Ecological aspects of larval drift in coregonids with long migration routes

Downstream migration (larval drift) of coregonids in the lower reaches of the Severnaya Sos??va River (the largest spawning tributary of the Lower Ob) has been analyzed from ecological aspects such as the long-term, seasonal, and daily dynamics and the spatial distribution, growth, and feeding of larvae in the current. Considerable changes in the abundance of coregonid generations have been revealed. It is shown that downstream larval migration over a long route has a number of features distinguishing it from that at spawning grounds. In particular, mass migration takes place after the ice drift, and its intensity is independent of changes in flow discharge. The drifting larvae display species-specific distribution in the current, and their density is the lowest in the surface water layer. In the course of migration, their linear body growth is accompanied by considerable depletion of endogenous food reserves and transition to active feeding.     

Ecological Groups of the Daubed Shanny <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leptoclinus maculatus</Emphasis> (Fries, 1838), an Arcto-boreal Species,Regarding Growth and Early Development

The patterns of growth and development have been studied in L. maculatus early life stages of different ecological groups (pelagic and demersal) from Kongsfjorden and Billefjorden (the northwestern coast of West Spitsbergen). It has been found that the growth rate of larvae markedly increases by age 2+ (stage L2), which is due to their transition to exogenous feeding. Consideration is given to changes in the length and condition of the lipid sac (a provisory organ) in the period of its formation, growth, and resorption in the course of ontogeny. The lipid sac reaches the maximum size at stage L4* and is resorbed at stage L5. Analysis of individual variation in the size and body weight of fish early life stages provides the possibility to evaluate the adaptation capacity of a species under specific conditions of the Arctic.     

长江口沿岸碎波带刀鲚仔稚鱼摄食习性与浮游动物分布的相关性研究

为探明长江口沿岸碎波带浮游动物的分布与刀鲚仔稚鱼摄食的关系,2006年7~12月每月大潮期间在长江口沿岸碎波带设置13个站位点,用浮游Ⅰ型生物网(口径30 cm,网目0.2 mm)在表层拖曳采集浮游动物78次,采集到浮游动物72种,平均密度 3 278.95 个/网;用小型拖网(1 m×4 m,网目1 mm)拖曳234次,采集到刀鲚仔稚鱼 37 170 尾,平均密度158.85尾/网。通过胃含物分析共鉴定刀鲚仔稚鱼饵料生物15种(类)(浮游动物11种,浮游幼体4类),平均摄食密度1.306个/尾。研究结果表明:前弯曲期仔鱼偏好摄食哲水蚤、剑水蚤和枝角类;弯曲期仔鱼偏好摄食猛水蚤和桡足类桡足幼体;后弯曲期仔鱼除偏好摄食桡足类幼体以外,也偏好摄食游泳能力较强的糠虾;稚鱼对糠虾有极强的偏好。水温和盐度对刀鲚仔稚鱼的摄食量影响较小;浮游动物分布并不直接影响刀鲚仔稚鱼分布,相关性较小。     

Influence of Hydrologic Conditions of the Lower Ob Floodplain on Reproduction in Coregonids

The influence of the water level in the period of the open river channel and the duration of lower floodplain inundation on the feeding conditions, abundance, and population state of coregonids in the Lower Ob was investigated. The long-term dynamics of catches of some coregonid species was analyzed and compared with changes in the hydrologic conditions in the floodplain. The relationship between basic hydrologic conditions in the Lower Ob (water level in the period of the open channel, the duration of the lower floodplain inundation), the coregonid population sizes, the state of spawners, and the size of catches is demonstrated.     

Appropriateness of needles of different conifer species for the feeding and growth of larvae from two populations of the Siberian moth

A comparison of two Siberian moth populations from the Altai Republic (feeding on Siberian fir) and the Tyva Republic (feeding on Siberian larch) has revealed no differences between them with respect to ecophysiological parameters of larval growth and feeding on needles of the same conifer species under laboratory conditions. The index of appropriateness of food plants for the larvae from both populations decreases in the series larch > fir > spruce > pine. The age-related dynamics of parameters characterizing the feeding and growth of larvae are independent of the population to which the insects belong.     

Changes in the hepatosomatic index of semianadromous burbot, Lota lota L. (Lotidae), in the Ob River depending on fish physiological state and foraging conditions

The results of long-term observations on changes in the hepatosomatic index of burbot in the Lower Ob basin are presented. The dynamics of this index are considered as dependent on fish sex, stage of gonad maturity, period of reproductive cycle, body damage or abnormalities, and feeding intensity.     

The response of gypsy moth (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lymantria dispar</Emphasis> L.) larvae infected with nuclear polyhedrosis virus to induced resistance in birch (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Betula pendula</Emphasis> Roth.)

The effects of birch resistance induced by its artificial defoliation on the development of gypsy moth larvae and their sensitivity to viral infection and on the state of the antioxidant and detoxification systems of the insect midgut were studied. The dynamics of larval body weight; larval mortality and its etiology; glutathione-S-transferase (GT), nonspecific esterase (NE), and catalase (CAT) activities; and the ratio between the concentrations of oxidized and reduced thiol-containing compounds (RSSR/RSH) were estimated. In larvae feeding on the leaves of a previously defoliated plant, body weight was decreased, NE was inhibited, and the RSSR/RSH ratio was increased.     

Association of plutonium with sediments from the Ob and Yenisey Rivers and Estuaries

The present study applied sequential extraction techniques to investigate the binding and mobility of plutonium (Pu) in sediments from the rivers and estuaries of the Ob and Yenisey. As a study site, the Ob and Yenisey are particularly interesting as both rivers have weapons-grade Pu sources in their catchment areas, including the Russian Pu production and reprocessing plants at Mayak, Tomsk-7 and Krashnoyarsk, and the Semipalantinsk nuclear weapons testing site in Kazakhstan. Plutonium activity and ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu ratios were determined using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Sequential extractions showed that between 47 and 80% of the Pu in Yenisey River sediments and 35–53% of the Pu in soils around the Techa River are mobilized with weak oxidising agents, which can indicate that Pu is bound to organic material. In contrast, Pu in Ob and Yenisey Estuarine sediments was more strongly bound, with 60–100% being found in the HNO₃-extractable fraction. This change in speciation could reflect either that Pu bound to organic material in the Techa and Yenisey River sediments becomes more fixed to the sediments with time, or that organic-bound Pu is mobilized and released to the water when the sediments encounter the more saline water of the Ob and Yenisey estuaries. In general, ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu ratios were relatively consistent between different extraction fractions, although, in whole sediments, an increase in ratio was observed with distance from the source. This reflects the increased influence of weapon fallout from catchment runoff within the river systems, as compared to the weapons-grade sources close to the production and reprocessing plants. Knowledge of Pu speciation in the Ob and Yenisey Rivers, and the processes controlling its behaviour in estuarine systems, can improve predictions of its transfer and subsequent environmental impact to Arctic Seas.     

Influence of experimental conditions on manifestation of the group effect in the gypsy moth, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lymantria dispar</Emphasis> L.

The effect of rearing conditions for gypsy moth larvae on parameters of their development (its duration and mortality) was studied in experiments with early instar larvae reared singly or in groups. The manifestation of the group effect was analyzed depending on the choice of experimental unit (the larva or the rearing container) and the amount of volume per larva. The observed effects were evaluated quantitatively.     

黑尾近红鲌人工繁殖研究

报道了2001~2003年对长江上游特有鱼类黑尾近红鲌开展人工繁殖试验的结果。黑尾近红鲌亲鱼来源于四川泸州长江上游一级支流龙溪河。催产剂为促黄体素释放激素类似物(LRH A)，绒毛膜促性腺激素(HCG) 与鲤鱼脑垂体(PG)。采用一次注射法，并用干法进行人工授精。共进行了23次人工催产，催产成功的占16次，有效的占3次，失败的占4次；共注射雌鱼70尾，其中46尾雌鱼排卵，平均催产率65.71%，受精率8.33%~100.0%，孵化率0.50%~94.71%，获得仔鱼29.3万尾。对亲鱼选择、催产方法、孵化与苗种培育等技术细节进行了讨论。     

汉江下游鱼类早期资源及梯级联合生态调度对鱼类繁殖影响的初步分析

汉江是长江一级支流,鱼类资源较为丰富。目前汉江中下游建有4座水利枢纽工程,对鱼类洄游和繁殖产生较大影响。在鱼类繁殖季节,为促进汉江中下游鱼类繁殖,2018年6月汉江中下游首次实施梯级联合生态调度。该研究在汉江下游汉川段设置监测断面,采集鱼类早期资源,以分析汉江下游鱼类早期资源多样性,及生态调度对促进汉江下游鱼类繁殖的效果。监测结果表明汉江下游卵苗种类共有36种（属）,其中22种为产漂流性卵鱼类。监测期间卵苗总径流量为118.78亿尾（粒）,其中四大家鱼卵苗为0.87亿尾（粒）,占0.73%,其中鱼卵0.69亿粒,推测汉江下游有4处四大家鱼产卵场。梯级联合生态调度期间,汉川江段出现一次鱼类产卵高峰,鱼卵径流量占总径流量的34.1%,其中四大家鱼鱼卵占家鱼卵总径流量的85.5%,表明梯级联合生态调度对汉江下游鱼类,特别是四大家鱼的繁殖具有积极的作用。建议今后继续开展生态调度,并加强监测和分析工作。     

Plasticity in metamorphic traits of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rana kukunoris</Emphasis> tadpoles: The interactive effects of food level and rearing temperature

Larval amphibians are particularly likely to encounter variation in rearing temperature and resource availability due to variation in aquatic breeding habitats. In this study, plasticity in growth rates, larval mass, larval period, and size at metamorphosis were examined in Rana kukunoris Nikolskii, 1918 under different combinations of temperature and food level. Larval period and larval body mass was sensitive to food level, and varied with temperature. Tadpoles metamorphosed at an older age at low temperature than those reared at warm temperature. Food level was a significant affect on larval period at low temperature, but not at warm temperature. Mass was heavier for tadpoles reared at low temperatures than those reared at warm temperatures. The effect of food level depended on temperature, because larvae reared at low temperature that were offered a high food level achieved a larger size than larvae offered a low food level, but this did not occur at warm temperature. Therefore, we suggest that high food availability at low temperature prolonged developmental periods, thus larvae are larger as metamorphs than those reared at warm temperatures.     

Ecological,morphological, and genetic diversity of burbot (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lota lota</Emphasis> L., 1758) in large river basins of Western Siberia

A study has been performed on the ecological, morphological, and genetic diversity of burbot (sample size n = 204 and n = 134, respectively) from eight localities of the Ob–Irtysh and Taz river basins, Western Siberia. Fish differentiation in body size and weight depending on the dominant type of migration behavior, foraging conditions, and physiographic features of habitats has been revealed. A high genetic diversity (854-bp mtDNA control region) and a low level of between-sample differentiation is evidence for high intergroup gene flow.     

Soil erosion response to climatic change and human activity during the Quaternary on the Loess Plateau, China

We review published stratigraphic, archaeological and pedosedimentary evidence in order to reconstruct the history of soil erosion in China. Documentary evidence of climatic and flood events of the Yellow River and modern hydrological and meteorological data are synthesised to analyse the history of past human activity and its effects on soil erosion intensity during four nested periods of time during the Quaternary. The most intensive period of erosion during the Quaternary was in the Holocene. During the Holocene, intervals of intensive soil erosion occurred at 7500–7000 BP, 200 BCE–0 CE, 1000–1600 CE (Christian era) and during the 1930s, 1950s and the later part of the 1960s of the last century. Large-scale human activity including warfare during early Chinese history, population migration, the inner wars in 1930s, the Cultural Revolution and the recent national campaign to aid soil and water conservation are all closely related to the rate of soil erosion on the Loess Plateau and to sediment loads in the Yellow River. Overall, soil erosion during the transition from dry-cool to wet-warm climates was more intense than during wet-warm and cool-dry climatic episodes, but serious accelerated soil erosion has occurred during the last 2,500 years because of man-induced devastation of vegetation and other anthropogenic disturbance of the environment. Modern rates of soil erosion on the Loess Plateau are a combination of both intensive natural and human-induced erosions and are some four times greater than occurred in the geological past. The recent implementation of soil and water conservation measures has decreased sediment load in the Yellow River by 25%.     

The current content of artificial radionuclides in the water of the Tobol-Irtysh river system (from the mouth of the Iset River to the confluence with the Ob River)

Data on content of (90)Sr, (137)Cs, (239,240)Pu and (3)H in water of the Tobol-Irtysh part of the Techa-Iset-Tobol-Irtysh-Ob river system (through which the "Mayak" PA radioactive wastes are transported) are presented and discussed. The data were received in 2004-2005 under the ISTC project on radioecological monitoring of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. Monthly observations of (137)Cs, (90)Sr and (3)H content in water in the area of the Tobol and Irtysh confluence have been conducted starting from May 2004. To obtain information on the investigated river system as a whole, the radioecological survey of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers at the section from the mouth of the Iset River to the confluence with the Ob River was carried out in 2004. It is shown that the impact of "Mayak" PA waste transport by (90)Sr is distinctly traced as far as the area of the Irtysh and Ob confluence.     

长江近口段沿岸刀鲚生物量的时间格局

为了解长江刀鲚Coilia nasus资源的变动状况,探讨沿岸水域对刀鲚资源的保育作用,于2002~2013年间用定制张网对长江靖江段沿岸鱼类作了每月2~3个样本的采集。分析结果显示,12a采集的369份样品中,刀鲚的出现频率达94.6%,分别占总渔获数量和重量的5.18%和5.46%。刀鲚平均CPUEN和CPUEW有16.7±19.9尾和106.6±109.5g,是沿岸鱼类群聚的优势种或次优势种。但其年资源量并不稳定,最高的2010年是最低2002年的5.4陪。平均体长123.6±37.0mm,平均体重仅7.5±8.2g。0+龄组占78.9%,1+龄组占20.7%,2+龄仅出现在4、5月份,且仅占当月个体数的3.0%,幼体是沿岸刀鲚群体的主要组成成分。从0+龄个体的月度体长分布看,当年孵化的幼鱼大多栖息在河岸水域,沿岸生境在维持刀鲚幼鱼资源上具有重要作用。分析显示,4月1日至6月30日的长江禁渔期虽可保护约42.6%的幼鱼个体,但从保护效果看,还因适当延长沿岸水域的禁渔时间。维护沿岸水域的生境完整性,也是保护长江刀鲚幼鱼资源的重要措施。     

Spatiotemporal distribution of caddis fly larvae <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aethaloptera evanescens</Emphasis> MacLachlan, 1880 (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) in the Selenga River

Data on the occurrence, abundance, and biomass of caddis fly larvae Aethaloptera evanescens in the Selenga during the ice periods of 1987–2005 are presented. These insect larvae prefer river stretches with a gravel-sand ground, flow rate of 0.3–0.4 m/s, and depth of 2–3 m. Probable factors determining their distribution in the Selenga in recent years are a considerable drop of water level in the river (1995–2005), the improvement of hydrochemical conditions, and the presence of suspended and drifting erosion materials entering the river as a consequence of sand-gravel mixture excavation between 1980 and 1990.     

长江中游黄石江段鱼类早期资源现状

为了解长江中游黄石江段鱼类早期资源现状,2015和2016年在黄石江段开展鱼类早期资源调查。共采集鱼类34种,分属6目9科。卵苗组成以贝氏(Hemiculter bleekeri)(占卵苗总捕捞量的85. 7%)、鳊(Parabramis pekinensis)(占10. 9%)和鲢(Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)(占0. 8%)为主。各类群鱼类的仔鱼数量呈现出不同的时间动态。贝氏和鳊在每个月份均占较大比例;鲢在5月份比例较低,之后逐渐升高;银飘鱼(Pseudolaubuca sinensis)和吻虾虎鱼属(Rhinogobius sp)在5、6月份数量较多。2015年估算通过黄石江段的鱼卵、仔鱼径流量分别为6. 7×108粒、1 655. 3×108尾; 2016年分别为19. 0×108粒、1 620. 1×108尾。研究表明,黄石江段是鱼类早期资源的重要分布区,其鱼类早期资源近年来未出现明显的衰退现象。应加强对黄石江段鱼类早期资源的研究和保护。     

The diet of juvenile lake trout Salmo trutta L. in rivers of the Onega basin in autumn

The diet of juvenile trout and the state of their food resources in autumn (September–November) were studied in two typical small rivers tributary to Lake Onega (Karelia) in 2003. The relationship between the composition of food objects among benthic and drifting invertebrates and the food spectrum of trout was analyzed. The results show that before freeze-up, despite the disappearance of aerial and terrestrial insects, juveniles trout continue active feeding. However, their feeding priorities change: they begin to take food objects directly from the bottom, as well as from the water surface and within the water column.     

The distribution and history of nuclear weapons related contamination in sediments from the Ob River, Siberia as determined by isotopic ratios of plutonium and neptunium

Isotopic ratios of Pu and Np measured in sediment cores from 5 locations in the Ob River drainage basin show clear evidence of input from sources other than global fallout (non-fallout sources). Historical contaminant records obtained by combining isotopic ratio information with chronological information indicate that non-fallout inputs are from several sources that have varied significantly over the past 50 years. Unique isotopic signatures observed in sediments from tributaries that drain areas containing known or suspected sources of non-fallout contamination are used to identify the source of materials in sediments collected at downstream locations. These data can lead to a better understanding of the transport behavior, fate, and relative importance of particle reactive, weapons related contaminants originating from the nuclear facilities Mayak. Tomsk-7, and Semipalitinsk, which lie within the drainage basin. From our work to date, we draw the following conclusions: (1) Persistent non-fallout contamination is observed in the Ob River above its confluence with the Irtysh River, indicating contamination from the Tomsk-7 facility. (2) Non-fallout contamination in the Tobol River above its confluence with the Irtysh River indicates contamination from the Mayak facility. (3) Non-fallout contamination in the Irtysh River above its confluence with the Tobol River indicates contamination from the Semipalitinsk weapons test site. (4) The occurrence of isotopic ratios in Ob Delta sediments that are similar to those observed in source tributaries suggests that contamination from at least two sources has been transported along the length of the river system. (5) Global fallout, a result of high-yield atmospheric weapons tests conducted by the FSU and USA primarily, is the dominant source of Pu and Np to the region; however, there have been brief periods when inputs from non-fallout sources exceeded those from global fallout.