Inbreeding avoidance through non-random mating in sticklebacks.

abstract：:Two non-coding DNA classes, introns and intergenic regions, of Drosophila melanogaster exhibit contrasting evolutionary patterns. GC content is significantly higher in intergenic regions and affects their degree of nucleotide variability. Divergence is positively correlated with recombination rate in intergenic region...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Ometto L,De Lorenzo D,Stephan W

更新日期：2006-12-22 00:00:00

abstract：:About 10 per cent of birds' eggs fail to hatch, but the incidence of failure can be much higher in endangered species. Most studies fail to distinguish between infertility (due to a lack of sperm) and embryo mortality as the cause of hatching failure, yet doing so is crucial in order to understand the underlying probl...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hemmings N,West M,Birkhead TR

更新日期：2012-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The brown alga Fucus serratus is a key foundation species on rocky intertidal shores of northern Europe. We sampled the same population off the coast of southern Norway in 2000 and 2008, and using 26 microsatellite loci, we estimated the changes in genetic diversity and effective population size (Ne). The unexpectedly...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Coyer JA,Hoarau G,Sjøtun K,Olsen JL

更新日期：2008-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Domesticated animals have been shown to recognize basic phonemic information from human speech sounds and to recognize familiar speakers from their voices. However, whether animals can spontaneously identify words across unfamiliar speakers (speaker normalization) or spontaneously discriminate between unfamiliar speak...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Root-Gutteridge H,Ratcliffe VF,Korzeniowska AT,Reby D

更新日期：2019-12-24 00:00:00

abstract：:A large number of episodes of forest mortality associated with drought and heat stress have been detected worldwide in recent decades, suggesting that some of the world's forested ecosystems may be already responding to climate change. Here, we summarize a special session titled 'Drought-induced forest decline: causes...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Martínez-Vilalta J,Lloret F,Breshears DD

更新日期：2012-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Heterochrony, differences in the timing of developmental events between descendent species and their ancestors, is a pervasive evolutionary pattern. However, the origins of such timing changes are still not resolved. Here we show, using sequence analysis, that exposure to predator cues altered the timing of onset of s...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Rundle SD,Smirthwaite JJ,Colbert MW,Spicer JI

更新日期：2011-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Seasonal changes in stress steroid hormone secretions are thought to reflect investment in self-maintenance versus reproduction. The capricious conditions hypothesis (CCH) posits that reduced corticosterone (CORT) secretion during stress coincident with parental phases of breeding is necessary in harsh environments be...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Cornelius JM,Breuner CW,Hahn TP

更新日期：2012-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The Himalayas are assumed to be undergoing rapid climate change, with serious environmental, social and economic consequences for more than two billion people. However, data on the extent of climate change or its impact on the region are meagre. Based on local knowledge, we report perceived changes in climate and cons...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Chaudhary P,Bawa KS

更新日期：2011-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Mosquitoes, which evade contact with long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual sprays, by feeding outdoors or upon animals, are primary malaria vectors in many tropical countries. They can also dominate residual transmission where high coverage of these front-line vector control measures is achieved. Compleme...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Kiware SS,Chitnis N,Devine GJ,Moore SJ,Majambere S,Killeen GF

更新日期：2012-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Increasing numbers of climbers are attempting Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth. We compiled interview data and computed the probabilities of summiting and of dying as a function of climber age and gender (2211 climbers, spring season) for the period of 1990-2005. Men and women had similar odds of summiting...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Huey RB,Salisbury R,Wang JL,Mao M

更新日期：2007-10-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Male bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Western Australia form two levels of alliances; two to three males cooperate to herd individual females and teams of greater than three males compete with other groups for females. Previous observation suggested two alliance tactics: small four to six member teams of relatives th...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Connor RC,Watson-Capps JJ,Sherwin WB,Krützen M

更新日期：2011-08-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Dated phylogenies of fossil taxa allow palaeobiologists to estimate the timing of major divergences and placement of extinct lineages, and to test macroevolutionary hypotheses. Recently developed Bayesian 'tip-dating' methods simultaneously infer and date the branching relationships among fossil taxa, and infer putati...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Bapst DW,Wright AM,Matzke NJ,Lloyd GT

更新日期：2016-07-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The movement and dietary history of individuals can be studied using stable isotope records in archival keratinous tissues. Here, we present a chronology of temporally fine-scale data on the trophic niche of otariid seals by measuring the isotopic signature of serially sampled whiskers. Whiskers of male Antarctic fur ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Cherel Y,Kernaléguen L,Richard P,Guinet C

更新日期：2009-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Here, we use 30 long-term, high-resolution palaeoecological records from Mexico, Central and South America to address two hypotheses regarding possible drivers of resilience in tropical forests as measured in terms of recovery rates from previous disturbances. First, we hypothesize that faster recovery rates are assoc...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Adolf C,Tovar C,Kühn N,Behling H,Berrío JC,Dominguez-Vázquez G,Figueroa-Rangel B,Gonzalez-Carranza Z,Islebe GA,Hooghiemstra H,Neff H,Olvera-Vargas M,Whitney B,Wooller MJ,Willis KJ

更新日期：2020-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Of more than 800 species of eels of the order Anguilliformes, only freshwater eels (genus Anguilla with 16 species plus three subspecies) spend most of their lives in freshwater during their catadromous life cycle. Nevertheless, because their spawning areas are located offshore in the open ocean, they migrate back to ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Inoue JG,Miya M,Miller MJ,Sado T,Hanel R,Hatooka K,Aoyama J,Minegishi Y,Nishida M,Tsukamoto K

更新日期：2010-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Drug resistance is a long-standing economic, veterinary and human health concern in human and animal populations. Efficacy of prophylactic drug treatments targeting a particular pathogen is often short-lived, as drug-resistant pathogens evolve and reach high frequency in a treated population. Methods to combat drug re...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Park AW,Haven J,Kaplan R,Gandon S

更新日期：2015-11-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Mycobacterium bovis is the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle and wildlife. Direct aerosol contact is thought to be the primary route of infection between conspecifics, whereas indirect transmission via an environmental reservoir of M. bovis is generally perceived not to be a significant source for...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Courtenay O,Reilly LA,Sweeney FP,Hibberd V,Bryan S,Ul-Hassan A,Newman C,Macdonald DW,Delahay RJ,Wilson GJ,Wellington EM

更新日期：2006-09-22 00:00:00

abstract：:The lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) suffered a sharp population decline over much of its European distribution range in the middle of the twentieth century. Still declining in some areas, the species has recently experienced a notable population recovery in certain regions. We examined the genetic diversity variation ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Ortego J,Aparicio JM,Calabuig G,Cordero PJ

更新日期：2007-10-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Bees are model organisms for the study of learning and memory, yet nearly all such research to date has used a single reward, nectar. Many bees collect both nectar (carbohydrates) and pollen (protein) on a single foraging bout, sometimes from different plant species. We tested whether individual bumblebees could learn...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Muth F,Papaj DR,Leonard AS

更新日期：2015-09-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Nectar concentration is assumed to remain constant during transport by honeybees between flowers and hive. We sampled crop contents of nectar foragers on Aloe greatheadii var. davyana, a major winter bee plant in South Africa. The nectar is dilute (approx. 20% w/w), but the crop contents of bees captured on flowers ar...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Nicolson SW,Human H

更新日期：2008-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The plight of the marine fisheries is attracting increasing attention as unsustainably high exploitation levels, exacerbated by more extreme climatic conditions, are driving stocks to the point of collapse. The North Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), a species which until recently formed a major component of the demersal f...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hutchinson WF

更新日期：2008-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Given the high costs of avian obligate brood parasitism, host individuals are selected to reject parasitic eggs they recognize as foreign. We show that rejection may not necessarily follow egg discrimination when selective removal of the parasitic egg is difficult. We studied egg rejection behaviour in a small host of...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Antonov A,Stokke BG,Moksnes A,Røskaft E

更新日期：2009-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Urban alteration of neutral and adaptive evolutionary processes is still underexplored. Using a genome-wide SNP dataset, we investigated (i) urban-induced modifications of population demography, genetic diversity and population structure and (ii) signature of divergent selection between urban and forest populations in...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Khimoun A,Doums C,Molet M,Kaufmann B,Peronnet R,Eyer PA,Mona S

更新日期：2020-01-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The existence of consistent individual differences in behaviour ('animal personality') has been well documented in recent years. However, how such individual variation in behaviour is maintained over evolutionary time is an ongoing conundrum. A well-studied axis of animal personality is individual variation along a bo...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Ahlgren J,Chapman BB,Nilsson PA,Brönmark C

更新日期：2015-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The dynamics of leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) have been intensively explored in short-term experiments, but rarely at longer timescales. Here, we investigated leaf N : P stoichiometry over a 27-year interval in an Inner Mongolia grassland by comparing leaf N : P concentration of 2006 with that of 1979. Across 8...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Mi Z,Huang Y,Gan H,Zhou W,Flynn DF,He JS

更新日期：2015-01-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Fire is the most frequent disturbance in the Ericaceous Belt (ca 3000-4300 m.a.s.l.), one of the most important plant communities of tropical African mountains. Through resprouting after fire, Erica establishes a positive fire feedback under certain burning regimes. However, present-day human activity in the Bale Moun...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Gil-Romera G,Adolf C,Benito BM,Bittner L,Johansson MU,Grady DA,Lamb HF,Lemma B,Fekadu M,Glaser B,Mekonnen B,Sevilla-Callejo M,Zech M,Zech W,Miehe G

更新日期：2019-07-26 00:00:00

abstract：:In cooperatively breeding species, social conflict is typically assumed to underlie destructive behaviours like infanticide. However, an untested alternative hypothesis in birds is that infanticide in the form of egg tossing may simply be a parental response to partial nest predation representing a life-history trade-...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Cheng YR,Rubenstein DR,Shen SF

更新日期：2019-08-30 00:00:00

abstract：:Carotenoid-based ornaments are common signalling features in animals. It has long been proposed that such ornaments communicate information about foraging abilities to potential mates. However, evidence linking foraging with ornamentation is largely missing from unmanipulated, free-ranging populations. To investigate ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Michael NP,Torres R,Welch AJ,Adams J,Bonillas-Monge ME,Felis J,Lopez-Marquez L,Martínez-Flores A,Wiley AE

更新日期：2018-09-26 00:00:00

abstract：:In polygynous species, mate choice is an integrated part of sexual selection. However, whether mate choice occurs independently of the genetic relatedness among mating pairs has received little attention, although inbreeding may have fitness consequences. We studied whether genetic relatedness influenced females' choi...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Holand O,Askim KR,Røed KH,Weladji RB,Gjøstein H,Nieminen M

更新日期：2007-02-22 00:00:00

abstract：:There is growing interest in the capacity of mangrove ecosystems to sequester and store 'blue carbon'. Here, we provide a synthesis of 66 dated sediment cores with previously calculated carbon accumulation rates in mangrove ecosystems to assess the effects of environmental and anthropogenic pressures. Conserved sedime...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Pérez A,Libardoni BG,Sanders CJ

更新日期：2018-10-31 00:00:00