Evidence of a latitudinal gradient in spider diversity in Australian cotton

The most common explanation for species diversity increasing towards the tropics is the corresponding increase in habitats (spatial heterogeneity). Consequently, a monoculture (like cotton in Australia) which is grown along a latitudinal gradient, should have the same degree of species diversity throughout its range. We tested to see if diversity in a dominant cotton community (spiders) changed with latitude, and if the community was structurally identical in different parts of Australia. We sampled seven sites extending over 20° of latitude. At each site we sampled 1–3 fields 3–5 times during the cotton growing season using pitfall traps and beatsheets, recording all the spiders collected to family. We found that spider communities in cotton are diverse, including a large range of foraging guilds, making them suitable for a conservation biological control programme. We also found that spider diversity increased from high to low latitudes, and the communities were different, even though the spiders were in the same monocultural habitat. Spider beatsheet communities around Australia were dominated by different families, and responded differently to seasonal changes, indicating that different pest groups would be targeted at different locations. These results show that diversity can increase from high to low latitudes, even if spatial heterogeneity is held constant, and that other factors external to the cotton crop are influencing spider species composition. Other models which may account for the latitudinal gradient, such as non‐equilibrium regional processes, are discussed.     

Maternal effects in progeny of field pansy (Viola arvensis) subjected to different herbicide and nitrogen rates

Observations were made on the effects of reduced rates of herbicide and nitrogen on naturally occurring populations of Viola aruensis. Progeny arising from these plants were grown in a uniform environment and monitored through to maturity. The size and number of reproductive structures produced by the maternal plants were positively correlated with the maternal plant weight. Herbicide dose affected the plant height of offspring and the effects were more pronounced in those from plants which had received 160 kg N ha^-1than 40 kg N ha^-1. Although the maternal effects on offspring size diminished with time, the number of reproductive structures in the offspring was significantly correlated with plant height during early development. Increased nitrogen availability to the maternal plant in the absence of herbicide may therefore increase the overall productivity of the subsequent generation.     

The vertical distribution of flying insects in lowland rain-forests of Panama, Papua New Guinea and Brunei

Ultra-violet light traps were hung at four vertical levels, to monitor the distribution of flying insects in the rain-forests in Panama, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and two sites in Brunei. Large insects were excluded. Ninety-eight thousand, five hundred and sixty-nine insects were trapped and the entire catch was analysed to order and in some cases to lower taxa. Clear vertical stratification was shown by most taxa and, in some cases, there was a marked concentration of numbers in the upper canopy at all four sites. In others there was no such concentration and considerable differences in vertical distribution were seen between the sites. These differences are discussed in relation to the forest structure at each site and in relation to the results obtained in Zaire. We conclude that flying insects in tropical rain-forests are not always concentrated in the upper canopy, although there is a tendency for this to occur where topography and forest structure are simple.     

Modelling the germination of Stellaria media using the concept of hydrothermal time

The germination characteristics of Stellaria media (common chickweed) were investigated over a range of constant temperatures and degrees of moisture stress in order to assess the suitability of hydrothermal time as a basis for modelling germination under field conditions. Maximum percentage germination occurred over a much narrower temperature range around the optimum temperature than previously seen for cultivated crop seed. The entire final percentage germination response to temperature in water was well described by two probit curves, and this model was extended to describe the data at all water potentials at a temperature close to the optimum. The implications of the reduction in germination at nonoptimal temperatures are discussed with respect to the interpretation of germination progress curves and conditional dormancy. After adjusting for maximum percentage germination, a hydrothermal time model was found to fit the data set well within the conditions normally encountered in horticultural seedbeds. This separation of the final percentage germination presents a flexible modelling approach that allows for the different levels of dormancy typically expressed within weed populations. By contrast with many previously reported species, S. media had a synchronous germination rate within the population at any given temperature/water potential combination. This synchronous germination of at least a proportion of the population over a wide range of temperature and water potentials might have ecological significance for the opportunistic germination behaviour of this weed species.