Adolescent social environment shapes sexual and aggressive behaviour of adult male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata)

Adolescence is the pivotal transitional phase during which animals become sexually and socially mature and acquire the skills to cope with a variety of environmental challenges on their own. We investigated in a bird species, the zebra finch, how the social environment experienced during this period influences their behaviour in a sexual context. Zebra finches were kept in pairs (male–female or male–male) or larger mixed-sex groups (three males and three females) during adolescence and the long-term consequences were studied on courtship behaviour, aggressiveness and attractiveness in 42 males. To investigate the stability of the observed effects over time, all behavioural tests were repeated approximately 4 months after the initial recordings. Males that grew up with a single female showed the most intense courtship and highest aggressiveness and were most attractive to females, while group-reared males had the lowest courtship and aggressiveness and were the least attractive. The observed differences in courtship and aggressiveness were stable, while the differences in attractiveness disappeared over time. These findings are very similar to earlier studies on guinea pigs, indicating that the observed effects represent a general phenomenon, not restricted to mammals with a similar function and presumably also similar underlying mechanisms.     

Age-related multi-year associations in female humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)

Analyses of social structures in baleen whales are rare, and so far, they are thought to consist of mostly short and unstable associations. We investigated the association patterns of individual humpback whales from a summer feeding aggregation in the Gulf of St. Lawrence from 1997 to 2005. Photo-identified animals were sexed using genetic methods and were grouped into five categories: juvenile males/females, mature males and lactating/non-lactating females. We calculated half-weight association indices within and between the groups and found that 45% of the observation showed single animals and another 45% small groups (two to three) consisting mainly of mature animals besides lactating females. Using permutation tests, we found evidence for long-term associations between mature males and non-lactating females as well as among non-lactating females. Standardised lagged association rates revealed that these male–female groups disassociated quickly over about 2 weeks, whereas associations increased again towards the beginning of the breeding season. Non-lactating females of similar age engaged in multi-seasonal stable pairs for up to six consecutive feeding seasons; no mature male–female association was observed in consecutive years. The females with the most stable and long-term associations also had the highest reproductive output. While the risk of predation could not explain these long-term bonds, feeding cooperation seemed the most plausible explanation for group forming behaviour during the summer months.     

Effects of Artificial Roosts for Frugivorous Bats on Seed Dispersal in a Neotropical Forest Pasture Mosaic

Abstract:  In the Neotropics ongoing deforestation is producing open and heavily fragmented landscapes dominated by agriculture, mostly plantations and cattle pastures. After some time agriculture often becomes uneconomical and land is abandoned. Subsequent habitat regeneration may be slow because seed inputs are restricted by a lack of incentives—such as suitable roost sites—for seed dispersers to enter deforested areas. Increasing environmental awareness has fostered growing efforts to promote reforestation. Practical and cost-efficient methods for kick-starting forest regeneration are, however, lacking. We investigated whether artificial bat roosts for frugivorous bat species can attract these key seed dispersers to deforested areas, thereby increasing seed rain. We installed artificial bat roosts in a forest-pasture mosaic in the Costa Rican Atlantic lowlands and monitored bat colonization and seed dispersal. Colonization occurred within a few weeks of installation, and 10 species of bats occupied the artificial roosts. Five species of frugivorous or nectarivorous bats colonized artificial roosts permanently in both primary habitat and in deforested areas, in numbers similar to those found in natural roosts. Seed input around artificial roosts increased significantly. Sixty-nine different seed types, mostly of early-successional plant species, were transported by bats to artificial roosts in disturbed habitats. The installation of artificial bat roosts thus successfully attracted frugivorous bats and increased seed inputs into degraded sites. This method is likely to speed up early-vegetation succession, which in turn will attract additional seed dispersers, such as birds, and provide a microhabitat for seeds of mid- and late-successional plants. As well as supporting natural forest regeneration and bat conservation, this cost-efficient method can also increase environmental awareness among landowners.     

Storm surges: perspectives and options

This review paper attempts to summarize the scattered and fragmented knowledge about past and possible future changing storm-surge statistics using the particularly well-studied case of the North Sea as an example. For this region, a complete and robust analysis methodology has been developed in recent years. This methodology is based on dynamical and statistical models. Using the concept of dynamical downscaling, development during recent decades, when sufficiently good and homogeneous weather data exist, has been “reconstructed,” and scenarios of possible future change are described. “Localization” allows estimation of changes at specific sites, e.g., harbors. As local water-level statistics depend not only on climate variations but also on local modifications of the local bathymetry, new options for adaptation emerge. For the case of Hamburg, an option for such future adaptations is discussed.     

Chamber studies on mass-transfer of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) and di-n-butylphthalate (DnBP) from emission sources into house dust

For a number of phthalates and especially for di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), surprisingly high house dust concentrations are reported in the literature. Therefore, the uptake of the most prominent compounds DEHP and di-n-butylphthalate (DnBP) from plasticized indoor materials into house dust samples of different organic content has been experimentally determined. The experiments have been performed within 45 days which is sufficient for the more volatile phthalate (DnBP) to reach equilibrium conditions. DnBP reaches considerably higher concentrations in the chamber air compared to real room measurements and, thus, also elevated dust concentrations. In contrast, the mass transfer of DEHP in the dust via the gas phase was significantly lower. However, small chamber experiments showed elevated mass transfer of DEHP in case of direct contact between emission source and sink. This aspect is experimentally determined using an plasticized PVC polymer with and without direct contact to house dust. A transfer into the dust could be observed in dependence of the initial concentration in the material. However, the results do not allow the differentiation between the two uptake mechanisms via capillary forces and contact to the material’s boundary layer. The results illustrate that the reasons for elevated DEHP concentrations in dust indoors can be traced back to direct contact of source and sink, abrasion from the source, and transport via airborne particles.     

Concentrations and sources of carbonaceous aerosol in the atmosphere of Summit,Greenland

High-volume PM_2.5 samples were collected at Summit, Greenland for approximately six months from late May through December of 2006. Filters were composited and analyzed for source tracer compounds. The individual organic compounds measured at Summit are orders of magnitude smaller than concentrations measured at other sites, including locations representative of remote oceanic, and remote and urban continental aerosol. The measured tracers were used to quantify the contribution of biomass burning (0.6–0.9 ng C m^?3), vegetative detritus (0.3–0.9 ng C m^?3), and fossil fuel combustion (0.1–0.8 ng C m^?3) sources, 4% of OC total, to atmospheric organic carbon concentrations at the remote location of Summit, Greenland. The unapportioned organic carbon (96%) during the early summer period correlates well with the fraction of water soluble organic carbon, indicating secondary organic aerosol as a large source of organic carbon, supported by the active photochemistry occurring at Summit. To the author's knowledge, this paper represents the first source apportionment results for the polar free troposphere.     

Survival of weed seeds and animal parasites as affected by anaerobic digestion at meso- and thermophilic conditions

Anaerobic digestion of residual materials from animals and crops offers an opportunity to simultaneously produce bioenergy and plant fertilizers at single farms and in farm communities where input substrate materials and resulting digested residues are shared among member farms. A surplus benefit from this practice may be the suppressing of propagules from harmful biological pests like weeds and animal pathogens (e.g. parasites). In the present work, batch experiments were performed, where survival of seeds of seven species of weeds and non-embryonated eggs of the large roundworm of pigs, Ascaris suum, was assessed under conditions similar to biogas plants managed at meso- (37 °C) and thermophilic (55 °C) conditions. Cattle manure was used as digestion substrate and experimental units were sampled destructively over time. Regarding weed seeds, the effect of thermophilic conditions (55 °C) was very clear as complete mortality, irrespective of weed species, was reached after less than 2 days. At mesophilic conditions, seeds of Avena fatua, Sinapsis arvensis, Solidago canadensis had completely lost germination ability, while Brassica napus, Fallopia convolvulus and Amzinckia micrantha still maintained low levels (～1%) of germination ability after 1 week. Chenopodium album was the only weed species which survived 1 week at substantial levels (7%) although after 11 d germination ability was totally lost. Similarly, at 55 °C, no Ascaris eggs survived more than 3 h of incubation. Incubation at 37 °C did not affect egg survival during the first 48 h and it took up to 10 days before total elimination was reached. In general, anaerobic digestion in biogas plants seems an efficient way (thermophilic more efficient than mesophilic) to treat organic farm wastes in a way that suppresses animal parasites and weeds so that the digestates can be applied without risking spread of these pests.