Search results for "END"

Testosterone-Mediated Effects on Fitness-Related Phenotypic Traits and Fitness

2009

International audience; The physiological and behavioral mechanisms underlying life-history trade-offs are a continued source of debate. Testosterone (T) is one physiological factor proposed to mediate the trade-off between reproduction and survival. We use phenotypic engineering and multiple laboratory and field fitness-related phenotypic traits to test the effects of elevated T between two bank vole Myodes glareolus groups: dominant and subordinate males. Males with naturally high T levels showed higher social status (laboratory dominance) and mobility (distance between capture sites) than low-T males, and the effect of T on immune response was also T group specific, suggesting that behav…

Helminth fauna of the invasive American red-eared sliderTrachemys scriptain eastern Spain: potential implications for the conservation of native terr…

2015

AbstractIn this study we report on the helminth fauna of the invasive American red-eared slider Trachemys scripta in five localities from eastern Spain where this species co-occurs with two native, endangered freshwater turtles, i.e. Emys orbicularis and Mauremys leprosa. In total, 46 individuals of T. scripta were analysed for parasites. Adult individuals of three helminth species were found: the monogenean Neopolystoma orbiculare, the digenean Telorchis solivagus and the nematode Serpinema microcephalus. Telorchis solivagus and S. microcephalus are trophically transmitted parasites of native turtles that probably infected T. scripta through shared infected prey. Neopolystoma orbiculare in…

High-elevation inter-site differences in Mount Smolikas tree-ring width data

2017

Abstract We present the longest high-elevation tree-ring width dataset in the Mediterranean reaching back to the 6th century CE. The network includes 101 living and 92 relict Pinus heldreichii Christ trees from four differently exposed sites in the 2100–2200 m a.s.l. elevation range of Mt. Smolikas in the Pindus Mountains in Greece. Though the sites were all sampled within a distance of 1550–2014  = 0.65–0.87), indicating site exposure might affect tree-ring formation. We here explore the consequence of exposure differences on the climate signals in an eastern Mediterranean treeline ecotone. Temporally stable growth/climate relationships reveal similar seasonal patterns among the four sites…

2021

Maximum latewood density (MXD) measurements from long-lived Black pines (Pinus nigra spp. laricio) growing at the upper treeline in Corsica are one of the few archives to reconstruct southern European summer temperatures at annual resolution back into medieval times. Here, we present a compilation of five MXD chronologies from Corsican pines that contain high-to-low frequency variability between 1168 and 2016 CE and correlate significantly (p < 0.01) with the instrumental April–July and September–October mean temperatures from 1901 to 1980 CE (r = 0.52−0.64). The growth–climate correlations, however, dropped to −0.13 to 0.02 afterward, and scaling the MXD data resulted in a divergence of…

At the intersection of cultural and natural heritage: Distribution and conservation of the type localities of Italian endemic vascular plants

2017

Abstract We conducted a GIS spatial analysis with the aim of providing the first quantitative large-scale overview of the distribution patterns of 1536 type localities ( loci classici ) of 1216 Italian endemic vascular plants and their relationship with a set of descriptive variables. Whereas some variables were used to model the presence-absence distribution patterns of the type localities for the whole set of endemics as well as for the subset of narrow endemics, others (e.g., presence inside or outside protected areas and Italian Important Plant Areas) were considered with the purpose of assessing potential assets or risks for conservation. The largest number of type localities was found…

Forest snail faunas from Transylvania (Romania) and their relationship to the faunas of Central and Northern Europe

2011

Forty-three forest sites in seven sampling areas in mountainous parts of Transylvania were sampled to obtain inventories of their snail faunas, and to make comparisons between these and the faunas of similar sites further north along the Carpathian chain. Sampling areas ran from close to the Ukrainian border in the north to Retezat in the south-west. Altogether, 83 species were found, as well as between 19 and 40 species at individual sites. Sites within the same sampling area had more species in common than in among-area comparisons, although differences between areas did not relate to the distance between them. Such differences appear to be related more to ecological factors than to geogr…

Floristic distinctiveness and endemic richness of woody plants highlight the biodiversity value of the herriza among all Mediterranean heathlands

2018

Background: Heathlands are relatively abundant in the landscape of the western Mediterranean region, especially in the Strait of Gibraltar region, where it is locally known as herriza. They are ass...

An integrative approach challenges species hypotheses and provides hints for evolutionary history of two Mediterranean freshwater palaemonid shrimps …

2021

25 pages; International audience; The Mediterranean Region is a biodiversity/endemism hotspot whose freshwater fauna remains largely unexplored. Our integrative study challenges the taxonomic status of two freshwater palaemonid shrimps, Palaemon antennarius and Palaemon minos. Three molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) were defined based on 352 cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences and 88 haplotypes. Two belonged to P. antennarius: one inhabiting the Apennine Peninsula and Sicily, and the other from the Balkan Peninsula. Palaemon minos was the third MOTU, found on Crete. The Balkan MOTU of P. antennarius was genetically closer to P. minos than to the other conspecific MOTU. …

Floristic and Vegetation Changes on a Small Mediterranean Island over the Last Century

2021

A synthetic and updated overview about the vascular flora and vegetation of the Island of Capo Passero (SE-Sicily) is provided. These data issue from two series of field surveys—the first carried out between 1997 and 2000, and the second between 2005 and 2019 and mostly focused on refining and implementing vegetation data. The current islet’s flora consists of 269 taxa, of which 149 (58%) are annual plants. The Mediterranean species are largely prevailing, 108 (40%) of which have a strictly Mediterranean biogeographical status. The comparison with a species list published in 1919 and updated in 1957 suggest that, despite the overall prevalence of anemochorous taxa, the vertebrate fauna repr…

Staying alive on an active volcano: 80 years population dynamics of Cytisus aeolicus (Fabaceae) from Stromboli (Aeolian Islands, Italy)

2020

Abstract Cytisus aeolicus is a narrow endemic species restricted to the Aeolian archipelago (SE Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) and it is one of the most evolutionarily isolated plants in the Mediterranean flora. Historical and literature data suggest that both metapopulations and isolated individuals of C. aeolicus are gradually shrinking. Field investigations and drone images demonstrate that the C. aeolicus metapopulation from Stromboli experienced a strikingly fast increase during the last decades. As of 2019, more than 7000 ± 3000 mature individuals occur on Stromboli, i.e. 14 to 20 times more than those counted during the last census, 25 years ago. The diachronic analysis of aerial photos conc…