PnET-CN模型对东亚森林生态系统碳通量模拟的适用性和不确定性分析

东亚地区森林类型多样,开展区域生态系统碳循环模拟时应考虑森林类型的差异。论文利用基于叶氮浓度-最大净光合作用速率关系的PnET-CN模型,对东亚地区8 个森林生态系统通量观测站点的总生态系统碳交换（GEE）和生态系统呼吸（RE）进行模拟,以探讨模型的适用性并对不确定性来源进行分析。研究结果表明：①PnET-CN模型能较为准确地模拟东亚地区大部分森林生态系统站点的GEE和RE;②模型的适用性排序依次为温带、寒温带、亚热带、 热带,模型未能很好地模拟热带湿地森林GEE和RE 的季节与年际变异;③在同一气候区中,PnET-CN模型更加适用于针叶林碳交换的模拟;④PnET-CN模型比较准确地反映了东亚森林生态系统GEE、RE对气候因子（例如,温度或辐射）的响应,但在低温、较弱辐射条件下模型低估了GEE,在高温或较强辐射条件下高估了GEE;在低温条件下模型低估了RE,在高温条件下模型高估了RE。针对东亚多个森林通量站点的模拟情况,论文提出模型应在以下方面进行改进：①PnET-CN模型计算物候时除了考虑温度之外还应加入土壤湿度的影响,并对不同气候区森林生态系统赋予不同叶片凋落时长;②PnET-CN模型中温度对GEE的限制以及光合最适温度应该根据不同站点设置;③PnET-CN模型应该考虑森林生态系统对环境胁迫的适应性,加强对干旱等干扰的模拟;④同时对于拥有复杂水文条件的森林生态系统应该改进土壤含水量的算法,以准确反映该类型森林生态系统GEE和RE的季节变化。     

Honeybee foragers adjust crop contents before leaving the hive

Upon leaving the hive, foragers carry a small amount of honey, which they subsequently consume to generate energy for flight. We investigated the relationship between waggle-phase duration and crop volume in foragers (both dancers and dance followers) leaving the hive. Our findings indicate that these variables were positively correlated in the two types of bee, suggesting that they were able to adjust the amount of food that they carry depending on the distance to a food source. We also found that dance followers left the hive with a larger amount of honey than dancers. We suggest two possible explanations: (1) dance followers have less information about the location of the food source than dancers, who have a better knowledge of the surrounding area; or (2) honeybees lack a precise calibration method for estimating energy needs from waggle-run duration. The effect of foraging experience was confirmed: bees decreased their honey load at departure with repeated trips to a sugar-syrup feeder. Honeybees showed a different pattern of change when the feeder provided soybean flour as a pollen substitute, possibly because honeybees use honey not only as an energy source but also as “glue” to form “balls” of pollen on their hind legs. Based on our observations that followers of sugar-syrup foragers carry a different amount of honey in their crop than followers of soybean-followers, we suggest that waggle dancers also convey information concerning food type.     

A simulation model for Japanese sardine (Sardinops melanostictus) migrations in the western North Pacific

A two-dimensional individual-based model coupled with fish bioenergetics was developed to simulate migration and growth of Japanese sardine (Sardinops melanostictus) in the western North Pacific. In the model, fish movement is controlled by feeding and spawning migrations with passive transport by simulated ocean current. Feeding migration was assumed to be governed by search for local optimal habitats, which is estimated by the spatial distribution of net growth rate of a sardine bioenergetics model. The forage density is one of the most important factors which determines the geographical distributions of Japanese sardine during their feeding migrations. Spawning migration was modeled by an artificial neural network (ANN) with an input layer composed of five neurons that receive environmental information (surface temperature, temperature change experienced, current speed, day length and distance from land). Once the weight of the ANN was determined, the fish movement was solved by combining with the feeding migration model. To obtain the weights of the ANN, three experiments were conducted in which (1) the ANN was trained with back propagation (BP) method with optimum training data, (2) genetic algorithm (GA) was used to adjust the weights and (3) the weights of the ANN were decided by the GA with BP, respectively. BP is a supervised learning technique for training ANNs. GA is a search technique used in computing to find approximate solutions, such as optimization of parameters. Condition factor of sardine in the model is used as a factor of optimization in the GA works. The methods using only BP or GA did not work to search the appropriate weights in the ANN for spawning migration. In the third method, which is a combined approach of GA with BP, the model reproduced the most realistic spawning migration of Japanese sardine. The changes in temperature and day length are important factors for the orientation cues of Japanese sardine according to the sensitivity analysis of the weights of the ANN.     

The effect of predation risk on post-copulatory sexual selection in the Japanese pygmy squid

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology - The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis predicts that behavior and physiology covary with life history. Evidence for such covariation is contradictory,...     

The impact of institutional factors on the performance of genuine savings

This study investigates institutional factors affecting the performance of genuine savings (GS), which are often used in assessing sustainable development, and adopts a model of autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity in mean. We pay particular attention to the contribution of institutions to decrease the volatility level of the GS path. The estimation results show that there are two ways in which institutions affect GS performance. First, high quality of institutions enhances the GS level directly. Second, high quality of institutions enhances the GS level via stabilizing the volatility of the GS path. Considering both effects in their totality, institutional improvement plays an important role in realizing a sustainable development path.     

New biofidelic corridor and biofidelity test procedure for pedestrian legform impactors

The objectives of this research are to propose a new impact response corridor for the ISO legform impactor and to determine the biofidelity of the current legform impactor with rigid leg and thigh developed by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). The latest data obtained from Post Mortem Human Subject (PMHS) knee impact tests were analyzed in connection with the proposal, and biofidelity legform impact tests were conducted using the current rigid legform impactor. New normalized biofidelic corridors of impact force corresponding to adult male 50th percentile (AM50) are proposed. The impact test results indicate the current rigid legform impactor does not have sufficient human knee biofidelity. The present results suggest that human tolerance can not be used directly for the injury reference value of the legform impactor. A conversion method is needed to interpret the data measured by current legform impactors as the injury reference value.     

Important sequence for overexpression of NADH oxidase gene from Thermus thermophilus HB8 in Escherichia coli

Enzymes fixed on the electrode of biosensor are gradually inactivated and the electrode is discarded after using several times. In order to prepare the stable biosensor, we try to use a stable enzyme from extreme thermophilic bacteria, Thermus thermophilus HB8. It is very important that a stable enzyme from T. thermophilus HB8 is overproduced in Escherichia coli, for the purpose of enough supply of enzyme. Thereby, we determined the important sequence for overexpression of NADH oxidase (nox) gene from T. thermophilus HB8 in E. coli. As a result, it is revealed that ten nucleotides sequence, GAAATTAACT, in the upstream of start codon of nox gene was important for its overexpression in E. coli.