Search results for "QH"
showing 10 items of 2409 documents
De novo genome assembly of the land snail Candidula unifasciata (Mollusca: Gastropoda)
2021
Abstract Among all molluscs, land snails are a scientifically and economically interesting group comprising edible species, alien species and agricultural pests. Yet, despite their high diversity, the number of genome drafts publicly available is still scarce. Here, we present the draft genome assembly of the land snail Candidula unifasciata, a widely distributed species along central Europe, belonging to the Geomitridae family, a highly diversified taxon in the Western-Palearctic region. We performed whole genome sequencing, assembly and annotation of an adult specimen based on PacBio and Oxford Nanopore long read sequences as well as Illumina data. A genome draft of about 1.29 Gb was gene…
Soil properties determine the elevational patterns of base cations and micronutrients in the plant-soil system up to the upper limits of trees and sh…
2018
Abstract. To understand whether base cations and micronutrients in the plant–soil system change with elevation, we investigated the patterns of base cations and micronutrients in both soils and plant tissues along three elevational gradients in three climate zones in China. Base cations (Ca, Mg, and K) and micronutrients (Fe, Mn, and Zn) were determined in soils, trees, and shrubs growing at lower and middle elevations as well as at their upper limits on Balang (subtropical, SW China), Qilian (dry temperate, NW China), and Changbai (wet temperate, NE China) mountains. No consistent elevational patterns were found for base cation and micronutrient concentrations in both soils and plant tissu…
Brown bear behaviour in human-modified landscapes: The case of the endangered Cantabrian population, NW Spain
2018
Large carnivores are recolonizing parts of their historical range in Europe, a heavily modified human landscape. This calls for an improvement of our knowledge on how large carnivores manage to coexist with humans, and on the effects that human activity has on large carnivore behaviour, especially in areas where carnivore populations are still endangered. Brown bears Ursus arctos have been shown to be sensitive to the presence of people and their activities. Thus, bear conservation and management should take into account potential behavioural alterations related to living in human-modified landscapes. We studied the behaviour of brown bears in the Cantabrian Mountains, NW Spain, where an en…
EST based phylogenomics of Syndermata questions monophyly of Eurotatoria
2008
Abstract Background The metazoan taxon Syndermata comprising Rotifera (in the classical sense of Monogononta+Bdelloidea+Seisonidea) and Acanthocephala has raised several hypotheses connected to the phylogeny of these animal groups and the included subtaxa. While the monophyletic origin of Syndermata and Acanthocephala is well established based on morphological and molecular data, the phylogenetic position of Syndermata within Spiralia, the monophyletic origin of Monogononta, Bdelloidea, and Seisonidea and the acanthocephalan sister group are still a matter of debate. The comparison of the alternative hypotheses suggests that testing the phylogenetic validity of Eurotatoria (Monogononta+Bdel…
The tropical African genus Morgenia (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae, Phaneropterinae) with emphasis on the spur at the mid tibia
2018
The authors revised the genus Morgenia Karsch, 1890 which now consists of eight species, of which three are here newly described (Morgeniaplurimaculata Massa & Moulin, sp. n., M.angustipinnata Massa, sp. n., and M.lehmannorum Heller & Massa, sp. n.). Six of the eight species occur in the Tri National Sangha (TNS) comprising Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve and Dzanga Ndoki National Park (Central African Republic), whose high biodiversity has been recently highlighted. In particular the genus is characterised by the presence of a more or less long spur at the inner mid tibia, different in each species; in M.modulata, it moved lower down into a new position at about ¼ of tibia, w…
Multiple paths to cold tolerance: the role of environmental cues, morphological traits and the circadian clock gene vrille
2021
AbstractBackgroundTracing the association between insect cold tolerance and latitudinally and locally varying environmental conditions, as well as key morphological traits and molecular mechanisms, is essential for understanding the processes involved in adaptation. We explored these issues in two closely-related species, Drosophila montana and Drosophila flavomontana, originating from diverse climatic locations across several latitudes on the coastal and mountainous regions of North America. We also investigated the association between sequence variation in one of the key circadian clock genes, vrille, and cold tolerance in both species. Finally, we studied the impact of vrille on fly cold…
Conservation and people: Towards an ethical code of conduct for the use of camera traps in wildlife research
2020
International audience; Abstract 1. Camera trapping is a widely employed tool in wildlife research, used to estimate animal abundances, understand animal movement, assess species richness and understand animal behaviour. In addition to images of wild animals, research cameras often record human images, inadvertently capturing behaviours ranging from innocuous actions to potentially serious crimes. 2. With the increasing use of camera traps, there is an urgent need to reflect on how researchers should deal with human images caught on cameras. On the one hand, it is important to respect the privacy of individuals caught on cameras, while, on the other hand, there is a larger public duty to re…
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…
Accounting for preferential sampling in species distribution models
2019
D. C., A. L. Q. and F. M. would like to thank the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain) for financial support (jointly financed by the European Regional Development Fund) via Research Grants MTM2013‐42323‐P and MTM2016‐77501‐P, and ACOMP/2015/202 from Generalitat Valenciana (Spain). Species distribution models (SDMs) are now being widely used in ecology for management and conservation purposes across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine realms. The increasing interest in SDMs has drawn the attention of ecologists to spatial models and, in particular, to geostatistical models, which are used to associate observations of species occurrence or abundance with environmental covariates in a fi…
New conservation viewpoints when plants are viewed at one level higher. Integration of phylogeographic structure, niche modeling and genetic diversit…
2019
Protection and management of closely related endangered species and subspecies at a very narrow regional scale is the origin of multiple dysfunctional conservation decisions. These include artificially increased IUCN risk assessment categories and derived consequences: poor effectiveness in allocating public and private funds or repeat of unnecessary actions/facilities. Data provided by the revisited study of a group of W Mediterranean larkspurs (Delphinium ser. Fissa), including new data on demography, niche modeling, genetic diversity and phylogeography, contributed to a new and wider analysis of causes of threat. Although current IUCN Red List regulations did not allow for assessments at…