Spatial and temporal relationships between precipitation and ANPP of four types of grasslands in northern China

Precipitation is considered to be the primary resource limiting terrestrial biological activity in water-limited regions. Its overriding effect on the production of grassland is complex. In this paper, field data of 48 sites (including temperate meadow steppe,temperate steppe, temperate desert steppe and alpine meadow) were gathered from 31 published papers and monographs to analyze the relationship between above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) and precipitation by the method of regression analysis. The results indicated that there was a great difference between spatial pattern and temporal pattern by which precipitation influenced grassland ANPP. Mean annual precipitation (MAP) was the main factor determining spatial distribution of grassland ANPP (r~2 = 0.61,P ＜ 0.01); while temporally, no significant relationship was found between the variance of AN PP and inter-annual precipitation for the four types of grassland. However, after dividing annual precipitation into monthly value and taking time lag effect into account, the study found significant relationships between ANPP and precipitation. For the temperate meadow steppe, the key variable determining inter-annual change of ANPP was last August-May precipitation (r~2= 0.47, P = 0.01); for the temperate steppe, the key variable was July precipitation (r~2 = 0.36, P = 0.02); for the temperate desert steppe, the key variable was April-June precipitation (r~2 = 0.51, P ＜0.01); for the alpine meadow, the key variable was last September-May precipitation (r~2 = 0.29, P ＜ 0.05). In comparison with analogous research, the study demonstrated that the key factor determining inter-annual changes of grassland ANPP was the cumulative precipitation in certain periods of that year or the previous year.

Breeding behavior under temporal risk of predation in male root voles (Microtus oeconomus)

We examined breeding behavior responses of male root votes (Microtus oeconomus) to temporal risk of predation by using acute and chronic exposure to predator odor. The 2 series of exposure experiments provided 2 types of temporal patterns of risk: continuous safety with a brief period of risk and Sustained risk with a brief period of safety. Male root votes that were acutely exposed to predator odor for I h suppressed their breeding behavior, but bred immediately after exposure to control odor for I h. Those chronically exposed to predator odor for 20 days maintained behavioral suppression during the 1-h period of exposure to control odor. Acutely exposed males did not change their physiological patterns of breeding, but those chronically exposed to predator odor had reduced testosterone concentration and epididymis index. Our results indicate that breeding behavior in a given situation depends on the overall patterns of risk experienced by male root votes, and the acute and chronic stress responses that affect reproduction are responsible for different behavioral responses to the 2 types of temporal patterns of risk. We also discuss the reasons for conflicting results about breeding suppression of votes between previous studies in the laboratory and the field.

视觉搜索中注意捕获的控制机制

Theories of Visual search generally differentiate between bottom-up control and top-down control. Bottom-up control occurs when visual selection is determined by the stimulus properties in the search field. Top-down control takes place when observers are able to select those stimuli that are in line with their attentional sets. Pure stimulus-driven capture and contingent capture are two main theories on attentional capture by now, in which, theory of pure capture more emphasize bottom-up control, while theory of contingent capture more emphasize top-down control. Besides those two theories, Perceptual load theory of attention provides completely new perspective to explain attentional capture. The aim of this study is to investigate the mechanism of attentional capture in visual search on the basis of the existing theory of attentional capture and Perceptual load theory of attention. Three aspects of questions were explored in this study, which includes: the modulation role of perceptual load on attentional capture; the influence of search mode on attentional capture; and the influence of stimuli’s spatial and temporal characteristics on attentional capture. The results showed that: (1) Attentional capture was modulated by perceptual load in both conditions in which perceptual load manipulated either by amount of stimuli or similarity of stimuli. (2) Search mode did influence attentional capture, but more important, which was also modulated by perceptual load. (3) The spatial characteristics of congruent and incongruent distractor did influence attentional capture, specifically, the further the distractor from the target, the more interference effect the distractor had on visual search. (4) The temporal characteristics of distractor did influence attentional capture, specifically, the pattern of results from the study in which distractor were presented after the search display, were similar to those from the study in which distractors were presented before the search display. In sum, the results indicated that attentional capture are controlled not only by bottom-up factors, top-down factors but also modulated by available attention resources. These findings contribute to resolve the controversy for mechanism of attentional capture. And the potential application of this research was discussed.