Experience counts: females favor multiply mated males over chemically endowed virgins in a moth (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Utetheisa ornatrix</Emphasis>)

Determining the factors that affect male mating success is essential to understanding how sexual selection operates, including explanations of the adaptive value of female preferences and how variation in male traits is maintained in a population. Although females may appear to choose males based on a single parameter, female mate choice is often a complex series of assessments of male quality that can only be revealed through manipulation of multiple male traits. In the moth Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae), females have been shown to judge males primarily on their production of a courtship pheromone, hydroxydanaidal, derived from defensive chemicals acquired as larvae. Recent work, however, suggested that other factors, including prior mating experience by males, may also influence the outcome of precopulatory interactions with females. I ran mating trials with one female and two males to determine whether there were any differences in male mating success based on their prior exposure to females, mating experience, and time between matings. Previously mated males were favored over virgins when both males lacked the pheromone, but courting experience and mating interval did not explain these differences in male mating success. Furthermore, multiply mated males lacking the pheromone were favored over virgin males that produced the pheromone, thus reversing the commonly observed trend of female precopulatory bias towards males with higher levels of the pheromone. These results demonstrate that males with mating experience can secure copulations despite deficiencies in the pheromone, and I provide possible mechanisms and discuss their implications regarding sexual selection.     

Incorporating consumer–resource spatial interactions in reserve design

The persistence of species in reserves depends in large part on the persistence of functional ecological interactions. Despite their importance, however, ecological interactions have not yet been explicitly incorporated into conservation prioritization methods. We develop here a general method for incorporating consumer–resource interactions into spatial reserve design. This method protects spatial consumer–resource interactions by protecting areas that maintain the connectivity between the distribution of consumers and resources. We illustrate our method with a conservation planning case study of a mammalian predator, American marten (Martes americana), and its two primary prey species, Red-backed vole (Clethrionomys rutilus) and Deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). The conservation goal was to identify a reserve for marten that comprised 12% of a forest management unit in the boreal forest in Québec, Canada. We compared reserves developed using analysis variants that utilized different levels of information about predator and prey habitat distributions, species-specific connectivity requirements, and interaction connectivity requirements. The inclusion of consumer–resource interactions in reserve-selection resulted in spatially aggregated reserves that maintained local habitat quality for the species. This spatial aggregation was not induced by applying a qualitative penalty for the boundary length of the reserve, but rather was a direct consequence of modelling the spatial needs of the interacting consumer and resources. Our method for maintaining connectivity between consumers and their resources within reserves can be applied even under the most extreme cases of either complete spatial overlap or complete spatial segregation of consumer–resource distributions. The method has been made available via public software.     

冶勒自然保护区林麝对生境选择研究

1995年在相岭山系的冕宁冶勒自然保护区,采用作者新近提出的临时空间样方法,以Vanderloeg和Scavia选择指数对林麝对生境的选择进行了研究,结果表明7～8月份,林麝喜欢活动于竹子密度不大（n＝0～15m     

Sperm precedence and sperm storage in multiply mated red flour beetles

In insects, the last male to mate with a female often gains access to a disproportionate number of subsequent fertilizations. This study examined last-male sperm precedence patterns in doubly and triply mated Tribolium castaneum females. Sperm storage processes were investigated by measuring the quantity of sperm stored within the female spermatheca following single, double, and triple matings. Both doubly mated and triply mated females exhibited high last-male sperm precedence for progeny produced during the first 48 h following the last mating, with females in both groups exhibiting parallel declines in sperm precedence 1 and 2 weeks later. The number of sperm stored by females increased by 33% between singly mated and doubly mated females, indicating that the spermatheca is filled to only two-thirds capacity following insemination by the first male. Based on the proportion of stored sperm from first and second matings, we tested predictions about sperm precedence values based on models of random sperm mixing. High initial last-male sperm precedence strongly supports stratification of last-male sperm. By 1–2 weeks after double matings, sperm precedence declined to levels indistinguishable from values expected under random mixing. These results provide insight into mechanisms of sperm storage and utilization in this species. Received: 20 August 1997 / Accepted after revision: 24 May 1998     

陇南市生物多样性保护的生态补偿区域空间选择

基于生态重要性,以重要物种空间分布种数为参数构建生物多样性保护重要性评价模型,以陇南市为例,乡镇为研究单元,基于模型对全市生物多样性保护重要性进行评价,基于评价结果将研究区分为优先补偿区、次级优先补偿区、次级补偿区和潜在补偿区,对各等级补偿区的特征分析结果表明:①各类补偿区分布相对集中,优先补偿区主要分布在陇南市南部,集中分布在文县。②各等级补偿区由高到低在补偿面积、补偿乡镇数量和补偿人口方面不断增加。③优先补偿区范围相对较小,而次级优先补偿区和次级补偿区范围相对较大,潜在补偿区占很大的比例。④优先补偿区与自然保护区有着密切的联系,大多数优先补偿乡镇位于自然保护区内。     

短程反硝化菌种的筛选及条件选择的研究

经对某实验室保存的反硝化混合菌液进行分离复壮,筛选到7株反硝化速率较高的菌株(编号为B06,B08,B15,B16,B19,B21).经正交试验,选出短程反硝化的最佳作用条件.分离株B08在温度25～30℃,pH值7.0～8.0,NO-2N质量浓度200 mg/L,C/N 1.4和厌氧条件下,反硝化8 h,NO-2N的去除率达到86.37%.     

霉菌试验设备的选用及检定

任何一项环境试验标准在描述试验条件与试验方法时。直接或间接地对其相应的试验设备提出了具体的要求。正确选用试验设备是保证试验准确性的前提,本文介绍了霉菌试验设备的选用及检定,同时建议建立一种新型的气候试验设备基本参数检定方法标准体系。     

危险品运输网络中运输方式和路径优化研究

在危险品运输网络中,往往有多种运输方式和多条运输路径。不同运输方式在不同路径上发生事故所造成的损失不同,不同运输方式的单位运输成本也不同。本文研究了在给定运输起点和终点的情况下,在综合考虑事故所造成的损失最小和运输成本最小的情况下,运输方式和运输路径的选择方法。通过一个仿真例子说明了模型的求解方法和实际效果,并与单一运输方式的方案进行了对比。结果表明考虑运输方式的组合,在一定程度上可以降低危险品运输过程中的社会总期望损失和运输成本。     

油气集输站场防爆区域的划分与电气设备的选用

结合作者近几年来对油田油气集输站场进行安全评价的实际情况,初步总结了油气集输站场爆炸危险区域划分和防爆电气设备选用的方法和步骤,并针对在油气集输站场安全现状评价过程中遇到的一些实际问题,提出了油气集输站场电气设备使用过程中的一些注意事项和应对措施。     

湿法烟气脱硫除雾器设计选型和维护

分析了除雾器叶片的设计要求,比较了平板型和屋脊型除雾器的特点。从运行、维护的角度出发,建议建立除雾器检测和冲洗制度,以确保除雾器的安全、正常运行。