牛背梁自然保护区羚牛的分布与数量

1998 年1～4 月对牛背梁国家级自然保护区内羚牛种群数量与分布做了调查, 结果表明, 保护区内有11 群羚牛, 总数量119～130 头(包括独牛) , 整个保护区内羚牛分布密度为0.007 3～0.007 9 头/ hm² 。在冬季, 羚牛分布于海拔1 900～2 700 m的5 块相互隔离的栖息地中, 以海拔2 200～2 600 m之间分布更为集中。在1981～1998 年的17 年间, 保护区内的羚牛种群分布范围在逐渐缩小; 从上世纪50 年代至90 年代, 羚牛最低的分布高度比历史分布高度至少上升了400 m。周边地区人为干扰、生境不断丧失和保护区内生境破碎化是导致羚牛分布现状最直接的原因。     

佛坪自然保护区羚牛的种群数量与结构特征

１９９６年对佛坪自然保护区内的羚牛种群进行了数量调查,结果表明,保护区内羚牛的数量为４３５～５２７只,种群密度达到１．２９～１．５６只／ｋｍ２。羚牛种群的成体雌雄个体之比约为１∶０．５,明显地偏向雌性。在羚牛种群中幼仔占１２．２４％,亚成体占３５．０３％,成年雄性个体占１７．３３％,成年雌性个体占３５．４０％。该羚牛种群在１９９１年至１９９６年间的年均增长率为１８．４８％,明显高于１９８４至１９９１年间羚牛种群的年均增长率。保护区周边地区的生境不断丧失,迫使羚牛向保护区境内迁移,是保护区内羚牛种群数量在短期内迅速升高的原因。     

气候变化背景下秦岭地区羚牛生境脆弱性评估及适应性保护对策

脆弱性是指物种受气候变化影响的程度,开展脆弱性评估工作有助于人类认识气候变化对野生动物的影响,为制定野生动物适应气候变化的保护对策提供科学依据。采用最大熵模型评估气候变化背景下秦岭地区羚牛（Budorcas taxicolor bedfordi）生境脆弱性。结果表明：（1）当前秦岭地区羚牛适宜生境总面积为6473 km²,到2050s年,预测秦岭地区羚牛适宜生境总面积为4217 km²,减少34.85%,羚牛适宜生境将向更高海拔地区转移,转移约210 m;（2）已建保护区覆盖49.82%当前羚牛适宜生境,尚有3248 km²的适宜生境处于保护区之外;到2050s年,保护区覆盖了43.87%适宜生境,尚有2367 km²的适宜生境未被保护;（3）到2050s年,当前分布在太白县、佛坪县、洋县和宁陕县等地区的3490 km²羚牛适宜生境将会成为生境脆弱区域,丧失53.92%;（4）分布在秦岭核心区域的2983 km²当前和2050s年保持不变适宜生境,将成为羚牛躲避气候变化的庇护所。基于研究结果,就未来羚牛应对气候变化的适应性保护对策提出以下几点建议：考虑将当前羚牛适宜生境纳入国家公园范围、构建适应性生态廊道、加强野生动物监测。     

黑龙江凤凰山国家级自然保护区野猪冬季容纳量及最适种群密度

近年黑龙江省凤凰山国家级自然保护区野猪数量不断增长,人猪冲突加剧,保护区资源保护管理工作面临较大管理压力.为确定野猪种群的实际数量,同时评估该保护区的野猪的容纳量水平,以便为保护区管理局针对野猪的管理提供相关指导意见.2009-2010年冬季,在保护区采用样带调查、雪地足迹链跟踪和观察食痕的方法,并结合已有野猪生态研究确定野猪食性.野猪主要食物种类包括:木贼(Equisetum hiemale)、红松(Pinus koraiensis)果实松籽、胡桃楸(Juglans mandshurica)果实核桃、蒙古栎(Quecusmongolica)果实橡子、稠李(Padus racemosa)、榛子(Corylus heterophlla)、苔草(Carex spp.)、辽东葱木(Aralia elata).研究期间共布设长3-5km、单侧宽度50m、总长134 km的样带30条.调查中,每隔200 m布设10 m×10 m的大样方,并在每个大样方中央及四角布设1 m×1 m的小样方,共布设大样方350个,小样方1 750个.通过样方调查,统计野猪栖息生境当年可食植物枝条及其食物种类,然后计算其食物的总供给量,再结合食物营养成分,通过粗蛋白、粗纤维、粗脂肪的能量转换,按照每克粗蛋白和粗纤维的能量转换系数为16.74kJ、每克粗脂肪的能量转换系数为37.66 kJ,确定野外生境食物总能量供给.结合野猪冬季日营养需求,以能量为基础估算保护区野猪的营养容纳量.在种群密度调查过程中,通过足迹链判断个体方法为:单一清晰足迹链确定为一个体所留,30m内多条足迹穿越同一样带被认为是一个野猪群所留,调查中根据个体分开时的足迹链数确定野猪个体数,同时将粪便、卧迹、啃食痕迹作为个体判断的辅助信息.研究结果表明:凤凰山保护区内能够提供的总能量为7.375 ×107MJ,冬季平均每头野猪生存所需能量为(14 677.698±409.92) MJ,野猪营养容纳量为(1 006±28)头,种群密度为(3.79±0.11)头/km2.此外,调查中发现30余个野猪套及2头野猪被猎杀现场,反应出当地的人猪冲突较为严重.结合调查中发现的野猪套数量及野猪被猎杀概率,对野猪种群数量引入20％的死亡风险系数.最终确定凤凰山野猪种群的最适数量在(603±17)头左右,最适密度为(2.27±0.06)头/km2.通过样带法调查得出凤凰山自然保护区实际野猪种群数量为(596±155)头,密度(2.24±0.58)头/km2,已趋近营养容纳量.因此,野猪并未过量,不能采取狩猎等降低种群数量的措施,同时保护区也应对野猪种群进行持续监控,防止野猪种群过度繁殖以至成灾.     

鄱阳湖保护区白琵鹭越冬种群分布

2007年10月至2010年3月3个冬季的调查显示,鄱阳湖国家级自然保护区白琵鹭(Platakakucorodia)种群数量在12月或1月达到峰值,3个越冬期最大种群数量分别为4 757只、10 385只和7 268只.大湖池、沙湖、常湖池是白琵鹭主要的栖息地,每个越冬期在这3个湖泊栖息的白琵鹭种群数量占保护区总数量的...     

秦岭东部羚牛越冬栖息地及其特征

1998 年1～4 月, 对牛背梁自然保护区内秦岭羚牛冬季栖息地做了调查研究。结果表明: 该区内共有5 块羚牛冬季栖息地, 呈斑块状分布, 总面积2 305 hm² , 占保护区总面积的14.04 %。羚牛对冬季栖息地选择的关键因子为地形(向阳、背风、相对比较平坦的亚高山台地) 、食物(大宗食物华桔竹和喜食食物杜鹃、腺柳等) 、水源(充足) 、隐蔽而相对较暖的环境(成熟针叶林和针阔混交林) , 以及便于逃避天敌的生境(密生华桔竹林) 。冷杉、华山松等的芽苞和树皮是羚牛冬季必需的食物。冷杉林是该处羚牛分布高度的标志植物和防御风雪寒冷的栖息场所。人类对原生森林植被的破坏, 限制了羚牛的分布及活动范围, 210 国道是保护区内东西两部分羚牛族群间相互扩散的主要障碍。因此促进森林植被的恢复和建立210 国道便于扩散的走廊, 是实现保护区内(尤其是东部地区) 羚牛能够长期生存繁衍十分重要的管理对策。     

气候因子和水位变化对鄱阳湖东方白鹳越冬种群数量的影响

分析了鄱阳湖国家级自然保护区1984—2011年东方白鹳越冬种群动态,探讨了其种群动态与气候和水位变化的相关性。结果表明,1984—2011年,保护区东方白鹳越冬种群数量平均为(1296±177)只,种群年间波动较大,但总体呈显著的线性增长趋势。保护区东方白鹳种群数量动态与鄱阳湖年最低水位、10月份平均水位、12月份平均水位存在显著负相关,这可能与冬季水位增加导致东方白鹳栖息地面积减小和人类干扰强度增大有关;保护区东方白鹳种群数量与越冬期11月份平均最低气温呈显著正相关,东方白鹳主要在11月份到达鄱阳湖,此时适宜的温度可能有利于提高东方白鹳食物资源的可获得性,迅速补充能量,并降低体温调节所需的能量消耗。逐步线性回归分析表明,鄱阳湖区11月份平均最低气温、前一年1月份高水位持续时间、前二年7月份高水位持续时间是保护区东方白鹳种群数量的显著预测因子,共同解释了保护区东方白鹳最大种群数量变化的78.3%。     

云南纳帕海自然保护区越冬猛禽考察初报

纳帕海自然保护区位于滇西北香格里拉县,是湿地鸟类迁徙途中停留觅食的“驿站”和越冬地。2006年冬至2007年春对保护区冬季猛禽资源进行了3次调查,共设4个观察点,采用瞬时扫描取样和目标取样法对各猛禽的状态行为、生境 利用和事件行为进行数据采集。共观察记录猛禽1目2科9种。猛禽种群分布和数量与保护区鸟类资源变化密切相关。白尾海雕和高山兀鹫的越冬行为主要是觅食、休息和运动。行为的变化受食物丰富度的影响明显。通过有效保护湿地内的环境、其它鸟类资源和科学管理,对本地区的猛禽资源保护有重要作用。     

用mtDNA序列探讨羚牛亚种分类(偶蹄目:牛科)

羚牛4个亚种在我国均有分布,且四川亚种和秦岭亚种是我国的特产动物,但对于分布于甘肃南部羚牛种群的亚种归属则有着不同的观点。本文就羚牛3个亚种的分类地位从线粒体DNA细胞色素b和D－Loop序列水平上进行探讨,分析结果基本支持形态学上的亚种划分,但甘肃南部羚牛种群在两个DNA片段上均与羚牛四川亚种存在着一定的差异,而与秦岭亚种则完全一致。结合羚牛地理分布特点,认为将分布于甘肃南部的羚牛种群划分为羚牛秦岭亚种可能更合适。     

景观因素对秦岭羚牛集群的影响

集群是有蹄类动物的社会行为和对环境变化的响应,是增加种群适合度的重要生存对策。有蹄动物集群机制的研究集中在食物资源和捕食者风险等因素,就栖息地景观特征对集群影响的研究开展较少。本研究以陕西桑园国家级自然保护区的秦岭羚牛(Budorcas taxicolor bedfordi)种群为对象,通过布设红外相机采集羚牛群的空间位置、年龄结构等信息并统计羚牛群个体数量,开展羚牛集群与坡度、海拔等地形因子之间的相关性分析,探讨影响羚牛集群机制的主要地形因子及其特征。结果表明：(1)坡度因子与集群大小显著相关(r=0.336,P=0.006),而羚牛集群大小与海拔、坡向因子之间均不相关。(2)坡度对7只及以下和7只以上的羚牛群的影响差异显著(P=0.015)。(3)7只及以下的羚牛群为以成体羚牛为主的混合群,雄性个体占比较高,喜选择坡度较小的环境(12.42°±0.21°),该区域物种间竞争大、植被组成相对丰富。7只以上的羚牛群为幼体比例较大的家群,雌性个体占比较高,喜选择坡度值较大的环境(22.02°±0.95°),所在区域种间竞争相对较小、植被组成相对简单。研究表明,坡度是影响秦岭羚牛集群规模、...     

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 tree, the network, and the species

To enrich the Hennigian internodal conception of species, a new formalization of the definition of the species concept is proposed. This rigorous definition allows for considerable unification of the various, and sometimes conflicting, techniques of species delimitation used in practice. First, the domain of such a definition is set out, namely, the set of all organisms on Earth, past, present, and future. Next, the focus is on the genealogical relationship among organisms, which provides the key to analysing the giant or global genealogical network (GGN) connecting all these organisms. This leads to the construction of an algorithm revealing the topological structure of the GGN, from families to lineages, ending up with a definition of species as equivalence classes of organisms corresponding to branches of the 'tree of life'. Such a theoretical definition of the species concept must be accompanied by various recognition criteria to be operational. These criteria are, for example, the ill-named 'biological species concepts', 'phylogenetic species concepts', etc., usually, but wrongly, presented as definitions of the species concept. Besides clarifying this disputed point, the definition in the present study displays the huge diversity of the scales (time-scale and population size) involved in actual species, thus explaining away the classical problems raised by previous attempts at defining the species concept (uniparental reproduction, temporal depth of species, and hybridization).  © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2006, 89 , 509–521.     

Formation of pyrophosphate,tripolyphosphate, and phosphorylimidazole with the thioester,N, S-diacetylcysteamine,as the condensing agent

Summary Reaction of 0.20M orthophosphate with 0.20M N,S-diacetylcysteamine in 0.40M imidazole at pH 7.0 or 8.0 under drying conditions at 50°C for 6 days yields pyrophosphate and tripolyphosphate in the presence and absence of 0.10M divalent metal ion. The efficiency of utilization of N,S-diacetylcysteamine in the formation of pyrophosphate linkages ranges from 3 – 8% under the above conditions. The thioester, N,S-diacetylcysteamine, and imidazole are required for phosphoanhydride formation.Reaction of 0.40M orthophosphate with 0.20M N, S-diacetylcysteamine in 0.40M imidazole at ambient temperature for 6 days yields phosphorylimidazole in the absence or presence of 0.05M MgCl₂. Phosphorylimidazole and pyrophosphate are formed in the presence of 0.05M CaCl₂; pyrophosphate and tripolyphosphate are formed with 0.15M CaCl₂. The efficiency of utilization of N,S-diacetylcysteamine in the formation of pyrophosphate linkages is roughly 7% at 6 days of reaction with 0.15M CaCl₂. The thioester, N,S-diacetylcysteamine and imidazole are required for the formation of phosphoanhydrides. The significance of these reactions to molecular evolution is discussed.Abbreviations P₁ orthophosphate - P₂ pyrophosphate - P₃ tripolyphosphate - ImP phosphorylimidazole - Ac-Csa(Ac) N, S-diacetylcysteamine - Im imidazole     

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.     

On the Position of the Genera Turdoides, Argya, Illadopsis, Neociehla, Ptyrticus, Maerosphenus and Pseudoaleippe in the Timaliidæ

Although in these five genera the long broad first primary and rounded wing agree with Timalia pileata, as does the profile of the bill of Argya fulvus and Argya rubiginosus, they do not do so in any other respect,. neither in their habits, nest and eggs, nor in the scutation of the tarsus. We therefore propose to remove them all from the Timaliidae and place them in two separate families, but leaving them in their present position in the classification as placed by Sclater in Syst. Av. Æthiop. ii. 1930.