Molecular identification of brood‐parasitic females reveals an opportunistic reproductive tactic in ruddy ducks

In many taxa, females lay eggs in the nests of other conspecifics. To determine the conditions under which conspecific brood parasitism develops, it is necessary to identify parasitic offspring and the females who produce them; however, for most systems parasitism can be difficult to observe and most genetic approaches have relatively low resolving power. In this study, we used protein fingerprinting from egg albumen and 10 microsatellite loci to genetically match parasitic ducklings to their mothers in a population of ruddy ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis). We found that 67% of nests contained parasitic offspring, and we successfully identified their mothers in 61% of the cases. Of the parasitic females identified, 77% also had nests of their own (i.e. a dual tactic, where females both nest and lay parasitically), and we found no evidence that parasitic females pursued a specialist (parasitism only) tactic. We also found that parasitic egg laying was not influenced by nest loss, predation or female condition. Thus, in contrast to most waterfowl studied to date, female ruddy ducks appear to lay parasitic eggs whenever the opportunity arises.     

Genetic footprints of late Quaternary climate change in the diversity of Patagonian‐Fueguian rodents

Species are impacted by climate change at both ecological and evolutionary time scales. Studies in northern continents have provided abundant evidence of dramatic shifts in distributions of species subsequent to the last glacial maximum (LGM), particularly at high latitudes. However, little is known about the history of southern continents, especially at high latitudes. South America is the only continent, other than Antarctica, that extends beyond 40 °S. Genetic studies of a few Patagonian species have provided seemingly conflicting results, indicating either postglacial colonization from restricted glacial refugia or persistence through glacial cycles and in situ differentiation. Using mitochondrial DNA sequences of 14 species of sigmodontine rodents, a major faunal ensemble of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, we show that at least nine of these species bear genetic footprints of demographic expansion from single restricted sources. However, timing of demographic expansion precedes the LGM in most of these species. Four species are fragmented phylogeographically within the region. Our results indicate that (i) demographic instability in response to historical climate change has been widespread in the Patagonian‐Fueguian region, and is generally more pronounced at high latitudes in both southern and northern continents; (ii) colonization from lower latitudes is an important component of current Patagonian‐Fueguian diversity; but (iii) in situ differentiation has also contributed to species diversity.     

Integrated magnetobiochronology of the Early/Middle Eocene transition at Agost (Spain): Implications for defining the Ypresian/Lutetian boundary stratotype

In this paper, we present an integrated study of a 115‐m‐thick section that spans the Ypresian/Lutetian boundary at Agost (Betic Cordillera, SE Spain). Our study includes magnetostratigraphic results and biostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental data derived from planktic foraminifera, small and larger benthic foraminifera, and calcareous nannofossils. Our results demonstrate that the Agost section is continuous and spans from Zones P9 to P12 (E7 to E10), Zones CP11 to CP14a (NP13 to NP16), Zones SBZ11 to SBZ15, and Chrons C22n to C19r. The first occurrence (FO) of H. nuttalli (base of P10) and the FO of G. nuttalli (base of E8) are found within Chron C20r, at a much younger age (3–5 Myr) than previously considered in standard calibration schemes. Similarly, the boundary between SBZ12 and SBZ13 is located within Chron C21n, also at a younger age than previously considered. On the contrary, the FO of B. inflatus (base of CP12b) is found within Chron C21r, which conforms to the magnetostratigraphically calibrated age of ca. 48 Ma (middle part of C21r) considered in standard calibration schemes. These results corroborate earlier studies and indicate that all the events that have been proposed to mark the Ypresian/Lutetian boundary appear at different stratigraphic intervals and have different ages. Based on our results from Agost and on data from other sections elsewhere, we suggest that the Ypresian/Lutetian boundary might be approximated by the FO of B. inflatus (base of CP12b). The Agost section might be considered as a potential candidate to locate the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the base of the Lutetian Stage, because it includes all the events that might be selected as marker events for the Ypresian/Lutetian boundary and it fulfils most of the geological, biostratigraphic and infrastructure requirements demanded for definition of a GSSP.     

Warming and drought alter C and N concentration,allocation and accumulation in a Mediterranean shrubland

We investigated the effects of warming and drought on C and N concentrations, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), and C and N accumulation in different ecosystem compartments. We conducted a 6-year (1999–2005) field experiment to simulate the climate conditions projected by IPCC models for the coming decades in a Mediterranean shrubland. We studied the two dominant species, Globularia alypum and Erica multiflora, and an N-fixing species, Dorycnium pentaphyllum, also abundant in this shrubland. Warming (1 °C) decreased N leaf concentrations by 25% and increased N stem concentrations by 40% in G. alypum. Although warming changed the available ammonium in soil in some seasons, it did not increase total soil N contents. Drought (19% average reduction in soil moisture) decreased leaf N concentrations in the two dominant shrub species, E. multiflora and G. alypum by 16% and 19%, respectively, and increased stem N concentrations by 56% and 40%, respectively. Neither warming nor drought changed the leaf N concentrations in the N-fixing species D. pentaphyllum, although warming increased stem N concentration by 9%. In G. alypum, the increase of stem N concentrations contributed to the observed increase of N accumulation in stem biomass in drought treatments with respect to control plots (8 kg N ha⁻¹). Neither warming nor drought changed NUE in the period 1999–2005. Warming increased soil organic C relative to drought. The effects of warming and drought on C and N concentrations, on N accumulation and on leaf/stem N distribution were not the result of dilution or concentration effects produced by changes in biomass accumulation. Other factors such as the changes in soil N availability, photosynthetic capacity, and plant internal C and N remobilization must be involved. These changes which differed depending on the species and the plant tissue show that the climate change projected for the coming decades will have significant effects on the C and N cycle and stoichiometry, with probable implications for ecosystem structure and function, such as changes in plant–herbivore relationships, decomposition rates or community species composition.     

Comparing the genetics of wild and captive populations of White‐headed Ducks Oxyura leucocephala: consequences for recovery programmes

The White‐headed Duck is a globally threatened species historically recorded from Spain in the west to China in the east. It has suffered major population declines, local extinctions and range fragmentation. Several projects have attempted to reintroduce captive‐bred birds into parts of the former range in Europe, but with little success. Two captive stocks currently exist, one originating from Pakistan in 1968 and the other originating from Spain in 1982. This study compares the suitability of these captive stocks for specific reintroduction projects by using 11 microsatellite markers and mtDNA control region sequences to assess genetic differences between captive populations and wild birds from Spain and Greece. No significant population structure was found and all microsatellite alleles recorded in captive birds originating from Pakistan were also observed in the wild Spanish population. A higher diversity of alleles was observed in wild birds from Greece than from Spain, probably due to the effects of a strong bottleneck experienced in Spain in the 1970s. Compared with wild populations, both captive stocks have suffered a significant loss of diversity in microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA owing to founder effects and/or genetic drift, and therefore may not be well suited for release programmes. We recommend the development of a more diverse captive breeding programme based on birds taken from different areas of the range, in particular by supplementing the Spanish population with birds from North Africa. Our study shows the value of molecular tools in developing conservation programmes for threatened bird species and has implications for the design of recovery programmes.     

Modelling the effects of irrigation schemes on the distribution of steppe birds in Mediterranean farmland

Research conducted in several Mediterranean areas indicates that most populations of steppe birds are currently experiencing population declines associated with intensification of traditional agricultural practices. By using habitat suitability modeling (HSM), our aim was to use available environmental data sets, including land use and relief, to model the current distribution of nine steppe bird species in the agriculture dominated areas of the Catalan Ebro basin (northeast Iberia). We then employ HSM to quantitatively assess the future impact of land use changes on the potential distribution range of these species under two scenarios following irrigation of present extensive cereal steppes in the area. HSM analyses showed a close association between steppe bird distribution and the extent of extensive cereal agriculture in flat areas. Although the sensitivity to planned irrigation schemes was species specific, we estimated significant decreases in distribution after irrigation for seven of the nine species examined, i.e. the Little bustard, the Montagu's harrier, the Roller and the Calandra lark, the species predicted to be more severely affected by predicted decreases in area exceeding 50%. Overall, core steppe habitats where most valuable steppe species may co-occur are expected to be mostly impacted and decrease by 74 to 81% after irrigation of only 28 to 36% of the cereal cropland in the region. Future maintenance and survival of viable populations of steppe birds will rely on our ability to enlarge the network of protected areas and to implement agri-environmental measures targeting current species core habitats in low-intensity farmland.     

Positive effect of shredders on microbial biomass and decomposition in stream microcosms

1. Animals play a major role in nutrient cycling via excretory processes. Although the positive indirect effects of grazers on periphytic algae are well understood, little is known about top‐down effects on decomposers of shredders living on leaf litter. 2. Nutrient cycling by shredders in oligotrophic forest streams may be important for the microbial‐detritus compartment at very small spatial scales (i.e. within the leaf packs in which shredders feed). We hypothesised that insect excretion may cause local nutrient enrichment, so that microorganism growth on leaves is stimulated. 3. We first tested the effect of increasing concentration of ammonium (+10, +20 and +40 μg NH₄⁺ L^?1) on fungal and bacterial biomass on leaf litter in a laboratory experiment. Then we performed two experiments to test the effect of the presence and feeding activity of shredder larvae. We used two species belonging to the trichopteran family Sericostomatidae: the Palaearctic Sericostoma vittatum and the Neotropical Myothrichia murina, to test the effect of these shredders on fungal and bacterial biomass and decomposition on leaves of Quercus robur and Nothofagus pumilio, respectively. All experiments were run in water with low ammonium concentrations (2.4 ± 0.34 to 14.47 ± 0.95 μg NH₄⁺ L^?1). 4. After 5 days of incubation, NH₄ concentrations were reduced to near‐ambient streamwater concentrations in all treatments with leaves. Fungal biomass was positively affected by increased ammonium concentration. On the other hand, bacteria abundance was similar in all treatments, both in terms of abundance (bacteria cells mg^?1 leaf DW) and biomass. However, there was a tendency towards larger mean cell size in treatments with 20 μg NH₄ L^?1. 5. In the experiment with S. vittatum, fungal biomass in the treatment with insects was more than twice that in the control after 15 days. Bacteria were not detected in treatments with insects, where hyphae were abundant, but they were abundant in treatments without larvae. In the decomposition experiment run with M. murina, leaf‐mass loss was significantly higher in treatments with larvae than in controls. 6. Our hypothesis of a positive effect of shredders on fungal biomass and decomposition was demonstrated. Insect excretion caused ammonium concentration to increase in the microcosms, contributing to microbial N uptake in leaf substrata, which resulted in structural and functional changes in community attributes. The positive effect of detritivores on microbes has been mostly neglected in stream nutrient‐cycling models; our findings suggest that this phenomenon may be of greater importance than expected in stream nutrient budgets.     

Exceptionally preserved tadpoles from the Miocene of Libros,Spain: ecomorphological reconstruction and the impact of ontogeny upon taphonomy

McNamara, M.E., Orr, P.J., Kearns, S.L., Alcalá, L., Anadón, P. & Peñalver‐Mollá, E. 2010: Exceptionally preserved tadpoles from the Miocene of Libros, Spain: ecomorphological reconstruction and the impact of ontogeny upon taphonomy. Lethaia, Vol. 43, pp. 290–306. The Libros exceptional biota from the Upper Miocene of NE Spain includes abundant frog tadpoles (Rana pueyoi) preserved in finely laminated lacustrine mudstones. The tadpoles exhibit a depressed body, short tail, low tail fins, dorso‐laterally directed eyes and jaw sheaths; these features identify the Libros tadpoles as members of the benthic lentic ecomorphological guild. This, the first ecomorphological reconstruction of a fossil tadpole, supports phylogenetic evidence that this ecology is a conserved ranid feature. The soft‐tissue features of the Libros tadpoles are characterized by several modes of preservation. The space occupied previously by the brain is defined by calcium carbonate, the nerve cord is defined by calcium phosphate, and jaw sheaths and bone marrow are preserved as organic remains. Gut contents (and coprolites adjacent to specimens) comprise ingested fine‐grained sedimentary detritus and epiphyton. The body outline and the eyespots, nares, abdominal cavity, notochord, caudal myotomes and fins are defined by a carbonaceous bacterial biofilm. A similar biofilm in adult specimens of R. pueyoi from Libros defines only the body outline, not any internal anatomical features. In the adult frogs, but not in the tadpoles, calcium phosphate and calcium sulphate precipitated in association with integumentary tissues. These differences in the mode of preservation between the adult frogs and tadpoles reflect ontogenetic factors. □Anuran, ecology, soft‐tissue, tadpoles, taphonomy.     

Does the disturbance hypothesis explain the biomass increase in basin‐wide Amazon forest plot data?

Positive aboveground biomass trends have been reported from old-growth forests across the Amazon basin and hypothesized to reflect a large-scale response to exterior forcing. The result could, however, be an artefact due to a sampling bias induced by the nature of forest growth dynamics. Here, we characterize statistically the disturbance process in Amazon old-growth forests as recorded in 135 forest plots of the RAINFOR network up to 2006, and other independent research programmes, and explore the consequences of sampling artefacts using a data-based stochastic simulator. Over the observed range of annual aboveground biomass losses, standard statistical tests show that the distribution of biomass losses through mortality follow an exponential or near-identical Weibull probability distribution and not a power law as assumed by others. The simulator was parameterized using both an exponential disturbance probability distribution as well as a mixed exponential–power law distribution to account for potential large-scale blowdown events. In both cases, sampling biases turn out to be too small to explain the gains detected by the extended RAINFOR plot network. This result lends further support to the notion that currently observed biomass gains for intact forests across the Amazon are actually occurring over large scales at the current time, presumably as a response to climate change.     

Sage-Grouse Population Dynamics are Adversely Affected by Overabundant Feral Horses

In recent decades, feral horse (Equus caballus; horse) populations increased in sagebrush (Artimesia spp.) ecosystems, especially within the Great Basin, to the point of exceeding maximum appropriate management levels (AML_max), which were set by land administrators to balance resource use by feral horses, livestock, and wildlife. Concomitantly, greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) are sagebrush obligates that have experienced population declines within these same arid environments as a result of steady and continued loss of seasonal habitats. Although a strong body of research indicates that overabundant populations of horses degrade sagebrush ecosystems, empirical evidence linking horse abundance to sage-grouse population dynamics is missing. Within a Bayesian framework, we employed state-space models to estimate population rate of change (λ) using 15 years (2005–2019) of count surveys of male sage-grouse at traditional breeding grounds (i.e., leks) as a function of horse abundance relative to AML_max and other environmental covariates (e.g., wildfire, precipitation, % sagebrush cover). Additionally, we employed a post hoc impact-control design to validate existing AML_max values as related to sage-grouse population responses, and to help control for environmental stochasticity and broad-scale oscillations in sage-grouse abundance. On average, for every 50% increase in horse abundance over AML_max, our model predicted an annual decline in sage-grouse abundance by 2.6%. Horse abundance at or below AML_max coincided with sage-grouse λ estimates that were consistent with trends at non-horse areas elsewhere in the study region. Thus, AML_max, as a whole, appeared to be set adequately in preventing adverse effects to sage-grouse populations. Results indicated 76%, 97%, and >99% probability of sage-grouse population decline relative to controls when horse numbers are 2, 2.5, and ≥3 times over AML_max, respectively. As of 2019, horse herds exceeded AML_max in Nevada, USA, by >4 times on average across all horse management areas. If feral horse populations continue to grow at current rates unabated, model projections indicate sage-grouse populations will be reduced within horse-occupied areas by >70.0% by 2034 (15-year projection), on average compared to 21.2% estimated for control sites. A monitoring framework that improves on estimating horse abundance and identifying responses of sage-grouse and other key indicator species (plant and animal) would be beneficial to guide management decisions that promote co-occurrence of horses with sensitive wildlife and livestock within landscapes subjected to multiple uses. Published 2021. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Wildlife Society.