盐胁迫对裸果木幼苗生长和叶片相关生理指标的影响

裸果木起源于古地中海,为亚洲中部荒漠区分布的第三纪孑遗植物种,对研究旱生植物演化过程具有重要的科学价值。以一年生裸果木(Gymnocarpos przewalskii)实生苗为材料,在盆栽条件下用质量浓度为0.4%、0.8%、1.2%和1.6%的NaCl溶液进行盐胁迫处理,测定各NaCl处理下裸果木幼苗叶片的抗氧化酶活性、渗透调节物质含量、叶绿素含量、相对电导率(REC)、丙二醛(MDA)含量以及株高、基径,根、茎、叶、总干重,根冠比变化,探讨裸果木幼苗对盐胁迫的生理耐受性。结果显示,(1)随着盐胁迫程度的加重,裸果木幼苗株高、基径,以及根、茎、叶干重和总干重整体呈下降趋势,而根冠比呈上升趋势;裸果木幼苗株高、基径和根干重在0.4%NaCl处理下较对照变化不显著,但其茎干重、叶干重和总干重在各NaCl处理下均显著低于对照。(2)随着盐胁迫程度的加重,裸果木幼苗叶片的可溶性糖(SS)含量、可溶性蛋白(SP)含量、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性、过氧化物酶(POD)活性均先升高后降低,而脯氨酸(Pro)含量、过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性、REC、MDA含量均呈持续升高趋势;在0.8%NaCl处理...     

三种高寒植物幼苗生物量分配及性状特征对光照和养分的响应

为了解高寒植物幼苗对生境资源异质性的适应策略,以高寒草甸中常见的3种草本植物大耳叶风毛菊(Saussurea macrota)、甘西鼠尾草(Salvia przewalskii)和千里光(Senecio scandens)为材料,比较研究了这3种植物幼苗对不同光照和养分资源的响应。结果表明:光照和养分异质性显著影响了3种植物幼苗的性状特征和生物量分配,并存在一定的交互影响。随着光照的降低,3个物种的幼苗的生物量和根分配呈现降低趋势,但是其株高、比叶面积、叶分配、茎分配却逐渐升高。在低养分条件下,3个物种幼苗的总生物量、株高、比叶面积和叶分配均降低,而根分配均却显著增加。对于光照和养分资源异质性而言,光照异质性对高寒植物生物量分配和性状特征的改变具有更大的影响。喜阴物种大耳叶风毛菊和喜光物种甘西鼠尾草比中性生境物种千里光表现出了较大的性状特征和生物量分配的可塑性指数。     

祁连山两种优势乔木叶片δ13C的海拔响应及其机理

以分布于祁连山北麓中段的两种优势乔木祁连圆柏(Sabina przewalskii)和青海云杉(Picea crassifolia)为研究对象, 分析了高山乔木叶片δ¹³C值对海拔(2 600-3 600 m)、土壤含水量和叶片含水量、叶片碳氮含量的响应及其机理。结果表明, 这两种乔木叶片δ¹³C值均随海拔升高呈增重趋势, 与海拔呈显著正相关关系(p < 0.000 1)。海拔2 600-3 600 m阳坡树种祁连圆柏叶片的δ¹³C值显著高于同海拔梯度阴坡树种青海云杉。祁连圆柏和青海云杉叶片的δ¹³C值均与年平均气温呈显著负相关关系(p < 0.000 1), 与年平均降水量呈显著正相关关系(p < 0.000 1)。祁连圆柏叶片δ¹³C值与土壤含水量(p < 0.000 1)、叶片含水量(p = 0.01)和叶片碳氮比(C/N) (p < 0.000 1)呈显著正相关关系, 与叶片全氮呈显著负相关关系(p < 0.000 1)。而青海云杉叶片δ¹³C值与土壤含水量、叶片全氮、叶片碳氮比和叶片含水量不相关。说明海拔变化引起的水热条件的改变, 尤其是温度变化对高山乔木叶片碳同位素分馏起主要作用, 但各个因子综合对高山植物叶片碳同位素分馏的作用机制可能比较复杂, 需进一步深入研究。     

如何满足草原野生有蹄类调查方法的假设前提条件

虽然调查草原有蹄类有许多方法，但考察中必须对有关方法进行修正。本文描述了笔者在青海省野牛沟调查３种草原有蹄类动物时，为满足样线法的假设前提而采取的具体措施。笔者建议，无论采用何种统计方法，都应当认真研究该方法的假设前提，并在研究报告中说明为满足假设而作出的细节安排。     

Prey Specialization by Cougars on Feral Horses in a Desert Environment

Natural controls on the distribution, abundance, or growth rates of exotic species are a desirable mode of intervention because of lower costs compared to anthropogenic controls and greater social acceptance. In the Great Basin, cougars (Puma concolor) are the most widely distributed carnivore capable of killing large ungulate prey. Populations of feral horses (Equus ferus) are widely distributed throughout the Great Basin and can grow at rates up to 20%/year. Although cougars exhibit distributional overlap with horses, it has been assumed that predation is minimal because of differences in habitat use and body-size limitations. To evaluate this hypothesis, we monitored the diets of 21 global positioning system (GPS)-collared cougars in the western Great Basin (5 males, 8 females) and eastern Sierra Nevada (2 males, 6 females) from 2009–2012. We investigated 1,310 potential kill sites and located prey remains of 820 predation events. We compared prey composition and kill rates of cougars inhabiting the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin, and among male and female cougars across seasons. We used generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to examine the effects of prey availability and habitat characteristics on the probability of predation on horses by cougars. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) comprised 91% of prey items killed on the Sierra Nevada reference site but only comprised 29% of prey items in the Great Basin study area. Average annual kill rates for deer differed between the Sierra Nevada ( = 0.85 deer/week, range = 0.44–1.3) and Great Basin ( = 0.21 deer/week, range = 0.00–0.43). Diets of cougars in the Great Basin were composed predominantly of horses (59.6%, n = 460 prey items; 13 individuals). Ten cougars regularly consumed horses, and horses were the most abundant prey in the diet of 8 additional individuals in the Great Basin. Cougars on average killed 0.38 horses/week in the Great Basin (range=0.00–0.94 horses/week). Differences in predation on horses between the sexes of cougars were striking; Great Basin females incorporated more horses across all age classes year-round, whereas male cougars tended to exploit neonatal young during spring and summer before switching to deer during winter. Within GLMM models, the probability of predation on horses compared to other prey species increased with elevation, horse density, and decreasing density of mule deer on the landscape, and was more likely to occur in sagebrush (Artemesia spp.) than in pinyon (Pinus monophylla)–juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) forests. Behavior of individual cougars accounted for more than a third of the variation explained by our top models predicting predation on horses in the Great Basin. At landscape scales, cougar predation is unlikely to limit the growth of feral horse populations. In the Great Basin ecosystem, however, cougars of both sexes successfully preyed on horses of all age classes. Moreover, some reproductive, female cougars were almost entirely dependent on feral horses year-round. Taken together, our data suggest that cougars may be an effective predator of feral horses, and that some of our previous assumptions about this relationship should be reevaluated and integrated into management and planning. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.     

Environmental and demographic drivers of male mating success vary across sequential reproductive episodes in a polygynous breeder

Ecological and social factors underpinning the inequality of male mating success in animal societies can be related to sex ratio, sexual conflict between breeders, effects of nonbreeders, resource dispersion, climatic conditions, and the various sequential stages of mating competition that constitute the sexual selection process. Here, we conducted an individual‐based study to investigate how local resource availability and demography interact with annual climate conditions to determine the degree of male mating inequality, and thus opportunity for sexual selection across two sequential reproductive episodes (harem and subsequent mate acquisition) in a naturally regulated (feral) horse population in Sable Island National Park Preserve, Canada. Using a 5‐year, spatially explicit, mark‐resight dataset and hierarchical mixed‐effects linear modeling, we evaluated the influence of adult sex ratio (ASR) on mating success and then tested for effects of freshwater availability, density, unpaired male abundance, and precipitation during each breeding season. Unpaired male abundance, freshwater availability, and ASR differed in their effects on male mating success according to year and selection episode. Opportunity for sexual selection in males associated with harem acquisition increased with ASR, and unpaired male abundance further explained weather‐related interannual variation after accounting for ASR. In contrast, once a harem was secured, ASR had little effect on male mating inequality in regard to acquiring additional females, while interannual variation in mating inequality increased with decreasing freshwater availability. Our findings show that local demography, resource availability, and weather effect opportunity for sexual selection in males differently depending on selection episode, and can attenuate or accentuate effects of ASR.     

Equus przewalskii plasma protease inhibitor (Pi) system

A detailed biochemical characterization of four of the five previously described alleles of the plasma protease inhibitor (Pi) system of Equus przewalskii was performed using both one- and two-dimensional electrophoretic techniques. The proteins have been characterized in terms of isoelectric point, relative molecular mass, inhibitory activity to bovine trypsin and chymotrypsin, immunochemical cross-reactivity, terminal sialic acid content and enzyme:inhibitor complex formation and the oxidation sensitivity of this interaction. Using these functional criteria, only three loci (Spi 1, 2 and 3) were found to control the plasma Pi proteins of the E. przewalskii haplotypes. In contrast a fourth locus, Spi 4, was found in some E. caballus haplotypes. The significance of these results with respect to the complexity of the protein pattern exhibited by the equine Pi multigene family is discussed.     

A novel KIT deletion variant in a German Riding Pony with white‐spotting coat colour phenotype

White spotting phenotypes in horses may be caused by developmental alterations impairing melanoblast differentiation, survival, migration and/or proliferation. Candidate genes for white‐spotting phenotypes in horses include EDNRB, KIT, MITF, PAX3 and TRPM1. We investigated a German Riding Pony with a sabino‐like phenotype involving extensive white spots on the body together with large white markings on the head and almost completely white legs. We obtained whole genome sequence data from this horse. The analysis revealed a heterozygous 1273‐bp deletion spanning parts of intron 2 and exon 3 of the equine KIT gene (Chr3: 79 579 925–79 581 197). We confirmed the breakpoints of the deletion by PCR and Sanger sequencing. Knowledge of the functional impact of similar KIT variants in horses and other species suggests that this deletion represents a plausible candidate causative variant for the white‐spotting phenotype. We propose the designation W28 for the mutant allele.