四种短命植物若干生物学生态学特性的研究

 卷果涩芥(Malcolmia scorpioides)、四齿芥(Tetracme quadricornis)、长齿四齿芥(T．recurvata)和狭果鹤虱(Lappula semiglabra)为新疆北部常见的四种短命植物。本文从种子生物学、发育节律、株形和植株寿命等方面研究它们与生存环境的协调与适应。  

克隆植物蝴蝶花在光梯度环境上的形态适应性研究

对四川缙云山毛竹林和针阔叶混交林具有林窗、林缘和林下3种光照差异明显生境下的克隆草本植物蝴蝶花的形态可塑性进行了研究．统计了分株、根茎和叶生长方向等特征．经方差分析和t检验后表明．蝴蝶花在光梯度环境下，其形态特征表现出适应性变化．从林窗→林绿→林下，随着光强度的减弱，分株的高度、密度相应减小．在林下达到最小；而根茎的长度、节间长则相反，在遮荫大的林下最大．研究发现，叶片数目和根茎直径在不同的样地和生境中无明显变化，但叶片的生长方向和光照方向关系极大，表现出极强的向光性．此外，文章还对蝴蝶花表现出的可塑性进行了分析和讨论．  

Tansley Review No. 59 Leaf boundary layers

Studies of heat and mass exchange between leaves and their local environment are central to our understanding of plant-atmosphere interactions. The transfer across aerodynamic leaf boundary layers is generally described by non-dimensional expressions which reflect largely empirical adaptations of engineering models derived for flat plates. This paper reviews studies on leaves, and leaf models with varying degrees of abstraction, in free and forced convection. It discusses implecations of finding for leaf morphology as it affects – and is affected by – the local microclimate. Predictions of transfer from many leaves in plant communities are complicated by physical and physiological feedback mechanisms between leaves and their environment. Some common approaches, and the current challenge of integrating leaf-atmosphere interactions into models of global relevance, are also briefly addressed.  

云南绿汁江鱼类的形态特征及其适应意义

绿汁江的鱼类大致可分为侧扁型，圆筒型和平扁型三种类型。在各种类型中，鱼体上又有不同的形态结构产生。以形态－功能－适应三位一体分析法为指导原则，探讨和阐述了鱼类的形态结构与栖息环境的相互关系。  

Respiration and the function of brachiopod punctae

When tied shut, three genera of punctate terebratulids from the Northeast Pacific [Terebratulina unguicula (Terebratulidina), Terebratalia transversa and Laqueus californianus (Terebratellidina)] take up O₂ from the external water (at one-third the rate when gaping). The impunctate rhynchonellid Hemithiris psittacea does not, indicating that punctae admit O₂ when the valves are closed. The shells of T. transversa vary from smooth and globose to Spirife r-like alate and costate morphs. The latter have more punctae and greater uptake of O₂ through the shell. The alate/costate morphs are most abundant where turbidity is likely to prompt closure. Punctael respiration is faster through the thin shells of Laqueus than the thick ones of Terebratalia. O₂deprived articulates gape widely and close slowly when disturbed, but there is no evidence of O₂debt. They regulate O₂consumption at the same rate from saturation to 0.5 ml·l¹, and thus appear adapted to low O₂levels. These results have implications for the energetic efficience of articulates and the evolutionary patterns of bivalve molluscs v. articulates.  

Specificity and specialization of congeneric monogeneans parasitizing cyprinid fish

Patterns and likely processes connected with evolution of host specificity in congeneric monogeneans parasitizing fish species of the Cyprinidae were investigated. A total of 51 Dactylogyrus species was included. We investigated (1) the link between host specificity and parasite phylogeny; (2) the morphometric correlates of host specificity, parasite body size, and variables of attachment organs important for host specificity; (3) the evolution of morphological adaptation, that is, attachment organ; (4) the determinants of host specificity following the hypothesis of specialization on more predictable resources considering maximal body size, maximal longevity, and abundance as measures of host predictability; and (5) the potential link between host specificity and parasite diversification. Host specificity, expressed as an index of host specificity including phylogenetic and taxonomic relatedness of hosts, was partially associated with parasite phylogeny, but no significant contribution of host phylogeny was found. The mapping of host specificity into the phylogenetic tree suggests that being specialist is not a derived condition for Dactylogyrus species. The different morphometric traits of the attachment apparatus seem to be selected in connection with specialization of specialist parasites and other traits favored as adaptations in generalist parasites. Parasites widespread on several host species reach higher abundance within hosts, which supports the hypothesis of ecological specialization. When separating specialists and generalists, we confirmed the hypothesis of specialization on a predictable resource; that is, specialists with larger anchors tend to live on fish species with larger body size and greater longevity, which could be also interpreted as a mechanism for optimizing morphological adaptation. We demonstrated that ecology of host species could also be recognized as an important determinant of host specificity. The mapping of morphological characters of the attachment organ onto the parasite phylogenetic tree reveals that morphological evolution of the attachment organ is connected with host specificity in the context of fish relatedness, especially at the level of host subfamilies. Finally, we did not find that host specificity leads to parasite diversification in congeneric monogeneans.  

竹类植物叶片上八种蚜虫的形态变异分析

 选取寄生于竹类植物叶片上的3科6属共8种蚜虫，即居竹舞蚜Astegopteryx bambusifoliae Takahashi、小舞蚜Astegopteryx minuta (van der Goot)、居竹坚蚜Cerataphis bambusifoliae Takahashi、林栖粉角蚜Ceratovacuna silvestrii (Takahashi)、塔毛角蚜Chaitoregma tattakana (Takahashi)、竹色蚜Melanaphis bambusae (Fullaway)、竹纵斑蚜Takecallis arundinariae (Essig)和竹梢凸唇斑蚜 Takecallis taiwanus (Takahashi)，在光学显微镜下观察并测量了34个形态特征；统计比较了28个形态特征在种内的变异。通过主成分分析筛选形态特征，每两两特征对应统计作图，标出每种蚜虫的95％椭圆置信区间进行分析。结果表明，体形、腹管和触角的形态在不同的科间有较大差别，喙末端、跗节Ⅰ、跗节Ⅱ及爪的形态在科间有较高的趋同性；在种内各形态特征存在一定变异，其中喙末端 （CV=3.73%～7.59%）、跗节Ⅰ （CV=4.16%～12.05%）、跗节Ⅱ （CV=3.10%～8.39%）和爪（CV=2.60%～11.68%）的变异都很小。主成分分析筛选的第一主成分为喙末端、跗节Ⅰ、跗节Ⅱ和爪，不同的椭圆区间范围提示这些特征组合基本处于稳定的范围内。与蚜虫的取食行为和附着于植物表面相关的形态特征，如喙末端、跗节Ⅰ、跗节Ⅱ和爪等在不同类群间存在显著的相似性，暗示了寄生于竹类植物叶片的蚜虫在这些形态特征上的趋同适应。最后结合蚜虫的生物学信息，初步探讨了形态适应的机制。  

An ecological interpretation of the difference in leaf anatomy and its plasticity in contrasting tree species in orange kloof,table mountain,South Africa

Leaf anatomy and morphology were studied in 11 tree species growing in an undisturbed forest and the adjoining fynbos for over 50 years. Functional anatomical results suggest that the forest and the fynbos are ecologically distinct. Moreover, leaf anatomy suggests that the foliage is primarily adapted for photosynthesis rather than for control of transpirational water loss. Forest precursor tree species and scrub species exhibit xeromorphy in the fynbos whereas they exhibit mesomorphic features inside the forest. The wide-ranging species, such as Olea capensis subsp. capensis, simulated the response of the forest precursors, with the cuticle being phenotypically plastic between the forest and the fynbos but not between the stream and non-stream habitats. Finally, the forest precursors, the scrub species, and the wide-ranging taxa seem to have anatomical characters which can be modified in the fynbos and therefore allow its colonization by a variety of different species.  

Phenotype-specific feeding behaviour of two arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus morphs

The feeding performance of two morphs of a trophically polymorphic fish, the arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus, feeding on zooplankton, was studied in the laboratory. Limnetic morphs, with a fusiform body, terminal mouth, short pectoral fins, and relatively long and dense gill rakers, fed at significantly higher rates on Daphnia and Cyclops than did benthic morphs. The benthic morphs were characterized by a chunky body form, subterminal mouth, long pectoral fins, and relatively short and spaced-out gill rakers. The limnetic morphs attacked the prey at significantly higher rates and were more successful in capture. Benthic morphs were more reluctant to start feeding on zooplankton and reaction time was longer than in limnetic morphs. In the absence as well as presence of zooplankton food, the position of the two morphs in the aquaria differed markedly. The results agree with dietary differences found in field-collected fish. The limnetic morphs consume zooplankton, whereas benthic morphs specialize on Lymnaea gastropods. The results suggest that benthic morphs are phenotypically inferior at using the pelagic food niche. This implies that the current role of competitive or predatory interactions in segregating the morphs may be minor.  

Naturalising purpose: From comparative anatomy to the ‘adventure of reason’

Kant’s analysis of the concept of natural purpose in the Critique of judgment captured several features of organisms that he argued warranted making them the objects of a special field of study, in need of a special regulative teleological principle. By showing that organisms have to be conceived as self-organizing wholes, epigenetically built according to the idea of a whole that we must presuppose, Kant accounted for three features of organisms conflated in the biological sciences of the period: adaptation, functionality and conservation of forms. Kant’s unitary concept of natural purpose was subsequently split in two directions: first by Cuvier’s comparative anatomy, that would draw on the idea of adaptative functions as a regulative principle for understanding in reconstituting and classifying organisms; and then by Goethe’s and Geoffroy’s morphology, a science of the general transformations of living forms. However, such general transformations in nature, objects of an alleged ‘archaeology of nature’, were thought impossible by Kant in §80 of the Critique of judgment. Goethe made this ‘adventure of reason’ possible by changing the sense of ‘explanation’: scientific explanation was shifted from the investigation of the mechanical processes of generation of individual organisms to the unveiling of some ideal transformations of types instantiated by those organisms.