Aims: To study the degree of diet overlap between both species, their space use on a local scale and their breeding phenologies.
Methods: We studied the breeding phenologies of the two species by standardized ringing activity. Spatial distribution was investigated by point counts. We determined diet composition from emetic samples and we collected invertebrates by standardized sweep-netting to estimate food availability.
Results: Diet and prey selection were similar among species. Conversely, spatial overlap was relatively small (<50%) and breeding phenologies were not synchronized. Both food availability and the overall abundance of the two species increased throughout the breeding season.
Conclusion: The two species are potential competitors for food and the observed differences in spatial and temporal niches may represent a way to lower competition for trophic resources: Moustached Warblers could reduce competition by breeding early, while Reed Warblers could avoid settling in areas occupied by the other species. 相似文献
Aim: We aimed to analyse and compare distribution and habitat preferences of Red-backed Shrikes and Barred Warblers breeding sympatrically in semi-natural landscape in a wetland/farmland mosaic.
Methods: We examined habitat availability and use by the two species within their breeding territories to identify differences in habitat selection.
Results: Territories of both species were similar in habitat composition and used levees, bushes, fallow areas and single trees. However, the spatial characteristics of the territories differed between species. Red-backed Shrikes used a wider range of sizes and shapes of habitat patches, whilst Barred Warblers preferred a more complex landscape structure and a higher diversity of habitat types. We also found that areas of 71% of Barred Warbler and 34% of Red-backed Shrike territories overlapped.
Conclusion: Whilst both species showed similar habitat choices, they appeared to differ significantly in terms of landscape structure: Red-backed Shrikes were more flexible and less selective than Barred Warblers in their habitat choice. 相似文献
Aims: To identify the probable breeding origins of Bluethroats wintering from Iberia to Senegal.
Methods: Bluethroat feathers (P1) were sampled from individuals at their wintering areas. These feathers were then analysed for stable H isotopes (δ2H). We assigned individual Bluethroats to approximate geographic origin using likelihood-based assignment procedures.
Results: We observed spatial segregation between different Bluethroat populations. At wintering sites north of the Sahara Desert, Bluethroats wintering to the west came from further west origins than those which overwintered to the east. Bluethroats from central-eastern Europe overwintered either within the circum-Mediterranean region or in Senegal. We found no clear evidence supporting a sub-Saharan wintering range for birds breeding in Iberia (Luscinia svecica azuricollis subspecies).
Conclusion: North of the Sahara Desert, we found what might be a parallel migration pattern. The apparent lack of Luscinia svecica namnetum Bluethroats in Senegal suggests to some extent some kind of leap-frog migration between some Luscinia svecica cyanecula populations and the L. s. namnetum subspecies. 相似文献
Aims: To compare the songs of two cryptic species of reed warblers. To compare Blyth’s Reed Warbler songs in different parts of the breeding range and on migration stopovers in central Asia. To investigate the status of Blyth’s Reed Warblers in central Asia.
Methods: We analysed song recordings of individual singing males and conducted field observations of singing behaviour at migration stopover and breeding sites. The status of Blyth’s Reed Warblers in central Asia was reviewed from the historical Russian literature and other sources.
Results: We found differences between six out of eight variables in songs of Large-billed and Blyth’s Reed Warblers on breeding sites. Blyth’s Reed Warbler songs recorded on migration stopovers showed differences in five variables from Large-billed Reed Warblers and in six variables from breeding Blyth’s Reed Warblers. On migration stopovers, Blyth’s Reed Warblers sang actively but did not stay more than 1–2 days. The evidence suggests that Blyth’s Reed Warbler does not breed in central Asia.
Conclusion: Songs of Large-billed and Blyth’s Reed Warblers could be distinguished by quantitative analysis. Blyth’s Reed Warblers used different modes of singing on breeding sites and migration stopovers. We believe vocalizations of Blyth’s Reed Warblers on migration to be plastic song. 相似文献
Aims: We tested the hypothesis that habitat used during spring stopovers in Spain differed from habitat use during the breeding period in Switzerland in a year of exceptional abundance as a result of persistent easterly winds in the Mediterranean.
Methods: Habitat use during spring migration 2015 was compared by using bootstrapping resampling techniques on citizen science data from Spain and Switzerland, comparing the land-cover categories between locations of observations with random pseudo-absences.
Results: Wood Warblers showed no preference for habitat features during migration and covered practically all available habitat types from urbanized areas to wetlands and forests, whereas in the breeding range birds showed an increasing tendency to be present in forest habitats.
Conclusions: Habitat use during spring migration covered most available habitat types from urbanized areas to wetlands and forests. Breeding habitat use was restricted to forested areas. Citizen science allowed a quick collection of biological data over a wide area to potentially identify large-scale biological patterns. This is essential to potentially manage international conservation efforts for declining species. 相似文献
Aims: Data on five tree species (Pinus taeda L., Pinus virginiana Mill., Liquidambar styraciflua L., Liriodendron tulipifera L., and Pinus palustris Mill.) were used to test the predictions from MST on the scaling of height–diameter and also diameter growth.
Methods: Data on tree height and diameter for five tree species from both natural forests and plantations were collected to study two types of scaling relationships: tree height–diameter and stem diameter growth. A reduced major axis of regression analysis model type II was used to determine scaling exponents from each species under different environmental conditions.
Results: No universal invariant scaling exponent was found in height–diameter and diameter growth for the five species. The scaling varied across natural forests, plantations and scales (e.g., time and number of measured trees). However, in some situations the scaling exponents failed to show significant difference with the predicted values (e.g., 2/3 or 1).
Conclusions: Diverse scaling exponents were observed for the five tree species with the scaling relationships varying with environmental settings. 相似文献
Objective: To asses the association of Guanine nucleotide-binding protein (GNB3) (C825T) gene's polymorphism with T2DM.
Materials and methods: A case–control study including 400 North Indians was performed using Polymerase Chain Reaction–Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) approach to analyze genetic polymorphism.
Results: No significant difference was observed in genotype and allele frequencies of GNB3 gene on comparing cases with controls.
Discussion: Our study is in agreement with studies on Polish, Japanese, Hispanic-American and Danish populations who observed no significant association between GNB3 (C825T) polymorphism and T2DM.
Conclusion: GNB3 (C825T) polymorphism is not associated with T2DM. 相似文献
Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the association between sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) – a source of oxidative stress – and CML.
Materials and methods: About 1002 participants in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) were studied.
Results: Women with SDB had significantly higher CML concentration compared with those without SDB (OR?=?1.63, 95%CI?=?1.03–2.58, p?=?0.04). The association was not significant among men.
Discussion: SDB was associated with CML concentration among elderly women but not men in the Cardiovascular Health Study.
Conclusion: Accumulation of CML may be an adverse health consequence of SDB 相似文献
Aims: To investigate the role of the interspecific interaction between Little Egrets and Eurasian Spoonbills in shaping the spatial distribution and feeding efficiency of Little Egrets.
Methods: Using count and behavioural data, we examined the co-occurrence of these species in flocks, and compared the foraging efficiency of Little Egrets feeding with Eurasian Spoonbills with that of solitary Little Egrets.
Results: We found that the presence of Eurasian Spoonbills doubled the chance of Little Egrets being present. Within mixed flocks, the number of Little Egrets increased with the number of Spoonbills. Moreover, Little Egrets foraging in association with Eurasian Spoonbills took fewer steps, had higher pecking rates and higher prey intake rates than solitary Little Egrets.
Conclusion: Little Egrets appear to obtain foraging efficiency benefits by following Eurasian Spoonbills. This interaction seems to play a role in determining the spatial distribution of Little Egrets. 相似文献
Objective: The study examined the early release kinetics of TnTuORF.
Materials and methods: We analyzed the time course of the release of cardiac troponins I and T and TnTuORF in patients (n?=?31) with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy undergoing transcoronary ablation of septal hypertrophy (TASH).
Results: Fifteen minutes after TASH, the levels of both troponins increased significantly (cTnT median: 18?ng/L versus 27?ng/L; cTnI median: 15?ng/L versus 25?ng/L). TnTuORF showed no variation.
Discussion: We observed a significantly greater increase in cTnI compared with cTnT.
Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that troponin assays allow early detection of myocardial injury, whereas TnTuORF levels remain unchanged in this setting. 相似文献
Objectives: Few studies have compared the expression of inflammatory or adhesion molecules between coronary artery disease (CAD) versus CSX.
Materials and methods: Ninety-two CSX and 145 CAD subjects without known diabetes mellitus underwent coronary angiogram for angina.
Results: Vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 (median, 507 versus 431?ng/ml, p?=?0.001) was significantly higher in the CAD group. In the binary regression, VCAM-1 was a significant differential factor for CAD versus CSX.
Discussion and conclusion: Adhesion molecules might be implicated in the differential expression of macro versus microvascular coronary disease.
Trial registration number: NCT01198730 at https://clinicaltrials.gov 相似文献
Objective: To assess oral riboflavin is an adherence marker.
Methods: Riboflavin was incorporated into active treatment and placebo pills for a clinical trial lasting for 2 years.
Results: The accuracy (area under the receiver operating curve) of urinary riboflavin was 0.91 as a binary classifier of adherence, and was similar or better than for two active study ingredients daidzein (0.92) and genistein (0.87) (all p?<?0.0001). Decreased adherence over time was similar in the two study groups.
Conclusion: Riboflavin is an accurate and useful biomarker for study pill ingestion. 相似文献
Aim To reveal by field observations what the optimal stage is for Cuckoos to lay their eggs in relation to the host laying cycle to ensure prior hatching of the parasitic chicks.
Methods We monitored the hatching of Cuckoo chicks in relation to the hosts’ laying stage at which the Cuckoo eggs appeared and also monitored host incubation behaviour.
Results Great Reed Warblers incubated more on day 5 after the host's onset of laying relative to day 3. All Cuckoo eggs hatched earlier than hosts when they were laid prior to the onset of host incubation (day 4). Cuckoo eggs also maintained hatching priority in about 2/3 of the nests when laid on days 5–6.
Conclusions Most Cuckoo eggs are laid prior to the onset of host incubation and this, together with other adaptive mechanisms, ensures the prior hatching of Cuckoo eggs. Cuckoo eggs laid after the onset of incubation lose the advantage of prior hatching in approximately 30% of nests. 相似文献
Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the prognostic value of leptin in patients with proven coronary artery disease (CAD) (N?=?1907).
Methods: AtheroGene is a contemporary CAD cohort study (N?=?3229). Median follow-up time was 3.8 (Quartile 1/3 with 2.8/4.9) years.
Results: Leptin concentration was associated with a hazard ratio (HR) for the fully adjusted model of HR?=?1.32 in women but was not significant in men. The endpoint cardiovascular death and non-fatal myocardial infarction was observed in 167 patients.
Conclusion: In women with known CAD, increased leptin concentration is useful for predicting cardiovascular death and non-fatal myocardial infarction. 相似文献
Aims: To explore which factors have more importance in determining the pre-fledging daily survival rates in a Yellow-legged Gull population from northern Iberia. Specifically, we tested for the effect of hatching date and order, body size and condition and meteorological conditions on pre-fledging survival.
Methods: Cormack–Jolly–Seber models with mixtures were used to model daily survival rates.
Results: Daily survival rates were mostly negatively affected by hatching date.
Conclusions: Hatching date was the most important factor affecting survival of chicks during the pre-fledging period in a Yellow-legged Gull colony from northern Iberia. 相似文献
Objective: To evaluate circulatory apoptotic markers and oxidative stress in patients with PCOS.
Materials and methods: Forty-four women with PCOS, and 44 healthy women as controls were enrolled in the study. Oxidative stress parameters and caspases levels were measured in serum.
Results: The caspase 9 level was significantly lower and related with oxidant status in patients with PCOS, while the circulating levels of caspases 3 and 7 were statistically similar in both groups.
Discussion: This study is the first report demonstrating the circulating levels of apoptotic markers and their relationship with oxidant status in PCOS.
Conclusion: The circulating caspase 9 and oxidant status might contribute to apoptotic dysregulation in PCOS. 相似文献
Objective: This review aimed to highlight biomarker characterisation and assessment of unique bacterial pili.
Methods: A PubMed search for bacterial pili, diagnostics, vaccine and therapeutics was performed, with emphasis on the well characterised pili.
Results: In total, 46 papers were identified and reviewed.
Conclusion: Extensive analyses of pili enabled by advanced nanotechnology and whole genome sequencing provide evidence that they are strong biomarker candidates. Mycobacterium tuberculosis curli pili are emphasised as important epitopes for the development of much needed point-of-care diagnostics and therapeutics. 相似文献
Objective: To review the evidence and investigate the association between immune-inflammatory biomarkers and CE strokes versus other stroke subtypes.
Methods: We systematically reviewed the literature (sources: MEDLINE, web-based register http://stroke-biomarkers.com, reference lists) with quality assessment and meta-analysis of selected articles.
Results: The most consistent association was found between C-reactive protein (CRP) and CE strokes when compared to other stroke subtypes (standardized mean difference 0.223 (0.116, 0.343); p?<?0.001)
Conclusions: Our findings confirm a possible association between selected inflammatory biomarkers and CE stroke. 相似文献
Aims Examine the use of Cork and Holm Oak trees by insectivorous birds in Mediterranean oak woodlands.
Methods Point-counts were used to compare species abundance among Cork Oak-dominated, Holm Oak-dominated and mixed woodlands. Focal foraging observations were used to evaluate the use of Cork and Holm Oaks in the three habitats and to relate tree characteristics with the foraging time of foliage- and bark-gleaners.
Results Bird densities in the three habitats were not different for most foliage- and bark-gleaners. Tree preference index values and foraging time per tree showed no significant differences between tree species and foraging guilds, however bark-gleaners had positive index values for Cork Oak in the three habitats. The foraging time of foliage- and bark-gleaners on both tree species showed a positive relationship with characteristics associated with arthropod abundance.
Conclusion Cork and Holm Oak trees are equally preferred by foliage-gleaners but bark-gleaners moderately preferred Cork Oak. Characteristics regarding morphology, phenology and physiological condition of trees can be used to predict habitat quality for insectivorous forest birds in Mediterranean oak woodlands. 相似文献