An endangered bird calls less when invasive birds are calling

Novel noises can affect various animal behaviours, and changes to vocal behaviour are some of the most documented. The calls of invasive species are an important source of novel noise, yet their effects on native species are poorly understood. We examined the effects of invasive bird calls on the vocal activity of an endangered Australian finch to investigate whether: 1) native finch calling behaviour was affected by novel invasive bird calls, and 2) the calls of the finches overlapped in frequency with those of invasive birds. We exposed a wild population of black‐throated finch southern subspecies Poephila cincta cincta to the vocalisations of two invasive birds, nutmeg mannikins Lonchura punctulata and common mynas Acridotheres tristis, a synthetic ‘pink' noise, and a silent control. To determine whether the amount of black‐throated finch calling differed in response to treatments, we recorded and quantified black‐throated finch vocalisations, and assessed the amount of calling using a generalised linear mixed model followed by pairwise comparisons. We also measured, for both black‐throated finches and the stimulus noises: dominant, minimum and maximum frequency, and assessed the degree of frequency overlap between black‐throated finch calls and stimulus noises. Compared to silent controls, black‐throated finches called less when exposed to common myna calls and pink noise, but not to nutmeg mannikin calls. We also found that pink noise overlapped most in frequency with black‐throated finch calls. Common myna calls also somewhat overlapped the frequency range of black‐throated finch calls, whereas nutmeg mannikin calls overlapped the least. It is possible that masking interference is the mechanism behind the reduction in calling in response to common myna calls and pink noise, but more work is needed to resolve this. Regardless, these results indicate that the calls of invasive species can affect the behaviour of native species, and future research should aim to understand the scope and severity of this issue.     

The Quantity and Quality of African Children's IgG Responses to Merozoite Surface Antigens Reflect Protection against Plasmodium falciparum Malaria

Background

Antibodies, particularly cytophilic IgG subclasses, with specificity for asexual blood stage antigens of Plasmodium falciparum, are thought to play an important role in acquired immunity to malaria. Evaluating such responses in longitudinal sero-epidemiological field studies, allied to increasing knowledge of the immunological mechanisms associated with anti-malarial protection, will help in the development of malaria vaccines.

Methods and Findings

We conducted a 1-year follow-up study of 305 Senegalese children and identified those resistant or susceptible to malaria. In retrospective analyses we then compared post-follow-up IgG responses to six asexual-stage candidate malaria vaccine antigens in groups of individuals with clearly defined clinical and parasitological histories of infection with P. falciparum. In age-adjusted analyses, children resistant to malaria as well as to high-density parasitemia, had significantly higher IgG1 responses to GLURP and IgG3 responses to MSP2 than their susceptible counterparts. Among those resistant to malaria, high anti-MSP1 IgG1 levels were associated with protection against high-density parasitemia. To assess functional attributes, we used an in vitro parasite growth inhibition assay with purified IgG. Samples from individuals with high levels of IgG directed to MSP1, MSP2 and AMA1 gave the strongest parasite growth inhibition, but a marked age-related decline was observed in these effects.

Conclusion

Our data are consistent with the idea that protection against P. falciparum malaria in children depends on acquisition of a constellation of appropriate, functionally active IgG subclass responses directed to multiple asexual stage antigens. Our results suggest at least two distinct mechanisms via which antibodies may exert protective effects. Although declining with age, the growth inhibitory effects of purified IgG measurable in vitro reflected levels of anti-AMA1, -MSP1 and -MSP2, but not of anti-GLURP IgG. The latter could act on parasite growth via indirect parasiticidal pathways.     

Dominance and feeding interference in small groups of blackbirds

Dominance and/or interference parameters play a pivotal rolein most ideal free distribution models, but there has beenscant empirical study of the exact manner in which they jointlyoperate. We investigate how foraging effort and success variedamongst individuals of different dominance rankings in groupsof 1-3 wild blackbirds (Turdus merula) attracted to patchesof hidden food. Foraging effort (number of feeding movementsper unit time), as opposed to vigilance tradeoffs, was greaterwhen an individual fed with a subordinate conspecific thanwhen it fed alone, but tended to be less when it fed with adominant individual. Within dyads, changes in foraging effortwere associated with the direction of the dominance relationship,but not the relative difference in dominance rank between thetwo individuals. Similarly, amongst threesomes, top-rankedbirds (but not the lowest-ranked individual) showed higherforaging effort compared to when foraging alone. Top-ranked birds also profited from a greater increase in foraging success(food items per unit effort) than bottom-ranked birds whenfeeding in threesomes than when feeding alone. Dominant birdsshowed increased foraging success, but not effort, after displacinga subordinate. Our results suggest that an individual's foragingeffort is determined by the interplay of group vigilance benefitsand interference costs, the latter being more expensive for subordinate individuals. The foraging success of dominant birdsmay further increase if they use subordinates as food-finders.We discuss the implications of our findings for interferenceparameters in current Ideal Free Distribution models.     

Cyprus wheatears Oenanthe cypriaca likely reach sub‐Saharan African wintering grounds in a single migratory flight

Long‐distance migratory flights with multiple stop‐overs, multiple wintering sites, and small‐scale connectivity in Afro‐Palearctic migrants are likely to increase their vulnerability to environmental change and lead to declining populations. Here we present the migration tracks and wintering locations of the first six Cyprus wheatears to be tracked with geolocators: a species with high survival and a stable population. We therefore predicted a non‐stop flight from Cyprus to sub‐Saharan wintering grounds, a single wintering area for each individual and a wide spread of wintering locations representing low migratory connectivity at the population level. The sub‐Saharan wintering grounds in south Sudan, Sudan and Ethiopia were likely reached by a single flight of an average straight‐line distance of 2538 km in ca 60 h, with an average minimum speed of 43.1 km h^–1. The high speed of migration probably ruled out stop‐overs greater than a few hours. Cyprus wheatears migrated from Cyprus in mid‐late October and most probably remained at a single location throughout winter; three out of five birds with available data may have used a second site < 100 km away during February; all returned between 7–22 March when accurate geolocation data are not possible due to the equinox. Wintering locations were spread over at least 950 km. There were no tag effects on survival. Cyprus wheatears showed a migratory strategy in accordance with their observed high survival rate and demonstrated a routine flight range that allows much of the Mediterranean and the Sahara to be crossed in a rapid two and a half‐day flight.     

The effects of phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation on forecasts of species range shifts under climate change

Species are the unit of analysis in many global change and conservation biology studies; however, species are not uniform entities but are composed of different, sometimes locally adapted, populations differing in plasticity. We examined how intraspecific variation in thermal niches and phenotypic plasticity will affect species distributions in a warming climate. We first developed a conceptual model linking plasticity and niche breadth, providing five alternative intraspecific scenarios that are consistent with existing literature. Secondly, we used ecological niche‐modeling techniques to quantify the impact of each intraspecific scenario on the distribution of a virtual species across a geographically realistic setting. Finally, we performed an analogous modeling exercise using real data on the climatic niches of different tree provenances. We show that when population differentiation is accounted for and dispersal is restricted, forecasts of species range shifts under climate change are even more pessimistic than those using the conventional assumption of homogeneously high plasticity across a species' range. Suitable population‐level data are not available for most species so identifying general patterns of population differentiation could fill this gap. However, the literature review revealed contrasting patterns among species, urging greater levels of integration among empirical, modeling and theoretical research on intraspecific phenotypic variation.     

Validating Community-Led Forest Biomass Assessments

The lack of capacity to monitor forest carbon stocks in developing countries is undermining global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Involving local people in monitoring forest carbon stocks could potentially address this capacity gap. This study conducts a complete expert remeasurement of community-led biomass inventories in remote tropical forests of Papua New Guinea. By fully remeasuring and isolating the effects of 4,481 field measurements, we demonstrate that programmes employing local people (non-experts) can produce forest monitoring data as reliable as those produced by scientists (experts). Overall, non-experts reported lower biomass estimates by an average of 9.1%, equivalent to 55.2 fewer tonnes of biomass ha^-1, which could have important financial implications for communities. However, there were no significant differences between forest biomass estimates of expert and non-expert, nor were there significant differences in some of the components used to calculate these estimates, such as tree diameter at breast height (DBH), tree counts and plot surface area, but were significant differences between tree heights. At the landscape level, the greatest biomass discrepancies resulted from height measurements (41%) and, unexpectedly, a few large missing trees contributing to a third of the overall discrepancies. We show that 85% of the biomass discrepancies at the tree level were caused by measurement taken on large trees (DBH ≥50cm), even though they consisted of only 14% of the stems. We demonstrate that programmes that engage local people can provide high-quality forest carbon data that could help overcome barriers to reducing forest carbon emissions in developing countries. Nonetheless, community-based monitoring programmes should prioritise reducing errors in the field that lead to the most important discrepancies, notably; overcoming challenges to accurately measure large trees.     

Organic Farming: Biodiversity Impacts Can Depend on Dispersal Characteristics and Landscape Context

Organic farming, a low intensity system, may offer benefits for a range of taxa, but what affects the extent of those benefits is imperfectly understood. We explored the effects of organic farming and landscape on the activity density and species density of spiders and carabid beetles, using a large sample of paired organic and conventional farms in the UK. Spider activity density and species density were influenced by both farming system and surrounding landscape. Hunting spiders, which tend to have lower dispersal capabilities, had higher activity density, and more species were captured, on organic compared to conventional farms. There was also evidence for an interaction, as the farming system effect was particularly marked in the cropped area before harvest and was more pronounced in complex landscapes (those with little arable land). There was no evidence for any effect of farming system or landscape on web-building spiders (which include the linyphiids, many of which have high dispersal capabilities). For carabid beetles, the farming system effects were inconsistent. Before harvest, higher activity densities were observed in the crops on organic farms compared with conventional farms. After harvest, no difference was detected in the cropped area, but more carabids were captured on conventional compared to organic boundaries. Carabids were more species-dense in complex landscapes, and farming system did not affect this. There was little evidence that non-cropped habitat differences explained the farming system effects for either spiders or carabid beetles. For spiders, the farming system effects in the cropped area were probably largely attributable to differences in crop management; reduced inputs of pesticides (herbicides and insecticides) and fertilisers are possible influences, and there was some evidence for an effect of non-crop plant species richness on hunting spider activity density. The benefits of organic farming may be greatest for taxa with lower dispersal abilities generally. The evidence for interactions among landscape and farming system in their effects on spiders highlights the importance of developing strategies for managing farmland at the landscape-scale for most effective conservation of biodiversity.     

Kinetic and training comparisons between assisted, resisted, and free countermovement jumps

Elastic band assisted and resisted jump training may be a novel way to develop lower-body power. The purpose of this investigation was to (a) determine the kinetic differences between assisted, free, and resisted countermovement jumps and (b), investigate the effects of contrast training using either assisted, free, or resisted countermovement jump training on vertical jump performance in well-trained athletes. In part 1, 8 recreationally trained men were assessed for force output, relative peak power (PP·kg(-1)) and peak velocity during the 3 types of jump. The highest peak force was achieved in the resisted jump method, while PP·kg(-1) and peak velocity were greatest in the assisted jump. Each type of jump produced a different pattern of maximal values of the variables measured, which may have implications for developing separate components of muscular power. In part 2, 28 professional rugby players were assessed for vertical jump height before and after 4 weeks of either assisted (n = 9), resisted (n = 11), or free (n = 8) countermovement jump training. Relative to changes in the control group (1.3 ± 9.2%, mean ± SD), there were clear small improvements in jump height in the assisted (6.7 ± 9.6%) and the resisted jump training group (4.0 ± 8.8%). Elastic band assisted and resisted jump training are both effective methods for improving jump height and can be easily implemented into current training programs via contrast training methods or as a part of plyometric training sessions. Assisted and resisted jump training is recommended for athletes in whom explosive lower-body movements such as jumping and sprinting are performed as part of competition.     

Rickettsial agents in Egyptian ticks collected from domestic animals

To assess the presence of rickettsial pathogens in ticks from Egypt, we collected ticks from domestic and peridomestic animals between June 2002 and July 2003. DNA extracts from 1019 ticks were tested, using PCR and sequencing, for Anaplasma spp., Bartonella spp., Coxiella burnetii, Ehrlichia spp., and Rickettsia spp. Ticks included: 29 Argas persicus, 10 Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum, 55 Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum, 174 Hyalomma dromedarii, 2 Hyalomma impeltatum, 3 Hyalomma marginatum rufipes, 55 unidentified nymphal Hyalomma, 625 Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus, 49 Rhipicephalus sanguineus, and 17 Rhipicephalus turanicus. Ticks were collected predominantly (>80%) from buffalo, cattle, and camels, with smaller numbers from chicken and rabbit sheds, sheep, foxes, a domestic dog, a hedgehog, and a black rat. We detected Anaplasma marginale, Coxiella burnetii, Rickettsia aeschlimannii, and four novel genotypes similar to: “Anaplasma platys,” Ehrlichia canis, Ehrlichia spp. reported from Asian ticks, and a Rickettsiales endosymbiont of Ixodes ricinus.