Ranging of songs with the song type on use of different cues in Carolina wrens: effects of familiarity

Male territorial song birds are usually spaced far apart and most often hear conspecific song after it has been degraded by propagation through the environment. Their ability to use the degradation of songs to assess the distance of a singing rival without approaching (called ranging) presumably increases the efficiency of defending a territory. In order to assess degradation in a song the receiver needs to compare the characteristics of the received song to its characteristics at the source or at different distances. Earlier experiments on ranging in species with song repertoires have suggested that prior familiarity with the particular song type is necessary for ranging. Here I show that male Carolina wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) can use either temporal or spectral characteristics for ranging song types which they were unlikely to have heard previously. Playbacks consisting of only one song prevented subjects' close-range experience with the loudspeaker, and flights beyond the loudspeaker provided direct evidence for over-assessment of distance when songs were degraded. Because ranging of songs was not affected by the degree of familiarity with the song type, this experiment provides no evidence that song repertoires hinder ranging in Carolina wrens, as suggested by Morton's ranging hypothesis. Instead, at least approximate ranging of songs is evidently possible by assessment of degradation in general features of a species' songs. Received: 9 August 1996 / Accepted after revision: 15 February 1997     

LEC-M法在升船机施工安全评价中的应用

在升船机施工过程中,由于建筑物多为高坝垂直型,致使上下施工、内外施工和不同性质的施工同时进行,增加了作业条件的危险性,这给升船机施工中的安全管理带来很大困难.以升船机施工为出发点,分析升船机施工中的作业单元流程.按照事故分类的标准,将升船机施工的危险源按照高处坠落、物体打击、垮塌三类事故进行风险辨识.运用LEC-M法确定升船机施工各类危险源的安全风险等级评价,依据危险源评价所涉及到的具体条款,提出降低危险源风险的有效措施.该方法在三峡升船机筒体工程上得到具体应用,并取得良好效果.     

基于SPA-VFRM的城市要害系统综合应急能力研究

为反映城市要害系统综合应急能力的发展现状及过程,在分析城市要害设施系统构成与面临的主要灾害类型基础上,提出从充分性、精确性、抵御性和及时性4个维度评价应急能力的思路,建立城市要害系统综合应急能力评估指标体系,并应用层次分析法与变异系数法确定指标综合权重,结合集对分析（SPA）与可变模糊识别模型（VFRM）构建城市要害系统综合应急能力的评价模型;运用该模型实证分析某市要害系统综合应急能力发展现状。实证表明:该市要害系统综合应急能力呈现“波浪式升高”的动态发展趋势,灾害抵御能力是构成综合应急能力的主要方面;3种方法的评价结果排序基本一致,表明该模型的评估结果稳健、可靠,能够有效反映城市要害系统综合应急能力发展情况。     

Asexuals looking for sex: conflict between species and mate-quality recognition in sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna)

When two closely related species are sympatric the process of species recognition (identifying conspecifics) and mate-quality recognition (increased fitness benefits) can yield a conflict when heterospecifics resemble high-quality conspecifics. Conflict in species versus mate-quality recognition may serve as a possible mechanism for the persistence of unisexual, gynogenetic Amazon mollies (Poecilia formosa). Amazon mollies require sperm from closely related species (e.g., sailfin mollies, P. latipinna) to start embryogenesis but inheritance is strictly maternal. When choosing mates, male sailfin mollies from populations sympatric with Amazon mollies may rely on traits indicating species identity rather than those indicating mate quality. Conversely, males from allopatric populations may rely more on traits indicating mate quality. Previous work has found that male sailfin mollies in sympatry exhibit a significantly greater mating preference for female sailfin mollies over Amazon mollies compared to males in allopatry. In addition, male sailfin mollies prefer to associate with and produce more sperm in the presence of larger conspecific females, which are more fecund. We hypothesized that male sailfin mollies experience a conflict in species recognition and mate-quality recognition in the presence of Amazon mollies that are relatively larger than female sailfin mollies. To test this hypothesis, we paired males from sympatric and allopatric populations with a larger Amazon molly and a smaller female sailfin molly. We scored the number of mating attempts that males directed to conspecific and heterospecific females. Males in most sympatric and allopatric populations demonstrate no clear preference for conspecifics. In addition, we found some evidence for a difference in mating preference between allopatric and sympatric populations with males from allopatry showing a greater heterospecific mate preference. These results indicate a conflict between species and mate-quality recognition. In sympatry this conflict may contribute to the persistence of gynogenetic Amazon mollies.     

Song ranging by the dusky antbird,Cercomacra tyrannina: ranging without song learning

In a population of dusky antbirds (Cercomacra tyrannina), less aggressive responses to distance-degraded playbacks than to undegraded playbacks of pair duets show that this tropical suboscine passerine uses sound degradation to range distance from singing conspecifics. This is the first example of song-ranging in a species that does not learn songs, supporting the hypothesis that ranging preceded the song learning that occurs in more recently evolved passerine birds (oscines). Both sexes sing and are able to use song degradation to range distance from singers when their sex-specific song is played back. Received: 27 May 1994/Accepted after revision: 24 March 1996     

Ant gardens: interspecific recognition in parabiotic ant species

 In French Guiana, parabiotic societies (natural mixed colonies) are frequently found in ant gardens. Crematogaster limata parabiotica (Myrmicinae), often associated with Camponotus femoratus (Formicinae), was found for the first time in parabiosis with ponerine ants: Pachycondyla goeldii and Odontomachus mayi. A detailed study of the relationships between Cr. l. parabiotica and O. mayi showed that each species is aggressive towards allospecific or conspecific individuals belonging to another colony, but tolerates allospecific individuals from the multi-species society. Studies of cuticular substances of the four ant species were made using gas chromatography. The results showed that each species, living alone or in parabiosis, possesses a specific chemical profile. Thus, the ants are able to recognise nestmate and non-nestmate individuals of the associated species, even though their cuticular profiles are different. The hypothesis that the nestmate allospecific profile is learned is suggested to explain this pattern of recognition. Received: 5 June 1996 / Accepted after revision: 17 October 1996     

土壤遥感分类识别专家系统的结构设计

介绍了土壤遥感分类识别专家系统的设计原理与实现方法，阐述了土壤遥感分类识别专家系统的土壤分类决策判断树的构造原理，讨论了土壤遥感分类识别专家知识表示的基本原则和系统知识库中专家知识的组织方式，以及专家系统推理机的设计原理和推理规则的构建方法。系统采用压缩编码方式存储地学专题图形和遥感图像数据，具有数据与图像的存储更新、查询检索、分析处理、特征提取和信息输出等功能。该系统可以对遥感图像进行土壤类型的分类识别，并对分类精度进行监测与评价。用该系统对新疆天山北麓阜康试验区的土壤分类识别进行了试验研究，并对试验结果进行了讨论与评价。     

Effects of different levels of song overlapping on singing behaviour in male territorial nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos)

In signalling interactions, animals can directly address information to a specific individual. Vocal overlapping is such a signalling strategy used in songbirds, anurans, and insects. In songbirds, numerous studies using high rates of song overlap to simulate an escalating situation have shown that song overlapping is perceived as a threatening signal by interacting and by listening (eavesdropping) individuals, indicating a high social relevance of song overlapping. Here we present a playback experiment on nocturnally singing male territorial nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos). Using three different rates of song overlap (1, 25, or 50%), we tested whether or not lower levels of song overlapping act as a signal of aggressive intent and if birds would increase the intensity of their response with increasing level of song overlapping. Subjects did not vary song duration in response to the different playback treatments but increasingly interrupted their singing with increasing overlap by the three playback treatments. The effects persisted even after the playback ceased to overlap and switched to an alternating singing mode. These results expand on previous studies by showing that song overlapping is interpreted as an aggressive signal even when it is used at low or moderate levels. They suggest that, within the range tested here, increasing levels of song overlapping are perceived to be increasingly aggressive.     

Does information of predators influence general wariness?

Antipredator behavior includes several qualitatively distinct activities, but few studies have determined the degree to which these activities are independent. If behaviors are not independent, then the nature of the relationship would illustrate potential performance constraints. We studied crimson rosellas (Platycercus elegans) and first focused on acoustic predator discrimination. We measured time allocation before and after playback of one of three experimental treatments (peregrine falcons—Falco peregrinus, wedge-tailed eagles—Aquila audax, and crimson rosellas) to determine whether or not rosellas discriminated predators from non-predators, and specifically whether or not they discriminated large from small predators. We then focused on the decision to flee. We experimentally approached subjects and measured the distance at which they oriented to us (alert distance) and the distance at which they fled (flight initiation distance; FID). We found that rosellas could distinguish among predators; however, there was no effect on general wariness as measured by FID. These two processes of antipredator behavior may, thus, be independent.     

Do echolocation calls of wild colony-living Bechstein's bats (Myotis bechsteinii) provide individual-specific signatures?

Social animals often use vocal communication signals that contain individual signatures. As bats emit echolocation calls several times per second to orient in space, these might seem ideal candidates for conveying the caller's individual identity as a free by-product. From a proximate perspective, however, coding of caller identity is hampered by the simple acoustic structure of echolocation signals, by their task-specific design and by propagation loss. We investigated the occurrence of individual signatures in echolocation calls in individually marked, free-living Bechstein's bats (Myotis bechsteinii) in a situation with defined social context in the field. The bats belonged to two different colonies, for both of which genetic data on relatedness structure was available. While our data clearly demonstrate situation specificity of call structure, the evidence for individual-specific signatures was relatively weak. We could not identify a robust and simple parameter that would convey the caller's identity despite the situation-specific call variability. Discriminant function analysis assigned calls to call sequences with good performance, but worsened drastically when tested with other sequences from the same bats. Therefore, we caution against concluding from a satisfactory discrimination performance with identical training and test sequences that individual bats can reliably be told apart by echolocation calls. At least the information contained in a single call sequence seems not to be sufficient for that purpose. Starting frequencies did give the best discrimination between individuals, and it was also this parameter that was correlated with genetic relatedness in one of our two study colonies. Echolocation calls could serve as an additional source of information for individual recognition in Bechstein's bats societies, while it is unlikely that a large number of individuals could be reliably identified in different situations based on echolocation alone.