Vegetation Zonation in a Neotropical Montane Forest: Environment,Disturbance and Ecotones

Gradual changes in vegetation structure and composition are expected to result from continuous environmental change with increasing elevation on mountains. Hence, the occurrence of abrupt or discrete ecotones in vegetation patterns is intriguing and may suggest key controls on community assembly in montane forests. We review tropical montane forest (TMF) zonation patterns focusing on a case study from the Cordillera Central, Hispaniola where a striking discontinuity in forest composition occurs consistently at ～2000 m elevation, with cloud forest below and monodominant pine forest above. We propose that a discontinuity in climatic factors (temperature, humidity) associated with the trade‐wind inversion (TWI) is the primary cause of this and other ecotones in TMFs that occur at a generally consistent elevation. Low humidity, fires and occasional frost above the TWI favor pine over cloud forest species. Fires in the high‐elevation pine forest have repeatedly burned down to the ecotone boundary and extinguished in the cloud forest owing to its low flammability, reinforced by high humidity, cloud immersion and epiphytic bryophyte cover. Small‐scale fire patterns along the ecotone are influenced by topography and where forest structure is impacted by hurricanes and landslides. Analogous patterns are observed worldwide in other TMFs where the TWI is important, high‐elevation fires are frequent, and the flora contains frost‐tolerant species (often of temperate lineage). The response of this and other TMFs to anthropogenic climate change is highly uncertain owing to potentially countervailing effects of different climatic phenomena, including warming temperatures and decreased frost; changes in the TWI, high‐elevation drought or cloudiness; and increased frequency or intensity of hurricanes and El Niño‐Southern Oscillation events.     

北京地区西花蓟马田间种群的抗药性监测

采用叶管药膜法在室内测定了2009—2010年北京海淀地区和昌平地区西花蓟马Frankliniella occidentalis(Pergande)田间种群对12种杀虫剂敏感性的年度变化。结果表明,北京昌平和海淀地区的西花蓟马对多数的药剂仍处于敏感状态,但对氯氟氰菊酯已产生近40倍的抗性,昌平种群对多杀菌素具有产生低水平抗性的趋势(抗性倍数为4倍)。推荐药剂包括多杀菌素、阿维菌素、甲氨基阿维菌素苯甲酸盐(甲维盐)、毒死蜱和溴虫腈,应注意与其它药剂的轮换使用,灭多威对西花蓟马的毒力水平最低,不推荐使用。     

Construction of an efficient amylolytic industrial yeast strain containing DNA exclusively derived from yeast

An amylolytic industrial yeast strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae containing the Schwanniomyces occidentalis SWA2 amylase gene was generated. The new strain contains DNA derived exclusively from yeast and expresses a high starch hydrolyzing activity. Yeast transformation was carried out by an integrative process targeted to a dispensable upstream region of the ILV2 locus, which determines sulfometuron resistance. The SWA2 enzyme was constitutively expressed under the ADH1 promoter. The growth, substrate utilization and fermentative capacity of this organism are described.     

中国辽宁省始新世水杉的研究

以辽宁省抚顺早始新世古城子组和计军屯组的水杉（Ｍｅｔａｓｅｑｕｏｉａ Ｍｉｋｉ）为研究对象,对其雌球果、雄球花枝和营养枝叶的形态、叶表皮和雄球花苞片表皮的结构进行了研究分析,并与Ｍ．ｇｌｙｐｔｏｓｔｒｏｂｏｉｄｅｓ,Ｍ．ｏｃｃｉｄｅｎｔａｌｉｓ,Ｍ．ｍｉｌｌｅｒｉ的性状进行比较,认定其属于Ｍ．ｏｃｃｉｄｅｎｔａｌｉｓ。并没得Ｍ．ｇｌｙｐｔｏｓｔｒｏｂｏｉｄｅｓ和抚顺水杉叶下表皮气孔分布区内的平均气     

Effects of competition on lifetime estimates of inbreeding depression in the outcrossing plant Crepis sancta (Asteraceae)

Inbreeding depression was studied in two populations of a Mediterranean allogamous colonizing species Crepis sancta. In order to test the hypothesis that the magnitude of inbreeding depression can be modified by successional processes, the growth and survival of individuals resulting from two generations of inbred crosses including selfing were analysed with interspecific competition (in natural vegetation) and without interspecific competition (by removing natural vegetation). Inbreeding depression was weak for seed production. Germination was little affected by inbreeding but mortality and the number of capitula showed inbreeding depression, especially in the presence of competition. This suggests that inbreeding depression is very sensitive to variations in environmental conditions such as interspecific competition. As a consequence, inbreeding depression cannot be considered as constant in natural conditions.     

Behavioral asymmetries in a moving hybrid zone

Three narrow hybrid zones exist between hermit and Townsend'swarblers in the Pacific Northwest. Character transition curvessuggest that these zones are moving and that Townsend's warblershave a selective advantage over hermit warblers. This studycompares year-to-year return rates, male persistence on territories,pairing success, pairing patterns, and territory quality of hermitand Townsend's warblers and their hybrids in the WashingtonCascades hybrid zone. There was no difference in the year-to-yearreturn rate between the parental species. Townsend's males weremore successful in maintaining territories and attracting matesthan hermit males. Among mated pairs there were few hermit malescompared to females, independently supporting the inferiorityof hermit males in competition for territories or female mate choicefor Townsend's-like males. I found no difference in the qualityof hermit and Townsend's territories; however, in poor habitatsTownsend's males were more successful at attracting mates, suggestingfemale preference for Townsend's-like males. In high-qualityhabitats, there was no difference in pairing success betweenthe parental species. The fitness of hybrids relative to parentalsaffects the width and movement of the zone. Hybrids were intermediatein their ability to maintain territories and to attract mates, whichshould increase the width of the zone and accelerate its movement.Fewer hybrid males returned to from one year to the next, andamong mated pairs there were few hybrid females relative tomales, suggesting hybrid inferiority, which should narrow thehybrid zone and slow its movement.     

The spread of the western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande)

Abstract 1 Since the late 1970s, the western flower thrips has spread from its original distribution in western North America to become a major worldwide crop pest. 2 A wide range of data sources have been used to map the original distribution in the U.S.A. and Canada, and the progress of the spread in the U.S.A., Canada, Europe, northern Africa and Australia. 3 The possible reasons for the start of the spread are discussed. The most likely reason is that intensive insecticide use in horticulture in the 1970s and 1980s selected an insecticide resistant strain or strains. These then established in glasshouses across North America and spread from there to Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. 4 The international spread of the western flower thrips occurred predominantly by the movement of horticultural material, such as cuttings, seedlings and potted plants. Within Europe, an outward spread from the original outbreak in the Netherlands is discernible. The speed of spread was 229 ± 20 km/year. 5 The spread has not been restricted to glasshouses. The western flower thrips has established outdoors in areas with milder winters; for example, across the southern U.S.A., southern Europe and Australia. It also overwinters in some regions with colder winters. 6 Polyphagous phytophagous thrips have many factors predisposing them to become worldwide crop pests, particularly in glasshouses. Some other species that might spread in a similar way to the western flower thrips are listed.     

Cadmium hyperaccumulation protects Thlaspi caerulescens from leaf feeding damage by thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis)

Metal hyperaccumulation has been proposed as a plant defensive strategy. Here, we investigated whether cadmium (Cd) hyperaccumulation protected Thlaspi caerulescens from leaf feeding damage by thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis). Two ecotypes differing in Cd accumulation, Ganges (high) and Prayon (low), were grown in compost amended with 0-1000 mg Cd kg(-1) in two experiments under glasshouse conditions. F2 and F3 plants from the Prayon x Ganges crosses were grown with 5 mg Cd kg(-1). Plants were naturally colonized by thrips and the leaf feeding damage index (LFDI) was assessed. The LFDI decreased significantly with increasing Cd in both ecotypes, and correlated with shoot Cd concentration in a log-linear fashion. Prayon was more attractive to thrips than Ganges, but the ecotypic difference in the LFDI was largely accounted for by the shoot Cd concentration. In the F2 and F3 plants, the LFDI correlated significantly and negatively with shoot Cd, but not with shoot zinc (Zn) or sulphur (S) concentrations. We conclude that Cd hyperaccumulation deters thrips from feeding on T. caerulescens leaves, which may offer an adaptive benefit to the plant.     

Quantifying the direct fire threat to a critically endangered arboreal marsupial using biophysical,mechanistic modelling

Historically unprecedented areas of forest habitat have been impacted by fire, as climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances drive increases in fire burned area and severity. Although 88% of Australia's [threatened] land mammals are threatened by inappropriate fire regimes, calculations of animal mortality resulting from specific events have been impeded by knowledge gaps relating to both the direct (first-order) and long-term (second-order) effects of fire on different species. This study addresses the need for a quantified, mechanistic understanding of first-order effects, presenting an extension of the Fire Research and Modelling Environment (FRaME) to allow prediction of species-specific mortality. FRaME is demonstrated and tested here by replicating an incident in which a prescribed burn caused 77% mortality of a population of the critically endangered ngwayir (Pseudocheirus occidentalis, Pseudocheiridae). FRaME correctly predicted heavy mortality (62–79%) arising from partial and full-thickness burns and asphyxiation due to burns in the respiratory tract. Mortality varied with animal fire-avoidance strategies (p < 0.001) and the thickness of tree hollow walls (r = −0.95, p < 0.001). Although management guidelines specified low intensity fire, mortality had no significant relationship with Byram intensity and larger flames due to ‘torching’ were most frequent when fire spread was slowest. FRaME modelling predicted that individuals would be impacted by temperatures exceeding 500°C for several minutes. Fire management that is premised on discredited notions of fire behaviour and overly simple models can lead to catastrophic management outcomes such as those documented here. FRaME addresses this need by providing a platform to account for heterogeneous fire behaviour as well as animal behaviour and habitat quality, calculating fire risk to fauna and guiding management that maximizes safe habitat.     

Annual climate in Mexican Spotted Owl habitat in the Sacramento Mountains,New Mexico: implications for responding to climate change

Global climate change presents a growing conservation threat, but our understanding of the effects of climate change remains limited for most species. We evaluated the annual climate cycle for threatened Mexican Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis lucida) in high-elevation mixed-conifer forests in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico from 2005 to 2010. We used data from a network of weather stations in Mexican Spotted Owl habitat to describe annual temperature cycles, and precipitation data from a National Weather Service weather station to describe the annual precipitation cycle. We coupled these data with equations from the literature to estimate annual cycles in resting metabolic rate and evaporative water loss, and evaluated the potential effects of a warming climate on these parameters. Annual weather was characterized by cold, dry winters, warmer and dry springs, warm and wet summers, and cool and relatively wet falls. Ambient temperature never exceeded the upper critical temperature for Mexican Spotted Owls (35.2°C), but > 90% of 663,422 hourly temperature observations were below the lower critical temperature (18.2°C). Thus, heat stress was not predicted to occur, but owls likely expended energy on thermoregulation at low temperatures. Resting energy use peaked during winter (December–February) and was lowest when owls would be feeding young (May–August). In contrast, evaporative water loss peaked from June to August, when precipitation also peaked. Mexican Spotted Owls generally appeared well-adapted to the current climate cycle in our montane study area, but late winter (February–March) may be a critical period in terms of energy requirements, and late spring (April–May) may be critical in terms of water relationships. Predicted changes in temperature through 2099 would result in reductions in predicted energy use by Mexican Spotted Owls, but increases in predicted water use. Water relationships may become increasingly important for Mexican Spotted Owls in the face of climate change, especially in warmer and drier areas. In forested areas, retaining patches of older forest with high canopy cover in cool, mesic sites may provide continued benefits to Mexican Spotted Owls under climate change.