A grid-based, satellite-image supported, multi-attributed vegetation mapping method (MÉTA)

In this paper we present the main characteristics of a new, grid-based, landscape-ecology-oriented, satellite-image supported, field vegetation mapping method, called MÉTA (MÉTA stands for Magyarországi Él?helyek Térképi Adatbázisa: GIS Database of the Hungarian Habitats). The goals of the MÉTA method based vegetation mapping program (MÉTA mapping) include the following: (1) to map the actual (semi-)natural vegetation of Hungary; (2) to evaluate Hungarian (semi-)natural vegetation heritage for conservation purposes; (3) to evaluate the present state of Hungarian landscapes from a vegetation point of view; (4) to collect vegetation and landscape ecological data for the prognosis of future changes of vegetation and the landscape. Spatial resolution, mapped attributes and mapping methods were developed to meet these goals. The MÉTA method uses a hexagon grid with cells of 35 hectares. In the hexagons, habitat types are listed, then the area, naturalness-based habitat quality, spatial pattern in the hexagon, effect of the neighbourhood, connectedness, and threats are recorded for each habitat type. Other attributes are recorded in the hexagons: potential natural vegetation, area occupied by invasive plant species, area of old fields, land use of grasslands, and landscape health status (naturalness and regeneration potential of the landscape in general). One hundred hexagons form a quadrat — mainly for practical, organizational reasons, but also for collecting certain vegetation data at this spatial scale. For standardization of mapping, three different pre-printed data sheets and two different kinds of guides have been composed (Mapping Guide and Habitat Guide) and field trainings were organized. For standardization of estimation of naturalness-based habitat quality and regeneration potential field examples were prepared for each habitat type and each category of these attributes.     

STUDIES ON REPRODUCTION IN MOLE RAT (MYOSPALAX FONTANIERII MILNE—EDWARDS)

Mole rat (Myospalax fontanierii Mile—Edwards) is one of the destructive animals to the pasture of Qinghai plateau. We had obrerved the reproduction of this rat at Men Yuan Horse—Breeder Ranch from 1977 to 1978. The altitude of Men Yuan Horse—Breeder Ranch is over 3200 m. It is at the eastsouth foot of Qilian mountain and belongs to the cold moist climate.     

Synopsis of the species of Myxidium Bütschli, 1882 (Myxozoa: Myxosporea: Bivalvulida)

A synopsis of the species of Myxidium Bütschli, 1882 (Myxozoa: Myxosporea: Bivalvulida) is presented. It includes a total of 232 nominal species, whose principal morphological and morphometric characteristics, site of infection within the host, and original hosts and locality are indicated in a tabulated format. A diagrammatic illustration of a spore of most of the species is also provided.     

Les Cneoraceae (Rutales): Étude Taxonomique,Palynologique et Systématique

Après avoir revu l'ensemble des caractères morphologiques, anatomiques, caryologiques, embryologiques, phytochimiques, sérologiques et palynologiques les auteurs concluent à la nécessité de séparer les deux genres Cneorum et Neochamaelea et de rattacher la famille aux Rutales. Par l'étude détaillée des caractères du pollen, ils montrent également que l'ultrastructure de l'exine est identique dans les deux genres, bien que l'ornementation et le nombre des apertures soient différents. Le type pollinique des Cneoraceae est comparable à celui des Rutaceae, Simaroubaceae et vient étayer l'opinion fréquemment admise que la famille appartient à l'ordre des Rutales.     

Interracial status competition and southern lynching, 1882–1930

This article provides theoretical grounds and empirical evidence that different types of lynching in the post-Reconstruction South were driven by social processes at different levels of analysis. County-level analyses based upon new detailed data on lynchings in Georgia and Louisiana from 1882 to 1930 reveal that ‘private' lynchings, perpetrated by small groups outside the public purview without manifest ritual, were related to whites’ interracial status and social identity concerns on the interpersonal level, whereas ‘public' lynchings, involving larger mobs and ritualized violence, appear unaffected by such dynamics. These results validate relational and interactionist perspectives on violence, lend support to calls for disaggregation in the study of racial, ethnic, and nationalist violence, and shed light on the intertwining of racial identity formation with the generation of racial inequalities. They also carry implications for the study of contemporary ethno-racial hate crime.     

Relatedness of novel species of Myxidium Bütschli, 1882, Zschokkella Auerbach, 1910 and Ellipsomyxa Køie, 2003 (Myxosporea: Bivalvulida) from the gall bladders of marine fishes (Teleostei) from Australian waters

During a parasitological survey, Myxidium-like spores were identified in the gall bladders of marine fishes from Australian waters. This paper describes four novel species of Ellipsomyxa Køie, 2003, three novel species of Myxidium Bütschli, 1882 and six novel species of Zschokkella Auerbach, 1910 from teleosts from Australian waters using a combination of morphological, biological and molecular characters. Phylogenetic analyses showed a monophyletic relationship of all Ellipsomyxa spp. sequences with Sigmomyxa sphaerica (Thélohan, 1895) and Myxidium queenslandicus Gunter & Adlard, 2008 as sister species to the clade. The validity of genus Sigmomyxa Karlsbakk & Køie, 2012 is discussed. In phylogenetic analyses, the novel species of Myxidium fell within the ‘marine’ clade of Fiala (2006). However, the novel species of Zschokkella fell within the ‘freshwater’ clade of Fiala (2006) and formed a distinct clade with all other sequences of Zschokkella spp. from the gall bladder of marine fish and a sequence of a species of Myxobolus Bütschli 1882, also from the gall bladder of a marine fish. This is the second distinct marine lineage to emerge within the freshwater clade.     

Total synthesis of (±)-elegansidiol, (±)-farnesiferol B,and (±)-farnesiferol D

The racemic total synthesis of elegansidiol, farnesiferol B, and farnesiferol D has been obtained following a Diels–Alder approach. Gillman addition, cross metathesis reaction are the other key steps involved in the target synthesis.     

Note sur les Siphonaptères de l’Émirat de Ras Al Khaimah: description de Nosopsyllus (Gerbillophilus) jabeljaisensis n. sp. (Siphonaptera,Ceratophyllidae, Ceratophyllinae)

Vingt-deux puces collectées lors de captures de Acomys dimidiatus et Gerbillus dasyurus dans les montagnes de Ras Al Khaimah aux Émirats arabes unis ont été identifiées comme appartenant à deux espèces. Un nouveau taxon est décrit dans le genre Nosopsyllus

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:ACB8C547-5A7C-4D45-BBC3-2ABD705FE797     

Aethophyllum BRONGNIART 1828, Conifère (non Équisétale)du Grès à Voltzia (Buntsandstein supérieur) des Vosges (France): Note préliminaire

AethophyllumBRONGNIART 1828 is a plant genus from the Voltzia Sandstones (Upper Bunter) of the Vosges which has been classified first into the Monocotyledons and than into the Equisetales. A careful study of new material shows that it actually is a Gymnosperm and more exactly a Conifer. Male cones found separately have already been described under the name Masculostrobus acuminatusGRAUVOGEL-STAMM and GRAUVOGEL, 1973. This Triassic plant presents simultaneously affinities with some Cordaites (Poacordaites) and with some Podozamites (P. schenki-agardhianus group of Harris 1935 + Swedenborgia).     

Are Cristaria herculea (Middendorff, 1847) and Cristaria plicata (Leach, 1815) (Bivalvia,Unionidae) separate species?

The number of species in the freshwater mussel genus Cristaria Schumacher, 1817 recognized from Far East Russia has varied over the last several decades. While some authors consider the occurrence of only one species, Cristaria plicata (Leach, 1815), widespread in East Asia, others, recognize two separate species Cristaria herculea (Middendorff, 1847) and Cristaria tuberculata Schumacher, 1817 from Far East Russia, distinct from C. plicata. For the present study, freshwater mussels, identified as C. herculea, were collected in the Upper Amur basin (Transbaikalia, Russia). The shell morphology and the whole soft body anatomy were analysed in detail and compared with previously published information on other Cristaria spp.. Additionally, a cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) gene fragment was sequenced from foot tissue samples of selected animals, collected from the same region, and compared with published data. Based upon morphological similarities of glochidia and adult morphology and anatomy as well as the mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis, we consider C. herculea as a synonym of C. plicata. Further analysis of Far East Russia C. herculea and C. tuberculata specimens using both molecular and morphological characters should be carried in the future to enhance our knowledge about the taxonomy within the Cristaria genus. Moreover, a comprehensive revision of the genus Cristaria is needed, restricting the type locality and comparing topotypic specimens for both C. plicata and C. tuberculata, and including all recognized Cristaria species.     

Achiasmatic Male Meiosis in Tenagobia (Fuscagobia) fuscata (Stål) (Heteroptera, Corixoidea, Micronectidae)

Male karyotype and meiosis of Tenagobia fuscata (Corixoidea, Micronectidae) are studied. The species possesses a male diploid chromosome number 2n = 28 + XY, holokinetic chromosomes, absence of m chromosomes and an achiasmatic male meiosis. Autosomes divide pre-reductionally while the sex chromosomes do so post-reductionally. Banding techniques (C, DAPI and CMA) show that large heterochromatic AT-GC rich bands are generally terminally located, although some interstitial bands are also detected. Many bivalents are heteromorphic for heterochromatin amount and location. This is the first report of a species with achiasmatic male meiosis within the Nepomorpha. These cytogenetic features markedly differ from all previous reports for 26 species of the superfamily Corixoidea. T. fuscata occurs in permanent shallow water bodies, and most known individuals are brachypterous. Their dispersion depends on occasional floodings of the water bodies they occupy. Since achiasmatic meiosis maintains groups of co-adapted genes, this feature could be an adaptive strategy of the species to the particular type of habitat and ecological niche it occupies.     

Étude pédologique comparative de l'habitat et de l'environnement d'anacanthotermes ochraceus (Burgmeister)

Summary Anacanthotermes ochraceus (Burgmeister), in the oasis of Béni-Abbès (Sahara) will establish its colonies only in the low eathern garden walls and in the clay and straw walls of the houses, where it can find both the water and the malleable clayed materials it requires.Soil analyses have given information on the physico-chemical characteristics of some of the termitaria and of the surrounding sand-hill.The organic matter in the termitarium comes both from the soil and the excrement of the termite. It is high in carbon and low in nitrogen (C/N=2,5), and its mineralization in the présense of gravitational water may result in a loss of mobilizable elements such as the bases.Both the Ph and the aeration of the termitarium favour the mineralization of nitrogenous waste material by bacterial agency.The distribution of calcium carbonate and the condition in which it occurs are more important than the total amount present on account of the part it plays in the texture and structure of the materials, of which the termitarium is composed.A statistical granulometric study of the sand fraction with the results expressed as polar coordinates enables, in comparison with those obtained by mechanical analysis, the texture of the materials colonised byAnacanthotermes ochraceus (Burgmeister) to be defined.

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Zusammenfassung In der Oase Béni-Abbés (Sahara) gründen dieAnacanthotermes ochraceus (Burgmeister) ihre Kolonien nur in den Wänden der Gärten und in den Mauern der Wohnungen. Dort finden sie das nötige Wasser und die tonigen Plastikmaterialien.Die Bodenanalysen geben Auskunft über einige der characteristichen physikalischchemischen Eigenschaften der Materialien in der Termitenbauten und in dem benachbartem Erg.Das organische Material in den Termitenbauten stammt einerseits aus dem Boden und andererseits aus den Ausscheidungen der Termiten. Reich an Kohlenstoff und arm an Stickstoff (C/N=2,5) kann seine Mineralisation, in Gegenwart von gravifischem Wasser, einen Verlust von einsatzfähigen Elementen, wie den Laugen, nach sich ziehen.Die Bedingungen des Ph und der Belüftung der Termitenbauten sind günstig für eine Mineralisation der stikstoffhaltigen Abfallstoffe auf bakteriellem Wege.Die Verteilung und die Beschaffenheit des CO₃Ca sind dort wichtiger als ihre Gesamtauswertung. Der Grund dafür ist die Rolle, die sie auf der Ebene der Textur und des Aufbaus der Materialen in den Termitenbauten spielen.Die Untersuchung der sandigen Bruchstücke durch die granulometrischen Statistiken in Polarkoordinaten, verglichen mit den Ergebnissen der granulometrischen Analyse, erlauben eine Erklärung der Textur der mit Beschlag belegten kolonisierten Materialen durch dieAnacanthotermes ochraceus (Burgmeister).

     

Étude ultrastructurale du spermatozoïde de Lithobius forficatus L. (Myriapode Chilopode)

Résumé Le spermatozoïde de Lithobius forficatus L. a été étudié grâce aux microscopes électroniques, classique et à balayage. Le spermatozoïde a une longueur d'environ 2 mm et comprend deux parties: la tête, avec l'acrosome et le noyau, et la queue, divisée en zone de liaison, pièce intermédiaire et pièce terminale.L'acrosome, entouré par du matériel fibrillaire exogène, a environ 4 de long sur 0,2–0,3 de large. Le noyau spiralé (300 à 400 de long) est constitué d'un axe fibrillaire et d'une spire granulaire dans la région postérieure. La zone de liaison est composée de la partie basale différenciée du noyau et des parties antérieures du complexe flagellaire et de la pièce intermédiaire. La pièce intermédiaire, particulièrement longue (1,5 mm environ) est formée par le flagelle entouré de ses gaines et du manchon mitochondrial. La pièce terminale est un court prolongement flagellaire (6 à 7 ). Les spermatozoïdes matures (prélevés dans les vésicules séminales) ont une structure mitochondriale légèrement différente de celle des spermatozoïdes prélevés dans le testicule.

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Ultrastructural study of the spermatozoa of Lithobius forficatus L. (myriapoda chilopoda)

Summary The spermatozoon of Lithobius forficatus was investigated by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The spermatozoon has a length of about 2 mm long, it is subdivided into a head with acrosome and nucleus, and a tail with a connecting piece, a middle piece and an end piece.The acrosome, surrounded by exogenous fibrillar material is about 4 long and 0.2–0.3 wide. The spiral nucleus (300–400 in length) consists of a fibrillar axis and of a whorl of granular material in the posterior part. The connecting piece is composed of the basal differentiated part of the nucleus and the anterior parts of the flagellar complex and middle piece. The latter is particularly long (about 1.5 mm) and consists of the flagellar complex and the mitochondrial sheath.The flagellar end piece is short (6–7 ). Mature spermatozoa (seminal vesicles) have a mitochondrial structure slightly different from those within the testis.