Adrian C. Newton

Bio: Adrian C. Newton is an academic researcher from James Hutton Institute. The author has contributed to research in topics: Hordeum vulgare & Biodiversity. The author has an hindex of 74, co-authored 453 publications receiving 21814 citations. Previous affiliations of Adrian C. Newton include Seattle Children's Research Institute & University of Peradeniya.

Variation in attack by the mahogany shoot borer, Hypsipyla grandella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), in relation to host growth and phenology

Abstract: In order to evaluate the relationships between attacks by the mahogany shoot borer Hypsipyla grandella (Zeller) and host growth and phenology, field trials of Spanish cedar Cedrela odorata and American mahogany Swietenia macrophylla established in Costa Rica were assessed intensively over an 84 week period. Height growth of C. odorata was approximately twice that of S. macrophylla , with mean growth rates of 2.0 and 1.3 cm week −1 respectively. Cedrela odorata displayed pronounced temporal variation in leaf phenology, with a minimum of 51% of trees in leaf during a relatively dry period. In contrast, the minimum proportion of foliated S. macrophylla trees was 87%. No shoot borer attacks were recorded on S. macrophylla until week 50 after the onset of assessments, whereas initial attacks of C. odorata were recorded during week 6. By week 84, the proportion of trees attacked was 74% and 77%, respectively. In both species, attacks were concentrated in seasonal peaks, coinciding with the production of new shoots. Pronounced spatial variation in attack was observed in both species. At week 12, the number of attacks per block in C. odorata was negatively correlated with available calcium concentration (r=0.85, P C. odorata was positively correlated with available phosphate concentration (r=0.84; P C. odorata and 0.4% S. macrophylla remained undamaged to a height of 3 m. It is suggested that control methods for the mahogany shoot borer should take account of temporal dynamics in attack, and relationship to host phenology. Manipulation of the soil nutrient status may also form part of an integrated approach to pest management.

Global challenges facing plant pathology: multidisciplinary approaches to meet the food security and environmental challenges in the mid-twenty-first century

Abstract: The discipline of plant pathology has an expanding remit requiring a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary approach to capture the complexity of interactions for any given disease, disease complex or syndrome. This review discussed recent developments in plant pathology research and identifies some key issues that, we anticipate, must be faced to meet the food security and environmental challenges that will arise over coming decades. In meeting these issues, the challenge in turn is for the plant pathology community to respond by contributing to a wider forum for multidisciplinary research, recognising that impact will depend not just on advances in the plant pathology discipline alone, but on interactions more broadly with other agricultural and ecological sciences, and with the needs of national and global policies and regulation. A challenge more readily met once plant pathologists again gather physically at international meetings and return to the professional and social encounters that are fertile grounds for developing new ideas and forging collaborative approaches both within plant pathology and with other disciplines. In this review we emphasise, in particular: the multidisciplinary links between plant pathology and other disciplines; disease management, including precision agriculture, plant growth and development, and decision analysis and disease risk; the development and use of new and novel plant protection chemicals; new ways of exploiting host genetic diversity including host resistance deployment; a new perspective on biological control and microbial interactions; advances in surveillance and detection technologies; invasion of exotic and re-emerging plant pathogens; and the consequences of climate change affecting all aspects of agriculture, the environment, and their interactions. We draw conclusions in each of these areas, but in reaching forward over the next few decades, these inevitably lead to further research questions rather than solutions to the challenges we anticipate.

Mineral nutrition and mycorrhizal infection of seedling oak and birch. I, Nutrient uptake and the develoment of mycorrhizal infection during seedling establishment

Abstract: In order to assess the importance of nutrient uptake and mycorrhizal infection for the establishment of seedlings of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) and silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.), seedlings were grown on two nutrient-poor soils and sequential harvests taken throughout the first growing season. Seedlings were artificially established in two woodland sites and in pots of soil collected from each field site (...)

Variability in pathotype, aggressiveness, RAPD profile, and rDNA ITS1 sequences of UK isolates of Rhynchosporium secalis

Abstract: A local population of Rhynchosporium secalis was sampled and the race structure, pathogenicity, RAPD profile and rDNA ITS sequence examined. RAPDs were also used to compare this population with a larger sample of isolates including some isolated more than 30 years ago. Both the local population and the wide sample revealed much variation for all characteristics with no two isolates identical. The reliability of detached leaf pathogenicity tests was improved over previous studies by pre-washing spores and brushing the leaves prior to inoculation. Isolate aggressiveness was highly correlated with lesion number but not lesion size. There was no correlation between race and aggressiveness. RAPD profiles showed high levels of variability but more similarity was observed within a site than between sites. Clusters of similarity were primarily associated with samples from the same locality but samples taken 8 years apart from within the same field were not closely related. ITS2 sequences were all identical whereas ITS 1 sequences showed 0.8 % polymorphism. ITS polymorphisms fell mostly within one RAPD cluster. ITS sequence comparisons with the EMBL database gave some indications of the taxonomic placement of R. secalis.

The Theory of Island Biogeography

Abstract: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201

The Design and Analysis of Experiments

Abstract: THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTS. By Oscar Kempthorne. New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1952. 631 pp. $8.50. This book by a teacher of statistics (as well as a consultant for \"experimenters\") is a comprehensive study of the philosophical background for the statistical design of experiment. It is necessary to have some facility with algebraic notation and manipulation to be able to use the volume intelligently. The problems are presented from the theoretical point of view, without such practical examples as would be helpful for those not acquainted with mathematics. The mathematical justification for the techniques is given. As a somewhat advanced treatment of the design and analysis of experiments, this volume will be interesting and helpful for many who approach statistics theoretically as well as practically. With emphasis on the \"why,\" and with description given broadly, the author relates the subject matter to the general theory of statistics and to the general problem of experimental inference. MARGARET J. ROBERTSON

Ecosystems and human well-being: a framework for assessment

Abstract: This first report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment describes the conceptual framework that is being used in the MA. It is not a formal assessment of the literature, but rather a scientifically informed presentation of the choices made by the assessment team in structuring the analysis and framing the issues. The conceptual framework elaborated in this report describes the approach and assumptions that will underlie the analysis conducted in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. The framework was developed through interactions among the experts involved in the MA as well as stakeholders who will use its findings. It represents one means of examining the linkages between ecosystems and human well-being that is both scientifically credible and relevant to decision-makers. This framework for analysis and decision-making should be of use to a wide array of individuals and institutions in government, the private sector, and civil society that seek to incorporate considerations of ecosystem services in their assessments, plans, and actions.