Coordination and plasticity in leaf anatomical traits of invasive and native vine species

Premise of the study: Plant invasiveness can be promoted by higher values of adaptive traits (e.g., photosynthetic capacity, biomass accumulation), greater plasticity and coordination of these traits, and by higher and positive relative influence of these functionalities on fitness, such as increasing reproductive output. However, the data set for this premise rarely includes linkages between epidermal–stomatal traits, leaf internal anatomy, and physiological performance.• Methods: Three ecological pairs of invasive vs. noninvasive (native) woody vine species of South-East Queensland, Australia were investigated for trait differences in leaf morphology and anatomy under varying light intensity. The linkages of these traits with physiological performance (e.g., water-use efficiency, photosynthesis, and leaf construction cost) and plant adaptive traits of specific leaf area, biomass, and relative growth rates were also explored.• Key results: Except for stomatal size, mean leaf anatomical traits differed significantly between the two groups. Plasticity of traits and, to a very limited extent, their phenotypic integration were higher in the invasive relative to the native species. ANOVA, ordination, and analysis of similarity suggest that for leaf morphology and anatomy, the three functional strategies contribute to the differences between the two groups in the order phenotypic plasticity > trait means > phenotypic integration.• Conclusions: The linkages demonstrated in the study between stomatal complex/gross anatomy and physiology are scarce in the ecological literature of plant invasiveness, but the findings suggest that leaf anatomical traits need to be considered routinely as part of weed species assessment and in the worldwide leaf economic spectrum.

Using UHF proximity loggers to quantify male–female interactions: A scoping study of estrous activity in cattle

Reproductive efficiency is an important determinant of profitable cattle breeding systems and the success of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) in wildlife conservation programs. Methods of estrous detection used in intensive beef and dairy cattle systems lack accuracy and remain the single biggest issue for improvement of reproductive rates and such methods are not practical for either large-scale extensive beef cattle enterprises or free-living mammalian species. Recent developments in UHF (ultra high frequency) proximity logger telemetry devices have been used to provide a continuous pair-wise measure of associations between individual animals for both livestock and wildlife. The objective of this study was to explore the potential of using UHF telemetry to identify the reproductive cycle phenotype in terms of intensity and duration of estrus. The study was conducted using Belmont Red (interbred Africander Brahman Hereford–Shorthorn) cattle grazing irrigated pasture on Belmont Research Station, northeastern Australia. The cow-bull associations from three groups of cows each with one bull were recorded over a 7-week breeding season and the stage of estrus was identified using ultrasonography. Telemetry data from bull and cows, collected over 4 8-day logger deployments, were log transformed and analyzed by ANOVA. Both the number and duration of bull-cow affiliations were significantly (P < 0.001) greater in estrous cows compared to anestrus cows. These results support the development of the UHF technology as a hands-off and noninvasive means of gathering socio-sexual information on both wildlife and livestock for reproductive management.