Search results for " evolution"

New genera, species and records of Phaneropterinae (Orthoptera, Phaneropteridae) from sub-Saharan Africa

2015

The results of the study of many specimens preserved in different European museums are reported. The tribe Terpnistrini Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878 is resurrected. The distribution of the following species is enhanced: Pardalotaasymmetrica Karsch, 1896, Diogenadenticulata Chopard, 1954, Diogenafausta (Burmeister, 1838), Plangiopsisadeps Karsch, 1896, Poreuomenasanghensis Massa, 2013 and Tylopsiscontinua (Walker, 1869). Further, for their peculiar characteristics, two African representatives of the American genus Symmetropleura Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878 are included in two new genera: Symmetrokarschiaafricana (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1878), comb. n. and Symmetroraggeadirempta (Karsch, 1889)…

FMECA Application in Tomotherapy: Comparison between Classic and Fuzzy Methodologies

2022

Accident analysis in radiotherapy highlighted the need to increase quality assurance (QA) programs by the identification of failures/errors with very low probability (rare event) but very severe consequences. In this field, a Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) technique, used in various industrial processes to rank critical events, has been met with much interest. The literature describes different FMECA methods; however, it is necessary to understand if these tools are incisive and effective in the healthcare sector. In this work, comparisons of FMECA methodologies in the risk assessment of patients undergoing treatments performed with helical tomotherapy are reported. …

Investigation of a Gravel-Bed River’s Pattern Changes: Insights from Satellite Images

2021

Changes in river pattern have been documented in the literature. The recognition of islands and vegetated patches, which is indicative of the evolution processes, requires simultaneous information at different points and at different times and field studies are still difficult and scarce. The present work, focusing the attention on a gravel-bed river, explores the possibility to conduct a first-step pattern changes analysis by identifying the evolution of the morphological features and taking information of islands and vegetated patches from satellite images easily available from Google Earth. The study is conducted by combining the information taken from both the satellite images and the f…

River bed Evolution downstream a bed sill

2007

Dead wood profile of a semi-natural boreal forest – implications for sampling

2019

Dead wood profile of a forest is a useful tool for describing forest characteristics and assessing forest disturbance history. Nevertheless, there are few studies on dead wood profiles, including both coarse and fine dead wood, and on the effect of sampling intensity on the dead wood estimates. In a semi-natural boreal forest, we measured every dead wood item over 2 cm in diameter from 80 study plots. From eight plots, we further recorded dead wood items below 2 cm in diameter. Based on these data we constructed the full dead wood profile, i.e. the overall number of dead wood items and their distribution among different tree species, volumes of different size and decay stage categories. We …

Towards a framework for assessment and management of cumulative human impacts on marine food webs

2015

Effective ecosystem-based management requires understanding ecosystem responses to multiple human threats, rather than focusing on single threats. To understand ecosystem responses to anthropogenic threats holistically, it is necessary to know how threats affect different components within ecosystems and ultimately alter ecosystem functioning. We used a case study of a Mediterranean seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) food web and expert knowledge elicitation in an application of the initial steps of a framework for assessment of cumulative human impacts on food webs. We produced a conceptual seagrass food web model, determined the main trophic relationships, identified the main threats to the fo…

The effects of grazing history, soil properties and stand structure on the communities of saprotrophic fungi in wood-pastures

2022

Wood-pastures are threatened anthropogenic biotopes that provide habitat for an extensive group of species. Here we studied the effect of management, grazing intensity, time since abandonment, historical land-use intensity, soil properties and stand conditions on communities of saprotrophic fungi in wood-pastures in Central Finland. We found that the proportion of broadleaved trees and soil pH are the major drivers in the communities of saprotrophic fungi in these boreal wood-pastures. In addition, tree species richness, soil moisture, historical land-use intensity and time since abandonment affected the communities of saprotrophic fungi. Current management or grazing intensity did not have…

Editorial: Chemical Ecology and Conservation Biological Control

2022

International audience

Data from: Sex-specific effects of natural and sexual selection on the evolution of life span and ageing in Drosophila simulans

2015

1. Variation in the strength of age-dependent natural selection shapes differences in ageing rates across species and populations. Likewise, sexual selection can promote divergent patterns of senescence across the sexes. However, the effects of these processes on the evolution of ageing have largely been considered independently, and interactions between them are poorly understood. 2. We use experimental evolution to investigate how natural and sexual selection affect life span and ageing in Drosophila simulans. 3. Replicate populations were evolved under lifetime monogamy (relaxed sexual selection) or lifetime polyandry (elevated sexual selection) and at one of two temperatures, 25 °C (rel…

Sex Allocation Theory for Facultatively Sexual Organisms Inhabiting Seasonal Environments: The Importance of Bet Hedging

2018

Adaptive explanations for dormancy often invoke bet hedging, where reduced mean fitness can be adaptive if it associates with reduced fitness variance. Sex allocation theory typically ignores variance effects and focuses on mean fitness. For many cyclical parthenogens, these themes become linked, as only sexually produced eggs undergo the dormancy needed to survive harsh conditions. We ask how sex allocation and the timing of sex evolve when this constraint exists in the form of a trade-off between asexual reproduction and sexual production of dormant eggs—the former being crucial for within-season success and the latter for survival across seasons. We show that male production can be tempo…