Rapid growth of available geospatial data requires a development of system capable of autonomous data retrieval, integration and validation. Since agent technology may provide the suitable framework for developing such a system (as it can deal in a natural way with the distributed heterogeneous nature of the data) a problem of selection of the most appropriate agent environment needs to be addr...

CARMA is an advisory system for rangeland grasshopper infestations that demonstrates how AI technology can deliver expert advice to compensate for cutbacks in public services. CARMA uses two knowledge sources for the key task of predicting forage consumption by grasshoppers: (1) cases obtained by asking a group of experts to solve representative hypothetical problems and (2) a numeric model of ...

For ten years researchers have been attempting to construct programming language systems that support orthogonal persistence above conventional operating systems. This approach has proven to be poor; researchers invariably construct a complete abstract machine above the operating system with resulting loss of efficiency. This paper describes a new approach, the construction of an operating syst...

A set of polymorphic loci was characterised using an enrichment library for the Australian alpine specialist, the chameleon grasshopper (Kosciuscola tristis), an atypical grasshopper known for its remarkable temperature-controlled colour change. The number of alleles per locus ranged from three to 20 and observed heterozygosity from 0.16 to 0.76. These are the first microsatellite markers for a...

Geographic variation in resource use can produce locally adapted populations that exhibit genetic and phenotypic divergence. In the bird-winged grasshopper (Schistocerca emarginata = [lineata]), we investigate whether genetic data exist in accordance with geographic variation in resource (host) use and coloration. In Texas, juvenile grasshoppers feed almost exclusively on one of two host plants...

We measured in a comet assay the damage of DNA in the hemocytes of various stages of the grasshopper Schistocerca gregaria after exposing them to various doses of Cd and Pb in the food. The mechanisms of Cd and Pb toxicity for grasshopper are discussed. The accumulation of heavy metals and stage of the insect may play important roles in causing the DNA damage. S. gregaria may be considered a va...

l. Entrainment of circadian wheel running activity was monitored over a period of several months for northern grasshopper mice (Onychomys [eucogasrer) and golden mantled ground squirrels (Sperm&i/us lateralis) housed out-of-doors and exposed to direct sunlight (average light intensity = 55,000 Ix). 2. Sighted animals entrained their activity rhythms to the natural photoperiod; the mice were noc...

We evaluated the potential for emergent nonlinear effects of multiple predators on mortality of a shared prey species by conducting experiments in cages in an old field. We examined interactions among three spider predators, Pisaurina mira, Phidippus rimator, and Rabidosa rabida, and a grasshopper prey Melanoplusfemurrubrum. The predators have disparate hunting behaviors and are located in diff...

G ecosystems cover 30% to 40% of the earth’s terrestrial surface, provide critical habitat for large numbers of species, and support extensive grazing economies on every continent except Antarctica (Coupland 1979, Samson and Knopf 1996). In the United States alone, there are approximately 312 million hectares of rangeland (NRC 1994). Fire, grazing, and climate combine to act as the primary ecos...