EcosciencePub Date : 2020-01-08DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2019.1710908
L. Ji, Yan Qin, S. O. Jimoh, Xiangyang Hou, N. Zhang, Youmin Gan, Yuan Luo
{"title":"Impacts of Livestock Grazing on Vegetation Characteristics and Soil Chemical Properties of Alpine Meadows in the Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau","authors":"L. Ji, Yan Qin, S. O. Jimoh, Xiangyang Hou, N. Zhang, Youmin Gan, Yuan Luo","doi":"10.1080/11956860.2019.1710908","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11956860.2019.1710908","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Livestock grazing is one of the significant causes of land degradation. However, the effect of contrasting grazing intensities on soil properties and vegetation in the southeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) is poorly understood. We studied the impact of light grazing (LG), moderate grazing (MG), heavy grazing (HG) and no grazing (NG) on vegetation characteristics and the chemical properties of soil samples taken at 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm and 20–30 cm layers from the designated grazing treatments. A total of 42 species representing 32 genera and 16 families were identified. Our result shows that HG significantly reduced total aboveground biomass, vegetation cover, canopy average height, but increased unpalatable aboveground biomass. Soil organic matter declined with increasing grazing intensity and respectively decreased to 64.51%, 65.38% and 82.40% for LG, MG and HG compared to the NG treatment and soil carbon storage exhibited a similar pattern. Soil total nitrogen and phosphorus contents decreased with increasing soil depth, while soil total potassium was not affected by grazing across soil depths. We conclude that 1 yak would have a more severe impact than 3 sheep units on the vegetation community and soil characteristics of alpine meadows in the southeastern QTP.","PeriodicalId":51030,"journal":{"name":"Ecoscience","volume":"27 1","pages":"107 - 118"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11956860.2019.1710908","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41951616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EcosciencePub Date : 2019-12-26DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2019.1681090
Rui Hou, Xi Chen, Kui-ran Li, Huiwang Gao, Yang-Guo Zhao
{"title":"Microcosm Experiments Reveal Asian Dust Deposition Stimulates Growth and Reduces Diversity in Bacterioplankton of the China Seas","authors":"Rui Hou, Xi Chen, Kui-ran Li, Huiwang Gao, Yang-Guo Zhao","doi":"10.1080/11956860.2019.1681090","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11956860.2019.1681090","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Dust deposition is considered an important source of many bioavailable nutrients to the marine environment. Nutritional status is the main factor regulating bacterioplankton growth, and thus it is important to study the effects of dust deposition. Microcosm experiments with dust aerosol addition were performed using surface water from the South China Sea (SC) for 12 days and southern Yellow Sea (SY) for 10 days. After incubation, the bacterial biomass in microcosms increased 10.82-fold and 2.22–3.32-fold under dust addition, in SC and SY respectively. Bacterial growth was also stimulated by dust aerosol, indicated by increased and more effcient heterotrophic secondary production. In addition, bacterial community structures were simplified by dust aerosol in both study areas. Alpha- and gamma-proteobacteria were the predominant bacteria in the microcosms following dust addition in SC, whereas alpha- and delta-proteobacteria were the main bacteria in SY. These results demonstrate that dust deposition regulates growth and community structure of marine bacteria in SC and SY by promoting phytoplankton growth.","PeriodicalId":51030,"journal":{"name":"Ecoscience","volume":"27 1","pages":"1 - 10"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11956860.2019.1681090","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46231374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EcosciencePub Date : 2019-12-26DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2019.1690933
Marcela Bernardes Portela, Eliesé Idalino Rodrigues, Carlos Alberto de Sousa Rodrigues de Sousa Rodrigues Filho, C. F. Rezende, T. S. de Oliveira
{"title":"Do Ecological Corridors Increase the Abundance of Soil Fauna?","authors":"Marcela Bernardes Portela, Eliesé Idalino Rodrigues, Carlos Alberto de Sousa Rodrigues de Sousa Rodrigues Filho, C. F. Rezende, T. S. de Oliveira","doi":"10.1080/11956860.2019.1690933","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11956860.2019.1690933","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Ecological corridors are areas of natural vegetation that connect two or more separate habitat patches, surrounded by a non-habitat matrix. Soil fauna is important for sustainability, conservation and soil quality. Thus, in this study, we aimed to investigate the influence of corridors on the soil faunal community in crops near savannah vegetation areas by examining the effects on trophic, movement and taxonomic groups. We collected data during the dry and rainy seasons in two areas of biodynamic agriculture. Then, we calculated trophic, movement, taxonomic group abundance, total abundance, richness, equability and diversity. The taxa Acari, Chilopoda, Oligochaeta, Orthoptera and Psocoptera were the most abundant in cultivated areas with corridors during the rainy season, while the taxa Dermaptera, Diplura, Diptera, Collembola, Formicidae larva, Lepidoptera and Lepidoptera larva were more abundant in cultivated areas with corridors during the dry season. The trophic, movement, taxonomic group abundance, richness, equability and diversity were higher during the rainy season and were not related to corridor presence. Ecological corridors increased the abundance of some taxonomic groups of soil fauna in cultivated areas, thereby contributing to the maintenance of specific taxonomic groups, which provide important ecosystem services.","PeriodicalId":51030,"journal":{"name":"Ecoscience","volume":"27 1","pages":"45 - 57"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11956860.2019.1690933","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45064039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EcosciencePub Date : 2019-12-26DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2019.1666549
Xinliang Shao, Qin Zhang, Yuhui Liu, Xitian Yang
{"title":"Effects of Wind Speed on Background Herbivory of an Insect Herbivore","authors":"Xinliang Shao, Qin Zhang, Yuhui Liu, Xitian Yang","doi":"10.1080/11956860.2019.1666549","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11956860.2019.1666549","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Climate change has major effects on background insect herbivory, but only a few studies have involved long-term investigation, and the effects of wind on bigger insect herbivores such as moths have been largely neglected. We correlated climatic data during the period 2006–2017 with a set of background herbivory data of Culcula panterinaria (Bremer et Grey) derived from a long-term investigation (2007–2017) in the oak forest of Luanchuan county, Henan, China and discuss the impacts of wind speed on background insect herbivory. Background insect herbivory was significantly correlated with wind speed parameters of both the same year and previous year, implying direct and cumulative effects of wind speed on background insect herbivory. Our study offers a new perspective for monitoring and predicting background insect herbivory.","PeriodicalId":51030,"journal":{"name":"Ecoscience","volume":"27 1","pages":"71 - 76"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11956860.2019.1666549","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44912132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Diversity and Specificity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in the Rhizosphere of Six Plants in the Songnen Grassland, China","authors":"Yu Bi, Wenjun Ma, F. Xing, Yingzhi Gao, Zhuo Li, Chen Chen, Xuemeng Mu, Xiaote Li, Xinrui Zhu","doi":"10.1080/11956860.2019.1662969","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11956860.2019.1662969","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are widely distributed in grassland ecosystems. However, the diversity and specificity of AMF in the rhizosphere of grassland plants remain largely unexplored. The species and quantitative characteristics of AMF in the rhizosphere soil of 6 common plant species in the Songnen grassland in Northeast China were investigated by using wet sieving and morphological identification methods. The results showed that there were 24 AMF species belonging to 6 genera in the rhizosphere of the 6 plant species. Glomus claroideum and Glomus melanosporum were the common dominant AMF species for most plants. The subdominant species and companion species of the AMF community were different. The diversity index, spore density and infection rate of AMF were significantly different among the rhizosphere of the different plants (p < 0.05). Similarity coefficients of AMF composition varied greatly among plant species. Therefore, the AMF species showed a certain level of host specificity, and this result partially supported the singular hypothesis. Differences in plant species and soil microenvironment were the main reasons explaining the specificity of the AMF in the rhizospheres of grassland plant species.","PeriodicalId":51030,"journal":{"name":"Ecoscience","volume":"27 1","pages":"11 - 21"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11956860.2019.1662969","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45368745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EcosciencePub Date : 2019-12-26DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2019.1687084
T. Jung
{"title":"Bats in the Changing Boreal Forest: Response to a Megafire by Endangered Little Brown Bats (Myotis lucifugus)","authors":"T. Jung","doi":"10.1080/11956860.2019.1687084","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11956860.2019.1687084","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Wildfire is a pervasive disturbance in the boreal forest, and fire size and severity is increasing due to climate change. Yet, wildfire impacts on boreal bats are unknown. Burned forest may be attractive to bats because of an increase in dead trees and a reduction in vegetative clutter. Using ultrasonic detectors, I sampled little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) activity at lakeshore and upland sites within burned and mature forest. Activity was greater in mature than burned forest at both upland and lakeshore sites. Activity was greater at lakeshores, where some large snags survived fire. The relative use of edges created by fire, lakeshores and roads was also investigated. Bat activity was greater at lakeshores than other edge types. Bats made little use of burned upland areas or fire-created edges. This study provides a first approximation of the effect of a ‘megafire’ on bats in the boreal forest and suggests that large, severe wildfires may have a negative impact. Protection of mature forest containing large dead trees, particularly along lakeshores, may help to mitigate the loss of habitat due to wildfires. Further work, however, is needed to assess bat activity in burns of differing sizes, severity and age.","PeriodicalId":51030,"journal":{"name":"Ecoscience","volume":"27 1","pages":"59 - 70"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11956860.2019.1687084","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42832327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"MaxEnt Modeling to Predict Current and Future Distributions of Batocera lineolata (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) under Climate Change in China","authors":"Ainan Li, Jiawen Wang, Rulin Wang, Hua Yang, Wei Yang, Chun-ping Yang, Zhang Jin","doi":"10.1080/11956860.2019.1673604","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11956860.2019.1673604","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Climate warming extends insect distribution areas, increases voltinism and makes pest prevention and control more difficult. The MaxEnt ecological niche modeling software was used to simulate Batocera lineolata distribution and predict potential range changes under climate change scenarios. Future B. lineolata distribution was modeled for three climate scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) to predict suitable regions in the 2050s and 2070s. A receiver operating characteristic curve was used to estimate model precision and a jackknife test was used to screen the dominant environmental variables. The results show that the area under the curve of the B. lineolata distribution model could reach an ‘Excellent’ standard. Under current climate conditions, the most suitable region for B. lineolata is 25.5–40.5°N, 102–120°E, distributed discontinuously from south to north and covering an area of 47.17 × 104 km2. For predicted future distribution, except for a decrease in moderately suitable regions under RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 in the 2050s and RCP2.6 and RCP4.5 in the 2070s, other suitable regions are likely to extend; highly suitable regions would increase continuously. This research provides a theoretical basis to improve pest management strategies regarding B. lineolata to face the challenge of climate change.","PeriodicalId":51030,"journal":{"name":"Ecoscience","volume":"27 1","pages":"23 - 31"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11956860.2019.1673604","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46835803","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EcosciencePub Date : 2019-12-26DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2019.1688915
M. Akmal, S. Freed, M. Schäfer, Wolf U Blankenhorn, M. Razaq, Ummad-ud-Din Umar
{"title":"Population Genetics and Phenotypic Differentiation of Cotton Leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) from Pakistan","authors":"M. Akmal, S. Freed, M. Schäfer, Wolf U Blankenhorn, M. Razaq, Ummad-ud-Din Umar","doi":"10.1080/11956860.2019.1688915","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11956860.2019.1688915","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The cotton leafhopper, Amrasca biguttula (Ishida), a sucking insect pest of cotton and vegetables, is present throughout Southeast Asia. Patterns of molecular and morphological differentiation among A. biguttula populations collected from seven cotton growing areas of Punjab, Pakistan, were studied by sequencing the barcode region of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene and by morphometrically analyzing wing shape. Molecular analysis revealed absence of isolation by distance (r = 0.075, P = 0.341) in spite of significant population differentiation (overall FST = 0.15 ± 0.06 (SE)). Also, haplotype diversity varied between populations, and neutrality tests indicated an excess of rare alleles in one of the seven areas. Although leafhopper populations are clearly shaped by genetic drift and possibly also by founder events, wing shape and size were conserved across the study area. These results have important implications for understanding the processes affecting patterns of molecular and morphological variations of pest insects that often are strongly controlled by agrochemical applications.","PeriodicalId":51030,"journal":{"name":"Ecoscience","volume":"27 1","pages":"33 - 43"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11956860.2019.1688915","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45744498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EcosciencePub Date : 2019-11-15DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2020.1812922
A. Moolna, M. Duddy, B. Fitch, K. White
{"title":"Citizen Science and Aquatic Macroinvertebrates: Public Engagement for Catchment-Scale Pollution Vigilance","authors":"A. Moolna, M. Duddy, B. Fitch, K. White","doi":"10.1080/11956860.2020.1812922","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11956860.2020.1812922","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The Riverfly Partnership, launched in 2004, is a UK network of organisations and individuals working to protect river habitats and macroinvertebrate communities. The Riverfly Partnership's Anglers' Riverfly Monitoring Initiative (ARMI), launched in 2007, supports citizen science volunteers to monitor macroinvertebrates in their local rivers. In Manchester and surrounding areas, ARMI monitoring began in 2011 with volunteers from a fishing club active across the Irwell catchment. Whilst there has been mixed success establishing a robust long-term monitoring program, volunteers investigate issues raised by the local community and data provide a baseline against which river pollution events can be compared. For example, in April 2017 citizen scientists responding to a report of dead crayfish by an angler identified a pollution incident resulting in a catastrophic loss of macroinvertebrates along a 19 km reach of the River Irwell. Recognizing the limitations of the ARMI methodology for urban and degraded rivers nationwide led to the development of the Urban Riverfly index through the Riverfly Partnership so that citizen scientists can more effectively contribute to the work of government agencies mitigating urban river pollution. Citizen science has importantly been a catalyst for public engagement and environmental projects which should encourage wider public participation in river catchment management.","PeriodicalId":51030,"journal":{"name":"Ecoscience","volume":"27 1","pages":"303 - 317"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11956860.2020.1812922","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47948682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EcosciencePub Date : 2019-08-29DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2019.1654635
P. Bajwa, N. Chauhan
{"title":"Assessment of Crop Damage Caused by Asian Antelopes Compared to Local People Perception in the Community Conserved Abohar Wildlife Sanctuary, Northwestern India","authors":"P. Bajwa, N. Chauhan","doi":"10.1080/11956860.2019.1654635","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/11956860.2019.1654635","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Objective estimates of crop loss due to herbivores and their comparison with the perception of people towards damage factors are required for the formulation of effective mitigation strategies. From October 2016 to May 2018, we used protected and unprotected plots to measure the extent of crop damage by blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) and nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) in the Abohar wildlife sanctuary (India). Land use and land cover (LULC) analysis of 2011–2012 data revealed that more than 90% of the sanctuary was under agricultural practices. The crop grain yield was significantly lower in unprotected plots. Mean (± SD) reduction in crop yield was significantly higher in mustard (40.12 ± 4.56%) than in cotton (26.50 ± 3.50%) and wheat (20.61 ± 3.94%) (p < 0.01). Perceived risk plots (based on 152 semi-structured interviews) revealed that local people working in the farming sector perceived nilgai to be the most crop depredating species followed by blackbuck, pests and stray animals. Participants manifested resentment toward the non-existence of crop damage compensation schemes. Managing wildlife habitats could also reduce the pressure on cultivated zones.","PeriodicalId":51030,"journal":{"name":"Ecoscience","volume":"26 1","pages":"371 - 381"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2019-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/11956860.2019.1654635","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49612682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}