Coral Reef Fish Assessment in the ‘Coral Triangle’ of Southeastern Asia

Icthyological results of four rapid assessment surveys are presented. The surveys were completed between 1997–1999 and were conducted at the following localities: Milne Bay (Papua New Guinea), Calamianes Islands (Palawan, Philippines), Togean–Banggai Islands (Sulawesi, Indonesia), and Weh Island (Sumatra, Indonesia). Surveys were conducted over periods ranging from 9 to 22 days and consisted mainly of underwater observations while scuba diving, supplemented with small rotenone and spear gun collections. Milne Bay was characterized by a high percentage of pristine reef environments and supported the largest number of species (1040). Diversity was generally lower at the Philippine and Indonesian sites due to more habitat homogeneity and higher fishing pressure, including the widespread use of illegal fishing methods, including cyanide and explosives.     

A study of the Werewilka Inlet of the saline Lake Wyara, Australia – a harbour of biodiversity for a sea of simplicity

Lake Wyara receives most of its water from Werewilka Creek, with the area between the two forming Werewilka Inlet which is highly variable in area, and salinity and has high habitat heterogeneity. Over 12 years, 84 species of macroinvertebrate were found in the inlet, but only 34 in the lake. Halobiont and halophilic species were the same in each, but there were many fewer salt-tolerant species in the lake and no freshwater species. The latter were excluded by salinity, but habitat homogeneity due to strong wave action in the lake seems to limit many salt-tolerant species to the inlet. Species richness in large saline lakes in inland Australia is limited by salinity, poor speciation opportunities engendered by their episodic nature, and habitat homogeneity.     

Apparent Involvement of a β1 Type Integrin in Coral Fertilization

Integrins are involved in a wide variety of cell adhesion processes, and have roles in gamete binding and fusion in mammals. Integrins have been also discovered in the scleractinian coral Acropora millepora (Cnidaria: Anthozoa). As a first step toward understanding the molecular basis of fertilization in corals, we examined the effect of polyclonal antisera raised against recombinant coral integrins on gamete interactions in A. millepora. Antiserum raised against integrin βcn1 dramatically decreased the binding of Acropora sperm to eggs and significantly decreased fertilization rates relative to preimmune serum and seawater controls. However, the antiserum against AmIntegrin α1 did not affect significantly either sperm–egg binding or fertilization. One possible explanation for this is that AmIntegrin α1 may preferentially mediate interactions with RGD-containing ligands, whereas mammalian α6 integrin (which is most directly implicated in gamete interactions) preferentially interacts with laminin-related ligands. Our results suggest that β1 type integrins are involved in the fertilization process in Acropora and that some functions of these molecules may have been conserved between corals and mammals. A. Iguchi and L. M. Márquez contributed equally to this work.     

The Relative Significance of Host–Habitat,Depth, and Geography on the Ecology,Endemism, and Speciation of Coral Endosymbionts in the Genus Symbiodinium

Dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodinium are among the most abundant and important group of eukaryotic microbes found in coral reef ecosystems. Recent analyses conducted on various host cnidarians indicated that Symbiodinium assemblages in the Caribbean Sea are genetically and ecologically diverse. In order to further characterize this diversity and identify processes important to its origins, samples from six orders of Cnidaria comprising 45 genera were collected from reef habitats around Barbados (eastern Caribbean) and from the Mesoamerican barrier reef off the coast of Belize (western Caribbean). Fingerprinting of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 identified 62 genetically different Symbiodinium. Additional analyses of clade B Symbiodinium using microsatellite flanker sequences unequivocally characterized divergent lineages, or “species,” within what was previously thought to be a single entity (B1 or B184). In contrast to the Indo-Pacific where host-generalist symbionts dominate many coral communities, partner specificity in the Caribbean is relatively high and is influenced little by the host’s apparent mode of symbiont acquisition. Habitat depth (ambient light) and geographic isolation appeared to influence the bathymetric zonation and regional distribution for most of the Symbiodinium spp. characterized. Approximately 80% of Symbiodinium types were endemic to either the eastern or western Caribbean and 40–50% were distributed to compatible hosts living in shallow, high-irradiance, or deep, low-irradiance environments. These ecologic, geographic, and phylogenetic patterns indicate that most of the present Symbiodinium diversity probably originated from adaptive radiations driven by ecological specialization in separate Caribbean regions during the Pliocene and Pleistocene periods.     

Did alien ants initiate a population explosion of a coccoid plant pest on an islet in the Coral Sea?

The composition of the ant fauna of a Coral Sea islet, North East Herald Cay, is reported for several years from 1995 to 2007. A major change in composition was first noted in 2007 but probably occurred earlier. Tetramorium lanuginosum, present in 1997 and in previous years, was not found in 2007. Instead, Tetramorium bicarinatum, recorded for the first time in 2006, was abundant in 2007. This change, together with drier conditions, may have initiated a population explosion of a pest coccoid that caused serious damage to the tree, Pisonia grandis. Tetramorium bicarinatum also reduced the abundance of surface-active arthropods compared to their abundance when it was absent. Ants and other invertebrates on three other islets in the Coral Sea are also documented for 2007 and support the dominance effects of T. bicarinatums.     

A quantitative synthesis of the medicinal ethnobotany of the Malinké of Mali and the Asháninka of Peru, with a new theoretical framework

Background

Although ethnomedically and taxonomically guided searches for new medicinal plants can improve the percentage of plants found containing active compounds when compared to random sampling, ethnobotany has fulfilled little of its promise in the last few decades to deliver a bounty of new, laboratory-proven medicinal plants and compounds. It is quite difficult to test, isolate, and elucidate the structure and mechanism of compounds from the plethora of new medicinal plant uses described each year with limited laboratory time and resources and the high cost of clinical trials of new drug candidates.

Methods

A new quantitative theoretical framework of mathematical formulas called "relational efficacy" is proposed that should narrow down this search for new plant-derived medicines based on the hypothesis that closely related plants used to treat closely related diseases in distantly related cultures have a higher probability of being effective because they are more likely to be independent discoveries of similar plant compounds and disease mechanisms. A prerequisite to this hypothesis, the idea that empirical testing in traditional medicine will lead to choosing similar medicinal plants and therefore the medicinal flora of two distant cultures will prove to be more similar than their general flora, is tested using resampling statistics on cross-cultural field data of the plants used by the Malinké of Mali and the Asháninka of Peru to treat the diseases malaria, African sleeping sickness, Chagas' disease, leishmaniasis, diabetes, eczema, asthma, and uterine fibroids.

Results

In this case, the similarity of the medicinal floras is found to be significantly greater than the similarity of the general floras, but only when the diseases in question are grouped into the categories of parasitic and autoimmune diseases.

Conclusion

If the central theoretical framework of this hypothesis is shown to be true, it will allow the synthesis of medicinal plant information from around the world to pinpoint the species with the highest potential efficacy to take into the laboratory and analyze further, ultimately saving much field and laboratory time and resources. Spanish abstract Las búsquedas que utilizan la etnomedicina y la taxonomía para descubrir nuevas plantas medicinales, pueden aumentar la probabilidad de éxito de encontrar compuestos químicos activos en plantas, en comparación con las búsquedas aleatorias. A pesar de lo anterior, en las últimas décadas, la etnobotánica no ha cumplido con las expectativas de proveer numerosas plantas medicinales y químicos nuevos una vez examinados en el laboratorio. Cada año se describen una plétora de plantas medicinales y sus usos, sin embargo las limitaciones de tiempo y recursos en los laboratorios, unidos al alto coste de los ensayos clínicos de las drogas potenciales, hacen muy difícil probar, aislar, y elucidar la estructura y el mecanismo de los compuestos de estas plantas. Se propone un nuevo marco teórico cuantitativo cuyo fin es focalizar la búsqueda de nueva plantas medicinales. Este marco teórico está basado en la hipótesis que las plantas cercanamente relacionadas, usadas para tratar enfermedades cercanamente relacionadas en culturas distantemente relacionadas, tienen una eficacia potencial más alta, debido a que es más probable que estos hallazgos sean descubrimientos independientes de compuestos químicos similares. Parte de esta hipótesis, que las escogencias racionales se hacen para elegir plantas medicinales similares y que la flora medicinal de dos culturas distantes es más similar que su flora general, se probó usando métodos estadísticos de remuestreo con datos de campo de la comunidad Malinké de Malí y de la Asháninka de Perú, y las enfermedades de paludismo, enfermedad africana del sueño, enfermedad de Chagas, leishmania, diabetes, eczema, asma, y fibromas uterinos. Se encontró, en este caso, que la similitud de las floras medicinales es significativamente mayor a la similitud de las floras generales, solamente cuando las enfermedades analizadas se agruparon en las categorías de enfermedades parasitarias y enfermedades autoinmunes. Si se demostrara que las otras partes de esta hipótesis son ciertas, se podría sintetizar la información sobre plantas medicinales alrededor del mundo, para establecer así las plantas potencialmente más eficaces para llevarlas al laboratorio y analizarlas más profundamente. French abstract Par rapport aux recherches menées de façon aléatoire, les recherches effectuées par des critères ethnobotaniques et taxonomiques ont de meilleures chances à découvrir de nouvelles plantes médicinales à produit chimique actifs. Pendant les dernières décennies pourtant, l'ethnobotanique a réalisé peu de ces promesses à révéler un grand nombre de plantes médicinales et de nouveaux produits chimiques, testés au laboratoire. Avec les ressources limitées pour la recherche au laboratoire et le coût élevé des épreuves cliniques pour trouver de nouveaux candidats aux médicaments, il est difficile d'étudier, d'isoler et d'élucider la structure et le mécanisme des produits chimiques de chacune des nombreuses plantes médicinales (et les utilisations de ces plantes) décrites chaque année. Nous proposons une nouvelle technique théorique et quantitative pour préciser la recherche de nouvelles plantes médicinales; elle est basée sur l'hypothèse que les plantes étroitement apparentées, employées pour traiter les maladies étroitement apparentées dans les cultures très éloignées les unes des autres, ont une potentialité d'efficacité supérieure parce qu'elles représentent la découverte indépendante des propriétés chimiques semblables des plantes. Une partie de cette hypothèse-qui démontre que la sélection des plantes médicinales semblables est un choix rationnel et qu'il y a davantage de ressemblance dans la flore médicinale de deux cultures éloignées que dans leur flore générale-est examinée par un re-échantillonnage des données de recherches effectuées parmi les Malinké au Mali et les Asháninka au Pérou, en particulier sur la malaria, la maladie africaine du sommeil, la maladie de Chagas, la leishmania, le diabète, l'eczéma, l'asthme et les fibromes utérins. Dans ces cas précis, la similitude de la flore médicinale s'avère sensiblement plus grande que la similitude de la flore générale, mais seulement quand les maladies en question sont regroupées ensemble comme maladies parasitaires et auto-immunitaires. Si cette hypothèse est prouvée, elle permettra la synthèse des informations recueillies sur les plantes médicinales du monde entier pour en sélectionner de façon plus précise celles qui sont les plus efficaces et qui méritent analyse plus approfondie au laboratoire. Asháninka abstract Aayiantyarori iròpero aavintane, ontzimatye ancovacovatero ayotero ovaqueraripaye incashi iyoyetziri ashaninka, ayotzityaro aajatzi iyotane viracocha paitachari "quimica" ancantero aaca oshintsinka inchashipaye. Atziri yotacotzirori cametsa, ishtoriajacotzirori iyotane ashaninkapaye te iroñàrantero maaroni ocaratzi yamenacotaqueri laboratorioki. Aaviantyarori cametsa, ayotacotero aavintarontsiyetatsiri osamani antzimaventero ishtoriatacotaro, aajatzi osheki opinata ampinaventero aparopaye inchashi, acoviriqui ayotacotero, osaretsikipaye. Tzimatsi ovaquerari quenquishiriantsitatsiri ero opinata osheki ashitoriatacotero aparopaye inchashi, asampiyetatyrey pashinipaye atziri saicatsiri intaina puitarika inchasshi yavintari, ajatzirica oshiyaro ayotzi aaca, quemetachari atziri saikatsiri nampitsiki malinke aajatzi ishiyari ashaninka saicatsiri peruki, tzimatsi inchashi aajatzi yaavintari osheki okamètsatzi aririka anteri mantsiyarentsi icantaitziri ompetarentsi catsirentsi, pochokirentsi, patsarontsi(matatsi) ashipetate maaroni, ampochavathate, ancainikentsite, oncatsithakite tsinani. Aririka añaker aajatzi ahiyaro inchashi yaavintayetari pashinipaye atziri intainasatzi irdotake ahitoriatacoperoteri anàashityard aavintarontsi ovamairiri shithanentsi, onàshitaavintarontsi tzicaacoventairi ero antane mantsiyarentsi. Omanperotatyarica iròperotzi avintarontsi, oshitovake laboratorioki aritaque iyoitanaquero maaroni quipatsiki iroperori avintarontsi.     

Antigenic similarity between the β-subunits of the ATPases of a bacterium,a yeast and a higher plant

Antiserum raised against the β-subunit of wheat (Triticum aestivum) chloroplast ATPase cross-reacts with a 51000 protein located in the membrane fraction of Escherichia coli. The differential solubility of this polypeptide after chloroform treatment of unc⁺ and uncD409 strains indicates that this cross-reacting polypeptide is the bacterial β-subunit of ATPase. Thus a high degree of conservation of antigenic determinant sites exists between a bacterial β-subunit and the β-subunit of a monocot. This conservation also seems to extend to the β-subunit of mitochondrial ATPase of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae).     

Coral survivors of the 1982–83 El Niño-Southern Oscillation,Galápagos Islands,Ecuador

Reef Sites

Coral survivors of the 1982–83 El Niño-Southern Oscillation, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador     

Towards a resolution of ‘the paradox of the plankton’: A brief overview of the proposed mechanisms

In plankton ecology, it is a fundamental question as to how a large number of competing phytoplankton species coexist in marine ecosystems under a seemingly-limited variety of resources. This ever-green question was first proposed by Hutchinson [Hutchinson, G.E., 1961. The paradox of the plankton. Am. Nat. 95, 137–145] as ‘the paradox of the plankton’. Starting from Hutchinson [Hutchinson, G.E., 1961. The paradox of the plankton. Am. Nat. 95, 137–145], over more than four decades several investigators have put forward varieties of mechanisms for the extreme diversity of phytoplankton species. In this article, within the boundary of our knowledge, we review the literature of the proposed solutions and give a brief overview of the mechanisms proposed so far. The proposed mechanisms that we discuss mainly include spatial and temporal heterogeneity in physical and biological environment, externally imposed or self-generated spatial segregation, horizontal mesoscale turbulence of ocean characterized by coherent vortices, oscillation and chaos generated by several internal and external causes, stable coexistence and compensatory dynamics under fluctuating temperature in resource competition, and finally the role of toxin-producing phytoplankton in maintaining the coexistence and biodiversity of the overall plankton population that we have proposed recently. We find that, although the different mechanisms proposed so far is potentially applicable to specific ecosystems, a universally accepted theory for explaining plankton diversity in natural waters is still an unachieved goal.     

Heterotrophic Compensation: A Possible Mechanism for Resilience of Coral Reefs to Global Warming or a Sign of Prolonged Stress?

Thermally induced bleaching has caused a global decline in corals and the frequency of such bleaching events will increase. Thermal bleaching severely disrupts the trophic behaviour of the coral holobiont, reducing the photosynthetically derived energy available to the coral host. In the short term this reduction in energy transfer from endosymbiotic algae results in an energy deficit for the coral host. If the bleaching event is short-lived then the coral may survive this energy deficit by depleting its lipid reserves, or by increasing heterotrophic energy acquisition. We show for the first time that the coral animal is capable of increasing the amount of heterotrophic carbon incorporated into its tissues for almost a year following bleaching. This prolonged heterotrophic compensation could be a sign of resilience or prolonged stress. If the heterotrophic compensation is in fact an acclimatization response, then this physiological response could act as a buffer from future bleaching by providing sufficient heterotrophic energy to compensate for photoautotrophic energy losses during bleaching, and potentially minimizing the effect of subsequent elevated temperature stresses. However, if the elevated incorporation of zooplankton is a sign that the effects of bleaching continue to be stressful on the holobiont, even after 11 months of recovery, then this physiological response would indicate that complete coral recovery requires more than 11 months to achieve. If coral bleaching becomes an annual global phenomenon by mid-century, then present temporal refugia will not be sufficient to allow coral colonies to recover between bleaching events and coral reefs will become increasingly less resilient to future climate change. If, however, increasing their sequestration of zooplankton-derived nutrition into their tissues over prolonged periods of time is a compensating mechanism, the impacts of annual bleaching may be reduced. Thus, some coral species may be better equipped to face repeated bleaching stress than previously thought.     

A principal components analysis of the phytoplankton from a pond in the Paraná River Valley,Argentina

A principal-component scheme was applied to a set of 10 physical, chemical, and biological attributes, measured in 42 samples collected from Los Matadores pond (May 1974–July 1975). The first three components account for 82.1% of the total variance in the data and represent the lotic influence (58.3% of the variance), the seasonal cycle (16.4%), and the degree of maturity (7.4%).The authors are members of the Carrera del Investigador Cientifico y Tecnologico, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET), Argentina.     

A new species of Simaba (Simaroubaceae) from Pará, Brazil,with a key to the species north of the Amazon River

A new species,Simaba cavalcantei, is described and illustrated. It is considered to be intermediate between sectionsGrandiflorae andFloribundae and is distinguished from potentially sympatric species in a key to the species occurring north of the Amazon River.     

Regional Endothermy in a Coral Reef Fish?

Although a few pelagic species exhibit regional endothermy, most fish are regarded as ectotherms. However, we document significant regional endothermy in a benthic reef fish. Individual steephead parrotfish, Chlorurus microrhinos (Labridae, formerly Scaridae) were tagged and their internal temperatures were monitored for a 24 h period using active acoustic telemetry. At night, on the reef, C. microrhinos were found to maintain a consistent average peritoneal cavity temperature 0.16 ± 0.005 °C (SE) warmer than ambient. Diurnal internal temperatures were highly variable for individuals monitored on the reef, while in tank-based trials, peritoneal cavity temperatures tracked environmental temperatures. The mechanisms responsible for a departure of the peritoneal cavity temperature from environmental temperature occurred in C. microrhinos are not yet understood. However, the diet and behavior of the species suggests that heat in the peritoneal cavity may result primarily from endogenous thermogenesis coupled with physiological heat retention mechanisms. The presence of limited endothermy in C. microrhinos indicates that a degree of uncertainty may exist in the manner that reef fish respond to their thermal environment. At the very least, they do not always appear to respond to environmental temperatures as neutral thermal vessels and do display limited, but significant, visceral warming.     

A Dynamical Study of a Cellular Automata Model of the Spread of HIV in a Lymph Node

We conduct a mathematical study of a cellular automata model of the spread of the HIV virus in a lymph node. The model was proposed by Zorzenon dos Santos and Coutinho and captures the unique time scale of the viral spread. We give some rigorous mathematical results about the time scales and other dynamical aspects of the model as well as discuss parameter and model changes and their consequences.     

Threatened species, a re-evaluation of the status of eight endemic plants of the Gala´pagos

Although still in relatively good condition, the Gala´pagos Archipelago suffers from increasing human pressures. Apart from direct actions like hunting and logging, endemic plants and animals are threatened by introduced species, and in many cases the present status of the populations is not known. The conservation status of eight plant species considered endangered was studied from literature and field surveys and the main threats were determined. Each of the eight species is endemic to only one island but in some cases is also present on nearby islets. Of these eight species, one is considered extinct, one critically endangered, and the others suffer various levels of threat. As in all island systems of the world, the main threats are introduced organisms, both plants and animals. The extinct species probably disappeared owing to invasion by Lantana camara, one of the most aggressively invasive plants of the islands, and the most endangered species is threatened by goats. The remaining species seem to be regenerating well and we can expect positive results from protection efforts. Today, only one of the eight species benefits from a direct protection action.