Macro-element composition ofChionochloa pallensandC. flavescensshoots, and soil properties in the North Island, New Zealand

1978 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Williams ◽  
J. L. Grigg ◽  
P. Nes ◽  
K. F. O'Connor
2018 ◽  
Vol 154 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-196
Author(s):  
Michael Darby

Some 2,000 Ptiliidae collected in the North and South Islands of New Zealand in 1983/1984 by Peter Hammond of the Natural History Museum, London, are determined to 34 species, four of which are new to the country. As there are very few previous records, most from the Auckland district of North Island, the Hammond collection provides much new distributional data. The three new species: Nellosana insperatus sp. n., Notoptenidium flavum sp. n., and Notoptenidium johnsoni sp. n., are described and figured; the genus Ptiliodes is moved from Acrotrichinae to Ptiliinae, and Ptenidium formicetorum Kraatz recorded as a new introduction. Information is provided to aid separation of the new species from those previously recorded.


Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 170
Author(s):  
Gladys N. Benitez ◽  
Glenn D. Aguilar ◽  
Dan Blanchon

The spatial distribution of corticolous lichens on the iconic New Zealand pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) tree was investigated from a survey of urban parks and forests across the city of Auckland in the North Island of New Zealand. Lichens were identified from ten randomly selected trees at 20 sampling sites, with 10 sites classified as coastal and another 10 as inland sites. Lichen data were correlated with distance from sea, distance from major roads, distance from native forests, mean tree DBH (diameter at breast height) and the seven-year average of measured NO2 over the area. A total of 33 lichen species were found with coastal sites harboring significantly higher average lichen species per tree as well as higher site species richness. We found mild hotspots in two sites for average lichen species per tree and another two separate sites for species richness, with all hotspots at the coast. A positive correlation between lichen species richness and DBH was found. Sites in coastal locations were more similar to each other in terms of lichen community composition than they were to adjacent inland sites and some species were only found at coastal sites. The average number of lichen species per tree was negatively correlated with distance from the coast, suggesting that the characteristic lichen flora found on pōhutukawa may be reliant on coastal microclimates. There were no correlations with distance from major roads, and a slight positive correlation between NO2 levels and average lichen species per tree.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1359
Author(s):  
Elisa Bona ◽  
Nadia Massa ◽  
Omrane Toumatia ◽  
Giorgia Novello ◽  
Patrizia Cesaro ◽  
...  

Algeria is the largest country in Africa characterized by semi-arid and arid sites, located in the North, and hypersaline zones in the center and South of the country. Several autochthonous plants are well known as medicinal plants, having in common tolerance to aridity, drought and salinity. In their natural environment, they live with a great amount of microbial species that altogether are indicated as plant microbiota, while the plants are now viewed as a “holobiont”. In this work, the microbiota of the soil associated to the roots of fourteen economically relevant autochthonous plants from Algeria have been characterized by an innovative metagenomic approach with a dual purpose: (i) to deepen the knowledge of the arid and semi-arid environment and (ii) to characterize the composition of bacterial communities associated with indigenous plants with a strong economic/commercial interest, in order to make possible the improvement of their cultivation. The results presented in this work highlighted specific signatures which are mainly determined by climatic zone and soil properties more than by the plant species.


The Holocene ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1037-1048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bergrún Arna Óladóttir ◽  
Olgeir Sigmarsson ◽  
Gudrún Larsen ◽  
Jean-Luc Devidal

The Holocene eruption history of subglacial volcanoes in Iceland is largely recorded by their tephra deposits. The numerous basaltic tephra offer the possibility to make the tephrochronology in the North Atlantic area more detailed and, therefore, more useful as a tool not only in volcanology but also in environmental and archaeological studies. The source of a tephra is established by mapping its distribution or inferred via compositional fingerprinting, mainly based on major-element analyses. In order to improve the provenance determinations for basaltic tephra produced at Grímsvötn, Bárdarbunga and Kverkfjöll volcanic systems in Iceland, 921 samples from soil profiles around the Vatnajökull ice-cap were analysed for major-element concentrations by electron probe microanalysis. These samples are shown to represent 747 primary tephra units. The tephra erupted within each of these volcanic system has similar chemical characteristics. The major-element results fall into three distinctive compositional groups, all of which show regular decrease of MgO with increasing K2O concentrations. The new analyses presented here considerably improve the compositional distinction between products of the three volcanic systems. Nevertheless, slight overlap of the compositional groups for each system still remains. In situ trace-element analyses by laser-ablation-inductively-coupled-plasma-mass-spectrometry were applied for better provenance identification for those tephra having similar major-element composition. Three trace-element ratios, Rb/Y, La/Yb and Sr/Th, proved particularly useful. Significantly higher La/Yb distinguishes the Grímsvötn basalts from those of Bárdarbunga and Rb/Y values differentiate the basalts of Grímsvötn and Kverkfjöll. Additionally, the products of Bárdarbunga, Grímsvötn and Kverkfjöll form distinct compositional fields on a Sr/Th versus Th plot. Taken together, the combined use of major- and trace-element analyses in delineating the provenance of basaltic tephra having similar major-element composition significantly improves the Holocene tephra record as well as the potential for correlations with tephra from outside Iceland.


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