The ecological differentiation of asexual lineages of cotton aphids: alate behaviour, sensory physiology, and differential host associations

The cotton aphid ( Aphis gossypii Glover) is a cosmopolitan pest species consisting of various host plant-associated lineages that appear to have different patterns of insecticide resistance, electrophoretic banding, and reproductive output across alternative host species. Debate continues as to whether these differences represent intraspecific variation or indicate a complex of cryptic or sibling species. We studied the host plant-related ecology of two asexual lineages of A. gossypii associated with the families Malvaceae and Cucurbitaceae, respectively, in particular the host plant finding and acceptance processes of the alate forms. The two lineages proved to be differentiated across host plants in terms of: (1) their landing and settling behaviour, nymphal production rate, and subsequent colony establishment (i.e. nymphal survival and development) and (2) their sensory abilities in relation to host plant-derived odours. Furthermore, genetic structuring according to host plant type was detected using the gene for elongation factor 1-α. The magnitude of the genetic differentiation across lineages was low, perhaps indicating a relatively recent divergence. The results demonstrate: (1) the presence of (at least) two cryptic species within the current definition of A. gossypii , as anticipated in previous studies, and (2) the practicalities of using a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the 'limits' of asexual species. If sexuals can be generated from each of these lineages, this conclusion will be open to further testing.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 97 , 503–519.     

The anatomy of the upper cretaceous snake Najash rionegrina Apesteguía & Zaher, 2006, and the evolution of limblessness in snakes

Najash rionegrina Apesteguía & Zaher, 2006 , a terrestrial fossil snake from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina, represents the first known snake with a sacrum associated with robust, well‐developed hind limbs. Najash rionegrina documents an important gap in the evolutionary development towards limblessness, because its phylogenetic affinities suggest that it is the sister group of all modern snakes, including the limbed Tethyan snakes Pachyrhachis, Haasiophis, and Eupodophis. The latter three limbed marine fossil snakes are shown to be more derived morphologically, because they lack a sacrum, but have articulated lymphapophyses, and their appendicular skeleton is enclosed by the rib cage, as in modern snakes.     

Intra‐individual variation of flowers in Gunnera subgenus Panke (Gunneraceae) and proposed apomorphies for Gunnerales

A study of inflorescence and flower development in 12 species from four of the six subgenera of Gunnera (Gunneraceae) was carried out. In the species of subgenus Panke, initiation of floral apices along the partial inflorescences is acropetal but ends up in the late formation of a terminal flower, forming a cyme at maturity. The terminal flower is the largest and the most complete in terms of merosity and number of whorls and thus it is the most diagnostic in terms of species‐level taxonomy. The lateral flowers undergo a basipetal gradient of organ reduction along the inflorescence, ranging from bisexual flowers (towards the distal region) to functionally (i.e. with staminodia) and structurally female flowers (towards the proximal region). Our results show that the terminal structure in Gunnera is a flower rather than a pseudanthium. The terminal flower is disymmetric, dimerous and bisexual, representing the common bauplan for Gunnera flowers. It has a differentiated perianth with two sepals and two alternate petals, the latter opposite the stamens and carpels. Comparisons with other members of the core eudicots with labile floral construction are addressed. We propose vegetative and floral putative synapomorphies for the sister‐group relationship between Gunneraceae and Myrothamnaceae. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 160 , 262–283.     

Non‐symbiotic nitrogen fixation during leaf litter decomposition in an old‐growth temperate rain forest of Chiloé Island,southern Chile: Effects of single versus mixed species litter

Heterotrophic nitrogen fixation is a key ecosystem process in unpolluted, temperate old‐growth forests of southern South America as a source of new nitrogen to ecosystems. Decomposing leaf litter is an energy‐rich substrate that favours the occurrence of this energy demanding process. Following the niche ‘complementarity hypothesis’, we expected that decomposing leaf litter of a single tree species would support lower rates of non‐symbiotic N fixation than mixed species litter taken from the forest floor. To test this hypothesis we measured acetylene reduction activity in the decomposing monospecific litter of three evergreen tree species (litter C/N ratios, 50–79) in an old‐growth rain forest of Chiloé Island, southern Chile. Results showed a significant effect of species and month (anova , Tukey's test, P < 0.05) on decomposition and acetylene reduction rates (ARR), and a species effect on C/N ratios and initial % N of decomposing leaf litter. The lowest litter quality was that of Nothofagus nitida (C/N ratio = 78.7, lignin % = 59.27 ± 4.09), which resulted in higher rates of acetylene reduction activity (mean = 34.09 ± SE = 10.34 nmol h^?1 g^?1) and a higher decomposition rate (k = 0.47) than Podocarpus nubigena (C/N = 54.4, lignin % = 40.31 ± 6.86, Mean ARR = 4.11 ± 0.71 nmol h^?1 g^?1, k = 0.29), and Drimys winteri (C/N = 50.6, lignin % = 45.49 ± 6.28, ARR = 10.2 ± 4.01 nmol h^?1 g^?1, k = 0.29), and mixed species litter (C/N = 60.7, ARR = 8.89 ± 2.13 nmol h^?1g^?1). We interpret these results as follows: in N‐poor litter and high lignin content of leaves (e.g. N. nitida) free‐living N fixers would be at competitive advantage over non‐fixers, thereby becoming more active. Lower ARR in mixed litter can be a consequence of a lower litter C/N ratio compared with single species litter. We also found a strong coupling between in situ acetylene reduction and net N mineralization in surface soils, suggesting that as soon N is fixed by diazotroph bacteria it may be immediately incorporated into mineral soil by N mineralizers, thus reducing N immobilization.     

Conservation and ecological implications of the use of space by chilla foxes and free‐ranging dogs in a human‐dominated landscape in southern Chile

We investigated whether domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) influenced the use of space by chilla foxes (Lycalopex griseus) in southern Chile and tested the hypothesis that dogs interfere with chillas. We used scent stations and occurrence of scats within systematically placed plots to assess habitat use by both species and to test whether dogs were associated to the use of space by chillas. Activity data were obtained from captures for both species, and telemetry for foxes. Diet of both species was analysed in order to tease out the potential existence of exploitation competition. We found that, when active, chillas used prairies more and native forest less than expected according to availability, whereas inactive chillas (during the day) preferred native forest, the only habitat type that dogs did not use. The odds of dog occurrence increased at shorter distance to human houses, whereas the inverse pattern was observed for chillas. Poisson models showed that the number of chilla visits to scent stations was negatively correlated with the number of dog visits. We observed dogs persecuting and/or killing chillas which was also corroborated by local people that used dogs to prevent chilla‐related poultry losses, supporting the idea that dogs harass foxes actively. The analysis of scats showed that dogs fed mainly on house food and domestic ruminant carcasses whereas foxes fed on hare, hens, mice and wild birds, thus suggesting that exploitation competition is not a strong alternative hypothesis as a proximate cause for the patterns observed. We conclude that dogs seem to constrain the use of space by wild carnivores via interference.     

From climate change predictions to actions – conserving vulnerable animal groups in hotspots at a regional scale

Current climate change is a major threat to biodiversity. Species unable to adapt or move will face local or global extinction and this is more likely to happen to species with narrow climatic and habitat requirements and limited dispersal abilities, such as amphibians and reptiles. Biodiversity losses are likely to be greatest in global biodiversity hotspots where climate change is fast, such as the Iberian Peninsula. Here we assess the impact of climate change on 37 endemic and nearly endemic herptiles of the Iberian Peninsula by predicting species distributions for three different times into the future (2020, 2050 and 2080) using an ensemble of bioclimatic models and different combinations of species dispersal ability, emission levels and global circulation models. Our results show that species with Atlantic affinities that occur mainly in the North‐western Iberian Peninsula have severely reduced future distributions. Up to 13 species may lose their entire potential distribution by 2080. Furthermore, our analysis indicates that the most critical period for the majority of these species will be the next decade. While there is considerable variability between the scenarios, we believe that our results provide a robust relative evaluation of climate change impacts among different species. Future evaluation of the vulnerability of individual species to climate change should account for their adaptive capacity to climate change, including factors such as physiological climate tolerance, geographical range size, local abundance, life cycle, behavioural and phenological adaptability, evolutionary potential and dispersal ability.     

Sentinel systems on the razor's edge: effects of warming on Arctic geothermal stream ecosystems

The Earth is experiencing historically unprecedented rates of warming, with surface temperatures projected to increase by 3–5 °C globally, and up to 7.5 °C in high latitudes, within the next century. Knowledge of how this will affect biological systems is still largely restricted to the lower levels of organization (e.g. species range shifts), rather than at the community, food web or ecosystem level, where responses cannot be predicted from studying single species in isolation. Further, many correlational studies are confounded with time and/or space, whereas experiments have been mostly confined to laboratory microcosms that cannot capture the true complexity of natural ecosystems. We used a ‘natural experiment’ in an attempt to circumvent these shortcomings, by characterizing community structure and trophic interactions in 15 geothermal Icelandic streams ranging in temperature from 5 °C to 45 °C. Even modest temperature increases had dramatic effects across multiple levels of organization, from changes in the mean body size of the top predators, to unimodal responses of species populations, turnover in community composition, and lengthening of food chains. Our results reveal that the rates of warming predicted for the next century have serious implications for the structure and functioning of these fragile ‘sentinel’ ecosystems across multiple levels of organization.     

Climate‐growth analysis for a Mexican dry forest tree shows strong impact of sea surface temperatures and predicts future growth declines

Tropical forests will experience relatively large changes in temperature and rainfall towards the end of this century. Little is known about how tropical trees will respond to these changes. We used tree rings to establish climate‐growth relations of a pioneer tree, Mimosa acantholoba, occurring in tropical dry secondary forests in southern Mexico. The role of large‐scale climatic drivers in determining interannual growth variation was studied by correlating growth to sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, including the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Annual growth varied eightfold over 1970–2007, and was correlated with wet season rainfall (r=0.75). Temperature, cloud cover and solar variation did not affect growth, although these climate variables correlated with growth due to their relations with rainfall. Strong positive correlations between growth and SSTA occurred in the North tropical Atlantic during the first half of the year, and in the Pacific during the second half of the year. The Pacific influence corresponded closely to ENSO‐like influences with negative effects of high SSTA in the eastern Pacific Niño3.4 region on growth due to decreases in rainfall. During El Niño years growth was reduced by 37%. We estimated how growth would be affected by the predicted trend of decreasing rainfall in Central America towards the end of this century. Using rainfall predictions of two sets of climate models, we estimated that growth at the end of this century will be reduced by 12% under a medium (A1B) and 21% under a high (A2) emission scenario. These results suggest that climate change may have repercussions for the carbon sequestration capacity of tropical dry forests in the region.     

Mechanisms of colony selection by first‐year Lesser Kestrels Falco naumanni

In colonial species, first‐time breeders may use the number of settled conspecifics in colony selection, but such a relationship is confused by the correlation between colony size and nest‐site availability. To distinguish conspecific attraction from neutral colony selection, we experimentally increased nest availability for first‐year Lesser Kestrels Falco naumanni, allowing us to dissociate the number of vacant nest‐sites from colony size at the arrival time of first‐year birds. Under natural conditions, the number of first‐year birds settling was positively correlated with both the number of philopatric and the total number of breeding pairs (colony size) already settled. However, the probability of occupation of experimentally manipulated nests by first‐year birds was independent of colony size. In experimental colonies, the number of first‐year birds settling was positively correlated with the number of manipulated nest‐sites but not with the number of conspecifics. Overall, these results support a neutral colony selection by first‐year Lesser Kestrels based on nest‐site availability.     

Primary productivity and anthropogenic disturbance as determinants of Upland Goose Chloephaga picta distribution in southern Patagonia

A species distribution may be determined by its responses to patterns of human disturbance as well as by its habitat preferences. Here we investigate the distribution of the Upland Goose Chloephaga picta, which has been historically persecuted by farmers and ranchers in Patagonia because it feeds on crops and pastures and is assumed to compete with sheep for forage. We assess whether its current breeding distribution is shaped by persecution by ranchers or whether it can be better explained by differences in habitat primary productivity and preference for wetlands, or by other anthropogenic disturbances not associated with ranching. We built species distribution models to examine the relative effect of environmental and anthropogenic predictors on the regional distribution of Upland Goose. We performed vehicle surveys in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, in two years, surveying 8000 km of roads and recording 6492 Geese. Generalized additive models were used to model the presence/absence of Geese in 1‐km cells. The models suggested that Upland Goose distribution is not currently affected by rancher control, as the species is more abundant in areas with high sheep stocking levels, but it is positively influenced by primary productivity and negatively influenced by urban areas. Anthropogenic disturbance caused by urban areas and oil extraction camps had a greater impact in limiting the species distribution than sheep ranching.