Low host specificity of herbivorous insects in a tropical forest

Two decades of research have not established whether tropical insect herbivores are dominated by specialists or generalists. This impedes our understanding of species coexistence in diverse rainforest communities. Host specificity and species richness of tropical insects are also key parameters in mapping global patterns of biodiversity. Here we analyse data for over 900 herbivorous species feeding on 51 plant species in New Guinea and show that most herbivorous species feed on several closely related plant species. Because species-rich genera are dominant in tropical floras, monophagous herbivores are probably rare in tropical forests. Furthermore, even between phylogenetically distant hosts, herbivore communities typically shared a third of their species. These results do not support the classical view that the coexistence of herbivorous species in the tropics is a consequence of finely divided plant resources; non-equilibrium models of tropical diversity should instead be considered. Low host specificity of tropical herbivores reduces global estimates of arthropod diversity from 31 million (ref. 1) to 4 6 million species. This finding agrees with estimates based on taxonomic collections, reconciling an order of magnitude discrepancy between extrapolations of global diversity based on ecological samples of tropical communities with those based on sampling regional faunas.     

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the public domain: how useful are they?

There is a concerted effort by a number of public and private groups to identify a large set of human single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). As of March 2001, 2.84 million SNPs have been deposited in the public database, dbSNP, at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/SNP/). The 2.84 million SNPs can be grouped into 1.65 million non-redundant SNPs. As part of the International SNP Map Working Group, we recently published a high-density SNP map of the human genome consisting of 1.42 million SNPs (ref. 3). In addition, numerous SNPs are maintained in proprietary databases. Our survey of more than 1,200 SNPs indicates that more than 80% of TSC and Washington University candidate SNPs are polymorphic and that approximately 50% of the candidate SNPs from these two sources are common SNPs (with minor allele frequency of > or =20%) in any given population.     

A high-resolution map of human chromosome 12

Our sequence-tagged site-content map of chromosome 12 is now integrated with the whole-genome fingerprinting effort. It provides accurate and nearly complete bacterial clone coverage of chromosome 12. We propose that this integrated mapping protocol serves as a model for constructing physical maps for entire genomes.     

Genome sequence of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7

The bacterium Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a worldwide threat to public health and has been implicated in many outbreaks of haemorrhagic colitis, some of which included fatalities caused by haemolytic uraemic syndrome. Close to 75,000 cases of O157:H7 infection are now estimated to occur annually in the United States. The severity of disease, the lack of effective treatment and the potential for large-scale outbreaks from contaminated food supplies have propelled intensive research on the pathogenesis and detection of E. coli O157:H7 (ref. 4). Here we have sequenced the genome of E. coli O157:H7 to identify candidate genes responsible for pathogenesis, to develop better methods of strain detection and to advance our understanding of the evolution of E. coli, through comparison with the genome of the non-pathogenic laboratory strain E. coli K-12 (ref. 5). We find that lateral gene transfer is far more extensive than previously anticipated. In fact, 1,387 new genes encoded in strain-specific clusters of diverse sizes were found in O157:H7. These include candidate virulence factors, alternative metabolic capacities, several prophages and other new functions--all of which could be targets for surveillance.     

Dynamical coupling of wind and ocean waves through wave-induced air flow

Understanding the physical mechanisms behind the generation of ocean waves by wind has been a longstanding challenge. Previous studies have assumed that ocean waves induce fluctuations in velocity and pressure of the overlying air that are synchronized with the waves, and numerical models have supported this assumption. In a complex feedback, these fluctuations provide the energy for wave generation. The spatial and temporal structure of the wave-induced airflow therefore holds the key to the physics of wind-wave coupling, but detailed observations have proved difficult. Here we present an analysis of wind velocities and ocean surface elevations observed over the open ocean. We use a linear filter to identify the wave-induced air flow from the measurements and find that its structure is in agreement with 'critical-layer' theory. Considering that the wave-induced momentum flux is then controlled by the wave spectrum and that it varies considerably in vertical direction, a simple parameterization of the total air-sea momentum flux is unlikely to exist.     

Natural methyl bromide and methyl chloride emissions from coastal salt marshes

Atmospheric methyl bromide (CH3Br) and methyl chloride (CH3Cl), compounds that are involved in stratospheric ozone depletion, originate from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Current estimates of CH3Br and CH3Cl emissions from oceanic sources, terrestrial plants and fungi, biomass burning and anthropogenic inputs do not balance their losses owing to oxidation by hydroxyl radicals, oceanic degradation, and consumption in soils, suggesting that additional natural terrestrial sources may be important. Here we show that CH3Br and CH3Cl are released to the atmosphere from all vegetation zones of two coastal salt marshes. We see very large fluxes of CH3Br and CH3Cl per unit area: up to 42 and 570 micromol m(-2) d(-1), respectively. The fluxes show large diurnal, seasonal and spatial variabilities, but there is a strong correlation between the fluxes of CH3Br and those of CH3Cl, with an average molar flux ratio of roughly 1:20. If our measurements are typical of salt marshes globally, they suggest that such ecosystems, even though they constitute less than 0.1% of the global surface area, may produce roughly 10% of the total fluxes of atmospheric CH3Br and CH3Cl.     

Temperature-related behavior of some migrant birds in the desert

Behavior of migrant birds in relation to temperature was studied and compared to that of resident species in the northern Mojave Desert. Migrants reduced foraging intensity above 30 C, but resident species showed no striking decrease in intensity of foraging at temperatures up to 35 C. Migrant species shifted activities to shaded microhabitats at temperatures between 20 and 30 C; the resident Verdin showed a similar shift at 35 C. Most migrants decreased the amount of time spent foraging at temperatures above 30; Verdins showed a similar but stronger response to temperatures about 30 C. Significant reductions in the use of hovering and hawking maneuvers were found among migrants at temperatures above 30 C. Migrants showed similar types of behavioral adjustments to temperatures as did resident desert species, but they responded earlier in the daily temperature cycle. Desert birds appear to correlate their daily activity strongly with temperature, but nondesert species may respond either to temperature or time of day.     

Book Reviews: Behavior Change in the Human Services: An Introduction to Principles and Applications by Martin Sundel and Sandra S. Sundel. Exploring Personality: An Intellectual Odyssey by Russell L. Ackoff. The Ecologist: The Cosmic Covenant.

Systemic Practice and Action Research -