THE PERFORMANCE OF MACROZOOBENTOS AS A BIOINDICATOR OF WATER QUALITY IN THE LOWER PARTS OF THE HURUN LAMPUNG RIVER

Macrozoobenthos is one of the organisms that can be used as biological indicators because it tends to live in an area and has sensitivity to environmental changes. The Hurun River had many community activities. Based on this, it was necessary to analyze the diversity of macrozoobenthos which will be compared with the physical and chemical parameters of water in order to find out the indicators that affect the abundance of macrozoobenthos in the river. The purpose of this research was to determine the macrozoobenthic community structure which found in the Hurun River based on diversity, uniformity and dominance indices, to build multiple linear regression models, and to determine the bioindicators of pollution in the Hurun River. The factors that influence the abundance of macrozoobenthos are temperature, depth, brightness, DO, TOM, and salinity. The types of macrozoobenthos obtained were 87 species with the highest abundance of macrozoobenthic animals of 70,666.56 ind/m3 while the lowest abundance of macrozoobenthic animals was 13,000.96 ind/m3. Based on data analysis, the macrozoobenthic diversity index was included in the medium category, the level of macrozoobenthic uniformity was included in the high, medium, and low categories, and the dominance level which was included in the medium and low categories. Multiple regression models with a confidence level of 5% get R2 results of 0.86. The level of pollution that occured in the Hurun River based on bioindicators with the ABC curve shows moderately polluted.

Search for the parent material of spring soft wheat resistant to septoria tritici blotch and analysis of the trait inheritance

In 2017-2020 in the conditions of Kirov region there were studied 143 varieties, 115 perspective lines and 28 hybrids of the first generation of spring soft wheat according to the degree of resistance to septoria tritici blotch against the background of the natural development of infection. It has been established that development of the disease significantly increased with a decrease in air temperature during the «seedling-tillering» phase (r = -0.83…-0.96) and an increase in the amount of precipitation during «shooting» phase (r = +0.87…+0.90). Resistance to septoria tritici blotch was shown by 16.1 % collection samples. A significant (r = -0.83) decrease in yield by an average of 19 % in susceptible samples compared to resistant ones was revealed. The greatest breeding and immunological value were represented by the varieties of Russian selection: Tobolskaya, Tyumenskaya 29, Moskovskaya 35 and МIS, among which the early variety MIS was tolerant to septoria tritici blotch. Thirteen lines resistant to septoria tritici blotch were identified from the new breeding material. The varieties selected for resistance to septoria tritici blotch were used in hybridization. In F1 hybrids domination and overdomination in the inheritance of resistance to septoria tritici blotch prevailed, as well as weight of 1000 grains and yield per 1 m2. Among them, 8 hybrids F1 with the highest values of the dominance indices were identified. It has been established, that inheritance of resistance to septoria tritici blotch, weight of 1000 grains and yield of hybrids F1 occurs both in the maternal and paternal lines. The greatest immunological effect was obtained when using the varieties Daria (Russia) and Epos (Germany). The most productive hybrids were the variety Daria, taken as both a maternal and paternal form, as well as when using the Egisar 29 (Russia) variety as a maternal form.

Effects of Hierarchical Steepness on Grooming Patterns in Female Tibetan Macaques (Macaca thibetana)

Hierarchical steepness, defined as status asymmetries among conspecifics living in the same group, is not only used as a main characteristic of animal social relationships, but also represents the degree of discrepancy between supply and demand within the framework of biological market theory. During September and December 2011, we studied hierarchical steepness by comparing variation in grooming patterns in two groups of Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana), a primate species characterized by a linear dominance hierarchy. Using a focal sampling method, we collected behavioral data from two provisioned, free-ranging groups (YA1 and YA2) at Mt. Huangshan, China. We found that female dominance hierarchies were steeper in the YA1 group (0.81 based on the proportion of wins-losses and 0.66 based on dyadic dominance indices) than among members of the YA2 group (0.76 based on the proportion of wins-losses and 0.56 based on dyadic dominance indices). Females in the YA1 group groomed more frequently and for longer duration than females in YA2. Further analysis showed that grooming patterns of high- and low-ranking females did not differ between the two groups. However, middle-ranking females in YA1 groomed conspecifics more frequently and for longer duration than middle-ranking females in YA2. Our results suggest that the steepness of a dominance hierarchy plays an important role in the set of social strategies used by middle-ranking females to avoid a reduction in rank, as well as to increase their rank (the dilemma of middle class hypothesis). We suggest that future studies focus on individuals of middle-rank in order to better understand how the dynamics of rank stability and rank changes influence social relationships, and affiliative and competitive interactions in non-human primates.

A comparison of the accuracy of different types of samples for spatial structure indices determination in beech forests in Serbia

In this paper we compared the accuracy of different samples (minus the sample with the NN1 edge correction and buffer zone, plus sample and modified cluster sample) to determine indices of spatial structure in beech forests in Serbia, which can be used in regular forest inventory. The research was conducted in 11 forest stands of different structure at the territory of Central Serbia. Field data used for the assessment of spatial structure indices were collected across the examined stands on the sample plots of different sizes, using systematic grid, with the square layout of sample plots (100x100 meters). The study was conducted on 242 sample plots. For accuracy comparison of different sample types, five indices were used: Uniform angle index, Mean directional index, Species mingling index, DBH differentiation and DBH dominance indices. One-way ANOVA showed that at the stand level there were no statistically significant differences between mean values of indices obtained by different sample types. However, Simple linear correlations confirmed for most indices that if the spatial structure is to be determined with accuracy at the level of sample plots (in this case, a circular fixed radius plot of 5 acres) it is necessary to use a plus sample during data collection. For species mingling and DBH differentiation indices, Simple linear correlations show that both minus sampling with edge correction buffer zone and modified cluster sampling with somewhat less accuracy can be used to a certain extent. Minus sampling with NN1 edge correction is not practical for use on sample plots of this size in beech forests in Serbia.

A brief survey of ecological data analysis techniques

It is emphasize in the paper, that because of qualitative change of ecological data and its complexity the analysis and estimation of population parameter is a complex process. Therefore, for ecological data collection, the sampling frame clearly defined distinct and identifiable. More often, sampling frames are imperfect, further different techniques measure of species diversity, evenness, community similarity, dominance indices has been given which can be useful for research scholars.

Syn-Ecological Connections and Comparison of Α-Diversity Indices of Plant and Bird Communities on Cultivated Coenosises

Changes in the ecological conditions of the cultivated coenosises caused by anthropogenic load have been shown by the example of several of the largest botanical gardens in Ukraine. That complex influence leads to the transformation of coenosises at stages II and III of anthropogenic degression. Changes in phyto- and avidiversity compositions have been shown using a transformation gradient. Positive correlations between compositions and diversity indices of bird communities and vegetation composition (diversity indices, dominance indices, evenness indices) have been detected. The values of the phytodiversity indices showed greater deviation from the normal conditions.

Agonistic Interactions in Pigs–Comparison of Dominance Indices with Parameters Derived from Social Network Analysis in Three Age Groups

Dominance indices are often calculated using the number of won and lost fights of each animal focusing on dyadic interactions. Social network analysis provides new insights into the establishment of stable group structures going beyond the dyadic approach. Thus, it was investigated whether centrality parameters describing the importance of each animal for the network are able to capture the rank order calculated by dominance indices. Therefore, two dominance indices and five centrality parameters based on two network types (initiator-receiver and winner-loser networks) were calculated regarding agonistic interactions observed in three mixing events (weaned piglets, fattening pigs, gilts). Comparing the two network types, the winner-loser networks demonstrated highly positive correlation coefficients between out-degree and outgoing closeness and the dominance indices. These results were confirmed by partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), i.e., about 60% of the variance of the dominance could be explained by the centrality parameters, whereby the winner-loser networks could better illustrate the dominance hierarchy with path coefficients of about 1.1 for all age groups. Thus, centrality parameters can portray the dominance hierarchy providing more detailed insights into group structure which goes beyond the dyadic approach.

Heterosis indices: What do they really measure?

Heterosis (hybrid vigour) is a universal phenomenon of crucial agro-economic and evolutionary importance. We show that the most common heterosis indices do not properly measure deviation from additivity because they include both a component accounting for “real” heterosis and a term that is not related to heterosis since it is derived solely from parental values. Therefore, these indices are inadequate when the aim of the study is to compare heterosis levels between different traits, environments, genetic backgrounds or developmental stages, as these factors may affect not only heterosis but also parental values. The only relevant index for such comparisons is the so-called “potence ratio”. These observations argue for the careful choice of heterosis indices depending on the purpose of the work.HighlightUnlike dominance indices, heterosis indices, with one exception, do not properly measure the level of deviation from additivity, thus making them unsuitable for comparative analyses.