BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Conversion of forested wetlands to agricultural use and the resulting fragmentation of the landscape has led to concerns for the functional integrity of the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain ecosystem. We describe an effort spearheaded by The Nature Conservancy to initiate a multi‐decade partnership dedicated to creating and implementing a viable, cooperative, landscape‐level restoration project in the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain. Important phases of the process during the first 5 years were (1) initiation of the development of an extensive network of partners, including state and federal agencies, private land owners, conservation groups, academicians, and other interested citizens; (2) development of a geographic information system (GIS) for the entire extent of the ecosystem; and (3) for one watershed, the Tensas basin in northeastern Louisiana, refinement of a high resolution GIS to generate more detailed land‐use conversion statistics to demonstrate the feasibility of a semi‐objective, landscape‐scale restoration planning procedure, including methodology for prioritization of existing wetland forest patches and areas most suitable for reforestation and connection via corridors.

No abstract

Allozyme relationships were compared with morphology, interspecific hybridization, and geologic history in 14 closely-related species in the Aedes (Stegomyia) scutellaris subgroup. The phylogeny generated by the electrophoretic data was generally in agreement with morphological classifications except that one morphologically distinct species pair (A. alcasidi and A. malayensis) showed only populational differentiation and several nearly identical morphological pairs in Polynesia (e.g., A. pseudoscutellaris and A. polynesiensis) were very distant genetically. A molecular clock, based on the ratio between genetic distance and divergence time (one unit of Nei's distance = 11 million years) inferred from a dated geologic event, was used to compare zoogeography, morphology, and biochemical relationships. Genetic distances between species from the Solomon Islands and the Vanuatu-Polynesia area correspond to an early Pliocene separation of these areas. An invasion of Micronesia occurred approximately 5 million years ago. Most remaining speciation occurred during the mid-Pliocene as islands moved into their present-day positions. The close relationship between southeast Asian and Philippine species could have resulted from the recent onset of isolation in the Pleistocene. Interspecific hybridization potential was not significantly correlated with Nei's genetic distance. Many quite distantly related species readily hybridize, while some closely related pairs show only unidirectional compatibility. Slight interspecific morphological divergence and the independence of hybridization capabilities from phylogeny are not unexpected in a group in which species are allopatric and occupy similar habitats.

Allozyme relationships were compared with morphology, interspecific hybridization, and geologic history in 14 closely-related species in the Aedes (Stegomyia) scutellaris subgroup. The phylogeny generated by the electrophoretic data was generally in agreement with morphological classifications except that one morphologically distinct species pair (A. alcasidi and A. malayensis) showed only populational differentiation and several nearly identical morphological pairs in Polynesia (e.g., A. pseudoscutellaris and A. polynesiensis) were very distant genetically. A molecular clock, based on the ratio between genetic distance and divergence time (one unit of Nei's distance = 11 million years) inferred from a dated geologic event, was used to compare zoogeography, morphology, and biochemical relationships. Genetic distances between species from the Solomon Islands and the Vanuatu-Polynesia area correspond to an early Pliocene separation of these areas. An invasion of Micronesia occurred approximately 5 million years ago. Most remaining speciation occurred during the mid-Pliocene as islands moved into their present-day positions. The close relationship between southeast Asian and Philippine species could have resulted from the recent onset of isolation in the Pleistocene. Interspecific hybridization potential was not significantly correlated with Nei's genetic distance. Many quite distantly related species readily hybridize, while some closely related pairs show only unidirectional compatibility. Slight interspecific morphological divergence and the independence of hybridization capabilities from phylogeny are not unexpected in a group in which species are allopatric and occupy similar habitats.