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1.
Climate and grazing are the main drivers of plant community composition and species richness in arid environments. This study aimed to examine the vegetation response to a spatial precipitation gradient, interannual rainfall variability, and grazing pressure in Mongolia. To examine the effect of a spatial precipitation gradient, we compared species richness among six sites. To investigate the effects of interannual rainfall variability and grazing pressure, we compared species richness for 2 years at two sites, in desert-steppe and steppe areas. The regional gradient in annual precipitation showed positive and negative relationships with grass richness and shrub richness, respectively, although total species richness did not vary significantly. The proportions of the different functional groups were affected by grazing pressure and rainfall variability in both zones. In the desert-steppe zone, species richness was lower in the drier year but did not vary with grazing pressure. In the steppe zone, species richness varied significantly with grazing pressure but did not vary between years. Precipitation would be more important than grazing pressure on vegetation changes in drier areas with high rainfall variability.  相似文献   

2.
This study was conducted in the arid Mediterranean Reserve located in northern Jordan, representing a continuous grazed arid rangeland ecosystem. Quantitative analyses on species diversity in addition to phytogeographical analysis were conducted. Some ecological parameters such as, life forms, growth forms, species density and frequency were investigated. A total of 93 vascular plant taxa belonging to 78 genera and 26 families were reported. This constitutes about 4.3% of the total flora of Jordan. Reported taxa include 13 species of grasses, 69 forbs and 10 shrubs and semi-shrubs. The botanical survey pointed to the presence of four rare species in Jordan. Plant species were classified into 28 functional groups. Pairwise correlation analyses among the most abundant species, showed that neutral associations dominated (75%) those communities, followed by positive associations (19%), while only (6%) showed negative association. Positive association may be attributed to direct facultative mutualism, or to physical environmental heterogeneity. Such a positive cooperation in the plant community can significantly maintain species diversity in adverse environments.The relationship between primary productivity and species richness showed a humpbacked pattern. Maximum richness corresponded to a biomass level of 300–400 g m−2. However, a sinusoidal curve-fitting model explained the relationship between graminoids biomass and species richness. These findings pointed to the adaptation of plant taxa to livestock grazing and to the small-scale spatial and environmental heterogeneity in arid Middle Eastern Mediterranean rangelands. Results suggest that optimal biodiversity conservation for the arid Middle Eastern grazing lands should consider their high level of spatial heterogeneity. Rangeland managers should adopt grazing plans that apply a range of grazing pressure across the area so as to maintain diversity at local and regional scales.  相似文献   

3.
Invasive plant species are a growing concern in many regions of the world, yet little information is available on the effects of habitat type and distance to urban settlements on the ability of alien plants to become established. We studied plant communities from the arid steppes to the Andean forest within two national parks and surroundings, in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Alien and native vascular plant species were sampled using 90 × 100 m2 plots and analyzed in relation to both climatic and environmental variables and distance to urban centres. We also compared life-forms of alien and native species. Precipitation and distance to an urban centre were important determinants of alien species community richness and composition, and shrubland sites had significantly more alien species than forest or steppe sites. Alien flora (15% of the species) was composed of a higher proportion of annuals and biennials than native flora. Our results suggest that precipitation, distance to source population, and anthropogenic disturbance influence the invasion process in this region, together with the availability of open niches. This work stresses the importance of monitoring invasive species in natural reserves, and of considering habitat types as well as idiosyncratic characteristics of the non-natives for developing management strategies.  相似文献   

4.
Macroinvertebrate communities were studied in two saline tributaries of the Hopkins River, western Victoria. Monthly sampling from May to August, 1990, showed the mean salinity of Bushy Creek was 5 g L−1 while in Back Creek mean salinity varied from 9 to 20 g L−1 between sites. Macroinvertebrate species richness and relative abundance were measured on each sampling occasion. Cluster analysis showed that community composition varied between creeks and between sites within a creek. Bushy Creek sites were more similar to each other than to Back Creek sites. A negative relationship was found between site salinity and species richness over the range 4 to 26 g L−1, although there was a wide range of salinity (up to 12 g L−1) over which the relationship of species richness to salinity was not clear cut. The effects of salinity on species richness in stream communities appear to be similar to that described elsewhere in salt lakes.  相似文献   

5.
We analyzed the structural differences associated with grazing exclusion on vegetation by studying 24 grazed-ungrazed paired sites in Patagonia (Argentina). Our objectives were to evaluate the effect of grazing on plant species composition, plant diversity, the relative abundance of plant functional types, and the vertical and horizontal structure of the plant community. This study across the shrub-grass steppes of Patagonia highlights some important characteristics of the vegetation response to a major disturbance factor we show that shrub encroachment is not a generalized response of the steppe to grazing. Grazed areas presented lower richness and diversity than exclosures. Physiognomic changes (as describe by relative abundance of plant functional types) were less important than those observed at the species level. These results shown that the status of the shrub-grass steppes of the Occidental district of Patagonia can not be characterized in terms of contrasting physiognomic states as in the case of the grass steppes of the Subandean district. Forbs and a few mesophytic and xerophytic grasses are the key elements to identify the condition of the steppe. Monitoring programs should focus on the relative abundance of these components.  相似文献   

6.
In the semi-arid steppe rangelands of Central Turkey, Festuca valesiaca and Thymus sipyleus ssp rosulans have become the dominant species on degraded pastures. We hypothesized that decreases in species richness and abundance are correlated with increasing prevalence of these two species. Therefore, our objectives were to determine whether there are patterns in examined vegetation; how dominant species contribute to these patterns; and how patterns differ between grazed and ungrazed vegetation. We determined that protection from grazing increased species richness. Grazing significantly changed composition through decreasing total plant, forb, grass and F. valesiaca covers, while substantially increasing T. sipyleus cover. Topography, soil and grazing appear to impact the dominance of plant communities where F. valesiaca and T. sipyleus prevail. These two dominant species had a significant effect in shaping vegetation patterns. Based on regression analysis, alterations in species richness with changes in cover of forbs and shrubs were evident, and spatial heterogeneity of F. valesiaca and T. sipyleus indicated unstable vegetative patterns in heavily grazed pastures and successional changes in protected pastures. Our study results identify F. valesiaca and T. sipyleus as indicator species of vegetation suppression in condition assessments of degraded steppe rangelands.  相似文献   

7.
In this study we investigated the effect of different land use options (wildlife versus livestock) on species richness of plants and reptiles in the protected Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP) versus adjacent non-protected farmland within the same savanna habitat type (Aoub dune veld) in the southern Kalahari, South Africa. Our results show that both plant and reptile species richness as well as plant cover and reptile abundance was significantly higher in the protected KTP than in the non-protected farmland. The higher proportion of shrub but lower proportions of perennial grass cover, herb cover, and herb species richness in the farmland can be explained by higher stocking rates and the differences in feeding behaviour between native wild ungulates (e.g. Antidorcas marsupialis, Oryx gazella) and livestock (mainly sheep). The reptile’s prey availability and microhabitats (perennial grass tussocks and rodent burrows) for thermoregulation and protection against predators were significantly lower in the farmland. To conclude, our results clearly show that long term effects of different land use options (wildlife in protected KTP versus extensive livestock production in the non-protected farmland) even within the same habitat type have led to significant changes in vegetation composition, availability of microhabitat structures and in the reptile community.  相似文献   

8.
The present study aims to use landscape heterogeneity as a predictor of plant species richness in a tropical dry landscape area in the coast of Michoacán, Mexico. To understand the relationship between species richness and landscape, a three-step approach was followed: first, landscape spatial heterogeneity was measured by classifying landscape types according to their attributes (i.e., environmental, soil and topographic variables). Second, several diversity standard indices were used to explore biological diversity and to select the best one explaining the relationship between landscape heterogeneity and plant species richness, for this study area. Third, from the obtained results it was possible to calculate biodiversity values on the basis of landscape heterogeneity. The results indicate that it is possible to predict more than 61% of species richness through an indicator of landscape heterogeneity (H′; Shannon–Weaver diversity index). This procedure may be useful in terms of land use, conservation, and management of protected areas, mainly in areas with high biodiversity but with limited biological data, since it allows to obtain an approximation of the spatial distribution of species richness, even with scarce biological information.  相似文献   

9.
The most pervasive threats to biological diversity are directly or indirectly linked to the road networks. For this reason, over the last few decades, interest in the study of the ecological characteristics of the edges associated with roads has increased. This work aims to investigate the effect of roads as a human-induced disturbance on the plant diversity in two managed Mediterranean forest sites, focusing on the responses of plants species richness, evenness, composition and taxonomic diversity.A stratified random sampling was performed in two protected areas located in Tuscany, Central Italy. The species richness, composition and abundance were measured in 53·20 × 20 m plots. Ordinary Least Square and quantile regressions were used to study the effect of the roads on species richness, evenness and taxonomic distinctness, and redundancy analysis was used to examine the species composition. Generalized linear models in conjunction with an Information Criterion-based approach to model selection were used to test the role of road distance in the structure of forest plant biodiversity.Our findings indicated a clear relationship between road distance and different plant biodiversity facets, which showed its maximum effect in the first 0–20 m forest-to-road segment and a mitigation after the 200 m threshold. Furthermore, the presence and abundance of many key forest species, such as Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba, were influenced more by the road distance than by other environmental gradients. The few remnants of core forest habitats in the Mediterranean basin highlight the need to recognize that road construction and maintenance have several ecological implications and accordingly require long-term monitoring programs.  相似文献   

10.
An understanding of the effects of guano deposition on arid soil chemistry and the consequences for plant communities is lacking. This study examined patterns of herbaceous species richness and productivity, soil chemistry, soil moisture and soil respiration on 11 islands in the Gulf of California, six of which receive seabird guano deposition. Species richness was significantly lower on islands with guano (“Bird” islands) than islands without guano (“Non-bird” islands), with very little overlap in species composition; however, productivity was significantly greater on Bird than on Non-bird islands. As expected, Bird island soils had higher concentrations of NO3−, NH4+ and total nitrogen (N) than Non-bird island soils; and, measurements of δ15N indicate that the higher concentrations of N were derived from guano. We also found that soil moisture and respiration were significantly higher, but pH was significantly lower, on Bird than Non-bird islands. These results suggest that guano deposition in deserts stimulates productivity—even in dry years—due to elevated N and, indirectly, soil moisture. Guano deposition also results in a decrease in species richness and a change in species composition probably due to elevated N, N toxicity, or low pH. However, we also found that pH varied more on Bird than on Non-bird islands; and that salinity—while not different between island types—was significantly patchier on Bird than on Non-Bird islands. These results suggest that guano deposition affects not only the general chemical composition of soils, but also results in greater spatial variation in soil chemical composition, which may ultimately affect species richness and composition. Therefore, understanding spatial patterning in soil chemistry as a result of guano deposition is critical for understanding guano effects on plant richness and productivity.  相似文献   

11.
Environmental and Geo-spatial factors have long been considered as crucial determinants of species composition and distributions. However, quantifying the relative contributions of these factors for the alpine ecosystems is lacking. The Tibetan Plateau has a unique ecological environment and vegetation types. Our objectives are to quantify the spatial distributions of plant communities on the Northern Tibetan Alpine grasslands and to explore the relationships between vegetation composition, Geo-spatial factors and environmental factors. We established 63 field plots along a 1200-km gradient on the Northern Tibetan Plateau Alpine Grassland and employed the two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) and the detrended canonical correspondence analysis (DCCA). Fourteen communities of alpine grassland were identifiable along the transect and consisted of three vegetation types: Alpine meadow, Alpine steppe, and desert steppe. Vegetation composition and spatial distribution appeared to be largely determined by mean annual precipitation and less influenced by temperature. A large fraction (73.5%) of the variation in vegetation distribution was explained by environmental variables along this transect, somewhat less by Geo-spatial factors (56.3%). The environmental and Geo-spatial factors explained 29.6% and 12.3% of the total variation, respectively, while their interaction explained 43.9%. Our findings provide strong empirical evidence for explaining biological and environmental synergetic relationships in Northern Tibet.  相似文献   

12.
以5个保护区为例来探究外来入侵植物与环境及人为因子间的关系。利用CCA分析了环境变量与外来入侵植物丰度的关系,采用了多元回归得出了与外来入侵植物最为相关的环境与人为因子。结果显示,从泰山自然保护区到丰林自然保护区,外来入侵植物分别为25种、12种、13种、5种、5种,沿着包括纬度、最高温度,最低温度、最高降雨量等环境因子强度的降低而下滑。而同时,外来入侵植物的数量随着人为活动的干扰度增强而增加。从起源上来看,热带成分从31%降至0,而北美起源的植物则逐渐增加。从科的组成上看,五个自然保护区中均有菊科分布,所占比例分别为15%、33%、36%、 40% 和20%,显示了其世界广布的特性,而其他科属入侵植物的分布并不均衡。从生活型上看,一年生或多年生草本植物为主要成分。外来入侵植物的传入途径在很大程度上受人类活动及利用喜好的驱动。  相似文献   

13.
以芨芨草和短花针茅为优势种的温性草原是青藏铁路进入海拔3000m以上地区所穿越的第一个地带性植被类型。在青藏铁路经过的温性草原区对未受筑路直接影响的区域、取土区、铁路路基、周围其它类型的公路路域植被进行取样，并对群落组成和有关群落特征进行了比较，以讨论青藏铁路的修建与运营对温性草原及其恢复过程的影响。结果显示，青藏铁路修筑过程对铁路两侧一定区域的温性草原有较大影响，但随着受影响区域植被的自然恢复，群落盖度、生态优势度和物种多样性等反应群落特征的指标都有一定程度的改善，一些在原生植被中很少出现或伴生种在恢复后的群落中有可能成为群落的优势种或建群种，如露蕊乌头和鹅绒委陵菜等；人为辅助措施将有利于受损植被的恢复；修筑铁路过程中受到影响的温性草原其恢复过程中尚未出现外来入侵植物。  相似文献   

14.
ＴｈｅｐｒｅｌｉｍｉｎａｒｙｓｔｕｄｙｏｆｔｈｅｐｈｙｔｏｐｌａｎｋｔｏｎｅｃｏｌｏｇｙｉｎｔｈｅＧｒｅａｔＷａｌｌＢａｙ，ＡｎｔａｒｃｔｉｃａＹｕＪｉａｎｌｕａｎ（俞建銮）；ＬｉＲｕｉｘｉａｎｇ（李瑞香）ａｎｄＨｕａｎｇＦｅｎｇｐｅｎｇ（黄凤鹏）（...  相似文献   

15.
Diversity theory predicts that species numbers should be highest at intermediate levels of both disturbance and environmental stress. We examined woody and herbaceous plant species richness and cover in the San Pedro River flood plain, along lateral gradients of water availability (ground-water depth), flood disturbance (inundation frequency), and distance from and elevation above the channel, and along longitudinal gradients of water availability (ground-water depth, surface flow permanence, and rainfall) and flood disturbance (total stream power). Herbaceous species were recorded during four sampling periods, and spatial patterns for this group were time-dependent, reflecting temporal variation in limiting factors. During the summer dry season of a dry year, when overall richness was low, richness and cover of herbaceous species declined laterally from the stream channel with increasing ground-water depth, consistent with the idea that low resource levels can limit species richness. Following the summer monsoon rains and floods, when water was less limiting and annuals were seasonally abundant, lateral patterns shifted such that herbaceous species richness and cover increased with increasing plot location above or from the channel. The relationship of herbaceous species richness with tree canopy cover also varied seasonally, shifting from positive (greater richness under canopy) in dry seasons to negative (lesser richness under canopy) in wet seasons. Longitudinally, herbaceous species richness and cover were limited primarily by stream flow and/or ground-water availability during the summer dry season of a dry year. Following the summer monsoon rains and floods, patterns were weighted by the seasonally abundant annuals, and richness increased among sites primarily with distance upstream (and related rainfall gradients). Richness and cover patterns also varied between years with different flood conditions. During the two sampling seasons in the year following a large flood, herbaceous species richness increased with flood disturbance intensity but declined at the few most intensely disturbed sites, consistent with intermediate disturbance theory.For woody species, richness within plant functional groups varied in opposing ways along the lateral gradients: hydromesic pioneer species decreased and hydromesic and xeric competitors increased with distance from or above the channel, with no overall change in species richness. Among sites, woody species richness patterns were related to water availability, but not to flood disturbance. However, richness of woody hydromesic pioneer species increased with both increasing site moisture and flood disturbance. Woody and herbaceous species richness both increased among sites as a function of increasing flood-plain width, likely due to species–area effects. Overall, results indicate that flood disturbance and water availability both influence species richness of riparian plants in the flood plain of this semi-arid region river, with the relative influence of each factor varying among plant groups and over time.  相似文献   

16.
Assemblages of small bird species (<90 g body mass) from the Monte desert in Argentina were studied to analyze spatial and temporal variation in abundance and species richness. Mean species richness was higher during breeding season than in non-breeding season. The same pattern was observed in aerial insectivores, while granivores and substrate insectivores did not differ between breeding and non-breeding seasons. Overall bird abundance was similar across seasons. Species richness was positively correlated with bird abundance and negatively correlated with dominance; bird abundance and dominance were not correlated. These patterns could be explained by distinct responses of functional groups of birds; dominant species were granivores in the non-breeding season and aerial insectivores during the breeding season, and bird abundance in functional groups changed according to food supply. Most species are residents or regular migrants, while there are few nomadic and transient species. Predictable annual fluctuations in rainfall and resource availability should favor a migratory strategy more than nomadic movements. Similarly, breeding is strongly seasonal and most species start breeding when the first summer rains have generally not yet fallen. Finally, concordances in assemblage structure at local and regional scale suggest that similar mechanisms are acting on the local bird assemblages across the Monte.  相似文献   

17.
Seven mesas (i.e. flat-topped, isolated mountains) and the Grootberg mountain in arid north-west Namibia were investigated with regard to floristic relationships in relation to environmental gradients. Relationships between mesas and their surrounding, species richness and number of mesa specialists were used as measures to explore the influence of elevation on these floristic parameters. Also soil properties were investigated along these elevation gradients. The overall questions were designed to investigate the importance, i.e. ‘special status’, of these mesas in terms of contributing to species diversity and to elucidating ecological processes in this arid landscape.With regard to special floristic status, the tops of mesas supported different plant communities than their surrounding plains, while slopes indicated various levels of intermingling with plain vegetation. Differences between mesas and plains became more pronounced with increasing elevation. There were, however, no clear vegetation belts related to elevation. Plant species richness and number of mesa specialists showed a trend of increasing numbers with elevation, but these trends were statistically poorly supported, largely due to high variability between samples.Do soil gradients and elevation, as two important environmental variables, affect this ‘special’ status? Pronounced soil gradients were evident for many soil properties. These in combination with altitudinal effects of increased moisture and lower temperatures were believed to directly influence plant species composition and richness. The soil gradients may also indicate nutrient flow from the mesas to the surrounding lowlands, a process of ecological importance, particularly should degradation due to over grazing become a problem in the lowland areas.  相似文献   

18.
The response of the field layer vegetation to co-varying resource availability (soil nutrients, light) and resource loss (herbivory pressure) was investigated along a landscape gradient highly influenced by elephants and smaller ungulates at the Chobe River front in Botswana. TWINSPAN classification was used to identify plant communities. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) were used to explore the vegetation-environment relationships. Four plant communities were described: Panicum maximum woodland, Tribulus terrestris woodland/shrubland, Chloris virgata shrubland and Cynodon dactylon floodplain. Plant height, species richness and diversity decreased with increasing resource availability and resource loss. The species composition was mainly explained by differences in soil resources, followed by variables related to light availability (woody cover) and herbivory, and by interactions between these variables. The vegetation structure and species richness, on the other hand, followed the general theories of vegetation responses to herbivory more closely than resource related theories. The results suggest a strong interaction between resource availability and herbivory in their influence on the composition, species richness and structure of the plant communities.  相似文献   

19.
Arthropods living in the canopies of two woody shrub species (a sub-shrub (Gutierrezia sarothrae) and a large shrub (Prosopis glandulosa)) and perennial grasses plus associated herbaceous species, were sampled on 18, 0.5 hectare plots in a Chihuahuan Desert grassland for five consecutive years. Mesquite shrubs were removed from nine plots, six plots were grazed by yearling cattle in August and six plots were grazed in February for the last 3 years of the 5 year study. Arthropod species richness ranged between 154 and 353 on grasses, from 120 to 266 on G. sarothrae, and from 69 to 116 on P. glandulosa. There was a significant relationship between the number of families of insects on grass and G. sarothrae and growing season rainfall but species richness was not a function of growing season rainfall on any of the plants. Several of the arthropod families that were the most species rich in this grassland were found on all of the plants sampled, i.e. Salticid spiders, Bruchid and Curculionid beetles, Cicadellid and Psyllid homopterans, and ants (Formicidae). There were more species rich families that were shared by grasses and the sub-shrub G. sarothrae than with mesquite. The absence of a relationship between growing season rainfall and species richness was attributed to variation in life history characteristics of arthropods and to the non-linear responses of annual and perennial desert grassland plants to rainfall.There were no significant differences in insect family or species richness on any of the plant types as a result of removal of mesquite (P. glandulosa) from selected plots. Intense, short duration (24 h) grazing by livestock during in late summer resulted in reduced species richness in the grass-herb vegetation layer but had no effect on insect species richness on snakeweed or mesquite shrubs. Livestock grazing in winter had no effect on insect species richness on any of the vegetation sampled.  相似文献   

20.
本文报道了１９９１／１９９２年南极夏季在普里兹湾邻近海域浮游植物调查的研究结果。经鉴定共有浮游植物３门２６属７８种；其平均细胞丰度为１２０±１７４×１０５个／ｍ３，密集区分布在６２°Ｓ、７８°～１０３°Ｅ，这一海域其细胞丰度在１１０×１０５～８６４×１０５个／ｍ３之间。根据浮游植物种类组成和细胞丰度百分比的聚类分析，测区浮游植物群落中可划分为四个聚合类群：菱形藻（Ｎｉｔｚｓｃｈｉａ）与赖氏针杆藻（Ｓｙｎｅｄｒａｒｅｉｎｂｏｌｄｉ）、长环毛藻（Ｃｏｒｅｔｈｒｏｎｃｒｉｏｐｈｉｌｕｍ）与翼根管藻（Ｒｈｉｚｏｓｏｌｅｎｉａａｌａ－ｔａ）和翼根管藻与赖氏针杆藻占优势的聚合类群及由海冰习性的菱形藻与近岸性角刺藻（Ｃｈａｅｔｏｃｅｒｏｓ）占优势组成的中山站近岸单一生态类群。文中还讨论了浮游植物丰度与环境因子的关系并对过去数年南极浮游植物的调查结果进行了比较  相似文献   

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