Circular replication-associated protein encoding DNA viruses identified in the faecal matter of various animals in New Zealand.

In recent years, innovations in molecular techniques and sequencing technologies have resulted in a rapid expansion in the number of known viral sequences, in particular those with circular replication-associated protein (Rep)-encoding single-stranded (CRESS) DNA genomes. CRESS DNA viruses are present in the virome of many ecosystems and are known to infect a wide range of organisms. A large number of the recently identified CRESS DNA viruses cannot be classified into any known viral families, indicating that the current view of CRESS DNA viral sequence space is greatly underestimated.

The compounding effects of high pollen limitation, selfing rates and inbreeding depression leave a New Zealand tree with few viable offspring.

Background And Aims: Interactions between species are especially sensitive to environmental changes. The interaction between plants and pollinators is of particular interest given the potential current global decline in pollinators. Reduced pollinator services can be compensated for in some plant species by self-pollination.

Warming, CO2, and nitrogen deposition interactively affect a plant-pollinator mutualism.

Environmental changes threaten plant-pollinator mutualisms and their critical ecosystem service. Drivers such as land use, invasions and climate change can affect pollinator diversity or species encounter rates. However, nitrogen deposition, climate warming and CO(2) enrichment could interact to disrupt this crucial mutualism by altering plant chemistry in ways that alter floral attractiveness or even nutritional rewards for pollinators.

Cascading effects of bird functional extinction reduce pollination and plant density.

Reductions in bird numbers could hamper ecosystem services such as pollination, but experimental proof is lacking. We show that functional extinction of bird pollinators has reduced pollination, seed production, and plant density in the shrub Rhabdothamnus solandri (Gesneriaceae) on the North Island ("mainland") of New Zealand but not on three nearby island bird sanctuaries where birds remain abundant. Pollen limitation of fruit set is strong [pollen limitation index (PLI) = 0.