Search results for "parr"
showing 10 items of 211 documents
Recreational noise pollution of traditional festivals reduces the juvenile productivity of an avian urban bioindicator.
2021
Noise is a pollutant of emergent concern for ecologists and conservation biologists. Recreational noise pollution, especially unpredictable and intermittent sounds, and its effects on wildlife and biodiversity have been poorly studied. Researchers have paid very little attention to the effect of noisy traditional festivals (fireworks and powder-guns). This study aimed to explore the effect of these recreational activities on the juvenile productivity of an urban avian bioindicator: the house sparrow. We studied five pairs of localities in the Valencia Region (E Spain) with noisy traditional festivals. Each pair was composed of one locality with festivals during the breeding season and the c…
Condition-dependent effects of corticosterone on a carotenoid-based begging signal in house sparrows
2008
International audience; Begging is a complex display involving a variety of different visual and auditory signals. Parents are thought to use these signals to adjust their investment in food provisioning. The mechanisms that ensure the honesty of begging displays as indicators of need have been recently investigated. It has been shown that levels of corticosterone (Cort), the hormone released during the stress response, increase during food shortage and are associated with an increased begging rate. In a recent study in house sparrows, although exogenous Cort increased begging rate, parents did not accordingly adjust their provisioning rate. Here, we tested the hypothesis that Cort might af…
Mitochondrial heteroplasmy in an avian hybrid form (Passer italiae: Aves, Passeriformes)
2019
Mitochondrial heteroplasmy is the result from biparental transmission of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to the offspring. In such rare cases, maternal and paternal mtDNA is present in the same individual. Though recent studies suggested that mtDNA heteroplasmy might be more common than previously anticipated, that phenomenon is still poorly documented and was mostly detected in case studies on hybrid populations. The Italian sparrow, Passer italiae is a homoploid hybrid form that occurs all across the Italian Peninsula mostly under strict absence of either of its parent species, the house sparrow (P. domesticus) and the Spanish sparrow (P. hispaniolensis). In this study, we document a new case o…
North African hybrid sparrows (Passer domesticus, P. hispaniolensis) back from oblivion – ecological segregation and asymmetric mitochondrial introgr…
2016
A stabilized hybrid form of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) and the Spanish sparrow (P. hispaniolensis) is known as Passer italiae from the Italian Peninsula and a few Mediterranean islands. The growing attention for the Italian hybrid sparrow and increasing knowledge on its biology and genetic constitution greatly contrast the complete lack of knowledge of the long-known phenotypical hybrid sparrow populations from North Africa. Our study provides new data on the breeding biology and variation of mitochondrial DNA in three Algerian populations of house sparrows, Spanish sparrows, and phenotypical hybrids. In two field seasons, the two species occupied different breeding habitats: Spa…
Early developmental conditions affect stress response in juvenile but not in adult house sparrows (Passer domesticus).
2009
6 pages; International audience; The short- and long-term consequences of developmental conditions on fitness have received growing attention because the environmental conditions during early life may influence growth, condition at independence, recruitment, reproductive success or survival. We tested here, in a natural house sparrow population, if early conditions during nestling stage affected the stress response of the birds (i) shortly after fledging and (ii) next year, during their first breeding. We experimentally manipulated brood size to mimic different rearing conditions, creating reduced (-2 chicks) and enlarged broods (+2 chicks), while in a third group brood size was not manipul…
Diversifying selection on MHC class I in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus).
2009
10 pages; International audience; Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are the most polymorphic loci known in vertebrates. Two main hypotheses have been put forward to explain the maintenance of MHC diversity: pathogen-mediated selection and MHC-based mate choice. Host-parasite interactions can maintain MHC diversity via frequency-dependent selection, heterozygote advantage, and diversifying selection (spatially and/or temporally heterogeneous selection). In this study, we wished to investigate the nature of selection acting on the MHC class I across spatially structured populations of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in France. To infer the nature of the selection, we comp…
EPIDEMIOLOGY OF PLASMODIUM RELICTUM INFECTION IN THE HOUSE SPARROW.
2014
International audience; : Abstract In vertebrates, multiple host characteristics and environmental factors are known to influence infectious disease dynamics. Here, we investigated variability in prevalence and parasitemia of Plasmodium relictum in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), across a large number of rural and urban populations (n = 16). We found that prevalence was not predicted by any of the host traits investigated (age, sex, body mass or wing length). However, parasitemia was significantly higher in females when compared to males and in 1-yr-olds as compared to older individuals. Neither prevalence nor parasitemia differed according to habitat type (urban vs. rural). These re…
Urbanization, trace metal pollution, and malaria prevalence in the house sparrow.
2013
10 pages; International audience; Anthropogenic pollution poses a threat for the environment and wildlife. Trace metals (TMs) are known to have negative effects on haematological status, oxidative balance, and reproductive success in birds. These pollutants particularly increase in concentration in industrialized, urbanized and intensive agricultural areas. Pollutants can also interfere with the normal functioning of the immune system and, as such, alter the dynamics of host-parasite interactions. Nevertheless, the impact of pollution on infectious diseases has been largely neglected in natural populations of vertebrates. Here, we used a large spatial scale monitoring of 16 house sparrow (P…
Phenotypic Divergence among West European Populations of Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus: The Effects of Migratory and Foraging Behaviours
2013
[EN] Divergent selection and local adaptation are responsible for many phenotypic differences between populations, potentially leading to speciation through the evolution of reproductive barriers. Here we evaluated the morphometric divergence among west European populations of Reed Bunting in order to determine the extent of local adaptation relative to two important selection pressures often associated with speciation in birds: migration and diet. We show that, as expected by theory, migratory E. s. schoeniclus had longer and more pointed wings and a slightly smaller body mass than the resident subspecies, with the exception of E. s. lusitanica, which despite having rounder wings was the s…
Carbon storage of Mediterranean grasslands
2016
Secondary grasslands are one of the most common vegetation types worldwide. In Europe, and in the Mediterranean basin, human activities have transformed many woodlands into secondary grasslands. Despite their recognized role in the global carbon cycle, very few data are available for estimating the biomass of Mediterranean grasslands. We developed linear regression models in order to predict the biomass of two native Mediterranean grasses (Ampelodesmos mauritanicus and Hyparrhenia hirta) and an invasive alien grass (Pennisetum setaceum). Ampelodesmos mauritanicus is very common throughout the Mediterranean basin, mostly on north-facing slopes, H. hirta characterizes thermo-xeric grasslands,…