红角鸮的生态观察

本文报道山西庞泉沟自然保护区红角鸮(Otus scops)的季节迁徙、数量、繁殖习性及食性等。     

红角鸮夜间迁徙的环志研究

通过1987—1991年浮山夜间环志发现:红角鸮春季四月中旬始达青岛,五月底迁完,种群数量较少,迁徙高峰不明显。秋季九月上旬迁经本地,九月末、十月初是迁经青岛高峰期,种群数量大,历年间规律较一致。迁飞期间其主要食物是昆虫和小田鼠。     

赛罕乌拉国家级自然保护区红角鸮(Otus scops)的繁殖生态观察

为了解红角鸮(Otus scops)的繁殖状态,2009年5～8月,在内蒙古赛罕乌拉国家级自然保护区,以直接观察法对红角鸮的繁殖生态进行了研究。结果表明,所观察的4个巢址全部是以柳树为主干的树洞巢,巢内铺垫物较少或无铺垫,巢距地面的平均高度为91.3cm,巢内径平均为13.5cm,巢外径平均为15.0cm,巢深平均32.0cm(n=4)。平均窝卵数为3.75,对其中一窝进行测量,4枚卵平均量度是28.9mm×24.6mm,重量9.5g。雏鸟孵出后,雌性亲鸟承担主要育雏任务,雄性亲鸟日间停歇于离巢不远的树上负责警戒工作,夜间与雌鸟共同哺育雏鸟。小型鼬科动物的捕食可能是干扰红角鸮繁殖成功率的主要因素。     

乌鲁木齐市区越冬期长耳鸮的食性分析

2009～2011年间,利用食团分析法对乌鲁木齐市越冬长耳鸮(Asiootus)的食性进行分析.3年累计收集长耳鸮食团683份,辨认出1132只猎物.分析结果表明,长耳鸮在冬季共捕食小型哺乳类6种,鸟类2种.小家鼠(Musmusculus)是最常见的食物,占总捕食量的53.45％.小型哺乳类是长耳鸮的主要食物,它在食物组成中出现的总频率为88.16％,以生物量计,小型哺乳类占食物构成的95.13％.长耳鸮的食物组成年度间差异显著,与当地猎物资源多样性和可获得性密切相关,表明长耳鸮可能采用机会主义者的捕食策略.     

巴基斯坦旁遮普中部仓鸮食性的季节性变化

在巴基斯坦对仓鸮食性的季节变化进行了研究。通过分析连续3年在6个地区搜集的2 360个仓鸮回吐食物团,发现其食物主要是小型哺乳动物(95.6 %)。其中,家(Suncus murinus)有最高的比例,达65.6%(冬季最多78%,夏季最少27%)。就生物量而言,小型哺乳动物占仓鸮食物总生物量的99% 。     

波兰西南卢布林中部地区纵纹腹小鸮的繁殖期食性

2000、2001年4 -7月,我们对波兰东南部纵纹腹小( Athene noctua)繁殖期的食性进行了研究。通过对498个食丸的分析,检出了1 953类动物,其中昆虫占猎物总数量的60·5 % (生物量仅占2·7 %) ,且以鞘翅目(Coleoptera)昆虫居多。该地区纵纹腹小的主要食物是小哺乳动物(占总生物量的93·4 %和总数量的38·3 %) ,在4月出现了一个取食小哺乳动物的高峰。在所捕食的猎物中,个体最大的是欧鼹鼠(Talpa eu-ropaea) ( n=2)。研究还发现,纵纹腹小的猎物种类有季节性变化,以满足繁殖各阶段(如孵卵、育雏和饲喂离巢幼鸟)不同的能量需求。     

阿尔金山国家级自然保护区纵纹腹小鸮食性的季节变化

2012—2013年间,利用食团分析法对阿尔金山国家级自然保护区纵纹腹小鸮Athene noctua的食性进行分析。共分析343个纵纹腹小鸮食团,鉴定出353个猎物。以个体计,当地纵纹腹小鸮主要取食小型哺乳动物,占95.18%,其次为鸟类,占3.97%,也取食少量昆虫(0.85%)。生物量贡献则以小型哺乳动物为主,占99.35%。纵纹腹小鸮在夏季和冬季就可鉴定的取食动物种类比例组成而言,差异具有高度统计学意义(χ2=52.27,df=4,P0.01)。冬、夏两季纵纹腹小鸮取食哺乳动物的平均胫骨长度差异具有高度统计学意义(P0.01)。全年来看,纵纹腹小鸮取食哺乳动物的胫骨长度平均为19.45 mm±5.84 mm(n=194),主要取食Ⅱ级(10.01 mm~20.00 mm)和Ⅲ级(20.01 mm~30.00 mm)的猎物(分别为46.39%和48.45%)。保护区纵纹腹小鸮的食物生态位宽度以夏季最高(2.583),冬季最低(0.949)。研究结果表明纵纹腹小鸮是机会主义捕食者,根据生境中食物的可获得性改变食性。     

甘肃民勤治沙站纵纹腹小鸮食性的季节变化

分析民勤治沙站纵纹腹小鸮(Athene noctua)食团405块,共鉴定猎物562只。以个体计,民勤小鸮主要取食昆虫,占64.23%;其次为小型哺乳类,占32.38%;也取食少量爬行类(1.96%)和雀形目鸟类(1.42%)。生物量贡献则以小型哺乳类为主,占93.34%。猎物种类组成存在显著的季节变异:取食小型哺乳类的频率存在显著季节差异,冬季最高94.59%,夏季最低17.75%,食物生物量贡献四季均在90%以上,季节变异不显著;昆虫成分出现在除冬季外的其他季节,且取食频率均在65%以上,季节差异显著;爬行类仅出现于夏季食谱中,仅秋季没有发现鸟类成分。分析秋、冬、春三季哺乳类猎物胫骨的量度发现,小鸮取食哺乳类的胫骨长度平均为16.22mm±4.72mm(n=112),主要取食Ⅰ(10.01mm-15.00mm)和Ⅱ(15.01mm-20.00mm)等级的猎物(分别58.04%和25.00%)。取食猎物的胫骨长度组成存在季节差异,平均长度以春季最大。民勤地区小鸮一年的食物生态位宽度为2.32,季节间存在变异,以冬季最高为2.99,夏季最低为1.64。一年的食物多样性为1.96,季节间存在变异,冬季最高为2.00。食物种类以夏季最多,秋季最少。     

北京市区越冬长耳的食性分析

2004年11月至2005年4月,采用食团分析法对北京市区内天坛生物制药厂和国子监公园内栖息越冬的长耳鸮(Asiootus)的食物组成进行了分析。发现天坛生物制药厂长耳鸮的食物中啮齿类占41.0%,翼手类占29.5%,鸟类占29.3%,食虫类占0.2%;国子监长耳鸮的食物组成中翼手类占53.8%,啮齿类占21.5%,鸟类占24.7%。翼手目主要种类有山蝠(Nyctalus noctula)和普通伏翼(Pipistrellus abramus)等。长耳鸮三类主要食物所占比例的逐月变化显示,翼手类所占百分比不断上升,啮齿类所占比例先上升而到翌年1、2月开始下降,鸟类所占百分比一直在下降。蝙蝠大量出现于温带冬季鸮类的食物中属首次发现。     

The functional meaning of “prey size” in water snakes (Nerodia fasciata, Colubridae)

The evolutionary success of macrostomatan (enlarged-gape) snakes has been attributed to their ability to consume large prey, in turn made possible by their highly kinetic skulls. However, prey can be “large” in several ways, and we have little insight into which aspects of prey size and shape affect skull function during feeding. We used X-ray videos of broad-banded water snakes (Nerodia fasciata) feeding on both frogs and fish to quantify movements of the jaw elements during prey transport, and of the anterior vertebral column during post-cranial swallowing. In a sample of additional individuals feeding on both frogs and fish, we measured the time and the number of jaw protractions needed to transport prey through the buccal cavity. Prey type (fish vs. frog) did not influence transport kinematics, but did influence transport performance. Furthermore, wider and taller prey induced greater movements of most cranial elements, but wider prey were transported with significantly less anterior vertebral bending. In the performance trials, heavier, shorter, and wider prey took significantly more time and a greater number of jaw protractions to ingest. Thus, the functional challenges involved in prey transport depend not only upon prey mass, but also prey type (fish vs. frog) and prey shape (relative height, width and length), suggesting that from the perspective of a gape-limited predator, the difficulty of prey ingestion depends upon multiple aspects of prey size.     

南极磷虾种群生物学研究进展III-摄食

鉴于南极磷虾在南极食物网中所处的关键地位,其摄食活动对南大洋海洋生态系统有着极为重要的影响。南极磷虾食物组成因季节、空间等不同而存在差异,且摄食对象的分类和鉴别也存在着较大困难,选食机制目前尚有不同意见。本文从摄食对象、摄食方式、选食机制及摄食率等方面对近百年来南极磷虾摄食生态学研究进行了总结和归纳,以期为国内外学者开展相关研究提供基础信息,并为进一步开展其摄食生态学研究提供科学思路。     

云斑尖塘鳢仔鱼摄食节律的研究

对自然光照条件下云斑尖塘鳢仔鱼的昼夜摄食节律和在夜间增加不同强度外光源条件下仔鱼的摄食发生率进行了研究。结果表明,云斑尖塘鳢仔鱼具有明显的昼夜摄食节律,晚上摄食发生率是著高于白天,其摄食主要集中在光线较弱的16:00～00:00;5日龄仔鱼在100～500Lx,8日龄和12日龄仔鱼在10～100Lx光照条件下的摄食发生率要明显高于黑暗或更高光照条件下的摄食发生率。     

Prey-handling and the evolutionary ecology of sand-swimming lizards (Lerista : Scincidae)

Fossorial lizards differ in morphology from their surface-dwelling relatives. The Australian sphenomorphine skink genus Ctenotus consists of surface-dwelling species, and is closely related to the genus Lerista, which includes both surface-dwelling and fossorial species. Sand-swimming represents the derived condition and has evolved independently in several lineages of Lerista. The heads of lizards in the two genera differ in shape (blunt snout for Ctenotus versus wedge-shaped for Lerista) and in length relative to the body (approximately 20% of snout-vent length for Ctenotus versus 12% for sand-swimming Lerista). Do these specializations affect the sizes or types of prey that can be consumed by Lerista? We compared prey-handling by Ctenotus and Lerista to correlate morphological differences with differences in prey-handling ability, and to distinguish the effects of snout shape and head length. Feeding trials included three categories of insect prey that the lizards normally eat: soft-bodied larvae (Lepidoptera), hard-bodied larvae (Coleoptera), and roaches (Blatoidea). In comparisons based on the mass of a prey item relative to the mass of a lizard, Lerista had longer handling times for all prey categories and were limited to smaller prey than were Ctenotus. However, when comparisons were based on the length of prey relative to the length of a lizard's head, Lerista ate some elongate prey as fast or faster than did Ctenotus, and both genera successfully swallowed prey more than twice the length of their own head. Thus, the differences in prey-handling performance of Ctenotus and Lerista probably result from the fact that Lerista have a relatively shorter head than Ctenotus. All Lerista species, surface-dwelling and fossorial, have short heads compared to primitive sphenomorphine lizards. Fossorial species of Lerista have elongate trunks, and consequently their heads are shorter in proportion to trunk length than those of surface-dwelling Lerista. However, most fossorial species of Lerista are longer and heavier than any of their surface-dwelling congeners, and the heads of these fossorial species are large relative to the prey they encounter. As a consequence, the diets of large fossorial species of Lerista do not appear to be limited by their morphological specialization for sand-swimming.     

Ecological aspects of the horned viper,Cerastes cerastes gasperettii in the central region of Saudi Arabia

Feeding ecology of any species can help us to understand its natural history, ecological requirements and approaches involved in searching for food. Feeding ecology and sexual dimorphism in the horned viper, Cerastes cerastes gasperetti collected from the Al-Thumama area, central region of Saudi Arabia was described. The gut content of Cerastes c. gasperetti mainly consisted of rodents (70%) in addition to arthropods (15%) and lizards (10%). Least sexual size dimorphism was noticed in the species in terms of total length. Significant difference was noticed between males and females in terms of two correlation points vent tail length (VT) and total length (TL) with the males attaining a larger size (P < 0.05). The mean number of the dorsal body scales, ventrals and subcaudals for the females was 102, 156 and 33 scales respectively which were significantly different from respective ones in males 95, 160 and 38 scales. There are many aspects of the feeding of this snake that remain unknown and further studies are clearly needed.     

池养条件下似刺鳊鮈早期发育阶段的摄食与生长特性

对人工培育的似刺鳊鮈（Paracanthobrama guichenoti）仔鱼、稚鱼和幼鱼的生长与摄食节律进行了研究。结果显示,在1～70日龄间,似刺鳊鮈全长平均日增长率为3．55％,体重平均日增长率为11．26％,头长／全长值随着日龄的增长而变小。全长（L,mm）与体重（M,mg）的关系式为M=O．0012L^2-0．0564L＋0．6504;体重（M,mg）与日龄（D,d）的关系式为M=O．0043e^0.0936D;全长（L,mm）和日龄（D,d）的关系式为L=0．0154D^2-0．0128D＋8．1965。在饵料充足的条件下,20日龄晚期仔鱼全天均有很高的摄食发生率,小高峰出现在8：00时;40日龄稚鱼则表现出明显的昼夜摄食节律,属于典型的白天摄食类型,日摄食率2．3376％。20日龄仔鱼和4013龄稚鱼饱食后分别经6h、5h整个消化道排空。在水温25℃及饥饿空胃状态下,10日龄仔鱼只经3d即开始出现死亡个体,经5d全部死亡;20日龄仔鱼经6d开始出现死亡个体,经9d全部死亡;40日龄稚鱼经7d才开始出现死亡个体,10d后全部个体均死亡。     

The Nutritional Status and Eating Habits of Shift Workers: A Chronobiological Approach

The eating habits of workers may vary according to the season of the year and corresponding work schedule. A study aiming at verifying the changes in their diet in summer and winter, as well as the nutritional status of those who work fixed shifts, was conducted. The distribution during the 24 h in the quantity of calories and macronutrients ingested and the circadian rhythm of calories consumed were also analyzed. The study was conducted on 28 workers subject to three fixed work (morning, afternoon, and night) shifts at a transport company in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The mean age of the workers was 32.8 (SD ± 5.3) yrs. Their food intake was ascertained by the use of a 3-day dietary record, and their nutritional status was evaluated by their body mass index (BMI), both in winter and summer. Two-way ANOVA (shift and season) showed food consumption—measured in calories/24 h—was significantly higher in winter than summer (F_(1.25) = 11.7; p < 0.001). No statistically significant differences were found among shifts (F_(2.25) = 0.85; p < 0.44), and the interaction effect between shift and season was also not significant (F_(2.25) = 0.15; p < 0.86). No seasonal difference in BMI was detected (Kruskal-Wallis test). Cosinor analyses showed circadian rhythmicity in calories consumed by morning (p < 0.01) as well as afternoon shift workers (p < 0.001), both in the winter and summer. Circadian rhythmicity in calories consumed by night workers was found only in summer (p < 0.01). The changes observed in the workers’ eating habits from one season to another and during the 24 h period show the need for further studies to help develop educational programs to improve the nutrition of shift employees taking into consideration shift schedule and season of the year when work is performed.     

Evidence for a diurnal variation in the carotenoid content of acanthodiaptomus denticornis (Crustacea,copepoda) in Lac Pavin (Auvergne,France)

In Lac Pavin Acanthodiaptomus denticornis was found to be intensely reddish-orange coloured by keto-carotenoids of the astaxanthin type. Such pigments are not normally found in phytoplankton algae, and apparently these carotenoids result from the metabolism of pigments of dietary origin. The carotenoid content of the zooplankton showed a distinct 2.5-fold diurnal variation, with a minimum at night time and a maximum in the early morning. The possible impact of a diurnal difference in zooplankton feeding activity is discussed.     

Terrestrial foraging and dental microwear inPapio ursinus

Dental microwear of ten wild-shot chacma baboons (Papio urinus) form Northwest and Northern Privinces, South Africa was examined by scanning electron microscopy. All specimens were collected during the dry season, during which these primates exploit hypogeous (underground) food items, including tubers and corms. The microwear fabric of thisP. ursinus sample is characterized by high pitting frequencies and large microwear features. It differs significantly from those displayed by other terrestrially foraging papionins of the genusTheropithecus. Exogenous grit is hypothesized to be largely responsible for the observedP. ursinus wear pattern, which resembles the microwear profiles of durophagous primates. It is suggested that large microwear features and a high incidence of enamel pitting, which are generally held to represent a microwear “signature” of durophagy, may not always be indicative of hard-object feeding in anthropoid primates.