Obligatory barrier crossing and adaptive fuel management in migratory birds: the case of the Atlantic crossing in Northern Wheatears (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Oenanthe oenanthe</Emphasis>)

Behaviour on migration was often suggested to be selected for time-minimising strategies. Current optimality models predict that optimal fuel loads at departure from stopover sites should increase with increasing fuel deposition rates. We modified such models for the special case of the east Atlantic crossing of the Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe). From optimality theory, we predict that optimal time-minimising behaviour in front of such a barrier should result in a positive correlation between fuel deposition rates and departure fuel loads only above a certain threshold, which is the minimum fuel load (f _min) required for the barrier crossing. Using a robust range equation, we calculated the minimum fuel loads for different barrier crossings and predict that time-minimising wheatears should deposit a minimum of 24% fuel in relation to lean body mass (m ₀ ) for the sea crossing between Iceland and Scotland. Fuel loads of departing birds in autumn in Iceland reached this value only marginally but showed positive correlation between fuel deposition rate (FDR) and departure fuel load (DFL). Birds at Fair Isle (Scotland) in spring, which were heading towards Iceland or Greenland, were significantly heavier and even showed signs of overloading with fuel loads up to 50% of lean body mass. Departure decisions of Icelandic birds correlated significantly with favourable wind situations when assuming a migration direction towards Spain; however, the low departure fuel loads contradict a direct non-stop flight.     

Consumer-resource body-size relationships in natural food webs

It has been suggested that differences in body size between consumer and resource species may have important implications for interaction strengths, population dynamics, and eventually food web structure, function, and evolution. Still, the general distribution of consumer-'resource body-size ratios in real ecosystems, and whether they vary systematically among habitats or broad taxonomic groups, is poorly understood. Using a unique global database on consumer and resource body sizes, we show that the mean body-size ratios of aquatic herbivorous and detritivorous consumers are several orders of magnitude larger than those of carnivorous predators. Carnivorous predator-prey body-size ratios vary across different habitats and predator and prey types (invertebrates, ectotherm, and endotherm vertebrates). Predator-prey body-size ratios are on average significantly higher (1) in freshwater habitats than in marine or terrestrial habitats, (2) for vertebrate than for invertebrate predators, and (3) for invertebrate than for ectotherm vertebrate prey. If recent studies that relate body-size ratios to interaction strengths are general, our results suggest that mean consumer-resource interaction strengths may vary systematically across different habitat categories and consumer types.     

环境措施对拉丁美洲咖啡生产成本的影响

咖啡种植、加工和流通既有积极的环境影响也有消极的环境影响.寿命周期分析是可以用来找到缓解这些消极影响的途径的手段之一.一个简单模式的系统化应当有社会经济性质的附加分析加以补充.当提请人们注意与咖啡生产链有关的问题时,即使旨在找到和提出与当地需要相适应的替代办法,也不应当忘记咖啡业给咖啡种植地区以及加工(洗涤、选择、炒制、研磨和掺合)地区带来很多效益.     

Cell turnover in tissues of the long-lived ocean quahog Arctica islandica and the short-lived scallop Aequipecten opercularis

Cell proliferation and apoptosis were investigated in tissues of two bivalve species, Arctica islandica from the German Bight (age of bivalves: 33–98 years) and Iceland (7–148 years) and Aequipecten opercularis from the English Channel (2–4 years). High proliferation rates (10% nuclei dividing) and apoptosis in tissues of A. opercularis were in line with high-energy throughput and reduced investment into antioxidant defence mechanisms in the scallop. In contrast, cell turnover was slow (<1% nuclei dividing) in A. islandica and similar in mantle, gill and adductor muscle between young and old individuals. In the heart, cell turnover rates decreased with age, which indicates less-efficient removal of damaged cells in ageing A. islandica. Cell turnover rates, mass specific respiration and antioxidant enzyme activities were similar in German Bight and Iceland ocean quahog. Variable maximum life expectancies in geographically separated A. islandica populations are determined by extrinsic factors rather than by fundamental physiological differences.     

Land Use, Spatial Scale, and Stream Systems: Lessons from an Agricultural Region

We synthesized nine studies that examined the influence of land use at different spatial scales in structuring biotic assemblages and stream channel characteristics in southeastern Minnesota streams. Recent studies have disagreed about the relative importance of catchment versus local characteristics in explaining variation in fish assemblages. Our synthesis indicates that both riparian- and catchment-scale land use explained significant variation in water quality, channel morphology, and fish distribution and density. Fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages can be positively affected by increasing the extent of perennial riparian and upland vegetation. Our synthesis is robust; more than 425 stream reaches were examined in an area that includes a portion of three ecoregions. Fishes ranged from coldwater to warmwater adapted. We suggest that efforts to rehabilitate stream system form and function over the long term should focus on increasing perennial vegetation in both riparian areas and uplands and on managing vegetation in large, contiguous blocks. Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is jointly sponsered by U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division, the University of Minnesota, The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the Wildlife Management Institute.     

Intersexual dominance,masculinized genitals and prenatal steroids: comparative data from lemurid primates

Masculinization of female genitalia and female intersexual dominance distinguish spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) and Malagasy primates (Lemuriformes) from most other mammals. An unusual prenatal endocrine environment has been proposed to proximately underlie the development of these traits in hyenas. To examine whether female dominance and genital masculinization are similarly enhanced by the prenatal environment in lemurid primates, we measured androgen and estrogen excretion in pregnant wild redfronted lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus). Our results showed that estrogen levels during the second phase of gestation were much higher in females carrying a male fetus than in female-carrying mothers. This may indicate the onset of testicular activity in male fetuses, because androgens of fetal origin are aromatized to maternal estrogens. Levels of androgen excretion were similar in all mothers regardless of the fetus' sex, which may suggest that androgen-independent mechanisms also contribute to female masculinization. The much higher androgen/estrogen ratio in female-carrying mothers indicates that relative, rather than absolute, prenatal steroid concentrations may play a role in female masculinization.