The Dispersal System of a Butterfly: A Test of Source-Sink Theory Suggests the Intermediate-Scale Hypothesis

Theory predicts source-sink dynamics can occur in species with the ideal preemptive distribution but not with the ideal free distribution. Source-sink dynamics can also occur in species with passive dispersal, in which a fixed fraction of the population disperses each generation. However, in nature, dispersal often approximates random diffusion rather than ideal choices or fixed probabilities. Here, I ask which dispersal system occurred in a butterfly (Euphydryas editha) known to have source-sink dynamics. The study used 13 experimental sites, where vacant and occupied habitat patches were juxtaposed. I estimated movement during the flight season and tested hypotheses about the type of dispersal system. Ideal free and ideal preemptive models were rejected because per capita movement rates were density independent. Passive dispersal was rejected because per capita rates were related to patch area and habitat preference. The diffusion model best explained the data because it predicted both the area relationship and an odd feature of the habitat preference: immigration was not higher in preferred habitat; rather, emigration was lower. The diffusion model implied that source-sink dynamics were driven by diffusion from areas of high to low population density. Existing source-sink theory assumes fine-scale patchiness, in which animals have perfect knowledge and ease of mobility. The results from the butterfly suggest that source-sink dynamics arise at coarser spatial scales, where diffusion models apply.     

New Neurochemical Markers for Psychosis: A Working Hypothesis of Their Operation

Reelin (Reln) is expressed in specific GABAergic neurons in layer I and II of neocortex, and is secreted into the extracellular matrix where it surrounds dendrites, spines and neurite arborizations, and binds to integrin receptors located on post-synaptic densities of apical dendritic spines. Experiments in rodents (including wild type or reeler heterozygous mice) and non-human primates suggest the Reln secreted in the extracellular matrix of neocortex, via integrin receptors, modulates the function of the adaptor protein DAB1(drosophila disable-gene) homologous product) thereby participating in dynamic processes associated with plasticity changes in dendrites, dendritic spines and their synapses. A local protein synthesis at dendritic spines (ie the activity regulated cytoskeleton associated protein, Arc) probably acts as a signal for plastic modulatory activities in synapses operative in neural group interactions. A research strategy directed toward identifying specific neurochemical markers operative in the etiopathology of psychotic disorders lead to the identification of a downregulation (30-50%) of Reln and glutamic acid decarboxylase 67(GAD67) expression in prefrontal cortex and other brain areas of schizoprenia and bipolar disorder patients with psychosis. These downregulations were not due to neuronal damage, postmortem interval, or antipsychotic medication. The dysfunction of GABAergic interneurons observed in psychotic brains in combination with reduced Reln expression and downregulation of Reln-integrin receptor interaction, may provide an explanation for the reported decrease in neuropile expression including dendritic spine density reduction, in neocortex of schizophrenia patients. This downregulation of neuropile plasticity may be a factor to be considered in the etiology of the disintegration of consciousness, which is one of the primary signs of psychosis.     

Out of Asia: natricine snakes support the Cenozoic Beringian Dispersal Hypothesis

Based on a combination of six mitochondrial gene fragments (12S RNA, cyt b, ND1, ND2, ND4 and CO1) and one nuclear gene (c-mos) from 22 genera we infer phylogenetic relationships among natricine snakes and examine the date and area of origin of these snakes. Our phylogenetic results indicate: (1) the subfamily Natricinae is strongly supported as monophyletic including a majority of extant genera, and a poorly known and previously unassigned species Trachischium monticola, (2) two main clades are inferred within Natricinae, one containing solely taxa from the Old World (OW) and the other comprising taxa from a monophyletic New World (NW) group with a small number of OW relatives. Within the first clade, the genera Xenochrophis and Amphiesma are apparently not monophyletic. Divergence dating and ancestral area estimation indicate that the natricines originated in tropical Asia during the later Eocene or the Oligocene. We recover two major dispersals events out of Asia, the first to Africa in the Oligocene (28 Ma) and the second to the Western Palearctic and the New World at 27 Ma. This date is consistent with the dispersal of numerous other OW groups into the NW.     

Generalization in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: From Hypothesis to Paradigm

We argue that broad, simplegeneralizations, not specifically linked tocontingencies, will rarely approach truth in ecologyand evolutionary biology. This is because mostinteresting phenomena have multiple, interactingcauses. Instead of looking for single universaltheories to explain the great diversity of naturalsystems, we suggest that it would be profitable todevelop general explanatory frameworks. A frameworkshould clearly specify focal levels. The process orpattern that we wish to study defines our level offocus. The set of potential and actual states at thefocal level interacts with conditions at thecontiguous lower and upper levels of organization,through sets of many-to-one and one-to-manyconnections. The number of initiating conditions andtheir permutations at the lower level define thepotential states at the focal level, whereas theactual state is constrained by the upper-levelboundary conditions. The most useful generalizationsare explanatory frameworks, which are road maps tosolutions, rather than solutions themselves. Suchframeworks outline what is understood about boundaryconditions and initiating conditions so that aninvestigator can pick and choose what is required toeffectively understand a specific event or situation. We discuss these relationships in terms of examplesinvolving sex ratio and mating behavior, competitivehierarchies, insect life-histories and the evolutionof sex.     

The Ecology and Evolution of Fruit Odor: Implications for Primate Seed Dispersal

Primates are now known to possess a keen sense of smell that serves them in various contexts, including feeding. Many primate species are frugivorous and provide essential seed dispersal services to a variety of plants. Studies of pollination ecology, and recently seed dispersal ecology, indicate that animal mutualist behavior exerts selection pressures that drive changes in flower and fruit traits. As a result, the use of olfaction in in primate feeding ecology may have affected the evolution of fruit odor in species that rely on primate seed dispersal. However, this hypothesis is seldom tested. Here, we summarize the available information on how primates may have affected the evolution of fruit odor. We ask what the chemistry of primate fruit odor may look like, what information fruit odor may convey, whether there are geographical differences in fruit odor, and what other factors may affect the odor of fruits consumed by primates. We identify many gaps in the available data and offer research questions, hypotheses, and predictions for future studies. Finally, to facilitate standardization in the field, we discuss methodological issues in the process of odor sampling and analysis.     

Dispersal of Deep-Sea Larvae from the Intra-American Seas: Simulations of Trajectories using Ocean Models

Using data on ocean circulation with a Lagrangian larval transport model, we modeled the potential dispersal distances for seven species of bathyal invertebrates whose durations of larval life have been estimated from laboratory rearing, MOCNESS plankton sampling, spawning times, and recruitment. Species associated with methane seeps in the Gulf of Mexico and/or Barbados included the bivalve "Bathymodiolus" childressi, the gastropod Bathynerita naticoidea, the siboglinid polychaete tube worm Lamellibrachia luymesi, and the asteroid Sclerasterias tanneri. Non-seep species included the echinoids Cidaris blakei and Stylocidaris lineata from sedimented slopes in the Bahamas and the wood-dwelling sipunculan Phascolosoma turnerae, found in Barbados, the Bahamas, and the Gulf of Mexico. Durations of the planktonic larval stages ranged from 3 weeks in lecithotrophic tubeworms to more than 2 years in planktotrophic starfish. Planktotrophic sipunculan larvae from the northern Gulf of Mexico were capable of reaching the mid-Atlantic off Newfoundland, a distance of more than 3000?km, during a 7- to 14-month drifting period, but the proportion retained in the Gulf of Mexico varied significantly among years. Larvae drifting in the upper water column often had longer median dispersal distances than larvae drifting for the same amount of time below the permanent thermocline, although the shapes of the distance-frequency curves varied with depth only in the species with the longest larval trajectories. Even species drifting for >2 years did not cross the ocean in the North Atlantic Drift.     

The Problem of Mental Retardation (A Tentative Working Hypothesis)

Within the general problem of mental retardation, the focus has traditionally been on the child's intellectual inadequacy, his feeblemindedness. This is entrenched in the very term used to designate these children, who are usually called feebleminded, or mentally retarded. All the other aspects of the personality of such a child are usually seen as phenomena arising secondarily as a function of the basic intellectual defect. Many investigators do not even see any essential affective and volitional differences between these children and normal children. …     

Landscape Diversity Influences Dispersal and Establishment of Pest with Complex Nutritional Ecology

We studied the effects of landscape structure on species with resource nutritional partition between the immature and adult stages by investigating how food quality and spatial structure of a landscape may affect the invasion and colonization of the insect pest, Diabrotica speciosa. To this end, we formulated two bidimensional stochastic cellular automata, one for the insect immature stage and the other for the adult stage. The automata are coupled by adult oviposition and emergence. Further, each automata site has a specific culture type, which can affect differently the fitness attributes of immatures and adults, such as mortality, development and oviposition rates. We derived the mean-field approximation for these automata model, from which we obtained conditions for insect invasion. We ran numerical simulations using entomological parameters obtained from laboratory experiments (using bean, soybean, potato, and corn crops), and we compared the results of the automata with the ones given by the mean-field approximation. Finally, using artificially generated landscapes, we discussed how the structured heterogeneous landscape can affect dispersal and establishment of insect populations.     

Spatial and Temporal Ecology of Native and Introduced Fish Larvae in Lower Putah Creek,California

For two years we studied the distribution and abundance of native and introduced fish larvae in Putah Creek (Yolo County, CA), a low elevation regulated stream. We used light traps and conical drift nets to sample the fish larvae at two spatially separated sites from March through July 1997 and at four sites from February through August 1998. Native larvae occurred both earlier in the year and in higher abundance than those of introduced species. Both native larvae and overall numbers of larvae were more abundant at upstream sites in both years. Sampling of larvae appeared to be sensitive to the detection of rare species. Drift nets and light traps collected similar numbers of larvae, but each method tended to select for different taxa. There were significant trends in diel patterns of abundance, with more fish larvae being found during the hours of darkness. We suggest that differences between the sites were due to habitat changes resulting from an upstream dam that has created a refuge of diverse habitat and cool flowing water for native taxa.     

Density- and Size-Dependent Winter Mortality and Growth of Late Chaoborus flavicans Larvae

Winter processes such as overwinter survival and growth of individuals can have wide-ranging consequences for population dynamics and communities within and across seasons. In freshwater organisms winter processes have been mainly studied in fish despite that invertebrates also have substantial impacts on lake and pond food webs. One of the major invertebrate consumers in lake and ponds is the planktonic larvae of the dipteran insect Chaoborus spec. However, while much is known about Chaoborus feeding ecology, behaviour and structuring role in food webs, its winter ecology and how it affects its populations are poorly understood. Here size- and density-dependent winter mortality and body growth of late Chaoborus flavicans larvae were quantified over naturally occurring size and density ranges in autumn and under natural winter conditions using two field enclosure experiments. Winter mortality increased with autumn density but decreased with autumn body size while winter growth rates decreased with autumn density and body sizes. There was also a density- and size-independent background mortality component. The proportion of pupae found in spring decreased strongly and exponentially with autumn density. These results may explain the commonly observed univoltine life cycle and multi-annual density fluctuations in northern Chaoborus populations. They further demonstrate the relevance of winter processes and conditions for freshwater invertebrates and ecosystems.     

Phylogeography of the Coastal Mosquito Aedes togoi across Climatic Zones: Testing an Anthropogenic Dispersal Hypothesis

The coastal mosquito Aedes togoi occurs more or less continuously from subarctic to subtropic zones along the coasts of the Japanese islands and the East Asian mainland. It occurs also in tropical Southeast Asia and the North American Pacific coast, and the populations there are thought to have been introduced from Japan by ship. To test this hypothesis, the genetic divergence among geographic populations of A. togoi was studied using one mitochondrial and three nuclear gene sequences. We detected 71 mitochondrial haplotypes forming four lineages, with high nucleotide diversity around temperate Japan and declining towards peripheral ranges. The major lineage (L1) comprised 57 haplotypes from temperate and subarctic zones in Japan and Southeast Asia including southern China and Taiwan. Two other lineages were found from subtropical islands (L3) and a subarctic area (L4) of Japan. The Canadian population showed one unique haplotype (L2) diverged from the other lineages. In the combined nuclear gene tree, individuals with mitochondrial L4 haplotypes diverged from those with the other mitochondrial haplotypes L1—L3; although individuals with L1—L3 haplotypes showed shallow divergences in the nuclear gene sequences, individuals from Southeast Asia and Canada each formed a monophyletic group. Overall, the genetic composition of the Southeast Asian populations was closely related to that of temperate Japanese populations, suggesting recent gene flow between these regions. The Canadian population might have originated from anthropogenic introduction from somewhere in Asia, but the possibility that it could have spread across the Beringian land bridge cannot be ruled out.