Impact of Atta colombica Colonies on Understory Vegetation and Light Availability in a Neotropical Forest1

We quantified patterns of vegetation removal and light availability above Atta colombica nests on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Ants cleared vegetation less than 1 cm in diameter from an area of 77 m², and up to 3 m above ground level. Overall light availability 1.5 m above ground level was 49 percent greater at ant nest sites than at sites in undisturbed understory. These higher light levels fell within the range known to enhance growth of both shade tolerant and pioneer species.     

Rainfall and parasitic wasp (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) activity in successional forest stages at Barro Colorado Nature Monument, Panama, and La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

1 In 1997, we ran two Malaise insect traps in each of four stands of wet forest in Costa Rica (two old‐growth and two 20‐year‐old stands) and four stands of moist forest in Panama (old‐growth, 20, 40 and 120‐year‐old stands). 2 Wet forest traps caught 2.32 times as many ichneumonoids as moist forest traps. The average catch per old‐growth trap was 1.89 times greater than the average catch per second‐growth trap. 3 Parasitoids of lepidopteran larvae were caught in higher proportions in the wet forest, while pupal parasitoids were relatively more active in the moist forest. 4 We hypothesize that moisture availability is of key importance in determining parasitoid activity, community composition and trophic interactions.     

三种荒漠地衣共生菌藻的耐热性研究

作为沙漠生物地毯工程研究的组成部分,对荒漠地衣石果衣Endocarpon pusillum、节瘤微孢衣Acarospora nodulosa以及荒漠微孢衣A. schleicheri的共生菌藻进行了耐热性研究。结果表明,3种荒漠地衣的共生菌藻在湿润条件下对温度的最大忍受力仅为50℃,而在干燥条件下石果衣的共生菌藻的最大忍受力均为75℃,而其他两种地衣共生菌藻的最大忍受力均为80℃。3种荒漠地衣共生菌、藻分别对高温胁迫的耐受力,在干燥状态下均比在湿润状态下明显增高。     

黄柄钙皮菌的生活史

利用基物培养、燕麦-琼脂培养技术及扫描电镜技术研究了黄柄钙皮菌的个体发育过程,在燕麦琼脂培养基上完成了从孢子到孢子的生活史。结果表明,生活史包括单核的黏变形体或游动胞、多核的营养体原质团以及孢子形成阶段。孢子球形,表面具疣突。孢子萌发为裂式,释放1黏变形体。黏变形体行变形运动,在有水的条件下,可转变为游动胞并游动。可观察到1长具极性的鞭毛。合子形成原质团。成熟原质团棕色。原质团类型为显型,具有扇形网络状菌脉。琼脂培养基上获得的黄柄钙皮菌孢子与野生型相似,并具有可育性。     

Epizoochorous dispersal by barbs, hooks, and spines in a lowland moist forest in central French Guiana

An analysis of the flowering plant flora of a lowland moist forest in central French Guiana reveals 25 species with adaptations for epizoochorous dispersal by barbs, hooks, or spines (stick-tights). This represents 1.5% of the flowering plant flora. Stick-tights are represented among the monocotyledons of the flora of central French Guiana by five species of Poaceae. The Fabaceae and Asteraceae, each with six species with stick-tight dispersal, are the richest families of flowering plants in terms of stick-tight dispersal in central French Guiana. This region possesses numerous potential mammal and bird dispersal agents, therefore it is a puzzle why stick-tight dispersal, especially among species of the canopy, is not more frequent.     

Primary Seed Dispersal by Red Howler Monkeys and the Effect of Defecation Patterns on the Fate of Dispersed Seeds1

The effectiveness of a seed disperser depends on the quantity and quality of dispersal. The quality of dispersal depends in large part on factors that affect the post–dispersal fate of seeds, and yet this aspect of dispersal quality is rarely assessed. In the particular case of seed dispersal through endozoochory, the defecation pattern produced has the potential of affecting the fate of dispersed seeds and consequently, dispersal quality and effectiveness. In this study, I assessed the effects of dung presence and dung/seed densities on seed predation by rodents and secondary dispersal by dung beetles. In particular, I compared seed fates in clumped defecation patterns, as those produced by howler monkeys, with seed fates in scattered defecation patterns, as those produced by other frugivores. I also determined the prevalence of red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus) as seed dispersers at the plant community level in Central Amazonia by determining the number of species they dispersed in a 25–month period. I found that dung presence and amount affected rodent and dung beetle behavior. Seed predation rates were higher when dung was present, and when it was in higher densities. The same number of seeds was buried by dung beedes, in dumped versus scattered defecation patterns, but more seeds were buried when they were inside large dung–piles versus small piles. Seed density had no effect on rodent or dung beetle behavior. Results indicate that caution should be taken when categorizing an animal as a high or low quality seed disperser before carefully examining the factors that affect the fate of dispersed seeds. Red howler monkeys dispersed the seeds of 137 species during the study period, which is the highest yet reported number for an Alouatta species, and should thus be considered highly prevalent seed dispersers at the plant community level in Central Amazonian terra firme rain forests.     

Relationships between spatial configuration of tropical forest patches and woody plant diversity in northeastern Puerto Rico

The destruction and fragmentation of tropical forests are major sources of global biodiversity loss. A better understanding of anthropogenically altered landscapes and their relationships with species diversity and composition is needed in order to protect biodiversity in these environments. The spatial patterns of a landscape may control the ecological processes that shape species diversity and composition. However, there is little information about how plant diversity varies with the spatial configuration of forest patches especially in fragmented tropical habitats. The northeastern part of Puerto Rico provides the opportunity to study the relationships between species richness and composition of woody plants (shrubs and trees) and spatial variables [i.e., patch area and shape, patch isolation, connectivity, and distance to the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF)] in tropical forest patches that have regenerated from pasturelands. The spatial data were obtained from aerial color photographs from year 2000. Each photo interpretation was digitized into a GIS package, and 12 forest patches (24–34 years old) were selected within a study area of 28 km². The woody plant species composition of the patches was determined by a systematic floristic survey. The species diversity (Shannon index) and species richness of woody plants correlated positively with the area and the shape of the forest patch. Larger patches, and patches with more habitat edge or convolution, provided conditions for a higher diversity of woody plants. Moreover, the distance of the forest patches to the LEF, which is a source of propagules, correlated negatively with species richness. Plant species composition was also related to patch size and shape and distance to the LEF. These results indicate that there is a link between landscape structure and species diversity and composition and that patches that have similar area, shape, and distance to the LEF provide similar conditions for the existence of a particular plant community. In addition, forest patches that were closer together had more similarity in woody plant species composition than patches that were farther apart, suggesting that seed dispersal for some species is limited at the scale of 10 km.     

Nitrogen availability increases in a tundra ecosystem during five years of experimental permafrost thaw

Perennially frozen soil in high latitude ecosystems (permafrost) currently stores 1330–1580 Pg of carbon (C). As these ecosystems warm, the thaw and decomposition of permafrost is expected to release large amounts of C to the atmosphere. Fortunately, losses from the permafrost C pool will be partially offset by increased plant productivity. The degree to which plants are able to sequester C, however, will be determined by changing nitrogen (N) availability in these thawing soil profiles. N availability currently limits plant productivity in tundra ecosystems but plant access to N is expected improve as decomposition increases in speed and extends to deeper soil horizons. To evaluate the relationship between permafrost thaw and N availability, we monitored N cycling during 5 years of experimentally induced permafrost thaw at the Carbon in Permafrost Experimental Heating Research (CiPEHR) project. Inorganic N availability increased significantly in response to deeper thaw and greater soil moisture induced by Soil warming. This treatment also prompted a 23% increase in aboveground biomass and a 49% increase in foliar N pools. The sedge Eriophorum vaginatum responded most strongly to warming: this species explained 91% of the change in aboveground biomass during the 5 year period. Air warming had little impact when applied alone, but when applied in combination with Soil warming, growing season soil inorganic N availability was significantly reduced. These results demonstrate that there is a strong positive relationship between the depth of permafrost thaw and N availability in tundra ecosystems but that this relationship can be diminished by interactions between increased thaw, warmer air temperatures, and higher levels of soil moisture. Within 5 years of permafrost thaw, plants actively incorporate newly available N into biomass but C storage in live vascular plant biomass is unlikely to be greater than losses from deep soil C pools.     

珍稀濒危植物长蕊木兰种群的年龄结构与空间分布

珍稀濒危植物长蕊木兰为国家Ⅰ级保护植物。然而,由于受研究尺度和分析方法的限制,对其种群生态特征等方面仍不清楚。以云南高黎贡山原生的中山湿性常绿阔叶林4 hm2样地调查数据为基础,应用Ripley的L函数分析了长蕊木兰种群的年龄结构与空间分布格局。研究发现:(1)长蕊木兰种群的年龄结构为反"J"型,属稳定型种群。(2)长蕊木兰种群个体的空间分布格局与空间尺度关系密切,空间尺度小于75 m时为聚集分布,大于75 m时为随机分布。生境异质性在长蕊木兰种群空间分布格局的形成中可能发挥了重要的作用。(3)不同发育阶段个体的空间分布格局存在明显的差异,中树和小树阶段的分布格局在中、小尺度上呈聚集分布,在较大尺度上呈随机分布;大树阶段在整个空间尺度上均呈现随机分布。(4)长蕊木兰不同发育阶段的空间关联性主要表现为中、小尺度上的负相关,在较大尺度上则趋向于无关联。