Effects of seed and seedling predation by small mammals on seedling recruitment of Protea neriifolia in Swartboskloof,Cape Province

Seed and seedling predation by small mammals, thought to be significant factors controlling the recruitment of Proteaceae in fynbos shrublands, were studied in a fynbos shrubland before and after a fire in March 1987. Seeds of Protea neriifolia R.Br. were planted inside and outside 14 mm mesh exclosures. The abundance of small mammals was recorded at two fynbos and five forest sites before the fire and at an additional forest and fynbos site after the fire. Seed predation reduced seedling recruitment from seeds planted in March 1986 in mature fynbos, but the reduction was significant only at the site with the highest abundance of small mammals. Seed predation did not significantly reduce seedling recruitment from seed planted in July, August and September 1986 in mature fynbos. The primary cause of seedling mortality before the fire was wilting, presumably owing to moisture stress. After the fire small mammal abundance decreased in burnt fynbos and increased in unburnt forest refuges until eight months after the fire when it increased again in the fynbos to a maximum of 41 animals per 100 trapnights two years after the fire. Seedling predation by small mammals had a limited impact after the fire probably because their numbers dropped soon after the fire. The effects of seed predation did not decrease with increasing distance from a forest refuge. Fungal pathogens and herbivory by insects were the primary causes of seedling mortality after the fire. Small mammal abundance in mature fynbos 25–30 years after a fire may have been too low to prevent the recruitment of a second cohort of P. neriifolia seedlings.     

青藏高原植被物候监测及其对气候变化的响应

研究青藏高原植被物候变化对揭示高寒生态系统对全球气候变化的响应机制具有重要的科学意义。本文选取1982-2005年的GIMMS NDVI遥感数据,采用动态阈值法提取了青藏高原高寒草地的物候信息,包括植被返青期、枯黄期及生长季长度,分析了青藏高原高寒草地植被物候的时空变化及其对气候变化的响应规律。研究结果表明,1)青藏高原植被物候多年均值的空间分布与水热条件密切相关。青藏高原从东南向西北,植被返青期逐渐推迟、枯黄期逐渐提前,生长季长度因受到植被返青和枯黄的影响,呈现逐渐缩短的趋势;2)植被返青期和枯黄期的年际变化整体上呈提前的趋势,生长季长度呈增长趋势;3)高原地区的植被物候易受到海拔的影响,但存在3400 m的分界线,在3400 m以下,物候随海拔变化的波动较大,而在3400 m以上,物候与海拔的关系密切;4)气象因子是不同草地类型植被物候变化的主要影响因素,与降水相比,植被物候期与温度相关程度更高。     

Small mammals and habitat structure along altitudinal gradients in the southern Cape mountains

Small mammals were sampled along altitudinal gradients in two mountain localities, the Swartberg and Baviaanskloof, in the southern Cape in summer 1977–1978. Species composition varied according to altitude and aspect with a total catch of six rodent and two shrew species. Correlations were found between abundance of rodent species and habitat variables, particularly vegetation structure and the cover of rock and bare soil. Rodent species diversity was negatively correlated with the proportion of total foliage at low to mid heights (40 - 80 cm). Factors controlling apparent habitat preferences are discussed together with modes of rodent niche separation. Extrapolation of the results is limited by the single season and restricted geographical coverage of the survey.     

Preliminary results on the use of diagnostic ultrasonography as a management tool to quantify egg production potential in breeding ostrich (Struthio camelus australis) females

An ostrich breeding flock, joined as individual breeding pairs (n = 136 pairs), was used to investigate the possibility of diagnostic ultrasonography as a method to predict the reproductive performance of ostrich females during a breeding season. Follicular activity was easily detected and quantified by using diagnostic ultrasonography. One to 8 follicles were recorded in 25% of females scanned at the beginning of the 9-month breeding season. At the end of the breeding season, 1-3 follicles were observed in 28.7% females. Females in which follicular activity was observed came into production earlier than those in which no follicles were observed, with the mean (+/- SE) number of days to the production of the 1st egg being 22.3 +/- 12.5 and 87.4 +/- 7.2 days, respectively. Females in which follicular activity was observed at the beginning of the breeding season, produced on average 181% more eggs during the 1st month of the breeding season (P < 0.01) than females in which no follicular activity was observed (6.67 +/- 0.70 vs 2.37 +/- 0.41 eggs). Egg production over the first 2 months of breeding and over the entire breeding season were similarly affected (P < 0.01), with the mean number of eggs produced over the first 2 months of the breeding season being 14.7 +/- 1.5 for females with observed follicular activity and 7.4 +/- 0.9 eggs for females with no observed follicular activity. Females in which follicular activity was observed at the end of the breeding season produced on average 108% more eggs (P < 0.01) during the last month of the breeding season than females in which no follicular activity was observed (2.77 +/- 0.43 vs. 1.33 +/- 0.27 eggs). There was a tendency (P = 0.06) for egg production over the last 2 months to be similarly affected (6.10 +/- 0.85 vs 4.19 +/- 0.54 eggs). No relationship with egg production over the entire breeding season was found for the end-of-the-breeding-season observations. Diagnostic ultrasonography can thus be used as a management tool to identify reproductively healthy ostrich females and also females with a higher egg production potential over a period of 2 months after or prior to assessment. Future studies should focus on the development of the technique to predict reproductive performance over entire breeding seasons for selection purposes.     

西藏那曲县草地状况及其生物量的观测分析

选择那曲县不同类型草地,实地调查了草地基况以及牧草生长期（2007年5-8月）内具有代表性的6种优势牧草的产量和品质。调查内容包括：草地覆盖度、草地地上生物量、牧草与土壤含水量、草地退化程度以及鼠害情况。同时,选取草地植株样品以及010 cm表层土壤样品进行牧草品质和土壤养分分析。结果表明,藏嵩草Kobresia tibetica生长状况和地上生物量明显优于其他品种的草地;各样点土壤含水量、土壤养分、毒草所占的比重、鼠害、草地退化状况存在明显差异;从草地地上生物量与气象条件的关系来看,生物量分别与降水量、气温、地温之间均存在显著的正相关关系。从牧草品质来看,在综合考虑含氮量、粗蛋白、粗脂肪等因素的情况下,小嵩草K. pygmaea的品质要优于藏嵩草,点地梅Androsace umbellata品质最差。     

Breeding dynamics of rodent species inhabiting farm–fallow mosaic fields in Central Tanzania

The breeding dynamics of three species of rodents, Mastomys natalensis, Aethomys chrysophilus and Gerbilliscus vicina were investigated in a seasonal environment (wet versus dry) in Berega in the eastern parts of central Tanzania. Berega has a distinct unimodal rainfall pattern, with most rainfall from November to April/May. We hypothesized that breeding of rodents in central Tanzania would be confined to the wet season, when unlimited resources would be available for reproduction. We provide evidence of breeding discontinuity in the three species, showing that breeding was seasonally restricted to the wet season and early in the dry season. The observed discontinuity could largely be ascribed to variation in primary productivity between the wet and dry seasons. Reproductively active females were found in the population as early as November, a month into the rainy season, but when early rains occurred, some individuals were already breeding in October. Breeding was more intensive in the latter part of the wet season (March–May) and completely ceased during the dry season. For M. natalensis, survival was highest in the wet period and low in the dry season. The study provides knowledge on the breeding dynamics of rodents in central Tanzania, which can help farmers to take proactive rodent management decisions to prevent high rodent densities and reduce crop damage in the fields. Application of control measures by the community early in the season when populations of reproductive females is lowest will be most rewarding.     

Livestock Grazing Impacts on Desert Vegetation,Khirthar National Park,Pakistan

The impact of livestock grazing on desert vegetation in Khirthar National Park, Pakistan, was investigated by comparing dry and wet season plant species composition, richness, cover, and a grazing index for quadrats outside (“open”) and inside (“exclosed”) native mammal breeding enclosures that had excluded livestock for 6 years. A total of 93 plant species were recorded in the dry season, 88 species in exclosed quadrats and 50 in open quadrats. While only 5 species were unique to open quadrats, 43 species were found only in the exclosed quadrats. Species richness was higher in the exclosures because of the presence of more grass and herb species, while grazing was higher in the open. After rain, species richness and cover were significantly higher than in the dry season because of the growth of summer ephemeral herbs and grasses, but richness was no longer different between the exclosure and open treatments. Although some herbaceous species may have been adversely affected by livestock grazing, overall species richness suggests strong ecosystem resilience to grazing, with levels no different after seasonal rains regardless of grazing level. Many grass and herb species absent from open sites during the dry season reappeared after rain, which suggests that livestock grazing may eliminate them as the dry season proceeds, but that a soil seed or bud bank persists.     

高寒草地生长季/非生长季植被盖度遥感反演

植被盖度是刻画陆地生态系统植被覆盖的重要生态参量.以当雄县Landsat-8OLI为数据源,从10种常用植被指数中筛选出适合反演高寒草地生长季/非生长季草地植被盖度的植被指数,引入像元三分法确定端元特征值,通过不同植被指数基于像元二分模型反演植被盖度的对比分析,确定适合生长季/非生长季植被盖度最优植被指数,根据反演结果...     

高原鼠兔危害级别划分

研究结果显示,地上植物量、植被盖度、破坏的生草面积、绝对鼠密度和有效洞口数之间均具有较高的相异性,但各自都从不同侧面反映了高原鼠兔的危害程度;5项研究指标的综合影响是评估危害程度的真实反映;植被害情是评价危害程度的主要因子,鼠密度是次要因子;将危害程度划分为4个级别,提出了划分危害级别的量化指标.不同指标值在各危害级别中的排序是,鼠密度:Ⅳ<Ⅰ<Ⅱ<Ⅲ;有效洞口数:Ⅳ<Ⅰ<Ⅱ<Ⅲ;破坏的生草面积:Ⅰ<Ⅱ<Ⅲ<Ⅳ;植被覆盖度:Ⅳ<Ⅲ<Ⅱ<Ⅰ;地上植物量:Ⅳ<Ⅲ<Ⅱ<Ⅰ;单纯以鼠密度划分危害级别或评估危害程度的方法是不正确的.     

Observations on the Life Histories and Behaviour of some Small Rodents from Tanzania

A total of 730 punctated grass-mice was dissected to study their biology. Breeding occurred during the rains and ceased during the dry seasons, and the mean number of embryos per female reached a maximum towards the end of the breeding season. The testes and vesiculaeseminales of adult males regressed during the dry seasons and some appeared to be sexually quiescent. A small proportion of young of both sexes matured and bred in the same breeding season as that of their birth. Most adults appeared to die immediately following the breeding seasons, and thus there was almost a complete turnover of the population twice a year.     

A Markovian decision model for beef cattle replacement that considers spring and fall calving

In certain production environments, beef cows are mated during a breeding season that starts in early summer. Cows found not to be pregnant at the end of the breeding season could either be culled or retained and remated the following summer. Alternatively, nonpregnant cows could be mated in the winter. This option would result in having both a spring and a fall calving herd. The purpose of our study was to determine the optimal replacement policy (maximizing long-run average net returns) for a specific production environment by determining for each age of cow, reproductive status (nonpregnant or pregnant), and season of pregnancy checking (spring or fall) whether the cow should be retained to the next breeding season (summer or winter) or be replaced by a pregnant heifer. The problem was formulated as a Markovian decision process and the optimal policy was found by linear programming. The optimal policy was one in which nonpregnant cows were always culled and replaced by heifers in the summer breeding herd, resulting in spring calving only.     

不同放牧强度对羊草草原近地面反射波谱特征的影响研究

测试并分析了在生长季节不同放牧强度(无牧、中轻度和重度放牧)对羊草草原植被反射波谱特征的影响。羊草草原不同放牧强度群落在种类组成、结构和生物量等特征上的明显不同，导致植被反射波谱特征表现出显著差异。不同放牧强度群落的近地面反射特征在6月底的差异最为显著，在5月底的差异最不明显。使用主分量分析(PCA)和模式识别方法，利用多时相的植被反射特征组合数据，对3个不同放牧强度的群落进行了鉴别，后者对退化草地鉴别精度较高。对不同放牧等级群落分类效果最佳的3个反射率组合包括蓝光、红光和近红外光反射率。6月底的鉴别效果最好，最大错误概率小于4%；5月底的鉴别效果最差，最大错误概率高达20%左右。     

退化高寒草甸暖季休牧恢复过程中植被和土壤特性

为探讨暖季休牧恢复过程中退化高寒草甸植被和土壤恢复特性,本研究对泽库县退化高山嵩草草甸暖季休牧样地不同恢复阶段植被和土壤特性进行调查,结果显示植被高度、地上生物量、土壤含水量、土壤有机碳含量等生态功能属性随自然恢复时间的延长不断得到改善(P<0.05),在恢复末期(9—10年)恢复最好;植被盖度、地下生物量、多样性、土...     

Survival of ascaris eggs, salmonella and fecal coli in soil and on vegetables grown in infected soil (author's transl)

In an experiment it was shown that eggs of Ascaris suum, salmonella and fecal coliform bacteria mixed with sewage sludge and added to soil, will survive the first growing season. Most eggs of Ascaris suum in soil embryonated within a period of 7--15 weeks. In soil without a protective vegetation the concentration of eggs in the top soil layer 0--3 cm decreased faster than in soil with a protective vegetation. At the same time there seemed to be a corresponding increase in the concentration of eggs in the deeper layers of the soil. In the top layer, especially in the top soil without a protective vegetation, there was towards the end of the first growing season a higher per cent of dead eggs than in the deeper layers. The concentration of fecal coliform bacteria and salmonella was in the course of the first growing season reduced to 1/1000 and 1/10000, respectively, of the initial concentration. Infective Ascaris suum eggs and salmonella were found in washing water from vegetables grown in the first season. Infective Ascaris suum eggs were also present in soil in the second and third growing season.     

The stadium effect: rodent damage patterns in rice fields explored using giving‐up densities

Rodents are globally important pre‐harvest pests of rice. In Southeast Asia, rodent damage to growing rice crops is commonly concentrated towards the center of rice fields, away from the field edge, resulting in a clear pattern known as the “stadium effect.” To further understand this behavior of rodent pests and to develop recommendations for future research and management, we examined the relation between giving‐up densities (GUDs) and damage patterns. In Tanay, Luzon, Philippines, GUD trays containing pieces of coconut in a matrix of sand were placed at 4 different distances from the field edge to quantify the perceived risk of predation in a rice field pest, Rattus tanezumi. GUDs were recorded during a dry and wet season crop at the reproductive and ripening stages of rice. In addition, assessments of active burrows, tracking tile activity and rodent damage to the rice crop, were conducted in the dry season. GUDs were significantly lower in the center of the rice fields than on the field edges, suggesting that rodent damage to rice is greater in the middle of rice fields due to a lower perceived predation risk. Furthermore, this perception of predation risk (or fear) increases towards the field edge and was greatest on the rice bund, where there was no vegetation cover. We discuss the implications for rodent management and rodent damage assessments in rice fields. This is the first documented use of GUDs in a rice agro‐ecosystem in Asia; thus we identify the challenges and lessons learned through this process.     

锡林郭勒盟不同类型植被的生长季变化

利用分辨率为1km×1km 1989-2008年长时间序列NOAA/AVHRR NDVI卫星产品数据以及锡林郭勒盟植被类型图,对时间序列影像进行Savitzky-Golay滤波后,提取了8种植被类型多年的归一化植被指数(NDVI)时序曲线,对NDVI时序曲线进行S-G滤波后,采用改进的动态阈值法分别估测各植被类型每年生长季的开始、结束时间及长度并进行线性拟合,讨论其变化情况。根据实测数据验证了温带丛生禾草典型草原遥感估测物候期的精确度。研究结果表明,各种植被类型生长季开始时间变化情况差别较大,除温带禾草、杂类草盐生草甸和温带落叶小叶疏林分别有4和1d·20a-1的轻微延迟以外,其它6种植被的生长季开始时间均有不同程度的提前趋势,不同植被类型生长季结束时间呈现出了差别较小的延迟趋势,生长季长度均延长,生长季结束时间对生长季长度的影响更大;估测的温带丛生禾草典型草原返青期与观测值变化趋势非常接近,分别提前了9和7d·20a-1,而两者的黄枯期则出现了相反的变化趋势。估测值与观测值的均方根误差(RMSE)分别是,生长季开始时间16.59d,结束时间14.40d。     

Cumulus–Oocyte Communications in the Horse: Role of the Breeding Season and of the Maturation Medium

Horse is a seasonal breeder and information on oocyte quality outside the breeding season is very limited. Ovaries obtained at the slaughterhouse are a convenient but often limited source of oocytes in this species. As the low quantity of ovaries leads to an intensive use of all available material, it would be useful to know whether ovaries collected during the non‐breeding season are suitable for in vitro maturation (IVM). In an attempt to characterize the effect of season on oocyte quality, we investigated the permeability of the gap junctions (GJ) present between cumulus cells and oocytes because of their important role in oocyte growth and maturation. We also compared the effect of supplementing the maturation medium with bovine serum albumin (BSA) or oestrus mare serum (EMS). A total of 645 oocytes isolated from 158 and 154 ovaries collected during the breeding and the non‐breeding season, respectively, were used in this study. Oocytes were matured for 30 h in TCM 199 supplemented either with 10% EMS or with 4 mg/ml BSA. The presence of permeable GJs between cumulus cells and oocytes was investigated with the injection of a 3% solution of the fluorescent dye Lucifer yellow into the ooplasm. No differences in efficiency of oocyte retrieval or oocyte meiotic competence were detected between oocytes collected during the breeding and non‐breeding season. The vast majority (90%) of the oocytes collected during the breeding season had fully functional communications with their surrounding cumulus cells but such communications were completely interrupted in 55.3% of the oocytes collected during the non‐breeding season. During the non‐breeding season, the proportion of oocytes whose communications with cumulus cells were classified as closed or intermediate at the end of maturation was lower in the group matured with BSA than with EMS (71.4 vs 97.7, p < 0.05). The same trend, although not statistically significant, was observed during the breeding season also. The presence of BSA caused an incomplete cumulus expansion during both seasons. Our data indicate that oocytes collected during the non‐breeding season do not show any meiotic deficiency but lack active communication with the surrounding cumulus cells at the time of their isolation from the ovary. No data are available at present for determining the consequences on the developmental competence even if data from other species suggest that this is likely.     

Serum progesterone, oestrone and oestradiol in pregnant and non-pregnant red deer hinds.

Changes in serum progesterone (P), oestrone (E1) and oestradiol (E2) concentrations were monitored in 34 female red deer (Cervus elaphus) shortly after the end of the breeding season and at mid-gestation. Pregnancy could be detected on the basis of serum P, but there were no significant differences between the pregnant and non-pregnant animals farmed animals in E1 and E2 concentrations. Twenty-five pregnant hinds captured in winter showed serum P levels similar to those found in farmed deer during the gestation period.     

鼠类分布与“黑土滩”退化草地形成原因的研究

通过测定不同退化程度草地鼠类种群数量的变化,鼠类分布对草地的破坏程度,鼠类不同密度区植被地上生物量、地被覆盖度、植株高度,分析了草地植被群落的变化对鼠类数量的影响及鼠类种群密度与植被的关系。结果表明:随着草地退化程度的加重,鼠类的种群数量相应升高,重度退化草地中鼠类的种群密度降低。在鼠类分布影响下,植被地上生物量、地被覆盖度、植株高度均表现为不均匀分布。     

Ant species richness of fynbos and forest ecosystems in the southern Cape

The ant fauna in fynbos and forest habitats in the southern Cape are compared. There is no significant difference in ant species richness between the two undisturbed habitat types, and the only two species common to both are Acantholepis capensis and Camponotus maculatus. The degree of Hakea sericea infestation in the fynbos negatively affected ant species richness. Ant species richness in the Afromontane forest decreased from the drier to the wetter sites. The aggressive alien ant species, Iridomyrmex humilis, has not invaded natural areas to any great extent.