Differences in the success of sugar maple and red maple seedlings on acid soils are influenced by nutrient dynamics and light environment

Variation in tolerance to nutrient limitations may contribute to the differential success of sugar maple ( Acer saccharum Marsh.) and red maple ( Acer rubrum L.) on acid soils. The objectives of this study were to examine these relationships as influenced by light environment and test whether sensitivity to nutrient stress is mediated by oxidative stress. First-year sugar maple and red seedlings were grown on forest soil cores contrasting in nutrient availability under high or low light intensity. Foliar nutrition, photosynthesis, growth and antioxidant enzyme activity were assessed. Photosynthesis and growth of sugar maple were significantly lower on nutrient-poor soils and were correlated with leaf nutrient status with Ca and P having the strongest influence. For red maple, only chlorophyll content showed sensitivity to the nutrient-poor soils. High light exacerbated the negative effects of nutrient imbalances on photosynthesis and growth in sugar maple. Antioxidant enzyme activity in sugar maple was highest in seedlings growing on nutrient-poor soils and was inversely correlated with photosynthesis, Ca, P, and Mg concentrations. These results suggest that: (1) sugar maple is more sensitive to nutrient stresses associated with low pH soils than red maple; (2) high light increases sugar maple sensitivity to nutrient stress; (3) the negative effects of nutrient imbalances on sugar maple may be mediated by oxidative stress.     

Multiple Fission in Allogromia sp., Strain NF (Foraminiferida): Release,Dispersal, and Ultrastructure of Offspring1

The release, dispersal, and ultrastructure of juveniles arising through multiple fission in the benthic foraminiferan Allogromia sp., strain NF (Lee & Pierce, 1963) has been examined by light and electron microscopy. An extensive reticulopodial network participates in the dispersal of fully differentiated young as they emerge from the fragmented parental test. During the earliest stages of release, offspring are of two classes—aroused and unaroused. Unaroused juveniles, which have not extended pseudopods, attach externally to the network and are transported bidirectionally along its surface. Aroused juveniles, which have extended pseudopods and are in protoplasmic continuity with the network, move quickly to the periphery of the network. Within 24 h, juveniles establish a communal “feeding reticulum” in which dispersed individuals are in protoplasmic continuity with neighbors via a common reticulopodial network. At the ultrastructural level, the cell body cytoplasm of unaroused juveniles contains numerous patches of a paracrystalline material, which disappears as their pseudopodia are extended to join the communal feeding reticulum. This paracrystalline material therefore appears to be a temporary reservoir of precursors required for pseudopod construction.     

Toxicity of Antioxidants to Tetrahymena pyriformis*

SYNOPSIS. The cytotoxicity of 97 antioxidants of various structural types was determined for Tetrahymena pyriformis grown in a peptone medium. Cytotoxicity fo Tetrahymena, generally, was positively associated with acute oral tomicoiciity to rats but not with antioxidant pdency as measured by the Tetrahymena photodynamic assay for antioxidants. Some commonly used hindered-phenol, lipidsoluble anttioxidants, e.g., 2,6-di-tert.-butyl-P-cresol (BHT), had low toxicity (to Tetrahymena but poor antioxidant activity by the photodynamic test. Nmdihydroguahetic acid, with low toxicity to the rat and high Coxicity (to Tetrahymena, had very high activity in the photodynamic test.     

Some Ecologic Factors Influencing Eimeria mccordocki Honess, 1941 in White-Tailed Deer Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann)1

SYNOPSIS. A study of coccidiasis of white-tailed deer from the Welder Refuge in south Texas was conducted from 1964 to 1968. Thirteen percent of 374 deer were infected with low numbers of Eimeria mccordocki, the only coccidium found commonly. Percentage of infection and numbers of coccidia were highest for young deer, for deer collected in winter, and for deer collected in plant communities with “sparse” vegetation. Immunity, environmental change, intensive and concentrated grazing behavior by deer in open areas are presented as factors contributing to the findings.     

The ontogeny of cinctans (stem‐group Echinodermata) as revealed by a new genus,GraciaCystis, from the middle Cambrian of Spain

Abstract:  A new cinctan echinoderm, Graciacystis ambigua gen. et sp. nov. from Cambrian Series 3 rocks of Spain, is described based on more than 100 articulated specimens that range from 6 to 14.5 mm in thecal length. This material shows that Graciacystis ambigua, while plastic in thecal shape, is highly conservative in its thecal construction, with a fixed number of marginal plates and very limited addition of plates in the stele and ventral membrane through ontogeny. Ventral swellings on marginal elements are absent from the smallest specimens and become gradually more marked during growth. A cladistic analysis shows Graciacystis to be a basal cinctan, more derived than Sotocinctus and the Trochocystitidae and as sister group to a large clade formed by Sucocystidae + Gyrocystidae. The determinate growth pattern seen in Graciacystis seems to be the general pattern for all cinctans.