Search results for "81"
showing 10 items of 2468 documents
Competition for resources is ameliorated by niche differentiation between Solidago virgaurea life-history stages in the Arctic
2016
Aims Competition has been shown to modify the niche breadth of coexisting species, but within-species interactions have received little attention. Establishing small juvenile individuals and established, larger, sexually reproducing adult individuals represent two life-history stages within species. We investigated the nitrogen and carbon resource use of adult and juvenile individuals and similarity of symbiotic fungal community composition in these two plant life stages. We used the plant Solidago virgaurea growing in a simplified system in the low Arctic as model species. Methods Isotopic signatures (foliar δ15N and foliar δ13C) were analysed to characterize nitrogen acquisition and water…
Potential for managing life history diversity in a commercially exploited intermediate predator, the goldsinny wrasse (Ctenolabrus rupestris)
2019
Abstract Small-bodied wrasse species are important for structuring coastal marine ecosystems but are also increasingly harvested as parasite cleaners on farmed salmon. Identifying management regulations that will support long-term sustainability of wrasse fisheries is challenging, because there is still limited knowledge about the impacts of fisheries on the demography of these intermediate predators in their natural environments. To this end, we studied individual growth histories of goldsinny wrasse (Ctenolabrus rupestris) at a fine spatial scale across replicated marine protected areas (MPAs) and areas open to commercial harvesting on the Norwegian coast. The MPAs were established 1–7 ye…
A new species of Arctoseius Thor, 1930 (Acari: Ascidae) from taiga regions of the Palaearctic, with a key to Arctoseius species of Fennoscandia, NW E…
2017
A new mesostigmatid mite species belonging to the genus Arctoseius Thor, 1930, is described based on material from subarctic coniferous forests, Finland, and Altai highlands, Russia. Arctoseius ambiguus sp. nov. is similar to Arctoseius venustulus (Berlese, 1916), but can be distinguished from the latter by its larger size, wider dorsal shield, weakly sclerotized presternal platelets, pronounced differences in the length of opisthonotal setae, and distinct punctation of the anal shield. A key for 15 Arctoseius species recorded in continental North-Western Europe (Fennoscandia) is given. The Fennoscandian fauna of Arctoseius species is rather specialised. It includes four European temperate …
Oxygen and carbon isoscapes for the Baltic Sea : Testing their applicability in fish migration studies
2017
Conventional tags applied to individuals have been used to investigate animal movement, but these methods require tagged individuals be recaptured. Maps of regional isotopic variability known as “isoscapes” offer potential for various applications in migration research without tagging wherein isotope values of tissues are compared to environmental isotope values. In this study, we present the spatial variability in oxygen (δ18OH2O) and dissolved inorganic carbon (δ13CDIC) isotope values of Baltic Sea water. We also provide an example of how these isoscapes can reveal locations of individual animal via spatial probability surface maps, using the high-resolution salmon otolith isotope data fr…
Dispersion of vendace eggs and larvae around potential nursery areas reveals their reproductive strategy
2019
Depending on their reproductive strategy, different fish species aim to aggregate or disperse eggs and larvae in their reproductive habitat. Many pelagic species disperse their eggs widely around the potential nursery areas. Larval dispersion or aggregation affects population sub‐structuring, which has important implications in fisheries management and conservation of the natural spatial diversity in populations. The dispersion of larval vendace (Coregonus albula) was quantified in two oligotrophic Finnish lakes, and effects of density and environmental variables on the inter‐annual variation in the larval distribution were examined by analysing spatial abundance data from the lakes from 19…
Effects of local forest continuity on the diversity of fungi on standing dead pines
2018
Human-induced fragmentation affects forest continuity, i.e. availability of a suitable habitat for the target species over a time period. The dependence of wood-inhabiting fungi on landscape level continuity has been well demonstrated, but the importance of local continuity has remained controversial. In this study, we explored the effects of local forest continuity (microhabitat and stand level) on the diversity of wood-inhabiting fungi on standing dead trunks of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). We studied species richness and community composition of decomposers and Micarea lichens on 70 trunks in 14 forests in central Finland that differed in their state of continuity. We used dendrochr…
The role of novel forest ecosystems in the conservation of wood-inhabiting fungi in boreal broadleaved forests
2016
The increasing human impact on the earth’s biosphere is inflicting changes at all spatial scales. As well as deterioration and fragmentation of natural biological systems, these changes also led to other, unprecedented effects and emergence of novel habitats. In boreal zone, intensive forest management has negatively impacted a multitude of deadwood-associated species. This is especially alarming given the important role wood-inhabiting fungi have in the natural decay processes. In the boreal zone, natural broad-leaved-dominated, herb-rich forests are threatened habitats which have high wood-inhabiting fungal species richness. Fungal diversity in other broadleaved forest habitat types is po…
Prolonged stigma and flower lifespan in females of the gynodioecious plant Geranium sylvaticum
2017
tIn gynodioecious plants females need a reproductive advantage over hermaphrodites to be maintainedin the same population. Generally, three main proximate causes for a female advantage are considered:inbreeding avoidance, different resource allocation patterns, and differences in ecological interactions.A mechanism potentially causing a female advantage that is rarely discussed is a difference in flo-ral longevity between the genders. Females may have a longer stigma lifespan than hermaphrodites,which can affect pollination. Stigma and flower lifespan are rarely documented in gynodioecious species,although it is a common observation in dioecious species that female plants flower longer than…
An Egg Parasitoid Efficiently Exploits Cues From a Coevolved Host But Not Those From a Novel Host
2019
Egg parasitoids have evolved adaptations to exploit host-associated cues, especially oviposition-induced plant volatiles and odors of gravid females, when foraging for hosts. The entire host selection process is critical for successful parasitism and relevant in defining host specificity of parasitoids. We hypothesized that naïve egg parasitoid females reared on their coevolved host are able to exploit cues related to the coevolved host but not those from a novel host. We used the egg parasitoid Trissolcus japonicus, its coevolved host Halyomorpha halys, and the non-coevolved host Podisus maculiventris to evaluate this hypothesis. H. halys, a polyphagous pest native from Eastern Asia, has i…
Summer time predation on the obligatory off-host stage of an invasive ectoparasite
2016
SUMMARYPredation can regulate populations and strongly affect invasion success of novel prey. The deer ked (Lipoptena cervi; Linnaeus 1758) is an invasive ectoparasite of cervids that spends a long period of its life cycle outside the host. Prior to this study, virtually nothing was known about natural summer time predation on the deer ked. We aimed to evaluate the magnitude of summer time predation onL. cervipupae in different habitats and to identify potential predators. We conducted a set of field experiments, where we exposedL. cervipupae to various ground-dwelling vertebrate and invertebrate predators. The loss of pupae was monitored for different predator guilds. Three habitats of the…