四川唐家河自然保护区扭角羚冬春季日活动模式研究

根据相机陷阱调查获得照片的时间,研究了2008年12月～2009年5月唐家河自然保护区内野生扭角羚Budorcastaxicolor的日活动模式。通过对24个1km×1km样方的调查,共完成686个相机工作日的取样量,获得有效的扭角羚捕捉次数709次(冬季322次,春季387次),并分别计算出扭角羚冬季和春季在各时间段的相对活动强度指数RAI。结果显示,扭角羚在冬季和春季的日活动模式没有显著差异(χ2检验,P>0.1),每天都有3个活跃时期(凌晨、早上和下午)和3个紧随的不活跃时期。其中,冬季日活动的最高峰出现在下午17:00～18:00(RAI=12.42),最低谷出现在日出前3:00～6:00(RAI=0.00);春季最高峰出现在早上6:00～7:00(RAI=20.16),最低谷出现在日出前2:00～5:00(RAI=0.26)。在春季,扭角羚在上午活跃期的活动强度明显高于下午活跃期,而在冬季则相反。春季与冬季相比,扭角羚上午和下午的两个活跃时间段都有提前,可能是由于不同季节气温和光照差异的影响。研究表明,相机陷阱调查技术是研究野生动物在野外活动模式和活动节律的有效工具,可为今后深入开展扭角羚行为生态学...     

尚勇保护区亚洲象种群数量动态、种群结构及季节分布格局

在2006 年6 月至2007 年9 月,通过种群个体识别、社区监测网络、样线调查和村寨访问等方法对尚勇保护区亚洲象的种群动态和季节性分布格局进行研究。结果显示:目前在尚勇保护区的亚洲象种群数量约为68头;拍摄到亚洲象共计347 头次,通过个体识别方法识别出亚洲象53 头,其中幼体、青少年体、亚成体和成体数量及所占比例分别为:3 (5.66%)、11 (20.75% )、15 (28.30% )、24 (45.28% ),在成体中雄性只有两头,成年象的雌雄性比为11∶ 1,高于已知国内外的其他区域。从1992 年至2007 年10 月,至少有32 头亚洲象死亡,其中确认死于猎杀的有7 头,保护区的核心区野牛河、金宝河一带是盗猎亚洲象最严重的地区。严重的盗猎和不断减少的栖息地对当地的亚洲象种群产生了巨大的威胁,也加剧了当地的人象冲突。在雨季和旱季,亚洲象各有五个核心活动区域,食物是导致雨季和旱季分布格局不同的主要因素。     

甘肃张掖黑河湿地黑鹳繁殖和迁徙习性

黑鹳(Ciconia nigra)属国家Ⅰ级保护野生动物.2010至2018年,通过样线、样带和固定样点调查的方法对张掖黑河湿地国家级自然保护区的黑鹳种群进行了监测,黑鹳最大种群数量均出现在每年的9月下旬,数量120～430只不等,年均308只.春季迁徙季节,黑鹳于3至4月到达保护区,部分个体会在此繁殖,其他个体会继续...     

辽东湾斑海豹遗传多样性的AFLP分析

利用AFLP标记技术对辽东湾斑海豹的遗传多样性进行分析。采用7对AFLP引物对斑海豹3个群体(按不同采样年份分类)43个个体扩增共得到241个位点,3个群体内的多态位点比例为80.45%～95.85%,总多态位点比例为99.59%。群体的香农(Shannon)多样性指数为0.3817～0.4716,群体间的遗传距离在0.1742～0.4023之间。2007年群体的多态位点比例、Shannon多样性指数均高于2006年群体,2005年群体处于中等水平。用NTSYS软件进行个体聚类及UPGMA方法构建的群体系统树,发现3个群体的个体基本随机聚到一起,界限不十分明显,说明3年的群体差异不明显,甚至可以认为它们是混合群体。结果表明,斑海豹群体遗传多样性水平较低,遗传结构趋于简单化,且存在较强的基因交流。     

灵山县人民医院5岁以下儿童死因分析及干预措施

目的 了解我院2006～2010年5岁以下儿童死因及特点与趋势,提出干预措施.方法 采用回顾性调查方法,对2006～2010年我院5岁以下儿童的死亡率、死因及相关因素进行分析.结果 5岁以下儿童死亡率,2006年为10.73‰,2007年为11.91‰,2008年为9.93‰,2009年为5.60‰,2010年为12.58‰.5岁以下儿童死亡的年龄分布,以婴儿死亡最高,占总死亡人数的44.09%;其次是新生儿,占总死亡人数的30.11%;1～5岁儿童占总死亡人数的25.8%.5岁以下儿童死亡的原因,前五位分别为意外事故占21.51%,肺炎占15.05%,腹泻占11.82%,出生窒息占10.75%,败血症占8.60%.结论降低婴儿、新生儿死亡率是降低5岁以下儿童死亡率的关键;防止意外发生,加强围产期保健,提高基层产科、儿科医疗质量是降低儿童死亡率的重要途径.     

新疆鄯善洋海青铜时代居民眶顶板筛孔样病变的调查

本文对新疆鄯善洋海出土的61例(成年个体45例,未成年个体16例)遗骸进行了眶顶板筛孔样病变的观察。在被调查的成年个体中眶顶板筛孔样病变的患病率为44.4%,未成年个体的患病率为75%,且成年个体眶顶板筛孔样病变的患病率性别差异显著。这种病变的高频率现象,很可能与当时单一的饮食结构、低营养水平及不良卫生状况等因素所诱发的缺铁性贫血有关。为深入研究我国新疆地区古代居民眶顶板筛孔样病变的患病率及其发病原因提供了一组基础数据。     

四川大学江安校区鸟类调查

2007年9月～2008年8月,采用样线法对位于四川省成都市双流县四川大学江安校区的鸟类进行了调查,共记录到鸟类74种,其中留鸟占44.6%,冬候鸟占20.3%,夏候鸟占18.9%,旅鸟占14.9%;家麻雀、普通鸬鹚等2种为成都市区的鸟类新纪录;国家二级保护动物有长耳鸮、普通鵟2种;省级重点保护动物有小、普通鸬鹚、苍鹭等10种;白头鹎、红头长尾山雀、白颊噪鹛、树麻雀等4种为江安校区鸟类优势种,小白鹭、珠颈斑鸠、家鸽、家燕等12种为常见种.对不同生境的鸟类种类进行分析发现,植被受人为干扰较少的待建荒地的鸟类多样性指数最高,人工绿化带如草坪、灌丛、树林等次之,建筑区的鸟类多样性指数最低.     

四川省竹巴笼自然保护区矮岩羊的集群特征

2007 年7 ～12 月和2008 年4 ～6 月,采用样线法和定点观察法,在四川省竹巴笼自然保护区对矮岩羊集群行为进行了观察。2007 年观察到34 群共217 只矮岩羊,集群平均为6. 4 ± 4.9 只;2008 年观察到16 群共135只,集群平均为8.4 ± 7.7 只。集群分为雄性群(2007 年:8.8% ;2008 年:6.3% )、雌性群(2007 年:2. 9% ;2008 年:0)、混合群(2007 年:70.6% ;2008 年:81.2% )、母仔群(2007 年:8.8% ;2008 年:12. 5% )和孤羊(2007 年:8.8% ;2008 年:0)5 种类型。在不同季节,5 种集群类型比例都有所变化,差异显著(P <0.01)。集群大小间和集群类型间也有显著或极显著差异,其中2 ～ 10 只的集群在2007 年占73.5%,在2008 年占75.0% ,呈集小群特征。年龄组结构中,成体、亚成体和幼体个体数比为100∶ 26.4∶ 28. 6 (2007 年)和100∶24.7∶ 20. 4 (2008 年)。雌雄性比2007 年为100∶ 55.7,2008 年为100∶ 56.6,年间差异不显著(P > .05)。受集群收益、生物学特征、繁殖周期、资源竞争、生境地形地貌、捕食风险和人类活动等主要因素的影响,矮岩羊在集群类型、集群大小、年龄结构和性比上显示了其生存策略。     

四川邛崃山系小熊猫分布

2000-2002年,对四川邛崃山系11个县(市)的小熊猫分布状况进行了调查.共完成调杏样线2332条,发现有小熊猫痕迹样线130条,分布在9个县,样线平均遇见率为5.57%,样线遇见率最高的是汶川县和崇州市;估算整个山系有小熊猫栖息地面积5107.82km2,以宝兴、汶川和天全3县的面积最大,分别占总面积的34.08%、30.65%和16.61%,这3个县占总面积的81.34%;小熊猫分布密度等级最高的区域是崇州市的四川鞍子河自然保护区.在山系内7个自然保护区中有小熊猫栖息地面积2166.84km2,占栖息地总面积的42.4%.小熊猫空间分布格局极不连续,存在许多空白区域,栖息地存在破碎化趋势,应进一步加强对邛崃山世界遗产地内小熊猫种群的保护.     

青藏高原地区根田鼠脾脏重量及迟发性超敏反应的季节性变化

动物的免疫功能不仅与外部环境条件有密切关系,而且可能在种群调节中有重要作用.为探讨青藏高原地区根田鼠免疫功能的季节性变化,我们在中国科学院海北高寒草甸生态系统定位站地区,从2006年5月至2007年4月,逐月捕获根田鼠,测定其脾脏重量及二硝基氟苯诱导的迟发性超敏反应.冷季1(2006年9～10月)个体的脾脏指数及迟发性超敏反应与暖季(2006年4～8月)个体之间无显著差异,但冷季2(2006年11月至2007年1月)和冷季3(2007月2～4月)个体脾脏指数、以及冷季3个体的迟发性超敏反应均显著低于冷季1和暖季个体,表明根田鼠免疫功能随冷季而显著降低.此外,冷季2不同年龄个体间的脾脏指数呈显著差异.我们认为,青藏高原冷季低温是影响根田鼠免疫功能季节性变化的主要因素,且冷季2不同年龄个体免疫功能的差异对根田鼠种群自动调节具有重要的作用.     

新疆托木尔峰国家级自然保护区雪豹的种群密度

雪豹(Panthera uncia)是一种仅公布于中亚高山地区的珍稀濒危大型猫科动物,被IUCN红皮书列为濒危物种,并被收录入CITES公约附录Ⅰ,在中国雪豹被列为国家一级重点保护动物(杨奇森和冯祚建,1998).     

Age-dependent terminal declines in reproductive output in a wild bird

In many iteroparous species individual fitness components, such as reproductive output, first increase with age and then decline during late-life. However, individuals differ greatly in reproductive lifespan, but reproductive declines may only occur in the period just before their death as a result of an age-independent decline in physiological condition. To fully understand reproductive senescence it is important to investigate to what extent declines in late-life reproduction can be explained by age, time until death, or both. However, the study of late-life fitness performance in natural populations is challenging as the exact birth and death dates of individuals are often not known, and most individuals succumb to extrinsic mortality before reaching old age. Here, we used an exceptional long-term longitudinal dataset of individuals from a natural, closed, and predator-free population of the Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis) to investigate reproductive output, both in relation to age and to the time until the death of an individual (reverse-age approach). We observed an initial age-dependent increase in reproductive output that was followed by a decline in old age. However, we found no significant decline in reproductive output in the years directly preceding death. Although post-peak reproductive output declined with age, this pattern differed between terminal and non-terminal reproductive attempts, and the age-dependence of the terminal breeding attempt explained much of the variation in age-specific reproductive output. In fact, terminal declines in reproductive output were steeper in very old individuals. These results indicate that not only age-dependent, but also age-independent factors, such as physiological condition, need to be considered to understand reproductive senescence in wild-living animals.     

Estimating individual fitness in the wild using capture–recapture data

The concept of Darwinian fitness is central in evolutionary ecology, and its estimation has motivated the development of several approaches. However, measuring individual fitness remains challenging in empirical case studies in the wild. Measuring fitness requires a continuous monitoring of individuals from birth to death, which is very difficult to get in part because individuals may or may not be controlled at each reproductive event and recovered at death. Imperfect detection hampers keeping track of mortality and reproductive events over the whole lifetime of individuals. We propose a new statistical approach to estimate individual fitness while accounting for imperfect detection. Based on hidden process modelling of longitudinal data on marked animals, we show that standard metrics to quantify fitness, namely lifetime reproductive success, individual growth rate and lifetime individual contribution to population growth, can be extended to cope with imperfect detection inherent to most monitoring programs in the wild. We illustrate our approach using data collected on individual roe deer in an intensively monitored population.     

Field Methods for Capturing and Marking Azarai Night Monkeys

Long-term behavioral studies require the permanent identification of individuals. The need for individual identification is even more crucial for sexually monomorphic species since not even the sexes can be differentiated by the field observer. Owl monkeys (Aotus spp.) are sexually monomorphic primates inhabiting the forests of Central and South America. We report here on the methods and drug dosages used to capture, mark, and identify individual owl monkeys (Aotus azarai azarai) in Eastern Formosa, Argentina. We successfully captured 70 owl monkeys using blowpipes or a CO₂ rifle, but attempts to capture them with baited traps proved unsuccessful. During the marking and collaring procedures, we gave individuals on average a total of 50 mg of ketamine hydrochloride, including the dose in the dart. To mark them, we freeze-branded portions of their tails and fitted them with radio or bead collars. There was no death or physical life-threatening injury while capturing or marking individuals. The procedures we describe should allow one to safely capture and to mark small arboreal primates when trapping is not possible.     

Dental development of the Taï Forest chimpanzees revisited

Developmental studies consistently suggest that teeth are more buffered from the environment than other skeletal elements. The surprising finding of late tooth eruption in wild chimpanzees (Zihlman et al., 2004) warrants reassessment in a broader study of crown and root formation. Here we re-examine the skeletal collection of Taï Forest juvenile chimpanzees using radiography and physical examination. Several new individuals are included, along with genetic and histological assessments of questionable identities. Only half of the Taï juveniles employed by Zihlman et al. (2004) have age of death known with accuracy sufficient for precise comparisons with captive chimpanzees. One key individual in the former study, misidentified during field recovery as Xindra (age 8.3), is re-identified as Goshu (age 6.4). For crown formation we find that onset and duration greatly overlap captive chimpanzees, whereas root development may be more susceptible to acceleration in captive individuals. Kuykendall's (1996) equation relating captive tooth formation stage to age gives reasonable estimates of young wild subjects' true ages. Direct comparisons of tooth eruption ages are limited. A key 3.76 year-old individual likely possessed an emerging mandibular M1 at death (previously estimated from the maxillary molar as occurring at 4.1 years). Wild individuals appear to fall near the middle or latter half of captive eruption ranges. While minor developmental differences are apparent in some comparisons, our reanalysis does not show an “unambiguous pattern” of slower tooth formation in this wild environment. These data do not undermine recent developmental studies of the comparative life histories of fossil hominins.     

Capital and punishment: Resource scarcity increases endorsement of the death penalty

Faced with punishing severe offenders, why do some prefer imprisonment whereas others impose death? Previous research exploring death penalty attitudes has primarily focused on individual and cultural factors. Adopting a functional perspective, we propose that environmental features may also shape our punishment strategies. Individuals are attuned to the availability of resources within their environments. Due to heightened concerns with the costliness of repeated offending, we hypothesize that individuals tend towards elimination-focused punishments during times of perceived scarcity. Using global and United States data sets (studies 1 and 2), we find that indicators of resource scarcity predict the presence of capital punishment. In two experiments (studies 3 and 4), we find that activating concerns about scarcity causes people to increase their endorsement for capital punishment, and this effect is statistically mediated by a reduced willingness to risk repeated offenses. Perceived resource scarcity shapes our punishment preferences, with important policy implications.     

A computational approach to studying ageing at the individual level

The ageing process is actively regulated throughout an organism''s life, but studying the rate of ageing in individuals is difficult with conventional methods. Consequently, ageing studies typically make biological inference based on population mortality rates, which often do not accurately reflect the probabilities of death at the individual level. To study the relationship between individual and population mortality rates, we integrated in vivo switch experiments with in silico stochastic simulations to elucidate how carefully designed experiments allow key aspects of individual ageing to be deduced from group mortality measurements. As our case study, we used the recent report demonstrating that pheromones of the opposite sex decrease lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster by reversibly increasing population mortality rates. We showed that the population mortality reversal following pheromone removal was almost surely occurring in individuals, albeit more slowly than suggested by population measures. Furthermore, heterogeneity among individuals due to the inherent stochasticity of behavioural interactions skewed population mortality rates in middle-age away from the individual-level trajectories of which they are comprised. This article exemplifies how computational models function as important predictive tools for designing wet-laboratory experiments to use population mortality rates to understand how genetic and environmental manipulations affect ageing in the individual.     

Responses of chimpanzees to a recently dead community member at Gombe National Park, Tanzania

Chimpanzee responses to the death of a group member have rarely been observed in the wild and most instances involve infant deaths. One of the very few detailed accounts of a group's response to the death of an adult community member is from Gombe National Park, Tanzania, where Teleki [Folia Primatologica 20:81-94, 1973] observed the responses of 16 chimpanzees to an accidental death, none of whom touched the body. Now, almost 40 years later, we report on the behaviors of 16 (different) Gombe individuals to the recently dead body of an adult female community member. In stark contrast to Teleki's account, we observed individual chimpanzees' responses to range from curious observation and passive investigation (e.g. smelling and grooming) to the shaking, dragging, and frustrated beating of the body. Variation across demographic groups is described and may reflect individuals' past experience with death. The implications of our observations are discussed in the context of core morbidity traits shared between humans and chimpanzees.     

Impact of living with kin/non-kin on the life history traits of Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae)

In many vertebrates and invertebrates, living in a group may influence the life history traits, physiology and behaviour of its individual members, whereas genetic relatedness affects social interactions among individuals in a group. The two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae is characterised by a communal organization, in which silk production plays a key role. A silken web protects the colony against biotic and abiotic agents such as predators, competitors, humidity, wind, rain and acaricides. To evaluate the potential costs and benefits of being associated with genetically distant vs genetically close individuals in T. urticae, we assessed various fitness indicators (faecal pellet production, fecundity, death rate) in pure and mixed groups of two distinct populations of T. urticae: a red-form population from Tunisia and a green-form population from Belgium. If genetic origin had no influence, the values of fitness indicators in mixed groups composed of green and red individuals, would be intermediate between those of the pure green-form and red-form groups. Our results show that in a mixed group, faecal pellet production and death rate were statistically similar to the values obtained in the pure group of green-form individuals. Therefore, our study suggests that strain recognition ability may occur in T. urticae and that the genetic background of an individual may have a great impact on several of its life history traits.     

Capture–recapture models with heterogeneity to study survival senescence in the wild

Detecting senescence in wild populations and estimating its strength raise three challenges. First, in the presence of individual heterogeneity in survival probability, the proportion of high‐survival individuals increases with age. This increase can mask a senescence‐related decrease in survival probability when the probability is estimated at the population level. To accommodate individual heterogeneity we use a mixture model structure (discrete classes of individuals). Second, the study individuals can elude the observers in the field, and their detection rate can be heterogeneous. To account for detectability issues we use capture–mark–recapture (CMR) methodology, mixture models and data that provide information on individuals’ detectability. Last, emigration to non‐monitored sites can bias survival estimates, because it can occur at the end of the individuals’ histories and mimic earlier death. To model emigration we use Markovian transitions to and from an unobservable state. These different model structures are merged together using hidden Markov chain CMR models, or multievent models. Simulation studies illustrate that reliable evidence for survival senescence can be obtained using highly heterogeneous data from non site‐faithful individuals. We then design a tailored application for a dataset from a colony of black‐headed gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus. Survival probabilities do not appear individually variable, but evidence for survival senescence becomes significant only when accounting for other sources of heterogeneity. This result suggests that not accounting for heterogeneity leads to flawed inference and/or that emigration heterogeneity mimics survival heterogeneity and biases senescence estimates.