长江三峡张家湾遗址孢粉组合及古环境演变

长江三峡巫山地区张家湾东周—汉代古遗址文化层中含有丰富的孢粉。孢粉数据分析 ,为研究本区东周—汉代时期人类活动的古地理环境提供了有利的资料。根据孢粉组合的变化 ,可把该区地层由上到下划为三个孢粉组合带 :带 1(生土层 )海金沙 (Lygodium)—卷柏— (Seleginella)—紫萁 (Osmunda)—松 (Pinus)孢粉带 ;带 2 (文化层 )菊科 (Compositae)—毛茛科的唐僧草(Thalictrum)孢粉带 ;带 3(文化层上部 )海金沙—紫萁—水龙骨科 (Polypodiaceae)— 榆 (Ulmus)—小芘 (Berberis)—栗 (Castanea)—慈菇 (Sagittaria)—泽泻 (Alisma) 孢粉带。这种孢粉组合的差异 ,反映各阶段人类活动古地理环境的变化。该区古人类活动初期处于暖湿的气候 ,东周—汉代时期转变为温凉略干的温带落叶阔叶林—草地景观 ,东周—汉代后气候逐渐由干变湿 ,植被由草原向森林转变 ,同时该区经历了一次规模较大的洪水泛滥期。     

短毛紫荆花粉生活力测定及贮藏方法研究

为进行紫荆的杂交育种和开发利用,以短毛紫荆花粉为试材,利用离体培养法、3种染色法（碘-碘化钾染色、醋酸洋红和ITC）对花粉生活力进行了测定,并研究了不同贮藏温度及时间对花粉萌发的影响.结果表明,培养基中添加蔗糖和硼酸对花粉的萌发有促进作用,短毛紫荆花粉萌发的适宜培养基为：15％蔗糖＋0.004％硼酸＋0.08％的琼脂,萌发率达88.46％;醋酸洋红染色法适宜快速测定短毛紫荆花粉生活力;短毛紫荆花粉最佳的贮藏方法为-196℃,经济的贮藏方法为-20℃.     

新疆博格达山北坡表土花粉散布特征

基于博格达山北坡68个表土样品花粉组合特征,对比植物群落样方调查结果,借助聚类分析、主成分分析方法,探讨了表土花粉组合与现代植被分布的关系。研究表明,(1)博格达山北坡表土花粉可划归5个不同植被带,湿度是影响其分布的主要因素,藜科(Chenopodiaceae)、蒿属(Artemisia)、云杉属(Picea)花粉分布受气流影响显著,忽略它们对其他植被带花粉组合的干扰,表土花粉与现代植被分布对应良好。各植被带均有其特有的花粉组合方式,山地荒漠带藜科-蒿属组合占绝对优势,山地草原带演替为蒿属-藜科-禾本科(Poaceae)-蔷薇科(Rosaceae)组合,山地森林带以云杉属-桦木属(Betula)-蒿属-藜科-禾本科为主,高山草甸带以蒿属-云杉属-藜科-莎草科(Cyperaceae)组合为特征,高山垫状植被带表现为蒿属-藜科-蔷薇科-云杉属组合。(2)草本植物花粉含量(62.7%)优势明显,乔、灌木(37.3%)次之。蒿属(23.1%)、藜科(21.5%)、云杉属(18.1%)、莎草科(9.4%)、禾本科(8.6%)、桦木属(5.7%)、蔷薇科(5.3%)等科(属)含量高、变幅大,为最主要的花粉类型,可作为古气候研究的重要依据,藜科、蒿属产量大、易传播,表现出超代表性,云杉属代表性较好,莎草科则受自身结构及保存条件等多重因素影响呈低代表性。(3)蒿属/藜科(A/C)比值不仅能将山地荒漠带、山地草原带区分开,还能指示研究区域湿度变化,古环境重建时可作为区域有效湿度的代用指标。     

Meta-analysis of susceptibility of woody plants to loss of genetic diversity through habitat fragmentation

Shrubs and trees are assumed less likely to lose genetic variation in response to habitat fragmentation because they have certain life-history characteristics such as long lifespans and extensive pollen flow. To test this assumption, we conducted a meta-analysis with data on 97 woody plant species derived from 98 studies of habitat fragmentation. We measured the weighted response of four different measures of population-level genetic diversity to habitat fragmentation with Hedge's d and Spearman rank correlation. We tested whether the genetic response to habitat fragmentation was mediated by life-history traits (longevity, pollination mode, and seed dispersal vector) and study characteristics (genetic marker and plant material used). For both tests of effect size habitat fragmentation was associated with a substantial decrease in expected heterozygosity, number of alleles, and percentage of polymorphic loci, whereas the population inbreeding coefficient was not associated with these measures. The largest proportion of variation among effect sizes was explained by pollination mechanism and by the age of the tissue (progeny or adult) that was genotyped. Our primary finding was that wind-pollinated trees and shrubs appeared to be as likely to lose genetic variation as insect-pollinated species, indicating that severe habitat fragmentation may lead to pollen limitation and limited gene flow. In comparison with results of previous meta-analyses on mainly herbaceous species, we found trees and shrubs were as likely to have negative genetic responses to habitat fragmentation as herbaceous species. We also found that the genetic variation in offspring was generally less than that of adult trees, which is evidence of a genetic extinction debt and probably reflects the genetic diversity of the historical, less-fragmented landscape.     

Spatially mixed crops to control the stratified dispersal of airborne fungal diseases

Intraspecific crop diversification is thought to be a possible solution to the disease susceptibility of monocultured crops. We modelled the stratified dispersal of an airborne pathogen population in order to identify the spatial patterns of cultivar mixtures that could slow epidemic spread driven by dual dispersal mechanisms acting over both short and long distances. We developed a model to simulate the propagation of a fungal disease in a 2D field, including a reaction-diffusion model for short-distance disease dispersal, and a stochastic model for long-distance dispersal. The model was fitted to data for the spatio-temporal spread of faba bean rust (caused by Uromyces viciae-fabae) through a discontinuous field. The model was used to compare the effectiveness of eight different planting patterns of cultivar mixtures against a disease spread by short-distance and stratified dispersal. Our combined modelling approach provides a reasonably good fit with the observed data for the spread of faba bean rust. Similar predictive power could be expected for the management of resource-mediated invasions by other airborne fungi. If a disease spreads by short-distance dispersal, random mixtures can be used to slow the epidemic spread, since their spatial irregularity creates a natural barrier to the progression of a smooth epidemic wave. In the context of stratified dispersal, heterogeneous patterns should be used that include a minimum distance between susceptible units, which decreases the probability of infection by long-distance spore dispersal. We provide a simple framework for modelling the stratified dispersal of disease in a diversified crop. The model suggests that the spatial arrangement of components in cultivar mixtures has to accord with the dispersal characteristics of the pathogen in order to increase the efficiency of diversification strategies in agro-ecosystems and forestry. It can be applied in low input agriculture to manage pathogen invasion by intercropping and cultivar mixtures, and to design sustainable systems of land use.     

Biologically active antimicrobial and antioxidant substances in the Helianthus annuus L. bee pollen

The objective of this study was to measure the content of flavonoids, polyphenols, and carotenoids in the Helianthus annuus L. bee pollen. It was also to evaluate the ability of the dried, frozen, and freeze-dried extracts of sunflower (H. annuus) pollen, its scavenged free radicals and reducing action. Another aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial in vitro action of the H. annuus pollen extracts against the Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. All pollen extracts showed medium antiradical activity and reductive ability. The most effective was the freeze-dried extract in both evaluation systems. The evaluation of the protective effects of DNA using a biosensor showed an opposite trending—frozen ? dried ? freeze-dried pollen. For the evaluation of antiradical activity, the DPPH method was used, and reductive ability was assessed by means of phosphomolybdic complex formation. The comparison of the polyphenols content shows higher values in freeze-dried bee pollen than in the dried and frozen pollen. The highest content of flavonoids was found in the frozen samples and the most carotenoids were present in the dried samples. In our study, the best antibacterial effects of the dried sunflower bee pollen extracts were found against Paenibacillus larvae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterococcus raffinosus. The best inhibitory properties of the frozen sunflower bee pollen extracts were found against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Paenibacillus larvae. Very good inhibitory effects of freeze-dried sunflower bee pollen were found against Paenibacillus larvae, Brochotrix thermosphacta, and Enterococcus raffinosus. The best antifungal activity of the sunflower bee pollen was found in the frozen bee pollen extracts against Aspergillus ochraceus and freeze-dried bee pollen extracts against Aspergillus niger.     

北京城区气传花粉季节特征及与气象条件关系

研究北京城区气传花粉季节特征及其与气象条件关系,为本地区防治花粉症及建设合理城市绿地提供有效资料.研究应用Burkard采样器于2011年12月31日至2012年12月31日对北京城区气传花粉含量进行监测,并对花粉含量及气象因素进行统计学分析.结果表明,2012年北京城区的花粉季节起始时间为3月17日~11月10日,持续238 d,占全年天数的65%;全年花粉含量月分布呈现两个高峰,第一个高峰为3~5月,主要花粉为木犀科、杨属、柳属等树木花粉,占全年花粉总量的53%;第二个高峰为8~10月,主要花粉为菊科、藜科及苋科等莠草花粉,占全年花粉总量的26%;2012年度北京城区最具代表性的气传花粉来自于菊科、木犀科及杨柳科,比重之和为40%.结果还表明,秋季气传花粉以致敏性较强的莠草花粉为主,所以北京花粉症的高发季节主要集中在秋季.北京城区气传花粉含量受气象因素影响较明显,影响最明显的是风速、温度、湿度及降水等气象要素.研究表明,在0~15℃的温度区间内,花粉含量随温度的升高而升高;当温度大于15℃,即在18~30℃的范围内时,花粉含量随温度的升高而降低.北京城区2012年春秋季的平均温度为17℃,且这两个季节的花粉量占全年的79%,因此春秋季的温度是北京最适宜花粉的散播;根据研究数据分析,当相对湿度在20%~50%或大于70%的时候,气传花粉含量随相对湿度的增大而减小,而相对湿度在50%~60%时,气传花粉含量随相对湿度的增大而增加;研究还表明风速在1~3 m·s-1时,易于花粉粒飘散,气传花粉含量较大,但风速超过3 m·s-1时或持续时间较长时,空气中花粉含量值反而较小;雨水会影响花粉的产量和释放,易致空中飘散花粉粒减少.通过研究已经探明了北京城区气传花粉的种类及飘散规律,以及花粉含量和气象条件之间的关系,为进行气传花粉预报提供了参考.     

紫外-B辐射增强对小麦和燕麦繁殖特性影响的研究

模拟15％臭氧层减薄水平,研究了紫外-B（UV-B）辐射增强对小麦的花粉活力及萌发特性以及籽粒产量与其萌发特性的影响。小麦和燕麦的繁殖特性对紫外辐射的敏感性差异很大。增强的紫外辐射显著抑制了燕麦的籽粒产量及萌发率,而对小麦的繁殖效率未有显著影响,小麦花粉活力及萌发率的降低可由单株有效穗数的增加予以补赏。     

Forest Roads as Partial Barriers to Terrestrial Salamander Movement

Abstract:  Roads can fragment animal populations by disrupting movement among formerly continuous habitats. Although models have demonstrated that disrupted movement can contribute to long-term extinction, there are few empirical data on the effects of roads on animal movement. We used displacement and homing experiments to determine whether forest roads are barriers to the movement of terrestrial salamanders. We displaced 1471 red-backed salamanders ( Plethodon cinereus ) across five forest roads and compared return rates to those of salamanders displaced equal distances toward the forest interior. Roads significantly reduced the return rate of salamanders, with a mean reduction of 51%. Steep roadside verges further reduced return rates, particularly for salamanders moving downhill across verges. The permeability of roads to salamander movement did not appear to be related to road surface type. Gravel roads had both the highest and lowest observed permeability with the two paved roads intermediate between these. We conclude that narrow forest roads are partial barriers to salamander movement and that steep roadside verges may exacerbate these effects.