Range expansion of the Red-billed Quelea, Quelea quelea, into the Western Cape, South Africa

The red-billed quelea, Quelea quelea, is a serious problem bird of cultivated grain throughout Africa. It has expanded its range in different parts of southern Africa. Recent sightings over the last seven years in the Western Cape indicate that this species is appearing more frequently here. If queleas do become established in the Western Cape as a breeding species, this could have a serious impact on the economy of the wheat farmers

NEST DENSITIES OF THE WANDERING ALBATROSS DIOMEDEA EXULANS AT THE PRINCE EDWARD ISLANDS, ESTIMATED USING GPS

Hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers provide opportunities for detailed and rapid mapping of features, including biological ones, further enhanced by the removal during 2000 of “selective availability”. GPS was used to map, describe and compare nest densities within wandering albatross Diomedea exulans colonies at subantarctic Marion and Prince Edward islands. On Prince Edward Island, the coordinates of 1 061 wandering albatross nests were determined and, on Marion Island, 1 779 nests. For describing nest densities of wandering albatrosses, a 50-m grid is recommended, at which scale, the densest area of Prince Edward Island was in Albatross Valley, where the area of the colony was 46 ha and nest density was 22.3 nests ha-1. For Marion Island, the total area of the wandering albatross colonies was 306 ha and the nest density was 5.8 nests ha-1. In the three study colonies there (Macaroni Bay, 28 nests; Sealer\'s Beach, 117 nests; Goney Plain, 140 nests), the density statistics did not differ greatly from the overall densities on the island, with overall mean densities of 4.9, 5.7 and 8.0 birds ha-1 respectively. Although comparisons with nest densities at other breeding colonies are uncertain because of differing methods of computing them, the nest densities in Albatross Valley lie within the reported ranges for other colonies of great albatrosses.Afr. J. mar. Sci. 25: 529–53

FIRST BREEDING RECORDS OF KELP GULLS LARUS DOMINICANUS VETULA AT ROBBEN ISLAND, WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA

The first recorded breeding of kelp gulls Larus dominicanus vetula on Robben Island, Western Cape, South Africa, took place in 2000, when five nests were recorded. In 2001, there were 15 nests and 29 fledglings. The initiation of breeding by kelp gulls on Robben Island is likely a response to the reduction of disturbance since the Robben Island Museum took control of the island. Afr. J. mar. Sci. 25: 391–39

The seminal legacy of the Southern African Bird Atlas Project

The first Southern African Bird Atlas Project was launched in 1986 and gathered bird distribution data from six countries of southern Africa. The project culminated with the publication of The Atlas of Southern African Birds in 1997. The database generated by the project, seven million bird distribution records, has been widely used by four groups: environmental consultants (for example, to locate electricity transmission lines), conservationists (planning conservation strategies), research scientists (especially macro-ecologists and biogeographers) and birders (ecotourism materials). By 2007, the database had spawned 50 research publications and eight Ph.D.s and master's degrees. These products are a tribute to the more than 5000 'citizen scientists', who gathered the bulk of the data. The atlas concept has been extended to frogs, reptiles, spiders and butterflies; a second bird atlas started in 2007 and will, for example, facilitate knowledge of the impact of environmental change on birds. The South African National Biodiversity Institute is playing a lead role in initiating these new projects

COUNTS OF SURFACE-NESTING SEABIRDS BREEDING AT PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, SUMMER 2001/02

The first midsummer survey of surface-nesting seabirds at Prince Edward Island was conducted during December 2001. It was also the first census for most species since the early 1980s. Despite concerns about the impacts of longline fishing mortality on various albatrosses and giant petrels, there was no evidence that populations of these species had decreased. Indeed, the estimate of wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans (Vulnerable) has increased significantly, making Prince Edward Island equal with Marion Island as supporting the largest single-island populations of this species. Species that underwent significant decreases were macaroni penguins Eudyptes chrysolophus (Vulnerable), Crozet shags Phalacrocorax [atriceps] melanogenis and Kerguelen terns Sterna virgata (Near-Threatened). The reasons for these decreases are unclear, but for macaroni penguins may be partly a consequence of competition for space with the burgeoning population of fur seals Arctocephalus spp. The 2001 survey increased the population estimates for Subantarctic skuas Catharacta antarctica, lightmantled sooty albatrosses Phoebetria palpebrata (Vulnerable) and southern giant petrels Macronectes giganteus (Vulnerable), mostly as a result of greater coverage than for previous counts. The 2001 survey confirms that Prince Edward Island remains a globally important breeding site for seabirds.Afr. J. mar. Sci. 25: 441–45

Impact of flipper-banding on breeding success of African penguins Spheniscus demersus at Robben Island: comparisons among silicone rubber bands, stainless-steel bands and no bands

From 2001 to 2006, two new designs of flipper bands made from silicone rubbers were tested on African penguins Spheniscus demersus at 365 nests on Robben Island, South Africa. We compared, over six years, the breeding success, from hatching to fledging, of three different groups of penguins: those with rubber bands (117 nests), with conventional stainless-steel bands (103 nests) and without bands (145 nests). There were no significant differences in breeding success between the three groups, suggesting that neither the currently used steel bands, nor either of the new rubber-band designs, were harmful during the seasons investigated. The rubber bands caused less wear of feathers and less drag on a model penguin than the steel bands. In captivity, the behaviours of African penguins fitted with rubber bands were not noticeably different to those of unbanded birds

Amphetamine Modulates Excitatory Neurotransmission through Endocytosis of the Glutamate Transporter EAAT3 in Dopamine Neurons

SummaryAmphetamines modify the brain and alter behavior through mechanisms generally attributed to their ability to regulate extracellular dopamine concentrations. However, the actions of amphetamine are also linked to adaptations in glutamatergic signaling. We report here that when amphetamine enters dopamine neurons through the dopamine transporter, it stimulates endocytosis of an excitatory amino acid transporter, EAAT3, in dopamine neurons. Consistent with this decrease in surface EAAT3, amphetamine potentiates excitatory synaptic responses in dopamine neurons. We also show that the process of internalization is dynamin- and Rho-mediated and requires a unique sequence in the cytosolic C terminus of EAAT3. Introduction of a peptide based on this motif into dopamine neurons blocks the effects of amphetamine on EAAT3 internalization and its action on excitatory responses. These data indicate that the internalization of EAAT3 triggered by amphetamine increases glutamatergic signaling and thus contributes to the effects of amphetamine on neurotransmission

Ancient Migratory Events in the Middle East: New Clues from the Y-Chromosome Variation of Modern Iranians

Knowledge of high resolution Y-chromosome haplogroup diversification within Iran provides important geographic context regarding the spread and compartmentalization of male lineages in the Middle East and southwestern Asia. At present, the Iranian population is characterized by an extraordinary mix of different ethnic groups speaking a variety of Indo-Iranian, Semitic and Turkic languages. Despite these features, only few studies have investigated the multiethnic components of the Iranian gene pool. In this survey 938 Iranian male DNAs belonging to 15 ethnic groups from 14 Iranian provinces were analyzed for 84 Y-chromosome biallelic markers and 10 STRs. The results show an autochthonous but non-homogeneous ancient background mainly composed by J2a sub-clades with different external contributions. The phylogeography of the main haplogroups allowed identifying post-glacial and Neolithic expansions toward western Eurasia but also recent movements towards the Iranian region from western Eurasia (R1b-L23), Central Asia (Q-M25), Asia Minor (J2a-M92) and southern Mesopotamia (J1-Page08). In spite of the presence of important geographic barriers (Zagros and Alborz mountain ranges, and the Dasht-e Kavir and Dash-e Lut deserts) which may have limited gene flow, AMOVA analysis revealed that language, in addition to geography, has played an important role in shaping the nowadays Iranian gene pool. Overall, this study provides a portrait of the Y-chromosomal variation in Iran, useful for depicting a more comprehensive history of the peoples of this area as well as for reconstructing ancient migration routes. In addition, our results evidence the important role of the Iranian plateau as source and recipient of gene flow between culturally and genetically distinct population

Determining the Physical Properties of the B Stars I. Methodology and First Results

We describe a new approach to fitting the UV-to-optical spectra of B stars to model atmospheres and present initial results. Using a sample of lightly reddened stars, we demonstrate that the Kurucz model atmospheres can produce excellent fits to either combined low dispersion IUE and optical photometry or HST FOS spectrophotometry, as long as the following conditions are fulfilled: 1) an extended grid of Kurucz models is employed, 2) the IUE NEWSIPS data are placed on the FOS absolute flux system using the Massa & Fitzpatrick (1999) transformation, and 3) all of the model parameters and the effects of interstellar extinction are solved for simultaneously. When these steps are taken, the temperatures, gravities, abundances and microturbulence velocities of lightly reddened B0-A0 V stars are determined to high precision. We also demonstrate that the same procedure can be used to fit the energy distributions of stars which are reddened by any UV extinction curve which can be expressed by the Fitzpatrick & Massa (1990) parameterization scheme. We present an initial set of results and verify our approach through comparisons with angular diameter measurements and the parameters derived for an eclipsing B star binary. We demonstrate that the metallicity derived from the ATLAS 9 fits to main sequence B stars is essentially the Fe abundance. We find that a near zero microturbulence velocity provides the best-fit to all but the hottest or most luminous stars (where it may become a surrogate for atmospheric expansion), and that the use of white dwarfs to calibrate UV spectrophotometry is valid.Comment: 17 pages, including 2 pages of Tables and 6 pages of Figures. Astrophysical Jounral, in pres

Constraining Disk Parameters of Be Stars using Narrowband H-alpha Interferometry with the NPOI

Interferometric observations of two well-known Be stars, gamma Cas and phi Per, were collected and analyzed to determine the spatial characteristics of their circumstellar regions. The observations were obtained using the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer equipped with custom-made narrowband filters. The filters isolate the H-alpha emission line from the nearby continuum radiation, which results in an increased contrast between the interferometric signature due to the H-alpha-emitting circumstellar region and the central star. Because the narrowband filters do not significantly attenuate the continuum radiation at wavelengths 50 nm or more away from the line, the interferometric signal in the H-alpha channel is calibrated with respect to the continuum channels. The observations used in this study represent the highest spatial resolution measurements of the H-alpha-emitting regions of Be stars obtained to date. These observations allow us to demonstrate for the first time that the intensity distribution in the circumstellar region of a Be star cannot be represented by uniform disk or ring-like structures, whereas a Gaussian intensity distribution appears to be fully consistent with our observations.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in A