Floristic surveys, vegetation mapping, and detailed transect analyses rendered a macrophyte flora of 14 native and five alien taxa of flowering plants in the River Erft, a contributory of the River Rhine in Northrhine-Westphalia. Water temperatures of this river do not fall below 10 °C all the year round, for reasons of geothermically heated water discharged from nearby opencast mining areas. Macrophyte stand structures, composed of the neophytes Azolla filiculoides and Lemna minuta (floating) and Myriophyllum aquaticum, Egeria densa, and Vallisneria spiralis (rooted in the muddy or sandy ground of the river) are described and the ecological requirements of these taxa are characterized. The alien species can be seen as elements that increase the α-diversity of the aquatic vegetation of the River Erft. They do not replace any of the native species, even if shifts in the competition dynamics occur. The colonization by neophytes of the abnormally warmed River Erft can be appreciated as paradigmatic for trends in the macrophyte vegetation of medium-sized rivers in Central Europe when climate-related or discharge-based heating of the waterbody occurs and propagules of alien plants imported by waterfowl or – more important – plants from aquarium waste will find suitable places of existence and spread. 相似文献
The delivery of volcanogenic sulphur into the upper atmosphere by explosive eruptions is known to cause significant temporary climate cooling. Therefore, phreatomagmatic and phreatoplinian eruptions occurring during the final rifting stages of active flood basalt provinces provide a potent mechanism for triggering climate change.
During the early Eocene, the northeast Atlantic margin was subjected to repeated ashfall for 0.5 m.y. This was the result of extensive phreatomagmatic activity along 3000 km of the opening northeast Atlantic rift. These widespread, predominantly basaltic ashes are now preserved in marine sediments of the Balder Formation and its equivalents, and occur over an area extending from the Faroe Islands to Denmark and southern England. These ash-bearing sediments also contain pollen and spore floras derived from low diversity forests that grew in cooler, drier climates than were experienced either before or after these highly explosive eruptions. In addition, coeval plant macrofossil evidence from the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA, also shows a comparable pattern of vegetation change. The coincidence of the ashes and cooler climate pollen and spore floras in northwest Europe identifies volcanism as the primary cause of climate cooling. Estimates show that whilst relatively few phreatomagmatic eruptive centres along the 3000 km opening rift system could readily generate 0.5–1 °C cooling, on an annual basis, only persistent or repeated volcanic phases would have been able to achieve the long-term cooling effect observed in the floral record. We propose that the cumulative effect of repeated Balder Formation eruptions initiated a biodiversity crisis in the northeast Atlantic margin forests. Only the decline of this persistent volcanic activity, and the subsequent climatic warming at the start of the Eocene Thermal Maximum allowed the growth of subtropical forests to develop across the region. 相似文献
We report Sr-, Nd- and Pb-isotopic compositions for the lavasof Mauritius, the second youngest volcanic island in the Réunionhotspot. The lavas of the Older Series (7·85·5Ma) have identical isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sr = 0·70411to 0·70422,143Nd/144Nd = 0·512865 to 0·512854,and 206Pb/204Pb = 19·016 to 19·041) to those ofRéunion, where the center of volcanic activity is currentlylocated. The lavas of the Intermediate Series (3·51·9Ma) and Younger Series (0·700·17 Ma) areshifted to lower Sr-isotopic compositions (0·703640·70394,with 143Nd/144Nd = 0·512813 to 0·512948 and 206Pb/204Pb= 18·794 to 18·984). The Intermediate Series lavashave similar trace-element characteristics (e.g. ZrNb,BaY) to those of Rodrigues, in both cases requiring theinvolvement of an enriched mantle-like component in the mantlesource. During the volcanic history of Mauritius, the magmaslost the principal isotopic characteristics of the Réunionhotspot with time, and became gradually imprinted with the isotopicsignature of a shallower mantle source that produced the CentralIndian Ridge basalts. KEY WORDS: hotspot; isotopes; Mauritius; Réunion; trace element相似文献
Understanding the relationship between multi-level institutional linkages and conditions influencing the likelihood of successful collective action has practical and theoretical relevance to sustainable local resource governance. This paper studies the relationship between multi-level linkages and local autonomy, a facilitating condition found to increase the likelihood of local successful collective action. A technique known as fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was applied to a longitudinal comparative data set. In the context of the decentralization of a protected area system in Costa Rica (1986–2006), it traced the emergence and endurance of autonomy among local institutions for biodiversity conservation. The technique illustrates which set of multi-level linkages combined in different ways, and at different points in time, to reach the same outcome (local autonomy). The findings show that a unique set of combinations of multi-level linkages led to the emergence of local autonomy among institutions for biodiversity conservation governance. In contrast, a more diverse set was associated with the endurance of local autonomy over time, suggesting that institutional diversity may play a more prominent role in the maintenance of institutional robustness than in processes of institutional emergence. 相似文献
We report 40Ar–39Ar laser step-heating age determinations on 15 stratigraphically controlled lava flows and intrusive rocks from Heard Island, Central Kerguelen Plateau (Indian Ocean). The island history began with uplift of pelagic limestone intruded by 22 Ma gabbro sills. Subaerial and wave erosion levelled the early island, producing an unconformity onto which pillow lavas, tuffaceous sediments and shallow-water, fossiliferous marine siltstone (Drygalski Formation) were deposited, beginning in late Miocene time. Two volcanic systems then formed in the late Quaternary. Big Ben dominates the larger southeast part of the island, while Mount Dixon occupies the northwest Laurens Peninsula. Feeder dykes and the early lava flows in both systems are 400–200 ka. Lava flows with evolved compositions (trachytes, trachyandesites) erupted 100–20 ka. Well-preserved parasitic cones exposed at low elevations are 15–10 ka and younger. Mawson Peak, near the summit of Big Ben, has erupted lava flows as recently as 2007. Heard Island, and nearby active McDonald Island, are subaerial features of a larger Neogene volcanic region of Central Kerguelen Plateau that includes several large sea knolls and recently identified submarine fields of small cones. This broadly distributed volcanic activity is linked to incubation of plume material at the base of the nearly stationary overlying Central Kerguelen Plateau. 相似文献
Cymodocea rotundata is an ecologically important tropical pioneer seagrass species distributed in the Indo‐Pacific region. The population genetic diversity and structure of this species were analysed at 46 sites spanning the Philippines, Ryukyu Islands (northern limit) and Hainan Island, by using microsatellite simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Analyses revealed the persistence of C. rotundata likely relies on local population dynamics and fitness influenced by environmental gradients, with sexual reproduction prevalent in the Philippines while the Ryukyu and Hainan populations were predominantly established by clonal spread. Analysis of molecular variance showed significant genetic differentiation (P < 0.001) among three geographic regions: the Philippines, Ryukyu and Hainan. Furthermore, the mean fixation index value was very high (FST = 0.36), indicating poor dispersal potential or limited gene flow. Allelic richness and heterozygosity of C. rotundata was comparable in the Philippines and Ryukyu Islands populations. More private alleles were found in the Philippines and excess heterozygotes in the Ryukyu Islands. STRUCTURE analysis revealed that the Ryukyu and Hainan populations were mosaics of admixed alleles of individuals from the Philippines. An assignment test suggested that recruitment occurs from the Northeast Philippines to Ryukyu Islands. These results suggest that the Philippine populations are tropical seagrass hotspots and perhaps the origin of the populations in the Ryukyu and Hainan Islands. This scenario is most likely driven by the Kuroshio Current and island integration events during plate tectonic activities. The Philippine Archipelago is considered of high importance for conservation objectives and management plan of seagrasses. Likewise, the Ryukyu Islands are also important in terms of conserving regional diversity because locally adapted genotypes have important evolutionary potential in the face of environmental change. 相似文献
Diets lower in meat could reduce agricultural expansion and intensification thereby reducing biodiversity impacts. However, land use requirements, associated with alternate diets, in biodiverse regions across different taxa are not fully understood. We use a spatially explicit global food and land system model to address this gap. We quantify land-use change in locations important for biodiversity across taxa and find diets low in animal products reduce agricultural expansion and intensity in regions with high biodiversity. Reducing ruminant meat consumption alone however was not sufficient to reduce fertiliser and irrigation application in biodiverse locations. The results differed according to taxa, emphasising that land-use change effects on biodiversity will be taxon specific. The links shown between global meat consumption and agricultural expansion and intensification in the biodiverse regions of the world indicates the potential to help safeguard biodiverse natural ecosystems through dietary change. 相似文献
Forest structural diversity metrics describing diversity in tree size and crown shape within forest stands can be used as indicators of biodiversity. These diversity metrics can be generated using airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) data to provide a rapid and cost effective alternative to ground-based inspection. Measures of tree height derived from LiDAR can be significantly affected by the canopy conditions at the time of data collection, in particular whether the canopy is under leaf-on or leaf-off conditions, but there have been no studies of the effects on structural diversity metrics. The aim of this research is to assess whether leaf-on/leaf-off changes in canopy conditions during LiDAR data collection affect the accuracy of calculated forest structural diversity metrics. We undertook a quantitative analysis of LiDAR ground detection and return height, and return height diversity from two airborne laser scanning surveys collected under leaf-on and leaf-off conditions to assess initial dataset differences. LiDAR data were then regressed against field-derived tree size diversity measurements using diversity metrics from each LiDAR dataset in isolation and, where appropriate, a mixture of the two. Models utilising leaf-off LiDAR diversity variables described DBH diversity, crown length diversity and crown width diversity more successfully than leaf-on (leaf-on models resulted in R² values of 0.66, 0.38 and 0.16, respectively, and leaf-off models 0.67, 0.37 and 0.23, respectively). When LiDAR datasets were combined into one model to describe tree height diversity and DBH diversity the models described 75% and 69% of the variance (R² of 0.75 for tree height diversity and 0.69 for DBH diversity). The results suggest that tree height diversity models derived from airborne LiDAR, collected (and where appropriate combined) under any seasonal conditions, can be used to differentiate between simple single and diverse multiple storey forest structure with confidence. 相似文献