Polymorphic microsatellite loci isolated from the great scallop,Pecten maximus (Bivalvia: Pectinidae)

We isolated and characterized nine polymorphic microsatellite loci from the great scallop (Pecten maximus) as part of an attempt to better understand the population–genetic structure of this species. Levels of genetic diversity were assessed in 32 scallops collected from the coastal waters of Port Erin Bay, Isle of Man. The number of alleles ranged from two to 29 and observed and expected heterozygosities varied between 0.031 to 0.906 and 0.062 to 0.973, respectively. Two loci showed significant (P < 0.05) heterozygote deficits, likely because of null (nonamplifying) alleles; one pair of loci was in linkage disequilibrium.     

Vouchering DNA‐barcoded specimens: test of a nondestructive extraction protocol for terrestrial arthropods

Morphology‐based keys support accurate identification of many taxa. However, identification can be difficult for taxa that are either not well studied, very small, members of cryptic species complexes, or represented by immature stages. For such cases, DNA barcodes may provide diagnostic characters. Ecologists and evolutionary biologists deposit museum vouchers to document the species studied in their research. If DNA barcodes are to be used for identification, then both the DNA and the specimen from which it was extracted should be vouchered. We describe a protocol for the nondestructive extraction of DNA from terrestrial arthropods, using as examples members of the orders Acarina, Araneae, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera chosen to represent the ranges in size, overall sclerotization, and delicacy of key morphological characters in the group. We successfully extracted sequenceable DNA from all species after 1–4 h of immersion in extraction buffer. The extracted carcasses, processed and imaged using protocols standard for the taxon, were distinguishable from closely related species, and adequate as morphological vouchers. We provide links from the carcasses and DNA vouchers to image (MorphBank) and sequence (GenBank) databases.     

ETHICS BEYOND BORDERS: HOW HEALTH PROFESSIONALS EXPERIENCE ETHICS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND DEVELOPMENT WORK

Health professionals are involved in humanitarian assistance and development work in many regions of the world. They participate in primary health care, immunization campaigns, clinic- and hospital-based care, rehabilitation and feeding programs. In the course of this work, clinicians are frequently exposed to complex ethical issues. This paper examines how health workers experience ethics in the course of humanitarian assistance and development work. A qualitative study was conducted to consider this question. Five core themes emerged from the data, including: tension between respecting local customs and imposing values; obstacles to providing adequate care; differing understandings of health and illness; questions of identity for health workers; and issues of trust and distrust. Recommendations are made for organizational strategies that could help aid agencies support and equip their staff as they respond to ethical issues.     

Yearling Greater Sage-Grouse Response to Energy Development in Wyoming

ABSTRACT Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.)-dominated habitats in the western United States have experienced extensive, rapid changes due to development of natural-gas fields, resulting in localized declines of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations. It is unclear whether population declines in natural-gas fields are caused by avoidance or demographic impacts, or the age classes that are most affected. Land and wildlife management agencies need information on how energy developments affect sage-grouse populations to ensure informed land-use decisions are made, effective mitigation measures are identified, and appropriate monitoring programs are implemented (Sawyer et al. 2006). We used information from radio-equipped greater sage-grouse and lek counts to investigate natural-gas development influences on 1) the distribution of, and 2) the probability of recruiting yearling males and females into breeding populations in the Upper Green River Basin of southwestern Wyoming, USA. Yearling males avoided leks near the infrastructure of natural-gas fields when establishing breeding territories; yearling females avoided nesting within 950 m of the infrastructure of natural-gas fields. Additionally, both yearling males and yearling females reared in areas where infrastructure was present had lower annual survival, and yearling males established breeding territories less often, compared to yearlings reared in areas with no infrastructure. Our results supply mechanisms for population-level declines of sage-grouse documented in natural-gas fields, and suggest to land managers that current stipulations on development may not provide management solutions. Managing landscapes so that suitably sized and located regions remain undeveloped may be an effective strategy to sustain greater sage-grouse populations affected by energy developments.     

SOUND PRODUCTION BY THE LUSITANIAN TOAD FISH,HALOBATRACHUS DIDACTYLUS

ABSTRACT

Several batrachoidids have been known to produce sounds associated with courtship and agonistic interactions, and their repertoires have been studied acoustically and behaviourally. In contrast, sound production of the Lusitanian toadfish Halobatrachus didactylus, although often noted, has not been acoustically studied.

This sedentary predator of Northeastern Atlantic coastal waters is usually found in sandy and muddy substrates, under rocks or crevices. Sound recordings were made in Ria Formosa, a lagoon complex in southern Portugal. The sound producing apparatus was studied in adult individuals of both sexes captured by local fishermen.

It is shown that this species produces acoustic emissions similar to other batrachoidids. It produces a long, rhythmical, tonal sound, often in choruses, which is comparable to the boatwhistle or hum signals of Opsanus and Porichthys, and a complex of signals that were classified as grunts, croaks, double croaks and mixed calls (‘grunt-croak’). As in other toadfishes, H. didactylus presents sonic muscles connected to a bi-lobed swimbladder. Asynchronous contractions of the sonic muscles were detected when massaging the ventral surface of the fish.     

Isolation and Characterization of Components of the Lytic Compartment of Several Plant Tissues Including Separations with a Zonal Rotor

The ultrastructural localization of acid phosphatase in cellsof pea and mung bean root tips, wheat coleoptiles, cauliflowerflorets and potato shoots, occurred in association with theinner surface of membranes of vacuoles, within multivesicularbodies and in the Golgi stacks and associated vesicles. Tissue homogenization techniques were varied and behaviour ofcomponents of the lytic compartment in density gradients ofvarious types was systematically examined. A basic fractionationmethod, employing linear Ficoll density gradients, was developedand modified for routine use with the various plant tissues,and the results compared with those obtained on sucrose gradients.Two predominant bands of components of the lytic compartmentwere isolated; one of these equilibrated at a density of 1·06g cm^–3 and contained vacuoles and tonoplast components,the other band, with an isopycnic equilibrium density of 1·11g cm^–3, was rich in mitochondria, Golgi stacks and associatedvesicles. Sucrose gradients gave broadly similar separations,but of lower resolution, and with increased density of the components.Prior fractionation of homogenates by differential centrifugationgave poor subsequent separations of the lytic compartment indensity gradient ultracentrifugation. The bulk isolation of components of the lytic compartment frompotato shoots and cauliflower curd, using a zonal density gradienttechnique, is described and its possible applications are discussed. An improved method of rapid fixation of fractions enabled theuse of a modified Gomori lead-salt method for ultrastructurallocalization of ß-glycerophosphatase activity in isolatedelements of the lytic compartment. Lytic component, Golgi apparatus, density gradient fractionation, ultrastructure, acid hydrolases, ß-glycerophosphatase, Pisium sativum L., Phaseolus aureus L., Triticum aestivum L., Solanum tuberosum L., Brassica oleracea L.     

The Innovative Materiality of Revitalization Movements: Lessons from the Pueblo Revolt of 1680

ABSTRACT  Although Wallace's revitalization movement model has been successfully utilized in scores of ethnographic and ethnohistorical studies of societies throughout the world, revitalization is considerably less well documented in archaeological contexts. An examination of the materiality of revitalization movements affords an opportunity to redress this lack by investigating how material culture creates and constrains revitalization phenomena. In this article, I reconsider the revitalization model through a case study focusing on the archaeology of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, emphasizing the central role of materiality in the formation and mediation of these movements. In doing so, I examine the archaeological signatures of revitalization movements, concluding that they are highly negotiated and heterogeneous phenomena and that the materiality of these episodes cultivates cultural innovation. I also seek to demonstrate that the distinctive types of material culture produced through revitalization are not epiphenomenal but, rather, are crucially constitutive of revitalizing processes.     

Validation of a Field Technique and Characterization of Fecal Glucocorticoid Metabolite Analysis in Wild Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Monitoring adrenocortical activity in wild primate populations is critical, given the well‐documented relationship between stress, health, and reproduction. Although many primate studies have quantified fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentrations, it is imperative that researchers validate their method for each species. Here, we describe and validate a technique for field extraction and storage of FGMs in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Our method circumvents many of the logistical challenges associated with field studies while yielding similar results to a commonly used laboratory method. We further validate that our method accurately reflects stress physiology using an adrenocorticotropic hormone challenge in a captive chimpanzee and an FGM peak at parturition in a wild subject. Finally, we quantify circadian patterns for FGMs for the first time in this species. Understanding these patterns may allow researchers to directly link specific events with the stress response. Am. J. Primatol. 75:57‐64, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Effects of three stressors on vegetation in an oligohaline marsh

1. When multiple stressors have interactive effects they can lead to important changes in ecosystem function. We examined how three stressors affected the plant community in an oligohaline marsh in southeastern Louisiana, U.S.A. These stressors included herbivory (mostly by the introduced rodent Myocastor coypus ), disturbance (herbicide application) and nutrient enrichment (three levels of N–P–K fertilizer). Sampling was conducted six times over 4 years.
2. Recovery after disturbance was slow, such that after 26 months biomass in disturbed plots was 36% that of controls. Slow recovery appeared to be due to herbivory, as exclusion of herbivores for 14 months led to much more biomass compared to non-excluded plots. Exclusion did not, however, aid recovery of species richness; this recovery required 51 months in total.
3. Nutrient enrichment increased biomass by 41% and decreased species richness by c. 20% in later sampling periods. Decreased species richness was due primarily to a reduced ability of dominant species to co-exist (as determined with Hill's diversity number N1). Nutrient enrichment did not interact with the other treatments.
4. Disturbance favoured two grasses ( Echinochloa crus-galli and Leptochloa fascicularis ), while lack of disturbance favoured two herbs ( Sagittaria lancifolia and Polygonum punctatum ) and two vines ( Ipomoea sagittata and Cuscuta pentagona ). Nutrient enrichment positively affected abundance of two species ( C. pentagona and L. fascicularis ). Herbivory did not affect species composition.
5. The effect of one stressor (experimental disturbance) on plant biomass depended on the strength of another stressor (herbivory). Nutrient enrichment was also important in affecting the plant community, but only as a single stressor. All effects changed over time, and it was clear that to understand properly the effects of multiple stressors, long-term, manipulative field experiments are necessary.     

Molecular phylogeny of Nitidulidae: assessment of subfamilial and tribal classification and formalization of the family Cybocephalidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea)

We present a molecular phylogeny of Nitidulidae based on thirty ingroup taxa representing eight of the ten currently recognized subfamilies. Approximately 10 K base pairs from seven loci (12S, 16S, 18S, 28S, COI, COII and H3) were used for the phylogenetic reconstruction. The phylogeny supports the following main conclusions: (i) Cybocephalidae are formally recognized as a distinct family not closely related to Nitidulidae and its constituent taxa are defined; (ii) Kateretidae are sister to Nitidulidae; (iii) Cryptarchinae are monophyletic and sister to the remaining nitidulid subfamilies; (iv) subfamily Prometopinae stat. res. is reinstated and defined, to accommodate taxa allied to Axyra Erichson, Prometopia Erichson and Megauchenia MacLeay; (v) Amphicrossinae, Carpophilinae and Epuraeinae are shown to be closely related taxa within a well‐supported monophyletic clade; (vi) tribal affinities and respective monophyly within Nitidulinae are poorly resolved by our data and must be more rigorously tested as there was little or no support for prior morphologically based tribes or genus‐level complexes; (vii) Nitidulinae are found to be paraphyletic with respect to Cillaeinae and Meligethinae, suggesting that they should either be subsumed as tribes, or Nitidulinae should be divided into several subfamilies to preserve the status of Cillaeinae and Meligethinae; (viii) Teichostethus Sharp stat. res. is not a synonym of Hebascus Erichson and the former is reinstated as a valid genus. These conclusions and emendations are discussed in detail and presented within a morphological framework.