Anthophora occidentalis Cress. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and Its Associates at a Nesting Site in Southern Alberta

1961 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Hobbs ◽  
W. O. Nummi ◽  
J. F. Virostek
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Nesting Habitat ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Nesting Site ◽  
Cirsium Undulatum ◽  
Favourite Food

Studies on the ecology of Megachile perihirta Ckll. (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), a leaf-cutter bee that is a valuable pollinator of alfalfa in southern Alberta, indicated that the pillager (depredator) Nemognatha lutea Lec. (Coleoptera: Meloidae) and the parasite Dasymutilla fulvohirta (Cress.) (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) have other hosts besides M. perihirta (Hobbs, 1956). Adults of both species at the nesting habitat of a population of M. perihirta have been too numerous to have come solely from the cells of M. perihirta; also, the wide range in size of the adults of N. lutea indicated that other insects also served as hosts for this species. Mickel (1928, 1928a) found that D. fulvohirta was a pillager of Anthophora occidentalis Cress. In southern Alberts, the wingless females of D. fulvohirta would be within reach of A. occidentalis while parasitizing M. perihirta, as the vertical clay banks that house A. occidentalis are topped by the prairie into which M. perihirta tunnels. As N. lutea lays its eggs in masses on the phyllaries of the buds of wavy-leaved thistle, Cirsium undulatum (Nutt.) Spreng., a favourite food source of M. perihirta, and as A. occidentalis also uses C. undulatum as a food source, investigations were conducted in whether A. occidentalis might be one of the principal hosts of N. lutea too.

scholarly journals Spatial Distribution of Greater Sage-Grouse Nests in Relatively Contiguous Sagebrush Habitats

The Condor ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 742-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Holloran ◽  
Stanley H. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Radio Telemetry ◽  
Centrocercus Urophasianus ◽  
Spatial Arrangement ◽  
Population Viability ◽  
Prey Detection ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Sage Grouse ◽  
Nesting Habitat ◽  
Nesting Site ◽  
Low Probability

Abstract Degradation of nesting habitat has been proposed as a factor contributing to Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population declines throughout North America. Delineating suitable nesting habitat across landscapes with relatively contiguous sagebrush cover is difficult but important to identify areas for protection. We used radio-telemetry to locate Greater Sage-Grouse nests in relatively contiguous sagebrush habitats in Wyoming to investigate the spatial arrangement of nests relative to lek and other nest locations. Nest distributions were spatially related to lek location within 3 and 5 km of a lek, and a 5-km buffer included 64% of the nests. There was no relationship between lek size and lek-to-nest distance, suggesting that accurate population trend evaluation might require lek surveys in addition to lek counts. Closest known lek-to-nest distance was greater for successfully hatched compared to destroyed nests, and closely spaced nests tended to experience lower success and have higher probabilities of both nests experiencing the same fate compared to isolated nests, suggesting that a mechanism of enhanced prey detection occurred at higher nest densities. A low probability that a given individual's consecutive-year nest spacing occurred randomly suggested nesting site-area fidelity. Although a grouped pattern of nests occurred within 5 km of a lek, the proportion of nesting females located farther than 5 km could be important for population viability. Managers should limit strategies that negatively influence nesting habitat regardless of lek locations, and preserve adequate amounts of unaltered nesting habitat within treatment boundaries to maintain nest dispersion and provide sites for philopatric individuals.

A population-viability-based risk assessment of Marbled Murrelet nesting habitat policy in British Columbia

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (12) ◽  
pp. 3075-3086 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Douglas Steventon ◽  
Glenn D Sutherland ◽  
Peter Arcese
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Simulation Modelling ◽  
Population Viability ◽  
Nesting Habitat ◽  
Persistence Probability ◽  
Marbled Murrelet ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Independent Population ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Nesting Density

The Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus Gmelin) is a small threatened seabird of the Pacific coast of North America. Through simulation modelling we varied the long-term minimum amounts and quality (nesting density) of old-forest nesting habitat to examine effects on murrelet population viability, our measure of population resilience. Applying diffusion approximations we estimated population longevity and persistence probability under uncertainties of at-sea demography and onshore edge effects affecting nesting success, time scale, spatial scale, and subpopulation structure. We cast our analysis in a Bayesian belief and decision network framework. We also applied the framework to spatially explicit land-use and murrelet inventory data for the northern mainland region of the British Columbia coast. We found a diminishing expected value of persistence probability (EVP), for a single independent population, below a nesting capacity of ≈5000 nesting pairs (≈15 000 birds), accelerating below 2000 pairs. A strategy of multiple semi-independent subpopulations provided a higher joint EVP across a wide range of total nesting capacity. There was little improvement in EVP, for any number of subpopulations, above 10 000 – 12 000 pairs (≈36 000 birds, 45%–60% of coastwide population estimate in 2001). Depending on estimates of nesting density, 12 000 pairs would require between 0.6 and 1.2 million ha of potential old-forest nesting habitat.

scholarly journals Toxicity of neem and pyrethrum extracts to adult grass grub

2002 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 298-302
Author(s):  
M.S. Qureshi ◽  
T.A. Jackson ◽  
R.J. Townsend ◽  
D.J. Saville
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Botanical Insecticides ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Laboratory Bioassay ◽  
Chronic Effects ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Costelytra Zealandica ◽  
Acute And Chronic Effects ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Root Feeding

Grass grub Costelytra zealandica larvae damage pastures and crops by root feeding while the adult beetles can be serious defoliators of a wide range of plants Control of this pest with botanical insecticides has received little attention The objectives of this study were to investigate the direct effects of neem and pyrethrum extracts on the adult beetle A laboratory bioassay was used to test the acute and chronic effects of the botanicals over a range of doses by treating a food source (Pittosporum tenuifolium) with the extracts Pyrethrum had the faster action; at all doses beetles were killed within a day Neem caused only low mortality even at the highest rate Similar results were obtained when the bioassays were repeated using the same treatments for Smiths chafer (Odontria smithii) beetle Further research is needed on the practical implications of these results

RESPONSE OF IRRIGATED FIELD AND SWEET CORN TO NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS FERTILIZERS IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA

1975 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. BOLE ◽  
S. FREYMAN
Keyword(s):  
Dry Matter ◽  
Zea Mays L ◽  
Sweet Corn ◽  
Systematic Design ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Field Corn ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
P Fertilizer ◽  
Precise Assessment

A two-dimensional systematic design provided a precise assessment of the response of field and sweet corn (Zea mays L. cv. UH 106 and Yukon) to a wide range of fertilizer N and P levels. Both cultivars responded primarily to N, with only limited responses to P. Yield increased significantly with incremental N levels up to 100 kg/ha and slightly with increments of N up to 200 kg/ha. Total dry matter yields responded to higher levels of N than did grain yield, and field corn was more responsive to N fertilizer than was sweet corn. Yields were significantly lower with no P than with P fertilizer levels of 15 kg/ha or higher. The limited response to P was probably due to the moderate to high levels of residual fertilizer P in the soil.

SURVIVAL, YIELD, PROTEIN CONTENT, AND BAKING QUALITY OF HARD RED WINTER WHEATS GROWN UNDER VARIOUS FERTILIZER PRACTICES IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA

1978 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 1049-1060 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. J. PITTMAN ◽  
K. H. TIPPLES
Keyword(s):  
Protein Content ◽  
Triticum Aestivum L ◽  
Plant Populations ◽  
Survival Yield ◽  
Baking Quality ◽  
Protein Levels ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
P Fertilizers

Plant populations and grain yield of hard red winter wheats (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in southern Alberta were differentially affected by applied N and P fertilizers. The cultivar Sundance generally yielded more grain than did Winalta, Kharkov 22 MC, or Jones Fife. Protein content of the grain was generally increased by applications of N fertilizer but relatively unaffected by applied P. There was little inherent change in milling and baking quality with increasing protein content. Winalta maintained good milling and baking quality over a wide range of protein contents with no weakening at the higher protein levels. Kharkov 22 MC showed slightly lower milling and baking qualities at high protein levels of the grain.

The Structure and Histochemistry of the Nectary and Anther Secretory Tissue of the Flowers of Thryptomene calycina (Lindl) Stapf (Myrtaceae)

1989 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
DV Beardsell ◽  
EG Williams ◽  
RB Knox
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Secretory Cells ◽  
Floral Tube ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Pollinating Insects ◽  
Secretory Tissue ◽  
Thin Walled ◽  
Vascular Connections ◽  
Hydrophobic Material

Flowers of Thryptomene calycina contain two types of secretory tissue. Nectaries of the floral tube secrete a nectar rich in fructose and glucose, probably through the numerous stomata in the epidermis. The secretory cells are densely packed and have few vascular connections. The five anther connectives each terminate in a gland, which at anthesis contains large, thin-walled cells. The gland contains a hydrophobic material which stains positively for lipids and probably contains phenolics. This material is secreted through a pore at the end of the gland where it collects and mixes with pollen to form a food source for insects. This dual secretion of food materials would ensure that a wide range of pollinating insects visit the flowers.

scholarly journals Design, Construction and Testing of IoT Based Automated Indoor Vertical Hydroponics Farming Test-Bed in Qatar

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (19) ◽  
pp. 5637
Author(s):  
Muhammad E. H. Chowdhury ◽  
Amith Khandakar ◽  
Saba Ahmed ◽  
Fatima Al-Khuzaei ◽  
Jalaa Hamdalla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Remote Access ◽  
Automated System ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Gulf Region ◽  
Hydroponic System ◽  
System Parameters ◽  
Iot Platform ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Different Types

Growing plants in the gulf region can be challenging as it is mostly desert, and the climate is dry. A few species of plants have the capability to grow in such a climate. However, those plants are not suitable as a food source. The aim of this work is to design and construct an indoor automatic vertical hydroponic system that does not depend on the outside climate. The designed system is capable to grow common type of crops that can be used as a food source inside homes without the need of large space. The design of the system was made after studying different types of vertical hydroponic systems in terms of price, power consumption and suitability to be built as an indoor automated system. A microcontroller was working as a brain of the system, which communicates with different types of sensors to control all the system parameters and to minimize the human intervention. An open internet of things (IoT) platform was used to store and display the system parameters and graphical interface for remote access. The designed system is capable of maintaining healthy growing parameters for the plants with minimal input from the user. The functionality of the overall system was confirmed by evaluating the response from individual system components and monitoring them in the IoT platform. The system was consuming 120.59 and 230.59 kWh respectively without and with air conditioning control during peak summer, which is equivalent to the system running cost of 13.26 and 25.36 Qatari Riyal (QAR) respectively. This system was circulating around 104 k gallons of nutrient solution monthly however, only 8–10 L water was consumed by the system. This system offers real-time notifications to alert the hydroponic system user when the conditions are not favorable. So, the user can monitor several parameters without using laboratory instruments, which will allow to control the entire system remotely. Moreover, the system also provides a wide range of information, which could be essential for plant researchers and provides a greater understanding of how the key parameters of hydroponic system correlate with plant growth. The proposed platform can be used both for quantitatively optimizing the setup of the indoor farming and for automating some of the most labor-intensive maintenance activities. Moreover, such a monitoring system can also potentially be used for high-level decision making, once enough data will be collected. This work presents significant opportunities for the people who live in the gulf region to produce food as per their requirements.

scholarly journals Octopamine increases individual and collective foraging in a neotropical stingless bee

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 20200238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianfei Peng ◽  
Maximilian Schroeder ◽  
Christoph Grüter
Keyword(s):  
Stingless Bees ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Stingless Bee ◽  
Response Threshold ◽  
Foraging Effort ◽  
Reward Seeking ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Eusocial Bees ◽  
Collective Foraging ◽  
Regulatory Effects

The biogenic amine octopamine (OA) is a key modulator of individual and social behaviours in honeybees, but its role in the other group of highly eusocial bees, the stingless bees, remains largely unknown. In honeybees, OA mediates reward perception and affects a wide range of reward-seeking behaviours. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that OA increases individual foraging effort and collective food source exploitation in the neotropical stingless bee Plebeia droryana . OA treatment caused a significant increase in the number of bees at artificial sucrose feeders and a 1.73-times higher individual foraging frequency. This effect can be explained by OA lowering the sucrose response threshold and, thus, increasing the perceived value of the food source. Our results demonstrate that, similar to its effects on honeybees, OA increases both individual and collective food source exploitation in P. droryana . This suggests that, despite having evolved many complex behaviours independently, OA might have similar regulatory effects on foraging behaviours in the two groups of highly eusocial bees.

scholarly journals The trophic and metabolic pathways of foraminifera in the Arabian Sea: evidence from cellular stable isotopes

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 18145-18188
Author(s):  
R. M. Jeffreys ◽  
E. H. Fisher ◽  
A. J. Gooday ◽  
K. E. Larkin ◽  
G. A. Wolff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Metabolic Pathways ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Δ13c And Δ15n ◽  
Δ13c Values ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Chemosynthetic Bacteria

Abstract. The Arabian Sea is a region of elevated productivity with the highest globally recorded fluxes of particulate organic matter (POM) to the deep ocean, providing an abundant food source for fauna at the seafloor. However, benthic communities are also strongly influenced by an intense oxygen minimum zone (OMZ), which impinges on the continental slope at bathyal depths. We compared the trophic ecology of foraminifera on the Oman and Pakistan margins of the Arabian Sea (140–3185 m water depth). Organic carbon concentrations of surficial sediments were higher on the Oman margin (3.32 ± 1.4%) compared to the Pakistan margin (2.45 ± 1.1%) and sedimentary organic matter (SOM) quality estimated from the Hydrogen Index was also higher on the Oman margin (300–400 mg HC (mg TOC)−1) compared to the Pakistan margin (<250 mg HC (mg TOC)−1). δ13C and δ15N values of sediments were similar on both margins (−20 and 8‰, respectively). Stable isotope analysis (SIA) showed that foraminiferal cells had a wide range of δ13C values (−25.5 to −11.5‰), implying that they utilise multiple food sources; indeed δ13C values varied between depths, foraminiferal types and between the two margins. Foraminifera had broad ranges in δ15N values (−7.8 to 27.3‰). The enriched values suggest that some species may store nitrate to utilise in respiration; this was most notable on the Pakistan margin. Depleted foraminiferal δ15N values were identified on both margins, particularly the Oman margin, and may reflect feeding on chemosynthetic bacteria. We suggest that differences in productivity regimes between the two margins may be responsible for the differences observed in foraminiferal isotopic composition. In addition, at the time of sampling, whole jellyfish carcasses (Crambionella orsini) and a carpet of jelly detritus were observed across the Oman margin transect. Associated chemosynthetic bacteria may have provided an organic-rich food source for foraminifera at these sites. Our data suggest that foraminifera in OMZ settings can utilise a variety of food sources and metabolic pathways to meet their energetic demands.

scholarly journals The trophic and metabolic pathways of foraminifera in the Arabian Sea: evidence from cellular stable isotopes

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1781-1797 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Jeffreys ◽  
E. H. Fisher ◽  
A. J. Gooday ◽  
K. E. Larkin ◽  
D. S. M. Billett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Water Depth ◽  
Metabolic Pathways ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Sedimentary Organic Matter ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Δ13c Values ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Chemosynthetic Bacteria

Abstract. The Arabian Sea is a region of elevated productivity with the highest globally recorded fluxes of particulate organic matter (POM) to the deep ocean, providing an abundant food source for fauna at the seafloor. However, benthic communities are also strongly influenced by an intense oxygen minimum zone (OMZ), which impinges on the continental slope from 100 to 1000 m water depth. We compared the trophic ecology of foraminifera on the Oman and Pakistan margins of the Arabian Sea (140–3185 m water depth). These two margins are contrasting both in terms of the abundance of sedimentary organic matter and the intensity of the OMZ. Organic carbon concentrations of surficial sediments were higher on the Oman margin (3.32 ± 1.4%) compared to the Pakistan margin (2.45 ± 1.1%) and sedimentary organic matter (SOM) quality estimated from the Hydrogen Index was also higher on the Oman margin (300–400 mg HC mg TOC−1) compared to the Pakistan margin (< 250 mg HC mg TOC−1). The δ13C and δ15N values of sediments were similar on both margins (−20 and 8‰, respectively). Stable isotope analysis (SIA) showed that foraminiferal cells had a wide range of δ13C values (−25.5 to −11.5‰), implying that they utilise multiple food sources; indeed δ13C values varied between depths, foraminiferal types and between the two margins. Foraminifera had broad ranges in δ15N values (−7.8 to 27.3‰). The enriched values suggest that some species may store nitrate to utilise in respiration; this was most notable on the Pakistan margin. Depleted foraminiferal δ15N values, particularly at the Oman margin, may reflect feeding on chemosynthetic bacteria. We suggest that differences in productivity regimes may be responsible for the differences observed in foraminiferal isotopic composition. In addition, at the time of sampling, whole jellyfish carcasses (Crambionella orsini) and a carpet of jelly detritus were observed across the Oman margin transect. Associated chemosynthetic bacteria may have provided an organic-rich food source for foraminifera at these sites. Our data suggest that foraminifera in OMZ settings can utilise a variety of food sources and metabolic pathways to meet their energetic demands.

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