Some determinants of the spatio-temporal fire cycle in a mediterranean landscape (Corsica,France)

Based on recent needs to accurately understand fire regimes and post-fire vegetation resilience at a supra-level for carbon cycle studies, this article focusses on the coupled history of fire and vegetation pattern for 40 years on a fire-prone area in central Corsica (France). This area has been submitted since the beginning of the 20^th century to land abandonment and the remaining land management has been largely controlled by frequent fires. Our objectives were to rebuild vegetation and fire maps in order to determine the factors which have driven the spatial and temporal distribution of fires on the area, what were the feed backs on the vegetation dynamics, and the long-term consequences of this inter-relationship. The results show a stable but high frequency of small fires, coupled with forest expansion over the study period. The results particularly illustrate the spatial distribution of fires according to topography and vegetation, leading to a strong contrast between areas never burnt and areas which have been burnt up to 7 times. Fires, when occuring, affect on average 9 to 12% of the S, SE and SW facing slopes (compared to only 2 to 5% for the N facing slopes), spread recurrently over ridge tops, affect all the vegetation types but reburn preferentially shrublands and grasslands. As these fire-proning parameters have also been shown to decrease the regeneration capacity of forests, this study highlights the needs in spatial studies (both in terms of fire spread and vegetation dynamic) to accurately apprehend vegetation dynamic and functionning in fire-prone areas.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effects of surgical implantation of temperature dataloggers on reproduction of captive striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis).

A total of 20 (14 females, six males) captive striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) with miniature temperature dataloggers implanted free in the abdominal cavity were examined for reproductive performance and pathology because of implants. Eleven of 12 female skunks reproduced successfully 45.9+/-3.7 days after surgery to remove implanted dataloggers. The pregnancy rate of 91.7% (11/12) was much higher than other captive studies and was comparable with that of wild skunks. Eight striped skunks (six males, two females) that were euthanatized and necropsied after having implants in the abdominal cavity for 5 mo showed no apparent pathology associated with the implant. Implantation of the intraperitoneal devices did not lead to complications in abdominal tissues. Neither implant nor surgery affected reproduction. We conclude that implanted dataloggers can safely be used in physiologic studies of striped skunks or possibly other small carnivores in captive or field studies.     

Carbon Depletion by Plowing and its Restoration by No‐Till Cropping Systems in Oxisols of Subtropical and Tropical Agro‐Ecoregions in Brazil

The continuous use of plowing for grain production has been the principal cause of soil degradation. This project was formulated on the hypothesis that the intensification of cropping systems by increasing biomass‐C input and its biodiversity under no‐till (NT) drives soil restoration of degraded agro‐ecosystem. The present study conducted at subtropical [Ponta Grossa (PG) site] and tropical regions [Lucas do Rio Verde, MT (LRV) site] in Brazil aimed to (i) assess the impact of the continuous plow‐based conventional tillage (CT) on soil organic carbon (SOC) stock vis‐à‐vis native vegetation (NV) as baseline; (ii) compare SOC balance among CT, NT cropping systems, and NV; and (iii) evaluate the redistribution of SOC stock in soil profile in relation to soil resilience. The continuous CT decreased the SOC stock by 0·58 and 0·67 Mg C ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ in the 0‐ to 20‐cm depth at the PG and LRV sites, respectively, and the rate of SOC sequestration was 0·59 for the PG site and ranged from 0·48 to 1·30 Mg C ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ for the LRV site. The fraction of C input by crop residues converted into SOC stock was ~14·2% at the PG site and ~20·5% at the LRV site. The SOC resilience index ranged from 0·29 to 0·79, and it increased with the increase in the C input among the NT systems and the SOC sequestration rates at the LRV site. These data support the hypothesis that NT cropping systems with high C input have a large potential to reverse the process of soil degradation and SOC decline. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Clinical and in vitro efficacy of amoxicillin against bacteria associated with feline skin wounds and abscesses

A clinical trial involving 122 cats with infected skin wounds or abscesses presented to 10 veterinary clinics was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of 2 oral amoxicillin drug products (a paste and a suspension). A 2nd objective of the study was to identify bacteria involved in such infections and verify their in vitro sensitivity to amoxicillin. Samples of wound exudate were harvested at the time of presentation and submitted for aerobic and anaerobic culture. The sensitivity to amoxicillin of isolates thought to be infecting agents was tested, using a standard minimum inhibitory concentration method. Pasteuralla multocida and obligate anaerobes of the genera Prevotella, Fusobacterium, and Porphyromonas were the most frequently isolated pathogens. Overall, their in vitro susceptibility to amoxicillin was very good. Both drug products were clinically efficacious with a global success rate of 95.1% for cats administered oral amoxicillin at 11-22 mg/kg bodyweight (mean 13.8 mg/kg bodyweight) twice daily for 7 to 10 days.     

Classification of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) from 1H NMR lipid profiling combined with principal component and linear discriminant analysis

The combination of (1)H NMR fingerprinting of lipids from gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) with nonsupervised and supervised multivariate analysis was applied to differentiate wild and farmed fish and to classify farmed specimen according to their areas of production belonging to the Mediterranean basin. Principal component analysis (PCA) applied on processed (1)H NMR profiles made a clear distinction between wild and farmed samples. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) allowed classification of samples according to the geographic origin, as well as for the wild and farmed status using both PCA scores and NMR data as variables. Variable selection for LDA was achieved with forward selection (stepwise) with a predefined 5% error level. The methods allowed the classification of 100% of the samples according to their wild and farmed status and 85-97% to geographic origin. Probabilistic neural network (PNN) analyses provided complementary means for the successful discrimination among classes investigated.     

Correction to: Coupling landscape graph modeling and biological data: a review

Landscape Ecology - In the original publication of the article, the sixth author name has been misspelt. The correct name is given in this Correction. The original article has been corrected.     

The spatial structure of spontaneous epidemics of different diseases in a groundnut plot

Spontaneous epidemics of rust, early leaf spot, late leaf spot, andRhizoctonia blight simultaneously developed in a groudnut plot. Geostatistical techniques were used to describe and compare the spatial patterns of epidemics.Rhizoctonia blight exhibited a strong aggregative structure, contrasting with leaf spots and rust. The latter disease developed a general epidemic, in combination with local intensification. A strong negative interaction between rust and early leaf spot, and a close correspondence between rust intensification andRhizoctonia blight development were indicated.     

Enquête sur les maladies fongiques de l'arachide (Arachis hypogaea) en Côte-d'Ivoire. I. Méthodes d'enquête et étude descriptive: les conditions culturales et les principales maladies

Groundnut diseases were surveyed in the various traditional cropping regions of Ivory Coast during 1982, 1983 and 1984. The methods used during the survey are described. A preliminary analysis of the results aimed at a characterization of a complex, multiple pathosystem is presented. The analysis especially focuses upon some foliar diseases, and particularly on rust, caused byPuccinia arachidis. The results show the great variability of the climates and of the agricultural techniques which are associated to groundnut cropping. The list of the fungal pathogens which affect groundnut is long: 16 have been identified during the survey, of which 6 are omnipresent in the various regions. A correspondence analysis was performed, allowing to describe the average development of the multiple pathosystem: groundnut-rust-leafsport-wilting fungi. Endemicity in tropical pathosystems is also analyzed in the case of the main foliar diseases (rust and Cercospora leafspots). More specifically, the epidemiology of groundnut rust in southern Ivory Coast is interpreted as regular, explosive epidemics developping on an endemic background. Every year epidemics develop in the northern and central areas too, most of their primary inoculum supposedly originating from the infested southern crops. Probably, intensification of agriculture will strongly favour rust disease.     

Evaluation of the adhesive capacity of Escherichia coli isolates associated with avian cellulitis

It has been shown that Escherichia coli isolates from lesions of cellulitis belong to a limited number of clonal groups distinct from those of isolates found in the environment of these birds. In this study, different in vitro methods were used to evaluate adherence properties of E. coli isolates from cellulitis lesions and environments of high- and low-cellulitis prevalence broiler flocks. One hundred isolates were tested by hemagglutination. Adherence to frozen sections of chicken skin and binding to soluble fibronectin were examined for 40 of these 100 isolates by immunofluorescence and by immunocytofluorometry, respectively. Localization of bacterial adherence to skin tissues was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. It was demonstrated that O78:K80 isolates from cellulitis lesions adhered to skin sections to a much greater extent in deeper than in superficial tissue layers. A greater bacterial adherence following growth in TSB at 37 C was demonstrated for isolates from flocks with high prevalence of cellulitis than for isolates from flocks with low prevalence of cellulitis. MANOVA analysis results showed a significant difference between superficial and deep tissue layers only for one set of isolates from flocks with high prevalence of cellulitis. Hemagglutinating activity was variable among the O78:K80 isolates obtained from flocks with high prevalence of cellulitis. The results obtained for some O78:K80 isolates following growth in TSB suggest a role for type 1 fimbriae or F1 in adherence to skin sections. This was reinforced by the finding that adherence was inhibited by D-mannose. Poultry E. coli isolates that express F1 had no affinity for soluble fibronectin, although localization of the adherence in skin sections suggested a role for extracellular matrix components such as collagen and insoluble fibronectin.     

Heterogeneity of the aerial concentration and deposition of ascospores of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Venturia inaequalis</Emphasis> within a tree canopy during the rain

Scab is an important disease of apple and its control depends almost exclusively on frequent use of fungicides. Primary scab infection in the spring assumes several steps: ascospore maturation, liberation of ascospores that become airborne, deposition on susceptible tissues, and infection. However, the spatial heterogeneity of ascospores within the tree canopy is unknown. Aerial concentration of ascospore (ACA), ascospore concentration in rain water (ACR) and ascospore deposition (AD) were therefore measured at six heights (20–257 cm from the ground) with rotating-arm air samplers, funnels, and greased glass slides, respectively, during five rain events in 2001 and in 2002. In addition, ACR and AD were measured at eight locations within tree canopy at 196 cm height. Apple scab was assessed at the end of the primary infection period in each sampling location within the apple tree. A similar experimental design was used in 2003 to study the spatial heterogeneity of both AD and primary scab lesions. ACA and AD decreased with increasing height, while ACR increased with increasing height. Based on both variance to mean ratio and the power law relationship in both years, the ACR was heterogeneous, while AD was heterogeneous only during the peaks of ascospore release. The ACR was significantly higher at the centre of the trees and the AD was significantly higher at the centre and at the western edge of the trees. Only the cumulative AD was significantly correlated with apple scab lesions at the same location (r = 0.83). In 2003, a similar pattern of spatial heterogeneity within the tree canopy was observed for AD and primary scab lesion counts and there was a linear relationship (R ² = 0.84) between these two variables. It was concluded that ACR and AD within the tree canopy are not randomly distributed at least during peaks of ascospore release and that AD is a good estimate of primary scab lesion development. This spatial heterogeneity should be considered when estimating ascospore deposition using mathematical models or when quantifying ascosporic inoculum using spore samplers.