Nucleation and facilitation in salt pans in Mediterranean salt marshes

Abstract. Arthrocnemum macrostachyum is a perennial species acting as a primary colonizer of salt pans in Mediterranean high salt marshes. Salicornia ramosissima, an annual, occurs in salt pans under Arthrocnemum canopies and in open areas. The aim of this study was to analyse, in wild populations and a transplant experiment, how S. ramosissima population dynamics and growth are affected by A. macrostachyum. The environmental conditions within the patches of Arthrocnemum were less stressful than in the open areas, with lower radiation levels and salinity concentrations. In the inner areas of A. macrostachyum patches, density‐dependent mortality processes of S. ramosissima seedlings led to low densities of adult individuals with greater morphological development and reproductive success than in open areas. However, at the edges of Arthrocnemum patches facilitation of seedling survival favoured high densities. Environmental stress hindered development, decreased reproduction and premature death. These results are in agreement with the general theory of factors controlling vegetation distribution that biotic interactions dominate in low stress environments, while abiotic interactions dominate under harsher environmental conditions. A. macrostachyum plays an essential role in the succession in these salt pans, facilitating seed production and stimulating nucleation processes in S. ramosissima.     

自组织作用在生物进化中的模拟研究

生物的进化可以看作是在基因随机突变的驱动下,通过自组织作用而形成高级有序结构的过程。生物进货研究只能看到进货的结果,而不能对进货的过程进行定量分析和检验。采用进化计算的算法框架对进化现象进行,模拟随机初始条件及环境突变条件下种群的分化和物种形成过程,研究地域分布对物种分化和形成的影响,以及过渡物种的分布特点,并对有限地域条件下地域面积和物种数量的关系进行了模拟研究。     

The influence of the medical care on the human life expectancy in 20th century and the Penna ageing model

Summary The expression of many genetic defects may be suppressed by proper medical care or even by changing the environmental conditions. We have used the Penna model of ageing to show that such efFects may be responsible for increasing the human life expectancy during the 20 ^th century. This effect is equivalent to the shift of the threshold (T) in the Penna model, which determines how many deleterious, expressed mutations kill an organism. For long genomes, the shift of T changes the age distribution significantly with negligible relative changes in the maximum life span, while for short genomes, the shift of T changes both, the age distribution as well as the maximum age. Unfortunately the same simulations show that the strategy of enhancing the medical care requires more and more effort to keep the mortality rate of our populations at the same lower level and that some new defects could be exposed to selection.     

Nearest Neighbours: Estimators for Heterogeneity

Papadakis' method is shown to be an example of an estimation procedure for a heterogeneity function localized in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space. Within this framework some current models for the evaluation of field trials are discussed.     

Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Exponential Polynomial Rate for Poisson Data

The heterogeneous Poisson process with discretized exponential quadratic rate function is considered. Maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters of the rate function are derived for the case when the data consists of numbers of occurrences in consecutive equal time periods. A likelihood ratio test of the null hypothesis of exponential quadratic rate is presented. Its power against exponential linear rate functions is estimated using Monte Carlo simulation. The maximum likelihood method is compared with a log-linear least squares techniques. An application of the technique to the analysis of mortality rates due to congenital malformations is presented.