Regulation of reproduction rate in a cyclic population of the red-backed vole,Clethrionomys rufocanus bedfordiae

Summary Changes of the components of reproduction were analyzed quantitatively in a two-year cyclic population (which has two peaks in alternate years during a five-year census) of the red-backed vole,Clethrionomys rufocanus bedfordiae, with reference to its regulatory mechanism: (1) Variation in sex ratios was not associated with population phase or density, although a higher percentage of females in mature individuals was observed in the increase phase. (2) Females attained to sexual maturity at younger age and at lighter body weight than did males. All the youngest mature individuals were found in the low and the increase phases. Age and size at maturity became older and larger as the population went toward the peak phase. (3) Maturation rate was strongly associated with population phase and density; this component is an important and good parameter to predict population trend. Maturation rates were in the order, the low phase>the increase phase>the peak phase>the decline phase; the differences in the rates among these phases were significant. Maturation rate was somewhat depressed when the population density exceeded about 40 individuals/ha. Changes in age at maturity and in maturation rate are interpreted as derivative phenomena related to the population density and the capacity of the number of mature voles per unit area. (4) The maximum number of mature individuals were 26 males/ha and 29 females/ha; there was almost no increase of the number of mature voles at higher population densities over about 40 individuals/ha. The number of exclusive home ranges per hectare calculated from the observed range lengths did not differ much from the maximum number of mature voles of either sex. (5) Length of breeding period was shorter in the high-density years than in the low-density years; the breeding started earlier and ended earlier in the former than that in the latter. In the increase phase a few voles reproduced in winter. (6) The percentage of pregnant females was significantly lower in the peak phase than those in the other phases.     

Food limitation of population density in the orb-wed spider,Nephila clavata

Summary Field studies were conducted to clarify whether variation in food availability among habitats influences population density, and whether population density has a negative effect on foraging success in the orb-web spider,Nephila clavata. Lifetime food consumption per individual (i.e., foraging success) strongly correlated with mean body size of adult females and mean fecundity in populations. Also, there was a positive correlation between foraging success and population density. Since foraging success reflected potential prey availability in the habitat, food resource appeared to be a limiting factor for populations in this spider. Mean fecundity per individual correlated with population density of the following year, suggesting that decreased reproduction is a major component of food limitation on population density. Consistent defferences in mean body size between particular sites were observed over years, while such difference was less obvious in density. Thus, ranking of food abundance among habitats seems to be predictable between years. A field experiment revealed that an artificial increase in population density had no negative effect on the feeding rate of individuals, suggesting that intraspecific competition for food is not important in this species.     

Factors affecting oviposition rate in the flour beetleTribolium castaneum and the origin of the population regulation mechanism

Summary The effects of egg cannibalism, conditioned medium and the presence of quinone secretions on oviposition rate were studied using single pairs of adults to eliminate any direct crowding effects. Most measurements were made on beetles confined to the surface of the flour medium in plastic towers. Oviposition rate was decreased by about 58% when pairs were transferred from fresh to conditioned medium; lowered about 25% when only quinones were present and the medium was still fresh; and enhanced 35% in dry conditions when beetles were provided with eggs to eat. Both the lowered oviposition rate in confined cultures and egg-eating may be explained by natural selection at the individual level. Cannibalizing eggs boosts a female's oviposition rate. The presence of quinones or conditioned medium indicates high population densities and acts as a signal for ceasing oviposition and dispersing to avoid high egg mortality. In confined populations, this results in population regulation, while in open populations, this strategy is a mechanism to avoid competition. It implies that the resource shortages normally experienced by such organisms are relative, not absolute.     

The population dynamics of the voleClethrionomys rufocanus in Hokkaido, Japan

Population dynamics of the gray sided-vole,Clethrionomys rufocanus, in Hokkaido, Japan were described on the basis of 225 time series (being from 12 to 31 years long); 194 of the time series have a length of 23 years or longer. The time series were classified into 11 groups according to geographic proximity and topographic characteristics of the island of Hokkaido. Mean abundance varied among populations from 1.07 to 21.07 individuals per 150 trap-nights. The index of variability for population fluctuation (s-index) ranged from 0.204 to 0.629. Another index for population variability (amplitude on log-10 scale) ranged from 0.811 to 2.743. Mean abundance and variability of populations were higher in the more northern and eastern regions of the island. Most populations, except for the southernmost populations, exhibited significant direct density-dependence in population growth. Detection rate for delayed density-dependence varied among groups from 0% to 22.6%. Both direct and delayed density-dependence tended to be stronger in the more northern and eastern populations. The proportion of cyclic populations was higher in the northern-eastern areas than that in the southern-western areas. There was a clear gradient from the asynchronous populations in southwest, to the highly synchronized populations in the northeast.     

Population dynamics of a phytophagous lady-beetle,Epilachna vigintioctopunctata (Fabricius), living in spatio-temporally heterogeneous habitats. III. Effects of habitat structure on population dynamics

Temporal changes in the population size of a phytophagous lady-beetle were analyzed to identify mechanisms affecting lady-beetle population dynamics at different spatial scales. The study area (15 ha) included 18 habitat patches. The major host plants were potato for first generation larvae and eggplant for second generation larvae. The habitat patches were classified into three groups according to the major host plants in each patch: P-E patches (both host plants available), P patches (potato only), and E patches (eggplant only). The winter disappearance of adults in the whole study area, and larval mortality in E patches were apparently the most important factors disturbing the overall population density. Density-dependent movement of females appeared to have the greatest stabilizing effect on the yearly fluctuation of population density. Rate of increase of female adults from the first to the second generation,R, was generally higher on eggplants in E patches than in P-E patches because the adult density of the first generation was much higher in P-E patches. The yearly fluctuation of adult density in each generation tended to be less in patches with all habitat components necessary for the full life cycle (P-E patches). However, such patches were not favorable for first generation females, as indicated by the lower rate of increase from the first to the second generation. The density and stability of lady-beetle populations is discussed in relation to habitat structure.     

Variation in offspring size within a population of the web-building spiderAgelena limbata

Within a population of the web-building spiderAgelena limbata, the weight of the first instar nymphs ranged from 1.187 to 6.559 mg. Both intraclutch and interclutch variation were recorded. The mean weights were different among clutches and the coefficients of variation within a clutch ranged from 3.3 to 29.2%. Variation in the nymphal weight was certainly derived from variation in the egg weight because there was a high correlation between the two weights. Factors affecting interclutch variation in nymphal weight were examined by multiple regression analysis. Nymphal weight was positively correlated with the body size and food conditions of female parents, and negatively correlated with the clutch size. Among these three factors, the food conditions of female parents had the largest apparent effect on the interclutch variation. The results suggest that females with larger body size and more food produce larger offspring, and that there is a trade-off between offspring size and clutch size. Heavier nymphs had larger body size (carapace width) and may have larger energy reserves. Heavier nymphs survived experimental starvation for a significantly longer period.     

Variability in food consumption rate of natural populations in the spider,Nephila clavata

Summary Mean daily food consumption and total lifetime food consumption of the spider,Nephila clavata, were estimated in natural populations. Daily food consumption in the late adult stage was 27–150 mg wet weight, which was nearly equivalent or slightly larger than that in other large web-building spiders. Considerable variation in food consumption was found among habitats or years. The largest variation among habitats in the same year was 7 and 5 fold for daily and lifetime consumption, respectively, while that among years in the same habitat was 3.5 and 2.5 for daily and lifetime consumption, respectively. Feeding conditions evaluated from the food consumption per body weight of spiders declined during the period from mid-July to mid-September in almost all the populations, which suggested that they faced to severe food limitation in this period.     

新时期北京市人口老龄化的趋势、特征和面临的压力

本文通过五普公布的有关北京市人口老龄化的数据,结合历次普查与相关调查的结果,分析了新时期北京市人口老龄化的现状、特征与发展趋势。并结合分析北京市老年人口的主要特征,揭示了现阶段北京市人口老龄化所面临的压力与问题。     

The transmission and effects of Wolbachia bacteria in parasitoids

Wolbachia bacteria are obligatory intracellular parasites of arthropods and have been detected in about 70 species of parasitic wasps and three parasitoid flies. Wolbachia are transmitted cytoplasmically (maternally) and modify host reproduction in different ways to enhance their own transmission: parthenogenesis induction (PI), cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), or feminization (F) of genetic males. Only PI and CI are known in parasitoids. PI-Wolbachia cause thelytoky in otherwise arrhenotokous parasitoids by generating diploid (rather than haploid) unfertilized wasp eggs. CI-Wolbachia cause incompatibility of crosses between infected males and uninfected females because the paternally derived chromosomes fail to decondense and are destroyed after syngamy. More complex situations arise when hosts harbor multiple infections, which can lead to bidirectional incompatibility and may be involved in parasitoid speciation. The relative fitness of infected and uninfected hosts is important to the population dynamics of Wolbachia, and more data are needed. Evolutionary conflict should be common between host genes, Wolbachia genes, and other "selfish" genetic elements. Wolbachia-specific PCR primers are now available for several genes with different rates of evolution. These primers will permit rapid screening in future studies of spatial and temporal patterns of single and multiple infection. Molecular phylogenies show that CI- and PI-Wolbachia do not form discrete clades. In combination with experimental transfection data, this result suggests that host reproductive alterations depend on the interaction between attributes of both Wolbachia and host. Moreover, Wolbachia isolates from closely related hosts do not usually cluster together, and phylogenies suggest that Wolbachia may have radiated after their arthropod hosts. Both results support considerable horizontal transmission of Wolbachia between host species over evolutionary time. Natural horizontal transmisson between parasitoids and their hosts, or with entomoparasitic nematodes or ectoparasitic mites, remains a tantalizing but equivocal possibility. Received: November 27, 1998 / Accepted: January 15, 1999     

Effects of parasitoid community structure upon the population dynamics of the honeysuckle leafminer,Chromatomyia suikazurae (Diptera: Agromyzidae)

Population dynamics of a leafminer,Chromatomyia suikazurae (Agromyzidae, Diptera) and its parasitoid community were studied for ten years at seven natural populations along an altitudinal gradient in Japan. This species which mines leaves of a forest shrub,Lonicera gracilipes (Caprifoliaceae), was attacked by 25 hymenopterous parasitoid species. Annually, the parasitoid community structure varied less within a population than among populations. The seven parasitoid communities were clustered into three groups corresponding to the altitudinal gradient: (a) lowland communities dominated by late-attacking, generalist pupal idiobiont eulophids and with highest species diversity, (b) hillside communities dominated by an early-attacking, specialist larval-pupal koinobiont braconid and (c) highland communities dominated by an early-attacking, generalist larval idiobiont eulophid. Annual changes of the host larval densities among the local populations were largely synchronous rather than cyclic. Among these populations, host density levels and mortality patterns greatly varied. By analyzing these inter-populational differences of host mortality patterns, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) The host mortality patterns were determined by the host utilization patterns of the locally dominant species. (2) The host pupal mortality but not larval mortality was related to species diversity but not to species richness itself of each parasitoid community. (3) Density dependence was detected only in pupal mortality at a lowland population dominated by late-attacking pupal parasitoids. These results suggest that interspecific interactions of parasitoids add additive effects to host population dynamics dissimilarly among local populations with different parasitoid communities.     

中国柯尔克孜族人口变迁、分布及特点

柯尔克孜族是一个原生跨界类跨国民族,中国境内的柯尔克孜族77.4%分布在新疆的克孜勒苏柯尔克孜自治州境内,是我国少数几个仍然以畜牧业为主的民族。柯尔克孜族的人口发展和变迁具有自己的一些特点。在与世界接轨的今天,柯尔克孜族和我国所有民族一样,正处于艰难的人口转型之中。     

A population size estimate of the finless porpoise,Neophocaena phocaenoides, from aerial sighting surveys in Ariake Sound and Tachibana Bay, Japan

We estimated the population size of the finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) in Ariake Sound and Tachibana Bay of western Kyushu, southwestern Japan, from aerial sighting surveys using line transect methods. All 12 surveys were conducted from May 1993 to May 1994 (8 in Ariake Sound and 4 in Tachibana Bay). In addition to these, 14 surveys were also carried out to obtain information on porpoise occurrence in Tachibana Bay (5 surveys) and in neighboring Sumo Nada (5) and Yatsushiro Sound (4). In Ariake Sound, 225 porpoise groups (369 animals) were detected during all flights totalling 1,694.4 km. In Tachibana Bay, a total of 997.8 km was surveyed and 55 groups (290 animals) were sighted. However, no sightings were recorded in Sumo Nada (distance searched = 148.7 km) and Yatsushiro Sound (208.4 km). In Ariake Sound, few sightings were recorded from waters shallower than 5 m in depth. In Tachibana Bay all animals were detected from waters of less than 50 m depth. The population size was estimated as 1,983 animals in Ariake Sound (95% CI = 1,382-2,847), 1,110 in Tachibana Bay (95% CI = 642-1,920), and 3,093 in the 2 waters (1.3 individuals/km², 95% CI = 2,278-4,201).     

Effects of interspecific competition on development and reproduction in two giant water bugs,Diplonychus japonicus vuillefroy andDiplonychus major esaki (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae)

Summary We studied the interpecific competition between 2 species of predatory aquatic bugs,Diplonychus japonicus andD. major by conducting a field experiment. We set up 3 types of experimental plots in the paddy fields whereD. major predominated. The two plots contained single species of eitherD. japonicus orD. major, respectively, and one plot had both species in equal number. We compared the development and the reproductive performance between plots in each species. InD. japonicus, the number of eggs and early instar nymphs were significantly smaller in the plots containing both species than in the monospecific plots. However, the numbers of late instar nymphs and newly emerged adults were not significantly different between plots. The proportions of starved nymphs in both plots were larger than those in theD. japonicus's natural habitats. The final densities of adults in both plots were lower than those in the natural habitats. These results suggest that lower density ofD. japonicus in these paddy fields is due to the lack of available food for nymphs rather than the effects of interspecific competition withD. major. InD. major, significant differences were not found in the number of eggs, each instar nymphs and adults. These results suggest that the effects of interspecific competition did not affect the reproductive performance ofD. major.     

Estimation of population size and survival of sheep blowfly,Lucilia cuprina, in the field from serial recoveries of marked flies affected by weather dispersal and age-dependent trappability

Summary A model is presented for analysis of mark-recapture data of mobile insects which, unlike the Lincoln Index, does not require marked individuals to remain within the sampling area or to mix uniformly with the wild population. The model assumes a single or multiple releases of marked insects from the centre of the sampling area and that captured individuals are not returned to the population. Dispersal rates of marked insects are estimable from serial recaptures and, for catches that are either unaffected by or have been corrected for weather effects, the model also provides estimates of mortality and age-dependent trappability. Application of the model is illustrated using mark-recapture data for adults of the Australian sheep blowflyLucilia cuprina. A Biometrics Unit report detailing all source data, program code and comparisons between dispersal models is available on request from the authors.     

甘肃省人口城镇化的发展与预测

本文回顾了1960年以来甘肃省城镇化的发展历程,分析了甘肃省城镇化的现状及存在的问题,在此基础上采用社会经济发展指标与城镇化水平指标之间的统计关系,对甘肃省人口城镇化的水平进行了预测,结果表明,甘肃省人口城镇化如果继续按照目前的模式发展,前景不容乐现.最后,就城镇发展指导思想、城镇建设投资体制改革、城镇化道路、城镇化形式和户籍制度等方面提出了甘肃省城镇化发展的对策建议.     

世界主要国家人口与经济的发展状况分析

2000年世界人口已经达到60.5亿,80.38%集中在发展中国家,而据预测,到2025年,这一比例会进一步上升到84%,2050年上升到87%以上.世界人口的60%集中在10个人口在1亿以上的人口大国中.发展中国家人口的快速增长,已经或正在吞食着其经济发展的成果,使得人均收入水平难以提高.     

新疆维吾尔族人口的空间分布与变动

新疆维吾尔自治区地处西部边陲,是一个拥有47个民族成分的大家庭,占全国总面积的1/6。维吾尔族是这个大家庭的一员,也是其中人口最多的民族。该民族的形成与发展经历了漫长的历史时期,人口的空间分布状况与变动情况也有其独特的规律性和特点。尤其是新中国成立后50年来,维吾尔族人口发生了巨大的变化。下面我们就来用定性和定量两方面来分析新疆维吾尔族人口的空间分布与变动情况。     

甘肃省民勤县人口空间分析初步研究

利用2001年民勤县分乡人口统计资料和基于地理信息系统(GIS)技术的人口密度、人口自相关等分析方法,对民勤县人口空间分布格局进行探讨和论证,并对民勤县人口空间分布格局的影响因素进行分析。发现民勤县99.7%的人口分布在民勤县不足20%的绿洲区内,区内人口密度达到全县平均人口密度的6.7倍;发现民勤县人口的空间分布格局很大程度上受到自然因素的限制,并为民勤县的可持续发展提供了建议。     

Population dynamics of the whitebacked planthopper,Sogatella furcifera (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) with special reference to the relationship between its population growth and the growth stage of rice plants

A population census was conducted to describe the effects of the growth stage of rice on the population dynamics ofS. furcifera, in particular, on immigration, seasonal abundance, population growth rate, and wing-form expression. The number of immigrants was highest on rice plants 17 to 30 days after transplanting (DAT), which suggested that immigrants prefer to settle or remain more on rice plants at the tillering stage (approximately 20–30 DAT). Population growth rate from immigration to the 1st generation decreased with an increase in rice plant age. In contrast, population growth rate from the 1st to 2nd generation was not influenced by rice plant age and was negatively density-dependent. The percentage of macropters (flyers) was positively related to the growth stage of rice when rice was in the vegetative or early part of the reproductive stage, and reached 100% at about 10 days before heading (booting stage). Threafter, most adult females molted into macropters regardless of population density. The roles of host plant age and crowding effect on the population dynamics ofS. furcifera are discussed.