Black spots and female association preferences in a sexual/asexual mating complex (Poecilia, Poeciliidae, Teleostei)

We investigated whether female association preferences for males are influenced by black spot disease (BSD), a parasite induced change of the host phenotype. We compared three different species of fish: a gynogenetic hybrid species, Poecilia formosa (amazon molly) and two sexual species (Poecilia latipinna and Poecilia mexicana), which were involved in the natural hybridisation leading to the amazon molly. Contrary to their sexual relatives, asexual amazon mollies significantly avoided images of males infected with black spot disease. We propose that amazon molly females have direct fitness benefits from choosing healthy males. The adaptive significance of the preference for BSD-uninfected males in the asexual amazon molly is yet unclear but may involve avoidance of predation or parasite infection as well as increased sperm availability.     

Does foreign direct investment impede forest area in Sub‐Saharan Africa?

Foreign direct investment is an engine of economic growth. However, it may affect environmental quality (improve or deteriorate it), depending on the context. Under a multivariate framework, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between foreign direct investment and deforestation for Sub‐Sahara African countries with economic growth, trade openness and urbanization as additional determinants of deforestation. The analyses reveal that all variables are non‐stationary and cointegrated based on recent panel data techniques. On applying dynamic ordinary least squares, the long‐run results suggest the validity of the pollution haven hypothesis for some countries, and that of the pollution halo hypothesis for other countries. The findings are also mixed across Sub‐Sahara African countries for trade openness and urbanization. The results from this study suggest that Sub‐Sahara African countries should continue attracting foreign direct investment, while a certain number of them should put more emphasis on controlling deforestation associated with foreign direct investment inflows to limit greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.     

A new maniraptoran dinosaur from China with long feathers on the metatarsus

The unusual presence of long pennaceous feathers on the feet of basal dromaeosaurid dinosaurs has recently been presented as strong evidence in support of the arboreal–gliding hypothesis for the origin of bird flight, but it could be a unique feature of dromaeosaurids and thus irrelevant to the theropod–bird transition. Here, we report a new eumaniraptoran theropod from China, with avian affinities, which also has long pennaceous feathers on its feet. This suggests that such morphology might represent a primitive adaptation close to the theropod–bird transition. The long metatarsus feathers are likely primitive for Eumaniraptora and might have played an important role in the origin of avian flight.Electronic Supplementary Material  Supplementary material is available for this article at     

On the Performance and Applicability of Nonlinear Two-Equation Turbulence Models for Urban Air Quality Modelling

It is well known that the commonly used k- turbulence models yield inaccurate predictions for complex flow fields. One reason for this inaccuracy is the misrepresentation of Reynolds stress differences. Nonlinear turbulence models are capable to overcome this weakness while being not considerably more complex. However no comprehensive studies are known which analyze the performance of nonlinear turbulence models for three-dimensional flows around building-shaped structures. In the present study the predictions of the flow around a surface-mounted cube using three nonlinear two-equation turbulence models are discussed. The results are compared with predictions of the standard k- turbulence model and wind tunnel measurements. It is shown that the use of nonlinear turbulence models can be beneficial in predicting wind flows around buildings.     

A field test of the Hamilton–Zuk hypothesis in the Trinidadian guppy (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Poecilia reticulata</Emphasis>)

The Hamilton–Zuk hypothesis proposes that females prefer male secondary sexual traits because they are honest indicators of parasite resistance. Despite the attention that this hypothesis has received, its role in sexual selection remains equivocal. This study presents the first field test in guppies of two key predictions of the Hamilton–Zuk hypothesis: (1) that within populations, the most highly ornamented males have the fewest parasites and (2) that among populations, males in high parasite populations have the most conspicuous ornaments. Five hundred male guppies from 19 distinct populations in the Northern Range of Trinidad were inspected for Gyrodactylus parasites and photographed. Eight measures of orange spot ornamentation were used to test the predictions: hue, saturation, lightness, relative area, number, and area-weighted hue, saturation, and lightness. Parasite load had no significant effect on any of these measures. There was also no relationship between orange spot ornamentation and parasite abundance among populations. Guppies from high-predation environments had significantly more parasites, and their orange coloration was lighter and less saturated than that in guppies from low-predation environments. Despite previous lab results, this study found no relationship between parasite load and male orange spot ornamentation.     

Wildfire, landscape diversity and the Drossel-Schwabl model

How simple can a model be that still captures essential aspects of wildfire ecosystems at large spatial and temporal scales? The Drossel-Schwabl model (DSM) is a metaphorical forest-fire model developed to reproduce only one pattern of real systems: a frequency distribution of fire sizes resembling a power law. Consequently, and because it appears oversimplified, it remains unclear what bearings the DSM has in reality. Here, we test whether the DSM is capable of reproducing a pattern that was not considered in its design, the hump-shaped relation between the diversity of succession stages and average annual area burnt. We found that the model, once reformulated to represent succession, produces realistic landscape diversity patterns. We investigated four succession scenarios of forest-fire ecosystems in the USA and Canada. In all scenarios, landscape diversity is highest at an intermediate average annual area burnt as predicted by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. These results show that a model based solely on the dynamics of the fuel mosaic has surprisingly high predictive power with regard to observed statistical properties of wildfire systems at large spatial scales. Parsimonious models, such as the DSM can be used as starting points for systematic development of more structurally realistic but tractable wildfire models. Due to their simplicity they allow analytical approaches that further our understanding under increasing complexity.     

Secondary sexual characters and female quality in primates

Honest advertisement models of sexual selection propose that exaggerated secondary sexual ornaments are condition-dependent, and that only individuals with superior disease resistance will be able to express costly ornamentation. Studies of secondary sexual ornamentation and their maintenance by sexual selection tend to focus on males. However, females may also possess showy ornaments. We investigated whether female ornaments, in the form of sexual swellings, reliably signal female fitness in a semifree-ranging colony of mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) at the Centre International de Recherches Médicales, Franceville (CIRMF), Gabon. We measured swelling height and width using photographs of periovulatory females over three mating seasons and compared swelling size with parasitism (using fecal analysis over one annual cycle), immune status (ratio of lymphocytes to neutrophils in blood smears made during captures), and genetic diversity (microsatellite heterozygosity). Swelling size varied by up to 10% between cycles in individual females, giving some support to the hypothesis that size differences may indicate the quality of individual swelling cycles. However, there was no significant difference in swelling size between conceptive and nonconceptive cycles. Measures of swelling size varied more between females than within females across swelling cycles, implying that swelling size was a relatively consistent characteristic of individual females. Swelling size was not significantly related to either general measures of parasitism and immune status, or to the closest available measures to each swelling cycle. Nor was swelling size significantly related to genetic diversity. The healthy, provisioned nature of the colony and problems associated with observational, correlational studies restrict interpretation of our data. However, in combination with previous findings that females of higher reproductive success do not show larger swellings, and that males do not allocate mating effort as a function of swelling size, these results imply that sexual swelling size does not indicate female quality in these semifree-ranging mandrills.     

Developmental stress affects song learning but not song complexity and vocal amplitude in zebra finches

Several recent studies have tested the hypothesis that song quality in adult birds may reflect early developmental conditions, specifically nutritional stress during the nestling period. Whilst all of these earlier studies found apparent links between early nutritional stress and song quality, their results disagree as to which aspects of song learning or production were affected. In this study, we attempted to reconcile these apparently inconsistent results. Our study also provides the first assessment of song amplitude in relation to early developmental stress and as a potential cue to male quality. We used an experimental manipulation in which the seeds on which the birds were reared were mixed with husks, making them more difficult for the parents to obtain. Compared with controls, such chicks were lighter at fledging; they were thereafter placed on a normal diet and had caught up by 100 days. We show that nutritional stress during the first 30 days of life reduced the birds’ accuracy of song syntax learning, resulting in poorer copies of tutor songs. Our experimental manipulations did not lead to significant changes in song amplitude, song duration or repertoire size. Thus, individual differences observed in song performance features probably reflect differences in current condition or motivation rather than past condition.     

环境库兹涅茨曲线研究进展

环境库兹涅茨曲线（EKC）假说认为环境压力和经济增长之间呈倒U形关系,即在经济发展早期环境质量逐渐恶化．经济发展到一定水平之后．环境质量会逐渐改善。暗示着经济发展最终可以弥补早期造成的环境恶化。实证研究表明环境压力和经济增长之间的关系还会出现其他情况：同步关系、U形关系和N形关系。研究发现环境压力和经济增长不会长期分离,经济发展到一定阶段它们会重新组合,环境压力和经济增长之间呈N形关系,这就是重组假说。最后总结了EKC存在的问题：计量模型问题,经济分析方法问题。数据和指标问题．贸易问题和其他问题。本文从历史背景与理论基础、实证研究和研究中存在的问题三个方面总结了EKC的研究现状和进晨。这对弄清环境压力和经济增长的关系．对采用可持续的环境政策来说都具有重要的理论和现实意义。     

The nexus between eco-friendly technology and environmental degradation in India: Does the N or inverted N-shape load capacity curve(LCC) hypothesis hold?

This study aims to investigate the impact of eco-friendly technology on environmental degradation indicated using the load capacity factor (LCF) with the framework of the Load Capacity Curve (LCC) hypothesis. In this regard, an environmental degradation function is formed and analyzed using the Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (AARDL) approach during the period spanning from 1975 to 2021 for India. The outcome indicates that eco-friendly technology reduces the LCF, thereby fostering environmental degradation in the long run, but the relationship is not significant in the short run. Further, an N-shaped LCC hypothesis has been observed in both long and short runs. Besides, energy consumption exhibits a LCF reducing or environmental degradation boosting role in the short run and long run. These findings are consistent with other models that are used to check the robustness of AARDL-based results. Thus, the study recommends policies for promoting eco-friendly technology, judicious economic growth, and cautious energy consumption to attain sustainable development by increasing the LCF in India.