Heat Shielding: A Novel Method of Colonial Thermoregulation in Honey Bees

 Honey bees, Apis mellifera, maintain constant colony temperatures throughout the year. Honey bees fan their wings to cool the colony, and often spread fluid in conjunction with this behavior to induce evaporative cooling. We present an additional, previously undescribed mechanism used by the honey bee to maintain constant colony temperature in response to localized temperature increases. Worker bees shield the comb from external heat sources by positioning themselves on hot interior regions of the hive's walls. Although honey comb and brood comb were both shielded, the temperature-sensitive brood received a greater number of heat shielders and was thus better protected from overheating. Heat shielding appears to be a context-dependent adaptive behavior performed by worker bees who would previously have been considered "unemployed." Received: 16 November 1998 / Accepted in revised form: 31 March 1999     

Gravity-Independent Orientation of Honeycomb Cells

 Honey bees have long been assumed to build their comb with the cells in either of two preferred orientations with respect to gravity ("vertical" or "horizontal"). I show here that these typical cell orientations in fact derive from substrate orientation and a simple building rule, rather than the influence of gravity itself. When bees were induced to build comb on substrates at four different orientations with respect to gravity, they always made cells with one vertex pointing directly toward the substrate. This produced horizontal and vertical cells on vertical and horizontal substrates, respectively, but yielded intermediate orientations on oblique substrates. The apparent preference for vertical and horizontal cells may simply reflect substrate orientation in the rectilinear hives from which cell measurements have been taken. Received: 27 July 1999 / Accepted in revised form: 20 September 1999     

Indirect defense in a highly specific ant–plant mutualism

Although associations between myrmecophytes and their plant ants are recognized as a particularly effective form of protective mutualism, their functioning remains incompletely understood. This field study examined the ant-plant Hirtella physophora and its obligate ant associate Allomerus decemarticulatus. We formulated two hypotheses on the highly specific nature of this association: (1) Ant presence should be correlated with a marked reduction in the amount of herbivory on the plant foliage; (2) ant activity should be consistent with the "optimal defense" theory predicting that the most vulnerable and valuable parts of the plant are the best defended. We validated the first hypothesis by demonstrating that for ant-excluded plants, expanding leaves, but also newly matured ones in the long term, suffered significantly more herbivore damage than ant-inhabited plants. We showed that A. decemarticulatus workers represent both constitutive and inducible defenses for their host, by patrolling its foliage and rapidly recruiting nestmates to foliar wounds. On examining how these activities change according to the leaves’ developmental stage, we found that the number of patrolling ants dramatically decreased as the leaves matured, while leaf wounds induced ant recruitment regardless of the leaf’s age. The resulting level of these indirect defenses was roughly proportional to leaf vulnerability and value during its development, thus validating our second hypothesis predicting optimal protection. This led us to discuss the factors influencing ant activity on the plant’s surface. Our study emphasizes the importance of studying both the constitutive and inducible components of indirect defense when evaluating its efficacy and optimality.     

不同雨强下黄棕壤坡耕地径流养分输出机制研究

为揭示三峡库区坡耕地在不同雨强下氮、磷养分随地表径流和壤中流的输出规律,在香溪河流域选择具有代表性的黄棕壤坡耕地进行原位人工模拟降雨试验.结果表明,在降雨总量一定的情况下,随雨强的增大,地表径流量、径流总量、泥沙侵蚀量均呈明显的增加趋势,而壤中流流量减少.不同雨强下地表径流中TN、DN、DP均存在明显的初期径流冲刷效应,TP在整个降雨过程中波动较大,呈微弱降低的变化趋势;壤中流中TN、DN、DP随降雨持续输出浓度无明显变化,TP在径流初期出现浓度峰值,之后减少并趋于稳定.雨强对磷素的影响更直接,雨强越大,磷素径流浓度也越大,氮、磷养分的平均浓度均远超出水体富营养化阈值.随雨强的增大,TN径流流失量减小,TP流失量增大,TN随地表径流流失贡献率随雨强的增大由36.5%增加至57.6%,磷素以地表径流为主,贡献率达90.0%以上,因此,控氮关键是减少壤中流的产生,控磷则需防止土壤侵蚀.随雨强的减小,地表径流中以溶解态流失的氮素比例升高,壤中流中均以溶解态为主,磷素的流失在不同雨强和径流形式下均以颗粒态为主.     

A gas exchange system to study the effects of leaf surface wetness on the deposition of ozone

A leaf chamber system has been developed for measuring the uptake of ozone (O₃) by whole plant leaves artificially wetted with dew or raindrops. Tests showed negligible amounts of O₃ being lost on internal walls of the chamber, and good heat and mass transfer characteristics without the use of internal mixing fans. The system enables easy and accurate determination of pollutant uptake by wet and dry foliage.Measurements of O₃ fluxes to individual leaves indicate that leaf surface wetness, either in the form of a dew layer or raindrops, on the adaxial surface of hypostomatous red maple leaves, enhances the deposition of O₃. The increased O₃ deposition is ascribed mainly to the presence of compounds in aqueous form that readily scavenge O₃, with a lesser additional contribution from decreased stomatal resistance to O₃ diffusion.     

Acoustic mirror effect increases prey detection distance in trawling bats

Many different and phylogenetically distant species of bats forage for insects above water bodies and take insects from and close to the surface; the so-called trawling behaviour. Detection of surface-based prey by echolocation is facilitated by acoustically smooth backgrounds such as water surfaces that reflect sound impinging at an acute angle away from the bat and thereby render a prey object acoustically conspicuous. Previous measurements had shown that the echo amplitude of a target on a smooth surface is higher than that of the same target in mid-air, due to an acoustic mirror effect. In behavioural experiments with three pond bats (Myotis dasycneme), we tested the hypothesis that the maximum distances at which bats can detect prey are larger for prey on smooth surfaces than for the same prey in an airborne situation. We determined the moment of prey detection from a change in echolocation behaviour and measured the detection distance in 3D space from IR-video recordings using stereo-photogrammetry. The bats showed the predicted increase in detection distance for prey on smooth surfaces. The acoustic mirror effect therefore increases search efficiency and contributes to the acoustic advantages encountered by echolocating bats when foraging at low heights above smooth water surfaces. These acoustic advantages may have favoured the repeated evolution of trawling behaviour.     

Methane Ice Worms: Hesiocaeca methanicola Colonizing Fossil Fuel Reserves

 During a research cruise in July 1997 in the Gulf of Mexico we discovered a gas hydrate approximately 1 m thick and over 2 m in diameter which had recently breached the sea floor at a depth of 540 m. The hydrate surface visible from the submarine was considerably greater than that of any other reported hydrate. Two distinct color bands of hydrate were present in the same mound, and the entire exposed surface of the hydrate was infested (2500 individuals/m²) with 2 to 4 cm-long worms, since described as a new species, Hesiocaeca methanicola, in the polychaete family Hesionidae (Desbruyères and Toulmond 1998). H. methanicola tissue stable isotope values are consistent with a chemoautotrophic food source. No evidence of chemoautotrophic symbionts was detected, but geochemical data support the presence of abundant free living bacteria on the hydrate. The activities of the polychaetes, grazing on the hydrate bacteria and supplying oxygen to their habitats, appears to contribute to the dissolution of hydrates in surface sediments. Received: 16 August 1999 / Accepted in revised form: 19 January 2000     

Social waves in giant honeybees (Apis dorsata) elicit nest vibrations

Giant honeybees (Apis dorsata) nest in the open and have developed a wide array of strategies for colony defence, including the Mexican wave-like shimmering behaviour. In this collective response, the colony members perform upward flipping of their abdomens in coordinated cascades across the nest surface. The time–space properties of these emergent waves are response patterns which have become of adaptive significance for repelling enemies in the visual domain. We report for the first time that the mechanical impulse patterns provoked by these social waves and measured by laser Doppler vibrometry generate vibrations at the central comb of the nest at the basic (=‘natural’) frequency of 2.156?±?0.042 Hz which is more than double the average repetition rate of the driving shimmering waves. Analysis of the Fourier spectra of the comb vibrations under quiescence and arousal conditions provoked by mass flight activity and shimmering waves gives rise to the proposal of two possible models for the compound physical system of the bee nest: According to the elastic oscillatory plate model, the comb vibrations deliver supra-threshold cues preferentially to those colony members positioned close to the comb. The mechanical pendulum model predicts that the comb vibrations are sensed by the members of the bee curtain in general, enabling mechanoreceptive signalling across the nest, also through the comb itself. The findings show that weak and stochastic forces, such as general quiescence or diffuse mass flight activity, cause a harmonic frequency spectrum of the comb, driving the comb as an elastic plate. However, shimmering waves provide sufficiently strong forces to move the nest as a mechanical pendulum. This vibratory behaviour may support the colony-intrinsic information hypothesis herein that the mechanical vibrations of the comb provoked by shimmering do have the potential to facilitate immediate communication of the momentary defensive state of the honeybee nest to the majority of its members.     

The response of Trissolcus basalis to footprint contact kairomones from Nezara viridula females is mediated by leaf epicuticular waxes

Chemical footprints left behind by true bugs are perceived as contact kairomones by scelionid egg parasitoids. Female wasps encountering a contaminated artificial substrate display a characteristic arrestment posture, holding the body motionless and antennating the surface. In the system Nezara viridula (L.) and its egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston), previous studies have shown that the kairomone mediating such behavior is part of N. viridula’s cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) and furthermore that the wasp’s ability to discriminate host male and female footprints is mainly based on the presence/absence of nonadecane (nC₁₉). In this study, the effect of epicuticular waxes of leaves of broad bean, Vicia faba, on wasp responses to footprints of N. viridula females were investigated. Approximately 20% of T. basalis females displayed an arrestment posture when released on the adaxial leaf surfaces of broad bean plants with intact wax layer and without host chemical contamination; whereas ∼70% of wasps displayed the arrestment posture when intact leaves were contaminated by host female footprints. Adaxial leaf surfaces of broad bean plants dewaxed with an aqueous solution of gum arabic and afterwards contaminated by N. viridula females induced arrestment responses in about 10% of female wasps; the same percentage of arrestment (10%) was observed when the wasps were released on leaves contaminated by host females and subsequently dewaxed. The side of the polymer film that was appressed to the leaf surface, peeled from the contaminated leaves, induced an arrestment posture in about 95% of observed wasps. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the epicuticular waxes occurred as a film densely crystallized as irregularly shaped platelets with spherical granules randomly distributed. These findings demonstrated that epicuticular waxes of broad bean leaves can mediate the foraging behavior of T. basalis females by absorbing contact kairomones of the host.     

Low chitinase activity in Acacia myrmecophytes: a potential trade-off between biotic and chemical defences?

 We determined chitinase activity in leaves of four myrmecophytic and four non-myrmecophytic leguminous species at the plants' natural growing sites in Mexico. Myrmecophytic plants (or 'ant plants') have obligate mutualisms with ants protecting them against herbivores and pathogenic fungi. Plant chitinases can be considered a reliable measure of plant resistance to pathogenic fungi. The myrmecophytic Acacia species, which were colonised by mutualistic ants, exhibited at least six-fold lower levels of chitinase activity compared with the non-myrmecophytic Acacia farnesiana and three other non-myrmecophytes. Though belonging to different phylogenetic groups, the myrmecophytic Acacia species formed one distinct group in the data set, which was clearly separated from the non-myrmecophytic species. These findings allowed for comparison between two recent hypotheses that attempt to explain low chitinase activity in ant plants. Most probably, chitinases are reduced in myrmecophytic plant species because these are effectively defended indirectly due to their symbiosis with mutualistic ants. Received: 16 August 2000 / Accepted in revised form: 28 October 2000     

Positive polarotaxis in a mayfly that never leaves the water surface: polarotactic water detection in Palingenia longicauda (Ephemeroptera)

Tisza mayflies, Palingenia longicauda (Olivier 1791), swarm exclusively over the river Tisza (from which the name of the mayfly was derived). This river is bordered by a high vertical wall of trees and bushes, which hinder P. longicauda to move away horizontally from the water. During swarming, Tisza mayflies fly immediately above the river in such a way that their cerci touch the water frequently or sweep its surface. This continuous close connection with water and the vertical wall of the shore and riparian vegetation result in that Tisza mayflies never leave the water surface; consequently, they need not search for water. Several Ephemeroptera species move away far from water and return to it guided by the horizontal polarization of water-reflected light. To reveal whether also P. longicauda is or is not polarotactic, we performed a field experiment during the very short swarming period of Tisza mayflies. We show here that also P. longicauda has positive polarotaxis, which, however, can be observed only under unnatural conditions, when the animals are displaced from the water and then released above artificial test surfaces. P. longicauda is the first species in which polarotactic water detection is demonstrated albeit it never leaves the water surface, and thus, a polarotactic water detection seems unnecessary for it. The polarotactic behaviour of Tisza mayflies explains the earlier observation that these insects swarm above wet asphalt roads running next to river Tisza.     

水稻对气态单质汞的吸收与挥发

湿地是汞的重要富集场所,其还原性底质会促进气态单质汞的产生.湿地植物已进化出一系列适应淹水环境的生态特征,其中发达的通气组织可以从大气向根部输送氧气满足根系的呼吸作用.以水稻这一典型的湿地植物为例,研究其根系及通气组织是否也能成为根际气态汞向大气运输的通道,并探究其过程和影响因素.通过设计密闭分室培养装置将水稻根部与地上部分隔开,对水稻根部进行汞蒸气暴露,并通过气体吸收剂吸收由叶片挥发出的气态汞.结果表明,水稻可以从根系吸收气态单质汞并向地上组织迁移,其中根系的汞含量与水稻根孔隙度呈显著负相关,并呈二次拟合(R=0.8309,P0.01);而水稻地上部汞迁移量与水稻根表面积和根体积均呈线性正相关(R=0.896,P0.01;R=0.871,P0.01).由根系吸收的汞最终可通过水稻叶片挥发进入大气,叶片汞的挥发量随着叶片面积的增加呈线性增加(R=0.897,P0.01),单位叶面积汞挥发量与水稻蒸腾作用强度呈线性显著正相关(R=0.73,P0.01).证明了水稻根系不仅能吸收气态单质汞,并且能将汞从根部转运到地上部,再通过叶片的气孔释放到空气中.为进一步揭示湿地生态系统中汞的迁移及调控机制提供了科学依据.     

资源科学几个基本问题的探讨

资源科学的研究领域涉及自然资源和社会资源,但其研究对象不应是具体的资源,而应是区域资源系统。资源科学是建立在地学、社会科学和技术科学等众多学科之间的一门边缘学科,是钱学森所倡导建立的“地理科学”这一科学体系中的一门一级分支学科,其研究对象属于区域发展所依托的“地球表层”的资源范畴。资源科学的学科特点有三:综合性是资源科学区别于其他学科单项资源研究的特色体现,为资源科学的立身之本;区域性是资源科学实现综合研究的途径体现,是研究方式的具体表达,是资源科学的立命之道;交叉性是资源科学研究课题的来源体现,是学科形成的根源,是资源科学的立世之基。资源科学的学科体系可从两个角度来构建,即按内容层次建立资源科学的内容学科分类体系,按研究对象的性质和研究的方法角度建立资源科学的类型学科分类体系。二者的交叉,可以形成资源科学众多的分支学科,它们共同构成了资源科学的科学体系。     

Hierarchy length in orphaned colonies of the ant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Temnothorax nylanderi</Emphasis>

Workers of the ant Temnothorax nylanderi form dominance orders in orphaned colonies in which only one or a few top-ranking workers begin to produce males from unfertilized eggs. Between one and 11 individuals initiated 80% of all aggression in 14 queenless colonies. As predicted from inclusive fitness models (Molet M, van Baalen M, Monnin T, Insectes Soc 52:247–256, 2005), hierarchy length was found to first increase with colony size and then to level off at larger worker numbers. The frequency and skew of aggression decreased with increasing size, indicating that rank orders are less pronounced in larger colonies.     

Host manipulation by the orange leafhopper Cicadulina bipunctata: gall induction on distant leaves by dose-dependent stimulation

The evolution of the gall-inducing ability in insects and the adaptive significance of the galling habit have been addressed by many studies. Cicadulina bipunctata, the maize orange leafhopper, is an ideal study organism for evaluating these topics because it can be mass-reared and it feeds on model plants such as rice (Oryza sativa) and maize (Zea mays). To reveal differences between gall inductions by C. bipunctata and other gall inducers, we conducted four experiments concerning (a) the relationship between the feeding site and gall-induction sites of C. bipunctata on maize, (b) the effects of leafhopper sex and density, (c) the effects of length of infestation on gall induction, and (d) the effects of continuous infestation. C. bipunctata did not induce galls on the leaves where it fed but induced galls on other leaves situated at more distal positions. The degree of gall induction was significantly correlated with infestation density and length. These results indicate that C. bipunctata induces galls in a dose-dependent manner on leaves distant from feeding sites, probably by injecting chemical(s) to the plant during feeding. We suggest that insect galls are induced by a chemical stimulus injected by gall inducers during feeding into the hosts.     

Immigrant Pantoea agglomerans embedded within indigenous microbial aggregates：A novel spatial distribution of epiphytic bacteria

Immigrant bacteria located on leaf surfaces are important to the health of plants as well as to people who consume fresh fruits and vegetables. However, the spatial distribution and organization of these immigrant bacteria on leaf surfaces are still poorly understood. To examine the spatial organization of these strains, two bacterial strains on tobacco leaves： （1） an indigenous strain, Pseudomonas stutzeri Nov. Y2011 labeled with green fluorescent protein, and （2） an immigrant strain Pantoea agglomerans labeled with cyan fluorescent protein isolated from pear, were studied. Under moist conditions, P. agglomerans cells quickly disappeared from direct observation by laser- scanning confocal microscopy, although elution results indicated that large amounts of live cells were still present on the leaves. Following exposure to desiccation stress, particles of cyan fluorescent protein-labeled P. agglomerans were visible within cracked aggregates of P. stutzeri Nov. Y2011. Detailed observation of sectioned aggregates showed that colonies of immigrant P. agglomerans were embedded within aggregates of P. stutzeri Nov. Y2011. Furthermore, carbon-resource partitioning studies suggested that these two species could coexist without significant nutritional competition. This is the first observation of an immigrant bacterium embedding within aggregates of indigenous bacteria on leaves to evade harsh conditions in the phyllosphere.     

维管束植物樟树和马尾松叶组织氮、硫含量指示贵阳地区大气氮、硫沉降的空间变化

同时测定了从贵阳市区到农村3个方向采集的樟树叶、马尾松叶、根际土以及苔藓共计296个样品的氮、硫含量,结合苔藓氮、硫含量估算了相应区域大气氮沉降量和SO_2浓度.结果表明樟树叶氮含量(1.01%~2.37%)和马尾松叶氮含量(0.99%~2.42%)在市区最高,往外明显降低,而在较远农村区域(24 km)又出现回升,反映了农村地区大气输入的氮有所增加;叶硫含量变化范围分别为0.16%~0.43%和0.18%~0.32%,均呈现在市区最高,向外逐渐降低的趋势,在距市区最远处(30~36 km)达到最低值,表明市区的生产生活向大气输入了较高的硫.各区域土壤氮、硫含量均无显著差异,将樟树、松树叶氮、硫含量分别与大气氮沉降量和SO_2浓度(由苔藓氮、硫值计算)进行线性回归分析,发现樟树、松树叶氮含量与大气氮沉降量以及樟树、松树叶硫含量与大气SO_2浓度均呈显著正相关(P0.05).研究表明维管束植物樟树与马尾松叶组织氮、硫含量的变化特征能同时很好地指示贵阳区域大气氮、硫沉降的空间变化.     

N and P dynamics in the litter layer and soil of Mexican semi-arid forests, state of Morelos

In central Mexico, it is common for farmers to retain useful trees in abandoned lands after maize cultivation, creating a park-like landscape of scattered trees for extensive livestock grazing, among other land uses (mature forests, secondary forests, and livestock grazing in secondary forests). Among these trees Acacia cochliancantha and Ipomoea arborescens are the most common species associated with this land use in the region. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of both tree species on soil N and P recycling. To this end, we measured N and P concentrations in leaves of both species; and the seasonal N and P (total and dissolved) content in the litter, and total N and P, inorganic N, and bicarbonate-extractable-P concentrations, and the N transformations in the soil, in samples collected under crown of Acacia and Ipomoea and in open areas. Trees of different species varied in their capacity to cycle N. The leaves of Acacia were richer in N than those of Ipomoea (29.7 and 25.0 mg N g⁻¹, respectively), and nutrient resorption was higher in leguminous trees than in Ipomoea (by 20% in the case of N, and 35% in the case of P). Acacia trees had higher effects on soils than Ipomoea trees, like consistent increases of N concentrations (by 30% in the case of total N, and by 50% in the case of inorganic N) and transformations (N mineralization and nitrification in rainy season increases by a factor of 20 and 36, respectively). On the other hand, Ipomoea produced senescent leaves and accumulated forest litter with less P concentration (0.8 and 0.7 mg P g⁻¹, respectively) in relation to Acacia (senescent leaves: 1.3 mg P g⁻¹; litter: 1.1 mg P g⁻¹), reflecting the lower availability of the nutrient in the soil. The total litter N and P pools decreased in the rainy season under crown of both species, as the dissolved P pool did. The total soil N and P concentrations did not change with sampling season. However, potential N transformations and bicarbonate P under both species were higher in dry season than in rainy season samples. Comparison with other land uses in the region suggests that the Acacia–Ipomoea system cycles low quantity of nutrients, but there are no notable differences in the availability of P in the soils. These results demonstrate that scattered trees improve the N and P cycling following the discontinuation of agricultural practices, and the effects will vary depending on the tree species.     

Rheum palaestinum (desert rhubarb), a self-irrigating desert plant

The rare plant Rheum palaestinum (Polygonaceae) is a perennial hemicryptophyte that grows during the rainy winter in desert mountainous areas in Israel and Jordan that receive an average annual rainfall of ca. 75 mm. It produces between one and four large round leaves that are tightly attached to the ground and form large rosettes of up to 1 m². These leaves differ markedly from the typical small leaves of most desert plants. Moreover, they have a unique 3D morphology resembling a scaled-down mountainous area with well-developed steep drainage systems, raising the question which selective agents were involved in their evolution. We propose that the large leaves collect rainwater that then infiltrates the soil surrounding the root. We measured the seasonal course of leaf growth, examined the area of wet soil surrounding the root after actual and simulated rain, and modeled the water harvesting capacity using the plant leaf area and the weekly precipitation. We show that even in the slightest rains, water flows above the veins to the leaf’s base where it irrigates the vertical root. A typical plant harvests more than 4,100 cm³ of water per year, and enjoys a water regime of about 427 mm/year, equivalent to the water supply in a Mediterranean climate. This is the first example of self-irrigation by large leaves in a desert plant, creating a leaf-made mini oasis. All authors contributed equally to this paper.