scholarly journals Individual vs. Combined Short-Term Effects of Soil Pollutants on Colony Founding in a Common Ant Species

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitri Seidenath ◽  
Anja Holzinger ◽  
Klara Kemnitz ◽  
Nico Langhof ◽  
Darleen Lücker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Contaminated Soils ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Anthropogenic Pollution ◽  
Colony Founding ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Lasius Niger ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Terrestrial Life ◽  
Short Term Effects

Insects are integral to terrestrial life and provide essential ecosystem functions such as pollination and nutrient cycling. Due to massive declines in insect biomass, abundance, or species richness in recent years, the focus has turned to find their causes. Anthropogenic pollution is among the main drivers of insect declines. Research addressing the effects of pollutants concentrates on aquatic insects and pollinators, despite the apparent risk of contaminated soils. Pollutants accumulating in the soil might pose a significant threat because concentrations tend to be high and different pollutants are present simultaneously. Here, we exposed queens of the black garden ant Lasius niger at the colony founding stage to different concentrations and combinations of pollutants (brake dust, soot, microplastic particles and fibers, manure) to determine dose-dependent effects and interactions between stressors. As proxies for colony founding success, we measured queen survival, the development time of the different life stages, the brood weight, and the number of offspring. Over the course of the experiment queen mortality was very low and similar across treatments. Only high manure concentrations affected the colony founding success. Eggs from queens exposed to high manure concentrations took longer to hatch, which resulted in a delayed emergence of workers. Also, fewer pupae and workers were raised by those queens. Brake dust, soot and plastic particles did not visibly affect colony founding success, neither as single nor as multiple stressors. The application of manure, however, affected colony founding in L. niger negatively underlining the issue of excessive manure application to our environment. Even though anthropogenic soil pollutants seem to have little short-term effects on ant colony founding, studies will have to elucidate potential long-term effects as a colony grows.

scholarly journals Short- and Long-Term Effects of Nonconsciously Processed Ambient Scents in a Servicescape: Findings From Two Field Experiments

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Girard ◽  
Marcel Lichters ◽  
Marko Sarstedt ◽  
Dipayan Biswas
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Railway Company ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Ambient Scents ◽  
Short Term Effects

Ambient scents are being increasingly used in different service environments. While there is emerging research on the effects of scents, almost nothing is known about the long-term effects of consumers’ repeated exposure to ambient scents in a service environment as prior studies on ambient scents have been lab or field studies examining short-term effects of scent exposure only. Addressing this limitation, we examine the short- and long-term effects of ambient scents. Specifically, we present a conceptual framework for the short- and long-term effects of nonconsciously processed ambient scent in olfactory-rich servicescapes. We empirically test this framework with the help of two large-scale field experiments, conducted in collaboration with a major German railway company, in which consumers were exposed to a pleasant, nonconsciously processed scent. The first experiment demonstrates ambient scent’s positive short-term effects on consumers’ service perceptions. The second experiment—a longitudinal study conducted over a 4-month period—examines scent’s long-term effects on consumers’ reactions and demonstrates that the effects persist even when the scent has been removed from the servicescape.

Early Contact and Maternal-Infant Bonding: One Decade Later

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 763-768
Author(s):  
Michael E. Lamb
Keyword(s):  
Child Development ◽  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Present Review ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Maternal Bonding ◽  
Skin Contact ◽  
Skin To Skin ◽  
Short Term Effects

In the last decade, there has been considerable speculation concerning the importance of early skin-to-skin contact between parturient mothers and neonates. This contact is viewed as crucial to the occurrence of maternal bonding, which is seen as a precursor of optimal maternal behavior and thus as a necessary antecedent of optimal child development. In the present review, these conclusions are shown to have been based on equivocal findings obtained in methodologically impoverished studies. Although early contact may have modest but beneficial short-term effects in some circumstances, no positive long-term effects have been demonstrated.

Short-term effects of dopamine on photoreceptors, luminosity- and chromaticity-horizontal cells in the turtle retina

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Ammermüller ◽  
Reto Weiler ◽  
Ido Perlman
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
Horizontal Cells ◽  
Field Size ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Short Term Effects

AbstractThe effects of dopamine on luminosity-type horizontal cells have been documented in different vertebrate retinas, both in vivo and in vitro. Some of these effects may reflect direct action of dopamine onto these cells, but indirect effects mediated by presynaptic neurons cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, direct effects of dopamine on horizontal cells may affect other, postsynaptic neurons in the outer plexiform layer. To test these possibilities, we studied the effects of dopamine on photoreceptors and all types of horizontal cells in the turtle (Pseudemys scripta elegans) retina. Receptive-field properties, responsiveness to light, and time course of light responses were monitored with intracellular recordings. Dopamine at a concentration of 40 μM exerted effects with two different time courses. “Short-term” effects were fully developed after 3 min of dopamine application and reversed within 30 min of washout of the drug. “Long-term” effects were fully developed after about 7–10 min and could not be washed out during the course of our experiments. Only the “short-term” effects were studied in detail in this paper. These were expressed in a reduction of the receptive-field size of all types of horizontal cells studied; L1 and L2 luminosity types as well as Red/Green and Yellow/Blue chromaticity types. The L1 horizontal cells did not exhibit signs of reduced responsiveness to light under dopamine, while in the L2 cells and the two types of chromaticity cells responsiveness decreased. None of the rods, long-wavelength-sensitive, or medium-wavelength-sensitive cones exhibited any apparent reduction in their receptive-field sizes or responsiveness to light. The present results suggest that the “short-term” effects of dopamine are not mediated by photoreceptors and are probably due to direct action of dopamine on horizontal cells.

scholarly journals Short-term effects of GPS collars on the activity, behavior, and adrenal response of scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jared A. Stabach ◽  
Stephanie A. Cunningham ◽  
Grant Connette ◽  
Joel L. Mota ◽  
Dolores Reed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Movement ◽  
Stress Hormones ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
High Resolution Data ◽  
Gps Collars ◽  
Behavioral Observations ◽  
Activity Behavior ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Short Term Effects

AbstractGPS collars have revolutionized the field of animal ecology, providing detailed information on animal movement and the habitats necessary for species survival. GPS collars also have the potential to cause adverse effects ranging from mild irritation to severe tissue damage, reduced fitness, and death. The impact of GPS collars on the behavior, stress, or activity, however, have rarely been tested on study species prior to release. The objective of our study was to provide a comprehensive assessment of the short-term effects of GPS collars fitted on scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), an extinct-in-the-wild antelope once widely distributed across Sahelian grasslands in North Africa. We conducted behavioral observations, assessed fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM), and evaluated high-resolution data from tri-axial accelerometers. Using a series of non-standard regression models, we illustrate clear but short-term effects to animals fitted with GPS collars. Behavioral observations highlighted a significant increase in the amount of headshaking from pre-treatment levels, returning below baseline levels during the post-treatment period (>3 days post-collaring). Similarly, FGM concentrations (i.e., stress hormones) increased after GPS collars were fitted on animals but returned to pre-collaring levels within 5 days of collaring. Lastly, tri-axial accelerometers, collecting data at eight positions per second, indicated a > 480 percent increase in the amount of hourly headshaking immediately after collaring. This post-collaring increase in headshaking was estimated to decline in magnitude within 4 hours after GPS collar fitting. These effects constitute a handling and/or habituation response (model dependent), with animals showing short-term responses in activity, behavior, and stress that dissipated within several hours to several days of being fitted with GPS collars. Importantly, none of our analyses indicated any long-term effects that would have more pressing animal welfare concerns.

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