Search results for " Systematics."
showing 10 items of 4820 documents
Hair Cortisol Concentration as a Biomarker of Sleep Quality and Related Disorders
2021
Cortisol is the end product of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and its production is increased mainly in stressful situations or in chronic disorders accompanied by stress enhancement. Altered cortisol concentrations have been reported in a number of neuropsychiatric diseases and sleep disorders. Cortisol concentrations have been measured using several methods, and in several matrixes, such as blood, saliva, and urine. However, lately, hair cortisol, for several reasons, has emerged as a promising biomarker of long-term retrospective HPA activation. Several experimental approaches for cortisol measurement with the corresponding concentration reference ranges and a summary of …
Multiscale variation in drought controlled historical forest fire activity in the boreal forests of eastern Fennoscandia
2017
Forest fires are a key disturbance in boreal forests, and characteristics of fire regimes are among the most important factors explaining the variation in forest structure and species composition. The occurrence of fire is connected with climate, but earlier, mostly local-scale studies in the northern European boreal forests have provided little insight into fire-climate relationship before the modern fire suppression period. Here, we compiled annually resolved fire history, temperature, and precipitation reconstructions from eastern Fennoscandia from the mid-16th century to the end of the 19th century, a period of strong human influence on fires. We used synchrony of fires over the network…
BIOMASS UTILIZATION AS A RENEVABLE ENERGY SOURCE IN POLISH POWER INDUSTRY – CURRENT STATUS AND PERSPECTIVES
2015
The depletion of the conventional energy sources, as well as the degradation and pollution of the environment by the exploitation of fossil fuels caused the development of renewable energy sources (RES), including biomass. In Poland, biomass is the most popular renewable energy source, which is closely related to the obligations associated with the membership in the EU. Biomass is the oldest renewable energy source, and its potential, diversity and polymorphism place it over other sources. Besides, the improvement in its parameters, including an increase in its calorific value, resulted in increasing use of biomass as energy source. In the electric power industry biomass is applied in the p…
Convergent Morphological Evolution in Silene Sect. Italicae (Caryophyllaceae) in the Mediterranean Basin
2022
Recent divergence can obscure species boundaries among closely related taxa. Silene section Italicae (Caryophyllaceae) has been taxonomically controversial, with about 30 species described. We investigate species delimitation within this section using 500 specimens sequenced for one nuclear and two plastid markers. Despite the use of a small number of genes, the large number of sequenced samples allowed confident delimitation of 50% of the species. The delimitation of other species (e.g., Silene nemoralis, S. nodulosa and S. andryalifolia) was more challenging. We confirmed that seven of the ten chasmophyte species in the section are not related to each other but are, instead, genetically c…
An experimental, behavioral, and chemical analysis of food limitations in mutualistic Crematogaster ant symbionts inhabiting Macaranga host plants
2023
Obligate mutualistic plant-ants are often constrained by their plant partner's capacity to provide resources. However, despite this limitation, some ant partners actively reject potential prey items and instead drop them from the plant rather than consuming them, leaving the ants entirely reliant on host plant-provided food, including that provided indirectly by the symbiotic scale insects that ants tend inside the plants. This dependency potentially increases the efficiency of these ants in defending their host. We hypothesize that if this ant behavior was beneficial to the symbiosis, prey rejection by ants would be observed across multiple plant host species. We also hypothesize that plan…
HOMEMADE SLOW-ACTION FERTILIZERS, AS AN ECONOMIC SOLUTION FOR ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCTION
2017
Organic plant cultivation, especially those intended for human consumption, poses new requirements for gardening. It is recommended to use organic slow-action fertilizers, which provide doses of nutrients essential for plants for a long time. Particularly valuable fertilizers are those that arise within the household, due to their high quality and the absence of costs associated with their purchase and transport. Organic matter contained in the food industry waste or arising in households, in the absence of contamination by other types of waste, can be used for self-production of organic fertilizer. The paper presents the results of testing organic fertilizers, which you can make yourself, …
Northward range expansion requires synchronization of both overwintering behaviour and physiology with photoperiod in the invasive Colorado potato be…
2014
Abstract. Photoperiodic phenological adaptations are prevalent in many organisms living in seasonal environments. As both photoperiod and growth season length change with latitude, species undergoing latitudinal range expansion often need to synchronize their life cycle with a changing photoperiod and growth season length. Since adaptive synchronization often involves a large number of time-consuming genetic changes, behavioural plasticity might be a faster way to adjust to novel conditions. We compared behavioural and physiological traits in overwintering (diapause) preparation in three latitudinally different European Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) populations reared u…
Protective coloration of European vipers throughout the predation sequence
2020
Antipredator adaptations in the form of animal coloration are common and often multifunctional. European vipers (genus Vipera) have a characteristic dorsal zigzag pattern, which has been shown to serve as a warning signal to potential predators. At the same time, it has been suggested to decrease detection risk, and to cause a motion dazzle or flicker-fusion effect during movement. We tested these hypotheses by asking whether (1) the zigzag pattern decreases detection risk and (2) the detection is dependent on the base coloration (grey or brown) or the snake's posture (coiled, basking form or S-shaped, active form). Additionally, (3) we measured the fleeing speed of adders, Vipera berus, an…
ACKERMANS et al.
2019
One reason for the mammalian clade’s success is the evolutionary diversity of their teeth. In herbivores, this is represented by high‐crowned teeth evolved to compensate for wear caused by dietary abrasives like phytoliths and grit. Exactly how dietary abrasives wear teeth is still not understood completely. We fed four different pelleted diets of increasing abrasiveness (L: Lucerne; G: grass; GR: grass and rice husks; GRS: grass, rice husks, and sand) to four groups of a total of 28 adult goats, all with completely erupted third molars, over a six‐month period. Tooth morphology was captured by medical computed tomography scans at the beginning and end of the controlled feeding experi…
Convergent Loss of Chemoreceptors across Independent Origins of Slave-Making in Ants
2022
The evolution of an obligate parasitic lifestyle often leads to the reduction of morphological and physiological traits, which may be accompanied by loss of genes and functions. Slave-maker ants are social parasites that exploit the work force of closely related ant species for social behaviours such as brood care and foraging. Recent divergence between these social parasites and their hosts enables comparative studies of gene family evolution. We sequenced the genomes of eight ant species, representing three independent origins of ant slavery. During the evolution of eusociality, chemoreceptor genes multiplied due to the importance of chemical communication in societies. We investigated ev…