Movement of the grape berry moth, Endopiza viteana: displacement distance and direction

Abstract. Mark–release–recapture is used to quantify displacement by adults of the North American grape berry moth, Endopiza viteana Clemens (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) under field conditions. Moths marked with fluorescent dust are released eight times in the centre of a vineyard over 2 years, and recaptured using pheromone traps and interception traps. In vineyards, male moths are recaptured an average of 13.8 ± 0.8 m from the release site (maximum 58.2 m), whereas female displacement is similar with average flight distances of 11.4 ± 6.7 m (maximum 41.2 m). Increasing wind speed during moth flight activity periods suppresses displacement by both sexes, and females are less likely than males to fly in winds above 0.6 m s^?1. The majority of males are recaptured upwind from the release site or at a tangent to the overall mean wind direction when responding to pheromone traps, whereas female moths trapped in interception traps exhibit a large variability in direction from the release point. Releases of marked moths in woods adjacent to a vineyard demonstrates interhabitat movement by E. viteana males and by a single female. The average maximum displacement by males during interhabitat movement is 105.4 ± 3.9 m, significantly greater than the average maximum of 39.7 ± 6.7 m inside the vineyard habitat.     

三种被动式采集方法对甲虫收集效果的比较研究: 以香港城门样地为例

标本标准化采集是昆虫多样性研究的根本。昆虫种类繁多、习性复杂、分布广泛, 基于不同的研究目标, 昆虫学家会选用不同的采集方法。由于主动式采集方法存在较多干扰因素和重现性差等问题, 以飞行阻隔器(flight interception trap, FIT)、马氏网(Malaise trap, MT)和罐诱(pitfall trap, PT)为代表的被动式采集方法被广泛应用, 并在昆虫多样性研究中展现独特的优势。然而关于这些被动式采集方法的收集特点和采集效果等还缺乏系统性研究。本研究选取香港城门13个样点, 利用上述3种被动式采集方法共156个采集装备开展为期24天的鞘翅目昆虫采集工作, 并通过多样性指数分析、多度分析、体型与食性相关分析、相似性分析以及物种累积曲线分析评估了不同采集方法对甲虫的收集效果。本研究共采集甲虫6,380头, 涉及40科197种, 分析结果显示: (1)采用不同采集方法获得的物种数量和组成存在差异。从科级和种级的数量来看, FIT (36科, 149种) > MT (24科, 79种) > PT (17科, 60种); 在物种组成方面, FIT与PT之间、MT与PT之间区别较大, FIT与MT对应的物种相似度稍高于前两组。(2)多样性指数和物种多度分布分析显示: 丰富度指数为FIT > MT > PT, 优势度指数为FIT > PT > MT, 多样性指数为MT > FIT > PT, 均匀度指数为MT > PT > FIT。3种方法采集到的甲虫个体数为1头的种较多, 个体数超过1头的种在时间和空间方面的分布较广, 优势科的种类较少, 但其个体数占总个体数的比例较高。(3) FIT和PT均采集到了6类食性的甲虫, 其中藻食性的缨甲科甲虫仅见于FIT和PT采集方法。(4)物种累积曲线的结果表明3种采集方法效果均较好。3种采集方法各有特点, 但FIT采集的综合效果最优。FIT和MT两种方法的结合提升了采集甲虫的种类、食性和体型等方面的覆盖度, 更利于对甲虫多样性及类群与生态环境功能互作的研究。3种方法所收集到的甲虫存在一定差异, 因此可以针对不同研究目的选取适宜的采集方式。     

陇中黄土高原油松人工林林冠截留特征及模拟

以陇中黄土高原安家沟小流域的油松人工林为对象,于2011年生长季(5---9月)观测其林外降雨、穿透雨、树干茎流及林冠结构特征,采用修正的Gash解析模型模拟林冠截留,研究油松人工林的生态水文过程及影响机理.结果表明:研究期间共观测到19次降雨事件,总降雨量为215.80 mm,其中林冠截留48.27 mm,占总降雨量的22.4％;穿透雨165.24 mm,占同期林外降雨量的76.7％;树干茎流量2.29 mm,占同期降雨量的1.1％.模拟的林冠截留量为41.24 mm,比实测值低7.13 mm,相对误差为14.7％,其中,33.8％和60.0％截留分别在降雨期间和降雨之后蒸发.修正的Gash解析模型对林冠盖度、林冠持水能力、蒸发和雨强有较强的敏感性,而对树干茎流率和树干持水能力的敏感性不高.     

Modelling fruit-temperature dynamics within apple tree crowns using virtual plants

Background and Aims

Fruit temperature results from a complex system involving the climate, the tree architecture, the fruit location within the tree crown and the fruit thermal properties. Despite much theoretical and experimental evidence for large differences (up to 10 °C in sunny conditions) between fruit temperature and air temperature, fruit temperature is never used in horticultural studies. A way of modelling fruit-temperature dynamics from climate data is addressed in this work.

Methods

The model is based upon three-dimensional virtual representation of apple trees and links three-dimensional virtual trees with a physical-based fruit-temperature dynamical model. The overall model was assessed by comparing model outputs to field measures of fruit-temperature dynamics.

Key Results

The model was able to simulate both the temperature dynamics at fruit scale, i.e. fruit-temperature gradients and departure from air temperature, and at the tree scale, i.e. the within-tree-crown variability in fruit temperature (average root mean square error value over fruits was 1·43 °C).

Conclusions

This study shows that linking virtual plants with the modelling of the physical plant environment offers a relevant framework to address the modelling of fruit-temperature dynamics within a tree canopy. The proposed model offers opportunities for modelling effects of the within-crown architecture on fruit thermal responses in horticultural studies.     

Stem tilting in the inter‐tropical cactus Echinocactus platyacanthus: an adaptive solution to the trade‐off between radiation acquisition and temperature control

While plants require radiation for photosynthesis, radiation in warm deserts can have detrimental effects from high temperatures. This dilemma may be solved through plant morphological attributes. In cold deserts, stem tilting keeps reproductive organs warm by increasing radiation interception at the cost of decreased annual light interception. Conversely, little is known about stem tilting in warm deserts. We hypothesised that stem tilting in Echinocactus platyacanthus prevents high temperatures near the apex, where reproduction occurs. The study was conducted in the warm, inter‐tropical portion of the Chihuahuan Desert, Mexico. We found that cacti preferentially tilted towards the south, which reduced temperatures of reproductive organs during the hot season, but increased total annual near‐apex PAR interception. Tilting also maximised reproduction, a likely consequence of temperature control but perhaps also of the difficulty in translocating photosynthates in cacti; therefore, annual energy acquisition near floral meristems may be largely allocated to reproduction. Unlike plants of higher latitudes, in inter‐tropical deserts sunlight at noon comes either from the north or the south, depending on the season, and thus stem tilting may more strongly affect total annual radiation received in different portions of the stem. Inter‐tropical cacti can synchronise reproduction with irradiance peaks if flowering occurs in a specific (north or south) portion of the stem; also, they effectively solve the conflict between maximising annual PAR interception and minimising temperature at the hottest time of day. Notably, the two inter‐tropical cacti in which stem tilting has been studied successfully solve this conflict.     

Comparative Evidence that Salt Marshes and Mangroves May Protect Seagrass Meadows from Land-derived Nitrogen Loads

Seagrass meadows within estuaries are highly sensitive to increased supplies of nitrogen (N). The urbanization of coastal watersheds increases the delivery of N to estuaries, threatening seagrass habitats; both seagrass production per unit area and the area of seagrass meadows diminish as land-derived N loads increase. The damaging effects of land-derived N loads may be lessened where there are fringes of coastal wetlands interposed between land and seagrass meadows. Data compiled from the literature showed that production per unit area by seagrasses increased and losses of seagrass habitat were lower in estuaries with relatively larger areas of fringing wetlands. Denitrification and the burial of land-derived N within fringe wetlands may be sufficient to protect N-sensitive seagrass habitats from the detrimental effects of land-derived N. The protection furnished by fringing wetlands may be overwhelmed by increases in anthropogenic N loads in excess of 20–100 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹. The relationships of land-derived N loadings, fringing coastal wetlands, and seagrass meadows demonstrate that different units of the landscape mosaic found in coastal zones do not exist as separate units, but instead are coupled and uncoupled by biogeochemical transformations and transport among environments. Received 12 December 2000; accepted 15 August 2001.