The role of animals in the colonization of the Krakatau Islands by fig trees (Ficus species)

Abstract. Since the biologically extirpating eruption of Krakatau (Sunda Strait) in 1883, Rakata (Krakatau's remnant) and two closely adjacent islands, Sertung and Panjang, have been colonized by over 200 species of vascular plants. They now carry species-poor mixed tropical forest, including some twenty-three species of Ficus . Data on the sequence of colonization over the last century by twenty-four Ficus species, twenty-three species of volant frugivores, and by agaonid fig-wasps, presumably from the large islands of Java and Sumatra, each some 44 km distant, are summarized. The potential of the volant frugivores as dispersers of fig seeds is assessed, the pollination problems involved in the colonization of islands by figs are reviewed and patterns of colonization by fig species and by their bird and bat dispersers are identified and discussed.
In 1930 a new island, Anak Krakatau, emerged from Krakatau's submerged caldera. This active volcano suffered a self-sterilizing eruption in 1952/1953 and has been colonized, under considerable constraint from its own volcanic activity, probably largely from the (selected) species pool present on Rakata, Sertung and Panjang, 2–4 km away. Its vegetation is at an earlier successional stage (grassland and Casuarina woodland) than that of the three older islands, and in 1992 the Casuarina woodland was in an early stage of transition to mixed forest. The colonization of Anak Krakatau by Ficus species, agaonid wasps and volant frugivores over a critical decade (1982–92) is reviewed, including preliminary assessments of the effects of pollinator limitation on four pioneer fig species and indications of a possible effect of the presence of avian raptors, particularly the peregrine falcon, on fig colonization and forest diversification.     

外源IBA对无花果扦插苗生理特性及内源IAA生物合成途径的影响

【目的】随着区域栽培环境的变化,扦插苗生根难问题逐渐凸显。探讨适宜浓度吲哚丁酸(IBA）对无花果插穗生根萌芽、抗氧化性及生长素生物合成途径相关基因表达的影响,可为其应用于无花果的育种、繁殖、推广和种植提供理论依据。【方法】以‘波姬红’无花果品种硬枝为插穗,分析不同质量浓度IBA(0,30,45,60,90 mg/L)处理对插穗生根性状、抗氧化特性的影响,并对45 mg/L IBA处理及对照组的扦插枝条中段的腋芽进行转录组分析。【结果】（1）无花果插穗萌芽率和生根率在45 mg/L IBA处理时达到最大值,并与其他处理和对照差异显著。（2）随着IBA浓度的增加,插穗SOD和CAT活性先下降后上升,并均在45,60 mg/LIBA处理下显著低于对照,而POD活性无显著变化;各浓度IBA处理插穗中MDA和H2O2含量均显著高于对照,且45 mg/L IBA处理MDA显著低于其余处理。（3）45 mg/L IBA处理及对照组中共存在6 879个差异表达基因,KEGG富集显示有10个差异途径,GO富集分析表明生物学过程和分子功能为主要的生物学途径;与CAT、SOD相关的基因集中富集在过氧化物酶体通路上,POD相关基因则富集在苯丙烷生物合成通路中;IAA生物合成途径中代谢相关基因FcGH3显著上调表达,与信号转导相关基因FcAUX1、FcARG7和FcARF等显著下调表达。【结论】外源IBA处理会导致无花果插穗抗氧化酶和IAA生物合成途径中相关基因表达的差异变化,增强插穗抗逆性,促进插穗生根、萌芽、成苗,并以外源45 mg/L IBA促进效果最好。     

Phenology of Ficus variegata in a seasonal wet tropical forest at Cape Tribulation, Australia

Abstract. We studied the phenology of 198 mature trees of the dioecious fig Ficus variegata Blume (Moraceae) in a seasonally wet tropical rain forest at Cape Tribulation, Australia, from March 1988 to February 1993. Leaf production was highly seasonal and correlated with rainfall. Trees were annually deciduous, with a pronounced leaf drop and a pulse of new growth during the August-September drought. At the population level, figs were produced continually throughout the study but there were pronounced annual cycles in fig abundance. Figs were least abundant during the early dry period (June-September) and most abundant from the late dry season (October-November) through the wet season (December-April). The annual peak in reproduction actually reflected two staggered peaks arising from gender differences in fig phenology. In this dioecious species, female and male trees initiated their maximal fig crops at different times and flowering was to some extent synchronized within sexes. Fig production in the female (seed-producing) trees was typically confined to the wet season. Male (wasp-producing) trees were less synchronized than female trees but reached a peak level of fig production in the months prior to the onset of female fig production. Male trees were also more likely to produce figs continually. Asynchrony among male fig crops during the dry season could maintain the pollinator population under adverse conditions through within- and among-tree wasp transfers.     

Ficus religiosa L.–the tree-splitter

In ground trees, which are devoid of adventive aerial roots, supplementary conductive elements develop in trunk corrugations, forming distinct units with the large side branches above and their roots below. Unlike most epiphytic jungle figs, which ring the stems of dicotyledonous support trees from the outside, the epiphytic bushes of F. religiosa are not true stranglers. Their roots penetrate inside the stem of the support, eventually splitting it from within. The various factors indispensable for the penetration of the roots are discussed. In Nepal and Thailand, because the survival of F. religiosa trees for hundreds of years, there is an accumulation of very old trees, whose supports have by now disappeared or still persist in the form of broken and dead blocks of wood between the stout fig roots. The characteristics of the tree at the various stages of its development support the hypothesis that F. religiosa must have originated under the specific climatic conditions prevailing in he monsoon tropophilous forests (i_x. seasonal forests, hygrophilous in summer and xerophilous in winter) at the foot of the Himalayas.     

Effects of within-tree flowering asynchrony on the dynamics of seed and wasp production in an Australian fig species

Abstract. Within-tree flowering asynchrony in figs, which may allow pollinating wasps to avoid the risks of dispersal in inclement conditions, has been predicted as a trait to be favoured in highly seasonal environments. Comparisons of such asynchronous figs with better-known species that exhibit within-tree synchrony might also be expected to reveal differences in the outcome of the conflict between pollinator wasp and fig seed production, and the dynamics of non-pollinating wasps. This paper presents data on wasp and seed production in Ficus rubiginosa Desf. ex Vent., an asynchronous species that occurs in the highly seasonal environment of south-eastern Australia. In contrast to recent studies of figs showing within-tree flowering synchrony, syconium size was the main determinant of wasp and seed production in F. rubiginosa . Non-pollinating wasps were highly prevalent but occurred in low numbers and appeared to have relatively little impact on pollinator wasp or fig seed production. Data on flower positions revealed that non-pollinating wasps occurred almost exclusively in the outer layer of flowers, while pollinators were more abundant in the inner flower layer, which may represent an area of enemy-free space. The ratio of seeds to female pollinator wasps, an index of fig sex allocation, was more seed-biased than in several New World fig species that exhibit within-tree synchrony. This last result supports the idea that within-tree fruiting asynchrony permits a degree of self-pollination in F. rubiginosa .     

Site variation in reproductive synchrony in three neotropical figs

Abstract. To investigate the persistence of figs and their short-lived pollinators in highly seasonal environments and in small populations, three native figs were studied near the edge of their range in Sonora, Mexico. The reproductive phenologies of Ficus insipida (Willd.) and F. petiolaris (H.B.K.) were contrasted between a drier site with small populations and a wetter site with large populations. In addition, F. pertusa (L.) phenology was censused in the wetter site and compared with findings from Central America. Trees from smaller populations in the drier site produced less synchronous crops. Individuals within populations became reproductively synchronized at the population level but rapidly attained asynchrony in the drier site because of a breakdown in within-tree crop synchrony. Sexual-phase overlap occurred in all species and sites. Intraspecific variation in reproductive phenology may explain the persistence of figs and fig wasps in highly seasonal environments and small populations.     

东北红豆杉—无花果复合种植对两种植物生长和土壤酶活性影响

设计了室内控制条件下的东北红豆杉和无花果的复合种植实验，并与单一种植东北红豆杉和单一种植无花果的模式进行了比较。分别考察了上述3种模式下，东北红豆杉和无花果的生长指标、光合作用以及土壤酶活性差异。结果表明：①在生长量方面，复合种植3个月的东北红豆杉的株高增长率为152.6%，是单一种植的东北红豆杉株高增长率的1.56倍；复合种植3个月的无花果，其当年生枝的生长量为68.4 cm³，比单一种植的无花果高36.3%。②在光合作用指标方面，在800 μmol·m^-2·s^-1光照强度下，复合种植3个月的东北红豆杉和无花果净光合速率与相应的单一种植相比，分别提高了19.0%和5.3%。③在土壤酶活性方面，在7月份，复合种植模式下的土壤蔗糖酶、脲酶和酸性磷酸酶活性比单一种植东北红豆杉土壤相应酶活性分别提高51.6%、58.5%和50.8%，比单一种植物无花果土壤相应酶活性分别提高85.5%、47.5%和71.9%；土壤多酚氧化酶活性在不同种植模式之间无显著差异（P>0.01）。综上，东北红豆杉-无花果复合种植可以提高土壤蔗糖酶、脲酶和酸性磷酸酶活性，对两种植物生长均具有促进作用。上述结果可为在生产实践上进行东北红豆杉-无花果复合经营提供参考。     

Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for Liporrhopalum tentacularis Grandi,the pollinator fig wasp of Ficus montana Blume

Microsatellite markers for the pollinator fig wasp Liporrhopalum tentacularis were developed using genomic libraries enriched for di‐, tri‐ and tetranucleotide repeats. A subset of 31 positive clones was sequenced and primers were designed. Eleven primer pairs produced polymorphic amplification products in L. tentacularis. Eight markers gave unambiguously scorable patterns and were further characterized on 29 individuals collected from different fruits of the dioecious host fig Ficus montana in Indonesia. Three to 19 alleles per locus were detected in this set of samples. The observed heterozygosity ranged between 0.10 and 0.55.