Search results for "RED"
showing 10 items of 23890 documents
Skylarks trade size and energy content in weed seeds to maximize total ingested lipid biomass
2014
International audience; tThe trade-off between forage quality and quantity has been particularly studied in herbivore organisms,but much less for seed eating animals, in particular seed-eating birds which constitute the bulk of win-tering passerines in European farmlands. The skylark is one of the commonest farmland birds in winter,mainly feeding on seeds. We focus on weed seeds for conservation and management purposes. Weedseeds form the bulk of the diet of skylarks during winter period, and although this is still a matter fordiscussion, weed seed predation by granivorous has been suggested as an alternative to herbicides usedto regulate weed populations in arable crops. Our objectives wer…
Egalitarian mixed-species bird groups enhance winter survival of subordinate group members but only in high-quality forests
2020
AbstractOnly dominant individuals have unrestricted access to contested resources in group-living animals. In birds, subordinates with restricted access to resources may respond to intragroup contests by acquiring extra body reserves to avoid periods of food shortage. In turn, higher body mass reduces agility and increases predation and mortality risk to subordinates. Birds often live in hierarchically organized mixed-species groups, in which heterospecific individuals are considered to substitute for conspecifics as protection against predators at a significantly reduced competition cost. Crested tits (Lophophanes cristatus) and willow tits (Poecile montanus) form mixed-species groups duri…
Fishery-induced selection for slow somatic growth in European eel
2012
International audience; Both theoretical and experimental studies have shown that fishing mortality can induce adaptive responses in body growth rates of fishes in the opposite direction of natural selection. We compared body growth rates in European eel (Anguilla anguilla) from three Mediterranean stocks subject to different fishing pressure. Results are consistent with the hypotheses that i) fast-growing individuals are more likely to survive until sexual maturity than slow-growing ones under natural conditions (no fishing) and ii) fishing can select for slow-growing individuals by removing fast-growing ones. Although the possibility of human-induced evolution seems remote for a panmictic…
Epinephelus sicanus (Doderlein, 1882) (Perciformes: Serranidae: Epinephelinae), a valid species of grouper from the Mediterranean Sea
2020
During the editing of the paper “In memory of Pietro Doderlein” (Massa et al. 2018), consulting Doderlein’s bibliography, and highlighting some interesting documents and the material preserved in the Museum of Zoology of the University of Palermo (MZPA) (today named after Doderlein), a taxonomic anomaly was noticed about a grouper collected more than one hundred years ago. The aim of the present statement is to prove that the name Cerna sicana Doderlein, 1882 (presently as Epinephelus sicanus [Doderlein, 1882]) should be considered a valid species unless it is demonstrated that it is a synonym of another valid species. In 1882 Doderlein described Cerna sicana from a single specimen (Fig. 1)…
Helminth fauna of the invasive American red-eared sliderTrachemys scriptain eastern Spain: potential implications for the conservation of native terr…
2015
AbstractIn this study we report on the helminth fauna of the invasive American red-eared slider Trachemys scripta in five localities from eastern Spain where this species co-occurs with two native, endangered freshwater turtles, i.e. Emys orbicularis and Mauremys leprosa. In total, 46 individuals of T. scripta were analysed for parasites. Adult individuals of three helminth species were found: the monogenean Neopolystoma orbiculare, the digenean Telorchis solivagus and the nematode Serpinema microcephalus. Telorchis solivagus and S. microcephalus are trophically transmitted parasites of native turtles that probably infected T. scripta through shared infected prey. Neopolystoma orbiculare in…
Relationship between maternal transfer of immunity and mother fecundity in an insect.
2012
Trans-generational immune priming (TGIP) corresponds to the plastic adjustment of offspring immunity as a result of maternal immune experience. TGIP is expected to improve mother's fitness by improving offspring individual performance in an environment where parasitism becomes more prevalent. However, it was recently demonstrated that maternal transfer of immunity to the offspring is costly for immune-challenged female insects. Thus, these females might not provide immune protection to all their offspring because of the inherent cost of other fitness-related traits. Females are therefore expected to adjust their investment to individual offspring immune protection in ways that maximize the…
The ongoing naturalisation of Eucalyptus spp. in the Mediterranean Basin: new threats to native species and habitats
2019
The genus Eucalyptus has been widely introduced into many regions of the world outside its native range and has become invasive in some Mediterranean biomes (e.g. in southern Africa and California). In the Mediterranean Basin and Europe, eucalypts were introduced at the end of the 18th century. However, natural regeneration events in these regions are recent in time and limited in terms of affected areas, except for the Iberian Peninsula. An updated overview about the natural spread of Eucalyptus species in Italy is still lacking. This paper aims to fill this knowledge gap, using both published data and unpublished field data regarding naturalisation events, with a specific focus on Sicily.…
Floristic and Vegetation Changes on a Small Mediterranean Island over the Last Century
2021
A synthetic and updated overview about the vascular flora and vegetation of the Island of Capo Passero (SE-Sicily) is provided. These data issue from two series of field surveys—the first carried out between 1997 and 2000, and the second between 2005 and 2019 and mostly focused on refining and implementing vegetation data. The current islet’s flora consists of 269 taxa, of which 149 (58%) are annual plants. The Mediterranean species are largely prevailing, 108 (40%) of which have a strictly Mediterranean biogeographical status. The comparison with a species list published in 1919 and updated in 1957 suggest that, despite the overall prevalence of anemochorous taxa, the vertebrate fauna repr…
Consumption of pelagic tunicates by cetaceans calves in the Mediterranean Sea
2018
Gelatinous zooplankton, including jellyfish, ctenophores and pelagic tunicates, constitutes fragile marine animals that live in the water column, and represent an important resource for marine food webs through their seasonal pulses. Although there is scarce evidence on the occurrence of gelatinous zooplankton in stomach contents of apex, endothermic predators such as cetaceans, the ecological significance of such observations requires consideration. In this study, we report on the occurrence of pelagic tunicates in the stomach of three individual calves of two cetacean species from the western Mediterranean, and collate all previous reports of gelatinous zooplankton in cetacean diets. We t…
Predictive distribution models of European hake in the south-central Mediterranean Sea
2017
The effective management and conservation of fishery resources requires knowledge of their spatial distribution and notably of their critical life history stages. Predictive modelling of the European hake (Merluccius merluccius L., 1758) distribution was developed in the south-central Mediterranean Sea by means of historical fisheries-independent databases available in the region. The study area included the international waters of the south-central Mediterranean Sea and the territorial waters of Italy, Malta, Tunisia and Libya. Distribution maps of predicted population abundance index, and probabilistic occurrence of recruits and large adults were obtained by means of generalized additive …