scholarly journals Disparate roost sites drive intraspecific physiological variation in a Malagasy bat

Oecologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Reher ◽  
Hajatiana Rabarison ◽  
B. Karina Montero ◽  
James M. Turner ◽  
Kathrin H. Dausmann
Keyword(s):  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Resting Energy Expenditure ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Energy Budgets ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Physiological Variation ◽  
The Face ◽  
Full Capacity ◽  
Local Weather ◽  
Physiological Flexibility

AbstractMany species are widely distributed and individual populations can experience vastly different environmental conditions over seasonal and geographic scales. With such a broad ecological reality, datasets with limited spatial and temporal resolution may not accurately represent a species and could lead to poorly informed management decisions. Because physiological flexibility can help species tolerate environmental variation, we studied the physiological responses of two separate populations of Macronycteris commersoni, a bat widespread across Madagascar, in contrasting seasons. The populations roost under the following dissimilar conditions: either a hot, well-buffered cave or within open foliage, unprotected from the local weather. We found that flexible torpor patterns, used in response to prevailing ambient temperature and relative humidity, were central to keeping energy budgets balanced in both populations. While bats’ metabolic rate during torpor and rest did not differ between roosts, adjusting torpor frequency, duration and timing helped bats maintain body condition. Interestingly, the exposed forest roost induced extensive use of torpor, which exceeded the torpor frequency of overwintering bats that stayed in the cave for months and consequently minimised daytime resting energy expenditure in the forest. Our current understanding of intraspecific physiological variation is limited and physiological traits are often considered to be fixed. The results of our study therefore highlight the need for examining species at broad environmental scales to avoid underestimating a species’ full capacity for withstanding environmental variation, especially in the face of ongoing, disruptive human interference in natural habitats.

scholarly journals Remarkable Population Resilience in a North African Endemic Damselfly in the Face of Rapid Agricultural Transformation

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Rassim Khelifa ◽  
Hayat Mahdjoub ◽  
Affef Baaloudj ◽  
Robert A. Cannings ◽  
Michael J. Samways
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Agricultural Expansion ◽  
North African ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Agricultural Transformation ◽  
The Face ◽  
Terrestrial Habitats

Agriculture can be pervasive in its effect on wild nature, affecting various types of natural habitats, including lotic ecosystems. Here, we assess the extent of agricultural expansion on lotic systems in Northern Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco) and document its overlap with the distribution of an endemic damselfly, Platycnemis subdilatata Selys, using species distribution modeling. We found that agricultural land cover increased by 321% in the region between 1992 and 2005, and, in particular, the main watercourses experienced an increase in agricultural land cover from 21.4% in 1992 to 78.1% in 2005, together with an increase in the intensity of 226% in agricultural practices. We used capture–mark–recapture (CMR) surveys in terrestrial habitats surrounding a stream bordered by grassland and cropland in northeastern Algeria to determine demographic parameters and population size, as well as cropland occupancy. CMR modeling showed that the recapture and survival probabilities had an average of 0.14 (95%CI: 0.14–0.17) and 0.86 (0.85–0.87), respectively. We estimated a relatively large population of P. subdilatata (~1750 individuals) in terrestrial habitats. The occupancy of terrestrial habitats by adults was spatially structured by age. Our data suggest that P. subdilatata has survived agricultural expansion and intensification better than other local odonate species, mainly because it can occupy transformed landscapes, such as croplands and grasslands.

Ecological biogeography

1993 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 448-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Hengeveld
Keyword(s):  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Species Ranges ◽  
Size And Shape ◽  
The Past ◽  
Recent Developments

In this article, I first review recent developments in biogeography, after which I discuss some attempts at synthesis. The main body of the article, however, is devoted to the conception of ranges in terms of physiological responses to environmental variation. Because of this variation, such deterministic responses have to be described in stochastic terms in the case of local processes. Moreover, because of the same variation, species ranges will change location, size, and shape all the time, whereas internally their numerical structure shows up their dynamic nature. Ranges, therefore, are to be conceived as processes rather than as patterns, as they have been for long in the past.

scholarly journals Urban ecophysiology: beyond costs, stress and biomarkers

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (22) ◽  
pp. jeb203794
Author(s):  
Caroline Isaksson
Keyword(s):  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Redox System ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Evolutionary Context ◽  
Urban Conditions ◽  
System Metabolism ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Physiological Systems

ABSTRACTNatural habitats are rapidly declining due to urbanisation, with a concomitant decline in biodiversity in highly urbanised areas. Yet thousands of different species have colonised urban environments. These organisms are exposed to novel urban conditions, which are sometimes beneficial, but most often challenging, such as increased ambient temperature, chemicals, noise and light pollution, dietary alterations and disturbance by humans. Given the fundamental role of physiological responses in coping with such conditions, certain physiological systems such as the redox system, metabolism and hormones are thought to specifically influence organisms’ ability to persist and cope with urbanisation. However, these physiological systems often show mixed responses to urbanisation. Does this mean that some individuals, populations or species are resilient to the urban environmental challenges? Or is something missing from our analyses, leading us to erroneous conclusions regarding the impact of urbanisation? To understand the impact of urbanisation, I argue that a more integrated mechanistic and ecological approach is needed, along with experiments, in order to fully understand the physiological responses; without knowledge of their ecological and evolutionary context, physiological measures alone can be misinterpreted. Furthermore, we need to further investigate the causes of and capacity for individual plasticity in order to understand not only the impact of urbanisation, but also species resilience. I argue that abiotic and biotic urban factors can interact (e.g. pollution with micro- and macronutrients) to either constrain or relax individual physiological responses – and, thereby, plasticity – on a temporal and/or spatial scale, which can lead to erroneous conclusions regarding the impact of urbanisation.

scholarly journals Nocturnal torpor by superb fairy-wrens: a key mechanism for reducing winter daily energy expenditure

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 20190211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex B. Romano ◽  
Anthony Hunt ◽  
Justin A. Welbergen ◽  
Christopher Turbill
Keyword(s):  
Energy Expenditure ◽  
Resting Metabolic Rate ◽  
Resting Energy Expenditure ◽  
Active Phase ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Energy Budgets ◽  
Specific Rate ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Daily Energy ◽  
Malurus Cyaneus

Many passerine birds are small and require a high mass-specific rate of resting energy expenditure, especially in the cold. The energetics of thermoregulation is, therefore, an important aspect of their ecology, yet few studies have quantified thermoregulatory patterns in wild passerines. We used miniature telemetry to record the skin temperature ( T skin ) of free-living superb fairy-wrens ( Malurus cyaneus , 8.6 g; n = 6 birds over N = 7–22 days) and determine the importance of controlled reductions in body temperature during resting to their winter energy budgets. Fairy-wrens routinely exhibited large daily fluctuations in T skin between maxima of 41.9 ± 0.6°C and minima of 30.4 ± 0.7°C, with overall individual minima of 27.4 ± 1.1°C (maximum daily range: 14.7 ± 0.9°C). These results provide strong evidence of nocturnal torpor in this small passerine, which we calculated to provide a 42% reduction in resting metabolic rate at a T a of 5°C compared to active-phase T skin . A capacity for energy-saving torpor has important consequences for understanding the behaviour and life-history ecology of superb fairy-wrens. Moreover, our novel field data suggest that torpor could be more widespread and important than previously thought within passerines, the most diverse order of birds.

Phenotypic and genetic divergence in reed frogs across a mosaic hybrid zone on São Tomé Island

2019 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 672-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rayna C Bell ◽  
Christian G Irian
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid Zone ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Giant Reed ◽  
Heterogeneous Environments ◽  
Hybrid Zones ◽  
The Face ◽  
Disturbed Habitats

Abstract Although naturally heterogeneous environments can lead to mosaic hybrid zones, human-induced habitat fragmentation can also lead to environmental heterogeneity and hybridization. Here we quantify phenotypic and molecular divergence across a reed frog mosaic hybrid zone on São Tomé Island as a first step towards understanding the consequences of hybridization across this heterogeneous landscape. The São Tomé giant reed frog (Hyperolius thomensis) is strongly tied to cool, wet, forest habitats whereas the distribution of Moller’s reed frog (H. molleri) spans cool, wet, forests to warm, dry, disturbed habitats. Correspondingly, hybridization is concentrated in the more forested, cool, wet sites relative to non-forested, warmer, drier habitats. Four of six sites with hybrid frogs are artificial water bodies near the forest edge, indicating that both breeding habitat and broader scale environmental variation are probably important for understanding interspecific interactions and the extent of hybridization in this system. Phenotypic variation (body size and ventral coloration) largely tracks genetic and environmental variation across the hybrid zone with larger and more pigmented frogs occurring in forested, cool, wet habitats. Understanding whether human-induced changes in habitat break down reproductive barriers will be essential for conservation management of the less abundant, forest-associated H. thomensis in the face of rampant hybridization.

scholarly journals Caenorhabditis elegans responses to bacteria from its natural habitats

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (27) ◽  
pp. E3941-E3949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Buck S. Samuel ◽  
Holli Rowedder ◽  
Christian Braendle ◽  
Marie-Anne Félix ◽  
Gary Ruvkun
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Bacterial Community Composition ◽  
Beneficial Bacteria ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
16S Ribosomal Dna ◽  
Microbial Environment ◽  
Alpha Proteobacteria

Most Caenorhabditis elegans studies have used laboratory Escherichia coli as diet and microbial environment. Here we characterize bacteria of C. elegans' natural habitats of rotting fruits and vegetation to provide greater context for its physiological responses. By the use of 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA)-based sequencing, we identified a large variety of bacteria in C. elegans habitats, with phyla Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria being most abundant. From laboratory assays using isolated natural bacteria, C. elegans is able to forage on most bacteria (robust growth on ∼80% of >550 isolates), although ∼20% also impaired growth and arrested and/or stressed animals. Bacterial community composition can predict wild C. elegans population states in both rotting apples and reconstructed microbiomes: alpha-Proteobacteria-rich communities promote proliferation, whereas Bacteroidetes or pathogens correlate with nonproliferating dauers. Combinatorial mixtures of detrimental and beneficial bacteria indicate that bacterial influence is not simply nutritional. Together, these studies provide a foundation for interrogating how bacteria naturally influence C. elegans physiology.

scholarly journals Micro-scale environmental variation amplifies physiological variation among individual mussels

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1820) ◽  
pp. 20152273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Gabriela Jimenez ◽  
Sarah Jayawardene ◽  
Shaina Alves ◽  
Jeremiah Dallmer ◽  
W. Wesley Dowd
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Tissue Level ◽  
Rocky Intertidal ◽  
Micro Scale ◽  
Physiological Variation ◽  
Protected Site ◽  
Site Variation ◽  
Consumption Rates

The contributions of temporal and spatial environmental variation to physiological variation remain poorly resolved. Rocky intertidal zone populations are subjected to thermal variation over the tidal cycle, superimposed with micro-scale variation in individuals' body temperatures. Using the sea mussel ( Mytilus californianus ), we assessed the consequences of this micro-scale environmental variation for physiological variation among individuals, first by examining the latter in field-acclimatized animals, second by abolishing micro-scale environmental variation via common garden acclimation, and third by restoring this variation using a reciprocal outplant approach. Common garden acclimation reduced the magnitude of variation in tissue-level antioxidant capacities by approximately 30% among mussels from a wave-protected (warm) site, but it had no effect on antioxidant variation among mussels from a wave-exposed (cool) site. The field-acclimatized level of antioxidant variation was restored only when protected-site mussels were outplanted to a high, thermally stressful site. Variation in organismal oxygen consumption rates reflected antioxidant patterns, decreasing dramatically among protected-site mussels after common gardening. These results suggest a highly plastic relationship between individuals' genotypes and their physiological phenotypes that depends on recent environmental experience. Corresponding context-dependent changes in the physiological mean–variance relationships within populations complicate prediction of responses to shifts in environmental variability that are anticipated with global change.

scholarly journals Plastic Biodegradation through Insects and their Symbionts Microbes: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 95-103
Author(s):  
Huda Bilal ◽  
Hasnain Raza ◽  
Haseena Bibi ◽  
Tehmina Bibi
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Global Environmental Problems ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
The Face

Plastic waste has recently been identified as one of the most serious environmental issues, affecting all life forms, natural habitats, and the economy, and is one of the most serious global environmental problems, second only to climate change. Seeking alternative environmentally sustainable options, such as biodegradation instead of conventional disposal, is critical in the face of this challenge. However, there is currently a lack of information about the mechanisms and efficacy of plastic biodegradation. From this perspective, this study aims to illustrate the negative environmental impacts of the plastic waste. It also addresses the role of insects and gut microbiota in the degradation of plastics, emphasizing the important role they will play in the future.

scholarly journals Propagation of Invasive Species with Different Activity Status on Upper Volga Region

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomonida Dmitrievna Borisova
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Volga Region ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Impatiens Glandulifera ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Upper Volga ◽  
Heracleum Sosnowskyi ◽  
The Face ◽  
Natural Communities ◽  
Impatiens Glandulifera Royle

Heracleum sosnowskyi Manden, a transformer specie, is in the list of species with status I. It actively intrudes natural communities, changes the face of ecosystems. It is an edifier and dominant. It forms thickets over a large area. Displaces germination of other species. Impatiens glandulifera Royle has status II. This is an adventive specie. It is actively spreading and naturalizing in natural and semi-natural habitats. It has been established that the introduction of these species into the territory of the region and their dispersal over its territory proceeds from the south to the northwest and northeast.

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