EP-1 不育剂对长爪沙鼠野生种群增长的控制作用

长爪沙鼠在内蒙古地区的分布非常广泛,长期以来由其造成的“鼠害” 不仅给农牧业生产带来危害,而且还传播疾病。2009 年3 ～ 10 月,在内蒙古鄂尔多斯荒漠草原,利用复合不育剂左炔诺孕酮- 炔雌醚(EP-1)
对长爪沙鼠野生种群进行了不育控制试验研究。结果表明,复合不育剂EP-1 对长爪沙鼠种群结构和种群密度均有显著影响,在5 月和6 月两个繁殖高峰期,不育剂EP-1 显著降低了幼体出生的数量,实验区与对照区幼体组
成差异和成体组成差异均达到极显著(P < 0.01)。在8 ～ 10 月,实验区和对照区种群结构组成中,幼体之间、成体之间差异均达到显著和极显著(P < 0.05, P < 0.01)。在整个发育生长期,实验区长爪沙鼠幼体种群从6 月
份开始出现,9 月达到数量最高值,幼体种群全年呈现下降趋势。而对照区幼体种群从5 月份开始出现,且数量在5 月份达到全年的最高值,幼体种群与实验区相反呈增长趋势。实验区种群总体数量全年呈下降趋势,而对
照区相反,呈增长趋势。因此,复合不育剂EP-1 显著降低了长爪沙鼠种群的繁殖率、幼体出生比例和种群密度,可以对长爪沙鼠野生种群起到有效的繁殖控制作用,进而降低该鼠对农牧业生产的危害和对人类疾病传播
的风险。     

额济纳荒漠绿洲植物群落的数量分类及其与地下水环境的关系分析

为了科学地评价和预测生态输水对额济纳荒漠绿洲天然植被的影响, 亟需掌握额济纳荒漠绿洲的植物群落类型, 建立植被-环境因子的响应关系。该研究对额济纳荒漠绿洲的植物群落展开调查, 获取植物群落特征、分布状况及地下水环境数据, 应用双向指示种分析方法(TWINSPAN)对群落进行分类, 采用无偏对应分析(DCA)、无偏典范对应分析(DCCA)方法对群落进行排序, 得出额济纳荒漠绿洲主要植物群落类型, 以及影响植被类型变化和分布的地下水环境因子。研究结果表明: (1)采用TWINSPAN数量分类方法, 将植被划分为芦苇+杂类草(Ass. Phragmites australis + herbs)、胡杨-红柳+杂类草(Ass. Populus euphratica-Tamarix ramosissima + herbs)、沙枣-红柳+杂类草(Ass. Elaeagnus angustifolia-Tamarix ramosissima + herbs)、红柳-杂类草(Ass. Tamarix ramosissima-herbs)、花花柴-白刺+沙蒿+沙拐枣(Ass. Karelinia caspica-Nitraria tangutorum + Artemisia sp. + Calligonum sp.)、麻黄-红砂+白刺+骆驼刺(Ephedra przewalskii-Reaumuria soongorica + Nitraria tangutorum + Alhagi sparsifolia)等6个主要植物群丛; (2)对于额济纳荒漠绿洲这一特定的研究区域, 制约群落类型、植被分布格局的主要地下水因子为地下水埋深; (3)对群落产生显著影响的地下水环境因子主要有地下水埋深、pH、盐分、矿化度、电导率、HCO₃^-等6个变量。DCCA排序图明显反映出排序轴的生态意义, 第1轴突出反映了群落所在环境的地下水埋深, 沿第1轴从右到左, 地下水埋深逐渐增大, 群落的盐分及矿化度亦呈明显的增加趋势, 群丛依次从类型I到VI逐渐演变。额济纳三角洲作为干旱区的荒漠绿洲, 有着明显的特点: 植物群落组成的生物多样性趋于贫乏化和单一化, 生态结构简单, 植被稀疏, 种类单一, 群落覆盖度较低, 群落格局分异明显。地下水埋深变化是群落物种及类型变化的主要原因。     

准噶尔盆地荒漠区赤狐的食性分析

<正>赤狐(Vulpes vulpes)隶属于哺乳纲、食肉目、犬科、狐属,广泛分布于欧亚大陆、非洲北部和北美大陆,在我国也广布各地(高耀亭等,1987;马世来等,2001)。国内外有关赤狐的研究主要集中在洞穴结构(Nakazono and Ono,1987;贾竞波和萧前柱,1990;贾竞波等,1991;贾竞波和马建章,1992;周文扬和魏万红,1995;张洪海等,1999)和巢域选择等方面(Nakazono and Ono,1987;周文扬和魏万红,1995;张洪海等,1999;Frey and Conover,2006;Keith et al.,2007),而针对赤狐食性的研究主要集中在森林草原或苔原环境,如瑞典(Elmhagen et al.,2002)、立陶宛(Laima,2002)及匈牙利(Lanszki et al.,2006,2007)等。     

Environmental heterogeneity and habitat use of the red viscacha rat in drylands of west-central Argentina

Environmental heterogeneity shapes the traits of natural populations, including space use and burrowing behavior. We studied the red viscacha rat (Tympanoctomys barrerae), a semifossorial rodent with patchy distribution in drylands of west-central Argentina, to provide ecological data on habitat and burrow features of this specialist species. We collected data on 165 burrows and 55 individuals from 2017–2018 and observed correlations between different vegetation types, vegetation diversity, and physical attributes (e.g., soil hardness). A high number of individual red viscacha rats was negatively associated with herbs. The number of burrow entrances was positively associated with harder soils and negatively associated with vegetation cover. Our results suggest that the species' patchy distribution is strongly associated with environmental heterogeneity of these arid environments, and consequently provide an essential step towards conserving their populations across their geographic range.     

塔克拉玛干沙漠腹地胡杨林土壤细菌多样性分析

【目的】对塔克拉玛干沙漠腹地胡杨林土壤细菌多样性进行初步探索,为下一步从中筛选可用于生物饲料或生物肥料的微生物奠定基础。【方法】采用可培养方法,进行细菌的分离纯化。对各菌株进行革兰氏染色及淀粉酶、酯酶、纤维素酶和NaCl耐受浓度的测定,并提取各菌株基因组DNA,进行16SrRNA基因扩增、测序及系统进化树的绘制,分析其多样性。【结果】共分离得到27株菌,其中放线菌门(Actinobacteria)16株,变形菌门(Proteobacteria)4株,厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)6株,拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)1株。革兰氏染色结果表明,5株菌为革兰氏阴性,其余为革兰氏阳性;酶活测定结果表明,15株菌具有淀粉酶活性,9株菌具有酯酶活性,9株菌具有纤维素酶活性;NaCl耐受浓度测定结果显示,NaCl浓度为2%时所有菌株均能生长,5%时能生长的有22株,15%时能生长的有1株。【结论】塔克拉玛干沙漠腹地胡杨林土壤中存在较丰富的细菌类群,且具有一定的酶学活性和NaCl耐受性,具有进一步研究开发的价值。     

Potential growth and drought tolerance of eight desert grasses: lack of a trade-off?

Eight perennial C-4 grasses from the Jornada del Muerto Basin in southern New Mexico show five-fold differences in relative growth rates under well- watered conditions (RGR_max). In a controlled environment, we tested the hypothesis that there is an inverse relationship (trade-off) between RGR_max and the capacity of these species to tolerate drought. We examined both physiological (gas exchange) and morphological (biomass allocation, leaf properties) determinants of growth for these eight species under three steady-state drought treatments (none=control, moderate, and severe). When well watered, the grasses exhibited a large interspecific variation in growth, which was reflected in order-of-magnitude biomass differences after 5 weeks. The species had similar gas-exchange characteristics, but differed in all the measured allocation and morphological characteristics, namely tiller mass and number, root:shoot ratio, dry-matter content, and specific leaf area (SLA). Drought affected tillering, morphology, and allocation, and reduced growth by 50 and 68% (moderate and severe drought, respectively) compared to the well-watered controls. With the exception of SLA, none of these variables showed a significant species-by-treatment interaction. We calculated three indices of drought tolerance, defined as the ratio in final biomass between all the possible ”dry”/”wet” treatment pairs: severe/moderate, moderate/control, and severe/control. We found no significant correlation between these drought tolerance indices, on the one hand, and three indices of growth potential (greenhouse RGR_max, final biomass in the control treatment, and final:initial biomass ratio in controls), on the other. Based on these controlled-environment results, we hypothesize that the commonly reported correlation between plant growth potential and drought tolerance in the field may in some cases be explained by differential effects of plants on soil-water content rather than by differences in species responses to drought. Received: 10 March 1999 / Accepted: 8 November 1999     

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Zephyranthes phycelloides (Amaryllidaceae,tribe Hippeastreae) from Atacama region of Chile

Sporadic rains in the Atacama Desert reveal a high biodiversity of plant species that only occur there. One of these rare species is the “Red añañuca” (Zephyranthes phycelloides), formerly known as Rhodophiala phycelloides. Many species of Zephyranthes in the Atacama Desert are dangerously threatened, due to massive extraction of bulbs and cutting of flowers. Therefore, studies of the biodiversity of these endemic species, which are essential for their conservation, should be conducted sooner rather than later. There are some chloroplast genomes available for Amaryllidaceae species, however there is no complete chloroplast genome available for any of the species of Zephyranthes subgenus Myostemma. The aim of the present work was to characterize and analyze the chloroplast of Z. phycelloides by NGS sequencing. The chloroplast genome of the Z. phycelloides consists of 158,107 bp, with typical quadripartite structures: a large single copy (LSC, 86,129 bp), a small single copy (SSC, 18,352 bp), and two inverted repeats (IR, 26,813 bp). One hundred thirty-seven genes were identified: 87 coding genes, 8 rRNA, 38 tRNA and 4 pseudogenes. The number of SSRs was 64 in Z. phycelloides and a total of 43 repeats were detected. The phylogenetic analysis of Z. phycelloides shows a distinct subclade with respect to Z. mesochloa. The average nucleotide variability (Pi) between Z. phycelloides and Z. mesochloa was of 0.02000, and seven loci with high variability were identified: psbA, trnS^GCU-trnG^UCC, trnD^GUC-trnY^GUA, trnL^UAA-trnF^GAA, rbcL, psbE-petL and ndhG-ndhI. The differences between the species are furthermore confirmed by the high amount of SNPs between these two species. Here, we report for the first time the complete cp genome of one species of the Zephyranthes subgenus Myostemma, which can be used for phylogenetic and population genomic studies.     

The trans-generational phase accumulation in the desert locust: Morphometric changes and extra molting

To understand the underlying trans-generational phase accumulation, a classical morphometric characteristic, the F/C ratio (F, hind femur length; C, maximum head width), of adult desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) was monitored over eight consecutive generations. Adult F/C ratios, which are larger in solitarious locusts than in gregarious ones, were negatively correlated to the darkness of body color at hatching. Two successive generations were required for a complete shift from the gregarious (crowd-reared) to the solitarious (isolated-reared) phase and vice versa in the laboratory. That is (1) female adults needed to be exposed to crowded (or isolated) conditions so that their hatchlings would become large (or small) and dark (or green) in color, and (2) the hatchlings then needed to be exposed to crowded (or isolated) conditions for their entire nymphal stage. Solitarious locusts exhibited extra molting that influenced the F/C ratio in the adult stage, but did not exert significant influences on the trans-generational changes in this trait because the incidence was low. The incidence of extra molting was negatively correlated with nymphal survival rates. The morphometric trans-generational changes may be explained without assuming any accumulating internal factor.