关键词： cattle grazing   herpetofauna   land sharing   off-reserve conservation   reptile community   sustainable grazing   wildlife conservation  

摘要： Rangelands are areas used primarily for grazing by domestic livestock;however, because they support native vegetation and fauna, their potential role in conservation should not be overlooked. Typically, "off-reserve" conservation in agricultural landscapes assumes a trade-off between maintaining the ecological processes that support biodiversity and successful food production and profitability. To evaluate this potential biodiversity trade-off in rangelands, we need to understand the effect of different livestock grazing strategies on biodiversity, in relation to their performance in terms of profitability and land condition. We monitored reptile community responses to four cattle-grazing strategies (heavy, moderate, and variable stocking rates and a rotational wet season spelling treatment) in a replicated, long-term grazing trial in north Queensland, Australia. Simultaneously, measures of profitability and land condition were collected for the different grazing strategies. Overall, reptile abundance was not negatively impacted by the more sustainably managed treatments (moderate, variable, and rotational) compared with heavy stocking, although the effect of grazing treatment alone was not significant. Profitability and land condition were also higher in these treatments compared with the heavy stocking rate treatment. As drought conditions worsened over the 3 yr, the negative impact of the heavy stocking treatment on both profitability and biodiversity became more pronounced. Heavy stocking negatively impacted reptiles and was also the least profitable grazing strategy over the long term, resulting in the worst land condition. This suggests that in this tropical savanna rangeland there was no trade-off between economic performance and reptile abundance and diversity. Grazing regimes with a moderate stocking rate or flexible management strategies were better able to buffer the effects of climate variability. The consequence was a more resilient reptile community an

关键词： arthropods   bats   birds   conservation planning   human-modified landscapes   large old trees  

摘要： Aim: The biodiversity value of scattered trees in modified landscapes is often overlooked in planning and conservation decisions. We conducted a multitaxa study to determine how wildlife abundance, species richness and community composition at individual trees are affected by (1) the landscape context in which trees are located;and (2) the size of trees. Location: Canberra, south-eastern Australia. Methods: Trunk arthropod, bat and bird surveys were undertaken over 3 years (2012-2014) at 72 trees of three sizes (small (20-50 cm DBH), medium (51-80 cm), large (>= 80 cm)) located in four landscape contexts (reserves, pasture, urban parklands, urban built-up areas). Results: Landscape context affected all taxa surveyed. Trunk arthropod communities differed between trees in urban built-up areas and reserves. Bat activity and richness were significantly reduced at trees in urban built-up areas suggesting that echolocating bats may be disturbed by high levels of urbanization. Bird abundance and richness were highest at trees located in modified landscapes, highlighting the value of scattered trees for birds. Bird communities also differed between non-urban and urban trees. Tree size had a significant effect on birds but did not affect trunk arthropods and bats. Large trees supported higher bird abundance, richness and more unique species compared to medium and small trees. Main conclusions: Scattered trees support a diversity of wildlife. However, landscape context and tree size affected wildlife in contrasting ways. Land management strategies are needed to collectively account for responses exhibited by multiple taxa at varying spatial scales. We recommend that the retention and perpetuation of scattered trees in modified landscapes should be prioritized, hereby providing crucial habitat benefits to a multitude of taxa.

关键词： BEF-China   biodiversity and ecosystem function   density-dependence   predator   trophic interaction  

摘要： Plant diversity is hypothesized to strengthen biological control by promoting top-down pressure of predators on herbivores. However, studies on the effects of plant diversity on actual predation rates are still scarce, particularly in forest ecosystems. We analyzed the effect of tree species richness, and the potential influence of neighbor tree density, on predation rates of arthropods and birds on artificial clay caterpillars in a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment in south-east China. Our study was focused on three broadleaved tree species that are frequently damaged by lepidopteran caterpillars. Predation rates were influenced by tree species richness on only one of the three tree species, on which arthropod predation increased and bird predation decreased with increasing tree species richness. Importantly, these relationships were mediated by neighbor tree density, being most pronounced when focal trees had fewer surrounding neighbor trees. Our findings indicate that low tree density reduced arthropod predator abundances and predation rates, but that negative effects of this reduction were compensated for in more diverse tree mixtures by a functionally more diverse predator community. In contrast, lower tree densities might have benefited insectivorous birds by making trees more accessible particularly in monocultures, which are often structurally more uniform and denser than tree mixtures. Overall, our results point to an important role of species-specific and density-dependent mechanisms in modifying the consequences of biodiversity loss on top-down effects in forest ecosystems. Future work should aim at separating the effects of different predator guilds and those of host diversity from host density.

关键词： Biomass production   ECOLINK-Salix   Genetic diversity effects   Herbivores   Predators   Salix  

摘要： Demand for bioenergy has rapidly developed in recent decades, resulting in expansion of bioenergy cropping systems such as willow short rotation coppice (SRC). Increasing the number of willow genotypes in SRC can potentially enhance species diversity in the associated arthropod community, which may promote ecosystem functions within plantations. However, the ecology of SRCs and their effects on biodiversity have only rarely been investigated. Therefore, to study the role of plant genetic diversity (GD) in SRC, we established a replicated common garden experiment comprising genetic monocultures and mixtures of two, three and four different Salix genotypes used in commercial SRC. We sampled arthropods and examined the effect of GD across trophic groups, to test if the use of genotype mixtures increases arthropod richness and abundance. Species richness of total arthropods and of herbivores increased significantly with increasing GD, regardless whether data were pooled per plot or analysed on tree level. However, effects varied among willow genotypes as positive correlations between GD and different trophic groups were genotype-specific. We show that establishing and managing commercial willow SRCs with a mixture of varying genotypes can help to increase arthropod diversity within a bioenergy system that is a promising renewable energy source.

关键词： ant communities   Cerrado   latitudinal diversity gradient   Neotropical arid diagonal   species diversity   tropical savanna  

摘要： Aim: To evaluate the extent to which ant species richness in Neotropical savannas varies with macrogeographic variables, and to identify the potential climatic drivers of such variation. Location: The Cerrado savanna biome of central Brazil, in a region spanning ca. 20 degrees of latitude and 18 degrees of longitude. Methods: Standardized sampling of the arboreal and ground-dwelling faunas was performed in 29 well-preserved savanna sites using pitfall traps. Species were classified according to their habitat affinities: open-savanna specialists, forest-associated species or habitat generalists. We used generalized linear models to evaluate the importance of geographic (latitude, longitude and elevation) and climatic (mean temperature and three metrics of rainfall) variables as predictors of species richness. Results: The total number of species recorded at each site varied more than twofold (from 59 to 144), and latitude was the best geographic correlate of overall species richness. However, contrary to the expected pattern, more species were found at higher than lower latitudes. This reversed latitudinal pattern of diversity occurred for both the arboreal and ground-dwelling faunas, and for the habitat generalists and forest specialists. The savanna specialists showed a mid-latitudinal peak in diversity. Overall, there was a significant positive association between rainfall and species richness, but the strength of this relationship varied with ant habitat affinity. Main conclusions: The Cerrado ant fauna shows a reverse latitudinal gradient in species diversity, and this can be explained by increasing rainfall during the warmest months of the year (and therefore in plant productivity) with increasing latitude. The sensitivity of Cerrado ant diversity to declining rainfall contrasts with the high resilience to aridity of the Australian savanna ant fauna, and this reflects the contrasting evolutionary histories of these faunas. Our findings highlight the importance

关键词： consumer-driven nutrient cycling   ecological stoichiometry   Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park   megaherbivore   nitrogen   nutrient aggregation   phosphorus   white rhinoceros  

摘要： 1. Territorial or resting behaviour of large herbivores can cause strong local deposits of dung, in different places than where they graze. Additionally, dung beetles and other macrodetritivores can subsequently affect local nutrient budgets through post-depositional re-dispersion of dung and accompanying nutrients. Such horizontal displacement of nutrients by animals has strong implications for savanna ecosystem functioning, but remains poorly studied as it is notoriously difficult to accurately map these flows and incredibly time-consuming. 2. In an African savanna, with alternating patches of lawn, bunch grasses and trees/shrubs, we undertook such effort and studied nutrient aggregation and redistribution by different large herbivore functional groups and dung beetles for a full growing season. We used movable cages to quantify herbivore consumption rates and measured nutrient return through biweekly dung counts. Furthermore, we estimated the offtake of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) by the dominant megagrazer (white rhinoceros) to middens (dung deposition hotspots). Last, we experimentally measured the removal amount and movement paths of telocoprid dung beetles to quantify their nutrient redistribution effects. 3. Our estimates suggest white rhinoceros to cause a large export of nutrients from grazing areas towards middens resulting in negative nutrient budgets for both lawn and bunch grassland types. Mesograzers (50-600kg) realized a net nitrogen input towards high forage quality lawn vegetation at the expense of lower quality bunch grasslands. Browsers caused a net flow from trees/shrubs towards grassland patches. 4. Interestingly, while the magnitude of our estimated flows of N consumption and return by large herbivores were rather similar, the P returns were about half of what has been consumed. This is in agreement with ecological stoichiometry theory that predicts that large herbivores should recycle more N than P, due to their relatively high P demand.

关键词： Apociemus agrarius   Apodemus peninsulae   downed tree   ground vegetation   habitat variable  

摘要： This study was conducted to investigate the influence of tree thinning on habitat variables and small rodents in a natural deciduous forest in South Korea. We focused on the populations of the small forest-dwelling rodents, striped field mouse Apodemus agrarius and Korean field mouse A. peninsulae. Populations were monitored for 2 years in a natural deciduous forest subject to tree thinning. The coverage of ground vegetation and number and volume of downed trees were significantly increased after thinning. However, the coverage of overstory and understory vegetation and number of standing trees were decreased in postthinning session. The abundance and survival probability of captured A. agrarius and the total small rodents were significantly influenced by tree thinning. We hypothesize that the major factors determining the greater abundance and survival of small rodents after thinning may be the increased coverage of ground vegetation and number of downed trees, and the decreased number of standing trees. This study suggests that tree thinning could be a tool to both encourage tree productivity and create suitable habitats for small rodents.

关键词： HBV   树鼩   动物模型   TLR-4   IL-6  

摘要： 目的通过对新生树鼩接种中、高滴度的人HBV血清,建立树鼩乙肝动物模型;观察树鼩感染HBV后体内相关免疫因子TLR-4和IL-6的动态变化,初步探讨HBV感染的免疫机制。方法第一部分用中、高滴度的人HBV血清接种新生树鼩,建立新生树鼩乙肝动物模型。将新生树鼩随机分组,中滴度组接种含人HBV血清（104-106IU/ml）,高滴度组接种含人HBV血清（107IU/ml）,对照组不接种。从接种后第8周开始,每隔2周经股静脉采血1次,接种后12周开始,每3个月行肝活检术取肝组织。ELISA法检测血清中HBs Ag的表达,荧光定量PCR（探针法）检测肝组织与血清中HBVDNA含量,免疫组化观察肝组织中HBs Ag表达情况。第二部分观察成功感染HBV的动物体内TLR-4与IL-6的动态变化。将第一部分实验中HBs Ag和（或）HBVDNA阳性树鼩确定为感染组,6只未接种且经检测HBs Ag和HBVDNA均为阴性的树鼩为对照组。ELISA检测两组动物血清中TLR-4与IL-6的表达情况,荧光定量PCR检测两组动物肝组织中TLR-4与IL-6的m RNA水平表达情况,免疫组化法观察两组动物肝组织中TLR-4与IL-6的表达情况。结果第一部分共有34只新生树鼩接种人HBV血清,高滴度组（107IU/ml）与中滴度组（104、105、106IU/ml）各17只动物。结果如下:（1）血清HBs Ag结果:在观察期内（8周24周）高滴度组共检测到8只动物出现HBs Ag阳性（8/17,47.05%）,中滴度组和对照组的HBs Ag均为阴性。在8只阳性的动物中,有7只动物在第8周即可检测出HBs Ag阳性,1只动物在22周第一次检测到HBs Ag阳性,且其中5只动物在整个观察期内（8周24周）HBs Ag持续阳性,最长可持续到第48周。（2）血清HBVDNA结果:按照临床检验标准,我们将HBVDNA≥500IU/ml定为阳性标准。在观察期内（8周24周）,高滴度组有11只动物血清检测出HBVDNA阳性（11/17,64.7%）,中滴度组有5只可检测出HBVDNA,但其拷贝数均低于阳性标准,对照组血清HBVDNA均为阴性。大部分阳性动物在第8周即可检测出,持续时间最短14周最长可达72周。11只阳性动物HBVDNA水平多在103IU/ml左右,少数可达到104IU/ml,随时间的延长,HBVDNA载量逐渐下降。（3）肝组织HBVDNA结果:高滴度组12周与24周肝组织检测都有12只动物出现HBVDNA阳性（12/17,70.5%）;中滴度组在第12周有5只检测出HBVDNA阳性（5/17,29.4%）,24周有3只检测出HBVDNA阳性（3/17,17.6%）,对照组肝组织未检测出HBVDNA阳性。高滴度组阳性动物HBVDNA水平多在103～104IU/ml左右,少数可达到105IU/ml,中滴度组阳性动物HBVDNA水平多在103IU/ml左右。（4）免疫组化结果显示,高滴度组与中滴度组大部分动物肝组织HBs Ag呈阳性表达,高滴度组肝组织HBs Ag阳性动物为12只（12/17,70.5%）,中滴度组肝组织HBs Ag阳性动物为5只（5/17,29.4%）,对照组染色均为阴性。阳性染色物为棕黄色,主要表达于肝细胞浆和细胞膜。第二部分将第一部分实验中12只HBs Ag和（或）HBVDNA阳性树鼩确定为感染组,6只未接种且经检测HBs Ag和HBVDNA均为阴性的树鼩为对照组。两组动物体内TLR-4与IL-6检测结果如下:（1）ELISA检测感染组与对照组血清中TLR-4结果显示,感染组动物血清中TLR-4的表达在第8w、12w、16w、20w、24w均比对照组高,差异均有统计学意义（p<0.05）,随时间的延长,血清TLR-4的表达呈降低趋势。感染组动物血清中IL-6的表达在8w、12w、16w、20w、24w均比对照组高,在第8w、12w、16w有显著性差异（p<0.05）,随时间的延长,血清中IL-6表达稍有下降。（2）q RT-PCR检测树鼩肝组织中TLR-4、IL-6m RNA的表达结果显示,感染组TLR-4 m RNA在12周、24周肝组织中的表达水平均比对照组高,差异均具有统计学意义（p<0.05）;感染组IL-6m RNA在12周、24周肝组织中的表达水平均比对照组高,第12周有显著性差异（p<0.05）。（3）免疫组化观察TLR-4在感染组中阳性表达率为（10/12,83.3%）,在对照组中阳性表达率为（1/6,16.6%）,感染组与对照组间差异具有统计学意义（p<0.05）。IL-6在感染组中阳性表达率为（9/12,75%）,在对照组中阳性表达率为（1/6,16.6%）,感染组与对照组间有显著性差异（p<0.05）。结论1.高滴度（1

关键词： animal welfare   animal welfare assessment   aquatic mammals   zoo animals   zoo inspection   Decision Tree   bottlenose dolphin   Antillean manatee  

摘要： During the last few decades, zoos and aquaria have made great improvements in their exhibit designs, feeding routines, social housing conditions, mixed species presentations, and environmental enrichment, as well as in the prevention of infectious and parasitic diseases, to enhance animal welfare. To monitor the effectiveness of all these changes, animal welfare science is needed. It is important to evaluate animal response by applying welfare metrics that include behaviour and/or physiology. To get a state-of-the-art overview of animal welfare metrics, Zoo Nuremberg organized a workshop in May 2016, inviting scientists from different disciplines. The workshop dealt with the challenges we face in developing and applying animal welfare indicators for zoo and aquarium animal species and clearly emphasized the need to assess the welfare of these animals. It was shown that animal welfare is science, and many scientific methods are available to assess welfare objectively at the species level, at least for some vertebrate species. However, it remains a challenge to apply different scientific methods for assessment of the broad species collection(s) of zoological parks and the huge number of individuals. The discussion also revealed that the assessment of animal welfare is a topic of much debate due to the complexity and practical implications of the evaluation. As a result, a written report was produced, Assessment of Welfare of Marine Mammal Species in Zoological Parks (Zoo Nuremburg, 2016), and a proposal for an animal welfare Decision Tree was created. The Decision Tree includes four different steps, involving keepers, veterinarians, biologists, and animal welfare inspectors: 1st Step: Survey - including life history, health protocol and nutrition plan, physical environment, animal management, and behavioural support system 2nd Step: Theoretical Analysis - including data analysis, data correlation, data evaluation, and preliminary report 3rd Step: In Situ Inspection -

关键词： 鼻咽癌   人源性EBV   树鼩   动物模型   感染阶段   基因测序   环磷酰胺  

摘要： 作为一种致瘤病毒,EB病毒(Epstein-Barr virus,EBV)与多种肿瘤的发生密切相关,如:伯基特淋巴瘤、鼻咽癌、肺癌、胃癌等。然而,EBV参与鼻咽癌发生发展的机制研究尚未明确,其因在于缺乏有效的细胞和动物模型。虽然目前已利用新世界猴、SCID小鼠、转基因动物和兔子、豚鼠等动物构建EBV相关动物模型,但因受限于感染率或动物机体的非自然免疫状态,仍未探明EBV参与NPC发生发展的机制。因此,急需寻找一种高感染率的具有正常机体免疫力的动物构建EBV感染的动物模型。在本课题组前期研究中,已证实机体免疫正常的树鼩可用于构建B95-8细胞系来源的EBV感染的动物模型,感染率可达80%,证实树鼩具有构建EBV感染的动物模型的潜力。因此,本实验希望能利用树鼩构建鼻咽癌患者来源的EBV感染的动物模型。首先,利用鼻咽癌患者来源EBV感染树鼩,拟构建EBV感染的树鼩动物模型,旨在探究人源性EBV感染树鼩的可能性。然后,通过摸索接种剂量,构建长期感染的动物模型,探讨EBV在树鼩内形成感染的时间及感染阶段分类等。再者,通过对BARF1基因片段进行测序和分析,以期阐明EBV分株与亚型。最后,应用环磷酰胺叠加EBV感染因素探索是否可诱导树鼩体内形成肿瘤。总之,本课题希望能通过一系列基础研究为后续开发抗EBV感染的药物和疫苗、研究EBV感染和致瘤机制、深入研究EBV与鼻咽癌发生发展的关系等提供依据。方法:1、鼻咽癌患者来源的EBV状况探索:收集10例血清EBVCA-IgA和EBNA-IgA为阳性的鼻咽癌患者的鼻咽部组织、抗凝外周血和不抗凝外周血,分别用于提取组织悬液、单个核细胞(PBMC)和血清。提取DNA后,利用qPCR方法检测各样品中的EBV DNA拷贝数。同时,使用透射电镜观察3类生物样本中是否有EBV病毒颗粒,再用免疫电镜技术验证。2、树鼩感染EBV需要的EBV DNA拷贝数探究:根据方法1的结果,将获取的鼻咽癌组织悬液按照EBV DNA拷贝数稀释成2×10～6 copies/μl、2×10～4 copies/μl、2×10～2 copies/μl、2×10～0 copies/μl。设置A-D四个实验组,每组5只树鼩,E组为对照组,含2只树鼩。实验组树鼩通过喷鼻的方式各接种100μl EBV混悬液,对照组给予同等剂量生理盐水喷鼻。每周为各组树鼩抽血,检测其感染程度。在连续观察2个月后,使用免疫抑制剂—环磷酰胺,按照20mg/Kg进行腹腔注射,连续观察3周评估感染效果。3、长期EBV感染树鼩模型的构建和观察:设置实验组树鼩10只,对照组3只。将鼻咽癌患者来源的含EBV病毒混悬液通过喷鼻方式感染实验组树鼩,对照组喷鼻同等体积的生理盐水,定期用qPCR、RT-PCR、ELISA的方法监测所有树鼩外周血PBMC中EBV DNA拷贝数变化、EBV相关基因片段的表达、血清EBVCA-IgG水平。通过对死亡树鼩的器官组织行免疫组织、Western blot和原位杂交检测,了解EBV相关蛋白和EBERs的表达情况。4、BARF1基因测序:采用RT-PCR和cDNA扩增产物基因测序等方法,对BARF1基因进行检测,并参照已发表的文献中人类疱疹病毒4型(HHV-4)、鼻咽癌EBV病毒株(HNNPC1-9)、淋巴瘤病毒株(B95-8)、胃癌病毒株(Akata-GC1)等序列,对所得序列结果进行比对分析,以寻找树鼩被感染的病毒基因型。5、应用环磷酰胺叠加EBV感染探索体内成瘤方法:通过对实验组树鼩连续应用环磷酰胺1周后,饲养3月处死动物。经石蜡包埋和病理切片后,HE染色观察实验组和对照组树鼩的鼻咽部和器官是否有肿瘤形成;免疫组化染色和原位杂交等方法,检测EBV相关蛋白和EBERs在树鼩组织中的表达。结果:1、NPC组织中EBV DNA拷贝数含量最高,可观察到EBV颗粒。通过鼻咽癌组织、外周血单个核细胞和血清三类生物样本的PCR检测,三者的EBV DNA拷贝数分别是(14.3±5.41)×10～7、(1.58±1.04)×10～4、(11.6±2.96)×10～2 copies/DNA,可知鼻咽癌组织中EBV DNA拷贝数的含量最高;透射电镜可观察到疱疹病毒样颗粒存在在7份NPC患者的生物样本中,免疫电镜可观察到8例患者的生物样本中EBV颗粒存在。2、本次实验中获得的树鼩感染EBV需要的EBV DNA拷贝数临界值为2×10～2 copies。通过对A-D四组树鼩外周血中BamHI-W、BZLF1、BARF1、BHRF1、LMP1、EBNA1等EBV相关基因片段的RT-PCR技术检测和分析可知,A组和B组中的10只树鼩均获得EBV感染,且出现感染的时间早,表达的目的指标强。虽然C组中2只树鼩被EBV感染,但是它们外周血中早期EBV相关指标表达不明显,仅在第2个月末