Is Mycobacterium bovis in the environment important for the persistence of bovine tuberculosis?

abstract：:The mid-domain effect (MDE), a bias in species richness towards the midpoint of a given geographical dimension, has been used as a null model in macro-ecological studies. Departures from a MDE are often thought of as interesting. The MDE is a product of the interaction between geometric boundaries and range locations,...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Davies TJ,Grenyer R,Gittleman JL

更新日期：2005-06-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Long-distance migrants are particularly recognized for the distances covered on migration, yet little is known about the distances they cover during the rest of the year. GPS-tracks of 29 Montagu's harriers from breeding areas in France, The Netherlands and Denmark showed that harriers fly between 35 653 and 88 049 km...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Schlaich AE,Bouten W,Bretagnolle V,Heldbjerg H,Klaassen RHG,Sørensen IH,Villers A,Both C

更新日期：2017-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:In social insects, group behaviour can increase disease resistance among nest-mates and generate social prophylaxis. Stomodeal trophallaxis, or mutual feeding through regurgitation, may boost colony-level immunocompetence. We provide evidence for increased trophallactic behaviour among immunized workers of the carpent...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hamilton C,Lejeune BT,Rosengaus RB

更新日期：2011-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Ecological resilience has become a focal concept in ecosystem management. Palaeoecological records (i.e. the sub-fossil remains preserved in sediments) are useful archives to address ecological resilience since they can be used to reconstruct long-term temporal variations in ecosystem properties. The special feature p...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Seddon AWR

更新日期：2021-01-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The loss of Arctic sea ice is predicted to open up the Northwest Passage, shortening shipping routes and facilitating the exchange of marine organisms between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Here, we present the first observations of distribution overlap of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) from the two oceans ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Heide-Jørgensen MP,Laidre KL,Quakenbush LT,Citta JJ

更新日期：2012-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Predictions of future species' ranges under climate change are needed for conservation planning, for which species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used. However, global climate model-based (GCM) output grids can bias the area identified as suitable when these are used as SDM predictor variables, because GCM outp...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Seo C,Thorne JH,Hannah L,Thuiller W

更新日期：2009-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Soil oxygen availability may influence blue carbon, which is carbon stored in coastal wetlands, by controlling the decomposition of soil organic matter. We are beginning to quantify soil oxygen availability in wetlands, but we lack a precise understanding of how oxygen controls soil carbon dynamics. In this paper, we ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Chapman SK,Hayes MA,Kelly B,Langley JA

更新日期：2019-01-31 00:00:00

abstract：:Social insect cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) mixtures are among the most complex chemical cues known and are important in nest-mate, caste and species recognition. Despite our growing knowledge of the nature of these cues, we have very little insight into how social insects actually perceive and discriminate among these ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： van Wilgenburg E,Felden A,Choe DH,Sulc R,Luo J,Shea KJ,Elgar MA,Tsutsui ND

更新日期：2012-02-23 00:00:00

abstract：:If a mother's nutritional status predicts the nutritional environment of the offspring, it would be adaptive for mothers experiencing nutritional stress to prime their offspring for a better tolerance to poor nutrition. We report that in Drosophila melanogaster, parents raised on poor larval food laid 3-6% heavier egg...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Vijendravarma RK,Narasimha S,Kawecki TJ

更新日期：2010-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Ejaculate attributes are important factors driving the probability of fertilizing eggs. When females mate with several males, competition between sperm to fertilize eggs should accentuate selection on ejaculate attributes. We tested this hypothesis in the North African houbara bustard ( Chlamydotis undulata undulata) ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Vuarin P,Hingrat Y,Lesobre L,Jalme MS,Lacroix F,Sorci G

更新日期：2019-03-29 00:00:00

abstract：:We modelled the present and future sub-Saharan winter distributions of 64 trans-Saharan migrant passerines to predict the potential impacts of climate change. These predictions used the recent ensemble modelling developments and the latest IPCC climatic simulations to account for possible methodological uncertainties....

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Barbet-Massin M,Walther BA,Thuiller W,Rahbek C,Jiguet F

更新日期：2009-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:We tested whether the carbohydrate and amino acid content of extrafloral nectar affected prey choice by a predatory ant. Fire ants, Solenopsis invicta, were provided with artificial nectar that varied in the presence of carbohydrates and amino acids and were then provided with two prey items that differed in nutrition...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Wilder SM,Eubanks MD

更新日期：2010-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:There are two forms of ovulation: spontaneous and induced. As copulation triggers ovulation for induced ovulators, males can predict the timing of ovulation and may have greater paternity monopolization than spontaneous ovulators. However, this prediction has never, to my knowledge, been tested. Using a cross-species ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Soulsbury CD

更新日期：2010-02-23 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：:One prediction of optimal digestion theory is that organisms will increase the relative length of their digestive tracts when food resources become limited. We used theory of optimal digestion to test whether tadpoles can adjust the relative length of their intestines when challenged with the fungal pathogen Batrachoc...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Venesky MD,Hanlon SM,Lynch K,Parris MJ,Rohr JR

更新日期：2013-02-27 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：:At the end of May, 17 scientists involved in an EU COST Action on Conservation Physiology of Marine Fishes met in Oristano, Sardinia, to discuss how physiology can be better used in modelling tools to aid in management of marine ecosystems. Current modelling approaches incorporate physiology to different extents, rang...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Jørgensen C,Peck MA,Antognarelli F,Azzurro E,Burrows MT,Cheung WW,Cucco A,Holt RE,Huebert KB,Marras S,McKenzie D,Metcalfe J,Perez-Ruzafa A,Sinerchia M,Fleng Steffensen J,Teal LR,Domenici P

更新日期：2012-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Many geckos use adhesive toe pads on the bottom of their digits to attach to surfaces with remarkable strength. Although gecko adhesion has been studied for hundreds of years, gaps exist in our understanding at the whole-animal level. It remains unclear whether the strength and maintenance of adhesion are determined b...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Stewart WJ,Higham TE

更新日期：2014-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Association and linkage mapping have become important tools in understanding the genetics of complex traits, including diseases in humans. As the success of association mapping is reduced by small effect sizes and limited power, linkage studies in laboratory-based model systems are still heavily used. But whether the ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Wilfert L,Jiggins FM

更新日期：2010-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Seamounts may influence the distribution of marine mammals through a combination of increased ocean mixing, enhanced local productivity and greater prey availability. To study the effects of seamounts on the presence and acoustic behaviour of cetaceans, we deployed a high-frequency acoustic recording package on the su...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Johnston DW,McDonald M,Polovina J,Domokos R,Wiggins S,Hildebrand J

更新日期：2008-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Understanding the relationship between disease transmission and host density is essential for predicting disease spread and control. Using long-term data on sarcoptic mange in a red fox Vulpes vulpes population, we tested long-held assumptions of density- and frequency-dependent direct disease transmission. We also as...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Devenish-Nelson ES,Richards SA,Harris S,Soulsbury C,Stephens PA

更新日期：2014-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The evolution of visual warning signals is well known in animals but has received scant attention in plants. The coevolutionary hypothesis is the most influential hypothesis on warning signals in plants proposing that red and yellow leaf colours in autumn signal defensive strength to herbivores. So far, evidence in su...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Schaefer HM,Rolshausen G

更新日期：2007-02-22 00:00:00

abstract：:While we can usually understand the impacts of invasive species on recipient communities, invasion biology lacks methodologies that are potentially more predictive. Such tools should ideally be straightforward and widely applicable. Here, we explore an approach that compares the functional responses (FRs) of invader a...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Bollache L,Dick JT,Farnsworth KD,Montgomery WI

更新日期：2008-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The sex ratio of the local population influences mating-related behaviours in many species. Recent experiments show that male-biased sex ratios increase the amount of financial resources men will invest in potential mates, suggesting that sex ratios influence allocation of mating effort in humans. To investigate this ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hahn AC,Fisher CI,DeBruine LM,Jones BC

更新日期：2014-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The symposium 'What is Macroecology?' was held in London on 20 June 2012. The event was the inaugural meeting of the Macroecology Special Interest Group of the British Ecological Society and was attended by nearly 100 scientists from 11 countries. The meeting reviewed the recent development of the macroecological agen...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Keith SA,Webb TJ,Böhning-Gaese K,Connolly SR,Dulvy NK,Eigenbrod F,Jones KE,Price T,Redding DW,Owens IP,Isaac NJ

更新日期：2012-12-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Male signals that provide information to females about mating benefits are often of low reliability. It is thus not clear why females often express strong signal preferences. We tested the hypothesis that females can distinguish between males with preferred signals that provide lower and higher quality direct benefits...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Wegehaupt AK,Wagner WE Jr

更新日期：2017-09-01 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：:Hosts may defend themselves against parasitism through a wide variety of defence mechanisms, but due to finite resources, investment in one defence mechanism may trade-off with investment in another mechanism. We studied resistance strategies against the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi in two Drosophila species. ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Lefèvre T,de Roode JC,Kacsoh BZ,Schlenke TA

更新日期：2012-04-23 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