Optimal maternal investment in the dung beetle<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Onthophagus taurus</Emphasis>?

Optimal investment theory is based on the assumption that the proximate constraint acting on parental investment is resource based. A trade-off between per offspring investment and total investment seems intuitive. Consequently, a parents investment strategy is expected to represent a trade-off between the benefits of investment for current offspring and the costs to future reproduction for parents. In this study, we provide clear evidence that the costs and benefits of maternal provisioning in the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus influence the amount of provisions provided by the mother. Horse dung is typically of a higher nutritional value than cow dung and females were shown to provide 20% less dung to offspring when provisioning with horse dung. By reducing their investment per offspring and exhibiting a clear preference to provision offspring with horse dung, females were able to produce significantly more offspring. Females provisioning with horse dung received greater fitness returns per unit of investment and experienced lower provisioning costs, in terms of the minimum amount of dung required to produce a surviving offspring, than females provisioning with cow dung. Females provisioning in soil of low moisture content were found to have higher tunneling costs than those provisioning in soil of high moisture content, while the fitness returns per unit of investment did not differ. We adopted a marginal value theorem (MVT) approach to calculate the theoretical optimal level of investment for each dung type and for each soil moisture. Predicted levels of provisioning were lower for horse dung than for cow dung and for moist soil than for dry soil. Therefore, the results of this study are in qualitative agreement with MVT predictions and provide empirical support for the proposal that females can adaptively adjust their level of investment in response to resource and/or habitat quality. However, the theoretically predicted optimal investment yielded a poor quantitative fit with our observed levels of investment, with females providing over twice the investment predicted by the MVT approach. We suggest that this difference may reflect either our inability in directly quantifying all the necessary costs and benefits of investment in O. taurus and/or the applicability of the underlying assumptions of MVT.Communicated by D. Gwynne     

三峡库区次级河流回水区环境因子对藻类生长影响的模拟实验研究

从三峡库区次级河流139m回水区采集水样,选用L9(34)正交表进行藻类培养试验,以Chla最大浓度作为指标选择适合藻类生长的适宜条件.结果表明,当控制水样温度为20℃、光照为8000lx、活性磷酸盐和溶解无机氮浓度分别为2.86μmol·L-1、85.71μmol·L-1时藻类生长最好;磷为限制该水域藻类生长的营养元素,藻类生长氮磷元素适宜摩尔比约为30:1.在适宜生长条件下,对数期藻细胞比生长率达到1.03d-1,稳定期Chla最大浓度达到110mg·m-3.     

城市内河蓝藻复苏和生长规律研究

主要探讨城市化对城市内河蓝藻复苏和生长的影响。这些影响包括河流中营养物的升高、高等水生植物的灭绝、河水所受光照强度的变化以及由河水滞流带来的水体复氧效率降低对内河中蓝藻爆发条件的影响。通过实验我们发现金鱼藻与水网藻的存在可以在一定程度上抑制蓝藻的生长,金鱼藻的效果比水网藻更明显。适宜的光照是蓝藻大量生长的条件。对水体进行曝气复氧可以抑制蓝藻的生长。     

Eggshell colour does not predict measures of maternal investment in eggs of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Turdus</Emphasis> thrushes

The striking diversity of avian eggshell colour has long fascinated biologists. Recently, it has been proposed that the blue-green colour of some eggs may function as a post-mating sexually selected signal of female phenotypic quality to their mates to induce higher allocation of paternal care. It has been suggested that maternally deposited yolk carotenoids may be the specific aspect of reproductive quality that the female is signalling via eggshell colour. We use the known properties of the thrush visual system (Turdus sp.) to calculate photon capture for the four single cone photoreceptors, and the principal member of the double cone class for eggs in clutches of two introduced European thrush species (Turdus merula and Turdus philomelos) in New Zealand. We show that differences in the avian-perceived colours of individual eggs are not consistently correlated with different measures of maternal investment in the egg. Given the growing extent of the knowledge between maternal quality, parental investment and eggshell pigmentation across avian taxa, we encourage the use of avian perceptual modelling for testing alternative non-signalling explanations for the structural and physiological basis of these relationships.     

Within-year differences in reproductive investment in laboratory zebra finches (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Taeniopygia guttata</Emphasis>), an opportunistically breeding bird

Reproduction in opportunistically breeding bird species has traditionally been considered non-seasonal with individuals taking advantage of favourable environmental conditions as they arise. However, some studies imply that this opportunistic breeding may be superimposed on an underlying seasonality, which has effects on the readiness to breed when conditions are favourable. The zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) is the classic opportunistic breeder and widely used as such in studies. In a series of laboratory-based breeding experiments, we found evidence to suggest that there are seasonal differences in maternal reproductive investment in the zebra finch even when photoperiod, temperature, relative humidity and diet were held constant. Females showed highly significant seasonal differences in clutch size and egg mass with laying order. Clutch size showed a spring/summer peak typical of multi-brooded species in the wild. There was also a significant increase in egg mass with laying order in all seasons except winter. This variation in breeding parameters with season may allow females to adjust investment depending on the potential fitness returns from a given reproductive attempt. These findings also raise a warning about interpreting results of multiple zebra finch breeding experiments that have been carried out in different seasons.     

外生菌根真菌Xerocomus chrysenteron对DDT胁迫的耐受性及酶响应研究

在纯培养条件下,研究了外生菌根真菌红绒盖牛肝菌(Xerocomus chrysenteron)对不同浓度DDT的生长效应、耐受性和氧化酶活性,测定了在DDT浓度为80.0 mg·L^-1液体培养条件下菌种生物量积累和漆酶活性随培养时间的变化. 结果表明,不同浓度DDT处理并不会改变被试菌种的生长模式,所有处理组均为典型的Logistic增长;Xerocomus chrysenteron对DDT胁迫有很好的耐受性,其半抑制浓度可达139.75 mg·L^-1;在80.0 mg·L^-1液体培养条件下,Xerocomus chrysenteron生长正常,且36 d后培养液中DDT残留率仅为初始添加量的3.5%;在高浓度DDT胁迫下,被试菌种的漆酶和过氧化物酶活性显著增强,但液体培养条件下漆酶从第16 d开始出现,36 d后培养液中漆酶活性和比活力分别达到107.24 U·L^-1和61.77 U·g-1.外生菌根真菌Xerocomus chrysenteron通过不同方式来响应DDT胁迫,显示出生物降解甚至矿化DDT的巨大潜力.     

Male mating history and female fecundity in the Lepidoptera: do male virgins make better partners?

In insects, large ejaculate and associated materials, including spermatophores, appear to have evolved via sexual selection acting on males to either delay female remating or to increase the rate of egg-laying. It is also possible, however, that females use nutrients transferred during mating to increase their lifetime fecundity. If so, male ejaculate size may also have evolved under natural selection as a form of paternal investment. In Lepidoptera, males with a greater number of prior matings tend to produce smaller spermatophores. However, the reported effects of male mating history on female fecundity vary widely among species. We therefore performed a meta-analysis using data from 29 studies of 25 species. Overall, the reproductive output of females mated to virgin males was significantly higher than that of females mated to sexually experienced males (Hedges d=0.33, P<0.01). A sample size of around 145 females per male mating type is required to detect an effect of this size with 80% statistical power at =0.05 (two-tailed). There was no difference in mean effect size between butterflies/skippers and moths. After controlling for any effect of taxonomic group, however, the mean effect size for polyandrous species was significantly greater than that for monandrous species (Hedges d=0.45 vs 0.25, P=0.01). We then discuss possible reasons why male mating history, presumably acting through its effect on spermatophore size, might have a stronger effect in polyandrous than monandrous species.Communicated by A. Cockburn     

Modelling Replicated Weed Growth Data using Spatially-varying Growth Curves

Weed growth in agricultural fields constitutes a major deterrent to the growth of crops, often resulting in low productivity and huge losses for the farmers. Therefore, proper understanding of patterns in weed growth is vital to agricultural research. Recent advances in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) now allow geocoding of agricultural data, which enable more sophisticated spatial analysis. Our current application concerns the development of statistical models for conducting spatial analysis of growth patterns in weeds. Our data comes from an experiment conducted in Waseca, Minnesota, that recorded growth of the weed Setariaspp. We capture the spatial variation in Setaria spp. growth using spatially-varying growth curves. An added challenge is that these designs are spatially replicated, with each plot being a lattice of sub-plots. Therefore, spatial variation may exist at different resolutions – a macro level variation between the plots and micro level variation between the sub-plots nested within each plot. We develop a Bayesian hierarchical framework for this setting. Flexible classes of models result which are fitted using simulation-based methods.     

A new approach to managing work-related road traffic injury: The development of a health investment framework

Objective: Statistics indicate that employees commuting or traveling as part of their work are overrepresented in workplace injury and death. Despite this, many organizations are unaware of the factors within their organizations that are likely to influence potential reductions in work-related road traffic injury.

Methods: This article presents a multilevel conceptual framework that identifies health investment as the central feature in reducing work-related road traffic injury. Within this framework, we explore factors operating at the individual driver, workgroup supervisor, and organizational senior management levels that create a mutually reinforcing system of safety.

Results: The health investment framework identifies key factors at the senior manager, supervisor, and driver levels to cultivating a safe working environment. These factors are high-performance workplace systems, leader–member exchange and autonomy, trust and empowerment, respectively. The framework demonstrates the important interactions between these factors and how they create a self-sustaining organizational safety system.

Conclusions: The framework aims to provide insight into the future development of interventions that are strategically aligned with the organization and target elements that facilitate and enhance driver safety and ultimately reduce work-related road traffic injury and death.     

长江大保护环境与经济可持续发展问题及对策研究

实现长江大保护环境与经济可持续发展对打好长江保护修复攻坚战、持续推动长江经济带实现高水平保护和高质量发展具有重要意义.为了系统研究长江大保护的环境与经济可持续性,探索以生态优先、绿色发展为导向的高质量发展新路子,在查阅分析文献资料和对政府相关部门和企业开展实地调研访谈的基础上,梳理长江经济带11省市大保护工作的基本情况,分析环境与经济可持续发展面临的问题与挑战,并提出有针对性的对策建议.结果表明:①当前长江大保护各项工作稳步高效推进,取得了阶段性进展和成效.②长江大保护面临生态环境保护系统性不足、资金缺口大且渠道窄、运营效率低、政策支持力度不足等问题.③建议长江经济带在规划、管理、模式等方面系统推进,拓宽长江大保护资金渠道,增强规模化运营效益,加大对长江大保护的政策支持和倾斜.研究显示,长江大保护虽已取得初步成效,但环境与经济可持续发展形势依然严峻,需要在生态环境系统保护、投融资、项目建设运营、政策支持等方面进一步加强.