Search results for "Season"
showing 10 items of 1002 documents
Food availability and the male's role in parental care in double-brooded TreecreepersCerthia familiaris
1996
The aim of this work was to examine differences in paternal and maternal care in a double-brooded, monogamous species, the Treecreeper Certhia familiaris, in relation to food availability. As a measure of parental care, we recorded the hourly feeding activity of parents when the nestlings from their first and second breeding attempts were 7 and 12 days old. Feeding frequency of the first brood increased with the age of the nestlings and also with the brood size when 12 days old. While the feeding activities of the females were similar with respect to the first and second broods, the males were less active and failed to provide any food to their nestlings in 15 cases out of 28 second broods.…
Effects of intensity and duration of infection by a hemiparasitic plant, Rhinanthus serotinus, on growth and reproduction of a perennial grass, Agros…
1999
Arising from annual variation in parasitic plant population densities, substantial yearly changes may occur in the parasitic load of an individual perennial host. We conducted two two-year greenhouse pot experiments to examine the effects of varying intensities and duration of infection by an annual root hemiparasitic plant, Rhinanthus serotinus, on the growth and reproduction of its perennial host grass, Agrostis capillaris. In the first experiment, one host plant was growing either alone or under a load of 1 or 3 root hemiparasitic plants for one growing season, and during the next season all hosts continued their life free of hemiparasites. In the second experiment, the host plants eithe…
Seasonal Variation in Nutrient Status of Foxglove Leaves
2006
The seasonal variation of mineral elements and the relationships among them were studied in natural populations of foxglove (Digitalis obscura). Young and mature leaves were collected in 10 different populations and on four sample dates (May, July, October, and February). Leaf mineral elements [nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu)] were determined. The highest concentrations of N, P, and K in young leaf were recorded in May, followed by a decrease in the other months, while in contrast Ca and Fe showed the lowest concentration in May. Mature leaves showed differential seasonal behavior. Besides seaso…
Phenolic Compounds in Needles of Norway Spruce Trees in Relation to Novel Forest Decline I. Studies on Trees from a Site in the Northern Black Forest
1992
Summary Contents of selected phenolic compounds in needles of Norway spruce trees (Picea abies) from the Black Forest were measured using a HPLC-technique elaborated for serial studies in forest decline research. Measurements on needles that were harvested on several dates during two growing seasons gave no hint of seasonal variations in the concentrations of the studied phenolic compounds. Values for picein demonstrate an average decrease in the needles of severely damaged trees compared with the still undamaged ones, but the results are impaired by strong individual variations among the single trees. p-Hydroxyacetophenone was found in only very low amounts showing no constant differences …
Effect of rootstock on trunk growth and foliar mineral content in cv. Bianca pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) trees
1998
Trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA) and mineral content were recorded for 4 years in the major Sicilian pistachio cultivar, Bianca, budded in 1991 onto eight in v/fro-propagated clonal rootstocks (Pistacia atlantica and P. integerrima) and one seedling rootstock (P. terebinthus). The trees were grown using standard cultural practices for Sicilian dry-land farming in a fine sandy soil, located inland in Sicily (20 km SW of Palermo, 350 m a.s.l.). From nine trees per rootstock, samples of 10 leaflets from the mid-section of current year shoots were taken yearly in August and analyzed for the main plant mineral elements (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and B). The TCSA was measured at the end of…
Territorial song and song neighbourhoods in the Scarlet Rosefinch Carpodacus erythrinus
2000
Throughout the range of the Scarlet Rosefinch, its territorial song consists of 3–9 (usually 4–5) elements, of which there are 5 different types. The differences lie in the way the pitch of the element changes in time (frequency “slope”) and the width of the frequency band. Within a given type of song, the various elements can be present in almost any combination. Therefore, so many song types can be formed that the songs in even small parts of the species’ area are clearly distinct from one another. Despite this capacity for variation, however, by chance identical songs may be sung in widely separated parts of the area, in some cases by different subspecies. The species has not developed l…
Does stump removal affect early growth and mycorrhizal infection of spruce (Picea abies) seedlings in clear-cuts?
2012
Abstract Stump removal procedure increases the extent of exposed mineral soil in the clear felled areas. In this study, our aim was to find out whether the early growth and mycorrhization of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) seedlings differ between stump removal and mounding sites. Stumps were harvested from five one-hectare study sites and other five sites were mounded after clear felling. Twenty seedlings were planted on mounds at each study site. Although the height of spruce seedlings did not differ between the treatments after three growing periods, their mean growth was ca. 10% higher at the stump removal sites. The community of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) in the seedling roots did n…
Responses of soil decomposer animals to wood-ash fertilisation and burning in a coniferous forest stand
2000
Abstract Responses of soil decomposer animals (enchytraeids and microarthropods) to wood-ash fertilisation (1000 and 5000 kg ha−1) and a fire treatment mimicking prescribed burning were studied in a Scots pine stand in central Finland. The experiment was conducted on 30 × 30 m2 plots, each treatment being replicated four times. Soil animals were sampled throughout the growing season in the third year after the treatments. As a rule, numbers of soil animals increased during the study period. Numbers of the only enchytraeid worm species found at the study site, Cognettia sphagnetorum, were lower in the plots with higher ash level and plots which have been burned. In the plots having these tre…
Female choice in the kestrel under different availability of mating options
1992
Abstract Mate choice in relation to its fitness consequences on females was studied in kestrels, Falco tinnunculus , in western Finland. The breeding season is short with rapidly declining prospects of successful breeding, suggesting that females should make their mating decision quickly. On average, males arrived a few days before females, but late males arrived much later than early females. Pairs were usually formed within 2 days of male arrival, and only early males were available to early females. Options for female choice differed considerably in years of different kestrel density. In a good vole year, 1988, females had many males to choose from, but in poor vole years, 1989 and 1990,…
Impact of Manaus City on the Amazon Green Ocean atmosphere: Ozone production, precursor sensitivity and aerosol load
2010
As a contribution to the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia – Cooperative LBA Airborne Regional Experiment (LBA-CLAIRE-2001) field campaign in the heart of the Amazon Basin, we analyzed the temporal and spatial dynamics of the urban plume of Manaus City during the wet-to-dry season transition period in July 2001. During the flights, we performed vertical stacks of crosswind transects in the urban outflow downwind of Manaus City, measuring a comprehensive set of trace constituents including O3, NO, NO2, CO, VOC, CO2, and H2O. Aerosol loads were characterized by concentrations of total aerosol number (CN) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), and by light scattering proper…