The evolutionary ecology of fatty-acid variation : Implications for consumer adaptation and diversification

The nutritional diversity of resources can affect the adaptive evolution of consumer metabolism and consumer diversification. The omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) have a high potential to affect consumer fitness, through their widespread effects on reproduction, growth and survival. However, few studies consider the evolution of fatty acid metabolism within an ecological context. In this review, we first document the extensive diversity in both primary producer and consumer fatty acid distributions amongst major ecosystems, between habitats and amongst species within habitats. We highlight some of the key nutritional contrasts that can shape behavioural and/or metabolic adaptation in consumers, discussing how consumers can evolve in response to the spatial, seasonal and community-level variation of resource quality. We propose a hierarchical trait-based approach for studying the evolution of consumers' metabolic networks and review the evolutionary genetic mechanisms underpinning consumer adaptation to EPA and DHA distributions. In doing so, we consider how the metabolic traits of consumers are hierarchically structured, from cell membrane function to maternal investment, and have strongly environment-dependent expression. Finally, we conclude with an outlook on how studying the metabolic adaptation of consumers within the context of nutritional landscapes can open up new opportunities for understanding evolutionary diversification

Wine Tourism and Visitor's Perception: A Structural Equation Modeling Aproach

The field of wine tourism is emerging at international level as a new product with significant economic potentialities and characteristics that may locate it in the paradigm of sustainable development. This paper analyzes a specific wine tourism segment, Madeira Wine tourism, in the global context of tourist consumer behavior, through perception‟s examination of wineries‟ visitors. Specifically, it is investigated the indirect influence of destination image construct on global tourist satisfaction with the travel, mediated by tourist wine involvement dimension. A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach is used to develop and to test conceptualized relationships between one exogenous and two endogenous constructs: tourist perceptions about Madeira Island attractiveness (destination image), tourist Madeira wine involvement and global satisfaction constructs. The findings indicate that global tourist satisfaction is directly influenced by the level of tourist wine involvement and indirectly by tourist Madeira Island image. The police implications of the results must be integrated in the international context of wine tourism market segment in order to explore additional exchange profits from this economic activity, like the impact of country image and wine product perception on the promotion of wine tourism in Europe. Keywords: wine tourism; structural equation modeling; global satisfaction with Madeira Wine; Sustainable Tourism Activity; wine involvement mediating effect