Search results for "FLE"
showing 10 items of 3517 documents
Foraging Bumblebees Selectively Attend to Other Types of Bees Based on Their Reward-Predictive Value.
2020
Using social information can be an efficient strategy for learning in a new environment while reducing the risks associated with trial-and-error learning. Whereas social information from conspecifics has long been assumed to be preferentially attended by animals, heterospecifics can also provide relevant information. Because different species may vary in their informative value, using heterospecific social information indiscriminately can be ineffective and even detrimental. Here, we evaluated how selective use of social information might arise at a proximate level in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) as a result of experience with demonstrators differing in their visual appearance and in thei…
Effects of irrigation treatments on the quality of table olives produced with the Greek-style process
2016
The irrigation of olive orchards is commonly applied to produce table olives with optimal size. No data have been published on the microbiological quality of drupes from irrigated olive groves during fermentation. The trials T100 and T50 (receiving a water amount equivalent to 100 % and 50 % of the required amount, respectively) and control T0 (rainfed trial) were monitored during two consecutive years. The results showed a significant increase of equatorial diameter and flesh:pit ratio of irrigated drupes. The decrease of pH and the numbers of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) registered for the irrigated trials during the fermentation were more consistent than those displayed by control T0. Lact…
Survival cost of an early immune soliciting in nature.
2009
8 pages; International audience; If immune functions confer obvious benefits to hosts, life-history theory assumes that they also induce costs, leading to trade-offs between immunity and other fitness components. However, whether substantial fitness costs are associated with immune systems in the wild is debatable, as numerous factors may influence the costs and benefits associated with immune activation. Here, we explore the survival cost of immune deployment in postfledging birds. We injected Eurasian collared dove nestlings (Streptopelia decaocto) with antigens from Escherichia coli, and examined whether this immune challenge affected survival after fledging. To assess survival, birds we…
Re-description of Orchestia stephenseni Cecchini, 1928: designation of neotype and senior synonym to Orchestia constricta A. Costa, 1853 (Crustacea: …
2016
The beach flea Orchestia stephenseni was originally described by Cecchini (1928), and successively by Karaman (1973). The description of this species will be herein revised by focusing on the variation of the g nathopod 2 in males, as detected during its growth period. An analysis of DNA Barcoding was performed to support the assignment of the taxonomic species to five morphotypes. As the type specimen has not yet been designated, a neotype is assigned. The name of the species is here presented as a valid name as it satisfies the requirements of a Reversal of the Principle of Priority: Orchestia stephenseni takes precedence over the objective synonym Orchestia constricta A. Costa, 1853, in …
Begging calls support offspring individual identity and recognition by zebra finch parents.
2009
Abstract In colonial birds, the recognition between parents and their offspring is essential to ensure the exclusivity of parental care. Although individual vocal recognition seems to be a key component of parent-chicks recognition, few studies assessed the period when the emergence of the vocal signature takes place. The present study investigated the acoustic cues of signaler identity carried in the begging calls at three stages of development in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata castanotis), a colonial species which experiences food-dependence after fledging. Testing parents with playback of begging calls recorded the day before fledging, we found that the offspring recognition was base…
Vertebrate-mediated seed rain and artificial perches contribute to overcome seed dispersal limitation in a Mediterranean old field
2019
Natural regeneration of vegetation is a frequent outcome of land abandonment, although the rate and diversity of such regeneration may be severely restricted by seed dispersal limitation, among other factors. In spite of this, studies aiming to quantify seed rain and test methods to enhance it, such as artificial perches, are still underrepresented in the Mediterranean. In our study, we quantified seed rain density and richness and tested the effects of artificial perches on such rain over a distance gradient on seven Mediterranean island old fields. In each of the seven sites, we positioned three sampling stations, each consisting of 1 seed trap under an artificial perch and 1 as a control…
Conflicts between touristic recreational activities and breeding shearwaters: short-term effect of artificial light and sound on chick weight
2018
Human disturbances are increasingly becoming a conservation concern for many populations of colonial seabirds. Colonially reproducing species are particularly vulnerable to localised disturbances because detrimental elements can simultaneously affect the entire population. Studies of petrels and shearwaters have shown that light pollution, in particular, can be harmful for both fledglings and adults, but little is known of the way such anthropogenic elements affect the quality of parental care at the nest. Chick provisioning in petrels and shearwaters occurs exclusively at night and is also negatively correlated with the amount of moonlight. We tested the hypothesis that high-intensity ligh…
Searching for a compromise between biological and economic demands to protect vulnerable habitats
2018
AbstractIdentifying vulnerable habitats is necessary to designing and prioritizing efficient marine protected areas (MPAs) to sustain the renewal of living marine resources. However, vulnerable habitats rarely become MPAs due to conflicting interests such as fishing. We propose a spatial framework to help researchers and managers determine optimal conservation areas in a multi-species fishery, while also considering the economic relevance these species may have in a given society, even in data poor situations. We first set different ecological criteria (i.e. species resilience, vulnerability and trophic level) to identify optimal areas for conservation and restoration efforts, which was bas…
Colour patch size and measurement error using reflectance spectrophotometry
2017
1 - Over the past twenty years, portable and relatively affordable spectrophotometers have greatly advanced the study of animal coloration. However, the small size of many colour patches poses methodological challenges that have not, to date, been assessed in the literature. Here, we tackle this issue for a reflectance spectrophotometry set-up widely used in ecology and evolution (the beam method). 2 - We reviewed the literature on animal coloration reporting the use of reflectance spectrophotometry to explore how the minimum measurable size of a colour patch is determined. We then used coloured plastic sheets to create artificial colour patches, and quantify the relationship between colour…
Negative Effects of High Temperatures During Development on Immediate Post-Fledging Survival in Great TitsParus major
2016
We analyzed the effect of nest temperatures, fledging date, age at fledging, fledgling mass and size on postfledging survival of Great Tits Parus major in eastern Spain. We manipulated temperature during nestling development in 26 nests (average temperature was 39.8, 34.6 and 26.4 °C for heated, control and cooled nest-boxes, respectively), and used radio-telemetry to monitor the survival of 48 nestlings (16 heated, 18 cooled, 14 controls) during the first 15 days after fledging. Heated chicks were lighter than control and cooled chicks. Estimated survival of heated fledglings was lower than that of controls. Additionally, survival of control fledglings increased with size, but this relatio…