广州长岗山森林凋落物土壤动物群落结构及季节变化

为了解华南地区城市森林凋落物土壤动物群落结构特征及季节变化,对广州市长岗山自然保护区森林凋落物层土壤动物群落进行了为期1年的逐月采样调查,共采获凋落物土壤动物21 817头,隶属于3门9纲22类群,其中蜱螨目和弹尾目为优势类群,二者占全年土壤动物个体总数的70.3%;蠕形马陆亚纲、等足目、蜘蛛目、缨翅目、鞘翅目、膜翅目、鳞翅目幼虫和双翅目幼虫为常见类群,它们的个体数占全年土壤动物总个体数的27.0%.这些主要类群的相对多度和密度随采样季节而改变并与凋落物的湿度存在着一定的相关性.蜱螨目的密度高峰期出现在降雨量最多的5-8月;弹尾目的密度高峰出现在2-7月;缨翅目的密度高峰在8-12月,凋落物湿度过高或过低均使缨翅目密度降低;鞘翅目的密度高峰分别出现在5-8月、11月和翌年2月,而蠕形马陆亚纲的密度高峰期集中在5-6月,而其余月份的密度维持在低水平.蜱螨目(A)和弹尾目(C)个体数之比的大小不一定能反映同一气候带土壤动物的分布特征和规律,因为即使在同一地点,不同的采样时间也会造成A/C值差异悬殊.保留城市森林凋落物对提高城市森林土壤动物的多样性具有重要意义.     

Lean birds in the city: body size and condition of house sparrows along the urbanization gradient

1. Urbanized habitats differ from natural ones in several ecological features, including climate, food availability, strength of predation and competition. Although the effects of urbanization on avian community composition are well known, there is much less information about how individual birds are affected by these human-generated habitat differences. 2. In this study we investigated the relationships between the morphological characteristics and the degree of habitat urbanization in house sparrows, Passer domesticus (Linne 1758) . We collected data for more than 1000 non-breeding adult birds in Hungary between 1997 and 2006, from seven sites including farmlands, suburban areas and city centres. 3. We found that the body mass, tarsus length and body condition of free-living sparrows differed among the sites: birds in more urbanized habitats were consistently smaller and in worse condition than birds in more rural habitats. A composite measure of habitat urbanization (based on building density, road density and vegetation cover) explained over 75% of variance between sites in the studied traits, after we controlled for the effects of sex, year, season and time of capture. 4. The difference in body mass between rural and urban sparrows was significant when birds were kept in aviaries under identical conditions, with constant ad libitum food availability. It is therefore unlikely that the reduced body size and condition of urban sparrows are a consequence of reduced access to food for adults (e.g. due to strong competition), or their short-term responses to high food predictability (e.g. by strategic mass regulation). 5. We suggest that habitat differences in nestling development or adaptive divergence of sparrow populations due to distinct environmental conditions (such as differing predation pressure) may account for the differences along the urbanization gradient.     

Small-scaled geographical variation in life-history traits of the blowfly Calliphora vicina between rural and urban populations

The impact of the urban heat-island effect, the warming-up of an urban area caused by human activity, on the blowfly Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Calliphoridae) was examined at two British sites, 30 km apart. Waterloo in Central London is a highly urbanised built-up area, whereas Box Hill in the county of Surrey is a rural pasture and woodland location. The phenotypic plasticity of 12 C. vicina cultures, originated from single females from each of the two sites, was measured using three developmental characters: adult body size (represented as the length of the cross vein dm-cu of the right wing), development time as accumulated degree-days (ADD), and growth rate (length of dm-cu/ADD), along a constant temperature series of 16, 20, 24, and 28 °C in the laboratory. The blowflies from Box Hill had the same ADD as those from Waterloo, but showed a significantly larger adult size and growth rate at lower temperatures, suggesting the existence of local adaptations that may be caused by the differing levels of urbanisation between the two studied sites. Not surprisingly, a trade-off between adult size and development time was found. Females showed longer development times than males at all four temperatures, indicating they may need to ingest more food as larvae to furnish ovarioles and increase fecundity. However, females had larger adult size than males at 16 and 20 °C but a reverse at 28 °C, suggesting that females may be more cold-adapted than males.     

Socio-spatial organization of urban stone martens

Stone martens Martes foina are common occupants of urban environments across continental Europe. We predicted that like other 'urban adapters', urban stone martens should exhibit smaller home ranges, more extensive home-range overlap and higher population densities than their rural counterparts. We radio-tracked 13 stone martens (10 females, three males) in two towns in southern Luxembourg during a 2-year period, in order to investigate nocturnal ranging behaviour. All martens maintained stable, year-round territories almost wholly within the urban perimeter of the respective study towns. Socio-spatial organization was based on intra-sexual territoriality. Territories (100% minimum convex polygon) were small in size (males: 112.6±24.8 ha; females: 37.0±22.2 ha) and population densities moderately high (4.7–5.8 adults km⁻²) by comparison with previous studies of rural populations. We conclude that although stone martens are clearly well adapted to urban conditions, urbanization has surprisingly little impact on their socio-spatial organization by comparison with its effects on other mesocarnivores. This apparent inflexibility in the spacing patterns of stone martens lends support to the view that spacing in martens ( Martes spp.) is a predominantly phylogenetic trait that is under limited environmental influence.     

Commensal ecology, urban landscapes, and their influence on the genetic characteristics of city-dwelling Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Movement of individuals promotes colonization of new areas, gene flow among local populations, and has implications for the spread of infectious agents and the control of pest species. Wild Norway rats ( Rattus norvegicus ) are common in highly urbanized areas but surprisingly little is known of their population structure. We sampled individuals from 11 locations within Baltimore, Maryland, to characterize the genetic structure and extent of gene flow between areas within the city. Clustering methods and a neighbour-joining tree based on pairwise genetic distances supported an east–west division in the inner city, and a third cluster comprised of historically more recent sites. Most individuals (~95%) were assigned to their area of capture, indicating strong site fidelity. Moreover, the axial dispersal distance of rats (62 m) fell within typical alley length. Several rats were assigned to areas 2–11.5 km away, indicating some, albeit infrequent, long-distance movement within the city. Although individual movement appears to be limited (30–150 m), locations up to 1.7 km are comprised of relatives. Moderate F _ST, differentiation between identified clusters, and high allelic diversity indicate that regular gene flow, either via recruitment or migration, has prevented isolation. Therefore, ecology of commensal rodents in urban areas and life-history characteristics of Norway rats likely counteract many expected effects of isolation or founder events. An understanding of levels of connectivity of rat populations inhabiting urban areas provides information about the spatial scale at which populations of rats may spread disease, invade new areas, or be eradicated from an existing area without reinvasion.     

Effects of urban noise on song and response behaviour in great tits

Acoustic communication is fundamental in avian territory defence and mate attraction. In urban environments where sound transmissions are more likely to be masked by low-frequency anthropogenic noise, acoustic adaptations may be advantageous. However, minor modifications to a signal could affect its efficacy. While recent research has shown that there is divergence between songs from noisy and quiet areas, it is unknown whether these differences affect the response to the signal by its receivers. Here, we show that there is a difference in spectral aspects of rural and urban song in a common passerine, the great tit Parus major, at 20 sites across the UK. We also provide, to our knowledge, the first demonstration that such environmentally induced differences in song influence the response of male territory holders. Males from quiet territories exhibited a significantly stronger response when hearing song from another territory holder with low background noise than from those with high background noise. The opposite distinction in response intensity to homotypic versus heterotypic song was observed in males from noisy territories. This behavioural difference may intensify further signal divergence between urban and rural populations and raises important questions concerning signal evolution.     

广西园林植物应用现状调查及分析

随着经济的发展和人们对环境美学要求的提高,园林植物的开发利用越来越受到重视。通过对广西主要大城市南宁、柳州、桂林等地区的园林植物进行实地调查,结果表明,广西区内常用园林植物有809种(包括变种、变型、栽培变种),隶属于150科450属,其中乡土植物315种,占常用园林植物的38.94%;外来物种494种,占常用园林植物的61.06%。其中,乔木283种,草本253种。在150个科中,棕榈科的植物种类最多,有43种,其次是木兰科,有33种。而柠檬桉、桂花、大王椰子等种类,因应用范围广、用量大而在广西园林中占有相当重要的地位。园林用途分类结果表明,用于城市道路绿化的植物有502种;用于公园、广场、街头绿地绿化的植物有494种,其中造景植物用了428种。     

1956—1998年间中纬度近海与内陆城市年气温与热岛效应的变化趋势

选取纬度相近、发展规模类似的近海（济南）与内陆（西安）城市为研究对象,对比分析了1956—1998年间济南和西安气温与热岛效应的变化趋势.结果表明：1956—1978年间,除济南年均最低气温以0.37 ℃·10 a^-1的速率上升外,2个城市的气温指标均无明显变化趋势;1979—1998年间,2个城市则表现出显著的增温趋势,其中西安年均最高气温和年均气温的增加速率大于济南,济南年均最低气温的增加速率大于西安.1956—1978年间,2个城市均存在城市热岛效应但无显著增加趋势,1979—1998年间的热岛效应明显强化,以西安在年均气温（0.22 ℃·10 a^-1）和年均最低气温（0.32 ℃·10 a^-1）上表现的热岛效应的增加趋势更为明显.济南热岛效应强度和年际波动均大于西安,但其增加速率却小于西安.济南年均最高气温、年均气温和年均最低气温的增温速率和热岛效应强度明显不同,西安则较接近.3个气温指标中以年均最低气温的增加趋势最明显,同时对热岛效应的响应最显著,年均最高气温的波动性最大.地理位置不但影响城市增温的幅度,而且也深刻影响着城市增温的形式与热岛效应强度.     

The Influence of Physical Habitat,Pyrethroids, and Metals on Benthic Community Condition in an Urban and Residential Stream in California

This study was designed to characterize benthic communities and physical habitat in both an urban (Kirker Creek) and residential (Pleasant Grove Creek) stream in California in late spring of 2006 and 2007. Concurrent water quality evaluations, physical sediment parameters, pyrethroids, bulk metals, and SEM/AVS ratios were also measured during both years of this study. The relationship of various benthic metrics to physical habitat metrics, pyrethroids, and metals was evaluated for each stream using stepwise multiple linear regressions with both years combined for each stream, as well as both years and both streams combined, to increase the statistical power for determining significant relationships. Physical habitat was determined to be poor in each stream during both years of sampling. More than 100 benthic taxa were reported annually for both streams based on 2006 and 2007 sampling. A significant result from the stepwise regression analysis combining data for 2 years across both streams is that when habitat metrics and to a lesser degree metals are considered in the statistical models pyrethroids do not display any significant relationships to the benthic metrics. In summary, it is apparent from this analysis that the health of benthic communities in both streams is primarily affected by habitat metrics.