Scale of heterogeneity of forage production and winter foraging by elk and bison

The relationship between fine-scale spatial patterns of forage abundance and the feeding patterns of large ungulates is not well known. We compared these patterns for areas grazed in winter by elk and bison in a sagebrush-grassland landscape in northern Yellowstone National Park. At a fine scale, the spatial distribution of mapped feeding stations in 30 m × 30 m sites was found to be random where there were no large patches devoid of vegetation. In areas similar to the mapped sites, the underlying spatial distribution pattern of biomass was also determined to be random. At a broad scale, forage biomass differed among communities across the northern range but forage quality did not. These results suggest that ungulates are feeding randomly within forage patches (fine scale) but may select feeding sites based upon forage abundance at broader, landscape scales. Contrary to what has been suggested in other systems, ungulates were not overmatching at finer scales.     

母猪卧向行为学的观察

本文通过2个试验对母猪在分娩圈和分娩栏中的卧向行为进行了观察,试验一中, 选择10头大白(Yorkshire)经产母猪作为观察对象,试验二中分别选择10头大白(Yorkshire) 经产母猪和10头长白(Landrace)经产母猪作为观察对象。观察采用瞬时记录方法,每周观察 三次,隔日观察,每天上午、下午各观察一次,每次3 h,每次观察间隔5 min。观察中发现,母猪 卧向以向外为主。分娩栏(四周是栏杆)中的母猪以选择卧向外(向北)为主,其次是卧向内(向 南),卧向左和卧向右最少且差异不显著,上栏前和下栏后差异不显著。分娩圈(四周是墙壁)中 母猪以选择卧向外为主,卧向内最少,卧向左和卧向右差异不显著。长白母猪比大白母猪选择 卧向外的多,妊娠阶段比哺乳阶段选择卧向外的多。     

Male-to-female aggression in cage-housed common pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) during the breeding season was not related to male plasma testosterone level

1. The aim of this study was to investigate if male-to-female aggression of common pheasants in the course of the breeding season was related to the concentration of plasma testosterone and/or other biochemical plasma indicators in male pheasants housed in breeding cages. The influence of season on the concentration of testosterone and biochemical indicators was also investigated.

2. Males were divided into non-aggressive and aggressive groups during the breeding season based on ethological evaluation. At the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the breeding season, a blood sample was taken from all males on the same day and the concentration of selected biochemical indicators and the total circulating testosterone in the plasma were determined.

3. Male-to-female aggression during the breeding season of pheasants was not influenced by the total plasma testosterone of males.

4. The concentration of total plasma testosterone in males decreased gradually during the breeding season.

5. Male-to-female aggression of pheasants did not have a significant effect on any of the assessed biochemical indicators.

6. The influence of the breeding season affected the activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase as well as the concentrations of glucose, magnesium, potassium and chloride in the blood plasma of cage-housed male pheasants.     

红桔小孢子母细胞减数分裂染色体行为的研究

本研究对红桔小孢子母细胞减数分裂各时期染色体进行了详细观察。结果表明：细线期、偶线期、粗线期和终变期具有较高的同步性，四分体时期完全一致；染色体行为较为有规律；双线期同源染色体联会构型有棒形、环形、“Ｔ”形、“＋”字形、环叉形及“３”字形；终变期具９个正常二价体的频率为６０％，其余细胞中可观察到单价体、双核、落后染色体、三分体等畸变类型。文章讨论了红桔花粉低育性的遗传学机制。     

Small electric currents affecting farm animals and man: A review with special reference to stray voltage

The literature on the electrical properties of the body and sensitivity to steady electric current in humans and farm animals is reviewed and the problem of stray voltage is examined. Stray voltage poses a problem to animal health and protection in cattle and pigs and possibly also in other animals. Dairy cattle can perceive alternating currents exceeding 1 mA between the mouth and all four hooves. Behavioural effects in cows usually occur above 3 mA. In practice, the major influence on dairy cows appears to be behavioural. In experimental research on sensitivity to electric current, the effects studied should be related primarily to the actual current densities or electric fields in the affected tissues rather than to the total voltages applied. Under normal conditions, herdsmen are less likely to be affected by stray voltage than their animals.     

哺乳期内仔猪群体间行为关系的研究

试验主要研究了仔猪不同哺乳周期的行为联系。试验分别选择6头经产的民猪、长白猪及其仔猪作为观察对象,研究哺乳期间2猪种间的仔猪交流信息随时间变化的情况及品种间差异。结果表明:随着产后日龄的增加,哺乳期间一系列行为都发生了变化,仔猪间接触的行为会逐渐增加,但哺乳的第2￣3周又会逐渐减弱。     

Association between porpoise presence and fish choruses: implications for feeding strategies and ecosystem-based conservation of the East Asian finless porpoise

The associations between feeding activities and environmental variables inform animal feeding tactics that maximize energetic gains by minimizing energy costs while maximizing feeding success. Relevant studies in aquatic animals, particularly marine mammals, are scarce due to difficulties in the observation of feeding behaviors in aquatic environments. This data scarcity concurrently hinders ecosystem-based fishery management in the context of small toothed-cetacean conservation. In the present study, a passive acoustic monitoring station was deployed in an East Asian finless porpoise habitat in Laizhou Bay to investigate potential relationships between East Asian finless porpoises and their prey. The data revealed that porpoises were acoustically present nearly every day during the survey period. Porpoise detection rates differed between spring and autumn in concert with activities of fish choruses. During spring, fish choruses were present throughout the afternoon, and this was the time when porpoise vocalizations were the most frequently detected. During autumn, when fish choruses were absent, porpoise detection rates decreased, and diurnal patterns were not detected. The close association between fish choruses and finless porpoise activities implies an “eavesdropping” feeding strategy to maximize energetic gains, similar to other toothed cetaceans that are known to engage similar feeding strategies. Underwater noise pollution, particularly those masking fish choruses, could interrupt finless porpoises’ feeding success. Fisheries competing soniferous fishes with finless porpoise could impact finless porpoise viability through ecosystem disruption, in addition to fishing gear entanglement.     

消费者生鲜水果线上购买迁徙行为及其影响因素

为探索消费者生鲜水果线上购买迁徙行为的影响因素和机制路径,本研究基于PPM理论,构建结构方程模型分析了消费者生鲜水果线上购买迁徙行为及其影响因素,并运用多群组分析不同消费者行为影响因素的差异性。结果表明：1）价格、信息、服务不满意构成正向影响消费者生鲜水果线上购买迁徙行为的推力因素;感知有用性、搜索、消费体验感构成正向影响迁徙行为的拉力因素;程序转移成本构成负向影响迁徙行为的锚定因素。2）锚定因素负向调节推力因素对迁徙行为的作用效果。3）性别、年龄、学历水平三个人口统计特征在不同假设路径中的影响较为显著。其中女性、30岁及以下、学历水平大专以上的群体更愿意在线上渠道购买生鲜水果。结论丰富了生鲜水果领域消费者迁徙行为的研究成果,并为生鲜电商可持续发展提供了启示。     

The understudied and underappreciated role of predation in the mortality of fish released from fishing gears

The assumption that animals released from fishing gears survive has frequently been scrutinized by researchers in recent years. Mortality estimates from these research efforts can be incorporated into management models to ensure the sustainability of fisheries and the conservation of threatened species. Post‐release mortality estimates are typically made by holding the catch in a tank, pen or cage for short‐term monitoring (e.g. 48 h). These estimates may be inaccurate in some cases because they fail to integrate the challenges of the wild environment. Most obvious among these challenges is predator evasion. Stress and injury from a capture experience can temporarily impair physiological capacity and alter behaviour in released animals, a period during which predation risk is likely elevated. In large‐scale commercial fisheries, predators have adapted their behaviour to capitalize on impaired fishes being discarded, while in recreational catch‐and‐release fisheries, exercise and air exposure can similarly impede the capacity for released fish to evade opportunistic predators. Owing to the indirect and often cryptic nature of this source of mortality, very few studies have attempted to document it. A survey of the literature demonstrated that <2% of the papers in the combined realms of bycatch and catch‐and‐release have directly addressed or considered post‐release predation. Future research should combine field telemetry and laboratory studies using both natural and simulated predation encounters and incorporate physiological and behavioural endpoints. Quite simply, predation is an understudied and underappreciated contributor to the mortality of animals released from fishing gears.