In situ adaptive response to climate and habitat quality variation: spatial and temporal variation in European badger (Meles meles) body weight

Variation in climatic and habitat conditions can affect populations through a variety of mechanisms, and these relationships can act at different temporal and spatial scales. Using post‐mortem badger body weight records from 15 878 individuals captured across the Republic of Ireland (7224 setts across ca. 15 000 km²; 2009–2012), we employed a hierarchical multilevel mixed model to evaluate the effects of climate (rainfall and temperature) and habitat quality (landscape suitability), while controlling for local abundance (unique badgers caught/sett/year). Body weight was affected strongly by temperature across a number of temporal scales (preceding month or season), with badgers being heavier if preceding temperatures (particularly during winter/spring) were warmer than the long‐term seasonal mean. There was less support for rainfall across different temporal scales, although badgers did exhibit heavier weights when greater rainfall occurred one or 2 months prior to capture. Badgers were also heavier in areas with higher landscape habitat quality, modulated by the number of individuals captured per sett, consistent with density‐dependent effects reducing weights. Overall, the mean badger body weight of culled individuals rose during the study period (2009–2012), more so for males than for females. With predicted increases in temperature, and rainfall, augmented by ongoing agricultural land conversion in this region, we project heavier individual badger body weights in the future. Increased body weight has been associated with higher fecundity, recruitment and survival rates in badgers, due to improved food availability and energetic budgets. We thus predict that climate change could increase the badger population across the Republic of Ireland. Nevertheless, we emphasize that, locally, populations could still be vulnerable to extreme weather variability coupled with detrimental agricultural practice, including population management.     

Morphological study of alar androconia in Celastrina butterflies

Morphological studies of androconia were performed for 13 Celastrina species using a digital microscope with Z‐stacking mode. Whereas C. ladon lacked androconia, the remaining 12 species were found to possess fan‐shaped androconia on the dorsal wing surfaces. The androconia of these species shared the following common features: smaller size than standard color‐producing scales, absence of dentate termini and presence of crossrib perforations. In addition, some species were characterized by unique microstructures in their androconia. The androconia of C. argiolus iynteana possessed a rounded lamellar contour, while those of C. lavendularis himilcon and C. echo cinerea were tapered on the basal end. The average number of longitudinal ridges of C. argiolus ladonides and C. filipjevi (17.1) were greater than the average number of 12 species (14.3). These results suggest that the morphological traits of androconia in microdomain, such as the shape of the lamellar form and the average number of longitudinal ridges, are useful to identify species in the genus Celastrina.     

鱼类生物群落对太子河流域土地利用、河岸带栖息地质量的响应

河流生态系统的退化是多空间尺度环境因子作用的结果。探讨不同尺度环境因子及水生生物之间的作用关系,识别影响水生生物群落完整性的尺度问题,是有效开展水生生物保护的基础。基于2009年对太子河流域15个样点的鱼类、河岸带栖息地质量评价,结合遥感影像解译的太子河流域土地利用情况(包括流域尺度和河段尺度),研究鱼类完整性指数(F-IBI)与两种尺度土地利用、栖息地质量参数之间的关系。结果表明太子河上游地区河岸栖息地质量较好,下游地区由于农业用地、城镇用地比例的增加河岸栖息地质量明显下降。F-IBI与自然用地比例呈正相关,与农业、城镇用地比例呈负相关。农业用地对F-IBI的影响体现在流域尺度,而城镇用地在两种尺度上都存在显著影响。相比于农业用地,城镇用地相同比例的增加会导致F-IBI更快的下降。底质、水质状况、人类活动强度是显著影响F-IBI的栖息地质量评价参数。3项参数均随农业和城镇用地比例增加而降低,农业用地主要在流域尺度上对3项参数产生影响,城镇用地主要影响底质和水质状况2项参数,而在两种尺度上的影响相差不大。     

森林多目标经营单元的时空尺度扩展

森林多目标经营是我国林业发展的重要趋势,而森林本身的特性以及国内外的众多研究证明,森林多目标经营需要考虑多个时空尺度,以满足其生态、经济和社会效益的综合发挥。在界定多功能林业和森林多目标经营的概念及基础上,系统地分析了传统森林经营时空尺度和现代森林多目标经营时空尺度的联系与区别,提出现代森林多目标经营单元空间尺度上应该满足区域、景观和林分多尺度的需要,而在时间尺度上则要综合考虑短期、中期和长期,并以露水河林业局为例给出具体的研究思路,以期为我国开展森林多目标经营提供借鉴。     

赣江流域土地利用方式对河流水质的影响

赣江是鄱阳湖的最大支流,是鄱阳湖水污染物的主要来源,查明流域土地利用方式对赣江水质的影响和鄱阳湖的水环境保护具有重要意义。基于2012年对赣江7个主要支流NH+4-N、TP、CODMn和DO浓度的每月测定结果,通过不同空间尺度和土地类型等级划分,利用相关分析和冗余分析研究土地利用方式对赣江流域河流水质的影响。研究结果表明,子流域的土地利用方式对TP的影响大于缓冲区;对CODMn的影响在丰水期大于缓冲区,在枯水期小于缓冲区;对NH+4-N的影响在丰水期与缓冲区接近,在枯水期小于缓冲区;DO受土地利用方式的影响较小。水田中的丘陵水田是赣江水体TP和丰水期CODMn的主要来源;平原水田是枯水期CODMn的主要来源。居民建设用地中的城镇用地是赣江水体TP、NH+4-N和丰水期CODMn的主要来源,农村用地是CODMn的主要来源。水域中的水库坑塘是赣江水体TP和丰水期NH+4-N、CODMn的主要来源。     

福寿螺表型性状的空间尺度变异

格局和尺度是生态学的核心概念。尺度的变化可能导致生态学格局的改变。入侵物种性状的变异会对种群的建立和扩散产生重要的影响。为了研究入侵物种福寿螺(Pomacea canaliculata)表型性状的尺度变异并推测可能的作用机制,在广东省开展了福寿螺的体质量、体高、体宽、壳口宽4个表型性状在城市、乡镇、生境、样方、个体5个空间尺度上变异的研究。通过拟合混合模型,进行方差分解,结果发现个体和样方差异解释了近80%的性状变异,生境的差异解释了除体重外其他性状的剩余变异;除体重外乡镇和城市尺度上性状的变异并不明显。结果进一步表明,区域尺度的过程如气候特征等对福寿螺表型性状变异不起主要作用;福寿螺种群特征的研究及防控的重点应考虑其遗传结构特征及局部尺度环境因素。通过不同尺度下性状的变异系数和频度分布曲线的分析,进一步验证了以上结果。     

不同时间尺度喀斯特小流域溪流水文水化学特征

通过野外定位监测和室内测试分析,研究了典型喀斯特峰丛洼地小流域2013年6月—2014年3月期间溪流不同时间尺度(昼夜、次降雨、季节)主要水文水化学指标的动态变化特征及其影响因素.结果表明: 日尺度无雨条件下,溪流水化学过程表现出明显的波动规律,植物光合作用和呼吸作用在昼夜间的相互转换是导致这种变化的主要原因;次降雨尺度下,溪流水文水化学过程的日尺度效应被掩盖,水文水化学过程主要受控于前期无雨天数和降雨强度;从季节尺度看,溪流对降雨表现出较快的响应,雨季响应快于旱季,降雨季节分配差异和温度是影响溪流水文水化学变化的主要因素.     

Organic fields sustain weed metacommunity dynamics in farmland landscapes

Agro-ecosystems constitute essential habitat for many organisms. Agricultural intensification, however, has caused a strong decline of farmland biodiversity. Organic farming (OF) is often presented as a more biodiversity-friendly practice, but the generality of the beneficial effects of OF is debated as the effects appear often species- and context-dependent, and current research has highlighted the need to quantify the relative effects of local- and landscape-scale management on farmland biodiversity. Yet very few studies have investigated the landscape-level effects of OF; that is to say, how the biodiversity of a field is affected by the presence or density of organically farmed fields in the surrounding landscape. We addressed this issue using the metacommunity framework, with weed species richness in winter wheat within an intensively farmed landscape in France as model system. Controlling for the effects of local and landscape structure, we showed that OF leads to higher local weed diversity and that the presence of OF in the landscape is associated with higher local weed biodiversity also for conventionally farmed fields, and may reach a similar biodiversity level to organic fields in field margins. Based on these results, we derive indications for improving the sustainable management of farming systems.     

Pelagic seabird flight patterns are consistent with a reliance on olfactory maps for oceanic navigation

Homing studies have provided tantalizing evidence that the remarkable ability of shearwaters (Procellariiformes) to pinpoint their breeding colony after crossing vast expanses of featureless open ocean can be attributed to their assembling cognitive maps of wind-borne odours but crucially, it has not been tested whether olfactory cues are actually used as a system for navigation. Obtaining statistically important samples of wild birds for use in experimental approaches is, however, impossible because of invasive sensory manipulation. Using an innovative non-invasive approach, we provide strong evidence that shearwaters rely on olfactory cues for oceanic navigation. We tested for compliance with olfactory-cued navigation in the flight patterns of 210 shearwaters of three species (Cory''s shearwaters, Calonectris borealis, North Atlantic Ocean, Scopoli''s shearwaters, C. diomedea Mediterranean Sea, and Cape Verde shearwaters, C. edwardsii, Central Atlantic Ocean) tagged with high-resolution GPS loggers during both incubation and chick rearing. We found that most (69%) birds displayed exponentially truncated scale-free (Lévy-flight like) displacements, which we show are consistent with olfactory-cued navigation in the presence of atmospheric turbulence. Our analysis provides the strongest evidence yet for cognitive odour map navigation in wild birds. Thus, we may reconcile two highly disputed questions in movement ecology, by mechanistically connecting Lévy displacements and olfactory navigation. Our approach can be applied to any species which can be tracked at sufficient spatial resolution, using a GPS logger.