Search results for "Nature"
showing 10 items of 1564 documents
Incubation and hatching periods in a Mediterranean Great Tit Parus major population
2014
Capsule The onset of incubation relative to clutch completion is highly variable in Great Tits Parus major, and has important consequences for the duration of the incubation and hatching periods.Aim To investigate when incubation starts relative to clutch completion, its effects on the length of the incubation and hatching periods, and which proximate factors affect all of these traits.Methods We used data from a Great Tit population in Eastern Spain collected over 15 years. Periodic visits to the nests (daily at some stages) allowed the determination of breeding parameters of interest. General linear models were used for analyses.Results On average, incubation started the day of laying of …
Aspects of the breeding ecology of Rufous Bush RobinsCercotrichas galactotesin southeast Spain
1988
The breeding ecology of Rufous Bush Robin Cercotrichas galactotes was studied over 4 years in southeast Spain. The vegetation of the study area was made up mainly of Olives, Almonds and small shrubs. The density of this species decreased from 0.36 pairs 10 ha-1 in 1980 to 0.7 pairs 10 ha-1 in 1984, a decrease similar to one observed in other parts of Spain. The breeding season lasted from late May or early June to late August. About two-thirds of the pairs laid 2 clutches. Mean clutch size was 3.6 eggs. The incubation period lasted about 13 days and nestlings left the nest after 10 days. Mortality was greater in first clutches, mainly because of predation, which did not occur in second clut…
The sanitation service of seagrasses – Dependencies and implications for the estimation of avoided costs
2022
Seagrasses are capable of sanitizing coastal seawaters polluted by fecal bacteria. In this work, the reduction of Enterococci concentration in the presence of a seagrasses’ assemblage (Pacific Ocean) was related to the decrease in the probability of gastroenteritis. A linear model fitted to data extracted from the literature showed a 20% reduction of this probability in the presence of these plants. Seagrass sanitation effect was estimated to allow avoiding ca. 24 million gastroenteritis cases/year, globally. Considering a global cost of gastroenteritis of ca. US$ 372 million/year, the global avoided cost, assuming that the sanitation service was always effective, was estimated to be ca. US…
Variation in clutch size in relation to nest size in birds
2014
© 2014 The Authors. Nests are structures built to support and protect eggs and/or offspring from predators, parasites, and adverse weather conditions. Nests are mainly constructed prior to egg laying, meaning that parent birds must make decisions about nest site choice and nest building behavior before the start of egg-laying. Parent birds should be selected to choose nest sites and to build optimally sized nests, yet our current understanding of clutch size-nest size relationships is limited to small-scale studies performed over short time periods. Here, we quantified the relationship between clutch size and nest size, using an exhaustive database of 116 slope estimates based on 17,472 nes…
Top-down effects of a lytic bacteriophage and protozoa on bacteria in aqueous and biofilm phases
2014
Lytic bacteriophages and protozoan predators are the major causes of bacterial mortality in natural microbial communities, which also makes them potential candidates for biological control of bacterial pathogens. However, little is known about the relative impact of bacteriophages and protozoa on the dynamics of bacterial biomass in aqueous and biofilm phases. Here, we studied the temporal and spatial dynamics of bacterial biomass in a microcosm experiment where opportunistic pathogenic bacteria Serratia marcescens was exposed to particle‐feeding ciliates, surface‐feeding amoebas, and lytic bacteriophages for 8 weeks, ca. 1300 generations. We found that ciliates were the most efficient enem…
Effects of forest restoration treatments on the abundance of bark beetles in Norway spruce forests of southern Finland
2009
Abstract Restoration of protected areas in boreal forests frequently includes creating substantial volumes of dead wood. While this benefits a wide range of dead wood dependent invertebrate species, some of these are regarded as forest pests. Therefore, the risk of elevated levels of tree mortality in surrounding commercial forests must be considered. In a large-scale field experiment in southern Finland, we studied the effects of restoration treatments on the abundance of bark beetles within and in the vicinity of restored areas, in particular focusing on Ips typographus and Pityogenes chalcographus . The treatments applied to managed Norway spruce forests were controlled burning and parti…
From sin to the civil order, unions outside of marriage under the law (XVI-XX century)
2011
The aim of this thesis is to understand the legal status of unmarried couples, over a period of time extending for nearly five centuries. The canon law of marriage relegated cohabitation to a permanent state of sin, and in the sixteenth century, the council of Trent prescribed severe penalties to punish cohabitation. The fathers of the council enacted rules governing the celebration of marriage. Secular authority then gradually arrogated jurisdiction in matrimonial matters by means of laws and jurisprudence. The line between marriage and cohabitation was now strictly drawn. Although the old law did not consider cohabitation as a crime, it castigated children born outside of wedlock by subje…
Influences of landscape structure on diversity of beetles associated with bracket fungi in Brazilian Atlantic Forest
2015
Abstract Brazilian Atlantic forest ecosystem is a global biodiversity hotspot. We studied the effects of area, connectivity and habitat quality of conservation areas on the diversity of beetles associated with basidiomes of wood-decaying fungi. Moreover, we analyzed the beetles' composition to verify what the process that produces the differentiation between the patches (β diversity). Species richness of fungivorous beetles increased the larger the area and the better the connectivity of conservation areas; however, neither area nor connectivity had an independent effect on beetle richness. Furthermore, the fungivorous beetle community was affected by the reduction in resource availability …
Management diversity begets biodiversity in production forest landscapes
2022
How to manage forest for biodiversity conservation is an ongoing debate. We argue that maximizing biodiversity in managed forest landscapes requires a diversity of forest management regimes in space and time. This will generate high levels of habitat heterogeneity at a landscape scale, which in turn will support various groups of forest species. Based on concepts from landscape ecology, we formulate five hypotheses on how management diversity, i.e. combining various management approaches can benefit overall biodiversity across a production forest landscape. First, management diversity will increase habitat diversity and, therefore, beta diversity (the habitat diversity hypothesis). Second, …
MICROBIAL COMMUNITY CHANGES IN TNT SPIKED SOIL BIOREMEDIATION TRIAL USING BIOSTIMULATION, PHYTOREMEDIATION AND BIOAUGMENTATION
2013
Trinitrotoluene (TNT), a commonly used explosive for military and industrial applications, can cause serious environmental pollution. 28-day laboratory pot experiment was carried out applying bioaugmentation using laboratory selected bacterial strains as inoculum, biostimulation with molasses and cabbage leaf extract, and phytoremediation using rye and blue fenugreek to study the effect of these treatments on TNT removal and changes in soil microbial community responsible for contaminant degradation. Chemical analyses revealed significant decreases in TNT concentrations, including reduction of some of the TNT to its amino derivates during the 28-day tests. The combination of bioaugmentation…