Inefficient nitrogen resorption in genets of the actinorhizal nitrogen fixing shrubComptonia peregrina: physiological ineptitude or evolutionary tradeoff?

Nutrient resorption was measured in an actinorhizal nitrogen-fixing shrub,Comptonia peregrina, for five years in the understory of a deciduous oak forest in Rhode Island, USA. Mean resorption of nitrogen was extremely inefficient (11%) compared to most deciduous species (50%+), yet resorption of phosphorus was efficient (53%) and comparable to other species. Of the seven additional nutrients studied, only copper (6%) and zinc (10%) were resorbed from senescing leaves. Resorption of nitrogen (5%–20%) and phosphorus (40%–71%) varied significantly among years. Copper was resorbed from leaves in three years and accreted into leaves in two years. Five-year resorption means differed among individual genets by as much as a factor of 2.5 for nitrogen, and 1.3 for phosphorus. Resorption of nitrogen, copper, and zinc were highly correlated, yet resorption of phosphorus remained autonomous from other nutrients. The ecophysiological tradeoffs inComptonia which have resulted in the cooccurence of actinorhizal nitrogen fixation, inefficient nitrogen resorption, and efficient phosphorus resorption suggest that plant nutrient status does have an impact on resorption efficiency and that the evolution of nutrient conservation strategies is nutrient-specific.     

南方红壤区生态系统服务权衡与协同关系演变对退耕还林的响应

我国南方红壤区具有丰富的水热资源和优越的社会区位条件,是重要的农业生产基地。由于长期高强度的农业开发,同时山地丘陵的坡度较大,降水集中且强度大,导致该区生态功能退化、环境问题突出,威胁粮食安全和生态安全。以南方红壤区为研究对象,利用估算区域植被净生产力（Carnegie Ames-Stanford Approach,CASA）模型、InVEST模型及修正通用土壤流失方程（RUSLE）定量评估了该区退耕还林前后植被净初级生产力（Net Primary Production,NPP）、农作物生产（Crop Production,CP）、土壤保持（Soil Conservation,SC）和产水（Water Yield,WY）四种生态系统服务;采用偏相关分析和空间自相关分析探讨了各项生态系统服务间权衡与协同关系的时空变化特征和集聚特征,揭示了退耕还林对南方红壤区的多种生态系统服务间相互关系的影响。结果表明：（1）退耕还林后,南方红壤区的NPP、CP、SC和WY总体增强,但部分区域呈现减弱趋势。其中,NPP在南部呈现减弱趋势,SC在东北部减弱,CP与WY均在东南沿海减弱;（2）退耕还林后,NPP与WY间由极显著协同关系（r=0.315,P=0.025）转变为显著权衡关系（r=-0.279,P=0.059）：而SC与WY间由无显著相关转变为极显著权衡关系（r=-0.427,P=0.024）;（3）退耕还林前后,南方红壤区的NPP、CP和SC的空间分布格局均未发生显著变化,而WY的空间分布发生较大变化;（4）四种生态系统服务间的权衡与协同关系空间异质性显著,CP-SC关系的Moran''s I指数最小（0.012）,NPP-SC和NPP-WY关系的Moran''s I指数均大于0.7。研究结果有利于深入理解退耕还林对南方红壤区生态系统服务时空变化的影响,并为确定生态脆弱区的生态农林牧业的发展方向与面向可持续发展目标的生态系统服务优化调控提供科学依据。     

黄土丘陵沟壑区典型小流域生态系统服务权衡与协同关系研究

黄土高原植被恢复状况制约生态系统服务的提升,本研究依托中国科学院水利部水土保持研究所安塞国家科学野外观测站的基础土壤、植被、气象和水文等数据,在黄土丘陵沟壑区选取纸坊沟和坊塌2个典型小流域,通过购买1998、2008和2018年遥感影像,采用InVEST(Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs)模型对生态服务(碳储量、土壤保持量、生境质量和产水量)进行评估,探究植被恢复过程中生态系统服务的协同效应和权衡关系。通过对比得知：随着植被的恢复,坊塌和纸坊沟各生态服务(碳储量、土壤保持量、生境质量和产水量)均得到了大幅度的提升,其中2008—2018年增加幅度较小,而1998—2008年增加幅度较大,主要原因在于该阶段(1998—2008年)是退耕还林还草的初始10年,林地及草地面积增长较多,而后10年为退耕的延续阶段,退耕面积增长减缓。从1998—2018年,受自然因素和人为因素的影响,坊塌和纸坊沟流域生态系统服务表现出协同和权衡关系。对于坊塌流域,2008年生态系统服务主要表现为协同关系,1998、2018年以权衡关...     

Predator size and phenology shape prey survival in temporary ponds

Theoretical efforts suggest that the relative sizes of predators and their prey can shape community dynamics, the structure of food webs, and the evolution of life histories. However, much of this work has assumed static predator and prey body sizes. The timing of recruitment and the growth patterns of both predator and prey have the potential to modify the strength of predator–prey interactions. In this study, I examined how predator size dynamics in 40 temporary ponds over a 3-year period affected the survival of spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) larvae. Across communities, gape-limited predator richness, but not size, was correlated with habitat duration (pond permanence). Within communities, mean gape-limited predator size diminished as the growing season progressed. This size reduction occurred because prey individuals grew into a body size refuge and because the largest of the predators left ponds by mid-season. Elevated gape-limited predation risk across time and space was predicted by the occurrence of two large predatory salamanders: marbled salamander larvae (Ambystoma opacum) and red-spotted newt adults (Notophthalmus viridescens). The presence of the largest gape-limited predator, A. opacum, predicted A. maculatum larval survival in the field. The distribution of large predatory salamanders among ponds and across time is expected to lead to differing community dynamics and to generate divergent natural selection on early growth and body size in A. maculatum. In general, a dynamic perspective on predator size often will be necessary to understand the ecology and evolution of species interactions. This will be especially true in frequently disturbed or seasonal habitats where phenology and ontogeny interact to determine body size asymmetries. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

黄土高原典型退耕区生态系统服务权衡与协同关系研究——以延安市为例

在退耕还林的背景下,从多尺度分析黄土高原生态系统服务的时空变化及权衡协同关系对促进该区经济发展和生态效益多赢具有重要意义。以黄土高原退耕还林典型区延安市为例,运用InVEST模型评估1988-2018年农作物生产、碳储量、生境质量、土壤保持、产水量5种关键生态系统服务物质量,采用偏相关分析法探讨生态系统服务间的权衡与协同关系及其时空变化特征。研究结果表明：（1）受土地利用变化影响,延安市农作物生产水平、土壤保持年际变化趋势波动较大,农作物生产水平呈波动增加的趋势,土壤保持退耕还林前呈减少,退耕还林后呈波动增加的趋势,碳储量和生境质量呈逐渐增加的趋势,产水量呈逐渐减弱的趋势。（2）生态系统服务与土地利用格局联系紧密。碳储量、生境质量的高值区域以及产水量的低值区域随林地分布格局变化而变化。（3）协同关系是延安市生态系统服务间相关关系的主体,主要发生在碳储量、生境质量、土壤保持、农作物生产之间,权衡关系主要存在于产水量和其他生态系统服务之间。（4）市、县域生态系统服务间关系的差异主要发生在生境质量和土壤保持之间。     

An integrated analysis of phenotypic selection on insect body size and development time

Most studies of phenotypic selection do not estimate selection or fitness surfaces for multiple components of fitness within a unified statistical framework. This makes it difficult or impossible to assess how selection operates on traits through variation in multiple components of fitness. We describe a new generation of aster models that can evaluate phenotypic selection by accounting for timing of life‐history transitions and their effect on population growth rate, in addition to survival and reproductive output. We use this approach to estimate selection on body size and development time for a field population of the herbivorous insect, Manduca sexta (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Estimated fitness surfaces revealed strong and significant directional selection favoring both larger adult size (via effects on egg counts) and more rapid rates of early larval development (via effects on larval survival). Incorporating the timing of reproduction and its influence on population growth rate into the analysis resulted in larger values for size in early larval development at which fitness is maximized, and weaker selection on size in early larval development. These results illustrate how the interplay of different components of fitness can influence selection on size and development time. This integrated modeling framework can be readily applied to studies of phenotypic selection via multiple fitness components in other systems.     

Effects of host heterogeneity on pathogen diversity and evolution

Phenotypic variation is common in most pathogens, yet the mechanisms that maintain this diversity are still poorly understood. We asked whether continuous host variation in susceptibility helps maintain phenotypic variation, using experiments conducted with a baculovirus that infects gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) larvae. We found that an empirically observed tradeoff between mean transmission rate and variation in transmission, which results from host heterogeneity, promotes long‐term coexistence of two pathogen types in simulations of a population model. This tradeoff introduces an alternative strategy for the pathogen: a low‐transmission, low‐variability type can coexist with the high‐transmission type favoured by classical non‐heterogeneity models. In addition, this tradeoff can help explain the extensive phenotypic variation we observed in field‐collected pathogen isolates, in traits affecting virus fitness including transmission and environmental persistence. Similar heterogeneity tradeoffs might be a general mechanism promoting phenotypic variation in any pathogen for which hosts vary continuously in susceptibility.     

Flowering phenology and sexual allocation in single-mutation lineages of Arabidopsis thaliana

We investigated the relationship between flowering time and sexual allocation in wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana and in genetically similar lineages with single-locus mutations of floral induction genes. We examined whether the mechanisms of growth and development that govern resource investment would permit the independent evolution of reproductive phenology and sexual allocation, or whether constraints, manifested as pleiotropic effects of the single mutations, would link these two life-history traits. Flowering times differed significantly among genotypes, and, as expected, later flowering times were associated with larger vegetative size. Later flowering genotypes produced heavier floral parts (larger petals, in particular), and allocated a significantly lower proportion of biomass to androecia, especially in final allocations that included fruit biomass. At least part of this pleiotropic covariation of flowering time and sexual allocation is likely to be mediated by vegetative size and the rate of resource supply to growing reproductive tissues, because the larger fruits of late-flowering genotypes required the same time, or proportionately less time than the difference in biomass, to mature. Because fruit mass is considered an investment in female function, sexual allocation measured at the end of a growing season tends to be highly female biased in angiosperms. We consider the implications of the pleiotropic association of flowering time, vegetative size, and sexual investment for the theory of sex allocation, and suggest that the idiosyncratic phenology of sexual investment in flowering plants creates a departure from a central assumption of Fisher's seminal sex allocation argument.     

Hormonal, behavioral, and thermoregulatory responses to bacterial lipopolysaccharide in captive and free-living white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii)

Exposing vertebrates to pathogenic organisms or inflammatory stimuli, such as bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), activates the immune system and triggers the acute phase response. This response involves fever, alterations in neuroendocrine circuits, such as hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and -gonadal (HPG) axes, and stereotypical sickness behaviors that include lethargy, anorexia, adipsia, and a disinterest in social activities. We investigated the hormonal, behavioral, and thermoregulatory effects of acute LPS treatment in a seasonally breeding songbird, the white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii) using laboratory and field experiments. Captive male and female sparrows were housed on short (8L:16D) or long (20L:4D) day lengths and injected subcutaneously with LPS or saline (control). LPS treatment activated the HPA axis, causing a rapid increase in plasma corticosterone titers over 24 h compared to controls. Suppression of the HPG axis occurred in long-day LPS birds as measured by a decline in luteinizing hormone levels. Instead of a rise in body temperature, LPS-injected birds experienced short-term hypothermia compared to controls. Birds treated with LPS decreased activity and reduced food and water intake, resulting in weight loss. LPS males on long days experienced more weight loss than LPS males on short days, but this seasonal effect was not observed in females. These results paralleled seasonal differences in body condition, suggesting that modulation of the acute phase response is linked to energy reserves. In free-living males, LPS treatment decreased song and several measures of territorial aggression. These studies highlight immune-endocrine-behavior interrelationships that may proximately mediate life-history tradeoffs between reproduction and defense against pathogens.     

Aquatic versus terrestrial locomotion: comparative performance of two ecologically contrasting species of European natricine snakes

One indicator of ecological differences between species is differential locomotory performance in different media. In this study, we compare locomotory speed of two species of natricine snakes on land and in water at a range of temperatures in the laboratory. As expected, both species moved more quickly at higher temperatures and both swam faster than they moved on land. However, the difference between aquatic and terrestrial speed was much greater for the aquatic species, Natrix maura , than for the semi-aquatic Natrix natrix . Furthermore, although N. maura was significantly faster than N. natrix in water, the opposite was true on land. In fact, N. maura was reluctant to move very far on land at all and would not complete a 2 m terrestrial course. Although we found no evidence of a negative correlation between the aquatic and terrestrial speeds of individual N. natrix , this interspecific comparison is consistent with the notion of a tradeoff between performance abilities on land and in water.