Western sandpiper (Calidris mauri) predation was examined by concurrent experiments and direct observations of foraging behaviour on high intertidal mudflats
of the Fraser River estuary, British Columbia. Western sandpipers foraged by either “pecking” on the surface (64% of observational
time) or probing into sediment (29%). The first experiment (probe-mark method) consisted of collecting small-volume cores
(21.2 cm3) of probed (experimental) and non-probed (control) sediment on the tidal flat, following a 22.5-min feeding period. The second
experiment (exclosure method) involved deploying exclosures immediately prior to the feeding period and subsequent collection
of cores from inside (control) and outside (experimental) the exclosures. Sediment cores were analysed for both macrofaunal
and meiofaunal size fractions. Comparisons between macro- and meiofaunal invertebrate densities in experimental and control
sediments revealed significant differences, attributed to shorebird predation, for both experiments. The probe-mark experiment
detected the removal of large infaunal polychaetes (∼ 20 mm), while the exclosure experiment showed depletion of epifaunal
harpacticoid copepods (0.063–0.5 mm). Predation on macrofaunal cumaceans was detected in both experiments. Invertebrates selected
by western sandpipers neither fell within traditional infaunal size classifications (macro- vs. meiofauna; 500 μm delineation)
nor corresponded to the highest densities of taxa. Rather, inference from experimental results and observations is that western
sandpipers forage in two modes, by: (1) surface gleaning of epibenthic copepods and cumaceans in the macro- and meiofaunal
size ranges and (2) selective probing for larger infauna, such as polychaetes. These findings were facilitated by the combination
of methodologies employed.
Received: 29 December 1999 / Accepted: 11 September 2000 相似文献
The influence of moulting and ovarian maturation on cadmium accumulation in the tissues of female shore crabs Carcinus maenas exposed to 1 mg Cd l−1 in the water was investigated. Cadmium accumulation in all tissues examined was markedly increased in crabs in the postmoult
stages (A and B) compared to crabs in all other moult stages. During the moult cycle, average cadmium accumulation in the
midgut gland ranged from 29 μg Cd g−1 dw at premoult stage (D2) to 589 μg Cd g−1 dw at postmoult stage (A). Average cadmium concentrations in the haemolymph ranged from 0.56 μg Cd ml−1 at intermoult stage (C4) to 4.6 μg Cd ml−1 at postmoult stage (A), while the gills accumulated from 103 μg Cd g−1 dw in intermoult stage (C3) to 352 μg Cd g−1 dw in postmoult stage (A). Cadmium concentration in gills and haemolymph was also significantly higher in crabs in late premoult
stage (D3) compared to C4-crabs, while midgut gland cadmium concentration remained elevated in C1- and C3- intermoult stages relative to C4. During ovarian maturation the cadmium accumulation in midgut gland, gills, ovaries and haemolymph decreased. Average cadmium
concentration in the midgut gland decreased from 63 μg g−1 dw in ovarian Stage I to 19 μg g−1 dw in ovarian Stage VI. The same pattern was observed for gills, haemolymph and ovaries. The present study demonstrates that
cadmium accumulation in the female shore crab strongly depends on the physiological status of the animal. A possible association
between physiological calcium requirements and cadmium accumulation during moulting is discussed.
Received: 20 January 2000 / Accepted: 20 July 2000 相似文献
Abstract: Genebank collection databases can be used for ecogeographical studies under the assumption that the accessions are a geographically unbiased sample. We evaluated the representativeness of a collection of wild potatoes from Bolivia and defined and assessed four types of bias: species, species-area, hotspot, and infrastructure. Species bias is the sampling of some species more often than others. Species-area bias is a sampling that is disproportionate to the total area in which a species is found. Hotspot bias is the disproportionate sampling of areas with high levels of diversity. Infrastructure bias is the disproportionate sampling of areas near roads and towns. Each of these biases is present in the Bolivian wild potato collection. The infrastructure bias was strong: 60% of all wild potato accessions were collected within 2 km of a road, as opposed to 22%, if collections had been made randomly. This analysis can serve as a guide for future collecting trips. It can also provide baseline information for the application of genebank data in studies based on geographic information systems. 相似文献
Abstract: Desert tortoises have been a subject of controversy since their listing as threatened in 1990. With a wide geographic range and more living individuals than any other listed land animal, biologists have needed to detect population trends against a "noisy" background of strong annual changes. We obtained annual population estimates of desert tortoises over 6 consecutive years at a 2.59-km2 plot in Joshua Tree National Park, California. Our estimates, based on weekly spring surveys, varied substantially, particularly between wet and dry years. Concurrently, we followed 10 radiotagged animals for 3 years to corroborate the surveys. Population density was determined separately for each year and for all years combined. Our best population estimate was an average of 67 adult tortoises, three times more than the density reported in a 1978 survey of the same site. Annual mortality was low ( <10%), and the animals showed extreme site fidelity. Apparent changes in population size were most strongly related to the animals' varying susceptibility to capture. In dry years, home ranges decreased, captures decreased, and effort required to find each tortoise nearly doubled. Our data confirm that tortoises are likely to be undercounted during dry years and call into question earlier studies conducted during droughts. 相似文献
Abstract: Conservation genetics has expanded its purview such that molecular techniques are now used routinely to prioritize populations for listing and protection and infer their historical relationships in addition to addressing more traditional questions of heterozygosity and inbreeding depression. Failure to specify whether molecular data are being used for diagnosis-related questions or for population viability questions, however, can lead either to misinterpretation of character data as adaptive information or to misinterpretation of frequency or distance data as diagnostic or historical information. Each of these misinterpretations will confound conservation programs. The character-based approach to delimiting phylogenetic species is both operationally and logically superior to "diagnostic" methods that involve distance- or frequency-based routines, which are unstable over time. Tree-based criteria for the diagnosis of conservation "units" are also inappropriate because they can depend on patterns inferred without reference to diagnostic characters. Intraspecific studies, conservation-related or otherwise, that adopt terminology and methods designed to infer nested hierarchic relationships confuse diagnosis with historical inferences by treating diagnoses as outcomes rather than as precursors to phylogeny reconstruction. A character-based diagnostic approach recognizes the analytical dichotomy between species hierarchies and population statistics and provides a framework for the understanding of each. No species concept, however, should be viewed as an absolute criterion for protecting populations, but as part of a framework from within which identification of protection and management goals can be achieved effectively and defensibly. 相似文献
Summary. Using Porapak Q traps, we collected the bark volatiles of six angiosperm trees native to British Columbia: black cottonwood,
Populus trichocarpa Torr. & A. Gray (Salicaceae), trembling aspen, P. tremuloides Michx. (Salicaceae), paper birch, Betula papyrifera Marsh. (Betulaceae), bigleaf maple, Acer macrophyllum Pursh (Aceraceae), red alder, Alnus rubra Bong. (Betulaceae), and Sitka alder, A. viridis ssp. sinuata (Regel) á. L?ve & D. L?ve (Betulaceae). Utilising coupled gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection analysis, the
captured volatiles were assayed for antennal responses in five species of coniferophagous bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae),
sympatric with most or all of the angiosperm trees: the Douglas-fir beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins, the mountain pine beetle, D. ponderosae Hopkins, the spruce beetle, D. rufipennis (Kirby), the western balsam bark beetle, Dryocoetes confusus Swaine, and the pine engraver, Ips pini (Say). The identities of 25 antennally-active compounds were determined by coupled gas chromatographic-mass spectroscopic
analysis, and co-chromatographic comparisons with authentic chemicals. The compounds identified were: hexanal, (E)-2-hexenal, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, 1-hexanol, heptanal, α-pinene, frontalin, benzaldehyde, β-pinene, 2-hydroxycyclohexanone, 3-carene, limonene,
β-phellandrene, benzyl alcohol, (E)-ocimene, salicylaldehyde, conophthorin, guaiacol, nonanal, methyl salicylate, 4-allylanisole, decanal, thymol methyl ether,
(E)-nerolidol, and dendrolasin. A number of these compounds are known semiochemicals that are active in the behaviour of other
organisms, including bark beetles, suggesting a high degree of semiochemical parsimony. Antennally-active compounds ranged
from seven in A. viridis to 17 in P. trichocarpa. The fewest number of compounds (9) were detected by I. pini and the largest number (24) were detected by D. pseudotsugae. Six compounds excited the antennae of all five species of bark beetles. The large number of antennally-active compounds
detected in common by numerous bark beetles and present in common in numerous nonhost trees supports the hypothesis of olfaction-based
recognition and avoidance of nonhost angiosperm trees during the process of host selection by coniferophagous bark beetles.
Received 13 December 1999; accepted 14 March 2000 相似文献
Three-dimensional (3D) models are often utilised to assess the presence of sand and gravel deposits. Expanding these models to provide a better indication of the suitability of the deposit as aggregate for use in construction would be advantageous. This, however, leads to statistical challenges. To be effective, models must be able to reflect the interdependencies between different criteria (e.g. depth to deposit, thickness of deposit, ratio of mineral to waste, proportion of ‘fines’) as well as the inherent uncertainty introduced because models are derived from a limited set of boreholes in a study region. Using legacy borehole data collected during a systematic survey of sand and gravel deposits in the UK, we have developed a 3D model for a 2400 km2 region close to Reading, southern England. In developing the model, we have reassessed the borehole grading data to reflect modern extraction criteria and explored the most suitable statistical modelling technique. The additive log-ratio transform and the linear model of coregionalization have been applied, techniques that have been previously used to map soil texture classes in two dimensions, to assess the quality of sand and gravel deposits in the area. The application of these statistical techniques leads to a model which can be used to generate thousands of plausible realisations of the deposit which fully reflect the extent of model uncertainty. The approach offers potential to improve regional-scale mineral planning by providing an enhanced understanding of sand and gravel deposits and the extent to which they meet current extraction criteria.