Cacao trees in tropical agroforestry landscapes of the Napu Valley in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

All sample sites were situated at the northern tip of Napu Valley in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. After an initial mapping of the study area, we selected 15 smallholder cacao plantations as sites for bird and bat exclosure experiments in March 2010. On each study site, we established 4 treatments for these exclosure experiments (bird exclosure - closed during daytime and open during night; bat exclosure - closed overnight and opened during daytime; full exclosure of both birds and bats - always closed and unmanipulated/open control treatments - always open). In each treatment, there were 2 cacao trees (total of 8 cacao trees per study site), surrounded by nylon filament (2x2 cm mesh size) that was opened and closed according to the activity period of day and night active flying vertebrates (05:00-06:00 am and 17:00-18:00 pm) on a daily basis. The mean tree height and diameter at breast height (dbh) result from two measures of all study trees at the beginning of the exclosure experiment (June 2010) and 6 months later (February 2011).

Two historical maps from nineteenth-century Palestine, with links to digitized maps in shapefile format

Reconstructing past landscapes from historical maps requires quantifying the accuracy and completeness of these sources. The accuracy and completeness of two historical maps of the same period covering the same area in Israel were examined: the 1:63,360 British Palestine Exploration Fund map (1871-1877) and the 1:100,000 French Levés en Galilée (LG) map (1870). These maps cover the mountainous area of the Galilee (northern Israel), a region with significant natural and topographical diversity, and a long history of human presence. Land-cover features from both maps, as well as the contours drawn on the LG map, were digitized. The overall correspondence between land-cover features shown on both maps was 59% and we found that the geo-referencing method employed (transformation type and source of control points) did not significantly affect these correspondence measures. Both maps show that in the 1870s, 35% of the Galilee was covered by Mediterranean maquis, with less than 8% of the area used for permanent agricultural cropland (e.g., plantations). This article presents how the reliability of the maps was assessed by using two spatial historical sources, and how land-cover classes that were mapped with lower certainty and completeness are identified. Some of the causes that led to observed differences between the maps, including mapping scale, time of year, and the interests of the surveyors, are also identified.

Enzyme activity, body measures and heart mass of Sepia officinalis sampled in the English Channel and Adriatic Sea

In the eurythermal cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, performance depends on hearts that ensure systemic oxygen supply over a broad range of temperatures. We therefore aimed to identify adjustments in energetic cardiac capacity and underlying mitochondrial function supporting thermal acclimation and adaptation that could be crucial for the cuttlefish's competitive success in variable environments. Two genetically distinct cuttlefish populations were acclimated to 11, 16 and 21°C. Subsequently, skinned and permeabilised heart fibres were used to assess mitochondrial functioning by means of high-resolution respirometry and a substrate-inhibitor protocol, followed by measurements of cardiac citrate synthase and cytosolic enzyme activities. Temperate English Channel cuttlefish had lower mitochondrial capacities but larger hearts than subtropical Adriatic cuttlefish. Warm acclimation to 21°C decreased mitochondrial complex I activity in Adriatic cuttlefish and increased complex IV activity in English Channel cuttlefish. However, compensation of mitochondrial capacities did not occur during cold acclimation to 11°C. In systemic hearts, the thermal sensitivity of mitochondrial substrate oxidation was high for proline and pyruvate but low for succinate. Oxygen efficiency of catabolism rose as temperature changed from 11 to 21°C via shifts to oxygen-conserving oxidation of proline and pyruvate and via reduced relative proton leak. The changes observed for substrate oxidation, mitochondrial complexes, relative proton leak and heart mass improve energetic efficiency and essentially seem to extend tolerance to high temperatures and reduce associated tissue hypoxia. We conclude that cuttlefish sustain cardiac performance and, thus, systemic oxygen delivery over short- and long-term changes of temperature and environmental conditions by multiple adjustments in cellular and mitochondrial energetics.