Precipitation chemistry in semi-arid areas of Southern Africa: A case study of a rural and an industrial site

Experimental data on the precipitation chemistry in the semi-arid savanna of South Africa is presented in this paper. A total of 901 rainwater samples were collected with automatic wet-only samplers at a rural site, Louis Trichardt, and at an industrial site, Amersfoort, from July 1986 to June 1999. The chemical composition of precipitation was analysed for seven inorganic and two organic ions, using ion chromatography. The most abundant ion was SO(4)(2-) and a large proportion of the precipitation is acidic, with 98% of samples at Amersfoort and 94% at Louis Trichardt having a pH below 5.6 ( average pH of 4.4 and 4.9, respectively). This acidity results from a mixture of mineral and organic acids, with mineral acids being the primary contributors to the precipitation acidity in Amersfoort, while at Louis Trichardt, organic and mineral acids contribute equal amounts of acidity. It was found that the composition of rainwater is controlled by five sources: marine, terrigenous, nitrogenous, biomass burning and anthropogenic sources. The relative contributions of these sources at the two sites were calculated. Anthropogenic sources dominate at Amersfoort and biomass burning at Louis Trichardt. Most ions exhibit a seasonal pattern at Louis Trichardt, with the highest concentrations occurring during the austral spring as a result of agricultural activities and biomass combustion, while at Amersfoort it is less pronounced due to the dominance of relatively constant industrial emissions. The results are compared to observations from other African regions.

DNA bar-coding reveals source and patterns of Thaumastocoris peregrinus invasions in South Africa and South America

Thaumastocoris peregrinus is a recently introduced invertebrate pest of non-native Eucalyptus plantations in the Southern Hemisphere. It was first reported from South Africa in 2003 and in Argentina in 2005. Since then, populations have grown explosively and it has attained an almost ubiquitous distribution over several regions in South Africa on 26 Eucalyptus species. Here we address three key questions regarding this invasion, namely whether only one species has been introduced, whether there were single or multiple introductions into South Africa and South America and what the source of the introduction might have been. To answer these questions, bar-coding using mitochondrial DNA (COI) sequence diversity was used to characterise the populations of this insect from Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Uruguay. Analyses revealed three cryptic species in Australia, of which only T. peregrinus is represented in South Africa and South America. Thaumastocoris peregrinus populations contained eight haplotypes, with a pairwise nucleotide distance of 0.2-0.9% from seventeen locations in Australia. Three of these haplotypes are shared with populations in South America and South Africa, but the latter regions do not share haplotypes. These data, together with the current distribution of the haplotypes and the known direction of original spread in these regions, suggest that at least three distinct introductions of the insect occurred in South Africa and South America before 2005. The two most common haplotypes in Sydney, one of which was also found in Brisbane, are shared with the non-native regions. Sydney populations of T. peregrinus, which have regularly reached outbreak levels in recent years, might thus have served as source of these three distinct introductions into other regions of the Southern Hemisphere.

A NEW SPECIES of AFRICANA (NEMATODA: HETERAKIDAE) FROM LIZARDS of SOUTHERN AMAZON, BRAZIL

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Recent brachiopods from the southern Brazilian shelf: Palaeontological and biogeographical implications

Until recently, the rhynchonelliform (articulated) brachiopod fauna from the Brazilian continental shelf (western South Atlantic) was represented only by the endemic species Bouchardia rosea (Mawe), reported from coastal waters of the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The present study, based on samples from coastal (<30 m), shelf, and continental slope waters (99-485 m), documents the South Atlantic brachiopod fauna and shows that this fauna is more widespread, diverse, and cosmopolitan than previously thought. Based on a total of 16,177 specimens, the following brachiopods have been identified: Bouchardia rosea (Family Bouchardiidae), Platidia anomioides (Family Platidiidae), Argyrotheca cf. cuneata (Family Megathyrididae), and Terebratulina sp. (Family Cancellothyrididae). In coastal settings, the fauna is overwhelmingly dominated by Bouchardia rosea. Rare juvenile (<2 mm) specimens of Argyrotheca cf. cuneata were also found at two shallow-water sites. In shelf settings (100-200 m), the fauna is more diverse and includes Bouchardia rosea, Terebratulina sp., Argyrotheca cf. cuneata, and Platidia anomioides. Notably, Bouchardia rosea was found in waters as deep as 485 m, extending the known bathymetric range of this genus. Also, the record of this brachiopod in waters of the state of Parana is the southernmost known occurrence of this species. The genera Platidia and Terebratulina are documented here for the first time for the western South Atlantic. The Brazilian brachiopod fauna shares similarities with those from the Atlantic and Indian shelves of southern Africa, and from the Antarctic, Caribbean and Mediterranean waters. The present-day brachiopods of the western South Atlantic are much more cosmopolitan than previously thought and their Cenozoic palaeobiogeographic history has to be reconsidered from that perspective.

Phenological Changes in the Southern Hemisphere

Current evidence of phenological responses to recent climate change is substantially biased towards northern hemisphere temperate regions. Given regional differences in climate change, shifts in phenology will not be uniform across the globe, and conclusions drawn from temperate systems in the northern hemisphere might not be applicable to other regions on the planet. We conduct the largest meta-analysis to date of phenological drivers and trends among southern hemisphere species, assessing 1208 long-term datasets from 89 studies on 347 species. Data were mostly from Australasia (Australia and New Zealand), South America and the Antarctic/subantarctic, and focused primarily on plants and birds. This meta-analysis shows an advance in the timing of spring events (with a strong Australian data bias), although substantial differences in trends were apparent among taxonomic groups and regions. When only statistically significant trends were considered, 82% of terrestrial datasets and 42% of marine datasets demonstrated an advance in phenology. Temperature was most frequently identified as the primary driver of phenological changes; however, in many studies it was the only climate variable considered. When precipitation was examined, it often played a key role but, in contrast with temperature, the direction of phenological shifts in response to precipitation variation was difficult to predict a priori. We discuss how phenological information can inform the adaptive capacity of species, their resilience, and constraints on autonomous adaptation. We also highlight serious weaknesses in past and current data collection and analyses at large regional scales (with very few studies in the tropics or from Africa) and dramatic taxonomic biases. If accurate predictions regarding the general effects of climate change on the biology of organisms are to be made, data collection policies focussing on targeting data-deficient regions and taxa need to be financially and logistically supported. © 2013 Chambers et al.