Hurricane Hugo of September 1989 caused severe damage to the rain forest in the north-rust corner of Puerto Rico. We assessed the severity of damage distributed in space, species, and size-classes of trees in the Bisley Watersheds of the Luquillo Experimental Forest. We analyzed pie- and post-hurricane data for vegetation from transects established in 1987 and 1988. The severity of damage was significantly greater in valleys than on ridges and slopes. All the species except Dacryodes excelsa, Sloanea berteriana, and Guarea guidonia showed 100% severe damage. Large trees (> 70 cm DBH) were highly susceptible to hurricane damage, but there was no clear pattern in the small size-classes. D. excelsa (tabonuco) was the most resistant to damage by the hurricane. Tabonuco which has extensive root-grafts and root anchorage to bedrock and subsurficial rocks, apparently can survive frequent hurricanes and continue as a dominant species in this montane tropical rain forest. The high frequency of hurricanes, which can override other ecological and topographic factors, may largely determine the overall spatial pattern of species in this rain forest.

A life-form classification from Neotropical Gramineae is proposed for 113 native species from eastern lowland Bolivia. A factor analysis was performed on a correlation matrix of 51 vegetative attributes to identify ‘character suites,’ which were then used as the basis for the classification. The principal types are arboreal, liana, shrub-like, forb-like, bunch grass with basal foliage, bunch grass with basal and caulescent foliage, caespitose annuals, elongate rhizomes, turf grass, stoloniferous, and decumbent (the last category is further divided into subgroups: -perennial, -indefinite, -floating aquatic, and -vine-like). A key component of the life-form classification is the morphology of leaf blades, with five major patterns recognized: elongate and inrolled, elongate and conduplicate, elongate and flat with an attenuate base, short and broad with an amplexicaule base, and short and broad with a pseudopetiole.

The distribution and relative abundance of three major photosynthetic categories were compared with life-form and habitat preference. Photosynthetic type of individual species was identified based on leaf anatomy. C4-(XyMS −) species predominated in cerradao, cerrado, campo rupestre, valleyside campos, and seasonally inundated savanna, as well as on granite outcrops. C4-(XyMS + ) species were relatively rare in all habitats, but were significantly more abundant in the xeric microenvironments of granite outcrops. C3 species predominated in semi-deciduous forest and increased in relative abundance in wetland habitats. Caespitose annuals and bunch grass species were predominantly C4 type, while arboreal and liana species were uniformly C3 type. Grasses classified as decumbent or shrub-like were predominantly C3 type, while rhizomatous, stoloniferous, and forblike grasses were a mixture of C3 and C4 type.

The intent of the study was to group morphological characteristics objectively in order to derive a life-form classification specific for the Gramineae. Comparisons of the relative abundance of the various life-forms in a broad range of habitat types provide a descriptive assessment of the adaptive value of these characteristics.

Soil-vegetation relationships were examined in a tabonuco forest community in eastern Puerto Rico using canonical correspondence analysis. Ca and pH were strongly correlated with the first ordination axis (r = 0.84 and 0.76, respectively), while Mg and Na were correlated with the second axis (r = 0.65 and 0.64, respectively); other soil variables were not significantly related to the first two axes. Four previously identified soil series corresponded well with the ordination, and statistically significant differences in soil variables were found among the soil series. Dominant canopy tree species Dacryodes excelsa and Manilkara bidentata were negatively associated with the first ordination axis and positively associated with dry soils having low concentrations of Ca and Mg and low pH. The palm Presloea montana was positively associated with the first axis and with wet soils having high concentrations of Ca and Mg and higher pH values. Another canopy species Sloanea bertenana was associated with the second ordination axis and with lower slope positions having higher concentrations of Mg.

Greylag (Anscr anser) and Barheaded Geese (Anser indicus) wintering in the Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, India, have habitat and food preferences which are comparable to overwintering geese in other parts of the world These geese preferred to eat the dominant grass species in the Park, Paspalum distichum, as determined by a comparison of the mean proportion of Paspalum of the total food eaten by Greylag and Barheaded Geese (0 932 & 0 971, respectively) with the mean availability of Paspalum in the wetland (0 795) However, based on a habitat study at the end of their overwintering season in February 1986, both species of geese used sites with the same amount of Paspalum distichum cover (c 14%) as sites that they did not use (c 14%)

The means of habitat characteristics of sites geese used versus sites they did not use, respectively, are given here in order of their relative preference based on rankings of their standardized means Greylags preferred sites which were grazed concurrently by other species of herbivores (frequency = 0 9 & 0 4), were farther from trees with Painted Stork nests (Mycteria leucocephala; 981 & 887 m) and from trees in general (49 & 26 m), or had deeper water 61 & 49 cm) However, Greylags did not prefer sites which were farther from open water (65 & 223 m), had been cut by hand (frequency = <0 1 & 0 1), were farther from vegetation dominated by Vetivcria zizanioides (668 & 842m), had been bulldozed (frequency = <0 1 & 0 1), or had any amount of cover of the exotic aquatic weed, Eichhornia crassipes (0 0 & 0 3%)

Barheaded Geese preferred sites which were remote from the Park boundary (1156 & 757m), were farther from any road (423 & 235 m), had been grazed by geese in 1984 (0 3 & <0 1), had higher covers of droppings (0 4 & 0 1%), or had been burned in the previous summer (frequency = 02 & 0 1) They did not prefer sites which had deeper water (25 & 61 cm), had been grazed by geese in 1985 (frequency = 0 0 & 0 5), were farther from vegetation dominated by Vetivcria (511 & 733 m), had been bulldozed (frequency = 0 0 & 0 1), or were farther from open water (29 & 115 m) This information can be used to construct management plans for Greylag and Barheaded Geese overwintering in the Keoladeo National Park and other parts of northern India

A representative sample of waterways in Liberia was surveyed for crocodiles, and all three species of African crocodiles were observed. Contrary to previous reports, only Nile crocodiles inhabit the Monrovia mangrove swamps and brackish-water mouths of rivers; there are no slendersnouted or dwarf crocodiles in these habitats. There is partitioning of habitats among the three species in Liberia: Nile crocodiles in mangrove swamps and river mouths (brackish water); slendersnouted crocodiles in rivers through rain forest (freshwater); and dwarf crocodiles in small streams through rain forest (freshwater), some entering the adjacent river. Dwarf crocodiles utilize burrows in the stream banks.

Nowhere are crocodiles abundant, and there is an apparent absence of adults. Although 40% of Liberia is forested, deforestation is occurring rapidly by foreign timber companies and slash-and-burn agriculture practised by the largely rural population. Hunting with firearms, although illegal, is widespread, both for subsistence and commercially, without concern for depletion. Mangrove ecosystems near human population centres are being destroyed. The combination of the above factors has apparently depleted the crocodile populations in Liberia.

Small mammal live-trapping was carried out in a dry tropical forest mosaic in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, central Thailand. Trapping was done in two forest types in three seasons. Maxomys surijer was the dominant species in both plots. The three most abundant species in each plot accounted for > 90% of all captures. Community structure, density, relative abundance, biomass, age structure of populations, and habitat usage of some small mammal species varied by forest type and season. The dry evergreen/mixed deciduous forest type supported a greater abundance and biomass of small mammals than the mixed deciduous/dry dipterocarp forest type in all seasons, although species richness was the same. The greatest density, biomass, and home-range size for Maxomys surijer occurred in the rainy season in both forest types. Seasonal changes in ratios of adults and subadulls of several species suggested a breeding peak at the end of the dry season or beginning of the rainy season. The mixed deciduous/dry dipterocarp forest showed a drastic drop in numbers, density, and biomass of small mammals six weeks after a fire burned through it.

Nanophyes shoreae (Coleoptera, Apionidae) is a pre-dispersal fruit-predator of dipterocarp trees in South east Asian rain forest These trees frequently abort a large part of their fruitcrop soon after anthesis, coincident with N shoreae oviposition Fruit parameters, related to the incidence of weevil attack, were investigated by examination of fruit collected from host trees and through observations made in the canopy Fruit size and the incidence of prior oviposition determined whether beetles initiated attacks However, many fruits were attacked without oviposition occurring and this is discussed with respect to chemical stimuli

The volcanic island of Anak Krakatau emerged from the sea in 1930. The antlion Myrmeleon frontalis has only become established on Anak Krakatau within the last five years, despite having been present on the other Krakatau Islands for at least 50 years.

The appearance of the antlions on Anak Krakatau seems to have coincided with the construction of a shelter hut in 1986 which provides a suitable under-floor habitat of dry dusty soil for the larvae to construct their pits. From the hut site they have extended into sub-optimal locations around the bases of clumps of wild sugarcane, Saccharum spontaneum, on the adjacent lower slopes of the outer cone ash fields.

The soil around the Saccharum chimps is variable. Fine deposits are suitable for antlion larvae, more gravelly soils are not. The antlion larvae inhabiting the Saccharum clumps are disturbed by rain which destroys their pits.

These two habitats, the hut and Saccharum sites, are the only places on the island that are occupied by the antlion larvae. They have quite different micro-climates so that the two populations are out of synchrony with each other.

This study demonstrates that forest elephants (Loxodonta africana) play a key role as seed dispersal agents for the upper canopy forest tree, Balanites wilsoniana. Seed that passed through elephants had a much greater probability of germinating (50.7%) than seeds from fruits eollected directly from the tree (3%). Of 515 seeds that were collected from under parent trees, 89.1% were rotten at the time of collection, 2.6% had been eaten by forest pigs, 2.8% had been killed by squirrels, and 0.7% had been killed by insect damage. The remaining 4.8% of the seeds were still alive. In 150 hours of focal observations on B. wilsoniana trees, two fruits were seen to be destroyed by squirrels, no fruits were seen to be consumed by potential dispersers, and no evidence of scatter hoarding was found. Experimental seedling stations placed out under parent trees and away from parent trees indicated no significant effect of dispersal on seedling survival. Although elephants are not essential for the successful germination of B. wilsoniana seeds, they do greatly increase probability of germination and play a vital role in their dispersal, suggesting that this is a highly interdependent plant-animal seed dispersal system.

Estimates were made of the populations of seven nests of Macrotermes jeanneli of different sizes in Kenya. Caste and instar composition were examined, and relationships of these to the dimensions of the mound were investigated. Survival of nests of different sizes was followed over four years.