Floral ecostratigraphy in practice

Fossil plant associations are best named by traditional phytosociological methods from genera or species prominent in a reference collection. The named association then has some stability during later palaeoecological interpretation and threedimensional mapping in sedimentary basins. Biostrati-graphic zones are best established from successions of events in similar associations within a specified area. Such events may not have occurred in other types of association, nor have been contemporaneous in separate areas. These events are most effectively correlated when the likely environment and ecology of the associations are also considered.     

Remodelling of Neuromuscular Systems During Insect Metamorphosis

During metamorphosis in the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta, the larvalthoracic legs are replaced by a new set of adult legs that includenew sensory neurons and muscles, and participate in new patternsof locomotor activity. Larval leg motoneurons persist to innervatethe new adult leg muscles, but undergo striking changes in dendriticmorphology that are regulated by the insect steroid, 20-hydroxyecdysone.In the periphery, the motor terminals regress as larval musclesdegenerate, and expand as new adult muscles form from myoblasts.Evidence obtained both in vivo and in vitro suggests that theproliferation of myoblasts during metamorphosis is dependentupon innervation.     

A partial revision of Gyptis (Gyptini,Ophiodrominae, Hesionidae,Aciculata, Annelida), with descriptions of a new tribe,a new genus and five new species

Phylogenetic analyses of molecular data (COI, 16SrDNA, 18SrDNA, and 28SrDNA) show that the hesionid genus Gyptis Marion & Bobretzky in Marion, 1874, and the tribe Gyptini Pleijel, 1998, are nonmonophyletic as currently delineated. We introduce the new tribe Amphidurini and the new genus Neogyptis to accommodate these new findings. Amphidurini is sister to Gyptini and Ophiodromini and includes Amphiduros Hartman, 1959, Amphiduropsis, Pleijel, 2001, Neogyptis gen. nov. , and, possibly, Parahesione Pettibone, 1956. Morphologically, Amphidurini can be separated from Gyptini by the distally, rather than subdistally, inserted ventral cirri, and Neogyptis by the combination of this feature, the presence of a median antenna, and a distal ring with papillae on the proboscis. We redescribe and transfer the four species Gyptis crypta Pleijel, 1993, Gyptis mediterranea Pleijel, 1993, Gyptis plurisetis Hilbig, 1992, and Gyptis rosea (Malm, 1874) from Gyptis to Neogyptis gen. nov. , and describe five new species from shallow waters in Belize, Hong Kong, off Vladivostok, and deep‐sea hydrothermal vents in the Lau Basin off Fiji.     

European rabbit survival and recruitment are linked to epidemiological and environmental conditions in their exotic range

The European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, is threatened within its native range, yet it is a highly successful colonizing pest species across its worldwide introduced range, causing large economic losses and widespread environmental degradation. To date, there has been no long‐term empirical evidence documenting the relative roles of climatic, epidemiological and biological factors in limiting life‐history determinants of rabbit range and abundance. Using 12 years of capture–mark–recapture data from their exotic range in Australia, we constructed candidate Cormack–Jolly–Seber models to test the influence of environmental, competition and disease conditions on rabbit survival and recruitment. Our results show that: (i) population‐level disease infection rate has the largest overall impact on rabbit survival, explaining 80% of variance in survival rates; (ii) environmental as well as epidemiological conditions constrain rabbit survival, especially for younger animals; (iii) temporal variation in rabbit kitten recruitment patterns are best described by a combination of climate, competition and disease settings (accounting for 68% of variance), while temperature alone has a strong negative influence on kitten recruitment; and (iv) recruitment responds positively to rabbit haemorrhagic disease, but negatively to myxomatosis – the former, probably being mediated through a disease driven effect on intraspecific competition for food. A strengthened understanding of climate change impacts on rabbit range and abundance can be achieved by accounting explicitly for potential synergisms between disease dynamics and climate. In this analysis, we provide the first step towards such an attempt for this important mammal species. Integrated approaches of this kind are essential for future forecasts of rabbit range and abundance, offsetting the conservation threat faced by O. cuniculus in its native range, and achieving effective management in exotic habitats.     

Strain Identification in Rhizobium Using Intrinsic Antibiotic Resistance

The variation in intrinsic resistance to low levels of eight antibiotics was used as an identifying characteristic for 26 Rhizobium leguminosarum strains. The pattern of antibiotic resistance of each strain was a stable property by which rhizobia isolated from root nodules of inoculated Pisum sativum could be recognized. The antibiotic tests for strain identification with R. leguminosarum were applied to R. phaseoli . It was necessary to include reference cultures in tests with this species, as the tests most suitable for the R. leguminosarum strains showed some variability with R. phaseoli .     

Mice prefer rare food

In the first experiment designed to test directly for frequency-dependent selection of food by a mammal, mice were presented with pairs of food in 9: 1 and 1:9 combinations. The foods used were crumbs of laboratory rat cake flavoured vanilla or peppermint and dyed green or brown: vanilla/green was presented with peppermint/brown, and vanilla/brown with peppermint/green. Vanilla was preferred to peppermint and green to brown: peppermint/brown was particularly unacceptable. Each type was preferred more when rare than when common. Preferences changed over the five days of the experiment, the preference for greens becoming less strong. Since the experimental trials were carried out in total darkness, the preferences must have been based on non-visual clues, indicating that the dyes were not odourless and tasteless to mice, as they are to man.     

The occurrence and distribution of actinomycetes in lakes of the English Lake District

Investigation of the occurrence of mesophilic actinomycetes in the lakes of the English Lake District revealed their widespread distribution in the lacustrine environment. Although only low numbers of actinomycetes occurred in the water, high numbers were recovered from all the lake muds. Total numbers of actinomycetes in the muds correlated quite well with the lakes’ productivity status. High numbers of Micro-monospora, Streptomyces and nocardioform actinomycetes were isolated from all the lakes sampled. Low numbers of Streptosporangium were isolated from all the muds but strains of Actinomadura, Actinoplanes, Dactylosporangium, Microbispora and Thermomonospora were only encountered occasionally. Micromonospora was the numerically dominant genus isolated from all the lakes sampled. This dominance was even more striking in deeper layers of mud and this was thought to reflect a more resistant spore stage in Micromonospora than in either of the other two main genera.     

Recolonization of forest fragments by a native rodent following experimental ‘extinctions’

The movement of organisms between subdivided populations is considered a key influence on the persistence of species in modified landscapes. In particular, the ability to recolonize ‘empty’ fragments of habitat is directly relevant to conservation management, and to understanding the link between pattern and process in metapopulations. We studied the movement and recolonization ability of the bush rat, Rattus fuscipes, in a highly fragmented agricultural landscape in south‐western Victoria, Australia. Populations were monitored in seven small (<2.5 ha) and two large (>49 ha) forest fragments before removal of all residents from four of the small fragments. Subsequent monitoring (for up to 16 months) allowed the detection of colonizing individuals, and comparisons between ‘experimental’ and ‘control’ fragments. Rattus fuscipes readily moved between fragments and successfully recolonized (i.e. both males and females arrived) two of four fragments in which extinctions were simulated. A single male moved into a third experimental fragment. In one fragment, new animals were detected 1 month after the removal of residents, indicating that recolonization can occur rapidly. Dispersers were not a random sample of the population: although both males and females, and adults and sub‐adults were recorded dispersing, adult males in reproductive condition predominated. Functional connectivity appears to be high for R. fuscipes in the study landscape. Results from this manipulative experiment provide direct empirical evidence that a capacity for movement allows recolonization of fragments of suitable habitat and is a key process responsible for species persistence in fragmented landscapes, as predicted by theory.