Functional identity versus species richness: herbivory resistance in plant communities

The resistance of a plant community against herbivore attack may depend on plant species richness, with monocultures often much more severely affected than mixtures of plant species. Here, we used a plant–herbivore system to study the effects of selective herbivory on consumption resistance and recovery after herbivory in 81 experimental grassland plots. Communities were established from seed in 2002 and contained 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 or 60 plant species of 1, 2, 3 or 4 functional groups. In 2004, pairs of enclosure cages (1 m tall, 0.5 m diameter) were set up on all 81 plots. One randomly selected cage of each pair was stocked with 10 male and 10 female nymphs of the meadow grasshopper, Chorthippus parallelus. The grasshoppers fed for 2 months, and the vegetation was monitored over 1 year. Consumption resistance and recovery of vegetation were calculated as proportional changes in vegetation biomass. Overall, grasshopper herbivory averaged 6.8%. Herbivory resistance and recovery were influenced by plant functional group identity, but independent of plant species richness and number of functional groups. However, herbivory induced shifts in vegetation composition that depended on plant species richness. Grasshopper herbivory led to increases in herb cover at the expense of grasses. Herb cover increased more strongly in species-rich mixtures. We conclude that selective herbivory changes the functional composition of plant communities and that compositional changes due to selective herbivory depend on plant species richness

Observation of large CP violation and evidence for direct CP violation in B0+p- decays

We report the first observation of CP violation in B0+p- decays based on 152x106 U(4S)B (B) over bar decays collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. We reconstruct a B0+p- CP eigenstate and identify the flavor of the accompanying B meson from its decay products. From the distribution of the time intervals between the two B meson decay points, we obtain App=+0.580.15(stat)0.07(syst) and Spp=-1.000.21(stat)0.07(syst). We rule out the CP-conserving case, App=Spp=0, at a level of 5.2 standard deviations. We also find evidence for direct CP violation with a significance at or greater than 3.2 standard deviations for any Spp value

Measurement of polarization and triple-product correlations in B -> phi K-* decays

We present measurements of decay amplitudes and triple-product correlations in B ->phi K-* decays based on 253 fb(-1) of data recorded at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB e(+)e(-) storage ring. The decay amplitudes for the three different helicity states are determined from the angular distributions of final-state particles. The longitudinal polarization amplitudes are found to be 0.45 +/- 0.05 +/- 0.02 for B-0->phi K-*0 and 0.52 +/- 0.08 +/- 0.03 for B+->phi K*+ decays. CP- and T-odd CP-violating triple-product asymmetries are measured to be consistent with zero

Climate change and freshwater zooplankton: what does it boil down to?

Recently, major advances in the climate–zooplankton interface have been made some of which appeared to receive much attention in a broader audience of ecologists as well. In contrast to the marine realm, however, we still lack a more holistic summary of recent knowledge in freshwater. We discuss climate change-related variation in physical and biological attributes of lakes and running waters, high-order ecological functions, and subsequent alteration in zooplankton abundance, phenology, distribution, body size, community structure, life history parameters, and behavior by focusing on community level responses. The adequacy of large-scale climatic indices in ecology has received considerable support and provided a framework for the interpretation of community and species level responses in freshwater zooplankton. Modeling perspectives deserve particular consideration, since this promising stream of ecology is of particular applicability in climate change research owing to the inherently predictive nature of this field. In the future, ecologists should expand their research on species beyond daphnids, should address questions as to how different intrinsic and extrinsic drivers interact, should move beyond correlative approaches toward more mechanistic explanations, and last but not least, should facilitate transfer of biological data both across space and time

Evidence for direct CP violation in B-0 -> K+pi(-) decays

We report evidence for direct CP violation in the decay B-0-->K(+)pi(-) with 253 fb(-1) of data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB e(+)e(-) collider. Using 275x10(6) B(B) over bar pairs we observe a B-->K(+/-)pi(-/+) signal with 2140+/-53 events. The measured CP violating asymmetry is A(CP)(K(+)pi(-))=-0.101+/-0.025(stat)+/-0.005(syst), corresponding to a significance of 3.9sigma including systematics. We also search for CP violation in the decays B+-->K(+)pi(0) and B+-->pi(+)pi(0). The measured CP violating asymmetries are A(CP)(K(+)pi(0))=0.04+/-0.05(stat)+/-0.02(syst) and A(CP)(pi(+)pi(0))=-0.02+/-0.10(stat)+/-0.01(syst), corresponding to the intervals -0.05< A(CP)(K(+)pi(0))<0.13 and -0.18< A(CP)(pi(+)pi(0))<0.14 at 90% confidence level

The Physics of the B Factories

This work is on the Physics of the B Factories. Part A of this book contains a brief description of the SLAC and KEK B Factories as well as their detectors, BaBar and Belle, and data taking related issues. Part B discusses tools and methods used by the experiments in order to obtain results. The results themselves can be found in Part C