Search results for " zoology"
showing 10 items of 2242 documents
No need to shout: Effect of signal loudness on sibling communication in barn owlsTyto alba
2017
In animal communication, signal loudness is often ignored and seldom measured. We used a playback experiment to examine the role of vocal loudness (i.e., sound pressure level) in sibling to sibling communication of nestling barn owls Tyto alba. In this species, siblings vocally negotiate among each other for priority access to parental food resources. Call rate and call duration play key roles in this vocal communication system, with the most vocal nestlings deterring their siblings from competing for access to the food item next delivered by parents. Here, we broadcast calls at different loudness levels and call rate to live nestlings. The loudness of playback calls did not affect owlets' …
Surgical implantation of electronic tags does not induce medium-term effect: insights from growth and stress physiological profile in two marine fish…
2020
Abstract Background Telemetry applied to aquatic organisms has recently developed greatly. Physiological sensors have been increasingly used as tools for fish welfare monitoring. However, for the technology to be used as a reliable welfare indicator, it is important that the tagging procedure does not disrupt fish physiology, behaviour and performance. In this communication, we share our medium-term data on stress physiological profile and growth performance after surgical tag implantation in two important marine fish species for European aquaculture, the sea bream (Sparus aurata) and the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). Results Blood samples after surgical tag implantation (46 day…
Impacts of agricultural intensification on bird communities: New insights from a multi-level and multi-facet approach of biodiversity
2016
International audience; Following the multiplicity of studies dealing with the effects of agricultural intensification on bird diversity, one of the lessons drawn is that these effects depend on both the taxonomic group, the component of diversity, the aspect of intensification, and the spatial scale. This often leads to disparate results among studies suggesting that the investigation of agriculture-biodiversity relationships suffers from scale-dependence, information redundancy, non-linearity problems, and thus, unpredictability.Here, we propose a multi-scale and multi-facet approach to clarify the impacts of agricultural intensification on biodiversity and possible mitigating actions. Ou…
Cross inhibition improves activity selection when switching incurs time costs
2015
Abstract We consider a behavioural model of an animal choosing between two activities, based on positive feedback, and examine the effect of introducing cross inhibition between the motivations for the two activities. While cross-inhibition has previously been included in models of decision making, the question of what benefit it may provide to an animal’s activity selection behaviour has not previously been studied. In neuroscience and in collective behaviour cross-inhibition, and other equivalent means of coupling evidence-accumulating pathways, have been shown to approximate statistically-optimal decision-making and to adaptively break deadlock, thereby improving decision performance. Sw…
Assessment of genetically modified soybean MON 87751 for food and feed uses under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 (application EFSA‐GMO‐NL‐2014‐121)
2018
Abstract Soybean MON 87751 was developed through Agrobacterium tumefaciens‐mediated transformation to provide protection certain specific lepidopteran pests by the expression of the Cry1A.105 and Cry2Ab2 proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis. The molecular characterisation data and bioinformatic analyses did not identify issues requiring assessment for food and feed safety. None of the compositional, agronomic and phenotypic differences identified between soybean MON 87751 and the conventional counterpart required further assessment. The GMO Panel did not identify safety concerns regarding the toxicity and allergenicity of the Cry1A.105 and Cry2Ab2 proteins as expressed in soybean MO…
Scientific Opinion on application EFSA‐GMO‐BE‐2013‐117 for authorisation of genetically modified maize MON 87427 × MON 89034 × NK603 and subcombinati…
2017
Scientific opinionRequestor: Competent Authority of BelgiumQuestion number: EFSA-Q-2013-00765; In this opinion, the EFSA Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO Panel) assessed the three-event stack maize MON 87427 9 MON 89034 9 NK603 and its three subcombinations, independently of their origin. The GMO Panel has previously assessed the three single events combined to produce this three-event stack maize and did not identify safety concerns. No new data on the single events, leading to modification of the original conclusions on their safety, were identified. Based on the molecular, agronomic, phenotypic and compositional characteristics, the combination of the single maize events and …
Nutritional symbionts enhance structural defence against predation and fungal infection in a grain pest beetle
2022
ABSTRACT Many insects benefit from bacterial symbionts that provide essential nutrients and thereby extend the hosts’ adaptive potential and their ability to cope with challenging environments. However, the implications of nutritional symbioses for the hosts’ defence against natural enemies remain largely unstudied. Here, we investigated whether the cuticle-enhancing nutritional symbiosis of the saw-toothed grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis confers protection against predation and fungal infection. We exposed age-defined symbiotic and symbiont-depleted (aposymbiotic) beetles to two antagonists that must actively penetrate the cuticle for a successful attack: wolf spiders (Lycosidae) an…
Sulawesifulvius thailandicus – a new species of the genus Sulawesifulvius Gorczyca, Chérot & Štys from Thailand (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Miridae, Cyl…
2017
Abstract A new species of the genus Sulawesifulvius, Sulawesifulvius thailandicus Wolski, Yasunaga & Gorczyca, sp. n., is described from Thailand. The present finding also represents the first distribution record in Indochina for the genus. Color adult habitus images for Sulawesifulvius thailandicus and Sulawesifulvius schuhi (type species of the genus), male genital drawings of Sulawesifulvius thailandicus, and scanning electron micrographs of selected structures of Sulawesifulvius schuhi and Sulawesifulvius thailandicus are provided.
Taxonomic review of the plant bug genera Amapacylapus and Cylapus with descriptions of two new species and a key to the genera of Cylapini (Hemiptera…
2017
The plant bug tribe Cylapini (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Cylapinae) is diagnosed and a worldwide key to the genera of the tribe is provided. The taxonomic review of the New World Cylapini genera Amapacylapus Carvalho & Fontes,1968 and Cylapus Say, 1832 is provided, including a key to species, diagnoses and redescriptions of genera and most included species, and descriptions of two new species, Amapacylapus unicolor sp. nov. (Ecuador) and Cylapus luridus sp. nov. (Brazil). Illustrations of the male genitalia, color photographs of the adult and scanning electron micrographs of the selected species are provided. The genus Cylapocerus Carvalho & Fontes, 1968 syn. nov. is proposed …
Individual-Based Tracking Systems in Ornithology: Welcome to the Era of Big Data
2016
Technological innovations have led to exciting fast-moving developments in science. Today, we are living in a technology-driven era of biological discovery. Consequently, tracking technologies have facilitated dramatic advances in the fundamental understanding of ecology and animal behaviour. Major technological improvements, such as the development of GPS dataloggers, geolocators and other bio-logging technologies, provide a volume of data that were hitherto unconceivable. Hence we can claim that ornithology has entered the era of big data. In this paper, which is particularly addressed to undergraduate students and starting researchers in the emerging field of movement ecology, I summaris…