Farmer and Public Attitudes Toward Lamb Finishing Systems

To develop research and policy on the welfare of lambs in intensive finishing systems, it is important to understand public and sheep farmers' attitudes. The aim of this research was to identify and compare farmer and community attitudes relevant to the intensification of lamb finishing. The majority of respondents in the community sample expressed concern about all listed welfare issues, but particularly about feedlotting of lambs and the associated confinement. These attitudes correlated with community views on the importance of welfare issues including social contact and freedom to roam. Farmers expressed much lower levels of concern than did the general public except with regard to the health of lambs, disease control, access to shade, and lack of access to clean water.     

Local response in nanopores

In this work the transient time correlation function (TTCF) algorithm is applied to study highly confined molecular fluids. We focus on linear polymer chains of various lengths trapped in a slab pore which is a few nanometres thick and made of atomistic walls, and the behaviour and response of the polymer melt subject to shear flow are considered. The shearing is produced by shifting the walls in opposite directions, and the temperature inside the channel is controlled by a thermostat applied to the wall atoms alone, so as to mimic the dissipation of heat as it occurs in real devices. It is shown how the TTCF algorithm can be applied to extract the fluid's dynamical and structural properties as they evolve from equilibrium and until a steady state has been established. We note that this procedure is applicable to fluids of any complexity and down to extremely low fields, comparable to those present in experimental devices. It is also shown that this technique can be used to probe local properties at specific locations across the channel. This feature is of particular significance because liquid properties inside nanoconfined geometries are mostly determined by the interactions at the interface and specifically by the structural reordering which affects the first few atomic/molecular layers close to the wall surface, e.g. slip.     

Estimates of nocturnal home-range size of the adult Japanese fluvial sculpin, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cottus pollux</Emphasis> (Pisces: Cottidae) in relation to bottom topography and sampling intervals

I have estimated nocturnal home-range size for 24 individuals of the adult Japanese fluvial sculpin, Cottus pollux (large-egg type) by direct observation on a single night. On average, sculpin used 10.5 focal points (where they executed ambush predation) at night and stayed for 93.1 min at each point. Home-range size (mean 9.8 m², range 0.3–79.9 m²), which was calculated by use of the minimum convex polygon method, was positively correlated with the number of focal points. The swimming paths and focal points used by each sculpin often depended on the configuration of rocks on the streambed, suggesting the importance of bottom topography to home-range use by the sculpin. More than one-third of the sculpins returned to within 1 m² of the point of original capture and release; this provided evidence of their homing ability. Comparison of nocturnal home-range size and Schoener’s ratio (the amount of temporal autocorrelation) with the length of sampling intervals suggested that sampling intervals of 2 h through the dark period, which resulted in a 70% match with real home-range measurements and approximately half of the data sets became independent, provide the most accurate information for predicting the nocturnal home-range size of the sculpin.     

Spatial ecology and conservation of two sloth species in a cacao landscape in limón,Costa Rica

The spatial ecology of sloths was studied in an agricultural landscape in Limón Province, Costa Rica. Two sloth species, the three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus) and the two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni), actively used and traveled through a cacao agroforest and its contiguous living fence rows and riparian forests. This agroecosystem was embedded in an agricultural landscape dominated by banana and pineapple plantations and pastures with dispersed trees. The two-toed sloth (C. hoffmanni) was found in 101 tree species and used 34 for food; the three-toed sloth (B. variegatus) was found in 71 tree species and used 15 for food. Choice of preferred species differed between the two sloth species. Trees commonly used by sloths for food and/or refuge in the cacao agroforest included Erythrina poeppigiana, Cecropia obtusifolia, Leucaena leucocephala; in the living fence rows, Cordia alliodora, Erythrina poeppigiana, Ocotea sinuata and Trophis racemosa; in the riparian forests, Coussapoa villosa, Cecropia obtusifolia, Hura crepitans, Pterocarpus officinalis and Spondias mombin; and in the pastures with dispersed trees, Cordia alliodora, Coussapoa villosa, Erythrina poeppigiana, Ocotea sinuata and Hura crepitans. This study demonstrates the importance of the cacao agroforest as well as arboreal elements in other land uses in providing resources for sloth conservation in a larger agricultural landscape.     

阿拉善荒漠连续放牧对三趾跳鼠巢区的影响

三趾跳鼠(Dipus sagitta)是内蒙古西部荒漠草原和沙地的优势害鼠,巢区研究对了解探讨其繁殖策略和种群动态规律有着重要的理论和实践意义。本研究通过2012~2014年的野外标志重捕实验,对三趾跳鼠的巢区在连续放牧和禁牧条件下的变动特征进行了分析。结果表明,连续放牧区雌性三趾跳鼠在6月的巢区范围显著大于禁牧区(P0.05);禁牧区雄性三趾跳鼠的巢区仅在7月份显著大于连续放牧区(P0.05),其他季节没有显著差异(P0.05)。放牧对雄性巢区无显著影响(P0.05),但连续放牧使雌性三趾跳鼠巢区范围显著大于禁牧区。雌性与雄性三趾跳鼠巢区均与一年生草本生物量存在正相关关系。这些结果表明,相对于雄性三趾跳鼠来说,雌性对由放牧导致的食物资源变化比较敏感,这种现象在哺乳期更为显著;繁殖是影响雄性三趾跳鼠巢区的因素之一。因此,保卫资源假说的理论可能是放牧导致三趾跳鼠巢区变化的重要原因之一。     

环境温度对大天鹅越冬行为和活动区的影响

环境温度变化通过影响鸟类的行为进而使其活动区也发生变化,探讨三者之间的关联性有助于理解鸟类是如何通过行为调整以适应周围环境的变化,来满足自身的生理需求.本研究通过卫星跟踪的方法获得了在河南三门峡湿地越冬的31只大天鹅(Cygnus cygnus)详细位点数据,在ArcGIS和R语言中采用核密度估计法计算大天鹅的活动区面...     

利用无线电技术对达乌尔鼠兔巢区的研究

达乌尔鼠兔是内蒙古草原斑块分布的一种害鼠。它们在斑块间的扩散对其种群调节和进化都有重要意义。文章对两个家族的达乌尔鼠兔进行了无线电遥测研究。它们的巢区面积从3138M²到17062M²,核心区面积从1292M²到7808M²。雄性—雌性巢区重叠面积比雌性—雌性巢区重叠面积大。该鼠的扩散和探索距离可达 200m.从9月开始鼠兔的活动就很活跃,尤其是探索活动和扩散。多数扩散个体在移居点很快消失。     

鸽子洞的人类化石

鸽子洞遗址经过1973和1975发掘,发现大量石制品、用火遗迹和动物化石。笔者在鸽子洞所出的动物碎骨中拣出三件人类化石,它们的形态特征及尺寸都和现代人没有区别,属发展阶段的晚期智人,地质时代为晚更新世晚期。     

云南纳帕海湿地越冬斑头雁活动区

活动区范围反映了动物在个体水平上的空间需求,开展相关研究对物种保护以及理解动物与环境之间的关系具有重要意义。于2017、2018和2019年共3个越冬季,在云南纳帕海湿地对7只斑头雁（Anser indicus）进行了卫星遥测,运用动态布朗桥模型构建了斑头雁越冬期活动区,并结合遥感技术分析了水域面积变化对斑头雁活动区的影响。结果表明：所跟踪斑头雁的总活动区域中有54.7%位于保护区范围内,其余活动区域则分布于保护区外围的草地或沼泽中;斑头雁越冬期的平均活动区面积和核心活动区面积分别为（5.98 ± 0.63）km2和（0.55 ± 0.12）km2（n = 8,2017年越冬季1只个体数据、2018年越冬季6只个体数据和2019年越冬季1只个体数据）,核心活动区面积仅占活动区面积的9.2%;最大活动区面积为8.22 km2,最小仅为3.38 km2,最大核心活动区面积为1.21 km2,最小为0.12 km2;斑头雁活动区面积受纳帕海湿地水域面积变化影响较大,随着水域由南向北退缩,沼泽及草甸增多,斑头雁的活动范围变大,且会向着水域退减的方向移动;2639号斑头雁在2018年和2019年两年越冬季相同时间段的活动区面积和分布均存在显著差异,2018年越冬季活动区的面积（5.98 km2）小于2019年（8.22 km2）,核心活动区的面积（0.61 km2）同样也小于2019年（1.21 km2）,并且其两年越冬季活动区面积的重叠度指数IO仅为0.31。鉴于斑头雁是H5N1高致病性禽流感的重要携带者和传播者,建议保护区增加保护区管理范围,对与斑头雁活动区重合较大的村庄,包括云南省迪庆州香格里拉市建塘镇的开松、纳公和打日觉等重点管理,避免家猪与斑头雁混群觅食,倡导在冬季时对家猪进行圈养,防止可能引起的禽流感交叉传播。     

黑腹绒鼠生态学的研究

黑腹绒鼠(Eothenomys melanogaster)是我国南方较常见的鼠种之一,多栖居在海拔较高的山地,且数量较少。我们于1981年1月至1982年1月、1984年7月和11月在浙江西天目山以及1984年3月至12月在金华的北山对黑腹绒鼠作了生态学的调查,现将结果报告如下。