Marking behavior and discrimination of concealed hosts by the ectoparasitoid, Dinarmus basalis Rond. (Hym. Pteromalidae)

The parasitoid species, Dinarmus basalis, attacks bruchid beetle larvae concealed within hard seeds. Female wasps are able to discriminate the quality of their host but the position in the concealed host system where this discrimination takes place remains unclear. Under laboratory conditions, we investigated whether the cues were detectable: (1) at a medium or short distance from the seed, (2) on the seed, or (3) within the seed, at the point of contact with the host. In particular, we investigated whether internal or external markings are applied by the parasitoid and then recognized in a subsequent encounter or by a conspecific encountering the host. Detailed behavioral observations did not provide evidence of markings being applied onto the seed or used, but showed that host discrimination occurred on the basis of internal cues. The lack of evidence of external markings is unexpected and raises the question as to which circumstances in the parasitoid's ecology and life history could result in such a lack not causing a reduction of fitness

Protection et diffusion des données sur les sols : Des règles à comprendre pour mieux les intégrer aux recherches

International audienceFor several years, soil has been at the heart of global issues, whether it be climate change, biodiversity loss or land desertification.Soil organic carbon plays a major role in these issues because of its contribution to several ecosystem services. This renewedinterest increases the demand for dissemination of data on soils and encourages scientists to provide, in the short term, unambi-guous answers on complex and even controversial subjects with objective and quantified data. This double movement requires agreater sharing of data, whether at the time of their analysis or their dissemination. This dynamic, in line with the Open Sciencemovement in particular, raises new legal questions such as : what are the legal conditions allowing such sharing of research data ?Are there any specificities regarding data from soil organic carbon research ? The objective of this paper is to summarize the mainelements of this reflection by 1) presenting the legal framework for sharing soil carbon research data in France and Europe, and2) proposing decision support tools for sharing these data.Desde hace varios años, el suelo está en el centro de los desafíos mundiales, ya sea el cambio climático, la pérdida de biodi-versidad o la desertificación de las tierras. El carbono orgánico del suelo desempeña un papel importante en estas cuestionesdebido a su contribución a varios servicios de los ecosistemas. Este renovado interés aumenta la demanda de difusión de datossobre los suelos y anima a los científicos a proporcionar, a corto plazo, respuestas inequívocas sobre temas complejos e inclusocontrovertidos con datos objetivos y cuantificados. Este doble movimiento exige una mayor puesta en común de los datos, yasea en el momento de su análisis o de su difusión. Esta dinámica, en consonancia con el movimiento de la Ciencia Abierta enparticular, plantea nuevas cuestiones jurídicas como : ¿cuáles son las condiciones legales que permiten este intercambio de datosde investigación ? ¿Existen especificidades en relación con los datos procedentes de la investigación sobre el carbono orgánicodel suelo ? El objetivo de este artículo es resumir los principales elementos de esta reflexión : 1) presentando el marco legal paracompartir los datos de la investigación sobre el carbono del suelo en Francia y Europa, y 2) proponiendo herramientas de apoyoa la decisión para compartir estos datos.Depuis quelques années, le sol est au cœur des enjeux globaux, que ce soit pour la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique, la préservation de la biodiversité ou la lutte contre la désertification des terres. Le carbone organique du sol y tient une place majeure de par sa contribution à plusieurs services écosystémiques. Ce regain d’intérêt accroît la demande de diffusion de données sur les sols et incite les scientifiques à apporter, à court terme, des réponses univoques sur des sujets complexes voire controversés avec des données objectives et chiffrées. Ce double mouvement nécessite un plus grand partage de données, que ce soit au moment de leur analyse ou de leur diffusion. Cette dynamique, en phase avec le mouvement de la Science Ouverte notamment, pose de nouvelles questions d’ordre juridique telles que : quelles sont les conditions juridiques permettant un tel partage de données de la recherche ? Y a-t-il des spécificitéss’agissant de données issues de la recherche sur le carbone organique du sol ? L’objectif de cet article est de reprendre les principaux éléments de cette réflexion en 1) présentant le cadre juridique relatif au partage des données de la recherche sur le carbone du sol en France et en Europe, 2) proposant des outils d’aide à la décision pour partager ces données

Protection et diffusion des données sur les sols : Des règles à comprendre pour mieux les intégrer aux recherches

International audienceFor several years, soil has been at the heart of global issues, whether it be climate change, biodiversity loss or land desertification.Soil organic carbon plays a major role in these issues because of its contribution to several ecosystem services. This renewedinterest increases the demand for dissemination of data on soils and encourages scientists to provide, in the short term, unambi-guous answers on complex and even controversial subjects with objective and quantified data. This double movement requires agreater sharing of data, whether at the time of their analysis or their dissemination. This dynamic, in line with the Open Sciencemovement in particular, raises new legal questions such as : what are the legal conditions allowing such sharing of research data ?Are there any specificities regarding data from soil organic carbon research ? The objective of this paper is to summarize the mainelements of this reflection by 1) presenting the legal framework for sharing soil carbon research data in France and Europe, and2) proposing decision support tools for sharing these data.Desde hace varios años, el suelo está en el centro de los desafíos mundiales, ya sea el cambio climático, la pérdida de biodi-versidad o la desertificación de las tierras. El carbono orgánico del suelo desempeña un papel importante en estas cuestionesdebido a su contribución a varios servicios de los ecosistemas. Este renovado interés aumenta la demanda de difusión de datossobre los suelos y anima a los científicos a proporcionar, a corto plazo, respuestas inequívocas sobre temas complejos e inclusocontrovertidos con datos objetivos y cuantificados. Este doble movimiento exige una mayor puesta en común de los datos, yasea en el momento de su análisis o de su difusión. Esta dinámica, en consonancia con el movimiento de la Ciencia Abierta enparticular, plantea nuevas cuestiones jurídicas como : ¿cuáles son las condiciones legales que permiten este intercambio de datosde investigación ? ¿Existen especificidades en relación con los datos procedentes de la investigación sobre el carbono orgánicodel suelo ? El objetivo de este artículo es resumir los principales elementos de esta reflexión : 1) presentando el marco legal paracompartir los datos de la investigación sobre el carbono del suelo en Francia y Europa, y 2) proponiendo herramientas de apoyoa la decisión para compartir estos datos.Depuis quelques années, le sol est au cœur des enjeux globaux, que ce soit pour la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique, la préservation de la biodiversité ou la lutte contre la désertification des terres. Le carbone organique du sol y tient une place majeure de par sa contribution à plusieurs services écosystémiques. Ce regain d’intérêt accroît la demande de diffusion de données sur les sols et incite les scientifiques à apporter, à court terme, des réponses univoques sur des sujets complexes voire controversés avec des données objectives et chiffrées. Ce double mouvement nécessite un plus grand partage de données, que ce soit au moment de leur analyse ou de leur diffusion. Cette dynamique, en phase avec le mouvement de la Science Ouverte notamment, pose de nouvelles questions d’ordre juridique telles que : quelles sont les conditions juridiques permettant un tel partage de données de la recherche ? Y a-t-il des spécificitéss’agissant de données issues de la recherche sur le carbone organique du sol ? L’objectif de cet article est de reprendre les principaux éléments de cette réflexion en 1) présentant le cadre juridique relatif au partage des données de la recherche sur le carbone du sol en France et en Europe, 2) proposant des outils d’aide à la décision pour partager ces données

Silvicultural disturbance has little impact on tree species diversity in a Central African moist forest

Timber production is an important economic sector in most forested countries of Central Africa, where about 14 million hectares of lowland moist forests are now planned for management. This production is expected to be sustainable, but the actual impact of logging on biodiversity is still questioned. To answer this question, we used a unique long-term controlled experiment implemented more than 20 years ago in an old-growth semi-deciduous moist forest of the Central African Republic (CAR). We tested whether (i) anthropogenic disturbances associated with silvicultural operations had an effect on the composition and diversity of tree communities, and (ii) there is a relationship between diversity and disturbance intensity in those forests. For this, we botanically identified all treesP10 cm DBH in 28 1-ha plots where no treatment (controls), logging and logging + thinning operations were implemented 24 years ago and created a strong gradient of disturbance. We investigated the relationships between five diversity indices and a disturbance index calculated for each 1-ha plot, for all species and separately for three regeneration guilds. We found a strong positive monotonic relationship between the intensity of disturbance and the percentage of pioneer species in the tree communities, which proved to be equally detrimental, in terms of relative abundance, to the non-pioneer light-demanding and the shade-bearing species. Overall, disturbance appeared to have a weak monotonous negative effect on diversity, irrespective to the index considered. The diversity of shade-bearers slightly decreased along the disturbance gradient without significant decrease in species density; disturbance had no effect on non-pioneer light demanders, but a clear significant negative effect on the diversity of pioneers, with a significant decrease in species density. This negative effect was associated with the massive recruitment of the early-successional, fast-growing Musanga cecropioides R. Br. (Urticaceae), which rapidly preempted space and resources in the most disturbed plots. Despite this effect, disturbance did not significantly affect the local heterogeneity in species distribution. These results suggest that the semi-deciduous moist forests of CAR are locally resilient to small-scale disturbances associated with silvicultural operations. This may be a consequence of the past anthropogenic and/or climatic disturbances, which have been stronger and more long-lasting than elsewhere within the tropical forest biome, and would have removed the most vulnerable species. Because logging intensity in these forests is usually low, we do not expect any direct major impact on tree species diversity, at least after the first felling cycle

Gustatory sensilla sensitive to protein kairomones trigger host acceptance by an endoparasitoid.

Proteins isolated from the host cocoon of Acrolepiopsis assectella (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutoidea) act as kairomones for host acceptance by the endoparasitoid wasp Diadromus pulchellus Wesmael (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). In this study, morphological, ultrastructural and electrophysiological studies were carried out in order to identify the contact chemoreceptive sensilla on the parasitoid antennae that perceive the protein kairomones. Three types of sensillum on the antennae of the females were found to have a chemosensory function. The receptor cell(s) of one sensillar type were shown to give a positive electrophysiological response to protein kairomones. This sensillar type is apically multiporous and female specific. Consequently, this sensillum could be the one implicated in the perception of the protein kairomone that triggers the host-acceptance behaviour of D. pulchellus females