Characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci in the terrestrial isopod Armadillidium vulgare

The common pill bug, Armadillidium vulgare, is known to harbour two distinct strains of the feminizing proteobacteria Wolbachia. In order to study the effect of the presence of Wolbachia on the evolution of A. vulgare populations, we developed and characterized a set of nine polymorphic microsatellite loci from two microsatellite‐enriched genomic libraries. We screened 48 individuals from three French populations and found high genetic variation. Locus‐specific allelic diversity ranged from four to 28 and observed heterozygosity from 0.40 to 1.00, which indicates that these markers can be used to conduct population genetic studies in A. vulgare.     

Day and night activity of Grey seal bulls

While some activity patterns in seals have been related to tidal rhythms, little work was done on diurnal rhythms until the recent development of image intensifying devices which facilitate night viewing. Individual bulls were studied over several 24-hour periods and the frequency of behavioural items was recorded during 10-min periods each hour. No significant differences were recorded between day and night activity levels, except in the frequency of 'Looks', nor was there any relationship between activity and tide state. The thesis that optimization of time spent ashore (and therefore 'at risk' both ecologically and energetically) is achieved by maintaining a constant level of activity through the 24-hour period is discussed. It is concluded that night time activity of Grey seal bulls can be inferred from observations made in daylight hours.     

Species-richness and soil phosphorus in plant communities in coastal New South Wales

Species-richness (recorded as number of species in 16 m² quadrats), in more than 60 coastal sites developed over various substrata, exhibited a significant non-linear relationship with soil total phosphorus extracted from associated soil samples. Although the general form of this relationship is not incompatible with a resource competition model, the significant proportion of the total variance accounted for by the species-richness/phosphorus relationship suggests that a more detailed examination of phosphorus use at a community level will be profitable.     

The Effects of Temperature on the Exudation Process of Excised Primary Roots of Zea mays

The fluid exudation rates and the ionic compositions of theexudates of excised maize roots have been determined in bathingmedia of 0.1 mM, 1.0 mM, 10.0 mM, and 50.0 mM KCl, each containing0.1 mM CaCl₂, at temperature intervals between 10 °C and30 °C.Analysis of these data in terms of an osmotic modelfor excised root exudation shows that the observed temperaturevariation in fluid exudation rate is accounted for by the observedtemperature variation in the osmotic driving force, the saltconcentration difference from xylem fluid to bathing medium.Temperature variation in the osmotic permeability of the rootand of the non-osmotic water flow are not significantly differentfrom zero.