The Nene Branta sandvicensis Recovery Initiative: research against extinction

Since 1960, about 2150 Hawaiian Geese or Nene Branta sandvicensis were reintroduced in Hawaii to supplement the remaining wild population of about 30 birds. These geese were released mostly in high mountain sanctuaries. These sites became unsuitable during prolonged drought and the few surviving birds were those which had moved away from the release sites. The geese that survived had moved to, or were released near, agricultural pasture land. About 600 Nene are currently living in the wild; numbers are declining on the island of Hawaii, stable on Maui and increasing on Kauai. Management priorities include enhancement of grasslands, predator control and maximizing genetic diversity. To enable the species to recover, management will probably have to be large scale, intensive and prolonged. Further released captive-bred or translocated Nene should have access to enhanced habitats after predators have been controlled.     

Predation of Rhopalosiphum padi (Homoptera: Aphididae) by polyphagous predatory arthropods during the aphids' pre-peak period in spring barley

Polyphagous predators (e.g. Araneae, Carabidae and Staphylinidae), collected from spring barley fields during 1981-85, were examined by either gut dissection or a R. padi-specific antiserum in enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in order to detect predation of Rhopalosiphum padi during the aphids' establishment and exponential growth phases. Overall 18% of c. 3000 carabids dissected were shown to feed on R. padi during the aphids' pre-peak period. No overall relationship was found between percentage carabids with R. padi in the diet and peak R. padi densities. Relatively high proportions of Bembidion spp. (particularly B. lampros) and Pterostichus cupreus fed on R. padi during the aphids' establishment phase, and proportions of those predator taxa containing R. padi increased with increasing R. padi densities in both high and low aphid density years. P. melanarius and Harpalus rufipes mainly fed on R. padi during the aphids' exponential growth phase. Overall 11% of c. 1350 predators examined in ELISA gave positive reactions to the R. padi antiserum. Relatively high proportions of linyphiid and lycosid spiders were positive throughout the aphid pre-peak period. Several Acari, Opiliones, Trechus spp. (Carabidae), Philonthus spp. (Staphylinidae), Cantharidae and Chilopoda were positive mainly during the aphids' exponential growth phase. Sample sizes were small, however. Very few of the Bembidion spp. tested in ELISA were positive compared with those examined by gut dissection. The maximum period of R. padi protein (antigen) detection in B. lampros was related to temperature, i.e. 8.5 h at 30°C, 20.5 h at 20°C and 34.5 h at 10°C, respectively. It is suggested that the rate of R. padi protein digestion in B. lampros is faster at higher temperatures than the rate of elimination of prey solids from the guts. Several key predators (in this case B. lampros, P. cupreus and linyphiid spiders) which are abundant in spring cereal fields at a time when R. padi emigrants arrive in the crop and which feed on R. padi during the aphids' establishment phase, are identified. The results are compared with those from similar investigations elsewhere with predators of Sitobion avenae and Metopolophium dirhodum.     

Cell and molecular biology of bryophytes: ultimate limits to the resolution of phylogenetic problems

Ultrastructure, biochemistry and 5S rRNA sequences link tracheophytes, bryophytes and charalean green algae, but the precise interrelationships between these groups remain unclear. Further major clarification now awaits primary sequence data. These are also needed to determine directionality in possible evolutionary trends within the bryophytes, but are unlikely to overturn current schemes of classification or phylogeny. Comparative ultrastructural studies of spermatogenesis, sporogenesis, the cytoskeleton and plastids reinforce biochemical and morphogenetic evidence for the wide phyletic discontinuities between mosses, hepatics and hornworts, and also rule out direct lines of descent between them. Direct ancestral lineages from charalean algae to bryophytes and to tracheophytes are also unlikely. EM studies of gametophyte/sporophyte junctions, plus immunological investigations of bryophyte cytoskeletons, are likely to accentuate the differences between mosses, hepatirs and hornworts. Other priorities for systematics include elucidation of oil body ultrastructure, analysis of the changes in nuclear proteins during spermatogenesis and a detailed comparison of bryophyte and charalean plastids. The combined evidence from ultrastrueture, biochemistry, morphology and morphogenesis warrants general acceptance of the polyphyletic origin of the bryophytes. Ultrastructural attributes should be more widely used in bryophyte systematics.     

Interactions Between the Uptake and Assimilation of Inorganic Nitrogen and Carbon in Amphidinium spp. (Dinophyceae)

The rate of exponential growth of Amphidinium carterae Hulburtwas the same (0.025 h^–1) with either or as sole N-source. Nevertheless, in short-term experiments, cells growing exponentially with as N-source took up added 5–6 times faster than . accumulated in the cells. Addition of inhibited, reversibly, disappearance of from the medium; prior N-deprivation of the cells did not affect this inhibition. N-repIetecells, grown with as N-source, took up for several hours both in light and darkness, butthe uptake by such cells soon ceased in darkness although it continued in light. When uptake ceased, the cells could still take up rapidly in darkness. Ammonium taken up was assimilated rapidly into organic-N includingglutamine, other amino acids and protein. Ammonium uptake in darkness was accompanied by the utilizationof cellular polysaccharide, mainly glucose polysaccharide. Mostof this carbon was unavailable for the dark assimilation of. Addition of the analogue, methylammonium, did not initiate polysacchande catabolism. Itis suggested that a control mechanism is in operation, througha product of assimilation, which operates on one or more of the enzymes concerned with polysaccharidebreakdown, for example, -amylase or phosphorylase. Uptake of was accompanied by a high rate of dark ¹⁴CO₂ fixation and with both Amphidintum klebsii Kof.et Swezy and A. carterae N-deprivation led to a marked increasein this rate following addition of ; addition of had much less effect. The possible implications of these findings for the eco-physiology of marine dinoflagellatesare discussed. Key words: Ammonium, nitrate, CO₂ fixation