Oocyte cryopreservation as an adjunct to the assisted reproductive technologies

The document attached has been archived with permission from the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included. See page 2 of PDF for this item.Keith L Harrison, Michelle T Lane, Jeremy C Osborn, Christine A Kirby, Regan Jeffrey, John H Esler and David Mollo

A major subtropical fruit pest accumulates in crop fields and spills over to a wild host

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Wild plant species are often considered a source of crop pests in mixed landscapes but this view rarely considers pest spillover in the opposite direction (from crop fields to natural vegetation), or spatiotemporal variability in resources between crop and wild habitats. We investigate how infestation of mango crop (Mangifera indica, Anacardiaceae) and a related wild host (marula, Sclerocarya birrea, Anacardiaceae) by a major subtropical fruit crop pest (Ceratitis cosyra, Diptera: Tephritidae) varies with distance from the boundary between crop and natural vegetation. We determined how infestation of marula is associated with proximity to mango crops at field and landscape scales over two fruiting seasons on three farms in north-eastern South Africa. This is one of few studies to date to consider pest spillover from crop fields to natural vegetation and the only one performed in a biodiverse region with relatively little habitat transformation. Over three sampling periods, C. cosyra infestation of marula always decreased with distance from mango fields. At the landscape scale, marula alongside crop fields were 30 times more likely to be infested than in distant vegetation (1.3–6 km from mango), suggesting that spillover occurs from crop fields to natural vegetation. During late mango and marula fruiting, twice as many flies infested marula than mango. However, over the two months post-mango fruiting, up to 25 times more C. cosyra were trapped in mango fields than in bordering natural vegetation. Although pests spillover from crop fields into natural vegetation to use marula as an alternate host, biological control in the natural vegetation may eliminate this habitat as a pest reservoir outside the crop season. Other nearby crops may be more important than wild hosts for maintaining C. cosyra out of mango season. Landscape planning should consider proximity and arrangement of fields containing crops that host shared pests at different times of the year.This research was supported by the Mare Curie International Research Staff Exchange Scheme [Contract number 318929]; the National Research Foundation of South Africa [Grant number 90139]; and the South African Department of Science and Technology [Contract number 0054/2013]

Effects of alien plant management and fire on soil seed banks and regeneration in the Cape Peninsula National Park, South Africa

The regeneration of alien and indigenous vegetation in various post-fire environments, following the extensive January 2000 wildfires on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, is described. The effects of dry season wildfire burning of standing alien plants and stacks of mechanically cleared, alien plant material, on post-fire seed banks and vegetation recovery, are presented. These are compared to the effects of wildfire burning on adjacent stands of un-invaded Sandstone Fynbos (previously known as Mountain Fynbos) vegetation and to that on cleared areas surrounding wildfire burnt stacks. The effects of stacking and controlled burning of slash of cleared alien plant material on regeneration potential, under cool weather conditions, are also reported. Seed banks and regeneration were linked to pre-fire vegetation characteristics, fire intensity and, in particular, to the management of alien plants. Large volumes of either standing or stacked alien woody plant biomass impact negatively upon post-wildfire seed banks and upon the recruitment of indigenous fynbos vegetation. Heat damage, associated with stacks of woody alien biomass, kills all seeds to a soil depth of at least 0.15m. In contrast, the controlled winter burning of stacks of alien material results in large scale localised germination of alien seeds. Both persistent indigenous seed banks and the seed of alien invasive species are present in the burnt disturbed areas surrounding stacks of alien slash burnt in wildfires. It is concluded that the current practice of stacking slash resulting from the control of alien plants requires urgent review.Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biolog

North-South cooperation through BIOTA: An interdisciplinary monitoring programme in arid and semi-arid southern Africa

Connecting disciplines in a north– South collaboration has many advantages: mutualisms evolve, synergies are created and spin-offs emerge. The BIOTA South (Biodiversity Monitoring Transect Analysis in southern Africa) programme, with its long-term vision to generate knowledge of biodiversity along a north–south transect in southern Africa, is providing opportunities for research, technology transfer and capacity building while focusing on potential solutions for critical challenges that face this environmentally vulnerable part of the subcontinen

Baseline corticosterone in wintering marine birds: Methodological considerations and ecological patterns

Previous studies have related levels of plasma corticosterone (CORT) of seabirds to variation in foraging conditions during the breeding period, but it is unclear whether similar relationships between foraging conditions and baseline CORT exist during other life stages. We validated methods for identifying baseline CORT of lethally sampled birds and assessed variation in baseline CORT relative to winter habitat conditions. We collected free-living white-winged scoters (Melanitta fusca) at four wintering sites during December and February. We found increasing CORT values beyond 3 min after time since flush (the duration between initial flush and death), presumably reflecting acute stress responses. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to obtain baseline CORT from lethally sampled birds if the time from initial flush until death is measured. Our study sites varied appreciably in exposure to wind and waves, predation danger, diving depths, and the fraction of preferred foods in scoter diets. Despite these habitat differences, baseline CORT did not vary across sites or winter periods. We interpret this lack of variation as evidence that birds select wintering areas where they can successfully manage site-specific costs and maintain physiological homeostasis. © 2013 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved

Baseline Corticosterone in Wintering Marine Birds: Methodological Considerations and Ecological Patterns

Previous studies have related levels of plasma corticosterone (CORT) of seabirds to variation in foraging conditions during the breeding period, but it is unclear whether similar relationships between foraging conditions and baseline CORT exist during other life stages. We validated methods for identifying baseline CORT of lethally sampled birds and assessed variation in baseline CORT relative to winter habitat conditions. We collected free-living white-winged scoters (Melanitta fusca) at four wintering sites during December and February. We found increasing CORT values beyond 3 min after time since flush (the duration between initial flush and death), presumably reflecting acute stress responses. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to obtain baseline CORT from lethally sampled birds if the time from initial flush until death is measured. Our study sites varied appreciably in exposure to wind and waves, predation danger, diving depths, and the fraction of preferred foods in scoter diets. Despite these habitat differences, baseline CORT did not vary across sites or winter periods. We interpret this lack of variation as evidence that birds select wintering areas where they can successfully manage site-specific costs and maintain physiological homeostasis