Elevational changes in the avian community of a Mesoamerican cloud forest park

Harboring many range‐restricted and specialized species, high elevation tropical cloud forests are diverse habitats represented in many protected areas. Despite this, many such areas receive little practical protection from deforestation and land conversion. Moreover, montane species may be more sensitive to climate change owing to various factors affecting community assembly across elevational gradients. Few studies have used annual monitoring to assess how biological communities in cloud forests may be shifting in response to habitat or climate change or assessed the efficacy of protected areas in buffering these effects. We analyzed avifaunal community trends in a 10‐yr dataset of constant‐effort bird point‐count data in a cloud forest national park in Honduras, Central America. We found that species richness and diversity increased at higher elevations, but decreased at lower elevations. Abundances of most dietary and forest‐dependency groups exhibited similar trends, and many key cloud forest species shifted upslope and/or increased in abundance. Taken together, our results suggest that the avian community is moving upslope and species composition is changing. Results for species richness and diversity were similar when only nondegraded transects were considered, suggesting the role of climate change as an important driver. At lower elevations, however, many species may be negatively affected by increased habitat degradation, favoring species with low forest dependency. Continued habitat conversion and climate change could push the cloud forest bird community further upslope, potentially resulting in increased competition, mortality, and even extirpation of some species. Increased protection is unlikely to mitigate the effects of climate change.     

Does water and phosphorus uptake limit leaf growth of Rhizoctonia-infected wheat seedlings?

Wheat seedlings infected with a pure inoculum of the root-rotting fungus Rhizoctonia solani were grown in pots designed to fit in pressure chambers, to allow the effects of the Rhizoctonia infection on leaf growth to be studied while maintaining the leaves at elevated water status. Wheat was grown to the third leaf stage in soil inoculated with three different levels of Rhizoctonia, and the pots were then pressurised for seven days to maintain the leaf xylem at the point of bleeding (ie. the leaves were at full turgor). The reduction in leaf expansion caused by Rhizoctonia was not overcome by pressurisation, indicating that a reduced supply of water to the leaves was not responsible for reduced leaf growth. The addition of phosphorus to pots marginally deficient in P did not increase the leaf growth of Rhizoctonia-infected plants, despite increased P uptake to the leaves. These results indicate that a reduced supply of water to the leaves and a supply of phosphorus that was bordering on deficient was not the cause of the growth reduction in seedlings with Rhizoctonia infection. The nature of this reduced growth remains uncertain but may involve growth regulators produced by the fungus, or by the plant as a result of the infection process. The mechanism of these growth reductions is of interest as it may provide a key to the development of plant resistance mechanisms. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Genetic variation and pathogenicity of anastomosis group 2 isolates of Rhizoctonia solani in Australia

A collection of isolates of Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis group (AG) 2 was examined for genetic diversity and pathogenicity. Anastomosis reactions classified the majority of isolates into the known subgroups of AG 2-1 and AG 2-2 but the classification of several isolates was ambiguous. Morphological characters were consistent with the species, with no discriminating characters existing between subgroups. Vertical PAGE of pectic enzymes enabled the separation of zymogram group (ZG) 5 and 6 within AG 2-1, but not the separation of ZG 4 and 10 within AG 2-2. PCR analysis using inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) and the intron-splice junction (ISJ) region supported the separation of ZG 5 and 6, while the AG 2-2 isolates were separated by geographic region. A comparison of distance matrices produced by the zymogram analysis and PCR indicated a strong correlation between the marker types. Pathogenicity studies suggested canola (Brassica napus) cultivars were most severely affected by AG 2-1, while cultivars of two species of medic (Medicago truncatula cv. Caliph and M. littoralis cv. Herald) were susceptible to both AG 2-1 and 2-2. The results indicate that AG 2 is a polyphyletic group in which the classification of subtypes is sometimes difficult. Further investigation of the population structure within Australia is required to determine the extent and origin of the observed diversity.     

Genetic Structure of Cochliobolus sativus Populations Sampled from Roots and Leaves of Barley and Wheat in North Dakota

Common root rot (CRR) and spot blotch, caused by Cochliobolus sativus (Ito and Kurib.) Drechsl. ex Dast., are important diseases of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) worldwide. However, the population biology of C. sativus is still poorly understood. In this study, the genetic structure of three C. sativus populations, consisting of isolates sampled respectively from barley leaves (BL), barley roots (BR) and wheat roots (WR) in North Dakota, was analysed with amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. A total of 127 AFLP loci were generated among 208 C. sativus isolates analysed with three primer combinations. Gene diversity (H = 0.277–0.335) were high in all three populations. Genetic variation among C. sativus individuals within population accounted for 74%, whereas 26% of the genetic variation was explained among populations. Genetic differentiation was high (ØPT = 0.261, corrected = 0.39), whereas gene flow (Nm) ranged from 1.27 to 1.56 among the three populations analysed. The multilocus linkage disequilibrium (LD) (= 0.076–0.117) was moderate in C  sativus populations. Cluster analyses indicate that C. sativus populations differentiated according to the hosts (barley and wheat) and tissues (root and leaf) although generalists also exist in North Dakota. Crop breeding may benefit from combining genes for resistance against both specialists and generalists of C. sativus.     

Loci on chromosomes 1A and 2A affect resistance to tan (yellow) spot in wheat populations not segregating for <Emphasis Type="Italic">tsn1</Emphasis>

Key message

QTL for tan spot resistance were mapped on wheat chromosomes 1A and 2A. Lines were developed with resistance alleles at these loci and at the tsn1 locus on chromosome 5B. These lines expressed significantly higher resistance than the parent with tsn1 only.

Abstract

Tan spot (syn. yellow spot and yellow leaf spot) caused by Pyrenophora tritici-repentis is an important foliar disease of wheat in Australia. Few resistance genes have been mapped in Australian germplasm and only one, known as tsn1 located on chromosome 5B, is known in Australian breeding programs. This gene confers insensitivity to the fungal effector ToxA. The main aim of this study was to map novel resistance loci in two populations: Calingiri/Wyalkatchem, which is fixed for the ToxA-insensitivity allele tsn1, and IGW2574/Annuello, which is fixed for the ToxA-sensitivity allele Tsn1. A second aim was to combine new loci with tsn1 to develop lines with improved resistance. Tan spot severity was evaluated at various growth stages and in multiple environments. Symptom severity traits exhibited quantitative variation. The most significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) were detected on chromosomes 2A and 1A. The QTL on 2A explained up to 29.2% of the genotypic variation in the Calingiri/Wyalkatchem population with the resistance allele contributed by Wyalkatchem. The QTL on 1A explained up to 28.1% of the genotypic variation in the IGW2574/Annuello population with the resistance allele contributed by Annuello. The resistance alleles at both QTL were successfully combined with tsn1 to develop lines that express significantly better resistance at both seedling and adult plant stages than Calingiri which has tsn1 only.

     

The effect of rhizoctonia root disease and applied nitrogen on growth,nitrogen uptake and nutrient concentrations in spring wheat

Root disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani is a common problem of spring wheat in South Australia. There are reports that nitrogen applications can reduce the incidence and severity of the disease. A glasshouse trail in pots examined the effects of disease and of applied nitrogen on wheat growth, and evaluated the utility of the basal stem nitrate concentration in diagnosing deficiency in plants with and without root disease. Plants were harvested at the mid-tillering stage. Shoot growth was increased by applied nitrogen until a maximum yield was attained, after which additional N had no effect on shoot yield. Root growth, however, responded positively only to low levels of applied N, after which it declined, and in the highest N treatment root mass was less than in the plants without applied N. Root disease caused severe reductions in plant growth, and both root and shoot mass were affected similarly. Even though growth of diseased plants responded positively to applied nitrogen the response was less than that of disease-free plants. The critical concentration of basal stem nitrate-N did not appear to be affected by root disease, and was estimated at 1200 mg kg^-1, consistent with other glasshouse data. The basal stem nitrate-N concentration, either in fresh or dried tissue, appeared a better diagnostic tool of N stress than did total shoot N concentration or content, because of sharper definition of critical concentrations. Concentrations of other nutrients in shoot tissue were affected differentially by both applied nitrogen and root disease, but generally did not reach critical levels, although phosphorus and magnesium appeared deficient in very disease-stressed plants.