Temporal fluctuations and experimental effects in desert plant communities

In the Chihuahuan Desert of the southwestern United States we monitored responses of both winter and summer annual plant communities to natural environmental variation and to experimental removal of seed-eating rodents and ants for 13 years. Analyses of data on population densities of the species by principal component analysis (PCA) followed by repeated measures analysis of variance (rmANOVA) on PCA scores showed that: (1) composition of both winter and summer annual communities varied substantially from year to year, presumably in response to interannual climatic variation, and (2) community composition of winter annuals was also significantly affected by the experimental manipulations of seed-eating animals, but the composition of the summer annual community showed no significant response to these experimental treatments. Canonical discriminant analysis (CDA) was then applied to the data for winter annuals to more clearly identify the responses to the different classes of experimental manipulations. This analysis showed that removing rodents or ants or both taxa caused distinctive changes in species composition. There was a tendency for large-seeded species to increase on rodent removal plots and to decrease on ant removal plots, and for small-seeded species to change in the opposite direction. In the winter annual community there was a significant time x treatment interaction: certain combinations of species that responded differently to removal of granivores also showed opposite fluctuations in response to long-term climatic variation. The large year-to-year variation in the summer annual community was closely and positively correlated across all experimental treatments. The use of multivariate analysis in conjunction with long-term monitoring and experimental manipulation shows how biotic interactions interact with variation in abiotic conditions to affect community dynamics.     

COVID-19 and “natural” experiments arising from physical distancing: a hypothetical case study from chronobiology

ABSTRACT

With countless “natural” experiments triggered by the COVID-19-associated physical distancing, one key question comes from chronobiology: “When confined to homes, how does the reduced exposure to natural daylight arising from the interruption of usual outdoor activities plus lost temporal organization ordinarily provided from workplaces and schools affect the circadian timing system (the internal 24 h clock) and, consequently, health of children and adults of all ages?” Herein, we discuss some ethical and scientific facets of exploring such natural experiments by offering a hypothetical case study of circadian biology.     

A Simple Procedure for Constructing Experiment Designs with Incomplete Blocks of Sizes 2 and 3

In order to maximize control of heterogeneity within complete blocks, an experimenter could use incomplete blocks of size k = 2 or 3. In certain situations, incomplete blocks of this nature would eliminate the need for such spatial types of analyses as nearest neighbor. The intrablock efficiency factors for such designs are relatively low. However, with recovery of interblock information, FEDERER and SPEED (1987) have presented measures of design efficiency factors which demonstrate that efficiency factors approach unity for certain ratios of the intrablock and interblock variance components. Hence with recovery of interblock information, even incomplete block designs with k = 2 or 3 have relatively high efficiency factors. The reduction in the intrablock error variance over the complete block error variance in many situations will provide designs with high efficiency. A simple procedure for constructing incomplete blocks of sizes 2 and 3 is presented. It is shown how to obtain additional zero-one association confounding arrangements when v = 4 t, t an integer, and for v = pk, k ≤ p. It is indicated how to do the statistical analysis for these designs.     

医学院校生物技术专业发酵工程实验体系的构建

为建设有特色的生物技术专业和培养创新复合型人才,本研究结合医学院校特点,充分利用"医"和"药"的资源,合理安排实验项目,构建了科学的发酵工程实验教学体系。结果表明该实验教学体系教学效果良好。学生的操作能力显著提高。为强化发酵工程教学,探索产学研联合培养模式将成必然。     

大黄素降糖及改善脂质代谢的实验研究

目的:探讨大黄素对2型糖尿病模型db/db小鼠血糖及血脂水平的影响.方法:4周龄16只db/db雄性小鼠随机分为治疗组和对照组,每组8只;治疗组经灌胃每天给予100mg/kg大黄素;对照组灌胃给予相仿体积的生理盐水,开始10天每天算进食量,每周测空腹血糖及体重1次,连续干预8周,干预前及实验结束前1周测胰岛素耐量,干预结束后于颈动脉取血测血脂水平(HDLC、LDL-C、TG、TC).结果:①大黄素干预不影响db/db小鼠的进食量,与对照组比较,P＞0.05;②大黄素可显著减轻db/db小鼠体重,与对照组比较,P＜0.05;③大黄素可改善db/db小鼠胰岛素敏感性,降低小鼠的空腹血糖水平,与对照组比较,P＜0.05或P＜0.01;④大黄素可降低db/db小鼠血TG、TC、LDL-C水平,P＜0.01.结论:大黄素可有效地改善db/db小鼠的糖脂紊乱状态,其降糖及改善血脂代谢机制值得进一步深入研究.     

“微生物学实验”混合式教学实践与评价

生命科学的本科教学中,实验教学是举足轻重的一个部分。本文以"微生物学实验"课程为研究对象,利用互动网站进行线上线下混合式教学,评价学生的学习效果和规律,探索生命科学实验类课程采用混合式教学的效果,并探讨推广可能性。在连续三年的教学实践中,统计分析各维度数据,发现在混合式教学模式下,绝大部分学生都具有主动自学的能力。同时,实验课程中的深度和广度都有所提升。学习规律的监控和综合评价显示,深度学习的学生在各种评价指标中都显著表现优秀。因此,在混合式教学模式下,如何引导学生进行真实有效的深度学习是教师在新教学模式下的重任。     

基于成果导向教育理念的“发酵工程实验”课程内容设计及实践

"发酵工程实验"是生物工程专业的工程类重要主干课之一,是培养学生工程设计、工程实践和创新思维的重要课程。基于构思—设计—实现—运行(conceive—design—implement—operate,CDIO)理念,"发酵工程实验"通过构建模块化课程内容,以构思、设计、实现、运作的项目导向模块开展课程设计,进行目标导向的教学模式改革。以"发酵工程实验"课程为载体,将工程基础知识、发酵工程系统实践能力、团队合作能力、创新能力培养等融为一体。建立基于成果导向教育(outcome-based education,OBE)理念的学生学习效果评价体系,完成"发酵工程实验"课程教学任务。学生对改革后的"发酵工程实验"课程满意度明显提高,教学效果显著。     

河北泥河湾盆地下卜庄遗址端刮器功能的实验分析

端刮器常见于旧石器时代晚期的细石器工业中,形制比较固定,在探讨人类行为、生计以及环境适应等方面具有重要的研究价值。国外的研究涉及制作工艺、使用方式与功能等多个方面,而国内的研究多为类型学分析,对其功能的研究相对薄弱。河北泥河湾盆地下卜庄遗址出土了一定数量的端刮器遗存,本文通过模拟打制与使用实验,结合微痕分析方法,对它们的功能进行了探索,结果表明：1）下卜庄遗址的端刮器可能主要用来加工兽皮,且加工湿皮的现象较多;2）端刮器也可能直接被用来加工木材;3）部分端刮器微痕之间的关系表明,一些端刮器在使用过程中存在对刃缘的重新修理,当它们不再适合处理兽皮时会被用来加工木材,而后废弃。     

Comparative Population Dynamics of an Invading Species in its Native and Novel Ranges

Although the ecology of many exotic invaders has been intensively examined in the novel range, few studies have comparatively explored how population dynamics differ in native and novel parts of an invading plants’ range. The population dynamics of mile-a-minute weed, Polygonum perfoliatum L., was explored in both the native (Japan) and novel (northeastern USA) portions of its range and evaluated using periodic matrix models. Projected per capita population growth rate (λ) varied within and between native and novel range populations. Surprisingly, five of the six populations in the novel range were projected to fail to replace themselves (λ<1) while only two of the four native range populations were projected to decline, although these projections had wider confidence intervals than in the novel habitat. While changes in germination, survivorship, fecundity and seed banking would have equivalent effects on population growth in the invasive habitat, small increases in plant survivorship would greatly increase λ in native populations. The differences between native and novel population growth rates were driven by lower adult survival in the native range caused by annual flooding and higher fecundity. Simulation analyses indicated that a 50% reduction in plant survival would be required to control growing populations in the novel range. Further comparative studies of other invading species in both their native and novel ranges are needed to examine whether the high per capita population growth and strong regulatory effects of adult survival in the native habitat are generally predictive of invasive behavior in novel habitats. Sachiko Araki: (Deceased)     

Plant diversity does not buffer drought effects on early‐stage litter mass loss rates and microbial properties

Human activities are decreasing biodiversity and changing the climate worldwide. Both global change drivers have been shown to affect ecosystem functioning, but they may also act in concert in a non‐additive way. We studied early‐stage litter mass loss rates and soil microbial properties (basal respiration and microbial biomass) during the summer season in response to plant species richness and summer drought in a large grassland biodiversity experiment, the Jena Experiment, Germany. In line with our expectations, decreasing plant diversity and summer drought decreased litter mass loss rates and soil microbial properties. In contrast to our hypotheses, however, this was only true for mass loss of standard litter (wheat straw) used in all plots, and not for plant community‐specific litter mass loss. We found no interactive effects between global change drivers, that is, drought reduced litter mass loss rates and soil microbial properties irrespective of plant diversity. High mass loss rates of plant community‐specific litter and low responsiveness to drought relative to the standard litter indicate that soil microbial communities were adapted to decomposing community‐specific plant litter material including lower susceptibility to dry conditions during summer months. Moreover, higher microbial enzymatic diversity at high plant diversity may have caused elevated mass loss of standard litter. Our results indicate that plant diversity loss and summer drought independently impede soil processes. However, soil decomposer communities may be highly adapted to decomposing plant community‐specific litter material, even in situations of environmental stress. Results of standard litter mass loss moreover suggest that decomposer communities under diverse plant communities are able to cope with a greater variety of plant inputs possibly making them less responsive to biotic changes.