Life form spectra in the Hantam-Tanqua-Roggeveld, South Africa

The Hantam-Tanqua-Roggeveld subregion is situated in an area where the Fynbos, Succulent Karoo and Nama Karoo biomes meet. Life form spectra were compiled at a species richness and vegetation cover level in order to determine the affinities of the vegetation of the subregion with respect to its Succulent Karoo, Fynbos and Nama Karoo Biome status. A percentage succulence was also calculated for both species richness and cover. Comparisons of life form spectra and succulence were made across the eight vegetation associations found in the area and across three broad vegetation groups, i.e., Mountain Renosterveld, Winter Rainfall Karoo and Tanqua Karoo. Mountain Renosterveld vegetation was characterised by high chamaephyte, cryptophyte and therophyte species contributions. Compared to the other broad vegetation groups, the Mountain Renosterveld group showed phanerophyte contributions at the vegetation cover level to be highest, but the degree of succulence was low. Winter Rainfall Karoo vegetation was co-dominated by high levels of chamaephyte, cryptophyte and therophyte species with chamaephytes dominating the vegetation cover. Succulent contributions to species richness and cover values were higher than for Mountain Renosterveld vegetation. Tanqua Karoo vegetation was dominated by chamaephyte species or co-dominated by chamaephyte and cryptophyte species with therophyte species contributions lowest of all vegetation groups. Contributions by succulent species to richness and vegetation cover were high in the Tanqua Karoo. Life form spectra of the Mountain Renosterveld associations compared poorly to other sites in the Fynbos Biome. However, the low level of succulence in the Mountain Renosterveld associations also precludes its inclusion into the Succulent Karoo Biome. The large contribution of succulent species at a species and vegetation cover level in Winter Rainfall Karoo and Tanqua Karoo associations confirms that these two groups belong to the Succulent Karoo Biome. Affinities to the Nama Karoo Biome were indicated by the low level of succulence at a vegetation cover level in one of the Winter Rainfall Karoo associations (Roggeveld Karoo).     

Conformational transformation and selection of synthetic prion strains

Prion protein is capable of folding into multiple self-replicating prion strains that produce phenotypically distinct neurological disorders. Although prion strains often breed true upon passage, they can also transform or “mutate” despite being devoid of nucleic acids. To dissect the mechanism of prion strain transformation, we studied the physicochemical evolution of a mouse synthetic prion (MoSP) strain, MoSP1, after repeated passage in mice and cultured cells. We show that MoSP1 gradually adopted shorter incubation times and lower conformational stabilities. These changes were accompanied by structural transformation, as indicated by a shift in the molecular mass of the protease-resistant core of MoSP1 from approximately 19 kDa [MoSP1(2)] to 21 kDa [MoSP1(1)]. We show that MoSP1(1) and MoSP1(2) can breed with fidelity when cloned in cells; however, when present as a mixture, MoSP1(1) preferentially proliferated, leading to the disappearance of MoSP1(2). In culture, the rate of this transformation process can be influenced by the composition of the culture media and the presence of polyamidoamines. Our findings demonstrate that prions can exist as a conformationally diverse population of strains, each capable of replicating with high fidelity. Rare conformational conversion, followed by competitive selection among the resulting pool of conformers, provides a mechanism for the adaptation of the prion population to its host environment.     

大兴安岭林区驯鹿夏季喜栖生境的生态特征

2012和2013年7—8月采用样线和样带调查结合的生境调查方法,对分布于我国大兴安岭西北麓的驯鹿的夏季偏好生境开展了对比研究,并对样地的海拔和乔木郁闭度等23个生境变量进行测量及比较.结果表明: 与对照样地相比,夏季驯鹿利用样地的海拔(926.9±0.8 m)、乔木郁闭度(17.9%±2.4%)、乔木胸径(35.5±2.1 cm)、乔木高度(8.2±0.5 m)、乔木密度(6.9±0.5 株·400 m^-2)及树桩数(1.3±0.2 个·400 m^-2)较大,但灌木均高(54.2±2.0 cm)较小(P<0.01).驯鹿夏季偏好选择坡度较缓的中坡生境,因其夏季喜栖生境的水源较多、隐蔽度和避风性较差,距人为干扰距离和牧民点距离均较远.主成分分析(PCA)表明,干扰强度(由距人为干扰距离及距牧民点距离变量组成)、乔木特征(由乔木的高度、密度、胸径和郁闭度变量组成)、地理特征(由坡位、坡向和土壤湿润度变量组成)、食物多度(地表植被盖度和灌木盖度变量构成)、开阔度(由隐蔽度和避风状况变量构成)和坡度是影驯鹿夏季生境选择的重要因素.这6个因子提供了70.7%的累积贡献率,主要反映了驯鹿夏季在喜栖生境选择中的食物资源、抗干扰性和反捕需求.从夏季喜栖生境的生态特征来看,驯鹿并没有被完全驯化.在保护和管理实践中,应使驯鹿种群及其核心栖息地免受高强度的人为干扰.     

Genetic structure of Korean populations of bumblebees Bombus ignitus (Hymenoptera: Apidae) as revealed by microsatellite markers

Bumblebee Bombus ignitus, which is indigenous to Korea, Japan, and China, has been recognized as a valuable pollinator for both crops and wild plants. Bombus ignitus has now become commercially important as a pollinator because of its use in the agricultural industry, particularly for greenhouse pollination. For long‐term management and effective conservation of B. ignitus, an understanding of the genetic structure of its naturally occurring populations is practically important. In this study, the genetic structure among the five populations of B. ignitus in South Korea was assessed using nine microsatellite loci. These markers showed high levels of genetic variability, with the number of alleles ranging from 6 to 22 (mean = 13.4) and the frequency of the most common allele ranging from 0.11 to 0.66. Only the Sabuk (SB) population showed a genetic signature of a recent bottleneck, which was further supported by the lowest level of allelic richness (AR) (mean AR = 3.944). Genetic differentiation was highly significant among all pairs of populations (P < 0.001) across the nine microsatellite markers, suggesting a lack of gene flow among those populations. Interestingly, F_ST (and R_ST and D_est) values were always greater for the Taebaek population than for the four remaining populations. The phylogenetic analysis showed evidence supporting our hypothesis that the Taebaek population is genetically more divergent than the other populations. Overall, our results suggest that the Korean populations of B. ignitus might have undergone geographic isolation and have become highly separated spatially from one another, thereby having a limited range of migration among their local habitats.     

南岭大东山长柄双花木群落物种组成与种群结构特征分析

采用样方法以及用基径结构代替年龄结构的方法,对位于南岭大东山不同海拔的3个长柄双花木(Disanthus cercidifolius var.longipes Chang)样带(包括小洞、大洞和鸡子场样带,海拔分别为1 010、1 170和1 260 m)进行了调查,并编制了种群静态生命表和生存曲线,对其群落物种组成、种群年龄结构和生殖力现状进行了分析。结果显示:3个样带群落乔木层优势种数量及种类组成差异明显,共包含26个种类,但共有种仅3种,除长柄双花木外还有多花杜鹃(Rhododendron cavaleriei Lévl.)和两广杨桐(Adinandra glischroloma Hand.-Mazz.)2种;小洞样带长柄双花木种群的重要值(46.116%)明显高于另2个样带。根据基径可将长柄双花木种群分为68个龄级,3个样带的种群年龄结构基本一致,但小洞样带个体数量更多且基径31.0 mm以下的幼体所占比例最高;总体上长柄双花木种群中5 a以下的幼苗数量偏少,其他龄级的个体数量呈现随株龄增大波动但整体下降的趋势。种群的个体死亡率在5~10 a和10~15 a龄级较高(分别为20.30%和20.50%),并随年龄增长总体呈逐渐下降的趋势;且不同龄级个体生命期望值为4.49~0.50,总体偏低。种群生存曲线为Ⅰ型,种群净增殖率、内禀增长率、周限增长率和世代平均周期分别为0.504、-0.018、0.982和38.351 a,显示该种群在当前状态下自我更新不良,属缓慢的负增长型种群。根据研究结果,对该区域长柄双花木种群提出了相应的保护对策和建议。     

南岳衡山珍稀濒危野生植物资源调查

2008—2010年,对南岳衡山野生植物资源进行了实地调查,调查结果表明:南岳衡山有国家重点保护野生植物17种,其中一级保护3种,二级保护14种。国家珍稀濒危植物14种。列入2007年《中国物种红色名录》中受胁威的珍稀濒危植物87种,其中极危1种,濒危13种,易危36种,近危26种,无危11种。兰科植物23属46种,且具有附生、地生和腐生各种生态类型。另外对银杏、伯乐树居群进行了分析,得出南岳衡山是银杏野生居群保存和现代分布地区之一,保存在该区的银杏,伯乐树的天然林应为原始林的残遗成分,具有古老和残遗特性。     

Climate-growth relationships for Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.) on the volcanic badlands of western New Mexico,USA

We sampled Rocky Mountain junipers (RMJ) to produce a multi-century tree-ring chronology from a relict lava flow, the Paxton Springs Malpais (PAX), in the Zuni Mountains of western New Mexico. Our objective was to assess crossdating potential for RMJ growing on the volcanic badlands of the region, investigate potential relationships between climate and RMJ growth, and investigate temporal variability in relationships identified between climate and RMJ growing at our site. We hypothesized that, similar to other drought stressed-conifers growing on the lava flows, RMJ responds to climate factors that influence and indicate moisture availability. We found a high average mean sensitivity value (0.53), which indicated the PAX chronology exhibited enough annual variability to capture fluctuations in environmental conditions. The average interseries correlation (0.74) indicated confident crossdating and a significant association of annual growth among trees within the stand. The positive correlation between the PAX chronology and total precipitation for the local water year was significant (r = 0.53; P < 0.001). Significant positive correlations also were identified between monthly PDSI, monthly total precipitation, and RMJ radial growth. Analyses of temporal stability indicated that the positive relationship between RMJ growth at the PAX site and monthly PDSI was the most stable relationship during the period of analysis (1895–2007). More importantly, we identified a unique inverse relationship between radial growth and monthly mean temperature during periods of the preceding year and current growing year, the first such finding of a strong temperature response for a low-mid elevation tree species in the American Southwest. Our results confirm that RMJ samples collected on the Paxton Springs Malpais are sensitive to climate factors that affect moisture availability, further suggesting that RMJ may be suitable for use in dendroclimatic research at additional locations across the broad distribution of the species.     

The species range‐size patterns for vascular plants of Seorak Mountain (Korea): Relationship between group of life forms and phytogeography affinity along the elevational gradient

Research on species richness patterns and the advanced elevational Rapoport rule (ERR) has been widespread in recent years; however, there is a lack of such research for the temperate mountainous regions in northeast Asia. Here, we collected plant species from the Seorak Mountain in northeast Asia through field surveys. The species were divided into 11 groups according to the life‐form types and phytogeography affinities of each species. The ERR was evaluated using Steven''s method and by examining the species richness patterns of each group. The species richness patterns revealed a positive multimodal pattern along the elevation gradient, but phytogeography affinities (increasing trend) and life‐form analysis (unimodal) exhibited different patterns. The elevation gradients (1,350 m for the mean elevation–range relationships), which are affected by the boundary effect and different life forms, did not consistently support the ERR. However, herbs as well as rare, endemic, and red list species showed consistent support for the ERR, which could be attributed to the influence by phytogeography affinities. Therefore, the results from Seorak Mountain showed that the ERR was not consistent for different plant life forms in the same area; however, phytogeography affinities could support and explain ERR.     

卡拉麦里山自然保护区蒙古野驴的食性

蒙古野驴(Equus hemionus hemionus),国家一级保护动物.由于人类活动的加剧,分布范围缩小,加之过度狩猎,目前已处于濒危状态.     

元宝山南方红豆杉克隆种群分布格局的分形特征

南方红豆杉(Taxus chinensis var. mairei)是提取抗癌药物紫杉醇的珍贵资源植物。分布于广西元宝山自然保护区的南方红豆杉,自然状态下以克隆繁殖方式进行种群更新,研究其种群克隆生长的空间分布格局,可揭示种群克隆繁殖特性和生态适应机制,对南方红豆杉这一珍稀濒危物种的保护和管理具有重要意义。利用分形理论中的计盒维数和信息维数,对元宝山的南方红豆杉克隆种群空间分布格局的分形特征进行了分析,结果表明:种群空间分布格局存在分形特征,其计盒维数介于0.993 1~1.353 1之间,信息维数介于1.350 8~1.652 1。南方红豆杉克隆种群格局的计盒维数远离最大理论维数值2,种群总体对空间的占据能力较弱。克隆构型指数与种群计盒维数密切相关。分析结果显示,克隆构型趋于“密集型”的种群具有较强的空间占据能力,而克隆构型趋于“游击型”的种群其空间占据能力较弱。信息维数与种群的集聚强度密切相关,其差异反映了种群格局强度的变化,较大的信息维数反映种群个体的集聚强度较高,而较小的信息维数则反映出种群个体间的集聚强度较弱,其维数值大小与分株种群数量、分株种群斑块的空间配置密切相关。