The functional significance of leaf structure: a search for generalizations

The coupling between leaf structure and function is illustrated with reference to two examples, the C₄ photosynthetic pathway and leaf pubescence. A distinction is made between function and functional significance. The latter is defined as the role, significance or consequence of a structure, whereas the former is more simply the action that a structure is capable of performing. Using the two examples, four generalizations are made concerning the relationships between structure, function and functional significance: the functional significance of leaf structure is environment-dependent; the relationship between functional significance and structure is sometimes non-intuitive; functional equivalency means that there is often more than one 'solution' to the same 'constraint'; and the consequences of leaf structure can exert profound effects at levels of organization beyond those of the individual organism and may play a critical role in determining community structure and function, through interactions with other species and trophic levels. The importance of understanding the consequences in variation in leaf structure at the global scale is illustrated with reference to the issue of global climate change.     

Garotenoids and colouration of poplar hawkmoth caterpillars (Laothoe populi)

Carotcnoids and chlorophylls a and b were extracted from final instar caterpillars of the poplar hawkmoth ( Laothoe populi ) and the eyed hawkmoth ( Smerinthus ocellata ), as well as from their food plants. Both species of caterpillar absorb the two chlorophylls and the carotenoids lutein, cis -lutein and β-carotene in the gut and deposit lutein and cis -lutein in the integument. It is the lutein, together with pterobilin, that is largely responsible for the colour of the insect: yellow-green poplar hawkmoth caterpillars have more lutein in the integument than dull green ones which in turn have more than white ones. Yellow-green and dull green caterpillars both sequester lutein and cis -lutein in the gut wall, but the yellow-greens translocate more of these pigments to the integument than the dull greens. The white caterpillars absorb very little lutein and cis -lutein into the gut, and so they have much less also in the integument. The mechanism by which the reflected light perceived by the caterpillar is translated into differential absorption of pigment by the gut and deposition in the integument is not known.     

Little evidence for respiratory acclimation by microbial communities to short-term shifts in temperature in red pine (Pinus resinosa) litter

Forest litter is a large reservoir of organic compounds that adds CO₂ to the atmospheric carbon pool when it decomposes. Predicting CO₂ efflux from litter decomposition is difficult because litter can undergo significant diurnal and day-to-day shifts in temperature. Moreover, the relationship between temperature and respiration may change if the decomposer microorganisms acclimate to short-term temperature changes. Therefore, we studied the relationship between temperature and respiration by litter decomposer microorganisms in a Pinus resinosa (Ait.) system and tested the hypothesis that their respiration acclimates to temperature. We found only limited evidence for acclimation following 6 °C shifts for 7 days. This suggests that increase in respiratory CO₂ loss associated with increased temperature would not be greatly ameliorated by physiological acclimation for periods of up to a week.     

Mixed-conifer understory response to climate change, nitrogen, and fire

California's Sierra Nevada mountains are predicted to experience greater variation in annual precipitation according to climate change models, while nitrogen deposition from pollution continues to increase. These changes may significantly affect understory communities and fuels in forests where managers are attempting to restore historic conditions after a century of altered fire regimes. The objective of this research was to experimentally test the effects of increasing and decreasing snowpack depth, increasing nitrogen, and applying prescribed fire to mixed-conifer forest understories at two sites in the central and southern Sierra Nevada. Understory response to treatments significantly differed between sites with herb biomass increasing in shrub-dominated communities when snowpack was reduced. Fire was a more important factor in post-treatment species richness and cover than either snowpack addition or reduction. Nitrogen additions unexpectedly increased herbaceous species richness. These varied findings indicate that modeling future climatic influences on biodiversity may be more difficult than additive prediction based on increasing the ecosystem's two limiting growth resources. Increasing snowpack and nitrogen resulted in increased shrub biomass production at both sites and increased herb production at the southern site. This additional understory biomass has the potential to increase fuel connectivity in patchy Sierran mixed-conifer forests, increasing fire severity and size.     

Asexual Reproduction, Population Structure, and Genotype-Environment Interactions in Sea Anemones

Our studies of sea anemones reveal that asexual reproductioncan lead to the amplification of particularly successful genotypesPopulations of Haliplanella luciae studied to date are characterizedbv exclusively asexual reproduction and typically are dominatedby one or a few clones A field translocation experiment suggeststhat this population structure may result from differentialmortality among colonizing clones most of which are not preadaptedto local conditions Asexual reproduction by survivors leadsto extensive multiplication of one or a few genotypes Metridiumsenile reproduces sexually and asexually and we ofler evidencethat there is significantly less vegetative proliferation butlarger individual body size in areas of low tidal current velocitythan in areas of moderate to high velocities This may indicatethat small individuals (produced asexually) are at a particularfeeding disadvantage in slowly moving water leading to an emphasison maintaining individual body sizeat the expenseol asexualleproduction Individuals heterozygous fora phosphoglucose isomerase(PG1) locus appear to be more successful than homozygotes inmaximizing body size independent of current regime and in maintaininglarge clone biomass in low velocity habitat Members of heterozygoteclones are significantly more dispeised some clonemates beingseparated by 9 meters or more and are overrepresented in thelow velocity habitat Selection against (small) homozygotes activechoice of habitat, and passive differential dispersal of larvaeand adult anemones may all contribute to this pattern.     

Mechanism of Host Cell Restriction in African Green Monkey Kidney Cells Abortively Infected with Human Adenovirus Type 2

Host cell restriction by GMK cells in abortive infections of adenovirus type 2 can be partially relieved by co-infection with SV40.