Soils, climate change and the OECD

Some concepts of sustainability applied to soils are given in relation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Co-operative Research Programme 'Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems'. The application of these concepts to climate change will be discussed in relation to seven high-profile papers published over the past 12 months. It is argued that multi-disciplinary (including social science) approaches are needed to address the issues. There is also a brief discussion on biomass energy in terms of soil sustainability and climate change.     

Natterer’s bat (Myotis nattereri Kuhl, 1818) hawks for prey close to vegetation using echolocation signals of very broad bandwidth

We present a hitherto unknown prey perception strategy in bats: Myotis nattereri (Vespertilionidae, Chiroptera) is able to perceive prey by echolocation within a few centimeters of echo-cluttering vegetation, by using frequency-modulated search signals of very large bandwidth (up to 135 kHz). We describe the species’ search behavior and echolocation repertoire from the field and from experiments in a flight tent. In the field, bats varied signal parameters in relation to their distance from vegetation and usually flew close to vegetation. In the flight tent, M. nattereri detected and localized prey by echolocation alone as close as 5 cm from vegetation. Apparently, the bats were able to tolerate some overlap between prey and clutter echoes. Passive prey cues (vision, olfaction, prey-generated sounds) were not used in prey perception. The bats selected prey by size. The animals performed aerial catches and produced approach sequences typical for aerial hawking bats, but were able to do so within a few centimeters of the substrate. M. nattereri thus has access to silent, suspended prey very close to vegetation (e.g., spiders, and caterpillars on threads). Received: 29 September 1999 / Received in revised form: 12 February 2000 / Accepted: 12 February 2000     

Experimental evidence of a testosterone-induced shift from paternal to mating behaviour in a facultatively polygynous songbird

Previous studies have suggested that testosterone (T) profiles of male birds reflect a trade-off between mate attraction behaviours (requiring high T levels) and parental care activities (requiring low T levels). In this study, we experimentally elevated T levels of monogamous males in the facultatively polygynous European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), and compared mate attraction and paternal behaviour of T-treated males with those of controls (C-males). T-males significantly reduced their participation in incubation and fed nestlings significantly less often than C-males. Females paired to T-treated males did not compensate for their mate’s lower paternal effort. The observed reduction in a male’s investment in incubating the eggs was accompanied by an increased investment in typical female-attracting behaviours: T-males spent a significantly higher proportion of their time singing to attract additional females. They also occupied more additional nestboxes than C-males, although the differences just failed to be significant, and carried significantly more green nesting materials into an additional nestbox (a behaviour previously shown to serve a courtship function). T-males also behaved significantly more aggressively than C-males. During the nestling period, the frequency of mate-attracting behaviours by T-treated and control males no longer differed significantly. Despite the reduced paternal effort by T-males and the lack of compensation behaviour by females, hatching and breeding success did not differ significantly between T- and C-pairs. Received: 7 February 2000 / Revised: 10 August 2000 / Accepted: 3 September 2000     

Ectoparasites of house sparrows (Passer domesticus): an experimental test of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis and a new model

Conspicuous secondary sexual traits may have evolved as handicap-revealing signals or as badges of status. We present results of an experiment using males of the sexually dimorphic house sparrow (Passer domesticus), that support the idea that the male-specific bib can be both a handicap-revealing signal and a reliable badge indicating the physical condition of the bird. In a test of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis, wild-caught adult male house sparrows were studied in captivity. Birds implanted with elevated doses of testosterone were more dominant, had higher circulating levels of both testosterone and corticosterone and they also harboured relatively larger ectoparasite loads. Higher parasite loads were also associated with individuals showing lower immunocompetence and larger changes in bib size. A new model for immunocompetence effects in sexual selection is introduced, integrating actions that the hypothalamopituitary axis exerts on gonads, adrenals and the thyroid gland. The ”integrated immunocompetence model” synthesizes both the ”handicap” (i.e. survival-decreasing) and ”badge of status” (i.e. survival- enhancing) models for evolution of secondary sexual traits. Received: 15 May 1999 / Received in revised form: 2 November 1999 / Accepted: 6 November 1999     

The effect of pup vocalisations on food allocation in a cooperative mammal, the meerkat (Suricata suricatta)

In the meerkat (Suricata suricatta), a cooperative mongoose, pups follow potential feeders while the group is foraging and emit incessant calls when soliciting food from them. In contrast to a ’stationary’ brood of chicks, in which nestlings are fed at a fixed location, meerkat pups are ’mobile’ and become spread out. The question arises whether meerkat pups that experience different constraints to those facing chicks have evolved similar begging strategies. This paper describes the vocalisations that meerkat pups emit in the context of begging and investigates the influence of these calls on food allocation by older group members and on the behaviour of littermates. Meerkat pups use two types of calls when soliciting food from a potential feeder. The most common is a ’repeat’ call, which pups emit continuously when following an older forager over several hours a day. In addition, when a potential feeder finds a prey item, the pups next to it emit a bout of calls with increased calling rate, amplitude and fundamental frequency, termed ’high-pitched’ calls. Observations, together with playback experiments, showed that more prey was allocated to pups that called longer and more intensely. The pup closest to a feeder was almost always fed. The probability of emitting high-pitched calls did not depend on the time since a pup had received food, and the change from repeat to high-pitched calls occurred suddenly. The main function of the high-pitched call, therefore, does not appear to be to signal a pup’s hunger state. More likely, the two calls, in the context of begging, may be an adaptation to energetic constraints in a mobile feeding system. Pups, which are dispersed during foraging, may emit repeat calls over long periods to prevent potential feeders from eating all the prey themselves. At the moment a potential feeder finds prey, pups may give the more intense high-pitched calls to direct feeders to bring the food item to them and not to a littermate. Therefore, unlike the stationary feeding system where chicks emit one type of begging call when the feeder approaches the nest, meerkats, with a mobile feeding system, have evolved two discrete types of vocalisations in the context of begging. Received: 22 November 1999 / Revised: 1 July 2000 / Accepted: 17 July 2000     

Assessing the Geographic Representativeness of Genebank Collections: the Case of Bolivian Wild Potatoes

Abstract: Genebank collection databases can be used for ecogeographical studies under the assumption that the accessions are a geographically unbiased sample. We evaluated the representativeness of a collection of wild potatoes from Bolivia and defined and assessed four types of bias: species, species-area, hotspot, and infrastructure. Species bias is the sampling of some species more often than others. Species-area bias is a sampling that is disproportionate to the total area in which a species is found. Hotspot bias is the disproportionate sampling of areas with high levels of diversity. Infrastructure bias is the disproportionate sampling of areas near roads and towns. Each of these biases is present in the Bolivian wild potato collection. The infrastructure bias was strong: 60% of all wild potato accessions were collected within 2 km of a road, as opposed to 22%, if collections had been made randomly. This analysis can serve as a guide for future collecting trips. It can also provide baseline information for the application of genebank data in studies based on geographic information systems.     

Demographic Forecasting in Koala Conservation

Abstract: The koala currently needs conservation intervention. There is clear evidence of decline in many populations, but the existence of other stable or expanding populations offers the possibility of a variety of creative solutions to their conservation problems. The 1998 National Koala Conservation Strategy emphasizes the need to obtain demographic information and to use this information to assess management options for koalas. We need accurate diagnoses of the status of koala populations and forecasts of their demographic future with and without particular management actions. In a qualitative fashion, this process has been undertaken many times on a local and national scale. Quantitative demographic forecasting tools are increasingly available, and koala management could benefit from their application both at the scale of individual populations and more broadly. There is already a considerable body of suitable data on the dispersal, effects of normal and catastrophic environmental variation on reproduction and survival, and on the effects of habitat change. Demographic forecasting, however, is hampered because the full suite of information is rarely available from a single population. In two Queensland populations, retrospective population viability analyses provided forecasts that were in agreement with observed population trends. Work is needed to determine whether data from one population can be applied to other populations. Models can then be developed to make projections at a multipopulation level on the basis of local population dynamics and dispersal. Certain koala populations, because of their long history of study, offer the opportunity to test demographic models retrospectively. These tests will not only aid in fine-tuning the models for koala biology and data but will also assist with the more general process of validating the models.     

Poisoned plusiines: toxicity of milkweed latex and cardenolides to some generalist caterpillars

Summary. Larvae of Trichoplusia ni Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) that ingested latex from Asclepias curassavica L. (Asclepiadaceae) often regurgitated and convulsed with spasms before becoming immobile and unresponsive. Some larvae required over a day to recover sufficiently to feed. Latices from four other plant species in three families were all deterrent, but none caused detectable poisoning. The toxicity of A. curassavica latex was evidently due to cardenolides because pure cardenolides had similar effects when ingested by T. ni. Other species of noctuid caterpillars (Rachiplusia ou Guenée, Anagrapha falcifera Kirby, and Autographa precationis Guenée) sometimes also suffered spasms and temporary immobility when fed A. curassavica latex. A more distantly related noctuid, Spodoptera ornithogalli, was deterred by the latex, but showed no overt physiological responses at the dosage tested. T. ni larvae failed to develop on intact leaves of A. curassavica, on leaves with latex canals deactivated by midrib severance, and on excised leaves. Similarly, larvae reared on excised A. syriaca L. leaves to the final instar died when transferred to A. curassavica leaves with either intact or severed midribs. The final instar larvae sometimes suffered from spasms and immobility even when confined on leaves with depressurized canal systems. Evidently, cardenolides stored outside the latex system suffice to poison larvae. We conclude that cardenolides in A. curassavica have potent physiological effects on some generalist caterpillars and that the presence of these compounds both inside and outside laticifers effectively protects the plant. Received 30 June 1999; accepted 18 October 1999