We used a standardised transect method to compare lowland forest termite assemblages in Buton Island, Sulawesi, with transects in Sundaland. The four Buton transects were extremely depauperate with species density ranging from 1 to 6 species, which is around 10% of the species density in 11 described Sundaland transects. Soil-feeding species were absent from the Buton transects but represent some 43% of species in the Sundaland transects. The Buton transects have relatively high soil pH (6.7–7.9), which may be associated with depauperate termite assemblages. Most termite genera recorded in Sulawesi are wood nesters that can raft in floating wood, which is probably how they arrived in Sulawesi. The Macrotermitinae (fungus-growers) do not raft and probably flew across serendipitously. Geographic isolation, both on Buton and in Sulawesi more generally, and Buton’s underlying geology causing high soil pH, may account for the near-absence of soil-nesters and soil-feeders, none of which are known to raft.

Herbivore distribution throughout Africa is strongly linked to mean annual precipitation. We use that relationship to predict functional group composition of herbivore communities during the last glacial maximum (ca. 21 ka) on the now submerged Palaeo-Agulhas Plain (PAP), South Africa. We used metabolic large herbivore biomass (MLHB) from 39 South African protected areas, in five functional groups (characterized by behavior and physiology). We examined how modern factors influenced MLHB and considered the effects of biome, annual rainfall, percentage winter rainfall, and protected area size. Overall, biome was the most important factor influencing the relationship between MLHB and rainfall. In general, MLHB increased with rainfall, but not for the grassland biome. Outside grasslands, most functional groups’ metabolic biomass increased with increasing rainfall, irrespective of biome, except for medium-sized social mixed feeder species in savanna and thicket. Protected area size was influential for medium-sized social mixed feeders and large browsers and rainfall influenced medium-sized social mixed feeders, offering some perspectives on spatial constraints on past large herbivore biomass densities. These results improve our understanding of the likely herbivore community composition and relative biomass structure on the PAP, an essential driver of how early humans utilized large mammals as a food resource.

Sown-grass margin strips, historically established to limit pesticide drift and soil erosion, are now also promoted for enhancing floral diversity and associated ecosystem services. To better understand weed community assembly in grass margin strips, we performed floral surveys in 75 sown-grass margin strips in two regions in France and characterized each species using information from trait databases. We hypothesized that traits of dominant species would differ between newly sown-grass margin strips and older strips. Weed species were separated into functional groups based on their traits using multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical ascendant classification. Functional group trajectories were investigated in sown-grass margin strips that differed in age using a space-for-time substitution approach. We found that geophyte, competitor, and monocotyledon species were more frequent and abundant in grass margin strips than therophyte, ruderal, and dicotyledon species. Results also showed that floral diversity was greatest in grass margin strips of intermediate age. Our findings have implications for optimizing diversity and ecosystem services on land enrolled in conservation programs and suggest that mowing later in the season and periodic soil disturbance can increase floral diversity. The analytical framework that we introduced in this research can also be used to explore weed community assembly in other systems.

As Europeans colonized California, they introduced annual grasses from the Mediterranean Basin. These exotic annual grasses eventually invaded grasslands throughout the state, some of which were once dominated by native perennial grass species. Annual grasses differ from perennials in their phenology, longevity, rooting depth, litter chemistry, and interaction with the microbial community. As these traits may influence plant nitrogen (N) use, it is likely that the invasion by annual species resulted in changes in the availability and cycling of N in California grassland systems. We addressed the question of how invasive annual grasses influence rates of N cycling by measuring N pool sizes and rates of net and gross mineralization and nitrification, gross immobilization, and the denitrification potential of soils from experimentally planted annual and perennial-dominated grasslands. With an increase in annual grass cover, we saw increases in ammonium (NH4+) pool sizes and rates of N mineralization, nitrification, and denitrification in soils. These differences in N status suggest that N cycling in California grasslands was altered at sites where native perennial bunchgrasses were invaded by nonnative annual grasses. One consequence of annual grass invasion may be a legacy of NH4+-enriched soils that hinder the reestablishment of native perennial grass species.

Large-statured invasive grasses (LSIGs) constitute a distinct functional group with characteristic life history traits that facilitate colonization and aggressive growth in aquatic ecosystems, particularly those modified by human activities. These species typically form monocultures in the systems they invade and have wide-ranging and negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem processes. In March 2008, a special symposium was held as part of the Western Society of Weed Scientists annual meeting to synthesize our current knowledge of the ecological impacts and management of two notorious LSIGs: Arundo donax and Phragmites australis. In this volume of Invasive Plant Science and Management, symposium participants provide articles summarizing existing knowledge, recent research progress, and research needs for these two taxa. Here, we summarize the basic biology of these species and suggest the use of a more holistic approach to deal with the effects and management of LSIG invasions.

Understanding competition for soil nitrate between common shrub-steppe, potential reclamation species, and common invasive species is necessary to identify mechanisms associated with ecosystem invasion and can assist with developing weed management scenarios. We designed a field experiment to evaluate the differential competitive effects of the invasive annual grass downy brome, the invasive biennial forb dyer's woad, and the reclamation shrub prostrate kochia, on nitrate acquisition of the perennial grass crested wheatgrass, the native forb western yarrow, and the native shrub big sagebrush. Individual plants were grown in two-plant neighborhoods, and a K15NO3 tracer was injected into the soil between plants and recovered from leaf material after 5 to 11 d. We also evaluated neighbor effects on shoot and root growth, leaf carbon : nitrogen ratio, and leaf nitrogen concentrations to better understand how these traits are associated with differences in nitrate acquisition and nitrogen allocation among the three growth forms. Nitrate acquisitions by crested wheatgrass and western yarrow were significantly lower when competing with downy brome than with dyer's woad and prostrate kochia; however, competitors had similar, negative effects on nitrate acquisition by big sagebrush. Nitrate acquisition ratios between competing neighbors revealed that: (1) the grasses always acquired more nitrate than neighbors of a different growth form, (2) western yarrow was equally competitive with dyer's woad and prostrate kochia, and (3) all neighbors acquired more nitrate than big sagebrush. More successful competition for nitrate in the grasses was associated with greater specific root length. Compared to species of the same respective growth form, the two invasive weeds (downy brome and dyer's woad) and prostrate kochia always had significantly lower leaf carbon : nitrogen ratio, and greater leaf nitrogen concentration, which have been broadly correlated with leaf lifespan and nutrient use efficiency, and indicate differing strategies to persist in the semiarid shrub-steppe ecosystems.

Himalaya blackberry is a nonnative shrub that has invaded sites throughout the Pacific Northwest. Its persistent canopy and large underground crowns create a competitive environment that prevents desirable species from germinating, establishing, or both. Cutleaf blackberry grows in association with Himalaya blackberry, and control efforts frequently target these two species. Control of Himalaya blackberry is complicated by vigorous vegetative regrowth after mechanical control, including mowing, and variable response to chemical methods. Recent interest in the use of goat browsing for invasive plant control has led land managers to use a variety of browsing regimes to control unwanted species through disturbance by herbivory. This study examined changes in functional group percent cover in a perennial grass pasture invaded by Himalaya blackberry and cutleaf blackberry in the southern Willamette Valley of Oregon. The appearance of species and their functional group membership after three treatment protocols are evaluated. Changes in the percentage of cover by Himalaya and cutleaf blackberries, annual grasses, perennial grasses, annual forbs, and perennial forbs were examined after two annual treatments with (1) high-intensity–short-duration goat browsing, (2) mowing, and (3) high-intensity–short-duration goat browsing followed by mowing. These data were then compiled by functional group to assess trends in the plants' revegetating the pasture after treatment. All treatments caused a significant decline in the percent cover of the invasive blackberries (P < 0.0001), but differences among treatments were not significant. The increase in the percent cover of perennial forbs for plots treated with goat browsing followed by mowing was significantly greater (P = 0.008) than it was in plots browsed only and those mowed only. Changes in percent cover of other functional groups were not significantly different with browsing or mowing treatments. Individual species within the perennial grass and perennial forb groups are discussed.

Bats are important but understudied pollinators in the Palaeotropics, and much about their interactions with night-blooming, bat-pollinated plant species is still unknown. We compared visitation times to flowering and fruiting plant resources by nectarivorous bat species (obligate pollinators) and frugi-nectarivorous bat species (facultative pollinators) throughout the night to examine the temporal variability that occurs within Pteropodidae foraging. Timing of pollination is an important determinant of plant reproductive success and more temporally restrictive than fruit dispersal. We netted 179 nectarivorous bats and 209 frugi-nectarivorous bats across 367 total mist-net h at five plant species providing floral resources and six plant species providing fruit resources. We found that all three nectarivorous bat species in southern Thailand forage significantly earlier in the evening (20h30 versus 22h00), and over a significantly shorter time interval (1.73 h versus 3.33 h), than do the five most commonly netted frugi-nectarivorous species. These results indicate that the two feeding guilds may be imposing different selective pressures on bat-pollinated plant species and may comprise different functional groups. We propose that the observed differences in bat foraging times are due to temporal constraints imposed by the rewards of the plant species that they visit.

Two dung beetle assemblages from rainforest and open forest in the wet tropics of north-eastern Australia are described. The fauna was sampled using flight intercept traps, baited pitfall traps and light traps, with flight intercept traps being the most effective sampling technique. Dung beetle species were found to be highly habitat specific with a switch from rainforest to open forest assemblages occurring over tens of metres. The majority of the fauna was active at night. The most abundant species were attracted to a variety of food types but several species appeared to specialize on either dung or mushrooms.

Using the species-area correlation I predicted the percentage of endemic Amazonian mammals committed to extinction by 2020 as an outcome of deforestation resulting from the implementation of mega-infrastructure projects in the Brazilian Amazon. Simulations based on optimistic and non-optimistic deforestation scenarios showed a 2-fold and a 3-fold increase, respectively, in Amazonian mammals committed to extinction. The predicted number of threatened species by 2020 was 5–18% of the total number of endemic mammal species, depending on the scenario and equation used. This increase in extinction rates could be catastrophic for ecosystem stability in the Amazon because the loss of functional groups may produce a cascade effect of species extinctions.

Oceanic phytoplankton communities are a mixture of various algal functional groups, all of which are of different sizes, have variable physiologies, and interact differently with disparate herbivores. We suggest that polar plankton communities, and specifically the larger phytoplankton of Southern Ocean HNLC (high nutrient, low chlorophyll) systems, are controlled primarily by bottom-up processes, but that smaller (pico- and nanoplankton) reach an equilibrium that is set simultaneously by light, iron and grazing by microzooplankton. Thus Southern Ocean phytoplankton conforms to the “ecumenical iron hypothesis”, albeit with the further addition of light as an environmental control. Examples of bottom-up controls include iron availability, irradiance regulation (either by the incident surface irradiance as controlled by season and sea ice cover, or by the effects of vertical turbulence and mixed layer depths), and macronutrient availability (silicic acid and nitrate). While the contribution of various phytoplankton taxa varies spatially and temporally within the Antarctic, we suggest that this is largely due to the specific responses of the important functional groups to the patterns of physical forcing and micronutrient inputs, rather than to changes in controls by small and large grazers. Examples of abiotic and biotic controls are examined from representative regions of the Antarctic, including continental shelf regions and open ocean HNLC systems. Results from models further support our contention that bottom-up control of large forms is paramount in the Southern Ocean, but top-down controls play an important part in regulating the equilibrium standing stocks of smaller taxa. If bottom-up control is indeed universal in the Antarctic, then it has profound implications for the understanding of interannual variability, food web structure, and population dynamics of higher trophic levels in both the present and past Southern Ocean.