River width and depth as key factors of diurnal activity energy expenditure allocation for wintering Spot-billed Ducks in the Xin'an River Basin

Rivers are important habitats for wintering waterbirds.However,they are easily influenced by natural and human activities.An important approach for waterbirds to adapt to habitats is adjusting the activity time and energy expenditure allocation of diurnal behavior.The compensatory foraging hypothesis predicts that increased energy expenditure leads to longer foraging time,which in turn increases food intake and helps maintain a constant energy balance.However,it is unclear whether human-disturbed habitats result in increased energy expenditure related to safety or foraging.In this study,the scan sample method was used to observe the diurnal behavior of the wintering Spot-billed Duck(Anas poecilorhyncha) in two rivers in the Xin’an River Basin from October 2021 to March 2022.The allocation of time and energy expenditure for activity in both normal and disturbed environments was calculated.The results showed that foraging accounted for the highest percentage of time and energy expenditure.Additionally,foraging decreased in the disturbed environment than that in the normal environment.Resting behavior showed the opposite trend,while other behaviors were similar in both environments.The total diurnal energy expenditure of ducks in the disturbed environment was greater than that in the normal environment,with decreased foraging and resting time percentage and increased behaviors related to immediate safety(swimming and alert) and comfort.These results oppose the compensatory foraging hypothesis in favor of increased security.The optimal diurnal energy expenditure model included river width and water depth,which had a positive relationship;an increase in either of these two factors resulted in an increase in energy expenditure.This study provides a better understanding of energy allocation strategies underlying the superficial time allocation of wintering waterbirds according to environmental conditions.Exploring these changes can help understand the maximum fitness of wintering waterbirds in response to nature and human influences.

Hourly and monthly variations in the surface activity patterns of Hemilepistus reaumurii in arid environments of Tunisia

Life in desert ecosystems drives animals to adapt their surface locomotor activity according to environmental conditions. In this study, the hourly and monthly variations in the surface activity patterns of the terrestrial crustacean Hemilepistus reaumurii were investigated. The surface activity of H. reaumurii at the population scale was observed by collecting the hourly active individuals from the sunrise to the sunset of the studied day in each month of 2013 in the Bchachma locality, Tunisia. The collected active individuals were put in perspex boxes（on which we labeled the hourly time interval in which the individuals were collected） in the field and then transported to the laboratory for analysis. Individuals were counted, sexed, and measured in the laboratory. Despite desert conditions in the studied site, H. reaumurii was characterized by a diurnal surface activity, showing a bimodal pattern during the warm months（i.e., May to October）. However, it exhibited a unimodal surface activity pattern in the cold months（i.e., February, March, and November）. The surface activity was significantly correlated with sunrise and sunset. Moreover, a significant quadratic effect of temperature on the surface activity of H. reaumurii was observed. Furthermore, the study showed that the most important surface activity was recorded in March. The daily exploitation of the temporal niches was significantly different as a function of months. The body size of males was larger than that of females, and the body size of active individuals changed with months. All these behavioural changes in the surface activity represent an adaptive strategy of life in the arid environment.

Study of the Protective Effects in PEPC Transgenic Rice

The diurnal course of chlorophyll fluorescence parameter and active oxygen metabolism of flag leaves in PEPC transgenic and untransformed rice Kitaake were studied. The results showed that the photosynthetic rate under high light intensity has been increased by 50% and photoinhibition of photosynthesis in PEPC transgenic was alleviated after the introduction of PEPC gene from maize into rice. It was demonstrated that the increment of photosynthesis in PEPC transgenic was related to the introduction of PEPC gene using specific inhibitor of PEPC. Photoinhibition of photosynthesis in different genotypes exists at noon under natural condition. PEPC transgenic rice exhibited a less decrease in Fv/Fm, a less photoinhibition and a higher efficiency of light energy conversion to chemical energy and lower thermal energy dissipation. These results provided the physiological basis on the mechanism of tolerance to photoinhibition and rice breeding with high photosynthetic efficiency.