Alternative strategies for a father with a small brood: mate, cannibalise or care

Brood cycling, the alternation of periods of courtship and mating activity ("mating phase") with days of full brood care ("parental phase"), and total filial cannibalism, the consumption of all current offspring by a parent, have been interpreted as a response to the conflicting demands faced by parental males during the breeding season. Under the assumption that these two behaviours result from trade-offs among mating, caring and feeding, the strategy adopted by the male should depend on egg number and age. This hypothesis was tested in the scissors-tail sergeant (Abudefduf sexfasciatus), a common tropical damselfish. Observations of undisturbed males and a brood reduction experiment confirmed all theoretical predictions. The shift from the mating to parental phase occurred when an appropriate number of eggs had been obtained. When the brood was reduced on the first day of the parental phase, males often reverted to the mating phase, but never did so if the manipulation occurred on the second or third day. Only broods that were smaller than average were consumed by the parental male. Artificial reduction of the brood increased the incidence of total filial cannibalism, but the probability of cannibalism decreased with brood age. Electronic Publication     

Cycling of metals in desert soils: effects of Tamarix nilotica and inundation by lake water

Concentrations of Ca, Mg, K, Na, Cu, Zn, Al, Fe and Mn were measured in soils and in Tamarix nilotica from Wadi Allaqi on the shore of Lake Nasser in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. All of the elements were concentrated in the leaves of Tamarix relative to the stems and roots. Leaf:soil concentration ratios, used as an indicator of metal accumulation in the plant, showed high enrichment factors for Na (67.5), K (63.0) and Mg (35.0); of the trace elements measured, Zn had the highest enrichment factor (7.64). Comparison with other desert species suggested that Tamarix was exceptional only in the accumulation of sodium. Periodic inundation of the soil by Lake Nasser caused dilution and dispersion of the accumulated salts.     

蒙古栎林生态系统的水分循环与养分循环关系

本文从群体水平上研究了蒙古栎林生态系统中的水分循环与养分循环的关系。结果表明,降雨是系统养分的重要输入。降雨对林冠的淋洗淋溶作用有助于养分的归还及缩短养分循环的途径。蒙古栎树干茎流量大,且其中含有的养分元素较多,从而使蒙古栎的根系能获得更多的水分与养分,有助于适应干旱、瘠薄的立地环境。径流是系统的水分输出,也是养分输出。蒙古栎林的下渗流约占整个径流的90％,且养分元素含量较低,从而有助于养分的积累。降雨在蒙古栎林内的分配格局不一,导致系统养分积累的明显差异。本文还探讨了干扰对养分循环与水分循环的影响。结果表明,采伐森林导致水分分配的变化,也使系统的养分发生亏损。只有把养分循环与水分循环结合起来,才能较完整地评价森林的生态功能。     

A Comparison of Sediment and Monitoring Data: Implications for Paleomonitoring a Small Lake

Long-term limnological monitoring data (from 1971 to 2001) were compared with sediment core record in Lake Viitna Linajärv (hereafter L. Viitna), a small lake in northern Estonia. The monitoring data show that L. Viitna changed from mesotrophic in the 1970s to eutrophic in the 1990s. The trends of paleodata thatintegrate the changes in the biogeochemical matter cycling in the lake over 2–3 years have clear signals about changes in the state ofthe ecosystem in L. Viitna during the last decades. A gradual increase in organic productivity should reflect a greater oxygen demand in the hypolimnion. As a result the hypolimnion becameseasonally anoxic earlier and its pH level remained low for a longer time. These fundamental changes near the sediment-water interface were recorded in the sediment core. The greatest changes occurred at the beginning of the 1980s (layers at a depthof ca. 20 cm), when the meso(eu?)trophic conditions in L. Viitnastarted to become increasingly more eutrophic. The variations ofpaleorecords in the upper part of the sediment core coincide temporally with changes in the water level of the lake.     

Fluctuations of Climatic Conditions, Elemental Cycling and Forest Growth at the Watershed Scale

The relationships between fluctuations in climatic conditions,forest productivity and elemental cycling were studied from 1994 to 1997 in a headwater catchment of the southern Laurentians dominated by sugar maple (Acer saccharumMarsh.) growing on podzolic soils. Annual budgets show that H⁺, K, and NO₃ were retained in the watershed whileCa, Mg and Na were lost. The magnitude of the net annual budget for Ca, Mg and Na was correlated to annual variationsin precipitation with the absolute budget value decreasing during dry years. Stemwood (r² = 0.85) and total tree biomass production (r² = 0.99) were correlated with mean annual temperature but fine roots and leaf litter werenot. During the growing season, the pH of the organic horizons(FH) decreased as the volumetric water content of soildecreased. A positive association was also found between airtemperature and H₂O-soluble (r² = 0.88) and PO₄-extractable (r² = 0.99) SO₄ in the upper B horizon. On a multi-year scale, we suspect that the decreasein the storage of inorganic SO₄ in the soil results from the cumulative effects of annual variations in climatic conditions superimposed on the long-term decrease in SO₄deposition from the atmosphere. These soil changes were reflected by a decline in SO₄, Ca and Mg concentrationsin the stream. The generalisation of the observed short-term patterns to longer time scales must be approached with caution. Yet, our results indicate that the associations between climatic variations and the biogeochemistry of the ecosystem occur at different spatial and temporal scales and integrate abroad range of chemical components and ecosystem compartments. This reflects the inherent complexity of natural systems and offers a vast palette of indicators of the response of terrestrial ecosystems to variations in the intensity of environmental factors such as climatic conditions.     

公路水路交通循环经济评价指标体系构建研究

在对公路水路交通行业循环经济和相应统计的发展现状评估的基础上，分析了数据需求，并首次提出了公路水路交通行业循环经济评价指标体系的构建及其调查方法。     

中国农业植被净初级生产力模拟(I)——模型的建立与灵敏度分析

以业已建成的稻麦作物净初级生产力模型为基本框架,建立了一个具有普适性的中国农业植被净初级生产力模型(CropC-)。CropC-的模拟对象为占我国农作物总播种面积2/3的水稻、小麦、玉米、棉花、油菜和大豆。该模型包括2个主要功能模块:光合作用和呼吸作用;土壤-作物系统氮素运移。前者综合考虑了环境因子和氮素的影响,后者包括了作物氮素吸收、土壤氮矿化和化肥氮释放。灵敏度分析表明,在输入参数变化±10%时,CropC-对6个主要输入参数响应的敏感性依次为温度>光合有效辐射>大气CO2浓度>土壤全氮含量>施氮量>降水。模型分析表明,气候变暖将降低作物净初级生产力。     

江苏省案例地区牲畜养殖养分循环与环境效应

运用案例区域调查法和养分物质分析法,对江苏牲畜养殖场饲料、牲畜排泄物、土壤、地表及地下水体养分状况进行了调查、分析对牲畜规模养殖中的养分循环与管理及其环境效应进行了评价.研究表明,牲畜养殖中液体粪水的排放和露天堆放固体粪便的淋失易造成环境问题.地表水体之间的水力联系和地表径流是造成牲畜养殖废弃物环境问题的主要途径.虽然采取固体粪便与液体粪水相分离的方法在一定程度上减少了对环境的影响,但液体粪水仍是污染环境的主要来源.本文还对液体粪水的处理与利用、牲畜排泄物的利用与养分管理提出了建议.     

Editorial: Effects of metal contamination on ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in a freshwater reservoir

<正>Ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms, including ammoniaoxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA), are important to the global nitrogen cycle. These microbes catalyze the oxidization of ammonia (NH_3) to nitrite (NO_2~-), the ratelimiting step in the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen (Stahl and de la Torre, 2012). Effects on the activity of the ammoniaoxidizing microbes could ultimately influence the global     

基于QMEC分析的青藏高原不同类型冰川前缘地土壤微生物功能潜力

微生物通过多种功能代谢过程主导着因气候变暖裸露的冰川前缘地土壤元素的地球化学循环.以青藏高原的海洋型冰川、亚大陆型冰川和极大陆型冰川的前缘地土壤为研究对象,分析不同类型冰川前缘地土壤的微生物功能特征.依次选择玉龙冰川、天山乌鲁木齐1号冰川和老虎沟12号冰川作为三类冰川的典型代表,采用高通量功能基因芯片(QMEC)检测土壤微生物的功能基因特征.结果表明,在三类冰川前缘地土壤中,半纤维素降解基因和还原型乙酰辅酶A途径相关的碳固定基因丰度最高,三者主要的氮功能基因和氨化作用有关,磷、硫功能基因则主要与有机磷矿化过程和硫氧化过程相关.其中,水热条件较好的海洋型冰川的微生物功能基因的种类与丰度最高,其次为环境较为干燥的极大陆型冰川.三类冰川前缘地土壤的微生物功能基因结构的显著差异,证实了地理环境差异对微生物功能特征的影响,也为不同类型冰川前缘地土壤微生物的功能及其介导的元素地球化学循环研究提供了基础.