Land Fauna Research Articles

INFLUÊNCIA DO ESGOTO DOMÉSTICO NO ECOSSISTEMA MANGUEZAL

Esta pesquisa objetivou verificar a possível influência do esgoto doméstico in natura no ecossistema manguezal. Os estudos de campo foram realizados na região estuarina de Itanhaém, Estado de São Paulo, no período de agosto de 1996 a agosto de 1998. Foram analisados parâmetros geoquímicos nos sedimentos, possibilitando o conhecimento preliminar deste ecossistema. Três áreas de manguezais foram selecionadas para o estudo: duas próximas ao lançamento de efluentes nos bairros, e uma terceira área localizada em uma zona protegida na margem do Rio Itanhaém, servindo como controle. Nessas áreas realizou-se o acompanhamento de plântulas de mangue e uma análise qualitativa da fauna presente. Os resultados demonstraram que os poluentes proporcionaram um maior desenvolvimento de plântulas de mangue e também contribuíram para um aumento da matéria orgânica. Os poluentes também foram
 responsáveis pela presença da fauna aérea, aquática e terrestre na região.

Land fauna composition of small mammals of a fragment of Atlantic Forest in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil

The Atlantic Forest small mammal land fauna, except bats, and the abiotic factors that might have an influence on its composition, were studied in the Itapevi County, State of Sao Paulo, a forested region, partly altered by antropic action, from January, 1995 to June, 1996. The trapping effort consisted of 2,888 trap-nights, resulting in a 4.6% trapping success and consisted of monthly trappings, for five consecutive days. During this period, 134 specimens were captured, of which 46.3% were Didelphimorphia and 53.7% were Rodentia. Eleven species were registered: two Didelphimorphia: Didelphis marsupialis (Linnaeus, 1758) and Marmosops incanus (Lund, 1841), and nine Rodentia: Akodon cursor (Winge, 1887), Bolomys lasiurus (Lund, 1841), Oxymycterus hispidus Pictet, 1843, Oxymycterus nasutus (Waterhouse, 1837), Oligoryzomys nigripes (Olfers, 1818), Oryzomys angouya (Fischer, 1814), Raltus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769), Euryzygomatomys spinosus (G. Fischer, 1814) and Cavia aperea Erxleben, 1777. The relative density indices were correlated with meteorological data by Spearman and Pearson coefficients. For marsupials these correlations were not significant. For rodents, the correlations were significant and directly related to lower temperature and rainfall indices (p<0.05). During the dry season the occurrence of small mammals was 50% greater than during the wet season, probably due to foraging strategies in the studied fragment of Atlantic Forest.

Mapping Britain's mollusc fauna: history, development and personalities

The British Isles has perhaps the most comprehensively mapped land and freshwater mollusc fauna at a national level with a history extending back 120 years. This results from the insight, dedication and enthusiasm of a relatively small group of almost exclusively amateur malacologists. The national distribution atlases published in 1976 for the non-marine fauna (Kerney, 1976) and in 1982 for the marine fauna (Seaward, 1982) represent the culmination of their work. This paper focuses mainly on the characters contributing towards non-marine mapping until 1960 and their achievements, although the inception and development of the scheme is briefly discussed. A history of marine mollusc mapping in this country, the foundations for which were laid in the 1920s, is also given.

The land fauna of Ascension Island: new data from caves and lava flows, and a reconstruction of the prehistoric ecosystem

Abstract. Terrestrial arthropods were investigated in 1990 and 1995 on Ascension, a young and extremely isolated volcanic island in the equatorial Atlantic. Three new genera (of Araneae, Oribatida and Psocoptera) were discovered and the number of apparently endemic species was increased from fourteen to about twenty‐nine. Some 311 species of land animals (a few now extinct) are known to have established themselves on the island; in a few groups there may be significant numbers of unrecorded species. About ninety‐five endemic and non‐endemic species are considered to be native (including two marine turtles, twelve seabirds and two extinct landbirds); seventy‐eight are of doubtful status; and at least 138 were probably introduced by humans. Natural colonists arrived mainly by air (drifting with the wind during migratory movements) but some evidently travelled on floating objects or attached to birds or other animals. Natural colonization was almost entirely from Africa.Before the arrival of humans, Ascension had an early successional ecosystem. The fauna in the lava and cinder deserts of the lowlands—both on the surface and in subterranean cracks and caves—was dominated by taxonomically varied scavengers and mainly arachnid predators. The scattered angiosperms here and in the foothills supported some host‐specific herbivores with associated predators; they were also exploited (especially after exceptional rains) by a number of Orthoptera, Hemiptera and Lepidoptera derived from migratory African populations and perhaps reinforced at intervals by additional groups of colonists. The more extensive and largely cryptogamic vegetation on the central peak had a poor fauna probably composed mainly of micro‐arthropods. Along coasts, on islets and in the extensive seabird colonies there were additional arthropod species and also a flightless rail and a night heron (both now extinct).Invertebrate stocks that colonized Ascension underwent a variety of evolutionary changes including phyletic evolution leading to endemic status, adaptation to subterranean life (Araneae, Pseudoscorpiones, Collembola and Psocoptera), character release (phorid Diptera), and probably splitting of lineages (speciation) within the island (Isopoda, Collembola and gryllid Orthoptera). The relatively high diversity of Pseudoscorpiones (five species in five genera) and their 100% apparent endemicity is notable.The indigenous fauna of Ascension provides a view of an early stage in the processes of colonization, adaptive evolution and radiation which—over much longer periods—give rise to the richer and more distinctive faunas of older oceanic islands such as Ascension's nearest neighbour, St Helena, where a few invertebrate clades have undergone repetitive speciation and some adaptive radiation.

Fossils of large terrestrial arthropods from the Lower Devonian of Canada

TERRESTRIAL arthropods have a fossil record that reaches back to at least the Upper Silurian (420 million years ago). Most available data on these early land animals comes from a few sites at which abundant microarthropod remains are preserved as organic cuticle fragments. Such cuticle assemblages imply that early terrestrial ecosystems were dominated by small arthropods of the soil and litter. We describe here new impression and impression/compression fossils from the Emsian stage of New Brunswick and Quebec, Canada, which include millipeds, arthropleurids, and a scorpion with book-lungs preserved. They suggest that surface macroarthropods were also a significant component of the land fauna.

Predators of Vertebrates on Islands

Islands are considered to be natural laboratories forthe study of evolutionary and ecological processes (Gorman 1979, Williamson 1981). One common assumption of insular biogeography is that there are few predators on islands (Carlquist 1965, Sondaar 1977, Wallace 1889, Williamson 1981). Nevertheless, some biologists (e.g., Sondaar 1977) state that what is usually lacking on islands is not predators in general but specifically the mammalian carnivores. In this article, we consider the predators of middle-sized (more than 5 kg; i.e., the European hare) and large-sized vertebrates (more than 40 kg) on oceanic and oceaniclike islands. These islands are characterized by impoverished, unbalanced land faunas, compared with those of the closest continental mainland, and by numerous endemic taxa. The ancestral

The development of early terrestrial ecosystems

Summary In this review of terrestrialization by plants and animals in the early Phanerozoic, the classical idea of a major mid-Palaeozoic event is discarded in favour of gradual colonization over a long time period. Four phases of colonization of the land by plants are recognized but their limits are often difficult to define. The first, of microbial mats comprising prokaryotes and later photosynthesizing protists (algae) but with no direct fossil evidence, extends from the Precambrian and may persist in environments unsuitable for colonization by higher plants and animals today. The second, based on microfossils (spores and cuticles) possibly from plants of bryophyte aspect (if not affinity) started in the Ordovician (c. 460 Ma ago) and ended in the Lower Devonian, but was overlapped by the third phase beginning early in the Silurian (c. 430 Ma). This consisted of small plants of axial organization with terminal sporangia probably allied to the tracheophytes. The advent of taller vascular plants of varied organization around the Silurian — Devonian boundary (c. 420–400 Ma) signalled the final pioneering phase — that of major adaptative radiations on land, culminating in the appearance of extant groups, in changes in reproductive strategy and in the development of complex vegetation structure. The animal record is sparser than that of the plants, but suggests an early land fauna in the mid-Palaeozoic which differed from later terrestrial assemblages in lacking herbivores, with the first direct fossil evidence for land animals in the late Silurian.

PETROLEUM OPERATIONS IN THE ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE NORTHERN PERTH BASIN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Barrack Energy Limited is an Australian company involved in the search for petroleum in Australia. The company's principal area of exploration and production is the northern portion of the onshore Perth Basin in Western Australia. In this area, the company operates four permits and one production licence covering an area of almost 15 000 square kilometres (3.7 million acres).For the period 1987 to 1989, Barrack Energy Limited acquired 1238 line km of seismic in the northern Perth Basin. This was conducted in fourteen surveys extending from Lancelin in the south to Dongara in the north.Petroleum exploration and production operations in the northern Perth Basin are highly visible and require painstaking and careful planning, permitting and negotiation to achieve the multiple land use goals of minimum disturbance to private landowners and minimum impact and zero long term effects on the environment.Due to the large areas of Vacant Crown Land and flora and fauna reserves in the northern Perth Basin, the impact of seismic line clearance upon the terrain was a major consideration. Barrack Energy Limited decided to experiment with various mechanical systems to clear seismic lines in order to determine the optimum operational and environmental technique. The bulldozer/ grader combination proved to be the most practical line clearance method available. The dozer need not be a tool of destruction and when operated correctly does no more damage than other methods tried.At all times Barrack Energy Limited has striven to ensure that the impact on the surrounding countryside by its exploration and production activity is kept to an absolute minimum. The company works closely with the local community to ensure that the local residents are comfortable at all times with the company's operating methods.

Forestry or a National Park: A New Zealand Case Study

Tourism is a growth industry, and is being fostered as a means of providing regional economic development, new employment opportunities, a more diversified economy, and of increasing foreign exchange earnings. The basis for increasing both internal and international tourist flows is primarily New Zealand's natural attractions of land forms, flora and fauna. Tourist patterns reflect this, with a heavy concentration of visitors to National Parks and other areas noted as scenic attractions.

Land plant evidence compatible with gradual, not catastrophic, change at the end of the Cretaceous

Field study of the fossil and sedimentary record across the Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) boundary in Wyoming and Montana has been combined here with a reassessment of the published record of terrestrial palynomorphs to test recent hypotheses that a universal biotic catastrophe caused by an asteroid1–3, cometary impact4 or a supernova5 terminated the Cretaceous. Evidence from land plants is particularly critical because plants form the base of the terrestrial food chain. Thus, massive disruptions of the Earth's vegetation by the postulated effects of a cosmic disaster (blocking of solar radiation for several years by a dust cloud1, severe atmospheric heating1,4,6,7 or ionizing radiation5) would have an amplified effect on the land fauna. However, I report here that the geographically uneven and generally moderate levels of extinction and diversity change in the land flora, together with the non-synchroneity of plant and dinosaur extinctions, contradict hypotheses that a catastrophe caused terrestrial extinctions.

Upper Cretaceous-Cenozoic Paleobathymetric Cycles, Eastern Panama and Northern Colombia: ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Analysis of planktonic microfossils and benthic foraminifera indicates one deep-water depositional cycle in the Upper Cretaceous of northern Colombia and two major deep-water sequences in the Cenozoic of both northern Colombia and eastern Panama. Only slight evidence of an Upper Cretaceous deep-water cycle was found in eastern Panama. The Upper Cretaceous deep-water cycle in the radiolarian-rich Campanian sequence of northern Colombia is characterized by a Dictyomitra multicostata radiolarian assemblage. Deep-water or abyssal depths of the next younger cycle (Upper Paleocene-Lower Eocene) are suggested by a Pleurostomella-Nuttallides fauna in combination with a rich radiolarian assemblage. A third abyssal sequence or cycle, in Middle Oligocene-to-Lower Miocene strata, is indicated by a Melonis pompilioides fauna together with a rich radiolarian assemblage. The shallowest-water facies, separating the deep-water cycles, represent mostly neritic or upper-bathyal depths. These are characteristic of the basal Paleocene, the Upper Eocene-Lower Oligocene, and the Upper Miocene through Quaternary sequences of eastern Panama and northern Colombia. Locally, unconformities and/or nonmarine beds may represent these geologic ages. In contrast to the deep-water cycles of eastern Panama, the sections of the Gatun Lake area, to the west of the Rio Limon fault, show relatively shallow-water marine facies (neritic to upper-bathyal depths at the most). These shallow marine facies occur in the Eocene, in the Upper Oligocene, and in the Upper Miocene-Pliocene sections. They are separated by either paralic beds or unconformities. Faults such as the Rio Limon fault separate tectonic blocks that have contrasting stratigraphic and depositional records throughout most of the Cenozic. In eastern Panama and northern Colombia, the shallowest-water horizons of each paleobathymetric cycle may represent times conducive to the migration of land faunas. These times are: latest Cretaceous-earliest Paleocene; late Eocene-early Oligocene; Pliocene and Quaternary.

Land Fauna: Insect distribution patterns in the Solomon Islands

Among insects in the Solomon Islands some endemic taxa show restricted island distributions. An account of these is given and they are related to a continuous process of expansion of new taxa from the West and replacement of older ones. This is accompanied by speciation and subspeciation and shifts in habitat. The results of ecological studies are summarized which illustrate the types of selection operating at different stages of the cycle. The importance of island area and distance from other islands is emphasized.

The Introduction, Increase, and Crash of Reindeer on St. Matthew Island

Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), introduced to St. Matthew Island in 1944, increased from 29 animals at that time to 6,000 in the summer of 1963 and underwent a crash die-off the following winter to less than 50 animals. In 1957, the body weight of the reindeer was found to exceed that of reindeer in domestic herds by 24 53 percent among females and 46 61 percent among males. The population also responded to the high quality and quantity of the forage on the island by increasing rapidly due to a high birth rate and low mortality. By 1963, the density of the reindeer on the island had reached 46.9 per square mile and ratios of fawns and yearlings to adult cows had dropped from 75 and 45 percent respectively, in 1957 to 60 and 26 percent in 1963. Average body weights had decreased from 1957 by 38 percent for adult females and 43 percent for adult males and were comparable to weights of reindeer in domestic herds. Lichens had been completely eliminated as a significant component of the winter diet. Sedges and grasses were expanding into sites previously occupied by lichens. In the late winter of 196364, in association with extreme snow accumulation, virtually the entire population of 6,000 reindeer died of starvation. With one known exception, all of the surviving reindeer (42 in 1966) were females. The pattern of reindeer population growth and die-off on St. Matthew Island has been observed on other island situations with introduced animals and is believed to be a product of the limited development of ecosystems and the associated deficiency of potential populationregulating factors on islands. Food supply, through its interaction with climatic factors, was the dominant population regulating mechanism for reindeer on St. Matthew Island. St. Matthew Island, 128 square miles in area and located in the Bering Sea Wildlife Refuge in the north central Bering Sea (Fig. 1), supports a poorly developed land fauna. Native land mammals are restricted to a vole (Microtus abbreviatus) and the arctic fox ( Alopex lagopus ), although a resident population of polar bears (Thalarctos maritimus) existed there in Recent times (Elliot 1882). The reindeer on St. Matthew Island were the result of the release of 24 females and 5 males on August 20, 1944, by the U. S. Coast Guard (Klein 1959). Shortly afterwards, the Coast Guard loran station on the island was abandoned and the island has been uninhabited since then. Specimens taken for study purposes and those shot by Coast Guard personnel as a recreational pursuit have been the only harvest from the herd. With the exception of 10 in 1966, these were all taken during 1957-63 and totaled 105 animals. This paper reports on the population dynamics and range interrelationships of this island reindeer herd from the time of introduction through its rapid increase and crash die-off until July, 1966. I appreciate the field cooperation of colleagues Dr. Francis H. Fay, Dr. Vernon L. Harms, Jack Manley, and Gerry Cowan and the assistance of James Whisenhant and Dr. Detlef Eisfeld. Dr. Eisfeld also did the analyses of the reindeer ovarian material and, through discussion, provided useful suggestions for the interpretation of the data. Sam Harbo provided advice in the statistical treatment of data.

Part III. The fauna of the Tristan da Cunha Islands

1. Introduction Tristan da Cunha, Inaccessible, Nightingale and Gough Islands are similar in climate, physiography and vegetation, and form a single biogeographical province. Many animal species, including some endemics, occur on all of them, and the faunas of the four islands have the same general characteristics and show a common relationship to stocks in temperate South America. Any discussion of the fauna of the group must therefore consider all four main islands. Such a general evaluation is rendered difficult by variations in the intensity of study of the different islands and of different taxonomic groups. It is probably true today that the native land fauna of the archipelago is adequately known in outline, and that no native vertebrate or abundant large terrestrial invertebrate species awaits discovery. However, the smallei and less conspicuous land invertebrates and the majority of the shallow-water marine organisms are undoubtedly underworked, and much remains to be discovered about the detailed distribution, ecology and interrelationships of the island faunas. The present paper is no more than an interim review of the extent and deficiency of current knowledge.

Stages of evolution of Anthropogene mammal fauna as a reflection of stages in the evolution of earth

Two sections of the paper emphasize 1) the need for a geological time-scale based on biostratigraphy, and 2) the biostratigraphic basis for the establishment of the Anthropogene period and system as a subdivision of the Cenozoic Era. Subdivision of geologic time on the basis of the development of organic life reflects the most important events in geological history (at any rate since the time of first appearance of living organisms) because changes in the organic kingdom are closely hound to changes in the external environment. Subdivision of the Anthropogene should be based primarily on the mammals, because during the Cenozoic in general and the Anthropogene period in particular mammals acquire great importance in the animal kingdom, imparting to the latter a qualitatively distinct character during that time. The Anthropogene system is distinguished from the Neogene by the appearance of man along with new biocoenoses and types of land fauna and flora closely connected with extensive continental glaciatio...

Discussion

Professor F. W. Shotton said that important information had been obtained from a very limited sample of material. The faunal list might appear small compared with that from Upton Warren (which was in process of publication) but when it was realized that over half a ton of sediment from Upton Warren was washed, whereas the material available from Fladbury amounted to only a few pounds, it would be appreciated how rich the Fladbury deposit was and how informative it could be if ever working of the gravel-pit allowed examination of new material. As it was, Mr. Coope had demonstrated a land fauna representing a more rigorous climate than that shown by any other fauna yet studied in the British Pleistocene. It was to be expected that insects would provide answers to many questions of ecology, but Mr. Coope had also, by a selection of appropriate species, shown how valuable beetles could be in the evaluation of past climate. There was no doubt that the study of Pleistocene insects opened up a wide and important field of future work. Dr. M. E. Tomlinson said that she was particularly pleased that the result of the carbon 14 dating of the peat gave added support to the view of Dr. L. J. Wills that No. 2 Avon Terrace and the Main Terrace of the Severn, into which it merged at Tewkesbury, could be correlated with the last glaciation of the West Midlands when Irish Sea ice occupied the Cheshire plain.

The pattern of distribution of the antarctic fauna

The antarctic climate is unfavourable to the development of a land flora, and the true land fauna is meagre and inconspicuous, consisting of little more than a few insects and fresh water Crustacea; but the water circulation of the southern ocean allows for a rich production of phytoplankton, and we have a very abundant fauna living in or on the sea. Topographical and oceanographical conditions The Antarctic continent (figure 74) is surrounded by a belt of deep, cold ocean, generally very wide, which constitutes a rather effective barrier to shelf-living organisms, but within which the physical conditions tend to be uniform in a circumpolar direction. There are, however, certain submarine ridges which radiate from the continent and which may offer routes or stepping stones for dispersal. Thus the Scotia Arc connects South America with Graham Land and has several island groups. The Kerguelen Gaussberg Ridge (about 70° - 90° E) has fewer islands but no wider gaps of abyssal depths, and south of New Zealand the deep belt is narrower than at most other points.

The fats: A story of nature's art

AbstractThe fatty acids that constitute the glycerides of natural fats are, over wide ranges of biological species, remarkably uniform in kind, although the particular acids vary in fats of different biological origin, e.g. those of land flora, those of land fauna and those of aquatic origin. Concurrently with this very marked regularity in qualitative composition, striking although rare exceptions occur, in all sections of natural fats, in which the fat of a single family, and even of a single species of a family, consists largely of an acid which is uniquely different from any of the more prevalent and characteristic acids.The overwhelming preponderance of natural fats that contain only a few specific mixtures of component acids is contrasted with the much less frequent and apparently erratic instances in which quite exceptional acids are to be observed.The composition of the mixed glycerides, as shown by many examples in which a natural fat has been studied by the modern method of preliminary segregation into relatively simple mixtures of mixed glycerides by intensive crystallization from solvents at low temperatures, is much more regular. Each acid behaves in exactly the same way and as an individual, with the result that it tends to be distributed as evenly or widely as possible among all the glyceride molecules. Exceptions to this generalization occur only in a very few seed fats, and in certain animal body and milk fats (chiefly those of ruminant animals).

WOODLICE AND THE LAND HABITAT

SummaryA comparative study of woodlice which show different degrees of fitness for terrestrial life provides information about the evolution of land faunas and underlines the significance of water relations in this respect.Species of woodlice differ as regards rates of transpiration and survival in dry air. They may be considered as physical bodies so far as the effects of temperature and humidity upon evaporation are concerned, and they probably lack an epicuticular wax. No simple relation has been found between those climatic factors which affect evaporation and period of survival; neither is it expected on theoretical grounds.Transpiration from the region of the pleopods is greater, per unit area, than from elsewhere. Pseudotracheae assist respiration in dry air. In moist air oxygen is absorbed through regions of the integument other than the pleopods; but such integumental respiration decreases in importance in more terrestrial species.The only adaptation to land as regards excretion is a general suppression (compared with aquatic isopods) of nitrogen metabolism. Uric acid in small quantities is retained in the tissues. The faeces are moist. The tegumental glands are not an important source of water loss. The pleopods are not moistened by glandular secretions.Desiccated woodlice can restore their original weight by absorption of moisture, by mouth and anus, from free water surfaces, and by mouth from moist surfaces, even though the ambient air is unsaturated. The higher forms possess external capillary channels which assist in irrigation of the pleopods.The osmotic pressure of the blood of Ligia oceanica is higher than that of sea water; that of the other species measured is somewhat lower. Osmotic regulation is possible for Ligia in dilute sea water down to 50%, but adaptation to land on the part of most woodlice seems to be secured by osmotic tolerance rather than regulation.Woodlice can withstand higher ambient temperatures, for short exposures, in air at 50% R.H. than in saturated air, and this is the result of rapid transpiration. In the field transpiration plays a significant part in determining body temperature, and may be of survival value during exposure to direct insolation.All species require saturated air or a moist substrate in their permanent habitats, and it is probable that they differ as regards tolerance of suboptimal conditions during wandering rather than dryness of the normal retreat. With this proviso the families which have been investigated stand substantially in the following order of increasing terrestrialness of habitat: Ligiidae, Trichoniscidae, Oniscidae, Porcel‐lionidae, Armadillidiidae. They also stand approximately in the same order as regards various morphological and physiological specializations associated with life on land (Table 1).What success the group has achieved on land may be ascribed to avoidance of the rigours of true terrestrial conditions by means of behavioural mechanisms which retain them in the cryptozoic niche, rather than to morphological or physiological adaptations.Further information is needed along three lines: (i) precise microclimatic measurements linked with observations of behaviour in the field, (ii) laboratory analysis of orientation mechanisms, (iii) neurophysiological investigation of the sensory mechanisms involved.The geological age of the group is uncertain, but there were probably land‐living oniscoids before the Tertiary. Their comparative lack of progress subsequently may be the result of retaining a water‐permeable integument, which is necessary for cooling during brief exposures to high temperatures and also for respiration.

Distribution of Oceans and Continents--A Suggestion

Distribution of Oceans and Continents--A Suggestion