Reproductive plasticity in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Petrolisthes armatus</Emphasis> (Anomura,Porcellanidae): a comparison between a Pacific and an Atlantic population

The porcellanid crab Petrolisthes armatus, with a known geographic distribution covering a wide range of latitudes, was selected to conduct a comparative study on egg production and reproductive output between two populations from Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Ovigerous females were collected between September and November 2005 in Punta Morales, Pacific coast of Costa Rica (n = 137) and from March 2005 to July 2006 in Araçá region, São Paulo, Brazil (n = 46). The mean size of females was statistically different between both populations with larger females from Brazil than Costa Rica (7.9 ± 1.31 and 6.6 ± 0.95 mm CW, respectively). Likewise, egg production was significantly different in both populations and started in Pacific Costa Rica at a smaller female size than in Brazil. Specimens from Pacific Costa Rica produced roughly three times more eggs than equally sized females from Brazil, while newly extruded embryos were larger in Brazil than in Costa Rica (0.045 and 0.039 mm³, respectively). Egg volume increased during embryogenesis by 112.8 and 164.5% in Costa Rican and Brazilian populations, respectively. The egg water content increased steadily in both populations; however, eggs produced in Brazil contained always more water than those from the same developmental stage in Costa Rica. Average reproductive output (based on dry weight) was substantially lower in Brazil (0.031) than in Costa Rica (0.065). Our results confirm an impressive intraspecific plasticity of reproductive features in an intertidal decapod. The observed phenotypical variability might be related to local environmental conditions as well as to the location of the studied population concerning its geographic range of distribution.     

The distribution of species of the genusThermocyclops (Copepoda,Cyclopoida) in the western hemisphere,with description ofT. parvus,new species

The distribution and ecology of species of cyclopoid copepods of the genusThermocyclops in the western hemisphere are reviewed. These are:Thermocyclops brehmi (Kiefer),T. crassus (Fischer),T. decipiens (Kiefer),T. hastatus antillensis Herbst,T. inversus (Kiefer),T. minutus (Lowndes),T. tenuis (Marsh),T. tenuis longifurcatus Pesce, andT. parvus, new species.T. brehmi is known from microlimnotopes in a restricted region in northern Argentina and Uruguay, whileT. crassus has been reliably recorded only from small ponds in Costa Rica.T. decipiens, with many records from northern Argentina to Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Antilles, is often numerous in mesotrophic and eutrophic lakes and reservoirs. The range ofT. minutus extends over tropical and subtropical lowlands of South America from northern Argentina to Venezuela; this species prefers oligotrophic and mesotrophic conditions in larger lakes.T. inversus may prefer mildly carbonate waters and inhabits large and small reservoirs, natural lakes, ponds, wells and caves from northeastern Brazil to Mexico and the Antilles.T. tenuis ranges from northern Argentina to the Antilles and the southern United States, inhabiting large and small, natural and artificial bodies of water.T. tenuis longifurcatus is known only from two wells on Bonaire,T. hastatus antillensis from a well on the island of Guadeloupe, andT. parvus only from plankton samples from the Florida Everglades. Knowledge of population dynamics, feeding and reproductive biology of several planktonic species is reviewed.     

Merremia discoidesperma: Its taxonomy and capacity of its seeds for ocean drifting

Merremia discoidesperma (Donn. Sm.) O’Donell (Mary’s-bean) is a rarely collected and inadequately described high climbing woody liana of Chiapas, Mexico; Guatemala; Costa Rica; Hispaniola; and Cuba. There is only one record of this species being cultivated and this from Guanajuato, Mexico in 1894, though seeds are used in folk remedies. These seeds are topographically unlike other known convolvulaceous seeds, thus permitting their positive identification. Because seeds remain buoyant for more than three years in seawater, those produced in the Caribbean and Atlantic drainage region may be transported by the Gulf Stream System as far north as the Norwegian coast, a distance of about 9,500 km. Seeds produced in the Pacific drainage region from Chiapas, Mexico south to Costa Rica may be transported by the North Pacific Equatorial Current as far west as Wotho Atoll in the Marshall Islands, a distance of about 11,000 km. Records of drifting and subsequent stranding of these and other tropical New World disseminules are supported by drift bottle studies and drift debris records in the Atlantic Ocean. In the Pacific Ocean region distribution of stranded Mary’s-bean seeds is supported by a similar distribution of New World pumice. There is an indication in the literature that Mary’s-bean seeds may drift to the Philippines. The record from Wotho Atoll to Norway constitutes the widest drift range of any seed or fruit which has been documented. Other tropical disseminules may drift as far or farther, but their origins cannot be ascertained with certainty. The plant is described, its synonyms listed, and its distribution as well as the distribution of its stranded seeds recorded.     

Notes on Neotropical Vaccinieae (Ericaceae). I. Gonocalyx—A genus new to Central America

The genusGonocalyx, hitherto known from Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Dominica, and Colombia is recorded from Central America. Two species are described from Costa Rica, one (G. costaricensis) is new to science. A key to the seven species of the genus is provided.     

Ecological determinants of methylmercury bioaccumulation in benthic invertebrates of polar desert lakes

We investigated concentrations of monomethylmercury (MMHg) at the base of benthic food webs in six lakes from polar desert (biologically poor and low annual precipitation) on Cornwallis Island (Nunavut, Canada, ~75°N latitude). Anthropogenic mercury emissions reach the Arctic by long-range atmospheric transport, and information is lacking on processes controlling MMHg entry into these simple lake food webs, despite their importance in determining transfer to lake-dwelling Arctic char. We examined the influences of diet (using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes), water depth, and taxonomic composition on MMHg bioaccumulation in benthic invertebrates (Chironomidae and Trichoptera). We also estimated MMHg biomagnification between benthic algae and invertebrates. Similar MMHg concentrations of chironomid larvae in nearshore and offshore zones suggest that benthic MMHg exposure was homogeneous within the lakes. Chironomid δ¹³C values were also similar in both depth zones, suggesting that diet items with highly negative δ¹³C, specifically methanogenic bacteria and planktonic organic matter, were not important food (and therefore mercury) sources for profundal larvae. MMHg concentrations were significantly different among two subfamilies of chironomids (Diamesinae, Chironominae) and Trichoptera. Higher MMHg concentrations in Diamesinae were likely related to predation on other chironomids. We found high MMHg biomagnification between benthic algae and chironomid larvae compared with literature estimates for aquatic ecosystems at lower latitudes; thus, benthic processes may affect the sensitivity of polar desert lakes to mercury. Information on benthic MMHg exposure is important for evaluating and tracking impacts of atmospheric mercury deposition and environmental change in this remote High Arctic environment.     

Population dynamics ofTelenomus fariai [Hym.: Scelionidae], a parasite of chagas' disease vectors VIII. Morphological and ecological comparison between two allopatric populations under laboratory conditions

Telenomus fariai Lima ranges from Argentina and Chile to Mexico; some ecological parameters and morphological characters were compared between tropical (Costa Rica) and temperate (Argentina) populations, as reared on tropical and temperate hosts. The results of the 4 combinations between the 2 parasite populations and the 2 host species (Triatoma phyllosoma pallidipennis Stal) andTriatoma infestans Klug) [Hym.: Reduviidae] showed that only the parasite's geographical origin was statistically significant when evaluated through adult female life expectancy at time of emergence from the host, development time, total progeny per host per female 0–24 h old, and generation time. No difference was found between parasite populations with respect to total progeny per female and net reproductive rate. The morphometry proved statistically significant for all body measurements except the antennae.     

A new combination in Maranthes (Chrysobalanaceae)

Maranthes, previously known in the Neotropics only from Panama, has recently been collected in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Prior to publication of the Chrysobalanaceae of theFlora de Nicaragua, the new combinationMaranthes panamensis (Standl.) Prance & F. White is made and based onCouepia panamensis, previously considered conspecific with the AsiaticM. corymbosa Blume.     

To whom and to what is research on migration a contribution

Nicaraguan immigration to Costa Rica is a major case of South–South migration in Latin America. This chapter explores a set of examples of analyses of critical interventions – regarding immigration law, social imaginaries around which representations of Nicaraguans are framed, and participatory work carried out with impoverished communities – in order to reflect on the ways in which social sciences in Costa Rica attempts to intervene both in the everyday hostility of Costa Rican society and in the ways in which Nicaraguans contest that hostility. Responding to Michael Burawoy's (2005 Burawoy, Michael 2005 ‘For public sociology’, American Sociological Review, vol. 70, pp. 4–28. doi:10.1177/000312240507000102[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2007) call for a ‘public sociology’, the chapter reflects on how debates around public social sciences could enrich the political, institutional and conceptual location of migration studies in Costa Rica.     

Modelling pollination services across agricultural landscapes

Background and Aims

Crop pollination by bees and other animals is an essential ecosystem service. Ensuring the maintenance of the service requires a full understanding of the contributions of landscape elements to pollinator populations and crop pollination. Here, the first quantitative model that predicts pollinator abundance on a landscape is described and tested.

Methods

Using information on pollinator nesting resources, floral resources and foraging distances, the model predicts the relative abundance of pollinators within nesting habitats. From these nesting areas, it then predicts relative abundances of pollinators on the farms requiring pollination services. Model outputs are compared with data from coffee in Costa Rica, watermelon and sunflower in California and watermelon in New Jersey–Pennsylvania (NJPA).

Key Results

Results from Costa Rica and California, comparing field estimates of pollinator abundance, richness or services with model estimates, are encouraging, explaining up to 80 % of variance among farms. However, the model did not predict observed pollinator abundances on NJPA, so continued model improvement and testing are necessary. The inability of the model to predict pollinator abundances in the NJPA landscape may be due to not accounting for fine-scale floral and nesting resources within the landscapes surrounding farms, rather than the logic of our model.

Conclusions

The importance of fine-scale resources for pollinator service delivery was supported by sensitivity analyses indicating that the model''s predictions depend largely on estimates of nesting and floral resources within crops. Despite the need for more research at the finer-scale, the approach fills an important gap by providing quantitative and mechanistic model from which to evaluate policy decisions and develop land-use plans that promote pollination conservation and service delivery.Key words: Agriculture, bees, ecosystem services, landscape ecology, model, land use, pollinators     

A new eutardigrade from Costa Rica with taxonomical and zoogeographical remarks on Costa Rican tardigrades

In a moss sample collected in Costa Rica, 63 specimens and 13 eggs of the new species were found. Mesobiotus pseudopatiens sp. nov. belongs to the harmsworthi group and is most similar to Mesobiotus patiens, but it differs from it mainly by smaller eggs, longer flexible portions of egg processes and certain morphometric characters of adults. In addition, after re-examination of specimens of the genus Milnesium collected in Costa Rica, a new record of Milnesium kogui may be added to Costa Rican fauna. The paper also discusses taxonomical problems and the zoogeography of Costa Rican tardigrades, which partially agree with hypotheses of Great American Biotic Interchange and Mexican Transition Zone. A large number of so-called ‘Costa Rican species’ are doubtful taxa with ‘cosmopolitan’ distribution; the largest number of species, however, have tropical/subtropical or neotropical distribution. Certain species from colder regions are also present in the mountains of Costa Rica.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F6F6195E-0888-4279-A3AF-422642F8B40     

New genera and species of ericaceae (Vaccinieae) from Costa Rica and Panama

Two new monotypic genera,Didonica andUtleya, are described, withD. pendula from Panama andU. costaricensis from Costa Rica.Disterigma trimera (Panama),D. utleyorum (Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador),Lateropora santafeensis (Panama),Lysiclesia panamensis (Panama),Macleania talamancensis (Costa Rica),Themistoclesia costaricensis (Costa Rica) andT. horquetensis (Panama),Vaccinium costaricense andV. orosiense (both from Costa Rica) and V.jefense (Panama) are all described as new. New combinations are provided for the PanamanianVaccinium floccosum (=Symphysia floccosa) and the West IndianVaccinium racemosum (=Symphysia racemosa). Keys are provided for the Central American species ofDisterigma andThemistoclesia, the species ofLateropora andLysiclesia, and the Costa Rican and Panamanian species ofVaccinium. Six new species are illustrated.     

Editorial for ‘Issue focus on 2nd Costa Rica biophysics symposium — March 11th–12th, 2021’

This Editorial describes both the motivation for, and the five articles appearing in, the Issue Focus dedicated to the 2nd Costa Rica Biophysics Symposium which was held in March 2021. Some recent history about both the symposium and developments in science occurring within Costa Rica is described. 

The Costa Rica Biophysics Symposium was conceived as a forum for faculty, scholars and students interested on cutting-edge topics in biophysics and related fields. Following the success of the first event organized in 2019 (Solís et al (2020), the second edition of the symposium took place on March 2021 with the support of the Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Costa Rica (ANC, National Academy of Sciences of Costa Rica), the International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB), the German Society of Biophysics (DGfB), and the Universidad Nacional of Costa Rica (UNA). The symposium aimed to reinforce and enhance the novel network of investigators established in the 2019 event. Participation of Costa Rican presenters, either located in the country or abroad, and foreign scientists from the USA, Germany, France, and Switzerland (Solís et al. (2021a) translated into an expansion and internationalization of the previous network. Moreover, the symposium attracted a broad international audience, which increases the opportunities of further international collaboration.The meeting was organized into 14 presentations and one keynote lecture. It was attended by researchers of the three main universities of Costa Rica: Universidad Nacional (UNA), Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) and Tecnológico de Costa Rica (TEC). Presenters from international universities were also present, including UT Southwestern Medical Center, USA; Klinikum Nürnberg Medical School, Germany; École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland; Institut de Neurosciences de Montpellier, France; University of California Berkeley, USA; and The University of Chicago, USA. The topics presented in the symposium were diverse and covered cutting-edge biophysical research areas. The presentations ranged from channel electrophysiology, machine learning focused on cellular microscopy, prediction of protein–protein interactions, channelopathies and novel biophysical techniques, among others (Solís et al., 2021a). Furthermore, each lecture was followed by questions from the audience, allowing discussion, engagement and interaction between researchers in spite of the limitations of a virtual symposium. The closing event for the symposium was a lecture by the world-renowned biophysicist Francisco Bezanilla from the University of Chicago, who engaged the audience into a master presentation of his vast research on protein voltage-sensor domains (VSD) with a focus on his recent work on the non-canonical mechanisms for VSD-mediated regulation of pore domains in voltage-gated potassium channels (Carvalho-de-Souza and Bezanilla 2019). After the consequent discussion, the symposium finished with a networking activity, where audience and presenters were able to socialize and share experiences.     

Three new species of Elleanthus (Orchidaceae) from Central America

Elleanthus stolonifer andE. tillandsioides are new species in theE. poiformis complex of sectionChloidelyna.Elleanthus lentii is a new species in sectionStachydelyna. Elleanthus stolonifer is widespread in the mountains of Costa Rica and Panama;E. tillandsioides is found only in the lowland forests of southeastern Costa Rica;E. lentii is limited to the Cordillera de Guanacaste of Costa Rica.     

Taxonomy of the genus Aspasia Lindley (Orchidaceae: Oncidieae)

The genusAspasia (Orchidaceae: Oncidieae) consists of five species of epiphytic orchids of Central and South America. The genus is compared with closely related genera of the tribe Oncidieae.Aspasia epidendroides is found in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and western Panama.Aspasia principissa is found in central and eastern Panama and adjacent Colombia.Aspasia psittacina is endemic to western Ecuador.Aspasia variegata is found in Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam, and Brazil.Aspasia lunata is known only from Brazil.     

On the Horizontal Distribution of the Profundal Bottom Fauna in a Limited Area of Central Lake Malaren,Sweden

The spatial distribution of bottom animals in a large, flat, and unexposed bottom area (about 8 km²) in central Lake Mälaren was investigated. As far as could be seen from preliminary tests the area was homogeneous in most respects. Working from the ice in all 42 tube samples and 6 Ekman samples were obtained from randomly distributed quadrats in a grid measuring 100 × 50 m². A 0.3 mm gauge net was used for sieving. The mud surface area covered with the tube samples was about 40 cm². Different methods of illustration were applied to demonstrate how many samples were actually required to show certain characteristics in the bottom fauna. For most purposes the accumulated mean value (cf. Kajak, 1963) was close enough to the stable mean value already after two or three tube samples for both chironomids and tubificids. In order to get a good idea of the five major constituents amongst tubificids (about 96% of all tubificids) two tube samples were found to be quite enough in this particular test. For the seven major constituents (about 99% of all tubificids) four tube samples were sufficient — or one single Ekman sample. The main constituents were well represented after two tube samples or one Ekman sample. Very little further information about the major constituents was obtained after the minimum number of samples mentioned above had been taken. A statistical study based on the same material was performed by a group of statisticians at the Institute of Statistics, University of Stockholm. Different statistical tests were applied to the material. Due to the relatively small number of observations nothing definitely could be said about the actual distribution of tubificids or chironomids in the area. The chironomids seemed to conform better to the Poisson distribution than to the Negative Binomial distribution, while the tubificids showed greater agreement with the Negative Binomial distribution.     

Hymenopterous EGG-pupal and larval-pupal parasitoids ofCeratitis capitata andAnastrepha spp. [Dip.: Tephritidae] in Costa Rica

Egg-pupal and larval-pupal parasitoids were recovered from less than 10% of the 16,000 tephritid puparia collected in Costa Rica from August, 1979, through April, 1980.Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) was attacked by 2 introduced opiineBraconidae and 2 indigenous eucoilineCynipidae Anastrepha spp. were attacked by each parasitoid species attackingC. capitata and also by 5 indigenous opiineBraconidae and 1 exoticEulophidae. Toxotrypana curvicauda Gerstaecker was attacked only by an indigenous opiineBraconidae which did not attack other tephritid species collected.     

The relative importance of spatial and environmental processes in distribution of benthic chironomid larvae within a large and shallow lake

Although chironomids are popular model organisms in ecological research and indicators of bioassessment, the relative role of dispersal and environmental filtering in their community assembly is still poorly known, especially at fine spatial scales. In this study, we applied a metacommunity framework and used various statistical tools to examine the relative role of spatial and local environmental factors in distribution of benthic chironomid taxa and their assemblages in large and shallow Lake Balaton, Hungary. Contrary to present predictions on the metacommunity organisation of aquatic insects with winged terrestrial adults, we found that dispersal limitation can considerably affect distribution of chironomids even at lake scale. However, we also revealed the predominant influence of environmental filtering, and strong taxa–environment relationships were observed especially along sediment type, sediment organic matter content and macrophyte coverage gradients. We account that identified reference conditions and assemblages along with specified optima and tolerances of the abundant taxa can contribute to our understanding of chironomid ecology and be utilised in shallow lake bioassessment. Further, we propose that predictive models of species–environment relationships should better take into account pure spatial structuring of local communities and species-specific variability of spatial processes and environmental control even at small spatial scales.