4个核桃类树种苗木应对持续干旱的生理响应

采用自然干旱法，对引种栽培的美国黑核桃‘北加州黑核桃’和美国山核桃‘波尼’以及乡土核桃树种（漾濞大泡核桃和旺核2号）的2年生苗木进行干旱胁迫处理，测定其生理生化指标，对比分析其抗旱性。结果表明：(1) 4个树种的根系活力、叶片相对含水量、叶片水势和超氧化物歧化酶均随干旱胁迫的增强而呈下降的趋势，叶片相对电导率呈上升的趋势，叶片丙二醛含量呈先增加后下降最后上升的趋势，可溶性糖含量呈先增后减的趋势。（2）叶片可溶性糖含量在第14天时发生显著变化；根系活力在第17天时发生显著变化；叶片相对含水量和丙二醛含量以及超氧化物歧化酶活性在第19天时开始发生显著变化；叶片相对电导率、叶片水势均在第23天时发生显著变化。 (3) 4个树种的抗旱隶属值排序为：‘北加州黑核桃’>‘波尼’>‘旺核2号’>漾濞大泡核桃，说明引进种对干旱的适应性要高于乡土树种。     

辣木叶多糖对过氧化氢诱导奶牛乳腺上皮细胞氧化损伤的保护作用

奶牛乳腺上皮细胞(BMECs)在奶牛泌乳期代谢旺盛,导致活性氧(ROS)大量产生,从而诱发氧化应激。辣木叶多糖(MLP)能有效清除ROS和自由基,但其是否具有缓解BMECs氧化损伤的潜力尚不清楚。因此,本文以MLP为添加剂,探究其对过氧化氢(H2O2)诱导BMECs氧化损伤的保护作用。本试验首先将分离的BMECs置于含有不同浓度H2O2的培养基中培养2 h建立氧化损伤模型,以确定H2O2的适宜浓度;随后在培养基中加入不同浓度MLP溶液培养BMECs 2 h,以确定MLP适宜浓度;最终选用浓度为500μmol/L的H2O2和4 mg/mL的MLP用于本试验。试验设置4个组,分别为对照组1(BMECs)、对照组2(BMECs+MLP)、损伤组(BMECs+H2O2)、保护组(BMECs+MLP+H2O2),每组3个重复。试验对BMECs中ROS数量、BMECs凋亡以及BMECs中过氧化氢酶(CAT)、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(GSH-Px)、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性和丙二醛(MDA)含量进行检测。结果表明:1)ROS检测结果显示,MLP抑制了细胞内ROS的生成。2)Hochest33258染色结果与透射电镜观察结果显示,MLP降低了BMECs的凋亡率,同时保持了细胞膜和细胞结构完整性。3)试剂盒检测结果显示,MLP提高了BMECs中CAT、GSH-Px和SOD活性,同时降低了MDA含量。综上所述,MLP可有效减缓BMECs凋亡,提高其抗氧化能力。     

利用HPLC-ICP-MS方法测定中华绒螯蟹不同形态砷的残留量

采用高效液相色谱串联电感耦合等离子体质谱仪(HPLC-ICP-MS)测定中华绒螯蟹可食部位6种砷形态的残留量。经过前处理、提取和脱脂后,通过色谱柱、流动相、pH和流速等参数调节,筛选得到最优化的分离和检测条件。结果表明,6种砷形态的混合标准溶液在质量浓度0~50 μg/L范围时,均呈现良好的线性关系,其R²达到0.999,检测限为0.0060~0.0912 μg/kg,定量限为0.020~0.304 μg/kg。在样品中添加0.5、5、50 μg/L浓度水平,回收率良好,范围是70%~120%,相对标准偏差(RSD)均<5%,方法精密度与重复性均良好。本方法为中华绒螯蟹可食部位砷形态残留量建立了有效检测方法,为水产品砷残留快速检测提供技术支撑。     

Factors driving natural regeneration beneath a planted urban forest

Cities around the world are investing in urban forest plantings as a form of green infrastructure. The aim is that these plantations will develop into naturally-regenerating native forest stands. However, woody plant recruitment is often cited as the most limiting factor to creating self-sustaining urban forests. As such, there is interest in site treatments that promote recruitment of native woody species and simultaneously suppress woody non-native recruitment. We tested how three, common site treatments—compost, nurse shrubs, and tree species composition (six-species vs. two-species)—affected woody plant recruitment in 54 experimental plots beneath a large-scale tree planting within a high-traffic urban park. We identified naturally regenerating seedling and sapling species and measured their abundance six-years after the site was planted. This enabled us to examine initial recruitment dynamics (i.e. seedlings) and gain a better understanding of seedling success as they transition to the midstory (i.e. saplings). Seedling and sapling recruitment (native and total) was greater in areas with higher canopy cover. The combination of the nurse shrub treatment with compost and species composition (six-species) treatments increased seedling recruitment by 47% and 156%, respectively; however, the nurse shrub treatment by itself decreased seedling recruitment by 5% and native seedling recruitment by 35%. The compost treatment alone had no effect on the total number of recruits but resulted in 76% more non-native seedlings. The sizes of these treatment effects were strongly dependent on whether the forest plantings were in open areas, versus areas with existing tree canopy, the latter condition facilitating recruitment. Our findings therefore suggest that combinations of site treatments, paired with broad canopy tree species, may be most effective for promoting regeneration of native species resulting in more self-sustaining urban forests.     

Habitat specialization and sensitivity to change in a threatened crayfish occupying upland streams

1. Crayfish are culturally and ecologically important species in freshwater ecosystems, but many are now threatened with extinction, due to threats such as habitat loss. Depending on their habitat selectivity and sensitivity, freshwater crayfish could provide effective targets for stream monitoring, restoration and conservation. This study used repeated field surveys of the threatened Murray crayfish, Euastacus armatus (family Parastacidae), to establish their habitat preferences and sensitivity to habitat loss across mesohabitat and microhabitat scales within upland streams of south‐east Australia. 2. Selectivity analysis revealed that upland populations of E. armatus displayed a strong preference for areas of intermediate water flow velocity, deeper water, and stream beds dominated by boulders and gravel. Variations in E. armatus density among and within the two upland streams aligned with these microhabitat preferences, with best‐subsets analyses revealing that E. armatus abundance hotspots were best predicted by models combining water depth with percentage cover of boulders, gravel and overhanging riparian vegetation. 3. Major shifts in stream habitat condition from 2009 to 2015 (e.g. 32% and 50% decline in boulder and overhanging vegetation cover, respectively) was associated with a 91% decline in E. armatus mean density within glide‐pool mesohabitats. 4. These findings highlight how habitat specialization in threatened crayfish such as E. armatus may render them sensitive to changes in stream habitat condition, and how targeted monitoring, restoration and conservation of their preferred habitats could yield multiple benefits for montane freshwater ecosystems. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Breaking the ice: the introduction of biofouling organisms to Antarctica on vessel hulls

1. Few reports exist that describe marine non‐native species in the Southern Ocean and near‐shore waters around the Antarctic continent. Nevertheless, Antarctica's isolated marine communities, which show high levels of endemism, may be vulnerable to invasion by anthropogenically introduced species from outside Antarctica via vessel hull biofouling.
2. Hull surveys of the British Antarctic Survey's RRS James Clark Ross were undertaken between 2007 and 2014 at Rothera Research Station on the Antarctic Peninsula (Lat. 67°34'S; Long. 68°07'W) to investigate levels of biofouling. In each case, following transit through scouring sea‐ice, over 99% of the vessel hull was free of macroscopic fouling communities. However, in some surveys microbial/algal biofilms, balanomorph barnacles and live individuals of the cosmopolitan pelagic barnacle, Conchoderma auritum were found in the vicinity of intake ports, demonstrating the potential for non‐native species to be transported to Antarctica on vessel hulls.
3. Increasing ship traffic volumes and declining duration of sea ice in waters to the north and west of the Antarctic Peninsula mean the region may be at increased risk of non‐native species introductions. Locations at particular risk may include the waters around popular visitor sites, such as Goudier Island, Neko Harbour, Whalers Bay, Cuverville Island and Half Moon Island, and around northern peninsula research stations.
4. Simple and cost‐effective mitigation measures, such as intentionally moving transiting ships briefly through available offshore sea ice to scour off accessible biofouling communities, may substantially reduce hull‐borne propagule pressure to the region. Better quantification of the risk of marine non‐native species introductions posed by vessel hulls to both Arctic and Antarctic environments, as sea ice patterns and shipping traffic volumes change, will inform the development of appropriate regional and international management responses.

Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Cryopreservation of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) sperm: effects of cryoprotectants,antioxidant, membrane stabilizer,equilibration time and dilution ratio on sperm motility and fertility

Three experiments were performed to develop protocols for cryopreservation of Persian sturgeon Acipenser persicus, sperm. In the first experiment, sperm from six males was individually split in three subsamples and cryopreserved using Modified Tsvetkova's extender (mT) supplemented with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), methanol (MeOH), glycerol (Gly) and ethylene glycol (EG) at concentration of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. In the second set of experiments, the effects of six equilibration times (0, 5, 10, 20, 40 and 60 min) and dilution ratios (volume sperm: volume extender 1:0.5, 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:5 and 1:10) and the additive advantage of bovine serum albumin (BSA; 0, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg mL^?1) and ascorbic acid (0, 2.5, 5 and 10 U mL^?1), on the post‐thaw survival of sperm (triplicate set of six fish) were evaluated. Then, sperm was diluted in 1:1 mT extender with 10 mg mL^?1 BSA with selected cryoprotectants (15% MeOH and 10% DMSO) for 5 min. After a month of storage in liquid nitrogen, post‐thawed sperm motility; fertilization and hatching rate and viability of derived larvae were measured (Exp.3). Evaluation of cryoprotectants efficiency showed that MeOH 15% and DMSO 10% were suitable for cryopreservation of Persian sturgeon sperm. Gly and EG resulted in very low post‐thaw motility rates even at lowest concentration. No significant difference was observed among the four different equilibration times (0, 5, 10, 20 min) (P > 0.05) although higher equilibration times than 20 min resulted low post‐thaw motility (P < 0.05). The motility of frozen–thawed sperm did not significantly change when dilution ratio was increased from 1:0.5 to 1:3 (P > 0.05). However, higher dilution ratios (1:5 and 1:10) reduced the percentage of motile sperm. Supplementation of the cryoprotectant solution with 10 mg mL^?1 BSA significantly improved post‐thaw motility (P < 0.05), but ascorbic acid did not improve post‐thaw motility (P > 0.05). The results of experiment 3 showed that the highest fertilization (30.2 ± 5.75) and hatching rates (28.2 ± 5.25) were observed when samples were frozen with 15% MeOH (P > 0.05). Our study indicates that the use of mT extender consisting of 10 mg mL^?1 BSA in 15% MeOH diluted with sperm at 1:1 ratio for 5 min can be recommended cryopreservation method for Persian sturgeon sperm.     

Effect of an intensive mechanical removal effort on a population of non‐native rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in a South African headwater stream

1. Invasions by non‐native species can compromise the conservation value of otherwise pristine headwater streams. While both developed and developing countries recognize this threat, few of the latter have suitable budgets to implement control programmes.
2. This study assessed the effectiveness of a mechanical project to remove non‐native rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss from a 6 km section of the upper Krom River, a small headwater stream in the Cederberg Mountains in South Africa's Cape Floristic Region (CFR).
3. From October 2013 to February 2014, 354 O. mykiss were removed by angling (58%), fyke netting (28%) and gill netting (14%). This resulted in a marked reduction, but not eradication, of the O. mykiss population (fish relative abundance decreased from 0.53 ± 0.09 fish per net per night in October 2013 to 0.21 ± 0.09 fish per net per night in February 2014). Following the cessation of manual removals, the relative abundance of O. mykiss had increased to 0.56 ± 0.18 fish per net per night by March 2016, suggesting that without sustained removal effort, the population will rapidly return to its pre‐removal abundance level.
4. Further work is needed to refine the methodology and test the effectiveness of mechanical removal of non‐native freshwater fish in a variety of ecological settings in the CFR. This approach holds potential for meeting the dual goals of reducing the ecological impacts of non‐native fishes and generating employment opportunities in line with the policy objectives of developing nations.

     

Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 as a potential biological control agent for carp (Cyprinus carpio) in Australia: susceptibility of non‐target species

Carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) is a pest species in Australian waterways, and cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV‐3) is being considered as a potential biological control (biocontrol) agent. An important consideration for any such agent is its target specificity. In this study, the susceptibility to CyHV‐3 of a range of non‐target species (NTS) was tested. The NTS were as follows: 13 native Australian, and one introduced, fish species; a lamprey species; a crustacean; two native amphibian species (tadpole and mature stages); two native reptilian species; chickens; and laboratory mice. Animals were exposed to 100–1000 times the approximate minimum amount of CyHV‐3 required to cause disease in carp by intraperitoneal and/or bath challenge, and then examined clinically each day over the course of 28 days post‐challenge. There were no clinical signs, mortalities or histological evidence consistent with a viral infection in a wide taxonomic range of NTS. Furthermore, there was no molecular evidence of infection with CyHV‐3, and, in particular, all RT‐PCRs for viral mRNA were negative. As a consequence, the results encourage further investigation of CyHV‐3 as a potential biocontrol agent that is specific for carp.     

Growth characteristics of the endangered thick‐shelled river mussel (Unio crassus) near the northern limit of its natural range

1. The thick‐shelled river mussel, Unio crassus (Bivalvia: Unionoida), is one of Europe's most‐threatened mussels. Finnish populations of U. crassus lie close to the northern limit of its natural distribution. Extirpation of these populations will reduce the range of this endangered species.
2. Growth characteristics of U. crassus were measured in a river running through the Helsinki metropolitan area. Shell dimensions (size‐at‐age data) and annual shell growth increments were used to reconstruct growth rate and its variation during the lifespan of individual mussels and to investigate the relationship between growth rate and longevity (age‐at‐death).
3. Reconstructed growth rates compared well with size‐at‐age data conventionally used to study individual growth in natural populations, and fitted von Bertalanffy growth functions very well. Based on the same function, reconstruction and size‐at‐age methods resulted in similar estimates of growth rate.
4. Shell weight explained the body size more reliably than age, suggesting that growth rate varied significantly among individuals. Comparison of individual growth histories revealed a negative correlation between age‐at‐death and growth rate, i.e. slow‐growing mussels lived longer, and vice versa.
5. In comparison with populations from central and southern Europe, U. crassus populations in the north of its range grew more slowly but lived longer, a phenomenon most likely explained by latitudinal changes in ambient temperature.
6. Although northern populations are expected to benefit from a relatively high number of reproductive periods and lower juvenile mortality, the individuals studied here died earlier and suffered higher mortality than expected and an elevated conservative status is identified. Any management programme should take into account the life‐history traits essential to the recognition of management units of U. crassus.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.