Understanding yields in alley cropping maize (Zea mays L.) and Cassia siamea Lam. under semi-arid conditions in Machakos, eastern Kenya

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＯｎｌｙａｂｏｕｔ 2 0 %ｏｆＫｅｎｙａ’ｓｔｏｔａｌｌａｎｄａｒｅａｈａｓｈｉｇｈｐｏｔｅｎｔｉａｌｆｏｒａｇｒｉｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎ ,ｔｈｅｒｅｓｔｂｅｉｎｇａｒｉｄｏｒｓｅｍｉ ａｒｉｄ .ＴｈｅａｎｎｕａｌｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎｇｒｏｗｔｈｒａｔｅｉｎＫｅｎｙａｏｆｃｌｏｓｅｔｏ 4 %ｉｓｏｎｅｏｆｔｈｅｈｉｇｈｅｓｔｉｎｔｈｅｗｏｒｌｄ (ｅ .ｇ .ＵｎｉｔｅｄＮａｔｉｏｎｓＤｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔＰｒｏｇｒａｍｍｅ ,1990 ) .Ｔｈｉｓｓｉｔｕａｔｉｏｎｈａｓｌ…     

青岛奥帆赛场及邻近海域赤潮防治行动

为保障2008年青岛奥帆赛及其测试赛的正常进行,青岛市政府适时启动了青岛奥帆赛场及邻近海域赤潮防治行动项目。行动内容包括四大部分,一是开展针对性监测,找出青岛近海赤潮多发的主要影响因素;二是建设并运行赤潮监测预警体系;三是建设并运行赤潮应急消除系统;四是制定赤潮应急反应预案。本文简要介绍了青岛奥帆赛场及邻近海域赤潮防治行动项目建设主要目标、内容及预期效益。     

紫外线辐射对小麦和燕麦竞争性平衡的影响--小麦和燕麦生物量结构与冠层结构

在模拟１５％臭氧层减薄条件下讨论了紫外线辐射增强对大田中小麦和燕麦在单独种植与混合种植时的生物量结构和冠层结构的影响。紫外辐射使两物种的生物量减少，使节间缩短，叶片着生高度下降，但使根冠比和单株有效穗数增加。两物种在单种和混种时对紫外辐射的反应有所不同，种间竞争有时加强紫外辐射的影响，但有时则又能抵消其作用。紫外辐射使竞争性平衡向有利于小麦的方向发展，这一改变可以部分地由两物种的生物量及冠层结构对     

铜绿微囊藻和孟氏颤藻在富营养化湖泊中生长特征的模拟研究

为了模拟富营养化状态下2种蓝藻在湖泊中的生长特征,采用大型室内湖泊模拟装置进行了模拟研究,并通过三角瓶实验以及光合作用速率的响应实验对模拟装置中藻的生长特征进行了分析.湖泊模拟装置中,铜绿微囊藻和孟氏颤藻在对数生长期的特征生长速率分别为0.43d-1和0.32d-1,但对数生长期很短,仅3～4d.在对数期后有一个很长的"线性期",即生物量随时间近似成线性增长.在氮、磷较为充分的条件下,由于较强的光合作用导致了水体pH的升高,以及生物量增高导致了藻的自遮蔽作用,使藻的生长容易出现碳源限制和光限制.受水下光的影响,2种藻细胞内叶绿素a含量在对数期内一直增大.随后颤藻细胞内叶绿素a含量又逐渐降低,而微囊藻细胞内叶绿素a含量仍保持较高的水平,其原因可能是微囊藻能适应更高的pH.     

间接竞争ELISA法测定稻田土壤中除草剂毒莠定的残留量

通过对反应体系中酶标二抗(辣根过氧化物酶标记羊抗兔IgG)和抗体的最佳稀释浓度等条件的筛选和确定,最终建立了一种快速灵敏地测定污染稻田土壤中毒莠定残留量的方法--间接竞争ELISA分析方法.结果表明,酶标二抗和抗体的最佳稀释度均为1:500(体积比),毒莠定的检出下限达到5 ng·mL-1,在0.07～0.7μg·mL-1浓度范围内有良好的线性;土壤浸出液加样的平均回收率为104.11%,变异系数在3.13%～11.13%之间,符合农药残留分析的要求;样品基质对检测结果没有干扰.     

Cross-Hauling of Polluting Factors

This paper analyzes the investment/environment overlap using a two stage model of two jurisdictions. Capital exports are modeled as choice variables for capital owners who weigh income considerations against the effects of capital exports on the quality of their local environments and on environmental policy. This framework reveals that capital owners have an incentive to cross-haul polluting factors across jurisdictions when direct controls are used to regulate emissions and that this cross-hauling induces policymakers to ratchet up environmental policies in both locations. The importance of instrument type and commitment on environmental policy is also analyzed.     

Towards an ecological solution to the folivore paradox: patch depletion as an indicator of within-group scramble competition in red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus tephrosceles)

A number of socioecological models assume that within-group food competition is either weak or absent among folivorous primates. This assumption is made because their food resources are presumed to be superabundant and evenly dispersed. However, recent evidence increasingly suggests that folivore group size is food-limited, that the primates prefer patchily distributed high-quality foods, and display some of the expected responses to within-group scramble competition. To investigate this apparent contradiction between theoretical models and recent empirical data, we examined the foraging behaviour of red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus tephrosceles) in Kibale National Park, Uganda. We found that red colobus monkeys foraged in a manner that suggests they deplete patches of preferred foods: intake rate slowed significantly during patch occupancy while movement rate, an index of foraging effort, increased. Furthermore, patch occupancy was related to the size of the feeding group and the size of the patch. These results suggest that within-group scramble competition occurs, may limit folivore group size, and should be considered in models of folivore behavioural ecology.     

Female yellowhammers (Emberiza citrinella) prefer yellower males: a laboratory experiment

The importance of male plumage coloration as a signal of male dominance and a cue for female choice in the monogamous yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella, was tested in two sets of experiments in an indoor aviary. Dominance was tested by introducing two individuals, with no previous experience of each other, in an aviary with food and water. Aggression occurred more often between two males than between a male and a female and more frequently between pairs of males including at least one old male than between two young males. Dominance was not related to male colour in trials between males of the same age class, but it was in trials between an old and a young male, often differing in colour. Thus, age may be a more important determinant of dominance than colour. Female preference for more colourful males was tested by allowing hormone-induced females to choose between a more and a less colourful dummy male. Females spent more time in front of more colourful than drabber males and also more often perched beside colourful males than duller individuals. Although male colour cannot be ruled out as a dominance signal, the results suggest that male colour is primarily used as a signal in mate choice. Female choice may hence be responsible for maintenance of bright plumage in the male yellowhammer.     

Immune function, dominance and mating success in drumming male wolf spiders Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata

In this study, we provide a piece of experimental evidence that immune function is related to dominance and mating success in wild caught male wolf spiders, Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata. In the mating season, H. rubrofasciata males are actively searching for receptive females, and while searching males often engage in agonistic behavior (i.e., agonistic drumming signals, chases, and fights) with each other. The present results demonstrate that dominant males had higher lytic activities in their hemolymph than subordinates. Lytic activity estimates the concentration of antimicrobial peptides with lysozyme-like activity in hemolymph, which have been shown to play an important role in defense against bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Dominants also had higher courtship drumming rates than subordinates. Moreover, winners in mating competition had higher lytic activities than losers, but this was measured nonindependently of dominance status. Among males with mating failure, there was a moderate negative correlation between encapsulation rate and courtship drumming rate, suggesting that low quality males might not be able to bear the immunological costs of courtship behavior. These results suggest that females might gain immunological benefits by preferring vigorous males.