Establishment of microscale vegetation pattern in maritime chaparral after fire

We quantified microscale pattern in vegetation and seed assemblages along a 24 m transect before and for two years following a controlled burn in chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) chaparral in central coastal California. Our objective was to document scale-dependent correlation between pre-burn seed assemblages, pre-burn canopy cover, microtopography, soil temperatures during burning, post-burn seed assemblages and post-burn vegetation. Scale-dependent correlations among pre- and post-burn seed densities, maximum soil temperatures during burning, microtopography and post-burn vegetation were measured based on two-term local covariance analysis.Seed distribution varied among species prior to fire, with seeds of some annual species concentrated in gap areas. Maximum soil temperatures during burning ranged from less than 50 °C to 225 °C, and were generally lowest in gaps in the pre-burn canopy. These gaps were associated with local topographic depressions. After burning, readily germinable seeds were concentrated in or near gaps in the pre-burn canopy. Germination of different species was variously enhanced, diminished or unchanged by the passage of fire. Post-burn vegetation was very patchy, with some areas nearly devoid of seedlings and other areas, especially pre-burn canopy gaps, supporting numerous seedlings. Seedling recruitment patterns in the second year were generally highly correlated with patterns in pre-burn seed banks and first year vegetation. Although many species exhibited similar recruitment patterns, several different mechanisms may have been responsible for the origin of those patterns.     

A method for studying vegetation dynamics when there are no obvious individuals: Virtual-population analysis applied to the tundra shrub Betula nana L.

A method is presented to study dynamics of plants that cannot be separated into individuals such as many grassland, salt marsh and tundra species. A virtual population is created by using a permanent transect line through the vegetation and individuals are defined as the branch segments distal to the intercept with the transect line. Addition and loss of individuals together with growth or shrinkage form the basis for constructing a size-structured transition matrix. A discrete-event simulation demonstrates that: 1) a virtual population of individuals grows at the same rate as the parent population; and, 2) size-structured transition matrices for a virtual population and parent vegetation have similar dominant and subdominant eigenvalues so a virtual population can be used to describe the dynamics of a parent vegetation.Dwarf birch, Betula nana L., was studied in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range, Alaska, by using photography to record branch intercepts along permanent transect lines. The distal branch segments constitute a virtual population of the parent vegetation. Transects were photographed in 1985 and again in 1986 and changes of branch segments were used to construct two transition matrices for shrubs with and without elevated fertilizer treatment. Analysis of the virtual populations suggests that although Betula nana may show increased branch growth with increased fertilizer, in the long run this shrub may decline in the tundra in response to such treatment.     

Survival of the mosquito predator,Notonecta unifasciata[Hemiptera: Notonectidae] embryos at low thermal gradients

Notonecta unifasciata Guerin eggs maintained at different stages of embryonic development in water at variable temperatures (2.2–25.6 °C) and for periods of 4–12 weeks revealed maximum viability (>80 %) at the highest temperature. However, optimum nondevelopmental viability was at 14.4 °C with eight-day-old embryos (>35 %). Short term (4 weeks) storage at 14.4 °C significantly increased egg viability. Survival was poor (<20 %) at the 2 lowest temperatures. Eggs held at 14.4 °C for 12 weeks and sustainingca. 50 % mortality, may be a practical procedure for biological control.      

香蕉低温酶促褐变

7℃低温导致香蕉果皮变褐,褐变程度可用提取液的OD_(450)值表示。随低温处理时间的延长,OD_(450)增大;还原性物质抗坏血酸、谷胱甘肽含量迅速下降;多酚氧化酶底物多巴胺先有增加,接着降低。 低温下,多酚氧化酶(PPO)、过氧化物酶(POD)和过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性较常温低,PPO和POD的游离态酶活性增高。此外,H_2O_2处理加速果皮变褐,刺激PPO及POD活性;棓酸丙酯处理起相反的效应。故认为香蕉低温褐变是低温损伤、酶促褐变引起的一个复杂过程。     

The Pragmatic Approach to Masking

This paper advocates the use of a pragmatic approach to the problem of masking in real-life situations involving an abrupt change in the timing of sleep, i.e. shiftwork and “jet-lag” situations. Although “pure” chronobiological research has pointed to the importance of taking masking effects into account, the techniques that it has provided for doing so are extremely difficult to apply in real-life situations. The approach advocated here is based on Wever's pioneering work, and involves estimating the normative endogenous and exogenous components of the circadian rhythm in body temperature. These estimates are then used to: (a) simulate the results of shiftwork studies; and (b) to “remove” the exogenous component in “jet-lag” studies to allow analysis of the estimated endogenous component. The simulated curves obtained cross-correlated extremely highly with published night-shift temperature curves, while the “removal” of the exogenous component resulted in very similar findings to those obtained in temporal isolation studies. It is concluded that this pragmatic approach to masking may prove extremely useful in interpreting the results of field studies of shiftwork and “jet-lag”.     

Influence of Environmental Factors on the Hatch and Survival of Meloidogyne incognita

The influence of soil temperature and moisture on Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White) Chitwood was examined in relation to hatching and survival of second-stage juveniles (J2). Nematodes were cultured on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. cv. Acala SJ2) under field conditions to provide populations similar to those found in the field in late autumn. Egg masses were placed in a temperature range (9-12 C and 21 C), and hatch was measured over a period equivalent to 20 degree days > 10 C (DD10). Hatch occurred below the reported 18 C activity threshold, was restricted below 12 C, and was inhibited below 10 C. Soil moisture influence on hatch was measured by placing egg masses in Hesperia sandy loam and subjecting them to suction pressures ranging from -1.1 bars to -4 .5 bars. Suction potentials of less than -2 bars reduced hatch and less than -3 bars inhibited hatch. J2 were placed in sandy loam soil with soil moisture near field capacity, and their motility was measured over a period of 500 DD10. In the absence of a host, more than 90% of J2 became nonmotile over this period.     

Preferred Temperature of Meloidogyne incognita

In laboratory thermal gradients, newly hatched infective juveniles of the plant-parasitic root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita migrated toward a preferred temperature that was several degrees above the temperature to which they were acclimated. After shifting egg masses to a new temperature, the preferred temperature was reset in less than a day. Possible functions of this type of thermotaxis are discussed, including the use of thermal gradients around plant roots to locate hosts and to maintain a relatively straight path while ranging in the absence of other cues (a collimating stimulus).     

Effects of weather and feeding on body temperature and activity in the snake Masticophis flagellum

1. 1.|Body temperature (T_b) and activity of the snake Masticophis flagellum were studied by radiotelemetry in an outdoor enclosure.

2. 2.|Mean diurnal T_b varied little over a wide range of weather conditions, but weather variation was accompanied by major changes in sun exposure and in the timing and duration of activity.

3. 3.|Recently fed snakes reduced activity and exhibited neither a thermophilic response nor increased precision of thermoregulation compared to fasting snakes.

Freezing pattern in apple seeds as affected by the temperature of fruit storage

Storage of apple fruits ( Pyrus malus L. cv. Golden Delicious) at different temperatures (0, 12 and 35°C) markedly altered the pattern of water freezing in the seeds. Higher temperatures of storage brought about a shift from the sequential to the discontinuous type of freezing in seeds, the low temperature exotherm (LTE) being much more pronounced than the high temperature one (HTE). The occurrence of LTE was highly correlated with embryo death. Fruit storage at higher temperatures also caused a decrease in the threshold super cooling temperature of seeds and of naked embryos, removed from the seed coat and endosperm. The decrease was less pronounced in naked embryos than in intact seeds. The results presented show that the frost resistance of apple seeds relies mainly on the supercooling ability of the embryos and is increased by the presence of seed coat and endosperm. The broad peak of the LTE indicates that, in contrast with other seeds and many super cooling organs, massive ice nucleation in apple seeds occurs within the embryo tissues and that extra organ freezing seems to be of less importance. Therefore, the increased super cooling ability of apple seeds, isolated from fruits stored at higher temperatures, seems to rely on those seed properties that protect embryo cells against heterogeneous ice nucleation.     

Root respiration during grain filling in sunflower: The effects of water stress

Instantaneous rates of (soil + root) respiration were measured periodically during grain filling in sunflower crops that were i) irrigated at weekly intervals and ii) subjected to water stress for the last 25 days of the 40-day grain filling period. Daily (soil + root) respiration was calculated using instantaneous respiration rates, an empirically determined temperature response function, and diurnal records of soil temperature. Daily soil respiration was estimated using empirically determined functions linking soil respiration to soil temperature and water content. Between anthesis and maturity, daily root respiration of the irrigated crop dropped by about one half from ca. 1.8 g C m^-2 d^-1, exhibiting a strong association with daily crop gross photosynthesis. Water stress brought about a rapid decrease in root respiration, which fell to about 0.1 g C m^-2 d^-1 at maturity. Root respiration during grain filling was 46 and 30 g C m^-2 for irrigated and stressed crops, respectively.