No abstract

No abstract

A two year project was conducted to: (i) produce definitions, criteria and procedures for identifying threatened ecological communities (TECs) and assigning them to categories that define conservation status; (ii) develop a minimum data set for allocating TECs to one of these categories; (iii) establish a database and enter on it TECs, and associated data, of the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia; and (iv) assess each community and make recommendations for actions to conserve them. The procedures described allow assessment of whether a particular biological assemblage can be described as an ecological community, and whether it meets the definitions and criteria for a TEC. ''Threatened'' (with destruction) includes ''totally destroyed", "critically endangered (CRl", "endangered (EN)" and ''vulnerable (VU)". Ecological communities that do not meet the criteria as ''threatened'' may be classified "data deficient" if there is insufficient information to assign a category, or "lower risk" if the community is not under significant threat. Other assemblages are termed "not evaluated". The terminology, categories and criteria are adapted from those recommended for threatened species by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Thirty-eight ecological communities, including those based on assemblages of terrestrial and aquatic plants, cave and mound-spring invertebrates, and structure-forming microbes were entered on the database. Of these, 16 were assessed as CR, seven as EN, ten as VU and five as data deficient. The project established methods that are applicable to data on a broad range of community types at a broad range of scales. It also initiated many recovery actions including preparation of interim recovery plans, land acquisition, fencing, weed control and public liaison. Such actions are intended to cause allocation of communities to a lower category of threat when reevaluated against the criteria.

We discuss seven species of tortricid moths that are leafminers at least in early instars. These include Grapholita thermopsidis Eiseman & Austin, new species, which feeds on Thermopsis rhombifolia (Pursh) Richardson (Fabaceae), along with two others for which larval hosts were previously unknown: Catastega triangulana Brown (Ericaceae: Arctostaphylos pungens Kunth) and Sparganothis xanthoides (Walker) (Polemoniaceae: Phlox divaricata L.). Parasitoids of G. thermopsidis include Dolichogenidea sp. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Zagrammosoma mirum Girault (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae). The female genitalia of Epinotia nigralbana (Walsingham), a species that mines leaves of Arctostaphylos throughout larval development, are illustrated for the first time. Rhopobota finitimana (Heinrich), which feeds on Ilex spp. (Aquifoliaceae), is confirmed to mine leaves as has been documented previously in R. dietziana (Kearfott). Talponia plummeriana (Busck), which is known to feed in the developing ovaries of pawpaw (Annonaceae: Asimina spp.), also feeds in leaves before boring in the twigs and stems. Cenopis lamberti (Franclemont), previously reported from Persea sp. (Lauraceae), was reared from Symplocos tinctoria (L.) L’Hér. (Symplocaceae). Apart from the two exceptions noted above, all of these species exit their mines in later instars to feed in leaf shelters.

BackgroundAnimals with polyploid, hybrid nuclei offer a challenge for models of gene expression and regulation during embryogenesis. To understand how such organisms proceed through development, we examined the timing and prevalence of mortality among embryos of unisexual salamanders in the genus Ambystoma.ResultsOur regional field surveys suggested that heightened rates of embryo mortality among unisexual salamanders begin in the earliest stages of embryogenesis. Although we expected elevated mortality after zygotic genome activation in the blastula stage, this is not what we found among embryos which we reared in the laboratory. Once embryos entered the first cleavage stage, we found no difference in mortality rates between unisexual salamanders and their bisexual hosts. Our results are consistent with previous studies showing high rates of unisexual mortality, but counter to reports that heightened embryo mortality continues throughout embryo development.ConclusionsPossible causes of embryonic mortality in early embryogenesis suggested by our results include abnormal maternal loading of RNA during meiosis and barriers to insemination. The surprising survival rates of embryos post-cleavage invites further study of how genes are regulated during development in such polyploid hybrid organisms.