Managing Radioactively Contaminated Land: Implications for Habitat Diversity

Radioactive contamination of agricultural land may necessitate long-term changes in food production systems, through application of selected countermeasures, in order to reduce the accumulation of radionuclides in food. We quantified the impact of selected countermeasures on habitat diversity, using the hypothetical case of two agricultural areas in Finland. The management scenarios studied were conversions from grassland to cereal production and from grassland and crop production to afforestation. The two study sites differed with respect to present agricultural production: one being predominantly cereal production and seminatural grasslands, while the other was dominated by intensive grass and dairy production. Some of the management scenarios are expected to affect landscape structures and habitat diversity. These potential changes were assessed using a spatial pattern analysis program in connection with geographic information systems. The studied landscape changes resulted in a more monotonous landscape structure compared to the present management, by increasing the mean habitat patch size, reducing the total habitat edge length and reducing the overall habitat diversity calculated by the Shannon diversity index. The degree of change was dependent on the present agricultural management practice in the case study sites. Where dairy production was predominant, the landscape structure changes were mostly due to conversion of intensive pastures and grasslands to cereal production. In the area dominated by cereal production and seminatural grasslands, the greatest predicted impacts resulted from afforestation of meadows and pastures. The studied management changes are predicted to reduce biodiversity at the species level as well as diminishing species-rich habitats. This study has predicted prominent side effects in habitat diversity resulting from application of management scenarios. These potential long-term impacts should be considered by decision-makers when planning future strategies in the event of radionuclide deposition.     

开发我国农村人力资源的探讨

我国12.95亿人口,其中8.5亿在农村,农业滞留了我国50％以上的劳动力.农民、农村、农业这“三农”问题,是我们这一代人,乃至我们的下代都无法回避的现实问题.而探讨中国农村人力资源的开发,无疑是适应知识经济时代的到来,从人力资本理论的角度来寻求解决中国农村面临的诸多问题的迫切需要.     

对加强我国环保产品结构调整的几点思考

本文针对当前环保产业调整中存在的问题,提出了需要解决的五个方面和应处理好的几个关系。     

推进环保产业结构调整的思考

文章对环保产业结构调整要解决的问题进行了分析,指出产业结构调整必须符合市场经济要求的布局和流通结构,只有建立现代化的企业制度,企业才能有活力。     

区域资源开发的系统转换理论

作者在分析资源与资源功能的基础上,以区际资源功能互补转换和区内资源结构对应转换为主题,论述了有关“区域资源开发的系统转换理论”的新思想。     

九龙壁石的显微结构和元素分析

福建九龙江流域分布的九龙壁石,经分析为透辉石矽卡岩,主要成分为透辉石,斜长石及石英等构成.其化学元素为Si、Ca、Al、Fe、Mg等24种.九龙壁石花纹美丽,可作工艺品等.     

Ecological Variation in the Morphological Structure of the Crown in Siberian Stone Pine at the Timberline

The structure of the crown and branching; the growth, development, and ontogeny of branches; and organogenesis and growth of female shoots in the model Siberian stone pine trees were studied in four types of habitats at the timberline in the central Altai Mountains (1700–2170 m a.s.l.). The results provided evidence that the ecological forms of trees appear due to changes in the pattern of branching as well as to the decreased rate of vegetative (primarily apical) growth. The diameter of the shoot pith is one of the most variable characters reflecting the deterioration of environmental conditions at higher elevations.     

Variability of the Flower Structure in European Starflower (Trientalis europaeaL.) in Natural Populations

Flower variability was studied in natural populations of European starflower (Trientalis europaeaL.). The results showed that the flower structure in this species is determined by two parameters: the multiplicity of primordia of flower components and the uniformity of flower meristem development. The frequencies of nonuniformly developing flowers differs depending on the habitat. It appears that both parameters are largely determined by random fluctuations.     

Spatial Distribution of Sables in the Middle Ob Region

Results of stationary studies on the spatial location of sables (Martes zibellinaL.) belonging to different age and sex groups are summarized. Mapping the sites where 388 animals were taken, it was found that young animals tended to live near floodplains; adult animals, on watersheds. Analysis of sables taken by commercial hunters (n= 1833) made it possible to estimate the age composition and the degree and spatial distribution of the hunting pressure on sable populations in three areas of the Ob region. The spatial separation of young and reproductive animals is interpreted as a group adaptive response to the specific distribution pattern of different habitats typical of this species and to the pattern of animal elimination. It is proposed to use the specific pattern of animal distribution for maintaining the size of the population that is subject to hunting. Specifically, reserve (reproductive) territories should be organized in watershed areas.     

The role of migration and founder effect for the evolution of cooperation in a multilevel selection context

The idea that natural selection can be meaningfully applied at the group level may be more important than previously thought. This perspective, a modern version of group selection, is called multilevel selection. Multilevel selection theory could incorporate previous explanations for the evolution of cooperation including kin selection. There is general agreement that natural selection favors noncooperators over cooperators in the case of an unstructured population. Therefore, the evolution of cooperation by multilevel selection often requires positive assortment between cooperators and noncooperators. The question is how this positive assortment can arise in the ecological meaning. We constructed an individual-based model of multilevel selection and introduced migration and evolution. The results showed that positive assortment was generated especially when a migration strategy was adopted in which individuals respond specifically to bad environmental conditions. It was also shown that the founder effect in the evolutionary process could further facilitate positive assortment by working with migration. We analyzed assortment by using relatedness defined in group-structured populations. The fact that cooperation was achieved by such migration and by the founder effect highlights the importance of sensitiveness to the ecological environment and of fluctuations in group size, respectively.