Morphological and genetic relationship of two closely‐related giant water bugs: Appasus japonicus Vuillefroy and Appasus major Esaki (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae)

The East Asian giant water bug species Appasus japonicus Vuillefroy and Appasus major Esaki are aquatic hemipteran insects whose ranges overlap, particularly in the Japanese Archipelago and on the Korean Peninsula. In rare cases, the two species co‐occur. Furthermore, they are very similar ecologically and also morphologically, making their identification extremely difficult, and the possibility of hybridization has also been suggested. In the present study, we re‐examined their taxonomic validity, and the characteristics useful for identifying them. To re‐examine the morphological traits useful for distinguishing these two species, 222 specimens of A. japonicus collected from Japan, Korea, and China, and 132 specimens of A. major from Japan and Korea, were examined. We also performed molecular phylogenetic analyses based on the mitochondrial DNA 16S rRNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) regions and the nuclear DNA Histone 3 region. Although the two species are very similar ecologically and also morphologically, they showed significant genetic differentiation. Thus, there is likely some form of reproductive isolation acting between them. Major morphological characteristics overlap extensively between A. japonicus and A. major, and no particular trait was identified as being effective for differentiating these species. All the morphological characteristics examined overlapped between A. japonicus and A. major. However, a principal component analysis based on all of the morphological characteristics revealed that, despite the overlap between these species, it was possible to morphologically distinguish them. Therefore, a more accurate identification becomes possible using multiple characteristics rather than a single characteristic. The male genital paralobes, evaluated as the most useful morphological characteristic, was effective with 100% probability for the Japanese Appasus species. However, for the Asian (i.e. Korean) specimens, this characteristic was not useful. On the other hand, the results of molecular phylogenetic analyses based on the mitochondrial DNA 16S rRNA and COI regions and the nuclear DNA Histone 3 region clearly showed significant genetic differentiation between the two species. Notably, the results for the mitochondrial COI region strongly supported the independence of each monophyletic group (i.e. validity of each species). Therefore, DNA barcoding based on the mitochondrial DNA COI region is also considered useful for the identification of A. japonicus and A. major. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 110 , 615–643.     

2‐(Undecyloxy)‐ethanol is a major component of the male‐produced aggregation pheromone of Monochamus sutor

The small white‐marmorated longicorn beetle, Monochamus sutor (L.) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), is widely distributed throughout Europe and Asia. It is a potential vector of the pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner et Buhrer) Nickle, the causal agent of the devastating pine wilt disease. Volatiles were collected from both male and female beetles after maturation feeding. In analyses of these collections using gas chromatography (GC) coupled to mass spectrometry, a single male‐specific compound was detected and identified as 2‐(undecyloxy)‐ethanol. In analyses by GC coupled to electroantennography the only consistent responses from both female and male antennae were to this compound. Trapping tests were carried out in Spain, Sweden, and China. 2‐(Undecyloxy)‐ethanol was attractive to both male and female M. sutor beetles. A blend of the bark beetle pheromones ipsenol, ipsdienol, and 2‐methyl‐3‐buten‐2‐ol was also attractive to both sexes in Spain and Sweden, and further increased the attractiveness of the 2‐(undecyloxy)‐ethanol. The host plant volatiles α‐pinene, 3‐carene, and ethanol were weakly attractive, if at all, in all three countries and did not significantly increase the attractiveness of the blend of 2‐(undecyloxy)‐ethanol and bark beetle pheromones. 2‐(Undecyloxy)‐ethanol is thus proposed to be the major, if not only, component of the male‐produced aggregation pheromone of M. sutor, and its role is discussed. This compound has been reported as a pheromone of several other Monochamus species and is another example of the parsimony that seems to exist among the pheromones of many of the Cerambycidae. Traps baited with 2‐(undecyloxy)‐ethanol and bark beetle pheromones should be useful for monitoring and control of pine wilt disease, should M. sutor be proven to be a vector of the nematode.     

马尾松人工林近自然化改造对植物自然更新及物种多样性的影响

中国人工林面积居世界第一位,而马尾松是中国人工林面积较大的树种之一,广泛分布于中国的亚热带区域。马尾松适应能力强,耐干旱、瘠薄,是南方低山丘陵区群落演替的先锋树种,也是荒山绿化造林的主要树种,马尾松人工林对生态防护、生态治理有着重大的意义。但是,绝大部分马尾松人工林为人工纯林,生态系统比较脆弱,生态服务功能较差。人工林的近自然改造对于增加林地生物多样性,提升人工林的生态服务功能具有重要意义。2005年,对中国林业科学院热带林业试验中心1993年造林的马尾松人工林进行4种不同强度(50%、40%、30%、20%)间伐后,套种大叶栎(Castanopsis fissa)、米老排(Mytilaria laosensis)、润楠(Machilus pingii)、红锥(C. hystrix)4个乡土阔叶树种,各种套种密度皆为120株/hm²。分别于间伐前(2004年)及2010年对群落生物多样性及人工套种树种生态情况进行调查,结果表明:(1)间伐处理后,自然更新至乔木层的物种种类和数量都有显著的增加,600 m²的样方中,物种数由(2.75±2.56)种增加到(11.17±4.32)种,个体数由(5.75±4.31)株增加到(32.17±19.09)株,群落中乔木亚层的优势种变化不大,主要有南酸枣(Choerospondias axillaris)、水锦树(Wendlandia uvariifolia),枫香(Liquidambar formosana)、破布木(Cordia dichotoma)、白背桐(Mallotus paniculatus)等。新增加到乔木层的物种大都为之前群落中灌木层的种类,主要有三桠苦(Evodia lepta)、鸭脚木(Schefflera minutistellata)、白花龙(Styrax faberi)、中平树(Macaranga denticulata)、黄毛榕(Ficus esquiroliana)、华南毛柃(Eurya ciliata)、罗浮柿(Diospyros morrisiana)、猴耳环(Pithecellobium clypearia)、木姜子(Litsea pungens)、毛黄肉楠(Actinodaphne pilosa)等。(2)间伐处理前,600 m²样方中出现的灌草种类数量为(24.63±4.24)种,间伐处理后,600 m²样方中出现的灌草种类数量为(27.58±3.80)种,不同间伐强度处理后林下灌草的优势种与间伐前大致相同,灌木层优势种为三桠苦,草本层优势种为弓果黍(Cyrtococcum patens)。不同间伐强度处理林分间,灌木层和草本层的物种丰富度指数、Shannon-Wiener指数、Simpson指数和Pielou指数均无显著差异,且与间伐前林分也无显著差异。(3)间伐促进了4个乡土树种幼树的生长,随着间伐强度的增加,大叶栎、红锥幼树的高度和胸径显著增长;50%的间伐强度的林分中,阔叶树种幼树的长势要显著好于其他间伐强度,50%的间伐强度最有利于马尾松林下套种的阔叶树种生长。(4)在马尾松林下套种的4个阔叶树种幼树的初期生长有明显差异。总体而言,大叶栎与米老排幼树的早期生长速率要明显高于红锥和润楠。     

川西亚高山不同海拔森林土壤活性氮库及净氮矿化的季节动态

研究了川西理县毕棚沟不同海拔梯度(3600 m、3300 m和3000 m)森林群落土壤活性氮库及土壤净氮矿化速率的季节动态.结果表明: 研究区森林土壤活性氮库(铵态氮、硝态氮、微生物生物量氮和可溶性有机氮)及净氮矿化速率存在明显的季节变化,但不同形态土壤活性氮库的季节动态有一定差异.4个采样时期(非生长季与生长季初期、中期及末期)各海拔土壤硝态氮浓度(8.38～89.60 mg·kg^-1)均显著高于铵态氮浓度(0.44～8.43 mg·kg^-1).生长季初期各海拔梯度的土壤净氮矿化速率均表现为负值(-0.77～-0.56 mg·kg^-1·d^-1),而非生长季、生长季中期和末期均为正值.除硝态氮外,不同海拔的土壤铵态氮、微生物生物量氮和可溶性有机氮浓度的差异极显著,海拔对它们的影响与季节变化有关.该区土壤净氮矿化以硝化为主,且氮矿化过程不受海拔梯度的影响.冬季土壤净氮矿化明显(0.42～099 mg·kg^-1·d^-1),早春高的土壤无机氮可能为植物生长提供基础养分,也可能通过淋溶方式从系统中丢失.     

Distribution and characterisation of entomopathogenic fungi from Korean soils

We investigated the occurrence of entomopathogenic fungi in 1080 soil samples representing multiple locations and conditions in Korea. Entomopathogenic fungi were isolated from soils using a selective medium containing dodine and antibiotics. Following an initial identification based on morphology, the fungal isolates were more precisely identified by the sequence of their nuclear ribosomal RNA (rRNA) internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. As a result, entomopathogenic fungi were found to occur in 32% (342 isolates) of the soil samples studied. The most abundant species were Beauveria spp. (125 isolates) and Metarhizium spp. (82 isolates). Entomopathogenic fungi were more often recovered from natural mountain and riparian soils than from agricultural habitats. The pathogenicity of isolated fungi was evaluated by using wax moth Galleria mellonella L. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) larvae. It was determined that 60% (207 isolates) of the isolates were pathogenic using this model. These entomopathogenic fungi may, therefore, have potential use against a variety of agricultural pests. This is the first study of the isolation and distribution of entomopathogenic fungi in representative sampling locations throughout Korea.     

Effects of Korean Red Ginseng extract on hepatic lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells

In this study, we investigated the effects of Korean red ginseng water extract (KRGE) on hepatic lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells. KRGE decreased hepatic triglyceride and cholesterol levels. Further, KRGE suppressed expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and 3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase. These results suggest that KRGE may reduce hepatic lipid accumulation by inhibition of FAS and HMG-CoA reductase expression in HepG2 cells.     

Neogene origins and implied warmth tolerance of Amazon tree species

Tropical rain forest has been a persistent feature in South America for at least 55 million years. The future of the contemporary Amazon forest is uncertain, however, as the region is entering conditions with no past analogue, combining rapidly increasing air temperatures, high atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, possible extreme droughts, and extensive removal and modification by humans. Given the long‐term Cenozoic cooling trend, it is unknown whether Amazon forests can tolerate air temperature increases, with suggestions that lowland forests lack warm‐adapted taxa, leading to inevitable species losses. In response to this uncertainty, we posit a simple hypothesis: the older the age of a species prior to the Pleistocene, the warmer the climate it has previously survived, with Pliocene (2.6–5 Ma) and late‐Miocene (8–10 Ma) air temperature across Amazonia being similar to 2100 temperature projections under low and high carbon emission scenarios, respectively. Using comparative phylogeographic analyses, we show that 9 of 12 widespread Amazon tree species have Pliocene or earlier lineages (>2.6 Ma), with seven dating from the Miocene (>5.6 Ma) and three >8 Ma. The remarkably old age of these species suggest that Amazon forests passed through warmth similar to 2100 levels and that, in the absence of other major environmental changes, near‐term high temperature‐induced mass species extinction is unlikely.     

Temperature-related sex allocation shifts in a recovering keystone species,Pinus palustris

Summary

In the light of all that has been discovered about the mechanism of evolution it has become tempting to follow Darwin's lead and to “see no limit to this power“. Yet a careful examination of situations in which evolution is known to be occurring in some species, shows complete absence of evolution in others. This not because these species have not had the opportunity; in many situations there may even be uncolonised bare space.

The explanation must lie in the supply of appropriate variation. A tacit assumption of evolution by natural selection is that the necessary variation is always available. Yet there is no a priori justification for this. Evidence from populations in nature, particularly of species which are potential colonists of old metal mine workings and similar metal contaminated habitats, shows that the species that successfully colonise these habitats, by the evolution of metal tolerant populations, possess within their normal populations the necessary variation. But those species which fail to colonise these habitats, despite the opportunity, do not possess this variation. This applies also at the level of the population, in the replicated evolutionary situations occurring under electricity pylons.

Such evidence, together with arguments from theory, suggests that the failures of evolution have been as important as its successes in moulding the living world as we see it today, and that the reasons for failure must be sought at the molecular level in limitations to the origin of new variation.     

Canopy cover and understory composition determine abundance of Vaccinium myrtillus L., a key plant for capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), in subalpine forests in the Pyrenees

Background: The dwarf shrub Vaccinium myrtillus – with high cover, height, and fruit production – benefits capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus).

Aims: Our aim was to quantify landscape (e.g. elevation, geographic location, and precipitation), site (e.g. overstorey cover and stoniness) and very fine scale factors (e.g. spatial associations in the understorey) that affect cover, height, and fruit production of V. myrtillus in subalpine forests in thePyrenees, with understorey usually dominated by Rhododendron ferrugineum.

Methods: We sampled 155 plots (0.5 m × 5 m) in six sites. For each plot, in the understorey layer, we assessed species cover, height for R. ferrugineum and V. myrtillus, number of total fruits in V. myrtillus, and spatial associations among V. myrtillus and the remaining cover types.

Results: Overstorey cover negatively influenced V. myrtillus cover, its height, and particularly, the number of fruits, which was also negatively influenced by R. ferrugineum cover. Associations between R. ferrugineum and V. myrtillus were site dependent, while V. myrtillus showed mostly positive associations with grasses and mosses.

Conclusions: Reducing overstorey and R. ferrugineum cover has the strongest positive effect on increasing V. myrtillus fruit production, but with additional positive effects on V. myrtillus cover and height. Increases in grass and moss coverage could favour V. myrtillus.