Life-history variation in relation to nest site abundance in males of the freshwater goby Tridentiger brevispinis

Abstract –  Age at maturity in males of the freshwater goby Tridentiger brevispinis , a species with exclusive paternal care, was investigated in two populations in Lake Biwa, Japan, that differed markedly in nest site abundance. At Ohmi-maiko, where nest sites were scarce, most males matured at age 3, and mean body size of males guarding eggs in nests was larger than that of males sampled randomly (including both guarding and nonguarding males) in the population. Conversely, at Minamihama, where nest sites were abundant, many males matured at age 1, and there was no difference in body size between guarding males and males collected randomly. The slope of regression lines between body size of the guarding male and the number of eggs in his nest was greater in Ohmi-maiko than in Minamihama. These results suggest that the shortage of nest sites enhances reproductive success in larger males, probably through male–male competition for nest sites and female mate choice for larger males. I conclude that in nest spawners, the availability of nest sites should strongly affect life-history traits of males through sexual selection.     

近自然生态条件下千年桐竞争关系的研究

以近自然生态条件下千年桐直播造林林分为研究对象,研究其种内种间竞争关系。结果表明：直播造林林分中千年桐胸径＜8 cm时,千年桐种内竞争较弱,胸径在8～13 cm时,其竞争指数增长特别快,种内竞争非常大;当胸径＞13 cm时,种内竞争指数逐渐减少;其种间竞争中与杉木的竞争最为强烈。千年桐种内竞争与距离的关系表现为当其距离＜1.0 m时,其竞争指数最高,种内竞争最为激烈;距离在2.0～3.5 m时,种内竞争指数较为稳定;当其距离超过3.5 m后,千年桐种内竞争指数逐渐变小,竞争强度逐渐减弱。     

农杆菌介导的转高赖氨酸蛋白基因（sb401）水稻T4代分析

通过农杆菌介导的方法用富赖氨酸蛋白基因（sb401）转化粳稻品种日本晴,获得了独立的10个转化株系,对转化株系进行连续自交,通过筛选得到9个纯合的T4代转化株系。 Southern blotting分析发现,整合位点是随机的,并为低拷贝（1~3个）。TAI-PCR扩增得到8个T-DNA侧翼序列,并定位于日本晴的7条染色体上。蛋白质和氨基酸测定分析发现,sb401基因对各株系的蛋白质、赖氨酸和其他氨基酸组分的提高起到了一定的作用。将杂交结果与T-DNA插入位置结合分析发现,在低拷贝的情况下,表达量的差异不明显。     

土壤水分对黄土丘陵区演替序列种种间竞争的影响

种间竞争是不同物种为争夺资源发生的相互关系,对群落植被演替、恢复有重要意义。同时水分是黄土丘陵区植物生长的限制因素,该区多物种种间水资源竞争研究较少,为此选取该区6种演替序列种,采用种对试验法研究其对土壤水分变化的竞争响应。结果表明:(1)除狗尾草外,其他5种植物的生长指标和土壤水分变化趋势基本一致,地下部分变化程度大于地上部分。不同植物最适水分条件不同。(2)单位竞争能力与总竞争能力相似地反映植物种间竞争状况。狗尾草和白羊草在中高水竞争力均高于同组的猪毛蒿、达乌里胡枝子,低水反之。铁杆蒿随着水分减少,竞争力低于茭蒿。受水分胁迫时,达乌里胡枝子、白羊草的竞争力茭蒿、铁杆蒿猪毛蒿、狗尾草,即演替后期种竞争能力演替中期演替初期,符合演替生态位理论。竞争的不对称随着环境生产力的增加而降低。随着演替中土壤水分的减少,物种耐水分胁迫的能力逐渐增强,从而促使演替的继续。     

Asymmetric warming effects on N dynamics and productivity in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Climate warming exhibits strong diurnal variations, with higher warming rates being observed at nighttime, which significantly affects rice (Oryza sativa L.) growth and grain yield. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of asymmetric warming (all-day warming, AW; daytime warming from 07:00 to 19:00, DW; nighttime warming from 19:00 to 07:00, NW, and a control, CK) on rice nitrogen (N) dynamics and productivity. Two rice bucket warming experiments were performed in Nanjing in Jiangsu Province, China, using the free air temperature increase (FATI) technique. The daily mean temperatures in the rice canopy in the AW, DW and NW plots were 2.0, 1.1 and 1.3ºC higher than those in the rice canopy in the CK plots, respectively. The results indicated that the total N accumulation of rice was 8.27–40.53% higher in the warming treatment than in the control during the jointing, anthesis and maturity stages. However, there was no significant difference detected among the three warming treatments. The warming treatment substantially decreased N translocation efficiency, leading to the retention of more N in the plant stems during grain filling. The warming treatment also decreased the N harvest index, N utilization efficiency based on grain yield and N utilization efficiencies based on biomass in both growing seasons. The warming treatment significantly increased the aboveground biomass (9.26–16.18%) in the jointing stage but decreased it (2.75–9.63%) in the maturity stage. Although DW increased the carbon (C) gain by photosynthesis and NW increased the C loss by night respiration, the daytime higher-temperature treatment affected rice photosynthesis and reduced its photosynthetic rate and product. This effect may be one of the primary reasons for the insignificant difference in the aboveground biomass between the DW and NW treatments. In the AW, DW and NW plots, the grain yield was reduced by an average of 10.07, 5.05 and 7.89%, respectively, across both years. The effective panicles and grains per spike tended to decrease in the warmed plots, whereas irregular changes in the 1000-grain weight were observed. Our results suggest that under the anticipated climate warming, rice productivity would further decline in the Yangtze River Basin.     

Nitrogen and phosphorus use in maize sole cropping and maize/cowpea mixed cropping systems on an Alfisol in the northern Guinea Savanna of Ghana

Summary The use of N and P by mixed and by sole cropping (crop rotation) of maize and cowpeas were compared in a field experiment on an Alfisol at the Nyankpala Agricultural Experiment Station in the northern Guinea Savanna of Ghana, using two levels of N (0 and 80 kg N ha^-1 year^-1 as urea) and P application (0 and 60 kg P ha^-1 year^-1 as Volta phosphate rock). Maize grain yields were significantly reduced in the mixed cropping system. This yield difference became smaller with the application of N and P fertilizer. The N and P concentrations in maize ear leaves at silking indicated that a deficiency in N and P contributed to the maize yield depression in mixed cropping. Competition for soil and fertilizer N between maize and cowpeas was suggested by: (1) A similarity in total N uptake between the two cropping systems; (2) efficient use of soil nitrate by the cowpeas; and (3) low N₂ fixation by the cowpeas, calculated with the aid of an extended-difference method. In general, N₂ fixation was low, with the highest values in the sole cropping (53 kg ha^-1) and a substantial reduction in the mixed cropping system. The application of N fertilizer further reduced N₂ fixation. This was substantiated by nodule counts. The lower N₂ fixation in the mixed cropping system was only partly explained by the lower density of cowpeas in this system. In addition, dry spells during the cropping season and shading by the maize component could have reduced the nodulation efficiency. No N transfer from the legume/rhizobium to the non-legume crop was observed. Impaired P nutrition in the mixed compared with the sole-cropped maize might have been due to less P mobility in the soil. This was indicated by lower soil moisture contents in the topsoil under mixed cropping, especially during the dry year of 1986. The results show that mixed cropping of maize and cowpeas did not lead to improved use of soil and fertilizer N and P or to an enhanced N₂ fixation. On the contrary, an annual rotation of maize and cowpeas was clearly superior.     

Kinetics of soil microbial uptake of free amino acids

 Amino acids and proteins typically form the biggest input of organic-N into most soils and provide a readily available source of C and N for soil microorganisms. Amino acids can also be taken up directly by plant roots, providing an alternative source of available soil N. However, the degree to which plants can compete against the soil microbial population for amino acids in soil solution remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to measure the rate of microbial uptake of three contrastingly charged ¹⁴C-labelled amino acids (glutamate^1–, glycine⁰, lysine^0.9+) over a wide concentration range (0.1–5 mM) and in two contrastingly managed soils varying in their degree of erosion, organic-C content and microbial biomass. Amino acid uptake was concentration dependent and conformed to a single Michaelis-Menten equation. The mean maximum amino acid uptake rate (V _max) for the non-eroded (control) soil (high organic-C, high biomass) was 0.13±0.02 mmol kg^–1 h^–1, while half maximal uptake occurred at a concentration (K _m) of 2.63±0.07 mM. Typically, V _max was fourfold lower and K _m twofold lower in the eroded soil (low available organic-C, low biomass) compared to the non-eroded (control) soil. Amino acid substrate concentration had little effect on the proportion of amino acid utilized in catabolic versus anabolic metabolism and was similar for both. While the results obtained here represent the summation of kinetics for a mixed soil population, they indicate that amino acid uptake is saturated at concentrations within the millimolar range. Because the affinity constants also were similar to those described for plant roots, we hypothesized that competition for amino acids between plants and microbes will be strong in soil but highly dependent upon the spatial distribution of roots and microbes in soil. Received: 2 March 2000     

“小麦/玉米/大豆”套作体系中不同作物间的相互作用及氮素的转移、吸收

在根系分隔盆栽条件下,采用15N土壤稀释标记方法,研究了“小麦/玉米/大豆”三熟套作体系不同作物间的相互作用及氮素的转移、吸收利用特性。结果表明,“小麦/玉米/大豆”套作体系促进小麦对肥料氮和土壤氮的吸收,不分隔处理的生物产量、15N总吸收量和总回收率得到显著提高,土壤残留15N丰度及总氮含量明显降低;玉米表现出套作优势（Awc<0,NCRwc<0）,不分隔处理的籽粒产量、籽粒15N吸收量、15N总回收率、土壤残留15N丰度及总氮含量较分隔处理提高17.17%、24.52%、17.63%、13.9%和10.1%;大豆表现出套作劣势,不分隔处理的15N总吸收量、籽粒15N吸收量、15N总回收率和土壤残留15N丰度降低,土壤总氮含量提高6.06%。“小麦/玉米/大豆”套作体系存在氮素的双向转移,以玉米向小麦、大豆向玉米转移为主。     

苏北麦田野燕麦与麦类作物生存竞争现象研究

对苏北麦田野燕麦（ＡｖｅｕａｆａｔｎａＬ．）与麦类作物生存竞争现象的观察结果表明，混生在一起的麦类作物与野燕麦，在初始群体基本相同的公平竞争条件下，麦类作物的生存竞争能力超过野燕麦，两者的生存有竞争现象自分蘖开始时已出现；随着生育进程的推移日趋尖锐，至拔节抽穗期达到高峰，麦类作物的相对竞争力在出苗分蘖期是野燕麦的１～２倍，返青拔期是野燕麦２～３倍，至抽穗成熟期达到３～４倍。作者还发现，麦类作物在种     

生态位理论及其测度研究进展

许多学者都试图给生态位下定义 ,但最具代表性的当推Grinnell、Elton和Hutchinson分别给出的“空间生态位”、“功能生态位”和“多维超体积生态位”定义 ;生态位测度包括生态位宽度、生态位重叠、生态位体积及生态位维数等 ,其中生态位宽度和生态位重叠是描述一个物种的生态位以及物种生态位间关系的重要指标 .该文列举并分析了每一个测度公式的优缺点 ,进而优选出适合森林群落的生态位计测公式 .指出利用性竞争的一个必要条件是生态位重叠 ,但重叠并不一定导致竞争 ,竞争是在资源供应不足且生态位重叠条件下形成的 .