The time of fruiting of Ulota Bruchii Hornsch. and U. crispa Brid.

Abstract

For obscure reasons, sporophytes of the dioicous Hamatocaulis vernicosus are currently unknown in France. With the aim of understanding this failure of sporophyte production we investigated (1) sexual phenology, (2) sex ratio pattern at different spatial scales, (3) limitation of sporophyte formation by the availability of only one sex, (4) limitation of sporophyte formation caused by the distance between male and female, (5) location of sporophytes and (6) the consevation implications of this failure of sporophyte production. Principal results show that phenology cannot explain the failure of sporophyte production. At the regional scale, sporophyte formation is prevented by the fact that several mountain ranges have single-sex populations. The production of spore capsules relies on a strict combination of factors at the local scale: occurrence of sexually expressed mixed-sex colonies, a short distance between male and female individuals and favourable environmental factors (light grazing, high water table). In the Massif Central of France spore production is unlikely because of current unfavourable conditions. Fertility patterns appeared useful in a conservation context.     

Single-cell landscape of the ecosystem in early-relapse hepatocellular carcinoma

1. Download : Download high-res image (233KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

Local grassland restoration affects insect communities

1. It is hypothesised that ecological restoration in grasslands can induce an alternative stable state shift in vegetation. The change in vegetation influences insect community assemblages and allows for greater functional redundancy in pollination and refuge for native insect species. 2. Insect community assemblages at eight coastal California grassland sites were evaluated. Half of these sites had undergone restoration through active revegetation of native grassland flora and half were non‐restored. Insects were collected from Lupinus bicolor (Fabaceae) within 2 × 2‐m² plots in spring 2017. Lupinus bicolor is a common native species that is used in California restoration projects, and home and state landscaping projects. 3. Ordination demonstrated that insect community assemblages were different between restored and non‐restored sites. These differences were seen in insect functional groups as well as taxa‐specific differences and were found to be driven by environmental characteristics such as non‐native forb cover. 4. Functional redundancy of herbivores decreased at restored sites, while pollinators became more redundant compared with non‐restored sites. The assemblages of the common species found at restoration sites contained more native insects than those found at non‐restored sites, including species such as Bombus vosnesenskii. 5. Local grassland restoration has the potential to induce an alternative stable state change and affect insect community assemblages. Additionally, it was found that grassland restoration can be a potential conservation tool to provide refugia for bumblebees (Bombus), but additional studies are required to fully understand its broader applicability.     

Does re-creation of extensive pasture-forest mosaics provide an economically sustainable way of nature conservation in Sweden''s forest dominated regions?

There is a major risk that many of the remaining semi-natural pastures in Swedish forest dominated regions will lose their grazing in the near future with lost biodiversity as a result. The reason is the high costs of grazing small pastures with cattle from generally small herds. The approaching decoupling of the present EU income support per head of cattle will increase the risk. Calculations based on economies of scale in beef production and opportunity cost of forest and arable land suggest that re-creating extensive pasture-forest mosaics consisting of existing semi-natural pastures and adjacent arable fields and forests can secure economically sustainable grazing. The risk of local extinction of grassland species due to habitat isolation is also lower in large mosaics than in small, scattered pastures.     

生态意识及其主要特点

一、生态意识产生的时代背景生态意识作为人类思想的先进观念,产生于20世纪后半叶。产业革命以来二百多年,人类依据先进科学技术武装的强大生产力,无限制地向自然进     

Promoting regional sustainability by eco-province construction in China: A critical assessment

The regional level has been recognized as a good scale for implementing actions towards sustainable development (SD). An important pathway to improve regional sustainability is to locally carry out long-term ecological planning. In order to reduce environmental impacts from fast economic growth, several eastern provinces of China began Ecological Province Construction (EPC) at the end of 1990s. This paper presented a case for analyzing the progress of EPC in China via both qualitative and quantitative methods. We studied Shandong Eco-province Construction (SEPC) and evaluated its outcomes with its pre-set indicators in 2003–2010. A further evaluation with eco-efficiency and de-linking indices was conducted. The results indicated the pre-set indicators could not effectively reflect of the ecological province construction. It was recommended to introduce an evaluated framework combined with eco-efficiency and de-linking indices to indicate ecological planning at the regional scale.     

Sexual dimorphism in scales of marbled flounder Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae (Pleuronectiformes: Pleuronectidae), with comments on the relevance to their spawning behaviour

Variation of scales on the blind side of Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae in relation to sex, maturity and body size was examined. Immature males often have cycloid scales, while mature males have mostly ctenoid scales. Large females also often have ctenoid scales (but with fewer spines compared with males), and small females have mostly cycloid scales. The number of spines (ctenii) on the blind‐side scale increases with body size in both sexes, indicating an ontogenetic change in scale morphology. As P. yokohamae spawn demersal eggs with males positioning themselves above the females on the ocular side, it is hypothesized that ctenoid scales on the blind side in mature males function for maintaining contact with females during spawning.