Female benefit,male risk: Polyandry in the true armyworm Pseudaletia unipuncta

In Lepidoptera polyandry is common and females may increase their lifetime reproductive output through repeated matings if they acquire essential resources from male ejaculates. However, the paternity of males mating with previously-mated females is far from assured unless sperm precedence is absolute. In this study on the polyandrous armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta, we used two strains of male (the black-eyed wild type and a red-eyed homozygous, recessive mutant), mated with red-eyed females, to determine (i) whether male investment has any impact on female reproductive output, and (ii) if females do benefit from multiple matings, to what extent males fertilize the eggs to which they contributed. Multiple mating resulted in a significant increase in both the fecundity and longevity of females. However, the degree of sperm precedence (those eggs fertilized by the second male) varied from 0–100%, but was not affected by either male size or age, or by the duration of copulation. In cases where sperm precedence was <50% (x = 12%) females produced significantly more eggs (1384 versus 940) prior to the second mating than females where sperm precedence was >50% (x = 89%), indicating that the quality of the first mating influenced the fertilization success of the female's second mate.     

Relationship between body size, provisioning rate, longevity and reproductive success in females of the solitary bee Osmia cornuta

Body size has often been related to reproductive success in bees and wasps. The objective of this 3-year study was to analyze the relationship between nesting female body size, provisioning rate and longevity and their effect on several traits related to parental investment and reproductive success in the solitary bee Osmia cornuta. Body size was not correlated to longevity, and it was only correlated to provisioning rate in the third year (with poor weather conditions during nesting). Variation in fecundity, offspring size and offspring mortality was not well explained by nesting female body size in any of the 3 years. However, in the third year, small females biased their investment toward males, the sex requiring smaller pollen–nectar provisions. Large females were more successful usurpers of other females' nests, but fecundity of usurpers was no higher than fecundity of nonusurpers. Large females were more likely to establish at the release site, probably in relation to size-dependent vigor at emergence. A review of the literature on parental investment in solitary aculeate Hymenoptera showed a stronger relationship between body size and reproductive success in wasps than in bees. In O. cornuta, fecundity was strongly related to longevity and provisioning rate in all 3 years. Offspring size was associated with provisioning rate in 1 year, when females with higher provisioning rates tended to produce larger sons and daughters. Both longevity and provisioning rate appeared to be strongly conditioned by stochastic events.     

Sex-specific energy requirements in nestlings of an extremely sexually size dimorphic bird, the European sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)

Allocation of parental investment is predicted to be equal at the population level between both sexes of offspring, and should lead to sex ratio biases in species that exhibit a sex-difference in parental care. Sex-differences in parental care are rarely quantified. We measured daily energy expenditure in free-living nestlings of the extremely sexually size dimorphic European sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), using the doubly labelled water method. These data were combined with measured growth characteristics to estimate daily and total metabolised energy intake of male and female young during the nestling stage. Females reached an asymptotic body mass 1.6 times higher than males. This resulted in a total metabolised energy an estimated 1.4 times higher for the nestling stage. Furthermore, we observed a decline in daily metabolised energy with an increase in brood size, which was significantly stronger for females than for males. These results are discussed in the context of Fishers equal allocation theory. Empirical evidence of a sex ratio bias at the end of parental care, with an overall excess of males, is lacking in this species. Consequently, our data do not support the idea of equal allocation between the sexes. The observed sex difference in daily metabolised energy in response to brood size may give scope for sex ratio bias at the level of the individual brood.     

丁布的分离、纯化和结构鉴定及其对麦长管蚜

从玉米苗中分离、纯化得到丁布，利用纸层析，紫外分光光度扫描和核磁共振^1H NMR等技术对其作结构鉴定。结果与文献报道基本一致，且纯度在96.7%以上，以纯化的丁布为标样，用HPLC方法分析了不同抗性级别的小麦品种中丁布的含量。结果表明：品种之间丁布的含量差异显著，丁布的浓度与小麦的抗蚜级别呈显著负相关，与麦长管蚜的内禀增长率rm亦呈显著负相关，借助麦长管蚜全纯人工饲料研究表明，丁布对麦长管蚜有明显的拒食性作用。图3表2参13。     

污染治理投资质量与回报量化分析

从环境污染治理投资的相关因子和系数分析入手，对治理投资质量和效果分别建立了量化函数关系，由此计算结果与理论标准值比较，则可确定其投资质量与回报结果。     

油料作物对土壤老化残留DDT的吸收积累

油料作物对亲脂性DDT的吸收富集能力是否会更强是一个值得研究的问题。采用DDT老化残留土壤,温室盆栽油料作物花生(Arachishypogaea),大豆(Glycinemax)和芝麻(Sesamumindicum)。果实成熟后将植株分成根、茎、果壳和果仁四部分,GC-ECD测定各部位中的DDT浓度。研究了油料作物对土壤老化残留DDT的吸收积累情况,结果表明,∑DDT在三种作物不同部位中的浓度顺序都是:根>茎>果壳>果仁。含油量高的花生果仁和芝麻果仁中∑DDT浓度都明显高于大豆果仁的∑DDT浓度,这种差异有可能是由果仁含油量的差异造成的。单株植物吸收积累∑DDT的总量顺序为:花生>芝麻>大豆。花生、大豆和芝麻三种作物的根和茎的生物富集系数都比较高,特别是花生的,说明这三种油料作物根部从土壤中吸收积累老化残留DDT的能力以及从根部向茎部运输DDT的能力都是相当强的。     

Incorporating the Effects of Socioeconomic Uncertainty into Priority Setting for Conservation Investment

Abstract:  Uncertainty in the implementation and outcomes of conservation actions that is not accounted for leaves conservation plans vulnerable to potential changes in future conditions. We used a decision-theoretic approach to investigate the effects of two types of investment uncertainty on the optimal allocation of global conservation resources for land acquisition in the Mediterranean Basin. We considered uncertainty about (1) whether investment will continue and (2) whether the acquired biodiversity assets are secure, which we termed transaction uncertainty and performance uncertainty, respectively. We also developed and tested the robustness of different rules of thumb for guiding the allocation of conservation resources when these sources of uncertainty exist. In the presence of uncertainty in future investment ability (transaction uncertainty), the optimal strategy was opportunistic, meaning the investment priority should be to act where uncertainty is highest while investment remains possible. When there was a probability that investments would fail (performance uncertainty), the optimal solution became a complex trade-off between the immediate biodiversity benefits of acting in a region and the perceived longevity of the investment. In general, regions were prioritized for investment when they had the greatest performance certainty, even if an alternative region was highly threatened or had higher biodiversity value. The improved performance of rules of thumb when accounting for uncertainty highlights the importance of explicitly incorporating sources of investment uncertainty and evaluating potential conservation investments in the context of their likely long-term success.     

我国部分商品粮基地粮食重金属污染的差异分析与综合评价

本文根据1988年全国农业环境质量状况调查资料,选取我国部分商品粮基地县粮食重金属污染数据,通过多元统计分析,揭示了各商品粮基地粮食重金属污染的差异与分类。最后采用模糊综合评判方法,对各商品粮基地粮食重金属污染程度进行了综合评价,得到了相对污染程度的排序。     

总量控制费用分摊的多目标规划模型及解法

文章指出了污染物总量控制规划中公平合理分摊优化治理投资费用的重要性，分析了现有的优化治理投资费用分摊方法存在的问题，建立了公平合理分摊优化治理投资费用的多目标规划模型，提出用最短距离理想点法加以求解，并通过实例验证了该方法的合理性。结果表明该模型及解法既可以保证总量控制规划方案的社会整体效益最大，又不失公平，从而确保总量控制规划方案的顺利实施。     

财政分权对环保投资效率的影响研究——基于DEA-Tobit模型的分析

延续财政分权对环境质量影响的研究,讨论财政分权对环保投资效率的影响.基于中国2004~2014年30个省份的面板数据,在DEA-Tobit模型的研究框架下,测度了各个省份多种类型的环保投资效率,并进一步讨论了财政分权对环保投资效率的影响.实证结果发现,财政分权不利于环保投资效率的改进,特别是不利于建设项目"三同时"环保投资效率、工业污染源治理环保投资效率,以及企业来源环保投资效率的改进.进一步考虑到地区异质性因素,以各地区环保投资额作为门槛变量的分析同样支持上述结论.