Microplastics impair the feeding performance of a Mediterranean habitat-forming coral

Abstract The present study aimed to evaluate the feeding performance of juvenile marble goby (Oxyeleotris marmorata) on acidified diets. Five fish meal-based diets at various pH levels (2.5, 3.2, 4.3, 5.3, and 6.0 (control)) were prepared, and each of them was fed to 10 wild-caught O. marmorata juveniles (body length 7.7–9.3 cm; each fish was placed in an aquarium, hence each dietary treatment was in 10 replicates) for 20 days. Throughout the feeding trial, O. marmorata juveniles showed clear increments in the daily ingestion ratio (IR) values of AD 2.5, AD 3.2, and AD 4.3. The control diet and AD 5.3 were almost totally rejected by the fish. On day 20, the IR of AD 2.5 (0.46) and AD 3.2 (0.36) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those of AD 5.3 (0.1) and the control diet (0.02). In addition, 70% of fish fed AD 2.5 achieved a high IR value (0.6 – 1.0), and this was the best result among all the treatments (AD 3.2, 60%; AD 4.3 50%; AD 5.3 and control, 10%). These results suggested that acidified diets can be used to wean O. marmorata juveniles, and the recommended pH level was 2.5.

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Avoiding the tragedy of the commons: Improved group‐feeding performance in kin groups maintains foraging cooperation in subsocial Stegodyphus africanus spiders (Araneae, Eresidae)

Journal of Evolutionary Biology ◽

10.1111/jeb.13976 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

André Walter ◽

Trine Bilde

Keyword(s):

Tragedy Of The Commons ◽

Feeding Performance ◽

Group Feeding ◽

The Commons

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Nostalgia, the Fleeting, and the Rare in Chilean Relationships to Nature and Nonhuman Species

Society and Animals ◽

10.1163/15685306-12341348 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 22 (6) ◽

pp. 560-579 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Meredith Root-Bernstein

Keyword(s):

Participant Observation ◽

Social Value ◽

Public Realm ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Central Chile ◽

The Public ◽

Dominant Discourse ◽

Mediterranean Habitat ◽

Nonhuman Species ◽

Over Time

Semi-structured interviews and participant observation were used to understand how urban Chileans form relationships with nature and nonhuman species in central Chile. Most informants expressed dislike of the typical mediterranean-habitat landscape, characterizing it as dry, poor, and empty. Yet many people expressed nostalgic attachment to specific places, species, and activities that they had experienced, often as children. Most of the reminisced-about interactions were fleeting or had been lost over time. In the dominant discourse, nature in the mediterranean zone of Chile is closely associated with poverty, and it is considered to lack beauty, biodiversity, culture, and history. Appeals to personal nostalgia may break through this discourse to form private assemblages of value. Chileans also attributed social value to interactions with species who are rare or who are found “exclusively” in Chile. Appeals to nostalgia, rarity, and exclusivity help to draw these private discourses into the public realm.

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Feeding performance and preferences of captive forest musk deer while on a cafeteria diet

Folia Zoologica ◽

10.25225/fozo.v64.i2.a8.2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 64 (2) ◽

pp. 151-160 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Wenxia Wang ◽

Lan He ◽

Baoqing Liu ◽

Linhai Li ◽

Ning Wei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cafeteria Diet ◽

Musk Deer ◽

Feeding Performance

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Pre-dispersal seed removal of fleshy fruits and Quercus coccifera (Fagaceae) acorns in a recently burned Mediterranean habitat

UNED Research Journal ◽

10.22458/urj.v7i1.855 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 7-17

Author(s):

Gabriela Jones ◽

Josep M. Bas ◽

Pere Pons

Keyword(s):

Burned Area ◽

Seed Removal ◽

Seed Fate ◽

Plant Composition ◽

Quercus Coccifera ◽

Fleshy Fruits ◽

Mediterranean Habitats ◽

Mediterranean Habitat ◽

Acorn Removal

The seed fate in early successional habitats can determine plant composition and regeneration capacity after disturbance. Predispersalseed removal has been poorly studied in Mediterranean habitats, especially in burned and logged habitats. We assessed it for two years in pine forests with experiments excluding vertebrates from fleshy fruits (infructescences of Smilax aspera and Rubia peregrina) and acorns (branches of Quercus coccifera). We compared one unburned and one burned area (control). Acorn removal was nil in the burned area while in the unburned habitat seed removal occurred from the beginning of the experiments. It is suggested that the greater vegetation cover in the unburned area shelter rodents from predators and increased their activity. In contrast, reduced cover in the burned area and the occurrence of gnawed acorns on the ground suggest acorn removalby rodents mainly in the post-dispersive stage. Smilax aspera seed removal was slower, and total loss of fruits due to senescence higher,in the burned area. Seed removal appears to be conditioned by interannualvariations related to the activity and density of granivores and frugivores, the availability of fleshy fruits, and the maturation of fruits.In post-fire managed areas the role of granivores and frugivores in the regeneration process should be taken into account.

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Lethality of Sesquiterpenes Reprogramming Red Palm Weevil Detoxification Mechanism for Natural Novel Biopesticide Development

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules24091648 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 24 (9) ◽

pp. 1648 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Abid Hussain ◽

Muhammad Rizwan-ul-haq ◽

Ahmed Mohammed AlJabr ◽

Hassan Al-Ayedh

Keyword(s):

Secondary Metabolites ◽

Screening Program ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

Plant Secondary Metabolites ◽

Glutathione S Transferase ◽

Red Palm Weevil ◽

Gene Expressions ◽

Feeding Performance ◽

Palm Weevil ◽

Significant Toxicity

Natural biopesticide development for invasive populations of red palm weevils is mainly responsible for the destruction of date palms and demands an extensive screening program of plant secondary metabolites. In the current study, the pesticidal potential of sesquiterpenes (C15 H24), an important class of plant secondary metabolites primarily composed of three isoprene units, was evaluated by laboratory toxicity, feeding performance bioassays, and host detoxification gene expression patterns. Dose-mortality response bioassays performed against mid-aged eighth-instar red palm weevil larvae revealed dose-dependent mortality. Only three sesquiterpenes, including Farnesol (LD50 = 6559 ppm) and Farnesyl acetate (LD50 = 7867 ppm), are considered to have significant toxicity, with Picrotoxin (LD50 = 317 ppm) being the most toxic. Furthermore, highly toxic sesquiterpene (Picrotoxin) established in the current study tremendously reduced the feeding performance indices, including the efficacy of conversion of digested food (ECD) (81.74%) and the efficacy of conversion of ingested food (ECI) (73.62%). The least toxic sesquiterpenes, including β-Caryophyllene, (+)-Cedrol, Nerolidol, (+)-Nootkatone, and Parthenolide, observed in the current study failed to impart significant reductions of ECI and ECD indices. Lethality of the least toxic sesquiterpenes was overcome by greatly inducing gene expressions of Glutathione S transferase (GST) and Cytochrome P450. These encouraging results enabled us to suggest Picrotoxin as a promising biopesticide for the control of red palm weevil infestations.

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