Homage to Niko Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz: Is classical ethology relevant to zoos?

A personal account of the impact of the founders of ethology is presented. Niko Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz profoundly affected the attitudes of people toward animals, showing people, for the first time, the sophistication of animal behavior. Also presented is a personal memoir of working with Tinbergen, and speculation on how zoos might benefit from a closer look at the lessons of animal behavior in both the care of the animals and the education of the public.     

Assessment of variability among morphological and molecular characters in wild populations of mint [Mentha longifolia (L.) L.] germplasm

Mentha longifolia is an important medicinal and aromatic perennial herb that exhibits wide distribution range from sub-tropical to temperate regions. In the present study, agro-morphological traits and genetic differences in 19 different populations of M. longifolia were studied to evaluate the level and extent of its diversity. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the different phenotypic characters show considerable differences among various populations and was significant at p < 0.05. Molecular diversity analysis performed by using arbitrary amplified eleven ISSR primers generated a total of 121 amplicons that range within the size of 200–2500 base pairs (bp). Each primer on average generated 11 amplicons with percentage polymorphism being 100. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed more (64%) among population genetic diversity and less (36%) within the populations. Greater genetic differentiation (Gst = 0.6852) among these populations occurs due to low gene flow (Nm = 0.2297) and greater habitat variability. Geographic and genetic distances were positively correlated according to Mantel’s test. In order to remove any kind of biases, we used R software to perform cluster and redundancy analysis to analyse the extent of relatedness among studied populations. In terms of morphological and molecular aspects, the populations were grouped into four and five clusters respectively based on hierarchical clustering method. The results demonstrated that M. longifolia displays a great degree of morphological and genetic variation and can be utilized in breeding, genetic improvement, and gene bank conservation programmes in future.     

Pesticide Use and Risk Perceptions among Farmers in Southwest Iran

Pesticide use and farmers’ perceptions of risk of unsafe use of pesticides were explored in Fars Province, Iran. One hundred and fifty-five farmers engaged in pesticide handling were selected through a proportional stratified random sampling method with age as the stratification variable. Most of the farmers were not following basic pesticide safety measures and the majority of them (about 60%) were not using any protective equipment when spraying pesticides. Based on four identified factors, which explained 58% of the total variance in risk perceptions of unsafe use of pesticides, three segments of farmers were revealed. Segment A included 30.3% of the farmers who had the lowest perceived risk of unsafe use of pesticides (i.e., they perceived unsafe use of pesticides as not so dangerous). Segment B, which was the largest segment revealed, showed intermediate perceived risk of unsafe use of pesticides and all of four factors as well. However, segment C with 16.7% of farmers, reported the highest perceived risk of unsafe use of pesticides (i.e., they perceived unsafe use of pesticides as very dangerous). To develop a more targeted agricultural extension program, selected characteristics with respect to each segment were explored and compared.     

Population structure,morphological and genetic diversity within and among melon (Cucumis melo L.) landraces in Iran

ISSR markers were applied to evaluate the genetic diversity and differentiation of 270 individuals of 27 Iranian C. melo landraces of various varietal groups include vars. inodorous, cantalupensis, reticulatus, ameri, dudaim. Genetic diversity among the studied genotypes obtained by GeneAlex analysis (H?=?0.08, I?=?0.12, Na?=?0.77, PPL?=?22.6%). Cluster analysis divided Iranian melon landraces into two main cluster. Non-sweet genotype (dudaim group) was well separated from sweet genotypes (inodorous, ameri, reticulatus, cantalupensis). The most similar genotypes were BANI and TONI (0.95) and the most dissimilar ones were GER and TS (0.58). AMOVA result showed that the percentage of genetic variation among and within Iranian melon is 69% and 31%, respectively. All landraces evaluated based on 10 morphological traits which revealed the diversity of melon varietal groups. Bayesian analysis assigned ten landraces to Pop 1, eight landraces to Pop 2 and nine melon landraces to Pop 3. Bayesian and UPGMA cluster analyses demonstrated the almost related results. Our results indicated that ISSR markers technique alongside polyacrylamide gel analysis could be helpful to discriminate varieties of melon.     

Intra-flock variability in the body reserve dynamics of meat sheep by analyzing BW and body condition score variations over multiple production cycles

Breeding for resilience requires a better understanding of intra-flock variability and the related mechanisms responsible for robustness traits. Among such traits, the animals’ ability to cope with feed fluctuations by mobilizing or restoring body reserves (BR) is a key mechanism in ruminants. The objective of this work was to characterize individual variability in BR dynamics in productive Romane ewes reared in extensive conditions. The BR dynamics profiles were characterized by combining individual longitudinal measurements of BW and body condition scores (BCS) over several production cycles. Historical data, including up to 2628 records per trait distributed in 1146 ewes, underwent cluster analysis. Two to four trajectories were observed for BW depending on the cycle, while three trajectories were found for BCS, whatever the cycle. Most trajectories suggested that BR dynamics were similar but the level of BR may differ between ewes. Nevertheless, some trajectories suggested that both BR dynamics and levels were different for a proportion of ewes. Clustering on BW and BCS profiles adjusted for individual level trends, resulted in differences only in the level of BW or BCS, rather than differences in trajectories. Thus, the overall shape of trajectories was not changed considering or not the individual level trend across cycles. In addition to individual variability, the ewe’s age at first lambing and litter size contributed to the distribution of the ewes between the trajectories. Regarding the entire productive life, three trajectories were observed for BW and BCS changes over three productive cycles. Increase in BW at each cycle suggested that ewes kept growing up until 3 to 4 years old in our conditions. Similar alternation of BCS gains and losses across cycles suggested BR dynamics might be repeatable. Many individual trajectories remained the same throughout a ewe’s life, whatever the age at first lambing, parity or litter size. Our results demonstrate the relevance of using BW and BCS changes for characterizing the diversity of BR mobilization–accretion profiles in sheep in a long timespan perspective.     

子午岭区生态系统服务权衡与协同变化及其影响因素

生态系统服务簇是多种生态系统服务的组合,可指征生态系统服务间权衡或协同关系。辨析服务簇内部的权衡与协同关系,有助于实现基于服务簇的生态分区与管理政策制定。基于InVEST模型,综合运用相关分析、聚类分析、主成分分析和冗余分析等,本研究揭示了子午岭区生态系统服务的空间群聚特征,探究了服务簇内部权衡与协同关系及生态系统服务的影响因素。结果表明: 2000—2017年,子午岭区生态系统服务整体得到改善。除土壤保持高值区在研究区北部较为集中外,其余生态系统服务高值区均在中部和南部较为集中。根据聚类结果将研究区在像元尺度上划分为4个生态系统服务簇,其中,核心保护簇内,产水服务与土壤保持存在较强权衡;粮食生产簇内,生境质量与产水服务、粮食生产存在较强权衡;生态过渡簇和生态脆弱簇内,服务间的协同关系广泛。生态系统服务同时受到自然本底条件和人类活动的影响,植被覆盖、降水和高程对研究区生态系统服务以积极影响为主,而温度、建设用地占比、人口密度等以消极影响为主。     

Phylogenetic relationships among Hystrix species and related species based on expressed sequence tag-polymerase chain reaction

Twelve species, including three Hystrix species, five Leymus species, Hordeum bogdanii, Pseudoroegneria spicata, Psathyrostachys huashanica, and Roegneria ciliaris, were used for expressed sequence tag-polymerase chain reaction (EST-PCR) assay. A total of 125 products were amplified by 72 sets of EST-PCR markers developed in barley, among which 106 (84.8%) products were found to be polymorphic. Each EST-PCR marker produced 0–6 polymorphic bands, with an average of 1.47. The relationship between H. duthiei s...     

The evolution of pyrrolizidine alkaloid diversity among and within Jacobaea species

Plants produce many secondary metabolites showing considerable inter- and intraspecific diversity of concentration and composition as a strategy to cope with environmental stresses. The evolution of plant defenses against herbivores and pathogens can be unraveled by understanding the mechanisms underlying chemical diversity. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are a class of secondary metabolites with high diversity. We performed a qualitative and quantitative analysis of 80 pyrrolizidine alkaloids with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry of leaves from 17 Jacobaea species including one to three populations per species with 4–10 individuals per population grown under controlled conditions in a climate chamber. We observed large inter- and intraspecific variation in pyrrolizidine alkaloid concentration and composition, which were both species-specific. Furthermore, we sequenced 11 plastid and three nuclear regions to reconstruct the phylogeny of the 17 Jacobaea species. Ancestral state reconstruction at the species level showed mainly random distributions of individual pyrrolizidine alkaloids. We found little evidence for phylogenetic signals, as nine out of 80 pyrrolizidine alkaloids showed a significant phylogenetic signal for Pagel's λ statistics only, whereas no significance was detected for Blomberg's K measure. We speculate that this high pyrrolizidine alkaloid diversity is the result of the upregulation and downregulation of specific pyrrolizidine alkaloids depending on ecological needs rather than gains and losses of particular pyrrolizidine alkaloid biosynthesis genes during evolution.     

Water and Food Consumption Patterns of U.S. Adults from 1999 to 2001

Objective: High water consumption has been proposed as an aid to weight control and as a means of reducing the energy density of the diet. This study examines the relationship between water consumption and other drinking and eating patterns. Research Methods and Procedures: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999 to 2001, with responses from 4755 individuals ≥18 years of age, provides the data for this cross‐sectional analysis. A cluster analysis was performed using z‐scores of specific food and beverage consumption to examine patterns. A multinomial logit analysis was used to examine sociodemographic characteristics of each dietary pattern and to examine the effects of water consumption on the likelihood of consuming a non–dairy caloric beverage. All results were weighted to be nationally representative and controlled for design effects. Results: Within the sample, 87% consumed water, with an average daily consumption of 51.9 oz (1.53 liters) per consumer. Water consumers drank fewer soft/fruit drinks and consumed 194 fewer calories per day. Water consumers (potentially a self‐selected sample) consumed more fruits, vegetables, and low‐ and medium‐fat dairy products. Four distinct unhealthy dietary patterns were found that included little or no water consumption. Older and more educated persons used healthier food patterns. Mexican dietary patterns were much healthier than dietary patterns of blacks. Discussion: Water consumption potentially is a dietary component to be promoted, but much more must be understood about its role in a healthy diet. Because high water consumption is linked with healthier eating patterns—patterns more likely to be followed by higher‐educated, older adults—the target of water promotion and healthy diet options should focus on younger and less educated adults.     

Genetic variability among Alexandrium tamarense and Alexandrium minutum strains studied by RAPD banding pattern analysis

We performed random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis on five strains of Alexandrium tamarense and nine strains of Alexandrium minutum. Arbitrary 10-mer oligonucleotides were used as primers for the PCR. Electrophoresis on denaturing acrylamide gels improved RAPD reproducibility and increased the band number. Eight of the 20 primers assayed gave reproducible results and the band profiles generated by them were used for constructing a similarity matrix. Analyses were performed independently for the strains of each species and jointly for all the strains of both species. Results for A. tamarense showed the highest similarity for two distinct clones isolated from the same water sample in the Baltic Sea during a bloom (KAC01 and KAC02). The highest similarity among A. minutum clones was found for three strains (AL1V, AL2V and AL3V) isolated in the Ria de Vigo in NW Spain. The results show a high genetic diversity within a single species. We have shown the potential of the RAPD technique to discriminate between two conspecific strains, as well as for establishing similarities that are related to the biogeographic origin of the strains.     

Phylogenetic relationships among Hystrix species and related species based on expressed sequence tag‐polymerase chain reaction

Abstract Twelve species, including three Hystrix species, five Leymus species, Hordeum bogdanii, Pseudoroegneria spicata, Psathyrostachys huashanica, and Roegneria ciliaris, were used for expressed sequence tag‐polymerase chain reaction (EST‐PCR) assay. A total of 125 products were amplified by 72 sets of EST‐PCR markers developed in barley, among which 106 (84.8%) products were found to be polymorphic. Each EST‐PCR marker produced 0–6 polymorphic bands, with an average of 1.47. The relationship between H. duthiei ssp. duthiei and H. duthiei ssp. longearistata is close, but they are remote to H. patula. Hystrix duthiei ssp. duthiei and H. duthiei ssp. longearistata were clustered with Leymus species and Psathyrostachys huashanica, which suggested that they have close genetic relationships. The results of EST‐PCR analysis are basically comparable with those obtained from studies on cytology, which indicated that EST‐PCR can be used to assess the genetic relationships among the perennial species in Triticeae.     

不同地域野生欧李及其近缘植物亲缘关系的RAPD分析

利用RAPD分子标记技术对21个不同地域欧李及其近缘种属植物(桃、杏、李、樱桃)进行了遗传亲缘关系及分类研究。结果表明,用于不同地域野生欧李分析的25条引物中,共扩增出441个清晰可用的DNA片段,其中多态性位点366个,多态性比为82.99%。在遗传相似系数为0.71时,可将中国野生欧李资源划分为3个大的区域,分别为东北分布群、华北华东分布群与中西部分布群。用于欧李及其近缘种属植物分析的20条引物中,共扩出多态性带683条,多态性比率为98.99%。聚类分析表明,在遗传相似系数为0.61时,欧李与其近缘种属植物分为3大类;欧李与麦李的亲缘关系最近,与桃亲缘关系最远。     

RAPD polymorphisms among variant and phenotypically normal rice (Oryza sativa var.indica) somaclonal progenies

Summary RAPD analysis was performed among eight rice somaclonal families known to vary for specific characters and four somaclonal families which were phenotypically normal. The parental cultivar,indica rice cv. FR13A, was found to be homogeneous and homozygous at all but one of the 45 RAPD loci. Polymorphisms were found at 28 of the 45 bands among the somaclonal families, including both loss of parental bands, and the appearance of novel non-parental bands. Segregation data revealed both heterozygous and homozygous mutation events, with recessive mutations more prevalent than dominant. All somaclonal families differed significantly from the parental material, indicating that genomic alterations occurred in all families regardless of phenotype. None of the variant families could be regarded as isogenic lines of FR13A at the DNA level. However, some of the DNA level variation may be in highly repeated sequences with no phenotypic effects. The implications for somaclonal breeding and genetic engineering programs are discussed.     

65份野生油茶种质遗传多样性的ISSR和RAPD标记分析

利用ISSR和RAPD标记,对名邛台地野生油茶种质进行遗传多样性分析。从60条简单重复序列引物中筛选出16条引物,在65份样品中共扩增出213条带,其中多态位点为203个,多态位点百分率为95.31%;从30条寡居核苷酸引物中筛选出8条引物,共扩增出105条带,其中多态性位点94个,多态位点百分率为89.52%。结果表明:名邛台地野生油茶种质具有较丰富的遗传多样性,ISSR和RAPD标记可以应用于油茶种质遗传多样性分析。     

Characterization of variability and relationships among components of partial resistance to leaf rust in CIMMYT bread wheats

Summary A study of spring bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) germ plasm developed at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) showed highly significant phenotypic variability for each component of partial resistance (namely, uredial appearance period, latency period, uredial number and uredial size) to Puccinia recondita f. sp. tritici. All of the wheat genotypes displayed longer uredial appearance and latency periods and decreased uredial number and uredial size when compared to the susceptible check cultivar Morocco. Positive correlations between uredial appearance period and latency period, and uredial number and uredial size, and negative correlations between uredial appearance and latency periods and uredial number and uredial size, inclusive, suggested that the components of partial resistance were either tightly linked or under pleiotropic genetic control. Compared to Morocco, all entries had slow disease progress in the field and variation occurred in the germ plasm for the area under the leaf rust progress curve. Disease progress was negatively correlated with uredial appearance and latency periods, whereas a positive correlation was observed with uredial number and uredial size. Certain genotypes displayed high levels of partial resistance resulting in low disease incidence in the field.     

Spatial and temporal variability of necrophagous Diptera from urban to rural areas

The spatio-temporal variability of necrophagous fly assemblages in a linear series of habitats from central London to the rural surroundings in the south-west was studied using bottle traps between June 2001 and September 2002. A total of 3,314 individuals in 20 dipteran families were identified from 127 sampling occasions. Calliphoridae accounted for 78.6% of all the dipteran specimens, with Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy, being the most abundant species (2,603 individuals, 46.9%). Using canonical correspondence analyses (CCA) on 72 fly taxa, six sampled sites and 36 environmental variables, three habitat types corresponding to three groups of flies were identified. These were an urban habitat characterized by C. vicina, Lucilia illustris (Meigen) and L. sericata (Meigen), a rural grassland habitat, characterized by L. caesar (Linnaeus) and a rural woodland habitat characterized by Calliphora vomitoria (Linnaeus), Phaonia subventa (Harris), Neuroctena anilis (Fallén) and Tephrochlamys flavipes (Zetterstedt). Intermediate species (L. ampullacea Villeneuve and P. pallida (Fabricius), located between the three habitats, were also found. Temporal abundance of the 10 most abundant species showed fluctuations between seasons, having low numbers of captured individuals during winter. Correspondence analysis showed clearly seasonal patterns at Box Hill site. The species-habitat associations suggest habitat differentiation between necrophagous guilds in this area and may be of ecological value.     

基于多源遥感数据的景观格局及预测研究

以TM、中巴资源卫星和环境与灾害监测预报小卫星等遥感影像为数据源,利用ENVI 4.7、ARCGIS 9.2、IDRISI 15等软件,研究了西安市辖区的景观特征与空间格局,预测了未来的景观变化,提出了景观格局预测的数据转化和多距离空间分析的精简步骤.结果表明:研究区的景观本底是一个由林地和耕地构成的复合景观基质,建设用地在研究时段内呈现持续增加趋势,且2004-2011年间的增加量高于2000-2004年间的增加量;林地面积略有降低,林地和草地总面积略呈增长趋势,水域和未利用地面积变化较小.研究时段内的景观破碎化程度在降低,林地景观的连通性增强了,耕地的降低了.各景观类型在所设定的最大预期研究尺度下均呈现显著的聚集空间格局;各年和各景观类型之间的聚集、随机和离散的临界阈值差别相对比较大;水域和未利用地的空间聚集强度明显高于耕地、林地、草地和城乡建设用地;耕地和草地空间分布存在一个异质性最大的特征尺度,且均出现了聚集分布、随机分布和离散分布3种分布格局,以2011年最为明显.利用景观指数法和多距离空间聚类分析方法研究景观格局特征的效果要比单一的景观指数法较理想.CA-Markov模型模拟的结果基本能够反映未来的景观格局状况.     

HPLC fingerprints combined with principal component analysis,hierarchical cluster analysis and linear discriminant analysis for the classification and differentiation of Peganum sp. indigenous to China

Introduction – Seeds of wild Peganum harmala Linn., P. multisectum (Maxim) Bobr., P. nigellastrum Bunge and a probable indeterminate species, herein referred to as P. variety, are commonly used in Chinese medicine. These seeds cannot be differentiated based on morphology. Objective – Seeds of P. harmala Linn., P. multisectum (Maxim) Bobr., P. nigellastrum Bunge and P. variety were collected in different provinces in China and their HPLC profiles were recorded for statistical analysis and pattern recognition. Methodology – HPLC chromatograms of seed extracts were recorded under the same conditions. Individual HPLC chromatograms for each species were evaluated against the mean chromatogram for the same species generated using a similarity evaluation computer program. Data from chromatographic fingerprints were also processed using principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Results – The Peganum sp. seed extracts had similar HPLC fingerprints but with some inter‐specific differences. The chromatographic fingerprints combined with PCA, HCA and LDA could distinguish the seeds of the different species of Peganum investigated. Conclusion – HPLC fingerprints can be used to authenticate and differentiate the seeds of three different species of genus Peganum indigenous to China. The results indicated that the unidentified P. variety might indeed be a new species or variety. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.