Taste receptor activity and feeding behaviour reveal mechanisms of white spruce natural resistance to Eastern spruce budworm Choristoneura fumiferana

The pattern of feeding of Eastern spruce budworm Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) is compared on foliage from white spruce Picea glauca (Moench) Voss. (Pinaceae) trees previously determined to be susceptible and resistant to defoliation by budworm. No differences are observed in electrophysiological responses from taste sensilla to aqueous extracts of the two foliage types, nor is there a preference for either extract type in a choice test. Acetone extracts from the two foliage types are both preferred to a control sucrose solution, although neither elicits a preference relative to the other. These results suggest that there is no difference in phagostimulatory power of internal leaf contents of the two foliage types. Longer‐term observation of feeding behaviour in a no‐choice situation shows no difference in meal duration, confirming the lack of difference in phagostimulatory power. However, on average, intermeal intervals are twice as long on the resistant foliage, leading to an overall lower food consumption during the assay. This result suggests an anti‐digestive or toxic effect of the resistant foliage that slows behaviour and limits food intake. Previous research has shown that waxes of the resistant foliage deter initiation of feeding by the spruce budworm and that this foliage contains higher levels of tannins and monoterpenes. The data suggest that the resistant foliage contains a post‐ingestive second line of defence against the spruce budworm.     

Consumer pressure, seed versus safe-site limitation, and plant population dynamics

Plants often suffer reductions in fecundity due to insect herbivory. Whether this loss of seeds has population-level consequences is much debated and often unknown. For many plants, particularly those with long-lived seedbanks, it is frequently asserted that herbivores have minimal impacts on plant abundance because safe-site availability rather than absolute seed number determines the magnitude of future plant recruitment and hence population abundance. However, empirical tests of this assertion are generally lacking and the interplay between herbivory, spatio-temporal variability in seed- or safe-site-limited recruitment, and seedbank dynamics is likely to be complex. Here we use a stochastic simulation model to explore how changes in the spatial and temporal frequency of seed-limited recruitment, the strength of density-dependent seedling survival, and longevity of seeds in the soil influence the population response to herbivory. Model output reveals several surprising results. First, given a seedbank, herbivores can have substantial effects on mean population abundance even if recruitment is primarily safe-site-limited in either time or space. Second, increasing seedbank longevity increases the population effects of herbivory, because annual reductions in seed input due to herbivory are accumulated in the seedbank. Third, population impacts of herbivory are robust even in the face of moderately strong density-dependent seedling mortality. These results imply that the conditions under which herbivores influence plant population dynamics may be more widespread than heretofore expected. Experiments are now needed to test these predictions. Received: 3 November 1999 / Accepted: 15 February 2000     

The effect of behavioural and morphological plasticity on foraging efficiency in the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus sp.)

We conducted an experiment to assess the change in foraging efficiency resulting from diet-induced morphological and behavioural plasticity in a species of freshwater, threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus sp.). Different degrees of morphological and behavioural change were induced using two prey items commonly found in the diet of this species, allowing us to estimate the relative importance of each type of plasticity. The purpose of the experiment was twofold. First, earlier work had suggested that diet variability might be an important factor in the evolution of trophic morphological plasticity in sticklebacks. The present results extend this work by revealing the adaptive significance of morphological plasticity. The current experiment also qualitatively assessed the compatibility of the time scale of morphological change with that of the natural resource variability experienced by this species. The results indicate that diet-induced plasticity improves foraging efficiency continuously for up to 72 days of prey exposure. This is probably due in part to plasticity of the external trophic morphology but our results also suggest a complex interplay between morphology and behaviour. The time scale appears to be matched to that of natural diet variability although it is possible that some traits exhibit non-labile plasticity. Our discussion highlights the important distinction between conditions favouring the evolution of labile versus non-labile plasticity. The second objective of the experiment was to determine the relative importance of morphological and behavioural plasticity. Few studies have attempted to quantify the adaptive significance of morphological plasticity and no study to our knowledge has separated the effects of morphological and behavioural plasticity. Our experiment reveals that both behavioural and morphological plasticity are important and it also suggests a dichotomy between the two: behavioural plasticity predominately affects searching efficiency whereas morphological plasticity predominately affects handling efficiency.     

Atmospheric input of inorganic nitrogen to the Western Mediterranean

Bulk inorganic nitrogen deposition was monitored over a period of 3 years at the Bavella Pass (Corsica, France). Annual fluxes range between 126 and 150mol.m^–2.d-^–1, increasing slightly with annual rainfall. Natural background average concentrations of rain water and associated fluxes were estimated from a classification of rain events into natural (Oceanic and Saharan), polluted and composite. Long range transport of incoming polluted air masses increases the atmospheric wet nitrogen input by at least a factor of 1.6 in this Mediterranean area. Extrapolation of atmospheric dissolved inorganic nitrogen input to the Western Mediterranean leads to fluxes of 80 to l00mol.m^–2.d-^–1. This atmospheric input is in the same order of magnitude as the inorganic nitrogen riverine input. As a consequence, the nitrogen budget for the Mediterranean has had to be reassessed. Atmospheric wet inorganic nitrogen input is of noticeable importance to marine Mediterranean ecosystems, representing on average 10 to 25% of new production in the Western Basin, with values of up to 60% in oligotrophic zones.     

Hydraulic control of stomatal conductance in Douglas fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] and alder [Alnus rubra (Bong)] seedlings

Experiments were conducted on 1-year-old Douglas fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] and 2- to 3-month-old alder [Alnus rubra (Bong)] seedlings growing in drying soils to determine the relative influence of root and leaf water status on stomatal conductance (g_c). The water status of shoots was manipulated independently of that of the roots using a pressure chamber that enclosed the root system. Pressurizing the chamber increases the turgor of cells in the shoot but not in the roots. Seedling shoots were enclosed in a whole-plant cuvette and transpiration and net photosynthesis rates measured continuously. In both species, stomatal closure in response to soil drying was progressively reversed with increasing pressurization. Responses occurred within minutes of pressurization and measurements almost immediately returned to pre-pressurization levels when the pressure was released. Even in wet soils there was a significant increase in g_c with pressurization. In Douglas fir, the stomatal response to pressurization was the same for seedlings grown in dry soils for up to 120 d as for those subjected to drought stress over 40 to 60 d. The stomatal conductance of both Douglas fir and alder seedlings was less sensitive to root chamber pressure at higher vapour pressure deficits (D), and stomatal closure in response to increasing D from 1.04 to 2.06 kPa was only partially reversed by pressurization. Our results are in contrast to those of other studies on herbaceous species, even though we followed the same experimental approach. They suggest that it is not always appropriate to invoke a ‘feedforward’ model of short-term stomatal response to soil drying, whereby chemical messengers from the roots bring about stomatal closure.     

Stimulus-Secretion Coupling in Isolated Adrenal Chromaffin Cells: Calcium Channel Activation and Possible Role of Cytoskeletal Elements

Abstract: The catecholamine secretory function of a preparation of isolated bovine adrenal chromaffin cells has been further characterized under conditions designed to elucidate the mechanism of calcium channel activation and the possible role of cytoskeletal elements in stimulus-secretion coupling. Three related sets of data were obtained: (1) Differences in kinetics, Ca dependence, strength, and additivity of the secretory response to acetylcholine (ACh) versus excess K; (2) the effects on secretion of the Ca channel-blocking agents, Ni, Mg, and verapamil; and (3) the Ca dependence of vinblastine action on ACh- and K-evoked secretion. The results suggest that a major portion of the Ca influx required for catecholamine release enters the cell via voltage-dependent Ca channels with some additional Ca influx via the ACh receptor channel. Comparison of the present secretion data with corresponding known electrophysiological properties of isolated chromaffin cells provides added evidence for a role of chromaffin cell action potentials in regulation of Ca influx and the secretory response. Elevated Ca concentrations enhanced K-evoked secretion to levels comparable to that of ACh but did not induce a vinblastine block of K-evoked release. This provides further evidence against a role of microtubules in the common exocytosis event per se. However, a role of cytoskeletal elements in directing the movement of secretory granules, or an action of vinblastine at cholinergic receptors, remain distinct possibilities.     

叶片水H218O富集的研究进展

 植物叶片水H₂¹⁸O富集对大气中O₂和CO₂的¹⁸O收支有着重要影响。蒸腾作用使植物叶片水H₂¹⁸O富集, 而植物叶片水H₂¹⁸O富集的程度主 要受大气水汽δ¹⁸O和植物蒸腾水汽δ¹⁸O的影响。过去, 通过引入稳态假设(蒸腾δ¹⁸O等于茎水δ¹⁸O)得到Craig-Gordon模型的闭合形式, 或 将植物整个叶片水δ¹⁸O经过Péclet效应校正后得到植物叶片水δ¹⁸O的富集程度。然而, 在几分钟到几小时的短时间尺度上, 植物叶片蒸腾 δ¹⁸O是变化的, 稳态假设是无法满足的。最近成功地实现了对大气水汽δ¹⁸O和δD的原位连续观测, 观测精度(小时尺度)可达到甚至优于稳定 同位素质谱仪的观测精度。在非破坏性条件下, 高时间分辨率和连续的大气水汽δ¹⁸O和蒸腾δ¹⁸O的动态观测, 将提高植物叶片水H₂¹⁸O富集的 预测能力。该文综述了植物叶片水H₂¹⁸O富集的理论研究的新进展、研究焦点和观测方法所存在的问题, 旨在进一步加深理解植物叶片水H₂¹⁸O 富集的过程及其机制。     

Incorporating anthropogenic effects into trophic ecology: predator–prey interactions in a human-dominated landscape

Apex predators perform important functions that regulate ecosystems worldwide. However, little is known about how ecosystem regulation by predators is influenced by human activities. In particular, how important are top-down effects of predators relative to direct and indirect human-mediated bottom-up and top-down processes? Combining data on species'' occurrence from camera traps and hunting records, we aimed to quantify the relative effects of top-down and bottom-up processes in shaping predator and prey distributions in a human-dominated landscape in Transylvania, Romania. By global standards this system is diverse, including apex predators (brown bear and wolf), mesopredators (red fox) and large herbivores (roe and red deer). Humans and free-ranging dogs represent additional predators in the system. Using structural equation modelling, we found that apex predators suppress lower trophic levels, especially herbivores. However, direct and indirect top-down effects of humans affected the ecosystem more strongly, influencing species at all trophic levels. Our study highlights the need to explicitly embed humans and their influences within trophic cascade theory. This will greatly expand our understanding of species interactions in human-modified landscapes, which compose the majority of the Earth''s terrestrial surface.     

Curvature in models of the photosynthesis‐irradiance response

An equation for the rate of photosynthesis as a function of irradiance introduced by T. T. Bannister included an empirical parameter b to account for observed variations in curvature between the initial slope and the maximum rate of photosynthesis. Yet researchers have generally favored equations with fixed curvature, possibly because b was viewed as having no physiological meaning. We developed an analytic photosynthesis‐irradiance equation relating variations in curvature to changes in the degree of connectivity between photosystems, and also considered a recently published alternative, based on changes in the size of the plastoquinone pool. When fitted to a set of 185 observed photosynthesis‐irradiance curves, it was found that the Bannister equation provided the best fit more frequently compared to either of the analytic equations. While Bannister's curvature parameter engendered negligible improvement in the statistical fit to the study data, we argued that the parameter is nevertheless quite useful because it allows for consistent estimates of initial slope and saturation irradiance for observations exhibiting a range of curvatures, which would otherwise have to be fitted to different fixed‐curvature equations. Using theoretical models, we also found that intra‐ and intercellular self‐shading can result in biased estimates of both curvature and the saturation irradiance parameter. We concluded that Bannister's is the best currently available equation accounting for variations in curvature precisely because it does not assign inappropriate physiological meaning to its curvature parameter, and we proposed that b should be thought of as the expression of the integration of all factors impacting curvature.     

Responses of two semiarid conifer tree species to reduced precipitation and warming reveal new perspectives for stomatal regulation

Relatively anisohydric species are predicted to be more predisposed to hydraulic failure than relatively isohydric species, as they operate with narrower hydraulic safety margins. We subjected co‐occurring anisohydric Juniperus monosperma and isohydric Pinus edulis trees to warming, reduced precipitation, or both, and measured their gas exchange and hydraulic responses. We found that reductions in stomatal conductance and assimilation by heat and drought were more frequent during relatively moist periods, but these effects were not exacerbated in the combined heat and drought treatment. Counter to expectations, both species exhibited similar g_s temporal dynamics in response to drought. Further, whereas P. edulis exhibited chronic embolism, J. monosperma showed very little embolism due to its conservative stomatal regulation and maintenance of xylem water potential above the embolism entry point. This tight stomatal control and low levels of embolism experienced by juniper refuted the notion that very low water potentials during drought are associated with loose stomatal control and with the hypothesis that anisohydric species are more prone to hydraulic failure than isohydric species. Because direct association of stomatal behaviour with embolism resistance can be misleading, we advocate consideration of stomatal behaviour relative to embolism resistance for classifying species drought response strategies.