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Western sandpiper (Calidris mauri) chicks are precocial and leave the nest shortly after hatch to forage independently. Chicks require thermoregulatory assistance from parents (brooding) for 5--7 days posthatch, and parents facilitate chick survival for 2--3 weeks posthatch by leading and defending chicks. Parental vocal signals are likely involved in protecting chicks from predators, preventing them from wandering away and becoming lost and leading them to good foraging locations. Using observational and experimental methods in the field, we describe and demonstrate the form and function of parent--chick communication in the western sandpiper. We document 4 distinct calls produced by parents that are apparently directed toward their chicks (brood, gather, alarm, and freeze calls). Through experimental playback of parental and non--parental vocalizations to chicks in a small arena, we demonstrated the following: 1) chicks respond to the alarm call by vocalizing relatively less often and moving away from the signal source, 2) chicks respond to the gather call by vocalizing relatively more often and moving toward the signal source, and 3) chicks respond to the freeze call by vocalizing relatively less often and crouching motionless on the substrate for extended periods of time. Chicks exhibited consistent directional movement and space use to parental and non--parental signals. Although fewer vocalizations were given in response to non--parental signals, which may indicate a weaker response to unfamiliar individuals, the relative number of chick calls given to each type of call signal was consistent between parental and non--parental signals. We also discovered 2 distinct chick vocalizations (chick-contact and chick-alarm calls) during arena playback experiments. Results indicate that sandpiper parents are able to elicit antipredatory chick behaviors and direct chick movement and vocalizations through vocal signals. Future study of parent--offspring communication should determine whether shorebird chicks exhibit parental recognition though vocalizations and the role of chick vocalizations in parental behavior. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.

In developing management strategies for hemipteran pests in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), it is important to understand the potential of plants to compensate for loss of the fruiting structures. Because of its northern latitude, Virginia has fewer available heat units relative to other cotton-producing states. Therefore, there may be limited opportunity for compensation relative to more southerly production areas. Previous work in Virginia demonstrated that cotton can sustain relatively high levels of first position square loss with no yield loss. This study evaluated the impact of a single event loss of 10–14-d-old bolls via mechanical removal on cotton lint yields with the premise that boll loss would have greater impact than square loss as less time and fewer heat units are available for compensation. Field experiments examining four levels of boll removal (0, 5,15 and 20%) were conducted in 2001,2002 and 2003. Each boll removal level was imposed at three different dates, beginning 2 wks after first flower and at 3- to 5-d intervals thereafter. Yields ranged from 1103–1422 in 2001, 909–1124 in 2002, and 843–1015 kg lint per ha in 2003. There were no significant differences in lint yields among the boll removal dates or removal levels. The results of our study showed that cotton in Virginia, which approaches the northernmost latitude for cotton production, is capable of sustaining losses as high as 20% of 10–14-d-old bolls at a single removal event without affecting lint yield. Results were consistent despite the wide variation in rainfall and temperatures during the 3 study years.

Earthworms affect soil structure and the movement of agrochemicals. Yet, there have been few field-scale studies that quantify the effect of earthworms on dissolved nitrogen fluxes in agroecosystems. We investigated the influence of semi-annual earthworm additions on leachate production and quality in different row crop agroecosystems. Chisel-till corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation (CT) and ridge-till corn-soybean-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) rotation (RT) plots were arranged in a complete randomized block design (n = 3) with earthworm treatments (addition and ambient) as subplots where zero-tension lysimeters were placed 45 cm below ground. We assessed earthworm populations semi-annually and collected leachate biweekly over a three-year period and determined leachate volume and concentrations of total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). Abundance of deep-burrowing earthworms was increased in addition treatments over ambient and for both agroecosystems. Leachate loss was similar among agroecosystems, but earthworm additions increased leachate production in the range of 4.5 to 45.2% above ambient in CT cropping. Although leachate TIN and DON concentrations were generally similar between agroecosystems or earthworm treatments, transport of TIN was significantly increased in addition treatments over ambient in CT cropping due to increased leachate volume. Losses of total nitrogen in leachate loadings were up to approximately 10% of agroecosystem N inputs. The coincidence of (i) soluble N production and availability and (ii) preferential leaching pathways formed by deep-burrowing earthworms thereby increased N losses from the CT agroecosystem at the 45-cm depth. Processing of N compounds and transport in soil water from RT cropping were more affected by management phase and largely independent of earthworm activity.

DNA arrays were used to investigate the functional role of Rox1 in mediating acclimatization to anaerobic conditions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Multiple growth conditions for wild-type and rox1 null strains were used to identify open reading frames with a statistically robust response to this repressor. These results were compared to those obtained for a wild-type strain in response to oxygen availability. Transcripts of nearly one-sixth of the genome were differentially expressed ( P < 0.05) with respect to oxygen availability, the majority (>65%) being down-regulated under anoxia. Of the anaerobically induced genes, about one-third (106) contain putative Rox1-binding sites in their promoters and were significantly ( P < 0.05) up-regulated in the rox1 null strains under aerobiosis. Additional promoter searches revealed that nearly one-third of the anaerobically induced genes contain an AR1 site(s) for the Upc2 transcription factor, suggesting that Upc2 and Rox1 regulate the majority of anaerobically induced genes in S. cerevisiae . Functional analyses indicate that a large fraction of the anaerobically induced genes are involved in cell stress (∼1/3), cell wall maintenance (∼1/8), carbohydrate metabolism (∼1/10), and lipid metabolism (∼1/12), with both Rox1 and Upc2 predominating in the regulation of this latter group and Upc2 predominating in cell wall maintenance. Mapping the changes in expression of functional regulons onto metabolic pathways has provided novel insight into the role of Rox1 and other trans -acting factors in mediating the physiological response of S. cerevisiae to anaerobic conditions.

Region, soil type, and tillage are important factors in severity of crop pest infestation. This study was conducted to determine the relative importance of these factors on severity of crop pest infestation as perceived by farmers. Correlations between pests were also studied. In a 1992 survey, farmers in 12 U.S. Corn Belt states were asked to rate the severity of crop pest infestation in their fields. The categories of pests included perennial and annual weeds in row crops, insects and diseases of corn (Zea mays L.) and sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], and insects and diseases of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. Means ranked from highest to lowest in the following order: annual weeds, perennial weeds, corn and sorghum insects, corn and sorghum diseases, soybean diseases, and soybean insects. Correlation coefficients ranged between 0.47 to 0.69 among corn and sorghum diseases, among soybean insects, and among soybean diseases, and between 0.04 and 0.41 among perennial weeds. Correlation coeffidents among annual weeds and among corn and/or sorghum insects spanned both of these ranges. Effects of either region and/or tillage were very highly significant (0.001), while soil type was not as significant an effect. In farmers' perceptions, weeds were the most serious pests and soybean pests the least serious pests; there was less relationship among perennial weeds than among pests in any other category; the drier western region was generally less severely infested; higher amount of conventional tillage practices produced less infestation; and differences in soil type were due to more severe infestation in loams, followed by infestation in clays, and then infestation in sands.

This paper makes explicit some of the assumptions underlying the view that infanticide is one of two (or more) alternative reproductive strategies utilized by adult male langur monkeys (genus Presbytis ). A mathematical model has been developed from these assumptions, and formulae derived which give the equilibrium proportion of infanticidal males expected in langur populations under any given set of reproductive and demographic conditions. Together with estimates of adult male reproductive success obtained from a previous analysis of langur infanticide, these formulae were then used to calculate the precise proportion of infanticidal males expected in natural populations of langurs characterized by specific average male tenures. Further, the number of generations required for such populations to reach their predicted equilibrium was estimated using a simple computer model of langur population dynamics. The present work has thus produced several quantitative predictions which are directly falsifiable with observational data obtainable from wild populations of langur monkeys. With only slight modification, the present model may also be applied to the numerous other primate and non-primate species whose mating systems include many of the same general features as that of langurs.