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ASIATIC elephant, NATURAL landscaping, LUNAR phases, FOREST reserves, FRUIT harvesting, and ORANGES

Wildlife movements within a landscape are influenced by environmental factors such as food availability and, as human-modified landscapes continue to expand, the risks associated with encountering people. For Asian elephants Elephas maximus , human-dominated landscapes can be a risky but also rewarding habitat. When elephants share space with people, negative human–elephant interactions are common, sometimes resulting in injuries or deaths of both people and elephants. We monitored elephant movements in and out of a forest reserve in central Sri Lanka to test four predictions regarding elephant behaviour: (1) visits to agricultural areas occur at times of the year when crops are plentiful, (2) elephants exploit these areas by night to avoid interactions with people, (3) increased nocturnal illumination reduces use of agricultural areas, and (4) males make greater use of anthropogenic food sources than family groups. Analysis of camera-trap data confirmed that elephants visited human-dominated areas mostly at night. The frequency of such incursions was not influenced by moon phase for males, but there was a weak effect of moon phase for family groups. Males moved more frequently into human-dominated landscapes than family groups, and their movements showed a distinct seasonal pattern, peaking at times of rice and fruit harvest. Our findings suggest that elephants primarily venture into human-dominated areas to consume crops. Encouraging farmers in areas frequented by elephants to adapt land-use practices (e.g. guarding crops, fencing villages, planting orange/citrus fences) and establish early warning systems could help limit the damage caused by elephants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant biology and physiology, Biologie et physiologie végétales, Ecology, Ecologie, Sciences biologiques et medicales, Biological and medical sciences, Sciences biologiques fondamentales et appliquees. Psychologie, Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology, Ecologie animale, vegetale et microbienne, Animal, plant and microbial ecology, Ecologie animale et végétale, Animal and plant ecology, Phytopathologie. Zoologie agricole. Protection des cultures et des forets, Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection, Plantes parasites. Mauvaises herbes, Parasitic plants. Weeds, Malherbologie, Weeds, Angiospermae, Dicotyledones, Spermatophyta, Asymétrie, Asymmetry, Asimetría, Croissance, Growth, Crecimiento, Espèce envahissante, Invasive species, Especie invasora, Germination, Germinación, Invasion, Invasión, Inégalité, Inequality, Desigualdad, Mauvaise herbe, Weed, Malezas, Plante, Plant, Planta, Potentiel semencier, Seed bank, Banco de semillas, Taux croissance, Growth rate, Tasa crecimiento, Verbenaceae, Ecologie végétale, Plant ecology, Ecología vegetal, Lantana camara, Australia, Biological-invasions, Gini coefficient, Growth rates, Seed germination, Seed-bank, Size inequality, and Weeds

Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae) is a weed of great significance in Australia and worldwide, but little is known about connections among components of its life history. We document over a 3-year period, the links between L. camara seed-bank dynamics and its above-ground growth, including size asymmetry in four land-use types (a farm, a hoop pine plantation and two open eucalypt forests) invaded by the weed near Brisbane, Queensland Australia. Seed-bank populations varied appreciably across sites and in response to rainfall and control measures, and they were higher (∼ 1,000 seeds/m2) when annual rainfall was 15―30 % below the long-term yearly average. Fire reduced seed-bank populations but not the proportion germinating (6―8 %). Nearly a quarter of fresh seeds remain germinable after 3 years of soil burial. For small seedlings (<10 cm high), the expected trade-offs in two life-history traits—survival and growth—did not apply; rather the observed positive association between these two traits, coupled with a persistent seed-bank population could contribute to the invasiveness of the plant. Relationships between absolute growth rate and initial plant size (crown volume) were positively linear, suggesting that most populations are still at varying stages of the exponential phase of the sigmoid growth; this trend also suggests that at most sites and despite increasing stand density and limiting environmental resources of light and soil moisture, lantana growth is inversely size asymmetric. From the observed changes in measures of plant size inequality, asymmetric competition appeared limited in all the infestations surveyed.

PUDDLING (Horticulture), MANURES, ELEPHANTS, CATERPILLARS, and BUTTERFLIES

We recorded puddling of lepidopterans on elephant dung in Wasgamuwa. In 148 days of observation, puddling was observed on nine days, on 9 of 978 dung piles examined, suggesting that the behaviour was uncommon. We identified 26 butterfly species from six families who engaged in this behaviour, indicating that elephant dung puddling was much more wide spread among butterfly species than recognized previously. All puddling occurred on fresh dung, was more in the wet season and male butterflies tended to puddle more than females, supporting the notion that dung puddling by butterflies is for obtaining minerals, especially sodium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]