Some views on plants in polar and alpine regions

Many plants growing in polar and alpine regions clearly solve serious problems of life under extreme climatic conditions, as low temperatures, strong winds, unstable soils and in the North partly 24-h of light.     

In vitro regeneration through organogenesis of Meconopsis simplicifolia — An endangered ornamental species

Meconopsis simplicifolia (D.Don) Walp. could be propagated by induction of adventitious shoots from callus produced on hypocotyl, cotyledon and rosette leaf explants of 4-month-old seedlings. Callus was initiated on agar-solidified Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 1 M kinetin +10 M -naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Shoots formed when the callus was subcultured on medium supplemented with kinetin or benzyladenine (BA) in combination with NAA, indoleacetic acid, indolebutyric acid or gibberellic acid. Excised shoots were rooted on medium containing auxin with 10 M NAA producing the best rooting (55%).Abbreviations BA 6-benzyladenine - 2,4-d 2,4-dichlorophenoxy-acetic acid - FAA formalin-acetic acid-alcohol - GA₃ gibberellic acid - IAA indole-3-acetic acid - IBA -indolebutyric acid - NAA -naphthaleneacetic acid     

Sequence evolution in and around the mitochondrial control region in birds

By cloning and sequencing 3.4 kilobases of snow goose mtDNA we found that the ND5 gene is followed by the genes for cytochrome b, tRNA^Thr, tRNA^Pro, ND6, tRNA^Glu, the control region, tRNA^Phe, and srRNA. This order is identical to that of chicken, quail, and duck mtDNA but differs from that of mammals and a frog (Xenopus). The mean extent of difference due to base substitution between goose and chicken is generally closer to the same comparison between rat and mouse but less than that between human and cow. For one of the nine regions compared (tRNA^Glu), the bird differences appear to be anomalous, possibly implicating altered functional constraints. Within the control region, several short sequences common to mammals are also conserved in the birds. Comparison of the goose control region with that of quail and chicken suggests that a sequence element with similarity to CSB-1 duplicated once prior to the divergence of goose and chicken and again on the lineage leading to chicken. Between goose (or duck) and chicken there are four times more transversions at the third positions of fourfold-degenerate codons in mitochondrial than in nuclear genes.Abbreviations CSB conserved sequence block - cytb cytochrome b - ND NADH dehydrogenase - srRNA small-subunit ribosomal RNA Deceased July 21, 1991 Correspondence to: T.W. Quinn at the University of Denver     

A phytosociological analysis of woody species in forest communities of a part of Kumaun Himalaya

This paper reports on a detailed phytosociological analysis of forests in the NW catchment of the Gola River in Kumaun Himalaya, 29°19–29°27N and 79°32–79°42E. Fourteen sites and 56 stands at elevations ranging from 1200 to 2523 m and covering the following five forest types were investigated: Pinus roxburghii, mixed, Quercus leucotrichophora, Q. lanuginosa, and Q. floribunda. The basal cover of the forests differed according to slope position and aspect. The three oak forests had more basal cover than the other two, and Q. lanuginosa had the most. The performance of individual tree and shrub species and the number of saplings and seedlings differed according to slope position and aspect. The mixed forest had the greatest tree diversity, and among the others diversity increased with increasing basal cover. The diversity of trees, saplings, and herb layer was greatest on aspects with intermediate temperature and moisture conditions; whereas that of shrubs and seedlings increased towards the cooler (and wetter) and warmer (and drier) exposures. There was a positive relation between the diversity of shrubs plus seedlings and trees plus saplings in P. roxburghii and mixed forests; whereas this relationship was inverse in the three oak forests. In general, the dominance-diversity curves for the tree layer followed a geometric series conforming to the niche pre-emption situation in communities of low diversity. Among the forests, the regeneration was best in Q. lanuginosa and worst in Q. leucotrichophora.Nomenclature follows: Osmaston (1926).Finacial support from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi and the Indian Space Research Organisation, Banglore is gratefully acknowledged.     

Comparative limnology of nine lakes of Jammu and Kashmir Himalayas

Two lakes in the lower Siwalik Himalayas, five in the Kashmir valley and two situated in the high mountains of the Kashmir Himalayas were investigated for their physico-chemical and biological features. The lakes, differing significantly in their morphology and in thermal behaviour, rank from the subtropical monomictic to the dimictic type. The lakes at high altitudes (> 3000 m) have very low electric conductivity which increases with the decrease in altitude. The most dominant ions in water are calcium and bicarbonate. The macrophytic vegetation of the lakes does not show any definite relationship either with altitude or with physico-chemical milieu. In the lakes with low fertility the phytoplankton is dominated by diatoms and Chlorophyceae but in eutrophic lakes Cyanophyceae predominate. The zooplankton population of the lakes is mainly comprised of rotifera. On the basis of general limnological features and the rates of phytoplankton production most of the lakes may be categorized either as eutrophic or in the process of rapid evolution. Only one lake is oligotrophic.     

A new species of Arenaria subgenus Odontostemma from Tibet, with a review of the status of the genus Gooringia (Caryophyllaceae)

A specimen collected in southern Tibet in 1928, hitherto identified only as "Arenanu sp.", is found to represent a new species of the subgenus Odontostemma . The new species resembles A. littledalei , the species that forms the basis of the monotypic genus Gooringia , characterized by a dwarf habit, a tetramerous perianth and only two or three stamens. Several other species of Arenaria subgenus Odontostemma resemble A. littledalei in habit and one ( A. saginoides ) is tetramerous, but hitherto none has been found with its extremely reduced androecium. The new species has an identical androecium to A. littledalei and its discovery leaves no doubt that Gooringia should not be recognized taxonomically at any rank. The new species is described as A. pharensis McNcill & Majumdar and a table compares its diagnostic features with those of A. littledalei and five other dwarf Arenaria species of sibgrnus Odontostemma from the mountains of Sikkim, Tibet, Yunnan and Tsinghai.     

Analysis of factors affecting bird predation on gypsy moth egg masses by using Holling’s disc-equation

1. Birds’ predation on gypsy moth egg masses deposited on tree trunks was quantitatively evaluated in a birch forest at Bibai, Hokkaido during the four winter seasons from 1974 to 1978.
2. Holling's disc-equation could be successfully applied to describe the relationship between the total egg consumption by birds and the density of egg masses. A rapid method for fitting the disc-equation to observed data was proposed based on the study byShinozaki andKira (1961).
3. Appreciable amounts of predation were observed only during the period when the depth of snow cover on the ground exceeded 1 m, while the egg masses deposited on lower parts of tree trunk below 1 m level suffered from only slight predation. It was therefore presumed that deep snow cover made the predator birds to change their feeding place from ground vegetation to tree trunks.
4. The duration of the period with snow accumulation deeper than 1 m was introduced into the disc-equation as an additional parameter. The values calculated by the resultant formulation agreed with the observed values in respective years satisfactorily.
5. There were circumstantial evidences that the great tit, Parus major, was one of the important predators concerned.

     

A phylogenetically controlled test of hypotheses for behavioral insensitivity to testosterone in birds

In most male birds that exhibit paternal care, extending the spring testosterone (T) peak throughout the breeding season reduces nestling provisioning. However, in some species, this trade-off between high T and expression of paternal care is absent. For example, during some or all of the nestling period, T did not affect paternal behavior in Male Lapland longspurs (Calcarius lapponicus), chestnut-collared longspurs (Calcarius ornatus), and great tits (Parus major). Two ecological constraints have been hypothesized to drive insensitivity to T after eggs hatch: (1) a short breeding season that limits breeding opportunities, and (2) a need for paternal care to ensure reproductive success. However, because two of the three species that exhibit T insensitivity are closely related, potential phylogenetic confounds limit determination of which, if either, factor constrains some males to T insensitivity. We examined the effects of supplementary T on paternal behavior in the Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), a member of the monophyletic Calcarius/Plectrophenax clade. Male Snow Buntings are constrained to a short breeding season, but paternal care is not essential for survival of nestlings. We administered exogenous T during the parental phase to mimic the early spring T peak. T treatment increased song rates and interfered with paternal behavior such that nestlings of T-implanted males grew more slowly than controls. Our data suggest that T insensitivity in this clade is related to relatively recent constraints of the breeding environment (i.e., not simply common ancestry) and that the necessity of paternal care in some species may be a strong selective factor driving behavioral insensitivity to T during the parental phase.     

Will loss of snow cover during climatic warming expose New Zealand alpine plants to increased frost damage?

If snow cover in alpine environments were reduced through climatic warming, plants that are normally protected by snow-lie in winter would become exposed to greater extremes of temperature and solar radiation. We examined the annual course of frost resistance of species of native alpine plants from southern New Zealand that are normally buried in snowbanks over winter (Celmisia haastii and Celmisia prorepens) or in sheltered areas that may accumulate snow (Hebe odora) and other species, typical of more exposed areas, that are relatively snow-free (Celmisia viscosa, Poa colensoi, Dracophyllum muscoides). The frost resistance of these principal species was in accord with habitat: those from snowbanks or sheltered areas showed the least frost resistance, whereas species from exposed areas had greater frost resistance throughout the year. P. colensoi had the greatest frost resistance (−32.5°C). All the principal species showed a rapid increase in frost resistance from summer to early winter (February–June) and maximum frost resistance in winter (July–August). The loss of resistance in late winter to early summer (August–December) was most rapid in P. colensoi and D. muscoides. Seasonal frost resistance of the principal species was more strongly related to daylength than to temperature, although all species except C. viscosa were significantly related to temperature when the influence of daylength was accounted for. Measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence indicated that photosynthetic efficiency of the principal species declined with increasing daylength. Levels of frost resistance of the six principal alpine plant species, and others measured during the growing season, were similar to those measured in tropical alpine areas and somewhat more resistant than those recorded in alpine areas of Europe. The potential for frost damage was greatest in spring. The current relationship of frost resistance with daylength is sufficient to prevent damage at any time of year. While warmer temperatures might lower frost resistance, they would also reduce the incidence of frosts, and the incidence of frost damage is unlikely to be altered. The relationship of frost resistance with daylength and temperature potentially provides a means of predicting the responses of alpine plants in response to global warming.     

Snowbed vegetation of far northeastern Asia

Abstract. Two main types of snowbed habitat with their typical vegetation in far NE Asia are described. In extreme snowbeds, snow depth is ≥ 5 m; the vegetation is sparse and characterized by Salix polaris and arctic and arctic-alpine taxa adapted to a very short growing season. In moderately snowrich habitats, with a snow depth of 1.5 — 5 m, the environment is more favourable for plant growth as compared to both extreme snow-rich and mesic habitats, because of snow protection in winter, little permafrost, high organic matter accumulation, and no major reduction of the growing season. Within each snowbed habitat there are two series of community types for lime-rich and lime-poor habitats. Along with a large number of pH-amphitolerant species including the dominants Salix polaris, Cassiope tetragona, Artemisia tilesii which occur in both habitat types, acidic sites usually also have stenoacidophytes (Carex nesophila, Loiseleuria procumbens), and hemiacidophytes (Salix chamissonis, Artemisia arctica). Differential taxa of circumneutral and basic soils are the stenobasiphytes Salix rotundifolia and Dendranthema integrifolium and the hemibasiphytes Salix reticulata and Carex scirpoidea. Ten Chukotka snowbed associations are provisionally described and a diagnostic table is presented according to the Braun-Blanquet approach. The syntaxonomy and evolution of Beringian snowbed vegetation are discussed.