Evidence that predator satiation may restrict the spatial spread of a tussock moth (Orgyia vetusta) outbreak

Western tussock moths (Orgyia vetusta Bdv., Lymantriidae) infest one stand of bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus Sims, Fabaceae) heavily and several other stands very lightly at the Bodega Marine Reserve (Sonoma Co., Calif., USA). We found that the disappearance rates of experimentally placed larvae and pupae were consistently lower in the outbreak area than in non-outbreak areas. For pupae but not larvae, this difference was removed by using tanglefoot to repel nonflying predators. However, the major nonflying predator of pupae, the ant Formica lasioides, was no more abundant in non-outbreak areas than in the outbreak area. We found inverse density-dependence in the rate of attack by F. lasioides on experimental pupae, suggesting this generalist predator is satiated within the outbreak area, but preys more heavily on the moth where the moth is sparse.     

Experimental and observational evidence reveals that predators in natural environments do not regulate their prey: They are passengers,not drivers

Among both ecologists and the wider community there is a tacit assumption that predators regulate populations of their prey. But there is evidence from a wide taxonomic and geographic range of studies that predators that are adapted to co-evolved prey generally do not regulate their prey. This is because predators either cannot reproduce as fast as their prey and/or are inefficient hunters unable to catch enough prey to sustain maximum reproduction. The greater capacity of herbivores to breed successfully is, however, normally restricted by a lack of enough food of sufficient quality to support reproduction. But whenever this shortage is alleviated by a large pulse of food, herbivores increase their numbers to outbreak levels. Their predators are unable to contain this increase, but their numbers, too, surge in response to this increase in food. Eventually both their populations will crash once the food supply runs out, first for the herbivores and then for the predators. Then an “over-run” of predators will further depress the already declining prey population, appearing to be controlling its abundance. This latter phenomenon has led many ecologists to conclude that predators are regulating the numbers of their prey. However, it is the same process that is revealed during outbreaks that limits populations of both predator and prey in “normal” times, although this is usually not readily apparent. Nevertheless, as all the diverse cases discussed here attest, the abundance of predators and their co-evolved prey are both limited by their food: the predators are passengers, not drivers.     

Radial growth of Scots pine in urban and rural populations of Ekaterinburg megalopolis

Eleven stands of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) from the city of Ekaterinburg and its surroundings were sampled and analyzed using dendrochronological methods to detect the effects of climate, biotic and anthropogenic factors on the annual growth of trees. Tree-ring chronologies were developed for six sites within the city and for five control sites. All chronologies were highly and positively correlated before the 1940s. However, after this period, there was a significant decrease in the correlation among chronologies from urban and rural sites. Divergence lasted about 20 years. This firstly has an anthropogenic cause, mainly due to the evacuation in 1941 of more than 60 industrial factories to Sverdlovsk (now Ekaterinburg), which generated a significant increase in air pollution. Environmental pollution seems to negatively affect tree growth. In the early 1950s, trees in the region also suffered from severe droughts. The results of climate and historical data analysis suggest that the trees on urban sites were weakened by both climate and air pollution factors, which led to a massive nun moth (Lymantria monacha L.) infestation of trees. Defoliation led to a drastic reduction in tree-ring width and, in some cases, to the complete loss of annual rings. The recovery period lasted 10–15 years on average. Rural populations were much less affected by the insect outbreak. After urban populations of pine recovered in the 1960s, radial growth of urban and rural populations became synchronized again.     

Recurrent and synchronous insect pest outbreaks in forests

A minimal model for the interactions of trees, insects, and their enemies suggests a simple formula for splitting all forests where insect outbreaks can occur into two categories: where outbreaks are periodic and endogenously generated and where outbreaks are triggered by exogenous factors and are, in general, recurrent but aperiodic. The formula is in full agreement with all field studies in which various phenomena triggering insect outbreaks have been identified. The observed consequences of introductions and removals of insects are also well predicted by the minimal model. But, even more surprisingly, the model allows a simple and explicit condition for the synchronization of outbreaks in spatially extended forests to be derived analytically. This condition is, in general, satisfied when the insect is a so-called pest, that is, when the outbreaks are extreme. The model also predicts the possibility of traveling waves of insect outbreaks.     

Herbivory and climatic warming: a Mediterranean outbreaking caterpillar attacks a relict, boreal pine species

Climate change can harm many species by disrupting existing interactions or by favouring new ones. This study analyses the foreseeable consequences of climatic warming in the distribution and dynamics of a Mediterranean pest that causes severe defoliation, the pine processionary caterpillar Thaumetopoea pityocampa, and the effects upon the relict Andalusian Scots pine Pinus sylvestris nevadensis in the Sierra Nevada mountains (southeastern Spain). We correlated a set of regional data of infestation by T. pityocampa upon Scots pine, from a broad ecological gradient, with climatic data for the period 1991–2001, characterized by alternating warm and cold winters. Defoliation intensity shows a significant association with previous warm winters, implying that climatic warming will intensify the interaction between the pest and the Scots pine. The homogeneous structure of the afforested pine woodlands favours the outbreak capacity of the newcomer, promoting this new interaction between a Mediterranean caterpillar pest and a boreal tree at its southern distribution limit.     

The effect of wilting on palatability of plants to Schistocerca gregaria,the desert locust

Summary Previous work has shown that host choice by acridids (grasshoppers and locusts) is sensitive to alterations in host quality. In particular, reduced plant water content has been found to increase palatability of certain plant species. To determine if this phenomenon is general, and to gain preliminary information on causes, turgid and wilted plant material of forty-one species was tested using nymphs of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria. Twelve plant species (29%) had increased and five (12%) had decreased palatability (as measured by meal size) when wilted. Among fifteen families tested, the increases occurred in six, the decreases in three. The greatest change occurred in Taraxacum officinale; further tests on this plant revealed the increase to be continuous, rising with decreasing water content. The behavioral observations combined with the pattern of the results across plant species suggest that changes are due to alterations in specific deterrents or stimulants, rather than to decreased water content or increased concentrations of amino acids and/or sugars. The implications of these results for understanding drought-associated population outbreaks are discussed.     

混交林和纯竹林与毛竹害螨爆发成灾关系研究

报道在福建省6个不同生态区域内检查10对纯竹林与混交林受南京裂爪螨(Schizotetranychus nanjingensis)、竹缺爪螨(Aponychus corpuzae)、竹刺瘿螨(Aculus bambusae)对毛竹危害情况．结果表明,纯竹林受螨害重,危害指数达22．1％～44．7％,平均35％．混交林受害轻,危害指数为2．7％～28．6％,平均17．5％,混交林与纯竹林之间受害程度经t-测验表明均达到极显著差异．6个样地中纯竹林害螨总量高于其相对的混交林。分别达67．74％、152．47％、299．5％、857．75％、331．67％、26．55％。平均为289．28％;调查混交林天敌竹盲走螨(Typhlodromus bambusae)总量分别比相对纯竹林高95．45％、-18．13％、207．69％、837．5％、190．3％,平均262．5％．纯竹林中益、害螨比例分别达1：27、1：21、1：233、1：282、1：27,平均1：118,而其相对的混交林益、害螨比例为1：12、1：12、1：30、1：3、1：3、1：20,平均1：13．由此可见,纯竹林受螨害程度、害螨总量平均是混交林的2倍,而天敌数量少于相对混交林的2～3倍,益、害螨比例显著低于混交林(t=2．975,P=0．003)．本项研究揭示了由于受人为干扰(集约化管理、劈草、垦复)破坏了毛竹林原有的益螨-害螨-寄主植物之间相对稳定的平衡。导致毛竹害螨种群突发性增长,证明了纯竹林是诱发毛竹害螨爆发成灾成因的重要因素之一。     

Foodborne cryptosporidiosis

Foodborne illness, the majority of which is caused by enteric infectious agents, costs global economies billions of dollars each year. The protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium is particularly suited to foodborne transmission and is responsible for >8?million cases of foodborne illness annually. Procedures have been developed for sensitive detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts on fresh produce and molecular diagnostic assays have been widely used in case linkages and infection source tracking, especially during outbreak investigations. The integrated use of advanced diagnostic techniques with conventional epidemiological studies is essential to improve our understanding of the occurrence, source and epidemiology of foodborne cryptosporidiosis. The implementation of food safety management tools such as Good Hygienic Practices (GHP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), and Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) in industrialised nations and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) in developing countries is central for prevention and control and foodborne cryptosporidiosis in the future.     

Predicting impacts of global warming on population dynamics and distribution of arthropods in Japan

The mean surface temperature rose by 1.0°C over the last 40 years in Japan. Changes in the pest status, distribution range, winter mortality, and the synchronization in phenology were examined. The increase in the number of annual generations of each taxon was predicted based on the lower developmental threshold and the thermal constant. Increasing damage due to rice- and fruit-infesting bugs, their simultaneous outbreaks and the poleward geographic spread observed for six species may be triggered by global warming. The winter mortality of adults of Nezara viridula and Halyomorpha halys is predicted to be reduced by 15% by each rise of 1°C. More than 50 species of butterflies showed northward range expansions and ten species of previously migrant butterflies established on Nansei Islands during 1966–1987. Global warming may be responsible for the recent decline in abundance of Plutella xylostella and the increase in Helicoverpa armigera and Trichoplusia ni. In general, global warming may work in favour of natural enemies (except for spiders) by increasing the number of generations more than in their host species. Biological control utilizing native natural enemies is expected to become a more important control tactic in the future. Greenhouse culture may provide a model of a temperate agroecosystem after global warming. The increasing occurrence of alien species of tropical origin in association with the increase in pesticide applications might be expected. Interception of alien pests by plant quarantine followed by integrated pest management is needed.     

A new duplex PCR assay for the rapid screening of mating-type idiomorphs of pathogenic Sporothrix species

Sporothrix schenckii and allied species are thermodimorphic fungi widely distributed in nature which causes human and animal sporotrichosis, the most common subcutaneous mycosis globally. Sporotrichosis is acquired after a traumatic inoculation of soil or plant material contaminated with Sporothrix propagules or through bites and scratches from diseased cats. In Ascomycota, the master regulators of sex are MAT genes that lie in a single mating-type locus, in Sporothrix these are determined by two nonhomologous alleles, MAT1-1 and MAT1-2. We assessed the whole-genome sequences of medically relevant Sporothrix to develop a single-tube duplex PCR assay to screen S. brasiliensis, S. schenckii, S. globosa, and S. luriei idiomorphs (MAT1-1 or MAT1-2) and understand the distribution and incidence of mating-type strains from natural populations. Using our duplex PCR assay, a 673 bp amplicon (α-box protein) was consistently amplified from all MAT1-1 isolates, while a 291 bp fragment was only amplified from the isolates harboring MAT1-2 (HMG box). Molecular evidence suggests heterothallism (self-sterility) as the unique mating strategy among the species evaluated. The mating-type identity of 93 isolates revealed a nearly equal distribution (1:1 ratio) of mating type alleles within species but deviating between different outbreak areas. Remarkably, for S. brasiliensis in Rio de Janeiro, we report an overwhelming occurrence of MAT1-2 (1:13 ratio; χ² = 10.286, P = 0.0013) opposing the high prevalence MAT1-1 in the Rio Grande do Sul (10:1 ratio; χ² = 7.364, P = 0.0067). Therefore, the population structure of Sporothrix species refers from paucity to regular cycles of sexual recombination in most of the studied regions. Our PCR-based mating-type diagnostic assay is proposed here as an important marker to track the geographical expansion during the long-lasting outbreak of cat-transmitted sporotrichosis driven by S. brasiliensis.