Time stress,predation risk and diurnal–nocturnal foraging trade-offs in larval prey

Insect larvae increase in size with several orders of magnitude throughout development making them more conspicuous to visually hunting predators. This change in predation pressure is likely to impose selection on larval anti-predator behaviour and since the risk of detection is likely to decrease in darkness, the night may offer safer foraging opportunities to large individuals. However, forsaking day foraging reduces development rate and could be extra costly if prey are subjected to seasonal time stress. Here we test if size-dependent risk and time constraints on feeding affect the foraging–predation risk trade-off expressed by the use of the diurnal–nocturnal period. We exposed larvae of one seasonal and one non-seasonal butterfly to different levels of seasonal time stress and time for diurnal–nocturnal feeding by rearing them in two photoperiods. In both species, diurnal foraging ceased at large sizes while nocturnal foraging remained constant or increased, thus larvae showed ontogenetic shifts in behaviour. Short night lengths forced small individuals to take higher risks and forage more during daytime, postponing the shift to strict night foraging to later on in development. In the non-seasonal species, seasonal time stress had a small effect on development and the diurnal–nocturnal foraging mode. In contrast, in the seasonal species, time for pupation and the timing of the foraging shift were strongly affected. We argue that a large part of the observed variation in larval diurnal–nocturnal activity and resulting growth rates is explained by changes in the cost/benefit ratio of foraging mediated by size-dependent predation and time stress.     

厦门海域春夏季微型浮游动物对浮游植物的摄食压力初探

应用稀释法对厦门海域浮游植物生长率(k)和微型浮游动物的摄食率(g)进行了估算。结果显示：5月,西海域18测站k、g分别为2．41、0．78d^-1;南部海域27测站分别为2．43、1．32d^-1。8月18测站k、g分别为3．00、2．90d^-1;27测站分别为1．94、0．91d^-1。说明厦门海域作为典型的亚热带港湾,具有高的k、g值。分粒级研究结果显示：8月,18测站微型浮游动物对微型浮游植物(Micro)具摄食偏好;而27测站微型浮游动物对Micro和Nano级的摄食率相近。应用流式细胞技术研究18测站微微型真核浮游植物的k、g,结果表明：春季,生长率和摄食率分别为2．00、1．02d^-1;夏季分别为1．52、0．96d^-1。     

浅水海湾排污扩散器初始稀释度的计算

流速和水深是影响浅水型海湾扩散器初始稀释能力的主要环境因素,其长时间序列的实测资料在现实中通常很难得到,而平面二维水动力模型的引入可为初始稀释度的计算提供必要和准确的水动力要素。通过建立二维水动力模型模拟受纳海域的流场,利用实测水文资料进行模型的率定和验证,模拟设计水文条件下附近水域的流场,然后提取排污口处的水深、流速和流向的时间序列,再利用近区模型计算任一时刻的初始稀释度,最后进行累积频率分析得到设计保证率下的初始稀释度。将该方法应用于杭州湾某排污扩散器初始稀释能力的评估,研究表明,利用远区模型为扩散器近区模拟提供环境水文要素,弥补了实际工程计算中缺乏实测水文资料的不足,并大大提高了近区模拟的计算精度。     

室内木柴燃烧排放水溶性离子粒径分布特征

基于实验室模拟燃烧和稀释通道采样系统,采用荷电低压撞击采样器采集了6种典型木柴燃烧排放的14级粒径段颗粒物.采用离子色谱分析了8种水溶性离子,获得水溶性离子的分粒径排放因子和排放特征.结果表明,Ca²⁺的排放因子呈双峰分布,在0.25~0.38和2.5~3.6μm粒径段出现峰值,分别为0.14和0.16mg/kg.其余离子的排放因子为单峰分布.NH₄⁺、NO₃^-和SO₄^2-的排放因子在0.25~0.38μm粒径段出现峰值,分别为0.41、0.58和0.84mg/kg.K⁺和Cl^-的排放因子在0.15~0.25μm内出现峰值,分别为0.89和0.99mg/kg.木柴燃烧排放总水溶性离子的质量中值粒径为（0.30±0.07）μm,各离子的质量中值粒径范围为0.24~0.44μm.PM_0.094、PM_0.94、PM_2.5和PM₁₀中水溶性离子的排放因子变化范围分别为1.04~9.33、5.00~48.87、5.46~52.00和6.14~53.68mg/kg.木柴燃烧排放颗粒物中K⁺/Cl^-、K⁺/NO₃^-、K⁺/SO₄^2-和SO₄^2-/NO₃^-比值随粒径变化而变化,其排放初始值在应用于源解析和生物质燃烧排放气溶胶传输老化研究时需引起关注.木柴燃烧排放PM₁₀中的阴阳离子当量比值为0.80±0.11,颗粒物的酸度随颗粒物粒径而改变,亚微米颗粒物和细颗粒物的酸度高于超细颗粒物和粗颗粒物的酸度.本研究对构建生物质燃烧排放分粒径水溶性离子清单,更新和改进相关气候和空气质量模型的参数设置,识别烟气传输过程中的老化具有重要意义.     

Effects of vermiculite on the growth process of submerged macrophyte Vallisneria spiralis and sediment microecological environment

Ecological restoration is one of the hot technologies for the reconstruction of eutrophic lake ecosystems in which the restoration and propagation of submerged plants is the key and difficult step. In this paper, the effect of vermiculite on the growth process of Vallisneria spiralis and sediment microenvironment were investigated, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the application of vermiculite in aquatic ecological restoration. Results of growth indexes demonstrated that 5% and 10% vermiculite treatment groups statistically promote the growth of Vallisneria spiralis compared to the control. Meanwhile, the results of ecophysiological indexes showed that photosynthetic pigment, soluble sugar content, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activity of 5% and 10% group were increased compared with the control while the malondialdehyde (MDA) content exhibited the opposite result (p < 0.05), which illustrated that vermiculite can improve the resistance of plants and delay the aging process of Vallisneria spiralis. In addition, result of PCA (Principal Component Analysis) demonstrated 5% and 10% group has improved the sediment physical conditions and create more ecological niche for microorganisms directly, and then promoted the growth of plants. The dissolution results showed that vermiculite can dissolve the constant and trace elements needed for plant growth. Furthermore, the addition of vermiculite increased the diversity of microorganisms in the sediments, and promoted the increase of plant growth-promoting bacteria and phosphorus-degrading bacteria. This study could provide a technique reference for the further application of vermiculite in the field of ecological restoration.     

Evaluating weather effects on interannual variation in net ecosystem productivity of a coastal temperate forest landscape: A model intercomparison

Forest productivity is strongly affected by seasonal weather patterns and by natural or anthropogenic disturbances. However weather effects on forest productivity are not currently represented in inventory-based models such as CBM-CFS3 used in national forest C accounting programs. To evaluate different approaches to modelling these effects, a model intercomparison was conducted among CBM-CFS3 and four process models (ecosys, CN-CLASS, Can-IBIS and 3PG) over a 2500 ha landscape in the Oyster River (OR) area of British Columbia, Canada. The process models used local weather data to simulate net primary productivity (NPP), net ecosystem productivity (NEP) and net biome productivity (NBP) from 1920 to 2005. Other inputs used by the process and inventory models were generated from soil, land cover and disturbance records. During a period of intense disturbance from 1928 to 1943, simulated NBP diverged considerably among the models. This divergence was attributed to differences among models in the sizes of detrital and humus C stocks in different soil layers to which a uniform set of soil C transformation coefficients was applied during disturbances. After the disturbance period, divergence in modelled NBP among models was much smaller, and attributed mainly to differences in simulated NPP caused by different approaches to modelling weather effects on productivity. In spite of these differences, age-detrended variation in annual NPP and NEP of closed canopy forest stands was negatively correlated with mean daily maximum air temperature during July-September (T_amax) in all process models (R² = 0.4-0.6), indicating that these correlations were robust. The negative correlation between T_amax and NEP was attributed to different processes in different models, which were tested by comparing CO₂ fluxes from these models with those measured by eddy covariance (EC) under contrasting air temperatures (T_a). The general agreement in sensitivity of annual NPP to T_amax among the process models led to the development of a generalized algorithm for weather effects on NPP of coastal temperate coniferous forests for use in inventory-based models such as CBM-CFS3: NPP′ = NPP − 57.1 (T_amax − 18.6), where NPP and NPP′ are the current and temperature-adjusted annual NPP estimates from the inventory-based model, 18.6 is the long-term mean daily maximum air temperature during July-September, and T_amax is the mean value for the current year. Our analysis indicated that the sensitivity of NPP to T_amax was nonlinear, so that this algorithm should not be extrapolated beyond the conditions of this study. However the process-based methodology to estimate weather effects on NPP and NEP developed in this study is widely applicable to other forest types and may be adopted for other inventory based forest carbon cycle models.     

A coffee agroecosystem model: I. Growth and development of the coffee plant

This paper is the first of three on the coffee production system consisting of (1) the coffee plant, (2) coffee berry borer (CBB) and (3) the role of CBB parasitoids. A previous simulation model of the coffee plant was developed using data from Brazil where coffee phenology is characterized by distinct seasonal flowering (Gutierrez et al., 1998). In contrast, flowering in Colombia is continuous with low seasonality. To capture the differences in coffee phenology and growth in the two climatic regions, the Gutierrez et al. (1998) model was modified using new data from Colombia.The modifications to the model include:

(1)

The effect of solar radiation on floral buds initiation;

(2)

An age structure population model to track the daily input and development of the floral buds;

(3)

The effect of leaf water potential on breaking dormancy in flower buds, and hence on the timing and intensity of flowering;

(4)

The incorporation of both the vegetative and the reproductive demands to predict the photosynthetic rate.

(5)

The effect of low temperature on photosynthesis and defoliation.

Other aspects of the model were re-interpreted and refinements made to generalize its structure for use across coffee varieties and geographic areas. The model, without modification, realistically simulates field data from Brazil and two Colombian locations having different varieties, patterns of rainfall and hence flowering phenology.The model will be used as the base trophic level for incorporating CBB and high tropic levels effects, and for the analysis of management options in the coffee production system.     

Sexual dimorphism in sea lion pups: differential maternal investment,or sex-specific differences in energy allocation?

Proximal mechanisms underlying a faster growth rate in male compared to female California sea lion pups were investigated. Males are significantly larger at birth than females. Specifically, we asked if differential maternal investment contributed to enhanced male growth via: (1) larger mothers having disproportionately more male pups, (2) more time and energy put into foraging by mothers of male pups, and (3) greater milk production in mothers of male pups. We also considered four aspects of differential energy utilization and acquisition by male and female pups: (1) male pups attempting to save energy for growth by changes in behavior, (2) longer suckling bouts with mother and more sneak suckling of non-filial females by male pups, (3) lower maintenance costs in males via a lowered resting metabolic rate, and (4) increased assimilation efficiency in males. Our study showed that there are no differences in the size of females or length of foraging trips for mothers of male and female pups. Male pups received more milk from their mothers, but the difference was no longer significant when the larger body size of males was considered. There were no differences in either the activity budgets or suckling behavior of male and female pups. Male pups, however, did have lower resting metabolic rates than females. We conclude that enhanced male perinatal growth is a consequence of a larger size at birth, proportionally more milk from mothers to support the greater demands of larger body size, and lower maintenance costs due to a lower resting metabolic rate. Received: 28 April 1995/Accepted after revision: 25 July 1995     

富砷地热废水排放的水环境效应——以西藏羊八井热田为例

西藏羊八井热田是我国目前唯一用于地热发电的高温热田,地热电厂产生的高砷废水直接排入了藏布曲(河)——热田内最主要的地表水体。通过地热废水、藏布曲(河)河水、羊八井河水和藏布曲南溪水的砷含量的对比,阐明了地热废水排放与其他水体汇入对藏布曲河水砷含量变化的影响。地热废水中的砷在排入藏布曲后受到了河水稀释作用与河床沉积物吸附作用的影响。计算了藏布曲不同河段内砷的综合衰减系数,并与河床沉积物对砷的吸附分配系数进行了对比,发现二者的拟合曲线符合指数关系。这表明随着河床沉积物吸附作用的加强,河水中砷的天然衰减将相应呈指数形式增加。     

西北地区环境库兹涅茨曲线实证研究

以环境库兹涅茨曲线(EKC)理论为基础,通过选取1995～2009年间我国西北5省的环境质量与经济数据,构建人均GDP污染排放量模型,对西北5省经济增长与环境污染之间的协调发展问题进行研究。结果表明:西北5省的环境曲线不符合EKC特征。其中,工业废水排放曲线为"U"型与倒"U"型的叠加,工业废气排放曲线单调递增,工业固废产生量曲线为倒"U"型曲线的上升阶段。环境质量并非随着收入水平的提高而自动改善。