Fatal outbreaks of proliferative enteritis caused by Lawsonia intracellularis in young colony-raised rhesus macaques.

Ten juvenile rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) died acutely in two separate disease outbreaks. The animals had segmental thickening of the distal ileum with associated proliferative, rugous appearing mucosae. Microscopically, necrosis, exudative inflammation, mucosal ulceration, and crypt hyperplasia were present. Intracellular organisms were seen histochemically and ultrastructurally, and were confirmed to be Lawsonia intracellularis using a specific immunohistochemical method. Proliferative enteropathic conditions caused by L. intracellularis are reported in an ever-increasing range of hosts, suggesting that the infection may exist unrecognized in an even greater array of species, possibly including man.     

Monkey electrophysiological and human psychophysical responses to mutants of the sweet protein brazzein: delineating brazzein sweetness

Responses to brazzein, 25 brazzein mutants and two forms of monellin were studied in two types of experiments: electrophysiological recordings from chorda tympani S fibers of the rhesus monkey, Macaca mulatta, and psychophysical experiments. We found that different mutations at position 29 (changing Asp29 to Ala, Lys or Asn) made the molecule significantly sweeter than brazzein, while mutations at positions 30 or 33 (Lys30Asp or Arg33Ala) removed all sweetness. The same pattern occurred again at the beta-turn region, where Glu41Lys gave the highest sweetness score among the mutants tested, whereas a mutation two residues distant (Arg43Ala) abolished the sweetness. The effects of charge and side chain size were examined at two locations, namely positions 29 and 36. The findings indicate that charge is important for eliciting sweetness, whereas the length of the side-chain plays a lesser role. We also found that the N- and C-termini are important for the sweetness of brazzein. The close correlation (r = 0.78) between the results of the above two methods corroborates our hypothesis that S fibers convey sweet taste in primates.     

四川西部丽蝇科4蝇种昼夜活动节律的研究

首次记录四川西部雅安市丽蝇科(Calliphoridae)4蝇种昼夜活动节律的初步研究,结果表明,蝇类这一具有白昼活动、夜间蛰伏的生物生态特性的昆虫群体,对光照度和光照时间表现出异常敏感的行为反应;在地理生态环境中,对于影响蝇类行为活动诸因素如气温、光照、晴、阴、雨等气候现象,文中予以讨论。     

川西北高寒草地沙化过程中土壤氮素变化特征

草地沙化是我国最严重的环境问题之一,但关于草地沙化过程中氮素变化特征的研究报道多集中于干旱半干旱地区,而半湿润地区的相关报道还比较缺乏。通过野外调查,研究了川西北半湿润地区高寒沙质草地沙化过程中土壤氮素变化特征。结果表明,草地沙化对0—100cm土层土壤氮素具有显著影响,全氮、碱解氮、铵态氮(NH_4~+-N)、硝态氮(NO_3~--N)和微生物量氮(MBN)均呈现极显著下降的变化特征,极度沙化阶段较未沙化阶段分别减少了73.95%、77.72%、76.75%、79.77%和84.12%。其中,0—20cm土层变化最显著,全氮、碱解氮、NH_4~+-N、NO_3~--N和MBN含量分别减少了86.43%、83.52%、82.11%、88.82%和91.77%。随着土层深度增加,不同程度沙化草地土壤氮素含量及其变化量逐渐减少;草地沙化过程中,不同沙化阶段土壤氮素损失数量不尽相同,其中,以轻度沙化阶段氮素损失最严重,全氮、碱解氮、NH_4~+-N、NO-3-N和MBN含量分别降低了41.18%、35.17%、46.74%、43.46%和46.88%。草地沙化过程中,土壤全氮、碱解氮、NH_4~+-N、NO_3~--N和MBN含量与土壤粉粒、粘粒含量和植被群落盖度均呈极显著正相关特征,与土壤沙粒含量呈极显著负相关特征。研究区土壤氮素损失与风蚀选择性吹蚀土壤粉粒、粘粒及地表植物覆盖状况逐渐变差密切相关,因此该区域治沙的关键是采取措施降低风蚀对地表土壤吹蚀作用,提高沙化草地地表植被覆盖。同时,还应及时对沙化前期阶段及潜在沙化的草地进行生态治理,从而避免草地沙化继续恶化。     

川西地区生态系统服务对可持续发展目标的影响

可持续发展目标(Sustainable Development Goals,SDGs)的实现往往会因为生态保护或人类福祉之间可能存在的权衡关系而受到阻碍。将生态系统服务(Ecosystem services,ESs)纳入到可持续发展目标的决策中能够避免各方利益的冲突,促进SDGs的实现。然而,在生态环境脆弱的山区,ESs对SDGs的贡献分析仍然不足。以川西地区为研究区,对2000-2020年11个可持续发展目标进行了量化,利用生态系统服务和权衡的综合评估(Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs,InVEST)模型和定量指标法估算了碳固存、土壤保持和食物生产三种重要生态系统服务,并使用空间面板数据模型研究ESs对SDGs的影响及其空间溢出效应。结果表明:(1)可持续发展目标水平整体提升,但SDG1(无贫穷)和SDG3(良好健康和人类福祉)表现较差,分值低于5分。从空间上看,与环境相关的SDGs在川西北高原表现更好,与社会经济相关的SDGs在川西东部和川西南山地地区表现更好。(2)川西地区碳固存和食物生产服务呈现线性增长趋势,土壤保持服务呈现波动增长趋势,分别增长了0.23×10⁸ t、8.93×10⁵ t和1.23×10⁸ t。(3)与土壤保持和食物生产相比,碳固存对SDGs表现出更强烈的直接影响和空间溢出效应。其中县域碳固存对本县域和邻近县域的SDG11(可持续城市和社区)和SDG1具有显著的促进作用,对SDG2(零饥饿)呈现显著负向影响。研究结果可为区域联合管理提供科学依据,推动可持续发展目标的实现。     

人类活动胁迫下野生动物生境变迁研究——以中国仰鼻猴为例

人类活动是威胁当今世界生物多样性的重要因素之一,越来越多的"难民物种"受人类活动干扰被限制在了次优的栖息地。以我国受威胁情况较为严重的珍稀物种仰鼻猴为例,基于地形变量、人类活动变量、气候变量及古今分布点(历史时期:20世纪前;现今时期:20世纪至今)数据,利用MaxEnt模型对其古今生境开展预测,结果表明:古今以来,人类活动导致仰鼻猴丧失了我国东部921756km²的适宜生境,保留适生区内的生境质量下降,新增适生区分散且破碎,仰鼻猴重新适应了历史时期的次适生区甚至不适生区。古今以来,仰鼻猴对气候变量适应能力的改变远小于对地形变量,与可以自由选择适宜生境时相比,现今时期的仰鼻猴生境内的海拔更高、地形起伏度更大,最冷月最低温以及年度气温变化的适宜范围相比更窄,仰鼻猴提高了对多种环境因素的适应能力,但同时对环境变化的敏感度升高,并面临着种群隔离度增加等风险,已无法占据最佳生态位。建议关注现有适宜生境附近的人类活动强度,尽可能减少与仰鼻猴产生空间或资源的竞争,加强对该物种的保护。     

藏酋猴社群雌体的性行为模式

猕猴属中大部分种类的繁殖类型可划分为季节性繁殖和非季节性繁殖两大类型。但是藏酋猴全年均有交配行为发生, 而产仔仅在1～8月间, 其类型属特殊的非季节性交配-季节性产仔繁殖类型。藏酋猴雌性在妊娠后选择的交配对象主要是高序位的雄性, 但非妊娠雌性则主要选择低序位雄性。妊娠后的雌性交配频率低于非妊娠雌性, 同时它们与成年雄性间理毛行为的发生频率亦低, 反之受到成年雄性攻击的频率却高。     

Frequency of prenatal loss in a macaque breeding colony

An accurate knowledge of the historical incidence of prenatal loss is essential for management of breeding colonies and for performing developmental toxicity studies in nonhuman primates. Data from the California Regional Primate Research Center indoor (timed-mated) and outdoor (random-mated) colonies of rhesus, cynomolgus, and bonnet macaques (Macaca mulatta, M. fascicularis, and M. radiata) were evaluated for a 10 year breeding period from 1984 to 1993. Pregnancy outcome data for the three species of macaques summarized in this report indicate that early pregnancy as well as term are vulnerable periods of gestation in terms of prenatal loss. Prematurity as well as twinning were additionally associated with elevated rates of loss during the prenatal or neonatal period. The incidence of pregnancy failure did not appear to be related to different housing/management conditions (i.e., indoor timed-mated vs. outdoor random-mated), parity, animal handling, shipping, or relocation. Some of the annual fluctuations in abortions could be related to disease outbreaks (e.g., measles, pneumonia) in the colony. These data will be invaluable in planning for research needs which focus on developmental biology and perinatology, and in interpreting the significance of abortions following exposure to experimental agents in small numbers of animals. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

沼蛤(Limnoperna fortunei)幼虫的附着行为特性

沼蛤(Limnoperna fortunei Dunker,1857),俗称淡水壳菜,是一种扩散能力与适应能力都较强的入侵性底栖动物,它对自然环境与输水工程的侵入和大规模附着,不仅会破坏当地的生物群落结构,而且沼蛤成贝在工程内稳定附着后难以去除,造成重大工程危害。通过试验研究沼蛤幼虫的附着行为特性,并利用该特性对原水中的幼虫进行吸引附着处理,以减少幼虫进入工程造成污损附着。选用前期研究推荐的沼蛤幼虫喜好附着的黄麻材料制成的附着排作为试验材料,设置5组附着排长度工况:1,3,5,6,8 m,在5组流量工况:3.1,5.7,6.7,9.6,12.1 L/s下开展试验,研究不同附着排长度和流量条件下沼蛤幼虫的附着行为,以便优选出吸附幼虫的最佳条件。试验结果表明:(1)黄麻材料的吸附效果与附着排长度呈正相关关系,材料长度为3—5m时,吸附率即可达到50%;材料长度为6—8 m时,平均效果为62—76%,最佳吸附率可达93%;(2)流量过大会降低幼虫吸附效果,吸附也更不稳定;(3)幼虫发育先后经历D型幼虫、前期壳顶幼虫、后期壳顶幼虫、踯行期4个时期,吸附材料对后期壳顶和踯行期幼虫的吸附效果较前期壳顶幼虫更好;(4)附着材料密集布置于较短的长度内比稀疏布置于较长的长度内更有利于提高附着效果。     

中国杜鹃花属几个新异名

将我国广东、广西和四川杜鹃花属Rhododendron中5个种和2个变种处理为新异名,将石棉杜鹃R. shimianense Fang & P. S. Liu处理为黄花杜鹃R. lutescens Franch.的变型。