噪音环境下花臭蛙求偶鸣声特征分析

2012年7月份,在黄山浮溪地区利用超声录音设备录制并分析了繁殖季节雄性花臭蛙(Odorrana schmackeri)个体的求偶鸣声。观察发现花臭蛙繁殖活动主要集中在7月中旬,繁殖高峰期活动无昼夜规律,全天均可见求偶鸣叫及抱对产卵等行为,并且多在浅水滩处活动。花臭蛙鸣声根据音节数和声谱特征可分为4种类型:即单音节音、婴儿音、双音节音和多音节断奏音,其中,单音节音、双音节音和婴儿音较为常见。利用Selena软件给出4种声音的语图以及各自对应的能谱图,利用Sound Analysis pro v1.2对单音节音、双音节音和婴儿音的鸣声特征参数进行定量分析,分析的声音参数包括鸣叫持续时间、音节数、音节持续时间、音节间隔、主频、脉冲率等。结果表明,花臭蛙鸣声的主频范围为1.8~4.5 k Hz(n=65)。鸣声不包括超声组分,主频峰值(3.1±0.7)k Hz,与前人电生理实验所得花臭蛙听觉敏感峰值一致,说明花臭蛙主要在这一频段进行通讯。对3种常见鸣叫音声音参数的单因素方差分析结果表明,双音节音与单音节音和婴儿音在声音持续时间上存在显著性差异(P0.01),双音节音和单音节音在第二谐波声强上也具有显著性差异(P=0.01)。花臭蛙的双音节音在3种常见鸣叫音中具有最长的持续时间,为(99.5±8.4)ms,故推测,双音节音为花臭蛙繁殖期主要求偶鸣声,并通过其鸣声时长的变化来体现自身品质的好坏。     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Paradevosia shaoguanensis</Emphasis> gen. nov., sp. nov., Isolated from a Coking Wastewater

A Gram staining negative, rod-shaped, aerobic bacterial strain J5-3^T with a single polar flagellum was isolated from coking wastewater collected from Shaoguan, Guangdong, China. It was motile and capable of optimal growth at pH 6–8, 30 °C, and 0–2 % (w/v) NaCl. Its predominant fatty acids were 11-methyl C_18:1 ω7c (29.2 %), C_16:0 (20.6 %), C_19:0 cyclo ω8c (18.2 %), C_18:0 (11.0 %), and C_18:1 ω7c/C_18:1 ω6c (10.9 %) when grown on trypticase soy agar. The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, two unknown glycolipids (GL1, GL2), and two unknown phospholipid (PL1, PL2). The predominant ubiquinone was Q-10, and the genome DNA G+C content was 61.7 mol %. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain J5-3^T belonged to the family Hyphomicrobiaceae in Alphaproteobacteria. It shared the 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 93.8–96.1 % with the genus Devosia, 94.5–94.8 % with the genus Pelagibacterium, and <92.0 % with all the other type strains in family Hyphomicrobiaceae. It can be distinguished from the closest phylogenetic neighbors based on several phenotypic and genotypic features, including α-galactosidase activity, tetracycline susceptibility, major fatty acid composition, polar lipid profile, DNA gyrase B subunit (gyrB) gene sequence, and random-amplified polymorphic DNA profile. Therefore, we consider strain J5-3^T to represent a novel species of a novel genus within the family Hyphomicrobiaceae, for which the name Paradevosia shaoguanensis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Paradevosia shaoguanensis is J5-3^T (=CGMCC 1.12430^T =LMG 27409^T).     

Biochar amendment to soils impairs developmental and reproductive performances of a major rice pest Nilaparvata lugens (Homopera: Delphacidae)

Biochar amendments to soils had aroused much interest for having potential for greenhouse gas mitigation, soil improvement and increased crop productivity. However, little attention had been focused on the influence of biochar amendments on herbivorous insect pests. This study investigated whether a biochar amendment affected developmental and reproductive performances of the rice brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) feeding on rice plants. The biochar from the pyrolysis of wheat straw was used for treatments of soils (from a fallow rice field), and the treated soils were applied to grow rice seedlings in small vials, in which N. lugens life history was observed. The nymphal development time was delayed and nymph‐to‐adult survival decreased with a high level of 200 g/kg biochar application. Herbivore lifetime fecundity decreased with increasing amounts of biochar, from 256 eggs under the control down to 69 eggs under the high level (200 g/kg) of biochar application. Egg‐hatching rate significantly decreased at the highest biochar level (200 g/kg), compared to the other lower biochar levels. Our results suggest that biochar amendment to rice fields may have negative impacts on the rice brown planthoppers when applied at level of 200 g/kg of soil.     

The trophic responses of two different rodent–vector–plague systems to climate change

Plague, the causative agent of three devastating pandemics in history, is currently a re-emerging disease, probably due to climate change and other anthropogenic changes. Without understanding the response of plague systems to anthropogenic or climate changes in their trophic web, it is unfeasible to effectively predict years with high risks of plague outbreak, hampering our ability for effective prevention and control of the disease. Here, by using surveillance data, we apply structural equation modelling to reveal the drivers of plague prevalence in two very different rodent systems: those of the solitary Daurian ground squirrel and the social Mongolian gerbil. We show that plague prevalence in the Daurian ground squirrel is not detectably related to its trophic web, and that therefore surveillance efforts should focus on detecting plague directly in this ecosystem. On the other hand, plague in the Mongolian gerbil is strongly embedded in a complex, yet understandable trophic web of climate, vegetation, and rodent and flea densities, making the ecosystem suitable for more sophisticated low-cost surveillance practices, such as remote sensing. As for the trophic webs of the two rodent species, we find that increased vegetation is positively associated with higher temperatures and precipitation for both ecosystems. We furthermore find a positive association between vegetation and ground squirrel density, yet a negative association between vegetation and gerbil density. Our study thus shows how past surveillance records can be used to design and improve existing plague prevention and control measures, by tailoring them to individual plague foci. Such measures are indeed highly needed under present conditions with prevailing climate change.