Soil Chemistry Properties Under Two Different Management Practices: Clipped Saint Augustine Grass Lawn and Annually Burned Cajun Prairie

Prescribed burning every two or more years is the recommended management practice to remove unnecessary invasive plants and to enhance the regrowth of desirable plants for the development of a fire-dependent plant community native to southwestern Louisiana. A portion of Saint Augustine grass lawn at Louisiana State University at Eunice (LSUE) was converted into a Cajun Prairie restoration plot in 1989. Since 1991, the adjacent lawn has been clipped weekly, whereas the prairie has been burned every January. The objective of this study was to determine the soil chemical properties of clipped lawn and burned prairie plots. Each plot (12 m x 104 m) had four blocks (replications). Soil samples from the 0-10 cm depth were taken from each block for each plot in December 2002, March 2003, and June 2003. They were analyzed in the laboratory for soil chemical properties: pH, organic carbon (OC), electrical conductivity (EC) as a measure of soluble salts, phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu). Extractable soil P, Ca, Mg and Na were significantly greater in the burned prairie than in the clipped lawn. In the burned prairie from December to June, Fe increased, whereas pH, EC, P, K, Na, Cu, and Zn decreased. The results suggest that the annually burned restored Cajun Prairie provided greater nutrient deposition into the soil than the clipped Saint Augustine lawn

Watson Brake, A Middle Archaic Mound Complex in Northeast Louisiana

Middle Archaic earthen mound complexes in the lower Mississippi valley are remote antecedents of the famous but much younger Poverty Point earthworks. Watson Brake is the largest and most complex of these early mound sites. Wry extensive coring and stratigraphic studies, aided by 25 radiocarbon dates and six huninescence dates, show that minor earthworks were begun here at ca. 3500 B.C. in association with an oval arrangement of burned rock middens at the edge of a stream terrace. The full extent of the first earthworks is not yet known. Substantial moundraising began ca. 3350 B.C. and continued in stages until some time after 3000 B.C. when the site was abandoned. All 11 mounds and their connecting ridges were occupied between building bursts. Soils,formed on some of these temporary surfaces, while lithics. fire-cracked rock. and,fired clay/loam objects became scattered throughout the mound fills. Faunal and floral remains from a basal midden indicate all-season occupation, supported by broad-spectrum foraging centered on nuts, fish, and deer All the overlying fills are so acidic that organics have not survived. The area enclosed by the mounds was kept clean of debris, suggesting its use as ritual space. The reasons why such elaborate activities first occurred here remain elusive. However some building bursts covary with very well-documented increases in El Nino/Southern Oscillation events. During such rapid increases in ENSO frequencies, rainfall becomes extremely erratic and unpredictable. It may be that early moundraising was a communal response to new stresses of droughts and flooding that created a suddenly more unpredictable food base

Freshwater Mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in the Cajun Prairie Ecosystem in Southwestern Louisiana

Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) once cobbled the stream bottoms in the Cajun Prairie ecosystem in south-western Louisiana. The development of canal systems for aboveground irrigation of rice fields during the last century provided additional habitat-often the canals were likewise cobbled with mussels that formed diverse communities. This paper introduces the 31 known species, their general ecology and their distributions. These mussels develop a \u27reef\u27-like benthic community that is home to a variety of plants and animals as parasites and haptobenthos. Freshwater mussels are on the decline numerically as well as in diversity as a result of human activity, namely loss of seepage or spring-feeding (shallow groundwater discharge) by agricultural/urban compaction of soil, sedimentation from erosion, channeling of natural streams by dredging, and poisoning of waterways from urban and industrial runoff and dumping. The once-spring-fed streams flow intermittently functioning more as drainage canals as a result of the destruction of prairies by agriculture and urbanization. The return of prairies and forests reinitiates the spring-feeding by shallow groundwater discharge to streams and minimizes runoff of agrochemicals and urban chemicals, thus providing an opportunity for revitalizing freshwater mussel communities

Two new sympatric water-mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Unionicolidae) from the mutelid bivalve Aspatharia sinuata (von Martens) in Nigeria with some data on unionicoline-bivalve relationships

Gledhill, Terence, Vidrine, Malcolm F. (2002): Two new sympatric water-mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Unionicolidae) from the mutelid bivalve Aspatharia sinuata (von Martens) in Nigeria with some data on unionicoline-bivalve relationships. Journal of Natural History 36 (11): 1351-1381, DOI: 10.1080/00222930110051734, URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0022293011005173

Unionicola (Mutelicola) planicurvata Gledhill & Vidrine 2002, new species

Unionicola (Mutelicola) planicurvata new species (gures 6–10) Description of male (gures 6a–k, 7a–h, 8a, b). With the characters of the genus and subgenus. Body elongate, tapering posteriorly, without a cauda; length excluding gnathosoma 780 (780–854, 817, n 52), width 440 (n 51). Dorsum (gure 6a) with a single dorsal shield, length 540 (540–588, 564, n 52), width 372 (n 51). Ventrally with epimera in four groups occupying slightly more than half ventral surface, ca the same size as dorsal shield. Anterior groups with prominent posterior apodemes extending beneath anterior margins of Ep.3 before becoming more laterally directed. Posterior groups with a well-dened lateral cleft between Ep.3 and 4 and with wellrounded posterior margins to Ep.4; Ep.4 with pointed lateral extensions at point of IV-Leg insertions (gure 6b). Total epimeral length 488 (488–540, 514, n 52); median length Ep.31 4, 324 (n 51); median length Ep.4, 240 (n 51); epimeral width at Ep.3, 396 (n 51); epimeral width at Ep.4, 426 (n 51). Infracapitulum small, length 156 (144–156, 148, n 53); chelicerae short and stout, length, (162, n 51), cheliceral claw length (dorsal, i.e. short length), (42, n 51). Pedipalps as in gure 6d, e, h–k; P.II with a proximal spine-like seta on outer lateral face and a dorsodistal spine on inner lateral face; P.III with a long hair-like seta on outer lateral face and a shorter, stout seta distally on inner lateral face; P.IV with two to three short hair-like setae on outer lateral face and with a short ventrodistal projection bearing two ne setae; P.V ventrally strongly concave and distally multitoothed (gure 6h–k). Lengths of palp segments: P.I, 13 (12–15, 14, n 54); P.II, 95 (84–105, 95, n 55); P.III, 55 (51–63, 59, n 55); P.IV, 97 (96–105, 99, n 55); P.V, 66 (60–69, 64, n 55). Genital eld at posterior of body, terminal and extending on to dorsum (gure 6a, b); gure 6f shows genital eld of Prep. 1367 in posterior view. Genital eld (gure 6c, f) comprised of two pairs of genital plates; anterior plates each with three acetabula, setae-bearing portion of anterior genital plate may or may not be extended and bears two short, ne setae; posterior plates larger than anterior plates, each with four to ve acetabula and with posterior dorsally-directed setae-bearing extensions bearing three to four setae; gonopore slit-like and anked on either side by two well-separated long setae (gure 6f); genital eld length, (90, n 51), genital eld width, 135 (135–141, 138, n 52). Excretory pore slit-like and free in dorsal integument (gure 6a). Morphology and chaetotaxy of legs as illustrated in gures 7a–h, 8a, b. All legs, particularly III and IV-Legs, with numerous hair-like setae. IV-Leg.3–5 distally with stout curved setae (gure 7e–g). Claws of all legs with barely discernible terminal teeth. Lengths of leg segments: I-Leg.1–6:—(78, n 51), 84 (72–84, 81, n 54), 126 (120–126, 123, n 54), 162 (162–168, 163, n 54), 159 (156–162, 159, n 53), 96 (84–114, 99, n 54); II-Leg.1–6: 60 (n 51), 93 (90–102, 96, n 56), 150 (150, n 56), 192 (192–198, 194, n 56), 195 (192–210, 201, n 56), 129 (120–132, 123, n 56); III-Leg.1–6: 72 (72, n 53), 102 (102, n 56), 162 (156–168, 163, n 56), 197 (195–210, 200, n 55), 216 (216–240, 228, n 56), 156 (150–162, 156, n 55); IV-Leg.1–6:—(96–132, 120, n 53), 114 (114–126, 120, n 54), 180 (174–180, 178, n 54), 210 (210–216, 213, n 54), 258 (258–270, 265, n 54), 198 (198–216, 207, n 54). Female (gures 9a–e, 10a–g). Body larger and rounder than that of male; length, excluding gnathosoma 976 (830–976, 927, n 53), width 646 (622–646, 638, n 53). Dorsum (gure 9a) with a dorsal shield, length 396 (396–492, 456, n 53), width 264 (264–318, 298, n 53). Ventrally with epimera in four groups, similar to those of male but with posterior groups more separated (gure 9b); total epimeral length 462 (462–558, 500, n 53), median length Ep.31 4, 294 (294–318, 306, n 53), median length Ep.4, 210 (210–234, 220, n 53); epimeral width at Ep.3, 426 (426–486, 458, n 53), epimeral width at Ep.4, 528 (528–576, 556, n 53). Infracapitulum and chelicerae similar to those of male, infracapitulum length 147 (147–159, 154, n 53), chelicera length 144 (144–156, 150, n 52), cheliceral claw length (dorsal, i.e. short length) 36 (–, 36, n 52). Pedipalps (gures 9d, e, 10b –g) similar to those of male, lengths of pedipalp segments: P.I, 12 (12–15, 13, n 55); P.II, 98 (96–111, 105, n 5 6); P.III, 63 (57–69, 65, n 56); P.IV, 99 (99–108, 105, n 56); P.V, 60 (60–69, 66, n 56). Genital eld more-or-less terminal (allotype female, Prep. 1369, tilted to show genital eld as depicted in gure 9b, c); gure 10a illustrates genital eld in ventral aspect. Genital eld consisting of two pairs of somewhat triangular wing-like genital plates; anterior plates each with two to ve, generally three, lateral acetabula, two to four short, ne setae on inner margin and posteromedially with two long setae on a strongly sclerotized projection (gures 9c, 10a); posterior genital plates each with ve to eight lateral acetabula, sclerotized setae-bearing (two to four) posterior extensions long and narrow (gure 9c) and anteromedially with a single stout seta (gures 9c, 10a); gonopore slit-like; genital eld length 192 (150–192, 171, n 52), genital eld width 204 (204–240, 224, n 53). Excretory pore slit-like and free in integument. Morphology and chaetotaxy of legs similar to those of male; IV-Leg.3–5 also as male with distal stout curved setae. Lengths of leg segments: I-Leg.1–6: 60 (60–66, 63, n 52), 78 (78–84, 80, n 53), 120 (120–126, 122, n 53), 156 (156–174, 162, n 53), 144 (144–168, 152, n 53), 90 (90–102, 94, n 53; II-Leg.1–6: 60 (60–69, 65, n 53), 90 (90–102, 97, n 55), 144 (144–156, 151, n 56), 186 (186–198, 194, n 56), 192 (192–210, 202, n 56), 123 (120–138, 128, n 56); III-Leg.1–6: 72 (72–78, 73, n 55), 102 (102–108, 103, n 56), 153 (150–162, 159, n 56), 192 (192–204, 200, n 56), 216 (216–234, 228, n 56), 153 (144–156, 151, n 55); IV-Leg.1–6: 126 (108–126, 121, n 54), 114 (114–132, 124, n 56), 168 (168–186, 177, n 56), 210 (210–234, 223, n 56), 252 (252–282, 270, n 56), 198 (198–216, 205, n 56). Material examined. Three males: holotype, Prep. 1366; paratypes, Preps 1365 and 1367; three females: allotype, Prep. 1369; paratypes Preps 1368 and 1370. Several unmounted specimens preserved in Koenike’s Fluid. All material collected by Prof. John Blay from Asa Reservoir, Ilorin, Nigeria. Etymology. The specic epithet is formed from the latin words plane meaning distinctly and curvatus meaning curved. The name alludes to the strongly curved pedipalp tarsus (P.V). Deposition of material. The holotypes and allotypes of Unionicola blayi and Unionicola planicurvata will be deposited in The Natural History Museum, London. Paratypes and material preserved in Koenike’s will be retained in the collection held by T.G. Separation of U. blayi and U. planicurvata. Whilst closely related, the two species are readily separated; the main characters are found in the shape of the posterior margins of Ep.I: straight in U. blayi and rounded in U. planicurvata; the curvature of the pedipalp tarsus (P.V): strongly curved in U. planicurvata; the form of the setae-bearing extensions to the posterior pair of genital plates: long and narrow in U. planicurvata and more-or-less absent or short in the female of U. blayi and the presence, in U. planicurvata, of the stout, curved, distal setae on the telofemur, genu and tibia of the fourth leg (IV-Leg.3–5) which are absent in U. blayi.Published as part of Gledhill, Terence & Vidrine, Malcolm F., 2002, Two new sympatric water-mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Unionicolidae) from the mutelid bivalve Aspatharia sinuata (von Martens) in Nigeria with some data on unionicoline-bivalve relationships, pp. 1351-1381 in Journal of Natural History 36 (11) on pages 1361-1367, DOI: 10.1080/00222930110051734, http://zenodo.org/record/529857

Unionicola (Mutelicola) blayi Gledhill & Vidrine 2002, new species

Unionicola (Mutelicola) blayi new species (gures 1–5) Description of male (gures 1a–f, 2a–l, 3a–d). With the characters of the genus and subgenus. Body elongate and without a cauda; length excluding gnathosoma 878 (634–878, 720, n 55), width 598 (512–610, 563, n 55). Dorsum (gure 1a) with a single dorsal shield, length 498 (324–498, 385, n 55). Ventrally with epimera in four groups occupying ca half ventral surface and with anterior groups well separated from posterior groups; anterior groups with prominent posterolaterally-directe d apodemes; posterior groups with a well-dened lateral cleft between Ep.3 and 4 and with more-or-less straight posterior margins to Ep.4 (gure 1b)—in some specimens the posterior margins appear straighter and more at right angles to the long axis of the body; Ep.4 with pointed lateral extensions at point of IV-Leg insertions (gure 1b); total epimeral length 504 (354–504, 409, n 55); median length Ep.31 4, 258 (198–258, 215, n 55); median length Ep.4, 180 (132–180, 148, n 55); epimeral width at Ep.3, 420 (414–450, 433, n 54); epimeral width at Ep.4, 468 (414–486, 461, n 54). Infracapitulum small, length 168 (156–192, 174, n 55); chelicerae short and stout, basal portion reticulate, length 192 (168–192, 186, n 55), cheliceral claw length (dorsal i.e. short length) 39 (36–42, 39, n 55). Pedipalps as in gures 1d–f, 2a–i; P.II with a proximal spine-like seta on outer lateral face and a dorsodistal spine on inner lateral face; P.III with a long ventrodistal hair-like seta on outer lateral face and a shorter pectinate seta distally on inner lateral face; P.IV with two short hair-like setae on outer lateral face and a short ventrodistal projection bearing two ne setae. P.V ventrally concave and distally multitoothed (gures 1e, 2g, i). Lengths of pedipalp segments: P.I, 18 (15–18, 18, n 59); P.II, 123 (108–126, 119, n 59); P.III, 90 (78–90, 85, n 59); P.IV, 132 (108–132, 124, n 510); P.V, 84 (66–84, 78, n 510). Genital eld at posterior end of body, terminal and almost dorsal (holotype, male, Prep. 1360, tilted to show genital eld as depicted in gure 1b). Genital eld (gures 1c, 2j, k, l) comprised of two pairs of genital plates; anterior plates each with two to ve or more (generally three) acetabula; setae-bearing portion of anterior genital plates may be separate from acetabula-bearing portion (gure 2j); posterior plates larger than anterior plates and each with 9–14 acetabula; gonopore slit-like and anked on each side by two adjacently-located long setae; genital eld length 123 (123–144, 134, n 54), genital eld width 153 (123–156, 145, n 55). Excretory pore slit-like, free in posterior integument and dorsal to posterior genital sclerite. Morphology and chaetotaxy of legs as illustrated in gure 3a–d. I-Leg.4–5 (genu and tibia) more-or-less equal. Segment 5 (tibia) of all legs, particularly I-Leg.5, convex dorsally in lateral view, more obvious than shown in gure 3a–d. All legs, particularly III and IV, with numerous hair-like setae. Claws of all legs with two distal teeth, ventral tooth ca twice length of dorsal tooth and with a small pre-distal lateral accessory tooth. Lengths of leg segments: I-Leg.1–6: 66 (60–72, 67, n 56), 90 (72–96, 86, n 59), 132 (102–132, 124, n 510), 186 (150–192, 175, n 510), 186 (150–192, 174, n 510), 123 (90–126, 113, n 510); II-Leg.1 –6:— (66, n 51), 105 (78–108, 100, n 58), 156 (120–156, 147, n 59), 210 (162–216, 200, n 59), 228 (174–228, 213, n 59), 162 (138–162, 149, n 59); III-Leg.1–6: 72 (66–72, 70, n 53), 108 (84–108, 99, n 59), 159 (120–162, 144, n 59), 213 (168–222, 201, n 59), 251 (180–252, 228, n 59), 186 (126–186, 165, n 58); IV-Leg.1–6: 120 (114–138, 127, n 54), 114 (78–120, 105, n 58), 198 (150–198, 181, n 58), 258 (198–264, 238, n 58), 336 (252–342, 308, n 57), 252 (192–252, 228, n 57). Female (gures 4a–g, 5a–d). Body rounder and larger than that of male; length, excluding gnathosoma, 1075 (1025–1171, 1110, n 54), width 756 (756–915, 845, n 54). Dorsum (gure 4a) without a dorsal shield but with two pairs of muscle attachment sites. Ventrally with epimera in four groups occupying ca half ventral surface (gure 4b), anterior groups well separated from each other and from posterior groups and with prominent posterolaterally-directe d apodemes; lateral cleft between Ep.3 and 4 well dened; posterior margin of Ep.4 more-or-less straight as in male; Ep.4 with pointed lateral extensions at point of IV-Leg insertions; epimeral groups of each side further apart from each other than in male, this separation may be less in immature females; total epimeral length 522 (408–522, 484, n 55), median length Ep.31 4, 258 (240–258, 251, n 54), median length Ep.4, 186 (180–192, 186, n 54); epimeral width at Ep.3, 552 (486–634, 572, n 55), epimeral width at Ep.4, 658 (612–744, 679, n 55). Infracapitulum and chelicerae as in male, infracapitulum length 174 (162–190, 175, n 53), chelicera length 204 (174–204, 189, n 52), cheliceral claw length (dorsal, i.e. short length) 42 (n 51). Pedipalps (gures 4c, d, 5b, d) similar to those of male, lengths of pedipalp segments: P.I, 18 (18–24, 20, n 58); P.II, 132 (126–144, 135, n 56); P.III, 118 (102–120, 112, n 56); P.IV, 138 (138–162, 149, n 56); P.V, 87 (84–90, 89, n 55). Genital eld (gures 4b, e, f, g; 5b, d) terminal (allotype female, Prep. 1361; female, Prep. 1375; female, Prep. 1364, tilted to show genital eld as depicted in gures 4b, e, 5c, respectively); gure 4f, g depict genital eld (Prep. 1375) in ventral and lateral aspects, respectively, drawn prior to nal microscope preparation. Genital eld consisting of two pairs of somewhat rectangular-shaped genital plates; anterior (ventral) genital plates each with three to four laterally sited acetabula, anteromedially with three short setae and posteromedially with two long setae on a strongly sclerotized projection; posterior (dorsal) genital plates each with 9–12 laterally-sited acetabula, anteromedially, i.e. when viewed as in gures 4e, 5c, with a single long stout seta, a few short setae associated with the acetabula; gonopore slit-like; genital eld length 210 (198–228, 212, n 53), genital eld width 252 (222–270, 250, n 55). Excretory pore slit-like, free in posterior integument and dorsal to posterior genital sclerite. Morphology and chaetotaxy of legs as illustrated for male. Lengths of leg segments: I-Leg.1–6:—(72–78, 75, n 52), 93 (90–108, 103, n 58), 141 (138–150, 147, n 58), 198 (192–216, 210, n 58), 189 (186–216, 205, n 58), 120 (120–126, 122, n 58); II-Leg.1–6:—(72, n 51), 117 (114–126, 120, n 57), 168 (168–186, 177, n 57), 231 (228–264, 246, n 57), 249 (246–282, 265, n 57), 168 (162–174, 169, n 57); III-Leg.1–7: 78 (78–90, 84, n 54), 114 (108–126, 123, n 58), 174 (174–192, 185, n 58), 243 (240–276, 261, n 57), 264 (252–306, 290, n 57), 198 (186–198, 194, n 56); IV-Leg.1–6: 138 (138–162, 148, n 55), 132 (132–150, 143, n 58), 231 (228–252, 244, n 58), 303 (300–336, 319, n 58), 366 (366–408, 391, n 58), 261 (258–282, 268, n 58) Material examined. Five males: holotype, Prep. 1360; paratypes, Preps 1356, 1357, 1358 and 1359; ve females: allotype, Prep. 1361; paratypes, Preps 1362, 1363, 1364 and 1375. All material collected by Prof. John Blay from Asa Reservoir, Ilorin, Nigeria, no date supplied but shortly after April 1983 (personal communication). Etymology. The species is named for Prof. John Blay Jr who collected and sent this material to T.G.Published as part of Gledhill, Terence & Vidrine, Malcolm F., 2002, Two new sympatric water-mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Unionicolidae) from the mutelid bivalve Aspatharia sinuata (von Martens) in Nigeria with some data on unionicoline-bivalve relationships, pp. 1351-1381 in Journal of Natural History 36 (11) on pages 1355-1361, DOI: 10.1080/00222930110051734, http://zenodo.org/record/529857

A Floristic Quality Assessment System for the Coastal Prairie of Louisiana

Evaluation systems to assess the biotic integrity of plant communities exist for some ecosystems, but not the increasingly rare coastal prairies of Louisiana. A list of plant species occurring in Louisiana\u27s coastal prairie was created and coefficients of conservatism (C) were assigned for each species. A Floristic Quality Index (FQI), which is calculated using the C values provided by a panel of experts, can be used to evaluate prairie remnants and restorations. We assigned C values from 0-10 based on their estimated degree of association with prairies of various levels of natural quality and their tolerance of disturbance. Those species given a rank of 0-3 are deemed to be colonizing species found in a variety of habitats and are adapted to fairly severe disturbance. Species with C values of 4-6 are those that are often common in fairly high~quality coastal prairie, occur in other community types and are moderately tolerant of disturbance. Species with rankings of 7-8 are associated with high quality natural prairie habitat and slight disturbance. Those species ranking 9-10 are those restricted to very high-quality habitat and have a high fidelity to coastal prairie. Unlike FQI systems devised for other areas, we also weight the coefficients assigned to nonnative species found in coastal prairie. We believe that the presence of exotic species in a native plant community lowers the conservation value of that community. Consequently, we assigned C values from -1 to -3 to nonnative species based on the perceived threat of their invasive potential and ability to exclude native species. Including the C values of exotic species allows the calculation of an adjusted floral quality index that provides an additional dimension to floristic quality analysis. This index will be of value to restorationists, managers and others involved in assessing the integrity of natural areas and developing management strategies based on these criteria

Blockage of transforming growth factor β receptors prevents progression of pig serum-induced rat liver fibrosis

Published records for the six species of North American freshwater aspidogastrid trematodes from molluscs and vertebrates have been compiled, listing both hosts and localities for state or province. Seventeen new unionid mussel hosts (Bivalvia) are reported for Aspidogaster conchicola along with new state records for Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, Virginia, and San Luis Potosi (Mexico); 12 new unionid host species for Cotylaspis insignis, with new state records for Arkansas, Delaware, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin; five new unionid hosts for Cotylogaster occidentalis, with new state records for Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, and Texas; and a new unionid host record for Lophotaspis interiora. No new records are given for Cotylaspis cokeri nor for C. stunkardi from turtles