Search results for "SER"
showing 10 items of 22769 documents
Population Persistence and Offspring Fitness in the Rare Bellflower Campanula Cervicaria in Relation to Population Size and Habitat Quality
2000
Data from several animal species and a few plant species indicate that small populations face an elevated risk of extinction. Plants are still underrepresented in these studies concerning the relation between population size and persistence. We studied the effect of population size on persistence among natural popu- lations of the rare bellflower Campanula cervicaria in Finland. We monitored 52 bellflower populations for 8 years and found that the mean population size decreased from 24 to 14 during this period. Small popula- tions with # 5 individuals were more prone to losing all fertile plants than were larger ones. Reduction in population size was nevertheless unrelated to the degree of …
Soil feedback on plant growth in a sub-arctic grassland as a result of repeated defoliation
2008
In the long term, defoliation of plants can be hypothesized to decrease plant carbon supply to soil decomposers and thus decrease decomposer abundance and nutrient mineralization in the soil. To test whether defoliation creates changes in soil that can feedback to plant growth, we collected soil from sub-arctic grassland plots that had been either defoliated or non-defoliated for three years and followed the growth of different plant species combinations in these soils in greenhouse conditions. Plant N acquisition and plant growth were lower in the soil collected from the defoliated field plots than in the soil collected from the non-defoliated plots. This response did not depend on the spe…
Coastal Research Seen Through an Early Career Lens—A Perspective on Barriers to Interdisciplinarity in Norway
2021
The value of interdisciplinarity for solving complex coastal problems is widely recognized. Many early career researchers (ECRs) therefore actively seek this type of collaboration through choice or necessity, for professional development or project funding. However, establishing and conducting interdisciplinary research collaborations as an ECR has many challenges. Here, we identify these challenges through the lens of ECRs working in different disciplines on a common ecosystem, the Norwegian Skagerrak coast. The most densely populated coastline in Norway, the Skagerrak coast, is experiencing a multitude of anthropogenic stressors including fishing, aquaculture, eutrophication, climate chan…
Advancing Through the Pandemic From the Perspective of Marine Graduate Researchers: Challenges, Solutions, and Opportunities
2020
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a new social and academic reality to researchers worldwide. The field of marine science, our own topic of interest, has also been impacted in multiple ways, from cancelation of laboratory and field activities to postponement of onboard research. As graduate researchers, we have a time-sensitive academic path, and our current situation may constrain our academic future. At the same time, the pandemic demands revised strategies to deal with the ongoing difficulties and tackle similar future situations. In this perspective, we have gathered information on the challenges, solutions and opportunities for graduate researchers in the field of marine …
50,000 years of ice and seals: Impacts of the Last Glacial Maximum on Antarctic fur seals
2021
Abstract Ice is one of the most important drivers of population dynamics in polar organisms, influencing the locations, sizes, and connectivity of populations. Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella, are particularly interesting in this regard, as they are concomitantly reliant on both ice‐associated prey and ice‐free coastal breeding areas. We reconstructed the history of this species through the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) using genomic sequence data from seals across their range. Population size trends and divergence events were investigated using continuous‐time size estimation analysis and divergence time estimation models. The combined results indicated that a panmictic population …
Diversity and endemism of woody plant species in the Equatorial Pacific seasonally dry forests
2009
The biodiversity hotspot of the Equatorial Pacific region in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru comprises the most extensive seasonally dry forest formations west of the Andes. Based on a recently assembled checklist of the woody plants occurring in this region, we analysed their geographical and altitudinal distribution patterns. The montane seasonally dry forest region (at an altitude between 1,000 and 1,100 m, and the smallest in terms of area) was outstanding in terms of total species richness and number of endemics. The extensive seasonally dry forest formations in the Ecuadorean and Peruvian lowlands and hills (i.e., forests below 500 m altitude) were comparatively much more specie…
Deficiency in the Phosphorylated Pathway of Serine Biosynthesis Perturbs Sulfur Assimilation.
2018
Although the plant Phosphorylated Pathway of l-Ser Biosynthesis (PPSB) is essential for embryo and pollen development, and for root growth, its metabolic implications have not been fully investigated. A transcriptomics analysis of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) PPSB-deficient mutants at night, when PPSB activity is thought to be more important, suggested interaction with the sulfate assimilation process. Because sulfate assimilation occurs mainly in the light, we also investigated it in PPSB-deficient lines in the day. Key genes in the sulfate starvation response, such as the adenosine 5′phosphosulfate reductase genes, along with sulfate transporters, especially those involved in sulfat…
Identification and molecular characterization of the high-affinity copper transporters family in Solanum lycopersicum
2021
Copper (Cu) plays a key role as cofactor in the plant proteins participating in essential cellular processes, such as electron transport and free radical scavenging. Despite high-affinity Cu transporters (COPTs) being key participants in Cu homeostasis maintenance, very little is known about COPTs in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) even though it is the most consumed fruit worldwide and this crop is susceptible to suboptimal Cu conditions. In this study, a six-member family of COPT (SlCOPT1-6) was identified and characterized. SlCOPTs have a conserved architecture consisting of three transmembrane domains and β-strains. However, the presence of essential methionine residues, a methionine-enri…
Conservation of the Grey Bush Cricket Platycleis albopunctata (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) Under Differing Habitat Conditions: Implications From an In…
2009
Assessing the chance of survival of any species is a great challenge in conservation biology. In this chapter, we analyse the vulnerability of the grey bush cricket Platycleis albopunctata in habitats of different food availability under current and increased temperature conditions applying an individual-based model. Our simulations show that populations in warmer habitats with a higher food limitation have a much lower extinction risk than those living in habitats that are less food-limited and colder. An increase in mortalities of life stages severely increases the risk of population extinction, whereas a shift in the termination of egg diapause towards the beginning of the year caused by…
Long-term changes in autumn migration dates at the Strait of Gibraltar reflect population trends of soaring birds
2016
A growing body of work shows that climate change is the cause of a number of directional shifts in the spring phenology of migratory birds. However, changes in autumn phenology are well studied and their consistency across species, as well as their link with population trends, remains uncertain. We investigate changes in the autumn migration dates of 11 species of soaring birds over the Strait of Gibraltar over a 16-year period. Using models corrected for phylogeny, we assessed whether ecological and morphological characteristics, as well as population trends, account for interspecific shifts in migration times. We recorded different phenological changes in different periods of the migratio…