Biopedturbation by an island ecosystem engineer: Burrowing volumes and litter deposition by sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus)

Abstract

Seabirds can influence entire island ecosystems through the effects of their burrowing and of their underground deposition of vegetation on biotic and abiotic island processes. This study quantifies the extent of these effects at three sooty shearwater breeding islands in southern New Zealand, with the aim of assessing the importance of this species as an ecosystem engineer. Mean burrow volumes ranged between 158.2 and 528.1 m³ ha^–1. Between 18 and 34% of the ground surface was undermined by burrow space on the three islands. This extent of burrowing is comparable to that of fossorial mammals, widely recognised as ecosystem engineers. Mean vegetation inputs (dry weight), transported underground by birds and incorporated into nests, varied between 33 and 96 g m^‐2 The implications of the biopedturbation caused by sooty shearwater burrowing to the extent measured in this study may be profound for some ecosystem processes, and certainly warrants further research.     

An association between ADH protein levels and polymorphic nucleotide variation in the Adh gene of Drosophila melanogaster.

Southern analysis of the Adh region of 212 Drosophila melanogaster lines collected from the Tahbilk winery revealed linkage disequilibrium between a 37-bp insertion [designated delta 2 by Kreitman (1983)] and the fast electrophoretic variant of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH-F). Among these lines 34% contained the insert and encoded ADH-F, 33.5% encoded ADH-F and did not have the insert, and 32.5% encoded the slow electrophoretic variant of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH-S). Strong linkage association between this insert and ADH-F is evident worldwide. Twenty-nine of the second chromosome lines were characterized for ADH protein quantity by using radial immunodiffusion. ADH quantity was estimated in both larvae and adult males raised in the presence and absence of alcohol supplement to each of two different food media. Analyses of variance indicated higher levels of ADH protein in larvae from lines with the insert (all ADH-F), compared with those without (both ADH-F and ADH-S), independent of either dietary alcohol or media type. No such difference in ADH quantity between insert- and noninsert-containing ADH-F lines was detected in adults, although the expected higher levels occurred in ADH-F lines compared with ADH-S lines. Given the high levels of linkage disequilibrium in the Adh region, these data suggest that either polymorphic nucleotide-site variants positively associated with delta 2 on the second chromosome or delta 2 itself increases larval levels of ADH protein.     

Torpor in dark times: patterns of heterothermy are associated with the lunar cycle in a nocturnal bird

Many studies have shown that endotherms become more heterothermic when the costs of thermoregulation are high and/or when limited energy availability constrains thermoregulatory capacity. However, the roles of many ecological variables, including constraints on foraging opportunities and/or success, remain largely unknown. To test the prediction that thermoregulatory patterns should be related to foraging opportunities in a heterothermic endotherm, we examined the relationship between the lunar cycle and heterothermy in Freckled Nightjars (Caprimulgus tristigma), which are visually orienting, nocturnal insectivores that are dependent on ambient light to forage. This model system provides an opportunity to assess whether variation in foraging opportunities influences the expression of heterothermy. The nightjars were active and foraged for insects when moonlight was available but became inactive and heterothermic in the absence of moonlight. Lunar illumination was a much stronger predictor of the magnitude of heterothermic responses than was air temperature (T(a)). Our data suggest that heterothermy was strongly related to variation in foraging opportunities associated with the lunar cycle, even though food abundance appeared to remain relatively high throughout the study period. Patterns of thermoregulation in this population of Freckled Nightjars provide novel insights into the environmental and ecological determinants of heterothermy, with the lunar cycle, and not T(a), being the strongest predictor of torpor use.     

An integrative study of a meromictic lake ecosystem in Antarctica

In nature, the complexity and structure of microbial communities varies widely, ranging from a few species to thousands of species, and from highly structured to highly unstructured communities. Here, we describe the identity and functional capacity of microbial populations within distinct layers of a pristine, marine-derived, meromictic (stratified) lake (Ace Lake) in Antarctica. Nine million open reading frames were analyzed, representing microbial samples taken from six depths of the lake size fractionated on sequential 3.0, 0.8 and 0.1 μm filters, and including metaproteome data from matching 0.1 μm filters. We determine how the interactions of members of this highly structured and moderately complex community define the biogeochemical fluxes throughout the entire lake. Our view is that the health of this delicate ecosystem is dictated by the effects of the polar light cycle on the dominant role of green sulfur bacteria in primary production and nutrient cycling, and the influence of viruses/phage and phage resistance on the cooperation between members of the microbial community right throughout the lake. To test our assertions, and develop a framework applicable to other microbially driven ecosystems, we developed a mathematical model that describes how cooperation within a microbial system is impacted by periodic fluctuations in environmental parameters on key populations of microorganisms. Our study reveals a mutualistic structure within the microbial community throughout the lake that has arisen as the result of mechanistic interactions between the physico-chemical parameters and the selection of individual members of the community. By exhaustively describing and modelling interactions in Ace Lake, we have developed an approach that may be applicable to learning how environmental perturbations affect the microbial dynamics in more complex aquatic systems.     

Adaptive thermoregulation in endotherms may alter responses to climate change

Climate change is one of the major issues facing natural populations and thus a focus of recent research has been to predict the responses of organisms to these changes. Models are becoming more complex and now commonly include physiological traits of the organisms of interest. However, endothermic species have received less attention than have ectotherms in these mechanistic models. Further, it is not clear whether responses of endotherms to climate change are modified by variation in thermoregulatory characteristics associated with phenotypic plasticity and/or adaptation to past selective pressures. Here, we review the empirical data on thermal adaptation and acclimatization in endotherms and discuss how those factors may be important in models of responses to climate change. We begin with a discussion of why thermoregulation and thermal sensitivity at high body temperatures should be co-adapted. Importantly, we show that there is, in fact, considerable variation in the ability of endotherms to tolerate high body temperatures and/or high environmental temperatures, but a better understanding of this variation will likely be critical for predicting responses to future climatic scenarios. Next, we discuss why variation in thermoregulatory characteristics should be considered when modeling the effects of climate change on heterothermic endotherms. Finally, we review some biophysical and biochemical factors that will limit adaptation and acclimation in endotherms. We consider both long-term, directional climate change and short-term (but increasingly common) anomalies in climate such as extreme heat waves and we suggest areas of important future research relating to both our basic understanding of endothermic thermoregulation and the responses of endotherms to climate change.     

Serum netrin and VCAM-1 as biomarker for Egyptian patients with type IΙ diabetes mellitus

ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the serum level of netrin and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-I) in patients with type IΙ diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and evaluate the association of their levels with the development of a diabetic complication.Patients and methodsThis study was carried out on type II diabetic patients with and without complications and healthy individuals served as controls. All subjects were submitted to the estimation of serum lipid profile, serum creatinine, urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR), fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), visceral adiposity index (VAI), atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), lipid accumulation product (LAP) and detection of serum level of netrin1 and VCAM1.ResultsDiabetic patients with complications had significantly higher serum levels of creatinine, ACR, cholesterol, Triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein, netrin1, and VCAM1 than diabetic patients without complications. Likewise, the level of VAI and LAP as markers of excessive body fat were significantly higher in diabetic patients with complications than diabetic patients without complications. The netrin1 and VCAM1 were a significant discriminator of T2DM renal complications with a sensitivity of 96%, 90%, and specificity of 82.7%, 91.3% respectively.ConclusionIt can be concluded that serum netrin1 and VCAM1 correlated significantly with markers of excessive body fat, a renal complication in the patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus.     

An independent non-linear latitudinal cline for the sn-glycerol-3-phosphate (alpha- Gpdh ) polymorphism of Drosophila melanogaster from eastern Australia

Latitudinal variation of the polymorphic sn-glycerol-3-phosphate (alpha-Gpdh) locus in Drosophila melanogaster has been characterized on several continents; however, apparent clinal patterns are potentially confounded by linkage with an inversion, close associations with other genetic markers that vary clinally, and a tandem alpha-Gpdh pseudogene. Here we compare clinal patterns in alpha-Gpdh with those of other linked markers by testing field flies from eastern Australian locations collected in two separate years. The alpha-Gpdh variation exhibited a consistent non-linear cline reflecting an increase in the alpha-GpdhF allele at extreme latitudes. This pattern was not influenced by the In(2L)t inversion wherein this locus is located, nor was it influenced by the presence of the alpha-Gpdh pseudogene, whose presence was ubiquitous and highly variable among populations. The alpha-Gpdh pattern was also independent of a cline in allozyme frequencies at the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) locus, and two length polymorphisms in the Adh gene. These results suggest clinal selection at the alpha-Gpdh locus that is partially or wholly unrelated to linear climatic gradients along the eastern coast of Australia.