Training Captive-Bred or Translocated Animals to Avoid Predators

Abstract: Animal reintroductions and translocations are potentially important interventions to save species from extinction, but most are unsuccessful. Mortality due to predation is a principal cause of failure. Animals that have been isolated from predators, either throughout their lifetime or over evolutionary time, may no longer express appropriate antipredator behavior. For this reason, conservation biologists are beginning to include antipredator training in pre-release preparation procedures. We describe the evolutionary and ontogenetic circumstances under which antipredator behavior may degenerate or be lost, and we use principles from learning theory to predict which elements can be enhanced or recovered by training. The empirical literature demonstrates that training can improve antipredator skills, but the effectiveness of such interventions is influenced by a number of constraints. We predict that it will be easier to teach animals to cope with predators if they have experienced ontogenetic isolation than if they have undergone evolutionary isolation. Similarly, animals should learn more easily if they have been evolutionarily isolated from some rather than all predators. Training to a novel predator may be more successful if a species has effective responses to similar predators. In contrast, it may be difficult to teach proper avoidance behavior, or to introduce specialized predator-specific responses, if appropriate motor patterns are not already present. We conclude that pre-release training has the potential to enhance the expression of preexisting antipredator behavior. Potential training techniques involve classical conditioning procedures in which animals learn that model predators are predictors of aversive events. However, wildlife managers should be aware that problems, such as the emergence of inappropriate responses, may arise during such training.     

Assessing the Geographic Representativeness of Genebank Collections: the Case of Bolivian Wild Potatoes

Abstract: Genebank collection databases can be used for ecogeographical studies under the assumption that the accessions are a geographically unbiased sample. We evaluated the representativeness of a collection of wild potatoes from Bolivia and defined and assessed four types of bias: species, species-area, hotspot, and infrastructure. Species bias is the sampling of some species more often than others. Species-area bias is a sampling that is disproportionate to the total area in which a species is found. Hotspot bias is the disproportionate sampling of areas with high levels of diversity. Infrastructure bias is the disproportionate sampling of areas near roads and towns. Each of these biases is present in the Bolivian wild potato collection. The infrastructure bias was strong: 60% of all wild potato accessions were collected within 2 km of a road, as opposed to 22%, if collections had been made randomly. This analysis can serve as a guide for future collecting trips. It can also provide baseline information for the application of genebank data in studies based on geographic information systems.     

Life under Arctic sea ice – reproduction strategies of two sympagic (ice-associated) amphipod species, Gammarus wilkitzkii and Apherusa glacialis

The reproductive strategies of two gammaridean amphipod species, Gammarus wilkitzkii and Apherusa glacialis, that permanently inhabit the Arctic sea ice were investigated. G. wilkitzkii reaches sexual maturity at an age of 2 years and produces 128 ± 54 eggs fem.⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Mating takes place during fall and winter, and the development of the large eggs (0.60 to 0.80 mm diam.) lasts 6 to 7 months. The sex ratio of G. wilkitzkii was dominated by males in a proportion of 1.5:1. In vivo studies showed that juveniles are released in batches from the brood pouches of the females during April and May. A. glacialis reaches sexual maturity at the age of 1 year and produces 555 ± 151 eggs fem.⁻¹ yr⁻¹. The eggs are between 0.18 and 0.23 mm in diameter, and are the smallest known for gammaridean amphipods. Eggs are kept in packages of two to eight in the brood pouches of females. The sex ratio of A. glacialis was dominated by females in a proportion of 3:1. The high fecundity of both amphipod species, the release of juveniles in batches over a period of time, a high proportion of females (A. glacialis), and an elongated life-span with multiple spawnings (G. wilkitzkii) are discussed as possible adaptations to the specific and highly variable conditions under Arctic sea ice. Received: 29 December 1999 / Accepted: 8 March 2000     

Parthenogenetic reproduction of Diaphanosoma celebensis (Crustacea: Cladocera): influence of salinity on feeding, survival, growth and neonate production

 Effect of salinity on the feeding rate and parthenogenetic reproduction of asexual females of the cladoceran Diaphanosoma celebensis Stingelin was studied. Short-term (10 h) grazing experiments were conducted using Isochrysis galbana as feed at 5, 17, 25 and 30 psu salinity. Gut pigment concentration showed a significantly higher rate of feeding at lower salinities. Survival, growth, maturity attainment and neonate production of asexual females reared in the above four test salinities indicated preference for lower salinities (5 and 17 psu). The mean size of adult females decreased from 909 to 593 μm, mean life span from 24 to 5 d, mean neonate production from 12 to 2 and mean size of neonates from 434 to 400 μm as the salinity increased from 5 to 30 psu. Salinity variations also affected the size and age of primiparous females. Resting egg formation and sexual reproduction did not occur at the tested salinities. The results indicate that D. celebensis is adapted to low saline, estuarine environments. Received: 14 January 2000 / Accepted: 24 March 2000     

Grazing rates of organic matter and living fungal biomass of decaying Spartina alterniflora by three species of salt-marsh invertebrates

 The pathway for the flow of salt-marsh grass production into marsh food-webs is still not well defined. We compared the abilities of three marsh macroinvertebrates [salt marsh periwinkles, Littoraria irrorata (Say) (=Littorina irrorata), salt-marsh coffee-bean snails, Melampus bidentatus (Say); and a talitrid amphipod, Uhlorchestia spartinophila Bounsfield and Heard] to access standing-dead leaves of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora Loisel). The invertebrates were incubated with naturally-decaying leaves, and the rates of removal of organic matter and living fungal biomass (ergosterol) were measured. The impact of invertebrate activity upon fungal growth rates was measured as rates of fungal-membrane synthesis (incorporation of radioacetate into ergosterol). The removal rates of organic leaf biomass per mg individual biomass were highest for amphipods (700 μg mg⁻¹ d⁻¹) and lowest for periwinkles (90 μg mg⁻¹ d⁻¹), but the relatively large biomass of the snails made their removal rates per individual greater than those of amphipods. Net removal of ergosterol by all three invertebrates was >50% for yellow-brown (early-decay) leaf blades. For fully-brown (advanced-decay) blades, >50% removal of ergosterol was found only for periwinkles; exposure to coffee-bean snails and amphipods resulted in a net ergosterol reduction of ≤20%. The lower net reduction of living fungal biomass by coffee-bean snails and amphipods may have been due to fungal-growth stimulation (2.3-fold stimulation in coffee-bean snails and 1.5-fold stimulation in amphipods). Grazing by periwinkles did not stimulate fungal growth, possibly because of its high intensity. Grazing by these three salt-marsh shredders may affect marsh-grass shoot-decay in different ways. Periwinkles may abbreviate the period of fungal production, and incorporate the decaying material relatively quickly into snail biomass and fecal-pellet rain to the sediments. Coffee-bean snails and amphipods may enhance and prolong fungal production, along with the formation of fecal-pellet rain. All three invertebrates fed preferentially on leaf blades rather than leaf sheaths, and feeding rates of gastropods were higher during the night than during the day. Received: 25 November 1998 / Accepted: 4 November 1999     

Cadmium accumulation in the female shore crab Carcinus maenas during the moult cycle and ovarian maturation

 The influence of moulting and ovarian maturation on cadmium accumulation in the tissues of female shore crabs Carcinus maenas exposed to 1 mg Cd l⁻¹ in the water was investigated. Cadmium accumulation in all tissues examined was markedly increased in crabs in the postmoult stages (A and B) compared to crabs in all other moult stages. During the moult cycle, average cadmium accumulation in the midgut gland ranged from 29 μg Cd g⁻¹ dw at premoult stage (D₂) to 589 μg Cd g⁻¹ dw at postmoult stage (A). Average cadmium concentrations in the haemolymph ranged from 0.56 μg Cd ml⁻¹ at intermoult stage (C₄) to 4.6 μg Cd ml⁻¹ at postmoult stage (A), while the gills accumulated from 103 μg Cd g⁻¹ dw in intermoult stage (C₃) to 352 μg Cd g⁻¹ dw in postmoult stage (A). Cadmium concentration in gills and haemolymph was also significantly higher in crabs in late premoult stage (D₃) compared to C₄-crabs, while midgut gland cadmium concentration remained elevated in C₁- and C₃- intermoult stages relative to C₄. During ovarian maturation the cadmium accumulation in midgut gland, gills, ovaries and haemolymph decreased. Average cadmium concentration in the midgut gland decreased from 63 μg g⁻¹ dw in ovarian Stage I to 19 μg g⁻¹ dw in ovarian Stage VI. The same pattern was observed for gills, haemolymph and ovaries. The present study demonstrates that cadmium accumulation in the female shore crab strongly depends on the physiological status of the animal. A possible association between physiological calcium requirements and cadmium accumulation during moulting is discussed. Received: 20 January 2000 / Accepted: 20 July 2000     

Allozyme electrophoresis indicates high gene flow between populations of Holothuria (Microthele) nobilis (Holothuroidea: Aspidochirotida) on the Great Barrier Reef

 Genetic variation in 15 Holothuria (Microthele) nobilis (Selenka, 1867) populations on the Great Barrier Reef was studied at seven polymorphic allozyme loci. Although populations were separated by distances up to 1300 km, there were no apparent restrictions to gene flow (F _ST values were not significantly different from 0) and the maximum Nei's unbiased genetic distance was 0.003. Populations were in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium at all loci. The estimated maximum sexual input [this is the ratio of the number of sexually produced individuals (N*) to the sample size (N _i )] and the minimum sexual input [this is the ratio of the number of genotypes (N _go ) over the sample size (N _i )] were used as estimators for the amount of asexual reproduction. Both parameters suggested that H. nobilis reproduces solely by sexual means (N*:N _i : = 1; N _go :N _i  = 0.74 to 1). The allozyme data indicated high gene flow between populations, but the possibility that allozyme frequencies may not be at equilibrium means that it was not possible to distinguish whether the patterns reflect present-day dispersal or dispersal that occurred in the past. Received: 27 March 2000 / Accepted: 29 June 2000     

The nature of heat coma in Littorina littorea (Mollusca: Gastropoda)

 The nature of heat coma was examined in the edible periwinkle Littorina littorea (L.). Duration of acclimation did not influence heat-coma temperature at 12 °C, although other acclimation temperatures were important in influencing thermal tolerance, with positive shifts in coma temperature observed in response to elevated temperatures. Previous thermal history also influenced heat-coma temperatures. Individuals subjected to repeat heat-coma events on a daily basis showed significant declines (P < 0.05) in coma-temperature; in contrast individuals exposed to repeat heat-coma events on a weekly basis showed no decline in thermal tolerance. Size-effects occurred at selected sites, where decreased heat-coma temperatures were recorded in large individuals. Received: 16 August 1999 / Accepted: 13 June 2000