Anomalies in hydropsychid capture nets from polluted streams

• 1 Members of the genus Hydropsyche, net-spinning caddisfly larvae, exhibit anomalies in the structure of their capture nets when collected from stream localities receiving heavy metal and toxic chemical wastes.
• 2 The number of nets showing anomalies was positively correlated with the number of anomalies per net suggesting a graded response to the toxic wastes.
• 3 Frequency of anomalies in a hydropsychid population increased the closer the nets were collected to a pollution source. Anomaly frequency was negatively correlated to total macroinvertebrate community structure as measured by the Shannon function. It is suggested that net anomaly frequeney by hydropsychids may be a useful tool in ecological monitoring.

     

Impacts of ozone on forests: a European perspective

In comparison with the effects of extended drought periods or severe nutrient stress, those of ozone are generally much milder, at least with respect to growth. However, there is substantial evidence from experiments, in the main using young saplings, that O₃ does impose a stress on forest trees under European conditions. Decreased chlorophyll contents and photosynthetic rates, changes in carbon allocation, increased antioxidant activity, and reductions in biomass due to O₃ have often been recorded, particularly in fast-growing species. Furthermore, ₃ appears to weaken the trees' resilience to a range of biotic and abiotic stresses. Interactions between O₃ and climatic stress, in particular drought and frost hardiness, are likely to result in potentially detrimental effects.
A link between the occurrence of O₃ and forest damage is not unequivocally established in Europe, and the problem remains of extrapolating and/or scaling up from studies on seedlings to predict responses to O₃ of mature trees and forest stands, because we know so little about acclimation to O₃. An accurate assessment is also lacking of the magnitude of the O₃ effect on European trees both in terms of the forest areas affected and its extent. In this review we suggest that C allocation is the key factor underlying the responses of trees to O₃. Stomata also play a key role, since the acquisition of C must be achieved while an effective control over water consumption is retained.     

Phytophagous British insects and mites and their food-plant families: total numbers and polyphagy

The Phytophagous Insects Data Base (PIDB) was used to summarize information about 6933 species of British insects/mites and their food-plant families. Total species in 183 insect families on 127 vascular plant families were correlated with numbers of plant species in each family in Britain and Europe, accounting for 41.8% of the variation. Families with trees had more insects, while ferns and aquatic, uncommon and ephemeral plants, particularly orchids, had fewer. Seven individual insect families were analysed separately: Aphididae were more closely correlated with plant species numbers than were the more polyphagous Geometridae. Agromyzidae were uncommon on families with trees. Of insect species 75.8% fed on only one plant family and 10.1% were recorded on two families. Species feeding on three families or more were considered to be polyphagous. In the 30 largest insect families, eight had species feeding on only one plant family, while 12 had more than 20% of their species polyphagous. Proportions of family-restricted insects were high on Pinaceae, Gramineae and Compositae, but low on Corylaceae, Primulaceae and Tiliaceae. More pest species were polyphagous. Polyphagy was related to large larvae, larvae overwintering, wood-feeding, ephemeral food sources, poor dispersal abilities and omnivory. Some polyphagous species might be actively evolving in exploitation of vacant niches, leading to later progressive specialization to food-plants.     

Genetic and chaetal variation in Nais worms (Annelida,Clitellata, Naididae)

The genus Nais is a group of oligochaetous clitellates, common in eutrophic freshwater habitats. About 30 species are described. Species identification is based primarily on chaetal characters, which are often subtle, inconsistent, and even overlapping between nominal species. We investigated the correlation between genetic variation and chaetal morphology in this genus. Eighty‐one individuals from Europe, North America, and China were included in the study. Seventy‐five of these were preserved as vouchers. They were scrutinized with regard to chaetal morphology, and ten different morphotypes were identified. Three molecular markers, two mitochondrial (the COI gene and 16S rDNA) and one nuclear (the ITS region), were used to establish the genetic lineages in the material. Genetic variation was found to be largely congruent with chaetal character patterns. However, at least nine separately evolving lineages (all supported by mitochondrial as well as nuclear data) correspond to at most six nominal species. Four morphotypes/lineages are recognized as Nais barbata, Nais christinae, Nais elinguis, and Nais stolci, respectively, whereas five, or possibly more, lineages represent a morphological continuum covering the variation of the Nais communis/variabilis complex. Thus, cryptic speciation is revealed. Our results indicate that a taxonomic revision of the genus will be needed in the future.     

Expression of a Pteris vittata glutaredoxin PvGRX5 in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana increases plant arsenic tolerance and decreases arsenic accumulation in the leaves

Chinese brake fern Pteris vittata hyperaccumulates arsenic in its fronds. In a study to identify brake fern cDNAs in arsenic resistance, we implicated a glutaredoxin, PvGRX5, because when expressed in Escherichia coli , it improved arsenic tolerance in recombinant bacteria. Here, we asked whether PvGRX5 transgenic expression would alter plant arsenic tolerance and metabolism. Two lines of Arabidopsis thaliana constitutively expressing PvGrx5 cDNA were compared with vector control and wild-type lines. PvGRX5-expressors were significantly more tolerant to arsenic compared with control lines based on germination, root growth and whole plant growth under imposed arsenic stress. PvGRX5-expressors contained significantly lower total arsenic compared with control lines following treatment with arsenate. Additionally, PvGRX5-expressors were significantly more efficient in their arsenate reduction in vivo . Together, our results indicate that PvGRX5 has a role in arsenic tolerance via improving arsenate reduction and regulating cellular arsenic levels. Paradoxically, our results suggest that PvGRX5 from the arsenic hyperaccumulator fern can be used in a novel biotechnological solution to decrease arsenic in crops.     

Do food‐plant preferences of modern families of phytophagous insects and mites reflect past evolution with plants?

The evolutionary history of phytophagous insects and mites and of their food-plants is traced in the conservative preferences of modern-day insects for plants. Based on UK data in the Phytophagous Insects Data Bank, a correspondence analysis displays 182 insect families and 117 plant families in a bi-variate plot. The overall pattern suggests the expansion of diversity of insects and host plants from Gymnosperms to Dicots. Plots for phytophagous insect orders and major plant clades are described, with families provisionally ranked as evolutionarily basal, intermediate or advanced. There are blurred patterns of evolutionary advancement from basal insect families with more species on conifers and on ferns and Eurosid I trees. Intermediate families are commoner on Malpighiales and Fabales, and advanced insects more frequent on later evolved euasterids II (Asterales and Lamiales), Caryophyllales and Gramineae. Basal Hymenoptera have associations with conifers, basal Lepidoptera to Eurosid I trees, and Diptera are mainly advanced families on commelinids (grasses) and Asteraceae. Blurred traces of similar phylogenetic sequences are described for subfamilies within eight example insect families. Basal families and clades tend to have fewer species than derived advanced clades. Insect communities on plants should be seen in the light of this linked past evolutionary background.  © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2003, 78 , 51–83.     

Can the 15N Dilution Technique be used to Study N2 Fixation in Tropical Tree Symbioses as Affected by Water Deficit?

Three methods were used to study N₂ fixation and effects ofwater deficit on N₂ fixation: C₂H₂ reduction assay (ARA), ¹⁵Ndilution technique and accumulated N content. In addition, ¹⁵Ndilution was calculated both in a traditional way and in a modifiedway, which takes into consideration N and ¹⁵N content for theplants before the experiment started. The three methods wereapplied on the following Rhizobium-symbioses: Acacia albidaDel (Faidherbia albida (Del) A. Chev.) and Leucaena leucocephala(Lam) de Wit., and the Frankia-symbiosis Casuarina equisetifoliaL. The plants wereabout 4-months-old when they were harvested. Nitrogen derived from N₂ fixation in control plants of Acaciaalbida was 54·2 mg as measured with ARA, while it was28·5 mg as measured with the ¹⁵N dilution technique,compared to 30·7 mg calculated as accumulated N. In comparison,L. leucocephala fixed 41·6 mg N (ARA), 53·5 mgN(15N dilution technique) and 56·3 mg N (accumulatedN). The Frankia-symbiosis had fixed 27·4 mg N as measuredby ARA, 8·1 mg N as measured by ¹⁵N dilution techniqueand 12·3 mg N as accumulated N. There were no differencesbetween the estimates based ontraditional and modified waysof calculating ¹⁵N dilution. The immediate effect of water deficit treatment on N₂ fixationwas continuously measured inall species with ARA, which startedto decrease approximately 10 d after the initiation of the treatment,and declined to less than 5% of the initial level after 21–28d. The decrease in the amount of N derived from N₂ fixation wasstudied in L. leucocephala during the period of treatment. Therewas a 26% decrease in amount of N derived from N₂ fixation asresult of water deficit (as measured with ARA), while the decreasewas 23% when measured withboth the ¹⁵N dilution method and asaccumulated N. The three different methods for measuring N₂ fixation and effectsof water deficit on N₂ fixation are discussed. Key words: Acacia albida, ARA, Casuarina equisetifolia, Leucaena leucocephala, ¹⁵N dilution, N₂N fixation, water deficit