Increase of total alkalinity due to shoaling of aragonite saturation horizon in the Pacific and Indian Oceans: influence of anthropogenic carbon inputs

Aragonite Saturation Horizon (ASH) shallowed significantly by 25 to 155 m and 16 to 124 m in the Pacific and Indian Ocean respectively in two decades. Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU) increased by 3 to 34 and 0.5 to 31.5 μmol kg−1 in the Pacific and Indian Ocean respectively at the depth of ASH during this period. DIC increased by 12.5 to 36.8 and 5.5 to 32 μmol kg−1 in the vicinity of ASH in the Pacific and Indian Ocean respectively due to combined effect of increased anthropogenic CO2 and change in AOU. TA increased significantly by 5 to 10 and 4 to 9.2 μmol kg−1 in the Pacific and Indian Oceans respectively at the ASH most likely as a result of aragonite dissolution. The upward migration of ASH solely due to anthropogenic CO2 amounted to 6 to 58 m in the Pacific and 4 to 44 m in the Indian Ocean

Begging and parental care in relation to offspring need and condition in the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Parents are selected to maximize their fitness by allocating care among their progeny in relation to the differential reproductive value of offspring. Nestlings have been hypothesized to signal need for parental care reliably through their begging behavior, but offspring condition as reflected by their reproductive value may likewise affect begging and hence provisioning. We assessed the relative importance of need and condition in determining begging behavior and feeding rate of nestling barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) through short-term starvation, a challenge to their immune system with a foreign antigen negatively affecting condition, and brood size manipulation. Food deprivation but not condition or brood size manipulation increased nestling begging rate. Parents fed offspring depending on both need and condition but only when feeding broods that were reduced or of normal size. In enlarged broods, offspring received less food per capita than in reduced broods, and parents did not discriminate among nestlings relative to their need or condition. Thus, nestlings signal their need by increased solicitation. Parents allocate food to offspring dependent on both need and condition, with these effects depending on parental workload as determined by experimental brood size

Fluctuations in productivity and denitrification in the Southeastern Arabian Sea during the Late Quaternary

Sedimentological and stable isotopic characteristics of sediments have been studied in a core from the southeastern Arabian Sea containing records of the past 70 ka. Palaeoproductivity proxies such as organic carbon (Corg), total nitrogen (TN) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) contents, show high values at the core top and during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and marine isotope stage (MIS) 4, suggesting high productivity, whereas low Corg and CaCO3 contents are associated with the MIS ½ and mid-MIS 3, indicating reduced productivity. The δ18O values in planktonic foraminifera range between - 2.7% and - 0.1%, with a large glacial-interglacial amplitude Δδ18O of ∼2.6%, suggesting changes related to monsoonal precipitation/ runoff. The δ15N values fluctuate between 5.4% and 7.3%, signifying variation in denitrification intensity. The δ15N indicates an overall increase in denitrification intensity during MIS 1 and MIS 3 and, reduced intensity during MIS ½, LGM and mid-MIS 3. Higher primary productivity and reduced denitrification intensity during LGM and MIS 4 might be due to convective winter mixing and more oxygenated subsurface waters. Reduced primary productivity during MIS ½ and mid-MIS 3 might be the effect of enhanced precipitation associated with the intensified southwest monsoon fortifying near-surface stratification

(Micro)evolutionary changes and the evolutionary potential of bird migration

Seasonal migration is the yearly long-distance movement of individuals between their breeding and wintering grounds. Individuals from nearly every animal group exhibit this behavior, but probably the most iconic migration is carried out by birds, from the classic V-shape formation of geese on migration to the amazing nonstop long-distance flights undertaken by Arctic Terns Sterna paradisaea. In this chapter, we discuss how seasonal migration has shaped the field of evolution. First, this behavior is known to turn on and off quite rapidly, but controversy remains concerning where this behavior first evolved geographically and whether the ancestral state was sedentary or migratory (Fig. 7.1d, e). We review recent work using new analytical techniques to provide insight into this topic. Second, it is widely accepted that there is a large genetic basis to this trait, especially in groups like songbirds that migrate alone and at night precluding any opportunity for learning. Key hypotheses on this topic include shared genetic variation used by different populations to migrate and only few genes being involved in its control. We summarize recent work using new techniques for both phenotype and genotype characterization to evaluate and challenge these hypotheses. Finally, one topic that has received less attention is the role these differences in migratory phenotype could play in the process of speciation. Specifically, many populations breed next to one another but take drastically different routes on migration (Fig. 7.2). This difference could play an important role in reducing gene flow between populations, but our inability to track most birds on migration has so far precluded evaluations of this hypothesis. The advent of new tracking techniques means we can track many more birds with increasing accuracy on migration, and this work has provided important insight into migration's role in speciation that we will review here

Sex-Related Effects of an Immune Challenge on Growth and Begging Behavior of Barn Swallow Nestlings

Parent-offspring conflicts lead the offspring to evolve reliable signals of individual quality, including parasite burden, which may allow parents to adaptively modulate investment in the progeny. Sex-related variation in offspring reproductive value, however, may entail differential investment in sons and daughters. Here, we experimentally manipulated offspring condition in the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) by subjecting nestlings to an immune challenge (injection with bacterial lipopolysaccharide, LPS) that simulates a bacterial infection, and assessed the effects on growth, feather quality, expression of morphological (gape coloration) and behavioral (posture) begging displays involved in parent-offspring communication, as well as on food allocation by parents. Compared to sham-injected controls, LPS-treated chicks suffered a depression of body mass and a reduction of palate color saturation. In addition, LPS treatment resulted in lower feather quality, with an increase in the occurrence of fault bars on wing feathers. The color of beak flanges, feather growth and the intensity of postural begging were affected by LPS treatment only in females, suggesting that chicks of either sex are differently susceptible to the immune challenge. However, irrespective of the effects of LPS, parents equally allocated food among control and challenged offspring both under normal food provisioning and after a short period of food deprivation of the chicks. These results indicate that bacterial infection and the associated immune response entail different costs to offspring of either sex, but a decrease in nestling conditions does not affect parental care allocation, possibly because the barn swallow adopts a brood-survival strategy. Finally, we showed that physiological stress induced by pathogens impairs plumage quality, a previously neglected major negative impact of bacterial infection which could severely affect fitness, particularly among long-distance migratory birds

Coastal versus open-ocean denitrification in the Arabian Sea

International audienceThe Arabian Sea contains one of the three major open-ocean denitrification zones in the world. In addition, pelagic denitrification also occurs over the inner and mid-shelf off the west coast of India. The major differences between the two environments are highlighted using the available data. The perennial open-ocean system occupies two orders of magnitude larger volume than the seasonal coastal system, however, the latter offers more extreme conditions (greater nitrate consumption leading to complete anoxia). Unlike the open-ocean system, the coastal system seems to have undergone a change (i.e., it has intensified) over the past few decades presumably due to enhanced nutrient loading from land. The two systems also differ from each other with regard to the modes of nitrous oxide (N2O) production: In the open-ocean suboxic zone, an accumulation of secondary nitrite (NO2?) is invariably accompanied by depletion of N2O whereas in the coastal suboxic zone high NO2? and very high N2O concentrations frequently co-occur, indicating, respectively, net consumption and net production of N2O by denitrifiers. The extents of heavier isotope enrichment in the combined nitrate and nitrite (NO3?+NO2?) pool and in N2O in reducing waters appear to be considerably smaller in the coastal region, reflecting more varied sources/sinks and/or different isotopic fractionation factors

Early-life telomere dynamics differ between the sexes and predict growth in the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Telomeres are conserved DNA-protein structures at the termini of eukaryotic chromosomes which contribute to maintenance of genome integrity, and their shortening leads to cell senescence, with negative consequences for organismal functions. Because telomere erosion is influenced by extrinsic and endogenous factors, telomere dynamics may provide a mechanistic basis for evolutionary and physiological trade-offs. Yet, knowledge of fundamental aspects of telomere biology under natural selection regimes, including sex- and context-dependent variation in early-life, and the covariation between telomere dynamics and growth, is scant. In this study of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) we investigated the sex-dependent telomere erosion during nestling period, and the covariation between relative telomere length and body and plumage growth. Finally, we tested whether any covariation between growth traits and relative telomere length depends on the social environment, as influenced by sibling sex ratio. Relative telomere length declined on average over the period of nestling maximal growth rate (between 7 and 16 days of age) and differently covaried with initial relative telomere length in either sex. The frequency distribution of changes in relative telomere length was bimodal, with most nestlings decreasing and some increasing relative telomere length, but none of the offspring traits predicted the a posteriori identified group to which individual nestlings belonged. Tail and wing length increased with relative telomere length, but more steeply in males than females, and this relationship held both at the within- and among-broods levels. Moreover, the increase in plumage phenotypic values was steeper when the sex ratio of an individual's siblings was female-biased. Our study provides evidence for telomere shortening during early life according to subtly different dynamics in either sex. Furthermore, it shows that the positive covariation between growth and relative telomere length depends on sex as well as social environment, in terms of sibling sex ratio

Visualizing sound emission of elephant vocalizations: evidence for two rumble production types

Recent comparative data reveal that formant frequencies are cues to body size in animals, due to a close relationship between formant frequency spacing, vocal tract length and overall body size. Accordingly, intriguing morphological adaptations to elongate the vocal tract in order to lower formants occur in several species, with the size exaggeration hypothesis being proposed to justify most of these observations. While the elephant trunk is strongly implicated to account for the low formants of elephant rumbles, it is unknown whether elephants emit these vocalizations exclusively through the trunk, or whether the mouth is also involved in rumble production. In this study we used a sound visualization method (an acoustic camera) to record rumbles of five captive African elephants during spatial separation and subsequent bonding situations. Our results showed that the female elephants in our analysis produced two distinct types of rumble vocalizations based on vocal path differences: a nasally- and an orally-emitted rumble. Interestingly, nasal rumbles predominated during contact calling, whereas oral rumbles were mainly produced in bonding situations. In addition, nasal and oral rumbles varied considerably in their acoustic structure. In particular, the values of the first two formants reflected the estimated lengths of the vocal paths, corresponding to a vocal tract length of around 2 meters for nasal, and around 0.7 meters for oral rumbles. These results suggest that African elephants may be switching vocal paths to actively vary vocal tract length (with considerable variation in formants) according to context, and call for further research investigating the function of formant modulation in elephant vocalizations. Furthermore, by confirming the use of the elephant trunk in long distance rumble production, our findings provide an explanation for the extremely low formants in these calls, and may also indicate that formant lowering functions to increase call propagation distances in this species'