Multi-scale effects of nestling diet on breeding performance in a terrestrial top predator inferred from stable isotope analysis

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Inter-individual diet variation within populations is likely to have important ecological and evolutionary implications. The diet-fitness relationships at the individual level and the emerging population processes are, however, poorly understood for most avian predators inhabiting complex terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, we use an isotopic approach to assess the trophic ecology of nestlings in a long-lived raptor, the Bonelli's eagle Aquila fasciata, and investigate whether nestling dietary breath and main prey consumption can affect the species' reproductive performance at two spatial scales: territories within populations and populations over a large geographic area. At the territory level, those breeding pairs whose nestlings consumed similar diets to the overall population (i.e. moderate consumption of preferred prey, but complemented by alternative prey categories) or those disproportionally consuming preferred prey were more likely to fledge two chicks. An increase in the diet diversity, however, related negatively with productivity. The age and replacements of breeding pair members had also an influence on productivity, with more fledglings associated to adult pairs with few replacements, as expected in long-lived species. At the population level, mean productivity was higher in those population-years with lower dietary breadth and higher diet similarity among territories, which was related to an overall higher consumption of preferred prey. Thus, we revealed a correspondence in diet-fitness relationships at two spatial scales: territories and populations. We suggest that stable isotope analyses may be a powerful tool to monitor the diet of terrestrial avian predators on large spatio-temporal scales, which could serve to detect potential changes in the availability of those prey on which predators depend for breeding. We encourage ecologists and evolutionary and conservation biologists concerned with the multi-scale fitness consequences of inter-individual variation in resource use to employ similar stable isotope-based approaches, which can be successfully applied to complex ecosystems such as the Mediterranean.Funding for this work was provided by projects CGL2007-64805 and CGL2010-17056 from the ‘‘Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacio´n, Gobierno de Espan˜ a’’, the ‘‘A`rea d’Espais Naturals de la Diputacio´ de Barcelona’’, and Miquel Torres S.A. Fieldwork in France was carried out within the framework of the second National Action Plan for Bonelli’s eagle from the ‘‘Ministe`re franc¸ais de l’E´cologie, de L’E´nergie, du De´veloppement Durable et de la Mer’’ and coordinated by the DREAL LR ‘‘Direction Re´gionale de l’Environnement, de l’Ame´nagement et du Logement-Languedoc-Roussillon’’. J. Resano-Mayor was supported by a predoctoral grant from the ‘‘Departamento de Educacio´n, Gobierno de Navarra; Plan de Formacio´n y de I+D 2008–2009’’, and M. Moleo´n by a postdoctoral grant from the ‘‘Ministerio de Educacio´n, Gobierno de Espan˜ a; Plan Nacional de I+D+i 2008–2011’’. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Análisis de los Cambios Etarios según Sexo en el Borrego de Chiapas

A survey was conducted in order to study changes in body measurements in the Chiapas sheep breed. For this purpose 66 males and 79 females of various ages were measured: body weight, chest girth, knee perimeter, cannon perimeter, coronne perimeter, hock perimeter and ear length. The study reflects a regional change according to age, which are not isometrical. Body weight and chest girth are the most discriminative variables, which presented identical age regression trajectories for both sexes (F=1.006, p=0.317). Although body weight in adult male (>12 months, n=56) was greater than those of females (n=64) (U=1320, p=0.014), and no differences appeared for chest girth (U=1720, p=0.704), regression trajectories for both traits appeared similar.El objetivo del estudio fue la evaluación de los cambios que se producen en diversas medidas corporales en el Borrego Chiapas. Se utilizaron 66 machos y 79 hembras de diversas edades y se registraron las siguientes variables: peso vivo, perímetro torácico, perímetro de la rodilla, perímetro de la caña, perímetro de la corona, perímetro de la rabadilla y longitud de la oreja. El estudio reflejó que hay cambio con la edad diferencial de distintos componentes del cuerpo, en ningún caso isométricos, siendo el peso vivo y el perímetro torácico las variables más discriminativas en el cambio con la edad. Aunque el peso vivo de los machos adultos (>12 meses, n=56) fue mayor que en las hembras (n=64) (U=1320, p=0.014), pero similar en el perímetro torácico (U=1720, p=0.704), las trayectorias de las rectas de regresión de la edad no presentaron diferencias de trayectoria alométrica entre machos y hembras, ni para el peso vivo (F=1.006, p=0.317) ni para el perímetro torácico (F=1.265, p=0.262)

Proposta de tutorial de quimiometria utilizando técnicas modernas para a análise de solos.

A utilização de técnicas espectroscópicas aplicadas à ciência do solo é recente e promissora. Sua aplicação invariavelmente está associada à Quimiometria. Este trabalho tem por objetivo introduzir os conhecimentos básicos destas duas técnicas para estudantes de pós-graduação e pesquisadores da área de ciência do solo. Para tal, é proposto um tutorial baseado no estudo de 52 amostras de solos obtidas no município de Manga, norte de Minas Gerais, coletadas em perfis de diferentes classes de solos, contrastantes em relação aos seus atributos químicos, físicos e mineralógicos. Amostras de solos foram analisadas por Espectroscopia no Infravermelho Próximo (NIR) e os espectros obtidos, avaliados por Análise por Componentes Principais (PCA). Os resultados apresentados e sua forma de apresentação possibilitam, aos alunos e professores em nível de graduação e pós-graduação da área de ciência do solo, uma introdução prática da PCA em Matlab, ainda pouco divulgada na literatura mundial

Site 1222

Site 1222 (13°48.98´N, 143°53.35´W; 4989 meters below sea level [mbsl]; Fig. F1) forms a south-central component of the 56-Ma transect drilled during Leg 199 and is situated ~2° south of the Clarion Fracture Zone in typical abyssal hill topography. On the basis of regional magnetic anomalies, we anticipated basement age at Site 1222 to be equivalent to Chron C25r or Chron C25n (~56-57 Ma) (Cande et al., 1989), which is slightly older than at Site 1219. At the outset of drilling at Site 1222, our estimate for total sediment thickness was ~115 m (Fig. F2). Based upon a fixed hotspot model (Gripp and Gordon, 1990, for 0- to 5-Ma Pacific hotspot rotation pole; Engebretson et al., 1985, for older poles) Site 1222 should have been located ~1° north of the equator at 56 Ma and ~4°N at 40 Ma. A nearby gravity core (EW9709-17GC), taken during the site survey cruise, recovered >5 m of red clay with a late-middle Miocene age on the basis of radiolarian biostratigraphy (Lyle, 2000). Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 42 located ~4° east of Site 1222, was not drilled to basement but contains a thin sedimentary section (~100 m thick) of upper Oligocene nannofossil ooze through middle Eocene radiolarian nannofossil ooze. In turn, DSDP Site 162 lies ~1° north of DSDP Site 42 and is situated on young crust (49 Ma) that contains ~150 m of clayey radiolarian and nannofossil oozes of early Oligocene-middle Eocene age. Site 1222 will be used to study the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in the late Eocene and Oligocene, to sample late Paleocene and early Eocene sediments in the central tropical Pacific Ocean, and to help determine whether or not there has been significant southward movement of the hotspots with respect to the spin axis prior to 40 Ma

Site 1220

Site 1220 (10°10.600´N, 142°45.503´W; 5218 meters below sea level (mbsl); Fig. F1) forms a southerly component of the 56-Ma transect drilled during Leg 199. It is situated about midway between the Clipperton and Clarion Fracture Zones in typical abyssal hill topography. On the basis of regional magnetic anomalies, we anticipated basement age at Site 1220 to be equivalent to Chron C25n (~56 Ma; Cande et al., 1989), slightly older than at Site 1219. At the outset of drilling at Site 1220, our estimate for total sediment depth was ~225 meters below seafloor (mbsf) (Fig. F2). Based upon a fixed hotspot model (Gripp and Gordon, 1990, for 0- to 5-Ma Pacific hotspot rotation pole; Engebretson et al., 1985, for older poles), Site 1220 should have been located ~3° south of the equator at 56 Ma and in an equatorial position at 40 Ma. Thus, Site 1220 should have been situated underneath the South Equatorial Current in the early Eocene. A nearby piston core (EW9709-13PC) taken during the site survey cruise recovered >16 m of red clay, with the base of the core dated as middle-early Miocene on the basis of radiolarian biostratigraphy (Lyle, 2000). Site 1220 will be used to study equatorial ocean circulation from the late Paleocene through the late Eocene during the early Cenozoic thermal maximum. Sediment records from this site will help to define the calcite compensation depth (CCD) and lysocline during the Paleocene-Eocene and Eocene-Oligocene transitions. In this and other respects, Site 1220 will act as an interesting analog to Site 1218. Both sites are thought to have been located on the equator at ~40 Ma, but the older crustal age anticipated at Site 1220 dictates a greater paleowater depth than for contemporaneous sediments accumulating at Site 1218

Site 1217

Site 1217 (16°52.02´N, 138°06.00´W; 5342 meters below sea level [mbsl]; Fig. F1) is one of seven sites drilled to target upper Paleocene crust along a latitudinal transect during Leg 199 and will be used to investigate paleoceanographic processes in the northern tropical early Eocene Pacific Ocean. Site 1217 is situated ~1° north of the Clarion Fracture Zone on abyssal hill topography typical of the central Pacific. Based on magnetic lineations, basement age at Site 1217 should be in magnetic Anomaly C25r or ~57 Ma (Cande et al., 1989; timescale of Cande and Kent, 1995). The Cenozoic history of sedimentation in this region was poorly constrained prior to Leg 199 drilling because the nearest drill site (Deep Sea Drilling Project [DSDP] Site 162) is situated ~300 km south and west on 48-Ma crust. Based on data from this early rotary-cored hole, magnetic anomaly maps, a shallow-penetration piston core near Site 1217 (EW9709-4PC), and seismic profiling (Fig. F2), we expected the sedimentary sequence at Site 1217 to comprise a relatively thick (25 to 35 m thick) section of red clays overlying a radiolarian ooze and a basal carbonate section with possible chert near basement (estimated total depth ~125-150 meters below seafloor [mbsf]) deposited when the site was near the ridge crest in the late Paleocene and early Eocene. Site 1217 was chosen because it is anticipated to have been located just outside of the equatorial region at 56 Ma, ~5°N, 106°W based upon a fixed hotspot model (Gripp and Gordon, 1990, for 0- to 5-Ma Pacific hotspot rotation pole; Engebretson et al., 1985, for older poles). On the same basis at 40 Ma, the site was located at ~8°N, 111°W. Thus, Site 1217 should help define the paleoceanography of the northern tropical Pacific, in particular locating the ancient North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) region. General circulation-model experiments for the early Eocene (see Huber, this volume) suggest that the NECC was a well-developed current during this time period. Other paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic objectives of drilling the sedimentary sequence anticipated at Site 1217 are as follows: (1) to help define the shift in the Intertropical Convergence Zone through the Paleogene by following the change in eolian dust composition and flux through time (red clays); (2) to help constrain the middle-late Eocene calcite compensation depth (CCD); and (3) to sample the Paleocene/Eocene (P/E) boundary, one of the most climatologically critical intervals of Cenozoic time. Recovery of deep-sea sediments from this time interval during Leg 199 is a high priority because the P/E boundary has never before been sampled in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. Results from Site 1217 will also provide important information to test whether there was significant motion of the Hawaiian hotspot, with respect to the Earth's spin axis during the early Cenozoic. At 56 Ma, the backtracked location based upon a hotspot reference frame is ~5°N, 106°W, and at 40 Ma is ~8°N, 106°W. If significant hotspot motion or true polar wander occurred since 57 Ma (Petronotis et al., 1994), this drill site could have been much nearer to the equator

Site 1216

Site 1216 (21°27.16´N, 139°28.79´W; 5152 meters below sea level [mbsl]; Fig. F1) is situated in abyssal hill topography south of the Molokai Fracture Zone and two small associated unnamed parasitic fracture zones (Fig. F2). Based on magnetic lineations, Site 1216 appears to be situated on normal ocean crust formed during the C25r magnetic anomaly (~57 Ma; Atwater and Severinghaus, 1989). Site 1216 was chosen for drilling because it is near the thickest section of lower Eocene sediments along the 56-Ma transect, which was based upon the seismic stratigraphy of seismic reflection data acquired on site survey cruise EW9709 during transits between the proposed drill sites (Lyle et al., this volume; Moore et al., 2002). The Cenozoic history of sedimentation in this region was poorly constrained prior to Leg 199, being largely based on two Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) drill sites (40 and 41) and piston core data (EW9709-3PC) from ~1.5° in latitude to the south. Based on data from these drill sites, we expected the sedimentary sequence at Site 1216 to comprise red clays (a mixture of wind-blown dust and authigenic precipitates) overlying a biogenic sediment section composed of an upper middle Eocene radiolarian ooze and lower carbonate ooze deposited when the site was near the ridge crest in the late Paleocene and early Eocene. The broad paleoceanographic objectives of drilling the sedimentary sequence anticipated at Site 1216 are as follows: (1) to help define the shift in the Intertropical Convergence Zone through the Paleogene by following the change in eolian-dust composition and flux through time (red clays) and (2) to help define the latitudinal extent, composition, and mass accumulation of plankton communities in the north equatorial Pacific region thereby constraining ocean circulation patterns and the extent of the equatorial high-productivity belt in the Eocene ocean. Results from Site 1216 will also provide important information to test whether there was significant motion of the Hawaiian hotspot with respect to the Earth's spin axis during the early Cenozoic. At 56 Ma, the backtracked location of Site 1216 based upon a hotspot reference frame (Gripp and Gordon, 1990, for 0- to 5-Ma Pacific hotspot rotation pole; Engebretson et al., 1985, for older poles) is about 9°N, 108°W. If significant hotspot motion or true polar wander occurred since 57 Ma (Petronotis et al., 1994), this drill site could have been much nearer to the equator

Geochemical analysis of bulk marine sediment by Inductively Coupled Plasma–Atomic Emission Spectroscopy on board the JOIDES Resolution

Geochemical analyses on board the JOIDES Resolution have been enhanced with the addition of a Jobin-Yvon Ultrace inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES) as an upgrade from the previous X-ray fluorescence facility. During Leg 199, we sought to both challenge and utilize the capabilities of the ICP-AES in order to provide an extensive bulk-sediment geochemical database during the cruise. These near real-time analyses were then used to help characterize the recovered sedimentary sequences, calculate mass accumulation rates of the different sedimentary components, and assist with cruise and postcruise sampling requests. The general procedures, sample preparation techniques, and basic protocol for ICP-AES analyses on board ship are outlined by Murray et al. (2000) in Ocean Drilling Program Tech Note, 29. We expand on those concepts and offer suggestions for ICP-AES methodology, calibration by standard reference materials, data reduction procedures, and challenges that are specific to the analysis of bulk-sediment samples. During Leg 199, we employed an extensive bulk-sediment analytical program of ~600 samples of varying lithologies, thereby providing several opportunities for refinement of techniques. We also discuss some difficulties and challenges that were faced and suggest how to alleviate such occurrences for sedimentary chemical analyses during future legs