scholarly journals Butterflies and moths (Insecta: Lepidoptera) of the Lokrum island, southern Dalmatia

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-240
Author(s):  
Toni Koren ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Introduced Species ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Butterfly Species ◽  
Natural Succession ◽  
Native Flora ◽  
Probable Reason ◽  
Grassland Habitats

In 2016 and 2017 a survey of the butterflies and moth fauna of the island of Lokrum, Dubrovnik was carried out. A total of 208 species were recorded, which, together with 15 species from the literature, raised the total number of known species to 223. The results of our survey can be used as a baseline for the study of future changes in the Lepidoptera composition on the island. In comparison with the literature records, eight butterfly species can be regarded as extinct from the island. The most probable reason for extinction is the degradation of the grassland habitats due to the natural succession as well as the introduction of the European Rabbit and Indian Peafowl. Their presence has probably had a tremendously detrimental effect on the native flora and fauna of the island. To conserve the Lepidoptera fauna of the island, and the still remaining biodiversity, immediate eradication of these introduced species is needed.

scholarly journals Features of the water regime of aboriginal and introduced species of the genus Iris L. in the Southern Ural

2021 ◽  
Vol 210 (07) ◽  
pp. 2-15
Author(s):  
Liliya Beksheneva ◽  
Antonina Reut
Keyword(s):  
Introduced Species ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Water Regime ◽  
Meteorological Factors ◽  
Botanical Garden ◽  
Mode I ◽  
Native Flora ◽  
Rare And Endangered Species ◽  
Rare And Endangered

Abstract. The article presents the results of an experimental assessment of the peculiarities of the water regime of 9 species of the genus Iris L. growing in the South-Ural Botanical Garden-Institute UFRC RAS (I. sibirica L., I. pseudacorus L. ‒ species of native flora, I. aphylla L., I. biglumis Vahl., I. lacteal Pall., I. orientalis Mill., I. ruthenica Ker-Gawl., I. setosa Pall., I. spuria L. ‒ introduced species). The purpose is a comparative evaluation of the main parameters of the water regime within the generic complex and depending on the detection of meteorological factors in different phenological periods. Methods. Studies were performed in growing periods 2019–2020’s physiological using conventional techniques (artificial saturation method and wilting). Made a detailed analysis of daily and seasonal dynamics of the water regime of the three parameters: the total water content, water-holding capacity, water scarcity. Typical forest species Convallaria majalis L. was investigated for a comparative analysis of water regime indicators. Results. The similarities and differences in the peculiarities of the water regime were established between the studied species, the dependence of the indicators on meteorological conditions was revealed. According to the type of water regime cultivars were divided into four groups: a flexible water-quiet mode ‒ I. pseudacorus, flexible water-tight mode ‒ I. sibirica, I. ruthenica, stably-calm water mode ‒ I. aphylla, I. biglumis, I. setosa, stably-tight water mode ‒ I. spuria, I. lactea, I. orientalis. Among the studied parameters of water scarcity was the most dependent on meteorological factors. Scientific novelty. The study helps to identify ecological and physiological adaptations of exotic species in comparison with the native species that could become the basis for assessing the prospects of growing in the culture and conservation of rare and endangered species.

scholarly journals Legacy of a Butterfly’s Parental Microbiome in Offspring Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis R. Paniagua Voirol ◽  
Arne Weinhold ◽  
Paul R. Johnston ◽  
Nina E. Fatouros ◽  
Monika Hilker
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Community ◽  
Host Plant ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Antibiotic Treatment ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Butterfly Species ◽  
Offspring Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Parental Treatment ◽  
Larval Traits

ABSTRACT An insect’s phenotype can be influenced by the experiences of the parental generation. However, the effects of the parental symbiotic microbiome and host plant use on the offspring are unclear. We addressed this gap of knowledge by studying Pieris brassicae, a multivoltine butterfly species feeding on different brassicaceous plants across generations. We investigated how disturbance of the parental bacterial community by antibiotic treatment affects F1 larval traits. We tested the effects depending on whether F1 larvae are feeding on the same plant species as their parents or on a different one. The parental treatment alone had no impact on the biomass of F1 larvae feeding on the parental plant species. However, the parental treatment had a detrimental effect on F1 larval biomass when F1 larvae had a different host plant than their parents. This effect was linked to higher larval prophenoloxidase activity and greater downregulation of the major allergen gene (MA), a glucosinolate detoxification gene of P. brassicae. Bacterial abundance in untreated adult parents was high, while it was very low in F1 larvae from either parental type, and thus unlikely to directly influence larval traits. Our results suggest that transgenerational effects of the parental microbiome on the offspring’s phenotype become evident when the offspring is exposed to a transgenerational host plant shift. IMPORTANCE Resident bacterial communities are almost absent in larvae of butterflies and thus are unlikely to affect their host. In contrast, adult butterflies contain conspicuous amounts of bacteria. While the host plant and immune state of adult parental butterflies are known to affect offspring traits, it has been unclear whether also the parental microbiome imposes direct effects on the offspring. Here, we show that disturbance of the bacterial community in parental butterflies by an antibiotic treatment has a detrimental effect on those offspring larvae feeding on a different host plant than their parents. Hence, the study indicates that disturbance of an insect’s parental microbiome by an antibiotic treatment shapes how the offspring individuals can adjust themselves to a novel host plant.

scholarly journals Seeding and Overseeding Native Hayseed Support Plant and Soil Arthropod Communities in Agriculture Areas

Life ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Elisa Cardarelli ◽  
Rodolfo Gentili ◽  
Francesca Della Rocca ◽  
Marta Zanella ◽  
Sarah Caronni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Treatment ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Ambrosia Artemisiifolia ◽  
Weed Species ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Native Flora ◽  
Grassland Species ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Native Seed ◽  
Grassland Habitats

Using native seed mixtures to create or recover grassland habitats in rotation to crops or in strips surrounding fields is considered a cost-effective practice to enhance ecosystem resilience and agro-biodiversity. The aim of this research was to assess the effects of native hayseed mixtures on plant and microarthropod communities in an agricultural area of Northern Italy. Three different experimental treatments were set up. The first was a control (C) (i.e., non-seeded plots left to spontaneous vegetation succession after ploughing no deeper than 15 cm). The second, hayseed seeded (Hs) after ploughing no deeper than 15 cm. The third experimental treatment was hayseed overseeded (Ov) on the resident plant community after only a superficial harrowing. Ov plots exhibited the preeminent positive effects on the total productivity and quality of the grassland in terms of total vegetation cover, cover and richness of typical grassland species (i.e., Molinio-Arrhenatheretea species), and cover of legumes, grasses and perennial species. Moreover, Ov sites exhibited the highest abundance of microarthropod taxa and soil biological quality (QBS-ar) but only in spring, when the disturbance of ploughing negatively affected Hs and C plots. On the other hand, Hs sites showed a great reduction of invasive alien (i.e., Ambrosia artemisiifolia and Artemisia verlotiorum) and segetal weed species (i.e., Capsella bursa-pastoris and Spergula arvensis) in terms of cover. This study provides valuable indication on using hayseed mixtures to create grassland habitats as reservoir of native flora and soil biodiversity in agriculture areas.

The influence of evolutionary history and body size on partitioning of habitat resources by mammalian herbivores in south-eastern Australia

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi E. Davis ◽  
Ian R. Gordon ◽  
Graeme Coulson
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Introduced Species ◽  
Resource Partitioning ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Niche Complementarity ◽  
Mammalian Herbivores ◽  
Eastern Australia

Habitat use is the most common dimension along which sympatric species partition resources to reduce competition. We conducted faecal pellet counts at Wilsons Promontory National Park, Victoria, to examine habitat use by an assemblage of mammalian herbivores with disparate evolutionary histories and varying body size: introduced European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and hog deer (Axis porcinus), and native eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) and common wombat (Vombatus ursinus). Overlap in habitat use was low between four pairs of species, suggesting spatial partitioning of resources to reduce the potential for interspecific competition. More generally, however, overlap in habitat use was high, particularly between native and introduced grazers. These results indicate the potential for competition if resources were limiting and suggest that assemblages of species with independent evolutionary histories have inherently less resource partitioning to facilitate coexistence than assemblages of species with common evolutionary histories. Despite evidence of high overlap in habitat use between native and introduced species at a broad scale, and variation in the competitive ability of species, coexistence was likely facilitated by niche complementarity, including temporal and fine-scale partitioning of spatial resources. There was no relationship between body size and the diversity of habitats used. In contemporary assemblages of native and introduced species, evolutionary history is likely to have a strong influence on resource partitioning.

scholarly journals Novedades Para La Flora De La Argentina

2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan J. Cantero ◽  
Gloria E. Barboza ◽  
Franco E. Chiarini ◽  
Rocio Deanna ◽  
L. Ariza Espinar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Introduced Species ◽  
New Records ◽  
Field Trips ◽  
Native Flora ◽  
First Time ◽  
Flora Of Argentina

Novelties for the Flora of Argentina. On the occasion of preparing the Flora of Cordoba, new records for the Argentinean flora have been registered as a result of intensive field trips and the revision of the main herbaria collections of the country. In this paper, three new records for the native flora and 17 for the introduced flora (casual aliens and naturalized species) of Argentina are presented. Descriptions, illustrations and a lectotypification are done. Furthermore, the presence of 10 introduced species is formally documented for the first time 

scholarly journals Changes in Alpine Butterfly Communities during the Last 40 Years

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Simona Bonelli ◽  
Cristiana Cerrato ◽  
Francesca Barbero ◽  
Maria Virginia Boiani ◽  
Giorgio Buffa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Elevation ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Optimal Interpolation ◽  
Butterfly Species ◽  
Maritime Alps ◽  
Habitat Alterations ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Scale Temperature ◽  
Butterfly Communities ◽  
Grassland Habitats

Our work aims to assess how butterfly communities in the Italian Maritime Alps changed over the past 40 years, in parallel with altitudinal shifts occurring in plant communities. In 2019, we sampled butterflies at 7 grassland sites, between 1300–1900 m, previously investigated in 2009 and 1978, by semi-quantitative linear transects. Fine-scale temperature and precipitation data elaborated by optimal interpolation techniques were used to quantify climate changes. The changes in the vegetation cover and main habitat alterations were assessed by inspection of aerial photographs (1978–2018/1978–2006–2015). The vegetation structure showed a marked decrease of grassland habitats and an increase of woods (1978–2009). Plant physiognomy has remained stable in recent years (2009–2019) with some local exceptions due to geomorphic disturbance. We observed butterfly ‘species substitution’ indicating a general loss in the more specialised and a general gain in more tolerant elements. We did not observe any decrease in species richness, but rather a change in guild compositions, with (i) an overall increased abundance in some widespread and common lowland species and (ii) the disappearance (or strong decrease) of some alpine (high elevation) species, so that ‘resilience’ could be just delusive. Changes in butterfly community composition were consistent with predicted impacts of local warming.

Cognitive Load Mediates the Effect of Emotion on Analytical Thinking

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 343-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bastien Trémolière ◽  
Marie-Ève Gagnon ◽  
Isabelle Blanchette
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Deleterious Effect ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Emotional Problems ◽  
Syllogistic Reasoning ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Potential Explanation ◽  
Cognitive Mechanism ◽  
Analytical Thinking

Abstract. Although the detrimental effect of emotion on reasoning has been evidenced many times, the cognitive mechanism underlying this effect remains unclear. In the present paper, we explore the cognitive load hypothesis as a potential explanation. In an experiment, participants solved syllogistic reasoning problems with either neutral or emotional contents. Participants were also presented with a secondary task, for which the difficult version requires the mobilization of cognitive resources to be correctly solved. Participants performed overall worse and took longer on emotional problems than on neutral problems. Performance on the secondary task, in the difficult version, was poorer when participants were reasoning about emotional, compared to neutral contents, consistent with the idea that processing emotion requires more cognitive resources. Taken together, the findings afford evidence that the deleterious effect of emotion on reasoning is mediated by cognitive load.

On retroeconomy

2017 ◽  
pp. 148-159
Author(s):  
V. Papava
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
International Competition ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
Role Of The Government

This paper analyzes the problem of technological backwardness of economy. In many mostly developing countries their economies use obsolete technologies. This can create the illusion that this or that business is prosperous. At the level of international competition, however, it is obvious that these types of firms do not have any chance for success. Retroeconomics as a theory of technological backwardness and its detrimental effect upon a country’s economy is considered in the paper. The role of the government is very important for overcoming the effects of retroeconomy. The phenomenon of retroeconomy is already quite deep-rooted throughout the world and it is essential to consolidate the attention of economists and politicians on this threat.

THE CLASSIFICATION OF LAND ACCORDING TO THE DEGREE OF RABBIT INFESTATION IN CENTRAL OTAGO

1987 ◽  
pp. 65-70
Author(s):  
I.G.C. Kerr ◽  
J.M. Williams ◽  
W.D. Ross ◽  
J.M. Pollard
Keyword(s):  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Mediterranean Climate ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Soil Survey ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Cultural Modification ◽  
Classification Information ◽  
Semi Arid

The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) introduced into New Zealand in the 183Os, has consistently flourished in Central Otago, the upper Waitaki, and inland Marlborough, all areas of mediterranean climate. It has proved difficult to manage in these habitats. The 'rabbit problem' is largely confined to 105,000 ha of low producing land mostly in semi arid areas of Central Otago. No field scale modifications of the natural habitat have been successful in limiting rabbit numbers. The costs of control exceed the revenue from the land and continued public funding for control operations appears necessary. A system for classifying land according to the degree of rabbit proneness is described. Soil survey and land classification information for Central Otago is related to the distribution and density of rabbits. This intormation can be used as a basis for defining rabbit carrying capacity and consequent land use constraints and management needs. It is concluded that the natural rabbit carrying capacity of land can be defined by reference to soil survey information and cultural modification to the natural vegetation. Classification of land according to rabbit proneness is proposed as a means of identifying the need for, and allocation of, public funding tor rabbit management. Keywords: Rabbit habitat, rabbit proneness, use of rabbit prone land.

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