Growth of European roe deer: patterns and rates.

International audienceThe aim of this study was to describe the pattern and rates of growth of roe deer fawns up to the age of weaning. Eighteen fawns of Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) raised by their mothers in enclosures grew at decelerating rates after birth, with a monomolecular rather than sigmoid pattern. Bottle rearing modified profoundly the natural pattern of growth, but these fawns caught up with mother-reared fawns by weaning (about six months). There was no evidence for differential investment by the mothers in male and female offspring. Most mother-reared fawns showed an initial, near-linear phase in their first month (10/12 individuals). During this period milk provides all, or nearly all the nutrients; the rates of growth were high (145 g/day), and close to the value observed in a highly productive wild population. The decelerating rate of growth may be a consequence of allocation of resources to movement as these “hider” young become more active; and the monomolecular pattern may be commoner among ungulates than is currently realised

The MALINA oceanographic expedition : how do changes in ice cover, permafrost and UV radiation impact biodiversity and biogeochemical fluxes in the Arctic Ocean?

The MALINA oceanographic campaign was conducted during summer 2009 to investigate the carbon stocks and the processes controlling the carbon fluxes in the Mackenzie River estuary and the Beaufort Sea. During the campaign, an extensive suite of physical, chemical and biological variables were measured across seven shelf basin transects (south north) to capture the meridional gradient between the estuary and the open ocean. Key variables such as temperature, absolute salinity, radiance, irradiance, nutrient concentrations, chlorophyll a concentration, bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and taxonomy, and carbon stocks and fluxes were routinely measured onboard the Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen and from a barge in shallow coastal areas or for sampling within broken ice fields. Here, we present the results of a joint effort to compile and standardize the collected data sets that will facilitate their reuse in further studies of the changing Arctic Ocean.Published versionThis study was conducted as part of the Malina scientific program funded by ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche), INSU-CNRS (Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), the LEFE-CYBER program, CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), the European Commission (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions), ESA (European Space Agency) and ArcticNet. US NSF grants 0713915 and 1504137 to Ronal Banner and 0229302, 0425582, 0713991 to Rainer M. W. Amon. US NASA (grant no. NNX07AR20G) awarded to Rick A. Reynolds and Dariusz Stramski. Natural Science and Engineerinng Council (Canada) Discovery and Northern supplement to Connie Lovejoy