植冠种子库及其生态意义研究

植冠种子库由成熟的种子宿存在植冠上形成。种子可在植物植冠中存留1～30年或者更长时间。40属木本植物中有1200种植物具有植冠种子库,它们大多分布在火灾易发区和干旱区。植冠种子库是植物繁殖对策的一个方面,具有延缓繁殖体传播、使繁殖体免受捕食、调节萌发时间、将种子降落在适宜位置等生态功能。本文对植冠种子库的概念、分类、具有植冠种子库物种的地理分布、植冠种子库的研究现状及植冠种子库研究中存在的问题进行了论述。应加强对干旱区植冠种子库种子脱落机制和沙漠地区植冠种子库生态意义的研究。     

Canopy structure in savannas along a moisture gradient on Kalahari sands

Measurements of tree canopy architecture were made at six savanna sites on deep, sandy soils, along a gradient of increasing aridity. There was substantial variation in the leaf area estimated within each site, using the same sample frame, but different measurement techniques. The trends in canopy properties in relation to the aridity gradient were consistent, regardless of the technique used for estimating the properties. The effective plant area index for the tree canopy (the sum of the stem area index and the leaf area index (LAI)) declined from around 2 to around 0.8 m² m^?2 over a gradient of mean annual rainfall from 1000 to 350 mm. Stems contributed 2–5% of the tree canopy plant area index. Since the tree canopy cover decreased from 50% to 20% over this aridity range, the leaf area index within the area covered by tree canopies remained fairly constant at 3–4 m² m^?2. Tree leaves tended from a horizontal orientation to a more random orientation as the aridity increased. On the same gradient, the leaf minor axis dimension decreased from around 30 mm to around 3 mm, and the mean specific leaf area decreased from 14 to 5 m² kgha^?1. There was good agreement between LAI observed in the field using a line ceptometer and the LAI inferred by the MODIS sensor on the Terra satellite platform, 2 months later in the same season.     

Habitat associations with topography and canopy structure of tree species in a tropical montane forest on Mount Kinabalu,Borneo

Habitat associations with topography and canopy structure of 42 abundant tree species were studied in a 2.74-ha plot of tropical montane forest on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Many of these species belong to the same higher taxa including eight families and four genera. Analysis of intraspecific spatial distributions for stems ≥ 10 cm diameter revealed that 28 species (including all six species of Fagaceae) showed aggregated distributions at the 100-m² and/or 400-m² scales, and that 20 species showed habitat associations with topography by torus-translation tests; 17 species showed both characteristics. Species' associations with the local canopy structure were characterized by crown position index (CPI), which was defined relative to neighbour trees. The CPI differed greatly among individual stems at 10–40 cm diameter, and 19 species showed significantly different frequencies of crowns exposed vertically versus those shaded beneath the canopy. Mean growth rates at 10–40 cm diameter and size distributions of species were not related to topographic associations, but were explained by the associations with canopy structure; species with more exposed crowns grew faster and had less positively skewed distributions. Diversity in habitat associations was manifest between two genera (Syzygium and Tristaniopsis) in the family Myrtaceae and among species in these genera, but was less evident in other families and two genera (Garcinia and Lithocarpus). This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Spectral and Structural Measures of Northwest Forest Vegetation at Leaf to Landscape Scales

We report a multiscale study in the Wind River Valley in southwestern Washington, where we quantified leaf to stand scale variation in spectral reflectance for dominant species. Four remotely sensed structural measures, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), cover fractions from spectral mixture analysis (SMA), equivalent water thickness (EWT), and albedo were investigated using Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data. Discrimination of plant species varied with wavelength and scale, with deciduous species showing greater separability than conifers. Contrary to expectations, plant species were most distinct at the branch scale and least distinct at the stand scale. At the stand scale, broadleaf and conifer species were spectrally distinct, as were most conifer age classes. Intermediate separability occurred at the leaf scale. Reflectance decreased from leaf to stand scales except in the broadleaf species, which peaked in near-infrared reflectance at the branch scale. Important biochemical signatures became more pronounced spectrally progressing from leaf to stand scales. Recent regenerated clear-cuts (less than 10 years old) had the highest albedo and nonphotosynthetic vegetation (NPV). After 50 years, the stands showed significant decreases in albedo, NPV, and EWT and increases in shade. Albedo was lowest in old-growth forests. Peak EWT, a proxy measure for leaf area index (LAI), was observed in 11- to 30-year-old stands. When compared to LAI, EWT and NDVI showed exponentially decreasing, but distinctly different, relationships with increasing LAI. This difference is biologically important: at 95% of the maximum predicted NDVI and EWT, LAI was 5.17 and 9.08, respectively. Although these results confirm the stand structural variation expected with forest succession, remote-sensing images also provide a spatial context and establish a basis to evaluate variance within and between age classes. Landscape heterogeneity can thus be characterized over large areas—a critical and important step in scaling fluxes from stand-based towers to larger scales.     

海洋喇叭虫rRNA基因18S-ITS1序列及其系统发育分析

海洋喇叭虫Maristentor dinoferus 1996年在关岛(Guam)的珊瑚暗礁上被发现,至今尚未阐明其确切的系统发育地位.克隆到的海洋喇叭虫的18S-ITS1-5.8S rDNA序列包括222 bp的18S序列,77 bp的ITS1序列和22 bp的5.8S序列.比较分析了纤毛虫主要类群的ITS1序列后得出:短的ITS1序列可能是异毛类纤毛虫的特征.根据18S序列,利用邻接法构建,最大简约法和最大似然法构建系统发育树.其拓扑结构显示海洋喇叭虫属于异毛纲纤毛虫,但并不隶属喇叭虫科,应予以新的分类地位.     

Tree Climbing Strategies for Primate Ecological Studies

Primate ecological studies can benefit from accessing the canopy to estimate intra-tree and inter-tree variation in food availability and nutrient value, patch and subpatch depletion, foraging efficiency, as well as nest structure and nesting behaviors, parasitic transmission and predator detectability. We compare several ways to access the canopy and examine their suitability for studies of primates. Two of them—the Single Rope Technique and the Climbing Spur Method—allow people to safely access almost all kinds of trees, regardless of their size, height or shape. Modern climbing gear and contemporaneous safety protocols, derived from rock climbers, speleologists, and industrial arborists, are reliable and appropriate for primate ecological studies. Climbing gear is specialized and still expensive for students, but tree climbing can be dangerous during specific maneuvres. Consequently, formal training and preliminary experience are essential before attempting to collect data. We discuss the physics of falling, risk assessment associated with a fall, knots, gear and safety precautions. Finally, we propose a Tree Climbing Safety Protocol adapted for 2 climbing methods and primate field ecology. Researchers should be aware that climbing safety depends on their own judgment, which must be based on competent instruction, experience, and a realistic assessment of climbing ability. Therefore, the information we provide should be used only to supplement competent personal instruction and training in situ. Although most primate observations have been and will mostly be done from the ground in the future, canopy information complements the observations. Canopy data will add a significant new dimension to our knowledge of primates by providing strategic information otherwise unavailable.     

前胡族花粉外壁超微结构及其系统学意义(英文)

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation of pollen grains of 18 species belongingto 18 respective genera of the tribe Peucedaneae Drude revealed distinct ultrastructural difference in thepollen exine, including the thickness and features of rectum, columnar layer, foot layer and endexine. Thesystematic position of those 18 species are re-evaluated based on their ultrastructural characteristics ofpollen exine observed in this study. Seven genera related to Angelica L. in Angelicinae Drude have beendeduced to genus Angelica L. For example, Osterfcum grosseserratum (Maxim.) Kitagawa was changed toAngelica L. by some authors, but it differs from Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels in having well developedtectum which is thicker than the columnar layer and foot layer. Its columnar layer is quite well-developedwith long and branched columellae. Besides its surface is tuberculated. Evidently, its development exceedsthat of Angelica sinensis. However, it is only a moderate evolutional species in its genus, and the Angelicasinensis accounts as the most advanced species in Angelica Diels, thus, placing genus Ostencum Hoffm.in Angelica L is not suitable, it may be more appropriate to keep its original position. In addition, Ferulaakitschkensis B. Fedtsch. ex K.-Pol. differs greatly from those of Talassia transiliensis (Herd.) Korov. andSchumannia turcomnnia Kuntze, because of its very well-developed columnar layer, being about four tofive times thicker than the total of tectum and foot layer, tuberculated tectum surface and complicatedstructure of columnellae. As another species Heracleum forrestJ‘iWolff also differs from Semenovia rubtzovii(Schischk.) Monden. in having an even thickness of exine and well-developed columnar layer, it seemssuitable that they should also be treated as two independent genera.     

端粒位置效应与人类衰老

端粒随细胞分裂进行性缩短不但防止了人类肿瘤的发展,而且与人类的衰老密切相关。另外,端粒中存在一种特殊的现象：端粒位置效应,它首先在酵母中发现,表现为靠近端粒序列附近的基因表达因端粒的位置效应而沉默。在人类细胞中也存在端粒位置效应,并且有多种因子参与此效应,它可能对细胞生长停止、肿瘤以及衰老发生时等许多随端粒缩短密切相关基因的程序性表达产生重要作用。     

Effects of algal canopy clearance on plant, fish and macroinvertebrate communities on eastern Tasmanian reefs

Changes in assemblages of plants, macroinvertebrates and fishes on three eastern Tasmanian reefs were monitored over 12 months in replicated control blocks and adjacent 10×12-m blocks cleared of fucoid, laminarian and dictyotalean algae. Removal of canopy-forming plants produced less change to biotic assemblages than reported in studies elsewhere, with the magnitude of change for fish and invertebrate taxa lower than variation between sites and comparable to variation between months.The introduced annual kelp Undaria pinnatifida exhibited the only pronounced response to canopy removal amongst algal taxa, with a fivefold increase in cleared blocks compared to control blocks. Marine reserves are suggested to assist reef communities resist invasion by U. pinnatifida, through an indirect mechanism involving increased predation pressure on sea urchins and reduced formation of urchin barrens that are amenable to U. pinnatifida propagation.Large invertebrates were more associated with turfing algae or the reef substratum than the macroalgal canopy. The herbivorous sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma and abalone Haliotis ruber showed the strongest response to clearing amongst common macroinvertebrate species, with a halving of population numbers. Observed densities of the common monacanthid fish Acanthaluteres vittiger also declined by about 50%. The relatively high level of resistance shown by eastern Tasmanian reef biota to patch disturbance was attributed largely to high diversity and biomass of turfing macroalgae damping effects of canopy clearance.     

Prefibrillar transthyretin oligomers and cold stored native tetrameric transthyretin are cytotoxic in cell culture

Recent studies suggest that soluble, oligomeric species, which are intermediates in the fibril formation process in amyloid disease, might be the key species in amyloid pathogenesis. Soluble oligomers of human wild type transthyretin (TTR) were produced to elucidate oligomer properties. Employing ThT fluorescence, time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy of pyrene-labeled TTR, chemical cross-linking, and electron microscopy we demonstrated that early formed soluble oligomers (within minutes) from A-state TTR comprised on the average 20-30 TTR monomers. When administered to neuroblastoma cells these early oligomers proved highly cytotoxic and induced apoptosis after 48 h of incubation. More mature fibrils (>24 h of fibrillation) were non-toxic. Surprisingly, we also found that native tetrameric TTR, when purified and stored under cold conditions (4 °C) was highly cytotoxic. The effect could be partially restored by increasing the temperature of the protein. The cytotoxic effects of native tetrameric TTR likely stems from a hitherto unexplored low temperature induced rearrangement of the tetramer conformation that possibly is related to the conformation of misfolded TTR in amyloigogenic oligomers.