Search results for "Research"
showing 10 items of 25967 documents
The irreducible uncertainty of the demography–environment interaction in ecology
2002
The interpretation of ecological data has been greatly improved by bridging the gap between ecological and statistical models. The major challenge is to separate competing hypotheses concerning demography, or other ecological relationships, and environmental variability (noise). In this paper we demonstrate that this may be an arduous, if not impossible, task. It is the lack of adequate ecological theory, rather than statistical sophistication, which leads to this problem. A reconstruction of underlying ecological processes can only be done if we are certain of either the demographic or the noise model, which is something that can only be achieved by an improved theory of stochastic ecologi…
The "Tracked Roaming Transect" and distance sampling methods increase the efficiency of underwater visual censuses.
2018
Underwater visual census (UVC) is the most common approach for estimating diversity, abundance and size of reef fishes in shallow and clear waters. Abundance estimation through UVC is particularly problematic in species occurring at low densities and/or highly aggregated because of their high variability at both spatial and temporal scales. The statistical power of experiments involving UVC techniques may be increased by augmenting the number of replicates or the area surveyed. In this work we present and test the efficiency of an UVC method based on diver towed GPS, the Tracked Roaming Transect (TRT), designed to maximize transect length (and thus the surveyed area) with respect to diving …
Hydrology Affects Environmental and Spatial Structuring of Microalgal Metacommunities in Tropical Pacific Coast Wetlands
2016
The alternating climate between wet and dry periods has important effects on the hydrology and therefore on niche-based processes of water bodies in tropical areas. Additionally, assemblages of microorganism can show spatial patterns, in the form of a distance decay relationship due to their size or life form. We aimed to test spatial and environmental effects, modulated by a seasonal flooding climatic pattern, on the distribution of microalgae in 30 wetlands of a tropical dry forest region: the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Three surveys were conducted corresponding to the beginning, the highest peak, and the end of the hydrological year during the wet season, and species abun…
A molecular phylogeny for the leaf-roller moths (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) and its implications for classification and life history evolution.
2012
BackgroundTortricidae, one of the largest families of microlepidopterans, comprise about 10,000 described species worldwide, including important pests, biological control agents and experimental models. Understanding of tortricid phylogeny, the basis for a predictive classification, is currently provisional. We present the first detailed molecular estimate of relationships across the tribes and subfamilies of Tortricidae, assess its concordance with previous morphological evidence, and re-examine postulated evolutionary trends in host plant use and biogeography.Methodology/principal findingsWe sequenced up to five nuclear genes (6,633 bp) in each of 52 tortricids spanning all three subfamil…
Two new species of Brusqeulia Razowski & Becker, 2000 from the Neotropics, with comments on the systematic position of the genus in relation to the A…
2018
Two new species of the neotropical genus Brusqeulia Razowski & Becker, 2000, are described and illustrated: B.yunkensis Pérez Santa-Rita & Baixeras, sp. n. from Bolivia and B.araguensis Pérez Sant-Rita & Baixeras, sp. n. from Venezuela. The systematic position and diagnostic characters of the genus are reviewed, resulting in the synonymy of Pinhaisania Razowski & Becker, 2000, with Brusqeulia, and the combination B.crispula (Razowski & Becker, 2000), comb. n. New characters of the female genitalia are discussed.
Is maternal thyroid hormone deposition subject to a trade-off between self and egg because of iodine?
2021
ABSTRACT Maternal hormones constitute a key signalling pathway for mothers to shape offspring phenotype and fitness. Thyroid hormones (THs; triiodothyronine, T3; and thyroxine, T4) are metabolic hormones known to play crucial roles in embryonic development and survival in all vertebrates. During early developmental stages, embryos exclusively rely on exposure to maternal THs, and maternal hypothyroidism can cause severe embryonic maldevelopment. The TH molecule includes iodine, an element that cannot be synthesised by the organism. Therefore, TH production may become costly when environmental iodine availability is low. This may yield a trade-off for breeding females between allocating the …
Mating Status of an Herbivorous Stink Bug Female Affects the Emission of Oviposition-Induced Plant Volatiles Exploited by an Egg Parasitoid
2019
Insect parasitoids are under selection pressure to optimize their host location strategy in order to maximize fitness. In parasitoid species that develop on host eggs, one of these strategies consists in the exploitation of oviposition-induced plant volatiles (OIPVs), specific blends of volatile organic compounds released by plants in response to egg deposition by herbivorous insects. Plants can recognize insect oviposition via elicitors that trigger OIPVs, but very few elicitors have been characterized so far. In particular, the source and the nature of the elicitor responsible of egg parasitoid recruitment in the case of plants induced with oviposition by stink bugs are still unknown. In …
A modified niche model for generating food webs with stage‐structured consumers: The stabilizing effects of life‐history stages on complex food webs
2021
Abstract Almost all organisms grow in size during their lifetime and switch diets, trophic positions, and interacting partners as they grow. Such ontogenetic development introduces life‐history stages and flows of biomass between the stages through growth and reproduction. However, current research on complex food webs rarely considers life‐history stages. The few previously proposed methods do not take full advantage of the existing food web structural models that can produce realistic food web topologies.We extended the niche model developed by Williams and Martinez (Nature, 2000, 404, 180–183) to generate food webs that included trophic species with a life‐history stage structure. Our me…
Characterization of Legal Psychology through psychology journals included in Criminology & Penology and Law categories of Web of Science
2017
The objective of this work is to learn about the most relevant aspects that characterize contemporary Legal Psychology throughout the study of journals included in the WoS between the years 2009 and 2014 related with the area of Psychology. The number of selected publications is 16, mainly from the USA and Great Britain. The results show an increase in the number of works and authors, a greater collaboration and a growth in medium productors. It exists a major presence of men in editorial boards and as authors, outstanding the figures of T. Ward in 2009 and A. Vrij in 2014. According to the analysis of key words the most relevant themes during these years have been Crime, Conduct, Woman and…
Environmental change and disease dynamics: effects of intensive forest management on Puumala hantavirus infection in boreal bank vole populations.
2012
Intensive management of Fennoscandian forests has led to a mosaic of woodlands in different stages of maturity. The main rodent host of the zoonotic Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) is the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), a species that can be found in all woodlands and especially mature forests. We investigated the influence of forest age structure on PUUV infection dynamics in bank voles. Over four years, we trapped small mammals twice a year in a forest network of different succession stages in Northern Finland. Our study sites represented four forest age classes from young (4 to 30 years) to mature (over 100 years) forests. We show that PUUV-infected bank voles occurred commonly in all forest age…