Evaluation of seed-dispersal services by ants at a temperate pasture: Results of direct observations in an ant suppression experiment.

Ants disperse seeds of many plant species adapted to myrmecochory. While advantages of this ant-plant mutualism for myrmecochorous plants (myrmecochores) have been previously studied in temperate region mostly in forests, our study system was a pasture. Moreover, we used a unique combination of observing the effect of ant-activity suppression on ant dispersal and comparison of the contribution of ant and unassisted dispersal to the distance from mother plant.

Low concentrations of acetamiprid, deltamethrin, and sulfoxaflor, three commonly used insecticides, adversely affect ant queen survival and egg laying.

Ants are key ecosystem service providers and can serve as important biological control agents in pest management. However, the effects of insecticides on common farmland ant species are poorly understood. We tested the effects of three commonly used insecticides on ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae).

Claustral colony founding does not prevent sensitivity to the detrimental effects of azole fungicides on the fecundity of ants.

Azole fungicides (benzimidazoles, triazoles and imidazoles) are among the most widely used agrochemicals in the world. Unfortunately, azole fungicides are increasingly recognized for playing the role of endocrine disruptors in non-target organisms. Previously, the fecundity of ants with semi-claustral colony founding was found to be severely decreased in response to field-realistic concentrations of azole fungicides.

Biodiversity in remnants of natural mountain forests under conservation-oriented management.

The structure of forests is an important stabilizing factor regarding ongoing global climate and land use change. Biodiverse mountain forests with natural structure are one of the ecosystems most endangered by these problems. We focused on the mountain forest islands of European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and their role in the natural distribution of organisms.

Forecasting SPEI and SPI Drought Indices Using the Integrated Artificial Neural Networks.

The presented paper compares forecast of drought indices based on two different models of artificial neural networks. The first model is based on feedforward multilayer perceptron, sANN, and the second one is the integrated neural network model, hANN. The analyzed drought indices are the standardized precipitation index (SPI) and the standardized precipitation evaporation index (SPEI) and were derived for the period of 1948-2002 on two US catchments.

Benomyl treatment decreases fecundity of ant queens.

Methyl benzimidazole carbamate fungicides, including benomyl, are widely used in agriculture, and to eliminate entomopathogenic infections. We treated queens of Myrmica rubra (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) infected or not by Rickia wasmannii (Laboulbeniales:Laboulbeniaceae) with benomyl, 1mg/ml p.o.

Physiological and biochemical responses to cold and drought in the rock-dwelling pulmonate snail, Chondrina avenacea.

The pulmonate snail Chondrina avenacea lives on exposed rock walls where it experiences drastic daily and seasonal fluctuations of abiotic conditions and food availability. We found that tolerance to dry conditions was maintained at a very high level throughout the year and was mainly based on the snails' ability to promptly enter into estivation (quiescence) whenever they experienced drying out of their environment. Snails rapidly suppressed their metabolism and minimized their water loss using discontinuous gas exchange pattern.

Phylogeny of Maculinea blues (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) based on morphological and ecological characters: evolution of parasitic myrmecophily.

A phylogeny of blue butterflies of the genus Maculinea and related genera (Lycaenidae) is proposed, based on 91 morphological and ecological characters. The resulting tree shows that: (1) Phengaris is a derived group nested within Maculinea; (2) the Maculinea-Phengaris clade is probably nested within Glaucopsyche; (3) there are three well supported groups within the Maculinea-Phengaris clade: (alcon group ((teleius group) (arion-Phengaris group))). Some species (M.