Separation of Cytokinins from Danish Cabbage by Column Chromatography on Insoluble Polyvinylpyrrolidone

Chromatography of partially purified extracts of Danish cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.) heads on polyvinylpyrrolidone columns using a weak phosphate buffer indicated a cytokinin complex containing nine components active in the modified Amaranthus betacyanin bioassay. Similar elution patterns were obtained with extracts of four different cabbage varieties but varietal differences occurred in the biological activity from each component peak. Paper and thin-layer chromatography indicated the presence of both zeatin and zeatin riboside in the extracts but the other cytokinin-active components were not identified. Separation of sweet-corn extracts by this technique indicated that most of the cytokinin activity occurred in the elution volume where zeatin and zeatin riboside would normally occur.     

Host-plant mediated geographic variation in the life history of Platycotis vittata (Homoptera: Membracidae)

Abstract.

• 1 The oak treehopper Platycotis vittata (Fabricius) is bivoltine throughout its range with discrete generations in the early spring and autumn. Females of both generations diapause.
• 2 Latitudinal variation in the timing of life history exists among four populations of P. vittata along the eastern coastal plain of the United States.
• 3 We disrupted synchronization between P.vittata life history and host-plant phenology in the springs of 1984 and 1985 by placing southern populations on northern trees with a different phenology. This caused some females to oviposit abnormally in late spring, without entering diapause. The offspring of these females had reduced reproductive success.
• 4 Winter diapause can be broken by providing females with a newly flushing tree with high levels of amino nitrogen in the sap. Females terminated winter diapause on trees breaking winter dormancy while females on trees still in winter dormancy did not, under identical photoperiod and temperature regimes.
• 5 The role of host-plant mediated life history variation as a process promoting intraspecific geographic differentiation in the arboreal sap-feeding guild is discussed.

     

Remarkable Rhinophoridae in a growing generic genealogy (Diptera: Calyptratae,Oestroidea)

Four new genera (Apomorphyto gen.n. from Costa Rica, Bixinia gen.n. from Australia, Rhinodonia gen.n. from New Caledonia, Rhinopeza gen.n. from Papua New Guinea) and nine new species (Apomorphyto inbio sp.n. , Bixinia collessi sp.n. , B. solitaria sp.n. , B. spei sp.n. , B. variabilis sp.n. , B. winkleri sp.n. , Rhinodonia antiqua sp.n. , R. flavicera sp.n. , Rhinopeza gracilis sp.n.) of Rhinophoridae (Diptera: Calyptratae, Oestroidea) are described. All new species were included in a morphology‐based phylogenetic analysis to provide arguments for the justification and monophyly (when nonmonotypic) of the new genera and for including these in the Rhinophoridae. The New Caledonian Rhinodonia is a candidate sister taxon to all other rhinophorids, and the Australasian ‘axiniine’ species emerge inside a clade of all Neotropical taxa thus suggesting migration from South America across Antarctica into Australia. This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:51C1F448‐DDD0‐4F14‐8173‐B8C687F7E841 .     

Temperature responses of membrane-associated activities from spring and winter oats

Abstract Two-week old, glasshouse-grown seedlings of spring and winter oats (Avena sativa cv. Margam and Pennal respectively) were transferred to growth rooms where the daylength was 8 h and the temperature was either 20° or 5°C. Leaves from the 20°C treatment were harvested 1 week after transfer and those from the 5°C treatment after 3 weeks. Measurements were made, at temperatures in the range 5–20°C, of the rate of senescence of excised leaf sections; the rate of in vivo tetrazolium (TTC) reduction; the NADH-MTT tetrazolium diaphorase (NMD) activity of a membrane preparation isolated by sucrose gradient centri-fugation; and Hill activity of isolated chloroplasts. Data from these experiments, either untransformed or plotted in accordance with the Arrhenius equation, were analysed by the method of maximum likelihood for the occurrence of rate-temperature discontinuities. Distinct breakpoints at 14.2–16.3°C were detected for senescence, TTC reduction and NMD in winter oat leaves from the 20°C treatment, but spring oats grown at the same temperature gave a significant discontinuity only in the rate of senescent yellowing. After the hardening treatment, 3 weeks at 5°C, senescence and TTC reduction in winter oats exhibited breakpoints at 10.1–12.4°C and spring oats gave breaks at 11.8–17.3°C. No breakpoint was observed for Hill activity from either variety under either temperature treatment. The use of this approach in studies of growth at chilling temperatures and its potential as a screening method are discussed.     

Bottom‐up control in the benthos of ocean‐exposed sandy beaches?

Bottom‐up control is a fundamental structuring force in food webs. Food webs of ocean‐exposed sandy beaches are predicted to be bottom‐up controlled systems, underpinned by imported organic matter rather than in situ primary production. This ecological model of resource‐based regulation of biological assemblages is juxtaposed against a prevailing paradigm built around a dominance of physical drivers in sandy beach ecosystems. Surprisingly, given the apparently ubiquitous energetic subsidies of beach food webs, the central premise of bottom‐up control has not been tested. Here we experimentally manipulated in situ nutrient levels on a sandy beach to test food web responses at the levels of primary producers (benthic microalgae) and their grazers (meiofauna). The meiofauna community as a whole appeared most strongly influenced by the local physical environment, particularly changes in sediment grain size – this supports the traditional ‘environmental control paradigm’. We also detected a significant, positive response of two consumer groups of the meiofauna (nematodes, ostracods) to nutrient enrichment that supports a model of biological, bottom‐up control. Although the predicted response of elevated producer biomass following nutrient enrichment was not detected, intense grazing pressure on new, stimulated production may have masked positive responses by the primary producers. Multichannel regulation of food webs is likely for many exposed sandy beaches, albeit an often lower importance of in situ bottom‐up forces compared with stronger environmental control.     

Rainforest and savanna landscape dynamics in New Caledonia: Towards a mosaic of stable rainforest and savanna states?

Stable forested environments can be converted to savanna in response to changes in environmental disturbances. New Caledonia is a biodiversity hotspot; significant ecological and economic resources would be lost if forests were turned into savanna by anthropogenic environmental changes. On the landscape scale, systems that have undergone shifts of this kind are characterized by sharp forest–savanna boundaries and mosaic‐like distributions of savanna and forest. Understanding the locations and the dynamics of such boundaries is a challenge for ecologists and is critical for landscape management and biodiversity conservation. Using a time series of aerial photographs (1955–2000) and a forest habitat suitability map, we tested the hypothesis that topography and spatial processes, especially those relating to fire spread and seed dispersal, are the main determinants of the spatial distribution of rainforest and savanna in a New Caledonian landscape covering 24 km². Within the studied landscape, the overall forest coverage decreased by 24% between 1976 and 2000. This was primarily due to the contraction of forests on west‐facing slopes, which accounted for about 90% of the total loss. Conversely, the east‐facing forests seemed to have contracted extensively prior to the studied period, and were confined to refuges. A habitat suitability index calculated from the landscape's topographical features using generalized additive models accurately predicted both the presence of forests and the probability of forest expansion/contraction. We also provide evidence that spatial processes such as fire spread and seed dispersal limit the expansion and contraction of forests. Our results suggest that rainforests on west‐facing slopes in New Caledonia will be progressively destroyed by fire until they are restricted to refuges along thalwegs and creeks, as appears to have already happened for their east‐facing counterparts.     

Utilization of Sediment CO2 by Selected North American Isoetids

The photosynthetic uptake of root-zone CO₂ was determined forEriocaulon septangulare, Gratiola aurea, Isoetes macrospora,Littorella uniflora var. americana and Lobelia dortmanna aspart of a study of the photosynthetic carbon economy of submergedaquatic isoetids. The pH and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC)of the sediment interstitial water in four Wisconsin lakes reflectedthe water column character, where the DIC increased with depthin the sediment to concentrations five to ten times those ofthe water column. Sediment free CO₂ concentrations were 5–50times those in the water column and were similar at all sites(about 05–1.0mM CO₂ in the root-zone). In ‘pH-drift’studies these plants were unable to take up HCO₂^–. Laboratory determinations of the carbon uptake from the rootand shoot-zones were made for all five species. These experimentsshowed that CO₂ in the root-zone accounted for 65–95 percent of external carbon uptake for the five species. For G.aurea and E. septangulare, root-zone CO₂ was > 85 per centof carbon uptake. Carbon, CO₂, photosynthesis, sediment, isoetid, Eriocaulon septangulare, Gratiola aurea, Isoetes macrospora, Littorella uniflora, Lobelia dortmanna     

Replicated shape variation between simple and complex habitats in two estuarine fishes

A replicated pattern of habitat‐associated morphology among different lineages may represent adaptive convergence. Deviation from the replicated (shared) pattern of diversification reflects unique (e.g. species specific) effects resulting from site‐ or species‐specific selection, intrinsic factors (e.g. G matrix differences) or chance historical events (e.g. genetic drift). For two distantly‐related estuarine fishes [Lagodon rhomboides (Sparidae; Linnaeus) and Leiostomus xanthurus (Sciaenidae; Lacepède)], we examined shared and unique instances of body shape variation between seagrass (complex) and sand (simple) microhabitats at four sites. We found extensive shape variation between microhabitats for both species. As a shared response, both species from sand had subterminal snouts and long caudal peduncles, whereas those from seagrass had terminal snouts and deep bodies. Unique responses involved a greater difference in Lagodon rhomboides head shape between microhabitats compared to L. xanthurus. Patterns of shape variation fit ecomorphological predictions for foraging in the respective microhabitats (simple versus complex) because deep bodies are expected for fish that must negotiate complex habitats and subterminal snouts facilitate benthic foraging common in barren habitats. Parallel differentiation between microhabitats simultaneously suggests that individuals of each species use a particular microhabitat within estuaries for development and the differentiation in shape represents adaptive convergence. Spatial variation in the magnitude of shape differences between microhabitats was an unexpected finding and suggests that phenotypic variation operates at multiple scales within estuaries. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 103 , 147–158.     

Density, distribution and dispersal of the carabid beetle Nebria brevicollis in two adjacent cereal fields

The distribution of the carabid beetle Nebria brevicollis was monitored in the summer during a period of declining activity associated with aestivation in a hedgerow. After emergence from aestivation, population density, distribution and dispersal of N. brevicollis were studied during autumn 1994 in a mark‐recapture experiment. 3560 beetles were marked and 1887 were recaptured in a grid of pitfall traps spanning a hedgerow and extending approximately 32 m either side into two recently harvested cereal fields. Population size, estimated from a Lincoln index, increased slightly with time with a mean population density of approximately 0.9 beetles m^?2. Activity‐density varied during the experiment and was significantly related to maximum temperature. The population was aggregated within the hedgerow during aestivation and in several spatially stable hot‐spots of activity‐density within the field during autumn. There was considerable movement within fields but the hedgerow was a significant barrier to dispersal between fields, with potential effects on the metapopulation structure of the species.     

Intraspecific variation in the postcranial skeleton morphology in African clariids: a case study of extreme phenotypic plasticity

Taxonomic relationships within the Clariidae, especially within the anguilliform species, are currently ambiguous due to the lack of a reliable structure of valid generic and specific characteristics. Based on the information available, it is difficult to properly diagnose the different elongated genera and species; this is due in part to a high degree of variability of certain traits generally considered to be important taxonomically. For example, the caudal skeleton is often considered to be an important diagnostic trait. However, the degree of phenotypic plasticity has not hitherto been adequately assessed. This paper deals with interspecific variation of the caudal skeleton of Clarias gariepinus , Platyallabes tihoni , Platyclarias machadoi , Gymnallabes typus , Channallabes apus and Dolichallabes microphthalmus . The caudal skeleton of C. apus is studied, using specimens from three regions in Gabon. Hypural fusions and haemal and neural spines show most variation. The observed morphological variation appears to be geographically independent, in contrast to other morphological features such as vertebrae.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 140 , 437–446.