White shark (Carcharodon carcharias)-inflicted bite wounds observed on Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) at Black Rocks,Algoa Bay,South Africa

This paper presents the first quantitative study on the seasonal occurrence and body location of white shark (Carcharodon carcharias)-inflicted injuries on Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) at Black Rocks, in Algoa Bay. Between January 2010 and October 2011, 22 boat trips were made to Black Rocks to chum for white sharks. On 19 of the trips a series of overlapping photographs were taken of the northern side of Black Rocks and the percentage of seals, which exhibited fresh white shark bite wounds recorded. A total of 53 sharks and 28 fresh shark-inflicted injuries were recorded on seals over the course of the study period. The maximum number of sharks sighted per hour (1.2) was in July and the highest percentage of shark bitten seals in November (0.6%). There was no significant relationship between the monthly sighting rate of sharks and the percentage of shark bitten seals (P = 0.40). The percentage of shark-inflicted injuries observed on seals increased with seal size. Most injuries were observed in the forebody (37.5%) and lower body regions (37.5%). Very few injuries (6.3%) were observed in the head and neck region. The low number of bite-inflicted injuries observed suggests that white sharks attack seals infrequently at Black Rocks.     

Range Expansion and Its Mechanisms in a Naturalized Bamboo Species,Phyllostachys pubescens,in Japan

Abstract

The distribution of Phyllostachys pubescens, introduced to Japan from China in 1736, has been expanding. The expansion was studied in Tanabe Town, Kyoto Pref., Central Japan. Long term expansion was traced using a topographic map, a land-use map and aerial photographs. Within the research region (21.35 km²), the number and total area of bamboo sites increased from 24 and 0.16 km² in 1953 to 174 and 3.04 km² in 1985. By contrast, the total area of tree sites decreased from 12.2 km² in 1953 to 8.5 km² in 1985. The average area of bamboo sites also increased from 0.67 ha in 1953 to 1.75 ha in 1985. The average rates of the current expansion, measured by censusing current and old culms in the front of 10 unmanaged bamboo sites, were 2.1 m yr^-1. Stand structure was detailed in a transitional area from a pure stand of P. pubescensto a mixed broadleaved forest. Stand structure was simpler in the area dominated by P. pubescens.Culms off! pubescenswere larger in the pure stand, and variations in DBH and height were smaller for the bamboo than for the trees in each sample site. P. pubescenshad a greater average crown length and higher canopy position. These traits allow P. pubescensto invade adjacent forests, form a uniform monolayer of foliage, and dominate competing vegetation. There was no evidence of seedling regeneration under the bamboo. More than two-thirds of the Japanese forest is secondary growth or young plantations of conifers, and in most of these, canopy height is lower than that of P. pubescens.The continuous area increment in bamboo from 1953 to 1985, positive current expansion rate in the front of unmanaged bamboo stands and the advantageous stand structure of bamboo suggest that the range expansion of P. pubescensin the secondary forest will continue in the future.     

我国西南地区玉米育种面临的挑战及相应对策探讨

在剖析西南地区发展玉米产业面临挑战的基础上,反思了西南地区玉米杂交育种存在的主要差距,并根据国内外玉米杂交育种发展趋势和我们的实践,从育种层面提出了应采取的对策措施。育种目标上,重点是抗病与抗虫、耐旱与耐瘠、适合全程机械化生产和耕作制度改革,以及拓展利用营养体优势新型“饲草玉米”。种质创新上,应明确杂优类群、简化杂优模式,系统开展基础种质评价与分析,合成与改良育种用群体,创制育种特异新材料。突破性自交系选育上,应注重特异新基因的发掘与利用,把产量GCA作为重要选择标准,把自交衰退慢的株系作为主要选择对象,自交、姊妹交或混粉交替进行,提高优良基因型频率;加大选系的鉴定力度,并测定产量。育种方法上,应增加种植密度,加大选择压力,实施南北穿梭育种,加快我国南方玉米种子生产基地建设,同时加快高新技术在玉米育种上的应用。     

Responses of small rodents to habitat restoration and management for the imperiled Florida Scrub-Jay

Debate about the relative merits of single-species management versus more comprehensive approaches has intensified in recent years. In east-central Florida, USA, land managers use prescribed burns and mechanical cutting to manage and restore scrub habitat to benefit the imperiled Florida Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens). However, these land-management techniques may affect non-target taxa, especially the threatened southeastern beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus niveiventris). We evaluated the collateral effects of single-species land management by trapping P. p. niveiventris and other small rodents in eighteen land-management compartments at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida during 2004–2005. Compartments were managed using either prescribed burns (N = 5), mechanical cutting (N = 6), checkerboarding (cut and uncut lanes alternating and overlapping, followed by a prescribed burn, N = 4) or left unburned and uncut for >50 year (N = 3). P. p. niveiventris was significantly more abundant in compartments managed with prescribed burns (mean ± SE: 4.2 ± 0.7 individuals/transect) than those managed with cutting alone (1.0 ± 0.3) or not managed for >50 y (0.2 ± 0.1 individuals/transect). In contrast, the cotton mouse (Peromyscus gossypinus) tended to be more abundant in compartments managed with mechanical cutting alone (2.6 ± 0.4 individuals/transect) compared to the other three management strategies (prescribed burns; 1.5 ± 0.4; checkerboarding, 1.1 ± 0.3; not managed, 1.6 ± 0.4 individuals/transect) but these differences were not statistically significant. Abundances of P. p. niveiventris and Florida Scrub-Jay breeding groups were positively correlated (r = 0.655), suggesting that both listed species benefit from similar management techniques. Thus, the mosaic of burned and cut patches used to improve habitat for the Florida Scrub-Jay also benefits an endemic, non-target species. Single-species management may benefit multiple species when restoration improves their shared habitat, which in this case is an endangered, fire-dependent ecosystem: Florida scrub.     

贵州西南低热河谷区芒果生产的气候风险及对策

通过对贵州西南低热河谷区自然气候灾害发生的频率及其对芒果生产的危害特点分析,结果表明,安龙、册亨、贞丰、镇宁、望谟、罗句等县（市）海拔600m以下的低热河谷区是发展芒果商业化栽培的优势区域,并针对性地提出发展芒果生产的栽培对策及防灾减灾措施。     

Reconstruction of the past temperature distribution in Southwest Japan from annual ring width

This study reconstructed the distribution of minimum July temperature from annual ring widths in the southwest of Japan. The estimated temperature distribution was about 1°C lower than the measured temperature distribution when the actual temperatures were high, but was about 1°C higher when the actual temperatures were low. In other words, the fluctuation range of the estimated temperatures was smaller than that of the actual temperatures. However, the two distributions tended to match the mean temperature. Reconstruction of the spatial distribution of the past climate will be possible if old tree-ring samples (more than 200 years) are obtained from many sites.     

加拿大林业发展对我国西南生态安全屏障建设的启示

在分析西南地区森林资源保护和生态建设现状、作用、存在问题的基础上,与加拿大林业发展的现状和主要措施进行比较,提出了对西南地区生态安全屏障建设具有借鉴价值的4点建议,即保障公众参与、建立不同森林经营模式、加强法制建设、加大林业科技投入。     

Assessing a social norms approach for improving recreational fisheries compliance

This study aimed to assess the suitability of the Berkowitz' ( 2005 ) social norms approach (SNA) for improving compliance behaviour amongst recreational fishers. A total of 138 recreational shore anglers were interviewed in Eastern Cape, South Africa and asked about their compliance, attitudes towards compliance, perceptions of compliance and the attitudes of other anglers. Results indicate that angler compliance for individual regulations was relatively high (75%–90%). Attitudes of anglers towards compliance was positive, with >80% feeling that “breaking any regulation is wrong.” Yet, as predicted by the SNA, interviewees often overestimated the non‐compliance and negative attitudes of other anglers, particularly as their social proximity decreased. Interviewees with the greatest misperceptions were also less compliant. The social norms present in the Eastern Cape rock and surf fishery fulfil the criteria required for the application of the SNA, suggesting that this approach may provide a suitable normative intervention for improving compliance to be used in conjunction with instrumental approaches in recreational fisheries.     

Monitoring the effects of gypsy moth defoliation on forest stand dynamics on Cape Cod,Massachusetts: Sampling intervals and appropriate interpretations

Gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) outbreaks affect stand dynamics and successional patterns in pine–oak woodlands of North America's Atlantic coastal plain. Species-poor overstories are dominated by pitch pine (Pinus rigida), black oak (Quercus velutina) and white oak (Quercus alba). Both oaks are preferred food for gypsy moth, and white oak is the dominant late-successional species. We documented, over a 21-year period, the effects of gypsy moth defoliation on forest stand dynamics at Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts. Our goal was to better understand the influence of gypsy moth defoliation on temporal changes in stand composition. Tree species abundance and frequency were measured in 16 stands with varying abundances of pitch pine and oak. Regression of 2-dimesional rates of change calculated from principal components analysis showed that gypsy moth significantly influenced stand dynamics and successional patterns between 1981 and 1992/1993. Defoliation was virtually absent in the 1990s, and analysis of 1992/1993–2002 rates of change showed topographic slope to be the most important factor influencing stand dynamics during this time. For the period 1981–2002 rates of change analysis failed to identify either factor as influencing changes in stand dynamics. We conclude that the 1980s defoliation events had a transitory effect on upland forest composition, but that there exists the potential for significant long-term impact due to recurrent defoliation episodes. Stand composition should be monitored at intervals which roughly correspond to the time it takes for stands to recover to disturbance events, in the case of those we sampled, approximately 10 years.     

The Role of Soil Mineralogical Characteristics in Sustainable Soil Fertility Management: A Case Study of Some Tropical Alfisols in Nigeria

The pedogenic horizons of nine profile pits dug across three toposequences were studied to determine the soil mineralogical characteristics and its implications on sustainable management of the fertility of some tropical Alfisols in Nigeria. Results showed that the epipedon which were predominantly ochric had textures that ranged from sand to sandy loam, while the subsurface (B/Bt) horizons had sandy clay loam to sandy clay texture and were gravelly (31.79–83.04%). The soil reaction ranged from strongly acid to neutral (pH 5.10 to 7.05). Calcium and magnesium dominated the exchange sites and accounted for about 75% of the exchangeable bases. Illite/mica and kaolinite were the dominant minerals in the clay fractions, while quartz, mica, and feldspars dominated the fine sand and silt fractions of the soils. While the presence of illite and mica could be important for potassium nutrition in these soils, kaolinite and oxides of iron could also cause phosphorus fixation.