Flight distance and foraging of Tetragonisca fiebrigi (Apidae: Meliponini) in response to different concentrations of sugar in food resources and abiotic factors

Rodents exhibit seasonal changes in their activity patterns as an essential survival strategy. We studied the activity patterns and strategies of the Siberian jerboa (Orientallactaga sibirica) in the Alxa desert region to better understand the habitats and behavioural ecology of xeric rodents. We conducted an experiment using three plots to monitor the duration, time, and frequency of the active period of the Siberian jerboa using infrared cameras in the Alxa field workstation, Inner Mongolia, China in 2017. The relationships between the activity time and frequency, biological factors (perceived predation risk, food resources, and species composition), and abiotic factors (temperature, air moisture, wind speed) were analysed using Redundancy Analysis (RDA). Our results showed that: (1) relative humidity mainly affected activities in the springtime; temperature, relative humidity and interspecific competition mainly affected activities in the summertime; relative humidity and perceived predation risk mainly influenced activities in the autumn. (2) The activity pattern of the Siberian jerboa altered depending on the season. The activity of the Siberian jerboa was found to be bimodal in spring and summer, and was trimodal in autumn. The activity time and frequency in autumn were significantly lower than the spring. (3) Animals possess the ability to integrate disparate sources of information about danger to optimize energy gain. The jerboa adapted different responses to predation risks and competition in different seasons according to the demand for food resources.

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Seasonal variation of arthropod abundance in gaps and the understorey of a lowland moist forest in Panama

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467406003907 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 169-176 ◽

Cited By ~ 62

Author(s):

Lora A. Richards ◽

Donald M. Windsor

Keyword(s):

Rainy Season ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Food Resources ◽

Dry Season ◽

Young Leaf ◽

Barro Colorado Island ◽

Plant Densities ◽

The Difference ◽

Taxonomic Groups ◽

Arthropod Abundance

Treefalls gaps contribute to the habitat heterogeneity of tropical forest floors. Previous studies have shown that these gaps play an important role in plant and bird communities, however less is known about their role in arthropod communities. Using eight Malaise traps we investigated the difference in arthropod abundance of 19 taxonomic groups between gaps and understorey for 21 wk during the rainy season and 8 wk in the dry season on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. More (33.8%) arthropods were collected in gaps during the rainy season and 32.2% more in the understorey during the dry season. To assess the possible factors contributing to these differences we measured light, plant densities and young leaf densities, as indicators of abiotic factors and food resources for insect herbivores. Arthropod abundance was negatively correlated with light in the dry season. Thus, abiotic stress may explain the pattern of abundance in the dry season. While there was no correlation with light in the rainy season, predator abundance was positively correlated with herbivore abundance. The plant and young leaf density data suggest that there is significantly higher food availability for herbivores in gaps. Thus, less stressful abiotic conditions and more food resources may contribute to more herbivores followed by more predators in gaps during the rainy season.

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Effect of Sex and Air Temperature on the Flight Capacity of Bradysia odoriphaga (Diptera: Sciaridae)

Journal of Economic Entomology ◽

10.1093/jee/toz152 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 112 (5) ◽

pp. 2161-2166 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jing-rong Hu ◽

Chao Xie ◽

Cai-hua Shi ◽

Shao-li Wang ◽

Qing-jun Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Temperature ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Flight Time ◽

Flight Distance ◽

Management Systems ◽

Flight Performance ◽

Long Distance ◽

Flight Capacity ◽

Important Pest ◽

Flight Mills

Abstract Bradysia odoriphaga Yang & Zhang (Diptera: Sciaridae) is an important pest of Chinese chives. Information on the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on the flight performance of B. odoriphaga is crucial for understanding the pest’s ability to disperse and migrate. In this study, the effects of sex and air temperature on the flight performance of B. odoriphaga imagoes were assessed by tethering individual imagoes to computerized flight mills for a 10-h experiment. The results showed that the percentage of imagoes that flew a particular distance gradually decreased as flight distance increased. The percentage of imagoes was significantly higher for males than females when the flight distance was <300 m. Sex and air temperature significantly affected average flight time (which ranged from 14.6 to 68.3 min) and average flight distance (which ranged from 10.4 to 107.2 m), but did not significantly affect average flight speed (which ranged from 3.8 to 6.4 m/min). For both females and males, the average flight distance and flight time were shortest at 18°C and longest at 22°C; the interaction between air temperature and sex was not significant. The results suggest that B. odoriphaga has a poor potential for long-distance migration. These findings will be helpful for developing forecasting and management systems for B. odoriphaga.

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Coral husbandry for ocean futures: leveraging abiotic factors to increase survivorship, growth, and resilience in juvenile Montipora capitata

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13534 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 657 ◽

pp. 123-133

Author(s):

JR Hancock ◽

AR Barrows ◽

TC Roome ◽

AS Huffmyer ◽

SB Matsuda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Abiotic Factors ◽

Larval Rearing ◽

Abiotic Conditions ◽

Montipora Capitata ◽

Reef Restoration ◽

Juvenile Corals ◽

Bleaching Response ◽

The Face ◽

Survival And Growth ◽

Global And Local

Reef restoration via direct outplanting of sexually propagated juvenile corals is a key strategy in preserving coral reef ecosystem function in the face of global and local stressors (e.g. ocean warming). To advance our capacity to scale and maximize the efficiency of restoration initiatives, we examined how abiotic conditions (i.e. larval rearing temperature, substrate condition, light intensity, and flow rate) interact to enhance post-settlement survival and growth of sexually propagated juvenile Montipora capitata. Larvae were reared at 3 temperatures (high: 28.9°C, ambient: 27.2°C, low: 24.5°C) for 72 h during larval development, and were subsequently settled on aragonite plugs conditioned in seawater (1 or 10 wk) and raised in different light and flow regimes. These juvenile corals underwent a natural bleaching event in Kāne‘ohe Bay, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i (USA), in summer 2019, allowing us to opportunistically measure bleaching response in addition to survivorship and growth. This study demonstrates how leveraging light and flow can increase the survivorship and growth of juvenile M. capitata. In contrast, larval preconditioning and substrate conditioning had little overall effect on survivorship, growth, or bleaching response. Importantly, there was no optimal combination of abiotic conditions that maximized survival and growth in addition to bleaching tolerances. This study highlights the ability to tailor sexual reproduction for specific restoration goals by addressing knowledge gaps and incorporating practices that could improve resilience in propagated stocks.

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Characterizing the impact of recovering sea otters on commercially important crabs in California estuaries

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13530 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 655 ◽

pp. 123-137

Author(s):

TM Grimes ◽

MT Tinker ◽

BB Hughes ◽

KE Boyer ◽

L Needles ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Abiotic Factors ◽

Sea Otter ◽

Dungeness Crab ◽

Sea Otters ◽

Elkhorn Slough ◽

Enhydra Lutris Nereis ◽

Crab Abundance ◽

Population Sizes ◽

Commercially Important ◽

The Impact

Protective legislation and management have led to an increase in California’s sea otter Enhydra lutris nereis population. While sea otter recovery has been linked to ecosystem benefits, sea otter predation may negatively affect commercially valuable species. Understanding the potential influence of sea otters is of particular importance as their range expands into estuaries that function as nurseries for commercially valuable species like Dungeness crab Metacarcinus magister. We consider how sea otter predation has affected the abundance and size of juvenile Dungeness crab in Elkhorn Slough, California, USA, and analyzed cancrid crab abundance and size across 4 California estuaries with and without sea otters to understand how biotic and abiotic factors contribute to observed variation in crab size and abundance. We compared trends in southern sea otters relative to Dungeness crab landings in California to assess whether increasing sea otter abundance have negatively impacted landings. In Elkhorn Slough, juvenile Dungeness crab abundance and size have declined since 2012, coinciding with sea otter population growth. However, the impact of sea otters on juvenile Dungeness crab size was habitat-specific and only significant in unvegetated habitat. Across estuaries, we found that cancrid crab abundance and size were negatively associated with sea otter presence. While abiotic factors varied among estuaries, these factors explained little of the observed variation in crab abundance or size. Although we found evidence that sea otters can have localized effects on cancrid crab populations within estuaries, we found no evidence that southern sea otters, at recent population sizes, have negatively impacted Dungeness crab landings in California from 2000-2014.

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