Characterizing historical and modern fire regimes in Michigan (USA): A landscape ecosystem approach

We studied the relationships of landscape ecosystems to historical and contemporary fire regimes across 4.3 million hectares in northern lower Michigan (USA). Changes in fire regimes were documented by comparing historical fire rotations in different landscape ecosystems to those occurring between 1985 and 2000. Previously published data and a synthesis of the literature were used to identify six forest-replacement fire regime categories with fire rotations ranging from very short (<100 years) to very long (>1,000 years). We derived spatially-explicit estimates of the susceptibility of landscape ecosystems to fire disturbance using Landtype Association maps as initial units of investigation. Each Landtype Association polygon was assigned to a fire regime category based on associations of ecological factors known to influence fire regimes. Spatial statistics were used to interpolate fire points recorded by the General Land Office. Historical fire rotations were determined by calculating the area burned for each category of fire regime and dividing this area by fifteen (years) to estimate area burned per annum. Modern fire rotations were estimated using data on fire location and size obtained from federal and state agencies. Landtype Associations networked into fire regime categories exhibited differences in both historical and modern fire rotations. Historical rotations varied by 23-fold across all fire rotation categories, and modern forest fire rotations by 13-fold. Modern fire rotations were an order of magnitude longer than historical rotations. The magnitude of these changes has important implications for forest health and understanding of ecological processes in most of the fire rotation categories that we identified.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Preliminary results of an anticircumsporozoite DNA vaccine trial for protection against avian malaria in captive African black-footed penguins (Spheniscus demersus).

Captive juvenile African black-footed penguins (Spheniscus demersus) housed in an outdoor enclosure at the Baltimore Zoo have an average 50% mortality from avian malarial (Plasmodium sp.) infection each year without intense monitoring for disease and chemotherapeutic intervention. During the 1996 malaria transmission season, the safety and efficacy of an anti-circumsporozoite (CSP) DNA vaccine encoding the Plasmodium gallinaceum CSP protein against P. relictum were studied. The goal was to reduce clinical disease and death without initiating sterile immunity after release into an area with stable, endemic avian malaria. The birds were monitored for adverse clinical signs associated with vaccination, the stimulation of an anti-CSP antibody response, and protection afforded by the vaccine. The presence of P. relictum in trapped culicine mosquitoes within the penguin enclosure was monitored to assess parasite pressure. Among the vaccinated penguins, the parasitemia rate dropped from approximately 50% to approximately 17% despite intense parasite pressure, as determined by mosquito infection rate. During the year of the vaccine trial, no mortalities due to malaria occurred and no undesirable vaccination side effects occurred. This is the first trial of an antimalarial vaccine in a captive penguin colony.     

Candidate genes underlying QTL for flowering time and their interactions in a wide spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cross

Response to vernalization and photoperiod are the main determinants controlling the time to flowering in temperate cereals. While the individual genes that dete...     

OsGF14b modulates defense signaling pathways in rice panicle blast response

Rice with panicle-blast resistance is needed for stable rice production. Although we have previously demonstrated that OsGF14b underlies a quantitative trait lo...     

Relative Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance among Heterotrophic Bacteria from Natural and Culture Environments of Freshwater Prawn,Macrobrachium Rosenbergii

As antibiotic residues and multidrug‐resistant (MDR) bacteria are of increasing concern to those involved in the seafood industry, there is an intense international focus to monitor MDR bacteria in seafood. There is also a trend to source seafood from organically raised farms in order to reduce antibiotic usage in culture operations. Hence this study was conducted to compare the antibiotic resistance among bacteria associated with various samples from the natural and culture environment of Macrobrachium rosenbergii. Samples from the natural environment included water, sediment, eggs, larvae, postlarvae (PL), feed items, and gut samples of M. rosenbergii and those from the culture environment were water, sediment, eggs, feed pellets, and gut samples of M. rosenbergii. Bacteria from water samples of natural and culture environments were frequently resistant to ampicillin, erythromycin, and penicillin, while more than 50% of the strains from sediment were resistant to erythromycin, nalidixic acid, and penicillin. Bacterial isolates from commercial feed had a relatively high degree of antibiotic resistance. Interestingly, occurrence of multiple drug resistance was higher among the bacteria associated with the samples from the natural environment of M. rosenbergii, pointing to more favorable selection pressure for drug resistant mutants in the natural environment.     

Arbuscular mycorrhizae in a long-term field trial comparing low-input (organic, biological) and high-input (conventional) farming systems in a crop rotation

 Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) root colonization was studied in a long-term field trial in which four farming systems currently in use in Switzerland were continuously applied to a randomized set of plots at a single field site from 1978 till 1993. There were two low-input farming systems (organic and bio-dynamic) and two high-input (conventional) farming systems (according to Swiss guidelines of integrated plant production with and without farmyard manure). The systems had an identical 7-year crop rotation and tillage scheme and differed essentially only in the amount and type of fertilizer supplied and in plant protection management. The percentage of root colonization by AM fungi was determined in field samples 2–3 times over the growing season in crops in the rotation, namely in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Sardona), vetch-rye and grass-clover. We found the percentage of root length colonized by AM fungi to be 30–60% higher (P≤0.05) in the plants grown in soils from the low-input farming systems than in those grown in conventionally farmed soils. Approximately 50% of the variation of AM root colonization was explained by chemical properties of the soils (pH, soluble P and K, exchangeable Mg), the effect of soluble soil P being most pronounced. The potential of the field soils from the differently managed plots to cause symbiosis with AM fungi was tested in a glasshouse experiment, using wheat as a host plant. Soils from the low-input farming systems had a greatly enhanced capacity to initiate AM symbiosis. The relative differences in this capacity remained similar when propagules of the AM fungus Glomus mosseae were experimentally added to the soils, although overall root colonization by AM fungi was 2.8 times higher. Received: 27 August 1999     

Determination of spinosad and its metabolites in food and environmental matrices. 2. Liquid chomatography-mass spectrometry

A selective and sensitive method utilizing liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been developed for determining residues of the natural insect control agent spinosad in several crop matrices that are difficult to analyze by HPLC with UV detection. The method determines the active ingredients (spinosyns A and D) and three minor metabolites (spinosyns B and K and N-demethylspinosyn D) in alfalfa hay, wheat hay, wheat straw, sorghum fodder, and corn stover. The analytes are extracted from the samples with an acetonitrile/water solution, and the extracts are purified by solid phase extraction with a C(18) disk and a silica cartridge. All five analytes are determined simultaneously in a single injection using positive atmospheric pressure chemical ionization LC-MS with selected ion monitoring. The average recoveries ranged from 69 to 96% with standard deviations ranging from 4 to 15%. The method has a validated limit of quantitation of 0. 01 microgram/g and a limit of detection of 0.003 microgram/g. The LC-MS method can also provide residue confirmation in addition to quantitation.