Table of Content

10 September 2009, Volume 28 Issue 09

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Articles

The ThreeNorth Shelter Forest Program needs ecological civilization.

2009, 28(09):  1673-1678. 

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Based on the related literatures and the analysis and comparison of ecological risks, a basic estimation was made on the advances in the Shelter Forest System Program in Three-North Regions of China (SFSPTNRC), the situation of landdesertification in the regions, and the strategic role of the SFSPTNRC in desertification prevention and control. The SFSPTNRC had achieved great success, but the ecological, social, and economic benifits needed to be further evaluated scientifically and accurately. Unreasonable land-use activities, e.g.,over-cultivation, overgrazing, and deforestation, were still the main causes of serious desertification in the regions. Though the SFSPTNRC had recovered the structure and function of degraded ecosystems and enhanced the disturbance-resistant capability of frang ble ecosystems, being effective in preventing and controlling desertification, this Program could not substitute the active defense strategies because of its inefficiency in eliminating anthropogenic disturbances. Therefore, the ecological safety of the Three-North Regions of China should be depended on the earnestly executing the guideline ‘both preventing and managing while emphasizing preventing’ in desertification control. An effective way to keep the cause of desertification within limits was suggested from the concept of ecological civilization, and with the reference of ‘ecoprovince’, a framework for the construction of ecological Three-North Regions, including eco-economic system, eco-environmen talsystem, eco-morality system, and eco-legal system, was brought forward.

Opportunities and challenges in the construction of the Three-North Shelter Forest
Program.

2009, 28(09):  1679-1683. 

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Based on the sum-up of 30-year achievements and experiences in the construction of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program (TNSFP) and aiming at the current development trend in related fields at home and abroad, a comprehensive analys is was made on the opportunities and challenges of the TNSFP. The opportunities included the responses to the climate change, income-boosting of local rural residents, and expansion of domestic demands; while the challenges included the afforestation on hard sites, the motive force for developing the TNSFP, the enhancement of investment level, and the promotion of reform and innovation. In the future, the TNSFP should aim to the establishment of self-contained regional shelter system, with the prevention of sand erosion and the conservation of water and soil resources as the main tasks, and with serving new countryside construction, developing special industries, and promoting forest tenure reform as the key development strategies.

Review on the |shelter forest decline.

2009, 28(09):  1684-1690. 

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Forest decline is one of the critical environmental issues in the 21^st century, while the shelter forest in China, which occupies 31% of the China’s total forest area, is partly declined seriously. Based on the literature review, the shelter forest decline was defined as the reduction of shelter forest function and efficiency due to the decline of forest productivity and soil fertility and the irrational stand structure.  The major causes of shelter forest decline such as no matching tree species with site, irrational stand structure, lacking in rational management, human disturbances, and frequent natural disturbances were summarized. The main existing problems in the researches on China’s shelter forests were analyzed from the aspects of decline mechanism, stand structure, management, human disturbancs, and species composition. It was suggested that the studies on the process and mechanism of shelter forest decline, the early diagnosis and evaluation as well as the prevention of the decline, the macroscale arrangement of shelter forest, and the strategies for responding disturbances should be further studied.

Developing forestry carbon sinks to promote the construction of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program.

2009, 28(09):  1691-1695. 

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As one of the six major forestry projects in China, the Three-North Shelter Forest  Program has made great achievement in the past 30 years. However, lacking of fund obsessed the further development of the project. The spring up and rapid development of forestry carbon sinks would give significant effects on the development of the project. Based on the analysis of the carbon sinks, a proposal for speeding up the development of forestry carbon sinks was put forward, aimed to promote the construction of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program.

Climatic ecological adaptation of shelter forests in Three-North Regions.

2009, 28(09):  1696-1701. 

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Aiming at the deterioration and death of shelter forests in the Three-North Regions, the climatic ecological adaptation of the forests during their growth period was discussed. The deterioration and death of shelter forests in the Region was mainly due to atrocious weather. Deficient precipitation and high evapotranspiration were the most important factors restricting the normal growth of the shelter forests, followed by lasting strong wind, while temperature and sunshine had lesser effects. From the viewpoints of climatic ecological adaptability, some
suggestions were proposed for the rational construction of shelter forests in different areas of Three-North Regions.

Effects of climate change on the Three-north Shelter Forest Program |and corresponding strategies.

2009, 28(09):  1702-1705. 

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Through the analysis on the research data about climate warming and its effects on the Three-North Regions since the 1990’s, a trend was found that the Three-North Regions of China was suffering the climatic warming and drying, which would be more obvious in the coming decades, especially in the northeastern part of China. This trend would give stresses on the Three-North Shelter Forest Program in the aspects of 1) expansion of arid area and desertification, 2) changes in the distribution pattern of natural vegetations, i.e., a converse succession from the west to the east and the appearance of many sensitive ecotones, and 3) decline risk faced by the existent shelter forests. Aiming at these stresses, four strategies were suggested: 1) increasing the construction scope, 2) taking vegetation thicketization and open forest as the goal of designing shelter forest ecotone, 3) designing Pinus tabulaeformis plantations based on original vegetation pattern in the are a at water and soil loss, and 4) drawing up a technical program for the management of shelterbelts in the Three-North Regions of China.

English expression of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program.

2009, 28(09):  1706-1711. 

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The Shelter Forest System Program in Three-North Region of China (the Three-North Shelter Forest Program) is the largest ecological reforestation/afforestation program in the world, and has made great achievements since it was initiated in 1978. With the development of the Program, its influence became larger and larger, but its English expression has not been unified and standardized, making the international exchange about the Program a good many inconvenience. Based on a wide range of literature collection on the Three-North Shelter Forest Program,  an English expression of the Program was suggested to discuss with the coteries, aimed to give help to the unification and standardization of the English expression for the Program.

Retrieval and analysis of vegetation |cover in the Three-North Regions of China based on MODIS data.

2009, 28(09):  1712-1718. 

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The Three-North Shelter Forest Program (TNSFP) covers 13 provinces of China, which brings great influence to the eco-environment of North, Northeast and Northwest China (Three-North Regions). In this paper, the vegetation  cover in the Three-North Regions was estimated by using a dimidiate pixel method based on the MODISNDVI data in August 2001 and 2007, with its spatiotemporal changes analyzed. In 2001-2007, the vegetation  cover in the Three North Regions had an obvious change. The mean coverage increased by 2.07%, and the increment in Jilin, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Ningxia provinces reached to 27.37%, 14.12%, 9.29%, and 9.22%,
 respectively. The increase of the vegetation  cover was mainly caused by the increasing of precipitation and the enhancement of peoples’ environmental awareness, as well as the implementation of closing hillsides to facilitate afforestation, returning farmland to forest/grassland, and especially, the TNSFP.

Dynamics |of forest/grass areacs in middle reaches of Heihe River basin before and after water redistribution.

2009, 28(09):  1719-1722. 

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Aimed to rationally exploit and utilize the water resources of Heihe River basin and to mitigate the continuous ecoenvironmental deterioration in the middle lower reaches of the basin, Chinese government has implemented water redistribution policy since 2000. Taking the middle reaches of Heihe River basin as study area and based on the information from Landsat ETM/TM data, the land use and land cover data in 1990, 2000, and 2005 were obtained by humancomputer interaction visual interpretation. Through editing these data, the overall situation of land use/cover change in the area was understood, and the changes in the forestland and grassland areas before and after water redistribution were analyzed. The forestland area changed from a slight increase before water redistribution to negative growth after water redistribution, while grassland had a continuous degrada
tion but the degradation speed slowed down after water redistribution. These results fully reflected the effects of implementing water distribution policy on the land use/cover change in this area.

Dynamics of water and soil loss based on remote sensing and GIS: A case study in Chicheng County of Hebei Province.

2009, 28(09):  1723-1729. 

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With the support of remote sensing and GIS, the soil erosion amount in Chicheng County of Hebei Province in 1990 and 2000 was calculated by using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE), and a soil erosion map was drawn according to the soil erosion intensity classification criterion. Based on these, the status and spatial distribution of water and soil loss in 2000 and the dynamis  and causes of the loss in 1990-2000 were analyzed. In 2000, the average soil erosion modulus in the County was 17.64 t·hm^-2·a^-1, belonging to mild erosion, and the water and soil loss mainly occurred on the hillside scrubland, grassland, and non-irrigated farmland. Comparing with that in 1990, the water and soil loss area in 2000 decreased markedly, with a decrement of 839.81 km², which illustrated that the performed water and soil conservation measures in Chicheng County in 1990-2000 were very effective

Monitoring of land use/cover changes in Keerqin Sandy Land based on the decision tree classification.

2009, 28(09):  1730-1736. 

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In this paper, land use/cover changes of Keerqin Sandy Land in Wengniute Banner, Inner Mongolia, were monitored by using decision tree classification method with threephase (1989, 1999 and 2007) Landsat ETM/TM data. The results showed that based on the decision tree classification method, the overall accuracy of remote sensing image classification was more than 89.4%, and Kappa coefficient reached more than 0.84. In the past 20-years, the main land use types were both grassland and arable land, and these two types of land use accounted for more than 64%. Furthermore, the area of forest land was very small, accounting for 4.8%-5.3%. From 1989 to 2007, the changes of land area were ranked as: arable land > unused land > forest land >habitation > water area > grassland.

Information extraction of forest resources based on ETM⁺ image: A case study of water and soil conservation forest in a hilly and gully area of Loess Plateau.

2009, 28(09):  1737-1742. 

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According to the remote sensing classification of forest resources, the water and soil conservation forests in Huanglong County of Shaanxi Province, a hilly and gully area of Loess Plateau, were chosen as research objects, and a mixed pixel decomposition method based on coniferous-broad leaved-grass (C-B-G) mode l was introduced for solving the mixed pixel problems in forest information extraction by  ETM⁺ remote sensing images. Using this method, the cover images of coniferous forest, broadleaved forest, bush, and grass were obtained respectively, and the distribution of coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest was extracted. Erdas 9.1 was used to evaluate the classification accuracy. Comparing with the supervised classification, a general classification method, our method had 20% higher classification accuracy on the coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest, suggesting its improved effect in vegetation information extraction.

Eco-environmental effects of land use change in Changwu County of Shannxi Province.

2009, 28(09):  1743-1748. 

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Through the interpretation of the remote sensing images of September 15th, 1988, May 19th, 2000 and June 7th, 2006, the land use and land cover change in Changwu County of Shaanxi Province were acquired, and based on the terrestrial ecosystem service value per unit area in China, the total ecosystem service value in the County was calculated. In the recent 30 years, the farmland area in the County decreased markedly with the development of the Conversion of Farmland to Forest Project, while the forestland area  increased with the implementation of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program. Meanwhile, the unused land, water area, and grassland had no obvious change. The total ecosystem service value increased year by year, from 5.67×10⁸ yuan in 1988 to 5.72×10⁸ yuan in 2006, and the ecosystems in the County tended to develop healthily.

Distribution pattern of tree layer species diversity based on RS and GIS: A case study of water conservation forests in montane regions of eastern Liaoning Province of China.

2009, 28(09):  1749-1755. 

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Based on the ETM⁺ remote sensing images and field investigation data, an inversion model for the tree layer species diversity was established and verified, and used to study the distribution pattern of tree layer species diversity of water conservation forests at different altitudes and aspects in the montane region of eastern Liaoning Province. In the study area, there was a high correlation between the Shannon-Wiener diversity index and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), humidity (TC₃), and green vegetation index (TC₂). The regression model of Shannon-Wiener diversity index and the three vegetation indices was reliable (R²=0.637, P<0.01). Field verification indicated that this inversion model could explain 69.38% of the tree layer species diversity. The tree layer species diversity was mainly within the range of 1.0-2.2, and presented “a high swelling at mid altitude”. The effects of aspect on the distribution of tree layer species diversity mainly exhibited in the greatest probability of high species diversity occurred on northeast slope, which verified the viewpoint that aspect induced the differences in water and heat conditions, and thus, affected species diversity.

Protective effects of farmland shelterbelts in Northeast China: A field scale analysis.

2009, 28(09):  1756-1762. 

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Three types (good, moderate, and bad) of sampling shelterbelt plots were chosen, based on the internal structure and growth conditions of the shelterbelts in the typical farmland shelterbelt regions-Yushu, Nong’an, Dehui and Fuyu in the western Jilin Province of Northeast China. The soil temperature and humidity, air temperature, and crop yields were observed. The farmland soil moisture content at the depths of 5 cm and 10 cm in good plots had somewhat increase comparing with that in bad plots, the increment being 1.03% and 0.89% in Dehui, 0.21% and 0.23% in Yushu, 1.48% and 1.42% in Fuyu, and 0.85% and 0.65% in Nong’an, respectively. In contrast, the maximal farmland soil temperature at the depths of 5 cm and 10 cm and the air temperature in good plots had somewhat decrease comparing with that in bad plots, the decrement being 1.42 ℃, 1.86 ℃ and 1.29 ℃ in Dehui,  0.89 ℃, 2.27 ℃ and 0.88 ℃ in Nong’an,  2.52 ℃, 3.93 ℃ and 0.95 ℃ in Yushu, and 1.6 ℃, 4 ℃ and 0.36 ℃in Fuyu, respectively. No significant difference was found in the crop yield between these two plots. In the study areas, shelterbelts played important roles in improving microclimates, increasing farmland
 soil moisture content, and decreasing the extent of temperature change.

Main ecological characteristics of Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) in aeolian sandy land.

2009, 28(09):  1763-1766. 

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With developed root system and strong drought-resistance, Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) has an important function in wind prevention and sand fixation. In order to reveal its growth adaptability and its mechanisms of wind prevention and sand fixation, the main ecological characteristics of Jerusalem artichoke in Keerqin sandy land were studied. The growth and development of Jerusalem artichoke could be divided into three stages, i.e., seedling emergence, fast growth, and tuber expanding. The growth and dry matter accumulation of
aboveground organs increased slowly within the first 8 weeks, and rapidly since then. The tuber began to fast grow from the 18th week, and peaked at the 23rd week, with the dry matter accumulation reached 298.15 g per plant. The photosynthesis indices had close relationships with dry matter accumulation. Leaf area index and photosynthetic potential began to have a logarithmic increase from the 9th week (aboveground part fast growth stage), and peaked at the 18th week (subterranean tuber expanding stage), with the value of 6.55 and 401016 m²·d^-1·hm^-2, respectively. The relative leaf chlorophyll content was the maximum (38.4) when the dry matter in aboveground organs began to transfer into tuber.

Seasonal variation of groundwater table for Pinus sylvestrisvar. mongolica plantations in southern Keerqin Sandy land.

2009, 28(09):  1767-1772. 

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A sample plot of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica (MP) savanna (SMP) in Daqinggou (42°52′N, 122°55′E) where no large scale disturbances such as afforestation and farmland development were experienced, and the sample plots of grassland (GR), clearcut of declined MP sandfixation forest (CMP), and pure MP sand-fixation forests (MPP) with different ages in Zhanggutai (42°43′N, 122°22′E) where large scale afforestation and farmland development were conducted since the 1950s, were selected to monitor the variations of groundwater table (GT) from May to October 2005. The seasonal variation of the GT exhibited four types, i.e., linear, “V”, “N”, and “M” curves. The GT value in SMP plot in Daqinggou had lesser variation in growth season, with an average of 1.88 m, while the GT values in GR and CMP plots in Zhanggutai increased from May to July, and then fell down. The 23 year old MPP plot had a larger variation of GT in growth season, with a difference of 4.30 m, but the elder (33-, 42-, and 45-year old) MPP plots had a fluctuation of GT, with its variation range differed. As a whole, the GT value ranked in the order of SMP in Daqinggou < GR and CMP in Zhanggutai < 23-year old MPP < 33-years old MPP < 42-year old MPP < 45-year old MPP. These results suggested that large-scale afforestation and agricultural development were the major causes inducing the differences of groundwater table between Daqinggou and Zhanggutai, and the different types of vegetation cover and stand age in Zhanggutai also affected the groundwater table.

Vegetation cover change in Guizhou of Southwest China in 1982-2003 in response to climate change.

2009, 28(09):  1773-1778. 

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By using the 1982-2003 NASA data of Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Indices (NDVI) with a spatial resolution of 8 km as well as the historical climate data, and based on the extraction and analysis of pixel-to-pixel discrete information with the help of regression and correlation analysis, this paper studied the inter-annual variation of vegetation cover in Guizhou of Southwest China in 1982-2003 and the relationships between this variation and main climate factors, aimed to reveal the basic characteristics of Guizhou vegetation cover change and its responses to climate change. In the recent 22 years, the NDVI, air temperature, and precipitation in Guizhou exhibited an increasing trend, with a linear tendency being 0.001, 0.302 ℃, and 12.776 mm per decade, respectively. The mean monthly NDVI increased  with air temperature, and had a noticeable parabola relationship with mean monthly precipitation. There existed a threshold value in the effects of precipitation on NDVI. Air temperature and NDVI showed a synchronized inter-annual variation trend, while yearly precipitation displayed a certain lagging with the inter-annual variation of NDVI. Different types of land cover had different responses to climate change, and air temperature change had greater effects on the NDVI, compared to precipitation change.

Turbulence spectral characteristics above tropical seasonal rain forest canopy in Xishuangbanna.

2009, 28(09):  1779-1786. 

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By using eddy covariance method and a open-path CO₂ analyzer placed on a tower in a tropical seasonal rain forest in Xishuangbanna (ChinaFLUX), the 10 Hz observation data of six microclimate variables including three dimensional direction wind speed (u, v, w), CO₂ concentration, H₂O concentration, and air temperature above the canopy of the forest were obtained, and the clear days in four typical months (January, April, July, and October) were selected to calculate the power spectrum and cospectrum of the variables to vertical velocity (w) at five periods of time in a day (morning, 08:00-11:30; noon, 12:00-15:00; afternoon, 15:30-19:00; night, 19:30-23:30; before dawn, 0:00-07:30), aimed to approach the high/low frequency responsivity of the variables above the canpy of tropical seasonal rain forest. Under the conditions of clear weather and good turbulence above the canopy in the tropical seasonal rain forest, the power spectrum slopes of the six variables in their inertial subrange followed -2/3 p
ower law, and their cospectral slopes in inertial subrange followed to -4/3 power law, indicating that the contribution of largescale motions to matter and energy transference above the canopy could satisfy the requirement of observing the responsivity in high and middle frequency signal areas. It was inferred that our sampling frequency of flux observation was reasonable, and our data obtained from the complicated topographical condition were valid and could be used as the actual flux figures in the further study.

Spatiotemporal changes of surface water nutrients in Hani terraced landscape.

2009, 28(09):  1787-1793. 

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The Hani terrace in Yunnan Province is a kind of montane agricultural landscape, being famous for its large area, wide distribution, astonishing construction, and infrequency in the world. In this paper, surface water was sampled
from the Quanfuzhang basin in Yuanyang County, with the nitrogen and phosphorous contents determined. In the terrace surface water, both the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorous (TP) contents and their spatial heterogeneity were the highest in spring; in the stream water in terrace region, the TN and TP contents were the highest in summer, and their spatial heterogeneity differed with sampling time; while in the stream water in forest region, the TN and TP contents were the highest in summer, but the spatial heterogeneity of TN and TN had greater differences. As a whole, this basin was poor in nutrients, and the nutrient contents changed with seasons. The spatial variation of the nutrient contents was in the order of terrace surface water > river water in terrace region > river water in forest region, which indicated the complex spatiotemporal changes of nutrient in terraced agriculture.

Effects of salt stress on Limonium bicolor seed germination.

2009, 28(09):  1794-1800. 

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This paper studied the effects of different concentration NaCl, Na₂SO₄, and 1:1 NaCl+Na₂SO₄ on the seed germination of Limonium bicolor, and the variations in the seed protein content, amylase activity, and reducing sugar and total soluble sugar contents during the process of seed germination. Under the stress of test salts, the germination potential, germination index and germination rate of L. bicolor seeds decreased obviously, and the inhibition effect was increased with increasing salt concentration. The inhibition effect was in the sequence NaCl>NaCl+Na₂SO₄>Na₂SO₄. The fit salt concentration for L. bicolor seed germination was 1.2% Na₂SO₄, 0.8% NaCl+Na₂SO₄, and 0.5% NaCl, and the half-lethal concentration and fatal concentration of Na₂SO₄, NaCl+Na₂SO₄, and NaCl was 2.1% and 3.5%, 1.4% and 2.4%, and 1.1% and 2.0%, respectively. The regermination test of transferring nongerminated seeds after salttreatment into distilled water showed that salt stress mainly inhibited the decomposition of seed protein and sugar via osmosis effect, and further, delayed or inhibited the seed germination.

Photo-physiological responses of Castanopsis fargesii seedlings to different light environment in an evergreen broad-leaved forest.

2009, 28(09):  1801-1807. 

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Castanopsis fargesii, an evergreen broad-leaved tree species, is one of thedominant species in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests. This paper presented a comparative study on the photosynthetic parameters, leaf mass per unit area (LMA), leaf nitrogen content, and leaf anatomical structure of C. fargesii seedlings in an evergreen broad-leaved forest under three natural light environments (understory, gap, and open). In understory habitat, C. fargesii  had lower light compensation point (LCP), dark respiration rate (R_d) and LMA, and higher apparent quantum yield (AQY) and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE), suggesting that this tree species could take advantage of low light and performed high maximum photosynthetic rate (P_max). Moreover, the leaf spongy tissue of C. fargesii  was well developed, and leaf epidermal cells were thicker, demonstr ating a positive response to cooler environment. In open habitat, C. fargesii  had a marked decrease of P_max while an obvious increase of  R_d. Its leaf nitrogen content per unit area (N_a) was higher but PNUE waslower, leaf and palisade tissue became thicker, palisade tissue/spongy tissue ratioincreased, but palisade tissue was lesser developed than spongy tissue, indicating the low adaptability to high light environment. In gap habitat, C. fargesii seedlings exhibited greater satisfactory photosynthetic acclimation, being able to have normal growth and regeneration.

Natural restoration of plant species diversity on reclaimed Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland.

2009, 28(09):  1808-1812. 

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With the vegetations on reclaimed Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland as test objects, this paper studied the change patterns of their community structure and species diversity after different years (5, 8 and 12 years) of natural restoration. After definite years’ restoration, the vegetations had a visible community succession. Plant species increased gradually, dominant species changed from Artemisia stolonifera to C. angustifolia, and species composition differed evidently with restoration year. With the increase of restoration year,  the ShannonWiener index (H) was decreasing, while Simpson index (D) increased after an initial decrease. As for the two plots both with C. angustifolia as the dominant species, the plot with 8-year restoration had a higher H value than that with 12-year restoration. After different years’ restoration, the similarity index of the plant community between the wetlands with 5-year and 8-year restoration was 50%, and that between the wetlands with 5-year and 12-year restoration was 43%, suggesting that there was a definite inherent relationship between plant community composition and restoration year, i.e., the longer the restoration year, the lower the plant community composition similarity.

Soil quality evolvement and its environmental significance of typical plantations in midsubtropics of China. 

2009, 28(09):  1813-1817. 

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Taking the Cuninghamia lanceolata and Pinus elliottii plantations at different development stages in the midsubtropics of China as test objects, and with the secondary evergreen broadleaved forest as the control, their soil organic matter, total nitrogen and phosphorus, and available nitrogen, phosphorus,and potassium contents were analyzed. Comparing with secondary evergreen broadl eaved forest, the C. lanceolata and P. elliottii plantations had lower contents of soil organic matter and total nitrogen and phosphorus. These contents increased with increasing age of C. lanceolata but decreased with increasing age of P. elliottii, and the changes in soil total phosphorus content were more smoothly than those in soil organic matter and total nitrogen contents. Soil available nutrient contents showed the same variation trends, but the soil available nitrogen and potassium contents were lower in 10 and 20 year-old than in 30 year-old C. lanceolata while in adverse for P. elliottii. From the viewpoint of the eco-environmental effects of soil quality evolvement, to properly prolong the rotation period of C. lanceolata and shorten the rotation period of P. elliottii  would be of practical significance in maintaining soil fertility and soil organic carbon sink.

Cadmium accumulation in Tagetes erecta as affected by sulfur deficiency.

2009, 28(09):  1818-1823. 

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A hydroponic culture was conducted to study the cadmium (Cd) accumulation in Tagetes erecta as affected by Sdeficiency, and to evaluate the roles of thiol compounds and organic acids in the Cd accumulation. After exposure to 0.1 mg Cd·L^-1 for 7 days, the Cd content in T. erecta root, stem, and leaf under S-deficiency decreased significantly by 47%, 38%, and 61%, respectively, compared with the control. S-deficiency had no significant effects on the synthesis of cysteine, γ-glutamyl cysteine, glutathione, and organic acids, and the three thiol compounds were all in lower levels. The synthesized phytochelatins (PCs) amount in S-deficient T. erecta root decreased significantly, which could be the main cause of the reduction of Cd accumulation in the plant. Among the plant organs, leaf had the highest organic acids content but no PCs, suggesting that the accumulated Cd in leaf was mainly bound by organic acids. All the results indicated that S-deficiency affected the synthesis of PCs in root, inducing the decrease of Cd accumulation in plant, but had less effects on the synthesis of organic acids that could possibly participate in the chelation of Cd in plant tissues.

Dynamic characteristics of runoff and sediment yield during vegetation restoration in Nüerzhai small watershed of northwest Hunan Province.

2009, 28(09):  1824-1828. 

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With the Nüerzhai small watershed in Cili County of Hunan Province as test object, this paper studied the dynamic characteristics of precipitation and runoff-sediment in a small watershed during vegetation restoration, and evalu
ated the reduction effect of vegetation restoration in sediment yield. In the test watershed, the annual precipitation had a greater variation, and distributed unevenly within a year, mainly concentrated in flood season (from April to August). The runoff also had a greater variation, and distributed unevenly within a year. Concentrated runoff was one of the distinct characteristics in this watershed, and there was a close linear relationship between runoff (Q_i )and precipitation (P_i ). The change pattern of annual sediment transport modulus was almost the same as that of precipitation. Sediment production highly pooled ina short duration, and was closely related to precipitation and runoff. Soil erosion was mainly caused by the heavy precipitation during flood season. The annual sediment transport modulus was related to the vegetation biomass and forest coverage. Under the condition of relatively stable precipitation, the annual sediment transport modulus tended to decrease with increasing biomass and coverage.

Promotion effects of exogenous amino acids on phytoremediation of Cd-PAHs contaminated soils by using hyperaccumulator plant Solanum nigrum.

2009, 28(09):  1829-1834. 

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An indoor pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of exogenous cysteine, glutamate, glycine, and their combinations on the Solanum nigrum pytoremediation of Cd. and PAHs contaminated soils. Single factor treatments with test amino acids had less effects on the S. nigrum plant height and its shoot dry weight (P>0.05), while multifactor treatments promoted the plant height and shoot dry weight significantly (P<0.05). All the treatments increased the Cd uptake and accumulation by the plants, with the extraction ratios of plant
 Cd in treatment cysteine reached as high as 1.80% and 1.83%, being 0.80-fold and 0.83-fold higher than the control, respectively. The combined application of cysteine, glutamate, and glycine promoted the removal of soil Cd and PAHs, with the best effect in treatment 0.3 mmol·kg^-1cysteine+0.3 mmol·kg^-1 glutamate+0.3 mmol·kg^-1 glycine, in which, the Cd concentration in plant shoot and the removal rate of soil PAHs increased by 1.26-fold and 4.46-fold, respectively, compared with the control. It was suggested that exogenous cysteine, glutamate, and glycine could promote the phytoremediation of low concentration Cd-PAHs contaminated soils, and have a promising future in contaminated soil phytoremediation.

Effects of phosphatesolubilizing fungi on costal saline soil available phosphorous content and salttolerant oil plant growth.

2009, 28(09):  1835-1841. 

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With arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and the dominant fungus Mortierella sp. from Spartina alterniflora salt marsh soil as phosphate-solubilizing agents, a pot experiment was conducted to study their effects on the available phosphorous (P) content of a costal saline soil and the growth of -Ricinus communis and Kosteletzkya virginica, aimed to provide guidance for the cultivation of salt-tolerant oil plants on costal saline soil. After the combined application of AM fungi and Mortierellasp. agents, the available P content in the soils planted with R. communis and K. virginica increased by 52.9% and 89.0%, respectively, and the plant height, stem diameter, plant fresh weight and dry weight, and leaf chlorophyll content of R. communis and K. virginica increased by 110.0% and 45.4%, 48.8% and 85.5%, 85.9% and 200.0%, 112.0% and 157.0%, and 67.6% and 83.4%, respectively, being significantly higher than the control. Single application of AM fungi or Mortierella sp. also increased the soil available P content and promoted the growth of R. communis and K. virginica, but the effect was lesser than the combined application. For the soil planted with R. communis, no significant difference was observed in applying AM fungi or Mortierella sp.; while for the soil planted with K. virginica, the effect of applying Mortierella sp. in increasing soil available P was significantly higher than that of AM fungi. All the results suggested that both AM fungi and Mortierella sp. could increase the available P content of costal saline soil and promoted the growth of R. communis and K. virginica, and their combined application could have much better effect, being of practical significance in improving the utilization efficiency of our saline soil phosphate resources and promoting the sustainable development of local agricultural production.

Paecilomyces variotii| a filamentous fungus capable of biodegrading high molecular weight PAHs

2009, 28(09):  1842-1846. 

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Microbial degradation is a feasible treatment technology for the remediation of PAHscontaminated soils, but its effect depends on many factors including the metabolic activity of microorganisms and the bioavailability of PAHs in  contaminated soils. Many researches have focused on the microbes that can degrade high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs. In this paper, a filamentous fungus Paecilomyces variotii was isolated and purified from a heavy oil contaminated soil, and its capability in degrading HMW PAHs Benzo ［a］ anthracene (BaA), benzo ［a］pyrene (BaP), benzo［b］fluoranthene (BbF), benzo ［k］ fluoranthene (BkF), and indeno ［1,2,3-cd］ pyrene (IcdP) was examined with liquid culture. After 30 days inoculation with P. variotii, the degradation rate of test PAHs was 16.1%-24.6% in mixed system and 10.4%-33.3% in single system, and there was a definite difference in the degradability of test PAHs in the two systems. In single system, the degradation rate of benzo［k］fluoranthene and benzo［b］fluoranthene increased, while the other PAHs were in adverse. The findings of this study could provide a new germplasm resource in the researches of the co-metabolism mechanisms of HMW PAHs and the bioremediation of soil-water environment contaminated by compound PAHs.

Vertical distribution and diversity of butterflies in Hengduan Mountains, Southwest China.

2009, 28(09):  1847-1852. 

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An investigation was conducted along an elevation gradient with 26 sampling sections in Hengduan Mountains to study the vertical distribution of butterflies in the Mountains. A total of 603 species belonging to 299 genera and 12 families were recorded, among which, Nymphal had the most richness and abundance, while Parnassiidae, Acraeidae, and Libytheidae had the least ones but were rare and precious. Along the elevation gradient, there was an obvious difference in the species composition and community diversity, manifesting a distinct vertical pattern. The vertical distribution of the butterfly communities could be divided into six zones, i.e., low montane farmland zone (Ⅰ), mantane subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest zone (Ⅱ), montane warm temperate evergreen and deciduous broadleaf mixed forest zone (Ⅲ), montane temperate coniferous and broadleaf mixed forest zone (Ⅳ), montane cold temperate dark coniferous forest zone (Ⅴ), and alpine subfrigid shrub meadow zone (VI). The diversity index ranked in the order of Ⅱ>Ⅰ>Ⅲ>Ⅳ>Ⅴ>Ⅵ. Among the six zones, zone Ⅱ had the most abun
dant vegetation types and the most complex topography, and had higher specie richness, individual number, and diversity index of butterfly than the other zones,being the most important ecological area needed to be protected in priority.

Body mass growth pattern of Meriones unguiculatus.

2009, 28(09):  1853-1856. 

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Gompertz function was used to fit and analyze the body mass growth pattern of  Meriones unguiculatus born in the same spring in a field enclosure. The female and male M. unguiculatushad the similar growth rate Constant (k), which supported the earlier reports that the growth rate constant is species-specific and can reveal the inherent characteristics of species. However, the males had higher asymptotic mass and higher growth rate of body mass than the females, and the inflection time of body mass increase, the time of growth rate declining to the initial value, as well as the time achieving 90% of the asymptotic value of body mass were later for the males than for the females, illustrating that M. unguiculatus exhibited sexual dimorphism, with the females having relatively earlier time finishing their body mass development, an indicative of a polygamy mating strategy.

Habitat characteristics of Chinese giant salamander in Golden Whip Stream of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China.

2009, 28(09):  1857-1861. 

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In order to provide basis for further protecting and improving the habitat quality of Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and to increase the wild resource of A. davidianus, an investigation was conducted in Gold Whip Stream from August to September in 2008 to quantitatively analyze the covert, water quality, and food resources in the stream. This stream is composed of lithoid bottom and bank, and has big bank gradient (82°±3°), high vegetation coverage (93%±3%) and water velocity［(0.36±0.15) m·s^-1］, and definite amounts of dens (5-7 dens ·200 m^-1), with moderate anthropogenic interferences. Its water quality is good with low nepheloid (6°-8°), high DO (6.61-8.11 mg·L^-1), and low COD (7.159.69 mg·L^-1). The average density of food organisms in the stream is (51107±9198) mg·m^-2. All the habitat characteristics suggested that Gold Whip Stream could satisfy the growth of A. davidianus, being a suitable place for increasing the wild resource of the Chinese giant salamander.

Research methods on ant community.

2009, 28(09):  1862-1870. 

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This paper summarized the common methods for sampling and analyzing ant community, reviewed the advantages and shortages of pitfall trapping, quadrat sampling, baiting, leaf-litter sampling, hand collection, chemical knocking-down, intensive sampling, and sample plot investigation, analyzed the efficiency of sampling ants by different sampling methods, introduced the ALL Protocol and ant functional groups, and compared the applications of species accumulation curve, relative abundance, species richness, and diversity index in the analysis of ant community. In the current researches on ant community, the methods adopted were not standard enough, and it was suggested that in order to have a scientific and reliable estimation of ant species richness, the ALL Protocol should be used to investigate the ant communities throughout China, the methods for sampling
ants should be compared in heterogeneous habitats, and the analysis of ant community’s species accumulation curve and relative abundance should be conducted in national scale.

Response and adaptation of plants to submergence stress.

2009, 28(09):  1871-1877. 

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Submergence stress is one of the major abiotic stresses for plant survival. Plants under submergence are in the state of hypoxia or anoxia which limits aerobic respiration and energy productivity, leading to the decrease in soil r
edox potential and the accumulation in toxicants and threatening plant survival.Through adaptive evolutionary processes, many plant species can survive after a long or short term submergence. There are two major approaches to analyze the plant response and adaptation to submergence stress, one is to study the decre ase of plant oxygen concentration, and the other is to investigate the increase of plant ethylene. The main adaptation strategies employed by the plants under submergence tress are 1) morphological adaptation via stem elongation and forming adventitious roots and aeration tissues, 2) change in metabolic pathways and energy production through anaerobic metabolism, 3) regulation of physiological activities by changing the hormone levels of ethylene, gibberellin, and abscisic acid or variation in morphology and anatomy, and 4) elimination of poisonous active oxygenic free radical by antioxidase system under anaerobic condition. Molecular biology and bioinformatics techniques can be used to study the mechanisms of plant adaptation to submergence at gene level.

Pollution sources, environmental residues, and ecological toxicity of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs): A review.

2009, 28(09):  1878-1890. 

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With the large scale development of pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, the production and use amount of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are remarkably increased, resulting in the PPCPs remaining in water, soil, and air environment. Regrettably, as a large class of environmental pollutants, PPCPs have not drawn adequate attention till the late 1990s. Due to the continuous input to the environment in high quantity, the residual concentration of PPCPs is increasing, and gradually shows ecological toxicity to the microorganisms, plants and animals, and even, potential ecological risk to human beings. Based on the sum-up of published literatures, this paper analyzed the pollution sources and environmental remaining of PPCPs, as well as the ecological toxicity of residual PPCPs to the microorganisms, plants, animals, and human beings. The main scientific issues related to PPCPs, which should be researched in the future, were suggested.

Soil contamination by magnesite dusts: Its mechanisms and phytoremediation.

2009, 28(09):  1891-1896. 

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This paper summarized the mechanisms of soil contamination and plant damage by magnesite dusts, analyzed the amendment approaches of magnesite dusts-contaminated soil, and discussed the feasibility and key techniques of phytoremediation in the amendment. A mass of dusts, mainly magnesium carbonate and magnesium oxide, is produced when exploiting and producing magnesite, which contaminates soil and damages plant via basifying and hardening soil, and disturbs the balance between soil soluble magnesium and calcium. Though the studies on the phytoremediation of magnesite dusts-contaminated soil are fewer, it is quite feasible to remove the redundant magnesium from soil via plant absorption, metabolism, and accumulation.

Research advances in heavy metals accumulation in seagrass and its effects on seagrass growth.

2009, 28(09):  1897-1904. 

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Seagrass is a kind of monocotyledonous plants growing in shallow coastal area and playing an important role in maintaining offshore ecological balance. It has been proved that heavy metals can impose various effects on seagrass. This paper summarized the research advances about the impacts of heavy metals on seagrass from the aspects of (1) accumulation characteristics of heavy metals in se
agrass and related affecting factors, (2) impacts of heavy metals on physiological and ecological characteristics, especially photosynthetic efficiency of seagrass, and (3) physiological and biochemical adaption mechanisms of seagrass under heavy metals contamination. Further research directions were suggested, including (1) differences in heavy metals absorption capacity of seagrass leaf and root, (2) synergistic and antagonistic effects of various heavy metals, (3) acute and chronic toxicity of various heavy metals, and (4) toxicity mechanisms of heavy metals on seagrass.

Selection and feeding responses of Anomala corpulenta adults to different plant leaves.

2009, 28(09):  1905-1908. 

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A laboratory experiment with different kinds of plant leaves showed that Anomala corpulenta adults had an obvious tendency to select Ricinus communis leaves, with the selection rate in a pair-test reached to 90% and 60% or more in the absence and presence of other host plant eaves, respectively. A. corpulenta adults preferred Arachis hypogaea, Ulmus pumila, and Glycinemax leaves to feed with, the feces weight excreted after 12 h being (37.05±9.30) mg, (35.25±4.72) mg, and (16.75±3.18) mg, respectively, followed by Abutilon theophrasti leaves. However, the leaf amount of R. communi consumed by and the feces weight excreted from A. corpulenta adults within 12 h were only (050±018) mg and (0.25±0.13) mg, respectively, illustrating that the selection of R. communi by A. corpulenta adults was not for feeding.

System |for identifying and zoning ecosystem services and its application in Poyang Lake area.

2009, 28(09):  1909-1914. 

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System  for identifying and zoning ecosystem services (SIZES) a software tool for automatically identifying and delimitating the zoning boundaries of ecosystem services divisions, which can identify the spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem services and give guidance to the regional ecosystem management. SIZES integrates multi-source data, and then, identifies the kernel ecosystem services and delimitates the boundaries of ecosystem services by factor analysis and spatial fuzzy clustering analysis after hierarchically inputting relevant indicators. A case study on the application of SIZES in Poyang Lake area showed that the ten ecological zones delimitated by the system explained the spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem services of the study area, being helpful to provide valuable spatial and temporal decisionmaking information for the local ecosystem services management.

Multi-scale spatial correlations between topographic attributes and vegetation indices in Wuyi Mountain Reserve based on wavelet transform.

2009, 28(09):  1915-1920. 

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With the altitude, slope, aspect, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as the landscape variables of topography and vegetation, this paper studied the scale dependency of topographyvegetation relations in Wuyi Mountain Nature Reserve. Different scale variograms of topographic factors and NDVI were established by wavelet transform, and the correlations between the topographic factors and NDVI were analyzed by using wavelet coefficients. In the study area, there existed at least two distinct scale patterns of topographical factors and NDVI.
The nearly synchronous in scale domain, especially in small scale domain, suggested that there was a tightlycoupled relationship between topographic factors and NDVI. The topographyvegetation relations were scale dependent, and the correlation coefficients of NDVI and topographical factors were larger in larger scales than in smaller scales, suggesting that topographical factors played important roles in controlling NDVI patterns in larger scales. The relationships of NDVI with slope and aspect showed a large and complicated variation with s
patial scale. This study could help to the understanding on the multi-scale complicated correlations between topography and vegetation in the Reserve, and indicated that wavelet transform was useful in exploring the multi-scale spatial pattern of natural resources.