Numerical response of a mammalian specialist predator to multiple prey dynamics in Mediterranean farmlands

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Acknowledgments This work was funded through the projects ECOCYCLES (BIODIVERSA 2008, Era‐net European project, EUI2008‐03641 and EUI2008‐03658), ECOVOLE (CGL2012‐35348), and ECOTULA (CGL2015‐66962‐C2‐1‐R; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain), and by NERC NE/G002045/1 to XL. We thank the many people that help during fieldwork, and Deon Roos and Sally Bach for correcting the English. We held all necessary permits for animal experimentation for Spain and small‐mammal capture.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Isoodon Desmarest, 1817, rather than Thylacis lUiger, 1811, as the valid generic name of the short-nosed bandicoots (Marsupialia: Peramelidae)

Volume: 81Start Page: 251End Page: 25

Landscape Ecology vol. 6 no. 4 pp 259-268 (1992)

This study describes the demographic features of a population of Sigmodon hispidus utilizing the habitat mosaic provided by a Carolina Bay on the Atlantic coastal plain of South Carolina. A total of 71 cotton rats were captured 160 times on a 4 ha grid during a winter decline from to less that Body weights of adults declined until early February and then increased; those of subadults grew very slowly until February followed by a spurt in growth. Weight gain did not differ between survivors and non-survivors for males, but female survivors gained 1.5 g per week more than non-survivors. Female subadults exhibited higher mor- tality early in the decline and males later. Adult females were randomly distributed across 8 microhabitats, whereas adult males were almost exclu- sively confined to heavy cover. males used wet sites more than any other cohort; females were widely distributed using drier sites most frequently. By the end of the decline, all survivors were localized inRubus-dominated patches. No statistically significant changes in electromorphgenotypes or allele frequencies were detected, but survivors had a higher frequency of the F-allele at the adenylate kinase locus than did non-survivors (42.3% vs. 16.7%). Our findings affirm the importance of a landscape perspective in understanding the population dynamics of cotton rats, and show how a habitat mosaic influences survival differentially among sex-age cohorts. 1

Behavioral Response to Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles and Refueling: Results of California Drive Clinics

Over the last several decades, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) have emerged as a zero tailpipe-emission alternative to the battery electric vehicle (EV). To address questions about consumer reaction to FCVs, this report presents the results of a “ride-and-drive” clinic series (n=182) held in 2007 with a Mercedes-Benz A-Class “F-Cell” hydrogen FCV. The clinic evaluated participant reactions to driving and riding in an FCV, as well as vehicle refueling. Pre-and post clinic surveys assessed consumer response. More than 80% left with a positive overall impression of hydrogen. The majority expressed a willingness to travel five to ten minutes to find a hydrogen station. More than 90% of participants would consider an FCV driving range of 300 miles (480 kilometers) to be acceptable. Stated willingness-to-pay preferences were explored. The results show that short-term exposure can improve consumer perceptions of hydrogen performance and safety among people who are the more likely early adopters

Behavioral Response to Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles and Refueling: Results of California Drive Clinics

Over the last several decades, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) have emerged as a zero tailpipe-emission alternative to the battery electric vehicle (EV). To address questions about consumer reaction to FCVs, this report presents the results of a “ride-and-drive” clinic series (n=182) held in 2007 with a Mercedes-Benz A-Class “F-Cell” hydrogen FCV. The clinic evaluated participant reactions to driving and riding in an FCV, as well as vehicle refueling. Pre-and post clinic surveys assessed consumer response. More than 80% left with a positive overall impression of hydrogen. The majority expressed a willingness to travel five to ten minutes to find a hydrogen station. More than 90% of participants would consider an FCV driving range of 300 miles (480 kilometers) to be acceptable. Stated willingness-to-pay preferences were explored. The results show that short-term exposure can improve consumer perceptions of hydrogen performance and safety among people who are the more likely early adopters

Long-term repeatability and stability of three personality traits in meadow voles

Consistency of animal personality traits is expected. Mounting evidence suggests that animal personalities will change with time and major life events. Research into this phenomenon is often limited to span only short periods of time in the animals’ life or have few measures across their life. We measured Exploration, Activity and Boldness of litters of meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, in a pair of novel object tests six times over a year, representing a large proportion of the lifespan of the vole. Our null hypothesis was that the personality traits would not change, and our first alternative hypothesis was that personality traits would change equally for all individuals as they aged. Neither was supported. The data support our third hypothesis that traits would change and change unequally. Activity and Boldness were consistent across time. However, Exploratory behaviour increased with the vole\u27s age. The supported models show that personality traits change consistently for related individuals, but the litters differ in their change with age. This suggests that meadow vole life history affects how personality traits develop, but not necessarily their magnitudes. We also tested the repeatability of traits across the testing intervals. We discovered that the repeatability of these three personality traits varied across time, depending on the trait. Activity was repeatable equally across ages. Exploration became more repeatable and Boldness became less so. Thus, personality traits may be more malleable than supposed, especially over long periods of time

Clearing width and movements of understory rainforest birds

We assessed the capacity of three species of disturbance-sensitive understory birds to traverse a highway (50–75 m width) and large farm clearing (250 m width), by radio-tracking translocated individuals in central Amazonia, Brazil. Most individuals translocated across the highway (eight of nine birds) or moved within continuous forest (five of seven birds) returned to their home ranges, whereas none of five birds moved across the large clearing returned. Our results suggest that large clearings (>250 m width) can significantly reduce the movements of some understory rainforest birds

Natural history as stamp collecting: a brief history

The endeavour of natural history has often been ridiculed as “mere stamp collecting” by those unwilling to see anything scientific in naturalists\u27 work. This paper traces some of the ways the term “stamp collecting” has been used in scientific literature. It discusses how the term can be seen as a reflection of the changing methodological context in which science has been done in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It also points to the importance of considering the relative status of certain sciences not as a problem of what type of science is better or more important but as a problem of scientific communities competing for both resources and prestige