Diversity and composition of plants, butterflies and odonates in an Imperata cylindrica grassland landscape in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

In Indonesia and elsewhere, Imperata cylindrica grassland now covers millions of hectares of land previously covered by rain forest. In the present study, shrubs, trees and climbers were recorded in sixteen 10 × 20-m plots and herb cover (ferns, grasses and herbaceous dicots) estimated in nested 2 × 2-m subplots. Butterflies and odonates were netted along 300-m transects. All plots and transects were randomly allocated to a 450 ha, I. cylindrica-dominated landscape. A total of 43 shrub, tree and climber, 16 herb, 67 butterfly and 30 odonate species were recorded. Shrubs, trees and climbers were present throughout the study area, but basal area was very low and mainly consisted of invasive species. Imperata cylindrica covered an estimated 65% of the area with other plant species or bare soil covering the remainder. Butterfly and odonate communities mainly consisted of species with large geographic distributions, but some recorded species had more limited distributions. The latter were, however, species known to associate with perturbed forest environments. Variation in the composition of butterflies and odonates was also related to variation in habitat structure (e.g. altitude and slope) and plant composition. Plant composition in particular appeared to structure both butterfly and odonate communities.

LATE BLOOMING OF PLANTS FROM NORTHERN NOVA SCOTIA: RESPONSES TO A MILD FALL AND WINTER

Over 1400 flowering records of 135 species were recorded from over 125visits to more than 20 sites in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia from November2005 to January 2006, when the growing season is normally over. The speciesidentified were primarily herbaceous dicots; however, there were four speciesof woody plants (Cornus sericea, Spiraea latifolia, Symphoricarpos albusand Salix sp.) and one monocot (Allium schoenoprasum). The number ofspecies flowering declined linearly as fall progressed, as did the amountof flowering for each species. Nevertheless, over 40 species were still inflower in early December, and over 20 species flowered in January. Thefinal flowering date was 21 January, when ten species were found. Thiswork builds on a previous study in 2001, when 93 species were recordedin flower during November-December. In addition to the 30% increase inrecorded species in 2005, almost 50% of the species found in 2005 werenot recorded in 2001. This study provides an expanded baseline againstwhich changes in flowering phenology can be evaluated with respect tosubsequent regional climate change.Key Words: Antigonish, flowering, Nova Scotia, phenology, climate change

Cool-Season Turfgrass Survival on Two Former Golf Courses in Michigan

Most turfgrass species have been listed as either invasive or potentially invasive species in the U.S., but few data exist to verify their invasiveness. Our objective was to determine cool-season turfgrass survival on two abandoned golf courses to assess their invasive potential in unmanaged sites. Maintenance operations ceased at Matheson Greens Golf Course in 2000 and at Four Winds Golf Course in 2003. The frequency and abundance of creeping bentgrass, Kentucky bluegrass, and fine fescues in quadrats placed along transects were recorded and compared to other cover such as herbaceous dicots and bare soil in 2005 and 2007. Turfgrasses at both courses were unable to maintain monocultures. All turfgrasses were nearly absent from Matheson Greens Golf Course 5 yr after maintenance operations ceased. At the Four Winds Golf Course site, creeping bentgrass comprised less than 25% cover on former putting greens by 2007, and was rarely found outside of the former putting green areas. Kentucky bluegrass cover ranged from 5 to 75% on the former fairways. Herbaceous dicots usually dominated the former turf areas at both sites, and included noxious weeds such as Canada thistle and invasive weeds such as spotted knapweed.

Comparative analysis of the anatomy of two populations of red-root amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus L.)

The anatomy of stems and leaves of two populations of the weed species Amaranthus retroflexus L. (red-root amaranth) (pop. AMARE1 having green stems covered in sparse hairs and pop. AMARE2 with green but notably dense stem hairs) was analysed in order better to understand the uptake and translocation of herbicides that could be indicative of the species' evolving resistance to herbicides. Samples of the two populations (AMARE1 and AMARE2) were collected from arable land of the Institute of Maize Research at Zemun Polje in 2006. Sampling was performed at the stage of full vegetative growth of plants. Permanent microscoping preparations were made to measure and analyze elements of the anatomy of stems (stem epidermis, cortex, collenchyma, central cylinder and diameter) and leaves (leaf epidermis upper surface and underside, mesophyll, leaf thickness and bundle sheath thickness). Both analysed populations of A. retroflexus, morphologically characterized by different density of stem hairiness, were found to have a typical structure of herbaceous dicots. The stem had three distinctive zones: epidermis, cortex and central cylinder. Amaranth leaves have dorsoventral structure, i.e. their upper surface and underside can be differentiated. The results indicated high and very high significance of differences found in stem anatomy between the two analysed populations, while leaf anatomy was not found to display significant differences other than in mesophyll thickness.

Temporal Weed Interference with Young Pecan Trees

Vegetation surrounding pecan (Carya illinoinensis Wangenh. C. Koch) trees in a 4.3 × 6 m area was either controlled with a nonresidual herbicide for the entire growing season, not controlled, or controlled at certain times during the growing season. After three growing seasons, trunk diameters were suppressed 54% when vegetation was not controlled, 47% when not controlled until 1 Aug., and 37% if not controlled after 1 June compared to entire growing season vegetation control. Trunk diameters were not significantly different from entire season vegetation control when vegetation was controlled from 1 June through fall frost or vegetation controlled from April until 1 Aug. Vegetation in the plots was typically dominated by cool season herbaceous dicots in May and June, and warm-season grasses during August and September.