污染生态学的新发展—污染进化生态学

污染胁迫的最显著效应是消除敏感物种或个体，导致植物居群进化。突变是进化的原料，选择是进化的手段，隔离是进化的条件，控制抗性性状的基因因物种及污染物的种类不同而异，但也会出现植物同时具有对某两种或几种污染物的抗性，即所谓协同抗性；污染除使植物衰退外，还可能导致一些遗传信息丧失，使抗性种群内物种单一，降低其适合度，对其它环境胁迫因素的抵抗力下降，即所谓适应代价。     

A review of myrmecophily in ant nest beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussinae): linking early observations with recent findings

Myrmecophily provides various examples of how social structures can be overcome to exploit vast and well-protected resources. Ant nest beetles (Paussinae) are particularly well suited for ecological and evolutionary considerations in the context of association with ants because life habits within the subfamily range from free-living and predatory in basal taxa to obligatory myrmecophily in derived Paussini. Adult Paussini are accepted in the ant society, although parasitising the colony by preying on ant brood. Host species mainly belong to the ant families Myrmicinae and Formicinae, but at least several paussine genera are not host-specific. Morphological adaptations, such as special glands and associated tufts of hair (trichomes), characterise Paussini as typical myrmecophiles and lead to two different strategical types of body shape: while certain Paussini rely on the protective type with less exposed extremities, other genera access ant colonies using glandular secretions and trichomes (symphile type). We compare these adaptations with other taxonomic groups of insects by joining contemporary research and early sources and discuss the possibility of an attracting or appeasing effect of the secretion. Species that are ignored by their host ants might use chemical mimicry instead. Furthermore, vibrational signals may contribute to ant–beetle communication, and chemical signals have proven to play a role in host finding. The powerful defense chemistry of paussines as “bombardier beetles” is not used in contact with host ants. We attempt to trace the evolution of myrmecophily in paussines by reviewing important aspects of the association between paussine beetles and ants, i.e. morphological and potential chemical adaptations, life cycle, host specificity, alimentation, parasitism and sound production.

Establishment of facultative sexuals

The existence of sex is one of the major unsolved problems in biology. We use computer simulations to model conditions in which sex may first become established. We develop an individual-based population model and show that a hypothetical facultative sex gene can fix, provided that the initial cost is low. It is demonstrated that the equilibrium fitness in the population increases with increasing population size and decreasing mutation rate. The probability of the establishment of the sex gene is found not to be directly related to the fitness difference between the asexual and sexual populations. This change in fitness on changing the parameters of the model is investigated.     

Unusual echolocation behavior in a small molossid bat, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Molossops temminckii,</Emphasis> that forages near background clutter

When searching for flying insects, Molossops temminckii uses unusual echolocation calls characterized by upward modulation of frequency vs time (UFM). Call frequency increases asymptotically in the relatively long (∼8 ms) pulses from a starting frequency of ∼40 kHz to a long narrowband tail at ∼50 kHz. When approaching a prey, the bat progressively increases the duration of calls and intersperses in the sequence broadband downwardly frequency-modulated signals with a terminal frequency of about 53 kHz, which totally replaces the UFM signals at the end of the approach phase. The sequence progresses to a capture buzz resembling those from other molossid and vespertilionid bats. The M. temminckii wing morphology is characterized by an average aspect ratio and a high wing loading, suggesting that it is more maneuverable than the typical Molossidae but less than typical Vespertilionidae. M. temminckii regularly forages near clutter, where it needs to pay attention to the background and might face forward and backward masking of signals. We hypothesize that the UFM echolocation signals of M. temminckii represent an adaptation to foraging near background clutter in a not very maneuverable bat needing a broad attention window. The broadband component of the signal might serve for the perception of the background and the narrowband tail for detection and perhaps classification of prey. Bats may solve the signal masking problems by separating emission and echoes in the frequency domain. The echolocation behavior of M. temminckii may shed light on the evolution of the narrowband frequency analysis echolocation systems adopted by some bats foraging within clutter.     

基于RS与GIS的武汉城市湖泊演化研究

以武汉市主城区为例,利用1995和2005年Landsat5两期TM影像与2000和2010年Landset7两期ETM＋影像的解译结果,基于景观分形理论与GIS的空间分析功能相结合的研究方法,分别构建湖泊变化强度指数和湖泊分形维数变化指数。从湖泊面积变化和湖泊形态变化,以及湖泊水域和其他土地利用类型的转移变化特点与影响进行综合分析。来丰富湖泊演化的分析方法,并总结高速城市化背景下湖泊的变化规律,从而更深入地了解和认识人类活动因素与湖泊水域动态变化之间的响应关系,同时提出若干城市湖泊治理与管理的方式。研究结果表明,（1）15年间的湖泊水域面积总量的变化呈现萎缩的趋势,年变化量在逐渐减小,湖泊萎缩的速度得到了一定的控制。（2）1995-2010年湖泊分形维数也呈逐期较小趋势,说明湖泊几何形状趋于简单化,人为活动对湖泊的影响加大。（3）15年来主城区28个主要湖泊的变化强度指数均为负值,呈萎缩趋势。但从2000年开始,少数湖泊变化强度指数为正值,萎缩趋势得到初步的控制。（4）1995-2010年间湖泊的水域面积主要转移成为建设用地和耕地。其转移面积占转移总面积的87．02％。围湖造田和城市化率的迅速提高对城市湖泊的演化影响深刻。（5）城市化背景下湖泊面积与形态变化的规律并非完全与城市化发展速率呈正比的关系,当城市化率上升到一定的阶段后,城市内部对生态环境的保护与要求也不断提高。为改善城市环境和城市内部的生态用地,湖泊应得到立法等强制性保护。     

Hummingbird with modern feathering: an exceptionally well-preserved Oligocene fossil from southern France

Hummingbirds (Trochilidae) today have an exclusively New World distribution, but their pre-Pleistocene fossil record comes from Europe only. In this study, we describe an exceptionally preserved fossil hummingbird from the early Oligocene of southeastern France. The specimen is articulated, with a completely preserved beak and feathering. Osteological characters allow to identify it as Eurotrochilus sp. This genus is a stem group representative of Trochilidae and was recently described from the early Oligocene of southern Germany. The new fossil reveals that these European Trochilidae were remarkably modern in size, skeletal proportions and the shape of the wing, tail and beak and hyoid bones. These features confirm the early acquisition of the abilities of hovering and nectarivory in hummingbirds, probably before the Oligocene. In several morphological characteristics, they resemble members of the 'true hummingbirds' (subfamily Trochilinae) and differ from hermits (Phaethornithinae). These features, which include a short and square tail and a moderately long, almost straight beak, appear to be primitive within the family Trochilidae.     

Mantophasmatodea now in the Jurassic

The Mantophasmatodea is the most recently discovered insect order. The fossil records of all other ‘polyneopteran’ orders extend far in the past, but the current absence of pre-Cenozoic fossils of the Mantophasmatodea contradicts a long evolutionary history, which has to be assumed from the morphological distinctness of the group. In this paper, we report the first Mesozoic evidence of a mantophasmatodean from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. Furthermore, the new fossil shares apomorphic characters with Cenozoic and recent Mantophasmatodea, suggesting a longer evolutionary history of this order.     

Ontic openness: An absolute necessity for all developmental processes

The physicist Walter M. Elsasser is mostly known for his work on the Earth's magnetism. Less attention has been paid to his efforts toward identifying what are the real differences between physical and biological systems. One essential distinction he recognized was that physical systems are largely homogenous while biological systems always revealed what he called ordered heterogeneity. Calculation of the possible configurations of such heterogeneous systems almost always leads to combinatorial explosions and to what Elsasser referred to as immense numbers. Such calculations have the consequence that any such systems are necessarily unique - mathematically speaking they represent one-sets.Another consequence is that immense numbers automatically introduce enormous uncertainty and indeterminacy into the system. Such systems are said to be ontically open. Applying this perspective to the genome and employing the notion of informational entropy reveals a common drive behind all development. This means that both conventional Darwinian evolution as well as the genomic mistakes that are believed to lie behind processes like aging and diseases can be interpreted against the background of one and the same process.At the same time the approach demonstrates how Darwinian evolution encompasses other notions such as Kauffman's “adjacent possible” ( [Kauffman, 1995] and [Kauffman, 2000]) and Eldrege's and Gould's “evolution via punctuated equilibria” (e.g., [Eldredge and Gould, 1972] and [Gould and Eldredge, 1977]).     

Does phylogenetic inertia explain the evolution of ineffective antipredator behavior in a sunfish-salamander system?

The streamside salamander, Ambystoma barbouri, exhibits ineffective antipredator behavior (high emergence rate from refuge, and high activity while out of refuge) and thus suffers heavy predation in stream pools with sunfish. A. barbouri evolved relatively recently from an ancestor that closely resembled a sister species, A. texanum, which breeds in fishless, ephemeral ponds. Sunfish thus represent a relatively new selection pressure for A. barbouri. Phylogenetic inertia predicts that (1) A. texanum should be very poor at coping with fish and (2) because it has only recently been exposed to fish, A. barbouri should still be poor at avoiding fish, but due to its recent exposure to fish, A. barbouri should be better than A. texanum at coping with sunfish. Experimental results provided mixed support for these predictions. As predicted, A. texanum suffered heavy sunfish predation. Compared to A. texanum, A. barbouri showed a greater tendency to initiate alarm moves that enhanced escape success from fish. However, in both the presence and absence of fish, A. barbouri showed higher emergence rates from refuge and higher movement while out of refuge than A. texanum. These behaviors tend to increase exposure to sunfish, i.e., for these key behaviors, A. barbouri apparently evolved in the wrong direction as far as fish predation is concerned. Due to these offsetting effects (increased exposure to fish, increased escape success), A. barbouri is no better at surviving with sunfish than A. texanum. A possible explanation for the high activity of A. barbouri is its use of highly ephemeral habitats (relative to A. texanum) that favor the evolution of higher activity, feeding, and developmental rates for A. barbouri relative to A. texanum. Received: 15 May 2000 / Revised: 3 August 2000 / Accepted: 18 August 2000     

Evolution of extreme polyandry in the honeybee Apis mellifera L.

A number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of multiple mating in the honeybee queen. In particular, the consequences of reduced intracolonial relatedness provide plausible explanations for multiple mating with up to ten drones, but fail to account for the much higher mating frequencies observed in nature. In this paper, we propose an alternative mechanism which builds on non-linear relationships between intracolonial frequencies in genotypic worker specialization and colony fitness. If genes for any worker specialization confer an advantage on colony fitness only when they are rare, this would require a stable mix of sperm from a few drones which contribute that trait, and many which do not. To ensure both specific, low within-colony proportions of “rare specialist” genes, and to reduce random variation of these proportions would require mating with high numbers of drones. The quantitative implementation shows that moderate to very high numbers of matings are required to exploit colony advantages from genotypic allocation of workers to rare tasks. Extreme polyandry thus could result from colony selection dependent on the intracolonial frequency of rare genetic specialists. Received: 30 January 1998 / Accepted after revision: 7 October 1998