Realities of documenting wildlife corridors in tropical countries

Connectivity is regarded as vital in conservation planning but the whereabouts of remaining wildlife corridors and dispersal areas in most tropical countries are poorly documented. With local experts, we compiled an annotated list of the most important wildlife corridors remaining on mainland Tanzania, information on the status of each corridor, wildlife using these corridors, and threats to them. We discovered that the concept of a wildlife corridor differs greatly between different people working in the same country, so we divided these into five working categories. The most common categories were those identified by known movements of animals between two protected areas, or simply proposed connections between important habitats. In Tanzania, the majority of documented corridors now seem to be in a critical condition, that is, they may have less than 5 years remaining before they disappear, judging by current rates of land use change. Five corridors are in extreme condition and could disappear within 2 years unless immediate action is taken. These pressing problems – and our experience in Tanzania – indicate that surveys of remaining wildlife corridors may need urgent documentation in other countries too and that collators should maintain loose definitions of corridors, accept data of variable quality and give information to authorities as soon as possible in order to maximize the chances of saving these conservation assets.     

Suitability of compensatory saltmarsh habitat for feeding and diet of multiple estuarine fish species

Saltmarsh provides essential fish feeding and nursery habitat but has globally declined by 50%. We used a statistical block design to compare fish feeding activity within human-engineered or “re-aligned” saltmarsh to established saltmarsh. Linear and multivariate modelling highlighted that Thinlip Mullet (Chelon ramada) and European Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) feeding rates were 16% and 31% lower within re-aligned than established saltmarshes, whereas Gobies (Pomatoschistus spp.) fed at the same rate as in both habitats. Analysis of European bass and Goby gut contents highlighted that important detritivorous prey species were up to 85.6% lower in re-aligned sites. Lower vegetation density may have negatively affected the feeding ecologies of fishes within re-aligned sites. However, due to the ecological value and potential for further improvement or habitat development, continued assessment of the beneficial effects of re-aligned sites for fisheries and net gain perspectives is needed.     

Use of a real-time polymerase chain reaction-based fluorogenic 5' nuclease assay to evaluate insect vectors of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infections in horses

OBJECTIVE: To develop and use a sensitive molecular assay for detecting the phospholipase D (PLD) exotoxin gene of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis in an attempt to identify insect vectors that may be important in transmission of clinical disease in horses. SAMPLE POPULATION: 2,621 flies of various species. PROCEDURE: A real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based fluorogenic 5' nuclease (TaqMan) system (ie, TaqMan PCR assay) was developed for the detection of the PLD gene in insects. Flies were collected monthly (May to November 2002) from 5 farms in northern California where C. pseudotuberculosis infection in horses is endemic. Three of the 5 farms (which housed a total of 358 horses) had diseased horses during the study period. A total of 2,621 flies of various species were tested for the PLD gene of C. pseudotuberculosis. RESULTS: Evidence of bacterial DNA for the PLD gene was detected in skin biopsy specimens from clinically affected horses and from 3 fly species collected from farms where affected horses were housed. Farms with a high incidence of diseased horses had a high proportion of insects carrying the organism. High percentages of flies with positive results for the PLD gene were observed in October, when most clinically affected horses were observed. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that C. pseudotuberculosis may be vectored to horses by flies. Three potential vectors were identified, including Haematobia irritans, Stomoxys calcitrans, and Musca domestica. The organism can be identified in up to 20% of house flies (Musca domestica) in the vicinity of diseased horses.     

Nitrification performance of a propeller-washed bead clarifier supporting a fluidized sand biofilter in a recirculating warmwater fish system

A propeller-wash bead filter (PWBF) and a fluidized sand filter (FSF) on a 28 m³ recirculating system stocked with tilapia maintained favorable water quality at five different feed rates, ranging from 0.9 to 4.5 kg feed per day. TAN removal rates ranged up to about 200 g TAN/m³ of media per day for each of the units. Peak rates of 244 g TAN/m³ of media per day were observed when the recirculating flow was boosted by 20%. Roughly 75% of the removal was accomplished by the fluidized sand filter an observation that is consistent with the difference between the fluidized sand filter volume (0.92 m³) and the bead filter media volume (0.28 m³). The bead filter's primary function was clarification. At the highest daily feed load, over 570 g dry weight of solids were removed during each daily bead filter backwashing event. A 20% increase in flow, at the same daily feed rate, improved solids removal to over 670 g dry weight per bead filter backwash event. The PWBF and FSF combination provided suitable water quality for fish production; however, further increases in feed loading were limited by carbon dioxide buildup and oxygen limitations.     

In situ mineral <Superscript>15</Superscript>N dynamics and fate of added <Superscript>15</Superscript>NH<Subscript>4</Subscript><Superscript>+</Superscript> in hoop pine plantation and adjacent native forest in subtropical Australia

Background, aim, and scope  Hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) is a nitrogen (N) demanding indigenous Australia softwood species with plantations in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Soil fertility has declined with increasing rotations and comparison study of N cycling between hoop pine plantations, and adjacent native forest (NF) is required to develop effective forest management for enhancing sustainable forest production and promoting environmental benefits. Field in situ mineral ¹⁵N transformations in these two forest ecosystems have not been studied. Hence, the present study was to compare the differences in soil nutrients, N transformations, ¹⁵N fluxes, and fate between the hoop pine plantation and the adjacent native forest. Materials and methods  The study sites were in Yarraman State Forest (26°52′ S, 151°51′ E), Southeastern Queensland, Australia. The in situ core incubation method was used in the field experiments. Mineral N was determined using a LACHAT Quickchem Automated Ion Analyzer. ¹⁵N were performed using an isotope ratio mass spectrometer with a Eurovector elemental analyzer. All statistical tests were carried out by the SPSS 11.0 for Windows statistical software package. Results  Soil total C and N were significantly higher in the NF than in the 53-year-old hoop pine plantation. Concentrations of NO₃ ^– were significantly higher in the NF soil than in the plantation soil. The plantation soil had significantly higher ¹⁵N and ¹³C natural abundances than the NF soil. The NF soil had significantly lower C/N ratios than the plantation soil. NO₃ ^––N was dominated in mineral N pools in both NF and plantation soils, accounting for 91.6% and 70.3% of the total mineral N pools, respectively. Rates of net nitrification and net N mineralization were, respectively, four and three times higher in the NF soil than in the plantation soil. The ¹⁵NO₃ ^––N and mineral ¹⁵N were significantly higher in the NF soil than in the plantation soil. Significant difference in ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺–N was found in the NF soil before and after the incubation. Discussion  The NF soil had significantly higher NO₃ ^––N, mineral N, total N and C but lower δ¹⁵N, δ¹³C, and C/N ratios than the plantation soil. Moreover, the rates of soil net N mineralization and nitrification were significantly higher, but ammonification rate was lower in the NF than in the plantation. The NF soil had many more dynamic N transformations than the plantation soil due to the combination of multiple species and layers and, thus, stimulation of microbial activity and alteration of C and N pool sizes in favor of the N transformations by soil microbes. The net rate of N and ¹⁵N transformation demonstrated differences in N dynamic related to the variation in tree species between the two ecosystems. Conclusions  The change of land use and trees species had significant impacts on soil nutrients and N cycling processes. The plantation had larger losses of N than the NF. The NO₃ ^––N and ¹⁵NO₃ ^––N dominated in the mineral N and ¹⁵N pools in both forest ecosystems. Recommendations and perspectives  Native forest soil had strong N dynamic compared with the plantation soil. Composition of multiple tree species with different ecological niches in the plantation could promote the soil ecosystem sustainability. The ¹⁵N isotope dilution technique in the field can be quite useful for studying in situ mineral ¹⁵N transformations and fate to further understand actual N dynamics in natural forest soils.     

R2D2, a bridge between the initiation and effector steps of the Drosophila RNAi pathway

The RNA interference (RNAi) pathway is initiated by processing long double-stranded RNA into small interfering RNA (siRNA). The siRNA-generating enzyme was purified from Drosophila S2cells and consists of two stoichiometric subunits: Dicer-2(DCR-2) and a previously unknown protein that we named R2D2. R2D2 is homologous to the Caenorhabditis elegans RNAi protein RDE-4. Association with R2D2 does not affect the enzymatic activity of DCR-2. Rather, the DCR-2/R2D2 complex, but not DCR-2 alone, binds to siRNA and enhances sequence-specific messenger RNA degradation mediated by the RNA-initiated silencing complex (RISC). These results indicate that R2D2 bridges the initiation and effector steps of the Drosophila RNAi pathway by facilitating siRNA passage from Dicer to RISC.