The role of tower height and guy wires on avian collisions with communication towers

Every year an estimated 4–5 million migratory birds collide with communication towers in the United States. We examined the relative risks that tower support systems and tower height pose to migrating and other birds. We collected data comparing tower support systems (guyed vs. unguyed) and tower height categories in Michigan during 20 days of the peak of songbird migration at 6 towers in September–October 2003, 23 towers in May 2004, 24 towers in September 2004, and 6 towers in both May and September 2005. We systematically and simultaneously searched for bird carcasses under each tower and measured carcass removal and observer detection rates each season. Of those towers, 21 were between 116 and 146 m above ground level (AGL, medium) and 3 were >305 m AGL (tall). During the five 20-day sample periods we found a mean of 8.2 bird carcasses per guyed medium tower and a mean of 0.5 bird carcasses under unguyed medium towers. During four 20-day sample periods we detected a mean of 34.7 birds per guyed tall tower. Using both parametric and nonparametric tests (Mann–Whitney U-test, Kruskal–Wallis test, and Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference multiple comparison procedure) we determined that unguyed medium towers were involved in significantly fewer fatalities than guyed medium towers. We detected 54–86% fewer fatalities at guyed medium towers than at guyed tall towers. We found 16 times more fatalities at guyed medium towers than at unguyed medium towers. Tall, guyed towers were responsible for 70 times as many bird fatalities as the unguyed medium towers and nearly five times as many as guyed medium towers. These findings will provide managers and regulators, such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service, with quantitative data; thereby, allowing them to effectively work with the Federal Communications Commission in siting and authorizing tower placement. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.     

白背飞虱的迁飞生物学:江苏苏州个例分析

对苏州市吴中区1984—2002年灯诱数据的分析表明,白背飞虱Sogatella furcifera(Horváth)的灯下始见期一般在6月上旬,而主迁峰日则一般出现在7月上旬。1996年后,始见期有提前的趋势。对18年灯诱虫量的时间序列分析表明,田间迁入代虫量与6月份的灯诱虫量相关,田间第1代虫量与迁入代虫量相关,第2代则只与田间第1代和8月份的诱虫量相关。对1986—2002年吴中区白背飞虱田间虫量的分析表明,白背飞虱在田间一般要完成2个世代,20世纪90年代中期之后会出现第3代,表现出低迁入率(平均百穴21头)、高增殖倍数(G1/G0在30～200倍左右)和高峰值密度(16年平均百穴3200头)的种群特征。此间白背飞虱长翅型成虫的比率不高,迁入后便像褐飞虱Nilaparvata lugens(Stl)那样形成了滞留本地的增殖代(7月20日到8月10日)和以本地滞留为害与部分迁出个体混合而成的主害代(8月15日到9月5日),直到8月下旬和9月上中旬,其长翅型比率才会有大幅回升开始回迁,呈现出翅型长-短-长的变化模式。     

飞蝗及沙漠蝗信息素概述

飞蝗和沙漠蝗自古以来就是重要的农业害虫,这与其生物学特性是密不可分的.信息素对飞蝗和沙漠蝗生物学特征的调节起到了非常重要的作用.到目前为止,沙漠蝗Schistocerca gregaria和飞蝗Locusta migratoria 的研究较为深入,本文对其主要成果进行了综述,以此作为以后飞蝗和沙漠蝗信息素进一步研究的参...     

麻栎种源林叶片碳、氮、磷化学计量特征的变异

结合林木育种方法,以3个麻栎种源试验林为研究对象,测定了29个麻栎种源叶片碳、氮、磷化学计量特征.结果表明: 地点(环境)显著影响叶片碳、氮、磷、碳氮比、碳磷比、氮磷比,解释量占总变异量的13.2%～66.7%,而种源(遗传)的影响并不显著,解释量只占总变异量的2.9%～11.0%.叶片氮与碳氮比、氮与氮磷比、磷与碳磷比、磷与氮磷比均具有显著的相关性,且无论是地点间还是东西部种源间均存在共同的标准化主轴斜率.表明在单一树种(麻栎)水平上,种源间具有相似的碳、氮、磷生化过程,其叶片化学计量特征主要受环境的影响;而化学计量特征在地点间和东西部种源间稳定的相关系数反映出叶片化学计量特征的特定耦合比例不受环境和种源的影响,支持化学计量学的内稳性理论.     

Why is timing of bird migration advancing when individuals are not?

Recent advances in spring arrival dates have been reported in many migratory species but the mechanism driving these advances is unknown. As population declines are most widely reported in species that are not advancing migration, there is an urgent need to identify the mechanisms facilitating and constraining these advances. Individual plasticity in timing of migration in response to changing climatic conditions is commonly proposed to drive these advances but plasticity in individual migratory timings is rarely observed. For a shorebird population that has significantly advanced migration in recent decades, we show that individual arrival dates are highly consistent between years, but that the arrival dates of new recruits to the population are significantly earlier now than in previous years. Several mechanisms could drive advances in recruit arrival, none of which require individual plasticity or rapid evolution of migration timings. In particular, advances in nest-laying dates could result in advanced recruit arrival, if benefits of early hatching facilitate early subsequent spring migration. This mechanism could also explain why arrival dates of short-distance migrants, which generally return to breeding sites earlier and have greater scope for advance laying, are advancing more rapidly than long-distance migrants.     

麻楝种子形态和营养特征遗传变异分析

为系统揭示麻楝种源间种子形态和营养成分的变异程度和变异规律,以8个国家26个种源麻楝种子为试验材料,对不同种源麻楝种子的形态特征和营养成分进行比较分析。多重比较结果表明,麻楝种源间种子的长、宽、厚、长宽比、百粒重以及可溶性蛋白质、可溶性糖和淀粉含量差异极显著;相关分析表明,种子百粒重与种子长、种子宽呈极显著正相关,可溶性蛋白质、可溶性糖和淀粉含量与百粒重均呈极显著正相关;主成分分析结果显示,影响麻楝种子品质的第1主成分主要是种子形态性状,即种子长、百粒重和种子宽,第2主成分是种子营养成分;通过分析麻楝种子形态特征及营养成分变异系数可知,麻楝种子形态变异系数大于营养成分变异系数,表明种子形态受外界环境影响较大。通过主成分聚类分析,将26个种源分为2个集群,第1集群包括澳大利亚和马来西亚2个种源,其特点是种子形态较大、百粒较重、养分含量较高;第2集群包括其余24个种源。结合聚类分析和种子形态与地理气候因子相关分析结果可知,麻楝种子形态变异具有一定的地理区域特征,与分布区的自然地理因素有一定的相关性,麻楝分布区南部种子较大而北部种子较小。     

Rapid evolution and range expansion of an invasive plant are driven by provenance–environment interactions

To improve our ability to prevent and manage biological invasions, we must understand their ecological and evolutionary drivers. We are often able to explain invasions after they happen, but our predictive ability is limited. Here, we show that range expansions of introduced Pinus taeda result from an interaction between genetic provenance and climate and that temperature and precipitation clines predict the invasive performance of particular provenances. Furthermore, we show that genotypes can occupy climate niche spaces different from those observed in their native ranges and, at least in our case, that admixture is not a main driver of invasion. Genotypes respond to climate in distinct ways, and these interactions affect the ability of populations to expand their ranges. While rapid evolution in introduced ranges is a mechanism at later stages of the invasion process, the introduction of adapted genotypes is a key driver of naturalisation of populations of introduced species.     

A bird distribution model for ring recovery data: where do the European robins go?

For the study of migratory connectivity, birds have been individually marked by metal rings for more than 100 years. The resulting ring recovery data have been compiled in numerous bird migration atlases. However, estimation of what proportion of a particular population is migrating to which region is confounded by spatial heterogeneity in ring recovery probability. We present a product multinomial model that enables quantifying the continent‐wide distribution of different bird populations during different seasons based on ring recovery data while accounting for spatial heterogeneity of ring recovery probability. We applied the model to an example data set of the European robin Erithacus rubecula. We assumed that ring recovery probability was equal between different groups of birds and that survival probability was constant. Simulated data indicate that violation of the assumption of constant survival did not affect our estimated bird distribution parameters but biased the estimates for recovery probability. Posterior predictive model checking indicated a good general model fit but also revealed lack of fit for a few groups of birds. This lack of fit may be due to between‐group differences in the spatial distribution on smaller scales within regions. We found that 48% of the Scandinavian robins, but only 31% of the central European robins, wintered in northern Africa. The remaining parts of both populations wintered in southern and central Europe. Therefore, a substantial part of the Scandinavian population appears to leap over individuals from the central European population during migration. The model is applied to summary tables of numbers of ringed and recovered birds. This allows us to handle very large data sets as, for example, those presented in bird migration atlases.