羊草和大针茅光合作用午间降低与生态因子关系的研究

本项研究指出,在晴天条件下,由于土壤水分含量不同,羊草和大针茅的光合作用日进程呈现出两种类型:在土壤水分充足时,为午前高峰型;在土壤干旱时,为双峰型。两者均属于光合作用午间降低的类型。 两种植物相比,在土壤干旱时,羊草比大针茅光合午间降低幅度大得多;在土壤水分充足时,其降低程度相近。无论土壤含水量高低,大气湿度降低均是引起光合午间降低的主要大气生态因子。所不同的是,强光只有在土壤干旱时才是引起光合午间降低的直接生态因子;因此,午后光合高峰的出现是光强下降所致。土壤水分亏缺与大气低湿相配合,加剧了光合午间降低的程度,其降低幅度随着土壤水分的减少而增大。因此,增加土壤水分是减缓光合午间降低程度的主要生态途径。     

Female tree swallows (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Tachycineta bicolor</Emphasis>) increase offspring heterozygosity through extrapair mating

Recent attention has focused on genetic compatibility as an adaptive function for why females engage in extrapair mating. We tested the genetic compatibility hypothesis in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) over five breeding seasons using data from ten microsatellite loci. Tree swallows are socially monogamous passerines exhibiting high levels of extrapair paternity. Overall, we found that 47% of offspring were the result of extrapair fertilizations, and 83% of females produced at least one extrapair offspring. Consistently for all years, extrapair offspring were more heterozygous than their maternal half-siblings, which is in accordance with the genetic compatibility hypothesis. The difference was largely caused by the high heterozygosity of extrapair offspring sired by unknown males, suggesting that females are engaging in extrapair copulations with geographically distant males to increase the likelihood of being inseminated by a more compatible mate. Our findings support the idea that postcopulatory mechanisms are important for females when assessing potential sires for their offspring.     

Significance of Sighting Rate in Inferring Extinction and Threat

Abstract:  We are now entering a time of immense environmental upheaval in which, increasingly, experts are required to provide conservation assessments. Quantitative assessment of trends in species' range and abundance is costly, requiring extensive field studies over a long period of time. Unfortunately, many species are only known through a few "chance" sightings or a handful of specimens, and therefore extinction may be even harder to ascertain. Several methods have been proposed for estimating the probability of extinction. However, comparison within and between species is difficult because of variations in sighting rates. We applied a probabilistic method that incorporates sighting rate to the sighting record of Vietnamese slipper orchids ( Paphiopedilum ). The method generates a probability that another sighting will occur given the previous sighting rate and the time since last observation. This allows greater comparability between species discovered at different times. Its predictions were more highly correlated with the World Conservation Union criteria than previous methods. Trends in data collection and the political climate of a country, which affects access to material, are important potential sources of variation that affect sighting rates. A lack of understanding of the process by which data are generated makes inferring extinction from sighting records difficult because extinction status depends on how the sighting rate varies. However, such methods allow rapid conservation prioritization of taxa that are poorly known and would otherwise go unassessed.     

δC variations in tree rings as an indication of severe changes in the urban air quality

Annual growth rings sampled from three free-standing trees (Platanus hybrida sp.), grew in the metropolitan area of Palermo (Italy) and covering a 118 years time span (1880–1998), have been studied for their ¹³C/¹²C carbon isotope ratios. It has been found that the ¹³C/¹²C tree ring record, during the study time interval, decreased of −3.6‰, from −26.4‰ in 1880 to −30‰ in 1998. Such a progressive depletion has been attributed to the addition of anthropogenic ¹³C depleted carbon dioxide to the local atmosphere. The observed ¹³C/¹²C decrease has been used to infer some possible pathways of atmospheric CO₂ change in the study urban area.     

不同种植年限菠萝园土壤肥力衰退的研究

以海南菠萝园为研究对象,通过调查取样分析表明,(1)随种植年限的延长及坡度的提高,土壤侵蚀量增加,菠萝园表层土壤石砾含量增加。(2)同一坡度,菠萝园土壤有机质、全氮、碱解氮和速效钾含量也随种植年限的延长及坡度的提高,侵蚀量增加而下降,尤其是有机质和全氮含量。(3)菠萝园土壤磷素及全钾含量,同一坡度不同年限间没有表现出衰退的趋势。     

气候因子对混播草地不同种群生长及其个体消长的影响

采用数理统计方法 ,研究了混播草地中黑麦草 (Lolium perenne)、白三叶 (Trifoliumrepens)和白苞蒿(Artemisialactiflora)的生长特征及其个体消长特点 ,分析了主要气候因子 (温度、降水和日照 )对其构件生长的影响 .温度对黑麦草分蘖的负效应显著 (P〈0 .0 1) ;温度和降水与黑麦草叶片、白三叶匍匐茎和白苞蒿侧枝生长存在显著 (P〈0 .0 1)或弱显著 (P〈0 .1)正相关 ;日照对 3种植物的生长有不同程度抑制作用 .温度和日照对植物生长的互作效应大于温度和降水的互作效应 .黑麦草分蘖数与白三叶分枝数相互消长 ,而黑麦草叶片与白三叶匍匐茎生长具相互促进作用 ;白苞蒿侧枝和白三叶匍匐茎生长相互促进 ,其生长点数则由相互促进向相互抑制转化 ;黑麦草与白苞蒿种群生长具正效应作用 .黑麦草叶片、白三叶匍匐茎和白苞蒿侧枝生长具明显季节动态性 ,而黑麦草分蘖、白三叶分枝和白苞蒿侧芽数季节性变化不明显 .黑麦草分蘖和白苞蒿侧芽具夏秋发生优势 ,而黑麦草叶片生长具春末潜势 ,白苞蒿侧枝具旺盛期 (6～ 9月 )生长优势 .图 1表 3参 2 7     

Global effects of extreme temperatures on wild bumblebees

Climate plays a key role in shaping population trends and determining the geographic distribution of species because of limits in species’ thermal tolerance. An evaluation of species tolerance to temperature change can therefore help predict their potential spatial shifts and population trends triggered by ongoing global warming. We assessed inter- and intraspecific variations in heat resistance in relation to body mass, local mean temperatures, and evolutionary relationships in 39 bumblebee species, a major group of pollinators in temperate and cold ecosystems, across 3 continents, 6 biomes, and 20 regions (2386 male specimens). Based on experimental bioassays, we measured the time before heat stupor of bumblebee males at a heatwave temperature of 40 °C. Interspecific variability was significant, in contrast to interpopulational variability, which was consistent with heat resistance being a species-specific trait. Moreover, cold-adapted species are much more sensitive to heat stress than temperate and Mediterranean species. Relative to their sensitivity to extreme temperatures, our results help explain recent population declines and range shifts in bumblebees following climate change.     

Linking intra-seasonal variations in climate and tree-ring δC: A functional modelling approach

Stable carbon isotopic composition (δ¹³C) in tree rings is a widely recognized tool for climate reconstruction, and several works suggest that seasonal information can be extracted from intra-ring δ¹³C variations. In this study, we explored the link between climate and intra-seasonal oak ring δ¹³C using a process-based modelling approach. The ISOCASTANEA model was developed to compute the seasonal dynamics of tree-ring δ¹³C for deciduous species from half-hourly climatic data by accounting for photosynthetic discrimination and carbon translocation and allocation at the tree scale and in tree rings.The model was applied from March 2005 to December 2007 in a 150-year-old deciduous oak forest. Canopy photosynthesis and stomatal conductance were calibrated using H₂O and CO₂ fluxes measured by the eddy flux technique, and simulated δ¹³C values were compared to seasonal patterns of total organic matter δ¹³C measured in tree rings for 2006 and 2007 at the same site. With the inclusion of carbon translocation and with regard to ¹³C enrichment of starch compared to soluble sugars, the model can reasonably simulate the intra-seasonal and inter-annual variability of tree-ring δ¹³C using the same parameter values for 2006 and 2007. The amplitude of the seasonal carbon isotope pattern in tree rings was influenced by both photosynthetic and post-photosynthetic processes (starch enrichment and reserve use). The δ¹³C variations in the early part of the ring, i.e., mainly in the earlywood, were related mostly to carbohydrate metabolism, although diluted information about environmental conditions during the previous year could also be found. The last part of the ring, consisting mainly of latewood, was found to be a good recorder of current-year environmental conditions, in particular relative humidity, at a fine temporal resolution when the growth rate was high. The sensitivity of the δ¹³C in the early part of the ring to carbohydrate metabolism suggests that intra-ring δ¹³C could be used to explore the relationship between tree decline or mortality and carbohydrate deficiency.     

Evaluating the Predicted Local Extinction of a Once-Common Mouse

Abstract:  In an earlier paper ( Pergams & Nyberg 2001 ) we found that the proportion of the prairie deer mouse ( Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii ), among all local Peromyscus museum specimens collected in the Chicago region, had significantly declined over time. This proportion changed from about 50% before 1900 to <10% in the last 25 years. Based on this proportion a regression model predicted the local extinction of the prairie deer mouse in 2009. To evaluate that prediction, we estimated current deer mouse abundance by live trapping small mammals at 15 preserves in Cook and Lake counties, Illinois (USA) at which prairie deer mice had previously been caught or that still contained their preferred open habitat. In 1900 trap nights, 477 mammals were caught, including 251 white-footed mice ( P. leucopus ), but only one prairie deer mouse. The observed proportion of Peromyscus that were prairie deer mice, 0.4%, was even lower than the 4.5% predicted for 2000. Here we also introduce a simple, new community proportions model, which for any given geographic region compares the proportions of species recently caught with the proportions of species in museums. We compared proportions of seven species collected in Cook and Lake counties and examined by Hoffmeister (1989) with proportions of these species that we caught. Ten percent of the museum community was prairie deer mice, but only 0.2% of our catch was. The current local scarcity of the prairie deer mouse is consistent with the regression-based prediction of its eminent local extinction. More conservation attention should be paid to changes in relative abundance of once-common species.     

Measuring the impact of the pet trade on Indonesian birds

The trade in wild animals involves one‐third of the world's bird species and thousands of other vertebrate species. Although a few species are imperiled as a result of the wildlife trade, the lack of field studies makes it difficult to gauge how serious a threat it is to biodiversity. We used data on changes in bird abundances across space and time and information from trapper interviews to evaluate the effects of trapping wild birds for the pet trade in Sumatra, Indonesia. To analyze changes in bird abundance over time, we used data gathered over 14 years of repeated bird surveys in a 900‐ha forest in southern Sumatra. In northern Sumatra, we surveyed birds along a gradient of trapping accessibility, from the edge of roads to 5 km into the forest interior. We interviewed 49 bird trappers in northern Sumatra to learn which species they targeted and how far they went into the forest to trap. We used prices from Sumatran bird markets as a proxy for demand and, therefore, trapping pressure. Market price was a significant predictor of species declines over time in southern Sumatra (e.g., given a market price increase of approximately $50, the log change in abundance per year decreased by 0.06 on average). This result indicates a link between the market‐based pet trade and community‐wide species declines. In northern Sumatra, price and change in abundance were not related to remoteness (distance from the nearest road). However, based on our field surveys, high‐value species were rare or absent across this region. The median maximum distance trappers went into the forest each day was 5.0 km. This suggests that trapping has depleted bird populations across our remoteness gradient. We found that less than half of Sumatra's remaining forests are >5 km from a major road. Our results suggest that trapping for the pet trade threatens birds in Sumatra. Given the popularity of pet birds across Southeast Asia, additional studies are urgently needed to determine the extent and magnitude of the threat posed by the pet trade.