Search results for " disturbance"

Do not disturb the family: roles of colony size and human disturbance in the genetic structure of lesser kestrel

2015

Dispersal and philopatry are fundamental processes influencing the genetic structure and persistence of populations, and might be affected by isolation and habitat perturbation. Habitat degradation induced by human activities could have detrimental consequences on the genetic structure of populations. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the role of human impact in promoting or disrupting the genetic structure. Here, we conducted a genetic analysis using 12 polymorphic microsatellite markers of 70 lesser kestrels Falco naumanni from 10 breeding colonies of two subpopulations in Sicily (southern Italy). Genetic differentiation between the two subpopulations was negligible, and linear dista…

Experimental study of species invasion : early population dynamics and role of disturbance in invasion success

2020

Much of our understanding of natural invasions is retrospective, based on data acquired after invaders become established. As a consequence, we know little about the characteristics of the early population growth and habitat use of the invaders during establishment. Here we report on experimental introductions of guppies into natural streams in which we conducted monthly censuses of each population. Two of the four introductions were in streams with thinned canopies, which mimics a common form of habitat disturbance. We conducted similar censuses of natural populations to characterize natural population densities and generate a null distribution against which we could test a priori hypothes…

Distributed $n$-player approachability and consensus in coalitional games

2015

We study a distributed allocation process where, at each time, every player: i) proposes a new bid based on the average utilities produced up to that time, ii) adjusts such allocations based on the inputs received from its neighbors, and iii) generates and allocates new utilities. The average allocations evolve according to a doubly (over time and space) averaging algorithm. We study conditions under which the average allocations reach consensus to any point within a predefined target set even in the presence of adversarial disturbances. Motivations arise in the context of coalitional games with transferable utilities (TU) where the target set is any set of allocations that makes the grand …

Structural diversity and enzyme activity of volcanic soils at different stages of development and response to experimental disturbance

2008

We investigated the phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) diversity and enzyme activities in soils from the volcano, Mt. Etna (Sicily). The soils were at sites which have been developing for different periods of time and have formed in volcanic lava of differing ages that have been supplemented with volcanic ejecta from subsequent eruptions. However, the plant communities indicated a marked successional difference between the sites and we have used this as a proxy for developmental stage. We have compared the structural and functional properties of the microbial communities in soils from the two sites and tested experimentally the hypothesis that the more diverse community was more resistant and r…

Applying the Anna Karenina principle for wild animal gut microbiota : temporal stability of the bank vole gut microbiota in a disturbed environment

2020

Gut microbiota play an important role in host health. Yet, the drivers and patterns of microbiota imbalance (dysbiosis) in wild animals remain largely unexplored. One hypothesised outcome of stress on animal microbiomes is a destabilised microbial community that is characterised by an increase in inter-individual differences compared with microbiomes of healthy animals, which are expected to be (i) temporally stable and (ii) relatively similar among individuals. This set of predictions for response of microbiomes to stressors is known as the Anna Karenina principle (AKP) for animal microbiomes. We examine the AKP in a wild mammal inhabiting disturbed environments by conducting a capture-mar…

Short-term responses of decomposers and vegetation to stump removal

2011

Mind the gap: Treefalls as drivers of parental trade-offs

2015

Tree-fall gaps are small-scale disturbances whose formation, colonization, and role in forest dynamics are well documented, but whose effects on animal ecology are still greatly overlooked, except for studies comparing species richness of gaps 6+ months old to that in the closed canopy. Other factors associated with the invasion of fresh tree-fall gaps such as animal breeding adaptations have been largely neglected. I studied the immediate (within hours and days) arrival of the poison frog Dendrobates tinctorius in new tree-fall gaps to examine the dynamics of their invasion in relation to tadpole rearing. I found that rearing sites are occupied sooner and tadpoles deposited at higher rates…

Global and local stressors on community succession in the Mediterranean intertidal zone

Can learning from the past help to predict the future in the environmental impact assessment on reindeer husbandry?

2014

The Role of Cardiac Pacing in Heart Block Complicating Acute Myocardial Infarction

1983

The organization of the Coronary Care Unit and the use of electrocardiographic monitoring have allowed a re-evaluation of the incidence of the atrioventricular conduction disturbances in acute myocardial infarction.