Studies on high altitude saxicolous Cyanophyta IV. « Hyphomorpha borzii », sp. nov., a new alga from India

Abstract

The morphology of a new species of Hyphomorpha, Borzi, collected from 3,300 metres above sea level underneath a rock in Singalila Range along Eastern Himalayas, has been studied and named as Hyphomorpha borzii. The relationship, affinities and taxonomy of the alga have been critically discussed at the end.     

Production of Seeds and Cones and Consequences for Wood Radial Increment in Norway Spruce (Picea Abies (L.) Karst.)

Abstract

The presence of a trade–off between growth and reproduction was tested in four sites in a subalpine Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) forest by measuring annual stem diameter increments at breast height and seed and cone productions during the periods 1962–1985 and 1983–1990, respectively. Trees growing in forest stands near the timber line (about 1900 m above sea level) had the greatest reduction in annual stem diameter increment during mast years; while trees growing at about 1300–1500 m above sea level did not show any reduction. Trees growing at about 1700 m showed only a limited reduction. At the same elevation, trees growing within closed forest stands suffered a greater reduction in stem growth when compared with trees growing at the edge of a cutting.     

Storage-protein variation in wild emmer (Triticum turgidum ssp.dicoccoides) from Jordan and Turkey.

Genetic diversity in the seed storage-proteins encoded at theGlu-A1,Glu-B1 andGli-B1/Glu-B3 loci was studied electrophoretically in 315 individuals belonging to nine populations ofT. dicoccoides from Jordan and three from Turkey. The inter- and intra-population distribution of seed storage-protein alleles at the considered loci and its link with geographical factors were investigated. Population differentiation in seed storage-proteins was in some cases very high with very weak correlations with geographic distance. Greater gene differentiation was found within and between populations which were geographically very close in Jordan than between those from Jordan and Turkey. However the distribution of alleles appeared to be non random. Samples collected from populations at locations over 900 m above sea level were less polymorphic than those collected at lower altitudes (500–700 m), whereas the relative genetic differentiation between populations was greater between those collected at higher altitudes. Seed storage-protein differentiation was significantly correlated with the altitude of the collecting sites. Although it is difficult to point out the selective pressure of altitude per se, altitude can reflect an integration of several environmental parameters. The possible adaptive value of seed storage-proteins is discussed.     

Hierochloë odorata (L.) Beauv. confermata per la flora italiana

Abstract

On the presence of Hierochloë odorata (L.) Beauv. in Italy.—H. odorata has been found in an oligotrophic marsh in the Italian part of the Eastern Alps and therefore definitively confirmed for the flora of Italy. An extended population occurs at 1800 m above sea level near Misurina, in the Dolomites (province of Belluno). All preceding records of H. odorata for the Italian flora must be referred to H. australis (Schrader) R.&S. Differential characters and distribution of the two species are shortly discussed.     

Analisi polliniche di depositi lacustri delle pendici del M. Vulture in Basilicata

Abstract

Pollen analysis of lake sediments on Mt. Vulture in Basilicata (Southern Italy).—A marshy sediment, about 7 meters thick, containing fossil pollen, has been discovered in a little lake of volcanic origin on a slope of Mount Vulture in Lucania at 656 m above sea level.

The sediment shows four distinct layers from the top to the bottom. The deepest layer, from 7 to 5.75 m, consisting of clay containing Betula and Ostrya, indicates a rather arid climate; the next layer, from 5.75 to 3.75 m, made up of mud rich in organic substance and containing pollen of Fagus and Abies, is witness of a damp and warmer climate; the following layer, from 3.75 to 2.25 m, with clay containing Betula, Ulmus, Ostrya and Corylus suggests a return to a more arid climate; lastly, the upper layer, from 2.25 m to the surface, with marshy mud rich in organic substance and pollen of plants with greater water requirements leads us to think of a return to a damper climate.     

Grimmia serrana (Bryopsida,Grimmiaceae), a new species from California,U.S.A.

Abstract

Grimmia serrana, a new endemic species for California, is described and illustrated. The new species is readily distinguished by the presence of multi-stratose marginal bands that are rounded in cross-section. The leaf morphology displayed by Grimmia serrana is unique within the genus. The distribution of Grimmia serrana is along the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada and in the northern Coast Range.     

Stazioni Eterotopiche di Saxifraga Incrustata Vest. nel Carso Triestino

Abstract

Two abnormal stands of SAXIFRAGA INCRUSTATA Vest, on the Karst of Trieste. — Near of Trieste there are two dolines (sinkholes), where Saxifraga incrustata occurs. The average height of the zone is 300 m above the sea. This unusual presence of a subalpine plant at so low altitude is to relate to a temperature's decrease owing to a very intensive evaporation. In summer time develops a draft between the opposite sides of the dolines and produces the strong evaporation of percolation water in one case and of the imbibition water of a thick moss layer at the other hand.     

Dos especies nuevas de <Emphasis Type="Italic">Borreria</Emphasis> (Rubiaceae), un nuevo registro de <Emphasis Type="Italic">Declieuxia</Emphasis> y observaciones taxonómicas

Two new species of Borreria are described: the first, Borreria johnwoodii from the Campo Cerrado area of the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park; the second, Borreria siberiana from the cloud forest of the Yungas, between 2600 and 3100 m above sea level. Declieuxia cordigera is recorded for the first time from Bolivia. Borreria nectarifera is shown to be synonymous with B. eryngioides var. affinis.     

Contrasting resource allocation patterns in Sedum lanceolatum Torr.: Biomass versus energy estimates

Summary Biomass determinations and microbomb calorimetry were used to assess resource allocation in Sedum lanceolatum Torr. between 2,257 and 3,726 m above sea level in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA. In general, energy values did not differ within a tissue among sites, but did differ among tissue types. Flowers and leaves had the greatest energy content per gram ashfree dry weight. Total kilojoules per plant were homogeneous along the elevational gradient.Allocation patterns based on kilojoules of energy and grams of biomass were not highly correlated, with the exception of the percent investment in sexual tissues. Allocations to sexual tissues based on dry weight and energy were negatively correlated, revealing opposing trends of sexual investment with the increase in elevation. Due to the greater biomass investment in high energy leaves and flowers by populations of Sedum lanceolatum at higher elevations, allocation to sexual reproduction based on calorimetric analysis increased from 18.3 to 38.3% along the 1,469 m change in elevation. Although biomass can represent energy allocation in some taxa, for those species that change morphologically or physiologically along an environmental gradient, these two methods may not reveal similar trends.     

The effect of elevation and habitat cover on nest box occupancy and diet composition of Boreal Owls Aegolius funereus

Capsule: Diet composition of Boreal Owls Aegolius funereus was not affected by habitat cover, but it changed along the elevational gradient.

Aims: To assess the effect of elevation and habitat cover on nest box occupancy and diet composition of a central European population of Boreal Owls.

Methods: A Boreal Owl population was studied in the ?umava Mountains, Czech Republic, at elevations from 500 to 1300?m above sea level (asl), during 1984–2005.

Results: Boreal Owls occupied more frequently nest boxes above 600?m asl, but they did not clearly prefer any elevational band. Habitat cover did not affect the number of nesting attempts. There was also no relationship between habitat cover and diet composition. However, diet composition significantly changed along the elevational gradient. In particular, the proportion of alternative prey of Boreal Owls, i.e. birds and shrews Sorex sp., rose with increasing elevation. The proportion of voles Myodes and mice Apodemus in the diet decreased with increasing elevation. Among bird prey, the proportion of finches Fringillidae positively correlated with elevation.

Conclusions: Central European Boreal Owls did not show a clear preference for any habitat cover or elevational band, but the quality of the owls’ diet significantly decreased with increasing elevation.     

Freshwater bryozoans (Bryozoa) of Norway II: distribution and ecology of two species of Fredericella

Freshwater bryozoans were investigated during field studies of 601 lakes and other surface water bodies throughout Norway from 1960 to 1978. The frequency of occurrence of the two Fredericella species was evaluated in relation to 12 environmental variables. Statistically significant deviations from the frequencies expected on the basis of random distribution were described using the categories preference, avoidance and absence. The typical European Fredericella sultana (with glossy statoblasts) occurred at 72 localities, north to 70° 25 N (the northernmost record on a global scale). Its frequency dropped towards the north. Maximum elevation above sea level was 1097 m (maximum recorded for Northern Europe). Another species with pitted statoblasts, tentatively considered to be Fredericella indica, occurred at 50 localities, north to 71° 09 N (the northernmost record reported to date). The geographical distribution reflected a typical northern cold-water species. One third of the 50 records were from lakes situated north of the Arctic Circle, and rich colonies were found on the North Cape plateau, as far north as possible on the European mainland. The few records from southeastern Norway were from high mountain lakes, up to 1397 m above sea level (highest record for Europe). This species was not found in any of the numerous lowland lakes investigated in southeastern Norway where F. sultana was common. Both species tolerated a cold climate, especially Fredericella indica, and they occurred in a wide range of environments. F. sultana preferred lakes with rather low elevation above sea level, rich vegetation with plant species typical for eutrophic environments, gyttja sediments and stony "hard" shores, some wave action, high content of calcium, and slightly coloured water. This species avoided ponds and was absent from ditches and mires, avoided dystrophic lakes surrounded by Sphagnum bog, with dy sediments and strongly coloured water, avoided sites with small wave action, was indifferent to magnesium and low concentrations of calcium, and was absent from lakes with pH below 5.4. F. indica was only recorded from lakes. It preferred rather low temperatures, oligotrophic conditions with poor aquatic vegetation and stony shores, some wave action, pH above 7.0, and low water colour (below 11 mg Pt l^–1). This species avoided lakes with high temperatures and was absent above 20 °C, was absent where aquatic vegetation was rich or consisted of Sphagnum bog, avoided lakes with soft sediments of dygyttja and dy, places with small wave action, acid lakes, was absent at pH below 5.9, tended to avoid water with colour above 10 mg Pt l^–1 and was absent in lakes with colour above 40 mg Pt l^–1. F. sultana and F. indica occurred together in only six lakes, four in the north, and two in the southern mountain areas. The opposite sensitivity and reactions of the two species towards several environmental variables were supported by a logistic regression analysis. The main ecological difference between the two species is that F. indica appears to be more strongly dependent on climatic factors.     

Geographical and sexual variation of wing size in the monophagous flower-breeding species Drosophila flavopilosa

Flower samples of Cestrum parqui (Solanaceae) containing preadult forms of Drosophila flavopilosa were collected at four localities from the Maipo Valley in the Central zone of Chile (Lat. 33°40'S), one at sea level and the others at 300 m, 780 m and 1365 m of altitude. Only the adults which emerged after 18 days of permanency of the flowers in a chamber at 22°C were employed for wing analysis. Nine different measurements were made in the wings of 100 males and 100 females from each population. In males, a clear tendency of increasing wing length and width according to elevation above sea level was found. Females, however, exhibited a quite different type of variation; the larger and wider wings corresponding to the populations originated in the laces of intermediate elevation. As a result of the different pattern of wing variation in males and females, the sexual dimorphism was found to be significantly different between the studied populations. The results support the idea that males and females react in a different way to selective pressures affecting wing development.     

Effect of snowmelt timing on the genetic structure of an <Emphasis Type="Italic">Erythronium grandiflorum</Emphasis> population in an alpine environment

In alpine environments, flowering phenology can differ within local populations even at the same elevation. We assessed the effects of differences in flowering phenology due to snowmelt timing caused by local geographic heterogeneity on the genetic structure of a population of an alpine plant, Erythronium grandiflorum Pursh. We established a study plot of 250×70 m at 3,340 m above sea level in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, CO, USA. The flowering phenology was considerably influenced by snowmelt timing due to local geographic heterogeneity. Twenty-two patches of E. grandiflorum were recognized in the study plot and were classified into three phenological groups: early, middle, and late. To express the differentiation of flowering phenology among the patches, we defined phenological distance and analyzed the relationship between genetic and phenological distances. Additionally, since genetic distance is expected to co-vary with geographic distance, we also analyzed the relationship between genetic distance and geographic distance among patches. The results revealed not only that isolation by distance was present among patches, but also that the differences in snowmelt timing gave rise to phenologically distant patches of E. grandiflorum, which in turn determine the genetic structure caused by the limited pollen flow between patches.     

A New Phaeodarian Species Discovered from the Japan Sea Proper Water,Auloscena pleuroclada sp. nov. (Aulosphaeridae,Phaeosphaerida, Phaeodaria)

A new phaeodarian species, characterized by the presence of long developed side branches recurved proximally and distally on the surface of its radial tube, was described as Auloscena pleuroclada. This new species was only collected from the layers below the 250 m depth in the Sea of Japan. They have never been found in the shallower layers (above 250 m) of this sea or in other investigated areas. The distribution of the present new species is presumably restricted within the deep water of this area, and this species could be a specific phaeodarian adapted to the deep‐sea environment.     

Recent Bryological Literature, 50

Abstract

Streimannia turgida from the Brindabella Range in the Australian Capital Territory is described as a new genus and species of the Brachytheciaceae. It is a peatland moss having deeply concave, ovate to ovate-lanceolate and reflexed-apiculate leaves with margins entire or merely faintly serrulate above; very variable, double or more rarely single and branched costae reaching 1/3–1/2 the leaf length; thickwalled and po rose cells at the leaf insertion; thin-walled and hyaline angular cells forming rounded, pellucid and excavate auricles.     

Surface-associated diatoms from marine habitats at Cape Evans,Antarctica, including the first record of living <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eunotogramma marginopunctatum</Emphasis>

The diversity of diatom communities found epiphytically on red macroalgae collected under the sea ice at Cape Evans, Antarctica, was studied microscopically. Comparison of communities along a depth profile showed that species diversity decreased as depth below sea ice increased. Dominant taxa also changed with depth, with Cocconeis fasciolata dominant at 10 and 15 m, Porosira glacialis at 20 m and Eunotogramma marginopunctatum at 25 m. Epiphytic communities were also compared to sympagic and sediment-associated communities collected from a single depth. Species richness was greatest for communities associated with surface sediments while the poorest was found in sympagic, or sea-ice, communities. E. marginopunctatum, previously only described from fossil material, was found associated epiphytically on macroalgae from 20 to 25 m below sea ice.     

Heat shock response and mammal adaptation to high elevation (hypoxia)

The mammal's high elevation(hypoxia) adaptation was studied by using the immu-nological and the molecular biological methods to understand the significance of Hsp(hypoxia) ad-aptation in the organic high elevation,through the mammal heat shock response.(1) From high ele-vation to low elevation(natural hypoxia) :Western blot and conventional RT-PCR and real-time fluo-rescence quota PCR were adopted.Expression difference of heat shock protein of 70(Hsp70) and natural expression of brain tissue of Hsp70 gene was determined in the cardiac muscle tissue among the different elevation mammals(yak) .(2) From low elevation to high elevation(hypoxia induction) :The mammals(domestic rabbits) from the low elevation were sent directly to the areas with different high elevations like 2300,3300 and 5000 m above sea level to be raised for a period of 3 weeks be-fore being slaughtered and the genetic inductive expression of the brain tissue of Hsp70 was deter-mined with RT-PCR.The result indicated that all of the mammals at different elevations possessed their heat shock response gene.Hsp70 of the high elevation mammal rose abruptly under stress and might be induced to come into being by high elevation(hypoxia) .The speedy synthesis of Hsp70 in the process of heat shock response is suitable to maintain the cells' normal physiological functions under stress.The Hsp70 has its threshold value.The altitude of 5000 m above sea level is the best condition for the heat shock response,and it starts to reduce when the altitude is over 6000 m above sea level.The Hsp70 production quantity and the cell hypoxia bearing capacity have their direct ratio.     

Stable nitrogen isotopes (d15N) in thalli of arid vagrant lichen <Emphasis Type="Italic">Xanthoparmelia camtschadalis</Emphasis> across an altitudinal gradient of the Khangai Plateau of Mongolia

The d¹⁵N values of stable nitrogen isotopes were determined in samples of organic matter (OM) of thalli of vagrant lichen Xanthoparmelia camtschadalis collected across 13 altitudinal levels within the range of 1550–3250 m above sea level of both steppes and highland meadows of the Khangai Plateau of Mongolia. No correlation between the d¹⁵N values of lichen OM and the altitude range was detected at the regional scale. However, at a local scale including vegetation type, botanical-geographical area of Khangai, and mountain slope, the amount of the ¹⁵N heavy isotope in lichen OM was found to be decreased with an altitude increase.     

Modelling of fossil and contemporary data suggest the Broad-toothed rat (Mastacomys fuscus) currently occupies a small part of its available climatic niche: Implications of paleontological data for conservation of a threatened species

We use fossil, sub-fossil and contemporary records of the Broad-toothed rat, Mastacomys fuscus, to model changes in its range over the last 21 thousand years. Mastacomys fuscus was exposed to, and flourished in, a much broader range of environmental conditions in the recent past than it occupies today. It also currently occupies a much smaller range than it did in the Late Pleistocene. Apart from a weak response to sea-level rise in the Holocene, the decline of M. fuscus does not correlate with known climate change. Instead, the contraction of the species' distribution on mainland Australia to high-elevation areas occurred recently and rapidly. Small changes in the 1000 year BP and present-day projected distributions imply some contraction of the area of suitable climate to higher elevations of the mainland subspecies M. f. mordicus, up to 2200 m above sea level. However, M. f. mordicus also persists near sea level at Cape Otway (southwestern Victoria) and from sea level to 1500 m above sea level at Barrington Tops (eastern New South Wales, Australia). This suggests suitable habitat may still exist in coastal Victoria and the central Tablelands/Blue Mountains areas. This research highlights the importance and value of using sub-fossil data to understand changes in the distribution and niche occupation of threatened species as the basis for conservation planning.     

Statistical and ecological analysis for the evaluation of floristic diversity: The case of a volcanic complex in North-eastern Italy (Colli Euganei,Padova, Italy)

ABSTRACT

The Euganean Hills are a volcanic mountainous complex, which rises from the eastern Po Plain, and consists of about one hundred hills, rising from 80 m to 604 m above sea level. In the studied area, 1158 taxa of Tracheophytes have been collected. The chorological and life-form analyses of this flora have shown the predominance of the Mediterranean s.l. elements and of the hemicryptophytes, followed by the therophytes. The chorological aspect of this floristic complex was analysed. A cross-spectrum was calculated to see how life-forms are represented in the different chorotypes. A comparison with the biological and chorological spectra of the Veneto Region and of Italy as a whole was also carried out. Several species of remarkable floristic and phytogeographical interest have been found, as well as some included in the national and Regional lists of protected species.