The degree of individual or gender variation when exploiting food resources is an important aspect in the study of foraging
ecology within a population. Previous information on non-breeding skimmers obtained through conventional methodologies suggested
sex-related differences in prey species. In this study, stable isotope techniques were used to investigate the intraspecific
segregation in diet and foraging habits of the Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger intercedens) at Mar Chiquita Coastal Lagoon (37°40′S, 57°22′W), Argentina. These results were compared with contemporary data on the
trophic composition obtained by conventional methodologies. Blood samples were taken from birds captured with mist-nets during
their non-breeding season. The isotopic signatures of skimmers showed a diet mainly composed of marine prey with some degree
of estuarine fish intake. When comparing diet between sexes, males showed enrichment in 15N compared to females, while no differences were observed in 13C. The use of mixing models revealed differences in the relative composition of prey in the diet of male and female skimmers.
This study highlights stable isotope analysis as a valuable tool to test inter-individual differences and sexual segregation
in trophic ecology of Black Skimmers as compared to conventional methodologies. The results show a trophic segregation in
the Black Skimmer during the non-breeding season that can be explained by differences in prey species and larger prey sizes
of male skimmers. Our findings have significant implications for conservation since any environmental change occurring at
wintering areas might have profound effects on several avian life-history traits, and could be different for males and females
due to trophic segregation. 相似文献
Many authors have suggested that individuals affected by a terminal 1q deletion display a phenotypically definable and recognizable syndrome. In all of the 27 cases reported to date, the breakpoints were at band q42 or distally to it. To our knowledge, we report the first case of a terminal 1q41 deletion. Diagnosis was made prenatally by amniocentesis, following ultrasonographic diagnosis of omphalocele, cerebral ventriculomegaly, and increased nuchal fold thickness in a 19-week female fetus. Multiple facial and extremity features were consistent with the proposed distal 1q deletion syndrome; omphalocele, however, has not been reported previously. The absence of liver herniation into the omphalocele sac in this case supports the previously reported association of this finding with chromosomal anomalies. 相似文献
The use of recurrence plots have been extensively used in various fields. In this work, recurrence plots investigate the changes in the non-linear behaviour of urban air pollution using large datasets of raw data (hourly). This analysis has not been used before to extract information from large datasets for this type of non-linear problem. Two different approaches have been used to tackle this problem. The first approach is to show results according to monitoring network. The second approach is to show the results by particle type. This analysis shows the feasibility of using recurrence analysis for pollution monitoring and control. 相似文献
This study examined concentrations of 15 perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in tissues from male Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) collected at Loskop Dam, Mpumalanga, South Africa in 2014 and 2016. Nine of the 15 PFAAs were detected frequently and were included in statistical analysis and included two of the most commonly known PFAAs, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) (median, 41.6 ng/g) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (median, 0.0825 ng/g). Of the tissues measured, plasma (2016 and 2014 median, 22.2 ng/g) contained the highest PFAA burden followed by (in descending order): liver (median, 11.6 ng/g), kidney (median, 9.04 ng/g), spleen (median, 5.92 ng/g), adipose (median, 2.54 ng/g), and muscle (median, 1.11 ng/g). Loskop Dam tilapia have been affected by an inflammatory disease of the adipose tissue known as pansteatitis, so this study also aimed to investigate relationships between PFAA tissue concentrations and incidence of pansteatitis or fish health status. Results revealed that healthy tilapia exhibited an overall higher (p-value < 0.05) PFAA burden than pansteatitis-affected tilapia across all tissues. Further analysis showed that organs previously noted in the literature to contain the highest PFAA concentrations, such as kidney, liver, and plasma, were the organs driving the difference in PFAA burden between the two tilapia groups. Care must be taken in the interpretations we draw from not only the results of our study, but also other PFAA measurements made on populations (human and wildlife alike) under differing health status. 相似文献
For more than 30 million years, in early Mesozoic Pangea, ??rauisuchian?? archosaurs were the apex predators in most terrestrial ecosystems, but their biology and evolutionary history remain poorly understood. We describe a new ??rauisuchian?? based on ten individuals found in a single locality from the Middle Triassic (Ladinian) Santa Maria Formation of southern Brazil. Nine articulated and associated skeletons were discovered, three of which have nearly complete skulls. Along with sedimentological and taphonomic data, this suggests that those highly successful predators exhibited some kind of intraspecific interaction. Other monotaxic assemblages of Triassic archosaurs are Late Triassic (Norian-Rhaetian) in age, approximately 10 million years younger than the material described here. Indeed, the studied assemblage may represent the earliest evidence of gregariousness among archosaurs, adding to our knowledge on the origin of a behavior pattern typical of extant taxa. 相似文献
River estuaries, continental shelf, and sediment contamination are closely linked from the point of view of sediment transport and diffusion that is governed by different factors such as sea waves and currents, river flows and floods, and sediment characteristics. Taking these factors into consideration, we have examined marine environmental and marine bottom sediments off the mouth of a stream to highlight the main ways of sediment and contaminant transport and diffusion on the continental shelf. For this purpose, we followed a multidisciplinary approach, studying circulation of water masses, hydrological characteristics of water column, distribution and main characteristics of sediment grain size, sediment mineralogical composition, and metal concentrations of bottom sediments. Our results allowed identifying the presence of preferential ways of sediment deposition and areas of sediment spread for the Entella Stream, as well as the origin of some metals.