Odour-guided social behaviour in newborn and young cats: an analytical survey

Summary. This article surveys early chemosensory mechanisms regulating behaviour in neonatal and juvenile domestic cats (Felis sylvestris catus). It aims to retrieve material from the available literature which may promote a better understanding of the semiochemical system that supports female-to-kitten exchanges. Studies dealing with the development of olfaction from birth through weaning are presented in three sections. The first aims at locating developmental periods suitable for applying analytical procedures combining behaviour and chemistry. The second section offers a survey of observational and experimental work related to the role of olfaction in the social and feeding behaviour of kittens before weaning. The final section traces the current knowledge on the odour sources and substrates that may be involved in early mother-kitten transactions.     

Individual recognition of neighbors by song in a suboscine bird, the alder flycatcher Empidonax alnorum

The ability of territorial males to discriminate between songs of their neighbors and songs of strangers has been demonstrated in 27 species of songbirds. Such experiments test only the ability of a subject to discriminate between two classes of stimuli, familiar (neighbors) and unfamiliar (strangers) songs. Individual recognition of neighbors is a finer, more complex type of discrimination. The ability of territorial males to recognize individual neighbors by song has been documented in 12 species of oscine passerines (Passeriformes, Passeri), but has never been demonstrated in suboscine passerines (Tyranni). We investigated recognition of songs of individual neighbors in a suboscine, the alder flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum). We performed a series of song playback experiments and recorded responses of territorial males to songs of neighbors and songs of strangers broadcast from two locations, the neighbor boundary and an opposite boundary. Subjects responded more aggressively to songs of a neighbor when played from the opposite boundary than when played from the neighbor boundary. They responded with equal aggression to songs of strangers regardless of location of playback. The difference in response to neighbor songs between speaker locations and the lack of a difference in response to stranger songs indicate that territorial males associate a particular song with a particular location (territory), and thus recognize individual neighbors.Communicated by I. Hartley     

A radiotracer technique for the determination of male mating success in natural populations

Summary Males of a natural population of Antechinus stuartii (Marsupialia) were injected at the beginning of their short, synchronous breeding period with one of twelve gamma-emitting nuclides which are individually recognizable by their unique spectial properties. This label passed to the females during ejaculation and was identified when the females were captured and counted in a whole-body counter. This technique established mating success of males and provided an estimate of reproductive success.     

Removal and recovery of metals from a coal pile runoff

The removal and recovery of heavy metals from a coal pilerunoff water using a mixture of multiple metal-tolerantbacterial strains of ATCC 55673, and ATCC 55674 and a Pseudomonas sp. was investigated. The analysis of elementalcomposition of metal precipitates recovered from the bacterialbiomass by transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersiveX-ray analysis revealed the presence of metals originally presentin the wastewater. In addition, analysis of metals in culturesupernatant and bacterial biomass by inductively coupled plasmaemission spectroscopy (ICP-ES) indicated a removal range of 82-100% and a recovery of 15-58% of metals from the wastewater and bacterial biomass, respectively.     

A comprehensive review of visual air quality at the Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon, located in Northern Arizona, is one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and has been set aside as a National Park to preserve its unique character. Several million visitors from all over the world travel to the Grand Canyon each year to witness its awesome beauty, As a natural preserve, the area protects numerous values such as genetic diversity, solitude, non-mechanized recreation, etc, but the majority of visitors travel to the Grand Canyon for one reason: to view the scenery.There have been reports in the general press (and even in the United States Congressional Hearings) that visual conditions at the Grand Canyon have been seriously degraded by air pollution. Over the past nine years, a vast array of visibility-related research and monitoring has been conducted to determine the extent and probable cause of this visible degradation. Studies have included optical measurements, pollution characterization, source-receptor relationship analysis, and human perception of visual air quality. The resulting data document the visual air quality of the Grand Canyon and provide a basis to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate significant events and trends.     

Self-organizing pattern formation on the combs of honey bee colonies

Summary A characteristic pattern of brood, pollen, and honey develops on the combs of a honey bee colony, consisting of three distinct concentric regions — a central brood area, a surrounding rim of pollen, and a large peripheral region of honey. That the pattern is consistent and well-organized suggests its adaptive value for the colony, yet the mechanism of pattern formation has not been elucidated. Two hypotheses are presented. The blueprint (or template) hypothesis suggests that there are particular locations specified for the deposition of eggs, pollen and honey, i.e., the pattern develops as a consequence of the bees filling in the comb according to the orderly arrangement latent in the blueprint. An alternative is the self-organization hypothesis: pattern emerges spontaneously from dynamic interactions among the processes of depositing and removing brood, pollen and honey, without a plan specifying spatial relationships. Computer simulation of the self-organization hypothesis demonstrates how the colony-level pattern can emerge and how, using only local cues and simple behavioral rules, the bees can create an overall, global pattern of which they have no concept.     

Collective decision-making in honey bees: how colonies choose among nectar sources

Summary A honey bee colony can skillfully choose among nectar sources. It will selectively exploit the most profitable source in an array and will rapidly shift its foraging efforts following changes in the array. How does this colony-level ability emerge from the behavior of individual bees? The answer lies in understanding how bees modulate their colony's rates of recruitment and abandonment for nectar sources in accordance with the profitability of each source. A forager modulates its behavior in relation to nectar source profitability: as profitability increases, the tempo of foraging increases, the intensity of dancing increases, and the probability of abandoning the source decreases. How does a forager assess the profitability of its nectar source? Bees accomplish this without making comparisons among nectar sources. Neither do the foragers compare different nectar sources to determine the relative profitability of any one source, nor do the food storers compare different nectar loads and indicate the relative profitability of each load to the foragers. Instead, each forager knows only about its particular nectar source and independently calculates the absolute profitability of its source. Even though each of a colony's foragers operates with extremely limited information about the colony's food sources, together they will generate a coherent colonylevel response to different food sources in which better ones are heavily exploited and poorer ones are abandoned. This is shown by a computer simulation of nectar-source selection by a colony in which foragers behave as described above. Nectar-source selection by honey bee colonies is a process of natural selection among alternative nectar sources as foragers from more profitable sources survive (continue visiting their source) longer and reproduce (recruit other foragers) better than do foragers from less profitable sources. Hence this colonial decision-making is based on decentralized control. We suggest that honey bee colonies possess decentralized decision-making because it combines effectiveness with simplicity of communication and computation within a colony. Offprint requests to: T.D. Seeley