Seasonal variation in ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase activity in Pinus silvestris

Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase activity was examined in Pinus silvestris L. during successive seasons. The enzyme activities were studied both in seedlings, kept under controlled conditions in a climate chamber, and in needles from a 15-year-old tree in a natural stand. The enzyme activities were analysed in cell-free extracts prepared with Tween 80 as protective agent. The carboxylase activity fluctuated periodically both in the seedlings and in the natural stand. In the seedlings, the weight-related activity in the older needles increased 50–100% (in the cotyledons c. 200%) in the beginning of the “summer”. It decreased as the new shoot developed. The specific activity increased c. 100%. With chlorophyll as base, the activity usually decreased during “summer”. In the developing current needles the carboxylase activity increased when expressed on a weight or on a protein basis. The decrease in weight-related carboxylase activity in the older needles was preceded by, or simultaneous with, loss of total protein. It is suggested that protein, including the carboxylase, is utilized as nitrogen reserve for the new shoot. During hardening by combined photoperiod and thermoperiod, the carboxylase activity decreased when expressed relative to dry weight and protein. Calculated on a chlorophyll basis, the activity was rather constant. In the natural stand the activity in the one- and two-year-old needles increased during spring and summer and decreased during autumn and winter. Even at severe winter stress substantial carboxylase activity remained in the needles. The activity of the enzyme in vivo is discussed with respect to electron transport and net photosynthesis.     

Intra-annual variation in the batch fecundity of sardine off Portugal

Atresia in the ovaries of sardine Sardina pilchardus did not show clear seasonal patterns. There was high prevalance ( c. 60%) and low intensity ( c. 1% of gonadal area occupied by oocytes) in all months of the spawning season studied. The batch size to ovary-free mass relationship was significantly different in the mid-spawning season, with higher relative fecundity and gonadosomatic index (I_G) in January than in November and March. There was no additional effect on batch fecundity due to age or condition factor. Data from monthly market samples during 1998–1999 revealed a continuous decline of the condition factor throughout the spawning season. The market samples also revealed that the duration of the spawning season is not equal for all fish. In any month, pre-spawning fish tended to have significantly higher I_G than spawners, indicating that delayed initiation of spawning can lead to larger relative fecundity. The increase in sardine relative fecundity during the first half of the spawning season is probably due to the continuous influx of new spawners and possibly to body mass loss that is initially not translated into gonad mass loss. After January when all visible fat reserves within the body cavity have disappeared, the influx of new spawners practically ceases.     

Seasonal changes in and effects of familiarity on agonistic behaviors of rat-like hamsters (Cricetulus triton)

The seasonal changes in agonistic behaviors and effects of familiarity on agonistic behaviors in wild-caught adult rat-like hamsters (Cricetulus triton) were observed in dyadic encounters in a neutral arena. The aggression of opposite- and same-sex encounters became higher or remained the same during the non-breeding season. This indicates that the hamsters were solitary during both seasons. Familiarity increased the aggression in male–male encounters and decreased the aggression in female–female encounters during both seasons. Familiarity also increased the aggression in female–male encounters during the non-breeding season and had no effect on the aggression in female–male encounters during the breeding season. These results may be related to the hamsters social structure. The more agonistic acts both male and female hamsters had, the more frequently they marked using flank glands during both seasons. This implies that flank gland marking can be used to advertise status and can be assessed by opponents to reduce the agonistic costs.     

黄土高原雨水集聚深层入渗(RWCI)系统下山地果园土壤水分时空变异特征

水资源短缺是影响黄土高原雨养农业发展的关键性因素,雨水资源开发是缓解该地区水资源短缺的有效措施.本研究利用管式 TDR 系统监测21年红富士老果园0～300 cm土层土壤含水率变化,分析了雨水集聚深层入渗(RWCI)系统下黄土高原旱作山地果园土壤水分时空分布特征.结果表明: RWCI系统能够显著增加果园土壤含水率,特别是40～80 cm土层(土壤含水率低值区)土壤含水率,在该区域,不同设计深度(40、60和80 cm)RWCI处理(RWCI₄₀、RWCI₆₀和RWCI₈₀)年均土壤含水率分别较鱼鳞坑(CK)处理提高75.3%、85.4%和62.4%,分别较裸露坡地(BS)处理提高39.2%、47.2%和29.1%.RWCI₄₀、RWCI₆₀和RWCI₈₀处理土壤水分入渗最大深度分别为80、120和180 cm,显著深于CK处理(60 cm),其中土壤水分变化幅度最大的土层分别主要发生在0～60、0～100和0～120 cm.在果树整个生育期内,RWCI处理土壤平均含水率(0～300 cm)以RWCI₈₀处理最大,其次是RWCI₄₀和RWCI₆₀处理.总体来看,RWCI系统是黄土高原实现雨水资源化和农业高效用水的有效措施.     

Regional environments, life-history patterns, and habitat use of spirostreptid millipedes in arid regions

Among diplopods with desert populations, only three species of Spirostreptida have been studied in an ecological context. The present review compares regional environments, life-history patterns, and uses of habitat by Orlhoporus ornatus (Girard) from southwestern North America, Archispirostreptus tumuliporus judaicus (Attems) from the eastern Mediterranean seaboard, and Harpagophora nigra (Attems) from southwestern Africa. Published and unpublished studies are used to explore evidence for convergence among these species, as opposed to traits adapting them to physical aspects of given regions or habitats. Unlike A. t. judaicus, O. ornatus and H. nigra are relatively restricted to arid habitats, although populations of all three species experience a variety of rainfall regimes and regional topographies. Where studied, O. ornatus and H. nigra hibernate during the long, often cool or cold dry season; they forage following warm-season rains. A. t. judaicus , in contrast, forages during its long, warm dry season and hibernates in the cool, wet winter. Populations from the Judaean and Negev deserts differ from those inhabiting a mesic habitat (Megiddo) closer to the coast in regard to rates of development, seasonal activity and seasonal water balance. Convergence in the form of well-developed desiccation resistance characterizes the two strictly desert species. All three species, together with other subtropical millipedes exposed to long dry seasons, are convergent with respect to patterns of diel surface activity and use of shelter. However species- and habitat-specific life-history features such as the seasonal timing of dormancy and emergence tend to mask convergence at the habitat level. Hence, the independent evolution of the three species with desert populations has resulted in life histories and habitat use that combine a moderate amount of convergence with considerable opportunistic adaptation to regional and local conditions.     

Does variation between dry and wet seasons affect tropical forest mammals' occupancy and detectability by camera traps? Case study from the Udzungwa Mountains,Tanzania

The increasing use of camera trapping coupled to occupancy analysis to study terrestrial mammals has opened the way to inferential studies that besides estimating the probability of presence explicitly consider detectability. This in turn allows considering factors that can potentially confound the estimation of occupancy and detection probability, including seasonal variations in rainfall. To address this, we conducted a systematic camera trapping survey in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania by deploying twenty camera traps for 30 days in dry and wet seasons and used dynamic occupancy modelling to determine the effect of season on estimated occupancy and detection probability for species with >10 capture events. The sampling yielded 7657 and 6015 images in dry and wet seasons, respectively, belonging to 21 mammal species. Models with no season dependency and with season‐dependent detectability were best supported, indicating that neither colonization nor extinction varied with seasons and hence occupancy did not vary. Only bush pig (Potamochoerus larvatus) showed a significant decrease in detectability from dry to wet seasons. Our study indicates that seasonal variation in rainfall may have limited effect on occupancy and detectability of resident mammals in Udzungwa rainforests; however, it remains a factor to consider when designing future studies.     

川西亚高山-高山森林土壤养分动态及其对季节性冻融的响应

为深入了解川西亚高山-高山森林冬季生态学过程,于2008年11月—2009年10月,在土壤冻结初期、冻结期和融化期及植被生长季节,研究了不同海拔(3582 m、3298 m和3023 m)岷江冷杉林土壤养分动态及其对季节性冻融的响应。3个海拔森林土壤冬季具有较高养分含量,且随土壤冻融过程不断变化。土壤有机层可溶性碳和氮、铵态氮、硝态氮含量在冻结初期显著增加后快速降低,并随融化过程迅速增加后再次降低,而土壤可溶性碳和氮、硝态氮含量在冻结期变化不明显,铵态氮显著增加。矿质土壤层可溶性碳和氮、铵态氮含量也在冻结初期显著增加后降低,而土壤可溶性氮、铵态氮和硝态氮在冻结期显著增加,并在融化期经历一个明显的含量高峰。海拔和土层的交互作用显著影响土壤可溶性碳和硝态氮含量,土壤养分含量与土壤温度的相关性随海拔差异而不同。这表明季节性冻融期是土壤生态过程的重要时期,土壤冻融格局显著影响川西亚高山-高山森林土壤养分动态。     

Variation in Drosophila melanogaster central metabolic genes appears driven by natural selection both within and between populations

In this report, we examine the hypothesis that the drivers of latitudinal selection observed in the eastern US Drosophila melanogaster populations are reiterated within seasons in a temperate orchard population in Pennsylvania, USA. Specifically, we ask whether alleles that are apparently favoured in northern populations are also favoured early in the spring, and decrease in frequency from the spring to autumn with the population expansion. We use SNP data collected for 46 metabolic genes and 128 SNPs representing the central metabolic pathway and examine for the aggregate SNP allele frequencies whether the association of allele change with latitude and that with increasing days of spring–autumn season are reversed. Testing by random permutation, we observe a highly significant negative correlation between these associations that is consistent with this expectation. This correlation is stronger when we confine our analysis to only those alleles that show significant latitudinal changes. This pattern is not caused by association with chromosomal inversions. When data are resampled using SNPs for amino acid change the relationship is not significant but is supported when SNPs associated with cis-expression are only considered. Our results suggest that climate factors driving latitudinal molecular variation in a metabolic pathway are related to those operating on a seasonal level within populations.     

喀斯特槽谷典型植物水分利用效率对隧道建设的响应

隧道工程建设对喀斯特槽谷地区地下水循环系统的破坏,引起地下水位下降,可能影响周围生态环境。依托重庆中梁山喀斯特槽谷,对旱、雨两季隧道影响区与无隧道影响区不同深度土层(0—20 cm、20—40 cm)土壤含水量以及典型植物(常绿乔木、常绿灌木)瞬时水分利用效率(InstantaneousWater Use Efficiency,WUE_inst)进行对比分析,探究植物水分利用效率对隧道建设的响应。结果表明:在不同影响区,主要由蒸发与降水引起土壤含水量在垂直和季节变化上的趋势相似,但隧道影响区土壤含水量在旱、雨两季均显著高于无隧道影响区;不同影响区植物WUE_inst存在明显的季节差异,旱季各植物种WUE_inst显著高于雨季。而旱、雨两季隧道影响区植物叶片WUE_inst显著高于无隧道影响区;此外,植物WUE_inst与土壤含水量相关性分析结果表明,不同影响区植物WUE_inst与土壤含水量均呈显著负相关关系,但相对于无隧道影响区,隧道影响区植物WUE_ins...     

施肥对落叶松和水曲柳人工林土壤微生物生物量碳和氮季节变化的影响

2007-2008年,采用氯仿熏蒸浸提法测定了落叶松和水曲柳人工林土壤微生物生物量,研究施N肥对土壤微生物生物量碳、氮,以及细菌、真菌和放线菌数量季节变化的影响.结果表明：落叶松林地土壤微生物生物量碳、氮两年平均值分别比水曲柳林地低13.8%和18.3%,但两种林分土壤微生物生物量碳、氮具有相同的季节变化规律：5月最低,9月最高;表层（0～10 cm）土壤微生物生物量碳、氮及微生物数量均高于亚表层（10～20 cm）土壤.但细菌、真菌和放线菌数量的季节变化格局与生物量不同.施肥降低了两种林分的微生物生物量碳、氮,以及细菌、真菌和放线菌数量,其中,落叶松林地微生物生物量碳和氮分别降低了24%和63%,水曲柳分别降低了51%和68%.说明施N肥限制了土壤微生物生物量,改变了土壤微生物的群落结构.