Collagen gene construction and evolution

Summary Collagen genes appear to have been assembled by the tandem repetition of homologous primary (9 base pair), secondary (54 base pair), and tertiary (702 base pair) modules. In vertebrate interstitial collagen genes many of the secondary modules are separated by introns, but in invertebrate collagen genes the non-coding sequences lie near the ends of supposed tertiary modules and are therefore about 702 (54×13) base pairs apart. The genes for vertebrate interstitial collagens (types I–III) seem to have been constructed by the tandem repetition of five tertiary modules, three of which were subsequently shortened by internal deletions. This shortening of the gene resulted in the non-integral relationship between the period of the fibrils and the length of the molecules of vertebrate collagens, and was therefore responsible for the mechanical properties of the completed product. Comparisons of the amino acid sequences of various collagens indicate that the main types of collagen evolved about 800–900 million years ago, a date that agrees well with the fossil record of primitive Metazoa.     

Information analysis by the paper wasp,Polistes fuscatus,during nest construction (Hymenoptera,Vespidae)

Summary The building decision process of the paper wasp,Polistes fuscatus, was studied by 1) analyzing the search pattern of the wasps prior to the addition of pulp to different areas of the nest, 2) comparing the pulp addition needs of the cell chosen for lengthening to those of other cells in the nest, and 3) presenting the wasps with eight types of dichotomous building choices, which provided information about the relative influence of different building cues. Wasps conduct a hierarchical search prior to pulp addition, which means that they search the comb face and petiole disproportionately more often and more thoroughly than the comb back and sides. Once a particular nest area triggers closer scrutiny, comparisons are made with adjoining areas. The most needy location is then chosen based on nest cues. When lengthening a cell, the development of the brood and relative cell length have a strong influence on which cell is chosen at all times, while distance of the brood from the cell mouth becomes important during the later stages of brood development. The results indicate that there is no simple hierarchical weighting of cues. The decision process involves comparisons among multiple cues, which for the most part have an additive influence when variation in relative cue strength is considered.     

Promises and limits of an agency perspective in evolutionary developmental biology

An agent-based perspective in the study of complex systems is well established in diverse disciplines, yet is only beginning to be applied to evolutionary developmental biology. In this essay, we begin by defining agency and associated terminology formally. We then explore the assumptions and predictions of an agency perspective, apply these to select processes and key concept areas relevant to practitioners of evolutionary developmental biology, and consider the potential epistemic roles that an agency perspective might play in evo devo. Throughout, we discuss evidence supportive of agential dynamics in biological systems relevant to evo devo and explore where agency thinking may enrich the explanatory reach of research efforts in evolutionary developmental biology.     

山水林田湖草沙一体化保护和修复工程与景观生态学

我国山水林田湖草沙生命共同体及其保护和修复工程的理论研究和实践正逐渐开展,需要系统的学科理论支撑,景观生态学作为地理学和生态学的交叉科学,能够以其宏观空间理论和技术体系满足这一需求。本文将景观生态学作为山水林田湖草沙一体化保护和修复工程的支撑学科,首先,明确了山水林田湖草沙生命共同体是镶嵌的异质景观、具有景观的所有特征并遵循景观生态学原理;其次,阐述了景观生态建设理论如何应用于山水林田湖草沙一体化保护和修复工程的规划和评价;最后,总结景观生态建设研究的新趋势,提出待解决的理论和实践问题,并论述山水林田湖草沙一体化保护和修复工程如何为解决这些问题提供广阔的研究空间。景观生态学和山水林田湖草沙一体化保护和修复工程实践相结合,将为实现我国乃至全球生态、经济、社会可持续发展提供极为有效的途径。     

城乡建设用地关联对生态系统服务的影响——以洞庭湖地区为例

城乡建设用地数量及相互联系的变化是空间要素及结构演化的重要方面,深刻影响着生态环境质量和生态系统服务水平,研究城乡建设用地关联对生态系统服务的影响对国土空间高质量发展具有重要意义。以洞庭湖地区为研究对象,从土地利用关联视角出发,运用引力模型、InVEST模型、面板数据模型等方法,定量研究了城乡建设用地关联对生态系统服务的影响。结果表明：（1）洞庭湖地区城镇建设用地规模呈现上升趋势,农村居民点用地规模呈现下降趋势;（2）城乡建设用地关联强度呈不断增强趋势,且强关联网格以建成区为核心向周边扩展,低关联网格分布于远离建成区的地方;（3）生境质量和碳储量呈现下降趋势,食物供给则呈现上升趋势,各项生态系统服务价值具有显著的空间异质性;（4）城乡建设用地关联强度对生态系统服务具有负向影响,人口密度、GDP密度、夜间灯光、道路网络对生态系统服务也呈现负向影响,归一化差异植被指数与生态系统服务之间则存在显著的正相关。研究结果有助于了解关联视角下城乡建设用地对生态系统服务的影响机制,可以为制定合理的城乡空间发展战略提供科学依据。     

长株潭城市群生态屏障研究

构筑城市(群)生态屏障是我国生态建设的重点之一。高速城市化进程中,城市范围、征用土地、人口数量、建设规模不断扩大,生态安全形势日益严峻,生态环境保护压力不断加大。长株潭城市群是国家"两型"社会建设试验区,生态屏障建设备受关注。在广泛开展社会调研、专项调查、专题研究、学术讨论的基础上,根据景观生态学和保护生物学的相关原理,通过对区域生态压力、需求、承载力的分析,借助RS、GIS、GPS等现代高新技术,科学区划长株潭城市群生态屏障的空间层级、结构、布局、功能区,明确了各功能区的建设方向、目标,提出了分区管理和分级保护等具体空间管治措施,规划2020年前保护建设工程项目。研究结果表明,城市群必须根据生态环境承载能力,按生态隔离组团方式科学布局城市空间,预留足够的生态基地,优先构筑稳固的生态屏障;按照主体功能区划和目标定位,严格管治和合理布局生态用地,加强部门规划统筹协调,依法严格保护森林和湿地;加强公共财政转移支付和社会融资力度,抓紧实施生态屏障工程建设,努力改善环境质量,维护区域生态平衡,努力实现资源节约、环境友好、提高城市品位和综合竞争能力的社会发展目标。研究结果可为城市生态屏障建设提供科学方法和依据,同时也可为全国其它城市(群)生态屏障建设提供参考和借鉴。     

植被建设对黄土高原土壤水分的影响

为明确自退耕还林以来,黄土高原地区不同植被建设对土壤水分的影响。以Web of Science核心合集中黄土高原土壤水分研究的相关文献为对象,通过CiteSpace生成文献中的关键词并绘制关键词聚类图谱,分析植被建设对黄土高原水分的研究热点及前沿;同时以植被建设对黄土高原土壤水分影响的文献为基础,通过Meta分析量化了不同条件下(海拔,降雨、坡度等)植被建设对黄土高原土壤水分的影响程度。分析Web of Science核心合集中黄土高原土壤水分相关文献共232篇,结果显示近20 a黄土高原土壤水分研究主要包括4个方面的内容:(1)植被建设引起的土壤水分下降问题,(2)土壤水分时空变异特征,(3)土壤水分时空变异的影响因素,(4)遥感和水文模型模拟土壤水分四个方面。同时使用Meta分析了已发表的黄土高原植被建设对土壤水分影响文章103篇,结果表明:黄土高原植被建设大量消耗该区域土壤水分,乔木、灌木及草本植物对土壤水分的结合效应值(ES)依次为-1.893、-1.661、-1.239。植被建设对土壤水分的影响程度随年均降雨量的增大而减小,不同降雨区间的ES值为-0.864(≥500 mm)、-1.423(400-500 mm)、-1.534(<400 mm);在不同海拔区间,植被建设对土壤水分的消耗程度随海拔高度的增加而增加;在3个坡度范围,植被建设对土壤水分消耗程度以<15°最大,>25°次之,15-25°最小。总体而言,植被建设对土壤水分的消耗随着生长年限的增长而加剧,而灌木植被中柠条出现差异,其不同生长年限的效应值为-1.983(>30 a),-1.642(<20 a),-1.107(20-30 a)。由于黄土高原处于干旱与半干旱地区,大面积植被恢复加剧土壤水分消耗,影响到植被生长及其功能的可持续性。因此,应选择适宜植被并给予适当管理(修枝、稀植等措施)以提高土壤水分利用效率,使该地区土壤水分状况得到改善。     

纸张生态足迹

自1960年代以来,由于废纸浆在全球造纸浆中比例不断提高,原有的纸张生态足迹计算方法--以原木浆纸的木材消耗量为计算基础--需要改进.通过分析纸浆结构的变化、纸浆与纸的关系、纸浆耗木量、废纸成浆率等,定量地表征了废纸回收对纸张木材消耗的影响,得出1t纸消耗的木材应为3.879 m3而略小于原来的4 m3的结论.在此基础上,重新计算纸张的生态足迹,得出1t纸的生态足迹为2.569 hm2森林.     

基于生态位构建的n-种群集合种群动态分析

生态位构建是指任何有机体具有的对环境的修复作用,其可能对集合种群的动态与分布产生深刻的影响.尝试性的将生态位构建概念引入集合种群的续存与动态这一复杂问题的研究中,建立了具有生态位构建作用的多物种集合种群的数学模型.模拟结果表明:随着生态位构建能力的增强,种群的续存能力和平衡态大小都有所增加;在此过程中,生态序的变化具有一定的规律性,分别呈现灭绝数为零的 1、 3、 5、 7和 9的协同演化.     

Urban development and sustainability challenges chronicled by a century of construction material flows and stocks in Tiexi,China

Construction materials are considerable forces of global environmental impacts, but their dynamics vis‐à‐vis urban development are poorly documented, in part because their long lifespans require elusive and sometimes nonexistent decade‐long high‐resolution data. This study analyzes the construction material flow and stock trends that shaped and were shaped by the development, decline, and renewal of the Tiexi district of Shenyang, a microcosm of China's urban transformations since the early 20th century. Chronicling building‐by‐building the material flows and stock accumulations involved in the buildup of this area, we shed light on the physical resource context of its socioeconomic history. We find that 42 million tonnes of construction materials were needed to develop the Tiexi district from 1910 to 2018, and 18 million tonnes of material outflows were generated by end‐of‐life building demolition. However, over 55% of inflows and 93% of outflows occurred since 2002 during a complete redevelopment of the district. Only small portions of end‐of‐life materials could have been reused or recycled because of temporal and typological mismatches of supply and demand and technical limitations. Our analysis reveals a dramatic decrease in median building lifetimes to as low as 6 years in the early 21st century. These findings contribute to the discussion of long‐term environmental efficiency and sustainability of societal development through construction and reflect on the challenges of urban renewal processes not only in China but also in other developing and developed countries that lost (or may lose) their traditional economic base and restructure their urban forms. This article met the requirements for a Silver/Silver JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges .