Panorpa vulgaris has become a model insect for testing theories of sexual selection. This contribution summarizes that which has been learned
in recent years and presents new data that clearly show that the mating system of P. vulgaris is not simply a resource-defense polygyny, as has previously been thought. In P. vulgaris neither the pattern in food exploitation nor the ratio of variance in the lifetime reproductive success of the two sexes
is in accordance with that expected in resource defense polygynous mating systems. Lifetime mating duration is the most important
proximate determinant of male fitness. Males employing alternative mating tactics obtain copulations of varying duration in
relation to the following sequence: saliva secretion 1 food offering 1 no gift. The number of salivary masses which males
provide to females during their lifetime is significantly correlated with the lifetime condition index. The condition index
depends on the fighting prowess of males and their ability to find food items. Thus saliva secretion of Panorpa is considered a Zahavian handicap, which can serve as an honest quality indicator used by mating females. Our results confirm
four main predictions of the indicator model of the theory of sexual selection: (a) the indicator signals high ecological
quality of its bearer, (b) the indicator value increases with phenotypic quality, (c) the indicator value is positively correlated
with the genetic quality affecting offspring fitness in a natural selection context, and (d) the quality indicator is more
costly for low- than for high-quality individuals. The evolutionary consequences of the mating pattern and the sperm competition
mechanism in P. vulgaris are discussed in the context the way in which sexual selection creates and maintains sperm mixing and the evolution of a
promiscuous mating system. 相似文献
Open-cast lignite mining in the Lusatian mining district resulted in rehabilitated mine soils containing up to four organic matter types: (1) recent plant litter, (2) lignite deposited by mining activity, (3) carbonaceous ash particles deposited during amelioration of the lignite-containing parent substrate and (4) airborne carbonaceous particles deposited during contamination. The influence of lignite-derived carbon types on the organic matter development and their role in the soil carbon cycle was unknown. This paper presents the findings obtained during a six year project concerning the impact of lignite on soil organic matter composition and the biogeochemical functioning of the ecosystem. The organic matter development after rehabilitation was followed in a chronosequence of rehabilitated mine soils afforested in 1966, 1981 and 1987. A differentiation of the organic matter types and an evaluation of their role within the ecosystem was achieved by the use of 14C activity measurements, 13C CPMAS NMR spectroscopy and wet chemical analysis of plant litter compounds. The results showed that the amount and degree of decomposition of the recent organic matter derived from plant material of the 30 year old mine soil was similar to natural uncontaminated forest soil which suggests complete rehabilitation of the ecosystem. The decomposition and humification processes were not influenced by the presence of lignite. On the other hand it was shown that lignite, which was thought to be recalcitrant because of its chemical structure, was part of the carbon cycle in these soils. This demonstrates the need to elucidate further the stabilisation mechanisms of organic matter in soils. 相似文献
One of the most interesting aspects of the mating system of pied flycatchers is the regular occurrence of polygyny. Here we
present data on the reproductive success of polygynously paired pied flycatcher males compared to monogamous males based on
paternity analyses through DNA fingerprinting. Males paired with two females suffered a higher loss in reproductive output
per female compared to monogamous males due to (1) a greater proportion of unhatched eggs in their broods, (2) greater nestling
mortality and (3) a greater probability of being cuckolded. Nevertheless, the number of fledglings was significantly greater
for polygynous males. Based on the number of nestlings that returned for subsequent breeding seasons, however, the reproductive
success of monogamous and polygynous males did not differ significantly. These data raise the question as to why males attempt
polygyny.
Received: 16 August 1999 / Received in revised form: 15 March 2000 / Accepted: 18 March 2000 相似文献
Objective: This study investigated drivers' evaluation of a conventional autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system on high and reduced tire–road friction and compared these results to those of an AEB system adaptive to the reduced tire–road friction by earlier braking. Current automated systems such as the AEB do not adapt the vehicle control strategy to the road friction; for example, on snowy roads. Because winter precipitation is associated with a 19% increase in traffic crashes and a 13% increase in injuries compared to dry conditions, the potential of conventional AEB to prevent collisions could be significantly improved by including friction in the control algorithm. Whereas adaption is not legally required for a conventional AEB system, higher automated functions will have to adapt to the current tire–road friction because human drivers will not be required to monitor the driving environment at all times. For automated driving functions to be used, high levels of perceived safety and trust of occupants have to be reached with new systems. The application case of an AEB is used to investigate drivers' evaluation depending on the road condition in order to gain knowledge for the design of future driving functions.
Methods: In a driving simulator, the conventional, nonadaptive AEB was evaluated on dry roads with high friction (μ = 1) and on snowy roads with reduced friction (μ = 0.3). In addition, an AEB system adapted to road friction was designed for this study and compared with the conventional AEB on snowy roads with reduced friction. Ninety-six drivers (48 males, 48 females) assigned to 5 age groups (20–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, and 60–75 years) drove with AEB in the simulator. The drivers observed and evaluated the AEB's braking actions in response to an imminent rear-end collision at an intersection.
Results: The results show that drivers' safety and trust in the conventional AEB were significantly lower on snowy roads, and the nonadaptive autonomous braking strategy was considered less appropriate on snowy roads compared to dry roads. As expected, the adaptive AEB braking strategy was considered more appropriate for snowy roads than the nonadaptive strategy. In conditions of reduced friction, drivers' subjective safety and trust were significantly improved when driving with the adaptive AEB compared to the conventional AEB. Women felt less safe than men when AEB was braking. Differences between age groups were not of statistical significance.
Conclusions: Drivers notice the adaptation of the autonomous braking strategy on snowy roads with reduced friction. On snowy roads, they feel safer and trust the adaptive system more than the nonadaptive automation. 相似文献
The importance of groundwater for human life cannot be overemphasised. Besides fulfilling essential ecological functions,
it is a major source of drinking water. However, in the industrial area of Bitterfeld, it is contaminated with a multitude
of harmful chemicals, including genotoxicants. Therefore, recently developed methodologies including preparative capillary
gas chromatography (pcGC), MOLGEN-MS structure generation and mutagenicity prediction were applied within effect-directed
analysis (EDA) to reduce sample complexity and to identify candidate mutagens in the samples. A major focus was put on the
added value of these tools compared to conventional EDA combining reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) followed by
GC/MS analysis and MS library search. 相似文献
Sulfur in its reduced form (-II) is an essential nutrient for growth and development, but is mainly available to plants in its oxidised form as sulfate. Deciduous trees take up sulfate by the roots from the soil solution and reduce sulfate to sulfide via assimilatory sulfate reduction in both roots and leaves. For reduction in the leaves, sulfate is loaded into the xylem and transported to the shoot. The surplus of sulfate not reduced in the chloroplast or stored in the vacuole and the surplus of reduced S not used for protein synthesis in the leaves is loaded into the phloem and transported back to the roots. Along the transport path, sulfate and glutathione (GSH) is unloaded from the phloem for storage in xylem and phloem parenchyma as well as in pit and ray cells. Re-mobilised S from storage tissues is loaded into the xylem during spring, but a phloem to xylem exchange does not appear to exist later in the season. As a consequence, a cycling pool of S was only found during the change of the seasons. The sulfate:glutathione ratio in the phloem seems to be involved in the regulation of S nutrition. This picture of S nutrition is discussed in relation to the different growth patterns of deciduous trees from the temperate climate zone, i.e. (1) terminated, (2) periodic and (3) indeterminate growth patterns, and in relation to environmental changes. 相似文献