Characterization of Genotypes of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in Immunosuppressed and Immunocompetent Patient Groups

ABSTRACT. A retrospective phylogenetic analysis was performed on isolates of Enterocytozoon bieneusi to characterize the genotypes in different patient cohorts. Fifty-seven isolates, collected from patients living in Malawi and the Netherlands, were classified by age and immune status of the hosts. Sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region identified 16 genotypes; nine have not previously been described. Genotypes K and D were most prevalent among patient groups, whereas genotype C was restricted to transplantation patients receiving immunosupressives and genotype B showed a predisposition toward patients living with HIV/AIDS. Different genotypes showed more dispersion among isolates from Malawi compared with those from the Netherlands. A constructed map estimating the genealogy of the ITS region reveals a dynamic evolutionary process between the genotypes.     

Effectiveness of Vaginal-Implant Transmitters for Locating Elk Parturition Sites

ABSTRACT We assessed success of vaginal implant transmitters (VITs), deployed in 198 elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni), in locating elk calving sites in western Wyoming, USA, in 2006–2007. We identified 60.3% of expelled VIT locations as definite or probable event markers and an additional 21.8% as possible event markers. Failure rate for VITs was 10.6%, and we found an additional 7.3% in improbable or impossible parturition sites. Vaginal implant transmitters were effective in locating calving and abortion sites and will facilitate definition of parturition habitat selection and parturition ranges of specific subpopulations.     

Sound production in four damselfish (Dascyllus) species: phyletic relationships?

Most studies of fish sounds show that the sounds are species-specific, with unique spectral and timing characteristics. This raises the question as to whether these sounds can be used to understand phyletic relationships between species and which acoustic parameters are subject to variation between species. In the present study, 597 sounds (and 2540 pulses) related to signal jumps of four Dascyllus species ( Dascyllus aruanus , Dascyllus trimaculatus , Dascyllus albisella , and Dascyllus flavicaudus ) from different geographic regions (Madagascar, Moorea, Rangiroa, and Hawaii) were analysed. It was possible to discern species-specific sounds, but also variation in sounds between populations. Large variations in sound length were found between Dascyllus species, whereas differences in interpulse duration were found to be variable between populations. In the regions where species live in sympatry, it appears that they restrict the variability in their sounds. This could comprise evidence of adaptation with character displacement of sonic characteristics where different species co-occur. However, sonic characteristics still overlapped substantially between species, suggesting that females would need to sample more than one sound and potentially use other cues to discriminate between species.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 97 , 928–940.     

Biogeography,rarity and endemism in Cineraria (Asteraceae–Senecioneae)

The biogeography of Cineraria (Asteraceae, Senecioneae) is assessed using a chorological approach in terms of its distribution, centres of diversity and endemism. Rare species are identified and categorised according to Rabinowitz's criteria and causes for rarity in the genus are investigated. The conservation status of the species is assessed according to IUCN criteria for Red List categories and compared to levels of rarity. The main phytogeographic affinity of Cineraria is Afromontane in association with seven recognised centres of endemism in South Africa, four in tropical Africa, in Ethiopia and in Madagascar. Fifteen species are endemic and six are near‐endemic to a specific centre of endemism or mountain range. Seventy four percent of Cineraria spp. are endemic to southern Africa with the centre of diversity in the KwaZulu‐Natal Midlands, South Africa. The rarest species number 11; of these eight are endangered or vulnerable according to IUCN Red Data Criteria and three are data deficient. Causes of rarity in Cineraria are related to narrow habitat specificity, notably soil or rock type and/or altitudinal range. Paired comparisons of the 11 rarest and commonest species reveal no convincing causal links to morphological, reproductive or life history strategy attributes in Cineraria. © 2009 University of the Witwatersrand, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 160 , 130–148.     

Variation in local abundance and species richness of stream fishes in relation to dispersal barriers: implications for management and conservation

1. Barriers to immigration, all else being equal, should in principle depress local abundance and reduce local species richness. These issues are particularly relevant to stream‐dwelling species when improperly designed road crossings act as barriers to migration with potential impacts on the viability of upstream populations. However, because abundance and richness are highly spatially and temporally heterogeneous and the relative importance of immigration on demography is uncertain, population‐ and community‐level effects can be difficult to detect. 2. In this study, we tested the effects of potential barriers to upstream movements on the local abundance and species richness of a diverse assemblage of resident stream fishes in the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, U.S.A. Fishes were sampled using simple standard techniques above‐ and below road crossings that were either likely or unlikely to be barriers to upstream fish movements (based on physical dimensions of the crossing). We predicted that abundance of resident fishes would be lower in the upstream sections of streams with predicted impassable barriers, that the strength of the effect would vary among species and that variable effects on abundance would translate into lower species richness. 3. Supporting these predictions, the statistical model that best accounted for variation in abundance and species richness included a significant interaction between location (upstream or downstream of crossing) and type (passable or impassable crossing). Stream sections located above predicated impassable culverts had fewer than half the number of species and less than half the total fish abundance, while stream sections above and below passable culverts had essentially equivalent richness and abundance. 4. Our results are consistent with the importance of immigration and population connectivity to local abundance and species richness of stream fishes. In turn, these results suggest that when measured at appropriate scales (multiple streams within catchments), with simple protocols amenable to use by management agencies, differences in local abundance and species richness may serve as indicators of the extent to which road crossings are barriers to fish movement and help determine whether road‐crossing improvements have restored connectivity to stream fish populations and communities.     

Origin and taxonomic status of the Palearctic population of the stem borer Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefèbvre) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The major pest of maize in Mediterranean Europe, the stem borer Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefèbvre) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), has a fragmented distribution, north and south of the Sahara. The present study aimed: (1) to clarify the uncertain taxonomic status of the Palearctic and sub‐Saharan populations which were first considered as different species and later on as subspecies (Sesamia nonagrioides nonagrioides and Sesamia nonagrioides botanephaga) and (2) to investigate the origin of the Palearctic population which extends from Spain to Iran, outside what is considered typical for this mainly tropical genus. We reconstructed the evolutionary history of both populations using one nuclear and two mitochondrial genes. The sub‐Saharan taxon was fragmented in two isolated populations (West and East) whose mitochondrial genes were distant by 2.3%. The Palearctic population was included in the East African clade and its genes were close or identical to those of a population from Central Ethiopia, where the species was discovered for the first time. Similarly, in Africa, the alleles of the nuclear gene were distributed mainly in two West and East clades, whereas some Palearctic alleles belonged to the West clade. The Palearctic population originated therefore from East and West Africa and is the progeny of the cross between these two African populations. The main species concepts were in agreement, leading to the conclusion that the three populations are still conspecific. In the surveyed regions, the species therefore does not include two subspecies but three isolated populations. The Palearctic population suffered from severe bottlenecks that resulted in the fixation of one East African mitochondrial genome and the large reduction in its genetic diversity compared to the African populations. The data suggest that natural colonization of the Palearctic region was more plausible than human introduction. The allelic distribution of the Palearctic population was similar to that of species that survived the last glaciation. It is concluded that the African populations expanded during the last interglacial, crossed the Sahara and mixed in North Africa where fixation of the East mitochondrial genome occurred. The species then colonized Europe westward through only one eastern entrance. The coalescent‐based estimate of the time to the ancestor of the Palearctic population was 108 000 years, which is consistent with this scenario. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 103 , 904–922.     

Phylogeny of the nuthatches of the Sitta canadensis group and its evolutionary and biogeographic implications

A phylogeny of ten species of nuthatch (Sittidae), including the newly described Kabylie Nuthatch Sitta ledanti of North Africa, was constructed using a sequence of 491 bp of the cytochrome-b gene of mtDNA. On the basis of trees derived using parsimony analysis and neighbour-joining methods, and assessments of robustness based on bootstrap analysis, the following phylogenetic relationships were inferred: the five species of the Sitta canadensis group are a monophyletic group, within which S. canadensis, S. whiteheadi and S. villosa form the sister clade of S. krueperi and S. ledanti; the other relations are not so well supported. These phylogenetic relationships are congruent with morphology. Differences in behavioural and ecological characters as well as biogeographic patterns are discussed.     

Designating Seasonality Using Rate of Movement

ABSTRACT Traditionally, seasons for animals have been designated based on single external variables such as climate or plant phenology, rather than an animal's response to the dynamic environments within which it lives. By interpreting a rate of movement function of cumulative movement through time we established a method that distinguishes transitions between behaviors limited by winter habitat conditions from those present during summer. Identification of these time periods provides temporal definition to subsequent home-range analyses and use-availability comparisons. We used location data from 32 Global Positioning System-collared female moose (Alces alces) to demonstrate the method. We used model selection (Akaike's Information Criterion) to differentiate between candidate rate of movement response curves. Of 32 moose, 29 clearly conformed to an annual movement pattern described by a logistic curve, with increased rates of movement in summer compared to winter. Conversely, 3 aberrant individuals did not alter their movement rate through the year and were best fit with a linear response curve. The seasonal rate of movement model we developed suggests an average summer period of 122 days (median = 119 days, range = 96–173 days) for moose in northwestern Ontario, Canada. The rate of movement model we applied to individuals indicated 1 May as the median date for the winter-summer transition (range = 2 Apr–24 May), and the median transition from summer to winter was 25 August (range = 1 Aug–23 Oct). Wide variation in timing and duration of summer and winter seasons among individuals demonstrates potential failure of the single external variable approach to capture the suite of factors potentially influencing animal behaviors. By plotting cumulative distance moved throughout the year, we elucidated individual variation in response to known and unknown variables that affect animal movement. Accounting for variability among individuals in designation of biologically significant temporal boundaries is critical to delineation of seasonally important habitats for conservation and sustainability of healthy wildlife populations.     

Modeling Distribution of Dispersal Distances in Male White-Tailed Deer

Abstract: Dispersal distances and their distribution pattern are important to understanding such phenomena as disease spread and gene flow, but oftentimes dispersal characteristics are modeled as a fixed trait for a given species. We found that dispersal distributions differ for spring and autumn dispersals of yearling male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) but that combined data can be adequately modeled based on a log-normal distribution. We modeled distribution of dispersal distances from 3 distinct populations in Pennsylvania and Maryland, USA, based on the relationship between percent forest cover and mean dispersal distance and the relationship between mean and variance of dispersal distances. Our results suggest distributions of distances for dispersing yearling male white-tailed deer can be modeled by simply measuring a readily obtained landscape metric, percent forest cover, which could be used to create generalized spatially explicit disease or gene flow models.     

Utility of Expert-Based Knowledge for Predicting Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions

ABSTRACT Wildlife-vehicle collisions have important ecological, economic, and social effects. In North America and across northern Europe, moose (Alces alces) are one of the largest ungulates hit by motor vehicles. The force and increasing frequency of these collisions has resulted in a commitment by wildlife and transportation agencies to limit or reduce causal factors. In an effort to improve these mitigation strategies, we used the most readily available source of knowledge of collision factors, expert opinion, to develop a series of models that explained and predicted location of moose-vehicle collisions (MVC). We developed expert-based models using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and we used a structured survey approach where experts could assess criteria relevancy, weight criteria, and review weights for consistency. We hypothesized that collisions were the product of habitat- or driver-related factors and we formulated the survey accordingly. We used the receiver operating characteristic to validate the resulting models and the Kappa index of agreement to quantify differences among spatial predictions originating from the experts. Local and nonlocal experts weighted the moose habitat classification as the most important criterion for identifying MVC. Among driver-related criteria, speed limit was weighted as the most important factor. Overall, habitat-based models were more proficient than driver-based models in predicting MVC within Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks, Canada. Both local and nonlocal expert models were excellent predictors of MVC, with local experts slightly outperforming nonlocal experts. Considering that habitat-related criteria were more powerful for predicting MVC, and that habitat can vary considerably across study areas, we suggest that local experts be used when possible. The AHP is a valuable tool for wildlife, highway, and park managers to better understand why and where wildlife-vehicle collisions occur. Adopting this process, our data suggested that MVC were most strongly correlated with highway attractants associated with habitat. Vegetation management or alternative routing could minimize spatial juxtaposition of moose and motor vehicles.