How a songbird with a continuous singing style modulates its song when territorially challenged

In songbirds of the temperate zone, often only males sing and their songs serve to attract females and to deter territorial rivals. In many species, males vary certain aspects of their singing behavior when engaged in territorial interactions. Such variation may be an honest signal of the traits of the signaler, such as fighting strength, condition, or aggressive motivation, and may be used by receivers in decisions on whether to retreat or to escalate a fight. This has been studied intensively in species that sing discontinuously, in which songs are alternating with silent pauses. We studied contextual variation in the song of skylarks (Alauda arvensis), a songbird with a large vocal repertoire and a continuous and versatile singing style. We exposed subjects to simulated territorial intrusions by broadcasting conspecific song and recorded their vocal responses. We found that males sing differently if they are singing spontaneously with no other conspecific around than if they are territorially challenged. In this last case, males produced lower-frequency syllables. Furthermore, they increased the sound density of their song: they increased the proportion of sound within song. They seem to do so by singing different elements of their repertoire when singing reactively. Furthermore, they increased the consistency of mean peak frequency: they repeated syllable types with less variability when singing reactively. Such contextual variation suggests that skylarks might use low frequencies, sound density, and song consistency to indicate their competitive potential, and thus, those song features might be important for mutual assessment of competitive abilities.     

Moisture effects on eolian particle entrainment

In wind tunnel experiments, we study the effects of soil moisture on the threshold condition to entrain fine grain sand/silt into eolian flow and the near-bed concentration of airborne particles. To study the effect of particle shape on moisture bonding, we use two types of particles nearly equal in size: spherical glass beads $(d_{50} = 134\,\upmu \mathrm{m})$ and sieved quartz sand $(d_{50} = 139 \,\upmu \mathrm{m})$ . Both are poorly graded soils. We conducted these experiments at low moisture contents $({<}1\,\%)$ . We found that the spherical particles were more sensitive to changes in moisture than the sand, attributable to the large differences in specific surface area of the two particles. The larger specific surface area for sand is due to the surface roughness of the angular sand particle. Consequently, sand “stores” more moisture via surface adsorption, requiring higher soil moisture content to form liquid bridges between sand particles. Based on these findings, we extend the concept of a threshold moisture content, $w^{\prime }$ —originally proposed for clayey soils—to soils that lack any measureable clay content. This allows application of existing models developed for clayey soils that quantify the moisture effect on the threshold friction velocity to sand and silty soils (i.e., clay content $=$ 0). Additionally, we develop a model that quantifies the moisture effects on near-surface airborne particulate concentration, using experimental observations to determine the functional dependence on fluid and particle properties, including soil specific area. These models can be applied to numerical simulation of particulate plume formation and dispersion.     

Ethics and governance for internet-based conservation science research

Internet-based research is increasingly important for conservation science and has wide-ranging applications and contexts, including culturomics, illegal wildlife trade, and citizen science. However, online research methods pose a range of ethical and legal challenges. Online data may be protected by copyright, database rights, or contract law. Privacy rights may also restrict the use and access of data, as well as ethical requirements from institutions. Online data have real-world meaning, and the ethical treatment of individuals and communities must not be marginalized when conducting internet-based research. As ethics frameworks originally developed for biomedical applications are inadequate for these methods, we propose that research activities involving the analysis of preexisting online data be treated analogous to offline social science methods, in particular, nondeceptive covert observation. By treating internet users and their data with respect and due consideration, conservationists can uphold the public trust needed to effectively address real-world issues.     

A Simple Intervention to Reduce Framing Effects in Perceptions of Global Climate Change

This paper explores a technique for mitigating framing effects in perceptions of global climate change. People's opinions on issues ranging from same sex marriage and the environment to free speech and health care have been shown to be influenced by the way in which the issue is presented: the metaphors, images, and catchphrases that communicate implicit normative messages about the issue. The work described here synthesizes insights from experimental research on moderators of framing effects and sociological research on frame reflection. Based on this synthesis, this paper describes a test of a simple highlighting technique for focusing respondents' attention on the framing operating in political materials. Results suggest that this intervention not only can reduce the opinion-shaping impact of frames but may also reduce ideological polarization. Implications include a better understanding of the mechanisms by which frames operate, techniques for making frame reflection possible among political non-elites, and recommendations for strengthening environmental groups' public communication strategies.     

Local and systemic induced responses to cabbage root fly larvae (Delia radicum) in Brassica nigra and B. oleracea

Summary. Feeding by belowground herbivores may induce systemic changes in shoot defence levels that affect the performance of above ground herbivores and higher trophic levels. In this paper two wild Brassica species, B. nigra and B. oleracea were experimentally infested with 10 larvae of the cabbage root fly, Delia radicum. Plant dry masses and glucosinolate levels in shoots, main roots, and fine roots were determined at 3, 7, 12 and 14 days after infestation and compared to those of control plants. The systemic response in the leaves differed between plant species. In B. nigra shoot glucosinolate levels in D. radicum infested plants steadily increased with time until they were almost twice those of controls 14 days after infestation. B. oleracea plants infested with D. radicum did not show significant changes in shoot glucosinolate levels within 14 days, which may be due to the unexpected poorer performance of D. radicum on this species. Both plant species showed a local increase in indole glucosinolates in the main roots, which are the preferred feeding site of D. radicum larvae. B. oleracea plants however showed a stronger (1.9 – 4.7 times) increase in indole glucosinolate levels than B. nigra (1.5 – 2.6 times). The increase in indole glucosinolates in B. nigra main roots, was counterbalanced by a significant decrease in aromatic glucosinolate levels. These differences in local responses to D. radicum feeding between the two species may have contributed to the slower growth rates of the larvae on B. oleracea. D. radicum feeding did not result in altered glucosinolate levels in the fine roots in either plant species. The differences in glucosinolate induction patterns between the summer annual B. nigra and the perennial B. oleracea are discussed in the light of their different life histories.     

Impact of windage on ocean surface Lagrangian coherent structures

Windage, the additional direct, wind-induced drift of material floating at the free surface of the ocean, plays a crucial role in the surface transport of biological and contaminant material. Lagrangian coherent structures (LCS) uncover the hidden organizing structures that underlie material transport by fluid flows. Despite numerous studies in which LCS ideas have been applied to ocean surface transport scenarios, such as oil spills, debris fields and biological material, there has been no consideration of the influence of windage on LCS. Here we investigate and demonstrate the impact of windage on ocean surface LCS via a case study of the ocean surrounding the UNESCO World Heritage Ningaloo coral reef coast in Western Australia. We demonstrate that the inclusion of windage is necessary when applying LCS to the study of surface transport of any floating material in the ocean.