Looking on the bright side: females prefer coloration indicative of male size and condition in the sexually dichromatic spadefoot toad, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Scaphiopus couchii</Emphasis>

Females across many taxa commonly use multiple or complex traits to choose mates. However, the functional significance of multiple or complex signals remains controversial and largely unknown. Different elements of multiple or complex signals may convey independent pieces of information about different aspects of a prospective mate (the “multiple messages” hypothesis). Alternatively, multiple or complex signals could provide redundant information about the same aspect of a prospective mate (the “redundant” or “back-up” signal hypothesis). We investigated these alternatives using spadefoot toads, Scaphiopus couchii. Spadefoot toads primarily use calls to attract their mates, but males also exhibit sexually dimorphic coloration. We investigated whether male coloration is indicative of male size, condition, or infection status by a socially transmitted monogenean flatworm. We found that male coloration and dorsal patterning predicts male size and condition but not infection status. Moreover, when we presented females with a choice between a bright male model and a dark male model, we found that females preferred the bright model. Because aspects of males’ calls are also associated with male size and condition, we conclude that coloration is a potentially redundant indicator of male phenotype. We suggest that coloration could enhance mate choice in conjunction with male calling behavior by providing females with a long distance cue that could enable them to identify prospective mates in a noisy chorus environment where the discrimination of individual calls is often difficult. Generally, such redundant signals may facilitate mate choice by enhancing the quality and accuracy of information females receive regarding prospective mates.     

Effects of testosterone supplementation on chemical signals of male Iberian wall lizards: consequences for female mate choice

In some lizards, female mate choice is influenced by chemicals secreted by males, e.g., via the femoral glands. Secretions of the femoral glands are under direct androgenic control and vary seasonally with androgen production. However, whether increased testosterone (T) levels affect the concentration and chemical composition of secretions or their attractiveness to females is unknown. We manipulated T levels of male Iberian wall lizards, Podarcis hispanica, with silastic implants. Differential tongue-flick rates indicated that females detected and discriminated between femoral secretions of control and T-implanted males based on chemical cues alone. Females showed greater responses to secretions of T-males, which might suggest that T increased the concentration of chemical signals. Further analyses by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry indicated that T supplementation induced qualitative changes in lipid composition of femoral secretions. T-males had decreased relative proportions of cholesta-5,7-dien-3-ol in secretions, which might be related to the negative effects of T on the immune system and on lipid metabolism. However, experiments of choice of males’ scent showed that females neither preferred nor avoided the scent marks of T-males but preferred males that maintained higher proportions of cholesta-5,7-dien-3-ol in secretions, independently of the experimental manipulation. Thus, because this steroid is negatively affected by T, there might be trade-offs among increasing T levels to increase the production of chemical secretions, maintain metabolism, and attract females.     

Consensus among females in their choice of males in the guppy Poecilia reticulata

We studied female guppies from two populations (Trinidad and Jemez Springs, New Mexico) to determine their mating preferences, the degree of consensus among females for particular male phenotypes, and the variation among females for the types of traits they prefer. We recorded the visual responses of 68 Trinidad and 10 Jemez females in paired male trials. The three sexually-selected male traits quantified were the area of orange color and iridescence on the body, and display behavior. Females from the Trinidad population agreed in their choice of males in three of the eight replicates, and this agreement was based on display rate rather than male color patterns. Females from the Jemez population showed no agreement in their preferences of males. Mating preferences of females varied both between populations and among females of a population. In both populations, female preferences were based primarily on courtship intensity and only secondarily on color pattern. However, females from both populations differed in the relative importance of orange color and iridescence. The fact that females differ in criteria for evaluating males has important implications for selection and maintenance of color polymorphisms and for the interactions among multiple secondary sexual traits of males in the guppy. Received: 5 December 1995/Accepted after revision: 7 June 1996     

抽压混合式通风除尘系统布置方式的选择和技术参数的确定

根据我国双鸭山、徐州、大同等矿区通风除尘技术发展实践经验和系统的理论研究,对目前国内外煤矿常用的“长抽长压”、“长抽短压”、“长压短抽”、“单机前抽后压”、“独立式负压除尘”系统的布置方式、适用条件、技术特征、安全效益及优缺点进行综合评价分析,提出优化系统设计必须遵循多指标综合分析的选型为依据的原则,同时重点阐述了直接影响系统通风除尘效果的“工作面风量”、“除尘器处理风量”,巷道不同阶段“风速”等重要参数的确定方法和理论计算公式。对煤矿安全生产和通风除尘设计具有普遍意义。     

Tour Level Mode Choice Analysis of Madison Area in Wisconsin

This study is to investigate what factors and how they affect tours （trip chains） behavior. The key issue is the understanding and definition of tour and tour level mode. Also, these definitions should fit for the data. A semi-home based tour definition is stated, and a competing mode based tour mode is defined. Based on the definition, this study used Madison Area Data from National Household Survey to estimate a MNL structured model. It is found that travel distance could be a positive factor for car mode. Meanwhile, the number of trips is also a positive factor for choosing car.     

Effects of Weighting Schemes on the Identification of Wildlife Corridors Generated with Least‐Cost Methods

The importance of movement corridors for maintaining connectivity within metapopulations of wild animals is a cornerstone of conservation. One common approach for determining corridor locations is least‐cost corridor (LCC) modeling, which uses algorithms within a geographic information system to search for routes with the lowest cumulative resistance between target locations on a landscape. However, the presentation of multiple LCCs that connect multiple locations generally assumes all corridors contribute equally to connectivity, regardless of the likelihood that animals will use them. Thus, LCCs may overemphasize seldom‐used longer routes and underemphasize more frequently used shorter routes. We hypothesize that, depending on conservation objectives and available biological information, weighting individual corridors on the basis of species‐specific movement, dispersal, or gene flow data may better identify effective corridors. We tested whether locations of key connectivity areas, defined as the highest 75th and 90th percentile cumulative weighted value of approximately 155,000 corridors, shift under different weighting scenarios. In addition, we quantified the amount and location of private land that intersect key connectivity areas under each weighting scheme. Some areas that appeared well connected when analyzed with unweighted corridors exhibited much less connectivity compared with weighting schemes that discount corridors with large effective distances. Furthermore, the amount and location of key connectivity areas that intersected private land varied among weighting schemes. We believe biological assumptions and conservation objectives should be explicitly incorporated to weight corridors when assessing landscape connectivity. These results are highly relevant to conservation planning because on the basis of recent interest by government agencies and nongovernmental organizations in maintaining and enhancing wildlife corridors, connectivity will likely be an important criterion for prioritization of land purchases and swaps. Efectos de los Esquemas de Ponderación sobre la Identificación de Corredores para Vida Silvestre Generados con Métodos Menos Costosos     

浅谈项目选址的环境可行性论证

对目前项目选址环境可行性论证存在的问题进行了初步分析，并从政策规划的相符性、环境容量的允许性、敏感目标的影响性3个方面探讨了项目选址的环境可行性论证。     

Female siskins choose mates by the size of the yellow wing stripe

Commonly, female birds use the brightly coloured patches on males to choose the best-quality mates. Coloured wing patches, however, have received little attention or have been previously related to social behaviour (as a signal to recruit conspecific individuals at feeding patches) or foraging (to flush prey) contexts, rather than to sexual selection. Here we provide evidence that in siskins (Carduelis spinus), wing patches function in mate choice. Mate-choice experiments showed that females were attracted by the size of the yellow wing stripe of the male, but not by the size of its black bib, body size, general plumage brightness or age. Experiments on birds with manipulated yellow wing stripes showed that females were sensitive to the size of this colour patch, irrespective of other male qualities. The preference of female siskins for males with larger wing patches when searching for a mate may be explained by the relationship of this trait to foraging ability, which would ensure females good parental investment from the chosen male.Communicated by W.A. Searcy     

论长江流域山岳旅游地发展对神农架开发的启示

长江流域山岳旅游地数量很多,近年来在旅游开发与管理方面积累的成功经验具有普遍性。政府主导、高度重视山岳旅游价值、避免粗放式过度开发、适度提升旅游形象、切实保护生态环境、多元融资、内外联动发展大旅游、与国际接轨提高管理水平等措施值得借鉴。神农架作为长江流域典型的山岳旅游地,由此可以得到重要启示。神农架的战略出路在于：顺应产业升级转型趋势,全面确立旅游兴区战略,构建区域经济新极核,实施RMP系统整合,明晰旅游形象和加强区域合作。