Trace element speciation in selected smelter-contaminated soils in Anaconda and Deer Lodge Valley, Montana, USA

Long-term copper smelting in the Anaconda and Deer Lodge Valley area of Montana has resulted in an extensive area of trace element contamination. Aerial extent of contamination is generally established, but total analysis of soils does not correlate to relative degree of impact on vegetation growth. Three pedons (Beaverell, Cetrack and Judco) were analyzed by routine soil characterization methods, aqua regia microwave digestion, sequential chemical extraction, and X-ray diffraction analysis with the objective of providing a better understanding of chemical forms and potential reactivity of selected trace elements (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, P, Pb). Surface horizons of soils are more acidic than subsoils, with pH for all horizons ranging from 4.0 to 8.7. Beaverell is the most contaminated in the upper 20 cm with the sum of total extractable (SUM_TE) trace elements by microwave digestion ranging from 1836 to 3605 mg kg⁻¹, largest H₂O-soluble (WS) and exchangeable (EX) fractions (e.g. 1.6 and 9.3%, respectively), and smallest residual (RES) fraction (e.g. 14.3%). Cetrack has greater SUM_TE elements than Judco, though a lower WS+EX fraction due to the effects of alkaline pH, carbonates and high P. Oxide (OX), organic matter/sulfide (OM/S), and RES fractions predominate over WS, EX, and specially-sorbed/carbonate-bound fractions (SS/CAR) for all horizons. Copper, Zn, Pb and Cd are elevated in surface over subsurface horizons in these latter fractions, indicating these elements were anthropogenic additions. X-ray data indicate that Pb, Cu, Cr and Cd partially exists as both OX and sulfide mineral forms.     

21世纪的保护区:为社会利益而工作

当今保护区面临着前所未有的挑战和机遇，人与资源的关系是保护区工作的关键。保护区随着社会的发展而发展，保护自然需要更加灵活的管理措施，保护区与人的关系更为密切，保护服务和推动保护区毗邻区域的发展正在成为重要目标，这些都将有利于保护区域的生物多样性，未来保护区将为社会利益而工作。     

基于环境的交通网络流分配模型

通过对车辆尾气排放的观察 ,建立了一个基于环境的固定需求用户均衡网络流分配模型。并用EXCEL求解了一具体算例。运用模型可以在满足交通需求的情况下 ,使车辆对环境的污染减少到最低限度     

Gamergates in the myrmicine genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Metapone</Emphasis> (Hymenoptera:Formicidae)

Gamergates (i.e. mated reproductive workers) are mostly known from ant species within the Ponerinae. We report here the discovery of gamergates in two species of the subfamily Myrmicinae. Until now, mated reproductive females in colonies of myrmicine species have been considered morphologically distinct from the worker caste. However, in two species of the myrmicine Metapone (Metapone madagascarica and a newly discovered, not yet described Metapone species) all workers have six ovarioles and a spermatheca; and some of them are mated. There are no morphological differences between mated and non-mated workers. Field observations and laboratory studies indicate that colonies of the Metapone species can reproduce with gamergates only.     

Vocal acrobatics in a Chinese frog, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Amolops tormotus</Emphasis>

Although amphibians are highly vocal, they generally emit only a limited number of acoustic communication signals. We report here the extraordinarily rich vocal repertoire of Amolops tormotus, a ranid species in China. These frogs produce countless vocalizations, some of which share features of birdsong or primate calls, e.g., ultrasonic frequency components, multiple upward and downward FM sweeps, and sudden onset and offset of selective harmonic components within a call note. Frame-by-frame video analysis of the frog's calling behavior suggests the presence of two pairs of vocal sacs that may contribute to the remarkable call-note complexity in this species. Electronic supplementary material to this paper can be obtained by using the Springer LINK server located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00114-002-0335-x.     

Transient division of labor and behavioral specialization in the ant Formica schaufussi

Cooperative prey retrieval in the monomorphic ant Formica schaufussi is carried out by workers that perform functionally distinct roles which persist only for the duration of a single retrieval event. A forager (scout) that locates prey too large to retrieve individually organizes cooperative prey transport by recruiting nestmates (recruits) to assist in retrieval. The scout and recruit roles appear to be determined by whether a worker activates recruitment or is recruited from the nest. Scouts organize recruitment and play a key role in maintaining the cohesion of the retrieval group. If a scout that has initiated group transport is experimentally removed, the recruited workers composing the retrieval group typically abandon the prey and cooperative foraging is terminated. In this context, recruits are unable to function as scouts and reorganize group transport. Individuals marked as recruits in one prey retrieval, however, can switch and act as scouts in subsequent retrievals. Because the roles of individuals persist within but not between retrieval events, the specialization involved in cooperative prey retrieval cannot easily be explained as a response associated with age-related or genetic predispositions. This transient division-of-labor, in which individual roles may persist only for the duration of a single group action, represents a novel type of short-term individual specialization.     

Cardiac Contractility: How Calcium Activates the Myofilaments

2+   concentrations tropomyosin is located at the edge of the thin filament, thereby interfering with the formation of strong actin-myosin linkages (blocked state). An increase in Ca²⁺ activity causes an azimuthal shift of tropomyosin around the filament (by about 30°), thereby increasing the probability of low-force crossbridge interaction, a process which by cooperative effects induces further tropomyosin movement (by an additional 10°) which results in the open state of the filament characterized by forceful crossbridge interaction. (This mechanism may be analogous to that in ligand-gated ion channels, where ligand binding increases the open probability of the pore.) The extent of activation then depends on the free Ca²⁺ concentration and on the calcium sensitivity of the thin filament that may be affected by protein phosphorylation, crossbridge attachment, the troponin isoform composition of the filament, and novel calcium-sensitizing drugs that act on the contractile or regulatory proteins and thus increase the force of the heart.     

Carbon Budget Implications of the Transition from Natural to Managed Disturbance Regimes in Forest Landscapes

Land-use change from an unmanaged to a managed forested landscape in northern forests is associated with a reduction of the area annually affected by natural disturbances (wildfires and forest insects) and the introduction of harvesting as a new disturbance. This study examined the impacts of changes in the disturbance regime-the frequency and type of disturbance-on landscape-level carbon (C) content and fluxes. The Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector was used to assess these impacts in six representative landscapes (100,000 ha each) with a range of disturbance regimes that are characteristic of conditions in coastal British Columbia, the interior of British Columbia, and the eastern boreal forest in Canada. The model was used to simulate ecosystem C fluxes during a period of natural disturbances, a 50-year transition period during which harvesting replaced natural disturbances, followed by 150 years of harvesting. The initial landscape-level biomass C content under natural disturbance regimes in the six example landscapes was 22 to 75% of their potential maximum content which is often used as the reference or baseline case. After 200 years of forest management, the C stored in the landscape plus the C retained in forest products manufactured from harvested biomass was between 58 and 101% of the landscape C content prior to the onset of harvesting. Landscape-level ecosystem C content was found to be affected by changes in the disturbance frequency, the age-dependence of the disturbance probabilities, and the disturbance-specific impacts on ecosystem C content. The results indicate that using the potential maximum C content of a landscape as the baseline always overestimates the actual C release due to land use change. A more meaningful procedure would be to assess the actual differences in landscape-level C content between the natural and the managed disturbance regime.