Food Resource Partitioning in Alpine Weasel,Steppe Polecat and Upland Buzzard:Evidence from Stable Isotope Ratios

Based on mass balance theory and IsoSource program,stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios revealed that small mammals (plateau pika,root vole and plateau zokor) contributed 26.8% and 27.0% and 29.2% to alpine weasel,steppe polecat and upland buzzard of carnivores as food respectively;adult passerine birds contributed 22.3%,47.7% and 69.1%,with hatchlings contributing 50.9%,25.6% and 1.70% to each respectively.δ 13 C values plotted against δ 15 N indicated significant partitioning in two-dimensional space among the three carnivores.It was reasonable to propose a food resource partitioning among alpine weasel,steppe polecat and upland buzzard,which partially revealed their co-existence mechanisms.

Impact of joint resource partitioning and routing on performance of relay enhanced cellular networks

Radio resource assignment schemes and routing strategies in relay enhanced cellular networks are proposed in this paper. Under the reuse partitioning-based frequency planning framework, the intra-cell resource partitioning between the base station and relay nodes was addressed firstly by introducing a metric of effective reuse factor. Then, coverage-oriented and capacity-oriented rantings, as well as two link bandwidth assignment schemes＂ equal-bandwidth per link＂ and ＂equal-bandwidth per mobile station＂ were developed. These key issues and their impacts on the system performance were analyzed comprehensively and supported by simulations. Results show that the cell capacity and edge user throughput of the proposed network are superior to the traditional non-relay network when an appropriate effective reuse factor is adopted.

Test Resource Partitioning Based on Efficient Response Compaction for Test Time and Tester Channels Reduction

This paper presents a test resource partitioning technique based on anefficient response compaction design called quotient compactor(q-Compactor). Because q-Compactor isa single-output compactor, high compaction ratios can be obtained even for chips with a small numberof outputs. Some theorems for the design of q-Compactor are presented to achieve full diagnosticability, minimize error cancellation and handle unknown bits in the outputs of the circuit undertest (CUT). The q-Compactor can also be moved to the load-board, so as to compact the outputresponse of the CUT even during functional testing. Therefore, the number of tester channelsrequired to test the chip is significantly reduced. The experimental results on the ISCAS ''89benchmark circuits and an MPEG 2 decoder SoC show that the proposed compaction scheme is veryefficient.

Joint user association and resource partition for downlink-uplink decoupling in multi-tier HetNets

Traditional cellular networks require the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) of mobile users (MUs) to be associated with a single base station (BS). However, the power gap between BSs and MUs in different transmission environments results in the BS with the strongest downlink differing from the BS with the strongest uplink. In addition, the significant increase in the number of wireless machine type communication (MTC) devices accessing cellular networks has created a DL/UL traffic imbalance with higher traffic volume on the uplink. In this paper,a joint user association and resource partition framework for downlink-uplink decoupling (DUDe) is developed for a tiered heterogeneous cellular network (HCN). Different from the traditional association rules such as maximal received power and range extension, a coalition game based scheme is proposed for the optimal user association with DUDe. The stability and convergence of this scheme are proven and shown to converge to a Nash equilibrium at a geometric rate. Moreover, the DL and UL optimal bandwidth partition for BSs is derived based on user association considering fairness. Extensive simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme,which enhances the sum rate compared with other user association strategies.

Downlink CoMP Resource Allocation Based on Limited Backhaul Capacity

Coordinated Multi-Point(CoMP) transmission is put forward in the Long Term Evolution-Advanced(LTE-A) system to improve both average and cell-edge throughput. In this paper, downlink CoMP(DL-CoMP) resource allocation scheme based on limited backhaul capacity is designed to take a tradeoff between system throughput and fairness. Resource allocation of proportional fairness based on querying table is proposed. It updates RB allocation matrix when center cell has completed resource allocation and delivers the matrix to adjacent cells for their own RB allocation. Furthermore, Water-Filling algorithm based on adaptive water level(AWF) is used for power allocation to boost system fairness. In this paper, performance of downlink CoMP based on limited backhaul capacity and single-point transmission is contrasted, and results indicate that CoMP dramatically enhances system throughput and spectral efficiency. Moreover, AWF power allocation scheme obtains higher system fairness than conventional Water-Filling(WF) algorithm, although it gets slightly lower system throughput. Finally, this paper discussed that the system performance is partially affected by the percentage of CoMP resource.

ADVANCED FREQUENCY-DIRECTED RUN-LENTH BASED CODING SCHEME ON TEST DATA COMPRESSION FOR SYSTEM-ON-CHIP

Test data compression and test resource partitioning （TRP） are essential to reduce the amount of test data in system-on-chip testing. A novel variable-to-variable-length compression codes is designed as advanced fre- quency-directed run-length （AFDR） codes. Different [rom frequency-directed run-length （FDR） codes, AFDR encodes both 0- and 1-runs and uses the same codes to the equal length runs. It also modifies the codes for 00 and 11 to improve the compression performance. Experimental results for ISCAS 89 benchmark circuits show that AFDR codes achieve higher compression ratio than FDR and other compression codes.

Selecting the best:Interspecific and age-related diet differences among sympatric steppe passerines

Parental food provisioning is crucial for the growth and survival of offspring.Growth rate depends on food quality and food supplied to offspring may differ from what adults use for their own.In the case of steppe passerine birds,detailed characterization on nestling dietary composition,as well as prey choice and resource partitioning among species,is a pending subject.Dietary differences between nestlings and adults remain also largely unexplored.By using faecal DNA metabarcoding,we described the diet of nestlings and adults of five shrub-steppe passerine species over the 2017–2019 breeding seasons in central Spain.We also monitored arthropod availability in the field to assess dietary selection.We expected interspecific dietary differences to limit competition for food resources among sympatric species,as well as parental selection of high quality prey for nestlings.We also predicted age-related differences,with nestlings being fed nutrient-rich prey more frequently than adults.The main arthropod orders provisioned to nestlings were Orthoptera,Julida,Araneae and Lepidoptera.Nestlings of the different species showed high interspecific diet overlap,indicating both a coincidence in growth needs among bird species and no or little limitation of the most profitable resources during the breeding season.Adults of all species showed higher diet richness than nestlings,and age-related differences in prey composition were mainly driven by the selection of the most easily digestible,larger protein-and calcium-rich prey for nestlings,which may favour their rapid growth,and avoiding highly sclerotized and less nutritional prey such as ants.Our study sheds light on the basic ecology and conservation of these declining steppe birds,indicating that interspecific competition may not be a major factor during the breeding season.Given the current global decline of arthropods,further long-term research would be necessary,along with the implementation of effective conservation measures that ensure a sufficient availability of resources identified as key prey in the diet of steppe bird nestlings.

What a few hairs can tell us about the resource use of giant armadillos

Understanding of resource requirements of vulnerable species is key for conservation planning.Here,we used sta-ble carbon(δ13C)and nitrogen isotopes(δ15N)of hair from giant armadillos(Priodontes maximus)to understand individual resource use.We collected hair from 19 giant armadillos analyzing 34 samples from the Brazilian Pan-tanal and compared the resource use between sexes and age classes.We also assessed the relationship of isotopic values with individuals’body mass and the habitat type used.We observed a wide variation in resource use by giant armadillos,showing that individuals consume prey that feeds on distinct resources and occupies different habitat types,indicating that there is individual variation in foraging behavior.Most giant armadillos presented a mixed diet(C3/C4 resources,forests/open areas),but a quarter of individuals had strictly C4 diets(open areas).Males are more prone to forage on C4 resources,presenting an isotopic niche 2.6-times larger than that of females.Subadults presented diets more associated with habitats with high arboreal cover(C3 resources,forests),while adults foraged more in open areas(C4 resources).This result is mirrored by the positive relationship betweenδ13C values and body mass,suggesting that larger giant armadillos tend to feed more in open areas.We observed thatδ13C values decreased as individuals increased the use of habitats with high arboreal cover.We stress the importance of con-serving the natural mosaic in the Pantanal landscape for the species persistence,given that giant armadillos require all habitat types to fulfill their dietary,spatial,and developmental needs.

Diet variability of snappers(Teleostei:Lutjanidae)in a bay-to-reef ecosystem of the Mexican Caribbean

Fishes use environmental resources differently.Snapper ontogenic movements among coastal habitats lead to diverse diets.We investigated the diets of seven snapper species(Lutjanus apodus,L.analis,L.griseus,L.jocu,L.mahogoni,L.synagris,and Ocyurus chrysurus)in three interconnected coastal environments in the western Caribbean:Río Huach channel,Chetumal/Corozal bay,and the adjacent Xcalak reef lagoon.These three encompass all habitats used by the seven species in the study area.Snapper diets were mostly composed of fish and crustaceans,but dominance of either group varied among the studied habitats;for example,fish were the main prey for L.apodus from the reef lagoon zone,but second in the bay.Snappers are piscivorous-invertivorous mesopredators;the species that relied the most on fishes were L.griseus and L.jocu,whereas O.chrysurus preferred crustaceans.Stomach content results revealed a high degree of dietary overlap among species.Our findings suggested a tradeoff in relative weight between fish and crustaceans as the main food source of snappers at these connected areas,supporting the hypothesis of niche segregation.Our results can be used as a baseline to further our understanding of the ecology and differences in resource use by snapper species in an area undergoing important anthropogenic changes.

Interspecific and intraspecific variation in specific root length drives aboveground biodiversity effects in young experimental forest stands

Aims Although the net biodiversity effect(NE)can be statistically partitioned into complementarity and selection effects(CE and SE),there are different underlying mechanisms that can cause a certain partitioning.Our objective was to assess the role of resource partitioning and species interactions as two important mechanisms that can bring about CEs by interspecific and intraspecific trait variation.Methods We measured tree height of 2493 living individuals in 57 plots and specific root length(SRL)on first-order roots of 368 of these individuals across different species richness levels(1,2,4,8 species)in a large-scale forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning experiment in subtropical China(BEF-China)established in 2009.We describe the effects of resource partitioning between species by a fixed component of interspecific functional diversity(RaoQ)and further effects of species interactions by variable components of interspecific and intraspecific functional diversity(community weighted trait similarity and trait dissimilarity,CWS and CWD).Finally,we examined the relationships between biodiversity effects on stand-level tree height and functional diversity(RaoQ,CWS and CWD)in SRL using linear regression and assessed the relative importance of these three components of functional diversity in explaining the diversity effects.Important Findings Our results show that species richness significantly affected SRL in five and tree height in ten out of 16 species.A positive NE was generally brought about by a positive CE on stand-level tree height and related to high values of RaoQ and CWS in SRL.A positive CE was related to high values of all three components of root functional diversity(RaoQ,CWS and CWD).Our study suggests that both resource partitioning and species interactions are the underlying mechanisms of biodiversity effects on stand-level tree growth in subtropical forest.

Complementarity among species in horizontal versus vertical rooting space

Aims Many experiments have shown a positive effect of species richness on productivity in grassland plant communities.However,it is poorly understood how environmental conditions affect this relationship.We aimed to test whether deep soil and limiting nutrient conditions increase the complementarity effect(CE)of species richness due to enhanced potential for resource partitioning.Methods We grew monocultures and mixtures of four common grassland species in pots on shallow and deep soil,factorially combined with two nutrient levels.Soil volume was kept constant to avoid confounding soil depth and volume.Using an additive partitioning method,we separated biodiversity effects on plant productivity into components due to species complementarity and dominance.Important findings Net biodiversity and complementarity effects were consistently higher in shallow pots,which was unexpected,and at the low nutrient level.These two results suggest that although belowground partitioning of resources was important,especially under low nutrient conditions,it was not due to differences in rooting depths.We conclude that in our experiment(i)horizontal root segregation might have been more important than the partitioning of rooting depths and(ii)that the positive effects of deep soil found in other studies were due to the combination of deeper soil with larger soil volume.

Energy Optimization for Cellular-Connected Multi-UAV Mobile Edge Computing Systems with Multi-Access Schemes

In this paper,a cellular-connected unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)mobile edge computing system is studied where several UAVs are associated to a terrestrial base station(TBS)for computation offloading.To compute the large amount of data bits,a part of computation task is migrated to TBS and the other part is locally handled at UAVs.Our goal is to minimize the total energy consumption of all UAVs by jointly adjusting the bit allocation,power allocation,resource partitioning as well as UAV trajectory under TBS’s energy budget.For deeply comprehending the impact of multi-UAV access strategy on the system performance,four access schemes in the uplink transmission is considered,i.e.,time division multiple access,orthogonal frequency division multiple access,one-by-one access and non-orthogonal multiple access.The involved problems under different access schemes are all formulated in non-convex forms,which are difficult to be tackled optimally.To solve this class of problem,the successive convex approximation technique is employed to obtain the suboptimal solutions.The numerical results show that the proposed scheme save significant energy consumption compared with the benchmark schemes.