Food web ecologists have long sought to characterize the trophic niches of animals using stable isotopic analysis. However, distilling trophic position from isotopic composition has been difficult, largely because of the variability associated with trophic discrimination factors (inter-trophic isotopic fractionation and routing). We circumvented much of this variability using compound-specific isotopic analysis (CSIA). We examined the 15N signatures of amino acids extracted from organisms reared in pure culture at four discrete trophic levels, across two model communities. We calculated the degree of enrichment at each trophic level and found there was a consistent trophic discrimination factor (~7.6‰). The constancy of the CSIA-derived discrimination factor permitted unprecedented accuracy in the measurement of animal trophic position. Conversely, trophic position estimates generated via bulk-15N analysis significantly underestimated trophic position, particularly among higher-order consumers. We then examined the trophic hierarchy of a free-roaming arthropod community, revealing the highest trophic position (5.07) and longest food chain ever reported using CSIA. High accuracy in trophic position estimation brings trophic function into sharper focus, providing greater resolution to the analysis of food webs.

and 4 718 Inglestone Court, Manchester, MO 63021, USA Summary 1. We simulated two key components of severe hurricane disturbance, canopy openness and detritus deposition, to determine the independent and interactive effects of these components on woody plant recruitment and forest structure. 2. We increased canopy openness by trimming branches and added or subtracted canopy detritus in a factorial design. Plant responses were measured during the 4-year study, which followed at least 1 year of pre-manipulation monitoring. 3. The physical conditions of canopy openness and detritus deposition in our experiment resembled the responses to Hurricane Hugo, a severe category 4 hurricane that struck this forest in 1989. 4. Canopy detritus deposition killed existing woody seedlings and provided a mechanical barrier that suppressed seedling recruitment. The increase in understorey light caused by canopy trimming stimulated germination from the seed bank and increased seedling recruitment and density of pioneer species several hundred-fold when hurricane debris was absent. Many significant interactions between trimming and detritus deposition were evident from the manner in which seedling density, recruitment and mortality changed over time, and subsequently influenced the composition of woody stems (individuals ‡ 1 cm d.b.h.). 5. When the canopy was trimmed, stem densities increased > 2-fold and rates of recruitment into the stem size class increased > 25-fold. Trimming had no significant effect on stem mortality. The two dominant species that flourished following canopy trimming were the pioneer species Cecropia schreberiana and Psychotria berteriana. Deposition of canopy detritus had little effect on stems, although basal area increased slightly when detritus was added. There were no evident effects of the interactions between canopy trimming and detritus deposition on stems. 6. Synthesis. The separate and interactive effects of canopy openness and detritus deposition result in variable short-term trajectories of forest recovery. However, the short interval of increased canopy openness due to hurricane impacts and its influence on the recruitment of pioneer trees is the dominant factor that drives short-term recovery and may alter long-term structure and composition of the forest.

Raubenheimer & Simpson (1992) recently discussed the advantages of using analysis of covariance in insect dietary studies as an alternative to the more conventional ratio‐based nutritional indices. We expand on some interpretations of Raubenheimer & Simpson and illustrate our points with examples from published and unpublished data sets. Specifically, we show that an ANCOVA on biomass gain incorporating initial biomass as a covariate provides information not immediately available using the analysis suggested by Raubenheimer & Simpson (ANCOVA on final biomass incorporating initial biomass as a covariate). Second, we show that dietary studies in which the covariate (food consumption) is affected by diet can provide information about the relative importance of preingestive effects (e.g., deterrence) and postingestive effects (e.g., antibiosis) on performance. Cautions about this latter use of ANCOVA are discussed.

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The seminal work of Stern and his coauthors on integrated control has had a profound and long-lasting effect on the development of IPM programs in western orchard systems. Management systems based solely on pesticides have proven to be unstable, and the success of IPM systems in western orchards has been driven by conservation of natural enemies to control secondary pests, combined with pesticides and mating disruption to suppress the key lepidopteran pests. However, the legislatively mandated changes in pesticide use patterns prompted by the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 have resulted in an increased instability of pest populations in orchards because of natural enemy destruction. The management system changes have made it necessary to focus efforts on enhancing biological control not only of secondary pests but also of primary lepidopteran pests to help augment new pesticides and mating disruption tactics. The new management programs envisioned will be information extensive as well as time sensitive and will require redesign of educational and outreach programs to be successful. The developing programs will continue to use the core principles of Stern and his co-authors, but go beyond them to incorporate changes in society, technology and information transfer, as needed.