Sex,food and conflicts: nutrition dependent nuptial feeding and pre-mating struggles in scorpionflies

Female and male reproductive interests often differ. In species in which matings are accompanied by a transfer of resources valuable for both participants, such as nuptial prey gifts, conflicts may readily occur. Scorpionflies may use alternative mating tactics. One is to offer a prey item (dead arthropod) to females in exchange for mating. This prey gift tactic includes a conflict because a male must decide on whether to offer the gift rather than to fight the female and consume the gift. The outcome may depend on the nutritional status of both males and females. Males may be more willing to give if they themselves are satiated and the condition of the females may influence the payoff from the males’ investment. Similarly, females may be more willing to accept food gifts if they are in poor nutritional condition. In this study of the scorpionfly Panorpa cognata, I experimentally manipulated the feeding history of both males and females. I observed the outcome of the direct interactions that followed when males that were holding prey were approached by females. I found that well-fed males offered the food gift sooner than males in poor nutritional condition that fed extensively on the food item before offering. Female condition had no significant influence on whether prey items were offered by males or accepted by females. I also found that well-fed males rarely searched for prey to pursue the prey gift tactic in courtship. Thus, the prey tactic does not seem to be the males’ first option.     

珠江口现代沉积物柱芯样多环芳烃高分辨沉积记录研究

通过对采集于珠江三角洲澳门河口区的沉积物柱状样品中多环芳烃的GC MS定量分析测定,并结合210Pb同位素定年分析,重建了珠江口近代有机污染物的污染史(1959～1996年).研究结果表明,柱芯样品中多环芳烃的浓度为0.6～4.5μg·g-1(干重计),污染程度为中等.其中在20世纪60年代和80年代分别记录到两个高的污染峰,表明这两个时间段内有较大的污染物输入.以母体化合物比值对沉积物样品中的多环芳烃来源进行了分析,结果表明是受到了以油类和不完全燃烧产物为主的混合污染,且污染来源较为单一.对沉积物毒性潜在效应的计算表明,表层沉积物毒性效应较大,且从90年代初期开始后至1996年,毒性当量浓度呈线性趋势增加.     

The effect of pup vocalisations on food allocation in a cooperative mammal, the meerkat (Suricata suricatta)

In the meerkat (Suricata suricatta), a cooperative mongoose, pups follow potential feeders while the group is foraging and emit incessant calls when soliciting food from them. In contrast to a ’stationary’ brood of chicks, in which nestlings are fed at a fixed location, meerkat pups are ’mobile’ and become spread out. The question arises whether meerkat pups that experience different constraints to those facing chicks have evolved similar begging strategies. This paper describes the vocalisations that meerkat pups emit in the context of begging and investigates the influence of these calls on food allocation by older group members and on the behaviour of littermates. Meerkat pups use two types of calls when soliciting food from a potential feeder. The most common is a ’repeat’ call, which pups emit continuously when following an older forager over several hours a day. In addition, when a potential feeder finds a prey item, the pups next to it emit a bout of calls with increased calling rate, amplitude and fundamental frequency, termed ’high-pitched’ calls. Observations, together with playback experiments, showed that more prey was allocated to pups that called longer and more intensely. The pup closest to a feeder was almost always fed. The probability of emitting high-pitched calls did not depend on the time since a pup had received food, and the change from repeat to high-pitched calls occurred suddenly. The main function of the high-pitched call, therefore, does not appear to be to signal a pup’s hunger state. More likely, the two calls, in the context of begging, may be an adaptation to energetic constraints in a mobile feeding system. Pups, which are dispersed during foraging, may emit repeat calls over long periods to prevent potential feeders from eating all the prey themselves. At the moment a potential feeder finds prey, pups may give the more intense high-pitched calls to direct feeders to bring the food item to them and not to a littermate. Therefore, unlike the stationary feeding system where chicks emit one type of begging call when the feeder approaches the nest, meerkats, with a mobile feeding system, have evolved two discrete types of vocalisations in the context of begging. Received: 22 November 1999 / Revised: 1 July 2000 / Accepted: 17 July 2000     

Soft intervention technology as a tool for integrated coastal zone management

After introducing soft defence techniques as an alternative to hard defence techniques, the need is emphasized to consider the coastal area as an integral system. By recalling the main driving factors for coastal management: conflict resolution, resilience and sustainability, we logically arrive at the concepts of ecological engineering and ecotechnology, which are increasingly acknowledged as possible solutions to achieve sustainable use of coastal space as a resource. In this context, we refer to the principles of self design and of ecosystem conservation. In order to deal with real situations we are in need of fundamental ‘tools’ for the application of the soft intervention technology approach. We therefore introduce the concept of physiographic units and develop an initial elaboration for a coastal stretch and for coastal wetlands. The latter deserve more attention because of the already established practices of ecotechnology, at least as far as water and soil quality are concerned, but certainly also concerning morphology, especially in the future. We conclude by briefly discussing how activities undertaken in two research projects currently being conducted under the framework of the Marine Science and Technology Program of the Commission of the European Communities are expected to contribute to the concepts introduced here.     

车载环境γ能谱测量系统探测器设计及性能研究

车载环境γ能谱测量系统探测器是环境γ能谱测量技术领域研究热点.为提高探测效率,缩短测量时间,针对车载环境γ能谱测量系统设计了双Nal(T1)晶体探测器,并测试了探测器主要性能指标.研究表明,探测器能量分辨率为6.73％,计数稳定性优于4.2％,可识别238U、232Th、40K等核素,可清晰分辨152Eu各能量峰,温度...     

高分辨率监测下的漓江省里断面生物地球化学特征分析

为了获得漓江流域不同季节生物地球化学昼夜动态变化过程、影响因素与规律,分别于2016年10月30日～11月1日(秋季)和2017年9月14～16日(夏季)对漓江流域省里断面进行了为期48 h的高分辨率在线监测和高频率取样工作,研究水体电导率(EC)、水温(T)、pH以及Ca~(2+)、HCO_3~-、NO_3~-等离子含量和溶解无机碳同位素(δ~(13)C_(DIC))等水化学参数的昼夜变化规律,并分析其影响因素,同时评估水生植物对输入岩溶水生生态系统中溶解无机碳的固定量.结果表明:①省里断面水化学参数表现出显著的昼夜变化规律,T、pH、DO、SIC白天上升夜间下降,Ca~(2+)、HCO_3~-、EC、p(CO_2)白天降低夜晚上升且秋季昼夜变化幅度大于夏季.②SO_4~(2-)、NO_3~-、Cl~-、Na~+、K~+和Mg~(2+)等营养元素含量昼夜变化主要受水生植物代谢过程(同化作用)控制,呈现白天降低夜间升高的变化规律.同时,省里断面夏季营养元素昼夜变化幅度小于秋季.③省里断面溶解无机碳同位素(δ~(13)C_(DIC))主要受水生植物光合作用和呼吸作用控制,表现为白天偏重晚上偏轻的动态变化.受土壤根系和土壤微生物呼吸作用强度和河流水文要素季节变化的影响,夏季省里断面δ~(13)C_(DIC)总体上偏轻于秋季,两者的平均值分别为-10. 08‰和-8. 90‰.④通过计算,实验期间省里断面水生植物光合作用岩溶碳汇量日平均值为2. 12 mmol·L~(-1)和0. 94mmol·L~(-1),秋季比夏季具有更高的固碳效率.     

东北区域空气质量时空分布特征及重度污染成因分析

东北已成为我国又一个霾污染多发和重发区域.采用2013～2017年东北区域大气污染物地面监测数据、卫星数据和气象数据等信息,探讨了中国东北地区空气质量时空分布特征与重度污染成因.结果表明,"沈阳-长春-哈尔滨"带状城市群是全年污染最严重的区域,空气质量指数(AQI)的空间分布具有明显的季节性,冬季污染最严重,春季吉林省西部周围为椭圆形污染区,夏季和秋季大部分时间空气质量最佳.3个典型的霾污染时期是10月下旬和11月上旬(即秋末和初冬,时期一),12月下旬和1月(即冬季最冷的时候,时期二),及4月到5月中旬(即春季沙尘和农业耕作期).时期一,季节性作物残茬焚烧和冬季采暖用煤燃烧产生的PM_(2.5)强排放是极端霾事件发生的主要原因(AQI 300);时期二,在最严寒月份里,重度霾污染事件(200 AQI 300),主要由燃煤和汽车燃料消耗的PM_(2.5)排放量高,大气边界层较低,以及大气扩散性差等共同引起;时期三,春季PM_(10)浓度较高,主要是由内蒙古中部退化草原的风沙和吉林省西部裸地的区域性扬尘传输造成的.同时,当地农业耕作本身也释放PM_(10),并提升了裸土的人为源矿物尘的排放强度.     

Using ecosystem-services assessments to determine trade-offs in ecosystem-based management of marine mammals

The goal of ecosystem-based management (EBM) is to support a sustainable and holistic multisectored management approach, and is recognized in a number of international policy frameworks. However, it remains unknown how these goals should be linked to assessments and management plans for marine fauna, such as mammals and fish stocks. It appears particularly challenging to carry out trade-off analyses of various ocean uses without a framework that integrates knowledge of environmental, social, and economic benefits derived from nonstationary marine fauna. We argue this gap can be filled by applying a version of the ecosystem-service approach at the population level of marine fauna. To advance this idea, we used marine mammals as a case study to demonstrate what indicators could operationalize relevant assessments and deliver an evidence base for the presence of ecosystem services and disservices derived from marine mammals. We found indicators covering common ecosystem service categories feasible to apply; examples of indicator data are already available in the literature for several populations. We encourage further exploration of this approach for application to marina fauna and biodiversity management, with the caveat that conceptual tensions related to the use of the ecosystem service concept itself needs to be addressed to ensure acceptance by relevant stakeholders.     

An ecological framework for contextualizing carnivore–livestock conflict

Carnivore predation on livestock is a complex management and policy challenge, yet it is also intrinsically an ecological interaction between predators and prey. Human–wildlife interactions occur in socioecological systems in which human and environmental processes are closely linked. However, underlying human–wildlife conflict and key to unpacking its complexity are concrete and identifiable ecological mechanisms that lead to predation events. To better understand how ecological theory accords with interactions between wild predators and domestic prey, we developed a framework to describe ecological drivers of predation on livestock. We based this framework on foundational ecological theory and current research on interactions between predators and domestic prey. We used this framework to examine ecological mechanisms (e.g., density-mediated effects, behaviorally mediated effects, and optimal foraging theory) through which specific management interventions operate, and we analyzed the ecological determinants of failure and success of management interventions in 3 case studies: snow leopards (Panthera uncia), wolves (Canis lupus), and cougars (Puma concolor). The varied, context-dependent successes and failures of the management interventions in these case studies demonstrated the utility of using an ecological framework to ground research and management of carnivore–livestock conflict. Mitigation of human–wildlife conflict appears to require an understanding of how fundamental ecological theories work within domestic predator–prey systems.     

Compassionate versus consequentialist conservation

Ethical treatment of wildlife and consideration of animal welfare have become important themes in conservation, but ethical perspectives on how best to protect wild animals and promote their welfare are diverse. There are advantages to the consequentialist harms ethical framework applied in managing wild herbivores for conservation purposes. To minimize harms while achieving conservation goals, we argue that overabundant wild herbivores should in many cases be managed through consumptive in situ killing. Advantages of this policy are that the negative welfare states imposed on animals last only a short time; remaining animals are not deprived of positive welfare states (e.g., linked to rearing offspring); poor welfare states of animals in overabundant populations are avoided (e.g., starvation); negative welfare impacts on heterospecifics through resource depletion (i.e., competition) are prevented; harvesting meat reduces the number of (agricultural) animals raised to supply meat; and minimal costs maximize funding for other wildlife management and conservation priorities. Alternative ethical approaches to our consequentialist framework include deontology (containing animal rights) and virtue ethics, some of which underpin compassionate conservation. These alternative ethical approaches emphasize the importance of avoiding intentional killing of animals but, if no population reduction occurs, are likely to impose considerable unintentional harms on overabundant wildlife and indirectly harm heterospecifics through ineffective population reduction. If nonlethal control is used, it is likely that overabundant animals would be deprived of positive welfare states and economic costs would be prohibitive. We encourage conservation stakeholders to consider animal-welfare consequentialism as an ethical approach to minimize harms to the animals under their care as well as other animals that policies may affect while at the same time pursuing conservation goals.