淡水沉积物中Cd和Cu对河蚬的毒性效应研究

以淡水底栖动物河蚬(Corbicula fluminea)为受试生物,研究了淡水沉积物中重金属Cd和Cu对河蚬的12h挖洞行为和10d存活率的影响.结果表明,河蚬对加标Cd和Cu的淡水沉积物均产生了明显的规避行为.在12h挖洞行为试验中,河蚬对沉积物中Cd的污染反应比Cu更加灵敏,暴露于Cd和Cu的10mg/kg的沉积物中时,河蚬的挖洞比率分别为0.39和0.43.在10d存活率试验中,河蚬的存活率随沉积物中Cd和Cu浓度的升高而降低.在Cd加标浓度为10mg/kg的沉积物中,河蚬的存活率为93.3%,当Cd加标浓度达到300mg/kg时,河蚬存活率降为43.3%;在Cu加标浓度为10mg/kg的沉积物中,河蚬存活率为96.3%;而当Cu加标浓度达到500mg/kg时,河蚬存活率降为34.3%.加标Cd和Cu的两种淡水沉积物对河蚬的LC₅₀分别为285、690mg/kg,表明河蚬对Cd的毒性反应更加灵敏.比较河蚬的挖洞行为和存活率对重金属Cd和Cu的指示作用,挖洞行为比存活率更加快捷,对沉积物中Cd和Cu的指示作用更加明显,故在沉积物重金属污染监测中应优先考虑挖洞行为.     

江西九连山阔叶林雪灾后主要树种残存量的恢复时间

2008年初的南方冰雪灾害对江西九连山自然保护区常绿阔叶林生态系统造成了巨大损失.对受灾4 hm2样地中的1 5901株林木(DBH≥1 cm)进行了统计分析,其中对枫香、马尾松、米槠、木荷、拟赤杨、丝栗栲这6个代表树种进行了残存率恢复研究.结果显示:6种植物残存率为木荷>拟赤杨>米槠>枫香>马尾松>丝栗栲;恢复时间为枫香>丝栗栲>马尾松>木荷>米槠和拟赤杨.恢复时间最长的为枫香(33年),最短的为米槠和拟赤杨(15年左右),种群恢复到受灾前.同时对残存率和恢复时间的关系进行了Logistic非线性曲线模拟.样地中植物种群残存率恢复时间由受灾状况和物种生长速度决定,采用Logistic模型拟合的相关度非常显著.     

Reproduction of the Siberian spruce in the timberline ecotone of the Iremel’ Massif

Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of cones and seeds and the emergence and survival of seedlings in the Siberian spruce (Picea obovata Ledeb.) were studied in different parts of the timberline ecotone on the Iremel’ Massif, the Southern Urals, from 2003 to 2006. In the productive year 2003, a decrease in the number of cones (from 110000 to 3000 per hectare), the yield of seeds (from 13 × 10⁶ to 0.09 × 10⁶ per hectare), and their laboratory germination rate (from 34 to 14%) with an increase in elevation above sea level was recorded. In 2004, significant differences in the number of seedlings per hectare were revealed between the lower, middle, and upper parts of the ecotone (85 200, 19 800, and 0–400 ind., respectively). It has been shown that the greater part of seedlings (76–96%) perish during the first cold period. New generations of spruce trees are formed only after productive years. Seed production and seedling mortality in spruce apparently depend not only on air temperature and soil moistening but also on snow depth and soil temperature, which change more abruptly along the altitudinal gradient.     

Using Mediterranean shrubs for the phytoremediation of a soil impacted by pyritic wastes in Southern Spain: a field experiment

Re-vegetation is the main aim of ecological restoration projects, and in Mediterranean environments native plants are desirable to achieve successful restoration. In 1998, the burst of a tailings dam flooded the Guadiamar river valley downstream from Aznalcóllar (Southern Spain) with sludges that contained elevated concentrations of metals and metalloids, polluting soils and waters. A phytoremediation experiment to assess the potential use of native shrub species for the restoration of soils affected by the spillage was performed from 2005 to 2007, with soils divided into two groups: pH < 5 and pH > 5. Four native shrubs (Myrtus communis, Retama sphaerocarpa, Rosmarinus officinalis and Tamarix gallica) were planted and left to grow without intervention. Trace element concentrations in soils and plants, their extractability in soils, transfer factors and plant survival were used to identify the most-interesting species for phytoremediation. Total As was higher in soils with pH < 5. Ammonium sulphate-extractable zinc, copper, cadmium and aluminium concentrations were higher in very-acid soils, but arsenic was extracted more efficiently when soil pH was >5. Unlike As, which was either fixed by Fe oxides or retained as sulphide, the extractable metals showed significant relationships with the corresponding total soil metal concentration and inverse relationships with soil pH. T. gallica, R. officinalis and R. sphaerocarpa survived better in soils with pH > 5, while M. communis had better survival at pH < 5. R. sphaerocarpa showed the highest survival (30%) in all soils. Trace element transfer from soil to harvestable parts was low for all species and elements, and some species may have been able to decrease trace element availability in the soil. Our results suggest that R. sphaerocarpa is an adequate plant species for phytostabilising these soils, although more research is needed to address the self-sustainability of this remediation technique and the associated environmental changes.     

Sperm viability staining in ecology and evolution: potential pitfalls

The causes and consequences of variation in sperm quality, survival and ageing are active areas of research in ecology and evolution. In order to address these topics, many recent studies have measured sperm viability using fluorescent staining. Although sperm viability staining has produced a number of interesting results, it has some potential pitfalls that have rarely been discussed. In the present paper, I review the major findings of ecology and evolution studies employing sperm viability staining and outline the method’s principle limitations. The key problem is that the viability assay may itself kill sperm, which is likely to confound many common experimental designs in addition to producing artificially low estimates of sperm viability. I further suggest that sperm number should be routinely measured in sperm viability studies, as it may be an important but overlooked source of spurious results. I provide methodological advice on sperm viability staining aimed at minimising artefacts and producing robust conclusions, and discuss possible avenues for future research. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Insights from complete-incomplete brood sex-ratio disparity

An assertion deeply rooted in the ornithological literature holds that sex-specific mortality causes a sex ratio disparity (SRD) between complete and incomplete broods. Complete broods are thought to reflect the primary sex ratio before any bias introduced by developmental mortality. Contrary to this view, however, complete and incomplete broods should exhibit identical sex ratio distributions even when the sexes experience differential mortality, as shown in the classic paper of Fiala (Am Nat 115: 442–444, 1980). Therefore, in partially unsexed samples, primary sex ratio biases cannot be distinguished from biases caused by differential mortality. In addition, complete broods do not represent primary sex ratio more accurately than incomplete ones and might even be misleading. Despite Fiala’s prediction, SRD does occur in some empirical studies. We show that this pattern could arise if (1) primary sex ratio affects chick mortality rates independently of sex (direct effect), (2) primary sex ratio covaries with a variable that also affects mortality rate, or (3) sex differential mortality covaries with overall mortality rate (indirect effects). Direct effects may cause stronger SRD than indirect ones with a smaller and opposite bias in the overall sex ratio and could also lead to highly inconsistent covariate effects on brood sex ratios. These features may help differentiate direct from indirect effects. Most interestingly, differences in covariate effects between complete and incomplete broods imply that influential variables are missing from the analysis.     

Female oviposition-site preference and egg hatching success in the damselfly Calopteryx splendens xanthostoma

By removing males and controlling the rate of water flow past oviposition patches in an experimental area, we showed that female Calopteryx splendens xanthostoma preferred to oviposit in fast flowing water rather than slow flowing water. A series of manipulations revealed the fitness benefits to females for this preference: eggs placed in fast-flowing water developed significantly faster and showed significantly lower mortality than eggs placed in slow-flowing water. A major factor determining this difference was the deposition and growth of encrusting algae which prevented the successful hatching of eggs in slow-flowing water.     

中国农村人口问题与中国可持续发展

中国人口问题是中国可持续发展面临的首要问题。中国13亿人口中约有9亿是农村人口。因此所谓“中国人口问题”根本上是中国农村人口问题。人口为什么会成为一个“问题”则是关注的焦点。通过对人口问题本质进行剖析发现。研究人口问题必须着眼予人与自然的关系以及人与社会的关系。而解决中国的人口“问题”则必须着眼于农村人口生存方式的改变。从当前我国农村人口的生存方式和状况来看。中国的农村人口问题折射在农业、农村问题上。故统称为“三农”问题。为此，着眼于中国可持续发展提出解决中国农村人口问题的途径和建议。