Quantifying relationships between bird and butterfly community shifts and environmental change.

Quantifying the manner in which ecological communities respond during a time of decreasing precipitation is a first step in understanding how they will respond to longer-term climate change. Here we coupled analysis of interannual variability in remotely sensed data with analyses of bird and butterfly community changes in montane meadow communities of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Landsat satellite imagery was used to classify these meadows into six types along a hydrological gradient. The northern portion of the ecosystem, or Gallatin region, has smaller mean patch sizes separated by ridges of mountains, whereas the southern portion of the ecosystem, or Teton region, has much larger patches within the Jackson Hole valley. Both support a similar suite of butterfly and bird species. The Gallatin region showed more overall among-year variation in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) when meadow types were pooled within regions, perhaps because the patch sizes are smaller on average. Bird and butterfly communities showed significant relationships relative to meadow type and NDVI. We identified several key species that are tightly associated with specific meadow types along the hydrological gradient. Comparing taxonomic groups, fewer birds showed specific habitat affinities than butterflies, perhaps because birds are responding to differences in habitat structure among meadow types and using the landscape at a coarser scale than the butterflies. Comparing regions, the Teton region showed higher predictability of community assemblages as compared to the Gallatin region. The Gallatin region exhibited more significant temporal trends with respect to butterflies. Butterfly communities in wet meadows showed a distinctive shift along the hydrological gradient during a drought period (1997-2000). These results imply that the larger Teton meadows will show more predictable (i.e., static) species-habitat associations over the long term, but that the smaller Gallatin meadows may be an area that will exhibit the effects of global climate change faster.     

Thermal ecology of the neotropical army ant Eciton burchellii.

I explored the thermal ecology of Eciton burchellii, a New World army ant, in primary forest and forest fragments in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica in 2002 and 2003. My primary objective was to determine whether high surface temperatures in pastures surrounding forest fragments posed a thermal barrier to ant colonies within those fragments; secondarily, I assessed whether thermal gradients within continuous moist forest were sufficient to elicit avoidance reactions from foraging colonies. E. burchellii colonies in forest fragments avoided entering open pasture in full sun (51.3 degrees C) on 100% of all edge interactions; however, edges were readily crossed where artificial shaded areas had previously been installed. Ant raids in primary forest avoided artificially established temperatures >43 degrees C but tolerated 45.5 degrees C in the presence of prey baits. Captive ants held at 43 degrees C survived 18.5 min; at temperatures of 51.3 degrees C survival time was only 2.8 min. Ants running on established foraging trails increased running velocity by 18% when substrate temperature was raised from 28.4 degrees to 38.0 degrees C, and they abandoned trails at temperatures >43 degrees C. The standard deviation (s) of temperatures on active raid trails in continuous forest was 2.13 degrees C, while nearby systematic sampling revealed a greater background standard deviation of 4.13 degrees C. E. burchellii colonies in this region appear to be living surprisingly near their upper limits of thermal tolerance. The heat of open pastures alone is sufficient to prevent their exiting forest fragments, or entering similarly hot areas within continuous forest. Shaded vegetative corridors are sufficient to permit mobility between isolated fragments, and their preservation should be encouraged. Despite views that tropical lowland moist forests have an essentially homogenous microclimate, army ants appear to avoid local hot spots on the forest floor, steering daily foraging trails to follow cooler routes than would be expected by chance. As deforestation remakes tropical landscapes worldwide, it is important to consider the thermal consequences of these actions and their effect on keystone organisms such as army ants. Changes in global climate patterns are likely to affect even evergreen tropical systems whose organisms may be sensitive to finer microclimatic variation than previously suspected.     

Physical structure of lakes constrains epidemics in Daphnia populations

Parasites are integral parts of most ecosystems, yet attention has only recently focused on how community structure and abiotic factors impact host-parasite interactions. In lakes, both factors are influenced by habitat morphology. To investigate the role of habitat structure in mediating parasitism in the plankton, we quantified timing and prevalence of a common microparasite (Metschnikowia bicuspidata) in its host, Daphnia dentifera, in 18 lakes that vary in basin size and shape. Over three years, we found substantial spatial and temporal variation in the severity of epidemics. Although infection rates reached as high as 50% in some lakes, they did not occur in most lakes in most years. Host density, often considered to be a key determinant of disease spread, did not explain a significant amount of variation in the occurrence of epidemics. Furthermore, host resistance does not fully explain this parasite's distribution, since we easily infected hosts in the laboratory. Rather, basin shape predicted epidemics well; epidemics occurred only in lakes with steep-sided basins. In these lakes, the magnitude of epidemics varied with year. We suggest that biological (predation) and physical (turbulence) effects of basin shape interact with annual weather patterns to determine the regional distribution of this parasite.     

The challenge of providing environmental flow rules to sustain river ecosystems.

Accounting for natural differences in flow variability among rivers, and understanding the importance of this for the protection of freshwater biodiversity and maintenance of goods and services that rivers provide, is a great challenge for water managers and scientists. Nevertheless, despite considerable progress in understanding how flow variability sustains river ecosystems, there is a growing temptation to ignore natural system complexity in favor of simplistic, static, environmental flow "rules" to resolve pressing river management issues. We argue that such approaches are misguided and will ultimately contribute to further degradation of river ecosystems. In the absence of detailed empirical information of environmental flow requirements for rivers, we propose a generic approach that incorporates essential aspects of natural flow variability shared across particular classes of rivers that can be validated with empirical biological data and other information in a calibration process. We argue that this approach can bridge the gap between simple hydrological "rules of thumb" and more comprehensive environmental flow assessments and experimental flow restoration projects.     

Stimulation of root formation in Posidonia oceanica cuttings by application of auxins (NAA and IBA)

At the present, the long period (from 3 up to 12 months) to form roots from rhizome cuttings of Posidonia oceanica is the major cause of transplant failure. To promote earlier rooting, the effects of different concentrations (5 and 10 mg/l) of two auxins, namely indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and α-naphtalen aetic acid (NAA), and the time of collection on rooting of plagiotropic and orthotropic cuttings of P. oceanica were tested. Rooting, survival and growth of cuttings were assessed 1 month after planting in a mesocosm. Results demonstrated that the use of auxin was essential to achieve root initiation within the observation period. Irrespective of plant source and collection time, IBA and NAA (5 mg/l) treatments increased the rooting capacity in cuttings. The highest rooting success (i.e. percentage of the survived cuttings that rooted) obtained was 33%. Results also revealed that the survival rate and percentages of cuttings with leaf growth and emergence of new leaves on their terminal shoot were influenced by the collection time × plant source interaction, but were unaffected by the auxin treatment. Orthotropic cuttings taken in November and February showed the highest survival rate (100%). No differences in survival among months were detected for plagiotropic cuttings. In May and July, more plagiotropic cuttings survived (80±7 and 75±6%) compared to orthotropic cuttings (58±7 and 51±4%). Overall, more plagiotropic cuttings showed leaf elongation compared to orthotropic ones, but the inverse was observed in November. A higher percentage of cuttings with emergence of new leaves was observed in the plagiotropic type as compared to the orthotropic one, and in general February and November were the best months for leaf production (28±4 and 38±7%). Finally, the percentage of cuttings that had changed leaf growth orientation (from orthotropic to plagiotropic) was significantly higher in November (63±13%) compared to the other months and tended to be higher in cuttings treated with the auxins compared to controls. These preliminary findings indicate that exposure to IBA or NAA (5 mg/l) was effective in stimulating rooting in P. oceanica without inhibiting plant growth. Therefore, this simple pre-planting practice should be beneficial in restoration attempts. Based on the trend observed, rhizomes should be prepared preferably in late autumn–winter and then planted into restoration stands to achieve a prompt rooting response and the best survival rate. Clearly, future work is needed to maximize the rooting success of cuttings.     

Mobilization of arsenic in groundwater of Bangladesh: evidence from an incubation study

The extensive extraction of arsenic (As)-contaminated groundwaters for drinking, household and agricultural purposes represents a serious health concern in many districts of Bangladesh. This laboratory-based incubation study investigated the sources and mechanisms of As mobilization in these groundwaters. Several incubation studies were carried out using sediments collected from the Bangladesh aquifer that were supplemented, or not, with different nutrients, followed by an analysis of the sediment suspensions for pH, ORP (oxidation-reduction potential), EC (electrical conductivity) and As and Fe(ΙΙ) concentrations. In the substrate-amended sediment suspensions incubated under anaerobic environment, there was a mobilization of As (maximum: 50–67 μg/l) and Fe(ΙΙ) (maximum: 182 μg/l), while the ORP value decreased immediately and drastically (as much as −468 mV to −560 mV) within 5–6 days. In the sediment suspensions incubated under control and aerobic conditions, no significant As mobilization occurred. The simultaneous mobilization of As and Fe(ΙΙ) from sediments is a strong indication that their mobilization resulted from the reduction of Fe oxyhydroxide by the enhanced activity of indigenous bacteria present in the sediments; this phenomenon also provides insights on the mobilization mechanism of As in groundwater. The concentrations of As in the sediments used in the incubation studies were strongly linked to the gradients of redox potential development that was stimulated by the quantity of organic nutrient (glucose) used. The penetration of surface-derived organic matter into the shallow aquifer may stimulate the activity of microbial communities, thereby leading to a reduction of iron oxyhydroxide and As release.     

Propagation of olfactory information within the honeybee hive

Transfer of information about food source characteristics within insect societies is essential to colony-foraging success. The food odor communicated within honeybee hives has been shown to be important for food source exploitation. When successful foragers return to the nest and transfer the collected nectar to hive mates through mouth-to-mouth contacts (trophallaxis), potential recruits receiving these samples learn the food odor by associative learning. The food then becomes rapidly distributed among colony members, which is mainly a consequence of the numerous trophallaxes between hive-mates of all ages during food processing. We tested whether the distribution of food among hive mates causes a propagation of olfactory information within the hive. Using the proboscis extension response paradigm, we show that large proportions of bees of the age groups representing the main worker castes, 4 to 9-day-old bees (nurse-aged bees), 12 to 16-day-old bees (food processor-aged bees), and actual foragers (about 17+ day old bees) associatively learn the food odor in the course of processing food that has been collected by only a few foragers. Results further suggest that the information is shared more or less equally between bees of the three age groups. This shows that olfactory information about the flower species exploited by foragers is distributed within the entire colony and is acquired by bees of all age groups, which may influence many behaviors inside and outside the hive.     

Male approach and female avoidance as mechanisms of population discrimination in sagebrush lizards

Reproductive isolation and speciation can result from female choice for particular males. Isolation can also result, however, from male mating preferences or from aggressive encounters which then influence mating decisions. In this study, we use laboratory discrimination trials to study the behavioral mechanisms of population discrimination in sagebrush lizards (Sceloporus graciosus). We specifically ask three questions about population-level discrimination: (1) Does it vary in strength in relation to the geographic distance between the populations? (2) Is it more apparent in inter- or intra-sexual interactions? (3) Does it take the form of attraction or avoidance? We ran 890 trials that tested the ability of male and female sagebrush lizards from one population to discriminate their own population from four other populations. In addition, we utilized both sequential and simultaneous-choice designs, which enabled us to distinguish between attraction and avoidance. We found that most population-level discrimination was exhibited by male lizards preferring to associate with particular types of females, as well as female avoidance of particular types of males. The strength and direction of both discriminations depended on the populations compared and on whether the tests were conducted as sequential- or simultaneous-choice tests, producing a complex relationship between geographic distance and behavioral discrimination. Our results suggest that there are roles for male attraction and female avoidance in population discrimination, reproductive isolation, and speciation.     

Use of Predictive Weather Uncertainties in an Irrigation Scheduling Tool Part II: An Application of Metrics and Adjoints

We apply predictive weather metrics and land model sensitivities to improve the Colorado State University Water Irrigation Scheduler for Efficient Application (WISE). WISE is an irrigation decision aid that integrates environmental and user information for optimizing water use. Rainfall forecasts and verification performance metrics are used to estimate predictive rainfall probabilities that are used as input data within the irrigation decision aid. These input data errors are also used within a land model sensitivity study to diagnose important prognostic water movement behaviors for irrigation tool development purposes simultaneously performing the analysis in space and time. Thus, important questions such as “how long can a crop water application be delayed while maintaining crop yield production?” are addressed by evaluating crop growth stage interactions as a function of soil depth (i.e., space), rainfall events (i.e., time), and their probabilistic uncertainties. Editor’s note : This paper is part of the featured series on Optimizing Ogallala Aquifer Water Use to Sustain Food Systems. See the February 2019 issue for the introduction and background to the series.