Faking giants: the evolution of high prey clearance rates in jellyfishes

Jellyfishes have functionally replaced several overexploited commercial stocks of planktivorous fishes. This is paradoxical, because they use a primitive prey capture mechanism requiring direct contact with the prey, whereas fishes use more efficient visual detection. We have compiled published data to show that, in spite of their primitive life-style, jellyfishes exhibit similar instantaneous prey clearance and respiration rates as their fish competitors and similar potential for growth and reproduction. To achieve this production, they have evolved large, water-laden bodies that increase prey contact rates. Although larger bodies are less efficient for swimming, optimization analysis reveals that large collectors are advantageous if they move through the water sufficiently slowly.     

具有Allee效应的捕食者-食饵模型的进化动力系统

研究了具有Allee效应的捕食者-食饵种群显性特征的共同进化动力系统.得到了在对称作用下连续稳定策略和进化分支的生态条件和进化条件,食饵的分支能导致捕食者分支;证明了在对称作用下进化动力系统经历超临界Hopf分支和次临界Hopf分支,周期进化是随机突变和选择过程的可能结果.在对称作用下进化自杀不可能发生,然而,在非对称作用下当种群遭受Allee效应时,进化自杀可能发生.     

Nutrient-specific foraging in invertebrate predators

Many herbivores and omnivores adjust their food selection behavior to regulate the intake of multiple nutrients. Carnivores, however, are generally assumed to optimize the rate of prey capture rather than select prey according to nutrient composition. We showed experimentally that invertebrate predators can forage selectively for protein and lipids to redress specific nutritional imbalances. This selection can take place at different stages of prey handling: The predator may select among foods of different nutritional composition, eat more of a prey if it is rich in nutrients that the predator is deficient in, or extract specific nutrients from a single prey item.     

Global resilience of tropical forest and savanna to critical transitions

It has been suggested that tropical forest and savanna could represent alternative stable states, implying critical transitions at tipping points in response to altered climate or other drivers. So far, evidence for this idea has remained elusive, and integrated climate models assume smooth vegetation responses. We analyzed data on the distribution of tree cover in Africa, Australia, and South America to reveal strong evidence for the existence of three distinct attractors: forest, savanna, and a treeless state. Empirical reconstruction of the basins of attraction indicates that the resilience of the states varies in a universal way with precipitation. These results allow the identification of regions where forest or savanna may most easily tip into an alternative state, and they pave the way to a new generation of coupled climate models.     

Predator-prey role reversal in a marine benthic ecosystem

Two closely located islands on the west coast of South Africa support widely different benthic communities. The biota at Malgas Island is dominated by seaweeds and by rock lobsters that consume settling mussels, thereby preventing the establishment of the mussels. They also prey on whelks, although one speces, Burnupena papyracea, is protected from predation by a commensal bryozoan that covers its shell. Marcus Island has extensive mussel beds, but rock lobsters and seaweeds are virtually absent; whelks (mostly Burnupena spp.) occur at high densities. Rock lobsters transferred to Marcus Island were overwhelmed and consumed by the whelks, reversing the normal predatorprey relation between the two species. These two contrasting communities persisted during 4 years and may represent multiple states of the same ecosystem. This effective change of roles between a prey species and its chief predator may provide an intrinsic mechanism to maintain these states following the initial exclusion of the predator.     

具有HollingⅡ类功能反应和阶段结构捕食系统的全局稳定性

研究一类具有HollingⅡ类功能反应和捕食者、食饵均具有阶段结构的两种群捕食系统,得到了系统的一致持久性和周期系统存在唯一全局渐近稳定的周期解的充分条件.     

Field-effect tunneling transistor based on vertical graphene heterostructures

An obstacle to the use of graphene as an alternative to silicon electronics has been the absence of an energy gap between its conduction and valence bands, which makes it difficult to achieve low power dissipation in the OFF state. We report a bipolar field-effect transistor that exploits the low density of states in graphene and its one-atomic-layer thickness. Our prototype devices are graphene heterostructures with atomically thin boron nitride or molybdenum disulfide acting as a vertical transport barrier. They exhibit room-temperature switching ratios of ≈50 and ≈10,000, respectively. Such devices have potential for high-frequency operation and large-scale integration.     

Fright Posture of the Plesiopid Fish Calloplesiops altivelis: An Example of Batesian Mimicry

When frightened by a predator, the plesiopid fish, Calloplesiops altivelis, adopts a posture and appearance that mimics the head of a noxious moray eel, Gymnothorax meleagris. Tests indicate that the mimicry is Batesian and not Müllerian. Unlike the strategy of other reef-fish prey species, which hide when threatened, the Calloplesiops's strategy is one of intimidation.     

Predator-induced trophic shift of a free-living ciliate: parasitism of mosquito larvae by their prey

Larvae of the treehole mosquito, Aedes sierrensis, release a waterborne factor that induces morphogenesis of one of their prey, the tetrahymenid ciliate Lambornella clarki. Induced free-living trophonts of L. clarki undergo a synchronous response in which cells divide and transform into parasitic cells (theronts) that encyst on larval predators. Parasitic ciliates penetrate the cuticle, enter the hemocoel, and ultimately kill their predator-host. In nature, this trophic shift can lead to predator extinction and dramatic changes in microbial populations. Facultative parasitism by this polymorphic ciliate may have evolved as an antipredator strategy. The experimentally inducible parasitic response of L. clarki provides a novel model for studying cellular morphogenesis of ciliated protozoa.     

Erratic display as a device against predators

Prey animals in many different taxonomic groups behave erratically when attacked by predators. This reaction is not accidental, but acts as a specific antipredator device. Observational data and theoretical considerations indicate that such protean displays function to confuse and disorient the predator and to increase its reaction time. Thus the survival of the prey is assisted, and the selective advntage whereby such erratic patterns of the prey animals may have evolved is created.     

Peal-Reed模型在捕食性昆虫功能反应研究中的应用

根据昆虫功能反应数据 ,采用非线性回归分析方法 ,建立了描述昆虫功能反应的Peal -Reed模型。实例研究结果表明 :Peal-Reed模型是捕食者 -猎物功能反应研究中拟合精度最高的一种方法 ,为昆虫功能反应和生物防治的精确开展提供了新的研究方法。     

太平洋褶柔鱼摄食行为观察研究

鱿鱼类是摄食极为凶猛的海洋动物。实验条件下对太平洋褶柔鱼(Todarodes pacificus)的摄食行为进行观察与描述,实验分3种不同的太平洋褶柔鱼群体大小(3尾,7~12尾,以及44尾)在循环水水槽中进行,实验用太平洋褶柔鱼平均胴长为20 cm。用高感录像机对太平洋褶柔鱼摄食过程进行记录,同时观察太平洋褶柔鱼对饵料鱼的攻击行为。观察认为,发现、进攻目标饵料鱼阶段的角度范围分别为广分布和窄分布,大多数对饵料鱼的进攻阶段开始于二者相对距离为1到6个胴长间。太平洋褶柔鱼在攻击阶段时其体色表现出暗色模式。在个体多的太平洋褶柔鱼群体中,太平洋褶柔鱼追逐较大的饵料鱼,且有观察到几尾太平洋褶柔鱼共同分食一尾饵料鱼的现象。研究认为,太平洋褶柔鱼摄食行为与自身个体大小、群体大小以及饵料鱼大小等密切相关。     

HIV病理动力学模型分析

考虑了CD4＋T细胞的全logistic自我繁殖,构造了具有治疗的HIV病理研究模型,研究了解的存在性、正性及稳定性.通过对每个感染T细胞释放的HIV病毒平均数量N的讨论,得到：如果NNcrit,有无病平衡点和地方病平衡点两个平衡点,但此时无病平衡点不稳定,地方病平衡点是局部渐近稳定的.最后通过构造Dulac-Bendison函数,得到了地方病平衡点全局稳定的条件.     

腹管食螨瓢虫对桔全爪螨种群空间数量及时间动态的反应

腹管食螨瓢虫对其猎物桔全爪螨种群空间,数量及时间动态有明显的反应。在空间上,捕食者集中分布于猎物密度高的外层树冠,除其幼虫集中分布于树冠的中上部外,其余各虫态及其猎物种群在树冠各位点皆无显著的差异。捕食者能在果园内有效地搜索并趋集于猎物密度高的树上,对猎物种群聚集扩散趋势显示出有规则的反应。在数量上,捕食者在田间建立种群后,其数量消长将随猎物种群数量而起伏。捕食者对猎物种群空间及数量动态的反应都有10天左右的时滞。腹管食螨瓢虫对桔全爪螨自然控制效能高,经人工大量繁殖释放和助迁引进,是桔全爪螨综合治理的一个重要途径。     

具Holling功能性反应的三种群食物链系统的多个周期解的存在性

研究了一类食饵具有Smith增长和捕食者具有Holling功能性反应的三种群食物链系统多周期正解的存在性问题.运用分析技巧获得了两个有界开集,由重合度理论中的延拓定理得到至少存在两个周期正解的充分条件,推广改进了已知的相关结果.     

饵料鱼大小对乌鳢捕食的影响

测量了乌鳢口裂形态,以泥鳅(Misgurnus anguillicaudatus)作为饵料鱼,估算了不同规格乌鳢的摄食率,研究了饵料鱼大小对乌鳢捕食的影响.乌鳢口宽(M_w,cm)、口高(M_H,cm)和口面积(M_A,cm~2)与其全长(T_L,cm)的回归方程分别为:M_W=1.65~(e0.0242TL);MH=1.64 ~(e0.022TL);MA=2.12e~(0.0465TL).当水温保持在22～23℃时,4个规格组的乌鳢对泥鳅的摄食率无显著的差别(ANOVA,P>0.05),均值为1.68%.乌鳢对泥鳅的捕食具有明显的大小选择性,乌鳢最喜欢捕食猎物/捕食者大小比为0.25的泥鳅,很少捕食或不捕食猎物/捕食者大小比小于0.06或大于0.45的泥鳅.     

Diadema antillarum Was Not a Keystone Predator in Cryptic Reef Environments

The ecological impact of the disappearance of a major predator depends on the responsiveness of the prey. Mass mortality of the most abundant grazer in Caribbean cryptic reef environments, the sea urchin Diadema antilarum, selectively decreased rates of mortality of encrusting organisms by half, yet community composition hardly changed because alternative species failed to become established.     

一类具有HollingII型功能性反应的捕食者-食饵系统正周期解的存在性

研究了一类具HollingII型功能性反应的捕食者一食饵系统非平凡周期解的存在性,其中捕食者种群具有密度制约,食饵种群服从Hallam增长,得到了存在正周期解的充分性条件．     

Detoxification enzyme differences between a herbivorous and predatory mite

The detoxification capabilities of the predatory mite Amblyseius fallacis and its herbivorous prey Tetranychus urticae are fundamentally different. The activities of mixed-function oxidase and trans-epoxide hydrolase are higher in the prey than in the predator; those of cis-epoxide hydrolase and glutathione transferase are lower; and esterase activity is similar. Dissimilarities may be related both to differing adaptations to plant allelochemicals and to the higher respiration rate of the predator. Hydrolytic and conjugating reactions appear more important than oxidative pathways in imparting organophosphate resistance to these acarines. These resistances provide insecticide selectivity favorable to the predator and improved integrated pest control.