Age Estimates for Some Subterranean Taxa and Lineages in the Dinaric Karst

Using a comparative phylogeographic approach and different independent molecular clocks we propose a timescale for the evolution of troglobionts in the Dinaric Karst that is relatively consistent over a wide taxonomic range. Keystone events seem to belong to two age classes. (1) Major splits within holodinaric taxa are from the mid-Miocene. They present the potential upper limit for the age of cave invasions. (2) Regional differentiation, including speciation, which can at least in part be associated with a subterranean phase, took place from early Pliocene to mid-Pleistocene. We suggest two to five million years as the time when most of the analyzed lineages started invading the Dinaric Karst underground

Performances in cerebellar and neuromuscular transmission tests are correlated in migraine with aura

In previous studies, we described subclinical abnormalities of neuromuscular transmission and cerebellar functions in migraineurs. The aim of this study was to search if these two functions are correlated in the same patient. Thirteen migraineurs [five without aura (MO) and eight with aura (MA)] underwent both stimulation-SFEMG and 3D-movement analysis. Single fiber EMG (SFEMG) results were expressed as the “mean value of consecutive differences” (mean MCD). Precision of arm-reaching movements (measured with an infrared optoelectronic tracking system) was expressed as the average deviation in the horizontal plane. Median values of mean MCD and mean horizontal deviation were not different between MO and MA. However, in MA, but not in MO, both variables were positively correlated. Thus, we conclude that neuromuscular transmission and cerebellar functions are correlated in the same patient when affected by migraine with aura. We suggest that this correlation might be due to a common molecular abnormality

Fifteen species in one: deciphering the Brachionus plicatilis species complex (Rotifera, Monogononta) through DNA taxonomy

Understanding patterns and processes in biological diversity is a critical task given current and rapid environmental change. Such knowledge is even more essential when the taxa under consideration are important ecological and evolutionary models. One of these cases is the monogonont rotifer cryptic species complex Brachionus plicatilis, which is by far the most extensively studied group of rotifers, is widely used in aquaculture, and is known to host a large amount of unresolved diversity. Here we collate a dataset of previously available and newly generated sequences of COI and ITS1 for 1273 isolates of the B. plicatilis complex and apply three approaches in DNA taxonomy (i.e. ABGD, PTP, and GMYC) to identify and provide support for the existence of 15 species within the complex. We used these results to explore phylogenetic signal in morphometric and ecological traits, and to understand correlation among the traits using phylogenetic comparative models. Our results support niche conservatism for some traits (e.g. body length) and phylogenetic plasticity for others (e.g. genome size)

Brazilian cave heritage under siege

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

A critical review of recent bird census work in Slovenia

Count (quantitative) methods in avifaunistics have been neglected in Slovenia for decades and have certainly not followed the development else-where. For e needs of nature conservation and of basic as well as ecological research, the bird populations should be counted and relations as to their numbers within communities astablished. The counting of breeding populations of separate, usually somewhat rare species has been relatively comprehensive and the only ones by which some favourable inceptions for more extensive regional or national monitoring have been set up. Among the methods involving the entire species spectrum, various transect methods, point counts, area counts and mapping have been mainly applied. The transect method during which the detectability decrease with the increasing side distance from the observer is taken into consideration is a possible alternative for the comparative studies. Due to its simpleness it is also siutable for more extensive monitoring and has been implemented in a number of countries. Point counts enable the greatest of mappings per time unit and very accurate descripton of the habitat around the mapping point. The territory mapping certainly remains the most accurate method (to the exclusion of the extremely time-consuming andin larger areas hardly feasible search for nests), and for this reason its unpopularity in Slovenia is unfounded. Competent commissions and boards shouldprepare some uniform recommendations for its use, such as have existed in many European countries for decades. The area count method with single or multiple counting and without territory mapping is extremely inaccurate and unreliable. It allows us to determine size classes for separate species at themost and is applicable only as a provisional measure for mapping of large areas in a single season. (Abstract truncated at 2000 characters.

Census of the corn Crake Crex crex in Slovenia in 1992-93

In 1992 and 1993, the first Corn Crake Crex crex census was carried out in Slovenia so far. Most of the potential sites were investigated. 464 singing males were counted, according to which the Slovene population of this bird canbe estimated at about 510 males in the census period. The focal point of its distribution are the karts polje along the Ljubljanica river system and Ljubljansko barje (the Ljubljana Marshes), where 84% of all Corn Crakes were registered. In the lowlands of the eastern and northeastern parts of Slovenia,only isolated records were made apart from a small remaining population. With the exception of a few individuals, these birds were practically absent in the plains along some larger rivers. In the abandoned upland meadows above 700 m a.s.l. in the western Julian Alps and in the Snežnik mountains, it breeds dispersedly in small numbers, while its breeding at Kobariški Stol is quite dense. Most of the Corn Crakes (64%) were recorded in annually inundated and late in the season mown meadows and rough grassland.Unmown marshes and somewhat drier, extensively cultivated meadows represent the bird\u27s next most important habitats, followed by abandoned upland meadows. Arable land, as the bird\u27s possible biotope, are not significant. Most of the remaining areas inhabited by Corn Crakes are threatened by the increasing modernization and intensification of agriculture as well as by early mechanized mowing, together with the destruction of habitat (draining, transformation of meadows into fields). At places, especially in mountainous country, the Corn Crake is threatened due to the fact that the no longer mown grassland is becoming gradually overgrown with shrubs. None of the important areas has been legally protected, and the traditional meadow farming has not been given any state support