Diurnal activity rhythms and time budgets of captive Qinling golden takin(Budorcas taxicolor bedfordi) in the Qinling Mountains,Shaanxi,China

In July 2006, the diurnal activity rhythms of 13 heads of captive Qinling golden takin were observed in Shaanxi Provincial Centre for the Breeding and Conservation of Rare Wildlife （SPCBCRW） at daylight （from 9：00 am to 4：00 pm in July）. The behavioral ethnogram was identified through observation at the sampling site, with the behaviors of golden takin recorded at 5 min interval using instantaneous scannable sampling method. The results indicated that the resting of golden takin took an important part in the daylight activities. Meanwhile, drinking and urinating and defecating were 1.92 and 0.54 and 0.92 times per head per day. Ambient temperature had a strong effect on the diurnal activity rhythms of golden takin. The diurnal activity rhymes were affected by ages of the animals effectively, which was expressed through differentiation of the time budgets. Moreover, different individuals in the same population showed some non-synchronously activity rhythms.

Locomotor activity rhythm in the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica elvers

Under artificial LD cycles （6, 12, 18 L）, the elvers of Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica, showed a 24 h cycle of locomotor activity rhythm being most active at light transitions ： the eels＇ activity rose to a primary peak after lights-off, followed by a quiescent period during which they buried into the shelters or lying motionlessly on sand for most of the time, and then reached a secondary peak before lights-on. Elvers could resynchronize their activity rhythm with a new photo cycle within 4 d. Moreover, their activity level at dark phase significantly increased as the light period was prolonged ： higher activity levels during shorter dark period. However, the elvers did not display clearly the existence of a circadian rhythm under constant light or dark conditions. The timing of daily activity rhythm evidenced in the Japanese eels may occur through the action of the LD cycles with a weak participation of an endogenous circadian system. In all the LD cycles, over 99% of the activity occurred in the dark phase, indicating that the eels were always nocturnally active no matter what time of day it might be. Under 12 L conditions, the eels＇ activity level and the time outside sand were significantly elevated both at light and dark phases as temperature increased from 10 - 15 to 20 - 25 ℃. The activity rhythm pattern （ i. e. , two peaks occurring around light transitions） did not apparently change among temperatures. However, in contrast with the primary activity peaks immediately after lights-off at 20 and 25 ℃, the timing of the primary peaks at 10 and 15 ℃ showed a latency of a few hours following lights-off, indicating the inhibiting effect of low temperature on the eels＇ activity.

The Rhythm of Earthquake Activity and an Analysis on the Earthquake Tendency of the World, the Chinese Continent and North China

Based on the Morlet complex wavelet transformation,the authors put forward a kind of new method for distinguishing periods of seismic activity and quietude and a new physical thought on the time-dependent wavelet accumulation energy spectrum with periods, the time-frequency distribution of wavelet vibration period spectrum and period-specific wavelet vibration spectrum. By applying the above methods to a time series which is composed of earthquake accumulation energy per year for the world, the Chinese continent and North China, respectively, we obtained some new information about the rhythm of shallow earthquake activity. Considering the historic earthquakes and the rhythm characteristics of current strong earthquake activity, the earthquake tendency in the next years is discussed.