Testing reintroduction as a conservation strategy for the critically endangered Chinese alligator: Movements and home range of released captive individuals

The Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis) is considered the most critically endangered crocodilian as a result of the near total loss of its habitat and its extremely small and fragmented wild populations. Plans for population recovery lie mostly with wetland res- toration and the reintroduction of captive-reared animals. We carried out a first-trial release of 3 adult Chinese alligators (1♂, 2♀) into a pond at the Hongxing conservation site, Xuancheng, southern Anhui Province; the animals were radio-tracked from May to October in 2003. We hypothesized that after a period of adaptation, the alligators would establish definable home ranges. Two (1♂, 1♀) of the 3 alligators were monitored for the whole of the tracking period. The male had an annual home-range size of 7.61 hm2, and the female 4.00 hm2. Water temperature and pond water level were two important factors influencing the alligators’ distributions, and daily movements. The radio-tracked alligators had overlapping home ranges, which notably included the one substantial island in the pond; that island is the only known nesting site of the local native wild alligators. Aggressive interactions between the released alligators and native wild alligators were observed during the breeding season around this island. All the three reintroduced alligators survived the winter of 2003 and were alive in the same pond in 2008. We concluded that the Hongxing conservation site provided a suitable habitat for the reintroduced alligators. However, the low water level in the pond resulting from farmland irrigation in August and September can be a substantial threat to the alligators’ survival. Therefore, regu- lations on irrigation in summer and autumn are needed to balance the water needs of the alligators and agriculture.     

Establishment and cryopreservation of liver, heart and muscle cell lines derived from the Chinese alligator （Alligator sinensis）

The Chinese alligator, Alligator sinensis, is a critically endangered species. A conservation project of gene resources for an endangered species first involves the preservation of organs, tissues, gametes, genomic DNA libraries and cell lines. The present study is the first to establish and cryopreserve cell lines of liver, heart and muscle tissues from the Chinese alligator. The study revealed that there was a large discrepancy in cell migration time in primary cultures among liver (11-12 d), heart (13-14 d) and muscle (17-18 d) tissue pieces. The differences in time in primary cell culture suggested that it was relatively easy to build visceral-derived cell lines for reptiles. Biological analysis showed that the population doubling time for thawed cells was approxi- mately 36 h. Karyotyping revealed that the frequency of Chinese alligator cells showing chromosome number as 2n=32 was 88.6%-93.4%. Chinese alligator cell lines established here provide a vital resource for research and are likely to be useful for protection of this rare and critically endangered species. Furthermore, the establishment of these methods may supply technical and theoretical support for preserving genetic resources at the cellular level for other reptile species.     

Contact and hybrid zone hotspots and evolution of birds in the Middle East

The Middle East is an important contact zone for a considerable number of bird taxa from the western and eastern Palearctic and from the great Saharo-Sindian desert belt.Using WORLDMAP software,we analyzed the geographical distribution of secondary contact zones for parapatric species pairs of birds in the Middle East.We identified 56 species(29 species pairs)that make contact in the Middle East.The species pairs belong to three orders,i.e.Falconiformes,Piciformes,and Passeriformes.Almost half(46%)of these species pairs hybridize in their contact zones.Although contact zones occur over a large part of northern Middle East,spatially they were not evenly distributed.Contact zone richness was highest in the mountain ranges south of the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus.The hottest hotspots,where up to nine bird species pairs occur sympatrically,are situated in north-eastern Iran and Azerbaijan.We discuss the relevance of these hotspots for improving our understanding of the biogeography and evolution of the avifauna in the Middle East.     

Regional Δ<Superscript>14</Superscript>C patterns and fossil fuel derived CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> distribution in the Beijing area using annual plants

The level of atmosphericΔ14C and the fossil fuel derived CO 2 concentration in the Beijing area from May to September,2009, were systematically analyzed based on radiocarbon(14C)measurements of annual plants by accelerator mass spectrometry(AMS). The results show that the maximumΔ14C in Beijing was 29.6‰±2.2‰,and the minimum was–28.2‰±2.5‰,with a trend of decreasingΔ14C from the outer suburbs to inner suburbs to the urban center.This trend correlates well with increases in fossil fuel derived CO2 caused by human activities such as population density,industrial emissions and traffic,with lower values of atmosphericΔ14C associated with more intensive human activities.The fossil fuel derived CO 2 concentrations from May to September, 2009,ranged from 3.9±1.0 ppm to 25.4±1.0 ppm.It was calculated that each additional 1 ppm of CO2 from fossil fuels depleted the atmosphericΔ14C by approximately 2.70‰.This study suggests that 14C measurements of annual plants by AMS provide an effective method to rapidly trace fossil fuel derived CO2.     

A new species from an ornithuromorph（Aves： Ornithothoraces）dominated locality of the Jehol Biota

We report on a new species of ornithuromorph bird, Iteravis huchzermeyeri gen. et sp. nov., from the previously unreported Sihedang locality of the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation, the oldest ornithuromorph bearing deposit in the world. Unlike most other Cretaceous localities, specimens from this new quarry are largely referable to Ornithuromorpha, similar to the Lower Cretaceous Aptian Xiagou Formation in Gansu Province. Also similar to the Xiagou avifauna, the fauna at Sihedang is largely dominated by a single taxon（described here）.Differences in faunal dominance may suggest the Sihedang records a unique ecological habitat. This may also explain the dominance of Gansus in the younger Xiagou Formation locality and suggests that previous hypotheses regarding the shift in dominance between Enantiornithes and Ornithuromorpha need to be reassessed in terms of potential ecological biases due to limited sampling. Furthermore, the recognition of an ornithuromorph dominated locality in the Sihedang significantly weakens the signal of such an inferred trend. Compared to most Jehol birds, the new specimen is relatively better preserved in three dimensions revealing morphological details of the skeleton, as well as preserves feather impressions including a rectricial morphology previously unknown among Mesozoic birds.     

Characterstics of seasonal variations of leaf n-alkanes and n-alkenes in modern higher plants in Qingjiang, Hubei Province, China

On the basis of GC and GC-MS analyses, the seasonal variation of leaf lipids is observed in five plant species in Qingjiang in Hubei Province. The CPI values (carbon preference index) of n-alkanes decrease gradually from May to November, though the carbon number distributions and the predominant carbon number in an individual species keep unchanged. The declined CPI values might be caused by the leaf fading, which is further supported by a comparison of the defoliated leaves with the fresh leaves. This observation infers the CPI values of n-alkanes in Quaternary sediments can be used as a tool to index the humification, and thus the climatic and the environmental conditions. The plants analyzed here show a remarkable difference in n-alkanes abundance, suggesting their differential contribution to the n-alkanes identified in sediments. The abundance and the compound species of the n-alkenes detected in the plant leaves change greatly with the seasons due to the influence of temperature, with the least compounds being identified in August.     

Northern China maximum temperature in the summer of 1743： A historical event of burning summer in a relatively warm climate background

In the context of historical climate records of China and early meteorological measurements of Beijing discovered recently in Europe, a study is undertaken on the 1743 hottest summer of north China over the last 700 a, covering Beijing, Tianjin, and the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong, with the highest temperature reaching 44.4℃ in July 1743 in Beijing, in excess of the maximum climate record in the 20th century. Results show that the related weather/climate features of the 1743 heat wave, e.g., flood/drought distribution and Meiyu activity and the external forcings, such as solar activity and equatorial Pacific SST condition are the same as those of the 1942 and 1999 heat events. It is noted that the 1743 burning summer event occurs in a relatively warm climate background prior to the Industrial Revolution, with a lower level of CO2 release.     

Phylogenetic relationships of host insects of Cordyceps sinensis inferred from mitochondrial Cytochrome b sequences

This study used the sequence of the mitochondrial Cytochrome b(Cytb)to estimate phylogenetic relationships among host Hepialidae insects of Cordyceps sinensis.Genome DNA of host insect was extracted from the dead larva head part of 18 cordyceps populations and 2 species of Hepialus,and the Cytb fragment of host insect was amplified with PCR technique.The nucleotide sequence alignments and their homologous sequences of 24 species host Hepialidae insects of Cordyceps sinensis were obtained from GenBank and were used to construct phylogenetic trees based on neighbor-joining method.The results showed that genus Bipectilus diverged earlier than genus Hepialus and Hepialiscus.Hepialus host insects of Cordyceps sinensis have multitudinous species with different morphological characteristics and geographical distributions.The interspecific genetic differentiations are obvious in Hepialus.Thus,the genus Hepialus might be considered as polyphyletic origin.Cytb sequences have abundant variations among the host insects of Cordyceps sinensis on spe- cific and generic level.The divergence rate of Cytb sequences among the species in Hepialus ranged from 0.23% to 9.24%,except that Hepialus pratensis and Hepialus jinshaensis have the same sequence.Cytb sequence can be used for species identification of host insects of Cordyceps sinensis,but further confirmation in more host insect species is needed.To obtain the Cytb sequence of host insect by ampli- fying DNA extracted from the head part of dead larva in cordyceps turns out to be an effective and accurate approach,which will be useful for studies on phylogeny and genetic structure of host insects of cordyceps populations,especially for analyzing relationships between C. sinensis and its host insects.     

Mitochondrial 16S rRNA sequence variations and phylogeny of the Chinese sisorid catfishes

Partial sequences of mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene were obtained by PCR amplification for comparisons among nine species of glyptosternoid fishes and six species of non-glyptosternoids representing 10 sisorid genera. There are compositional biases in the A-rich unpaired regions and G-rich paired regions. A-G transitions are primarily responsible for the Ts/Tv bias in unpaired regions. The overall substitution rate in unpaired regions is almost two times higher than that in the paired regions. Saturation plots at comparable levels of sequence divergence demonstrate no saturation effects. Phylogenetic analyses using both maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods support the monophyly of Sisoridae. Chinese sisorid catfishes are composed of two majorlineages, one represented by (Gagata (Bagarius, Glyptothorax)) and the other by “glyptosternoids Pseudecheneis“. The glyptosternoids may not be a monophyletic group. A previous hypothesis referring to Pseudecheneis as the sister group of monophyletic glyptosternoids, based on morphological evidence, is not supported by the molecular data. Pseudecheneis is shown to be a sister taxon of Glaridoglanis. Pareuchiloglanis might be paraphyletic with Pseudexostoma and Euchiloglanis. Our results also support the hypothesis that Pareuchiloglanis anteanalis might be considered as the synonyms of Pareuchiloglanis sinensis, and genus Euchiloglanis might have only one valid species, Euchiloglanis davidi.     

Characterization of Ordovician carbonate reservoirs, southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada

The discovery of the prolific Ordovician Red River reservoirs in 1995 in southeastern Saskatchewan was the catalyst for extensive exploration activity which resulted in the discovery of more than 15 new Red River pools. The best yields of Red River production to date have been from dolomite reservoirs. Understanding the processes of dolomitization is, therefore, crucial for the prediction of the connectivity, spatial distribution and heterogeneity of dolomite reservoirs.The Red River reservoirs in the Midale area consist of 3～4 thin dolomitized zones, with a total thickness of about 20 m, which occur at the top of the Yeoman Formation. Two types of replacement dolomite were recognized in the Red River reservoir: dolomitized burrow infills and dolomitized host matrix. The spatial distribution of dolomite suggests that burrowing organisms played an important role in facilitating the fluid flow in the backfilled sediments. This resulted in penecontemporaneous dolomitization of burrow infills by normal seawater. The dolomite in the host matrix is interpreted as having occurred at shallow burial by evaporitic seawater during precipitation of Lake Almar anhydrite that immediately overlies the Yeoman Formation. However, the low δ18O values of dolomited burrow infills (-5.9‰～ -7.8‰, PDB) and matrix dolomites (-6.6‰～ -8.1‰, avg. -7.4‰ PDB) compared to the estimated values for the late Ordovician marine dolomite could be attributed to modification and alteration of dolomite at higher temperatures during deeper burial, which could also be responsible for its 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7084～0.7088) that are higher than suggested for the late Ordovician seawaters (0.7078～0.7080). The trace amounts of saddle dolomite cement in the Red River carbonates are probably related to "cannibalization" of earlier replacement dolomite during the chemical compaction.     

A computer generator for randomly layered structures

AcomputergeneratorforrandomlylayeredstructuresYUJia shun1,2,HEZhen hua2(1.TheInstituteofGeologicalandNuclearSciences,NewZealand;2.StateKeyLaboratoryofOilandGasReservoirGeologyandExploitation,ChengduUniversityofTechnology,China)Abstract:Analgorithmisintrod…     

海南岛地体及其毗邻陆缘晚中生代—新生代古地磁研究和构造演化

本文叙述了对海南岛及其毗邻大陆边缘白垩纪到第四纪地层岩石进行古地磁研究的全部工作过程。通过分析岩石中剩余磁矢量的磁偏角及磁倾角的变化,提出海南岛白垩纪以来经历的构造演化模式如下:早期伴随顺时针旋转而向南迁移,后期伴随逆时针转动并向北运移。联系该地区及邻区的地质、地球物理资料,对海南岛上述的构造地体运动提出以下认识:北部湾内早期有一拉张作用,主要是该作用使湾内地壳显著伸长减薄,形成北部湾盆地。从而导致了海南岛的早期构造运动,而海南岛后期的构造运动则主要是受南海海底扩张的影响。海南地体运动规律的阐明对于了解北部湾油气盆地的形成演化有重要的理论和实际意义。     

Exciton Seebeck in Molecular Systems

Various applications relevant to the exciton dynamics,such as the organic solar cell,the large-area organic light-emitting diodes and the thermoelectricity,are operating under temperature gradient.The potential abnormal behavior of the exicton dynamics driven by the temperature difference may affect the efficiency and performance of the corresponding devices.In the above situations,the exciton dynamics under temperature difference is mixed with     

Achieving Unusual States of Matter Under High Pressure

The elongation method,originally proposed by Imamura was further developed for many years in our group.As a method towards O(N)with high efficiency and high accuracy for any dimensional systems.This treatment designed for one-dimensional(ID)polymers is now available for three-dimensional(3D)systems,but geometry optimization is now possible only for 1D-systems.As an approach toward post-Hartree-Fock,it was also extended to     

《Chinese Science Bulletin》SUBJECT INDEX TO VOLUME 59(2014)

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An on-line scaling method for improving scalability of a database cluster

The explosive growth of the Internet and database applications has driven database to be more scalable and available, and able to support on-line scaling without interrupting service. To support more client's queries without downtime and degrading the response time, more nodes have to be scaled up while the database is running. This paper presents the overview of scalable and available database that satisfies the above characteristics. And we propose a novel on-line scaling method. Our method improves the existing on-line scaling method for fast response time and higher throughputs. Our proposed method reduces unnecessary network use, i.e. , we decrease the number of data copy by reusing the backup data. Also, our on-line scaling operation can be processed parallel by selecting adequate nodes as new node. Our performance study shows that our method results in significant reduction in data copy time.     

An improved R-tree based on childnode''s probability

R-Tree is a good structure for spatial searching. But in this indexing structure,either the sequence of nodes in the same level or sequence of traveling these nodes when queries are made is random. Since the possibility that the object appears in different MBR which have the same parents node is different, if we make the subnode who has the most possibility be traveled first, the time cost will be decreased in most of the cases. In some case, the possibility of a point belong to a rectangle will shows direct proportion with the size of the rectangle. But this conclusion is based on an assumption that the objects are symmetrically distributing in the area and this assumption is not always coming into existence. Now we found a more direct parameter to scale the possibility and made a little change on the structure of R-tree, to increase the possibility of founding the satisfying answer in the front sub trees. We names this structure probability based arranged R-tree (PBAR-tree).     

An Index mechanism for multi-scale view in spatial databases

There are numerous geometric objects stored in the spatial databases. An importance function in a spatial database is that users can browse the geometric objects as a map efficiently. Thus the spatial database should display the geometric objects users concern about swiftly onto the display window. This process includes two operations:retrieve data from database and then draw them onto screen. Accordingly, to improve the efficiency, we should try to reduce time of both retrieving object and displaying them. The former can be achieved with the aid of spatial index such as R-tree, the latter require to simplify the objects. Simplification means that objects are shown with sufficient but not with unnecessary detail which depend on the scale of browse. So the major problem is how to retrieve data at different detail level efficiently. This paper introduces the implementation of a multi-scale index in the spatial database SISP (Spatial Information Shared Platform) which is generalized from R-tree. The difference between the generalization and the R-tree lies on two facets: One is that every node and geometric object in the generalization is assigned with a importance value which denote the importance of them, and every vertex in the objects are assigned with a importance value,too. The importance value can be use to decide which data should be retrieve from disk in a query. The other difference is that geometric objects in the generalization are divided into one or more sub-blocks, and vertexes are total ordered by their importance value. With the help of the generalized R-tree, one can easily retrieve data at different detail levels.Some experiments are performed on real-life data to evaluate the performance of solutions that separately use normal spatial index and multi-scale spatial index. The results show that the solution using multi-scale index in SISP is satisfying.     

Integrating GIS Web services based on mediating architecture

The geographic information service is enabled by the advancements in general Web service technology and the focused efforts of the OGC in defining XML-based Web GIS service. Based on these models, this paper addresses the issue of services chaining,the process of combining or pipelining results from several interoperable GIS Web Services to create a customized solution. This paper presents a mediated chaining architecture in which a specific service takes responsibility for performing the process that describes a service chain. We designed the Spatial Information Process Language (SIPL) for dynamic modeling and describing the service chain, also a prototype of the Spatial Information Process Execution Engine (SIPEE) is implemented for executing processes written in SIPL. Discussion of measures to improve the functionality and performance of such system will be included.