This paper contains a description of a new species of oribatid mite, Birobates hepaticolus sp. nov., from eucalypt woodland and rainforest in North Queensland, Australia. Adults and immatures of B. hepaticolus live completely enclosed within the ventral lobules of the corticolous liverwort Frullania ferdinandi-muelleri Steph. The ventral lobes provide a protected, moisture-buffered microhabitat on tree bark that would otherwise be subject to extremes of wetting and drying. Analysis of gut contents indicates that B. hepaticolus appears to feed on liverwort tissue. To our knowledge this is the first documented example of an association between an oribatid mite and a leafy liverwort based on the provision of food and habitat. The genus Birobates is redefined and diagnosed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Platycerium bifurcatum is an epiphytic fern, occurring mainly in the forests of Australia and New Guinea. The location and spatial structure of its sporangia makes this fern a unique research model for physiological experiments. Our research aimed to determine changes in photosynthesis in the sporophilic and trophophilic parts of P. bifurcatum leaves during spore tying and maturation. For this purpose, the JIP-test and gas-exchange measurements of leaves were performed. In the study, we showed that changes typical of plant responses to stress factors also happened at critical periods in plant ontogenesis (e.g., in the generative phase) not related to environmental stress. Measurements of chlorophyll a fluorescence kinetics, the intensities of net/gross photosynthetic rate, and the respiration of sporotrophophilic leaves indicated that the intensities of these processes were related to the location of spores and to the stage of sporulation. The results are the first to describe the photosynthesis process and dark respiration of leaves during sporulation in ferns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]