scholarly journals Sharing refuges on arid islands: ecological and social influence on aggregation behaviour of wall geckos

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e2802 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Vasconcelos ◽  
Sara Rocha ◽  
Xavier Santos
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Harsh Environment ◽  
Body Temperatures ◽  
Agonistic Interactions ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Aggressive Interactions ◽  
Aggregation Behaviour ◽  
A Site ◽  
Dependent Behaviour

BackgroundThe extent of social behaviour among reptiles is underappreciated. Two types of aggregations are recognized in lizards: ecological and social, i.e., related to the attraction to a site or to animals of the same species, respectively. As most lizards are territorial, aggregations increase the probability of aggressive interactions among individuals, a density-dependent behaviour.MethodsAfter some spurious observations of aggregation behaviour in the endemic Cabo Verde nocturnal geckoTarentola substituta,we conducted a field-based study in order to thoroughly characterize it. We sampled 48 transects and 40 10 × 10 m quadrats on São Vicente Island to describe the incidence, size and composition of aggregations and to study the effect of gecko and refuge density, plus refuge quality, on refuge sharing. We hypothesize that when density of animals and scarcity of high-quality refuges is higher, lizards have increased probability of aggregating. We also predict a consistent pattern of size and composition of groups (male–female pairs, only one adult male per group) throughout the year if there is a selected behaviour to avoid agonistic interactions, and low thermal advantage to aggregating individuals.ResultsWe present one of the first evidences of aggregation for Phyllodactylidae geckos. We found thatT. substitutaforms aggregations around 30–40% of the time, and that refuges are almost always shared by a female-male pair, sometimes with a juvenile, probably a mechanism to avoid aggressive interactions. We also observed that refuge sharing is dependent on refuge quality, as medium–large (thermally more stable and positively selected) rocks are shared much more frequently than small ones, but independent of adult sizes. Refuge sharing is also directly related to the density of geckos and inversely related to the density of high-quality refuges. We found no relation between body temperatures of geckos and refuge sharing when controlling the effect of rock/air temperature, suggesting that huddling does not improve thermoregulation.DiscussionOur results suggest that in this harsh environment (rocks reach 46 °C) aggregation incidence is mainly driven by an ecological factor (scarcity of high-quality refuges) and its intersexual composition by social factors (avoidance of agonistic interactions by males, and possible increased reproductive success of the pair). This study sheds some light on the little explored gecko aggregation behaviour and other studies should follow.

scholarly journals The cheek plumage patch is an amplifier of dominance in great tits

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismael Galván ◽  
Juan José Sanz
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Patch Size ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Large Patch ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Aggressive Interactions

Amplifiers are signals that enhance the perception of other signals or cues, but no studies to date provide empirical evidence for the role of these signals in a reproductive context. Here we use the white cheek patch of great tits as a model for studying this issue. Aggressive interactions decrease patch immaculateness, so patch size may be an amplifier of dominance, that is, more clearly reveal status. If so, in high-quality individuals patch size should correlate positively with reproductive success (here estimated by laying date, assuming that the earlier the better), whereas low-quality individuals with a large patch should only more clearly reveal their low quality and thus suffer low reproductive success, which is exactly the pattern found in males. In contrast, the cheek patch does not seem to function as an amplifier in female great tits.

scholarly journals Can outcomes of dyadic interactions be consistent across contexts among wild zebrafish?

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
pp. 150282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamal Roy ◽  
Anuradha Bhat
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Resource Availability ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Dyadic Interactions ◽  
Agonistic Interactions ◽  
Aggressive Interactions ◽  
Probable Role ◽  
Competition For Resources

Winner–loser relations among group-living individuals are often measured by the levels of aggressive interactions between them. These interactions are typically driven by competition for resources such as food and mates. It has been observed in recent studies on zebrafish that dominant males generally have higher total reproductive success than their less aggressive subordinate counterparts. This study aimed to test whether males who monopolized a food resource (winners) also displayed higher levels of aggression than the males who were unsuccessful (losers). Further, the study also tested whether the same ‘winner’ males were also able to monopolize interactions with females during courtship. The results from these experiments showed that while males monopolizing food resources (winners) demonstrated higher levels of agonistic interactions than the losers, the average number of courtship interactions initiated by either of the males (i.e. winners/losers) with a female was not significantly different. A significant relationship was obtained between the number of aggressive interactions and feeding latencies of males in the context of food monopolization. This indicated that there could be a linkage between boldness defined by feeding latency in a novel environment and agonistic responses. The probable role of nature of resources, resource availability and distribution in determining the outcomes of dyadic contests is discussed.

scholarly journals Photography of Trichoptera in flight

Zoosymposia ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 297-318
Author(s):  
W. Geoff McIlleron ◽  
Ferdinand C. De Moor
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Beat Frequency ◽  
Behavioural Ecology ◽  
Wing Beat ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Flying Insects ◽  
Single Lens ◽  
A Site ◽  
Selection Of

Whereas photography of insects at rest is used for a wide variety of purposes, including illustrating publications and aiding their identification, photography of insects in flight is more challenging and little practiced. This paper describes a system that uses a digital single-lens-reflex camera combined with commercial-level flashes (with electronic power settings to give very short exposures) and simple electronics in a rig that can be used to capture high quality images of night-flying insects. With such a rig, hundreds of images of free flying Trichoptera have been obtained. Preliminary observations of night-flying Athripsodes bergensis (Leptoceridae) indicate that this system could be used for studying the mechanics of flight, wing beat frequency, aerodynamics, flying speed, aerial activity, and behavioural ecology of night-flying insects in their natural environment.      This paper briefly describes the technique as applied at a site on the banks of the Groot River in the southern Cape region of South Africa between October 2008 and April 2009 and presents a selection of the images obtained.

scholarly journals The mode of ovulation in the Namaqua rock mouse, Micaelamys namaquensis

2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (11) ◽  
pp. 829-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.E. Relton ◽  
N.C. Bennett ◽  
K. Medger
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Reproductive Potential ◽  
Follicular Development ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Visual Contact ◽  
Plasma Progesterone ◽  
Specific Mode ◽  
Full Contact ◽  
Ovarian Size

The pattern of ovulation in mammals is generally considered to be either spontaneous or induced by copulation, with environmental and social factors playing a key role in determining the specific mode of ovulation that would maximize the reproductive potential of the species. This study aims to determine whether the Namaqua rock mouse (Micaelamys namaquensis (A. Smith, 1834)) is a spontaneous or induced ovulator. Females were divided into three treatments differing in the degree of contact with a male. Namely, seven control females had no contact with a male; a further seven separated females had only chemical, auditory, and visual contact with a male; whereas six females had intermittent periods of full contact with a vasectomized male. Ovarian size, follicular development, and plasma progesterone concentrations were compared between the three treatments. Penile morphology was also investigated. Corpora lutea were found in all three treatments and the penis was smooth without any ridges or spikes, indicating that M. namaquensis is a spontaneous ovulator. Interestingly, however, the presence of a male (physical as well as just visual and olfactory) positively affected ovarian size, ovulation, and plasma progesterone concentrations. This signifies that although M. namaquensis ovulates spontaneously, male contact significantly influences ovulation rate and ultimately reproductive success.

Extra-pair copulations in common murres I: a mate attraction strategy?

Behaviour ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 143 (10) ◽  
pp. 1241-1262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen L. Cameron-Macmillan ◽  
Carolyn J. Walsh ◽  
Sabina I. Wilhelm ◽  
Anne E. Storey
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Mate Attraction ◽  
Extra Pair Paternity ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Common Murres ◽  
Breeding Seasons

AbstractWe investigated the behavioural context of pair (PCs) and extra-pair copulations (EPCs) in individually-marked socially-monogamous, long-lived seabirds, common murres (Uria aalge). Since forced EPCs have been documented for this species, we first examined which sex controls successful (cloacal contact achieved) copulation. The finding that all successful copulations required female cooperation and crouching suggested that benefits of successful EPCs accrue primarily to females. In a group of murres for which paternity analyses indicated no extra-pair paternity, behavioural observations over five breeding seasons showed that individual females engaged in EPCs primarily under two circumstances: (1) before they were reunited with their mates, and (2) when they were in the process of re-pairing. There was no such relationship between EPCs and re-pairing for males. Successful EPCs occurred with familiar neighboring males of apparent high quality, indicated by their high ledge attendance and prior reproductive success rates. Thus, EPCs may be used by females to attract potential high quality mates in situations where females are attempting to re-pair as a result of divorce or mate death.

Delayed Breeding in Avian Social Systems: the Role of Territory Quality and "Floater" Tactics

Behaviour ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 123 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 194-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridget J. Stutchbury ◽  
Steve Zack
Keyword(s):  
Social Systems ◽  
Breeding Site ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Territory Quality ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Site Tenacity ◽  
Colonial Breeding ◽  
A Site

AbstractIn many avian societies, young birds delay breeding beyond the age of sexual maturity. Most previous hypotheses of delayed breeding have emphasized forces that keep young birds from becoming breeders. We develop a model of delayed breeding which includes the future acquisition of a high quality territory as a potential direct benefit of delayed breeding. Strong differences in territory quality, age-correlated asymmetries in resource holding potential, and territory site tenacity set the stage for young birds to either breed immediately on a poor territory, or obtain a high quality territory through reproductive delay on or near the site. A wide variety of species and social organizations reveal common patterns of breeding status acquisition through behaviours as nonbreeders with site tenacity on or immediately near the breeding site. A review of 'floater' strategies reveals that nonbreeders frequently have restricted home ranges that encompass one or more breeding territories, and prior experience at a site improves their chances of acquiring a territory in future years. This pattern of territory acquisition argues for incorporating direct benefits into models of delayed breeding. We discuss the potential applications to understanding delayed breeding in social systems as apparently different as cooperatively-breeding birds, migratory passerines, colonial breeding gulls, and lek-breeding grouse and manakins.

The annihilating process

2001 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin O'Hely ◽  
Aidan Sudbury
Keyword(s):  
Renewal Process ◽  
Particle System ◽  
Interacting Particle System ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Initial Configuration ◽  
Interacting Particle ◽  
Time Dependent Behaviour ◽  
A Site ◽  
Dependent Behaviour

An annihilating process is an interacting particle system in which the only interaction is that a particle may kill a neighbouring particle. Since there is no birth and no movement, once a particle has no neighbours its site remains occupied for ever. It is shown that with initial configuration ℤ the distribution of particles at all times is a renewal process and that the probability that a site remains occupied for all time tends to 1/e. Time-dependent behaviour is also calculated for the tree 𝕋r.

A-site deficient perovskites Ba(M2+ 1/3Nb2/3)O3: microstructural attributes for a high quality factor

2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Ovchar ◽  
D. Durylin ◽  
A. Belous ◽  
B. Jancar ◽  
Kolodiazhnyi
Keyword(s):  
Quality Factor ◽  
High Quality Factor ◽  
High Quality ◽  
A Site

scholarly journals Do female coleopteran parasitoids enhance their reproductive success by selecting high-quality oviposition sites?

2001 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 1046-1052 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Fournet ◽  
D. Poinsot ◽  
E. Brunel ◽  
J. P. Nénon ◽  
A. M. Cortesero
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Oviposition Sites

scholarly journals How can we Prove that Tumor Board is a Mandatory Component of High Quality Cancer Care?

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-59
Author(s):  
Ahmed Nadeem Abbasi ◽  
◽  
Sehrish Abrar ◽  
Benazir Mir Khan ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Board ◽  
Board Meeting ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Cancer Management ◽  
Quality Cancer Care ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
A Site

Before embarking upon the first modality of cancer management, it is advisable to thoughrouly discuss the patients case in a site specific multidisciplinary tumor board meeting. These meetings are a necessary requirement for a high quality comprehensive cancer service. Published evidence reveals a positive relationship in the form of treatment outcomes. The outcomes are being measured in terms ofs of survival and local control of malignancies for patients who were discussed and deliberated nary tumour boards [1, 2]. These boards are vitally essential for the services offered in Low and Middle Income countries as we regard them as the lifeline for our cancer patients [3].

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