Kin association during brood care in a facultatively social bird: active discrimination or by‐product of partner choice and demography?

Intra-group relatedness does not necessarily imply kin selection, a leading explanation for social evolution. An overlooked mechanism for generating population genetic structure is variation in longevity and fecundity, referred to as individual quality, affecting kin structure and the potential for cooperation. Individual quality also affects choosiness in partner choice, a key process explaining cooperation through direct fitness benefits. Reproductive skew theory predicts that relatedness decreases with increasing group size, but this relationship could also arise because of quality-dependent demography and partner choice, without active kin association. We addressed whether brood-rearing eider (Somateria mollissima) females preferentially associated with kin using a 6-year data set with individuals genotyped at 19 microsatellite loci and tested whether relatedness decreased with increasing female group size. We also determined the relationship between local relatedness and indices of female age and body condition. We further examined whether the level of female intracoalition relatedness differed from background relatedness in any year. As predicted, median female intra-group relatedness decreased with increasing female group size. However, the proportion of related individuals increased with advancing female age, and older females prefer smaller brood-rearing coalitions, potentially producing a negative relationship between group size and relatedness. There were considerable annual fluctuations in the level of relatedness between coalition-forming females, and in 1year this level exceeded that expected by random association. Thus, both passive and active mechanisms govern kin associations in brood-rearing eiders. Eiders apparently can discriminate between kin, but the benefits of doing so may vary over time.     

Packaging Strategies That Save Food: A Research Agenda for 2030

Thoroughly considering and optimizing packaging systems can avoid food loss and waste. We suggest a number of issues that must be explored and review the associated challenges. Five main issues were recognized through the extensive experience of the authors and engagement of multiple stakeholders. The issues promoted are classified as follows: (1) identify and obtain specific data of packaging functions that influence food waste; (2) understand the total environmental burden of product/package by considering the trade‐off between product protection and preservation and environmental footprint; (3) develop understanding of how these functions should be treated in environmental footprint evaluations; (4) improve packaging design processes to also consider reducing food waste; and (5) analyze stakeholder incentives to reduce food loss and waste. Packaging measures that save food will be important to fulfill the United Nations Sustainable Development goal to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and to reduce food losses along production and supply chains.     

Modelling the occurrence of threatened plant species in taiga landscapes: methodological and ecological perspectives

Aim Understanding the spatial patterns of species distribution and predicting the occurrence of high biological diversity and rare species are central themes in biogeography and environmental conservation. The aim of this study was to model and scrutinize the relative contributions of climate, topography, geology and land‐cover factors to the distributions of threatened vascular plant species in taiga landscapes in northern Finland. Location North‐east Finland, northern Europe. Methods The study was performed using a data set of 28 plant species and environmental variables at a 25‐ha resolution. Four different stepwise selection algorithms [Akaike information criterion (AIC), Bayesian information criterion (BIC), adaptive backfitting, cross selection] with generalized additive models (GAMs) were fitted to identify the main environmental correlates for species occurrences. The accuracies of the distribution models were evaluated using fourfold cross‐validation based on the area under the curve (AUC) derived from receiver operating characteristic plots. The GAMs were tentatively extrapolated to the whole study area and species occurrence probability maps were produced using GIS techniques. The effect of spatial autocorrelation on the modelling results was also tested by including autocovariate terms in the GAMs. Results According to the AUC values, the model performance varied from fair to excellent. The AIC algorithm provided the highest mean performance (mean AUC = 0.889), whereas the lowest mean AUC (0.851) was obtained from BIC. Most of the variation in the distribution of threatened plant species was related to growing degree days, temperature of the coldest month, water balance, cover of mire and mean elevation. In general, climate was the most powerful explanatory variable group, followed by land cover, topography and geology. Inclusion of the autocovariate only slightly improved the performance of the models and had a minor effect on the importance of the environmental variables. Main conclusions The results confirm that the landscape‐scale distribution patterns of plant species can be modelled well on the basis of environmental parameters. A spatial grid system with several environmental variables derived from remote sensing and GIS data was found to produce useful data sets, which can be employed when predicting species distribution patterns over extensive areas. Landscape‐scale maps showing the predicted occurrences of individual or multiple threatened plant species may provide a useful basis for focusing field surveys and allocating conservation efforts.     

Effects of sugar beet chitinase IV on root-associated fungal community of transgenic silver birch in a field trial

Heterogenous chitinases have been introduced in many plant species with the aim to increase the resistance of plants to fungal diseases. We studied the effects of the heterologous expression of sugar beet chitinase IV on the intensity of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) colonization and the structure of fungal communities in the field trial of 15 transgenic and 8 wild-type silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) genotypes. Fungal sequences were separated in denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and identified by sequencing the ITS1 region to reveal the operational taxonomic units. ECM colonization was less intense in 7 out of 15 transgenic lines than in the corresponding non-transgenic control plants, but the slight decrease in overall ECM colonization in transgenic lines could not be related to sugar beet chitinase IV expression or total endochitinase activity. One transgenic line showing fairly weak sugar beet chitinase IV expression without significantly increased total endochitinase activity differed significantly from the non-transgenic controls in the structure of fungal community. Five sequences belonging to three different fungal genera (Hebeloma, Inocybe, Laccaria) were indicative of wild-type genotypes, and one sequence (Lactarius) indicated one transgenic line. In cluster analysis, the non-transgenic control grouped together with the transgenic lines indicating that genotype was a more important factor determining the structure of fungal communities than the transgenic status of the plants. With the tested birch lines, no clear evidence for the effect of the heterologous expression of sugar beet chitinase IV on ECM colonization or the structure of fungal community was found.     

Phylogeny of Mysis (Crustacea, Mysida): history of continental invasions inferred from molecular and morphological data

We studied the phylogenetic history of opossum shrimps of the genus Mysis Latreille, 1802 (Crustacea: Mysida) using parsimony analyses of morphological characters, DNA sequence data from mitochondrial (16S, COI and CytB) and nuclear genes (ITS2, 18S), and eight allozyme loci. With these data we aimed to resolve a long‐debated question of the origin of the non‐marine (continental) taxa in the genus, i.e., “glacial relicts” in circumpolar postglacial lakes and “arctic immigrants” in the Caspian Sea. A simultaneous analysis of the data sets gave a single tree supporting monophyly of all continental species, as well as monophyly of the taxa from circumpolar lakes and from the Caspian Sea. A clade of three circumarctic marine species was sister group to the continental taxa, whereas Atlantic species had more distant relationships to the others. Small molecular differentiation among the morphologically diverse endemic species from the Caspian Sea suggested their recent speciation, while the phenotypically more uniform “glacial relict” species from circumpolar lakes (Mysis relicta group) showed deep molecular divergences. For the length‐variable ITS2 region both direct optimization and a priori alignment procedures gave similar topologies, although the former approach provided a better overall resolution. In terms of partitioned Bremer support (PBS), mitochondrial protein coding genes provided the largest contribution (83%) to the total tree resolution. This estimate however, appears to be partly spurious, due to the concerted inheritance of mitochondrial characters and probable cases of introgression or ancestral polymorphism. © The Willi Hennig Society 2005.     

Population fluctuations of the wood lemming<Emphasis Type="Italic">Myopus schisticolor</Emphasis> in eastern and western Finland

Olavi Eskelinen, Pertti Sulkava and Risto Sulkava From 1982 to 2003 we studied fluctuations in populations of the wood lemmingMyopus schisticolor (Liljeborg, 1844) in the Heinävesi (eastern Finland) and Keuruu regions (western Finland) by counting field signs and dead animals in standardized field surveys. We compared the population fluctuations of lemmings to those of other voles, owls and small mustelids in these regions. The lemming population in Heinävesi fluctuated regularly in 3-year cycles and in synchrony with the field vole population. Populations of owls also fluctuated in synchrony with wood lemming and field vole populations. In the Keuruu region, oscillations in the wood lemming population were irregular, and neither lemming and vole populations nor lemming and owl populations were correlated. Although direct mechanistic evidence is lacking, specialist predators such as weasels and owls probably cause the cyclicity in the field vole and wood lemming populations in the Heinävesi area. On the other hand, scarcity of high-quality habitats, unfavourable winter weather conditions and generalist predators may prevent the development of cyclicity in the wood lemming population of Keuruu.     

Coupling in goshawk and grouse population dynamics in Finland

Different prey species can vary in their significance to a particular predator. In the simplest case, the total available density or biomass of a guild of several prey species might be most relevant to the predator, but behavioural and ecological traits of different prey species can alter the picture. We studied the population dynamics of a predator–prey setting in Finland by fitting first-order log-linear vector autoregressive models to long-term count data from active breeding sites of the northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis; 1986–2009), and to three of its main prey species (1983–2010): hazel grouse (Bonasa bonasia), black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) and capercaillie (T. urogallus), which belong to the same forest grouse guild and show synchronous fluctuations. Our focus was on modelling the relative significance of prey species and estimating the tightness of predator–prey coupling in order to explain the observed population dynamics, simultaneously accounting for effects of density dependence, winter severity and spatial correlation. We established nine competing candidate models, where different combinations of grouse species affect goshawk dynamics with lags of 1–3 years. Effects of goshawk on grouse were investigated using one model for each grouse species. The most parsimonious model for goshawk indicated separate density effects of hazel grouse and black grouse, and different effects with lags of 1 and 3 years. Capercaillie showed no effects on goshawk populations, while the effect of goshawk on grouse was clearly negative only in capercaillie. Winter severity had significant adverse effects on goshawk and hazel grouse populations. In combination, large-scale goshawk–grouse population dynamics are coupled, but there are no clear mutual effects for any of the individual guild members. In a broader context, our study suggests that pooling data on closely related, synchronously fluctuating prey species can result in the loss of relevant information, rather than increased model parsimony.     

Phylogeography and population history of the least weasel (Mustela nivalis) in the Palearctic based on multilocus analysis

The least weasel (Mustela nivalis) is one of the most widely distributed carnivorans. While previous studies have identified distinct western and eastern mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages of the species in the western Palearctic, their broader distributions across the Palearctic have remained unknown. To address the broad-scale phylogeographical structure, we expanded the sampling to populations in Eastern Europe, the Urals, the Russian Far East, and Japan, and analyzed the mtDNA control region and cytochrome b, the final intron of the zinc finger protein on Y chromosome (ZFY), and the autosomal agouti signaling protein gene (ASIP). The mtDNA data analysis exposed the previous western lineage (Clade I) but poorly supported assemblage extending across Palearctic, whereas the previous eastern lineage (Clade II) was reconfirmed and limited in the south western part of the Palearctic. The ZFY phylogeny showed a distinctive split that corresponding to the mtDNA lineage split, although less phylogeographical structure was seen in the ASIP variation. Our data concur with the previous inference of the Black Sea–Caspian Sea area having an ancestral character. The Urals region harbored high mitochondrial diversity, with an estimated coalescent time of around 100,000 years, suggesting this could have been a cryptic refugium. Based on the coalescent-based demographic reconstructions, the expansion of Clade I across the Palearctic was remarkably rapid, while Clade II was relatively stable for a longer time. It seems that Clade II has maintained a constant population size in the temperate region, and the expansive Clade I represents adaptation to the cold regions.     

High Serum Leptin Is Associated with Attenuated Coronary Vasoreactivity

Objective: Hyperleptinemia, a hallmark of obesity, appears to be a risk factor for coronary artery disease. However, although leptin is a vasoactive hormone, no studies addressing leptin's effect on coronary perfusion have been performed. We examined the association between circulating leptin concentration and coronary vasoreactivity in young obese and nonobese males. Research Methods and Procedures: Myocardial blood flow was quantitated in 10 obese men (age 31 ± 7 years, BMI 34 ± 2 kg/m²) and 10 healthy matched nonobese men (age 33 ± 8 years, BMI 24 ± 2 kg/m²) using positron emission tomography and O‐15‐water. The measurements were performed basally and during adenosine infusion (140 μg/kg per minute). Results: Serum leptin was significantly higher in obese than nonobese subjects (10.3 ± 5.6 vs. 4.3 ± 2.5 ng/mL, p < 0.01). Basal myocardial blood flow was not significantly different between obese and nonobese subjects. Adenosine‐stimulated flow was blunted in obese (3.2 ± 0.6 mL/g per minute) when compared with nonobese subjects (4.0 ± 1.1 mL/g per minute, p < 0.05). Serum leptin concentration was inversely associated with adenosine‐stimulated flow in study subjects (r = ?0.50, p < 0.05). This association was no longer observed after adjustment for obesity and/or hyperinsulinemia. Discussion: Hyperleptinemia and reduced coronary vasoreactivity occur concomitantly in young obese but otherwise healthy men. Moreover, the adenosine‐stimulated myocardial flow is inversely related to prevailing concentration of serum leptin. Although this relationship appears to be explained by obesity and/or hyperinsulinemia, leptin might have a role in regulation of myocardial blood supply.