近30年淀山湖地区生态系统服务价值对土地利用变化的响应

水源是区域和城市发展的重要保障,研究其生态系统服务的变化及其影响因素对水源跨区域联防联治有重要意义。利用淀山湖地区1984、1993、2006和2014年的遥感影像,通过修正生态系统服务价值当量因子,基于GIS空间分析技术对淀山湖地区1984—1993年、1993—2006年、2006—2014年土地利用变化及生态系统服务价值(Ecosystem Service Value, ESV)进行了分析。结果表明,淀山湖地区林地面积和建筑用地面总体呈增加趋势,而耕地面积和水体面积呈下降趋势。ESV结果显示,1984—2014期间水体ESV减少了2.15亿元,耕地的ESV减少了2.41亿元,林地的ESV增加了2.50亿元。各土地利用类型ESV敏感性指数均小于1,说明研究区生态系统服务价值是缺乏弹性的。在乡镇尺度,仅朱家角镇和锦溪镇ESV呈现净增长;在省市级尺度,江苏省境内的总土地单位面积ESV减少,而上海市境内的总土地单位面积ESV增加。驱动力分析表明,自然因素和社会经济因素均对ESV有影响,人口密度、区域总产值与ESV存在显著相关性。可见,土地利用方式的改变显著影响生态系统服务价值,合理的土地利用将有利于提高总土地单位面积生态系统服务价值。     

广西北部湾典型海岛红树林的结构特征、空间格局及种间种内关联性

为研究广西北部湾茅尾海自然保护区海岛红树林群落的空间点格局和演替规律,在典型红树林海岛设置调查样地,以样地内的桐花树(Aegiceras corniculatum)、秋茄(Kandelia obovata)、白骨壤(Avicennia marina)等红树植物为研究对象,构建单变量函数的完全空间随机模型、异质泊松模型与双变量函数的环形转变模型,分析3种红树林种群的结构特征、空间格局及种内种间关联性。结果发现：(1)桐花树种群的小树和中树的个体数目较多,种群年龄结构呈金字塔型,种群处于增长状态;秋茄种群的中树个体数目较多,种群结构呈钟型,种群数量处于稳定状态;白骨壤个体数相对较少,且幼树较少老树较多,种群更新受阻,种群结构呈纺锤型,属于衰退型种群。(2)红树林群落整体上呈现出空间集聚的分布特征,从不同种群的集聚程度来看：桐花树>白骨壤>秋茄。(3)随着空间尺度的增大,红树林群落在空间分布上依次表现出聚集、随机和均匀3种特征。(4)桐花树与秋茄、白骨壤的种间关系随着尺度增加均表现为空间无关联性-空间负关联性-空间无关联性的演变特征,秋茄与白骨壤的种间关系则为全尺度的空间无关联性。(5)桐花树种内不同龄级之间存在空间正关联性、空间无关联性和空间负关联性,秋茄种内不同龄级之间均表现出空间无联性,白骨壤种群则在不同龄级之间均出现空间正关联性。(6)红树植物种群的空间格局受到自身繁殖特性、生境异质性、种内和种间竞争、病虫害等多种因素的影响。红树林人工种植和恢复需要结合沿海地区的自然生态条件,按照红树林种群的适应形态学特点、群落类型和自然演替规律,种植乡土红树植物,适当引进外来物种,研制出近似天然的人工红树林林分结构,提高群落的生物多样性和群落稳定性,发挥红树林湿地生态系统的生态环境效应。     

长江流域陆地植被总初级生产力时空变化特征及其气候驱动因子

长江流域是我国重要的工农业生产区和生态安全屏障。深入开展长江流域陆地植被总初级生产力（GPP）时空变化特征和驱动因子研究,对了解变化环境下区域植被生长状况和生物固碳能力、掌握生态环境质量具有重要意义。基于MODIS GPP遥感数据产品、土地利用和气象观测数据,采用趋势分析和偏相关分析法,系统研究了2000-2015年间长江流域陆地植被GPP时空变化特征,探讨了不同二级水资源区内气候因子对GPP变化影响的空间差异,揭示了不同土地利用类型GPP变化特征以及气候因子作用。结果表明：1）长江流域陆地植被覆盖区GPP在0.3-2765 gC m^-2 a^-1之间,均值约990.46 gC m^-2 a^-1,多年平均GPP总量为1.735 P gC;2）近年来,长江流域GPP呈不显著上升趋势,趋势率为2.39 gC m^-2 a^-1。空间上,GPP上升区和下降区分别占总流域面积的68%和32%。各二级水资源区内,除了洞庭湖流域和太湖流域GPP呈下降趋势外,其他区GPP均呈上升趋势;3）不同土地利用类型GPP均值在198.50-1276.90 gC m^-2 a^-1之间。各土地利用类型中除水田GPP呈微弱下降外,其他均呈上升趋势,尤其是高、中、低覆盖度草地GPP上升趋势较为显著;4）不同气候因子对植被GPP变化的影响程度在不同二级水资源区、不同土地利用类型间均存在一定差异,但就长江流域整体而言,GPP年际变化受温度影响显著,其次是蒸发,而降水等其他气候因子的影响不大。     

2001-2019年黄土高原植被覆盖度时空演化特征及地理因子解析

探究黄土高原植被覆盖度变化及其与地理因子之间的关系有助于区域植被恢复政策的优化以及人地关系的协调发展。因此,以MOD13 A1数据作为数据基础,采用趋势分析、标准差和重心迁移模型,研究2001—2019年黄土高原植被覆盖度FVC(Fractional Vegetation Cover)时空演化特征,并结合地理探测器和相关分析对影响FVC的地理因子进行解析。结果表明：(1)2001—2019年黄土高原植被覆盖度恢复状况较好,FVC平均增速为0.0095/a,呈东南高西北低分布,极显著、显著增加的区域面积占比为84.37%,研究区各年FVC重心位于陕北一带,19年向北推进55.1km;(2)各地理因子对FVC的解释力存在显著差异,降水、土壤类型、气温、土地利用类型和坡度是FVC空间分布的主要驱动因子,且各因子之间交互作用的解释力高于单因子;(3)FVC与气温、降水相关系数均以正相关为主;FVC均值与变化趋势存在地形、土壤、人口密度、土地利用分异特征;土地利用转移可体现人类活动特征,其退耕还林还草、未利用地绿化等积极效应促使区域植被得到显著改善,城市扩张等消极效应则抑制植被增长。     

Intrapopulation variability in a functional trait: Susceptibility of Daphnia to limitation by dietary fatty acids

1. Functional traits are measurable characteristics of an organism that have an impact on its fitness. Variation in functional traits between and among species has been suggested to represent the basis for competition and selection, thus allowing for evolution in natural populations.
2. In freshwater ecosystems, the availability of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), in particular ω3‐ and ω6‐PUFAs, determines the food quality of phytoplankton for the herbivorous zooplankton Daphnia, an unselective filter feeder. The content of such essential PUFAs in the phytoplankton is thus a functional phytoplankton trait affecting the trophic transfer efficiency and dynamics at the pelagic plant–herbivore interface.
3. In turn, the susceptibility of consumers to become limited by the availability of essential PUFAs is a fitness‐determining trait of Daphnia genotypes, and variability of this herbivore trait may thus affect the daphnids’ intrapopulation competition. To estimate the intrapopulation variation in susceptibility, we isolated clonal lines of Daphnia longispina from a natural population and compared the strength of their limitation by dietary PUFA availability via standardised laboratory growth assays. We used a liposome supplementation technique to enrich a PUFA‐poor green alga with essential ω3‐ and ω6‐PUFAs and determined juvenile somatic growth rate of different D. longispina genotypes as a fitness proxy.
4. As expected, D. longispina genotypes that coexisted in a natural population differed markedly in their specific patterns of susceptibility to dietary PUFA availability. On average, the D. longispina population was more strongly susceptible to limitations in the availability of the ω6‐PUFA arachidonic acid (20:4ω6) than to limitations in the availability of ω3‐PUFAs α‐linolenic acid (18:3ω3) and eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5ω3).
5. The ability to cope with PUFA limitation is thus a crucial trait that can probably affect intraspecific competition and Daphnia population structure. Therefore, we suggest that such intrapopulation variation in susceptibility to absence of dietary PUFAs might be one of the driving forces of natural selection and local adaptation among freshwater zooplankton.

     

Influence of quaternary sea-level variations on a land bird endemic to Pacific atolls

Little is known about the effect of quaternary climate variations on organisms that inhabited carbonate islands of the Pacific Ocean, although it has been suggested that one or several uplifted islands provided shelter for terrestrial birds when sea-level reached its highest. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the history of colonization of the Tuamotu reed-warbler (Acrocephalus atyphus) in southeastern Polynesia, and found high genetic structure between the populations of three elevated carbonate islands. Estimates of time since divergence support the hypothesis that these islands acted as refugia during the last interglacial maximum. These findings are particularly important for defining conservation priorities on atolls that endure the current trend of sea-level rise owing to global warming.     

A novel p16INK4A mutation associated with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in a high risk population

This study describes identification of p16^INK4A sequence variants and their potential association with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in a high risk population from Kashmir, India. We report a novel 7 base pair exon 2 deletion in 22 out of 106 (~20%) surgically resected tumor samples. The deletion beginning at the second base of codon 103, results in a frame shift causing premature termination of the protein at codon 142, with structural and functional consequences predicted by insilico analysis. The described mutation is a previously unreported variant of p16^INK4A, perhaps representing a founder mutation unique to the population.     

Paternal effects in Arabidopsis indicate that offspring can influence their own size

The existence of genetic variation in offspring size in plants and animals is puzzling because offspring size is often strongly associated with fitness and expected to be under stabilizing selection. An explanation for variation in seed size is conflict between parents and between parents and offspring. However, for this hypothesis to be true, it must be shown that the offspring genotype can affect its own size. The existence of paternal effects would support this hypothesis, but these have rarely been shown. Using a diallel cross among four natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana we show that maternal, paternal and positional effects jointly influence seed size, number and the frequency of seed abortion. We found that seed abortion (%) depends on the combination of maternal and paternal genotypes, suggesting the existence of mate choice or epistatic incompatibility among accessions of A. thaliana. In addition, since paternal genotype explains approximately 10 per cent of the variation in seed size, we propose that A. thaliana''s offspring must influence the amount of resources allocated to themselves. Identification of paternal effects in Arabidopsis should facilitate dissection of the genetic mechanisms involved in paternal effects.     

Vitellogenesis in Acanthoscelides obtectus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae). II—The conditions of vitellogenesis in a strain from Colombia. Comparative study and adaptive significance

The reproductive activity of an Acanthoscelides obtectus strain originating in the high Colombian plateau (altiplanos) was compared to that of a European strain. Colombian females exhibited greater individual variations than their European counterparts. Some females did not synthesize vitellogenin during the 140-day period of observation, while others performed synthesis but not incorporation into oocytes. Under these conditions, 40–50% of the females could form a limited number of oocytes. The presence of Phaseolus vulgaris seeds stimulated vitellogenin synthesis and incorporation by most females. This initiation of ovarian activity enabled mating to occur, which in turn led to maximal stimulation of oogenesis. This host plant—mating interaction leads to the production and release of a large number of eggs. The observed variability of reproductive activity and its dependence on stimulatory factors probably reflect an adaptation to the ecological conditions prevailing in the high-altitude environment of these insects.     

Inter-island variation in femoral secretions of the Balearic lizard,Podarcis lilfordi (Lacertidae)

Many lizards use femoral gland secretions in intraspecific communication. Although there is a consistent interspecific variation in chemical composition of secretions, considerable variation is also often found between populations, which may affect conspecifc recognition and lead to speciation processes. Balearic lizards (Podarcis lilfordi) are currently distributed only in several isolated islets offshore of the main islands with different environmental conditions (vegetation, diet, density of population, etc). Also, there is a high genetic variability between populations. We examined whether there was a similar variation in the composition of the femoral secretions of male lizards, and which could be the causes of such variation. By using GC–MS analyses, we found 75 lipophilic compounds in femoral gland secretions of male P. lilfordi from three representative island populations. Main compounds were steroids (94.4%), mainly cholesterol, but we also found alkanes, ketones, waxy esters, squalene, carboxylic acids and their ethyl esters, alcohols and other minor compounds. However, there were clear differences between populations with respect to the number and relative proportions of compounds. Using the patterns of presence and abundance of compounds in secretions it is possible to predict the population of origin of a lizard. We discuss how these differences could be explained considering genetic and environmental differences between populations.