The Chinese water pine Glyptostrobus pensilis is the sole surviving species of the genus Glyptostrobus. It is endemic to southern China, central Vietnam, and eastern Laos, and today it is nearly extinct in the wild. F...The Chinese water pine Glyptostrobus pensilis is the sole surviving species of the genus Glyptostrobus. It is endemic to southern China, central Vietnam, and eastern Laos, and today it is nearly extinct in the wild. Forest community characteristics and population structure of G. pensilis in China have remained un-known up to now. We investigated six swamp forest stands and analyzed their forest community characteristics (i.e. vertical stratification, species composition, and diversity) and population structure, including the frequency distribution of DBH (diameter at breast height) and age-classes as found in Fujian Province, southeastern China. The vertical stratifications of all the forest stands were rather simple. The remaining wild specimens ranged from roughly 15 to some 357 years for an average of ca. 85 years, with only a few individuals less than 20 years old. Compared with the stands and populations of G. pensilis in Vietnam, the taxonomic compositions of the stands in the two regions were different, except for the dominant species-G. pensilis. The Shannon-Wiener index showed the overstory of each stand had much lower diversity (0.26 on average) in Fujian Province than that (1.97 on average) in Vietnam, whereas the diversity indices were about the same (around 2.41) for the understories in the two regions. Furthermore, we discovered 18 G. pensilis seedlings at the study sites in Fujian Province. This discovery demonstrates that G. pensilis regeneration is extremely poor and its populations are declining, although these populations are rela-tively healthier than those in Vietnam.展开更多
The Relict Gull(Larus relictus) is recognized as a vulnerable species,with a worldwide population of about 6,000 individuals.Always inhabiting the extreme arid regions of Central Asia,their migratory routes and winter...The Relict Gull(Larus relictus) is recognized as a vulnerable species,with a worldwide population of about 6,000 individuals.Always inhabiting the extreme arid regions of Central Asia,their migratory routes and winter grounds are unclear.This research focused on distribution sites,habitat,behavior,population size and seasonal changes of Relict Gull.Line transects and point counts in every month were used to investigate the gulls around the Ebinur Lake.The result showed Relict Gull was summer visitor to Xinjiang,Western China.Population curve with a single peak was obtained.This gull appeared in early April and was 63 individuals(1% of the global population).The number remained stable from May to July in 2009.The discovery of fledglings indi-cates that Relict Gull may breed here.They left Ebinur Lake in August.Relict Gull in Ebinur Lake should belong to the Central Asian subpopulation,which was the most westerly record in China.展开更多
Integrated studies of vertical sedimentary sequences, grain sizes, and benthic foraminifera and ostracoda, in combination with AMS 14C dating, and 210Pb and 137Cs analysis were carried out in three vibracores taken fr...Integrated studies of vertical sedimentary sequences, grain sizes, and benthic foraminifera and ostracoda, in combination with AMS 14C dating, and 210Pb and 137Cs analysis were carried out in three vibracores taken from the area of relict deposits on the western South Yellow Sea. The relict sands, which are about 0.4 m thick, overlie on the Early Holocene coastal marsh or tidal flat deposits with an evident erosional interface in between. The middle and upper parts or sometimes the whole of the relict sands have been reworked under the modern dynamic environment. The sedimentation rate varies between 0.20–0.30 cm year-1. The relict sands show a bimodal grain-size distribution pattern in frequency curves, with a sharp peak in the coarse fraction between 3Φ and 4Φ and a secondary peak in the fine fraction of about 7Φ. Of the benthic foraminiferal and ostracod assemblages, the reworked relict sands are characterized by the mixing of the nearshore euryhaline shallow-water species and deeper water species. The erosional interface at the bottom of the relict sands is considered as a regional ravinement surface formed during the transgression in the Early Holocene due to shoreface retreating landwards. The relict sands were accumulated on the ravinement surface during the transgression in the deglaciation period as lag deposits after winnowing and reworking by marine dynamic processes. And the secondary peak of fine fraction in the frequency curve for the relict sands suggests the input of fine-grained sediments during the reworking process. As the conclusion, the relict sands in the study area are interpreted as a type of reworked relict sediments.展开更多
The major and trace element and isotopic composition were analyzed for the Paleogene volcanics in North China dated by the K-Ar method. The geochemical data show that most volcanics are in calc-alkaline series and the...The major and trace element and isotopic composition were analyzed for the Paleogene volcanics in North China dated by the K-Ar method. The geochemical data show that most volcanics are in calc-alkaline series and the minor is in alkaline series. They differ obviously from Neogene and Quaternary volcanics in geochemistry. In particular, the Paleogene volcanics from the southern part of North China were derived from enriched lithospheric mantle (EMU), which were likely to be a relict mantle wedge formed during the subduction of the Yangtze plate into the North China plate in late Triassic (Indo- Sinian).展开更多
Aims Key herbivory interaction traits such as plant defensive compounds may differ among populations of a single species due to the spatial variation in herbivore feeding guilds and the strength of the interac-tion.Mo...Aims Key herbivory interaction traits such as plant defensive compounds may differ among populations of a single species due to the spatial variation in herbivore feeding guilds and the strength of the interac-tion.Moreover,the genealogy of population lineages could represent an additional source of variation interacting with the predominant eco-clinal trends.We tested for the existence of genetically based intraspecific variation in chemical defence profiles across the range of the relict tree Prunus lusitanica L.Additionally,we investigated geographical variation in defence inducibility and tested for the exist-ence of a trade-off between qualitative and quantitative defences.Methods We conducted a greenhouse experiment where 210 plants were grown under a common environment,comprising 10 different pop-ulations throughout the distribution range of the species and span-ning three separate regions:iberia,Morocco and Macaronesia.To test for the inducibility of defences,we artificially defoliated plants.Three treatments were established within each population:undam-aged,defoliated and sampled after 2 h,and defoliated and sampled after 72 h.The concentration of cyanogenic glycosides(prunasin)and phenolics was determined in leaf samples for all treatments.Important findings Basal levels of cyanogenics and phenolics significantly differed among populations and regions across the range of P.lusitanica,with this variation having a heritable basis.Cyanogenics(pruna-sin)were significantly higher in ancient Macaronesian populations,while phenolic concentrations were larger in iberia.The higher cyanogenic levels found in Macaronesia could be a consequence of the known stronger herbivory pressure in the islands than in iberia or the likely longer coevolutionary history with herbivores in this region.These findings indicate that the geographical variation of key ecological traits such plant chemical defences can be imprinted by phylogeographical signals,particularly in relict species.Regarding defence inducibility,prunasin increased after simulated herbivory whereas phenolics mostly decreased after defoliation.Variation in defence inducibility across populations and regions was evident,although no consistent patterns related to the variation in herbivore feeding guilds were observed,particularly among regions with and without ungulate browsing pressure.Finally,a trade-off among induced levels of qualitative(prunasin)and quantitative(phenolics)defences was detected in one of the defoliated treatments,likely as a result of a stronger resource limitation in damaged plants.展开更多
The stone marten(Martes foina)is a carnivorous mammal that often consumes fleshy fruits,thus potentially promoting seed dispersion.The present study was developed in Bussaco National Forest,central Portugal,and ...The stone marten(Martes foina)is a carnivorous mammal that often consumes fleshy fruits,thus potentially promoting seed dispersion.The present study was developed in Bussaco National Forest,central Portugal,and aimed to assess the potential role of the stone marten in dispersing native and exotic plants in different forest landscape types.Seeds from stone marten scats and fleshy fruits were collected monthly and were thereafter identified and sowed in a nursery,following a randomized experimental setup.Plant emergence was monitored fortnightly.Generalized linear models were used to test for differences in time and success of emergence between seeds from scats and fruits of 3 native species(Rubus ulmifolius,Arbutus unedo and Celtis australis)and 1 exotic plant species with invasive behavior(Prunus laurocerasus).Fruit consumption by the stone martens significantly increased and accelerated the germination of the native R.ulmifolius but had no effect on the other 2 native species or on the invasive species.This suggested that stone martens contribute to gene flow and forest regeneration by dispersing native plant seeds.However,although the germination was not enhanced in the invasive species,the preference of stone martens for these fruits may potentially contribute to the proliferation of P.laurocerasus.Our study represents a contribution to better understanding the fauna and flora interactions,enabling for a more conscious and effective decision-making in forest management.展开更多
The paper analyzes the concept of Ether and substantiates the necessity of its existence as a physical reality, which arises within the framework of the concept developed by the authors of the work. The authors come t...The paper analyzes the concept of Ether and substantiates the necessity of its existence as a physical reality, which arises within the framework of the concept developed by the authors of the work. The authors come to the conclusion that the existence of Ether in two different forms, plays an exceptional role in the formation of Dark Matter and Dark Energy and leads to the emergence of exotic cosmological structures and their hierarchy in energy, temporal, and spatial scale. The mechanism of the formation of physical structures before the Big Bang and their further evolution, up to the formation of worlds of galaxies and stars, is considered. The necessity of the emergence of exotic structures, such as 3 spheres of the Primary Relict, is shown, its structure and dynamic properties leading to the formation of Order from Chaos are considered. The role of the 1st and 2nd type Ether in the formation of the mechanism of transformation of cosmic energies and quantum phase transitions, in the process of the birth and evolution of the Universe is discussed. The conclusion is made about the existence of universal properties of matter, at the level of Macro and Microcosms, and a multidimensional cosmological model with an isothermal temperature distribution is constructed, leading to a discrete distribution of matter separated by transitions, by analogy with Black-and-White Holes. It is shown that the postulate of the constancy of the speed of light in any inertial system is a consequence of the principle of covariance.展开更多
基金funding by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31760152 and 31500355)the Key National Research and Development Plan Program of China (2016YFC050310203)+1 种基金the Natural Science Foundation Project of CQ CSTC, China (cstc2016jcyj A0379)the National Program on Space Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Vietnam (project VT-UD.09/18-20)
文摘The Chinese water pine Glyptostrobus pensilis is the sole surviving species of the genus Glyptostrobus. It is endemic to southern China, central Vietnam, and eastern Laos, and today it is nearly extinct in the wild. Forest community characteristics and population structure of G. pensilis in China have remained un-known up to now. We investigated six swamp forest stands and analyzed their forest community characteristics (i.e. vertical stratification, species composition, and diversity) and population structure, including the frequency distribution of DBH (diameter at breast height) and age-classes as found in Fujian Province, southeastern China. The vertical stratifications of all the forest stands were rather simple. The remaining wild specimens ranged from roughly 15 to some 357 years for an average of ca. 85 years, with only a few individuals less than 20 years old. Compared with the stands and populations of G. pensilis in Vietnam, the taxonomic compositions of the stands in the two regions were different, except for the dominant species-G. pensilis. The Shannon-Wiener index showed the overstory of each stand had much lower diversity (0.26 on average) in Fujian Province than that (1.97 on average) in Vietnam, whereas the diversity indices were about the same (around 2.41) for the understories in the two regions. Furthermore, we discovered 18 G. pensilis seedlings at the study sites in Fujian Province. This discovery demonstrates that G. pensilis regeneration is extremely poor and its populations are declining, although these populations are rela-tively healthier than those in Vietnam.
基金supported by Science Supporting Project of National Ministry of Science and Technology (2008BAC39B04)National Natural Science Foundation of China (30470262,30970340)
文摘The Relict Gull(Larus relictus) is recognized as a vulnerable species,with a worldwide population of about 6,000 individuals.Always inhabiting the extreme arid regions of Central Asia,their migratory routes and winter grounds are unclear.This research focused on distribution sites,habitat,behavior,population size and seasonal changes of Relict Gull.Line transects and point counts in every month were used to investigate the gulls around the Ebinur Lake.The result showed Relict Gull was summer visitor to Xinjiang,Western China.Population curve with a single peak was obtained.This gull appeared in early April and was 63 individuals(1% of the global population).The number remained stable from May to July in 2009.The discovery of fledglings indi-cates that Relict Gull may breed here.They left Ebinur Lake in August.Relict Gull in Ebinur Lake should belong to the Central Asian subpopulation,which was the most westerly record in China.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.41330964 and 40876034)the China Geological Survey (Grant No.1212010611401)
文摘Integrated studies of vertical sedimentary sequences, grain sizes, and benthic foraminifera and ostracoda, in combination with AMS 14C dating, and 210Pb and 137Cs analysis were carried out in three vibracores taken from the area of relict deposits on the western South Yellow Sea. The relict sands, which are about 0.4 m thick, overlie on the Early Holocene coastal marsh or tidal flat deposits with an evident erosional interface in between. The middle and upper parts or sometimes the whole of the relict sands have been reworked under the modern dynamic environment. The sedimentation rate varies between 0.20–0.30 cm year-1. The relict sands show a bimodal grain-size distribution pattern in frequency curves, with a sharp peak in the coarse fraction between 3Φ and 4Φ and a secondary peak in the fine fraction of about 7Φ. Of the benthic foraminiferal and ostracod assemblages, the reworked relict sands are characterized by the mixing of the nearshore euryhaline shallow-water species and deeper water species. The erosional interface at the bottom of the relict sands is considered as a regional ravinement surface formed during the transgression in the Early Holocene due to shoreface retreating landwards. The relict sands were accumulated on the ravinement surface during the transgression in the deglaciation period as lag deposits after winnowing and reworking by marine dynamic processes. And the secondary peak of fine fraction in the frequency curve for the relict sands suggests the input of fine-grained sediments during the reworking process. As the conclusion, the relict sands in the study area are interpreted as a type of reworked relict sediments.
基金This work was supported by the Notional Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 49872026) The samples of the Subei and Xialiaohe basins have been provided by Prof. Zhi, X. C. and Wu, T. S. The composition of trace elements and isotopes were meas
文摘The major and trace element and isotopic composition were analyzed for the Paleogene volcanics in North China dated by the K-Ar method. The geochemical data show that most volcanics are in calc-alkaline series and the minor is in alkaline series. They differ obviously from Neogene and Quaternary volcanics in geochemistry. In particular, the Paleogene volcanics from the southern part of North China were derived from enriched lithospheric mantle (EMU), which were likely to be a relict mantle wedge formed during the subduction of the Yangtze plate into the North China plate in late Triassic (Indo- Sinian).
文摘Aims Key herbivory interaction traits such as plant defensive compounds may differ among populations of a single species due to the spatial variation in herbivore feeding guilds and the strength of the interac-tion.Moreover,the genealogy of population lineages could represent an additional source of variation interacting with the predominant eco-clinal trends.We tested for the existence of genetically based intraspecific variation in chemical defence profiles across the range of the relict tree Prunus lusitanica L.Additionally,we investigated geographical variation in defence inducibility and tested for the exist-ence of a trade-off between qualitative and quantitative defences.Methods We conducted a greenhouse experiment where 210 plants were grown under a common environment,comprising 10 different pop-ulations throughout the distribution range of the species and span-ning three separate regions:iberia,Morocco and Macaronesia.To test for the inducibility of defences,we artificially defoliated plants.Three treatments were established within each population:undam-aged,defoliated and sampled after 2 h,and defoliated and sampled after 72 h.The concentration of cyanogenic glycosides(prunasin)and phenolics was determined in leaf samples for all treatments.Important findings Basal levels of cyanogenics and phenolics significantly differed among populations and regions across the range of P.lusitanica,with this variation having a heritable basis.Cyanogenics(pruna-sin)were significantly higher in ancient Macaronesian populations,while phenolic concentrations were larger in iberia.The higher cyanogenic levels found in Macaronesia could be a consequence of the known stronger herbivory pressure in the islands than in iberia or the likely longer coevolutionary history with herbivores in this region.These findings indicate that the geographical variation of key ecological traits such plant chemical defences can be imprinted by phylogeographical signals,particularly in relict species.Regarding defence inducibility,prunasin increased after simulated herbivory whereas phenolics mostly decreased after defoliation.Variation in defence inducibility across populations and regions was evident,although no consistent patterns related to the variation in herbivore feeding guilds were observed,particularly among regions with and without ungulate browsing pressure.Finally,a trade-off among induced levels of qualitative(prunasin)and quantitative(phenolics)defences was detected in one of the defoliated treatments,likely as a result of a stronger resource limitation in damaged plants.
基金the University of Aveiro and FCT/MEC for the financial support to CESAM RU(UID/AMB/50017)through national funds and co-financed by the FEDER,within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement.the support given by project Life+BRIGHT(LIFE10/NAT/PT/075)+6 种基金“Fundação da Mata do Bussaco,”for the permission to conduct the fieldwork,providing the nursery’s infrastructure,and providing the material used for germination assaysScats were collected and handled in accordance with Portuguese law(ICNF licenses number 99/2012/CAPT and 181/2013/CAPT)This work was co-supported by European Funds through COMPETE and by National Funds through the Portuguese Science Foundation(FCT)within project PEst-C/MAR/LA0017/2013.Milena Matos was financed by a post-doctoral grant from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia(SFRH/BPD/74071/2010)Ana Vasques and Paula Maia were financed by the European Union Seventh Framework Program(FP7/2007-2013)under grant agreement number 283068(CASCADE project)Paula Maia was also partially funded through BRIGHT(LIFE10/NAT/PT/075).
文摘The stone marten(Martes foina)is a carnivorous mammal that often consumes fleshy fruits,thus potentially promoting seed dispersion.The present study was developed in Bussaco National Forest,central Portugal,and aimed to assess the potential role of the stone marten in dispersing native and exotic plants in different forest landscape types.Seeds from stone marten scats and fleshy fruits were collected monthly and were thereafter identified and sowed in a nursery,following a randomized experimental setup.Plant emergence was monitored fortnightly.Generalized linear models were used to test for differences in time and success of emergence between seeds from scats and fruits of 3 native species(Rubus ulmifolius,Arbutus unedo and Celtis australis)and 1 exotic plant species with invasive behavior(Prunus laurocerasus).Fruit consumption by the stone martens significantly increased and accelerated the germination of the native R.ulmifolius but had no effect on the other 2 native species or on the invasive species.This suggested that stone martens contribute to gene flow and forest regeneration by dispersing native plant seeds.However,although the germination was not enhanced in the invasive species,the preference of stone martens for these fruits may potentially contribute to the proliferation of P.laurocerasus.Our study represents a contribution to better understanding the fauna and flora interactions,enabling for a more conscious and effective decision-making in forest management.
文摘The paper analyzes the concept of Ether and substantiates the necessity of its existence as a physical reality, which arises within the framework of the concept developed by the authors of the work. The authors come to the conclusion that the existence of Ether in two different forms, plays an exceptional role in the formation of Dark Matter and Dark Energy and leads to the emergence of exotic cosmological structures and their hierarchy in energy, temporal, and spatial scale. The mechanism of the formation of physical structures before the Big Bang and their further evolution, up to the formation of worlds of galaxies and stars, is considered. The necessity of the emergence of exotic structures, such as 3 spheres of the Primary Relict, is shown, its structure and dynamic properties leading to the formation of Order from Chaos are considered. The role of the 1st and 2nd type Ether in the formation of the mechanism of transformation of cosmic energies and quantum phase transitions, in the process of the birth and evolution of the Universe is discussed. The conclusion is made about the existence of universal properties of matter, at the level of Macro and Microcosms, and a multidimensional cosmological model with an isothermal temperature distribution is constructed, leading to a discrete distribution of matter separated by transitions, by analogy with Black-and-White Holes. It is shown that the postulate of the constancy of the speed of light in any inertial system is a consequence of the principle of covariance.