Abstract:The wetland in Chongming Dongtan, China is an important stopover site for migratory shorebirds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. The high-abundance macrobenthos in Chongming Dongtan allow migratory birds to refuel during the stopover. This study analyzed the distribution and density of macrobenthos in the intertidal zone. Results showed that the macrobenthos mainly consisted of gastropods, bivalves, polychaetes, crustaceans and insect larvae. The density of gastropods [(2805 ± 360) ind./m²] was the highest, accounting for up to 80% of the total macrobenthos density. Meanwhile, bivalves [(51.4 ± 7.8) g/m²] and gastropods [(38.7 ± 5.1) g/m²] together accounted for more than 90% of the total biomass. On the other hand, there were significant differences in the distribution of macrobenthos among different intertidal zones. Gastropods were mainly confined to the Scirpus zones, and bivalves to the outer Scirpus zone and the muddy and sandy flats. In terms of the spatial distribution of density, the gastropod density was higher in the north but lower in the south. However, no significant difference was found in the density and biomass of macrobenthos groups between spring and autumn, except that the density of bivalves in autumn was significantly higher than that in spring (P < 0.001).

Abstract:In winter, Common Kestrel minimizes energy expenditure by using the low-cost, low-profit technique of perch hunting. Existence of the perch sites is the precondition of perch hunting. Therefore, one can predict that the kestrels would prefer a habitat with more perch sites, and perch sites should have an important role in the kestrels' hunting technique use, habitat selection and habitat use in winter. To test this prediction, the authors manipulated two areas in a grassland. They increased the potential perch sites in one area with bamboo poles (hereafter test area) and kept another as control (hereafter control area). They observed and compared the kestrels' use and their behaviors in these two areas. Far more kestrels appearing in the test area with increasing perch sites than in the control area were recorded. The kestrels stayed in the test area with more perch sites significantly longer than in the control area. And in the test area with more perch sites, kestrels hunted 77.24% of the total hunting with the technique of perch hunting. In the control area, kestrels hunted only with the technique of flight-hunting. There was a significant correlation between the technique used by kestrels and the areas with or without perch sites. In the test area with increasing perch sites kestrels spent 51.8% of their time in perching and 12.1% in air, which were 30.1% and 34.8%, respectively, in the control area. There was no significant difference in hunting profit between areas. The results suggest that perch sites play an important role in the selection of hunting technique and foraging habitat for kestrels in winter, and kestrels appear to prefer the habitat with suitable perch sites in winter.

Abstract:1045 samples collected in Boduo cave belong to 3 phyla, 6 classes, 13 orders, 27 families and 45 species or groups. 469 samples collected in Jialiang cave were subordinated to 3 phyla, 6 classes, 9 orders, 24 families and 52 species or groups. According to the analysis of the community diversity, the communities that have the highest values of richness, diversity, maximum diversity, evenness, dominance and community similarity are D (8.3223), D (3.4677), D (3.8286), D (0.9057), C (0.0404) and D-E (0.6611), respectively. According to the analysis of Pearson correlation, the content of organic matter in soil is strongly positively related to species number, species richness, community diversity and maximum community diversity, and is significantly positively related to the evenness. The content of CO₂ in air is opposite to the above result and is negatively related to species number, species richness, community diversity, maximum community diversity and evenness. The results indicate that the contents of organic matter and CO₂ are the important factors influencing the community structure of cave animals.

Abstract:The study focused on the dynamics of Malondialdehyde (MDA) contents and the activities of protective enzymes in the leaves of alfalfa varieties with various resistances to Aphis medicaginis Koch. The results showed that susceptible varieties always had higher MDA contents than resistant varieties, and the MDA contents tended to rise in both susceptible and resistant varieties in period of the varieties were pierced and sucked by aphids. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activities in susceptible varieties were lower than those in resistant varieties, and in both susceptible and resistant varieties the SOD and POD activities tended to rise at first and then decline, and the PAL activities rose to their peaks and then tended to remain stable. In the susceptible and resistant varieties the catalase (CAT) activities appeared to rise and decline alternatively; the PPO activities in resistant varieties were lower than those in susceptible varieties in early growth, but higher than those in susceptible varieties in later growth. It follows that infested by aphids, susceptible and resistant varieties had the MDA contents, variations of SOD, POD, PAL and PPO activities were closely correlated with their aphid resistances, hence these indexes could be used as physiological indexes for testing aphid resistance of alfalfa, whereas the relations of their CAT activities to their resistances needed to be further studied.

Abstract:To evaluate the variations of CO₂ and CH₄ emissions from FACE (free-air CO₂ enrichment, F) soils three years after rice-wheat rotation FACE treatment, incubation experiments in the laboratory with laboratory and elevated CO₂ concentration (1000 μl L^-1) were carried out under flooded conditions at 25C. Results show that soil organic carbon is increased by 11% after exposure to FACE treatment for three years. The results indicate that at laboratory and elevated CO₂, the cumulative CO₂ emissions from FACE soils are 35% and 22% higher than those from the ambient soils, whereas the cumulative CH₄ emissions from FACE soils are 2.6 and 2.3 times that of ambient soils. Thus, there is a larger ratio of cumulative emissions of CH₄ to CO₂ in the soil F. The elevated CO₂ concentration during the incubation stimulates the cumulative CO₂ emission significantly, but its stimulation on CH₄ emission is not statistically significant. The results indicate that the elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration stimulates the turnover rates of soil organic matter, with a net increase in soil organic matter content, and alters the CH₄/CO₂ ratio.

Abstract:Effect of using plant hedgerows on controlling soil and water losses has received wide recognition and this technology has been applied in many areas in the world. Yet, studies on the effect of using plant hedgerows on soil fertility on sloping lands are rare. Carrying out an eight-year fixed field experiment, the authors investigated the effect of two different hedgerows against the control treatment on soil fertility. Results showed that clay particles tended to accumulate in front of the plant hedgerows and began to erode downward below the hedgerows along the contour lines across the field. Distribution of soil organic matter and all plant nutrients except potassium (K) showed the same pattern as the clay particles. Potassium, however, was evenly distributed in the field without any noticeable influence from the hedgerows. Since the fixed experiment started, soil phosphorus (P) kept accumulating, while soil organic matter and K were in depletion. The results accordingly suggested better nutrient management practices on the sloping lands by using properly reduced rates of P and increased rates of farm manure and K. Taking the sloping field as a whole, special attention in nutrient management should be given to the soil strips —the portions below the plant hedgerows suffering from more serious soil erosion.

Abstract:To better understand the Sulfur (S) cycle in the wetland ecosystem, the S cycle and its compartmental distribution within an atmosphere-plant-soil system were studied using a compartment model in the Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland in the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China. The results showed that the soil was the main S storage and flux hinge in which 97.78% S was accumulated. In the plant subsystem, the root was the main S storage, and it remained at 79.60% of the total S contents, which in the Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland ecosystem showed that the parts above the ground took up 0.75 g S/m², the S re-transferring biomass to the root was 0.24 g S/m², and to the litter was 0.51 g S/m²; the root took up 3.76 g S/m² and the S transferring biomass to the soil took up 3.07 g S/m²; the litter S biomass was 0.75 g S/(m²·a) and the S transferring biomass to the soil was more than 0.52 g S/(m²·a). The emission amount of H₂S from the Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland ecosystem to the atmosphere was 1.42 mg S/m², whereas carbonyl sulfide (COS) was absorbed by the Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland from the atmosphere and the absorption amount was 1.83 mg S/m². The S input biomass from the rain to the ecosystem was 4.85mg S/m² during the growing season. The difference between input and output amounts was 5.26 mg S/m², which indicated that S was accumulated in the ecosystem and would lead to wetland acidification in the future.

Abstract:The impact of salinity on three arboreal mangrove plants, Sonneratia apetala (Sa), S. caseolaris (Sc) and Rhizophora stylosa (Rs), was studied. The three mangrove species were treated with different salinity levels over a three-month period. The response and adaptation of these three mangrove species to salinity were shown to be different. Net photosynthesis rate, stomata conductance and transpiration rate of leaves decreased and soluble sugar content in leaves increased, with salt concentration in all three mangrove species. The malondial dehyde (MDA) content in stems and leaves of Sa and Sc somewhat decreased when the salinity was lower than 10, but rapidly increased with increasing salt concentration. The MDA content in stems and leaves of Rs increased only when salinity was greater than 40. No changes were observed in the MDA content of roots in the three mangrove species. The adaptabilities of Sa and Sc to salt tolerance were limited. The more salt tolerant the mangrove Rs, the more likely the free oxygen radicals were eliminated through the increase in activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD). Results of this experiment identified salinity levels best suited for the growth and metabolism of the species, which provides information necessary for maintaining mangrove forestation along the South China coast.

Abstract:EcoSummit 2007 was successfully held in Beijing in May 22–27 with a theme of “Ecological complexity and sustainability: the opportunities and challenges of ecology faced by 21st century”. More than 1,400 delegates from over 70 countries and regions and 28 international/regional ecology-related organizations initiated or co-sponsored the summit. 13 plenary keynote speeches, 49 symposiums and 20 organized oral sessions were arranged. A Beijing Ecological Declaration has been adopted and disseminated world-wide with an accompanied title of “A World Role for Ecology: The Key to Life”. The summit shows that global ecological security, regional ecosystem service, and local human ecological health are becoming the three priority issues in the frontiers of world ecology. Ecology, a kind of natural philosophy, system science, engineering instrument and natural aesthetics in dealing with the relationship between Man and Nature, should be and must become the scientific basis for institutional reform, industrial transition, social/economic management and overall decision making. The ultimate goal of understanding, simplification and transformation of complexity is to regulate, conserve and construct a sustainable “Earth Village”.