Welcome to the 31st IUBS General Assembly and Conference on ...

Link <strong>the</strong> female infants of rhesus macaque
<strong>and</strong> climatic fac<strong>to</strong>rs in Mt. Taihangshan Area,
Jiyuan, China
Jiqi LU, Baishi WANG, Zhenlong WANG <strong>and</strong> He
LU
Institute of Biodiversity <strong>and</strong> Ecology, Zhengzhou University,
Zhengzhou 450001 China. Email: lujq@zzu.edu.cn
Reproduction is a key process by which a species
survives, thrives, or, failing this, becomes extinct. As an
important issue within population ecology, birth rate of
given population has been paying more intention for
conservation of endangered wildlife. The capacity for
growth is a measure of <strong>the</strong> success of a population of a
species. However, <strong>the</strong>re are so many interactions
between individuals <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> environment, measuring
how well populations grow is often complex. Population
ecologists commonly divide <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>rs that regulate <strong>the</strong>
size of populations in<strong>to</strong> density‐dependent <strong>and</strong>
density‐independent fac<strong>to</strong>rs. Climate, including
temperature, rainfall <strong>and</strong> wind patterns, is simply <strong>the</strong>
wea<strong>the</strong>r that is dominant or normal in a particular region.
Mammals usually produce approximately equal numbers
of sons <strong>and</strong> daughters, It is now clear that <strong>the</strong>
male‐<strong>to</strong>‐female sex ratio at <strong>the</strong> time of conception
(primary sex ratio) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> secondary sex ratio at birth
can be strikingly skewed from <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>oretical 1:1
expected ratio. Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), <strong>the</strong>
only primate with a broader geographic distribution
o<strong>the</strong>r than humans, are found ubiqui<strong>to</strong>usly throughout
mainl<strong>and</strong> Asia. <strong>the</strong> wild populations of M. m. tcheliensis, a
subspecies unique <strong>to</strong> China, mainly occurs in <strong>the</strong> Mt.
Taihangshan area (34°54'‐35°16' N, 12°02'‐112°52' E),
<strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rnmost region of rhesus macaques worldwide.
To underst<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> reproductive ecology of this
non‐human primate, we analyzed <strong>the</strong> relationship
between new‐born females of troop WW‐1 <strong>and</strong> climatic
fac<strong>to</strong>rs in a temperate forest in <strong>the</strong> Mt. Taihangshan area,
Jiyuan, China. The results showed that: 1) <strong>the</strong> population
of WW‐1 grew from 23 <strong>to</strong> 51 individuals from 2003 <strong>to</strong>
2011, <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong>tally 45 newborn infant macaques, 30
females <strong>and</strong> 15 males, contributed <strong>to</strong> this dynamic; 2)
yearly mean temperature did not significantly influence
<strong>the</strong> number of infant females; <strong>and</strong> 3) new‐born female
macaques decreased with increased annual precipitation.
The results from this study indicated that rhesus
macaques have evolutionarily adapted <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>
environment in <strong>the</strong> Mt. Taihangshan area, north China.
Microscopic <strong>and</strong> molecular survey of blood
parasites of <strong>the</strong> endemic Schreiber’s Green
lizard (Lacerta schreiberi) in <strong>the</strong> central
mountains of <strong>the</strong> Iberian Peninsula (Spain)
Megía RODRIGO
MNCN‐CSIC, c/José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2, Madrid 28006, Spain.
Email: rodrigo.megia@mncn.csic.es
The study of ecological interactions between host <strong>and</strong>
parasites needs of <strong>the</strong> previous step of correct
identification <strong>and</strong> classification of parasitic fauna. In this
work we have accomplished a microscopic <strong>and</strong> molecular
survey of parasites in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> circulating blood of <strong>the</strong>
endemic Schreiber’s green lizard, Lacertaschreiberi, in a
population from <strong>the</strong> Iberian Peninsula.
We have found 2 genera of apicomplexan pro<strong>to</strong>zoa:
Eimeria <strong>and</strong> Hepa<strong>to</strong>zoon. The first one is a well‐known
genus of intestinal coccidian <strong>and</strong>, although it has been
previously reported parasitizing certain organs of birds
<strong>and</strong> mammals, it had not been described within blood
cells before. This parasite is morphologically similar <strong>to</strong>
hemococcidians of <strong>the</strong> genus Schellackia. Phylogenetically
it is situated along with o<strong>the</strong>r Eimeria parasites from
frogs of East Europe <strong>and</strong> a snake of North America in a
group separated from <strong>the</strong> main group of <strong>the</strong> genus
Eimeria.
The parasite of <strong>the</strong> genus Hepa<strong>to</strong>zoon found in this
study is molecularly identical <strong>to</strong> one found infecting
lizards from nor<strong>the</strong>rn Africa. This Hepa<strong>to</strong>zoon haplotype
forms a group with o<strong>the</strong>r parasites isolated from lizards
from nor<strong>the</strong>rn Africa <strong>and</strong> this group is basal <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> clade
grouping Hepa<strong>to</strong>zoon parasites infecting carnivores. The
presence of <strong>the</strong> same haplotype in both continents, Africa
<strong>and</strong> Europe, confers an interesting biogeographic
perspective <strong>to</strong> this work.
Moni<strong>to</strong>ring impacts of climate change on
biodiversity: an altitudinal transect in a
protected area in Amazonian Peru
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