Status and future perspectives of energy consumption and its ecological impacts in the Qinghai-Tibet region

Qinghai-Tibet region is a unique geographic zone due to its average altitude of over 4000 m, sparse human population and prevalent pastoral system. However, little is known about the energy consumption in the region. We reviewed current situation of energy consumption and its ecological impacts, outlined future energy prospects in the region. Per capita household energy consumption was about two and three times of the national average in Qinghai and Tibet. Per urban household consumed more energy than rural household in the region. Moreover, the urban households and rural households used different energy resources, natural gas and electricity accounted for 57.57% and 42.29%, respectively in household energy consumption in urban areas while biomass accounted for 79.13% and 94.19% in household energy consumption in rural areas in Qinghai and Tibet in 2007. This region was abundant in renewable energy resources and was among the richest in hydro-power and solar energy resources in China. Hydro-power accounted for 67.88% and 92.04% in total electricity in Qinghai and Tibet in 2007. Population density was rather low in this region (4.35 versus 137.63 persons per 100 hm2 in Qinghai-Tibet region and China in 2007), thus small photovoltaic power stations and hydro-power plants were more cost-effective than the electricity grid. The overuse of biotic energy resources in rural areas caused decline in soil fertility and desertification. Whereas the low utilization of fossil energy in this region released less waste gas which was beneficial to the local, national and global carbon budgets. Accelerating economic growth and booming tourism have increased energy demand and posed a challenge to the unique ecosystem in the Qinghai-Tibet region. It was estimated that energy consumption of tourism accounted for 6.06% and 14.18% of the total energy consumption in Qinghai and Tibet in 2007. Thus, exploitation of renewable energy resources like solar energy, wind energy and biomass briquette is crucial in striving for a balance among economic development, booming tourism, and environmental protection in this region.Ecological impact Energy consumption Overview Qinghai-Tibet region Renewable energy

Behavioral evidence illuminating the visual abilities of the terrestrial Caribbean hermit crab Coenobita clypeatus.

Hermit crabs hide into shells when confronted with potential dangers, including images presented on a monitor. We do not know, however, what hermit crabs can see and how they perceive different objects. We examined the hiding response of the Caribbean hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus) to various stimuli presented on a monitor in seven experiments to explore whether crabs could discriminate different properties of a threatening digital image, including color, brightness, contrast, shape and orientation. We found crabs responded differently to expanding circles presented in wavelengths of light corresponding to what humans see as red, blue, and green. "Blue" stimuli elicited the strongest hiding response (Experiments 1, 2, & 7). "Blue" was also more effective than a gray stimulus of similar brightness (Experiment 3). Hermit crabs were sensitive to the amount of contrast between a stimulus and its background rather than absolute brightness of the stimulus (Experiment 4). Moreover, we did not find evidence that crabs could discriminate orientation (Experiment 6), and mixed evidence that they could discriminate stimulus shape (Experiments 5 & 7). These results suggest that the Caribbean hermit crab is sensitive to color features, but not spatial features, of a threatening object presented on a computer screen. This is the first study to use the hiding response of the hermit crab to examine its visual ability, and demonstrates that the hiding response provides a useful behavioral approach with which to study learning and discrimination in the hermit crab

Photoredox-Catalyzed C–H Arylation of Internal Alkenes to Tetrasubstituted Alkenes: Synthesis of Tamoxifen

Visible-light-induced direct C–H arylation of <i>S,S</i>-functionalized internal alkenes, that is, α-oxo ketene dithioacetals and analogues, has been efficiently realized with aryldiazonium salts (ArN₂BF₄) as coupling partners and Ru­(bpy)₃Cl₂·6H₂O as photosensitizer at ambient temperature. The strategy to activate the internal olefinic C–H bond by both the alkylthio and electron-withdrawing functional groups was investigated. The synthetic protocol was successfully applied to the synthesis of all-carbon tetrasubstituted alkenes including tamoxifen

Photoredox-Catalyzed C–H Arylation of Internal Alkenes to Tetrasubstituted Alkenes: Synthesis of Tamoxifen

Visible-light-induced direct C–H arylation of <i>S,S</i>-functionalized internal alkenes, that is, α-oxo ketene dithioacetals and analogues, has been efficiently realized with aryldiazonium salts (ArN₂BF₄) as coupling partners and Ru­(bpy)₃Cl₂·6H₂O as photosensitizer at ambient temperature. The strategy to activate the internal olefinic C–H bond by both the alkylthio and electron-withdrawing functional groups was investigated. The synthetic protocol was successfully applied to the synthesis of all-carbon tetrasubstituted alkenes including tamoxifen

Hermit crab response to a visual threat is sensitive to looming cues.

Prior work in our lab has shown that an expanding image on a computer screen elicits a hiding response in the Caribbean terrestrial hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus). We conducted two experiments to identify what properties of the expanding stimulus contribute to its effectiveness as a visual threat. First we found that an expanding geometric star evoked a strong hiding response while a contracting or full-sized stationary star did not. A second experiment revealed that the more quickly the stimulus expanded the shorter the latency to hide. These findings suggest that the anti-predator response to looming stimulus relies heavily on visual cues relating to the manner of approach. The simulated visual threat on a computer screen captures key features of a real looming object that elicits hiding behavior in crabs in the wild

Hermit crab response to a visual threat is sensitive to looming cues.

Prior work in our lab has shown that an expanding image on a computer screen elicits a hiding response in the Caribbean terrestrial hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus). We conducted two experiments to identify what properties of the expanding stimulus contribute to its effectiveness as a visual threat. First we found that an expanding geometric star evoked a strong hiding response while a contracting or full-sized stationary star did not. A second experiment revealed that the more quickly the stimulus expanded the shorter the latency to hide. These findings suggest that the anti-predator response to looming stimulus relies heavily on visual cues relating to the manner of approach. The simulated visual threat on a computer screen captures key features of a real looming object that elicits hiding behavior in crabs in the wild

Bird Beta Diversity in Sharp Contrasting Altai Landscapes: Locality Connectivity Is the Influential Factor on Community Composition

Located on the southwest slope and plain areas of the Altai Mountains in China, this study aims to explore bird composition variation (beta diversity) in mountain landscape (metacommunity M), riparian landscape (metacommunity R), desert landscape (metacommunity D) and across the three landscapes (metacommunity A), and to assess how patch connectivity with environmental and spatial factors influence species distributional patterns across multiple metacommunities. In 78 transect lines over the study area, 9724 detections of 139 bird species were detected. We calculated the beta diversity, its turnover and nestedness components in four metacommunities. We used the variation partitioning method to investigate the relative importance between the environment, spatial variation and locality connectivity in driving bird community composition variation. We found high beta diversities with a small contribution of nestedness components in all four metacommunities. When only a single set of predictors is contained in the model, the predictor that best explains the variation of bird community composition is connectivity in metacommunity M, R and D and spatial predictor in metacommunity A. In all three sets of predictors, 73.8~85.4% of variations of community composition can be explained in the four metacommunities, and connectivity always contributed the most. High beta diversity and a high turnover component imply that regional-scale conservation efforts should be thought of as preserving overall biodiversity. A conservation strategy is to keep stepping-stone habitats with good connectivity in the middle of the riparian landscape. Along with the Altai-Sayan biodiversity ecoregion, the desert and riparian environments are essential for birds residing in the mountainous terrain. Furthermore, they should be regarded as integral parts of the ecoregion