Interspecific Patterns of Genetic Diversity in Birds: Correlations with Extinction Risk

Abstract:  Birds are frequently used as indicators of ecosystem health and are the most comprehensively studied class in the animal kingdom. Nevertheless, a comprehensive, interspecific assessment of the correlates of avian genetic diversity is lacking, even though indices of genetic diversity are of considerable interest in the conservation of threatened species. We used published data on variation at microsatellite loci from 194 bird species to examine correlates of diversity, particularly with respect to conservation status and population size. We found a significant decline in mean heterozygosity with increasing extinction risk, and showed, by excluding species whose heterozygosity values were calculated with heterospecific primers, that this relationship was not dependent on ascertainment bias. Results of subsequent regression analyses suggested that smaller population sizes of threatened species were largely responsible for this relationship. Thus, bird species at risk of extinction are relatively depauperate in terms of neutral genetic diversity, which is expected to make population recovery more difficult if it reflects adaptive genetic variation. Conservation policy will need to minimize further loss of diversity if the chances of saving threatened species are to be maximized.     

亚硝化/电化学生物反硝化全自养脱氮工艺细菌形态及多样性研究

采用电镜观察和分子生物学手段16S rDNA克隆文库方法对亚硝化/电化学生物反硝化全自养脱氮工艺中的细菌进行了形态和多样性研究,从16S rDNA克隆文库中随机挑选60(61)个克隆子进行序列测定(约500bp),对测序结果进行BLAST比对和系统发育分析.结果表明,亚硝化段内的细菌主要为球状和椭球状的氨氧化细菌,以亚硝酸氮作为进水基质时,电化学反硝化生物段内细菌主要为短杆状和椭球状的脱氮菌.亚硝化/电化学生物反硝化脱氮系统中蕴藏着特有的微生物新资源.亚硝化段细菌类群的优势顺序为β-Proteobacteria类群(60.00%)、Bacteroidetes类群(28.33%)和Chloroflexi类群(11.67%).当电化学生物反硝化段进水氮基质为亚硝氮(429～543mg.L-1)和氨氮(412～525mg.L-1)时,细菌优势类群顺序为β-Proteobacteria(78.33%)类群和ε-Proteobacteria类群(21.67%);当电化学生物反硝化段进水氮基质为亚硝氮(519～578mg.L-1)时,细菌优势类群顺序为β-Proteobacteria类群(81.97%)、ε-Proteobacteria(16.39%)类群和γ-Proteobacteria类群(1.64%);优势类群变化不大,但每种类群中细菌的种类和数量变化较大,这主要是由进水基质变化导致.     

钻井废弃液中石油污染物及细菌生态多样性

采用GC/MS分析方法,发现平湖油田钻井废弃液中含有烃类、酸类和酯类等23种有机污染物质,含量达到49 800 mg/L。运用16S rRNA基因分析法测得的微生物生态多样性表明,废弃液中微生物种类丰富,包括γ和β变形杆菌,γ-Proteobacteria是优势菌群,占克隆总数78.6%。Oceanospirillales、Pseudomonadales和Enterobacteriales是γ-Proteobacteria纲的主要菌群。     

长江口浮游植物分布情况及与径流关系的初步探讨

利用2004—2008年5月（春季）和8月（夏季）共10个季度月航次调查资料,结合同时期长江口径流量的数据,研究了长江口海域浮游植物的分布特征、及其受长江径流影响的关系。分布情况的结果显示：同一年中,夏季调查航次鉴定的浮游植物种类数明显多于春季的种类数;浮游植物数量的基本趋势逐年增加,其中2008年调查航次的浮游植物数量急剧暴发;同时生物多样性指数呈逐年下降趋势,海域水质污染程度日趋严重。对浮游植物与长江口径流量的关系分析得到：拟合长江口5、8月平均径流量与对应调查航次的浮游植物数量呈正相关的幂函数关系,径流量与浮游植物多样度呈负相关的指数函数关系,径流量与浮游植物优势种数量百分比呈正相关的幂函数关系,关系都明显显著。其中长江口径流量的输入对优势种尤其是近岸低盐性的中肋骨条藻（Skeletonema costatum）分布有着决定性的影响;长江径流把大量的N、P等无机营养物质携带入海,导致长江口水域严重富营养化,造成长江口海域的局部区域频发赤潮。     

Fish population dynamics in a seasonally varying wetland

Small fishes in seasonally flooded environments such as the Everglades are capable of spreading into newly flooded areas and building up substantial biomass. Passive drift cannot account for the rapidity of observed population expansions. To test the ‘reaction-diffusion’ mechanism for spread of the fish, we estimated their diffusion coefficient and applied a reaction-diffusion model. This mechanism was also too weak to account for the spatial dynamics. Two other hypotheses were tested through modeling. The first—the ‘refuge mechanism’—hypothesizes that small remnant populations of small fishes survive the dry season in small permanent bodies of water (refugia), sites where the water level is otherwise below the surface. The second mechanism, which we call the ‘dynamic ideal free distribution mechanism’ is that consumption by the fish creates a prey density gradient and that fish taxis along this gradient can lead to rapid population expansion in space. We examined the two alternatives and concluded that although refugia may play an important role in recolonization by the fish population during reflooding, only the second, taxis in the direction of the flooding front, seems capable of matching empirical observations. This study has important implications for management of wetlands, as fish biomass is an essential support of higher trophic levels.     

A heuristic approach to predicting water beetle diversity in temporary and fluctuating waters

An understanding of the causal mechanisms and processes that shape macroinvertebrate communities at a local scale has important implications for the management and conservation of freshwater biodiversity. Here we compare the performance of linear and non-linear statistics to explore diversity-environment relationships using data from 76 temporary and fluctuating ponds in two regions of southern England. We focus on aquatic beetle assemblages, which have been shown to be excellent surrogates of wider freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity. Ponds in the region contained a rich coleopteran fauna, totaling 68 species, which provided an excellent model system with which to compare the performance of two non-linear procedures (artificial neural networks—ANNs and generalised additive models—GAMs) and one more traditional linear approach (Multiple linear regression—MLR) to modelling diversity-environment relationships. Of all approaches employed, the best fit was obtained using an ANN model with only four input variables (conductivity, turbidity, magnesium concentration and depth). This model accounted for 82% of the observed variability in Shannon diversity index across ponds. In contrast, the best GAM and MLR models only explained 50% and 14% of this variation, respectively. Contribution profile analysis of conductivity, turbidity, magnesium concentration and depth, obtained from the best fit ANN through a hierarchical cluster analysis, allowed the identification of direct and proxy effects in relation to the environmental variables measured in this study. In each case, distinct clusters of ponds were identified in contribution profile analysis, suggesting that ponds across the two regions fall into a number of discrete groups, whose beetle faunas respond in subtly yet significantly different ways to key environmental variables. Aquatic coleopteran diversity in ponds in the two regions appears to be driven at a local scale by changes in relatively few physicochemical gradients, which are related to diversity in a clearly non-linear manner.     

Genetic Bottlenecks Driven by Population Disconnection

Abstract: Connectivity among populations plays a crucial role in maintaining genetic variation at a local scale, especially in small populations affected strongly by genetic drift. The negative consequences of population disconnection on allelic richness and gene diversity (heterozygosity) are well recognized and empirically established. It is not well recognized, however, that a sudden drop in local effective population size induced by such disconnection produces a temporary disequilibrium in allelic frequency distributions that is akin to the genetic signature of a demographic bottleneck. To document this effect, we used individual‐based simulations and empirical data on allelic richness and gene diversity in six pairs of isolated versus well‐connected (core) populations of European tree frogs. In our simulations, population disconnection depressed allelic richness more than heterozygosity and thus resulted in a temporary excess in gene diversity relative to mutation drift equilibrium (i.e., signature of a genetic bottleneck). We observed a similar excess in gene diversity in isolated populations of tree frogs. Our results show that population disconnection can create a genetic bottleneck in the absence of demographic collapse.     

恩诺沙星对土壤微生物群落代谢功能多样性的影响（Effects of Enrofloxacin on the Functional Diversity of Soil Microbial Communities）

为了评价恩诺沙星(Enrofloxacin)对土壤微生物群落的影响,借助BIOLOG检测法比较了不同浓度恩诺沙星影响下的土壤微生物的群落特征.结果表明,加药组土壤微生物的丰富度指数和多样性指数显著低于空白对照组,且药物浓度越高丰富度和多样性越小.用药后第3d、14d,恩诺沙星含量0.1～100μg·g-1使土壤微生物群落代谢功能多样性显著降低(p<0.05);第35d,恩诺沙星含量10～100μg·g-1使土壤微生物群落代谢功能多样性显著降低,随着药物作用的时间延长,药物含量0.01～1μg·g-1组土壤微生物群落代谢功能多样性与空白对照组之间的差异变小.     

基于PCR-DGGE的重金属污染土壤微生物种群指纹分析

采用变性梯度凝胶电泳（DGGE）分析方法,研究沈阳市细河沿岸重金属污染土壤中微生物结构多样性、种群丰富度及种群结构的动态变化规律。结果表明：直接从土壤中抽提总DNA,对16SrRNAV3可变区序列进行扩增,DGGE指纹图谱分析,微生物种群结构和变化规律明显,同时也表现为重金属污染程度越重,多样性指数越低;其中细河底泥重金属含量严重超标,多样性指数最低。经方差分析,重金属污染情况与Shannon-wiener多样性指数呈负相关,其中重金属污染对微生物的均匀度指数影响最显著,并且锌污染对其影响最大为-0.985。表明PCR-DGGE技术可以用于污染环境下微生物多样性研究,也为污染环境下土壤微生物多样性研究提供了新的实验方法与依据。     

武汉市城市绿化树种结构与分布特征分析

针对武汉市城市森林的抽样调查分析表明,城市树木树种构成集聚性明显而多样性相对较差、长势一般;城市扰动因素明显影响了树木的自然生长过程。在所调查的93种植物中,其总体多样性指数为0.727 8;行道绿地为0.187;公园绿地为4.296。结果表明武汉市城市森林的基本格局、树种结构,以及树种分布上均有待于改善。