Ross's Gulls (Rhodostethia rosea) Breeding in Greenland: A Review, with Special Emphasis on Records from 1979 to 2007

This review summarizes breeding records of Ross’s gull in Greenland with special emphasis on the period between 1979 and 2007. The review comprises both previously published records (including some published only in Danish) and unpublished reports and breeding records from 2004 and 2006. The majority of the Greenland breeding records fall into two geographically isolated areas that differ in habitat and climate: the Disko Bay area in West Greenland and the Northeast Water Polynya in Northeast Greenland. Despite the fact that antagonistic interactions with arctic terns are common, Ross’s gulls show a nest site preference for the edge of tern colonies, suggesting breeding association between these species. A general increase in breeding records in Greenland since 1978 is most likely the result of increased ornithological effort. Successful breeding has not yet been confirmed, and a Ross’s gull fledgling remains to be seen in Greenland. The Greenland breeding records suggest an opportunistic strategy in choice of breeding site among vagrant and possibly first-time breeders.Nous présentons ici un résumé des enregistrements de reproduction de la mouette rosée au Groenland, plus particulièrement pendant la période s’échelonnant entre 1979 et 2007. Cela comprend des enregistrements déjà publiés (dont certains n’ont été publiés qu’en danois) de même que des rapports inédits et des enregistrements de reproduction pour la période allant de 2004 à 2006. La majorité des enregistrements de reproduction du Groenland touchent des régions géographiquement isolées dont l’habitat et le climat diffèrent : la région de la baie Disko dans l’ouest du Groenland et la région Northeast Water Polynya dans le nord-est du Groenland. Même si des interactions antagonistes avec la sterne arctique s’avèrent courantes, la mouette rosée préfère que son nid se situe en bordure des colonies de sternes, ce qui laisse croire qu’il y a une association de reproduction entre ces espèces. Depuis 1978, l’augmentation générale des enregistrements de reproduction au Groenland est fort probablement attribuable aux efforts ornithologiques plus intenses qui ont été déployés. Toujours rien ne permet de confirmer si la reproduction est réussie, et aucune mouette rosée en bas âge n’a été repérée au Groenland. Les enregistrements de reproduction du Groenland laissent présumer l’existence d’une stratégie opportuniste en ce qui a trait au choix de lieu de reproduction chez les reproducteurs vagabonds et peut-être même chez les reproducteurs qui en sont à leur première fois

Design and direct assembly of synthesized uracil-containing non-clonal DNA fragments into vectors by USER^TM cloning

This protocol describes how to order and directly assemble uracil-containing non-clonal DNA fragments by uracil excision based cloning (USER cloning). The protocol was generated with the goal of making synthesized non-clonal DNA fragments directly compatible with USER(TM) cloning. The protocol is highly efficient and would be compatible with uracil-containing non-clonal DNA fragments obtained from any synthesizing company. The protocol drastically reduces time and handling between receiving the synthesized DNA fragments and transforming with vector and DNA fragment(s)

Tracking a northern fulmar from a Scottish nesting site to the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone : Evidence of linkage between coastal breeding seabirds and Mid-Atlantic Ridge feeding sites

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Origin and evolution of transporter substrate specificity within the NPF family

Despite vast diversity in metabolites and the matching substrate specificity of their transporters, little is known about how evolution of transporter substrate specificities is linked to emergence of substrates via evolution of biosynthetic pathways. Transporter specificity towards the recently evolved glucosinolates characteristic of Brassicales is shown to evolve prior to emergence of glucosinolate biosynthesis. Furthermore, we show that glucosinolate transporters belonging to the ubiquitous NRT1/PTR FAMILY (NPF) likely evolved from transporters of the ancestral cyanogenic glucosides found across more than 2500 species outside of the Brassicales. Biochemical characterization of orthologs along the phylogenetic lineage from cassava to A. thaliana, suggests that alterations in the electrogenicity of the transporters accompanied changes in substrate specificity. Linking the evolutionary path of transporter substrate specificities to that of the biosynthetic pathways, exemplify how transporter substrate specificities originate and evolve as new biosynthesis pathways emerge

The <i>Arabidopsis</i> NPF3 protein is a GA transporter

Gibberellins (GAs) are plant hormones that promote a wide range of developmental processes. While GA signalling is well understood, little is known about how GA is transported or how GA distribution is regulated. Here we utilize fluorescently labelled GAs (GA-Fl) to screen for Arabidopsis mutants deficient in GA transport. We show that the NPF3 transporter efficiently transports GA across cell membranes in vitro and GA-Fl in vivo. NPF3 is expressed in root endodermis and repressed by GA. NPF3 is targeted to the plasma membrane and subject to rapid BFA-dependent recycling. We show that abscisic acid (ABA), an antagonist of GA, is also transported by NPF3 in vitro. ABA promotes NPF3 expression and GA-Fl uptake in plants. On the basis of these results, we propose that GA distribution and activity in Arabidopsis is partly regulated by NPF3 acting as an influx carrier and that GA–ABA interaction may occur at the level of transport

The ecology of exercise: mechanisms underlying Individual variation in behavior, activity, and performance: an introduction to symposium

Wild animals often engage in intense physical activity while performing tasks vital for their survival and reproduction associated with foraging, avoiding predators, fighting, providing parental care, and migrating. In this theme issue we consider how viewing these tasks as “exercise”—analogous to that performed by human athletes—may help provide insight into the mechanisms underlying individual variation in these types of behaviors and the importance of physical activity in an ecological context. In this article and throughout this issue, we focus on four key questions relevant to the study of behavioral ecology that may be addressed by studying wild animal behavior from the perspective of exercise physiology: (1) How hard do individual animals work in response to ecological (or evolutionary) demands?; (2) Do lab-based studies of activity provide good models for understanding activity in free-living animals and individual variation in traits?; (3) Can animals work too hard during “routine” activities?; and (4) Can paradigms of “exercise” and “training” be applied to free-living animals? Attempts to address these issues are currently being facilitated by rapid technological developments associated with physiological measurements and the remote tracking of wild animals, to provide mechanistic insights into the behavior of free-ranging animals at spatial and temporal scales that were previously impossible. We further suggest that viewing the behaviors of non-human animals in terms of the physical exercise performed will allow us to fully take advantage of these technological advances, draw from knowledge and conceptual frameworks already in use by human exercise physiologists, and identify key traits that constrain performance and generate variation in performance among individuals. It is our hope that, by highlighting mechanisms of behavior and performance, the articles in this issue will spur on further synergies between physiologists and ecologists, to take advantage of emerging cross-disciplinary perspectives and technologies

Fixed and flexible: coexistence of obligate and facultative migratory strategies in a freshwater fish

Migration is an important event in many animal life histories, but the degree to which individual animals participate in seasonal migrations often varies within populations. The powerful ecological and evolutionary consequences of such partial migration are now well documented, but the underlying mechanisms are still heavily debated. One potential mechanism of partial migration is between-individual variation in body condition, where animals in poor condition cannot pay the costs of migration and hence adopt a resident strategy. However, underlying intrinsic traits may overrule such environmental influence, dictating individual consistency in migratory patterns. Unfortunately, field tests of individual consistency compared to the importance of individual condition on migratory propensity are rare. Here we analyse 6 years of field data on roach migration, gathered by tagging almost 3000 individual fish and monitoring their seasonal migrations over extended periods of time. Our aims were to provide a field test of the role of condition in wild fish for migratory decisions, and also to assess individual consistency in migratory tendency. Our analyses reveal that (1) migratory strategy, in terms of migration/residency, is highly consistent within individuals over time and (2) there is a positive relationship between condition and the probability of migration, but only in individuals that adopt a migratory strategy at some point during their lives. However, life-long residents do not differ in condition to migrants, hence body condition is only a good predictor of migratory tendency in fish with migratory phenotypes and not a more general determinant of migratory tendency for the population. As resident individuals can achieve very high body condition and still remain resident, we suggest that our data provides some of the first field evidence to show that both facultative and obligate strategies can co-exist within populations of migratory animals

Global warming and arctic terns: Estimating climate change impacts on the world's longest migration

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordData availability statement: Tracking data: The tracking data that were collected and support the findings of this study are available in the Seabird Tracking Database at 2356146398 https://data.seabirdtracking.org/dataset, reference number 1905. Additional tracking data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Dryad at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d6080nt and available upon request at https://data.seabirdtracking.org/dataset/739. Environmental variables: The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in JASMIN at https://jasmin.ac.uk/. All CMIP6 model output is freely available on the Earth System Grid Federation (https://esgf.llnl.gov/). Global ocean biogeochemistry hindcast simulations are available on the Copernicus Marine Database (https://resources.marine.copernicus.eu/).Climate change is one of the top three global threats to seabirds, particularly species that visit polar regions. Arctic terns migrate between both polar regions annually and rely on productive marine areas to forage, on sea ice for rest and foraging, and prevailing winds during flight. Here, we report 21st-century trends in environmental variables affecting arctic terns at key locations along their Atlantic/Indian Ocean migratory flyway during the non-breeding seasons, identified through tracking data. End-of-century climate change projections were derived from Earth System Models and multi-model means calculated in two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways: ‘middle-of-the-road’ and ‘fossil-fuelled development’ scenarios. Declines in North Atlantic primary production emerge as a major impact to arctic terns likely to affect their foraging during the 21st century under a ‘fossil-fuelled development’ scenario. Minimal changes are, however, projected at three other key regions visited by arctic terns (Benguela Upwelling, Subantarctic Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean). Southern Ocean sea ice extent is likely to decline, but the magnitude of change and potential impacts on tern survival are uncertain. Small changes (<1 m s−1) in winds are projected in both scenarios, but with minimal likely impacts on migration routes and duration. However, Southern Ocean westerlies are likely to strengthen and contract closer to the continent, which may require arctic terns to shift routes or flight strategies. Overall, we find minor effects of climate change on the migration of arctic terns, with the exception of poorer foraging in the North Atlantic. However, given that arctic terns travel over huge spatial scales and live for decades, they integrate minor changes in conditions along their migration routes such that the sum effect may be greater than the parts. Meeting carbon emission targets is vital to slow these end-of-century climatic changes and minimise extinction risk for a suite of polar species.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)University of BristolScience and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)National Geographi