Simultaneous estimation of jointly dependent recreation participation function

The purpose of this paper is to develop and estimate a simultaneous model of recreation participation. The logic of the model is that participation in one activity (for example, boating) is influenced by and influences participation in other activities (for example, fishing). For the empirical part of our paper we have used the simultaneous logit model developed by P. Schmidt and R. P. Strauss (Econometrics43, 745–755, 1975). For the application, we have applied the simultaneous logit model to participation in summer recreational activities in Rhode Island. Our results show that simultaneous equation models tend to forecast better, but that the specification bias from excluding the endogenous variables tends to be small.     

Dynamics of pheromone production and communication in the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, and the pine engraver, Ips pini (Say) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

Summary. The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, and the pine engraver, Ips pini (Say), often co-exist in lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelmann. Intra- and interspecific semiochemical communication occurs in both species and their complete semiochemical repertoire and precise dynamics of pheromone production have not been elucidated. Porapak-Q extracts of captured volatiles from beetles of each species aerated at different attack phases (freshly emerged, pioneer sex alone in the log and both sexes paired in new galleries), followed by gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) and GC-mass spectroscopic analyses identified 17 compounds (seven compounds common to both species, six present in D. ponderosae and four present in I. pini) that excited the antennae of either or both species. Seven compounds for D. ponderosae and nine for I. pini had not been assessed for behavioural activity. In field trapping experiments, 2-phenylethanol produced by both species inhibited the response of D. ponderosae to its aggregation pheromones. exo- and endo-Brevicomin produced by D. ponderosae significantly decreased the response of I. pini to its aggregation pheromone ipsdienol. Nonanal, a ubiquitous compound found in the volatiles of lodgepole pine, various nonhosts and in both beetle species deterred the response of I. pini to ipsdienol. The occurrence of cis-verbenol, trans-verbenol and verbenone in emergent I. pini, and verbenone and 2-phenylethanol in emergent D. ponderosae suggests that these compounds may inhibit aggregation and induce dispersal following emergence. Termination of aggregation in D. ponderosae appears to depend on the production of frontalin in combination with changes in the relative ratios of verbenone, exo-brevicomin, trans-verbenol and 2-phenylethanol. In I. pini, the cessation of ipsdienol production by males is probably the main factor in terminating aggregation. Received 16 November 1999; accepted 7 August 2000     

Prey chemical discrimination in ambush foragers: absence in representatives of two additional iguanian lizard families and probable olfactory mediation in a gekkonine gecko

Summary. Lingually mediated prey chemical discrimination in lizards has evolved in active foragers, been lost in taxa that have reverted to ambush foraging, and has not evolved in taxa that have retained the ancestral ambushing. Previous studies have shown that all families of insectivorous ambushers lack prey chemical discrimination, including most families of iguanian lizards and two gekkonid species. I conducted experimental studies of prey chemical discrimination in representatives of two additional iguanian families and a third gekkonid lizard. An oplurid species, Oplurus cuvieri and a corytophanid, Corytophanes cristatus, did not discriminate among prey chemicals and control substances. Prey chemical discrimination is now known to be absent in insectivorous ambush foragers in all but one of the families in Iguania, one of the two major lizard radiations. Hoplocercidae remains unstudied. Like other ambushing gekkonid lizards, Pachydactylus turneri did not exhibit elevated tongue-flick rates in response to prey chemicals. However, after tongue-flicking or being touched on the labial scales by cotton swabs, these lizards bit swabs bearing prey chemicals more frequently than control stimuli. They also exhibited buccal pulsing more frequently in response to prey chemicals than deionized water, suggesting olfactory sampling. The unusually highly developed olfactory organs of gekkonid lizards and their nocturnal habits suggest that olfaction may be more important to foraging than in other lizards. Further studies are needed to determine relative roles of olfaction and vomerolfaction in selective response to prey chemicals and to ascertain whether and to what extent the tongue may be used to locate and identify prey. Received 30 March 1999; accepted 26 July 1999     

The occurrence of aristolochic acids in neotropical troidine swallowtails (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

Summary. Analysis of individuals of 17 troidine species demonstrated the presence of aristolochic acids in these butterflies in varying concentrations. Although aristolochic acids do not occur in Aristolochia galeata leaves, they were present in Battus polydamas larvae reared on these leaves, and thus may be synthesized by the larvae from chemical precursors in the plant. Received 17 August 1999; accepted 20 January 2000     

Endogenous swimming rhythms of blue crab, Callinectes sapidus , megalopae: effects of offshore and estuarine cues

Larvae of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun develop on the continental shelf. The postlarval stage (megalopa) occurs near the surface and is transported shoreward by wind-driven surface currents. It then uses selective tidal stream transport for migration up an estuary. Endogenous swimming rhythms were measured under constant dark conditions in the laboratory in megalopae collected from the Newport River Estuary (North Carolina), the Delaware Bay, and offshore from the Newport River Estuary. Megalopae from all areas had a similar circadian activity rhythm, in which they swam during the time of the day phase in the field and were inactive at night. This rhythm predicts the presence of a reverse, diel, vertical-migration pattern offshore which would contribute to the location of megalopae near the surface during the day. The rhythm lacks obvious ecological significance in estuaries because it does not contribute to selective tidal stream transport and would increase vulnerability to visual predators during the day. Attempts to entrain a circatidal rhythm in swimming by cyclic and step changes in salinity were unsuccessful, as the circadian rhythm persisted. The rhythm also continued in the presence of the eelgrass Zostera marina, which is a site of settlement and metamorphosis in the field. Thus, megalopae enter estuaries with a solar day rhythm in activity. This rhythm, however, is not expressed, because light inhibits swimming during the day upon exposure to estuarine water. Since this light inhibition is removed in offshore waters, the rhythm would be expressed if, after entering an estuary, megalopae were transported back to offshore areas. Received: 19 December 1995 / Accepted: 2 August 1996     

Risk and cost of immobility in the presence of an immobile predator

Escape latency theory models the tradeoff between maintaining crypsis by remaining immobile near an immobile predator versus moving to flee or engage in fitness-enhancing activities. The model predicts that latency to flee increases as cost of fleeing increases and decreases as cost of remaining immobile increases. As predation risk increases, cost of fleeing, primarily due to abandoning crypsis due to immobility, decreases. Predictions have been tested for few risks and a single cost of immobility factor in only two species of active foragers. To gauge the breadth of applicability of the model, we tested effects of four risk factors and two cost of immobility factors in ambush-foraging phrynosomatid lizards, which we selected for testing because foraging mode strongly affects many aspects of ecology and behavior of lizards. Latency to flee decreased as standing distance (predator–prey distance before fleeing) decreased, predator approach speed increased, directness of approach increased, and predator persistence increased. Latency to move was shorter in the presence of food and shorter for males in the presence of females. Lizards often moved toward food or females instead of fleeing. Latency was affected as predicted by all risk and by cost of remaining immobile factors. Our findings agree with previous results for the same four risk factors and the foraging cost of immobility. That social cost of immobility affects latency as predicted is a novel finding. The model is robust, applying to ecologically diverse prey and to a wide range of factors affecting costs of fleeing and of immobility.     

War and sustainability

SUMMARY

In order to use the planet's ecological life-support systems sustainably, damage to them must be both prevented and repaired. However, repair requires awareness of damage which, in this case, mandates a high level of ecological literacy. Prevention of ecological damage will only be successful on a planetary scale if human society endorses precautionary practices that reduce the probability of ecosystem damage. Society is beginning to endorse precautionary practices to protect human health, which is no longer regarded as merely absence of symptoms of disease and malfunction. Health is regarded as a robust function — an approach toward optimal conditions. Similar views are beginning to emerge regarding ecosystem health, and a close link between human and ecosystem health is gaining increased recognition. However, to achieve health, ecological ‘wounds’ must be repaired, which is impossible until society ‘sees’ the wounds. After this recognition, society must become more literate on the attributes of ecosystem health. The methods and procedures are in place, but they will not be used effectively until a major paradigm shift occurs.     

Effect of near-bottom currents on detection of bait by the abyssal grenadier fishes Coryphaenoides spp., recorded in situ with a video camera on a free vehicle

Free vehicles carrying bait, video cameras and current meters were deployed at three sites in the abyssal North Pacific Ocean in 1983 and 1984 (at depths of 3 800, 4 400 and 5 800 m). From the recovered video recordings, we analyzed responses of the abyssal grenadier fishes Coryphaenoides spp. to the bait, and, from the recovered current meters, we determined the velocities of the nearbottom tidal currents. The grenadiers consistently arrived at the camera within minutes after it landed (7.5 to 41 min, N=9 deployments), but the times of the first arrivals tended to increase within increasing distance from shore (which was correlated with increasing depth). Faster responses occurred near times of peak, as opposed to slack, current velocities. Behavioral observations suggest that grenadiers primarily use olfaction in locating the bait, because 75% of early arrivals came from down-current. Those coming from up-current typically did not appear to sense the bait until arriving down-current from it. A wait rather than search strategy is proposed for the use of food falls by these deep-sea scavengers.     

Individual differences in the behavior of juvenile yellow-bellied marmots

Summary Yellow-bellied marmots express considerable individuality as measured by behavior in a maze, mirror-image stimulation (MIS), and social behavior in the field. Maze behavior discriminated between residents and dispersers; residents explored the maze more widely than did dispersers. Males could not be distinguished from females nor survivors from non-survivors by their maze behavior. A group of six yearling females was established to examine the relationship between individual behavioral phenotypes (as determined by MIS) and social behavior in the field. This experiment provided a situation in which social behavior was not influenced by age, sex, or reproduction (female yearlings are non-reproductive). The number of social interactions per individual ranged from 25 to 69. The number of observed interactions per individual differend significantly from the expected for greeting, allogrooming, total amicable, play, and total social interactions. Rankings of greeting, total amicable, and total interactions were directly correlated with rankings on the avoidance axis; play was inversely correlated with the approach axis. These results suggest that marmots have individual behavioral phenotypes that are expressed in their social interactions with their conspecifics.     

Individual effects and interactions of salinity,temperature, and zinc on larval development of the grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio. I. Survival and developmental duration through metamorphosis

Larvae of the estuarine grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio (Holthuis) were reared from hatch through successful completion of metamorphosis in 80 combinations of salinity (3 to 31%), temperature (20° to 35°C), and zinc (0.00 to 1.00 ppm Zn⁺⁺). Response-surface methodology was employed to depict the individual effects and interactions of the three factors on survival and developmental duration through total larval development. Outside the optimal salinity-temperature conditions of 17 to 27 S and 20° to 27°C, viability of larvae was reduced by both the individual effects of salinity and temperature and interactions between the two factors. Survival capacity of larvae and resistance adaptations to salinity and temperature were progresively reduced by zinc concentrations from 0.25 to 1.00 ppm Zn⁺⁺. Response-surface analysis of the data suggested that the duration of total larval development of P. pugio was least at salinities from 18 to 23 and at temperatures from 30° to 32°C. At both higher and lower salinity-temperature conditions and in increasing zinc concentrations from 0.25 to 1.00 ppm Zn⁺⁺, developmental rates were retarded. A significant zinc-temperature interaction existed, whereby increasing zinc concentrations reduced both survival and developmental rates of larvae more at suboptimal temperatures. Larval resistance to zinc toxicity was least at supraoptimal salinities, indicative of a significant zinc-salinity interaction. The reduced viability, restricted euryplasticity, and retarded developmental rates of P. pugio larvae developing in media with low-level zinc contamination would limit the distributive properties of the pelagic phase in the life cycle of the species and reduce recruitment both into and out of the parent estuarine population.