Analysis of Application Status and Recommendations for Shade-Tolerant Lawns and Ground Cover Plants in the West Lake Scenic Area

Taking 8 parks in Xihu Scenic Area as the survey objects, this study found that there are 77 kinds of shade-tolerant lawns and ground cover plants under the forest in good growth condition, and there are 3 types of application forms: dense forest, sparse forest and forest edge. In response to the existing problems, it is proposed that it is necessary to adhere to principles of ecology, adapt to local conditions and plant suitable varieties in accordance with local conditions, develop and use new varieties of wild shade-tolerant lawns and ground cover plants, and strengthen the promotion of the mixed planting model of shade-tolerant lawns and ground cover plants, so as to provide guidance for the better use of shade-tolerant lawns and ground cover under the forest in the West Lake Scenic Area in the future.

Research Progress on Ecological Safety Assessment of the Farming-pastoral Ecotone in China

[Objective] The study was conducted to overview the farming-pastoral ecotone research progress in China.[Methods] Started from the influences on soil,precipitation and water conservation,climate and mulching of different land use types,the paper summarized the current research situation on several hot issues and proposed suggestions for future study.[Results] Researches on farming-pastoral ectone in China have achieved great progress,but still require more deep and comprehensive studies.Suggestions：Current studies should focus on solutions for degradation of farmland and grassland;Conduct deeper analysis on the relatively weaker aspects in a multi-domain fusion type;Implement the study results on eco-environmental recovery,production improvement and other practical activities;Lift the research of ecotone to a national or even global level,and make them far more comprehensive.[Conclusion] Provide theoretical basis for ecological protection of farming-pastoral ecotone in our country.

Species-diversified plant cover enhances orchard ecosystem resistance to climatic stress and soil erosion in subtropical hillside

Naturally occurring plants in agroecosystem evidently play an important role in ecosystem stability. Field studies on the ecological effects of native plants conserved in orchard and their resistance to adverse climatic stress, and soil erosion were conducted from 1998 to 2001 in a newly developed Changshan-huyou (Citrus changshan-huyou Y.B. Chang) orchard. The experimental area covered 150 ha in typical red soil hilly region in southeastern China. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with six combinations of twelve plant species with four replications. All species used were native in the orchard. Plots were 15×8m^2 and separated by 2m buffer strips. Precipitation, soil erosion in rainstorm days and aboveground biomass of plant community when rainstorm days ended, soil temperature and moisture under various plant covers during seasonal megathermal drought period, antiscourability of soil with different root density under various simulated rainfalls were measured. Plant cover significantly decreased the daily highest and mean soil temperature and its daily variation in hot-drought season, but there was no significant difference of the alleviation among various plant covers. Plant covers significantly increased the soil moisture in seasonal megathermal drought period. Better moisture maintenance and soil erosion reduction was found when the plant species numbers in cover plant communities increased from one to eight. Higher root density in plant communities with higher species richness increased significantly the antiscourability of the soil. It was suggested that conserving plant communities with diversified native species could produce the best positive ecological effects on citrus orchard ecosystem stability.

Study on the Ground Cover Plant in Tibetan Herb Garden

This paper conducts a comprehensive survey of the ground cover plant in Tibetan herb garden for the first time using " five-point sampling method". Survey results show that:(i) A total of 46 families,95 genera,119 species of ground cover plants in herb garden are applied in Tibet,and Asteraceae,Gramineae,Leguminosae,Labiatae,Iridaceae and Liliaceae are used most,with the species number of 22,15,8,7,6 and 5,respectively,accounting for 18. 49%,12. 61%,6. 72%,5. 88%,5. 04% and 4. 20% of the plants surveyed,respectively.(ii) In terms of importance value for the herbaceous layer,the top three plants are Poa pratensis L.,Festuca arundinace and Lolium multiflorum L.,with the importance value of 45. 950,34. 610 and 29. 880,respectively; in terms of importance value for the non-turf ground cover herb plants,the top three plants are Trifolium L.,Cosmos bipinnata Cav. and Althaea rosea(Linn.) Cavan.,with the importance value of4. 372,3. 437 and 2. 062,respectively.(iii) The overall level of greening is low and uneven in the region,with large regional differences. In terms of ground cover plant abundance,Nyingchi > Lhasa > Shannan > Changdu > Xigaze > Ali > Nagqu.

Transformation of vegetative cover on the Ustyurt Plateau of Central Asia as a consequence of the Aral Sea shrinkage

The gradual shrinkage of the Aral Sea has led to not only the degradation of the unique environments of the Aral Sea,but also numerous and fast developing succession processes in the neighborhood habitats surrounding the sea.In this study,we investigated the vegetative succession processes related to the Aral Sea shrinkage in the Eastern Cliff of the Ustyurt Plateau in Republic of Uzbekistan,Central Asia.We compared the results of our current investigation(2010–2017)on vegetative communities with the geobotany data collected during the 1970s(1970–1980).The results showed great changes in the mesophytic plant communities and habitat aridization as a result of the drop in the underground water level,which decreased atmospheric humidity and increased the salt content of the soil caused by the shrinkage of the Aral Sea.In the vegetative communities,we observed a decrease in the Margalef index(DMg),which had a positive correlation with the poly-dominance index(I-D).The main indications of the plant communities'transformation were the loss of the weak species,the appearance of new communities with low species diversity,the stabilization of the projective cover of former resistant communities,as well as the appearance of a new competitive species,which occupy new habitats.

Profiling soil free-living nematodes in the Namib Desert, Namibia

Functional structure and diversity of soil free-living nematodes in a desert environment depend on plant gender and sampling site.The objective of this study was to compare the composition,abundance and tropic group of soil free-living nematodes in the upper 0–10 cm soil layer under the male and female Acanthosicyos horridus Welw.ex Hook.f.plants and in the inter-shrub open areas(control)in the Namib Desert,Namibia in April 2015.Soil moisture,organic matter(OM)and pH was also analyzed.Free-living nematodes were extracted from 100 g soil using the Baermann funnel procedure,and total number of nematodes was counted under a microscope.Community composition and diversity of soil free-living nematodes were analyzed using 18S rDNA sequences.Results indicated that a total of 67 groups,including 64 species,2 genera and 1 family were identified.Feeding behavior of 58 species were identified as follows:15 bacteria-feeding species,12 fungi-feeding species,10 plant-parasite species,5 omnivorous-predator species,8 animal-parasite species,5 invertebrate-parasite species and 3 non-free-living nematodes,known as marine species.Moreover,soil free-living nematodes were found to be affected by sampling locations and plant gender,and community composition and density of these nematodes were strongly influenced by soil OM content.Result confirmed that spatial location and plant cover were main factors influencing the diversity of soil free-living nematodes.Moreover,molecular tools were found to be very useful in defining the richness of soil non-free-living nematodes.In conclusion,the results elucidated the importance of biotic variables in determining the composition and abundance of soil free-living nematodes in the Namib Desert,Namibia.

The Impact of Deforestation in Anambra State： The Ekwusigo Example

It is a fact that demographic and socio-economic developments are exploitatively exerting severe pressure on forest resources in Nigeria. Not only has the economy of the people been severely affected but also the environment has witnessed accelerated soil erosion, especially in Eastern Nigeria. Accordingly, this study set out to explore the environmental and socio-economic impacts of deforestation using an empirical case. Two forested and two deforested sites in Ekwusigo L.G.A of Anambra State were closely studied with respect to deforestation indices. From the data generated, Student＇s t-test was used to attempt a statistical comparison of the forested and deforested sites. The findings indicate that forest cover depletion affected both the canopy openness and the number of non-timber forest products in the area, Finally, the paper stressed the need to maintain a sustainable plant cover while economically harnessing forest resources.

Chihuahuan Desert Soil Biota

Deserts have traditionally been considered as a low moisture system where biological activity is triggered by unpredictable rainfall in time and space. Studies on desert ecosystems functions, processes, dynamics and diversity of soil biota had been found to contribute to understanding of their role in primary production and management of soil ecosystems. As belowground biota is very diverse they are playing an important role in above as well below ground essential ecosystem processes e.g. primary production, decomposition, nutrient mineralization etc. The challenge is to use the emerging knowledge of soil biota diversity in understanding basic ecosystems function.

Study on Ability of Ground Cover Plant of Taiyuan to Adsorb PM(2.5)

Four ground cover plant species of Taiyuan（ Iris,Hemerocallis,Sedum,Hosta） were selected to study their capacities in adsorbing PM（2.5）. Meanwhile,the concentration of PM（2.5） in Taiyuan between April 2017 and August 2017 was recorded,and the characteristics of PM（2.5） pollution in summer and autumn in Taiyuan were studied. The results showed that for the 4 plants,the ability to adsorb PM（2.5） was in the order from great to small of Hosta,Iris,Hemerocallis,Sedum,in which H. plantaginea had the best effect to adsorb PM（2.5）. The fresh weight and dry weight per gram of H. plantaginea were 4. 4 times and 2 times higher than those of S. spectabile,while the mass quality of dust adsorption was 2.8 times higher. The sorting result was the same as the ability to adsorb PM（2.5） of unit leaf area. The result of the coefficient of purification showed that the purification coefficients of 3 vegetation structure were positive,and the combination of trees and shrubs in university campus had strong PM（2.5） adsorption capacity. By comparing the seasonal variation of PM（2.5） concentration in Taiyuan city,it found that the PM（2.5） concentration was particularly high in late spring and early summer of Taiyuan,when most of the ground cover plants were not fully grown. Therefore,ground cover plants played an important role in the construction of landscape and the regulation of ecological environment in Taiyuan.

Assisted Natural Remediation of a Trace Element-Contaminated Acid Soil:An Eight-Year Field Study

There are many remediation techniques for organic contaminated soils,but relatively few of them are applicable to trace elementcontaminated soils.A field experiment was carried out to investigate assisted natural remediation(ANR) of an acid soil contaminated by As,Cd,Cu,Zn and Pb using one inorganic amendment,sugar beet lime(SL),and two organic amendments,biosolid compost(BC)and leonardeite(LE).The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized block design with four treatments in three replicates:1) a non-amended control(NA);2) SL amended at 30 Mg ha^(-1) year^(-1);3) BC amended at 30 Mg ha^(-1) year^(-1) and 4) LE amended at 20 Mg ha^(-1) year^(-1) plus SL amended at 10 Mg ha^(-1) year^(-1)(LESL).The amended plots received two doses of each amendment(DO2):one in October 2002 and another in October 2003.The plots were then divided in half into two subpolts and one subplot received another two doses of the same amendments(DO4) in October 2005 and October 2006.In 2011,the pH values of the amended soils were greater than that of the NA soil,with the SL-amended soil showing the highest pH.Total organic carbon(TOC) was also greater in the amended soil,and greater with DO4 than with DO2.Amendments reduced the concentrations of 0.01 mol L^(-1) CaCl_2-extractable Cd,Cu and Zn,especially in the SL-amended soil.Plant cover of colonizing vegetation was enhanced by amendments,but was independent of amendment doses.Changes in soil properties from 2003 to 2011 showed that the first amendment application of DO2 caused a high differentiation between all the amendment treatments and the NA treatment.After the second application of DO2,soil pH and TOC continued increasing slowly.Further two applications of amendments(DO4) caused differences only in the organic treatments.Plant cover increased over time in all the treatments including NA.It could be concluded that the slow and steady natural remediation of this soil could be enhanced by amendment application(ANR).