Is helping a beneficial learning experience for red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) helpers?

Several hypotheses have been suggested to explain the evolution and maintenance of helping behavior in cooperatively breeding birds, one of which we investigated in the red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis). Helping may provide a learning experience that improves reproductive success once the helper becomes a breeder. We used data collected from a population of red-cockaded woodpeckers in the Sandhills of North Carolina to compare the reproductive success of 2-year-old breeders that were helpers at age 1 (helping experience) to those that were floaters or solitary males at age 1 (no helping experience). Reproductive success of the two groups was similar, indicating that helping provides no experience useful in reproduction. We reject the learning experience hypothesis as an explanation for the maintenance of helping behavior in red-cockaded woodpeckers. Received: 29 July 1996 / Accepted after revision: 27 April 1997     

Learning and natal host influence host preference,handling time and sex allocation behaviour in a pupal parasitoid

The host choice and sex allocation decisions of a foraging female parasitoid will have an enormous influence on the life-history characteristics of her offspring. The pteromalid Pachycrepoideus vindemiae is a generalist idiobiont pupal parasitoid of many species of cyclorrhaphous Diptera. Wasps reared in Musca domestica were larger, had higher attack rates and greater male mating success than those reared in Drosophila melanogaster. In no-choice situations, na?ve female P. vindemiae took significantly less time to accept hosts conspecific with their natal host. Parasitoids that emerged from M. domestica pupae spent similar amounts of time ovipositing in both D. melanogaster and M. domestica. Those parasitoids that had emerged from D. melanogaster spent significantly longer attacking M. domestica pupae. The host choice behaviour of female P. vindemiae was influenced by an interaction between natal host and experience. Female P. vindemiae reared in M. domestica only showed a preference among hosts when allowed to gain experience attacking M. domestica, preferentially attacking that species. Similarly, female parasitoids reared on D. melanogaster only showed a preference among hosts when allowed to gain experience attacking D. melanogaster, again preferentially attacking that species. Wasp natal host also influenced sex allocation behaviour. While wasps from both hosts oviposited more females in the larger host, M. domestica, wasps that emerged from M. domestica had significantly more male-biased offspring sex ratios. These results indicate the importance of learning and natal host size in determining P. vindemiae attack rates, mating success, host preference and sex allocation behaviour, all critical components of parasitoid fitness. Electronic Publication     

Degradation of crude oil by a mixed population of bacteria isolated from sea-surface foams

A mixed bacteria population (EM₄) was isolated from foams formed on the surface of a zone chromically polluted by hydrocarbons (Gulf of Fos, French Mediterranean coast, October 1981). The population was able to degrade crude oil very effectively in the presence of sea water supplemented with nitrogen, phosphorus and iron. The percentage of hydrocarbon degradation was 81% at 30°C, pH 8, and partial oxygen pressure of 100%. After 12 d incubation, 92 and 83% of satured and aromatic compounds (mono-, di- and triaromatics) were degraded, respectively, as well as 63% of polar products and 48.5% of asphaltenes. Maximum degradation was attained at a sodium chloride concentration of between 400 and 800 mM with Population EM₄, which is constituted of 8 strains, four of which are weak halophiles. Bacterial growth on hydrocarbons induces the production in the culture medium of surface-active agents which are able to emulsify the substrate. There is high specificity between the nature of the growth substrate and such emulsifying activity, particularly as far as petroleum is concerned: only the culture medium from Population EM₄ is able to emulsify petroleum. These surface-active agents contain sugars and lipids (fatty acids, mono- and diglycerides). The foams, which always contain a high concentration of both hydrocarbons (100 to 180 mgl^-1) and bacteria that are able to grow on these types of substrates, have a strong emulsifying activity. Our results would seem to demonstrate the importance of biosurfactants in the elimination of hydrocarbons from polluted biotopes.     

A simple and precise method for fitting a von Bertalanffy growth curve

The parameter K of the von Bertalanffy equation, as developed by Beverton and Holt (1957), is first estimated by the relation $$\log _e \left( {dL_t /dt} \right) = A - Kt$$ where dLt/dt denotes growth increments per a unit of age, t denotes age, and A is a constant. The K estimate is used to evaluate L∞; $$L_\infty = \left( {e^K \sum\limits_2^n {L_t - \sum\limits_1^{n - 1} {L_t } } } \right)/\left( {n - 1} \right)\left( {e^K - 1} \right)$$ The L∞ estimate is used to estimate t _o, and to obtain a better estimate for K; $$\log _e \left( {1 - L_t /L_\infty } \right) = - Kt + Kt_0 $$ The K estimate may be used to obtain another estimate for L∞. Solved examples show that a single iteration is sufficient to obtain fitted equations which are, on the average, as precise as equations fitted by the least squares method shown by Tomlinson and Abramson (1961). This new method can be used, with a slight modification, for the second equation given above, if growth data have unequal age intervals. The variance of K, t _o and log _e L∞ can be estimated by applying the simple methods used in the case of straight-line relationships.     

Using the bootstrap with two-phase adaptive stratified samples from multiple populations at multiple locations

Recently the two-phase adaptive stratified sampling design proposed by Francis (1984) has been extended by Manly et al. (2002) for situations where several biological populations are sampled simultaneously, and where this is done at several different geographical locations in order to estimate population totals or means. The method uses the results from a first phase sample to decide how best to allocate a second phase sample to locations and strata, in order to maximise a criterion (based on estimated coefficients of variation) that measures the accuracy of estimation for population totals, for all variables at all locations. One potential problem with this method is bias in the estimators of the population totals and means. In this paper bootstrapping is considered as a means of overcoming these biases. It is shown using model populations of Pacific walrus and shellfish, based on real data, that bootstrapping is a useful tool for removing about half of the bias. This is also confirmed from some simulations using artificial data.     

Atmospheric sulfur deposition onto different ecosystems over China

The regional acid deposition model system (RegADMS) was applied to simulate the air sulfur deposition onto different landuse types over China, in which the dry deposition velocities of SO2 and sulfate aerosol (SO4(2-) were estimated by use of a big leaf resistance analogy model and the wet scavenging coefficients were parameterized in terms of precipitation rate. Investigations show that the annual total sulfur deposition over mainland China is 7.24mt (1 mt = 10(6) ton) , in which dry deposition and wet deposition accounts for 56 and 44%, respectively. The sulfur deposition onto agriculture land, grass land, and forest land is 1.09, 3.6 and 1.41 mt, respectively, which sums 6.1 mt and accounts for 84% of the total sulfur deposition. The modeled sulfur deposition was in agreement with the measurement conducted at farmland in Yingtan, a typical read soil region in Jiangxi province of China, during the period of November 1998--October 1999. The total sulfur deposition at the Yingtan site is about 10.3 gm(-2) year(-1) of which 83% is dry deposition. The modeling sulfur deposition at the same site is 8.4 g m(-2) year(-1) Furthermore, the comparison between RegADMS and RAINS-ASIA on modeling regional sulfur deposition shows the consistence of the two models. The correlation coefficient between the simulated sulfur deposition at the medium-large cities reaches 0.72.     

Field Studies on 32P Movement and P Leaching from Flooded Paddy Soils in the Region of Taihu Lake, China

Field experiments were done in two sites, Yixing and Changshu, Jiangsu province, China, to study P movement and leaching in flooded paddy soils. P movement in soil was investigated by using the KH₂ ³²PO₄ tracker method, and the amount of P leached from the soil layer in different depths was estimated by measuring P concentrations in the soil solution and saturated hydraulic conductivities in field. Determination was done about one month after P application. There was 46% and 42% of total ³²P retained in the 0–5cm layer of soil in the Yixing site and in the Changshu site respectively. The ³²P retained in the 25–30 cm layer was only about 1–2% of the total ³²P added. Furthermore, 8.01% of ³²P in the soil of Yixing site and 16.8% of ³²P in the soil of Changshu site was lost from the layer 0–30cm soil. The seasonal amounts of P leached from the top soil layer and from bottom layer are about 4.5–5.8% and 1.6–2.1% of the total P application, respectively. Changes of total P concentrations in soil solutions during rice growth showed that the fertilizer P applied before flooding of the paddy fields suffered a flash leaching loss and a slow leaching loss. We concluded that the fertilizer P could quickly move in the flooded paddy rice field and parts of it can enter into surface water and ground water. Unless the P application is well managed the risk of P loss and consequently environmental pollution exist.     

Newly metamorphosed <Emphasis Type="Italic">Elysia clarki</Emphasis> juveniles feed on and sequester chloroplasts from algal species different from those utilized by adult slugs

The adult, sacoglossan sea slug, Elysia clarki (Pierce et al. in Molluscan Res 26, 2006), sequesters functional chloroplasts in cells of the digestive diverticula from four species of macroalgae in the order Bryopsidales (Penicillus capitatus, Penicillus lamourouxii, Halimeda incrassata, and Halimeda monile). Feeding experiments were conducted in December, 2003, using individuals raised in the laboratory from egg masses laid by E. clarki adults which had been collected from Grassy Key, Florida, USA, and 29 species of macroalgae collected from the Florida Keys, Tampa Bay, Tarpon Springs, Florida, or Woods Hole, Massachusetts or obtained from the Culture Collection of Algae at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas. For the first 14-day post-metamorphosis, juveniles ate only the thin filamentous species, Bryopsis plumosa or Derbesia tenuissima. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the chloroplasts from both algae were sequestered intracellularly in juvenile slugs. Individuals offered any other macroalga, including the four species fed on by adults, did not feed on or incorporate any chloroplasts, and soon died. Juveniles switched from B. plumosa to P. capitatus at a length of ∼ 1.0 cm, and fixed for microscopy 14 days later had intact intracellular chloroplasts from both algae. Nucleotide sequences of the chloroplast gene, rbcL, from DNA extracted from E. clarki, collected from Vaca Key, Florida, were aligned with 22 other available macroalgal rbcL sequences indicating that these E. clarki adults had fed on three species of algae in the Bryopsidales including Bryopsis pennata, and TEM results partially confirmed this conclusion.     

Tale of two colors: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cladopsammia gracilis</Emphasis> (Dendrophylliidae) color morphs distinguished also by their genetics and ecology

Cladopsammia gracilis (Dendrophylliidae), an ahermatypic coral inhabits the northern Red Sea. Two color morphs (pink and orange) are found aggregated in caves devoid of hermatypic corals, associated with crustose coralline algae (CCA). Sequencing the rDNA ITS region revealed a separate clustering of members of each color morph. Both morphs grow in shallow waters, with orange corals limited to the upper 4 m, while some pink coral aggregates thrive deeper than 30 m. Planulae were released between June and December. Pink planulae treated with antibiotics and exposed at different intervals to CCA, were competent and metamorphosed even 110 days after release. Maximal competency period for orange planulae was 70 days. All planulae were enhanced to metamorphose in presence of CCA. The mean age at metamorphosis of pink and orange planulae treated with CCA differed significantly. Most orange planulae settled directly on the CCA while most pink planulae settled on the wall of the experiment vial. The morphs differed significantly in the calyx cross-section area of primary polyps. Despite being considered a single species according to skeletal based taxonomy, the significant ecological and molecular differences between pink and orange C. gracilis specimens suggest that they may belong to separate species.     

Model-based combination of spatial information for stream networks

Evolutionary improvements in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) now routinely allow the management and mapping of spatial-temporal information. In response, the development of statistical models to combine information of different types and spatial support is of vital importance to environmental science. In this paper we develop a hierarchical spatial statistical model for environmental indicators of stream and river systems in the United States Mid-Atlantic Region by combining information from separate monitoring surveys, available contextual information on hydrologic units and remote sensing information. These models are used to estimate the indicators throughout the riverine system based on information from multiple sources and aggregate scales. The analysis is based on information underlying the Landscape Atlas of the mid-Atlantic region produced by the US Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP). We also combine information from two overlapping separate monitoring surveys, the EMAP Stream and River Survey and the Maryland Biological Streams Survey. We present a general framework for comparative distributional analysis based on the concept of a relative spatial distribution. As an application, the spatial model is used to predict spatial distributions and relative spatial distributions for a watershed.