Predator cues alter the timing of developmental events in gastropod embryos.

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：:Telomeres are sensitive to damage induced by oxidative stress, and thus it is expected that dietary antioxidants may support the maintenance of telomere length in animals, particularly those with a fast rate of life (e.g. fast metabolism, activity and growth). We tested experimentally the effect of antioxidant supplem...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Kim SY,Velando A

更新日期：2015-05-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Captive breeding is a high profile management tool used for conserving threatened species. However, the inevitable consequence of generations in captivity is broad scale and often-rapid phenotypic divergence between captive and wild individuals, through environmental differences and genetic processes. Although poorly ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Slade B,Parrott ML,Paproth A,Magrath MJ,Gillespie GR,Jessop TS

更新日期：2014-11-01 00:00:00

abstract：:In a warming climate, higher temperatures are likely to modulate positively or negatively the effect of other environmental factors on biota, although such interactions are poorly documented. Here, we explore under controlled conditions the combined effects of two common stressors in freshwater ecosystems, higher temp...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Mari L,Garaud L,Evanno G,Lasne E

更新日期：2016-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Human-induced environmental change is occurring at an unprecedented rate and scale. Many freshwater habitats, in particular, have been degraded as a result of increased salinity. Little is known about the effects of anthropogenic salinization on freshwater organisms, especially at sublethal concentrations, where subtl...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Squires ZE,Bailey PC,Reina RD,Wong BB

更新日期：2008-08-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The comb jelly Mertensia ovum, widely distributed in Arctic regions, has recently been discovered in the northern Baltic Sea. We show that M. ovum also exists in the central Baltic but that the population consists solely of small-sized larvae (less than 1.6 mm). Despite the absence of adults, eggs were abundant. Exper...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Jaspers C,Haraldsson M,Bolte S,Reusch TB,Thygesen UH,Kiørboe T

更新日期：2012-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Studies often show that paternal age affects offspring fitness. However, such effects could be due either to age, or to a male's previous mating effort (which is necessarily confounded with age). We experimentally tested whether differences in the mating history of old males affect offspring performance in the mosquit...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Aich U,Jennions MD,Fox RJ

更新日期：2020-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Spatial and temporal heterogeneity in relative fitness of competing species is a key factor affecting the structure of communities. However, it is not intuitive why species that are ecologically similar should differ in their response to environmental changes. Here we show that two sympatric flycatchers differ in repr...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Qvarnström A,Svedin N,Wiley C,Veen T,Gustafsson L

更新日期：2005-03-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Although the adaptive value of flight may seem obvious, it is the most difficult behaviour of birds to monitor. Here, we describe a technique to quantify the frequency and the duration of flights over several months by implanting a data logger that records heart rate (fH), hydrostatic pressure (diving depth) and the b...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Pelletier D,Guillemette M,Grandbois JM,Butler PJ

更新日期：2007-08-22 00:00:00

abstract：:There is increasing evidence from non-human animals that males adjust their ejaculate expenditure according to the risk of sperm competition. In this study we show that, after controlling for lifestyle factors known to influence semen quality, human males viewing images depicting sperm competition had a higher percent...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Kilgallon SJ,Simmons LW

更新日期：2005-09-22 00:00:00

abstract：:The temporal stability of plant reproductive features on islands has rarely been tested. Using flowers, fruits/cones and seeds from a well-dated (23 Ma) Miocene Lagerstätte in New Zealand, we show that across 23 families and 30 genera of forest angiosperms and conifers, reproductive features have remained constant for...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Conran JG,Lee WG,Lee DE,Bannister JM,Kaulfuss U

更新日期：2014-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The evolutionary stability of honest signalling by offspring is thought to require that begging displays be costly, so the costs and benefits of begging--and whether they are experienced individually or by the whole brood--are crucial to understanding the evolution of begging behaviour. Begging is known to have immedi...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Lessells CK,Riebel K,Draganoiu TI

更新日期：2011-06-23 00:00:00

abstract：:Ecosystem dynamics are driven by both biotic and abiotic processes, and perturbations can push ecosystems into novel dynamical regimes. Plant-plant, plant-soil and mycorrhizal associations all affect plant ecosystem dynamics; however, the direction and magnitude of these effects vary by context and their contribution ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Bonsall MB,Froyd CA,Jeffers ES

更新日期：2020-01-01 00:00:00

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：:In group-living mammals, the eviction of subordinate females from breeding groups by dominants may serve to reduce feeding competition or to reduce breeding competition. Here, we combined both correlational and experimental approaches to investigate whether increases in food intake by dominant females reduces their te...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Dubuc C,English S,Thavarajah N,Dantzer B,Sharp SP,Spence-Jones HC,Gaynor D,Clutton-Brock TH

更新日期：2017-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The length of telomeres, the protective caps of chromosomes, is increasingly used as a biomarker of individual health state because it has been shown to predict chances of survival in a range of endothermic species including humans. Oxidative stress is presumed to be a major cause of telomere shortening, but most evid...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Reichert S,Stier A

更新日期：2017-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Vision of the body, even when non-informative about stimulation, affects somatosensory processing. We investigated whether seeing the body also modulates autonomic control in the periphery by measuring skin temperature while manipulating vision. Using a mirror box, the skin temperature was measured from left hand dors...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Sadibolova R,Longo MR

更新日期：2014-04-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) consists of 26 and 52 heptad-repeats in yeast and mammals, respectively. Studies in yeast showed that the strong periodicity of the YSPTSPS heptads is dispensable for cell growth and that di-heptads interspersed by spacers can act a...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Shah N,Decker TM,Eick D

更新日期：2019-05-31 00:00:00

abstract：:Correct decision making is crucial for animals to maximize foraging success and minimize predation risk. Group-living animals can make such decisions by using their own personal information or by pooling information with other group members (i.e. social information). Here, we investigate how individuals might best bal...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： King AJ,Cowlishaw G

更新日期：2007-04-22 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：: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：:The direct effects of CO2 level changes on plant water availability are usually ignored in plant habitat models. We compare traditional proxies for water availability with changes in soil water (fAWC) predicted by a process-based ecosystem model, which simulates changes in vegetation structure and functioning, includi...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Rickebusch S,Thuiller W,Hickler T,Arau Jo MB,Sykes MT,Schweiger O,Lafourcade B

更新日期：2008-10-23 00:00:00

abstract：:The phenomenon of endocrine disruption is currently a source of growing concern. Feminization of male fish in UK rivers has been shown to occur extensively and has been linked with exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds present in the environment. Much less is known of the extent and scale of endocrine disruption ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Chesman BS,Langston WJ

更新日期：2006-09-22 00:00:00

abstract：:Parasites play pivotal roles in structuring communities, often via indirect interactions with non-host species. These effects can be density-mediated (through mortality) or trait-mediated (behavioural, physiological and developmental), and may be crucial to population interactions, including biological invasions. For ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Hatcher MJ,Dick JT,Dunn AM

更新日期：2014-01-15 00:00:00

abstract：:Coral reefs are one of the most diverse systems on the planet; yet, only a small fraction of coral reef species have attracted scientific study. Here, we document strong deleterious effects of an often overlooked species-the vermetid gastropod, Dendropoma maximum-on growth and survival of reef-building corals. Our sur...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Shima JS,Osenberg CW,Stier AC

更新日期：2010-12-23 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：:Inbreeding may lead to morphological malformations in a wide variety of taxa. We used genetic markers to evaluate whether malformed urodeles were more inbred and/or had less genetic diversity than normal salamanders. We captured 687 adult and 1,259 larval tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum tigrinum), assessed each ...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Williams RN,Bos DH,Gopurenko D,Dewoody JA

更新日期：2008-10-23 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：:Animals living around humans may habituate to us, but little is known about the consequences of this habituation. Some wildlife managers assume that habituation to humans makes individuals less likely to respond to natural predators, which is something to be avoided in captive breeding programmes where animals are des...

journal_title：Biology letters

authors： Coleman A,Richardson D,Schechter R,Blumstein DT

更新日期：2008-06-23 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