Hybridization between Aegilops geniculata, A. biuncialis and bread wheat Triticum aestivum has been evaluated during two seasons under simulated field conditions to estimate the field hybridization rate under Central Spain conditions. The mean frequencies of hybridization between A. biuncialis and A. geniculata with wheat were 0.34% and 0.31%, respectively. Data from 10 hybrid plants for each combination showed that hybrids can be partially fertile by backcrossing with wheat parent, with percent averages of 3.17 grains/spikelets for A. biuncialis × wheat hybrids and 2.87 grains/spikelets for A. geniculata × wheat hybrids. Self-pollination, although at very low rates, was also possible in hybrids. The potential risks associated with natural hybridization in the context of transgenic wheat cultivation are discussed. 相似文献
This paper is part of a two-year study to investigate the feasibility of initiating a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project
in an indigenous community of Eastern Panamá, Ipetí-Emberá. We use participatory mapping and matrices as well as household
surveys to develop a land-use/land-cover baseline scenario and examine the role of local participation in assessing land-use
change. In Ipetí, land-use change has not occurred in a linear way over the last decades, and our data unveils socio-economic
factors as potential key drivers of change. The concordance that we observed between geographic information and individual
and collective perceptions of land-use change substantiates the possibility of using local knowledge in the establishment
of baseline data for CDM projects. Our calculations suggest that the total carbon (C) stocks in the Tierra Colectiva (TC) of Ipetí-Emberá in 2004 represents a 47% reduction from the estimated C stock at the onset of settlement in the early
1970’s. Results from the participatory assessments predict that, in 2024 and in absence of a CDM project, the C stocks will
decline from 301,859 t C in 2004 to 155,730 t C, which constitutes a reduction of 52%. The scenario with CDM estimates C stocks
of 305,853 t C for 2024, a value slightly superior to the 2004 value. In the TC there is ground to believe that cattle ranching
is likely to become an ever more important activity as the population is young and growing and cannot easily move elsewhere.
Forests tend to be cleared for cultivation while pastures are established on short fallows. Our baseline scenario underlines
the potential for a CDM project to make a significant difference in the future C stocks of this landscape. 相似文献
Recruitment precision, i.e. the proportion of recruits that reach an advertised food source, is a crucial adaptation of social
bees to their environment. Studies with honeybees showed that recruitment precision is not a fixed feature, but it may be
enhanced by factors like experience and distance. However, little is known regarding the recruitment precision of stingless
bees. Hence, in this study, we examined the effects of experience and spatial distance on the precision of the food communication
system of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana. We conducted the experiments by training bees to a three-dimensional artificial patch at several distances from the colony.
We recorded the choices of individual recruited foragers, either being newcomers (foragers without experience with the advertised
food source) or experienced (foragers that had previously visited the feeder). We found that the average precision of newcomers
(95.6 ± 2.61%) was significantly higher than that of experienced bees (80.2 ± 1.12%). While this might seem counter-intuitive
on first sight, this “loss” of precision can be explained by the tendency of experienced recruits to explore nearby areas
to find new rewarding food sources after they had initially learned the exact location of the food source. Increasing the
distance from the colony had no significant effect on the precision of the foraging bees. Thus, our data show that experience,
but not the distance of the food source, affected the patch precision of S. mexicana foragers. 相似文献
Bombardier beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Brachininae) possess a remarkable defense mechanism where a hot chemical spray is released from the tip of their abdomen, with an audible explosive sound. To date, the repellent properties of these chemicals have been tested against a limited number of taxa, such as amphibians and insects. To investigate the impact of bombardier beetle defenses on avian predators, feeding trials were conducted using the bombardier beetle (Pheropsophus jessoensis) and the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), a sympatric and generalist predator. All naïve, hand-reared quail attacked live beetles, indicating the absence of an innate aversion to them. However, most of the quail rejected consuming the beetles whether or not the beetles sprayed them with chemicals. Naïve quail also rejected dead P. jessoensis individuals. These results support the recent hypothesis that it is not essential for P. jessoensis to spray noxious chemicals to deter predators. We also found that some of the quail exposed to live P. jessoensis remembered to avoid them for up to 5 weeks. Our results provide the first evidence of the repelling effects of bombardier beetle defense mechanisms on avian predators.
Environmental Chemistry Letters - Water contamination by emerging contaminants is increasing in the context of rising urbanization, industrialization, and agriculture production. Emerging... 相似文献
Extractable atrazine and its metabolites (hydroxyatrazine, deethylatrazine and deisopropylatrazine) were evaluated in agricultural
soils from the temperate humid zone (Galicia, NW Spain) under laboratory conditions. The experiment was performed with five
soils with different properties (organic C, soil texture and atrazine application history), both unamended and treated with
atrazine at field application rate. Measurements of the atrazine compounds were made at different time intervals (1, 3, 6,
9 and 12 weeks) during a 3-month incubation period. Results showed that only hydroxyatrazine was detected in the extractable
fraction of the unamended soils, with values remaining relatively constant throughout the incubation period. Atrazine addition
notably increased the concentration of the parent compound and its degradation products; deisopropylatrazine and hydroxyatrazine
were the main metabolites detected in the extractable fraction of the treated soils, whereas deethylatrazine was not detected.
After 7 days incubation, values of total extractable residues, expressed as percentage of initially added atrazine, ranged
from 75 to 86% (25–68% of atrazine, 7–11% of hydroxyatrazine and 9–57% of deisopropylatrazine). The values decreased rapidly
during the first 3 weeks of incubation, showing values of 2–8% in soils with higher atrazine application and from 28 to 30%
in soils with lower application history. At the end of the incubation, 2–8% of total extractable residues were still detected
(0–4% of atrazine, 2–3% of hydroxyatrazine and 0–2% of deisopropylatrazine), indicating a residual effect of atrazine addition.
These variations in the extractable fraction indicated that most added atrazine was rapidly degraded, especially in soils
with higher application history. 相似文献