The potential of forest nature reserves as refuges for biodiversity seems to be overlooked probably due to their small size. These, however, may constitute important safe havens for saproxylic ...organisms since forest reserves are relatively numerous in Europe. Saproxylic beetles are among the key groups for the assessment of biodiversity in forest habitats and longhorn beetles may play an important role in bioindication as they are ecologically associated with various microhabitats and considered a very heterogeneous family of insects. To study the role of forest reserves as important habitats for saproxylic beetles, we compared cerambycid assemblages in corresponding pairs of sites (nature reserves and managed stands) in a forest region under high anthropogenic pressure (Upper Silesia, Poland, Central Europe). Moreover, we also intended to assess the role played by these beetles as bioindicators in the different forest types from this area. According to the obtained diversity index values, the most valuable stands are located in nature reserves, whilst sites with the lowest value included managed forests together with two homogeneous and relatively recently established nature reserves. Our analyses demonstrated a positive correlation between deadwood volume and biodiversity, for both species richness and abundance. Our results indicate that the decisive factor is the type of a given habitat, whose characteristics can be mainly influenced/determined by forest management. The potential role of longhorn beetles as bioindicators is highlighted and the effectiveness of using traps in this family, as well as general issues regarding the use of non-selective lethal traps in the study of single invertebrate groups in protected areas are discussed.
Arthropods play an essential role in steppe ecosystems. However, studies testing the overall response of terrestrial arthropods to overgrazing are scarce. The problem is particularly worrisome in ...Central Asia, while, to date, only a very few broader studies have been conducted in this region. We investigated how epigeic terrestrial arthropod assemblages respond to different livestock grazing pressure in two ecozones in SE Mongolia by examining their structure using pitfall traps. We also assessed which groups can be utilised as the most efficient indicators of grazing intensity. Our analyses demonstrated that the habitat type, grazing intensity, and the interaction of these variables had a significant effect on the overall species composition and abundance. However, the grazing intensity caused different changes in the composition of arthropod communities in both studied ecozones. Contrary to the semi-desert, in the steppe habitat, the grazing had the strongest impact in the moderately grazed site. It is most likely because steppe-dwelling species are more sensitive to loss of plant biomass and changes in habitat structure. We also found that the most representative species within and from different groups can react differently to changing grazing intensities, indicating with their presence the characteristics of the respective habitat. Such differences should also be considered when elaborating the management plan of conserved species but also when applying grazing management in different habitat types. Our survey is one of the most comprehensive in Central Asia and should help implement further, more targeted studies in the corresponding habitats.
In meadow steppes and other arid habitats, livestock grazing is one of the most severe causes of desertification and leads to an overall decline in vegetation cover, plant species richness and aboveground biomass, and, consequently, most often negatively affects arthropod diversity.
Although the impact of grazing on arthropod diversity has already been the subject of numerous studies, most of them were focused only on a single or small number of arthropods and were conducted outside Central Asia (e.g., there is only one paper dealing with analyses of several arthropod groups conducted in Mongolia, where over 40% of the human population depends on pastoral livestock production and up to 90% of its territory belongs to various arid areas).
We hypothesise that the overall diversity of different arthropod groups will change according to the grazing intensities, and these changes will depend on the habitat type and will differ between arthropod groups.
Our analyses demonstrated that the habitat type, grazing intensity, and the interaction of these two variables significantly impacted the overall species composition and abundance.
Our results highlight that the different terrestrial arthropod groups and representative species of the most abundant groups can react differently to changes in grazing intensity, and such differences should be considered when elaborating the management plan of conserved species and when applying grazing management in different habitat types.
Our results also highlight that the species diversity alone cannot indicate the changes in species composition along the grazing intensity, and one should also consider the individual needs of specific species while investigating the impact of grazing on arid habitats.
In this paper, the possibilities to perform aneutronic fusion in Plasma Focus (PF) devices have been presented. For this purpose, an idea of doping plasma by means of laser ablation of a solid boron ...target during discharge in PF-24 was presented. Some estimates have been made, based on the processes occurring during the discharge in the PF system with gas injection using a fast gas valve, indicating that this method allows the generation of hydrogen–boron plasma. The yield of the
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B(p,α)αα reaction was calculated. The results presented in this paper show that this yield is high enough to register and measure the alpha particles emitted from the plasma column consisting boron and hydrogen. The estimates were made for the parameters characteristic for PF-24.
El primer registro de foresía de Dendrochernes cyrneus (L. Koch, 1873) (Pseudoscorpiones, Chernetidae) en Cerambyx cerdo Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) y su valor potencial como ...bioindicadores Se documenta la primera prueba de foresía de Dendrochernes cyrneus (L. Koch, 1873) en Cerambyx cerdo Linnaeus, 1758. También se presenta una revisión crítica de todos los informes científicos publicados sobre la foresía relacionados con D. cyrneus. Dos de estos informes guardan relación con la misma observación y son el resultado de la confusión sistemática existente en la familia Cerambycidae. Ambas especies se tratan como vestigios del bosque primigenio y sus aisladas poblaciones viven en las zonas residuales dispersas de los bosques antiguos que cubrían Europa en el pasado. Aportamos nueva información sobre las relaciones ecológicas de D. cyrneus con escarabajos saproxílicos y analizamos las preferencias ecológicas de las dos especies y su función como indicadores de la calidad del ambiente.
First record of phoresy of Dendrochernes cyrneus (L. Koch, 1873) (Pseudoscorpiones, Chernetidae) on Cerambyx cerdo Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) and their potential value as ...bioindicators.- The first evidence cerdo Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) and their potential value as bioindicators.- The first evidence cal review of all known literature reports of phoresy involving D. cyrneus is also presented. Two of these reports relate to the same observation and are the result of the systematic turmoil within the family Cerambycidae. Both species are treated as primeval forest relics and their isolated populations live in the scattered remains of the ancient forests that covered Europe in the past. We provide new information about the ecological relationships of D. cyrneus with saproxylic beetles, and discuss the ecological preferences of the two species and their role as indicators of the quality of the environment.
The main stages of the plasma current sheath (PCS) dynamics on two plasma focus (PF) facilities with different geometries of the electrode system, PF-3 (Filippov type) and PF-1000 (Mather type), were ...studied by analyzing the results of the current and voltage measurements. Some dynamic characteristics, such as the PCS velocity in the acceleration phase in the Mather-type facility (PF-1000), the moment at which the PCS reaches the anode end, and the plasma velocity in the radial stage of plasma compression in the PF-3 Filippov-type facility, were determined from the time dependence of the inductance of the discharge circuit with a dynamic plasma load. The energy characteristics of the discharge circuit of the compressing PCS were studied for different working gases (deuterium, argon, and neon) at initial pressures of 1.5–3 Torr in discharges with energies of 0.3–0.6 MJ. In experiments with deuterium, correlation between the neutron yield and the electromagnetic energy deposited directly in the compressed PCS was investigated.
The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of inorganic phosphorus (Pi) infusion on P absorption in large intestine, milk production, and phosphorus excretion. Four ruminally and ileally ...cannulated crossbred cows were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square with 21-d periods. Cows were fed a total mixed ration containing 0.21% P, providing 50% of the cows' P requirement. Cobalt-EDTA was used as marker to measure large intestine digesta flow. On d 13 to 21 of each period, each cow was infused daily with 0, 20.1, 40.2, or 60.3 g of Pi into the abomasum and total collection was conducted on d 18 to 21. Ileal samples were collected every 9 h on d 18 to 21. Feed, digesta, and fecal samples were analyzed for total P and Pi using the molybdovanadate yellow method and blue method, respectively. All data were analyzed using PROC GLIMMIX in SAS 9.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) using contrasts to evaluate linear, quadratic, and cubic effects of Pi infusion dose. Dry matter intake, apparent dry matter digestibility, milk yield, and milk total P were unaffected by Pi infusion. Ileal flow and fecal excretion of total P and Pi increased linearly with increasing infused Pi. In the large intestine, net absorption of TP and Pi was increased linearly with increasing infused Pi. The magnitude of absorption from the large intestine was greater than reflected in current models, raising questions that could be evaluated with longer infusion periods or dietary alteration.
A plasma column generated in the PF-1000 device working in deuterium gas at a current level of 1 MA was investigated with interferometric diagnostics and scintillation detectors. The beam of ...diagnostic laser of 527-nm wavelength was optically split into 16 beams with a time delay in the range from 0 to 220 ns. This diagnostic tool makes possible the imaging of the evolution of pinch geometry, the axial and radial distributions of plasma density in the column at the stagnation phase, and their comparison with the evolution of X-ray and neutron production. The evolution of dense structure is described with respect to its importance for fusion processes.
The PF-1000 plasma-focus (PF) facility equipped with Mather-type coaxial electrodes was modified by the addition of a cathode disk in front of the anode front plate, at a distance of 3 cm and by ...covering the hole in the anode center. In comparison with the earlier electrode setup, important differences as regards neutron, X-ray, and interferometric diagnostics were observed for this special electrode configuration. The total current during the pinch phase increased on average by about 25%, the total neutron yield decreased to about 20-30%, and the velocity of transformation of the structures in the column (together with constriction) was evidently depressed. The average energy of the electrons and deuterons produced was decreased. The lower energy value of fast deuterons and their lower cross section of fusion DD reactions were probably the reason for the observed decrease in the total neutron yields.
Fast neutrons from deuteron-deuteron fusion reactions were used for a study of fast deuterons in the PF-1000 plasma-focus device. The energy spectrum of neutrons was determined by the time-of-flight ...method using ten scintillation detectors positioned downstream, upstream, and side-on the experimental facility. Neutron energy-distribution functions enabled the determination of axial and radial components of energy of deuterons producing the fusion neutrons, as well as a rough evaluation of the total energy distribution of all fast deuterons in the pinch. It was found that the total deuteron energy-distribution function decreases with the deuteron energy more slowly than the tail of the Maxwellian distribution for 1-2-keV deuterons.
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