The chemical strategies used by Polistes nimphus social wasp usurpers (Hymenoptera Vespidae)

Polistes foundresses can behave as facultative social parasites when, instead of founding their own nest, they usurp colonies of the same or a different species and temporary use the host workforce to raise their own brood. Conspecific usurpation appears to be common among Polistes wasps, but nothing is known about the mechanisms that these facultative social parasites use to have themselves accepted within usurped colonies. Using behavioural tests, we studied the chemical strategies employed by females of Polistes nimphus when they behave as facultative social parasites in colonies of the same or of a different species. We hypothesized that usurpers would mark host nests with their own odours and/or acquire host nest odours in order to camouflage their real identity from host workers. Our results indicated that P. nimphus usurpers used different chemical strategies depending on host nest species: they acquired conspecific host odours but marked heterospecific host combs with their own odours.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 91 , 505–512.     

Effects of solar radiation on the endemic Mediterranean red alga Rissoella verruculosa: photosynthetic performance, pigment content and the activities of enzymes related to nutrient uptake

The effects of full-spectrum solar radiation and of solar radiation deprived of total u.v. radiation (λ<395 nm) on the endemic Mediterranean red alga Rissoella verruculosa (Bertoloni) J. Agardh were studied in situ in early summer, from sunrise to sunset. Photosynthetic performance, pigment content and the activities of enzymes related to nutrient uptake, were monitored under both radiation conditions throughout a daylight period.
The doses of solar radiation, measured on the day during which the experiments were carried out (24 June 1997), were 9228·25, 1109·70 and 13·03 kJ m⁻² for PAR (λ=400–700 nm), u.v.-A (λ=315–400 nm) and u.v.-B (λ=280–315 nm), respectively. Under these conditions, a clear daily variation in photosynthetic performance was found. However, no significant differences were detected between the two radiation conditions. At noon, strong sunlight impaired O₂ evolution by 75%, but complete recovery occurred during the afternoon, reaching similar values to those measured in the early morning. By contrast, photoinhibition of optimal quantum yield ( F _v/ F _m), and the relative electron transport rate was followed by only a slight recovery during the afternoon. The rate of photosynthesis in air (simulating emersion conditions), estimated by CO₂ exchange, showed a negative balance at noon, which was accentuated in plants exposed to the full-solar spectrum.
Significant changes in the activities of nitrate reductase and carbonic anhydrase were found throughout the day under both radiation conditions. In thalli receiving solar radiation deprived of u.v., total CA activity decreased throughout the day. However, in thalli exposed to full-spectrum solar radiation, the activity of the enzyme tended to increase in the afternoon, correlating with an increase in NR activity.     

Differential visual predation on morphs of Timema cristinae (Phasmatodeae:Timemidae) and its consequences for host range

Timema cristinae is a herbivorous insect that exhibits polymorphism for body coloration (green, red and grey morphs) and for pattern (striped, expressed only in the green morph, and unstriped). The striped green morph is associated with ceanothus ( Ceanothus spinosus ) and the unstriped green morph is associated with chamise ( Adenostoma fasciculatum ). This study examines the relative vulnerabilities to predation of the different pattern and colour morphs on their natural backgrounds. The vulnerabilities of the striped and unstriped morphs on their two food plants were tested using uncaged wild birds (Scrub Jays) and captive western fence lizards. Strong differential predation was observed suggesting that each morph is most cryptic on the food plant on which it is most common. Furthermore, in a mark-recapture experiment in a patch of ceanothus the unstriped and red morphs were recaptured in higher proportion than the other morphs. The vulnerabilities of the grey and green morphs on the ground and foliage were tested using lizards. The grey morph was more vulnerable on the plants than the green morph, but the inverse was observed on the ground (where they drop after a disturbance). This may be why the grey morph is not associated with specific food plants. The striped and colour polymorphisms in T. cristinae appear to be an evolutionary consequence of differential predation on different backgrounds. The implications of differential predation to food-plant utilization are discussed.     

Diagnosing and assessing uncertainties of terrestrial ecosystem models in a multimodel ensemble experiment: 2. Carbon balance

This paper examines carbon stocks and their relative balance in terrestrial ecosystems simulated by Biome‐BGC, LPJ, and CASA in an ensemble model experiment conducted using the Terrestrial Observation and Prediction System. We developed the Hierarchical Framework for Diagnosing Ecosystem Models to separate the simulated biogeochemistry into a cascade of functional tiers and examine their characteristics sequentially. The analyses indicate that the simulated biomass is usually two to three times higher in Biome‐BGC than LPJ or CASA. Such a discrepancy is mainly induced by differences in model parameters and algorithms that regulate the rates of biomass turnover. The mean residence time of biomass in Biome‐BGC is estimated to be 40–80 years in temperate/moist climate regions, while it mostly varies between 5 and 30 years in CASA and LPJ. A large range of values is also found in the simulated soil carbon. The mean residence time of soil carbon in Biome‐BGC and LPJ is ～200 years in cold regions, which decreases rapidly with increases of temperature at a rate of ～10 yr °C^?1. Because long‐term soil carbon pool is not simulated in CASA, its corresponding mean residence time is only about 10–20 years and less sensitive to temperature. Another key factor that influences the carbon balance of the simulated ecosystem is disturbance caused by wildfire, for which the algorithms vary among the models. Because fire emissions are balanced by net ecosystem production (NEP) at steady states, magnitudes, and spatial patterns of NEP vary significantly as well. Slight carbon imbalance may be left by the spin‐up algorithm of the models, which adds uncertainty to the estimated carbon sources or sinks. Although these results are only drawn on the tested model versions, the developed methodology has potential for other model exercises.     

Life history strategy of Leptinaria unilamellata (d'Orbigny, 1835) (Mollusca,Pulmonata, Subulinidae)

Abstract

Life history theory predicts that the patterns of resource allocation in animals are associated with different strategies, selected in the course of evolution. In the present study, the life history of Leptinaria unilamellata was characterized under laboratory conditions. We determined the growth, reproduction, and longevity patterns of this species and elucidated the strategy related to the development of embryos, through direct observations and examination of the morphology of the gravid uterus. Furthermore, we attempted to analyze the glycogen and galactogen contents of the albumen gland, digestive gland and cephalopedal mass in order to understand energy allocation to life history traits, for three life stages. Leptinaria unilamellata's life history is characterized by great longevity, a short juvenile phase, early sexual maturity, and repeated reproductive events, with little reproductive effort at each event and some mortality shortly after the first reproduction. In the terraria, we found juveniles but no eggs. However, the results of the anatomical study showed no morphological connection between the embryos and the parental organism. Thus, this species should be described as ovoviviparous rather than viviparous. Egg retention in the parent organism is the primary cause of the release of juveniles, instead of eggs, enabling the offspring to withstand environmental stress. The higher quantity of galactogen found in the adults' albumen gland, as compared to juveniles and senescent individuals, as well as the ratio of glycogen to galactogen, reveal the allocation of energy to reproduction rather than to growth. The remaining energy is directed to the maintenance of omeostasis. Such pattern was confirmed by the low levels of glycogen and galactogen observed in the senescent stage, compared to the juvenile and adult stages. In the life strategy of L. unilamellata, the distribution of the reproductive effort among many events associated with ovoviviparity indicates a long-term investment in reproductive success.     

Wintering Snowy Owls Bubo scandiacus integrate plumage colour,behaviour and their environment to maximize efficacy of visual displays

For a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of animal signals, it is necessary to understand how the performance of visual displays is maximized to get the most possible attention from receivers. We assessed whether the white plumage of Snowy Owls Bubo scandiacus functioned as a social signal and, if so, how coloration and behavioural adaptations enhance signal efficacy. Signalling theory predicts that: (1) the colour properties of plumage should vary across the body, with the brightest parts being those involved in visual display performance; (2) specific displays calling attention to or enhancing detection or conspicuousness to conspecifics should be evident; and (3) location of the signallers should be such that signal efficacy is optimized. All three predictions were supported. The brightest areas of the plumage (particularly the face, throat and upper breast) were always unspotted, and white is particularly effective in open habitats characteristic of this species. The birds displayed a specific posture and orientated toward the sun preferentially on sunny days, and Owls with the whitest (least spotted) plumage displayed more and signalled more frequently from perches on the ground, where albedo from the snow may enhance the visual display. Snowy Owls integrate coloration, behaviour and environment through habitat selection to maximize the efficacy of their visual displays.     

Evolution of Dendrocolaptes platyrostris (Aves: Furnariidae) between the South American open vegetation corridor and the Atlantic forest

The open vegetation corridor of South America is a region dominated by savanna biomes. It contains forests (i.e. riverine forests) that may act as corridors for rainforest specialists between the open vegetation corridor and its neighbouring biomes (i.e. the Amazonian and Atlantic forests). A prediction for this scenario is that populations of rainforest specialists in the open vegetation corridor and in the forested biomes show no significant genetic divergence. We addressed this hypothesis by studying plumage and genetic variation of the Planalto woodcreeper Dendrocolaptes platyrostris Spix (1824) (Aves: Furnariidae), a forest specialist that occurs in both open habitat and in the Atlantic forest. The study questions were: (1) is there any evidence of genetic continuity between populations of the open habitat and the Atlantic forest and (2) is plumage variation congruent with patterns of neutral genetic structure or with ecological factors related to habitat type? We used cytochrome b and mitochondrial DNA control region sequences to show that D. platyrostris is monophyletic and presents substantial intraspecific differentiation. We found two areas of plumage stability: one associated with Cerrado and the other associated with southern Atlantic Forest. Multiple Mantel tests showed that most of the plumage variation followed the transition of habitats but not phylogeographical gaps, suggesting that selection may be related to the evolution of the plumage of the species. The results were not compatible with the idea that forest specialists in the open vegetation corridor and in the Atlantic forest are linked at the population level because birds from each region were not part of the same genetic unit. Divergence in the presence of gene flow across the ecotone between both regions might explain our results. Also, our findings indicate that the southern Atlantic forest may have been significantly affected by Pleistocene climatic alteration, although such events did not cause local extinction of most taxa, as occurred in other regions of the globe where forests were significantly affected by global glaciations. Finally, our results neither support plumage stability areas, nor subspecies as full species. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 103 , 801–820.