Nectar production dynamics and sugar composition in two <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mucuna</Emphasis> species (Leguminosae,Faboideae) with different specialized pollinators

Nectar is secreted in particular rhythms throughout the lifespan of a flower, which allows determining the nectar production dynamics. This paper compares nectar features in Mucuna japira and Mucuna urens describing: dynamics of nectar production, floral response to nectar removal, resorption, nectar sugar composition, and variation in nectar sugar composition. M. japira inflorescence bears 12–21 yellow flowers, which are in anthesis for 7 days, whereas M. urens inflorescence bears 36–54 greenish flowers, but only 1–3 flowers are in anthesis simultaneously that last one night. Nectar volume and sugar concentration were measured, and the amount of sugar was estimated. Qualitative and quantitative nectar sugar composition was determined. Both species had a constant nectar sugar concentration (ca. 10% for M. japira and ca. 16% for M. urens) and secreted high volumes of nectar (ca. 340 μl per flower for M. japira and 310 μl per flower for M. urens), during 5 days for M. japira and 6 h for M. urens, but after the first removal, i.e., when flower opening mechanism is triggered, nectar production stops immediately. Nectar resorption occurred in both species. Nectar sugar composition showed some similarities between the species. Variation in nectar sugar composition occurred in both species. The Mucuna species are dependent on their pollinators to produce fruits and seeds, and they have different strategies to promote the necessary interaction with birds or bats, especially related to nectar and flower characteristics.     

Non-random nectar unloading interactions between foragers and their receivers in the honeybee hive

Nectar acquisition in the honeybee Apis mellifera is a partitioned task in which foragers gather nectar and bring it to the hive, where nest mates unload via trophallaxis (i.e. mouth-to-mouth transfer) the collected food for further storage. Because forager mates exploit different feeding places simultaneously, this study addresses the question of whether nectar unloading interactions between foragers and hive-bees are established randomly, as it is commonly assumed. Two groups of foragers were trained to exploit a different scented food source for 5 days. We recorded their trophallaxes with hive-mates, marking the latter ones according to the forager group they were unloading. We found non-random probabilities for the occurrence of trophallaxes between experimental foragers and hive-bees, instead, we found that trophallactic interactions were more likely to involve groups of individuals which had formerly interacted orally. We propose that olfactory cues present in the transferred nectar promoted the observed bias, and we discuss this bias in the context of the organization of nectar acquisition: a partitioned task carried out in a decentralized insect society.     

The innate responses of bumble bees to flower patterns: separating the nectar guide from the nectary changes bee movements and search time

Nectar guides can enhance pollinator efficiency and plant fitness by allowing pollinators to more rapidly find and remember the location of floral nectar. We tested if a radiating nectar guide around a nectary would enhance the ability of naïve bumble bee foragers to find nectar. Most experiments that test nectar guide efficacy, specifically radiating linear guides, have used guides positioned around the center of a radially symmetric flower, where nectaries are often found. However, the flower center may be intrinsically attractive. We therefore used an off-center guide and nectary and compared “conjunct” feeders with a nectar guide surrounding the nectary to “disjunct” feeders with a nectar guide separated from the nectary. We focused on the innate response of novice bee foragers that had never previously visited such feeders. We hypothesized that a disjunct nectar guide would conflict with the visual information provided by the nectary and negatively affect foraging. Approximately, equal numbers of bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) found nectar on both feeder types. On disjunct feeders, however, unsuccessful foragers spent significantly more time (on average 1.6-fold longer) searching for nectar than any other forager group. Successful foragers on disjunct feeders approached these feeders from random directions unlike successful foragers on conjunct feeders, which preferentially approached the combined nectary and nectar guide. Thus, the nectary and a surrounding nectar guide can be considered a combination of two signals that attract naïve foragers even when not in the floral center.     

Individual lifetime pollen and nectar foraging preferences in bumble bees

Foraging specialization plays an important role in the ability of social insects to efficiently allocate labor. However, relatively little is known about the degree to which individual bumble bees specialize on collecting nectar or pollen, when such preferences manifest, and if individuals can alter their foraging preferences in response to changes in the colony workforce. Using Bombus impatiens, we monitored all foraging visits made by every bee in multiple colonies and showed that individual foragers exhibit consistent lifetime foraging preferences. Based upon the distribution of foraging preferences, we defined three forager types (pollen specialists, nectar specialists, and generalists). In unmanipulated colonies, 16–36?% of individuals specialized (≥90?% of visits) on nectar or pollen only. On its first day of foraging, an individual’s foraging choices (nectar only, pollen only, or nectar and pollen) significantly predicted its lifetime foraging preferences. Foragers that only collected pollen on their first day of foraging made 1.61- to 1.67-fold more lifetime pollen foraging visits (as a proportion of total trips) than foragers that only collected nectar on their first foraging day. Foragers were significantly larger than bees that stayed only in the nest. We also determined the effect of removing pollen specialists at early (brood present) or later (brood absent) stages in colony life. These results suggest that generalists can alter their foraging preferences in response to the loss of a small subset of foragers. Thus, bumble bees exhibit individual lifetime foraging preferences that are established early in life, but generalists may be able to adapt to colony needs.     

Highly controlled nest homeostasis of honey bees helps deactivate phenolics in nectar

Honey bees have a highly developed nest homeostasis, for example, maintaining low CO₂ levels and stable nest temperatures at 35°C.We investigate the role of nest homeostasis in deactivating phenolic compounds present in the nectar of Aloe littoralis. We show that the phenolic content in nectar was reduced (from 0.65% to 0.49%) after nectar was incubated in a nest of Apis cerana, and that it was reduced still more (from 0.65% to 0.37%) if nectar was mixed with hypopharyngeal gland proteins (HGP) of worker bees before being placed inside a nest. HGP had little effect on samples outside a nest, indicating that nest conditions are necessary for HGP to deactivate phenolics in nectar. Consequently, the highly controlled nest homeostasis of honey bees facilitates direct deactivation of phenolics in nectar, and plays a role in the action of HGP as well.     

Floral CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emission may indicate food abundance to nectar-feeding moths

As part of a study of the roles of the sensory subsystem devoted to CO₂ in the nectar-feeding moth Manduca sexta, we investigated CO₂ release and nectar secretion by flowers of Datura wrightii, a preferred hostplant of Manduca. Datura flowers open at dusk and wilt by the following noon. During the first hours after dusk, when Manduca feeds, the flowers produce considerable amounts of nectar and emit levels of CO₂ that should be detectable by moths nearby. By midnight, however, both nectar secretion and CO₂ release decrease significantly. Because nectar production requires high metabolic activity, high floral CO₂ emission may indicate food abundance to the moths. We suggest that hovering moths could use the florally emitted CO₂ to help them assess the nectar content before attempting to feed in order to improve their foraging efficiency.Electronic Supplementary Material  Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at     

Honeybees learn floral odors while receiving nectar from foragers within the hive

Recent studies showed that nectar odors brought back by honeybee foragers can be learned associatively inside the hive. In the present study, we focused on the learning abilities of bees, which directly interact via trophallaxis with the incoming nectar foragers: the workers that perform nectar-receiving tasks inside the hive. Workers that have received food directly from foragers coming back from a feeder offering either unscented or scented sugar solution [phenylacetaldehyde (PHE) or nonanal diluted] were captured from two observational hives, and their olfactory memories were tested using the proboscis extension response paradigm. Bees that have received scented solution from incoming foragers showed significantly increased response frequencies for the corresponding solution odor in comparison with those that have received unscented solution. No differences in the response frequencies were found between food odors and colonies. The results indicate that first-order receivers learn via trophallaxis the association between the scent and the sugar solution transferred by incoming foragers. The implications of these results should be considered at three levels: the operational cohesion of bees involved in foraging-related tasks, the information propagation inside the hive related to the floral type exploited, and the putative effect of these memories on future preferences for resources.     

Linear features and butterflies: the importance of green lanes

Green lanes are unmetalled tracks between fields of variable width, which may be sunk below or raised above field level, and bounded on both sides by ‘grass’ banks, hedgerows or dry-stone walls. In the UK they have no unique planning status and have been overlooked as discrete landscape elements. Green lanes were surveyed for butterflies in 1997 on lowland arable farmland on the Trafford/north Cheshire border (Warburton) and on upland grassland in the Yorkshire Dales (Ribble Valley). At the lowland site the green lanes were bounded by vegetation and were compared with grass banks and single hedgerow field boundaries; at the upland farm, the green lanes were bounded by dry-stone walls and were compared with grass banks and single dry-stone walls. Data from earlier work on a largely arable farm (Manydown) in Hampshire in 1987 and 1988 were re-analysed to make comparisons between a green lane, the rides and glades of two coppiced woodlands, and the grass banks and single hedgerows surrounding arable fields. Green lanes, whether bounded by vegetation or stone were superior to other common farmland biotopes with the exception of woodland, in terms of both butterfly abundance and species richness.Multiple regression of the Warburton data indicated the importance of green lanes, adjacent habitat type, and nectar sources for species richness and butterfly abundance. The interior of green lanes had lower windspeeds, and more bramble nectar sources than hedgerows or grass banks. By their nature they occupy a larger area of uncropped land, and are subject to a reduced disturbance regime and reduced inputs of agrochemicals and fertilisers. Their value as biodiversity reservoirs in intensively managed land is likely to be high.     

A novel role for proline in plant floral nectars

Plants offer metabolically rich floral nectar to attract visiting pollinators. The composition of nectar includes not only sugars, but also amino acids. We have examined the amino acid content of the nectar of ornamental tobacco and found that it is extremely rich (2 mM) in proline. Because insect pollinators preferentially utilize proline during the initial phases of insect flight and can reportedly taste proline, we determined whether honeybees showed a preference for synthetic nectars rich in proline. We therefore established an insect preference test and found that honeybees indeed prefer nectars rich in the amino acid proline. To determine whether this was a general phenomenon, we also examined the nectars of two insect-pollinated wild perennial species of soybean. These species also showed high levels of proline in their nectars demonstrating that plants often produce proline-rich floral nectar. Because insects such as honeybees prefer proline-rich nectars, we hypothesize that some plants offer proline-rich nectars as a mechanism to attract visiting pollinators.     

Time management and nectar flow: flower handling and suction feeding in long-proboscid flies (Nemestrinidae: Prosoeca)

A well-developed suction pump in the head represents an important adaptation for nectar-feeding insects, such as Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and Diptera. This pumping organ creates a pressure gradient along the proboscis, which is responsible for nectar uptake. The extremely elongated proboscis of the genus Prosoeca (Nemestrinidae) evolved as an adaptation to feeding from long, tubular flowers. According to the functional constraint hypothesis, nectar uptake through a disproportionately elongated, straw-like proboscis increases flower handling time and consequently lowers the energy intake rate. Due to the conspicuous length variation of the proboscis of Prosoeca, individuals with longer proboscides are hypothesised to have longer handling times. To test this hypothesis, we used field video analyses of flower-visiting behaviour, detailed examinations of the suction pump morphology and correlations of proboscis length with body length and suction pump dimensions. Using a biomechanical framework described for nectar-feeding Lepidoptera in relation to proboscis length and suction pump musculature, we describe and contrast the system in long-proboscid flies. Flies with longer proboscides spent significantly more time drinking from flowers. In addition, proboscis length and body length showed a positive allometric relationship. Furthermore, adaptations of the suction pump included an allometric relationship between proboscis length and suction pump muscle volume and a combination of two pumping organs. Overall, the study gives detailed insight into the adaptations required for long-proboscid nectar feeding, and comparisons with other nectar-sucking insects allow further considerations of the evolution of the suction pump in insects with sucking mouthparts.     

Foraging reactivation in the honeybee Apis mellifera L.: factors affecting the return to known nectar sources

This paper addresses, what determines that experienced forager honeybees return to places where they have previously exploited nectar. Although there was already some evidence that dance and trophallaxis can cause bees to return to feed, the fraction of unemployed foragers that follow dance or receive food from employed foragers before revisiting the feeder was unknown. We found that 27% of the experienced foragers had no contact with the returning foragers inside the hive. The most common interactions were dance following (64%) and trophallaxis (21%). The great variability found in the amount of interactions suggests that individual bees require different stimulation before changing to the foraging mode. This broad disparity negatively correlated with the number of days after marking at the feeder, a variable that is closely related to the foraging experience, suggesting that a temporal variable might affect the decision-making in reactivated foragers.     

Sugar receptor response of the food-canal taste sensilla in a nectar-feeding swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus

The feeding behavior in nectar-feeding insects is triggered by a sugar-receptor response in contact chemosensilla. The contact chemosensilla are distributed not only on tarsi and the outside of the proboscis but also on the inside of the food canal in Lepidoptera. Although the chemosensilla inside the food canal are assumed to detect sweet taste during the passage of nectar through the food canal, their electrophysiological function has received little attention. In the nectar-feeding Asian swallowtail butterfly, Papilio xuthus (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), we found 15- to 30-μm-long sensilla neatly lined up along the inside galea wall, which forms the food canal in the proboscis. The receptor neurons of these sensilla responded to sucrose. We hypothesized that starch and sucrose compete with each other for a taste receptor site on the sensilla. When we added starch and sucrose to the food-canal sensilla, the electrophysiological responses of food-canal sensilla were inhibited in parallel with the food-sucking behavior of the butterflies. These results suggest that the food-canal sensilla are involved in the behavioral control of nectar-sucking in this butterfly species.     

青海省草地畜牧业可持续发展战略与对策

青海省有可利用草地3161×104hm₂,是我国五大牧区之一。在长期传统游牧畜牧业经营方式下 ,对草地缺乏有效的保护和科学的管理 ,片面追求牲畜存栏数 ,超载过牧现象普遍存在 ,导致草地退化问题严重 ,生态环境破坏 ,自然灾害频繁 ,畜牧业经济效益低下。在这样的基础上实施草地畜牧业可持续发展战略 ,需要执行科技兴牧 ,教育先行 ;强化畜牧业生产基础 ,经济效益和生态效益并重 ;大力促进畜牧业产业化 ,走商品化生产发展道路的方针。推行高效集约化经营的畜牧业生产模式 ,发展具有高原特色 ,具有市场竞争力的特色畜产品生产 ,在实现畜牧业向高效益产业转变的基础上顺利地实施生态环境治理和草地资源保护 ,从而达到畜牧业可持续发展的目的。     

工业发展的新模式——无废工艺

本文根据工业本身的功能从工业生产和环境关系的角度考察了自产业革命以来工业发展的三种模式。指出采用无废工艺乃是工业发展的最新模式,是谋求合理利用自然资源和有效保护环境的根本措施。介绍了无废工艺概念的形成和发展,举例论述了其实施的主要途径。     

A method for evaluating the overall technical and economic performance of environmental innovations in production cycles

As is demonstrated by a great deal of scientific literature on the subject, an ever-increasing number of businesses are adopting cleaner production as a strategy to minimise the impact of their activities and their products on the environment. However, the range of approaches which are grouped together and given the common name ‘cleaner production’ is quite broad and diversified and includes a variety of innovative solutions that lead to very different results. Indeed, varying results have been obtained; the improvements in that industry has achieved in its environmental performance, both on a single business basis and in the overall product life cycle, as well as in the financial and economic returns. The present study proposes a quantitative method of classification, cleaner production innovations based on technical and economic criteria. The method proposed here is based on improvements made to the environment and the economic benefits to both the single business and to the overall socio-economic system as well as on the inter-relations between these variables.     

重庆市乡村生产空间系统风险评价及其空间分异格局

科学评价乡村生产空间系统风险水平并揭示其空间格局特征,差异化设计风险管控措施,对引导和调控乡村生产空间系统多元主体行为选择、实施健康可持续乡村振兴战略具有重要意义。在理清乡村生产空间系统风险机理的基础上,从风险源压力、风险载体状态、风险控制机制响应三个方面构建了乡村生产空间系统风险综合评价指标体系,以重庆市37个区县为研究单元,2016年为研究时点,评价了乡村生产空间系统风险水平并揭示其空间分异特征,据此提出了乡村生产空间系统风险管控的差异化措施。研究表明：（1）乡村生产空间系统风险的产生是风险源压力、风险载体状态、风险控制机制响应三者相互联系、共同作用的结果。（2）重庆市乡村生产空间系统风险总体上属于中等水平,呈现出“东高西低”的空间格局,系统压力、状态、响应水平空间分异特征明显,并从空间管制、土地利用模式、防灾减灾救灾体系等维度提出了差异化风险管控措施。     

Co-production of heat and power: an anchor tenant of a regional industrial ecosystem

The resource basis of industrial energy production is still, to a large extent, in non-renewable fossil fuels, the use of which creates emissions that the ecosystem has difficulty in tolerating. The goal of industrial ecology is to substitute the non-renewable stocks with renewable flows. In this paper, a regional industrial ecosystem that relies on a power plant as its key organisation, as an anchor tenant, is considered in the context of energy production and consumption. The co-production method of heat and electricity (CHP, co-production of heat and power) is implemented in the local power plant. This method uses the waste energy from electricity production for district heat and industrial heat/steam. The fuel basis in a CHP plant can include heterogeneous waste fuels. The method has been applied, to a large extent, in only three countries in the world; Denmark, The Netherlands and Finland. Examples of CHP-based industrial ecosystems from Finland are considered. CHP is reflected upon from the viewpoint of industrial ecosystem principles.     

十六位DAC转换器的研制

十六位DAC转换器是为MAT系列同位素质谱仪磁场控制关键部件DAC73K模块进行国产化而设计的,它能够与八位、或十六位微机相兼容,具有精度高、准确度好、温飘小等特点,它的研制成功不仅加速了MAT系列质谱仪国产化进程,而且在其它自动控制系统中得到广泛应用.     

中国各区域秸秆资源可能源化利用的潜力分析

在我国能源需求迅速增长并日益依赖国际市场的背景下,能源化利用秸秆资源是我国缓解能源短缺的重要选择之一。论文在综合相关研究成果的基础上,对我国不同区域农作物秸秆可能源化利用的潜力及资源密度进行了分析。研究表明,2009年中国农作物秸秆理论资源量为7.48×10⁸ t,可获得资源量为6.34×10⁸ t,可能源化利用量为1.52×10⁸ t。中国可能源化利用秸秆资源区域分布极不均匀。长江中下游、东北、华北等区域可能源化利用秸秆潜力较大,分别为0.42×10⁸、 0.37×10⁸和0.35×10⁸ t,青藏高原、黄土高原和西南可能源化利用秸秆资源潜力较低。根据各区域可能源化利用秸秆资源密度,论文对不同省份建造较大规模秸秆发电企业或燃料乙醇企业的适宜性进行了分析。     

Biodiversity and life support impacts of land use in LCA

An operational method to include land use impacts in LCA has been developed. The aim was to base the approach on a scientific framework and to use scientific data to arrive at indicator scores. This has led to a first set of rough impact score data per type of land use on a global level, for two indicators. Remaining subjective elements are related to the restrictions of the approach: only two indicators are chosen as a basis for expressing land use impacts (vascular plant species diversity and free net primary biomass production), a reference state had to be included to incorporate regional differences, and for biodiversity the measure is relative to the local background biodiversity, leading to relatively low sensitivities to changes. Finally, land use impacts are considered to be proportional to the area which is a common understanding in LCA, but not always agreed upon. It is clear that this operationalisation is at present only in its teens.