Coupling soil water and shoot dynamics in three grass species: A spatial stochastic model on water competition in Neotropical savanna

Savannas are ecosystems known for their high environmental and economic value. They cover at least 20% of the global land surface and, in some cases, can act as a boundary between tropical rainforest and deserts. Water is an important determinant of savanna ecosystems.In this paper, we present a theoretical stochastic model of root competition for water, which couples, soil water availability, phenology, and root and shoot architecture applied to three Neotropical savanna grasses. Soil moisture was simulated using a daily balance, as proposed by Rodriguez-Iturbe et al. [Rodriguez-Iturbe, I., Porporato, A., Ridolfi, L., Isham, V., Cox, D.R., 1999. Probabilistic modelling of water balance at a point: the role of climate, soil and vegetation. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 455, 3789–3805.]. To simulate rainfall stochasticity, we used daily precipitation data from the airport weather station in the State of Barinas, Venezuela, for the period 1991–2007. Competition among neighbouring plants took into account the spatial distribution of the individuals. As a final step, the model allowed us to calculate the shoot dynamic of the species as a function of soil water availability.Using these data, we compared the behaviour of isolated plants, pairs and trios, and we found below-ground competition to be a fundamental component of global (shoot + root) competition. Finally, our model suggests various circumstances that allow poor competitor plants to coexist in competition for water with more successful competitors. Apparently, this is not only due to transpiration rates, but also to differences in shoot emergence and shoot growth.     

长白山暗针叶林建群种竞争关系的研究

根据野外调查数据,利用Hegyi单木竞争指数模型,定量地研究了长白山暗针叶内主要建群种（以鱼鳞云杉为例）的种内、种间竞争关系,结果表明：暗针叶林中鱼鳞云杉种内竞争强度随着林木径级的增大而迅速减小,也就是说,在暗叶叶林内,鱼鳞云杉种群由于自然调节的作用,随着林木径级的增大,林木因自然稀疏过程导致部分个体死亡,加大了株间距离,因此对光、温、水等生态条件及资源的竞争强度降低,暗针叶林内鱼鳞云杉种内种间竞争强度的顺序为：鱼鳞云杉－鱼鳞云杉＞鱼鳞云杉－臭冷杉＞鱼鳞云杉－红松＞鱼鳞云杉－长白落叶松＞鱼鳞云杉－岳桦＞鱼鳞云杉－杂木,鱼鳞云杉种内种间竞争强度可用幂函数关系CI＝AD－B（其中CI为竞争强度：D为对象木胸径;A、B为参数）表示,并可模拟和预测鱼鳞云杉种内种间竞争强度,从预测结果中发现：当鱼鳞云杉胸径达到35cm后,竞争强度变得小,且变化幅度不大,说明此时该生态系统已基本上达到稳定状态,这可为暗叶林的经营管理提供依据,即在鱼鳞云杉胸径达到35cm之间辅以必要的人工管理措施,以期使得该生态系统尽快达到稳定状态,图2表4参10     

Patterns of courtship behavior and ejaculate characteristics in male red-winged blackbirds

Sperm competition in birds is likely to have important effects on the behavior and physiology of reproduction in both sexes. For males, such competition should select for large sperm reserves and behavioral adjustment of copulation when reserves are low. We investigated both these possibilities in free-living red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), a highly polygynous species with apparently strong sperm competition. We found that the recent copulatory behavior of males did not affect the propensity to copulate with a model female. Ejaculates collected from individual males at 1-h intervals showed no evidence of sperm depletion, yet repeated ejaculates collected less than 10 min apart did. Male ejaculate size was significantly larger if it was the first one of the day (i.e., after an overnight rest). The average ejaculate size was 12.5 (±12.5 SD) million sperm. Males captured during the breeding season had an average of 111.7 (±52.8) million sperm stored in their seminal glomera. Because males average a peak copulation rate of six per female per day, in one day a male might utilize all the sperm in his seminal glomera if more than two females on his territory are fertilizable. We hypothesize that polygyny and sperm competition in this species have combined to select for rapid replenishment of the seminal glomera throughout the day, in contrast to other species that have been studied. Testis size and sperm reserves of male red-winged blackbirds are intermediate between monogamous species and species with intense sperm competition. Several possible explanations for this are discussed. Received: 21 October 1997 / Accepted after revision: 15 February 1998     

Non-aggressive mate guarding by the blue-footed booby: a balance of female and male control

Thirteen pairs of blue-footed boobies (Sula nebouxii) were observed on their colony. Pairs courted frequently and, on average, copulated 24 times during the 30 days before laying, with 38% of those copulations occurring in the last 5 days (presumed fertile period). Males and females increased attendance at the nest site as laying approached. Seven females performed an average seven extra-pair copulations, with 1–2 paired male neighbors, but these were less concentrated in the presumed fertile period than within-pair copulations, and the last two copulations of all 7 females were with their social mates. Rates of female extra-pair copulations were six times lower when their social mate was present, and during the presumed fertile period, no female performed an extra-pair copulation in the presence of her mate. Males did not respond to infidelity of social mates with aggression, prompt copulation, retaliatory copulation, or increase in copulation. Seven of 13 males performed an average of five extra-pair copulations, with 1–3 paired female neighbors, before their own mates began egg-laying. The males' extra-pair copulations represented only 4% of their total copulations during their own mates' presumed fertile periods. Females, the larger sex, apparently control sexual access and copulate with extra males to achieve extra-pair fertilization. Males pursue a mixed strategy: they copulate with extra females, mostly outside their own mate's presumed fertile period, and they copulate increasingly with their social mate as laying approaches, probably assuring some paternity by mate guarding, involving attendance and courtship. Behavior of males and females is also consistent with other hypotheses for extensive joint nest site attendance: pairbonding, copulation access, and territory acquisition. Received: 14 November 1997 / Accepted after revision: 16 May 1998     

Bilateral symmetry and social dominance in captive male red-winged blackbirds

There has been much recent interest in subtle departures from perfect symmetry in bilaterally paired morphological characters, and the extent to which such departures reflect aspects of individual quality. We used data from aviary contests involving pairs of wild-caught male red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) to test the hypothesis that comparatively symmetrical males are disproportionately successful in intra-sexual competition for food. Although paired contestants showed clear and consistent differences in competitive ability, there was no indication that symmetrical males were competitively superior. Winners and losers of aviary contests were indistinguishable based on asymmetry measures made on each of four bilateral characters (tarsus length, wing chord, and two epaulet dimensions), and for a fifth character (length of outer retrix), asymmetry differences, though significant, occurred in the direction opposite to that predicted. Furthermore, there was no detectable association between male competitive ability and a composite measure that combined asymmetry information across all five characters. Our results, in combination with those of several other recent avian studies, suggest that symmetry is generally a poor predictor of social dominance in birds. This finding is inconsistent with the proposal that symmetry provides a readily obtained, reliable measure of phenotypic quality. Received: 15 May 1997 / Accepted after revision: 26 September 1997     

The impact of heavy metal pollution gradients in sediments on benthic macrofauna at population and community levels

The effect of sediment pollution on benthos was investigated in the vicinity of a large sewage treatment outflow at Incheon North Harbor, Korea. Animal size, vertical distribution and standard community parameters were analyzed along a 3 km transect line (n = 7). Univariate parameters showed a general trend of increasing species diversity with increasing distance from the pollution source. Multi-dimensional scaling analysis led to the clear separation of 3 locational groups, supporting gradient-dependent faunal composition. The innermost location was dominated by small sub-surface dwellers while the outer locations by large mid to deep burrowers. Looking for the size-frequency distribution, most abundance species (Heteromastus filiformis) showed the presence of larger size animals with increasing proximity to the pollution source. Meanwhile, species-specific vertical distributions, regardless of the pollution gradient, indicated that such shifts were due to species replacement resulting from a higher tolerance to pollutants over some species.     

税收竞争、收入分权与中国环境污染

税收竞争、财政分权与环境污染的关系研究一直是学术界研究的焦点问题之一。本文首先在Davoodi和Zou(1998)模型基础上将环境污染强度和环境质量分别引入生产函数和效用函数,讨论了税收竞争、财政分权与环境质量的长期动态关系,通过Hamilton函数得到了环境质量与税收竞争、财政分权的显式解,并通过求偏导数得到了税收竞争、财政分权与环境质量的关系,结果发现税收竞争、财政分权对环境质量均呈现显著的负向影响。然后,为了验证理论结果在实际经济中的适应性,利用中国2003-2012年30个省的面板数据,分析了税收竞争、收入分权是否会显著的影响环境污染,通过单位根检验和协整检验,发现税收竞争、收入分权与环境污染存在协整关系,即存在长期稳定的均衡关系,通过静态和动态面板数据模型的回归分析,发现税收竞争和收入分权均会加剧环境污染程度,且这两种面板数据模型得出的回归结果基本一致,进一步佐证了理论结果的正确性。同时在此研究基础上引入税收竞争与收入分权的交叉项,研究收入分权框架下的税收竞争与环境污染的内在联系,结果表明税收竞争通过分权通道对环境污染的影响被加强,进一步验证了命题1的正确性。此外,在实证研究中引入地区虚拟变量,对税收竞争与环境污染的关系进行区域差异性分析,结果表明税收竞争对环境污染的影响呈现区域性差异,在东部地区,税收竞争有益于环境污染的改善,而在中、西部地区,税收竞争却加剧了环境污染。因此,为社会计划者制定改善中国环境的政策提供了参考。     

中部四大城市群（圈）外商直接投资的时空演化与竞争格局

采用熵指数与偏移一分享分析方法,对中部四大城市群近10年来外商直接投资（FDI）的时空演化与竞争格局进行了定量分析。结果表明,中部城市群FDI在不断增长过程中有分散化的总趋势,但城市群之间差异显著,具有阶段性特征;中部城市群FDI偏移增长量逐年增加,城市群之间的偏移增长量远大于城市群内部;高正偏增长城市前期主要集中在武汉城市圈、长株潭城市群,近期转向皖江城市带、东部沿江地带和中原城市群内沿京广、陇海线交汇一带。     

四种竞争与环境可持续性

本文提出了人类生产与消费活动所造成的环境功能的数量竞争、质量竞争、空间竞争和时间竞争的概念,系统地阐述了各自的内涵及其相互关系。     

社会竞争与社会多样性

作为自然界的一部分,人类社会的运行不能不受制于自然的法则。本文基于达尔文“优胜劣汰”的竞争法则和生物多样性理论从生态学的角度对社会系统进行分析,揭示了社会竞争与社会多样性在人类社会领域各自发挥的重要作用,并根据二者关系建立社会发展的生态新模式,指出社会竞争的极限是不以牺牲社会多样性为代价。