Search results for "Ecological and Environmental Phenomena"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
Avoiding perceived past resource use of potential competitors affects niche dynamics in a bird community
2014
Abstract. Background: Social information use is usually considered to lead to ecological convergence among involved con- or heterospecific individuals. However, recent results demonstrate that observers can also actively avoid behaving as those individuals being observed, leading to ecological divergence. This phenomenon has been little explored so far, yet it can have significant impact on resource use, realized niches and species co-existence. In particular, the time-scale and the ecological context over which such shifts can occur are unknown. We examined with a long-term (four years) field experiment whether experimentally manipulated, species-specific, nest-site feature preferences (sy…
Safety and immunomodulatory effects of three probiotic strains isolated from the feces of breast-fed infants in healthy adults: SETOPROB study.
2013
We previously described the isolation and characterization of three probiotic strains from the feces of exclusively breast-fed newborn infants: Lactobacillus paracasei CNCM I-4034, Bifidobacterium breve CNCM I-4035 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus CNCM I-4036. These strains were shown to adhere to intestinal mucus in vitro, to be sensitive to antibiotics and to resist biliary salts and low pH. In the present study, a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 100 healthy volunteers in three Spanish cities was carried out to evaluate the tolerance, safety, gut colonization and immunomodulatory effects of these three probiotics. Volunteers underwent a 15-day washout perio…
Women's preferences for men's facial masculinity are strongest under favorable ecological conditions
2019
AbstractThe strength of sexual selection on secondary sexual traits varies depending on prevailing economic and ecological conditions. In humans, cross-cultural evidence suggests women’s preferences for men’s testosterone dependent masculine facial traits are stronger under conditions where health is compromised, male mortality rates are higher and economic development is higher. Here we use a sample of 4483 exclusively heterosexual women from 34 countries and employ mixed effects modelling to test how social, ecological and economic variables predict women’s facial masculinity preferences. We report women’s preferences for more masculine looking men are stronger in countries with higher so…
Functional Redundancy and Complementarities of Seed Dispersal by the Last Neotropical Megafrugivores
2013
Submitted by Vitor Silverio Rodrigues (vitorsrodrigues@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2014-05-27T11:28:22Z No. of bitstreams: 0Bitstream added on 2014-05-27T14:42:48Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 2-s2.0-84873586375.pdf: 1508075 bytes, checksum: 7e697f6c67a83195e9b0cb525355980e (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-27T11:28:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2013-02-07 Background: Functional redundancy has been debated largely in ecology and conservation, yet we lack detailed empirical studies on the roles of functionally similar species in ecosystem function. Large bodied frugivores may disperse similar plant species and have strong impact on plant recruitment in tropical forests. Th…