Reconstruction of cranial and hyobranchial muscles in the triassic temnospondyl Gerrothorax provides evidence for akinetic suction feeding

The cranial and hyobranchial muscles of the Triassic temnospondyl Gerrothorax have been reconstructed based on direct evidence (spatial limitations, ossified muscle insertion sites on skull, mandible, and hyobranchium) and on phylogenetic reasoning (with extant basal actinopterygians and caudates as bracketing taxa). The skeletal and soft‐anatomical data allow the reconstruction of the feeding strike of this bottom‐dwelling, aquatic temnospondyl. The orientation of the muscle scars on the postglenoid area of the mandible indicates that the depressor mandibulae was indeed used for lowering the mandible and not to raise the skull as supposed previously and implies that the skull including the mandible must have been lifted off the ground during prey capture. It can thus be assumed that Gerrothorax raised the head toward the prey with the jaws still closed. Analogous to the bracketing taxa, subsequent mouth opening was caused by action of the strong epaxial muscles (further elevation of the head) and the depressor mandibulae and rectus cervicis (lowering of the mandible). During mouth opening, the action of the rectus cervicis muscle also rotated the hyobranchial apparatus ventrally and caudally, thus expanding the buccal cavity and causing the inflow of water with the prey through the mouth opening. The strongly developed depressor mandibulae and rectus cervicis, and the well ossified, large quadrate‐articular joint suggest that this action occurred rapidly and that powerful suction was generated. Also, the jaw adductors were well developed and enabled a rapid mouth closure. In contrast to extant caudate larvae and most extant actinopterygians (teleosts), no cranial kinesis was possible in the Gerrothorax skull, and therefore suction feeding was not as elaborate as in these extant forms. This reconstruction may guide future studies of feeding in extinct aquatic tetrapods with ossified hyobranchial apparatus. J. Morphol., 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

基于物种多样性与生物量关系的草地群落稳定性对全球变暖的响应研究进展

全球变暖背景下物种多样性和生物量的空间变化格局及其对温度升高的响应是生态学研究的热点内容,是探究群落稳定性响应全球变暖的关键.物种分布是多个生态过程相互作用的产物,温度升高通过改变群落关键种的作用影响物种多样性,从而改变群落稳定性.关于草地群落稳定性对全球变暖的响应过程,国内外学者的相关研究存在很大差异.该文作者结合自...     

金钟藤入侵群落的种间联结及生态位特征

金钟藤(Decalobanthus boisianus)是林业有害植物, 其暴发生长和扩散对森林生态系统造成了严重破坏。本文以海南岛48个金钟藤典型分布群落为研究对象, 用方差比率法和贡献定律法探究群落的稳定性; 用χ ²统计量、联结系数(AC)、共同出现百分率(PC)、Ochiai指数和Dice指数分析金钟藤与伴生物种的种间联结关系; 用生态位宽度、生态位相似性系数和生态位重叠指数研究群落中各物种的生态位特征, 以期为金钟藤生物防治的植物物种筛选提供借鉴。结果表明: (1)金钟藤所在48个群落共有156种伴生植物, 其中大戟科、茜草科、桑科、无患子科和樟科植物占优势; (2)群落中优势物种呈正联结关系, 植物种类累积倒数百分比与累积相对频度交点坐标为(44.53, 55.47), 远离稳定交点坐标(20, 80), 说明群落处于不稳定状态; (3)金钟藤与芳槁润楠(Machilus suaveolens)、黄椿木姜子(Litsea variabilis)、岭南山竹子(Garcinia oblongifolia)、显脉杜英(Elaeocarpus dubius)、鸭脚木(Schefflera octophylla)和银柴(Aporusa dioica)都紧密关联, 说明金钟藤与这些物种的资源利用方式较相似; (4)金钟藤的生态位宽度最大, 与伴生物种间的生态位重叠度较高, 但伴生物种间的生态位重叠度较低。金钟藤的入侵导致群落处于不稳定状态, 并与伴生物种间存在激烈的竞争关系。因此, 建议在金钟藤已入侵的群落中大量栽种芳槁润楠、黄椿木姜子、显脉杜英、鸭脚木和银柴, 以遏制其蔓延; 大量栽种翻白叶树(Pterospermum heterophyllum)、海南菜豆树(Radermachera hainanensis)、九节(Psychotria rubra)和肉实树(Sarcosperma laurinum)用于金钟藤入侵群落的植被恢复。     

Effects of cover soil stockpiling on plant community development following reclamation of oil sands sites in Alberta

Stockpiling of cover soil can influence vegetation development following reclamation. Cover soil, comprising the upper 15–30 cm of the surface material on sites scheduled for mining, is commonly salvaged prior to mining and used directly or stockpiled for various lengths of time until it is needed. Salvaging and stockpiling causes physical, chemical, and biological changes in cover soils. In particular, stockpiling reduces the availability and vigor of vegetative propagules and seed, and can lead to increases in the abundance of some weedy species. This study uses data from monitoring plots to assess how stockpiling of cover soil impacts plant community development on reclaimed oil sands mine sites in northern Alberta. Development of plant communities differed distinctly between directly placed and stockpiled cover soil treatments even 18 years after reclamation. Direct placement of cover soil resulted in higher percent cover, species richness, and diversity. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling and multiresponse permutation procedure revealed compositional differentiation between the treatments. Indicator species analysis showed that direct placement treatment was dominated by perennial species while grasses and annual forb species dominated sites where stockpiled soil was used. Results indicate that stockpiling leads to slower vegetation recovery while direct placement of cover soil supports more rapid succession (from ruderal and annual communities to perennial communities). In addition, direct placement may be less costly than stockpiling. However, scheduling of salvage and placement remains a challenge.     

强度石漠化区不同植被修复模式下土壤螨类群落差异

石漠化治理区不同植被修复模式下的土壤螨类群落差异反映了生态系统的恢复状况,可籍以反映石漠化治理的生态效果。2014年1月、4月、8月和10月,对贵州花江喀斯特峡谷区顶坛小流域强度石漠化区域的"花椒"、"金银花"、"花椒+金银花"3种植被修复生境的土壤螨类进行了调查,共捕获土壤螨类1372头,隶属3目55科89属。采用类群(属)数、个体数量、个体密度、多样性指数(H')、丰富度指数(SR)、均匀性指数(J)、相似性指数(CN)、捕食性螨类成熟度指数(MI)和甲螨MGP类群等参数对土壤螨类群落差异进行了表征。结果显示,花椒林拥有较丰富的螨类属,金银花林拥有较高的的个体数量和个体密度。不同模式下的科、属类群组成呈现差异;属数、个体数量存在一定的季节差异,花椒林的螨类属数、金银花林的螨类个体数量和个体密度呈现一定的表聚性;群落多样性大多存在季节差异;捕食性革螨以r选择型为主,甲螨主要为O型和M型。研究表明,强度石漠化在不同植被修复模式下,土壤螨类生物生态类群存在差异,土壤生态系统仍处于修复之中,其中螨类优势属、具有典型生物学与生态学特性差异的螨类类群对石漠化治理的生态效果具有重要的指示作用。     

增温与降水变化对青藏高原高寒草甸土壤nirS反硝化菌群落丰度和群落结构的影响

全球变化已成为国际研究热点。青藏高原属典型生态脆弱带,该地区升温幅度更加明显,已导致大量冰川融化和明显降水变化,进而使该地区水循环和土壤水分发生巨大变化。温度和降水的变化可能会引起土壤微生物丰度和群落结构的改变,进而影响生物地球化学循环。但青藏高原地区土壤微生物群落结构和功能对全球变化响应的研究较少。研究了模拟增温和降水变化对青藏高原高寒草甸土壤nirS反硝化菌群落丰度和群落结构的影响。研究表明,增温1、2、4℃对nirS基因丰度影响不显著;增加降水100%时,增温4℃处理显著增加nirS基因丰度(P0.05)。在未升温与升温2℃背景下增加和减少降水对nirS基因丰度的影响不显著。增温和增减降水均显著影响nirS反硝化菌群落结构,且两个因子具有一定的交互作用。CCA结果显示,增温和降水的共同解释变量中,增温对nirS反硝化菌群落结构变化的影响达极显著(P0.01),解释了其中的54.2%,降水变化解释了45.5%(P0.05)。     

Quantifying Littoral Vertical Habitat Structure and Fish Community Associations using Underwater Visual Census

Synopsis We developed and tested a new visual census technique to quantify the importance of vertical habitat structure on the associated fish assemblages in the littoral zone of a freshwater lake. We demonstrated that the primary environmental gradient, accounting for the most variation in the species data, represented a temporal gradient of seasonal characteristics. The secondary environmental gradient was related to the vertical structure at the sampling locations, showing the importance of the vertical component of the environment on fish community structure. Characterizing the vertical component at different resolutions provided different interpretations. The primary difference was the strength of influence of woody material on community structure. Woody material had a stronger influence on community structure throughout the water column when a single vertical unit defined the fish data. The appropriateness of defining the data by either multiple vertical strata or by a single vertical one would be dependent on the objectives of the study, as neither approach was found to explain substantially more variation in the species data. The current study demonstrates that fish are closely associated with particular elements of habitat structure in the littoral zone, even in the absence of major piscivorous predators. We provide a novel study quantifying the vertical multiple habitat structures and habitat use by fish in the water column of a freshwater lake. The new vertical visual census technique can be used to more comprehensively sample the three-dimensional environment of lake littoral zones, and quantify the fish–habitat spatial relationships across a range of abiotic and biotic habitat features.