Cytogeographical study of four aneuploids ofCarex oxyandra Kudo in Japan

Chromosome numbers were determined for 342 clones ofCarex oxyandra collected from 35 localities in Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, Japan. Four intraspecific aneuploids, 2n=18, 20, 24 and 26, were found. In meiotic division, only bivalent chromosomes were observed in all clones at metaphases I and II, suggesting that the aneuploids are established gamodemes. In the mitotic metaphase chromosomes, trimodal variation in chromosome length was observed. The 2n=26 clones found on Mt. Hiko had two particularly small chromosomes. The cytodemes with higher number of chromosomes are distributed in more southern areas of Japan.Carex oxyandra, therefore, accompanied with chromosome fragmentations, might spread the geographical distribution to the southern parts. The morphological characters of leaves, spikes, scales, perigynia and nuts were similar among the four cytodemes, except for the small leaves on plants from Yaku Island.     

数学模型与自然保护科学

日益加剧的人类干扰和景观破碎化已危及全球的生物多样性。自然保护成为人类所面临的最重要也最富有挑战性的任务。指导这一实践的理论和原则极为需要。本文试图综述与自然保护科学有关的几个学科在理论和实际研究(尤其是模型)方面的近期成果以及发展趋势,从而提出自然保护模型的发展方向。文中涉猎基于不同方法论、不同组织水平的模型,并对数学模型在自然保护科学中的作用和实用性加以讨论。     

Controlled experiments of habitat fragmentation: a simple computer simulation and a test using small mammals

Habitat fragmentation involves a reduction in the effective area available to a population and the imposition of hard patch edges. Studies seeking to measure effects of habitat fragmentation have compared populations in fragments of different size to estimate and area effect but few have examined the effect of converting open populations to closed ones (an effect of edges). To do so requires a shift in spatial scope-from comparison of individual fragments to that of fragmented versus unfragmented landscapes. Here we note that large-scale, controlled studies of habitat fragmentation have rarely been performed and are needed. In making our case we develop a simple computer simulation model based on how individual animals with home ranges are affected by the imposition of habitat edges, and use it to predict population-level responses to habitat fragmentation. We then compare predictions of the model with results from a field experiment on Peromyscus and Microtus. Our model treats the case where home ranges/territories fall entirely within or partially overlap with that of sample areas in continuous landscapes, but are restricted to areas within habitat fragments in impacted landscapes. Results of the simulations demonstrate that the imposition of hard edges can produce different population abundances for similar-sized areas in continuous and fragmented landscapes. This edge effect is disproportionately greater in small than large fragments and for species with larger than smaller home ranges. These predictions were generally supported by our field experiment. We argue that large-scale studies of habitat fragmentation are sorely needed, and that control-experiment contrasts of fragmented and unfragmented microlandscapes provide a logical starting point.     

Habitat selection by capercaillie in summer and autumn: Is bilberry important?

The use of habitat by female and male adult capercaillie Tetrao urogallus during summer and autumn was studied by comparing the distribution of radio locations of birds with the availability of habitat at forest stand, home range and landscape level in an area of the Bavarian Alps, Germany. Capercaillie preferred forests with structural features typical of their main distribution range, the boreal forest: they selected large patches of old forest with moderate canopy cover of about 50%, and a well developed field layer with high proportions of bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus. Hens selected both home ranges and sites within home ranges in old forest. Ranges selected by cocks did not differ from availability in the study area, but they preferred old forest within their ranges. The size of home ranges was negatively related to bilberry cover both in hens and cocks. The distribution of bilberry also determined habitat use by capercaillie at the landscape scale. The study demonstrated that bilberry is the major determinant of the selection of habitat by capercaillie in landscapes with sparse and fragmentary cover of ericaceous shrubs, such as central Europe.     

Induction of apoptosis and c-myc in L1210 lymphocytic leukemia cells by adenosine

High concentrations of adenosine (Ado), when added to L1210 lymphocytic leukemia cells, resulted in apoptosis or programmed cell death. The apoptotic process was accompanied by distinct morphological changes including chromatin condensation and blebbing of plasma membranes. Extensive DNA fragmentation was correlated with Ado concentrations. Furthermore, apoptosis in these cells was preceded by an early but transient expression of c-myc proto-oncogene, and was not influenced by homocysteine thiolactone added to the cells. Since severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is associated with a deficiency of adenosine deaminase, leading to defects in both cellular and humoral immunity, Ado-induced apoptosis may thus be a contributing factor in the pathology of SCID.     

The decline of tree diversity on newly isolated tropical islands: A test of a null hypothesis and some implications

Summary Six islands, each less than a hectare in area, were isolated in about 1913 from the mainland of central Panamá by the rising waters of Gatun Lake. By 1980, the diversity of trees on all but one of these islands was far lower than on mainland plots of comparable size. A restricted subset of tree species has spread on these islands, notablyProtium panamense, Scheelea zonensis, Oenocarpus panamanus andSwartzia simplex. We constructed a null model to predict how chance would change tree diversity and the similarity of tree species compositions of different islands, assuming that each mature tree has equal chances of dying and/or reproducing, regardless of its species. This model cannot account for the diminished diversity of the changes in vegetation on these islands: some factors must be favoring a particular set of tree species.Two factors, exposure to wind and absence of mammals, seem needed to bring about the vegetation changes observed on these small islands. Their vegetation shows many signs of wind damage and of adaptation to resist wind, reflecting its exposure to dry season winds and storm winds sweeping across the lake from the west. Their most common tree species appear to have spread because mammals rarely visit these small and isolated islands. Seed of these common species are normally much eaten by mammals and do not need burial by mammals to escape insect attack.A thorough grasp of plant—animal interactions is needed to understand the events that have taken place on these islands. Identifying those keystone animals essential for maintaining plant diversity is a necessary element of reserve design and forest management in the tropics.The US government has the right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright covering this paper.     

The role of apoptosis in antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity

Apoptosis in three lymphoma cell lines has been studied following cytotoxicity induced in vitro by normal human blood lymphocytes utilizing either natural killer (NK) or antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxic (ADCC) mechanisms. Guinea-pig L₂C leukaemic lymphocytes, but not the human cell lines Daudi and Jurkat, revealed a degree of time- and temperature-dependent apoptotic death upon simple culture in vitro. NK cytotoxicity at low effector: target ratios (E: T) induced both release of⁵¹Cr and apoptosis. However NK cytotoxicity at higher E : T, and ADCC at all E : T, increased the level of⁵¹Cr release while reducing the level of apoptosis. The findings were consistent with the apoptotic process being cut short by intervention of necrotic death. The same characteristics accompanied ADCC whether the effectors were recruited by Fc regions of antibody coating the targets, or by bispecific antibodies attaching one arm to the targets and the other to Fc receptors type III on effectors. This finding, and the high level of cytotoxicity elicited by the bispecific method, confirm the belief that NK cells, in addition to exerting NK cytotoxicity, represent the principal effectors for ADCC among blood mononuclear cells. Our results suggest that NK cells have both apoptotic and necrotic mechanisms available for killing their targets, but use only the latter for ADCC.     

Upper thermal limits predict herpetofaunal responses to forest edge and cover

Amphibians and reptiles are sensitive to changes in the thermal environment, which varies considerably in human-modified landscapes. Although it is known that thermal traits of species influence their distribution in modified landscapes, how herpetofauna respond specifically to shifts in ambient temperature along forest edges remains unclear. This may be because most studies focus on local-scale metrics of edge exposure, which only account for a single edge or habitat patch. We predicted that accounting for the combined effect of multiple habitat edges in a landscape would best explain herpetofaunal response to thermally mediated edge effects. We (1) surveyed herpetofauna at two lowland, fragmented forest sites in central Colombia, (2) measured the critical thermal maximum (CT_max) of the species sampled, (3) measured their edge exposure at both local and landscape scales, and (4) created a thermal profile of the landscape itself. We found that species with low CT_max occurred both further from forest edges and in areas of denser vegetation, but were unaffected by the landscape-scale configuration of habitat edges. Variation in the thermal landscape was driven primarily by changes in vegetation density. Our results suggest that amphibians and reptiles with low CT_max are limited by both canopy gaps and proximity to edge, making them especially vulnerable to human modification of tropical forest. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.     

佛山市禅城区小型兽类组成及多样性的时空变化

城市化导致的野生动物生境破碎化,会使野栖小型兽类更多聚集分布于城区斑块化的农区和公园生境中,因而其多样性组成及时空变化模式可能会与其他区域不同,了解这些模式对防控城区野栖小型兽类的危害具有重要支撑作用。本研究于2020年12月至2021年10月,分4个季节在佛山市禅城区3个公园和7处农区生境中以夹捕法调查小型兽类,比较了小型兽类的种类、密度和生态学指标的时空差异。共有效置夹1843夹次,捕获小型兽类2目2科4属7种共244只。其中劳亚食虫目（Eulipotyphla）的臭鼩（Suncus murinus）占总捕获动物的48.77%;啮齿目中黑缘齿鼠（Rattus andamanensis,20.90%）和卡氏小鼠（Mus caroli,18.03%）为优势鼠种,黑缘齿鼠为佛山市新增记录,卡氏小鼠为禅城区新增记录。4次调查总捕获率达13.28%±0.93%,12月的啮齿类捕获率显著低于4月;公园的总捕获率和啮齿类捕获率都比农区略高,而臭鼩捕获率比农区略低,但差异不显著。12月的物种丰富度和优势度指数最高,均匀度指数最低;4月的多样性指数最高,优势度指数最低;而10月的均匀度指数最高,物种...