一株Ⅱ型甲烷氧化菌的筛选及培养条件

甲烷氧化菌能够以甲烷作为唯一碳源和能源物质生存.在甲烷氧化、氯代烃类污染物降解、相关化学品生产等方面具有重要的潜力.利用甲烷作为唯一碳源物质筛选分离得到一株甲烷氧化菌,并对其进行初步鉴定.在此基础上,利用单因子实验和Plackett_Burman实验等方法对获得菌株的培养条件:包括培养基条件(无机氮源种类和浓度、影响显著的金属离子及其浓度、p H值)以及培养温度进行优化.结果表明:经过16S r DNA鉴定,获得菌株与Methylocystis sp.SC2、Methylocystis hiersuta strain SV97等菌株的相似性达到99%,所以确定该菌株属于Methylocystis菌属(Ⅱ型甲烷氧化菌,甲基孢囊菌属),将本菌株命名为Methylocystis sp.M16.以1.0 g/L NH4NO3作氮源,1.0μmol/L铜离子,p H 7.00,温度30℃的条件下,甲烷去除率和菌体生物量最大.在各个因素的最优条件下,Methylocystis sp.M16菌液吸光值(A600 nm)均在0.5以上,甲烷去除率在95%以上.本研究分离得到一株Ⅱ型甲烷氧化菌Methylocystis sp.M16,并获得优化的培养基和培养条件,有望为M16菌应用提供理论参考.     

灰鹤在天山木扎提河湿地越冬及行为观察

于2017年10月—2019年5月,采用直接计数法、瞬时扫描取样法、卫星跟踪和最小凸多边形法(MCP),对新疆阿克苏地区拜城县木扎提河流域灰鹤(Grus grus)的种群特征、活动范围、行为时间分配和行为节律进行调查和分析。结果表明,2019年越冬灰鹤种群数量超过4 700只,较2016年增加1倍多,种群发展动态呈上升趋势。灰鹤主要以家庭群为主(63.90%),聚集群次之(28.62%),孤鹤最少(7.48%)。家庭群主要以2成鸟1幼鸟为主(占46.82%),聚集群以5～8只个体为主(占65.91%)。整个越冬期持续140～160 d,灰鹤越冬期活动距离为1 058 km,活动区域相对固定,活动区域面积为125 km~2。日活动面积和活动距离随着气温的变化而变化,温度降低,日活动范围和活动距离降低;反之,则增加。因此,活动面积和活动距离呈凹形变化,即先增加(10—11月),再逐渐减少(12—1月),然后增加(2—3月)的变化趋势。取食和警戒是灰鹤的主要越冬行为。灰鹤的46.8%日间时间用于取食,17.8%的日间时间用于警戒,用于休息、走动、理羽和其他行为的日间时间分别占13.4%、11.4%、7.4%和3.2%。日取食高峰呈双凸型,出现在8:00—9:00和17:00—18:00,分别达到57.0%和58.5%。休息高峰出现在11:00—15:00,占24.6%,呈单峰型。研究区灰鹤种群面临着放牧、农耕、天敌、道路车辆、低温和人为驱赶等诸多威胁因素。     

草海国家级自然保护区冬季主要水鸟群落结构与生境的关系

于2011年12月至2012年2月对草海湿地国家级自然保护区冬季主要水鸟进行调查,结果表明:(1)共记录草海主要越冬水鸟30种,隶属于6目10科17属,区系上以古北型与全北型居多;(2)雁形目水鸟种类与数量均占优势,白骨顶(Fulica atra)、赤颈鸭(Anas penelope)、斑头雁(Anser indicus)、赤麻鸭(Tadorna ferruginea)、赤膀鸭(Anas strepera)5种水鸟优势度均达10%以上,黑颈鹤(Grus nigricollis)和灰鹤(Grus grus)等珍稀水鸟也具一定的种群数量;(3)5种草海典型生境栖息的水鸟种类与数量存在显著差异(Kruskal-Wallis H Test:n=30,!2=16.1893,P=0.003),浅水区是水鸟多样性最丰富的区域,多样性指数(H'=1.079)和均匀性指数(J'=0.804)均最高,而耕地最低(H'=0.345;J'=0.493);(4)群落聚类显示,草海主要水鸟可分为7类伴生群落,不同群落在不同生境中分布存在一定差异。     

河西走廊极端干旱区PM10质量浓度分布特征及其与气象要素关系研究

利用敦煌和酒泉2007—2011年的PM10质量浓度资料和风速、气温、相对湿度、气压、天气现象等相关气象要素资料,分析了河西走廊西部极端干旱区不同下垫面环境PM。0质量浓度的时空分布特征,结果表明,下垫面是沙地环境的敦煌PMl0质量浓度年平均值为128．9lμg·m-1,明显高于绿洲环境酒泉的76．1mg·m-1两站均是春季大于其他季节,尤以4月最为显著,敦煌和酒泉分别达到272．1lμg·m0和151lμg·m-2;PMl0质量浓度的不同分布特征与气象因素有密切的关系,尤其受沙尘天气的影响较大,其最大值可以反映沙尘天气的强度,非沙尘日PMl0质量浓度在不同下垫面条件下虽有一定相差,但空气质量状况均在“良”以上。两站PM10质量浓度日变化差异较大,敦煌四季的日变化特征均不特别显著,变化比较平稳,基本都呈单峰单谷型分布,最大值出现在17：00时左右,最小值出现在6：00左右;酒泉春、秋季日变化基本一致,呈单峰型,最大值出现在正午时段;夏季日变化规律性不明显,变化幅度比较平缓;冬季呈双峰双谷型,最大值和次大值分别出现在16：00和2：00左右,最小值和次小值分别出现在10：00和0：00左右。进一步分析发现,在沙尘日和非沙尘日PM10质量浓度明显不同,其对应的压、温、湿、风及能见度也有一定规律,沙尘日的日均风速和日最大风速大于非沙尘日,相对湿度、气压和能见度小于非沙尘日。两站的气温、气压、相对湿度、风速等气象要素与PM10质量浓度均有一定相关性,但PM10质量浓度的分布最终是受各要素综合影响的结果,敦煌和酒泉,PM值与PM10质量浓度日均值的相关性都很显著,相关系数分别为0．8961和0．9152,远高于其他各单气象要素与PM10质量浓度的相关性。两站沙尘日的昂M均值分别是非沙尘日2-3倍,因此气象影响指数能有效的区别沙尘日和非沙尘日。IPM的分布也能较好的反映PMl0质量浓度的分布,因此可用抽d来量化评价PM10质量浓度。     

Rapid,recurring, structured survey versus bioblitz for generating biodiversity data and analysis with a multispecies abundance model

A bioblitz inexpensively and quickly generates biodiversity data, but bioblitzes are often conducted with haphazard, unreplicated sampling. Results tend to be taxonomically, geographically, or temporally biased, lack metadata, and consist of lists of observed taxa that do not enable further analyses or correction for imperfect detection. A rapid, recurring, structured survey (RRSS) uses a structured sampling design and temporal and spatial replication to survey randomly selected sites on a conservation property. We participated in a loosely structured bioblitz and a subsequent RRSS at Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve in Springville (St. Clair County), Alabama (USA) to compare observed richness derived from the 2 survey approaches. The RRSS data structure enabled us to fit models that accounted for imperfect detection to estimate abundances, occupancy probabilities, and habitat associations. The loosely structured bioblitz data could not be used in such models. We present a new integrated multispecies abundance model that we applied to avian RRSS data. Our model extension enables estimation for the community, employs data augmentation to estimate the number of undetected species, and incorporates covariates. The RRSS generated a more comprehensive and less biased list of observed taxonomic richness than the loosely structured bioblitz (e.g., 73 vs. 45 bird species and 104 vs. 63 insect families from the RRSS vs. loosely structured bioblitz, respectively). Models fit to the RRSS data identified seasonal patterns in avian community composition and allowed for estimation of habitat–occupancy relationships for insect taxa. The RRSS protocol has potential for broad transferability as a standardized, quick, and inexpensive way to inventory biodiversity and estimate ecological parameters while providing an outreach opportunity.     

Compliance with and ecosystem function of biodiversity offsets in North American and European freshwaters

Land-use change via human development is a major driver of biodiversity loss. To reduce these impacts, billions of dollars are spent on biodiversity offsets. However, studies evaluating offset project effectiveness that examine components such as the overall compliance and function of projects remain rare. We reviewed 577 offsetting projects in freshwater ecosystems that included the metrics project size, type of aquatic system (e.g., wetland and creek), offsetting measure (e.g., enhancement, restoration, and creation), and an assessment of the projects’ compliance and functional success. Project information was obtained from scientific and government databases and gray literature. Despite considerable investment in offsetting projects, crucial problems persisted. Although compliance and function were related to each other, a high level of compliance did not guarantee a high degree of function. However, large projects relative to area had better function than small projects. Function improved when projects targeted productivity or specific ecosystem features and when multiple complementary management targets were in place. Restorative measures were more likely to achieve targets than creating entirely new ecosystems. Altogether the relationships we found highlight specific ecological processes that may help improve offsetting outcomes.     

A palaeo-hydrogeological model for arsenic contamination in southern and south-east Asia

An argument is presented in which areas of natural arsenic contamination of modern groundwaters throughout Asia have a common origin. Arsenic originally accumulated in oceanic ferro-manganoan sediments of the eastern Palaeo-Tethys. This was further concentrated through oceanic crustal extinction in what later became the south-east Chinese accreted mineralised terrain. Proto-Himalayan uplift of this area created the palaeo-drainage systems of the Ganges – Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Mekong, and Red Rivers, with consequent headwater erosion of arsenic-rich sediments. Their downstream deposition as immature and easily redistributed Neogene sandstones, silts, and iron-rich clays has created secondary and tertiary reservoirs of adsorbed and authigenic arsenic, from which the current arsenic-rich groundwaters have evolved. Considering river basins within the above palaeo-hydrogeological framework provides a basis for assessing the risk of arsenic in groundwater basins of south and south-eastern Asia.     

Cost‐effective conservation of an endangered frog under uncertainty

How should managers choose among conservation options when resources are scarce and there is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of actions? Well‐developed tools exist for prioritizing areas for one‐time and binary actions (e.g., protect vs. not protect), but methods for prioritizing incremental or ongoing actions (such as habitat creation and maintenance) remain uncommon. We devised an approach that combines metapopulation viability and cost‐effectiveness analyses to select among alternative conservation actions while accounting for uncertainty. In our study, cost‐effectiveness is the ratio between the benefit of an action and its economic cost, where benefit is the change in metapopulation viability. We applied the approach to the case of the endangered growling grass frog (Litoria raniformis), which is threatened by urban development. We extended a Bayesian model to predict metapopulation viability under 9 urbanization and management scenarios and incorporated the full probability distribution of possible outcomes for each scenario into the cost‐effectiveness analysis. This allowed us to discern between cost‐effective alternatives that were robust to uncertainty and those with a relatively high risk of failure. We found a relatively high risk of extinction following urbanization if the only action was reservation of core habitat; habitat creation actions performed better than enhancement actions; and cost‐effectiveness ranking changed depending on the consideration of uncertainty. Our results suggest that creation and maintenance of wetlands dedicated to L. raniformis is the only cost‐effective action likely to result in a sufficiently low risk of extinction. To our knowledge we are the first study to use Bayesian metapopulation viability analysis to explicitly incorporate parametric and demographic uncertainty into a cost‐effective evaluation of conservation actions. The approach offers guidance to decision makers aiming to achieve cost‐effective conservation under uncertainty.     

Parasitic wasps orient to green leaf volatiles

Summary Undamaged plants emit low levels of green leaf volatiles (GLVs), while caterpillar-damaged and artificially damaged plants emit relatively higher levels of certain GLVs. Female braconid parasitoids,Microplitis croceipes, oriented to both damaged plants and to individual GLVs in no-choice tests in a wind tunnel, but seldom oriented to undamaged plants. Female ichneumonid parasitoids,Netelia heroica, also oriented to individual GLVs in a wind tunnel. Males of both wasp species failed to orient to the GLVs. These data show that leaf-feeding caterpillars can cause the release of GLVs, and that parasitic wasps can respond to these odors by flying upwind (chemoanemotactic response), which brings the wasps to their caterpillar hosts. This supports the hypothesis that plants communicate with members of the third trophic level,i.e., plants under herbivore attack emit chemical signals that guide natural enemies of herbivores to sites of plant damage. In this interaction, the GLVs serve as tritrophic plant-to-parasitoid synomones. That parasitoids from two different wasp families oriented to GLVs suggests that the response may be widespread among the Hymenoptera.Mention of a commercial or proprietary product does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture     

Potential for Electropositive Metal to Reduce the Interactions of Atlantic Sturgeon with Fishing Gear

Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus) populations have been declared either endangered or threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Effective measures to repel sturgeon from fishing gear would be beneficial to both fish and fishers because they could reduce both fishery‐associated mortality and the need for seasonal and area closures of specific fisheries. Some chondrostean fishes (e.g., sturgeons and paddlefishes) can detect weak electric field gradients (possibly as low as 5 Μv/cm) due to arrays of electroreceptors (ampullae of Lorenzini) on their snout and gill covers. Weak electric fields, such as those produced by electropositive metals (typically mixtures of the lanthanide elements), could therefore potentially be used as a deterrent. To test this idea, we recorded the behavioral responses of juvenile Atlantic sturgeon (31–43 cm fork length) to electropositive metal (primarily a mixture of the lanthanide elements neodymium and praseodymium) both in the presence and absence of food stimuli. Trials were conducted in an approximately 2.5 m diameter × 0.3 m deep tank, and fish behaviors were recorded with an overhead digital video camera. Video records were subsequently digitized (x, y coordinate system), the distance between the fish and the electropositive metal calculated, and data summarized by compiling frequency distributions with 5‐cm bins. Juvenile sturgeon showed clear avoidance of electropositive metal but only when food was present. On the basis of our results, we conclude that the electropositive metals, or other sources of weak electric fields, may eventually be used to reduce the interactions of Atlantic sturgeon with fishing gear, but further investigation is needed. El Potencial del Metal Electropositivo para Reducir las Interacciones del Esturión Atlántico con Instrumentos de Pesca Bouyoucos, Bushnell & Brill 13–003     

The role of time and species identities in spatial patterns of species richness and conservation

Many conservation actions are justified on the basis of managing biodiversity. Biodiversity, in terms of species richness, is largely the product of rare species. This is problematic because the intensity of sampling needed to characterize communities and patterns of rarity or to justify the use of surrogates has biased sampling in favor of space over time. However, environmental fluctuations interacting with community dynamics lead to temporal variations in where and when species occur, potentially affecting conservation planning by generating uncertainty about results of species distribution modeling (including range determinations), selection of surrogates for biodiversity, and the proportion of biodiversity composed of rare species. To have confidence in the evidence base for conservation actions, one must consider whether temporal replication is necessary to produce broad inferences. Using approximately 20 years of macrofaunal data from tidal flats in 2 harbors, we explored variation in the identity of rare, common, restricted range, and widespread species over time and space. Over time, rare taxa were more likely to increase in abundance or occurrence than to remain rare or disappear and to exhibit temporal patterns in their occurrence. Space–time congruency in ranges (i.e., spatially widespread taxa were also temporally widespread) was observed only where samples were collected across an environmental gradient. Fifteen percent of the taxa in both harbors changed over time from having spatially restricted ranges to having widespread ranges. Our findings suggest that rare species can provide stability against environmental change, because the majority of species were not random transients, but that selection of biodiversity surrogates requires temporal validation. Rarity needs to be considered both spatially and temporally, as species that occur randomly over time are likely to play a different role in ecosystem functioning than those exhibiting temporal structure (e.g., seasonality). Moreover, temporal structure offers the opportunity to place management and conservation activities within windows of maximum opportunity.     

Main nutrient compounds in food bodies of Mexican <Emphasis Type="Italic">Acacia</Emphasis> ant-plants

Summary. Myrmecophytic plants use obligate ant mutualists as a constitutive indirect defence mechanism. These plants often produce cellular food bodies (FBs) to nourish their resident ants. Lipids, proteins, and even highly specialised compounds such as glycogen have been reported from FBs, but detailed chemical analyses of FB composition have so far been presented only for Southeast Asian Macaranga and Central American Piper myrmecophytes. Here we report the chemical composition of FBs of five myrmecophytic Acacia (Fabaceae) species from Mexico using HPLC (carbohydrates and proteins) and GC-MS (lipids). Feeding experiments revealed no hints on any use of external food sources by the inhabiting Pseudomyrmex ants. These ants obviously rely completely on FBs and extrafloral nectar provided by their hosts. The total content of nutrients in Acacia FBs was 15-25% of FB dry mass, being much lower than in Macaranga or Piper FBs. Proteins were dominating (8-14 % dm) in Acacia FBs and thus were present in higher amounts than in Macaranga FBs, yet in lower amounts than in Piper. Lipids contributed 1-9 % of dry mass, showing a lower proportion than in FBs of Macaranga or Piper. Carbohydrates made up 3-11 % dm, reaching in most Acacia species the same range as observed in Macaranga and in Piper FBs. Water content was 18-24 % of FB fresh mass, and structural tissue obviously made up a much higher proportion in Acacia FBs than in Macaranga or Piper FBs. Both characters might represent an adaptation to producing FBs unprotected at the leaf tips under dry conditions. Acacia FBs contain all amino acids and all fatty acids that are considered essential for insects, and their contents of lipids and proteins are higher than in the leaves from which they are ontogenetically derived. This indicates a putatively adaptive enrichment of nutritionally valuable compounds in structures functioning as ant-food.     

Examining the uncertain origin and management role of martens on Prince of Wales Island,Alaska

Conservation biologists are generally united in efforts to curtail the spread of non‐native species globally. However, the colonization history of a species is not always certain, and whether a species is considered non‐native or native depends on the conservation benchmark. Such ambiguities have led to inconsistent management. Within the Tongass National Forest of Alaska, the status of American marten (Martes americana) on the largest, most biologically diverse and deforested island, Prince of Wales (POW), is unclear. Ten martens were released to POW in the early 1930s, and it was generally believed to be the founding event, although this has been questioned. The uncertainty surrounding when and how martens colonized POW complicates management, especially because martens were selected as a design species for the Tongass. To explore the history of martens of POW we reviewed other plausible routes of colonization; genetically and isotopically analyzed putative marten fossils deposited in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene to verify marten occupancy of POW; and used contemporary genetic data from martens on POW and the mainland in coalescent simulations to identify the probable source of the present‐day marten population on POW. We found evidence for multiple routes of colonization by forest‐associated mammals beginning in the Holocene, which were likely used by American martens to naturally colonize POW. Although we cannot rule out human‐assisted movement of martens by Alaskan Natives or fur trappers, we suggest that martens be managed for persistence on POW. More generally, our findings illustrate the difficulty of labeling species as non‐native or native, even when genetic and paleo‐ecological data are available, and support the notion that community resilience or species invasiveness should be prioritized when making management decisions rather than more subjective and less certain conservation benchmarks.