Symbolic dynamics for identifying similarity between rhythms of ecological time series

Explaining the associations between animal populations or between population and environmental signals is an important challenge. The time series that quantify animal populations are often complex, nonlinear, noisy and non‐stationary. These characteristics may make it inappropriate to use traditional techniques when analysing these time series and their mutual dependencies. Here I propose to use symbolic dynamics and techniques from Information Theory to evaluate the degree of dynamic cohesion between time series fluctuations. The main idea is to check whether two (or more) signals tend to oscillate simultaneously, rising and falling together with the same rhythm. Based on synthetic and real time series, I demonstrate that this method is robust to the presence of noise and to the short length of the analysed time series and gives relevant information about the weak relationships between different series. Furthermore, this method appears as simple as classical cross‐correlation and outperforms it in the analysed examples.     

羌塘地区草食性野生动物的生态服务价值评估——以藏羚羊为例

随着羌塘草原野生动物种群规模的扩大,草食性野生动物与家畜争夺草场的矛盾愈来愈突出.生态补偿无疑是解决这一矛盾的重要途径之一,而进行野生动物的生态服务价值评估是建立生态补偿标准的基础.通过羌塘地区社会经济资源环境现状调查和人群支付意愿调查,并采用直接市场法和虚拟市场法,对西藏自治区羌塘地区草食性野生动物藏羚羊的生态经济价值进行了评估.把藏羚羊的生态经济价值分为利用价值包括商业价值、游憩娱乐价值、维持生物多样性的价值、教育美学价值和科学研究价值,以及非利用价值包括存在价值、遗产价值、选择价值两大类.对野生动物生态价值的评估结果表明,羌塘地区藏羚羊的生态服务价值高达7.51亿元/a.其中,藏羚羊的利用价值为6.35亿元/a,非利用价值为1.16亿元/a.也就是说,羌塘地区15万只藏羚羊每年产生的生态服务价值远高于羌塘自然保护区涉及的6个县域2007年的总产值4.79亿元.     

The ecological causes of individual specialisation

Many generalist populations are composed of specialised individuals, whose niches are small subsets of the population niche. This 'individual specialisation' is a widespread phenomenon in natural populations, but until recently few studies quantified the magnitude of individual specialisation and how this magnitude varies among populations or contexts. Such quantitative approaches are necessary for us to understand how ecological interactions influence the amount of among-individual variation, and how the amount of variation might affect ecological dynamics. Herein, we review recent studies of individual specialisation, emphasising the novel insights arising from quantitative measures of diet variation. Experimental and comparative studies have confirmed long-standing theoretical expectations that the magnitude of among-individual diet variation depends on the level of intra and interspecific competition, ecological opportunity and predation. In contrast, there is little empirical information as to how individual specialisation affects community dynamics. We discuss some emerging methodological issues as guidelines for researchers studying individual specialisation, and make specific recommendations regarding avenues for future research.     

Sex differences in behaviour as an indirect consequence of mating system

A considerable literature has been devoted to documenting differences between the sexes. However, relatively little attention has hitherto been directed towards those differences that arise as an indirect consequence of mating system even though they can have profound implications for the daily lives of the animals involved. In this review we focus on differences in the non-reproductive behaviour of fish and relate these to sexual dimorphism in size and morphology, and to variance in fitness between the sexes. In line with our expectation, differences in distributional ecology, schooling, aggression, predator avoidance and foraging are exaggerated in sexually dimorphic species and polygamous mating systems. Nonetheless, the behaviour of males and females may also differ in sexually monomorphic and monogamous species. We conclude by highlighting promising directions for further research.     

The change in phototactic behaviour of a Daphnia magna clone in the presence of fish kairomones: the effect of exposure time

Using a clone that responds to the presence of fishkairomones by a pronounced change in phototacticbehaviour, we determined how fast a change to morenegatively phototactic behaviour occurs in Daphnia magnaadults that are exposed to a highconcentration of fish kairomones. Kairomone exposedanimals showed an approximately linear decrease in thevalue of the phototactic index with time. Though theresponse was almost immediate, it took two hoursbefore the difference between fish-induced and controlanimals was significant. Extrapolation of the observedresponse indicates that a maximal change inphototactic behaviour, equivalent to animals that havebeen cultured in the presence of fish kairomones sincebirth, occurs after about 13 hours exposure. Weconclude that the predator-induced change in dielvertical migration of zooplankton is fast, and isfully developed in less than a day. The response timeto fish kairomones of Daphnia is shorter forphototactic behaviour than for life history traits,which may have important consequences with respect tothe evolution of trait-dependence in induced defenceresponses.     

Non-random foraging in certain bird pests of field crops

Two systems of bird-crop interactions were studied to explain the between- and the within-field variation in the foraging pattern of bird pests in agro-ecosystems. Weaverbirds and munias select rice fields with greater vegetation complexity and not based on the resource status. Within a selected area the concentration of feeding birds was greater close to vegetation cover and decreased non-linearly with increase in distance. Certain structural features and earhead characters of rice plants predisposed particular varieties for intense grain predation by birds. In the parakeet-sunflower system the extent of damage among plants within a field was closely linked to the foraging pattern of parakeets. The extent of achene predation by parakeets was influenced by certain structural features of sunflower plants and not the resource load of each plant. Selective feeding on sunflower plants was governed by the predator vigilance pattern; parakeets prefer to feed on plants that offered better field of vision. The results suggest that the observed pattern of foraging by bird pests in agro-ecosystems is non-random and is dependent on factors favouring predator avoidance behaviour and not on resource maximization.     

Neural signatures of evidence accumulation in temporal decisions

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固沙区时间尺度上生态健康状况分析

以干旱区沙坡头不同时间尺度上人工植被防护体系为研究对象,初步研究了在区域荒漠化的治理过程中,生态环境的演变对生态健康的影响。结果表明：土壤水分和土壤结皮是影响固沙区生态健康的主要因子,老固沙区的健康状况趋于衰退,而新固沙区在演变过程中逐渐达到一种健康稳定状态。这对今后如何对老固沙区进行生态恢复和人工建设、对新固沙区进行调节和维持,使其发挥最优防护效益具有重要的参考价值。     

The underground life of the oriental mole cricket: an analysis of burrow morphology

The underground life of the oriental mole cricket Gryllotalpa orientalis has been investigated by studying the structure of its burrows under different environmental situations and in different seasons. The different uses of different burrow types and their advantages and disadvantages have been examined. The total length, number of tunnels and combination of burrow types varied from a simple tunnel to a more complex one with branches at various angles to the surface, burrow types being divided roughly into shallow horizontal or deep vertical ones. In horizontal burrows, the branching structure was well developed in various directions. It is notable that the vertical burrows of G. orientalis were occupied by only one individual. Both vertical and horizontal burrows were used for foraging: vertical burrows for plants with subterranean stems and horizontal burrows for creeping plants. Vertical burrows were also used for hiding from predators, resting, moulting and overwintering, whereas horizontal burrows were used for escaping from predators and as mating routes. Egg chambers were constructed beside horizontal burrows, and calling burrows were constructed as part of horizontal burrows. Based on their current requirements, mole crickets continuously modify their burrow structures or change burrowing sites.     

The effects of flow on schooling Devario aequipinnatus: school structure,startle response and information transmission

To assess how flow affects school structure and threat detection, startle response rates of solitary and small groups of giant danio Devario aequipinnatus to visual looming stimuli were compared in flow and no‐flow conditions. The instantaneous position and heading of each D. aequipinnatus was extracted from high‐speed videos. Behavioural results indicate that (1) school structure is altered in flow such that D. aequipinnatus orient upstream while spanning out in a crosswise direction, (2) the probability of at least one D. aequipinnatus detecting the visual looming stimulus is higher in flow than no flow for both solitary D. aequipinnatus and groups of eight D. aequipinnatus; however, (3) the probability of three or more individuals responding is higher in no flow than in flow. These results indicate a higher probability of stimulus detection in flow but a higher probability of internal transmission of information in no flow. Finally, results were well predicted by a computational model of collective fright response that included the probability of direct detection (based on signal detection theory) and indirect detection (i.e. via interactions between group members) of threatening stimuli. This model provides a new theoretical framework for analysing the collective transfer of information among groups of fishes and other organisms.     

Hide, rest or die: a light-mediated diapause response in Daphnia magna to the threat of fish predation

1. In a laboratory batch culture experiment, a diapause response of Daphnia magna to a simulated threat of fish predation was tested at various light intensities, which under natural conditions determine potential vulnerability of Daphnia to visual planktivorous fish. 2. Under moderate light intensity (1.4 μmol m^?2 s^?1) that allows effective predation by fish, the proportion of females producing dormant eggs was significantly higher than under dim light conditions (0.001 μmol m^?2 s^?1) that are not favourable for visual detection of prey. Production of dormant eggs was not observed in complete darkness or in treatments missing fish kairomones, irrespective of tested light conditions. 3. The observed phenomenon is interpreted as a flexible response of prey to the conditional risk of predation assessed by Daphnia according to the presence of fish‐derived cues on the one hand and the presence of dark refugia on the other. Irrespective of the presence of fish kairomones, Daphnia may not produce resting eggs as long as a safe, dark, bottom zone is accessible.     

北京市消耗食物生态足迹距离

以北京市消耗食物生态足迹的距离为研究核心。结果表明2008年至2012年,北京的生态足迹距离、人均生态足迹和生态足迹总里程总体呈现逐年增长趋势:生态足迹距离增大到676.75 km,增长19.3%;人均生态足迹距离增加到18.42万km,增长54%;生态足迹总里程增加了1倍强,达到56亿t km。北京市的食物生态足迹距离不断扩大,并涵盖了全国大部分地区,北京城市化的生态成本上升。所消耗各类食物的生态足迹距离从大到小分别为水果类、蔬菜或粮油类、肉蛋类和水产类。蔬菜类和水果类的生态足迹距离存在明显的季节波动,且冬春季节远高于夏秋季节。从转移生态承载力来源地的视角,直线距离越远、占据市场份额越大的地区,对北京市消耗食物生态足迹距离的贡献率越高。     

Rapid evolution and the convergence of ecological and evolutionary time

Recent studies have documented rates of evolution of ecologically important phenotypes sufficiently fast that they have the potential to impact the outcome of ecological interactions while they are underway. Observations of this type go against accepted wisdom that ecological and evolutionary dynamics occur at very different time scales. While some authors have evaluated the rapidity of a measured evolutionary rate by comparing it to the overall distribution of measured evolutionary rates, we believe that ecologists are mainly interested in rapid evolution because of its potential to impinge on ecological processes. We therefore propose that rapid evolution be defined as a genetic change occurring rapidly enough to have a measurable impact on simultaneous ecological change. Using this definition we propose a framework for decomposing rates of ecological change into components driven by simultaneous evolutionary change and by change in a non‐evolutionary factor (e.g. density dependent population dynamics, abiotic environmental change). Evolution is judged to be rapid in this ecological context if its contribution to ecological change is large relative to the contribution of other factors. We provide a worked example of this approach based on a theoretical predator–prey interaction [ Abrams, P. & Matsuda, H. (1997) . Evolution, 51, 1740], and find that in this system the impact of prey evolution on predator per capita growth rate is 63% that of internal ecological dynamics. We then propose analytical methods for measuring these contributions in field situations, and apply them to two long‐term data sets for which suitable ecological and evolutionary data exist. For both data sets relatively high rates of evolutionary change have been found when measured as character change in standard deviations per generation (haldanes). For Darwin's finches evolving in response to fluctuating rainfall [ Grant, P.R. & Grant, B.R. (2002) . Science, 296, 707], we estimate that evolutionary change has been more rapid than ecological change by a factor of 2.2. For a population of freshwater copepods whose life history evolves in response to fluctuating fish predation [ Hairston, N.G. Jr & Dillon, T.A. (1990) . Evolution, 44, 1796], we find that evolutionary change has been about one quarter the rate of ecological change – less than in the finch example, but nevertheless substantial. These analyses support the view that in order to understand temporal dynamics in ecological processes it is critical to consider the extent to which the attributes of the system under investigation are simultaneously changing as a result of rapid evolution.     

The importance of the reinforcer as a time marker

Shifts in the psychometric function in the Free Operant Psychophysical Procedure (FOPP) have traditionally been explained by suggesting the pacemaker rate is proportional to the reinforcement rate (Behavioral Theory of Timing; BeT), or by direct associative competition between the two responses (Learning to Time; LeT). The application of these models assumes that the stimulus onset is the relevant time marker. Head-entries were reinforced in the second half of a stimulus (s1) and in the first half of a different stimulus (s2). During extinction, response times shifted earlier in s2 only, contrary to BeT. Competition between responses is an unlikely cause of the shift, contrary to LeT. We found a single-cycle correlation between the last food delivery and the time the rat stopped responding on s2. This correlation was also present in FOPP data. These results are consistent with the interpretation that the reinforcer, more than the stimulus onset, acted as the relevant time marker on this task.     

Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) exploiting patches: response to long-term changes in travel time

In this paper we explore the way foraging animals integrateexperience over time. The marginal value theorem shows thatto maximize long-term gain rate, foragers should adjust patchexploitation to theaverage travel time for the habitat, andmany experiments do find a positive relationship between averagepatch exploitation and average interpatch travel time. Thisrelationship implies that animals use experience to determineforaging tactics but, by itself, does not imply that anythingbut the most recent experience (say, the time taken to findthe current patch) has an effect on behavior. We directly testedthe influence of events before the most recently experiencedtravel by examining adjustments in foraging behavior after stepwisechanges between two homogeneous environments, each with a singletravel distance. Using starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in a closed-economylaboratory simulation of a patchy environment, we found thatduring periods of active foraging, the average number of preyper patch visit is in close agreement with that predicted forrate maximization. After changes in travel time, birds tookapproximately six full cycles of travel and patch use beforereaching a new asymptotic behavior. The pattern of adjustmentdid not vary with successive presentations of the environmentalchange. These results demonstrate that memory for more thanone travel episode is involved in the foraging decisions ofstarlings. We relate our results to apparently conflicting datafrom previous experiments and to models of memory and informationprocessing.     

Effects of germination time on seed morph ratio in a seed-dimorphic species and possible ecological significance

Background and Aims Diaspores of heteromorphic species may germinate at different times due to distinct dormancy-breaking and germination requirements, and this difference can influence life history traits. The primary aim of this study was to determine the effect of germination time of the two seed morphs of Suaeda corniculata subsp. mongolica on life history traits of the offspring.Methods Germinated brown and black seeds were sown on the 20th of each month from April to September in a simulated but near-natural habitat of the species. Phenological and vegetative traits of the maternal plants, and number, size and germination percentage of the offspring were determined.Key Results Germinated seeds sown late in the year produced smaller plants that had a higher proportion of non-dormant brown than dormant black seeds, and these brown seeds were larger than those produced by germinated seeds sown early in the year. The length of the seedling stage for brown seeds was shorter than that for black seeds, and the root/shoot ratio and reproductive allocation of plants from brown seeds were more variable than they were for plants from black seeds. Late-germinating brown seeds produced larger plants than late-germinating black seeds.Conclusions Altering the proportion of the two seed types in response to germination timing can help alleviate the adverse effects of delayed germination. The flexible strategy of a species, such as S. corniculata, that produces different proportions of dimorphic seeds in response to variation in germination timing may favour the maintenance and regeneration of the population in its unpredictable environment.     

Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) use social information as an indicator of safety in dangerous environments

Avoiding predation is one of the most important challenges that an animal faces. Several anti-predation behaviours can be employed, yet simply using the presence of conspecifics can be a good signal of safety in an environment with potential predation hazards. Here, we show, for the first time, that past experience of predation causes bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) to aggregate with conspecifics, facilitating the identification of safe foraging patches. Bees were trained to differentiate between flowers that harboured predators and flowers that were predator free. When test subjects were subsequently presented solely with the previously predator-infested flower species, there was a significant preference to only land on flowers occupied by other feeding conspecifics. Yet, when safe flowers were made available to subjects previously entrained to discriminate safe from predator-occupied flowers, subjects ignored other bees and the social information potentially provided by them, demonstrating that attraction towards conspecifics is confined to dangerous situations. Our findings demonstrate a previously unknown social interaction in pollinators which may have important implications for plant–pollinator interactions.     

An exploration of the relationship between recruitment communication and foraging in stingless bees

Social information is widely used in the animal kingdom and can be highly adaptive. In social insects, foragers can use social information to find food, avoid danger, or choose a new nest site. Copying others allows individuals to obtain information without having to sample the environment. When foragers communicate information they will often only advertise high-quality food sources, thereby filtering out less adaptive information. Stingless bees, a large pantropical group of highly eusocial bees, face intense inter- and intra-specific competition for limited resources, yet display disparate foraging strategies. Within the same environment there are species that communicate the location of food resources to nest-mates and species that do not. Our current understanding of why some species communicate foraging sites while others do not is limited. Studying freely foraging colonies of several co-existing stingless bee species in Brazil, we investigated if recruitment to specific food locations is linked to 1) the sugar content of forage, 2) the duration of foraging trips, and 3) the variation in activity of a colony from 1 day to another and the variation in activity in a species over a day. We found that, contrary to our expectations, species with recruitment communication did not return with higher quality forage than species that do not recruit nestmates. Furthermore, foragers from recruiting species did not have shorter foraging trip durations than those from weakly recruiting species. Given the intense inter- and intraspecific competition for resources in these environments, it may be that recruiting species favor food resources that can be monopolized by the colony rather than food sources that offer high-quality rewards.     

Behavioural responses of reptile predators to invasive cane toads in tropical Australia

The ecological impact of an invasive species can depend on the behavioural responses of native fauna to the invader. For example, the greatest risk posed by invasive cane toads (Rhinella marina Bufonidae) in tropical Australia is lethal poisoning of predators that attempt to eat a toad; and thus, a predator's response to a toad determines its vulnerability. We conducted standardized laboratory trials on recently captured (toad‐naïve) predatory snakes and lizards, in advance of the toad invasion front as it progressed through tropical Australia. Responses to a live edible‐sized toad differed strongly among squamate species. We recorded attacks (and hence, predator mortality) in scincid, agamid and varanid lizards, and in elapid, colubrid and pythonid snakes. Larger‐bodied predators were at greater risk, and some groups (elapid snakes and varanid lizards) were especially vulnerable. However, feeding responses differed among species within families and within genera. Some taxa (notably, many scincid and agamid lizards) do not attack toads; and many colubrid snakes either do not consume toads, or are physiologically resistant to the toad's toxins. Intraspecific variation in responses means that even in taxa that apparently are unaffected by toad invasion at the population level, some individual predators nonetheless may be fatally poisoned by invasive cane toads.