Groupings by locality in community ecology and paleoecology: tests of significance

Harper, Charles W. Jr. 1978 07 15: Groupings by locality in community ecology and paleoecology: tests of significance. Lethaia , Vol. 11, pp. 251–257. Oslo. ISSN 0024–1164.
Ecologic sample localities are commonly classified into groups on the basis of their species content; distinctive groups of localities are then commonly used to define discrete biofacies or communities. Yet, such locality groups and, by extension, the communities or biofacies inferred from them are almost never tested for statistical significance. Two approximate randomization tests are proposed as a step in this direction. One evaluates whether or not a given data set on which one or more locality groups are based exhibits a degree of clustering by locality that is statistically significant. The second evaluates the statistical significance of the degree of mappability exhibited by a given collection of inferred locality groups.     

Distribution of aquatic vascular plants in lowland rivers: separating the effects of local environmental conditions, longitudinal connectivity and river basin isolation

1. Changes in species distributions along rivers have rarely been observed independently of changes in environmental conditions and meaningful comparison between different catchments is made difficult by the limited geographical distribution of species. This study presents a new approach to quantify the effect of the spatial structure of lowland river networks on aquatic plant distribution and to explore the potential underlying processes using species life‐history characteristics. 2. Twenty‐five species of aquatic vascular plants recorded in 62 sites across five calcareous river basins were used to investigate (i) the temporal turnover of plant species, (ii) the habitat utilisation of species, (iii) the trade‐offs between different plant life‐history characteristics and (iv) the relationship between species life‐history characteristics and habitat utilisation. 3. The annual plant turnover within a 3‐year period was, although significant, extremely low. It suggests that results from spatial surveys conducted over 3 years should not be undermined by temporal changes. 4. Spatial connectivity along and between rivers was more important than in‐channel physical characteristics in shaping species assemblages. Neither chemical factors (ammonium, phosphate) nor extrinsic biotic competitors (filamentous green algae) significantly influenced plant distribution. 5. The most common combinations of life‐history characteristics were neither related to environmental conditions nor to spatial isolation. Instead, they could reflect natural selection processes associated with larger scales than those considered in this study. 6. Plant distribution was most strongly related to the dispersal and regeneration abilities of the plants, supporting the hypotheses relating to longitudinal connectivity. The hypothesis that different growth forms would be associated with different in‐channel physical features was not verified. As expected, there were no substantial differences in plant life‐history characteristics between river basins.     

Energy metabolizability and nutrient digestibility in the Black-billed Magpie Pica pica

Energy metabolizability (ME) and nutrient digestibility were investigated in a captive colony of nine adult Black-billed Magpies Pica pica over a 12-day period. The mean digestibility coefficients ranged from 0.84 for protein to 0.94 for fat and were generally close to those of other birds. Mean daily protein intake was 10.5 g/bird which was relatively high compared with the values reported for other species. Raptor studies have also reported high protein intakes which not only reflects the diet composition but may suggest that meat-eating birds have a high protein requirement. The magpies exhibited an energy metabolizability of 324.3 kJ ME/100 g wet mass intake which corresponded well with the value of 328.8 Id ME/100 g calculated using the standard poultry equation. The measured ME intakes of the magpies were all higher than the values predicted using published allometric equations. The data from the magpies were combined with those of other studies on raptorial birds to derive an equation to predict daily ME requirement: ME (kJ) = 15.16M^0.65 We propose that this equation predicts the daily ME requirements of birds of 100–1500 g.     

Control of Nutrient Solution pH with an Ion Exchange System: Effect on Soybean Nodulation

Growth and nodulation response of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) to various single nitrogen sources in solution culture is confounded by unequal shifts in solution pH. A recirculating ion exchange system was designed in which a cation exchange resin (Amberlite IRC 50) was used to control the pH of solutions in which soybeans were grown. Nutrient solution pH levels were established at range extremes of 9.0 to 3.7 with 100% Ca²⁺ or H⁺ forms of resin, respectively. Intermediate pH levels were established by varying the ratio of Ca²⁺ to H⁺ forms of resin. The system is capable of maintaining pH within 0.5 to 0.9 units of the initial pH over a two-week growth period of soybeans with either nitrate- or urea-N sources. In the absence of the resin column, pH of the urea nutrient solution rapidly declined to less than pH 4 which resulted in depressed plant nodule development. The optimum pH range for nodule mass and N₂ fixation (measured by acetylene reduction) was between 5.2 and 7.0 with urea nutrition. Both nitrate- and ammonium-N sources were inhibitory to acetylene reduction in comparison with urea which allowed extensive nodule development and activity.