AURITA: an affordable,autonomous recording device for acoustic monitoring of audible and ultrasonic frequencies

Passive acoustic monitoring can be used for many purposes including biodiversity and habitat assessments and studying the ecology of populations, communities and soundscapes. As such, acoustic recording devices are essential data collection tools for bioacousticians and soundscape ecologists. Currently available commercial options are typically expensive and limited to recording either ultrasonic or audible frequencies. Here, we present the AURITA (Audible and Ultrasonic Recording In TAndem) for the autonomous collection of both audible and ultrasonic acoustic data. This self-contained, modular unit combines the Solo, an open-source, Raspberry-Pi-based recorder and a commercially available bat recorder, the Peersonic RPA2, enabling it to capture sounds from 60 Hz to 192 kHz in WAV format. The configuration presented costs ~£350 (excluding memory cards and batteries) to produce and can be maintained and repaired in the field. Two nine-week field tests involving 12 AURITA units were conducted in 2016 and 2017 and confirmed their reliability, resulting in 34,093 h of audible data and 551 h of ultrasonic data; all units were retrieved successfully and intact. The AURITA proved to be reliable in the field and produced high-quality acoustic data, making it ideal for simultaneous monitoring in both audible and ultrasonic frequencies over continuous periods of time.     

Maize seedlings produced from dry seeds exposed to liquid nitrogen display altered levels of shikimate pathway compounds

In light of climate change and risks of food insecurity, it is becoming increasingly important to preserve plant germplasm in genebanks. Storage of seeds, particularly via cryopreservation, is one of the most proficient methods for ex situ plant germplasm conservation. Whilst seed cryo-banking can have little, to no, or even beneficial effects on subsequent seedling vigor in some species, it can lead to a number of plant abnormalities (morphological and physiological). This study investigated the effects of maize seed cryopreservation on seedling growth (until 14 d) and levels of selected amino acids produced in the shikimate pathway, a major link between primary and secondary metabolism. Seed cryopreservation reduced FW in recovered seedlings, reduced caffeic acid (2.5-fold decrease), and increased levels of all other shikimate pathway–related compounds assessed: phenylalanine (2.9-fold increase), tyrosine (2.6-fold increase), and shikimic (2.1-fold increase) and protocathecuic (3.1-fold increase) acids in cotyledons. Our results suggest that maize seed cryopreservation results in seedlings that exhibit signs of an ‘overly’ efficient and caffeic acid–deficient shikimate pathway, possibly related to their reduced growth during a highly vulnerable growth stage. However, these metabolic abnormalities manifested most severely in the maternal (cotyledonary), as opposed to vegetative (roots, stems, and leaves), tissues and hence are likely to disappear when the seedlings shed the cotyledons and become completely autotrophic.

     

The relationship between pheromone trap catch and local population density of the oak processionary moth Thaumetopoea processionea (Lepidoptera: Thaumetopoeidae)

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