Consideration of fuzziness: Is it necessary in modelling fish habitat preference of Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes)?

The present study aims to clarify the necessity and effectiveness of considering fuzziness in modelling fish habitat preference, and the advantages which would be achieved by considering it. For this purpose, genetic algorithm (GA) optimized habitat preference models under three different levels of fuzzification were compared with regard to prediction ability of the habitat use of Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) dwelling in agricultural canals in Japan. Field surveys were conducted in agricultural canals in Japan to establish a relationship between fish habitat preference and physical environments of water depth, current velocity, lateral cover ratio and percent vegetation coverage. The habitat preference models employed for testing the fuzzy-based approach were category model, fuzzy habitat preference model, and fuzzy habitat preference model with fuzzy inputs. All the models were developed at 50 different initial conditions. The effectiveness of the fuzzification in fish habitat modelling was assessed by comparing mean square error and standard deviation of the models, and fluctuation in habitat preference curves evaluated by each model. As a result, the effect of fuzzification appeared as smoother curves and was found to reduce fluctuation in habitat preference curves in proportion to the level of fuzzification. The smooth curves would be appropriate for expressing uncertainty in habitat preference of the fish, by which fuzzy habitat preference model with fuzzy input achieve the best prediction ability among the models. In conclusion, the present study revealed that there are two advantages of fuzzification: reducing fluctuations in habitat preference evaluation and improving prediction ability of the model. Therefore, the consideration of fuzziness would be appropriate for representing fish habitat preference under natural conditions.     

Does interspecific competition influence relationships between heterozygosity and fitness-related behaviors in juvenile Atlantic salmon (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Salmo salar</Emphasis>)?

Very few studies have investigated the effect of genetic diversity on the behavioral and phenotypic traits linked to the competitive ability of individuals. In this study, we reared juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) alone or with the competitive rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in order to: (1) to assess correlations between heterozygosity and traits related to individual competitive ability [i.e., heterozygosity–fitness correlations (HFCs)] in Atlantic salmon, and (2) to evaluate the effect of the competitive rainbow trout on any such HFCs. We also tested whether a few loci had a disproportionately large effect (i.e., the local effect hypothesis) or, on the contrary, if all loci contributed equally (i.e., the global effect hypothesis) in explaining the observed HFCs. We found significant HFCs for phenotypic traits related to the competitive ability of juvenile Atlantic salmon, i.e., the growth rate and the distance to the feeding source. Some HFCs were nonlinear, suggesting that individuals with intermediate levels of heterozygosity were favored. In addition, we found that the competition exerted by rainbow trout only weakly modified these HFCs as the relationships were highly consistent across treatments. We demonstrated that the local-effect hypothesis best explained both linear and nonlinear HFCs. Overall, our results illustrated the importance of genetic diversity in explaining the behavioral variability observed within populations. Moreover, we provide evidence that, even if a competitive species can have strong ecological effects, the relationships between genetic diversity and fitness-related traits in juvenile Atlantic salmon were not influenced by such effects.     

Differential aggressiveness between fire salamander (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Salamandra infraimmaculata</Emphasis>) larvae covaries with their genetic similarity

Responding differentially to kin and non-kin is known to be adaptive in many species. One example is the inclusive fitness benefits of reducing aggression toward closer relatives. Little is known, however, about the ability of animals to assess differential degrees of genetic relatedness and to respond accordingly with differential levels of aggression. In the present study, we tested whether aggressiveness between body mass-matched pairs of fire salamander (Salamandra infraimmaculata) larvae covaried with the genetic similarity between them. We quantified aggressiveness at three levels of genetic similarity by selecting pairs within and across pools from recently genotyped populations. We also assessed aggression between pairs of siblings. Aggression and associated injuries decreased as genetic similarity increased across the groups. These findings suggest that cannibalistic salamanders can assess their degree of genetic relatedness to conspecifics and vary their behavioral responses depending on the degree of similarity between them along a genetic relatedness continuum.     

脱硫真空皮带机脱水效果影响因素分析

通过对真空皮带机脱水效果的影响因素和真空皮带机结构特点进行分析,总结了运行过程中影响真空皮带机脱水效果的常见故障,提出了优化改造方案,解决了真空皮带机脱水效果差、设备故障率高等缺陷。     

水电背景的鱼类救护工程与投资回报:中国鱼类资源前景堪忧

随着我国水电事业的飞速发展,鱼类资源正面临着极大的威胁,鱼类救护工程越来越受到重视。从增殖放流、过鱼设施、栖息地保护等三个鱼类救护工程的角度,浅谈了我国鱼类救护工程的现状:增殖放流工程备受关注,放流规模与投入资金大幅度上升,但实际效果不够突出;过鱼设施建设近年来呈快速发展态势,初期监测过鱼效果较好,但是否达到设计要求尚无定论,缺乏过鱼效果评价的科学体系且相关管理法规不到位;鱼类栖息地保护工程开始被重视,在研究尝试之后已经取得一定的效果。建议相关部门审慎对待对增殖放流的投入、加强放流鱼种鱼苗及实际效果的研究评估;增加过鱼设施投入资金并加强过鱼设施的建设和研究,完善实际过鱼效果评估方法,加大鱼道运营管理执法力度;加大对栖息地保护方式的研究投入,使被破坏的鱼类栖息地得到恢复。     

Static yields and quality issues: Is the agri-environment program the primary driver?

The Finnish agri-environmental program (AEP) has been in operation for 20 years with >90 % farmer commitment. This study aimed to establish whether reduced nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) use has impacted spring cereal yields and quality based on comprehensive follow-up studies and long-term experiments. We found that the gap between genetic yield potential and attained yield has increased after the AEP was imposed. However, many contemporary changes in agricultural practices, driven by changes in prices and farm subsidies, also including the AEP, were likely reasons, together with reduced N, but not phosphorus use. Such overall changes in crop management coincided with stagnation or decline in yields and adverse changes in quality, but yield-removed N increased and residual N decreased. Further studies are needed to assess whether all the changes are environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable, and acceptable, in the long run. The concept of sustainable intensification is worth considering as a means to develop northern European agricultural systems to combine environmental benefits with productivity.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0637-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

基于小程序的海洋牧场台风灾害预警预报服务

台风多要素信息及灾情状况是海洋牧场各方急切想掌握的,而应用于海洋牧场灾害预警专报服务还未见报道,基于此开发了海洋牧场台风灾害预警预报服务小程序.结合wx.request请求获取第三方要素数据与自建云数据库访问灾情数据.搭建海洋牧场台风灾害预警预报服务的层次结构体系构架,推出海洋牧场气象要素预警预报、海洋牧场水文要素预警...     

战略环境影响评价(SEA)在中国的开展—区域环境评价(REA)

实践和研究表明 :传统的环境影响评价 (EIA) ,即在项目层次上开展的EIA ,不尽完美。而包含有战略环境影响评价的新一代EIA体系将很好的弥补项目EIA的不足 ,并且将可持续发展的思想真正贯彻到实际中去。中国在开展环境影响评价方面 ,也逐渐注重两个层次上EIA的开展 ,特别是结合当前发展的新特点 ,开展了区域环境影响评价。文章论证了区域环境评价 ,无论从层次上 ,还是从评价的对象、内容上都是属于战略环境影响的形式。并基于这个观点 ,介绍了区域环评在中国的开展及今后发展应注意的一些问题。