白水江自然保护区植物物种多样性的垂直格局: 面积、气候、边界限制的解释

采用线性回归模型和方差分离方法,分析面积、气候、边界限制对白水江自然保护区植物物种垂直分布格局的相对作用和独立作用.结果表明:白水江自然保护区植物物种及不同类群的物种多样性随海拔的升高呈单峰分布格局,峰值分布偏向低海拔段.白水江自然保护区植物物种的垂直分布格局是由各种因素协同作用的结果.水分能量动态假设对白水江自然保护区植物物种多样性垂直格局的解释力最强,面积是影响物种多样性格局的第二重要因子.边界限制效应可作为对白水江自然保护区植物物种多样性垂直格局解释的补充机制.边界限制对不同种域的物种解释力存在较大差异,随着物种分布宽度的增加,边界限制的解释力逐渐增加.     

秦岭两栖、爬行动物物种多样性海拔分布格局及其解释

物种多样性和种域宽度沿环境梯度的分布格局及其成因机制一直是生物地理学和生态学讨论的重要议题。本研究采用多元回归模型和方差分离的方法判断面积、水分和能量、边界限制对秦岭两栖、爬行动物及其不同区系成分的物种丰富度海拔梯度分布格局的影响。结果表明, 秦岭两栖爬行动物及其不同区系成分的物种丰富度均呈单峰分布格局, 但峰值分布的海拔段有所差异。形成这种格局是各种因素相互作用的结果, 3种假设的独立解释力较低。水分能量动态假设对两栖、爬行动物物种的丰富度格局有很强的解释能力, 但水分和能量的解释力中有很大一部分属于边界限制、面积的协同作用, 在解释两栖动物的海拔分布格局时, 边界限制与水分和能量之间存在较强的共线性, 而在解释爬行动物的海拔分布格局时, 面积与水分和能量之间存在较强的共线性。同时, 本研究采用Stevens法和逐种法对Rapoport法则进行了验证。结果表明, 爬行动物物种种域的海拔梯度格局基本上支持Rapoport法则, 两栖动物很难判断是否支持Rapoport法则。     

柴达木盆地水生植物多样性格局及多假说验证

物种多样性格局同时受到多个因子和过程的综合作用。以往对水生植物多样性格局形成机制的研究主要集中在几何限制、水分能量状况或随机过程等少数因子方面。该研究通过野外调查, 研究柴达木盆地水生植物沿经度和纬度梯度的分布格局, 并验证了对物种多样性分布格局影响较大的水分-能量假说、栖息地异质性假说、空间自相关、物种-面积效应和中域效应这5种假说。主要结果表明柴达木盆地水生植物多样性沿经度和纬度梯度均呈现“∩”形单峰格局。回归分析显示中域效应和物种-面积效应显著影响柴达木盆地水生植物多样性格局, 而水分-能量、栖息地异质性假说及空间自相关对该区域水生植物多样性格局影响较小。方差分解显示中域效应对柴达木盆地水生植物多样性经度和纬度格局的单独解释率分别为68.41%和66.91%, 该结果表明柴达木盆地水生植物多样性格局主要受几何限制和扩散限制影响。结合以往研究结果, 该研究进一步证实几何限制和随机效应可能是影响中国干旱区水生植物多样性分布格局的重要自然因素。     

白水江自然保护区两栖、爬行动物物种丰富度的海拔梯度格局的解释:水分能量动态假设和生境异质性假设

采用线性回归模型和方差分离方法,利用水分能量动态假设和栖息地异质性假设解释了白水江自然保护区两栖、爬行动物物种丰富度的海拔分布格局。水分能量动态假设对白水江自然保护区两栖爬行动物物种丰富度的海拔分布格局的解释力较强,同时,水分能量动态假设和栖息地异质性假设之间存在着较强的共线性。年均降水量(PAN)进入了两栖动物物种丰富度海拔分布格局的最优线性回归模型,未进入爬行动物物种丰富度海拔分布格局的最优线性回归模型,但潜在蒸散量(PET)及其二次方(PET2)全部进入了爬行动物的最优线性回归模型,说明水分对两栖动物的重要性和温度对爬行动物的重要性。方差分离结果表明,栖息地异质性假设对两栖、爬行动物物种丰富度海拔分布格局的独立解释力较低,而水分能量动态假设的独立解释力较高。对于广域种,可能受到边界限制的影响,水分能量动态假设和栖息地异质性的解释力并不高。     

空间尺度对地形异质性-物种多样性关系的影响:粒度和幅度

空间尺度是影响我们理解生态学格局和过程的关键因素。目前已有多种关于物种多样性分布格局形成机制的假说且研究者未达成共识,原因之一是空间尺度对物种多样性分布格局的环境影响因子的解释力和相对重要性有重要影响。地形异质性是物种多样性分布格局的重要影响因素。本文综述了在地形异质性-物种多样性关系的研究中,不同空间粒度和幅度对研究结果的影响,以及可能的原因。尽管已认识到地形异质性-物种多样性关系的空间尺度效应,但粒度和幅度的具体影响仍未有统一结论。当前物种多样性分布格局研究未能覆盖较完整的尺度变化梯度。未来对地形异质性-物种多样性关系的研究需要同时考虑幅度和粒度的影响。建议结合可靠的模型和统计分析方法开展多尺度格局比较分析,以进一步阐明研究尺度对地形异质性-物种多样性关系的影响以及地形异质性起主导作用的空间尺度。     

新疆开都河流域水生植物多样性及其影响因素

河流是一个连续的、流动的、独特而完整的系统,研究河流生态系统中水生植物的多样性分布格局及其影响因素对河流生态学研究具有重要意义。本文通过野外调查,研究了新疆开都河流域水生植物多样性、主要水生植物群落特征及与环境因子之间的关系,并利用水分-能量动态假说和栖息地异质性假说对该流域水生植物物种多样性的地理格局进行解释。结果表明: 开都河流域共有水生植物71种,隶属于24科39属;聚类分析可将开都河流域水生植物群落划分为10个主要群落类型,其中芦苇群落物种丰富度最高,狭叶香蒲群落和金鱼藻群落物种丰富度最低;流域水生植物群落Shannon指数与pH呈显著负相关,Simpson指数与pH、经度呈显著负相关,与海拔呈显著正相关;流域水生植物群落类型主要受海拔、水深及水温的影响;流域水生植物物种多样性随经纬度无明显变化规律。水分-能量动态假说和栖息地异质性假说共解释开都河流域水生植物多样性格局变量的31.4%,表明这两个假说对于该流域水生植物多样性格局的解释力并不高。     

中国典型森林生态系统乔木层群落物种多样性的空间分布格局及其影响因素

物种多样性地理分布格局及其成因是生物地理学和宏观生态学研究的核心问题之一,基于中国13个典型森林生态系统乔木层群落植物的调查数据,分析物种多样性随经纬度的变化规律,探讨物种多样性空间分布格局的影响因素。结果表明:(1) 13个典型森林生态系统的4个物种多样性指数均随经纬度上升而下降,其中物种丰富度变化更为显著,而Shannon-Wiener指数、Simpson指数和Pielou指数随经度上升变化不显著;(2)相关性分析结果显示,物种多样性指数与植物特性、能量和水分因子的单因素相关关系并不一致。其中,物种丰富度、Shannon-Wiener指数和Simpson指数与年均温、最冷月均温、温度年较差和潜在蒸散量的相关性最显著(P0.01),Pielou指数与年均温、最冷月均温、实际蒸散量、潜在蒸散量和郁闭度有显著相关关系(P0.05);(3)方差分解结果表明,能量和水分的共同作用对物种多样性指数空间分布格局的解释率最高,达到15%—42%;植物特性、能量和水分因子三者共同作用对物种多样性指数空间分布格局解释率次之,为14%—27%;植物特性与能量因子或水分因子两者之间的共同作用以及植物特性和水分因子独立作用对物种多样性指数空间分布格局的解释率较小,其中能量因子对物种多样性指数空间分布格局的单独解释率高于植物特性或水分因子。研究表明能量和水分共同作用是影响大尺度森林乔木层物种多样性空间分布格局形成的主要因素,但植物特性的差异对物种多样性空间分布格局影响也不可忽视。     

物种丰富度垂直分布格局及影响机制

物种丰富度分布格局是一定地域内物种丰富度沿三维空间的立体分布,包括物种丰富度在经度、纬度和垂直梯度(海拔高度和海水深度)三个维度上的空间分异。近年来物种多样性的垂直分布格局与机制研究得到了生物地理学家和生态学家的重视。物种丰富度的垂直分布格局存在多种类型,但随海拔增加而物种数减少的单调递减模型和中海拔物种丰富度最高的单峰模型较为常见。目前在机制研究中验证较多的是气候稳定性、生物因子(种间相互作用)、能量、生境异质性、干扰、进化时间、物种分化速率、面积、中域效应(mid-domain effect)、生态位保守性(niche conservatism)等假说和机制。物种丰富度的分布格局是多方面因素综合作用的结果;由于地理、地形、气候、地质演化历史、物种库和进化历史、物种分化速率、干扰等差异,在不同地区存在着特别的物种丰富度空间分布格局和机制;处于同一地区的不同类群的物种也因进化扩散历史和生态适应能力不同而呈现多样化的分布格局。因此,对不同地区和类群的物种丰富度格局和机制进行研究应具体分析后才能得到可信结论。     

中国黑戈壁地区植物物种丰富度格局的水热解释

我国黑戈壁地区自然环境恶劣,植物多样性格局受到极端干旱气候的影响而形成了特殊的分布格局。为了揭示黑戈壁地区极端气候对物种丰富度格局的影响,通过对5000 km样线内174个样方中的植物进行调查,结合气候数据,研究影响中国黑戈壁地区植物物种丰富度格局的气候因素以及不同生活型植物物种丰富度格局与气候关系的差异。结果表明,水热动态假说对物种丰富度格局的解释率为62.3%,未解释部分为37.7%,说明其能够很好的解释黑戈壁地区的植物群落物种丰富度格局;能量对物种丰富格局的单独解释率仅为3.5%,水分的单独解释率为16.4%,两者共同解释率为42.4%,水分和能量共同决定的水资源可利用性主导着物种丰富度格局;不同生活型植物对气候因子的响应存在显著差异,水热综合作用对草本植物丰富度格局的解释率为65.4%,但对灌木仅有37.9%,表明水热动态假说不适用于解释灌木植物的物种丰富度格局,植物对气候的适应特性及种间相互作用对物种丰富度格局有着重要的影响。     

西双版纳种子植物物种多样性的垂直格局及机制

物种多样性海拔分布格局及其形成机制的研究是生物地理学和宏观生态学的重要议题之一。本文利用西双版纳植物专著资料, 结合高分辨率的地形和气候等数据, 探讨了面积、边界限制和现代气候对西双版纳野生种子植物物种丰富度及物种密度海拔分布格局的影响。结果表明: (1)物种丰富度呈单峰分布格局, 面积(81.9%)、边界限制(17.5%)和气候(60.0-69.3%)都不同程度地解释了物种丰富度的单峰格局; (2)利用幂函数种-面积关系计算的物种密度沿海拔大致呈减小的分布趋势, 气候的解释率降低为32.6-40.6%, 与边界限制无显著相关关系; (3)利用等面积高度带划分得到的物种密度沿海拔呈单峰变化趋势, 物种密度与边界限制无显著相关性, 但气候对物种密度的解释率为81.6-89.9%。研究结果有助于准确全面地理解物种多样性的海拔分布格局及其成因机制, 为西双版纳生物多样性保护提供理论支撑和实践指导。     

Causality, randomness, intelligibility, and the epistemology of the cell

Because the basic unit of biology is the cell, biological knowledge is rooted in the epistemology of the cell, and because life is the salient characteristic of the cell, its epistemology must be centered on its livingness, not its constituent components. The organization and regulation of these components in the pursuit of life constitute the fundamental nature of the cell. Thus, regulation sits at the heart of biological knowledge of the cell and the extraordinary complexity of this regulation conditions the kind of knowledge that can be obtained, in particular, the representation and intelligibility of that knowledge. This paper is essentially split into two parts. The first part discusses the inadequacy of everyday intelligibility and intuition in science and the consequent need for scientific theories to be expressed mathematically without appeal to commonsense categories of understanding, such as causality. Having set the backdrop, the second part addresses biological knowledge. It briefly reviews modern scientific epistemology from a general perspective and then turns to the epistemology of the cell. In analogy with a multi-faceted factory, the cell utilizes a highly parallel distributed control system to maintain its organization and regulate its dynamical operation in the face of both internal and external changes. Hence, scientific knowledge is constituted by the mathematics of stochastic dynamical systems, which model the overall relational structure of the cell and how these structures evolve over time, stochasticity being a consequence of the need to ignore a large number of factors while modeling relatively few in an extremely complex environment.     

The parasitic chytrid, Zygorhizidium, facilitates the growth of the cladoceran zooplankter, Daphnia, in cultures of the inedible alga, Asterionella

In food-web studies, parasites are often ignored owing to their insignificant biomass. We provide evidence that parasites may affect trophic transfer in aquatic food webs. Many phytoplankton species are susceptible to parasitic fungi (chytrids). Chytrid infections of diatoms in lakes may reach epidemic proportions during diatom spring blooms, so that numerous free-swimming fungal zoospores (2-3 microm in diameter) are produced. Analysis shows that these zoospores are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and sterols (particularly cholesterol), which indicates that they provide excellent food for zooplankters such as Daphnia. In life-table experiments using the large diatom Asterionella formosa as food, Daphnia growth increased significantly in treatments where a parasite was present. By grazing on the zoospores, Daphnia acquired important supplementary nutrients and were able to grow. When large inedible algae are infected by parasites, nutrients within the algal cells are consumed by these chytrids, some of which, in turn, are grazed by Daphnia. Thus, chytrids transfer energy and nutrients from their hosts to zooplankton. This study suggests that parasitic fungi alter trophic relationships in freshwater ecosystems and may be the important components in shaping the community and the food-web dynamics of lakes.     

Expression, localization, structural, and functional characterization of pFGE, the paralog of the Calpha-formylglycine-generating enzyme

pFGE is the paralog of the formylglycine-generating enzyme (FGE), which catalyzes the oxidation of a specific cysteine to Calpha-formylglycine, the catalytic residue in the active site of sulfatases. The enzymatic activity of sulfatases depends on this posttranslational modification, and the genetic defect of FGE causes multiple sulfatase deficiency. The structural and functional properties of pFGE were analyzed. The comparison with FGE demonstrates that both share a tissue-specific expression pattern and the localization in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. Both are retained in the endoplasmic reticulum by a saturable mechanism. Limited proteolytic cleavage at similar sites indicates that both also share a similar three-dimensional structure. pFGE, however, is lacking the formylglycine-generating activity of FGE. Although overexpression of FGE stimulates the generation of catalytically active sulfatases, overexpression of pFGE has an inhibitory effect. In vitro pFGE interacts with sulfatase-derived peptides but not with FGE. The inhibitory effect of pFGE on the generation of active sulfatases may therefore be caused by a competition of pFGE and FGE for newly synthesized sulfatase polypeptides.     

Biosynthesis of grandlure,the pheromone of the boll weevil,Anthonomus grandis,from acetate,mevalonate, and glucose

The steam-distilled faeces of adult male boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis, that had been injected with acetate-1¹⁴C, acetate-2¹⁴C, mevalonic acid-2¹⁴C, or glucose¹⁴C(U) showed by column and gas chromatography that approximately 0·02 per cent of the administered radioactivity was incorporated into the volatile fraction. Also, 4 components of the pheromone comprised 57 to 80 per cent of the radioactivity of the volatiles but only 39 per cent of the total content of volatiles. Thus, evidence was obtained for de novo synthesis of the components. Although the boll weevil is essentially an obligate insect of cotton, this insect does not appear to require any specific component in cotton for biosynthesis of the pheromone.     

Checklist of the species of the aseptate gregarine families Aikinetocystidae,Diplocystidae, Allantocystidae,Schaudinnellidae, Ganymedidae,and Enterocystidae

The genera and species in six families of the eugregarine suborder Aseptatorina Chakravarty, 1960, are reviewed and the presently accepted ones are listed: Aikinetocystidae Bhatia, 1930 (two genera and two species); Diplocystidae Bhatia, 1930 (one genus and eight species); Allantocystidae tocystidae Bhatia, 1930 (one genus and one species); Schaudinnellidae Poche, 1913 (one genus and one species); Ganymedidae Huxley, 1910 (one genus and one species); and Enterocystidae Codreanu, 1940 (one genus and eight species). A list of 22 synonyms and lapsi calami is also given. Species which might be of value in the biological control of disease vectors are indicated.     

Quantitation of the involvement of the recA, recB, recC, recF, recJ, recN, lexA, radA, radB, uvrD, and umuC genes in the repair of X-ray-induced DNA double-strand breaks in Escherichia coli

Isogenic Escherichia coli strains carrying single DNA-repair mutations were compared for their capacity for (i) the repair of X-ray-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) as measured using neutral sucrose gradients; (ii) medium-dependent resistance, i.e., a recA-dependent X-ray survival phenomenon that correlates closely with the capacity for repairing DSB; and (iii) the growth medium-dependent, recA-dependent repair of X-ray-induced DNA single-strand breaks (SSB) as measured using alkaline sucrose gradients (about 80% of these SSB are actually parts of DSB). These three capacities were measured to quantitate more accurately the involvement of the various genes in the repair of DSB over a wide dose range. The mutations tested were grouped into five classes according to their effect on the repair of X-ray-induced DSB: (I) the recA, recB, recC, and lexA mutants were completely deficient; (II) the radB and recN mutants were about 90% deficient; (III) the recF and recJ mutants were about 70% deficient; (IV) the radA and uvrD mutants were about 30% deficient; and (V) the umuC mutant resembled the wild-type strains in its capacity for the repair of DSB.