Movement of sturgeons (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus and A. fulvescens) in the St. Lawrence Estuary: A 35-year tagging study

Movement of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) and lake sturgeon (A. fulvescens) in the St. Lawrence Estuary (Québec, Canada) are not fully understood. To assess the movement extent of both species, a mark–recapture study was conducted in collaboration with commercial fishermen operating in the St. Lawrence Estuary. Between 1981 and 2015, 3,367 Atlantic sturgeon (fork length 21.8–199.5 cm) and 3,180 lake sturgeon (fork length 17.8–190.8 cm) were tagged and released. Of these, 673 Atlantic sturgeon and 42 lake sturgeon were recaptured. The maximum distances traveled between capture and recapture locations were 1,307 km for Atlantic sturgeon (8 years after initial capture) and 252 km for lake sturgeon (less than 1 year after initial capture). Statistical analyses identified differences in the dispersal distance of both species as revealed by a first component characterized by individuals with short dispersal distances (98% and <35 km for Atlantic sturgeon; 58% and <1 km for lake sturgeon) and a second component characterized by individuals with longer dispersal distances (2% and >600 km for Atlantic sturgeon; 42% and >190 km for lake sturgeon). We suggest that the short dispersal distances detected in the vast majority of Atlantic sturgeon recaptures likely reflect strong site fidelity, highlighting the importance of the St. Lawrence Estuary as a preferred habitat for juveniles and subadults. Although recaptures were low for lake sturgeon because this species is only marginally targeted by commercial fishermen in the St. Lawrence Estuary, our results also showed that this species uses estuarine habitats and that half of the population seems to exhibit strong site fidelity (67% of individuals were recaptured within 2 km).     

The pollination seesaw of Rhynchospora cephalotes (L.) Vahl (Cyperaceae): Influence of plant location on the role of wind and insects as pollen vectors

Ambophily (wind and insect pollination) has been reported for some genera of the typically wind-pollinated family Cyperaceae, including the genus Rhynchospora. The significance of wind and insect pollination can vary, depending on local microclimatic conditions. Rhynchospora cephalotes is an ambophilous species that can grow under different environmental conditions, either along forest edges or inside forest fragments. This study, therefore, tests the hypothesis that (a) there is greater contribution by wind than insects to fruit set of the individuals at the forest edge and (b) there is greater contribution by insects than wind to fruit set of the individuals inside the forest. Field work was carried out in a fragment of Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil. We quantified the number of visits by insects, wind velocity and the reproductive success (fruit set) of R. cephalotes provided by wind and insects through exclusion experiments performed at the edge of and inside the forest. We observed a greater number of visits per day by pollinating bees to individuals inside the forest (36.83 ± 7.46) than to individuals at the edge (16.66 ± 6.53). The wind speed was significantly higher at the edge (1.71 ± 0.46 m/s) than inside the forest (0.97 ± 0.18 m/s). Bees and wind are both pollen vectors of R. cephalotes, but bees were the pollen vector that contributed most to fruit set (63.3%) for individuals inside the forest, whereas wind was the primary vector for individuals at the forest edge (76.6%). This seesaw in importance of each pollen vector in the two different environments guarantees high fruit set in R. cephalotes under different microclimatic conditions.     

华北低山丘陵区常用树种木质部解剖特征及水其力学抗旱性

木本植物木质部解剖特征与水分运输和干旱适应策略密切相关,但目前对华北低山丘陵区常用树种这方面的研究仍然不足。为研究这一地区植物木质部解剖特征与抗旱性的关系,研究以抗旱树种和非抗旱树种各5种为研究对象,通过测定与木质部横截面导管、薄壁组织相关的大量解剖学性状和非结构性碳浓度,比较两类树种木质部解剖特征的差异和解剖性状间的关联,以探究这些树种水力学的干旱适应策略差异。结果显示:1)10个树种的16个木质部性状均有较大变异性;2)两类树种间的平均导管直径和导管密度无显著差异,但抗旱树种导管壁厚度、最大导管直径、旁管薄壁组织比例和轴向薄壁组织比例以及非结构性碳(NSC)浓度显著大于非抗旱树种;3)抗旱树种的导管壁厚度与平均导管直径、最大导管直径和潜在最大导水率均呈显著正相关关系,最大导管直径与潜在最大导水率呈显著正相关关系,但非抗旱树种不存在这些关系。本研究抗旱树种同时具有较大的最大导管直径和较厚的导管壁,在保证较高的水分运输效率的同时又具备一定的抗栓塞能力,较多的旁管薄壁组织和NSC也为抗旱树种提供了更大的木质部水储存和栓塞修复能力。     

黄淮平原农业景观不同生境鸟类多样性特征及年际动态

鸟类是地球生物多样性中的重要组成部分,在生态系统功能和服务中发挥着重要作用,是生态环境变化的重要指示物种。农业景观中的食虫鸟类提供了重要的虫害控制服务。当前,农业景观中鸟类多样性丧失加剧,为探讨鸟类多样性在各生境以及年际间的变化,以黄淮平原为研究区,在河流、湖泊、农田、村庄等生境中共设置20个样点。于2016-2019年连续4年在繁殖期采用样线法对鸟类进行多样性调查。调查结果显示：（1）共发现22922只个体,分属14目,38科,53属。从区系分布来看,各生境各年间均以广布种为主;从生态类群来看,鸣禽占绝对优势;从居留型来看,留鸟所占比例最高。（2）在食性组成上,从物种丰富度看,食虫鸟类有57种,约占总物种数的77%;从个体数来看,杂食性鸟类占比超52%。（3）物种丰富度、多样性和均匀度指数最高值均出现在湖泊或河流生境中。（4）鸟类群落相似性分析显示,各生境间鸟类群落均为中等相似程度;鸟类物种丰富度波动幅度在农田和村庄中呈逐年上升趋势。（5）物种多样性加性拆分分析显示,在生境尺度上,局地的α多样性是生物多样性的最重要组成,而从整个研究区来看,生境间的差异则更为重要。造成鸟类多样性时空差异的原因复杂多样,而生境异质性的增加和水域的存在对提高鸟类多样性是具有积极作用的。调查中超过77%的物种和40%的个体均为食虫鸟类,应当充分重视鸟类为区域农业景观提供的虫害控制服务。本研究可为区域鸟类多样性保护及鸟类提供的生态系统服务的提升管理提供理论基础和科学依据。     

A South American snake lineage from the Eocene Greenhouse of North America and a reappraisal of the fossil record of “anilioid” snakes

“Anilioidea” is a likely paraphyletic assemblage of pipe snakes that includes extant Aniliidae from equatorial South America, Uropeltoidea from South and Southeast Asia, and a fossil record that consists primarily of isolated precloacal vertebrae ranging from the earliest Late Cretaceous and includes geographic distributions in North America, South America, Europe, and Africa. Articulated precloacal vertebrae from the middle Eocene Bridger Formation of Wyoming, attributed to Borealilysia nov. gen., represent an unambiguous North American aniliid record and prompts a reconsideration of described pipe snakes and their resultant biogeographic histories. On the basis of vertebral apomorphies, the vast majority of reported fossils cannot be assigned to “Anilioidea”. Instead, most records represent stem taxa and macrostomatans erroneously assigned to anilioids on the basis of generalized features associated with fossoriality. A revised fossil record demonstrates that the only extralimital distributions of fossil “anilioids” consist of the North American aniliid record, and there is no unambiguous fossil record of Old World taxa. The occurrence of aniliids in the mid-high latitudes of the late early Eocene of North America is consistent with histories of northward shifts in equatorial ecosystems during the early Paleogene Greenhouse.     

A safe haven for potential reproductive aggregations of the critically endangered Brazilian guitarfish (Pseudobatos horkelii)

Brazilian endemic batoid elasmobranch populations have declined dramatically in the past 40 years due to anthropic activities (e.g., overfishing). The Brazilian guitarfish, Pseudobatos horkelii, included in the IUCN red list of endangered species [Critically Endangered (CR)], has been captured as by-catch by trawling fishing boats to the edge of extinction. Despite governmental conservation initiatives, the species is still caught and commercialized along the Brazilian coast. In this study, the authors report three rare aggregation events for the Brazilian coast of P. horkelii, inside the only nearshore no-entry Brazilian marine protected area. Strategies for its protection are also discussed.     

Overwintering and migration behaviour of post-spawned Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in a large hydropower-regulated river and reservoir

Tracking 47 post-spawned adult Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. in a hydropower-regulated river through autumn, winter and spring revealed that winter survival was 56% and 75% in two study years, respectively, with higher mortality of males than females (50% vs. 33% and 100% vs. 13%, respectively). Some kelts (n = 7) displayed nondirected movements that were interpreted as a reconditioning period for an average of 9–17 days prior to directed downstream movements indicating the initiation of migration. Survival after the initiation of migration in spring was 83% and 94% to the hydropower dam in the first and second study years, and decreased to 60 and 63%, respectively, after dam passage. There were no further losses in the downriver reach in the second year, with the first year having a cumulative survival estimate of 53% to the river mouth. Kelts approached the dam when the spillway gates were available as a passage option most of the time (64%–75%), but some kelts arrived at the dam or had not yet passed when spillways were closed (n = 6) and the only remaining passage option was restricted to the turbines. However, all but one kelt that must have passed via turbine were successful in reaching the river mouth. Migratory delay presumably due to searching behaviour caused by low water flow was estimated at approximately 6 days as migration rates were significantly slower in the reservoir (median ± s.e. 8.5 ± 2.5 km day⁻¹) than up- (29.7 ± 5.0 km day⁻¹) or downriver (22.1 ± 3.1 km day⁻¹). The proportion of time (median 30%) that kelts spent swimming upstream (searching behaviour) in the reservoir was a significant variable for migration success.     

Effects of age,sex, and ENSO phase on foraging and flight performance in Nazca boobies

Age‐related changes in survival and reproduction are common in seabirds; however, the underlying causes remain elusive. A lack of experience for young individuals, and a decline in foraging performance for old birds, could underlie age‐related variation in reproduction because reproductive success is connected closely to provisioning offspring. For seabirds, flapping flight during foraging trips is physiologically costly; inexperience or senescent decline in performance of this demanding activity might cap delivery of food to the nest, providing a proximate explanation for poor breeding success in young and old age, respectively. We evaluated the hypothesis that young and old Nazca boobies (Sula granti), a Galápagos seabird, demonstrate deficits in foraging outcomes and flight performance. We tagged incubating male and female adults across the life span with both accelerometer and GPS loggers during the incubation periods of two breeding seasons (years), during the 2015 El Niño and the following weak La Niña. We tested the ability of age, sex, and environment to explain variation in foraging outcomes (e.g., mass gained) and flight variables (e.g., wingbeat frequency). Consistent with senescence, old birds gained less mass while foraging than middle‐aged individuals, a marginal effect, and achieved a slower airspeed late in a foraging trip. Contrary to expectations, young birds showed no deficit in foraging outcomes or flight performance, except for airspeed (contingent on environment). Young birds flew slower than middle‐aged birds in 2015, but faster than middle‐aged birds in 2016. Wingbeat frequency, flap–glide ratio, and body displacement (approximating wingbeat strength) failed to predict airspeed and were unaffected by age. Sex influenced nearly all aspects of performance. Environment affected flight performance and foraging outcomes. Boobies'' foraging outcomes were better during the extreme 2015 El Niño than during the 2016 weak La Niña, a surprising result given the negative effects tropical seabirds often experience during extreme El Niños.