April 2010

Desert oases as genetic refugia of heritage crops: Persistence of forgotten fruits in the Mission orchards of Baja California, Mexico

  The first introductions of agricultural crops to desert oases of Baja California, Mexico were initiated by Jesuit missionaries between 1697 and 1768 and historic records from these Jesuits provided a detailed benchmark by which temporal changes in agro-biodiversity can be measured. Longitudinal studies at the agricultural oases on the Baja California peninsula of Mexico can help determine whether such...

Author(s): Gary Paul Nabhan, Jesus Garcia, Rafael Routson, Kanin Routson and Micheline Cariño-Olvera

April 2010

Occurrence of endosymbiont Richelia intracellularis (Cyanophyta) within the diatom Rhizosolenia hebetata in the Northern Arabian Sea

  The presence of diazotrophic cyanobacterium Richelia intracellularis Schmidt as an endosymbiont of Rhizosolenia hebetata was observed in the phytoplankton samples collected from the Northern Arabian Sea during the fag end of winter monsoon (February - March). R. hebetata formed 80% Rhizosolenia population and 60% of this species harboured endosymbiotic...

Author(s): K. B. Padmakumar, N. R. Menon and V. N. Sanjeevan

April 2010

Patterns of diversity, abundance and habitat associations of butterfly communities in heterogeneous landscapes of the department of atomic energy (DAE) campus at Kalpakkam, South India

  The diversity of butterflies inhabiting the department of atomic energy campus at Kalpakkam was recorded through a modified line transect methodology by setting a permanent line transect of 300 m and recoding all species of butterflies observed within a five meter distance around the observer. Five habitats within the campus viz., Garden, Scrub jungle, Riparian woods, Sandy area...

Author(s): T. Ramesh, K. Jahir Hussain, M. Selvanayagam, K. K. Satpathy and M. V. R. Prasad

April 2010

Copepoda and Branchiopoda from Tunisian temporary waters

  Copepoda and Branchiopoda from Tunisian temporary waters were collected from 92 sampling stations along five distinct areas, namely the Northern, the Medjerda, the Cap Bon-Miliane, the Central and the Southern basins during the wet season (October to March) throughout the period 1994 - 1997. The aim of the present survey is to update and increase the knowledge on species diversity and richness in...

Author(s): Souad Turki and Brahim Turki