The re-emergence of indigenous forest in an urban environment, Christchurch, New Zealand

Christchurch, the second largest city in New Zealand is a planned city on a coastal plain on the east coast of the South Island. The birth of the city and the subsequent century of development was characterised by colonial values and tree and garden planting with familiar European species along with those from Australia, North America, and eventually all other continents. The image of an “English garden city” with classical parks of oaks and willow-lined rivers became the accepted norm and the way in which the city has been promoted to potential tourists. Gardening is one of the top two recreational activities and exotic species greatly outnumber native species in the flora and in gardens. This has had serious consequences for the highly fragmented and degraded indigenous vegetation and its co-adapted wildlife. A few hardy indigenous species continued to regenerate through this period, but since the 1970s, there has been a progressive change of attitude and interest in reclaiming the natural heritage of the city, manifest in widespread private and public planting of indigenous species and active habitat restoration. In this article we examine the indigenous and exotic shrub and tree components of the Christchurch flora as planted street trees, in domestic gardens, and in parks. We also present data on shrub and tree regeneration in parks and domestic gardens in the city. Indications are that the more sensitive, less intrusive management of urban environments, combined with the greater density of indigenous seed sources, has allowed regeneration of a wide range of indigenous species across a broad spectrum of habitats – from neglected gardens to pavement cracks to exotic plantations. This is despite the competition from the prodigious seed banks and density of exotic trees, shrubs, and ground covers and albeit minimal impacts of introduced browsing and seed eating mammals. If the present trends continue through appropriate management and facilitation, these tentative signs of native forest regeneration should eventually proliferate into a sustainable mixed origin urban forest that resurrects and preserves the natural character of the region.     

Hazard tree liability in the United States: Uncertain risks for owners and professionals

The liability United States (U.S.) tree owners face from hazardous trees on their private properties has and continues to undergo a transformation. The traditional common law legal test focused upon whether a tree owner had acted to create a hazardous condition on the property. The modern trend is towards a test that imposes greater responsibility and greater uncertainty on tree owners and arborists. Abandoning the natural/artificial distinction, the modern test, adopted in half the U.S. jurisdictions, imposes general principles of negligence on tree owners. This paper discusses the U.S. legal context for hazardous trees, particularly the impacts on individual tree owners. It closes by addressing various practical means to minimize the risks associated with the modern legal standards, both for susceptible tree owners, and for professionals assessing the subject property.     

农业外来生物入侵种研究现状与发展趋势

目前国际上对外来生物入侵种的研究主要在个体水平上研究外来种对新环境的进化与适应,本地种对生物入侵后发生的进化调整;种群和群落水平上研究外来种的定居、潜伏、竞争和暴发;生态系统水平上研究生境的可入侵性和外来种对生态系统结构和功能的影响等几个方面。风险分析标准化与定量化、检疫鉴定快速化、除害技术安全化、信息管理全球化是全世界对外来物种入侵管理与科研的焦点问题。本文依据外来物种入侵的形成和扩散暴发过程,提出了超前预防和综合管理等未来需要解决的关键问题。     

半自然条件下几种赤眼蜂及品系对亚洲玉米螟卵寄生能力比较

在半自然条件(田间网罩)下,将人工饲养的玉米螟卵按4、8、16块/株3个处理分别固定在网罩内的玉米植株中上部叶片上,然后每网罩分别引入供试赤眼蜂20头,24 h后更换玉米螟卵块,连续3 d。7 d后调查供寄生的玉米螟卵被寄生率及羽化率。结果表明:在半自然条件下广赤眼蜂伊朗1-1品系虽寄生能力高于其他供试品系,但到第2、3天明显降低;玉米螟赤眼蜂北京6-2-2品系每天均维持一个较平稳的寄生能力,产卵量在时间上的分配比较分散,并在第2、3天显示出比其他品系较高的寄生潜能。广赤眼蜂伊朗1-1品系的卵块寄生数量可随卵块密度的增加而增加,而其他品系则在各处理密度下,寄生数量基本没有变化;从卵粒寄生率看,广赤眼蜂伊朗1-1和吉林1-2两个品系的寄生数量随卵块密度的增加而大幅度提高,其他品系增加幅度较小。     

Effects of area and isolation of woodland patches on herbaceous plant species richness across Great Britain

Richness of Ancient Woodland Indicator plant species was analysed in 308 woodland patches that were surveyed during the Countryside Survey of Great Britain carried out in 1998. The Countryside Survey recorded vegetation plots and landscape structure in 569 stratified 1 km sample squares and developed a remotely-sensed land cover map of the UK. Using these datasets, we tested the hypothesis that Ancient Woodland Indicator species richness in woodland fragments was limited by patch area, shape and spatial isolation and that woodland patches located in the lowland region of Great Britain would respond differently than those in the upland region. The variation in Ancient Woodland Indicator species richness in the British lowlands (n = 218) was mainly explained by patch area and two measures of connectivity, the length of hedgerows and lines of trees in the 1 km square and the area of woodland within 500 m of the vegetation plot. By contrast, variation in Ancient Woodland Indicator species richness in the British uplands (n = 90) was related to Ellenberg scores of the vegetation communities sampled – a surrogate for habitat quality – and no significant effect of spatial structure was detected. It therefore appears that the degree of fragmentation of woodland in the British lowlands limits the distribution of Ancient Woodland Indicator species, while in the uplands, failed colonisation is a matter of habitat quality rather than a result of landscape structure.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Role of vascular NAD(P)H oxidase in vascular remodeling

NAD(P)H oxidase was initially found in phagocytes and it participates in the generation of reactive oxygen species(ROS). Recent researches have showed that NAD(P)H oxidase also expresses in other tissues including blood vessels and it plays a critical role in vascular remodeling through ROS which are important signaling molecules in vascular cells.This article reviews the biochemical characterization, activation paradigms, structure, and function of this enzyme.     

我国部分地区猪繁殖与呼吸综合征病毒分离株ORF5基因的遗传变异分析

参考Genbank发表的猪繁殖与呼吸综合征病毒（PKRSV）ATCC VR-2332的ORF5基因序列，设计并合成了一对引物．对来自福建、浙江、山东等地的PRRSV分离毒株进行RT-PCR扩增．获得约748bp的DNA片断，将其分别克隆入pMD18-T载体中，并进行测序。应用DNAStar软件分析所测序列，并与ATCCVR-2332、CH-1a、MLV、Lv等毒株的ORF5序列进行比较，结果表明：SHDl与F114、MLV、ATCCVR-2332同源性高达98．5％，与CH-1a同源性为91．0％，与其它毒株同源性为86．6％~88．4％；F114与MLV、ATCCVR-2332同源性为99．3％～99．7％．其余分离毒株在遗传关系上和CH-1a又分为明显的两个群．显示近年来各地PRRSV分离毒株与cH-1a株的遗传差异越来越大。     

Melatonin reduces apoptotic cells,SOD2 and HSPB1 and improves the in vitro production and quality of bovine blastocysts

Effects of adding different concentrations of melatonin (10^?7, 10^?9 and 10^?11 M) to maturation (Experiment 1; Control, IVM  + 10^?7, IVM  + 10^?9, IVM  + 10^?11) and culture media (Experiment 2; Control, IVC  + 10^?7, IVC  + 10^?9, IVC  + 10^?11) were evaluated on in vitro bovine embryonic development. The optimal concentration of melatonin (10^?9 M) from Experiments 1–2 was tested in both maturation and/or culture media of Experiment 3 (Control, IVM  + 10^?9, IVC  + 10^?9, IVM /IVC  + 10^?9). In Experiment 1, maturated oocytes from Control and IVM  + 10^?9 treatments showed increased glutathione content, mitochondrial membrane potential and percentage of Grade I blastocysts (40.6% and 43%, respectively). In Experiment 2, an increase in the percentage of Grade I blastocysts was detected in IVC  + 10^?7 (43.5%; 56.7%) and IVC  + 10^?9 (47.4%; 57.4%). Moreover, a lower number and percentage of apoptotic cells in blastocysts were observed in the IVC  + 10^?9 group compared to Control (3.8 ± 0.6; 3.6% versus 6.1 ± 0.6; 5.3%). In Experiment 3, the IVC  + 10^?9 treatment increased percentage of Grade I blastocysts with a lower number of apoptotic cells compared to IVM /IVC  + 10^?9 group (52.6%; 3.0 ± 0.5 versus 46.0%; 5.4 ± 1.0). The IVC  + 10^?9 treatment also had a higher mRNA expression of antioxidant gene (SOD 2) compared to the Control, as well as the heat shock protein (HSPB 1) compared to the IVM  + 10^?9. Reactive oxygen species production was greater in the IVM /IVC  + 10^?9 treatment group. In conclusion, the 10^?9 M concentration of melatonin and the in vitro production phase in which it is used directly affected embryonic development and quality.     

The Situation for Quinoa and Its Production in Southern Bolivia: From Economic Success to Environmental Disaster

In Bolivia, one of the world’s most important centres of plant domestication, there is growing awareness of the value of native Andean crops, both for domestic consumption and for market sale – notably the virtually boom‐like consumer demand for quinoa around the world. The southern altiplano of Bolivia, south of Oruro, relies almost purely on the production of quinoa and breeding of llamas, which have also been selected as the two commodities of priority to the government to increase the income of the country. Presently, however, quinoa is facing increasing problems in production, owing to its increasing export market and price. The flat areas around the salt desert of the southern altiplano, previously characterized by natural vegetation fed by the llamas, are being increasingly sown with quinoa, hence transformed into deserts, because intensive cultivation methods make the soil loose its fertility. Possible solutions to these problems will require extensive efforts in the south, in addition to various strategies, which also include other parts of the Bolivian altiplano and a strengthened focus on other Andean crops.