Plant phylogeny drives arboreal caterpillar assemblages across the Holarctic

1. Assemblages of insect herbivores are structured by plant traits such as nutrient content, secondary metabolites, physical traits, and phenology. Many of these traits are phylogenetically conserved, implying a decrease in trait similarity with increasing phylogenetic distance of the host plant taxa. Thus, a metric of phylogenetic distances and relationships can be considered a proxy for phylogenetically conserved plant traits and used to predict variation in herbivorous insect assemblages among co‐occurring plant species.
2. Using a Holarctic dataset of exposed‐feeding and shelter‐building caterpillars, we aimed at showing how phylogenetic relationships among host plants explain compositional changes and characteristics of herbivore assemblages.
3. Our plant–caterpillar network data derived from plot‐based samplings at three different continents included >28,000 individual caterpillar–plant interactions. We tested whether increasing phylogenetic distance of the host plants leads to a decrease in caterpillar assemblage overlap. We further investigated to what degree phylogenetic isolation of a host tree species within the local community explains abundance, density, richness, and mean specialization of its associated caterpillar assemblage.
4. The overlap of caterpillar assemblages decreased with increasing phylogenetic distance among the host tree species. Phylogenetic isolation of a host plant within the local plant community was correlated with lower richness and mean specialization of the associated caterpillar assemblages. Phylogenetic isolation had no effect on caterpillar abundance or density. The effects of plant phylogeny were consistent across exposed‐feeding and shelter‐building caterpillars.
5. Our study reveals that distance metrics obtained from host plant phylogeny are useful predictors to explain compositional turnover among hosts and host‐specific variations in richness and mean specialization of associated insect herbivore assemblages in temperate broadleaf forests. As phylogenetic information of plant communities is becoming increasingly available, further large‐scale studies are needed to investigate to what degree plant phylogeny structures herbivore assemblages in other biomes and ecosystems.

     

Seasonal changes in net photosynthesis rates and photosynthetic capacity in leaves of Cistus salvifolius,a European mediterranean semi-deciduous shrub

Summary During five different periods between Nov. 1982 and Aug. 1983, the diurnal patterns exhibited in photosynthetic CO₂ uptake and stomatal conductance were observed under natural conditions on twigs of Cistus salvifolius, a Mediterranean semi-deciduous shrub which retains a significant proportion of its leaves through the summer drought. During the same periods, net photosynthesis at saturating CO₂ partial pressure was measured on the same twigs as a function of irradiance at different temperatures. From these data, photosynthetic capacity, defined here as the CO₂- and light-saturated net photosynthesis rate, was obtained as a function of leaf temperature. C. salvifolius is a winter growing species, shoot growth being initiated in Nov. and continuing through May. Photosynthetic capacity was quite high in Nov., March and June, exceeding 40 mol m^-2 s^-1 at optimum temperature. In Dec., photosynthetic capacity was somewhat reduced, perhaps due to low night-time temperatures (<5°C) during the measurement period. In Aug., capacity in oversummering shoots at optimum temperature fell to less than 8 mol m^-2 s^-1, due to water trees and perhaps leaf aging. Seasonal changes in maximal photosynthetic rates under ambient conditions were similar, and like those found in co-occurring evergreen sclerophylls. Like the evergreens, Cistus demonstrated considerable stomatal control of transpirational water loss, particularly in oversummering leaves. During each measurement period except Aug. when capacity was quite low, the maximum rates of net photosynthesis measured under ambient conditions were less than half the measured photosynthetic capacities at comparable temperatures, suggesting an apparent excess nitrogen investment in the photosynthetic apparatus.     

Infidelity of leafcutting ants to host plants: resource heterogeneity or defense induction?

Summary Leafcutting ants have strong among- and within-plant preferences, and generally abandon plants long before they are completely defoliated. Two tropical deciduous forest tree species preferred by the leafcutting ant Atta colombica were studied to determine how variation in resource quality affects ant selectivity and partial defoliation of plants. Significant differences in palatability and leaf characteristics of Spondias mombin and Bursera simaruba were found among trees and among leaf types within trees, but not among branches within trees. No short-term responses to experimental defoliation of up to 50% of total canopy were found in either species. Leaf nutrient and poisture content were positively correlated, and phenolic content negatively correlated, with the palatability of Spondias mombin, a species containing hydrolyzable tannins. Leaf moisture and phenolic content were both positively correlated with the palatability of Bursera simaruba, which contains predominantly condensed tannins. The results suggest that variation in leaf quality among and within plants is at least a partial explanation for ant selectivity and partial defoliation of preferred species. There is no evidence that rapidly induced changes in plant chemistry affect ant decisions to abandon these plants. Instead, it appears likely that ants abandon plants once high-quality leaf patches are exhausted. Quantitative variation in leaf nutrients, moisture, and secondary chemicals all appear to contribute to ant preferences for individuals and tissues of highly palatable plants.     

Study of physiopathological phenomena in dental enamel by neutron activation analysis

An epithermal neutron activation method is used to determine the concentration of mineral elements in human dental enamel. A large number (252) of samples from ancient and modern origins are analyzed. The analytical results are mathematically processed using a statistical multivariant method. This allows to differentiate deciduous from permanent teeth and decayed from sound enamel. It is also possible to distinguish the teeth coming from two different necropoles. The origin and the localization of determined elements in the mineralized part, or in the aqueous-organic part, of enamel is suggested. Their role, as witnessed in the physiopathological phenomena of dental enamel, is discussed.     

田林老山中山两类森林凋落物研究

田林老山中山两类森林凋落物研究梁宏温（广西农学院林学分院,南宁５３０００１）ＳｔｕｄｉｅｓｏｎｔｈｅＬｉｔｔｅｒｆａｌｌｏｆＴｗｏＦｏｒｅｓｔＴｙｐｃｓｉｎＭｉｄ—ＡｌｔｉｔｕｄｅｏｆＬａｏｓｈａｎＭｏｕｎｔａｉｎｉｎＴｉａｎｌｉｎＣｏｕｎｔｙ．￥Ｌ...     

Biomass and carbon storage of the North American deciduous forest

Field measures of tree and shrub dimensions were used with established biomass equations in a stratified, two-stage cluster sampling design to estimate above-ground ovendry woody biomass and carbon storage of the eastern deciduous forest of North America. Biomass averaged 8.1 ± 1.4 (95% C.I.) kg/m² and totaled 18.1 ± 3.1 (95% C.I.) gigatons. Carbon storage averaged 3.6 ± 0.6 (95% C.I.) kg/m² and totaled 8.1 ± 1.4 (95% C.I.) gigatons. These values are lower than previous estimates commonly used in the analysis of the global carbon budget which range from 17.1 to 23.1 kg/m² for biomass and 7.7 to 10.4 kg/m² for carbon storage. These new estimates for the deciduous forest, together with earlier work in the boreal forest begin to reveal a pattern of overestimation of global carbon storage by vegetation in analyses of the global carbon budget. We discuss reasons for the differences between the new and earlier estimates, as well as implications for our understanding of the global carbon cycle.     

Posterior dental size reduction in hominids: The Atapuerca evidence

In order to reassess previous hypotheses concerning dental size reduction of the posterior teeth during Pleistocene human evolution, current fossil dental evidence is examined. This evidence includes the large sample of hominid teeth found in recent excavations (1984–1993) in the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene cave site of the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain). The lower fourth premolars and molars of the Atapuerca hominids, probably older than 300 Kyr, have dimensions similar to those of modern humans. Further, these hominids share the derived state of other features of the posterior teeth with modern humans, such as a similar relative molar size and frequent absence of the hypoconulid, thus suggesting a possible case of parallelism. We believe that dietary changes allowed size reduction of the posterior teeth during the Middle Pleistocene, and the present evidence suggests that the selective pressures that operated on the size variability of these teeth were less restrictive than what is assumed by previous models of dental reduction. Thus, the causal relationship between tooth size decrease and changes in food-preparation techniques during the Pleistocene should be reconsidered. Moreover, the present evidence indicates that the differential reduction of the molars cannot be explained in terms of restriction of available growth space. The molar crown area measurements of a modern human sample were also investigated. The results of this study, as well as previous similar analyses, suggest that a decrease of the rate of cell proliferation, which affected the later-forming crown regions to a greater extent, may be the biological process responsible for the general and differential dental size reduction that occurred during human evolution. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

鹞落坪落叶阔叶林蔷薇科主要树种的空间分布格局及种间关联性

为探讨大别山森林群落的构建和演替机制, 本文基于安徽鹞落坪落叶阔叶林11.56 ha动态监测样地的定位监测资料, 采用最近邻分析和O-ring函数、Monte Carlo拟合和零模型选取的方法, 分析了落叶阔叶林蔷薇科主要树种水榆花楸(Sorbus alnifolia)、山樱花(Cerasus serrulata)和中华石楠(Photinia beauverdiana)不同年龄阶段的空间分布格局及种间关联性。结果表明: (1)在整个样地中3个树种的小树和成年树阶段都为聚集分布, 且随年龄增加聚集性减弱, 在老树阶段转为随机和均匀分布。(2)在0-50 m尺度范围内, 以完全随机模型(complete spatial randomness, CSR)为零假设时, 3个树种整体及小树都在小尺度(≤ 10 m)上呈聚集分布, 成年树与老树多为随机分布。以异质性泊松模型(heterogeneous Poisson, HP)为零假设时, 树种的聚集与生境异质性间呈负相关, 3个树种只在≤ 4 m尺度上出现聚集现象。(3) 3个树种种内各个年龄段之间在较大范围内多为负相关和无显著相关性, 同时各树种及不同年龄段之间受种间竞争和密度制约效应影响在小尺度上(≤ 10 m)多为负相关, 随尺度增加相关性减弱。综合而言, 大别山落叶阔叶林中蔷薇科植物的分布格局整体上多为聚集分布, 随树龄增加聚集性减弱, 在中大尺度上受生境异质性效应的影响显著, 在小尺度上多为负相关, 各树种内部各龄级相互之间也多为负相关。