EFFECTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF WOODY SPECIES OF THE NOKREK BIOSPHERE RESERVE OF MEGHALAYA,NORTHEAST INDIA

Aims Our study was conducted in the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve (NBR) in the Garo hills districts of Meghalaya, Northeast India. Our aim was to assess the effects of human activities on plant diversity,population structure and regeneration.Methods We selected a representative 1.2 hm2 stand in both the core and buffer zones of NBR. Structure and composition were determined by randomly sampling square quadrats, population structure was assessed by determining age structure, and regeneration was assessed by measuring densities of seedling, sapling and adult trees.Important findings More woody species were recorded from the core zone than the buffer zone (87 vs. 81 species), and there were a large number of tropical, temperate, and Sino-Himalayan, Burma-Malaysian and Malayan elements, primitive families and primitive genera. The trees were distributed in three distinct strata,canopy, subcanopy and sapling. Subcanopy and sapling layers had the highest species richness (81％ -88％ ). Lauraceae and Euphorbiaceae were the dominant families in terms of the number of species, and a large number of families were represented by single species. Most woody species (57 ％ - 79 ％ ) were contagiously distributed and had low frequency ( ＜ 20％ ). Although stand density was high in the buffer zone, its basal area was low compared to the stand in the core zone. Low similarity and high β-diversity indicate marked differences in species composition of the stands. Shannon diversity index was high in both the stands, while Simpson dominance index was low. The diameter-class distribution for dominant species revealed that the most had a large number of young individuals in their populations. Preponderance of tree seedlings, followed by a steep decline in population density of saplings and adult trees, indicated that the seedling to sapling stage was the most critical in the life cycle of the tree populations. Most species (42 ％ - 48 ％ ) had no regeneration,25 ％ - 35 ％ had good/fair regeneration, and the rest had poor regeneration or reoccurred as immigrants.     

Preliminary Assessment of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Two Wild Groups of Endangered Moor Macaques (Macaca maura) from Sulawesi

International Journal of Primatology - Information on parasite biodiversity and abundance can improve our understanding of parasitic infections on endangered wildlife, as parasites can affect host...     

Differences in growth trajectory and strategy of two sympatric congeneric species in an Indonesian floodplain forest

Whole-plant development trajectories and sapling leaf displays were compared for two sympatric congeneric species, Pterospermum diversifolium and P. javanicum, in a tropical floodplain forest in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. We assessed their growth strategies and developed hypotheses for their coexistence within the community. Pterospermum diversifolium retains a monoaxial growth habit that promotes quick stem elongation; thus, it is taller when branches are initiated than is P. javanicum. The species differed significantly in height growth and total crown expansion per unit increment of biomass: monoaxial P. diversifolium saplings devote more effort to stem elongation, whereas branched P. javanicum saplings devote more effort to branch expansion. Monoaxial P. diversifolium sustained more severe self-shading than P. javanicum. The sapling growth strategy of P. diversifolium appears to be dynamic, emphasizing the opportunistic use of light following a disturbance, whereas that of P. javanicum appears to be static, optimizing leaf display for current light conditions. The advantages of these strategies depend on context, and the two species may coexist within a community by adopting different regeneration niches based on differing understory light conditions: P. diversifolium is favored over P. javanicum at high light levels, but the opposite is true at low light levels.     

Reaction to Snakes in Wild Moor Macaques (Macaca maura)

International Journal of Primatology - Snake predation is considered an important evolutionary force for primates. Yet, very few studies have documented encounters between primates and snakes in...     

Lipid Auxotrophy and the Effect on Lipid Composition of Entamoeba invadens*†

SYNOPSIS. A medium for the axenic cultivation of Entamoeba invadens has been developed. Serum, an essential constituent of conventional media, has been replaced by a mixture of albumin, unsaturated fatty acids, Tween, and cholesterol to control the lipid composition of the medium. Entamoeba invadens requires both cholesterol and unsaturated fatty acids for growth. The fatty acid composition of the phospholipids of the ameba reflects that of the medium to a great extent, especially with regard to the unsaturated fatty acids. The amount of membrane bounded cholesterol depends on the cholesterol concentration in the medium.     

Play behavior in immature moor macaques (Macaca maura) and Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata)

Play is widespread across mammalian taxa, but species strongly vary in the ways they play. In less despotic primate species (i.e., with less steep dominance hierarchies, less severe conflicts, and more reconciliation), play has been described as being more frequent, cooperative, and freely expressed. To study the link between social play and dominance style, we compared play behavior in free-ranging infants, juveniles and subadults of more despotic Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata, N = 24) and less despotic moor macaques (Macaca maura, N = 17). We found interspecific differences in play behavior that corresponded with the contrasting dominance styles of the study species, largely confirming our predictions. In particular, moor macaques spent a larger proportion of time in solitary and social play than Japanese macaques, while Japanese macaques spent a larger proportion of time in grooming interactions. In moor macaques, play sessions included more players, a larger variety of play behaviors, greater play face rates, a greater proportion of time in contact play, and a higher rate of reciprocal play-biting than in Japanese macaques. Aggressive escalations were not common, but more frequent in Japanese macaques. Finally, a higher frequency of play faces during play sessions predicted the occurrence of more reciprocal play-bites, but not the proportion of time spent in contact play behaviors. Additional studies on other groups and species will allow a better understanding of the link between dominance style and social play.     

Effect of Anthropogenic Activities on the Population of Moor Macaques (Macaca maura) in South Sulawesi,Indonesia

International Journal of Primatology - Forest loss due to anthropogenic activities is one of the main causes of plant and animal species decline. Studying the species’ population status...     

Roadside monkeys: anthropogenic effects on moor macaque (Macaca maura) ranging behavior in Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park,Sulawesi, Indonesia

Primates - A growing body of research focuses on how anthropogenic factors affect the behavior and ecology of primates and their ecosystems. Infrastructural development, such as roads, is an...     

Liver cytochrome P-450 system in rats with a varying susceptibility to the development of experimental alcoholism

The cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenase system of the liver was studied in laboratory noninbred male rats selected according to the intensity of their initial alcohol motivation and the dynamics of these parameters was followed up during 10-day alcoholisation. It was shown that in the animals inclined to the development of alcoholism the activity of the monooxygenase system (cytochrome P-450, B5; enzymes: aminopyrine N-demethylase, aniline p-hydroxylase, NADPH-cytochrome c-reductase) is higher than in the animals noninclined to the development of this disease. 10-day alcohol consumption in the free-choice situation between water and 15% ethanol solution did not change the parameters investigated. The only exception was NADPH-cytochrome c-reductase: its activity grew in both the groups of the animals by 40-75%.