Vole abundance and reindeer carcasses determine breeding activity of Arctic foxes in low Arctic Yamal,Russia

Background

High latitude ecosystems are at present changing rapidly under the influence of climate warming, and specialized Arctic species at the southern margin of the Arctic may be particularly affected. The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), a small mammalian predator endemic to northern tundra areas, is able to exploit different resources in the context of varying tundra ecosystems. Although generally widespread, it is critically endangered in subarctic Fennoscandia, where a fading out of the characteristic lemming cycles and competition with abundant red foxes have been identified as main threats. We studied an Arctic fox population at the Erkuta Tundra Monitoring site in low Arctic Yamal (Russia) during 10 years in order to determine which resources support the breeding activity in this population. In the study area, lemmings have been rare during the last 15 years and red foxes are nearly absent, creating an interesting contrast to the situation in Fennoscandia.

Results

Arctic fox was breeding in nine of the 10 years of the study. The number of active dens was on average 2.6 (range 0–6) per 100 km² and increased with small rodent abundance. It was also higher after winters with many reindeer carcasses, which occurred when mortality was unusually high due to icy pastures following rain-on-snow events. Average litter size was 5.2 (SD = 2.1). Scat dissection suggested that small rodents (mostly Microtus spp.) were the most important prey category. Prey remains observed at dens show that birds, notably waterfowl, were also an important resource in summer.

Conclusions

The Arctic fox in southern Yamal, which is part of a species-rich low Arctic food web, seems at present able to cope with a state shift of the small rodent community from high amplitude cyclicity with lemming dominated peaks, to a vole community with low amplitude fluctuations. The estimated breeding parameters characterized the population as intermediate between the lemming fox and the coastal fox ecotype. Only continued ecosystem-based monitoring will reveal their fate in a changing tundra ecosystem.

     

Acquired resistance triggered by elicitins in tobacco and other plants

Elicitins are a family of proteins excreted byPhytophthora spp. They exhibit high sequence homology but large net charge differences. They induce necrosis in tobacco plants which then become resistant to the tobacco pathogenPhytophthora parasitica var.nicotianae. In stem-treated plants, resistance was not restricted to the site of elicitin application, but could be demonstrated by petiole inoculation at all levels on the stem. Resistance was already maximum after two days and lasted for at least two weeks. It was effective not only towardsP. p. var.nicotianae infection, but also against the unrelated pathogenSclerotinia sclerotiorum. In contrast to dichloroisonicotinic acid, an artificial inducer of systemic acquired resistance, which was increasingly effective with doses ranging from 0.25 to 5mole per plant, the basic elicitin cryptogein exhibited a threshold effect, inducing near total resistance and extensive leaf necrosis above 0.1 nmole per plant. Between 1 and 5 nmole, acidic elicitins (capsicein and parasiticein) protected tobacco plants with hardly any necrotic symptom. Elicitins exhibited similar effects in various tobacco cultivars andNicotiana species, although with quantitative differences, but induced neither necrosis nor protection in other SolanaceÆ (tomato, petunia and pepper). Among 24 additional species tested belonging to 18 botanical families, only some BrassicaceÆ, noticeably rape, exhibited symptoms in response to elicitins, in a cultivar-specific manner. Elicitins appear to be natural specific triggers for systemic acquired resistance and provide a tool for unraveling the mechanisms leading to its establishment.Abbreviations AR acquired resistance - HR hypersensitive response - INA 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid - Ppn Phytophthora parasitica var.nicotianae - SAR systemic acquired resistance     

Single step genomic evaluation for female fertility in Nordic Red dairy cattle

Joint Nordic (Denmark, Finland, Sweden) genetic evaluation of female fertility is currently based on the multiple trait multilactation animal model (BLUP). Here, single step genomic model (ssGBLUP) was applied for the Nordic Red dairy cattle fertility evaluation. The 11 traits comprised of nonreturn rate and days from first to last insemination in heifers and first three parities, and days from calving to first insemination in the first three parities. Traits had low heritabilities (0.015–0.04), but moderately high genetic correlations between the parities (0.60–0.88). Phenotypic data included 4,226,715 animals with records and pedigree 5,445,392 animals. Unknown parents were assigned into 332 phantom parent groups (PPG). In mixed model equations animals were associated with PPG effects through the pedigree or both the pedigree and genomic information. Genotype information of 46,914 SNPs was available for 33,969 animals in the pedigree. When PPG used pedigree information only, BLUP converged after 2,420 iterations whereas the ssGBLUP evaluation needed over ten thousand iterations. When the PPG effects were solved accounting both the pedigree and the genomic information, the ssGBLUP model converged after 2,406 iterations. Also, with the latter model breeding values by ssGBLUP and BLUP became more consistent and genetic trends followed each other well. Models were validated using forward prediction of the young bulls. Reliabilities and variance inflation of predicted genomic breeding values (values for parent averages in brackets) for the 11 traits ranged 0.22–0.31 (0.10–0.27) and 0.81–0.95 (0.83–1.06), respectively. The ssGBLUP model gave always higher validation reliabilities than BLUP, but largest increases were for the cow fertility traits.     

‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ detected in Trioza urticae using suction trap-based monitoring of psyllids in Germany

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Psyllids are small, phloem-feeding insects. Several species are vectors of economically important pathogens, such as ‘Candidatus Liberibacter...     

Seroprevalence of and agroecological risk factors for Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis and neospora caninum infection among adult beef cattle in cow-calf herds in Alberta, Canada

A province-wide cross-sectional seroprevalence and agroecological risk factor study of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) and Neospora caninum (NC) infection among cattle in 100 cow-calf herds in Alberta was conducted. The seroprevalence of MAP in adult cattle was 1.5% across all herds. Using a widely accepted herd test cutpoint of 2 or more seropositive cows out of 30 animals tested, 7.9% of herds were estimated to be infected (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.3-23.4%). Seroprevalence of MAP differed by agroecological region; specifically, cattle and herds in areas with high soil pH (> 7.0), southern latitudes, and arid climates had a moderately reduced risk of infection (P < 0.10). Seroprevalence of NC infection was 9.7% among adult beef cattle province-wide--these levels also varied by agroecological region--with 91.0% of herds infected overall.