or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer sensors that fly aboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites make daily observations over the huge expanse of Amazon forests.
and in Mexico during the 1980s and 1990s when they studied the effects of the arrival of Africanized bees on native bees.
They found that six honey samples from nine hives in the Campeche region contained soy pollen
#Excrement collected worldwide shows co-evolution of herbivores, their gut microbesan extensive study by Radboud University Nijmegen on excrement and rumen fluids in plant-eating mammals from all over
the whole world shows that the ciliates in their guts have evolved in parallel with them. This is the result of a five-year research project performed by evolution biologists microbiologists
Herbivorous mammals are able to digest plant materials extremely efficiently thanks to certain microorganisms in their gastrointestinal system.
There the ciliates one-celled organisms bearing hairlike structures are especially important. By investigating ciliates in excrement and gut fluids the researchers in Nijmegen have been able to shed light on the evolution of two sorts of herbivores:'
'foregut fermenters'such as cows goats and sheep and'hindgut fermenters'such as horses elephants and zebras.
In hindgut fermenters food is digested in the posterior part of the gut--in the appendix and large intestine.
In foregut fermenters better known as ruminants that process takes place in the first part of the gut (rumen.
Excrement from all over the world For this investigation excrement and rumen fluids were collected worldwide. The sources included Nijmegen goats French deer sheep from Poland and Utrecht an Indian elephant from Burger's Zoo in Arnhem and zebras and an African elephant from Tanzania.
All the samples were collected when fresh fixed in acetone and then sent by post to The netherlands.
Ciliate DNA Extensive genetic research into ciliates to analyse their family tree diversity and distribution over hosts involved investigating 484'18s rrna genes'the fragments of RNA responsible for protein synthesis.'Our most important discovery is that ciliates are extremely diverse'says evolution biologist Johannes Hackstein.'
'We hadn't expected that given their appearance.''It turned out that the ciliates of hindgut fermenters were very species-specific
and originated early on in evolution just like the hosts themselves. The ciliates of foregut fermenters are not species-specific
and evolved much later. So from the evolutionary point of view the oldest animals have the oldest ciliates in their excrement.
Transmission According to Hackstein a possible explanation for the differences is the way ciliates are transmitted.''In hindgut fermenters transmission occurs via coprophagy (eating excrement)
and that happens almost exclusively in extremely young offspring. Ruminants on the other hand can be infected with ciliates throughout their lives.
However this still does not explain how the huge ciliate diversity arose and how this can be sustained.'
'Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Radboud University Nijmegen. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and control-group mice and all 21 humans whose stool was tested. Crannell said the method requires little equipment
The research team's goal is to produce a low-cost diagnostic that may also test for the presence of several other parasites including giardia the cause of another intestinal disease.
#Bacterial fibers critical to human, avian infectionescherichia coli--a friendly and ubiquitous bacterial resident in the guts of humans and other animals--may occasionally colonize regions outside the intestines.
and her colleagues examine one such bacterial adversary Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC). The research conducted in collaboration with scientists at the University of Florida Gainesville appears in the current issue of the journal PLOS ONE.
These afflictions cause significant economic losses to the poultry industry due to the costs of treatment for infected birds lowered rates of egg production and mortality.
Avian Pathogenic E coli (APEC) belong to a broad group of extraintestinal pathogenic E coli (Expec) strains. Colibacillosis caused by APEC in birds leads to serious illness often attacking the avian respiratory system producing systemic
or localized infections depending on the age and gender of bird immunologic health and various environmental factors.
Because APEC and human Expec forms share important virulence characteristics possible zoonotic transmission is a serious health concern.
and thus presents a plausible target for future therapeutics aimed at these serious infections of both humans and animals.
They looked at the volcanic eruptions in India 65 million years ago (known as the Deccan traps.
#Grasshoppers are what they eat: New method to extract PLANT DNA from grasshopper guts sheds light on plant-insect interactionsgrasshoppers may be small
but the damages they are causing to the U s. agriculture industry are anything but. Every year they feed on crops
Although they pose a major threat grasshopper populations play a positive role in cycling nutrients from decomposing plant matter back into the soil.
A new method to investigate their feeding patterns could be the key to a better understanding of the impact of grasshoppers on plant communities.
and insect species says University of Cincinnati researcher Alina Avanesyan who developed the new protocol while studying grasshopper leaf tissue consumption.
Accurately determining the feeding preferences of grasshoppers can help us to understand the magnitude of plant damage
and consequently whether or not control of grasshoppers is needed in a given area. The method recovers high-quality DNA of ingested plant tissue from grasshopper guts.
This PLANT DNA offers valuable information about grasshopper diets because it holds more data than what can be observed by the naked eye.
Scientists can use it to compare specific feeding patterns between different grasshopper species and uncover behaviors that might lead to intensive crop damage in certain areas.
A detailed description of the dissection and DNA extraction including a video illustrating the dissection technique can be viewed in the February issue of Applications in Plant sciences.
According to Avanesyan With this protocol a researcher can focus on a variety of research questions such as detecting plant-insect interactions determining how long the food has been digested estimating the prevalence of different plants in insect guts exploring the sequence of multiple plant species consumed
The protocol begins with a basic dissection kit used to isolate the grasshopper guts. A DNA extraction is performed then on the gut components which results in a combination of grasshopper and PLANT DNA.
Isolating the PLANT DNA involves a simple polymerase chain reaction or PCR which is used to amplify desired regions of genetic material for further research.
and ultimately better understand the insect food digestion process Avanesyan explains. It opens doors to a completely different research area--insect physiology.
To demonstrate the utility of the protocol Avanesyan successfully amplified the DNA of a noncoding region of a plant chloroplast gene
Results indicated that plant tissue could be detected up to 12 hours after ingestion in nymph M. differentialis and M. bivittatus grasshoppers and adult M. femurrubrum grasshoppers.
For adult M. differentialis grasshoppers which were the largest in size plant tissue was detected up to 22 hours post-ingestion.
Findings from the gut separation technique uncovered interesting details about M. differentialis grasshoppers. They often did not switch between grasses during feeding but instead consumed different plant species sequentially.
The proposed protocol is an effective relatively quick and low-cost method of detecting PLANT DNA from a grasshopper gut and its different sections.
Benefits extend far beyond grasshoppers as it can be adapted to any insect herbivores of interest.
and sustainable methods of managing insect populations making the new gut DNA extraction method a valuable tool for the scientific community.
and physiologically similar says Avanesyan who plans to continue to use the protocol to investigate plant defenses against insect herbivores.
'and the new research shows that pests pathogens and management issues likely play a major role in this
That the major causes of annual losses include pests (e g. the Varroa mite) pathogens (e g. viruses that these mites carry) and the need for research and advancements in management techniques available for large-scale apiaries
There is a growing understanding of the role that introduced pests and pathogens play in species declines said Dr. Peter Daszak Disease Ecologist and President of Ecohealth Alliance.
'and bees are no exception--the role of introduced mites and the pathogens they carry is researched under
This in conjunction with the 300 percent rise in pollinator-dependent crops requires the industry to manage honey bees like never before;
the NASS negated to count colonies in operation that had five or fewer hives. This change in addition to socioeconomic and political factors contributed to the decline of colony numbers over previous decades.
the toll of agricultural intensification on this semi-free ranging managed species and the confounding pressure of viruses spread through Varroa mites and the burden of these viruses and mites at the individual bee and colony level.
#Researchers discover rare new species of deep-diving whaleresearchers have identified a new species of mysterious beaked whale based on the study of seven animals stranded on remote tropical islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans
Beaked whales a widespread but little-known family of toothed whales distantly related to sperm whales are found in deep ocean waters beyond the edge of the continental shelf throughout the world's oceans.
On 26 january 1963 a 4. 5 metre-long blue-grey beaked whale washed up at Ratmalana near Colombo.
Now it turns out that Deraniyagala was right regarding the uniqueness of the whale he identified.
While it is closely related to the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale it is definitely not the same species says Dr Dalebout.
For the others they drilled the bones of the whales in order to analyse short fragments of'ancient DNA'relying on techniques commonly used with old sub-fossil material from extinct species. The researchers also studied all other known beaked whale species to confirm the distinctiveness of Deraniyagala's whale
including six specimens of the closely related gingko-toothed beaked whale. A number of species in this group are known from only a handful of animals
and we are still finding new ones so the situation with Deraniyagala's whale is not that unusual Dr Dalebout says.
For example the ginkgo-toothed beaked whale first described in 1963 is known only from about 30 strandings
and has never been seen alive at sea with any certainty. It's always incredible to me to realise how little we really do know about life in the oceans.
There's so much out there to discover. Over the last 10 years or so two other new beaked whales have come to light;
both through research in which Dr Dalebout was involved. In 2002 Mesoplodon perrini or Perrin's beaked whale was described from the eastern North Pacific
and in 2003 Mesoplodon traversii the spade-toothed whale was described from the Southern Ocean. Both species are known from only about five animals each.
With the re-discovery of Mesoplodon hotaula there are now 22 recognised species of beaked whales. Story Source:
The above story is provided based on materials by University of New south wales. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference e
#Soil biota explains tree growth: Why the Canadian lodgepole pine does better in Sweden than Canadathanks to its excellent growth the Canadian lodgepole pine has become a popular feature of forestry in Northern Sweden.
and herbivores) and some of which may be beneficial (such as mycorrhizal fungi). By conducting a series of experiments on young plants the researchers have shown that the growth of the lodgepole pine is affected greatly by
#How safe to use is the enemy of a citrus-threatening pest? The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) can spread the lethal and incurable citrus disease known as huanglongbing (HLB)
or citrus greening that threatens the multi-billion dollar global citrus industry. In Southern California large and widespread populations of ACP have been detected in several counties having arrived most likely from Mexico where ACP is established widely.
In 2011 for the first time entomologists at the University of California Riverside released Tamarixia radiata a wasp that is the natural enemy of the ACP in a citrus grove in Riverside to help control the psyllid.
But is this wasp safe to use? Does its introduction pose any risk to the environment?
Results from Federally mandated tests performed at the University of California Riverside now show that Tamarixia radiata is indeed safe for the environment and poses no undue risk to other insects humans or pets.
Our work demonstrates that Tamarixia radiata is very specific to the target it is being released to kill--the nymphs of the Asian citrus psyllid in this case said Mark Hoddle the director of the Center for Invasive Species Research whose lab performed the tests.
The results are important as the wasp is being used for ACP biological control in Florida Texas the Caribbean Central and South america and Mexico.
These types of studies continue to advance the safety of biological control for suppressing populations of invasive pests thereby greatly reducing reliance on pesticides for control said Hoddle a biological control specialist in the Department of Entomology.
and chemically-treated buffer zones were established around sites to control the pest. To test the safety of Tamarixia different species of native California psyllids were exposed to the wasp in a series of tests.
The tests were designed to give the wasp a choice between ACP and a non-target psyllid speices or there was no choice (that is the wasp was given only access to a non-target species one it had evolved not with).
When given a choice Tamarixia overwhelming attacked ACP the researchers found. In only one instance was a non-target species attacked at very low rates--less than 5 percent Hoddle said.
This was the native pest potato psyllid which spreads a bacterium that causes zebra chip disease.
Such low attack rates are unlikely to cause population declines of this pest. According to Hoddle such results demonstrate that carefully selected natural enemies used in biological control programs for invasive pests can be very safe
and should not cause unwanted environmental damage. There is growing concern over the damage that invasive species cause he said
and biological control programs don't want to be causing additional problems through releasing inappropriate agents for the control of invasive pests Safety tests like those conducted in this study greatly minimize these risks.
Hoddle noted that the tests were difficult to conduct in quarantine. Native psyllids are hard to find
and the native plants they grow on are difficult to culture in the laboratory he said.
It was very rewarding to have completed these demanding studies over an 18 month period and to discover that the Pakistani wasp will be a good natural enemy to use in California for the biological control of ACP.
In 2011 the U s. Department of agriculture reviewed and approved the 60-page Environment Assessment Report the foundational work that the research paper is approved based on
The Tamarixia larvae will eat the ACP nymphs killing them and emerge as adults about 12 days later.
Adult female Tamarixia also eat other ACP nymphs killing many in the process. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of California-Riverside.
#Market forces influence value of bat-provided services, such as pest controlservices provided by Mother Nature such as pest control from insect-eating bats are affected by market forces like most anything else in the economy a University of Tennessee Knoxville study finds.
The study's results have implications for biodiversity conservation efforts. Researchers from UT and the University of Arizona Tucson studied how forces such as volatile market conditions
and technological substitutes affect the value of pest control services provided by Mexican free-tailed bats on cotton production in the U s. They found the services are impacted by the forces to the tune of millions of dollars.
There are more than 1200 bat species and two-thirds of them are insectivorous which means they help farmers by preying on pests and reducing the need for insecticides.
The researchers calculated the value of the bat pest control service each year from 1990 through 2008 by estimating the value of avoided crop damage and the reduced social and private costs of insecticide use in the presence of bats.
Taking into account a drop in cotton commodity price the resulting decrease in cotton production and the adoption of transgenic Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis cotton which is modified to express its own pesticide the researchers found that the value of the pest control services dropped 79 percent from a high of $23. 96 million in 1990
to a low of $4. 88 million in 2008. The results of this study document that volatile market conditions
and technological substitutes such as Bt cotton can affect the value of an ecosystem service even
when ecosystem function in this case bat population numbers may remain constant said Mccracken. The findings fuel a discussion as to
and natural pest control diminish the importance of protecting ecosystems said LÃ pez-Hoffman . While our research shows a diminished value of pest control due to fluctuations in market conditions our larger analyses show that conservation is still economically beneficial.
The researchers point to mounting evidence of the evolution of pest resistance to Bt cotton suggesting that the value of bat pest control services may increase again.
This evidence of resistance evolution suggests that Bt cotton may not be a long-term solution to pest-related losses said Mccracken.
In fact by preying on the individual insects that survive the Bt toxin bats may provide the additional service of slowing the evolution of resistance to Bt and other insecticides.
Bats are also free of charge and as generalist predators are providing a broad spectrum of pest control.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Note:
#Organic farms support more species, researchers findon average organic farms support 34%more plant insect and animal species than conventional farms say Oxford university scientists.
'For pollinators such as bees the number of different species was 50%higher on organic farms although it is important to note that the study only looked at'species richness'.'
This effect was weakest in pollinators which may be because pollinators are likely to visit neighbouring farms
and could be affected by pesticides there.''The impact of organic farming on total species richness varied significantly across the data with the average gain in species richness varying between 26%and 43%.
and are used in parks and golf courses and in pest control inside buildings and homes. So this significantly broadens the number of people at risk.
Nearly every animal and plant species requires travelling some distance for nutrition reproduction and genetic diversity but few conservation or climate mitigation strategies take the connections between conserved lands into account.
and fauna needed for their survival under the climate change we're already committed to.
#Beneficial insects, nematodes not harmed by genetically modified, insect-resistant crops, studies showa large body of literature has shown that genetically-modified plants that produce proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to protect themselves from insect pests have little to no effect on a wide range of nontarget insects.
However concerns about Bt crops still exist. Now two new studies using more exacting methods show that Bt crops have no negative effects on two beneficial insect predators or on a beneficial entomopathogenic nematode.
In an article in the February 2014 issue of Environmental Entomology called Using Resistant Prey Demonstrates that Bt Plants Producing Cry1ac Cry2ab
and Orius insidiosus researchers used caterpillars that were known to be resistant to Bt proteins and fed them Bt maize and Bt cotton.
They then fed the caterpillars to two common beneficial predatory insects--insidious flower bugs (Orius insidiosus)
and big-eyed bugs (Geocoris punctipes)--for two generations and compared them to another group of predators that consumed caterpillars fed on non-Bt plants.
and fertility of the insect predators in both groups were similar regardless of whether they consumed caterpillars that fed on Bt plants or non-Bt plants.
or Orius insidious two important insect predators that help suppress pest populations on corn cotton
By using caterpillars resistant to the Bt proteins in this study we were able to remove any'host quality effects'that might have led to spurious misinterpretation of the results.
This work demonstrated that the caterpillars consumed the Bt proteins and the predators consumed the Bt proteins
when they fed on the caterpillars but they did not suffer any harm even over multiple generations.
In a similar article appearing in the February 2014 issue of the Journal of Economic Entomology called Tri-Trophic Studies Using Cry1ac-Resistant Plutella xylostella Demonstrate No Adverse Effects of Cry1ac on the Entomopathogenic
Nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Shelton and his colleagues used similar methods and found that an important nematode predator was harmed not
when it ingested another Bt protein. For this study resistant caterpillars were fed Bt broccoli and then exposed to Heterorhabditis bacteriophora a beneficial nematode that preys on insects.
The researchers found that the virulence reproductive potential and time of emergence of the nematodes that consumed Bt-fed caterpillars were affected not significantly compared to nematodes that did not ingest the Bt protein.
This is the first report we are aware of in which a nematode predator has been tested in such detail against a Bt protein Dr. Shelton said.
Together these two studies add to the scientific literature demonstrating that Bt plants can control targeted insect pests
while not harming important natural enemies that help suppress pest species and maintain biodiversity in agricultural systems Shelton added.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Entomological Society of America. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal References s
#First African study on biodiversity in genetically modified maize finds insects abundantprevious studies from China Spain
and the United states on genetically modified (GM) rice cotton and maize have concluded that the biodiversity of insects
and related arthropods in GM crop fields was essentially the same as that among conventional crops.
Now a new study from South africa shows similar results. The study is described in an article called Comparative Diversity of Arthropods on Bt Maize
and Non-Bt Maize in two Different Cropping Systems in South africa which appears in the February 2014 issue of Environmental Entomology.
The aims of the study were to compile a checklist of arthropods that occur on maize in South africa
and abundance of arthropods and functional groups on Bt maize and non-Bt maize the authors wrote.
and diversity of arthropods in maize and the different functional guilds were affected not significantly by Bt maize either in terms of diversity or abundance.
A total of 8771 arthropod individuals comprising 288 morphospecies were collected from 480 plants sampled from Bt maize and non-Bt maize fields over a two-year period.
The researchers found no significant differences in abundance or diversity in detritivores herbivores predators or parasitoids.
The results of our study indicate that arthropod diversity even in high-input farming systems is as high as in subsistence farming systems said Dr. Johnnie Van den berg a professor at North-West University
More recently surveys of arthropod and plant beta-diversity inside and adjacent to maize fields have been completed during
which 30000 arthropods and 15000 plant individuals were surveyed along a 1000 kilometer transect. It seems that maize field diversity is homogenized
#Trees diminished resistance to tropical cyclone winds attributed to insect invasionsguam experiences more tropical cyclones than any other state
Although native tree species like C. micronesica possess traits that enable them to recover from tropical cyclone damage invasive pests
The data showed that stem decay caused by earlier damage from a native stem borer reduced the species'tolerance to external forces resulting in stem failure in Typhoon Chaba.
Invasions of two invasive insects (Aulacaspis yasumatsui in 2003 and Chilades pandava in 2005) were found to be responsible for the 100%mortality of the intact portions of the trees'snapped stems during the 5 years after Typhoon Chaba.
The ARF binding mode to DNA has never been described in bacteria or animals. It appears to be exclusive to plants
More broadly this suggests that humans unlike some other nonhuman primates don't simply consider anything that goes into the mouth to be food.
#Deaths attributed directly to climate change cast pall over penguinsclimate change is killing penguin chicks from the world's largest colony of Magellanic penguins not just indirectly--by depriving them of food as has been documented repeatedly for these
and other seabirds--but directly as a result of drenching rainstorms and at other times heat according to new findings from the University of Washington.
but still too young to have grown waterproof feathers downy penguin chicks exposed to drenching rain can struggle
's Chubut Province the Global Penguin Society and the La Regina family. Boersma is lead author of a paper on the findings in the Jan 29 issue of PLOS ONE.
since 1983 at the world's largest breeding area for Magellanic penguins about halfway up the Atlantic coast of Argentina at Punta Tombo where 200000 pairs reside from September through February to have their young.
but steps could be taken to make sure the Earth's largest colony of Magellanic penguins have enough to eat by creating a marine protected reserve with regulations on fishing where penguins forage
Magellanics are sized medium penguins standing about 15 inches tall and weighing about 10 pounds. Males of the species sound like braying donkeys
when they vocalize. Of the Earth's 17 species of penguins 10--including Magellanics--breed where there is no snow it is relatively dry
and temperatures can be temperate. Punta Tombo is so arid that it gets an average of only 4 inches (100 mm) of rain during the six-month breeding season and sometimes no rain falls at all.
or more most have enough juvenile plumage to protect them. Once chicks die parents do not lay additional eggs that season.
The findings are based on weather information collected at the regional airport and by researchers in the field as well as from penguin counts.
During the breeding season researchers visit nests once or twice a day to see what is happening
and record the contents of the nest often hunting for chicks when they move around as they get older.
or are found dead the researchers turn into detectives looking for evidence of starvation predators or other causes of death such as being pecked
or beaten by other penguins. Just back from two months in the field Boersma said heat this season took a greater toll on chicks than storms.
Also contributing to increasing deaths from climate change is the fact that over 27 years penguin parents have arrived to the breeding site later
Besides the coast of Argentina Magellanic penguins also breed on the Chile-side of South america
and in the Falkand (Malvinas) Islands breeding ranges they share with some 60 other seabird species. These species also are likely to suffer negative impacts from climate change losing whole generations as the penguins have in the study
not only for Magellanic penguins but for many other species they write. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Washington.
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