Search

Мы изучали гнездовую биологию кумая (Gyps himalayensis) в горах Центрального Тянь-Шаня в течение двух лет 2012–2013 гг. Для выявления гнездовых участков вели исследования на линейных трансектах. Гнездовое поведение исследовалось с точек хорошего осмотра и на известных гнездовых участках во время посещения гнёзд, а также с помощью видео, полученного с камер, установленных на гнёздах. Характеристики гнёзд и гнездовых биотопов, степень насиженности яиц и возраст птенцов, размер яиц и птенцов определялись во время посещений гнёзд. В ходе работы сделана оценка численности кумая: на 7 территориях в 14 колониях от 89 до 122 гнёзд. Кумай предпочитает гнездиться на южных склонах (78,6%). Гнезда располагаются в нишах, небольших гротах или на уступах. Гнездовой материал состоит в основном из мелких стеблей злаков, таких как мятлик (Poa spp.) и ковыль (Stipa spp.). Максимальная протяженность одной колонии составила 7,3 км, а две ближайших колонии располагались в 47 км друг от друга. Сезон размножения растянут от 6 до 9 месяцев – с января по сентябрь. Продолжительность периода выращивания птенцов является наибольшей среди сипов (представителей рода Gyps). Возможные причины этого обсуждаются и будущие исследования на эту тему рекомендуется.

Anthropogenic landscapes influence evolutionary processes such as population genetic differentiation, however, not every type of landscape features exert the same effect on a species, hence it is necessary to estimate their relative effect for species management and conservation. Przewalski's gazelle (Procapra przewalskii), which inhabits a human-altered area on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is one of the most endangered antelope species in the world. Here, we report a landscape genetic study on Przewalski's gazelle. We used skin and fecal samples of 169 wild gazelles collected from nine populations and thirteen microsatellite markers to assess the genetic effect of anthropogenic landscape features on this species. For comparison, the genetic effect of geographical distance and topography were also evaluated. We found significant genetic differentiation, six genetic groups and restricted dispersal pattern in Przewalski's gazelle. Topography, human settlement and road appear to be responsible for observed genetic differentiation as they were significantly correlated with both genetic distance measures [F(ST)/(1-F(ST)) and F'(ST)/(1-F'(ST))] in Mantel tests. IBD (isolation by distance) was also inferred as a significant factor in Mantel tests when genetic distance was measured as F(ST)/(1-F(ST)). However, using partial Mantel tests, AIC(c) calculations, causal modeling and AMOVA analysis, we found that human settlement was the main factor shaping current genetic differentiation among those tested. Altogether, our results reveal the relative influence of geographical distance, topography and three anthropogenic landscape-type on population genetic differentiation of Przewalski's gazelle and provide useful information for conservation measures on this endangered species.

Changes in the palaeoenvironment and paleoclimate expedite the process of evolutionary divergence in animals. The evolutionary events of some small mammals distributed in Xinjiang Arid Region remain ambiguous. Thus, it is necessary to predict their evolutionary histories based on divergence estimates. Some museum specimens were involved in this analysis because of sampling limitation for threatened species in the arid region. A related problem is that some mutilated specimens without complete taxonomic data made it difficult to directly analyze species divergence. Here, sequences of cytochrome c oxydase I were used to identify museum specimens and combined with cytochrome b to estimate the recent divergence of extant small mammals constrained with eight fossil calibrations. The results showed that the massive species differentiation emerged during the Middle and Late Miocene periods. We inferred that differentiation of these small mammals might be associated with the retreat of the Tethys Sea from the Tarim Basin around the Eocene-Oligocene boundary and the global climate fluctuations during the Miocene period. Furthermore, the aridification and changes in the Taklimakan and Gurbantunggut Deserts might have driven the diversification of intraspecies and the emergence of cryptic species since the Late Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]