Latitude does not influence cavity entrance orientation of South American avian excavators

The Auk ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Ojeda ◽  
Alejandro Schaaf ◽  
Tomás A Altamirano ◽  
Bianca Bonaparte ◽  
Laura Bragagnolo ◽  
...  

Abstract In the Northern Hemisphere, several avian cavity excavators (e.g., woodpeckers) orient their cavities increasingly toward the equator as latitude increases (i.e. farther north), and it is proposed that they do so to take advantage of incident solar radiation at their nests. If latitude is a key driver of cavity orientations globally, this pattern should extend to the Southern Hemisphere. Here, we test the prediction that cavities are oriented increasingly northward at higher (i.e. colder) latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere and describe the preferred entrance direction(s) of 1,501 cavities excavated by 25 avian species (n = 22 Picidae, 2 Trogonidae, 1 Furnariidae) across 12 terrestrial ecoregions (15°S to 55°S) in South America. We used Bayesian projected normal mixed-effects models for circular data to examine the influence of latitude, and potential confounding factors, on cavity orientation. Also, a probability model-selection procedure was used to simultaneously examine multiple orientation hypotheses in each ecoregion to explore underlying cavity-orientation patterns. Contrary to predictions, and patterns from the Northern Hemisphere, birds did not orient their cavities more toward the equator with increasing latitude, suggesting that latitude may not be an important underlying selective force shaping excavation behavior in South America. Moreover, unimodal cavity-entrance orientations were not frequent among the ecoregions analyzed (only in 4 ecoregions), whereas bimodal (in 5 ecoregions) or uniform (in 3 ecoregions) orientations were also present, although many of these patterns were not very clear. Our results highlight the need to include data from under-studied biotas and regions to improve inferences at macroecological scales. Furthermore, we suggest a re-analysis of Northern Hemisphere cavity orientation patterns using a multi-model approach, and a more comprehensive assessment of the role of environmental factors as drivers of cavity orientation at different spatial scales in both hemispheres.

1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 91-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Terry Chesser

SummaryAustral migrants are species that breed in temperate areas of South America and migrate north, towards or into Amazonia, for the southern winter. Migrations among these species are the most extensive of Southern Hemisphere migrations, and the austral system represents a third major migration system, in the sense that the term has been applied to Northern Hemisphere temperate-tropical migration. The geography of South America greatly influences the austral system. Lack of east-west geographical barriers and the shape of the continent promote a pattern of partially overlapping breeding and wintering ranges. The suboscine family Tyrannidae, the tyrant-flycatchers, is the largest group of austral migrants, with other major families including Emberizidae, Anatidae, Furnariidae, Accipitridae and Hirundinidae. Tyrant-flycatchers constitute more than one-half of the passerine austral migrants and roughly one-third of total austral migrants, a taxonomic domination seen in no other global migration system. Parallels exist, however, between austral migration and the Nearctic and Palearctic systems. Many of the same families, including Hirundinidae, Anatidae and Charadriidae, exhibit similarly high degrees of migratory behavi-our in each system. Passerine migration in the austral system is similar in numbers to that of the Nearctic-Neotropical system, but species migrate shorter distances and breed in more open and scrubby habitats. Possible differences in year-round resource availability between South American and North American temperate forests, in addition to differing availability of these habitats, may contribute to the low numbers of forest-dwelling austral migrants.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone A. Wegge

Before 1890, German emigrants were one of the largest European groups to emigrate overseas in the middle of the nineteenth century. Most of them settled in North America, but a handful of Germans landed in countries south of the equator. This article examines those who chose uncommon paths and settled in the Southern Hemisphere, focusing on Hessians who went to either Australia or South America. Those who emigrated to the Southern Hemisphere were quite different from the Hessians who moved to the United States. More striking, however, are the contrasting backgrounds of the Australian-bound versus the South American–bound groups: These two groups were comparable in size, but in terms of any identifying socioeconomic characteristic they were poles apart from each other. Those bound for Australia were poorer, less skilled, and more likely to use a multiyear migration strategy to get their family members across the ocean, typical of the ways of those bound for the United States. In contrast, those who went to South America were wealthier, more skilled, and mostly emigrated as intact families without the use of such migration networks. This work shows that the choice of destination mattered for individuals and that certain destinations attracted particular types of individuals and groups, reemphasizing the role of self-selection in the migration experience.


2000 ◽  
Vol 179 ◽  
pp. 387-388
Author(s):  
Gaetano Belvedere ◽  
V. V. Pipin ◽  
G. Rüdiger

Extended AbstractRecent numerical simulations lead to the result that turbulence is much more magnetically driven than believed. In particular the role ofmagnetic buoyancyappears quite important for the generation ofα-effect and angular momentum transport (Brandenburg & Schmitt 1998). We present results obtained for a turbulence field driven by a (given) Lorentz force in a non-stratified but rotating convection zone. The main result confirms the numerical findings of Brandenburg & Schmitt that in the northern hemisphere theα-effect and the kinetic helicityℋkin= 〈u′ · rotu′〉 are positive (and negative in the northern hemisphere), this being just opposite to what occurs for the current helicityℋcurr= 〈j′ ·B′〉, which is negative in the northern hemisphere (and positive in the southern hemisphere). There has been an increasing number of papers presenting observations of current helicity at the solar surface, all showing that it isnegativein the northern hemisphere and positive in the southern hemisphere (see Rüdigeret al. 2000, also for a review).


Author(s):  
John J. W. Rogers ◽  
M. Santosh

Pangea, the most recent supercontinent, attained its condition of maximum packing at ~250 Ma. At this time, it consisted of a northern part, Laurasia, and a southern part, Gondwana. Gondwana contained the southern continents—South America, Africa, India, Madagascar, Australia, and Antarctica. It had become a coherent supercontinent at ~500 Ma and accreted to Pangea largely as a single block. Laurasia consisted of the northern continents—North America, Greenland, Europe, and northern Asia. It accreted during the Late Paleozoic and became a supercontinent when fusion of these continental blocks with Gondwana occurred near the end of the Paleozoic. The configuration of Pangea, including Gondwana, can be determined accurately by tracing the patterns of magnetic stripes in the oceans that opened within it (chapters 1 and 9). The history of accretion of Laurasia is also well known, but the development of Gondwana is highly controversial. Gondwana was clearly a single supercontinent by ~500 Ma, but whether it formed by fusion of a few large blocks or the assembly of numerous small blocks is uncertain. Figure 8.1 shows Gondwana divided into East and West parts, but the boundary between them is highly controversial (see below). We start this chapter by investigating the history of Gondwana, using appendix SI to describe detailed histories of orogenic belts of Pan-African age (600–500-Ma). Then we continue with the development of Pangea, including the Paleozoic orogenic belts that led to its development. The next section summarizes the paleomagnetically determined movement of blocks from the accretion of Gondwana until the assembly of Pangea, and the last section discusses the differences between Gondwana and Laurasia in Pangea. The patterns of dispersal and development of modern oceans are left to chapter 9, and the histories of continents following dispersal to chapter 10. By the later part of the 1800s, geologists working in the southern hemisphere realized that the Paleozoic fossils that occurred there were very different from those in the northern hemisphere. They found similar fossils in South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, and Australia, and in 1913 they added Antarctica when identical specimens were found by the Scott expedition.


Author(s):  
Thomas T. Veblen

Although most of the continent of South America is characterized by tropical vegetation, south of the tropic of Capricorn there is a full range of temperate-latitude vegetation types including Mediterranean-type sclerophyll shrublands, grasslands, steppe, xeric woodlands, deciduous forests, and temperate rain forests. Southward along the west coast of South America the vast Atacama desert gives way to the Mediterranean-type shrublands and woodlands of central Chile, and then to increasingly wet forests all the way to Tierra del Fuego at 55°S. To the east of the Andes, these forests are bordered by the vast Patagonian steppe of bunch grasses and short shrubs. The focus of this chapter is on the region of temperate forests occurring along the western side of the southernmost part of South America, south of 33°S. The forests of the southern Andean region, including the coastal mountains as well as the Andes, are presently surrounded by physiognomically and taxonomically distinct vegetation types and have long been isolated from other forest regions. Although small in comparison with the extent of temperate forests of the Northern Hemisphere, this region is one of the largest areas of temperate forest in the Southern Hemisphere and is rich in endemic species. For readers familiar with temperate forests of the Northern Hemisphere, it is difficult to place the temper temperate forests of southern South America into a comparable ecological framework owing both to important differences in the histories of the biotas and to contrasts between the broad climatic patterns of the two hemispheres. There is no forest biome in the Southern Hemisphere that is comparable to the boreal forests of the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The boreal forests of the latter are dominated by evergreen conifers of needle-leaved trees, mostly in the Pinaceae family, and occur in an extremely continental climate. In contrast, at high latitudes in southern South America, forests are dominated mostly by broadleaved trees such as the southern beech genus (Nothofagus). Evergreen conifers with needle or scaleleaves (from families other than the Pinaceae) are a relatively minor component of these forests.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kristen Marie Westfall

<p>The Mytilus edulis species complex, comprised of M. edulis, M. galloprovincialis and M. trossulus, is antitropically distributed in temperate coastal regions of all oceans and main seas of the world. This genus has been heavily studied in the Northern hemisphere but Southern hemisphere populations have received much less attention. This thesis aims to place Southern hemisphere blue mussels into global evolutionary relationships among Mytilus species and investigate aspects of their molecular ecology, including, effects of non-native Northern hemisphere species introductions, biogeography across the Southern hemisphere, regional phylogeographic patterns and population genetics within New Zealand. Southern hemisphere blue mussel phylogenetic reconstruction resulted in the detection of a monophyletic M. galloprovincialis lineage. Two new molecular markers developed with specificity for this lineage and congruence among phylogenetic investigations indicates a panhemispheric distribution of this M. galloprovincialis lineage with implications for naming a new sibling species of the M. edulis complex. This proposed new species, M. meridianus, is distributed in South America, the Kerguelen Islands, New Zealand and Australia at latitudes between ~ 30°S and ~ 55°S. Non-native M. galloprovincialis introduced from the Northern hemisphere have been present in NZ, Australia and Chile for at least ten years and hybridise with native blue mussels. Introgression is observed in New Zealand and Australian but not Chilean hybrid regions. The limited number of introduced mussels in Australia induces hybrid swamping of non-native alleles but an interlineage gender bias towards non-native maternal parents may result in eventual loss of the unique genomic content of native blue mussels in NZ. Southern hemisphere blue mussels form a monophyletic sister clade to a haplogroup shared by Northern hemisphere M. edulis and M. galloprovincialis. Although single gene histories are not congruent with respect to evolutionary relationships within the Northern hemisphere due to introgressive hybridisation after speciation, it is clear that Southern hemisphere blue mussels arose from a species native to the northeast Atlantic Ocean after speciation of the three ‘M. edulis complex’ members. Within the Southern hemisphere monophyletic clade lies three reciprocally monophyletic clades restricted to the geographic regions South America/Kerguelen Islands, New Zealand and Australia. Phylogeographic analysis indicates past gene flow between South American/Kerguelen Islands and New Zealand populations that has ceased at present day and ongoing gene flow between South America and the Kerguelen Islands likely via the West Wind Drift. Within NZ, population subdivision inferred from mtDNA indicates genetic variation is distributed within an east-west phylogeographic split on the North Island. These populations experienced gene flow in the past that has ceased at present day. Microsatellite allele frequencies indicate a different population subdivision within the northwest North Island that has been narrowed down to a 15 km stretch of coastline in a sheltered bay. The abrupt discontinuity within a small geographic area does not conform to classic population subdivision in this broad-cast spawning species, therefore, further investigation into the genomic content of northwest North Island mussels with respect to introgressed non-native genes is warranted. Resolving complex phylogenetic patterns from interspecific introgression is key to understanding the evolutionary history of Southern hemisphere M. galloprovincialis. Further characterisation of hybrid introgression would increase accuracy of (1) inferences of processes contributing to hybridisation dynamics and (2) population subdivision in NZ. Probing the basis for variation of hybridisation dynamics would help to predict the outcomes of Northern hemisphere M. galloprovincialis introductions in other areas of the world.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 1-23

This research is an attempt to uncover the reality and method of Israeli penetration in the South American continent, and aims to draw attention to the weaknesses and mistakes in the role of Arab communities that they had to play in South America, and the position of Arab governments towards that continent. The research was divided into two main axes, as the first dealt with the means of Israeli penetration in South America until 1947, providing a brief overview of the roots of the penetration in the South American continent and the methods it adopted in achieving this. While the second axis focused on the stance of the South American countries on the Arab-Israeli conflict (1947-1973). However, the Israeli infiltration was affecting the political decision-makers in that continent towards the decision to partition Palestine up to the October 1973 war. Key words: the penetration, Palestine, Israel, immigration, Arabs, America


1990 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-132
Author(s):  
Dana Griffin III

The South American paramos appeared in Pliocene times and persist to the present day. The moss flora of this habitat consists of an estimated 400 species that comprise 8 floristic groups. In Venezuela these groups and their percent representation are as follows: neotropical 37%, Andean 26%, cosmopolitan 18%, Andean-African 8%, neotropical-Asiatic 3%, neotropical-Australasian 2%, temperate Southern Hemisphere 2% and northern boreal-temperate 2%. Acrocarpous taxa outnumber pleurocarps by nearly 3:1. The neotropical and Andean floristic stocks likely were present prior to late Pliocene orogenies that elevated the cordillera above climatic timberlines. These species may have existed in open, marshy areas (paramillos) or may have evolved from cloud forest ancestors. Taxa of northern boreal- temperate affinities, including those with Asiatic distributions, probably arrived in the paramos during the Pleistocene, a period which may also have seen the establishment in the Northern Andes of some cosmopolitan elements. Species with temperate Southern Hemisphere and Australasian affinities likely spread first to austral South America thence migrated northward during a cool, moist interval sometime over the past 2.5-3 million years or may have become established in the paramos as a result of long- distance dispersal.


2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 603-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirstin Krüger ◽  
Barbara Naujokat ◽  
Karin Labitzke

Abstract A strong midwinter warming occurred in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) stratosphere in September 2002. Based on experiences from the Northern Hemisphere (NH), this event can be defined as a major warming with a breakdown of the polar vortex in midwinter, which has never been detected so far in the SH since observations began at the earliest in the 1940s. Minor midwinter warmings occasionally occurred in the SH, but a strong interannual variability, as is present in winter and spring in the NH, has been explicitly associated with the spring reversals. A detailed analysis of this winter reveals the dominant role of eastward-traveling waves and their interaction with quasi-stationary planetary waves forced in the troposphere. Such wave forcing, finally leading to the sudden breakdown of the vortex, is a familiar feature of the northern winter stratosphere. Therefore, the unusual development of this Antarctic winter is described in the context of more than 50 Arctic winters, concentrating on winters with similar wave perturbations. The relevance of preconditioning of major warmings by traveling and quasi-stationary planetary waves is discussed for both hemispheres.


2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 1957-1966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem P. Sijp ◽  
Matthew H. England

Abstract The role of a Southern Ocean gateway in permitting multiple equilibria of the global ocean thermohaline circulation is examined. In particular, necessary conditions for the existence of multiple equilibria are studied with a coupled climate model, wherein stable solutions are obtained for a range of bathymetries with varying Drake Passage (DP) depths. No transitions to a Northern Hemisphere (NH) overturning state are found when the Drake Passage sill is shallower than a critical depth (1100 m in the model described herein). This preference for Southern Hemisphere sinking is a result of the particularly cold conditions of the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) formation regions compared to the NH deep-water formation zones. In a shallow or closed DP configuration, this forces an exclusive production of deep/bottom water in the Southern Hemisphere. Increasing the depth of the Drake Passage sill causes a gradual vertical decoupling in Atlantic circulation, removing the influence of AABW from the upper 2000 m of the Atlantic Ocean. When the DP is sufficiently deep, this shifts the interaction between a North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) cell and an AABW cell to an interaction between an (shallower) Antarctic Intermediate Water cell and an NADW cell. This latter situation allows transitions to a Northern Hemisphere overturning state.


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