Quantifying trophic interactions and niche sizes of juvenile fishes in an invaded riverine cyprinid fish community

Quantifying feeding interactions between nonindigenous and indigenous fishes in invaded fish communities is important for determining how introduced species integrate into native food webs. Here, the trophic interactions of invasive 0+ European barbel Barbus barbus (L.) and the three other principal 0+ fishes in the community, Squalius cephalus (L.), Leuciscus leuciscus (L.) and Phoxinus phoxinus (L.), were investigated in the River Teme, a River Severn tributary in Western England. B. barbus has been present in the River Teme for approximately 40 years. Analyses of stomach contents from samples collected from three sites between June and September 2015 revealed that, overall, fishes displayed a generalist feeding strategy, with most prey having low frequency of selection. Relationships of diet composition versus body length and gape height were species‐specific, with increasing dietary specialisms apparent as the 0+ fishes increased in length and gape height. The trophic niche size of invasive B. barbus was always significantly smaller than S. cephalus and L. leuciscus and was significantly smaller than P. phoxinus at two sites. This was primarily due to differences in the functional morphology of the fishes; 0+ B. barbus were generally restricted to foraging on the benthos, whereas the other fishes were able to forage on prey present throughout the water column. Nevertheless, the invasive B. barbus were exploiting very similar prey items to populations in their native range, suggesting these invaders were strongly pre‐adapted to the River Teme and this arguably facilitated their establishment and invasion.     

Understanding farmers’ potato production practices and use of improved varieties in Chencha,Ethiopia

This study was carried out to better understand non-adoption of improved varieties of potato (Solanum tuberosum) and associated technologies by smallholder farmers in Chencha, Ethiopia. Data were collected through a survey (n = 47) and in-depth interviews (n = 20). It shows how wealth status was a factor of major importance. Most wealthy and some medium-wealthy farmers adopted improved potato varieties and many of the improved production practices; they had access to seed, associated knowledge and support, and sufficient resources that were necessary to apply the improved practices. Non-adoption was common among many medium-wealthy and most poor farmers: they lacked—next to access to the technologies and knowledge—cash, land, and labor. Results indicated the need to rethink research and intervention efforts. Next to paying attention to differences in the access to technology and the related knowledge, there is a need to consider the variation in technology needs, supporting microcredit services, and room to experiment. As a result, different combinations of improved production practices may be adopted.     

翘嘴鳜微卫星标记及其与主要经济性状的相关分析

利用筛选出的7对具有较高多态性的微卫星标记,检测106尾翘嘴鳜Siniperca chuatsi选育个体的基因组DNA,分析这些微卫星标记与翘嘴鳜体长、体质量和体高的相关性。结果获得67个等位基因,各位点的等位基因数为3~19,片段大小在147~530bp之间;期望杂合度0.5092~0.9207,均值为0.7574;各位点的多态信息含量在0.4639~0.9101之间,均值为0.7197,表明所选择的SSR标记识别力较高,适用于翘嘴鳜选育群体遗传分析和标记辅助育种研究。相关性分析结果表明,G4位点中含有的片段为219bp等位基因的基因型(229/219或219/219)个体的体质量、体长和体高的表型效应显著高于其他的基因型,G10位点中246/246基因型的体质量和体高表型效应显著高于其他基因型,可作为未来翘嘴鳜分子标记辅助育种的重要参考位点。     

采用主成分分析法评价廉州湾贝类养殖区水质状况

为了解广西廉州湾贝类养殖区水质状况并指导渔业生产,借助SPSS软件,分析了2013—2015年该养殖区的水温、溶氧(DO)、化学耗氧量(COD)、溶解态无机磷(DIP)、溶解态无机氮(DIN)、石油类、汞(Hg)和叶绿素-a(Chl-a)等8项水质因子。采用主成分分析法筛选对养殖区影响较显著的因子来综合评价水质状况。结果显示,在产卵期(5月)和高渔获期(10月)可以各提取占总方差89.9%、92.9%的前4个主成分来计算综合评价函数得分,2013—2015年各监测期水质综合得分依次是0.220、-0.211、0.759、1.028、-0.977、-0.817,分值高低反映水质污染程度。2013年两个监测期的水质均属于III类,2014年两个监测期的水质均属于IV类,2015年产卵期水质属于I类,2015年高渔获期水质属于II类。由此可知,养殖区水质综合状况不稳定,年际间变化较大,曾出现Hg超标情况,污染较严重的是DIP、DIN和Chl-a。因此,养殖区应加强码头日常作业及沿岸工业排污口管理,同时应控制生活污水、农业废水排入,合理规划养殖规模,防止贝类养殖自身污染。     

Dietary fishmeal levels affect the volatile compounds in cooked muscle of farmed large yellow croaker Larimichthys crocea

A comparative study on the volatile compounds in cooked muscle of wild and farmed large yellow croaker (LYC) was conducted. The two farmed LYC groups were fed with diets containing 44% (CF) and 25% (LF) of fish meal (FM) respectively. Results showed that 48 volatiles, including aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, hydrocarbons, aromatics, acids, esters, furans and miscellaneous compound, were detected in cooked fillets. The LF group had significantly lower amounts of total aldehydes and ketones, higher content of miscellaneous compound in cooked fillets than that in the CF and wild groups (p < .05). Compared with the wild group, the LF group had significantly lower amounts of total alcohols, acids and esters, while the CF group had significantly lower amounts of total aldehydes, higher content of total ketones in cooked muscle (p < .05). According to the principal component analysis (PCA), some volatiles (propanal, nonanal, etc.) could be considered as sensitive indicators to classify cooked muscle samples. In conclusion, differences in the volatiles in the cooked muscle between the wild and farmed LYC have been found. Low level of dietary FM (25%) changed the volatile profiles in cooked fillets of farmed LYC. A PCA may be useful to screen potential volatiles to classify cooked muscle samples in this study.     

气象因子对寒地水稻鞘腐病发生的影响

为明确主要气象因子对黑龙江省水稻主产区水稻鞘腐病发生的影响,从2007年开始连续10年进行定点调查,收集水稻鞘腐病发生时期的气象因子及病情指数,采用通径分析及逐步回归的方法,对影响水稻鞘腐病病情指数的气象因子进行了研究。结果表明,8月份的平均温度是对水稻鞘腐病影响最大的气象因子,其次为8月份的平均降雨量和9月份的平均日照时数。试验结果为适期施药防治水稻鞘腐病奠定了基础。     

Potential application of baited remote underwater video to survey abundance of west coast rock lobster Jasus lalandii

The first assessment of the baited remote underwater video system (BRUVs) for monitoring rock lobster Jasus lalandii (Milne‐Edwards) in South Africa was compared to annual ring net and trap survey data. Count data from 58 BRUVs, 36 ring net and 95 trap samples were fitted with generalised additive models using depth, habitat, time and spatial gradient as independent variables. A power analysis was used to determine the number of samples needed per annum to detect a 5 and 10% increase and decrease in population size. The BRUVs outperformed the nets and traps in terms of sampling effort and were better at detecting changes in abundance of lobster than abundance of three fish species. Considering factors such as cost, analysis time, additional data and environmental impact, traps are the most feasible method in deeper waters but BRUVs could replace nets and traps in depths less than 60 m, low‐density areas and marine reserves.     

响应面优化黑豆总黄酮微波辅助提取工艺及其抗氧化性能评价

为优化微波提取黑豆总黄酮化合物的工艺,并对其抗氧化性进行初步研究,在单因素试验的基础上,选取液料比、乙醇体积分数和微波功率为自变量,总黄酮得率为响应值的三因素三水平的响应曲面分析法,模拟得到二次多项式回归方程的预测模型。结果表明:提取工艺的最佳条件为功率600 W、液料比40∶1、乙醇体积分数60%,在此条件下,总黄酮得率达到22.1 mg·g~(-1)。抑制油脂过氧化作用的研究结果表明黑豆黄酮是一种天然的抗氧化剂。     

Cannibalism facilitates gigantism in a nine‐spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) population

Cannibalism is a taxonomically widespread phenomenon that can fundamentally affect the structure and stability of aquatic communities, including the emergence of a bimodal size distribution (“dwarfs” and “giants”) in fish populations. Emergence of giants could also be driven or facilitated by parasites that divert host resources from reproduction to growth. We studied the trophic ecology of giant nine‐spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) in a Finnish pond to evaluate the hypotheses that gigantism in this population would be facilitated by cannibalism and/or parasitic infections by Schistocephalus pungitii cestode. Stomach content analyses revealed an initial ontogenetic dietary shift from small to large benthic invertebrates, followed by cannibalism on 10–20‐mm‐long conspecifics by giant individuals. However, stable nitrogen isotopes (δ¹⁵N) indicated a concave relationship between fish size and trophic position, with relatively low trophic position estimates suggesting only facultative cannibalism among giants. The unexpectedly high trophic position of the intermediate‐sized fish may reflect substantial, but temporary, predation on eggs or young‐of‐the‐year conspecifics, but may also partly result from starvation caused by S. pungitii infection. However, it seems implausible that parasitic infections (i.e. castration) would explain gigantism among nine‐spined sticklebacks because all >100‐mm giants were unparasitised. Hence, the present results suggest that an ontogenetic niche shift from an invertebrate diet to intercohort cannibalism may facilitate the occurrence of gigantism in nine‐spined sticklebacks.