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

The CHANCE program (Connecting Humans And Nature
through Conservation Experiences) is making its mark
by empowering environmental education through
scientific research (www.chance.psu.edu). Come explore
how students <strong>and</strong> teachers can travel <strong>the</strong> world – ei<strong>the</strong>r
virtually or physically – <strong>to</strong> carry‐out real‐world research
on some of <strong>the</strong> world’s most troubling environmental
issues in order <strong>to</strong> learn <strong>the</strong> importance of global
environmental sustainability. Two successful embedded
field courses (in China <strong>and</strong> Panama) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘field‐course
experiential learning model’ that frames <strong>the</strong>m will be
showcased for o<strong>the</strong>r faculty <strong>to</strong> replicate <strong>and</strong>/or
administra<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>to</strong> share with <strong>the</strong>ir faculty <strong>and</strong> staff.
Additionally, participants will learn key strategies for
sustaining academic programs through partnerships,
technology, strategic planning, <strong>and</strong> most of all, by
emulating professional science practice while embracing
conservation. Finally, as a caps<strong>to</strong>ne experience,
participants will virtually travel <strong>to</strong> Greenl<strong>and</strong> with Dr.
Richard Alley, Nobel Laureate <strong>and</strong> Professor at Penn
State’s Earth <strong>and</strong> Mineral Institute, <strong>to</strong> take ice core
samples that provide insight in<strong>to</strong> climate change
fluctuations over <strong>the</strong> centuries <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> Costa Rica with Dr.
Deborah Clark <strong>to</strong> study how increased canopy
temperature is currently affecting tropical rainforest
productivity, How? By using <strong>the</strong> CHANCE ‘research
modules’. These online learning <strong>to</strong>ols enhance <strong>the</strong>
teaching <strong>and</strong> learning of core biological concepts <strong>and</strong> our
world’s environmental realities by using technology <strong>to</strong>
virtually bring real‐world scientists <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir research
data in<strong>to</strong> classrooms.
The climate as a natural resource on <strong>the</strong>
yield stability of wheat
Klara LOKOS TOTH
Szent Istvan University, Godollo, Hungary. This work is
supported by TAMOP‐4.2.1./B‐11/2/KMR‐2011‐0003 project.
This study is about a valuation <strong>and</strong> comparison of <strong>the</strong>
l<strong>and</strong>s of wheat on a regional level. The basis of <strong>the</strong>
analysis was time series data observed by each region.
Based on <strong>the</strong> available source of data, <strong>the</strong> basis of <strong>the</strong>
comparison is <strong>the</strong> counties of Hungary as <strong>the</strong> unit of
observation. Aim of <strong>the</strong> study is <strong>to</strong> value <strong>and</strong> categorize
<strong>the</strong> agricultural areas as source of production based on
<strong>the</strong> yields of wheat in <strong>the</strong> different regions. Each unit of
l<strong>and</strong>s (county) represents a complex effect on <strong>the</strong> yield
through its soil, microclimate, varieties <strong>and</strong>
agro‐techniques (cultivation, fertilization <strong>and</strong> plant
protection). Opinion on <strong>the</strong> scale of stability of l<strong>and</strong>s is
formed by jointly examining <strong>the</strong>se fac<strong>to</strong>rs.
Assuming that <strong>the</strong>re were no fundamental changes
on a regional (county) level in <strong>the</strong> aspect of soil, variety,
agro‐techniques during <strong>the</strong> examined period, as first
approach, <strong>the</strong> stability is examined only in terms of year
effect which has <strong>the</strong> most significant influence on yield.
Thus, <strong>the</strong> pure year effect, which cannot be controlled
or manipulated by any human intervention, can be
disclosed.
Based on <strong>the</strong> responses of <strong>the</strong> year effect on <strong>the</strong>
average yield <strong>the</strong> 19 observed units can be categorized,
which enables us <strong>to</strong> rank <strong>and</strong> characterize <strong>the</strong> seven
regions as well.
This preliminary study is a part of a larger project
that aims <strong>to</strong> elaborate a framework <strong>to</strong> identify <strong>and</strong> value
<strong>the</strong> natural resources.
The aim of this study was <strong>to</strong> compare <strong>and</strong>
demonstrate <strong>the</strong> effect of <strong>the</strong> production area <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>
climate as natural resource via <strong>the</strong> wheat yield as one of
<strong>the</strong> many ways of examining natural resources.
The effect of seed size <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> seed fates <strong>and</strong>
hording behavior of rodents in <strong>the</strong>
Xishuangbanna tropical region, China
Lin CAO, 1,2,3 Zhenyu WANG, 1 Zhishu XIAO, 1
Cong GUO, 2 Jin CHEN 3 <strong>and</strong> Zhibin ZHANG 1
1State Key Labora<strong>to</strong>ry of Integrated Management of Pest
Insects <strong>and</strong> Rodents in Agriculture, Institute of Zoology, CAS,
Datun Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China, 2 Key
Labora<strong>to</strong>ry of Bio‐resources <strong>and</strong> Eco‐environment, Ministry
of Education, College of Life Science, Sichuan University,
Chengdu 610064, China <strong>and</strong> 3 CAS Key Labora<strong>to</strong>ry of Tropical
Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna, Xishuangbanna Tropical
Botanical Garden, CAS, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China. Email:
zhangzb@ioz.ac.cn
The study of effect of seed size on seed fates has
engaged <strong>the</strong> attention of many biologists; however, <strong>the</strong>
effect of seed size on final fitness of seeds that were
dispersed by small rodents remained unknown, since
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