THE MEASUREMENT OF SELECTION ON QUANTITATIVE TRAITS: BIASES DUE TO ENVIRONMENTAL COVARIANCES BETWEEN TRAITS AND FITNESS

The use of regression techniques for estimating the direction and magnitude of selection from measurements on phenotypes has become widespread in field studies. A potential problem with these techniques is that environmental correlations between fitness and the traits examined may produce biased estimates of selection gradients. This report demonstrates that the phenotypic covariance between fitness and a trait, used as an estimate of the selection differential in estimating selection gradients, has two components: a component induced by selection itself and a component due to the effect of environmental factors on fitness. The second component is shown to be responsible for biases in estimates of selection gradients. The use of regressions involving genotypic and breeding values instead of phenotypic values can yield estimates of selection gradients that are not biased by environmental covariances. Statistical methods for estimating the coefficients of such regressions, and for testing for biases in regressions involving phenotypic values, are described.     

ON THE LOW HERITABILITY OF LIFE-HISTORY TRAITS

Life-history traits such as longevity and fecundity often show low heritability. This is usually interpreted in terms of Fisher's fundamental theorem to mean that populations are near evolutionary equilibrium and genetic variance in total fitness is low. We develop the causal relationship between metric traits and life-history traits to show that a life-history trait is expected to have a low heritability whether or not the population is at equilibrium. This is because it is subject to all the environmental variation in the metric traits that affect it plus additional environmental variation. There is no simple prediction regarding levels of additive genetic variance in life-history traits, which may be high at equilibrium. Several other patterns in the inheritance of life-history traits are readily predicted from the causal model. These include the strength of genetic correlations between life-history traits, levels of nonadditive genetic variance, and the inevitability of genotype-environment interaction.     

小麦根系特征对干旱胁迫的响应

干旱胁迫时, 小麦(Triticum aestivum)根系率先产生应激响应, 同时向地上部发出信号, 诱导地上部发生生理反应, 从而提高植株抗旱能力。根系构型包括平面几何性状和立体几何结构(即拓扑构型), 具有遗传稳定性和可塑性。干旱胁迫影响根系理化特性, 如根源化学信号、根系细胞酶类和根系渗透作用的响应。根系通过调整其解剖学结构和水分吸收动力等来适应干旱胁迫。该文从根系构型、理化特性和解剖学结构3个方面, 系统阐述了小麦根系特征对干旱胁迫的响应, 并探讨了其与干旱胁迫的关系和当前研究中存在的问题, 以期为相关研究提供参考。     

Reproductive ecology of dioecious Siparuna (Monimiaceae) in Ecuador–a case of gall midge pollination

The reproductive ecology of the dioecious genus Siparuna , belonging to the primitive family Monimiaceae, was investigated in Ecuador. Thirteen species were studied, and species growing at high altitudes (above 500 m) were compared with species growing at lower altitudes. The genus has specialized flowers pollinated by Cecidomyiidae (Asynapta sp. and other genera) that lay eggs chiefly in male flowers since these are more easily accessible than female flowers due to their morphology. Several traits ensure that pollen transfer is accomplished: 1. long flowering of individuals and single flowers; 2. specific floral morphology (unisexuality, landing platform, restricted pore) allowing the flowers to be visited by Cecidomyiidae seeking egg-laying sites, and 3. a low number of ovules that have to be pollinated in each flower. The low number of ovules per flower results in a high pollen-ovule (P/O) ratio even though pollen production in male flowers is only moderate.
High altitude species had larger flowers, higher pollen-ovule ratios, fewer ovules per female flower, and longer periods of anthesis. Gender differences were seen in the longer functionality of female flowers; the larger numbers of male flowers produced; and the average diameter at breast height (DBH) biased for one of the two sexes depending on the species investigated, with no clear trend in the size distributions of individuals of both sexes. Sex ratios departed significantly from unity both to male and female bias but usually were in favour of males. There were no general differences in the ratio of functional male to female flowers at the time of observation nor in the sizes of male and female flowers. The evolution of unisexual flowers in Siparuna can be explained as a result of the differential predation by larvae: unimportant in male flowers, destructive if occurring in female flowers.     

What are the consequences of being a downy oak (quercus pubescens) or a holm oak (Q. ilex) for breeding blue tits (Parus caeruleus)?

By comparison with deciduous oaks, the lower yearly production of new leaves in sclerophyllous oaks is hypothesized to have several consequences on animal communities. In particular, the production of arthropod communities that feed upon the leaves should be lower in sclerophyllous than in deciduous oaks, this causing changes in breeding patterns and the demographic balance in insectivorous birds. Studies in both deciduous and sclerophyllous habitats in southern France have shown that: 1) the spring development of new leaves occurs later and more slowly in sclerophyllous than in deciduous oaks, 2) the biomass of caterpillars is much lower in sclerophyllous oak forests, and 3) there is a large variation in life history traits of the Blue Tit depending in which type of habitat they breed. Laying date occurs later and clutch size is lower in sclerophyllous habitats than in deciduous habitats. The evolution of life history traits is discussed according to whether poor sclerophyllous habitats are isolated (e.g. on Corsica) or are parts of landscapes including both habitat types.     

Morphological features of Jat dentition

Observations on morphological characters of milk and permanent teeth, based on 648 pairs of dental casts of 356 male and 292 female Jat children of Haryana (India) are reported. Deciduous teeth show high frequencies of bilateral winging of maxillary central incisor, Carabelli's cusp of maxillary second molar, and deflecting wrinkle of mandibular second molar. Reduction of maxillary molar cusps is more marked in males than in females. Y pattern is very common in deciduous molars. Permanent teeth have high frequencies of grooved cingulum of incisors, cingular nodule of lateral incisors and canines, and distal accessary ridge of canines. Low frequencies of Carabelli's cusp and winging are also common. The tendency towards faintly developed shovelling in milk incisors occurs more often than in the permanent teeth.     

Methods for the production of multi-marker strains

Summary The production of a multi-marker strain given a series of strains each carrying a single marker will require a considerable investment in time and resources when based on a series of formal crosses. Such strains can be produced rapidly and with only minimal resources by recurrent cycles of random mating and selection, with selection based on the number of desired alleles carried.     

Paleogenetics of the late Roman-early Byzantine cemeteries at Sayala,Egyptian Nubia

Out of the five late Roman-early Byzantine cemeteries at Sayala, the three large burial complexes CI-III were found to represent the same population not only on the basis of 76·6% of the metric features already studied, but also of 72·9% of the 48 non-metric features examined in the present paper. The remaining features, which show different frequencies, were most probably related to some social and/or genetic isolation of the three subgroups (“lineages”) of the same basic population.The left-right asymmetry of the frequencies was practically irrelevant; sex differences were however present in one-third of the features observed.Some of the traits showed unusually high frequencies, revealing a high rate of inbreeding within a homogeneous population.To evaluate the relationships among the CI-III people and the neighbouring populations, 22 discrete traits were compared with the same traits studied in 11 Ancient Egyptian samples by Berry, Berry & Ucko (1967) and in 6 contemporary African Negro samples by Rightmire (1972). It was shown that the Sayala CI-III population does not resemble either of these groups. The fourth contemporary Sayala sample from A cemetery was also found to be not related with the CI-III sample on the basis of the same traits. The fifth contemporary Sayala sample from N cemetery was too small to be tested. Moreover, the comparison between the CI-III population and the C-group population of Sayala also revealed the lack of genetic continuity. The isolated position found in the CI-III population of Sayala agrees with the hypothesis that it would represent the Blemmyes, people originating from the Eastern Desert.     

喀斯特11种典型生态恢复树种凋落叶分解及其对土壤碳排放的激发效应

旨在探究喀斯特地区退化生态系统植被恢复树种凋落叶分解过程及其对土壤碳排放的激发效应,为选择合适的树种进行植被恢复提供数据支持。以中国林科院热带林业实验中心大青山石山树木园11种适应性强、耐干旱贫瘠的优良石山树种为研究对象,利用¹³C自然丰度法区分凋落叶和土壤来源CO₂并量化土壤激发效应,比较不同生态恢复树种凋落叶分解及其激发效应的差异,探讨凋落物分解及其激发效应与凋落物性状之间的关联。结果表明:(1)11个生态恢复树种凋落叶在碳相关化学性质(水溶性碳、半纤维素和单宁含量等)、养分含量(磷和镁含量等)及化学计量特征(碳磷比和氮磷比)等方面均表现出较高程度变异。(2)不同生态恢复树种凋落叶分解及其诱导的土壤激发效应具有极显著差异(P<0.001);在整个培养实验期间,11个生态恢复树种凋落叶平均分解了35.3%,其中海南椴分解最快,达到50%,而青冈栎分解最慢,仅分解16.5%。(3)总体上看,凋落叶处理的土壤呼吸速率(5.1 mg C kg^-1 土壤 d^-1)是对照土壤呼吸速率(2.3 mg C kg^-1土壤d^-1)的2.2倍,凋落叶添加显著促进土壤有机碳分解,平均达到37.6%;其中海南椴、割舌树和任豆凋落叶输入则抑制土壤有机碳分解(抑制程度分别为-13.2%、-6.9%和-22.5%),产生负激发效应。(4)凋落叶分解与非结构性碳(r=0.63,P=0.04)和水溶性碳(r=0.91,P<0.001)呈显著正相关,与叶干物质含量(r=0.64,P=0.03)、纤维素(r=0.62,P=0.04)和锰含量(r=-0.63,P=0.04)呈显著负相关。多元回归分析结果表明,水溶性碳、钾和钙含量相结合可以解释生态恢复树种凋落叶分解变异的98%;然而,凋落叶性状与土壤激发效应强度之间并没有显著相关性。从土壤养分归还角度考虑,喀斯特退化生态系统恢复树种可以选择光皮梾木、海南椴、顶果木和降香黄檀等凋落叶分解较快的树种,以促进土壤养分循环和植被恢复;另一方面,从土壤碳固持角度来看,海南椴、任豆和割舌树等凋落叶输入会抑制土壤有机碳分解,从而有利于提高退化生态系统土壤碳封存能力。     

邻体竞争对城市森林微景观中针叶树视觉形态性状的影响

树木视觉形态性状是城市绿地微景观美学质量的重要影响因素之一,树木视觉形态性状的变化与其周围邻体木的竞争作用息息相关,但邻体竞争对树木视觉性状的作用机制尚不明确。研究于2022年8-10月对北京市城市公园中常见的针叶树种白皮松、侧柏、油松、圆柏展开调查,从树冠形态、干冠协调、树干形态3个方面构建了9个树木视觉形态性状指标,采用3个不同的竞争指标分析邻体竞争对针叶树种视觉形态性状的影响。结果表明,针叶树的树冠形态对邻体竞争的响应比较敏感,竞争中的白皮松、侧柏、油松、圆柏偏冠指数与孤立木相比分别提高了16.95%、28.95%、22.76%、17.67%;树冠缺失率分别提高了3.92%、6.09%、4.87%、4.95%。与孤立木相比,部分针叶树种高径比、分枝角变异度在多侧竞争环境中显著提高,而树冠舒展度则显著降低。邻体竞争强度越大,针叶树树冠的偏移与缺失程度越大。当针叶树受到强烈的侧方竞争时,对象木树冠和树干的径向生长显著受阻,表现为树冠舒展度大幅度下降、高径比显著提高,使树冠向细高方向发展。当针叶树上方的生长空间被占据时,其轴向生长同样受到严重阻碍,树木的冠径比和高径比维持较稳定状态。总体而言,四种针叶树种在视觉形态上对竞争胁迫的响应具有一定差异性,其中油松最为敏感,圆柏次之。综上,在城市森林微景观中,邻体竞争会导致针叶树种的树冠及树形发生明显变化,这种变化主要受综合资源竞争的影响,与其周围潜在生长空间的大小及对称性有关。在城市森林景观营建时,建议将针叶树栽植在对称的竞争环境中,但是其邻体木不宜过高,通过四周邻体木的适度竞争,能够促进针叶树的轴向生长,同时降低树冠偏移或变形的风险,提高其视觉美学效果。