scholarly journals Impact of continuous predator threat on telomere dynamics in parent and nestling pied flycatchers

Oecologia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 191 (4) ◽  
pp. 757-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiia Kärkkäinen ◽  
Pauliina Teerikorpi ◽  
Bineet Panda ◽  
Samuli Helle ◽  
Antoine Stier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Telomere Maintenance ◽  
Stress Hormone ◽  
Ageing Rate ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Perceived Predation Risk ◽  
Telomere Dynamics ◽  
Predator Threat

Abstract In addition to direct mortality, predators can have indirect effects on prey populations by affecting prey behaviour or physiology. For example, predator presence can increase stress hormone levels, which can have physiological costs. Stress exposure accelerates the shortening of telomeres (i.e. the protective caps of chromosomes) and shorter telomeres have been linked to increased mortality risk. However, the effect of perceived predation risk on telomeres is not known. We investigated the effects of continuous predator threat (nesting Eurasian pygmy owl Glaucidium passerinum) on telomere dynamics of both adult and partially cross-fostered nestling pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) in the wild. Females nesting at owl-inhabited sites showed impaired telomere maintenance between incubation and chick rearing compared to controls, and both males and females ended up with shorter telomeres at owl-inhabited sites in the end of chick rearing. On the contrary, both original and cross-fostered chicks reared in owl sites had consistently longer telomeres during growth than chicks reared at control sites. Thus, predation risk may cause a long-term cost in terms of telomeres for parents but not for their offspring. Predators may therefore affect telomere dynamics of their preys, which could have implications for their ageing rate and consequently for population dynamics.

scholarly journals Fear of predators as an ecosystem service

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liana Y Zanette ◽  
Michael Clinchy
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Large Carnivores ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Fear Effects ◽  
Perceived Predation Risk

The fear that predators instill in prey induces short-term anti-predator behaviours across every animal taxa that are beneficial in avoiding immediate death, but carry costs; one of the most well-established being that scared prey eat less. These findings, that animals stop eating to avoid being eaten under perceived predation risk, are not controversial. What is controversial is whether such fear effects can be long-term and powerful enough to affect wildlife prey populations and generate trophic cascades. For example, some have suggested that the restoration of wolves to Yellowstone National Park also restored the fear of predators, reducing elk foraging and in turn the pregnancy rate, contributing to rapidly declining elk numbers. Other Yellowstone researchers have suggested that the restoration of fear has generated a trophic cascade whereby scared elk eat less, increasing the food that elk eat. The prospect that fear can help restore populations and ecosystems has critical management implications, but to implement a management plan fear effects must be quantified. Indeed, the enormous amount of often acrimonious debate centred on whether fear can affect populations and ecosystems lingers in both the scientific and public policy domains because studies have largely been based on natural experiments. Manipulations that establish whether fear effects actually do exist for wildlife can help resolve management debates, and are critical for conservation and management on a global scale because the status of large carnivores world-wide is quite dismal with 77 % of species in decline. Public policy would also benefit because if restoring large carnivores also restores fear such that degraded ecosystems can become healthy again, then this has real implications for human lives and livelihoods. We present research from our lab and others, in which perceived predation risk has been experimentally manipulated in free-living wildlife. The results to date definitively demonstrate that fear effects do exist. Fear alters prey foraging behaviour, and fearful prey in turn produce 50 % fewer offspring; fear permanently impairs the reproduction of surviving offspring; and restoring the fear of large carnivores generates cascading effects down at least four tiers in the food chain. Given the enormous effects that fear has in nature, we elaborate on how manipulating fear using sound can be a particularly useful management tool for diagnosing and treating environmental ills. We describe a new system we have designed (Automated Behavioural Response systems-ABRs) that allows any researcher working on any wildlife species to conduct manipulations that quantify fear effects. We conclude that fear has its uses. Fear is good for the environment and as such, management may sometimes need to inject fear artificially for short-term goals (e.g. crop protection) but in many cases, the best and cheapest long-term solution might be to restore native predators where lost.

Hibernation in Free-Living Mountain Pygmy-Possums, Burramys Parvus (Marsupialia, Burramyidae)

1995 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 373 ◽  
Author(s):  
LS Broome ◽  
F Geiser
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Temperature Regimes ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Torpor Bouts

The long-term pattern of hibernation was studied in free-living mountain pygmy-possums, Burramys parvus, using temperature-sensitive radio-collars. Most males and females began to hibernate in early June within one week of their release. Hibernation was interrupted by spontaneous arousals that were followed by short normothermic periods and re-entry into torpor. The duration of multiday torpor bouts averaged 8 . 0 days (range 3-17 days) and arousal periods averaged 19 . 1 h. Single-day torpor bouts were observed occasionally. The duration of torpor bouts lengthened with the progress of the hibernation season and normothermic periods became shorter. The pattern of hibernation in free-living B. parvus was similar to that of captive individuals maintained under temperature regimes that were similar to those in the wild.

scholarly journals Telomere dynamics rather than age predict life expectancy in the wild

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1662) ◽  
pp. 1679-1683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Bize ◽  
François Criscuolo ◽  
Neil B Metcalfe ◽  
Lubna Nasir ◽  
Pat Monaghan
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Good Evidence ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Telomere Dynamics

Despite accumulating evidence from in vitro studies that cellular senescence is linked to telomere dynamics, how this relates to whole-organism senescence and longevity is poorly understood and controversial. Using data on telomere length in red blood cells and long-term survival from wild Alpine swifts of a range of ages, we report that the telomere length and the rate of telomere loss are predictive of life expectancy, and that slow erosion of relatively long telomeres is associated with the highest survival probabilities. Importantly, because telomere dynamics, rather than chronological age, predict life expectancy, our study provides good evidence for a mechanistic link between telomere erosion and reduced organism longevity under natural conditions, chronological age itself possibly not becoming a significant predictor until very old ages beyond those in our sample.

scholarly journals Telomere shortening as a mechanism of long-term cost of infectious diseases in natural animal populations

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 20190190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Giraudeau ◽  
Britt Heidinger ◽  
Camille Bonneaud ◽  
Tuul Sepp
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Maintenance ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Selective Forces ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
Telomere Erosion

Pathogens are potent selective forces that can reduce the fitness of their hosts. While studies of the short-term energetic costs of infections are accumulating, the long-term costs have only just started to be investigated. Such delayed costs may, at least in part, be mediated by telomere erosion. This hypothesis is supported by experimental investigations conducted on laboratory animals which show that infection accelerates telomere erosion in immune cells. However, the generalizability of such findings to natural animal populations and to humans remains debatable. First, laboratory animals typically display long telomeres relative to their wild counterparts. Second, unlike humans and most wild animals, laboratory small-bodied mammals are capable of telomerase-based telomere maintenance throughout life. Third, the effect of infections on telomere shortening and ageing has only been studied using single pathogen infections, yet hosts are often simultaneously confronted with a range of pathogens in the wild. Thus, the cost of an infection in terms of telomere-shortening-related ageing in natural animal populations is likely to be strongly underestimated. Here, we discuss how investigations into the links between infection, immune response and tissue ageing are now required to improve our understanding of the long-term impact of disease.

scholarly journals Escaping peril: perceived predation risk affects migratory propensity

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 20150466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaj Hulthén ◽  
Ben B. Chapman ◽  
P. Anders Nilsson ◽  
Jerker Vinterstare ◽  
Lars-Anders Hansson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Migratory Behaviour ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Experimental Mesocosms ◽  
Indirect Risk ◽  
Electronic Tags ◽  
Perceived Predation Risk

Although migratory plasticity is increasingly documented, the ecological drivers of plasticity are not well understood. Predation risk can influence migratory dynamics, but whether seasonal migrants can adjust their migratory behaviour according to perceived risk is unknown. We used electronic tags to record the migration of individual roach ( Rutilus rutilus ), a partially migratory fish, in the wild following exposure to manipulation of direct (predator presence/absence) and indirect (high/low roach density) perceived predation risk in experimental mesocosms. Following exposure, we released fish in their lake summer habitat and monitored individual migration to connected streams over an entire season. Individuals exposed to increased perceived direct predation risk (i.e. a live predator) showed a higher migratory propensity but no change in migratory timing, while indirect risk (i.e. roach density) affected timing but not propensity showing that elevated risk carried over to alter migratory behaviour in the wild. Our key finding demonstrates predator-driven migratory plasticity, highlighting the powerful role of predation risk for migratory decision-making and dynamics.

scholarly journals Fear of predators as an ecosystem service

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liana Y Zanette ◽  
Michael Clinchy
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Large Carnivores ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Fear Effects ◽  
Perceived Predation Risk

The fear that predators instill in prey induces short-term anti-predator behaviours across every animal taxa that are beneficial in avoiding immediate death, but carry costs; one of the most well-established being that scared prey eat less. These findings, that animals stop eating to avoid being eaten under perceived predation risk, are not controversial. What is controversial is whether such fear effects can be long-term and powerful enough to affect wildlife prey populations and generate trophic cascades. For example, some have suggested that the restoration of wolves to Yellowstone National Park also restored the fear of predators, reducing elk foraging and in turn the pregnancy rate, contributing to rapidly declining elk numbers. Other Yellowstone researchers have suggested that the restoration of fear has generated a trophic cascade whereby scared elk eat less, increasing the food that elk eat. The prospect that fear can help restore populations and ecosystems has critical management implications, but to implement a management plan fear effects must be quantified. Indeed, the enormous amount of often acrimonious debate centred on whether fear can affect populations and ecosystems lingers in both the scientific and public policy domains because studies have largely been based on natural experiments. Manipulations that establish whether fear effects actually do exist for wildlife can help resolve management debates, and are critical for conservation and management on a global scale because the status of large carnivores world-wide is quite dismal with 77 % of species in decline. Public policy would also benefit because if restoring large carnivores also restores fear such that degraded ecosystems can become healthy again, then this has real implications for human lives and livelihoods. We present research from our lab and others, in which perceived predation risk has been experimentally manipulated in free-living wildlife. The results to date definitively demonstrate that fear effects do exist. Fear alters prey foraging behaviour, and fearful prey in turn produce 50 % fewer offspring; fear permanently impairs the reproduction of surviving offspring; and restoring the fear of large carnivores generates cascading effects down at least four tiers in the food chain. Given the enormous effects that fear has in nature, we elaborate on how manipulating fear using sound can be a particularly useful management tool for diagnosing and treating environmental ills. We describe a new system we have designed (Automated Behavioural Response systems-ABRs) that allows any researcher working on any wildlife species to conduct manipulations that quantify fear effects. We conclude that fear has its uses. Fear is good for the environment and as such, management may sometimes need to inject fear artificially for short-term goals (e.g. crop protection) but in many cases, the best and cheapest long-term solution might be to restore native predators where lost.

scholarly journals Sexual dimorphism in the long-term stability (10 years) of skeletal Class III treatment

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Tejedor ◽  
Conchita Martín ◽  
José Antonio Alarcón ◽  
María Dolores Oteo-Calatayud ◽  
Juan Carlos Palma-Fernández
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Class Iii ◽  
Class Iii Malocclusion ◽  
Skeletal Class ◽  
Term Stability ◽  
Long Term Stability ◽  
Fixed Appliances ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Class Iii Treatment

Abstract Background Class III malocclusion is associated with high sexual dimorphism, especially in individuals older than 13 years of age, with significant differences in growth between males and females during the pubertal and postpubertal stages, and in adulthood. The aim of this research was to examine differences between males and females in long-term stability (10 years) of treatment for skeletal Class III malocclusion. Methods Thirty patients (15 males and 15 females) with skeletal Class III malocclusion, who had been treated with rapid maxillary expansion (RME) combined with face mask protraction followed by fixed appliances, were selected sequentially. Thirty patients (15 males and 15 females) with skeletal Class I and mesofacial patterns treated only with fixed appliances for dental problems served as the control group. Differences between groups and sexes were evaluated using lateral cephalograms taken at the start of treatment (T0), immediately after the end of treatment (T1), and after 10 years (T2). The long-term treatment success rate was calculated. Results Ten years after Class III treatment, overjet and overbite relapse occurred similarly in females (− 0.68 ± 0.7 mm; − 0.38 ± 0.75 mm, respectively) and males (− 1.09 ± 1.47 mm; − 0.64 ± 0.9 mm, respectively); the ANB angle and Wits appraisal became significantly more negative in males (− 1.37 ± 1.06°; − 2.7 ± 2.53 mm) than in females (− 0.18 ± 1.26°; − 0.46 ± 1.94 mm). The success rate was 73.3% in males and 80% in females. Conclusions Significant differences in the long-term stability of Class III treatment outcomes have been found between males and females, with a larger skeletal Class III relapse and lower long-term success rates in males.

An ER–Golgi Tethering Factor SLOH4/MIP3 Is Involved in Long-term Heat Tolerance of Arabidopsis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuho Isono ◽  
Ryo Tsukimoto ◽  
Satoshi Iuchi ◽  
Akihisa Shinozawa ◽  
Izumi Yotsui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Heat Tolerance ◽  
Secretory Proteins ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Additional Function ◽  
Transcript Levels ◽  
Unfolded Protein ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Protein Response

Abstract Plants are often exposed not only to short-term (S-) heat stress but also to diurnal long-term (L-) heat stress over several consecutive days. To reveal the mechanisms underlying L-heat stress tolerance, we here used a forward genetic screening for sensitive to long-term heat (sloh) mutants and isolated sloh4. The mutant was hypersensitive to L- but not S-heat stress. The causal gene of sloh4 was identical to MIP3 encoding a member of the MAIGO2 (MAG2) tethering complex, which is composed of the MAG2, MIP1, MIP2, and MIP3 subunits and is localized at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. Although sloh4/mip3 was hypersensitive to L-heat stress, the sensitivity of the mag2-3 and mip1–1 mutants was similar to that of the wild type. Under L-heat stress, the ER stress and the following unfolded protein response (UPR) were more pronounced in sloh4 than in the wild type. Transcript levels of bZIP60-regulated UPR genes were strongly increased in sloh4 under L-heat stress. Two processes known to be mediated by INOSITOL REQUIRING ENZYME1 (IRE1)—accumulation of the spliced bZIP60 transcript and a decrease in the transcript levels of PR4 and PRX34, encoding secretory proteins—were observed in sloh4 in response to L-heat stress. These findings suggest that misfolded proteins generated in sloh4 under L-heat stress may be recognized by IRE1 but not bZIP28, resulting in initiation of the UPR via activated bZIP60. Therefore, it would be possible that only MIP3 in MAG2 complex has an additional function in L-heat tolerance, which is not related to the ER–Golgi vesicle tethering.

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