Discrimination of different social companions in spectacled parrotlets (Forpus conspicillatus): evidence for individual vocal recognition

Individual recognition is generally assumed to be a prerequisite for establishing and maintaining a complex social system. Indeed, there is good evidence that highly social species have complex systems of vocal communication with individual recognition by acoustic cues. In this study, we provide experimental evidence that vocal class and individual recognition is present in a non-passerine bird, the spectacled parrotlet (Forpus conspicillatus). Spectacled parrotlets live in a complex system of social relationships. Soon after fledging, the young establish close sibling relationships which are important for successful socialization, pairing and reproduction. In a series of playback experiments we tested if spectacled parrotlets use contact calls for vocal recognition. The results showed that spectacled parrotlets discriminate between the contact calls of different social categories. Adult birds preferred to respond to the contact calls of their mates. Subadult individuals recognized the contact calls of their siblings. During the period of pair bond formation, the affiliative contacts to the siblings decrease, but the parrotlets continue to respond to the calls of their siblings. This is the first evidence that vocal sibling recognition might outlast the period of strong sibling interaction and extends into the period of pair bond formation. In cases of mate loss or divorce, the acoustic contact to their siblings might facilitate the re-establishment of close sibling relationships. Received: 29 October 1997 / Accepted after revision: 5 April 1998     

基于SPA模型的煤矿瓦斯危险源风险评价

根据危险源理论和三类危险源的观点,采用集对分析(SPA)方法,进行了安全一事故集对的同异反分析,指出应采取措施控制不确定项,尤其要控制其中的第二类、第三类危险源才能使系统趋于安全状态;同时建立了煤矿瓦斯危险源风险评价模型,通过联系度的计算得出煤矿瓦斯的安全等级.研究表明,将集对分析方法应用于某煤矿瓦斯危险源风险评价,计算简单,结果较为精确、可靠,为不确定系统的评价提供了一条新思路.     

Forecasting population trend from the scaling pattern of occupancy

Forecasting the temporal trend of a focal species, its range expansion or retraction, provides crucial information regarding population viability. To this end, we require the accumulation of temporal records which is evidently time consuming. Progress in spatial data capturing has enabled rapid and accurate assessment of species distribution across large scales. Therefore, it would be appealing to infer the temporal trends of populations from the spatial structure of their distributions. Based on a combination of models from the fields of range dynamics, occupancy scaling and spatial autocorrelation, here I present a model for forecasting the population trend solely from its spatial distribution. Numerical tests using cellular automata confirm a positive correlation, as inferred from the model, between the temporal change in species range sizes and the exponent of the power-law scaling pattern of occupancy. The model is thus recommended for rapid estimation of species range dynamics from a single snapshot of its current distribution. Further applications in biodiversity conservation could provide a swift risk assessment, especially, for endangered and invasive species.     

How Kentish plovers,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Charadrius alexandrinus</Emphasis>, cope with heat stress during incubation

Biparental incubation is frequent among shorebirds and is expected when the survival prospects of offspring increase relative to uniparental incubation. To understand why this occurs, it is important to identify the factors that constrain uniparental incubation. It is assumed that birds choose nesting sites that provide an appropriate microclimate for incubation. Many shorebirds nest in sites with no or little cover, where ambient temperatures at ground level might be >50°C during very hot days. Shorebirds nest in exposed sites because predation risk on incubating adults is higher in covered sites. In hot environments, incubating shorebirds might experience heat stress in exposed sites, and this may compromise nesting success if adults are unable to attend their nests continuously, limiting the possibilities of uniparental incubation and thus the expression of a sexual conflict over incubation. The operative temperatures of Kentish plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus) were recorded in exposed and covered sites, and the thermal behaviour and incubating tactics of pair members were studied in a hot environment. During the hottest part of the day, there was a difference of 10–15°C in the operative temperatures of plovers between covered and exposed sites. Plovers in covered sites did not exhibit any thermoregulatory behaviour indicative of thermal stress, probably because the thermal range encountered by them in such places during most of the daytime was close to the thermo-neutral zone. The frequency with which plovers in exposed sites exhibited thermoregulatory behaviour was related to ambient temperature. Under very hot conditions, incubating birds were probably unable to maintain homeostasis for long periods and pair members resorted to shortening incubation bouts. Female Kentish plovers mainly incubate in the daytime and males during the night. However, the probability of diurnal incubation by males increased with ambient temperature in exposed nests, but not in covered ones. In fact, the frequency of participation in diurnal incubation by males was greater in exposed than in covered sites, suggesting that the participation of males in diurnal incubation may be related to the inability of females to stay at the nest during long periods when the ambient temperature is high. Even after resorting to shortened incubation bouts, the plovers may be unable to attend their nests continuously during heat waves, and the nests may be deserted. The propensity of plovers to desert their nests was affected by proximity to water, with nests located close to water being deserted less frequently. It seems likely that susceptibility to thermal stress changed in relation to proximity to water because in sites close to water it was possible to belly-soak, which would allow a more continuous nest attendance. Therefore, despite the adoption of behavioural solutions to face heavy heat loads, nesting success was vulnerable to these solutions because heat stress during extended periods may constrain parental nest attendance, and this may limit the opportunities for sexual conflicts over incubation.Communicated by J. Graves     

五元联系数在湖泊水质综合评价中的应用

集对分析是一种新的处理模糊和不确定问题的系统理论方法,运用同异反表达式可解决各种模糊不确定问题,而五元联系数又是集对分析理论的拓展. 针对当前众多湖泊富营养化评价方法过程复杂繁琐问题,提出利用基于五元联系数的系统态势对湖泊富营养化程度进行等级评价,其评价结果与其他评价方法基本一致;并且用集对分析法对湖泊富营养化程度进行等级评价,评价结果更符合实际情况,对监测数据的利用率高,对营养化程度的划分更细致,能够得到属于同一级别的湖泊富营养化程度的排序. 五元联系数克服了以往集对分析评价级别只有3个等级的缺点,扩大了评价等级范围,因此可在更多领域得到广泛应用.      

地下水环境质量评价的一种新方法--集对分析法

提出了一种新的地下水环境质量评价模型———集对分析法。该方法是一种处理不确定性问题的理论,其模型数学表达简单,物理意义明确,所含意义深远。研究结果表明:集对分析法简便易行,评价结果准确,在环境质量综合评价中具有广泛的实用价值。     

Dispersal, pair formation and social structure in gibbons (Hylobates lar)

We report observations on reproduction, natal dispersal, pair formation, and group structure based on longitudinal observations of several white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar) groups spanning 18 years. Our observations are at odds with the traditional view that gibbons live in nuclear family groups consisting of a pair of adults and their offspring, and that parents exclude young from the family territory when they reach adult size. In the relatively dense Khao Yai study population, dispersing young usually obtain mates by replacing adults in existing territories, which creates non-nuclear families. Six subadults, five males and one female, matured and dispersed at an average age of 10 years, or about 2 years after reaching adult size. Average natal dispersal distance was 710 m, or between one and two territories away. At least two dispersing males replaced adults in neighboring groups. In one case, forcible displacement of the resident male resulted in a group which included a young juvenile presumably fathered by the previous male, two younger juveniles (probably brothers) from the new male's original group, and (later) offspring of the new pair. Social relations within this heterogeneous group remained harmonious: the adults groomed all the young and play occurred between all preadult members. In only two out of a total of seven cases of dispersal seen did two subadults pair and disperse into new territorial space. Nonreproducing subadults which delay dispersal may be tolerated by the adults provided that they contribute benefits to the adults or their offspring. Possible benefits include behaviors such as grooming, social play with juveniles, and support of the adult male in defending the territory. Delayed dispersal is probably advantageous in a saturated environment where there is no room for floaters, but subadults may also gain indirect fitness benefits by aiding siblings and other relatives. Received: 24 January 1997 / Accepted after revision: 12 January 1998     

SPA在某矿山安全评价中的应用研究

鉴于安全评价系统的复杂性和不确定性特征,基于集对分析中的同异反向量模型,以某矿自然条件、人员安全素质、安全设施设备、工程生产技术及灾害控制、安全管理和职业卫生作为评价指标,构建安全评价模型,根据矿山情况对差异度系数取不同值,进行安全评价,得出的评价结果与客观实际耦合较好.理论分析和实例表明,该方法可以较好地应用在矿山安...     

基于风险场的区域突发性环境风险评价方法研究

在大尺度空间,风险源、风险受体和风险传播途径的多样性和相互作用的复杂性是区域环境风险评价的难点.同时,现有评价方法很少关注风险因子的释放规律,释放后在空间中的分布格局,以及风险受体受到损害的途径和程度.本文应用风险场理论,分析描述风险场形成和对风险受体作用的机制.结合南京化工园区实例进行环境风险源识别,采用集对分析等方法构建了各风险源产生的环境风险场,再分析处于风险场中的环境风险受体,最后得到区域环境风险水平分布,同时将其划分为5个等级.评价结果显示,位于风险源周围或河道下游的人口稠密、生态环境敏感地区环境风险值R≥6,风险水平处于极高、高等级,与园区现状具有较好的一致性.建议依据环境风险水平的分级、分类结果建立起以预防为主的环境风险管理体系.