scholarly journals Conspicuous female plumage is common among open cup-nesting passerine birds

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay McEntee ◽  
Zoe Zelazny ◽  
Gordon Burleigh
Keyword(s):  
Social Selection ◽  
Passerine Birds ◽  
Evolutionary Transitions ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Cavity Nesting ◽  
The Social ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Incubating Birds ◽  
Core Part ◽  
Nest Type

Alfred Russel Wallace hypothesized that the use of cavity or dome nests releases incubating birds from predation risk, and that this allows the evolution of conspicuous coloration in females. By this hypothesis, females that use open nests are subject to strong selection for crypsis. Here, we test the validity of Wallace’s proposed evolutionary correlation between nest type and conspicuous coloration in females across the largest avian radiation, the Passeriformes, using phylogenetic comparative methods. We also test an alternate hypothesis that cavity-nesting results in greater conspicuousness because competition for cavities is stronger than for other nest sites, and such competition can drive social selection on female plumage. By this hypothesis, dome-nesting females should generally be less conspicuous than cavity-nesting species. We found no support for Wallace’s hypothesis that concealed nests yield conspicuous plumage while open nests yield dull plumage, and some support for the social selection hypothesis in smaller-bodied, gregarious species. While our analyses do not support the core part of Wallace’s hypothesis, they corroborate his contention that evolutionary transitions in nest type are rare, indicating that nest types may influence macroevolutionary selective regimes for other traits.

Communities ready for takeoff

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanne A. M. Rijkhoff ◽  
Season A. Hoard ◽  
Michael J. Gaffney ◽  
Paul M. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Site Selection ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Location Selection ◽  
Community Assets ◽  
Selection Decisions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
New Infrastructure ◽  
Take All

Although much of the social science literature supports the importance of community assets for success in many policy areas, these assets are often overlooked when selecting communities for new infrastructure facilities. Extensive collaboration is crucial for the success of environmental and economic projects, yet it often is not adequately addressed when making siting decisions for new projects. This article develops a social asset framework that includes social, creative, and human capital to inform site-selection decisions. This framework is applied to the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance project to assess community suitability for biofuel-related developments. This framework is the first to take all necessary community assets into account, providing insight into successful site selection beyond current models. The framework not only serves as a model for future biorefinery projects but also guides tasks that depend on informed location selection for success.

The importance of grasstrees (Xanthorrhoea preissii) as habitat for mardo (Antechinus flavipes leucogaster) during post-fire recovery

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marnie L. Swinburn ◽  
Patricia A. Fleming ◽  
Michael D. Craig ◽  
Andrew H. Grigg ◽  
Mark J. Garkaklis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fire Management ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Radio Telemetry ◽  
Important Resource ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Single Feature ◽  
Management Policies ◽  
Nesting Resources ◽  
Selection For ◽  
The One

Grasstrees (Xanthorrhoea) are an important structural component of many Australian ecosystems and also an important resource for many fauna species. Grasstrees have distinctive morphologies, with a crown of long thin leaves and skirts, the latter of which are accumulated dead leaves; both are incinerated by fire. This study determined the morphological features of Xanthorrhoea preissii, which change in response to fire from 6 months to 21 years post-burn. In addition, using radio-telemetry and spool-tracking, we determined that grasstrees are utilised as foraging and nesting resources for mardos (Antechinus flavipes leucogaster (Gray, 1841), Marsupialia: Dasyuridae). Recently burnt grasstrees (6 months post-burn) appeared not to be used by mardos at all. We found few mardos in these recently burnt sites, and the one individual we managed to track for 126 m utilised only a single grasstree: a 2-m-tall multiple-crowned grasstree that had escaped the fire was used as a nest site. For sites 5 years post-burn, mardos selectively utilised grasstrees with larger crown areas and those with a greater number of crowns compared with a random sample of available trees. At the 14-year post-burn sites, mardos still demonstrated some selection for grasstrees, although no specific single feature could be determined as most significant. We recorded humidity and temperature buffering effects in association with post-burn accumulation of grasstree skirt material and found that even dead grasstree ‘logs’ were an important resource for nests. We conclude that mardos utilise both live and dead grasstrees for foraging and nest sites, possibly owing to the availability of dense cover, a buffered microclimate, and potentially also food resources. Fire-management policies that promote habitat heterogeneity and retain several intact-skirted grasstrees within the landscape are likely to benefit mardos.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the interactionist model of socioeconomic status and problem behavior: A developmental cascade across generations

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 695-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica J. Martin ◽  
Rand D. Conger ◽  
Thomas J. Schofield ◽  
Shannon J. Dogan ◽  
Keith F. Widaman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Problem Behavior ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Problem Behaviors ◽  
Family Stress ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Social Selection ◽  
Social Causation ◽  
Adolescent Problem Behavior ◽  
The Social

AbstractThe current multigenerational study evaluates the utility of the interactionist model of socioeconomic influence on human development (IMSI) in explaining problem behaviors across generations. The IMSI proposes that the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and human development involves a dynamic interplay that includes both social causation (SES influences human development) and social selection (individual characteristics affect SES). As part of the developmental cascade proposed by the IMSI, the findings from this investigation showed that Generation 1 (G1) adolescent problem behavior predicted later G1 SES, family stress, and parental emotional investments, as well as the next generation of children's problem behavior. These results are consistent with a social selection view. Consistent with the social causation perspective, we found a significant relation between G1 SES and family stress, and in turn, family stress predicted Generation 2 (G2) problem behavior. Finally, G1 adult SES predicted both material and emotional investments in the G2 child. In turn, emotional investments predicted G2 problem behavior, as did material investments. Some of the predicted pathways varied by G1 parent gender. The results are consistent with the view that processes of both social selection and social causation account for the association between SES and human development.

scholarly journals Evolution of iris colour in relation to cavity nesting and parental care in passerine birds

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 20160783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabrielle L. Davidson ◽  
Alex Thornton ◽  
Nicola S. Clayton
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Passerine Birds ◽  
Cavity Nesters ◽  
Cavity Nesting ◽  
Ideal System ◽  
Nesting Behaviour ◽  
Gaze Sensitivity ◽  
Iris Colour

Strong selection pressures are known to act on animal coloration. Although many animals vary in eye colour, virtually no research has investigated the functional significance of these colour traits. Passeriformes have a range of iris colours, making them an ideal system to investigate how and why iris colour has evolved. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we tested the hypothesis that conspicuous iris colour in passerine birds evolved in response to (a) coordination of offspring care and (b) cavity nesting, two traits thought to be involved in intra-specific gaze sensitivity. We found that iris colour and cooperative offspring care by two or more individuals evolved independently, suggesting that bright eyes are not important for coordinating parental care through eye gaze. Furthermore, we found that evolution between iris colour and nesting behaviour did occur in a dependent manner, but contrary to predictions, transitions to coloured eyes were not more frequent in cavity nesters than non-cavity nesters. Instead, our results indicate that selection away from having bright eyes was much stronger in non-cavity nesters than cavity nesters, perhaps because conspicuous eye coloration in species not concealed within a cavity would be more visible to predators.

scholarly journals Cooperation and the evolution of intelligence

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1740) ◽  
pp. 3027-3034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke McNally ◽  
Sam P. Brown ◽  
Andrew L. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Artificial Neural Network Model ◽  
Social Intelligence ◽  
Arms Race ◽  
Selection Pressures ◽  
Social Intelligence Hypothesis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Selection For

The high levels of intelligence seen in humans, other primates, certain cetaceans and birds remain a major puzzle for evolutionary biologists, anthropologists and psychologists. It has long been held that social interactions provide the selection pressures necessary for the evolution of advanced cognitive abilities (the ‘social intelligence hypothesis’), and in recent years decision-making in the context of cooperative social interactions has been conjectured to be of particular importance. Here we use an artificial neural network model to show that selection for efficient decision-making in cooperative dilemmas can give rise to selection pressures for greater cognitive abilities, and that intelligent strategies can themselves select for greater intelligence, leading to a Machiavellian arms race. Our results provide mechanistic support for the social intelligence hypothesis, highlight the potential importance of cooperative behaviour in the evolution of intelligence and may help us to explain the distribution of cooperation with intelligence across taxa.

The Effects of Invasive Ants on the Nesting Success of Tristram's Storm-petrel, Oceanodroma tristrami, on Laysan Island, Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory T. W. McClelland ◽  
Ian L. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Success ◽  
Hawaiian Islands ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Invasive Ants ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Tramp Ant ◽  
Nest Type ◽  
Storm Petrel

The possible impact of invasive ants on the avifauna of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands was investigated by studying the breeding success of Tristram's Storm-petrel Oceanodroma tristrami on Laysan Island. The tramp ant Monomorium pharaonis (L.) was found to be abundant in storm-petrel nesting areas on Laysan Island. There were 380 observations made on incubating adults and 798 observations for chicks, for a total of 1178 observations from 116 storm-petrel nest sites. No ant harassment events involving incubating adult storm-petrels were recorded. Thirteen instances of more than 5 ants on Tristram's Storm-petrel chicks were recorded. One harassment event was recorded, involving approximately 200 ants. The chick left the nest site immediately following the event, did not return, and presumably died. The number of nest failures attributed to M. pharaonis was 1% (n = 116). There was a significant relationship between nest type and ant interactions (G = 24.45, p = <0.0001, n =55), with incidents only recorded from birds nesting under vegetation. It was hypothesized that the ant interactions recorded in this study were a result of Tristram's Storm-petrel chicks being in close proximity to M. pharaonis nests rather than direct predation. Thus no evidence was found of a severe impact of invasive ants on the breeding success of storm-petrels at Laysan Island. Despite no direct ant impact particular attention should be given to the interactions between M. pharaonis and bird species reliant on vegetation for nesting cover, and studies therefore should include additional breeding bird species.

scholarly journals Selection for spiral waves in the social amoebae Dictyostelium

1997 ◽  
Vol 94 (25) ◽  
pp. 13719-13723 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Palsson ◽  
K. J. Lee ◽  
R. E. Goldstein ◽  
J. Franke ◽  
R. H. Kessin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spiral Waves ◽  
The Social ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Social Amoebae

Women and the Judiciary in the Asia-Pacific

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Gender Composition ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Gender Justice ◽  
Women's Issues ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Core Part

Courts can play an important role in addressing issues of inequality, discrimination and gender injustice for women. The feminisation of the judiciary – both in its thin meaning of women's entrance into the profession, as well as its thicker forms of realising gender justice – is a core part of the agenda for gender equality. This volume acknowledges both the diversity of meanings of the feminisation of the judiciary, as well as the complexity of the social and cultural realisation of gender equality. Containing original empirical studies, this book demonstrates the past and present challenges women face to entering the judiciary and progressing their career, as well as when and why they advocate for women's issues while on the bench. From stories of pioneering women to sector-wide institutional studies of the gender composition of the judiciary, this book reflects on the feminisation of the judiciary in the Asia-Pacific.

The Social Organisation of the Dusky Moorhen, Gallinula tenebrosa Gould (Aves : Rallidae)

1980 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
ST Garnett
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Sexual Behaviour ◽  
Social Organisation ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
The Social ◽  
Free Ranging

A population of dusky moorhens was studied between October 1974 and December 1976. Moorhens were present in the study area throughout the year, existing predominantly in free-ranging flocks in May and June and tending to form territorial groups of from two to seven birds from July to April. In a group there were from one to three males per female; all males copulated with all females. Groups formed in July were predominantly of experienced adults and did not cease territoriality until April; those formed later, in September, were predominantly of immatures and tended to cease territoriality in March. The former had larger territories with more reeds, less sexual behaviour although more frequent successful coition, and a higher productivity than the latter. Productivity did not increase with group size although those with more than four birds lost twice as many eggs as smaller groups. It is unlikely that members of a group are related. The most frequent group size was four and it is postulated that groups of this size produce the most young. The skewed ratio in groups may result from the scarcity of nest sites, which limits the number of females per group.

A Proposal of Classification and Guideline of Selection for Design Modeling Methods

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Asanuma ◽  
Jumpei Kawashima ◽  
Yoshiki Ujiie ◽  
Yoshiyuki Matsuoka
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Design Solution ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
Modeling Methods ◽  
Complex Design ◽  
The Social ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Design Objects ◽  
Exact Design

In recent years the demands of users and the social problems have been diverse. In design, the diverse demands of users and problems of the society have created increasingly complex design problems. Therefore, it is important to understand values and images of the design objects and analyze the relation among design objects, human beings and its environment to respond to the complicated design problems. A number of design modeling methods that realize above points have been proposed. Consequently, it is necessary for designers and engineers to derivate the exact design solution that responds to the complicated design problems. However, the framework of design modeling methods in design has not been established. Moreover, most of the current studies on the methods only respond to the problems in each aspect of design [1]. Therefore, designers and engineers apply the design modeling methods in each design process based on their knowledge and experiences. The guideline of selection for the application of design modeling methods has not been shown. Consequently, the guideline for selecting the design modeling methods is needed for designers and engineers to apply the methods appropriately in design.

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