We also targeted emergent fauna for manipulation, choosing elimination over enhancement as a more practical manipulation. Treatments consisted of smoothing 4-m2 plots by hand and covering them with black plastic weighed down by rebar to smother the underlying fauna. Paired controls included smoothing and rebar, but no plastic. After about 3 d, the plastic was removed to monitor the effects of r...

Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the presence of Gondwanan lineages in tropical Asia including, the out-of-India hypothesis, the Eurasian route hypothesis, long-distance transoceanic dispersal and the boreotropical hypothesis. Recent molecular studies support an out-of-India Gondwanan origin of some tropical Asian taxa. Specifically these studies suggest that ancient Gondwanan line...

This summary of the state of the knowledge related to nutrient effects on spring ecosystems and biota draws from the proceeding seven chapters of this report. It represents a synthesis of the most important findings; greater details can be found within each of the chapters. This synthesis chapter is organized into three parts: 1) a summary of the “knowns” regarding nutrient effects on springs a...