Islet tameness: escape behavior and refuge use in populations of the Balearic lizard (Podarcis lilfordi) exposed to differing predation pressure

2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (10) ◽  
pp. 912-919 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Cooper, Jr. ◽  
Dror Hawlena ◽  
Valentín Pérez-Mellado

Prey often exhibit reduced escape behavior on islands where predators are absent or scarce. Models of escape and refuge use predict that prey from populations having lower predation pressure have shortened flight initiation distance (FID; distance between a predator and a prey when escape begins), reduced distance fled and tendency to enter refuge, and shortened hiding time before emerging from refuge. By ourselves simulating approaching predators, we tested these predictions for two populations of the Balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi (Müller, 1927), on the islets of Rei (higher predation pressure) and Aire (lower) adjacent to Menorca. FID, distance fled, and hiding time were shorter and probability of entering refuge was lower on Aire than on Rei, confirming all predictions. All effect sizes were large, indicating major differences in antipredatory behavior between islets. These findings are consistent with data for other lizards on FID and limited data on distance fled and refuge entry. The effect of predation pressure on hiding time is a novel finding. Our results and those of previous studies suggest that relaxation of predation pressure leads to reduced natural selection for maintenance of antipredatory behavior at all stages of predator–prey interactions over a relatively short time span.


2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dror Hawlena ◽  
Valentín Pérez-Mellado ◽  
William Cooper

AbstractEscape theory predicts that flight initiation distance (FID = predator-prey distance when escape begins) increases as predation risk increases. We tested effects of variation of approach speed and directness, predator persistence, concealment, and weather conditions on FID in the Balearic lizard (Podarcis lilfordi) by ourselves simulating predators. We examined effects of directness of approach on probability of fleeing and of repeated approach on entering refuge and distance fled. As predicted, FID was greater for faster approach speed, more direct approach, during second than first approaches, and when lizards were exposed than partially concealed. Other effects of directness of approach and repeated approach also were as predicted by greater assessed risk by the lizards. The proportion of individuals that fled was greater for direct than indirect approaches. The proportion of lizards that entered refuges and distance fled were greater during the second of two successive approaches. Effects of weather on FID were complex. FID was shortest in the warmest conditions with no noticeable wind, when lizards were active. Lizards were inactive and basked in the other conditions. FID was longest at 20°C without wind, and intermediate FID occurred at 18°C in windy conditions. We present hypotheses for weather effects. Tests are needed to unravel effects of temperature and wind speed. All predictions of escape theory for simple risk factors, i.e., all except than weather conditions, were confirmed. Escape theory successfully predicts FID for these risks in P. lilfordi, other lacertids, and more broadly, in ecologically and taxonomically diverse lizards.



2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Cooper

Prey of different ages may exhibit differences in escape behavior, including flight initiation distance (FID – predator-prey distance when escape begins) and distance fled before stopping (DF). Escape theory predicts FID and, in some circumstance, DF, based on trade-offs between conflicting cost of not fleeing (predation risk) and cost of fleeing (primarily opportunities to enhance fitness lost by fleeing). The prey’s expected lifetime fitness when an encounter begins also affects escape decisions. Because hatchling and adult lizards may differ in ways that affect all three of these factors, a priori prediction of age differences is not possible without measurements of all three. In a field study I found that hatchling zebra-tailed lizards (Callisaurs draconoides) had much shorter FID and DF than adults. These relationships were not affected by distance to refuge, which did not differ between ages, and refuge use was infrequent. The findings agree with those of all but one previous study of age differences, suggesting that hatchling lizards typically have shorter FID and DF than adults because they 1) assess risk as being lower due to lower attractiveness to or detectability by predators, lack of experience or greater maneuverability, 2) have greater opportunity cost due to the need for rapid growth and good body condition before winter, and possibly 3) have lower residual reproductive value due to higher mortality rate than adults. Effects of age and size are confounded, and smaller size may be the major reason for the shorter FID and distance fled of hatchlings.



Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 545
Author(s):  
Gary Carville

The Second Vatican Council and, in particular, its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, changed much in the daily life of the Church. In Ireland, a country steeped in the Catholic tradition but largely peripheral to the theological debates that shaped Vatican II, the changes to liturgy and devotional practice were implemented dutifully over a relatively short time span and without significant upset. But did the hierarchical manner of their reception, like that of the Council itself, mean that Irish Catholics did not receive the changes in a way that deepened their spirituality? And was the popular religious memory of the people lost through a neglect of liturgical piety and its place in the interior life, alongside what the Council sought to achieve? In this essay, Dr Gary Carville will examine the background to the liturgical changes at Vatican II, the contribution to their formulation and implementation by leaders of the Church in Ireland, the experiences of Irish Catholic communities in the reception process, and the ongoing need for a liturgical formation that brings theology, memory, and practice into greater dialogue.



Author(s):  
Anders Raustorp ◽  
Andreas Fröberg

Background: The objectives of this study were to explore the effect of time, long-term tracking, and the proportion of objectively measured physical activity (PA) from early adolescence to the mid-thirties. Methods: PA was measured as mean steps per day (SPD) with pedometers during 2000 (T1), 2003 (T2), 2005 (T3), 2010 (T4), 2016 (T5) and 2020 (T6). Data from 64 participants (n = 32 males) were analysed from their early adolescence (T1) to their mid-thirties (T6). Results: SPD decreased in the total sample and among males and females (all, p < 0.001). Males took more mean SPD than females during T1 (p = 0.002), whereas females took more mean SPD during T2 (p = 0.009) and T6 (p = 0.008). Males’ mean SPD tracked between T1 and T2 (p = 0.021), T2 and T3 (p = 0.030), T3 and T4 (p = 0.015) and T4 and T5 (p = 0.003). Females’ mean SPD tracked between T3 and T4 (p = 0.024) and T5 and T6 (p < 0.001). In the total sample, more mean SPD were found on weekdays compared to weekend days at T3 (p = 0.017) and T5 (p < 0.001). Conclusions: SPD decreased between T1 and T6. Mean SPD tracked low-to-moderate in the short time span. From late adolescence to the mid-thirties, more mean SPD was observed during weekdays compared to weekend days.



2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentín Pérez-Mellado ◽  
Mario Garrido ◽  
Zaida Ortega ◽  
Ana Pérez-Cembranos ◽  
Abraham Mencía

Lizards and gulls cohabit in several Mediterranean islands. The yellow-legged gull, Larus michahellis, was found to prey several vertebrate species. However, precise information about the interaction between gulls and other vertebrates, particularly with lizards is still scarce. The Balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi, shares several coastal islets with the yellow-legged gull. Using two different sources of information, we studied the interaction of both species in Colom Island (Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain). We studied the diet of the yellow-legged gull and learnt that the Balearic lizard is not a common prey of the yellow-legged gull. On the other hand, we studied the potential predation pressure of gulls on lizards, using plasticine models of lizards. We did two different experiments from which we can conclude that yellow-legged gulls rarely attack lizards and, consequently, cannot be considered a major threat for this endemic lizard species, at least in the population under study. Finally, we obtained evidence that plasticine models can only be employed with caution to assess predation pressure of opportunistic scavengers, much as gulls are. The majority of marks on models were not the consequence of true attacks by gulls, but the result of ground exploratory behaviour of gulls in search of any edible matter. Therefore, contrary to popular belief, in the case of the yellow-legged gull, the proportion of marked models would be an indication of ground-based wandering activity, rather than a result of its predation pressure on lizards.



2009 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thijs R. A. Vandenbroucke ◽  
Sarah E. Gabbott ◽  
Florentin Paris ◽  
Richard J. Aldridge ◽  
Johannes N. Theron

Abstract. Isolated chitinozoans from the Soom Shale Member of the Cedarberg Formation, SW South Africa are described and provide a date of the latest Hirnantian–earliest Rhuddanian. The recovered chitinozoans are typical of the latest Ordovician Spinachitina oulebsiri Biozone, although an earliest Silurian age is possible. They indicate a very short time span (less than 1 Ma) across the Ordovician–Silurian boundary. This is currently the highest biostratigraphical resolution attainable for the Soom Shale Lagerstätte. Correlation of the Soom Shale chitinozoans with identical assemblages in post-glacial, transgressive deposits of Northern Africa is possible; both faunas occur in shales that overlie glacial diamictites of the Hirnantian glaciation. A new species, Spinachitina verniersi n. sp. is described.



2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 95-97
Author(s):  
Mahesh Jayaram ◽  
Ranga Rattehalli ◽  
Lindsay Moran ◽  
John Mwanza ◽  
Paul Banda ◽  
...  

The evidence base for rapid tranquillisation is small in higher-income countries but is even smaller in sub-Saharan Africa. We initiated the first ever survey on the use of rapid tranquillisation in Zambia in 2009; a further survey was then done in 2010, after a programme of teaching and training. It demonstrated an overall improvement in clinical practice, safety, awareness and use of medications within therapeutic doses. It also led to a reduction in inappropriate use of medications. These improvements in practice occurred within a short time span and with minimal effort. Further international collaborative partnerships are required to build stronger mental health infrastructure in Zambia.



Author(s):  
Andrew S. Cohen

Before discussing paleolimnological archives, we need to consider those aspects of limnology that regulate how information is produced, transmitted, and filtered through the water column. Although many limnological processes leave behind sedimentary clues of their existence or intensity and are thus amenable to paleolimnological analysis, others leave little or no detectable trace. Our consideration of limnology here emphasizes the former. Throughout the next three chapters we will examine the properties of lakes, the implications of these properties for paleolimnology, and the types of physical, chemical, and biological information that can be transcribed into sedimentary archives. Physical processes in lakes are of interest because they act as intermediary hydroclimate filters between external forcing events of interest, like climate, and the paleolimnological record. For example, understanding the hydrology of a lake is important because water inputs and outputs, which are often controlled by climate, determine lake levels, which in turn are recorded by ancient shoreline elevations, or indirectly by salinity indicators. Light and heat penetration regulate the distribution of organisms and the mixing of the water column, recorded by the distribution of various fossils, sediment types, and geochemical characteristics of sediments. Also, current and wave activity affect the transport of sedimentary particles and therefore the distribution of sediment types around a lake basin. Understanding these physical processes therefore provides us with a means of linking sedimentological, geochemical, and paleobiological records of lake deposits to the external environment. Water enters and exits lakes through a variety of paths that comprise part of the earth’s hydrological cycle. The lake components of this cycle include a series of inputs and outputs of water, which in combination with the morphometry of the lake basin, collectively determine the lake’s level. Inputs include precipitation, surface runoff from rivers, and groundwater discharge into the lake. Outflows include surface outflow, evaporation, evapotranspiration losses from emergent aquatic plants, groundwater recharge, and hydration reactions with underlying sediments. If water inputs and outputs for a lake are equal over a short time span, the lake surface elevation will remain constant. This is approximately the case in most lakes that are surficially open basins.



2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-63
Author(s):  
Patricia J. Scott ◽  
Kelsey G. McKinney ◽  
Jeff M. Perron ◽  
Emily G. Ruff ◽  
Jessica L. Smiley

The Role Checklist is used by occupational therapists across the globe. Developed in 1981 and consistent with the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), until recently, the Role Checklist was not updated. This is of concern as the Role Checklist originally was established to measure role performance. In 2008, Kielhofner, in the fourth edition of A Model of Human Occupation, differentiated occupational performance in 10 roles which clearly fall into occupational participation in the Role Checklist Version 3. The objective of the study was to describe changes and establish utility, feasibility, and reliability of the Role Checklist Version 3. The Role Checklist Version 3 was administered electronically to N = 114 occupational therapists and students. A short time span was used due to sensitivity to history bias. Test–retest reliability using Cohen’s Kappa and Cronbach’s alpha mirrored analysis done on the original version. Qualitatively, nine themes emerged regarding utility and feasibility. Test–retest reliability is acceptable to excellent for present role incumbency (κ = 0.74-1.00), desired future role engagement (κ = 0.44-1.00), and satisfaction with performance (α = 0.77-0.98). Participants (91%) found it useful for treatment planning and 75% would recommend Version 3 over the original Role Checklist. Data support the Role Checklist Version 3 as a reliable, electronic instrument feasible for occupational therapists to measure participation.



Author(s):  
Ramin Tavakoli Kolagari ◽  
DeJiu Chen ◽  
Agnes Lanusse ◽  
Renato Librino ◽  
Henrik Lönn ◽  
...  

Modern cars have turned into complex high-technology products, subject to strict safety and timing requirements, in a short time span. This evolution has translated into development processes that are not as efficient, flexible and agile as they could or should be. This paper presents the main aspects and capabilities of a rich model-based design framework, founded on EAST-ADL. EAST-ADL is an architecture description language specific to the automotive domain and complemented by a methodology compliant with the functional safety standard for the automotive domain ISO26262. The language and the methodology are used to develop an information model in the sense of a conceptual model, providing the engineer the basis for specifying the various aspects of the system. Inconsistencies, redundancies, and partly even missing system description aspects can be found automaticlally by advanced analyses and optimization capabilities to effectively improve development processes of modern cars.



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