Topography and soil content contribute to plant community composition and structure in subtropical evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forests

Topography and soil factors are known to play crucial roles in the species composition of plant communities in subtropical evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forests.In this study,we used a systematic quantitative approach to classify plant community types in the subtropical forests of Hubei Province(central China),and then quantified the relative contribution of drivers responsible for variation in species composition and diversity.We classified the subtropical forests in the study area into 12 community types.Of these,species diversity indices of three communities were significantly higher than those of others.In each community type,species richness,abundance,basal area and importance values of evergreen and deciduous species were different.In most community types,deciduous species richness was higher than that of evergreen species.Linear regression analysis showed that the dominant factors that affect species composition in each community type are elevation,slope,aspect,soil nitrogen content,and soil phosphorus content.Furthermore,structural equation modeling analysis showed that the majority of variance in species composition of plant communities can be explained by elevation,aspect,soil water content,litterfall,total nitrogen,and total phosphorus.Thus,the major factors that affect evergreen and deciduous species distribution across the 12 community types in subtropical evergreendeciduous broadleaved mixed forests include elevation,slope and aspect,soil total nitrogen content,soil total phosphorus content,soil available nitrogen content and soil available phosphorus content.

Construction of lake bathymetry from MODIS satellite data and GIS from 2003 to 2011

In recent years, sedimentation conditions in Dongting Lake have varied greatly because of signifi cant changes in runoff and sediment load in the Changjiang(Yangtze) River following the construction of Three Gorges Dam. The topography of the lake bottom has changed rapidly because of the intense exchange of water and sediment between the lake and the Changjiang River. However, time series information on lake-bottom topographic change is lacking. In this study, we introduced a method that combines remote sensing data and in situ water level data to extract a record of Dongting Lake bottom topography from 2003 to 2011. Multi-temporal lake land/water boundaries were extracted from MODIS images using the linear spectral mixture model method. The elevation of water/land boundary points were calculated using water level data and spatial interpolation techniques. Digital elevation models of Dongting Lake bottom topography in different periods were then constructed with the multiple heighted waterlines. The mean root-mean-square error of the linear spectral mixture model was 0.036, and the mean predicted error for elevation interpolation was-0.19 m. Compared with fi eld measurement data and sediment load data, the method has proven to be most applicable. The results show that the topography of the bottom of Dongting Lake has exhibited uneven erosion and deposition in terms of time and space over the last nine years. Moreover, lake-bottom topography has undergone a slight erosion trend within this period, with 58.2% and 41.8% of the lake-bottom area being eroded and deposited, respectively.

Inconsistent seasonal variation of antibiotics between surface water and groundwater in the Jianghan Plain:Risks and linkage to land uses

Antibiotics are widely used in humans and animals,but their transformation from surface water to groundwater and the impact of land uses on them remain unclear.In this study,14 antibioticswere systematically surveyed in a complex agricultural area in Central China.Results indicated that the selected antibiotic concentrations in surface waters were higher in winter(average:32.7 ng/L)than in summer(average:17.9 ng/L),while the seasonal variation in groundwaters showed an opposite trend(2.2 ng/L in dry winter vs.8.0 ng/L in summer).Macrolides were the predominant antibiotics in this area,with a detected frequency of over 90%.A significant correlation between surface water and groundwater antibiotics was only observed in winter(R^(2)=0.58).This study further confirmed the impact of land uses on these contaminants,with optimal buffer radii of 2500 m in winter and 500 m in summer.Risk assessment indicated that clarithromycin posed high risks in this area.Overall,this study identified the spatiotemporal variability of antibiotics in a typical agricultural area in Central China and revealed the impact of land uses on antibiotic pollution in aquatic environments.

Agricultural Risk Factors Influence Microbial Ecology in Honghu Lake

Agricultural activities, including stock-farming, planting industry, and fish aquaculture,can affect the physicochemical and biological characters of freshwater lakes. However, the effects of pollution producing by agricultural activities on microbial ecosystem of lakes remain unclear.Hence, in this work, we selected Honghu Lake as a typical lake that is influenced by agriculture activities. We collected water and sediment samples from 18 sites, which span a wide range of areas from impacted and less-impacted areas. We performed a geospatial analysis on the composition of microbial communities associated with physicochemical properties and antibiotic pollution of samples. The co-occurrence networks of water and sediment were also built and analyzed. Our results showed that the microbial communities of impacted and less-impacted samples of water were largely driven by the concentrations of TN, TP, NO_3^--N, and NO_2^--N, while those of sediment were affected by the concentrations of Sed-OM and Sed-TN. Antibiotics have also played important roles in shaping these microbial communities: the concentrations of oxytetracycline and tetracycline clearly reflected the variance in taxonomic diversity and predicted functional diversity between impacted and less-impacted sites in water and sediment samples, respectively. Furthermore, for samples from both water and sediment, large differences of network topology structures between impacted and less-impacted were also observed. Our results provide compelling evidence that the microbial community can be used as a sentinel of eutrophication and antibiotics pollution risk associated with agricultural activity; and that proper monitoring of this environment is vital to maintain a sustainable environment in Honghu Lake.