PubMed · 14987897
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Simon Brooker, Narcis D B Kabatereine, Archie C A Clements, J Russell Stothard. 2004-02-21. Schistosomiasis control.. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(04)15604-3
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This study was conducted using focal animal sampling on the west ridge group of the Sichuan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) located in the Zhouzhi National Nature Reserve on the north slope of the Qinling Mountains, from 8 July 2003 to 24 May 2004. The difference in the average frequency of copulations for each focal male for each month was significant (F=3.068, P=0.016, one-way ANOVA test) with the majority of copulations occurring between September and November. Duration of intromission ranged from 2 to 39 s, with a mean of 16.0+/-0.4 s. Females initiated 627 courtship attempts (96.2%), while males only initiated 3.8%. Both adult females (72.8%) and sub-adult females (27.2%) were involved in sexual interference acts. Females who gave birth in 2004 performed more sexual interference acts than would be expected by chance in the reproductive period of 2003 (X2=13.73>X2(0.005,2), df=2, P<0.005). Male response to female interference was equally divided into "solicitor mounting" and "interrupter mounting". The resident males of one-male units were not observed to mount both the solicitor and the interrupter or mount neither following female solicitation interruptions. Three post-conception copulations were also observed in this study. These results suggest a skewed sexual competition, with multiple females competing for a single male, which was shown by courtship attempts and female interference.
Mountain plants are particularly sensitive to climate warming because snowmelt timing exerts a direct control on their reproduction. Current warming is leading to earlier snowmelt dates and longer snow-free periods. Our hypothesis is that high-mountain Mediterranean plants are not able to take advantage of a lengthened snow-free period because this leads to longer drought that truncates the growing season. However, reproductive timing may somewhat mitigate these negative effects through temporal shifts. We assessed the effects of flowering phenology on the reproductive success of Silene ciliata, a Mediterranean high-mountain plant, across an altitudinal gradient during two climatically contrasting years. The species showed a late-flowering pattern hampering the use of snowmelt water. Plant fitness was largely explained by the elapsed time from snowmelt to onset of flowering, suggesting a selective pressure towards early flowering caused by soil moisture depletion. The proportion of flowering plants decreased at the lowest population, especially in the drier year. Plants produced more flowers, fruits and seeds at the highest population and in the mild year. Our results indicate that water deficit in dry years could threaten the lowland populations of this mountainous species, while high-altitude environments are more stable over time.
The study discussed ethnobotany of and threats to wild edible plants in Derashe and Kucha Districts, South Ethiopia. Semi-structured interview, field observation, group discussion, market survey, and pair wise ranking were employed to gather ethnobotanical data. The information was collected from informants of three ethnic groups namely, Kusume, Derashe and Gamo people. The study documented 66 edible plant species belonging to 54 genera and 34 families. Of the reported edibles, 83.3% have more than one use categories. Food, medicine, construction/technology, and fuel wood had contributed 79% of the total uses. Of the recorded wild edible plant species, 78.8% were reported to be edible both in normal and food shortage times. Procurement and use of most edibles were found to be age and gender specific. However, species use under various use categories does not vary among the communities (Chi2 = 3.89, df = 6, alpha = 0.05 and 1-alpha = 12.6). The study showed that the majority (62.1%) of the species were collected from wooded grassland/or bush land vegetation type. Pair wise ranking results indicated that agricultural expansion, over stocking/overgrazing, fuel wood collection, and uncontrolled fire setting as principal threats to wild edible plants in the study areas. The findings suggest that (i) Public awareness and community based management need to be encouraged at all levels in order to overcome the threats; (ii) further investigation into nutritional properties of all the species reported; and (iii) Since the species are also nutraceutical, study on the pharmacological attributes would help to understand their medicinal applications. Furthermore, urgent collection of germplasm from areas under human pressure is recommended.