Rodent leptospirosis in Colorado

A study was conducted to evaluate leptospirosis in brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) and mice (Mus musculus) in southeastern Larimer County, Colorado. Leptospira serotype icterohaemorrhagiae was isolated from fourteen of 143 feral brown rats, an infection rate of 9.8%. Serological evidence of infection with this stereotype was found in 66.4% of the rats. Serological evidence of L. serotype ballum infection was present in three of 17 muskrats. Leptospires were seen in histological sections of kidney tissue from two of 61 feral mice. No isolations were made from cultures and serology was not done on mice.     

Distribution and abundance of the dugong in New Caledonia, southwest Pacific

New Caledonia is at the eastern limit of the dugong's range. In June 2003 standardized dugong aerial survey methodology was used to estimate the abundance and distribution of dugongs in the coastal waters of New Caledonia, resulting in a population estimate of 1,814 ± SE 332. This represents the largest concentration of dugongs in Melanesia and one of the largest populations in the world, outside Australia and the Arabian region. Calves comprised 7.2% of the population. The observed density of dugongs was highest in the center and southern part of the west coast of the island but not significantly different from the density on the north west and north east. In the central west region, sightings were associated with a pass in the barrier reef and up to a third of the on‐survey sightings were outside of the barrier reef. The dugong distribution we observed during June 2003 differs from the reported locations of historical hunts in several respects.     

Transience in the humpback whale population of New Caledonia and implications for abundance estimation

A phenomenon of transience in the humpback whale population breeding in New Caledonia has been highlighted in recent analyses. We used these data to illustrate the risk of flawed inference when transience is not properly accounted for in abundance estimation of resident populations. Transients are commonly defined as individuals that pass through the sampling area once, i.e., have a null probability of being caught again, and therefore induce heterogeneity in the detection process. The presence of transients can lead to severe bias in the estimation of abundance and we demonstrate how to correct for this feature when estimating abundance of resident populations. In New Caledonia, very different conclusions about the number of resident whales in the southern lagoon between 1999 and 2005 are obtained when the abundance estimate accounts for the transient whales. Without correction, the estimates of the abundance were up to twice as high across all years compared to the estimates of the resident population when a correction for transients had been incorporated. Having reliable population estimates when assessing the status of endangered species is essential in documenting recovery and monitoring of population trends. Therefore, we encourage researchers to account for transients when reporting abundances of resident populations.     

Threat recognition and response in an avian brood-parasite host from New Caledonia

Nest predation and avian brood parasitism are the main sources of nest failure in many passerine birds.Large predators threaten both brood and parents,whereas b...     

Diurnal temporal patterns of the diversity and the abundance of reef fishes in a branching coral patch in New Caledonia

Small‐scale spatial and temporal variability in animal abundance is an intrinsic characteristic of marine ecosystems but remains largely unknown for most animals, including coral reef fishes. In this study, we used a remote autonomous unbaited video system and recorded reef fish assemblages during daylight hours, 10 times a day for 34 consecutive days in a branching coral patch of the lagoon of New Caledonia. In total, 50 031 fish observations belonging to 114 taxa, 66 genera and 31 families were recorded in 256 recorded videos. Carnivores and herbivore‐detritus feeders dominated the trophic structure. We found significant variations in the composition of fish assemblages between times of day. Taxa richness and fish abundance were greater in the early morning and in the late afternoon than during the day. Fourteen taxa displayed well‐defined temporal patterns in abundance with one taxon influenced by time of day, six influenced by tidal state and seven influenced by both time of day and tidal state. None of these 14 taxa were piscivores, 10 were herbivore‐detritus feeders, three were carnivores and one was plankton feeder. Our results suggest a diel migration from feeding grounds to shelter areas and highlight the importance of taking into account small‐scale temporal variability in animal diversity and abundance when studying connectivity between habitats and monitoring communities.     

Tropical dry forests in New Caledonia

Tropical dry forest is the most endangered major vegetation type in the New Caledonia biodiversity hotspot. Vegetation surveys following a transect method used by Gentry were undertaken in two tropical dry forest sites, Ouen-Toro and Pindai, in order to compare species richness, floristic composition, and structure. Pindai contained significantly higher species richness than Ouen-Toro, although there was little difference in forest structure. Tropical dry forest sites in New Caledonia were compared to seven other biodiversity hotspots with tropical dry forest where Gentry's transect method was employed. New Caledonia and other tropical dry forests on islands contain significantly lower species richness than mainland tropical dry forests in biodiversity hotspots. However, New Caledonia contained the highest number of threatened species based on IUCN global conservation categories. Tropical dry forest in New Caledonia appears to be the world's most endangered tropical dry forest based on the extent of forest, number of reserves, and threatened species. Management of tropical dry forests on private and community lands is absolutely imperative to the long-term persistence of this ecosystem.     

Rainforest and savanna landscape dynamics in New Caledonia: Towards a mosaic of stable rainforest and savanna states?

Stable forested environments can be converted to savanna in response to changes in environmental disturbances. New Caledonia is a biodiversity hotspot; significant ecological and economic resources would be lost if forests were turned into savanna by anthropogenic environmental changes. On the landscape scale, systems that have undergone shifts of this kind are characterized by sharp forest–savanna boundaries and mosaic‐like distributions of savanna and forest. Understanding the locations and the dynamics of such boundaries is a challenge for ecologists and is critical for landscape management and biodiversity conservation. Using a time series of aerial photographs (1955–2000) and a forest habitat suitability map, we tested the hypothesis that topography and spatial processes, especially those relating to fire spread and seed dispersal, are the main determinants of the spatial distribution of rainforest and savanna in a New Caledonian landscape covering 24 km². Within the studied landscape, the overall forest coverage decreased by 24% between 1976 and 2000. This was primarily due to the contraction of forests on west‐facing slopes, which accounted for about 90% of the total loss. Conversely, the east‐facing forests seemed to have contracted extensively prior to the studied period, and were confined to refuges. A habitat suitability index calculated from the landscape's topographical features using generalized additive models accurately predicted both the presence of forests and the probability of forest expansion/contraction. We also provide evidence that spatial processes such as fire spread and seed dispersal limit the expansion and contraction of forests. Our results suggest that rainforests on west‐facing slopes in New Caledonia will be progressively destroyed by fire until they are restricted to refuges along thalwegs and creeks, as appears to have already happened for their east‐facing counterparts.     

Bioactive ellagitannins from Cunonia macrophylla, an endemic Cunoniaceae from New Caledonia

Chemical study of Cunonia macrophylla, a New Caledonian Cunoniaceae, based on bioactive effects of a crude methanol extract of the leaves, detected bioactive tannins for the first time in this plant family. These ellagitannins have been identified as ellagic acid-4-O-beta-D-xylopyranoside (6), mallorepanin (3), mallotinic acid (1) along with corilagin (2), chebulagic acid (4), ellagic acid (5) and gallic acid (7) and have been shown to possess antimicrobial activity and to inhibit xanthine oxidase. Antimicrobial effects on bacterial human pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium accolans) and on a plant pathogen (Erwinia carotovora) as well as on a human pathogenic yeast (Candida albicans) were investigated. Activity is reported here for the first time for compounds 1, 3, 4 and 6. The inhibitory effects of all molecules against xanthine oxidase in relation to their structure was evaluated and compared. Compound 6 presented the best activity and seems to be of considerable interest for further studies.     

Abundance,richness and composition of lianas in forest communities along an elevation gradient in New Caledonia

Background: Lianas are an abundantand dynamic component of tropical forests, and their abundance ispredicted to increase with global change. A better understandingof factors that explain their distribution is required, especially onoceanic islands for which few data are available.

Aims: Identifythe environmental factors that shape liana communities in NewCaledonian forests

Methods: We studied liana abundance,basal area, richness and climbing modes in 27 forest plots (20m × 20 m) along an elevation gradient (sea level to ca. 1000 ma.s.l.) that covers different forest types and precipitation regimes.

Results: We inventoried 992 lianas belonging to 71 species. The abundance and basal area decreased logarithmically withincreasing elevation while species richness tended to peak at midelevations.Twining lianas were the most abundant and species-richfunctional group. We found no clear relationship between climbingmodes and forest structure.

Conclusions: Our results show thatliana abundance decreases with increasing elevation in responseto lower precipitation in seasonal dry forest. At high elevation (600–1000 m a.s.l.), climbing secondary hemi-epiphytes replace lianasprobably as a result of climate-based niche differentiation. Variationof species richness along the gradient could not be explained byprecipitation or by forest structural parameters.     

Fire and succession in the ultramafic maquis of New Caledonia

Aim This study investigates the role of fire and post fire succession in determining the structure and composition of vegetation on ultramafic iron crust soils. Location The study was conducted in the Plaines des Lacs region of southern New Caledonia. Methods A survey was made of eighty-eight sites, recording floristic composition, trunk size-class distributions, regeneration after fire, growth ring counts of Dacrydium araucarioides (Podocarpaceae) and historical information on past fires. Floristic data was ordinated using multidimensional scaling and an index of succession based on structural and historical information. A transition matrix model was developed to predict the effect of fire frequency on vegetation composition. Results The vegetation is undergoing postfire succession from maquis to forest, after about 75 years, and eventually to rainforest. Gymnostoma deplancheanum has a key role as an early colonist that produces shade, the bulk of the litter, and forms nitrogen fixing nodules with Frankia sp. However, the open canopy of Gymnostoma and slow litter decay creates flammable conditions. Though many species resprout from rootstocks, only thirty-nine persist through fires while 114 others colonize at later successional stages, as the litter layer and shade increase. Some early successional species are later excluded but these can persist locally in swamps and on rocky hill tops. Forest and rainforest are less flammable and the matrix model suggests that ignition frequency has a critical role in determining the abundance of maquis or forest. Main conclusions The vegetation mosaic represents a post fire succession from open maquis to forest. Palynological and charcoal records from late Pleistocene sediments suggest that fire has been a major factor determining the development of maquis vegetation since before the arrival of humans. Recently, frequent fires have converted much of the vegetation to maquis, posing a threat to some forest species and largely eliminating rainforest from iron crust soils.