Species composition of ichthyofauna of Baidaratskaya Bay of the Kara Sea

An inventory of the fish species composition of the community from Baidaratskaya Bay in the Kara Sea was performed. On the basis of published data and the results of our own studies, the dynamics of changes in the species composition of marine ichthyocenosis of Baidaratskaya Bay from 1932 to 2007 was analyzed. Differences in qualitative (occurrence) and quantitative (proportion in catches) characteristics are shown.     

Breeding ecology and seasonal abundance of the giant water bug Appasus japonicus (Heteroptera, Belostomatidae)

Males of the giant water bug Appasus (= Diplonychus) japonicus Vuillefroy (Belostomatidae: Heteroptera) carry egg masses on their back, but little is known about the relationship between seasonal abundance and breeding ecology of the species. In the present study, therefore, a field survey based on a mark-and-recapture census was carried out at three survey points within a rice paddy area (0.3 km²) where A. japonicus forms a meta-population in northern Okayama, Japan. We investigated the body size, seasonal abundance, dispersion, egg mass size (number of eggs within one egg mass), number of egg masses and the total eggs carried on the back of each male as fundamental parameters of the population and breeding. Significant differences in egg mass size, number of egg masses, and total number of eggs that males carried was found among the survey points. The present results suggested the possibility that the differences in breeding parameters of A. japonicus were influenced by differences in environmental factors among the microhabitats. These results are discussed in conjunction with previous reports on seasonal abundance and breeding systems in Belostomatidae bugs.     

人工驯养下扬子鳄的生长规律

研究结果表明扬子鳄在饲养条件下的生长具有一定的规律性。饲养群体中,5龄以前的鳄生长速率较快,其中在2龄前生长速率最快,在5龄至7龄间生长速率明显减慢;鳄体长与体重之间呈正相关,两者在体长小于50cm时呈直线相关,体长大于50cm时呈曲线相关。不同性别的扬子鳄年生长状况不同,从5龄开始雌雄鳄体重出现显著差异,雄鳄重于雌鳄;从6龄开始雌雄鳄在体长方面的生长速率出现差异,雄鳄生长明显快于雌鳄;达到10龄后,雌雄鳄在体长和体重方面的增长均明显减慢,达到15龄时两者的体形已相差悬殊,雄性大于雌性。由von Berta-lanffy生长模型分析,雌鳄达到25龄而雄鳄达到35龄后,各自的体长几乎停止生长,雌鳄平均最大体长为173cm,雄鳄平均最大体长为219cm。在人工越冬下,除第一次越冬外,扬子鳄在越冬室内的冬眠中体况无明显变化,体能明显消耗出现在户外冬眠过程中。本研究为扬子鳄的科学化饲养提供理论依据。     

Dealing with detection error in site occupancy surveys: what can we do with a single survey?

Aim Site occupancy probabilities of target species are commonly used in various ecological studies, e.g. to monitor current status and trends in biodiversity. Detection error introduces bias in the estimators of site occupancy. Existing methods for estimating occupancy probability in the presence of detection error use replicate surveys. These methods assume population closure, i.e. the site occupancy status remains constant across surveys, and independence between surveys. We present an approach for estimating site occupancy probability in the presence of detection error that requires only a single survey and does not require assumption of population closure or independence. In place of the closure assumption, this method requires covariates that affect detection and occupancy.Methods Penalized maximum-likelihood method was used to estimate the parameters. Estimability of the parameters was checked using data cloning. Parametric boostrapping method was used for computing confidence intervals.Important findings The single-survey approach facilitates analysis of historical datasets where replicate surveys are unavailable, situations where replicate surveys are expensive to conduct and when the assumptions of closure or independence are not met. This method saves significant amounts of time, energy and money in ecological surveys without sacrificing statistical validity. Further, we show that occupancy and habitat suitability are not synonymous and suggest a method to estimate habitat suitability using single-survey data.     

Bayesian adaptive survey protocols for resource management

Transparency in resource management decisions requires a proper accounting of uncertainty at multiple stages of the decision-making process. As information becomes available, periodic review and updating of resource management protocols reduces uncertainty and improves management decisions. One of the most basic steps to mitigating anthropogenic effects on populations is determining if a population of a species occurs in an area that will be affected by human activity. Species are rarely detected with certainty, however, and falsely declaring a species absent can cause improper conservation decisions or even extirpation of populations. We propose a method to design survey protocols for imperfectly detected species that accounts for multiple sources of uncertainty in the detection process, is capable of quantitatively incorporating expert opinion into the decision-making process, allows periodic updates to the protocol, and permits resource managers to weigh the severity of consequences if the species is falsely declared absent. We developed our method using the giant gartersnake (Thamnophis gigas), a threatened species precinctive to the Central Valley of California, as a case study. Survey date was negatively related to the probability of detecting the giant gartersnake, and water temperature was positively related to the probability of detecting the giant gartersnake at a sampled location. Reporting sampling effort, timing and duration of surveys, and water temperatures would allow resource managers to evaluate the probability that the giant gartersnake occurs at sampled sites where it is not detected. This information would also allow periodic updates and quantitative evaluation of changes to the giant gartersnake survey protocol. Because it naturally allows multiple sources of information and is predicated upon the idea of updating information, Bayesian analysis is well-suited to solving the problem of developing efficient sampling protocols for species of conservation concern. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.     

国内期刊生态学文献计量特征

从文献计量学角度描述学科的发展动态,揭示学科发展规律是新学科发展进程的必要补充.论文以生态学37个分支学科的名称作为关键词,检索和统计了《维普科技期刊数据库》近15年文献.分析认为,国内期刊生态学文献符合指数增长规律,其中六个分支学科的文献所占比例较大,而生态经济、农业生态文献所占比例明显呈逐年下降趋势;文献量较小但增加迅速的学科有五个分支学科;发表文献的作者人数分布呈幂函数关系,发表10篇论文可为高产作者的分界点;发表生态学论文较多的主要机构集中于农林高校、综合性大学和中科院研究所;生态学文献在各种期刊中的分布符合布拉德福定律科学文献的分散与集中的规律.     

Asymmetrical intraguild interactions with coyotes,red foxes,and domestic dogs may contribute to competitive exclusion of declining gray foxes

Species coexistence is governed by availability of resources and intraguild interactions including strategies to reduce ecological overlap. Gray foxes are dietary generalist mesopredators expected to benefit from anthropogenic disturbance, but populations have declined across the midwestern USA, including severe local extirpation rates coinciding with high coyote and domestic dog occurrence and low red fox occurrence. We used data from a large‐scale camera trap survey in southern Illinois, USA to quantify intraguild spatial and temporal interactions among the canid guild including domestic dogs. We used a two‐species co‐occurrence model to make pairwise assessments of conditional occupancy and detection rates. We also estimated temporal activity overlap among species and fit a fixed‐effects hierarchical community occupancy model with the four canid species. We partitioned the posterior distributions to compare gray fox occupancy probabilities conditional on estimated state of combinations of other species to assess support for hypothesized interactions. We found no evidence of broadscale avoidance among native canids and conclude that spatial and temporal segregation were limited by ubiquitous human disturbance. Mean guild richness was two canid species at a site and gray fox occupancy was greater when any combination of sympatric canids was also present, setting the stage for competitive exclusion over time. Domestic dogs may amplify competitive interactions by increasing canid guild size to the detriment of gray foxes. Our results suggest that while human activities can benefit some mesopredators, other species such as gray foxes may serve as bellwethers for habitat degradation with trophic downgrading and continued anthropogenic homogenization.     

我国草地螟轻发年份时空特征及其气候背景

揭示我国草地螟在长时间序列上的年度间变化规律,探明轻发年份特点和研究意义,阐释气候变化背景对草地螟发生的影响方式。分析了1949—2012年我国草地螟发生面积的时间序列和轻重年份差异,利用2006—2012年北方主发区每年各代次各虫态发生期出现时间、有效持续时间和发生县点数等数据分析了轻发年份的时空分布特征。在1951—2012年可追溯的时间序列上,研究了北方草地螟主发区(169个具有连续气象资料的发生站点)年平均气温、1月月平均气温、6—8月累计降雨量等气候背景变化趋势与草地螟年度发生动态的相关性。结果表明:(1)在62年的长时间序列上,我国草地螟轻发年份频次多于重发年份;(2)轻发年份的总体特征是发生期迟、发生盛期短、发生区域少;(3)大尺度气象条件变化是引起草地螟年度发生动态波动的重要因素,与1951—2012年年度发生面积进行相关分析发现,年平均气温和1月份月平均气温与草地螟发生面积呈显著正相关关系,6—8月累计降雨量与发生面积呈显著负相关关系。分析指出,轻发年份是草地螟种群长期消长动态中不可忽视的环节,对轻发年份的研究是揭示其年度发生变化规律的重要途径;在长时间序列的分析方法上,可采用年度发生(幼虫)面积作为判断轻重年份发生程度的主要量化指标;利用草地螟发生区多点大尺度气象数据,与年度发生面积进行相关性分析,可作为阐释气候背景影响草地螟长期发生趋势的方法之一。