Origin and taxonomic status of the Palearctic population of the stem borer Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefèbvre) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The major pest of maize in Mediterranean Europe, the stem borer Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefèbvre) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), has a fragmented distribution, north and south of the Sahara. The present study aimed: (1) to clarify the uncertain taxonomic status of the Palearctic and sub‐Saharan populations which were first considered as different species and later on as subspecies (Sesamia nonagrioides nonagrioides and Sesamia nonagrioides botanephaga) and (2) to investigate the origin of the Palearctic population which extends from Spain to Iran, outside what is considered typical for this mainly tropical genus. We reconstructed the evolutionary history of both populations using one nuclear and two mitochondrial genes. The sub‐Saharan taxon was fragmented in two isolated populations (West and East) whose mitochondrial genes were distant by 2.3%. The Palearctic population was included in the East African clade and its genes were close or identical to those of a population from Central Ethiopia, where the species was discovered for the first time. Similarly, in Africa, the alleles of the nuclear gene were distributed mainly in two West and East clades, whereas some Palearctic alleles belonged to the West clade. The Palearctic population originated therefore from East and West Africa and is the progeny of the cross between these two African populations. The main species concepts were in agreement, leading to the conclusion that the three populations are still conspecific. In the surveyed regions, the species therefore does not include two subspecies but three isolated populations. The Palearctic population suffered from severe bottlenecks that resulted in the fixation of one East African mitochondrial genome and the large reduction in its genetic diversity compared to the African populations. The data suggest that natural colonization of the Palearctic region was more plausible than human introduction. The allelic distribution of the Palearctic population was similar to that of species that survived the last glaciation. It is concluded that the African populations expanded during the last interglacial, crossed the Sahara and mixed in North Africa where fixation of the East mitochondrial genome occurred. The species then colonized Europe westward through only one eastern entrance. The coalescent‐based estimate of the time to the ancestor of the Palearctic population was 108 000 years, which is consistent with this scenario. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 103 , 904–922.     

Extraordinarily low evolutionary rates of short wavelength-sensitive opsin pseudogenes

Aquatic organisms such as cichlids, coelacanths, seals, and cetaceans are active in UV–blue color environments, but many of them mysteriously lost their abilities to detect these colors. The loss of these functions is a consequence of the pseudogenization of their short wavelength-sensitive (SWS1) opsin genes without gene duplication. We show that the SWS1 gene (Bden_S1ψ) of the deep-sea fish, pearleye (Benthalbella dentata), became a pseudogene in a similar fashion about 130 million years ago (Mya) yet it is still transcribed. The rates of nucleotide substitution (~ 1.4 × 10^− 9/site/year) of the pseudogenes of these aquatic species as well as some prosimian and bat species are much smaller than the previous estimates for the globin and immunoglobulin pseudogenes.     

舞毒蛾末龄幼虫部分口器的扫描电镜观察

利用扫描电子显微镜对亚洲型舞毒蛾末龄幼虫口器的下颚和下唇的形态结构特征进行了观察。结果表明：在下颚和下唇须上共存在5种感器和1种角质齿,即毛形感器、刺形感器、锥形感器、栓锥形感器、钟形感器和刺状角质齿,其中毛形感器最发达。     

巫山高山移民迁出区不同弃耕年限对植物物种多样性的影响

以典型高山移民迁出区耕地(A1)、弃耕1a(A2)、弃耕5a(A3)、弃耕8a(A4)、弃耕5a生长大量白花银背藤(R1)为研究对象,采用空间序列代替时间序列的方法,比较不同弃耕年限植物重要值(P)、Margalef丰富度指数(R)、Shannon多样性指数(H′)、Pielou均匀度指数(J_w)、Simpson优势度指数(D)、Jaccard相似性指数(C_j)、Sorenson相似性指数(C_s)及多样性阈值(D_v),旨在探究不同退耕年限对植物物种多样性和群落结构的影响。结果显示,随弃耕年限增加,群落结构从草本+灌木转变为草本+灌木+乔木,群落优势物种由喜阳的一年生或多年生草本转变为耐阴的多年生草本;草本层和灌木层植物物种多样性随着演替年限的延长而增长,在演替的中后期达到最大值;A2与A3间群落的相似性指数最大;对不同弃耕年限样地植被群落多样性进行评定,都未达到"较好Ⅲ"级别,还需长期的恢复。恢复过程中注意对白花银背藤的监测,防止植物入侵。     

种植年限对寿光设施大棚土壤生态环境的影响

为探讨不同种植年限对设施大棚土壤生态环境的影响,研究了不同种植年限的大棚土壤物理性状、化学性状以及微生物区系的差异变化,并对种植年限与土壤理化性状和微生物数量之间的相关性进行了统计分析。结果表明,随种植年限增加,土壤容重和pH值均明显下降,而土壤孔隙度、土壤EC值和土壤盐分含量则显著升高,有机质含量也呈增长的趋势;土壤全氮和全磷量均持续升高,土壤全钾、硝态氮和速效钾均先升高后降低;随着设施大棚种植年限的增长,细菌数量先上升后下降,放线菌数量先迅速升高后保持相对稳定,只有真菌数量呈持续增加的趋势。这说明由于大量的有机无机肥料投入,种植年限不同的设施大棚土壤均出现一定酸化现象,养分失衡,微生态平衡遭到破坏,盐分含量显著升高,存在明显的环境风险。应提倡合理科学施肥,以保证设施大棚土壤的生态环境安全。     

云南鹤庆盆地末次盛冰期的孢粉记录与古季风

通过研究相当于末次盛冰期鹤庆古湖泊沉积物4．6－9．0m段的孢粉记录,对该区末次盛冰期阶段的植被与古季风变迁模式进行了恢复。该区末次盛冰期冷湿的气候特点与同时东部干旱的草原植被、青藏、高原的荒漠植被和黄土高原区风尘堆积存在明显差异,而与滇池的气候记录有较好的一致性。冰期内部的气候波动与深海氧同位素记录有较好的可比性。冰期冷锋强度的增加,与北方冬季风的经常入侵和冰期青藏高原的冷源效应有关。     

中国梭梭属植物历史分布格局及其驱动机制

梭梭属(Haloxylon)植物是藜科的古老孑遗物种, 探究末次间冰期(last interglacial period, LIG)和末次盛冰期(last glacial maximum period, LGM)以来中国梭梭属植物的历史地理分布格局及其驱动机制, 对了解气候变化背景下旱生植物区系的发展与演化具有重要意义。本研究利用梭梭属85个自然分布点数据(60条梭梭(Haloxylon ammodendron)分布记录、25条白梭梭(H. persicum)分布记录)和2套环境因子数据, 整合GIS空间分析和9种物种分布模型, 分析了梭梭属末次间冰期以来的地理分布格局变化及其驱动机制。基于62个梭梭属种群的叶绿体基因测序数据, 利用最小成本路径方法, 模拟了末次间冰期以来梭梭属可能的扩散路径。利用R软件prcomp函数对影响梭梭属分布的环境变量进行主成分分析(principal component analysis, PCA), 评价了环境变量对梭梭属适宜分布的贡献, 并分析了关键变量与分布适宜性的相关性。结果表明: (1)集成模型的模拟精度较单一模型显著提升, 且对白梭梭的模拟精度高于梭梭; (2)末次间冰期以来, 梭梭属植物的分布均经历了显著收缩和冰后期扩张, 末次间冰期至末次盛冰期时期, 在准噶尔盆地、塔里木盆地西部广泛分布的梭梭大面积向西退缩至避难所(准噶尔盆地西北缘和塔里木盆地西北缘); 白梭梭从准噶尔盆地、塔里木盆地西端向南退缩至避难所(准噶尔盆地南缘); 末次盛冰期至今, 梭梭向东沿甘肃北部扩张直至内蒙古西部阿拉善荒漠, 白梭梭向东北方向小范围扩张, 占据了准噶尔盆地西部和南缘; (3)末次间冰期以来的气候波动对梭梭属植物的分布存在较大限制, 降水因子主导了梭梭属适宜分布面积的变化, 温度因子影响了梭梭属分布适宜性的高低。     

景观格局的影响——以新疆玛纳斯河流域为例

国家重点基础研究发展计划资助项目（2009CB825105）;中国科学院研究生科技创新与社会实践资助专项（2009）;中国科学院“西部之光”人才培养计划资助项目(XBBS200903)     

Last glacial maximum biomes reconstructed from pollen and plant macrofossil data from northern Eurasia

Pollen and plant macrofossil data from northern Eurasia were used to reconstruct the vegetation of the last glacial maximum (LGM: 18,000 ± 2000 ¹⁴C yr bp ) using an objective quantitative method for interpreting pollen data in terms of the biomes they represent ( Prentice et al., 1996 ). The results confirm previous qualitative vegetation reconstructions at the LGM but provide a more comprehensive analysis of the data. Tundra dominated a large area of northern Eurasia (north of 57°N) to the west, south and east of the Scandinavian ice sheet at the LGM. Steppe‐like vegetation was reconstructed in the latitudinal band from western Ukraine, where temperate deciduous forests grow today, to western Siberia, where taiga and cold deciduous forests grow today. The reconstruction shows that steppe graded into tundra in Siberia, which is not the case today. Taiga grew on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, about 1500 km south of its present limit in European Russia. In contrast, taiga was reconstructed only slightly south of its southern limit today in south‐western Siberia. Broadleaved trees were confined to small refuges, e.g. on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, where cool mixed forest was reconstructed from the LGM data. Cool conifer forests in western Georgia were reconstructed as growing more than 1000 m lower than they grow today. The few scattered sites with LGM data from the Tien‐Shan Mountains and from northern Mongolia yielded biome reconstructions of steppe and taiga, which are the biomes growing there today.