Spatial separation of fishes captured in passive gear in a turbid prairie lake

Synopsis Spatial separation of fishes in the littoral zone of a turbid prairie lake (Clear Lake, Iowa) was assessed with gill nets and fyke nets. Catch per unit of effort was used to determine differences among habitat types, sampling times within a 24 h period, and sampling months. Four of 10 species examined were significantly more numerous in one of the three habitats — nonvegetated, vegetated, or gravel-rock substrate. Black bullhead (Ictalurus melas) and bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus) were most abundant in vegetated areas, yellow bass (Morone mississippiensis) in gravel-rock areas, and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) in both non-vegetated and gravel-rock areas. Temporal patterns in habitat use were indicated for these four species, as well as yellow perch (Perca flavescens), white bass (Morone chrysops), common carp (Cyprinus carpio), walleye (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum), black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus), white sucker (Catostomus commersoni). Journal Paper No. J-11039 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. Project No. 2345. Financed by the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Water Research and Technology and Iowa State University.     

A new genus and two new species of gobiid fishes (Perciformes) from the Chagos Archipelago,Central Indian Ocean

Synopsis A recent (1979) expedition to the Chagos Archipelago resulted in the collection of about 40 new taxa of fishes. A new genus,Trimmatom, and two new species,T. nanus andT. offucius, are described here. The new genus is characterized by having all pelvic-fin rays simple (unbranched), a scaleless body, no head pores, a wide gill opening extending anteroventrally to below the eye, and hypurals 1 and 2 fused to the complex formed by the fusion of the ural centrum and hypurals 3 and 4.T. nanuss andT. offucius are differentiated on the basis of fin ray counts and colour pattern.T. nanus is the smallest vertebrate yet to be described. Mature females with ovaries full of eggs are 8–10 mm in standard length.     

Crucial factors determining the spatio-temporal distribution patterns of threeAthalia sawflies feeding on common cruciferous plants

Three Athalia sawflies, A. japonica, A. rosae and A. infumata, feeding on cruciferous plants, coexist in Japan. However, it is not known what ecological strategies they use and what environmental factors are crucial to such strategies. I attempted to explain these questions by examining the relationship between the spatio-temporal distribution patterns of three Athalia sawflies and their habitats in three districts (Lowland, Intermediate and Mountain). The three sawflies have different spatio-temporal distribution patterns, though they usually used common cruciferous plants. A. japonica was abundant in spring and autumn but disappeared during summer in all the districts. In the Lowland, populations of A. rosae and A. infumata, like that of A. japonica, crashed in summer. However A. rosae occurred mainly in summer in the Intermediate and Mountain. Although A. infumata occurred in the same seasons as A. rosae in all districts, population levels of A. infumata were always lower than those of A. rosae. The crucial factors controlling their population patterns were the availability of host plants and temperature. Population crashes of A. rosae and A. infumata were due to food depletion, and those of A. japonica were due to heat stress. On the other hand, their population patterns may be interpreted as phenological synchronization with their original host plants, though they all existed on common cruciferous plants. The three sawflies may have evolved different strategies to escape from unfavorable habitat conditions. Such strategies are speculated to be summer diapause in A. japonica, long distance migration in A. rosae, and local dispersal in A. infumata.     

The adaptive significance of insect gall distribution: survivorship of species in xeric and mesic habitats

Summary We studied the relationship between habitat moisture and gall-forming insect populations. Population sizes for most galling taxa were significantly larger in xeric habitats compared with mesic habitats. Our results indicate that the differential abundance of galling insects in these habitats is due primarily to differential mortality and survivorship. Mortality factors acting upon eight insect galling species (belonging to eight genera and four families) were measured on six species (five genera and five families) of host plants. Survival was significantly higher for galling populations inhabiting xeric habitats compared with mesic habitats. Parasitism was higher in mesic habitats in seven of eight habitats and fungus-induced diseases were higher in five of seven habitats. Mortality due to predation and other (unknown) factors showed no clear trends. Overall, there was a tendency towards lower mortality and consequently higher survival for populations inhabiting xeric habitats. We hypothesize that reduced mortality caused by natural enemies and endophytic fungi has contributed to the speciation and radiation of galling insects in apparently harsh environments.     

Polyploid cytotypes and their habitat preferences inLycopodium clavatum

Morphological, cytological and ecological observations were made onLycopodium clavatum. Among 121 individuals from 26 populations studied 31 were of the diploid cytotype with 2n=68, 45 were of the triploid cytotype with 2n=102 and 45 were of the tetraploid cytotype with 2n=136. The populations were divided into three types: (1) the sole type—characterized by a single cytotype occupying an entire population, (2) the mixed type A—characterized by two or three cytotypes occupying together the same population, but each cytotype choosing different habitats, (3) the mixed type B—characterized by two or three cytotypes occupying together the same population and sharing the same habitat with each other. The mixed type B populations were found in the places of the early phase of secondary succession in a plant community. In the sole type and the mixed type A, the habitat preference for each cytotype was described as follows: the habitat for the diploid was in humid and shady places, that for the tetraploid was in open and sunny, unstable places, and that for the triploid was intermediate between the other two. Each cytotype can progress towards occupying their optimum habitat successively from the mixed type B population to the mixed type A population and finally reaching the sole type population.     

Lectinomics I. Relevance of exogenous plant lectins in biomedical diagnostics

This review focuses on utilization of plant lectins as medical diagnostic reagents and tools. The lectin-related diagnostic is aimed at detection of several diseases connected to alteration of the glycosylation profiles of cells and at identification of microbial and viral agents in clinical microbiology. Certain lectins, proposed for or used as diagnostic tools could even recognize those cellular determinants, which are not detected by available antibodies. Broad information is presented on the lectinomics field, illustrating that lectin diagnostics might become practical alternative to antibody-based diagnostic products. In addition, the rising trend of lectin utilization in biomedical diagnostics might initiate a development of innovative methods based on better analytical technologies. Lectin microarray, a rapid and simple methodology, can be viewed as an example for such initiative. This technology could provide simple and efficient screening tools for analysis of glycosylation patterns in biological samples (cellular extracts, tissues and the whole cells), allowing thus personalized detection of changes associated with carbohydrate-related diseases.     

Habitat ecological integrity and environmental impact assessment of anthropic activities: A GIS-based fuzzy logic model for sites of high biodiversity conservation interest

In literature, an effective method enabling the classification, based on a single indicator, of habitats that need a priority protection intervention has not been identified yet. Moreover, the excessive number of landscape metrics, used to quantify integrity of habitats, can cause confusion, often providing redundant and inconsistent results.The aim of this work is to develop a method for evaluating the ecological vulnerability of the habitats in sites of high biodiversity conservation interest. In the first phase, we selected and analyzed, by using principal component analysis (PCA) and fuzzy logic, the landscape metrics, in order to obtain the map of the intrinsic ecological vulnerability index. In the second step, the result of this intrinsic vulnerability was connected, through another fuzzy model, to anthropogenic impacts, obtaining the integrated ecological vulnerability index. We developed specific spatial indicators (landscape metrics), which can examine the mutual position and morphology of the habitats present, along with indicators of human pressure, related to the type and intensity of use of the anthropic territory, with reference to the habitat itself as well as to the areas immediately adjacent. The developed fuzzy models are innovative, compared to the current ecological studies, and examine landscape metrics as well as the impact of human activities.The case study is the “Val Basento-Ferrandina Scalo” Site of Community Importance, Ferrandina-SCI (Basilicata Region, Southern Italy). The results allowed us to build a rank of the habitats based on their intrinsic and integrated ecological vulnerability. Moreover, the results show that, in the Ferrandina-SCI, the most important source of concern is not human activities, but rather the inherent risk of ecological fragility caused by geographical and landscape features of the different patches of habitats themselves.This model aims to be a tool for decision support in sustainable landscape management. It is easy to use and to apply on other regions, although it should always be accompanied by a sensitivity analysis to reduce the subjectivity.     

Snap,crackle, and pop: Acoustic-based model estimation of snapping shrimp populations in healthy and degraded hard-bottom habitats

Human use of the ocean and its ecosystems continues to degrade coastal habitats around the world. Assessing anthropogenic impacts on these environments can be costly and manpower-intensive; thus, the development of rapid, remote techniques to assess habitat quality is important. We employed autonomous hydrophone receivers to record the soundscapes of healthy, sponge-rich hard-bottom habitat in Florida Bay, Florida (USA) and hard-bottom areas impacted by sponge die-offs. We also recorded sounds emanating from individual sponges of three species that were isolated in underwater sound booths, and then enumerated the invertebrates (mostly snapping shrimp) dwelling within the canals of each sponge. From these recordings, a modified cylindrical sound propagation model was used to estimate distances to individual snapping shrimp snaps. Using the program Distance, we estimated snapping shrimp population density and abundance within both habitat types. More snapping shrimp snaps per unit time were recorded in healthy hard-bottom areas as compared to degraded hard-bottom areas. In addition, the average distance to a snap source was greater within degraded hard-bottom areas than within healthy hard-bottom areas. As a consequence, the estimated density and abundance of snapping shrimp were one to two orders of magnitude greater within healthy habitat than within degraded habitat. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using acoustic sampling and modeling to rapidly assess populations of soniferous benthic indicator species, whose vocalizations may yield indirect estimates of habitat quality.     

Two human cases associated with forensic insects in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, we are reporting two cases of natural death. The two bodies showed different types of habitat, insect colonization and decomposition stage. The first case was about the body of a 65-years-old male, with mummification of the clothed body was found in an outdoor habitat. Different life stages of Dermestes maculatus DeGeer (Coleoptera: Dermestidae were gathered from the cadaver, and due to the advanced degree of decomposition, the PMImin was estimated to be 3 months. The second body belonging to a 40-years-old male, was found in a semi-closed apartment (indoor habitat), and the body was at the end of the bloated decomposition stage. In this case, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae) larvae were collected, and the PMImin was estimated to be 4 days. The limited insect activity for the two bodies caused by the advanced decomposition stage in the first case and indoor environment in the second. Average temperatures of (23.3 ± 1.6) °C for the first body and (27.5 ± 1.7) °C2 for the second body. Habitat was the key factor to attract insects to the two cadavers. This study stressed that, for accurate estimates of time since death, knowledge of the impact of different variables on insects found over and around the carrion is essential.