Search results for "MEDIA"

Forest multifunctionality is not resilient to intensive forestry

2021

AbstractThere is ample evidence that intensive management of ecosystems causes declines in biodiversity as well as in multiple ecosystem services, i.e., in multifunctionality. However, less is known about the permanence and reversibility of these responses. To gain insight into whether multifunctionality can be sustained under intensive management, we developed a framework building on the concept of resilience: a system’s ability to avoid displacement and to return or transform to a desired state. We applied it to test the ability of forest multifunctionality to persist during and recover from intensive management for timber production in a boreal forest. Using forest growth simulations and…

Growth patterns and life-history strategies in Placodontia (Diapsida: Sauropterygia)

2015

Placodontia is a clade of durophagous, near shore marine reptiles from Triassic sediments of modern-day Europe, Middle East and China. Although much is known about their primary anatomy and palaeoecology, relatively little has been published regarding their life history, i.e. ageing, maturation and growth. Here, growth records derived from long bone histological data of placodont individuals are described and modelled to assess placodont growth and life-history strategies. Growth modelling methods are used to confirm traits documented in the growth record (age at onset of sexual maturity, age when asymptotic length was achieved, age at death, maximum longevity) and also to estimate undocum…

The interplay betweenPinus sylvestris, its root hemiparasite,Melampyrum pratense, and ectomycorrhizal fungi: Influences on plant growth and reproduct…

2000

Despite the extensive literature on mutual interactions between plants and mycorrhizal fungi, and host plants and parasitic plants, little is known about the outcomes of interactions when the three...

Tendencies in paleontological practice when defining species, and consequences on biodiversity studies

2005

The exploration of evolutionary patterns over geological time has recently received new impetus from the development of morphological disparity as a new biodiversity metric alongside taxonomic diversity. Clade dynamics can be analyzed by comparing and contrasting these two metrics. Like any metrics based on sampling, quantification, and naming, taxonomic diversity and morphological disparity are not free from bias. The long use of taxonomic diversity has prompted many studies of bias and its effects, whereas bias affecting morphological disparity has only been summarily explored. This is particularly so for the effect of the growth of knowledge over paleontographical time (i.e., historical …

A Lack of Attribution: Closing the Citation Gap Through a Reform of Citation and Indexing Practices

2012

Novel sexual dimorphism in a new genus of Bathynellidae from Russia, with a revision of phylogenetic relationships

2019

Bathynellidae is the neglected family of Bathynellacea, a groundwater group of crus- taceans with 33 genera and 107 species described and almost half of them included in the `catch-all¿ genus Bathynella. Due to the morphological homogeneity of the spe- cies, the taxonomic uncertainties have accumulated over time. Therefore, to explore the phylogenetic relationships among taxa, a combined approach using morphologi- cal and molecular data is needed. In this paper, we performed a phylogenetic analysis based on partial sequences of COI and 18S including 30 species of Bathynellidae. This data set represents the most updated one, including a new genus and a new spe- cies (Altainella calcarata gen…

Ant recognition cue diversity is higher in the presence of slavemaker ants

2015

Social insect colonies defend themselves from intruders through nestmate recognition, yet the evolution and maintenance of recognition cue diversity is still poorly understood. We compared the recognition cue diversity of 9 populations of Temnothorax longispinosus ant colonies, including populations that harbored the socially parasitic slavemaker ant, Protomognathus americanus. Although ants recognize friends from foe based on recognition cues encoded in their cuticular hydrocarbon profile, which specific compounds are involved in recognition is unknown for most species. We therefore started by statistically identifying 9 putative recognition compounds involved in worker and colony aggressi…

Identification and expression analysis of theSpodoptera exiguaneuropeptidome under different physiological conditions

2018

Neuropeptides are small signalling molecules acting as neurohormones, neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. Being part of the chemical communication system between cells within an organism, they are involved in the regulation of different aspects of animal physiology and behaviour such as feeding, reproduction, development and locomotion. Transcriptomic data from larval and adult tissues have been obtained and mined to generate a comprehensive neuropeptidome for the polyphagous insect pest Spodoptera exigua. Sixty-three neuropeptides have been identified and described based on their tissue specificity and their regulation in response to different abiotic perturbations. Expression analyses …

Cuticular hydrocarbon profiles differ between ant body parts: implications for communication and our understanding of CHC diffusion.

2020

Abstract Insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) serve as communication signals and protect against desiccation. They form complex blends of up to 150 different compounds. Due to differences in molecular packing, CHC classes differ in melting point. Communication is especially important in social insects like ants, which use CHCs to communicate within the colony and to recognize nestmates. Nestmate recognition models often assume a homogenous colony odor, where CHCs are collected, mixed, and redistributed in the postpharyngeal gland (PPG). Via diffusion, recognition cues should evenly spread over the body surface. Hence, CHC composition should be similar across body parts and in the PPG. To te…

Behavioural, ecological, and evolutionary aspects of diversity in frog colour patterns

2016

The role of colours and colour patterns in behavioural ecology has been extensively studied in a variety of contexts and taxa, while almost overlooked in many others. For decades anurans have been the focus of research on acoustic signalling due to the prominence of vocalisations in their communication. Much less attention has been paid to the enormous diversity of colours, colour patterns, and other types of putative visual signals exhibited by frogs. With the exception of some anecdotal observations and studies, the link between colour patterns and the behavioural and evolutionary ecology of anurans had not been addressed until approximately two decades ago. Since then, there has been eve…