Steps towards sustainable harvest of Ophiocordyceps sinensis in Bhutan

The insect-pathogenic fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis (better known as Cordyceps sinensis) is harvested over much of the Himalayan plateau as a highly prized remedy in traditional Oriental medicine. Over the past 10 years its financial value has increased dramatically, with collectors paid as much as US $12,500 kg⁻¹ for top-quality material. This is causing significant distortion to local economies, and there is widespread concern that the current rate of collection is unsustainable. This paper introduces the fungus and its insect hosts, documents some of the biological and social constraints to achieving sustainability, describes the socioeconomic climate within which harvest and sale occurs in Bhutan, and details the measures put in place by the Royal Government of Bhutan to promote wise management of this valuable natural resource.

Salal Harvester Local Ecological Knowledge, Harvest Practices and Understory Management on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington

Despite growing interest in traditional and local ecological knowledge for conservation and resource management, the role of migrant resource users is largely unexplored. Challenging many assumptions about what constitutes “local knowledge,” migrant and immigrant harvesters of non-timber forest products on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington possess useful ecological knowledge of overstory–understory relationships and how forestry practices affect understory biological and commercial production. Harvesters of salal (Gaultheria shallon), a shrub used in the multi-million dollar floral greens industry, were interviewed in Mason County, Washington in 2001–2003. Interviews revealed that harvesters possess different kinds of resource management knowledge depending on whether they are experienced harvesters or more recent newcomers to the area. These differences may also correlate with differences in their harvesting practices. Understanding how resource management knowledge differs between experienced and newcomer harvesters can inform forest managers in their efforts to develop effective management and permitting policies for floral greens and other non-timber forest resources in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

Preservation or degradation? Communal management and ecological change in a southeast Michigan forest

Local communities play an increasingly important role in the management and conservation of forests at local and global scales. Conventional analyses of community forest management tend to view the outcomes of these efforts, as with common pool resources (CPRs) more generally, as contingent on the ability of local institutions to control collective levels of extractive use and enforce group rules. This paper provides a case study of a community forest in southern Michigan, in the Midwestern United States, that challenges these assumptions about community-based forest management. The factors driving change in this forest are not tied to excessive extraction or disturbance by human agents but rather the proliferation of shade-tolerant invasive species. The community institutions and values that made it possible for the forest to grow and mature now threaten its very existence. By discouraging any form of active management, the forest has become susceptible to the growing pressures of human-induced environmental change such as the introduction of exotic plant species. Biodiversity conservation in such contexts consequently relies not only on restraining local forest utilization practices or the preservation of land from development, but on active management interventions by local forest users. Understanding the impact of community management on CPRs in human-dominated ecosystems will require broadening the scope of analysis to account for the importance of active management and the potentially deleterious effects of preservationist approaches on native biota.

Two new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mycena</Emphasis> from alpine sites in Norway

Mycena aphanes and Mycena exilis, belonging to section Filipedes and section Polyadelphia, are proposed as new species. They are described and illustrated and compared to other species in the two sections. Mycena aphanes is a strikingly characteristic Mycena with fulvous or yellowish brown colours of both pileus and stipe. Mycena exilis is characterized by its occurrence on fallen Salix leaves, a pale brown pileus, occasionally with a pale pink tinge, narrowly adnate lamellae, four-spored basidia, and the presence of clamp connections.

neo-Clerodane diterpenoids from Ajuga: structural elucidation and biological activity

The presence of several types of allelochemicals has been reported from Ajuga, a Labiatae genus comprising more than 40 species of wide distribution in extratropical regions of both hemispheres. The genus is of great medicinal and economic importance and among the biological properties of the secondary metabolites, the antifeedant activity against pest insects appears to be related to the presence of neo-clerodane type diterpenes. This review focuses on the isolation and structural elucidation of this type of compounds from Ajuga species and the hemisynthetic compounds of closely related structure obtained. The reported biological activity of crude extracts and isolated diterpenes will be briefly commented.

Predictive performance modelling of parallel component compositions

Large-scale scientific computing applications frequently make use of closely-coupled distributed parallel components. The performance of such applications is therefore dependent on the component parts and their interaction at run-time. This paper describes a methodology for predictive performance modelling and evaluation of parallel applications composed of multiple interacting components. In this paper, the fundamental steps and required operations involved in the modelling and evaluation process are identified—including component decomposition, component model combination, M×N communication modelling, dataflow analysis and overall performance evaluation. A case study is presented to illustrate the modelling process and the methodology is verified through experimental analysis.

Evidence of gonochorism in a grouper, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mycteroperca rosacea</Emphasis>, from the Gulf of California,Mexico

The sexual pattern and sexual development of the leopard grouper, Mycteroperca rosacea, were investigated from 483 specimens collected from the Gulf of California, Mexico. Histological and population data indicated a gonochoric sexual pattern. Some juveniles passed through an immature bisexual phase of gonadal development, but no evidence of post-maturational sex change was found. The immature bisexual phase is believed to be associated only with male development. The size distribution and size at sexual maturity were similar for both males and females. In accordance with predictions of the size-advantage model, the gonochoric sexual pattern of M. rosacea is likely influenced by its group-spawning mating system.

From Orders to Borders: Toward a Sustainable Co-managed Lobster Fishery in Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland

Over the last two decades, demands by fish harvesters for greater input into policy-making, combined with government cutbacks to fisheries management agencies, have resulted in a proliferation of community-based fisheries comanagement projects in many countries. One such example is found on Newfoundland’s Eastport Peninsula, where a group of lobster harvesters have formed a unique partnership with federal government bureaucrats and university researchers in an effort to protect local lobster stocks from increasing fishing pressure. This paper draws upon interviews with lobster harvesters and others with close ties to the Eastport project in exploring the reasons for the development of this initiative and identifying existing and potential obstacles to its long-term success.

Progress in understanding the <Emphasis Type="Italic">N-</Emphasis>demethylation of alkaloids by exploiting isotopic techniques

The reaction of N-demethylation plays an important role in the degradation of some alkaloids in a number of organisms. This review presents how our understanding of the N-demethylation of nicotine in plants has been improved through studies in cell cultures of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia and N. glutinosa using a variety of isotopic techniques. The overall aim is to understand how metabolism recycles the alkaloid skeleton, both in terms of the metabolic route(s) exploited and the reaction mechanisms of the enzymes involved. The former has been approached using high-resolution 2-dimensional NMR and GC-MS methods; the latter by determining kinetic isotope effects and modelling the potential reaction steps. It appears that the mechanism for nicotine demethylation in plants is similar to but has significant differences from that described for mammals and Pseudomonas bacteria. These differences are discussed.

Hierarchical analysis of piecewise affine models of gene regulatory networks

A key point in the analysis of dynamical models of biological systems is to handle systems of relatively high dimensions. In the present paper we propose a method to hierarchically organize a certain type of piecewise affine (PWA) differential systems. This specific class of systems has been extensively studied for the past few years, as it provides a good framework to model gene regulatory networks. The method, shown on several examples, allows a qualitative analysis of the asymptotic behavior of a PWA system, decomposing it into several smaller subsystems. This technique, based on the well-known strongly connected components decomposition, is not new. However, its adaptation to the non-smooth PWA differential equations turns out to be quite relevant because of the strong discrete structure underlying these equations. Its biological relevance is shown on a 7-dimensional PWA system modeling the gene network responsible for the carbon starvation response in Escherichia coli.

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Mapping the geographic distribution of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aglaia bourdillonii</Emphasis> Gamble (Meliaceae), an endemic and threatened plant,using ecological niche modeling

Aglaia bourdillonii is a plant narrowly endemic to the southern portion of the Western Ghats (WG), in peninsular India. To understand its ecological and geographic distribution, we used ecological niche modeling (ENM) based on detailed distributional information recently gathered, in relation to detailed climatic data sets. The ENMs successfully reconstructed key features of the species’ geographic distribution, focusing almost entirely on the southern WG. Much of the species’ distributional potential is already under protection, but our analysis allows identification of key zones for additional protection, all of which are adjacent to existing protected areas. ENM provides a useful tool for understanding the natural history of such rare and endangered species.

Leitlinien zur molekulargenetischen Diagnostik: Fragiles-X und Fragiles-X assoziiertes Tremor/Ataxie Syndrom

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Distribution, Habitat Correlates, and Conservation of Loris lydekkerianus in Karnataka, India

We surveyed slender lorises (Loris lydekkerianus) in Karnataka, south India intermittently during November 2001–July 2004 and estimated their relative abundance via direct sightings. Two subspecies, Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus and L. l. malabaricus, with different morphological traits, occur in the eastern drier region and the western wet region of the state, respectively. The distribution of Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus is patchy in a small region in the southeast, which contradicts earlier reports of its abundance throughout the state. Loris lydekkerianus malabaricus occurs throughout the Western Ghats as a contiguous population. The encounter rates of Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus and L. l. malabaricus are 0.41 individuals/km and 0.21 individuals/km, respectively. Whereas several forest tracts in the distributional range of Loris lydekkerianus malabaricus are protected areas, no such area exists in the distributional range of L. l. lydekkerianus. Loris lydekkerianus faces serious challenges of conservation because it largely occurs in commercial plantations, which can be relatively unstable habitats as harvesting can take place at any time.

Purification and properties of Sandercyanin, a blue protein secreted in the mucus of blue forms of walleye, Sander vitreus

A blue protein present in the mucus coating blue forms of walleye, Sander vitreus, was purified to homogeneity by a combination of ion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The purified protein has a molecular mass of 87,850 and is a homotetramer with a subunit molecular mass of 21,836. Solutions of the protein are deep blue in color and show absorbance maxima at 383 and 633 nm, respectively. Acetone treatment of the protein releases a blue chromophore with the spectral characteristics of biliverdin IXα. The results suggest that the blue protein is a new biliprotein that we have termed Sandercyanin. The function of Sandercyanin is unknown, but limited amino acid sequence analysis suggests it is a lipocalin that may be involved in the transport of heme degradation products.

Piaroa Manioc Varietals: Hyperdiversity or Social Currency?

The maintenance of exceptionally high numbers of folk varieties by the Piaroa people of the Venezuelan Amazon is considered. We cataloged 113 manioc folk varieties, their nomenclature, use and relevant characters, revealing significant insights into the role of manioc in Piaroa social life. Through a qualitative investigation of the cultivation, processing and symbolic significance of manioc (Manihot esculenta) in two Piaroa regions over a period of 18 years, we have found that such agrobiodiversity can only be fully explained by a combination of multiple factors, including pragmatic and ecological considerations, the subtle and complex diversity of Piaroa manioc preparations and a variety of sociocultural factors, such as manioc’s role as a mediator of social relationships and as a marker of cultural and social heritage.

A queueing model for predicting message latency in uni-directional <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-ary <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-cubes with deterministic routing and non-uniform traffic

The interconnection network is one of the key architectural components in any parallel computer. The distribution of the traffic injected into the network is among the factors that greatly influences network performance. The uniform traffic pattern has been adopted in many existing network performance evaluation studies due to the tractability of the resulting analytical modelling approach. However, many real applications exhibit non-uniform traffic patterns such as hot-spot traffic. K-ary n-cubes have been the mostly widely used in the implementation of practical parallel systems. Extensive research studies have been conducted on the performance modelling and evaluation of these networks. Nonetheless, most of these studies have been confined to uniform traffic distributions and have been based on software simulation. The present paper proposes a new stochastic model to predict message latency in k-ary n-cubes with deterministic routing in the presence of hot-spot traffic. The model has been validated through simulation experiments and has shown a close agreement with simulation results.

Individual variability of behavioural responses by Wandering Albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) to human disturbance

Sub-Antarctic Marion Island has had a permanent research station for 50 years and the islands Wandering Albatrosses have been intensively studied for 20 years. The reactions of breeding birds to approaches by a human on foot were recorded. Three response variables were calculated: intensity of vocal reaction (IVR), intensity of non-vocal reaction (INR) and overall response index (ORI). At 5 m from the nest, twice as many birds stood and/or vocalised as at 15 m. Nearest neighbour distance, age and gender did not explain individual variability of responses. Study colony birds had higher IVR scores than non-study colony birds; birds at colonies closest to the station had the highest ORI scores. A better breeding record was associated with lower IVR and ORI scores, but a causative relationship remains to be demonstrated. A minimum viewing distance of 25 m is recommended for breeding Wandering Albatrosses.

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