Local bumble bee decline linked to recovery of honey bees,drought effects on floral resources

Time series of abundances are critical for understanding how abiotic factors and species interactions affect population dynamics, but are rarely linked with experiments and also scarce for bee pollinators. This gap is important given concerns about declines in some bee species. I monitored honey bee (Apis mellifera) and bumble bee (Bombus spp.) foragers in coastal California from 1999, when feral A. mellifera populations were low due to Varroa destructor, until 2014. Apis mellifera increased substantially, except between 2006 and 2011, coinciding with declines in managed populations. Increases in A. mellifera strongly correlated with declines in Bombus and reduced diet overlap between them, suggesting resource competition consistent with past experimental results. Lower Bombus numbers also correlated with diminished floral resources. Declines in floral abundances were associated with drought and reduced spring rainfall. These results illustrate how competition with an introduced species may interact with climate to drive local decline of native pollinators.     

Multiannual phytoplankton trends in relation to environmental changes across aquatic domains: A case study from Sardinia (Mediterranean Sea)

We investigated multiannual trends in phytoplankton in relation to several environmental drivers. We analyzed ecological data collected during the past two decades from three aquatic sites: an artificial lake, a coastal lagoon, and a marine coastal area. Hydrographic, nutrient, and phytoplankton data were statistically analyzed to detect trends and interactions. In all ecosystems, the chlorophyll a concentration decreased with increasing abundance of small-sized phytoplankton. Phytoplankton dynamics were related to decreased nutrient concentrations in the lake, to dynamics of phosphorus and decreased salinity in the lagoon, and probably to combined top-down and bottom-up processes in the marine gulf.     

Trends and annual fluctuations in selenium concentrations in wheat grain

Selenium concentrations were determined in grain from four varieties of winter and spring wheat grown in the same area during 1918–1979 and 1930–1980, respectively. Concentrations in the four longest series tended to decrease over time. The annual variation, expressed as the coefficient of variation, ranged between 51%–62% for the four investigated series. According to regression calculations, an additional 100 mm of precipitation during the growing season (May-August) would lead to a 7.2 ng Se g^–1 increase in the Se concentration of spring wheat grain. For winter wheat grain the calculated increase was not significant. No correlation was found between grain yield and grain Se concentration. Although there was a significant difference in grain Se concentrations between spring wheat varieties. there was no indication that older varieties differed from newer ones in this regard.     

Interaction between hypertension and HSP70 variants increase the risk of cerebral ischemia in Chinese Han population: An association study

Cerebral infarction has become one of the leading diseases and a major mortality factor around the world. Atherosclerosis is recognized as one of the important causes of ischemic stroke. Recently, accumulating evidences have indicated that the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic functions of the HSP70 family play an important role in cerebral ischemia. However, the association between HSP70 SNPs and ischemic stroke was also not well established. We chose 101 cases of cerebral ischemia and 100 healthy people from the Chinese Han population as our study subjects, and PCR-RFLP was employed to analyze HSP70 polymorphisms: HSP70-1+190G/C, HSP70-2+1267A/G and HSP70-hom+2437T/C. There were no significant differences in + 1267A/G allele or genotype frequencies between patients with stroke and healthy controls. However, genotypes of + 190CG and + 2437TT were differentially distributed between the patients and controls. A significant difference of T allele distribution in the HSP70-hom+2437T/C site was observed. Logistic regression analysis indicated that genotypes of + 190CG, + 2437TT and T allele in HSP70-hom were risk factors of ischemic stroke. Moreover, the study has formulated that the interactions between hypertension and + 190CG or + 2437TT may increase the risks of ischemic stroke. The results from this study have suggested a clinical indicator for assessing the possibilities of cerebral stroke, and supply basis to clinicians to give precaution to people who are at risk of stroke.     

Cetaceans of Southeast Alaska: distribution and seasonal occurrence

Aim To assess the distribution, group size, seasonal occurrence and annual trends of cetaceans. Location The study area included all major inland waters of Southeast Alaska. Methods Between 1991 and 2007, cetacean surveys were conducted by observers who kept a constant watch when the vessel was underway and recorded all cetaceans encountered. For each species, we examined distributional patterns, group size, seasonal occurrence and annual trends. Analysis of variance (anova F) was used to test for differences in group sizes between multiple means, and Student’s t‐test was used to detect differences between pairwise means. Cetacean seasonal occurrence and annual trends were investigated using a generalized linear model framework. Results Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) were seen throughout the region, with numbers lowest in spring and highest in the fall. Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) and minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) distributions were more restricted than that reported for humpback whales, and the low number of sightings precluded evaluating seasonal trends. Three killer whale (Orcinus orca) eco‐types were documented with distributions occurring throughout inland waters. Seasonal patterns were not detected or could not be evaluated for resident and offshore killer whales, respectively; however, the transient eco‐type was more abundant in the summer. Dall’s porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) were distributed throughout the region, with more sightings in spring and summer than in fall. Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) distribution was clumped, with concentrations occurring in the Icy Strait/Glacier Bay and Wrangell areas and with no evidence of seasonality. Pacific white‐sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) were observed only occasionally, with more sightings in the spring. For most species, group size varied on both an annual and seasonal basis. Main conclusions Seven cetacean species occupy the inland waters of Southeast Alaska, with distribution, group size, seasonal occurrence and annual trends varying by species. Future studies that compare spatial and temporal patterns with other features (e.g. oceanography, prey resources) may help in identifying the key factors that support the high density and biodiversity of cetaceans found in this region. An increased understanding of the region’s marine ecology is an essential step towards ensuring the long‐term conservation of cetaceans in Southeast Alaska.     

Assessing spatiotemporal variation in abundance: A flexible framework accounting for sampling bias with an application to common pochard (Aythya ferina)

Assessing trends in the relative abundance of populations is a key yet complex issue for management and conservation. This is a major aim of many large‐scale censusing schemes such as the International Waterbird Count (IWC). However, owing to the lack of sampling strategy and standardization, such schemes likely suffer from biases due to spatial heterogeneity in sampling effort. Despite huge improvements of the statistical tools that allow tackling these statistical issues (e.g., GLMM, Bayesian inference), many conservationists still prefer to rely on stand‐alone turn‐key statistical tools, often violating the prerequisites put forward by the developers of these tools. Here, we propose a straightforward and flexible approach to tackle the typical statistical issues one can encounter when analyzing count data of monitoring schemes such as the IWC. We rely on IWC counts of the declining common pochard populations of the Northwest European flyway as a case study (period 2002–2012). To standardize the size of sampling units and mitigate spatial autocorrelation, we grouped sampling sites using a 75 × 75 km grid cells overlaid over the flyway of interest. Then, we used a hierarchical modeling approach, assessing population trends with random effects at two spatial scales (grid cells, and sites within grid cells) in order to derive spatialized values and to compute the average population trend at the whole flyway scale. Our approach allowed to tackle many statistical issues inherent to this type of analysis but often neglected, including spatial autocorrelation. Concerning the case study, our main findings are that: (1) the northwestern population of common pochards experienced a steep decline (4.9% per year over the 2002–2012 period); (2) the decline was more pronounced at high than low latitude (11.6% and 0.5% per year at 60° and 46° of latitude, respectively); and, (3) the decline was independent of the initial number of individuals in a given site (random across sites). Beyond the case study of the common pochard, our study provides a conceptual statistical framework for estimating and assessing potential drivers of population trends at various spatial scales.     

2000-2020年华北地区植被固碳能力时空变化特征及其气象影响分析

净生态系统生产力(NEP)是估算植被生态系统碳源/汇的重要指标,开展区域NEP时空变化特征分析,对科学评估植被生态系统固碳能力及其气候变化应对措施具有重要意义。研究基于土壤呼吸模型和TEC模型,利用2000—2020年气象数据和遥感数据,采用线性趋势分析、Hurst指数和相关分析等统计方法,对华北地区固碳能力时空变化特征、影响因素及其未来变化趋势进行分析。结果表明：2000—2020年,华北地区年均NEP为228.8 gC/m²,在空间分布上呈现从西北向东南逐步递增的趋势,总体上表现为净固碳。从变化趋势来看,华北地区生态系统的固碳能力总体呈增加趋势,分布面积占比达到88.8%,达到显著增加趋势的面积比例为54.5%(P<0.05),其中河北北部、北京北部、山西西北部、山东西部等地NEP每年每平方米增加9.0 gC以上。华北大部地区NEP年际波动较小,有79.6%的区域多处于较高稳定、高稳定的等级。从变化趋势来看,华北地区有84.9%区域NEP具有强持续性,且NEP未来仍将持续增加的区域面积占比达到51.4%。华北地区NEP的空间分布和年际变化主要受降水的影响...     

基于专利文献计量的生物饲料技术领域态势分析

生物饲料是近年来新兴的饲料产业,生物饲料既能有效利用现有农业资源,又能为人类生活所必需的动物性食品提供坚实的物质基础和保障。文中选择文献计量法,利用专利文献数据库,客观地分析国内外生物饲料领域的发展动态。通过该领域的专利申请数量、专利申请地域分布、主要专利权人和主题词的分析,绘制可视化图谱,揭示生物饲料技术领域的国家、机构、研究趋势以及研究热点,以此帮助科研人员快速了解和把握本领域的研究概貌及发展脉络。