Theoretical habitat templets, species traits, and species richness: 548 plant and animal species in the Upper Rhône River and its floodplain

• 1 For practical reasons, conceptual developments in community ecology are usually based on studies of a restricted systematic group. The cooperation of thirty or so specialists in the synthesis of long-term ecological research on the Upper Rhône River, France, provided a unique occasion to investigate relationships among species traits, the habitat utilization by species, the relationship between species traits and habitat utilization, and trends of species traits and species richness in the framework of spatial-temporal habitat variability for 548 species of plants (Hyphomycetes, aquatic macrophytes, floodplain vegetation) and animals (Tricladida, Oligochaeta, several groups of Crustacea, Insecta and Vertebrata).
• 2 Using correspondence analysis, 100 modalities of eighteen species traits were examined; the resulting typology demonstrates that systematic groups are the most important elements for separating species traits such as size, fecundity of individuals, parental care, mobility, body form, and food type. Small species have an intermediate number of descendants per reproductive cycle and few reproductive cycles both per year and per individual; in contrast, large species have a high number of descendants per reproductive cycle and few reproductive cycles per year but many potential reproductive cycles per individual.
• 3 The analysis of habitat utilization in the Upper Rhône River and its floodplain by the 548 species demonstrated a vertical gradient separating interstitial from superficial habitats; a transverse gradient for superficial habitats from the main channel towards more terrestrial ones is also evident.
• 4 Because of a significant (P < 0.01) relationship between species traits and habitat utilization, traits such as size, fecundity of individuals, parental care, tolerance to variation in humidity, and respiration are arranged along the vertical and transverse habitat gradient. Size, the number of reproductive cycles per individual, and the tolerance to variation of humidity increases from permanent waters to temporary waters, aggrading habitats, and terrestrial habitats.
• 5 Species traits showed significant (P < 0.01) trends in the framework of spatial-temporal habitat variability and were compared with predictions based on the river habitat templet. Although each habitat showed a mixture of species traits at low temporal and spatial variability, and at high variability sites, trends corresponded to predictions for three traits (number of descendants per reproductive cycle, number of reproductive cycles per individual, attachment to soil or substrate) along a gradient of increasing temporal habitat variability.
• 6 The species richness of each habitat within the Upper Rhône River and its floodplain significantly (P = 0.03) increased as the spatial variability of habitats increased but there is no statistical correlation between spedes richness and temporal variability. An altemative hypothesis predicting that fewer spedes per resource occur in temporally stable habitats is also not supported.

     

Common trade‐offs between xylem resistance to cavitation and other physiological traits do not hold among unrelated Populus deltoides ×Populus nigra hybrids

We examined the relationships between xylem resistance to cavitation and 16 structural and functional traits across eight unrelated Populus deltoides×Populus nigra genotypes grown under two contrasting water regimes. The xylem water potential inducing 50% loss of hydraulic conductance (Ψ₅₀) varied from ?1.60 to ?2.40 MPa. Drought‐acclimated trees displayed a safer xylem, although the extent of the response was largely genotype dependant, with Ψ₅₀ being decreased by as far as 0.60 MPa. At the tissue level, there was no clear relationship between xylem safety and either xylem water transport efficiency or xylem biomechanics; the only structural trait to be strongly associated with Ψ₅₀ was the double vessel wall thickness, genotypes exhibiting a thicker double wall being more resistant. At the leaf level, increased cavitation resistance was associated with decreased stomatal conductance, while no relationship could be identified with traits associated with carbon uptake or bulk leaf carbon isotope discrimination, a surrogate of intrinsic water‐use efficiency. At the whole‐plant level, increased safety was associated with higher shoot growth potential under well‐irrigated regime only. We conclude that common trade‐offs between xylem resistance to cavitation and other physiological traits that are observed across species may not necessarily hold true at narrower scales.     

Pollen morphology of the tribes Naucleeae and Hymenodictyeae (Rubiaceae – Cinchonoideae) and its phylogenetic significance

The tribe Naucleeae has recently been recircumscribed on the basis of both morphological and molecular [ rbcL , trnT-F , internal transcribed spacer (ITS)] evidence, and has been found to be the sister group of the tribe Hymenodictyeae Razafim. & B. Bremer. In order to find pollen morphological support for this new classification, the pollen and orbicules of 65 species, representing 23 Naucleeae and the two Hymenodictyeae genera, were investigated by scanning electron and light microscopy. Naucleeae pollen is very small (< 20 µm) to small (20–30 µm) and its shape in equatorial view is suboblate to spheroidal or, more rarely, subprolate. Three compound apertures are present, each comprising a long and narrow ectocolpus, a circular to slightly lolongate mesoporus, and an often H-shaped endoaperture. The sexine ornamentation is perforate, rugulate, or (micro)reticulate, and supratectal elements are always absent. Apart from the variation in sexine ornamentation, the tribe is rather stenopalynous. The pollen of Hymenodictyeae is very similar to that of Naucleeae. The H-shaped endoapertures often observed probably form a synapomorphy for the clade comprising Naucleeae and Hymenodictyeae. Our pollen morphological observations are not in conflict with the widened delimitation of Naucleeae. Unambiguous pollen support for the recent subtribal or generic concepts of Naucleeae could not be found because of a lack of variation of pollen characters within the tribe. Orbicules are invariably present in the ten Naucleeae taxa investigated. They are spheroidal and smooth or irregularly folded.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 153 , 329–341.     

Ruffed Grouse Winter Habitat Use in Mixed Softwood-Hardwood Forests,Québec,Canada

Abstract: Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) is a popular small game species in northeastern North America. We assessed female ruffed grouse habitat characteristics during winter of 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 in a region dominated by mixed softwood-hardwood forests by comparing used and random locations. We followed 23 radiotagged adult females in 2 forest sites of the Réserve faunique de Portneuf, Québec, Canada, from late November to mid-April. We described grouse habitat using ground surveys and identified selected habitat characteristics using analysis of variance and logistic regression. Females preferred mixed softwood-hardwood stands > 17 m tall and 61-120 years old. Compared with random locations, grouse locations had more well-developed total canopy cover (>4m;75%), canopy (>4m;35%), midstory (1-4 m tall; 35%), and lower-story (<1 m tall; 23%) coniferous cover, and higher coniferous stem density and tree basal area (dbh > 9 cm; 343 stems/ha and 9.0 m²/ha, respectively). Forest management should maintain mature mixed softwood-hardwood stands (50% coniferous), which are adequate winter habitat for ruffed grouse.     

Repeated unidirectional introgression towards Populus balsamifera in contact zones of exotic and native poplars

As the evolutionary significance of hybridization is largely dictated by its extent beyond the first generation, we broadly surveyed patterns of introgression across a sympatric zone of two native poplars ( Populus balsamifera , Populus deltoides ) in Quebec, Canada within which European exotic Populus nigra and its hybrids have been extensively planted since the 1800s. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that appeared fixed within each species were characterized by DNA-sequencing pools of pure individuals. Thirty-five of these diagnostic SNPs were employed in a high-throughput assay that genotyped 635 trees of different age classes, sampled from 15 sites with various degrees of anthropogenic disturbance. The degree of admixture within sampled trees was then assessed through Bayesian clustering of genotypes. Hybrids were present in seven of the populations, with 2.4% of all sampled trees showing spontaneous admixture. Sites with hybrids were significantly more disturbed than pure stands, while hybrids comprised both immature juveniles and trees of reproductive age. All three possible F1s were detected. Advanced-generation hybrids were consistently biased towards P. balsamifera regardless of whether hybridization had occurred with P. deltoides or P. nigra. Gene exchange between P. deltoides and P. nigra was not detected beyond the F1 generation; however, detection of a trihybrid demonstrates that even this apparent reproductive isolation does not necessarily result in an evolutionary dead end. Collectively, results demonstrate the natural fertility of hybrid poplars and suggest that introduced genes could potentially affect the genetic integrity of native trees, similar to that arising from introgression between natives.     

Where and when the earliest coccolithophores?

Gardin, S., Krystyn, L., Richoz, S., Bartolini, A. & Galbrun, B. 2012: Where and when the earliest coccolithophores? Lethaia, Vol. 45, pp. 507–523. New calcareous nannofossil analyses from the Northern Calcareous Alps of Austria are herein used to update and improve the state of knowledge about the oldest occurrence of coccolithophores reported in the literature. Previously reported Norian occurrences of coccoliths were based on an obsolete Triassic chronostratigraphy, in which the Rhaetian stage was subsumed into the Norian (‘Sevatian 2’). The oldest stratigraphical record of coccoliths spp. lies just below the Norian‐Rhaetian boundary and the first coccolith species, Crucirhabdus minutus, is recorded from the base of Rhaetian stage. The latter bio‐event is located just above the First Occurrence of the conodont Misikella posthersteni and the first occurrence of the ammonoid Paracochloceras suessi in the Steinbergkogel section (Austria), Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) candidate for the Norian–Rhaetian boundary. The appearance of the coccolith Crucirhabdus minutus is seen as a robust biochronological datum that will provide useful constraints for Triassic biostratigraphy, palaeoclimatic modelling and phylogenetic reconstructions. The new calcareous nannofossil biochronology of Steinbergkogel that we present herein completes the existing biostratigraphic characterization of the Norian‐Rhaetian transition based on conodonts and ammonoids and strengthens the position of Steinbergkogel as the best GSSP proposed section for the base of the Rhaetian. The record of coccolithophores across the Norian–Rhaetian boundary at Steinbergkogel takes place along with a discernible increase in abundance of Prinsiosphaera triassica, as well as the appearance of Euconusphaera zlambachensis, which are the two most important Rhaetian pelagic carbonate producers. This succession of bio‐events is interpreted as the initiation of the pelagic carbonate production driven by the successful spreading of calcareous nannofossils in the Western Tethys during the Rhaetian. □Austria, Calcareous Alps, coccolithophores, Triassic.     

Invertebrate traits for the biomonitoring of large European rivers: an assessment of specific types of human impact

1. The power of selected biological invertebrate traits for discriminating different types of human impact (heavy metal pollution and cargo‐ship traffic) were tested using ecological reasoning and linear Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA). 2. Frequency distributions of individual traits and categories of traits from 68 least impacted river reaches (LIRRs) and 304 impacted river reaches were used to define simple assessment rules based on ecological reasoning for specific impairments in large European rivers. In calibration, a maximum of three variables with a priori predictions and two different impairment threshold levels were used. Similarly, DFA was performed on the same variables included in the ecological reasoning approach, but also on all available traits or trait categories. 3. Validation with an independent data set (40 LIRRs, 291 variously impacted river reaches) and using the ecological reasoning approach showed that 75–78% of the reaches were correctly assign with rules on all impact types, 35–57% with rules on heavy metal pollution and 78–93% with rules on cargo‐ship traffic. By comparison, validation showed that DFA performed globally poorer than the ecological reasoning approach. In addition, the performance of the rules based on ecological reasoning remained stable, whereas DFA performance changed between calibration and validation. 4. Although not defined for this purpose, our study provided alarming evidence regarding the impact of cargo‐ship traffic on invertebrate communities in river reaches. Reaches with cargo‐ship traffic were found to have more genera with long life cycles that reproduce repeatedly by ovoviviparity and have a sessile life. 5. The performance of our trait‐based approach to correctly assign reaches to either least impacted or impacted conditions should promote further research on the topic across larger geographic areas (without regionalization) and across smaller stream types to provide a powerful biomonitoring tool that fulfils current European Union directives.     

Influence of temperature and spawning effort on Haliotis tuberculata mortalities caused by Vibrio harveyi: an example of emerging vibriosis linked to global warming

Since 1998, Haliotis tuberculata mass mortalities have been occurring regularly in wild abalone populations in France during their reproductive period and in conjunction with seawater summer temperature maxima and Vibrio harveyi presence. To confirm the importance of bacterial exposure, temperature and reproductive status on abalone susceptibility, experimental infections via bath exposure were performed using abalone ranging from immature to reproductively mature. Ripe abalone were more susceptible to the bacterium than immature specimens ( P <0.001), and a difference of only 1 °C in temperature had a highly significant impact on the mortalities ( P <0.001). The natural mortalities that were surveyed during summer 2007 confirmed that recent epidemic losses of European abalone appeared in conjunction with host reproductive stress, elevated temperatures and presence of the pathogen V. harveyi . In view of the elevation of the mean summer temperatures observed in Brittany and Normandy over the last 25 years, this temperature-dependent vibriosis represents a new case of emerging disease associated with global warming.     

Emergent effects of ground beetles size diversity on the strength of prey suppression

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