Grouped sequential exploitation of food patches in a flock feeder,the feral pigeon

Feral and laboratory flocks of rock doves ($\text{Columba}$$\text{livia}$) show a pattern of grouped sequential exploitation when simultaneously presented with two dispersed, depleting patches of seed. This behavior contrasts with the ideal free distribution pattern shown when patches are small and concentrated. Grouped sequential exploitation consists of two phases: all pigeons first land together and feed at one patch, then leave one by one for the other patch. Departure times of individuals for the second patch are correlated with feeding rate at patch 1, which is in turn correlated with position in the dominance hierarchy. The decision to switch from patch 1 to patch 2 improves individual feeding rates in all cases, but is done slightly later than it should according to optimal foraging theory.     

Buspirone: A potential atypical neuroleptic

Buspirone produces a dose-dependent but short-lived elevation in striatal dopamine (DA) metabolites in the rat. $\text{In}$$\text{vitro}$, buspirone possesses an affinity similar to sulpiride for DA receptors (3H-spiperone). A moderate affinity for α₁ receptors was also observed while buspirone was inactive at α₂, β, muscarinic and serotonin₂ receptors. This pharmacological profile as well as previous behavioral data indicate that buspirone may be a potential “atypical” neuroleptic.     

Hotspots of biotic compositional change in lakes along vast latitudinal transects in northern Canada

Ecotones mark zones of rapid change in ecological structure at various spatial scales. They are believed to be particularly susceptible to shifts caused by environmental transformation, making them key regions for studying the effects of global change. Here, we explored the variation in assemblage structure of aquatic primary producer and consumer communities across latitudinal transects in northeastern North America (Québec‐Labrador) to identify spatial patterns in biodiversity that indicated the location of transition zones across the landscape. We analyzed species richness and the cumulative rate of compositional change (expressed as beta‐diversity) of diatoms and chironomids to detect any abrupt shifts in the rate of spatial taxonomic turnover. We used principal coordinates analysis to estimate community turnover with latitude, then applied piecewise linear regression to assess the position of ecotones. Statistically significant changes in assemblage composition occurred at 52 and 55°N, corresponding to the transition between closed‐ and open‐crown forest, and to the southern onset of the forest tundra (i.e., the forest limit), respectively. The spatial distribution of ecotones was most strongly related to air temperature for chironomids and to vegetation‐ and soil‐related chemical attributes of lake water for diatoms, including dissolved organic carbon content and water color. Lakes at mid‐ to high‐latitudes currently face pressures from rapidly rising temperatures, accompanied by large increases in organic carbon inputs from their catchments, often leading to browning and its associated effects. The biota at the base of food webs in lakes located in transition zones are disproportionately affected by the cascading effects of these multi‐factorial changes, concurrent with pronounced terrestrial greening observed in these regions. Similar patterns of biotic shifts have been observed along alpine aquatic transects, indicating the potential for widespread restructuring of cold, high‐altitude and high‐latitude freshwater communities due to global change.     

‘A genealogist's paradise’: France,Québec and the genealogics of race

Genealogy, or the study of one's ancestral patri-lineage, has a long and esteemed pedigree in French Canadian and Québécois history. From Cyprien Tanguay's late-nineteenth-century encyclopedias to René Jetté's updated versions more than a century later, genealogy has been an important component of French Canadian nationalisms. Tracing one's ancestry back to the early St. Lawrence settlement in the seventeenth century has provided Québécois subjects with opportune political and social capital with which to make territorial and national claims legitimate. Through a case study approach, I explain how genealogy provides the grounds upon which Québécois and French subjects remember a shared past. Specifically, I examine a variety of sites of memory in the French countryside, including a museum that relies on ‘genealogics’ to call the French Canadian Québécois back to its roots. As such, I demonstrate how the biological, read as a contemporary articulation of Balibar's notion of the racial supplément necessary to nation building, travels across the Atlantic.     

Morphofunctional study of the bill and hyoid apparatus of Momotus momota (Aves, Coraciiformes, Momotidae): implications for omnivorous feeding adaptation in motmots

The present study contrasts available biological data and results of morphofunctional analyses of the bill and hyoid apparatus in motmots. It shows that these omnivorous birds, which take relatively large food items, possess osteomuscular peculiarities that enable them to process these items as a whole in order to soften or cut them, and make them suited for easy ingestion. For that, they use the crenate edges of their rhamphotheca. Their jaws work as a highly mobile saw-like system. Their mutual movements, enhanced by the fact that particular dispositions of the hyoid apparatus rise the tongue and the supported items high up into buccal cavity, facilitate an effective clamping of items that can be moved along the jaws and be quite appropriately processed.     

Influence of vegetation on the accumulation of peat in southern Quebec

Mirabel bog (southern Quebec) was studied with the aim of specifying the past influence of local vegetation on peat accumulation. This influence was essentially translated by the reduction of minerotrophic inputs and peat accumulation induced by the highering of the peatland surface. Extremely rich initial conditions allow to explain the very high accumulations of the beginning of the Holocene, observed in various plant communities, among which Larix forests with ferns and Carex without modern analogues. Moreover, the structure (forest density) and the composition (dominance of Cyperaceae or Ericaceae) of these communities have locally controlled the dynamic of peat accumulation. These results point out the interest of the confrontation between palynological and macrofossil data and the spatialisation of palaeoecological studies.     

Adaptations of the hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) to leaf-eating. Morphological characteristics and functional features of its bill and hyoid apparatus

The hoatzin remains one of the most enigmatic birds. A morphofunctional analysis of its bill and hyoid apparatus throws new light on its feeding adaptation as well as on its systematic relationships. Bony and muscular skull, rhamphotheca, palate, and hyoid apparatus were described in details. Though keeping into the general organisation pattern found among Neognathae (except Galliformes), bill and hyoid apparatus of the hoatzin displays a series of species-specific features, some unique among birds. This species appears particularly well adapted to tear of leaves and process them inside the bill before ingestion. Because of very important anatomical and thence functional differences in bill and hyoid structure, any close relationship between the hoatzin and Galliformes cannot be envisioned. Such a hypothesis would implicate a counter-selective evolutionary reversion.     

Body Size Variations in Caribou Ecotypes and Relationships With Demography

ABSTRACT In many vertebrates size is one of the most influential and variable individual characteristics and a strong determinant of reproductive success. Body size is generally density dependent and decreases when intraspecific competition increases. Frequent and long-distance movements increase energy expenditures and, therefore, may also influence body size, particularly in highly mobile species. Caribou (Rangifer tarandus, also known as reindeer) exhibit tremendous variation in size and movements and thus represent an excellent candidate species to test the relationships between body size, population size, and movements. We analyzed body measurements of adult female caribou from 7 herds of the Québec-Labrador Peninsula, Canada, and we related their morphology to population size, movements, and annual ranges. The herds represented 3 ecotypes (migratory, montane, and sedentary). Ecotypes and herds differed in size (length), shape (roundness), and movements. The sedentary ecotype was larger and moved 4 to 7 times less than the migratory ecotype in the 1990s. At the start of a demographic growth period in the early 1960s, migratory caribou from the Rivière-George (hereafter George) herd had longer mandibles than caribou of the sedentary ecotype. Mandible length in the George herd declined in the 1980s after rapid population growth, while individuals performed extensive movements and the herd's annual range increased. Migratory caribou then became shorter than sedentary caribou. After the George herd decline in the 1990s, mandible length increased again near levels of the 1980s. Caribou from the migratory Rivière-aux-Feuilles herd later showed a similar decline in mandible length during a period of population growth, associated with longer movements and increasing annual range. We hypothesize that the density-dependent effect observed on body size might have been exerted through summer habitat degradation and movement variations during herd growth. Our study has 2 important implications for caribou management: the distinctiveness of different populations and ecotypes, and the correlations between population trajectories and changes in body condition and habitat.     

Ruffed Grouse Winter Habitat Use in Mixed Softwood-Hardwood Forests,Québec,Canada

Abstract: Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) is a popular small game species in northeastern North America. We assessed female ruffed grouse habitat characteristics during winter of 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 in a region dominated by mixed softwood-hardwood forests by comparing used and random locations. We followed 23 radiotagged adult females in 2 forest sites of the Réserve faunique de Portneuf, Québec, Canada, from late November to mid-April. We described grouse habitat using ground surveys and identified selected habitat characteristics using analysis of variance and logistic regression. Females preferred mixed softwood-hardwood stands > 17 m tall and 61-120 years old. Compared with random locations, grouse locations had more well-developed total canopy cover (>4m;75%), canopy (>4m;35%), midstory (1-4 m tall; 35%), and lower-story (<1 m tall; 23%) coniferous cover, and higher coniferous stem density and tree basal area (dbh > 9 cm; 343 stems/ha and 9.0 m²/ha, respectively). Forest management should maintain mature mixed softwood-hardwood stands (50% coniferous), which are adequate winter habitat for ruffed grouse.     

Behavioral Adaptations of Moose to Roadside Salt Pools

Abstract: Sodium has many fundamental physiological functions in animals but is rare in boreal ecosystems where moose (Alces alces) thrive. In Québec (Canada), sodium is readily available in aquatic vegetation and in salt pools that form along highways. We do not know if moose are adopting specific behaviors to access sodium sources or if they simply use the sodium sources they encounter during their movements. We tested the hypothesis that moose modify both space and habitat use to gather sodium from salt pools. We expected moose to use salt pools mostly in spring and early summer, when needs are greatest and before aquatic vegetation has fully developed. We fitted 47 moose with Global Positioning System telemetry collars and collected data for 2 to 36 months between 2003 and 2006. We rarely located moose at salt pools (0.12% among the 95,007 locations collected). As we expected, use of salt pools was highest in late spring and in early summer, and we observed a time lag between peak use of salt pools compared to use of lakes and waterways, indicating moose fulfilled their sodium requirements in salt pools before aquatic vegetation was available. Moose selected salt pools over lakes and waterways when these 2 sodium sources were present in their home range and moved rapidly over large distances to reach them. Our results were consistent with moose using salt pools when they are likely to be sodium deficient. Salt pools were less accessible, required long-distance movements, and were located in habitually avoided areas along highways. Elimination of roadside salt pools should be considered among strategies to reduce cervid-vehicle collision risks in boreal environments.