Although it is increasingly clear that exotic invasive species affect seed-dispersal mutualisms, a synthetic examination of the effect of exotic invasive species on seed-dispersal mutualisms is lacking. Here, we review the impacts of the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) on seed dispersal. We found that sites with L. humile had 92 per cent fewer native ant seed dispersers than did sit...

The dispersal capacity of plant species that rely on animals to disperse their seeds (biotic dispersal) can alter with changes to the populations of their keystone dispersal vectors. Knowledge on how biotic dispersal systems vary across landscapes allows better understanding of factors driving plant persistence. Myrmecochory, seed dispersal by ants, is a common method of biotic dispersal for ma...

The road environment can affect driver speed choice through influencing both the driver’s perception of their current speed, and the speed that they think is appropriate for the road. These influences and their effects on speed can therefore affect crash rates. This report reviews the influence of various factors within the road environment, including the geometry of the road, the roadside envi...

With the climbing costs of cotton production, producers must ensure optimal returns on their cotton crops in order to make a profit. The groundwork for a high yielding crop has to start with an accurate and efficient planting system to ensure an optimal stand. However, there are a variety of new systems and techniques to incorporate compared to the conventional system that has been used for so ...

Various seed treatments were evaluated for their effect on early-season corn pests. Imidacloprid at low and high rates (Gaucho and Prescribe , respectively) and thiamethoxam (Cruiser ) at low and high rates were effective in reducing populations and exhibited systemic insecticidal activity against chinch bugs, flea beetle, wireworm, white grub, and southern corn leaf beetle. Another systemic ne...

A novel method is presented for growth of polycrystalline silicon films on amorphous substrates at temperatures of 540-575 “C. Grain nucleation and grain growth are performed in two steps, using Si nanocrystals as nuclei (“sceds’“,L The nanocrystal seeds are produced by excimer laser photolysis of disilane in a room temperature flow cell. Film (grain) growth occurs epitaxially on the seeds in a...

this experiment was carried out in factorial arrangement based on randomized complete block design with three replications in agricultural and natural resources research center of markazi province, arak (iran) during 2008-2009 growing season. three application rates of sulphur (s1=0, s2= 40 and s3=80 kg/ha) and three rapeseed varieties (okapi, modena and licord) comprised the experimental facto...

Ant-aphid interactions may affect host plants in several ways, however, most studies measure only the amount of fruit and seed produced, and do not test seed viability. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effects of the presence of ant-aphid interactions upon host plant productivity and seed viability in two different contexts: isolated and within an arthropod community. For this...

Small-seeded plant species are often reported to have high relative growth rate or RGR. However, because RGR declines as plants grow larger, small-seeded species could achieve higher RGR simply by virtue of their small size. In contrast, size-standardized growth rate or SGR factors out these size effects. Differences in SGR can thus only be due to differences in morphology, allocation, or physi...

The effect of exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) on the rate of sucrose uptake by soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) embryos was evaluated in an in vitro system. In addition, the concentrations of endogenous ABA in seeds of three soybean Plant Introduction (PI) lines, differing in seed size, were commpared to their seed growth rates. ABA (10(-7) molar) stimulated in vitro sucrose uptake in soybean (cv ;...