孔雀河下游断流河道的环境特征及物种间关系

基于孔雀河下游断流河道的环境因子和植被样地数据,采用聚类与CCA排序法,分析了生境的退化特征以及物种间的相互关系,结果表明:1)断流河道退化生境分为绿洲-荒漠过渡类型、轻度荒漠化类型和盐土荒漠化类型。绿洲-荒漠过渡类型地下水位低、盐分含量相对较低,植被盖度相对较高,土壤维持着原砂质壤土,为潜在退化型;轻度荒漠化类型地下水位、土壤质地与含盐量与前者基本相同,土壤未明显退化,但植被盖度低于10%,植物种类与个体数目都较低,属于轻度退化型;盐土荒漠化类型地下水位高、盐分含量高,土壤机械组成中砂粒比重较大、无建群种幸存,属于重度退化型。2)绿洲-荒漠过渡类型总体联结性为显著正联结,正负联结比小于1,生态系统表现为建群种维系物种关系的不稳定状态;轻度荒漠化类型总体联结性为不显著负联结,正负联结比小于1,表现出生态系统进入退化演替的阶段;盐土荒漠化类型总体联结性为显著正联结,正负联结比大于1,表现出重度退化群落的种间平衡状态,物种间以达到稳定共存,其中,真盐生植物对这种平衡的维持起着重要的作用。3)CCA排序表明,绿洲-荒漠过渡类型形成以胡杨为中心的种间正联结,幸存于盐分适中、水分养分相对较高的生境;轻度荒漠化类型,形成以多枝柽柳与刚毛柽柳相互依存的不显著负联结,幸存于土壤养分、水分相对较低的生境;盐土荒漠化类型形成以盐爪爪、盐节木、盐穗木等真盐生植物维系的显著正联结,幸存于土壤贫瘠、地下水位浅、盐分含量高、沙化严重的生境。     

Focus: A Multifaceted Battle Against Cancer: Extracting Knowledge from Chemical Imaging Data Using Computational Algorithms for Digital Cancer Diagnosis

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic imaging is an emerging microscopy modality for clinical histopathologic diagnoses as well as for biomedical research. Spectral data recorded in this modality are indicative of the underlying, spatially resolved biochemical composition but need computerized algorithms to digitally recognize and transform this information to a diagnostic tool to identify cancer or other physiologic conditions. Statistical pattern recognition forms the backbone of these recognition protocols and can be used for highly accurate results. Aided by biochemical correlations with normal and diseased states and the power of modern computer-aided pattern recognition, this approach is capable of combating many standing questions of traditional histology-based diagnosis models. For example, a simple diagnostic test can be developed to determine cell types in tissue. As a more advanced application, IR spectral data can be integrated with patient information to predict risk of cancer, providing a potential road to precision medicine and personalized care in cancer treatment. The IR imaging approach can be implemented to complement conventional diagnoses, as the samples remain unperturbed and are not destroyed. Despite high potential and utility of this approach, clinical implementation has not yet been achieved due to practical hurdles like speed of data acquisition and lack of optimized computational procedures for extracting clinically actionable information rapidly. The latter problem has been addressed by developing highly efficient ways to process IR imaging data but remains one that has considerable scope for progress. Here, we summarize the major issues and provide practical considerations in implementing a modified Bayesian classification protocol for digital molecular pathology. We hope to familiarize readers with analysis methods in IR imaging data and enable researchers to develop methods that can lead to the use of this promising technique for digital diagnosis of cancer.     

Functional classifications of coastal barrier island vegetation

Abstract. Due to the complexity of coastal barrier vegetation, it is useful to apply a functional-type approach to assess the response of barrier island vegetation to climate change. In this paper, a simple clustering analysis is applied to a group of 19 plant associations, based on six plant attributes and six environmental constraints. This analysis results in the suggestion that the main division of the vegetation types at Virginia Coast Reserve is between herbaceous and woody types, which differs from the existing classification which recognizes three groups: xeric-mesic herbaceous, woody and hydric-halophytic herbaceous. Considerations about grouping plant functional types are also addressed in this paper. At a global scale, inclusion of barrier plant functional types may not be so important for the climate-change response of vegetation, but it may be necessary to consider these important systems for spatially explicit modelling of landscape responses.     

太白山巴山冷杉林主要树种与开花秦岭箭竹的空间点格局分析

采用单变量和双变量O-ring函数对太白山大熊猫栖息地巴山冷杉林主要树种的空间分布格局、种间关联性及其与林下开花箭竹的空间关联性进行了多尺度分析.结果表明: 巴山冷杉林中,巴山冷杉数量最多,但种群结构衰退,白桦种群相对年轻,种群结构稳定,红桦种群也呈衰退趋势;3个主要树种在小尺度上呈聚集分布,随尺度增加,逐渐表现为随机分布.3个树种的空间关联性主要表现在小尺度范围内,随尺度增加,空间分布格局逐渐表现为不关联;巴山冷杉和白桦与开花秦岭箭竹在大、中尺度内呈现正相关,而红桦与开花秦岭箭竹在大、中尺度上表现出负相关.大熊猫栖息地内乔木和林下秦岭箭竹共同推动森林的动态演替和发展,进而影响秦岭大熊猫栖息地的环境变化.     

温州南部沿岸海域主要鱼类的生态位及种间联结性

国内对生态位和种间关联性的研究主要集中于植物、鸟类和游泳动物群落等方面,而针对鱼类生态位和种间关联性研究鲜有报道.本文基于2015年春季(5月)和秋季(9月)温州南部沿岸海域渔业资源调查与渔获物分析,运用生态位测定、方差比率(VR)、χ²检验、联结系数(AC)、种对共同出现百分率(PC)和点相关系数(Ф)等方法对主要鱼类间的关系进行研究.结果表明: 该海域共鉴定出鱼类47种,隶属于9目27科41属,其中优势种4种,重要种9种,共占17%.通过生态位宽度聚类分析,按生态位宽度将主要鱼类划分为2类:第1类广生态位种包括龙头鱼、棘头梅童鱼、日本鳀、镰鲳、白姑鱼、六指马鲅、蓝圆鲹和带鱼;第2类狭生态位种包括海鳗、六丝矛尾鰕虎鱼、宽体舌鳎、小黄鱼和鳓.主要鱼类间的生态位重叠值为0～0.90,表明物种对资源利用的相似程度存在差异.生态位宽度较窄的宽体舌鳎和海鳗,其重叠值相对较高,说明两个物种间存在一定的竞争.利用VR分析得出主要鱼类间的关联性呈显著正相关.鉴于Ф值能降低χ²检验、联结系数(AC)、种对共同出现百分率(PC)对联结性分析的影响,故采用Ф值测定,得出63个种对为正联结,种间联结性和生态位两者分别与群落结构稳定和群落更替具有不同程度的相关性.     

EMAP-Wetlands: A sampling design with global application

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) in 1988. The wetland component (EMAP-Wetlands) is designed to provide quantitative assessments of the current status and long-term trends in the ecological condition of wetland resources. EMAP-Wetlands will develop a wetland monitoring network and will identify and evaluate indicators that describe and quantify wetland condition. The EMAP-Wetlands network will represent a probability sample of the total wetland resource. The EMAP sample is based on a triangular grid of approximately 12,600 sample points in the conterminous U.S. The triangular grid adequately samples wetland resources that are common and uniformly distributed in a region, such as the prairie pothole wetlands of the Midwest. However, the design is flexible and allows the base grid density to be increased to adequately sample wetland resources, such as the coastal wetlands of the Gulf of Mexico, which are distributed linearly along the coast. The Gulf sample network required a 49-fold increase in base grid density. EMAP-Wetlands aggregates the 56 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) National Wetland Inventory (NWI) categories (Cowardin et al. 1979) into 12 functionally similar groups (Leibowitz et al. 1991). Both the EMAP sample design and aggregated wetland classes are suitable for global inventory and assessment of wetlands.The research described in this report has been funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This document has been prepared at the EPA Environmental Research Laboratory in Corvallis, OR, through contract No. 68-C8-0006 to Man Tech Environmental Technology, Inc. This paper has been subjected to the Agency's peer and administrative review and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.     

The morphology of mating plugs and its formation in scorpions: Implications for intersexual participation

Mating plugs have been proposed as a mechanism that has evolved to avoid sperm competition. Their structure and composition vary across taxa and are related to the effectiveness of its function. This effectiveness could be related to different evolutionary interests of the sexes. Urophonius brachycentrus and Urophonius achalensis (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae) are highly suitable species to study mating plugs because both are monandrous species with specific morphological and physiological responses in the female's genitalia. Here, we analyze (a) the morphology and fine structure of the mating plugs of both species, (b) the site of production in males and the formation process of the mating plug, and (c) the changes that it undergoes over time in the female's reproductive tract. In both species, a complex mating plug obliterates the female's genital aperture and fills the genital atrium. We observed considerable interspecific variation in the mating plug morphology. A mating hemi-plug was found surrounding the capsular lobes of the hemispermatophore, which could have a mixed composition (involving portions of the hemispermatophore and glandular products). The glandular portion was transferred in a semi-solid state filling the female's genital atrium and then hardening. Changes that the plug undergoes in the female's genitalia (darkening and increase of the “distal” area of the plug) indicate a participation of the female to the formation of this type of plug. Our study provides new insights into the plugging phenomenon in scorpions, and we discussed the adaptive significance as a post-copulatory mechanism to avoid sperm competition.