Plant diversity and community structure of Brazilian Páramos

In Eastern South America, high altitude grasslands represent a mountain system that has a high number of endemic species. However, studies on the ecology of plant communities in these environments remain scarce. We aimed to evaluate the patterns of biodiversity and structure of plant communities from rocky outcrops in high altitude grasslands of three areas at the Caparaó National Park, southeastern Brazil, by sampling 300 randomly distributed plots. Then, we compared the floristic composition, relative abundance, and biological and vegetation spectra among areas. We classified species as endemic and non-endemic and verified the occurrence of endangered species. Species richness was evaluated by rarefaction analysis on the sampling units. The importance value and species abundance distribution(SAD) models were assessed. We also performed an indicator species analysis. We sampled 58 species belonging to 49 genera and 32 families. The number of species decreased with increasing altitude, with significant differences being observed among areas regarding richness, abundance, and cover. Of the total number of species, 10 are endemic to the Caparaó National Park and 17 are listed on the Brazilian Red List of endangered species. The dominant families on all peaks were Asteraceae and Poaceae. The SAD models showed lognormal and geometric distributions, corroborating the fact that 10 species that were common to all three areas were also the most dominant ones in the communities and showed the highest importance values, which ranged between 35% and 60%. Indicator species analysis revealed that 28 species(48.27%) were indicators. Of these, 42.85% had maximum specificity, meaning that they occurred only in one area. Thus, the number of species per life form ratio was similar among areas, yet vegetation spectra differed, especially for hemicryptophytes. The altimetric difference among the areas showed to be a very important driver in the community assembly, influencing the evaluated variables, however, other drivers as soil depth, slope and water could also influence the community structure on a smaller and local spatial scale.

WISE EXPLOITATION OF NEWLY GROWING LAND RESOURCES——An Assessment on Land-use Change of Chongming Island Using GIS

Chongming Island, the third largest island in China and the largest alluvialisland in the world, is situated in the north of Shanghai Municipality at the mouth of theChangjiang (Yangtze) River. Along the fertile and prosperous sea coast there are a total area ofover 120 x 10~3ha, with a population of 735 000, accruing some 500ha of new tidal land resourcescome from silt, sand and mud carried by the Changjiang River every year, extending about 140m peryear. This dynamic process of alluvial growth has run for some 1500 years. Mudflat on ChongmingIsland at the mouth of the Changjiang River is a resting ground for migratory birds and host morethan a hundred species, including rare cranes and geese. But the local people keep reclaiming thetidal land for economic development. Obviously, it is crucial to have a well-concerted plan forfuture exploitation. In this study, we attempted to investigate the status changes of land use andwild life habitats on Chongming Island in recent 10 years, and then analyzed different humanactivities and their effects on wild life habitats using satellite image data (1990, 1997 and 2000)as well as field survey. Based on the analysis, this study explored the relationships between islandgrowth and land use/cover change (LUCC), predicted what the habitat would be like in the future andtried to find more effective use of this new growing resource. At last, this study provided somepreliminary management plans for Chongming Island that will coordinate the development of localeconomies and the conservation of wild life and their habitats.

The Characteristic Patterns of Macrofaunal Fouling Assemblages in Nearshore Waters of the South China Sea

The spatio-temporal patterns of macrofaunal fouling assemblages were quantitatively investigated in the nearshore waters of the South China Sea.The work was undertaken by deploying seasonal panels at two sites(H-site,L-site) for one year,and the fouling communities on the panels were examined and analyzed.The results indicated that species composition of assemblages was obviously different between the two sites.At both sites the assemblages were characteristic with solitary dominant species throughout the year,with Amphibalanus reticulates dominating at H-site and Hydroides elegans at L-site.Shannon index and biomass of the assemblages varied with depth and season at both sites.At H-site the total biomass in summer and autumn were significantly higher than those in spring and winter,while at L-site the assemblage biomass also differed significantly among the four seasons,and the greatest biomass occurred at the depth of 2.0 m in winter.The abundance of all seasonal samples in non-metric multidimensional scaling was clustered as one group at L-site and three groups at H-site.The environmental factors were more likely to be related to the variation of fouling assemblages.Furthermore,it also suggests that in tropical seas the integrated adaptability would qualify a species for dominating a fouling assemblage despite its short life cycle,rather than the usually assumed only species with long life span.This study reveals the complexity and characteristic dynamics of macrofaunal fouling assemblages in the tropical habitats,and the results would provide valuable knowledge for biodiversity and antifouling research.

Modeling Biodiversity Benefits and External Costs from a Keystone Predator Reintroduction Policy

In this paper, an economic model was constructed to determine the optimal wolf population and distribution across the Northern Rocky Mountains. Both ecological and economic concepts were incorporated in an implicitly spatial social welfare maximization problem. This interdisciplinary model relies on multiple data sources, including current wolf population and distribution information, opportunity cost to local landowners, and contingent valuation studies to determine willingness-to-pay for wolves. Economic models tend to externalize ecological concerns and ecological models often omit the complex human dimensions of conservation policy. Accordingly, this model can serve as a guide for integrating best practices from both fields. The model presented here is sufficiently general to apply to wolves in other ecosystems and to other highly interacting species such as beavers and bison. The Northern Rocky Mountain wolf was used as an example of how this economic model works, but this model can be applied far more broadly.

Potential Distribution Modeling of Useful Brazilian Trees with Economic Importance

Brazil is one of the countries with the greatest biodiversity, being covered by diverse ecosystems. Native trees commercially planted generate numerous benefits for communities, providing cultural, recreational, tourism riches, as well as ecological benefits, such as nutrient regulation and carbon sequestration. Thus, this work aimed to generate potential distribution modeling for the Brazilian forest species, to provide information that will serve as a strategy for conservation, restoration and commercial plantation of them, that is, encouraging the use of legal native species in the forest sector. Eleven tree species and 19 bioclimatic variables were selected. The software Maxent 3.3.3 was applied in the generation of the distribution models and the area under the curve of receiver operating characteristic （AUC） was used to analyze the model. The Jackknife test contributed to identify which bioclimatic variables are most important or influential in the model. The models showed AUC values ranged from 0.857 to 0.983. The species with higher AUC values were Araucaria angustifolia, Mimosa scabrella and Euterpe edulis, respectively. The maximum temperature of warmest month showed the highest influence for the most species, followed by the mean diurnal range and annual precipitation. It was observed that for some species, there were restricted areas of environmental suitability, such as Araucaria angustifolia, Ilex paraguariensis and Mimosa scabrella. The models used could trace the potential distribution areas using the environmental variables, and these models contribute significantly to sustainable forest management.

Impact of Human Activities on Vegetation Diversity in Agricultural Ecosystems:Evidence from Fengqiu County,China

本文研究了社会经济因素对当地植被多样性的作用,并利用数学模型分析了中国封丘县农田景观中植被多样性的主要干扰因素。发现在小尺度上,植被多样性与景观组成和机构紧密相关这一观点没有证据支持。相比较而言,植被多样性受人为干扰的影响较大,而且与作物种类和经济来源紧密相关。这主要是因为中国农区经济行为拥有特殊格局,包括联产承包责任制以及农民外出务工流。提出了在政策环境的变化下如何维持当地植被多样性的现状。

A generalized model of island biogeography

MacArthur and Wilson's equilibrium theory is one of the most influential theories in ecology.Although evolution on islands is to be important to island biodiversity,speciation has not been well integrated into island biogeography models.By incorporating speciation and factors influencing it into the MacArthur-Wilson model,we propose a generalized model unifying ecological and evolutionary processes and island features.Intra-island speciation may play an important role in both island species richness and endemism,and the contribution of speciation to local species diversity may eventually be greater than that of immigration under certain conditions.Those conditions are related to the per species speciation rate,per species extinction rate,and island features,and they are independent of immigration rate.The model predicts that large islands will have a high,though not the highest,proportional endemism when other parameters are fixed.Based on the generalized model,changes in species richness and endemism on an oceanic island over time were predicted to be similar to empirical observations.Our model provides an ideal starting point for re-evaluating the role of speciation and re-analyzing available data on island species diversity,especially those biased by the MacArthur-Wilson model.

The small-island effect in amphibian assemblages on subtropical land-bridge islands of an inundated lake

The small-island effect （SIE） has become more and more part of the theoretical framework of island biogeography and biodiversity research. However, previous methods for the detection of SlEs are often flawed in one way or another, including not accounting for model complexity, not comparing all relevant models, and not including islands with no species. Therefore, the existence and the prevalence of the SIE may be dubious. In this study, after controlling for all these methodological shortcomings, we tested for the existence of the SlE in amphibian assemblages on subtropical landbridge islands created by the inundation of the Thousand Island Lake, China. We used the line transect method to determine the distribution of amphibian assemblages on 23 study islands during 3 breeding seasons from 2009 to 2011. To evaluate whether an SIE exists in amphibian assemblages, we compared the fit of a simple linearized power model with two most widely used breakpoint regression models. The information-theoretic multimodel inference approach based on Akaike＇s information criterion identified the left-horizontal SIE model as the best single model. Thus, we found strong evidence for the existence of an SIE in our system. The upper limit of the SlE for amphibian assemblages was 39.95 ha. Below this threshold area, amphibian richness varied independently of island size. The SlE in amphibian assemblages may be due to episodic disturbances, stochastic events, and nutrient subsidies from the lake. Our results indicate that all the islands 〉39.95 ha should be protected for the effective conservation of amphibian assemblages in our system.