scholarly journals Diet and Postnatal Growth in Red-Legged and Black-Legged Kittiwakes: An Interspecies Cross-Fostering Experiment

The Auk ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 1016-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian K. Lance ◽  
Daniel D. Roby

AbstractRed-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa brevirostris) and Black-legged Kittiwakes (R. tridactyla) are morphologically similar, breed in mixed colonies, and nest at the same time, but they exhibit substantial differences in diet, rate of nestling provisioning, and foraging distribution. We cross-fostered nestlings of the two species to test the competing hypotheses that growth in mass of kittiwakes is constrained by diet (i.e. composition, provisioning rate, and quality) or by inherent species-specific physiology. Survival and body mass of cross-fostered nestlings at 30 to 32 days posthatching did not differ from those of conspecific controls. Black-legged Kittiwake fledglings had higher lean mass than Red-legged Kittiwake fledglings regardless of whether they were raised by foster or natural parents. However, nestlings of both species raised by Red-legged Kittiwakes were 50% fatter at 30 to 32 days posthatching than those raised by Black-legged Kittiwakes. Regurgitations from nestlings raised by Red-legged Kittiwakes consisted primarily of lanternfish and contained about twice the lipid (percent dry mass) as regurgitations from nestlings raised by Black-legged Kittiwakes. Consequently, growth rate of lean tissue was genetically and/or physiologically constrained, whereas rate of fat deposition was constrained by diet. We hypothesize that the adaptive significance of lanternfish in diets for Red-legged Kittiwake nestlings is manifest in higher prefledging and/or postfledging survival. Interspecific differences in energy density of food and food provisioning rates balanced each other so that rates of energy provisioning were similar.

1969 ◽  
pp. 133-141
Author(s):  
Claudia Cressa

Relationships of body mass and head capsule width were developed for Thraulodes sp., Haplohyphes sp. (Ephemeroptera), Leptonema sp., Phylloicus sp. Nectopsyche sp. (Trichoptera), and Anacroneuria sp. (Plecoptera). The organisms were collected with a Surber net (0.1296 m2 and 0.286 mm mesh size) on the Orituco river, Venezuela. The number of specimens used in the analysis for the species studied, was different (from 84 to 103 specimens). Regression analysis indicated that all relationships were best expressed by a power function rather than by linear or exponential equation. Analyses of the relationships reveal interspecific differences among insects of the same order. Species-specific relationships are recommended to be used whenever possible since, depending on the species, the underestimation of mass could be as much as 56%.


2020 ◽  
Vol 130 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kara E Hodges ◽  
Nathan T Mortimer ◽  
Alysia D Vrailas-Mortimer ◽  
Scott K Sakaluk ◽  
Charles F Thompson

Abstract Differences in avian eggshell pigmentation could be an honest signal of female quality that males use to inform their nestling provisioning effort. We investigated whether among-individual variation in protoporphyrin-based eggshell pigmentation in house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) reflects female fitness-associated traits and whether males use that information. Females laying lighter clutches were older and larger than females laying darker clutches. Nestlings hatching from lighter clutches had greater size-corrected mass on post-hatch day 11, a measure that strongly predicts survival and recruitment to the breeding population. To test whether male provisioning effort responds to clutch pigmentation, we used a reciprocal clutch cross-fostering design, swapping dark with light clutches and light with dark; in controls, we swapped light with light clutches and dark with dark. Shortly before hatching, clutches were returned to their original nest to avoid confounding effects of nestling quality on male provisioning. Contrary to the sexual selection hypothesis, clutch pigmentation had no effect on male provisioning. Males were probably able to observe eggshell pigmentation and thus had information about female quality, but they did not use this information to modulate their nestling provisioning. This may be because of constraints on species-specific reproductive opportunities, or because variation in eggshell protoporphyrin serves other functions.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 432
Author(s):  
Robin Gutting ◽  
Ralf-Uwe Syrbe ◽  
Karsten Grunewald ◽  
Ulf Mehlig ◽  
Véronique Helfer ◽  
...  

Mangrove forests provide a large variety of ecosystem services (ES) to coastal societies. Using a case study focusing on the Ajuruteua peninsula in Northern Brazil and two ES, food provisioning (ES1) and global climate regulation (ES2), this paper proposes a new framework for quantifying and valuing mangrove ES and allow for their small-scale mapping. We modelled and spatialised the two ES from different perspectives, the demand (ES1) and the supply (ES2) side respectively. This was performed by combining worldwide databases related to the global human population (ES1) or mangrove distribution and canopy height (ES2) with locally derived parameters, such as crab catches (ES1) or species-specific allometric equations based on local estimates of tree structural parameters (ES2). Based on this approach, we could estimate that the area delivers the basic nutrition of about 1400 households, which equals 2.7 million USD, and that the mangrove biomass in the area contains 2.1 million Mg C, amounting to 50.9 million USD, if it were paid as certificates. In addition to those figures, we provide high-resolution maps showing which areas are more valuable for the two respective ES, information that could help inform management strategies in the future.


2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saskia Grootemaat ◽  
Ian J. Wright ◽  
Peter M. van Bodegom ◽  
Johannes H. C. Cornelissen ◽  
Veronica Shaw

Bark shedding is a remarkable feature of Australian trees, yet relatively little is known about interspecific differences in bark decomposability and flammability, or what chemical or physical traits drive variation in these properties. We measured the decomposition rate and flammability (ignitibility, sustainability and combustibility) of bark from 10 common forest tree species, and quantified correlations with potentially important traits. We compared our findings to those for leaf litter, asking whether the same traits drive flammability and decomposition in different tissues, and whether process rates are correlated across tissue types. Considerable variation in bark decomposability and flammability was found both within and across species. Bark decomposed more slowly than leaves, but in both tissues lignin concentration was a key driver. Bark took longer to ignite than leaves, and had longer mass-specific flame durations. Variation in flammability parameters was driven by different traits in the different tissues. Decomposability and flammability were each unrelated, when comparing between the different tissue types. For example, species with fast-decomposing leaves did not necessarily have fast-decomposing bark. For the first time, we show how patterns of variation in decomposability and flammability of bark diverge across multiple species. By taking species-specific bark traits into consideration there is potential to make better estimates of wildfire risks and carbon loss dynamics. This can lead to better informed management decisions for Australian forests, and eucalypt plantations, worldwide.


2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (12) ◽  
pp. 829-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.J. Klüg-Baerwald ◽  
L.E. Gower ◽  
C.L. Lausen ◽  
R.M. Brigham

Winter activity of bats is common, yet poorly understood. Other studies suggest a relationship between winter activity and ambient temperature, particularly temperature at sunset. We recorded echolocation calls to determine correlates of hourly bat activity in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. We documented bat activity in temperatures as low as −10.4 °C. We observed big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus (Palisot de Beauvois, 1796)) flying at colder temperatures than species of Myotis bats (genus Myotis Kaup, 1829). We show that temperature and wind are important predictors of winter activity by E. fuscus and Myotis, and that Myotis may also use changes in barometric pressure to cue activity. In the absence of foraging opportunity, we suggest these environmental factors relate to heat loss and thus the energetic cost of flight. To understand the energetic consequences of bat flight in cold temperatures, we estimated energy expenditure during winter flights of E. fuscus and little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus (Le Conte, 1831)) using species-specific parameters. We estimated that winter flight uses considerable fat stores and that flight thermogenesis could mitigate energetic costs by 20% or more. We also show that temperature-dependent interspecific differences in winter activity likely stem from differences between species in heat loss and potential for activity–thermoregulatory heat substitution.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Andreevich Kerchev

Stridulatory signals are involved in conspecific interactions between bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae). In this study, we compared the qualitative profiles of acoustic signals in three species from the genus Polygraphus Er. Sympatry can be periodically observed in two of them – P. proximus and P. subopacus. Sporadically they occur on the same plants. P. nigrielytris colonize distinctly different host plant species; however, on the island of Sakhalin it inhabits the same biotopes. The purpose of the study is to identify species-specific parameters and the extent of differences in stridulatory signals of these species. Airborne signals produced during the contact of males of the same species were experimentally recorded. Among tested parameters of stridulatory signals, as the most species-specific were noted: chirp duration, interchirp interval, number of tooth-strikes per chirp, and intertooth-strike interval.


1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvan Lambert ◽  
Julian J. Dodson

We tested the hypothesis that differences in the cost of freshwater migration are responsible for the different reproductive patterns exhibited by the Eastmain River (James Bay) populations of anadromous cisco and lake whitefish, as predicted by species-specific migration costs that result in interspecific differences in energy allocation to growth, survival, and reproduction. In the Eastmain River, cisco spawn at a younger age and a smaller size, have a shorter life span and show a higher fecundity and a higher mortality than lake whitefish. Assuming that the two populations are stable (being only lightly exploited), the two species spawn at an age that maximizes their lifetime fecundity. Either juvenile (between three and age at maturity) and/or adult mortality is of major importance in moulding the observed age at maturity but adult mortality may play a predominant role. Adult mortality is associated with migration, an obligatory cost representing a major proportion of the energy loss experienced by reproductive individuals. The difference in the energy cost of migration between the two species suggests that migration may play a predominant role in producing the different reproductive patterns of cisco and lake whitefish in the Eastmain River and that within the physiological and size constraints of each species, these patterns represent optimal adaptations maximizing fitness.


1985 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.R. Byers ◽  
D.L. Struble ◽  
J.D. Lafontaine

AbstractThe species previously recognized as Euxoa ridingsiana (Grt.) is shown to be composed of a sympatric pair of sibling species, Euxoa ridingsiana (Grt.) and Euxoa maimes (Sm.), which in the laboratory will produce viable F1 hybrids but no F2. Results of F1 sib and backcrosses show that the F1 males are fertile and the F1 females are infertile. In mating-bias tests conducted in laboratory cages, 74% of matings were conspecific and 26% interspecific. Differences in the diel periodicities of mating, which are about 2 h out of phase, may account for the mating bias. The duration of development of E. ridingsiana in the laboratory and its seasonal flight period in the field are about 2 weeks in advance of that of E. maimes. However, there is considerable overlap of the flight periods and, with the tendency of females of both species to mate several times, it is unlikely that the difference in seasonal emergence is enough to effect reproductive isolation. It is evident that, under natural conditions, reproductive isolation can be maintained entirely by species-specific sex pheromones. This mechanism of reproductive isolation is, however, apparently ineffective when moths are confined in cages in the laboratory.Biogeographic considerations suggest that the differences in life-cycle timing and mating periodicities might have been adaptations to adjust development and reproduction to prevailing ancestral environments. If the initial differentiation of the 2 species occurred in isolation and included at least an incipient shift in the pheromonal mate-recognition system, it is possible that upon reestablishment of contact between ancestral populations the differences in life-cycle timing and mating periodicities acting in concert could have effected substantial, albeit incomplete, reproductive isolation. Subsequent selection to reinforce assortative mating to preserve coadapted gene complexes could then have resulted in differentiation of discrete pheromonal systems and attainment of species status.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 925-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin H -C Wei ◽  
Sarah E Lower ◽  
Ian V Caldas ◽  
Trevor J S Sless ◽  
Daniel A Barbash ◽  
...  

Abstract Simple satellites are tandemly repeating short DNA motifs that can span megabases in eukaryotic genomes. Because they can cause genomic instability through nonallelic homologous exchange, they are primarily found in the repressive heterochromatin near centromeres and telomeres where recombination is minimal, and on the Y chromosome, where they accumulate as the chromosome degenerates. Interestingly, the types and abundances of simple satellites often vary dramatically between closely related species, suggesting that they turn over rapidly. However, limited sampling has prevented detailed understanding of their evolutionary dynamics. Here, we characterize simple satellites from whole-genome sequences generated from males and females of nine Drosophila species, spanning 40 Ma of evolution. We show that PCR-free library preparation and postsequencing GC-correction better capture satellite quantities than conventional methods. We find that over half of the 207 simple satellites identified are species-specific, consistent with previous descriptions of their rapid evolution. Based on a maximum parsimony framework, we determined that most interspecific differences are due to lineage-specific gains. Simple satellites gained within a species are typically a single mutation away from abundant existing satellites, suggesting that they likely emerge from existing satellites, especially in the genomes of satellite-rich species. Interestingly, unlike most of the other lineages which experience various degrees of gains, the lineage leading up to the satellite-poor D. pseudoobscura and D. persimilis appears to be recalcitrant to gains, providing a counterpoint to the notion that simple satellites are universally rapidly evolving.


Behaviour ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 73 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 261-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin M. Banks ◽  
U. William Huck

Abstract1. The role of the maternal environment in development of species-specific agonistic behavior was investigated by reciprocally cross-fostering two species of lemmings (Discrostonyx groenlandicus and Lemmus trimucronatus). Non-fostered and within-species-fostered (in-fostered) animals served as controls. 2. When adult, cross-fostered male lemmings engaged in more frequent contact social behavior with the foster species than with conspecifics. However, since cross-fostered animals retained their ability to interact with conspecifics in a species-specific manner, cross-fostering appears to have resulted in a broadening of "species identity" to include the foster species. 3. In-fostering reduced the aggressiveness of Dicrostonyx but had little effect on the behavior of Lemmus. 4. Both the intensity and orientation of agonistic behavior were altered as a result of cross-fostering. In Dicrostonyx, a highly aggressive species, cross-fostering resulted in decreased aggression directed at the foster species and increased aggression toward conspecifics. In Lemmus, a less aggressive species, cross-fostering appears to have resulted in a broadening of the response range to stimuli provided by the foster species. When paired with aggressive Dicrostonyx, cross-fostered Lemmus engaged in more frequent and intense aggression than did controls. However, when paired with nonaggressive (in-fostered) Dicrostonyx, cross-fostered Lemmus engaged in less frequent and intense aggression than controls. In contrast, non-fostered and in-fostered Lemmus males had a relatively narrow response range to Dicrostonyx. 5. In general, the results suggested that agonistic behaviour in lemmings is the product of a complex interaction between genotype and maternal environment.


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