Morphology and life history of Halopteris filicina (Sphacelariales, Phaeophyceae) from Korea

The vegetative morphology and life history of Halopteris filicina (Grateloup) Kutzing, collected from Korea, were examined in laboratory culture. Field plants attaining 3–5 cm in height were epilithic, tufted, yellowish-brown, and produced numerous erect axes with alternately distichous branches from compact basal discs. They were cultured under a 12:12 h LD photoperiod at 10°-C, 15°C and 20°C to observe the influence of temperature on reproduction. At 10°C plants grew only vegetatively, whereas at 15°C and 20°C they produced unilocular sporangia. Unispores released from sporangia developed into monoecious, anisogamous gametophytes that formed plurilocular female and male gametangia on the same lateral branches. The zygotes, by fusion of female macrogametes and male microgametes, developed into sporophytes bearing unilocular sporangia, whereas the unfused female gametes germinated parthenogenetically. This species was confirmed to have an isomorphic life history, basically similar to the other species of Sphacelariales.     

The advantage of long-distance clonal spreading in highly disturbed habitats

Summary Classical theory states that cover of annual plants should increase relative to perennials as disturbance frequency increases. However, it has been suggested that long-distance clonal spreading can allow some perennial plants to survive in highly disturbed areas by quickly spreading into disturbed patches. To evaluate these hypotheses, we analysed data of plant distributions in two different ecosystems, a barrier island and a short-grass steppe. The disturbances studied were sand deposition during storms (overwash) on the barrier island and grazing by cattle in the short-grass steppe. In each case the disturbance frequency varied over the ecosystem; we categorized different areas in terms of their disturbance frequencies. All plant species in each area were categorized as one of four plant life forms (1) annual or biennial, (2) herbaceous perennial without long-distance clonal spreading (3) herbaceous perennial with long-distance clonal spreading (i.e guerilla form) and (4) woody plant. Percentage cover of each plant life form in each disturbance frequency category was calculated. In both ecosystems, (1) there was an increase in the relative cover of annuals as one moved from areas of low to moderate disturbance frequencies, but then a decrease in cover of annuals as one moved into the areas of highest disturbance frequency and (2) the guerilla forms showed the greatest relative increase in cover from moderately to highly disturbed areas. The combination of two factors can explain this pattern: (1) long-distance clonal spreading effectively reduces the time to colonization of recently disturbed sites and (2) effects of the disturbances in these two systems are probably more severe for seeds than for stems. We illustrate these effects using a spatially explicit simulation model of the population dynamics of plants in a disturbed landscape.     

The evolution of alternative mating strategies in variable environments

Summary We assessed the influence of phenotypic plasticity in age at maturity on the maintenance of alternative mating strategies in male Atlantic salmon,Salmo salar. We calculated the fitness,r, associated with the parr and the anadromous strategies, using age-specific survival data from the field and strategy-specific fertilization data from the laboratory. The fitness of each strategy depended largely on mate competition (numbers of parr per female, i.e. parr frequency) and on age at maturity. Fitness declined with increasing numbers of parr per female with equilibrium frequencies (at which the fitnesses of each strategy are equal) being within the range observed in the wild. Equilibrium parr frequencies declined with decreasing growth rate and increasing age at maturity. Within populations, the existence of multiple age-specific sets of fitness functions suggests that the fitnesses of alternative strategies are best represented as multidimensional surfaces. The points of intersection of these surfaces, whose boundaries encompass natural variation in age at maturity and mate competition, define an evolutionarily stable continuum (ESC) of strategy frequencies along which the fitnesses associated with each strategy are equal. We propose a simple model that incorporates polygenic thresholds of a largely environmentally-controlled trait (age at maturity) to provide a mechanism by which an ESC can be maintained within a population. An indirect test provides support for the prediction that growth-rate thresholds for parr maturation exist and are maintained by stabilizing selection. Evolutionarily stable continua, maintained by negative frequency-dependent selection on threshold traits, provide a theoretical basis for understanding how alternative life histories can evolve in variable environments.     

SEXUAL SELECTION IN AMERICAN TOADS: A TEST OF A GOOD-GENES HYPOTHESIS

Adaptive mate choice in species lacking male resource control and/or paternal care might be maintained by selection because preferred males sire genetically superior offspring. For such a process to occur, some male phenotypic trait(s) must both reliably indicate male genetic quality and influence the pattern of mate choice by females. In American toads, Bufo americanus, male body length has been documented to influence female mating patterns: females usually mate with males that are larger than average. However, the relationship between male size and male genetic quality is unknown. We conducted a controlled breeding experiment using 48 sires and 19 dams to determine if larger males sire offspring with superior larval performance characteristics (greater survival to metamorphosis, larger mass at metamorphosis, and earlier metamorphosis). We also aged each sire to test the hypothesis that older males are, on average, genetically superior to younger males. We crossed each female with three sires representing three body size categories (mean and 1 SD ± mean snout-ischium length). Hatchlings (500 from each cross) were reared to metamorphosis in seminatural ponds in the field. Metamorph weight (log transformed) and age at metamorphosis showed significant heritability and were genetically correlated with each other. Hence, sires differed in genetic quality. However, none of the three measures of offspring performance was correlated with sire body size or age. Thus, we obtained no support for the prediction that sire body size or age is related to genetic quality.     

Reflections on biosystems motivating supramolecular engineering

Some goals of bioelectronics—interfacing biology and electronics — are the understanding of supramolecular bioprocesses and the construction of supramolecular devices. The principles for the design and fabrication of machineries with functional components of molecular size are inspired by reflecting on biosystems, and it seems important to consider such principles. We first discuss attempts to construct supramolecular machines, and then we consider the bacterial reaction centre as an example where supramolecular engineering helps to elucidate a bioprocess. We then discuss possible mechanisms leading to the emergence of life-like systems in the light of the basic principles used to design supramolecular devices. Finally, we reflect on prospects in molecular engineering inspired by studying the emergence of life-like systems.     

On the relationship between food, reproduction and survival of two carabid beetles: Calathus melanocephalus and Pterostichus versicolor

Abstract.

• 1 The relative influences of temperature and availability of food on reproduction, survival and growth of all developmental stages of two carabid beetle species are discussed with special reference to the suggested relationship between availability of food, size of egg production and survival of adults from one breeding season to the next.
• 2 Temperature as well as food supply influence the length of larval growth and adult body size. Beetles grown at low temperatures and low amounts of food are smaller than those grown at higher temperature and with more food.
• 3 The number of eggs laid per female was correlated with the amount of food gathered. There was no inverse relationship (trade-off) between reproductive output and survival in the field until the next breeding season.
• 4 In 1980 no significant relationship was found between winter mortality and the amounts of food gathered by beetles in the period after reproduction and before winter diapause. However, in 1981 in C. melanocephalus a lower number of starved beetles survived the winter than the fed ones and‘field’beetles.
• 5 Only in the first part of the feeding activity period in autumn can enough food be gathered by C.melunocephalus for successful hibernation. In the second part of this period there is not enough food to build up the fat reserves needed to survive the winter.
• 6 Difference in population fluctuations of both species are discussed in relation to their life histories.

     

湘北烟区烟青虫发生情况研究

烟青虫在湘北烟区1年发生5代,第一至四代危害烟草,第五代在其他作物上取食。自然条件下,世代重叠比较明显,幼虫发生与危害最大的是第一代,危害时期是5月下旬至6月下旬,同时,还得出了烟青虫各代的发生期、历期及其发育起点温度和有效积温。     

THE POPULATION DYNAMICS OF NORTHERN SEA LIONS, 1975-1985

Abstract: Populations of northern sea lions ( Eumetopias jubatus ) in the vicinity of Marmot Island, Alaska declined during 1975–1985 at about 5% per year (Merrick et al. 1987). The cause of this decline is not known. A life table for the northern sea lion was calculated assuming that life spans follow a Weibull distribution. Samples of northern sea lions taken in the vicinity of Marmot Island, Alaska during 1975–1978 and 1985–1986 indicate that the average age of females older than 3 yr increased about 1.55 yr (SD = 0.35 yr) while the population was declining at about 5% per year. Fecundity rates decreased by 10% over the same period, but the decrease was not statistically significant (Calkins and Goodwin 1988). Possible causes of the population decline and the change in age structure were examined by writing the Leslie matrix population equation in terms of changes in juvenile and adult survival rates and fecundity, and examining the short–term behavior of the trajectories of the average age of adult females, total number of females, and total number of pups with respect to those changes in the vital parameters. From the observed rate of declines of adults and the changes in average age of adult females and fecundity, estimates of the changes in adult and juvenile survival were calculated; estimates of the standard deviations of these changes were estimated via a bootstrap procedure. One purpose of this exercise is to aid in setting priorities for research for determining the cause of the decline. An explanation for the observed declines in numbers of adult sea lions consistent with the observed fecundity rates, a rate of decrease of 5% in the number of adults, and the corresponding increase in average age (of females age 3 yr and older) was a 10%–20% decrease in the survival of juveniles (age 0-3 yr) coupled with an insignificant change in adult survival (0.03%, SD = 1%).     

Effects of Different Photoperiods and Chilling Treatments on Growth and Reproduction of Cardamine flexuosa With. and Its Ecological Implications

Abstract Phenotypic variability of Cardamine flexuosa (Cruciferae) was examined in response to different lengths of exposure to low temperature (5°C) at the juvenile stage, and to two photoperiod regimes (8 and 16 hrs day-lengths) in the subsequent growth period. The results indicated that this species had a facultative chilling or long-day requirement for flowering. The long-day and chilling treatments both caused an earlier onset of stem internode elongation. Longer chilling treatments reduced the number of nodes and increased internode length under both long and short photoperiod regimes. Prolonged chilling treatments followed by long-day photoperiod remarkably induced more numerous basal branches and inflorescences, as a result producing more siliques. Remarkable rosette leaves Were formed at the base of the main stem when partial chilling and the short-day treatment suppressed stem internode elongation. The responses to chilling and long-day treatment closely resembled the synchronized flowering of this species in spring in the field. Delayed flowering under the short-day treatment resembled size- or age-dependent flowering in late summer to autumn in the field populations.