Background: Understanding the changes in population dynamics, including demographics, distribution and threats is essential for species status assessing.The endangered Green Peafowl (Povo muticus) has experienced s...Background: Understanding the changes in population dynamics, including demographics, distribution and threats is essential for species status assessing.The endangered Green Peafowl (Povo muticus) has experienced sharp population declines and d stribution range diminishing both in China and Southeast Asia. Field population surveys have not been conducted in China since the 1990s, which hindered conservation planning and decision-making.Methods: With interview and line transects methods, we figured out the population and distribution changes of Green Peafowl across its historical ranges over the past three decades in China during 2014-2017.Results: The Green Peafowl once habituated in 54 counties in China. Nearly 60% of the distribution counties were lost in the past three decades, with the left 22 counties distributed in central, southern and western Yunnan, SW China. Population decrease detected in all distribution areas except for Shuangbai and Xinping county where more than 60% of the total population is located. Only about 30% of the former bird population were recorded with the same interviewing method as 20 years ago.Three birds, 1 carcass, 6 calls and 12 footprints were detected along the 865 km line transects, indicating extremely low encounter rate of Green Peafowl in field. Sharp decreases in flock sizes were also detected, from 8-20 birds per flock in the 1990s to 3-5 birds at present. Poaching and habitat conversion are two widespread and long-lasting threats, while poison tion affect regional population's survival. Large flocks of 18 ng caused mortality in the past and hydropower construc -27 birds were discovered in the field, which increases our confidence of population recovery of this endangered pheasant in China.Conclusions: Only interviewed bird number and counts based on line transects were presented in this study, without further population estimation due to limitation of the data sets. Although the actual population of this cryptic bird must be underestimated, dramatic population declines and distribution concentrations of the endangered Green Peafowl occurred over the past 30 years in China undoubtedly.展开更多
The capacity to adapt to resource distributions by modulating the frequency of exploratory and exploitative behaviors is common across metazoans and is arguably a principal selective force in the evolution of cognitio...The capacity to adapt to resource distributions by modulating the frequency of exploratory and exploitative behaviors is common across metazoans and is arguably a principal selective force in the evolution of cognition. Here we (I) review recent work investigating behavioral and biological commonalities between external foraging in space and internal foraging over envi- ronments specified by cognitive representations, and (2) explore the implications of these commonalities for understanding the origins of the self. Behavioural commonalities include the capacity for what is known as area-restricted search in the ecological literature: this is search focussed around locations where resources have been found in the past, but moving away from locations where few resources arc found, and capable of producing movement pattems mimicking L6vy flights. Area-restricted search shares a neural basis across metazoans, and these biological commonalities in vertebrates suggest an evolutionary homology be- tween external and internal foraging. Internal foraging, and in particular a form we call embodied prospective foraging, makes available additional capacities for prediction based on search through a cognitive representation of the external environment, and allows predictions about outcomes of possible future actions. We demonstrate that cognitive systems that use embodied prospec- tive foraging require a primitive sense of self, needed to distinguish actual from simulated action. This relationship has implica- tions for understanding the evolution of autonoetic consciousness and self-awareness.展开更多
We are pleased to announce that Zoological Research(ZR)has reached a new level this year.On 30 December2013,the China Academic Journals Electronic Publishing House,Library of Tsinghua University and China Scientific L...We are pleased to announce that Zoological Research(ZR)has reached a new level this year.On 30 December2013,the China Academic Journals Electronic Publishing House,Library of Tsinghua University and China Scientific Literature Evaluation and Measuring Research Center jointly awarded ZR the'2013 The Highest International Impact Academic Journals of China'in Science,Technology and Engineering for its achievement in internationalizing life sciences research.ZR was among 175 Science and Technology Journals selected for the award from a pool of 4622 journals(3502 Science and Technology Journals and 1120 Humanities and展开更多
We are very pleased to announce that we have invited Dr. Xue-Long JIANG to serve as the Associate Editor-in-Chief for Zoological Research (ZR), effective from 1 March, 2016. Dr. JIANG, Professor and principle invest...We are very pleased to announce that we have invited Dr. Xue-Long JIANG to serve as the Associate Editor-in-Chief for Zoological Research (ZR), effective from 1 March, 2016. Dr. JIANG, Professor and principle investigator from the Laboratory of Mammal Ecology and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has worked with ZR since 2006 as a member of the editorial board and has played an active and important role in maintaining ZR as a respected academic publishing platform. Currently, he also works as the Associate Editor-in-Chief of Acta Thefiologica Sinica, Mammal Research and as a senior editorial board member of Biodiversity Science.展开更多
We are very pleased to announce that we have invited Dr. Wai-Yee Chan, Professor and Director of School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, to serve as the Associate Editor- in-Chief for Zoolo...We are very pleased to announce that we have invited Dr. Wai-Yee Chan, Professor and Director of School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, to serve as the Associate Editor- in-Chief for Zoological Research (ZR), effective 1 September, 2016.展开更多
基金the financial supports from the Biodiversity Conservation Fund from Yunnan Environmental Protection DepartmentSpecial Funds for Green Peafowl Investigation from State Forestry Administration of the People’s Republic of Chinasupported by the Key Laboratory of Special Biological Resource Development and Utilization of Universities in Yunnan Province
文摘Background: Understanding the changes in population dynamics, including demographics, distribution and threats is essential for species status assessing.The endangered Green Peafowl (Povo muticus) has experienced sharp population declines and d stribution range diminishing both in China and Southeast Asia. Field population surveys have not been conducted in China since the 1990s, which hindered conservation planning and decision-making.Methods: With interview and line transects methods, we figured out the population and distribution changes of Green Peafowl across its historical ranges over the past three decades in China during 2014-2017.Results: The Green Peafowl once habituated in 54 counties in China. Nearly 60% of the distribution counties were lost in the past three decades, with the left 22 counties distributed in central, southern and western Yunnan, SW China. Population decrease detected in all distribution areas except for Shuangbai and Xinping county where more than 60% of the total population is located. Only about 30% of the former bird population were recorded with the same interviewing method as 20 years ago.Three birds, 1 carcass, 6 calls and 12 footprints were detected along the 865 km line transects, indicating extremely low encounter rate of Green Peafowl in field. Sharp decreases in flock sizes were also detected, from 8-20 birds per flock in the 1990s to 3-5 birds at present. Poaching and habitat conversion are two widespread and long-lasting threats, while poison tion affect regional population's survival. Large flocks of 18 ng caused mortality in the past and hydropower construc -27 birds were discovered in the field, which increases our confidence of population recovery of this endangered pheasant in China.Conclusions: Only interviewed bird number and counts based on line transects were presented in this study, without further population estimation due to limitation of the data sets. Although the actual population of this cryptic bird must be underestimated, dramatic population declines and distribution concentrations of the endangered Green Peafowl occurred over the past 30 years in China undoubtedly.
文摘The capacity to adapt to resource distributions by modulating the frequency of exploratory and exploitative behaviors is common across metazoans and is arguably a principal selective force in the evolution of cognition. Here we (I) review recent work investigating behavioral and biological commonalities between external foraging in space and internal foraging over envi- ronments specified by cognitive representations, and (2) explore the implications of these commonalities for understanding the origins of the self. Behavioural commonalities include the capacity for what is known as area-restricted search in the ecological literature: this is search focussed around locations where resources have been found in the past, but moving away from locations where few resources arc found, and capable of producing movement pattems mimicking L6vy flights. Area-restricted search shares a neural basis across metazoans, and these biological commonalities in vertebrates suggest an evolutionary homology be- tween external and internal foraging. Internal foraging, and in particular a form we call embodied prospective foraging, makes available additional capacities for prediction based on search through a cognitive representation of the external environment, and allows predictions about outcomes of possible future actions. We demonstrate that cognitive systems that use embodied prospec- tive foraging require a primitive sense of self, needed to distinguish actual from simulated action. This relationship has implica- tions for understanding the evolution of autonoetic consciousness and self-awareness.
文摘We are pleased to announce that Zoological Research(ZR)has reached a new level this year.On 30 December2013,the China Academic Journals Electronic Publishing House,Library of Tsinghua University and China Scientific Literature Evaluation and Measuring Research Center jointly awarded ZR the'2013 The Highest International Impact Academic Journals of China'in Science,Technology and Engineering for its achievement in internationalizing life sciences research.ZR was among 175 Science and Technology Journals selected for the award from a pool of 4622 journals(3502 Science and Technology Journals and 1120 Humanities and
文摘We are very pleased to announce that we have invited Dr. Xue-Long JIANG to serve as the Associate Editor-in-Chief for Zoological Research (ZR), effective from 1 March, 2016. Dr. JIANG, Professor and principle investigator from the Laboratory of Mammal Ecology and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has worked with ZR since 2006 as a member of the editorial board and has played an active and important role in maintaining ZR as a respected academic publishing platform. Currently, he also works as the Associate Editor-in-Chief of Acta Thefiologica Sinica, Mammal Research and as a senior editorial board member of Biodiversity Science.
文摘We are very pleased to announce that we have invited Dr. Wai-Yee Chan, Professor and Director of School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, to serve as the Associate Editor- in-Chief for Zoological Research (ZR), effective 1 September, 2016.