On the Occurrence of Marine Fungi in the Diet of Littorina angulifera and Observations on the Behavior of the Periwinkle*

Abstract. The feeding and resting patterns of Littorina angulifera, the southern periwinkle, were observed in mangrove habitats of Belize (Central America). The snails feed predominantly on the surface of prop roots of Rhizophora mangle in a narrow zone at and above the mean high water mark. This area contains large numbers of hyphae and chlamydospores of an unidentified marine fungus (Deuteromycetes) and filaments of a chlorophyte (Chlorochytrium sp.). Both organisms are ingested by snails whose digestive tracts and fecal pellets contain ground-up cork cells, tricho-sclereids, tracheids, calcium oxalate crystals, fungal hyphae and chlamydospores, as well as undigested cyanobacteria. Most fungal particles pass through the gut unchanged. During dry periods, L. angulifera is in a dormant state, usually attached with dried mucus to leaves high in the tree, causing necrotic, crescent-shaped marks. The leaf tissue under the area of shell attachment becomes meristematic, separating dead tissues from healthy mesophyll. The snails detach during rainfall and move downward to the feeding sites on the prop roots.     

石羊河上游干旱草原星毛委陵菜群落土壤种子库

星毛委陵菜(Potentilla aclaulis)被认为是阻止草原进一步退化的一道绿色屏障,其群落土壤种子库的退化机制能够为草地生态恢复提供依据.通过大面积调查,研究了石羊河上游干旱草原退化演替过程中星毛委陵菜群落的土壤种子库,结果表明,土壤种子库共有19个物种,分属14个科;随着星毛委陵菜种群分盖度的增加,种子库种类及密度呈递减趋势,禾本科的密度减少,不食草种类减少,但是密度增大;在垂直方向上,种子库的种类逐层减少,密度出现0～5 cm>10～15 cm>5～10 cm的变化趋势;星毛委陵菜种子库很小,只占2.93%,其再生途径倾向于无性繁殖;种子库和地上植被的相似性指数平均为0.392,土壤种子库中没有发现原生地带性植被优势种群的种子,反映了草地群落退化的不可逆转性.     

Supervised Mineral Classification with Semiautomatic Training and Validation Set Generation in Scanning Electron Microscope Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy Images of Thin Sections

This paper addresses the problem of classifying minerals common in siliciclastic and carbonate rocks. Twelve chemical elements are mapped from thin sections by energy dispersive spectroscopy in a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Extensions to traditional multivariate statistical methods are applied to perform the classification. First, training and validation sets are grown from one or a few seed points by a method that ensures spatial and spectral closeness of observations. Spectral closeness is obtained by excluding observations that have high Mahalanobis distances to the training class mean. Spatial closeness is obtained by requesting connectivity. Second, class consistency is controlled by forcing each class into 5–10 subclasses and checking the separability of these subclasses by means of canonical discriminant analysis. Third, class separability is checked by means of the Jeffreys–Matusita distance and the posterior probability of a class mean being classified as another class. Fourth, the actual classification is carried out based on four supervised classifiers all assuming multinormal distributions: simple quadratic, a contextual quadratic, and two hierarchical quadratic classifiers. Overall weighted misclassification rates for all quadratic classifiers are very low for both the training (0.25–0.33%) and validation sets (0.65–1.13%). Finally, the number of rejected observations in routine runs is checked to control the performance of the SEM image acquisition and the classification. Although the contextual classifier performs marginally best on the validation set, the simple quadratic classifier is chosen in routine classifications because of the lower processing time required. The method is presently used as a routine petrographical analysis method at Norsk Hydro Research Centre. The data can be approximated by a Poisson distribution. Accordingly, the square root of the data has constant variance and a linear classifier can be used. Near orthogonal input data, enable the use of a minimum distance classifier. Results from both linear and quadratic minimum distance classifications are described briefly.     

准噶尔无叶豆土壤种子库特征及其对种子萌发的影响

 准噶尔无叶豆(Eremosparton songoricum (Litv.) Vass.)是中亚荒漠特有种,中国的单属种植物类群,稀有种,仅片段化分布在古尔班通古特沙漠风蚀坡地及流动-半流动沙丘上。按照不同微地形条件,于2008年9月、2009年的4月及6月分别对两个自然种群8种微地形条件(A种群为积沙灌丛下、积沙平缓处、风蚀灌丛下和风蚀平缓处4种; B种群为沙丘上部、中部、下部及底部4种)进行土壤种子库取样,并统计萌发季节的自然种群萌发率,同时对比室内萌发率,以研究土壤种子库的时空分布特征及其对种子萌发的影响。结果表明,从9月至次年4月和6月,种群种子库密度逐渐减少。自然状态下沙埋深度0—6 cm的种子能够萌发,主要萌发季节(4月)A种群有42%~73.56%的种子、B种群有63.33%~72.73%的种子分布在沙土6 cm以下的深度,为“无效种子”。A种群积沙灌丛下种子库密度值最大,但萌发季节的自然种群萌发率为0; B种群的沙丘下部种子库密度较大,但自然种群萌发率仅为4.8%±0.8%。不同微地形条件下沙粒打磨作用(去除种子硬实)和水分条件的差异,是微地形间种子萌发率差异的主要原因。本研究从土壤种子库角度解析自然种群有性更新困难的原因,为该稀有物种的保育提供理论依据。     

文蛤稚贝的摄食、呼吸和排泄研究

利用实验生态学的方法研究了在25℃下文蛤稚贝对4种单细胞藻类的摄食率和不同温度对文蛤稚贝呼吸、排泄的影响。研究结果表明,单位质量的文蛤稚贝在单位时间内滤食4种藻类的质量和个数差异极为显著;温度对文蛤稚贝的耗氧率、排氨率也有显著影响,在12~32℃范围内,耗氧率、排氨率随着温度的升高而增大,O∶N值也随之而升高;在3组试验温度下呼吸Q10的平均值为6.06,排泄Q10的平均值为2.59。     

马氏珠母贝早春育苗,缩短母贝养成期试验

在室内人工飼养马氏珠母贝亲贝,进行早春育苗。比常规生产育苗提前二个月。生长快,贝体健壮,经养殖18个月长至壳高7.1厘米,体重52克。60％以上达施术贝标准,相当于常规生产贝苗26个月的生长水平。相对地缩短了养殖周期,提高了经济效益。且设备简单,操作方便,利于推广。     

荒漠植物苦豆子和苦马豆种子硬实特性与活力关系研究

 以荒漠边缘采集的苦豆子和苦马豆种子为材料,研究其硬实特性及其与活力的关系。结果表明,每日内吸胀的种子数量随时间推移,以一定比列下降,苦豆子非硬实种子吸胀速率较缓慢,第10天后吸胀率降到1%,苦马豆非硬实种子第3天后下降到1%,第13—16天突然上升后又下降到1%。两种豆类种子都显示出硬实种子发芽率、发芽指数、活力指数、脱氢酶、呼吸速率、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)均高于非硬实种子,而电导率、浸出液可溶性糖和丙二醛(MDA)低于非硬实种子,缓慢吸胀的硬实种子活力指标高于快速吸胀的硬实种子,这表明硬实种子吸胀过程中存在吸胀损伤。而在非硬实种子中,根据以上活力指标判断,晚吸胀的种子比早吸胀的种子活力高。     

Effect of rhizobia inoculation on the seed (herbage) production of mungbean (Phaseolus aureusRoxb.) grown at Uzbekistan

In field trials conducted at Uzbekistan, inoculation of mungbean (Phaseolus aureusRoxb.) with commercial strain CIAM1901 ofBradyrhizobiumsp. (Phaseolus) increased (on average for two cultivars) the herbage mass by 46·6±6·0%, seed mass by 39·2 ± 3·6%, mass of 1000 seeds by 16·0 ± 0·8%, nitrogen content in seeds by 58·3 ± 8·9%, starch content in seeds by 30·0 ± 5·5% and number of nodules by 254%. Inoculation with this strain produced the same herbage (seed) mass as NH₄NO₃application (120 kg ha⁻¹of N), while the combined treatment of rhizobia and 60 kg ha⁻¹of N produced significantly higher yields than rhizobia inoculation alone or application of 120 kg ha⁻¹of N. The rhizobia strain M11 was isolated from Uzbekistan soils and significantly exceeded the commercial strain CIAM1901 in its influence on herbage mass by 3·9–10·6%. Two-factor analysis of variance demonstrated that the herbage mass and number of nodules are controlled mainly by the rhizobia strain genotypes, while seed yield, number of pods, mass of 1000 seeds and N and starch content in seeds are influenced by the plant cultivar genotypes.     

GENEBANKS: A GLOBAL PAYOFF*

The number of crop genebanks, designed to conserve crop genetic resources and make them available to breeders, has risen dramatically in recent years. While few dispute the need to conserve crop germplasm to help boost and sustain agricultural productivity, the role of genebanks and their global distribution has become embroiled in controversy. Some suggest that genebanks are servicing mainly multinational seed companies and that industrial countries harbor the lion's share of crop germplasm collections. This article describes the importance of genebanks, analyzes their distribution and beneficiaries, and outlines how geographers can become more involved in the conservation and use of crop genetic resources.     

岩溶山区不同植被群落土壤生态系统特性研究

自然植被演替成为次生植被、人工林或人工开垦利用后,岩溶山地土壤物理性能退化;沙化现象明显;坡耕地土壤长时间持水供水性能、抗旱性能降低;土壤种子库中草本种子比例大,木本植物种子少,土壤种子库退化更严重。研究区土壤有机质和全N受植被类型和土地利用强度影响明显,坡耕地土壤有机质较林草地系统低,退耕还林还草后,土壤有机质含量稳定增加。与自然植被相比,人工林、次生林系统土壤有机质含量仍较低。从弃耕地→灌草坡→次生林地的演替过程中,土壤种子库生态优势度呈降低趋势,物种丰富度和多样性增加。研究结果认为,岩溶生态系统土地退化的实质是土壤作为水库、养分库和土壤种子库功能的差异退化。