The Landscape as a Semiotic Interface between Organisms and Resources

Despite an impressive number of investigations and indirect evidence, the mechanisms that link patterns and processes across the landscape remain a debated point. A new definition of landscape as a semiotic interface between resources and organisms opens up a new perspective to a better understanding of such mechanisms. If the landscape is considered a source of signals converted by animal cognition into signs, it follows that spatial configurations, extension, shape and contagion are not only landscape patterns but categories of identifiable signals. The eco-field hypothesis, by which cognitive templates are used to identify spatial configurations as carriers of meaning according to an active function, are combined with the sign theory to create an eco-semiotic model of landscape representation. Signs from landscape change in efficacy according to mechanisms of degradation, and metric sign categories have to be considered. An interdisciplinary coalescence is expected by using the theoretical approach in different fields of conservation and resource management and planning.     

Egg Cannibalism in a Facultative Polygynous Ant: Conflict for Reproduction or Strategy to Survive?

Policing, i.e. all behaviours that prevent a nestmate from reproducing, is currently observed in social insects. It is presumed to have evolved to regulate potential conflicts generated by genetic asymmetries or to enhance colony efficiency by avoiding surplus reproductives and brood. In the ant, Ectatomma tuberculatum, individual queen fecundity was similar in monogynous and polygynous colonies issued from a Mexican population. Egg cannibalism, however, occurred in the polygynous colonies. The stealing and destruction of reproductive queen‐laid eggs involved only nestmate queens, even if they were highly related. No queen appeared to monopolize reproduction in the polygynous colonies. But, the observed value of relatedness among workers differed from the expected value, suggesting an unequal sharing of reproduction between queens. We discussed whether the cannibalism of queen‐laid eggs in E. tuberculatum results from a competition for reproduction among queens or if this phenomenon is related to constraints on nutritional resources.     

A Chicken's Egg as a Reaction Vessel to Explore Biomineralization

Natural composites, formed through biomineralization, have highly ordered structures which have been aptly explored for functional applications. Though the role of organic phases has been well understood in biomineralization, not enough attention has been paid to the role of bio-membranes which are often found encapsulating the chamber in which mineralization occurs.We have used the natural protein and semi-permeable membrane of chicken eggs to grow different materials such as ceramics,semi-metals and metals to understand the role of bio-membranes in biomineralization. We here report the successful biomimetic synthesis of calcite, cadmium sulphide, and silver having homogeneous morphologies. We have found that the membrane operates like a tuned gateway, playing a significant role in controlling the morphology of the inorganic crystals formed during biomineralization.     

The Semiotic Body

Most bodies in this world do not have brains and the minority of animal species that do have brained bodies are descendents from species with more distributed or decentralized nervous systems. Thus, bodies were here first, and only relatively late in evolution did the bodies of a few species grow supplementary organs, brains, sophisticated enough to support a psychological life. Psychological life therefore from the beginning was embedded in and served as a tool for corporeal life. This paper discusses the semiotically controlled dynamics of bodily existence that has allowed the evolution of these seemingly ‘unnatural’ mental and even linguistic kinds of species. It is shown how the skin, on the one hand, makes us belong in the world, and on the other hand, is part of the huge landscape of membranes across which the semiotic self incessantly must be reconstituted. The discussion moves on to the intracellular world of signal transduction through which the activity of single cells are put to service for bodily needs. The paper further considers the mechanisms behind homeostasis and the semiotics of the psycho-neuro-endocrine integration in the body. The concept of semiotic emergence is introduced and a holistic marker hypothesis for why some animals may have an experiential life is suggested.

Biological Pedagogy as Concern for Semiotic Growth

Deweyan pedagogy seeks to promotes growth, characterized as an increased sensitivity, responsiveness, and ability to participate in an environment. Growth, Dewey says, is fostered by the development of habits that enable further habit formation. Unfortunately, humans have their own habitual ways of encountering other species, which often do not support growth. In this article, I briefly review some common conceptions of learning and the process of habit-formation to scope out the landscape of a more responsible and responsive approach to taking growth seriously. What emerges is a reflexive biosemiotics that has humans explicitly concerned with the in situ emergence of new signification in themselves and in other organisms. This requires we take a pedagogical stance in our attitudes and practices towards other species, which we can enrich with insights derived from re-interpreting traditional empirical studies. By freeing the habit-forming process from confining stereotype, a biological pedagogy can enable a more fluid and creative biosphere, unencumbered to explore unfolding possibilities in semiotic space.     

The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change as a Gateway Belief: Experimental Evidence

There is currently widespread public misunderstanding about the degree of scientific consensus on human-caused climate change, both in the US as well as internationally. Moreover, previous research has identified important associations between public perceptions of the scientific consensus, belief in climate change and support for climate policy. This paper extends this line of research by advancing and providing experimental evidence for a “gateway belief model” (GBM). Using national data (N = 1104) from a consensus-message experiment, we find that increasing public perceptions of the scientific consensus is significantly and causally associated with an increase in the belief that climate change is happening, human-caused and a worrisome threat. In turn, changes in these key beliefs are predictive of increased support for public action. In short, we find that perceived scientific agreement is an important gateway belief, ultimately influencing public responses to climate change.     

Reproduction in Risky Environments: The Role of Invasive Egg Predators in Ladybird Laying Strategies

Reproductive environments are variable and the resources available for reproduction are finite. If reliable cues about the environment exist, mothers can alter offspring phenotype in a way that increases both offspring and maternal fitness (‘anticipatory maternal effects’—AMEs). Strategic use of AMEs is likely to be important in chemically defended species, where the risk of offspring predation may be modulated by maternal investment in offspring toxin level, albeit at some cost to mothers. Whether mothers adjust offspring toxin levels in response to variation in predation risk is, however, unknown, but is likely to be important when assessing the response of chemically defended species to the recent and pervasive changes in the global predator landscape, driven by the spread of invasive species. Using the chemically defended two-spot ladybird, Adalia bipunctata, we investigated reproductive investment, including egg toxin level, under conditions that varied in the degree of simulated offspring predation risk from larval harlequin ladybirds, Harmonia axyridis. H. axyridis is a highly voracious alien invasive species in the UK and a significant intraguild predator of A. bipunctata. Females laid fewer, larger egg clusters, under conditions of simulated predation risk (P+) than when predator cues were absent (P-), but there was no difference in toxin level between the two treatments. Among P- females, when mean cluster size increased there were concomitant increases in both the mass and toxin concentration of eggs, however when P+ females increased cluster size there was no corresponding increase in egg toxin level. We conclude that, in the face of offspring predation risk, females either withheld toxins or were physiologically constrained, leading to a trade-off between cluster size and egg toxin level. Our results provide the first demonstration that the risk of offspring predation by a novel invasive predator can influence maternal investment in toxins within their offspring.     

A Chicken＇s Egg as a Reaction Vessel to Explore Biomineralization

Natural composites, formed through biomineralization, have highly ordered structures which have been aptly explored for functional applications. Though the role of organic phases has been well understood in biomineralization, not enough attention has been paid to the role of bio-membranes which are often found encapsulating the chamber in which mineralization occurs. We have used the natural protein and semi-permeable membrane of chicken eggs to grow different materials such as ceramics, semi-metals and metals to understand the role of bio-membranes in biomineralization. We here report the successful biomimetic synthesis of calcite, cadmium sulphide, and silver having homogeneous morphologies. We have found that the membrane operates like a tuned gateway, playing a significant role in controlling the morphology of the inorganic crystals formed during biomineralization.     

From Gateway to MultiSite Gateway in one recombination event

Background  

Invitrogen Gateway technology exploits the integrase/att site-specific recombination system for directional cloning of PCR products and the subsequent subcloning into destination vectors. One or three DNA segments can be cloned using Gateway or MultiSite Gateway respectively. A vast number of single-site Gateway destination vectors have been created while MultiSite Gateway is limited to few destination vectors and therefore to few applications. The aim of this work was to make the MultiSite Gateway technology available for multiple biological purposes.     

Facultative Second Oviposition as an Adaptation to Egg Loss in a Semelparous Crab Spider

Semelparity is prevalent in arthropod species that exhibit maternal care. Previous hypotheses postulated that long‐term maternal care constrains future reproduction in females, leading to the evolution of semelparity. Nevertheless, females may occasionally lose all or part of their offspring because of predation or other causes. Where females lose the first egg mass for any reason, the potential for females to produce an additional egg mass could be adaptive. This potential may be found widely among semelparous arthropods as a conditional strategy. We tested this hypothesis using the crab spider Lysiteles coronatus whose females guard their egg mass against predators. L. coronatus females did not consume food during the 40‐d guarding period; this resulted in a 30.2% loss in their weight. When the females were separated from their eggs immediately after oviposition and were provided with food, they resumed feeding and their ovaries redeveloped. Dissection of guarding females indicated that their ovaries developed temporarily during egg guarding and that the developed ovaries were subsequently reabsorbed. These results suggest that the females maintain the potential to produce a second egg mass in case of egg loss, but that this potential declines towards the end of the guarding period. Field observations showed that a small fraction of the females oviposited in late July, when most females had completed egg guarding. The size of the late broods was similar to the oocyte numbers that we found in the females fed in the laboratory. This result suggests that a few females produced a second egg mass after they had lost the first one. Thus, we suggest that facultative second oviposition in L. coronatus females has evolved as an adaptation to egg loss, and that the development of ovaries during the guarding period is intrinsically programmed for compensatory oviposition.     

Fingerspelling as a Novel Gateway into Reading Fluency in Deaf Bilinguals

Studies have shown that American Sign Language (ASL) fluency has a positive impact on deaf individuals’ English reading, but the cognitive and cross-linguistic mechanisms permitting the mapping of a visual-manual language onto a sound-based language have yet to be elucidated. Fingerspelling, which represents English orthography with 26 distinct hand configurations, is an integral part of ASL and has been suggested to provide deaf bilinguals with important cross-linguistic links between sign language and orthography. Using a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, this study examined the relationship of age of ASL exposure, ASL fluency, and fingerspelling skill on reading fluency in deaf college-age bilinguals. After controlling for ASL fluency, fingerspelling skill significantly predicted reading fluency, revealing for the first-time that fingerspelling, above and beyond ASL skills, contributes to reading fluency in deaf bilinguals. We suggest that both fingerspelling—in the visual-manual modality—and reading—in the visual-orthographic modality—are mutually facilitating because they share common underlying cognitive capacities of word decoding accuracy and automaticity of word recognition. The findings provide support for the hypothesis that the development of English reading proficiency may be facilitated through strengthening of the relationship among fingerspelling, sign language, and orthographic decoding en route to reading mastery, and may also reveal optimal approaches for reading instruction for deaf and hard of hearing children.     

The Egg Cortex Problem as Seen Through the Squid Eye

In many spiralian embryos it has been possible to demonstratethat embryonic development is partially controlled by cytoplasmicfactors located at or in the surface of the fertilized egg andcleaving embryo. In the embryo of the squid Loligo pealei, apattern of developmental information can be demonstrated toexist at the surface, or the egg cortex, of the fertilized butuncleaved embryo. The informational pattern apparently is releasedor activated during the time of the cytoplasmic streaming whichforms the blastodisc. Eventually this developmental informationalpattern is imposed upon the blastoderm cells that come to coverorgan-specific regions of the yolk syncytium which was derivedfrom the egg cortex. Ultrastructural studies demonstrate manyintercellular connections between the yolk syncytium and theblastoderm and between the cells of the blastoderm itself. Duringoogenesis there are regional differences in the follicular syncytiumwhich suggests that the pattern of developmental informationmay arise in the ovary and be retained in a latent state untiltriggered by fertilization.     

Egg recognition: Its advantage to a butterfly

Ovipositing females of the pipevine swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor, detect the presence of eggs laid by other females on their host plants. The presence of eggs on a plant inhibits oviposition by a female that discovers it. The selection pressure responsible for the evolution and maintenance of discrimination against plants with eggs appears to be lower survival from egg to adult of eggs laid on plants already containing eggs than on plants without eggs.