Our time will come: Is anuran community structure related to crop age?

An ongoing controversy involves the debate about the effects of man‐made land transformation on freshwater biodiversity. It has been suggested that agricultural areas provide habitats for many species of amphibians, but crop age may affect richness and community structure. In such modified landscapes, a nested structure has been commonly detected, although community structure may be season specific and guild specific. Here, we determined detectability associated with site‐specific and survey‐specific variables and examined nestedness patterns in anuran communities in natural areas and rice fields with different crop ages (10 and 20 years) in southern Brazil. We studied whether nestedness was associated with time since cultivation and whether these patterns were similar across guilds in these areas. Anuran detectability was related only with time after sunset. Community composition varied between crop ages. Aquatic and arboreal species were associated with native areas and showed a nested pattern. Fossorial species did not show significant nestedness. Our results showed that factors associated with crop age may affect guilds in different ways. These effects seem to be related to individual traits of species (habitat preferences, reproductive modes, plasticity). Incorporating species traits may enhance conservation strategies in agroecosystems.     

Persistence and colonisation as measures of success in bog restoration for aquatic invertebrates: a question of detection

1. van Duinen et al. (Freshwater Biol., 2006) raise an interesting point regarding Mazerolle et al.’s (Freshwater Biol., 2006, 51 , p. 333) conclusion on the ability of invertebrates, especially sedentary species, to colonise newly created bogs pools. We wish to clarify that Mazerolle et al. (2006) targeted large arthropods and the absence of smaller sedentary species was purely a result of sampling design. 2. van Duinen et al. (2006) postulate that colonisation rates by bog specialists should be higher in Canada than in the Netherlands, given the extensive amount of intact peatlands in Canada. Here, we emphasise the importance of taking the regional context into account when assessing restoration success as our study site occurs in a landscape where most bog pools have been drained. 3. An evaluation of restoration efforts should focus on both sedentary and vagile invertebrates, to resolve the importance of persistence and colonisation. Such patterns are difficult to interpret, however, when sampling designs and analyses do not account for the probability of detection: an absence may be due to non‐detection or true absence. We strongly urge investigators to directly estimate detection probability in addition to the parameters of interest (e.g. presence, abundance) to provide the best information possible regarding restoration success.     

Status of intestinal parasite infections among children in Bat Dambang, Cambodia

A survey was conducted to determine the extent of intestinal parasite infection in Bat Dambang, Cambodia in March 2004. A total of 623 fecal specimens was collected from kindergarten and schoolchildren and examined using the formalin-ether sedimentation technique. The overall infection rate of intestinal parasites was 25.7% (boys, 26.2%; girls, 25.1%), and the infection rates of intestinal helminthes by species were as follows: Echinostoma sp. 4.8%, hookworm 3.4%, Hymenolepis nana 1.3%, and Rhabditis sp. 1.3%. The infection rates of intestinal protozoa were; Entamoeba coli 4.8%, Giardia lamblia 2.9%, Iodamoeba butschlii 1.4%, Entamoeba polecki 1.1%, and Entamoeba histolytica 0.8%. There were no egg positive cases of Ascaris lumbricoides or Trichuris trichiura. All children infected were treated with albendazole, praziquantel, or metronidazole according to parasite species. The results showed that intestinal parasites are highly endemic in Bat Dambang, Cambodia.     

Field and microcosm experiments to evaluate the effects of agricultural Cu treatment on the density and genetic structure of microbial communities in two different soils

The effects of Cu amendment on indigenous soil microorganisms were investigated in two soils, a calcareous silty clay (Ep) and a sandy soil (Au), by means of a 1-year field experiment and a two-month microcosm incubation. Cu was added as 'Bordeaux mixture' [CuSO(4), Ca(OH)(2)] at the standard rate used in viticulture (B1=16 kg Cu kg(-1) soil) and at a higher level of contamination (B3=48 kg Cu ha(-1) soil). More extractable Cu was observed in sandy soil (Au) than in silty soil (Ep). Furthermore, total Cu and Cu-EDTA declined with time in Au soil, whereas they remained stable in Ep soil. Quantitative modifications of the microflora were assessed by C-biomass measurements and qualitative modifications were assessed by the characterization of the genetic structure of bacterial and fungal communities from DNA directly extracted from the soil, using B- and F-ARISA (bacterial and fungal automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis). In the field study, no significant modifications were observed in C-biomass whereas microcosm incubation showed a decrease in B3 contamination only. ARISA fingerprinting showed slight but significant modifications of bacterial and fungal communities in field and microcosm incubation. These modifications were transient in all cases, suggesting a short-term effect of Cu stress. Microcosm experiments detected the microbial community modifications with greater precision in the short-term, while field experiments showed that the biological effects of Cu contamination may be overcome or hidden by pedo-climatic variations.     

Status of intestinal parasites infection among primary school children in Kampongcham,Cambodia

A survey was made to find the extent of intestinal parasite infection in Kampongcham, Cambodia in February 2002. A total of 251 fecal specimens were collected from Tonlebat primary school children and examined by formalin-ether sedimentation technique. The overall infection rate of intestinal parasite was 54.2% (males, 57.3%; females, 50.8%). The infection rate of intestinal helminths by the species were as follows: Ascaris lumbricoides 26.3%, Echinostoma sp. 15.6%, hookworm 6.4%, Opisthorchis sp. 4.0%, Rhabditis sp. 2.4%, and Trichuris trichiura 0.4%. The infection rate of intestinal protozoa were as follows: E. coli 7.6%, G. lamblia 3.2%, I. butschlii 3.2%, and E. histolytica 0.8%. More than two different kinds of parasites were found in 16.7% of the stool samples. All the children infected were treated with albendazole, praziquantel and metronidazole according to parasite species. The results showed that intestinal parasites are highly endemic in this area.     

Were snares and traps used in the Middle Stone Age and does it matter? A review and a case study from Sibudu, South Africa

The concept of remote capture involved in the creation and use of snares and traps is one of several indicators that can be used for the recognition of enhanced working memory and complex cognition. It can be argued that this humble technology is a more reliable indicator of complex cognition than encounter hunting, for example with spears. It is difficult to recognize snares and traps archaeologically because they are generally made from materials that do not preserve well. To infer their presence in the past, it is therefore necessary to rely on circumstantial evidence such as mortality profiles, taxonomic diversity and high frequencies of creatures that are susceptible to capture in snares or traps. Clearly there are some problems with using snares to infer complex cognition because people do not necessarily choose meat-getting strategies with the lowest costs. Although snares make economic sense because they reduce search costs, their use by modern hunters is not associated with the type of status accorded to other means of hunting. Social demands, more than economic or environmental ones, may consequently have determined the amount of snaring and trapping that occurred in the past. Because of social attitudes, an absence of snaring need not mean that people were incapable of using this technique. At Sibudu, a South African Middle Stone Age site, snares or other non-selective capture techniques may have been used during the Howiesons Poort and perhaps also the Still Bay Industry. The circumstantial evidence consists of 1. high frequency representations of animals that prefer forested environments, including the tiny blue duiker (adult and juvenile) and the dangerous bushpig, 2. high frequencies of small mammals, 3. high taxonomic diversity and, 4. the presence of small carnivores. Importantly, the Howiesons Poort faunal assemblage is different from that in more recent Middle Stone Age occupations of the site.     

Effects of temperature on body color change in the grasshopper Atractomorpha lata (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae) with reference to sex differences in color morph frequencies

The effects of five environmental factors, background color, density, humidity, photoperiod and temperature, on the body color of a pyrgomorphid green/brown polymorphic grasshopper, Atractomorpha lata, were examined in rearing experiments, in which the differences in color morph frequencies between males and females were also examined. Field censuses were conducted to determine whether the sex difference in body‐color polymorphism occurs under field conditions. Among the environmental factors examined, temperature was the only factor that significantly affected body color: the frequency of brown morphs tended to be higher at higher temperatures. The frequency of brown morphs in the female was higher than in the male, a consistent finding in both the rearing experiments and the field censuses. The threshold temperature at which body color changes may be lower in the female than in the male.     

我国害鼠不育控制研究进展

害鼠给人类带来巨大的经济损失,导致严重的生态问题。人们采用各种方法防治鼠害,其中不育控制是一种新的方法。不育控制即通过某种手段使雄性或和雌性绝育,或阻碍胚胎着床,甚至阻断幼体生长,以降低生育率。不育控制的概念最早在20世纪60年代提出,近年来,我国在利用不育技术控制害鼠方面做了大量研究,总结了国内该领域研究的部分结果。在实验室测试了多种不育剂。被测试的不育剂对相应的鼠类几乎都有不育作用;一些不育剂会影响鼠类的行为,这会减弱竞争性繁殖干扰的作用;一些不育剂在达到一定剂量后有致死作用,不育和灭杀的双重作用会产生更好的控制效果;还观察到不育个体的复孕现象,这会减弱控制效果;关于不育剂安全性的研究发现更昔洛韦和M001雄性不育灭鼠剂对家鸽没有任何毒性作用。大量野外实验证实不育剂对害鼠大都有较好的控制效果,实际控制中,控制面积不宜太小。利用数学模型所作的理论分析表明不育控制有不比灭杀控制差的效果;在决定种群是否灭绝上,不育率、灭杀率、选择性收获率等的作用是相同的。根据研究的实际情况,本文提出了一些今后研究中应注意的问题。无论在实验室还是野外,除了种群动态外,还要记录更详细的数据,以期对不育控制有更详细的了解。要加大不育剂对非靶向动物和环境影响的研究。在不育控制这种干扰下,害鼠种群的变化必然导致与其相关的种群也作出相应的变化,这一方面的研究需要进行。每种控制方式都有自己的特点,多种控制方法联合使用会达到更理想的效果。竞争性繁殖干扰现象是存在的,它使种群规模更小,在数学模型中,应体现出这一因素。