Is boldness affected by group composition in young-of-the-year perch (Perca fluviatilis)?

In young-of-the-year perch (Perca fluviatilis), individuals within groups differed in the degree of boldness, estimated by habitat utilisation and feeding activity in visual contact with a potential predator. We looked at changes in individual behaviour in connection with change of group composition. During the first period, perch were randomly assigned to groups, and time spent in open habitat versus in vegetation and number of prey attacks were registered. The perch were then categorised into personality types (shy, bold, intermediate) according to their behaviour. During the second period, fish were observed when sorted into new groups, each containing only one personality type. Shy individuals showed the largest changes in behaviour, and increased both the time spent in the open and the number of prey attacks when placed into the new groups. Feeding activity in shy fish during the second period was affected by group composition during the first period. After regrouping, bold individuals decreased their time in the open, whereas intermediate individuals did not change behaviour. Time in the open habitat was, to some extent, influenced by the behaviour of the other members of the group, but number of prey attacks was not. The behaviour of fish of the different personality types we have defined in this study seemed to be based on innate traits, but also modified by the influence of other group members and by habituation to the environment.Communicated by J.Krause     

粮食产量预测理论、方法与应用Ⅰ.科技进步增产理论、模型及其应用

粮食增产趋势及增产原因是国家制定宏观农业政策和措施的依据。科技进步增产理论是指：气候是波动的,科技是持续进步的,它是粮食多年持续增产的主要驱动力;科技进步增产预测模型是多年平均单产移动的回归方程。全国和东北三省粮食增产潜力案例分析结果表明：科技进步单产加速时间最早的是辽宁省,最晚的是黑龙江省;与全国相比,吉林省和辽宁省科技进步贡献率高于全国平均水平,黑龙江省低于全国平均水平,吉林省最高。本文初步得出以下结论：科技进步增产理论科学、模型实用、预测结果准确。     

Possible causes and consequences of philopatry and breeding dispersal in red-backed shrikes <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Lanius collurio</Emphasis>

Studies of animal breeding dispersal have often focused on possible causes, whereas its adaptive significance has received less attention. Using an information-theoretic approach, we assessed predictions of four hypotheses relating to causes and consequences of breeding dispersal in a migratory passerine, the red-backed shrike Lanius collurio. As predicted by the reproductive performance hypothesis, probability of breeding dispersal in females (though not in males) decreased with increasing annual average number of fledglings produced in the past year, but there was no association with conspecific reproductive performance in either sex. The site choice hypothesis, stating that individuals disperse to improve breeding site quality, received support in males only, as dispersal probability was positively associated to a measure indicating low territory quality. The social constraints hypothesis, referring to dispersal in relation to intraspecific interactions, received little support in either sex. The predation risk hypothesis was hardly supported either. Consequences of dispersal were marginal in both sexes because neither fledgling production in females, nor territory quality in males improved after dispersal. In addition, males settled on territories closer to the forest edge than those occupied predispersal, which is opposite to the prediction of the predation risk hypothesis. We conclude that own reproductive success was the major factor determining dispersal behavior in females, whereas territory quality and possibly predation risk were most important in males. Overall, breeding dispersal appeared not to be adaptive in this dense population inhabiting an optimal habitat.     

Foraging in the seed-harvester ant genus Pogonomyrmex: are energy costs important?

Energy intake and expenditure on natural foraging trips were estimated for the seed-harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex maricopa and P. rugosus. During seed collection, P. maricopa foraged individually, whereas P. rugosus employed a trunk-trail foraging system. Energy gain per trip and per minute were not significantly different between species. There was also no interspecific difference in energy cost per trip, but energy cost per minute was lower for P. maricopa foragers because they spent on average 7 min longer searching for a load on each trip. Including both unsuccessful and successful foraging trips, average energy gain per trip was more than 100 times the energy cost per trip for both species. Based on this result, we suggest that time cost incurred during individual foraging trips is much more important than energy cost in terms of maximizing net resource intake over time. In addition, because energy costs are so small relative to gains, we propose that energy costs associated with foraging may be safely ignored in future tests of foraging theory with seed-harvesting ant species.     

钒酸铋基异质结光催化降解水中有机污染物的研究进展

水环境污染是21世纪人类迫切需要解决的难题之一.光催化技术作为新兴的水处理技术,符合绿色、循环、低碳的发展理念.钒酸铋(BiVO4)是当今热点光催化剂,具有优异的化学和光子特性,良好的可见光响应能力能够使其利用太阳光中48％的可见光谱.但单组分BiVO4光生载流子复合速度快,电荷运输能力较差,近年来相关学者开发了多种BiVO4基异质结光催化剂,有效改善了单组分BiVO4的不足.系统综述了 BiVO4基异质结的光催化机理(Ⅰ型、Ⅱ型和Z型)、异质结构建方式(协同金属氧化物、金属硫化物、同系铋基材料和金属有机框架)、光催化体系的优化方法(界面接触方式、晶面和形貌调控、元素掺杂、碳材料修饰和空位工程)以及应用过程的优化方法(光催化膜技术、负载锚定)在水处理研究中的最新进展,提出了当前研究中亟待解决的科学问题,为未来开发稳定高效的BiVO4基异质结光催化材料提供参考.     

Constraints on foraging success due to resource ecology limit colony productivity in social insects

The benefit of group living is a fundamental question in social evolution. For sociality to evolve, each individual must gain in terms of some fitness component by living in larger groups. However, in social insects, a decrease in per capita success in brood production has been observed in larger groups. While it has been proposed that this decrease could be outweighed by an increase in the predictability of success, a functional basis to this hypothesis has so far never been demonstrated. In this paper, using foraging economics as a functional proxy to colony productivity, we construct a model to explore how number of foragers in the colony interacts with the ecology of resources to influence per capita foraging success and its predictability. The results of the model show that there is no increase in per capita foraging success in larger colonies under most circumstances, though there is an increase in its predictability. We then test the model with empirical data on the foraging behavior of the primitively eusocial wasp, Ropalidia marginata. The consistency between the data and the model suggests that foraging economics could provide a robust functional basis in explaining the relationship between colony size and productivity.     

基于模糊数学和灰色理论的城市生态环境竞争力评价

在综合分析了国内外有关城市竞争力理论研究的基础上,对城市生态环境竞争力的概念和内涵进行了界定,构建了面向生态环境竞争力的评价体系,并以山东省17城市为例,采用灰色系统理论确定各指标的权重,利用模糊综合评价法对各市进行综合评价,研究结果表明,生态环境竞争力排名前三的地市为临沂(0.1894)、日照(0.1705)和烟台(0.1676),而德州(0.1191)、济南(0.1232)、枣庄(0.1274)、滨州(0.1285)和淄博(0.1289)表现相对较差,其他地市处于中游水平.分别从资源禀赋竞争力、污染物减量排放竞争力、环境治理竞争力和能耗竞争力4个子维度对典型城市进行分析,指出了存在的问题,并给出了相应的对策建议.     

Individual dispersal status influences space use of conspecific residents in the common lizard, Lacerta vivipara

The effects of immigration on the behaviour of residents may have important implications for the local population characteristics. A manipulative laboratory experiment with yearlings of the common lizard (Lacerta vivipara) was performed to test whether the introduction of dispersing or philopatric individuals influences the short-term spacing behaviour of resident individuals. Staged encounters were carried out to induce interactions within dyads. The home cage of each responding individual was connected by a corridor to an unfamiliar “arrival cage” to measure the latency to leave their own home cage after each encounter. Our results showed that the time that pairs spent in close proximity was longer when a dispersing individual was introduced in the home cage. The latency to leave the home cage was longer after the introduction of a dispersing individual. These response variables were not influenced by the relative body sizes of contestants nor by the level of aggression towards each other. In contrast, the aggressive response was significantly influenced by the residency asymmetry established experimentally (“owner” of the home cage vs introduced individual). Our results suggest that the space use by resident individuals is influenced by the dispersal status of conspecifics. The potential ultimate causes driving this effect are discussed.