Impact of diesel oil effluent in the mucosal surface of the alimentary canal of Oreochromis nilotica (Linnaeus): a scanning electron microscopic study

Adverse effects of diesel oil on microanatomical structure of the alimentary canal of O. nilotica were studied using SEM observations. The study revealed irregular arrangement of the stratified epithelial cells along with fragmentation of the normal concentric pattem of microridges of the same cells in buccopharynx and oesophagus. The excessive secretion of mucus of buccopharynx and oesophagus were the salient changes caused by diesel oil pollution. The destruction and degeneration of the mucosal folds of stomach and intestine along with their epithelial cells exhibited a concrete hyperactivity resulting in abundant' secretion of mucus over the microridges of the epithelial cells. In the intestinal region the columnar epithelial cells showed tumefaction and microvilli of the plasma membrane of epithelial cells get heavily damaged. Disarray of the microridges of epithelial cells, excessive secretions of mucus formation of even cell sheet were the most conspicuous changes in rectum. It was concluded that chronic exposure of diesel oil may hamper the absorption of the nutrients through alimentary canal resulting into ill-growth and production of the fish.     

广东山区反季节蔬菜栽培研究──以信宜县山区为例

本文在对信宜县山区农业气候资源进行深入研究分析的基础上，根据各种蔬菜的生物学特性，提出了信宜县山区露地种植反季节蔬菜的适宜海拔高度和栽培措施，为广东省山区合理利用垂直气候资源，发展反季节蔬菜生产提供了科学依据。     

On the reasons of hyperbolic growth in the biological and human world systems

Macroevolution of the biological and human world systems in the aspect of time-dependence of their sizes is studied. These systems are considered as ‘civilizations’, which are defined here in a generalized sense as the systems having memory and producing knowledge (vital information) necessary for survival. Sizes of three types of memory – genetic, neural, and external – are estimated. Dominating one of them leads to the development of an appropriate type of civilization. The rise and development of the genetic memory was accompanied with the formation of the biota (which can be tractable as a biological civilization) and a hyperbolic growth of its biodiversity. The prevailing development of the neural memory in one of the taxa of biota led to the rise of the human civilization and to a hyperbolic growth of its population. The development of the external memory will probably lead to the extraction of a taxon (probably, a pool of countries) from the human world community, with a hyperbolic growth of the taxon's memory and fund of knowledge but without a pronounced growth of its population.     

花岗岩风化壳的不均一性与海岸带的可蚀性研究——以南海北大陆海岸带为例

海岸带岩土动力学特征的差异是影响海岸侵蚀过程与方向的重要因素之一。南海北大陆海岸带主要由花岗岩风化边坡组成。通过对该海岸带的北东翼及西南翼典型花岗岩风化壳剖面的黏土矿物及风化指标研究发现,两者存在不均一性：横向上,北东翼黏土矿物主要以高岭石、伊利石为主;西南翼黏土矿物主要以高岭石、伊利石和绿泥石为主,两翼均未见较明显的蒙脱石。相同层位比较,西南翼黏土矿物总量高于北东翼。垂向上,自地表到深部,北东翼黏土矿物组合及总量无明显的分层性,而西南翼则呈明显的分层性且地表含量明显高于深部。海岸带的风化作用也存在明显的不均一性：表现为横向上,北东翼海岸带风化程度要稍弱于西南翼;垂向上,北东翼化学风化指标n（Al2O3）/n（SiO2）,n（Fe2O3＋Al2O3）/n（SiO2）,n（TiO2）/n（Al2O3）、CIA在风化壳中呈无规律变化,而西南翼则呈明显的分层性,这种分层基本与表土层、红土层及砂土层成一定的对应关系。从化学可蚀性指标来看,由南海北大陆海岸带花岗岩风化壳演化而成的土壤均为强抗蚀性,但相同层位比较,北东翼可蚀性要稍弱于西南翼剖面。研究认为,组成南海北大陆海岸带的花岗岩风化壳之黏土矿物与风化作用的不均一性可很大程度影响海岸带的可蚀性。     

Asexual production of planulae in the coral Pocillopora damicornis

The reproduction of scleractinian corals through planular larvae has traditionally been viewed as a strictly sexual process. Here, the results of an electrophoretic study of a ubiquitous Indo-Pacific coral, Pocillopora damicornis, show an exact inheritance of parental genotypes by brooded planulae, demonstrating the existence of an asexual mode of production of planular larvae. Comparisons of the genetical structure of a number of populations with structures predicted for sexual reproduction suggest that, although there is probably also a sexual form of reproduction, asexually produced planulae can be of major importance in the maintenance of populations of this species.     

城市绿地滞尘作用机理和规律的研究进展

城市绿地的滞尘作用是城市绿地重要的生态功能之一。综述了城市绿地的滞尘机理、变化规律。城市绿地的滞尘机理主要分为3种方式：滞留、附着和粘附;城市绿地滞尘能力与滞尘时间、城市环境、植物种、植物群落结构等因素存在密切的联系。不同植物滞尘能力的差异很大,总体规律表现为乔木植物〉灌木植物〉草本植物;但就单位叶面积来说,滞尘能力均以草本植物〉灌木植物〉乔木植物〉藤本植物;主要原因是垂直高度不同,灌草能有效截留地面的扬尘（城市中灰尘的主要来源）。研究表明,同种类植物种在封闭式环境条件下叶片滞尘量明显低于开敞式环境条件下的滞尘量,因此,在城市不同环境中的植物滞尘能力表现为工业区〉商业交通区〉居住区〉清洁区。随着季节和滞尘时间的变化,每种植物都存在一个滞尘限度,如果无雨水或人为干扰,最终达到一个动态平衡。从城市绿地群落的垂直结构看,乔—灌—草型的绿地具有相对较好的滞尘作用,是目前较为理想的绿地类型;另外,在城市绿地面积明显不足的情况下,以藤本植物为主的垂直绿化将成为城市绿化发展的新方向。同时,在城市绿地滞尘机理、规律以及植物滞尘能力评价等方面仍需要进一步深入研究。     

重庆三峡库区生态经济区农业发展水平聚类分析

从重庆三峡库区生态经济区19个区县(自治县)农业生态环境状况,农业生产、经济和社会发展状况,农业可持续发展能力3方面选用20个指标,运用系统聚类分析方法对三峡库区生态经济区农业发展综合水平作出分类评估.结果表明,三峡库区生态经济区农业发展综合水平从高到低依次为都市带动区、四川盆地边缘区、库区中部地区、渝东南少数民族聚居区和三峡库区前沿区.     

Toxicity of zinc,cadmium and copper to the shrimp Callianassa australiensis. III. Accumulation of metals

Callianassa australiensis (Dana) that survived 14 d acute lethality studies were analysed to determine the concentrations of zinc, cadmium and copper in the whole shrimp and in various parts of the body. Using regression analysis, the influence of each metal upon the uptake of the others was studied. Zinc and cadmium appeared to enhance the uptake of each other. In a mixture of zinc and copper, the uptake of zinc was enhanced and that of copper was inhibited. In a mixture of cadmium and copper, the uptake of copper was inhibited by the presence of cadmium, but cadmium uptake was unaffected in the presence of copper. In a mixture of all three metals, similar effects were observed except that zinc and copper, occurring together, appeared to have no effect upon cadmium uptake. Additional 14 d experiments with cadmium suggested that accumulation of this metal was a function of metal concentration in the water and of duration of exposure. The whole shrimp cadmium concentration also appeared to be a function of the size of the shrimp. The variation in concentration factors is described and the need for further research on the effects of combinations of metals on various organisms is emphasized.     

Kinships in a natural meadow vole population

Summary We have devised a radionuclide technique that allows the assessment of matrilineal kinship by the transfer of unique combinations of gamma-emitting radionuclides from pregnant and lactating female meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) to their offspring. A pool of prospective fathers can be established from field records of reproductively active males that were alive at the time of conception of the female's litter. Electrophoresis of 6 proteins allowed us to eliminate genetically incompatible males from the prospective pool of fathers. A log-likelihood statistic provided an estimate of the probability of paternity. In the case of numerical ties physical proximity of the males to the mother at the time of conception was used. With these techniques, we established 40 kinships in a field population of meadow voles.     

洞庭湖演变对湖区农业生态环境的影响

讨论了洞庭湖演变对湖区农业生态环境的影响，认为湖体演变带来了诸如湖泊效应降低、洪涝灾害频繁、土壤潜育化严重、血吸虫病流行以及水产资源破坏等一系列生态环境问题，并提出了保护和改善湖区农业生态环境的对策与措施。     

酸沉降下加速土壤酸化的影响因素

酸沉降对土壤和水域的酸化影响是土壤环境化学研究前沿的热点问题之一。酸沉降的化学组成对酸性土壤的进一步酸化起着催化剂的作用。在酸雨影响下,SO42-、NO-3、有机阴离子是加速土壤酸化和盐基淋溶损失的主要阴离子,外源H+的进入会加速铝离子水解。自然因素与人为因素导致土壤酸化的实际酸化速率差异表明:HCO3-、RCOO-在土壤剖面中的淋失状况可反映自然土壤的酸化速率,而SO42-和NO-3淋溶产生的质子负荷揭示土壤受人为因素影响的酸化速率。通过计算酸沉降的主要化学成分进入土壤前后的质子负荷平衡,与酸中和容量(ANC)相结合,反映酸沉降加速土壤酸化的进程。     

Swarm cognition in honey bees

We synthesize findings from neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral biology to show that some key features of cognition in the neuron-based brains of vertebrates are also present in the insect-based swarm of honey bees. We present our ideas in the context of the cognitive task of nest-site selection by honey bee swarms. After reviewing the mechanisms of distributed evidence gathering and processing that are the basis of decision making in bee swarms, we point out numerous similarities in the functional organization of vertebrate brains and honey bee swarms. These include the existence of interconnected subunits, parallel processing of information, a spatially distributed memory, layered processing of information, lateral inhibition, and mechanisms of focusing attention on critical stimuli. We also review the performance of simulated swarms in standard psychological tests of decision making: tests of discrimination ability and assessments of distractor effects.     

The problem of ecosystem stability and some applications of one of the stochastic methods in investigation of this problem

This paper describes some possible applications of one of the stochastic methods which may be used in ecological studies. The role of stochastic methods in investigations of the dynamics of ecosystems is gaining in importance. Stochastic methods are very useful for investigating the stability of ecosystems and the criteria of stability of natural systems, especially where the influence of permanent small-scale random disturbances has been noticed. Some criteria have been suggested and examples of use of these criteria are given.     

我国珍贵树木保护中若干法律问题的思考

保护珍贵树木具有十分重要的意义,本文从立法、司法的角度,归纳了当前我国保护珍贵树木的法律制度及相关的法律责任,对于进一步完善与珍贵树木保护相关的法律规定提出了自己的设想.     

尚勇自然保护区周边地区社会经济现状及可持续发展对策

采用多种调查技术与方法 ,对尚勇自然保护区周边地区社会经济现状进行分析。该区存在群众文化素质偏低 ,医疗卫生状况较差 ,农业生产方式落后 ,保护区管理缺乏群众参与 ,保护区管理部门与周边乡村关系不够融洽等问题。针对这些问题 ,相应地提出了社区社会经济可持续发展的一系列对策     

土壤动物对三江平原典型毛果苔草湿地枯落物分解的影响

采用尼龙网分解袋法，从枯落物的分解量、组分含量和分解残留物的热能值3方面，研究了土壤动物对三江平原毛果苔草（Carex lasiocarpa）湿地枯落物分解的影响。结果表明，土壤动物加速了枯落物的分解，大中型土壤动物的分解作用大于小型土壤动物；土壤动物增加了枯落物中腐殖酸、纤维素和木质素等物质含量以及C／N比值的变化幅度，促进了枯落物组分的释放；土壤动物影响枯落物分解过程中的能量流动；但土壤动物并未影响枯落物分解的总体变化趋势，土壤动物对枯落物分解不起决定性作用。     

Predicting species distributions: use of climatic parameters in BIOCLIM and its impact on predictions of species’ current and future distributions

Bioclimatic models are widely used tools for assessing potential responses of species to climate change. One commonly used model is BIOCLIM, which summarises up to 35 climatic parameters throughout a species’ known range, and assesses the climatic suitability of habitat under current and future climate scenarios. A criticism of BIOCLIM is that the use of all 35 parameters may lead to over-fitting of the model, which in turn may result in misrepresentations of species’ potential ranges and to the loss of biological reality. In this study, we investigated how different methods of combining climatic parameters in BIOCLIM influenced predictions of the current distributions of 25 Australian butterflies species. Distributions were modeled using three previously used methods of selecting climatic parameters: (i) the full set of 35 parameters, (ii) a customised selection of the most relevant parameters for individual species based on analysing histograms produced by BIOCLIM, which show the values for each parameter at all of the focal species known locations, and (iii) a subset of 8 parameters that may generally influence the distributions of butterflies. We also modeled distributions based on random selections of parameters. Further, we assessed the extent to which parameter choice influenced predictions of the magnitude and direction of range changes under two climate change scenarios for 2020. We found that the size of predicted distributions was negatively correlated with the number of parameters incorporated in the model, with progressive addition of parameters resulting in progressively narrower potential distributions. There was also redundancy amongst some parameters; distributions produced using all 35 parameters were on average half the size of distributions produced using only 6 parameters. The selection of parameters via histogram analysis was influenced, to an extent, by the number of location records for the focal species. Further, species inhabiting different biogeographical zones may have different sets of climatic parameters limiting their distributions; hence, the appropriateness of applying the same subset of parameters to all species may be reduced under these situations. Under future climates, most species were predicted to suffer range reductions regardless of the scenario used and the method of parameter selection. Although the size of predicted distributions varied considerably depending on the method of selecting parameters, there were no significant differences in the proportional change in range size between the three methods: under the worst-case scenario, species’ distributions decrease by an average of 12.6, 11.4, and 15.7%, using all parameters, the ‘customised set’, and the ‘general set’ of parameters, respectively. However, depending on which method of selecting parameters was used, the direction of change was reversed for two species under the worst-case climate change scenario, and for six species under the best-case scenario (out of a total of 25 species). These results suggest that when averaged over multiple species, the proportional loss or gain of climatically suitable habitat is relatively insensitive to the number of parameters used to predict distributions with BIOCLIM. However, when measuring the response of specific species or the actual size of distributions, the number of parameters is likely to be critical.     

Carotenoid patterns in twenty-nine species of sponges in the order Poecilosclerida (Porifera: Demospongiae): a possible tool for chemosystematics

We assessed the utility of separated carotenoid mixtures for sponge systematics. Carotenoids were extracted from 29 species of 22 genera of 6 families for the demosponge order Poecilosclerida. Mixtures were separated (by thinlayer chromatography on silica gel) without chemical modification and after alteration by saponification, reduction or acetylation or a combination thereof. This approach allowed analysis of individual colonies of less than 1 g wet weight. Relationships among taxa were determined through use of Lawson's similarity index and discriminative analysis. Analysis of multiple runs of fractions from one individual of Ophlitaspongia pennata showed the method to be consistent and reliable. Comparison of specimens of species collected at different localities and times showed high correspondence of carotenoid patterns except in those species suspected of representing species complexes. Analysis of members of the family Clathriidae and of relationships within the order Poecilosclerida suggest that fatty acids esterified to carotenoids may be family-specific and of more taxonomic value than carotenoids. The importance of testing for seasonal, geographic and habitat variability in biochemical patterns is stressed. We discuss the significance of these methods to sponge systematics and their use in comparative studies.     

Distribution and ecology of the pelagic hydromedusae,siphonophores and ctenophores of the Barents Sea,based on perennial plankton collections

The evaluation of more than 10,000 samples of plankton, taken at standard stations from 1953 to 1960 in the Barents Sea, made it possible to supplement considerably the species list of medusae, siphonophores, and ctenophores, and to revise some ecological and biogeographical characteristics of many of them. Quantitative data, assembled over many years, on the occurrence of the above-mentioned groups, demonstrated the impossibility of using the vast majority of representatives of this fauna as biological indicators. During the very warm year of 1960, reproductively and vegetatively cold-adapted forms produced the same population increase as the thermophilic forms. The change in thermal conditions influenced these animals indirectly via a favourable biotic situation due to a prolongation of the nutrition period. The capability to vary the number of eggs, timing, rates and types of reproduction, to withstand long periods of starvation, etc., facilitates a flexible synchronization of the population dynamics of these pelagic predators with the quantity of plankton used for nutrition. The same properties stipulate the possibility of seasonal and annual meandering in regard to the boundaries of the water areas occupied.     

Estimating net benefits of recreation under conditions of excess demand

The public provision of outdoor recreation necessitates the development of nonmarket measures of the value of resources in recreational use. Such values can be used as surrogates for market values in the decision-making process. Another aspect of recreation as a publicly provided good is the absence of a mechanism to eliminate automatically excess demand. The absence of such a mechanism has resulted in conditions of excess demand at many recreation sites.This paper deduces the implications of excess demand for the travel cost method of benefit estimation. We show that when excess demand results in rationing at a particular site, the travel cost method will underestimate the true benefits of the site. The results are important because they help identify the direction of bias of one measure of the benefits from the use of a natural resource.