Forest Structure and Primary Productivity in a Bornean Heath Forest

Aboveground forest structure, biomass, and primary productivity in a tropical heath forest in Central Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) were examined using data from 1-ha plots and stand-level allometric equations developed from harvested tree samples. The study site experienced a severe drought in 1997–1998 associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation event. The drought effect on heath forest productivity was also assessed by evaluating changes in wood mass increment rates. Allometric relationships suggested that heath forest trees had leaves with smaller specific leaf area (SLA), and large heath forest trees allocate more to leaf mass compared to mixed dipterocarp forest trees. Aboveground biomass (for trees ≥ 4.8 cm DBH) in two 1-ha plots, P1 and P4, totaled 244.8 and 232.0 Mg/ha. Aboveground wood mass increment rate was –0.1 and 4.7 Mg/ha/yr in P1 and P4 during the drought period (from February to August 1998), while it quickly recovered to 8.1 and 8.5 Mg/ha/yr during the post-drought period (from August 1998 to August 1999 for P1 and from August 1998 to November 1999 for P4). This suggests a severe impact of the drought on heath forest productivity. Leaf characteristics of heath forest such as small SLA and long-lived leaves probably play a significant role in effective assimilation and maintenance of heath forest productivity under stressful conditions.     

Modifying dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine monolayers by n-hexadecanol and dipalmitoylglycerol

The monolayer structure of pure dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and equimolar mixtures of DPPC/n-hexadecanol (C(16)OH) and DPPC/dipalmitoylglycerol (DPG) are studied by the film balance technique and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements. At 20 degrees C, the binary systems exhibit complete miscibility. In contrast to pure DPPC monolayers, a condensing effect is observed in the presence of both non-phospholipid additives; but the phase transition behavior differs. The tilt angle of the hydrocarbon chains in the DPPC/C(16)OH mixture is significantly smaller than in pure DPPC monolayers. The tilt of the chains is even further reduced in the mixed monolayer of DPPC/DPG. A comparison of the three systems reveals distinct structural features such as phase state, chain tilt, and molecular area over a wide range of surface pressures. Therefore, these monolayers provide a highly suitable model to investigate the influence of structural parameters on biological processes occurring at the membrane surface, e.g. enzymatic reactions and adsorption events.     

Determination of species-area relationships and minimum sampling area for the shrub communities in the arid valley in the upper reach of the Minjiang River, China

The minimum sampling areas (MSAs) for the shrub communities in the arid valley in the upper reach of the Minjiang River, China, were studied by fitting community species-area relationships using 3 types of equations. The MSAs were determined at the proportional factor (ρ) 0.6, 0.7, 0.8 and 0.9. The proportional factors represent the proportion of the number of species within a sampling plot in the total number of species. The MSAs of the shrub communities at different elevations and on different slope faces for ρ = 0.6, 0.7 and 0.8 were all around 100 m². Hence, the MSAs could be set to be 100 m² (10 m × 10 m) at 60%–80% precision levels. For ρ = 0.9, that is, for a 90% precision level, the MSAs were less than 200 m² (10 m × 20 m). The MSAs and species richness increased gradually with the rising elevation. At the elevation below 2000 m, the MSAs and species richness on the north-facing slope were larger than those on the south-facing slope. However, at the elevation around 2200 m, there was no difference amongst different facing slopes. For the shrub communities in the arid valley in the upper reach of the Minjiang River, the species-area curves by fitting the first two equations are better than that by fitting the third equation.     

Neuronal nitric oxide synthase and calbindin delineate sex differences in the developing hypothalamus and preoptic area

Throughout the hypothalamus there are several regions known to contain sex differences in specific cellular, neurochemical, or cell grouping characteristics. The current study examined the potential origin of sex differences in calbindin expression in the preoptic area and hypothalamus as related to sources of nitric oxide. Specific cell populations were defined by immunoreactive (ir) calbindin and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in the preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus (POA/AH), anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPv), and ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMN). The POA/AH of adult mice was characterized by a striking sex difference in the distribution of cells with ir-calbindin. Examination of the POA/AH of androgen receptor deficient Tfm mice suggests that this pattern was in part androgen receptor dependent, since Tfm males had reduced ir-calbindin compared with wild-type males and more similar to wild-type females. At P0 ir-calbindin was more prevalent than in adulthood, with males having significantly more ir-calbindin and nNOS than have females. Cells that contained either ir-calbindin or ir-nNOS in the POA/AH were in adjacent cell groups, suggesting that NO derived from the enzymatic activity of nNOS may influence the development of ir-calbindin cells. In the region of AVPv, at P0, there was a sex difference with males having more ir-nNOS fibers than have females while ir-calbindin was not detected. In the VMN, at P0, ir-nNOS was greater in females than in males, with no significant difference in ir-calbindin. We suggest that NO as an effector molecule and calbindin as a molecular biomarker illuminate key aspects of sexual differentiation in the developing mouse brain.     

Evidence for non-genomic transmission of ecological information via maternal behavior in female rats

Maternal behavior is flexible and programs offspring development. Using a novel manipulation, we demonstrate that rat maternal behavior is sensitive to ecologically relevant stimuli. Long-Evans hooded rat dams (F0) and pups were exposed to a predator condition (cat odor) or a control condition (no odor) for 1 h on the day of parturition. Predator-exposed F0 dams displayed significantly more maternal behavior (licking/grooming, arched-back nursing) relative to control-exposed dams across five subsequent observation days. Female offspring (F1) were raised to adulthood, bred and maternal behavior was observed. F1 dams reared by a predator-exposed F0 dam displayed significantly higher maternal behavior relative to F1 dams reared by a control-exposed F0 dam across 5 days of observation. Increased levels of maternal behavior in predator-reared (PR) F1 dams were evident even in F1 females that had been cross-fostered (CF) from a control-exposed F0 dam, suggesting a non-genomic transmission of increased levels of maternal behavior. Lactating PR F1 dams had significantly elevated estrogen receptor alpha and beta mRNA in the medial preoptic area relative to control-reared (CR) F1 dams. Furthermore, among CR F1 dams, there was no significant difference between those dams that had been CF from predator-exposed F0 dams and those that had been sham CF. These results support the hypothesis that flexible rat maternal behavior can shape offspring development according to current environmental conditions. The results also suggest that estrogen signaling may be part of an epigenetic mechanism by which changes in maternal behavior are passed from F0 to F1 dams.     

Downregulation of mu opioid receptor by RNA interference in the ventral tegmental area reduces ethanol consumption in mice

Pharmacological and genetic studies have implicated the mu opioid receptor (MOR) in the regulation of ethanol intake in animal models and humans. Non-specific antagonists of opioid receptors have been shown to affect ethanol consumption when infused directly into the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of rats. However, administration of MOR-selective antagonists into the VTA has yielded mixed results. We used RNA interference (RNAi) to specifically decrease levels of MOR messenger RNA in the VTA of mice and examined the effect on ethanol consumption in a two-bottle choice paradigm. Mice were injected in the VTA with lentivirus expressing either a small hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting MOR or a control shRNA. One week after virus injection, mice were examined for ethanol consumption in a two-bottle choice experiment with increasing concentrations of ethanol over the course of 1 month. Expression of an shRNA targeting MOR in the VTA led to a significant reduction in ethanol consumption. These results strengthen the hypothesis that MOR in the VTA is one of the key brain substrates mediating alcohol consumption. The RNAi combined with lentiviral delivery can be used successfully in brain to effect a sustained reduction in expression of specific genes for behavioral analysis.     

冬小麦粒叶比杂种优势及遗传效应分析

用9个冬小麦品种按5×4不完全双列杂交设计组配20个杂交组合,对小麦粒叶比的杂种优势和遗传效应进行分析。结果表明,小麦粒叶比表现出一定的杂种优势;一般配合力和特殊配合力方差均达极显著水平,说明亲本的粒叶比差异及杂交互作均对F1代产生遗传差异,该试验中石6021、农大99260080等的一般配合力较大,石6021×农大99260080、鲁麦14×济南17等组合的特殊配合力较大,产生了较强的杂种优势;粒叶比遗传符合加性-显性遗传模型,但以加性效应为主,其遗传决定度达87.65%,狭义遗传力为64.71%;在高粒叶比品种选育上应重视高粒叶比亲本筛选利用和杂交后代的早代选择。     

Integration of modelling and policy: Wolf reproductive-site model for Natura 2000 conservation measures in Italian Alps

Ecological knowledge is considered an important factor in environmental policy-making. However, the opportunity for ecologists to influence policy can often occur within discrete time policy windows, and seizing these opportunities has been heavily emphasized as a recent global conservation need. In 2017 the Natura 2000 Conservation Measures have been finalized in Italy, and delineated the management policy and institutional responsibilities of Natura 2000 Sites, after obligations of the EU Habitat Directive. In this timeframe, we developed a multi-scalar hierarchical habitat selection model for wolf reproductive-sites to identify potentially favorable habitat for wolf reproduction in the western Italian Alps, based on 19 years of data. This habitat suitability model was useful for the definition of species conservation requirements within the Natura 2000 Sites, and has been adopted in legislation processes, representing a successful example of ecological modelling fitting into a relevant policy window and informing legal instruments to achieve nature conservation goals.     

Rewilding Shouldn’t Be Reactive: Fragas do Eume Natural Park in the Face of an Invasive Alien Species

Rewilding is growing worldwide as a conservation approach to face the restoration of all natural processes that are suppressed or degraded by human action. After plenty of theoretical discussion and some limited experimental practices, rewilding remained conceptually open and diverse with regard to its operational framework. However, little was discussed with regards invasive alien species (IAS) management within rewilding. Hence, the aim of this research is to bridge the gap between these two bodies of theory. To do so, this work explores, in situ, a protected area in which rewilding is discoursively expressed as a form of native forest conservation. Based on a qualitative approach, the results gather stakeholders’ discourses on the institutional advocacy for rewilding, expressed as a form of incentivizing land abandonment and hence leading to a decline in the plantation of invasive blue gums (Eucalyptus globulus). The research poses a discussion on the problematic assimilation that rewilding and IAS management may have when informally combined. Lastly, it is concluded that, when executed in coexistence with IAS, rewilding projects should elude reactive positions and, instead, formalize agreed restoration programs, so that conflictive IAS can be consensually treated together with landowners.     

Patch and landscape features drive fire regime in a Brazilian flammable ecosystem

The flammable ecosystems are evolutionary dependent on the periodic action of fire. Several environmental factors, both at local and landscape scales, can affect fire regimes in these ecosystems differently. Here, we evaluated the influence of local and landscape features on two parameters of the fire regime of a flammable protected area of the Brazilian savanna: The Chapada Diamantina National Park. We characterized both fire frequency and the time since the last fire, from 1990 to 2019 and measured five environmental predictors (tree canopy cover, altitude, water surface, predominant land use and distance to the nearest municipality). We used Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS) to assess the influence of environmental predictors on the measured fire regime parameters. We found a large interannual variation in the total annual area burned in the studied period. In total, 68 % of the protected area (1030 km²) was burned at least once and 32 % (486 km²) was unaffected by fires during the study period. Predominant land use, distance to the nearest municipality, tree cover and the interaction between tree cover and altitude were negatively related to fire frequency, while the water surface and altitude positively influenced fire frequency in the park. Compared to older fires, recent fires occurred in landscapes at lower altitudes and with lower tree cover. Our results demonstrate that the fire frequency and time since the last fire were highly variable across the park, reflecting the strong influence of landscape heterogeneity on their parameters.