Geographic Variation in the Seasonal Reproductive Strategy of the Mite Varroa jacobsoni in the Honeybee Nest

Variation in the reproduction of Varroa jacobsoni mite was studied in relation to the expansion of the range of its parasitism on the honeybee. Geographic differences in the seasonal dynamics of mite reproduction in the nests of bee families were revealed. Variation in the sex ratio of mites and the factors inhibiting their reproduction at the northern boundary of the honeybee range are considered. The forms of parthenogenetic reproduction in V. jacobsoni are discussed.     

Protection of Mammal Diversity in Central America

Abstract:  Central America is exceptionally rich in biodiversity, but varies widely in the attention its countries devote to conservation. Protected areas, widely considered the cornerstone of conservation, were not always created with the intent of conserving that biodiversity. We assessed how well the protected-area system of Central America includes the region's mammal diversity. This first required a refinement of existing range maps to reduce their extensive errors of commission (i.e., predicted presences in places where species do not occur). For this refinement, we used the ecological limits of each species to identify and remove unsuitable areas from the range. We then compared these maps with the locations of protected areas to measure the habitat protected for each of the region's 250 endemic mammals. The species most vulnerable to extinction—those with small ranges—were largely outside protected areas. Nevertheless, the most strictly protected areas tended toward areas with many small-ranged species. To improve the protection coverage of mammal diversity in the region, we identified a set of priority sites that would best complement the existing protected areas. Protecting these new sites would require a relatively small increase in the total area protected, but could greatly enhance mammal conservation.     

南岭山区传统聚落景观资源及其旅游开发研究

南岭山区的乡村传统聚落,经特定历史地理环境的演进和发展,以其特有的景观美学价值、鲜明的地域文化特色和科学实用价值的完美结合,而成为极为珍贵的历史文化遗产。由于古代南岭山区复杂地理环境的隔绝机制和移民们一直恪守着祖宗留下的遗风,其聚落景观至今得以大量保存而成为极富开发价值的 旅游资源。为促进南岭山区21世纪社会经济的快速发展,应将这一丰富的旅游资源的开发利用和保护列入议事日程。但必须深入调查研究,并坚持突出重点,择优开发;因地制宜,突出地域文化特色;旅游开发与乡村社会经济发展协调;保护与利用并重等开发原则。     

Kernel-based home range method for data with irregular sampling intervals

Studies of habitat selection and movements often use radio-tracking data for defining animal home ranges. Home ranges (HR) can be approximated by a utilization density distribution (UD) that instead of assuming uniform use of areas within HR boundary provides a probabilistic measure of animal space use. In reality, radio-tracking data contain periods of frequent autocorrelated observations interspersed with temporally more independent observations. Using such temporally irregular data directly may result in biased UD estimates, because areas that have been sampled intensively receive too much weight. The problem of autocorrelation has been tackled by resampling data with an appropriate time interval. However, resampling may cause a large reduction in the data set size along with a loss of information. Evidently, biased UD estimates or reduction in data may prejudice the results on animal habitat selection and movement. We introduce a new method for estimating UDs with temporally irregular data. The proposed method, called the time kernel, accounts for temporal aggregation of observations and gives less weight to temporally autocorrelated observations. A further extension of the method accounts also for spatially aggregated observations with relatively low weights given to observations that are both temporally and spatially aggregated. We test the behaviour of the time kernel method and its spatiotemporal version using simulated data. In addition, the method is applied to a data set of brown bear locations.     

Benefits of protected areas for nonbreeding waterbirds adjusting their distributions under climate warming

Climate warming is driving changes in species distributions and community composition. Many species have a so-called climatic debt, that is, shifts in range lag behind shifts in temperature isoclines. Inside protected areas (PAs), community changes in response to climate warming can be facilitated by greater colonization rates by warm-dwelling species, but also mitigated by lowering extirpation rates of cold-dwelling species. An evaluation of the relative importance of colonization-extirpation processes is important to inform conservation strategies that aim for both climate debt reduction and species conservation. We assessed the colonization-extirpation dynamics involved in community changes in response to climate inside and outside PAs. To do so, we used 25 years of occurrence data of nonbreeding waterbirds in the western Palearctic (97 species, 7071 sites, 39 countries, 1993–2017). We used a community temperature index (CTI) framework based on species thermal affinities to investigate species turnover induced by temperature increase. We determined whether thermal community adjustment was associated with colonization by warm-dwelling species or extirpation of cold-dwelling species by modeling change in standard deviation of the CTI (CTI_SD). Using linear mixed-effects models, we investigated whether communities in PAs had lower climatic debt and different patterns of community change than communities outside PAs. For CTI and CTI_SD combined, communities inside PAs had more species, higher colonization, lower extirpation, and lower climatic debt (16%) than communities outside PAs. Thus, our results suggest that PAs facilitate 2 independent processes that shape community dynamics and maintain biodiversity. The community adjustment was, however, not sufficiently fast to keep pace with the large temperature increases in the central and northeastern western Palearctic. Our results underline the potential of combining CTI and CTI_SD metrics to improve understanding of the colonization-extirpation patterns driven by climate warming.     

锅炉温控炉拱的设计及燃烧技术性能

论述了将小型链条炉排工业锅炉的炉拱设计成在运行中可以全量调节的结构,以适应燃用多种煤种的需要,并减少与固定拱操作有关的意外伤亡事故。这项技术有创新性,适用性和推广价值     

The influence of prey distribution on the foraging strategy of the lizard Oligosoma grande (Reptilia: Scincidae)

The grand skink, Oligosoma grande, is a diurnal rock-dwelling lizard from the tussock grasslands of Central Otago, New Zealand, whose diet includes a variety of arthropods and fruit. We conducted a field experiment to examine the influence of prey distribution on foraging behavior and spacing patterns. On sites where prey distribution was unaltered (control sites), males and females differed in diet and foraging behavior. Most male feeding attempts were directed at large strong-flying insects, and males used a saltatory search pattern that involved relatively infrequent moves of long duration. Females spent more effort catching small weak-flying insects and visiting fruiting plants. Their search behavior involved frequent moves of short duration. The placement of meat-bait on experimental sites led to a redistribution of large flies without influencing other prey types. Experimental females switched foraging strategy by adopting a search pattern of relatively infrequent moves of long duration, increasing the frequency of attempts to capture large prey, and reducing the importance of fruit in their diet. The experimental manipulation appeared to influence space use. On control sites, both sexes had comparably sized home ranges. On experimental sites, male home ranges were significantly larger than female home ranges. Received: 3 November 1997 / Accepted after revision: 13 December 1998     

北京市夏季空气微生物粒度分布特征

着重研究了夏季空气微生物的粒度分布特征,比较分析了北京市空气微生物粒度分布的变化状况.结果表明:空气细菌、空气真菌和空气放线菌的粒度分布特征各不相同, 并且不随着时间和空间的变化而变化.空气细菌呈偏态分布,大于2.0 μm的粒子约占总数的80.0%,小于1.0 μm的粒子最少,约占9.0%.空气真菌呈对数正态分布,1.0～6.0 μm的粒子约占70.0%,小于1.0 μm的粒子最少,约占5.0%.空气放线菌粒度分布与正态分布恰好相反,大于8.2 μm和小于1.0 μm的粒子约占60.0%;3.0～6.0 μm的粒子最少,约占10.0%.此外不同功能区优势真菌粒度分布规律基本一致.枝孢属(Cladosporium),青霉属(Penicillium)和曲霉属(Aspergillus)粒度主要分布在F3,F4和F5(1.0～6.0 μm)中,约占总数的85.0%,呈对数正态分布.而交链孢属(Alternaria)和无孢菌(nonsporing)主要分布在前4级(>2.0 μm),分别约占总数的90.0%和75.0%,呈偏态分布.在过去10年的城市化进程中,北京市空气微生物粒度分布的基本趋势没有变化,但是空气真菌粒度分布的峰值由原来的3.0～6.0 μm降低到2.0～3.0 μm.