Kenyan coral reef-associated gastropod assemblages: distribution and diversity patterns

A survey of Kenya's shallow water (<2 m) coral reef-associated prosobranch fauna was undertaken to determine patterns of distribution, density, diversity and species richness, and the possible role of other reef fauna and human utilization on these patterns. The sample assemblage of 135 species from 25 families is similar to other Indian Ocean regions with no apparent endemism or subregional faunal affinities. Species richness, determined by species-individual relationships, has been reduced by approximately 45% since the Pleistocene. Northern Kenya, typified by small coral islands experiencing river and estuarine discharges had low densities and species richness and high species variability. This is attributable to the interrelated factors of river discharge, small reefs and reduced predator refuge. Southern Kenya's more expansive fringing reef has a denser and richer fauna but appears less species rich than Tanzania. Variation within reefs suggests similarities in diversity between reef lagoons, flats and edges, but lagoons had lower densities than reef flat or edge sites. This is attributable to greater predation rates within lagoons. Species composition between reef locations was variable but differed for comparisons between reef lagoons and reef flats. The population densities of thirty commercially collected species were compared between shelled and unshelled reefs. Only two commercial strombids, Lambis truncata and L. chiragra, had lower densities within shelled compared to unshelled reefs. Within six southern Kenvan reef lagoons, total gastropod densities were negatively correlated with the Balistidae (triggerfish) and total fish densities and positively with sea urchin densities. The removal of balistids through fishing appears to lead to co-occurring population increases in gastropod and sea urchin populations which, in most instances, appears to negate the effect of shell collecting.     

Cottony maple scale and its natural control

An outbreak of cottony maple scale,Pulvinaria innumerabilis (Rathvon) was not controlled by chemical treatments, but large numbers of the coccinellid,Hyperaspis signata (Say), almost eliminated the scale in the succeding year.

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Résumé La Cochenille cotonneuse de l'érable,Pulvinaria innumerabilis (Rathvon) fut très abondante près de Harrow, Ontario, en 1967. Le feuillage des érables argentés fut très éclairci et certaines des basses branches furent tuées. Un seul traitement au malathion provoqua quelque réduction des cochenilles mais seulement pendant une semaine. En 1968, la CoccinelleHyperaspis signata (Say) est apparue en grand nombre. Les larves prédatrices mangèrent les œufs et les formes mobiles de la Cochenille et réduisirent en une saison les populations de celles-ci à un niveau endémique. Les adultes deH. signata étaient encore présents en 1969 et 1970.

     

Microarray profile of differentially expressed genes in a monkey model of allergic asthma

Background

Inhalation of Ascaris suum antigen by allergic monkeys causes an immediate bronchoconstriction and delayed allergic reaction, including a pulmonary inflammatory infiltrate. To identify genes involved in this process, the gene-expression pattern of allergic monkey lungs was profiled by microarrays. Monkeys were challenged by inhalation of A. suum antigen or given interleukin-4 (IL-4) treatment; lung tissue was collected at 4, 18 or 24 h after antigen challenge or 24 h after IL-4. Each challenged monkey lung was compared to a pool of normal, unchallenged monkey lungs.

Results

Of the approximately 40,000 cDNAs represented on the microarray, expression levels of 169 changed by more than 2.5-fold in at least one of the pairwise probe comparisons; these cDNAs encoded 149 genes, of which two thirds are known genes. The largest number of regulated genes was observed 4 h after challenge. Confirmation of differential expression in the original tissue was obtained for 95% of a set of these genes using real-time PCR. Cluster analysis revealed at least five groups of genes with unique expression patterns. One cluster contained genes for several chemokine mediators including eotaxin, PARC, MCP-1 and MCP-3. Genes involved in tissue remodeling and antioxidant responses were also identified as regulated by antigen and IL-4 or by antigen only.

Conclusion

This study provides a large-scale profile of gene expression in the primate lung following allergen or IL-4 challenge. It shows that microarrays, with real-time PCR, are a powerful tool for identifying and validating differentially expressed genes in a disease model.     

Detection heterogeneity in underwater visual‐census data

This study shows how capture–mark–recapture (CMR) models can provide robust estimates of detection heterogeneity (sources of bias) in underwater visual‐census data. Detection biases among observers and fish family groups were consistent between fished and unfished reef sites in Kenya, even when the overall level of detection declined between locations. Species characteristics were the greatest source of detection heterogeneity and large, highly mobile species were found to have lower probabilities of detection than smaller, site‐attached species. Fish family and functional‐group detectability were also found to be lower at fished locations, probably due to differences in local abundance. Because robust CMR models deal explicitly with sampling where not all species are detected, their use is encouraged for studies addressing reef‐fish community dynamics.     

What Happens after Conservation and Management Donors Leave? A Before and After Study of Coral Reef Ecology and Stakeholder Perceptions of Management Benefits

The coral reefs of Tanga, Tanzania were recognized as a national conservation priority in the early 1970s, but the lack of a management response led to damage by dynamite, beach seines, and high numbers of fishers until the mid 1990s. Subsequently, an Irish Aid funded IUCN Eastern Africa program operated from 1994 to mid 2007 to implement increased management aimed at reducing these impacts. The main effects of this management were to establish collaborative management areas, reduce dynamite and seine net fishing, and establish small community fisheries closures beginning in 1996. The ecology of the coral reefs was studied just prior to the initiation of this management in 1996, during, 2004, and a few years after the project ended in 2010. The perceptions of resource users towards management options were evaluated in 2010. The ecological studies indicated that the biomass of fish rose continuously during this period from 260 to 770 kg/ha but the small closures were no different from the non-closure areas. The benthic community studies indicate stability in the coral cover and community composition and an increase in coralline algae and topographic complexity over time. The lack of change in the coral community suggests resilience to various disturbances including fisheries management and the warm temperature anomaly of 1998. These results indicate that some aspects of the management program had been ecologically successful even after the donor program ended. Moreover, the increased compliance with seine net use and dynamite restrictions were the most likely factors causing this increase in fish biomass and not the closures. Resource users interviewed in 2010 were supportive of gear restrictions but there was considerable between-community disagreement over the value of specific restrictions. The social-ecological results suggest that increased compliance with gear restrictions is largely responsible for the improvements in reef ecology and is a high priority for future management programs.     

Predictability of coral bleaching from synoptic satellite and in situ temperature observations

Satellite and compiled in situ observations of sea surface temperatures have greatly increased the ability to detect anomalous and persistent warm water and are being widely used to predict climate change, coral bleaching and mortality. A field-based synoptic view of coral bleaching spanning eight countries and ∼35° of latitude in the western Indian Ocean tested the accuracy of synoptic temperature data derived from satellites and shipboard data to detect and predict bleaching during 2005. The ability to predict the degree of bleaching based on degree heating weeks data was moderate, but increased when past temperature anomalies and coral community susceptibility were included. It is estimated that slightly more than half of the bleaching response is due to anomalous warm water and nearly half due to taxa and community level acclimation or adaptation, where these two factors have opposing effects. Cumulative temperature anomalies do identify general areas with bleaching but both large over and underestimates of bleaching intensity were observed. Consequently, field observations are needed to confirm the synoptic satellite predictions for particular reefs, particularly where acclimation and reorganization of the coral community have occurred due to past bleaching events.     

Marine reserve recovery rates towards a baseline are slower for reef fish community life histories than biomass

Ecological baselines are disappearing and it is uncertain how marine reserves, here called fisheries closures, simulate pristine communities. We tested the influence of fisheries closure age, size and compliance on recovery of community biomass and life-history metrics towards a baseline. We used census data from 324 coral reefs, including 41 protected areas ranging between 1 and 45 years of age and 0.28 and 1430 km², and 36 sites in a remote baseline, the Chagos Archipelago. Fish community-level life histories changed towards larger and later maturing fauna with increasing closure age, size and compliance. In high compliance closures, community biomass levelled at approximately 20 years and 10 km² but was still only at approximately 30% of the baseline and community growth rates were projected to slowly decline for more than 100 years. In low compliance and young closures, biomass levelled at half the value and time as high compliance closures and life-history metrics were not predicted to reach the baseline. Biomass does not adequately reflect the long-time scales for full recovery of life-history characteristics, with implications for coral reef management.