Interactions between the roach,Rutilus rutilus,and waterfowl populations of Lough Neagh,Northern Ireland

Synopsis Following the introduction of roach, Rutilus rutilus, to a large eutrophic lake in ca. 1973, a subsequent increase in the abundance of this cyprinid through the 1970s was accompanied by a decline in the numbers of one of the lake&s most abundant overwintering waterfowl, the tufted duck, Aythya fuligula, and an increase in overwintering piscivorous great crested grebes, Podiceps cristatus. We suggest that these contrasting trends are causally related and that competition for benthos and increased prey availability are the mechanisms responsible for the changes in the tufted duck and grebe populations respectively. In agreement with these hypotheses, a reduction in the roach population during the mid 1980s was accompanied by a recovery of tufted ducks and a decline of grebes.     

On the opportunity cost of the photosynthate invested in stem elongation reactions mediated by phytochrome

Summary Seedlings of shade-intolerant species react to alterations of the light climate caused by their neighbors with morphological changes that may influence the pattern of resource acquisition and utilization at the whole-canopy level. One such change, the increased stem elongation rate that is triggered by low red (R, 660 nm) to far-red (FR, 730 nm) ratios (R:FR) in dense canopies, might reduce the amount of assimilates available for leaf area expansion or root growth, and in that way affect resource capture by the canopy. We have tested this hypothesis by comparing the growth of both isolated individuals and canopies of the weed Amaranthus quitensis under conditions differing only in the spectral distribution of the incident light. When canopies received the full spectrum of sunlight, the stems were a large proportion (40–57%) of total biomass. Filtering the FR waveband (and hence raising the R:FR ratio to eliminate the neighbors' proximity-signal) resulted in shorter canopies with lighter stems. However, the growth of leaves and roots was not promoted by this treatment, indicating that the opportunity cost of the assimilates invested in the stems was nil or very small. Filtering the FR had no effect on biomass accumulation when plants were grown as isolated individuals. The higher growth of the canopics under full spectrum could be due to a higher light interception or to a higher efficiency of light conversion into biomass. The first possibility is weakened by the observation that filtering the FR had no effect on the dynamics of soil covering by the crops. The second is indirectly strengthened by results of an experiment with isolated plants showing that stem elongation, stem growth, and total plant biomass can be increased by reducing the flux of R light received by the stems without affecting the light climate of the leaves. Further work is needed to distinguish between these two possibilities; whatever the cause, our results show that the elongation responses to decreased R:FR may lead to a net increase in canopy productivity, and do not necessarily have a negative impact on the growth of resource-harvesting organs.     

Enrichment of diazotrophic bacteria from rice soil in continuous culture

Summary A chemostat was used as a model system to study competitive interactions of diazotrophic microorganisms. Enrichment experiments were carried out under microaerobic conditions (8.7 mol O₂/l) with malate as the sole carbon source. The starting material was a Korean rice soil including intact root pieces. The enrichment process was governed by the dilution rate. High dilution rates resulted in the enrichment ofAzospirillum lipoferum, whereas low dilution rates led to the predominance of an unidentified organism, named Isolate R. Dilution rates were set in the range from D=0.005 to D=0.1 h^–1. The growth kinetics of both organisms followed Monod's model in the enrichment culture. From the experiments, the maximum specific growth rate ofA. lipoferum and Isolate R were 0.069 h^–1 and 0.025 h^–1, respectively. The corresponding K_s-values were 8.4 and 0.9 (mg. 1^–1). The point of theoretical coexistence of both organisms was calculated to occur at a substrate concentration of s=3.0 (mg.l^–1) with a growth of rate =0.018 h^–1. Hence the preset nutritional niches occupied by at least two organisms.Azospirillum lipoferum seems to represent the copiotroph microflora and Isolate R is of the oligotroph type. In addition to its high substrate affinity Isolate R liberatedca. 75% of the fixed nitrogen into the medium, which indicates its potential role for mutualistic interactions in the rhizosphere.     

Predator-mediated habitat use: some consequences for species interactions

Synopsis Behavioral responses to predators can have a major impact on a fishes' diet and habitat choice. Studies with the bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus, demonstrate that bluegills undergo pronounced shifts in diet and habitat use as they grow in response to changes in their vulnerability to predators. Other species of fish exhibit similar habitat shifts with body size, presumably also in response to changing predation risks and/or foraging gains. An important but little appreciated consequence of this type of predator-mediated habitat use is that predation risk, by structuring size and/or age-specific resource use, may also indirectly affect species interactions. This paper discusses some of the ways in which behavioral responses to predators may affect intra- and interspecific competition in fish. Observational and experimental studies with sunfish (Centrarchidae) provide most of the examples. These studies suggest that the nonlethal effects of predators may be as important as the actual killing of prey.     

Studies on interspecies competition between the azuki bean weevil and the southern cowpea weevil

Experimental studies was made on the interspecies competition between the azuki bean weevil, Callosobruchus chinensis and the southern cowpea weevil, C. macultatus. And the following results were obtained.

1. The reverse result of competition between the two species observed under the air-tight condition and the air-free one. That is, the population of the azuki bean weevils destroyedby that of the southern cowpea weevils under the former condition and vice versa under the latter. It is thought that such a reversal is due to the difference of sensibility of each species to the air-tight condition.
2. Under the air-free condition, change of the time interval of food-supplying had no effect on the result of competition within the limits of this experiment. The population of the southern cowpea weevils was always destroyed by that of the azuki bean weevils. But there was a certain degree of correlation between the duration of co-existence and the interval of food-supplying.
3. From the results, it is possible to say that by changing the degree of air-tightness, or the time interval of food-supplying, the co-existence period and the final result of competition can be changed.
4. The different mechanism of competition between two species in the present experiment from the experiments ofUtida (1952) andYoshida (1957) were discussed.
5. A difference in the mechanism of interspecies competition and intraspecies competition was expected from the level of total population numbers of two species and the individual weight of C. chinensis.

     

Competition between laboratory populations of green leafhoppers,Nephotettix spp. (Homoptera: Cicadellidae)

Intra- and interspecific competition between laboratory populations of four green leafhoppers, Nephotettix spp. was studied in the laboratory under three different temperature regimes of 24°C, 27°C and 30°C. For the single-species population of the three tropical species, the equilibrium density increased as the temperature increased. On the other hand, for the temperature species N. cincticeps, the highest equilibrium density was at the intermediate temperature and the lowest at high temperature. Interspecific interactions between two tropical (N. virescens vs. N. nigropictus), a tropical and a temperature (N. virescens vs. N. cincticeps) and a rice-feeding and a grass-inhabiting (N. virescens vs. N. malayanus) Nephotettix species were also studied in the laboratory at the three temperature regimes. Temperature differentially affected the outcome of competition between two Nephotettix species. Between N. virescens and N. nigropictus, the latter was more successful over the former at low and intermediate temperatures, while the former was more successful at high temperature. Between N. virescens and N. cincticeps, the temperate species inhibited the growth of the tropical species at low temperature while the tropical species inhibited the growth of the temperate species at high temperature. At intermediate temperature, the population of N. virescens persisted at a slightly higher density over the population of N. cincticeps. Between the rice-feeding N. virescens and the grass-inhabiting N. malayanus, regardless of temperature the population density of the latter was greatly reduced and later became extinct while the population of the former continued its growth. These consequences of competition between two Nephotettix species conformed fairly well to those predicted by theLotka-Volterra model using demographic parameters specified for each species.     

Differences in low pH tolerance among closely related sunfish of the genus Enneacanthus

Synopsis Three closely related sunfish in the genus Enneacanthus were examined to determine if differences existed in their tolerance to low pH that could explain their contrasting distributions. Na fluxes of E. obesus, E. gloriosus, and E. chaetodon were measured during 12 h exposure to pH 4.0 and 3.5 (all species), and 3.25 (former 2 species only). All experienced ionic disturbances upon acid exposure resulting from inhibition of active Na influx and stimulation of passive Na efflux, but E. gloriosus and E. chaetodon experienced greater disturbances than E. obesus at all pH's tested. Body and plasma Na concentrations of E. gloriosus were measured after one week of exposure to a range of pH's for comparison with previously published data from E. obesus. Exposure to pH 4.0 and below caused a depression in body and plasma Na concentration of E. gloriosus, and only two of 10 fish survived the one week test period at pH 3.5; none survived at pH 3.25. In contrast, exposure to pH 4.0 for five weeks had no effect on body Na concentration of E. obesus, all 10 fish survived exposure to pH 3.5 for two weeks. Growth of E. gloriosus and E. obesus were measured separately during 12 weeks of exposure to a range of pH's. E. gloriosus exposed to pH 4.25 and 4.0 grew at a lower rate than those at higher pH's (4.5, 5.0, and 5.8), and body Na concentrations of fish at pH's 4.25 and 4.0 were significantly less than the others. With declining pH E. obesus did not exhibit reduced growth until pH 3.75 was reached; no depression in body Na concentration occurred at this pH. These results show that there are marked differences in low pH tolerance among closely related species of Enneacanthus which could affect their distributions and competitive interactions.     

Impacts of introduced common wasps (Vespula vulgaris) on experimentally placed mealworms in a New Zealand beech forest

An introduced social wasp Vespula vulgaris may compete with native birds for honeydew and invertebrates in New Zealand forests. Experimentally hidden mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) persisted longer at two sites following wasp poisoning that at two sites where wasps were not poisoned. Mealworms persisted longer in the morning than in the afternoon within all study sites. An unusually low mealworm removal rate during a morning trial before wasp poisoning heavily influences the results of this experiment but we have no ecological reason to ignore it. Wasps may therefore be having a heavy impact on invertebrate abundance on very short time scales (within a day following dawn emergence). They may also remove cached food items that would otherwise be retrieved by the South Island robin (Petroica australis australis) during cold or dark feeding conditions.     

Population dynamic consequences of competition within and between age classes

We investigate the population dynamics of a semivoltine species whose juvenile development takes two years to complete, and is followed by a very short reproductive adult stage. Reproduction is synchronized so at any given time the juvenile population consists of two cohorts. Coexistence of the two cohorts requires that the strength of intea-cohort competition exceeds that of inter-cohort competition, an extension of the competitive exclusion principle. The population may exhibit population cycles with low integer period. We identify two mechanisms for two-year cycles, and note that four-year cycles are a natural consequence of overcompensation. Three year cycles can occur and we discuss the mechanisms involved.