New study reveals hidden neotropical diversity

Evidence of physically similar species hidden within plant tissues suggest that diversity of neotropical herbivorous insects may not simply be a function of plant architecture, but may also reflect the great age and area of the neotropics.

In an article published this week in Science Cornell College biology professor Marty Condon and coauthors turn current thought on plant-feeding insect diversity on its head. The study used an examination of fruit fly diversity in Latin America to conclude that typical niche diversity tracking can lead to undercounting of species. DNA analysis resulted in the discovery of multiple new species of fruit flies with overlapping niches.

The researchers found a greater specialization in plant feeding than previously thought. While some scientists believed that the diversity of plants would predict the diversity of insects that feed on plants, this study demonstrated that herbivorous insect diversity exceeds those expectations, because these flies also specialize on different plant parts. All but one of the 45 species raised for this study fed on only seeds or flowers, not both. Some ate only male or female flowers.

The study further found a surprising number of “hidden” species, species that were physically hidden inside the plants with little to no evidence of their presence, and hidden in the sense that they were nearly indistinguishable from other species without DNA analysis.

Most of the fly species were associated with only one host plant species. On the other hand, many of the plants hosted a range of species. One plant species supported at least 13 species of the fruit flies.

Location also played a role in the findings. Some of the fly species were geographically widespread. But others could only be found within a limited geographic range, even though the range of the host plant was much more extensive.

The team concluded that host plant and niche diversity plays a significant role in the extraordinary diversity of Blepharoneura flies. But geographical factors—and the passage of time—may play an even greater role.

Source: Cornell College

Related stories:

New Biodiversity Maps Will Help to Guide Conservation Measures in East Africa
Conservation biologists from UC San Diego are collaborating with scientists from the African Conservation Centre and other institutions to map patterns of biodiversity and land use in East Africa in unprecedented detail. Their maps, combined with climate models, will project how climate change will alter biodiversity and help to shape policy for setting aside conservation easements.
Mate choice in plants
In flowering plants, the female reproductive organ, the pistil, comprises the stigma, style, and ovary. The stigma catches pollen shed by the male anthers. If the pollen is compatible, it will germinate and send tubes through the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the style toward the ovary. It is in the style ECM where recognition and acceptance or rejection of the pollen takes place. Compatible pollen tubes grow unhindered toward the ovary. Incompatible pollen tubes become distorted and stop growing. The recognition mechanism is analogous to the immune systems in animals. Factors present in both the ECM and the pollen are needed for recognition and rejection or acceptance.
The 21st century tomato
When tomatoes ripen in our gardens, we watch them turn gradually from hard, green globules to brightly colored, aromatic, and tasty fruits. This familiar and seemingly commonplace transformation masks a seething mass of components interacting in a well-regulated albeit highly complex manner. For generations, agriculturalists and scientists have bred tomatoes for size, shape, texture, flavor, shelf-life, and nutrient composition, more or less, one trait at a time. With the advent of molecular biology, mutagenesis and genetic transformation could produce tomatoes that were more easily harvested or transported or turned into tomato paste. Frequently, however, optimizing for one trait led to deterioration in another. For example, improving flavor could have a negative effect on yield.
How to build a plant
Dr. Sarah Hake and her colleagues, George Chuck, Hector Candela-Anton, Nathalie Bolduc, Jihyun Moon, Devin O'Connor, China Lunde, and Beth Thompson, have taken advantage of the information from sequenced grass genomes to study how the reproductive structures of maize are formed. Dr. Hake, of the Plant Gene Expression Center, USDA-ARS, who is the 2007 recipient of the Stephen Hales Prize, will be presenting this work at the opening Awards Symposium of the annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists in Mérida, Mexico (June 27, 3:10 PM).
Database shows effects of acid rain on microorganisms in Adirondack Lakes
Prior to the federal Clean Air Act, unhindered industrial emissions were released into the air throughout the Midwestern and Eastern United States for decades. Many of those harmful chemicals came right back down to earth in the form of acid rain, a chemical concoction that includes nitric and sulfuric acid.
Scientist highlights urgent need for new computer models to address climate change
Two papers published in the journal Science today by Microsoft Research ecologist Drew Purves together with research colleagues at Princeton University and universities in Madrid, Spain, highlight how an improved understanding of forest dynamics is needed to better predict environmental change. The research suggests that a new generation of realistic forest modelling, which is urgently needed and now within reach, will significantly improve an understanding of how forests work, how tree species respond to deforestation, and how forests impact climate regulation and environmental change.
Where man boldly goes, bacteria follow -- Are we contaminating space?
Life in outer space is an absolute certainty, and it is likely to be more familiar than we might think, according to an article in the May issue of Microbiology Today. Ever since the start of the space race we have sent more than just satellites and astronauts into space: spacecraft are not routinely decontaminated and are teeming with microbial life.
When the butterfly bush blossoms
Invasive plant species can flourish better in their new homes than in their place of origin. The reasons for this can be genetic changes or the lack of herbivores such as insects that first have to adapt to the newcomers. These are the conclusions of researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) from their research on Buddleia or the Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii) and Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium). Due to this, invasive plant species would have an advantage over other native plant species and could therefore pose a threat to the ecological balance, as researchers have written in the scientific journal Diversity and Distributions.

News discussion:

General Science news