Food consumption and faecal deposition of plant nutrients by black swans (Cygnus atratus Latham) in a shallow New Zealand lake

Deposition of faeces by black swans (Cygnus atratus Latham) feeding on benthic algae in a shallow New Zealand lake was determined by collection of faeces from the lake bottom and from the shore. The two methods showed good agreement after adjustment for the weight loss on immersion. The mean daily faecal output per swan was 52 g dry weight. The nitrogen content of the faeces averaged 2.3% of dry weight, and was dominated by soluble organic nitrogen (59% of total N). Phosphorus averaged 0.44% of dry weight, with 66% of it being particulate, and 30% soluble reactive phosphorus. Although faecal inputs of total phosphorus were sufficient to generate concentrations of 15–30 mg m^–3, the faecal contributions of both N and P were only a minor component of the fluctuations observed in the lake, and were also small in relation to the total nutrient pool in the water and benthic algae. Waterfowl faeces appear to have low ratios of N to P, which will favour dominance of the phytoplankton by cyanobacteria in lakes where the faecal component of nutrient loads is large. The few data available suggest that the nitrogen content of waterfowl faeces is largely independent of that in their food. Food consumption, calculated by using cellulose as an indigestible faecal marker, was 104 g dry weight swan^–1 d^–1, a figure that appears low in relation to those for other swan species. Even the highest published figure for food intake by a swan is only about one half of the corresponding average metabolically-adjusted figures for geese, and we caution against the uncritical use of bioenergetic models for determining rates of food consumption and defaecation.     

蓝狐-卫星DNA的克隆及序列分析

利用限制性内切酶酶切蓝狐基因组, 经琼脂糖凝胶电泳, 对特异性亮带进行克隆、测序及序列分析。结果获得42个卫星DNA序列, 该卫星DNA单体大小为737 bp, G+C含量为51.9%, 单体之间同源性为91%~97%; 每个单体由3个约245 bp的亚重复串联构成, 亚重复之间的同源性为49%~55%; 在物种进化过程中, 该卫星DNA有G+C含量逐渐降低而A+T含量逐渐上升的趋势; 该卫星DNA为犬科动物种属所特有, 与犬着丝粒相关卫星DNA为同类卫星DNA, 同源性为74%, 命名为α-卫星DNA。     

鸿雁迁徙对停歇地的选择特征

建立合理的湿地水鸟保护地是缓解水鸟栖息地丧失和种群下降的重要手段。以往的保护地设计中,由于越冬地和和繁殖地水鸟停留时间长、种群数量大,受到较多的关注。分析湿地水鸟对停歇地的选择偏好,掌握停歇地的自然条件和人类活动特征可为水鸟保护网络优化和保护地管理提供决策依据。而在水鸟迁徙过程中,停歇地作为保护网络的重要节点也发挥了重要作用。因此选择鸿雁为伞护种,获取了29只鸿雁项圈追踪数据,分析蒙古国Khukh湖-中国东北鸭绿江口秋季迁徙路线对停歇地生境选择偏好,识别了鸿雁在湿地周边不同距离梯度下的活动频率变化。根据鸿雁停歇数据共识别停歇地63处,以此为基础分析停歇的自然条件和人类活动因素特征。结果表明,鸿雁除选择湖泊和沼泽为停歇地外,周边250m内的裸地和草地也是重要栖息地;当鸿雁停歇地人类活动较少时,鸿雁倾向于选择土壤肥沃、食物丰富区,而人类活动强度加大时,栖息地植被条件提高能够为鸿雁提供遮避条件,也吸引了更多鸿雁停歇。研究建议,在水鸟迁徙重要廊道区应增加水鸟停歇地保护区,保护区的设计应根据关键保护对象活动频率加强对湿地周边的栖息地保护,减少水滨人类活动对鸿雁停歇的负面影响;在人类活动强度较大的地区设立水鸟保护地,还应加强对植被的保护,在水鸟利用频率较高的停歇地周边进行植被修复。     

Forecasting ecological and evolutionary strategies to global change: an example from habitat selection by lemmings

Ecologists and evolutionary biologists must develop theories that can predict the consequences of global warming and other impacts on Earth's biota. Theories of adaptive habitat selection are particularly promising because they link distribution and density with fitness. The evolutionarily stable strategy that emerges from adaptive habitat choice is given by the system's habitat isodar, the graph of densities in pairs of habitats such that the expectation of fitness is the same in each. We illustrate how isodars can be converted into adaptive landscapes of habitat selection that display the density‐ and frequency‐dependent fitness of competing strategies of habitat use. The adaptive landscape varies with the abundance of habitats and can thus be used to predict future adaptive distributions of individuals under competing scenarios of habitat change. Application of the theory to three species of Arctic rodents living on Herschel Island in the Beaufort Sea predicts changes in selection gradients as xeric upland increases in frequency with global warming. Selection gradients will become more shallow for brown lemming (Lemmus trimucronatus) and tundra vole (Microtus oeconomus) strategies that preferentially exploit mesic habitat. Climate change will cause selection gradients for the alternative strategy of using mostly xeric habitat to become much steeper. Meanwhile, the adaptive landscape for collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus), which specialize on xeric Dryas‐covered upland, will become increasingly convex. Changes in the adaptive landscapes thus predict expanding niches for Lemmus and Microtus, and a narrower niche for Dicrostonyx. The ability to draw adaptive landscapes from current patterns of distribution represents one of the few methods available to forecast the consequences of climate change on the future distribution and evolution of affected species.     

Presence or absence of fish as a cue to macroinvertebrate abundance in boreal wetlands

Waterfowl that eat macroinvertebrates must select among potential nesting or brood-rearing habitats that may vary in food abundance over the season. We compared the reliability of predicting the relative abundance of macroinvertebrates in boreal wetlands using either the number of macroinvertebrates collected at one sampling period, or presence or absence of fish. Wetlands with fish had fewer macroinvertebrates than fishless wetlands in all five sampling periods. Predictions of the relative abundance of invertebrates in a wetland at other sampling periods based on the presence or absence of fish, were equal to or better than predictions based on the actual number of macroinvertebrates collected during one sampling period. These results suggest that fish status of a wetland is a reliable cue to invertebrate abundance in boreal wetlands.     

洱海湖滨新建人工塘群对洱海地区水鸟多样性的维持作用

塘湿地是淡水生物关键的栖息地,与大面积水体自然湿地相比,新建人工塘群对地区水鸟多样性的维持作用并没有得到重视。本研究于2021年3月—2022年2月逐月对洱海及其生态廊道新建人工塘群（206个）进行了调查,分别记录到水鸟43种和37种;洱海与人工塘群的共有物种为26种,仅在洱海中记录到的水鸟有17种,仅在人工塘群中记录到的水鸟有11种;全年Jaccard群落相似性指数为0.48,为中等不相似。除秋季外,春季、夏季和冬季的洱海水鸟物种丰富度均显著高于人工塘群的;除春季外,夏季、秋季和冬季的人工塘群水鸟密度均显著高于洱海的。虽然洱海水鸟群落的物种丰富度高于人工塘群的,但两者之间的优势功能类群组成不同：洱海以潜水水鸟为主,人工塘群则以大型涉禽为主。洱海湖滨新建人工塘群以浅水池塘为主,这在一定程度上可以弥补洱海浅水水鸟栖息地不足的问题,尤其能够为秋季迁徙鸻鹬类提供重要的栖息地,为洱海地区景观上不容忽视的水鸟栖息地。     

Satellite imagery,human ecology,anthropology, and deforestation in Madagascar

Satellite images were used to determine rates of deforestation over the past 35 years and to identify current deforestation hotspots in the eastern rainforests and in the dry endemic forests of southern Madagascar. The analysis of population trends, topography, and coincident ethnographic research points to a number of different factors influencing deforestation in these regions. Each of these factors generates different problems for conservation and development, most of which are not being dealt with adequately.