Supplemented Morus nigra extract‐based medium associated with FSH enables the survival and growth of isolated ovine secondary ovarian follicles

The effects of Morus nigra ethanolic extract, without or with addition of supplements associated or not with FSH, on in vitro culture of ovine secondary follicles were evaluated. In experiment 1, isolated secondary follicles were cultured for 12 days in α‐MEM alone (control) or in different concentrations of M. nigra extract (MN 0.025; 0.05 or 0.1 mg/ml). In experiment 2, culture media were α‐MEM supplemented with BSA, insulin, transferrin, selenium, glutamine, hypoxanthine and ascorbic acid (α‐MEM⁺) or this medium associated with FSH (α‐MEM⁺ + FSH), or 0.1 mg/ml M. nigra without supplements (MN 0.1) or supplemented (MN 0.1⁺) without or with FSH (MN 0.1⁺ + FSH). In experiment 1, 0.1 mg/ml M. nigra showed the highest percentages (p < .05) of normal follicles and fully grown oocytes, besides a higher follicular diameter than α‐MEM and other M. nigra extract concentrations. Moreover, MN 0.1 showed lower (p < .05) glutathione (GSH) levels and similar (p > .05) mitochondrial activity compared to α‐MEM. In experiment 2, MN 0.1⁺ + FSH showed similar results (p > .05) to α‐MEM⁺ + FSH for all parameters evaluated, except for the daily growth rate, which was higher (p < .05) in MN 0.1⁺ + FSH. The GSH levels were higher in MEM⁺ than all treatments. In addition, oocytes from follicles cultured in MN 0.1⁺ + FSH showed ability to resume meiosis. In conclusion, M. nigra extract (0.1 mg/ml) added by supplements and FSH can be an efficient medium for ovine secondary follicle development.     

基于RS和GIS的柘皋河流域景观空间格局研究

在RS和GIS技术的支持下,运用景观生态学原理,以2000年LandsatTM7遥感数据为数据源,通过影像解译和实地调查获得柘皋河流域景观类型图,并采用景观指数分析法对流域内景观空间格局做定量分析,为流域内生态保护和区域经济的可持续发展提供有益参考。结果显示:柘皋河流域是以农业为主的发展模式。景观异质性高,分布相对均匀;耕地破碎化程度低,连通性好,利于农业发展;居民点与交通用地破碎化程度高,边缘效应强,对周围影响大。A区农业化和非农化矛盾最强烈。B区景观异质性高,景观类型分布均匀,生态结构稳定。C区景观异质性低,生态稳定性较差。     

The response of foraging bumblebees to successional change in newly created arable field margins

Agricultural intensification is likely to have been a major factor leading to serious declines in bumblebee abundance and diversity in the UK and elsewhere over recent decades. Opportunities to restore habitat for bumblebees on uncropped arable field margins are now available, although the methods by which this restoration can be achieved have not been fully investigated. We present the results of a three year study undertaken to investigate the response of foraging bumblebees to five different arable field margin treatments (sown and unsown), as part of a replicated field experiment on arable farmland in northern England (UK). Bumblebee abundance was closely linked to successional changes in availability of suitable forage plant species. Field margin treatments sown with a `grass and wildflower' mixture had the highest bumblebee abundance, and provided a consistent supply of forage species, with different components of the seed mixture flowering in each year. The unsown natural regeneration treatment attracted foraging bumblebees in only the second year due to the local abundance of thistles, so we consider this option to be both inconsistent in terms of forage provision and agronomically unacceptable. Our results are discussed in terms of developing suitable measures to achieve the restoration of habitats for bumblebees on arable farmland.     

Spatial Response of Mammals to Late Quaternary Environmental Fluctuations

Analyses of fossil mammal faunas from 2945 localities in the United States demonstrate that the geographic ranges of individual species shifted at different times, in different directions, and at different rates in response to late Quaternary environmental fluctuations. The geographic pattern of faunal provinces was similar for the late Pleistocene and late Holocene, but differing environmental gradients resulted in dissimilar species composition for these biogeographic regions. Modern community patterns emerged only in the last few thousand years, and many late Pleistocene communities do not have modern analogs. Faunal heterogeneity was greater in the late Pleistocene.     

Hillslope Evolution by Bedrock Landslides

Bedrock landsliding is a dominant geomorphic process in a number of high-relief landscapes, yet is neglected in landscape evolution models. A physical model of sliding in beans is presented, in which incremental lowering of one wall simulates baselevel fall and generates slides. Frequent small slides produce irregular hillslopes, on which steep toes and head scarps persist until being cleared by infrequent large slides. These steep segments are observed on hillslopes in high-relief landscapes and have been interpreted as evidence for increases in tectonic or climatic process rates. In certain cases, they may instead reflect normal hillslope evolution by landsliding.