中国-喜马拉雅三种黄耆属植物与其传粉熊蜂的空间分布预测

依赖于动物传粉获得繁殖成功的植物的分布与其传粉动物的地理分布有着密切联系。预测未来气候变化对植物及其传粉动物地理分布的影响对生物多样性保护具有重要意义。本文通过对中国-喜马拉雅3种黄耆属(Astragalus)植物, 即弯齿黄耆(A. camptodontus)、黑毛黄耆(A. pullus)和笔直黄耆(A. strictus), 及其传粉熊蜂(Bombus)的野外调查, 以及收集来源于数据库的黄耆和熊蜂的543个物种分布点和13个环境因子数据, 结合物种可能出现的完全扩散、不扩散和仅熊蜂扩散3种迁移模式, 利用MaxEnt模型模拟了3种黄耆属植物与2种传粉熊蜂即橘尾熊蜂(Bombus friseanus)和红束熊蜂(B. rufofasciatus)在历史阶段(1970-2000年)和2100年两种温室气体浓度情景(ssp245和ssp585)下的适宜分布区变化。结果表明: 3种黄耆属植物均主要依赖于熊蜂传粉, 黄耆与其传粉熊蜂的主要适宜分布区为中国-喜马拉雅地区, 到2100年它们的分布区呈现向西北方向扩张的趋势, 而在东南部的分布区减少。当模型中考虑与传粉熊蜂的互作后, 3种黄耆属植物的潜在地理分布范围减少了15.83%-83.98%。在温室气体中低浓度情景(ssp245)下, 3种黄耆属植物与其传粉熊蜂的空间匹配增加, 而在高浓度情景(ssp585)下弯齿黄耆、黑毛黄耆与橘尾熊蜂的空间匹配降低; 如果物种不扩散或仅熊蜂扩散, 笔直黄耆与红束熊蜂的空间匹配降低。气候变化和物种的扩散能力可能引起黄耆与其传粉熊蜂出现空间不匹配。同时, 模型预测显示影响黄耆和熊蜂分布的环境因子不同, 但海拔是最主要的环境因子。由于与传粉者的相互作用对许多植物物种的生命周期具有重要意义, 因而本研究可以更好地理解气候变化对植物与其传粉者空间分布的潜在影响, 特别是对那些地理范围受限制的植物。     

Extreme divergence in floral scent among woodland star species (Lithophragma spp.) pollinated by floral parasites

Backgrounds and Aims

A current challenge in coevolutionary biology is to understand how suites of traits vary as coevolving lineages diverge. Floral scent is often a complex, variable trait that attracts a suite of generalized pollinators, but may be highly specific in plants specialized on attracting coevolved pollinating floral parasites. In this study, floral scent variation was investigated in four species of woodland stars (Lithophragma spp.) that share the same major pollinator (the moth Greya politella, a floral parasite). Three specific hypotheses were tested: (1) sharing the same specific major pollinator favours conservation of floral scent among close relatives; (2) selection favours ‘private channels’ of rare compounds particularly aimed at the specialist pollinator; or (3) selection from rare, less-specialized co-pollinators mitigates the conservation of floral scent and occurrence of private channels.

Methods

Dynamic headspace sampling and solid-phase microextraction were applied to greenhouse-grown plants from a common garden as well as to field samples from natural populations in a series of experiments aiming to disentangle the genetic and environmental basis of floral scent variation.

Key Results

Striking floral scent divergence was discovered among species. Only one of 69 compounds was shared among all four species. Scent variation was largely genetically based, because it was consistent across field and greenhouse treatments, and was not affected by visits from the pollinating floral parasite.

Conclusions

The strong divergence in floral scents among Lithophragma species contrasts with the pattern of conserved floral scent composition found in other plant genera involved in mutualisms with pollinating floral parasites. Unlike some of these other obligate pollination mutualisms, Lithophragma plants in some populations are occasionally visited by generalist pollinators from other insect taxa. This additional complexity may contribute to the diversification in floral scent found among the Lithophragma species pollinated by Greya moths.     

熊蜂携带花粉的电镜鉴定及与采访植物协同演化关系的研究

通过对蜜蜂总科（Apoidea）熊蜂属Bombus15个亚属、20种的熊蜂蜂王花粉篮中携带的花粉进行电镜扫描鉴定,结果结合熊蜂及植物比较形态学、熊蜂亚属及采访植物间进化关系进行了分析。结果表明：熊蜂的采访植物包括被子植物的9目、10科,涉及原始、进化及中间3种植物类型,且颚眼距较长的熊蜂亚属既采访长管花也采访短管花植物,颚眼距较短的熊蜂亚属则只倾向于采访短管花植物。     

季节变化对聚果榕-榕小蜂互利共生系统生长与繁殖的影响

榕属植物及其传粉昆虫榕小蜂是自然界协同进化的经典模型,榕果内雌花资源如何分配一直是备受关注的问题。为验证季节变化对榕树-榕小蜂互利共生系统生长与繁殖的影响,该研究以西双版纳地区的聚果榕(Ficus racemosa)为材料,分析了季节变化对榕果大小、自然进蜂量以及榕树-榕小蜂繁殖的影响,并利用人工控制性放蜂实验和模型拟合,探讨榕果最适进蜂量及不同季节进蜂量对雌花资源分配的影响。结果表明:季节对榕果直径有显著影响,雨季的榕果直径显著小于干热季和雾凉季;不同季节的自然进蜂量也有显著差别,苞片口对调节进蜂数量有重要作用;季节对榕树-榕小蜂繁殖分配也有影响,雾凉季产生的种子数量和榕小蜂数量均最多;同时人工控制实验和二次抛物线模型拟合结果表明,母代雌蜂数量与种子及榕小蜂后代数量均呈抛物线关系,雌蜂数量过多或过少都对榕树-榕小蜂的繁殖不利,自然进蜂量与拟合的最优进蜂量基本一致。研究结果说明榕果进化出了适应西双版纳地区季节变化的繁殖策略。     

Heritability of sperm length in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Sperm length is highly variable, both between and within species, but the evolutionary significance of this variation is poorly understood. Sexual selection on sperm length requires a significant additive genetic variance, but few studies have actually measured this. Here we present the first estimates of narrow sense heritability of sperm length in a social insect, the bumblebee Bombus terrestris. In spite of a balanced and straightforward rearing design of colonies, and the possibility to replicate measurements of sperm within single males nested within colonies, the analysis proved to be complex. Several appropriate statistical models were derived, each depending on different assumptions. The heritability estimates obtained ranged from h ² = 0.197 ± 0.091 to h ² = 0.429 ± 0.154. All our estimates were substantially lower than previous estimates of sperm length heritability in non-social insects and vertebrates.     

Macroevolutionary patterns of bumblebee body size: detecting the interplay between natural and sexual selection

Bumblebees and other eusocial bees offer a unique opportunity to analyze the evolution of body size differences between sexes. The workers, being sterile females, are not subject to selection for reproductive function and thus provide a natural control for parsing the effects of selection on reproductive function (i.e., sexual and fecundity selection) from other natural selection. Using a phylogenetic comparative approach, we explored the allometric relationships among queens, males, and workers in 70 species of bumblebees (Bombus sp.). We found hyperallometry in thorax width for males relative to workers, indicating greater evolutionary divergence of body size in males than in sterile females. This is consistent with the hypothesis that selection for reproductive function, most probably sexual selection, has caused divergence in male size among species. The slope for males on workers was significantly steeper than that for queens on workers and the latter did not depart from isometry, providing further evidence of greater evolutionary divergence in male size than female size, and no evidence that reproductive selection has accelerated divergence of females. We did not detect significant hyperallometry when male size was regressed directly on queen size and our results thus add the genus Bombus to the increasing list of clades that have female-larger sexual size dimorphism and do not conform to Rensch's rule when analyzed according to standard methodology. Nevertheless, by using worker size as a common control, we were able to demonstrate that bumblee species do show the evolutionary pattern underlying Rensch's rule, that being correlated evolution of body size in males and females, but with greater evolutionary divergence in males.     

Effects of resource availability and social parasite invasion on field colonies of Bombus terrestris

Abstract.  1. The survival, growth and fecundity of bumblebee colonies are affected by the availability of food resources and presence of natural enemies. Social parasites (cuckoo bumblebees and other bumblebees) can invade colonies and reduce or halt successful reproduction; however, little is known about the frequency of invasion or what environmental factors determine their success in the field.
2. We used 48 experimental colonies of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris , and manipulated both resource availability at the landscape scale and date of colony founding, to explore invasion rates of social parasites and their effect on the performance of host colonies.
3. Proximity to abundant forage resources (fields of flowering oilseed rape) and early colony founding significantly increased the probability of parasite invasion and thus offset the potential positive effects of these factors on bumblebee colony performance.
4. The study concludes that optimal colony location may be among intermediate levels of resources and supports schemes designed to increase the heterogeneity of forage resources for bumblebees across agricultural landscapes.     

小麦异交结实特性的研究

本文研究了不同成分的授粉液与小麦品种绵阳 31 1异交结实的关系 .试验结果表明 :以含硼、钙、镁与赤霉素的组合液较好 ,能促进花粉的活力增强 ,提高异交结实率 .以该品种的柱头和花药提取液作为授粉液 ,也有类似的良好效果