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This digital document is a journal article from European Journal of Soil Biology, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Quantitative studies of mite communities in endogeic and cave ecosystems are scarce. In this paper, we tested and validated the hypotheses that (1) deep soil and cave mite communities are distinct and (2) that species composition is more variable in caves than in deep soils. Mites were sampled in May, November, and January at 15-20 cm depth in three temperate forest soils and at the surface of sediments in two caves situated directly below two of these soils. Endogeic mite densities ranged from 77 to 225 individuals/dm^3 vs. 9 to 43 in caves. Organic matter was found to be the main factor correlated to density in soils while flooding are thought to profoundly affect cave communities: it introduce accidental species that eventually die without breeding, inducing a sharp seasonal variation in mite density. Mite richness estimates amounted to about 80 species in most locations. (1) Cave populations were distinct from endogeic ones and migration between those habitat compartments is thus supposed to be infrequent. (2) Both the fragmented structure and flooding that lead to the addition of accidental species, are invoked to explain the larger variability of cave communities compared to soil communities. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is a journal article from European Journal of Soil Biology, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Feeding biology and thermal adaptations of the terrestrial isopod Mesoniscus graniger were studied. M. graniger is a depigmented isopod mainly inhabiting cave systems, although it has also been reported in endogeic (soil) habitats. Physiological adaptations are expected to reflect the unique environmental characteristics of caves, including restricted food sources, and stable microclimate with temperatures not exceeding about 10 ^oC and high relative humidity. The M. graniger from Domica and Ardovska caves (Slovakian Karst) were investigated. We identified organic deposits with associated microorganisms as sources exploited by M. graniger and assessed how these might supply essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in its nutrition. Algae, fungi and bat guano were found as the most important potential resources of PUFA for isopods. Digestive enzymes amylase, trehalase, saccharase and maltase were confirmed in the whole body homogenates of isopods; neither cellulolytic activity nor activities against xylan, laminaran and lichenan were observed. Amylase, maltase and cellobiase activities were also observed in bacterial strains isolated and cultured from isopod midgut, and may account for the measured whole-animal activities. In an artificial temperature gradient, M. graniger selected temperature 3.5+/-5.4 ^oC with lower and upper extremes of -1.5 and 18.5 ^oC. Respiration, as measured by VO"2, was almost independent of temperature between 5 and 10 ^oC, then increased between 10 and 30 ^oC. These ecophysiological measures are consistent with adaptation to a stenothermal environment. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Beacham's Guide to Endangered Species: North America, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 626 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Presents extensive data on the habitats and ecosystems of more than 1,200 species identified as endangered or threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service. Arranged taxonomically, entries include introductory information, a summary section detailing information on each species and a concluding summary of recovery efforts. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Beacham's Guide to Endangered Species: North America, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1038 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Presents extensive data on the habitats and ecosystems of more than 1,200 species identified as endangered or threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service. Arranged taxonomically, entries include introductory information, a summary section detailing information on each species and a concluding summary of recovery efforts. ... Read more

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This volume covers the modern biology and the speciation of the red algae (Rhodophyta) from unicellular Cyanidia up to macrocellular sea weeds. A team of peer reviewers has reviewed all chapters. The chapters describe a range of topics from cave algae from Atacama, Chile, to genomes of red algae. Some chapters deal with the carbohydrates, physiological mechanisms, and realtionship between red algae and neurodegenerative disease. Other chapters deal with organellar - nuclear genes and taxonomic revision. Emphasis is placed upon the rhodophytan chloroplast, its origin, evolution, division machinery and pigmentation. The reader will find in this book lots of new information on the red algae.

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Archaeologists based in the US, Ukraine, and Britain report on expeditions in Jordan in 1993 and 1994. They say that the biologic data suggest that Neanderthals were an offshoot of the human lineage, but the question of the degree to which archaic and modern populations differed in cognition and beh ... Read more