Phosphate Compounds in Vertebrate Red Blood Cells

This review brings together and discusses the significance ofexisting information about water-soluble (small molecule) organicphosphate constituents of red blood cells in different vertebratespecies, with emphasis on 2,3 diphosphoglycerate (DPG), inositolpentaphosphate (IP₅) ATP and guanosine triphosphate (GTP), compoundswhich may play an important role in respiratory physiology bymodifying the affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen. Results onthe distribution and concentration of these compounds in redcells of vertebrate animals can be summarized as follows 1)DPG High in mammals (except cats and ruminants) Absent in crocodilianssquamata and fishes. High briefly in the bird embryo absentin adult. High briefly in turtle embryo low in juvenile lowto absent in adult 2 IP₅. High in birds. Absent in mammals,crocodilians squamata and fishes (with the exception of Arapaimagigas). Low in turtles 3 ATP Intermediate in mammals. High inbirds and turtles. Very high in squamata Intermediate to veryhigh in fishes. Low in crocodilians 4) GTP Very low in mammalsbirds, reptiles and amphibians (except for small pool in Ranatadpole). Low to very high in fishes.     

Background selection by the peppered moth (Biston betularia Linn.): individual differences

The hypothesis that dimorphically coloured, cryptic moths select appropriate rest sites by comparing their body scales to substrate reflectance was tested using typical and melanic morphs of the peppered moth, Biston betularia (L.). Experiments designed to block the individual's inspection of its inherited colour phenotype do not support Kettlewell's contrast/conflict (self-inspection) hypothesis. Instead, tracking of marked moths over successive days revealed individual differences in rest-site selection which were not related to treatments, experience (imprinting), nor closely to a moth's inherited colour pattern. Differences between family broods indicate that some genetic bias in background selection exists. The production of artificially selected lines with consistent but opposing preferences will allow us to investigate the co-evolution of pattern and behaviour.     

Relationships between egg size, chick size at hatching, and chick survival in the Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus

The relationships between egg size, chick size at hatching and chick survival in Whimbrels Numenius phaeopus were studied over a three-year period in the Shetland Isles. Three measurements of chick size at hatching were all positively correlated with egg volume, though the relationship was strongest with hatchling body-weight. In two of the three years the proportion of chicks from a brood which survived to fledging increased significantly with the mean hatching weight of chicks in the brood. Within broods, a significant effect of hatching weight on survival was detectable only up to 7 days after hatching. Between years the egg volumes and hatchling weights of individual female Whimbrels showed relatively little variability, indicating that these attributes could be controlled to a large extent by inheritance.     

A Diurnal Settling Rhythm in Platymonas subcordiformis Hazen*

SYNOPSIS. In cultures of Platymonas subcordiformis Hazen, grown in appropriate light-dark cycles, as many as 75% of the cells adhered to the surface of the glass culture vessel toward the end of the light period of each day. Cell division occurred primarily while the cells were attached. Subsequently, motile daughter cells were released into the growth medium by the rupture of the mother cell theca. The settling behavior appears to be an integral part of the life cycle being synchronized to the same extent as cell division.     

Predicting the unexpected: using a qualitative model of a New Zealand dryland ecosystem to anticipate pest management outcomes

Pest management is expensive and there is often uncertainty about the benefits for the resources being protected. There can also be unintended consequences for other parts of the ecosystem, especially in complex food webs. In making decisions managers generally have to rely on qualitative information collected in a piecemeal fashion. A method to assist decision making is a qualitative modelling approach using fuzzy cognitive maps, a directed graphical model related to neural networks that can take account of interactions between pests and conservation assets in complex food webs. Using all available information on relationships between native and exotic resources and consumers, we generated hypotheses about potential consequences of single‐species and multi‐species pest control on the long‐term equilibrium abundances of other biotic components of an ecosystem. We applied the model to a dryland ecosystem in New Zealand because we had good information on its trophic structure, but the information on the strength of species interactions was imprecise. Our model suggested that pest control is unlikely to significantly boost native invertebrates and lizards in this ecosystem, suggesting that other forms of management may be required for these groups. Most of the pest control regimes tested resulted in greater abundances of at least one other pest species, which could potentially lead to other management problems. Some of the predictions were unexpected, such as more birds resulting from possum and mouse control. We also modelled the effects of an increase in invasive rabbits, which led to unexpected declines of stoats, weasels, mice and possums. These unexpected outcomes resulted from complex indirect pathways in the food web. Fuzzy cognitive maps allow rapid construction of prototype models of complex food webs using a wide range of data and expert opinion. Their utility lies in providing direction for future monitoring efforts and generating hypotheses that can be tested with field experiments.     

A Description of a New "Amoebozoan" Isolated from the American Lobster, Homarus americanus

ABSTRACT. Our knowledge of the diversity of amoeboid protists is rapidly expanding as new and old habitats are more fully explored. In 2003, while investigating the cause of an amoeboid disease afflicting lobsters on the East Coast, samples were examined for the presence of amoebae from the carapace washings of the American lobster, Homarus americanus . During this survey a unique community of gymnamoebae was discovered. Among the new taxa discovered was a small Thecamoeba -like organism with a single posteriorly directed pseudopodium. Although resembling Parvamoeba rugata , this amoeba displayed distinctive morphology from that isolate or any other amoebozoan. Phylogenetic analysis shows this amoeba is distantly related to the Thecamoebidae. In this paper we describe the unique morphology of a second species of Parvamoeba and discuss its phylogenetic position with respect to the "Amoebozoa."