To breed or not to breed—food competition and other factors involved in female breeding decisions in the pair-living nocturnal fork-marked lemur (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phaner furcifer</Emphasis>)

Differential access to food resources is thought to be the main determinant of differences in female reproductive success but is poorly studied in both pair-living and nocturnal primates. The modes of food competition within and between families were investigated following the principles proposed by the ecological model using 3 years of field data from seven fork-marked lemur (Phaner furcifer) families. The major food resources were identified from year-round feeding observations and the strength and mode of competition were inferred from differences in physical condition. The most important food resource of fork-marked lemurs were tree exudates which occurred in small, defendable food patches, characterized by fast depletion and rapid renewal. These characteristics led to strong within-group contest and scramble competition, which were found to yield a positive dominance effect and a negative group-size effect on female net energy gain. Differential physical condition, however, did not translate directly into differential reproductive success. Low female fertility was best predicted by large family size associated with delayed dispersal by previous offspring. Although there is no obvious benefit from full-grown offspring in their territory, adults tolerate delayed natal dispersal, probably because dispersal poses extraordinary costs for the offspring. These costs are likely to accrue from decreased foraging efficiency in unfamiliar habitats because exudate feeding requires very rigid feeding itineraries. In conclusion, the presented evidence for group-size effects on reproductive success in pair-living females opens a new area for research on the costs and benefits of delayed dispersal and female reproductive decisions.This revised version was published in September 2003 with corrections to the Authors Present address.An erratum to this article can be found at Communicated by E.H.M. Sterck     

Invertebrate Morphospecies as Surrogates for Species: A Case Study

Environmental monitoring and conservation evaluation in terrestrial habitats may be enhanced by the use of invertebrate inventories, but taxonomic and logistic constraints frequently encountered during conventional taxonomic treatment have greatly restricted their use. To overcome this problem we suggest that nonspecialists may be used to classify invertebrates to morphospecies without compromising scientific accuracy. To test this proposition, large pitfall and litter samples of ants, beetles, and spiders from four forest types were sorted to morphospecies by a nonspecialist and to species by specialists. These data were used to generate morphospecies and species inventories and to estimate richness (α diversity) and turnover (β diversity), information frequently used in the above activities. Our results show that the estimates of richness of ants and spiders varied little between morphospecies and species inventories. Differences between estimates of beetle richness were largely influenced by errors of identification in two families, Curculionidae and Staphylinidae. But morphospecies and species inventories yielded identical ranking of forest type using richness. Turnover was assessed by sample ordination, which revealed similar clusters regardless of the type of inventory. Analysis of similarities of assemblages of ants and beetles showed significant differences between all forest types. Spider assemblages showed a lower level of discrimination. The assessment of turnover was consistent among inventories but different between the major taxa. Our findings suggest that morphospecies may be used as surrogates for species in some environmental monitoring and conservation, in particular when decisions are guided by estimates of richness and the assessment of turnover.     

浅谈高职高专养殖类学生的毕业实习管理

本文针对近年出现的高职高专养殖类的学生在毕业实习时的“跳槽”现象进行了分析,指出了其所带来的一系列的后果和危害性,提出了解决的方法.     

隆回县高海拔山区高效生态经济型退耕还林造林模式研究

通过对六种植物配置方式及三种开发模式的对比试验分析，试验出了一种融水土保持效益与经济效益于一体的高效生态经济型造林模式，并探讨了灰毡毛忍冬产量与海拔高度的关系．结果表明：在自然条件恶劣的小沙江高海拔山区，采用金银花(品种为灰毡毛忍冬) 三木药材或其它草本药材，运用景观生态学原理进行设计开发，可获得很好的经济效益与社会效益，并能保持山区的可持续发展．同时还试验出了主栽树种灰毡毛忍冬在海拔1000～1400m之间时经济效益最好．     

Bat serenades—complex courtship songs of the sac-winged bat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccopteryx bilineata</Emphasis>)

Vocalisations of many songbirds, anurans, and insects are shaped by sexual selection. Males acoustically compete for territories, and females choose their mates by means of male courtship songs. In courtship, richness and complexity of elements are often favoured characters. Only a few examples of complex songs are known in mammals. Males of the harem-polygynous sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx bilineata, Emballonuridae) have an uncommonly complex vocal repertoire, and different song types of males are used in the context of territorial defence and in courting females. We classified the daytime vocalisations of 16 male S. bilineata from a colony in Costa Rica, both on the basis of their acoustical properties and the social context in which they occurred. Seven vocalisation types were differentiated: echolocation pulses, barks, chatter, whistles, screeches, territorial songs and courtship songs. Territorial songs were short, rather stereotyped and not obviously directed towards a certain conspecific. They appear to be of importance in male competition for harem territories, in which females roost during the day. Courtship songs were exclusively observed when males displayed towards a female; they were long and complex, and consisted of highly variable elements (calls). We classified the calls in courtship songs of six males into call types, based on acoustical properties, mainly spectral purity and duration. Four call types are described in detail: trills, noise-bursts, short tonal calls, and quasi constant frequency calls. Twelve parameter values were extracted from the most common call type, the trill. Discriminant function analysis of trills showed that different males had different repertoires. This could allow females to use trill parameters for recognition of individual males and thus for mate choice.Communicated by G. Wilkinson     

中新世水杉叶片和白垩纪松型球果化石中的挥发性成分

采用气相色谱-质谱联用分析技术从中新世水杉叶片和白垩纪松型球果两种裸子植物化石中分别鉴定了51个和19个挥发性成分,类型涉及烷烃、烷烯、烷醇、长链脂肪酸及其酯、邻苯二甲酸酯、萜类和芳香族化合物.其中3种成分——松香烷型二萜、饱和十七碳脂肪酸和惹烯是裸子植物的生物标志分子.图1表2参22     

A holistic approach for evaluating ecological water allocation in the Yellow River basin of China

The characteristics and sustainable management of water resources on a basin scale require that they should be managed using a holistic approach. In this study, a holistic methodology called the holistic approach in a basin scale (HABS) is proposed to determine the ecological water requirements of a whole basin. There are three principles in HABS. First, ecological water requirements in a basin scale indicate not only the coupling of hydrological and ecological systems, but also the exchange of matter and energy between each ecological type through all kinds of physical geography processes. Second, ecological water requirements can be divided into different types according to their functions, and water requirements of different types are compatible. Third, ecological water requirements are related to a multiple system including water quality, water quantity, and time and space, which interact with each other. The holistic approach in a basin scale was then used in the Yellow River Basin and it suggested that 265.0 × 10⁸ m³ of water, 45% of the total surface water resources, should be allocated to ecological systems, such as rivers, lakes, wetlands and cities, to sustain its function and health. The ecological water requirements of inside river systems and outside river systems were respectively 261.0 × 10⁸ and 3.65 × 10⁸ m³.     

芹菜赖氨酸加苏氨酸抗性细胞系的选择

用４ｍｍｏｌ－／Ｌ浓度的赖氨酸加苏氨酸作为选择压，经相同浓度液体和固体选择培养基连续选择，从未经诱变处理的芹菜胚性愈伤组织筛选出一个稳定的赖氨酸加苏氨酸抗性细胞系并得到再生植株。抗性细胞系再生植株整株的氨基酸含量比对照组植株高１０倍左右。但是地上部分氨基酸含量，抗性细胞系再生植株比对照植株有所降低。两种植株叶片的细胞色素氧化酶同工酶谱有明显差异，抗性细胞系再生植株有４条谱带，而对照植株只有两条谱带