A simple method to estimate the significance level of the catch probability in the catch removal method in riverf ish populations

This work presents a method for estimating the signi®cance level of the capture probability when the capture removal method is used in riverine ®sh populations. The method is based on adjustment of the linear relationship between capture probability and an index of capture ef®cacy. With this method the population size, the statistic 2 and the signi®cance level of the capture probability can be estimated. This is a simple technique which can be applied in the ®eld at the time of sampling. It does not require the use of computers and can determine in situ whether the catch is valid to calculate the population density

ELOVL6 Genetic Variation Is Related to Insulin Sensitivity: A New Candidate Gene in Energy Metabolism

BACKGROUND: The elongase of long chain fatty acids family 6 (ELOVL6) is an enzyme that specifically catalyzes the elongation of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids with 12, 14 and 16 carbons. ELOVL6 is expressed in lipogenic tissues and it is regulated by sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP-1). OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether ELOVL6 genetic variation is associated with insulin sensitivity in a population from southern Spain. DESIGN: We undertook a prospective, population-based study collecting phenotypic, metabolic, nutritional and genetic information. Measurements were made of weight and height and the body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Insulin resistance was measured by homeostasis model assessment. The type of dietary fat was assessed from samples of cooking oil taken from the participants' kitchens and analyzed by gas chromatography. Five SNPs of the ELOVL6 gene were analyzed by SNPlex. RESULTS: Carriers of the minor alleles of the SNPs rs9997926 and rs6824447 had a lower risk of having high HOMA_IR, whereas carriers of the minor allele rs17041272 had a higher risk of being insulin resistant. An interaction was detected between the rs6824447 polymorphism and the intake of oil in relation with insulin resistance, such that carriers of this minor allele who consumed sunflower oil had lower HOMA_IR than those who did not have this allele (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Genetic variations in the ELOVL6 gene were associated with insulin sensitivity in this population-based study

State-space modelling of the drivers of movement behaviour in sympatric species

Understanding animal movement behaviour is key to furthering our knowledge on intra- and inter-specific competition, group cohesion, energy expenditure, habitat use, the spread of zoonotic diseases or species management. We used a radial basis function surface approximation subject to minimum description length constraint to uncover the state-space dynamical systems from time series data. This approximation allowed us to infer structure from a mathematical model of the movement behaviour of sheep and red deer, and the effect of density, thermal stress and vegetation type. Animal movement was recorded using GPS collars deployed in sheep and deer grazing a large experimental plot in winter and summer. Information on the thermal stress to which animals were exposed was estimated using the power consumption of mechanical heated models and meteorological records of a network of stations in the plot. Thermal stress was higher in deer than in sheep, with less differences between species in summer. Deer travelled more distance than sheep, and both species travelled more in summer than in winter; deer travel distance showed less seasonal differences than sheep. Animal movement was better predicted in deer than in sheep and in winter than in summer; both species showed a swarming behaviour in group cohesion, stronger in deer. At shorter separation distances swarming repulsion was stronger between species than within species. At longer separation distances inter-specific attraction was weaker than intra-specific; there was a positive density-dependent effect on swarming, and stronger in deer than in sheep. There was not clear evidence which species attracted or repelled the other; attraction between deer at long separation distances was stronger when the model accounted for thermal stress, but in general the dynamic movement behaviour was hardly affected by the thermal stress. Vegetation type affected intra-species interactions but had little effect on inter-species interactions. Our modelling approach is useful in interpreting animal interactions, in order to unravel complex cooperative or competitive behaviours, and to the best of our knowledge is the first modelling attempt to make predictions of multi-species animal movement under different habitat mosaics and abiotic environmental conditions

Revista de Vertebrados de la Estación Biológica de Doñana

Anfibios fósiles del Pleistoceno de Mallorca.Species densities of Reptiles and Amphibiansfon the Iberian PeninsulaEcología alimenticia del Petirrojo (Erithacus rubecula) durante su invernada en encinares del Sur de EspañaEl papel d. la Perdiz roja (Alectoris rufa) en la dieta de los predadores IbéricosComposición de las Comunidades de Passeriformes en dos biotopos de Sierra Morena Occidental.Sobre las Ginetas de la Isla de Ibiza (Genetta genetta isabelae n. ssp.)Peer reviewe

Morphometric and genetic analysis as proof of the existence of two sturgeon species in the Guadalquivir river

Morphometric and genetic methods were used to identify two sturgeon species, Acipenser naccarii Bo- naparte, 1836, and A. sturio Linnaeus, 1758, captured in some of the principal rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, including the Guadalquivir. After measuring 25 Iberian specimens from a ®shery and several Spanish and Por- tuguese museums and applying stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA), four specimens preserved in di erent museums [two specimens from the Guadalquivir river (EBD-8173 and EBD-8174), one specimen from the Tagus river (MUC1) and one specimen from the Mondego river (MUC46B)], as well as ®ve specimens captured in the Guadalquivir river in the 1940s but not preserved (CM1, CM2, CM3, CM4 and CM5), were identi®ed as A. naccarii. After cloning and character- isation of a satellite-DNA family, HindIII, from A. naccarii genome, its absence from the genome of A. sturio was determined. Using this satellite-DNA as a genetic marker and by means of dot-blotting, we dem- onstrate that the DNA of the two specimens captured during the mid-1970s in the Guadalquivir river cross- hybridised with HindIII satellite-DNA sequences of A. naccarii. We conclude that A. naccarii is autochtho- nous to the Iberian Peninsula and is not, as was previ- ously believed, endemic to the Adriatic Sea

Spatial patterns of an endemic Mediterranean palm recolonizing old fields

Throughout Europe, increased levels of land abandonment lead to (re)colonization of old lands by forests and shrublands. Very little is known about the spatial pattern of plants recolonizing such old fields. We mapped in two 21–22-ha plots, located in the Doñana National Park (Spain), all adult individuals of the endozoochorous dwarf palm Chamaerops humilis L. and determined their sex and sizes. We used techniques of spatial point pattern analysis (SPPA) to precisely quantify the spatial structure of these C. humilis populations. The objective was to identify potential processes generating the patterns and their likely consequences on palm reproductive success. We used (1) Thomas point process models to describe the clustering of the populations, (2) random labeling to test the sexual spatial segregation, and (3) mark correlation functions to assess spatial structure in plant sizes. Plants in both plots showed two critical scales of clustering, with small clusters of a radius of 2.8–4 m nested within large clusters with 38–44 m radius. Additional to the clustered individuals, 11% and 27% of all C. humilis individuals belonged to a random pattern that was independently superimposed to the clustered pattern. The complex spatial pattern of C. humilis could be explained by the effect of different seed-dispersers and predators’ behavior and their relative abundances. Plant sexes had no spatial segregation. Plant sizes showed a spatial aggregation inside the clusters, with a decreasing correlation with distance. Clustering of C. humilis is strongly reliant on its seed dispersers and stressful environmental conditions. However, it seems that the spatial patterns and dispersal strategies of the dwarf palm make it a successful plant for new habitat colonization. Our results provide new information on the colonization ability of C. humilis and can help to develop management strategies to recover plant populationsPeer reviewe

Technical viability study for behavioral monitoring of wildlife animals in Doñana: An 802.15.4 coverage study in a Natural Park

The study and monitoring of wildlife and in semi-freedom has always been a subject of great interest. In recent years the technology allows to design low cost systems that facilitate these tasks: microcontrollers, low-power wireless networks, sensors. GPS, satellite and VHF has been used for position tracking and localization of wildlife. Our aim is to design a low-cost system for local monitoring of wildlife (collar or harness) with local memory and remote access. It will use multiples sensors for behavioral and health monitoring and fuse the processed information locally to reduce the stored data, but allowing to be sporadically transmitted through wireless networks. This collar will be based on an embedded low-power microcontroller with 802.15.4 transceiver and a set of sensors to provide data (activity and health) of the animal under monitoring: accelerometers, compass, humidity, temperature, light, microphone, heart rhythm. This collar is called mote in wireless sensors network (WSN) terminology. Only when one mote is closer to an 802.15.4 mote and under request, the collar will dump the information to a host database server through the 802.15.4 network. In this paper we present a viability study of the WSN for Doñana Natural Park for different mote transmission powers, frequencies and distances for coverage. ZigBee and XBee mote has been proven.Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas RDB-ICTS 39/201