Avian brood parasitism — a growing research area in behavioral ecology (part Ⅱ)

正We are pleased to publish the second special issue on avian brood parasitism and to be responsible guest editors for the two special issues of Chinese Birds (Vol. 3, No. 4, 2012 and Vol. 4, No. 1, 2013), entitled "Avian Brood Parasitism - A Growing Research Area in Behavioral Ecology". The first issue was published in December 2012. The goal of the two special issues is to publish accumulated knowledge and some of the recent developments

Behavioral Observations on Introduced Hu Sheep in Henan Province,China

Hu Sheep is a local sheep breed in the plain of Taihu, China. Due to the natural conditions in Taihu and human domestication, Hu Sheep is gradually featured with high adaptability, fast growth rate, early maturity and high productivity, which make them to be a unique and rare breed of sheep. In the present study, an experiment was conducted by means of instantaneous scan sampling, focal animal sampling and all-occurrence sampling to learn about Hu Sheep's behavior and activity pattern under certain feeding management and ecological condition. The result showed that the activity time budgets for several behaviors were different between rams and ewes, with respect to feeding (rams 30.60% vs. ewes 33.23%), ruminating (33.43% vs.35.30%); sleeping (19.92% vs. 13.69%), standing (4.13% vs. 5.26%), moving (8.10% vs. 7.46%), and other behaviors (3.86% vs.5.06%). A circadian activity rhythm was shown in some behaviors; e.g., total feeding time was greater in the daytime than at night, whereas resting time showed the opposite tendency. Moving mostly occurred in the daytime, and ruminating mainly occurred at night. Additionally, feeding activity occurred 32.22 times per day in rams and 31.73 times per day in ewes, whereas ruminating activity after feeding occurred 19.83 times per day in rams and 24.34 times per day in ewes. For each food bolus,the average ruminating time was 51.22 s in rams and 49.52 s in ewes, with 68.22 bouts of rumination per day in rams and57.35 bouts of rumination in ewes. By conducting the experiment, we studied and grasped the local Hu Sheep's main behavior and regularity which are of great significance on improving the feeding management and reducing diseases.

Thrips: Pests of Concern to China and the United States

Thrips are among the most important agricultural pests globally because of the damage inflicted by their oviposition, feeding, and ability to transmit plant viruses. Because of their invasiveness, a number of pest species are common to both China and the United States and present significant challenges to growers of a wide range of crops in both countries. Among the pest thrips common to both countries are four of the major global thrips pests, Frankliniella occidentalis （Pergande）, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood, Thrips palmi Karny, and Thrips tabaci Lindeman. This review addresses characteristics that enable thrips to be such damaging pests and how biological attributes of thrips create challenges for their management. Despite these challenges, a number of successful management tactics have been developed for various cropping systems. We discuss some of these tactics that have been developed, including the use of cultural controls, biological controls, and judicious use of insecticides that do not disrupt overall pest management programs. The exchange of this type of information will help to facilitate management of pest thrips, especially in regions where species have recently invaded. A prime example is F. occidentalis, the western flower thrips, which is native to the United States, but has recently invaded China. Therefore, management tactics developed in the United States can be adapted to China. Because further success in management of thrips requires a thorough understanding of thrips ecology, we discuss areas of future research and emphasize the importance of collaboration among different countries to enhance our overall understanding of the biology and ecology of thrips and to improve management programs for these widespread pests.

Study on Formation Mechanism of Farmer Production Consumption Ecologization——Empirical Analysis Based on TPB Model

Ecological transformation of production consumption is an effective channel of establishing ecological agriculture mechanism. In this paper,based on TPB( Theory of Planed Behavior),using factor analysis and regression analysis,empirical test on formation mechanism of farmer production consumption ecologization behavior transformation is conducted. Research results show that behavior attitude,subjective norm and control cognition of farmer production consumption ecologization have significantly positive influences on behavior response of farmer production consumption ecologization. Among them,power of behavior attitude is farmer's economic rationality and ecological rationality; power of subjective norm is system norm,government guidance and social pressure; power of control cognition is policy judgment and ability perception. Finally,for the analyzed conclusions,policy suggestions are proposed from many aspects,which could provide reference effect for guiding farmer production consumption ecologization and establishing rural eco-civilization.

The Space Dissimilation of Stakeholders' Environment Cognitive and Behavior Preference Response in the Area from Returning Fazing Land to Grasslands

The cognition and attitudes of resources environment affect environmental behavior of behavior subject,the changes of attitude and behavior become one of the key factors of influencing harmonious and healthy development of ecological environment. With PRA survey method for obtaining questionnaire data and based on behavior geography and social psychology theory,farming-pastoral,dry grassland,desert grassland, typical project village alpine grassland of returning fazing land to grasslands as an example,with main body cognitive perspective of the aid of resources,the article analyzed space dissimilation of stakeholders environmental cognitive and behavior preference response in the area of returning grazing land to grasslands from ecological environment from policy environment,ecological environment and family economic environment aspects. The results showed that： stakeholders judgment of Grassland degradation in different ecological function area had obvious regularity,the cognitive proportion of Grassland degradation gradually increase from farming-pastora to alpine savanes. The satisfaction from returning grazing land to grasslands showed a changing tendency of reversed U. stakeholders had more strongly negative cognition in the area of dry steppe and desertsteppe. From farming-pastoral to alpine savanes,the economic environment tend to worse situation. Negative environmental behaviors tend to increase,Positive behavior on the contrary.

Can morphological and behavioral traits predict the foraging and feeding dynamics of social arachnids?

Complex social insect species exhibit task specialization mediated by morphological and behavior-al traits.However,evidence of such traits is scarce for other social arthropods.We investigated whether the social pseudoscorpion Paratemnoides nidificator exhibits morphologically and behav-iorally specialized individuals in prey capture.We measured body and chela sizes of adult pseudo-scorpions and analyzed predation processes.Larger individuals spent more time moving through the colony and foraging than smaller pseudoscorpions.Individuals that captured prey had increased body and absolute chelae sizes.Although larger individuals had relatively small chelae size,they showed a higher probability of prey capture.Larger individuals manipulated prey often,although they fed less than smaller pseudoscorpions.Individuals that initiated captures fed more frequently and for more time than the others.Natural selection might be favoring individuals speci-alized in foraging and colony protection,allowing smaller and less efficient adults to avoid contact with dangerous prey.To our knowledge,there is incipient information regarding specialized indi-viduals in arachnids,and our results might indicate the emergence of a morphologically special-ized group in this species.

Social interactions in striped hyena inferred from camera trap data:is it more social than previously thought?

Understanding the drivers promoting sociality over solitariness in animal species is imperative for predicting future population trends and informing conservation and management.In this study we investigate the social structure of a desert dwelling population of striped hyena Hyaena hyaena.This species is historically regarded as strictly solitary albeit being the least studied of the extant Hyaenids.Accumulating evidence regarding the frequency of social interactions sug-gests a revision of striped hyena social structure is required.We hypothesized that striped hyena has a social structure that is more complex than expected for a strictly solitary species.For that end,we deployed an array of camera-traps in a remote desert region in Israel,and compared observed frequencies of striped hyena co-occurrence against null models to test whether hyena co-occurred more than expected by chance.Seven adults were(re)captured by our camera-traps in 49 different instances over 83 tracking days.Of these,6 exhibited shared space-use around a scarce,isolated perennial water source.Five of them,co-occurred with other hyena(in 3 instan-ces)significantly more frequent than expected by chance(and that timing suggests reproduction is unlikely to be the driving factor).Our findings substantiate evidence of complex social structure in striped hyena,highlight the importance of a scarce resource in space use and sociality,and provide a baseline for future research of striped hyena social structure.We suggest that similar methods be employed to evaluate social structure in other"solitary species"to better under-stand their social dynamics.