Environmental correlates of darkling beetle population size (Col. Tenebrionidae) on the Cañadas of Teide in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

Relationships among environmental patterns and population size of the smut lizard Gallotia galloti galloti Oudart, 1839 (Sauria Lacertidae) were examined in the context of longer time‐scale variability on a sandy beach and adjacent environments of Southeastern Tenerife. Seasonal and yearly patterns in the population size were likewise analyzed in relation to climatic and anthropic variables. Six sampling plots (coastal, sweet tabaiba, tuff, lava, sandy lava and crater) were selected following a perpendicular transect to the sandy fringe that extends from the beach toward the volcanic interior. Pitfall trapping was conducted from 1984 to 2005, and capture–mark–recapture technique and the Jolly–Seber method were used to estimate population sizes. The highest population size estimates were shown on the sandy lava plot and the neighboring lava plot, reaching values of about 3500 individuals ha−1 during the spring. The population was active almost the whole year, with seasonal patterns of activity from March to October. Seasonal temperature and population size patterns were correlated but the ‘calima’ episodes produced some disturbance. Gallotia galloti galloti was one of the most abundant lizards of all the species studied and its population size has not remained stable over the study period, probably because of the absence of predation and competition, and because of human interference and environmental instability.

-Seasonal and daily activity of a population of Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingi) inhabiting a marsh-fen ecosystem in northeastern Illinois were investigated by capture-recapture and radiotelemetric techniques. Turtles emerged from dormancy by late March and were observed active at water temperatures of 10 C and feeding at 14 C. Trapping success peaked in June at water temperatures of 18-29 C, then declined in July when water temperatures exceeded 30 C. Nesting occurred in late May and June. Turtles entered winter dormancy between 19 October and 22 November. Emydoidea were primarily aquatic in this study. Terrestrial activity occurred chiefly in the spring, including brief daily sojourns from a single pond, long and short treks between ponds, and long distance treks by females for nesting. Activity centers of individuals were relatively uniform, seldom exceeding two hectares, and were occasionally interrupted by sojourns of both long and short duration. Emydoidea were active diurnally between 0530 and 2230 h. Trapping data suggested a bimodal feeding pattern with peaks in the morning and evening, although telemetry information indicated greater morning activity. For all months combined, females were equally active throughout the day while males were active more in the morning than in afternoon or evening. Daily aquatic movements within activity centers ranged from 1 to 230 m/day and males moved significantly greater distances per day than females. The Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingi) is widely distributed in eastern and central United States and Canada and is found in ponds, lakes and marshy habitats (Ernst and Barbour, 1989). Within the past two decades, several comprehensive studies have been made on the ecology of this turtle (Gibbons, 1967; Graham and Doyle, 1977; Congdon et al., 1983; Kofron and Schreiber, 1985; Ross and Anderson, 1990); however, daily and seasonal patterns of activity and movement are not well documented. Congdon et al. (1983) described movements associated with reproduction in females, and Ross and Anderson (1990) examined movements associated with seasonal activity and habitat use, and estimated minimum daily movements in a Wisconsin population. Thorough documentation of seasonal activity and movements of other turtle species are rare (Sexton, 1959; Moll and Legler, 1971; Plummer and Shirer, 1975; Obbard and Brooks, 1981; Morreale et al., 1984; Pluto and Bellis, 1988), and detailed information on daily activity or movements are even fewer (Moll and Legler, 1971; Ernst, 1971, 1986; Obbard and Brooks, 1981). Daily and seasonal activity and movement information can be important when asking ' Present Address: School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68858-0118, USA. questions about total energy budgets. In reptiles, energy acquisition can be limited by absolute resource availability, as well as by maximum harvest and process rates of individuals (Congdon, 1989). Harvest rates can be influnced by time spent on activities other than resource acquisition (i.e., social and basking activities), and both harvest and process rates can be influenced by biophysical limitations (i.e., temperature and rainfall) imposed on a daily or seasonal basis (Congdon, 1989). Information on daily and seasonal activity and movements are essential in identifying potential constraints on energy acquisition. We studied a population of Blanding's turtles in northern Illinois to more precisely determine seasonal and daily patterns of activity and movement. MATERIALS AND METHODS Capture-recapture and radiotelemetric techniques were used from late March to November, 1986 at Chain of Lakes State Park in Lake and McHenry counties of northern Illinois. Daily activity investigation began 12 May and continued though 23 August. Information was gathered intermittently in the fall of 1986. Turtles were collected with baited hoopnets (Legler, 1960) and by hand. Hoopnets were checked four times daily (0600-0900, 0900-1300, 1300-1700 and 1700-2100 h), with air and water temperatures and weather conditions recorded at these times. Shell measurements were obThis content downloaded from 157.55.39.162 on Thu, 11 Aug 2016 05:26:51 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms ACTIVITY IN THE BLANDING'S TURTLE tained and all turtles were permanently marked by notching the marginal scutes using the code system of Cagle (1939). Sex was determined by the presence of a concave plastron and greater preanal tail length in males (Ernst and Barbour, 1972; Graham and Doyle, 1977). We placed single-stage radio transmitters (Custom Electronics, Urbana, Illinois) on 12 Emydoidea (6 males, 5 females, and 1 juvenile) at the onset of the study. Transmitters were enclosed in paraffin or beeswax, encased in dental acrylic (x = 26.2 g, N = 4) or Bondo? (x = 30.0 g, N = 4), and wired to the rear of the carapace. Turtles were released at the site of capture and radio-located at least four times per week and 0-49 times per day. All locations were plotted on large scale maps prepared from aerial photographs. Weather conditions, air and water temperatures were recorded at each relocation. The reproductive status of females was monitored periodically by palpating the inguinal pocket for shelled eggs. Range length and activity center size were calculated for individuals studied for at least two months of the summer. Ross and Anderson (1990) defined activity centers in Emydoidea as areas within a habitat type used by turtles for a minimum of five days. In this study, an individual's activity center was defined by the distribution of plotted radiolocations of its movements throughout the season. Activity centers were characterized by movements within a pond, marsh or portions thereof where discrete localizations of movements could be detected (clusters of dots). Maximal straight-line distances traveled per day were less than 100 m, and there were typically multiple core areas within an activity center. Movement patterns that lacked localization of movements such as brief sallies away from and movements between activity centers were considered transient. Activity centers were plotted using the minimum polygon method (Mohr, 1947), and their areas calculated using a compensating polar planimeter. Range length was calculated as the distance between the two most extreme points of location of an individual (Pluto and Bellis, 1988). Movements of females associated with nesting were not included in activity center and range length estimates. Daily activity was obtained by direct observation, trapping records and radiotelemetry. For convenience, the total daily activity period (ca. 18 h) was divided into three six hour blocks: 0600-1200; 1200-1800; and 1800-0000 h. Turtles with three or more radiolocations per day were tallied as active or inactive for each of the above periods and an individual's percent activity was calculated for each period for each month (active observations/total observations x 100). TABLE 1. Monthly trapping success and recorded pond temperatures for Blanding's turtles at the Fox River site, 1986.

Seasonal activity patterns of Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus in the United States.

The effects of climate change on pest phenology and population size are highly variable. Understanding the impacts of localized climate change on pest distribution and phenology is helpful for improving integrated pest management strategies. Here, the population dynamics of cotton bollworms (Helicoverpa armigera) from Maigaiti County, south Xinjiang, and Shawan County, north Xinjiang, China, were analyzed using a 29‐year dataset at lower latitudes and a 23‐year dataset at higher latitudes to determine the effects of climate change on the population dynamics of H. armigera. The results showed that all generations of H. armigera at both sites showed increasing trends in population size with climate warming. Abrupt changes in phenology and population number occurred after abrupt temperature changes. Climate change had a greater effect on the phenology of H. armigera at higher latitudes than at lower latitudes and led to a greater increase in population size at lower latitudes than at higher latitudes; the temperature increase at higher latitudes will cause a greater increase in the adult moth population size in the future compared to that at lower latitudes; and abrupt changes in the phenology, temperature increase, and population size at lower latitudes occurred earlier than those at higher latitudes. Thus, it is necessary to develop sustainable management strategies for Helicoverpa armigera at an early stage.

The seasonal and daily activity patterns of Liophis poecilogyrus and the variation in these patterns due to sexual differences and reproductive maturity were investigated based on 174 captures of snakes on the North Coast of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The seasonal activity pattern was unimodal with a higher frequency of active snakes during the hot months. The daily activity pattern was bimodal along most of the year (except during the colder months) with higher frequency of active snakes in early morning and late afternoon. During the colder months, most of the active snakes were found in the hottest periods of the day. There was no significant difference regarding activity of the total males and females, mature males and females, immature males and females and mature and immature snakes. The temperature seems to be the most important factor in determining the seasonal and daily activity patterns of this population.

During the 1800's, the population of Ireland underwent a rapid increase and subsequent decrease in population size. The effects of this change upon population structure were assessed using a simulation of the isolation by distance model and comparing the results to those obtained assuming constant population size. These results indicate that changes in within-group genetic similarity (kinship) brought about by a rapid increase in population size are cancelled by the effects of a rapid decrease in population size. Parameters of the isolation by distance model are hardly affected by population size changes. These results suggest that violation of the assumption of constant population size for population structure models may not be that serious when population size changes rapidly and in both directions.

Observational and microclimate modification experiments were conducted under field conditions to determine the role of the physical environment in effecting large increases in phyllosphere population sizes of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae, the causal agent of bacterial brown spot disease of snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Comparisons of daily changes in population sizes of P. syringae on three plantings of snap bean cultivar Cascade and one of cultivar Eagle with weather conditions indicated a strong association of rainfalls with periods of 1 to 3 days in duration during which increases in bacterial population sizes were greater than 10-fold and up to 1,000-fold. The effects of rain on populations of P. syringae were explored further by modifying the microclimate of bean plants in the field with polyethylene shelters to shield plants from rain and fine-mesh inert screens to modify the momentum of raindrops. After each of three separate intense rains, the greater-than-10-fold increases in population sizes of P. syringae observed on plants exposed to the rains did not occur on plants in the shelters or under the screens. The screens decreased the velocity and, thus, the momentum of raindrops but not the volume or quality of rainwater that fell on plants under the screens. Thus, the absence of increases in population sizes of P. syringae on plants under the screens suggests that raindrop momentum plays a role in the growth-triggering effect of intense rains on populations of P. syringae on bean plants under field conditions.

Monitoring and species distribution models (SDMs) are increasingly used to support conservation planning but are rarely projected at a very high resolution for conservation management. In this study, we compared the population distribution and size of five invasive plant species along an 18 km alluvial system in Switzerland, over a period of 11 years. Exhaustive inventories of past (2001) to current (2012) populations showed a massive increase in invaded areas over the eleven years. Impatiens glandulifera and Reynoutria japonica were the species with the largest increases in population number and size. The ecological preferences of each species were then modelled at 1 m resolution, using environmental variables expressing topography, disturbances, dispersal, soil texture and light availability. SDMs successfully depicted the niches at very high resolution. Some of the important predictors (e.g., canopy density, distance to river) would have been unhelpful at a coarser resolution. From these very-high-resolution models, we predicted the potential distribution and abundance of species and derived two indices indicating the amount of habitat still available for future species colonisation, crucial information for management. Large, empty areas were predicted to be suitable for each species, suggesting that the observed increase in population size may continue in the future. The two proposed range-filling indices and abundance models may be used efficiently in future studies at very fine resolution to prioritise eradication efforts in previously invaded areas and controls in areas at high risk of invasion. To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the efficiency of SDMs to predict invasions at such a fine resolution.

In Poland during last decade number of red deer increased from 130 000 to 217 000 individuals despite increase in numbers of animals harvested from 38 000 to 69 000. The increase in the population size of deer raised the level of damage exerted in cultivated fields, and increased the cost of protecting forest plantations against browsing and bark stripping which amounted in 2012 to 14 million and 40 million euro, respectively. Preliminary results of estimation of the population size, made by objective methods, indicate that data obtained from hunters on the numbers of red deer are gross underestimates. For this reason, an attempt was made to verify the official data on red deer population size within the 433 000 hectares of forest administered by the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Torun. In the period 2007-2013 period there was an increase in the population size from 8 300 to 10 600 individuals, despite systematic increase in the number of animals harvested from 2 800 to 4 700. The respective rates of increase in population size and harvest measured as the finite rate of increase (λ), amounted to 4%, and 9% per annum. Using the harvest data, and the finite rate of increase in population, and assuming that the annual net population reaches 20 % of the deer number after the closure of hunting season, the probable population size was calculated. The calculations showed that, depending on game management unit, the population size was higher by factor of 2 to 3 than the data provided by hunters, and the population density fluctuated from 8.7 to 106.5 individuals /1000 hectares of forest. The estimated population density of red deer in the studied area was thus higher by 139 % than the official data, and amounted to 24 400 individuals or 49.5 individuals per 1000 ha of forest. It is suggested that the density of red deer should be reduced to 35 individuals/1000 ha by the increase of the harvest quotas to the level of 27% of the population size at the closure of hunting season in March.

Temporal activity and dietary selection in two coexisting desert snakes, the Saharan sand viper (Cerastes vipera) and the crowned leafnose (Lytorhynchus diadema)

This study examined temporal variation in population dynamics and size structuring of two cyprinid minnows, Pseudobarbus afer and Barbus anoplus, in relation to their proximate physical habitats. Population estimates were determined using three-pass depletion sampling during both summer and winter. The habitats were characterised by seasonal variation in all physico-chemical conditions and spatial variation in substrata compositions. Whereas significant differences in population size were noted between seasons for B. anoplus, no differences were found between seasons for density and capture probability for either species. An increase in boulders was associated with increase in population size and density for P. afer; for B. anoplus, increased percentages of bedrock and bank vegetation were associated with an increase in population size and probability of capture, respectively. According to Canonical Correspondence Analysis, size structuring in P. afer was explained predominantly by seasonality, with smaller length classes associated with the seasonal variable of summer, while larger length classes were associated with pH that was higher in winter. By comparison, for B. anoplus, the habitat variables – bank vegetation and bedrock – accounted for much of the explained variance for size structuring. Recruitment appeared to be the major driver of size structuring for the two species; refugia, especially boulders and bank vegetation, also appeared to be important. Overall, the two species were adapted to the headwater streams that were generally variable in environmental conditions. Potential invasions by non-native invasive fishes that occur within the mainstream habitats threaten these two species. Efforts should continue to protect these minnows from such invasions by constructing barriers to upstream migration of non-native fishes into these headwater habitats.

Phylogenetic reconstruction of the initial stages of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the Eurasian and American continents

Dramatic increases in population size and major extensions of winter range have occurred among midcontinent Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) in the last few decades. Agricultural landscapes within these range extensions provide winter foods that are distinctly different from those upon which most birds in this population sub- sisted until about 1970. I examined geographic variation in body and bill morphology of Lesser Snow Geese by comparing geese from: (1) traditionally used coastal brackish marshes contiguous to the Gulf of Mexico (n = 314), (2) agricultural landscapes centered around rice production and occurring up to 160 km inland from the coast (n = 200), and (3) agricultural landscapes with extensive production about 1,000 km north of the Gulf of Mexico (n = 125). Analyses of size and shape in body, head, and bill morphology were done on principal components of 10 metric variables. Geese from habitats were largest in body size, those from rice prairies were intermediate but most variable, and those from the Missouri River valley farthest north were smallest. In addition, marsh geese had thicker bills, longer skulls, and longer culmens than corn geese. Five nonexclusive hypotheses (phenotypic selection, habitat selection, nutrition, fall migration endurance, and introgressive hybridiza- tion with Ross' Geese (Chen rossii)) are proposed to account for this geographic variation in external morphology. The interplay between winter range extension, habitat use, and mor- phology may have motivated large increases in continental population size and may be cou- pled with patterns of demographic and morphological change reported on breeding areas.

Many species are shifting their ranges in response to climate-driven environmental changes, particularly in high-latitude regions. However, the patterns of dispersal and colonization during range shifting events are not always clear. Understanding how populations are connected through space and time can reveal how species navigate a changing environment. Here, we present a fine-scale population genomics study of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua), a presumed site-faithful colonial nesting species that has increased in population size and expanded its range south along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Using whole genome sequencing, we analysed 129 gentoo penguin individuals across 12 colonies located at or near the southern range edge. Through a detailed examination of fine-scale population structure, admixture, and population divergence, we inferred that gentoo penguins historically dispersed rapidly in a stepping-stone pattern from the South Shetland Islands leading to the colonization of Anvers Island, and then the adjacent mainland Western Antarctica Peninsula. Recent southward expansion along the Western Antarctic Peninsula also followed a stepping-stone dispersal pattern coupled with limited post-divergence gene flow from colonies on Anvers Island. Genetic diversity appeared to be maintained across colonies during the historical dispersal process, and range-edge populations are still growing. This suggests large numbers of migrants may provide a buffer against founder effects at the beginning of colonization events to maintain genetic diversity similar to that of the source populations before migration ceases post-divergence. These results coupled with a continued increase in effective population size since approximately 500-800 years ago distinguish gentoo penguins as a robust species that is highly adaptable and resilient to changing climate.

In the Bolivian Chaco the red tegu lizard Tupinambis rufescens is the most important reptile among indigenous communities for subsistence, commercial and traditional medicinal purposes. Information on the home range and habits of Tupinambis rufescens in an area free from hunting pressure is an important basis for a management plan for this species in the Chaco, to ensure that commercial hunting programs will not threaten the species' long-term survival in the region. We used surgically implanted radio transmitters (nine individuals) and temperature dataloggers (five individuals) over a two-year period to describe home ranges, burrow use, as well as daily and seasonal activity patterns at a field camp next to the Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park. Red tegus occupy home ranges of 16-54 ha, with maxi- mum distances travelled of 700-1500 m. In order to survive the strongly seasonal climate of the dry Chaco they strictly limit their daily and seasonal activity, and rely heavily on burrows. They are diurnal, with an activity peak from 11:00-12:00 h. Their activity period is September-April, with some variation among individuals and among years. They remain inactive in a single underground burrow during the May-August estivation months, and use multiple burrows and shelters for nighttime refuges during the active months. The dataloggers provide extremely detailed body temperature information describing daily and seasonal activity patterns, but surgical implantation should be undertaken by specialized veterinarians.