The effect of altitude on arid inselbergs along a bioclimatic gradient

Twenty-four inselbergs in four distinct landscapes along a biogeographic gradient from mesic winter rainfall in the southern Namib to arid summer rainfall in the northern Namib were analysed. Declining similarity of vegetation between matrix (surrounding plains) and inselbergs with altitude were exhibited in most inselbergs, irrespective of biogeographic region, rock types and height above surroundings. Some inselbergs showed the least congruence with matrix vegetation on upper slopes, others with the top of inselbergs. This is probably related to the nature of the individual inselbergs, e.g. with steep cliffs in the upper reaches supporting plant species adapted to more mesic conditions. Most trends of declining similarity between matrix and inselberg habitats were maintained across the investigated bioclimatic regions. Even low inselbergs clearly supported vegetation very distinct from the surrounding area. Their contribution to species richness of a landscape is therefore unquestionable and adequate protection of such landscapes is needed where human impacts are severe.     

Initial survey of acetylene reduction and selected microorganisms in the feces of 19 species of mammals

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, as demonstrated by the acetylene reduction method; yeasts, and actinomycetes were found in feces of mammals collected from St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, to the North Carolina-Tennessee border. The mammals, representing four orders and 19 species, occupy a wide variety of habitats and may play an important role in dispersing microorganisms vital to the ecosystem.     

Relative and seasonal abundance of three bark beetle predators (Coleoptera: Trogositidae, Cleridae) across an elevation gradient in ponderosa pine forests of north central Arizona

We examined abundance and flight periodicity of 3 predators of bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae), Temnochila chlorodia (Mannerheim) (Coleoptera: Trogositidae), Enoclerus sphegeus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Cleridae), and E. lecontei (Wolcott) (Coleoptera: Cleridae), across an elevational gradient of ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa Lawson) forests in north central Arizona. Predator populations were estimated at 10 sites in each of 3 elevation bands (low: 1600–1736 m; mid: 2058–2230 m; high: 2505–2651 m) for 3 years (2004–2006) using pheromone-baited funnel traps targeting 3 primary bark beetle species. We also investigated how predator abundance and flight seasonality related to those of 5 bark beetle species: Ips pini (Say), I. lecontei Swaine, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, D. brevicomis LeConte, and D. adjunctus Blandford. Temnochila chlorodia was most abundant in the low- and mid-elevation bands, whereas E. sphegeus was most abundant in the high-elevation band. Enoclerus lecontei showed no consistent elevational trend in abundance. Within each elevation band, changes in annual abundance of pooled predator species tracked shifts in abundance of pooled bark beetle species. In general, predator flight initiation coincided with or closely followed bark beetle flight initiation in the spring, but predator flight terminated before flight activity ended for most bark beetle species in the fall. In addition, the ratio of prey to predators was lowest in the summer and highest in the fall. This suggests that all bark beetle species examined may be provided temporal escape from their predators in the fall. For all 3 predator species, the pheromone-baited trap targeting D. brevicomis was less attractive than the pheromone-baited traps targeting I. pini and I. lecontei.