Sarah Boulter

Putting plant resistance traits on the map: a test of the idea that plants are better defended at lower latitudes

• It has long been believed that plant species from the tropics have higher levels of traits associated with resistance to herbivores than do species from higher latitudes. A meta-analysis recently showed that the published literature does not support this theory. However, the idea has never been tested using data gathered with consistent methods from a wide range of latitudes. • We quantified the relationship between latitude and a broad range of chemical and physical traits across 301 species from 75 sites world-wide. • Six putative resistance traits, including tannins, the concentration of lipids (an indicator of oils, waxes and resins), and leaf toughness were greater in high-latitude species. Six traits, including cyanide production and the presence of spines, were unrelated to latitude. Only ash content (an indicator of inorganic substances such as calcium oxalates and phytoliths) and the properties of species with delayed greening were higher in the tropics. • Our results do not support the hypothesis that tropical plants have higher levels of resistance traits than do plants from higher latitudes. If anything, plants have higher resistance toward the poles. The greater resistance traits of high-latitude species might be explained by the greater cost of losing a given amount of leaf tissue in low-productivity environments.

Climate Adaptation Futures

Adaptation is the poor cousin of the climate change challenge the glamour of international debate is around global mitigation agreements, while the bottom-up activities of adaptation, carried out in community halls and local government offices, are often overlooked. Yet, as international forums fail to deliver reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the world is realising that effective adaptation will be essential across all sectors to deal with the unavoidable impacts of climate change. The need to understand how to adapt effectively, and to develop appropriate adaptation options and actions, is becoming increasingly urgent.

Heat and smoke effects on the germination of seeds from soil seed banks across forest edges between subtropical rainforest and eucalypt forest at Lamington National Park, south-eastern Queensland, Australia

Physical changes and flows of energy at the interface between two contrasting ecosystems affect the distribution of species across the ecotone. The maintenance and stability of the, often abrupt, transition between Australian rainforest and non-rainforests is often attributed to fire. We use pre-germination treatments of smoke and heat on soil seed bank samples to determine plant distributions across the edge between subtropical rainforest and an adjacent eucalypt-dominated wet sclerophyll forest. Soil seed bank collections at 15 m within the eucalypt forest had both significantly higher density and diversity of seedlings than those at 30 m, at the edge itself or at any site within the rainforest. This response was most apparent when a pre-germination smoke treatment was applied. We suggest that smoke is an important germination trigger for species regenerating at this interface. Our results confirm the importance of fire in determining and maintaining the nature of this ecotone.

Interception traps in canopy inflorescences: Targeting a neglected fauna

Two new cost-effective trap designs for capturing arthropod flower visitors are described. Small flower visitors such as Thysanoptera and Diptera, hardly noticeable during direct flower observations, were dominant in trap catches. These trapping techniques combined with direct observations allow a more comprehensive picture of the flower visitors.RésuméCet article décrit le fonctionnement de deux nouveaux types de pièges bon marché pour capturer les visiteurs de fleurs. Ces nouveaux systèmes permettent de piéger des espèces miniatures visiteuses de fleurs comme les thysanoptères et diptères non identifiables lors des observations directes des fleurs. De telles techniques de piégeage en combinaison avec des observations directes permettent une évaluation plus complète de cette faune.

Sensitivity and Threat in High-Elevation Rainforests: Outcomes and Consequences of the IBISCA-Queensland Project

The IBISCA approach to biodiversity assessment in forests was, initially, the brainchild of Yves Basset, Bruno Corbara and Hector Barrios (Basset et al. 2007). The four IBISCA projects carried out to date have examined selected aspects of beta-diversity in tropical, subtropical and temperate forests. In each case a set of research questions were defined and a sampling design executed. Researchers with interests in particular taxa or ecological processes were invited to join one or more of the proposed field expeditions to carry out sub-projects of their choice within the general experimental design. When successful, this approach not only provides individual researchers or groups of researchers with analyzable and publishable data sets in their specific areas of interest but it also facilitates comparative and other meta-analyses with homogeneous criteria.