High individual variation in pheromone production by tree-killing bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae)

Aggregation via pheromone signalling is essential for tree-killing bark beetles to overcome tree defenses and reproduce within hosts. Pheromone production is a trait that is linked to fitness, so high individual variation is paradoxical. One explanation is that the technique of measuring static pheromone pools overestimates true variation among individuals. An alternative hypothesis is that aggregation behaviour dilutes the contribution of individuals to the trait under selection and reduces the efficacy of natural selection on pheromone production by individuals. We compared pheromone measurements from traditional hindgut extractions of female southern pine beetles with those obtained by aerating individuals till they died. Aerations showed greater total pheromone production than hindgut extractions, but coefficients of variation (CV) remained high (60-182%) regardless of collection technique. This leaves the puzzle of high variation unresolved. A novel but simple explanation emerges from considering bark beetle aggregation behaviour. The phenotype visible to natural selection is the collective pheromone plume from hundreds of colonisers. The influence of a single beetle on this plume is enhanced by high variation among individuals but constrained by large group sizes. We estimated the average contribution of an individual to the pheromone plume across a range of aggregation sizes and showed that large aggregation sizes typical in mass attacks limit the potential of natural selection because each individual has so little effect on the overall plume. Genetic variation in pheromone production could accumulate via mutation and recombination, despite strong effects of the pheromone plume on the fitness of individuals within the aggregation. Thus, aggregation behaviour, by limiting the efficacy of natural selection, can allow the persistence of extreme phenotypes in nature.     

试论浙江建德群和磨石山群时代

根据 8 0年代以来对浙江中生代晚期火山岩同位素年代学的研究资料 ,浙江省建德群和磨石山群火山岩年龄在 135～ 117Ma之间 ,永康群、天台群和衢江群火山岩年龄在 111～90Ma。结合近年来中国东部侏罗—白垩系界线研究的新成果 ,提出浙江建德群和磨石山群时代应为早白垩世     

河流水环境有机污染物的自组织预测模型及应用

自组织预测模型是前苏联学者伊万年科提出的一种非线性建模预测方法,它能有效地解决复杂非线性系统的数据处理和建模问题。该文应用它进行水环境有机污染物预测,以实际监测数据为基础,建立了一个河流有机物浓度预测的自组织模型,其检验样本的预测误差在５％以内      

珠江三角洲火电群SO2污染及防治对策研究

在已有的大气环境质量资料和污染源排放资料基础上，用建立的珠江三角洲空气污染数值模式，经验证，计算了珠江三角洲２０００年，２０１０年的电力工业的ＳＯ２污染和对３个污染防治对策方案进行了分析，认为只有采取适当的限制燃料含硫量和大型燃煤电厂烟气脱硫等防治措施，才能控制ＳＯ２污染加重的趋势。     

胶东地块在古生代的浮沉

胶东—京畿地块在古生代并非“铁板一块”。中泥盆一早石炭世,裂解再生临津江—烟南冒地槽带;中、晚石炭世,郯庐海湾仲入成“诸城海湾”,并可能有二叠纪沼泽盆地。中生代运动使胶东地块复杂化。     

含油废水处理过程中优势菌群的筛选

研究了用生物法处理含油废水的微生物净化效能，对整个处理装置的各反应池中的降解菌群进行了筛选。共分离出45株菌，分别属于14个属。并测定出芽孢杆菌在曝气池、二沉法和排水口三处占优势。     

沈阳经济技术开发区环境空气监测点位优化布点研究

在网格布点的基础上 ,采用群分析方法对沈阳经济技术开发区的环境空气监测数据进行科学论证和分析 ,得出最佳点位     

Body condition and the grouping behavior of brood-caring female common eiders (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Somateria mollissima</Emphasis>)

Both theoretical and empirical work has shown that group size increases with increasing ecological constraints on solitary breeding. Ecological constraints refer to extrinsic factors such as availability of breeding sites, food or mates. Common eider (Somateria mollissima) females pool their broods and share brood-rearing duties, or rear broods alone. Females are often in poor condition at hatching, as incubation is accomplished without feeding, and variation in body condition is largely environmentally induced and thus unpredictable. We found that the intensity of and duration of parental care that females provide is positively correlated with their body condition at hatching. This suggests that body condition is an ecological constraint on successful solitary breeding. We further observed that group productivity in common eider broods is a decelerating function of the number of tending females. As predicted, females in poorer condition (i.e., facing stronger ecological constraints) were found in larger groups. This result is straightforward if solitary tenders can enter any group at no cost. However, if entry is group-controlled, stable groups of non-relatives are predicted not to occur when per capita reproduction declines with group size. The N-person staying incentive model permits groups to form under these conditions, because reproduction is unevenly divided between dominants and subordinates in the group. We discuss the plausibility of these alternative models of group size for understanding the grouping behavior of brood-caring female common eiders.Communicated by M. Webster