Great spotted cuckoo fledglings are disadvantaged by magpie host parents when reared together with magpie nestlings

The post-fledging period is a critical phase for juvenile survival, and parental care provided during this period is a key component of avian reproductive performance. Very little is known about the relationships between foster parents and fledglings of brood parasites. Here, we present the results of a 5-year study about the relationships between fledglings of the non-evictor brood parasitic great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) and its magpie (Pica pica) foster parents. Sometimes, great spotted cuckoo and magpie nestlings from the same nest can fledge successfully, but most often parasitic nestlings outcompete host nestlings and only cuckoos leave the nest. We have studied several aspects of cuckoo post-fledging performance (i.e. feeding behaviour, parental defence and fledgling survival) in experimental nests in which only cuckoos or both magpie and cuckoo nestlings survived until leaving the nest. The results indicate that great spotted cuckoo fledglings reared in mixed broods together with magpie nestlings were disadvantaged by magpie adults with respect to feeding patterns. Fledgling cuckoos reared in mixed broods were fed less frequently than those reared in only cuckoo broods, and magpie adults approached less frequently to feed cuckoos from mixed broods than cuckoos from only cuckoo broods. These results imply that the presence of host's own nestlings for comparison may be a crucial clue favouring the evolution of fledgling discrimination; and furthermore, that the risk of discrimination at the fledgling stage probably is an important selection pressure driving the evolution of the arms race between brood parasites and their hosts.     

洞庭湖区地表温度反演及其时空变化特征

洞庭湖是我国第二大的淡水湖,对区域气候的调节起着极其关键的作用,然而受全球变暖及其他因素的影响,洞庭湖区范围内对气候变化的响应并不一致。为了更好地认识洞庭湖区的地表温度变化及其对全球变暖的响应情况,同时为准确的判断该区温度未来的变化趋势奠定基础,利用1995年、2004年和2013年12景冬季Landsat TM/ETM＋遥感影像的热红外波段数据反演了洞庭湖区地表温度,并对反演的地表温度值进行标准化处理,采用标准差分类法得到地表温度等级图。通过三时相温度等级图的面积统计与直观对比,分析了洞庭湖区在三峡蓄水前后的温度时空变化特征;并结合归一化植被指数（NDVI）、降雨资料、DEM、坡度等数据对洞庭湖区的温度变化影响因素进行了统计分析。结果表明,（1）洞庭湖区各温度等级面积成正态分布,主要以中温区、较高温区和较低温区为主。从空间分布上来看,低温区主要分布在水体,而高温区则没有明显的分布特征。（2）受雨雪天气影响,2004年的高温范围减少,减少情况为西洞庭湖区〉南洞庭湖区〉东洞庭湖区,面积变化比例分别是5.38%、2.12%、0.71%,表明冷气流对西洞庭湖区的温度变化影响最强,而东洞庭湖区最弱。（3）2013年高温范围增加,且变化强度呈现出西洞庭湖区〈南洞庭湖区〈东洞庭湖区的空间特征,面积变化比例分别是2.21%、2.38%、2.68%,表明在三峡水库蓄水之后,东洞庭湖区的地表温度受到较大影响。（4）植被的覆盖情况与温度相关性不明显,而坡度、海拔与温度呈正相关关系,这表明坡度可以有效的减少冷气流对温度的影响,地势较高地区与阳坡出现高温情况则表明地表温度受太阳辐射影响较大。     

辛置煤矿310轨道巷围岩破裂范围研究

辛置煤矿310轨道巷属于高应力软岩巷道,地质构造和岩层结构非常复杂多变。为了解该巷道的松动范围、塑性区分布和围岩破坏情况,采用U510非金属超声波检测仪,在辛置煤矿310轨道巷左右两帮合理布置检测点,进行现场松动圈测试。获得一系列测试结果,运用测试结果及围岩松动圈支护理论,可对310轨道巷支护提供理论依据。     

锅炉燃煤的最佳方式

从节能、环保、资源开发并重并举的高度,探讨了锅炉燃煤的最佳方式和技术经济的可行性,认为先热解后燃烧,特别是以廉价氢源进行加氢热解后再燃烧是锅炉燃煤的最佳方式。     

Quantitative Ethnobotany in an Atlantic Forest Fragment of Northeastern Brazil – Implications to Conservation

Two new methods for assessing temporal trends in stream-solute concentrations at specific streamflow ranges were applied to long (40 to 50-year) but sparse (bi-weekly to quarterly sampling) stream-water quality data collected at three forested mesoscale basins along an atmospheric deposition gradient in the northeastern United States (one in north-central Pennsylvania, one in southeastern New York, and one in eastern Maine). The three data sets span the period since the implementation of the Clean Air Act in 1970 and its subsequent amendments.Declining sulfate (O ₄ ^2-) trends since the mid 1960s were identified for all 3 rivers by one or more of the 4 methods of trend detection used. Flow-specific trends were assessed by segmenting the data sets into 3-year and 6-year blocks, then determining concentration-discharge relationships for each block. Declining sulfate (O ₄ ^2-) trends at median flow were similar to trends determined using a Seasonal Kendall Tau test and Sen slope estimator. The trend of declining O ₄ ^2- concentrations differed at high, median and low flow since the mid 1980s at YWC and NR, and at high and low flow at WR, but the trends leveled or reversed at high flow from 1999 through 2002. Trends for the period of record at high flows were similar to medium- and low-flow trends for Ca²⁺+ Mg²⁺ concentrations at WR, non-significant at YWC, and were more negative at low flow than at high flow at NR; trends in nitrate (NO₃ ^-), and alkalinity (ALK) concentrations were different at different flow conditions, and in ways that are consistent with the hydrology and deposition history at each watershed. Quarterly sampling is adequate for assessing average-flow trends in the chemical parameters assessed over long time periods (∼decades). However, with even a modest effort at sampling a range of flow conditions within each year, trends at specified flows for constituents with strong concentration-discharge relationships can be evaluated and may allow early detection of ecosystem response to climate change and pollution management strategies.     

水溶液中氯代烷烃的催化还原脱氯研究

研究了氯代甲烷系列和氯代乙烷系列的各种氯代烷烃在铁、铜二相金属体系中的还原脱氯反应,分析了氯代有机物结构性质对还原脱氯反应的影响和规律性,探讨了氯代烷烃在金属还原作用下的还原脱氯机理．     

Exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) adversely affects the life-cycle of the damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum

We evaluated whether life-time exposure to PFOS affects egg development, hatching, larval development, survival, metamorphosis and body mass of Enallagma cyathigerum (Insecta: Odonata). Eggs and larvae were exposed to five concentrations ranging from 0 to 10 000 μg/L. Our results show reduced egg hatching success, slower larval development, greater larval mortality, and decreased metamorphosis success with increasing PFOS concentration. PFOS had no effect on egg developmental time and hatching or on mass of adults. Eggs were the least sensitive stage (NOEC = 10 000 μg/L). Larval NOEC values were 1000 times smaller (10 μg/L). Successful metamorphosis was the most sensitive response trait studied (NOEC < 10 μg/L). The NOEC value suggests that E. cyathigerum is amongst the most sensitive freshwater organisms tested. NOEC for metamorphosis is less than 10-times greater than the ordinary reported environmental concentrations in freshwater, but is more than 200-times smaller than the greatest concentrations measured after accidental releases.     

Geostatistics as a validation tool for setting ozone standards for durum wheat

Which is the best standard for protecting plants from ozone? To answer this question, we must validate the standards by testing biological responses vs. ambient data in the field. A validation is missing for European and USA standards, because the networks for ozone, meteorology and plant responses are spatially independent. We proposed geostatistics as validation tool, and used durum wheat in central Italy as a test. The standards summarized ozone impact on yield better than hourly averages. Although USA criteria explained ozone-induced yield losses better than European criteria, USA legal level (75 ppb) protected only 39% of sites. European exposure-based standards protected ≥90%. Reducing the USA level to the Canadian 65 ppb or using W126 protected 91% and 97%, respectively. For a no-threshold accumulated stomatal flux, 22 mmol m⁻² was suggested to protect 97% of sites. In a multiple regression, precipitation explained 22% and ozone explained <0.9% of yield variability.     

Transport and degradation of pesticides in a biopurification system under variable flux Part II: A macrocosm study

Transport of bentazone, isoproturon, linuron, metamitron and metalaxyl were studied under three different flows in macrocosms. The aim was to verify the observations from Part I of the accompanying paper, with an increase in column volume and decrease in chemical and hydraulic load. Very limited breakthrough occurred in the macrocosms for all pesticides, except bentazone, at all flows.From batch degradation experiments, it was observed that the lag time of metamitron and linuron decreased drastically in time for all flows, indicating a growth in the pesticide degrading population. This in contrast to isoproturon and metalaxyl, where an increase in lag time could be observed in time for all flows. From the batch degradation experiments, it could be concluded that the influence of flow on the lag time was minimal and that the inoculation of the pesticide-primed soil had a little surplus value on degradation.     

Chlorpyrifos causes decreased organic matter decomposition by suppressing earthworm and termite communities in tropical soil

Effects of pesticides on structural and functional properties of ecosystems are rarely studied under tropical conditions. In this study litterbag and earthworm field tests were performed simultaneously at the same tropical field site sprayed with chlorpyrifos (CPF). The recommended dose of CPF (0.6 kg a.i. ha⁻¹) and two higher doses (4.4-8.8 kg a.i. ha⁻¹) significantly decreased litter decomposition during the first 3 months after application, which could be explained from lower earthworm and termite abundances during this period. Species-specific effects of CPF on organism abundance and biomass were observed, with termites being mostly affected followed by the earthworm Perionyx excavatus; the earthworm Megascolex sp. was least affected. Recovery was completed within 6 months. Decomposition in the controls and lowest two treatments was completed within 4 months, which suggests the need for modification of standard test guidelines to comply with faster litter degradation under tropical conditions.