Interference asymmetries among age-sex classes of rufous hummingbirds during migratory stopovers

Summary Three age-sex classes of rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) overlap temporally and defend feeding territories during migratory stopovers in the Sierra Nevada of California. We demonstrate that these classes differ in their ability to secure and maintain high-quality feeding territories for refueling, and that these differences result in differences in resource use. Data on acquisition of territories, territory characteristics, and responses of territory owners to intruders suggest that several mechanisms are involved in determining dominance, involving sex- and age-related differences in wing disc loading, coloration, and experience. We discuss the implications of these results for understanding intraspecific variation in migration strategies. Correspondence to: F.L. Carpenter     

Kin-preferential cooperation,dominance-dependent reproductive skew,and competition for mates in communally nesting female house mice

Little is known about the behavioural mechanisms facilitating kin-preferential communal breeding in wild house mice (Mus domesticus). We evaluated the effect of kinship and male availability on aggression, social structure and reproductive skew in groups of female mice freely interacting and reproducing in semi-natural indoor enclosures. Triplets of either sisters or non-sisters were established in enclosures provided with either one or three littermate males, which were unrelated and unfamiliar to the females. Sisters were more spatially associated and less aggressive than non-sisters, leading to higher incidences of communal breeding and reproduction. This is in agreement with theoretical considerations on kin selection in house mice. Reproductive success was highly skewed in favour of dominant females due to subordinate infertility or complete loss of first litters, which might have been caused by dominant females. In spite of this, subordinates only rarely dispersed from the enclosures, suggesting that perceived dispersal risk generally outweighed relatively reduced reproductive potentials. Aggression levels among females were significantly higher when one male was available, compared to when three males were available. We suggest that this might result from higher female-female competition for mates, due to the risk of missing fertilisation when synchronously oestrous females encounter limited numbers of males in a deme. Our results indicate that, first, communal nursing in house mice might have evolved to make the best out of a bad job rather than to enhance offspring fitness; and, second, that female-female mate-competition might play an important role in shaping female social structure in this polygynous mammal.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at Communicated by F. Trillmich     

害虫抗性杂合子死亡率对抗性进化的影响

通过计算机模拟,研究了在R基因频率和种群大小的三种不同组合情况下,害虫抗性杂合于在用药或不用药时对抗性进化的影响.模拟结果表明,1)在任何组合中不用药时R基因的衰退是一个缓慢的过程,除非(RR)和(RS)遗传型的生物适合度很低.若R基因的显性越高,生物适合度越低,则抗性基因衰退越快.2)用杀死全部或绝大多数杂合子的剂量,并有少量敏感个体迁入时,抗性可被控制.但抗性一旦很明显,则此策略不再有效.     

Controls on Leaching of N Species in Upland Moorland Catchments

Spatial and temporal changes in mobility of N species have been studied for three UK upland river networks, the Etherow in the South Pennines, the Nether Beck in the Lake District and the Dee in NE Scotland. The catchments are subject to N deposition at 35.1, 22.0 and 10.8–15.6 kg N ha^–1 yr^–1, respectively. TheNH ₄ ⁺ leaching appears to be predominantly regulated by flowpath in more polluted upland catchments. It is greatest where water draining acidified peaty soils contributes more to total discharge. Soluble organic matter may provide the dominant counter anion. In the Etherowand Dee catchments, which are dominated by acid mineral and organic soils, at high discharge NO ₃ ^– also appears to be associated with greater input of water from acidified soils. In contrast, for the Nether Beck, higher NO ₃ ^– concentrations are associated with tributaries draining soils contributingwater with higher alkalinity, suggesting nitrification is important. For the Etherow and Dee, dissolved organic N (DON) appears to originate predominantly from acidified, peaty soils. Spiking experiments with peat soil from the Etherow catchment confirmed the limited capacity of these soils to utilize inorganic N inputs, favouring equilibration with NH ₄ ⁺ inputs and leaching losses of inorganic N throughout the year.     

Scent-marking behavior in wild groups of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

Scent-marking in mammals has been frequently related to within-group social and reproductive dominance and to defense of territory and resources. We studied the scent-marking behavior of five wild groups of common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus, during 5 months of the fruiting season in northeastern Brazil. Circumgenital marking was the most common type of marking. Marks were distributed throughout the home range and were deposited mainly during travel and intergroup encounters. Although marks were commonly deposited at gum trees, there was no evidence that the animals used scent marks to label fruiting trees or sleeping sites. Contrary to expectations, reproductively dominant females did not mark more than reproductively subordinate females. Moreover, during intergroup encounters, reproductively subordinate females displayed higher frequencies of scent-marking than the reproductively dominant females of their group. Our results suggest that scent-marking is not strictly tied to reproductive dominance or territorial (or resource) defense in common marmosets. Because marks provide information about individual identity and reproductive condition, scent marks could serve different functions when used by different individuals. The high frequency of marking by reproductively subordinate females during intergroup encounters suggests that scent-marking might be used to signal to individuals of neighboring groups. Our data highlight the importance of social and ecological variables in scent-marking behavior. Received: 26 October 1998 / Received in revised form: 20 May 1999 / Accepted: 30 May 1999     

活性炭性质对固定化生物活性炭净水效果的影响研究

对不同种类活性炭进行优势菌种人工固定化,通过相关性分析,研究了活性炭的性能指标对固定化生物活性炭(IBAC)净水效果的影响作用.结果表明:相关系数在0.7以上的活性炭性能指标为糖蜜值、摩擦系数、强度、单宁酸值、平均粒径、有效粒径、均匀系数,相关系数在0.5以上的活性炭性能指标为pH值、碘值、丁烷值、四氯化碳值.进一步的偏相关分析结果表明:对生物炭净水效果影响较大的性能指标为糖蜜值、强度、摩擦系数、均匀系数、平均粒径、有效粒径.产生这种影响的主要原因是以糖蜜值为代表的活性炭孔隙分布,为优势菌种提供栖息场所和调节食物供给;强度和摩擦系数代表了活性炭的耐破损能力,影响优势菌种生物膜的稳定性;活性炭的粒径大小和粒度分布均匀性,直接影响滤床水力剪切力,从而影响优势菌的固定稳定性.     

葛洲坝水库鱼类群落结构特征研究

2009~2010年的5~6月和11~12月在葛洲坝库区进行了鱼类资源调查,分析了鱼类群落结构特征。调查期间共收集到鱼类6目10科55种,其中鲤科物种数最多,占总种数的673%。5~6月和11~12月的鱼类群落结构组成、Shannon Wiener多样性指数没有显著差异（〖WTBX〗P〖WTBZ〗<005）。库区内优势种为贝氏〖FK（W1。1〗〖PS餐鱼1.eps〗〖FK）〗、鳊、〖FK（W1。1〗〖PS餐鱼1.eps〗〖FK）〗和蛇鮈,优势种个体较小,平均体长分别为914±157、2197±353、867±160和1025±223 mm。分析发现,静水缓流型和江湖洄游型鱼类是葛洲坝库区主要的鱼类类群,分别占渔获物重量的502%和465%。丰度生物量比较曲线显示,葛洲坝库区鱼类群落结构受到中度干扰。根据生态类群分析,葛洲坝库区的鱼类群落结构与三峡库区相似,但与葛洲坝坝下江段和建坝前流水环境的鱼类群落结构相比,有明显的差异,说明水文条件变化对鱼类群落结构有明显的影响     

景观生态学在区域环评中的应用

采用生态环境影响评价中的景观生态学方法，应用景观生态学的基本观点和原理，通过对攀枝花市高耗能工业园区建成前的生态调查，从景观空间结构、恢复能力、内在异质性、绿地拼块之间的连通性等方面，对该工业园区的生态质量及变化趋势作出评价和预测，提出园区生态建设应注意的问题和采取的措施，为攀枝花市高耗能工业园区的生态建设和经济、社会的可持续发展提供理论依据。     

Polyandry in the genus Apis, particularly Apis andreniformis

Using four polymorphic microsatellite loci, we found that four Apis andreniformis queens collected in Thailand each mated at least 10–20 times, producing an average relatedness, g _ww, of workers of 0.30 ± 0.007, and an average effective number of matings of 9.1 ± 2.2. The degrees of polyandry and intra-colonial genetic relatedness in A. andreniformis are similar to those in A. mellifera, slightly more than in A. florea, and up to 6 times less than in A. dorsata. We argue that while presently favoured hypotheses for the evolution of polyandry in monogynous social insects may adequately explain the evolution of up to five or six matings, they are inadequate to explain the extreme polyandry (10–60 matings) observed in Apis. One alternative possibility is that colony fitness is a non-additive function of the fitness of individual subfamilies. Such behavioral over-dominance may mean that queen fitness is increased by high levels of polyandry, which increase the probability of desirable combinations of worker genotypes occurring in one colony. The special attributes of honey bees which may lead to behavioral over-dominance include colony aggregation (which may increase the incidence of disease), and frequent long-distance migration. Received: 8 May 1996/Accepted after revision: 9 August 1996     

浙江省海岛海域环境生态特征：Ⅰ浮游动物种类优势度与水体生态性质

浙江近海洋域地处暖温带和亚热交汇区，在不同季节受不同性质水系的影响，呈现出不同程度的交汇和混合。通过对１９９０年春，秋两季浙北，中、南三区及７个重点岛群浮游动物及不同生态类型种类优化势度的计算和分析，探讨其栖息区域的群落生态特征，并从生物效应的角度判别栖息海区的水体性质。