白尾地鸦的巢址选择

2017年4和5月,在位于新疆塔克拉玛干沙漠南缘的和田地区民丰县对白尾地鸦（Podoces bidduphi）的巢址选择进行研究。共记录白尾地鸦巢12个,测量了巢参数,用Mann-Whitney U检验分析巢样方与对照样方的差异,用主成分法分析影响白尾地鸦巢址选择的主要因子。结果显示：1）白尾地鸦巢多筑于绿洲边缘的柽柳（Tamarix）灌丛,巢距地面高（109.1 ± 13.2）cm,巢深（8.5 ± 0.5）cm,巢厚（3.8 ± 0.4）cm,内径（13.9 ± 0.9）cm,外径（21.6 ± 1.3）cm;2）巢样方的植被物种数和植被盖度远高于对照样方;3）影响白尾地鸦巢址选择的主要因素为植被物种数及干扰,其中干扰主要指距道路以及距居民点的距离。综上所述,白尾地鸦的巢址选择受食物等生存需求和躲避干扰等安全因素的双重影响,是生存与繁殖权衡的结果。     

福建漳江口红树林鹭科鸟类巢址选择

2011年4～5月、2012年4～5月,采用样线调查和样方调查相结合的方法对福建漳江口红树林国家级自然保护区内鹭科鸟类巢址与影响其选择的因子进行研究.t-检验结果显示,红树基径、盖度、距地面平均高度、植株密度及秋茄比5个参数在巢区样方(n=23)与对照样方(n=37)之间存在显著差异(P＜0.05),桐花比、距道路距离、距村庄距离与距池塘距离4个参数存在极其显著差异(P＜0.01).主成分分析表明,植被结构和干扰条件是影响鹭科鸟类巢址选择的主要因子,植被结构不仅能够影响鹭科鸟类群落结构,还受到鹭科鸟类集群繁殖影响.     

甘肃盐池湾斑头雁巢址选择

2019年4至6月,采用定点观察法和样方法研究甘肃盐池湾国家级自然保护区斑头雁(Anser indicus)巢址选择。研究期间共发现斑头雁巢332个,斑头雁在繁殖期有3种营巢生境,即浅水沼泽、湖心小岛以及山崖,其巢址类型有草垛巢、地面巢和山崖裸岩巢3种。浅水沼泽、湖心小岛以及山崖3种营巢生境中窝卵数分别为(4.7±2.7)枚(n=204)、(4.2±1.9)枚(n=108)及(3.1±0.6)枚(n=20),孵化成功率分别为48.65%(n=199)、45.27%(n=148)及24.00%(n=25),繁殖成功率分别为66.67%(n=42)、74.28%(n=35)及36.36%(n=11)。主成分分析显示,影响浅水沼泽生境中斑头雁巢址选择的主要环境因素依次为水源因素、隐蔽因素、干扰因素和食物因素;影响湖心小岛生境中斑头雁巢址选择的主要环境因素依次为隐蔽因素、食物因素、干扰因素;影响山崖生境中斑头雁巢址选择的主要环境因素依次为地形因素、食物及水源因素、干扰因素。本研究表明,斑头雁在不同营巢生境中,巢址选择的最主要环境因素并不相同,主要依赖生境特征及周围环境因素特征。     

南充雉鸡的巢址选择和春夏季栖息地选择

2006年3-6月,采用野外直接观察法和样方法,在四川省南充市太和白鹭自然保护区对雉鸡(Phasianus colchicus)的巢址选择和春夏季栖息地选择进行了研究。通过主成分分析和对比分析,巢址选择研究结果表明:雉鸡的巢都是选择在乔木盖度小、距水距离较近、草本高度和盖度都较大的白茅(Imperata cylindri-cal)干草丛中;影响雉鸡巢址选择的主要因子依次为:坡度、总盖度、乔木平均胸径、乔木盖度、郁闭度、距水距离、距路距离、灌木平均高度、巢周围干草比例、裸地面积、巢上方覆盖物厚、灌木盖度和巢所在草丛宽度等13个因子。春夏季栖息地选择研究结果表明:雉鸡在春夏季倾向于在植被总盖度大、坡度适中、乔木盖度适中、草本盖度和高度较大、灌木盖度较小、灌木高度较大、隐蔽度较大、距路距离较远和郁闭度较大等的生境栖息。     

新疆北部白冠攀雀的巢与巢址选择

2008年4—7月,在新疆北部对白冠攀雀巢址选择进行了研究。白冠攀雀的营巢习性特殊,巢呈囊袋状,结构甚为精致。对于白冠攀雀巢的研究,采用总面积调查法,进行地毯式的搜寻,并结合标图法对其进行标记,绘制分布图。研究结果共发现巢125个,营巢位于于临近湖泊、河流等水域附近的柳树、杨树、桦树等阔叶树上。营巢树种以柳树为主,占68.80%。巢的高度平均为(5.3±2.5)m,营巢于乔木的中下部（约1/3处）,约70%的巢离河边不足30 m。对于巢址选择的研究,将原始记录中与巢址选择有关的特征变量进行主成分分析,分析表明,影响白冠攀雀巢址选择的主要因素有4种,依次为：郁闭度因素（包括营巢树胸径、巢上郁闭度）、营巢树种因素(包括营巢树种、树高、巢位高度和乔木种类)、方位因素（包括距河边距离和巢向）、食物与巢材因素。     

新疆卡拉麦里山有蹄类野生动物自然保护区啮齿动物群落多样性及其与环境因子的关系

啮齿动物的群落结构受生态环境特征影响,并能反映环境变化规律。为探讨啮齿动物群落多样性及其与环境因子间的关系,利用铗捕法获得了新疆卡拉麦里山有蹄类野生动物自然保护区9种生境类型的环境因子及啮齿动物群落结构数据。2019-2020年春、夏季,共布设样地291块,有效铗日55269个,调查总面积176.875 km²,记录了啮齿类分布的12个环境因子。捕获啮齿动物419只,分属1目4科10属12种,优势种为三趾跳鼠（Dipus sagitta）和五趾跳鼠（Allactaga sibirica）,分别占捕获总个体数的34.13%和27.68%。分析结果显示,卡山自然保护区啮齿类捕获率最高的生境类型为沙漠（2.18%）;捕获鼠种的主要分布型为耐旱型（98.09%）。12个环境因子在9个生境类型中均呈极显著差异（P<0.01）,说明该保护区啮齿动物分布的生境异质性高。冗余分析表明,海拔高度、植被种类、灌木盖度和灌木高度是决定啮齿动物群落结构最主要的4个环境因子,其中植被种数与啮齿类群落多样性呈正相关,随着植被种数数值的增加,除优势度指数外,其它多样性指数随之增加。     

人工巢箱条件下杂色山雀的巢位选择及其对繁殖成功率的影响

杂色山雀(Parus varius)是一种分布区域极其狭窄的小型森林洞巢鸟类,种群数量稀少,在中国大陆仅见繁殖于辽宁省的东南部山区和毗邻辽宁的吉林省西南部山区,为当地留鸟.为了探讨巢址选择对杂色山雀繁殖的影响,找出影响杂色山雀繁殖成功率的巢址选择方面的主要因子,于2009-2011年3-7月,在辽宁省仙人洞国家级自然保护区通过悬挂人工巢箱,进行杂色山雀对人工巢箱的巢址选择以及不同的巢址对杂色山雀繁殖成功率的影响研究.研究表明:杂色山雀多在针阔混交林中活动和繁殖,对位于赤松与蒙古栎混交林中的巢箱有一定偏好.野外共发现24巢杂色山雀在人工巢箱中繁殖,其中15巢繁殖成功,9巢繁殖失败.对杂色山雀利用的巢址样方主成分分析表明,巢位因子( 19.826％)、乔木因子(17.571％)、灌木因子(13.11％)、光照因子(11.587％)、隐蔽因子(10.562％)和边缘效应因子(7.572％)是影响杂色山雀对人工巢箱选择的重要因子.利用巢箱与对照巢箱相比,两者在距水源距离、距路距离、乔木平均高度、灌木平均高度和植被类型这5个环境变量上存在显著差异.繁殖成功巢与繁殖失败巢相比,繁殖成功的巢箱所在位置距路稍远,坡度较高,乔木最大高度较高,灌木盖度略低于繁殖失败巢箱.人为干扰和天敌捕食是造成杂色山雀繁殖失败的主要原因.以上研究结果表明,巢向偏南、距地面2 m以上、周围乔木高大、灌木平均高度大于1.5m、盖度在45％-55％之间、距水源20 m左右、距路20 m以外的位于针阔混交林边缘的巢箱是杂色山雀繁殖的最优巢址.目前杂色山雀的种群数量还很稀少,希望本研究能对这一珍稀鸟类的保护提供重要参考.     

云南不同海拔花椒园昆虫群落结构及动态

调查了4种不同海拔花椒园昆虫群落组成及结构的周年变化,应用群落特征参数及主分量分析方法分析了昆虫群落特征及其在时间过程中的主导因素和时间格局.结果表明,随着海拔的逐渐上升,昆虫群落中种类数量逐渐减少,种群数量相对增加,群落多样性、丰富度及均匀度等指数逐渐下降,随时间的变化而波动的趋势逐渐明显,主导昆虫群落变化的最主要因子由天敌亚群落的物种数和个体数量综合因子逐渐转向害虫亚群落的物种数和个体数量综合因子.     

Natural selection of Varroa jacobsoni explains the different reproductive strategies in colonies of Apis cerana and Apis mellifera

In colonies of European Apis mellifera, Varroa jacobsoni reproduces both in drone and in worker cells. In colonies of its original Asian host, Apis cerana, the mites invade both drone and worker brood cells, but reproduce only in drone cells. Absence of reproduction in worker cells is probably crucial for the tolerance of A. cerana towards V. jacobsoni because it implies that the mite population can only grow during periods in which drones are reared. To test if non-reproduction of V. jacobsoni in worker brood cells of A. cerana is due to a trait of the mites or of the honey-bee species, mites from bees in A. mellifera colonies were artificially introduced into A. cerana worker brood cells and vice versa. Approximately 80% of the mites from A. mellifera colonies reproduced in naturally infested worker cells as well as when introduced into worker cells of A. mellifera and A. cerana. Conversely, only 10% of the mites from A. cerana colonies reproduced, both in naturally infested worker cells of A. cerana and when introduced into worker cells of A. mellifera. Hence, absence of reproduction in worker cells is due to a trait of the mites. Additional experiments showed that A. cerana bees removed 84% of the worker brood that was artificially infested with mites from A. mellifera colonies. Brood removal started 2 days after artificial infestation, which suggests that the bees responded to behaviour of the mites. Since removal behaviour of the bees will have a large impact on fitness of the mites, it probably plays an important role in selection for differential reproductive strategies. Our findings have large implications for selection programmes to breed less-susceptible bee strains. If differences in non-reproduction are mite specific, we should not only look for non-reproduction as such, but for colonies in which non-reproduction in worker cells is selected. Hence, in selection programmes fitness of mites that reproduce in both drone and worker cells should be compared to fitness of mites that reproduce only in drone cells. © Rapid Science Ltd. 1998     

Integrating conservation and development: effective trade-offs between biodiversity and cost in the selection of protected areas

Strategies are needed for reconciling competing demands at the regional level when areas are to be selected for protection and there are associated costs, possibly equivalent to forgone development opportunties. As an alternative to the fixed scaling (or weighting) of costs and benefits required by cost-benefit analysis, multi-criteria analyses allow the exploration of alternative weightings and a summary trade-off curve to determine preferred solutions. For alternative sets of areas, total cost could be plotted against total represented biodiversity, but a more consistent approach should look at trade-off space at the level of individual areas. For a given weighting, an area is assigned protection if and only if its contribution to total biodiversity, CB, exceeds its equivalent cost, EC (in biodiversity units). Because CB for a given area depends on which other areas are also protected, it can be more or less than EC. Here we develop an iterative strategy for selecting areas, such that, for a given weighting, an area is in the final protected set if and only if its final CB value is greater than its EC value. Sensitivity analysis is used to identify those areas that: (1) are assigned protection even when low weight is given to biodiversity, or (2) are not assigned protection even when high weight is given to biodiversity. This approach is applicable in principle to any surrogate measure for biodiversity; here examples are presented in which environmental data are summarized as an environmental space.     

Phenotypic selection and function of reproductive behavior in the subsocial bug Elasmucha putoni (Heteroptera: Acanthosomatidae)

To investigate the function of maternal care and determinantsof reproductive success in the subsocial bug Elasmucha putoni (Heteroptera: Acanthosomatidae), I used two different approaches,the measurement of phenotypic selection and female-removalexperiments under conditions differing in biotic-environmentalpressure. For two field populations, unattended eggs and youngernymphs consistently suffered severe predation pressure andattendance by parent females greatly enhanced their survival.In contrast, under enemy-excluded conditions, offspring performance was not reduced in broods without parent females, indicatingthat maternal care functions as a physical defense againstpredators. However, the determinant of female reproductivesuccess in E. putoni in the field was not the care behavioralone. Selection gradient analysis showed that early seasonoviposition and larger clutch size, as well as a longer durationof care by a female, was favored during the breeding episode.This study is the first to evaluate phenotypic selection onparental care and other reproductive traits in arthropods.     

Male reproductive success and sexual selection in northern water snakes determined by microsatellite DNA analysis

Male northern water snakes (Nerodia sipedon) have high variancein reproductive success relative to females. We used DNA-basedpaternity analyses from a 3-year study of two marsh populationsof water snakes to investigate the factors that contributeto variation in male success. Male traits investigated includedbody size, condition, tail length, home range size, activityduring the mating season, and genetic profile (genetic similarityto females, heterozygosity, and genetic variability [d²]).We successfully assigned > 80% of offspring to sires froma sample of 811 offspring from 45 litters. Male reproductivesuccess did not vary significantly with body size, tail length,condition, home range size, or the number of microsatelliteloci at which males were heterozygous, nor with other featuresof their genetic profiles. However, we found evidence of positive assortative mating by size in the marsh in which receptive femaleswere not spatially clumped. Also, males that were most activeduring the mating season were more successful, particularlywhere females were not clumped. We failed to find evidenceof selection acting on male size through variance in reproductivesuccess, indicating that sexual selection does not have an important influence on sexual size dimorphism in this species(males are smaller than females). We propose that males aresmaller than females because the lack of advantage to largesize allows males to adopt a low-energy, low-growth strategythat reduces their risk of predation outside the mating season.     

Predicting trait values and measuring selection in complex life histories: reproductive allocation decisions in Soay sheep

Accurate prediction of life history phenomena and characterisation of selection in free-living animal populations are fundamental goals in evolutionary ecology. In density regulated, structured populations, where individual state influences fate, simple and widely used approaches based on individual lifetime measures of fitness are difficult to justify. We combine recently developed structured population modelling tools with ideas from modern evolutionary game theory (adaptive dynamics) to understand selection on allocation of female reproductive effort to singletons or twins in a size-structured population of feral sheep. In marked contrast to the classical selection analyses, our model-based approach predicts that the female allocation strategy is under negligible directional selection. These differences arise because classical selection analysis ignores components of offspring fitness and fails to consider selection over the complete life cycle.     

Sexual selection in sticklebacks in the field: correlates of reproductive, mating, and paternal success

Male sticklebacks display multiple ornaments, and these ornamentshave been shown to be preferred by females in laboratory experiments.However, few field data exist, and it is not known whether thesepreferences are simultaneously or sequentially operative ina single population. We report correlates of reproductive successin two stickleback populations that differ in their ecology,over several periods within their breeding season. In both populationslarger males had higher reproductive success, but not in all periodsof the breeding season. Reproductive success increased withredness of the throat only in the Wohlensee population, andonly in one period that was characterized by low average success.In the Wohlensee population, the parasitic worm Pomphorhynchuslaevis is abundant, and reproductive success decreased withthe presence of the parasite. In the Roche population, maleswith nests concealed in a plant had higher mating success. Thesenests were less likely to fail, suggesting that females preferredto spawn in concealed nests because of higher offspring survivorship.The different sexual traits appear to reveal different aspectsof male quality (multiple message hypothesis): females probablyfind large males attractive because of their higher paternalquality, but it seems more likely that red males are preferred forbetter genetic qualities. Females also discriminate on territoryquality, and male traits may be important in competition forthese territories. The correlates of reproductive success werenot consistent during the season, probably due to changes inthe availability of ripe females. Such fluctuating selectionpressures will contribute to the maintenance of genetic variationin sexual traits.     

Morphological variation and female reproductive success in two sympatric Trillium species: evidence for phenotypic selection in Trillium erectum and Trillium grandiflorum (Liliaceae)

I investigated the mating systems and phenotypic variation of two sympatric spring ephemerals, Trillium erectum and T. grandiflorum (Liliaceae), and phenotypic selection acting through female reproductive success for 11 morphological characters in five sympatric populations of the two species. I examined the degree of self-compatibility, pollinator-visitation rates, and pollen limitation of fruit and seed production in both species. Both Trillium species were self-compatible, but outcrossed flowers produced more successful fruits and seeds than self-pollinated flowers. Pollinator-visitation rates to the two species were low compared to other insect-pollinated spring ephemerals. In addition, both T. erectum and T. grandiflorum experienced pollen limitation in fruit and/or seed production; however, levels of fecundity in both species may be influenced by resource availability as well. I found significant phenotypic variation in 11 morphological characters within and among the five study populations. The sizes of all morphological characters were positively correlated. In general, larger T. erectum and T. grandiflorum produced more seeds. Phenotypic selection analysis revealed that direct and indirect selection acted on the size of morphological characters for both species. But there was no detectable selection acting on plant shape. This study reveals that variation in plant size exists within and among populations of both species, and this variation is associated with variance in female reproductive success. Spatial and temporal variation in pollinator and/or resource abundance may play a role in the phenotypic variation exhibited by both Trillium species.     

Pollinator‐mediated selection on floral morphology: evidence for transgressive evolution in a derived hybrid lineage

Hybridization between closely related lineages is a mechanism that might promote substantive changes in phenotypic traits of descendants, resulting in transgressive evolution. Interbreeding between divergent but morphologically similar lineages can produce exceptional phenotypes, but the potential for transgressive variation to facilitate long‐term trait changes in derived hybrid lineages has received little attention. We compare pollinator‐mediated selection on transgressive floral traits in both early‐generation and derived hybrid lineages of the Piriqueta cistoides ssp. caroliniana complex. The bowl‐shaped flowers of morphotypes in this complex have similar gross morphologies and attract a common suite of small insect pollinators. However, they are defined by significant differences in characters that generate pollinator interest and visitation, including floral area and petal separation. In common garden experiments, patterns of pollen deposition in early‐generation recombinant hybrids indicate that Piriqueta's pollinators favour flowers with greater area and reduced petal separation. Changes in floral morphology in derived hybrid lineages are consistent with predictions from selection gradients, but the magnitude of change is limited relative to the range of transgressive variation. These results suggest that hybridization provides variation for evolution of divergent floral traits. However, the potential for extreme transgressive variants to contribute to phenotypic shifts may be limited due to reduced heritability, evolutionary constraints or fitness trade‐offs.