Nestling provisioning in polygynous great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus): do males bring larger prey to compensate for fewer nest visits?

Most studies of social polygyny in birds have examined male provisioning on the basis of the number of feeding visits. This may be misleading if males compensate for infrequent visits by bringing larger prey at each visit. We investigated nestling provisioning in the socially polygynous great reed warbler, Acrocephalus arundinaceus, in south Central Sweden in 1996–1997. We collected data on rate of feeding visits, prey size and the amount of biomass delivered by males and females. Males had lower rates of feeding visits and provided smaller prey to nestlings in secondary than in monogamous and primary nests. Secondary females had higher rates of feeding visits and brought larger prey than monogamous and primary females. These results confirm that secondary females face a potential cost of polygyny through a lower rate of male feeding, and that this cost was reinforced by the significantly lower male provisioning rate (biomass h^–1) at secondary nests. Secondary females compensated for the lack of male assistance by increasing their rate of feeding and bringing larger prey. As a result, offspring in nests of secondary females received as much food as did those in nests of primary females. Prey load size increased with the parent’s proportion of feeding visits, suggesting that parents use different feeding strategies depending on their amount of responsibility for nestling provisioning. We suggest that parents which take the main responsibility for nestling feeding have to forage further away from the nest, and based on optimal-foraging theory, they should then on average bring larger prey to their nest. Received: 4 April 1999 / Received in revised form: 12 October 1999 / Accepted: 23 October 1999     

Chemical composition of the slippery epicuticular wax blooms on Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae) ant-plants

Summary. The stems of many Macaranga ant-plants (Euphorbiaceae) are covered by epicuticular wax crystals rendering the surface very slippery for most insects. These wax blooms act as selective barriers protecting the symbiotic ant partners, which are specialized “wax-runners”, against the competition of other ants. Glaucous stems occur almost exclusively among the ant-plants of the genus Macaranga (). We analyzed the cuticular lipids of 16 Macaranga species by GC-MS and investigated the wax crystal morphology using SEM. Presence of crystalline wax blooms was strongly correlated with high concentrations (52%–88%) of triterpenoids. In contrast epicuticular waxes of glossy Macaranga surfaces contained only 0% to 36% of these dominant components. Therefore we conclude that triterpenoids are responsible for the formation of the thread-like Macaranga wax crystals. In all Macaranga ant-plants investigated, the principal components were epitaraxerol and taraxerone accompanied by smaller portions of taraxerol, β-amyrin and friedelin. Only in the case of the non-myrmecophytic M. tanarius did β-amyrin predominate. Moreover, we found that only in M. tanarius, the dense wax crystal lacework is torn into large mosaic-like pieces in the course of secondary stem diameter growth. Both chemical and macroscopic differences may contribute to a reduced slipperiness of M. tanarius stems and appear to be functionally important. The distribution of wax crystals and their composition amongst different sections of the genus suggests that glaucousness is a polyphyletic character within Macaranga. Received 7 October 1999; accepted 3 December 1999     

战略环境评价系统及工作程序

介绍了战略环境评价系统组成的五个要素 ,即评价者、评价对象、评价目的、评价标准和评价方法 ,分析了其相互关系及各要素与战略环境评价系统的关系 ,并提出了战略环境评价工作程序。     

成都市城市环境与经济协调发展分析

从城市环境与经济发展的协调度方面分析了成都市１９９０－１９９７年间协调度的变化趋势,评估了成都市城市环境与经济协调发展的类型,得出了成都市属于总体协调发展类环境滞后型的结论。     

家庭生活用水与室内氡浓度研究与进展

文章论述了家庭生活水的氡浓度水平、生活用水对室内氡的贡献、水的使用过程中室内氡行为以及含氡水的使用与辐射照射剂量的关系等问题。指出家庭生活水的氡浓度高时,是室内氡的一个不可忽视的来源。对氡浓度特别高的家庭用水,建议先用活性炭等进行吸附后再使用。     

玉兰油细胞的发育及其与器官结构发育的关系

利用石蜡切片法及半薄切片法对玉兰茎、叶、花和种子中油细胞的发育进行了研究,结果表明：在所研究的各器官中油细胞以相同的方式发生。油细胞原始细胞因其细胞质染色较深、细胞核大明显及液泡化程度低而易与周围组织细胞分辨,以后,原始细胞逐渐液泡化,最终形成一个中央大液泡,其细胞质及细胞核呈一薄层,当油细胞成熟时,其细胞质和细胞核解体,而大液泡充满整个油细胞腔,成为储油的囊,在一些油细胞中,可观察到怀形构造,但     

氯代苯酚结构与农作物毒性关系的研究

卤代苯酚是一种环境污染物。本文通过水培发芽试验和幼苗土壤盆栽试验,研究了卤代苯酚系列污染物结构与冬小麦、萝卜、油菜等作物毒性的关系。结果表明,氯代苯酚系列污染物都可抑制他们的发芽和幼苗生长,其毒性都大于苯酚,并与浓度成显著性正相关。在浓度相同时,其毒性随苯环上氢原子被氯取代个数的增加而加大。在浓度和取代个数都相同时,不同取代部位的毒性不同,邻位取代毒性最大。不同农作物对它们的抗性不同;在取代个数、浓度和取代部位都相同时,小麦受害程度最轻,油菜最重。     

柚园间种作物及施用不同有机肥对土壤与柚果的影响

柚树间种短期经济作物在提高柚园经济效益的同时,还可提高土壤的有机质和N、P、K养分质量分数,改善柚园小区气候,增加有机肥来源。间种物残余体作为绿肥,可显著地提高柚果产量和质量。     

优质稻的穗肥施用技术研究

优质稻田间穗肥试验表明,在叶色转赤的基础上,施穗肥一般以复合肥112.5~150.0 kg/hm2加氯化钾37.5 kg/km2为宜; 施穗肥比不施穗肥增产10.7%~15.5%。施穗肥的效果还与肥料中的氮钾比例有关,N∶K2O以1∶0.7~1.0较适宜。     

几种水稻涂层专用肥一次性施用的肥效试验

一次性施用水稻涂层专用肥,水稻在整个生育期内均能正常生长。几种水稻涂层专用肥的肥效试验表明,水稻专用涂层复混肥1号成本低、增产稳定,值得推广应用。