A comparison of direct and indirect methods for measuring leaf and surface areas of individual bushes

Indirect estimates of leaf area from measurements with three commercially available instruments (DEMON, LAI-2000 and Sunfleck Ceptometer) were compared with directly measured areas of individual Retama sphaerocarpa bushes. The three indirect methods gave good estimates of the total surface area of individual bushes. For the DEMON, the method of log-linear averaging of transmitted radiation gave estimates closer to directly measured surface area than the method of averaging transmission linearly. For the LAI-2000, estimated surface area index multiplied by canopy projected area gave the best agreement with directly measured values. For measurements with the Sunfleck Ceptometer, values of surface area estimated from the transmission of photosynthetic quantum flux density, without correcting for diffuse radiation, gave the best agreement with directly measured values. Surface areas estimated by the three instruments were not significantly different from directly measured total (leaf + branch + stem) surface areas. Leaf surface area could be calculated from estimated total surface area minus directly measured branch surface area. Measured branch surface area was linearly related to canopy projected area.     

北极的春季:迁徙鸟类抵达的生物学

一旦鸟类抵达北极区,迁徙鸟类必须调整其生理和行为以适应不可预知的雪盖、天气、食物资源和天敌胁迫。换言之,他们必须抵抗环境干扰(压力)以便尽早迁徙到苔原上的巢区并建立领域。然后,一旦外界环境有利时,它们就立即开始繁殖。这些鸟类的繁殖有一部分是利用低雪盖区域的微生境以及雪融较快的苔原斑块(特别是在柳树Salix sp．附近)。在北极地区,地面温度在日照若干小时后急剧上升,同时无脊椎动物开始活动。风速在地面柳枝和生草丛苔原10cm下几乎减弱为零。这些条件结合在一起提供了理想的避难所,对于早春迁徙到此的雀形目鸟类尤其如此。然而,如果环境调节变得更为恶劣,这些鸟类会离开。因为与南方越冬地相比,春季北极区条件具有潜在的严酷性,所以鸟类对于应激时的肾上腺皮质反应有所调整。雄鸟到达北极地区时对于剧烈应激刺激下的肾上腺酮的分泌有所提高,并且伴随着对于负反馈敏感性的下降和肾上腺皮质层细胞对于促肾上腺皮质激素作用反应的变化。同时,肾上腺酮结合蛋白(CBG)的水平也有所提高,以至于肾上腺酮的作用在恶劣的环境条件下得到缓冲。基因组受体水平的调节,尤其是在脑和肝脏中糖皮质类固醇类似受体与肾上腺酮的低亲合性,以及肾上腺酮的非基因组水平的作用,可能是很重要的。换言之,与抵达生物学有关的激素一行为系统是高度可变的[动物学报50(6)：948-960,2004]。     

A rare case of interspecific hybridization in the tracheophone suboscines: Chestnut-naped Antpitta Grallaria nuchalis × Chestnut-crowned Antpitta G. ruficapilla in a fragmented Andean landscape

Based on analyses of variation in plumage, morphometrics, vocalizations, and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences, we document the occurrence of interspecific hybridization between a Chestnut-naped Antpitta Grallaria nuchalis and a Chestnut-crowned Antpitta G. ruficapilla in a high-elevation forest fragment in the Cordillera Central of the Andes of Colombia. One hybrid individual was collected and at least two were recorded singing. The hybrid specimen exhibits a combination of phenotypic traits that exclude other species of antpittas as potential parents, and its vocalizations combine elements of songs of both of its parental species. Genetic analyses demonstrate that the hybrid has G. nuchalis mitochondrial DNA and mixed nuclear DNA with copies corresponding to G. nuchalis and G. ruficapilla alleles, demonstrating that the female parent was G. nuchalis. Hybridization is considered extremely rare in most groups of suboscine passerines, but it may be facilitated when populations are decimated as a consequence of deforestation and habitat fragmentation.     

Urban ecosystems and the North American carbon cycle

Approximately 75–80% of the population of North America currently lives in urban areas as defined by national census bureaus, and urbanization is continuing to increase. Future trajectories of fossil fuel emissions are associated with a high degree of uncertainty; however, if the activities of urban residents and the rate of urban land conversion can be captured in urban systems models, plausible emissions scenarios from major cities may be generated. Integrated land use and transportation models that simulate energy use and traffic‐related emissions are already in place in many North American cities. To these can be added a growing dataset of carbon gains and losses in vegetation and soils following urbanization, and a number of methods of validating urban carbon balance modeling, including top down atmospheric monitoring and urban ‘metabolic’ studies of whole ecosystem mass and energy flow. Here, we review the state of our understanding of urban areas as whole ecosystems with regard to carbon balance, including both drivers of fossil fuel emissions and carbon cycling in urban plants and soils. Interdisciplinary, whole‐ecosystem studies of the socioeconomic and biophysical factors that influence urban carbon cycles in a range of cities may greatly contribute to improving scenarios of future carbon balance at both continental and global scales.     

Does urbanization affect selective pressures and life‐history strategies in the common blackbird (Turdus merula L.)?

Urbanization, one of the most extreme land‐use alterations, is currently spreading, and the number of species confronting these changes is increasing. However, contradictory results of previous studies impede a clear interpretation of which selective pressure (nest predation or food limitation) is more important in urban habitats compared with natural situations, and whether birds can confront them by adjusting their life‐history strategies. We investigated life‐history syndromes of three common blackbird (Turdus merula) populations differing in their human influence (urban, rural, and woodland). We analysed daily nest predation and nestling starvation rates to assess the relative importance of these selection pressures in each habitat. Simultaneously, several life‐history traits were investigated to determine if T. merula seem adapted to their main source of selection. Food limitation was more important in the city, whereas nest predation was the most important selective force in the forest. The rural habitat was characterized by an intermediate influence of these two factors. Life‐history syndromes, as the covariation of a suite of traits, confirmed these results because T. merula seem well adapted to the main cause of selection in each habitat. Our results are consistent with urbanization imposing new challenges on birds, and that they adaptively respond to them. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 101 , 759–766.