It is spread by a tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid that feeds on the trees leaving bacteria that starve the tree of nutrients.
In the battle against greening UF/IFAS researchers have tried everything from working on ways to eradicate the psyllid to grafting trees that show better resistance to greening.
and filled the same ecological role that kangaroos or deer play today. But no one had suspected that they
--or other dinosaurs for that matter--had fleshy structures on the tops of their heads. Until now there has been no evidence for bizarre soft-tissue display structures among dinosaurs;
An elephant's trunk or a rooster's crest might never fossilize because there's no bone in them Bell explains.
This is equivalent to discovering for the first time that elephants had trunks. We have lots of skulls of Edmontosaurus but there are no clues on them that suggest they might have had a big fleshy crest.
or Triceratops. Of course it's hard to tell what that cocks comb might have done for the duck-billed dinosaurs.
In roosters and some other birds bright red crests are a way to get the girls.
and species that depend on forest-dependent animals for seed dispersal. If left undisturbed secondary forests may regain levels of tree diversity similar to those of mature forests
#New species of horse, 4. 4 million years oldtwo teams of researchers including a scientist from Case Western Reserve University have announced the discovery of a new species of fossil horse
About the size of a small zebra Eurygnathohippus woldegabrieli--named for geologist Giday Woldegabriel who earned his Phd at Case Western Reserve in 1987--had toed three hooves
The horse fills a gap in the evolutionary history of horses but is also important for documenting how old a fossil locality is
This horse is one piece of a very complex puzzle that has many many pieces.
This fossil horse was among the diverse array of animals that lived in the same areas as the ancient human ancestor Ardipithecus ramidus commonly called Ardi.
Among the many fossils we found are the two ends of the foreleg bone--the canon--brilliant white
The long slender bone indicates this ancient species was an adept runner similar to modern zebras
The horse had longer legs than ancestral horses that lived and fed in forests about 6 million to 10 million years ago Simpson said.
The change helped the more recent horses cover long distances as they grazed and flee lions sabre-tooth cats
and hunting hyenas that would run down their prey. The other fossils they found included teeth which are taller than their ancestors
'and with crowns worn flatter--more signs the horses had adapted to a grazing life. Analyses of the isotopic composition of the enamel confirmed that E. woldegabrieli subsisted on grass.
Grasses are like sandpaper Simpson said. They wear the teeth down and leave a characteristic signature of pits
Horse expert Raymond L. Bernor from the Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology at the Howard University college of Medicine in Washington D c. led the fossil analysis. The bones
which remain at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis ababa Ethiopia showed this was a significantly different animal than the horses more than 5 million years old and those 3 5 million years old and younger.
when men successfully hunt an animal and remain high as they return home with meat.
In mammals competing against other males is the key to gaining access to females and increasing reproductive success. But humans are different--female choice plays an important role
If you come across a predator and need to be able to mobilize your energy reserves quickly you would definitely benefit from a spike in cortisol he continued.
if the hunters bag an exceptionally large animal that could potentially be shared among multiple families
--or they could come back with a squirrel monkey. These men showed similar increases in testosterone and cortisol regardless of
This gives animals ample escape routes and allows fire-resistant plants to regrow he said. The study also found that fire originated by the Xavante Indians is managed well and contained.
and seed size and production defense against pests and pathogens and response to abiotic stresses such as drought and ozone Pandey said.
However banana yields worldwide are threatened severely by pests. Dirk HÃ lscher from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena Germany and an international team of researchers have discovered that some banana varieties accumulate specific plant toxins in the immediate vicinity
of root tissue that has been attacked by the parasitic nematode Radopholus similis. This local accumulation is crucial for the plant's resistance to this pest organism.
The toxin is stored in lipid droplets in the body of the nematode and the parasite finally dies.
These findings provide important clues for the development of pest-resistant banana varieties. Banana yields worldwide threatened by pestsbananas are among the world's most important food crops.
Dessert bananas are produced primarily for homegrown consumption in China and India and for export to the northern hemisphere in Latin america.
and vitamins B and C. Apart from fungi and insects the parasitic nematode Radopholus similis is considered a major banana pest.
In order to control such pests in banana plantations high doses of synthetic pesticides are used which not only cause ecological damage but can also have severe negative effects on the health of people who are exposed to these chemicals.
Research and Infection Biology and the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology in Jena have taken now a closer look at the plant-nematode interactions in the context of resistance versus susceptibility.
The concentration of the most active compound anigorufone however was much higher in the immediate vicinity of lesions on the roots of resistant bananas in comparison to infected root tissues of the nematode susceptible banana plants.
The production of the toxin alone is not responsible for the banana plant's resistance to nematodes.
which is particularly high at the precise location of the nematode attack which makes the difference
and other substances was tested on living nematodes. It turned out that it was in fact anigorufone which was most toxic to the pest organism.
By using imaging techniques the researchers were able to visualize the plant toxin within the body of the roundworm.
and finally killed the nematode. Why these complex lipid droplets are formed and why the nematodes cannot metabolize
or excrete the toxin still needs to be clarified. However it is likely that the growing lipid droplets displace the inner organs of the nematode causing an eventual metabolic dysfunction.
The scientists will now try to find out how resistant banana plants biosynthesize and translocate the defense compounds on a molecular level.
Such insights will provide important clues for the development of banana varieties which are resistant to the nematodes.
#Teens publish studies on pest-killing wasps, berry funguswe know more about wildlife this week thanks to research by two Canadian teens.
Their research on wasps and leaf disease reveal that a Canadian wasp is an efficient killer of an agricultural pest
Young's research focused on an agricultural pest and the wasps that kill it. The Diamondback Moth invaded Canada a long time ago
and brought with it an appetite for crops such as cabbage and canola. Researchers have known for years that two Canadian wasp species can kill the pest moth.
The wasps lay their eggs in moth caterpillars then the baby wasps grow up eating the caterpillar from the inside out until the wasps emerge from the caterpillar killing the caterpillar in the process.
It's kind of like the movie Alien Young explained. While researchers knew these wasps kill the moth pest they didn't know which wasp was more effective under different conditions.
Young designed and performed experiments to see which wasp is better at controlling Diamondback Moth populations under various conditions.
He found that one wasp species was a tireless killing machine whereas the other wasp was only effective at killing moths under limited conditions.
The results will help farmers and greenhouse operators combat the moth pest without the need for pesticides.
My research won first prize at the Ottawa regional science fair and two of the judges were editors of The Canadian Field-Naturalist.
They said my research was good enough to be published. So Young wrote his research as a scientific paper
Worldwide today approximately 5000 pesticides are utilized as substances for plant protection and for pest control.
Initial studies indicate though that they may possibly have a strong effect on amphibians such as frogs.
#Coral reef gardens found thriving in Gulf of Mainenew research has found a type of coral reef called Octocorals previously thought to have diminished off the east coast of the US in the Gulf of Maine has been discovered recently surviving in dense coral garden communities in more than one location.
Octocorals used to be a common part of seafloor fauna in the Gulf of Maine. However based on past accounts of where corals had been had found it appeared that a century of fishing with bottom contact gear had reduced their distribution to just a small habitable area.
A recent expedition in July this year to the western Jordan Basin and Schoodic Ridge regions of the Gulf of Maine revealed an initial report of impressive octoral gardens.
The coral gardens were defined as areas where octocorals were among the dominant fauna and occurred at densities higher than surrounding patches.
Other areas were found to have supported single and small collections of coral on exposed gravel patches.
Atlantic cod cusk pollock and silver hake were observed searching and catching prey amidst corals whilst Acadian redfish used the coral for cover.
The researchers recommend greater conservation attention to these spatially rare octocoral garden communities in the Gulf.
#Serengetis animals under pressuretanzania has one of the fastest growing human populations in the world
. But even 80 kilometers (49 miles) away from the border there are conflicts between humans and animals her research shows.
Enclosures and guard dogs Attacks on livestock and crop raids are more common the closer villages are to the national park. Livestock keepers in the villages located close to the protected areas are on constant guard with arrows
and spears while their animals are out grazing. The building of livestock enclosures or bandas to protect livestock at night
and the use of guard dogs were preferred more in the villages that were the farthest away from the protected areas.
Primates are seen as the worst plague and the animals that are the most destructive. Olive baboons vervets and other primates are the main culprits.
The next most damaging animals are elephants. Elephants are only a problem close to the park says Mwakatobe.
Diseases from wild animals can also spread to domesticated animals. Disease and loss of livestock due to them is a bigger problem in the villages closest to the national park. Illegal bushmeat markets
While the hunting of bushmeat is most common close to Serengeti illegal markets are also found in the villages further away.
In Tanzania there is no legal market for bushmeat explains Mwakatobe. This hunt is highly illegal.
Mwakatobe has examined what kind of dried meat people prefer to eat in the different villages. Her study shows that most people prefer to eat normal beef
For this reason villagers kill wild animals illegally. This is especially common when the huge migrations of more than two million animals pass through the villages.
The largest migration is of wildebeests but zebras antelopes and other animals may also pass through villages on their way to elsewhere.
It can be very hard to taste the difference between dried meat from different species. One animal in particular the topi a kind of antelope is supposed to taste about the same as normal beef.
People close to the national park are best at identifying the different types of bushmeat but this is by no means a safe method for identifying a species. Chickens
and other animals and should also be trained in aquaculture so that the need for bushmeat goes down.
She recommends further studies of the conflicts between humans and other primates. Mwakatobe thinks that a combination of several kinds of guarding practices will be the most effective in minimizing animal raids on crops.
The fact that this bacterium is found in cattle means that these animals can be a reservoir for human tuberculosis
and M. bovis occurs between humans and animals in this region. Finds of similar genotypes of M. tuberculosis in humans
and cattle and of M. bovis in humans cattle and Kafue lechwe in Namwala indicate that the same tuberculosis bacteria are circulating between humans and animals.
and other insect species--and the future of many of those species is uncertain. Now researchers from North carolina State university are proposing a set of guidelines for assessing the performance of pollinator species
in order to determine which species are most important and should be prioritized for protection. Widespread concerns over the fate of honey bees and other pollinators have led to increased efforts to understand which species are the most effective pollinators
since this has huge ramifications for the agriculture industry says Dr. Hannah Burrack an associate professor of entomology at NC State
when they actually appear to be important pollinators for blueberry growers. The paper Multiple Criteria for Evaluating Pollinator Performance in Highbush Blueberry (Ericales:
Ericaceae) Agroecosystems was published online Nov 25 in the journal Environmental Entomology. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by North carolina State university.
#Peaceful bumblebee becomes invasivebumblebees look cute. They have a thick fur fly somewhat clumsily and are less aggressive than honeybees or wasps.
They are appreciated very much by farmers as keen pollen collectors. Particularly in the context of the crisis-stricken honeybee populations the buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris is being bred on an industrial scale for the pollination of fruit and vegetable crops both inside and outside greenhouses.
It was hoped that these insects would take over these important services when they were introduced first into central Chile in southern South america in 1998 as pollinators in a few greenhouses with the backing and approval of the state authorities.
But in the greenhouse they did not stay. Some individuals escaped and very soon they established colonies in the wild.
But that was not All the buff-tailed bumblebee turned out to be an extremely invasive insect that embarked on an unparalleled victory tour that took it as far as Patagonia.
As an aside the first European bumblebee species Bombus ruderatus was introduced back in 1982 but it turned out to be relatively harmless in comparison.
Extremely invasivethis is one of the most spectacular examples of the invasion of an entire continent by a foreign species introduced by man says Paul Schmid-Hempel retired Professor of Experimental Ecology at ETH Zurich.
He has been monitoring the spread of buff-tailed bumblebees over the last ten years. Together with this wife Regula and his colleagues from South america he has published just his work in Journal of Animal Ecology.
The couple collected these insects during several trips to southern South america in order to document their rapid spread do genetic analyses
and examine the parasites which accompany them as stowaways in the bumblebee intestines. The findings show that the European buff-tailed bumblebee spread southwards from central Chile along the Andes at a rate of around 200 kilometres a year--faster than the ecologists would ever have expected.
After just a few years the buff-tailed bumblebee had crossed the mountain chain and it reached the Atlantic coast of Argentina in late 2011.
By 2012 the insect had penetrated already deep into south Patagonia reaching the gateways to some of the major national parks. Given that colonies
and not individual insects have to become established this migration speed is astonishingly fast says Paul Schmid-Hempel.
He is convinced that in just a few years'time the bumblebees will reach the Strait of magellan. From there it would be just a little leap to Tierra del fuego.
Unfortunately we don't have any information at all about the occurrence of bumblebees on this large island comments the researcher.
In the other poorly accessible areas in Southwestern Chile no one has looked for buff-tailed bumblebees either.
That's why we don't have any evidence up to now. As however there are often strong winds in Patagonia in the summer Schmid-Hempel believes that it is possible that the insects could be transported easily to many locations.
Native species are disappearingthe triumphant advance of the European bumblebee is a disaster for the native bumblebees--five out of a total of 250 bumblebee species to be found in the world live in southern South america
--and a disaster particularly for the attractive and vivid orange giant bumblebee Bombus dahlbomii. Wherever the buff-tailed bumblebee settles the native species are done for:
in most areas in which its competitor has appeared B. dahlbomii has disappeared surprisingly quickly. One possible reason for its extinction is the protozoan parasite Crithidia bombi
which lives in the intestines of the buff-tailed bumblebee. This parasite causes intestinal infections in the European and native bumblebee species in South america.
It modifies the behaviour of the workers increases their mortality rate and prevents the establishment of new colonies.
Paul Schmid-Hempel is worried about the rapid spread of the buff-tailed bumblebee in remote areas of southern South america not least
because nothing seems capable of stopping it. The species is established now and it would be almost impossible to remove it from the ecosystem.
The consequences for the native fauna and flora are however difficult to assess. The European bumblebee could disrupt the ecological balance of southern South america to a major degree.
Nor is it stopping either at the boundaries of famous nature reserves like Torres del Paine
and other magnificent landscapes stresses the ecologist. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by ETH Zurich.
#New rearing method may help control western bean cutwormthe western bean cutworm is a destructive insect pest of dry beans and corn.
Inadequate protocols for laboratory rearing of this insect have hindered controlled efficacy experimentation in the laboratory and field.
However in an article in the Journal of Economic Entomology called Evaluation of Tolerance to Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins Among Laboratory-Reared Western Bean Cutworm (Lepidoptera:
Noctuidae) the authors report a new rearing methodology used to maintain a laboratory colony for 12 continuous generations.
The ability to mass produce this pest insect will enhance fundamental research including evaluation of control tactics and toxin susceptibility.
The new rearing procedure described in the article allowed the researchers to gather the first reported data for western bean cutworm susceptibility to Cry toxins using laboratory dose-response bioassays.
With the ability to rear western bean cutworm in the laboratory it may be possible in the future to select strains with varying levels of Cry1f toxin susceptibilities which could in turn be used to investigate the genetic basis of resistance.
and up to the top is much slower in cold-blooded salmon than in warm-blooded animals. The renewal of intestinal cells only takes a few days in mammals
but takes several weeks in salmon. Furthermore the process was slower when the water around the salmon was 8 rather than 12 degrees.
#Feeding by tourists compromises health of already-endangered iguanas, study findsfeeding wildlife is an increasingly common tourist activity
but a new study published online today by the journal Conservation Physiology shows that already-imperilled iguanas are suffering further physiological problems
Charles Knapp Phd of the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and colleagues compared the differences in physiological values
and endoparasitic infection rates between northern Bahamian rock iguanas inhabiting tourist-visited islands and those living on non-tourist-visited islands.
They took blood and faecal samples from both male and female iguanas over two research trips in 2010 and 2012.
The Bahamian rock iguana is among the world's most endangered lizards due to habitat loss introduced mammals illegal hunting threats related to increased tourism and smuggling for the illicit pet trade.
While the two groups of iguanas did not differ in body condition indicators for dietary nutrition differed.
Both male and female iguanas from the islands frequently visited by tourists showed notably different levels of glucose potassium and uric acid.
Male iguanas from the tourist areas differed in levels of calcium cholesterol cobalt copper magnesium packed cell volume selenium and triglycide concentrations.
Meanwhile female iguanas from tourist areas differed significantly in ionized calcium. Among both males and females from tourist areas there was a 100%endoparasitic infection rate.
Tourist-fed iguanas also displayed atypical loose faeces. Dr Knapp says Both sexes on visited islands consume food distributed by tourists
although male iguanas are more aggressive when feeding and eat more provisioned food. Consequently they may be impacted more by provisioning with unnatural foods
Iguanas on visited islands predominantly eat grapes that are provided by tour operators on a daily basis. The higher concentrations of glucose found in tourist-fed iguanas may be a result of being fed too many sugary fruits such as grapes.
An overabundance of grapes in those iguanas'diets could also explain the excessive diarrhea observed during the study.
Both male and female iguanas from the tourist areas showed notably lower levels of potassium than the non-visited iguanas.
The male tourist-fed iguanas have raised cholesterol concentrations which may indicate the introduction of meat to their diet.
Similarly the higher uric acid levels in male and female iguanas could be the result of animal protein such as ground beef being fed to iguanas by tourists.
Furthermore food provisioning by tourists on beaches has encouraged the iguanas to spend disproportionate amounts of time foraging in the area rather than further in the island resulting in higher levels of marine life being ingested.
Further plant community dynamics can be disrupted by changed feeding patterns in the iguanas. Dr Knapp says The complete restriction of feeding by tourists may not be a realistic option.
Instead wildlife managers could approach manufacturers of pelleted iguana foods and request specially-formulated food to mitigate the impact of unhealthy food.
and discourage references to feeding iguanas on advertisements. We urge serious discussions among wildlife managers
#First in depth analysis of primate eating habitsfrom insect-munching tamarins to leaf-loving howler monkeys researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have compiled the most thorough review of primate
Findings published today in the journal Oikos show how some monkeys consume their'five a day'within a single hour
and diversity of fruit consumed by primates in neotropical forests of South and Central america. The team compiled data from 290 primate dietary studies spanning 42 years of research across 17 countries.
They reveal how primate body mass and the amount of fruit consumed are linked--with small monkeys such as marmosets
and tamarins eating more insects and less fruit. The amount of fruit eaten gradually increases with greater body size
and peaks at medium-sized primates such as saki monkeys. But fruit intake then declines in favour of leaves in larger-bodied primates such as howler and woolly spider monkeys.
Lead researcher Dr Joseph Hawes from UEA's School of Environmental sciences said: We examined dietary data to quantify how much different primate species feed on fruit leaves and insects--particularly in relation to their body size.
We found that different species vary widely in the amount and diversity of fruits that they eat as well as the overall contribution of fruit to their diets.
We found that the diet of medium-sized primates is most likely to be dominated by fruits.
Meanwhile smaller primates which have high metabolic requirements eat more insects as they provide a high-quality source of nutrients and calories.
Larger monkeys eat a lot more foliage because their guts can tolerate high levels of cellulose and toxins
--which are unpalatable or indigestible to smaller primates. Many primates easily consume their'five a day'often within a single hour of active foraging.
For example a single group of several Amazonian primate species can consume as many as 45-50 species of fruit in a single day!
One of the most surprising things that we found was that primates with wide geographic ranges do not necessarily consume a wider diversity of fruits as expected perhaps
because these species tend to be generalist feeders. Another surprise was that primates with higher prevalence of fruit in their diets were historically among the most poorly studied meaning we still have a lot to learn about their importance as consumers and seed dispersers.
Co-author Prof Carlos Peres also from UEA added: Having a good understanding of nonhuman primate diets in the wild is very important for the conservation planning of threatened and area-demanding species with forest habitat loss and severe forest degradation a major concern
throughout the New world tropics. This is also critical to evaluate the roles of primates within forest food webs particularly as seed dispersers for tropical forest plants.
The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of East Anglia.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#Proteins passing phases revealeda new method to identify previously hidden details about the structures of proteins may speed the process of novel drug design according to scientists at Rice university.
A unique combination of computational techniques and experimental data helped Rice theorists predict intermediate configurations of proteins that until now have been hard to detect.
and fulfill their tasks by changing their configurations to trap chemical compounds Morcos said. With the hybrid SBM+DCA program and improved imaging methods in development theorists and experimentalists will be able to compute
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