Foraging range and feeding locations of Shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis during chick rearing

We used radio-tracking techniques to determine the foraging range and feeding locations used by individual Shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis during chick rearing on the Isle of May, Scotland. The mean (±s.d.) foraging range was 7.o±1.9 km (maximum 17 km) and there were no significant sex or year differences. All feeding sites were within 7 km of land. Most (> 90%) were either within 2 km of the colony or in two discrete areas 5–13 km to the north and west. Use of the areas varied between years with both males and females making more use of the north area in 1987 than either 1988 or 1989. Birds used > 11% of the area of sea within the maximum recorded feeding range. This restricted distribution appeared to be related to water-depth and bottom sediment type. Shags fed most frequently in water 21–40 m deep, with a bottom of either gravel and sand, or rock with thin patchy sediment cover.     

Reeves' Muntjac Muntiacus reevesi in Britain: their history, spread, habitat selection, and the role of human intervention in accelerating their dispersal

The origins, early history, captive populations, spread and habitat preferences of Reeves' Muntjac in Britain are reviewed. It is suggested that much of the published information on the history of Muntjac in Britain is based on misconceptions, and that each subsequent report has continued to promulgate a false impression on the origins, time-scale and pattern of spread of the species in Britain. Indian and Reeves' Muntjac were introduced to Woburn Park in Bedfordshire within a year of each other, and it appears that the Indian Muntjac did not thrive, at least in the decade following their introduction. How long they survived as a free-living species in Britain is unclear, but it was probably only a few years. However, there is some evidence to suggest that they might have persisted within the Park at Woburn until 1930. Following the first releases from Woburn in 1901, the numbers of free-living Reeves' Muntjac in Britain remained low until the 1920s, when populations were largely confined to the woods around Woburn, and possibly also around Tring in Hertfordshire. However, in the 1930s and 1940s there were further deliberate introductions in selected areas some distance from Woburn. As a consequence, the subsequent spread of Reeves' Muntjac was from several main foci, i.e. from the vicinity of Woburn, the Norfolk/Suffolk border, three sites in Northamptonshire, two sites in Oxfordshire and two in Warwickshire. The spread in the second half of this century has been aided by further deliberate and accidental releases, and by these means new populations continue to be established outside the main range. Thus the natural spread has been much less impressive than previously assumed; even in areas with established populations it takes a long time for Muntjac to colonize all the available habitat. Data from a number of areas in Britain suggest that the natural rate of spread is about 1 km a year, which is comparable to other species of deer in Britain. The many introductions have complicated an analysis of the habitat preferences of Reeves' Muntjac, and no clear trends could be found. It would appear that Reeves' Muntjac are less dependent on specific types of habitat than previously believed. Examination of the land-class preferences using resource selection indices showed that arable land classes were predominantly selected for, and that marginal upland land classes tended to be avoided. Subsequent logistic regression models based on the land classes selected (and to a lesser extent avoided) by Muntjac were able to predict accurately the current distribution of Reeves' Muntjac in Britain, and one of these, together with our knowledge of their history and spread, was used to infer those areas most likely to be colonized by Muntjac in the near future. The greatest potential for range expansion is in Kent and Sussex, and to a lesser extent north into Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and south Yorkshire, and west into Cheshire and north Shropshire. However, long-established populations in areas such as Betws-y-Coed in Wales show that Muntjac may persist in low numbers in atypical habitats. Future habitat changes, such as the planting of new woodlands, and continued deliberate and accidental releases, are likely to lead to population changes in addition to those predicted by the logistic regression model.     

Biochemical and Histochemical Studies on Protease Activity and Reserve Protein Metabolism in the Cotyledons of Germinating Cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata),

Changes in protein and protease distribution in cotyledons ofgerminating cowpea have been followed by histochemical, biochemical,and ultrastructural techniques. A close relationship, in locationand timing, between an enhanced protease activity and proteinmobilization has been demonstrated. The major enzyme(s) involvedin protein breakdown is of the endopeptidase type. Initiationof protein mobilization appears to be associated with the fusionof cytoplasmic vesicles with the protein bodies.     

The early evolution of the mega‐diverse genus Begonia (Begoniaceae) inferred from organelle DNA phylogenies

Begonia L. is one of the largest flowering plant genera, a ubiquitous component of many tropical forests and an economically important ornamental plant. In the present study, we address the early evolution of Begonia by generating molecular phylogenies from approximately 7000 bases of chloroplast DNA and approximately 6000 bases of mitochondrial DNA for each of 30 exemplar Begonia species. Broadscale biogeographic patterns found in the phylogenies, together with previously estimated divergence dates, indicated that extant Begonia lineages first diversified in Africa and then subsequently in America and Asia. The phylogenies also revealed that the closest African relatives of the American and Asian Begonia are seasonally‐adapted species. Moderate to strong incongruence between the phylogenies suggested that they differ genealogically. These differences could have been the result of either interspecific hybridization and/or incomplete lineage sorting. The results obtained in the present study provide a much needed genus‐wide framework for future evolutionary studies of this exceptionally diverse tropical genus. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 101 , 243–250.