Social rank, fecundity and lifetime reproductive success in wild European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

Wild European rabbits of both sexes have separate linear rank orders, which are established and maintained by intensive fights. This paper presents data from a 14-year study (1987-2000) on the population physiology and behavioural ecology of wild rabbits living in a 22,000 m² enclosure and focuses on the relationship between social rank and reproduction in females. Group composition, social ranks, fecundity and reproductive success were known for all females (n=197) from the outset of their first reproductive season at an age of about 300 days until their death. The annual reproductive success of females was influenced to a large extent by their social rank. This depended on two effects of about equal strength: a higher fecundity of high-ranking females and a lower mortality of their offspring between birth and adulthood. The lifetime reproductive success of the females varied greatly. Only about 50% of all females had any reproductive success (range: on to nine adult offspring). The social rank achieved by the females during their first reproductive season substantially influenced their lifetime reproductive success: The mean reproductive lifespan and lifetime fitness of high-ranking females (ranks 1 and 2) was about 60% greater than that of lower-ranking females, although many of the latter also gained dominant positions in subsequent years.     

The territoriality threshold: a model for mutual avoidance in dragonfly mating systems

Summary In anisopteran dragonflies a variety of mating systems occurs. Male strategies range from patrolling without site attachment to territorial behaviour with pronounced residentiality. Conceiving site attachment as a strategy of mutual avoidance that reduces the energy spent in intermale fights, we develop a model for the cost and benefit of territoriality. This model suggests that high male density, high inter-male aggressiveness, and short duration of female visits at the mating place will strongly favour localization of males at the mating place and may thus trigger the evolution of territoriality. The predictions of our model are supported by field observations of several dragonfly species.died July 27, 1986     

Light and social effects on the free-running circadian activity rhythm in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus; Primates): social masking,pseudo-splitting,and relative coordination

Summary The variability of period of the free-running circadian activity rhythm (CAR) and the degree to which it is affected by social factors was studied in diurnal marmosets (Callithrix jacchus: Primates, Cebidae), kept either singly or in pairs. Under continuous light intensities between 10^-1 and 10² lx, the spontaneous period was always shorter than 24h. It varied in relation to the amount of time spent under constant conditions (after-effects). There was some evidence of an effect of light intensity on free-running period, but no clear correlation between the two. Mutual acoustic social contact caused some males to exhibit pseudo-splitting, ascribable to positive social masking, and in many cases also resulted in relative coordination of the free-running CAR. True social entrainment, however, was not produced. The possibility that the latter could occur under some conditions is discussed, as well as the neural pathways that might mediate the observed acoustically induced social effects on the central nervous system pacemaker(s) of the circadian timing system.     

Foraging and spatial organisation of the European badger,Meles meles L.

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology -     

Altersklassierung von Gew?ssersedimenten Messung der radioaktivit?t von isotopen

Ziel dieser Untersuchung war die Beantwortung der Frage, in wieweit mit Hilfe der Messung der Radioaktivit?t von Umweltisotopen eine Aussage zum Alter von Einzelproben des Gew?ssersediments m?glich ist. Voraussetzung ist, da? die Sedimente n?herungsweisegleichf?rmig abgelagerte Schwebstoffe sind, und sei es auch nur in gewissen Zeitabschnitten (Zeitfenstern). Proben chaotisch wechselnder Sedimentation und Erosion sind z.Zt. nicht beurteilbar im Hinblick auf ihr Alter. Folgerung aus den Messungen von Umweltisotopen: Die Einzelproben werden mitReferenzschwebstoffen der 0 bis 38 μm Feinkornfraktion hinsichtlich ihrer Radioaktivit?tskonzentration verglichen. Dann werden sie grob in vier Altersklassen eingeteilt:

Incubation-derived calcium carbonate equivalence of papermill boiler ashes derived from sludge and wood sources

The burning of a papermill sludge and wood mixture and landspreading the resulting ash is a potential means of disposal of papermill sludge without the use of valuable landfill space. This study evaluated the effectiveness of ashes derived from a mixture of papermill sludge and wood sources to act as an alternative liming agent. The calcium carbonate equivalence of the material was determined using a 91-day laboratory incubation test with three mineral soils and one organic horizon soil. Application rates of soil-incorporated sludge-ash ranged from 2.30 to 32.2 g per kg soil. Soil pH increased linearly with increasing sludge-ash application rate. The calcium carbonate equivalence of the material varied temporally and the average value ranged from 19% to 28%. The fraction of total P, K and Mg added with the sludge-ash and extracted from the ash-amended soils using an NH4OAc based soil test method were 2.6, 3.8 and 17.6%, respectively. The low soil test extractability of ash-derived plant nutrients suggests that this material would provide only a modest increase in plant available nutrient levels in landspread fields.