Trophic mismatch and its effects on the growth of young in an Arctic herbivore

In highly seasonal environments, timing of breeding of organisms is typically set to coincide with the period of highest resource availability. However, breeding phenology may not change at a rate sufficient to keep up with rapid changes in the environment in the wake of climate change. The lack of synchrony between the phenology of consumers and that of their resources can lead to a phenomenon called trophic mismatch, which may have important consequences on the reproductive success of herbivores. We analyzed long‐term data (1991–2010) on climate, plant phenology and the reproduction of a long‐distance Arctic migrant, the greater snow goose (Chen caerulescens atlantica), in order to examine the effects of mismatched reproduction on the growth of young. We found that geese are only partially able to adjust their breeding phenology to compensate for annual changes in the timing of high‐quality food plants, leading to mismatches of up to 20 days between the two. The peak of nitrogen concentration in plants, an index of their nutritive quality for goslings, occurred earlier in warm springs with an early snow melt. Likewise, mismatch between hatch dates of young and date of peak nitrogen was more important in years with early snow melt. Gosling body mass and structural size at fledging was reduced when trophic mismatch was high, particularly when the difference between date of peak nitrogen concentration and hatching was >9 days. Our results support the hypothesis that trophic mismatch can negatively affect the fitness of Arctic herbivores and that this is likely to be exacerbated by rising global temperatures.     

Intramuscular fat in lamb muscle and the impact of selection for improved carcass lean meat yield

Intramuscular fat percentage (IMF%) has been shown to have a positive influence on the eating quality of red meat. Selection of Australian lambs for increased lean tissue and reduced carcass fatness using Australian Sheep Breeding Values has been shown to decrease IMF% of the Muscularis longissimus lumborum. The impact this selection has on the IMF% of other muscle depots is unknown. This study examined IMF% in five different muscles from 400 lambs (M. longissimus lumborum, Muscularis semimembranosus, Muscularis semitendinosus, Muscularis supraspinatus, Muscularis infraspinatus). The sires of these lambs had a broad range in carcass breeding values for post-weaning weight, eye muscle depth and fat depth over the 12^th rib (c-site fat depth). Results showed IMF% to be highest in the M. supraspinatus (4.87±0.1, P<0.01) and lowest in the M. semimembranosus (3.58±0.1, P<0.01). Hot carcass weight was positively associated with IMF% of all muscles. Selection for decreasing c-site fat depth reduced IMF% in the M. longissimus lumborum, M. semimembranosus and M. semitendinosus. Higher breeding values for post-weaning weight and eye muscle depth increased and decreased IMF%, respectively, but only in the lambs born as multiples and raised as singles. For each per cent increase in lean meat yield percentage (LMY%), there was a reduction in IMF% of 0.16 in all five muscles examined. Given the drive within the lamb industry to improve LMY%, our results indicate the importance of continued monitoring of IMF% throughout the different carcass regions, given its importance for eating quality.     

Body mass dynamics during incubation and duration of parental care in Pacific Dunlins Calidris alpina pacifica: a test of the differential parental capacity hypothesis

Breeding is energetically expensive and individuals face a trade‐off between current and future breeding investment. Due to their production of large eggs, female birds are thought to have substantially higher initial energetic investments than males, which decrease the female's offspring rearing capacity. The differential parental capacity hypothesis argues that this large initial investment limits the ability of female shorebirds to provide extended parental care, which can ultimately lead to offspring desertion. This hypothesis predicts that (1) during early incubation females will be in poorer condition than males, (2) both sexes will lose condition during incubation, but the decline in females will be slower than the decline in males and (3) there will be a positive relationship between female condition and the duration of maternal brood care. These predictions were tested using data on body mass adjusted for body size (as a proxy for condition) and parental care from Pacific Dunlins Calidris alpina pacifica nesting on the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. None of the predictions received support: females were heavier than males in early incubation, the overall pattern during incubation was that males gained mass while female mass remained relatively constant, and there was no relationship between female mass and maternal brood care duration. These results suggest that the factors influencing parental care decisions are more complex than a parent simply caring until it is physiologically unable to do so.     

两种广西特有报春苣苔属(苦苣苔科)植物传粉生物学研究

通过野外观察和室内试验,对两种广西特有的桂林小花苣苔和阳朔小花苣苔的传粉生物学进行比较研究。结果表明:两种报春苣苔属植物花期从7月底至8月初;单花花期内花粉具有较高的活性,最高可达92.6%和94.5%;柱头可授性最高时可达90%和95%;花粉/胚珠比率(P/O)分别为110.28±17.45和229.65±18.00;柱头与花药之间存在着空间隔离,可防止自花授粉;在单花花冠裂片张开后第3天,花药开始散粉,但雌蕊在花朵刚开始开放时已伸长,待第3天时柱头已伸长到位于花冠筒口部,高于花药,便于接受异花花粉;该两种植物均不存在无融合生殖现象;两种报春巨苔属植物均高度自交亲和,但很难发生自发的自花授粉,必须依靠外力,因此传粉媒介对于结实率有重要影响,自然条件下基本不发生自花授粉;在自然状态下结实率明显低于两种人工授粉的结实率;小蜂和淡脉隧蜂是目前已知仅见的两种传粉者。     

海南三七（姜科）的食源性欺骗传粉

有花植物为繁殖成功,进化出各种各样的花部特征来吸引传粉者,如为传粉者提供花蜜、花粉、栖息地等,然而在33科146属的被子植物中也存在着不提供任何报酬而欺骗昆虫为其传粉的现象。这种欺骗性传粉模式主要出现在高度进化的具有多样化传粉模式的兰科植物中。报道了在姜科植物中首次发现的食源性欺骗传粉模式。对姜科山柰属海南三七进行连续2年的传粉生物学观察和研究发现,海南三七的花在早上5:30～6:00之间开放,下午17:00～18:00左右闭合萎蔫,持续大约11～12h。开花过程中花粉活性与柱头可受性均保持较高水平(>90%)。花粉/胚珠比率(P/O)为82.20±47.89(n=20)。木蜂是其主要的访花和传粉昆虫,访花目的是吸取花蜜。海南三七虽有细长线形的蜜腺,但并不分泌花蜜作为传粉昆虫访花的报酬,采用食源性欺骗的方式欺骗木蜂为其传粉。繁育系统的研究表明广西弄化的海南三七居群主要是通过根茎进行无性繁殖。     

普通夜鹰的繁殖习性及雏鸟的生长发育

2007年5～6月,对1窝普通夜鹰的繁殖习性及雏鸟的生长发育进行了观察.普通夜鹰育雏期约为18 d.雌、雄性都参与孵卵和育雏.育雏期每天有3个喂食高峰期,分别是晚上20:00～22:00、凌晨0:00~2:00、早上4:00~6:00.育雏过程中,亲鸟的领域性弱,护雏性强.初级飞羽在雏鸟出壳6 d后长出,但生长速度最快.     

Enhanced control of sheep ticks in upland sheep flocks: repercussions for red grouse co-hosts

Sheep ticks Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae) and tick-borne diseases cause major economic losses in both upland sheep farming and moorland shoots of red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus. Sheep were treated with acaricide four times between March and October and double-vaccinated against louping ill virus (LIV), instead of the conventional regime of two acaricide treatments and no vaccinations, on two moors in northern England. Enhanced treatment started at Westerdale Moor in 1995 and at Danby Moor in 2000; the latter had previously represented a spatial control site. From 1992 to 2003, grouse chick condition, tick burdens, reproductive success, shooting bags and LIV seroprevalence were measured. A total of 1297 grouse chicks from 398 broods were examined for ticks. Enhanced acaricide treatment reduced tick burdens by 90%, and LIV seroprevalence decreased in relation to the number of years since treatment began. Breeding success and post-breeding densities of grouse in the current sample area remained unrelated to acaricide treatment, tick burdens or LIV seroprevalence, but 25% and 60% more grouse were shot on Westerdale and Danby, respectively, after treatment enhancement than before. By improving shooting bags, tick management schemes help to maintain the economic viability of grouse moors, which, in turn, provide upland landscape and wildlife benefits.     

Factors Affecting the Outcome of Artificial Insemination Using Cryopreserved Spermatozoa in the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Artificial insemination (AI) is an important component of captive breeding programs for endangered species, such as the giant panda. The panda has been the subject of increasingly successful captive breeding programs involving a compilation of assisted breeding techniques, including AI using cryopreserved spermatozoa. AI implementation is currently hampered by a lack of understanding of the factors that may cause failure. We investigated factors influencing the probability of success of AI for 14 giant panda females housed at the China Center for Research and Conservation of the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) inseminated in a total of 20 instances using cryopreserved spermatozoa from 11 males currently residing in 6 different captive breeding institutions. One of the pandas was the oldest giant panda female to ever successfully conceive from AI (20.5 years old). The success of AI was significantly affected by the timing of AI in relationship to both timing of peak urinary estrogen of the female and percent decline in urinary estrogen between the peak level and the first AI attempt. Our results suggest that the window for successful AI in giant pandas may be narrower than previously suspected, although individual differences in rates of decline in urinary estrogen may reflect some degree of variation in this crucial window across females. Our results are consistent with recent research on pandas and other species that demonstrates the efficacy of cryopreserved spermatozoa for AI and highlights the need for more in‐depth analysis of factors related to female physiology that may influence its success. Zoo Biol 31:561‐573, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An in‐field experimental test of pinniped behavioral types

There has been extensive recent interest in the concepts of behavioral types, behavioral syndromes, and personalities in nonhuman animal species. Evidence for behavioral types now exists from a wide range of taxa, from mollusks to mammals. However, marine mammals are poorly represented in this literature. Here, we describe an in‐field experimental test of behavioral types in breeding gray seals, using a remotely controlled vehicle to deliver a standardized test stimulus to target individuals. We report on the design and implementation of this test and on the behavioral responses of individuals. Analysis of behavioral responses from both males and females revealed consistent individual differences across tests, suggesting that this is a practical and viable technique for determining individual variation in behavioral type in the field. Despite extensive literature on behavioral types, studies of behavioral types in wild populations remain rare. It is, therefore, important to develop ways to identify and quantify the existence of behavioral types in natural populations, because only by doing this, can we hope to ascertain the ecological and evolutionary relevance of behavioral types.     

Love the one you're with: proximity determines paternity success in the barnacle Tetraclita rubescens

A species' mating system sets limits on the strength of sexual selection. Sexual selection is widespread in dioecious species, but is less well documented in hermaphrodites, and may be less important. We used four highly polymorphic microsatellite markers to assign paternity to broods of the hermaphroditic eastern Pacific volcano barnacle Tetraclita rubescens. These data were used to describe the species' mating system and to examine factors affecting male reproductive success. Tetraclita can sire broods over distances of 11.2 cm, but proximity to the sperm recipient had a highly significant effect on the probability of siring success. There was no effect of body size or the mass of male reproductive tissues on siring success. Broods showed relatively low frequencies of multiple paternity; even at high densities, 75% of broods had only one father. High frequencies of single‐paternity broods imply either that this species does not compete via sperm displacement, or that sperm displacement is extremely effective, potentially explaining the lack of a positive relationship between male investment and paternity. In addition, there was low variance in siring success among individuals, suggesting a lack of strong sexual selection on male traits. Low variance among sires and the strong effect of proximity are probably driven by the unusual biology of a sessile copulating species.