Natural hierarchy emerges from energy dispersal

Hierarchical organization of ‘systems within systems’ is an apparent characteristic of nature. For many biotic and abiotic systems it is known how the nested structural and functional order builds up, yet the general principle why matter evolves to hierarchies has remained unfamiliar to many. We clarify that increasingly larger integrated systems result from the quest to decrease free energy according to the 2nd law of thermodynamics. The argumentation is based on the recently derived equation of motion for natural processes. Hierarchically organized energy transduction machinery emerges naturally when it provides increased rates of energy dispersal. Likewise, a hierarchical system will dismantle into its constituents when they as independent systems will provide higher rates of entropy increase. Since energy flows via interactions, decreasing strengths of interactions over increasingly larges lengths scales mark natural boundaries for nested integrated systems.     

Continuum model of cell adhesion and migration

The motility of cells crawling on a substratum has its origin in a thin cell organ called lamella. We present a 2-dimensional continuum model for the lamella dynamics of a slowly migrating cell, such as a human keratinocyte. The central components of the model are the dynamics of a viscous cytoskeleton capable to produce contractile and swelling stresses, and the formation of adhesive bonds in the plasma cell membrane between the lamella cytoskeleton and adhesion sites at the substratum. We will demonstrate that a simple mechanistic model, neglecting the complicated signaling pathways and regulation processes of a living cell, is able to capture the most prominent aspects of the lamella dynamics, such as quasi-periodic protrusions and retractions of the moving tip, retrograde flow of the cytoskeleton and the related accumulation of focal adhesion complexes in the leading edge of a migrating cell. The developed modeling framework consists of a nonlinearly coupled system of hyperbolic, parabolic and ordinary differential equations for the various molecular concentrations, two elliptic equations for cytoskeleton velocity and hydrodynamic pressure in a highly viscous two-phase flow, with appropriate boundary conditions including equalities and inequalities at the moving boundary. In order to analyse this hybrid continuum model by numerical simulations for different biophysical scenarios, we use suitable finite element and finite volume schemes on a fixed triangulation in combination with an adaptive level set method describing the free boundary dynamics.     

Community stability under different correlation structures of species’ environmental responses

The outcome of species interactions in a variable environment is expected to depend on how similarly different species react to variation in environmental conditions. We study community stability (evenness and species diversity) in competitive communities that are either closed or subjected to random migration, under different regimes of environmental forcing. Community members respond to environmental variation: (i) independently (IR), (ii) in a positively correlated way (CR), or (iii) hierarchically, according to niche differences (HR). Increasing the amplitude of environmental variation and environmental reddening both reduce species evenness in closed communities through a reduction in species richness and increased skew in species abundances, under all three environmental response scenarios, although autocorrelation only has a minor effect with HR. Open communities show important qualitative differences, according to changes in the correlation structure of species’ environmental responses. There is an intermediate minimum in evenness for HR communities with increasing environmental amplitude, explained by the interaction of changes in species richness and changes in the variance of within-species environmental responses across the community. Changes in autocorrelation also lead to qualitative differences between IR, CR and HR communities. Our results highlight the importance of considering mechanistically derived, hierarchical environmental correlations between species when addressing the influence of environmental variation on ecological communities, not only uniform environmental correlation across all species within a community.     

Maternal investment in relation to sex ratio and offspring number in a small mammal – a case for Trivers and Willard theory?

1.  Optimal parental sex allocation depends on the balance between the costs of investing into sons vs. daughters and the benefits calculated as fitness returns. The outcome of this equation varies with the life history of the species, as well as the state of the individual and the quality of the environment.
2.  We studied maternal allocation and subsequent fecundity costs of bank voles, Myodes glareolus , by manipulating both the postnatal sex ratio (all-male/all-female litters) and the quality of rearing environment (through manipulation of litter size by −2/+2 pups) of their offspring in a laboratory setting.
3.  We found that mothers clearly biased their allocation to female rather than male offspring regardless of their own body condition. Male pups had a significantly lower growth rate than female pups, so that at weaning, males from enlarged litters were the smallest. Mothers produced more milk for female litters and also defended them more intensively than male offspring.
4.  The results agree with the predictions based on the bank vole life history: there will be selection for greater investment in daughters rather than sons, as a larger size seems to be more influencial for female reproductive success in this species. Our finding could be a general rule in highly polygynous, but weakly dimorphic small mammals where females are territorial.
5.  The results disagree with the narrow sense Trivers & Willard hypothesis, which states that in polygynous mammals that show higher variation in male than in female reproductive success, high-quality mothers are expected to invest more in sons than in daughters.     

Toxic and non-toxic Nodularia strains can be distinguished from each other and from eukaryotic algae with chlorophyll fluorescence fingerprinting

Chlorophyll fluorescence induction curves of toxic and non-toxic strains of the cyanobacterium Nodularia were measured and compared with fluorescence curves measured from four species of eukaryotic algae. Both cyanobacteria and algae were isolated from the Baltic Sea. The results show that Nodularia strains can be distinguished from the eukaryotes by applying a pattern recognition procedure to the fluorescence induction curves, suggesting that the fluorescence fingerprinting technique might be useful in environmental monitoring of marine algae. The six studied Nodularia strains could not be distinguished from each other from their fluorescence induction kinetics. However, their fluorescence curves fell into two clear categories, the toxic and the non-toxic Nodularia. Emission spectroscopy and differences in the fluorescence induction curves showed that the ratio of the intensity of the Photosystem I emission peak to the Photosystem II peak is higher in non-toxic Nodularia than in the toxic strains, suggesting that the toxicity affects the structure of the photosynthesis machinery. The effect on photosynthesis may be related to the ability of the microcystins to chelate iron.     

Climate change effects on migration phenology may mismatch brood parasitic cuckoos and their hosts

Phenological responses to climate change vary among taxa and across trophic levels. This can lead to a mismatch between the life cycles of ecologically interrelated populations (e.g. predators and prey), with negative consequences for population dynamics of some of the interacting species. Here we provide, to our knowledge, the first evidence that climate change might disrupt the association between the life cycles of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), a migratory brood parasitic bird, and its hosts. We investigated changes in timing of spring arrival of the cuckoo and its hosts throughout Europe over six decades, and found that short-distance, but not long-distance, migratory hosts have advanced their arrival more than the cuckoo. Hence, cuckoos may keep track of phenological changes of long-distance, but not short-distance migrant hosts, with potential consequences for breeding of both cuckoo and hosts. The mismatch to some of the important hosts may contribute to the decline of cuckoo populations and explain some of the observed local changes in parasitism rates of migratory hosts.     

Estimation of non-linear growth models by linearization: a simulation study using a Gompertz function

A method based on Taylor series expansion for estimation of location parameters and variance components of non-linear mixed effects models was considered. An attractive property of the method is the opportunity for an easily implemented algorithm. Estimation of non-linear mixed effects models can be done by common methods for linear mixed effects models, and thus existing programs can be used after small modifications. The applicability of this algorithm in animal breeding was studied with simulation using a Gompertz function growth model in pigs. Two growth data sets were analyzed: a full set containing observations from the entire growing period, and a truncated time trajectory set containing animals slaughtered prematurely, which is common in pig breeding. The results from the 50 simulation replicates with full data set indicate that the linearization approach was capable of estimating the original parameters satisfactorily. However, estimation of the parameters related to adult weight becomes unstable in the case of a truncated data set.     

Facultative and obligatory thermogenesis in young birds: a cautionary note

A brief overview on thermogenic mechanisms in young precocial birds is given. While shivering thermogenesis is well documented in these birds, evidence for a facultative non-shivering component of heat production, comparable to that found in the brown adipose tissue of mammals, is ambiguous. One reason for this is the confusion between thermoregulatory and obligatory thermogenesis. In particular, the existence of a thermogenic reaction, even a futile one, does not by itself constitute proof of true thermoregulatory non-shivering thermogenesis. More probably, such a reaction is another obligatory component of heat production. Heat increment of feeding and motor activity are classical examples of such mechanisms. Thermogenesis arising from such mechanisms can often be adaptively used by the thermoregulatory systems in young birds, as well as in adults.     

Co-Exposure with Fullerene May Strengthen Health Effects of Organic Industrial Chemicals

In vitro toxicological studies together with atomistic molecular dynamics simulations show that occupational co-exposure with C₆₀ fullerene may strengthen the health effects of organic industrial chemicals. The chemicals studied are acetophenone, benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, m-cresol, and toluene which can be used with fullerene as reagents or solvents in industrial processes. Potential co-exposure scenarios include a fullerene dust and organic chemical vapor, or a fullerene solution aerosolized in workplace air. Unfiltered and filtered mixtures of C₆₀ and organic chemicals represent different co-exposure scenarios in in vitro studies where acute cytotoxicity and immunotoxicity of C₆₀ and organic chemicals are tested together and alone by using human THP-1-derived macrophages. Statistically significant co-effects are observed for an unfiltered mixture of benzaldehyde and C₆₀ that is more cytotoxic than benzaldehyde alone, and for a filtered mixture of m-cresol and C₆₀ that is slightly less cytotoxic than m-cresol. Hydrophobicity of chemicals correlates with co-effects when secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and TNF-α is considered. Complementary atomistic molecular dynamics simulations reveal that C₆₀ co-aggregates with all chemicals in aqueous environment. Stable aggregates have a fullerene-rich core and a chemical-rich surface layer, and while essentially all C₆₀ molecules aggregate together, a portion of organic molecules remains in water.     

Behavioural responses of naive Arctic charr young to chemical cues from salmonid and non-salmonid fish

The ability to distinguish among chemical cues from multiple predators is of key adaptive value for many prey fish. We examined the attractiveness and repulsiveness of chemical stimuli from different coexisting fish species fed on different diets on the behaviour of hatchery reared Arctic charr young in a Y-maze fluviarum, where the charr could choose between two sides either with control water or stimulus water with fish odour. We used stimuli from (1) matching sized conspecifics, large (2) Arctic charr, (3) salmon, (4) brown trout and (5) brown trout fed on Arctic charr fry. Other salmonids were given pellet food. Additional fish odour treatments included piscivorous (6) pike and (7) burbot. In the control trials both sides received control water. Arctic charr young were expected to respond adaptively to the stimuli from coexisting piscivorous fish. The charr most strongly preferred water with the odour of their matching sized conspecifics, which was the only fish odour they were familiar with before the experiments. They also showed significant preference for other salmonid odours, even though these fish are potential predators on small charr. Chemical stimuli from pike and burbot, on the contrary, were strongly avoided, and burbot odour even prevented the charr to swim and enter the lateral halves of the fluviarum. Moreover, odour from brown trout fed on Arctic charr fry was avoided when compared to stimuli from trout fed on pellets. Although the Arctic charr young were completely naive regarding piscivores, the fact that they could distinguish between different predator taxa and diets on the basis of chemical cues only reflects the long coevolutionary history of these fish populations.