The multivariate underpinnings of recruitment for three Pinus species in montane forests of the Sierra Nevada,USA

Recruitment success can have significant consequences on forest community dynamics. Seedlings and saplings were studied for 3 five-needled white pine species: sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), western white pine (P. monticola), and whitebark pine (P. albicaulis) across an elevational gradient, representing three distinct forest types, in the Sierra Nevada. This study was designed to determine the importance of local environmental and biological conditions versus broad regional climate patterns influencing conifer recruitment. No relationships were found between recruitment and precipitation, but increasing nighttime temperature was positively correlated with sugar pine and western white pine recruitment and negatively correlated with whitebark pine recruitment. Recruitment pulses were found for sugar pine and western white pine from 1995 to 2006. Whitebark pine recruitment is low and relatively steady from 1970 to 2000 with no observed new recruits after 2001. Source strength was the most consistent predictor of white pine recruitment along with soil properties, climate, light, and the presence of non-conspecifics. Source, light, and soil explained 71 % of the variation in sugar pine recruitment. The presence of non-conspecifics, source, and climate explained 71 % of the variation in western white pine recruitment, and the presence of non-conspecifics and source explained 36 % of the variation for whitebark pine. Recruitment present in forest communities of the Sierra Nevada have successfully transitioned through critical stages (i.e., seed and germinant) and appear to be influenced by multiple factors at both local and regional scales.     

Immunity to Heligmosomoides polygyrus induced by subcutaneous vaccination with post-infection larvae

The objective of this study was to investigate, using the Heligmosomoides polygyrus (= Nematospiroides dubius)-mouse model, whether live post-infection trichostrongylid larvae recovered from the intestinal wall of donor animals and placed subcutaneously would serve as vaccine protecting against oral challenge by third-stage (infective) larvae (L3). Experiments were conducted to determine the effect of number and age of post-infective larvae as well as age and sex of host on vaccination. Vaccinated BALB/cByJ mice were challenged with 30 L3 and total adult worm burdens compared between vaccinated groups and sham-treated controls (greater than 90% infection rates). All mice subcutaneously vaccinated with either five or 10 larvae harbored significantly fewer challenge parasites in their intestines than did sham-treated controls (P less than 0.001). Both young and mature mice were significantly protected against challenge by the subcutaneous larval vaccine. Adult female mice had significantly (P less than 0.05) fewer parasites than adult male mice. The age of the larvae (indicated as the days between infection and harvesting of the larvae) was important in that day-4 or day-6 larvae (L4) were significantly more protective (P less than 0.001) than day-2 (L3) or day-8 larvae (L5-preadult). Reduction in worm burden for young vaccinated animals ranged from 31 to 39% (P less than 0.001) and for mature animals from 88 to 100% (P less than 0.001). Passive transfer to serum resulted in the reduction of worm burdens by 26-40% (P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Thermoregulation by kangaroos from mesic and arid habitats: influence of temperature on routes of heat loss in eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) and red kangaroos (Macropus rufus)

We examined thermoregulation in red kangaroos (Macropus rufus) from deserts and in eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) from mesic forests/woodlands. Desert kangaroos have complex evaporative heat loss mechanisms, but the relative importance of these mechanisms is unclear. Little is known of the abilities of grey kangaroos. Our detailed study of these kangaroos' thermoregulatory responses at air temperatures (T(a)) from -5 degrees to 45 degrees C showed that, while some differences occur, their abilities are fundamentally similar. Both species show the basic marsupial characteristics of relatively low basal metabolism and body temperature (T(b)). Within the thermoneutral zone, T(b) was 36.3 degrees + or - 0.1 degrees C (X + or - SE) in both species, and except for a small rise at T(a) 45 degrees C, T(b) was stable over a wide range of T(a). Metabolic heat production was 25% higher in red kangaroos at T(a) -5 degrees C. At the highest T(a) (45 degrees C), both species relied on evaporative heat loss (EHL) to maintain T(b); both panting and licking were used. The eastern grey kangaroo utilised panting (76% of EHL) as the principal mode of EHL, and while this was so for red kangaroos, cutaneous evaporative heat loss (CEHL) was significant (40% of EHL). CEHL appeared to be mainly licking, as evidenced from surface temperatures. Both species utilised peripheral vascular adjustments to control heat flow, as indicated by changes in dry conductance (C(dry)). At lower temperatures, C(dry) was minimal, but it increased significantly at T(a) just below T(b) (33 degrees C); in these conditions, the C(dry) of red kangaroos was significantly higher than that of eastern grey kangaroos, indicating a greater reliance on dry heat loss. Under conditions where heat flows into the body from the environment (T(a) 45 degrees C), there was peripheral vasoconstriction to reduce this inflow; C(dry) decreased significantly from the values seen at 33 degrees C in both kangaroos. The results indicated that, while both species have excellent thermoregulatory abilities, the desert red kangaroos may cope better with more extreme temperatures, given that they respond to T(a) 45 degrees C with lower respiratory evaporation than do the eastern grey kangaroos.     

BONE MARROW RESTORATION AFTER LOCALIZED DEPLETION

Studies have been made of marrow restoration after localized depletion of the rabbit femur by dextran perfusion. Restoration was shown to involve an initial period of reorganization which blends with a more prolonged period of hemic cell repopulation. Cellularity returned to normal levels by 35 days, the recovery of myeloid cells being somewhat more rapid than that of the erythroid elements. In either case, the evolution of immature hemic cells was soon followed by the appearance of more mature forms even at the earliest stages of marrow repopulation. ³H-TdR uptake per cell increased rapidly to a level approximately twice normal after the first week. The augmented incorporation of thymidine, revealed by scintillation spectrometry and confirmed upon autoradiography, was shown to be due to an increase in DNA synthesis rate as well as in the fraction of participating cells. It is suggested that the enhanced cell production is brought about by a decrease in the proliferative cell cycle and an increase in the growth fraction. The origin of the repopulating cells remains a moot point. Cell migration from the epiphyseal marrow is apparently not involved. Irrespective of the source of stem-type cells, the stimulus for regeneration appears to be locally determined.