Search results for "ASC"
showing 10 items of 14117 documents
Current and future suitability of wintering grounds for a long-distance migratory raptor
2017
Conservation of migratory species faces the challenge of understanding the ecological requirements of individuals living in two geographically separated regions. In some cases, the entire population of widely distributed species congregates at relatively small wintering areas and hence, these areas become a priority for the species’ conservation. Satellite telemetry allows fine tracking of animal movements and distribution in those less known, often remote areas. Through integrating satellite and GPS data from five separated populations comprising most of the breeding range, we created a wide habitat suitability model for the Eleonora’s falcon on its wintering grounds in Madagascar. On this…
Female mate choice in convict cichlids is transitive and consistent with a self-referent directional preference
2013
10 pages; International audience; INTRODUCTION: One of the most important decisions that an animal has to make in its life is choosing a mate. Although most studies in sexual selection assume that mate choice is rational, this assumption has not been tested seriously. A crucial component of rationality is that animals exhibit transitive choices: if an individual prefers option A over B, and B over C, then it also prefers A over C. RESULTS: We assessed transitivity in mate choice: 40 female convict cichlids had to make a series of binary choices between males of varying size. Ninety percent of females showed transitive choices. The mean preference index was significantly higher when a female…
Notes on a small collection of phaneropterine bush-crickets (Insecta: Orthoptera: Tettigonioidea) from Central and Southern Madagascar with the descr…
2019
During a joint ecological project of the Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Zvolen, Slovakia, and the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar, eight species (10 specimens) of phaneropterine bush-crickets were collected. Among them, two species were found as new to science (Mimoscudderia longicaudata n. sp., Paraphyrrhicia leuca n. sp.) and are described in this paper. Two other species (Plangia segonoides, Trigonocorypha maxima) were found the first time after their description more than 100 years ago. We provide first detailed data about their localities and habitat.
Use of Gibberellic Acid to Increase the Salt Tolerance of Leaf Lettuce and Rocket Grown in a Floating System
2020
Hydroponics need water of good quality to prepare a balanced nutrient solution that could allow plants to reach their maximum yield potential. The rising difficulties in finding water with good quality have led to the compelling necessity of identifying sustainable ways to use saline water, limiting its negative effect on crop yield and quality. The exogenous supplementation of plant growth regulators, such as gibberellic acid (GA3), can be effective in increasing plant growth and vigor, thus helping plants to better cope with salt stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility to increase the salt tolerance of leaf lettuce and rocket grown in a floating system by adding GA3 …
Effects of gellan-based coating application on litchi fruit quality traits
2018
The use of gellan-based coating formulation on litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn. ‘Wai Chee’) fruit was investigated in order to determine its ability to improve color conservation and to maintain the overall quality. Fruits were treated with gellanbased coating (0.5% w/v) and glycerol (3% w/v) after dipping in ascorbic acid (1.5% w/v) and then stored at 5°C and 90% relative humidity for 15 days. Changes in peel color, soluble solid content, tritatable acidity, weight loss, antioxidant activity and phenolic content, were measured. Formulations containing gellan-based coating exhibited slightly improved water barrier properties and showed their active role in maintaining color characteristics an…
Thallus Growth Stage and Geographic Origin Shape Microalgal Diversity in Ramalina farinacea Lichen Holobionts
2021
Lichen symbioses are microecosystems hosting many other living organisms besides the two major lichen symbionts (i.e., lichenized fungi [the mycobiont] and green microalgae or cyanobacteria [the photobiont]). Recent investigations evidenced that other fungi, non-photosynthetic bacteria, and microalgae co-inhabit within the lichen thalli, but their diversity and their roles are still underinvestigated. Here we present an ad hoc stratified sampling design and in-depth Illumina paired-end metabarcoding approach to explore microalgal diversity in lichen thalli of the model species Ramalina farinacea from different ecologies. Lichen thalli were surveyed according to three different sizes, and di…
Cryptogams signify key transition of bacteria and fungi in Arctic sand dune succession
2019
SummaryPrimary succession models focus on aboveground vascular plants. However, the prevalence of mosses and lichens, i.e. cryptogams, suggests they play a role in soil successions. Here, we explore whether effects of cryptogams on belowground microbes can facilitate progressive shifts in sand dune succession.We linked aboveground vegetation, belowground bacterial and fungal community, and soil chemistry in six successional stages in Arctic inland sand dunes: bare sand, grass, moss, lichen, ericoid heath and mountain birch forest.Compared to the bare sand and grass stages, microbial biomass and the proportion of fungi increased in the moss stage, and later stage microbial groups appeared de…
Global functional variation in alpine vegetation
2021
International audience; Questions. What are the functional trade-offs of vascular plant species in global alpine ecosystems? How is functional variation related to vegetation zones, climatic groups and biogeographic realms? What is the relative contribution of macroclimate and evolutionary history in shaping the functional variation of alpine plant communities? Location. Global. Methods. We compiled a data set of alpine vegetation with 5,532 geo-referenced plots, 1,933 species and six plant functional traits. We used principal component analysis to quantify functional trade-offs among species and trait probability density to assess the functional dissimilarity of alpine vegetation in differ…
Do plant-based biogeographical regions shape aphyllophoroid fungal communities in Europe?
2018
Aim: Aphyllophoroid fungi are associated with plants, either using plants as a resource (as parasites or decomposers) or as symbionts (as mycorrhizal partners). In spite of their strong association with plants, it is unknown how much plant distributions determine their biogeographical patterns compared with environmental factors such as climate and human land use. In this study, our aims are to (1) describe the spatial diversity patterns of aphyllophoroid fungi in Europe and (2) identify the factors shaping these patterns. Location: Europe, as well as the adjacent Subarctic to Arctic islands (Greenland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Svalbard), Palestine and the south-east coast of the Caspian Sea…
Disjunct populations of European vascular plant species keep the same climatic niches
2015
Aim Previous research on how climatic niches vary across species ranges has focused on a limited number of species, mostly invasive, and has not, to date, been very conclusive. Here we assess the d ...