Ecosystem stability and compensatory effects in the Inner Mongolia grassland

Numerous studies have suggested that biodiversity reduces variability in ecosystem productivity through compensatory effects; that is, a species increases in its abundance in response to the reduction of another in a fluctuating environment. But this view has been challenged on several grounds. Because most studies have been based on artificially constructed grasslands with short duration, long-term studies of natural ecosystems are needed. On the basis of a 24-year study of the Inner Mongolia grassland, here we present three key findings. First, that January-July precipitation is the primary climatic factor causing fluctuations in community biomass production; second, that ecosystem stability (conversely related to variability in community biomass production) increases progressively along the hierarchy of organizational levels (that is, from species to functional group to whole community); and finally, that the community-level stability seems to arise from compensatory interactions among major components at both species and functional group levels. From a hierarchical perspective, our results corroborate some previous findings of compensatory effects. Undisturbed mature steppe ecosystems seem to culminate with high biodiversity, productivity and ecosystem stability concurrently. Because these relationships are correlational, further studies are necessary to verify the causation among these factors. Our study provides new insights for better management and restoration of the rapidly degrading Inner Mongolia grassland.     

Coherent ecological dynamics induced by large-scale disturbance

Aggregate community-level response to disturbance is a principle concern in ecology because post-disturbance dynamics are integral to the ability of ecosystems to maintain function in an uncertain world. Community-level responses to disturbance can be arrayed along a spectrum ranging from synchronous oscillations where all species rise and fall together, to compensatory dynamics where total biomass remains relatively constant despite fluctuations in the densities of individual species. An important recent insight is that patterns of synchrony and compensation can vary with the timescale of analysis and that spectral time series methods can enable detection of coherent dynamics that would otherwise be obscured by opposing patterns occurring at different scales. Here I show that application of wavelet analysis to experimentally manipulated plankton communities reveals strong synchrony after disturbance. The result is paradoxical because it is well established that these communities contain both disturbance-sensitive and disturbance-tolerant species leading to compensation within functional groups. Theory predicts that compensatory substitution of functionally equivalent species should stabilize ecological communities, yet I found at the whole-community level a large increase in seasonal biomass variation. Resolution of the paradox hinges on patterns of seasonality among species. The compensatory shift in community composition after disturbance resulted in a loss of cold-season dominants, which before disturbance had served to stabilize biomass throughout the year. Species dominating the disturbed community peaked coherently during the warm season, explaining the observed synchrony and increase in seasonal biomass variation. These results suggest that theory relating compensatory dynamics to ecological stability needs to consider not only complementarity in species responses to environmental change, but also seasonal complementarity among disturbance-tolerant and disturbance-sensitive species.     

Explaining the excess of rare species in natural species abundance distributions

The observation that a few species in ecological communities are exceptionally abundant, whereas most are rare, prompted the development of species abundance models. Nevertheless, despite the large literature on the commonness and rarity of species inspired by these pioneering studies, some widespread empirical patterns of species abundance resist easy explanation. Notable among these is the observation that in large assemblages there are more rare species than the log normal model predicts. Here we use a long-term (21-year) data set, from an estuarine fish community, to show how an ecological community can be separated into two components. Core species, which are persistent, abundant and biologically associated with estuarine habitats, are log normally distributed. Occasional species occur infrequently in the record, are typically low in abundance and have different habitat requirements; they follow a log series distribution. These distributions are overlaid, producing the negative skew that characterizes real data sets.     

Energetics and the evolution of human brain size

The human brain stands out among mammals by being unusually large. The expensive-tissue hypothesis explains its evolution by proposing a trade-off between the size of the brain and that of the digestive tract, which is smaller than expected for a primate of our body size. Although this hypothesis is widely accepted, empirical support so far has been equivocal. Here we test it in a sample of 100 mammalian species, including 23 primates, by analysing brain size and organ mass data. We found that, controlling for fat-free body mass, brain size is not negatively correlated with the mass of the digestive tract or any other expensive organ, thus refuting the expensive-tissue hypothesis. Nonetheless, consistent with the existence of energy trade-offs with brain size, we find that the size of brains and adipose depots are negatively correlated in mammals, indicating that encephalization and fat storage are compensatory strategies to buffer against starvation. However, these two strategies can be combined if fat storage does not unduly hamper locomotor efficiency. We propose that human encephalization was made possible by a combination of stabilization of energy inputs and a redirection of energy from locomotion, growth and reproduction.     

Sporting contests: seeing red? Putting sportswear in context

The shirt colour worn by sportsmen can affect the behaviour of the competitors, but Hill and Barton show that it may also influence the outcome of contests. By analysing the results of men's combat sports from the Athens 2004 Olympics, they found that more matches were won by fighters wearing red outfits than by those wearing blue; they suggest that red might confer success because it is a sign of dominance in many animal species and could signal aggression in human contests. Here we use another data set from the 2004 Olympics to show that similar winning biases occur in contests in which neither contestant wears red, indicating that a different mechanism may be responsible for these effects.     

Extreme reversed sexual size dimorphism in the extinct New Zealand moa Dinornis

The ratite moa (Aves; Dinornithiformes) were massive graviportal browsers weighing up to 250 kg (ref. 1) that dominated the New Zealand biota until their extinction approximately 500 yr ago. Despite an extensive Quaternary fossil record, moa taxonomy remains problematic and currently 11 species are recognized. Three Dinornis species were found throughout New Zealand and differed markedly in size (1-2 m height at back) and mass (from approximately 34 to 242 kg). Surprisingly, ancient mitochondrial DNA sequences show that the three species were genetically indistinguishable within each island, but formed separate North and South Island clades. Here we show, using the first sex-linked nuclear sequences from an extinct species, that on each island the three morphological forms actually represent just one species, whose size varied markedly according to sex and habitat. The largest females in this example of extreme reversed sexual size dimorphism were about 280% the weight and 150% the height of the largest males, which is unprecedented among birds and terrestrial mammals. The combination of molecular and palaeontological data highlights the difficulties of analysing extinct groups, even those with detailed fossil records.     

Demography of the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Northern right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) were formerly abundant in the northwestern Atlantic, but by 1900 they had been hunted to near extinction. After the end of commercial whaling the population was thought to be recovering slowly; however, evidence indicates that it has been declining since about 1990 (ref. 1). There are now fewer than 300 individuals, and the species may already be functionally extinct owing to demographic stochasticity or the difficulty of females locating mates in the vast Atlantic Ocean (Allee effect). Using a data set containing over 10,000 sightings of photographically identified individuals we estimated trends in right whale demographic parameters since 1980. Here we construct, using these estimates, matrix population models allowing us to analyse the causes of right whale imperilment. Mortality has increased, especially among mother whales, causing declines in population growth rate, life expectancy and the mean lifetime number of reproductive events between the period 1980-1995. Increased mortality of mother whales can explain the declining population size, suggesting that the population is not doomed to extinction as a result of the Allee effect. An analysis of extinction time shows that demographic stochasticity has only a small effect, but preventing the deaths of only two female right whales per year would increase the population growth rate to replacement level.     

中国20个省市之间的消费水平和消费倾向的比较研究--利用平行数据模型设定的方法

“平行数据”(Paneldata)指在时间序列上取多个截面 ,在这些截面上同时选取样本观测值所构成的样本数据 .以中国 2 0个省市的 2 1年的城镇居民人均年生活费支出 ,城镇居民人均年可支配收入的平行数据为样本 ,利用固定效应模型设定的假设检验方法 ,比较了中国 2 0个省市间的消费水平与消费倾向之间的差异 .再将数据分成三组分别建立消费、收入的平行数据线性回归模型 ,分组比较了不同省市间的消费水平与消费倾向的差异     

Dimensionality of consumer search space drives trophic interaction strengths

Trophic interactions govern biomass fluxes in ecosystems, and stability in food webs. Knowledge of how trophic interaction strengths are affected by differences among habitats is crucial for understanding variation in ecological systems. Here we show how substantial variation in consumption-rate data, and hence trophic interaction strengths, arises because consumers tend to encounter resources more frequently in three dimensions (3D) (for example, arboreal and pelagic zones) than two dimensions (2D) (for example, terrestrial and benthic zones). By combining new theory with extensive data (376 species, with body masses ranging from 5.24 × 10(-14) kg to 800 kg), we find that consumption rates scale sublinearly with consumer body mass (exponent of approximately 0.85) for 2D interactions, but superlinearly (exponent of approximately 1.06) for 3D interactions. These results contradict the currently widespread assumption of a single exponent (of approximately 0.75) in consumer-resource and food-web research. Further analysis of 2,929 consumer-resource interactions shows that dimensionality of consumer search space is probably a major driver of species coexistence, and the stability and abundance of populations.     

甘肃新型农村合作医疗试点补偿机制初探

合理的补偿机制是推进新型农村合作医疗制度规范化发展的重要举措。该研究选取甘肃东部、西部、中部的灵台、庆城、山丹、瓜州和皋兰5县为对象,重点分析了2005～2007年各个试点县的补偿模式、基金运行、参合农民受益率和补偿情况等方面的现状以及存在问题。针对当前在补偿机制方面的不足,该研究从家庭账户与县级统筹相结合、门诊支付比例、风险基金的建立以及医药费用合理控制等方面提出相应对策。     

百花山鼠类群落结构及其与环境的关系

1990～1991年7～10月调查、分析和比较了北京市百花山自然保护区16种生境中鼠类群落的结构特征及其与环境的关系。结果表明:中华姬鼠、大林姬鼠和社鼠为本区的优势鼠种;鼠类群落的组成及其相似性水平受植被类型和垂直结构影响很大;群落的多样性主要取决于环境的优劣、异质性以及主导因子是否明显;群落的均匀性则更多地与环境的异质性有关。将鼠类群落的生物量分为三个数量等级,发现这种划分与环境的水分状况存在大致的平行关系。     

等待修复的创伤：刑事被害人国家补偿制度研究

近年来，刑事受害人在我国是否应当以及如何得到国家补偿的问题，越来越引起社会的关注。我国尚未建立相应刑事被害人的国家补偿制度，导致我国刑事被害人的权利不能在司法实践中得到应有的保障与维护。刑事被害人国家补偿制度已成为世界范围内刑事立法的大势所趋。建立刑事被害人国家补偿制度有着充分的理论和现实基础，我国建立刑事被害人国家补偿制度的时机日渐成熟。     

基于语料库的英语新词研究

采用语料库的研究方法,以LOB语料库和BNC语料库的一部分为基础,对英国标准书面语在20 世纪50年代末,60年代初到80年代中期和90年代中期的词汇进行对比研究,旨在发现英语新词的特点及规律,以期对英语词汇发展趋势进行预测。结果表明,80年代中期和90 年代中期科学技术类词汇在整个新词中占优势。通过对构词法的进一步研究发现:80年代中期和90 年代中期的新词更倾向于使用复合法及首字母拼缀词。     

Diversity and dispersal interactively affect predictability of ecosystem function

Theory and small-scale experiments predict that biodiversity losses can decrease the magnitude and stability of ecosystem services such as production and nutrient cycling. Most of this research, however, has been isolated from the immigration and emigration (dispersal) processes that create and maintain diversity in nature. As common anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity change--such as habitat fragmentation, species introductions and climate change--are mediated by these understudied processes, it is unclear how environmental degradation will affect ecosystem services. Here we tested the interactive effects of mobile grazer diversity and dispersal on the magnitude and stability of ecosystem properties in experimental seagrass communities that were either isolated or connected by dispersal corridors. We show that, contrary to theoretical predictions, increasing the number of mobile grazer species in these metacommunities increased the spatial and temporal variability of primary and secondary production. Moreover, allowing grazers to move among and select patches reduced diversity effects on production. Finally, effects of diversity on stability differed qualitatively between patch and metacommunity scales. Our results indicate that declining biodiversity and habitat fragmentation synergistically influence the predictability of ecosystem functioning.     

Determinants of establishment success in introduced birds.

A major component of human-induced global change is the deliberate or accidental translocation of species from their native ranges to alien environments, where they may cause substantial environmental and economic damage. Thus we need to understand why some introductions succeed while others fail. Successful introductions tend to be concentrated in certain regions, especially islands and the temperate zone, suggesting that species-rich mainland and tropical locations are harder to invade because of greater biotic resistance. However, this pattern could also reflect variation in the suitability of the abiotic environment at introduction locations for the species introduced, coupled with known confounding effects of nonrandom selection of species and locations for introduction. Here, we test these alternative hypotheses using a global data set of historical bird introductions, employing a statistical framework that accounts for differences among species and regions in terms of introduction success. By removing these confounding effects, we show that the pattern of avian introduction success is not consistent with the biotic resistance hypothesis. Instead, success depends on the suitability of the abiotic environment for the exotic species at the introduction site.     

Biodiversity and ecosystem stability in a decade-long grassland experiment

Human-driven ecosystem simplification has highlighted questions about how the number of species in an ecosystem influences its functioning. Although biodiversity is now known to affect ecosystem productivity, its effects on stability are debated. Here we present a long-term experimental field test of the diversity-stability hypothesis. During a decade of data collection in an experiment that directly controlled the number of perennial prairie species, growing-season climate varied considerably, causing year-to-year variation in abundances of plant species and in ecosystem productivity. We found that greater numbers of plant species led to greater temporal stability of ecosystem annual aboveground plant production. In particular, the decadal temporal stability of the ecosystem, whether measured with intervals of two, five or ten years, was significantly greater at higher plant diversity and tended to increase as plots matured. Ecosystem stability was also positively dependent on root mass, which is a measure of perenniating biomass. Temporal stability of the ecosystem increased with diversity, despite a lower temporal stability of individual species, because of both portfolio (statistical averaging) and overyielding effects. However, we found no evidence of a covariance effect. Our results indicate that the reliable, efficient and sustainable supply of some foods (for example, livestock fodder), biofuels and ecosystem services can be enhanced by the use of biodiversity.     

A signature of cosmic-ray increase in AD 774-775 from tree rings in Japan

Increases in (14)C concentrations in tree rings could be attributed to cosmic-ray events, as have increases in (10)Be and nitrate in ice cores. The record of the past 3,000 years in the IntCal09 data set, which is a time series at 5-year intervals describing the (14)C content of trees over a period of approximately 10,000 years, shows three periods during which (14)C increased at a rate greater than 3‰ over 10 years. Two of these periods have been measured at high time resolution, but neither showed increases on a timescale of about 1 year (refs 11 and 12). Here we report (14)C measurements in annual rings of Japanese cedar trees from ad 750 to ad 820 (the remaining period), with 1- and 2-year resolution. We find a rapid increase of about 12‰ in the (14)C content from ad 774 to 775, which is about 20 times larger than the change attributed to ordinary solar modulation. When averaged over 10 years, the data are consistent with the decadal IntCal (14)C data from North American and European trees. We argue that neither a solar flare nor a local supernova is likely to have been responsible.     

山西雉鸡食性的研究

１９９３年１１月至１９９４年４月对山西省宁武县境内雉鸡的食性进行了研究。从野外共获取嗉囊标本３７个，其中雌雉２０个，雄雉１７个。对其进行分析的结果表明，雉鸡取食的植物性成分达４１种（涉及３７种植物），动物性成分有７种；在食谱组成中，野生植物的种子和果实为最主要的成分（重要值为１８４．５％），其次是农作物的种子（重要值为８９．５％），植物的根、茎、叶及动物性食物所占比例较小（重要值为２４．０７％）；     

南四湖浮游植物种群构成特征及季节变化

浮游植物是评价水体质量的一项重要生物指标,2008-06～2009-05在南四湖设置5个监测点,每月采样一次,对浮游植物种群组成、密度和优势种变化进行了系统研究。结果表明:南四湖共检出浮游植物8门59属117种;绿藻、硅藻分别占浮游植物总种数的48.7%、23.9%;浮游植物种数夏秋季节多,冬春季节少;浮游植物密度与种数季节变化一致。南四湖浮游植物优势度指数变化范围为0.04～0.35,优势种种数较多,主要有小球藻(Chlorella vulgaris)、二形栅藻(Scenedesmus dimorphus)、颗粒直链藻(Aulacoseira granulata)等23种。南四湖浮游植物多样性指数和均匀度指数变化范围分别为1.56～2.36、0.59～0.84,表明南四湖水体中浮游植物群落结构较复杂。南四湖浮游植物种群特征较20世纪80年代发生了明显变化。     

恒化器中一类具有非常数消耗率微生物培养模型的定性分析

研究了一类具有非常数消耗率的微生物培养模型.假设被捕食种群对营养基的消耗率参数为δ1(s)=A+Bs+Cs2,捕食种群对被捕食种群的消耗率参数为δ2(x)=R+Px+Qx2,利用常微分方程的定性理论分析系统平衡点的存在性和稳定性,证明了系统存在正向不变集,并得到非常数消耗率单食物链模型中两种微生物共存与微生物本身参数、环境参数之间的关系.