Optimising Seagrass Conservation for Ecological Functions

Ecosystems - Animals are central to numerous ecological processes that shape the structure and function of ecosystems. It follows that species that are strongly linked to specific functions can...     

Something for the weekend? Examining the bias in avian phenological recording

In this paper we examine the bias towards weekend recording (the weekend effect) in volunteer phenology, using over 14,000 bird migration phenological observations from eight locations in the UK as a data source. Data from 45 bird species were used. Overall, 44% of all records were taken at weekends in contrast to the 28.6% (i.e. two out of seven days) that would be expected if records were evenly spread throughout the week. Whilst there is documented evidence of environmental differences at weekends, particularly in large urban areas, we believe the weekend effect is mostly a consequence of greater recorder effort at weekends. Some birds, likely to be obvious by their behaviour or abundance, had fewer weekend records than the remaining species. The weekend effect, to some extent, differed between locations and between seasons. There was some evidence that, particularly in autumn, the weekend bias may be lessening. If so, this will increase the accuracy of phenological records, making the detection of changes and responses to temperature easier.     

Ligneous membranitis in Scottish Terriers is associated with a single nucleotide polymorphism in the plasminogen (PLG) gene

Ligneous membranitis (LM) is a rare chronic inflammatory condition of the mucous membranes associated with plasminogen (encoded by PLG) deficiency in affected humans and dogs. In human, the condition is genetic in nature with numerous mutations and polymorphisms in PLG identified in affected individuals and related family members. The condition is uncommonly reported in dogs and, to date, no genetic studies have been performed. We identified related Scottish Terriers (littermates) with severe LM and unaffected relatives (sire, dam and a sibling from a previous litter). Plasma plasminogen activity was below normal in one affected dog but within normal reference intervals for the other. Sequencing of PLG from the affected dogs revealed a homozygous A>T single nucleotide polymorphism in an intron donor site (c.1256+2T>A). The related, unaffected dogs displayed heterozygous alleles at this position (c.1256+2T/A), whereas no mutation was detected in unaffected, non‐related control dogs. This is the first report to identify gene polymorphisms associated with LM in dogs.     

Global patterns of geographic range size in birds

Large-scale patterns of spatial variation in species geographic range size are central to many fundamental questions in macroecology and conservation biology. However, the global nature of these patterns has remained contentious, since previous studies have been geographically restricted and/or based on small taxonomic groups. Here, using a database on the breeding distributions of birds, we report the first (to our knowledge) global maps of variation in species range sizes for an entire taxonomic class. We show that range area does not follow a simple latitudinal pattern. Instead, the smallest range areas are attained on islands, in mountainous areas, and largely in the southern hemisphere. In contrast, bird species richness peaks around the equator, and towards higher latitudes. Despite these profoundly different latitudinal patterns, spatially explicit models reveal a weak tendency for areas with high species richness to house species with significantly smaller median range area. Taken together, these results show that for birds many spatial patterns in range size described in geographically restricted analyses do not reflect global rules. It remains to be discovered whether global patterns in geographic range size are best interpreted in terms of geographical variation in species assemblage packing, or in the rates of speciation, extinction, and dispersal that ultimately underlie biodiversity.