Tracking pigeons in a magnetic anomaly and in magnetically “quiet” terrain

Pigeons were released at two sites of equal distance from the loft, one within a magnetic anomaly, the other in magnetically quiet terrain, and their tracks were recorded with the help of GPS receivers. A comparison of the beginning of the tracks revealed striking differences: within the anomaly, the initial phase lasted longer, and the distance flown was longer, with the pigeons' headings considerably farther from the home direction. During the following departure phase, the birds were well homeward oriented at the magnetically quiet site, whereas they continued to be disoriented within the anomaly. Comparing the tracks in the anomaly with the underlying magnetic contours shows considerable differences between individuals, without a common pattern emerging. The differences in magnetic intensity along the pigeons' path do not differ from a random distribution of intensity differences around the release site, indicating that the magnetic contours do not directly affect the pigeons' routes. Within the anomaly, pigeons take longer until their flights are oriented, but 5 km from the release point, the birds, still within the anomaly, are also significantly oriented in the home direction. These findings support the assumption that magnetically anomalous conditions initially interfere with the pigeons' navigational processes, with birds showing rather individual responses in their attempts to overcome these problems.     

葫芦岛市工业源二氧化硫普查结果分析与对策

通过对葫芦岛市工业源二氧化硫普查结果全面系统分析,阐明了各区域、行业、企业的二氧化硫产生、排放及分布特点,指出了葫芦岛地区工业源二氧化硫存在的主要问题,提出了具体的对策措施。     

沙湖湿地的生态环境健康评价的研究

通过对生态系统健康评价体系的研究,以沙湖为例进行论证,最终得出沙湖生态系统健康度为0.32,属于不健康,制约沙湖不健康的疾病因子在于：湿地的补水水质差,导致湿地水质污染加重,富营养化现象严重,并且由于人为因素,导致物种多样性逐年下降,以上因素最终导致了沙湖湿地生态系统抗干扰能力下降,湖区湿地健康水平较低,根据对沙湖湿地功能的分析,最终设计出了沙湖湿地生态系统健康恢复技术方案。     

鄂尔多斯市东胜区2011年春节期间空气污染物的浓度分布规律及其成因分析

利用空气质量自动监测系统分析了2011年春节期间鄂尔多斯市东胜区的SO2、NO2及PM10的浓度值,发现烟花爆竹的燃放对它们的浓度有较大影响。     

五日生化需氧量测定的影响因素

五日生化需氧量是一种表间接表示水体中有机物含量,是水质监测的一个重要参数。本文对水样的保存、溶解氧、pH值、温度、接种稀释水和稀释度等影响测定五日生化需氧量成败的因素进行探讨,并提出相应的解决方法。     

固相萃取-高效液相色谱法测定水中丙烯酰胺研究

采用固相萃取-高效液相色谱法对水中的丙烯酰胺定性、定量分析。结果显示:丙烯酰胺含量在20μg/L~400μg/L之间呈良好线性关系,回归方程Y=0.476 8X+0.845 4,相关系数R为0.997 72,检出限0.1μg/L,样品回收率在71.85%~92.28%之间,相对标准偏差为3.4%~10.9%。该方法减少了有机溶剂用量,缩短了有机溶剂暴露时间,降低污染,且能满足地表水环境质量标准(GB 3838-2002)限值要求,是水中丙烯酰胺含量准确稳定的检测方法。用该方法测定了呼和浩特市引黄入呼左岸、右岸、中浅和中深4个断面水样,均未检出丙烯酰胺。     

大气降水中重金属离子特征研究

大气降水中重金属离子的研究可以反映大气污染、地表水污染的信息.通过对国内外大气降水中重金属研究现状的阐述和大气降水中重金属的来源进行理论分析,并利用实地大气降水采样分析,归纳出其中重金属的特征,监测当前大气的污染状况,从而为区域性的大气中重金属的污染评价及污染治理提供理论依据.降水中的重金属元素主要包括Pb、Mn、Zn、Cu、Cd、Cr等,通过分析测定可以为利用大气降水作为重要饮用水补给源的区域提供饮水安全保障.     

An estimated 400–800 million tons of prey are annually killed by the global spider community

Spiders have been suspected to be one of the most important groups of natural enemies of insects worldwide. To document the impact of the global spider community as insect predators, we present estimates of the biomass of annually killed insect prey. Our estimates assessed with two different methods suggest that the annual prey kill of the global spider community is in the range of 400–800 million metric tons (fresh weight), with insects and collembolans composing >90% of the captured prey. This equals approximately 1‰ of the global terrestrial net primary production. Spiders associated with forests and grasslands account for >95% of the annual prey kill of the global spider community, whereas spiders in other habitats are rather insignificant contributors over a full year. The spider communities associated with annual crops contribute less than 2% to the global annual prey kill. This, however, can be partly explained by the fact that annual crop fields are “disturbed habitats” with a low buildup of spider biomass and that agrobiont spiders often only kill prey over short time periods in a year. Our estimates are supported by the published results of exclusion experiments, showing that the number of herbivorous/detritivorous insects and collembolans increased significantly after spider removal from experimental plots. The presented estimates of the global annual prey kill and the relative contribution of spider predation in different biomes improve the general understanding of spider ecology and provide a first assessment of the global impact of this very important predator group.     

Insights into the role of age and social interactions on the sexual attractiveness of queens in an eusocial bee, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Melipona flavolineata</Emphasis> (Apidae,Meliponini)

The attraction of sexual partners is a vital necessity among insects, and it involves conflict of interests and complex communication systems among male and female. In this study, we investigated the developing of sexual attractiveness in virgin queens (i.e., gynes) of Melipona flavolineata, an eusocial stingless bee. We followed the development of sexual attractiveness in 64 gynes, belonging to seven age classes (0, 3, 6, 9, 15, 18 days post-emergence), and we also evaluated the effect of different social interactions (such as competition between queens and interactions with workers) on the development of attractiveness in other 60 gynes. We used the number of males that tried to mate with a focal gyne as a representative variable of its sexual attractiveness. During the essays, each gyne was individually presented to 10 sexually mature males, and during 3 min, we counted the number of males that everted their genitalia in response to the presence of a gyne. Here, we show that M. flavolineata gynes are capable to (i) maintain their sexual attractiveness for long periods through adult life, (ii) they need a minimum social interaction to trigger the development of sexual attractiveness, and (iii) that gynes express this trait only within a social context. We conclude that the effective occurrence of matings is conditional on potential social interactions that gynes experienced before taking the nuptial flight, when they are still in the nest. These findings bring insights into the factors determining reproductive success in social insects.