Using Patterns in Track-Plate Footprints to Identify Individual Fishers

Abstract: If individuals can be identified from patterns in their footprints, noninvasive survey methods can be used to estimate abundance. Track plates capture fine detail in the footprints of fishers (Martes pennanti), recording rows of dots corresponding to tiny papillae on the animal's metacarpal pad. We show that the pattern of these dots can be used to identify individual fishers, similar to human fingerprints. A probabilistic model of uniqueness based on variation in spacing between 1,400 pairs of dots that we measured in prints of 14 different fisher feet suggests the probability of encountering a similar pattern in the print of a different foot by chance alone is ≤ 0.35ⁿ, where n = the number of dot pairs examined. This predicts a 0.00003 probability that a match made using 10 pairs of dots is false. Dot spacing from footprints made by the same foot was remarkably consistent (sN = 0.02 mm, n = 24 dot pairs). Combined, these results suggest dot patterns in fisher footprints were unique to individuals and were consistently reproduced on track plates. Empirical tests of matching accuracy were best with good-quality prints, highlighting the need for experience judging when prints are usable. We applied print matching to fisher detections collected on track plates deployed at 500-m intervals along 10 3.5-km transects in the Adirondack region of New York, USA. Of 62 fisher detections, 85% had ≥ 1 footprint of suitable quality to compare with other high-quality prints. We found that most detections from a transect were from the same individual fisher suggesting nonindependence of detections. Thus, data from traditional track-plate deployments over small time periods cannot be used as a measure of abundance, but new study designs using print matching could obtain robust noninvasive, mark—recapture density estimates.     

La reproduction saisonniére chez les isopodes terrestres: Contrôle photopériodique et neurohumoral

Summary

Seasonal reproduction in terrestrial Isopods is regulated by a neurohormone (VIH) synthesized in neurosecretory cells located in the protocerebrum median part. VIH restrains vitellogenin synthesis by the fat body. This inhibitory system is driven by the photoperiodic variations. Long days introduce a decrease in synthesis and—or—VIH release, allowing the oocytes to carry out the last vitellogenic phase. Other signals (mating, eggs in brood-pouch) tune the activity of the inhibitory system. Various aspects of photoperiodic and neurohormonal controls of reproduction are discussed: geographical variability and genetic determinism of the photoperiodic response; chemical nature, specificity and VIH mode of action; male physiology and VE synthesis, modalities of VIH synthesis and release.     

Invaders or endemics? Molecular phylogenetics,biogeography and systematics of Dreissena in the Balkans

1. Zebra mussels and their relatives (Dreissena spp.) have been well studied in eastern, central and western Europe as well as in North America, because of their invasiveness and economic importance. Much less is known about the biology and biogeography of indigenous (endemic) taxa of Dreissena, in the Balkans. A better knowledge of these taxa could help us (i) understand the factors triggering invasiveness in some taxa and (ii) identify other potentially invasive species. 2. Using a phylogenetic approach (2108 base pairs from three gene fragments), Dreissena spp. from natural lakes in the Balkans were studied to test whether invasive Dreissena populations occur in such lakes on the Balkan Peninsula, whether Dreissena stankovici really is endemic to the ancient Lakes Ohrid and Prespa, and to infer the phylogenetic and biogeographical relationships of Balkan dreissenids. 3. No invasive species of Dreissena, such as Dreissena polymorpha, were recorded. The supposedly ‘endemic’D. stankovici is not restricted to the ancient Lakes Ohrid and Prespa, but is the most widespread and dominant species in the west‐central Balkans. Its southern sister taxon, Dreissena blanci, occurs sympatrically with D. stankovici in Lakes Prespa, Mikri Prespa and Pamvotis. Both species are classified into the subgenus Dreissena (Carinodreissena) of which the subgenus Dreissena (Dreissena) (which includes the invasive D. polymorpha) is the sister taxon. Dreissena blanci and D. stankovici are considered to represent distinct species. 4. On a global scale, the two Balkan species have small ranges. An early Pliocene time frame for the divergence of the subgenera Carinodreissena and Dreissena is discussed, as well as potential colonization routes of the most recent common ancestor of Carinodreissena spp. 5. The ambiguous taxonomy of dreissenids in the Balkans is addressed. As nominal D. blanci presbensis from Lake Prespa has nomenclatural priority over D. stankovici, the correct name for the latter taxon should be Dreissena presbensis.     

小麦条锈菌胞间菌丝的超微结构和细胞化学研究

本文应用电镜技术和细胞化学方法,对小麦条锈菌寄主胞间菌丝的超微结构进行了研究。观察发现:小麦条锈菌胞间菌丝有两种类型,即具隔膜菌丝和无隔膜菌丝。在胞间菌丝中,多核现象极为普遍。常规染色和细胞化学染色结果表明:胞间菌丝的细胞壁由四层组成,隔膜由三层构成,细胞壁的内层与隔膜的外层相连,细胞壁和隔膜中含有蛋白质和多糖物质。隔膜的发育可分三个阶段,即隔膜突的形成,隔膜壁的延伸和隔膜孔结构的形成。本研究中还观察到胞间菌丝间的融合现象。本文的研究结果表明:小麦条锈菌胞间菌丝的一些特征显然不同于其它锈菌。     

The Mechanism of Melanocyte Dendrite Formation: The Impact of Differentiating Keratinocytes

In human epidermis one dendritic melanocyte interacts with about 36 keratinocytes and supplies them with melanin. In contrast to the vivo situation melanocytes in culture are far less dendritic. In the present study different culture systems were tested in order to observe the mechanism of melanocyte dendrite formation. In particular, we focused on the role of keratinocytes in this process. Time lapse studies revealed that only differentiated keratinocytes enhance melanocyte dendricity. Differentiated keratinocytes form connected cell sheets, which attach to part of the melanocyte plasma membrane. By contraction and retraction of keratinocyte units, new dendrites were drawn out from the melanocytes. Melanocytes remain passive during this process, which is indicated by the observation that sometimes extended dendrites could not withstand the tension and shear.     

The 1974 biological survey of Nyumba ya Mungu reservoir, Tanzania Concluding remarks

Hydrobiological events in Nyumba ya Mungu reservoir, a recent man-made lake in Tanzania, are reviewed in the light of those described for larger impoundments in other parts of Africa. An initial phase of rapid eutrophication and of high fish production has been replaced by a slower stabilization phase. At present the inflowing rivers supply a nutrient rich water and the level of primary production remains high. In spite of the risk of an encroachment of Typha domingensis across the shallow end and events associated with overfishing, the lake retains most of the essential requirements to continue as a useful tilapia fishery. The introduction of new fish into the reservoir, to fill gaps in the trophic structure of the fish community is not recommended.     

Flies on thistles: support for synchronous speciation?

Synchronous speciation of hosts and herbivorous insects predicts a congruent topology of host and insect phylogenies and similar evolutionary ages of host and insect taxa. To test these predictions for the specialized herbivorous fly genus Urophora (Diptera: Tephritidae), we used three different approaches. (i) We generated a phylogenetic tree of 11 European Urophora species from allozyme data and constructed a phylogeny of their hosts from published sources. Superimposing the Urophora tree on the host-plant tree we found no evidence for general congruence. (ii) We correlated genetic distances (Nei distances) of the host plants vs. the genetic distances of associated Urophora species. Overall, the relationship was not positive. Nevertheless, for some pairs of Urophora species and host plants genetic distances were in the same order of magnitude. (iii) We collected allozyme data for pairs of thistle taxa and pairs of herbivores on thistles together with independent time estimates. With these data we calibrated a molecular clock. There was a non-linear relationship between phylogenetic age and genetic distance, rendering the dating of deep events in thistle–insect evolution difficult. Nevertheless the derived molecular clock showed that the split of insect taxa lagged behind the split of hosts.  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 84 , 775–783.     

Biochemistry and Physiology of Alligator Metabolism in vivo

The metabolic rate of the alligator is a direct function ofthe volume of blood flowing through the capillaries/unit time/unitweight, which in turn, is determined by the heart rate and thestroke volume. For an animal with such a low metabolic rate,the heart rate is relatively rapid, in part because the heartis relatively small. Metabolic rate of the smallest alligatorexceeds that of the largest by about 25 to 1. Lowering the temperaturedecreases blood flow without decreasing the oxygen and substrateextracted from each liter. Metabolic rate (oxygen consumption)is expressed by the equation M.R. = F(A – V), where Fis the blood flow and A – V is the oxygen A – Vdifference. For the catabolism of compounds in which oxygenis not directly involved, the expression is V = KF[S], whereV is the velocity of the reaction, F is the blood flow, and[S] is the concentration of the substrate. K is a constant,differing for each catabolite, but having about the same valuefor any one catabolite in vertebrates, cold- or warm-blooded.Enzyme kinetics in a live vertebrate has little in common withthat determined in the usual experiments in vitro. A 70 kg alligatorat 28°C has a blood flow of 0.2 liters/min, a stroke volumeof 6.3 ml, a circulation time of 27 min, and it produces about72 kcal/day, or about 4% of that of a man of equal size.