Sympatric woodland Myotis bats form tight-knit social groups with exclusive roost home ranges

Background: The structuring of wild animal populations can influence population dynamics, disease spread, and information transfer. Social network analysis potentially offers insights into these processes but is rarely, if ever, used to investigate more than one species in a community. We therefore compared the social, temporal and spatial networks of sympatric Myotis bats (M. nattereri (Natterer's bats) and M. daubentonii (Daubenton's bats)), and asked: (1) are there long-lasting social associations within species? (2) do the ranges occupied by roosting social groups overlap within or between species? (3) are M. daubentonii bachelor colonies excluded from roosting in areas used by maternity groups? Results: Using data on 490 ringed M. nattereri and 978 M. daubentonii from 379 colonies, we found that both species formed stable social groups encompassing multiple colonies. M. nattereri formed 11 mixed-sex social groups with few (4.3%) inter-group associations. Approximately half of all M. nattereri were associated with the same individuals when recaptured, with many associations being long-term (>100 days). In contrast, M. daubentonii were sexually segregated; only a quarter of pairs were associated at recapture after a few days, and inter-sex associations were not long-lasting. Social groups of M. nattereri and female M. daubentonii had small roost home ranges (mean 0.2 km2 in each case). Intra-specific overlap was low, but inter-specific overlap was high, suggesting territoriality within but not between species. M. daubentonii bachelor colonies did not appear to be excluded from roosting areas used by females. Conclusions: Our data suggest marked species- and sex-specific patterns of disease and information transmission are likely between bats of the same genus despite sharing a common habitat. The clear partitioning of the woodland amongst social groups, and their apparent reliance on small patches of habitat for roosting, means that localised woodland management may be more important to bat conservation than previously recognised

Genetic association of human Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Receptor 1 (CRHR1) with Internet gaming addiction in Korean male adolescents

Background The number of people with Internet gaming addiction (IGA) is increasing around the world. IGA is known to be associated with personal characteristics, psychosocial factors, and physiological factors. However, few studies have examined the genetic factors related to IGA. This study aimed to investigate the association between IGA and stress-related genetic variants. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted with 230 male high school students in a South Korean city. We selected five stress-related candidate genes: DAT1, DRD4, NET8, CHRNA4, and CRHR1. The DAT1 and DRD4 genes were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction, and the NET8, CHRNA4, and CRHR1 genes were genotyped by pyrosequencing analysis. We performed a Chi-square test to examine the relationship of these five candidate genes to IGA. Results Having the AA genotype and the A allele of the CRHR1 gene (rs28364027) was associated with higher odds of belonging to the IGA participant group (p = .016 and p = .021, respectively) than to the non-IGA group. By contrast, the DAT1, DRD4, NET8, and CHRNA4 gene polymorphisms showed no significant difference between the IGA group and control group. Conclusions These results indicate that polymorphism of the CRHR1 gene may play an important role in IGA susceptibility in the Korean adolescent male population. These findings provide a justification and foundation for further investigation of genetic factors related to IGA