Abstract:The Damingshan is a famous mountain rising in southern central Guangxi, southern China. The vegetation of the Daminshan is diverse and varies primarily in different elevation: monsoon evergreen broadleaved forest below the elevation 1 100 m; evergreen, deciduous and coniferous mixed forest between the elevation 1 100 m and 1 400 m; elfin wood above the elevation 1 400 m. Bird composition, fauna and elevational gradient pattern were studied in Damingshan by 41 survey spots and 28 line transects from 2007 to 2015. Total of 337 bird species representing 17 orders and 56 families were recorded in this area, with 234 species (69.4% of total birds) of breeding birds including residents and summer migrants. Oriental birds would incline with the increasing of elevation in Damingshan (Table 1). We identified 6 bird habitats according to the difference of vegetation and elevation (Fig. 1). The most abundant area was distributed on the elevation around 500 m with 247 bird species including 182 breeding species, and the second was habitat of farmland and residential area on the elevation around 200 m with 227 bird species including 141 breeding species. Considering the distrubution range of some representative birds, the Damingshan Mountain should be an important boundary of birds between tropical and subtropical areas of Guangxi (Table 2). We suggest to list Damingshan as the fauna of southern China, but different with tropical fauna, because 67.1% of breeding birds in Damingshan are typically restricted to Oriental Pattern. Because of the unique location between tropical and south subtropical area, the knowledge of the elevational pattern of birds in Damingshan would be beneficial to assess the influence of climate change.

Abstract:Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) and Satyr Tragopan (Tragopan temmminckii) are two protected pheasant spieces (class Ⅱ) in China. As two sympatric species, the degree of their niche overlap and competition is still unclear. From July 2012 to November 2014, we set 52 infrared camera traps on 9 line transects (Fig. 1) to study the flock situation, daily activity pattern, seasonal activity rhythm and the optimal temperature selection of these two pheasants in Foping Nature Reserve, Shaanxi Province. The results show: (1) The flock behaviour of the two pheasant occurred mainly in winter, starting from late August and ending in next March or April (Table 1). (2) The two pheasant had similar daily activity patterns with two peaks in the morning and evening, however, with obvious differentiation in time niche. Golden Pheasant had one activity peak at 7:00 in the morning and another peak at 17:00. Satyr Tragopan had two activity peaks at 6:00 and 9:00 in the morning, and one peak at 18:00 in the evening (Fig. 2). (3) By analyzing seasonal activity patterns of these two pheasant, we found that both of them were most active in spring (March to May), while followed by autumn (September to November), summer (June to August) and winter (December to February) (Fig. 3). (4) The favourite temperature of the activities of the two pheasant were close to the average temperature in this month, with the activity temperature range of Golden Pheasant from ﹣4℃ to 19℃, whereas Satyr Tragopan from ﹣1℃ to 22℃ (Fig. 4). Their activity temperatures were normally higher than the average temperature of the fall and winter, however, slightly lower than the average temperature in the summer. The divergence of their activity peak periods might help these two sympatric species to aviod niche overlap, but we did not see obvious temperature adaptive differentiation between these two pheasant.

Abstract:The ecological impact of a species distributed in a new area would be uncertain to local ecosystem, so it is important to monitor its population dynamics for developing appropriate management strategies. The Asian Openbill (Anastomus oscitans), a newly recorded species in China, have spread to Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Sichuan provinces in recent years, however, its population status and trend were still lack of understanding. We conducted population census on the Asian Openbill in Caohai National Nature Reserve in Guizhou province (26°47′﹣26°52′N, 104°10′﹣104°20′E) during January 2013 to December 2014 by counting their night roosting sites (Fig. 1). Caihai wetland is a typical plateau lake wetland surrounded by shallow water mashes in southwestern China with an altitude of 2 171.7 m above sea level. We carried out the counting surveys one time per week at sunrise, with 5 groups responsible for the 5 night roosting sites. Our results showed that: 1) The Asian Openbill stayed in Caohai Nature Reserve mainly in summer and its population trend exhibited significant seasonal fluctuations (P < 0.001). 2) The population size of Asian openbills increased rapidly (Fig. 2), with the average of 200.6 ind (SD = 94.6, n = 24, Max 427 ind) in summer of 2013 and 356.1 ind (SD = 180.3, n = 25, Max 602 ind) in summer of 2014. 3) The Asian openbills in Caohai roosted in trees at night, as the 5 night roosting sites, the Bojiwan area, located in the southeast of Caohai, was the main place accounted for 56.46% and 63.53% of the whole population in 2013 and 2014, respectively (Table1). We suggest to establish a monitoring network consisted by the forestry departments and nature reserves to monitor the whole population of the Asian Openbill in China, including population size, distribution etc.

Abstract:A small and somewhat isolated subpopulation of the Demoiselle Crane (Anthropoides virgo) has long been recored at the Ordos Relict Gulls National Nature Reserve of the Ordos Plateau of Inner Mongolia during the whole summer season, as summer breeders or visitors. In July 2015, 5 cranes (3 breeders and 2 non-breeders) were captured, worn GPS-GSM transmitters, and then released (Table 1). The transmitters could provide GPS sites every hour, with every GPS site of eight information, including longitude, latitude, speed, temperature, elevation and so on. Until all of them migrateing outside of the Ordos Plateau, 7 794 data of GPS sites of the cranes were collected. One bird died on September 18 in the central west part of the Ordos Upland while other 4 birds migrated outside Ordos Plateau in late September and early October. During migrating, the highest speed we recorded was 93.1 km per hour (Table 2). The activity of Demoiselle Crane in Ordos Plateau was divided into two stages. The cranes mainly roosted near Taolimiao-Alashan Lake and Houjia Lake in the first stage, and migrated outside Taolimiao-Alashan Lake and Houjia Lake until migrating outside of the Ordos Plateau in the second stage. In the first stage, breeders mainly roosted in Taolimiao-Alashan Lake and Houjia Lake, while non-breeders had a greater range of movement (Fig. 2). The time and migration routes of the four tracked Demoiselle Cranes migrating outside of the Ordos Plateau are little different (Fig. 3).

Abstract:During January (winter), April﹣May (spring) and October﹣November (autumn) in 2011, scan sampling and focal sampling methods were used to study the non-breeding season behaviors of the Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) in Eryuan Xihu wetland (26°00′﹣26°01′N, 100°02′﹣100°03′E) at the elevation of 1 970 m asl, Dali, Yunnan Province (Fig. 1). Using instantaneous scanning method, we observed the behaviors for 35 entire days in winter, spring and autumn with the help of binoculars and stopwatches, for details of our observation, see Fig. 2. Seven types of behaviors were defined as eating, searching, resting, grooming, alert, locomotion and others. To calculate the diurnal rhythm, we combined eating and searching as foraging in observation of scan sampling due to difficulties in instant discrimination (Fig. 3). Foraging was the dominating behavior throughout non-breeding seasons, with its peaks occurred at dawn and dusk, and low ebbs found at 14:30 in autumn (56.56%), 12:30 in winter (55.61%) and 11:00 in spring (55.80%). Resting peaked at 12:30 (26.79%) in autumn, yet increased throughout the daytimes in winter, and a low ebb occurred at 13:30 (14.64%) in spring. The time budgets of primary behaviors were calculated using focal sampling (Fig. 4), and showed significant differences among seasons (Table 1). Eating was observed for the highest frequent in autumn (72.54%) that followed by spring (56.78%) and winter (44.59%). Conversely, searching was the highest in winter (19.87%), followed by spring (9.36%) and autumn (3.03%). During winter, the Purple Swamphens in Xihu wetland invested more time on searching and less on eating than previous studies in respond to low temperature and shortage of food (Table 2). In spring, which before the breeding season, grooming was the highest (15.84%), then reduced in autumn (11.10%). Alert and locomotion were fluctuated due to the agricultural activities of local people. Our results indicated that, in order to adapt the seasonal changes of weather and food conditions, the behavioral strategies of the Purple Swamphen were variable in different seasons and locations, which allowed the expansion of this species to the highlands in North-west Yunnan Province.

Abstract:Community structure and dynamics is the core content of community ecology, and the prediction of population is one way to study the community dynamics. This study attempted to establish a neural network model based on BP neural network model in the rodent communities in Alasan desert area from 2006 to 2014. Through the simulation study and the establishment of the model, BP neural network could achieve the simulation and forecast the dynamic law of the number of rodent communities. Taking Alasan Desert as a test area and the number of rodents as the research object, this study used mark recapture method to monthly monitor the catches from April to October from 2006 to 2014, count the minimum alive number, and set up BP neural network prediction model. Then, built the training network by the data from 2006 to 2013 minimum survival, and used 2014 year′s data for verification and testing. Through comparing hidden layer, double hidden layer and triple hidden layer BP artificial neural network model. The results showed that: 1) When the nodes' number of single hidden layer were 6, the maximum error percentage of single hidden layer model was 16.13%, and the determination coefficient was 0.998 0 (P = 0.006 0, Table 1). 2) When the nodes' number of the two hidden layer were both 6, the maximum error percentage of double hidden layer model was 8.58%, and the coefficient of determination was 0.999 5 (P = 0.002 3, Table 2). 3) When the nodes' number of the triple hidden layer is 1, 10, and 7, the maximum error percentage of triple hidden layer model was 5.87%, and the determination coefficient was 0.999 2 (P < 0.000 1, Table 3). 4) The forecasting effect of the different hidden layer network model has been achieved. By comparing the maximum error percentage, the average error percentage, the decision coefficient, and nonlinear fitting rate, the triple hidden layer was better than other two BP neural network models (Table 4). In this paper, the BP neural network model with triple hidden layer was most suitable for the prediction of rodent population in Alasan desert area.

Abstract:Eight specimens of Red-disked Small Treefrog (Theloderma rhododiscus) were collected from Mount Dayao in Guangxi Province, Mount Nankun in Guangdong Province, Mount Jiulian and Mount Sanbai in Jiangxi Province from 2010 to 2013, and it is new to Jiangxi Province. By using the morphology analyses (Table 1, Fig. 2) and constructing evolutionary tree of the Theloderma species based on 16S rRNA and 12S rRNA fragment (Table 2, Fig. 1), it is confirmed that the specimens we collected are Red-disked Small Treefrogs. Available data indicated that there are 10 distributions of the Red-disked Small Treefrog and its distribution area is extended from the original Jinxiu, Longsheng and Nanning County of Guangxi to northern Vietnam and southeast Yunnan in the south, and to Mt. Nanling and the middle Mt. Wuyi of Fujian in the east (Fig. 3).

Abstract:We conducted a market survey on turtle trade in Huadiwan, Guangzhou from 2012 to 2016 in order to investigate the amount of market trade and provided the basic data for further same study. We recorded a total of 41 turtle species across 9 families, 29 genera including two Trionychidae species, one Carettochelyidae species, five Emydidae species, 18 Geoemydidae species, three Chelidae species, three Kinosternidae species, two Chelydridae species, six Testudinidae species and one Cheloniidae. There were 28 alien turtle species were sold at this market and these species took a larger proportion (68.29%) than the native turtles (13 species with 31.71%). Of those turtles sold in the market, 30 species were listed as protected species, of which were captured from the field. Turtles around the world are suffered from market trade, especially those that distributed in China. The survey demonstrated the imperative to improve the wildlife protection law and regulation, as well as to identify the responsibilities of each relevant law enforcement agency. A large number of entity stores have already begun to sale turtles by the Internet, especially for the endangered species that with high economic value. Further investigations ocus on network marketing of turtles.need to carried out.

Abstract:To elucidate the composition and characteristics of fish fauna in the Mengjiang River (located in the Pearl River system), Guizhou, the fish species from the river was thoroughly surveyed as well as the fish specimen collected by gill-net from 20 sampling sites along the Mengjiang River between April 2014 to September 2015 (Fig. 1). A total of 5206 individuals of fish specimen belonging to 65 species or sub-species from the Mengjiang River were collected in this research. Combining with historical records, totally 75 species or sub-species of fishes , which belonged to 7 orders, 18 families and 56 genera, distributed in the Mengjiang river (Appendix). Of these fishes, Anguilla japonica was migratory species, Gambusia affinis, Neosalanx tangkahkeii and Oreochromis niloticus were introduced ones, and 41 species or sub-species were new records in the Mengjiang River. Total of 51 species or sub-species fishes belonged to Cypriniformes that constituted the largest fish group and took up 68.0% of fishes in the river. The cyprinid fishes were dominant group and accounted for 60.0% of total fish species in the Mengjiang River. Then 3 or 4 species respectively belonged to each family of Siluridae, Bagridae in Siluriformes. The fish fauna in the Mengjiang River was much similar to that in the Beipan River according to the UPGMA clustering analysis (Fig. 2). The fish fauna of the river was mainly composed of fish representative species in South China region and then East China region. No fish species which occur in North China region was detected by this study. The cyprinid fishes in the Mengjiang River comprised the species in “Early Tertiary Period Primitive Group”, “East Asia Group”, “South Group” and “Qinghai-Tibetan plateau group” and excluded the fishes in “North Cold Water Group”, and the “Early Tertiary Period Primitive Group” had much more fish species than any of the other groups in Cyprinidae in the river. The fish fauna in the Mengjiang River showed high species diversity and included complicate ichthyofauna components. Also, it comprised abundant fish species that are threatened and endemic to China, as well as fishes living in riptide. Moreover, the fish fauna was characterized by the fish species group only occurring in the East Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The fish fauna in the Mengjiang River belonged to the South Asiatic Subregion in the Oriental Region.

Abstract:Topmouth Culter (Culter alburnus) is an usual economic fish which distributed in most of the rivers in China. Because of the destructive fishing and environmental pollution, the population was significantly reduced. In order to study the present resource status of spawning population in the upper Yangtze River, 374 samples were collected in the Jinjiang River during January to December in 2015. The body length, body weight, net weight and ovary weight were measured. And then the body was dissected to pick out the vertebrae for age identification, the gonadosomatic index were calculated. The results showed that the reproductive periods of this fish species frequently occurred in June and July. The age distribution of reproductive population were between 3 and 6, the body length ranged from 250 to 537 mm, and the body weight ranged from 184.9 to 2 587.5 g. Sex ratio was 1.14︰1 (Table 1). There were significant differences between males and females, which expressed physically on cloacal orifice and the swelling degree of abdomen, and also by the body length to body weight equation (0.01 < P < 0.05, Fig. 1). The Logistic equation was used to calculate the characteristics of the first maturity: the body length and weight of females were 273 mm, 192.0 g and 4.2-year-old, while the males were 311 mm, 249.4 g and 3.4-year-old (Fig. 2). Absolute fecundity of matured females was from 25 067 to 54 274, and relative fecundity ranged from 24.2 to 36.9 per gram in weight, of which the average egg diameter was 1.1 ± 0.3 mm. Annual changes of gonado somatic index of the female and male groups were consistent, and the line chart increased from January to May, escalated obviously in June and reached the peak in July, but decreased rapidly in August, and then tended to be steady from September to December (Fig. 3). The egg diameter distribution of mature ovary had two distinct peak curves, which indicated the female spawns in batches (Fig. 4). Contrary to the reproductive population of fish in other rivers, the population in Jinjiang had the same reproductive periods but with a lower absolute fecundity and relative fecundity. The fecundity, egg diameter, reproductive periods and sexual diversity from different geographical populations were analyzed, and some protection strategies should be reinforced.

Abstract:Riparian zone is an active transition zone and ecotone of river and land ecosystem, with edge-effects and harbors higher numbers of species. Riparian ecosystem in the Lower Reach of the Yellow River has greatly degraded due to disturbance of human activities (such as hydraulic engineering construction, embankment along the lower river and farming) in recent years. In order to reveal the present status of riparian macro-zoobenthos and factors producing influence on them, a systematic survey was carried out at 8 sampling sections in aquatic banks of Shandong Reach, Yellow River in May 2005 at low flow conditions. The characteristics of macro-zoobenthos were described by the index of relative importance, Shannon-Weaver index, Margalef index and Pielou evenness index. Altogether 37 taxa were collected from the river bed and identified, including 3 annelids, 7 molluscs, and 27 arthropods (Table 2). The main components are aquatic insects (especially Chironomid groups). The average density and biomass of zoobenthos were 2 129 ± 436 ind/m2 and 2.20 ± 0.75 g/m2, respectively. The analysis of the spatial distributions of rever bed community structure indicated that species richness, abundance, biomass, dominant species and diversity varied significantly between each sampling sections (Fig. 2, 3, 5, Table 3), and exhibited irregular fluctuations, which indicates that riparian ecosystem in Shandong Reach of Yellow River has suffered severe disturbance by human activities. The comprehensive analyses indicated that channel cross-section morphology (such as width and habitat type of riparian zone) and oviposition behaviors of aquatic insects were the main factors to produce influence on the structure and distribution of the macrozoobenthos assemblages in Shandong Reach of Yellow River.

Abstract:To the present study investigated the structure of Harderian gland and its antioxidases during low oxygen stress in Gansu Zokor (Myospalax cansus). The overall gross anatomic structure of Harderian gland was described and its microstructure was observed by paraffin H.E staining. The activities of antioxidases in Harderian gland including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in normoxia and hypoxia were measured by a spectrophotometer. The data were analyzed by the single factor analysis of variance using SPSS13.0. The results were as follows: Harderian gland of Gansu Zokor was large (Table 1), surrounding around the eye and lying in the temporal fossa under the jugal bridge (Fig. 1b). It was a tube vesicular gland and composed of columnar cells (Fig. 2a). According to the active state，the cells could be divided into thick and thin cells (Fig. 2c). In normoxic condition, the activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) were significantly higher than those in Rat (Rattus norvegicus), and the activity of glutathione reductase (GR) was significantly lower than that of SD Rat. The activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) increased rapidly and significantly, higher than those in SD Rat at low oxygen after 4 hours. The activity of glutathione reductase (GR) showed no significant change at low oxygen after 2﹣4 hours, and significantly lower than that of SD Rat. The activity of glutathione reductase (GR) was significantly higher after 2﹣6 hours (Table 1). Significantly lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content was observed in Gansu Zokor than in SD Rat (Table 2). The activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) in Gansu Zokor increased rapidly and significantly, higher than those in SD Rat at low oxygen after 4 hours. The same result was observed in activity of glutathione reductase (GR) after 8 hours. Significantly lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content was found than in SD Rat (Table 2). The results show that Gansu Zokor can maintain normal activity through increasing the activity of antioxidase, removing excessive free radicals induced by low oxygen condition and adapt to the environment. Glutathione reductase (GR) dose not paly a major role in antioxidant function. Underground Rodents antioxidant model was obviously different from that of the ground Rats.

Abstract:The body mass and internal organ size may change with different environmental conditions and display phenotypic plasticity in amphibians. However, empirical evidence testing the theory of phenotypic plasticity is still scarce, especially for specific experiments associated with ever-changing food availability. The changes of body mass, as well as wet and dry mass of internal organs from five groups (feeding, fasting for one week, fasting for two weeks, re-feeding for one week, and re-feeding for two weeks) were measured in Asiatic Toads (Bufo gargarizans) captured at Dingyuan County, Anhui Province. Two-way ANOVA was performed to analyze the sex and group differences for body mass. Two-way ANCOVA with body mass (or carcass dry mass) as a covariate was performed to analyze the sex and group differences for carcass wet mass and dry mass as well as the wet mass and dry mass of internal organs. All values are represented as the mean ± SE, and P <0.05 was considered as the level for statistical significance. The software SPSS (13.0, USA) was used for data analysis. The results were as follows: 1) Body mass, carcass wet mass and dry mass did not show significant sex (Table 1, all P > 0.05) and group (Table 1, all P > 0.05) differences. 2) Stomach wet mass (Fig. 1a, P < 0.05) and dry (Fig. 1b, P < 0.05) mass, as well as large intestine wet mass (Fig. 1c, P < 0.05) was heavier in females than in males. However, no sex difference was observed for the wet mass (Table 2, all P > 0.05) and dry (Table 3, all P > 0.05) mass of other internal organs (small intestine, thymus, heart, liver, lung, fat body, spleen and kidney). In males, no group difference was found for stomach wet mass (Fig. 1a, P < 0.05) and dry (Fig. 1b, P < 0.05) mass, as well as large intestine wet mass (Fig. 1c, P < 0.05). In females, stomach dry mass was heavier in feeding group than that in the group re-feeding for one week (Fig. 1b, P < 0.05), but no difference was observed for the wet mass of stomach (Fig. 1a, P < 0.05) or large intestine (Fig. 1c, P < 0.05). Small intestine wet mass was greatly declined in the group fasting for two weeks, lower than that of feeding group and re-feeding groups (Fig. 1d, P < 0.05). 3) Heart wet mass in the group fasting for one week was heavier than that in the group re-feeding for two weeks (Fig. 1e, P < 0.05). These results indicate that short-term fasting and re-feeding treatments had no obvious influence on Asiatic Toads at organismal levels; Asiatic Toads may mainly rely on enhanced heart functions induced by moderate starvation and the plasticity of digestive tract at organic levels to cope with changing food availability.

Abstract:The genetic structures of four Siberian Dace (Leuciscus leuciscus baicalensis) populations (Qinghe QH, Haba River HBH, 185 Regiment 185T and Ulungur Lake WLG, Fig. 1) from Irtysh River were analyzed by mtDNA Cyt b gene marker. A total of 1 109 bp sequences were obtained and 54 haplotypes were found among 77 individuals including 7 shared haplotypes. Total haplotype diversity (Hd), total nucleotide diversity (π) and average nucleotide difference (K) were 0.981 9, 0.008 21 and 9.091 (Table 1), respectively. The haplotype and nucleotide diversity of 185T were the highest, whereas those of QH were the lowest. The genetic distance among four populations ranged from 0.006 to 0.011. Neighborhood-joining (NJ) phylogenetic tree of all haplotypes based on Kimura 2- parameter method was divided to three branches (Fig. 2). There was no significant correlation between genetic relationship and geographical distance. AMOVA analysis showed differences among Siberian Dace populations were extremely significant (P < 0.01, Table 3). The gene flow (Nm) between QH and WLG was much higher than other populations, indicating Ulungur River was the genetic communication channel between them (Table 2). Although nucleotide mismatch distribution was bimodal, both sum of squared deviation (Q) and raggedness index (r) were not significant (P > 0.05, Fig. 3). Meanwhile, Tajima′s D and Fu′s Fs neutral test gave positive values, in combination with high haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity, authors still considered Siberian Dace experienced population expansion. Applying 0.76% divergence rate of Cyt b gene sequence in Cyprinid fish, the divergence of Siberian Dace occurred about 1.97 Ma years ago during the middle-late Pleistocene. It was supposed that geographical isolation and fusion caused by glaciation and frequent paleo-earthquake in Altai region were the important reasons for population expansion.

Abstract:To prepare and investigate the recombinant Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) nanosphere loaded in polybutylcyanoacrylate (PBCA) in Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), we firstly obtained the recombinant IFN-γ protein through prokaryotic protein expression technology, and then, by choosing PBCA as the drug delivery material, prepared the INF-γ PBCA nanosphere (IFNγ-PBCA-NS) using an emulsion polymerization method. Further more, the Kunming Mice (Mus musculus), which were infected with giant panda influenza virus A/Panda/Sichuan/01/2011 (H1N1), were used as models to test the efficacy of IFNγ-PBCA-NS compared to that of IFNγ after intragastric administration and subcutaneous injection of drugs. The results demonstrated that the molecular weight of INF-γ protein was about 33.5 ku, and the IFNγ-PBCA-NS was globular in appearance, with uniform particle size. The diameters ranged from 50 to 200 nm, the span was 0.55, the encapsulation efficiency of the particles was 56.7% and the drug loading was 0.86%. Moreover, the prolonged life rate of mice in the IFNγ-PBCA-NS group was significantly higher than that of the IFNγ group in both intragastric administration and subcutaneous injection approaches (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). In summary, IFNγ-PBCA-NS showed better sustained release and antiviral activity in mice, which could provide references for further research on the preparation of the Giant Panda peptide drug microparticles.

Abstract:The median lethal pH (LpH50) was investigated for pH tolerance of Chinese Grass Shrimp (Palaemonetes sinensis) by the hydrostatic toxicity experiment method. The acidic range of pH was 3.0, 3.2, 3.4, 3.6, 3.8 and 4.0, and the alkaline range of pH was 10.4, 10.6, 10.8, 11.0, 11.2, and 11.4. The LpH50 in the acidic range was 3.416 for 24 h, 3.426 for 48 h, 3.463 for 72 h and 3.463 for 96 h, respectively (Table 2); The LpH50 in the alkaline range was 10.813 for 24 h, 10.609 for 48 h, 10.516 for 72 h and 10.516 for 96 h, respectively (Table 4). Security pH values were 4.463 and 9.516, respectively. Subsequently, the effects of pH on the oxygen consumption rate, ammonia excretion rate and asphyxiation point in P. sinensis were studied by hydrostatic test based on LpH50. The pH values were set to 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and pH 7 was control group. We used the software SPSS 18.0 to analyze the experimental data. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the experimental results, and Duncan was used for multiple comparisons. The results showed that oxygen consumption rates at pH 9 and 10 were significantly increased compared to the control pH (P < 0.05), and other pH groups did not have significantly change (P > 0.05) (Fig. 1); the ammonia excretion rates at pH 5 and 6 were significantly higher compared to the control pH (P < 0.05), and other pH groups did not have significantly change (P > 0.05) (Fig. 2); the range of oxygen-nitrogen ratio (O/N) in P. sinensis was 4.14 ~ 10.95 at pH 4﹣9, indicating that protein was the main energy supply material, however, O/N at pH 10 was sharply increased to 29.62 and the main energy supply material was fat instead of protein (Fig. 3). The asphyxiation point of P. sinensis had no significant difference among different pH groups (Fig. 4). The experimental results show that P. sinensis has strong tolerance to pH, but pH can affect respiratory metabolism and energy supply way in P. sinensis.

Abstract:Grimelius' silver nitrate stain was used to investigate the morphology and distribution of argyrophilic cells in digestive tube of the Mexican Medical Leech (Poecilobdella manillensis). The distribution density of argyrophilic cells was counted according to the distribution characteristics. All the measured data were compared with Duncan multiple comparison using spss 17.0. The level of significant difference was set at P < 0.05. The results showed that argyrophilic cells did not exist in esophagus (PlateⅠ: 5), but distributed throughout most of the other portions in different densities (PlateⅠ). These cells were stained with brownish or black in the digestive tube. Argyrophilic cells in epithelium of lips had apophysis pointing to the oral cavity, and some of them had distinct cytoplasmic processes and inner cell visible black particles (PlateⅠ: 1). Argyrophilic cells were observed in the jaw, with shapes of circle, ellipse, strip and so on (PlateⅠ: 2, 3). Most argyrophilic cells in epithelium of crop and villus epithelium of intestine had apophysis pointing to the crop or intestine (PlateⅠ6﹣8), while a minority stretched their processes to the lamina porpria (PlateⅠ: 9), indicating the possible luminal secretion and endocrine functions of these cells. The density of argyrophilic cells in the jaw was the highest (117.63 ± 14.08), while that in the rectum was the lowest (2.63 ± 0.91). There was extremely significant difference between the two parts (P < 0.05). No argyrophilic cells were also observed in the esophagus (Table 1). Based on these results, we inferred that the morphology and distribution of argyrophilic cells in the digestive tube might be closely related to the feeding and digestive physiological activities of this leech.

Abstract:Brood parasitism on different host species by cuckoos is of importance for understanding the coevolutionary arms race between cuckoos and their hosts. The Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) and Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) are sympatric and summer breeding birds across China, however, to date there has been little information on cuckoo parasitism on Barn Swallow populations in China. During the breeding seasons from April to August in 2012 and 2014, we surveyed the brood parasitism on Barn Swallow populations at Huapichang Town in Jilin Province (34°58′44.18″N, 126°13′26.83″E) and 11 counties in Hainan Province, China. The parasitism rate of Common Cuckoo on Barn Swallow at Huapichang was 2.4% (1/42), however, there was no case of cuckoo parasitism on Barn Swallow populations in Hainan with 1 719 nests being surveyed. To search for information of cuckoo parasitism on Barn Swallow on the Internet, we found 13 cases of parasitism with the host all being the Common Cuckoos in northern China during the breeding season of June and July (Fig. 1, Appendix). Possible explanations might be the populations of Common Cuckoo and Barn Swallow in north China are relatively large, and the early breeding time of Barn Swallow in south China staggers the peak reproduction of Common Cuckoo.

Abstract:A metacommunity is defined as a set of local communities that are linked by diffusion of multiple potentially interacting species. Now it has become one of the most important basic theory of biological community structure, pattern, and dynamic in habitat patch. Four kinds of theoretical models, such as patch dynamics, species sorting, mass effects and neutral model can be used to explain species migration and describe metacommunity dynamics. The specific type of studied community can be explained by community structure or ecological mechanism. Metacommunity can also be used to study stream fish assemblage, explain fish community structure and so on. This paper prospects the future development of metacommunity research considering the current situation of water ecological environment and aquatic organisms in our country.

Abstract: