The anecic earthworm Lumbricus terrestris L. was kept in laboratory microcosms containing beech forest soil without litter, with beech leaf litter or with lime leaf litter. The structure of microfungal communities in soil, litter and fresh and aged (100 days) earthworm faeces was analysed using the washing and plating technique. The passage of mineral soil through the gut of L. terrestris affec...

In Fagus, full-mast seeding years are invariably followed by at least one non-mast year. Both flower and leaf primordia develop during the summer within the same winter buds. Flower bud initiation occurs when the N content of developing seeds is increasing rapidly. We hypothesized that competition for nitrogen (N) between developing seeds and buds limits flower primordium formation in mast year...

it has often been stated or implied that grazing is an important factor in the land degradation process, a suggestion supported by various research projects, and this study investigated the effect of livestock grazing on stem height, crowncover, production, basal diameter, stem biomass, litter, leaf-stem index (leaf to stem weight) , root diameter and weight and seed production per individual o...

Ammonia (NH3) surface/atmosphere exchange is bi-directional and as such resistance models must include canopy concentrations. An existing single layer model that describes the exchange in terms of adsorption to leaf cuticles and bi-directional transport through leaf stomata, which is governed by a stomatal compensation point (χ s), is applied here to NH3 exchange over oilseed rape and compared ...

Changes in climate and the introduction of invasive species are two major stressors to amphibians, although little is known about the interaction between these two factors with regard to impacts on amphibians. We focused our study on an invasive tree species, the Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera), that annually sheds its leaves and produces leaf litter that is known to negatively impact aquati...

The nutritional demands of animals vary by taxon. Across landscapes, communities of animals experience variability in the stoichiometry of carbon and nutrients within their resource base. Thus, we expect stoichiometry to contribute to the spatial variance in the demographic parameters of animal communities. Here, we measure how the composition of a litter-nesting tropical rainforest ant communi...

Human activities are increasing the concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide ([CO2]) and tropospheric ozone ([O3]), potentially leading to changes in the quantity and chemical quality of leaf litter inputs to forest soils. Because the quality and quantity of labile and recalcitrant carbon (C) compounds influence forest productivity through changes in soil organic matter content, characteriz...

Aqueous leaf extract of Cajanus cajan is consumed by pregnant women in our locality. However, its effect on pregnancy has not been studied. C. cajan is known to contain genistein and diadzein which are potent phytoestrogens. We studied the effect of aqueous leaf extract of C. cajan on litter size and serum progesterone in pregnant rats. Oral administration of C. cajan on timed-pregnant rats inc...

Signals used in communication are often hypothesized to be optimally designed for their signalling environment. Here, we explore the importance of signalling substrate on seismic signal efficacy and reproductive behavior in the wolf spider, Schizocosa retrorsa: a species found on multiple signalling substrates (pine litter and/or red clay or sand). In this multimodal signalling species, simulta...

Surface litter from a natural and a sewage-enriched cypress dome in north-central Florida showed a pronounced seasonal pattern of nitrogenase (acetylene reduction) activity associated with seasonal leaf fall from deciduous trees in the domes. Samples of peat from cores indicated negligible nitrogenase activity below the surface layer. Integrating the monthly rates of nitrogen fixation (based on...