Ecological Province Research Articles

Transformation Strategy of Foreign Trade Growth Mode in Jiangxi: Based on Low-Carbon Economy

This work analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of developing low-carbon economy of Jiangxi province using the theory of trade and environment, and puts forward macro ideas and strategies to develop low-carbon economy and promote transformation of foreign trade growth mode of Jiangxi province from the system construction, element reserves, industrial layout, implementation approaches, and ways of developing low-carbon economy. Relying on the unique ecological advantages, the growth of foreign trade can be prompted to transfer from extensive mode to low-carbon green development and realize the strategy goal of Ecological province and Green development through developing low-carbon economy.

Spatial extent, regional specificity and metacommunity structuring in lake macrophytes

AbstractAimSpatial extent is inherently related to the potential roles of the main mechanisms structuring metacommunities. We examined the effects of varying spatial extent (ecological province, region and subregion) on the environmental and spatial components of variation in lake macrophyte communities. We also studied these effects separately for three macrophyte functional groups.LocationThe US state of Minnesota.MethodsWe examined average and heterogeneity differences in macrophyte community composition and environmental variation among the subregions of Minnesota using canonical analysis of principal coordinates (CAP) and homogeneity of multivariate dispersion (PERMDISP), respectively. We further used partial redundancy analysis (pRDA) to decompose variation in macrophyte community composition between environmental variables and spatial location at each spatial extent and geographical region. Spatial variables were derived using principal coordinates of neighbour matrices (PCNM) analysis.ResultsCAP and PERMDISP analyses showed that the subregions differed both in average community composition and in the heterogeneity of community composition for all macrophyte taxa, for emergent and submerged macrophytes, but not for non‐rooted macrophytes. We did not, however, find significant differences in overall environmental heterogeneity among the subregions. Variation partitioning using pRDAs showed that species sorting is more important than spatial processes for macrophytes, although these patterns were relatively weak. There was, however, much regional specificity, with the environmental and spatial fractions of community composition varying widely at different spatial extents, among different geographical regions and among functional groups. Contrary to our initial expectations, we did not find increasing spatial structuring and decreasing environmental control with increasing spatial extent.Main conclusionsOur findings indicate that, in macrophyte metacommunities, the relative contribution of spatial processes and environmental control varies rather unpredictably with spatial extent and geographical region. Our findings are thus of importance in advancing metacommunity ecology by showing that drawing wide‐ranging conclusions based on a single spatial extent or a single geographical region may be unwise.

Study on Indicators System for Construction of Ecological Demonstration Province in Guangxi

Based on the target of ecological province, the meaning of ecological province is analyzed, the assessment objects and content of building an ecological province are elaborated, the structural model and the principle of selecting indicators are discussed. Taking the ecological province building plan of Guangxi Province as a case to be studied.

A Study on Environmental Effect in the Process of Economic Transition from the Perspective of Managerial Mechanism of Enterprise-A Case of Shandong Province

Abstract Since the reform and opening, the economic system of Shandong Province is transforming gradually from a planned economy to a market economy in the process of economic transition, besides, the enterprise mana gement mechanism is also undergoing profound changes, particularly in the enterprise business system of ownership, firm size and corporate social responsibility. The change of business operation mode produces different environmental effects, This paper analyzes the environmental effects in the process of economic transition from the perspective of enterprise management mechanism, while compares the different law of environmental effects in the enterprises of different scale and different ownership, and analyzes the role that corporate social responsibility played in sustainable development in depth, which has an important reference for Shandong to establish a sustainable development mechanism and build an ecological province.

Population genetic structure in the redefined vermilion rockfish (Sebastes miniatus) indicates limited larval dispersal and reveals natural management units

Recent studies have revealed that the vermilion rockfish Sebastes miniatus is a cryptic species pair. The splitting of this species impacts stock size estimates and draws attention to the unintended consequences of current management policies. Differences in exploitation level between the species necessitated an evaluation of population structure and connectivity among regional management segments of the fishery. Analysis of gene flow and calculations of larval dispersal values were accomplished using 782 bp of DNA sequence data from the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of 684 vermilion rockfish sampled from 16 sites between Kyuquot Sound, Canada, and San Quintin, Mexico. Significant genetic heterogeneity was found among sample sites (ΦST= 0.0742, p < 0.001 and FST= 0.0899, p < 0.001). Isolation by distance analysis produced a significant correlation, suggesting low average larval dispersal distance. Analysis of molecular variance showed significant partitioning of genetic variance across the biogeographic boundary at Point Conception (ΦCT= 0.0923, p < 0.001 and FCT= 0.0135, p < 0.001) with additional genetic barriers found at Cape Mendocino, Punta Colnett, Santa Monica Bay, and along the coast of Washington. These genetic barriers conform to oceanographic compartments previously proposed for the California Current Ecological Province and suggest natural management units for this species.

The systematic identity of Chiloscyphus trichocoleoides, a new liverwort species from New Zealand, uncovered by morphological and molecular evidence

A new liverwort species from Western Nelson Ecological Province of New Zealand known from a single sterile specimen is described. It is unusual in having well-developed stem paraphyllia, and the leaves and underleaves are divided with three levels of ciliate division in a pinnate manner. This morphology suggested membership of Trichocoleaceae or Trichotemnomaceae, but other features of the plant made placement in either family seem unnatural. We determined its position by conducting phylogenetic analyses of rbcL, rps4 and trnL–F sequence datasets from 35 exemplars, and further confirmation of the position was carried out by an extended analysis using rbcL sequence dataset of 59 exemplars. The surprising result is that it belongs within the genus Chiloscyphus, where it is unique in these features. We describe this new species as Chiloscyphus trichocoleoides. Placing the new species in Chiloscyphus has broadened the generic concept of Chiloscyphus, and its phylogenetic relationship within and to other genera such as Clasmatocolea and Heteroscyphus needs further investigation. The results also show that the same morphological features seen in Chiloscyphus and in Trichocoleaceae and Trichotemnomaceae have developed independently.

End-point diameter and total length coarse woody debris models for the United States

Coarse woody debris (CWD) may be defined as dead and down trees of a certain minimum size that are an important forest ecosystem component (e.g., wildlife habitat, carbon stocks, and fuels). Due to field efficiency concerns, some natural resource inventories only measure the attributes of CWD pieces at their point of intersection with a sampling transect (e.g., transect diameter) although measurements of large-end diameter, small-end diameter, and length are often required by natural resource managers. The goal of this study was to develop a system of empirical models that predict CWD dimensions (e.g., large-end diameter) based on CWD attributes measured at the point of intersection with a sample transect and ancillary data (e.g., ecological province). Results indicated that R-squared ( R 2) values exceeded 0.60 for most of this study's CWD large-end diameter and small-end diameter with only fair results for the length models. The mean residuals of numerous CWD models were within the measurement tolerance expected of actual field crews. Despite remaining unexplained variation, these CWD models may provide foresters with an alternative to the time-consuming activity of measuring all CWD dimensional attributes of interest during large-scale forest inventories.

Large-scale spatial patterns of forest structural diversity

Forest structural diversity was estimated for an ecological province in the north-central region of the United States of America using data for nearly 350 000 trees observed on >12 000 forest inventory plots. Each plot was 672 m2 in area, and the sampling intensity was approximately 1 plot/2400 ha. Two indices were used for each of two commonly and accurately measured inventory variables: species count and the Shannon index for tree species and standard deviation and the Shannon index for tree diameter. The primary results of the study were fourfold: (i) ranges of spatial correlation for diversity indices were small, on the order of 5–10 km, (ii) high proportions of provincewide diversity were realized for circular areas with radii as small as 15 km, (iii) diversity for both species and diameter exhibited strong northwest to southeast spatial patterns, and (iv) plot-level α diameter diversity was highly correlated with mean plot-level tree diameter.

Quantitative Appraisement on Ecological Carrying Capacity in Coastal Rapid Developing Region of Hainan Province

Abstract The ecological carrying capacity, an important indicator to evaluate the sustainable development of the ecosystem, means the potential ability of the natural ecosystem to carry socioeconomic development while the ecosystem is healthy. It is limited by the carrying capacity of natural resources and environment and the elasticity of the ecosystem. It will be greatly significant to study the ecological carrying capacity of Hainan Province, the first ecological province admitted by the State Environmental Protection Administration in China. Not only is the natural ecosystem reflected, but also the effects of human activities are emphasized by integrating the ecosystem health analysis into the ecological carrying capacity research. The research results, using the Factor Analysis tools of software SPSS, indicate that the ecological carrying capacity of Hainan Province fluctuated obviously from 1996 to 2005. The level of the ecological carrying capacity of Hainan Province was relatively high in 1996, and reached into trough from 1997 to 1999. It has steadily ascended to be above the middle level since the 21st century. The results also show that policy factors, especially the implementation of the ‘Ecological Province’ strategy, were important driving forces to influence the ecological carrying capacity. With the population rapidly increasing, the land and water resources per capita have decreased quickly. The amount of the ecological carrying capacity was promoted remarkably by socioeconomic development especially economic growth and technology applications. All of these will provide useful suggestions to establish and enact regional development policies, especially for protecting and reconstructing the ecology and environment of Hainan Province.

Amphibian Populations in the Terrestrial Environment: Is There Evidence of Declines of Terrestrial Forest Amphibians in Northwestern California?

Amphibian declines have been documented worldwide; however the vast majority are species associated with aquatic habitats. Information on the status and trends of terrestrial amphibians is almost entirely lacking. Here we use data collected across a 12-yr period (sampling from 1984-86 and from 1993-95) to address the question of whether evidence exists for declines among terrestrial amphibians in northwestern California forests. The majority of amphibians, both species and relative numbers, in these forests are direct-developing salamanders of the family Plethodontidae. We examined amphibian richness and evenness, and the relative abundances of the four most common species of plethodontid salamanders. We examined evidence of differences between years in two ecological provinces (coastal and interior) and across young, mature, and late seral forests and with reference to a moisture gradient from xeric to hydric within late seral forests. We found evidence of declines in species richness across years on late seral mesic stands and in the coastal ecological province, but these differences appeared to be caused by differences in the detection of rarer species, rather than evidence of an overall pattern. We also found differences among specific years in numbers of individuals of the most abundant species, Ensatina eschscholtzii, but these differences also failed to reflect a consistent pattern of declines between the two decadal sample periods. Results showing differences in richness, evenness, and relative abundances along both the seral and moisture continua were consistent with previous research. Overall, we found no compelling evidence of a downward trend in terrestrial plethodontid salamanders. We believe that continued monitoring of terrestrial salamander populations is important to understanding mechanisms of population declines in amphibian species.

Urbanization of Jilin Province and its spatial pattern

Urbanization is a crucial criterion of assessing a nation’s or a particular region’s level of modernization. It has been accelerated all over the world in the 21th century. The main purpose of this research is to provide a strategy of spatial pattern of urbanization for rural areas in Jilin Province based on the reality of economic development in Jilin and the imbalance of natural resources distribution. The strategy divides the nine central cities of Jilin Province into three economic circles. The outer economic circle, open circle, includes Yanbian, Baishan, Tonghua and Baicheng, covering the eastern and western parts of Jilin Province. The middle one includes Jilin, Liaoyuan, Siping and Songyuan. The inner one, centring as Changchun, includes Gongzhuling, Yitong, Nong’an, Jiutai and Dehui. It needs to centre as Changchun which has the good foundation of economic development and more economic increase, then by economic effect extending out gradually, other areas develop subsequently. To construct Jilin as a green ecological province, cultivation in the outer circle should be controlled, with the main aim to recover grassland. Large population should be moved to other places by developing labor economy. From economy and ecology, to decrease the load of the land can reduce the loss of the resources and benefit the balance of ecology. Subsequently, the whole province’s economy will be developed sustainably.

A probability-based indicator of ecological condition

We introduce a new method for quantifying the ecological condition (C) of sites based on documented species’ responses to environmental stress. Preliminary research is needed to establish species-specific logistic functions, representing probabilities of finding individual species across an explicit reference gradient, ranging from maximally stressed (C = 0) to minimally stressed (C = 10) localities. Each function takes into account the species’ tolerance to stress, the species’ overall ubiquity, and the probability of detecting the species when it is present. Given a set of standardized species-specific functions, the ecological condition of any site can be derived by iteration, converging on the value of C that best ‘‘predicts’’ the species that are actually present. Species from multiple taxonomic groups can be included in the calculations, and results are not directly affected by species richness or sampling area. We demonstrate a successful application of this method for bird species assemblages in the U.S. portion of the Great Lakes coastal zone. Approximately, 28% of the bird species observed in the Eastern Deciduous Forest Ecological Province and 35% of the species in the Laurentian Mixed Forest Ecological Province showed strong relationships with a reference gradient of land cover variables. Functional stress–response relationships of these species can be used effectively to estimate ecological condition at new sites. The estimated condition based on bird species generally mirrors the reference condition, but deviations from the expected 1:1 relationship provide meaningful insights about ecological condition of the target areas. Sensitivity analysis using different numbers of species shows that our method is robust and can be applied consistently with 25–30 species exhibiting strong stress–response functions. # 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Relationship between Environmental Amenities and Changing Human Settlement Patterns between 1980 and 2000 in the Midwestern USA

Natural resource amenities may be an attractor as people decide where they will live and invest in property. In the American Midwest these amenities range from lakes to forests to pastoral landscapes, depending on the ecological province. We used simple linear regression models to test the hypotheses that physiographic, land cover (composition and spatial pattern), forest characteristics, land use on undeveloped land, public ownership, soil productivity and proximity to urban centers predict changes in population, housing, and seasonal housing densities over a 10-year interval (1980-1990). We then generated multiple-regression models to predict population, total and seasonal housing density change in the most recent decade (1990-2000) based on ownership and ecological conditions in 1990 and tested them by comparing the predictions to actual change measured by the US Census Bureau. Our results indicate that the independent variables explained between 25 and 40% of the variability in population density change, 42-67% of the variability of total housing density change, and 13-32% of the variability in seasonal housing density change in the 1980s, depending on the province. The strength of the relationships between independent and dependent variables varied by province, and in some cases the sign varied as well. Topographic relief was significantly related to population growth in all provinces, and land cover composition and the presence of water was significantly related to total housing growth in all provinces. There was a surprisingly limited association of any of the independent variables to seasonal housing growth in the northern province, which is commonly perceived to attract seasonal use because of ecological amenities. Proximity to urban centers is related to population and housing density change, but not seasonal housing density change. Our tests indicated that models for population density change showed some utility, but the models for total and seasonal housing density generally performed poorly. Ecologic variables were consistently poor at predicting seasonal housing density change. Our results show that environmental characteristics appear to have some influence on the spatial distribution of population and housing change in the Midwest, although other factors that were not modeled are clearly dominant.

Landscape patterns of phenotypic variation and population structuring in a selfing grass,Elymus glaucus(blue wildrye)

Source-related phenotypic variance was investigated in a common garden study of populations of Elymus glaucus Buckley (blue wildrye) from the Blue Mountain Ecological Province of northeastern Oregon and adjoining Washington. The primary objective of this study was to assess geographic patterns of potentially adaptive differentiation in this self-fertile allotetraploid grass, and use this information to develop a framework for guiding seed movement and preserving adaptive patterns of genetic variation in ongoing restoration work. Progeny of 188 families were grown for 3 years under two moisture treatments and measured for a wide range of traits involving growth, morphology, fecundity, and phenology. Variation among seed sources was analyzed in relation to physiographic and climatic trends, and to various spatial stratifications such as ecoregions, watersheds, edaphic classifications, etc. Principal component (PC) analysis extracted four primary PCs that together accounted for 67% of the variance in measured traits. Regression and cluster analyses revealed predominantly ecotypic or stepped-clinal distribution of genetic variation. Three distinct geographic groups of locations accounted for over 84% of the variation in PC-1 and PC-2 scores; group differences were best described by longitude and ecoregion. Clinal variation in PC-3 and PC-4 scores was present in the largest geographic group. Four geographic subdivisions were proposed for delimiting E. glaucus seed transfer in the Blue Mountains.Key words: Elymus glaucus, morphological variation, local adaptation, seed transfer, seed zones, polyploid.

Evaluation of ecological services of Jilin Province, Northeast China

The main purpose of this study is to give evaluation of ecological services of Jilin Province, Northeast China. To take this value into decision-making and GDP accounting system is considered to be one of the economic solutions for ecological problems. The evaluation is based on the methods proposed by COSTANZA et al., and some modifications about unit value of forest and cropland system were made according to the real characters of ecosystem, climate, natural conditions etc., in Jilin Province. Total value of ecosystem services is about 554.404×109 yuan (RMB)/a, which is about 4.9 times of GDP of the corresponding period. The results of this study could be used as a fundamental work for the construction of ecological province, which was carried out from 2001, and could provide ecological information for decision-making. Furthermore, the necessities for the further studies on the evaluation of ecological services and natural capital were discussed.

The Utilization of Bryophytes in Bioclimatic Modeling: Predicted Northward Migration of Peatlands in the Mackenzie River Basin, Canada, as a Result of Global Warming

The Utilization of Bryophytes in Bioclimatic Modeling: Predicted Northward Migration of Peatlands in the Mackenzie River Basin, Canada, as a Result of Global Warming

Effects of the age class distributions of the temperate and boreal forests on the global CO<sub>2</sub> source-sink function

The role of the temperate and boreal forests as a global CO 2 source or sink is examined, both for the present time and for the next hundred years. The results of the Forest Resource Assessment for 1990 of the Economic Comission for Europe and the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (1992) serve as the main database in this study. Out of the estimated total area of approximately 20 • 10 6 km 2 of forests and wooded lands in the temperate and boreal zone only approximately fifty percent is documented within the category of exploitable forests, which are examined in detail here. In this study, a general formalism of the time evolution of an ensemble of forests within an ecological province is developed using the formalism of the Leslie matrix. This matrix can be formulated if the age class dependent mortalities which arise from the disturbances are known. A distinction is made between the natural disturbances by fire, wind throw and insect infestations and disturbances introduced through harvesting of timber. Through the use of Richards growth function each age class of a given biome is related to the corresponding biomass and annual increment. The data reported on the mean net annual increment and on the mean biomass serve to calibrate the model. The difference of the reported net annual increment and annual fellings of approximately 550 • 10 6 m 3 roundwood correspond to a sink of 210-330 Mt of carbon per year excluding any changes in the soil balance. It could be shown that the present distribution of forest age classes for the United States, Canada, Europe, or the former Soviet Union does not correspond to a quasi-stationary state, in which biomass is accumulated only due to a stimulated growth under enhanced atmospheric CO 2 levels. The present CO 2 sink function will not persist in the next century, if harvesting rates increase with 0.5% annually or even less. The future state will also be influenced by the effect of the greenhouse climate, the impact of which may range from a stimulating effect on growth, which is calculated by the Frankfurt biosphere model, up to a transitional negative effect through a shift in vegetation zones. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0889.47.issue1.18.x