Interspecific competition in Drosophila I. Reversal of competitive superiority due to varying concentration of ethanol

The experiments reported here were designed to investigate the outcome of interspecific competition between Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans in environments varying in one factor only. The factor chosen was ethanol concentration in the medium; the strains used were D. melanogaster SM5 (Series I), D. melanogasterw, b , (Series II) and D. simulans v (both Series).
The results of competition over a number of generations, the longest experiment lasting 100 days, showed clear differences in the relative competitive abilities of the two species between the different environments. With no ethanol, D. simulans won in all replicates; with 896 ethanol, D. melanogaster won in all replicates; at intermediate (496) concentration, the winning species was not consistent. Experiments in Series II showed very similar results to their counterparts in Series I despite distinct genetic differences between the strains of D. melanogaster used.
These results tie in with published work, on (i) the relative susceptibility of single–species cultures of D. melanogaster and D. simulans to high ethanol concentrations, and (ii) distributional patterns observed in some field populations exposed to alcohols in their environment.     

NATURAL FORAGING OF THE DOGWHELK, NUCELLA LAPILLUS (LINNAEUS); THE WEATHER AND WHETHER TO FEED

The natural cycle of foraging and sheltering in dogwhelks isclosely associated with changing weather conditions. The behaviourof individual dogwhelks was quantified over three, approximately40 day, periods on the rocky shores of Llanddwyn Island, Anglesey.Dogwhelks were monitored in a range of habitats, from sheltered,high shore, barnacle covered substrata to wave exposed, lowshore, mussel covered substrata. The proportion of dogwhelkseither foraging or sheltering varied greatly from day to day,indicating similarity of behaviour among individuals withineach population. In sheltered areas, foraging was limited duringperiods of sunny and warm weather. In exposed areas, however,foraging was restricted during periods of strong wave action.Most dogwhelks in exposed areas foraged in periods of calm,warm and sunny weather. Transplanted dogwhelks appeared initially to be more activeforagers than non-transplanted, control, animals in both exposedand sheltered areas. After about 10 days, however, the transplantsbegan to behave in a similar way to the controls.     

Pyrethroid resistance in Australian field populations of the sheep body louse, Bovicola (Damalinia) ovis

Abstract. Synthetic pyrethroid (SP) resistance has developed in Australian field populations of the sheep body louse, Bovicola ( Damalinia ) ovis. Laboratory bioassays were used to measure the susceptibility of lice to cypermethrin and the other registered SPs. Results of these bioassays indicated resistance to cypermethrin, deltamethrin, cyhalothrin and alphacypermethrin. So far, high-level resistance has been diagnosed in only a few strains. The toxicological responses of these strains were clearly separated from those of the majority of louse strains tested. Furthermore, these strains had survived immersion in commercial SP dips. The level of resistance described in some strains was sufficient to cause pour-on products to fail despite the fact that the LC50s of these strains fell within the normal range of field responses.     

Frequency-dependent competitive abilities and differential resource use in competition between Drosophila hydei and D. melanogaster

Several experiments, each involving competition between Drosophila melanogaster and D. hydei in population cages, were set up and allowed to run for up to 50 weeks. The population sizes of both species, and hence the species frequencies, were monitored once a fortnight, i.e. approximately once per generation. Coexistence of the two species was observed in cages containing resource bottles with 5 g of food medium; cages whose resource bottles contained only 1.5 g resulted in competitive exclusion of D. hydei. Competitive abilities were frequency-dependent in the former case but not in the latter. Tests of larval depth distributions revealed that D. hydei larvae feed at a deeper level in the food medium than larvae of D. melanogaster. The explanation of the contrasting results of competition when bottles contained 5 g and 1.5 g of resources lies in the production of frequency-dependent competitive abilities by larval resource partitioning in the bottles with 5 g, and the preclusion of such partitioning in the 1.5 g bottles because of the very limited depth of food medium then available. The relevance of these results to a model of competition is discussed, and the potential generality of differential resource use as a stabilizing mechanism in both interspecific and intergenotypic competition is noted.     

Multiple gains and losses of Wolbachia symbionts across a tribe of fungus‐growing ants

Although the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia is ubiquitous in insects, it has a unique relationship with New World ants on which particular bacterial strains have specialized. However, data are from distantly related hosts and detailed phylogenetic information which could reveal transmission dynamics are lacking. Here, we investigate host–Wolbachia relationships in the monophyletic fungus‐growing ant tribe Attini, screening 23 species and using multilocus sequence typing to reliably identify Wolbachia strains. This technique reduces the significant problem of recombination seen using traditional single gene techniques. The relationship between Wolbachia and the fungus‐growing ants appears complex and dynamic. There is evidence of co‐cladogenesis, supporting vertical transmission; however, this is incomplete, demonstrating that horizontal transmission has also occurred. Importantly, the infection prevalence is frequently different between closely related taxa, with the Acromyrmex leaf‐cutting ants appearing particularly prone to infection and there being no consistent relationship with any of the major life history transitions. We suggest that infection loss and horizontal transmission have driven epidemics or selective sweeps of Wolbachia, resulting in multiple gains and losses of infection across the fungus‐growing ants.     

Changes in aboveground primary production and carbon and nitrogen pools accompanying woody plant encroachment in a temperate savanna

When woody plant abundance increases in grasslands and savannas, a phenomenon widely observed worldwide, there is considerable uncertainty as to whether aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and ecosystem carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools increase, decrease, or remain the same. We estimated ANPP and C and N pools in aboveground vegetation and surface soils on shallow clay and clay loam soils undergoing encroachment by Prosopis glandulosa in the Southern Great Plains of the United States. Aboveground Prosopis C and N mass increased linearly, and ANPP increased logarithmically, with stand age on clay loam soils; on shallow clays, Prosopis C and N mass and ANPP all increased linearly with stand age. We found no evidence of an asymptote in trajectories of C and N accumulation or ANPP on either soil type even following 68 years of stand development. Production and accumulation rates were lower on shallow clay sites relative to clay loam sites, suggesting strong edaphic control of C and N accumulation associated with woody plant encroachment. Response of herbaceous C mass to Prosopis stand development also differed between soil types. Herbaceous C declined with increasing aboveground Prosopis C on clay loams, but increased with increasing Prosopis C on shallow clays. Total ANPP (Prosopis+herbaceous) of sites with the highest Prosopis basal area were 1.2 × and 4.0 × greater than those with the lowest Prosopis basal area on clay loam and shallow clay soils, respectively. Prosopis ANPP more than offset declines in herbaceous ANPP on clay loams and added to increased herbaceous ANPP on shallow clays. Although aboveground C and N pools increased substantially with Prosopis stand development, we found no corresponding change in surface soil C and N pools (0–10 cm). Overall, our findings indicate that Prosopis stand development significantly increases ecosystem C and N storage/cycling, and the magnitude of these impacts varied with stand age, soil type and functional plant traits