Occurrences of harmful algal blooms (HABs) associated with ocean environments in the South China Sea

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) occur frequently in the South China Sea (SCS), causing enormous economic losses in aquaculture. We analyzed historical HAB records during the period from 1980 to 2003 in SCS. We found that HABs-affected areas have expanded and the frequency of HABs varied during this period. The seasonal and annual variations, as well as causative algal species of HABs are different among the four regions. Areas with frequent HABs include the Pearl River Estuary (China), the Manila Bay (the Philippines), the Masinloc Bay (the Philippines), and the western coast of Sabah (Malaysia). HABs occurred frequently during March–May in the northern region of SCS, May–July in the eastern region, July in the western region, and year-round in the southern region. Among the species that cause HABs, Noctiluca scintillans dominated in the northern region, and Pyrodinium bahamense in the southern and eastern regions. Causative species also varied in different years for the entire SCS. Both P. bahamense and N. scintillans were the dominant species during 1980–2003. Some species not previously recorded formed blooms during 1991–2003, including Phaeocystis globosa, Scrippsiella trochoidea, Heterosigma akashiwo, and Mesodinium rubrum. Variations in HABs are related to various regional conditions, such as a reversed monsoon wind in the entire SCS, river discharges in the northern area, upwelling in Vietnam coastal waters during southwest winds and near Malaysia coastal waters during northeast winds, and eutrophication from coastal aquaculture in the Pearl River estuary, Manila Bay, and Masinloc Bay. Handling editor: D. Hamilton     

广东及香港、澳门鹅绒藤属药用植物资源

根据野外实地调查和文献查阅,对广东及香港、澳门鹅绒藤属药用植物资源的种类、分布、药用部位、化学成分与药理研究等方面进行了概述,并就该属植物在上述三地的资源保护与开发利用提出了建议。     

Microzooplankton grazing of phytoplankton in a tropical upwelling region

We measured grazing by herbivorous zooplankton (<200 μm fraction) in coastal and slope regions of the South Brazil Bight. Using the dilution technique, we performed nine experiments during the austral summer, when nutrient-rich South Atlantic Central Water is present on the shelf, and five during winter. These experiments provide the first estimates of microzooplankton grazing in the western South Atlantic Ocean. Model II regression showed a strong relationship between phytoplankton intrinsic growth rates and grazing, with a slope of 0.64 (±0.28; 95% confidence interval) indicating that microzooplankton grazing could account for the majority of phytoplankton mortality. Both phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing were higher during the summer upwelling season, compared to winter. For the two experiments that were conducted in oligotrophic slope water, grazing accounted for >80% of phytoplankton production. A comparison of incubations with and without added inorganic nutrients showed no consistent stimulation of phytoplankton growth (slope of enriched versus unenriched treatments not significantly different from 1). Estimates from microscopic counts of heterotrophic organisms >10 μm indicated that copepod nauplii comprised the largest share of the microzooplankton biomass (mean 62.4 ± 5.8% SE). Grazing estimates were not correlated with microzooplankton biomass, whether or not nauplii were included, suggesting that most of the grazing was done by nano-sized zooplankton. Electronic Supplementary Material Electronic supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users. Handling editor: S. Wellekens     

Longings and belongings: Indian American youth identity,folk dance competitions,and the construction of ‘tradition’

This article examines the development of the ‘cultural competition’ as a site for the production of multiple identities by Indian American youths on American college campuses. Through the examination of two categories of folk dance competitions (bhangra and raas-garba) at a private university in Washington, DC, we argue that these competitions appear to resist hybridity and produce rhetoric that marginalizes diasporic culture in favour of the ‘pure’ and ‘authentic’ culture of the homeland. However, the goal of expressing uncontaminated ‘authentic’ culture is not realized as diasporic identities and cultures consistently interrupt and undermine homogenizing narratives of ‘tradition’ and ‘authenticity’. We also demonstrate that these folk dance groups often reinforce an ethno-regional distinctiveness rather than a hybrid or pan-Indian identity.     

The southwestern Atlantic reef fish fauna: composition and zoogeographic patterns

The Brazilian coast, the Caribbean and the tropical South Atlantic oceanic islands reef ichthyofauna separated into two major clusters: (1) the western Atlantic continental margin and Bermuda, further divided into (1a) the western North Atlantic, and (1b) the Brazilian coast; and (2) the South Atlantic oceanic islands, also divided in (2a) the Brazilian offshore islands, and (2b) Ascension and St Helena. Species geographic ranges suggest the recognition of only two western Atlantic zoogeographic provinces for tropical marine shore fishes. A Brazilian Province, including the offshore localities of Atol das Rocas, Fernando de Noronha, Trindade and St Paul's Rocks, and an expanded West Indian Province that includes Bermuda. Ascension and St Helena should be regarded as a separated Central Atlantic Province.     

Diversity of symbiotic algae of the genus Symbiodinium in scleractinian corals of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea

Symbiotic algae （Symbiodinium sp.） in scleractinian corals are important in understanding how coral reefs will respond to global climate change. The present paper reports on the diversity of Symbiodinium sp. in 48 scleractinian coral species from 25 genera and 10 families sampled from the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, which were identified with the use of restriction fragment length polymorphism （RFLP） of the nuclear ribosomal DNA large subunit gene （rDNA）. The results showed that： （i） Symbiodinium Clade C was the dominant zooxanthellae in scleractinian corals in the Xisha Islands; （ii） Symbiodinium Clade D was found in the corals Montipora aequituberculata, Galaxea fascicularis, and Plerogyra sinuosa; and （iii） both Symbiodinium Clades C and D were found simultaneously in Montipora digitata, Psammocora contigua, and Galaxeafascicularis. A poor capacity for symbiosis polymorphism, as uncovered by RFLP, in the Xisha Islands indicates that the scleractinian corals have low adaptability to environmental changes. Further studies are needed to investigate zooxanthellae diversity using other molecular markers.     

Miocene to recent eolian dust record from the Southwest Pacific Ocean at 40° S latitude

A 14-meter long pelagic clay core recovered at Marlin Rise (40°00.531′S, 154°2.601′W; 4775 m water depth) in the Southwest Pacific Basin contains a record of eolian dust deposited since the early Miocene. Downcore analysis of detrital minerals reveals a dominantly eolian signature with relatively constant proportions of quartz, feldspar and illite and trace amounts of chlorite, kaolinite and smectite, consistent with a continental (loess-like) source region. Fish tooth Sr isotope stratigraphy reveals the base of the core to be 17.5 Ma, with low sedimentation rates (< 0.5 mm/kyr LSR) indicated for the interval 17.5 to 10 Ma; several hiatuses in deposition appear to be present upcore, but are beyond the age resolution of the fish teeth stratigraphy. These intervals are revealed as apparent discontinuities in the Sr isotope record, accompanied by pulses of anomalously rapid sedimentation at ~ 10 Ma, 6.7 Ma and 4.1 Ma. Bulk mass accumulation rates (MAR) are calculated at ~ 10 mg/cm²/kyr over the last 4 Myr, consistent with previously estimated Quaternary eolian flux rates to this part of the Pacific. Nd, Pb and Sr radiogenic isotopic compositions of the detrital mineral extract (< 38 µm) show no trends with age, while ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages show an upcore younging trend (~180 Ma to ~150 Ma), in concert with a slight coarsening of eolian grain-size distributions. These ages likely reflect mixing of Mesozoic illite-dominated clay from at least two continental source areas: southeastern Australia (Murray–Darling Basin/Lake Eyre Basin) and New Zealand (South Island). The data indicate remarkable constancy of continental eolian sources exposed to weathering and dispersal at this latitude during the Neogene.     

Injected mitotic extracts induce condensation of interphase chromatin

Although extracts from mitotic cells have been shown to induce chromosome condensation when injected into amphibian oocytes, they have not as yet been shown to induce this response in somatic interphase cells. In the experiments reported here, when mitotic extracts were injected into syncytial frog embryos, whose somatic nuclei were arrested in interphase, chromosome condensation was observed. The inability of interphase extracts, injected at similar concentrations, to induce this event demonstrates the cell cycle-specific accumulation of the factors responsible.     

中国南方古生代的一些海相新藻类(英文)

本文报道中国南方广西、贵州晚泥盆世-早石炭世的钙质微体古生物,描述红藻新属Yishanella及其二个新种(Yishanelle filosasp.nov.,Y.multitubalasp.nov.),一个绿藻新种(Pseudokamaenaregularissp.nov.)和一种分类位置未定化石(Menselina nanasp.nov.)。该微体植物群繁衍于透光带中。识别出三个组合,分别代表清洁水体的Girvanella,泥质的Issinella和介于二者之间的Menselina环境。     

中国莽人、僜人、珞巴族与门巴族Heath-Carter法体型研究

作者于2006—2007年在云南、西藏调查了中国莽人、僜人、珞巴族、门巴族体重、身高、上臂收缩围、小腿围、肱骨内外上髁间径、股骨内外上髁间径、肱三头肌位皮褶、肩胛下位皮褶、髂前上棘位皮褶和腓肠肌位皮褶10项指标值,计算了4个族群的Heath-Carter法体型值。研究结果显示: 1)在南方族群中, 莽人身矮体轻, 身体细瘦, 皮脂菲薄, 肌肉不发达。僜人身矮体轻, 身体细瘦, 男性肌肉较发达, 皮脂厚度中等。女性肌肉发达, 皮脂厚。珞巴族与门巴族均身材高, 体重大, 身体粗壮, 皮脂厚, 肌肉发达。2)门巴族男性为偏内胚层的中胚层体型, 莽人、僜人、珞巴族男性为均衡的中胚层体型。僜人、珞巴族、门巴族女性为偏中胚层的内胚层体型, 莽人女性为偏内胚层的中胚层体型。莽人、僜人、珞巴族男性具有南亚类型族群的体型特征, 门巴族男性具有北亚类型族群体型特征。莽人女性具有南亚类型族群的体型特征, 僜人、珞巴族、门巴族女性具有北亚类型族群的体型特征。