Paternal care in the European starling,Sturnus vulgaris: nestling provisioning

The extent to which male birds in polygynous species with biparental care assist in nestling feeding often varies considerably between nests of different mating status. Both how much polygynous males assist and how they divide their effort between nests may have a profound effect on the evolution of mating systems. In this study we investigated how males in the facultatively polygynous European starling Sturnus vulgaris invested in their different nests. The amount of male assistance affected the quality of the offspring. Polygynous males invested as much as monogamous males, but divided their effort asymmetrically between nests, predominantly feeding nestlings of first-mated (primary) females. Although females partly compensated for loss of male assistance, total feeding frequency was lower at primary females’ nests than at monogamous females nests. Secondary females received even less assistance with nestling rearing, and the extent to which males assisted decreased with the length of the interval between the hatching of the primary and secondary clutches. These results are contrasted with those from a Belgian populations of starlings with a much more protracted breeding season and thus greater opportunities for males to attract additional mates during the nestling rearing period. The results show that both the “defence of male parental investment model” and the “asynchronous settlement model” have explanatory power, but that their validity depends on the potential length of the breeding season. Received: 21 July 1995/Accepted after revision: 13 July 1996     

Adoption or infanticide: options of replacement males in the European starling

The behaviour of a male bird towards a potential mate and her clutch may depend both on his expected paternity and on the likelihood that she will produce a replacement clutch if he commits infanticide. In this study we evaluate the choices made by replacement male European starlings Sturnus vulgaris. By removing males before and during laying, we induced other males, mainly neighbours, to mate with the reproductively active females. When the original male was removed before laying, a new male adopted the subsequent clutch in 14 out of 15 cases. When ten females were widowed during their laying period, replacement males never adopted their clutches. The paternity of replacement males was a function of when they replaced the former male. When replacement occurred more than 3 days before egglaying, the new male fathered nearly all offspring; when it occurred the day before laying, the new male still fathered more than every second young. When the original male was removed during his mate’s laying period, in five out of ten cases a replacement male committed infanticide by throwing out the eggs, but this only occurred in one out of 15 cases when removal took place before laying. The evidence for infanticide actually being committed by the replacement male was circumstantial. Four out of six of the females affected by apparent infanticide produced replacement clutches in which the male presumably had higher paternity than in the original clutch. In all cases, the male adopted the replacement clutch. In five cases when the original male was removed during laying, the neighbours neither adopted the brood nor committed infanticide, although they sometimes were seen courting the widowed female and copulating with her. These cases occurred later during laying than those were males comitted infanticide. The time from infanticide to the laying of the replacement clutch tended to increase as infanticide was committed later in the laying sequence. We conclude that strategies of potential replacement males are influenced by their expected paternity in the current brood and the probability that the female will produce an early replacement clutch. Received: 10 March 1995 / Accepted after revision: 28 October 1995     

Copper tolerance in a population of Silene vulgaris ssp. maritima (A. & D. Love) at Dolfrwynog Bog near Dolgellau,North Wales

Clones of Silene vulgaris ssp. maritima individuals from Dolfrwynog Bog, North Wales and from a coastal control site were propagated under standardised environmental conditions. After five months, cuttings were taken and tested for copper tolerance by means of root extension analysis in solutions of various different copper concentrations. Indices of tolerance suggested that individuals from the Dolfrwynog population were more resistant to elevated copper concentrations than were the control population individuals. Due to the initial five months under standardised conditions, it was assumed that the cloned plant material would have lost all plastic adaptive responses to its native environment. If this assumption was valid then the differences in copper tolerance observed between the two populations had a genetic basis and the Dolfrwynog Bog population is a copper tolerant ecotype.     

小球藻(Chlorella vulgaris)与高岭土在实验条件下的凝聚沉降行为研究

用比浊法研究了小球藻与高岭土在实验条件下的凝聚沉降行为。结果表明，小球藻与高岭土的凝聚沉降是受颗粒表面理化作用力控制的过程。环境条件通过改变颗粒间的理化作用，在不同程度上促进或抑制颗粒凝聚沉降，根据颗粒凝聚沉降的特点，可将粘土用于水污染治理。     

毛乌素沙地臭柏群落地下水位的变化

为了探讨毛乌素沙地臭柏群落地下水位的变化规律,在臭柏固定、半固定沙地的丘间低地设置地下水位自动记录仪,1h记录1次,连续观测1年多。结果表明:①根据地下水位的变化,把1年分成地下水缓慢上升期(A)、地下水快速变化期(B)、地下水缓慢变化期(C)3个时期;②地下水位在B期出现有规律的日变化,地下水位早晨最高,然后逐渐下降,到晚上达到最低值后,又开始上升,直到次日早晨达到最高值,完成1日的循环周期。在臭柏的非生长季节(A期、C期),地下水位的日变化规律不明显;③地下水位的日变化规律出现时的临界日平均气温为10.8℃,据此,可预测臭柏生理活动的开始与休眠,进而可指导臭柏造林实践。此外,还讨论了气温、降水及臭柏灌丛变化与地下水位的关系。     

纳米银对小球藻光合作用和呼吸作用的影响

使用硼氢化钠还原硝酸银,聚乙烯醇(PVA)作为分散剂,制备出粒径为(7 ± 3)nm的纳米银,分别使用计数法和溶解氧法,研究了纳米银对小球藻(Chlorella vulgaris)生长、光合作用和呼吸作用的影响,并调查了对叶绿素a的抑制状况.结果显示,黑暗条件下加入3mg/L的纳米银,基本抑制了小球藻的呼吸作用,当暴露于4mg/L的纳米银时,小球藻生长的抑制率为93%;而光照条件下加入10mg/L纳米银时,才能抑制其光合作用,此时对小球藻生长的抑制率达到90%.光照时,叶绿素a在10mg/L纳米银的作用下,抑制率达到77%.研究表明了纳米银对小球藻呼吸作用有很强的抑制作用,对光合作用的影响可能通过抑制叶绿素a的合成或破坏叶绿体的结构来完成;光照能够明显减弱纳米银的毒性.     

硼化合物对普通小球藻的急性毒性效应

以普通小球藻(Chlorella vulgaris)为受试生物,采用批量培养法考察了不同质量浓度的硼酸和四硼酸钠对藻细胞生物量、ρ(Chla)、ρ(蛋白质)以及MDA(丙二醛)含量的96 h急性毒性效应,初步探讨了硼化合物对普通小球藻的毒性作用. 结果表明:在2种硼化合物胁迫下藻细胞的生长受到抑制,尤其是当ρ(硼)≥40 mg/L时抑制作用极其显著(P<0.01);ρ(硼)为0~80 mg/L时,硼酸和四硼酸钠对藻细胞生长的最大抑制率分别为89.42%和86.72%,硼的抑制作用呈明显的剂量-效应关系,并且随暴露时间延长而减弱,96 h时藻细胞恢复生长. 硼酸和四硼酸钠对藻细胞的96 h-EC₅₀(半数有效浓度)分别为82.03和71.19 mg/L(以硼计);与对照组相比,二者对普通小球藻的毒性效应表现为,随着暴露时间的延长,ρ(Chla)降低、ρ(蛋白质)先减后增、MDA含量升高. 研究显示,硼化合物对普通小球藻的毒性作用,可能是由于短期内引发藻细胞产生活性氧自由基并造成膜脂质和其他生物大分子的氧化损伤所致.      

兰州市沙尘天气与痤疮门诊量的时间序列

研究沙尘天气、非沙尘天气下颗粒物（PM_2.5、PM_C、PM₁₀）对痤疮门诊量的影响,并进行性别、年龄分层研究,筛选敏感人群.收集了2013~2017年兰州市沙尘期与非沙尘期3家三甲医院痤疮门诊量资料、大气颗粒物及气象数据,采用基于泊松分布的分布滞后非线性模型（DLNM）,控制气象因素、季节性和长期趋势、星期几效应等混杂因素,分析沙尘期与非沙尘期颗粒物对痤疮门诊量的影响及滞后效应.结果表明：沙尘期时,兰州市3家三甲医院痤疮日均门诊量为26人次,范围3~54人次.非沙尘期时痤疮日均门诊量为37人次,范围1~89人次;单污染物模型显示,PM_2.5、PM_C、PM₁₀均在滞后第6d （lag6）时效应量达到最大值,其浓度每增加10μg/m³,痤疮门诊量的超额危险度（ER）及95%可信区间（95% CI）分别为1.065（95% CI：0.260~1.877）、0.355（95% CI：0.018~0.693）、0.310（95% CI：0.054~0.567）,PM_2.5对痤疮门诊量的影响最为显著;性别及年龄分层发现,性别分层中PM_2.5对女性的影响有统计学意义,其浓度每增加10μg/m³,痤疮门诊量增加1.077（95% CI：0.124~2.039）;年龄分层中,0~18岁组受PM_C、PM₁₀影响显著,19~24岁组受PM_2.5、PM₁₀影响显著,各颗粒物对25~34岁组及≥35岁组效应无统计学意义.在非沙尘期时,PM_2.5、PM_C、PM₁₀不引起痤疮门诊量增加.双/多污染物模型显示,分别调整其他污染物后,PM_2.5、PM_C、PM₁₀对痤疮门诊量的影响与单污染物模型类似,仍具有统计学意义.兰州市沙尘天气下大气颗粒物（PM_2.5、PM_C、PM₁₀）可使痤疮门诊量增加,对女性及青少年影响显著.     

蓝藻水华优势藻高效防控铜制剂的筛选

在对比络合铜、有机铜和无机铜3类5种典型铜制剂对蓝藻水华优势藻--铜绿微囊藻(Microcystis aeruginosa)和2种非靶标藻种--普通小球藻(Chlorella vulgaris)和斜生栅藻(Scenedesmus obliquus)的96 h生长抑制效果的基础上,进一步开展了3类铜制剂抑制铜绿微囊藻生长的15 d延长效应研究.试验结果表明,质量分数为25%的络氨铜水剂、30%琥胶肥酸铜可湿性粉剂和20%乙酸铜可湿性粉剂对蓝藻水华优势种有较好的生长抑制效果,其对初始密度为2×105～4×105mL-1铜绿微囊藻的96 h半抑制浓度(以下均以有效成分的质量计)分别为0.03、0.06和0.05 mg·L-1,且初始藻密度对抑藻效果并无明显影响.试验质量浓度为0.25 mg·L-1的25%络氨铜水剂、0.30 mg·L-1的30%琥胶肥酸铜可湿性粉剂或0.20 mg·L-1的20%乙酸铜可湿性粉剂均能抑制铜绿微囊藻增长,且在0～15 d内都不会出现藻细胞再次复苏和增长.此外,由于铜制剂对铜绿微囊藻的96 h半抑制浓度远低于其对普通小球藻和斜生栅藻的96 h半抑制浓度,因此可在有效控制靶标藻种的同时不对非靶标藻种的生长造成严重威胁.络氨铜、琥胶肥酸铜、乙酸铜有望被开发成为高效、绿色的蓝藻水华控制剂.