The effects of water deficit and high temperature on the production of alpha-amylase inhibitor 1 (alpha-AI-1) were studied in transgenic peas (Pisum sativum L.) that were developed to control the seed-feeding pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum L., Coleoptera: Bruchidae). Transgenic and non-transgenic plants were subjected to water-deficit and high-temperature treatments under controlled conditions in the glasshouse and growth cabinet, beginning 1 week after the first pods were formed. In the water-deficit treatments, the peas were either adequately watered (control) or water was withheld after first pod formation. The high-temperature experiments were performed in two growth cabinets, one maintained at 27/22 degrees C (control) and one at 32/27 degrees C day/night temperatures, with the vapour pressure deficit maintained at 1.3 kPa. The plants exposure to high temperatures and water deficit produced 27% and 79% fewer seeds, respectively, than the controls. In the transgenic peas the level of alpha-AI-1 as a percentage of total protein was not influenced by water stress, but was reduced on average by 36.3% (the range in two experiments was 11-50%) in the high-temperature treatment. Transgenic and non-transgenic pods of plants grown at 27/22 degrees C and 32/27 degrees C were inoculated with pea weevil eggs to evaluate whether the reduction in level of alpha-AI-1 in the transgenic pea seeds affected pea weevil development and survival. At the higher temperatures, 39% of adult pea weevil emerged, compared to 1.2% in the transgenic peas grown at the lower temperatures, indicating that high temperature reduced the protective capacity of the transgenic peas.

This glasshouse study used an improved larval measurement procedure to evaluate the impact of transgenic pea, Pisum sativum L., seeds expressing a-amylase inhibitor (AI)-1 or -2 proteins on pea weevil, Bruchus pisorum L. Seeds of transgenic 'Laura' and 'Greenfeast' peas expressing alpha-(AI)-1 reduced pea weevil survival by 93-98%. Larval mortality occurred at an early instar. Conversely, in nontransgenic cultivars, approximately 98-99% of the pea weevils emerged as adults. By measuring the head capsule size, we determined that larvae died at the first to early third instar in alpha-(AI)-1 transgenic peas, indicating that this inhibitor is highly effective in controlling this insect. By contrast, transgenic Laura and 'Dundale' expressing alpha-(AI)-2 did not affect pea weevil survival, but they did delay larval development. After 77 d of development, the head capsule size indicated that the larvae were still at the third instar stage in transgenic alpha-(AI)-2 peas, whereas adult bruchids had developed in the nontransgenic peas.

A set of trial exercises was run to compare pest surveillance capabilities of the Department of Agriculture and Food's entomology and plant pathology staff (all with some degree of field survey experience) with persons from various community groups. Information indicating a comparable level of confidence in the use of community members for surveillance, to complement professional staff capacity, is provided.

A recent plan to extend a highway in south-west Western Australia has been abandoned, but not before a 10–200m wide strip of vegetation along the alignment had been cleared. Attempts are now being made to rehabilitate the cleared area. The aim of this paper is 2-fold. First, it documents the changes in invertebrate abundance, richness and evenness in this abandoned landmark development. Second, it explores the changes in invertebrate species composition, concentrating on ants, in terms of known trends in biodiversity, with particular emphasis on biotic homogenisation. We report on the immediate changes in invertebrate assemblages from a spatial continuum of sites passing through six discrete woodland communities. A total of 69 species of ants were sampled by pitfall traps from the sites, with 50 being sampled in the 7 reference sites and 46 in the 13 cleared sites. As far as most of these simple indices are concerned, the previously cleared areas generally exhibited values that are not appreciably different from those of the reference sites, except that species richness was marginally higher in the reference sites and ant abundance was higher in the cleared area sites. There was considerable variation in numbers of ant species within Ant Niche Template categories in both the reference and cleared area sites. However, numbers of nest specialists and trophic specialists were significantly lower in cleared area sites; opportunistic species and one generalist were more abundant in cleared areas. The two-dimensional solution of the multi-dimensional scaling ordination grouped all cleared sites close together, with the reference sites and modified native vegetation site being widely scattered across the graph. The tight bunching of the cleared sites suggests that clearing for the proposed highway has resulted in homogenising the ant fauna, creating a characteristic assemblage that differed from all of the original reference sites. When considered at the ordinal level, significantly less Clitellata (worms), Malacostraca (slaters), Araneae (spiders), Blattodea (cockroaches), Dermaptera (earwigs) and Coleoptera (beetles) were sampled from the cleared sites, but significantly more Collembola (springtails), Homoptera and Heteroptera (both types of sucking bugs) were sampled in these sites. Collembola may be responding to the abundance of exotic grasses whereas the sucking bugs may have benefitted from the lush herb and shrub layer associated with the regrowth and rehabilitation efforts.

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