Think globally,measure locally: The MIREN standardized protocol for monitoring plant species distributions along elevation gradients

Climate change and other global change drivers threaten plant diversity in mountains worldwide. A widely documented response to such environmental modifications is for plant species to change their elevational ranges. Range shifts are often idiosyncratic and difficult to generalize, partly due to variation in sampling methods. There is thus a need for a standardized monitoring strategy that can be applied across mountain regions to assess distribution changes and community turnover of native and non‐native plant species over space and time. Here, we present a conceptually intuitive and standardized protocol developed by the Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN) to systematically quantify global patterns of native and non‐native species distributions along elevation gradients and shifts arising from interactive effects of climate change and human disturbance. Usually repeated every five years, surveys consist of 20 sample sites located at equal elevation increments along three replicate roads per sampling region. At each site, three plots extend from the side of a mountain road into surrounding natural vegetation. The protocol has been successfully used in 18 regions worldwide from 2007 to present. Analyses of one point in time already generated some salient results, and revealed region‐specific elevational patterns of native plant species richness, but a globally consistent elevational decline in non‐native species richness. Non‐native plants were also more abundant directly adjacent to road edges, suggesting that disturbed roadsides serve as a vector for invasions into mountains. From the upcoming analyses of time series, even more exciting results can be expected, especially about range shifts. Implementing the protocol in more mountain regions globally would help to generate a more complete picture of how global change alters species distributions. This would inform conservation policy in mountain ecosystems, where some conservation policies remain poorly implemented.     

Troop Histories and Range Inertia of Lemur catta at Berenty,Madagascar: A 33-year Perspective

Lemur catta troops in a 1-km ² study area at Berenty Reserve have maintained fidelity to core areas since Budnitz and Dainis' study of 1972–1973, and for two troops possibly since 1963. Population in 1 km ² fluctuated from 155 to 105 to 282 individuals (excluding infants), and the number of troops increased from 12 to 21. Most troops retain the same core areas from year to year (170 observed troop-years). Ten troops derived from known fissions have settled in parts of their parent troop range or an adjacent neighbor's range. Five more troops may derive from similar matrilocal fissioning, inferred from behavior and ranging patterns. One has remained unchanged. Five have unknown parentage, in the ranges of four previously censused troops. Once a fissioned troop completely replaced another, one troop permanently extended its range, three times females joined a different troop, once a female remained nomadic for two years without stable home range. No fissioned troop has been seen to leapfrog others: to settle discontiuously from its parent. Intertroop antagonism may reflect benefits of long-term core area control.     

哈尔滨西郊赤狐冬季巢区的初步研究

本文利用雪地跟踪方法对哈尔滨西郊5只赤狐在1985-1986年冬季的巢区做了观察。结果表明,5只狐对巢区内各部分使用的强度是不等的,对巢区中部的某些地块使用强度要高于对外围的使用,并具有明显的方向性。5个巢区的平均活动半径为320±68米至557±82米,面积为1.44-4.O9平方公里,线性指数为1.079至2。5只狐相邻距离约1000米。     

高原鼠兔的繁殖空间及其护域行为的研究

1985-1987年在青海湖黑马河湖滨地区,心耳标法研究了高原鼠兔(OchotOttacurzoniae) 的繁殖空间及护域行为,结果表明高原鼠兔营群体家族式生活,具有巢区和领域。繁殖期,雌雄配对建立新的家庭,巢区发生相对变化。并以亲呢、长鸣、嗅味标记和驱逐等行为维护其领地。     

Leopard (Panthera pardus) occupancy in the Chure range of Nepal

Conservation of large carnivores such as leopards requires large and interconnected habitats. Despite the wide geographic range of the leopard globally, only 17% of their habitat is within protected areas. Leopards are widely distributed in Nepal, but their population status and occupancy are poorly understood. We carried out the sign‐based leopard occupancy survey across the entire Chure range (~19,000 km²) to understand the habitat occupancy along with the covariates affecting their occupancy. Leopard signs were obtained from in 70 out of 223 grids surveyed, with a naïve leopard occupancy of 0.31. The model‐averaged leopard occupancy was estimated to be 0.5732 (SE 0.0082) with a replication‐level detection probability of 0.2554 (SE 0.1142). The top model shows the additive effect of wild boar, ruggedness, presence of livestock, and human population density positively affecting the leopard occupancy. The detection probability of leopard was higher outside the protected areas, less in the high NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) areas, and higher in the areas with livestock presence. The presence of wild boar was strong predictor of leopard occupancy followed by the presence of livestock, ruggedness, and human population density. Leopard occupancy was higher in west Chure (0.70 ± SE 0.047) having five protected areas compared with east Chure (0.46 ± SE 0.043) with no protected areas. Protected areas and prey species had positive influence on leopard occupancy in west Chure range. Similarly in the east Chure, the leopard occupancy increased with prey, NDVI, and terrain ruggedness. Enhanced law enforcement and mass awareness activities are necessary to reduce poaching/killing of wild ungulates and leopards in the Chure range to increase leopard occupancy. In addition, maintaining the sufficient natural prey base can contribute to minimize the livestock depredation and hence decrease the human–leopard conflict in the Chure range.     

Host shifts in economically significant fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) with high degree of polyphagy

Insects tend to feed on related hosts. Coevolution tends to be dominated by interactions resulting from plant chemistry in defense strategies, and evolution of secondary metabolisms being in response to insect herbivory remains a classic explanation of coevolution. The present study examines whether evolutionary constraints existing in host associations of economically important fruit flies in the species‐rich tribe Dacini (Diptera: Tephritidae) and to what extent these species have evolved specialized dietary patterns. We found a strong effect of host phylogeny on associations on the 37 fruit flies tested, although the fruit fly species feeding on ripe commercially grown fruits that lost the toxic compounds after long‐term domestication are mostly polyphagous. We assessed the phylogenetic signal of host breadth across the fruit fly species, showing that the results were substantially different depending on partition levels. Further, we mapped main host family associations onto the fruit fly phylogeny and Cucurbitaceae has been inferred as the most likely ancestral host family for Dacini based on ancestral state reconstruction.     

从巢县人年代争议谈钟乳石、骨化石铀系定年——与陈铁梅先生商榷

从巢县人年代争议谈钟乳石、骨化石铀系定年─—与陈铁梅先生商榷沈冠军,房迎三（贵州大学化学系,贵阳５５００２５）（安徽省文物考古研究所,合肥２３００６１）《人类学学报》第１４卷第２期发表了陈铁梅（１９９５）先生的文章（下称陈文）,对不久前也在该刊发表的...     

Exploratory analysis of multi‐trait coadaptations in light of population history

During the process of range expansion, populations encounter a variety of environments. They respond to the local environments by modifying their mutually interacting traits. Common approaches of landscape analysis include first focusing on the genes that undergo diversifying selection or directional selection in response to environmental variation. To understand the whole history of populations, it is ideal to capture the history of their range expansion with reference to the series of surrounding environments and to infer the multitrait coadaptation. To this end, we propose a complementary approach; it is an exploratory analysis using up‐to‐date methods that integrate population genetic features and features of selection on multiple traits. First, we conduct correspondence analysis of site frequency spectra, traits, and environments with auxiliary information of population‐specific fixation index (F _ST). This visualizes the structure and the ages of populations and helps infer the history of range expansion, encountered environmental changes, and selection on multiple traits. Next, we further investigate the inferred history using an admixture graph that describes the population split and admixture. Finally, principal component analysis of the selection on edge‐by‐trait (SET) matrix identifies multitrait coadaptation and the associated edges of the admixture graph. We introduce a newly defined factor loadings of environmental variables in order to identify the environmental factors that caused the coadaptation. A numerical simulation of one‐dimensional stepping‐stone population expansion showed that the exploratory analysis reconstructed the pattern of the environmental selection that was missed by analysis of individual traits. Analysis of a public dataset of natural populations of black cottonwood in northwestern America identified the first principal component (PC) coadaptation of photosynthesis‐ vs growth‐related traits responding to the geographical clines of temperature and day length. The second PC coadaptation of volume‐related traits suggested that soil condition was a limiting factor for aboveground environmental selection.     

武汉大学校园流浪猫行为生态学初步研究

随着宠物猫在人们生活中越来越普及,流浪猫的问题也日渐突显;它们可能携带多种人畜共患寄生虫,对本地生态系统造成干扰,并带来公共安全隐患。因此,开展流浪猫的调查,并制定相应的管理措施,对于缓解这一问题显得尤为重要。2021年9月——2022年12月,采用样线法对武汉大学校园地区流浪猫进行了种群调查,根据重捕法及其模型估算种群规模;通过定位项圈跟踪20只流浪猫,确定它们的家域范围;基于流浪猫的社交亲人行为等级,对流浪猫的行为差异进行了分析。结果显示,武汉大学的流浪猫密度约为1只/hm²,绝育率较低,校园流浪猫的家域范围为(4.99±0.84)hm²;校园流浪猫85%的时间都在喂食点半径100 m以内活动,且喂食点密度越高,流浪猫的活动范围越小;在不同性别上,雄性流浪猫的活动范围大于雌性,而绝育与否不影响其活动范围;在社交亲人行为方面,校园流浪猫社交亲人性高于一般的流浪猫,即分布在城市和乡村中的流浪猫,随着喂食点密度增加,其社交亲人等级随之升高。研究表明,武汉大学校园流浪猫数量较多,绝育率低,家域范围小,且主要分布在喂食点附近。此外,喂食点密度对流浪...