High frequency of prospecting for informed dispersal and colonisation in a social species at large spatial scale

Animals explore and prospect space searching for resources and individuals may disperse, targeting suitable patches to increase fitness. Nevertheless, dispersal is costly because it implies leaving the patch where the individual has gathered information and reduced uncertainty. In social species, information gathered during the prospection process for deciding whether and where to disperse is not only personal but also public, i.e. conspecific density and breeding performance. In empty patches, public information is not available and dispersal for colonisation would be more challenging. Here we study the prospecting in a metapopulation of colonial Audouin’s gulls using PTT platform terminal transmitters tagging for up to 4 years and GPS tagging during the incubation period. A large percentage of birds (65%) prospected occupied patches; strikingly, 62% of prospectors also visited empty patches that were colonised in later years. Frequency and intensity of prospecting were higher for failed breeders, who dispersed more than successful breeders. Prospecting and dispersal also occurred mostly to neighbouring patches where population density was higher. GPSs revealed that many breeders (59%) prospected while actively incubating, which suggests that they gathered information before knowing the fate of their reproduction. Prospecting may be enhanced in species adapted to breed in ephemeral habitats, such as Audouin’s gulls. Interestingly, none of the tracked individuals colonised an empty patch despite having prospected over a period of up to three consecutive years. Lack of public information in empty patches may drive extended prospecting, long time delays in colonisation and non-linear transient phenomena in metapopulation dynamics and species range expansion.

Florivory by the occupants of phytotelmata in flower parts can decrease host plant fecundity

Some types of plant accumulate liquid in their inflorescences creating phytotelmata. These environments protect the flowers against florivory, although they may be colonized by aquatic or semi-aquatic florivorous insect larvae, whose effects on the fitness of the plants remain unclear. We tested the hypothesis of floral antagonism by the occupants of phytotelmata, which predicts that florivory by the occupants of the phytotelmata represents a cost to the female fitness of the plant, reducing its fecundity. We manipulated experimentally the infestation by three florivores larvae species occupants of phytotelmata in inflorescences of Heliconia spathocircinata (Heliconiaceae) to test for negative direct trophic effects on the fecundity of the flowering and fruiting bracts. We found that the foraging of the hoverfly (Syrphidae) and moth (Lepidoptera) larvae in the inflorescences contributed to a decline in the fecundity of the plant. While the lepidopteran impacted fecundity when foraging in both flowering and fruiting bracts, the syrphid only affected the fruiting bracts, which indicates that the nectar and floral tissue are the principal resource exploited by the hoverfly. By contrast, soldier fly (Stratiomyidae) had a neutral effect on fecundity, while foraging in flowering or fruiting bracts. These findings corroborate our hypothesis, that herbivory by the larval occupants represents cost to the host plant having phytotelmata. The negative influence of this foraging on plant fecundity will nevertheless depend on the consequences of the exploitation of resources, which vary considerably in ephemeral habitats such as the phytotalmanta of flower parts.

Nothobranchius annual killifishes

Annual fishes of the genus Nothobranchius inhabit ephemeral habitats in Eastern and Southeastern Africa. Their life cycle is characterized by very rapid maturation, a posthatch lifespan of a few weeks to months and embryonic diapause to survive the dry season. The species N. furzeri holds the record of the fastest-maturing vertebrate and of the vertebrate with the shortest captive lifespan and is emerging as model organism in biomedical research, evolutionary biology, and developmental biology. Extensive characterization of age-related phenotypes in the laboratory and of ecology, distribution, and demography in the wild are available. Species/populations from habitats differing in precipitation intensity show parallel evolution of lifespan and age-related traits that conform to the classical theories on aging. Genome sequencing and the establishment of CRISPR/Cas9 techniques made this species particularly attractive to investigate the effects genetic and non-genetic intervention on lifespan and aging-related phenotypes. At the same time, annual fishes are a very interesting subject for comparative approaches, including genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. The N. furzeri community is highly diverse and rapidly expanding and organizes a biannual meeting.

The recent non-marine ostracods of Tunisia: an updated checklist with remarks on their regional distribution patterns and ecological preferences

Different lines of investigation have recently contributed to increasing the available knowledge about the invertebrates inhabiting inland waters of north Africa, but a comprehensive synopsis on Tunisian Ostracoda is missing to date. An updated checklist of Recent non-marine ostracods from Tunisia and data on their distribution is thus offered here, representing the most extensive survey on this crustacean group ever carried out in inland waters throughout the country. One-hundred-five sites covering various climate zones, from Mediterranean to desert areas, were sampled between 2002 and 2012. Most of the considered water bodies were temporary or ephemeral habitats, but a few permanent sites were sampled as well. Overall, 18 genera and 32 taxa of putative species rank were collected in the frame of this survey, among which nine species and five genera were new to Tunisian fauna. As a result of this study and based on previous investigations, nine families (Candonidae, Cyprididae, Cytherideidae, Darwinulidae, Ilyocyprididae, Leptocytheridae, Limnocytheridae, Loxoconchidae, Paradoxostomatidae), 29 genera and at least 45 species of non-marine ostracods are currently known for Tunisia, which thus prove to host the most diverse ostracod fauna among north African countries. The number of species occurring in a single sample varied from 1 to 4. The Eucypris virens complex was the most widespread taxon (58 records), followed by Heterocypris barbara (30 records), Heterocypris incongruens (22 records), and Sarscypridopsis aculeata (16 records). For some ostracod species, clear distributional gradients associated with different climatic conditions were observed. The affinities with adjacent Maghrebian ostracod faunas are discussed. This study confirms the crucial role played by marginal aquatic habitats for the conservation of biodiversity, in particular in arid and semi-arid regions.

Commensals of Nepenthes pitchers

Carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plants contain aquatic ecosystems within each fluid-filled pitcher. Communities of arthropods and microbes colonize pitcher pools, and some organisms are endemic to the pitcher habitat. Flies and mites are the most apparent colonizers, and together with numerous protists, fungi, and bacteria, they form a food web of predators, decomposers, and primary producers. Bacterial diversity and composition are correlated strongly with fluid pH. Closely related organisms co-occur within pitchers, suggesting that competition is not the primary structuring force of pitcher communities. Pitchers are ephemeral habitats when compared with surrounding soil, and the former communities have fewer organisms and are less predictable than the latter. It is still unknown to what extent pitcher plants and their inhabitants influence one another’s fitness.

Streptocephalus sangoensis n. sp. (Anostraca, Streptocephalidae), a new large branchiopod species for southern Africa

Recent collections from the south-eastern Lowveld of Zimbabwe yielded an undescribed species of the freshwater branchiopod genus Streptocephalus. The species was formerly published as Streptocephalus cf. bidentatus by Brendonck & Riddoch (1997), indicating that more research was needed to prove its valid species status, distinct from S. bidentatus sensu stricto. The new species can be distinguished from S. bidentatus sensu stricto, mainly by its cercopods. The cercopods of S. bidentatus sensu stricto have spines in the distal third region of the furcal rami, while those of S. sangoensis n. sp. are setiferous up to the tips. All other morphological features are the same. The occurrence of the two species in syntopy further validates that they are different species. As with S. bidentatus sensu stricto, the new species S. sangoensis n. sp. was collected from ephemeral habitats. This region is a hotspot of large branchiopod diversity with a total of 16 known species occurring there.

The opportunistic feeding and reproduction strategies of the annual fish Cynopoecilus melanotaenia (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae) inhabiting ephemeral habitats on southern Brazil

Most Rivulidae fishes are popularly known as annual fishes which live in ephemeral environments such as pools, that obligatorily dry out seasonally causing the death of adult individuals. They have unique biological characteristics such as small body size, early sexual maturation, continuous reproduction, an elaborated courtship behavior, and a great reproductive capacity among fishes. The rivulids are widely distributed in North, Central and South America. In this study, the diet and reproductive biology of Cynopoecilus melanotaenia was analyzed. A total of 263 specimens were collected and the analysis of 233 gastrointestinal contents revealed an invertivorous diet composed mainly of small crustaceans (Cladocera, Amphipoda, and Ostracoda) and immature insects (Chaoboridae, Culicidae, Syrphidae, but mainly Chironomidae larvae). Lepidophagy on male's diet was also registered. Fecundity was estimated by analyzing 59 pairs of mature ovaries and ranged from 2 to 157 oocytes (mean, 19 ± 26[SD]). The species has fractional spawning, a strategy to increase the chance of survival to prolonged depletions. This study is the first to investigate the reproductive biology of C. melanotaenia. The results confirmed the opportunistic character of the rivulid C. melanotaenia and provided unreported reproductive information that may aid conservation of the species.