Search results for "Elf"

Stream restorations with meanders increase dragonfly and damselfly diversity and abundance, including an endangered species.

2021

10 pages; International audience; This study presents examples of successful restoration projects for biodiversity conservation. In West France, the Pinail National Nature Reserve is a protected wetland interspersed with more than 6000 ponds. This wetland is inhabited by 50 species of Odonata and thus is a key biodiversity area for damselflies and dragonflies conservation. In the past, when the limestone was exploited, the streams of the plateau were artificially channeled rectilinearly, running to the Vienne River. Eventually streams were blocked by biomass and sediments resulting in water flowing mainly underground. In 2011, two restoration projects dug and recreated lost habitats such as…

Behavioural responses of fish groups exposed to a predatory threat under elevated CO2

2019

Most of the studies dealing with the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on fish behaviour tested individuals in isolation, even when the examined species live in shoals in the wild. Here we evaluated the effects of elevated CO2 concentrations (i.e. ∼900 μatm) on the shelter use and group cohesion of the gregarious damselfish Chromis viridis using groups of sub-adults exposed to a predatory threat. Results showed that, under predatory threat, fish reared at elevated CO2 concentrations displayed a risky behaviour (i.e. decreased shelter use), whereas their group cohesion was unaffected. Our findings add on increasing evidence to account for social dynamics in OA experiments, as living in gro…

Species-level selection reduces selfishness through competitive exclusion.

2007

Adaptation does not necessarily lead to traits which are optimal for the population. This is because selection is often the strongest at the individual or gene level. The evolution of selfishness can lead to a ‘tragedy of the commons’, where traits such as aggression or social cheating reduce population size and may lead to extinction. This suggests that species-level selection will result whenever species differ in the incentive to be selfish. We explore this idea in a simple model that combines individual-level selection with ecology in two interacting species. Our model is not influenced by kin or trait-group selection. We find that individual selection in combination with competitive ex…

Surgical implantation of electronic tags does not induce medium-term effect: insights from growth and stress physiological profile in two marine fish…

2020

Abstract Background Telemetry applied to aquatic organisms has recently developed greatly. Physiological sensors have been increasingly used as tools for fish welfare monitoring. However, for the technology to be used as a reliable welfare indicator, it is important that the tagging procedure does not disrupt fish physiology, behaviour and performance. In this communication, we share our medium-term data on stress physiological profile and growth performance after surgical tag implantation in two important marine fish species for European aquaculture, the sea bream (Sparus aurata) and the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). Results Blood samples after surgical tag implantation (46 day…

Antifungal and antimycotoxigenic activity of hydrolyzed goat whey on Penicillium spp: An application as biopreservation agent in pita bread

2020

Abstract Whey is a by-product of the cheese industry, yet it contains proteins that have a high nutritional value and are an important source of antifungal peptides. Food deterioration caused by toxigenic fungi is one of the challenges of food safety. In this context, trypsin was used to hydrolyse goat milk whey at 37. The resultant peptides were characterised by LC–ESI–TOF-MS. Antifungal activity of the goat milk whey hydrolysate (HGW) was determined against 10 toxigenic fungi from the genus Penicillium, in solid and liquid media. Furthermore, HGW was used as an ingredient for bread elaboration. Bread elaborated with HGW and inoculated with toxigenic fungi was included in a shelf-life stud…

Ovule discounting in an outcrossing, cryptically dioecious tree.

2006

9 páginas, 1 figura, 1 tabla.

Degradation of sexual reproduction in Veronica filiformis after introduction to Europe

2011

Abstract Background Baker’s law predicts that self-incompatible plant species are generally poor colonizers because their mating system requires a high diversity of genetically differentiated individuals and thus self-compatibility should develop after long-distance dispersal. However, cases like the introduction of the self-incompatible Veronica filiformis (Plantaginaceae) to Europe constitute an often overlooked alternative to this rule. This species was introduced from subalpine areas of the Pontic-Caucasian Mountains and colonized many parts of Central and Western Europe in the last century, apparently without producing seeds. To investigate the consequences of the absence of sexual rep…

2018

Odonate (damselfly and dragonfly) species richness and species occupancy frequency distributions (SOFDs) were analyzed in relation to geographical location in standing waters (lakes and ponds) in Fennoscandia, from southern Sweden to central Finland. In total, 46 dragonfly and damselfly species were recorded from 292 waterbodies. Species richness decreased to the north and increased with waterbody area in central Finland, but not in southern Finland or in Sweden. Species occupancy ranged from 1 up to 209 lakes and ponds. Over 50% of the species occurred in <10% of the waterbodies, although this proportion decreased to the north. In the southern lakes and ponds, none of the species occurred …

Using foresight exercise to design adaptation policy to climate change: The case of the French wine industry

2018

Foresight studies are regularly conducted at sectoral or geographical scales, in order to help policy makers and economic actors to define their strategy of adaptation to climate change (CC). Some studies are rather “quick exercises”, in which a panel of experts is consulted to define the expected impacts of CC and to identify adaptation leviers for future policy. In other cases, a true foresight methodology is developed, leading to the building of scenarios based on : i) a systemic and participatory approach, ii) the definition of key variables, iii) the choice of assumptions and the coherent relations between these assumptions, the narrative description of scenarios. This participatory di…

The plasticity of breeding system in arid-adapted Zygophylloideae

2019

Abstract The assurance of reproductive success is an important challenge for arid-adapted plants. Self-compatibility is suggested as a mechanism to compensate for the inadequate breeding opportunities in extreme environments. Zygophylloideae is an arid-adapted subfamily which has successfully radiated in different ranges of arid habitats. In order to study the significance of selfing for the reproductive success of the Zygophylloideae, we calculated pollen ovule ratios (P/O) and conducted bagging experiments for autogamy and xenogamy in eleven representative members of Zygophylloideae and three species of the sister subfamilies Tribuloideae and Larreoideae. Our results revealed an extremely…