Lower Devonian Polyplacophora from New South Wales, Australia

Silicified polyplacophorans are common in the Lower Devonian Garra Formation in New South Wales. Four taxa occur within the lower 237 m of the formation at 14 horizons associated with an abundant and diverse fauna. Chelodes calceoloides Etheridge ranges through the section. New taxa are Chelodes cordatus sp. nov., Acutichiton depressolatus sp. nov., and Jugochiton patulus gen. and sp. nov. A single plate of an indeterminate genus occurs in the lower portion of the Camelford Limestone.     

Heavy metals (Cu and Zn) in recent sediments of Llangorse Lake,Wales: non-ferrous smelting,Napoleon and the price of wheat — a palaeoecological study

Elevated concentrations of Cu and Zn have been found in the upper part of three sediment cores collected from Llangorse Lake, in south Wales. Palaeomagnetic evidence from one of the cores and ²¹⁰Pb analysis of another, suggests that the increase in sediment Cu and Zn concentrations began during the eighteenth century. A sharp increase in the concentrations of these metals in the sediment profile appears to have occurred during the latter part of the eighteenth century and these concentrations remained high until the mid to late nineteenth century.The absence of known ore deposits and industry around the lake suggests that the lake and catchment soils were increasingly contaminated by long-range aerial transport of emissions from the expanding activity of Cu and Zn smelters located some 80 km upwind in the Swansea area during the Industrial Revolution. Evidence from agricultural crop returns indicates a significant increase in the amount of land devoted to tillage in the catchment, particularly to cereal production, during the late eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century which included the Napoleonic Wars. This agricultural shift appears to coincide with increased concentrations of Cu and Zn in the lake sediments. It is suggested that newly ploughed soils, contaminated with metals for many years by long-range aerial transport from the Swansea area, eroded, and were carried into the lake by catchment run-off and added to the sediment burden of Cu and Zn. A subsequent decline of Cu and Zn emissions due to the collapse of the non-ferrous smelting industry and reduced soil erosion because of a 50% reduction of tillage due to an agricultural depression in the second half of the 19th century may explain the fall in Cu and Zn concentrations in the upper part of the sediment profile. The most recent sediments (20th century) show the increase in heavy metals characteristic of many lakes around the world.     

Description of Caurinus tlagu,new species,from Prince of Wales Island,Alaska (Mecoptera,Boreidae, Caurininae)

A new species of the cryptic, minute, wingless, and enigmatic taxon Caurinus, and the second for the subfamily Caurininae,is described from Prince of Wales Island in the Alexander Archipelago, Alaska. It is distinguished from its only congener, Caurinus dectes Russell, 1979b, which occurs 1,059 km southeast in Oregon and Washington, based on external morphology and sequences of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase II. These two species are probably evolutionary relicts – the only known members of a clade dating to the Late Jurassic or older.     

The geography of genetics: an analysis of referral patterns to a cancer genetics service

This study uses a geographical information system (GIS) and statistical analysis to look for patterns in referrals to a British cancer genetics service. In this case, familial cancers are taken to be those that can develop when an individual inherits DNA mutations that cause an increased risk of cancer. Between 1998 and 2006 the Cancer Genetics Service for Wales received nearly 11,000 referrals for patients resident in Wales and it is the service database recording those referrals which is the subject of this secondary analysis. Using postcodes to match referred patients to areas, deprivation scores were assigned. Referral rates per 10,000 head of population across the 8-year study period by unitary authority are presented, as is information on referrals from primary and secondary care sources by year. Each patient referred has their family history of cancer recorded and is assigned to a risk category; high, medium or average. There are correlations between number of GPs (General Practitioners) in a practice, number of patients referred from a practice, and deprivation as measured by the overall Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2005, such that the two former factors increase as deprivation decreases. Over time there were changes in referral sources, with referrals from primary care overtaking those from secondary care in percentage and absolute terms. There were also changes in the types of cancer referred, risk categories seen and to which centre referrals were made. Referral patterns reveal an inverse relationship between deprivation and health service availability and use.     

Siluro-devonian Conodonts from the Camelford Limestone, Wellington, New South Wales, Australia

Conodont data have been utilized to identify the Silurian/Devonian boundary within the Camelford Limestone near Wellington, NSW. Conodont faunas are documented from the eosteinhornensis Zone to early delta Zone with one new species of Walliserodus ( W. multistriatus ) and two new species of Ozarkodina ( O. brocki and O. camelfordensis ) described. An apparatus reconstruction of Belodella anomalis is also presented.     

A TOURNAISIAN BRACHIOPOD FAUNA FROM SOUTH-EAST WALES

Abstract:  An exceptionally preserved fauna within dolomites of the Friars Point Limestone Formation includes the most diverse brachiopod assemblage yet described from the Tournaisian of the British Isles, and the first from Wales. Each of the 16 brachiopod genera includes a single species, of which four are new ( Schellwienella cheuma , Schuchertella subcrona , Composita ptygmation , Fusella extrata ). Associated fossils are corals (one species), bryozoans (two species) and crinoids (one species). Spiriferoideans and schizophorides are numerically dominant, indicative of level-bottom, inner mid-ramp biotopes. Biogeographical comparisons reflect the cosmopolitanism of early Carboniferous brachiopod generic assemblages. Taxonomic comparisons involve selection of lectotypes for Syringothyris exoleta North, 1920, Syringothyris cyrtorhyncha North, 1920, Tylothyris laminosa beta North, 1920, and Tylothyris laminosa gamma North, 1920.     

Conservation of Britain's biodiversity: the case of Hieracium cyathis (Asteraceae) and its relation to other apomictic taxa

Hieracium cyathis (Ley) W. R. Linton (Asteraceae), Chalice Hawkweed, is a rare species endemic to Britain. It is a distinct member of Hieracium Section Oreadea , characterized by a short acladium and out-curved tips to the phyllaries. Historic records and current field survey indicate it has occurred in two localities in SW England and seven in South Wales. It is still present in all sites except for one Welsh locality, is significantly threatened at Cheddar Gorge, and two Welsh sites have only three plants each. Comparative morphology, cultivation experiments and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis do not support the reported differences between material from SW England and Wales. AFLP analysis showed that every plant in the field was genetically similar but different, and minor genetic variation was found in one progeny array. It is a triploid (2 n  = 27) with apomictic seed production, and 26% potentially viable pollen. It qualifies as 'Near Threatened' under the 2001 IUCN threat criteria. General guidelines for conservation of microspecies of Hieracium are discussed.  © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 156 , 669–680.     

Effects of re‐introducing fire to a central Florida sandhill community

Abstract. A southern ridge sandhill site in central Florida, USA, was burned in 1989, 1991, and 1995 after 63 years of fire‐suppression to simulate a pre‐settlement fire regime. Fire changed species abundance and vegetation structure but caused only minimal changes in species turnover and diversity. There was a general trend for an increase in the cover of herbs following fire but this was a statistically significant effect for only one species, Liatris tenuifolia var. tenuifolia. Aristida beyrichiana increased, litter cover and litter depth were significantly reduced, and ground lichens were eliminated in response to burning. Scrub oaks and palmettos in the ground cover and small shrub layers (height ≤ 1 m) either increased or did not respond to burning, reflecting strong post‐fire resprouting. Diversity in the ground cover and small shrub layers were not affected by fire. Scrub oaks and palmettos in the large shrub and overstorey layers (height > 1 m) were reduced in density, basal area, and longest canopy measurements in response to fire. Species diversity also decreased within these layers following fire. Some Pinus elliottii var. densa survived fire, but their density was reduced. All Pinus clausa were eliminated by fire. Periodic burning can suppress the dominance of shrubs (Quercus spp.) while increasing the cover of grasses and herbs in southern ridge sandhill vegetation.     

Favositidae (Tabulata) from Emsian to Middle Devonian limestones of the Tamworth Group (N.S.W., Australia)

Several different species and species groups of the familiy Favositidae from the Emsian and Middle Devonian limestones of the Tamworth Group (N.S.W., Australia) are described. The Emsian Sulcor Limestone Member yieldedFavosites sp. aff.F. basalticus (Goldfuss, 1826),Favosites sp. aff.F. salebrosus Etheridge, 1899,Favosites stellaris Chernyshev, 1937,Squameofavosites nitidus (Chapman, 1914),Sq. bryani (Jones, 1937),Pachyfavosites rariporosus Dubatolov, 1963, andP. tumulosus Yanet, 1965. The Middle Devonian Moore Creek Limestone Member yieldedFavosites ex gr.goldfussi D’Orbigny, 1850, exclusively. In the Emsian limestones occur favositids in a wide array of different facies, with most being found in stratified biostromes and in bedded nodular limestones. In the Middle Devonian most favositids are found in nodular and lumpy limestones which occur at the base and at the top of some successions      

Genetic impoverishment and cross-incompatibility in remnant genotypes of Ziziphus celata (Rhamnaceae), a rare shrub endemic to the Lake Wales Ridge, Florida

The loss of genetic diversity in fragmented populations ofself-incompatible plant species may result in sexual reproductive failure andlocal extinctions. Florida ziziphus (Ziziphus celata) is aself-incompatible clonal shrub known only from five genetically depauperatepopulations on the Lake Wales Ridge, Florida, USA. Recovery of this speciesrequires identification of cross-compatible genotypes that can be used to createviable (i.e., sexually reproducing) populations. To further development of arecovery program for this highly imperiled species, we investigated its geneticstructure and sexual reproductive viability. We used random amplifiedpolymorphic DNAs (RAPDs) to investigate genetic variability within remnantpopulations and we conducted experimental compatibility trials to determine thecross-compatibility of remnant genotypes. One hundred and ninety-nine uniquestem samples collected from one ex situ and fivein situ populations were assayed for the presence orabsence of a band for 32 RAPD markers. Based on unweighted pair-group meancluster analysis (UPGMA), only 11 multi-locus genotypes (MLGs) were identified.Eight of these MLGs correspond to MLGs identified in an earlier allozyme study.In addition, we identified three new RAPD-based MLGs. Three of the five naturalpopulations consisted of only one MLG, while the largest and most geneticallydiverse population comprised only four MLGs. Coefficients of similarity rangedfrom 96.6% for the most closely related MLGs to 20.7% for the most distantlyrelated. The compatibility trials demonstrated that most MLGs arecross-incompatible. With 69% of all possible one-way crosses tested (38/55), wehave identified only eight compatible crosses via germination trials. Based onthe results of the compatibility trials, we assigned MLGs toself-incompatibility (SI) mating types. On present evidence, the currentbreeding population of Florida ziziphus may comprise as few as two SI matingtypes. These SI mating types will be used to guide future breeding efforts andan experimental introduction.