Differences in pectoral fin spine morphology between vocal and silent clades of catfishes (Order Siluriformes): Ecomorphological implications

Stridulatory sound-producing behavior is widespread across catfish families, but some are silent. To understand why,we compared spine morphology and eeotype of silent and vocal clades. We determined vocal ability of laboratory specimens duringdisturbance behavior. Vocal families had bony (not flexible or segmented) spines, well-developed anterior and/or posteriorserrations, and statistically significantly longer spines. We compared morphology of the proximal end of the pectoral spine betweenvocal and silent species. For vocal taxa, microscopic rounded or bladed ridges or knobs were present on the dorsal process.Most silent species had reduced processes with exclusively smooth, convoluted, or honeycombed surfaces very similar tospine-locking surfaces, or they had novel surfaces (beaded, vacuolated, cobwebbed). Most callichthyids had ridges but many weresilent during disturbance. All doradid, most auchenipterid and most mochokid species were vocal and had ridges or knobs.Within the Auchenipteridae, vocal species had spines with greater weight and serration development but not length. Silentauchenipterids had thin, brittle, distally segmented spines with few microscopic serrations on only one margin and a highly reduceddorsal process lacking any known vocal morphology. Silent auchenipterids are derived and pelagic, while all vocal generaare basal and benthopelagic. This is the first phylogenetic evidence for stridulation mechanism loss within catfishes. Phylogeneticmapping of vocal ability, spine condition, and eeotype revealed the repeated presence of silence and vocal taxa, short and longspines, and eeotype shifts within clades. The appearance and loss of vocal behavior and supporting morphologies may have facilitateddiversification among

Integrating beneficiaries into assessment of ecosystem services from managed forests at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest,USA

Background：Forests contribute to human wellbeing through the provision of important ecosystem services.Methods：In this study,we investigated how the perceived importance of ecosystem services may impact the overall benefit provided by managed watersheds at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest over a 45-year period,using standardized measures of service capacity weighted by service importance weights derived from a survey of beneficiaries.Results：The capacity of watersheds to regulate water flow and quality was high in all watersheds throughout the study period,whereas cultural services such as scenic beauty declined after harvest.Impacts on greenhouse gas regulation depended on the efficiency with which harvested biomass was used.Surveys revealed that stakeholders placed high value on all ecosystem services,with regulating and cultural services seen as more important than provisioning services.When service metrics were weighted by survey responses and aggregated into a single measure,total service provision followed the same overall trend as greenhouse gas regulation.Where biomass use was less efficient in terms of greenhouse gas emissions,harvesting resulted in an overall ＂ecosystem service debt＂;where use was more efficient,this ＂ecosystem service debt＂ was reduced.Beneficiaries＇ educational backgrounds significantly affected overall assessment of service provision.Beneficiaries with college or university degrees incurred smaller ＂ecosystem service debts＂ and were less negatively affected by harvesting overall.Conclusions：This study highlights the importance of including empirical measures of beneficiary preference when attempting to quantify overall provision of ecosystem services to human beneficiaries over time.

Visual Impact Assessment: Where Have We Come from and Where Are We Going?

This paper is a historical overview of the development of visual impact assessment (VIA) methodology as implemented by US Federal agencies from the 1960s until the current time. VIA methods are to be used as part of environmental impact assessment for projects which could have significant impact on landscape aesthetics. Also included are methodological challenges with current large-scale renewable energy development in the US and Europe.

微量酸催化麻疯树籽油制备生物柴油(英文)

Biodiesel produced from crude Jatropha curcas L.oil with trace sulfuric acid catalyst(0.02%-0.08% oil) was investigated at 135-184 ℃.Both esterification and transesterification can be well carried out simultane-ously.Factors affecting the process were investigated,which included the reaction temperature,reaction time,the molar ratio of alcohol to oil,catalyst amount,water content,free fatty acid(FFA) and fatty acid methyl ester(FAME) content.Under the conditions at 165 ℃,0.06%(by mass) H2SO4 of the oil mass,1.6 MPa and 20:1 methanol/oil ratio,the yield of glycerol reached 84.8% in 2 hours.FFA and FAME showed positive effect on the transesterification in certain extent.The water mass content below 1.0% did not show a noticeable effect on trans-esterification.Reaction kinetics in the range of 155 ℃ to 175 ℃ was also measured.

Solvability and thermal response of cellulose with different crystal configurations

Cellulose is a biodegradable and renewable natural material that it is naturally resistant to breaking and modification. Moreover, the crystalline structure of cellulose is a major factor restricting its industrial utilization. In this study, cellulose polymorphs were prepared from natural cellulose, and their solvability and thermal response were investigated. Using liquid- and solid-state NMR signals, the distinct types and dissolving states of cellulose polymorphs were identified. The thermal behavior of the polymorphic forms of cellulose-d was also evaluated, and cellulose Ⅱ exhibited the poorest thermal stability and a unique exothermic reaction.

Evidence for a female-produced, long range pheromone of Anoplophora glabripennis （Coleoptera Cerambycidae）

Volatiles from female Asian longhorned beetle （ ALB ）, Anoplophora glabripenhis, were evaluated as candidate sex pheromone components. Previous studies on ALB have revealed several antennally active compounds from virgin females; however the origins and activity of these compounds were not apparent and require further investigation. We tested the hypothesis that one or more of the ALB contact sex pheromones is a precursor that undergoes abiotic oxidation to yield volatile pheromone components, and evaluated the activity of these compounds using laboratory and field bioassays. Gas chromatogra- phy coupled electroantennography detection （GC-EAD） analysis indicated the presence of three antennally active aldehydes （heptanal, nonanal, and hexadecanal） in female cuticular extracts exposed to ozone or UV and visible light. In laboratory bioassays using a Y-tube olfactometer, males were preferentially attracted to ozonized female body washes over crude body washes. Similarly, synthetic formulations of these compounds were preferred over controls in the olfactometer. Field trapping experiments conducted from 2006 to 2008 in Ningxia, China showed that synthetic lures of the three aldehydes formulated in a ratio simulating that of virgin females attracted more beetles compared to controls, and that combinations of these aldehydes, linalool oxide, and host kairomones captured more beetles than controls, and captured significantly more males.

Horizontal and vertical gene transfer drive sediment antibiotic resistome in an urban lagoon system

Rapid urbanization has resulted in pervasive occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes(ARGs)in urban aquatic ecosystems.However,limited information is available concerning the ARG profiles and the forces responsible for their assembly in urban landscape lagoon systems.Here,we employed high-throughput quantitative PCR(HT-q PCR)to characterize the spatial variations of ARGs in surface and core sediments of Yundang Lagoon,China.The results indicated that the average richness and absolute abundance of ARGs were 11 and 53 times higher in the lagoon sediments as compared to pristine reference Tibetan lake sediments,highlighting the role of anthropogenic activities in ARG pollution.Co-occurrence network analysis indicated that various anaerobic prokaryotic genera belonging to Alpha-,Deltaproteobacteria,Bacteroidetes,Euryarchaeota,Firmicutes and Synergistetes were the potential hosts of ARGs.The partial least squares-path modeling(PLS-PM)analysis revealed positive and negative indirect effects of physicochemical factors and heavy metals on the lagoon ARG profiles,via biotic factors,respectively.The horizontal(mediated by mobile genetic elements)and vertical(mediated by prokaryotic communities)gene transfer may directly contribute the most to drive the abundance and composition of ARGs,respectively.Furthermore,the neutral community model demonstrated that the assembly of sediment ARG communities was jointly governed by deterministic and stochastic processes.Overall,this study provides novel insights into the diversity and distribution of ARGs in the benthic habitat of urban lagoon systems and underlying mechanisms for the spread and proliferation of ARGs.

Initial results for urban metal distributions in house dusts of Syracuse, New York, USA

A program of house dust sample collection and analysis has begun in Syracuse,New York, USA, in order to determine the feasibility of a geography-based exposure assessment for urban metals. The sampling program, and the protocols it employs, is described for two different types of wipe media, Ghost Wipes and Whatman Filters. Preliminary results show that strong spatial patterns of floor dust loading (mg dust per square foot) can be observed for data aggregated at a spatial scale of about 1600 m (～2.5 kin2). Floor dust metal concentrations were similar to those found in other urban environments, with some regional variation. The median floor dust Pb concentration was ～108 mg· kg-1 for this initial data set of ～264 sampled residential locations, and varied from 50 to 1100 mg Pb · kg-1.