Preliminary evaluation of a nest usage sensor to detect double nest occupations of laying hens.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaninelli, Mauro; Costa, Annamaria; Tangorra, Francesco Maria; Rossi, Luciana; Agazzi, Alessandro; Savoini, Giovanni

2015-01-26

Conventional cage systems will be replaced by housing systems that allow hens to move freely. These systems may improve hens' welfare, but they lead to some disadvantages: disease, bone fractures, cannibalism, piling and lower egg production. New selection criteria for existing commercial strains should be identified considering individual data about laying performance and the behavior of hens. Many recording systems have been developed to collect these data. However, the management of double nest occupations remains critical for the correct egg-to-hen assignment. To limit such events, most systems adopt specific trap devices and additional mechanical components. Others, instead, only prevent these occurrences by narrowing the nest, without any detection and management. The aim of this study was to develop and test a nest usage "sensor", based on imaging analysis, that is able to automatically detect a double nest occupation. Results showed that the developed sensor correctly identified the double nest occupation occurrences. Therefore, the imaging analysis resulted in being a useful solution that could simplify the nest construction for this type of recording system, allowing the collection of more precise and accurate data, since double nest occupations would be managed and the normal laying behavior of hens would not be discouraged by the presence of the trap devices.

Preliminary Evaluation of a Nest Usage Sensor to Detect Double Nest Occupations of Laying Hens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauro Zaninelli

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Conventional cage systems will be replaced by housing systems that allow hens to move freely. These systems may improve hens’ welfare, but they lead to some disadvantages: disease, bone fractures, cannibalism, piling and lower egg production. New selection criteria for existing commercial strains should be identified considering individual data about laying performance and the behavior of hens. Many recording systems have been developed to collect these data. However, the management of double nest occupations remains critical for the correct egg-to-hen assignment. To limit such events, most systems adopt specific trap devices and additional mechanical components. Others, instead, only prevent these occurrences by narrowing the nest, without any detection and management. The aim of this study was to develop and test a nest usage “sensor”, based on imaging analysis, that is able to automatically detect a double nest occupation. Results showed that the developed sensor correctly identified the double nest occupation occurrences. Therefore, the imaging analysis resulted in being a useful solution that could simplify the nest construction for this type of recording system, allowing the collection of more precise and accurate data, since double nest occupations would be managed and the normal laying behavior of hens would not be discouraged by the presence of the trap devices.

Bee species-specific nesting material attracts a generalist parasitoid: implications for co-occurring bees in nest box enhancements.

Science.gov (United States)

Macivor, J Scott; Salehi, Baharak

2014-08-01

Artificial nests (e.g., nest boxes) for bees are increasingly being used to contribute to nesting habitat enhancement for bees that use preexisting cavities to provision brood. They usually incorporate additional nesting materials that vary by species. Cavity-nesting bees are susceptible to brood parasitoids that recognize their host(s) using visual and chemical cues. Understanding the range of cues that attract parasitoids to bee nests, including human-made analogues, is important if we wish to control parasitism and increase the potential value of artificial nests as habitat-enhancement strategies. In this study, we investigated the cues associated with the orientation of the generalist brood parasitoid Monodontomerus obscurus Westwood (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) to the nests of a common cavity-nesting resin bee Megachile campanulae (Robertson) (Megachilidae). The parasitoids were reared from previously infested M. campanulae brood cells and placed into choice trials where they were presented with pairs of different nest material cues. Among different materials tested, we found that Mo. obscurus was most attracted to fresh resin collected directly from Pinus strobus trees followed by previously used resin collected from the bee nest. The parasitoid also attacked other bee species in the same nest boxes, including those that do not use resin for nesting. Our findings suggest that M. campanulae could act as a magnet, drawing parasites away from other bee hosts co-occurring in nest boxes, or, as an attractant of Mo. obscurus to nest boxes, increasing attacks on co-occurring host bee species, potentially undermining bee diversity enhancement initiatives.

Antiresonant hollow core fiber with seven nested capillaries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Antonio-Lopez, Jose E.; Habib, Selim; Van Newkirk, Amy

2016-01-01

We report an antiresonant hollow core fiber formed of 7 non-touching capillaries with inner tubes. The fiber has a core diameter of ∼33μm and a core wall of ∼780nm of thickness. We demonstrate robust single mode operation at 1064nm and broad transmission bandwidth.......We report an antiresonant hollow core fiber formed of 7 non-touching capillaries with inner tubes. The fiber has a core diameter of ∼33μm and a core wall of ∼780nm of thickness. We demonstrate robust single mode operation at 1064nm and broad transmission bandwidth....

Double-Crested Cormorant ( Phalacrocorax auritus) Nesting Effects on Understory Composition and Diversity on Island Ecosystems in Lake Erie

Science.gov (United States)

McGrath, Darby M.; Murphy, Stephen D.

2012-08-01

The context for this study is the management concerns over the severity and extent of the impact of cormorants on island flora in the recent past on Lake Erie islands. Accordingly, this study sought to quantify the nesting colonies' influence on coarse woody litter and how nest densities and litter depth may influence the herbaceous layer, the seed bank composition and viability across the extent of three Lake Erie islands. The data for this study were collected from 2004 to 2008 on East Sister Island and Middle Island using two main strategies. First, herbaceous layer surveys, cormorant nest counts, soil seed bank cores, and litter depth measurements were executed using a plotless-point quarter method to test island-wide impacts from nesting activities (data were also collected on a third island, West Sister Island as a reference for the other two islands). Secondly, a sub-sample of the entire plot set was examined in particularly high nesting density areas for two islands (Middle Island and East Sister Island). Kruskal-Wallis tests indicated that there are subtle changes in the herbaceous diversity (total, native and exotic) and seed bank composition across the islands. The sub sample set of the plots demonstrated that Phalacrocorax auritus nest density does influence litter depth, herbaceous species abundance and diversity. Cormorant nesting pressures are restricted to areas of high nesting pressures and competition. However, there remains a risk to the interior herbaceous layer of the island if the effects of nesting pressures at the edges advance inward from this perimeter.

Nesting biology of the trap-nesting Neotropical wasp Trypoxylo n(Trypargilum) aurifrons Shuckard (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae)

OpenAIRE

Santoni,Mariana Marchi; Del Lama,Marco Antonio

2007-01-01

The present study was carried out in three localities of the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Araras (Dec/03-Dec/06), São Carlos (Nov/04-Nov/06) and Rifaina (Jul/04-Dec/06). Trap-nests were distributed among sites in the sampling areas and were collected every 35 days. Data from 295 nests indicate that T. aurifrons is a multivoltine species, with higher rates of nest building and cell production in the warm, rainy season. The trap-nests used by the females ranged from 117 to 467 mm in length and 3...

Nesting ecology and nest survival of lesser prairie-chickens on the Southern High Plains of Texas

Science.gov (United States)

Grisham, Blake A.; Borsdorf, Philip K.; Boal, Clint W.; Boydston, Kathy K.

2014-01-01

The decline in population and range of lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) throughout the central and southern Great Plains has raised concerns considering their candidate status under the United States Endangered Species Act. Baseline ecological data for lesser prairie-chickens are limited, especially for the shinnery oak-grassland communities of Texas. This information is imperative because lesser prairie-chickens in shinnery oak grasslands occur at the extreme southwestern edge of their distribution. This geographic region is characterized by hot, arid climates, less fragmentation, and less anthropogenic development than within the remaining core distribution of the species. Thus, large expanses of open rangeland with less anthropogenic development and a climate that is classified as extreme for ground nesting birds may subsequently influence nest ecology, nest survival, and nest site selection differently compared to the rest of the distribution of the species. We investigated the nesting ecology of 50 radio-tagged lesser prairie-chicken hens from 2008 to 2011 in the shinnery oak-grassland communities in west Texas and found a substantial amount of inter-annual variation in incubation start date and percent of females incubating nests. Prairie-chickens were less likely to nest near unimproved roads and utility poles and in areas with more bare ground and litter. In contrast, hens selected areas dominated by grasses and shrubs and close to stock tanks to nest. Candidate models including visual obstruction best explained daily nest survival; a 5% increase in visual obstruction improved nest survival probability by 10%. The model-averaged probability of a nest surviving the incubation period was 0.43 (SE = 0.006; 95% CI: 0.23, 0.56). Our findings indicate that lesser prairie-chicken reproduction during our study period was dynamic and was correlated with seasonal weather patterns that ultimately promoted greater grass growth earlier in the

Microsatellite diversity and broad scale geographic structure in a model legume: building a set of nested core collection for studying naturally occurring variation in Medicago truncatula

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ronfort, Joelle; Bataillon, Thomas; Santoni, Sylvain

2006-01-01

at representing the genetic diversity of this species with a minimum of repetitiveness. We investigate the patterns of genetic diversity and population structure in a collection of 346 inbred lines representing the breadth of naturally occurring diversity in the Legume plant model Medicago truncatula using 13...... of inbred lines and the core collections are publicly available and will help coordinating efforts for the study of naturally occurring variation in the growing Medicago truncatula community....

Ground Truth Collections at the MTI Core Sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garrett, A.J.

2001-01-01

The Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) selected 13 sites across the continental US and one site in the western Pacific to serve as the primary or core site for collection of ground truth data for validation of MTI science algorithms. Imagery and ground truth data from several of these sites are presented in this paper. These sites are the Comanche Peak, Pilgrim and Turkey Point power plants, Ivanpah playas, Crater Lake, Stennis Space Center and the Tropical Western Pacific ARM site on the island of Nauru. Ground truth data includes water temperatures (bulk and skin), radiometric data, meteorological data and plant operating data. The organizations that manage these sites assist SRTC with its ground truth data collections and also give the MTI project a variety of ground truth measurements that they make for their own purposes. Collectively, the ground truth data from the 14 core sites constitute a comprehensive database for science algorithm validation

Contamination Control of Freeze Shoe Coring System for Collection of Aquifer Sands

Science.gov (United States)

Homola, K.; van Geen, A.; Spivack, A. J.; Grzybowski, B.; Schlottenmier, D.

2017-12-01

We have developed and tested an original device, the freeze-shoe coring system, designed to recover undisturbed samples of water contained in sand-dominated aquifers. Aquifer sands are notoriously difficult to collect together with porewater from coincident depths, as high hydraulic permeability leads to water drainage and mixing during retrieval. Two existing corer designs were reconfigured to incorporate the freeze-shoe system; a Hydraulic Piston (HPC) and a Rotary (RC) Corer. Once deployed, liquid CO­2 contained in an interior tank is channeled to coils at the core head where it changes phase, rapidly cooling the deepest portion of the core. The resulting frozen core material impedes water loss during recovery. We conducted contamination tests to examine the integrity of cores retrieved during a March 2017 yard test deployment. Perfluorocarbon tracer (PFC) was added to the drill fluid and recovered cores were subsampled to capture the distribution of PFC throughout the core length and interior. Samples were collected from two HPC and one RC core and analyzed for PFC concentrations. The lowest porewater contamination, around 0.01% invasive fluid, occurs in the center of both HPC cores. The greatest contamination (up to 10%) occurs at the disturbed edges where core material contacts drill fluid. There was lower contamination in the core interior than top, bottom, and edges, as well as significantly lower contamination in HPC cores that those recovered with the RC. These results confirm that the freeze-shoe system, proposed for field test deployments in West Bengal, India, can successfully collect intact porewater and sediment material with minimal if any contamination from drill fluid.

Feathering Your Nest

Science.gov (United States)

Nabors, Martha L.; Edwards, Linda Carol; Decker, Suzanne

2010-01-01

The first-grade classroom was like a natural history museum. Bird nests of every shape and size lay on top of bookshelves that lined two walls. Methods students, who were visiting the classroom in preparation for the science lessons they would teach there, were immediately inspired by the collection. They used the collection as a springboard for…

Genetic diversity and structure of core collection of winter mushroom (Flammulina velutipes) developed by genomic SSR markers.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiao Bin; Li, Jing; Yang, Zhu L

2018-01-01

A core collection is a subset of an entire collection that represents as much of the genetic diversity of the entire collection as possible. The establishment of a core collection for crops is practical for efficient management and use of germplasm. However, the establishment of a core collection of mushrooms is still in its infancy, and no established core collection of the economically important species Flammulina velutipes has been reported. We established the first core collection of F. velutipes , containing 32 strains based on 81 genetically different F. veltuipes strains. The allele retention proportion of the core collection for the entire collection was 100%. Moreover, the genetic diversity parameters (the effective number of alleles, Nei's expected heterozygosity, the number of observed heterozygosity, and Shannon's information index) of the core collection showed no significant differences from the entire collection ( p  > 0.01). Thus, the core collection is representative of the genetic diversity of the entire collection. Genetic structure analyses of the core collection revealed that the 32 strains could be clustered into 6 groups, among which groups 1 to 3 were cultivars and groups 4 to 6 were wild strains. The wild strains from different locations harbor their own specific alleles, and were clustered stringently in accordance with their geographic origins. Genetic diversity analyses of the core collection revealed that the wild strains possessed greater genetic diversity than the cultivars. We established the first core collection of F. velutipes in China, which is an important platform for efficient breeding of this mushroom in the future. In addition, the wild strains in the core collection possess favorable agronomic characters and produce unique bioactive compounds, adding value to the platform. More attention should be paid to wild strains in further strain breeding.

Low heritability of nest construction in a wild bird.

Science.gov (United States)

Järvinen, Pauliina; Kluen, Edward; Brommer, Jon E

2017-10-01

In birds and other taxa, nest construction varies considerably between and within populations. Such variation is hypothesized to have an adaptive (i.e. genetic) basis, but estimates of heritability in nest construction are largely lacking. Here, we demonstrate with data collected over 10 years from 1010 nests built by blue tits in nest-boxes that nest size (height of nest material) and nest composition (proportion of feathers in the nest) are repeatable but only weakly (12-13%) heritable female traits. These findings imply that nest construction may evolve but only if subjected to strong and consistent selection pressures. © 2017 The Author(s).

Observations of sea turtles nesting on Misali islan, Pemba | Pharoah ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A nest-recording programme has collected data over five years from turtles nesting on Misali Island, off the West coast of Pemba, Tanzania. Five species of sea turtle are known to occur in Zanzibar waters, two of these species nested regularly on the island, with green turtle nests outnumbering hawksbill turtle nests by a ...

High-temperature, high-pressure bonding of nested tubular metallic components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quinby, T.C.

1980-01-01

This invention is a tool for effecting high-temperature, high compression bonding between the confronting faces of nested, tubular, metallic components. In a typical application, the tool is used to produce tubular target assemblies for irradiation in nuclear reactors or particle accelerators, the target assembly comprising a uranium foil and an aluminum-alloy substrate. The tool preferably is composed throughout of graphite. It comprises a tubular restraining member in which a mechanically expandable tubular core is mounted to form an annulus with the member. The components to be bonded are mounted in nested relation in the annulus. The expandable core is formed of individually movable, axially elongated segments whose outer faces cooperatively define a cylindrical pressing surface and whose inner faces cooperatively define two opposed, inwardly tapered, axial bores. Tapered rams extend respectively into the bores. The loaded tool is mounted in a conventional hot-press provided with evacuation means, heaters for maintaining its interior at bonding temperature, and hydraulic cylinders for maintaining a selected inwardly directed pressure on the tapered rams. With the hotpress evacuated and the loaded tool at the desired temperature, the cylinders are actuated to apply the selected pressure to the rams. The rams in turn expand the segmented core to maintain the nested components in compression against the restraining member. These conditions are maintained until the confronting faces of the nested components are joined in a continuous, uniform bond characterized by high thermal conductivity

High-temperature, high-pressure bonding of nested tubular metallic components

Science.gov (United States)

Quinby, T.C.

A tool is described for effecting high-temperature, high-compression bonding between the confronting faces of nested, tubular, metallic components. In a typical application, the tool is used to produce tubular target assemblies for irradiation in nuclear reactors or particle accelerators. The target assembly comprising a uranum foil and an aluninum-alloy substrate. The tool is composed of graphite. It comprises a tubular restraining member in which a mechanically expandable tubular core is mounted to form an annulus. The components to be bonded are mounted in nested relation in the annulus. The expandable core is formed of individually movable, axially elongated segments whose outer faces cooperatively define a cylindrical pressing surface and whose inner faces cooperatively define two opposed, inwardly tapered, axial bores. Tapered rams extend into the bores. The loaded tool is mounted in a conventional hot-press provided with evacuation means, heaters for maintaining its interior at bonding temperature, and hydraulic cylinders for maintaining a selected inwardly directed pressure on the tapered rams. With the hot-press evacuated and the loaded tool at the desired temperature, the cylinders are actuated to apply the selected pressure to the rams. The rams in turn expand the segmented core to maintain the nested components in compression against the restraining member. These conditions are maintained until the confronting faces of the nested components are joined in a continuous, uniform bond characterized by high thermal conductivity.

Associating mapping of stigma characteristics using the USDA rice core collection

Science.gov (United States)

A mini-core from the USDA rice core collection was phenotyped for nine traits of stigma and spikelet and genotyped with 109 DNA markers. Marker-trait association mapping was used to identify the regions associated with the nine traits. Resulting associations were adjusted using false discovery rate ...

Daily survival rates for nests of Black Skimmers from a core breeding area of the Southeastern USA

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Gillian L.; Sanders, Felicia J.; Gerard, Patrick D.; Jodice, Patrick G.R.

2014-01-01

Little is known about the reproductive success of Black Skimmers (Rynchops niger) throughout the southeastern USA where availability of undisturbed beaches for nesting is limited. Daily survival rates (DSR) of nests were examined at three nesting sites in Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge (CRNWR), South Carolina, USA, 2009–2010. The percent of successful nests (n  =  346 nests) ranged from 42–69% among colony sites when data were pooled across both years. The DSR of nests was primarily related to colony site, predation risk, height of high tide, and clutch size. Predation and overwash were the principal causes of identifiable nest loss, each accounting for ∼33% of nest failures during the two study years. Because of the challenges of resighting skimmer chicks, we were not able to measure chick survival effectively and therefore accurate measures of productivity remain elusive. High variability in nest success among sites within close proximity to each other (stressors such as tropical storms or food availability. Although time-intensive techniques to control predators do exist, management options to limit flooding and overwash are far more limited. Conservation of Black Skimmers in the southeastern USA would benefit from coordinated, multi-state efforts to measure nest and chick survival.

Diversity analysis and establishment of core subsets of hyacinth bean collection of bangladesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Islam, M.N.

2014-01-01

Plant Genetic Resource Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh, maintained 484 hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureusL.) accessions. Distribution of vine colors, flower and pod colors, pod curvature and beak position on pod noticed the presence of substantial variation in the collection. Shannon Diversity Index also revealed high phenotypic diversity in vine and pod characters. High diversities were estimated in quantitative characters of inflorescence and pod characters. Considering a core collection strategy, the accessions were stratified into two groups based on vine colors: green and purple. Maximum genotypes of the collection were of green vine. Each of two subgroups were divided into three groups according to colors of pod i.e., green, white and red. Each group again divided itself into two according to beak position as central and marginal of pod. High diversity was also found regarding pod curvature and beak position on it. Strategically, a core subset consisting of 36 accessions out of 484 accessions was determined. Diversity Indices of different characters of the core accessions were of equal or higher magnitudes to the respective characters of base collection indicating the better representation of core to the original collection. (author)

Sampling strategy to develop a core collection of Uruguayan maize landraces based on morphological traits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Malosetti, M.; Abadie, T.

2001-01-01

Core collections were suggested to improve germplasm utilization. A core collection is a subset chosen to represent the diversity of a collection with a minimum of redundancies. Because diversity is distributed between and within groups with different degrees of organization, an adequate

An RFID-Based Smart Nest Box: An Experimental Study of Laying Performance and Behavior of Individual Hens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ying-Ren Chien

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This study designed a radio-frequency identification (RFID-based Internet of Things (IoT platform to create the core of a smart nest box. At the sensing level, we have deployed RFID-based sensors and egg detection sensors. A low-frequency RFID reader is installed in the bottom of the nest box and a foot ring RFID tag is worn on the leg of individual hens. The RFID-based sensors detect when a hen enters or exits the nest box. The egg-detection sensors are implemented with a resistance strain gauge pressure sensor, which weights the egg in the egg-collection tube. Thus, the smart nest box makes it possible to analyze the laying performance and behavior of individual hens. An evaluative experiment was performed using an enriched cage, a smart nest box, web camera, and monitoring console. The hens were allowed 14 days to become accustomed to the experimental environment before monitoring began. The proposed IoT platform makes it possible to analyze the egg yield of individual hens in real time, thereby enabling the replacement of hens with egg yield below a pre-defined level in order to meet the overall target egg yield rate. The results of this experiment demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed RFID-based smart nest box in monitoring the egg yield and laying behavior of individual hens.

Collective Memory Transfers for Multi-Core Chips

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Michelogiannakis, George; Williams, Alexander; Shalf, John

2013-11-13

Future performance improvements for microprocessors have shifted from clock frequency scaling towards increases in on-chip parallelism. Performance improvements for a wide variety of parallel applications require domain-decomposition of data arrays from a contiguous arrangement in memory to a tiled layout for on-chip L1 data caches and scratchpads. How- ever, DRAM performance suffers under the non-streaming access patterns generated by many independent cores. We propose collective memory scheduling (CMS) that actively takes control of collective memory transfers such that requests arrive in a sequential and predictable fashion to the memory controller. CMS uses the hierarchically tiled arrays formal- ism to compactly express collective operations, which greatly improves programmability over conventional prefetch or list- DMA approaches. CMS reduces application execution time by up to 32% and DRAM read power by 2.2×, compared to a baseline DMA architecture such as STI Cell.

Nesting bird "host funnel" increases mosquito-bird contact rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Caillouët, Kevin A; Riggan, Anna E; Bulluck, Lesley P; Carlson, John C; Sabo, Roy T

2013-03-01

Increases in vector-host contact rates can enhance arbovirus transmission intensity. We investigated weekly fluctuations in contact rates between mosquitoes and nesting birds using the recently described Nest Mosquito Trap (NMT). The number of mosquitoes per nestling increased from nesting season. Our evidence suggests the coincidence of the end of the avian nesting season and increasing mosquito abundances may have caused a "host funnel," concentrating host-seeking mosquitoes to the few remaining nestlings. The relative abundance of mosquitoes collected by the NMT suggests that significantly more Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Culex pipiens (L.) /restuans (Theobald) sought nesting bird bloodmeals than were predicted by their relative abundances in CO2-baited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention light and gravid traps. Culex salinarius (Coquillett) and Culex erraticus Dyar and Knab were collected in NMTs in proportion to their relative abundances in the generic traps. Temporal host funnels and nesting bird host specificity may enhance arbovirus amplification and explain observed West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis virus amplification periods.

The practice of spinal cord injury core data collection among Chinese physicians

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, N; Hu, Z-W; Zhou, M-W

2015-01-01

STUDY DESIGN: This is a survey-based study. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the practice of spinal cord injury (SCI) core data collection by Chinese physicians to measure the extent and accuracy of routine collection of elements contained in the International Spinal Cord Injury Core Data Set (ISCICDS...... issues: date of birth, injury, acute admission and inpatient discharge, total hospitalized days, gender, injury etiology, vertebral injury, associated injury, spinal surgery, ventilatory assistance and place of discharge. In addition, data collection practice on neurologic examinations including date......, neurological level, injury severity and frequency of examination were involved. RESULTS: The self-reported practice of data collection regarding date of birth, acute admission and inpatient discharge, gender, vertebral injury, associated injury, spinal surgery and frequency of neurological examination...

Assessment on Evaluating Parameters of Rice Core Collections Constructed by Genotypic Values and Molecular Marker Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian-cheng WANG

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Eleven evaluating parameters for rice core collection were assessed based on genotypic values and molecular marker information. Monte Carlo simulation combined with mixed linear model was used to eliminate the interference from environment in order to draw more reliable results. The coincidence rate of range (CR was the optimal parameter. Mean Simpson index (MD, mean Shannon-Weaver index of genetic diversity (MI and mean polymorphism information content (MPIC were important evaluating parameters. The variable rate of coefficient of variation (VR could act as an important reference parameter for evaluating the variation degree of core collection. Percentage of polymorphic loci (p could be used as a determination parameter for the size of core collection. Mean difference percentage (MD was a determination parameter for the reliability judgment of core collection. The effective evaluating parameters for core collection selected in the research could be used as criteria for sampling percentage in different plant germplasm populations.

The importance of illumination in nest site choice and nest characteristics of cavity nesting birds.

Science.gov (United States)

Podkowa, Paweł; Surmacki, Adrian

2017-05-02

Light has a significant impact on many aspects of avian biology, physiology and behaviour. An increasing number of studies show that illumination may positively influences birds' offspring fitness by e.g. acceleration of embryo development, stimulation of skeleton growth or regulation of circadian rhythm. Because nest cavities have especially low illumination, suitable light levels may be especially important for species which nest there. We may therefore expect that birds breeding in relatively dim conditions should prefer brighter nest sites and/or evolve behavioral mechanisms to secure sufficient light levels in the nest. Using nest boxes with modified internal illumination, we experimentally tested whether light regime is a cue for nest site selection of secondary cavity-nesting species. Additionally, we investigated whether nest building strategies are tuned to internal illumination. Our results demonstrate that, nest boxes with elevated illumination were chosen twice as often as dark nest boxes. Moreover, birds built higher nests in dark nest boxes than birds in boxes with elevated illumination, which suggests a mechanism of compensating for low light conditions. Our results provide the first experimental support for the idea that nest site choice and nest building behaviour in cavity-nesting birds are influenced by ambient illumination.

Enclosed nests may provide greater thermal than nest predation benefits compared with open nests across latitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Thomas E.; Boyce, Andy J.; Fierro-Calderon, Karolina; Mitchell, Adam E.; Armstad, Connor E.; Mouton, James C.; Bin Soudi, Evertius E.

2017-01-01

Nest structure is thought to provide benefits that have fitness consequences for several taxa. Traditionally, reduced nest predation has been considered the primary benefit underlying evolution of nest structure, whereas thermal benefits have been considered a secondary or even non-existent factor. Yet, the relative roles of these factors on nest structures remain largely unexplored.Enclosed nests have a constructed or natural roof connected to sides that allow a restricted opening or tube entrance that provides cover in all directions except the entrance, whereas open nests are cups or platforms that are open above. We show that construction of enclosed nests is more common among songbirds (Passeriformes) in tropical and southern hemisphere regions than in north temperate regions. This geographic pattern may reflect selection from predation risk, under long-standing assumptions that nest predation rates are higher in southern regions and that enclosed nests reduce predation risk compared with open cup nests. We therefore compared nest predation rates between enclosed vs. open nests in 114 songbird species that do not nest in tree holes among five communities of coexisting birds, and for 205 non-hole-nesting species from the literature, across northern temperate, tropical, and southern hemisphere regions.Among coexisting species, enclosed nests had lower nest predation rates than open nests in two south temperate sites, but not in either of two tropical sites or a north temperate site. Nest predation did not differ between nest types at any latitude based on literature data. Among 319 species from both our field studies and the literature, enclosed nests did not show consistent benefits of reduced predation and, in fact, predation was not consistently higher in the tropics, contrary to long-standing perspectives.Thermal benefits of enclosed nests were indicated based on three indirect results. First, species that built enclosed nests were smaller than species using

Evidence for Ventilation through Collective Respiratory Movements in Giant Honeybee (Apis dorsata) Nests.

Science.gov (United States)

Kastberger, Gerald; Waddoup, Dominique; Weihmann, Frank; Hoetzl, Thomas

2016-01-01

The Asian giant honeybees (Apis dorsata) build single-comb nests in the open, which makes this species particularly susceptible to environmental strains. Long-term infrared (IR) records documented cool nest regions (CNR) at the bee curtain (nCNR = 207, nnests > 20) distinguished by marked negative gradients (ΔTCNR/d 0) displaying the Venturi effect, which evidences funnel properties of CNRs. The air flows inwards through CNRs, which is verified by the negative spatial gradient ΔTCNR/d, by the positive grading of TCNR with Tamb and lastly by fanners which have directed their abdomens towards CNRs. Rare cases of RAT +0.4 cm2/s) displaying "inhalation" and "exhalation" cycling. "Inhalation" could be boosted by bees at the inner curtain layers, which stretch their extremities against the comb enlarging the inner nest lumen and thus causing a pressure fall which drives ambient air inwards through CNR funnels. The relaxing of the formerly "activated" bees could then trigger the "exhalation" process, which brings the bee curtain, passively by gravity, close to the comb again. That way, warm, CO2-enriched nest-borne air is pressed outwards through the leaking mesh of the bee curtain. This ventilation hypothesis is supported by IR imaging and laser vibrometry depicting CNRs in at least four aspects as low-resistance convection funnels for maintaining thermoregulation and restoring fresh air in the nest.

Evidence for Ventilation through Collective Respiratory Movements in Giant Honeybee (Apis dorsata Nests.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerald Kastberger

Full Text Available The Asian giant honeybees (Apis dorsata build single-comb nests in the open, which makes this species particularly susceptible to environmental strains. Long-term infrared (IR records documented cool nest regions (CNR at the bee curtain (nCNR = 207, nnests > 20 distinguished by marked negative gradients (ΔTCNR/d 0 displaying the Venturi effect, which evidences funnel properties of CNRs. The air flows inwards through CNRs, which is verified by the negative spatial gradient ΔTCNR/d, by the positive grading of TCNR with Tamb and lastly by fanners which have directed their abdomens towards CNRs. Rare cases of RAT +0.4 cm2/s displaying "inhalation" and "exhalation" cycling. "Inhalation" could be boosted by bees at the inner curtain layers, which stretch their extremities against the comb enlarging the inner nest lumen and thus causing a pressure fall which drives ambient air inwards through CNR funnels. The relaxing of the formerly "activated" bees could then trigger the "exhalation" process, which brings the bee curtain, passively by gravity, close to the comb again. That way, warm, CO2-enriched nest-borne air is pressed outwards through the leaking mesh of the bee curtain. This ventilation hypothesis is supported by IR imaging and laser vibrometry depicting CNRs in at least four aspects as low-resistance convection funnels for maintaining thermoregulation and restoring fresh air in the nest.

Design of nest access grids and perches in front of the nests: Influence on the behavior of laying hens.

Science.gov (United States)

Stämpfli, K; Buchwalder, T; Fröhlich, E K F; Roth, B A

2013-04-01

In aviary systems for laying hens, it is important to provide suitable nest access platforms in front of the nests, allowing hens to reach and explore each of the nests easily. This access platform is needed to achieve good nest acceptance by the hens and thereby prevent mislaid eggs. In the present experiment, the behavior of hens using 2 different nest access platforms, a plastic grid and 2 wooden perches, was examined. Furthermore, the nests were placed on both sides of the aviary rack (corridor side and outdoor side), either integrated into the aviary rack itself (integrated nest; IN) or placed on the walls of the pens (wall nest; WN), resulting in a 2 × 2 factorial design Four thousand five hundred white laying hens were housed in 20 test pens. The eggs in the nests and mislaid eggs were collected daily, and the behavior of hens on the nest accesses was filmed during wk 25 and 26, using focal observation and scan sampling methods. More balancing, body contact, and agonistic interactions were expected for nests with perches, whereas more walking and nest inspections were expected for nests with grids. There were more mislaid eggs and balancing found in pens equipped with nests with wooden perches. More agonistic interactions and balancing, less standing, and a longer duration of nest inspection were found with the WN compared with the IN. Interactions between platform design and position of the nests were found for duration of nest visits, body contact, and walking, with the highest amount for WN equipped with plastic grids. Nests on the corridor side were favored by the hens. Nest-related behaviors, such as nest inspection, standing, and walking, decreased over time as did the number of hens on the nest accesses, whereas sitting increased. These results indicate that the hens had more difficulties in gripping the perches as designed. The lower number of hens on the nest access platforms in front of IN may be due to a better distribution around nests and tier

Dispersion and decay of collective modes in neutron star cores

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Kobyakov, D. N.; Pethick, C. J.; Reddy, S.; Schwenk, A.

2017-08-01

We calculate the frequencies of collective modes of neutrons, protons, and electrons in the outer core of neutron stars. The neutrons and protons are treated in a hydrodynamic approximation and the electrons are regarded as collisionless. The coupling of the nucleons to the electrons leads to Landau damping of the collective modes and to significant dispersion of the low-lying modes. We investigate the sensitivity of the mode frequencies to the strength of entrainment between neutrons and protons, which is not well characterized. The contribution of collective modes to the thermal conductivity is evaluated.

Evidence for Ventilation through Collective Respiratory Movements in Giant Honeybee (Apis dorsata) Nests

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Kastberger, Gerald; Waddoup, Dominique; Weihmann, Frank; Hoetzl, Thomas

2016-01-01

The Asian giant honeybees (Apis dorsata) build single-comb nests in the open, which makes this species particularly susceptible to environmental strains. Long-term infrared (IR) records documented cool nest regions (CNR) at the bee curtain (nCNR = 207, nnests > 20) distinguished by marked negative gradients (ΔTCNR/d 0) displaying the Venturi effect, which evidences funnel properties of CNRs. The air flows inwards through CNRs, which is verified by the negative spatial gradient ΔTCNR/d, by the positive grading of TCNR with Tamb and lastly by fanners which have directed their abdomens towards CNRs. Rare cases of RAT bee curtain (for ΔACNR/Δt > +0.4 cm2/s) displaying “inhalation” and “exhalation” cycling. “Inhalation” could be boosted by bees at the inner curtain layers, which stretch their extremities against the comb enlarging the inner nest lumen and thus causing a pressure fall which drives ambient air inwards through CNR funnels. The relaxing of the formerly “activated” bees could then trigger the “exhalation” process, which brings the bee curtain, passively by gravity, close to the comb again. That way, warm, CO2-enriched nest-borne air is pressed outwards through the leaking mesh of the bee curtain. This ventilation hypothesis is supported by IR imaging and laser vibrometry depicting CNRs in at least four aspects as low-resistance convection funnels for maintaining thermoregulation and restoring fresh air in the nest. PMID:27487188

Influence of olfactory and visual cover on nest site selection and nest success for grassland-nesting birds.

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Fogarty, Dillon T; Elmore, R Dwayne; Fuhlendorf, Samuel D; Loss, Scott R

2017-08-01

Habitat selection by animals is influenced by and mitigates the effects of predation and environmental extremes. For birds, nest site selection is crucial to offspring production because nests are exposed to extreme weather and predation pressure. Predators that forage using olfaction often dominate nest predator communities; therefore, factors that influence olfactory detection (e.g., airflow and weather variables, including turbulence and moisture) should influence nest site selection and survival. However, few studies have assessed the importance of olfactory cover for habitat selection and survival. We assessed whether ground-nesting birds select nest sites based on visual and/or olfactory cover. Additionally, we assessed the importance of visual cover and airflow and weather variables associated with olfactory cover in influencing nest survival. In managed grasslands in Oklahoma, USA, we monitored nests of Northern Bobwhite ( Colinus virginianus ), Eastern Meadowlark ( Sturnella magna ), and Grasshopper Sparrow ( Ammodramus savannarum ) during 2015 and 2016. To assess nest site selection, we compared cover variables between nests and random points. To assess factors influencing nest survival, we used visual cover and olfactory-related measurements (i.e., airflow and weather variables) to model daily nest survival. For nest site selection, nest sites had greater overhead visual cover than random points, but no other significant differences were found. Weather variables hypothesized to influence olfactory detection, specifically precipitation and relative humidity, were the best predictors of and were positively related to daily nest survival. Selection for overhead cover likely contributed to mitigation of thermal extremes and possibly reduced detectability of nests. For daily nest survival, we hypothesize that major nest predators focused on prey other than the monitored species' nests during high moisture conditions, thus increasing nest survival on these

Genetic diversity assessment of sesame core collection in China by phenotype and molecular markers and extraction of a mini-core collection

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Zhang Yanxin

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Sesame (Sesamum indicum L. is one of the four major oil crops in China. A sesame core collection (CC was established in China in 2000, but no complete study on its genetic diversity has been carried out at either the phenotypic or molecular level. To provide technical guidance, a theoretical basis for further collection, effective protection, reasonable application, and a complete analysis of sesame genetic resources, a genetic diversity assessment of the sesame CC in China was conducted using phenotypic and molecular data and by extracting a sesame mini-core collection (MC. Results Results from a genetic diversity assessment of sesame CC in China were significantly inconsistent at the phenotypic and molecular levels. A Mantel test revealed the insignificant correlation between phenotype and molecular marker information (r = 0.0043, t = 0.1320, P = 0.5525. The Shannon-Weaver diversity index (I and Nei genetic diversity index (h were higher (I = 0.9537, h = 0.5490 when calculated using phenotypic data from the CC than when using molecular data (I = 0.3467, h = 0.2218. A mini-core collection (MC containing 184 accessions was extracted based on both phenotypic and molecular data, with a low mean difference percentage (MD, 1.64%, low variance difference percentage (VD, 22.58%, large variable rate of coefficient of variance (VR, 114.86%, and large coincidence rate of range (CR, 95.76%. For molecular data, the diversity indices and the polymorphism information content (PIC for the MC were significantly higher than for the CC. Compared to an alternative random sampling strategy, the advantages of capturing genetic diversity and validation by extracting a MC using an advanced maximization strategy were proven. Conclusions This study provides a comprehensive characterization of the phenotypic and molecular genetic diversities of the sesame CC in China. A MC was extracted using both phenotypic and molecular data. Low MD% and VD%, and

Genetic diversity assessment of sesame core collection in China by phenotype and molecular markers and extraction of a mini-core collection

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is one of the four major oil crops in China. A sesame core collection (CC) was established in China in 2000, but no complete study on its genetic diversity has been carried out at either the phenotypic or molecular level. To provide technical guidance, a theoretical basis for further collection, effective protection, reasonable application, and a complete analysis of sesame genetic resources, a genetic diversity assessment of the sesame CC in China was conducted using phenotypic and molecular data and by extracting a sesame mini-core collection (MC). Results Results from a genetic diversity assessment of sesame CC in China were significantly inconsistent at the phenotypic and molecular levels. A Mantel test revealed the insignificant correlation between phenotype and molecular marker information (r = 0.0043, t = 0.1320, P = 0.5525). The Shannon-Weaver diversity index (I) and Nei genetic diversity index (h) were higher (I = 0.9537, h = 0.5490) when calculated using phenotypic data from the CC than when using molecular data (I = 0.3467, h = 0.2218). A mini-core collection (MC) containing 184 accessions was extracted based on both phenotypic and molecular data, with a low mean difference percentage (MD, 1.64%), low variance difference percentage (VD, 22.58%), large variable rate of coefficient of variance (VR, 114.86%), and large coincidence rate of range (CR, 95.76%). For molecular data, the diversity indices and the polymorphism information content (PIC) for the MC were significantly higher than for the CC. Compared to an alternative random sampling strategy, the advantages of capturing genetic diversity and validation by extracting a MC using an advanced maximization strategy were proven. Conclusions This study provides a comprehensive characterization of the phenotypic and molecular genetic diversities of the sesame CC in China. A MC was extracted using both phenotypic and molecular data. Low MD% and VD%, and large VR% and CR

Dispersion and decay of collective modes in neutron star cores

OpenAIRE

Kobyakov, D. N.; Pethick, C. J.; Reddy, S.; Schwenk, A.

2017-01-01

We calculate the frequencies of collective modes of neutrons, protons and electrons in the outer core of neutron stars. The neutrons and protons are treated in a hydrodynamic approximation and the electrons are regarded as collisionless. The coupling of the nucleons to the electrons leads to Landau damping of the collective modes and to significant dispersion of the low-lying modes. We investigate the sensitivity of the mode frequencies to the strength of entrainment between neutrons and prot...

Sandhill crane abundance and nesting ecology at Grays Lake, Idaho

Science.gov (United States)

Austin, J.E.; Henry, A.R.; Ball, I.J.

2007-01-01

We examined population size and factors influencing nest survival of greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) at Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Idaho, USA, during 1997-2000. Average local population of cranes from late April to early May, 1998-2000, was 735 cranes, 34% higher than that reported for May 1970-1971. We estimated 228 (SE = 30) nests in the basin core (excluding renests), 14% higher than a 1971 estimate. Apparent nest success in our study (x?? = 60%, n = 519 nests) was lower than reported for Grays Lake 30-50 years earlier. Daily survival rates (DSRs) of all nests averaged 0.9707 (41.2%). The best model explaining nest survival included year and water depth and their interaction. Nest survival was highest (DSR = 0.9827) in 1998 compared with other years (0.9698-0.9707). Nest survival changed little relative to water depth in 1998, when flooding was extensive and alternative prey (microtines) irrupted, but declined markedly with lower water levels in 2000, the driest year studied. Hypotheses relating nest survival to vegetation height, land use (idle, summer grazing, fall grazing), and date were not supported. In a before-after-control-impact design using 12 experimental fields, nest survival differed among years but not among management treatments (idle, fall graze, fall burn, and summer-graze-idle rotation), nor was there an interaction between year and treatments. However, DSRs in fall-burn fields declined from 0.9781 in 1997-1998 to 0.9503 in 1999-2000 (posttreatment). Changes in the predator community have likely contributed to declines in nest success since the 1950s and 1970s. Our results did not support earlier concerns about effects of habitat management practices on crane productivity. Nest survival could best be enhanced by managing spring water levels. Managers should continue censuses during late April to evaluate long-term relationships to habitat conditions and management.

Developing core collections to optimize the management and the exploitation of diversity of the coffee Coffea canephora.

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Leroy, Thierry; De Bellis, Fabien; Legnate, Hyacinthe; Musoli, Pascal; Kalonji, Adrien; Loor Solórzano, Rey Gastón; Cubry, Philippe

2014-06-01

The management of diversity for conservation and breeding is of great importance for all plant species and is particularly true in perennial species, such as the coffee Coffea canephora. This species exhibits a large genetic and phenotypic diversity with six different diversity groups. Large field collections are available in the Ivory Coast, Uganda and other Asian, American and African countries but are very expensive and time consuming to establish and maintain in large areas. We propose to improve coffee germplasm management through the construction of genetic core collections derived from a set of 565 accessions that are characterized with 13 microsatellite markers. Core collections of 12, 24 and 48 accessions were defined using two methods aimed to maximize the allelic diversity (Maximization strategy) or genetic distance (Maximum-Length Sub-Tree method). A composite core collection of 77 accessions is proposed for both objectives of an optimal management of diversity and breeding. This core collection presents a gene diversity value of 0.8 and exhibits the totality of the major alleles (i.e., 184) that are present in the initial set. The seven proposed core collections constitute a valuable tool for diversity management and a foundation for breeding programs. The use of these collections for collection management in research centers and breeding perspectives for coffee improvement are discussed.

Methods of developing core collections based on the predicted genotypic value of rice ( Oryza sativa L.).

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Li, C T; Shi, C H; Wu, J G; Xu, H M; Zhang, H Z; Ren, Y L

2004-04-01

The selection of an appropriate sampling strategy and a clustering method is important in the construction of core collections based on predicted genotypic values in order to retain the greatest degree of genetic diversity of the initial collection. In this study, methods of developing rice core collections were evaluated based on the predicted genotypic values for 992 rice varieties with 13 quantitative traits. The genotypic values of the traits were predicted by the adjusted unbiased prediction (AUP) method. Based on the predicted genotypic values, Mahalanobis distances were calculated and employed to measure the genetic similarities among the rice varieties. Six hierarchical clustering methods, including the single linkage, median linkage, centroid, unweighted pair-group average, weighted pair-group average and flexible-beta methods, were combined with random, preferred and deviation sampling to develop 18 core collections of rice germplasm. The results show that the deviation sampling strategy in combination with the unweighted pair-group average method of hierarchical clustering retains the greatest degree of genetic diversities of the initial collection. The core collections sampled using predicted genotypic values had more genetic diversity than those based on phenotypic values.

Soil attributes drive nest-site selection by the campo miner Geositta poeciloptera

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Teixeira, João Paulo Gusmão; Solar, Ricardo; Vasconcelos, Bruno Nery F.; Fernandes, Raphael B. A.; Lopes, Leonardo Esteves

2018-01-01

Substrate type is a key-factor in nest-site selection and nest architecture of burrowing birds. However, little is known about which factors drive nest-site selection for these species, especially in the tropics. We studied the influence of soil attributes on nest-site selection by the campo miner Geositta poeciloptera, an open grassland bird that builds its nests within soil cavities. For all nests found, we measured the depth of the nest cavity and the resistance of the soil to penetration, and identified the soil horizon in which the nest was located. In soil banks with nests, we collected soil samples for granulometric analysis around each nest cavity, while in soil banks without nests we collected these samples at random points. From 43 nests found, 86% were located in the deeper soil horizons (C-horizon), and only 14% in the shallower horizons (B-horizon). Granulometric analysis showed that the C-horizons possessed a high similar granulometric composition, with high silt and low clay contents. These characteristics are associated with a low degree of structural development of the soil, which makes it easier to excavate. Contrarily, soil resistance to penetration does not seem to be an important criterion for nest site selection, although nests in more resistant the soils tend to have shallower nest cavities. Among the soil banks analyzed, 40% of those without cavities possessed a larger proportion of B-horizon relative to the C-horizon, and their texture was more clayey. On the other hand, almost all soil banks containing nest cavities had a larger C-horizon and a silty texture, indicating that soil attributes drive nest-site selection by G. poeciloptera. Thus, we conclude that the patchy distribution of G. poeciloptera can attributed to the infrequent natural exposure of the C-horizon in the tropical region, where well developed, deep and permeable soils are more common. PMID:29381768

Soil attributes drive nest-site selection by the campo miner Geositta poeciloptera.

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Meireles, Ricardo Camargos de; Teixeira, João Paulo Gusmão; Solar, Ricardo; Vasconcelos, Bruno Nery F; Fernandes, Raphael B A; Lopes, Leonardo Esteves

2018-01-01

Substrate type is a key-factor in nest-site selection and nest architecture of burrowing birds. However, little is known about which factors drive nest-site selection for these species, especially in the tropics. We studied the influence of soil attributes on nest-site selection by the campo miner Geositta poeciloptera, an open grassland bird that builds its nests within soil cavities. For all nests found, we measured the depth of the nest cavity and the resistance of the soil to penetration, and identified the soil horizon in which the nest was located. In soil banks with nests, we collected soil samples for granulometric analysis around each nest cavity, while in soil banks without nests we collected these samples at random points. From 43 nests found, 86% were located in the deeper soil horizons (C-horizon), and only 14% in the shallower horizons (B-horizon). Granulometric analysis showed that the C-horizons possessed a high similar granulometric composition, with high silt and low clay contents. These characteristics are associated with a low degree of structural development of the soil, which makes it easier to excavate. Contrarily, soil resistance to penetration does not seem to be an important criterion for nest site selection, although nests in more resistant the soils tend to have shallower nest cavities. Among the soil banks analyzed, 40% of those without cavities possessed a larger proportion of B-horizon relative to the C-horizon, and their texture was more clayey. On the other hand, almost all soil banks containing nest cavities had a larger C-horizon and a silty texture, indicating that soil attributes drive nest-site selection by G. poeciloptera. Thus, we conclude that the patchy distribution of G. poeciloptera can attributed to the infrequent natural exposure of the C-horizon in the tropical region, where well developed, deep and permeable soils are more common.

Trap-nest occupation by solitary wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) in a forest urban remanent.

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Loyola, Rafael D; Martins, Rogério P

2006-01-01

Temporal variation of solitary wasps and bees, nesting frequency, mortality, and parasitism were recorded from a remanent forest in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Wasps and bees were collected in trap-nests placed in areas with 25, 100, and 400 m2, from February to November 2004. The 137 trap-nests collected contained 11 species of wasps and bees. Wasps occupied most nests (75%). Occupation peaks occurred in March (25%) and September (26%); in June, the lowest occupation (2%) was observed. Except for Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) lactitarse Saussure, no significant correlation was found between number of occupied nests, and temperature and rainfall means. In the nests, 48% of the immature specimens died; 13% of the nests were parasitized. Total death and parasitism rates of wasps and bees differed significantly.

Mice: progesterone and the regulation of strain differences in pregnancy-induced nest building.

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Broida, J; Svare, B

1983-12-01

Pregnant DBA/2J females built significantly larger and more completely enclosed nests than did pregnant C57BL/6J mice. This strain difference was restricted to the last half of gestation and was not observed during either the virgin state or lactation. Genotype-based differences in pregnancy-induced nest building were not related to circulating levels of progesterone (P), core temperature, or body weight. Exposure to supplemented P during pregnancy elevated nest building exhibited by pregnant C57BL females but did not induce DBA-like levels of the behavior. Also, virgin DBA females built larger nests in response to P than did C57BL females. These findings suggest that differences in the sensitivity of central neural tissue to steroid hormones may account for genotypically determined variation in patterns of pregnancy-induced nest building.

Measuring Collective Efficacy: A Multilevel Measurement Model for Nested Data

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Matsueda, Ross L.; Drakulich, Kevin M.

2016-01-01

This article specifies a multilevel measurement model for survey response when data are nested. The model includes a test-retest model of reliability, a confirmatory factor model of inter-item reliability with item-specific bias effects, an individual-level model of the biasing effects due to respondent characteristics, and a neighborhood-level…

The influence of nest-site characteristics on the nesting success of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Choice of nest site has important consequences for nest survival. We examined nest-site characteristics relative to nest success in Karoo Prinias breeding in coastal dwarf shrubland, where high nest predation is the main cause of nest failure. Initially, we compared nests that failed during the building, laying, incubation and ...

Physical and biological determinants of collective behavioural dynamics in complex systems: pulling chain formation in the nest-weaving ant Oecophylla smaragdina.

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Thomas Bochynek

Full Text Available The evolution of nest weaving, the inclusion of larval silk in the nest walls, is considered one of the pinnacles of cooperative behaviour in social insects. Within the four ant genera in which this has evolved, Oecophylla are unique in being the only group that precedes the deposition of larval silk by actively manipulating the leaf substrate to form a nest chamber. Here we provide the first descriptions of the manipulation process within a complex-systems framework. Substrate manipulation involves individual ants selecting, grasping and attempting to pull the edge of the substrate. These individuals are then joined by nest mates at the work site, who either select a site beside the first individual or grasp the body of the first or preceding worker to form a chain of pulling ants that together drag and bend the substrate. Site selection by individual workers is not random when confronted with an artificial leaf, with individuals more likely to grasp a substrate at its tip rather than along a more broad edge. The activity of additional individuals is also not random, with their activity being grouped in both space and time. Additional individuals are more likely to join an existing biting individual or pulling group. The positive feedback associated with the early stages of pulling behaviour appears typical for many of the collective actions observed in social insects.

Do artificial nests simulate nest success of greater sage-grouse?

OpenAIRE

Dinkins, Jonathan B.; Conover, Michael R.; Mabray, Scott T.

2013-01-01

Artificial nests have been used to study factors affecting nest success because researchers can manipulate them more than natural bird nests. Many researchers have questioned the validity of generalizing the results from artificial nests onto naturally occurring nests. Other studies have assessed the validity of artificial nest studies by simultaneously comparing overall depredation or daily survival rates, depredation timing, predator species, or habitat characteristics of artificial and nat...

Trap-nest occupation by solitary wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) in a forest urban remanent

OpenAIRE

Loyola, Rafael D.; Martins, Rogério P.

2006-01-01

Temporal variation of solitary wasps and bees, nesting frequency, mortality, and parasitism were recorded from a remanent forest in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Wasps and bees were collected in trap-nests placed in areas with 25, 100, and 400 m², from February to November 2004. The 137 trap-nests collected contained 11 species of wasps and bees. Wasps occupied most nests (75%). Occupation peaks occurred in March (25%) and September (26%); in June, the lowest occupation (2%) was observed. Excep...

Variability in nest survival rates and implications to nesting studies

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Klett, A.T.; Johnson, D.H.

1982-01-01

We used four reasonably large samples (83-213) of Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) and Blue-winged Teal (A. discors) nests on an interstate highway right-of-way in southcentral North Dakota to evaluate potential biases in hatch-rate estimates. Twelve consecutive, weekly searches for nests were conducted with a cable-chain drag in 1976 and 1977. Nests were revisited at weekly intervals. Four methods were used to estimate hatch rates for the four data sets: the Traditional Method, the Mayfield Method, and two modifications of the Mayfield Method that are sometimes appropriate when daily mortality rates of nests are not constant. Hatch rates and the average age of nests at discovery declined as the interval between searches decreased, suggesting that mortality rates were not constant in our samples. An analysis of variance indicated that daily mortality rates varied with the age of nests in all four samples. Mortality was generally highest during the early laying period, moderately high during the late laying period, and lowest during incubation. We speculate that this relationship of mortality to nest age might be due to the presence of hens at nests or to differences in the vulnerability of nest sites to predation. A modification of the Mayfield Method that accounts for age-related variation in nest mortality was most appropriate for our samples. We suggest methods for conducting nesting studies and estimating nest success for species possessing similar nesting habits.

Locating chimpanzee nests and identifying fruiting trees with an unmanned aerial vehicle.

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van Andel, Alexander C; Wich, Serge A; Boesch, Christophe; Koh, Lian Pin; Robbins, Martha M; Kelly, Joseph; Kuehl, Hjalmar S

2015-10-01

Monitoring of animal populations is essential for conservation management. Various techniques are available to assess spatiotemporal patterns of species distribution and abundance. Nest surveys are often used for monitoring great apes. Quickly developing technologies, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be used to complement these ground-based surveys, especially for covering large areas rapidly. Aerial surveys have been used successfully to detect the nests of orang-utans. It is unknown if such an approach is practical for African apes, which usually build their nests at lower heights, where they might be obscured by forest canopy. In this 2-month study, UAV-derived aerial imagery was used for two distinct purposes: testing the detectability of chimpanzee nests and identifying fruiting trees used by chimpanzees in Loango National Park (Gabon). Chimpanzee nest data were collected through two approaches: we located nests on the ground and then tried to detect them in UAV photos and vice versa. Ground surveys were conducted using line transects, reconnaissance trails, and opportunistic sampling during which we detected 116 individual nests in 28 nest groups. In complementary UAV images we detected 48% of the individual nests (68% of nest groups) in open coastal forests and 8% of individual nests (33% of nest groups) in closed canopy inland forests. The key factor for nest detectability in UAV imagery was canopy openness. Data on fruiting trees were collected from five line transects. In 122 UAV images 14 species of trees (N = 433) were identified, alongside 37 tree species (N = 205) in complementary ground surveys. Relative abundance of common tree species correlated between ground and UAV surveys. We conclude that UAVs have great potential as a rapid assessment tool for detecting chimpanzee presence in forest with open canopy and assessing fruit tree availability. UAVs may have limited applicability for nest detection in closed canopy forest. �

Biology of a trap-nesting wasp of one species the ground-nesting Liris (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae from the Atlantic Forest of southern Brazil

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Camila Cristina Ferreira da Costa

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Studies on the nesting biology of Liris are restricted to a few notes and observations on ground-nesting species. There are no studies of this kind about Brazilian species. We investigated and described the nesting biology of Liris sp. obtained by trap-nests that were installed at an area of Atlantic Forest vegetation (25°10'S, 48°18'W in southern Brazil. The nests of Liris sp. are built with a variety of plant debris. They usually have one cell, but may have up to two. Nests do not show vestibular or intercalary cells. Immatures have a hard cocoon made with the silk they produce, mixed with the fine sand and sawdust left by the adult female at the bottom of the cell. No nest parasites were observed. The wasps did not go through diapause at the prepupal stage, and emerged within 36 to 46 days after nests were collected from the field. There was no emergence of male wasps. Even though Liris sp. nest in preexisting cavities, they resemble ground-nesting species of the same genus in their habits, nest architecture, and development characteristics. The absence of males in our samples might be related to nest diameter. The eggs from which males hatch can be laid in smaller burrows than those available at the present study. We believe that the hardiness of the cocoon is the species' main strategy against parasites, although it is complemented by the camouflage provided by the nest closure. We suggest that a broader comparison of the nesting biology of Liris Fabricius, 1804 should be carried out, leading to a better understanding of the evolution of nests in the genus.

Why wasp foundresses change nests: relatedness, dominance, and nest quality.

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Perttu Seppä

Full Text Available The costs and benefits of different social options are best understood when individuals can be followed as they make different choices, something that can be difficult in social insects. In this detailed study, we follow overwintered females of the social wasp Polistes carolina through different nesting strategies in a stratified habitat where nest site quality varies with proximity to a foraging area, and genetic relatedness among females is known. Females may initiate nests, join nests temporarily or permanently, or abandon nests. Females can become helpers or egglayers, effectively workers or queens. What they actually do can be predicted by a combination of ecological and relatedness factors. Advantages through increased lifetime success of individuals and nests drives foundresses of the social wasp Polistes from solitary to social nest founding. We studied reproductive options of spring foundresses of P. carolina by monitoring individually-marked wasps and assessing reproductive success of each foundress by using DNA microsatellites. We examined what behavioral decisions foundresses make after relaxing a strong ecological constraint, shortage of nesting sites. We also look at the reproductive consequences of different behaviors. As in other Polistes, the most successful strategy for a foundress was to initiate a nest as early as possible and then accept others as subordinates. A common feature for many P. carolina foundresses was, however, that they reassessed their reproductive options by actively monitoring other nests at the field site and sometimes moving permanently to new nests should that offer better (inclusive fitness prospects compared to their original nests. A clear motivation for moving to new nests was high genetic relatedness; by the end of the foundress period all females were on nests with full sisters.

Why Wasp Foundresses Change Nests: Relatedness, Dominance, and Nest Quality

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Seppä, Perttu; Queller, David C.; Strassmann, Joan E.

2012-01-01

The costs and benefits of different social options are best understood when individuals can be followed as they make different choices, something that can be difficult in social insects. In this detailed study, we follow overwintered females of the social wasp Polistes carolina through different nesting strategies in a stratified habitat where nest site quality varies with proximity to a foraging area, and genetic relatedness among females is known. Females may initiate nests, join nests temporarily or permanently, or abandon nests. Females can become helpers or egglayers, effectively workers or queens. What they actually do can be predicted by a combination of ecological and relatedness factors. Advantages through increased lifetime success of individuals and nests drives foundresses of the social wasp Polistes from solitary to social nest founding. We studied reproductive options of spring foundresses of P. carolina by monitoring individually-marked wasps and assessing reproductive success of each foundress by using DNA microsatellites. We examined what behavioral decisions foundresses make after relaxing a strong ecological constraint, shortage of nesting sites. We also look at the reproductive consequences of different behaviors. As in other Polistes, the most successful strategy for a foundress was to initiate a nest as early as possible and then accept others as subordinates. A common feature for many P. carolina foundresses was, however, that they reassessed their reproductive options by actively monitoring other nests at the field site and sometimes moving permanently to new nests should that offer better (inclusive) fitness prospects compared to their original nests. A clear motivation for moving to new nests was high genetic relatedness; by the end of the foundress period all females were on nests with full sisters. PMID:23049791

Nest Predation Deviates from Nest Predator Abundance in an Ecologically Trapped Bird.

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Hollander, Franck A; Van Dyck, Hans; San Martin, Gilles; Titeux, Nicolas

2015-01-01

In human-modified environments, ecological traps may result from a preference for low-quality habitat where survival or reproductive success is lower than in high-quality habitat. It has often been shown that low reproductive success for birds in preferred habitat types was due to higher nest predator abundance. However, between-habitat differences in nest predation may only weakly correlate with differences in nest predator abundance. An ecological trap is at work in a farmland bird (Lanius collurio) that recently expanded its breeding habitat into open areas in plantation forests. This passerine bird shows a strong preference for forest habitat, but it has a higher nest success in farmland. We tested whether higher abundance of nest predators in the preferred habitat or, alternatively, a decoupling of nest predator abundance and nest predation explained this observed pattern of maladaptive habitat selection. More than 90% of brood failures were attributed to nest predation. Nest predator abundance was more than 50% higher in farmland, but nest predation was 17% higher in forest. Differences between nest predation on actual shrike nests and on artificial nests suggested that parent shrikes may facilitate nest disclosure for predators in forest more than they do in farmland. The level of caution by parent shrikes when visiting their nest during a simulated nest predator intrusion was the same in the two habitats, but nest concealment was considerably lower in forest, which contributes to explaining the higher nest predation in this habitat. We conclude that a decoupling of nest predator abundance and nest predation may create ecological traps in human-modified environments.

Nest Site Characteristics of Cavity Nesting Birds in Central Missouri

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffery D. Brawn; Bernice Tannenbaum; Keith E. Evans

1984-01-01

Two study sites in central Missouri oak-hickory forests were searched for nest sites of cavity nesting birds. Researchers located and measured 133 nests of 11 species. Cavity nesting bird habitat selection is affected by both snag characteristics and vegetation structure.

Nest Predation Deviates from Nest Predator Abundance in an Ecologically Trapped Bird.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franck A Hollander

Full Text Available In human-modified environments, ecological traps may result from a preference for low-quality habitat where survival or reproductive success is lower than in high-quality habitat. It has often been shown that low reproductive success for birds in preferred habitat types was due to higher nest predator abundance. However, between-habitat differences in nest predation may only weakly correlate with differences in nest predator abundance. An ecological trap is at work in a farmland bird (Lanius collurio that recently expanded its breeding habitat into open areas in plantation forests. This passerine bird shows a strong preference for forest habitat, but it has a higher nest success in farmland. We tested whether higher abundance of nest predators in the preferred habitat or, alternatively, a decoupling of nest predator abundance and nest predation explained this observed pattern of maladaptive habitat selection. More than 90% of brood failures were attributed to nest predation. Nest predator abundance was more than 50% higher in farmland, but nest predation was 17% higher in forest. Differences between nest predation on actual shrike nests and on artificial nests suggested that parent shrikes may facilitate nest disclosure for predators in forest more than they do in farmland. The level of caution by parent shrikes when visiting their nest during a simulated nest predator intrusion was the same in the two habitats, but nest concealment was considerably lower in forest, which contributes to explaining the higher nest predation in this habitat. We conclude that a decoupling of nest predator abundance and nest predation may create ecological traps in human-modified environments.

Development of the Northern European Ribes core collection based on a microsatellite (SSR) marker diversity analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Antonius, Kristiina; Karhu, S.; Kaldmäe, H.

2012-01-01

The purpose of the study was to support the selection process of the most valuable currant and gooseberry accessions cultivated in Northern Europe, in order to establish a decentralized core collection and, following the selection, to ensure sufficient genetic diversity in the selected collection....... Molecular analyses of the material from nine project partners were run at seven different laboratories. The results were first analysed for each partner separately, and then combined to ensure sufficient genetic diversity in the core collection....

Stingless bees damage broccoli inflorescences when collecting fibers for nest building

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Adriano Jorge Nunes dos Santos

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The stingless bee Trigona spinipes (Fabricius, 1793 (Hymenoptera: Apidae is an important pollinator for various crops, but constitutes an occasional pest of other plant species since it causes injury to leaves, stems, flowers and fruits while collecting nest materials. The aim of the present study was to determine the damage caused by T. spinipes to a broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica, Brassicaceae growing on an organic farm. A significant number of plants (72.5 % presented damaged inflorescences, while 39% of all of the inflorescences suffered some degree of injury. The activities of T. spinipes caused scarifications on the stems of the inflorescences, and these typically evolved to epidermal cicatrices up to 10 mm wide. In some cases, the lesions were sufficiently deep to cause partial destruction of the vascular tissues, and this lead to thinner (< 5 mm diameter floral stems that may collapse. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report concerning the attack of broccoli plants by T. spinipes. The results obtained should serve to highlight the possibility that stingless bees could be responsible for direct and/or indirect damage to vegetable crops, and to stimulate the development of control strategies for these incidental pests.

Habitat edges have weak effects on duck nest survival at local spatial scales

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Raquel, Amelia J; Ringelman, Kevin M.; Ackerman, Joshua T.; Eadie, John M.

2015-01-01

Edge effects on nesting success have been documented in breeding birds in a variety of contexts, but there is still uncertainty in how edge type and spatial scale determine the magnitude and detectability of edge effects. Habitat edges are often viewed as predator corridors that surround or penetrate core habitat and increase the risk of predation for nearby nests. We studied the effects of three different types of potential predator corridors (main perimeter roads, field boundaries, and ATV trails within fields) on waterfowl nest survival in California. We measured the distance from duck nests to the nearest edge of each type, and used distance as a covariate in a logistic exposure analysis of nest survival. We found only weak evidence for edge effects due to predation. The best supported model of nest survival included all three distance categories, and while all coefficient estimates were positive (indicating that survival increased with distance from edge), 85% coefficient confidence intervals approached or bounded zero indicating an overall weak effect of habitat edges on nest success. We suggest that given the configuration of edges at our site, there may be few areas far enough from hard edges to be considered ‘core’ habitat, making edge effects on nest survival particularly difficult to detect.

A unique nest-protection strategy in a new species of spider wasp.

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Michael Staab

Full Text Available Hymenoptera show a great variation in reproductive potential and nesting behavior, from thousands of eggs in sawflies to just a dozen in nest-provisioning wasps. Reduction in reproductive potential in evolutionary derived Hymenoptera is often facilitated by advanced behavioral mechanisms and nesting strategies. Here we describe a surprising nesting behavior that was previously unknown in the entire animal kingdom: the use of a vestibular cell filled with dead ants in a new spider wasp (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae species collected with trap nests in South-East China. We scientifically describe the 'Bone-house Wasp' as Deuteragenia ossarium sp. nov., named after graveyard bone-houses or ossuaries. We show that D. ossarium nests are less vulnerable to natural enemies than nests of other sympatric trap-nesting wasps, suggesting an effective nest protection strategy, most likely by utilizing chemical cues emanating from the dead ants.

Time-lapse video sysem used to study nesting gyrfalcons

Science.gov (United States)

Booms, Travis; Fuller, Mark R.

2003-01-01

We used solar-powered time-lapse video photography to document nesting Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) food habits in central West Greenland from May to July in 2000 and 2001. We collected 2677.25 h of videotape from three nests, representing 94, 87, and 49% of the nestling period at each nest. The video recorded 921 deliveries of 832 prey items. We placed 95% of the items into prey categories. The image quality was good but did not reveal enough detail to identify most passerines to species. We found no evidence that Gyrfalcons were negatively affected by the video system after the initial camera set-up. The video system experienced some mechanical problems but proved reliable. The system likely can be used to effectively document the food habits and nesting behavior of other birds, especially those delivering large prey to a nest or other frequently used site.

Nest use is influenced by the positions of nests and drinkers in aviaries.

Science.gov (United States)

Lentfer, T L; Gebhardt-Henrich, S G; Fröhlich, E K F; von Borell, E

2013-06-01

The influence of the nest location and the placement of nipple drinkers on nest use by laying hens in a commercial aviary was assessed. Twenty pens in a laying hen house were equipped with the same commercial aviary system, but the pens differed in the nest location and the placement of nipple drinkers. Nests were placed along the walls in 10 pens, and nipple drinkers were installed in front of the nests in 5 of these pens. The other 10 pens were equipped with nests placed on a tier within the aviary (integrated nests). Nipple drinkers were installed in front of the nests in 5 of these pens. A total of 225 Lohmann Selected Leghorns were housed per pen. The hens were offered 4 nests per pen: 2 facing the service corridor of the laying hen house and 2 facing the outdoor area. The numbers of nest eggs and mislaid eggs were counted daily per pen. At 25, 36, and 43 wk of age, the nest platforms were videotaped and the behavior of laying hens in front of the nests was analyzed. The nest location affected the stationary and locomotive behaviors in front of the nests. Hens in front of the integrated nests and the nests with drinkers displayed more stationary behaviors than hens in front of wall-placed nests or nests without drinkers. No difference in the number of nest eggs could be detected, but the integration of the nests inside the aviary led to a more even distribution of hens while nest searching. In the pens with wall-placed nests, significantly more hens laid eggs in the nests at the wall near the service corridor than at the wall near the outdoor area. Due to this imbalance, crowding in front of the preferred nests occurred and pushing and agonistic interactions on the nest platforms were significantly more frequent. Placement of nipple drinkers in front of nests had no effect on the number of eggs laid in those nests.

Interactive effects between nest microclimate and nest vegetation structure confirm microclimate thresholds for Lesser Prairie-Chicken nest survival

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Grisham, Blake A.; Godar, Alixandra J.; Boal, Clint W.; Haukos, David A.

2016-01-01

The range of Lesser Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) spans 4 unique ecoregions along 2 distinct environmental gradients. The Sand Shinnery Oak Prairie ecoregion of the Southern High Plains of New Mexico and Texas is environmentally isolated, warmer, and more arid than the Short-Grass, Sand Sagebrush, and Mixed-Grass Prairie ecoregions in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and the northeast panhandle of Texas. Weather is known to influence Lesser Prairie-Chicken nest survival in the Sand Shinnery Oak Prairie ecoregion; regional variation may also influence nest microclimate and, ultimately, survival during incubation. To address this question, we placed data loggers adjacent to nests during incubation to quantify temperature and humidity distribution functions in 3 ecoregions. We developed a suite of a priori nest survival models that incorporated derived microclimate parameters and visual obstruction as covariates in Program MARK. We monitored 49 nests in Mixed-Grass, 22 nests in Sand Shinnery Oak, and 30 nests in Short-Grass ecoregions from 2010 to 2014. Our findings indicated that (1) the Sand Shinnery Oak Prairie ecoregion was hotter and drier during incubation than the Mixed- and Short-Grass ecoregions; (2) nest microclimate varied among years within ecoregions; (3) visual obstruction was positively associated with nest survival; but (4) daily nest survival probability decreased by 10% every half-hour when temperature was greater than 34°C and vapor pressure deficit was less than −23 mmHg during the day (about 0600–2100 hours). Our major finding confirmed microclimate thresholds for nest survival under natural conditions across the species' distribution, although Lesser Prairie-Chickens are more likely to experience microclimate conditions that result in nest failures in the Sand Shinnery Oak Prairie ecoregion. The species would benefit from identification of thermal landscapes and management actions that promote cooler, more humid nest microclimates.

Nest suitability, fine-scale population structure and male-mediated dispersal of a solitary ground nesting bee in an urban landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

López-Uribe, Margarita M; Morreale, Stephen J; Santiago, Christine K; Danforth, Bryan N

2015-01-01

Bees are the primary pollinators of flowering plants in almost all ecosystems. Worldwide declines in bee populations have raised awareness about the importance of their ecological role in maintaining ecosystem functioning. The naturally strong philopatric behavior that some bee species show can be detrimental to population viability through increased probability of inbreeding. Furthermore, bee populations found in human-altered landscapes, such as urban areas, can experience lower levels of gene flow and effective population sizes, increasing potential for inbreeding depression in wild bee populations. In this study, we investigated the fine-scale population structure of the solitary bee Colletes inaequalis in an urbanized landscape. First, we developed a predictive spatial model to detect suitable nesting habitat for this ground nesting bee and to inform our field search for nests. We genotyped 18 microsatellites in 548 female individuals collected from nest aggregations throughout the study area. Genetic relatedness estimates revealed that genetic similarity among individuals was slightly greater within nest aggregations than among randomly chosen individuals. However, genetic structure among nest aggregations was low (Nei's GST = 0.011). Reconstruction of parental genotypes revealed greater genetic relatedness among females than among males within nest aggregations, suggesting male-mediated dispersal as a potentially important mechanism of population connectivity and inbreeding avoidance. Size of nesting patch was positively correlated with effective population size, but not with other estimators of genetic diversity. We detected a positive trend between geographic distance and genetic differentiation between nest aggregations. Our landscape genetic models suggest that increased urbanization is likely associated with higher levels of inbreeding. Overall, these findings emphasize the importance of density and distribution of suitable nesting patches for enhancing

Nest suitability, fine-scale population structure and male-mediated dispersal of a solitary ground nesting bee in an urban landscape.

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Margarita M López-Uribe

Full Text Available Bees are the primary pollinators of flowering plants in almost all ecosystems. Worldwide declines in bee populations have raised awareness about the importance of their ecological role in maintaining ecosystem functioning. The naturally strong philopatric behavior that some bee species show can be detrimental to population viability through increased probability of inbreeding. Furthermore, bee populations found in human-altered landscapes, such as urban areas, can experience lower levels of gene flow and effective population sizes, increasing potential for inbreeding depression in wild bee populations. In this study, we investigated the fine-scale population structure of the solitary bee Colletes inaequalis in an urbanized landscape. First, we developed a predictive spatial model to detect suitable nesting habitat for this ground nesting bee and to inform our field search for nests. We genotyped 18 microsatellites in 548 female individuals collected from nest aggregations throughout the study area. Genetic relatedness estimates revealed that genetic similarity among individuals was slightly greater within nest aggregations than among randomly chosen individuals. However, genetic structure among nest aggregations was low (Nei's GST = 0.011. Reconstruction of parental genotypes revealed greater genetic relatedness among females than among males within nest aggregations, suggesting male-mediated dispersal as a potentially important mechanism of population connectivity and inbreeding avoidance. Size of nesting patch was positively correlated with effective population size, but not with other estimators of genetic diversity. We detected a positive trend between geographic distance and genetic differentiation between nest aggregations. Our landscape genetic models suggest that increased urbanization is likely associated with higher levels of inbreeding. Overall, these findings emphasize the importance of density and distribution of suitable nesting

Mourning Dove nesting habitat and nest success in Central Missouri

Science.gov (United States)

Drobney, R.D.; Schulz, J.H.; Sheriff, S.L.; Fuemmeler, W.J.

1998-01-01

Previous Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) nesting studies conducted in areas containing a mixture of edge and continuous habitats have focused on edge habitats. Consequently, little is known about the potential contribution of continuous habitats to dove production. In this study we evaluated the relative importance of these two extensive habitat types by monitoring the habitat use and nest success of 59 radio-marked doves during 1990-1991 in central Missouri. Of 83 nests initiated by our marked sample, most (81.9%) were located in edge habitats. Although continuous habitats were selected less as nest sites, the proportion of successful nests did not differ significantly from that in edge habitats. Our data indicate that continuous habitats should not be considered marginal nesting habitat. If the intensity of use and nest success that we observed are representative regionally or nationally, continuous habitats could contribute substantially to annual Mourning Dove production because of the high availability of these habitats throughout much of the Mourning Dove breeding range.

Construction patterns of birds’ nests provide insight into nest-building behaviours

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Lucia Biddle

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Previous studies have suggested that birds and mammals select materials needed for nest building based on their thermal or structural properties, although the amounts or properties of the materials used have been recorded for only a very small number of species. Some of the behaviours underlying the construction of nests can be indirectly determined by careful deconstruction of the structure and measurement of the biomechanical properties of the materials used. Here we examined this idea in an investigation of Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula nests as a model for open-nesting songbird species that construct a “twig” nest, and tested the hypothesis that materials in different parts of nests serve different functions. The quantities of materials present in the nest base, sides and cup were recorded before structural analysis. Structural analysis showed that the base of the outer nests were composed of significantly thicker, stronger and more rigid materials compared to the side walls, which in turn were significantly thicker, stronger and more rigid than materials used in the cup. These results suggest that the placement of particular materials in nests may not be random, but further work is required to determine if the final structure of a nest accurately reflects the construction process.

Construction patterns of birds’ nests provide insight into nest-building behaviours

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Adrian M.

2017-01-01

Previous studies have suggested that birds and mammals select materials needed for nest building based on their thermal or structural properties, although the amounts or properties of the materials used have been recorded for only a very small number of species. Some of the behaviours underlying the construction of nests can be indirectly determined by careful deconstruction of the structure and measurement of the biomechanical properties of the materials used. Here we examined this idea in an investigation of Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) nests as a model for open-nesting songbird species that construct a “twig” nest, and tested the hypothesis that materials in different parts of nests serve different functions. The quantities of materials present in the nest base, sides and cup were recorded before structural analysis. Structural analysis showed that the base of the outer nests were composed of significantly thicker, stronger and more rigid materials compared to the side walls, which in turn were significantly thicker, stronger and more rigid than materials used in the cup. These results suggest that the placement of particular materials in nests may not be random, but further work is required to determine if the final structure of a nest accurately reflects the construction process. PMID:28265501

Construction patterns of birds' nests provide insight into nest-building behaviours.

Science.gov (United States)

Biddle, Lucia; Goodman, Adrian M; Deeming, D Charles

2017-01-01

Previous studies have suggested that birds and mammals select materials needed for nest building based on their thermal or structural properties, although the amounts or properties of the materials used have been recorded for only a very small number of species. Some of the behaviours underlying the construction of nests can be indirectly determined by careful deconstruction of the structure and measurement of the biomechanical properties of the materials used. Here we examined this idea in an investigation of Bullfinch ( Pyrrhula pyrrhula ) nests as a model for open-nesting songbird species that construct a "twig" nest, and tested the hypothesis that materials in different parts of nests serve different functions. The quantities of materials present in the nest base, sides and cup were recorded before structural analysis. Structural analysis showed that the base of the outer nests were composed of significantly thicker, stronger and more rigid materials compared to the side walls, which in turn were significantly thicker, stronger and more rigid than materials used in the cup. These results suggest that the placement of particular materials in nests may not be random, but further work is required to determine if the final structure of a nest accurately reflects the construction process.

Curvature and position of nested tubes in hollow-core anti-resonant fibers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Habib, Md Selim; Markos, Christos; Bang, Ole

2017-01-01

Hollow-core anti-resonant (HC-AR) fibers where a symmetric distribution of cladding tubes compose a “negative-curvature” core boundary have extraordinary optical properties, such as low transmission loss, wide transmission bands and weak power overlap between the core modes and the silica parts [1...

Construction of Core Collections Suitable for Association Mapping to Optimize Use of Mediterranean Olive (Olea europaea L.) Genetic Resources

Science.gov (United States)

El Bakkali, Ahmed; Haouane, Hicham; Moukhli, Abdelmajid; Costes, Evelyne; Van Damme, Patrick; Khadari, Bouchaib

2013-01-01

Phenotypic characterisation of germplasm collections is a decisive step towards association mapping analyses, but it is particularly expensive and tedious for woody perennial plant species. Characterisation could be more efficient if focused on a reasonably sized subset of accessions, or so-called core collection (CC), reflecting the geographic origin and variability of the germplasm. The questions that arise concern the sample size to use and genetic parameters that should be optimized in a core collection to make it suitable for association mapping. Here we investigated these questions in olive (Olea europaea L.), a perennial fruit species. By testing different sampling methods and sizes in a worldwide olive germplasm bank (OWGB Marrakech, Morocco) containing 502 unique genotypes characterized by nuclear and plastid loci, a two-step sampling method was proposed. The Shannon-Weaver diversity index was found to be the best criterion to be maximized in the first step using the Core Hunter program. A primary core collection of 50 entries (CC50) was defined that captured more than 80% of the diversity. This latter was subsequently used as a kernel with the Mstrat program to capture the remaining diversity. 200 core collections of 94 entries (CC94) were thus built for flexibility in the choice of varieties to be studied. Most entries of both core collections (CC50 and CC94) were revealed to be unrelated due to the low kinship coefficient, whereas a genetic structure spanning the eastern and western/central Mediterranean regions was noted. Linkage disequilibrium was observed in CC94 which was mainly explained by a genetic structure effect as noted for OWGB Marrakech. Since they reflect the geographic origin and diversity of olive germplasm and are of reasonable size, both core collections will be of major interest to develop long-term association studies and thus enhance genomic selection in olive species. PMID:23667437

Arctic foxes, lemmings, and canada goose nest survival at cape Churchill, Manitoba

Science.gov (United States)

Reiter, M.E.; Andersen, D.E.

2011-01-01

We examined factors influencing Canada Goose (Branta canadensis interior) annual nest success, including the relative abundance of collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx richardsoni), arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) den occupancy, nest density, and spring phenology using data collected during annual Canada Goose breeding area surveys at Cape Churchill, Manitoba. Nest density and arctic fox den occupancy strongly influenced Canada Goose nest success. High nest density resulted in higher nest success and high den occupancy reduced nest success. Nest success was not influenced by lemming abundance in the current or previous year as predicted by the "bird-lemming" hypothesis. Reducing arctic fox abundance through targeted management increased nest survival of Canada Geese; a result that further emphasizes the importance of arctic fox as nest predators in this system. The spatial distribution of nest predators, at least for dispersed-nesting geese, may be most important for nest survival, regardless of the abundance of small mammals in the local ecosystem. Further understanding of the factors influencing the magnitude and variance in arctic fox abundance in this region, and the spatial scale at which these factors are realized, is necessary to fully explain predator-prey-alternative prey dynamics in this system. ?? 2011 by the Wilson Ornithological Society.

Comparative evaluation of uniplex, nested, semi-nested, multiplex and nested multiplex PCR methods in the identification of microbial etiology of clinically suspected infectious endophthalmitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bharathi, Madasamy Jayahar; Murugan, Nandagopal; Rameshkumar, Gunasekaran; Ramakrishnan, Rengappa; Venugopal Reddy, Yerahaia Chinna; Shivkumar, Chandrasekar; Ramesh, Srinivasan

2013-05-01

This study is aimed to determine the utility of various polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods in vitreous fluids (VFs) for detecting the infectious genomes in the diagnosis of infectious endophthalmitis in terms of sensitivity and specificity. This prospective and consecutive analysis included a total of 66 VFs that were submitted for the microbiological evaluation, which were obtained from 66 clinically diagnosed endophthalmitis patients presented between November 2010 and October 2011 at the tertiary eye care referral centre in South India. Part of the collected VFs were subjected to cultures and smears, and the remaining parts were utilized for five PCR methods: uniplex, nested, semi-nested, multiplex and nested multiplex after extracting DNA, using universal eubacterial and Propionibacterium acnes species-specific primer sets targeting 16S rRNA gene in all bacteria and P. acnes, and panfungal primers, targeting 28S rRNA gene in all fungi. Of the 66 VFs, five (7.5%) showed positive results in smears, 16 (24%) in cultures and 43 (65%) showed positive results in PCRs. Among the 43 positively amplified VFs, 10 (15%) were positive for P. acnes genome, one for panfungal genome and 42 (62%) for eubacterial genome (including 10 P. acnes positives). Among 42 eubacterial-positive VFs, 36 were positive by both uniplex (first round) and multiplex (first round) PCRs, while nested (second round) and nested multiplex (second round) PCRs produced positive results in 42 and 41 VFs, respectively. Of the 43 PCR-positive specimens, 16 (37%) had positive growth (15 bacterial and one fungal) in culture. Of 50 culture-negative specimens, 27 (54%) were showed positive amplification, of which 10 were amplified for both P. acnes and eubacterial genomes and the remaining 17 were for eubacterial genome alone. Nested PCRs are superior than uniplex and multiplex PCR. PCRs proved to be a powerful tool in the diagnosis of endophthalmitis, especially for detecting uncultured microbes.

Sorting it out: bedding particle size and nesting material processing method affect nest complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson-Junker, Amy; Morin, Amelia; Pritchett-Corning, Kathleen; Gaskill, Brianna N

2017-04-01

As part of routine husbandry, an increasing number of laboratory mice receive nesting material in addition to standard bedding material in their cages. Nesting material improves health outcomes and physiological performance in mice that receive it. Providing usable nesting material uniformly and efficiently to various strains of mice remains a challenge. The aim of this study was to determine how bedding particle size, method of nesting material delivery, and processing of the nesting material before delivery affected nest building in mice of strong (BALB/cAnNCrl) and weak (C3H/HeNCrl) gathering abilities. Our data suggest that processing nesting material through a grinder in conjunction with bedding material, although convenient for provision of bedding with nesting material 'built-in', negatively affects the integrity of the nesting material and subsequent nest-building outcomes. We also found that C3H mice, previously thought to be poor nest builders, built similarly scored nests to those of BALB/c mice when provided with unprocessed nesting material. This was true even when nesting material was mixed into the bedding substrate. We also observed that when nesting material was mixed into the bedding substrate, mice of both strains would sort their bedding by particle size more often than if it were not mixed in. Our findings support the utility of the practice of distributing nesting material mixed in with bedding substrate, but not that of processing the nesting material with the bedding in order to mix them.

Nesting biology of four Tetrapedia species in trap-nests (Hymenoptera:Apidae:Tetrapediini

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Evandro Camillo

2005-06-01

Full Text Available The nests used in this study were obtained from trap-nests (tubes of cardboard and cut bamboo stems placed on Santa Carlota Farm (Itaoca Section-IS, Santana Section-SS and Cerrado-Ce, Cajuru, SP, Brazil. The number of nests and corresponding species obtained were as follows: 516 nests of T. curvitarsis, 104 of T. rugulosa, 399 of T. diversipes and 98 of T. garofaloi. The most abundant species from SS and Ce was T.curvitarsis, and from IS it was T. diversipes. In general, most nests were collected during the hot and wet season (September to April. The nests were constructed with sand and an oily substance, and a single female established them. The cells were constructed in a linear series, sometimes followed by a vestibular cell. The number of brood cells ranged from 1 to 10 in T. curvitarsis (n=200, and in T. garofaloi (n=51, from 1 to 8 (n=30 in T. rugulosa, and from 1 to 6 (n=37 in T. diversipes. The pollen mass (pollen + oily substance contained a hollow, sometimes divided by a transverse ridge, on the exposed face of the pollen mass. The egg was vertically positioned in the lower part of the hollow. At times, the closing of a cell was initiated before provisioning was completed, with a construction of a collar at the cell limit. In some nests the final cellular partition also acted as a closure plug. Females began activities at 6:18 a.m.and ended between 3:31 and 6:26 p.m. Some females (T. curvitarsis , T. rugulosa and T. garofaloi did not spend the nights at their nests, returning to them only the following morning with additional material. In general, the development period (for males and females was greater in nests collected near the end of the hot and wet season than it was for nests collected in other months. Sex ratios for each species were as follows: T. curvitarsis, 1:1; T. rugulosa , 1.6:1 female; T. diversipes, 1.9:1; T. garofaloi, 2.8:1. Males and females of T. diversipes exhibited statistically similar sizes and in the other

Core Hunter 3: flexible core subset selection.

Science.gov (United States)

De Beukelaer, Herman; Davenport, Guy F; Fack, Veerle

2018-05-31

Core collections provide genebank curators and plant breeders a way to reduce size of their collections and populations, while minimizing impact on genetic diversity and allele frequency. Many methods have been proposed to generate core collections, often using distance metrics to quantify the similarity of two accessions, based on genetic marker data or phenotypic traits. Core Hunter is a multi-purpose core subset selection tool that uses local search algorithms to generate subsets relying on one or more metrics, including several distance metrics and allelic richness. In version 3 of Core Hunter (CH3) we have incorporated two new, improved methods for summarizing distances to quantify diversity or representativeness of the core collection. A comparison of CH3 and Core Hunter 2 (CH2) showed that these new metrics can be effectively optimized with less complex algorithms, as compared to those used in CH2. CH3 is more effective at maximizing the improved diversity metric than CH2, still ensures a high average and minimum distance, and is faster for large datasets. Using CH3, a simple stochastic hill-climber is able to find highly diverse core collections, and the more advanced parallel tempering algorithm further increases the quality of the core and further reduces variability across independent samples. We also evaluate the ability of CH3 to simultaneously maximize diversity, and either representativeness or allelic richness, and compare the results with those of the GDOpt and SimEli methods. CH3 can sample equally representative cores as GDOpt, which was specifically designed for this purpose, and is able to construct cores that are simultaneously more diverse, and either are more representative or have higher allelic richness, than those obtained by SimEli. In version 3, Core Hunter has been updated to include two new core subset selection metrics that construct cores for representativeness or diversity, with improved performance. It combines and outperforms the

Pre-nesting and nesting behavior of the Swainson's warbler

Science.gov (United States)

Meanley, B.

1969-01-01

The Swainson?s Warbler is one of the least known of southern birds. Although fairly common in some parts of its summer range, observations of its breeding biology have been made by very few persons. The present study was conducted mostly at Macon, Georgia; Pendleton Ferry, Arkansas; and Dismal Swamp, Virginia....In central Georgia and east-central Arkansas, Swainson?s Warblers usually arrive on their territories during the first two weeks in April. Territories in several localities ranged in size from 0.3 to 4.8 acres. A color-marked Arkansas male occupied the same territory for at least four months. Hostile encounters between territorial male Swainson?s Warblers usually take place along the boundary of adjacent territories. Paired males were more aggressive than unpaired males. Toward the end of an encounter one of the two males would usually perform a display in which the wing and tail feathers were spread and the tail vibrated. Following boundary encounters males drifted back onto their territories and usually sang unbroken courses of songs for several minutes.....During pre-nesting at Macon, a mated pair spent the day mostly on the ground within 20 feet of each other, often foragin g 3 to 4 feet apart. What may have been a form of courtship display, in which the male flew from a perch down to the female and either pecked her rump or pounced on her, occurred about three times each hour throughout the day. During this period the male sang less than at other times during the breeding season.....First nests are usually built by the first week in May. Although other investigators reported finding nests of this species outside of the defended territory, all nests that I have found were within the territory. The large, bulky nest of this species usually is placed 2-6 feet above the ground. It is built by the female from materials gathered close to the nest site; and takes two or three days to complete.....Three and occasionally four white eggs are laid. The female

Genetic diversity and population structure analysis to construct a core collection from a large Capsicum germplasm.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hea-Young; Ro, Na-Young; Jeong, Hee-Jin; Kwon, Jin-Kyung; Jo, Jinkwan; Ha, Yeaseong; Jung, Ayoung; Han, Ji-Woong; Venkatesh, Jelli; Kang, Byoung-Cheorl

2016-11-14

Conservation of genetic diversity is an essential prerequisite for developing new cultivars with desirable agronomic traits. Although a large number of germplasm collections have been established worldwide, many of them face major difficulties due to large size and a lack of adequate information about population structure and genetic diversity. Core collection with a minimum number of accessions and maximum genetic diversity of pepper species and its wild relatives will facilitate easy access to genetic material as well as the use of hidden genetic diversity in Capsicum. To explore genetic diversity and population structure, we investigated patterns of molecular diversity using a transcriptome-based 48 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a large germplasm collection comprising 3,821 accessions. Among the 11 species examined, Capsicum annuum showed the highest genetic diversity (H E  = 0.44, I = 0.69), whereas the wild species C. galapagoense showed the lowest genetic diversity (H E  = 0.06, I = 0.07). The Capsicum germplasm collection was divided into 10 clusters (cluster 1 to 10) based on population structure analysis, and five groups (group A to E) based on phylogenetic analysis. Capsicum accessions from the five distinct groups in an unrooted phylogenetic tree showed taxonomic distinctness and reflected their geographic origins. Most of the accessions from European countries are distributed in the A and B groups, whereas the accessions from Asian countries are mainly distributed in C and D groups. Five different sampling strategies with diverse genetic clustering methods were used to select the optimal method for constructing the core collection. Using a number of allelic variations based on 48 SNP markers and 32 different phenotypic/morphological traits, a core collection 'CC240' with a total of 240 accessions (5.2 %) was selected from within the entire Capsicum germplasm. Compared to the other core collections, CC240 displayed higher

Open cup nests evolved from roofed nests in the early passerines.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, J Jordan; Griffith, Simon C

2017-02-08

The architectural diversity of nests in the passerine birds (order Passeriformes) is thought to have played an important role in the adaptive radiation of this group, which now comprises more than half of avian species and occupies nearly all terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we present an extensive survey and ancestral state reconstruction of nest design across the passerines, focusing on early Australian lineages and including members of nearly all passerine families worldwide. Most passerines build open cup-shaped nests, whereas a minority build more elaborate domed structures with roofs. We provide strong evidence that, despite their relative rarity today, domed nests were constructed by the common ancestor of all modern passerines. Open cup nests evolved from enclosed domes at least four times independently during early passerine evolution, at least three of which occurred on the Australian continent, yielding several primarily cup-nesting clades that are now widespread and numerically dominant among passerines. Our results show that the ubiquitous and relatively simple cup-shaped nests of many birds today evolved multiple times convergently, suggesting adaptive benefits over earlier roofed designs. © 2017 The Author(s).

Plants used by Megachile (Moureapis sp. (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae in the provisioning of their nests

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MLT. Buschini

Full Text Available This study was carried out in the Parque Municipal das Araucárias, located in the municipality of Guarapuava (PR from May (06 to April (07. Its aim was to investigate which plants are used by Megachile (Moureapis sp in provisioning of larvae, and to verify if this bee is oligolectic or polilectic. The collection of the plants was carried out during the bees activity period and in an area covering a 500 m radius from where the nests had been built. A sample of pollens from founded nests and from flowers was used to make permanent slides using the acetolysis method and with the aid of a light microscope, all pollen grains were examined in order to identify the plants used by this bee. A total of 80 pollen grain slides, from 16 nests were analysed. Although 99 plants were collected close to the bee's nesting site, in nest slides, the pollen of Ludwigia peruviana (36% and Ludwigia sericea (63.6% (Onagraceae accounted for 99.6% of the total amount of pollen collected. With these results we are able to conclude that Megachile (Moureapis sp is an oligolectic species and that these plants species are their important pollen source.

Do Predation Rates on Artificial Nests Accurately Reflect Predation Rates on Natural Bird Nests?

Science.gov (United States)

David I. King; Richard M. DeGraaf; Curtice R. Griffin; Thomas J. Maier

1999-01-01

Artificial nests are widely used in avian field studies. However, it is unclear how well predation rates on artificial nests reflect predation rates on natural nests. Therefore, we compared survival rates of artificial nests (unused natural nests baited with House Sparrow eggs) with survival rates of active bird nests in the same habitat at the same sites. Survival...

Neste plans three projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1993-01-01

Neste Chemicals (Helsinki) is discussing three joint ventures with local authorities in China, says Mikko Haapavaara, v.p./Asia. The projects should help the Finnish producer to increase sales in Asia by a considerable amount by 2000, he says. The plan involves production of polyethylene (PE), unsaturated polyester resins and PE compounding-all core operations. Sites have not been selected, but Shanghai is the favored location for the PE operations. The company is also looking at a site in the south, near Hong Kong, and at locations near Beijing. The PE plant would need to be near an ethylene unit, says Haapavaara. The PE resin plant would be designed to produce about 150,000 m.t./year and would cost about No. 150 million. A part of the output would need to be exported to take care of the financing, the company says. A feasibility study now under way with the potential Chinese partners should be completed by the end of March. The plant would use Neste's linear low-density PE process, proved in a world-scale plant at Beringen, Belgium. The compounding units would produce specialty PE material for the wire and cable and pipe industry. The company is a joint venture partner in a propane dehydrogenation/polypropylene (PP) plant and a minority partner in a Qualipoly, the 20,000 m.t./year unsaturated polyester resin producer

Species-specific nested PCR as a diagnostic tool for Brucella ovis infection in rams

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L.F. Costa

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to evaluate a species-specific nested PCR based on a previously described species-specific PCR for detection of B. ovis in semen and urine samples of experimentally infected rams. The performance of the species-specific nested PCR was compared with the results of a genus-specific PCR. Fourteen rams were experimentally infected with the Brucella ovis REO 198 strain and samples of semen and urine were collected every week up to 180 days post infection. Out of 83 semen samples collected, 42 (50.6% were positive for the species-specific nested PCR, and 23 (27.7% were positive for the genus-specific PCR. Out of 75 urine samples, 49 (65.3% were positive for the species-specific nested PCR, whereas 11 (14.6% were genus-specific PCR positive. Species-specific nested PCR was significantly more sensitive (P<0.001 than the genus-specific PCR in semen and urine from experimentally infected rams. In conclusion, the species-specific nested PCR developed in this study may be used as a diagnostic tool for the detection of B. ovis in semen and urine samples from suspected rams.

Nest etiquette--where ants go when nature calls.

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Tomer J Czaczkes

Full Text Available Sanitary behaviour is an important, but seldom studied, aspect of social living. Social insects have developed several strategies for dealing with waste and faecal matter, including dumping waste outside the nest and forming specialised waste-storage chambers. In some cases waste material and faeces are put to use, either as a construction material or as a long-lasting signal, suggesting that faeces and waste may not always be dangerous. Here we examine a previously undescribed behaviour in ants - the formation of well-defined faecal patches. Lasius niger ants were housed in plaster nests and provided with coloured sucrose solution. After two months, 1-4 well defined dark patches, the colour of the sucrose solution, formed within each of the plaster nests. These patches never contained other waste material such as uneaten food items, or nestmate corpses. Such waste was collected in waste piles outside the nest. The coloured patches were thus distinct from previously described 'kitchen middens' in ants, and are best described as 'toilets'. Why faeces is not removed with other waste materials is unclear. The presence of the toilets inside the nest suggests that they may not be an important source of pathogens, and may have a beneficial role.

Monitoring and improving the sensitivity of dengue nested RT-PCR used in longitudinal surveillance in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Klungthong, Chonticha; Manasatienkij, Wudtichai; Phonpakobsin, Thipwipha; Chinnawirotpisan, Piyawan; Rodpradit, Prinyada; Hussem, Kittinun; Thaisomboonsuk, Butsaya; Ong-ajchaowlerd, Prapapun; Nisalak, Ananda; Kalayanarooj, Siripen; Buddhari, Darunee; Gibbons, Robert V; Jarman, Richard G; Yoon, In-Kyu; Fernandez, Stefan

2015-02-01

AFRIMS longitudinal dengue surveillance in Thailand depends on the nested RT-PCR and the dengue IgM/IgG ELISA. To examine and improve the sensitivity of the nested RT-PCR using a panel of archived samples collected during dengue surveillance. A retrospective analysis of 16,454 dengue IgM/IgG ELISA positive cases collected between 2000 and 2013 was done to investigate the sensitivity of the nested RT-PCR. From these cases, 318 acute serum specimens or extracted RNA, previously found to be negative by the nested RT-PCR, were tested using TaqMan real-time RT-PCR (TaqMan rRT-PCR). To improve the sensitivity of nested RT-PCR, we designed a new primer based on nucleotide sequences from contemporary strains found to be positive by the TaqMan rRT-PCR. Sensitivity of the new nested PCR was calculated using a panel of 87 samples collected during 2011-2013. The percentage of dengue IgM/IgG ELISA positive cases that were negative by the nested RT-PCR varied from 17% to 42% for all serotypes depending on the year. Using TaqMan rRT-PCR, dengue RNA was detected in 194 (61%) of the 318 acute sera or extracted RNA previously found to be negative by the nested RT-PCR. The newly designed DENV-1 specific primer increased the sensitivity of DENV-1 detection by the nested RT-PCR from 48% to 88%, and of all 4 serotypes from 73% to 87%. These findings demonstrate the impact of genetic diversity and signal erosion on the sensitivity of PCR-based methods. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Ground-nesting by the chimpanzees of the Nimba Mountains, Guinea: environmentally or socially determined?

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Koops, Kathelijne; Humle, Tatyana; Sterck, Elisabeth H M; Matsuzawa, Tetsuro

2007-04-01

The chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) of the Nimba Mountains, Guinea, West Africa, commonly make both elaborate ("night") and simple ("day") nests on the ground. In this study we investigated which factors might influence ground-nesting in this population, and tested two ecological hypotheses: 1) climatic conditions, such as high wind speeds at high altitudes, may deter chimpanzees from nesting in trees; and 2) a lack of appropriate arboreal nesting opportunities may drive the chimpanzees to nest on the ground. In addition to testing these two hypotheses, we explored whether ground-nesting is a sex-linked behavior. Data were collected monthly between August 2003 and May 2004 along transects and ad libitum. To identify the sex of ground-nesting individuals, we used DNA extracted from hair samples. The results showed that the occurrence and distribution of ground nests were not affected by climatic conditions or a lack of appropriate nest trees. Support was found for the notion that ground-nesting is a sex-linked behavior, as males were responsible for building all of the elaborate ground nests and most of the simple ground nests sampled. Elaborate ground nests occurred mostly in nest groups associated with tree nests, whereas simple ground nests usually occurred without tree nests in their vicinity. These results suggest that ground-nesting may be socially, rather than ecologically, determined.

Thermal fluctuation within nests and predicted sex ratio of Morelet's Crocodile.

Science.gov (United States)

Escobedo-Galván, Armando H; López-Luna, Marco A; Cupul-Magaña, Fabio G

2016-05-01

Understanding the interplay between thermal variations and sex ratio in reptiles with temperature-dependent sex determination is the first step for developing long-term conservation strategies. In case of crocodilians, the information is fragmentary and insufficient for establishing a general framework to consider how thermal fluctuation influence sex determination under natural conditions. The main goal of this study was to analyze thermal variation in nests of Crocodylus moreletii and to discuss the potential implications for predicting offspring sex ratio. The study was carried out at the Centro de Estudios Tecnológicos del Mar N° 2 and at the Sistemas Productivos Cocodrilo, Campeche, Mexico. Data was collected in the nesting season of Morelet's Crocodiles during three consecutive seasons (2007-2009). Thermal fluctuations for multiple areas of the nest chamber were registered by data loggers. We calculate the constant temperature equivalent based on thermal profiles among nests to assess whether there are differences between the nest temperature and its equivalent to constant temperature. We observed that mean nest temperature was only different among nests, while daily thermal fluctuations vary depending on the depth position within the nest chamber, years and nests. The constant temperature equivalent was different among and within nests, but not among survey years. We observed differences between constant temperature equivalent and mean nest temperature both at the top and in the middle of the nest cavities, but were not significantly different at the bottom of nest cavities. Our results enable examine and discuss the relevance of daily thermal fluctuations to predict sex ratio of the Morelet's Crocodile. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nest structure and communal nesting in Euglossa (Glossura annectans Dressler (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Euglossini

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Carlos Alberto Garófalo

1998-01-01

Full Text Available Three nests of Euglossa (Glossura annectans Dressier, 1982 were obtained from trap nests at Serra do Japi, Jundiai, São Paulo State, Brazil. The bees nested in bamboo cane (one nest and in wooden-boxes (two nests. Solitary (two cases and pleometrotic (one case foundations were observed. Two nests were re-used once by two females working in each of them. Re-using females that shared the nests were of the same generation and each built, provisioned and oviposited in her own cells, characterizing a communal association. The brood development period was related to climatic conditions. Natural enemies included Anthrax oedipus oedipus Fabricius, 1805 (Bombyliidae, Coelioxys sp. (Megachilidae and Melittobia sp. (Eulophidae.

Properties of Arboreal Ant and Ground-Termite Nests in relation to Their Nesting Sites and Location in a Tropical-Derived Savanna

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B. C. Echezona

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Ecosystem engineers such as ants and termites play an important role in the fertility of tropical soils. Physicochemical analyses were thus carried out on some arboreal ant nests collected from mango (Mangifera indica, bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis, kola (Cola nitida, newbouldia plant (Newbouldia laevis, and oil bean plant (Pentaclethra macrophylla and on ground nest of termite, Odontotermes sudanensis Sjost. (Isoptera: Termitidae in Nigeria. Arboreal nests, particularly those of M. indica, were significantly richer in the chemical constituents sampled, compared to those of ground-termite nests or adjacent unaffected soils. Available water capacity of nests from M. indica (60.0% was significantly higher than those of other sites or locations sampled. While biogenic structures were sandy-loamy in texture, their corresponding adjacent soils were either sandy or sandy-loamy. Soils worked by ants and termites had greater proportions of silt-sized (17.9 versus 9.7 and clay-sized (19.2 versus 9.3 to the detriment of coarse-sized particles (51.2 versus 60.9 and fine-sand-sized particles (11.7 versus 20.1 relative to the adjacent soils. Generally, biogenic structures were about 348% richer in P than their corresponding adjacent soils; an attribute, which holds a strong promise in bioremediation and biofortification of soils especially during amendment.

Effect of heterogeneity of nest boxes on occurrence of gregarious nesting in laying hens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clausen, Tina; Riber, Anja Brinch

2012-01-01

Gregarious nesting, where hens select already occupied nest boxes even when other nest boxes are unoccupied, is an unwanted behaviour in laying hens that may reduce animal welfare and pose a financial cost to the producer. It has been suggested that gregarious nesting is caused by the difficulties...... nesting was higher in experimental groups compared to control groups (P right were higher compared to nest boxes positioned...

Collection-based analysis of selected medical libraries in the Philippines using Doody’s Core Titles

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Efren Torres Jr., MLIS

2017-01-01

Conclusion: De La Salle Health Sciences Institute and University of Santo Tomas had sound medical collections based on Doody’s Core Titles. Collectively, the medical libraries shared common collection development priorities, as evidenced by similarities in strong areas. Library budget and the role of the library director in book selection were among the factors that could contributed to a high percentage of match titles.

Nest descriptions of Megalopta aegis (Vachal) and M. guimaraesi Santos & Silveira (Hymenoptera, Halictidae) from the Brazilian Cerrado

OpenAIRE

Santos,Leandro M.; Tierney,Simon M.; Wcislo,William T.

2010-01-01

We present the first data on the nesting biology of Megalopta aegis and M. guimaraesi from southeastern Brazil. Nests were collected in the Área de Proteção Ambiental Água Limpa, Bauru, São Paulo state. Our data suggest that nest architecture is conserved throughout all species of Megalopta. Two nests of M. guimaraesi consisted of a single female with brood. Of three M. aegis nests, two contained single females with brood and the third nest contained three adult females, with three times more...

Nest predation increases with parental activity: separating nest site and parental activity effects.

OpenAIRE

Martin, T E; Scott, J; Menge, C

2000-01-01

Alexander Skutch hypothesized that increased parental activity can increase the risk of nest predation. We tested this hypothesis using ten open-nesting bird species in Arizona, USA. Parental activity was greater during the nestling than incubation stage because parents visited the nest frequently to feed their young during the nestling stage. However, nest predation did not generally increase with parental activity between nesting stages across the ten study species. Previous investigators h...

Parallel tiled Nussinov RNA folding loop nest generated using both dependence graph transitive closure and loop skewing.

Science.gov (United States)

Palkowski, Marek; Bielecki, Wlodzimierz

2017-06-02

RNA secondary structure prediction is a compute intensive task that lies at the core of several search algorithms in bioinformatics. Fortunately, the RNA folding approaches, such as the Nussinov base pair maximization, involve mathematical operations over affine control loops whose iteration space can be represented by the polyhedral model. Polyhedral compilation techniques have proven to be a powerful tool for optimization of dense array codes. However, classical affine loop nest transformations used with these techniques do not optimize effectively codes of dynamic programming of RNA structure predictions. The purpose of this paper is to present a novel approach allowing for generation of a parallel tiled Nussinov RNA loop nest exposing significantly higher performance than that of known related code. This effect is achieved due to improving code locality and calculation parallelization. In order to improve code locality, we apply our previously published technique of automatic loop nest tiling to all the three loops of the Nussinov loop nest. This approach first forms original rectangular 3D tiles and then corrects them to establish their validity by means of applying the transitive closure of a dependence graph. To produce parallel code, we apply the loop skewing technique to a tiled Nussinov loop nest. The technique is implemented as a part of the publicly available polyhedral source-to-source TRACO compiler. Generated code was run on modern Intel multi-core processors and coprocessors. We present the speed-up factor of generated Nussinov RNA parallel code and demonstrate that it is considerably faster than related codes in which only the two outer loops of the Nussinov loop nest are tiled.

The nest as fortress: Defensive behavior of Polybia emaciata, a mud-nesting eusocial wasp

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Sean O'Donnell

2002-02-01

Full Text Available The swarm-founding wasp Polybia emaciata is unusual among eusocial Vespidae because it uses mud, rather than wood pulp, as its primary nest construction material. Polybia emaciata nests are more durable than similarly sized paper nests. We tested the hypothesis that the defensive behavior of this wasp may have been modified to take advantage of their strong nests in defense against vertebrate attacks. We simulated vertebrate disturbances by tapping on, and breathing in, P. emaciata. nests and similarly sized P. occidentalis paper nests in the same location at the same time. Polybia emaciata. responses to disturbance were qualitatively different from those of P. occidentalis. The latter exit the nest and attack, while P. emaciata. workers typically fled or entered the nest, attacking only after repeated and extended disturbances. We conclude that durable nest material may permit predator avoidance behavior in P. emaciata.. We compare the defensive responses of P. emaciata. workers with those of other swarm-founding Vespidae, and discuss several selective forces that could cause the evolution of species variation in nest defense behavior.

Cavity Nesting Birds

Science.gov (United States)

Virgil E. Scott; Keith E. Evans; David R. Patton; Charles P. Stone

1977-01-01

Many species of cavity-nesting birds have declined because of habitat reduction. In the eastern United States, where primeval forests are gone, purple martins depend almost entirely on man-made nesting structures (Allen and Nice 1952). The hole-nesting population of peregrine falcons disappeared with the felling of the giant trees upon which they depended (Hickey and...

Nest predators of open and cavity nesting birds in oak woodlands

Science.gov (United States)

Kathryn L. Purcell; Jared Verner

1999-01-01

Camera setups revealed at least three species of rodents and seven species of birds as potential predators at artificial open nests. Surprisingly, among avian predators identified at open nests, one third were Bullock's Orioles (Icterus bullockii). Two rodent species and three bird species were potential predators at artificial cavity nests. This high predator...

Third-generation site characterization: Cryogenic core collection, nuclear magnetic resonance, and electrical resistivity

Science.gov (United States)

Kiaalhosseini, Saeed

In modern contaminant hydrology, management of contaminated sites requires a holistic characterization of subsurface conditions. Delineation of contaminant distribution in all phases (i.e., aqueous, non-aqueous liquid, sorbed, and gas), as well as associated biogeochemical processes in a complex heterogeneous subsurface, is central to selecting effective remedies. Arguably, a factor contributing to the lack of success of managing contaminated sites effectively has been the limitations of site characterization methods that rely on monitoring wells and grab sediment samples. The overarching objective of this research is to advance a set of third-generation (3G) site characterization methods to overcome shortcomings of current site characterization techniques. 3G methods include 1) cryogenic core collection (C3) from unconsolidated geological subsurface to improve recovery of sediments and preserving key attributes, 2) high-throughput analysis (HTA) of frozen core in the laboratory to provide high-resolution, depth discrete data of subsurface conditions and processes, 3) resolution of non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) distribution within the porous media using a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method, and 4) application of a complex resistivity method to track NAPL depletion in shallow geological formation over time. A series of controlled experiments were conducted to develop the C 3 tools and methods. The critical aspects of C3 are downhole circulation of liquid nitrogen via a cooling system, the strategic use of thermal insulation to focus cooling into the core, and the use of back pressure to optimize cooling. The C3 methods were applied at two contaminated sites: 1) F.E. Warren (FEW) Air Force Base near Cheyenne, WY and 2) a former refinery in the western U.S. The results indicated that the rate of core collection using the C3 methods is on the order of 30 foot/day. The C3 methods also improve core recovery and limits potential biases associated with flowing sands

Modeling nest survival of cavity-nesting birds in relation to postfire salvage logging

Science.gov (United States)

Vicki Saab; Robin E. Russell; Jay Rotella; Jonathan G. Dudley

2011-01-01

Salvage logging practices in recently burned forests often have direct effects on species associated with dead trees, particularly cavity-nesting birds. As such, evaluation of postfire management practices on nest survival rates of cavity nesters is necessary for determining conservation strategies. We monitored 1,797 nests of 6 cavity-nesting bird species: Lewis'...

Low-Loss Hollow-Core Anti-Resonant Fibers With Semi-Circular Nested Tubes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Habib, Selim; Bang, Ole; Bache, Morten

2016-01-01

Hollow-core fibers with a single ring of circular antiresonant tubes as the cladding provide a simple way of getting a negative-curvature hollow core, resulting in broadband low-loss transmission with little power overlap in the glass. These fibers show a significant improvement in loss performan...

Triangular Nests!

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, R. I.

2002-01-01

Shows how integer-sided triangles can be nested, each nest having a single enclosing isosceles triangle. Brings to light what can be seen as a relatively simple generalization of Pythagoras' theorem, a result that should be readily accessible to many secondary school pupils. (Author/KHR)

Localizing Tortoise Nests by Neural Networks.

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Roberto Barbuti

Full Text Available The goal of this research is to recognize the nest digging activity of tortoises using a device mounted atop the tortoise carapace. The device classifies tortoise movements in order to discriminate between nest digging, and non-digging activity (specifically walking and eating. Accelerometer data was collected from devices attached to the carapace of a number of tortoises during their two-month nesting period. Our system uses an accelerometer and an activity recognition system (ARS which is modularly structured using an artificial neural network and an output filter. For the purpose of experiment and comparison, and with the aim of minimizing the computational cost, the artificial neural network has been modelled according to three different architectures based on the input delay neural network (IDNN. We show that the ARS can achieve very high accuracy on segments of data sequences, with an extremely small neural network that can be embedded in programmable low power devices. Given that digging is typically a long activity (up to two hours, the application of ARS on data segments can be repeated over time to set up a reliable and efficient system, called Tortoise@, for digging activity recognition.

Nest-site habitat of cavity-nesting birds at the San Joaquin Experimental Range

Science.gov (United States)

Kathryn L. Purcell; Jared. Verner

2008-01-01

Detailed information about the nesting habitats of birds, including those needed for successful nesting, can provide a better understanding of the ecological factors that permit coexistence of different species and may aid in conservation efforts. From 1989 through 1994, we studied the nesting habitat of secondary cavity-nesting birds in oak woodlands at the San...

Trap Nesting Wasps and Bees in Agriculture: A Comparison of Sown Wildflower and Fallow Plots in Florida.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Joshua W; Smithers, Cherice; Irvin, Allyn; Kimmel, Chase B; Stanley-Stahr, Cory; Daniels, Jaret C; Ellis, James D

2017-10-10

Wildflower strip plantings in intensive agricultural systems have become a widespread tool for promoting pollination services and biological conservation because of their use by wasps and bees. Many of the trap-nesting wasps are important predators of common crop pests, and cavity-nesting bees that utilize trap-nests are important pollinators for native plants and many crops. The impact of wildflower strips on the nesting frequency of trap-nesting wasps or bees within localized areas has not been thoroughly investigated. Trap-nests made of bamboo reeds ( Bambusa sp.) were placed adjacent to eight 0.1 ha wildflower plots and paired fallow areas (control plots) to determine if wildflower strips encourage the nesting of wasps and bees. From August 2014 to November 2015, occupied reeds were gathered and adults were collected as they emerged from the trap-nests. Treatment (wildflower or fallow plots) did not impact the number of occupied reeds or species richness of trap-nesting wasps using the occupied reeds. The wasps Pachodynerus erynnis , Euodynerus megaera , Parancistrocerus pedestris , and Isodontia spp. were the most common trap-nesting species collected. Less than 2% of the occupied reeds contained bees, and all were from the genus Megachile . The nesting wasp and bee species demonstrated preferences for reeds with certain inside diameters (IDs). The narrow range of ID preferences exhibited by each bee/wasp may provide opportunities to take advantage of their natural histories for biological control and/or pollination purposes.

Trap Nesting Wasps and Bees in Agriculture: A Comparison of Sown Wildflower and Fallow Plots in Florida

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshua W. Campbell

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Wildflower strip plantings in intensive agricultural systems have become a widespread tool for promoting pollination services and biological conservation because of their use by wasps and bees. Many of the trap-nesting wasps are important predators of common crop pests, and cavity-nesting bees that utilize trap-nests are important pollinators for native plants and many crops. The impact of wildflower strips on the nesting frequency of trap-nesting wasps or bees within localized areas has not been thoroughly investigated. Trap-nests made of bamboo reeds (Bambusa sp. were placed adjacent to eight 0.1 ha wildflower plots and paired fallow areas (control plots to determine if wildflower strips encourage the nesting of wasps and bees. From August 2014 to November 2015, occupied reeds were gathered and adults were collected as they emerged from the trap-nests. Treatment (wildflower or fallow plots did not impact the number of occupied reeds or species richness of trap-nesting wasps using the occupied reeds. The wasps Pachodynerus erynnis, Euodynerus megaera, Parancistrocerus pedestris, and Isodontia spp. were the most common trap-nesting species collected. Less than 2% of the occupied reeds contained bees, and all were from the genus Megachile. The nesting wasp and bee species demonstrated preferences for reeds with certain inside diameters (IDs. The narrow range of ID preferences exhibited by each bee/wasp may provide opportunities to take advantage of their natural histories for biological control and/or pollination purposes.

COMPARISON OF A GENUS-SPECIFIC CONVENTIONAL PCR AND A SPECIES-SPECIFIC NESTED-PCR FOR MALARIA DIAGNOSIS USING FTA COLLECTED SAMPLES FROM KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Harthi, Saeed A

2015-12-01

Molecular tools are increasingly accepted as the most sensitive and reliable techniques for malaria diagnosis and epidemiological surveys. Also, collection of finger prick blood spots onto filter papers is the most simple and affordable method for samples preservation and posterior molecular analysis, especially in rural endemic regions where malaria remains a major health problem. Two malaria molecular diagnostic tests, a Plasmodium genus-specific conventional PCR and a Plasmodium species-specific Nested PCR, were evaluated using DNA templates prepared from Whatman-FTA cards' dry blood spots using both, Methanol-fixation/Heat-extraction and FTA commercial purification kit. A total of 121 blood samples were collected from six Saudi south-western endemic districts both, as thick and thin films for routine microscopic screening and onto FTA cards for molecular studies. Out of the 121 samples, 75 were P. falciparum positive by at least one technique. No other species of Plasmodium were detected. P. falciparum parasites were identified in 69/75 (92%) samples by microscopic screening in health care centers. P. genus-specific PCR was able to amplify P. falciparum DNA in 41/75 (55%) and 59/75 (79%) samples using Methanol-fixation/Heat-extraction and FTA purification kit, respectively. P. species-specific Nested PCR revealed 68/75 (91%) and 75/75 (100%) positive samples using DNA templates were isolated by Methanol-fixation/Heat- extraction and FTA purification methods, respectively. The species-specific Nested PCR applied to Whatman-FTA preserved and processed blood samples represents the best alternative to classical microscopy for malaria diagnosis, particularly in epidemiological screening.

Spawning chronology, nest site selection and nest success of smallmouth bass during benign streamflow conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Dauwalter, D.C.; Fisher, W.L.

2007-01-01

We documented the nesting chronology, nest site selection and nest success of smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu in an upstream (4th order) and downstream (5th order) reach of Baron Fork Creek, Oklahoma. Males started nesting in mid-Apr. when water temperatures increased to 16.9 C upstream, and in late-Apr. when temperatures increased to 16.2 C downstream. Streamflows were low (77% upstream to 82% downstream of mean Apr. streamflow, and 12 and 18% of meanjun. streamflow; 47 and 55 y of record), and decreased throughout the spawning period. Larger males nested first upstream, as has been observed in other populations, but not downstream. Upstream, progeny in 62 of 153 nests developed to swim-up stage. Downstream, progeny in 31 of 73 nests developed to swim-up. Nesting densities upstream (147/km) and downstream (100/km) were both higher than any densities previously reported. Males selected nest sites with intermediate water depths, low water velocity and near cover, behavior that is typical of smallmouth bass. Documented nest failures resulted from human disturbance, angling, and longear sunfish predation. Logistic exposure models showed that water velocity at the nest was negatively related and length of the guarding male was positively related to nest success upstream. Male length and number of degree days were both positively related to nest success downstream. Our results, and those of other studies, suggest that biological factors account for most nest failures during benign (stable, low flow) streamflow conditions, whereas nest failures attributed to substrate mobility or nest abandonment dominate when harsh streamflow conditions (spring floods) coincide with the spawning season.

Cavity-nesting bird use of nest boxes in vineyards of central-coast California

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel P. Mummert; Laura Baines; William D. Tietje

2002-01-01

Oak woodland habitat is being degraded or replaced by vineyards in many areas of central-coastal California. Oak woodlands are home to many insectivorous, cavity-nesting birds that would be beneficial in and around vineyards. During March to June 2001, we used bluebird nest boxes to study nest box use and productivity of cavity-nesting birds in vineyards versus...

Livestock grazing and trampling of birds' nests: An experiment using artificial nests

OpenAIRE

Mandema, Freek S.; Tinbergen, Joost M.; Ens, Bruno J.; Bakker, Jan P.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to experimentally determine the differences between four grazing treatments on the trampling of nests. Additionally, we examine to what extent the trampling probability of nests is higher close to a source of fresh water. We compare the trampling of artificial nests in five different grazing treatments in an experimental design. We use buried clay pigeon targets as artificial mimics of bird nests to obtain reliable estimates of trampling risk and compare these wit...

Flown The Nest

OpenAIRE

Sebbane, Nathalie

2012-01-01

Lorsque le quotidien régional, The Champion, commence à publier Flown The Nest en 1972 sous forme d’épisodes, Bird’s Nest Soup est déjà en vente, et la troisième partie de l’autobiographie d’Hanna, Housekeeper At Large, est sous presse. L’édition de 2009 contient Flown The Nest et Housekeeper at Large. Dans Bird’s Nest Soup, Hanna Greally racontait les dix-huit années de sa vie passées au sein d’un hôpital psychiatrique. Les raisons pour lesquelles elle y avait été enfermée, à la demande de s...

Molecular identification of fungal isolates and hatching success of green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nests.

Science.gov (United States)

Candan, Esra Deniz

2018-02-26

The aim of this study is to investigate the fungal diversity of green turtle nests and to examine phylogenetic relationships among these isolates. During the nesting season, samples of intra-nest sand and failed eggs were collected from 25% of the surviving nests in Sugözü Beaches, which are amongst the most important nesting beaches for endangered green turtles in the Mediterranean. Twenty-three fungi were identified by molecular techniques. Fungal isolates belonged to genera Aspergillus, Emericella, Rhizopus, Actinomucor and Apophysomyces with two undescribed species. Aspergillus variecolor, Aspergillus quadrilinieatus, Aspergillus tubingensis, Rhizopus oryzae, Actinomucor elegans and Apophysomyces variabilis were firstly detected in all sea turtle nests within this study. Our results demonstrate that 36.4% of the nests had fungal contamination. Also hatching success of the nests contaminated by fungi were significantly lower than the uncontaminated nests (P = 0.029). Also, this may represent a threat to marine turtles and a risk for the health of conservation workers. This study is the first molecular phylogenetic study associated with sea turtle nests in the eastern Mediterranean coast and contributes to the wider body of literature on fungal invasion of sea turtle nests with firstly isolated species. These findings are important for improving potential conservation measures for the nest sites.

Passeriformes: nest predators and prey in a Neotropical Savannah in Central Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonardo F. França

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The identification of predators of birds' nests, crucial to a better understanding of predator-prey interactions, remains poorly known. Here we provide evidence that birds, and especially passerines, may depredate birds' nests in the Cerrado (Neotropical Savannah of Central Brazil. Data was collected primarily in a Conservation Unit (Estação Ecológica de Águas Emendadas during the breeding season, between 2003 and 2007. We report and discuss details on 14 events of nest predation, 12 of which by passerines, mostly by curl-crested jays - Cyanocorax cristatellus (Temminck, 1823. The results of our study suggest that the role of birds as nest predators in the Cerrado has been underestimated and needs to be further investigated.

From neurons to nests: nest-building behaviour as a model in behavioural and comparative neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Zachary J; Meddle, Simone L; Healy, Susan D

Despite centuries of observing the nest building of most extant bird species, we know surprisingly little about how birds build nests and, specifically, how the avian brain controls nest building. Here, we argue that nest building in birds may be a useful model behaviour in which to study how the brain controls behaviour. Specifically, we argue that nest building as a behavioural model provides a unique opportunity to study not only the mechanisms through which the brain controls behaviour within individuals of a single species but also how evolution may have shaped the brain to produce interspecific variation in nest-building behaviour. In this review, we outline the questions in both behavioural and comparative neuroscience that nest building could be used to address, summarize recent findings regarding the neurobiology of nest building in lab-reared zebra finches and across species building different nest structures, and suggest some future directions for the neurobiology of nest building.

Avoiding the nest : responses of field sparrows to the threat of nest predation

Science.gov (United States)

Dirk E. Burhans

2000-01-01

Nest predation is a major source of reproductive failure in birds (Ricklefs 1969, Martin 1992). Birds confronted with an enemy near the nest may use behaviors to deter the prospect of nest predation. The benefits of nest defense have been shown for many agressive species (Martin 1992), but smaller birds that cannot deter predators may need to resort to other behaviors...

Nesting ecology of Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus in the Olifants River, Kruger National Park

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D.G.J. Swanepoel

2000-07-01

Full Text Available Data on the nesting behaviour of Crocodylus niloticus along the Olifants River in the Kruger National Park were collected over a period of six years (1993 to 1998. A total of 165 nests were investigated for soil type, exposure to sunlight, distance to and above water, presence of other nests and vegetation. An attempt was made to determine important factors in the placement of nests, and exposure to sunlight, vegetation and distance to water seemed to be crucial in selecting a nesting site. During the last two seasons 20 nests were opened and the nest contents recorded. Some 795 eggs were measured and the data compared to similar studies in Africa. No significant differences were found. A strong correlation was found between egg mass, length and female size with larger females producing larger eggs. Rainfall influenced the size of nesting females as only larger females (>3 m TL nested during the dry year. Breeding females along the Olifants were overall larger (TL than in Zimbabwe with 2.1 m as the smallest and 4.1 as the largest females that nested.

Using Artificial Nests to Study Nest Predation in Birds

Science.gov (United States)

Belthoff, James R.

2005-01-01

A simple and effective field exercise that demonstrates factors affecting predation on bird nests is described. With instructor guidance, students in high school biology or college-level biology, ecology, animal behavior, wildlife management or ornithology laboratory courses can collaborate to design field experiments related to nest depredation.

Nest materials as a source of genetic data for avian ecological studies

Science.gov (United States)

Pearce, J.M.; Fields, R.L.; Scribner, K.T.

1997-01-01

We examined the utility of feathers and egg shell membranes, deposited in the nests of Spectacled Eiders (Somateria fischeri), as a source of DNA for genetic studies at both the population and individual level. The potential for feather DNA contamination as a result of female behavioral interactions (e.g. nest parasitism), reuse of nest sites from previous years, or other unknown occurrences was acknowledged and specifically tested. DNA was successfully extracted from both feathers and egg shell membranes and waterfowl microsatellite loci were used to construct individual genotypes. We found no difference in the genotypes obtained from nest feathers or blood of the incubating female. Detection of nest feather contamination was possible with as little as one feather when samples from multiple females were intentionally mixed. Triplicate DNA extractions from 33 nests provided a means of detecting contamination in 3 nests. Egg membranes proved a viable source of offspring DNA and can contribute valuable data to investigations of parentage when assayed jointly with maternal feather DNA. Nest materials provide an efficient, non-invasive method of genetic sampling that can be readily incorporated into field research. However, the natural history traits and mating strategies of a species must be considered during sample collection to identify the possible sources of nest materials (e.g., paternal, maternal, parasite, etc.). Specific experiments should also be designed to test sampling assumptions.

Livestock grazing and trampling of birds' nests : An experiment using artificial nests

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mandema, Freek S.; Tinbergen, Joost M.; Ens, Bruno J.; Bakker, Jan P.

The purpose of this study is to experimentally determine the differences between four grazing treatments on the trampling of nests. Additionally, we examine to what extent the trampling probability of nests is higher close to a source of fresh water. We compare the trampling of artificial nests in

Tracking the movements of a post-nesting Southern River Terrapin (Batagur affinis edwardmolli)

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Pelf-Nyok; Wong, Adrian

2015-09-01

A Southern River Terrapin (Batagur affinis edwardmolli) Conservation Project was initiated on one terrapin nesting bank in 2011, following the discovery of a River Terrapin population in the Kemaman River, Terengganu in 2010. Since this project was initiated, Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia (TCS) was instrumental in the gazettement of three nesting banks along the Kemaman River, from which all River Terrapin eggs are collected for incubation. However, there are at least a dozen other "unprotected" nesting banks along the river, where all eggs were collected for human consumption. This project attempted to determine the movements of a post-nesting River Terrapin, with hopes that it would provide the preliminary baseline information on the utilization of adjacent nesting banks. The solution was a GPS tracking device that transmitted coordinates every hour over cellular networks. Location-based data was sent via Short Message Service (SMS) to our own SMS gateway running on a Raspberry Pi credit-card size computer, which was then logged in a database and presented graphically via Google Maps. It was a complete tracking and monitoring system. This solution enabled researchers to remotely track the movements of a River Terrapin, hence reducing the costs of research. The movements of a post-nesting River Terrapin were tracked for eight days before the battery was drained. On the third day, this River Terrapin ascended an adjacent riverbank and spent less than an hour on the bank, presumably to deposit her remaining eggs. This study confirmed that River Terrapins do utilize other suitable nesting banks if/whenever available. Results from such tracking studies will be used to leverage on the protection of adjacent nesting banks, thus providing greater protection for the critically endangered River Terrapins.

Nested and Hierarchical Archimax copulas

KAUST Repository

Hofert, Marius

2017-07-03

The class of Archimax copulas is generalized to nested and hierarchical Archimax copulas in several ways. First, nested extreme-value copulas or nested stable tail dependence functions are introduced to construct nested Archimax copulas based on a single frailty variable. Second, a hierarchical construction of d-norm generators is presented to construct hierarchical stable tail dependence functions and thus hierarchical extreme-value copulas. Moreover, one can, by itself or additionally, introduce nested frailties to extend Archimax copulas to nested Archimax copulas in a similar way as nested Archimedean copulas extend Archimedean copulas. Further results include a general formula for the density of Archimax copulas.

Nested and Hierarchical Archimax copulas

KAUST Repository

Hofert, Marius; Huser, Raphaë l; Prasad, Avinash

2017-01-01

The class of Archimax copulas is generalized to nested and hierarchical Archimax copulas in several ways. First, nested extreme-value copulas or nested stable tail dependence functions are introduced to construct nested Archimax copulas based on a single frailty variable. Second, a hierarchical construction of d-norm generators is presented to construct hierarchical stable tail dependence functions and thus hierarchical extreme-value copulas. Moreover, one can, by itself or additionally, introduce nested frailties to extend Archimax copulas to nested Archimax copulas in a similar way as nested Archimedean copulas extend Archimedean copulas. Further results include a general formula for the density of Archimax copulas.

Nest site characteristics, nesting movements, and lack of long-term nest site fidelity in Agassiz's desert tortoises at a wind energy facility in southern California

Science.gov (United States)

Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Agha, Mickey; Yackulic, Charles B.; Meyer-Wilkins, Kathie; Bjurlin, Curtis; Ennen, Joshua R.; Arundel, Terry R.; Austin, Meaghan

2014-01-01

Nest site selection has important consequences for maternal and offspring survival and fitness. Females of some species return to the same nesting areas year after year. We studied nest site characteristics, fidelity, and daily pre-nesting movements in a population of Agassiz’s desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) at a wind energy facility in southern California during two field seasons separated by over a decade. No females returned to the same exact nest site within or between years but several nested in the same general area. However, distances between first and second clutches within a year (2000) were not significantly different from distances between nests among years (2000 and 2011) for a small sample of females, suggesting some degree of fidelity within their normal activity areas. Environmental attributes of nest sites did not differ significantly among females but did among years due largely to changes in perennial plant structure as a result of multiple fires. Daily pre-nesting distances moved by females decreased consistently from the time shelled eggs were first visible in X-radiographs until oviposition, again suggesting some degree of nest site selection. Tortoises appear to select nest sites that are within their long-term activity areas, inside the climate-moderated confines of one of their self-constructed burrows, and specifically, at a depth in the burrow that minimizes exposure of eggs and embryos to lethal incubation temperatures. Nesting in “climate-controlled” burrows and nest guarding by females relaxes some of the constraints that drive nest site selection in other oviparous species.

Genetic Structure and Selection of a Core Collection for Long Term Conservation of Avocado in Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Guzmán, Luis F.; Machida-Hirano, Ryoko; Borrayo, Ernesto; Cortés-Cruz, Moisés; Espíndola-Barquera, María del Carmen; Heredia García, Elena

2017-01-01

Mexico, as the center of origin of avocado (Persea americama Mill.), harbors a wide genetic diversity of this species, whose identification may provide the grounds to not only understand its unique population structure and domestication history, but also inform the efforts aimed at its conservation. Although molecular characterization of cultivated avocado germplasm has been studied by several research groups, this had not been the case in Mexico. In order to elucidate the genetic structure of avocado in Mexico and the sustainable use of its genetic resources, 318 avocado accessions conserved in the germplasm collection in the National Avocado Genebank were analyzed using 28 markers [9 expressed sequence tag-Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) and 19 genomic SSRs]. Deviation from Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium and high inter-locus linkage disequilibrium were observed especially in drymifolia, and guatemalensis. Total averages of the observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.59 and 0.75, respectively. Although clear genetic differentiation was not observed among 3 botanical races: americana, drymifolia, and guatemalensis, the analyzed Mexican population can be classified into two groups that correspond to two different ecological regions. We developed a core-collection by K-means clustering method. The selected 36 individuals as core-collection successfully represented more than 80% of total alleles and showed heterozygosity values equal to or higher than those of the original collection, despite its constituting slightly more than 10% of the latter. Accessions selected as members of the core collection have now become candidates to be introduced in cryopreservation implying a minimum loss of genetic diversity and a back-up for existing field collections of such important genetic resources. PMID:28286510

Nest site attributes and temporal patterns of northern flicker nest loss: effects of predation and competition.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Ryan J; Wiebe, Karen L

2006-04-01

To date, most studies of nest site selection have failed to take into account more than one source of nest loss (or have combined all sources in one analysis) when examining nest site characteristics, leaving us with an incomplete understanding of the potential trade-offs that individuals may face when selecting a nest site. Our objectives were to determine whether northern flickers (Colaptes auratus) may experience a trade-off in nest site selection in response to mammalian nest predation and nest loss to a cavity nest competitor (European starling, Sturnus vulgaris). We also document within-season temporal patterns of these two sources of nest loss with the hypothesis that flickers may also be constrained in the timing of reproduction under both predatory and competitive influence. Mammalian predators frequently depredated flicker nests that were: lower to the ground, less concealed by vegetation around the cavity entrance and at the base of the nest tree, closer to coniferous forest edges and in forest clumps with a high percentage of conifer content. Proximity to coniferous edges or coniferous trees increased the probability of nest predation, but nests near conifers were less likely to be lost to starlings. Flickers may thus face a trade-off in nest site selection with respect to safety from predators or competitors. Models suggested that peaks of nest predation and nest loss to eviction occurred at the same time, although a competing model suggested that the peak of nest loss to starlings occurred 5 days earlier than the peak of mammalian predation. Differences in peaks of mammalian predation and loss to starlings may constrain any adjustment in clutch initiation date by flickers to avoid one source of nest loss.

Nest marking behavior and chemical composition of olfactory cues involved in nest recognition in Megachile rotundata.

Science.gov (United States)

Guédot, Christelle; Buckner, James S; Hagen, Marcia M; Bosch, Jordi; Kemp, William P; Pitts-Singer, Theresa L

2013-08-01

In-nest observations of the solitary bee, Megachile rotundata (F.), revealed that nesting females apply olfactory cues to nests for nest recognition. On their way in and out of the nest, females drag the abdomen along the entire length of the nest, and sometimes deposit fluid droplets from the tip of the abdomen. The removal of bee-marked sections of the nest resulted in hesitation and searching behavior by females, indicating the loss of olfactory cues used for nest recognition. Chemical analysis of female cuticles and the deposits inside marked nesting tubes revealed the presence of hydrocarbons, wax esters, fatty aldehydes, and fatty alcohol acetate esters. Chemical compositions were similar across tube samples, but proportionally different from cuticular extracts. These findings reveal the importance of lipids as chemical signals for nest recognition and suggest that the nest-marking cues are derived from a source in addition to, or other than, the female cuticle.

Buteo Nesting Ecology: Evaluating Nesting of Swainson's Hawks in the Northern Great Plains.

Science.gov (United States)

Inselman, Will M; Datta, Shubham; Jenks, Jonathan A; Jensen, Kent C; Grovenburg, Troy W

2015-01-01

Swainson's hawks (Buteo swainsoni) are long-distance migratory raptors that nest primarily in isolated trees located in areas of high grassland density. In recent years, anthropogenic conversion of grassland habitat has raised concerns about the status of the breeding population in the northern Great Plains. In 2013, we initiated a study to investigate the influence of extrinsic factors influencing Swainson's hawk nesting ecology in north-central South Dakota and south-central North Dakota. Using ground and aerial surveys, we located and monitored nesting Swainson's hawk pairs: 73 in 2013 and 120 in 2014. We documented 98 successful breeding attempts that fledged 163 chicks; 1.52 and 1.72 fledglings per successful nest in 2013 and 2014, respectively. We used Program MARK to evaluate the influence of land cover on nest survival. The top model, SDist2Farm+%Hay, indicated that nest survival (fledging at least one chick) decreased as nests were located farther from farm sites and as the percent of hay cover increased within 1200-m of the nest site (34.4%; 95% CI = 27.6%-42.3%). We used logistic regression analysis to evaluate the influence of landscape variables on nest-site selection; Swainson's hawks selected for nest sites located closer to roads. We suggest that tree belts associated with farm sites, whether occupied or not, provide critical breeding sites for Swainson's hawks. Additionally, poor breeding success may be related to the late migratory behavior of this species which requires them to occupy marginal habitat due to other raptors occupying the most suitable habitat prior to Swainson's hawks arriving to the breeding grounds.

Comparative population structure of cavity-nesting sea ducks

Science.gov (United States)

Pearce, John M.; Eadie, John M.; Savard, Jean-Pierre L.; Christensen, Thomas K.; Berdeen, James; Taylor, Eric J.; Boyd, Sean; Einarsson, Árni

2014-01-01

A growing collection of mtDNA genetic information from waterfowl species across North America suggests that larger-bodied cavity-nesting species exhibit greater levels of population differentiation than smaller-bodied congeners. Although little is known about nest-cavity availability for these species, one hypothesis to explain differences in population structure is reduced dispersal tendency of larger-bodied cavity-nesting species due to limited abundance of large cavities. To investigate this hypothesis, we examined population structure of three cavity-nesting waterfowl species distributed across much of North America: Barrow's Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica), Common Goldeneye (B. clangula), and Bufflehead (B. albeola). We compared patterns of population structure using both variation in mtDNA control-region sequences and band-recovery data for the same species and geographic regions. Results were highly congruent between data types, showing structured population patterns for Barrow's and Common Goldeneye but not for Bufflehead. Consistent with our prediction, the smallest cavity-nesting species, the Bufflehead, exhibited the lowest level of population differentiation due to increased dispersal and gene flow. Results provide evidence for discrete Old and New World populations of Common Goldeneye and for differentiation of regional groups of both goldeneye species in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and the eastern coast of North America. Results presented here will aid management objectives that require an understanding of population delineation and migratory connectivity between breeding and wintering areas. Comparative studies such as this one highlight factors that may drive patterns of genetic diversity and population trends.

Genetic Variability of 27 Traits in a Core Collection of Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

Science.gov (United States)

You, Frank M; Jia, Gaofeng; Xiao, Jin; Duguid, Scott D; Rashid, Khalid Y; Booker, Helen M; Cloutier, Sylvie

2017-01-01

Assessment of genetic variability of plant core germplasm is needed for efficient germplasm utilization in breeding improvement. A total of 391 accessions of a flax core collection, which preserves the variation present in the world collection of 3,378 accessions maintained by Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC) and represents a broad range of geographical origins, different improvement statuses and two morphotypes, was evaluated in field trials in up to 8 year-location environments for 10 agronomic, eight seed quality, six fiber and three disease resistance traits. The large phenotypic variation in this subset was explained by morphotypes (22%), geographical origins (11%), and other variance components (67%). Both divergence and similarity between two basic morphotypes, namely oil or linseed and fiber types, were observed, whereby linseed accessions had greater thousand seed weight, seeds m -2 , oil content, branching capability and resistance to powdery mildew while fiber accessions had greater straw weight, plant height, protein content and resistance to pasmo and fusarium wilt diseases, but they had similar performance in many traits and some of them shared common characteristics of fiber and linseed types. Weak geographical patterns within either fiber or linseed accessions were confirmed, but specific trait performance was identified in East Asia for fiber type, and South Asia and North America for linseed type. Relatively high broad-sense heritability was obtained for seed quality traits, followed by agronomic traits and resistance to powdery mildew and fusarium wilt. Diverse phenotypic and genetic variability in the flax core collection constitutes a useful resource for breeding.

Nest observations of the long-eared owl (Asio otus) in Benton County, Oregon, with notes on their food habits

Science.gov (United States)

Richard T. Reynolds

1970-01-01

A nesting pair of long-eared owls was found 10 miles north of Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon, on 24 April, 1969. The pair was observed and photographed until 30 May, when the young left the nest. This is the third record of nesting Asio otus west of the Oregon Cascades. Gabrielson and Jewett (1940) reported that Pope collected eggs from a nest...

Nest structure and notes on the social behavior of Augochlora amphitrite (Schrottky (Hymenoptera, Halictidae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milagros Dalmazzo

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The nesting biology of Augochlora (Augochlora amphitrite (Schrottky in a natural reserve in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is described. The species nests in decaying wood. Two types of nest architecture were found, which differed according to the substrate where they were built, either soft or hard wood. Nests in soft wood had the cells grouped in clusters surrounded by a cavity, and the clusters were supported by a varying number of pillars. Nests constructed in decomposing portions of cracks in otherwise hard wood had the cells constructed against the walls, without any pillars or surrounding cavity. Cells of both types of nests were oriented in all directions, without any detectable pattern. Measurements and characteristics of the nests are tabulated and compared to those known for other species of Augochlora s. str. Behavioral observations of active nests are indicative of a social division of tasks in A. amphitrite. Such observations include nests with several females, some of which were never observed outside the nests, females with different degrees of wear and of ovary development, and at least one female that actively collected pollen which had much worn mandibles and wings, and undeveloped ovaries, all characteristics of the worker caste in social halictids.

A Chronostratigraphic and Environment Magnetic Study of Drill Cores Collected in the Mozambique Channel on Cruise MD13

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, D. J.; DeBone, K. N.; Smesny, J.; Chadinha, C.; Mitchell, B.; Acton, G. D.; Kulhanek, D. K.

2017-12-01

The South Atlantic Petroleum Company donated drill cores from 18 sites cored in October 2013 in the Mozambique Channel off Madagascar by the RV Marion Dufresne. Up to 30.11 m of sediment was recovered from cores collected at two localities, referred to as Juan de Nova ( 16.5°S, 42.9°E) and Belo Profound ( 19.5°S, 42.2°E), in water depths of 2,157-2,795 m. The cores are composed mostly of mixtures of fairly homogenous biogenic ooze and clay that is highly bioturbated, with turbidites occurring relatively commonly (about every meter or two) in most of the cores, although rarely in others (e.g., Core MD13-3506). The core color varies between light tan, olive gray, light brown, and light reddish brown. The darker colors probably reflect higher proportion of terrigenous input and the lighter intervals more biogenic input. We collected rock magnetic and paleomagnetic data along the cores and conducted initial calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic analyses in order to provide stratigraphic and chronologic constraints and to investigate paleoenvironment changes. Records of magnetic susceptibility are used to correlate stratigraphy between sites and then are correlated to well-dated global records of climate change, such as the marine oxygen isotope record. The correlation to oxygen isotope records, which is constrained by biostratigraphic and paleomagnetic observations, helps refine the chronostratigraphy and allows us to interpret the variations in lithology and magnetic properties in the context of global climate change.

Sharp-Tailed Grouse Nest Survival and Nest Predator Habitat Use in North Dakota's Bakken Oil Field.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul C Burr

Full Text Available Recent advancements in extraction technologies have resulted in rapid increases of gas and oil development across the United States and specifically in western North Dakota. This expansion of energy development has unknown influences on local wildlife populations and the ecological interactions within and among species. Our objectives for this study were to evaluate nest success and nest predator dynamics of sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus in two study sites that represented areas of high and low energy development intensities in North Dakota. During the summers of 2012 and 2013, we monitored 163 grouse nests using radio telemetry. Of these, 90 nests also were monitored using miniature cameras to accurately determine nest fates and identify nest predators. We simultaneously conducted predator surveys using camera scent stations and occupancy modeling to estimate nest predator occurrence at each site. American badgers (Taxidea taxus and striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis were the primary nest predators, accounting for 56.7% of all video recorded nest depredations. Nests in our high intensity gas and oil area were 1.95 times more likely to succeed compared to our minimal intensity area. Camera monitored nests were 2.03 times more likely to succeed than non-camera monitored nests. Occupancy of mammalian nest predators was 6.9 times more likely in our study area of minimal gas and oil intensity compared to the high intensity area. Although only a correlative study, our results suggest energy development may alter the predator community, thereby increasing nest success for sharp-tailed grouse in areas of intense development, while adjacent areas may have increased predator occurrence and reduced nest success. Our study illustrates the potential influences of energy development on the nest predator-prey dynamics of sharp-tailed grouse in western North Dakota and the complexity of evaluating such impacts on wildlife.

Hawaii ESI: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for seabird nesting colonies in coastal Hawaii. Vector points in this data set represent locations of...

Maryland ESI: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for raptors in Maryland. Vector points in this data set represent bird nesting sites. Species-specific...

Predator selection of prairie landscape features and its relation to duck nest success

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, M.L.; Clark, W.R.; Sovada, M.A.; Horn, D.J.; Koford, Rolf R.; Greenwood, R.J.

2003-01-01

Mammalian predation is a major cause of mortality for breeding waterfowl in the U.S. Northern Great Plains, and yet we know little about the selection of prairie habitats by predators or how this influences nest success in grassland nesting cover. We selected 2 41.4-km2 study areas in both 1996 and 1997 in North Dakota, USA, with contrasting compositions of perennial grassland. A study area contained either 15-20% perennial grassland (Low Grassland Composition [LGC]) or 45-55% perennial grassland (High Grassland Composition [HGC]). We used radiotelemetry to investigate the selection of 9 landscape cover types by red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), while simultaneously recording duck nest success within planted cover. The cover types included the edge and core areas of planted cover, wetland edges within planted cover or surrounded by cropland, pastureland, hayland, cropland, roads, and miscellaneous cover types. Striped skunks selected wetland edges surrounded by agriculture over all other cover types in LGC landscapes (P-values for all pairwise comparisons were foraging efficiency in the interior areas of planted cover and contributed to higher nest success in HGC landscapes. Our observations of predator cover-type selection not only support the restoration and management of large blocks of grassland but also indicate the influence of alternative cover types for mitigating nest predation in the Prairie Pothole Region.

Nesting biology of Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) lactitarse Saussure (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae) in trap-nests in Southern Brazil

OpenAIRE

Buschini,M. L. T.; Niesing,F.; Wolff,L. L.

2006-01-01

This study was carried in the Parque Municipal das Araucárias in the municipality of Guarapuava, state of Paraná, Southern Brazil. Three hundred and sixty five nests of T. lactitarse were obtained using trap-nests of 0.7, 1.0, and 1.3 cm in diameter. All of them had similar architecture, regardless of the diameter of the trap-nest. Completed nests consisted of a linear series of brood cells whose average number per nest was of 3.3, 4.0 and 3.6 for the nests with 0.7 cm, 1.0 cm and 1.3 cm in d...

Louisiana ESI: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for seabird and wading bird nesting colonies in coastal Louisiana. Vector points in this data set represent...

Post-construction monitoring of a Core-Loc™ breakwater using tripod-based LiDAR

Science.gov (United States)

Podoski, Jessica H.; Bawden, Gerald W.; Bond, Sandra; Smith, Thomas D.; Foster, James

2010-01-01

The goal of the technology application described herein is to determine whether breakwater monitoring data collected using Tripod (or Terrestrial) Light Detection and Ranging (T-LiDAR) can give insight into processes such as how Core-Loc™ concrete armour units nest following construction, and in turn how settlement affects armour layer stability, concrete cap performance, and armour unit breakage.  A further objective is that this information can then be incorporated into the design of future projects using concrete armour units.  The results of this application of T-LiDAR, including the challenges encountered and the conclusions drawn regarding initial concrete armour unit movement will be presented in this paper.

Third Generation (3G) Site Characterization: Cryogenic Core Collection and High Throughput Core Analysis - An Addendum to Basic Research Addressing Contaminants in Low Permeability Zones - A State of the Science Review

Science.gov (United States)

2016-07-29

Styrofoam insulation for keeping the core frozen during MRI .................................. 78 Figure 5-2. Schematic of reference and core setting in... Hollow -Stem Auger HTCA High-Throughput Core Analysis IC Ion Chromatograph ID Inner Diameter k Permeability LN Liquid Nitrogen LNAPL Light...vibration, or “over drilling” using a hollow -stem auger. The ratio of the length of the collected core to the depth over which the sample tube is

Hollow-core revolver fibre with a double-capillary reflective cladding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kosolapov, A F; Alagashev, G K; Kolyadin, A N; Pryamikov, A D; Dianov, E M [Fiber Optics Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (Russian Federation); Biryukov, A S; Bufetov, I A [Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Dolgoprudnyi, Moscow Region (Russian Federation)

2016-03-31

We report the fabrication of the first hollow-core revolver fibre with a core diameter as small as 25 μm and an optical loss no higher than 75 dB km{sup -1} at a wavelength of 1850 nm. The decrease in core diameter, with no significant increase in optical loss, is due to the use of double nested capillaries in the reflective cladding design. A number of technical problems pertaining to the fabrication of such fibres are resolved. (fiber optics)

Nesting ecology of roseate spoonbills at Nueces Bay, Texas

Science.gov (United States)

White, Donald H.; Mitchell, Christine A.; Cromartie, E.

1982-01-01

We conducted a study in 1978-1980 of the nesting ecology of Roseate Spoonbills (Ajaia ajaja) in a relatively polluted environment at Nueces Bay, Texas. For 154 marked nests, the average clutch size was 3.0 eggs; 73% of the eggs hatched, and 87% of the nests were successful (hatched at least 1 young). The average nest success rate (total fledglings:total eggs) was 50% or 1.5 fledglings per total nests. Incubation began the day after the first egg was laid, and the incubation period for each egg was 22 days. Eggs hatched in the order that they were laid; the first and second eggs hatched on consecutive days, and the second, third, and fourth eggs hatched every other day. Nest composition and size were highly consistent, but nest placement varied considerably and was dependent on the vegetative configuration of the dredge-material islands. Growth rate of nestlings conformed to a 'standard' growth curve, where body weight of nestlings at fledging equaled that of adults. There was no difference in weight gain among siblings based on actual age. Nestlings fledged at about 6 weeks of age, when feather development was complete. At fledging, the bills of juveniles had almost reached adult width, but bill length was only 67% that of adults. In general, environmental pollutants were low (<2 ppm) in spoonbill eggs, though a few eggs contained elevated concentrations of DDE (up to 15 ppm, wet weight). Some eggshells were 5% thinner than those in museum collections, but the degree of thinning was not within the range known to cause population declines. We conclude that organochlorine pollutants are not adversely affecting spoonbill reproduction at Nueces Bay, Texas, though the area is surrounded by industries and agricultural lands. Apparently, spoonbills are less sensitive to these contaminants than are other aquatic species.

Raptor nest management on power lines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harness, R.E. [EDM International Inc., Fort Collins, CO (United States)

2005-07-01

Many utilities in South Africa are now implementing labor-intensive methods to combat raptor nesting on power transmission lines. Methods have typically included direct nest removal and trimming of nest materials. However, the process is often unsuccessful, and utilities are now learning to accommodate the raptor nests. This paper argued that managing nests on utility structures has solved many operational problems and has resulted in positive publicity for many line operators. Nest management options included the use of stick deflectors to prevent nest material from accumulating during initial nest construction, as well as encouraging raptors to shift their efforts to a more suitable location. Raptors will often accept alternative nesting platforms, and taller, surrogate nesting poles can be placed next to distribution line structures. Elevated platforms can also be placed on problematic distribution structures, but may result in birds coming into contact with unprotected equipment. It was concluded that a successful nest management program includes plans to make nearby lines safe for raptors and to prevent their electrocution. Providing nests with bird-friendly utility configurations can result in electric facilities enhancing wild raptor populations without impacting power reliability. 14 refs., 9 figs.

Nest-site selection and nest success of an Arctic-breeding passerine, Smith's Longspur, in a changing climate

Science.gov (United States)

McFarland, Heather R.; Kendall, Steve J.; Powell, Abby

2017-01-01

Despite changes in shrub cover and weather patterns associated with climate change in the Arctic, little is known about the breeding requirements of most passerines tied to northern regions. We investigated the nesting biology and nest habitat characteristics of Smith's Longspurs (Calcarius pictus) in 2 study areas in the Brooks Range of Alaska, USA. First, we examined variation in nesting phenology in relation to local temperatures. We then characterized nesting habitat and analyzed nest-site selection for a subset of nests (n = 86) in comparison with paired random points. Finally, we estimated the daily survival rate of 257 nests found in 2007–2013 with respect to both habitat characteristics and weather variables. Nest initiation was delayed in years with snow events, heavy rain, and freezing temperatures early in the breeding season. Nests were typically found in open, low-shrub tundra, and never among tall shrubs (mean shrub height at nests = 26.8 ± 6.7 cm). We observed weak nest-site selection patterns. Considering the similarity between nest sites and paired random points, coupled with the unique social mating system of Smith's Longspurs, we suggest that habitat selection may occur at the neighborhood scale and not at the nest-site scale. The best approximating model explaining nest survival suggested a positive relationship with the numbers of days above 21°C that an individual nest experienced; there was little support for models containing habitat variables. The daily nest survival rate was high (0.972–0.982) compared with that of most passerines in forested or grassland habitats, but similar to that of passerines nesting on tundra. Considering their high nesting success and ability to delay nest initiation during inclement weather, Smith's Longspurs may be resilient to predicted changes in weather regimes on the breeding grounds. Thus, the greatest threat to breeding Smith's Longspurs associated with climate change may be the loss of low

Nesting Activity of Loggerhead Turtles (Caretta caretta at Göksu Delta, Turkey during 2004 and 2008 nesting seasons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salih H. Durmus

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Göksu Delta is one of the most important nesting beaches in Turkey for the endangered loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta. This paper provides information on the nesting activities of loggerhead turtles, the spatial and temporal distribution of nesting, nesting success, nesting density, hatching success, incubation duration and clutch size over two nesting seasons. A total of 902 emergences occurred over two seasons, of which 239 (26.5% nests were deposited (137 nests in 2004 and 102 nests in 2008 and the overall mean nesting density was 3.4 nests/km. The peak of nesting emergences takes place mainly in June. Of the overall nests, 226 (94.6% were excavated and 16044 eggs were counted. Of these eggs, 3680 (22.9% hatchlings emerged and 2695 (73.2% of hatchlings of them were able to reach the sea. The mean number of eggs per clutch was 71 (range: 15 – 143. The shortest and longest incubation duration in these 2 seasons ranged from 46 to 62 days with a mean of 53 days. The main problems are negatively affecting loggerhead turtle population at Göksu Delta are dense jackal predation both adult and eggs and inundation in nests. The average nesting effort here (mean: 119.5 nests/season confirms that Göksu Delta is one of the most important nesting sites for loggerhead turtles in Turkey.

[Nested species subsets of amphibians and reptiles in Thousand Island Lake].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xi; Wang, Yan-Ping; Ding, Ping

2012-10-01

Habitat fragmentation is a main cause for the loss of biological diversity. Combining line-transect methods to survey the amphibians and reptiles on 23 islands on Thousand Island Lake in Zhejiang province, along with survey data on nearby plant species and habitat variables collected by GIS, we used the"BINMATNEST (binary matrix nestedness temperature calculator)" software and the Spearman rank correlation to examine whether amphibians and reptiles followed nested subsets and their influencing factors. The results showed that amphibians and reptiles were significantly nested, and that the island area and habitat type were significantly associated with their nested ranks. Therefore, to effectively protect amphibians and reptiles in the Thousand Islands Lake area we should pay prior attention to islands with larger areas and more habitat types.

Trait-mediated trophic cascade creates enemy-free space for nesting hummingbirds.

Science.gov (United States)

Greeney, Harold F; Meneses, M Rocio; Hamilton, Chris E; Lichter-Marck, Eli; Mannan, R William; Snyder, Noel; Snyder, Helen; Wethington, Susan M; Dyer, Lee A

2015-09-01

The indirect effects of predators on nonadjacent trophic levels, mediated through traits of intervening species, are collectively known as trait-mediated trophic cascades. Although birds are important predators in terrestrial ecosystems, clear examples of trait-mediated indirect effects involving bird predators have almost never been documented. Such indirect effects are important for structuring ecological communities and are likely to be negatively impacted by habitat fragmentation, climate change, and other factors that reduce abundance of top predators. We demonstrate that hummingbirds in Arizona realize increased breeding success when nesting in association with hawks. An enemy-free nesting space is created when jays, an important source of mortality for hummingbird nests, alter their foraging behavior in the presence of their hawk predators.

Buteo Nesting Ecology: Evaluating Nesting of Swainson’s Hawks in the Northern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Inselman, Will M.; Datta, Shubham; Jenks, Jonathan A.; Jensen, Kent C.; Grovenburg, Troy W.

2015-01-01

Swainson’s hawks (Buteo swainsoni) are long-distance migratory raptors that nest primarily in isolated trees located in areas of high grassland density. In recent years, anthropogenic conversion of grassland habitat has raised concerns about the status of the breeding population in the northern Great Plains. In 2013, we initiated a study to investigate the influence of extrinsic factors influencing Swainson’s hawk nesting ecology in north-central South Dakota and south-central North Dakota. Using ground and aerial surveys, we located and monitored nesting Swainson’s hawk pairs: 73 in 2013 and 120 in 2014. We documented 98 successful breeding attempts that fledged 163 chicks; 1.52 and 1.72 fledglings per successful nest in 2013 and 2014, respectively. We used Program MARK to evaluate the influence of land cover on nest survival. The top model, S Dist2Farm+%Hay, indicated that nest survival (fledging at least one chick) decreased as nests were located farther from farm sites and as the percent of hay cover increased within 1200-m of the nest site (34.4%; 95% CI = 27.6%–42.3%). We used logistic regression analysis to evaluate the influence of landscape variables on nest-site selection; Swainson’s hawks selected for nest sites located closer to roads. We suggest that tree belts associated with farm sites, whether occupied or not, provide critical breeding sites for Swainson’s hawks. Additionally, poor breeding success may be related to the late migratory behavior of this species which requires them to occupy marginal habitat due to other raptors occupying the most suitable habitat prior to Swainson’s hawks arriving to the breeding grounds. PMID:26327440

Development of a new academic digital library: a study of usage data of a core medical electronic journal collection.

Science.gov (United States)

Shearer, Barbara S; Klatt, Carolyn; Nagy, Suzanne P

2009-04-01

The current study evaluates the results of a previously reported method for creating a core medical electronic journal collection for a new medical school library, validates the core collection created specifically to meet the needs of the new school, and identifies strategies for making cost-effective e-journal selection decisions. Usage data were extracted for four e-journal packages (Blackwell-Synergy, Cell Press, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, and ScienceDirect). Usage was correlated with weighted point values assigned to a core list of journal titles, and each package was evaluated for relevancy and cost-effectiveness to the Florida State University College of Medicine (FSU COM) population. The results indicated that the development of the core list was a valid method for creating a new twenty-first century, community-based medical school library. Thirty-seven journals are identified for addition to the FSU COM core list based on use by the COM, and areas of overlapping research interests between the university and the COM are identified based on use of specific journals by each population. The collection development approach that evolved at the FSU COM library was useful during the initial stages of identifying and evaluating journal selections and in assessing the relative value of a particular journal package for the FSU COM after the school was established.

Development of a new academic digital library: a study of usage data of a core medical electronic journal collection

Science.gov (United States)

Shearer, Barbara S.; Klatt, Carolyn; Nagy, Suzanne P.

2009-01-01

Objectives: The current study evaluates the results of a previously reported method for creating a core medical electronic journal collection for a new medical school library, validates the core collection created specifically to meet the needs of the new school, and identifies strategies for making cost-effective e-journal selection decisions. Methods: Usage data were extracted for four e-journal packages (Blackwell-Synergy, Cell Press, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, and ScienceDirect). Usage was correlated with weighted point values assigned to a core list of journal titles, and each package was evaluated for relevancy and cost-effectiveness to the Florida State University College of Medicine (FSU COM) population. Results: The results indicated that the development of the core list was a valid method for creating a new twenty-first century, community-based medical school library. Thirty-seven journals are identified for addition to the FSU COM core list based on use by the COM, and areas of overlapping research interests between the university and the COM are identified based on use of specific journals by each population. Conclusions: The collection development approach that evolved at the FSU COM library was useful during the initial stages of identifying and evaluating journal selections and in assessing the relative value of a particular journal package for the FSU COM after the school was established. PMID:19404499

Unusual raptor nests around the world

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, D.H.; Craig, T.; Craig, E.; Postupalsky, S.; LaRue, C.T.; Nelson, R.W.; Anderson, D.W.; Henny, C.J.; Watson, J.; Millsap, B.A.; Dawson, J.W.; Cole, K.L.; Martin, E.M.; Margalida, A.; Kung, P.

2009-01-01

From surveys in many countries, we report raptors using unusual nesting materials (e.g., paper money, rags, metal, antlers, and large bones) and unusual nesting situations. For example, we documented nests of Steppe Eagles Aquila nipalensis and Upland Buzzards Buteo hemilasius on the ground beside well-traveled roads, Saker Falcon Falco cherrug eyries in attics and a cistern, and Osprey Pandion haliaetus nests on the masts of boats and on a suspended automobile. Other records include a Golden Eagle A. chrysaetos nest 7.0 m in height, believed to be the tallest nest ever described, and, for the same species, we report nesting in rudimentary nests. Some nest sites are within a few meters of known predators or competitors. These unusual observations may be important in revealing the plasticity of a species' behavioral repertoire. ?? 2009 The Raptor Research Foundation, Inc.

Design of nested Halbach cylinder arrays for magnetic refrigeration applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trevizoli, Paulo V., E-mail: trevizoli@polo.ufsc.br; Lozano, Jaime A.; Peixer, Guilherme F.; Barbosa Jr, Jader R.

2015-12-01

We present an experimentally validated analytical procedure to design nested Halbach cylinder arrays for magnetic cooling applications. The procedure aims at maximizing the magnetic flux density variation in the core of the array for a given set of design parameters, namely the inner diameter of the internal magnet, the air gap between the magnet cylinders, the number of segments of each magnet and the remanent flux density of the Nd{sub 2}Fe{sub 14}B magnet grade. The design procedure was assisted and verified by 3-D numerical modeling using a commercial software package. An important aspect of the optimal design is to maintain an uniform axial distribution of the magnetic flux density in the region of the inner gap occupied by the active magnetocaloric regenerator. An optimal nested Halbach cylinder array was manufactured and experimentally evaluated for the magnetic flux density in the inner gap. The analytically calculated magnetic flux density variation agreed to within 5.6% with the experimental value for the center point of the magnet gap. - Highlights: • An analytical procedure to design nested Halbach cylinder arrays is proposed. • An optimal magnet configuration was built based on the analytical procedure. • The procedure was validated with 3D COMSOL simulations and experimental data.

Sexually selected nest-building--Pomatoschistus minutus males build smaller nest-openings in the presence of sneaker males.

Science.gov (United States)

Svensson, O; Kvarnemo, C

2003-09-01

Both natural selection and sexual selection may act on nest-building. We tested experimentally how different regimes of egg-predation and male-male competition influence nest-building before mating, using the marine fish sand goby, Pomatoschistus minutus. Males with sneaker males present built the smallest nest-openings, smaller than males held alone or with Pomatoschistus microps males (which may predate eggs and compete over nest-sites but not compete over fertilizations). Males with visual access to other nest-building males tended also to build smaller openings than males held alone or with P. microps. Males with egg-predators present built nests with openings not differing significantly from any other treatment. Our results indicate that the small nest-openings found in the sneaker male treatment are sexually selected through protection against sneaking or by female choice. Across treatments, time span before a male started to build his nest also explained variation in nest-opening width; males starting late built larger nest-openings.

Development with age of nest box use and gregarious nesting in laying hens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riber, Anja Brinch

2010-01-01

in position (left + corner, middle, and right). Nesting behaviour was video recorded for 5 days in each of five distinct periods: age 20, 26, 32, 38, and 44 weeks. The total number of visits and the number of gregarious visits were higher in the left nest box than in the other two nest boxes at all ages...

Predation on simulated duck nests in relation to nest density and landscape structure

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Padyšáková, E.; Šálek, Martin; Poledník, L.; Sedláček, František; Albrecht, Tomáš

2010-01-01

Roč. 37, č. 7 (2010), s. 597-603 ISSN 1035-3712 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LC06073 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520; CEZ:AV0Z60930519 Keywords : density-dependent predation * littoral patch * landscape type * nest predators * nest success * simulated nests Subject RIV: EG - Zoology Impact factor: 1.205, year: 2010

Association mapping of seed quality traits using the Canadian flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) core collection.

Science.gov (United States)

Soto-Cerda, Braulio J; Duguid, Scott; Booker, Helen; Rowland, Gordon; Diederichsen, Axel; Cloutier, Sylvie

2014-04-01

The identification of stable QTL for seed quality traits by association mapping of a diverse panel of linseed accessions establishes the foundation for assisted breeding and future fine mapping in linseed. Linseed oil is valued for its food and non-food applications. Modifying its oil content and fatty acid (FA) profiles to meet market needs in a timely manner requires clear understanding of their quantitative trait loci (QTL) architectures, which have received little attention to date. Association mapping is an efficient approach to identify QTL in germplasm collections. In this study, we explored the quantitative nature of seed quality traits including oil content (OIL), palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid (LIO) linolenic acid (LIN) and iodine value in a flax core collection of 390 accessions assayed with 460 microsatellite markers. The core collection was grown in a modified augmented design at two locations over 3 years and phenotypic data for all seven traits were obtained from all six environments. Significant phenotypic diversity and moderate to high heritability for each trait (0.73-0.99) were observed. Most of the candidate QTL were stable as revealed by multivariate analyses. Nine candidate QTL were identified, varying from one for OIL to three for LIO and LIN. Candidate QTL for LIO and LIN co-localized with QTL previously identified in bi-parental populations and some mapped nearby genes known to be involved in the FA biosynthesis pathway. Fifty-eight percent of the QTL alleles were absent (private) in the Canadian cultivars suggesting that the core collection possesses QTL alleles potentially useful to improve seed quality traits. The candidate QTL identified herein will establish the foundation for future marker-assisted breeding in linseed.

Discovery of a new Kittlitz's murrelet nest: Clues to habitat selection and nest-site fidelity

Science.gov (United States)

Piatt, John F.; Naslund, Nancy L.; van Pelt, Thomas I.

1999-01-01

On 13 June 1993, a new Kittlitz's murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) nest was discovered near Red Mountain on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. The nest was on a 22° slope at about 900 m elevation with a northeast aspect, and contained a 60.2 × 40.6 mm egg that weighed 49.0 g. Downy feathers and weathered fecal material found at the nest indicated re-use from a previous year, suggesting possible nest site fidelity. The nest was located in an area scoured by winds and free of snow during early spring, suggesting that this may be an important mesoscale factor influencing selection of nesting habitat. Proximity to suitable foraging habitat, particularly sheltered bays and glacial river outflows, may affect breeding habitat choice over larger spatial scales.

Termite nests as an abundant source of cultivable actinobacteria for biotechnological purposes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sujada, Nikhom; Sungthong, Rungroch; Lumyong, Saisamorn

2014-01-01

A total of 118 actinobacterial isolates were collected from the three types of termite nests (mound, carton, and subterranean nests) to evaluate their potential as a source of bioactive actinobacteria with antimicrobial activity. The highest number (67 isolates) and generic abundance (7 known genera) of actinobacterial isolates were obtained from carton nests. Streptomyces was the dominant genus in each type of termite nest. In the non-Streptomyces group, Nocardia was the dominant genus detected in mound and carton nests, while Pseudonocardia was the dominant genus in subterranean nests. A discovery trend of novel species (20% of bioactive actinobacteria that could inhibit the growth of at least one test organism, while 12 isolates, belonging to the genera Streptomyces, Amycolatopsis, Pseudonocardia, Micromonospora and Nocardia, exhibited distinct antimicrobial activities. Streptomyces sp. CMU-NKS-3 was the most distinct bioactive isolate. It was closely related to S. padanus MITKK-103T, which was confirmed by 99% similarities in their 16S rRNA gene sequences. The highest level of extracellular antimicrobial substances was produced by the isolate CMU-NKS-3, which was grown in potato dextrose broth and exhibited a wide range (6.10×10(-4)-1.25 mg mL(-1)) of minimum inhibitory concentrations against diverse pathogens. We concluded that termite nests are an abundant source of bioactive strains of cultivable actinobacteria for future biotechnological needs.

Nest survival is influenced by parental behaviour and heterospecifics in a mixed-species colony

Science.gov (United States)

Brussee, Brianne E.; Coates, Peter S.; Hothem, Roger L.; Howe, Kristy; Casazza, Michael L.; Eadie, John M.

2016-01-01

Studies of avian nest success often focus on examining influences of variation in environmental and seasonal factors. However, in-depth evaluations can also incorporate variation in individual incubation behaviour to further advance our understanding of avian reproductive ecology. We examined these relationships in colonially nesting Black-crowned Night-Herons Nycticorax nycticorax using intensive video-monitoring methods to quantify incubation behaviours. We modelled nest survival as a function of both extrinsic factors and incubation behaviours over a 3-year period (2010–12) on Alcatraz Island, USA. Model-averaged parameter estimates indicated that nest survival increased as a function of greater incubation constancy (% of time spent incubating eggs within a 24-h period), and average daily precipitation throughout the nesting stage. Common Ravens Corvus corax are the only known nest predator of Night-Herons on Alcatraz Island, as on many other coastal Pacific islands. We also investigated the effects of heterospecific nesting of California Gulls Larus californicus and Western Gulls Larus occidentalis in a mixed-species colony with Night-Herons, based on nesting proximity data collected over a 2-year period (2011–12). This second analysis indicated that, in addition to incubation behaviours, nesting heterospecifics are an important factor for explaining variation in Night-Heron nest survival. However, contrary to our original expectation, we found that Night-Herons experienced increased nest survival with increasing distance from gull colony boundaries. These results may apply to other areas with multiple colonial nesting species and similar predator communities and climatic patterns.

Nest-site selection by cavity-nesting birds in relation to postfire salvage logging

Science.gov (United States)

Victoria A. Saab; Robin E. Russell; Jonathan G. Dudley

2009-01-01

Large wildfire events in coniferous forests of the western United States are often followed by postfire timber harvest. The long-term impacts of postfire timber harvest on fire-associated cavity-nesting bird species are not well documented. We studied nest-site selection by cavity-nesting birds over a 10-year period (1994-2003), representing 1-11 years after fire, on...

Artificial covering on trap nests improves the colonization of trap-nesting wasps

OpenAIRE

Taki, Hisatomo; Kevan, Peter G.; Viana, Blandina Felipe; Silva, Fabiana O.; Buck, Matthias

2008-01-01

Acesso restrito: Texto completo. p. 225-229 To evaluate the role that a trap-nest cover might have on sampling methodologies, the abundance of each species of trap-nesting Hymenoptera and the parasitism rate in a Canadian forest were compared between artificially covered and uncovered traps. Of trap tubes exposed at eight forest sites in six trap-nest boxes, 531 trap tubes were occupied and 1216 individuals of 12 wasp species of four predatory families, Vespidae (Eumeninae), Crabronidae...

Nest Predation Deviates from Nest Predator Abundance in an Ecologically Trapped Bird

OpenAIRE

Hollander, Franck A.; Van Dyck, Hans; San Martin, Gilles; Titeux, Nicolas

2015-01-01

In human-modified environments, ecological traps may result from a preference for low-quality habitat where survival or reproductive success is lower than in high-quality habitat. It has often been shown that low reproductive success for birds in preferred habitat types was due to higher nest predator abundance. However, between-habitat differences in nest predation may only weakly correlate with differences in nest predator abundance. An ecological trap is at work in a farmland bird (Lanius ...

The simultaneous measurements of core and outer core density fluctuations in L-H transition using CO2 laser collective scattering diagnostic in the EAST superconducting tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao, G.M.; Li, Y.D.; Zhang, X.D.; Sun, P.J.; Hu, L.Q.; Li, J.G.; Wu, G.J.

2013-01-01

The H-mode is the projected basic operation scenario for the ITER tokamak. The turbulence de-correlation by the synergistic effect of zonal flow and equilibrium ExB flow shear is believed to be the reason for L-H transition, however, the detailed physical mechanism has not been identified so far. Tangential multi-channel CO 2 laser collective scattering diagnostic system (mainly k r measurement) was first installed to investigate electron density fluctuations on EAST tokamak. The measurements in a spontaneous dithering L-H transition show that in core plasma (0 < r/a < 0.5) the low-frequency fluctuations strengthen greatly before L-H transition; meanwhile in outer core plasma (0.2 < r/a < 1) the low-frequency fluctuations strengthen slightly. Bispectral analysis reveals that the coupling strength between low- and high-frequency fluctuations in both core and outer core plasma strengthens greatly before the transition, but the latter is greater than the former. The results indicate that the low-frequency fluctuations of the core and outer core plasma play active, but different, roles in the spontaneous L-H transition. (author)

Phenotypic variation in a core collection of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zeven, A.C.; Waninge, J.; Hintum, van Th.J.L.; Singh, S.P.

1999-01-01

Forty accessions, forming a core collection of mainly bush type of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) germplasm in the Netherlands, were evaluated for 14 qualitative and quantitative traits at the Agricultural University, Wageningen (WAU), the Netherlands in 1992. These and an additional 117

Interaction in Balanced Cross Nested Designs

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Paulo; Mexia, João T.; Carvalho, Francisco; Covas, Ricardo

2011-09-01

Commutative Jordan Algebras, CJA, are used in the study of mixed models obtained, through crossing and nesting, from simpler ones. In the study of cross nested models the interaction between nested factors have been systematically discarded. However this can constitutes an artificial simplification of the models. We point out that, when two crossed factors interact, such interaction is symmetric, both factors playing in it equivalent roles, while when two nested factors interact, the interaction is determined by the nesting factor. These interactions will be called interactions with nesting. In this work we present a coherent formulation of the algebraic structure of models enabling the choice of families of interactions between cross and nested factors using binary operations on CJA.

Parental investment decisions in response to ambient nest-predation risk versus actual predation on the prior nest

Science.gov (United States)

Chalfoun, A.D.; Martin, T.E.

2010-01-01

Theory predicts that parents should invest less in dependent offspring with lower reproductive value, such as those with a high risk of predation. Moreover, high predation risk can favor reduced parental activity when such activity attracts nest predators. Yet, the ability of parents to assess ambient nest-predation risk and respond adaptively remains unclear, especially where nest-predator assemblages are diverse and potentially difficult to assess. We tested whether variation in parental investment by a multi-brooded songbird (Brewer's Sparrow, Spizella breweri) in an environment (sagebrush steppe) with diverse predators was predicted by ambient nest-predation risk or direct experience with nest predation. Variation among eight sites in ambient nest-predation risk, assayed by daily probabilities of nest predation, was largely uncorrelated across four years. In this system risk may therefore be unpredictable, and aspects of parental investment (clutch size, egg mass, incubation rhythms, nestling-feeding rates) were not related to ambient risk. Moreover, investment at first nests that were successful did not differ from that at nests that were depredated, suggesting parents could not assess and respond to territorylevel nest-predation risk. However, parents whose nests were depredated reduced clutch sizes and activity at nests attempted later in the season by increasing the length of incubation shifts (on-bouts) and recesses (off-bouts) and decreasing trips to feed nestlings. In this unpredictable environment parent birds may therefore lack sufficient cues of ambient risk on which to base their investment decisions and instead rely on direct experience with nest predation to inform at least some of their decisions. ?? 2010 The Cooper Ornithological Society.

Landscape forest cover and edge effects on songbird nest predation vary by nest predator

Science.gov (United States)

W. Andrew Cox; Frank R. III Thompson; John. Faaborg

2012-01-01

Rates of nest predation for birds vary between and within species across multiple spatial scales, but we have a poor understanding of which predators drive such patterns. We video-monitored nests and identified predators at 120 nests of the Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) and the Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) at eight...

Nest Material Shapes Eggs Bacterial Environment.

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Cristina Ruiz-Castellano

Full Text Available Selective pressures imposed by pathogenic microorganisms to embryos have selected in hosts for a battery of antimicrobial lines of defenses that includes physical and chemical barriers. Due to the antimicrobial properties of volatile compounds of green plants and of chemicals of feather degrading bacteria, the use of aromatic plants and feathers for nest building has been suggested as one of these barriers. However, experimental evidence suggesting such effects is scarce in the literature. During two consecutive years, we explored experimentally the effects of these nest materials on loads of different groups of bacteria (mesophilic bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus and Enterococcus of eggshells in nests of spotless starlings (Sturnus unicolor at the beginning and at the end of the incubation period. This was also explored in artificial nests without incubation activity. We also experimentally increased bacterial density of eggs in natural and artificial nests and explored the effects of nest lining treatments on eggshell bacterial load. Support for the hypothetical antimicrobial function of nest materials was mainly detected for the year and location with larger average values of eggshell bacterial density. The beneficial effects of feathers and plants were more easily detected in artificial nests with no incubation activity, suggesting an active role of incubation against bacterial colonization of eggshells. Pigmented and unpigmented feathers reduced eggshell bacterial load in starling nests and artificial nest boxes. Results from artificial nests allowed us to discuss and discard alternative scenarios explaining the detected association, particularly those related to the possible sexual role of feathers and aromatic plants in starling nests. All these results considered together confirm the antimicrobial functionality mainly of feathers but also of plants used as nest materials, and highlight the importance of temporally and

Nest Material Shapes Eggs Bacterial Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz-Castellano, Cristina; Tomás, Gustavo; Ruiz-Rodríguez, Magdalena; Martín-Gálvez, David; Soler, Juan José

2016-01-01

Selective pressures imposed by pathogenic microorganisms to embryos have selected in hosts for a battery of antimicrobial lines of defenses that includes physical and chemical barriers. Due to the antimicrobial properties of volatile compounds of green plants and of chemicals of feather degrading bacteria, the use of aromatic plants and feathers for nest building has been suggested as one of these barriers. However, experimental evidence suggesting such effects is scarce in the literature. During two consecutive years, we explored experimentally the effects of these nest materials on loads of different groups of bacteria (mesophilic bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus and Enterococcus) of eggshells in nests of spotless starlings (Sturnus unicolor) at the beginning and at the end of the incubation period. This was also explored in artificial nests without incubation activity. We also experimentally increased bacterial density of eggs in natural and artificial nests and explored the effects of nest lining treatments on eggshell bacterial load. Support for the hypothetical antimicrobial function of nest materials was mainly detected for the year and location with larger average values of eggshell bacterial density. The beneficial effects of feathers and plants were more easily detected in artificial nests with no incubation activity, suggesting an active role of incubation against bacterial colonization of eggshells. Pigmented and unpigmented feathers reduced eggshell bacterial load in starling nests and artificial nest boxes. Results from artificial nests allowed us to discuss and discard alternative scenarios explaining the detected association, particularly those related to the possible sexual role of feathers and aromatic plants in starling nests. All these results considered together confirm the antimicrobial functionality mainly of feathers but also of plants used as nest materials, and highlight the importance of temporally and geographically

Small-scale area effect on species richness and nesting occupancy of cavity-nesting bees and wasps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael D. Loyola

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Small-scale area effect on species richness and nesting occupancy of cavity-nesting bees and wasps. The research was conducted in an urban forest remnant in southeast Brazil. We tested the predictions of the following hypotheses: (1 larger areas present higher species richness of bees and wasps, (2 solitary bees and wasps occupy more nests in larger areas, (3 rare species occupy more nests in smaller areas. We sampled Aculeate bees and wasps using trap nests from February to November 2004. We placed trap nests in sampling units (SU with different size (25, 100 and 400 m² located in 6 ha of secondary mesophytic forest. One hundred and thirty-seven trap nests were occupied by seven species of bees and four species of wasps. We found an increase in wasp, but not bee species richness following increase in SU size. Hymenoptera richness (i.e. bees plus wasps was also greater in larger SU. Both the number and density of occupied nests increased with SU size. The wasp Trypoxylon lactitarse responded significantly to area size, larger SU having more occupied nests. The same pattern was exhibited by the wasp Auplopus militaris, the Megachile bee species, and the bee Anthodioctes megachiloides. Only Trypoxylon sp. was not affected by SU size. Our results show that cavity-nesting bee and wasps respond differently to the area effects. Such findings must be complemented by information on the frequency and dynamics of area colonization and nest occupancy by species of solitary Hymenoptera.

Nested Potential Games

OpenAIRE

Hiroshi Uno

2007-01-01

This paper proposes a new class of potential games, the nested potential games, which generalize the potential games defined in Monderer and Shapley (1996), as well as the pseudo-potential games defined in Dubey et al. (2006). We show that each maximizer of a nested potential is a Nash equilibrium.

Evaluation of nested polymerase chain reaction for the early detection of Leptospira spp. DNA in serum samples from patients with leptospirosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanco, Roberta Morozetti; Romero, Eliete Caló

2014-04-01

The aim of this study was to analyse the nested polymerase chain reaction (nested PCR) in human serum samples of patients with clinical manifestations of leptospirosis. The cases of leptospirosis were defined by the microagglutination test (MAT). The samples were collected in 2010. Of 1042 serum samples collected from 521 patients, 28 (5.4%) were considered positive cases of leptospirosis, and 493 (94.6%) were negative. Twenty-three confirmed cases had no MAT-detectable antibodies in the acute sample (mean of 5.6 days after onset). Nested PCR was positive in 22/23 (95.7%) patients during the acute phase of the disease, with negative results by MAT. Nested PCR was negative in all convalescent serum samples with positive results by MAT. All negative cases of leptospirosis were negative by nested PCR. The nested PCR is an alternative diagnostic tool for early detection of leptospires in sera during the first 7 days of the disease. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

More Far-Side Deep Moonquake Nests Discovered

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, Y.; Jackson, John A.; Jackson, Katherine G.

2004-01-01

As reported last year, we started to reanalyze the seismic data acquired from 1969 to 1977 with a network of stations established on the Moon during the Apollo mission. The reason for the reanalysis was because recent advances in computer technology make it possible to employ much more sophisticated analysis techniques than was possible previously. The primary objective of the reanalysis was to search for deep moonquakes on the far side of the Moon and, if found, to use them to infer the structure of the Moon's deep interior, including a possible central core. The first step was to identify any new deep moonquakes that escaped our earlier search by applying a combination of waveform cross-correlation and single-link cluster analysis, and then to see if any of them are from previously unknown nests of deep moonquakes. We positively identified 7245 deep moonquakes, more than a five-fold increase from the previous 1360. We also found at least 88 previously unknown deep-moonquake nests. The question was whether any of these newly discovered nets were on the far side of the Moon, and we now report that our analysis of the data indicates that some of them are indeed on the far side.

[Application of Nested PCR in the Diagnosis of Imported Plasmodium Ovale Infection].

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Bing-cheng; Xu, Chao; Li, Jin; Xiao, Ting; Yin, Kun; Liu, Gong-zhen; Wang, Wei-yan; Zhao, Gui-hua; Wei, Yan-bin; Wang, Yong-bin; Zhao, Chang-lei; Wei, Qing-kuan

2015-02-01

To identity Plasmodium ovale infection by 18S rRNA gene nested PCR. Whole blood and filter paper blood samples of malaria patients in Shandong Province were collected during 2012-2013. The parasites were observed under a microscope with Giemsa staining. The genome DNA of blood samples were extracted as PCR templates. Genus- and species-specific primers were designed according to the Plasmodium 18S rRNA gene sequences. Plasmodium ovale-positive specimens were identified by nested PCR as well as verified by sequencing. There were 7 imported cases of P. ovale infection in the province during 2012-2013. Nested PCR results showed that the P. ovale specific band (800 bp) was amplified in all the 7 specimens. Blast results indicated that the PCR products were consistent with the Plasmodium ovale reference sequence in GenBank. Seven imported cases of ovale malaria in Shandong Province in 2012-2013 are confirmed by nested PCR.

Differences in predators of artificial and real songbirds nests: Evidence of bias in artificial nest studies

Science.gov (United States)

Frank R. Thompson; Dirk E. Burhans

2004-01-01

In the past two decades, many researchers have used artificial nest to measure relative rates of nest predation. Recent comparisons show that real and artificial nests may not be depredated at the same rate, but no one has examined the mechanisms underlying these patterns. We determined differences in predator-specific predation rates of real and artificial nests. we...

Neste Corporation - a successful year

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ihamuotila, J.

1991-01-01

The past year proved a successful one for Neste Corporation. Profitability was good and operations were consistently developed. Neste is committed to giving high priority to productivity and know- how to ensure that this success continues into the future. Important developments affecting the structure of Neste Corporation during 1990 included the amalgamation of Neste's oil-related activities into a single division, the increasing concentration of Neste Chemicals, activities in Central and Southern Europe and a major strengthening of oil exploration and production operations. Neste Oil turned in a good result during 1990. Neste imported a total of 8.9 million tonnes of crude oil during 1990. Imports from the Soviet Union at 5.2 million tonnes, were over 2 million tonnes less than planned. Some 2.5 million tonnes were imported from the North Sea, and 1.2 million tonnes from the Middle East. The year was one of expansion, diversification, and solid profit for Neste Chemicals. Net sales grew by 18 % compared to 1989 and the division recorded a satisfactory performance. Petrochemicals and polyolefins production increased suhstantially as a result of plants completed, acquired, or leased during 1989. The gas division's net sales during 1990 were 46 % higher than during 1989. This growth largely resulted from an increase in the consumption of natural gas and an expansion in the volume of international IPG business. The division's profitability remained satisfactory

Columbia River ESI: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for bird nesting sites in the Columbia River area. Vector points in this data set represent locations of...

Community structure variability of Uropodina mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) in nests of the common mole, Talpa europaea, in Central Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Napierała, Agnieszka; Mądra, Anna; Leszczyńska-Deja, Kornelia; Gwiazdowicz, Dariusz J; Gołdyn, Bartłomiej; Błoszyk, Jerzy

2016-04-01

Underground nests of Talpa europaea, known as the common mole, are very specific microhabitats, which are also quite often inhabited by various groups of arthropods. Mites from the suborder Uropodina (Acari: Mesostigmata) are only one of them. One could expect that mole nests that are closely located are inhabited by communities of arthropods with similar species composition and structure. However, results of empirical studies clearly show that even nests which are close to each other can be different both in terms of the species composition and abundance of Uropodina communities. So far, little is known about the factors that can cause these differences. The major aim of this study was to identify factors determining species composition, abundance, and community structure of Uropodina communities in mole nests. The study is based on material collected during a long-term investigation conducted in western parts of Poland. The results indicate that the two most important factors influencing species composition and abundance of Uropodina communities in mole nests are nest-building material and depth at which nests are located. Composition of Uropodina communities in nests of moles was also compared with that of other microhabitats (e.g. rotten wood, forest litter, soil) based on data from 4421 samples collected in Poland. Communities of this habitat prove most similar to these of open areas, especially meadows, as well as some forest types.

Managing individual nests promotes population recovery of a top predator

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Jennyffer; Windels, Steve K.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Crimmins, Shawn M.; Grim, Leland; Zuckerberg, Benjamin

2018-01-01

Threatened species are managed using diverse conservation tactics implemented at multiple scales ranging from protecting individuals, to populations, to entire species. Individual protection strives to promote recovery at the population‐ or species‐level, although this is seldom evaluated.After decades of widespread declines, bald eagles, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, are recovering throughout their range due to legal protection and pesticide bans. However, like other raptors, their recovery remains threatened by human activities. Bald eagle nests are commonly managed using buffer zones to minimize human disturbance, but the benefits of this practice remain unquantified.Within Voyageurs National Park (VNP), Minnesota, USA, managers have monitored bald eagle populations for over 40 years, and since 1991, have protected at‐risk nests from human disturbance using buffer zones (200 and 400 m radius). We aimed to (1) quantify the recovery of bald eagles in VNP (1973–2016), and (2) provide a first‐ever evaluation of the individual‐ and population‐level effects of managing individual nests. To do so, we developed Bayesian Integrated Population Models combining observations of nest occupancy and reproductive output (metrics commonly collected for raptors) to estimate nest‐level probabilities of occupancy, nest success, and high productivity (producing ≥2 nestlings), as well as population‐level estimates of abundance and growth.The breeding population of bald eagles at VNP increased steadily from management significantly improved occupancy and success. At the population‐level, management led to 8% and 13% increases in nest success and productivity rates, respectively, resulting in a 37% increase in breeding pair abundance.Synthesis and applications. There is a clear need to evaluate how management approaches at multiple scales assist in species recovery. Our study uses an Integrated Population Model to reveal the population‐level benefits of a widely

Changes in position and quality of preferred nest box: effects on nest box use by laying hens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riber, Anja Brinch; Nielsen, Birte L.

2013-01-01

Using laying hens, we investigated whether position of a nest box, both within the pen and relative to other nest boxes, influenced the preference for a nest box, and how a sudden and marked change to the preferred box influenced the use of nest boxes by the hens. Groups (n=12) of 15 Isa Warren...... hens were housed in pens, each with five identical nest boxes in different positions: Two single (in a corner or not) and a triplet of nest boxes (one of which in a corner). The use of nest boxes was determined by the number of eggs laid daily in each box. Three experiments, each lasting 10 days, were...... carried out. First, the undisturbed use of each of the nest box types was investigated, and a strong preference (Peggs laid there. Second, each of the hen groups was moved to another pen allocated at random, and where...

Colony Structure and Nest Location of Two Species of Dacetine Ants: Pyramica ohioensis (Kennedy & Schramm and Pyramica rostrata (Emery in Maryland (Hymenoptera: Formicidae

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Richard M. Duffield

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The discovery of numerous Pyramica ohioensis and P. rostrata colonies living in acorns, as well as the efficient recovery of colonies from artificial nests placed in suitable habitats, opens a new stage in the study of North American dacetine ants. Here we present detailed information, based on 42 nest collections, on the colony structure of these two species. P. ohioensis colonies are smaller than those of P. rostrata. Both species are polygynous, but nests of P. ohioensis contain fewer dealate queens than those of P. rostrata. This is the first report of multiple collections of Pyramica colonies nesting in fallen acorns, and of the use of artificial nesting cavities to sample for dacetines in the soil and leaf litter. We describe an artificial cavity nest design that may prove useful in future investigations.

The influence of regional hydrology on nesting behavior and nest fate of the American alligator

Science.gov (United States)

Ugarte, Cristina A.; Bass, Oron L.; Nuttle, William; Mazzotti, Frank J.; Rice, Kenneth G.; Fujisaki, Ikuko; Whelan, Kevin R.T.

2013-01-01

Hydrologic conditions are critical to the nesting behavior and reproductive success of crocodilians. In South Florida, USA, growing human settlement has led to extensive surface water management and modification of historical water flows in the wetlands, which have affected regional nesting of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Although both natural and anthropogenic factors are considered to determine hydrologic conditions, the aspects of hydrological patterns that affect alligator nest effort, flooding (partial and complete), and failure (no hatchling) are unclear. We deconstructed annual hydrological patterns using harmonic models that estimated hydrological matrices including mean, amplitude, timing of peak, and periodicity of surface water depth and discharge and examined their effects on alligator nesting using survey data from Shark Slough, Everglades National Park, from 1985 to 2005. Nest effort increased in years with higher mean and lesser periodicity of water depth. A greater proportion of nests were flooded and failed when peak discharge occurred earlier in the year. Also, nest flooding rates were greater in years with greater periodicity of water depth, and nest failure rate was greater when mean discharge was higher. This study guides future water management decisions to mitigate negative impacts on reproduction of alligators and provides wildlife managers with a tool for assessing and modifying annual water management plans to conserve crocodilians and other wetland species.

Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Hatching Success as a Function of Microbial Abundance and the Microenvironment of In Situ Nest Sand at Ostional, Costa Rica

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Vanessa S. Bézy

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Sea turtle hatching success at mass nesting beaches is typically lower than at solitary nesting beaches, presumably due in part to high rates of microbial metabolism resulting from the large input of organic matter from turtle eggs. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that hatching success varies across areas of the beach in conjunction with differences in the physical nest environment and microbial abundance of in situ olive ridley sea turtle nests at Ostional, Costa Rica. We marked natural nests in high-density, low-density, and tidal-wash nesting areas of the beach and monitored clutch pO2 and temperature throughout the incubation period. We quantified hatching success and collected samples of nest sand during nest excavations. We quantified microbial abundance (bacteria and fungi with a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR analysis. Hatching success was lower in nests with lower pO2, higher temperatures, higher organic matter content, and higher microbial abundance. Our results suggest that the lower oxygen within the nest environment is likely a result of the high microbial abundance and rates of decomposition in the nest sand and that these factors, along with increased temperature of clutches in the high-density nesting area, are collectively responsible for the low hatching success at Ostional.

Lack of nest site limitation in a cavity-nesting bird community

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffry R. Waters; Barry R. Noon; Jared Verner

1990-01-01

We examined the relationship between nest site availability and density of secondary cavitynesting birds by blocking cavities in an oak-pine (Quercus spp.-Pinus sp. ) woodland. In 1986 and 1987we blocked 67 and 106 cavities, respectively, on a 37-ha plot. The combined density of secondary cavity-nesting birds did not decline...

Nesting biology of Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) lactitarse Saussure (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae) in trap-nests in Southern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Buschini, M L T; Niesing, F; Wolff, L L

2006-08-01

This study was carried in the Parque Municipal das Araucárias in the municipality of Guarapuava, state of Paraná, Southern Brazil. Three hundred and sixty five nests of T. lactitarse were obtained using trap-nests of 0.7, 1.0, and 1.3 cm in diameter. All of them had similar architecture, regardless of the diameter of the trap-nest. Completed nests consisted of a linear series of brood cells whose average number per nest was of 3.3, 4.0 and 3.6 for the nests with 0.7 cm, 1.0 cm and 1.3 cm in diameter, respectively. They were constructed more often during the summer. T. lactitarse had two types of life cycles: direct development (without diapause), and delayed development (with diapause during winter). Natural enemies included Chrysididae, Sarcophagidae, Dolichopodidae and Ichneumonidae. Out of 1,353 identified spider prey, 1,313 belonged to the Araneidae family.

Nesting biology of Trypoxylon (Trypargilum lactitarse Saussure (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae in trap-nests in Southern Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. L. T. Buschini

Full Text Available This study was carried in the Parque Municipal das Araucárias in the municipality of Guarapuava, state of Paraná, Southern Brazil. Three hundred and sixty five nests of T. lactitarse were obtained using trap-nests of 0.7, 1.0, and 1.3 cm in diameter. All of them had similar architecture, regardless of the diameter of the trap-nest. Completed nests consisted of a linear series of brood cells whose average number per nest was of 3.3, 4.0 and 3.6 for the nests with 0.7 cm, 1.0 cm and 1.3 cm in diameter, respectively. They were constructed more often during the summer. T. lactitarse had two types of life cycles: direct development (without diapause, and delayed development (with diapause during winter. Natural enemies included Chrysididae, Sarcophagidae, Dolichopodidae and Ichneumonidae. Out of 1,353 identified spider prey, 1,313 belonged to the Araneidae family.

Moa (Aves : Dinornithiformes) nesting material from rockshelters in the semi-arid interior of South Island, New Zealand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, J.R.

2008-01-01

The first descriptions of plant remains from the nests of extinct moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) are presented. The samples of desiccated nesting material were collected during excavation of Holocene sediments within five rockshelters in semi-arid regions of southern South Island, New Zealand, between 1964 and 2006. The nesting materials were attributed to moa on the basis of associated moa coprolites, feathers and eggshell fragments. The nesting material includes short, clipped twigs from a range of locally available tree, shrub and liane species. These twig clippings show a size distribution similar to those recorded from moa gizzard content samples. Other nesting material from the sites includes longer twigs and fragments of bark. The plant materials suggest general similarities between the nests of moa and those of the extant Australasian ratites, emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) and cassowary (Casuarius spp.). (author). 37 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab

Ground-nesting marine birds and potential for human disturbance in Glacier Bay National Park

Science.gov (United States)

Arimitsu, Mayumi L.; Romano, Marc D.; Piatt, John F.; Piatt, John F.; Gende, S.M.

2004-01-01

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve contains a diverse assemblage of marine birds that use the area for nesting, foraging and molting. The abundance and diversity of marine bird species in Glacier Bay is unmatched in the region, due in part to the geomorphic and successional characteristics that result in a wide array of habitat types (Robards and others, 2003). The opportunity for proactive management of these species is unique in Glacier Bay National Park because much of the suitable marine bird nesting habitat occurs in areas designated as wilderness. Ground-nesting marine birds are vulnerable to human disturbance wherever visitors can access nest sites during the breeding season. Human disturbance of nest sites can be significant because intense parental care is required for egg and hatchling survival, and repeated disturbance can result in reduced productivity (Leseberg and others, 2000). Temporary nest desertion by breeding birds in disturbed areas can lead to increased predation on eggs and hatchlings by conspecifics or other predators (Bolduc and Guillemette, 2003). Human disturbance of ground-nesting birds may also affect incubation time and adult foraging success, which in turn can alter breeding success (Verhulst and others, 2001). Furthermore, human activity can potentially cause colony failure when disturbance prevents the initiation of nesting (Hatch, 2002). There is management concern about the susceptibility of breeding birds to disturbance from human activities, but little historical data has been collected on the distribution of ground-nesting marine birds in Glacier Bay. This report summarizes results obtained during two years of a three-year study to determine the distribution of ground-nesting marine birds in Glacier Bay, and the potential for human disturbance of those nesting birds.

Nest design in a changing world: great tit Parus major nests from a Mediterranean city environment as a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lambrechts, Marcel M; Charmantier, Anne; Demeyrier, Virginie; Lucas, Annick; Perret, Samuel; Abouladzé, Matthieu; Bonnet, Michel; Canonne, Coline; Faucon, Virginie; Grosset, Stéphanie; le Prado, Gaëlle; Lidon, Frédéric; Noell, Thierry; Pagano, Pascal; Perret, Vincent; Pouplard, Stéphane; Spitaliéry, Rémy; Bernard, Cyril; Perret, Philippe; Blondel, Jacques; Grégoire, Arnaud

2017-12-01

Investigations of urbanization effects on birds have focused mainly on breeding traits expressed after the nest-building stage (e.g. first-egg date, clutch size, breeding success, and offspring characteristics). Urban studies largely ignored how and why the aspects of nest building might be associated with the degree of urbanization. As urban environments are expected to present novel environmental changes relative to rural environments, it is important to evaluate how nest-building behavior is impacted by vegetation modifications associated with urbanization. To examine nest design in a Mediterranean city environment, we allowed urban great tits ( Parus major ) to breed in nest boxes in areas that differed in local vegetation cover. We found that different measures of nest size or mass were not associated with vegetation cover. In particular, nests located adjacent to streets with lower vegetation cover were not smaller or lighter than nests in parks with higher vegetation cover. Nests adjacent to streets contained more pine needles than nests in parks. In addition, in nests adjacent to streets, nests from boxes attached to pine trees contained more pine needles than nests from boxes attached to other trees. We suggest that urban-related alterations in vegetation cover do not directly impose physical limits on nest size in species that are opportunistic in the selection of nesting material. However, nest composition as reflected in the use of pine needles was clearly affected by habitat type and the planted tree species present, which implies that rapid habitat change impacts nest composition. We do not exclude that urbanization might impact other aspects of nest building behaviour not covered in our study (e.g. costs of searching for nest material), and that the strengths of the associations between urbanization and nest structures might differ among study populations or species.

Development and evaluation of a nested-PCR assay for Senecavirus A diagnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Feronato, Cesar; Leme, Raquel A; Diniz, Jaqueline A; Agnol, Alais Maria Dall; Alfieri, Alice F; Alfieri, Amauri A

2018-02-01

Senecavirus A (SVA) has been associated with vesicular disease in weaned and adult pigs and with high mortality of newborn piglets. This study aimed to establish a nested-PCR assay for the routine diagnosis of SVA infection. Tissue samples (n = 177) were collected from 37 piglets of 18 pig farms located in four different Brazilian states. For the nested-PCR, a primer set was defined to amplify an internal VP1 fragment of 316 bp of SVA genome. Of the 37 piglets, 15 (40.5%) and 23 (62.2%) were positive for the SVA in the RT-PCR and nested-PCR assays, respectively. The SVA RNA was detected in 61/177 (34.5%) samples with the RT-PCR, while the nested-PCR assay showed 84/177 (47.5%) samples with the virus (p PCR and nested-PCR assays, respectively. Nucleotide sequencing analysis revealed similarities of 98.7-100% among SVA Brazilian strains and of 86.6-98% with SVA strains from other countries. The nested-PCR assay in this study was suitable to recover the SVA RNA in biological specimens, piglets, and/or herds that were considered as negative in the RT-PCR assay, and is proposed for the routine investigation of the SVA infection in piglets, especially when other techniques are not available or when a great number of samples has to be examined.

Decoration Increases the Conspicuousness of Raptor Nests.

Science.gov (United States)

Canal, David; Mulero-Pázmány, Margarita; Negro, Juan José; Sergio, Fabrizio

2016-01-01

Avian nests are frequently concealed or camouflaged, but a number of species builds noticeable nests or use conspicuous materials for nest decoration. In most cases, nest decoration has a role in mate choice or provides thermoregulatory or antiparasitic benefits. In territorial species however, decorations may serve additional or complementary functions, such as extended phenotypic signaling of nest-site occupancy and social status to potential intruders. The latter may benefit both signaler and receiver by minimizing the risk of aggressive interactions, especially in organisms with dangerous weaponry. Support for this hypothesis was recently found in a population of black kites (Milvus migrans), a territorial raptor that decorates its nest with white artificial materials. However, the crucial assumption that nest decorations increased nest-site visibility to conspecifics was not assessed, a key aspect given that black kite nests may be well concealed within the canopy. Here, we used an unmanned aircraft system to take pictures of black kite nests, with and without an experimentally placed decoration, from different altitudes and distances simulating the perspective of a flying and approaching, prospecting intruder. The pictures were shown to human volunteers through a standardized routine to determine whether detection rates varied according the nest decoration status and distance. Decorated nests consistently showed a higher detection frequency and a lower detection-latency, compared to undecorated versions of the same nests. Our results confirm that nest decoration in this species may act as a signaling medium that enhances nest visibility for aerial receivers, even at large distances. This finding complements previous work on this communication system, which showed that nest decoration was a threat informing trespassing conspecifics on the social dominance, territory quality and fighting capabilities of the signaler.

Nest defense behaviors of native cavity-nesting birds to European Starlings

Science.gov (United States)

Rodney G. Olsen; Kathryn L. Purcell; David. Grubbs

2008-01-01

We used behavioral experiments to evaluate competition for nest sites and the extent to which European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are seen as a threat by native bird species at the San Joaquin Experimental Range, Madera County, CA. We quantified the level of aggressive behavior of four species of native cavity-nesting birds to starlings at active...

Use of artificial nests to investigate predation on freshwater turtle nests

Science.gov (United States)

Michael N. Marchand; John A. Litvaitis; Thomas J. Maier; Richard M. DeGraaf

2002-01-01

Habitat fragmentation has raised concerns that populations of generalist predators have increased and are affecting a diverse group of prey. Previous research has included the use of artificial nests to investigate the role of predation on birds that nest on or near the ground. Because predation also is a major factor limiting populations of freshwater turtles, we...

Interspecific nest use by aridland birds

Science.gov (United States)

Deborah M. Finch

1982-01-01

Nest holes drilled by woodpeckers (Picidae) are frequently used by secondary cavity-nesting species, but interspecific use of open and domed nests is less well known. Nests constructed by many southwestern desert birds last longer than one year (pers. obs.) and are consequently reused by the same pair (e.g., Abert's Towhees [Pipilo aberti], pers. obs.) or by other...

Utilizing Nested Normal Form to Design Redundancy Free JSON Schemas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wai Yin Mok

2016-12-01

Full Text Available JSON (JavaScript Object Notation is a lightweight data-interchange format for the Internet. JSON is built on two structures: (1 a collection of name/value pairs and (2 an ordered list of values (http://www.json.org/. Because of this simple approach, JSON is easy to use and it has the potential to be the data interchange format of choice for the Internet. Similar to XML, JSON schemas allow nested structures to model hierarchical data. As data interchange over the Internet increases exponentially due to cloud computing or otherwise, redundancy free JSON data are an attractive form of communication because they improve the quality of data communication through eliminating update anomaly. Nested Normal Form, a normal form for hierarchical data, is a precise characterization of redundancy. A nested table, or a hierarchical schema, is in Nested Normal Form if and only if it is free of redundancy caused by multivalued and functional dependencies. Using Nested Normal Form as a guide, this paper introduces a JSON schema design methodology that begins with UML use case diagrams, communication diagrams and class diagrams that model a system under study. Based on the use cases’ execution frequencies and the data passed between involved parties in the communication diagrams, the proposed methodology selects classes from the class diagrams to be the roots of JSON scheme trees and repeatedly adds classes from the class diagram to the scheme trees as long as the schemas satisfy Nested Normal Form. This process continues until all of the classes in the class diagram have been added to some JSON scheme trees.

The Influences of Soil Characteristics on Nest-Site Selection in Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta)

Science.gov (United States)

Page, R.

2017-12-01

A variety of animals dig nests and lay their eggs in soil, leaving them to incubate and hatch without assistance from the parents. Nesting habitat is important for these organisms many of which exhibit temperature dependent sex determination (TSD) whereby the incubation temperature determines the sex of each hatchling. However, suitable nesting habitat may be limited due to anthropogenic activities and global temperature increases. Soil thermal properties are critical to these organisms and are positively correlated with water retention and soil carbon; carbon-rich soils result in higher incubation temperatures. We investigated nest-site selection in painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) inhabiting an anthropogenic pond in south central Pennsylvania. We surveyed for turtle nests and documented location, depth, width, temperature, canopy coverage, clutch size, and hatch success for a total of 31 turtle nests. To address the influence of soil carbon and particle size on nest selection, we analyzed samples collected from: 1) actual nests that were depredated, 2) false nests, incomplete nests aborted during digging prior to nest completion, and 3) randomized locations. Soil samples were separated into coarse, medium, and fine grain size fractions through a stack of sieves. Samples were combusted in a total carbon analyzer to measure weight percent organic carbon. We found that anthropogenic activity at this site has created homogenous, sandy, compacted soils at the uppermost layer that may limit females' access to appropriate nesting habitat. Turtle nesting activity was limited to a linear region north of the pond and was constrained by an impassable rail line. Relative to other studies, turtle nests were notably shallow (5.8±0.9 cm) and placed close to the pond. Compared to false nests and random locations, turtle-selected sites averaged greater coarse grains (35% compared to 20.24 and 20.57%) and less fine grains (47% compared to 59 and 59, respectively). Despite

Nesting habits of Centris (Hemisiella) dichrootricha (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in the Northern Cerrado of Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Carvalho, Gracy C A; Carreira, Léa M M; Rêgo, Márcia M C; Albuquerque, Patricia M C

2016-09-01

The Neotropical bee Centris (Hemisiella) dichrootricha is a solitary bee that nests in pre-existing cavities that occur in the rain forest. This study describes the nesting biology of C. dichrootricha and its preference for nesting in Cerrado and gallery forest habitats. The study was conducted from January 2012 and December 2013, in Mirador State Park in the municipality of Formosa da Serra Negra, Maranhão State, Brazil. For this, wooden trap-nests of 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 mm in diameter were used; a total of 300 trap-nests were placed in the gallery forest and Cerrado areas, respectively. Traps were monitored monthly and all completed nests were collected and replaced with empty ones. The nests were then taken to the laboratory to analyze bee development and emergence, nests characteristics and parasites presence. The species used 29 of the trap-nests, which had diameters of 8, 10, 12 and 14 mm. A total of 87 C. dichrootricha specimens emerged. The nests were parasitized by two bee species, Mesocheira bicolor (Apinae) and Coelioxys sp. (Megachilinae), and one fly species, Antrax sp. (Diptera). The highest nesting incidence of 72.4 % was observed in the gallery forest, whereas only 27.6 % in the Cerrado; this difference in habitat use was significant (χ² = 5.56; p pollen types that belonged to six families. Pollen of the family Malpighiaceae was most frequently used, with four species represented (Byrsonima crassifolia, B. rotunda, B. spicata and Heteropterys sp.). C. dichrootricha showed a preference for nesting in cavities of various diameters in gallery forest sites. The present study provides a novel description of the nesting habits and biology of C. dichrootricha in habitats of Central/Southern Maranhão. C. dichrootricha primarily used resources from the Cerrado, including soil to build their nests, pollen and floral oils; we concluded that gallery forest and Cerrado areas are intrinsically related to the maintenance of local populations of this

Nest densities of cavity-nesting birds in relation to postfire salvage logging and time since wildfire

Science.gov (United States)

Victoria A. Saab; Robin E. Russell; Jonathan G. Dudley

2007-01-01

We monitored the nest densities and nest survival of seven cavity-nesting bird species, including four open-space foragers (American Kestrel [Falco sparverius], Lewis's Woodpecker [Melanerpes lewis], Western Bluebird [Sialia mexicana], and Mountain Bluebird [S. currucoides]) and three wood...

Contrasting Effects of Cattle Grazing Intensity on Upland-Nesting Duck Production at Nest and Field Scales in the Aspen Parkland, Canada

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeffrey M. Warren

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The Aspen Parkland of Canada is one of the most important breeding areas for temperate nesting ducks in North America. The region is dominated by agricultural land use, with approximately 9.3 million ha in pasture land for cattle grazing. However, the effects of using land for cattle grazing on upland-nesting duck production are poorly understood. The current study was undertaken during 2001 and 2002 to investigate how nest density and nesting success of upland-nesting ducks varied with respect to the intensity of cattle grazing in the Aspen Parkland. We predicted that the removal and trampling of vegetation through cattle grazing would reduce duck nest density. Both positive and negative responses of duck nesting success to grazing have been reported in previous studies, leading us to test competing hypotheses that nesting success would (1 decline linearly with grazing intensity or (2 peak at moderate levels of grazing. Nearly 3300 ha of upland cover were searched during the study. Despite extensive and severe drought, nest searches located 302 duck nests. As predicted, nest density was higher in fields with lower grazing intensity and higher pasture health scores. A lightly grazed field with a pasture score of 85 out of a possible 100 was predicted to have 16.1 nests/100 ha (95% CI = 11.7-22.1, more than five times the predicted nest density of a heavily grazed field with a pasture score of 58 (3.3 nests/100 ha, 95% CI = 2.2-4.5. Nesting success was positively related to nest-site vegetation density across most levels of grazing intensity studied, supporting our hypothesis that reductions in vegetation caused by grazing would negatively affect nesting success. However, nesting success increased with grazing intensity at the field scale. For example, nesting success for a well-concealed nest in a lightly grazed field was 11.6% (95% CI = 3.6-25.0%, whereas nesting success for a nest with the same level of nest-site vegetation in a heavily grazed

Nesting ecology of Arctic loons

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, Margaret R.

1979-01-01

Arctic Loons were studied on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, from the time of their arrival in May to their departure in September, in 1974 and 1975. Pairs arrived on breeding ponds as soon as sufficient meltwater was available to allow their take-off and landing. Loons apparently do not initiate nests immediately after their arrival, even when nest-sites are available. Delayed egg-laying may be dependent on a period of yolk formation. Delaying yolk formation until after arrival on nest ponds is an adaptation by loons to the variable time suitable habitat becomes available for nesting. Predation of eggs by Glaucous Gulls, Long-tailed and Parasitic jaegers and foxes varied in relation to the location of the nest-site, and the availability of alternate prey. Hatching success was the lowest recorded for Arctic Loons (5%) in 1974, when eggs of both loons and Cackling Geese were taken in large numbers by predators. Hatching success increased to 32% in 1975 when an abundance of tundra voles was observed. No loon eggs hatched after the hatching of the Cackling Goose eggs when this alternate prey was no longer available. Nests destroyed by foxes were predominantly along shorelines, and those by gulls and jaegers were predominantly on islands. Nest-site selection by Arctic Loons may reflect an adaptive response to varying selective pressures by their predators.

Nest-site selection in the acorn woodpecker

Science.gov (United States)

Hooge, P.N.; Stanback, M.T.; Koenig, Walter D.

1999-01-01

Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) at Hastings Reservation in central California prefer to nest in dead limbs in large, dead valley oaks (Quercus lobata) and California sycamores (Platanus racemosa) that are also frequently used as acorn storage trees. Based on 232 nest cavities used over an 18-year period, we tested whether preferred or modal nest-site characters were associated with increased reproductive success (the "nest-site quality" hypothesis). We also examined whether more successful nests were likely to experience more favorable microclimatic conditions or to be less accessible to terrestrial predators. We found only equivocal support for the nest-site quality hypothesis: only 1 of 5 preferred characters and 2 of 10 characters exhibiting a clear modality were correlated with higher reproductive success. All three characteristics of nests known or likely to be associated with a more favorable microclimate, and two of five characteristics likely to render nests less accessible to predators, were correlated with higher reproductive success. These results suggest that nest cavities in this population are built in part to take advantage of favorable microclimatic conditions and, to a lesser extent, to reduce access to predators. However, despite benefits of particular nest characteristics, birds frequently nested in apparently suboptimal cavities. We also found a significant relationship between mean group size and the history of occupancy of particular territories and the probability of nest cavities being built in microclimatically favorable live limbs, suggesting that larger groups residing on more stable territories were better able to construct nests with optimal characteristics. This indicates that there may be demographic, as well as ecological, constraints on nest-site selection in this primary cavity nester.

Demographic consequences of nest box use for Red-footed Falcons Falco vespertinus in Central Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Bragin, Evgeny A.; Bragin, Alexander E.; Katzner, Todd

2017-01-01

Nest box programs are frequently implemented for the conservation of cavity-nesting birds, but their effectiveness is rarely evaluated in comparison to birds not using nest boxes. In the European Palearctic, Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus populations are both of high conservation concern and are strongly associated with nest box programs in heavily managed landscapes. We used a 21-year monitoring dataset collected on 753 nesting attempts by Red-footed Falcons in unmanaged natural or semi-natural habitats to provide basic information on this poorly known species; to evaluate long-term demographic trends; and to evaluate response of demographic parameters of Red-footed Falcons to environmental factors including use of nest boxes. We observed significant differences among years in laying date, offspring loss, and numbers of fledglings produced, but not in egg production. Of these four parameters, offspring loss and, to a lesser extent, number of fledglings exhibited directional trends over time. Variation in laying date and in numbers of eggs were not well explained by any one model, but instead by combinations of models, each with informative terms for nest type. Nevertheless, laying in nest boxes occurred 2.10 ± 0.70 days earlier than in natural nests. In contrast, variation in both offspring loss and numbers of fledglings produced were fairly well explained by a single model including terms for nest type, nest location, and an interaction between the two parameters (65% and 81% model weights respectively), with highest offspring loss in nest boxes on forest edges. Because, for other species, earlier laying dates are associated with more fit individuals, this interaction highlighted a possible ecological trap, whereby birds using nest boxes on forest edges lay eggs earlier but suffer greater offspring loss and produce lower numbers of fledglings than do those in other nesting settings. If nest boxes increase offspring loss for Red-footed Falcons in heavily

Nest-site competition between invasive and native cavity nesting birds and its implication for conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Charter, Motti; Izhaki, Ido; Ben Mocha, Yitzchak; Kark, Salit

2016-10-01

Nesting cavities are often a limited resource that multiple species use. There is an ongoing discussion on whether invasive cavity nesting birds restrict the availability of this key limited resource. While the answer to this question has important conservation implications, little experimental work has been done to examine it. Here, we aimed to experimentally test whether alien cavity nesting birds affect the occupancy of cavities and the resulting breeding success of native cavity breeders in a large urban park located in Tel Aviv, Israel. Over three breeding seasons, we manipulated the entry size of nest boxes and compared the occupancy and breeding success of birds in nest boxes of two treatments. These included nest boxes with large-entrance and small-entrance holes. The large-entrance holes allowed access for both the native and invasive birds (the two main aliens in the park are the common mynas and rose-ringed parakeets). The smaller-entrance boxes, on the other hand, allowed only the smaller sized native cavity breeders (great tits and house sparrows) to enter the boxes but prevented the alien species from entering. We found that the large-entrance nest boxes were occupied by five different bird species, comprising three natives (great tit, house sparrow, Scops owl) and two invasive species (common myna, rose-ringed parakeet) while the small-entrance boxes were only occupied by the two native species. The alien common mynas and rose-ringed parakeets occupied 77.5% of the large-entrance nest boxes whereas native species, mainly great tits, occupied less than 9% of the large-entrance boxes and 36.5% of the small-entrance boxes. When examining the occupancy of those cavities that were not occupied by the aliens, natives occupied both the small and large-entrance nest boxes equally. Three quarters (78%) of the great tits breeding in the large-entrance boxes were usurped by common mynas during the breeding season and as a result breeding success was

Where to nest? Ecological determinants of chimpanzee nest abundance and distribution at the habitat and tree species scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Carvalho, Joana S; Meyer, Christoph F J; Vicente, Luis; Marques, Tiago A

2015-02-01

Conversion of forests to anthropogenic land-uses increasingly subjects chimpanzee populations to habitat changes and concomitant alterations in the plant resources available to them for nesting and feeding. Based on nest count surveys conducted during the dry season, we investigated nest tree species selection and the effect of vegetation attributes on nest abundance of the western chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes verus, at Lagoas de Cufada Natural Park (LCNP), Guinea-Bissau, a forest-savannah mosaic widely disturbed by humans. Further, we assessed patterns of nest height distribution to determine support for the anti-predator hypothesis. A zero-altered generalized linear mixed model showed that nest abundance was negatively related to floristic diversity (exponential form of the Shannon index) and positively with the availability of smaller-sized trees, reflecting characteristics of dense-canopy forest. A positive correlation between nest abundance and floristic richness (number of plant species) and composition indicated that species-rich open habitats are also important in nest site selection. Restricting this analysis to feeding trees, nest abundance was again positively associated with the availability of smaller-sized trees, further supporting the preference for nesting in food tree species from dense forest. Nest tree species selection was non-random, and oil palms were used at a much lower proportion (10%) than previously reported from other study sites in forest-savannah mosaics. While this study suggests that human disturbance may underlie the exclusive arboreal nesting at LCNP, better quantitative data are needed to determine to what extent the construction of elevated nests is in fact a response to predators able to climb trees. Given the importance of LCNP as refuge for Pan t. verus our findings can improve conservation decisions for the management of this important umbrella species as well as its remaining suitable habitats. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ant colonies prefer infected over uninfected nest sites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pontieri, Luigi; Vojvodic, Svjetlana; Graham, Riley

2014-01-01

with sporulating mycelium of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium brunneum (infected nests), nests containing nestmates killed by freezing (uninfected nests), and empty nests. In contrast to the expectation pharaoh ant colonies preferentially (84%) moved into the infected nest when presented with the choice...... the high risk of epidemics in group-living animals. Choosing nest sites free of pathogens is hypothesized to be highly efficient in invasive ants as each of their introduced populations is often an open network of nests exchanging individuals (unicolonial) with frequent relocation into new nest sites...... and low genetic diversity, likely making these species particularly vulnerable to parasites and diseases. We investigated the nest site preference of the invasive pharaoh ant, Monomorium pharaonis, through binary choice tests between three nest types: nests containing dead nestmates overgrown...

Serenbe Nest Cottages

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Butler, T.; Curtis, O.; Kim, E.; Roberts, S.; Stephenson, R.

2012-12-01

As part of the NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Southface partnered with Martin Dodson Builders and the Serenbe community on the construction of a new test home in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA in the mixed humid climate zone. The most recent subdivision within the Serenbe community, the Nest, will contain 15 small footprint cottage style homes, and Southface has selected Lot Nine, as the test home for this study. This Nest subdivision serves as a project showcase for both the builder partner and the Serenbe community as a whole. The planning and design incorporated into the Nest cottages will be implemented in each home within the subdivision. These homes addresses Building America Savings targets and serve as a basis of design for other homes Martin Dodson plans to build within the Serenbe community.

Serenbe Nest Cottages

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Butler, T. [NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Curtis, O. [NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Kim, E. [NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Roberts, S. [NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States); Stephenson, R. [NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Upper Marlboro, MD (United States)

2012-12-01

As part of the NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Southface partnered with Martin Dodson Builders and the Serenbe community on the construction of a new test home in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA, in the mixed humid climate zone. The most recent subdivision within the Serenbe community, the Nest, will contain 15 small footprint cottage-style homes, and Southface has selected Lot Nine, as the test home for this study. This Nest subdivision serves as a project showcase for both the builder partner and the Serenbe community as a whole. The planning and design incorporated into the Nest cottages will be implemented in each home within the subdivision. These homes addresses Building America savings targets and serve as a basis of design for other homes Martin Dodson plans to build within the Serenbe community.

Conservation significance of alternative nests of golden eagles

Science.gov (United States)

Brian A. Millsap; Teryl G. Grubb; Robert K. Murphy; Ted Swem; James W. Watson

2015-01-01

Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are long-lived raptors that maintain nesting territories that may be occupied for a century or longer. Within occupied nesting territories there is one nest in which eagles lay their eggs in a given year (i.e., the used nest), but there are usually other nests (i.e., alternative nests). Conservation plans often protect used nests, but...

Nesting of the Blakiston's Fish-Owl in the Nest of the Steller’s Sea Eagle, Magadan Region, Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irina G. Utekhina

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In 2015 one Steller’s Sea Eagle nest was occupied by a Blakiston’s Fish Owl, the first record of which came from the Nature Reserve Inspector, E.A. Stepanov, who, on May 17, noted the pair of fish owls near a Steller’s Sea Eagle nest on the western bank of the Chelomdja River, 3 km downstream from the Moldot ranger’s station. On that date one of the owls was sitting in the nest, and another was sitting in a tree nearby the nest. On May 26, E. Stepanov observed the owls in the same position. We observed the nest on 20 and 21 June 2015, and saw one large Blakiston’s Fish Owl chick in the nest; no adults were noted. Inspector A. Stepanov saw the chick in the nest on June 23, and an adult in a nearby.  Magadan State Reserve Inspector A. Akhanov reported that the nest was empty and no adults were seen on June 25.

Nest site selection by Kentish plover suggests a trade-off between nest-crypsis and predator detection strategies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel Ángel Gómez-Serrano

Full Text Available Predation is one of the main causes of adult mortality and breeding failure for ground-nesting birds. Micro-habitat structure around nests plays a critical role in minimizing predation risk. Plovers nest in sites with little vegetation cover to maximize the incubating adult visibility, but many studies suggest a trade-off between nest-crypsis and predator detection strategies. However, this trade-off has not been explored in detail because methods used so far do not allow estimating the visibility with regards to critical factors such as slope or plant permeability to vision. Here, we tested the hypothesis that Kentish plovers select exposed sites according to a predator detection strategy, and the hypothesis that more concealed nests survive longer according to a crypsis strategy. To this end, we obtained an accurate estimation of the incubating adult's field of vision through a custom built inverted periscope. Our results showed that plovers selected nest sites with higher visibility than control points randomly selected with regards to humans and dogs, although nests located in sites with higher vegetation cover survived longer. In addition, the flushing distance (i.e., the distance at which incubating adults leave the nest when they detect a potential predator decreased with vegetation cover. Consequently, the advantages of concealing the nest were limited by the ability to detect predators, thus indirectly supporting the existence of the trade-off between crypsis and predator detection. Finally, human disturbance also constrained nest choice, forcing plovers to move to inland sites that were less suitable because of higher vegetation cover, and modulated flushing behavior, since plovers that were habituated to humans left their nests closer to potential predators. This constraint on the width of suitable breeding habitat is particularly relevant for the conservation of Kentish Plover in sand beaches, especially under the current context of

Strong selection on mandible and nest features in a carpenter bee that nests in two sympatric host plants

OpenAIRE

Flores-Prado, Luis; Pinto, Carlos F; Rojas, Alejandra; Fontúrbel, Francisco E

2014-01-01

Host plants are used by herbivorous insects as feeding or nesting resources. In wood-boring insects, host plants features may impose selective forces leading to phenotypic differentiation on traits related to nest construction. Carpenter bees build their nests in dead stems or dry twigs of shrubs and trees; thus, mandibles are essential for the nesting process, and the nest is required for egg laying and offspring survival. We explored the shape and intensity of natural selection on phenotypi...

Observations on Forced Colony Emigration in Parachartergus fraternus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Epiponini: New Nest Site Marked with Sprayed Venom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sidnei Mateus

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Five cases of colony emigration induced by removal of nest envelope and combs and a single one by manipulation are described. The disturbance was followed by defensive patterns, buzz running, and adult dispersion. An odor trail created by abdomen dragging, probably depositing venom or Dufour's gland secretions, connected the original nest to the newly selected nesting place and guided the emigration. The substrate of the selected nesting place is intensely sprayed with venom prior to emigration, and this chemical cue marked the emigration end point. The colony moves to the new site in a diffuse cloud with no temporary clusters formed along the odor trail. At the original nest, scouts performed rapid gaster dragging and intense mouth contacts stimulating inactive individuals to depart. Males were unable to follow the swarm. Individual scouts switched between different behavioral tasks before and after colony emigration. Pulp collected from the old nest was reused at the new nest site.

Social waves in giant honeybees (Apis dorsata) elicit nest vibrations.

Science.gov (United States)

Kastberger, Gerald; Weihmann, Frank; Hoetzl, Thomas

2013-07-01

Giant honeybees (Apis dorsata) nest in the open and have developed a wide array of strategies for colony defence, including the Mexican wave-like shimmering behaviour. In this collective response, the colony members perform upward flipping of their abdomens in coordinated cascades across the nest surface. The time-space properties of these emergent waves are response patterns which have become of adaptive significance for repelling enemies in the visual domain. We report for the first time that the mechanical impulse patterns provoked by these social waves and measured by laser Doppler vibrometry generate vibrations at the central comb of the nest at the basic (='natural') frequency of 2.156 ± 0.042 Hz which is more than double the average repetition rate of the driving shimmering waves. Analysis of the Fourier spectra of the comb vibrations under quiescence and arousal conditions provoked by mass flight activity and shimmering waves gives rise to the proposal of two possible models for the compound physical system of the bee nest: According to the elastic oscillatory plate model, the comb vibrations deliver supra-threshold cues preferentially to those colony members positioned close to the comb. The mechanical pendulum model predicts that the comb vibrations are sensed by the members of the bee curtain in general, enabling mechanoreceptive signalling across the nest, also through the comb itself. The findings show that weak and stochastic forces, such as general quiescence or diffuse mass flight activity, cause a harmonic frequency spectrum of the comb, driving the comb as an elastic plate. However, shimmering waves provide sufficiently strong forces to move the nest as a mechanical pendulum. This vibratory behaviour may support the colony-intrinsic information hypothesis herein that the mechanical vibrations of the comb provoked by shimmering do have the potential to facilitate immediate communication of the momentary defensive state of the honeybee nest to

Social waves in giant honeybees ( Apis dorsata) elicit nest vibrations

Science.gov (United States)

Kastberger, Gerald; Weihmann, Frank; Hoetzl, Thomas

2013-07-01

Giant honeybees ( Apis dorsata) nest in the open and have developed a wide array of strategies for colony defence, including the Mexican wave-like shimmering behaviour. In this collective response, the colony members perform upward flipping of their abdomens in coordinated cascades across the nest surface. The time-space properties of these emergent waves are response patterns which have become of adaptive significance for repelling enemies in the visual domain. We report for the first time that the mechanical impulse patterns provoked by these social waves and measured by laser Doppler vibrometry generate vibrations at the central comb of the nest at the basic (=`natural') frequency of 2.156 ± 0.042 Hz which is more than double the average repetition rate of the driving shimmering waves. Analysis of the Fourier spectra of the comb vibrations under quiescence and arousal conditions provoked by mass flight activity and shimmering waves gives rise to the proposal of two possible models for the compound physical system of the bee nest: According to the elastic oscillatory plate model, the comb vibrations deliver supra-threshold cues preferentially to those colony members positioned close to the comb. The mechanical pendulum model predicts that the comb vibrations are sensed by the members of the bee curtain in general, enabling mechanoreceptive signalling across the nest, also through the comb itself. The findings show that weak and stochastic forces, such as general quiescence or diffuse mass flight activity, cause a harmonic frequency spectrum of the comb, driving the comb as an elastic plate. However, shimmering waves provide sufficiently strong forces to move the nest as a mechanical pendulum. This vibratory behaviour may support the colony-intrinsic information hypothesis herein that the mechanical vibrations of the comb provoked by shimmering do have the potential to facilitate immediate communication of the momentary defensive state of the honeybee nest to the

Nesting biology of Paravespa rex (von Schulthess 1924) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) in the Crimea, Ukraine.

Science.gov (United States)

Fateryga, Alexander V; Ivanov, Sergey P

2013-01-01

Paravespa rex is the only species of the wasp genus Paravespa that occurs in Europe. Females of this species nest in clay loam soil of proluvial terraces and deluvial aprons of badlands. The nests are vertical burrows 10-12 cm deep, surmounted by turrets of two distinct architectural forms: funnel-shaped and curved. The nests contain 1-3 vertical cells (mean-1.9) not different from the other parts of nest burrow. An egg is laid onto the bottom of the cell without attaching; it stands vertically via the moist adhesive surface of the bottom and then with the help of the position of the first prey, which is laid around the egg. The species is univoltine; prepupae hibernate in the cocoon for one or several years. Females hunt for caterpillars of two species of the noctuid genus Heliotis; 3-7 caterpillars (mean-3.7) are stored per cell. Adult feeding is recorded on flowers of Thymus tauricus. Males look for females at their water-collecting sites. Only a third of the cells are successful; the other ones are damaged by rain and the gold wasp, Chrysis valesiana, parasitizing in the nests. Nest-building and hunting activity of the species is described with the duration of certain nesting acts. Nesting biology of Paravespa species, rarity of P. rex, turret function, egg position, and measures for species conservation are discussed.

Habitat structure and diversity influence the nesting success of an endangered large cavity-nesting bird, the Southern Ground-hornbill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leigh Combrink

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Habitat features can have a profound effect on the nesting success of birds. Savannas are often managed with predators and large herbivores as priority species, with little thought to the many bird species that management decisions could affect. Using a data set spanning seven breeding seasons, we examined how nesting success of Southern Ground-hornbills (SGHs Bucorvus leadbeateri in the Kruger National Park varied as a result of various environmental and habitat factors within a radius of 3 km surrounding the nest site. Identifying which factors affect nesting success will allow for targeted management efforts to ensure the long-term survival of SGHs both within and outside of protected areas. Habitat structure and diversity of the vegetation surrounding the nest were the most influential factors on SGH nesting success. SGHs require open grassy areas for foraging and areas with large trees for nesting. Savanna habitat drivers such as elephants and fire should be managed to ensure that sufficient large trees are able to establish in the landscape and to control for bush encroachment. This is especially important in areas earmarked for SGH reintroductions. Nest sites of SGHs should be monitored to mitigate any structural changes in the habitat surrounding the nests. Nests should be modified or artificial nest sites provided, where nests have been damaged or lost, to ensure the continued presence of these birds in African savannas. Conservation implications: Habitat structure and diversity surrounding Southern Groundhornbill nests has a significant impact on their nesting success. This highlights the importance of monitoring vegetation change in savanna habitats where they occur. Management of savanna areas should take factors that influence bush encroachment, such as fire and elephants, into account to ensure the long-term persistence of these birds.

Archive of Geosample Data and Information from the University of Wisconsin Ice Island T3 Core Collection

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — From 1963 to 1972, 349 piston cores were collected from the Arctic Ocean using Ice Island T3 as a sampling platform and sent to the University of Wisconsin-Madison...

[Application of nested case-control study on safe evaluation of post-marketing traditional Chinese medicine injection].

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Ying; Zhao, Yubin; Xie, Yanming

2011-10-01

The nested case-control study design (or the case-control in a cohort study) is described here as a new study design used in safe evaluation of post-marketing traditional Chinese medicine injection. In the nested case-control study, cases of a disease that occur in a defined cohort are identified and, for each, a specified number of matched controls is selected from among those in the cohort who have not developed the disease by the time of disease occurrence in the case. For many research questions, the nested case-control design potentially offers impressive reductions in costs and efforts of data collection and analysis compared with the full cohort approach, with relatively minor loss in statistical efficiency. The nested case-control design is particularly advantageous for studies in safe evaluation of post-marketing traditional Chinese medicine injection. Some examples of the application of nested case-control study were given.

Repeatability of nest morphology in African weaver birds.

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Patrick T; Hansell, Mike; Borello, Wendy D; Healy, Susan D

2010-04-23

It is generally assumed that birds build nests according to a genetic 'template', little influenced by learning or memory. One way to confirm the role of genetics in nest building is to assess the repeatability of nest morphology with repeated nest attempts. Solitary weaver birds, which build multiple nests in a single breeding season, are a useful group with which to do this. Here we show that repeatability of nest morphology was low, but significant, in male Southern Masked weaver birds and not significant in the Village weavers. The larger bodied Village weavers built larger nests than did Southern Masked weavers, but body size did not explain variation in Southern Masked weaver nest dimensions. Nests built by the same male in both species got shorter and lighter as more nests were constructed. While these data demonstrate the potential for a genetic component of variation in nest building in solitary weavers, it is also clear that there remains plenty of scope in both of these species for experience to shape nest construction.

Nest Construction by a Ground-nesting Bird Represents a Potential Trade-off Between Egg Crypticity and Thermoregulation

Science.gov (United States)

Predation selects against conspicuous colors in bird eggs and nests, while thermoregulatory constraints select for nest building behavior that regulates incubation temperatures. We present results that reveal a trade-off between nest crypticity and thermoregulation of eggs base...

Distribution Coeficients (Kd) Generated From A Core Sample Collected From The Saltstone Disposal Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almond, P.; Kaplan, D.

2011-01-01

Core samples originating from Vault 4, Cell E of the Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF) were collected in September of 2008 (Hansen and Crawford 2009, Smith 2008) and sent to SRNL to measure chemical and physical properties of the material including visual uniformity, mineralogy, microstructure, density, porosity, distribution coefficients (K d ), and chemical composition. Some data from these experiments have been reported (Cozzi and Duncan 2010). In this study, leaching experiments were conducted with a single core sample under conditions that are representative of saltstone performance. In separate experiments, reducing and oxidizing environments were targeted to obtain solubility and Kd values from the measurable species identified in the solid and aqueous leachate. This study was designed to provide insight into how readily species immobilized in saltstone will leach from the saltstone under oxidizing conditions simulating the edge of a saltstone monolith and under reducing conditions, targeting conditions within the saltstone monolith. Core samples were taken from saltstone poured in December of 2007 giving a cure time of nine months in the cell and a total of thirty months before leaching experiments began in June 2010. The saltstone from Vault 4, Cell E is comprised of blast furnace slag, class F fly ash, portland cement, and Deliquification, Dissolution, and Adjustment (DDA) Batch 2 salt solution. The salt solution was previously analyzed from a sample of Tank 50 salt solution and characterized in the 4QCY07 Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) report (Zeigler and Bibler 2009). Subsequent to Tank 50 analysis, additional solution was added to the tank solution from the Effluent Treatment Project as well as from inleakage from Tank 50 pump bearings (Cozzi and Duncan 2010). Core samples were taken from three locations and at three depths at each location using a two-inch diameter concrete coring bit (1-1, 1-2, 1-3; 2-1, 2-2, 2-3; 3-1, 3-2, 3-3) (Hansen and Crawford

DISTRIBUTION COEFICIENTS (KD) GENERATED FROM A CORE SAMPLE COLLECTED FROM THE SALTSTONE DISPOSAL FACILITY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Almond, P.; Kaplan, D.

2011-04-25

Core samples originating from Vault 4, Cell E of the Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF) were collected in September of 2008 (Hansen and Crawford 2009, Smith 2008) and sent to SRNL to measure chemical and physical properties of the material including visual uniformity, mineralogy, microstructure, density, porosity, distribution coefficients (K{sub d}), and chemical composition. Some data from these experiments have been reported (Cozzi and Duncan 2010). In this study, leaching experiments were conducted with a single core sample under conditions that are representative of saltstone performance. In separate experiments, reducing and oxidizing environments were targeted to obtain solubility and Kd values from the measurable species identified in the solid and aqueous leachate. This study was designed to provide insight into how readily species immobilized in saltstone will leach from the saltstone under oxidizing conditions simulating the edge of a saltstone monolith and under reducing conditions, targeting conditions within the saltstone monolith. Core samples were taken from saltstone poured in December of 2007 giving a cure time of nine months in the cell and a total of thirty months before leaching experiments began in June 2010. The saltstone from Vault 4, Cell E is comprised of blast furnace slag, class F fly ash, portland cement, and Deliquification, Dissolution, and Adjustment (DDA) Batch 2 salt solution. The salt solution was previously analyzed from a sample of Tank 50 salt solution and characterized in the 4QCY07 Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) report (Zeigler and Bibler 2009). Subsequent to Tank 50 analysis, additional solution was added to the tank solution from the Effluent Treatment Project as well as from inleakage from Tank 50 pump bearings (Cozzi and Duncan 2010). Core samples were taken from three locations and at three depths at each location using a two-inch diameter concrete coring bit (1-1, 1-2, 1-3; 2-1, 2-2, 2-3; 3-1, 3-2, 3-3) (Hansen and

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: New Hampshire: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for nesting birds in New Hampshire. Vector points in this data set represent locations of nesting osprey...

Bio-fortification potential of global wild annual lentil core collection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandeep Kumar

Full Text Available Lentil, generally known as poor man's' meat due to its high protein value is also a good source of dietary fiber, antioxidants and vitamins along with fast cooking characteristics. It could be used globally as a staple food crop to eradicate hidden hunger, if this nutritionally rich crop is further enriched with essential minerals. This requires identification of essential mineral rich germplasm. So, in the present study, a core set of 96 wild accessions extracted from 405 global wild annual collections comprising different species was analyzed to determine its bio-fortification potential. Impressive variation (mg/100 g was observed for different minerals including Na (30-318, K (138.29-1578, P (37.50-593.75, Ca (4.74-188.75, Mg (15-159, Fe (2.82-14.12, Zn (1.29-12.62, Cu (0.5-7.12, Mn (1.22-9.99, Mo (1.02-11.89, Ni (0.16-3.49, Pb (0.01-0.58, Cd (0-0.03, Co (0-0.63 and As (0-0.02. Hierarchical clustering revealed high intra- and inter-specific variability. Further, correlation study showed positive significant association among minerals and between minerals including agro-morphological traits. Accessions representation from Turkey and Syria had maximum variability for different minerals. Diversity analysis exhibited wide geographical variations across gene-pool in core set. Potential use of the identified trait-specific genetic resources could be initial genetic material, for genetic base broadening and biofortification of cultivated lentil.

Development of a Machine Vision Method for the Monitoring of Laying Hens and Detection of Multiple Nest Occupations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauro Zaninelli

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Free range systems can improve the welfare of laying hens. However, the access to environmental resources can be partially limited by social interactions, feeding of hens, and productivity, can be not stable and damaging behaviors, or negative events, can be observed more frequently than in conventional housing systems. In order to reach a real improvement of the hens’ welfare the study of their laying performances and behaviors is necessary. With this purpose, many systems have been developed. However, most of them do not detect a multiple occupation of the nest negatively affecting the accuracy of data collected. To overcome this issue, a new “nest-usage-sensor” was developed and tested. It was based on the evaluation of thermografic images, as acquired by a thermo-camera, and the performing of patter recognitions on images acquired from the nest interior. The sensor was setup with a “Multiple Nest Occupation Threshold” of 796 colored pixels and a template of triangular shape and sizes of 43 × 33 pixels (high per base. It was tested through an experimental nesting system where 10 hens were reared for a month. Results showed that the evaluation of thermografic images could increase the detection performance of a multiple occupation of the nest and to apply an image pattern recognition technique could allow for counting the number of hens in the nest in case of a multiple occupation. As a consequence, the accuracy of data collected in studies on laying performances and behaviors of hens, reared in a free-range housing system, could result to be improved.

Toxicity of sediment cores collected from the Ashtabula River in northeastern Ohio, USA, to the amphipod Hyalella azteca

Science.gov (United States)

Ingersoll, C.G.; Kemble, N.E.; Kunz, J.L.; Brumbaugh, W.G.; MacDonald, D.D.; Smorong, D.

2009-01-01

This study was conducted to support a Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration project associated with the Ashtabula River in Ohio. The objective of the study was to evaluate the chemistry and toxicity of 50 sediment samples obtained from five cores collected from the Ashtabula River (10 samples/core, with each 10-cm-diameter core collected to a total depth of about 150 cm). Effects of chemicals of potential concern (COPCs) measured in the sediment samples were evaluated by measuring whole-sediment chemistry and whole-sediment toxicity in the sediment samples (including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs], polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs], organochlorine pesticides, and metals). Effects on the amphipod Hyalella azteca at the end of a 28-day sediment toxicity test were determined by comparing survival or length of amphipods in individual sediment samples in the cores to the range of responses of amphipods exposed to selected reference sediments that were also collected from the cores. Mean survival or length of amphipods was below the lower limit of the reference envelope in 56% of the sediment samples. Concentrations of total PCBs alone in some samples or concentrations of total PAHs alone in other samples were likely high enough to have caused the reduced survival or length of amphipods (i.e., concentrations of PAHs or PCBs exceeded mechanistically based and empirically based sediment quality guidelines). While elevated concentrations of ammonia in pore water may have contributed to the reduced length of amphipods, it is unlikely that the reduced length was caused solely by elevated ammonia (i.e., concentrations of ammonia were not significantly correlated with the concentrations of PCBs or PAHs and concentrations of ammonia were elevated both in the reference sediments and in the test sediments). Results of this study show that PAHs, PCBs, and ammonia are the primary COPCs that are likely causing or substantially contributing to the toxicity to

Nest trampling and ground nesting birds: Quantifying temporal and spatial overlap between cattle activity and breeding redshank.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharps, Elwyn; Smart, Jennifer; Mason, Lucy R; Jones, Kate; Skov, Martin W; Garbutt, Angus; Hiddink, Jan G

2017-08-01

Conservation grazing for breeding birds needs to balance the positive effects on vegetation structure and negative effects of nest trampling. In the UK, populations of Common redshank Tringa totanus breeding on saltmarshes declined by >50% between 1985 and 2011. These declines have been linked to changes in grazing management. The highest breeding densities of redshank on saltmarshes are found in lightly grazed areas. Conservation initiatives have encouraged low-intensity grazing at nest trampling. If livestock distribution is not spatially or temporally homogenous but concentrated where and when redshank breed, rates of nest trampling may be much higher than expected based on livestock density alone. By GPS tracking cattle on saltmarshes and monitoring trampling of dummy nests, this study quantified (i) the spatial and temporal distribution of cattle in relation to the distribution of redshank nesting habitats and (ii) trampling rates of dummy nests. The distribution of livestock was highly variable depending on both time in the season and the saltmarsh under study, with cattle using between 3% and 42% of the saltmarsh extent and spending most their time on higher elevation habitat within 500 m of the sea wall, but moving further onto the saltmarsh as the season progressed. Breeding redshank also nest on these higher elevation zones, and this breeding coincides with the early period of grazing. Probability of nest trampling was correlated to livestock density and was up to six times higher in the areas where redshank breed. This overlap in both space and time of the habitat use of cattle and redshank means that the trampling probability of a nest can be much higher than would be expected based on standard measures of cattle density. Synthesis and applications : Because saltmarsh grazing is required to maintain a favorable vegetation structure for redshank breeding, grazing management should aim to keep livestock away from redshank nesting habitat between mid

The design and function of birds' nests

Science.gov (United States)

Mainwaring, Mark C; Hartley, Ian R; Lambrechts, Marcel M; Deeming, D Charles

2014-01-01

All birds construct nests in which to lay eggs and/or raise offspring. Traditionally, it was thought that natural selection and the requirement to minimize the risk of predation determined the design of completed nests. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that sexual selection also influences nest design. This is an important development as while species such as bowerbirds build structures that are extended phenotypic signals whose sole purpose is to attract a mate, nests contain eggs and/or offspring, thereby suggesting a direct trade-off between the conflicting requirements of natural and sexual selection. Nest design also varies adaptively in order to both minimize the detrimental effects of parasites and to create a suitable microclimate for parents and developing offspring in relation to predictable variation in environmental conditions. Our understanding of the design and function of birds' nests has increased considerably in recent years, and the evidence suggests that nests have four nonmutually exclusive functions. Consequently, we conclude that the design of birds' nests is far more sophisticated than previously realized and that nests are multifunctional structures that have important fitness consequences for the builder/s. PMID:25505520

The design and function of birds' nests.

Science.gov (United States)

Mainwaring, Mark C; Hartley, Ian R; Lambrechts, Marcel M; Deeming, D Charles

2014-10-01

All birds construct nests in which to lay eggs and/or raise offspring. Traditionally, it was thought that natural selection and the requirement to minimize the risk of predation determined the design of completed nests. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that sexual selection also influences nest design. This is an important development as while species such as bowerbirds build structures that are extended phenotypic signals whose sole purpose is to attract a mate, nests contain eggs and/or offspring, thereby suggesting a direct trade-off between the conflicting requirements of natural and sexual selection. Nest design also varies adaptively in order to both minimize the detrimental effects of parasites and to create a suitable microclimate for parents and developing offspring in relation to predictable variation in environmental conditions. Our understanding of the design and function of birds' nests has increased considerably in recent years, and the evidence suggests that nests have four nonmutually exclusive functions. Consequently, we conclude that the design of birds' nests is far more sophisticated than previously realized and that nests are multifunctional structures that have important fitness consequences for the builder/s.

Molecular forensics in avian conservation: a DNA-based approach for identifying mammalian predators of ground-nesting birds and eggs.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopken, Matthew W; Orning, Elizabeth K; Young, Julie K; Piaggio, Antoinette J

2016-01-07

The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a ground-nesting bird from the Northern Rocky Mountains and a species at risk of extinction in in multiple U.S. states and Canada. Herein we report results from a proof of concept that mitochondrial and nuclear DNAs from mammalian predator saliva could be non-invasively collected from depredated greater sage-grouse eggshells and carcasses and used for predator species identification. Molecular forensic approaches have been applied to identify predators from depredated remains as one strategy to better understand predator-prey dynamics and guide management strategies. This can aid conservation efforts by correctly identifying predators most likely to impact threatened and endangered species. DNA isolated from non-invasive samples around nesting sites (e.g. fecal or hair samples) is one method that can increase the success and accuracy of predator species identification when compared to relying on nest remains alone. Predator saliva DNA was collected from depredated eggshells and carcasses using swabs. We sequenced two partial fragments of two mitochondrial genes and obtained microsatellite genotypes using canid specific primers for species and individual identification, respectively. Using this multilocus approach we were able to identify predators, at least down to family, from 11 out of 14 nests (79%) and three out of seven carcasses (47%). Predators detected most frequently were canids (86%), while other taxa included rodents, a striped skunk, and cattle. We attempted to match the genotypes of individual coyotes obtained from eggshells and carcasses with those obtained from fecal samples and coyotes collected in the areas, but no genotype matches were found. Predation is a main cause of nest failure in ground-nesting birds and can impact reproduction and recruitment. To inform predator management for ground-nesting bird conservation, accurate identification of predator species is necessary. Considering

Estimating raptor nesting success: old and new approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Jessi L.; Steenhof, Karen; Kochert, Michael N.; Bond, Laura

2013-01-01

Studies of nesting success can be valuable in assessing the status of raptor populations, but differing monitoring protocols can present unique challenges when comparing populations of different species across time or geographic areas. We used large datasets from long-term studies of 3 raptor species to compare estimates of apparent nest success (ANS, the ratio of successful to total number of nesting attempts), Mayfield nesting success, and the logistic-exposure model of nest survival. Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), prairie falcons (Falco mexicanus), and American kestrels (F. sparverius) differ in their breeding biology and the methods often used to monitor their reproduction. Mayfield and logistic-exposure models generated similar estimates of nesting success with similar levels of precision. Apparent nest success overestimated nesting success and was particularly sensitive to inclusion of nesting attempts discovered late in the nesting season. Thus, the ANS estimator is inappropriate when exact point estimates are required, especially when most raptor pairs cannot be located before or soon after laying eggs. However, ANS may be sufficient to assess long-term trends of species in which nesting attempts are highly detectable.

Temnothorax rugatulus ant colonies consistently vary in nest structure across time and context.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicholas DiRienzo

Full Text Available A host of animals build architectural constructions. Such constructions frequently vary with environmental and individual/colony conditions, and their architecture directly influences behavior and fitness. The nests of ant colonies drive and enable many of their collective behaviors, and as such are part of their 'extended phenotype'. Since ant colonies have been recently shown to differ in behavior and life history strategy, we ask whether colonies differ in another trait: the architecture of the constructions they create. We allowed Temnothorax rugatulus rock ants, who create nests by building walls within narrow rock gaps, to repeatedly build nest walls in a fixed crevice but under two environmental conditions. We find that colonies consistently differ in their architecture across environments and over nest building events. Colony identity explained 12-40% of the variation in nest architecture, while colony properties and environmental conditions explained 5-20%, as indicated by the condition and marginal R2 values. When their nest boxes were covered, which produced higher humidity and lower airflow, colonies built thicker, longer, and heavier walls. Colonies also built more robust walls when they had more brood, suggesting a protective function of wall thickness. This is, to our knowledge, the first study to explicitly investigate the repeatability of nestbuilding behavior in a controlled environment. Our results suggest that colonies may face tradeoffs, perhaps between factors such as active vs. passive nest defense, and that selection may act on individual construction rules as a mechanisms to mediate colony-level behavior.

Leucophora Satellite Flies (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) as Nest Parasites of Sweat Bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) in the Neotropics.

Science.gov (United States)

Polidori, C; Michelsen, V; Nieves-Aldrey, J L

2015-08-01

The biology of the 10 species of Leucophora (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) recorded in the Neotropics remains unknown. The large majority of the studied species so far are kleptoparasites of bees and wasps. Here, we report the first observations of Leucophora andicola (Bigot) and Leucophora peullae (Malloch) visiting the nests of ground-nesting sweat bees Corynura (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) in Chilean Patagonia. Females of both species perch on small stones or sticks within a dense nest aggregation of the bees and then track pollen-loaded bees in flight with great precision, eventually following them into their nests. The overall behavior closely resembles that observed for many other species of the genus. Excavations of some bee nests returned only two dipteran puparia, possibly of Leucophora, suggesting a low parasitism rate. One male of L. peullae was also collected at the bee aggregation. This is the first report of host association for any Leucophora from the Neotropics and the first report of any anthomyiid fly associated with augochlorine bees.

Response of beach-nesting American Oystercatchers to off-road vehicles: An experimental approach reveals physiological nuances and decreased nest attendance

Science.gov (United States)

Felton, Shilo K.; Pollock, Kenneth H.; Simons, Theodore R.

2018-01-01

Shorebird populations face increasing challenges as rising sea levels and growing human populations constrain their breeding habitats. On recreational beaches, the nesting season often coincides with a season of high visitor use, increasing the potential for conflict, which may negatively influence beach-nesting shorebird species. We designed a field experiment to study the responses of nesting American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) to off-road passenger vehicles (ORVs) at Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout National Seashores in North Carolina, USA. We used continuous video and heart rate recordings to assess changes in the behavior and physiology of incubating oystercatchers. We conducted driving experiments affecting 7 nesting pairs in 2014 and 19 nesting pairs in 2015, between April and July of each year. Experimental treatments were repeated throughout the incubation period for each nest. Although responses were highly variable within and among pairs, paired randomized permutation tests indicated that, overall, oystercatcher pairs spent a greater proportion of time with their heads up and exhibited slower heart rates during driving treatments. Pairs also left their nests more frequently and attended their nests for a lower proportion of time during driving treatments, although these responses diminished over time. Higher nest attendance and lower departure rates late in incubation may have reflected a stronger attachment to nests closer to hatching or habituation to the driving treatment, although individuals continued to exhibit physiological responses to passing vehicles throughout incubation. Beach-nesting birds may benefit from reduced vehicle traffic at their nesting sites, allowing parents to spend more time attending the nest and less time on defensive behaviors.

EFL Students' and Teachers' Attitudes toward Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety: A Look at NESTs and Non-NESTs

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Turgay; Tanriöver, Ahmet Serkan; Sahan, Özgür

2016-01-01

Native English Speaking Teachers (NESTs) have been employed in various English language teaching (ELT) positions and departments at private and state universities in Turkey, particularly over the last three decades. However, undergraduate EFL students' attitudes toward NESTs and Non-Native English Speaking Teachers (Non-NESTs) remain seriously…

Copper accumulation by stickleback nests containing spiggin.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinho, G L L; Martins, C M G; Barber, I

2016-07-01

The three-spined stickleback is a ubiquitous fish of marine, brackish and freshwater ecosystems across the Northern hemisphere that presents intermediate sensitivity to copper. Male sticklebacks display a range of elaborate reproductive behaviours that include nest construction. To build the nests, each male binds nesting material together using an endogenous glycoprotein nesting glue, known as 'spiggin'. Spiggin is a cysteine-rich protein and, therefore, potentially binds heavy metals present in the environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the capacity of stickleback nests to accumulate copper from environmental sources. Newly built nests, constructed by male fish from polyester threads in laboratory aquaria, were immersed in copper solutions ranging in concentration from 21.1-626.6 μg Cu L(-1). Bundles of polyester threads from aquaria without male fish were also immersed in the same copper solutions. After immersion, nests presented higher amounts of copper than the thread bundles, indicating a higher capacity of nests to bind this metal. A significant, positive correlation between the concentration of copper in the exposure solution and in the exposed nests was identified, but there was no such relationship for thread bundles. Since both spiggin synthesis and male courtship behaviour are under the control of circulating androgens, we predicted that males with high courtship scores would produce and secrete high levels of the spiggin protein. In the present study, nests built by high courtship score males accumulated more copper than those built by low courtship score males. Considering the potential of spiggin to bind metals, the positive relationship between fish courtship and spiggin secretion seems to explain the higher amount of copper on the nests from the fish showing high behaviour scores. Further work is now needed to determine the consequences of the copper binding potential of spiggin in stickleback nests for the health and survival of

Beach Geomorphology and Kemp's Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) Nest Site Selection along Padre Island, Texas, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Culver, M.; Gibeaut, J. C.; Shaver, D. J.; Tissot, P.; Starek, M. J.

2017-12-01

The Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) is the most endangered sea turtle in the world, largely due to the limited geographic range of its nesting habitat. In the U.S., the majority of nesting occurs along Padre Island National Seashore (PAIS) in Texas. There has been limited research regarding the connection between beach geomorphology and Kemp's ridley nesting patterns, but studies concerning other sea turtle species suggest that certain beach geomorphology variables, such as beach slope and width, influence nest site selection. This research investigates terrestrial habitat variability of the Kemp's ridley sea turtle and quantifies the connection between beach geomorphology and Kemp's ridley nest site selection on PAIS and South Padre Island, Texas. Airborne topographic lidar data collected annually along the Texas coast from 2009 through 2012 was utilized to extract beach geomorphology characteristics, such as beach slope and width, dune height, and surface roughness, among others. The coordinates of observed Kemp's ridley nests from corresponding years were integrated with the aforementioned data in statistical models, which analyzed the influence of both general trends in geomorphology and individual morphologic variables on nest site selection. This research identified the terrestrial habitat variability of the Kemp's ridley and quantified the range of geomorphic characteristics of nesting beaches. Initial results indicate that dune width, beach width, and wind speed are significant variables in relation to nest presence, using an alpha of 0.1. Higher wind speeds and narrower beaches and foredunes favor nest presence. The average nest elevation is 1.13 m above mean sea level, which corresponds to the area directly below the potential vegetation line, and the majority of nesting occurs between the elevations of 0.68 m and 1.4 m above mean sea level. The results of this study include new information regarding Kemp's ridley beach habitat and its

Construction patterns of birds' nests provide insight into nest-building behaviours

OpenAIRE

Biddle, Lucia; Goodman, Adrian; Deeming, Charles

2017-01-01

Previous studies have suggested that birds and mammals select materials needed for nest building based on their thermal or structural properties, although the amounts or properties of the materials used have been recorded for only a very small number of species. Some of the behaviours underlying the construction of nests can be indirectly determined by careful deconstruction of the structure and measurement of the biomechanical properties of the materials used. Here we examined this idea in a...

Constructing bald eagle nests with natural materials

Science.gov (United States)

T. G. Grubb

1995-01-01

A technique for using natural materials to build artificial nests for bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and other raptors is detailed. Properly constructed nests are as permanently secured to the nest tree or cliff substrate as any eagle-built nest or human-made platform. Construction normally requires about three hours and at least two people. This technique is...

The Nest Home

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pickerill, Heath [Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO (United States)

2016-07-11

The purpose of the project was to build a competitive solar-powered house for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 held in Irvine, California. The house, named the Nest Home, was an innovative design that works with the environment to meet the needs of the occupants, identified as a growing family. Reused materials were instrumental in the design. Three refurbished shipping containers composed the primary structure of the house, creating an open floor plan that defies common architecture for container homes. The exterior siding was made of deconstructed shipping pallets collected locally. Other recycled products included carpet composed of discarded fishing nets, denim batting made of recycled blue jeans that outperform traditional fiberglass insulation in sound proofing and thermal resistance, and kitchen cabinets that were purchased used and refinished. Collectively these elements formed a well-balanced blend of modern design, comfort, and sustainability. The house was Missouri University of Science and Technology’s sixth entry in the DOE Solar Decathlon. Missouri S&T has been invited to compete in six of the seven decathlons held, more than any other university worldwide. The house was brought back to Rolla after the Decathlon in California where it has been placed in its permanent location on the S&T campus.

Light pollution affects nesting behavior of loggerhead turtles and predation risk of nests and hatchlings.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Elton; Marco, Adolfo; da Graça, Jesemine; Pérez, Héctor; Abella, Elena; Patino-Martinez, Juan; Martins, Samir; Almeida, Corrine

2017-08-01

The introduction of artificial light into wildlife habitats is a rapidly expanding aspect of global change, which has many negative impacts on a wide range of taxa. In this experimental study, which took place on a beach located on the island of Boa Vista (Cabo Verde), three types of artificial light were tested on nesting loggerhead sea turtles as well as on ghost crabs, which intensively predate on nests and hatchlings, to determine the effects they would produce on the behavior of both species. Over the course of 36days, female loggerheads and ghost crabs were studied under yellow, orange and red lights, with observations also being made on dark nights that served as a control treatment. During this period, the frequencies of nesting attempts, the time taken by turtles to complete each phase of the nesting process, and ghost crab abundance and behaviors were carefully recorded. 1146 loggerhead nesting attempts were observed and recorded during the experiments, and results showed a decrease in nesting attempts of at least 20% when artificial lighting was present. A significant decline in successful attempts was also observed within the central sections of the beach, which corresponded to those that received more light. This artificial lighting significantly increased the time that turtles spent on the nesting process and forced them to do more extensive beach crawls. Despite this, the presence of light had no apparent effect on the final selection of the nesting site. Yellow and orange lights significantly disrupted the sea finding behavior and turtles were often unable to orient themselves seaward under these color lights. Disoriented turtles were observed crawling in circuitous paths in front of the light source for several minutes. In addition, artificial lights had the potential to increase the number of ghost crabs present within the illuminated stretches of the beach. However, only yellow lighting produced a significant change on aggressive and prey

The use of singleplex and nested PCR to detect Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in free-living frogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Coutinho, Selene Dall'Acqua; Burke, Julieta Catarina; de Paula, Catia Dejuste; Rodrigues, Miguel Trefaut; Catão-Dias, José Luiz

2015-06-01

Many microorganisms are able to cause diseases in amphibians, and in the past few years one of the most reported has been Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This fungus was first reported in Brazil in 2005; following this, other reports were made in specimens deposited in museum collections, captive and free-living frogs. The aim of this study was to compare singleplex and nested-PCR techniques to detect B. dendrobatidis in free-living and apparently healthy adult frogs from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The sample collection area was a protected government park, with no general entrance permitted and no management of the animals there. Swabs were taken from the skin of 107 animals without macroscopic lesions and they were maintained in ethanol p.a. Fungal DNA was extracted and identification of B. dendrobatidis was performed using singleplex and nested-PCR techniques, employing specific primers sequences. B. dendrobatidis was detected in 61/107 (57%) and 18/107 (17%) animals, respectively by nested and singleplex-PCR. Nested-PCR was statistically more sensible than the conventional for the detection of B. dendrobatidis (Chi-square = 37.1; α = 1%) and the agreement between both techniques was considered just fair (Kappa = 0.27). The high prevalence obtained confirms that these fungi occur in free-living frogs from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest with no macroscopic lesions, characterizing the state of asymptomatic carrier. We concluded that the nested-PCR technique, due to its ease of execution and reproducibility, can be recommended as one of the alternatives in epidemiological surveys to detect B. dendrobatidis in healthy free-living frog populations.

Bristol Bay, Alaska Subarea ESI: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for nesting seabirds (alcids, pelagic birds), gulls, terns, diving birds, and raptors in the Bristol Bay...

Collection-based analysis of selected medical libraries in the Philippines using Doody's Core Titles.

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, Efren

2017-01-01

This study assessed the book collection of five selected medical libraries in the Philippines, based on Doodys' Essential Purchase List for basic sciences and clinical medicine, to compare the match and non-match titles among libraries, to determine the strong and weak disciplines of each library, and to explore the factors that contributed to the percentage of match and non-match titles. List checking was employed as the method of research. Among the medical libraries, De La Salle Health Sciences Institute and University of Santo Tomas had the highest percentage of match titles, whereas Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health had the lowest percentage of match titles. University of the Philippines Manila had the highest percentage of near-match titles. De La Salle Health Sciences Institute and University of Santo Tomas had sound medical collections based on Doody's Core Titles. Collectively, the medical libraries shared common collection development priorities, as evidenced by similarities in strong areas. Library budget and the role of the library director in book selection were among the factors that could contribute to a high percentage of match titles.

Strong selection on mandible and nest features in a carpenter bee that nests in two sympatric host plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Flores-Prado, Luis; Pinto, Carlos F; Rojas, Alejandra; Fontúrbel, Francisco E

2014-05-01

Host plants are used by herbivorous insects as feeding or nesting resources. In wood-boring insects, host plants features may impose selective forces leading to phenotypic differentiation on traits related to nest construction. Carpenter bees build their nests in dead stems or dry twigs of shrubs and trees; thus, mandibles are essential for the nesting process, and the nest is required for egg laying and offspring survival. We explored the shape and intensity of natural selection on phenotypic variation on three size measures of the bees (intertegular width, wing length, and mandible area) and two nest architecture measures (tunnel length and diameter) on bees using the native species Chusquea quila (Poaceae), and the alloctonous species Rubus ulmifolius (Rosaceae), in central Chile. Our results showed significant and positive linear selection gradients for tunnel length on both hosts, indicating that bees building long nests have more offspring. Bees with broader mandibles show greater fitness on C. quila but not on R. ulmifolius. Considering that C. quila represents a selective force on mandible area, we hypothesized a high adaptive value of this trait, resulting in higher fitness values when nesting on this host, despite its wood is denser and hence more difficult to be bored.

Contaminant exposure of birds nesting in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA.

Science.gov (United States)

Custer, Thomas W; Dummer, Paul M; Custer, Christine M; Franson, J Christian; Jones, Michael

2014-08-01

In earlier studies, elevated concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) were reported in double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) eggs and tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) eggs and nestlings collected from lower Green Bay (WI, USA) in 1994 and 1995 and black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) eggs collected in 1991. Comparable samples collected in 2010 and 2011 indicated that concentrations of PCBs were 35%, 62%, 70%, and 88% lower than in the early 1990s in tree swallow eggs, tree swallow nestlings, double-crested cormorant eggs, and black-crowned night-heron eggs, respectively; concentrations of DDE were 47%, 43%, 51%, and 80% lower, respectively. These declines are consistent with regional contaminant trends in other species. Concentrations of PCBs were higher in herring gull (Larus argentatus) than in black-crowned night-heron eggs collected from Green Bay in 2010; PCB concentrations in double-crested cormorant and tree swallow eggs were intermediate. The estimated toxicity of the PCB mixture in eggs of the insectivorous tree swallow was the equal to or greater than toxicity in the 3 piscivorous bird species. A multivariate analysis indicated that the composition percentage of lower-numbered PCB congeners was greater in eggs of the insectivorous tree swallow than in eggs of the 3 piscivorous species nesting in Green Bay. Dioxin and furan concentrations and the toxicity of these chemicals were also higher in tree swallows than these other waterbird species nesting in Green Bay. Published 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Preference of rabbit does among different nest materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T.P. Farkas

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Nest quality is important for the survival of new-born rabbits. Nesting material in rabbit farms generally consists of wood shavings, which is completely different from the dry grass used by the European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus. The aim of the experiments was to examine which nest materials are preferred by rabbit does when building their nest. In experiment 1, the choice of multiparous rabbit does (n=37 among nest boxes bedded with different nesting materials was monitored. In each pen (1.0×1.83 m 1 doe and 4 nest boxes (0.37×0.23×0.31 m with different nest materials (meadow hay [H], wheat straw [S], fine fibre material [Lignocel®, L] or wood shavings [W] were placed 3 days before the expected parturition (gestation length is about 31 d in the Pannon White breed. Some 48.6% of the does kindled in nest boxes that contained pure materials (L: 40.5%, S: 5.4%, H: 2.7%, and 51.3% of the does kindled in nest boxes where the nest materials of different nest boxes were mixed by the does (S with L: 21.5%, S with L and H: 5.4%, W with L: 8.1%, L with H and S: 5.4%. Does preferred kindling in the nest box bedded with L, and most of them refused the nest box with W. In experiment 2/a (n=32 does and 2/b (n=25 does, each pen (1×0.91 m was equipped with 3 and 2 hay racks and filled with H, S or L, and H or S, respectively. The experiments lasted from the 27th day of pregnancy until the day of parturition and 24-h video recordings (10 does/experiment were evaluated throughout the experiment. The events of carrying the nest materials from the hay racks were registered. In experiment 2/a, the frequency of nest material carrying was highest on the day of parturition. The preferred nest material was L (compared to H and S on each experimental day except day 30 of pregnancy. At the day of kindling, 87.5, 6.3 and 6.3% of the nests contained pure L, mixed L-H and L-S, respectively. In experiment 2/b, the frequency of nest material carrying (mostly S

A Large Accumulation of Avian Eggs from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia (Argentina) Reveals a Novel Nesting Strategy in Mesozoic Birds

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández, Mariela S.; García, Rodolfo A.; Fiorelli, Lucas; Scolaro, Alejandro; Salvador, Rodrigo B.; Cotaro, Carlos N.; Kaiser, Gary W.; Dyke, Gareth J.

2013-01-01

We report the first evidence for a nesting colony of Mesozoic birds on Gondwana: a fossil accumulation in Late Cretaceous rocks mapped and collected from within the campus of the National University of Comahue, Neuquén City, Patagonia (Argentina). Here, Cretaceous ornithothoracine birds, almost certainly Enanthiornithes, nested in an arid, shallow basinal environment among sand dunes close to an ephemeral water-course. We mapped and collected 65 complete, near-complete, and broken eggs across an area of more than 55 m2. These eggs were laid either singly, or occasionally in pairs, onto a sandy substrate. All eggs were found apparently in, or close to, their original nest site; they all occur within the same bedding plane and may represent the product of a single nesting season or a short series of nesting attempts. Although there is no evidence for nesting structures, all but one of the Comahue eggs were half-buried upright in the sand with their pointed end downwards, a position that would have exposed the pole containing the air cell and precluded egg turning. This egg position is not seen in living birds, with the exception of the basal galliform megapodes who place their eggs within mounds of vegetation or burrows. This accumulation reveals a novel nesting behaviour in Mesozoic Aves that was perhaps shared with the non-avian and phylogenetically more basal troodontid theropods. PMID:23613776

A large accumulation of avian eggs from the late cretaceous of patagonia (Argentina) reveals a novel nesting strategy in mesozoic birds.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández, Mariela S; García, Rodolfo A; Fiorelli, Lucas; Scolaro, Alejandro; Salvador, Rodrigo B; Cotaro, Carlos N; Kaiser, Gary W; Dyke, Gareth J

2013-01-01

We report the first evidence for a nesting colony of mesozoic birds on Gondwana: a fossil accumulation in Late Cretaceous rocks mapped and collected from within the campus of the National University of Comahue, Neuquén City, Patagonia (Argentina). Here, Cretaceous ornithothoracine birds, almost certainly Enanthiornithes, nested in an arid, shallow basinal environment among sand dunes close to an ephemeral water-course. We mapped and collected 65 complete, near-complete, and broken eggs across an area of more than 55 m(2). These eggs were laid either singly, or occasionally in pairs, onto a sandy substrate. All eggs were found apparently in, or close to, their original nest site; they all occur within the same bedding plane and may represent the product of a single nesting season or a short series of nesting attempts. Although there is no evidence for nesting structures, all but one of the Comahue eggs were half-buried upright in the sand with their pointed end downwards, a position that would have exposed the pole containing the air cell and precluded egg turning. This egg position is not seen in living birds, with the exception of the basal galliform megapodes who place their eggs within mounds of vegetation or burrows. This accumulation reveals a novel nesting behaviour in Mesozoic Aves that was perhaps shared with the non-avian and phylogenetically more basal troodontid theropods.

Is it safe to nest near conspicuous neighbours? Spatial patterns in predation risk associated with the density of American Golden-Plover nests.

Science.gov (United States)

Giroux, Marie-Andrée; Trottier-Paquet, Myriam; Bêty, Joël; Lamarre, Vincent; Lecomte, Nicolas

2016-01-01

Predation is one of the main factors explaining nesting mortality in most bird species. Birds can avoid nest predation or reduce predation pressure by breeding at higher latitude, showing anti-predator behaviour, selecting nest sites protected from predators, and nesting in association with protective species. American Golden-Plovers (Pluvialis dominica) defend their territory by using various warning and distraction behaviours displayed at varying levels of intensity (hereafter "conspicuous behaviour"), as well as more aggressive behaviours such as aerial attacks, but only in some populations. Such antipredator behaviour has the potential to repel predators and thus benefit the neighbouring nests by decreasing their predation risk. Yet, conspicuous behaviour could also attract predators by signalling the presence of a nest. To test for the existence of a protective effect associated with the conspicuous antipredator behaviour of American Golden-Plovers, we studied the influence of proximity to plover nests on predation risk of artificial nests on Igloolik Island (Nunavut, Canada) in July 2014. We predicted that the predation risk of artificial nests would decrease with proximity to and density of plover nests. We monitored 18 plover nests and set 35 artificial nests at 30, 50, 100, 200, and 500 m from seven of those plover nests. We found that the predation risk of artificial nests increases with the density of active plover nests. We also found a significant negative effect of the distance to the nearest active protector nest on predation risk of artificial nests. Understanding how the composition and structure of shorebird communities generate spatial patterns in predation risks represents a key step to better understand the importance of these species of conservation concern in tundra food webs.

Terrestrial nest-building by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): implications for the tree-to-ground sleep transition in early hominins.

Science.gov (United States)

Koops, Kathelijne; McGrew, William C; Matsuzawa, Tetsuro; Knapp, Leslie A

2012-07-01

Nest-building is a great ape universal and arboreal nesting in chimpanzees and bonobos suggests that the common ancestor of Pan and Homo also nested in trees. It has been proposed that arboreal nest-building remained the prevailing pattern until Homo erectus, a fully terrestrial biped, emerged. We investigated the unusual occurrence of ground-nesting in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), which may inform on factors influencing the tree-to-ground sleep transition in the hominin lineage. We used a novel genetic approach to examine ground-nesting in unhabituated chimpanzees at Seringbara in the Nimba Mountains, Guinea. Previous research showed that ground-nesting at Seringbara was not ecologically determined. Here, we tested a possible mate-guarding function of ground-nesting by analyzing DNA from shed hairs collected from ground nests and tree nests found in close proximity. We examined whether or not ground-nesting was a group-level behavioral pattern and whether or not it occurred in more than one community. We used multiple genetic markers to identify sex and to examine variation in mitochondrial DNA control region (HV1, HV2) sequences. Ground-nesting was a male-biased behavior and males constructed more elaborate ("night") nests than simple ("day") nests on the ground. The mate-guarding hypothesis was not supported, as ground and associated tree nests were built either by maternally-related males or possibly by the same individuals. Ground-nesting was widespread and likely habitual in two communities. We suggest that terrestrial nest-building may have already occurred in arboreally-adapted early hominins before the emergence of H. erectus. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Is it safe to nest near conspicuous neighbours? Spatial patterns in predation risk associated with the density of American Golden-Plover nests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie-Andrée Giroux

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Predation is one of the main factors explaining nesting mortality in most bird species. Birds can avoid nest predation or reduce predation pressure by breeding at higher latitude, showing anti-predator behaviour, selecting nest sites protected from predators, and nesting in association with protective species. American Golden-Plovers (Pluvialis dominica defend their territory by using various warning and distraction behaviours displayed at varying levels of intensity (hereafter “conspicuous behaviour”, as well as more aggressive behaviours such as aerial attacks, but only in some populations. Such antipredator behaviour has the potential to repel predators and thus benefit the neighbouring nests by decreasing their predation risk. Yet, conspicuous behaviour could also attract predators by signalling the presence of a nest. To test for the existence of a protective effect associated with the conspicuous antipredator behaviour of American Golden-Plovers, we studied the influence of proximity to plover nests on predation risk of artificial nests on Igloolik Island (Nunavut, Canada in July 2014. We predicted that the predation risk of artificial nests would decrease with proximity to and density of plover nests. We monitored 18 plover nests and set 35 artificial nests at 30, 50, 100, 200, and 500 m from seven of those plover nests. We found that the predation risk of artificial nests increases with the density of active plover nests. We also found a significant negative effect of the distance to the nearest active protector nest on predation risk of artificial nests. Understanding how the composition and structure of shorebird communities generate spatial patterns in predation risks represents a key step to better understand the importance of these species of conservation concern in tundra food webs.

Hierarchically nested river landform sequences

Science.gov (United States)

Pasternack, G. B.; Weber, M. D.; Brown, R. A.; Baig, D.

2017-12-01

River corridors exhibit landforms nested within landforms repeatedly down spatial scales. In this study we developed, tested, and implemented a new way to create river classifications by mapping domains of fluvial processes with respect to the hierarchical organization of topographic complexity that drives fluvial dynamism. We tested this approach on flow convergence routing, a morphodynamic mechanism with different states depending on the structure of nondimensional topographic variability. Five nondimensional landform types with unique functionality (nozzle, wide bar, normal channel, constricted pool, and oversized) represent this process at any flow. When this typology is nested at base flow, bankfull, and floodprone scales it creates a system with up to 125 functional types. This shows how a single mechanism produces complex dynamism via nesting. Given the classification, we answered nine specific scientific questions to investigate the abundance, sequencing, and hierarchical nesting of these new landform types using a 35-km gravel/cobble river segment of the Yuba River in California. The nested structure of flow convergence routing landforms found in this study revealed that bankfull landforms are nested within specific floodprone valley landform types, and these types control bankfull morphodynamics during moderate to large floods. As a result, this study calls into question the prevailing theory that the bankfull channel of a gravel/cobble river is controlled by in-channel, bankfull, and/or small flood flows. Such flows are too small to initiate widespread sediment transport in a gravel/cobble river with topographic complexity.

Eggshell bacterial load is related to antimicrobial properties of feathers lining barn swallow nests.

Science.gov (United States)

Peralta-Sánchez, Juan Manuel; Soler, Juan José; Martín-Platero, Antonio Manuel; Knight, Rob; Martínez-Bueno, Manuel; Møller, Anders Pape

2014-02-01

The use of feathers to line bird's nests has traditionally been interpreted as having a thermoregulatory function. Feather-degrading bacteria growing on feathers lining nests may have antimicrobial properties, which may provide an additional benefit to lining nests with feathers. We test the hypothesis that the production of antimicrobial substances by feather bacteria affects the microbiological environment of the nest, and therefore the bacterial density on eggshells and, indirectly, hatching success. These effects would be expected to differ between nests lined with pigmented and white feathers, because bacteria grow differently on feathers of different colors. We experimentally manipulated the composition of pigmented and unpigmented feathers in nests of the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) and studied the antimicrobial properties against the keratin-degrading bacterium Bacillus licheniformis of bacteria isolated from feathers of each color. Analyzed feathers were collected at the end of the incubation period, and antimicrobial activity was defined as the proportion of bacteria from the feathers that produce antibacterial substances effective against B. licheniformis. Our experimental manipulation affected antimicrobial activity, which was higher in nests with only white feathers at the beginning of incubation. Moreover, white feathers showed higher antimicrobial activity than black ones. Interestingly, antimicrobial activity in feathers of one of the colors correlated negatively with bacterial density on feather of the opposite color. Finally, antimicrobial activity of white feathers was negatively related to eggshell bacterial load. These results suggest that antimicrobial properties of feathers in general and of white feathers in particular affect the bacterial environment in nests. This environment in turn affects the bacterial load on eggshells, which may affect hatching success.

Common cuckoos Cuculus canorus change their nest-searching strategy according to the number of available host nests

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Jelínek, Václav; Procházka, Petr; Požgayová, Milica; Honza, Marcel

2014-01-01

Roč. 156, č. 1 (2014), s. 189-197 ISSN 0019-1019 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA600930605; GA AV ČR IAA600930903 Institutional support: RVO:68081766 Keywords : brood parasitism * cuckoo perch * edge effect host aggression * host choice * nest height * nest visibility * nest volume Subject RIV: EG - Zoology Impact factor: 1.921, year: 2014

An economical wireless cavity-nest viewer

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel P. Huebner; Sarah R. Hurteau

2007-01-01

Inspection of cavity nests and nest boxes is often required during studies of cavity-nesting birds, and fiberscopes and pole-mounted video cameras are sometimes used for such inspection. However, the cost of these systems may be prohibitive for some potential users. We describe a user-built, wireless cavity viewer that can be used to access cavities as high as 15 m and...

Nesting Biology and Occurrence of Social Nests in a Bivoltine and Basically Solitary Halictine Bee, Lasioglossum (Lasioglossum) scitulum Smith (Hymenoptera : Halictidae)

OpenAIRE

Ryoichi, MIYANAGA; Yasuo, MAETA; Kazuo, HOSHIKAWA; Division of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Shimane University; Division of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Shimane University; Division of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Shimane University

2000-01-01

The life cycle and sociality of the halictine bee, Lasioglossum (Lasioglossum) scitulum were studied in a greenhouse at Matsue (lat. 35°22′N), south-western Japan in 1988 and 1989. This species was a bivoltine bee with solitary to primitively social behavior. During the summer brooding period of 1988, 51 solitary nests and 8 multi-female nests (3 matrifilial and 5 sororal nests) were discovered. In 1989, 11 multi-female nests (3 matrifilial and 8 sororal nests), together with 59 solitary nest...

Metal Concentrations, Foraging Distances, and Fledging Success of Great Blue Herons Nesting Along the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tiller, Brett L.; Marco, Jeffrey D.; Rickard, William H.

2005-05-01

Excrement sample and livers of juvenile great blue herons were collected at nests at three widely separated colonies along the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River to test the validity of using excrement samples as indicators of metal concentrations in tissues of juvenile herons fed food collected by parent birds within a few kilometers of nests. There was no positive relation noted between metal concentrations in excrement and liver samples taken from the same nests. Statistically significant differences in metal concentrations were noted in excrement samples collected among the different heron colonies. Arsenic, Cd, Cr, and Pb concentrations (dry wt.) were higher in excrement than in liver samples but the opposite was noted for Cu, Hg, and Zn. Mercury concentrations in heron liver samples were biomagnified to a greater extent than Cd and Cr. Fledging success and eggshell thickness measurements were used as indicators of population health. These values were equivalent to or better than those noted for heron colonies elsewhere in the United States.

A Newly Developed Nested PCR Assay for the Detection of Helicobacter pylori in the Oral Cavity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ismail, Hawazen; Morgan, Claire; Griffiths, Paul; Williams, John; Jenkins, Gareth

2016-01-01

To develop a new nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for identifying Helicobacter pylori DNA from dental plaque. H. pylori is one of the most common chronic bacterial pathogens in humans. The accurate detection of this organism is essential for proper patient management and for the eradication of the bacteria following treatment. Forty-nine patients (24 males and 25 females; mean age: 51; range, 19 to 94 y) were investigated for the presence of H. pylori in dental plaque by single-step PCR and nested PCR and in the stomach by single-step PCR, nested PCR, and histologic examination. The newly developed nested PCR assay identified H. pylori DNA in gastric biopsies of 18 patients who were histologically classified as H. pylori-positive and 2 additional biopsies of patients who were H. pylori-negative by histologic examination (20/49; 40.8%). Dental plaque samples collected before and after endoscopy from the 49 patients revealed that single-step PCR did not detect H. pylori but nested PCR was able to detect H. pylori DNA in 40.8% (20/49) patients. Nested PCR gave a higher detection rate (40.8%, 20/49) than that of histology (36.7%, 18/49) and single-step PCR. When nested PCR results were compared with histology results there was no significant difference between the 2 methods. Our newly developed nested PCR assay is at least as sensitive as histology and may be useful for H. pylori detection in patients unfit for endoscopic examination.

The use of plastic debris as nesting material by a colonial seabird and associated entanglement mortality.

Science.gov (United States)

Votier, Stephen C; Archibald, Kirsten; Morgan, Greg; Morgan, Lisa

2011-01-01

Entanglement with plastic debris is a major cause of mortality in marine taxa, but the population-level consequences are unknown. Some seabirds collect marine debris for nesting material, which may lead to entanglement. Here we investigate the use of plastics as nesting material by northern gannets Morus bassanus and assess the associated levels of mortality. On average gannet nests contained 469.91 g (range 0-1293 g) of plastic, equating to an estimated colony total of 18.46 tones (range 4.47-42.34 tones). The majority of nesting material was synthetic rope, which appears to be used preferentially. On average 62.85 ± 26.84 (range minima 33-109) birds were entangled each year, totalling 525 individuals over eight years, the majority of which were nestlings. Although mortality rates are high, they are unlikely to have population-level effects. The use of synthetic fibres as nesting material is a common strategy among seabirds, but the impacts of entanglement warrants further investigation. Crown Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

First remarks on the nesting biology of Hypodynerus andeus (Packard (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae in the Azapa valley, northern Chile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe Méndez-Abarca

2012-06-01

Full Text Available First remarks on the nesting biology of Hypodynerus andeus (Packard (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae in the Azapa valley, northern Chile. Some aspects about the nesting biology of the potter wasp Hypodynerus andeus (Packard, 1869 are reported for the first time. Observations were carried out at the Azapa valley, coastal desert of northern Chile. A total of sixty nests were collected and examined, each composed by 1-14 cells, most of them found attached to concrete lamp posts. The only preys recorded in the cells were Geometridae (Lepidoptera caterpillars and the presence of the parasitoid Anthrax sp. (Diptera, Bombyliidae was also recorded. A number of arthropods belonging to different groups, mainly spiders, were found occupying empty nests.

The WAIS Melt Monitor: An automated ice core melting system for meltwater sample handling and the collection of high resolution microparticle size distribution data

Science.gov (United States)

Breton, D. J.; Koffman, B. G.; Kreutz, K. J.; Hamilton, G. S.

2010-12-01

Paleoclimate data are often extracted from ice cores by careful geochemical analysis of meltwater samples. The analysis of the microparticles found in ice cores can also yield unique clues about atmospheric dust loading and transport, dust provenance and past environmental conditions. Determination of microparticle concentration, size distribution and chemical makeup as a function of depth is especially difficult because the particle size measurement either consumes or contaminates the meltwater, preventing further geochemical analysis. Here we describe a microcontroller-based ice core melting system which allows the collection of separate microparticle and chemistry samples from the same depth intervals in the ice core, while logging and accurately depth-tagging real-time electrical conductivity and particle size distribution data. This system was designed specifically to support microparticle analysis of the WAIS Divide WDC06A deep ice core, but many of the subsystems are applicable to more general ice core melting operations. Major system components include: a rotary encoder to measure ice core melt displacement with 0.1 millimeter accuracy, a meltwater tracking system to assign core depths to conductivity, particle and sample vial data, an optical debubbler level control system to protect the Abakus laser particle counter from damage due to air bubbles, a Rabbit 3700 microcontroller which communicates with a host PC, collects encoder and optical sensor data and autonomously operates Gilson peristaltic pumps and fraction collectors to provide automatic sample handling, melt monitor control software operating on a standard PC allowing the user to control and view the status of the system, data logging software operating on the same PC to collect data from the melting, electrical conductivity and microparticle measurement systems. Because microparticle samples can easily be contaminated, we use optical air bubble sensors and high resolution ice core density

Subterranean ant nests: Trace fossils past and future?

OpenAIRE

Tschinkel, Walter R.

2003-01-01

Many species of ants excavate complex, species-typical nests in soil. The basic structural units of many nests are descending tunnels connecting flattened, generally horizontal chambers of oval to lobed outline. The species-typical structure of many nests results from variation in the size, shape, number and arrangement of these basic elements. Nest architecture can be rendered by filling subterranean nests with a thin slurry of orthodontal plaster, then excavating and reconstructing the hard...

Converting nested algebra expressions into flat algebra expressions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paredaens, J.; Van Gucht, D.

1992-01-01

Nested relations generalize ordinary flat relations by allowing tuple values to be either atomic or set valued. The nested algebra is a generalization of the flat relational algebra to manipulate nested relations. In this paper we study the expressive power of the nested algebra relative to its

Nests of red wood ants (Formica rufa-group) are positively associated with tectonic faults: a double-blind test.

Science.gov (United States)

Del Toro, Israel; Berberich, Gabriele M; Ribbons, Relena R; Berberich, Martin B; Sanders, Nathan J; Ellison, Aaron M

2017-01-01

Ecological studies often are subjected to unintentional biases, suggesting that improved research designs for hypothesis testing should be used. Double-blind ecological studies are rare but necessary to minimize sampling biases and omission errors, and improve the reliability of research. We used a double-blind design to evaluate associations between nests of red wood ants ( Formica rufa , RWA) and the distribution of tectonic faults. We randomly sampled two regions in western Denmark to map the spatial distribution of RWA nests. We then calculated nest proximity to the nearest active tectonic faults. Red wood ant nests were eight times more likely to be found within 60 m of known tectonic faults than were random points in the same region but without nests. This pattern paralleled the directionality of the fault system, with NNE-SSW faults having the strongest associations with RWA nests. The nest locations were collected without knowledge of the spatial distribution of active faults thus we are confident that the results are neither biased nor artefactual. This example highlights the benefits of double-blind designs in reducing sampling biases, testing controversial hypotheses, and increasing the reliability of the conclusions of research.

Does removal of mammalian predators significantly affect success of simulated nests in linear habitats? Case study on American mink Mustela vison \\& Predation on simulated duck nests in relation to nest density and habitat type

OpenAIRE

PADYŠÁKOVÁ, Eliška

2007-01-01

This thesis is made up of two studies dealing with predation of waterfowl nests. in the first study, we determined wheather removal of introduced predator Mustela vison affected nest survival of simulated duck nests in linear habitat. In the second study, we tested two hypothesis: 1)predation depends on density of waterfowl nests, 2)mammals are main predators in forest habitat and birds mainly depredate nests deployed in open land.

Establishment of a nested-ASP-PCR method to determine the clarithromycin resistance of Helicobacter pylori.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Xiao-Feng; Jiao, Jian-Hua; Zhang, Wen-Yue; Pu, Han-Ming; Qu, Bao-Jin; Yang, Bing-Ya; Hou, Min; Ji, Min-Jun

2016-07-07

To investigate clarithromycin resistance positions 2142, 2143 and 2144 of the 23SrRNA gene in Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) by nested-allele specific primer-polymerase chain reaction (nested-ASP-PCR). The gastric tissue and saliva samples from 99 patients with positive results of the rapid urease test (RUT) were collected. The nested-ASP-PCR method was carried out with the external primers and inner allele-specific primers corresponding to the reference strain and clinical strains. Thirty gastric tissue and saliva samples were tested to determine the sensitivity of nested-ASP-PCR and ASP-PCR methods. Then, clarithromycin resistance was detected for 99 clinical samples by using different methods, including nested-ASP-PCR, bacterial culture and disk diffusion. The nested-ASP-PCR method was successfully established to test the resistance mutation points 2142, 2143 and 2144 of the 23SrRNA gene of H. pylori. Among 30 samples of gastric tissue and saliva, the H. pylori detection rate of nested-ASP-PCR was 90% and 83.33%, while the detection rate of ASP-PCR was just 63% and 56.67%. Especially in the saliva samples, nested-ASP-PCR showed much higher sensitivity in H. pylori detection and resistance mutation rates than ASP-PCR. In the 99 RUT-positive gastric tissue and saliva samples, the H. pylori-positive detection rate by nested-ASP-PCR was 87 (87.88%) and 67 (67.68%), in which there were 30 wild-type and 57 mutated strains in gastric tissue and 22 wild-type and 45 mutated strains in saliva. Genotype analysis showed that three-points mixed mutations were quite common, but different resistant strains were present in gastric mucosa and saliva. Compared to the high sensitivity shown by nested-ASP-PCR, the positive detection of bacterial culture with gastric tissue samples was 50 cases, in which only 26 drug-resistant strains were found through analyzing minimum inhibitory zone of clarithromycin. The nested-ASP-PCR assay showed higher detection sensitivity than ASP-PCR and

Harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) nesting in manipulated forests

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarez, E.; Ellis, D.H.

1994-01-01

Continental records point to shooting, removal of young and destruction of nests as the primary conservation problems for harpy eagles (Harpia harpyja); bird-observer visits are a new source of concern. Nesting events are roughly 3 yr apart. Nests are used during and after intensive manipulation of the surrounding habitat, and minimum distance between active sites was 3-5 km. In nine nesting sites along a 100-km stretch of the Imalaca Mountains in Venezuela, we fitted five fledglings with satellite-tracked tags from NASA. One of these birds was hacked with the help of the loggers who destroyed its nest. All these nests were active while logging ensued. Out of three renesting attempts, one failed when the nest collapsed. We salvaged two additional fledglings found in captivity. We are monitoring five nests in the buffer area of the Darien National Park in Panama, all within 3 km of human settlements where trees are regularly felled for firewood, lumber, and to clear more cropland. Eagles have been killed at two sites, a third site remains inactive since 1991, and the other two nests currently have fledglings.

Elevated temperatures are associated with stress in rooftop-nesting Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) chicks.

Science.gov (United States)

Newberry, Gretchen N; Swanson, David L

2018-01-01

Grasslands and riparian forests in southeastern South Dakota have been greatly reduced since historical times, primarily due to conversion to row-crop agriculture. Common Nighthawk ( Chordeiles minor ) nesting habitat includes grasslands, open woodlands and urban rooftops, but nesting sites in southeastern South Dakota are confined to rooftops, as natural nesting habitat is limited. Nighthawks nesting on exposed rooftop habitats may encounter thermal conditions that increase operative temperatures relative to vegetated land cover types. Mean humidity has increased and mean wind speed and cloud cover have decreased during the nighthawk breeding season from 1948 to 2016 in southeastern South Dakota. These changes might contribute to increasing operative temperatures at exposed rooftop nest sites and this could influence chick condition. We studied nest micro-climate and the plasma stress response for 24 rooftop-nesting nighthawk chicks from 17 nests during 2015 and 2016. High humidity prior to blood collection reduced both baseline and stress-induced plasma corticosterone (CORT). In contrast, high maximum temperatures during the day before sampling increased stress-induced CORT. The magnitude of the chick stress response was significantly negatively related to maximum wind speed for the week prior to CORT measurement. Other weather and micro-climate variables were not significant effectors of CORT metrics. Most chicks had low baseline CORT and were able to mount a stress response, but a subset of chicks ( n = 4) showed elevated baseline CORT and a negative association between the magnitude of stress response and ambient temperature. For this subset, mean ambient temperature for the day before sampling was significantly higher (2.3°C) than for chicks with typical baseline CORT levels. These data suggest that regional climate change trends could affect the ability of nighthawk chicks to mount a stress response, which, in turn, might influence the susceptibility of

Jordan Isomorphisms on Nest Subalgebras

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aili Yang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is devoted to the study of Jordan isomorphisms on nest subalgebras of factor von Neumann algebras. It is shown that every Jordan isomorphism ϕ between the two nest subalgebras algMβ and algMγ is either an isomorphism or an anti-isomorphism.

Gregarious nesting - An anti-predator response in laying hens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riber, Anja Brinch

2012-01-01

Gregarious nesting can be defined as a behaviour that occurs when a laying hen (Gallus gallus domesticus) given the choice between an occupied and an unoccupied nest site chooses the occupied nest site. It occurs frequently in flocks of laying hens kept under commercial conditions, contrasting...... the behaviour displayed by feral hens that isolate themselves from the flock during nesting activities. What motivates laying hens to perform gregarious nesting is unknown. One possibility is that gregarious nesting is an anti-predator response to the risk of nest predation emerging from behavioural flexibility...

Improved assay to detect Plasmodium falciparum using an uninterrupted, semi-nested PCR and quantitative lateral flow analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background A rapid, non-invasive, and inexpensive point-of-care (POC) diagnostic for malaria followed by therapeutic intervention would improve the ability to control infection in endemic areas. Methods A semi-nested PCR amplification protocol is described for quantitative detection of Plasmodium falciparum and is compared to a traditional nested PCR. The approach uses primers that target the P. falciparum dihydrofolate reductase gene. Results This study demonstrates that it is possible to perform an uninterrupted, asymmetric, semi-nested PCR assay with reduced assay time to detect P. falciparum without compromising the sensitivity and specificity of the assay using saliva as a testing matrix. Conclusions The development of this PCR allows nucleic acid amplification without the need to transfer amplicon from the first PCR step to a second reaction tube with nested primers, thus reducing both the chance of contamination and the time for analysis to PCR amplicon yield was adapted to lateral flow detection using the quantitative up-converting phosphor (UCP) reporter technology. This approach provides a basis for migration of the assay to a POC microfluidic format. In addition the assay was successfully evaluated with oral samples. Oral fluid collection provides a simple non-invasive method to collect clinical samples. PMID:23433252

Trap-nests for stingless bees (Hymenoptera, Meliponini)

OpenAIRE

Oliveira , Ricardo; Menezes , Cristiano; Soares , Ademilson; Fonseca , Vera

2012-01-01

International audience; Most stingless bee species build their nests inside tree hollows. In this paper, we present trap-nest containers which simulate nesting cavities so as to attract swarms of stingless bees. Although regularly used by stingless bee beekeepers in Brazil, this technique to obtain new colonies has not yet been systematically studied. We used two different types of trap-nests (plastic and cardboard) of four different sizes (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 L) containing propolis extrac...

Effect of nest design, passages, and hybrid on use of nest and production performance of layers in furnished cages.

Science.gov (United States)

Wall, H; Tauson, R; Elwinger, K

2002-03-01

Production performance, including egg quality, and proportion of eggs laid in nests were studied in furnished experimental cages incorporating nests, litter baths, and perches. The study comprised a total of 972 hens of two genotypes: Lohmann Selected Leghorn (LSL) and Hy-Line White. The birds were studied from 20 to 80 wk of age, and conventional four-hen cages were included as a reference. In furnished cages for six hens, the effects of 30 or 50% vs. 100% nest bottom lining (Astro turf) were studied with LSL hens. Nest bottom lining had no significant effect on egg production or proportions of cracked or dirty eggs, but the use of nests was significantly higher in cages incorporating nests with 100% lining, compared with 50 or 30%. The two hybrids were compared when housed in large, group-furnished cages for 14 or 16 hens of two designs; with a rear partition with two pop holes or fully open, i.e., no rear partition. LSL birds produced significantly better and had a significantly lower proportion of cracked eggs. There was no difference between H- and O-cages, either in production or in egg quality. LSL birds laid a significantly lower proportion of eggs in the nests, especially in O-cages, implying a significant hybrid x cage interaction. When housed in conventional cages, the hybrids did not differ in proportion of cracked eggs but differed in production traits. It was concluded that with the present nest design, the proportion of nest bottom lining cannot be reduced without affecting birds' use of nests, but the proportion did not affect exterior egg quality. The effect of genotype should be considered in the further development of furnished cages.

Evaluation of Genetic Diversity and Development of a Core Collection of Wild Rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) Populations in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wen; Shahid, Muhammad Qasim; Bai, Lin; Lu, Zhenzhen; Chen, Yuhong; Jiang, Lan; Diao, Mengyang; Liu, Xiangdong; Lu, Yonggen

2015-01-01

Common wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.), the progenitor of Asian cultivated rice (O. sativa L.), is endangered due to habitat loss. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the genetic diversity of wild rice species in isolated populations and to develop a core collection of representative genotypes for ex situ conservation. We collected 885 wild rice accessions from eight geographically distinct regions and transplanted these accessions in a protected conservation garden over a period of almost two decades. We evaluated these accessions for 13 morphological or phenological traits and genotyped them for 36 DNA markers evenly distributed on the 12 chromosomes. The coefficient of variation of quantitative traits was 0.56 and ranged from 0.37 to 1.06. SSR markers detected 206 different alleles with an average of 6 alleles per locus. The mean polymorphism information content (PIC) was 0.64 in all populations, indicating that the marker loci have a high level of polymorphism and genetic diversity in all populations. Phylogenetic analyses based on morphological and molecular data revealed remarkable differences in the genetic diversity of common wild rice populations. The results showed that the Zengcheng, Gaozhou, and Suixi populations possess higher levels of genetic diversity, whereas the Huilai and Boluo populations have lower levels of genetic diversity than do the other populations. Based on their genetic distance, 130 accessions were selected as a core collection that retained over 90% of the alleles at the 36 marker loci. This genetically diverse core collection will be a useful resource for genomic studies of rice and for initiatives aimed at developing rice with improved agronomic traits.

Precision of Nest Method in Estimating Orangutan Population and Determination of Important Ecological Factors for Management of Conservation Forest

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanto Santosa

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Orangutan as an umbrella species is closely interlinked with sustainable forest management meaning that the protection of this species has implications on the protection of other species and maintain ecosystem stability.  The total natural habitat required to support orangutan’s population could only be determined by the appropriate population size. It is associated with the carrying capacity to accommodate or fulfill the habitat requirements of a wildlife population. Selection and delineation of core and wilderness zones as habitat preference should be based on the results of preference test shown by the spatial distribution of orangutan population. Value of the coefficient  of  variation (CV was used to observe the precision of the population estimation and to identify important ecological factors in selection of nesting trees.  The study resulted in varied CV spatial values for various habitat types: 22.60%,  11.20%, and 13.30% for heath, lowland dipterocarp, and peat swamp forest, respectively. In the other side, CV temporal values for various habitat types were 5.35%, 22.60%, and 17.60% for heath, lowland dipterocarp, and peat swamp forest, respectively. This indicated that the population density in each type of forest ecosystems had a variation based on location and did not varied according to time of survey.  The use of  nest survey technique showed good reliable results in estimating orangutan population density.  Efforts to improve the precision of estimation can be done by formulating r value as the harmonic average of nest production rates and t as the average of nest decay time per nest category. Selection of habitat preference and nest trees were influenced by food availability thus should form important consideration in conducting nest survey to avoid bias in estimating orangutan populations.Keywords: conservation forest management, nest survey, orangutan, population size, ecological factors

Nesting success and within-season breeding dispersal in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nest predation is a primary cause of nesting mortality for many bird species, particularly passerines. Nest location can affect predation, and it has also been demonstrated that predation risk can alter nest site selection. Birds can limit predation risk by selecting specific habitat characteristics; by changing nest site ...

Colour preferences in nest-building zebra finches.

Science.gov (United States)

Muth, Felicity; Steele, Matthew; Healy, Susan D

2013-10-01

Some bird species are selective in the materials they choose for nest building, preferring, for example, materials of one colour to others. However, in many cases the cause of these preferences is not clear. One of those species is the zebra finch, which exhibits strong preferences for particular colours of nest material. In an attempt to determine why these birds strongly prefer one colour of material over another, we compared the preferences of paired male zebra finches for nest material colour with their preferences for food of the same colours. We found that birds did indeed prefer particular colours of nest material (in most cases blue) but that they did not generally prefer food of one colour over the other colours. It appears, then, that a preference for one colour or another of nest material is specific to the nest-building context. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: insert SI title. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Landscape distribution of food and nesting sites affect larval diet and nest size, but not abundance of Osmia bicornis.

Science.gov (United States)

Coudrain, Valérie; Rittiner, Sarah; Herzog, Felix; Tinner, Willy; Entling, Martin H

2016-10-01

Habitat fragmentation is a major threat for beneficial organisms and the ecosystem services they provide. Multiple-habitat users such as wild bees depend on both nesting and foraging habitat. Thus, they may be affected by the fragmentation of at least two habitat types. We investigated the effects of landscape-scale amount of and patch isolation from both nesting habitat (woody plants) and foraging habitat (specific pollen sources) on the abundance and diet of Osmia bicornis L. Trap-nests of O. bicornis were studied in 30 agricultural landscapes of the Swiss Plateau. Nesting and foraging habitats were mapped in a radius of 500 m around the sites. Pollen composition of larval diet changed as isolation to the main pollen source, Ranunculus, increased, suggesting that O. bicornis adapted its foraging strategy in function of the nest proximity to main pollen sources. Abundance of O. bicornis was neither related to isolation or amount of nesting habitat nor to isolation or abundance of food plants. Surprisingly, nests of O. bicornis contained fewer larvae in sites at forest edge compared to isolated sites, possibly due to higher parasitism risk. This study indicates that O. bicornis can nest in a variety of situations by compensating scarcity of its main larval food by exploiting alternative food sources. © 2015 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Edge, height and visibility effects on nest predation by birds and mammals in the Brazilian cerrado

Science.gov (United States)

Dodonov, Pavel; Paneczko, Ingrid Toledo; Telles, Marina

2017-08-01

Edge influence is one of the main impacts in fragmented landscapes; yet, most of studies on edge influence have focused on high-contrast edges, and the impacts of low-contrast edges and narrow linear openings are less understood. Edge influence often affects bird nest predation, but these effects are not ubiquitous and may depend on characteristics such as nest height and visibility. We performed an experiment on nest predation in a migratory passerine, Elaenia chiriquensis (Lesser Elaenia; Passeriformes: Tyrannidae), in a savanna vegetation of the Brazilian Cerrado biome in South-Eastern Brazil. We used 89 real E. chiriquensis nests, collected during previous reproductive seasons, with two plasticine eggs in each, and randomly distributed them at two locations (edge - up to 20 m from a firebreak edge and interior - approx. 150-350 m from the edge) and two heights (low - 60-175 cm and high - 190-315 cm above ground). We also measured leaf and branch density around each nest. We performed this study on two 15-days campaigns, checking the nests every 2-3 days and removing those with predation marks. We sorted the predation marks into those made by birds, mammals, or unidentified predators, and used generalized linear models to assess the effects of location, height and leaf density on survival time and predator type. Only four nests had not been predated during the experiment; 55 nests were predated by birds, 7 by mammals, and 23 by unidentified predators. Low nests in the interior tended to have larger survival times whereas high nests at the edge tended to be more predated by birds and less predated by mammals. Thus, even a low-contrast (firebreak) edge may significantly increase nest predation, which is also affected by the nest's height, mainly due to predation by birds. These effects may be due to predator movement along the edge as well as to edge-related changes in vegetation structure. We suggest that higher-contrast edges which may also be used as movement

Turkey habitat use and nesting characteristics in ponderosa pine

Science.gov (United States)

Mark A. Rumble; Stanley H. Anderson

1987-01-01

Turkeys (Meleagris gallapovo) selected nest sites that provided good horizontal concealment. Rock or rock outcrops were selected most frequently for nest concealment on first-nest attempts. Renest attempts showed a selection preference for shrubs as nest cover; most of these were located in meadows. Nesting success doubled for renests versus first...

Response of predators to Western Sandpiper nest exclosures

Science.gov (United States)

Niehaus, Amanda C.; Ruthrauff, Daniel R.; McCaffery, Brian J.

2004-01-01

In 2001, predator exclosures were used to protect nests of the Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) in western Alaska. During the exclosure experiment, nest contents in exclosures had significantly higher daily survival rates than control nests, however, late in the study predators began to cue in on exclosures and predate the nest contents. An Arctic Fox (Alopex lagopus) dug under one exclosure and took the newly hatched chicks, and Long-tailed Jaegers (Stercorarius longicaudus) learned to associate exclosures with active nests and repeatedly visited them. The jaegers attempted to gain access to exclosed nests and pursued adult sandpipers as they emerged from the exclosures. The exclosures were removed to reduce potential mortality to adult and young sandpipers, but subsequently, post-exclosure nests had lower daily survival rates than controls during the same time period. Predation of post-exclosure eggs and chicks highlighted the lasting influence of the exclosure treatment on offspring survival because predators probably remembered nest locations. Researchers are urged to use caution when considering use of predator exclosures in areas where jaegers occur.

Incorporation of cigarette butts into nests reduces nest ectoparasite load in urban birds: new ingredients for an old recipe?

Science.gov (United States)

Suárez-Rodríguez, Monserrat; López-Rull, Isabel; Garcia, Constantino Macías

2013-02-23

Birds are known to respond to nest-dwelling parasites by altering behaviours. Some bird species, for example, bring fresh plants to the nest, which contain volatile compounds that repel parasites. There is evidence that some birds living in cities incorporate cigarette butts into their nests, but the effect (if any) of this behaviour remains unclear. Butts from smoked cigarettes retain substantial amounts of nicotine and other compounds that may also act as arthropod repellents. We provide the first evidence that smoked cigarette butts may function as a parasite repellent in urban bird nests. The amount of cellulose acetate from butts in nests of two widely distributed urban birds was negatively associated with the number of nest-dwelling parasites. Moreover, when parasites were attracted to heat traps containing smoked or non-smoked cigarette butts, fewer parasites reached the former, presumably due to the presence of nicotine. Because urbanization changes the abundance and type of resources upon which birds depend, including nesting materials and plants involved in self-medication, our results are consistent with the view that urbanization imposes new challenges on birds that are dealt with using adaptations evolved elsewhere.

Undecomposed Twigs in the Leaf Litter as Nest-Building Resources for Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae in Areas of the Atlantic Forest in the Southeastern Region of Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tae Tanaami Fernandes

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In tropical forests, the leaf-litter stratum exhibits one of the greatest abundances of ant species. This diversity is associated with the variety of available locations for nest building. Ant nests can be found in various microhabitats, including tree trunks and fallen twigs in different stages of decomposition. In this study, we aimed to investigate undecomposed twigs as nest-building resources in the leaf litter of dense ombrophilous forest areas in the southeastern region of Brazil. Demographic data concerning the ant colonies, the physical characteristics of the nests, and the population and structural of the forest were observed. Collections were performed manually over four months in closed canopy locations that did not have trails or flooded areas. A total of 294 nests were collected, and 34 ant species were recorded. Pheidole, Camponotus, and Hypoponera were the richest genera observed; these genera were also among the most populous and exhibited the greatest abundance of nests. We found no association between population size and nest diameter. Only tree cover influenced the nest abundance and species richness. Our data indicate that undecomposed twigs may be part of the life cycle of many species and are important for maintaining ant diversity in the leaf litter.

Vertical Variation of Lead, Copper and Manganese in Core Sediments Collected From Tanjung Lumpur Mangrove Forest, Pahang, Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamaruzzaman, B.Y.; NurulNadia, M.Y.; Azhar, M.S.N.; Shahbudin, S.; Joseph, B.

2011-01-01

Two core sediment samples collected from Tanjung Lumpur mangrove forest were analysed for lead, copper and manganese using the sensitive Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The average concentrations of Pb, Cu, and Mn in core samples were 36.28 ± 7.04 μg/ g dry weights, 50.17 ± 5.84 μg/ g dry weights, and 110.41 ± 14.48 μg/ g dry weights, respectively. From the calculated enrichment factors (EF), only Mn was considered to be predominantly terrigeneous in origin, while Pb and Cu have slightly higher EF values which were related to anthropogenic input. (author)

Lead concentrations and reproduction in highway-nesting barn swallows

Science.gov (United States)

Grue, C.E.; O'Shea, T.J.; Hoffman, D.J.

1984-01-01

Swallows (Hirundo rustica) collected within the right-of-way of a major Maryland highway were greater than those found in Barn Swallows nesting within a rural area. Lead concentrations in the feathers of adults from the highway colony were also greater than Lead concentrations in the carcasses and stomach contents of adult and nestling Barn those of rural adults, but concentrations in the feathers of nestlings from the two locations were similar. Activity of u-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase in red blood cells was lower in highway-nesting adults and their young than in their rural counterparts, although hemoglobin concentrations and hematocrits did not differ. The number of eggs, nestlings, and body weights of the latter at 16-18 days of age were similar in the two colonies, as were body weights of adults from the two areas. These results suggest that contamination of roadside habitats by lead from automotive emissions does not pose a serious hazard to birds that are aerial feeders.

Cores to the rescue: how old cores enable new science

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, E.; Noren, A. J.; Brady, K.

2016-12-01

The value of archiving scientific specimens and collections for the purpose of enabling further research using new analytical techniques, resolving conflicting results, or repurposing them for entirely new research, is often discussed in abstract terms. We all agree that samples with adequate metadata ought to be archived systematically for easy access, for a long time and stored under optimal conditions. And yet, as storage space fills, there is a temptation to cull the collection, or when a researcher retires, to discard the collection unless the researcher manages to make his or her own arrangement for the collection to be accessioned elsewhere. Nobody has done anything with these samples in over 20 years! Who would want them? It turns out that plenty of us do want them, if we know how to find them and if they have sufficient metadata to assess past work and suitability for new analyses. The LacCore collection holds over 33 km of core from >6700 sites in diverse geographic locations worldwide with samples collected as early as 1950s. From these materials, there are many examples to illustrate the scientific value of archiving geologic samples. One example that benefitted Ito personally were cores from Lakes Mirabad and Zeribar, Iran, acquired in 1963 by Herb Wright and his associates. Several doctoral and postdoctoral students generated and published paleoecological reconstructions based on cladocerans, diatoms, pollen or plant macrofossils, mostly between 1963 and 1967. The cores were resampled in 1990s by a student being jointly advised by Wright and Ito for oxygen isotope analysis of endogenic calcite. The results were profitably compared with pollen and the results published in 2001 and 2006. From 1979 until very recently, visiting Iran for fieldwork was not pallowed for US scientists. Other examples will be given to further illustrate the power of archived samples to advance science.

Behavior on flowers, structures associated to pollen transport and nesting biology of Perditomorpha brunerii and Cephalurgus anomalus (Hymenoptera: Colletidae, Andrenidae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Cristina Gaglianone

2000-03-01

Full Text Available Nesting and foraging behavior were studied in Cephalurgus anomalus and Perditomorpha brunerii, two oligolectic bee species on Malvaceae flowers, in the University of São Paulo campus, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. Bees were monitored on flowers of Sida, Malvastrum, Gaya and Wissadula. Perditomorpha brunerii females collect pollen with the forelegs and abdomen to transport it in short-branched hairs on the hind tibia and metasomal sterna; males patrol flowers and spend the night in closed flowers of Sida cerradoensis and Sida sp. C. anomalus females lean the dorsal region of the body against the petals and collect pollen with the forelegs, accumulating the grains on the mesepisterna before placing them into sparse unbranched hairs on the anterior outer side of the hind tibiae; males patrol and wait for females in flowers, where the copulate throughout the foraging season. Both species nest in the soil among the host plants. P. brunerii bees build solitary nests; whereas in C. anomalus one or more foraging females are associated with an individual nest. The nests, in both species, consist of a descent straight main tunnel and cells arranged singly and horizontally at the end of the branches, which are filled with soil. The efficient foraging behavior, location of the nests among the host plants and scopal setae that allow the transport of large pollen grains in large amounts indicate an intimate association between these two bee species and Malvaceae flowers.

Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird.

Science.gov (United States)

Santangeli, Andrea; Arroyo, Beatriz; Millon, Alexandre; Bretagnolle, Vincent

2015-08-01

1. Modern farming practices threaten wildlife in different ways, and failure to identify the complexity of multiple threats acting in synergy may result in ineffective management. To protect ground-nesting birds in farmland, monitoring and mitigating impacts of mechanical harvesting is crucial. 2. Here, we use 6 years of data from a nationwide volunteer-based monitoring scheme of the Montagu's harrier, a ground-nesting raptor, in French farmlands. We assess the effectiveness of alternative nest protection measures and map their potential benefit to the species. 3. We show that unprotected nests in cultivated land are strongly negatively affected by harvesting and thus require active management. Further, we show that protection from harvesting alone (e.g. by leaving a small unharvested buffer around the nest) is impaired by post-harvest predation at nests that become highly conspicuous after harvest. Measures that simultaneously protect from harvesting and predation (by adding a fence around the nest) significantly enhance nest productivity. 4. The map of expected gain from nest protection in relation to available volunteers' workforce pinpoints large areas of high expected gain from nest protection that are not matched by equally high workforce availability. This mismatch suggests that the impact of nest protection can be further improved by increasing volunteer efforts in key areas where they are low relative to the expected gain they could have. 5. Synthesis and applications . This study shows that synergistic interplay of multiple factors (e.g. mechanical harvesting and predation) may completely undermine the success of well-intentioned conservation efforts. However, identifying areas where the greatest expected gains can be achieved relative to effort expended can minimize the risk of wasted volunteer actions. Overall, this study underscores the importance of citizen science for collecting large-scale data useful for producing science and ultimately informs

Semantic Analysis of Virtual Classes and Nested Classes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Ole Lehrmann

1999-01-01

Virtual classes and nested classes are distinguishing features of BETA. Nested classes originated from Simula, but until recently they have not been part of main stream object- oriented languages. C++ has a restricted form of nested classes and they were included in Java 1.1. Virtual classes...... classes and parameterized classes have been made. Although virtual classes and nested classes have been used in BETA for more than a decade, their implementation has not been published. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of virtual classes and nested classes by presenting...

Survival and growth of parasitic Maculinea alcon caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in nests of three Myrmica ant species

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nash, D. R.; Als, Thomas Damm; Boomsma, J. J.

2011-01-01

The Alcon blue butterfly (Maculinea alcon) parasitizes the nests of several Myrmica ant species. In Denmark, it uses M. rubra and M. ruginodis, but never M. scabrinodis. To further examine the basis of this specificity and local co-adaptation between host and parasite, the pattern of growth...... and survival of newly-adopted caterpillars of M. alcon in Myrmica subcolonies was examined in the laboratory. M. alcon caterpillars were collected from three populations differing in their host use, and reared in laboratory nests of all three ant species collected from each M. alcon population. While...... there were differences in the pattern of growth of caterpillars from different populations during the first few months after adoption, which depended on host ant species and the site from which the ants were collected, there was no evidence of major differences in final size achieved. Survival was, however...

Demand for Neste's City products grows strongly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1994-01-01

Finland's oil, chemicals, and gas company, Neste Corporation, is well on the road to better financial performance after a very difficult year in 1992. Among the factors contributing to this optimism are Neste's pioneering low environmental impact traffic fuels. Neste Corporation's net sales in 1993 rose 9.9 % on 1992 figures to USD 11,011 million. Investments totalled USD 681 million. Profitability also improved during 1993, and the operating margin rose by 57 %, despite the recession affecting the Finnish economy and the instability of the international market. The operational loss for the year before extraordinary items, reserves, and taxes was USD 265 million, one-third less than in 1992. Neste's strategy has been to achieve a strong position in the Baltic Rim region by becoming the quality and cost leader in oil refining, and by expanding Neste's position in its key markets. A total of 3.3 million tonnes of petroleum products were exported from Finland in 1993. Neste's most important export markets were Sweden, Germany, Poland, the Baltic countries, and the St. Petersburg region. Some 20 % of exports went to customers outside Europe. In addition to Finland, Neste has concertedly developed its service station network in Poland and the Baltic countries

UBV-photometry of nests of interacting galaxies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arkhipova, V.P.

1982-01-01

The results of photoelectric UBV-observations of 19 nests of interacting galaxies, made at the Crimean Station of the Sternberg Institute, are given. Most of the nests observed were found to be and to have high luminosity. The UBV and spectral data show a large amount of gas inside many nests [ru

Eggshell Porosity Provides Insight on Evolution of Nesting in Dinosaurs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kohei Tanaka

Full Text Available Knowledge about the types of nests built by dinosaurs can provide insight into the evolution of nesting and reproductive behaviors among archosaurs. However, the low preservation potential of their nesting materials and nesting structures means that most information can only be gleaned indirectly through comparison with extant archosaurs. Two general nest types are recognized among living archosaurs: 1 covered nests, in which eggs are incubated while fully covered by nesting material (as in crocodylians and megapodes, and 2 open nests, in which eggs are exposed in the nest and brooded (as in most birds. Previously, dinosaur nest types had been inferred by estimating the water vapor conductance (i.e., diffusive capacity of their eggs, based on the premise that high conductance corresponds to covered nests and low conductance to open nests. However, a lack of statistical rigor and inconsistencies in this method render its application problematic and its validity questionable. As an alternative we propose a statistically rigorous approach to infer nest type based on large datasets of eggshell porosity and egg mass compiled for over 120 extant archosaur species and 29 archosaur extinct taxa/ootaxa. The presence of a strong correlation between eggshell porosity and nest type among extant archosaurs indicates that eggshell porosity can be used as a proxy for nest type, and thus discriminant analyses can help predict nest type in extinct taxa. Our results suggest that: 1 covered nests are likely the primitive condition for dinosaurs (and probably archosaurs, and 2 open nests first evolved among non-avian theropods more derived than Lourinhanosaurus and were likely widespread in non-avian maniraptorans, well before the appearance of birds. Although taphonomic evidence suggests that basal open nesters (i.e., oviraptorosaurs and troodontids were potentially the first dinosaurs to brood their clutches, they still partially buried their eggs in sediment

Eggshell Porosity Provides Insight on Evolution of Nesting in Dinosaurs.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Kohei; Zelenitsky, Darla K; Therrien, François

2015-01-01

Knowledge about the types of nests built by dinosaurs can provide insight into the evolution of nesting and reproductive behaviors among archosaurs. However, the low preservation potential of their nesting materials and nesting structures means that most information can only be gleaned indirectly through comparison with extant archosaurs. Two general nest types are recognized among living archosaurs: 1) covered nests, in which eggs are incubated while fully covered by nesting material (as in crocodylians and megapodes), and 2) open nests, in which eggs are exposed in the nest and brooded (as in most birds). Previously, dinosaur nest types had been inferred by estimating the water vapor conductance (i.e., diffusive capacity) of their eggs, based on the premise that high conductance corresponds to covered nests and low conductance to open nests. However, a lack of statistical rigor and inconsistencies in this method render its application problematic and its validity questionable. As an alternative we propose a statistically rigorous approach to infer nest type based on large datasets of eggshell porosity and egg mass compiled for over 120 extant archosaur species and 29 archosaur extinct taxa/ootaxa. The presence of a strong correlation between eggshell porosity and nest type among extant archosaurs indicates that eggshell porosity can be used as a proxy for nest type, and thus discriminant analyses can help predict nest type in extinct taxa. Our results suggest that: 1) covered nests are likely the primitive condition for dinosaurs (and probably archosaurs), and 2) open nests first evolved among non-avian theropods more derived than Lourinhanosaurus and were likely widespread in non-avian maniraptorans, well before the appearance of birds. Although taphonomic evidence suggests that basal open nesters (i.e., oviraptorosaurs and troodontids) were potentially the first dinosaurs to brood their clutches, they still partially buried their eggs in sediment. Open nests

Nest Success and Cause-Specific Nest Failure of Grassland Passerines Breeding in Prairie Grazed by Livestock

Science.gov (United States)

This manuscript describes two years of field research on ground-nesting songbird species at Zumwalt Prairie Reserve, northeastern Oregon, USA. Cattle-grazing has long been suspected in declines of ground-nesting songbirds in grazed grassland, primarily due to increased trampling...

Fiber Tracking Cylinder Nesting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stredde, H.

1999-01-01

The fiber tracker consists of 8 concentric carbon fiber cylinders of varying diameters, from 399mm to 1032.2mm and two different lengths. 1.66 and 2.52 meters. Each completed cylinder is covered over the entire o.d. with scintillating fiber ribbons with a connector on each ribbon. These ribbons are axial (parallel to the beam line) at one end and stereo (at 3 deg. to the beam line) at the other. The ribbon connectors have dowel pins which are used to match with the connectors on the wave guide ribbons. These dowel pins are also used during the nesting operation, locating and positioning measurements. The nesting operation is the insertion of one cylinder into another, aligning them with one another and fastening them together into a homogeneous assembly. For ease of assembly. the nesting operation is accomplished working from largest diameter to smallest. Although the completed assembly of all 8 cylinders glued and bolted together is very stiff. individual cylinders are relatively flexible. Therefore. during this operation, No.8 must be supported in a manner which maintains its integrity and yet allows the insertion of No.7. This is accomplished by essentially building a set of dummy end plates which replicate a No.9 cylinder. These end plates are mounted on a wheeled cart that becomes the nesting cart. Provisions for a protective cover fastened to these rings has been made and will be incorporated in finished product. These covers can be easily removed for access to No.8 and/or the connection of No.8 to No.9. Another wheeled cart, transfer cart, is used to push a completed cylinder into the cylinder(s) already mounted in the nesting cart.

Predaceous ants, beach replenishment, and nest placement by sea turtles.

Science.gov (United States)

Wetterer, James K; Wood, Lawrence D; Johnson, Chris; Krahe, Holly; Fitchett, Stephanie

2007-10-01

Ants known for attacking and killing hatchling birds and reptiles include the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren), tropical fire ant [Solenopsis geminata (Fabr.)], and little fire ant [Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger)]. We tested whether sea turtle nest placement influenced exposure to predaceous ants. In 2000 and 2001, we surveyed ants along a Florida beach where green turtles (Chelonia mydas L.), leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea Vandelli), and loggerheads (Caretta caretta L.) nest. Part of the beach was artificially replenished between our two surveys. As a result, mean beach width experienced by nesting turtles differed greatly between the two nesting seasons. We surveyed 1,548 sea turtle nests (2000: 909 nests; 2001: 639 nests) and found 22 ant species. S. invicta was by far the most common species (on 431 nests); S. geminata and W. auropunctata were uncommon (on 3 and 16 nests, respectively). In 2000, 62.5% of nests had ants present (35.9% with S. invicta), but in 2001, only 30.5% of the nests had ants present (16.4% with S. invicta). Turtle nests closer to dune vegetation had significantly greater exposure to ants. Differences in ant presence on turtle nests between years and among turtle species were closely related to differences in nest placement relative to dune vegetation. Beach replenishment significantly lowered exposure of nests to ants because on the wider beaches turtles nested farther from the dune vegetation. Selective pressures on nesting sea turtles are altered both by the presence of predaceous ants and the practice of beach replenishment.

Lesser prairie-chicken nest site selection, microclimate, and nest survival in association with vegetation response to a grassland restoration program

Science.gov (United States)

Boal, Clint W.; Grisham, Blake A.; Haukos, David A.; Zavaleta, Jennifer C.; Dixon, Charles

2014-01-01

Climate models predict that the region of the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC) will experience increased maximum and minimum temperatures, reduced frequency but greater intensity of precipitation events, and earlier springs. These climate changes along with different landscape management techniques may influence the persistence of the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act and a priority species under the GPLCC, in positive or negative ways. The objectives of this study were to conduct (1) a literature review of lesser prairie-chicken nesting phenology and ecology, (2) an analysis of thermal aspects of lesser prairie-chicken nest microclimate data, and (3) an analysis of nest site selection, nest survival, and vegetation response to 10 years of tebuthiuron and/or grazing treatments. We found few reports in the literature containing useful data on the nesting phenology of lesser prairie-chickens; therefore, managers must rely on short-term observations and measurements of parameters that provide some predictive insight into climate impacts on nesting ecology. Our field studies showed that prairie-chickens on nests were able to maintain relatively consistent average nest temperature of 31 °C and nest humidities of 56.8 percent whereas average external temperatures (20.3–35.0 °C) and humidities (35.2–74.9 percent) varied widely throughout the 24 hour (hr) cycle. Grazing and herbicide treatments within our experimental areas were designed to be less intensive than in common practice. We determined nest locations by radio-tagging hen lesser prairie-chickens captured at leks, which are display grounds at which male lesser prairie-chickens aggregate and attempt to attract a female for mating. Because nest locations selected by hen lesser prairie-chicken are strongly associated with the lek at which they were captured, we assessed nesting habitat use on the basis of hens

Variation in Nest Temperatures of the American Alligator Found on the Kennedy Space Center Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

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Lowers, Russell; Guillette, Louis J.; Weiss, Stephanie

2016-01-01

Information on nest temperatures of the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) constructed in the wild is limited. Nesting temperatures during a critical thermal sensitive period determine the sex of alligators and are therefore critical in establishing the sex biases in recruitment efforts of alligators within a given community. Nest components, varying environmental conditions, and global warming could have a significant impact on nest temperatures, thus affecting future generations of a given population. One hundred and seventy four programmable thermistors were inserted into fifty eight nests from 2010 through 2015 nesting cycles. Three thermistors were placed inside each nest cavity (one on top of the eggs, one in the middle of the eggs, and one at the bottom of the clutch of the eggs) to collect temperature profiles in the incubation chamber and throughout the entire incubation period. One thermistor was also placed near or above these nests to obtain an ambient air temperature profile. Once retrieved, data from these thermistors were downloaded to examine temperature profiles throughout the incubation period as well as during the period of sexual determination. These data would help establish survival rates related to nest temperature and predict sex ratio of recruited neonates at the Kennedy Space Center. Over three million temperatures have been recorded since 2010 for the alligator thermistor study giving us insight to the recruitment efforts found here. Precipitation was the largest influence on nesting temperatures outside of daily photoperiod, with immediate changes of up to eight degrees Celsius.

Effects of Fungicide and Adjuvant Sprays on Nesting Behavior in Two Managed Solitary Bees, Osmia lignaria and Megachile rotundata.

Science.gov (United States)

Artz, Derek R; Pitts-Singer, Theresa L

2015-01-01

There is a growing body of empirical evidence showing that wild and managed bees are negatively impacted by various pesticides that are applied in agroecosystems around the world. The lethal and sublethal effects of two widely used fungicides and one adjuvant were assessed in cage studies in California on blue orchard bees, Osmia lignaria, and in cage studies in Utah on alfalfa leafcutting bees, Megachile rotundata. The fungicides tested were Rovral 4F (iprodione) and Pristine (mixture of pyraclostrobin + boscalid), and the adjuvant tested was N-90, a non-ionic wetting agent (90% polyethoxylated nonylphenol) added to certain tank mixtures of fungicides to improve the distribution and contact of sprays to plants. In separate trials, we erected screened cages and released 20 paint-marked females plus 30-50 males per cage to document the behavior of nesting bees under treated and control conditions. For all females in each cage, we recorded pollen-collecting trip times, nest substrate-collecting trip times (i.e., mud for O. lignaria and cut leaf pieces for M. rotundata), cell production rate, and the number of attempts each female made to enter her own or to enter other nest entrances upon returning from a foraging trip. No lethal effects of treatments were observed on adults, nor were there effects on time spent foraging for pollen and nest substrates and on cell production rate. However, Rovral 4F, Pristine, and N-90 disrupted the nest recognition abilities of O. lignaria females. Pristine, N-90, and Pristine + N-90 disrupted nest recognition ability of M. rotundata females. Electroantennogram responses of antennae of O. lignaria females maintained in the laboratory did not differ significantly between the fungicide-exposed and control bees. Our results provide the first empirical evidence that two commonly used fungicides and a non-ionic adjuvant can disrupt nest recognition in two managed solitary bee species.

Trade-Off between Foraging Activity and Infestation by Nest Parasites in the Primitively Eusocial Bee Halictus scabiosae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Lienhard

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Diurnal activities of Halictus scabiosae bees and their nest parasites (major bee-flies, cuckoo wasps, ichneumon wasps, Sphecodes bees, and velvet ants were investigated at a study site with 159 nests in Eastern Austria. Foraging activity correlated with ambient temperature only before midday and decreased in the afternoon. The activity of nest-infesting parasites increased during the day and correlated with ambient temperature. The match factor fm between the ratios of the foraging activities of H. scabiosae and the ratios of aspects of morning temperature was assessed on three consecutive days with different weather. The activity patterns of halictine bees and their nest parasites differed: the parasites exhibited only small time windows in which their activities were synchronised with those of their hosts. The bees exhibited an anticyclic behaviour and collected food in times of low parasite pressure and decreased foraging activity when parasite pressure increased.

Association Mapping for Important Agronomic Traits in Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Core Collection Using Microsatellite Markers

OpenAIRE

Heena Ambreen; Shivendra Kumar; Amar Kumar; Manu Agarwal; Arun Jagannath; Shailendra Goel

2018-01-01

Carthamus tinctorius L. (safflower) is an important oilseed crop producing seed oil rich in unsaturated fatty acids. Scarcity of identified marker-trait associations is a major limitation toward development of successful marker-assisted breeding programs in safflower. In the present study, a safflower panel (CartAP) comprising 124 accessions derived from two core collections was assayed for its suitability for association mapping. Genotyping of CartAP using microsatellite markers revealed sig...

Independence and interdependence in collective decision making: an agent-based model of nest-site choice by honeybee swarms

Science.gov (United States)

List, Christian; Elsholtz, Christian; Seeley, Thomas D.

2008-01-01

Condorcet's jury theorem shows that when the members of a group have noisy but independent information about what is best for the group as a whole, majority decisions tend to outperform dictatorial ones. When voting is supplemented by communication, however, the resulting interdependencies between decision makers can strengthen or undermine this effect: they can facilitate information pooling, but also amplify errors. We consider an intriguing non-human case of independent information pooling combined with communication: the case of nest-site choice by honeybee (Apis mellifera) swarms. It is empirically well documented that when there are different nest sites that vary in quality, the bees usually choose the best one. We develop a new agent-based model of the bees' decision process and show that its remarkable reliability stems from a particular interplay of independence and interdependence between the bees. PMID:19073474

Importance of structural stability to success of mourning dove nests

Science.gov (United States)

Coon, R.A.; Nichols, J.D.; Percival, H.F.

1981-01-01

Studies of nest-site selection and nesting habitats often involve a "characterization" of nests and of habitats in which nests are found. Our objective in the present work is to identify nest-site characteristics that are associated with variation in components of Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) fitness (e.g. the probability of a nest succeeding), as opposed to simply "characterizing" dove nest sites. If certain nest- site characteristics affect the probability that a nest will succeed, then we suspect that these characteristics will be associated with either concealment (the probability of detection by certain predators) or structural stability (the probability of eggs or entire nests falling to the ground as a result of wind, rain storms, parental activity, etc.). Although other workers agree that structural stability is an important determinant of Mourning Dove nesting success (e.g. McClure 1944: 384; Woolfenden and Rohwer 1969: 59), we are aware of no actual tests of this hypothesis.

The effects of large beach debris on nesting sea turtles

Science.gov (United States)

Fujisaki, Ikuko; Lamont, Margaret M.

2016-01-01

A field experiment was conducted to understand the effects of large beach debris on sea turtle nesting behavior as well as the effectiveness of large debris removal for habitat restoration. Large natural and anthropogenic debris were removed from one of three sections of a sea turtle nesting beach and distributions of nests and false crawls (non-nesting crawls) in pre- (2011–2012) and post- (2013–2014) removal years in the three sections were compared. The number of nests increased 200% and the number of false crawls increased 55% in the experimental section, whereas a corresponding increase in number of nests and false crawls was not observed in the other two sections where debris removal was not conducted. The proportion of nest and false crawl abundance in all three beach sections was significantly different between pre- and post-removal years. The nesting success, the percent of successful nests in total nesting attempts (number of nests + false crawls), also increased from 24% to 38%; however the magnitude of the increase was comparably small because both the number of nests and false crawls increased, and thus the proportion of the nesting success in the experimental beach in pre- and post-removal years was not significantly different. The substantial increase in sea turtle nesting activities after the removal of large debris indicates that large debris may have an adverse impact on sea turtle nesting behavior. Removal of large debris could be an effective restoration strategy to improve sea turtle nesting.

Comprehensive Comparison between Empty Nest and Non-Empty Nest Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Study among Rural Populations in Northeast China

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Ye Chang

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to comprehensively compare the general characteristics, lifestyles, serum parameters, ultrasonic cardiogram (UCG parameters, depression, quality of life, and various comorbidities between empty nest and non-empty nest elderly among rural populations in northeast China. This analysis was based on our previous study which was conducted from January 2012 to August 2013, using a multistage, stratified, random cluster sampling scheme. The final analyzed sample consisted of 3208 participants aged no less than 60 years, which was further classified into three groups: non-empty nest group, empty nest group (living as a couple, and empty nest group (living alone. More than half of the participants were empty nest elderly (60.5%. There were no significant statistical differences for serum parameters, UCG parameters, lifestyles, dietary pattern, and scores of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9 and World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire, abbreviated version (WHOQOL-BREF among the three groups. Empty nest elderly showed no more risk for comorbidities such as general obesity, abdominal obesity, hyperuricemia, hyperhomocysteinemia, diabetes, dyslipidemia, left atrial enlargement (LAE, and stroke. Our study indicated that empty nest elderly showed no more risk for depression, low quality of life and comorbidities such as general obesity, abdominal obesity, hyperuricemia, hyperhomocysteinemia, diabetes, dyslipidemia, LAE, and stroke among rural populations in northeast China.

Habitat and nesting biology of Mountain Plovers in Wyoming

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Plumb, R.E.; Anderson, S.H.; Knopf, F.L.

2005-01-01

Although previous research has considered habitat associations and breeding biology of Mountain Plovers in Wyoming at discrete sites, no study has considered these attributes at a statewide scale. We located 55 Mountain Plover nests in 6 counties across Wyoming during 2002 and 2003. Nests occurred in 2 general habitat types: grassland and desert-shrub. Mean estimated hatch date was 26 June (n = 31) in 2002 and 21 June (n = 24) in 2003. Mean hatch date was not related to latitude or elevation. Hatch success of nests was inferred in 2003 by the presence of eggshell fragments in the nest scrape. Eggs in 14 of 22 (64%) known-fate nests hatched. All grassland sites and 90% of desert sites were host to ungulate grazers, although prairie dogs were absent at 64% of nest sites. Nest plots had less grass coverage and reduced grass height compared with random plots. More than 50% of nests occurred on elevated plateaus. The Mountain Plover's tendency to nest on arid, elevated plateaus further substantiates claims that the bird is also a disturbed-prairie species.

Molecular diagnosis of strongyloidiasis in a population of an endemic area through nested-PCR.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharifdini, Meysam; Keyhani, Amir; Eshraghian, Mohammad Reza; Beigom Kia, Eshrat

2018-01-01

This study is aimed to diagnose and analyze strongyloidiasis in a population of an endemic area of Iran using nested-PCR, coupled with parasitological methods. Screening of strongyloidiasis infected people using reliable diagnostic techniques are essential to decrease the mortality and morbidity associated with this infection. Molecular methods have been proved to be highly sensitive and specific for detection of Strongyloides stercoralis in stool samples. A total of 155 fresh single stool samples were randomly collected from residents of north and northwest of Khouzestan Province, Iran. All samples were examined by parasitological methods including formalin-ether concentration and nutrient agar plate culture, and molecular method of nested-PCR. Infections with S. stercoralis were analyzed according to demographic criteria. Based on the results of nested-PCR method 15 cases (9.7%) were strongyloidiasis positive. Nested-PCR was more sensitive than parasitological techniques on single stool sampling. Elderly was the most important population index for higher infectivity with S. stercoralis . In endemic areas of S. stercoralis , old age should be considered as one of the most important risk factors of infection, especially among the immunosuppressed individuals.

Superposition Enhanced Nested Sampling

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Stefano Martiniani

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The theoretical analysis of many problems in physics, astronomy, and applied mathematics requires an efficient numerical exploration of multimodal parameter spaces that exhibit broken ergodicity. Monte Carlo methods are widely used to deal with these classes of problems, but such simulations suffer from a ubiquitous sampling problem: The probability of sampling a particular state is proportional to its entropic weight. Devising an algorithm capable of sampling efficiently the full phase space is a long-standing problem. Here, we report a new hybrid method for the exploration of multimodal parameter spaces exhibiting broken ergodicity. Superposition enhanced nested sampling combines the strengths of global optimization with the unbiased or athermal sampling of nested sampling, greatly enhancing its efficiency with no additional parameters. We report extensive tests of this new approach for atomic clusters that are known to have energy landscapes for which conventional sampling schemes suffer from broken ergodicity. We also introduce a novel parallelization algorithm for nested sampling.

Using survival analysis of artificial and Real Brewer's sparrow (Spizella breweri breweri) nests to model site level and nest site factors associated with nest success in the South Okanagan region of Canada

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Pam Krannitz Kym Welstead

2005-01-01

Predation is the predominant cause of nest failure for the Brewer's Sparrow (Spizella breweri breweri), a provincially red-listed shrub-steppe species that has experienced significant declines throughout most of its range. We monitored Brewer’s Sparrow nests and conducted an artificial nest experiment, in the South Okanagan Valley,...

Paleo-Climate and Glaciological Reconstruction in Central Asia through the Collection and Analysis of Ice Cores and Instrumental Data from the Tien Shan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vladimir Aizen; Donald Bren; Karl Kreutz; Cameron Wake

2001-01-01

While the majority of ice core investigations have been undertaken in the polar regions, a few ice cores recovered from carefully selected high altitude/mid-to-low latitude glaciers have also provided valuable records of climate variability in these regions. A regional array of high resolution, multi-parameter ice core records developed from temperate and tropical regions of the globe can be used to document regional climate and environmental change in the latitudes which are home to the vase majority of the Earth's human population. In addition, these records can be directly compared with ice core records available from the polar regions and can therefore expand our understanding of inter-hemispheric dynamics of past climate changes. The main objectives of our paleoclimate research in the Tien Shan mountains of middle Asia combine the development of detailed paleoenvironmental records via the physical and chemical analysis of ice cores with the analysis of modern meteorological and hydrological data. The first step in this research was the collection of ice cores from the accumulation zone of the Inylchek Glacier and the collection of meteorological data from a variety of stations throughout the Tien Shan. The research effort described in this report was part of a collaborative effort with the United State Geological Survey's (USGS) Global Environmental Research Program which began studying radionuclide deposition in mid-latitude glaciers in 1995

Paleo-Climate and Glaciological Reconstruction in Central Asia through the Collection and Analysis of Ice Cores and Instrumental Data from the Tien Shan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vladimir Aizen; Donald Bren; Karl Kreutz; Cameron Wake

2001-05-30

While the majority of ice core investigations have been undertaken in the polar regions, a few ice cores recovered from carefully selected high altitude/mid-to-low latitude glaciers have also provided valuable records of climate variability in these regions. A regional array of high resolution, multi-parameter ice core records developed from temperate and tropical regions of the globe can be used to document regional climate and environmental change in the latitudes which are home to the vase majority of the Earth's human population. In addition, these records can be directly compared with ice core records available from the polar regions and can therefore expand our understanding of inter-hemispheric dynamics of past climate changes. The main objectives of our paleoclimate research in the Tien Shan mountains of middle Asia combine the development of detailed paleoenvironmental records via the physical and chemical analysis of ice cores with the analysis of modern meteorological and hydrological data. The first step in this research was the collection of ice cores from the accumulation zone of the Inylchek Glacier and the collection of meteorological data from a variety of stations throughout the Tien Shan. The research effort described in this report was part of a collaborative effort with the United State Geological Survey's (USGS) Global Environmental Research Program which began studying radionuclide deposition in mid-latitude glaciers in 1995.

Canada goose nest survival at rural wetlands in north-central Iowa

Science.gov (United States)

Ness, Brenna N.; Klaver, Robert W.

2016-01-01

The last comprehensive nest survival study of the breeding giant Canada goose (Branta canadensis maxima) population in Iowa, USA, was conducted >30 years ago during a period of population recovery, during which available nesting habitat consisted primarily of artificial nest structures. Currently, Iowa's resident goose population is stable and nests in a variety of habitats. We analyzed the effects of available habitat on nest survival and how nest survival rates compared with those of the expanding goose population studied previously to better understand how to maintain a sustainable Canada goose population in Iowa. We documented Canada goose nest survival at rural wetland sites in north-central Iowa. We monitored 121 nests in 2013 and 149 nests in 2014 at 5 Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) with various nesting habitats, including islands, muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) houses, and elevated nest structures. We estimated daily nest-survival rate using the nest survival model in Program MARK. Survival was influenced by year, site, stage, presence of a camera, nest age, and an interaction between nest age and stage. Nest success rates for the 28-day incubation period by site and year combination ranged from 0.10 to 0.84. Nest survival was greatest at sites with nest structures (β = 17.34). Nest survival was negatively affected by lowered water levels at Rice Lake WMA (2013 β = −0.77, nest age β = −0.07). Timing of water-level drawdowns for shallow lake restorations may influence nest survival rates.

Antimicrobial properties of nest volatiles in red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

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In social insects, antimicrobial secretions are often used collectively for the benefit of the whole colony, which is an important component in social immunity. Many ant species build nests in which air circulation can be controlled. Volatile antimicrobial agents would be ideal in implementing socia...

Nest sharing under semi-natural conditions in laying hens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riber, Anja Brinch

2012-01-01

problems to laying hens, and egg production may also be negatively affected. Understanding what causes this difference in nest location selection may provide solutions to the problems associated with simultaneous nest sharing. The aims were to investigate whether a commercial strain of laying hens normally...... daily of each nest with regard to number of eggs, position, and materials used. On five mornings nesting behaviour was observed. Nest sharing occurred on all but the first 5 days of egg-laying. The majority of hens (n = 14) chose to visit an occupied nest at least once, but no hens exclusively used...

Paleocurrent analysis and physical properties of deep-sea mud cores collected from NW Pacific and Northern Gulf of Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, T.; Kawamura, K.; Ogawa, Y.; Flemings, P. B.; Behrmann, J. H.; John, C. M.; Hirano, N.; Abe, N.

2005-12-01

We collected three m-long piston cores of mud during the Kairei cruise (KR04-08 and KR05-10) of Japan Marine Science and Technology Center in 2004 and 2005 from the NW Pacific between Honshu and Shatsky Rise; aside the Fukahori Knoll and Yukawa Knoll. Another set of mud cores, 234.5 m long, was collected during the JOIDES Resolution cruise (IODP Exp308, site U1322) in 2005 from the Ursa Basin located at the eastern levee of the Mississippi Canyon, northeastern Gulf of Mexico of about 1000 m depth. Our study purpose is to know the flow direction by mud particle arrangement by thin section and scanning electron microscope (SEM) and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data. The data from the NW Pacific indicate weak preferred orientation from SW to NE, suggesting weak bottom current. This is supported by erosional moat to NE direction around the Fukahori Knoll. In the Gulf of Mexico we can know the flow directions of river plumes, turbidity currents, etc., and we can know whether the flows come from the main entry point in the basin or they are derived from the others of the basin. The other basic features of the core sediments are lithology, sedimentary structures, and porosity, together with paleocurrent analysis.

Emperor penguins nesting on Inaccessible Island

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Jonkel, G.M.; Llano, G.A.

1975-01-01

Emperor penguins were observed nesting on Inaccessible I. during the 1973 winter. This is the southernmost nesting of emperor penguins thus far recorded; it also could be the first record of emperors attempting to start a new rookery. This site, however, may have been used by emperors in the past. The closest reported nesting of these penguins to Inaccessible I. is on the Ross Ice Shelf east of Cape Crozier. With the exception of the Inaccessible I. record, there is little evidence that emperor penguins breed in McMurdo Sound proper.

Genetic variation in the US Peanut Mini-core collection for agronomy, seed chemistry and nutrient quality traits in peanut

Science.gov (United States)

The ongoing genome sequencing effort in peanut will result in numerous molecular markers that can be applied to the diverse collection of recently purified mini-core germplasm. This will provide an opportunity to mine valuable genes for peanut cultivar improvement. Association mapping based on linka...

Thermal evidence of the invasion of a stingless bee nest by a mammal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. D. Hilário

Full Text Available Melipona bicolor, an inhabitant of the Atlantic Rainforest, nidifies in hollows of live or dead trees. In order to study thermoregulation of a nest of this species, a temperature data logger was installed inside a hollow tree. After this, an intruder dug a hole, invaded the nest, and probably consumed its honey, pollen and bees, having remained there during three days. Thermal evidence and its behavior allowed the delimitation of a small number of suspects, wich we analized here. The intruder was a small mammal, predominantly nocturnal, that takes shelter in burrows, probably the yellow armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus. Other evidence, if collected immediately after invasion, could precisely indicate precisely the species.

Thermal evidence of the invasion of a stingless bee nest by a mammal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hilário S. D.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Melipona bicolor, an inhabitant of the Atlantic Rainforest, nidifies in hollows of live or dead trees. In order to study thermoregulation of a nest of this species, a temperature data logger was installed inside a hollow tree. After this, an intruder dug a hole, invaded the nest, and probably consumed its honey, pollen and bees, having remained there during three days. Thermal evidence and its behavior allowed the delimitation of a small number of suspects, wich we analized here. The intruder was a small mammal, predominantly nocturnal, that takes shelter in burrows, probably the yellow armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus. Other evidence, if collected immediately after invasion, could precisely indicate precisely the species.

Risk from cattle trampling to nests of an endangered passerine evaluated using artificial nest experiments and simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian W. Rolek

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Grasslands are often grazed by cattle and many grassland birds nest on the ground, potentially exposing nests to trampling. We tested for trampling risk introduced by cattle to nests of endangered Florida Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus using experimentally paired grids of artificial nests (i.e., clay targets similar in size to nests of Florida Grasshopper Sparrows and counted the number of clay targets that were broken in paired grazed and ungrazed enclosures. Clay targets in grazed grids were trampled 3.9% more often than their respective ungrazed grids, and measurements of cattle presence or density were correlated with the number of broken clay targets, suggesting that excluding cattle during breeding is an important management recommendation for the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow. Trampling rates within grazed enclosures were spatially homogeneous with respect to cattle infrastructure such as supplemental feeding troughs and fences, and forests and stocking density were poor predictors of trampling rates when excluding ungrazed grids. We used population viability analysis to compare quasi-extinction rates, intrinsic growth rates, and median abundance in grazed and ungrazed Florida Grasshopper Sparrow aggregations to further understand the biological significance of management aimed at reducing trampling rates during the breeding season. Simulations indicated that trampling from grazing increased quasi-extinction rates by 41% while reducing intrinsic growth rates by 0.048, and reducing median abundance by an average of 214 singing males after 50 years. Management should avoid grazing enclosures occupied by Florida Grasshopper Sparrows during the nesting season to minimize trampling rates. Our methods that combine trampling experiments with population viability analysis provide a framework for testing effects from trampling on other grassland ground-nesting birds, and can directly inform conservation and management of the

Mercury and other element exposure to tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) nesting on Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Custer, Thomas W.; Custer, Christine M.; Johnson, Kevin M.; Hoffman, David J.

2008-01-01

Elevated mercury concentrations in water were reported in the prairie wetlands at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, ND. In order to determine whether wildlife associated with these wetlands was exposed to and then accumulated higher mercury concentrations than wildlife living near more permanent wetlands (e.g. lakes), tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) eggs and nestlings were collected from nests near seasonal wetlands, semi-permanent wetlands, and lakes. Mercury concentrations in eggs collected near seasonal wetlands were higher than those collected near semi-permanent wetlands or lakes. In contrast, mercury concentrations in nestling livers did not differ among wetland types. Mercury and other element concentrations in tree swallow eggs and nestlings collected from all wetlands were low. As suspected from these low concentrations, mercury concentrations in sample eggs were not a significant factor explaining the hatching success of the remaining eggs in each clutch. - Mercury concentrations in tree swallows nesting in the prairie wetlands at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge were not elevated

The reasons for the different nest shapes of Megapis bees

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Woyke Jerzy

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Over a 37-year period, we observed 1011 active bee nests and abandoned combs of Apis dorsata and Apis laboriosa in Nepal, India, the Philippines, and Bhutan. This article focuses on the reasons for the different shapes of the nests. We discovered that differing ambient conditions were the reasons for the following three shapes of symmetrical nests: vertical semi-ellipse, semicircle, and the horizontal semi-ellipse. We noted that asymmetrical nests were constructed when there was lack of space to extend the comb equally in both external directions. An asymmetrical nest also appeared when remnants of a previous comb remained on one edge of the nest. Convex nests were constructed to avoid excess sun exposure. Concave nests appeared as a result of low temperatures during the night and part of the day (Nepal. An L-shape nest was constructed when there was lack of space available to extend the nest in a straight direction. The shape of the nests also determines the way the combs fall.

Variation in clutch size in relation to nest size in birds.

Science.gov (United States)

Møller, Anders P; Adriaensen, Frank; Artemyev, Alexandr; Bańbura, Jerzy; Barba, Emilio; Biard, Clotilde; Blondel, Jacques; Bouslama, Zihad; Bouvier, Jean-Charles; Camprodon, Jordi; Cecere, Francesco; Charmantier, Anne; Charter, Motti; Cichoń, Mariusz; Cusimano, Camillo; Czeszczewik, Dorota; Demeyrier, Virginie; Doligez, Blandine; Doutrelant, Claire; Dubiec, Anna; Eens, Marcel; Eeva, Tapio; Faivre, Bruno; Ferns, Peter N; Forsman, Jukka T; García-Del-Rey, Eduardo; Goldshtein, Aya; Goodenough, Anne E; Gosler, Andrew G; Góźdź, Iga; Grégoire, Arnaud; Gustafsson, Lars; Hartley, Ian R; Heeb, Philipp; Hinsley, Shelley A; Isenmann, Paul; Jacob, Staffan; Järvinen, Antero; Juškaitis, Rimvydas; Korpimäki, Erkki; Krams, Indrikis; Laaksonen, Toni; Leclercq, Bernard; Lehikoinen, Esa; Loukola, Olli; Lundberg, Arne; Mainwaring, Mark C; Mänd, Raivo; Massa, Bruno; Mazgajski, Tomasz D; Merino, Santiago; Mitrus, Cezary; Mönkkönen, Mikko; Morales-Fernaz, Judith; Morin, Xavier; Nager, Ruedi G; Nilsson, Jan-Åke; Nilsson, Sven G; Norte, Ana C; Orell, Markku; Perret, Philippe; Pimentel, Carla S; Pinxten, Rianne; Priedniece, Ilze; Quidoz, Marie-Claude; Remeš, Vladimir; Richner, Heinz; Robles, Hugo; Rytkönen, Seppo; Senar, Juan Carlos; Seppänen, Janne T; da Silva, Luís P; Slagsvold, Tore; Solonen, Tapio; Sorace, Alberto; Stenning, Martyn J; Török, János; Tryjanowski, Piotr; van Noordwijk, Arie J; von Numers, Mikael; Walankiewicz, Wiesław; Lambrechts, Marcel M

2014-09-01

Nests are structures built to support and protect eggs and/or offspring from predators, parasites, and adverse weather conditions. Nests are mainly constructed prior to egg laying, meaning that parent birds must make decisions about nest site choice and nest building behavior before the start of egg-laying. Parent birds should be selected to choose nest sites and to build optimally sized nests, yet our current understanding of clutch size-nest size relationships is limited to small-scale studies performed over short time periods. Here, we quantified the relationship between clutch size and nest size, using an exhaustive database of 116 slope estimates based on 17,472 nests of 21 species of hole and non-hole-nesting birds. There was a significant, positive relationship between clutch size and the base area of the nest box or the nest, and this relationship did not differ significantly between open nesting and hole-nesting species. The slope of the relationship showed significant intraspecific and interspecific heterogeneity among four species of secondary hole-nesting species, but also among all 116 slope estimates. The estimated relationship between clutch size and nest box base area in study sites with more than a single size of nest box was not significantly different from the relationship using studies with only a single size of nest box. The slope of the relationship between clutch size and nest base area in different species of birds was significantly negatively related to minimum base area, and less so to maximum base area in a given study. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that bird species have a general reaction norm reflecting the relationship between nest size and clutch size. Further, they suggest that scientists may influence the clutch size decisions of hole-nesting birds through the provisioning of nest boxes of varying sizes.

Nest site selection by Hypsiboas faber(Anura, Hylidae in Southern Brazil

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André L. Luza

2015-12-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Male gladiator frogs of Hypsiboas Wagler, 1830 build nests on available substrate surrounding ponds and streams where female spawn eggs during the breeding period. Although gladiator frogs seem to show plasticity in the way they construct their nests, there is no study reporting if these species present preferences about microhabitat conditions for nest-building (mainly under subtropical climate. Predation pressure and environmental conditions have been considered major processes shaping the great diversity of reproductive strategies performed by amphibians, but microhabitat conditions should explain where to build a nest as well as how nest looks. This study aimed to test nest site selection for nest-building by Hypsiboas faber(Wied-Neuwied, 1821, determining which factors are related to nest site selection and nest features. The survey was conducted at margins of two permanent ponds in Southern Brazil. Habitat factors were evaluated in 18 plots with nest and 18 plots in the surrounding without nest (control, describing vegetation structure and heterogeneity, and substrate characteristics. Water temperature was measured inside the nest and in its adjacency. Nest features assessed were area, depth and temperature. Habitat characteristics differed between plots with and without nest. Microhabitat selected for nest-building was characterized by great vegetation cover and height, as well as shallower water and lower cover of organic matter in suspension than in plots without nest. Differences between temperature inside nest and in its adjacency were not observed. No relationship between nest features and habitat descriptors was evidenced. Results revealed that Hypsiboas faber does not build nests anywhere. Males seem to prefer more protected habitats, probably avoiding predation, invasion of conspecific males and inclement weather. Lack of differences between temperature inside- and outside-nest suggest that nest do not improve this

Factors affecting nesting success in the Great-crested Grebe ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The overall nesting success was 70.4% (N = 209), with nest failure caused mainly by predation (65%) and flooding (23%). Breeding outcome was significantly and positively related to nest size, with bigger nests conferring better survival to eggs and young probably through affording better protection during spells of adverse ...

Nesting ecology and nest success of the Blue Grosbeak along two rivers in New Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Jean-Luc E. Cartron; Deborah M. Finch; David L. Hawksworth; Scott H. Stoleson

2013-01-01

From 1997 through 2008, we studied the nesting habits and nest success of the Blue Grosbeak (Passerina cerulean) along the middle Gila River (1997-2001) and the middle Rio Grande (2000-2008) in New Mexico. A riparian forest of cottonwoods grows along both rivers. but the forest along the Rio Grande is a much more intensively managed ecosystem, with an understory...

Facultative nest patch shifts in response to nest predation risk in the Brewer's sparrow: a "win-stay, lose-switch" strategy?

Science.gov (United States)

Anna D. Chalfoun; Thomas E. Martin

2010-01-01

Facultative shifts in nesting habitat selection in response to perceived predation risk may allow animals to increase the survival probability of sessile offspring. Previous studies on this behavioral strategy have primarily focused on single attributes, such as the distance moved or changes in nesting substrate. However, nest site choice often encompasses multiple...

Language Nests and Language Acquisition: An Empirical Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Okura, Eve K.

2017-01-01

This dissertation presents the findings from interviews conducted with language nest workers, teachers, language nest coordinators, administrators of language revitalization programs, principals and directors of language immersion schools that work in close proximity with language nests, and linguists involved in language revitalization efforts.…

Foraging ecology of least terns and piping plovers nesting on Central Platte River sandpits and sandbars

Science.gov (United States)

Sherfy, Mark H.; Anteau, Michael J.; Shaffer, Terry L.; Sovada, Marsha A.; Stucker, Jennifer H.

2012-01-01

Federally listed least terns (Sternula antillarum) and piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) nest on riverine sandbars on many major midcontinent river systems. On the Central Platte River, availability of sandbar habitat is limited, and both species nest on excavated sandpits in the river's floodplain. However, the extent to which sandpit-nesting birds use riverine habitats for foraging is unknown. We evaluated use of foraging habitats by least terns and piping plovers by collecting data on movements, behavior, foraging habitat, and productivity. We radiomarked 16 piping plovers and 23 least terns in 2009-2010 and monitored their movements using a network of fixed telemetry dataloggers. Piping plovers were detected primarily by the datalogger located in their nesting sandpit, whereas least terns were more frequently detected on dataloggers outside of the nesting sandpit. Telemetry data and behavioral observations showed that least terns tended to concentrate at the Kearney Canal Diversion Gates, where forage fish were apparently readily available. Fish sampling data suggested that forage fish were more abundant in riverine than in sandpit habitats, and behavioral observations showed that least terns foraged more frequently in riverine than in sandpit habitats. Piping plovers tended to forage in wet substrates along sandpit shorelines, but also used dry substrates and sandpit interior habitats. The greater mobility of least terns makes a wider range of potential foraging habitats available during brood rearing, making them able to exploit concentrations of fish outside the nesting colony. Thus, our data suggest that different spatial scales should be considered in managing nesting and foraging habitat complexes for piping plovers and least terns.

Role of communally nesting ardeid birds in the epidemiology of West Nile virus revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Reisen, William K; Wheeler, Sarah; Armijos, M Veronica; Fang, Ying; Garcia, Sandra; Kelley, Kara; Wright, Stan

2009-06-01

Although herons and egrets in the family Ardeidae frequently have been associated with viruses in the Japanese encephalitis virus serocomplex, communal nesting colonies do not appear to be a focus of early season and rapid amplification of West Nile virus (WNV) in California. Evidence for repeated WNV infection was found by testing living and dead nestlings collected under trees with mixed species ardeid colonies nesting above in an oak grove near the University of California arboretum in Davis and in a Eucalyptus grove at a rural farmstead. However, mosquito infection rates at both nesting sites were low and positive pools did not occur earlier than at comparison sites within the City of Davis or at the Yolo Bypass wetlands managed for rice production and waterfowl habitat. Black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) were the most abundant and frequently infected ardeid species, indicating that WNV may be an important cause of mortality among nestlings of this species.

Effects of human disturbance on nest placement of the woodpigeon (Columba palumbus): a case study from the Middle Atlas, Morocco.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanane, Saâd

2014-06-01

The woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) is a common and widespread bird in Morocco (North Africa). I examined, over 2 years (2010 and 2011), the breeding density and nest placement of this game species in relation to nest site habitat and degree of human disturbance. The study area was in the Middle Atlas Tighboula mountain forest, Morocco, in a disturbed and an undisturbed site. Using data collected in the 2 study sites, I aimed to identify the factors influencing the placement of nests within holm oak trees (Quercus rotundifolia) and their densities. I found that habitat structures, influenced by grazing disturbance, have affected nesting density and the location of nests of this species. Woodpigeons place their nests in a higher position (3.42 ± 0.19 m) when disturbance intensity is high and lower (1.68 ± 0.1 m) when disturbance intensity is low, and show higher nesting density in less disturbed zone (3.1 ± 0.4 nests/ha) than in highly disturbed zones (1.4 ± 0.2 nests/ha). Grazing disturbance could pose a threat to population persistence at a broader scale and could potentially reduce the abundance of this species by altering the composition and the structure of the forest nesting habitat. Further multi-scale studies are needed to assess the effects of different levels of grazing disturbance on woodpigeon nest density and placement, and to enhance our knowledge of the breeding behavior of this game species under variable environments. © 2013 International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Phenological, but not social, variation associated with climate differences in a eusocial sweat bee, Halictus ligatus, nesting in southern Ontario

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Miriam H. Richards

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Studies of annual and geographic variation in eusocial bee populations suggest that more stringent environmental conditions result in stronger reproductive skew favouring queens, while moderate conditions favour increasing worker reproduction. To test these predictions, we compared the phenology and colony development of H. ligatus nesting in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada to a previously studied aggregation 90 km north of St. Catharines, in Victoria, Ontario. Despite the close proximity of these two locations, St. Catharines has markedly shorter winters and longer summers. Comparisons between St. Catharines in 2006 and Victoria in the 1980s and 1990s incorporate both geographic differences in climate and temporal differences due to climate change. We predicted that St. Catharines foundress queens should emerge from hibernation and initiate nests earlier in spring, giving them time to produce more workers. Since earlier studies indicated that queens have difficulty suppressing worker reproduction in larger colonies, we also predicted higher rates of worker ovarian development in St. Catharines. In spring and summer 2006, we excavated 65 H. ligatus nests, comparing their contents to 713 specimens collected in pan traps. As predicted, nests were initiated about a month earlier in St. Catharines than in Victoria, but contrary to prediction, fewer workers were produced in St. Catharines. St. Catharines workers were just as likely to have developed ovaries as Victoria workers. About 40% of St. Catharines workers were classified as reproductive, and larger reproductive workers tended to have higher ovarian scores. Early queen mortality in the longer nest cycle of St. Catharines bees may have enhanced opportunities for worker reproduction despite their smaller numbers. Novel features of H. ligatus sociobiology in St. Catharines included evidence that queens can initiate new nests following the loss of their first brood, overlap between worker and gyne

Evaluation of nested PCR in diagnosis of fungal rhinosinusitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Badiee, Parisa; Gandomi, Behrooz; Sabz, Gholamabbass; Khodami, Bijan; Choopanizadeh, Maral; Jafarian, Hadis

2015-02-01

Given the importance of rapid diagnosis for fungal rhinosinusitis, this study aimed to evaluate the use of nested PCR to identify Aspergillus and Mucor species in clinical samples from patients with suspected fungal rhinosinusitis. Functional endoscopic sinus surgery specimens were collected from 98 patients with rhinosinusitis from 2012 to 2013. All samples were ground and cultured on sabouraud dextrose agar. The isolated fungi were identified based on their macroscopic and microscopic features. Fungal DNA was extracted from the tissue samples and nested PCR was performed with two sets of primers for Mucor and Aspergillus. Direct microscopic showed that 5.1% contained fungal components and 9.2% exhibited growth of fungi in culture. The most common agents isolated were Aspergillus fumigatus (n= 3), Aspergillus flavus (n=2), Penicillium sp (n=3) and Alternaria sp. (n=1). Mucor sp. was identified in the pathology smear from 1 patient. Positive results for fungal rhinosinusitis were obtained for a total of 10.2% by culture or pathology smear. Positive PCR results were obtained in 72 samples for Aspergillus and 31 samples for Mucor. Our results suggest that endoscopic sinus surgery specimens are not suitable for nested PCR, probably because of the accumulation of fungi that contaminate the environmental air. This drawback is a limiting factor for diagnosis with nasal cavity specimens. Therefore, molecular methods and conventional culture techniques are helpful complementary diagnostic methods to detect fungal rhinosinusitis and determine appropriate management for these patients.

Nest mortality of sagebrush songbirds due to a severe hailstorm

Science.gov (United States)

Hightower, Jessica N.; Carlisle, Jason D.; Chalfoun, Anna D.

2018-01-01

Demographic assessments of nesting birds typically focus on failures due to nest predation or brood parasitism. Extreme weather events such as hailstorms, however, can also destroy eggs and injure or kill juvenile and adult birds at the nest. We documented the effects of a severe hailstorm on 3 species of sagebrush-associated songbirds: Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus), Brewer's Sparrow (Spizella breweri), and Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus), nesting at eight 24 ha study plots in central Wyoming, USA. Across all plots, 17% of 128 nests failed due to the hailstorm; however, all failed nests were located at a subset of study plots (n = 3) where the hailstorm was most intense, and 45% of all nests failures on those plots were due to hail. Mortality rates varied by species, nest architecture, and nest placement. Nests with more robust architecture and those sited more deeply under the shrub canopy were more likely to survive the hailstorm, suggesting that natural history traits may modulate mortality risk due to hailstorms. While sporadic in nature, hailstorms may represent a significant source of nest failure to songbirds in certain locations, especially with increasing storm frequency and severity forecasted in some regions with ongoing climate change.

Determinants of abundance and effects of blood-sucking flying insects in the nest of a hole-nesting bird.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomás, Gustavo; Merino, Santiago; Martínez-de la Puente, Josué; Moreno, Juan; Morales, Judith; Lobato, Elisa

2008-05-01

Compared to non-flying nest-dwelling ectoparasites, the biology of most species of flying ectoparasites and its potential impact on avian hosts is poorly known and rarely, if ever, reported. In this study we explore for the first time the factors that may affect biting midge (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) and black fly (Diptera: Simuliidae) abundances in the nest cavity of a bird, the hole-nesting blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus, and report their effects on adults and nestlings during reproduction. The abundance of biting midges was positively associated with nest mass, parental provisioning effort and abundance of blowflies and black flies, while negatively associated with nestling condition. Furthermore, a medication treatment to reduce blood parasitaemias in adult birds revealed that biting midges were more abundant in nests of females whose blood parasitaemias were experimentally reduced. This finding would be in accordance with these insect vectors attacking preferentially uninfected or less infected hosts to increase their own survival. The abundance of black flies in the population was lower than that of biting midges and increased in nests with later hatching dates. No significant effect of black fly abundance on adult or nestling condition was detected. Blood-sucking flying insects may impose specific, particular selection pressures on their hosts and more research is needed to better understand these host-parasite associations.

Genetic variability of isoflavones in the USDA red clover core collection

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Graziele P. Ramos

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Red clover is one of the most utilized forage in agriculture and contains many of the isoflavones known for their human health benefits. The objectives of this study were: i to quantify, using HPLC analysis, isoflavones in 77 accessions from the USDA core collection and a Brazilian line; ii to verify possible relationships depending on their origin, improvement status or maturity type and; iii to verify the seasonal variation. The isoflavone mean contents were 29.27 µg g-1 of dry material for daidzein, 163.69 µg g-1 for genistein, 11353.29 µg g-1 for formononetin and 6568.8 µg g-1 for biochanin A. Clustering was mainly influenced by the total amount of isoflavones and partially due to maturity type, improvement status and geographic origin. The seasonal evaluation demonstrated an increase of concentration during winter, and decrease during spring. These results highlighted accessions that can be used to develop new varieties with low or high isoflavones concentration.

Nesting behavior of Palila, as assessed from video recordings

Science.gov (United States)

Laut, M.E.; Banko, P.C.; Gray, E.M.

2003-01-01

We quantified nesting behavior of Palila (Loxiodes bailleui), an endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper, by recording at nests during three breeding seasons using a black-and-white video camera connected to a Videocassette recorder. A total of seven nests was observed. We measured the following factors for daylight hours: percentage of time the female was on the nest (attendance), length of attendance bouts by the female, length of nest recesses, and adult provisioning rates. Comparisons were made between three stages of the 40-day nesting cycle: incubation (day 1-day 16), early nestling stage (day 17-day 30 [i.e., nestlings ??? 14 days old]), and late nestling stage (day 31-day 40 [i.e., nestlings > 14 days old]). Of seven nests observed, four fledged at least one nestling and three failed. One of these failed nests was filmed being depredated by a feral cat (Felis catus). Female nest attendance was near 82% during the incubation stage and decreased to 21% as nestlings aged. We did not detect a difference in attendance bout length between stages of the nesting cycle. Mean length of nest recesses increased from 4.5 min during the incubation stage to over 45 min during the late nestling stage. Mean number of nest recesses per hour ranged from 1.6 to 2.0. Food was delivered to nestlings by adults an average of 1.8 times per hour for the early nestling stage and 1.5 times per hour during the late nestling stage and did not change over time. Characterization of parental behavior by video had similarities to but also key differences from findings taken from blind observations. Results from this study will facilitate greater understanding of Palila reproductive strategies.

A review of the nest protection hypothesis: does inclusion of fresh green plant material in birds' nests reduce parasite infestation?

Science.gov (United States)

Scott-Baumann, James F; Morgan, Eric R

2015-07-01

The use of aromatic plants and their essential oils for ectoparasite treatment is a field of growing interest. Several species of birds regularly introduce aromatic herbs into their nests putatively to reduce parasites. The behaviour is most often seen in cavity nesting birds and after nest building has finished. The plants are included in a non-structural manner and are often strongly aromatic. Various different hypotheses have been proposed regarding the function of this behaviour; from the plants altering some non-living factor in the nest (crypsis, water loss and insulation hypotheses) to them being involved in mate selection (mate hypothesis) or even having a beneficial effect, direct or indirect, on chicks (drug or nest protection hypothesis, NPH). Many studies have been carried out over the years observing and experimentally testing these hypotheses. This review focuses on studies involving the most popular of these hypotheses, the NPH: that plants decrease nest parasites or pathogens, thereby conveying positive effects to the chicks, allowing the behaviour to evolve. Studies providing observational evidence towards this hypothesis and those experimentally testing it are discussed.

Nesting biology of an Oriental carpenter bee, Xylocopa (Biluna nasalis Westwood, 1838, in Thailand (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Xylocopinae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Watcharapong Hongjamrassilp

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The biological study of wild non-Apis bees can provide useful information that may help with the pollination of food crops and native plants in areas where the keeping of honey bee colonies is restricted or affected by CCD. Here, we describe the nesting biology of the Oriental large carpenter bee, Xylocopa (Biluna nasalis Westwood, 1838. An aggregation of more than 80+ bamboo nests of X. nasalis was discovered in Suan Pheung district, Ratch Buri province, Thailand on the 25th of May 2012. We collected 27 nests from the site to dissect, measure the external and internal nest architecture, and analyze the pollen composition of the pollen masses. X. nasalis constructs linear unbranched nests with nest entrance mostly located at the open-end of the bamboo culms. The nest length and the branch diameter of the nest entrance (excluding nesting edge are 25.40 ± 6.95 cm and 17.94 ± 6.00 mm, and the maximum number of provisioned cells is 8. A biased sex ratio of 8♀: 1♂ is reported, with up to 7 adults inhabiting in a single nest. 29 pollen types were identified from 14 pollen masses using an acetolysis method and visualization under both light microscope and scanning electron microscope. 13 pollen types were considered as major pollen sources (contribute ≥ 1% in total pollen volume; however, only 10 can be identified to family and generic levels. The dominant pollen sources are of the families Elaeagnaceae (Elaeagnus cf. latifolia, Euphorbiaceae (Croton, Fabaceae (Senna siamea and Cassia, Fagaceae (Lithocarpus and Castanopsis, and Lythraceae (Trapa which are mostly native to the region of Southeast Asia. The nesting architectural details should prove to be beneficial to beekeepers and researchers who are interested in trapping and studying X. nasalis, and the polylectic behavior of X. nasalis can be highly valuable for future crop pollination strategies, particularly for plants that require sonication of their poricidal anthers.

Effectiveness of nest site restoration for the endangered northern map turtle : report 2 : use of artificial nesting sites and wildlife exclusion fences to enhance nesting success : research summary.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-01

The Northern Map Turtle, is a state Endangered Species, found only in the : lower Susquehanna River in Maryland. The only area where nests of this : species are not heavily impacted by predators is in the town of Port Deposit. : However, turtles nest...

Effects of intraguild predators on nest-site selection by prey.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Wen-San; Pike, David A

2012-01-01

Nest-site selection involves tradeoffs between the risk of predation (on females and/or nests) and nest-site quality (microenvironment), and consequently suitable nesting sites are often in limited supply. Interactions with "classical" predators (e.g., those not competing for shared resources) can strongly influence nest-site selection, but whether intraguild predation also influences this behavior is unknown. We tested whether risk of predation from an intraguild predator [the diurnal scincid lizard Eutropis (Mabuya) longicaudata] influences nest-site selection by its prey (the nocturnal gecko Gekko hokouensis) on Orchid Island, Taiwan. These two species putatively compete for shared resources, including invertebrate prey and nesting microhabitat, but the larger E. longicaudata also predates G. hokouensis (but not its hard-shelled eggs). Both species nested within a concrete wall containing a series of drainage holes that have either one ("closed-in") or two openings ("open"). In allopatry, E. longicaudata preferred to nest within holes that were plugged by debris (thereby protecting eggs from water intrusion), whereas G. hokouensis selected holes that were open at both ends (facilitating escape from predators). When we experimentally excluded E. longicaudata from its preferred nesting area, G. hokouensis not only nested in higher abundances, but also modified its nest-site selection, such that communal nesting was more prevalent and both open and closed-in holes were used equally. Egg viability was unaffected by the choice of hole type, but was reduced slightly (by 7%) in the predator exclusion area (presumably due to higher local incubation temperatures). Our field experiment demonstrates that intraguild predators can directly influence the nest density of prey by altering maternal nest-site selection behavior, even when the predator and prey are active at different times of day and the eggs are not at risk of predation.

Food use and nutrition of black ducks nesting in Maine

Science.gov (United States)

Reinecke, K.J.; Owen, R.B.

1980-01-01

Based on 32 adult black ducks (Anas rubripes) collected during the nesting seasons of 1974-76, the proportion of macro invertebrates (as aggregate [average] percent of dry weight) in the diet of males, egg-laying females, and postlaying females was 60, 75, and 55%, respectivey. Sample sizes were small, and the differences associated with sex and reproductive condition were not signficant. Molluscs, Isopods, ephemeropteran and odonate nymphs, and coleopteran, trichopteran, and dipteran larvae contributed 74% of the dry weight and 64% of the gross energy ingested. Data from proximate analyses of 9 invertebrate and 9 plant foods were combined with food habits data to estimate the nutrients available to breeding hens. We concluded that females with access to an adequate amount of natural food including invertebrates and the seeds and tubers of aquatic plants would obtain sufficient minerals, protein, and energy for reproduction. Food quality does not appear to limit the density of black ducks nesting in Maine.

Glycoside Hydrolase (GH) 45 and 5 Candidate Cellulases in Aphelenchoides besseyi Isolated from Bird?s-Nest Fern

OpenAIRE

Wu, Guan-Long; Kuo, Tzu-Hao; Tsay, Tung-Tsuan; Tsai, Isheng J.; Chen, Peichen J.

2016-01-01

Five Aphelenchoides besseyi isolates collected from bird's-nest ferns or rice possess different parasitic capacities in bird's-nest fern. Two different glycoside hydrolase (GH) 45 genes were identified in the fern isolates, and only one was found in the rice isolates. A Abe GH5-1 gene containing an SCP-like family domain was found only in the fern isolates. Abe GH5-1 gene has five introns suggesting a eukaryotic origin. A maximum likelihood phylogeny revealed that Abe GH5-1 is part of the nem...

Achromatic nested Kirkpatrick–Baez mirror optics for hard X-ray nanofocusing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Wenjun; Ice, Gene E.; Assoufid, Lahsen; Liu, Chian; Shi, Bing; Khachatryan, Ruben; Qian, Jun; Zschack, Paul; Tischler, Jonathan Z.; Choi, J.-Y.

2011-01-01

A nested Kirkpatrick–Baez mirror pair has been designed, fabricated and tested for achromatic nanofocusing synchrotron hard X-rays. The prototype system achieved a FWHM focal spot of about 150 nm in both horizontal and vertical directions. The first test of nanoscale-focusing Kirkpatrick–Baez (KB) mirrors in the nested (or Montel) configuration used at a hard X-ray synchrotron beamline is reported. The two mirrors are both 40 mm long and coated with Pt to produce a focal length of 60 mm at 3 mrad incident angle, and collect up to a 120 µm by 120 µm incident X-ray beam with maximum angular acceptance of 2 mrad and a broad bandwidth of energies up to 30 keV. In an initial test a focal spot of about 150 nm in both horizontal and vertical directions was achieved with either polychromatic or monochromatic beam. The nested mirror geometry, with two mirrors mounted side-by-side and perpendicular to each other, is significantly more compact and provides higher demagnification than the traditional sequential KB mirror arrangement. Ultimately, nested mirrors can focus larger divergence to improve the diffraction limit of achromatic optics. A major challenge with the fabrication of the required mirrors is the need for near-perfect mirror surfaces near the edge of at least one of the mirrors. Special polishing procedures and surface profile coating were used to preserve the mirror surface quality at the reflecting edge. Further developments aimed at achieving diffraction-limited focusing below 50 nm are underway

[Pollen analysis of the post-emergence residue of Centris tarsata Smith (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Centridini) nests].

Science.gov (United States)

Dórea, Marcos da C; Dos Santos, Francisco de A R; Lima, Luciene C de L E; Figueroa, Luís E R

2009-01-01

A new treatment protocol was developed to analyze pollen residues found in nests of Centris tarsata Smith harvested from nest-traps. The study area was located in the Canudos Biological Station in the municipality of Canudos (09 masculine56'34'S; 38 masculine59'17'W), in the northeastern micro-region of Bahia State, Brazil. The local vegetation is an open caatinga (deciduous dryland vegetation), the regional climate is semi-arid, the average annual temperature is 24.1 masculineC, and the annual regional rainfall rate is 454 mm. Ten nests of C. tarsata were collected in trap-nests during the first semester of 2004. Pollen analysis from the nests required the development of a new methodology that combined techniques of palynological sediment analysis with the more common pollinic analysis by acetolysis. Microscopic analyses employed optical microscopy techniques. The pollinic spectrum of the samples from C. tarsata indicated the presence of 17 pollen types from seven plant families, which were present in assemblage of five to eleven pollen types, pointed to the plants used by bees to feed on their offspring. The most represented plant families were Leguminosae (49.3%) and Solanaceae (43.2%). The most frequent pollen types in the samples were from Solanum paniculatum (43.8%) and Senna rizzini (32.1%). The protocol developed provides a new tool for diet assessment of Centris and other groups of solitary bees.

Is it safe to nest near conspicuous neighbours? Spatial patterns in predation risk associated with the density of American Golden-Plover nests

OpenAIRE

Marie-Andrée Giroux; Myriam Trottier-Paquet; Joël Bêty; Vincent Lamarre; Nicolas Lecomte

2016-01-01

Predation is one of the main factors explaining nesting mortality in most bird species. Birds can avoid nest predation or reduce predation pressure by breeding at higher latitude, showing anti-predator behaviour, selecting nest sites protected from predators, and nesting in association with protective species. American Golden-Plovers (Pluvialis dominica) defend their territory by using various warning and distraction behaviours displayed at varying levels of intensity (hereafter ?conspicuous ...

Efficient processing of containment queries on nested sets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ibrahim, A.; Fletcher, G.H.L.

2013-01-01

We study the problem of computing containment queries on sets which can have both atomic and set-valued objects as elements, i.e., nested sets. Containment is a fundamental query pattern with many basic applications. Our study of nested set containment is motivated by the ubiquity of nested data in

Conservation implications when the nest predators are known

Science.gov (United States)

Ribic, Christine; Thompson, Frank

2012-01-01

Conservation and management of passerines has largely focused on habitat manipulation or restoration because the natural communities on which these birds depend have been destroyed and fragmented. However, productivity is another important aspect of avian conservation, and nest predation can be a large source of nesting mortality for passerines. Recent studies using video surveillance to identify nest predators allow researchers to start evaluating what methods could be used to mitigate nest predation to help passerines of conservation concern. From recent studies, we identified latitudinal and habitat-related patterns in the importance of predator groups that depredate passerine nests. We then reviewed how knowledge of specific nest predators can benefit conservation of bird species of concern. Mammals were the dominant predator group in northern grasslands. Snakes were the dominant predator group in southern habitats. Fire ants were only a nest predator in southern latitudes. Differences in the importance of predator species or groups were likely the result of both their geographic patterns of distribution and habitat preferences. Some direct and indirect predator control measures developed for waterfowl management potentially could be used to benefit passerine productivity. We reviewed three examples-cowbirds, snakes in shrublands, and ground squirrels in grasslands-to illustrate how different predator control strategies may be needed in different situations. Mitigation of passerine nest predation will need to be based on knowledge of predator communities to be effective. This requires large samples of predation events with identified predators; video technology is essential for this task.

Exact solution for the quench dynamics of a nested integrable system

Science.gov (United States)

Mestyán, Márton; Bertini, Bruno; Piroli, Lorenzo; Calabrese, Pasquale

2017-08-01

Integrable models provide an exact description for a wide variety of physical phenomena. For example nested integrable systems contain different species of interacting particles with a rich phenomenology in their collective behavior, which is the origin of the unconventional phenomenon of spin-charge separation. So far, however, most of the theoretical work in the study of non-equilibrium dynamics of integrable systems has focussed on models with an elementary (i.e. not nested) Bethe ansatz. In this work we explicitly investigate quantum quenches in nested integrable systems, by generalizing the application of the quench action approach. Specifically, we consider the spin-1 Lai-Sutherland model, described, in the thermodynamic limit, by the theory of two different species of Bethe-ansatz particles, each one forming an infinite number of bound states. We focus on the situation where the quench dynamics starts from a simple matrix product state for which the overlaps with the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian are known. We fully characterize the post-quench steady state and perform several consistency checks for the validity of our results. Finally, we provide predictions for the propagation of entanglement and mutual information after the quench, which can be used as signature of the quasi-particle content of the model.

Reduced entomopathogen abundance in Myrmica ant nests-testing a possible immunological benefit of myrmecophily using Galleria mellonella as a model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schär, Sämi; Larsen, Louise L.M.; Meyling, Nicolai Vitt

2015-01-01

Social insects such as ants have evolved collective rather than individual immune defence strategies against diseases and parasites at the level of their societies (colonies), known as social immunity. Ants frequently host other arthropods, so-called myrmecophiles, in their nests. Here, we tested...... that immunological benefits of entering ant nests may provide us a new explanation of why natural selection acts in favour of such a life-history strategy....

Landscape-moderated bird nest predation in hedges and forest edges

Science.gov (United States)

Ludwig, Martin; Schlinkert, Hella; Holzschuh, Andrea; Fischer, Christina; Scherber, Christoph; Trnka, Alfréd; Tscharntke, Teja; Batáry, Péter

2012-11-01

Landscape-scale agricultural intensification has caused severe declines in biodiversity. Hedges and forest remnants may mitigate biodiversity loss by enhancing landscape heterogeneity and providing habitat to a wide range of species, including birds. However, nest predation, the major cause of reproductive failure of birds, has been shown to be higher in forest edges than in forest interiors. Little is known about how spatial arrangement (configuration) of hedges affects the avian nest predation. We performed an experiment with artificial ground and elevated nests (resembling yellowhammer and whitethroat nests) baited with quail and plasticine eggs. Nests were placed in three habitat types with different degrees of isolation from forests: forest edges, hedges connected to forests and hedges isolated from forests. Nest predation was highest in forest edges, lowest in hedges connected to forests and intermediate in isolated hedges. In the early breeding season, we found similar nest predation on ground and elevated nests, but in the late breeding season nest predation was higher on ground nests than on elevated nests. Small mammals were the main predators of ground nests and appeared to be responsible for the increase in predation from early to late breeding season, whereas the elevated nests were mainly depredated by small birds and small mammals. High predation pressure at forest edges was probably caused by both forest and open-landscape predators. The influence of forest predators may be lower at hedges, leading to lower predation pressure than in forest edges. Higher predation pressure in isolated than connected hedges might be an effect of concentration of predators in these isolated habitats. We conclude that landscape configuration of hedges is important in nest predation, with connected hedges allowing higher survival than isolated hedges and forest edges.

Detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii by nested PCR in HIV-negative patients with pulmonary disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Cristina Rodrigues; de Assis, Ângela M; Luz, Edson A; Lyra, Luzia; Toro, Ivan F; Seabra, José Claudio C; Daldin, Dira H; Marcalto, Tathiane U; Galasso, Marcos T; Macedo, Ronaldo F; Schreiber, Angélica Z; Aoki, Francisco H

Nested PCR can be used to determine the status of Pneumocystis jirovecii infection in other lung diseases. This study sought to detect a target DNA fragment (mitochondrial large subunit rRNA or mtL SUrRNA) of P. jirovecii in patients with lung disease who underwent bronchoscopy with collection of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). The results from toluidine blue staining were compared with those obtained using molecular methods that included an "in house" DNA extraction procedure, PCR and nested PCR. Fifty-five BAL samples from patients with atypical chest X-rays were screened for P. jirovecii. None of the samples was positive for P. jirovecii using toluidine blue staining. In contrast, P. jirovecii DNA was detected by nested PCR in BAL samples from 36 of 55 patients (65.5%). The lung diseases in the patients included cancer, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Other chronic problems in the patients included hypertension, diabetes, smoking, and alcoholism. Nested PCR showed high sensitivity for detecting P. jirovecii, especially when compared with toluidine blue staining. Using this method, P. jirovecii infection was detected in HIV-negative patients with lung disease. Copyright © 2016 Asociación Española de Micología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Application of multiplex nested methylated specific PCR in early diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Bi; Yu, Lei; Yang, Guo-Zhen; Luo, Xin; Huang, Lin

2015-01-01

To explore the application of multiplex nested methylated specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the early diagnosis of epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC). Serum and fresh tissue samples were collected from 114 EOC patients. RUNX3, TFPI2 and OPCML served as target genes. Methylation levels of tissues were assessed by multiplex nested methylated specific PCR, the results being compared with those for carcinoma antigen 125 (CA125). The serum free deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) methylation spectrum of EOC patients was completely contained in the DNA spectrum of cancer tissues, providing an accurate reflection of tumor DNA methylation conditions. Serum levels of CA125 and free DNA methylation in the EOC group were evidently higher than those in benign lesion and control groups (p0.05). The sensitivity, specificity and positive predicative value (PPV) of multiplex nested methylated specific PCR were significantly higher for detection of all patients and those with early EOC than those for CA125 (pnested methylated specific PCR (p>0.05), but there was no significant difference in sensitivity (p>0.05). Serum free DNA methylation can be used as a biological marker for EOC and multiplex nested methylated specific PCR should be considered for early diagnosis since it can accurately determine tumor methylation conditions.

Timing, Nest Site Selection and Multiple Breeding in House Martins: Age-Related Variation and the Preference for Self-Built Mud Nests

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Piersma, T.

2013-01-01

Almost all accounts of the reproductive biology of House Martins Delichon urbicum are based on studies of birds breeding in artificial nests that are monitored every few days. Here, I provide a study on House Martins using self-built mud nests at a single colony in Gaast, The Netherlands (225 nest

Timing, nest site selection and multiple breeding in House Martins : age-related variation and the preference for self-built mud nests

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Piersma, Theunis

2013-01-01

Almost all accounts of the reproductive biology of House Martins Delichon urbicum are based on studies of birds breeding in artificial nests that are monitored every few days. Here, I provide a study on House Martins using self-built mud nests at a single colony in Gaast, The Netherlands (225 nest

Culinary and sensory traits diversity in the Spanish Core Collection of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rivera, A.; Casquero, P.A.; Mayo, S.; Almirall, A.; Plans, M.; Simó, J.; Romero-del-Castillo, R.; Casañas, F.

2016-11-01

The Spanish National Plant Genetic Resource Center’s core collection of bean germplasm includes 202 accessions selected from more than 3000 accessions in function of passport data, seed phenotype, genetic background, and agronomic traits. To acquire more useful information about these accessions, we cultivated and characterized them for sensory and culinary traits. We found considerable variation for culinary and sensory traits of the cooked beans (mean coefficients of variation: 41% for the sensory traits and 40% for the culinary traits). The large dataset enabled us to study correlations between sensory and culinary traits and among these traits and geographic origin, seed color, and growth habit. Greater proportion of white in the seed coat correlated positively with brightness and negatively with mealiness (r=0.60, r=-0.60, p<0.001, respectively). Mealiness correlated negatively with seed-coat roughness and rate of water absorption (r=-0.60, r=-0.53, p<0.001, respectively). Materials of Andean origin had lower seed-coat brightness (p<0.01) and seed-coat roughness, and greater seed-coat perceptibility, mealiness, flavor, and aroma (p<0.001) than materials of Mesoamerican origin. Growth habit failed to correlate with culinary or sensory traits. Breeders can benefit from the information about this core collection available at www.crf.inia.es/crfesp/paginaprincipaljudia.asp. (Author)

Does cooperation mean kinship between spatially discrete ant nests?

Science.gov (United States)

Procter, Duncan S; Cottrell, Joan E; Watts, Kevin; A'Hara, Stuart W; Hofreiter, Michael; Robinson, Elva J H

2016-12-01

Eusociality is one of the most complex forms of social organization, characterized by cooperative and reproductive units termed colonies. Altruistic behavior of workers within colonies is explained by inclusive fitness, with indirect fitness benefits accrued by helping kin. Members of a social insect colony are expected to be more closely related to one another than they are to other conspecifics. In many social insects, the colony can extend to multiple socially connected but spatially separate nests (polydomy). Social connections, such as trails between nests, promote cooperation and resource exchange, and we predict that workers from socially connected nests will have higher internest relatedness than those from socially unconnected, and noncooperating, nests. We measure social connections, resource exchange, and internest genetic relatedness in the polydomous wood ant Formica lugubris to test whether (1) socially connected but spatially separate nests cooperate, and (2) high internest relatedness is the underlying driver of this cooperation. Our results show that socially connected nests exhibit movement of workers and resources, which suggests they do cooperate, whereas unconnected nests do not. However, we find no difference in internest genetic relatedness between socially connected and unconnected nest pairs, both show high kinship. Our results suggest that neighboring pairs of connected nests show a social and cooperative distinction, but no genetic distinction. We hypothesize that the loss of a social connection may initiate ecological divergence within colonies. Genetic divergence between neighboring nests may build up only later, as a consequence rather than a cause of colony separation.

Effects of Fungicide and Adjuvant Sprays on Nesting Behavior in Two Managed Solitary Bees, Osmia lignaria and Megachile rotundata.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Derek R Artz

Full Text Available There is a growing body of empirical evidence showing that wild and managed bees are negatively impacted by various pesticides that are applied in agroecosystems around the world. The lethal and sublethal effects of two widely used fungicides and one adjuvant were assessed in cage studies in California on blue orchard bees, Osmia lignaria, and in cage studies in Utah on alfalfa leafcutting bees, Megachile rotundata. The fungicides tested were Rovral 4F (iprodione and Pristine (mixture of pyraclostrobin + boscalid, and the adjuvant tested was N-90, a non-ionic wetting agent (90% polyethoxylated nonylphenol added to certain tank mixtures of fungicides to improve the distribution and contact of sprays to plants. In separate trials, we erected screened cages and released 20 paint-marked females plus 30-50 males per cage to document the behavior of nesting bees under treated and control conditions. For all females in each cage, we recorded pollen-collecting trip times, nest substrate-collecting trip times (i.e., mud for O. lignaria and cut leaf pieces for M. rotundata, cell production rate, and the number of attempts each female made to enter her own or to enter other nest entrances upon returning from a foraging trip. No lethal effects of treatments were observed on adults, nor were there effects on time spent foraging for pollen and nest substrates and on cell production rate. However, Rovral 4F, Pristine, and N-90 disrupted the nest recognition abilities of O. lignaria females. Pristine, N-90, and Pristine + N-90 disrupted nest recognition ability of M. rotundata females. Electroantennogram responses of antennae of O. lignaria females maintained in the laboratory did not differ significantly between the fungicide-exposed and control bees. Our results provide the first empirical evidence that two commonly used fungicides and a non-ionic adjuvant can disrupt nest recognition in two managed solitary bee species.

The Role of Non-Foraging Nests in Polydomous Wood Ant Colonies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Samuel; Robinson, Elva J H

2015-01-01

A colony of red wood ants can inhabit more than one spatially separated nest, in a strategy called polydomy. Some nests within these polydomous colonies have no foraging trails to aphid colonies in the canopy. In this study we identify and investigate the possible roles of non-foraging nests in polydomous colonies of the wood ant Formica lugubris. To investigate the role of non-foraging nests we: (i) monitored colonies for three years; (ii) observed the resources being transported between non-foraging nests and the rest of the colony; (iii) measured the amount of extra-nest activity around non-foraging and foraging nests. We used these datasets to investigate the extent to which non-foraging nests within polydomous colonies are acting as: part of the colony expansion process; hunting and scavenging specialists; brood-development specialists; seasonal foragers; or a selfish strategy exploiting the foraging effort of the rest of the colony. We found that, rather than having a specialised role, non-foraging nests are part of the process of colony expansion. Polydomous colonies expand by founding new nests in the area surrounding the existing nests. Nests founded near food begin foraging and become part of the colony; other nests are not founded near food sources and do not initially forage. Some of these non-foraging nests eventually begin foraging; others do not and are abandoned. This is a method of colony growth not available to colonies inhabiting a single nest, and may be an important advantage of the polydomous nesting strategy, allowing the colony to expand into profitable areas.

Reactor core control device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sano, Hiroki

1998-01-01

The present invention provides a reactor core control device, in which switching from a manual operation to an automatic operation, and the control for the parameter of an automatic operation device are facilitated. Namely, the hysteresis of the control for the operation parameter by an manual operation input means is stored. The hysteresis of the control for the operation parameter is collected. The state of the reactor core simulated by an operation control to which the collected operation parameters are manually inputted is determined as an input of the reactor core state to the automatic input means. The record of operation upon manual operation is stored as a hysteresis of control for the operation parameter, but the hysteresis information is not only the result of manual operation of the operation parameter. This is results of operation conducted by a skilled operator who judge the state of the reactor core to be optimum. Accordingly, it involves information relevant to the reactor core state. Then, it is considered that the optimum automatic operation is not deviated greatly from the manual operation. (I.S.)

Some problems of the origin of galaxy nests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Metlov, V.G.

1979-01-01

The origin of galaxy nests have been studied. The nests of galaxies consist of a few (more than two) galaxies in contact with each other and strongly distorted by mutual interaction. Their colour, geometrical and morphological characteristics are compared with ones of ordinary galaxies and groups of galaxies. Conclusions are drawn that 5% to 15% of the total number of nests may be the evolutionary products of tight groups of galaxies (with diameter 11 Msub(Sun)). About half of such objects consist of elliptical galaxies. Galaxies in sufficiently tight groups may merge in consequence of dynamical friction. The remaining (85-95%) nests origin may be possibly explained by different kinds of instabilities in certain flat galaxies, with transformation of one galaxy to the nest, or by interaction of two galaxies containing large amounts of gas and consequent intensive star formation in very large regions, or by other causes. To establish relative contribution of each possible phenomenon in nests origin, it is required to carry out further detailed investigations of these objects

No evidence for UV-based nest-site selection in sticklebacks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bakker Theo CM

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Nests are built in various animal taxa including fish. In systems with exclusive male parental care, the choice of a nest site may be an important component of male fitness. The nest site may influence male attractiveness as a mate, and male, embryo, and juvenile survival probabilities. Reproductively active three-spined stickleback males establish and defend a territory in which they build a nest. Territories can differ remarkably in qualities that influence male and female reproductive success like predation risk or abiotic factors such as dissolved oxygen concentration or lighting conditions. The latter may be important because in sticklebacks the extended visual capability into the ultraviolet (UV wave range plays a role in female mate choice. Males are thus expected to be choosy about the habitat in which they will build their nest. Results We tested nest-site choice in male three-spined sticklebacks with respect to different UV lighting conditions. Reproductively active males were given the simultaneous choice to build their nest either in an UV-rich (UV+ or an UV-lacking (UV- environment. Males exhibited no significant nest-site preferences with respect to UV+ or UV-. However, larger males and also heavier ones completed their nests earlier. Conclusion We found that UV radiation as well as differences in luminance had no influence on nest-site choice in three-spined sticklebacks. Males that built in the UV-rich environment were not different in any trait (body traits and UV reflection traits from males that built in the UV-poor environment. There was a significant effect of standard length and body mass on the time elapsed until nest completion in the UV experiment. The larger and heavier a male, the faster he completed his nest. In the brightness control experiment there was a significant effect only of body mass on the duration of nest completion. Whether nest building preferences with respect to UV lighting