Secondary invasion? Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) induced ash (Fraxinus) mortality interacts with ecological integrity to facilitate European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica)

Author(s):  
Jennifer N Baron ◽  
Benjamin D Rubin

Invasive insects have been shown to facilitate secondary invasive species by altering forest structure and function. Specifically, invasive insect herbivores may promote the establishment and growth of invasive plants by creating canopy gaps. Such secondary invasions may be influenced by ecological integrity—the degree to which ecosystem composition, structure, and function deviate from their natural or historical range of variation. Here we investigate 1) whether emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis; EAB) induced ash (Fraxinus spp.) mortality facilitates European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica)—an invasive shade-tolerant shrub; 2) the role of ecological integrity in this relationship. We use a principal component analysis (PCA) to calculate an index of ecological integrity and a zero-altered negative binomial generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) to describe European buckthorn occurrence and abundance. European buckthorn occurrence is influenced by canopy gaps, independent of EAB-induced gap formation. Ecological integrity and EAB-induced ash mortality interact to control European buckthorn abundance, with high ecological integrity limiting EAB-facilitated buckthorn invasion. This is the first evidence for EAB-facilitated buckthorn invasion and for an interaction between a secondary invasion and ecological integrity. Thus, ecological integrity plays an important role in the EAB-buckthorn system and may be used to manage the impacts of secondary invasions.

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 414
Author(s):  
Yuan Zhong ◽  
Baoxin Hu ◽  
G. Brent Hall ◽  
Farah Hoque ◽  
Wei Xu ◽  
...  

The Asian Emerald Ash Borer beetle (EAB, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) can cause damage to all species of Ash trees (Fraxinus), and rampant, unchecked infestations of this insect can cause significant damage to forests. It is thus critical to assess and model the spread of the EAB in a manner that allows authorities to anticipate likely areas of future tree infestation. In this study, a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM), combining the features of the commonly used generalized linear model (GLM) and a random effects model, was developed to predict future EAB spread patterns in Southern Ontario, Canada. The GLMM was designed to deal with autocorrelation in the data. Two random effects were established based on the geographic information provided with the EAB data, and a method based on statistical inference was proposed to identify the most significant factors associated with the distribution of the EAB. The results of the model showed that 95% of the testing data were correctly classified. The predictive performance of the GLMM was substantially enhanced in comparison with that obtained by the GLM. The influence of climatic factors, such as wind speed and anthropogenic activities, had the most significant influence on the spread of the EAB.


2015 ◽  
Vol 147 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annemarie Smith ◽  
Daniel A. Herms ◽  
Robert P. Long ◽  
Kamal J.K. Gandhi

AbstractEmerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is a non-native, wood-boring beetle that has caused widespread mortality of ash (Fraxinus Linnaeus (Oleaceae)) in eastern North America. During 2004–2007, we determined whether forest community composition and structure of black (F. nigra Marshall), green (F. pennsylvanica Marshall), and white (F. americana Linnaeus) ash stands influenced their susceptibility to EAB invasion in southeast Michigan, United States of America. There was no relationship between EAB-induced ash decline or percentage mortality and any measure of community composition (tree species diversity, stand/ash density, total basal area, or relative dominance of ash). There was also no relationship between measures of EAB impact (density of EAB signs, ash decline rating, percentage ash mortality, or percentage infested ash) and forest attributes (ash/total stand density, basal area, ash importance, or stand diversity). Decline and mortality of black ash advanced more rapidly than that of white and green ash. Percentage mortality of ash increased from 51% to 93% during 2004–2007. Distance from the epicentre of the invasion was negatively correlated with ash mortality, but this relationship dissipated over time. Stand composition data suggests that ash will be replaced by Quercus Linnaeus (Fagaceae), Acer Linnaeus (Sapindaceae), and Tilia Linnaeus (Malvaceae); such vegetation changes will irreversibly alter the structure and function of these forests.


2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (7) ◽  
pp. 768-776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Burr ◽  
Deborah G. McCullough

Assessing emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) impacts in North American forests is essential for projecting future species composition of stands invaded by this phloem-feeding pest. We surveyed all species of overstory trees and regeneration in 2010 and 2011 in 24 forested sites with a major component of green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), representing the Core, Crest, and Cusp of the A. planipennis invasion wave across southern Michigan. By 2011, an average of 78.6% ± 0.10%, 44.8% ± 0.11%, and 19.8% ± 0.07% of overstory ash trees representing 87%, 57%, and 14% of the total ash basal area had been killed in Core, Crest, and Cusp sites, respectively. Green ash seedlings, saplings, and recruits were abundant in all sites, but newly germinated ash seedlings were absent in Core sites and scarce in Crest sites. Canopy gaps resulting from current ash decline and mortality increased available photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and sapling growth in Crest sites, but PAR was low in Core and Cusp sites. Lateral ingrowth of non-ash overstory trees has largely filled canopy gaps in Core sites, and there was little evidence of green ash recruitment into the overstory. Green ash appears unlikely to persist as a dominant species in forests invaded by A. planipennis.


Author(s):  
Peter Sterling

The synaptic connections in cat retina that link photoreceptors to ganglion cells have been analyzed quantitatively. Our approach has been to prepare serial, ultrathin sections and photograph en montage at low magnification (˜2000X) in the electron microscope. Six series, 100-300 sections long, have been prepared over the last decade. They derive from different cats but always from the same region of retina, about one degree from the center of the visual axis. The material has been analyzed by reconstructing adjacent neurons in each array and then identifying systematically the synaptic connections between arrays. Most reconstructions were done manually by tracing the outlines of processes in successive sections onto acetate sheets aligned on a cartoonist's jig. The tracings were then digitized, stacked by computer, and printed with the hidden lines removed. The results have provided rather than the usual one-dimensional account of pathways, a three-dimensional account of circuits. From this has emerged insight into the functional architecture.


Author(s):  
K.E. Krizan ◽  
J.E. Laffoon ◽  
M.J. Buckley

With increase use of tissue-integrated prostheses in recent years it is a goal to understand what is happening at the interface between haversion bone and bulk metal. This study uses electron microscopy (EM) techniques to establish parameters for osseointegration (structure and function between bone and nonload-carrying implants) in an animal model. In the past the interface has been evaluated extensively with light microscopy methods. Today researchers are using the EM for ultrastructural studies of the bone tissue and implant responses to an in vivo environment. Under general anesthesia nine adult mongrel dogs received three Brånemark (Nobelpharma) 3.75 × 7 mm titanium implants surgical placed in their left zygomatic arch. After a one year healing period the animals were injected with a routine bone marker (oxytetracycline), euthanized and perfused via aortic cannulation with 3% glutaraldehyde in 0.1M cacodylate buffer pH 7.2. Implants were retrieved en bloc, harvest radiographs made (Fig. 1), and routinely embedded in plastic. Tissue and implants were cut into 300 micron thick wafers, longitudinally to the implant with an Isomet saw and diamond wafering blade [Beuhler] until the center of the implant was reached.


Author(s):  
Robert L. Ochs

By conventional electron microscopy, the formed elements of the nuclear interior include the nucleolus, chromatin, interchromatin granules, perichromatin granules, perichromatin fibrils, and various types of nuclear bodies (Figs. 1a-c). Of these structures, all have been reasonably well characterized structurally and functionally except for nuclear bodies. The most common types of nuclear bodies are simple nuclear bodies and coiled bodies (Figs. 1a,c). Since nuclear bodies are small in size (0.2-1.0 μm in diameter) and infrequent in number, they are often overlooked or simply not observed in any random thin section. The rat liver hepatocyte in Fig. 1b is a case in point. Historically, nuclear bodies are more prominent in hyperactive cells, they often occur in proximity to nucleoli (Fig. 1c), and sometimes they are observed to “bud off” from the nucleolar surface.


Author(s):  
M. Boublik ◽  
W. Hellmann ◽  
F. Jenkins

Correlations between structure and function of biological macromolecules have been studied intensively for many years, mostly by indirect methods. High resolution electron microscopy is a unique tool which can provide such information directly by comparing the conformation of biopolymers in their biologically active and inactive state. We have correlated the structure and function of ribosomes, ribonucleoprotein particles which are the site of protein biosynthesis. 70S E. coli ribosomes, used in this experiment, are composed of two subunits - large (50S) and small (30S). The large subunit consists of 34 proteins and two different ribonucleic acid molecules. The small subunit contains 21 proteins and one RNA molecule. All proteins (with the exception of L7 and L12) are present in one copy per ribosome.This study deals with the changes in the fine structure of E. coli ribosomes depleted of proteins L7 and L12. These proteins are unique in many aspects.


2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Erickson-Levendoski ◽  
Mahalakshmi Sivasankar

The epithelium plays a critical role in the maintenance of laryngeal health. This is evident in that laryngeal disease may result when the integrity of the epithelium is compromised by insults such as laryngopharyngeal reflux. In this article, we will review the structure and function of the laryngeal epithelium and summarize the impact of laryngopharyngeal reflux on the epithelium. Research investigating the ramifications of reflux on the epithelium has improved our understanding of laryngeal disease associated with laryngopharyngeal reflux. It further highlights the need for continued research on the laryngeal epithelium in health and disease.


1973 ◽  
Vol 44 (1-21012) ◽  
pp. 1-1 ◽  
Author(s):  
B BACCETTI ◽  
A BURRINI ◽  
R DALLAI ◽  
V PALLINI ◽  
P PERITI ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document