Mismeasure of secondary sexual traits: An example with horn growth in the Iberian ibex

Monitoring programmes and studies focused on secondary sexual characters (SSCs) depend on the accuracy of measurements. However, methods of measurements of SSC, such as horns of ungulates, vary throughout the literature. Thus, the accuracy of horn growth measurements as proxies of true horn growth and the comparability of results inferred from different horn growth measurements may be questionable. We used the horns of Iberian ibex Capra pyrenaica to compare horn growth measurements and to analyse reliability with true horn growth. Our results reveal that measurements used in previous studies differed substantially from true horn growth and volume estimated as a barrel appeared as the best proxy of annular segments of horns in the Iberian ibex. Horn growth measurements are not necessarily mutually comparable, just as classical measurements are not necessarily representative of true horn growth. We discuss the wider implications of these results and suggest that biological processes linked to horns of ungulates should be reappraised using improved and accurate measurements because horn growth pattern is a key factor in sustainable management and conservation plans of ungulate species around the world. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Zoology © 2012 The Zoological Society of London.Peer Reviewe

Negative effect of the arthropod parasite, Sarcoptes scabiei, on testes mass in Iberian ibex, Capra pyrenaica

Testes mass is a key factor in male reproductive success and is potentially exposed to so-called 'parasitic castration'. This is the result of the direct destruction or alteration of reproductive cell lineages (parasitic castration sensu stricto), or the indirect detrimental effects - for example, via body condition - on the ability of progenitors to produce or rear offspring (parasitic castration sensu lato). There are enormous gaps in our knowledge on the effects of parasites on the testes of wild mammals and in an attempt to rectify this dearth of data we examined the relationship between the skin parasite Sarcoptes scabiei and testes mass in Iberian ibex Capra pyrenaica. We considered data from 222 males that were culled in the population from the Sierra Nevada in Spain. Our results provide evidence that sarcoptic mange is associated with reduced size-corrected testes mass in Iberian ibex which supports the hypothesis that parasitism is a determining factor in gonad plasticity in male mammals. We discuss several hypothetical causes of this relationship and highlight the need to deepen the sub-lethal effects of pathogens if we are to accurately understand their modulator effects on host population dynamics. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.Peer Reviewe

Estudio descriptivo de cibervictimización en una muestra de estudiantes de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria

During adolescence, the greatest risks of misuse of new technologies occur, and with it, the proliferation of cyberbullying. The objective of this work is to carry out a descriptive analysis of cybervictimization according to gender and grade in a sample of Compulsory Secondary Education students from a private school in the city of Cáceres. The methodology used in the research is basic, non-experimental, descriptive-correlational. A total of 141 students from courses throughout the ESO stage participated. The results show a high digitization of households (99.3%). It also appears that verbal-written cybervictimization is the most common in adolescents to carry out cyberbullying. © 2022 AUFOP. All rights reserved

Effort needed to accurately estimate Vocal Activity Rate index using acoustic monitoring: A case study with a dawn-time singing passerine

Los autores del Departamento de Ecología de la UAM pertenecen al Terrestrial Ecology Group (TEG-UAM)Indices based on singing activity have often been used in wildlife surveys conducted with passive acoustic monitoring. For instance, the Vocal Activity Rate index (VAR) has been employed to estimate animal populations and detect changes in abundance between years or sites. VAR may differ greatly between days due to environmental and biological factors, therefore leading to inadequate population size estimations and recommendations. However, there is still little information about the minimum number of monitoring days required for estimating a reliable VAR to assess changes over time or sites. We describe, for first time for a terrestrial bird species, the pattern of variation of VAR as a function of the number of monitoring days. Coefficient of variation sharply decreased with the number of monitoring days, and this pattern was similar during the breeding and post-breeding period. Coefficient of variation was close to 100% when a single monitoring day was surveyed, but decreased up to 30% and 20% after six or seven and nine monitoring days, depending on the monitoring period. Mean VAR was significantly related to bird abundance, but no relationship was found between bird abundance and number of days needed to reach a CV lower than 20%. Our results highlight that prior assessment of effort needed to estimate a reliable VAR should be a prerequisite for future monitoring programmes using singing activity indices. We found large differences in the number of monitoring days needed to obtain a reliable VAR in comparison to prior research on seabirds, suggesting that further research should be developed in different taxa and situationsThis is a contribution to the LIFE Ricoti (LIFE15-NAT-ES-000802), supported by the European Commission, the “BBVA-Dron Ricoti”, funded by the BBVA Foundation and the Excellence Network Remedinal 3CM (S2013/MAE2719), supported by Comunidad de Madri

The local skin cellular immune response determines the clinical outcome of sarcoptic mange in Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica)

[EN] Introduction: Sarcoptic mange, caused by Sarcoptes scabiei, is a disease with implications for wildlife conservation and management. Its severity depends on the host’s local skin immune response, which is largely unknown in Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica), a mountain ungulate dramatically affected by mange. In this species, the clinical outcome of sarcoptic mange varies among individuals, and the local immune response could be key to controlling the infestation. This study aims to characterize the local cellular immune response and its relationship with the clinical outcome. Methods: Fourteen Iberian ibexes were experimentally infested with S. scabiei and six more served as controls. Clinical signs were monitored, and skin biopsies were collected from the withers at 26, 46, and 103 days post-infection (dpi). The presence and distribution of macrophages (including M1 and M2 phenotypes), T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, plasma cells, and interleukine 10 were quantitatively evaluated using immunohistochemical techniques. Results: An inflammatory infiltrate that decreased significantly from 26 to 103 dpi was observed in all the infested ibexes. The predominant inflammatory cell population in the skin of the mangy ibexes was formed by macrophages (mainly the M2 phenotype) followed by T lymphocytes, with lower numbers of B lymphocytes and plasma cells. Three clinical courses were identified: total recovery, partial recovery, and terminal stage. The inflammatory infiltrates were less pronounced in the fully recovered ibexes than in those that progressed to the terminal stage throughout the study. Discussion: The results suggest an exacerbated but effective Th1-type cellular immune response controlling mange in Iberian ibex. Furthermore, the local immune response appears to determine the variability of the clinical responses to S. scabiei infestation in this species. This first report on the progression of local skin immune cells is relevant not only for individuals but also for population management and conservation.SIThis project was funded by the Consejería de Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Andalucía (project 173/2009/M/00;03/15/M/00; 861_11_M_00 and 2016/00014/M) and the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (projects CGL2012-40043-C02-01, CGL2012-40043-C02-02, and CGL2016-80543-P). The authors’ research activities are partially supported by the Plan Andaluz de Investigación (RNM-118 group). MV is supported by a FI-GENCAT Fellowship (2020_FI_B2_00049, which is cofinanced by the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca and the European Social Fund). GM is a Serra Húnter FellowThe authors would like to thank the Consejería de Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Andalucía and in particular the Sierra Nevada Natural Space for their logistical support and the Sierra de Huétor Natural Park for the transfer of their experimental facilities. We also give special thanks to the park wardens and fieldworkers in the SNNS and above all to Apolo Sánchez, José López, Isidro Puga, Elías Martínez, Francisco Felipe, and Antonio Rodríguez for their professional and personal involvement in the study. The authors are also grateful to Manolo Herrera for the maintenance of the ibex and the facilities during the experimental phase, Emmanuel Serrano for advice, and the Service of Veterinary Pathology of the UAB for the histological preparation of samples. The technical and human support provided by Marta Silva is gratefully acknowledged

Oestrid myiasis in European Mouflon from Spain

From February 1992 to March 1997, 245 European mouflon (Ovis orientalis musimon) from Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park (southern Spain) were surveyed for oestrid larvae in order to estimate prevalence and mean intensity of parasitism by Oestrus ovis. Over 46 percent of the animals surveyed were infected, with a mean intensity of 9.6 larvae/host parasitized. No significant differences in prevalence rates between host sexes were observed, but older mouflons were infected with more larvae than younger ones.Peer Reviewe

The local skin cellular immune response determines the clinical outcome of sarcoptic mange in Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica)

Sarcoptic mange, caused by Sarcoptes scabiei, is a disease with implications for wildlife conservation and management. Its severity depends on the host's local skin immune response, which is largely unknown in Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica), a mountain ungulate dramatically affected by mange. In this species, the clinical outcome of sarcoptic mange varies among individuals, and the local immune response could be key to controlling the infestation. This study aims to characterize the local cellular immune response and its relationship with the clinical outcome. Fourteen Iberian ibexes were experimentally infested with S. scabiei and six more served as controls. Clinical signs were monitored, and skin biopsies were collected from the withers at 26, 46, and 103 days post-infection (dpi). The presence and distribution of macrophages (including M1 and M2 phenotypes), T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, plasma cells, and interleukine 10 were quantitatively evaluated using immunohistochemical techniques. An inflammatory infiltrate that decreased significantly from 26 to 103 dpi was observed in all the infested ibexes. The predominant inflammatory cell population in the skin of the mangy ibexes was formed by macrophages (mainly the M2 phenotype) followed by T lymphocytes, with lower numbers of B lymphocytes and plasma cells. Three clinical courses were identified: total recovery, partial recovery, and terminal stage. The inflammatory infiltrates were less pronounced in the fully recovered ibexes than in those that progressed to the terminal stage throughout the study. The results suggest an exacerbated but effective Th1-type cellular immune response controlling mange in Iberian ibex. Furthermore, the local immune response appears to determine the variability of the clinical responses to S. scabiei infestation in this species. This first report on the progression of local skin immune cells is relevant not only for individuals but also for population management and conservation

Comparative assessment of satellite- and drone-based vegetation indices to predict arthropod biomass in shrub-steppes

Arthropod biomass is a key element in ecosystem functionality and a basic food item for many species. It must be estimated through traditional costly field sampling, normally at just a few sampling points. Arthropod biomass and plant productivity should be narrowly related because a large majority of arthropods are herbivorous, and others depend on these. Quantifying plant productivity with satellite or aerial vehicle imagery is an easy and fast procedure already tested and implemented in agriculture and field ecology. However, the capability of satellite or aerial vehicle imagery for quantifying arthropod biomass and its relationship with plant productivity has been scarcely addressed. Here, we used unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and satellite Sentinel-2 (S2) imagery to establish a relationship between plant productivity and arthropod biomass estimated through ground-truth field sampling in shrub steppes. We UAV-sampled seven plots of 47.6–72.3 ha at a 4-cm pixel resolution, subsequently downscaling spatial resolution to 50 cm resolution. In parallel, we used S2 imagery from the same and other dates and locations at 10-m spatial resolution. We related several vegetation indices (VIs) with arthropod biomass (epigeous, coprophagous, and four functional consumer groups: predatory, detritivore, phytophagous, and diverse) estimated at 41–48 sampling stations for UAV flying plots and in 67–79 sampling stations for S2. VIs derived from UAV were consistently and positively related to all arthropod biomass groups. Three out of seven and six out of seven S2-derived VIs were positively related to epigeous and coprophagous arthropod biomass, respectively. The blue normalized difference VI (BNDVI) and enhanced normalized difference VI (ENDVI) showed consistent and positive relationships with arthropod biomass, regardless of the arthropod group or spatial resolution. Our results showed that UAV and S2-VI imagery data may be viable and cost-efficient alternatives for quantifying arthropod biomass at large scales in shrub steppes. The relationship between VI and arthropod biomass is probably habitat-dependent, so future research should address this relationship and include several habitats to validate VIs as proxies of arthropod biomassBBVA Foundation, BBVA Dron Ricoti project; European Commission, Grant/ Award Number: LIFE15-NAT-ES-000802; REMEDINAL-3 from CAM; European Comission, Grant/Award Number: LIFE20-NAT-ES-00013