Are naked and common mole-rats eusocial and if so, why?

Eusociality in mammals is defined in the present paper by the following criteria: reproductive altruism (which involves reproductive division of labor and cooperative alloparental brood care), overlap of adult generations, and permanent (lifelong) philopatry. We argue that additional criteria such as the existence of castes, colony size, reproductive skew, and social cohesion are not pertinent to the definition of eusociality in mammals. According to our definition of mammalian eusociality, several rodent species of the African family Bathyergidae can be considered eusocial, including the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), Damaraland mole-rat (Cryptomys damarensis), and several additional, if not all, species in the genus Cryptomys. Furthermore, some species of social voles (like Microtus ochrogaster) may also fulfill criteria of mammalian eusociality. Understanding the evolution of eusociality in mole-rats requires answers to two primary questions: (1) What are the preconditions for the development of their eusocial systems? (2) Why do offspring remain in the natal group rather than dispersing and reproducing? Eusociality in mammals is by definition a special case of monogamy (more specifically: monogyny one female breeding), involving prolonged pair bonding for more than one breeding period. We argue that eusociality in mole-rats evolved from a monogamous mating system where cooperative brood care was already established. A tendency for group living is considered to be an ancestral (plesiomorph) trait among African bathyergid mole-rats, linking them to other hystricognath rodents. A solitary lifestyle seen in some genera, such as Bathyergus, Georychus, and Heliophobius, is assumed to be a derived trait that arose independently in different lineages of bathyergids, possibly as a consequence of selective constraints associated with the subterranean environment. In proximate terms, in eusocial mole-rats either puberty is assumed to be developmentally delayed so that under natural conditions most animals die before dispersal is triggered (e.g., in the case of Heterocephalus) or dispersal is induced only by an incidental encounter with an unfamiliar, yet adequate sexual partner (e.g., in the case of Cryptomys). Ultimately, a combination of strategies involving either dispersal and/or philopatry can be beneficial, especially in a highly unpredictable environment. If genetic relatedness among siblings is high (e.g., a coefficient of relatedness of 0.5 or more), then philopatry would not invoke an appreciable loss of fitness, especially if the cost of dispersing is higher than staying within the natal group. High genetic relatedness is more likely in a monogamous mating system or a highly inbred population. In this paper, we argue that the preconditions for eusociality in bathyergid mole-rats were a monogamous mating system and high genetic relatedness among individuals. We argue against the aridity food-distribution hypothesis (AFDH) that suggests a causal relationship between cooperative foraging for patchily distributed resources and the origin of eusociality. The AFDH may explain group size dynamics of social mole-rats as a function of the distribution and availability of resources but it is inadequate to explain the formation of eusocial societies of mole-rats, especially with respect to providing preconditions conducive for the emergence of eusociality.     

北京城市生态系统的能值动态分析

采用能值理论与分析方法,对北京市1990~2001年间的能值结构动态进行了分析,并采用人均能值、能值密度、生态功能潜力、人口基本承载力、能值自给率、能值货币比率、环境负载率、输入能值比等重要能值指标对该时期北京市城市生态系统的能值状况作了详细分析。研究表明,北京城市生态系统正处于较高发展水平,已基本跨入发达国家水平的行列;但高强度、快速发展给本市带来了巨大的生态环境压力,未来北京的可持续能力建设已势在必行。文章也提出了北京城市生态系统可持续发展能力建设的基本方向。     

世界保护区事业发展的展望

当前,世界130个国家已建立了6500多个保护区,约占地球土地面积4.89％。但是,如何管理好它们,还存在许多问题。本文重点介绍这些问题,并提出一些解决措施,以促进保护区事业的发展。     

固氮放线菌Frankia与放线菌根植物共生进化的研究进展

固氮放线菌Frankia是能够诱导大范围的放线菌根植物(actinorhizal plants)产生根瘤放线菌.放线菌根植物是植物受Frankia侵染后能够形成根瘤的植物[1].目前,它们之间的进化研究虽然取得了很大进展,但是仍然存在许多不清楚的东西.本文根据最近对植物和Frankia系统进化研究成果、根瘤中放线菌Frankia的多样性研究情况,综述放线菌根植物和共生Frankia进化的研究进展.     

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。     

大气CO_2增加对生态系统的影响

根据Ｃ＿３植物和Ｃ＿４植物对高浓度ＣＯ＿２的不同反应，评述了富ＣＯ＿２大气对生态系统的影响。结论是大气ＣＯ＿２浓度增加将导致生态系统发生一系列变化，包括生物多样世的减少、营养循环受阻、虫灾发生和温室效应加剧等。     

高尔夫球场建设对生态系统影响分析及环境管理对策

通过对高尔夫球场建设过程、特点及主要生态环境影响因子分析，指出高尔夫球场建设需占用大量土地，尤其是农业生态区域，对地表形态、农业生产、水土流失、水环境等均有不同程度的不利影响，对落后地区社会经济具有带动作用。在以安徽元一高尔夫球场为例进行分析基础上，提出了高尔夫球场建设与运营管理的生态环境管理对策。     

Song ranging by the dusky antbird,Cercomacra tyrannina: ranging without song learning

In a population of dusky antbirds (Cercomacra tyrannina), less aggressive responses to distance-degraded playbacks than to undegraded playbacks of pair duets show that this tropical suboscine passerine uses sound degradation to range distance from singing conspecifics. This is the first example of song-ranging in a species that does not learn songs, supporting the hypothesis that ranging preceded the song learning that occurs in more recently evolved passerine birds (oscines). Both sexes sing and are able to use song degradation to range distance from singers when their sex-specific song is played back. Received: 27 May 1994/Accepted after revision: 24 March 1996     

Female choice on male quantitative traits in lizards — why is it so rare?

Female choice on the basis of male traits has been described in an array of taxa but has rarely been demonstrated in reptiles. In the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis), and possibly in other non-territorial reptiles, a male's contribution to a female's fitness is restricted to his genes. In order to choose males of high genetic quality, females have to trade the fitness gain against the costs of active choice. In a Swedish population of sand lizards, long-lived males sired offspring with higher embryonic survival compared to offspring sired by short-lived males. In spite of this female sand lizards did not mate selectively with older and/or larger males. There appeared to be mo reliable cues to male longevity; age-specific male body size was highly variable. Furthermore, estimates of male nuptial coloration did not covary with ectoparasite load and, hence, females cannot use male coloration as a cue to heritable resistance to pathogenic parasite effects. When cues to male genetic quality are poor, or inaccurate, and males make no parental investment, we predict that female choice will be rare. Sand lizard females mating with many partners lay clutches with higher hatching success. Thus, females may obtain good genes for their young by multiple mating, thereby avoiding costs associated with mate choice.     

单甲脒农药对模型池塘生态系统藻类群落结构的影响

在１．５－５０．０ｍｇ／Ｌ的浓度范围内，单甲脒农药对模型池塘生态系统中的浮游植物群落结构有明显影响。尤其在加药的头４ｄ内，藻类种类、数量、多样性指数、种类数比及增长率明显下降，优势比显著上升，敏感种及清洁种减少甚至消失，高浓度（５０．０ｍｇ／Ｌ）的单甲脒在２ｄ内可把藻类全部杀灭。随试验时间的延长，药物不断降解，６ｄ后藻类种类、数量、多样性指数又不断回升。随加药次数的增多，药物对藻类抑制作用明显减弱，藻类的种类、数量、多样性指数等指标不断上升，尤其是藻类数量增加明显，试验后期，藻类数量高低主要受Ｎ、Ｐ浓度大小的影响。