Search results for "Dual"
showing 10 items of 2547 documents
Stage boundaries, global stratigraphy, and the time scale: towards a simplification
2004
International audience; This paper examines four facets of stratigraphic terminology and usage considered faulty and proposes corrective measures. The four perfectible areas are: (1) The system of dual nomenclature requiring discrete terminologies for the superpositional and temporal aspects of rock units. (2) The premise that a GSSP establishes the base of a stage as being coincident with the top of the preceding stage rather than simply defining it as the boundary between stages. (3) The rejection of supplementary (auxiliary) sections that would broaden the knowledge of a GSSP and enlarge the area in which it is easily usable. (4) The current dual system of nomenclature for Precambrian an…
Ecological plant epigenetics: Evidence from model and non-model species, and the way forward
2017
Growing evidence shows that epigenetic mechanisms contribute to complex traits, with implications across many fields of biology. In plant ecology, recent studies have attempted to merge ecological experiments with epigenetic analyses to elucidate the contribution of epigenetics to plant phenotypes, stress responses, adaptation to habitat, and range distributions. While there has been some progress in revealing the role of epigenetics in ecological processes, studies with non-model species have so far been limited to describing broad patterns based on anonymous markers of DNA methylation. In contrast, studies with model species have benefited from powerful genomic resources, which contribute…
A hierarchical Bayesian Beta regression approach to study the effects of geographical genetic structure and spatial autocorrelation on species distri…
2019
Global climate change (GCC) may be causing distribution range shifts in many organisms worldwide. Multiple efforts are currently focused on the development of models to better predict distribution range shifts due to GCC. We addressed this issue by including intraspecific genetic structure and spatial autocorrelation (SAC) of data in distribution range models. Both factors reflect the joint effect of ecoevolutionary processes on the geographical heterogeneity of populations. We used a collection of 301 georeferenced accessions of the annual plant Arabidopsis thaliana in its Iberian Peninsula range, where the species shows strong geographical genetic structure. We developed spatial and nonsp…
Cannibalism facilitates gigantism in a nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) population
2016
Cannibalism is a taxonomically widespread phenomenon that can fundamentally affect the structure and stability of aquatic communities, including the emergence of a bimodal size distribution (“dwarfs” and “giants”) in fish populations. Emergence of giants could also be driven or facilitated by parasites that divert host resources from reproduction to growth. We studied the trophic ecology of giant nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) in a Finnish pond to evaluate the hypotheses that gigantism in this population would be facilitated by cannibalism and/or parasitic infections by Schistocephalus pungitii cestode. Stomach content analyses revealed an initial ontogenetic dietary shift f…
Morphometrics and Cladistics: Measuring Phylogeny in the Sea Urchin Echinocardium
1996
A phylogenetic approach to the study of evolutionary patterns is based on taxic homologies (synapomorphies). In contrast, the recognition of evolutionary processes (namely heterochronies) involves analysis of the entire morphology. Recent developments in geometric morphometry permit analysis of morphological similarities grounded in operational homologies. Such morphometric techniques are explored (1) at the level of evolutionary processes, and (2) as a complement in exploration of phylogenetic relationships. To examplify this, we perform a two-part study of the ontogeny and phylogeny of the spatangoid sea urchin Echinocardium. First, a phylogenetic analysis of ten Recent species in the gen…
Selection for multicomponent mimicry: equal feature salience and variation in preferred traits
2016
When should multiple traits on Batesian mimics be selected to resemble corresponding traits on model species? Here, we explore two possibilities. First, features of equal salience to predators may be used to categorize prey, selecting for multicomponent mimicry. Second, if different predators use single yet different traits to categorize prey, multicomponent mimicry may still be selected. We studied how blue tits categorized rewarding and unrewarding artificial prey items that are differentiated by a combination of two color dimensions. Many birds used both color dimensions to make decisions, and overall, the population selected for multicomponent mimicry. However, a subset of birds used on…
Thermal Tolerance is linked with Virulence in a Fish Pathogen
2017
ABSTRACTAlthough increase in temperatures may boost the number of pathogens, a complex process involving the interaction of a susceptible host, a virulent strain, and environmental factors would influence disease virulence in unpredictable ways. Here we explored if the virulence of an environmentally growing opportunistic fish pathogen,Flavobacterium columnare, would be malleable to evolutionary changes via correlated selection on thermal tolerance. Virulence among the strains increased over years, but tolerance to higher temperatures was associated with reduced virulence. Our results suggest that observed increase in frequency of columnaris epidemics over the last decade is most likely ass…
Visible implant elastomer (VIE) success in early larval stages of a tropical amphibian species
2020
AbstractAnimals are often difficult to distinguish at an individual level, but being able to identify individuals can be crucial in ecological or behavioral studies. In response to this challenge, biologists have developed a range of marking (tattoos, brands, toe-clips) and tagging (PIT, VIA, VIE) methods to identify individuals and cohorts. Animals with complex life cycles are notoriously hard to mark because of the distortion or loss of the tag across metamorphosis. In frogs, few studies have attempted larval tagging and none have been conducted on a tropical species. Here, we present the first successful account of VIE tagging in early larval stages (Gosner stage 25) of the dyeing poison…
Lysimeter assessment of the Simplified Two-Source Energy Balance model and eddy covariance system to estimate vineyard evapotranspiration
2019
Abstract Estimation of crop water needs plays a key role in the water resource management in arid and semi-arid regions. Actual evapotranspiration (ETa) becomes the key term in both water and energy balances at this point. In this work we focus on vineyard due to the significance of this crop for La Mancha region, Spain, with the greatest concentration of vineyards in the world. Eddy-covariance (EC) technique has been traditionally used for ground observations of ETa. One of the aims of this work is to assess the feasibility of an EC system under the challenging conditions of a small drip-irrigated vineyard in a semi-arid environment. Two-source energy balance modelling allows for ETa estim…
Fifteen operationally important decisions in the planning of biodiversity offsets
2018
Many development projects, whether they are about construction of factories, mines, roads, railways, new suburbs, shopping malls, or even individual houses, have negative environmental consequences. Biodiversity offsetting is about compensating that damage, typically via habitat restoration, land management, or by establishment of new protected areas. Offsets are the fourth step of the so-called mitigation hierarchy, in which ecological damage is first avoided, minimized second, and third restored locally. Whatever residual damage remains is then offset. Offsetting has been increasingly adopted all around the world, but simultaneously serious concerns are expressed about the validity of the…