Urban gulls adapt foraging schedule to human‐activity patterns

Numerous animals are able to adapt to temporal patterns in natural food availability, but whether species living in relatively novel environments such as cities can adapt to anthropogenic activity cycles is less well understood. We aimed to assess the extent to which urban gulls have adapted their foraging schedule to anthropogenic food source fluctuations related to human activity by combining field observations at three distinct urban feeding grounds (park, school and waste centre) with global positioning system (GPS) tracking data of gulls visiting similar types of feeding grounds throughout the same city. We found that the birds' foraging patterns closely matched the timing of school breaks and the opening and closing times of the waste centre, but gull activity in the park appeared to correspond to the availability of natural food sources. Overall, this suggests that gulls may have the behavioural flexibility to adapt their foraging behaviour to human time schedules when beneficial and that this trait could potentially enable them to thrive in cities.     

Fixed-point observation of Oncomelania nosophora in Kofu Basin--establishment of monitoring system of schistosomiasis japonica in Japan

There are still many Oncomelania snails that inhabit the Kofu Basin, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, which had been declared free of schistosomiasis japonica. Due to the need to monitor the situation, a fixed-point observation system using GIS from GPS is being examined. In addition, in broad present or former endemic areas, survey areas are being managed by remote sensing with satellite images or aerial photographs. A simple and effective monitoring method by mobile GIS using PDAs was developed, risk or hazard maps were prepared and a system that would enable a response in the event of reemergence is being examined.     

The ranging patterns of elephants in Marsabit protected area,Kenya: the use of satellite‐linked GPS collars

We investigated the ranging patterns of elephants in the Marsabit protected area, north eastern Kenya, to ascertain the range of bachelor and female family herds in different seasons, and to identify corridor and noncorridor areas. Data were acquired for five bachelor and four female family herds equipped with satellite‐linked geographical positioning system collars, and monitored from December 2005 to December 2007. Distinct dry (about 260 km²) and wet seasons (about 910 km²) ranges were observed, with connecting corridors (north‐eastern corridor: about 90 km long, about 2‐7 km wide; southern corridors: about 10‐20 km long, about 2‐3 km wide). The dry season range corresponded with Marsabit evergreen forest, while the wet season range matched with dry deciduous lowland shrubs. The ranging elephants moved at speed of about 0.2‐20 kmh^?1. Bachelor herds moved faster than female family herds. Elephants moved fast during the intermediate and wet seasons than during the dry season. The speed of ranging elephants was over 1 kmh^?1 in the corridor areas and about 0.2 to less than 1 kmh^?1 in the non‐corridor areas. Expansion of settlements towards corridor areas needs to be controlled to avoid future blocking of connectivity between wet and dry season elephant ranges.     

Measuring Daily Ranging Distances of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhinopithecus bieti</Emphasis> via a Global Positioning System Collar at Jinsichang,China: A Methodological Consideration

There are few data on the daily ranging distances of Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti). We fitted 1 adult male from a natural group at Jinsichang in China’s Yunnan Province with a global positioning system (GPS) collar and tracked him from December 2003 to October 2004 to estimate the daily ranging distances of the group. The total acquisition rate of the GPS collar was 82.2%, which indicates that one can use GPS collars to track the species efficiently in high-altitude, temperate, coniferous forest. We obtained group locations or fixes at 5 predetermined times during the day. The sleeping sites of the subjects are the key points to estimate the day range. We compared 2 measures of day range: the 2-point straight-line displacement and the multipoint cumulative daily ranging distance. Straight-line displacement between 2 consecutive mornings or 2 consecutive evenings can substitute for that between the morning sleeping site and the evening sleeping site. In general, the group does not move at night. The 2 measures of day range yielded different results. The multipoint cumulative daily ranging distance was the method of choice to measure their daily travel costs. The minimum required number of fixes per day was 3. Per statistical evidence, the number of full-day group follows per month influences the estimate of day range of the group and ≥10 d is required to obtain a reliable estimate; 5 d per month might not be enough. We dealt mainly with the methodologic aspects of day range calculations. We did not address functional aspects on the estimate of day range, viz. the influence of vegetation, food distribution patterns, climate change, seasonality, and the monkey group itself.     

Differences in worst-case scenarios calculated by fixed length and rolling average methods in professional soccer match-play

The aims of this study were to describe the worst-case scenarios (WCS) in professional soccer players calculated by fixed length and rolling average methods with regards to each playing position. This was done, firstly, by comparing total distance (TD covered in the WCS; secondly, by comparing high-speed running distance (HSRD); and thirdly, by comparing sprint distance (SPD). The study was conducted over a three-mesocycle competitive period. The WCS of three distance-related variables (TD, HSRD, SPD) in four time windows (1, 3, 5, 10 minutes) were calculated according to playing position (central defender; full-back; midfielder, wide midfielder, and forward) using fixed length and rolling average methods. A significant effect of the type of method used to calculate the WCS in TD (F_{(1, 142)} = 151.49, p < 0.001, ηp² = 0.52), HSRD (F_{(1, 138)} = 336.95, p < 0.001, ηp² = 0.71) and SPD (F_{(1, 138)} = 76.74, p < 0.001, ηp² = 0.36) was observed. In addition, there was a significant interaction between type of method and WCS duration in TD (F_{(1.36, 193.53)} = 41.95, p < 0.001, ηp² = 0.23), HSRD (F_{(2.28, 315.11)} = 21.77, p < 0.001, ηp² = 0.14) and SPD (F_{(2.59, 358.41)} = 6.93, p < 0.001, ηp² = 0.05). In conclusion, the use of fixed length methods of different durations significantly underestimated the WCS of TD, HSRD and SPD across the most common playing positions in professional soccer players. Therefore, the application of rolling averages is recommended for an appropriate WCS analysis in professional soccer match-play.     

Environmental and seasonal correlates of capercaillie movement traits in a Swedish wind farm

Animals continuously interact with their environment through behavioral decisions, rendering the appropriate choice of movement speed and directionality an important phenotypic trait. Anthropogenic activities may alter animal behavior, including movement. A detailed understanding of movement decisions is therefore of great relevance for science and conservation alike. The study of movement decisions in relation to environmental and seasonal cues requires continuous observation of movement behavior, recently made possible by high‐resolution telemetry. We studied movement traits of 13 capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), a mainly ground‐moving forest bird species of conservation interest, over two summer seasons in a Swedish windfarm using high‐resolution GPS tracking data (5‐min sampling interval). We filtered and removed unreliable movement steps using accelerometer data and step characteristics. We explored variation in movement speed and directionality in relation to environmental and seasonal covariates using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs). We found evidence for clear daily and seasonal variation in speed and directionality of movement that reflected behavioral adjustments to biological and environmental seasonality. Capercaillie moved slower when more turbines were visible and faster close to turbine access roads. Movement speed and directionality were highest on open bogs, lowest on recent clear‐cuts (<5 y.o.), and intermediate in all types of forest. Our results provide novel insights into the seasonal and environmental correlates of capercaillie movement patterns and supplement previous behavioral observations on lekking behavior and wind turbine avoidance with a more mechanistic understanding.     

Reversible thrombin-induced modification of positional distribution of fatty acids in platelet phospholipids: Involvement of deacylation-reacylation

The positional distribution of fatty acids in phospholipids was analyzed for human platelet activated by thrombin. At 30 sec after thrombin-activation, when the content of phosphatidylinositol(PI) fell transiently, the 2-position of PI underwent a significant decrease in arachidonate (77.6% → 61.5%) with a compensating increase in oleate and stearate. However, accompanying PI resynthesis, its positional distribution tended to revert to that of non-activated platelets. There was no significant change in the fatty acyl positioning in other phospholipids. In addition, evidence is presented that human platelet lysates acylate 1-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylinositol and the acylation rate for arachidonate was 2.5 times higher than for any other unsaturated fatty acids tested. These data indicate that the thrombin-induced alteration in fatty acid pairing of PI is ameliorated by the deacylation-reacylation follwing PI resynthesis.     

Discriminating grey wolf kill sites using GPS clusters

Characteristics of spatio-temporal clusters of locations from global positioning system (GPS)-collars have been used to distinguish kill sites of various predators. We deployed GPS collars on 9 grey wolves (Canis lupus) in the southwest area of Prince Albert National Park in central Saskatchewan, Canada, and used a GPS location clustering algorithm to identify kill sites of ungulate and other large-bodied prey during winter, December 2013–March 2017. We used logistic regression in a model-selection framework to determine if spatio-temporal and habitat characteristics of grey wolf GPS clusters could be used to reliably identify sites where wolves had killed prey. Global positioning system clusters were more likely to be wolf kill sites when they had a higher number of location fixes, did not begin within 300 m and 30 days of a previous cluster, did not begin within 1 km and 4 days of a previous cluster, began in the evening, had a high percentage of fixes occurring during the day, occurred farther from open habitat, and had both a high number of location fixes and a high percentage of fixes occurring during the day. Our results highlight the limits of using spatio-temporal clusters with a fix rate of 1/hour to discriminate wolf kill sites in systems dominated by deer (Odocoileus spp.) because of the associated short handling time with these prey.     

Remarkable similarities between the hemichordate (Saccoglossus kowalevskii) and vertebrate GPCR repertoire

Saccoglossus kowalevskii (the acorn worm) is a hemichordate belonging to the superphylum of deuterostome bilateral animals. Hemichordates are sister group to echinoderms, and closely related to chordates. S. kowalevskii has chordate like morphological traits and serves as an important model organism, helping developmental biologists to understand the evolution of the central nervous system (CNS). Despite being such an important model organism, the signalling system repertoire of the largest family of integral transmembrane receptor proteins, G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is largely unknown in S. kowalevskii. Here, we identified 260 unique GPCRs and classified as many as 257 of them into five main mammalian GPCR families; Glutamate (23), Rhodopsin (212), Adhesion (18), Frizzled (3) and Secretin (1). Despite having a diffuse nervous system, the acorn worm contains well conserved orthologues for human Adhesion and Glutamate family members, with a similar N-terminal domain architecture. This is particularly true for genes involved in CNS development and regulation in vertebrates. The average sequence identity between the GPCR orthologues in human and S. kowalevskii is around 47%, and this is same as observed in couple of the closest vertebrate relatives, Ciona intestinalis (41%) and Branchiostoma floridae (~ 47%). The Rhodopsin family has fewer members than vertebrates and lacks clear homologues for 6 of the 13 subgroups, including olfactory, chemokine, prostaglandin, purine, melanocyte concentrating hormone receptors and MAS-related receptors. However, the peptide and somatostatin binding receptors have expanded locally in the acorn worm. Overall, this study is the first large scale analysis of a major signalling gene superfamily in the hemichordate lineage. The establishment of orthologue relationships with genes involved in neurotransmission and development of the CNS in vertebrates provides a foundation for understanding the evolution of signal transduction and allows for further investigation of the hemichordate neurobiology.