Search results for "Behavior and Systematics"
showing 10 items of 6517 documents
The roles of temperature, nest predators and information parasites for geographical variation in egg covering behaviour of tits (Paridae)
2020
Abstract Aim: Nest building is widespread among animals. Nests may provide receptacles for eggs, developing offspring and the parents, and protect them from adverse environmental conditions. Nests may also indicate the quality of the territory and its owner and can be considered as an extended phenotype of its builder(s). Nests may, thus, function as a sexual and social signal. Here, we examined ecological and abiotic factors—temperature, nest predation and interspecific information utilization—shaping geographical variation in a specific nest structure—hair and feather cover of eggs—and its function as an extended phenotype before incubation in great (Parus major) and blue tits (Cyanistes …
Ecosystem processes are rarely included in tactical fisheries management
2015
Fish stock productivity, and thereby sensitivity to harvesting, depends on physical (e.g. ocean climate) and biological (e.g. prey availability, competition and predation) processes in the ecosystem. The combined impacts of such ecosystem processes and fisheries have lead to stock collapses across the world. While traditional fisheries management focuses on harvest rates and stock biomass, incorporating the impacts of such ecosystem processes are one of the main pillars of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM). Although EAFM has been formally adopted widely since the 1990s, little is currently known to what extent ecosystem drivers of fish stock productivity are actually imp…
Examining nonstationarity in the recruitment dynamics of fishes using Bayesian change point analysis
2017
Marine ecosystems can undergo regime shifts, which result in nonstationarity in the dynamics of the fish populations inhabiting them. The assumption of time-invariant parameters in stock–recruitment models can lead to severe errors when forecasting renewal ability of stocks that experience shifts in their recruitment dynamics. We present a novel method for fitting stock–recruitment models using the Bayesian online change point detection algorithm, which is able to cope with sudden changes in the model parameters. We validate our method using simulations and apply it to empirical data of four demersal fishes in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. We show that all of the stocks have experience…
Multiple‐batch spawning as a bet‐hedging strategy in highly stochastic environments: An exploratory analysis of Atlantic cod
2021
Stochastic environments shape life‐history traits and can promote selection for risk‐spreading strategies, such as bet‐hedging. Although the strategy has often been hypothesised to exist for various species, empirical tests providing firm evidence have been rare, mainly due to the challenge in tracking fitness across generations. Here, we take a ‘proof of principle’ approach to explore whether the reproductive strategy of multiple‐batch spawning constitutes a bet‐hedging. We used Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) as the study species and parameterised an eco‐evolutionary model, using empirical data on size‐related reproductive and survival traits. To evaluate the fitness benefits of multiple‐batc…
Mechanisms of reciprocity and diversity in social networks: a modeling and comparative approach
2018
Individual-based computer models show that different mechanisms, proximity-based or emotional bookkeeping, can lead to reciprocation. By comparing social networks from different computer models with those of empirical data, we show that the models’ social networks bear limited resemblance with some features of the observed social networks. This indicates that additional social processes (third-party awareness) may be needed in these models to represent more accurately the social behavior and interaction patterns observed in group-living animals.
Population abundance, structure and movements of the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus 1758) based on capture-recapture data in a Veni…
2021
A freshwater turtle monitoring programme along the inland margins of the Venice lagoon was initiated in 2019 in collaboration with the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF-Italy). From a total of 336 European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) captured and marked, 97 freshwater turtles were recaptured at least once (28.9% return rate) providing important information on population size, structure and movements of mature individuals within the study area. The population size was estimated with capture-recapture method (Capture-Mark-Recapture-CMR) at 1009.4 ± 365.2 pond turtles, with a mean density of 252.3 ± 91.3 ind./ha. The analysis of the movements showed that the average distance covered intra-wa…
Epizoic Algae Distribution on the Carapace and Plastron of the European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis, Linnaeus, 1758): A Study from the Camargue, Fr…
2016
12 pages; International audience; We investigated epizoic algal assemblages on the shell of European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) during two years (2013–2014). A total of 60 Emys orbicularis were captured in the three shallow Mediterranean wetlands located in Camargue. Epizoic algae on the plastron (below the shell) and carapace (above the shell) were sampled, identified and counted. Seventy-seven epizoic algal species were identified on the carapace and plastron and comprised in 51 Bacillariophyta, 11 Chlorophyta, 7 Cyanophyta, 6 Euglenophyta, 1 Dinophyta and1Xanthophyta taxa. Our findings indicated a distinct distribution of epizoic algae according to taxonomical group density; Chlorop…
Notulae to the Italian native vascular flora: 8
2019
In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of native vascular flora in Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes to the Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Ajuga, Chamaemelum, Clematis, Convolvulus, Cytisus, Deschampsia, Eleocharis, Epipactis, Euphorbia, Groenlandia, Hedera, Hieracium, Hydrocharis, Jacobaea, Juncus, Klasea, Lagurus, Leersia, Linum, Nerium, Onopordum, Persicaria, Phlomis, Polypogon, Potamogeton, Securigera, Sedum, Soleirolia, Stachys, Umbilicus, Valerianella, and Vinca. Nomenclatural and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrigenda are provided as Suppl. material 1.
An updated checklist of the vascular flora native to Italy
2018
AbstractAn updated inventory of the vascular flora alien to Italy, providing details on the occurrence at regional level, is presented. The checklist includes 1597 species, subspecies, and hybrids, distributed in 725 genera and 152 families; 2 taxa are lycophytes, 11 ferns and fern allies, 33 gymnosperms, and 1551 angiosperms. 157 taxa are archaeophytes and 1440 neophytes. The alien taxa currently established in Italy are 791 (570 naturalized and 221 invasive), while 705 taxa are casual aliens, 4 are not assessed, 7 are of unknown regional distribution, 47 have not been confirmed in recent times, 3 are considered extinct or possibly extinct in the country, and 40 are doubtfully occurring in…
Toward reconstructing the evolution of advanced moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera: Ditrysia): an initial molecular study
2009
AbstractBackgroundIn the mega-diverse insect order Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths; 165,000 described species), deeper relationships are little understood within the clade Ditrysia, to which 98% of the species belong. To begin addressing this problem, we tested the ability of five protein-coding nuclear genes (6.7 kb total), and character subsets therein, to resolve relationships among 123 species representing 27 (of 33) superfamilies and 55 (of 100) families of Ditrysia under maximum likelihood analysis.ResultsOur trees show broad concordance with previous morphological hypotheses of ditrysian phylogeny, although most relationships among superfamilies are weakly supported. There are als…