Degradation of native and exotic riparian plant leaf litter in a floodplain pond

1. A litter‐bag experiment was undertaken in a pond on the margins of a large temperate floodplain in south‐western France to assess the potential influence of the replacement of native by exotic riparian species on organic matter degradation. We determined initial litter chemical composition, breakdown rates and the invertebrate assemblages associated with the litter for five pairs of native dominant and exotic invasive species co‐occurring at different stages along a successional gradient. 2. Litter chemical composition, breakdown rates and abundance and diversity of detritivorous invertebrates were similar for the exotic and native species overall. No overall changes in organic matter degradation can thus be predicted from the replacement of dominant natives by exotic invasives. Breakdown rates were primarily driven by the C/N ratio. 3. One invasive species (Buddleja davidii) showed significantly higher breakdown rates than its native counterpart (Populus nigra), resulting in the disappearance of leaf litter 6 months prior to the next litterfall. In some cases, therefore, invasion by exotic species may result in discontinuity of resource supply for decomposers.     

A New Species of Blood Trypanosome from Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) in Tasmania

ABSTRACT. Trypanosoma eudyptulae n. sp. was present in 9 blood smears from 57 Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor Forster) from Tasmania. Trypanosoma eudyptulae is long and slender (with the kinetoplast situated close to the nucleus) with a long and attenuated posterior end. This is the first report of a trypanosome from a penguin.     

Effect of Mother's Dominance Rank on Offspring Temperament in Infant Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca mulatta)

In humans, temperament plays an important role in socialization and personality. Some temperaments, such as behavioral inhibition are associated with an increased risk for psychopathology. Nonhuman primates can serve as a model for neurobiological and developmental contributions to emotional development and several recent studies have begun to investigate temperament in nonhuman primates. In rhesus monkeys, dominance rank is inherited from the mother and is associated with social and emotional tendencies that resemble differences in temperament. The current study assessed differences in temperament in infant rhesus monkeys as a function of maternal dominance rank. Temperament was assessed in 26 infants (13 males) from birth until 6 months of age with a battery that included Brazelton test, human intruder test, human intruder‐startle, cortisol stress reactivity, and home cage observations of interactions with peers and the mother. Throughout testing, infants lived with their mothers and a small group of other monkeys in indoor/outdoor runs. Dominance rank of the mothers within each run was rated as either low/middle (N = 18, 9 male) or high/alpha (N = 8, 4 female). Infants of high‐ranking mothers displayed more intruder‐directed aggression and reduced startle potentiation in the human intruder tests. Dominant offspring also had reduced levels cortisol and startle across development and spent more time away from mothers in the interaction tests. These results suggest that dominance of the mother may be reflected in behavioral reactivity of infants early in life. These findings set up future studies, which may focus on contributing factors to both dominance and temperament such as genetics, rearing, and socialization. Such factors are likely to interact across development in meaningful ways. These results also suggest future human‐based studies of a similar relationship may be warranted, although social dominance is clearly more complex in human than macaque societies. Am. J. Primatol. 75:65‐73, 2013. Published 2012 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.?     

Timing of diapause initiation, metabolic changes and overwintering survival of the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana

1. Four groups of spruce budworm larvae, Choristoneura fumiferana , of the same physiological stage (at the beginning of diapause) were exposed to natural temperatures, starting in July, August, September and October. Post-diapause emergence and certain metabolites were monitored throughout the overwintering period.
2. Larval exposure to high temperatures for long periods before winter had a significant effect on temperature requirements for subsequent diapause development and apparently caused a certain amount of mortality, especially for those larvae that entered diapause earlier in the season.
3. Substantial loss of lipid and glycogen reserves was related to intensity of high temperature exposure during the pre-winter period, which in turn was associated with the timing of diapause initiation.
4. Patterns of glycerol accumulation during the winter were also influenced by temperature conditions in the early phase of diapause development.
5. Among several possible mortality factors, an extended cool period in spring was suggested as a potential cause of overwintering mortality, which was closely associated with a deficiency in energy reserves caused by high temperature exposure before winter.
6. These results stress the significant impact of pre-winter conditions on the overwintering process and highlight the importance of an ecophysiological approach to insect overwintering biology.     

An experimental study of the breakdown of submerged leaves by hyphomycetes and invertebrates in Morocco

SUMMARY. 1. Mechanisms of the breakdown of submerged leaves under the warm and dry Moroccan climate, including the interaction between hyphomycetes and invertebrates, were investigated.
2. Laboratory experiments were performed on dried leaves of Salix sp. and Nerium oleander .
3. During the first month under the experimental conditions, Melanopsis praemorsa, Physa acula (Gastropoda) and Hydropsyche maroccana (Trichoptera), respectively, were responsible for a loss of weight of 38, 21 and 13% in willow leaves, and 40, 15 and 8% in oleander leaves.
4. The weight lost by willow leaves inoculated with the fungi Alatospora acuminata, Anguillospora longissima, Lemonniera aquatica and Tetracladium marchalianum increased with time, but varied according to the fungal species. Loss of weight and increase in nitrate and phosphate content of the leaves were greatest with Lemonniera and smallest with Tetracladium .
5. When the leaves thus colonized by each of the four fungal species were exposed to each of the three invertebrates, the amount of material consumed increased with the time of fungal conditioning and varied according to the fungus and to the invertebrate. Greatest consumption was by Melanopsis feeding on leaves conditioned by Lemonniera , in which case assimilation percentage by the gastropod was as high as 75%.
6. Owing to their numbers in the field, and to the quantity of leaf material they ingest, gastropods appear as the main shredders in the streams considered, thus replacing the Crustacea that often play this part under temperate climates. Breakdown seems faster in Morocco than in France, mainly because of a shorter initial time lag in weight loss.