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Bayesian analysis improves experimental studies about temporal patterning of aggression in fish.
2017
Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T17:15:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2017-12-01 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) This study aims to describe a Bayesian Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) approach for longitudinal designs in fish's experimental aggressive behavior studies as an alternative to classical methods In particular, we discuss the advantages of Bayesian analysis in dealing with combined variables, non-statistically significant results and required sample size using an experiment of angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare) species as case study. Groups of 3 individuals were subjected to daily observations recorded for 10 min durin…
Going underground: short- and long-term movements may reveal the fossorial spatial ecology of an amphisbaenian
2021
[Background]: The movement and spatial ecology of an animal depends on its morphological and functional adaptations to its environment. In fossorial animals, adaptations to the underground life help to face peculiar ecological challenges, very different from those of epigeal species, but may constrain their movement ability.
Efficient estimation of generalized linear latent variable models.
2019
Generalized linear latent variable models (GLLVM) are popular tools for modeling multivariate, correlated responses. Such data are often encountered, for instance, in ecological studies, where presence-absences, counts, or biomass of interacting species are collected from a set of sites. Until very recently, the main challenge in fitting GLLVMs has been the lack of computationally efficient estimation methods. For likelihood based estimation, several closed form approximations for the marginal likelihood of GLLVMs have been proposed, but their efficient implementations have been lacking in the literature. To fill this gap, we show in this paper how to obtain computationally convenient estim…
Adaptation of turnip mosaic potyvirus to a specific niche reduces its genetic and environmental robustness
2020
Robustness is the preservation of the phenotype in the face of genetic and environmental perturbations. It has been argued that robustness must be an essential fitness component of RNA viruses owed to their small and compacted genomes, high mutation rates and living in ever-changing environmental conditions. Given that genetic robustness might hamper possible beneficial mutations, it has been suggested that genetic robustness can only evolve as a side-effect of the evolution of robustness mechanisms specific to cope with environmental perturbations, a theory known as plastogenetic congruence. However, empirical evidences from different viral systems are contradictory. To test how adaptation…
Natural Selection Fails to Optimize Mutation Rates for Long-Term Adaptation on Rugged Fitness Landscapes
2008
The rate of mutation is central to evolution. Mutations are required for adaptation, yet most mutations with phenotypic effects are deleterious. As a consequence, the mutation rate that maximizes adaptation will be some intermediate value. Here, we used digital organisms to investigate the ability of natural selection to adjust and optimize mutation rates. We assessed the optimal mutation rate by empirically determining what mutation rate produced the highest rate of adaptation. Then, we allowed mutation rates to evolve, and we evaluated the proximity to the optimum. Although we chose conditions favorable for mutation rate optimization, the evolved rates were invariably far below the optimu…
Local and systemic mycorrhiza-induced protection against the ectoparasitic nematode Xiphinema index involves priming of defence gene responses in gra…
2012
International audience; The ectoparasitic dagger nematode (Xiphinema index), vector of Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV), provokes gall formation and can cause severe damage to the root system of grapevines. Mycorrhiza formation by Glomus (syn. Rhizophagus) intraradices BEG141 reduced both gall formation on roots of the grapevine rootstock SO4 (Vitis berlandierixV. riparia) and nematode number in the surrounding soil. Suppressive effects increased with time and were greater when the nematode was post-inoculated rather than co-inoculated with the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus. Using a split-root system, decreased X. index development was shown in mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal parts of my…
A new flatworm species of Temnocephala (Rhabdocoela, Temnocephalidae) ectosymbiont on the freshwater crab Valdivia serrata (Decapoda, Trichodactylida…
2020
A new species of temnocephalan is described from the branchial chambers ofValdivia serratain Colombia asTemnocephala ivandarioisp. nov.The most distinctive characters of the new species are in the cirrus and the epidermal ‘excretory’ syncytial plates. In the present study, the terminology to describe the cirrus of species ofTemnocephalais updated. Comparison between the shape of the cirrus of the temnocephalans associated with trichodactylid crabs is also provided.
Numerical response of predators to large variations of grassland vole abundance and long‐term community changes
2020
Abstract Voles can reach high densities with multiannual population fluctuations of large amplitude, and they are at the base of predator communities in Northern Eurasia and Northern America. This status places them at the heart of management conflicts wherein crop protection and health concerns are often raised against conservation issues. Here, a 20‐year survey describes the effects of large variations in grassland vole populations on the densities and the daily theoretical food intakes (TFI) of vole predators based on roadside counts. Our results show how the predator community responded to prey variations of large amplitude and how it reorganized with the increase in a dominant predator…
Short-term benefits, but transgenerational costs of maternal loss in an insect with facultative maternal care
2015
A lack of parental care is generally assumed to entail substantial fitness costs for offspring that ultimately select for the maintenance of family life across generations. However, it is unknown whether these costs arise when parental care is facultative, thus questioning their fundamental importance in the early evolution of family life. Here, we investigated the short-term, long-term and transgenerational effects of maternal loss in the European earwig Forficula auricularia , an insect with facultative post-hatching maternal care. We showed that maternal loss did not influence the developmental time and survival rate of juveniles, but surprisingly yielded adults of larger body and force…
Kinetic studies on protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibition by diphenyl ether herbicides
1991
Diphenyl ethers (DPEs) and related herbicides are powerful inhibitors of protoporphyrinogen oxidase, an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of haems and chlorophylls. The inhibition kinetics of protoporphyrinogen oxidase of various origins by four DPEs, (methyl)-5-[2-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-2-nitrobenzoic acid (acifluorfen and its methyl ester, acifluorfen-methyl), methyl-5-[2-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl) phenoxy]-2-chlorobenzoate (LS 820340) and methyl-5-[2-chloro-5-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-2-nitrobenzoic acid (RH 5348), were studied. The inhibitions of the enzymes from maize (Zea mays) mitochondrial and etiochloroplastic membranes and mouse liver mitochondrial membranes were com…