Population dynamics of king eiders breeding in northern Alaska

The North American population of king eiders (Somateria spectabilis) has declined by more than 50% since the late 1970s for unknown reasons. King eiders spend most of their lives in remote areas, forcing managers to make regulatory and conservation decisions based on very little information. We incorporated available published estimates of vital rates with new estimates to build a female, stage-based matrix population model for king eiders and examine the processes underlying population dynamics of king eiders breeding at 2 sites, Teshekpuk and Kuparuk, on the coastal plain of northern Alaska and wintering around the Bering Sea (2001–2010). We predicted a decreasing population (λ = 0.981, 95% CI: 0.978–0.985), and that population growth was most sensitive to changes in adult female survival (sensitivity = 0.92). Low duckling survival may be a bottleneck to productivity (variation in ducking survival accounted for 66% of retrospective variation in λ). Adult survival was high (0.94) and invariant ( = 0.0002, 95% CI: 0.0000–0.0007); however, catastrophic events could have a major impact and we need to consider how to mitigate and manage threats to adult survival. A hypothetical oil spill affecting breeding females in a primary spring staging area resulted in a severe population decline; although, transient population dynamics were relatively stable. However, if no catastrophic events occur, the more variable reproductive parameters (duckling and nest survival) may be more responsive to management actions. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

山茶科核果茶属、石笔木属和拟核果茶属的分类学位置

从形态学、胚胎学、孢粉学和解剖学４方面探讨了核果茶属（ＰｙｒｅｎａｒｉａＢｌ．）、石笔木属（ＴｕｌｃｈｅｒｉａＤｕｎｎ）和拟核果茶属（ＰａｒａｐｙｒｅｎａｒｉａＨ．Ｔ．Ｃｈａｎｇ）的分类学问题,３属在形态上的主要差异具有连续性而难以断开,大小孢子和雌雄配子体的发生过程高度相似,均具有皱波状至皱网状的花粉外壁纹饰和大头茶型（Ｇｏｒｄｏｎｉａｅｅｏｕｓ－Ｔｙｐｅ）气孔器,几方面的资料提示,核果茶属、石笔术属和拟核果茶属是一个不可分割的自然类群,从而以新的证据支持或主张将上述３属合并成１属。     

费菜和长药八宝叶形态结构及其与耐旱性关系的研究

利用光学显微镜观察比较了费菜（Sedum aizoon L.）和长药八宝（S. spectabilis Boreau）的叶表皮形态及解剖结构,并对其进行不同程度的水分胁迫,研究干旱逆境条件对其叶片显微结构的影响。结果表明：两种景天的叶形态、解剖结构与耐旱性之间存在较密切的相关性。两种植物成熟叶均具较薄的角质层和发达的储水组织,叶肉组织中没有栅栏组织和海绵组织的明显分化。二者的维管组织较发达,且具较发达的孔下室,维管束周边发现一些吸水能力较强的异细胞,这些特征是植物耐旱的关键。     

波温苏铁(Bowenia spectabilis)营养器官的解剖结构研究

报道了波温苏铁Bowenia spectabilis Hook.ex Hook. f）根、茎、叶的解剖结构.根的初生结构由表皮、皮层和中柱三部分组成,为二原型木质部.茎具大量薄壁组织,薄壁细胞富含淀粉粒,维管束为外韧并生.叶柄中含有5-8束维管束,呈弧形排列.羽片叶角质层厚,有小叶脉产生,气孔主要分布在下表皮.根、茎、叶木质部中的管胞主要是螺纹和孔纹管胞,有少量纤维分化;茎中管胞的侧壁呈现凹凸不平,部分管胞具有分枝或分叉现象.     

Century‐long stomatal density record of the nitrophyte,Rubus spectabilis L., from the Pacific Northwest indicates no effect of changing atmospheric carbon dioxide but a strong response to nutrient subsidy

Triangle Island on Canada''s Pacific coast is home to a large, globally important seabird breeding colony. The shrub Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis and tussock‐forming Tufted Hairgrass Deschampsia cespitosa together form ~70% of vegetation coverage and contain the vast majority (~90%) of seabird nesting burrows. Salmonberry has in recent decades greatly expanded its coverage, while that of Tufted Hairgrass has receded. Seabirds prefer not to burrow under Salmonberry, making its ongoing expansion a potential conservation issue. We investigated three hypotheses proposed to explain Salmonberry''s expansion (climate change, biopedturbation, and nutrient input), using comparisons of stomatal density of Salmonberry leaves sampled from Triangle Island, other seabird colonies, other coastal locations, and from historical specimens in herbaria. Stomatal density helps regulate photosynthetic gain and control water loss, and responds to light, nutrient, carbon dioxide, and water availability. Differing patterns of stomatal density are expected among sample locations depending on which of the hypothesized factors most strongly affects Salmonberry''s performance. Our data are most consistent with the nutrient input hypothesis. We discuss possible reasons why Salmonberry has expanded so recently, even though Triangle has been a large seabird colony for at least a century and likely much longer.     

叶子花表皮特征的研究及意义

对叶子花（Bougainvillea spectabilis）正常叶和变态叶上气孔密度、气孔指数和保卫细胞大小进行了研究。结果表明：正常叶上表皮的表皮细胞为多边形,垂周壁平直;下表皮的表皮细胞为不规则型,垂周壁浅波状;气孔类型为不规则型。变态叶上表皮没有发现气孔,变态叶下表皮的表皮细胞垂周壁则由浅波形逐渐变为深波形,气孔类型为不规则型和轮列型。随着变态叶的发育,变态叶下表皮的气孔密度降低,气孔指数升高;变态叶保卫细胞的长增大,宽减小。变态叶的平均气孔密度和平均气孔指数明显低于正常叶。正常叶和变态叶的保卫细胞均呈肾形。     

Biosynthesis of spectinomycin: heterologous production of spectinomycin and spectinamine in an aminoglycoside-deficient host, Streptomyces venezuelae YJ003

Aims:  To obtain spectinomycin and spectinamine by heterologous expression into the biosynthetic deoxysugar (desosamine) gene-deleted host Streptomyces venezuelae YJ003.
Methods and Results:  The 17-kb spectinomycin biosynthetic gene cluster from Streptomyces spectabilis ATCC 27741 was heterologously expressed into Streptomyces venezuelae YJ003. Furthermore, the speA , speB and spcS2 encoded in the spectinomycin biosynthetic gene cluster of cosmid pSPC8 were also heterologously characterized to be responsible for the production of spectinamine.
Conclusions:  The results of this study indicated that pSPC8 contains all the genes necessary for the biosynthesis of spectinomycin. We also concluded that SpeA, SpeB and SpcS2 are sufficient for the biosynthesis of spectinamine. We also verified that SpeB and SpcS2 show dual character in the biosynthetic pathway of spectinomycin in Streptomyces spectabilis .
Significance and Impact of the Study:  This is the report regarding the expression of a biosynthetic gene cluster that gives rise to the production of aminoglycoside antibiotics in Streptomyces venezuelae YJ003. Therefore, this work may serve as a foundation for further research on spectinomycin biosynthesis and other aminoglycosides.     

Über inhaltsstoffe der tribus mutisieae

An investigation of nine representative species of the tribe Mutisieae yielded some new results of chemotaxonomic interest. Some new sesquiterpenes and coumarins have been characterised by spectroscopic methods. 5-Methylcoumarins appear to be characteristic of the tribe.     

黑角直缘跳甲的生物学及其防治

黑角直缘跳甲是五倍子夏寄主盐肤木和红肤杨的重要食叶害虫,一年一代,以卵及卵块在寄主枝干上越冬,次年4月当寄主幼芽萌发达3cm,叶片尚未完全展开时孵化。幼虫期4—5月,蛹期5—6月,成虫期6—10月,卵期9至次年4月。幼虫始见期随不同年份和不同海拨而异,物候期明显。数量消长与天敌和降雨密切相关。本文首次报道了该虫的生物学特性,并提出人工灭虫和保护天敌的防治措施。