Group foraging, patch exploitation time and the finder's advantage

 We use a combination of the marginal value theorem (MVT) of Charnov (1976), and a group foraging model featuring information sharing to address patch residence in an environment where food occurs in discrete patches. We shall show that among equal competitors the optimal patch time for the individual that finds the food patch is shorter than that for the non-finder among equal competitors, T _E < T _N. This is the case if the patch-finder commences food harvesting in the patch earlier and manages to monopolise a fraction of the prey items (finder's advantage) before the other individuals come to take their benefit. When individuals differ in their food-searching abilities so that some of them (producers) contribute proportionally more to food-searching than others (scroungers), and differ in ability to compete for the food found, a difference emerges between producer and scrounger individuals in the optimal patch time. Within a patch we always have the finder's advantage (T _E < T _N) regardless of phenotype. Between patches a suite of optimal patch times for encountering individuals emerges depending on the performance of producers and scroungers when changing from solitary feeding to feeding in a group. The optimal patch time for individuals that are affected more severely by competition is shorter than that for individuals of the phenotype with better competitive ability. When both phenotypes are affected similarly no difference in optimal patch times emerges. Received: 13 February 1996 / Accepted after revision: 28 September 1996     

Differences in rural landscape perceptions and preferences between farmers and naturalists

A long history of human–nature interactions mediated by agriculture, resulted in high biodiversity in Japanese rural landscapes. This diversity faces drastic decline due to the changes following the socioeconomic circumstances regarding agriculture. Rural conservation will require cooperation among major stakeholders, and knowing how preferences for and perceptions of rural landscapes differ among them can help crafting and implementing effective conservation measures. This study investigated how perceptions of rural landscapes in the Arai-Keinan region, Niigata, Japan differ among people having very different relationships to them. In a photograph-based semantic differential survey, farmers and naturalists, major stakeholders in rural conservation, rated both rice paddy and woodland landscapes. In determining preferences for rice paddy landscapes, perceptions of stewardship and openness were significantly more important for farmers, whereas those of naturalness and biodiversity were significantly more important for naturalists. Such group differences were not found for woodland landscapes. Analysis of perceptions for landscape changes suggested that farmers may have higher normative criteria for rural landscapes than naturalists. Group preferences for intensified rice paddies on sloped topography may conflict, and any rural conservation planning effort should carefully consider that farmers and naturalists consider different aspects of landscapes as important.     

考虑双向群组运动特征的场域模型研究

行人动力学的研究能为火灾等紧急情况下的疏散研究提供理论支撑.现有研究多以独立行人为研究对象,群组作为行人流的重要组成部分,有必要进行研究分析.以场域模型为基础,在前人提出群组场的基础上进行拓展,并引入预测场模拟群组行人避让行为,构建了考虑双向群组运动特征的拓展场域模型,对双向群组运动特征进行研究.在双向流通道中进行模拟...     

浙东隆起带与西南日本黑濑川构造带地质演化之比较

浙东、闽北陈蔡群和建瓯群所构成的浙东隆起带,东延过东海后,与西南日本黑濑川构造带的寺野、肥后变质岩类连接,属“华夏—日本南方大陆”的北部残留地块,是受控于江山-绍兴-御荷(?)古断裂带而抬升暴露的.     

Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Land-Use Managers' Attitudes Toward Environmental Justice

This study examines the outcome of efforts to educate federal land-use managers about their roles in implementing the Executive Order in their respective districts. The managers participated in a 6-h Nominal Group Technique (NGT) workshop where they were instructed to weight environmental justice issues versus others associated with hazardous waste problems in their districts. Participant responses were quantified and analyzed through a series of rounds. After each round, participants received increasing amounts of information on environmental justice issues. It was hypothesized that the managers would come to a consensus that environmental justice is an important issue that should be seriously addressed. Prior to administering the NGT, the managers appeared to have limited knowledge of environmental justice issues and thus assigned relatively low rankings to such concerns. After being “educated” by viewing films on environmental justice and reading related literature, in general, managers' weightings decreased and a narrower consensus developed. The authors conclude that exposure to the issue may not be as effective as expected in convincing land-use managers to become sensitive to justice issues so that they may effectively implement the Executive Order.     

火山灰下的记忆──辽西中生代热河化石库的组成和形成

燕山期环太平洋构造活动导致辽西频繁地火山喷发。巨星火山灰一次次覆盖火山周围丛林和湖沼．掩埋了各种生物，形成学术价值极高的化石库（fossillagerstatte），尤其是鸟类和昆虫化石及动物的毛发、羽毛、膜翅及内脏等软组织结构，都或多或少地以精细的碳化膜或印痕保存。特别是近年一系列新发现，如孔子鸟（Confucinsornis）和带毛的秀颌龙（Compsognathus）／中华龙鸟（Sinosauroteryx）等，引起国内外学术界的轰动。笔者研究了其中一批化石，从古生态和埋藏事件进行探讨认为：（1）该生物群代表分子中鹦鹉嘴龙（Psittacosaurus）、带毛秀颌龙／中华龙鸟及孔子鸟等，很可能是温血动物。（2）频繁的火山喷发不但将巨量的火山灰沉积在广大的湖泊丛林区，加快了其沼泽化的进程，对煤层及油页岩层的形成起了催化作用。     

论蓬家夼金矿基础地质答杨金中等商榷之疑

蓬家夼金矿容矿地层为下白垩统莱阳群一段含碳碎屑岩系 ,与世界上已知的产于含炭岩系金矿床对比 ,以容矿地层时代新、陆相沉积及未经变质区别于已知的金矿床而认为是一种新类型金矿。笔者依据蓬家夼金矿控矿条件 ,成功预测并找到新的盲金矿床 (宋家沟 -发云夼金矿 )。本文论证蓬家夼金矿基础地质 ,指出杨金中等《论蓬家夼金矿的地质特征及成因与聂爱国等商榷》一文基础地质中的错误 :将莱阳群一段含碳碎屑岩错认为荆山群变质杂岩 ,将沉积碎屑岩误认为滑脱构造岩 ,从而导致对该矿床成因的错误认识     

Nestmate recognition for eggs in the honeybee (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Apis mellifera</Emphasis> L.)

Colony integrity is fundamental to social insects and is threatened by the reproduction of non-nestmates. Therefore, discrimination between eggs derived from nestmates and non-nestmates would constitute an adaptation to prevent exploitation of the entire cooperative group by unrelated individuals. The removal of nestmate and non-nestmate queen and worker-laid eggs was evaluated in honeybees using colonies of Apis mellifera capensis to test female and of A. m. scutellata to test male eggs. The data show that honeybees can distinguish between nestmate and non-nestmate eggs of both sexes. Moreover, non-nestmate female queen-laid eggs were removed significantly faster than nestmate female worker-laid eggs in A. m. capensis, indicating that nestmate recognition cues can override caste-specific ones. While the experimental manipulation accounts for 37.2% (A. m. scutellata) or 1.6% (A. m. capensis) of variance in relation to egg removal, nestmate recognition explains 33.3% for male eggs (A. m. scutellata) and 60.6% for female eggs (A. m. capensis), which is almost twice as high as the impact of caste (16.7% A. m. scutellata; 25% A. m. capensis). Our data show a stronger effect of nestmate recognition on egg removal in the honeybee, suggesting that cues other than caste-specific ones (viability/kin) can dominate egg removal behavior. In light of intraspecific social parasitism, preventing the reproduction of unrelated individuals (group selection) rather than preferring queens’ eggs (kin selection) appears to be the driving force behind the evolution of egg removal behavior in honeybees.     

Settlement patterns of female barn swallows Hirundo rustica across different group sizes: access to colorful males or favored nests?

In most avian species, individuals are faced with two critical decisions at the start of a breeding season: choosing a breeding site and a mate. An analysis of these decisions in light of population-level patterns, such as group size variation in social breeders, can illuminate the causes and patterns of habitat selection behavior. Group sizes are variable in barn swallows; however, no clear and consistent benefits of group breeding have been found in this species, and it is puzzling as to why individuals breed socially. Previous analyses demonstrated that individuals aggregate to gain access to nests that were constructed during previous seasons; however extra-pair matings are also prevalent in this species, raising questions about the mate-selection strategies of females across different group sizes. In this paper, I address the question of how females make their first site-selection decisions in terms of two features known to be causally related to seasonal reproductive success: (1) colorful males or (2) old nests. Using experimental and observational data, I tested, but found no support for, the hypotheses that propose female settlement decisions are a function of (1) the prevalence of colorful males or (2) the increased opportunity for extra-pair matings at group sites. Instead, it is apparent that female settlement patterns are strongly tied to the availability of old nests at a site. Extra-pair fertilizations are equally common across all group sizes in this population, suggesting that females do not face a trade-off between old nests and the possibility of extra-pair mating decisions when making settlement decisions.     

Movements of vervets (Cercopithecus aethiops) and patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) as estimators of food resource size, density, and distribution

The effect of food resources on behavior has been difficult to measure. Here we use animals themselves to describe “effective” food abundance and distribution by comparing, relative to where individuals stopped to eat, movements of (1) adult females living in a small group of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) with those living in a large group and (2) vervets and patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas). Although females in the large vervet group travelled farther and stopped to eat more often than females in the small vervet group, these differences resulted from foraging in Acacia drepanolobium habitat. In A. xanthophloea habitat, females in the large group travelled less far, travelled shorter distances between foods, and stopped as often as females in the small group. Greater foraging costs of females in larger vervet groups may be offset by access to home ranges of better quality. Compared to patas, vervets travelled shorter distances, moved shorter distances between food sites, stopped less often, and had longer feeding bouts, suggesting that foods of vervets are denser and larger, overall, than foods of patas. When vervets foraged in A. drepanolobium habitat, also the habitat of patas, their foraging behavior became more like that of patas. Vervets travelled farther, stopped more often, and spent less time at food sites in A. drepanolobium habitat than in A. xanthophloea habitat, suggesting that foods are smaller and less usurpable in A. drepanolobium habitat. Distance between foods, a component of food distribution, did not increase, however. The critical variable underlying usurpability of foods may be food site depletion time, a temporal measure. Received: 14 March 1997 / Accepted after revision: 19 October 1997