High-ranking females bias their investment in favour of male calves in captive Ammotragus lervia

Calf suckling behaviour is a valid measure of maternal investment in the Saharan arrui, Ammotragus lervia sahariensis, since this variable is strongly correlated with the inter-birth interval. High-ranking females allocate their resources preferentially towards their sons, as the average suckling rate is significantly higher in male calves than in female calves during their 1st month of life, when maternal investment reaches the highest values of the whole lactation period. However, average suckling-bout duration shows no sex differences. Some maternal behaviours, such as sniffing and licking, are strongly correlated with suckling events. Only during the calves’ 1st week is the mother responsible for maintaining proximity; but from the following week on the calves are mainly responsible for maintaining it. In addition, when the calves are 1 month old, high-ranking females tend to maintain a stronger link with their male calves. Female calves spend more time with their mothers than male calves during their 1st month of life, if the mother’s rank is lower than 60%; otherwise, the opposite occurs, male calves being close to their mothers for longer, even from their 1st week of life. Finally, the higher the maternal rank the higher the proportion of male calves delivered. Received: 18 April 1995/Accepted after revision: 11 February 1996     

长江口柱状沉积物中有机质C/N比的研究

对长江口四个站位沉积物中有机质的C／N比在垂向上的分布进行了研究，在影响沉积物中有机质C／N比的环境因素中，上覆水体的水深、盐度、密度以及浊度对其有一定的影响．在研究沉积物中有机质C／N比的分布及其影响因素的基础上，进一步估算了陆源输入和海洋自生有机碳在这四个站位沉积物有机碳中所占的比例，结果表明，海洋自生组分占沉积物总有机碳的比例分别为：53．57％(8号站位)、20．34％(11号站位)，12．28％(17号站位)和32．73％(26号站位)．     

山一村山地生态系统结构功能和系统调控

本文对山－村山地生态系统的结构和功能、能量产投比、生物量等进行实地调查和研究。结果表明，通过多年生态建设，山地生态系统已显示较好的经济、环境和社会效益。     

荔枝花雄蕊和雌蕊发育过程中碳氮化合物的动态变化

比较分析了荔枝花性决定中碳氮化合物的动态变化。结果发现：C/N较大有利于雄蕊分化,反之则有利于雌蕊分化;氨基酸含量较高有利于雌蕊分化,雄蕊的氨基酸含量仅为雌蕊的一半。脯氨酸与花粉育性存在着密切相关关系。另外,探讨了雌蕊或雄蕊败育的生理意义,在长期的进化中,败育的雌蕊或雄蕊“废物”重新被利用,为同一花中迅速发育的雌蕊或雄蕊提供能量和物质的需求,表5参13。     

西太平洋海域海水和雨水的化学特征

本工作测定了西太平洋海域中海水、海水悬浮物和海面上雨水的元素组成和浓度。通过富集因子的计算,探讨海面上雨水中微量元素的富集程度及其来源,讨论了海面上气溶胶粒子大小与洗出因子的关系,结果表明不同质量粒径大小的微量元素在公海上具有相似的洗出因子。     

松嫩平原西部不同土地覆被水盐动态对比研究

通过对6种土地覆被2003年6～10月水盐时空动态进行分析，对比不同土地覆被水盐动态变化差异，结果发现：采样期内，不同土地覆被(碱斑地除外)0-120cm剖面含水量均出现明显峰值，大豆地和羊草草地在7月底出现峰值，玉米地和向日葵地在8月初，退化草地则在8月底才达到，比羊草草地滞后了一个月。除羊草草地外，其他土地覆被剖面含水量变化呈W型，只是波动幅度各不相同。采样期内，羊草草地剖面含水量的相对变率最大，为74％，其他依次为退化草地、大豆地、向日葵地、玉米地，碱斑地最低，仅为6．4％。相对于农田土地覆被，在0～40cm，羊草草地、退化草地和碱斑地随盐渍化程度的加重，含盐量剖面变异逐渐减小，而农田的三种土地覆被之间变异比较接近。整个采样期，向日葵地储盐量随时间的变化呈下降趋势，其他土地覆被波动变化一致，都经历了下降-上升-下降过程，但波动幅度不同，且羊草草地在7月7日出现上升，其他4种土地覆被在9月8日开始出现滞后于含水量的变化。相对于采样初期，不同土地覆被含盐量的相对变率均为负值，农田的下降幅度大，草地次之，碱斑地最小。协方差分析表明：95％置信度下，土地覆被、土壤剖面和两者的交互作用对含盐量的影响差异显著。     

Tests for a biased sex ratio when the data are clustered

In behavioral ecology the overall sex ratio in a population of birds is often tested to see if it differs from a 50/50 ratio. In recent publications the binomial test or the ² test are carried out although the sexes of chicks within the same nest may not be independent. The lack of independence occurs since female birds can adjust the sex ratio in an adaptive way as demonstrated in recent studies. In order to take dependence into consideration the Wilcoxon signed rank test based on the within-brood differences between the proportions of sons and daughters was performed in a study investigating great tit hatchling sex ratios. We compare this test with a test based on an optimally weighted estimator recently proposed for medical studies with clustered binary data. According to our simulation results, this novel test is more powerful than the Wilcoxon signed rank test and should be used for the analysis of avian sex ratios. The methods are illustrated with real data from the great reed warbler.     

Colony level sex allocation in a polygynous and polydomous ant

The colony-level sex allocation pattern of eusocial Hymenoptera has attracted much attention in recent studies of evolutionary biology. We conducted a theoretical and empirical study on this subject using the dolichoderine ant Technomyrmex albipes. This ant is unusual in having a dispersal polymorphism in both males and females. New colonies are founded by an alate female after mating with one or more alate males in the nuptial flight. In mature colonies, the reproductive role of the foundress queen is taken over by wingless offspring (supplementary reproductives). Mature colonies are extremely polygynous, with many wingless queens reproducing through intea-colonial mating with wingless males (inbreeding), and producing both alate and wingless sexuals. The population sex ratio of wingless sexuals was found to be extremely female-biased, while the population allocation ratio of alates was almost 1:1. This result suggests that there is local mate competition among wingless sexuals. A specific model for this extraordinary life cycle predicted that the asymmetry of regression relatedness (b _f/b _m) will disappear during the first few generations of wingless reproductives after the foundress dies. If colonies begin to produce alates after several wingless generations, this undermines the hypotheses for intercolonial sex ratio variation based on the relatedness asymmetry. We compared the magnitude of variation in sex ratios and other characteristics between two levels (within-colony-inter-nest and between-colony). Although there was considerable within-colony variation in all the examined characteristics, between-colony variances were always larger. This means that allocation is important at the whole-colony level, not that of the nest. There was no apparent correlation between the sex ratio of alates and colony size. Furthermore, partial correlation analysis indicated that neither the number of workers nor investment in alates explained the variation in the sex ratio of alates. The only factor which was significantly correlated with the sex ratio of alates was the sex ratio of wingless sexuals (a positive correlation). We conclude that both the alate and wingless sex ratios may be influenced by a common primary sex ratio at the egg stage, the variance of which may have genetic components. In the wingless sexuals, partial correlation analysis indicated that colony size and the number of workers explained the sex allocation ratio. The number of wingless females was strongly (positively) correlated with the total investment in wingless sexuals, while the number of males showed no such correlation. There is, however, no convincing explanation for the variation in sex allocation ratio of wingless sexuals, because the estimates of investment in wingless males may have a large sampling error. Correspondence to: K. Tsuji     

Relationship between body size, provisioning rate, longevity and reproductive success in females of the solitary bee Osmia cornuta

Body size has often been related to reproductive success in bees and wasps. The objective of this 3-year study was to analyze the relationship between nesting female body size, provisioning rate and longevity and their effect on several traits related to parental investment and reproductive success in the solitary bee Osmia cornuta. Body size was not correlated to longevity, and it was only correlated to provisioning rate in the third year (with poor weather conditions during nesting). Variation in fecundity, offspring size and offspring mortality was not well explained by nesting female body size in any of the 3 years. However, in the third year, small females biased their investment toward males, the sex requiring smaller pollen–nectar provisions. Large females were more successful usurpers of other females' nests, but fecundity of usurpers was no higher than fecundity of nonusurpers. Large females were more likely to establish at the release site, probably in relation to size-dependent vigor at emergence. A review of the literature on parental investment in solitary aculeate Hymenoptera showed a stronger relationship between body size and reproductive success in wasps than in bees. In O. cornuta, fecundity was strongly related to longevity and provisioning rate in all 3 years. Offspring size was associated with provisioning rate in 1 year, when females with higher provisioning rates tended to produce larger sons and daughters. Both longevity and provisioning rate appeared to be strongly conditioned by stochastic events.     

Human digit ratios depend on birth order and sex of older siblings and predict maternal fecundity

In men, the length ratio of the second to fourth finger (2D:4D) is smaller, while the length of the fourth finger relative to body height (4D:H) is larger than in women. Inter- and intrasexual variations in 2D:4D and 4D:H may depend on variation in fetal androgen and oestrogen environment. As maternal physiology varies with parity and is differentially affected by gestation of either sex, offspring 2D:4D and 4D:H may change according to sex and number of older siblings and may predict subsequent maternal performance. We analysed 2D:4D and 4D:H in Caucasian university students. 2D:4D was smaller and 4D:H was larger in males than in females, but no sexual dimorphism existed in 2D:H. In males, length ratios did not vary with birth order. 2D:4D became more masculine with increasing proportion of males among older siblings, and 2D:4D and 4D:H became more feminine as the number of older sisters increased. In females, length ratios did not vary with the number of older sisters or brothers. 2D:4D was also not related to birth order, but 4D:H became more masculine with birth order. In females, residual maternal fecundity (number of maternal offspring after the participant) decreased as 4D:H became more masculine. These findings are partly consistent with those from previous studies and suggest that maternal fecundity co-varies with length ratios and thus possibly fetal hormone environment of older offspring. 2D:4D and 4D:H may therefore represent powerful tools to investigate the relationships between fetal environment, offspring phenotype and maternal life history at mechanistic and evolutionary levels.