An ecosystem-level perspective of allelopathy

Allelopathy is an interference mechanism by which plants release chemicals which affect other plants; while it has often been proposed as a mechanism for influencing plant populations and communities, its acceptance by plant ecologists has been limited because of methodological problems as well as difficulties of relating the results of bioassays used for testing allelopathy to vegetation patterns in the field. Here we argue that the concept of allelopathy is more appropriately applied at the ecosystem-level, rather than the traditional population/community level of resolution. Firstly, we consider the wide ranging effects of secondary metabolites (widely regarded as allelochemicals) on organisms and processes which regulate ecosystem function, including herbivory, decomposition and nutrient mineralization. It is apparent that plants with allelopathic potential against other organisms induce net changes in ecosystem properties, which may in turn impact upon the plant community in the longer term. We then illustrate these concepts using two contrasting examples of how invasive plant species with allelopathic potential may alter ecosystem properties through the production of secondary metabolites, i.e. Carduus nutans (nodding thistle) in New Zealand pastures and Empetrum hermaphroditum (crowberry) in Swedish boreal forests. In both cases the production of secondary metabolites by the invasive species induces important effects on other organisms and key processes, which help determine how the ecosystem functions and ultimately the structure of the plant community. These examples help demonstrate that the concept of allelopathy is most effectively applied at the ecosystem-level of resolution, rather than at the population-level (i.e. plant-plant interference).     

Long-term dynamics of leaf miners, Eriocrania spp., on mountain birch: alternate year fluctuations and interaction with Epirrita autumnata

Abstract.

• 1 Abundance of leaf-mining larvae of the outbreak species Eriocrania spp. was monitored in northern Sweden in 1955–67 and 1984–92 in a mountain birch forest rejuvenated by an Epirrita autumnata outbreak in 1954–55.
• 2 Eriocrania mine density fluctuated in a regular biennial pattern, probably due to a semivoltine life cycle. The alternate year fluctuations had shifted phase between the two study periods.
• 3 The density fluctuated at a significantly higher mean level and with a lower amplitude in the c. 10-year-old forest in the 1960s than in the 30-year-old forest in the 1980s. However, no difference was found in mine density between c. 30- and >60-year-old stands in the 1980s.
• 4 Significant correlations between the density of mines in high-density years and date of budburst, and between rate of change between high-density years and the time between snow-melt and budburst indicate effects of weather. No correlation was found between yearly average mine density and date of budburst, precipitation or temperatures in May or June.
• 5 No correlation was found between the mean densities of Eriocrania mines and E.autumnata caterpillars in the same and the two preceding years. However, in the first (1955) and highest of three studied E.autumnata peaks a negative effect on population density of Eriocrania was indicated.
• 6 A significant, negative correlation between the number of Eriocrania mines and E.autumnata caterpillars on single branches was found in three out of eighteen years. The separation of caterpillars and mines at branch level indicates an effect of avoidance at intermediate population densities.

     

Effects of Season and Low Temperature on Polypeptides from Thylakoids Isolated from Chloroplasts of Pinus silvestris

Thylakoids isolated from pine chloroplasts were solubilized by sodium dodecyl sulphate and the polypeptides were separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The chlorophyll-protein complexes, P700-CPa₁ and LH-CPa/b, had apparent molecular weights of 92,000 and 25,000, respectively. When the chlorophyll of P700-CPa₁ was extracted or photobleached, the apoprotein of P700-CPa₁ appeared as a pronounced peak in the polypeptide scan profile. The molecular weight of the apoprotein was 70,000. During autumn and winter the complex P700-CPa₁ was destroyed. This was primarily caused by bleaching of chlorophyll, as the 70,000 apoprotein increased in the scan profile when the complex P700-CPa₁ decreased. The winter destruction of P700-CPa₁ was less pronounced in old needles than in young. Freezing of frost-hardened seedlings did not change the polypeptide scan profile, unless the temperature was lowered below the frost-killing point followed by thawing and post-treatment in light or darkness above 0°C. Again the main destruction occurred in the P700-CPa₁ complex, but in this case no significant increase of the apoprotein was observed. These alterations in the polypeptide scan profile of frost-killed needles were not caused by the low temperature treatment as such, but they occurred after thawing of the needles.     

Effects of temperature and food quality on life-history parameters in Parameletus chelifer and P. minor (Ephemeroptera): a laboratory study

SUMMARY. 1. Growth rate of Parameletus minor was greatest between 10.8 and 19.8°C, survival rate peaked at 5.9°C, developmental time was shortest at 14.6°C, and adult size and fecundity reached maximum values between 5.9 and 10.8°C. Growth rate of P. chelifer was greatest between 14.6 and 19.8°C, survival rate peaked at 5.9°C, and developmental time was shortest at 14.6°C. A large adult size was found at 10.8°C, and highest fecundity between 10.8 and 14.6°C.
2. Food quality significantly affected growth rate, developmental time, adult size and fecundity of both species. Both P. chelifer and P minor attained highest growth rate, largest adult size and highest fecundity when the C/N ratio of food was 5.95. Developmental time was shortest at a C/N ratio between 5.95 and 12.8.
3. Nymphs of P. chelifer had a higher temperature 'optimum' for growth than nymphs of P. minor . Growth rate of nymphs of P. chelifer reared on detritus from a seasonal stream (C/N ratio 12.8) was about 3 times that of nymphs reared on detritus from a river margin (C/N ratio 20.9). The corresponding growth rate difference for nymphs of P. minor was only about 1.5.
4. When all life-history parameters are taken into consideration, P. chelifer had a higher temperature 'optimum' than P. minor .     

Theoretical Models of Speciation

Some population genetical models bearing on the question of speciation are reviewed, and a new kind of model dealing with resource competition between animals in partially reproductively isolated populations is introduced.     

Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in late-successional Swedish boreal forests, and their composition following wildfire

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of wildfires on ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungal communities in Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris ) stands. Below- and above-ground communities were analysed in terms of species richness and evenness by examining mycorrhizas and sporocarps in a chronosequence of burned stands in comparison with adjacent unburned late-successional stands. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-region (rDNA) of mycobionts from single mycorrhizas was digested with three restriction enzymes and compared with an ITS–restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) reference database of EM sporocarps. Spatial variation seemed to be more prominent than the effects of fire on the EM fungal species composition. Most of the common species tended to be found in all sites, suggesting that EM fungal communities show a high degree of continuity following low-intensity wildfires. Species richness was not affected by fire, whereas the evenness of species distributions of mycorrhizas was lower in the burned stands. The diversity of EM fungi was relatively high considering that there were only three EM tree species present in the stands. In total, 135 EM taxa were identified on the basis of their RFLP patterns; 66 species were recorded as sporocarps, but only 11 of these were also recorded as mycorrhizas. The species composition of the below-ground community of EM fungi did not reflect that of the sporocarps produced. EM fungal species present in our ITS–RFLP reference database accounted for 54–99% of the total sporocarp production in the stands, but only 0–32% of the mycorrhizal abundance.     

How to become a yucca moth: minimal trait evolution needed to establish the obligate pollination mutualism

The origins of obligate pollination mutualisms, such as the classic yucca–yucca moth association, appear to require extensive trait evolution and specialization. To understand the extent to which traits truly evolved as part of establishing the mutualistic relationship, rather than being pre‐adaptations, we used an expanded phylogenetic estimate with improved sampling of deeply‐diverged groups to perform the first formal reconstruction of trait evolution in pollinating yucca moths and their nonpollinating relatives. Our analysis demonstrates that key life‐history traits of yucca moths, including larval feeding in the floral ovary and the associated specialized cutting ovipositor, as well as colonization of woody monocots in xeric habitats, may have been established before the obligate mutualism with yuccas. Given these pre‐existing traits, novel traits in the mutualist moths are limited to the active pollination behaviours and the tentacular appendages that facilitate pollen collection and deposition. These results suggest that a highly specialized obligate mutualism was built on the foundation of pre‐existing interactions between early Prodoxidae and their host plants, and arose with minimal trait evolution. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 100 , 847–855.