PFOA对斑马鱼胚胎发育、行为和DNA损伤的毒性研究

全氟辛酸(PFOA)是一种分布广泛的环境持久性有机污染物,在野生动物与人体内普遍被检出。目前PFOA发育毒性的特点和机制尚未阐明,已有的研究显示,PFOA毒性与受试物种及性别密切相关。因此,利用不同物种进行PFOA毒性研究对阐明其毒性机制十分重要。本研究选用了斑马鱼这种理想的脊椎动物模型,考察了PFOA暴露对其胚胎发育的自主运动、心跳、行为、细胞凋亡和DNA损伤的影响。研究发现,始于6hpf的PFOA暴露会导致斑马鱼胚胎自主运动异常,心率降低,且具有一定的剂量依赖性;6～24hpf的高浓度的PFOA暴露(>414.0mg·L-1)会导致胚胎发生显著的细胞凋亡,凋亡主要出现在眼部、头部、心脏和尾部。较高浓度的PFOA暴露(165.6mg·L-1)会使仔鱼的光刺激应激行为模式发生变化。此外,PFOA暴露会致使斑马鱼发生DNA损伤,且损伤程度随PFOA浓度的升高而加重,表明PFOA具有一定的基因毒性。上述结果表明,PFOA对斑马鱼胚胎具有发育毒性,具体表现为自主运动异常,心率降低和行为反应能力变弱,同时伴随畸形、细胞凋亡和DNA损伤。     

Value of Semi-Open Corridors for Simultaneously Connecting Open and Wooded Habitats: a Case Study with Ground Beetles

Abstract:  To counteract habitat fragmentation, the connectivity of a landscape should be enhanced. Corridors are thought to facilitate movement between disconnected patches of habitat, and linear strips of habitat connecting isolated patches are a popular type of corridor. On the other hand, the creation of new corridors can lead to fragmentation of the surrounding habitat. For example, heathland corridors connect patches of heathland and alternatively hedgerows connect patches of woodland. Nevertheless, these corridors themselves also break up previously connected patches of their surrounding habitat and in so doing fragment another type of habitat (heathland corridors fragment woodlands and woodland strips or hedgerows fragment heathlands). To overcome this challenge we propose the use of semi-open habitats (a mixture of heathland and woodland vegetation) as conservation corridors to enable dispersal of both stenotopic heathland and woodland species. We used two semi-open corridors with a mosaic of heathland and woody vegetation to investigate the efficiency of semi-open corridors for species dispersal and to assess whether these corridors might be a suitable approach for nature conservation. We conducted a mark-recapture study on three stenotopic flightless carabid beetles of heathlands and woodlands and took an inventory of all the carabid species in two semi-open corridors. Both methodological approaches showed simultaneous immigration of woodland and heathland species in the semi-open corridor. Detrended correspondence analysis showed a clear separation of the given habitats and affirmed that semi-open corridors are a good strategy for connecting woodlands and heathlands. The best means of creating and preserving semi-open corridors is probably through extensive grazing .     

盐酸四环素对秀丽线虫(C.elegans)的急性与多代毒性研究

环境中抗生素的生态安全性受到越来越多的关注.以盐酸四环素(TCH)为对象、秀丽线虫(C.elegans)为模式生物,开展了急性与多代毒性研究.急性毒性实验表明盐酸四环素对秀丽线虫的LC50为167.5mg·L-(112h)、82.9mg·L-(124h),与现有四环素毒性数据相比,秀丽线虫对TCH的毒性更为敏感.分别对虫卵和成虫进行多代毒性的研究表明,盐酸四环素环境水平(μg·L-1)下的暴露,对秀丽线虫母代(P0)、子一代(F1)和子二代(F2)的逆向运动抑制率(RMI)、身体弯曲频率(BBFI)、Omega运动抑制率(OMI)3个行为学指标均具有显著的抑制作用,而且行为学指标比死亡率更加敏感,虫卵比成虫更加敏感.多代毒性作用的结果表明,盐酸四环素对P0、F1和F2产生的毒性存在差异,对于RMI和BBFI,其毒性作用强度为P0>F2>F1;对于OMI,其毒性作用强度为P0>F1≈F2.代际之间没有显示世代毒性逐代恶化或逐代修复的一般规律,可能与行为学指标的敏感性差异、盐酸四环素自身的降解、生物抗性有关.     

A Meta‐Analytic Review of Corridor Effectiveness

Abstract: Using corridors for conservation is increasing despite a lack of consensus on their efficacy. Specifically, whether corridors increase movement of plants and animals between habitat fragments has been addressed on a case‐by‐case basis with mixed results. Because of the growing number of well‐designed experiments that have addressed this question, we conducted a meta‐analysis to determine whether corridors increase movement; whether corridor effectiveness differs among taxa; how recent changes in experimental design have influenced findings; and whether corridor effectiveness differs between manipulative and natural experiments. To conduct our meta‐analysis, we analyzed 78 experiments from 35 studies using a conservative hierarchical Bayesian model that accounts for hierarchical and sampling dependence. We found a highly significant result that corridors increase movement between habitat patches by approximately 50% compared to patches that are not connected with corridors. We found that corridors were more important for the movement of invertebrates, nonavian vertebrates, and plants than they were for birds. Recent methodological advances in corridor experiments, such as controlling for the area added by corridors, did not influence whether corridors increased movement, whereas controlling for the distance between source and connected or unconnected recipient patches decreased movement through corridors. After controlling for taxa differences and whether studies controlled for distance in experimental design, we found that natural corridors (those existing in landscapes prior to the study) showed more movement than manipulated corridors (those created and maintained for the study). Our results suggest that existing corridors increase species movement in fragmented landscapes and that efforts spent on maintaining and creating corridors are worthwhile.     

Conservation Implications of Drastic Reductions in the Smallest and Most Isolated Populations of Giant Pandas

Abstract: In conservation biology, understanding the causes of endangerment is a key step to devising effective conservation strategies. We used molecular evidence (coalescent simulations of population changes from microsatellite data) and historical information (habitat and human population changes) to investigate how the most‐isolated populations of giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) in the Xiaoxiangling Mountains became highly endangered. These populations experienced a strong, recent demographic reduction (60‐fold), starting approximately 250 years BP. Explosion of the human population and use of non‐native crop species at the peak of the Qing Empire resulted in land‐use changes, deforestation, and habitat fragmentation, which are likely to have led to the drastic reduction of the most‐isolated populations of giant pandas. We predict that demographic, genetic, and environmental factors will lead to extinction of giant pandas in the Xiaoxiangling Mountains in the future if the population remains isolated. Therefore, a targeted conservation action—translocation—has been proposed and is being implemented by the Chinese goverment.     

What Every Conservation Biologist Should Know about Economic Theory

Abstract: The last century has seen the ascendance of a core economic model, which we will refer to as Walrasian economics. This model is driven by the psychological assumptions that humans act only in a self‐referential and narrowly rational way and that production can be described as a self‐contained circular flow between firms and households. These assumptions have critical implications for the way economics is used to inform conservation biology. Yet the Walrasian model is inconsistent with a large body of empirical evidence about actual human behavior, and it violates a number of basic physical laws. Research in behavioral science and neuroscience shows that humans are uniquely social animals and not self‐centered rational economic beings. Economic production is subject to physical laws including the laws of thermodynamics and mass balance. In addition, some contemporary economic theory, spurred by exciting new research in human behavior and a wealth of data about the negative global impact of the human economy on natural systems, is moving toward a world view that places consumption and production squarely in its behavioral and biophysical context. We argue that abandoning the straightjacket of the Walrasian core is essential to further progress in understanding the complex, coupled interactions between the human economy and the natural world. We call for a new framework for economic theory and policy that is consistent with observed human behavior, recognizes the complex and frequently irreversible interaction between human and natural systems, and directly confronts the cumulative negative effects of the human economy on the Earth's life support systems. Biophysical economics and ecological economics are two emerging economic frameworks in this movement.     

Evaluation of environmental stress by comet assay on freshwater snail Lymnea luteola L. exposed to titanium dioxide nanoparticles

The use of aquatic organisms to monitor for contamination is well-established. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the adverse effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂NP) in freshwater snail Lymnea luteola L. (L. luteola). For TiO₂NPs ecotoxicity tests, snails were exposed for seven days. A dose and time-response relationship was observed for TiO₂NP-induced genotoxicity. Induction of oxidative stress in digestive gland was observed by a decrease in glutathione and gluthathions-S-transferase levels accompanied by elevated malondialdehyde levels at TiO₂NP (9 and 28 µg/mL). Superoxide dismutase activities were markedly reduced at TiO₂NP (9 and 28 µg/mL) at days 1 and 3, but not at day 7. Catalase activities were decreased at days 1 and 3 but increased at higher concentration of TiO₂NP at day 7. DNA fragmentation occurring in L. luteola due to ecotoxic impact TiO₂NP was further substantiated by alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis assay and expressed in terms of percent tail DNA and olive tail moment. The results indicate that the interaction of these TiO₂NP with snail influences the toxicity, which is mediated by oxidative stress in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The measurement of DNA integrity in L. luteola thus provides an early warning signal of contamination of the aquatic ecosystem by TiO₂NP. Data suggest the freshwater snail L. luteola is a potential biomonitor organism.     

景观格局破碎化的粒度特征及其变异的分形定量研究

文章构建一种用于定量测度景观破碎化指标空间粒度特征的分形方法.该方法基于景观粒度特征中的幂律关系,利用双对数线性回归方法,获取了景观破碎化指标在粒度变换过程中的2个数量关系:拟合优度R2与分维数D,分别刻画景观指标粒度变换的分形特性和随空间粒度变化的程度.以1992—2011年间上海市景观破碎化的过程为例,利用提出的分形方法进行分析.研究显示,总体上内部生境面积破碎化指标FI1和FI2没有清晰的分形特性;均匀性指标EI在1992年分形特性显著而在2011年分形特性却不清晰;斑块形状破碎化指标FS1其分形特性同样不清晰,而指标FS2呈现显著的分形特性,并且分维数D表现为正值,即随空间粒度的增大景观指标FS2的值减小.结果表明,拟合优度R2与分维数D的有机组合,能够定量地刻画景观破碎化中的粒度变化特征.研究同时发现,景观指标随空间粒度的变化特征,受指标内在特性、研究数据、研究区域的景观结构以及实验数据重采样方法和方案的影响.该分形方法不但可以用来测度所例举的5种景观破碎化指标的粒度特征,更适用于测度Fragstats中被广泛使用的各种景观指标.     

Estimating Extinction Risk with Metapopulation Models of Large‐Scale Fragmentation

Habitat loss is the principal threat to species. How much habitat remains—and how quickly it is shrinking—are implicitly included in the way the International Union for Conservation of Nature determines a species’ risk of extinction. Many endangered species have habitats that are also fragmented to different extents. Thus, ideally, fragmentation should be quantified in a standard way in risk assessments. Although mapping fragmentation from satellite imagery is easy, efficient techniques for relating maps of remaining habitat to extinction risk are few. Purely spatial metrics from landscape ecology are hard to interpret and do not address extinction directly. Spatially explicit metapopulation models link fragmentation to extinction risk, but standard models work only at small scales. Counterintuitively, these models predict that a species in a large, contiguous habitat will fare worse than one in 2 tiny patches. This occurs because although the species in the large, contiguous habitat has a low probability of extinction, recolonization cannot occur if there are no other patches to provide colonists for a rescue effect. For 4 ecologically comparable bird species of the North Central American highland forests, we devised metapopulation models with area‐weighted self‐colonization terms; this reflected repopulation of a patch from a remnant of individuals that survived an adverse event. Use of this term gives extra weight to a patch in its own rescue effect. Species assigned least risk status were comparable in long‐term extinction risk with those ranked as threatened. This finding suggests that fragmentation has had a substantial negative effect on them that is not accounted for in their Red List category. Estimación del Riesgo de Extinción Mediante Modelos Metapoblacionales de Fragmentación a Gran Escala     

Demographic Connectivity for Ursid Populations at Wildlife Crossing Structures in Banff National Park

Wildlife crossing structures are one solution to mitigating the fragmentation of wildlife populations caused by roads, but their effectiveness in providing connectivity has only been superficially evaluated. Hundreds of grizzly (Ursus arctos) and black bear (Ursus americanus) passages through under and overpasses have been recorded in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. However, the ability of crossing structures to allow individual and population‐level movements across road networks remains unknown. In April 2006, we initiated a 3‐year investigation into whether crossing structures provide demographic connectivity for grizzly and black bears in Banff National Park. We collected hair with multiple noninvasive methods to obtain genetic samples from grizzly and black bears around the Bow Valley. Our objectives were to determine the number of male and female grizzly and black bears that use crossing structures; examine spatial and temporal patterns of crossings; and estimate the proportions of grizzly and black bear populations in the Bow Valley that use crossing structures. Fifteen grizzly (7 female, 8 male) and 17 black bears (8 female, 9 male) used wildlife crossing structures. The number of individuals detected at wildlife crossing structures was highly correlated with the number of passages in space and time. Grizzly bears used open crossing structures (e.g., overpasses) more often than constricted crossings (e.g., culverts). Peak use of crossing structures for both bear species occurred in July, when high rates of foraging activity coincide with mating season. We compared the number of bears that used crossings with estimates of population abundance from a related study and determined that substantial percentages of grizzly (15.0% in 2006, 19.8% in 2008) and black bear (17.6% in 2006, 11.0% in 2008) populations used crossing structures. On the basis of our results, we concluded wildlife crossing structures provide demographic connectivity for bear populations in Banff National Park. Conectividad Demográfica para Poblaciones de Úrsidos en Estructuras para Cruce de Vida Silvestre en el Parque Nacional Banff