Voting with your feet: Payoff biased migration and the evolution of group beneficial behavior

Human migration is nonrandom. In small scale societies of the past, and in the modern world, people tend to move to wealthier, safer, and more just societies from poorer, more violent, less just societies. If immigrants are assimilated, such nonrandom migration can increase the occurrence of culturally transmitted beliefs, values, and institutions that cause societies to be attractive to immigrants. Here we describe and analyze a simple model of this process. This model suggests that long run outcomes depend on the relative strength of migration and local adaptation. When local adaption is strong enough to preserve cultural variation among groups, cultural variants that make societies attractive always predominate, but never drive alternative variants to extinction. When migration predominates, outcomes depend both on the relative attractiveness of alternative variants and on the initial sizes of societies that provide and receive immigrants.     

Meaning in Nature: Organic Manufacture?

The paper examines Marcello Barbieri’s (2007) Introduction to Biosemiotics. Highlighting debate within the biosemiotic community, it focuses on what the volume offers to those who explain human intellect in relation to what Turing called our ‘physical powers.’ In scrutinising the basis of world-modelling, parallels and contrasts are drawn with other work on embodied-embedded cognition. Models dominate biology. Is this a qualitative fact or does it point to biomechanisms? In evaluating the 18 contributions, it is suggested that the answers will shape the field. First, they will decide if biochemistry and explanatory reduction can be synergised by biosemantics. Second, they will show if our intellectual powers arise from biology. Does thinking use—not a language faculty—but what Marko? and colleagues call semiosis by the living? Resolution of such issues, it is suggested, can change how we view cognition. Above all, if the biomechanists win the day, cultural models can be regarded as extending natural meaning. On such a view, biomechanisms prompt us to act and perceive as we model our own natural models. This fits Craik’s vision: intellect gives us the alphanumerical ‘symbols’ that allow thoughts to have objective validity. For the biomechanist, this is explained—not by brains alone—but, rather, by acting under the constraints of historically extended sensoria.     

Wood species utilization for timber constructions in the Czech lands over the period 1400–1900

Longstanding demographic growth accompanied by rising settlement activities and development of industry led to an increasing demand on utilization of wood. Tree species were selected for their specific properties. As a consequence of regional differences of forest species composition, wood has become an extremely important trade commodity. Therefore, the utilization of individual species could substantially change in space and time. In this study, we use 8´135 precisely dated timber constructions from a dendrochronological database to investigate spatio-temporal changes in wood utilization across the Czech lands from the 15th to the 19th century. Our results suggest that the utilization of individual species in historical timber constructions was primarily limited by their availability. Species selection was also based on wood properties and stem geometry. Most of historical constructions (99.7%), represented mainly by roofs and ceilings, are made of fir, spruce, pine, and oak. While fir constructions prevail in eastern Moravia and Silesia, spruce constructions are largely spread across the western and central part of the Czech Republic. Pine and oak constructions reflect natural occurrence of such forests in lower elevated central Bohemia and southern Moravia. Although fir prevailed in timber construction in the late-Medieval and post-Medieval times, planting of spruce monocultures resulted in its significantly increased utilization by the end of the 19th century. This study demonstrates the value of dendrochronological databases as an indicator of historical wood utilization.     

Infraspecific genetic variation in Biscutella laevigata (Brassicaceae): new focus on Irene Manton's hypothesis

 Genetic variation in 42 populations throughout the range of Biscutella laevigata L. (Brassicaceae), a morphologically variable central European species, has been investigated by enzyme electrophoresis with three loci (Amy1, Amy2, and Gpi2). Genetic identities and the Fitch-Margoliash tree suggest differentiation into four regional groups: 1) a northwestern diploid group (northern France and northern Germany), 2) a northeastern diploid group (southern Germany, Upper Austria, northern Lower Austria, Poland, and Romania), 3) a central diploid group in southern Lower Austria corresponding to subspecies austriaca, and 4) a southern tetraploid group in Alpine areas of France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Slovenia corresponding to subspecies laevigata. Geographically isolated diploid relic populations that are genetically depauperate are found in the NW and NE diploid groups. On the other hand, the diploid relic subspecies austriaca from the NE Prealps and Alps is highly variable. Subspecies laevigata appears to be a genetical autotetraploid with multiple origins involving several diploid progenitors (the NW diploids, subspecies austriaca and B. prealpina). Received April 6, 2001; accepted March 6, 2002 Published online: October 14, 2002 Addresses of the authors: Karin Tremetsberger (e-mail: k.tremetsberger@gmx.net), Christiane K?nig, Rosabelle Samuel, Tod F. Stuessy, Department of Higher Plant Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Vienna, Austria. Wilhelm Pinsker, Institute of Medical Biology, University of Vienna, Waehringerstra?e 10, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.     

Rapid Quantification of Phototrophic Microorganisms and their Physiological State through their Colour

Quantification of phototrophic organisms on solid substrata together with their metabolic activity can be assessed easily, reliably and quickly through measurement of the organisms' colour. For that purpose only a chroma meter for solid substrata able to quantify the three components of colour is needed. A correlation between these three components and the number of organisms and their physiological state was demonstrated. The methodology developed here makes it possible to save time and materials in comparison with traditional microbiological methods. Moreover, it is a non-destructive method which can be used directly on site and in site. This characteristic is important when microbial environmental monitoring of cultural heritage is involved.     

转基因传播障碍中的文化因素辨析

近年来,转基因技术与产品在中国的传播遭遇了一定障碍.科学界和相关政府部门往往从科学知识的普及角度克服这些障碍.但实际上,转基因传播障碍的背后有着更为隐蔽的反智的社会态度及对传统农业的迷恋心理,三个因素都与中国传统直观外推思维方式有关.转基因传播所面临的实际是构造自然观与有机自然观之间的冲突.对有机自然观的误读与当前弥漫的反智主义关系密切,转基因带有“高科技”的突出特征,恰恰容易成为反智主义攻击的对象.在有机自然观和“反智”传统的影响下,社会上对传统农业的迷恋有着相当的市场.在此情况下,转基因技术要克服传播障碍,必须重构环境,除了以经济动力继续推动传播工作外,也要让技术发展与人们普遍接受的自然观相结合.     

Contribution to the knowledge on relic Stipa spp.-dominated ultramafic grasslands of the Central Balkans

The heterogeneity of the ultramafic vegetation of the Central Balkans is rather great. Although this vegetation has been continuously investigated, some gaps are still to be filled. For example, the lack of available data on ultramafic vegetation of the Republic of Macedonia is evident. In that light, we have investigated different relic Stipa species-dominated dry grasslands over ultramafic bedrock. Twenty relevés were made and compared to the similar vegetation types (i.e. Potentilla visianii, Centaureo kosaninii-Bromion fibrosi, “Thymion jankae”, Saturejo-Thymion and Alyssion heldreichii) by means of numerical analyses. We distinguished one new association and one informal community, providing them with diagnosis and lists of diagnostic, constant and dominant species. We also determined their syntaxonomic positions and relations to ultramafic syntaxa from the neighboring countries.     

敦煌莫高窟及周边环境拟步甲虫害调查研究

自2018年以来,每年春夏季在莫高窟窟区及周边荒漠都会出现大规模的拟步甲科昆虫活动,对壁画保存和游客参观造成了影响。为明确拟步甲虫害情况,采用样方法、陷阱法对该区域进行全面普查,以明确拟步甲虫害类型、分布、暴发特点以及对文化遗产的危害。结果表明,在莫高窟暴发的拟步甲科昆虫主要有4种：洛氏脊漠甲Pterocoma loczyi、克氏扁漠甲Sternotrigon kraatzi、三沟胸鳖甲Colposcelis trisulcata和光滑胖漠甲Trigonoscelis sublaevigata,优势种为洛氏脊漠甲。莫高窟约1/3的调查洞窟内有拟步甲活动,对起甲和酥碱壁画威胁较大;其主要取食白刺Nitraria tangutorum,危害荒漠植被。虫害暴发与区域降雨量增加和植物食源丰富相关;亟需采取有效防控措施,以确保文物及其赋存环境安全。本研究为莫高窟虫害的监测防治和文物保护提供了科学依据。     

信息素在文物害虫防治中的应用与展望

文物害虫会对文物古建筑造成不可逆的破坏,因此害虫防治是文物保护的重要工作。随着博物馆引入有害生物综合防治（Integrated Pest Management,IPM）策略,博物馆的害虫防治也开始遵循“预防为主,防治结合”理念。昆虫体外信息素是IPM中重要的技术手段。该技术可对害虫进行监测与诱杀,有利于对害虫发生规律的研究与数量控制。且信息素具有用量少,不接触文物等优点。本文概述信息素的发展、种类与功能,整理了文物害虫信息素及其应用中的遇到的问题,并展望信息素的应用前景。