Semiempirical modeling of abiotic and biotic factors controlling ecosystem respiration across eddy covariance sites

In this study we examined ecosystem respiration (R_ECO) data from 104 sites belonging to FLUXNET, the global network of eddy covariance flux measurements. The goal was to identify the main factors involved in the variability of R_ECO: temporally and between sites as affected by climate, vegetation structure and plant functional type (PFT) (evergreen needleleaf, grasslands, etc.). We demonstrated that a model using only climate drivers as predictors of R_ECO failed to describe part of the temporal variability in the data and that the dependency on gross primary production (GPP) needed to be included as an additional driver of R_ECO. The maximum seasonal leaf area index (LAI_MAX) had an additional effect that explained the spatial variability of reference respiration (the respiration at reference temperature T_ref=15 °C, without stimulation introduced by photosynthetic activity and without water limitations), with a statistically significant linear relationship (r²=0.52, P<0.001, n=104) even within each PFT. Besides LAI_MAX, we found that reference respiration may be explained partially by total soil carbon content (SoilC). For undisturbed temperate and boreal forests a negative control of total nitrogen deposition (N_depo) on reference respiration was also identified. We developed a new semiempirical model incorporating abiotic factors (climate), recent productivity (daily GPP), general site productivity and canopy structure (LAI_MAX) which performed well in predicting the spatio‐temporal variability of R_ECO, explaining >70% of the variance for most vegetation types. Exceptions include tropical and Mediterranean broadleaf forests and deciduous broadleaf forests. Part of the variability in respiration that could not be described by our model may be attributed to a series of factors, including phenology in deciduous broadleaf forests and management practices in grasslands and croplands.     

Wintering behaviour and spatial ecology of Eurasian Woodcock Scolopax rusticola in western France

The spatial ecology of wintering Eurasian Woodcocks Scolopax rusticola was investigated to determine whether hunting-free forest reserves offer adequate protection to all individuals. The analysis of movements performed by 65 radiotagged Woodcocks during three consecutive winters in Brittany revealed the existence of three types of individual strategies. During daylight hours, 34% of birds remained in a unique core area (of 1.1 ha) during January and February while 18% used several core areas successively (never came back to a previously used core) and 48% alternated between several core areas (exploratory movements around several core areas visited several times). Alternating diurnal strategies seemed to result from a lower abundance of food (earthworms), whereas this was not the case in the unique core-use strategy. The successive core-use strategy was considered as a subset of the 'unique' strategy, for which birds were forced to change sites because of a lower abundance of food after depletion. During the night, 62% of birds showed alternative core-use whereas 33% lived in a unique core and the 'successive' strategy was almost absent. As food abundance was similar in the night cores used by birds under each strategy, we discuss the reasons for the nocturnal strategies in relation to individual differences in territoriality or the ability to detect predators. Both diurnal and nocturnal strategies led most of the birds to leave the reserve, and the important use of bocage and hedges by day (by 39% of birds) and meadows at night (83% of birds used meadows on more than 70% of nights), around the protected forest, call for their inclusion in management plans around reserves.     

Altitudinal distribution limits of aquatic macroinvertebrates: an experimental test in a tropical alpine stream

1. Temperature and oxygen are recognised as the main drivers of altitudinal limits of species distributions. However, the two factors are linked, and both decrease with altitude, why their effects are difficult to disentangle. 2. This was experimentally addressed using aquatic macroinvertebrates; larvae of Andesiops (Ephemeroptera), Claudioperla, (Plecoptera), Scirtes (Coleoptera) and Anomalocosmoecus (Trichoptera), and the amphipod Hyalella in an Ecuadorian glacier‐fed stream (4100–4500 m a.s.l.). The following were performed: (i) quantitative benthic sampling at three sites to determine altitudinal patterns in population densities, (ii) transplants of the five taxa upstream of their natural altitudinal limit to test the short‐term (14 days) effect on survival, and (iii) in situ experiments of locomotory activity as a proxy for animal response to relatively small differences in temperature (5 °C vs. 10 °C) and oxygen saturation (55% vs. 62%). 3. The transplant experiment reduced survival to a varying degree among taxa, but Claudioperla survived well at a site where it did not naturally occur. In the in situ experiment, Scirtes and Hyalella decreased their activity at lower oxygen saturation, whereas Andesiops and Anomalocosmoecus did so at a low temperature. The decrease in activity from a high to a low temperature and oxygen for the five taxa was significantly correlated with their mortality in the transplant experiment. 4. Together the present experiments indicate that even relatively small differences in temperature and oxygen may produce effects explaining ecological patterns, and depending on the taxon, either water temperature or oxygen saturation, without clear interacting effects, are important drivers of altitudinal limits.     

The development of the trigeminal jaw adductor musculature in the grass snake Natrix natrix

The ontogenetic development of the jaw adductor musculature in Natrix natrix (L.) is described in detail and related to patterns of ossification in the skull. A comparison with the development of the jaw adductors in the lizard Podarcis sicula reveals some interesting differences of dynamics in the developing head. The problem of the establishment of topological relations of similarity (homology) in developing systems is discussed.
The homologies of the external jaw adductor compartments in lizards and snakes are revised. Early ontogenetic divergence explains the reversal of fibre direction in the anterior portion of the external adductor of snakes, and renders the homologization of that fibre bundle with part of the external adductor in lizards impossible.     

Guyiling jianboni gen. et sp.n., an antlion‐like lacewing,illuminating homologies and transformations in Neuroptera wing venation

A new genus and species of antlion‐like fossil lacewing, Guyiling jianboni gen. et sp.n. (Insecta: Neuroptera) are described based on a single specimen from the Yixian Formation (Liaoning Province, China; Early Cretaceous). The new taxon exhibits derived traits such as distally dilated antennae and well‐developed anterior Banksian line (known in Myrmeleontidae), but also genuine plesiomorphies (at the level of Myrmeleontiformia), such as the divergence of a distinct CuA1 stem from MP2 + CuA1 (forewing), and a basal origin of MA (diverging from RP + MA; both wing pairs). This combination is unique among the ‘Palaeoleontidae’, a group better considered as a paraphyletic assemblage of various stem‐Myrmeleontiformia. The wing morphology of the new species is considered in the light of a survey of wing venation topological homologies (and implied transformations) among several Neuroptera families. The survey includes a revision of the holotype of Leptolingia jurassica Ren (Grammolingiidae; Jiulongshan Formation, Daohugou locality, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China; middle Jurassic). The forewing morphology of Guyiling jianboni gen. et sp.n. demonstrates that the fusion of MP2 with CuA, and the differentiation of CuA into two distinct main stems (namely CuA1 and CuA2) are traits shared with Myrmeleontidae and Ascalaphidae (and possibly Nemopteridae). However, the survey also demonstrates that a fusion of MP2 with CuA occurred repeatedly among Neuropterida, although by means of various modalities (namely translocation vs regular fusion). The ‘pectinate fusion’ of CuA(1) with MP2 [i.e. CuA1 has no distinct stem and emits successive branches from MP2 + CuA(1) partim] is a further step in this fusion, and occurred repeatedly as well (at least in the hind wings of Osmylidae and Nymphidae, and both fore‐ and hindwings of a sub‐group of Myrmeleontiformia including Myrmeleontidae and Ascalaphidae, and possibly Nemopteridae). It is anticipated that the current contribution will constitute useful background information for further studies, focusing on particular transformation cases, ideally including a documentation of intraspecific variation.     

Influence of reproductive success on breeding frequency in four southern petrels

Patterns of breeding frequency of White-headed Pterodroma lessoni, Great-winged Pterodroma macroptera, White-chinned Procellaria aequinoctialis and Grey Petrels Proceharia cinerea have been studied at Kerguelen and Crozet Islands. The White-headed Petrel (summer breeder) followed an essentially biennial cycle with only 13% of successful individuals breeding again the next year. On the other hand, the Great-winged Petrel (winter breeder) was mainly an annual breeder with 78% of successful birds breeding again the next year. Both White-chinned (summer breeder) and Grey Petrels (winter breeder) showed a higher breeding frequency than Pterodroma species, with 91% and 93%, respectively, of successful birds returning to breed the following season. These contrasting patterns may be related to the timing of energetic constraints encountered during the interbreeding period, principally the moult and the restoration of breeding condition. It is suggested that these post-breeding constraints are more marked in winter and in oceanic waters, leading to breeding frequencies being lower than in summer and in neritic waters. The intermediate patterns of breeding frequency found in the Great-winged Petrel (mainly annual) and the White-headed Petrel (mainly biennial) show that among Procellariiformes there is a continuum between annual and strictly biennial species.     

Similarity

Recent debates concerning conflicting hypotheses of higher-level phylogeny such as the sister-group relationships of tetrapods, turtles, birds and snakes, serve as examples in the analysis of the nature of morphological evidence as it is currently used in phylogeny reconstruction. We note a recent shift of emphasis towards ever-larger data matrices, which may come at the cost of detailed character analysis and argumentation. Because the assessment of morphological characters necessarily entails a conceptual element of abstraction, there is also a threat that preconceived notions of phylogeny influence character analysis. Because the test of congruence does not address character analysis in itself, we argue that character hypotheses, i.e. primary conjectures of homology, need to be testable, and potentially refutable, in their own right. We demonstrate the use of classical criteria of homology (topological relations and/or connectivity, in conjunction with the subsidiary criteria of special similarity and intermediate forms) in the test, and refutation, of morphological characters. Rejection of the classical criteria of homology in the test of morphological character hypotheses requires the formulation of alternative methods of test and potential falsification of morphological characters that have so far not been proposed. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 75 , 59–82.     

Fish community changes after minimum flow increase: testing quantitative predictions in the Rhône River at Pierre-Bénite, France

1. Many aspects of the flow regime influence the structure of stream communities, among which the minimum discharge left in rivers has received particular attention. However, instream habitat models predicting the ecological impacts of discharge management often lack biological validation and spatial generality, particularly for large rivers with many fish species. 2. The minimum flow at Pierre‐Bénite, a reach of the Rhône river bypassed by artificial channels, was increased from 10 to 100 m³ s^?1 in August 2000 (natural mean discharge 1030 m³ s^?1), resulting in a fivefold increase in average velocity at minimum flow. Fish were electrofished in several habitat units on 12 surveys between 1995 and 2004. 3. Principal components analysis revealed a significant change in the relative abundance of fish species. The relative abundance of species preferring fast‐flowing and/or deep microhabitats increased from two‐ to fourfold after minimum flow increase. A change in community structure confirmed independent quantitative predictions of an instream habitat model. This change was significantly linked to minimum flow increase, but not to any other environmental variables describing high flows or temperature at key periods of fish life cycle. The rapidity of the fish response compared with the lifespan of individual species can be explained by a differential response of specific size classes. 4. The fish community at Pierre‐Bénite is in a transitional stage and only continued monitoring will indicate if the observed shift in community structure is perennial. We expect that our case study will be compared with other predictive tests of the impacts of flow restoration in large rivers, in the Rhône catchment and elsewhere.