‘Do you have a mobile?’ Mobile phone practices and the refashioning of social relationships in Port Vila Town

Mobile phones have quickly become an important part of young people's social relationships in Port Vila Vanuatu. In particular, young people embrace the new technology's capacity to broaden the breadth of their sociality. They use the mobile phone to facilitate private and secretive communication, engage in unsanctioned relationships, pre‐marital sexual relationships, and also multiple concurrent intimate relationships. Literature on mobile phone use often either takes the approach that mobile phone technology becomes purely incorporated into pre‐existing social practices, or that it dramatically reshapes social ontologies. The present article argues for an alternative view, one that takes into account the nuances between these two analytical poles. This article suggests that young people use the mobile phone in practices informed by previous models of social relationships, yet the specific materiality of the mobile phone technology is influencing the direction in which models of social relationships are changing. In demonstrating this point, I pay particular attention to two material aspects of the mobile phone technology ‐ the mobile phone as a repository of a particular kind of information ‐ ‘evidence’, and the capacity of the mobile phone to ‘disconnect’ people from their relationships by switching off the mobile. This article argues that these practices are influencing the emergence of a radically altered kinship and gender landscape in the urban context.     

The concepts of ‘plant functional types’ and ‘functional diversity’ in lake phytoplankton – a new understanding of phytoplankton ecology?

1. This is a discussion of the applicability to the phytoplankton of the concepts of ‘plant functional types’ (PFTs) and ‘functional diversity’ (FD), which originated in terrestrial plant ecology. 2. Functional traits driving the performance of phytoplankton species reflect important processes such as growth, sedimentation, grazing losses and nutrient acquisition. 3. This paper presents an objective, mathematical way of assigning PFTs and measuring FD. Ecologists can use this new approach to investigate general hypotheses [e.g. the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH), the insurance hypothesis and synchronicity phenomena] as, for example, in its original formulation the IDH makes its predictions based on FD rather than species diversity.     

When is a ‘forest’ a savanna,and why does it matter?

Savannas are defined based on vegetation structure, the central concept being a discontinuous tree cover in a continuous grass understorey. However, at the high‐rainfall end of the tropical savanna biome, where heavily wooded mesic savannas begin to structurally resemble forests, or where tropical forests are degraded such that they open out to structurally resemble savannas, vegetation structure alone may be inadequate to distinguish mesic savanna from forest. Additional knowledge of the functional differences between these ecosystems which contrast sharply in their evolutionary and ecological history is required. Specifically, we suggest that tropical mesic savannas are predominantly mixed tree–C₄ grass systems defined by fire tolerance and shade intolerance of their species, while forests, from which C₄ grasses are largely absent, have species that are mostly fire intolerant and shade tolerant. Using this framework, we identify a suite of morphological, physiological and life‐history traits that are likely to differ between tropical mesic savanna and forest species. We suggest that these traits can be used to distinguish between these ecosystems and thereby aid their appropriate management and conservation. We also suggest that many areas in South Asia classified as tropical dry forests, but characterized by fire‐resistant tree species in a C₄ grass‐dominated understorey, would be better classified as mesic savannas requiring fire and light to maintain the unique mix of species that characterize them.     

CO1 phylogenies in diploblasts and the ‘Barcoding of Life’— are we sequencing a suboptimal partition?

Partitions of the cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) gene, especially the 5′ end, are frequently recruited to infer lower level phylogenies in animals. In diploblasts, mitochondrial genes were found to evolve in a slower rate than their bilaterian counterparts. Therefore, diploblast CO1 gene trees repeatedly remained unresolved, which also raises doubts on the suitability of CO1 for DNA barcoding in these animals. The complete mitochondrial genome sequences from Anthozoa and recently from Porifera allow us to compare the resolution power of the 5′ partition, which has also been proposed as the standard marker for DNA barcoding, with a less frequently used partition further downstream. We report on the finding of significantly different substitution patterns of the downstream partition opposed to the 5′ partition. We discuss the consequences and potential in the light of diploblast phylogenetic reconstruction and DNA barcoding.     

‘Who do you want to kill?’ Affectual and relational understandings at a sorcery rock art site in the southwest Gulf of Carpentaria,northern Australia

This article explores the affectual and relational contexts in which rock art is embedded through an exploration of the encounters, reactions, and responses to a well‐known sorcery rock art site known as Kurrmurnnyini in northern Australia's southwest Gulf country. These encounters with a culturally powerful place, and the emotions derived from people's personal memories and experiences of Kurrmurnnyini and its sorcery‐infused rock art, are vital to establishing an understanding of contemporary perceptions of what is clearly more than an ‘archaeological site’. We contend that by turning our attention to the often‐overlooked affectual and relational dimensions of rock art and the contexts in which it is found, researchers place themselves in a better position to access and become aware of the agency and affect of graphic imagery as well as the significance these powerful images and places hold for people today.     

Vulnerability curves by centrifugation: is there an open vessel artefact,and are ‘r’ shaped curves necessarily invalid?

Vulnerability curves using the 'Cavitron' centrifuge rotor yield anomalous results when vessels extend from the end of the stem segment to the centre ('open-to-centre' vessels). Curves showing a decline in conductivity at modest xylem pressures ('r' shaped) have been attributed to this artefact. We determined whether the original centrifugal method with its different rotor is influenced by open-to-centre vessels. Increasing the proportion of open-to-centre vessels by shortening stems had no substantial effect in four species. Nor was there more embolism at the segment end versus centre as seen in the Cavitron. The dehydration method yielded an 'r' shaped curve in Quercus gambelii that was similar to centrifuged stems with 86% open-to-centre vessels. Both 'r' and 's' (sigmoidal) curves from Cercocarpus intricatus were consistent with each other, differing only in whether native embolism had been removed. An 'r' shaped centrifuge curve in Olea europaea was indistinguishable from the loss of conductivity caused by forcing air directly across vessel end-walls. We conclude that centrifuge curves on long-vesselled material are not always prone to the open vessel artefact when the original rotor design is used, and 'r' shaped curves are not necessarily artefacts. Nevertheless, confirming curves with native embolism and dehydration data is recommended.     

Morphological and molecular variation in tiger beetles of the Cicindela hybrida complex: is an ‘integrative taxonomy’ possible?

Current taxon assignments at the species level are frequently discordant with DNA-based analyses. Recent studies on tiger beetles in the Cicindela hybrida complex identified discordance between mtDNA patterns and the entities currently defined by the taxonomic literature. To test the accuracy of morphologically delimited groups, five named taxa (species) from 24 representative sampling sites across Europe were scored for 41 external morphological characters. Three of the named taxa were 'diagnosable', that is, defined by between one and three characters unique to each group. Newly sequenced ITS1 and existing mitochondrial cox1 markers established 20 and 22 different haplotypes, respectively, but only cox1 produced (four) diagnosable units. Phylogenetic analysis and statistical parsimony networks showed poor congruence of character variation with the taxonomic entities (and each other). Variation in morphological characters was therefore tested directly for association with DNA-based nesting groups at various hierarchical levels using permutational contingency analysis. Significant statistical associations of 11 (of 13 variable) morphological characters were observed with nesting groups from ITS1 and mitochondrial DNA markers, predominantly at the 4-step level. The analysis demonstrates the need for formal tests of congruence with morphological variation at the level of individual characters, a step that is omitted from recent studies of 'integrative taxonomy'. In addition, statistical correlation of particular morphological characters with DNA-based nesting groups can identify the lowest hierarchical level at which various character sets show congruence, as a means to define evolutionarily separated entities supported by diverse data sources.     

Chemical Defense in Millipedes (Myriapoda,Diplopoda): Do Representatives of the Family Blaniulidae Belong to the ‘Quinone’ Clade?

The defensive secretions of two blaniulid millipedes, Nopoiulus kochii and Cibiniulus phlepsii, were characterized by GC‐FID and GC/MS analyses, which showed the presence of a complex mixture of benzoquinones, hydroquinones, and oleates. Altogether, 13 compounds were identified. The major compound in the secretions of both analyzed species was 2‐methyl‐1,4‐benzoquinone (toluquinone). The second major constituent in the N. kochii secretion was 2‐methyl‐3,4‐(methylenedioxy)phenol, while in that of C. phlepsii, it was 2‐methoxy‐3‐methyl‐1,4‐benzoquinone. The defensive secretion of N. kochii also showed a high content of hydroquinones (13.5%) in comparison to that of C. phlepsii (0.8%). Hexyl oleate and octyl oleate were detected for the first time in defensive millipede fluids. The chemical composition of the defensive secretions supports the chemotaxonomic position of the family Blaniulidae in the ‘quinone’ millipede clade.     

‘Representative Genes’, is it OK to use a small amount of data to obtain a phylogeny that is at least close to the true tree?

Despite the problems associated with the one‐gene‐constructed phylogenetic relationships, recently it has been shown that merely adding more sequences to the analyses is not enough to resolve all the inconsistencies present in these relationships. In this work, the existence of ‘representative’ genes for groups of species is evaluated in terms of efficiency (costs/benefits), employing the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and the penguins' phylogeny as a case study. ‘Representative’ genes are very useful and they could produce good results for first approaches or humble laboratories, especially if the gene is chosen depending on the time scale and objectives of our work.     

Retraction: ‘Are European birds leaving traditional wintering grounds in the Mediterranean?’, by José Luis Tellería, Álvaro Ramírez and José Ignacio Aguirre

The above article, published online on 20 January 2015 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editors in Chief, Thomas Alerstam and Jan‐Åke Nilsson, the Nordic Society Oikos and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The aim of this study was to answer the question, ‘Are European birds leaving traditional wintering grounds in the Mediterranean?’ Due to an analytical error the study only analysed EURING circumstance 20 ring records (see the EURING exchange code) which excludes birds hunted by shot and other ways, but not all hunted individuals. As a result, the effect of illegal hunting on ring recoveries was not controlled for in the analyses. This means that the data is affected by ring records from birds other than ‘alive and probably healthy and released by ringer’ (condition 8 in the EURING exchange code). The authors' intention always was to include both condition 8 and circumstance 20, but unfortunately this was not the case. When the data was reanalysed including both condition 8 and circumstance 20 recoveries, there is no longer any support for the main conclusion of the paper and the authors can only conclude that winter ring recoveries in Spain of some common passerines (robin, chiffchaff and blackcap) do not decrease. The authors apologise for this mistake and hope that the retraction will serve to prevent the spread of the unsound conclusions derived from this paper.     

How common is gigantism in insular fossil shrews? Examining the ‘Island Rule’ in soricids (Mammalia: Soricomorpha) from Mediterranean Islands using new body mass estimation models

The evolution of organismal body size in extant and extinct ecosystems of islands (Island Rule) is receiving much attention at present. Allometric models are a reliable way to predict the weight of extinct species, but are scarce or even absent for some groups of micromammals. To fill the gap, we carried out regression models with extant species of soricids (N = 63) using measurements of teeth, cranium, and postcranial bones, and applied these to fossil insular species and their mainland ancestors. Almost all models are significant (P < 0.05), except for those based on the width of occipital condyles. The femur can be considered the most reliable body‐mass predictor, producing estimations not far from those derived from teeth (excepting molar widths). Predictions of insular species (in grams) show that those belonging to the tribe Nectogalini [Asoriculus burgioi Masini & Sarà, 1998 , 27.54; Asoriculus similis (Hensel, 1855), 23.68; Nesiotites ponsi Reumer, 1979, 14.58; Nesiotites meloussae Pons‐Moyà & Moyà‐Solà, 1980, 24.83; Nesiotites hidalgo Bate, 1945, 26–30] had larger masses than Crocidura sp. [Crocidura sicula esuae (Kotsakis, 1986), 9.50; Crocidura sicula sicula (Miller, 1901), 8.60; Crocidura zimmermanni Wettstein, 1953, 7–10]. Statistical comparisons with their ancestors revealed that certain species (Nesiotites sp. from Mallorca and A. similis from Sardinia) may be considered giants, but not C. zimmermanni (from Crete). Body size is closely related to life history, which is highly influenced by the selective regimes of the environment. Thus, the lower isolation distance of Crete in comparison with Sardinia and Mallorca, suggesting more introductions of competitors and predators, and the presence of a flow with the mainland, may be the reason for the absence of a giant form of C. zimmermanni. However, some biological aspects of species (such as phylogeny or lifestyle) may also have an influential role.     

The influence of environmental factors on abundance and prevalence of a commensal ostracod hosted by an invasive crayfish: are ‘parasite rules’ relevant to non‐parasitic symbionts?

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Response to commentary by Woinarski (Critical‐weight‐range marsupials in northern Australia are declining: a commentary on Fisher et al. (2014) ‘The current decline of tropical marsupials in Australia: is history repeating?’)

The recent commentary by Woinarski (2014, Global Ecology and Biogeography, doi: 10.1111/geb.12165) disagreed with our conclusions on the correlates of decline in the marsupials of tropical Australia (Fisher et al., 2014, Global Ecology and Biogeography, 23 , 181–190). We compared traits of species that were associated with range decline in southern and northern Australia. We found that habitat structure, climate and body size were correlated with range decline. In the north, declines of marsupials were most severe in savanna with moderate rainfall. In the south, the ranges of species in open habitat with very low rainfall have declined most. Also, the association between range decline and body mass differed between north and south: this is the main concern of Woinarski, who further disagreed with our choice of the Tropic of Capricorn as a boundary between north and south, our omission of rodents, how to treat timing of extinctions, and our inference that cats are major drivers of decline. We address these concerns in this response.     

Synchrony during acoustic interactions in the bushcricket <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mecopoda</Emphasis> ‘Chirper’ (Tettigoniidae:Orthoptera) is generated by a combination of chirp-by-chirp resetting and change in intrinsic chirp rate

In several bushcricket species, individual males synchronise their chirps during acoustic interactions. Synchrony is imperfect with the chirps of one male leading or lagging the other by a few milliseconds. Imperfect synchrony is believed to have evolved in response to female preferences for leading chirps. We investigated the mechanism underlying synchrony in the bushcricket species Mecopoda ‘Chirper’ from Southern India using playback experiments and simulations of pairwise interactions. We also investigated whether intrinsic chirp period is a good predictor of leading probability during interactions between males. The mechanism underlying synchrony in this species differs from previously reported mechanisms in that it involves both a change in the oscillator’s intrinsic rate and resetting on a chirp-by-chirp basis. The form of the phase response curve differs from those of previously reported firefly and bushcricket species including the closely related Malaysian species Mecopoda elongata. Simulations exploring oscillator properties showed that the outcome of pairwise interactions was independent of initial phase and alternation was not possible. Solo intrinsic chirp period was a relatively good predictor of leading probability. However, changing the intrinsic period during interactions could enable males with longer periods to lead during acoustic interactions.