Spatial,temporal, and environmental limits on xanthotoxin induction in wild parsnip foliage

Summary Although present constitutively in large amounts, furanocoumarins in leaves of wild parsnip,Pastinaca sativa, are inducible to even higher concentrations by mechanical and insect damage. We conducted several experiments in order to characterize the nature and extent of xanthotoxin inducibility inP. sativa foliage. In order to determine the extent to which induction is localized, we mechanically damaged a single leaflet of a compound leaf on seven plants. Xanthotoxin concentrations increased significantly only in the damaged leaflet and in the half of the terminal leaflet closest to the damaged leaflet; thus, xanthotoxin induction is localized to the immediate vicinity of damage. To determine whether xanthotoxin induction results fromin situ biosynthesis or translocation from other plant parts, we detached individual leaflets from ten plants, damaged half of these detached leaflets, and compared xanthotoxin concentrations after 6 h in damaged and intact leaflets. We found that xanthotoxin concentrations increased 41% in damaged leaflets compared to detached leaflets that were not damaged. We also determined the rapidity and duration of the induction response. In leaflets that were damaged and then harvested after 0, 3, 24, 72, 120 and 168 h, xanthotoxin concentrations increased rapidly compared to undamaged leaflets on the opposite side of the leaf, reaching maximum levels within 24 h. This response was of comparatively short duration; concentrations declined to preinduction levels after seven days. To determine whether availability of resources influences the induced response, we performed two experiments, one in which soil nutrients were manipulated and one in which light level was manipulated. The low nutrient treatment was sufficiently extreme to cause cessation of aboveground growth, and the low light treatment caused etiolation. Extremes of resource limitation notwithstanding, leaflets significantly increased xanthotoxin production (2 to 3-fold increase under nutrient limitation and 3-fold increase under light limitation) in response to damage in both experiments.     

自然保护区生态旅游管理规划的基本原则

针对在自然保护区发展生态旅游存在许多问题，诸如自然环境破坏、自然资源匮乏、环境污染、生物多样性减少、管理不完善等问题，提出了在自然保护区发展生态旅游的基本原则。     

Response of Savanna Fire Regimes to Changing Fire-Management Policies in a Large African National Park

Abstract:  Approaches to fire management in the savanna ecosystems of the 2-million ha Kruger National Park, South Africa, have changed several times over the past six decades. These approaches have included regular and flexible prescribed burning on fixed areas and a policy that sought to establish a lightning-dominated fire regime. We sought to establish whether changes in management induced the desired variability in fire regimes over a large area. We used a spatial database of information on all fires in the park between 1957 and 2002 to determine elements of the fire regime associated with each management policy. The area that burned in any given year was independent of the management approach and was strongly related to rainfall (and therefore grass fuels) in the preceding 2 years. On the other hand, management did affect the spatial heterogeneity of fires and their seasonal distribution. Heterogeneity was higher at all scales during the era of prescribed burning, compared with the lightning-fire interval. The lightning-fire interval also resulted in a greater proportion (72% vs. 38%) of the area burning in the dry season. Mean fire-return intervals varied between 5.6 and 7.3 years, and variability in fire-return intervals was strongly influenced by the sequencing of annual rainfall rather than by management. The attempt at creating a lightning-dominated fire regime failed because most fires were ignited by humans, and the policy has been replaced by a more pragmatic approach that combines flexible prescribed burning with lightning-ignited fires.     

Sex ratio adjustment and maternal condition in two aphid species

We analyzed how offspring sex ratio varies with maternal condition in order to obtain evidence on the population structure in two aphid species with different life cycles. When fitness returns per unit investment differ for the production of daughters and sons, selection will favor an increasing investment into the sex with the higher returns. Therefore, the offspring sex ratios of individual mothers should become more biased towards the sex with the higher fitness returns as their condition or fecundity improves. The pattern of sex ratio adjustment we found in Uroleucon cirsii indicates local mate competition among males, while the pattern we found in Rhopalosiphum padi suggests local resource competition among sexual females. This might be the first evidence for local resource competition among females in an invertebrate species. Local mate competition means that fitness returns are limited by the availability of females as mates within local breeding groups, whereas local resource competition means that fitness returns are limited by the availability of resources for females competing within local groups. We discuss how the life cycles of both species fit to these hypotheses.

On the sustainability of common property resources

We provide a model where a common property resource is managed by two types of agents, cooperators and non-cooperators, who adjust their extraction strategies in response to persistent differential payoffs. In our model, the social approval of cooperators works as a reward mechanism which, as we show, favors both the pervasiveness of cooperative behavior and the sustainable management of natural resources. Specifically, we show that in the presence of such a reward mechanism a stable equilibrium can be reached with both strategies being practiced simultaneously and a decentralized and sustainable management of common property resources is possible.     

克隆植物生理整合作用的研究方法及其应用

生理整合作用是克隆植物的一个重要特征,克隆植物所表现出的许多独特的生态学行为,均与其所具有的生理整合效应密切相关.本文总结并分析了迄今为止在研究克隆植物生理整合作用方面所采用的各种方法,并将其归纳为直接和间接方法两个大类.通过这些研究方法的综合运用,克隆植物生理整合效应的机制、格局及其影响因素可以得到更加深入的揭示.在不断深化和拓展现有研究方法的基础上,今后在克隆植物生理整合效应的研究方面,还应较多地关注更为精确的研究方法,以及野外或自然条件下的实地研究.参104     

南岳自然保护区宗教文化资源的调查研究

南岳宗教文化历史悠久，最早进入南岳的宗教是中国土生土长的道教，据史载，西汉时道家就在南岳活动，到东汉时道教天师张道陵从天目山来南岳谒青玉坛和祭祀祝融神后，道教正式进入南岳活动，约在两晋南北朝时期，佛道传入南岳，至今已有1700年历史；佛道两家虽然信仰不同，追求各异，但友好相处，佛、道共存一山，共荣一庙(南岳庙)，佛道共荣的宗教文化尤为国内外宗教名山所罕见，极盛时期，有宫观41所，佛寺150所；基督教于清末传入南岳，也有一定影响，南岳宗教文化的表现形式有：香期、庙会．     

蓟县水资源状况分析

在蓟县水资源调研基础上，对蓟县水资源状况和利用情况进行了分析。     

Asymmetric larval competition in the parasitoid wasp <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nasonia vitripennis</Emphasis>: a role in sex allocation?

Sex allocation theory offers excellent opportunities for testing how animals adjust their behaviour in response to environmental conditions. A major focus has been on instances of local mate competition (LMC), where female-biased broods are produced to maximise mating opportunities for sons. However, the predictions of LMC theory can be altered if there is both local competition for resources during development and an asymmetry between the competitive abilities of the sexes, as has been seen in animals ranging from wasps to birds. In this paper, we test the extent to which asymmetric larval competition alters the predictions of LMC theory in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis. We found that the body size of both sexes was negatively correlated with the number of offspring developing within the host. Further, we found that when faced with high levels of competition, the body size of females, but not males, was influenced by the sex ratio of the competing offspring; females were smaller when a higher proportion of the brood was female. This asymmetric competition should favour less biased sex ratios than are predicted by standard LMC theory. We then develop a theoretical model that can be parameterised with our data, allowing us to determine the quantitative consequences of the observed level of asymmetric larval competition for sex allocation. We found that although asymmetric competition selects for less biased sex ratios, this effect is negligible compared to LMC. Furthermore, a similar conclusion is reached when we re-analyse existing data from another parasitoid species where asymmetric larval competition has been observed; Bracon hebetor. Consequently, we suspect that asymmetric larval competition will have its greatest influence on sex ratio evolution in species that have smaller clutches and where local mate competition is not an issue, such as birds and mammals.     

南天竹种质资源及利用

南天竹资源丰富,分布广泛,适应性强,是一种具有观赏、生态、药用等多种价值的树种,具有良好的开发利用前景。为了促进我国南天竹资源的开发利用,对其物种及主要品种类型,生物学特性及开发利用价值作了详细介绍,并提出了在开发利用中应注意的问题.参21.