Disentangling the drivers of β diversity along latitudinal and elevational gradients

Understanding spatial variation in biodiversity along environmental gradients is a central theme in ecology. Differences in species compositional turnover among sites (β diversity) occurring along gradients are often used to infer variation in the processes structuring communities. Here, we show that sampling alone predicts changes in β diversity caused simply by changes in the sizes of species pools. For example, forest inventories sampled along latitudinal and elevational gradients show the well-documented pattern that β diversity is higher in the tropics and at low elevations. However, after correcting for variation in pooled species richness (γ diversity), these differences in β diversity disappear. Therefore, there is no need to invoke differences in the mechanisms of community assembly in temperate versus tropical systems to explain these global-scale patterns of β diversity.     

Comment on "Does the hydrated electron occupy a cavity?"

Larsen et al. (Reports, 2 July 2010, p. 65) challenged the long-standing model of the solvent geometry surrounding a free electron in water using molecular dynamics simulations based on a newly derived electron-water pseudopotential. We illustrate that, in contrast to the model they used, the true electron-water interaction is repulsive in the region relevant to the reported extended electron distribution, consistent with the cavity model.     

The Comment on the Generating Factors of Jian＇an Prose

建安文学产生于汉末的分裂、动荡时期,这一时期特殊的社会政治、思想文化、独特的士风与士人心态催生了建安文学创作的繁荣。考察这些因素,有助于我们更好地理解文学与社会各因素之间错综复杂的关系。     

Study on the Effect of ESR and FSH β Genes on Litter Size in Local Northeast Three Pig Breeds

The method of PCR-RFLP was used to analyze the effects of ESR and FSH β genotypes on the litter size, especially the corresponding changes with the difference of genotype distributions in the Min, Sanjiang and Junmu I pigs. The results show that the ESR and FSH β genes are the major genes of litter size ; the heterozygous genotype for ESR as well as for FSH β locus has a more litter size than others. However, the combined genotype ABDD means a more litter size than other genotypes,the frequencies of the heterozygous genotypes in Sanjlang and Junmu I are lower than in Min which maybe one of the most important reasons for the little litter sizes of those two breeds.     

Comment on "Activation of β-catenin in dendritic cells regulates immunity versus tolerance in the intestine"

Manicassamy et al. (Reports, 13 August 2010, p. 849) deleted β-catenin in intestinal immune cells using a CD11c-driven Cre recombinase, which decreased anti-inflammatory mediators and increased inflammatory bowel disease. However, the deletion of β-catenin in macrophages remains a caveat to their interpretation that Wnt signaling programs dendritic cells into a tolerogenic state. Development of strains expressing Cre in a more finely lineage-restricted pattern may help resolve this issue.     

Study on the Control Technique of "On" and "Off" Years of Early Maturing Citrus unshiu

为了扭转贵州省北部地区早熟温州蜜柑（Citrus unshiu Marc．）生产大小年现象普遍的现状,并为制订橘园科学的栽培技术方案与合理的管理措施提供参考,试验历经7年2005～2011对早熟温州蜜柑控制大小年的栽培技术进行了实地配套优化研究。结果表明,通过合理的树体整形、加强土肥水管理、有针对性地花果管理、有效控制和综合防治病虫害等配套栽培技术应用,能够显著提高当地早熟温州蜜柑果园果实的产量,使大小年的产量差距控制在,10％～15％以内,把原来大小年现象严重的橘园变成了产量较为稳定的丰产园,同时还提高了早熟温州蜜柑果实的商品率,取得了良好的经济效益.     

Comment on "Atmospheric PCO₂ perturbations associated with the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province"

Schaller et al. (Research Article, 18 March 2011, p. 1404) proposed that carbon dioxide (CO(2)) released by the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province eruptions over periods of about 20,000 years led to substantial increases of up to 2000 parts per million (ppm) in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (PCO(2)) near the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. Use of an atmosphere-ocean model coupled to a carbon-cycle model predicts PCO(2) increases of less than 400 ppm from magmatic volatiles, with only a small climatic impact.     

Effect of soil type and overgrowth time on agrochemical parameters of fallow lands located along the accumulation trend of material–energy flow

It has been shown that changes in agrochemical parameters of fallow lands depend on the type of soil and the time of overgrowth. A gradual acidification of the postagrogenic layer, its differentiation into two sublayers by the contents of humus and total exchangeable bases, and a decrease in the content of mineral nutrients are observed in overgrown agrosoddy-podzolic soils. In agrogray soils, these processes are less intense.     

Status and Perspectives of the Researches on Lawn

There is a rapid development of lawn industry, however, the researches on lawn culture, maintenance and its mechanis mslag behind. Studies of drought-resistance, fertilization, management and maintenance of lawn are discussed in this paper.Besides, problems with the research on lawn culture and its maintenance in China are also analyzed. For example, soil has been destroyed seriously by the production of wrapping sward, but the studies on turf medium are deficient. Besides, the maintenance and management of lawn have not a standard due to the shortage of studies on turf quality assessment;applications of high-technique to lawn sciences are inadequate too. The developing tendency of lawn research in China is suggested at the end of this paper to help for the further studies in this field.     

Comment on "Lévy walks evolve through interaction between movement and environmental complexity"

de Jager et al. (Reports, 24 June 2011, p. 1551) concluded that mussels Lévy walk. We confronted a larger model set with these data and found that mussels do not Lévy walk: Their movement is best described by a composite Brownian walk. This shows how model selection based on an impoverished set of candidate models can lead to incorrect inferences.     

Studies on the Extraction Technology and the Application of Chicken Pepsin

ＳｔｕｄｉｅｓｏｎｔｈｅＥｘｔｒａｃｔｉｏｎＴｅｃｈｎｏｌｏｇｙａｎｄｔｈｅＡｐｐｌｉｃａｔｉｏｎｏｆＣｈｉｃｋｅｎＰｅｐｓｉｎＹｅＬｉｙａｎｇ，ＳｈｅｎｇＬｅｉ，ＺｈｕＪｉａＪｉｎ，ＹｕＫｅｍｉｎｇ，ＷｕＸｉａｏｑｉｎ（Ｄｅｐｔ．ｏｆＦｏｏｄＳｃｉ...     

The Effect of Chitosan and Sodium Alginate on the Growth and Photosynthesis of Soybean

1　Introduction　　Sodium alginate and chitosan are the oceanic natural resources and high molecular com-pound which can promote the plant growth,and protect various plants from harmful organ-isms or prevent plant disease caused by harmful organisms( Makuuch,1 998and Hadwiger,etal. 1 983) .The two materials were used as coating materials,plant promoters,foliar sprayingin soil and so on( Mitchell,1 96 2 ;Brown,982 ;Cuero,1 991 ,Osuji,1 992 ) .Because the two ma-terials are degradable in soil …     

The Effect of Chintosan and Sodium Alginate on the Growth and Photosynthesis of Soybean

Seed coating can make soybean seedling grow more strongly and reinforce the resistance of soybean plant.Sodium alginate and chitosan are high-molecular compound of two different kind,have the characteristic of promoting the crop growth,Using sodium alginate and chitosan as coating materials under different concentration can improve the growth and photosynthesis obviously and can decrease pollution because of their characteristics.The analysis show that the effects of Sodium Alginate on soybean plant are better than chitosan and the best concentration is 0.5g.kg^-1.     

The Studies on the Grunting of Sows during Nursing and the Sucking Behaviour of Piglets

Two experiments were carried out to study the grunting of sows during nursing and the sucking be-haviour of piglets. In experimental I,six Yorkshire sows and their litters were observed and managed in farrowing crates.In experimental Ⅱ,six Harbin White sows and their litters were selected and housed in farrowing pens.The behaviours and activities of the sows during nursing and the actities of piglest during sucking were recorded with a portable video camera (PanasonicNV-VX22EN)The results showed that the characteristic patterns of grunting by the sows consist of an initial period of rhythmic grunting at a fairly constant rate and followesd by a period of more rapid grunting,and then a decline in grunting rate toward the completion of nursing.The pattern of vocalization showed by the mothers bears a reliable synchronization to the sucking behaviour of the piglets.The rate of grunting varied little during jostling for teat and nosing the udder.The beginning of slow sucking usually occurred during of just after the increase in grunt rate.The rapid sucking began 15-25seconds after the period of most rapid grunting,fol-lowingthe decrease of grunt rate.afterwards the nursing ended.There were individualities found in sows‘grunting patterns.It is found that vocalizations attracted the piglets to the sows and synchronized sucking activities of piglets,but the results indicated that the premassaging time and numbers of piglets enagaing massaging influ-enced the grunting pattern and the onset of the milk ejection.As more piglets were involved the massaging,the higher the grunting rate peak,the faster the milk ejection.     

A Study on the Tryptic Hydrolysis of Proteins in Skim Milk and the Characteristics of the Hydrolysate

Limited enzymatic hydrolysis of skim milk by trypsin was investigated in this paper,and it was found that the degree of hydrolysis (DH) of milk proteins had a relationship of DH^-1=a bt^-1 with the time(t) of hydrolysis at low enzyme concentrations some properties of the protein such as NSI in PI or TCA were changed obviously,It was suggested that mosk milk proteins would be degraded into peptides by trypsin.     

Genetic diversity center of cultivated soybean(Glycine max) in China——New insight and evidence for the diversity center of Chinese cultivated soybean

Information on the center of genetic diversity of soybean(Glycine max) will be helpful not only for designing efficient strategies for breeding programs, but also for understanding the domestication and origin of this species. Here, we describe an analysis of genetic diversity based on simple-sequence repeat(SSR) variations within a core collection of 2 111 accessions of Chinese soybean landraces. Prior to the diversity assessment, the geographic origin of each accession was mapped. The map was then divided into grids each 2.5° in latitude and 5° in longitude. We found two regions that had higher number of alleles(NA) and greater polymorphic information content(PIC) values than the others. These regions are adjacently located within grid position of 30°–35°N×105°–110°E, which includes the valley of the middle and lower reaches of the Wei River, and the valley of the upper reaches of the Hanjiang River. It was also observed that in many regions, genetic diversity decreased with the increase in distance from the center. Another region, in northern Hebei Province(115°–120°E×40°–42.5°N), was observed having higher diversity than any surrounding regions, indicating that this is a sub-center of soybean diversity. Based on the presented results, the domestication and origin of soybean are also discussed.     

Varietal and Seasonal Effect of Rice on the Physicochemical Properties of Rice Flakes

Rice-based flakes made from 7 mid-season rice varieties （4 indica and 3 japonica subspecies） and 3 early season indica varieties produced both in early and late season were studied for their main physicochemical characters, including water activity, film thickness, bulk density （BD）, ash, reducing sugars （RS）, protein, phytic acid, starch, amylose, and rapid visco analyser （RVA） viscosity profile. A significant varietal effect was found for all these parameters （P〈 0.05 or 0.01） except starch. Strong variety x season interactions were observed but the seasonal effect was less pronounced, and only significant （P〈0.01） for RS. The apparent amylose content （AAC） office flakes was significantly correlated （P〈0.01） with AAC （r=0.99） and several RVA profile parameters [e.g., final viscosity （r=0.92）] of rice flour. For rice flakes, BD was significantly correlated with AAC （r=0.82, P〈0.01） and most RVA profile parameters. The study indicates that varietal and environmental effects should be considered simultaneously for optimal production of rice grains for rice flakes manufacturing.     

Effects of N, P and K Fertilizers on the Yield of Cauliflower

以花椰菜“厦雪100天”品种为试材,采用通用旋转组合设计,通过田间试验,对氮、磷、钾肥用量与花椰菜产量间的关系进行研究,建立了花椰菜产量函数模型;结果表明:氮、磷、钾肥均能显著地影响花椰菜产量,其作用大小依次为氮肥>钾肥>磷肥;在此项试验条件下,施肥量为N:319.58-371.48kg/hm2,P2O5:202.20-261.45kg/hm2,K2O:288.15-339.15kg/hm2时,花椰菜产量可达57000kg/hm2以上。     

Comment on "Why are there so many species of herbivorous insects in tropical rainforests?"

Novotny et al. (Reports, 25 August 2006, p. 1115) argued that higher herbivore diversity in tropical forests results from greater phylogenetic diversity of host plants, not from higher host specificity. However, if host specificity is related to host abundance, differences in relative host abundance between tropical and temperate regions may limit any general conclusion that herbivore diversity scales directly with host-plant diversity.