Loss of mating opportunities influences refuge use in the Iberian rock lizard,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Lacerta monticola</Emphasis>

Because time spent in refuge may be costly if prey lose opportunities to forage, fight, or mate, prey allow predators to approach closer before beginning to flee when opportunity costs are high. Because the same opportunity costs may apply to refuge use as to escape, prey should make similar trade-offs between risk of emerging and cost of remaining in refuge. In the Iberian rock lizard, Lacerta monticola, we studied the effects of sex, reproductive season, speed of predator approach, and potential loss of mating opportunities on time spent in refuge following simulated predatory attacks. Lizards of both sexes adjusted refuge use to the level of risk by spending more time in refuge when approached rapidly than slowly. Females remained in refuge for equal times in the mating and postreproductive seasons, but males emerged sooner during the mating season, suggesting adjustment to a cost of lost opportunity to search for mates during the mating season. When a tethered female was nearby, males emerged from refuge earlier than if no female was present, indicating a trade-off between risk and mating opportunity. Approach speed affected emergence time when females were absent, but not when a female was present. Approach speed did not affect the probability that, after emerging, a male would return to court the female. For males that courted females intensely (bit them) before entering refuge, approach speed did not affect latency to emerge, but males that courted less intensely emerged sooner if approached slowly than rapidly. These findings show that males adjust the length of time spent in refuge to both risk of predation and reproductive cost of refuge use.Communicated by A. Mathis     

Synergistic interactions between chemical alarm cues and the presence of conspecific and heterospecific fish shoals

Chemical and visual sources of information are used by aquatic prey during risk assessment. Here, we test the behavioral response of littoral prey fish to combinations of chemical alarm cues (skin extract) and the visual presence of a fish shoal. We scented minnow traps with either alarm cues or water (control) placed inside the trap, a jar that contained either a fish shoal or nothing (control), and recorded the number and species of fish captured. We predicted that chemical alarm cues would reduce the number of fish captured and that a fish shoal would increase the number of fish captured. The predicted effect of chemical and visual cues combined depended on the nature of the interaction. We found that the lowest catch rate was for the combination of alarm cue + no shoal, but the highest catch rate occurred for the combination of alarm cue + shoal. Fish shoal + water had the second highest catch rate and no shoal + water had the second lowest catch rate. We conclude that chemical alarm cues induce area avoidance in the absence of a shoal, but a strong behavioral proclivity to increase shoal cohesion in the presence of a shoal. The presence of a shoal in the traps induced alarmed fish to shoal with them and thus, enter the traps. This occurred even though traps were the source of the alarm cue.Communicated by A. Mathis     

Malaria infection and host behavior: a comparative study of Neotropical primates

Parasites are ubiquitous in populations of free-ranging animals and impact host fitness, but virtually nothing is known about the factors that influence patterns of disease risk across species and the effectiveness of behavioral defenses to reduce this risk. We investigated the correlates of malaria infection (prevalence) in Neotropical primates using data from the literature, focusing on host traits involving group size, body mass, and sleeping behavior. Malaria is spread to these monkeys through anopheline mosquitoes that search for hosts at night using olfactory cues. In comparative tests that used two different phylogenetic trees, we confirmed that malaria prevalence increases with group size in Neotropical primates, as suggested by a previous non-phylogenetic analysis. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that larger groups experience increased risk of attack by mosquitoes, and counter to the hypothesis that primates benefit from the encounter-dilution effect of avoiding actively-seeking insects by living in larger groups. In contrast to non-phylogenetic tests, body mass was significant in fewer phylogeny-based analyses, and primarily when group size was included as a covariate. We also found statistical support for the hypothesis that sleeping in closed microhabitats, such as tree holes or tangles of vegetation, reduces the risk of malaria infection by containing the host cues used by mosquitoes to locate hosts. Due to the small number of evolutionary transitions in sleeping behavior in this group of primates, however, this result is considered preliminary until repeated with a larger sample size. In summary, risk of infection with malaria and other vector-borne diseases are likely to act as a cost of living in groups, rather than a benefit, and sleeping site selection may provide benefits by reducing rates of attack by malaria vectors.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

Modulation of individual behavior and collective decision-making during aggregation site selection by the ant<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Messor barbarus</Emphasis>

Insect societies are often confronted with choices among several options such as food sources of different richness or potential nest sites with different qualities. The mechanisms by which a colony as a whole evaluates these situations and takes the appropriate decision are of crucial importance for its survival. Here we studied how collective decisions arise from individual behaviors when a group of workers of the ant Messor barbarus is given a choice between two aggregation sites. Two hundred ants were introduced into an arena and given a choice between two tubes connected to the arena. The tubes had different physical properties: dry and transparent (termed as dry), humid and transparent (termed as humid), or dry and dark (termed as dark). After 30 min, most ants were found to be aggregated in a humid tube when paired with a dry tube, or in a dark tube when paired with a humid one. When two humid tubes were in competition, ants aggregate more in one of the sites. The choice of ants was consistent throughout experiments. An analysis of individual behaviors shows that the probability of an ant recruiting and the intensity of its trail-laying behavior strongly depend on the quality of the tubes. Our study suggests that the selection of an aggregation site does not require that individual ants directly compare sites, but rather relies on the synergy between amplification processes involving recruitment by chemical trails, and a modulation of the individual resting time in a site as a function of its population.Communicated by L. Sundström     

水体突发污染事件在线生物监测技术的发展和应用分析

自1800s以来,经过2个世纪的发展,针对水体突发污染事件的在线生物监测技术越来越完善,其所采用的分析指标主要包括生物行为变化(1900s至目前)、生物新陈代谢变化(1800s至目前)和生物电变化(1980s至目前)等3种,其中,应用最广泛、发展最完善的为基于生物行为指标的在线生物监测技术。进入21世纪以来,在线生物监测技术得到快速发展和普遍应用。中国、美国、德国、韩国和瑞典等国家已经大规模应用基于不同生物指标的在线生物监测技术,以实现对水体突发污染事件的有效监管。随着计算和分析技术的进一步发展,在线生物监测技术也会越来越完善,在维持社会稳定、保证经济可持续发展以及保障人民饮水安全方面将会发挥越来越重要的作用。     

圈养马麝(Moschus sifanicus)非繁殖季节行为特征及行为节律的性别间差异

采用比较研究法，分析了甘肃兴隆山麝场圈养马麝（Moschus sifanicus）的非交配季节（8—10月）行为特征的性别间差异，并探讨了行为模式的变化格局．结果表明，由于雌麝在非交配季节正处于哺乳期，育幼投资相对增加，警戒性增强，其静卧、摄食和反刍等行为的终止阈值下降；和雄麝相比，雌麝的站立凝视、静卧、摄食和反刍等行为的发生频次相对较多．育幼直接导致雌麝相互间的冲突行为频次增多，母幼间的行为联系使其亲和行为的表达频次多于雄麝．圈养马麝在非交配季节的月行为节律变化还存在性别差异，在8—9月间，雌麝表达的静卧和反刍行为的频次渐少，而由于雄麝8月后正处于泌香后期（成体）或泌香期（亚成体），因此其运动频次较少，卧息较多，摄食持续时间减少．随繁殖季节的临近，雄麝从8月到10月间的运动、尾阴探究、冲突行为、环境探究等动态行为的表达逐渐增加．图1表2参22     

Cd和Cu在草甸棕壤-植物系统中行为特性的研究

在沈阳生态站开展了重金属迁移积累行为特性的试验研究，探讨了不同重金属元素在土壤及作物体内迁移积累变化规律。外源重金属元素Cd、Cu施入土壤后，无论是低剂量还足高剂量处理，水田土壤Cd元素已迁移到45cm的深度，而Cu元素迁移到30cm的深度。早田土壤低剂量和高剂量处理Cd迁移到30cm，而Cu元素只有高剂量处理迁移到30cm的深度。土壤Cd、Cu元素向下层迁移的量微乎其微，重金属元素大多滞留在土壤表层。水稻、玉米吸收的Cd大部分积累在作物体的根和茎叶中，而Cu大部分积累在作物体的根系中，Cd、Cu籽实吸收量占植物体总吸收量的1．16％～3％。水稻、玉米地上部吸收Cd的量〉地卜部吸收Cu的量，在作物体中Cd的迁移能力强于Cu的迁移能力。     

Inbreeding-based bias in parental responsiveness to litters of oldfield mice

This study investigated variation in parental behavior in oldfield mice (Peromyscus polionotus). Specifically, I examined the possibility that parental behavior and probability of litter loss may differ depending on whether parents are related to one another and, therefore, whether offspring are inbred. When parents are related, they share more genes with their offspring and so may be predicted to invest more in inbred offspring if these offspring do not inherently have a greater risk of juvenile mortality. Survival of inbred pups did not differ from survival of outbred pups, and females tended to exhibit a preference, in the form of enhanced parental care, for inbred litters. Males did not display any consistent preferences. Inbred litters were left unattended more often during the immediate post-partum period than were outbred litters, but this inconsistent finding appeared to have a smaller effect than the overall improved maternal care provided to inbred litters. Females thus appeared to modulate their behavior to a greater degree than did males depending on characteristics of the litter. Patterns of litter loss indicated that complete death of litters was independent of litter inbreeding, whereas loss of selected pups in a litter occurred significantly more often when litters were inbred. Complete and partial loss of litters may be functionally different behaviors that are triggered by different cues. Received: 20 September 1996 / Accepted after revision: 28 April 1997     

Within-brood patterns of paternity and paternal behavior in red-winged blackbirds

We video-taped male and female red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) feeding individual chicks in order to test the hypothesis that food might be differently allocated to within-pair offspring and extra-pair young. We found no evidence that paternity influenced the allocation of food by either males or females. Both males and females fed male offspring significantly more, but there was no tendency for paternity to be skewed by gender. Females fed older offspring significantly more, whereas males did not; extra-pair fertilizations, however, were not associated with lay or hatch order of the chicks. Given that males do not appear to discriminate within-pair from extra-pair offspring directly, these results are consistent with current theory on the effect of paternity on paternal behavior. We discuss briefly some of the possible reasons why discrimination might be lacking in red-winged blackbirds and in other species in which the possibility of discrimination of paternity and allocation of paternal behavior has been studied.     

同位素示踪法研究有机污染物在模拟水生生态系统中的行为

应用同位素示踪技术，研究了模拟水生生态系统中三氯苯、邻苯二甲酸正丁酯，２，４，６－三氯酚－＾１４Ｃ的分布、迁移、转化行为。实验周期后，水中污染物浓度分别降低了８９％，８０％，９５％以上，三氯苯在底泥和浮游生物中有积累。测定了标记物在水、悬浮物、＾１４ＣＯ２吸收溶液，ＸＡＤ－２树脂上的放射性强度。假设水中标记物的降解遵循一级速率过程，２４ｄ后，水中２，４，６－三氯酚－＾１４Ｃ浓度已降为原来浓度的５％