117 research outputs found
A new hammer to crack an old nut : interspecific competitive resource capture by plants is regulated by nutrient supply, not climate
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
A novel strategy to escape a poor habitat: red-necked grebes transfer flightless young to other ponds
A perspective on the measurement of time in plant disease epidemiology
The growth and development of plant pathogens and their hosts generally respond strongly to the temperature of their environment. However, most studies of plant pathology record pathogen/host measurements against physical time (e.g. hours or days) rather than thermal time (e.g. degree-days or degree-hours). This confounds the comparison of epidemiological measurements across experiments and limits the value of the scientific literature
Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus Bronchiolitis in Infants Is Associated with Reduced Airway Interferon Gamma and Substance P
Severe human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) bronchiolitis in previously well infants may be due to differences in the innate immune response to hRSV infection. Aim: to determine if factors mediating proposed mechanisms for severe bronchiolitis differ with severity of disease
Smart Moves: Effects of Relative Brain Size on Establishment Success of Invasive Amphibians and Reptiles
Brain size relative to body size varies considerably among animals, but the
ecological consequences of that variation remain poorly understood. Plausibly,
larger brains confer increased behavioural flexibility, and an ability to
respond to novel challenges. In keeping with that hypothesis, successful
invasive species of birds and mammals that flourish after translocation to a new
area tend to have larger brains than do unsuccessful invaders. We found the same
pattern in ectothermic terrestrial vertebrates. Brain size relative to body size
was larger in species of amphibians and reptiles reported to be successful
invaders, compared to species that failed to thrive after translocation to new
sites. This pattern was found in six of seven global biogeographic realms; the
exception (where relatively larger brains did not facilitate invasion success)
was Australasia. Establishment success was also higher in amphibian and reptile
families with larger relative brain sizes. Future work could usefully explore
whether invasion success is differentially associated with enlargement of
specific parts of the brain (as predicted by the functional role of the
forebrain in promoting behavioural flexibility), or with a general size increase
(suggesting that invasion success is facilitated by enhanced perceptual and
motor skills, as well as cognitive ability)
Relationship between Reproductive Allocation and Relative Abundance among 32 Species of a Tibetan Alpine Meadow: Effects of Fertilization and Grazing
Background: Understanding the relationship between species traits and species abundance is an important goal in ecology and biodiversity science. Although theoretical studies predict that traits related to performance (e.g. reproductive allocation) are most directly linked to species abundance within a community, empirical investigations have rarely been done. It also remains unclear how environmental factors such as grazing or fertilizer application affect the predicted relationship.
Methodology: We conducted a 3-year field experiment in a Tibetan alpine meadow to assess the relationship between plant reproductive allocation (RA) and species relative abundance (SRA) on control, grazed and fertilized plots. Overall, the studied plant community contained 32 common species.
Principal Findings: At the treatment level, (i) RA was negatively correlated with SRA on control plots and during the first year on fertilized plots. (ii) No negative RA–SRA correlations were observed on grazed plots and during the second and third year on fertilized plots. (iii) Seed size was positively correlated with SRA on control plots. At the plot level, the correlation between SRA and RA were not affected by treatment, year or species composition.
Conclusions/Significance: Our study shows that the performance-related trait RA can negatively affect SRA within communities, which is possibly due to the tradeoffs between clonal growth (for space occupancy) and sexual reproduction. We propose that if different species occupy different positions along these tradeoffs it will contribute to biodiversity maintenance in local communities or even at lager scale
Ratio of n-3/n-6 PUFAs and risk of breast cancer: a meta-analysis of 274135 adult females from 11 independent prospective studies
Wild chimpanzees modify modality of gestures according to the strength of social bonds and personal network size
Primates form strong and enduring social bonds with others and these bonds have important fitness consequences. However, how different types of communication are associated with different types of social bonds is poorly understood. Wild chimpanzees have a large repertoire of gestures, from visual gestures to tactile and auditory gestures. We used social network analysis to examine the association between proximity bonds (time spent in close proximity) and rates of gestural communication in pairs of chimpanzees when the intended recipient was within 10 m of the signaller. Pairs of chimpanzees with strong proximity bonds had higher rates of visual gestures, but lower rates of auditory long-range and tactile gestures. However, individual chimpanzees that had a larger number of proximity bonds had higher rates of auditory and tactile gestures and lower rates of visual gestures. These results suggest that visual gestures may be an efficient way to communicate with a small number of regular interaction partners, but that tactile and auditory gestures may be more effective at communicating with larger numbers of weaker bonds. Increasing flexibility of communication may have played an important role in managing differentiated social relationships in groups of increasing size and complexity in both primate and human evolution
Insulin resistance as estimated by the homeostatic method at diagnosis of gestational diabetes: estimation of disease severity and therapeutic needs in a population-based study
No interaction between competition and herbivory in limiting introduced Cirsium vulgare rosette growth and reproduction
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