书中将"a commercial crisis"造成的货币紧缩后果意译为"金融壅塞",英文原书中并无finance或financial一词。
基金supported by National Key Research&Development Program of China(2016YFC0501802,2017YFA0604802)National Natural Science Foundation of China(41571195,41725003)the excellent researcher award program from Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research(2016RC102).
文摘Aims Grazing exerts profound effects on grassland ecosystem service and functions by regulating species composition and diversity,and structuring community assembly worldwide.However,adaptions of phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic community structure to long-term grazing disturbance remain poorly studied,especially for ecosystems distributed in extreme environments.Methods Here,we conducted an experiment with multigrazing intensities to explore the impacts of grazing disturbance on plant phylogenetic diversity and community structure in an alpine grassland of the Tibetan Plateau.Important Findings Grazing disturbance enriched plant species richness(SR),and stimulated species turnover from regional species pool,consequently changing community species composition.Under low intensities,grazing exerted no obvious effects on phylogenetic diversity and community structure,whereas communities changed from overdispersion to clustering under high grazing intensity.High grazing intensity resulted in stronger environmental filtering,which consequently selected those species with high resilience to grazing disturbance.The observed clustering structure was associated with the colonizing species which were closely related to resident species,and locally extinct species,and distantly related to residents.At the plant functional trait level,high grazing intensity increased species colonization largely by altering the effect of root depth on species colonization compared to light grazing.Our results highlight that solely utilization of SR and diversity cannot fully represent grassland communities responses to grazing.The effects of species turnover on community phylogenetic diversity and structure are entailed to be explored in the future grazing studies.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41230750,31402121)the National Basic Research Program of China(2013CB956000)+1 种基金the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFC0501802)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2013M541050)
文摘Warming increases competition among plant species in alpine communities by ameliorating harsh environmental conditions,such as low temperatures. Grazing, as the main human activity, may mitigate the effect of warming, as previously reported.However, it is critical to refine the effects of warming on biotic interactions among species, for example, by taking the competitive ability of species into consideration. Based on a 10-year warming and grazing experiment in a Tibetan alpine meadow, we evaluated interspecific biotic interactions of dominant and subordinate species, using the approach of interspecific spatial associations. Warming significantly increased competition between subordinate and dominant species as well as among subordinate species, but not among dominant species. Moreover, facilitation of dominant-subordinate species also increased under warming. Simulated rotational grazing had similar effects to warming, with increasing interspecific competition. Our results show that, when studying the effects of warming on biotic interactions among species, it is necessary to characterize different species pairs relative to their competitive ability, and that simulated rotational grazing does not mitigate the effects of warming in the long term. Our results also provide evidence that the spatial pattern of species is a critical mechanism in species coexistence.
基金supported by the Biogeochemistry Laboratory of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 40671103 and 41271278)the Innovative Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences- “The Effects of Different Land Use on Biodiversity in Northwest of Yunnan, China” (No. KSCX2-SW-123-5)
文摘Grazing and over-grazing may drive changes in the diversity and functioning of below-ground meadow ecosystems. A field soil survey was conducted to compare microbial biomass carbon (Cmin) and soil fauna communities in the two main grassland management systems in subalpine regions of Yunnan Province, China: perennial grazing currently practiced due to increasing herd sizes and traditional seasonal grazing. A three-year exclosure experiment was then conducted to further compare the effects of different grazing practices, including treatments of no mowing, perennial grazing (NM + G), mowing followed by seasonal grazing (M + G), mowing and no grazing (M + NG), and no mowing or grazing (NM + NG). The comparative survey result revealed that Cmin and total density of soil fauna were significantly lower at a perennially grazed site than at a seasonally grazed site. The experiment results showed that in comparison to non-grazing treatments (M + NG and NM + NG), grazing (NM + G and M + G) reduced total fauna density (by 150 individuals m-2) and the number of taxonomic groups present (by 0.32 taxa m-2). Mowing decreased Cmin (by 0.31 mg g-l). Furthermore, the NM + G treatment (perennial grazing) had the lowest density of Collembola (16.24 individuals m-2), one of the two most common taxonomic groups, although other taxonomic groups responded differently to the treatments. Treatment effects on soil fauna were consistent with those on above-ground grasses, in which C:N ratios were greatly reduced by grazing, with this effect being the greatest for the NM + G treatment. In contrast, different grazing treatments had little effect on C:N ratio of soil. Furthermore, the traditional grazing method (mowing followed by seasonal grazing) may have less severe effects on some taxonomic groups than perennial grazing. Therefore, an appropriate management should aim to protect soil fauna and microbes in this area from over-grazing and against further degradation.