Pseudendoclonium was established in 1900 by N. Wille to include a crust-forming green microalga occurring near the high water line on jetties in Drobak, Norway. Ordinal and familial affiliation of the genus have remained uncertain due to a lack of distinguishing morphological characteristics and because molecular phylogenetic data have not been generated for the type species. Ribosomal SSU rDNA sequence data for Pseudendoclonium submarinum, the type species, are presented. Phylogenetic analysis of these data place Pseudendoclonium within the Ulvales. SSU rDNA sequence data from three additional species, Pseudendoclonium basiliense, Pseudendoclonium akinetum and Pseudendoclonium fucicola are included in the analyses and clearly support the hypothesis that Pseudendoclonium is polyphyletic. Based on the sequence data, P. submarinum and P. fucicola share ulvalean lineage, but these algae are not congeneric and P. fucicola must be removed from Pseudendoclonium. Sequence data support the classification of P. basiliense and P. akinetum as distinct species of a single genus. The close affiliation of these two species with Ulothrix and other Ulotrichalean genera, however, reveals their ordinal separation from P. submarinum. P. basiliense and P. akinetum must also be removed from Pseudendoclonium and require generic reassignment within the Ulotrichales.

A combination of morphological and molecular techniques were used to investigate the taxonomy of th species of Ellescus Dejean, 1821 in North America (Curculionidae: Curculioninae: Ellescini), as well as investigate the phylogenetic relationships amongst genera within the tribe Ellescini. Four valid species of Ellescus were documented from the Nearctic Region. These include the temperately distributed E. michaeli n. sp., the west coast endemic species E. californicus (Casey, 1885) (resurrected from synonymy with E. ephippiatus (Say, 1831)), the widespread, hypervariable E. ephippiatus, and the Holarctic E. bipunctatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (of which E. borealis (Carr, 1920) is found to be a junior synonym). The European species, E. scanicus (Paykull, 1792), is determined to have been erroneously reported from North America. The Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference analyses based on CO1, CytB, 28S, and 16S sequence data found moderate to strong support for the monophyly of Ellescus and moderate to strong support for Proctorus LeConte, 1876 as a lineage nested within Dorytomus Germar, 1817. The genera Proctorus and Rodotymus Zumpt, 1932 are placed in synonymy under Dorytomus.

No description available.

No description available.

The need for small and medium size manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) to have access to unbiased advice on best practices and related improvement approaches has been well established. However, this need was not found addressed very effectively in the research literature. Current practice is consultants peddling assessment tools which have the veneer of objectivity, but in reality only highlight the need to purchase their canned solutions. In response, this research attempts to synthesize previous research results and other published assessment methodologies into a taxonomy based assessment methodology (TBAM) which targets the delivery of focused recommendations which target improved performance of the manufacturing enterprise. The assessment methodology which emerges from this research, draws upon two different taxonomies, termed the Manufacturing Enterprise Taxonomy (MET) and the Production System Taxonomy (PST). The MET was developed as one of the deliverables of this research and the PST was developed by a modest modification of previously published research. The TBAM approach was piloted using three different SMEs in order to obtain feedback from the field. As a result TBAM was enhanced using feedback obtained from these three pilot cases. In addition, a review panel process was developed so that a third party review was made of the methodology and its application within the case studies. The review panel was comprised of senior managers which have substantial experience in leading improvements across small and medium size manufacturers. Also, concerns about reliability and validity were addressed and a preliminary set of measures was obtained and evaluated. Based upon this preliminary technique, the validity and reliability results associated with the TBAM approach appear promising.

The classification of the Azotobacteraceae to the level of genus and species has been uncertain since the studies of Beijerinck in 1901. This dissertation represents an effort to establish a system of classification more complete than the one now in use. In this study, both qualitative and quantitative taxonomy were used in order to establish a well founded classification scheme. Qualitative methods included certain important morphological and physiological characteristics, isoenzyme patterns, and immunological reactions. Quantitative methods included numerical taxonomy (based on total morphological and physiological characteristics) and numerical analysis of protein profiles. All the data from these experiments were subject to comparison with other genotypic and phenotypic data.

The Hymenoptera family Ichneumonidae is yet to be fully known and understood, we still expect that there are new species to be discovered in this family. Cylloceria, a genus within Ichneumonidae, is a genus with a lot of species names both synonymous and currently in use. How sure can we be that those species actually are different enough to be considered true species? In this study a part of the determined collection at the NHM in London was examined morphologically with focus on four known species (C. borealis (Roman, 1925), C.caligata (Gravenhorst, 1829), C. melancholica (Gravenhorst, 1820) and C.sylvestris (Gravenhorst 1829)) and one assumed to be a new species, to see if specimens of the five focus species are most similar within the species or if they are closer to specimens determined to other species. The other species present at the NHM of London (C. alvaradoi (Gauld 1991), C. arizonica (Dasch 1992), C. aquilonia (Dasch 1992), C. barbouraki (Gauld 1991), C. imperspicua (Rossem 1987), C. impolita (Dasch 1992), C. striatula (Dasch 1992), C. trishae (Gauld 1991) and C. ugaldevi (Gauld 1991)) were used as outgroups which made it possible to see if the five species keeps together in their species. In total 31 specimens of 15 species were examined using morphological characters. The data of collection sites and collection times of the specimens investigated morphologically enabled me to conclude approximately when and where both the five focus species and the genus Cylloceria are flying during the year. The five focus species flies from around May to September where only the species C. melancholica might have two generations. Cylloceria as a whole were found to have one generation from in April to July and one second flight period in November to January in South Mexico and Costa Rica, specimens collected north of there had only one generation in May to September. A cluster analysis was made based on eight of the morphological characters, the ones that were categorical excluding the ambiguous and constant characters. None of the five focus species formed species unique clusters but grouped with specimens from other speciesin the tree, although C. borealis was much more separated according to species than the rest. The result of the morphological analysis shows that there are much more to be done to get a clear definition of the five focus species including whether or not the possibly new species actually is a new species. I would believe that a future study with a genetic analysis in combination with morphological characters to know definitely which specimens that belongs to the same species, followed by a study of type specimens so that the found species gets the correct species name could make the uncertainties in the genera (Cylloceria) almost disappear. If the morphological characters analysed are later used to find out which characters that should be used in future morphological species determination then all current questions regarding the genus taxonomy will be solved.

No description available.

No description available.

Several case studies at diffrent levels (population, regional, comparative etc.) were carried out to evaluate the importance of different sources of variation and to follow microevolutionary traits in Pilosella (Asteraceae). The gradient of different spatial levels and comparative studies of closely related taxa group (characterised by partly different type of ongoing microevolution - genus Picris) revealed some common processes while at the same time highlighted the uniqueness of genus Pilosella. Microevolutionary potential was studied at the population level using morphometric approach (hybridization tendencies of highly complex hybrid swarm in Prague - Praha Vysočany). Cytogeography of Pilosella officinarum was then investigated at the regional scale (Central Europe). Tetraploid cytotype was detected almost exclusively in Bohemia region and further to the west whereas pentaploid and hexaploid cytotypes prevailed in Moravia and Slovakia and further to south- east. Cytogeography was followed by morphometric evaluation of three most abundant ploidy levels (4x, 5x and 6x) of P. officinarum combined with the analyses of reproduction mode. Results confirmed the possibility to distinguish the particular cytotypes ...