Do changes in reef habitats influence relative predation risk on the juvenile Australasian spiny lobster, Jasus edwardsii (Hutton, 1875)?

Crustaceana ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 88 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 839-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hesse ◽  
J. A. Stanley ◽  
A. G. Jeffs

Kelp habitats are in decline in many temperate coastal regions of the world due to climate change and expansion of populations of grazing urchins. The loss of kelp habitat may influence the vulnerability to predators of the juveniles of commercially important species. In this study relative predation rates for kelp versus barren reef habitat were measured for early juvenile Australasian spiny lobster, Jasus edwardsii (Hutton, 1875), on the northeastern coast of New Zealand using tethering methods. Variation in assemblages of predators over small spatial scales appeared to be more important for determining the relative predation of lobsters, regardless of habitat type. Therefore, the assessment of relative predation risk to early juvenile lobsters between kelp and barren habitats will require more extensive sampling at a small spatial scale, as well as a specific focus on sampling during crepuscular and nocturnal periods when these lobsters are most at risk of predation.

ARCTIC ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-29
Author(s):  
Kevin G. Young ◽  
Lisa V. Kennedy ◽  
Paul A. Smith ◽  
Erica Nol

When monitoring the breeding ecology of birds, the causes and times of nest failure can be difficult to determine. Cameras placed near nests allow for accurate monitoring of nest fate, but their presence may increase the risk of predation by attracting predators, leading to biased results. The relative influence of cameras on nest predation risk may also depend on habitat because predator numbers or behaviour can change in response to the availability or accessibility of nests. We evaluated the impact of camera presence on the predation rate of artificial nests placed within mesic tundra habitats used by Arctic-breeding shorebirds. We deployed 94 artificial nests, half with cameras and half without, during the shorebird-nesting season of 2015 in the East Bay Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Nunavut. Artificial nests were distributed evenly across sedge meadow and supratidal habitats typically used by nesting shorebirds. We used the Cox proportional hazards model to assess differential nest survival in relation to camera presence, habitat type, placement date, and all potential interactions. Artificial nests with cameras did not experience higher predation risk than those without cameras. Predation risk of artificial nests was related to an interaction between habitat type and placement date. Nests deployed in sedge meadows and in supratidal habitats later in the season were subject to a higher risk of predation than those deployed in supratidal habitats early in the season. These differences in predation risk are likely driven by the foraging behaviour of Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), a species that accounted for 81% of observed predation events in this study. Arctic fox prey primarily on Arvicoline prey and goose eggs at this site and take shorebird nests opportunistically, perhaps more often later in the season when their preferred prey becomes scarcer. This study demonstrates that, at this site, cameras used for nest monitoring do not influence predation risk. Evaluating the impact of cameras on predation risk is critical prior to their use, as individual study areas may differ in terms of predator species and behaviour.


2017 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Zha ◽  
G Lewis ◽  
A Alfaro ◽  
S Wang ◽  
Y Dong ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
A. D. Chalfoun

Abstract Purpose of Review Anthropogenic activities can lead to the loss, fragmentation, and alteration of wildlife habitats. I reviewed the recent literature (2014–2019) focused on the responses of avian, mammalian, and herpetofaunal species to oil and natural gas development, a widespread and still-expanding land use worldwide. My primary goals were to identify any generalities in species’ responses to development and summarize remaining gaps in knowledge. To do so, I evaluated the directionality of a wide variety of responses in relation to taxon, location, development type, development metric, habitat type, and spatiotemporal aspects. Recent Findings Studies (n = 70) were restricted to the USA and Canada, and taxonomically biased towards birds and mammals. Longer studies, but not those incorporating multiple spatial scales, were more likely to detect significant responses. Negative responses of all types were present in relatively low frequencies across all taxa, locations, development types, and development metrics but were context-dependent. The directionality of responses by the same species often varied across studies or development metrics. Summary The state of knowledge about wildlife responses to oil and natural gas development has developed considerably, though many biases and gaps remain. Studies outside of North America and that focus on herpetofauna are lacking. Tests of mechanistic hypotheses for effects, long-term studies, assessment of response thresholds, and experimental designs that isolate the effects of different stimuli associated with development, remain critical. Moreover, tests of the efficacy of habitat mitigation efforts have been rare. Finally, investigations of the demographic effects of development across the full annual cycle were absent for non-game species and are critical for the estimation of population-level effects.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0271678X2110029
Author(s):  
Mitsouko van Assche ◽  
Elisabeth Dirren ◽  
Alexia Bourgeois ◽  
Andreas Kleinschmidt ◽  
Jonas Richiardi ◽  
...  

After stroke restricted to the primary motor cortex (M1), it is uncertain whether network reorganization associated with recovery involves the periinfarct or more remote regions. We studied 16 patients with focal M1 stroke and hand paresis. Motor function and resting-state MRI functional connectivity (FC) were assessed at three time points: acute (<10 days), early subacute (3 weeks), and late subacute (3 months). FC correlates of recovery were investigated at three spatial scales, (i) ipsilesional non-infarcted M1, (ii) core motor network (M1, premotor cortex (PMC), supplementary motor area (SMA), and primary somatosensory cortex), and (iii) extended motor network including all regions structurally connected to the upper limb representation of M1. Hand dexterity was impaired only in the acute phase ( P = 0.036). At a small spatial scale, clinical recovery was more frequently associated with connections involving ipsilesional non-infarcted M1 (Odds Ratio = 6.29; P = 0.036). At a larger scale, recovery correlated with increased FC strength in the core network compared to the extended motor network (rho = 0.71; P = 0.006). These results suggest that FC changes associated with motor improvement involve the perilesional M1 and do not extend beyond the core motor network. Core motor regions, and more specifically ipsilesional non-infarcted M1, could hence become primary targets for restorative therapies.


Biologia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 71 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amin Golpour ◽  
Mohammad Abdul Momin Siddique ◽  
Diógenes Henrique Siqueira-Silva ◽  
Martin Pšenička

AbstractInterest in reproductively sterile fish in aquaculture has prompted research into their production. Several methods are available for inducing sterility and optimizing its application in the global fishery industry. Sterilization can potentially be accomplished through irradiation, surgery, or chemical and hormonal treatment. Alternative approaches include triploidization, hybridization, and generation of new lines via advanced biotechnological techniques. Triploids of many commercially important species have been studied extensively and have been produced on a large scale for many years. Novel approaches, including disruption of gonadotropin releasing hormone signalling and genetic ablation of germ cells, have been developed that are effective in producing infertile fish but have the disadvantage of not being 100% reliable or are impractical for large-scale aquaculture. We review currently used technologies and recent advances in induction of sterility in fish, especially those intended for use in germ cell transplantation. Knowledge of the implications of these approaches remains incomplete, imposing considerable limitations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2468
Author(s):  
Nguyen Hong Hai ◽  
Yousef Erfanifard ◽  
Van Bac Bui ◽  
Trinh Hien Mai ◽  
Any Mary Petritan ◽  
...  

Studying spatial patterns and habitat association of plant communities may provide understanding of the ecological mechanisms and processes that maintain species coexistence. To conduct assessments of correlation between community compositions and habitat association, we used data from two topographically different plots with 2 ha area in tropical evergreen forests with the variables recorded via grid systems of 10 × 10 m subplots in Northern-Central Vietnam. First, we tested the relationship between community composition and species diversity indices considering the topographical variables. We then assessed the interspecific interactions of 20 dominant plant species using the nearest-neighbor distribution function, Dij(r), and Ripley’s K-function, Kij(r). Based on the significant spatial association of species pairs, indices of interspecific interaction were calculated by the quantitative amounts of the summary statistics. The results showed that (i) community compositions were significantly influenced by the topographic variables and (ii) almost 50% significant pairs of species interactions were increased with increasing spatial scales up to 10–15 m, then declined and disappeared at scales of 30–40 m. Segregation and partial overlap were the dominant association types and disappeared at larger spatial scales. Spatial segregation, mixing, and partial overlap revealed the important species interactions in maintaining species coexistence under habitat heterogeneity in diverse forest communities.


2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Fey ◽  
Peter B. Banks ◽  
Hannu Ylönen ◽  
Erkki Korpimäki

Context. Potential mammalian prey commonly use the odours of their co-evolved predators to manage their risks of predation. But when the risk comes from an unknown source of predation, odours might not be perceived as dangerous, and anti-predator responses may fail, except possibly if the alien predator is of the same archetype as a native predator. Aims. In the present study we examined anti-predator behavioural responses of voles from the outer archipelagos of the Baltic Sea, south-western Finland, where they have had no resident mammalian predators in recent history. Methods. We investigated responses of field voles (Microtus agrestis) to odours of native least weasels (Mustela nivalis) and a recently invading alien predator, the American mink (Mustela vison), in laboratory. We also studied the short-term responses of free-ranging field voles and bank voles (Myodes glareolus) to simulated predation risk by alien mink on small islands in the outer archipelago of the Baltic Sea. Key results. In the laboratory, voles avoided odour cues of native weasel but not of alien mink. It is possible that the response to mink is a context dependent learned response which could not be induced in the laboratory, whereas the response to weasel is innate. In the field, however, voles reduced activity during their normal peak-activity times at night as a response to simulated alien-mink predation risk. No other shifts in space use or activity in safer microhabitats or denser vegetation were apparent. Conclusions. Voles appeared to recognise alien minks as predators from their odours in the wild. However, reduction in activity is likely to be only a short-term immediate response to mink presence, which is augmented by longer-term strategies of habitat shift. Because alien mink still strongly suppresses vole dynamics despite these anti-predator responses, we suggest that behavioural naiveté may be the primary factor in the impact of an alien predator on native prey. Implications. Prey naiveté has long been considered as the root cause of the devastating impacts of alien predators, whereby native prey simply fail to recognise and respond to the novel predation risk. Our results reveal a more complex form of naiveté whereby native prey appeared to recognise alien predators as a threat but their response is ultimately inadequate. Thus, recognition alone is unlikely to afford protection for native prey from alien-predator impacts. Thus, management strategies that, for example, train prey in recognition of novel threats must induce effective responses if they are expected to succeed.


2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosseval Galdino LEITE ◽  
Carlos A.R.M. ARAUJO-LIMA

Information on larval fish feeding is essential for understanding their trophic relations, including the management in conditions totally or partially controlled by humans. An experiment was designed to evaluate the larval diets of three commercially important species. Four varzea-lakes and the adjacent river were sampled with bongo and hand nets from January 1993 to November 1995. Larval diets were evaluated by length-classes and capture sites, and were tested by two factor ANOVA. The larvae were feeding in all habitats, except in the flooded forests. The three species had different diets, which varied with their length and lake. The rotifers were the main initial food item of the three species, replaced by fish larvae in Brycon cephalus, cladocerans in Triportheus elongatus and detritus in Semaprochilodus insignis. The increase of the ingestion limit, as the larvae grew, was higher than the increase in the consumed prey size for the three species.


2011 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomon A. Tadesse ◽  
Burt P. Kotler

Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) prefer steep terrain in their landscape to reduce risks of predation and human nuisance disturbances. They also use vigilance and time allocation to manage risk of predation. We studied time budgets and habitat selection of Nubian ibex to: (1) identify the habitat variables to which Nubian ibex were behaviorally responsive; (2) investigate how time budget responses of Nubian ibex were related to season, slope condition, group size, and sex-age structure; and (3) develop behavioral-based models that account for the variations in the behaviors of Nubian ibex across the landscape and seasons.To quantify time budgets, we took regular field observations on focal individuals of Nubian ibex classified according to their habitat, group size, sex, and age. For each focal observation, we quantified environmental variables that were thought to influence the behavioral responses of ibex. Then, we developed behavioral models by correlating the proportion of behaviors measured in focal animal observations to the influential environmental variables. The behaviors of Nubian ibex significantly varied with sex and age structure, season, habitat type, and slope conditions. Adult females are more vigilant than adult male ibex, especially in the spring. This correlates with breeding and nursing activities. Based on the characteristics of the habitat, ibex behave to minimize risks of predation and human nuisance disturbances while maximizing their food intake.


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