福建省崇武潮间带贝类的分布

在福建省祟武潮间带共采得标本178种,根据其中48种贝类的水平分布与垂直分布特点,它们对温度的适应性质可分为4个类群：暖湿带种占3．3％;亚热带种占57．6％;广温广布种占35．8％;热带种占3．3％。     

On some rust fungi (Uredinales) collected in an Acacia koa–Metrosideros polymorpha woodland, Mauna Loa Road, Big Island, Hawaii

Nine species of rust fungi (Uredinales) were found during a 1-day field study in an Acacia koa–Metrosideros polymorpha woodland in Volcanoes National Park on Big Island, Hawaii. Two species, both found on Acacia koa, are native (endemic) rusts whereas 7 species are nonnative on nonnative hosts, highlighting the high proportion of introduced species in the Hawaiian flora even in more or less natural habitats. One species, Uromyces linearis on Panicum repens, constitutes the first record of this rust for the Hawaiian archipelago, bringing the total to 93 species on the islands, 70 (75.3%) of which are introduced. The species records are annotated with emphasis on the geographic origin of each taxon. In addition, the study has led to the molecular reevaluation of the genus Racospermyces, indicating that it is synonymous with Endoraecium, and six new combinations are proposed for the species previously placed in Racospermyces. The high number of introduced species in Hawaii coupled with the paucity of native species when compared to other global regions is discussed.     

Boom means bust: interactions between the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), rainfall and the processes threatening mammal species in arid Australia

We collated an environmental history for a 8580 km² study area in the Simpson Desert, Australia. Quantitative and qualitative data on climate, land-use, fire history and ecosystem dynamics were used to construct a chronology of processes threatening terrestrial mammal species. Over the last 150 years there has been the transition in land tenure from a hunter–gatherer economy to pastoralism, the loss of 11 mammal species, the cessation of small scale burning by Aboriginal people and the introduction of the fox and cat. Annual rainfall was highly variable and was influenced by the phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Irruptions of rodents, marked increases in the populations of native and introduced predators and extensive wildfires were associated with the La Niña phase of ENSO and occurred when rain-year (July–June) rainfall approached or exceeded the 90th percentile of the historical rainfall distribution. Large rainfall events in arid Australia have been viewed traditionally as the ‘boom’ times that benefit wildlife and pastoral production. However, because of hyper-predation and the risk of wildfire, we show that the years including and immediately following flooding rains should be identified as critical, or ‘bust’ periods for wildlife and conservation management. ENSO related climatic forecasts appear to be useful cues which can be incorporated into fire and predator management strategies in arid Australia. Studies such as this, which utilise a broad range of data types across extensive areas, can identify the timing and potential of threatening process not possible using contemporary studies alone.     

Notes on the postembryonic development and ecology of Grosphus hirtus Kraepelin, 1901 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from the Parc National d’Ankarafantsika, northwest Madagascar

Among several specimens of Grosphus hirtus Kraepelin (Scorpiones, Buthidae), obtained in Madagascar, Mahajanga Province, Parc National d’Ankarafantsika, Station Forestière d’Ampijoroa, and then held in captivity, the courtship and mating behaviour of two females was observed. These two animals gave birth in captivity to 26 and 37 offspring of which two and three reached maturity, respectively. The duration of the five instars needed to reach the adult stage in both males and females averaged 14, 112, 117, 274, and 334 days. These developmental periods are much longer than those of Grosphus flavopiceus Kraepelin, the only other species in this genus studied, and longer than those of most examined species of Buthidae. Morphometric values for the different instars are presented from the individual offspring and from specimens collected in the wild. On the basis of these values, the average growth factor (Dyar's constant) per moult for three different measured structures was calculated from the pooled data. Dyar's constant is expressed for the first time in scorpions of the genus Grosphus. Instars growth factors are also comparable to other species of Buthidae.     

Review Article – A System for Analysing Features in Studies Integrating Ecology, Development, and Evolution

Ecology is being introduced to Evolutionary Developmental Biology to enhance organism-, population-, species-, and higher-taxon-level studies. This exciting, bourgeoning troika will revolutionise how investigators consider relationships among environment, ontogeny, and phylogeny. Features are studied (and even defined) differently in ecology, development, and evolution. Form is central to development and evolution but peripheral to ecology. Congruence (i.e., homology) is applied at different hierarchical levels in the three disciplines. Function is central to ecology but peripheral to development. Herein, the supercategories form (‘isomorphic’ or ‘allomorphic’), congruence (‘homologous’ or ‘homoplastic’), and function (‘adaptive’ or ‘nonadaptive’) are combined with two developmental mode (i.e., growth) categories (‘conformational’ or ‘nonconformational’) to provide a 16-class system for analysing features in studies in which ecology, development, and evolution are integrated.     

Phylogenetic overview of the Boletineae

The generic and sub-generic relationships in the Boletineae (Boletales) were studied using nuclear large subunit (nuc-lsu), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1), and DNA directed RNA polymerase largest subunit (RPB1). The Boletineae, with the exclusion of Hydnomerulius pinastri, was strongly supported and the status of the families Boletaceae and Paxillaceae is discussed. Members of the genus Boletus are found throughout the phylogeny, with the majority not closely related to the type species, Boletus edulis. Many of the traditional, morphologically defined genera are not supported as monophyletic and additional sampling and taxonomic revisions are needed. The majority of the Boletineae are confirmed or putatively ectomycorrhizal (ECM), but two putatively mycoparasitic lineages (one lineage of Buchwaldoboletus lignicola and Chalciporus piperatus and the second Pseudoboletus parasiticus) are strongly supported.     

Teaching animal habitat selection using wildlife tracking equipment

We present a hands-on outdoor activity coupled with classroom discussion to teach students about wildlife habitat selection, the process by which animals choose where to live. By selecting locations or habitats with many benefits (e.g., food, shelter, mates) and few costs (e.g., predators), animals improve their ability to survive and reproduce. Biologists track animal movement using radio telemetry technology to study habitat selection so they can better provide species with habitats that promote population growth. We present a curriculum in which students locate “animals” (transmitters) using radio telemetry equipment and apply math skills (use of fractions and percentages) to assess their “animal's” habitat selection by comparing the availability of habitat types with the proportion of “animals” they find in each habitat type.     

The Caribou Migration Model for Arctic Hadrosaurs (Dinosauria: Ornithischia): A Reassessment

The recovery of abundant dinosaur fossils from high paleolatitudes of northern Alaska has raised some hard questions in relation to any available model of dinosaur physiology. To explain the occurrence of hadrosaurs at high ancient latitudes, a model involving long-distance migration analogous to that of the modern caribou has been proposed. The model calls for seasonal movements over great latitudinal distances by these Cretaceous hadrosaurs. This model is reassessed in terms of the growth, body sizes, and inferred physiological ecology of the hadrosaurs and the caribou. Histological data suggest that juvenile hadrosaurs obtained from northern Alaska were greater than 1 year in age. Comparison of the relative sizes of juvenile and adult hadrosaurs with juvenile and adult caribou suggests, based on qualitative energetics, that the juvenile hadrosaurs were too small to participate in long-distance migration. The "hadrosaurs as caribou" model provides clues to the feeding ecology of North Slope hadrosaurs, if they are reinterpreted as year-round residents of high latitudes. However, it does not constitute a satisfactory basis on which to infer long-distance seasonal migrations by these animals.