The invasive Yellow Crazy Ant and the decline of forest ant diversity in Indonesian cacao agroforests

Throughout the tropics, agroforests are often the only remaining habitat with a considerable tree cover. Agroforestry systems can support high numbers of species and are therefore frequently heralded as the future for tropical biodiversity conservation. However, anthropogenic habitat modification can facilitate species invasions that may suppress native fauna. We compared the ant fauna of lower canopy trees in natural rainforest sites with that of cacao trees in agroforests in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia in order to assess the effects of agroforestry on occurrence of the Yellow Crazy Ant Anoplolepis gracilipes, a common invasive species in the area, and its effects on overall ant richness. The agroforests differed in the type of shade-tree composition, tree density, canopy cover, and distance to the village. On average, 43% of the species in agroforests also occurred in the lower canopy of nearby primary forest and the number of forest ant species that occurred on cacao trees was not related to agroforestry characteristics. However, A. gracilipes was the most common non-forest ant species, and forest ant richness decreased significantly with the presence of this species. Our results indicate that agroforestry may have promoted the occurrence of A. gracilipes, possibly because tree management in agroforests negatively affects ant species that depend on trees for nesting and foraging, whereas A. gracilipes is a generalist when it comes to nesting sites and food preference. Thus, agroforestry management that includes the thinning of tree stands can facilitate ant invasions, thereby threatening the potential of cultivated land for the conservation of tropical ant diversity.     

Competition and facilitation within and between a snail and a mayfly larva and the effect on the grazing process

We studied the competitive effects within and between two taxonomically distant freshwater herbivores, a snail and a mayfly, common in Swedish lakes, Lymnaea peregra and Cloeon dipterum, respectively, and their effect on grazing in a laboratory experiment. The experimental set-up consisted of 2-l aquaria, each containing a periphyton covered tile. Intra- and interspecific effects were tested by increasing the density of one species at a time in four different treatments, (1) snails (intraspecific treatment), (2) mayflies (intraspecific treatment), (3) mixed-snails (interspecific treatments, snails kept constant) and (4) mixed-mayflies (interspecific treatments, mayflies kept constant). Intraspecific competition affected both snails and mayflies negatively, i.e. increasing mortality with increasing con-specific density. Furthermore, there was a decrease in snail growth with increasing snail density. In the mixed-species treatments both species changed their microhabitat use indicating interspecific competition. Despite this, we also found a positive effect of mayfly density on snail growth, most likely due to indirect commensalism. No density-dependent effect of grazing on periphyton was found, probably due to interference competition between grazers. However, there was a significant difference in periphyton biomass, due to species composition of grazers. Irrespective of their densities, if they co-existed, the two grazer species decreased the periphyton biomass significantly compared with both single-species treatments. We considered this as a joint action of facilitation and interaction. Our results suggest that competition can be an important structuring factor in macroinvertebrate communities and that species composition can be significant for ecosystem processes within lentic environments.     

马占相思叶片液汁碳同位素甄别率和水分利用效率

利用PMS压力室压取叶片液汁并借助稳定碳同位素质谱仪测定碳同位素比率,分析了马占相思(Acacia mangium )叶片液汁光合产物的甄别率(△)和估测了水分利用效率.结果表明:阴天马占相思林冠层日平均空气CO2 的碳同位素比率(δa)为-7.57‰±1.41‰,晴天则为-8.54‰±0.67‰;阴天叶片液汁的光合产物碳同位素比率(δp)日变化呈鞍型,而晴天则从早上至黄昏逐步降低;晴天δp与叶片/空气水汽压亏缺(D)明显呈负相关,阴天的δp变化相对较小;δp随叶片水势(ψ)降低而降低,显示水分胁迫引起δp降低;叶片液汁的D和经气体交换法获得的细胞胞间(Pi)和外界(Pa)CO2分压之比呈正相关,测定结果与理论上碳同位素相关扩散和生化分馏相一致.分析结果显示,田间马占相思空气CO2经气孔扩散的稳定同位素效应口a=4.6‰,有关Pi的净固定的稳定碳同位素效应6=28.2‰.认为液汁碳同位素甄别率是外围空气CO2进入光合产物的净甄别率,由叶片液汁△估测的水分利用效率与气体交换法所得结果相一致(R2=0.86,P＜0.001).本文所采用的叶片液汁光合产物测定即时△以及计算水分利用效率的方法,可减少田间条件下环境因素明显变化对水分和碳同位素的影响,该方法有助于进一步开展由植株至冠层扩展的碳和水分平衡的生理生态研究.     

海南霸王岭热带雨林的种间分离

 基于地理信息系统软件绘制了海南岛霸王岭热带雨林1个0.5 hm2永久样地所有DBH≥1 cm树木的分布图,进而借助最近邻体分析扩展模块判定每个个体的最近邻体植株,并得到每个基株最近邻体种对的距离。采用N×N最近邻体列联表的截表法,研究了这个多物种群落的种间分离。结果表明,随机毗邻种对占优势,正分离种对次之,负分离种对最少。多数灌木和一些小乔木（平均胸径<15 cm）彼此呈正分离,少数负分离;灌木和乔木间的分离关系复杂;大乔木种类（平均胸径≥65 cm）间不存在负分离。种间分离存在种间差异。种间分离与分布格局明显相关,聚集分布的物种与其它物种正分离比例远比随机分布、均匀分布大;相反,聚集分布物种与其它物种负分离比例要比随机分布、均匀分布小。聚集 聚集分布的种对最可能出现正分离;聚集 均匀分布的种对以及随机 随机分布的种对则最可能出现负分离。但是,无论物种的分布格局或种对相对分布格局如何,随机毗邻的种对都占优势。与种间联结不同,种间分离反映的是小尺度的物种空间关系。在此基础上,初步阐述了种间分离的可能原因及其生态学涵义。     

甘薯近缘野生种资源的杂交亲和性评价及利用

甘薯近缘野生种与甘薯栽培品种的杂交结实率研究表明,甘薯栽培品种与不同倍性I．trifida的平均杂交结实率为9．33％,其中与六倍体I．trifuta杂交结实率最高,与二倍体I．trifida杂交结实率最低;与四倍体I．1ittoralis杂交的平均结实率为4．22％;与I．leucantha杂交的平均结实率为0．75％。甘薯与近缘野生种杂交,其后代的结薯性出现广泛的分离,甘薯与六倍体I．frifida的杂交后代结薯率高于与其它低倍体的野生种。在甘薯栽培品种与近缘野生种的杂交后代中选出了一些优良的杂种后代。利用六倍体I．trifida与甘薯栽培品种杂交和回交,从其后代中选育出了苏渝303和渝苏297等甘薯品种。     

COI (cytochrome oxidase-I) sequence based studies of Carangid fishes from Kakinada coast,India

Mitochondrial DNA, cytochrome oxidase-1 gene sequences were analyzed for species identification and phylogenetic relationship among the very high food value and commercially important Indian carangid fish species. Sequence analysis of COI gene very clearly indicated that all the 28 fish species fell into five distinct groups, which are genetically distant from each other and exhibited identical phylogenetic reservation. All the COI gene sequences from 28 fishes provide sufficient phylogenetic information and evolutionary relationship to distinguish the carangid species unambiguously. This study proves the utility of mtDNA COI gene sequence based approach in identifying fish species at a faster pace.     

Aspects of interspecific hybridization within edible <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alliaceae</Emphasis>

Crossing experiments within the genus Allium have been carried out for many years. Usually, with the aim of widening genetic variation, edible Alliaceae such as bulb onion, Japanese bunching onion, leek, garlic and shallot have been crossed with each other or with distant vegetable Allium crops. Interspecific hybridization, especially with wild relatives is considered as the best way of introgression desirable traits to the crops. By using sexual or somatic hybridization, many important characters, such as: disease and pest resistance, important metabolites and cytoplasmic male sterility have been transferred to other Allium crops. This review summarises some aspects of the directions of interspecific hybridization in edible Alliaceae and the significance and perspectives of using these hybrids in breeding programmes.     

Population dynamics of pampas mice (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Akodon azarae</Emphasis>): signatures of competition and predation exposed through time-series modeling

The ability of four mechanistic population models to mirror a 5-year time series of seasonal densities of the pampas mouse, Akodon azarae, from central Argentina, is evaluated in this paper. The different models included, singly or in combination, the effects of a putative competitor and a specialist predator on the dynamics of pampas mice. The most simple model, a logistic single-species stochastic differential equation, failed to fit the observed time series satisfactorily (R _model² = 0.36), while models including interspecific effects gave much better fits with increasing model complexity (competition R _model² = 0.71, predation R _model² = 0.62, competition and predation R _model² = 0.83). Using Akaike’s information criterion, the competition model was selected as the best alternative with regard to model fit and model complexity. Synthetic time-series probes obtained by simulations from the parameterized stochastic mechanistic models were significantly different and indicated the competition plus predation model as a slightly better alternative than the competition model. The differences between the two methods for selecting models indicate that the incorporation of predation only slightly improves the match between the predicted and observed time series and that this slight improvement is not sufficient to override the increase in model complexity. Competition thus seems to play a more important role than predation in shaping the population dynamics of pampas mice.     

野黄瓜(Cucumis hystrix Chakr.)与3种不同基因型栽培黄瓜(C.sativus L)

野黄瓜(Cucum is hystrix,2n=24)为短日照植物,因其与栽培黄瓜(C.sativus,2n=14)花期不遇等杂交障碍的存在而使种间杂交难以顺利进行。对野黄瓜短光照处理40 d以上,使得两者花期相遇,成功地进行了野黄瓜与3种不同基因型栽培黄瓜(“二早子”、“长春密刺”和“NC4406”)的正反杂交,从中获得了3种杂交组合的幼胚。采用改良的方法对这3种基因型杂种胚进行胚胎拯救,再生频率达80%以上,其杂种的真实性通过植物学性状观察、体细胞染色体计数和天冬氨酸转氨酶(AAT)同工酶分析得到了证实。研究中还发现不同基因型杂种F1的育性存在明显差异,其中以C.hystrixדNC4406”育性最高,花粉可染率达23.3%,是在二倍体水平上进行育种利用的良好材料。