Wet Places Research Articles

Wet Places at Noon

Wet Places at Noon

Diversity and abundance of litter frogs at altitudinal sites at Serra do Japi, southeastern Brazil

It was sampled the litter frogs at altitudinal sites of a semideciduous mesophytic forest located at Sena do Japi (Jundiai, Sao Paulo, 23o17'S, 47o00'W, 800-1300m altitude, 1500mm rain/year). Forty two plots of 8x8m were sampled in the dry/cold season of 1995: 21 at a Higher Site (HS) (1000m) and 21 at a Lower Site (LS) (850m). The plots were evenly located near, mid-distance, and far from the stream-bed. It was found a total of five species, three at each site. Eleutherodactylus guentheri comprised 83% of the individuals at HS and E. juipoca 67% at LS. The density of individuals was higher at HS and near the stream. The greater density at HS may be due to greater humidity there, provided by mist. The frogs may aggregate in wetter places (stream edges) in the dry/cold season. The studied sites represent harsh and early successional environments and both these factors may be acting together to produce the low observed diversity.

Waterlogging and survival in Sesleria albicans

summaryThe performance of Sesleria albicans Kit. ex Schultes, a species usually found in dry limestone habitats, but also recorded in wet places, was examined over a period of 2 yr along a soil‐water gradient. This supplied a ‘dry’ end with the water‐table 22 cm below the surface, grading to a ‘wet’ end with the water‐table at the surface, providing static waterlogged conditions. The performance of plants (judged from measurements of tussock diameter, plant height, panicle length, counts of the number of panicles and spikelets per panicle, and shoot and root d. wt) was progressively impaired with increasingly waterlogged conditions. Previously waterlogged ramets recovered when removed to non‐waterlogged soil, showing that waterlogging had stunted but not killed the roots.The effects of waterlogging were demonstrated by a pot experiment to be similar in three different types of soil. Differences in the performance of S. albicans in these (determined by counts of the number of tillers, number of nodal axes and measurements of leaf length, root length, and shoot and root d. wt) were a result of factors other than waterlogging, since the differences were maintained in both waterlogged and normally watered soil.Although performance of S. albicans was adversely affected in static waterlogged soils, none of the plants died, even after 2 yr. Possible explanations for the survival of S. albicans were sought.

The Trapping Success of a Carnivorous Plant, Pinguicula vallisneriifolia: The Cumulative Effects of Availability, Attraction, Retention and Robbery of Prey

Factors determining the trapping success of Pinguicula vallisneriifolia, a carnivorous plant of southern Spain which grows in limestone rock walls are examined. Several ecological aspects are considered jointly, such as the abiotic environment in relation to spatio-temporal prey abundance, behaviour of prey and kleptoparasites, and plant traits that directly determine trapping efficiency, such as the amount and retention capacity of the mucilage under contrasting ecological conditions. Observations are combined with field experiments in four P. vallisneriifolia microhabitats differing in radiation and substrate wetness. The abundance of flying insects and the mucilage-retention capacity mainly determined differential prey captures between habitats, while kleptoparasitism had a similar quantitative effect in all habitats. Irradiance intensity and insect availability correlated negatively, i.e. in sunny, dry places, flying insects were scarce, whereas in shady, wet places, insects were abundant. Plant mucilage secretion also depended on light availability, and the adhesiveness of the droplets correlated negatively with insect availability (that is, more mucilage adhesiveness in the sunny and wall habitats, with fewer insects available, and vice versa in the shady habitat). As a result, plants growing at the extremes of the abiotic gradient (sunniest and shadiest habitats) trapped less animal biomass. This fact poses a schizophrenic problem for P. vallisneriifolia, which, as a green plant, needs both water and light for photosynthesis, and, as a carnivorous one, animal prey for nutrients.

A place for the dead: the role of human remains in Late Bronze Age Britain

The disappearance of an archaeologically visible burial rite at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age has puzzled archaeologists for some years yet has never formed a specific focus of research. This paper aims to look at the problem in detail for the first time. A corpus has been compiled listing sites from which human remains dating to this period have been recovered. The contexts in which these remains are found are documented and discussed; these include, for example, finds from settlements, hoards, and wet places. It is argued that many of the sites do not represent the residues of ‘normal’ mortuary rituals but may instead result from other ritual practices or from refuse disposal activities. It is concluded from contextual patterning in the data that human remains were used in situations where concepts of liminality, identity, continuity, and renewal needed to be highlighted. The potential of human remains for symbolising these themes was drawn upon in activities during which concerns central to Late Bronze Age communities were confronted. The nature of these concerns is discussed in relation to wider developments that occur over the Late Bronze Age. It is argued that the ways in which human remains were deposited were intimately related to the development of new discourses within society as the basis of socio-political power changed from practices surrounding the consumption and exchange of bronze to the control of agricultural production and human and agricultural fertility. The symbolic themes dealt with during the deposition of human remains in specific locations relate to these changing concerns and allowed individuals to situate themselves within a changing society and to negotiate their relationships with others.

(1102) Proposal to conserve Ammannia octandra (Lythraceae) with a conserved type

A previously validly published name, Ammannia coccinea Rottb. 1773, was cited in the protologue of A. octandra L. f. and therefore the latter is superfluous and illegitimate without conservation. A. coccinea is a different but similar species from the one the younger Linnaeus had before him. The original Koenig specimen he cited in the protologue has not been found, but a Koenig specimen from Madepala, India (BM), could be part of the type gathering. Conserving it as type will maintain the name in its current sense, a common weed of rice paddies and wet places. Ammannia octandra has been used quite unambiguously for over 200 years for a well known species of Lythraceae and is cited at least 16 times in Asian literature as, for example: Matthew (Exc. Fl. C. Tamilnadu: 198. 1991), Kostermans (Weeds Rice Indonesia: 342. 1987), Srinavaran (in Nair & Henry, Fl. Tamil Nadu 1: 165. 1983), Backer & Bakhuizen van den Brink f. (Fl. Java 1: 253. 1963), Gamble (Fl. Madras 1: 510. 1919), and Trimen (Handb. Fl. Ceylon 2: 225. 1894). A later legitimate name is available for the same species, Ammannella linearis Miq. (Fl. Ned. Ind. 1(1): 619. 1856), based on material collected in Java by Horsfield; but it has never been resuscitated from the synonymy to which it was immediately consigned.

Nancy was not alone: human skeletons of the Early Bronze Age from the Norfolk peat fen

Four separate finds of human skeletal remains from the Norfolk Fens have been 14C-dated to the Early Bronze Age. It is suggested that they are a facet of the far more extensive deposition of bodies and artefacts in wet places.

Plateau Uplift and Climatic Change

The earth of 40 million years ago was a warm, wet place. Forests abounded; grasslands and deserts were rare. Then the planet began to cool. Regional climate extremes developed. Many causes have been postulated, including continental drift and diminishing atmospheric carbon dioxide. The authors offer a new theory: continental uplift created huge plateaus that altered circulation of the atmosphere. The two largest masses of high, rocky terrain in the Northern Hemisphere today are the area encompassing the Tibetan Plateau and Himalaya Mountains and the broad region of the American West centered on the Colorado Plateau. Geologic evidence indicates that these regions rose substantially during the past 40 million years. The authors focused their research on these plateaus.

A revision of Rhynchanthera (Melastomataceae)

The neotropical genus Rhynchanthera (Melastomataceae, Microlicieae) is revised, and 15 of the 84 proposed taxa are recognized; two species are excluded from the genus. The group consists of subshrubs and shrubs with usually purple flowers in thyrsoid inflorescences of uniparous or biparous cymes. It is characterized by androecia with five antepetalous staminodia in addition to the five fertile stamens, and ‐ in most species ‐ dimorphism of the stamens, with one strikingly longer than the other four. The plants always are covered by at least some simple glandular hairs. The majority of the species of Rhynchanthera occur in south‐central Brazil, however, the range of the genus extends from southern Mexico to Bolivia and Paraguay. All species grow in wet places in open scrub or savanna vegetation. Micromorphological features of the seeds have been investigated and support the traditional placement of Rhynchanthera in the Microlicieae where it is closest to Microlicia, Lavoisiera, and Trembleya. Two taxa are illustrated with drawings, and the distribution of all is mapped.

Gnaphalium laterale, a new species for New Zealand

Abstract A new species of Gnaphalium section Euchiton is described from New Zealand. G. laterale C. Webb is a perennial stoloniferous herb with solitary capitula borne on lateral flowering stems. It is most similar to G. paludosum and G. polylepis but is distinguished by its hairier leaves and larger capitula. G. laterale occurs in the southern North Island and the South Island in montane to alpine wet places. Some Australian plants should possibly be referred to this species.

Waterlogged Wealth: Why Waste the World's Wet Places?, by Edward Maltby. Earthscan, 3 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0DD, England, UK: 200 pp., illustr., 20.5 × 14.5 × 1.25 cm, stiff paper cover, £3.95, 1986.

Waterlogged Wealth: Why Waste the World's Wet Places?, by Edward Maltby. Earthscan, 3 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0DD, England, UK: 200 pp., illustr., 20.5 × 14.5 × 1.25 cm, stiff paper cover, £3.95, 1986. - Volume 15 Issue 2

Plant Communities and Associated Soil Types in a High Plateau of the Cordoba Mountains, Central Argentina

The Pampa de Achala, a high plateau located in Cordoba Province, central Argentina, is the major catchment area of the region and exhibits some biogeographic peculiarities. However, little information is available on vegetation-soil relationships, considered to be of great importance for the conservation of the bio-geo-edaphic stability. This paper discusses plant communities and their associated soil conditions in a mountainous ecosystem. Seven plant communities are distinguished and the range of soil types on which they occur is described. A physiographic map gives a general idea of the spatial distribution of landforms with their corresponding soil and vegetation associations. From the analysis of the soil-vegetation relationships, it is concluded that the soil moisture regime is the principal environmental factor determining the type of vegetation community present at one particular place. This factor is a complex of variables of which soil texture, soil depth, and the hydrological position in the landscape are the most important. These variables can be arranged in an environmental gradient, ranging from shallow, sandy/rocky, dry places to deep, silty-to-clayey, wet places, in which all plant communities can be exactly situated. Successional features related to plant communities within that gradient are inferred and some conclusions drawn on the landscape stability of the area in relation to the gully erosion affecting the bottomlands.

Wood Anatomy of Noteworthy Species of Ludwigia (Onagraceae) with Relation to Ecology and Systematics

Wood Anatomy of Noteworthy Species of Ludwigia (Onagraceae) with Relation to Ecology and Systematics

Animal Response to Toxic and Non-Toxic Tall Fescue

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.J is currently grown on about 35 million acres in the United States. It has been utilized extensively for grazing cattle, especially in the south central and southeastern regions. Performance of cattle grazing tall fescue has been quite variable, especially during the warm summer season. Reduced performance during this time is often referred to as the summer syndrome, summer slump or summer fescue toxicosis. This syndrome is characterized by reduced gains, elevated body temperature, increased respiration rate, excess salivation, long rough hair coat, decreased milk production and standing in the shade and wet places.

Maltby, Edward, "Waterlogged Wealth: Why Waste the World's Wet Places" (Book Review)

Maltby, Edward, "Waterlogged Wealth: Why Waste the World's Wet Places" (Book Review)

The distribution of some heathland plant species along a microtopographic gradient at Dinnet, Scotland, and their dehydration resistances

Along a microtopographic gradient in a heathland, five types of plant distribution were recognized: (i) Pyrola type, restricted to the crest of the rise; (ii) Vaccinium type, mainly on the steeper slopes and thin soil; (iii) Arctostaphylos type, ranging widely from the top to the bottom of the slope; (iv) Erica tetralix type, in the waterlogged wet places; and (v) Calluna type, showing the most extensive occurrence across the ranges of all the foregoing types. A clear separation of habitat was found between Erica cinerea and Erica tetralix. The stomatal transpiration of Calluna was the most active among five species studied. However, the cuticular transpiration rate is rather low. These facts all have a bearing on the widely dominant occurrence of Calluna in heathland. Vaccinium vitis-idaea and Arctostaphylos uva-ursi showed the lowest transpiration rates in the present study. Their cuticular transpiration rates are also low. These facts may be in accord with their inability to overcome Calluna under conditions of adequate water supply. However, they may become dominant in some sites, such as the terrace of thin soil. The buds of Erica tetralix are very susceptible to drought, because their lethal water deficit is very small. It may be a main cause of the restriction of this species to very wet places.

Entwicklung der Wasser- und Sumpfpflanzen-Gesellschaften Europas von der Kreide bis ins Quartär

The purpose of the present investigation is to elucidate the following facts and problems of Cenozoic Waterplant and Swamp Communities in Europe: 1. Aquatic Angiosperms of the Cretaceous. 2. Evidences of Aquatic Plant Families and the Development of the Water- and Swamp Vegetation in the Early and Younger Tertiary and the Quaternary — Differenciation of the European Floristic Regions — Endemism — Local Exotics. 3. Ecological Indicatorplants in fossil condition: thermic, nutriments, facies-indicators. 4. European fossil Communities of Water, Swamp and Bog Plants: Freshwater and Swamp Vegetation (Submersed Aquatic Plant Communities, Shallow-water Communities and Communities of Plants Floating on the Water Surface, Reed Marshes and Tall Sedge Swamps, Spring Communities, Herb-rich Fen Communities, Bog Communities) — Saltwater and Coastal Vegetation — Herbaceous Shore vegetation of Temporarely Impounded Wet Places.

Tissue Water Relations in a Range of Plant Species and its Ecological Significance

Tissue water relations in a range of wetland and dryland habitat species were examined in leaf material collected from the field, with a view to obtaining comparative data on the mechanism of adaptation to drought. The relative water content at which stomata closed was significantly (P ≠ 0.05) lower in wetland species of Epilobium hirsutum, Filipendula ulmaria and also in Molinia caerulea . Rumex acetosa (dryland species) had the highest relative water content followed by Eriophorum angustifolium (wetland bog species) and Phalaris arundinacea (confined to seasonally wet places). The relationship of relative water content and water potential of leaves showed that R. acetosa and P. arundinacea retianed more water at —50 bars and seemed to be the most resistant to drought, while E. hirsutum was the least tolerant. The tissue water relations of the plants accord with the pattern which could be predicted from their distribution in the field.

THE BIOLOGY OF CANADIAN WEEDS.: 55.: Ambrosia trifida L.

Giant ragweed, Ambrosia trifida L., is a weed of wet low-lying pastures, cultivated fields, orchards, roadside ditches, river banks, and waste places, particularly in southern areas of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces except Newfoundland. Original research and published information were incorporated into an account on the biology of this weedy, wind-pollinated species. The airborne pollen is known to cause considerable hay fever.

Le jardin de Julie

André Blanc : Julie's garden. A straightforward reading of the famous letter about Julie's garden in Clarens (La Nouvelle Héloïse, IV, Letter XI) is insufficient, for it is not a real landscape but the symbolic description of Julie's sexual organs. It is a hidden, closed, wet place, whose entry is difficult if not forbidden, without any phallic element (full-grown trees, straightlined avenues, or fountains), covered with bushes and creepers, cooled by meandering streams or still waters, and culminating in a woody hillock full of singing birds. Saint-Preux is allowed to enter this paradise in an innocent way and regress into a prenatal condition, thus transforming Julie from lover into mother.