scholarly journals “The tale of the three little tits”: Different nest building solutions under the same environmental pressures

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
Iván Alambiaga ◽  
Elena Álvarez ◽  
David Diez-Méndez ◽  
José Verdejo ◽  
Emilio Barba

Evolutionary selection pressures, and species-specific ecology and behavior, promote a great variability in the size and composition of nests. However, it would be expected that phylogenetically close species, with similar ecological needs, breeding at the same time in the same place, would also build similar nests. In contrast with this, previous studies have found differences in nest mass and composition among closely related sympatric species. These differences have been attributed to small differences in body size (smaller species building larger and/or more insulated nests), or to the different ways in which species perceive the environment (e.g. perceived predation risk). In this study, for the first time, we searched for differences between nest mass, composition, and importance of the different functional parts of the nest between Blue ( Cyanistes caeruleus), Great ( Parus major) and Coal tits ( Periparus ater) breeding under the same conditions. We found that smaller species built larger nests and/or include more thermoregulatory materials, probably having greater insulating capacity, which agrees with previous hypotheses. In particular, Blue Tits made greater use of bark, feathers and vegetable fiber, while Great Tits used wild boar hair in greater proportions. In addition, for the first time, we described in detail the nest composition of Coal Tits, which contained large amounts of fluff compared to the other two species. All these results are in line with previous hypothesis linking nest size and composition to the size of the birds, and the existence of species-specific characteristics in the selection of materials for nest building.

Biology ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
King-Siang Goh ◽  
Chia-Ming Lee ◽  
Tzi-Yuan Wang

It is highly challenging to evaluate the species’ content and behavior changes in wild fireflies, especially for a sympatric population. Here, the flash interval (FI) and flash duration (FD) of flying males from three sympatric species (Abscondita cerata, Luciola kagiana, and Luciola curtithorax) were investigated for their potentials in assessing species composition and nocturnal behaviors during the A. cerata mating season. Both FI and FD were quantified from the continuous flashes of adult fireflies (lasting 5–30 s) via spatiotemporal analyses of video recorded along the Genliao hiking trail in Taipei, Taiwan. Compared to FD patterns and flash colors, FI patterns exhibited the highest species specificity, making them a suitable reference for differentiating firefly species. Through the case study of a massive occurrence of A. cerata (21 April 2018), the species contents (~85% of the flying population) and active periods of a sympatric population comprising A. cerata and L. kagiana were successfully evaluated by FI pattern matching, as well as field specimen collections. Our study suggests that FI patterns may be a reliable species-specific luminous marker for monitoring the behavioral changes in a sympatric firefly population in the field, and has implication values for firefly conservation.


Ethology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 122 (6) ◽  
pp. 492-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel M. Lambrechts ◽  
Jacques Blondel ◽  
Cyril Bernard ◽  
Samuel P. Caro ◽  
Anne Charmantier ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 739-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel E. Visser ◽  
Juan José Sanz

Avian timing of reproduction is strongly affected by ambient temperature. Here we show that there is an additional effect of sunspots on laying date, from five long-term population studies of great and blue tits ( Parus major and Cyanistes caeruleus ), demonstrating for the first time that solar activity not only has an effect on population numbers but that it also affects the timing of animal behaviour. This effect is statistically independent of ambient temperature. In years with few sunspots, birds initiate laying late while they are often early in years with many sunspots. The sunspot effect may be owing to a crucial difference between the method of temperature measurements by meteorological stations (in the shade) and the temperatures experienced by the birds. A better understanding of the impact of all the thermal components of weather on the phenology of ecosystems is essential when predicting their responses to climate change.


2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1920) ◽  
pp. 20192513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara C. Keen ◽  
Ella F. Cole ◽  
Michael J. Sheehan ◽  
Ben C. Sheldon

In many species, individuals gather information about their environment both through direct experience and through information obtained from others. Social learning, or the acquisition of information from others, can occur both within and between species and may facilitate the rapid spread of antipredator behaviour. Within birds, acoustic signals are frequently used to alert others to the presence of predators, and individuals can quickly learn to associate novel acoustic cues with predation risk. However, few studies have addressed whether such learning occurs only though direct experience or whether it has a social component, nor whether such learning can occur between species. We investigate these questions in two sympatric species of Parids: blue tits ( Cyanistes caeruleus ) and great tits ( Parus major ). Using playbacks of unfamiliar bird vocalizations paired with a predator model in a controlled aviary setting, we find that blue tits can learn to associate a novel sound with predation risk via direct experience, and that antipredator response to the sound can be socially transmitted to heterospecific observers, despite lack of first-hand experience. Our results suggest that social learning of acoustic cues can occur between species. Such interspecific social information transmission may help to mediate the formation of mixed-species aggregations.


MBIA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-32
Author(s):  
Deddy Hendarwan

Attitudes and behaviors are the unity of a person's character which is formed by habit everyday. Entrepreneurial behavior is influenced by internal and external factors. These factors are ownership rights (property right, PR), abilities / competencies (competency / ability,), and incentives while external factors include the environment thus Attitudes and behavior can be changed by oneself and / or there are environmental pressures / influences. there is an influence from within themselves and from outside the environment to associate then grow indi attitudes and specific behaviors. It is necessary to anticipate small businesses’ difficulties by conducting an empirical study  on  the  entrepreneurial  spirit,  entrepreneurial  values,  and  assessment  of entrepreneurial behavior that may affect the realization of independence efforts. This study  aims to  analyze the  influence of  entrepreneurial spirit  and entrepreneurial values on entrepreneurial behavior to create business independence. The findings show that the entrepreneurial spirit has a direct positive influence on entrepreneurial behavior and positive indirect effect on the business independence.


Author(s):  
Michel Meyer

Chapter 10 is devoted to the role of emotions or pathos. Pathos was the term ordinarily used to denote the notion of audience. For the first time since Aristotle, emotions receive a full role in a treatise on rhetoric. The responses of the audience are modulated by its emotions. What is their nature and how precisely do they operate? The areas of political and legal rhetoric are examined here in the light of an original view of the theory of distance: values at greater distance become passions at short distance, and this is one of the features which demarcates politics from law. Law and politics are not merely argumentative, nor are they entirely emotional. The norms they codify are often implicit in their shaping of our mutual expectations and behavior in the social world.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maulana M. Naji ◽  
Yuri T. Utsunomiya ◽  
Johann Sölkner ◽  
Benjamin D. Rosen ◽  
Gábor Mészáros

Abstract Background In evolutionary theory, divergence and speciation can arise from long periods of reproductive isolation, genetic mutation, selection and environmental adaptation. After divergence, alleles can either persist in their initial state (ancestral allele - AA), co-exist or be replaced by a mutated state (derived alleles -DA). In this study, we aligned whole genome sequences of individuals from the Bovinae subfamily to the cattle reference genome (ARS.UCD-1.2) for defining ancestral alleles necessary for selection signatures study. Results Accommodating independent divergent of each lineage from the initial ancestral state, AA were defined based on fixed alleles on at least two groups of yak, bison and gayal-gaur-banteng resulting in ~ 32.4 million variants. Using non-overlapping scanning windows of 10 Kb, we counted the AA observed within taurine and zebu cattle. We focused on the extreme points, regions with top 0. 1% (high count) and regions without any occurrence of AA (null count). High count regions preserved gene functions from ancestral states that are still beneficial in the current condition, while null counts regions were linked to mutated ones. For both cattle, high count regions were associated with basal lipid metabolism, essential for survival of various environmental pressures. Mutated regions were associated to productive traits in taurine, i.e. higher metabolism, cell development and behaviors and in immune response domain for zebu. Conclusions Our findings suggest that retaining and losing AA in some regions are varied and made it species-specific with possibility of overlapping as it depends on the selective pressure they had to experience.


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.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 622
Author(s):  
Alexandra Ciorîță ◽  
Septimiu Cassian Tripon ◽  
Ioan Gabriel Mircea ◽  
Dorina Podar ◽  
Lucian Barbu-Tudoran ◽  
...  

Morphological and anatomical traits of the Vinca leaf were examined using microscopy techniques. Outdoor Vinca minor and V. herbacea plants and greenhouse cultivated V. major and V. major var. variegata plants had interspecific variations. All Vinca species leaves are hypostomatic. However, except for V. minor leaf, few stomata were also present on the upper epidermis. V. minor leaf had the highest stomatal index and V. major had the lowest, while the distribution of trichomes on the upper epidermis was species-specific. Differentiated palisade and spongy parenchyma tissues were present in all Vinca species’ leaves. However, V. minor and V. herbacea leaves had a more organized anatomical aspect, compared to V. major and V. major var. variegata leaves. Additionally, as a novelty, the cellular to intercellular space ratio of the Vinca leaf’s mesophyll was revealed herein with the help of computational analysis. Lipid droplets of different sizes and aspects were localized in the spongy parenchyma cells. Ultrastructural characteristics of the cuticle and its epicuticular waxes were described for the first time. Moreover, thick layers of cutin seemed to be characteristic of the outdoor plants only. This could be an adaptation to the unpredictable environmental conditions, but nevertheless, it might influence the chemical composition of plants.


1994 ◽  
Vol 40 (134) ◽  
pp. 132-134
Author(s):  
R.E. Gagnon ◽  
C. Tulk ◽  
H. Kiefte

AbstractSingle crystals and bicrystals of water ice have been adiabatically pressurized to produce, and clearly illustrate, two types of internal melt figures: (1) dendritic figures that grow from nucleation imperfections on the specimen’s surface, or from air bubbles at grain boundaries, into the ice as pressure is elevated; and (2) compression melt fractures, flat liquid-filled disks, that nucleate at imperfections in the crystal and grow with the application of pressure eventually to sprout dendritic fingers at the periphery. The transparency of the ice permitted visualization of the growth and behavior of the figures, and this could be an important tool in understanding the role of phase transformations in deep-focus earthquakes. Correlation between figure size and pressure is noted for the first time.


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