5,676 research outputs found
Reunion overseas: introduced wild boars and cultivated orange trees interact in the Brazilian Atlantic forest
Little is known concerning novel interactions between species that typically
interact in their native range but, as a consequence of human activity, are also interacting out of their original
distribution under new ecological conditions. Objective: We investigate the interaction between the orange tree
and wild boar, both of which share Asian origins and have been introduced to the Americas (i.e. the overseas).
Methods: Specifically, we assessed whether i) wild boars consume orange (Citrus sinensis) fruits and seeds
in orchards adjacent to a remnant of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, ii) the orange seeds are viable after passing
through boar’s digestive tract and iii) whether the orange tree may naturalise in the forest remnant assisted by
wild boars. Results: Our camera surveys indicated that wild boar was by far the most frequent consumer of
orange fruits (40.5 % of camera trap-days). A considerable proportion of sown orange seeds extracted from fresh
boar feces emerged seedlings (27.8 %, N = 386) under controlled greenhouse conditions. Further, 37.6 % of sown
seeds (N = 500) in the forest remnant emerged seedlings in July 2015; however, after ~4 years (March 2019)
only 9 seedlings survived (i.e. 4.8 %, N = 188). Finally, 52 sweet orange seedlings were found during surveys
within the forest remnant which is intensively used by wild boars. This study indicates a high potential of boars
to act as effective seed dispersers of the sweet orange. However, harsh competition with native vegetation and
the incidence of lethal diseases, which quickly kill sweet orange trees under non-agricultural conditions, could
seriously limit orange tree establishment in the forest. Conclusions: Our results have important implications not
only because the wild boar could be a vector of potential invasive species, but also because they disperse seeds
of some native species (e.g. the queen palm, Syagrus romanzofiana) in defaunated forests, where large native
seed dispersers are missing; thus, wild boars could exert critical ecological functions lost due to human activityinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Quark model with chiral-symmetry breaking and confinement in the Covariant Spectator Theory
We propose a model for the quark-antiquark interaction in Minkowski space
using the Covariant Spectator Theory. We show that with an equal-weighted
scalar-pseudoscalar structure for the confining part of our interaction kernel
the axial-vector Ward-Takahashi identity is preserved and our model complies
with the Adler-zero constraint for pi-pi-scattering imposed by chiral symmetry.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; 21st International Conference on Few-Body
Problems in Physics, May 18 - 22, 2015, Chicago, US
Phase transitions with finite atom number in the Dicke Model
Two-level atoms interacting with a one mode cavity field at zero temperature
have order parameters which reflect the presence of a quantum phase transition
at a critical value of the atom-cavity coupling strength. Two popular examples
are the number of photons inside the cavity and the number of excited atoms.
Coherent states provide a mean field description, which becomes exact in the
thermodynamic limit. Employing symmetry adapted (SA) SU(2) coherent states
(SACS) the critical behavior can be described for a finite number of atoms. A
variation after projection treatment, involving a numerical minimization of the
SA energy surface, associates the finite number phase transition with a
discontinuity in the order parameters, which originates from a competition
between two local minima in the SA energy surface.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, Conference Proceedings of CEWQO-2012, to be
published as a Topical Issue of the journal Physica Script
Segal-Bargmann-Fock modules of monogenic functions
In this paper we introduce the classical Segal-Bargmann transform starting
from the basis of Hermite polynomials and extend it to Clifford algebra-valued
functions. Then we apply the results to monogenic functions and prove that the
Segal-Bargmann kernel corresponds to the kernel of the Fourier-Borel transform
for monogenic functionals. This kernel is also the reproducing kernel for the
monogenic Bargmann module.Comment: 11 page
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