Genetic diversity and restoration of a recalcitrant clonal sedge (Tetraria capillaris Cyperaceae)

The genetic diversity of a clonal sedge (Tertraria capillaris) was assessed using isozyme analysis of 11 loci. Of 29 enzyme systems tested, eight were selected which gave interpretable bands with consistently good resolution. Though seedlings of the species are rarely observed in nature, isozyme analysis showed that for the study transects containing 100 sample plants, the majority of plants at the site were sexually rather than clonally derived. Young plants generated from embryos grown in vitro from excised seeds showed a high level of genetic diversity which could account for the genetic diversity measured in the parent population. In terms of restoration of the species, 85% of the assessed genetic diversity at the study site could be retained if 25 T. capillaris plants were taken at random. The study illustrates how genetic assessment coupled with tissue culture methods provides a feasible model for the recovery of most of the assessed local genetic diversity of a clonal species.     

Increase in body size is correlated to warmer winters in a passerine bird as inferred from time series data

Climate change is expected to affect natural populations in many ways. One way of getting an understanding of the effects of a changing climate is to analyze time series of natural populations. Therefore, we analyzed time series of 25 and 20 years, respectively, in two populations of the citril finch (Carduelis citrinella) to understand the background of a dramatic increase in wing length in this species over this period, ranging between 1.3 and 2.9 phenotypic standard deviations. We found that the increase in wing length is closely correlated to warmer winters and in one case to rain in relation to temperature in the summer. In order to understand the process of change, we implemented seven simulation models, ranging from two nonadaptive models (drift and sampling), and five adaptive models with selection and/or phenotypic plasticity involved and tested these models against the time series of males and females from the two population separately. The nonadaptive models were rejected in each case, but the results were mixed when it comes to the adaptive models. The difference in fit of the models was sometimes not significant indicating that the models were not different enough. In conclusion, the dramatic change in mean wing length can best be explained as an adaptive response to a changing climate.     

Interactions between rate processes with different timescales explain counterintuitive foraging patterns of arctic wintering eiders

To maximize fitness, animals must respond to a variety of processes that operate at different rates or timescales. Appropriate decisions could therefore involve complex interactions among these processes. For example, eiders wintering in the arctic sea ice must consider locomotion and physiology of diving for benthic invertebrates, digestive processing rate and a nonlinear decrease in profitability of diving as currents increase over the tidal cycle. Using a multi-scale dynamic modelling approach and continuous field observations of individuals, we demonstrate that the strategy that maximizes long-term energy gain involves resting during the most profitable foraging period (slack currents). These counterintuitive foraging patterns are an adaptive trade-off between multiple overlapping rate processes and cannot be explained by classical rate-maximizing optimization theory, which only considers a single timescale and predicts a constant rate of foraging. By reducing foraging and instead digesting during slack currents, eiders structure their activity in order to maximize long-term energetic gain over an entire tide cycle. This study reveals how counterintuitive patterns and a complex functional response can result from a simple trade-off among several overlapping rate processes, emphasizing the necessity of a multi-scale approach for understanding adaptive routines in the wild and evaluating mechanisms in ecological time series.     

Direct estimates of the selectivity of a multimesh and a series of single gillnets for brown trout

Hatchery brown trout Salmo trutta (1406) of length 5–20 cm were released into a 7.5 ha shallow lake. They were recaptured with 28 multimesh gillnets of a type proposed for use in the Nordic countries and 42 single gillnets of mesh size 8–22 mm (knot to knot). Corrected for the effect of different twine thicknesses, the single nets showed the highest selectivity for 16.5 mm and smaller meshes and the multimesh nets for the larger meshes. The height of the selectivity curves increased exponentially with mesh size, and most distinctly for the multimesh nets. Over a limited range of mesh sizes the selectivity of the two types of net did not differ much. Extended over mesh sizes 10.0–55.0 mm, the catching abilities of the two types of net became considerably different.     

Non-Mendelian Inheritance of Early Maturity in Euplotes crassus

ABSTRACT. This paper reports on a new phenomenon in the ciliated protists: cytoplasmically determined early sexual maturity. Stock MN1 of the marine hypotrich Euplotes crassus matures immediately after conjugation. We analyzed the respective contribuboas of the nucleus and the cytoplasm to the inheritance of this stable condition. A genetic marker, and new methods in E. crassus for cytoplasmic labeling, production of amicronucleates, and induction of selfing were used. Crosses within and among the early mature (EM) variants and late mature (LM) "wild type" lines were done in ovarious combinations. Descendants of EM conjugants continued to be EM, and descendants of LM continued to be LM, regardless of the different experimental approaches used. The results of the crosses clearly show that the clonally stable, variant EM phenotype is transmitted at conjugation in a non-Mendelian manner through the cytoplasmic lineage. The expression of the trait is independent of the micronuclear genome, but the precise site and nature of the hereditary basis is unknown.