Clutch size and egg volume in great tits (Parus major) increase under low intensity electromagnetic fields: a long-term field study.
Exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) can affect a wide range of biological processes, including reproduction, growth and development. Experiments aimed at investigating the biological effects of EMFs, focused on potential harmful effects on humans, have been mostly carried out in vitro or with animal models in laboratory conditions. By contrast, studies performed on wild animals are scarce. The effects of EMFs created by an electric power line on reproductive traits of a wild great tit (Parus major) population were explored by analysing data gathered during nine breeding seasons. EMF exposure significantly increased clutch size (7%) and egg volume (3%), implying a 10% increase in clutc…
Las cooperativas de viviendas de cesión de uso : experiencias emergentes en España
La economía social y la vivienda no han sido conceptos muy bien avenidos en las décadas recientes en el contexto español. Si bien existen experiencias exitosas de unir ambos terrenos (Dinamarca, Canadá -Quebec-, Uruguay, entre otros), en España las tradicionales cooperativas de viviendas no han representado de manera adecuada los principios de la economía social en el ámbito de la vivienda. Este trabajo se centra en el estudio de unas iniciativas que recientemente están emergiendo en el contexto español y que vendrían a cubrir este hueco, como son las cooperativas de cesión de uso, vinculadas en la mayoría de los casos a experiencias de cohousing (tanto en el terreno senior como en el inter…
Pulchrosomapulchrosoma(Trematoda: Cathaemasiidae) in Ringed kingfishers (Megaceryletorquatatorquata) from Iquitos, Peru: with inferences on life-cycle features
In the winter of 2001, four Ringed kingfishers (Megaceryle torquata torquata) were imported from Iquitos, Peru for the zoological garden Faunia in Madrid. Two individuals were necropsied, and infections by the digenean trematode Pulchrosoma pulchrosoma were discovered inside granulomas located in the lung, trachea and coelomic cavity. The life cycle of this trematode species is unknown. In one case the host maintained the parasite infection for at least 5 months, which represents a relatively long prepatency period. Moreover, the body locations in the hosts may suggest that the parasite is able to actively cross the lungs from the coelomic cavity to propagate.
Variation in clutch size in relation to nest size in birds
© 2014 The Authors. Nests are structures built to support and protect eggs and/or offspring from predators, parasites, and adverse weather conditions. Nests are mainly constructed prior to egg laying, meaning that parent birds must make decisions about nest site choice and nest building behavior before the start of egg-laying. Parent birds should be selected to choose nest sites and to build optimally sized nests, yet our current understanding of clutch size-nest size relationships is limited to small-scale studies performed over short time periods. Here, we quantified the relationship between clutch size and nest size, using an exhaustive database of 116 slope estimates based on 17,472 nes…
Interaction of climate change with effects of conspecific and heterospecific density on reproduction
We studied the relationship between temperature and the coexistence of great tit Parus major and blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus, breeding in 75 study plots across Europe and North Africa. We expected an advance in laying date and a reduction in clutch size during warmer springs as a general response to climate warming and a delay in laying date and a reduction in clutch size during warmer winters due to density-dependent effects. As expected, as spring temperature increases laying date advances and as winter temperature increases clutch size is reduced in both species. Density of great tit affected the relationship between winter temperature and laying date in great and blue tit. Specifically…
Clutch-size variation in Western Palaearctic secondary hole-nesting passerine birds in relation to nest box design.
Møller, A.P. [et al.]
Interspecific variation in the relationship between clutch size, laying date and intensity of urbanization in four species of hole-nesting birds
Marie Vaugoyeau [et al.]
Support for a colleague.
As collaborators of Anders Pape Moller, we were shocked and surprised to read that he was accused of data fabrication (“Ecologists roiled by misconduct case,” G. Vogel, F. Proffitt, R. Stone, News of the Week, 30 Jan., p. [606][1]). We have never had cause to be concerned about any aspect of
Ardeola, a Scientific Journal of Ornithology: Cooperative Survivorship within the Red Queen Game
Editorial.-- et al.