《中国植物志》的编研

植物志的编研是植物学研究领域的基础性工作。植物志既是记载植物“身份"的"户口簿"，又是记录和研究植物特征的重要"信息库"。《中国植物志》编研以大规模野外考察与标本采集为基础，以丰富的信息记载为核心，系统研究这些信息并编撰成科学志书，是一项百科全书式的系统工程。《中国植物志》历经四代植物分类学家41年(1918-1959)的准备、45年(1959-2004)的编研，由312位作者和164位绘图人员通力协作完成（其中科学院院士10位），并于2004年全部出版（中文名和拉丁学名的索引于2006年出版）。在编研过程中，采集和查阅植物标本1700余万份，发表新属及新属名称243个，发表新种及新种名称14312个，提出了新的裸子植物和被子植物分类系统，对属、种划分和系统排列进行了深入研究。《中国植物志》是世界上已出版的规模最大和内容最丰富的植物志书，全书5000多万字，总计80卷126册，记载中国维管束植物301科、3408属、31142种，包括9080幅图版，详细总结、记录、澄清了中国所有已知植物的科学名称、研究历史、形态特征、地理分布、系统位置、物种生境、物候期和经济用途等。《中国植物志》是中国半个世纪以来植物学研究的标志性成果。它查明了中国植物资源的基本状况，对科学家深入认识植物世界具有重要学术价值，对陆地生态系统研究将起到重要促进作用，为合理开发利用植物资源提供了重要的科学依据，中国植物学科研和教学队伍也因此得到了壮大，出现了一批享誉国际的优秀植物分类学家。《中国植物志》是植物学研究领域一项开拓性、创新性、系统性、基础性工程，它的完成促进了中国植物学的健康发展，也带动了生物学相关学科的进步，必将对中国和全球生物多样性的可持续发展做出重大贡献并产生深远影响。

Advances in methods for determining fecundity: application of the new methods to some marine fishes

Estimation of individual egg production (realized fecundity) is a key step either to understand the stock and recruit relationship or to carry out fisheries-independent assessment of spawning stock biomass using egg production methods. Many fish are highly fecund and their ovaries may weigh over a kilogram; therefore the work time can be consuming and require large quantities of toxic fixative. Recently it has been shown for Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) that image analysis can automate fecundity determination using a power equation that links follicles per gram ovary to the mean vitellogenic follicular diameter (the autodiametric method). In this article we demonstrate the precision of the autodiametric method applied to a range of species with different spawning strategies during maturation and spawning. A new method using a solid displacement pipette to remove quantitative fecundity samples (25, 50, 100, and 200 milligram [mg]) is evaluated, as are the underlying assumptions to effectively fix and subsample the ovary. Finally, we demonstrate the interpretation of dispersed formaldehyde-fixed ovarian samples (whole mounts) to assess the presence of atretic and postovulatory follicles to replace labor intensive histology. These results can be used to estimate down regulation (production of atretic follicles) of fecundity during maturation.

Perfil motivacional de las mujeres participantes en la prueba atlética de los 3000 metros obstáculos

[ES] Los 3000 metros obstáculos es una especialidad del atletismo ubicada dentro de las pruebas de medio fondo, que comprende la carrera plana y el paso de los obstáculos, incluyendo un foso agua llamado ría. Es la especialidad de atletismo con menos participantes en carrera ya sea en género femenino como en masculino, pero ¿A qué se debe esta baja participación? Tanto la alta exigencia técnica en carrera como los pasos de los obstáculos son una de las razones, ya que, el paso de la ría requiere una refinada técnica y dificultad adquirida. Este estudio analizará a distintas atletas, con el fin de crear el perfil motivacional de las atletas que compiten en esta prueba, encontrar las razones por las que se decantan por otras especialidades del atletismo y no por esta, y con ello averiguar las razones de la baja participación en esta modalidad.

Growth and maturity of salmon sharks (Lamna ditropis) in the eastern and western North Pacific, and comments on back-calculation methods

Age and growth estimates for salmon sharks (Lamna ditropis) in the eastern North Pacific were derived from 182 vertebral centra collected from sharks ranging in length from 62.2 to 213.4 cm pre-caudal length (PCL) and compared to previously published age and growth data for salmon sharks in the western North Pacific. Eastern North Pacific female and male salmon sharks were aged up to 20 and 17 years, respectively. Relative marginal increment (RMI) analysis showed that postnatal rings form annually between January and March. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters derived from vertebral length-at-age data are L∞ =207.4 cm PCL, k=0.17/yr, and t0=−2.3 years for females (n=166), and L∞ =182.8 cm PCL, k=0.23/yr , and t0=−1.9 years for males (n=16). Age at maturity was estimated to range from six to nine years for females (median pre-caudal length of 164.7 cm PCL) and from three to five years old for males (median precaudal length of 124.0 cm PCL). Weight-length relationships for females and males in the eastern North Pacific are W=8.2 × 10_05 × L2.759 –06 × L3.383 (r2 =0.99) and W=3.2 × 10 (r2 =0.99), respectively. Our results show that female and male salmon sharks in the eastern North Pacific possess a faster growth rate, reach sexual maturity earlier, and attain greater weight-at-length than their same-sex counterparts living in the western North Pacific.

Seasonal Occurrence of the White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, in Waters off the Florida West Coast, with Notes on its Life History

The white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, is considered rare in the Gulf of Mexico; however, recent longline captures coupled with historical landings information suggest that the species occurs seasonally (winter-spring) within this region. We examined a total of seven adult and juvenile white sharks (185-472 em total length) captured in waters off the west coast of Florida. Commercial longline fisheries were monitored for white sharks during all months (1981-94), but this species was captured only from January to April. All white sharks were captured in continental shelf waters from 37 to 222 km off the west coast of Florida when sea surface temperatures ranged from 18.7° to 21.6°C. Depths at capture locations ranged from 20 to 164 m. Fishing gear typically used in Gulf of Mexico offshore fisheries may not be effective at capturing this species, and the apparent rarity of white sharks in this area may be, in part, a function of gear bias.

Shortraker Rockfish, Sebastes borealis, Observed from a Manned Submersible

These are the first documented observations of shortraker rockfish, Sebastes borealis, in their natural habitat. The in situ observations were made from a manned submersible in 1991 in the eastern Gulf of Alaska. Eleven dives were completed from 207 to 357 m (679-1,171 feet); shortraker rockfish were observed during four dives. Their apparent indifference to the submersible allowed observations of their spatial distribution and habitat. The shortraker rockfish observed (20 total) were not schooled and were at least 50 m (164 feet) apart. Nineteen were on the bottom, and one was 0.5 m (20 inches) above the bottom. They were using 3-12° sloping terrain composed of either silt or pebbles interspersed with boulders (diameter 0.5-4.0 m (1.6-13 feet)); six were next to boulders.