Threats to at-risk salmonids of the Canadian Rocky Mountain region

Trout and charr, members of the salmonid family, have high conservation value but are also susceptible to anthropogenic threats in part due to the specificity of their habitat requirements. Understanding historical and future threats facing these species is necessary to promote their recovery. Of freshwater trout and charr in the Canadian Rocky Mountain region, westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi), bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus; a charr species) and Athabasca rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are of conservation concern. And indeed, range contractions and declining populations are evident throughout much of their ranges. Range contraction was most evident in the southern Alberta designatable unit (DU) of westslope cutthroat trout. Diminished populations were also evident in the downstream watersheds of the Alberta bull trout range, and throughout the Athabasca rainbow trout range. We assessed historical and future threats to evaluate the relative importance of individual threats to each DU and compare their impact among species. Individual threats fall into the broad categories of angling, non-native species and genes, habitat loss and alteration, and climate change. Severity of each threat varies by DU and reflects the interaction between species’ biology and the location of the DU. Severity of threats facing each DU has changed over time, reflecting extirpation of native populations, changes in management and industry best practices, expansion of non-native species and progressing climate change. The overall threat impact for each DU indicates a high probability of substantial and continuing declines and calls for immediate action.     

浅谈建立郑州市道路路面养护管理系统

路面管理系统是通过对路面运行状况、使用性能、使用周期、进行对比、分析，预测路面管理的最佳养护预算投资并在最佳养护经济投资条件等各种因素限制下，寻求道路养护管理最佳战略决策。     

北疆苜蓿属植物繁育系统的研究

采用等位酶技术，对北疆苜蓿属植物种群的繁育系统进行了研究。结果表明，北疆苜蓿属植物种群为外繁育系统，黄花苜蓿、多变苜蓿、紫花苜蓿基因组成中杂合体过多，均保持较低的自交结实率。参试苜蓿属植物表现某种程度的内繁育衰退现象，地理或生殖隔离等因素可能是导致个别种群出现内繁育衰退现象的原因之一。对北疆苜蓿属遗传资源保护时，既要选择遗传基础丰富的种和种群以保持最多的遗传变异，还要注意选择具有不同等位的种群以保持原有的基因和基因频率。     

Segregation and linkage analysis of DNA markers in microspore derived and F2 populations of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.)

Summary The segregation of RFLP and RAPD markers was compared in two oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) breeding populations from the cross Topas x R4, the latter being a low linolenic mutation line. A total progeny of 68 F₂ and 40 microspore derived plants were studied with 25 markers. The results indicated a significant excess of Topas alleles at five RAPD loci in the microspore derived population. This suggests that genomic regions which probably affect microspore culture ability do not have identical distribution in the two population types.     

C肉毒杀鼠素在高寒草甸地区灭鼠技术中的应用

综述C肉毒杀鼠素草原灭鼠应用技术,充分肯定了C肉毒杀鼠素毒力强、适口性好、对非靶动物毒性低、作用缓慢、无二次中毒、易降解和适合规模灭鼠的特点,为鼠害防治提供了新的思路。     

Assessing the potential impacts of alternative landscape designs on amphibian population dynamics

An individual-based, spatially explicit population model was used to predict the consequences of future land-use alternatives for populations of four amphibian species in two central Iowa (midwest USA) agricultural watersheds. The model included both breeding and upland habitat and incorporated effects of climatic variation and demographic stochasticity. Data requirements of the model include life history characteristics, dispersal behavior, habitat affinities, as well as land use and landcover in geographic information systems databases. Future scenarios were ranked according to change in breeder abundance, saturation, and distribution, compared to baseline conditions. Sensitivity of simulation results to changes in model parameters was also examined. Simulated results suggest that while all four species modeled are likely to persist under present and future scenario conditions, two may be more at risk from future landscape change. Although the study species are all widespread generalists regarded as having a low conservation priority, they depend on wetlands and ponds, increasingly endangered habitats in agricultural landscapes. Broader conservation strategies in the region would ensure that these currently common organisms do not become the endangered species of the future.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Long-term modelling of weed control strategies: analysis of threshold-based options for weed species with contrasted competitive abilities

A simple life-cycle-based demography model was adapted for two contrasting weed species ( Alopecurus myosuroides and Poa annua ). This model included a seed production function that accounted for population self-regulation through weed:weed interactions. The A. myosuroides version of the model was tested with field data. Long-term simulations of population demography were then performed to investigate the relationship between weed control strategies based on density thresholds and both the frequency of herbicide use and the long-term economic profitability. This study confirms that threshold-based weed management strategies are more cost-effective than spraying every year and may allow important reductions in herbicide use. However, after the first transient years of either systematically spraying or withholding herbicide, the long-term spraying frequency was insensitive to threshold values between 0.01 and 100 plants m⁻². The highest long-term profitability was obtained for the lowest threshold tested, and the profitability decreased rapidly when the threshold was raised above 4–6 and 10–20 plants m⁻² for A. myosuroides and P. annua respectively. The study thus indicates that the exact threshold value is of little importance for the long-term reliance of the system on herbicide, provided that it is reasonably low. For species with low competitive ability, high thresholds may be used in some cropping systems to reduce the spraying frequency for environmental considerations, but those options would also reduce the profitability if no compensatory measures were taken.     

Genetic diversity in populations of the fungi Phaeomoniella chlamydospora and Phaeoacremonium aleophilum on grapevine in France

Isolates of Phaeomoniella chlamydospora ( Phc ) and Phaeoacremonium aleophilum ( Pha ), two haploid, deuteromycetous fungi, were obtained from vines showing symptoms of esca disease in different localities in two French regions, and within a single vineyard in one of these regions. The population genetic structure was determined in both fungi using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Populations of Phc showed similar levels of diversity at local and regional levels. The most frequent Phc haplotypes were found in every population, and the frequencies of positive alleles of markers were similar across populations. The hypothesis that recombination had occurred was rejected for the full set of samples, but not for the samples reduced to haplotypes, indicating that Phc may be a recombining species. Different features were identified in Pha populations. First, the southern population of Pha appeared more diverse than the south-western populations. Second, genetic differentiation was identified between Pha populations from southern and south-western regions for several RAPDs. Finally, in the southern population of Pha no evidence for recombination was obtained, even by reducing the sample to haplotypes. Within the single vineyard surveyed, several haplotypes of both fungi were recovered and randomly distributed. Thus different infection events appeared to have occurred on a low spatial scale. Data from this study showed that haplotypes of both fungi were distributed over long distances geographically, and that most of the vineyards surveyed were infested by more than one haplotype of Phc and Pha .     

云南省稻瘟病,小麦锈病预测专家系统

基于稻瘟病、小麦锈病预测领域专家知识,以及借助模式识别势函数法实现的自学习、自提取的知识,采用正向和反向精确推理控制策略,首次建立云南省水稻穗瘟病、小麦条锈病预测专家系统,1994～1995年预测结果与实际情况基本一致。系统创造性地采用全屏幕编辑树图的知识输入法和森林表示技术对知识库进行管理,便于知识库的扩充和维护。推理结果、推理路径及知识查询以彩色图形方式显示,对于学习领域专家的实践经验具有独特优点。