Trees are sensitive to extreme weather and environmental conditions. This sensitivity is visible in tree-ring widths and cell structure. In our study, we hypothesized that the sudden frost noted at the beginning of May in both 2007 and 2011 affected cambial activity and, consequently, the number and size of vessels in the tree rings. It was decided to test this hypothesis after damage to leaves...

Quercus ellipsoidalis (Hill’s oak), an endemic of east-central North America, is morphologically similar to Q. coccinea (scarlet oak) and is subsumed into that species in several floristic treatments. This study uses data from more than 250 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers to investigate whether Q. coccinea and Q. ellipsoidalis are genetically distinct from one another. Whe...

Eight polymorphic markers were developed from South African isolates of Ophiostoma quercus. The genome was screened for repeat regions using the fast isolation by amplified fragment length polymorphism of sequences containing repeats protocol and 20 de novo primer pairs flanking putative microsatellite regions were designed. Eight loci were optimized and their polymorphisms evaluated by sequenc...

Plant succession is one of many factors that may affect the composition and structure of herbivorous insect communities. However, few studies have examined the effect of forest age on the diversity and abundance of insect communities. If forest age influences insect diversity, then the schedule of timber harvest rotation may have consequent effects on biodiversity. The insect herbivore communit...

Reduced recruitment of blue oak (Quercus douglasii) seedlings in California grasslands and woodlands may result from shifts in seasonal soil water availability coincident with replacement of the native perennial herbaceous community by Mediterranean annuals. We used a combination of container and field experiments to examine the interrelationships between soil water potential, herbaceous neighb...

The first-instar nymph and adult female of Kermes greeni Bodenheimer, 1931 are redescribed and a lectotype is designated. Kermes palestiniensis Balachowsky, 1953 is synonymized with K. greeni. This synonymy is based on a study of the type material of K. greeni and K. palestiniensis, as well as on fresh, topotypic material collected from Quercus calliprinos Webb in Israel.

A new genus of cynipid oak gallwasp-Cyclocynips Melika, Tang, & Sinclair (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini), with two new species--C. uberis and C. tumorvirgae--reared from galls on oaks of the Quercus subgenus Cyclobalanopsis is described from Taiwan. Descriptions of asexual generation adults and their diagnostic characters are presented. The likelihood of yet undiscovered sexual generations a...