An inventory of the vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi and terricolous lichens recorded within the different sand-dune communities
in Wales has been compiled and a summary of the importance of these different taxonomic groups to the ecology and conservation
of sand dunes is provided. The total floristic assemblage amounted to 945 species, with vascular plants representing 439 of
these. Fungi unexpectedly formed the next most important group with ca. 289 species, followed by bryophytes (171 species)
and terricolous lichens (66 species). However, very few of these species are confined to sand dunes. Of the vascular plants
only ca. 7 % (32 species) could be classed as either wholly dependent or strongly associated with sand dunes, whereas up to
13% (22 species) of the bryophytes fell within this category. Of the fungi only 4% (10 species) appear to be restricted to
sand dunes, but none of the lichen species could be classed as being either limited to, or strongly associated with, this
habitat.
Over 9% (91 species) of the total flora are considered to be rare, scarce or endangered within the UK or Europe, and ca. 8%
of the vascular plant species are considered to be endemic or near-endemic to Europe. The inventory therefore not only provides
an insight in the overall plant diversity of dune systems in Wales, it also gives an indication of the proportion of species
that are under threat, and the numbers of species that are more-or-less totally dependent on sand dunes. In the discussion
various relevant sand-dune management issues are addressed. 相似文献
Patterns of sex ratio variation and maternal investment reported in the literature are often inconsistent. This could be
due to intra- and inter-specific variation in social systems, but may also be a result of the a posteriori nature of much
of this type of analysis or the testing of models which are inappropriate. Two recent papers reported directly opposed results
concerning variation in offspring sex ratios in relation to maternal condition in roe deer, interpreting the results as support
for the Trivers and Willard model and for the local resource competition hypothesis, respectively. In this paper, we present
data on offspring sex ratios and early juvenile body weight from two long-term studies of this species to test predictions
arising from these two models concerning sex biases in litter composition and maternal care. First, we observed no consistent
pattern of sex differences in an index of weaning weight or body weight at 1 month old in either population, indicating a
lack of sex bias in maternal care. However, in one population, higher maternal body weight was associated with higher juvenile
body weight of daughters, but not of sons. Secondly, we found a negative, but not statistically significant, relationship
between maternal body weight and litter sex ratio such that heavier females tended to produce more daughters and lighter females
to produce more sons. These results indicate that roe females which have additional investment potential available do not
invest it in sons, as predicted by the Trivers and Willard model. Our results may provide some support that roe deer are subject
to local resource competition acting at the level of the individual mother; however, the fact that particular trends in sex
ratio data can be explained in functional terms provides no indication that they are actually adaptive.
Received: 9 December 1997 / Accepted after revision: 11 November 1998 相似文献
Interspecific evidence that testis size responds to selection caused by sperm competition has been obtained from many taxa. However, little is known about the sources of intraspecific variation in testis size, although such variation may have functional significance. Variation in testis size and asymmetry was studied within and between eight geographically separated (and genetically differentiated) populations of greenfinches Carduelis chloris. The relationships between testis size and plumage brightness (degree of yellowness) and the prevalence of haematozoan infections were also investigated in three of these populations, as they related to the predictions of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis, and Møller's hypothesis relating directional testis asymmetry to phenotypic quality. There were large differences between populations in testis size, with males from northern populations having larger testes than those from southern populations. Within populations, large testes were associated with larger body size and greater age. When the influence of these factors was removed statistically, males with large testes were more likely to be infected with haematozoan parasites, and had brighter yellow plumage. No evidence was found that directional asymmetry in testis size was related to either of these measures of phenotypic quality. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that males with large testes, while signalling higher phenotypic quality as revealed by increased plumage brightness, also pay a cost in terms of reduced immunocompetence, revealed by the increased probability of infection in these males. That these patterns were similar in three different populations adds further strength to these conclusions. Our results suggest that studying the sources of variation in testis size among individuals can reveal interesting processes in sexual selection. 相似文献
Acacia longifolia, a highly invasive species that invades coastal ecosystems in Mediterranean areas, produces significant impacts at different scales. Abundant foliage and thick canopies create a dense atmosphere that led us to hypothesise that the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) could play a role in the reduction of biodiversity observed in invaded areas. Therefore, we suggested that VOCs emitted by A. longifolia could exert inhibitory effects on physiological and biochemical parameters of native species. Using glass chamber bioassays, we evaluated the effect of aerial contact between VOCs from different plant parts of A. longifolia material and some native species. Volatile chemical composition was further analysed using GC-MS. Our results indicated that VOCs produced a notably reduction of seed germination. Furthermore, volatiles from leaves and flowers significantly decreased root length, shoot length and biomass for all species. Proline and malondialdehyde content did not significantly increase after contact with VOCs. Finally, chemical profile of VOCs from flowers, leaves and litter was significantly different, both qualitatively and quantitatively. As far as we know, our results constitute the first evidence of phytotoxicity induced by VOCs from A. longifolia, suggesting that flowers and leaves could influence its surrounding environment through VOCs release. 相似文献
In this research, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SFE) showed better extraction effect when compared with Solid- liquid extraction (SLE), Soxhlet extraction (SE) and Ultrasonic extraction (UE), not only in the rate but also the time. The comparison among these three extraction modifiers, including acetone, ethanol and methanol demonstrated that ethanol was preferred to SFE due to its high extraction effect and low toxicology. In addition, parameter of SFE, influence of temperature and pressure were investigated, and the best extraction effect was achieved at the optima conditions, temperature of 40°C and the pressure of 35 MPa. Thus, SFE is a highly effective method for flavonols extraction, requiring minimum energy and producing non-toxic byproduct. SFE-GC system is applied for the evaluation on flavonols that plays a key role in plant resistance to heavy metal, with its content and synthetase gene expression significantly increasing in plant when threatened by heavy metal. Besides, results indicated that flavonols can improve plant resistance to oxidative stress by quenching the redundant ROS in matrix.
