Effects of provisioning on the activity budget and foraging strategies of black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) in the Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve, Yunnan, China.

Provisioning can significantly affect the ranging patterns, foraging strategies, and time budget of wild primates. In this study, we document for the first time, the effects of provisioning on the activity budget and foraging effort in an Asian colobine. Over 3-years, we used an instantaneous scanning method at 10-min intervals to collect data on the activity budget of a semiprovisioned breeding band (SPB) of black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) (42-70 individuals) at Xiangguqing (Tacheng), Yunnan, China. We then compared the effects of provisioning in our study band with published data on a sympatric wild nonprovisioned breeding band (NPB) of R. bieti (ca. 360 monkeys) at the same field site. The SPB spent 25.6% of their daytime feeding, 17.1% traveling, 46.9% resting, and 10.3% socializing. In comparison, the NPB devoted more time to feeding (34.9%) and socializing (14.1%), less time to resting (31.3%), and was characterized by a greater foraging effort (1.74 versus 0.96, foraging effort = (feeding + traveling)/resting; see Methods). There was no difference between bands in the proportion of their activity budget devoted to traveling (15.7% vs. 17.1%). In addition, the SPB exhibited a more consistent activity budget and foraging effort across all seasons of the year compared to the NPB. These findings suggest that the distribution, availability, and productivity of naturally occurring feeding sites is a major determinant of the behavioral strategies and activity budget of R. bieti. Finally, a comparison of our results with data on six nonprovisioned R. bieti bands indicates that caution must be raised in meta-analyses or intraspecific comparisons of primate behavioral ecology that contain data generated from both provisioned and nonprovisioned groups.

Characterization of an aerobic denitrifier Enterobacter cloacae strain HNR and its nitrate reductase gene.

Enterobacter cloacae strain HNR was found to grow well and denitrify aerobically at high NO3--N concentrations. When the concentrations of NO3--N were 200, 300 and 500 mg/L, the removal efficiencies of NO3--N were 83%, 74.5% and 75%, respectively. More importantly, the intermediates accumulation of NO2--N and NH4+-N was not obvious during the aerobic denitrification processes, resulting in a high TN removal of 82%, 74% and 70%, respectively. Meanwhile, strain HNR also presented the ability of heterotrophic nitrification. With initial NH4+-N concentrations of 20 and 80 mg/L, the NH4+-N removal efficiency reached 78% and 76%, respectively. The key nitrate reductase enzyme gene relating to denitrification was successfully amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from strain HNR, and identified it as napA, which encodings the large catalytic subunit A of periplasmic nitrate reductase (NAPA). The sequence analysis of napA indicates that NAPA is a hydrophilic, non-transmembrane protein. The existence of napA might be crucial for strain HNR to denitrify nitrate under aerobic conditions. This study showed prospect to develop novel technology for nitrogen removal by application of E. cloacae strain HNR.

Characteristics of a Novel Aerobic Denitrifying Bacterium, Enterobacter cloacae Strain HNR.

A novel aerobic denitrifier strain HNR, isolated from activated sludge, was identified as Enterobacter cloacae by16S rRNA sequencing analysis. Glucose was considered as the most favorable C-source for strain HNR. The logistic equation well described the bacterial growth, yielding a maximum growth rate (µmax) of 0.283 h(-1) with an initial NO3 (-)-N concentration of 110 mg/L. Almost all NO3 (-)-N was removed aerobically within 30 h with an average removal rate of 4.58 mg N L(-1) h(-1). Nitrogen balance analysis revealed that proximately 70.8 % of NO3 (-)-N was removed as gas products and only 20.7 % was transformed into biomass. GC-MS result indicates that N2 was the end product of aerobic denitrification. The enzyme activities of nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase, which are related to the process of aerobic denitrification, were 0.0688 and 0.0054 U/mg protein, respectively. Thus, the aerobic denitrification of reducing NO3 (-) to N2 by strain HNR was demonstrated. The optimal conditions for nitrate removal were C/N ratio 13, pH value 8, shaking speed 127 rpm and temperature 30 °C. These findings show that E. cloacae strain HNR has a potential application on wastewater treatment to achieve nitrate removal under aerobic conditions.