Geographical variation in sexual behavior and body traits in a sex role reversed wolf spider

Mating partners need to recognize, assess each other, and exchange information through behavioral events that occur before, during, and after mating. Sexual signals, as well as life history traits, are influenced by selective pressures and environmental factors that can vary across distant geographical areas. Allocosa senex is a sand-dwelling wolf spider which constructs burrows along the sandy coasts of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Females are the mobile sex that searches for males and initiates courtship. They prefer males which construct longer burrows, and males prefer virgin females in good body condition. The objective of this study was to compare sexual behavior patterns, as well as body characteristics and burrow dimensions, between two geographically distant locations of A. senex, one in Uruguay (Uruguayan location) and the other from central Argentina (Argentinean location). We found differences in the number of male abdominal vibrations, male and female touches during mating, and number of erections of male leg spines, which all were higher in matings of Argentinean pairs. On the other hand, male body mass and female body condition were higher in Uruguayan individuals. The wide distribution of A. senex could be determining variations in the biotic and abiotic features that affect the species, generating differences in the strength of selective forces acting on individuals from the two studied locations.     

Nutrient compensatory foraging in a free-living social insect

The geometric framework model predicts that animal foraging decisions are influenced by their dietary history, with animals targeting a combination of essential nutrients through compensatory foraging. We provide experimental confirmation of nutrient-specific compensatory foraging in a natural, free-living population of social insects by supplementing their diet with sources of protein- or carbohydrate-rich food. Colonies of the ant Iridomyrmex suchieri were provided with feeders containing food rich in either carbohydrate or protein for 6 days, and were then provided with a feeder containing the same or different diet. The patterns of recruitment were consistent with the geometric framework: while feeders with a carbohydrate diet typically attracted more workers than did feeders with protein diet, the difference in recruitment between the two nutrients was smaller if the colonies had had prior access to carbohydrate than protein. Further, fewer ants visited feeders if the colony had had prior access to protein than to carbohydrates, suggesting that the larvae play a role in worker foraging behaviour.     

Sexual dimorphism in immune function changes during the annual cycle in house sparrows

Difference between sexes in parasitism is a common phenomenon among birds, which may be related to differences between males and females in their investment into immune functions or as a consequence of differential exposure to parasites. Because life-history strategies change sex specifically during the annual cycle, immunological responses of the host aiming to reduce the impact of parasites may be sexually dimorphic. Despite the great complexity of the immune system, studies on immunoecology generally characterise the immune status through a few variables, often overlooking potentially important seasonal and gender effects. However, because of the differences in physiological and defence mechanisms among different arms of the immune system, we expect divergent responses of immune components to environmental seasonality. In male and female house sparrows (Passer domesticus), we measured the major components of the immune system (innate, acquired, cellular and humoral) during four important life-history stages across the year: (1) mating, (2) breeding, (3) moulting and (4) during the winter capture and also following introduction to captivity in aviary. Different individuals were sampled from the same population during the four life cycle stages. We found that three out of eight immune variables showed a significant life cycle stage × sex interaction. The difference in immune response between the sexes was significant in five immune variables during the mating stage, when females had consistently stronger immune function than males, while variables varied generally non-significantly with sex during the remaining three life cycle stages. Our results show that the immune system is highly variable between life cycle stages and sexes, highlighting the potential fine tuning of the immune system to specific physiological states and environmental conditions.     

Collective retention and transmission of chemical signals in a social insect

Social insect colonies exhibit highly coordinated responses to ecological challenges by acquiring information that is disseminated throughout the colony. Some responses are coordinated directly from the signals produced by individuals that acquired the information. Other responses may require information to be transferred indirectly through a third party, thereby requiring colony-wide retention of information. Social insects use colony signature odours to distinguish between nestmates and non-nestmates, and the level of aggression between non-nestmates typically varies according to the distance between colonies and thus their history of interactions. Such coordinated, colony-specific responses may require information about particular odours to be disseminated and retained across the colony. Our field experiments with weaver ants reveal colony-wide, indirect acquisition and retention of the signature odours of a different colony with which they had experienced aggression. These data highlight the significance of interaction history and suggest the presence of a collective memory.     

Sex-dependent immune response in a semelparous spider

Previous studies on arthropods showed that seasonality and parity in breeding considerably impact the direction of sex differences in immunocompetence, and it has been suggested that life span and the time window available for breeding play key roles in shaping sex-differences in immunity. One proposed mechanism behind this phenomenon is differential investment into life history traits in sexes. Here, we tested whether in a seasonally breeding semelparous arthropod sexes differ in their immunocompetence, predicting that females would show weaker immune response than males. We compared encapsulation efficiency (a well-established and widely used method for assessing immunocompetence) of freshly matured, virgin males and females of the lycosid spider Pardosa agrestis (Westring, 1861). On average, males mounted stronger immune response than females and the extent of encapsulation was positively associated with prosoma length in males, but not in females. Also, time until maturation was positively related to the extent of encapsulation in both sexes, but did not significantly affect adult prosoma length. We propose that sex-difference in encapsulation is likely shaped by combined effects of relatively higher costs of reproduction in females, narrow time window of reproductive activity, and the absence of trade-off between current and future reproduction.     

Adult flight in a water strider exposed to habitat drydown in the larval stages

Aquarius paludum inhabits a wide variety of water surfaces, ranging from temporary to permanent ponds and lakes throughout the Palearctic. Thus, some larvae of A. paludum will be exposed to habitats that dry out. We assess here the influence of drying on water strider growth and development. When exposed to drying-out in the larval stage, the growth period was prolonged. Drying-out during one of the first three instars was associated with longer maintenance of flight muscles without histolysis and reduced the number of eggs laid by long-winged (LW) adults that shifted to a "flyer" strategy. Alternatively, adults exposed to dry habitats during whole larval period expressed shorter preoviposition periods and shifted to a "non-flying, reproducer" strategy. These contrasting responses to drying can be understood as flexible physiological functions depending on the drying history to which larvae are exposed. This flexibility may be a significant factor in allowing A. paludum to occupy such a wide range of habitats in Eurasia.     

辽河保护区土壤保持功能时空变化及其影响因素分析

土壤保持是生态系统提供的调节服务之一,在维持生态安全等方面发挥着重要作用。以辽河保护区为研究对象,基于中国土壤流失方程(CSLE)模型和地理探测器等方法,开展土壤保持功能时空变化及影响因素分析。结果表明:2010—2018年辽河保护区土壤以微度和轻度侵蚀为主,土壤侵蚀量呈降低趋势,土壤侵蚀严重的区域主要位于河流两侧及下段;土壤保持功能不断增强,土壤保持量较高的区域集中在河流上段和中段;土壤保持功能表现出随降水量、高程增加先减少后增加,随坡度和植被覆盖度增加而增加的趋势,在林地—耕地—草地—灌木林梯度上呈递减趋势;土地利用类型是影响辽河保护区土壤保持格局的主导因素;土地利用类型为耕地,降水量为657~735 mm,坡度为35°~68°,高程为-73~-26 m,植被覆盖度为0~0.3时,土壤保持能力最低,坡度和土地利用类型的交互作用对土壤保持能力变化的解释力最强。     

Effects of life-history traits on parasitism in a monogamous mammal, the eastern rock sengi (Elephantulus myurus)

The distribution of parasites is often characterised by substantial aggregation with a small proportion of hosts harbouring the majority of parasites. This pattern can be generated by abiotic and biotic factors that affect hosts and determine host exposure and susceptibility to parasites. Climate factors can change a host’s investment in life-history traits (e.g. growth, reproduction) generating temporal patterns of parasite aggregation. Similarly, host age may affect such investment. Furthermore, sex-biased parasitism is common among vertebrates and has been linked to sexual dimorphism in morphology, behaviour and physiology. Studies exploring sex-biased parasitism have been almost exclusively conducted on polygynous species where dimorphic traits are often correlated. We investigated the effects of season and life-history traits on tick loads of the monogamous eastern rock sengi (Elephantulus myurus). We found larger tick burdens during the non-breeding season possibly as a result of energetic constraints and/or climate effects on the tick. Reproductive investment resulted in increased larval abundance for females but not males and may be linked to sex-specific life-history strategies. The costs of reproduction could also explain the observed age effect with yearling individuals harbouring lower larval burdens than adults. Although adult males had the greatest larval tick loads, host sex appears to play a minor role in generating the observed parasite heterogeneities. Our study suggests that reproductive investment plays a major role for parasite patterns in the study species.     

Transient expression of protein tyrosine phosphatases encoded in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cotesia plutellae</Emphasis> bracovirus inhibits insect cellular immune responses

Several immunosuppressive factors are associated with parasitism of an endoparasitoid wasp, Cotesia plutellae, on the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. C. plutellae bracovirus (CpBV) encodes a large number of putative protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), which may play a role in inhibiting host cellular immunity. To address this inhibitory hypothesis of CpBV-PTPs, we performed transient expression of individual CpBV-PTPs in hemocytes of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua, and analyzed their cellular immune responses. Two different forms of CpBV-PTPs were chosen and cloned into a eukaryotic expression vector under the control of the p10 promoter of baculovirus: one with the normal cysteine active site (CpBV-PTP1) and the other with a mutated active site (CpBV-PTP5). The hemocytes transfected with CpBV-PTP1 significantly increased in PTP activity compared to control hemocytes, but those with CpBV-PTP5 exhibited a significant decrease in the PTP activity. All transfected hemocytes exhibited a significant reduction in both cell spreading and encapsulation activities compared to control hemocytes. Co-transfection of CpBV-PTP1 together with its double-stranded RNA reduced the messenger RNA (mRNA) level of CpBV-PTP1 and resulted in recovery of both hemocyte behaviors. This is the first report demonstrating that the polydnaviral PTPs can manipulate PTP activity of the hemocytes to interrupt cellular immune responses.     

Mixing regime shapes the community assembly process, microbial interaction and proliferation of cyanobacterial species Planktothrix in a stratified lake

Lake mixing influences aquatic chemical properties and microbial community composition,and thus, we hypothesized that it would alter microbial community assembly and interaction. To clarify this issue, we explored the community assembly processes and cooccurrence networks in four seasons at two depths(epilimnion and hypolimnion) in a mesotrophic and stratified lake(Chenghai Lake), which formed stratification in the summer and turnover in the winter. During the stratification period, the epilimni...     

大型再生水厂不同工艺的COD、TN和TP去除效果及其影响因素分析

以北京某大型再生水厂为研究对象,通过统计分析历史数据,系统研究了2008和2013年不同工艺(倒置A2/O工艺、A2/O工艺、A2/OMBR工艺)中主要污染物COD、TN和TP去除效果的年际、年内汛期、寒冷季和温暖季的变化特征,并分析了2013年这3种污染物去除效果变化的影响因素.结果表明,同2008年相比,2013年不仅进水的COD浓度升高,TN浓度和TP浓度降低,导致进水的碳/氮/磷比值从2008年的100∶14.5∶1.4升高到2013年的100∶10.1∶0.9,而且主要污染物去除效果均有明显改善,改善幅度依次为TPCODTN.年内变化特征表现为:汛期进水COD、TN和TP的浓度降低但波动加剧,它们的去除率降低,因此汛期出水COD稳定、TN浓度降低而TP浓度波动;温暖季进水COD、TN和TP的浓度高,它们的去除率有不同程度提高,因此温暖季出水的TN浓度波动较大、COD和TP浓度稳定.冗余分析(RDA)结果表明,一期倒置A2/O工艺的出水TN和TP浓度同步波动,主要受工况变化影响,脱氮除磷的碳源竞争是导致出水TN浓度降低、TP浓度升高的重要原因.二期A2/O工艺的出水COD浓度和TN浓度主要受进水水质波动影响.三期A2/O-MBR工艺的出水水质最稳定,膜运行性能至关重要.     

Seasonal variation of indoor radon and its progeny concentration in a dwelling

Because of the pronounced seasonal variation in the indoor levels of Rn concentration, it is necessary to make measurements over the entire period to arrive at an average of annual dose to the occupants. This paper gives the results of a study made on the seasonal variation of indoor Rn and its progeny concentration in a house in Bombay. It has been observed that the indoor Rn concentration follows a specific trend of seasonal variation. An average annual effective dose equivalent of 0.48 mSv has been estimated for the occupants of the house.     

Temporal nutrient variation in soil and vegetation of post-forest pastures as a function of soil order,pasture age,and management,Rondônia,Brazil

Understanding pasture degradation processes is key for sustainable development in the Amazon region. Pasture degradation can be indexed by pasture nutritional status, which is impacted by environmental and human related factors. Most studies of the biogeochemistry of Amazonian pastures have been restricted to highly acidic soils with little focus on how management affects pasture biogeochemistry. We investigated soil physical and chemical properties and grass nutrients under different edaphic conditions and management practices in Rondônia state, in the southwestern Amazon region. Our objectives were to analyze the impacts of soil order, pasture age, and pasture management on soil fertility, bulk density and plant nutrients, in order to understand sustainability needs for the future of this region. We sampled 17 study sites on Oxisols, Ultisols, and Alfisols. The pasture age classes we used consisted of 6–10, 11–15, and >16 years including forest as the control. We also evaluated the impact of beef and dairy management strategies on pastures installed on Ultisols. Pastures on Alfisols showed the highest soil P, Ca, and base saturation, properties that decreased gradually after 5 years of pasture installation. In contrast, pastures on Oxisols showed low and stable levels of nutrients regardless of age. Foliar nutrient concentrations appear to be influenced by edaphic conditions. Soil P and foliar P concentration were highly correlated. In general, pasture age was a poor indicator of soil fertility and foliar chemistry because of high variability among pastures belonging to the same soil order. In terms of the impacts of pasture management, we did not observe significant differences in soil or foliar properties in pasture used for beef and dairy on Ultisols.     

Temperature and parasitism by <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Asobara tabida</Emphasis> (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) influence larval pupation behaviour in two <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Drosophila</Emphasis> species

In holometabolous insects, pupation site selection behaviour has large consequences for survival. Here, we investigated the combined effects of temperature and parasitism by the parasitoid Asobara tabida on larval pupation behaviour in two of its main Drosophila sp. hosts differing in their climate origin. We found that larvae of Drosophila melanogaster—a species with a (sub)tropical origin—placed at 25°C pupated higher in rearing jars than those placed at 15°C. The opposite pattern was observed for Drosophila subobscura larvae—a species from temperate regions—which pupated lower, i.e. on or near the substrate at 25°C, than those placed at 15°C. When placed at 25°C, parasitized larvae of both species pupated closer to the substrate than unparasitized ones. Moreover, the Drosophila larvae that had been exposed and probably stung by A. tabida, but were not parasitized, pupated lower than the control unparasitized larvae. These results provide new insights of host behaviour manipulation by A. tabida larvae.     

Cross-habitat variation in the phenology of a colonial spider: insights from a reciprocal transplant study

In species with widespread distribution, populations found in markedly different environments can show differences in developmental traits. This, in time, can have an effect on reproductive success. Sources of variation in developmental traits can be genetic or environmentally induced. I examined the relationship between environmental and genetic influences on juvenile development in populations of the colonial spider, Parawixia bistriata, located at sites with different moisture regimes and associated environmental variables (e.g., prey availability). It was expected that individuals from different populations would show differences in developmental traits and that those differences will be associated with lower reproductive success at dry sites. I recorded the phenology and developmental traits of native and transplanted individuals in the field and estimated reproductive success based on clutch size. Colonies from wet versus dry sites showed different phenologies, with individuals at dry sites maturing later. Transplant results suggest plasticity in instar duration caused by environmental effects. Despite differences in resources and spider phenology, clutch sizes of native dry and wet populations were similar. Transplanted individuals, however, were differentially affected. Transplants from wet to dry sites (WD) showed lower growth rates and smaller clutches, whereas transplants from dry to wet sites had larger clutch sizes than in native habitat. Delayed maturation and failure to reproduce in WD individuals is associated with a lower tendency to capture prey in groups and less aggressive interactions during prey capture. Thus, despite negative environmental effects on development, dry native individuals have evolved non-developmental traits that allow successful reproduction.     

Temporal variation in size-assortative mating and male mate choice in a spider with amphisexual care

Males should be more selective when they have a high investment in reproduction, especially in species with biparental or paternal care. In this context, male mate choice can promote size-assortative mating (SAM) when (1) large males win intrasexual disputes, (2) large females are more fecund, and (3) males prefer larger females to smaller ones. In the spider Manogea porracea, males exhibit high reproductive investment by building their webs above those of females and exhibiting extended care of offspring in the absence of females. Under these circumstances, we expect the occurrence of SAM and male preference for large females. Herein, we performed observations and experiments in the field to evaluate the hypotheses that (1) M. porracea mates assortatively by size and (2) SAM is influenced by male mate choice. Furthermore, we measured variables that could affect mating patterns, the sex ratios, and densities of both sexes. Pairing in M. porracea was positively size-assortative in 2012, but not in 2013. Large males won most disputes for mates and preferred larger females, which produced more eggs. The inconsistency in detection of SAM was due to population dynamics, namely variations in sex ratio and population density across the breeding season. Furthermore, we found that the significance of male mate choice on sexual selection of body size in M. porracea strongly depends on the competition intensity for mating opportunities. The traditional sexual selection hypothesis of SAM needs to be reviewed and must include measures of competition intensity.