Larger Triticum aestivum plants do not preempt nutrient-rich patches in a glasshouse experiment

Plant competition belowground generally appears to be size-symmetric, i.e. larger plants only obtain a share of belowground resources proportional to their size, and therefore do not suppress smaller individuals. The experimental evidence for size-symmetric belowground competition comes primarily from experiments with homogenous soil conditions. It has been hypothesized that the presence of high nutrient patches that can be pre-empted by larger plants can make competition belowground size-asymmetric. We tested this hypothesis by growing Triticum aestivum individuals singly and in pairs in containers with aboveground dividers so that competition occurred only belowground. Plants grew in either a homogenous soil mixture, or in the same mixture with a band of enriched soil between them. Initial size differences were generated by a seven day difference in sowing date. There was no evidence of size-asymmetric competition with or without soil heterogeneity. Large plants did not have a disproportionate effect on smaller plants, nor did they perform disproportionately better when paired with a small neighbor. Our results suggest that in heterogeneous soil conditions, roots of larger plants that reach nutrient patches first are not able to prevent roots of smaller plants that arrive later from obtaining resources from the patch. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Analysis of relatedness and determination of the source of founders in the captive bearded vulture, Gypaetus barbatus, population

Genetic relatedness among founders is a vitalparameter in the management of captivepopulations as kin structure can have asignificant effect on subsequent populationstructure. Methods for inferring relatednessfrom microsatellite markers have all beendeveloped for natural populations; theirapplicability to captive populations withunknown founder origins needs thereforetesting. We used information derived from 14microsatellites in 177 individuals and Quellerand Goodnight's approach, to estimaterelatedness in the captive bearded vulturepopulation and to test the assumption ofunrelated founders. Mean relatedness of knownparent–offspring, full-sib and half-sib pairswithin the captive population were in agreementwith theoretical distributions. Pairwiserelatedness values among the founders had amean of –0.051 (SE ± 0.007) and theirdistribution did only differ marginally fromthe one found in the natural Pyreneanpopulation. A maximum likelihood approach wasused to determine the likelihood of founderpairs to be as closely related as full-sibs orparent–offspring. These results were combinedwith data from 268 bp mitochondrial DNA controlregion sequences and studbook information. Wecould exclude a close relationship among themajority of the 36 successfully reproducingfounders. Our study therefore removesmanagement concerns about hidden problems ofinbreeding and inbreeding depression. Itdemonstrates the applicability of relatednessestimates based on microsatellite allelefrequency data even in captive populations.Furthermore, we verified studbook informationon the origin of two founders from thePyrenees, and show the value of assignmenttests based on microsatellites for deducingfounder origins and their important role infuture monitoring projects.     

Traits émotionnels, intelligence émotionnelle: intÉrêt de ces concepts et Étude de leurs interrelations

Studies on personality traits conducted during the past decade indicate that there is a set of emotion-related traits on which individuals differ. Moreover, other studies showed that there are some abilities related to the processing of both emotions and emotional information, referred to as the concept of emotional intelligence. The authors of the article evaluated one hundred adults (ranging in age from 20–50) using the French version of a series of scales to measure stable emotionrelated traits and emotional intelligence. The results showed that these instruments provide accurate internal consistency and reliability, and that there are significant relationships between the individual emotional characteristics observed. A factorial analysis conducted with varimax rotation underlined five primary factors identified as: Clear-sightedness of emotions, Emotional richness, Identification, Understanding and Emotional control. The average emotional profiles based on these five primary factors depend on gender and age. In particular, the female and the oldest participants showed a greater emotional richness. The examination of these five factors should lead to a better understanding of the relationships which exist between these emotional characteristics and cognitive performances, and their involvement in clinical syndromes.     

Ecologically heterogeneous populations of the invasive ant Wasmannia auropunctata within its native and introduced ranges

Abstract 1. The biology of most invasive species in their native geographical areas remains largely unknown. Such studies are, however, crucial in shedding light on the ecological and evolutionary processes underlying biological invasions. 2. The present study focuses on the little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata, a species native to Central and South America that has been widely introduced and which has become invasive throughout the tropics. We characterise and compare several ecological traits of native populations in French Guiana with those in one of its introduced ranges, New Caledonia. 3. We found ecologically heterogeneous populations of W. auropunctata coexisting in the species’ native geographical area. First, we found populations restricted to naturally perturbed areas (particularly floodplains) within the primary forest, and absent from the surrounding forest areas. These populations were characterised by low nest and worker densities. Second, we found dominant populations in recent anthropogenic areas (e.g. secondary forest or forest edge along road) characterised by high nest and worker densities, and associated with low ant species richness. The local dominance of W. auropunctata in such areas can be due to the displacement of other species (cause) or the filling‐up of empty habitats unsuitable to other ants (effect). With respect to their demographic features and ant species richness, the populations of native anthropogenic habitats were to a large extent similar to the invasive populations introduced into remote areas. 4. The results point to the need for greater research efforts to better understand the ecological and demographic features of invasive species within their native ranges.     

Ecological thresholds and regime shifts: approaches to identification

There is an apparent gap between the prominence of present theoretical frameworks involving ecological thresholds and regime shifts, and the paucity of efforts to conduct simple tests and quantitative inferences on the actual appearance of such phenomena in ecological data. A wide range of statistical methods and analytical techniques are now available that render these questions tractable, some of them even dating back half a century. Yet, their application has been sparse and confined within a narrow subset of cases of ecological regime shifts. Our objective is to raise awareness on the range of techniques available, and to their principles and limitations, to promote a more operational approach to the identification of ecological thresholds and regime shifts.     

Tolerance of switchgrass to extreme soil moisture stress: Ecological implications

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), a native of eastern and central North America, is a leading candidate as a dedicated biofuel feedstock in the US due to its broad adaptability, rapid growth rate, and ability to grow in low production soils. To begin to characterize the important agronomic and ecological traits related to environmental tolerance of switchgrass, we evaluated fitness under stressful growing conditions. We assessed the germination, establishment, performance, and reproductive potential of four common accessions, both upland and lowland ecotypes, at various levels of soil moisture availability (moisture deficit to flooded) in the greenhouse. Seeds emerged and established (55–90% survival) under all soil moisture conditions (−0.3 MPa to flooded). Transplants of lowland ecotypes performed as well in flooded conditions as in field capacity controls, though flooding reduced performance of upland ecotypes. Drought treatments (−4.0 and −11.0 MPa) reduced tiller length and number, leaf area, and biomass production by up to 80%. However, once established, all plants survived at −4.0 MPa and had the same proportion of tillers in flower as at field capacity. The ability of switchgrass to germinate, establish, and flower in low moisture and flooded conditions, particularly lowland ecotypes, may increase the range of environments suitable for biofuel cultivation, and can serve as a baseline for further ecological studies and genetic improvement.     

黄蜂胃部表皮黄色颗粒的微观形态与发育(英文)

东方大黄蜂（胡蜂）Vespa orientalis（膜翅目Vespinae属）的胃部表皮黄色颗粒位于黄色条纹区域。从黄色颗粒产生至在这一区域扩散,这个过程就是胃部黄颜色形成的过程。用几种电子显微镜研究了黄色颗粒的微观形态和发育过程。结果显示黄色颗粒由20—25 µm厚的一层组成,包括总表皮在内厚度约为40—45 µm。从上面看,在上述的区域能看到许多直径大约为0.5 µm周边光感受器细胞(PPC)。在每个黄色颗粒,能观察到一个肌样包膜,它位于一个由9根原纤维组装而成的圆圈内部。黄色颗粒成熟的过程包含通过导管的渗透增加初生黄色粒子数量,这些初生粒子又发育或增生成次生粒子,次生粒子逐渐布满整个区域。在这些黄色粒子层内可产生类似于肝的功能活动。