Spatial variations of soil seed banks in Shanghai's urban wasteland: a gradient analysis of urbanization effects.

Urbanization greatly impacts both the diversity of soil seed banks and the spatial dynamics of species. These seed banks serve as a window into the ecological history and potential for recovery in urban wastelands, which are continually evolving due to urbanization. In this study, we selected 24 plots along urban-rural gradients in Shanghai, China.

Land-use diversity can better predict urban spontaneous plant richness than impervious surface coverage at finer spatial scales.

Urban spontaneous plants, that are not intentionally propagated by humans and do not belong to the remnants of the natural habitats, not only occur in green spaces but are also distributed in diverse microhabitats in impervious surface areas. Impervious surface coverage is commonly used in studies on spontaneous plant diversity patterns in human-dominated landscapes; however, the role of habitat diversity (i.e.

Trends of the contributions of biophysical (climate) and socioeconomic elements to regional heat islands.

The development of urban accumulations in recent decades has led to the transformation of urban heat islands (UHI) into regional heat islands (RHI). The contributions of the biophysical, climate, and socioeconomic factors to RHI in urban agglomeration remain poorly understood. Here Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration (YRDUA) in eastern China has been selected as a case area to explore the influences trends, of the influencing factors to RHI by using MODIS data from 2003 to 2017.

Experimental study on thermal structure inside flame front with a melting layer for downward flame spread of XPS foam.

Thermal structure inside flame front during downward flame spread was experimentally measured for XPS foam with thicknesses of 1.6, 2.4, 3.

Enhanced effects of biotic interactions on predicting multispecies spatial distribution of submerged macrophytes after eutrophication.

Water eutrophication creates unfavorable environmental conditions for submerged macrophytes. In these situations, biotic interactions may be particularly important for explaining and predicting the submerged macrophytes occurrence. Here, we evaluate the roles of biotic interactions in predicting spatial occurrence of submerged macrophytes in 1959 and 2009 for Dianshan Lake in eastern China, which became eutrophic since the 1980s.

[Diversity and classification system of weed community in Harbin City, China].

To analyze the causes of weed community diversity and their strategies of adaption to the high heterogeneity of urban habitats, weed communities in the central urban area of Harbin, China were studied, and a classification system was established for the weed communities. There were 175 weed species, belonging to 128 genera and 38 families. The heterogeneous urban habitats and species' temporal niche differentiation resulted in the highly diversified weed communities.

Insights into the selective binding and toxic mechanism of microcystin to catalase.

Microcystin is a sort of cyclic nonribosomal peptides produced by cyanobacteria. It is cyanotoxin, which can be very toxic for plants and animals including humans. The present study evaluated the interaction of microcystin and catalase, under physiological conditions by means of fluorescence, three-dimensional (3D) fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), Fourier Transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and enzymatic reactionkinetic techniques.

[Magnetic response of street tree leaves to particulate pollution in Shanghai].

To reveal the magnetic response to atmospheric particulate pollution in tree leaves along urban streets, twenty-four evergreen tree leaves were collected from green belt along Jinshajiang road, Shanghai, which were subjected to magnetic and heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Pb) analyses. The result revealed that in all leaf samples chi, SIRM varied in ranges of (4-59) x 10(-8) m3 x kg(-1) and (496-6 114) x 10(-6) Am2 x kg(-1), respectively, S(-300mT) varied from 89% to 98% and chi(ARM)/chi < 4, chi(ARM)/SIRM < 30 x 10(-5) mA(-1) was found. The magnetic parameters showed that ferromagnetic/ferrimagnetic particles were the main magnetic carriers in dust-loaded tree leaves, and magnetic grains were predominantly pseudo-single domain (PSD) and multidomain (MD) in size.

[Allelopathic interactions between invasive plant Solidago canadensis and native plant Phragmites australis].

Taking the seeds of invasive plant Solidago canadensis and native plant Phragmites australis from their mono- and co-dominant communities as allelopathic acceptors, this paper analyzed the differences in the seed germination rate and sprout length after treated with five level (12.5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg x mL(-1)) S. canadensis and P.

The biomass and aboveground net primary productivity of Schima superba-Castanopsis carlesii forests in east China.

The biomass and productivity of Schima superba-Castanopsis carlesii forests in Tiantong, Zhejiang Province, were determined using overlapping quadrants and stem analyses. The total community biomass was (225.3+/-30.

Temporal and spatial characteristics of the urban heat island during rapid urbanization in Shanghai, China.

Based on meteorological data from 1978 to 2007, we investigated the annual, seasonal, and fixed hourly variations of Shanghai urban heat island (UHI) in urban and suburban areas and spatial distribution of UHI. The results demonstrated a remarkable interannual increase of UHI intensity in Shanghai. The UHI was the strongest in autumn and the weakest in summer, as a consequence of the prevailing weather conditions.

Temporal variations of surface water quality in urban, suburban and rural areas during rapid urbanization in Shanghai, China.

As the economic and financial center of China, Shanghai has experienced an extensive urban expansion since the early 1980s, with an attendant cost in environmental degradation. We use an integrated pollution index to study the temporal variations of surface water quality in urban, suburban and rural areas between 1982 and 2005. Data on monitored cross-sections were collected from the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center.

[Age structure and growth characteristic of Castanopsis fargesii population].

In this paper, the age structure and growth characteristics of Castanopsis fargesii population in a shade-tolerant broadleaved evergreen forest were studied, aimed to understand more about the regeneration patterns and dynamics of this population. The results showed that the age structure of C. fargesii population was of sporadic type, with two death peaks of a 30-year gap.

[Effect of Suining Tributary ecoremediation to all size-fractionated chlorophyll-a contents].

Through analysis of the size-fractionated chlorophyll-a contents in the remedied part, control part and non-remedied part in Suining Tributary, this paper discussed the effect of bioremediation to all size-fractionated chlorophyll-a contents. The averaged Chlorophy-a content of nano-plus pico-phytoplankton made up 85.232%, 92.

[A review on mast seeding studies].

Mast seeding means that the plants of a population have a highly variable seed production in different years synchronously, and it is widely existed in perennial plants. The periodic variation of seed yield and synchrony of seed production among individuals are the key characteristics. Several hypotheses, including evolutionary bases and limitations of mast seeding, were reviewed in this paper.