Mainland Counterparts Research Articles

Fire history of a naturally fragmented landscape in central Oregon

We examined the fire history of 11 forest isolates surrounded by lava flows (kipukas) in central Oregon to determine historical differences in fire regimes between kipukas and the surrounding forest, and the role of spatial and environmental variables in fire occurrence. Tree-ring analysis and statistical comparisons show that historical agency records underestimate the number of fires based on the incidence of fire scars. Fires occurred more frequently on kipukas, were typically smaller, and were predominantly lightning-initiated. Except for three widespread fires, fires on kipukas and in the surrounding forest were largely asynchronous. The mean fire-return interval (MFRI) in the surrounding forest decreased following Euro-American settlement and increased on the kipukas with spot-fire removal. This suggests either that forest management and fire exclusion in the surrounding forest decreased fire spread to the kipukas, or that most fires originated on the kipukas. MFRI correlates strongly with distance to the nearest kipuka and a distance-weighted isolation index. The number of fires correlates with elevation change and distance to the nearest kipuka. Fire in naturally fragmented landscapes is influenced by the spatial arrangement of patches, environmental conditions, and human activities. Reconstructing fire histories from forest isolates in the context of their mainland counterparts may have methodological advantages and theoretical implications for forested landscapes characterized by human-imposed insularity.

Prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus of Chinese populations in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan

This article reviews and describes trends and differences in prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus of Chinese populations in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan based on literatures published in the MEDLINE Advanced database (January 1966–October 2005) in both Chinese and English languages. Chinese populations in Hong Kong and Taiwan have significant higher prevalence rates of diabetes than their Mainland counterparts, with odds ratios 1.5 (95% confidence intervals: 1.4, 1.7) and 2.0 (95% confidence intervals: 1.8, 2.2), respectively in 1995–2003 adjusted for age and diagnostic criteria. Using stratified diagnostic criteria; the odds ratios in Hong Kong and Taiwan were consistently higher than Mainland China for the periods of 1985–1994 and 1995–2003. A large proportion, i.e. 68.6% (95% confidence intervals: 67.4%, 69.7%) of diabetic patients remains undiagnosed in Mainland China as compared to 52.6% (95% confidence intervals: 49.8%, 55.5%) undiagnosed in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The prevalence rates of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance of the Chinese populations rise in older age groups. In tandem with economic development and change toward lifestyle that is lack of physical activity and rich in high-fat diet, prevalence of diabetes of the Chinese populations are on the rise. If the undiagnosed individuals left uncontrolled, they are subject to higher risks of developing diabetes and its complications. These will increase the burdens of diabetes medically and financially.

Ecology and Morphology of Thamnophis sirtalis pallidulus (Maritime Garter Snakes) on Georges Island, Nova Scotia

Georges Island supports an unusually dense and morphologically diverse population of Thamnophis sirtalis pallidulus. Between May and October 1993, a total of 391 garter snakes were marked. The total male:female ratio was 0.8:1.0; population density of snakes > 1 year old was minimally estimated at 120/ha. Thamnophis sirtalis pallidulus on Georges Island were docile: 50% of encounters showed no response or only a delayed anti-predator response to human handling. The population is unusual morphologically; it contains melanistic and partly melanistic individuals and an unusually high proportion (48%) of individuals with abnormal ventral and/or subcaudal scales. Adult garter snakes on Georges Island are slightly smaller than adults in mainland Nova Scotia populations. Despite a less diverse diet than is available to its mainland counterparts, the island population appears to thrive.

Evidence for a recent genetic bottleneck in the endangered Florida Keys silver rice rat (Oryzomys argentatus) revealed by microsatellite DNA analyses

Low levels of genetic variation are thought to contribute significantly to the higher extinction rates of endemic island populations compared to their mainland counterparts. We used six microsatellite loci to compare the genetic structure of the endangered silver rice rat (Oryzomys argentatus) population in Saddlebunch Key, Florida to the mainland population of the closely related marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris natator) in Everglades National Park. Allelic richness and gene diversity are significantly lower in Saddlebunch Key than in the larger mainland population, and the two populations are significantly differentiated as measured by both F-statistics and Bayesian clustering methods. These findings support the classification of the Keys population as a “distinct vertebrate population” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Current gene diversity (H E) is higher than expected under mutation-drift equilibrium in Saddlebunch Key, indicating a genetic bottleneck. The Keys population also exhibits a mode shift in its allele frequency distribution which suggests a very recent bottleneck has occurred and is consistent with reports of recent population declines. Although habitat loss and exotic species pose a more immediate and serious threat to silver rice rats, the continued loss of genetic variation may contribute to their long-term extinction risk due to inbreeding or by lowering the population’s ability to adapt to future environmental changes. The protection of habitat and the removal of introduced predators and competitors may help increase the population size of silver rice rats and lower their risk of extinction, both from a demographic and a genetic perspective.

"Navigating Change." A Voyage to Connect Science and Culture with Health

Hawai'i faces serious health problems, with average morbidity and mortality rates in key indicators often higher than their mainland counterparts. Much of this relates to poor dietary intake and inadequate physical activity. Many health initiatives have tried to address this issue. This paper examines a unique approach that integrates the health of the land and ecosystem with the health of the people who live in it. We discuss "Navigating Change," a program that brings together students, scientists and culture experts to address the health of the ecosystem, and demonstrate its relation to how we can live healthier lives. Health practitioners are encouraged to 1) understand the scope of the need; 2) increase and utilize resources; and 3) incorporate cultural healing in their practice.

Potential for higher invasiveness of the alien Oxalis pes-caprae on islands than on the mainland

The higher vulnerability of islands to invasions compared to mainland areas has been partially attributed to a simplification of island communities, with lower levels of natural enemies and competitors on islands conferring vacant niches for invaders to establish and proliferate. However, differences in invader life-history traits between populations have received less attention. We conducted a broad geographical analysis (i.e. 1050 km wide transect) of plant traits comparing insular and mainland populations to test the hypothesis that alien plants from insular populations have the potential for higher invasiveness than their alien mainland counterparts. For this purpose plants of the annual geophyte Oxalis pes-caprae were grown from bulbs collected in the Balearic islands and the Spanish mainland under common greenhouse conditions. There were no significant differences in bulb emergence and plant survival between descendants from insular and mainland populations. However, Oxalis descendants from insular populations produced 20% more bulbs without reducing allocation to bulb size, above-ground biomass or flowering than descendants from mainland populations. Based on the lack of sexual reproduction in Oxalis and the dependence of invasion on bulb production, our study suggests that the higher occurrence of Oxalis in the Balearic islands than in the Spanish mainland can partially be explained by genetically based higher propagation potential of insular populations compared to mainland populations.

Allelic diversity at the Mhc‐DQA locus of woodmouse populations (Apodemus sylvaticus) present in the islands and mainland of the northern Mediterranean

ABSTRACTAim Polymorphism at neutral markers and at MHC loci in rodent populations living on islands is generally low. The main genetic factors that may contribute to a reduced level of genetic variability are genetic drift, reduced gene flow and founder events. We investigated the pattern of polymorphism at the second exon of the Mhc‐DQA gene in island populations of Apodemus sylvaticus and in their mainland counterparts to investigate the pattern of MHC polymorphism in a phylogeographical context and to assess the impact of insularity on diversity at this locus.Location Eight north Mediterranean populations of Apodemus sylvaticus were studied, including five island populations (Majorca, Minorca, Porquerolles, Port‐Cros and Sicily) and three mainland populations.Methods cDNA sequencing and nucleotide sequences analyses. Synonymous and non‐synonymous substitutions were examined at the PBR and non‐PBR sites. The DQA allelic distribution in populations was compared with the woodmouse phylogeography.Results This study presents novel DQA alleles. High polymorphism of the DQA locus is recorded in natural populations of A. sylvaticus with 13 alleles being widely distributed irrespective of the geographical origin and palaeoclimatic history of populations. The DQA locus does not show the expected pattern for non‐synonymous substitutions at the PBR sites. However, island populations show a weak loss of polymorphism in comparison with their mainland counterparts.Main conclusions The DQA locus in the woodmouse seems to be subject to weak selection and does not allow resolution of phylogeographical relationships among European woodmouse populations. The presence of at least three alleles in island populations and the maintenance of five alleles between the two European lineages over 1.5 Myr suggest that balancing selection may act within populations, and more precisely within island populations, to maintain genetic variability. This study shows that phylogeographical studies are a prerequisite for any genetic investigation of selected genes in natural populations.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND SIZE EVOLUTION IN AN ISLAND RODENT SPECIES: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE ISLAND RULE

As stated by the island rule, small mammals evolve toward gigantism on islands. In addition they are known to evolve faster than their mainland counterparts. Body size in island mammals may also be influenced by geographical climatic gradients or climatic change through time. We tested the relative effects of climate change and isolation on the size of the Japanese rodent Apodemus speciosus and calculated evolutionary rates of body size change since the last glacial maximum (LGM). Currently A. speciosus populations conform both to Bergmann's rule, with an increase in body size with latitude, and to the island rule, with larger body sizes on small islands. We also found that fossil representatives of A. speciosus are larger than their extant relatives. Our estimated evolutionary rates since the LGM show that body size evolution on the smaller islands has been less than half as rapid as on Honshu, the mainland-type large island of Japan. We conclude that island populations exhibit larger body sizes today not because they have evolved toward gigantism, but because their evolution toward a smaller size, due to climate warming since the LGM, has been decelerated by the island effect. These combined results suggest that evolution in Quaternary island small mammals may not have been as fast as expected by the island effect because of the counteracting effect of climate change during this period.

Large size in an island-dwelling bird: intraspecific competition and the Dominance Hypothesis.

Differences between island- and mainland-dwelling forms provide several classic ecological puzzles. Why, for instance, are island-dwelling passerine birds consistently larger than their mainland counterparts? We examine the 'Dominance hypothesis', based on intraspecific competition, which states that large size in island passerines evolves through selection for success in agonistic encounters. We use the Heron Island population of Capricorn silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis chlorocephalus), a large-bodied island-dwelling race of white-eye (Zosteropidae), to test three assumptions of this hypothesis; that (i) large size is positively associated with high fitness, (ii) large size is associated with dominance, and (iii) the relationship between size and dominance is particularly pronounced under extreme intraspecific competition. Our results supported the first two of these assumptions, but provided mixed evidence on the third. On balance, we suggest that the Dominance Hypothesis is a plausible mechanism for the evolution of large size of island passerines, but urge further empirical tests on the role of intraspecific competition on oceanic islands versus that on mainlands.

MORPHOLOGICAL SHIFTS IN ISLAND-DWELLING BIRDS: THE ROLES OF GENERALIST FORAGING AND NICHE EXPANSION

Passerine birds living on islands are usually larger than their mainland counterparts, in terms of both body size and bill size. One explanation for this island rule is that shifts in morphology are an adaptation to facilitate ecological niche expansion. In insular passerines, for instance, increased bill size may facilitate generalist foraging because it allows access to a broader range of feeding niches. Here we use morphologically and ecologically divergent races of white-eyes (Zosteropidae) to test three predictions of this explanation: (1) island populations show a wider feeding niche than mainland populations; (2) island-dwelling populations are made up of individual generalists; and (3) within insular populations there is a positive association between size and degree of foraging generalism. Our results provide only partial support for the traditional explanation. In agreement with the core prediction, island populations of white-eye do consistently display a wider feeding niche than comparative mainland populations. However, observations of individually marked birds reveal that island-dwelling individuals are actually more specialized than expected by chance. Additionally, neither large body size nor large bill size are associated with generalist foraging behavior per se. These latter results remained consistent whether we base our tests on natural foraging behavior or on observations at an experimental tree, and whether we use data from single or multiple cohorts. Taken together, our results suggest that generalist foraging and niche expansion are not the full explanation for morphological shifts in island-dwelling white-eyes. Hence, we review briefly five alternative explanations for morphological divergence in insular populations: environmental determination of morphology, reduced predation pressure, physiological optimization, limited dispersal, and intraspecific dominance.

Dwarfism in insular sloths: biogeography, selection, and evolutionary rate.

The islands of Bocas del Toro, Panama, were sequentially separated from the adjacent mainland by rising sea levels during the past 10,000 years. Three-toed sloths (Bradypus) from five islands are smaller than their mainland counterparts, and the insular populations themselves vary in mean body size. We first examine relationships between body size and physical characteristics of the islands, testing hypotheses regarding optimal body size, evolutionary equilibria, and the presence of dispersal in this system. To do so, we conduct linear regressions of body size onto island area, distance from the mainland, and island age. Second, we retroactively calculate two measures of the evolutionary rate of change in body size (haldanes and darwins) and the standardized linear selection differential, or selection intensity (i). We also test the observed morphological changes against models of evolution by genetic drift. The results indicate that mean body size decreases linearly with island age, explaining up to 97% of the variation among population means. Neither island area nor distance from the mainland is significant in multiple regressions that include island age. Thus, we find no evidence for differential optimal body size among islands, or for dispersal in the system. In contrast, the dependence of body size on island age suggests uniform directional selection for small body size in the insular populations. Although genetic drift cannot be discounted as the cause for this evolution in body size, the probability is small given the consistent direction of evolution (repeated dwarfism). The insular sloths show a sustained rate of evolution similar to those measured in haldanes over tens of generations, appearing to unite micro- and macroevolutionary time scales. Furthermore, the magnitude and rate of this example of rapid differentiation fall within predictions of theoretical models from population genetics. However, the linearity of the relationship between body size and island age is not predicted, suggesting that either more factors are involved than those considered here, or that theoretical advances are necessary to explain constant evolutionary rates over long time spans in new selective environments.

EXPANSION VS. COMPRESSION OF BIRD ALTITUDINAL RANGES ON A MEDITERRANEAN ISLAND

Habitat expansion is a commonly recognized feature of the insular syndrome. It has been explained either by restricted dispersal, intraspecific spillover resulting from density inflation, benign and predictable climate, or by the ecological release that results from species impoverishment. The latter hypothesis has been frequently invoked to explain shifts and/or broadenings of elevational ranges on islands. In this paper, we compared the elevational distribution of 85 terrestrial breeding bird species on a Mediterranean island (Corsica) with their mainland counterparts in a control area of similar altitude, latitude, and climate (Eastern Pyrenees). We calculated specific altitudinal amplitudes in both areas from the upper and lower limits of the bird ranges in the breeding season. We then calculated Island/Mainland Amplitude Ratio (IMAR) for each species. The ratios we found showed an overall trend in favor of range compressions on Corsica, despite a lower number of species on the island than on the main...

Excess density compensation of island herpetofaunal assemblages

AimSome species reach extraordinary densities on islands. Island assemblages have fewer species, however, and it is possible that island species differ from their mainland counterparts in average mass. Island assemblages could be partitioned differently (fewer species or smaller individuals) from mainland sites without differing in aggregate biomass (density compensation). Our objective was to determine the generality of excess density compensation in island herpetofaunal assemblages.LocationOur bounded removal plot data were obtained from Pacific Island sites (Guam, Saipan and Rota), the West Indies (British Virgin Islands), and the Indian Ocean (Ile aux Aigrettes off Mauritius). The literature values were taken from several locales. Other island locations included Barro Colorado Island, Bonaire, Borneo, Philippine Islands, Seychelle Islands, Barrow Island (Australia), North Brother Island (New Zealand), Dominica and Puerto Rico. Mainland sites included Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Australia, Thailand, Peru, Brazil, Panama and the USA.MethodWe added our thirty‐nine bounded total removal plots from sixteen island habitats to fifteen literature records to obtain seventy‐five venues with estimable density and biomass of arboreal or terrestrial herpetofaunal assemblages. These biomass estimates were evaluated geographically and in relation to sampling method, insularity, latitude, disturbance regime, seasonality, community richness, vegetative structure and climate. Direct data on trophic interactions (food availability, parasitism and predation pressure) were generally unavailable. Sampling problems were frequent for arboreal, cryptic and evasive species.Results and main conclusionsWe found strong evidence that herpetofaunal assemblages on small islands (mostly lizards) exhibit a much greater aggregate density of biomass (kg ha−1) than those of larger islands or mainland assemblages (small islands show excess density compensation). High aggregate biomass density was more strongly associated with the degree of species impoverishment on islands than it was on island area or insularity per se. High aggregate biomass density was not strongly associated with latitude, precipitation, canopy height or a variety of other physical characteristics of the study sites. The association between high aggregate biomass density and species‐poor islands is consistent with the effects of a reduced suite of predators on depauperate islands, but other features may also contribute to excess density compensation.

Testing the ‘island rule’ for a tenebrionid beetle (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)

Insular populations and their closest mainland counterparts commonly display body size differences that are considered to fit the island rule, a theoretical framework to explain both dwarfism and gigantism in isolated animal populations. The island rule is used to explain the pattern of change of body size at the inter-specific level. But the model implicitly makes also a prediction for the body size of isolated populations of a single species. It suggests that, for a hypothetical species covering a wide range of island sizes, there exists a specific island size where this species reaches the largest body size. Body size would be small (in relative terms) in the smallest islets of the species range. It would increase with island size, and reach a maximum at some specific island size. However, additional increases from such a specific island size would instead promote body size reduction, and small (in relative terms) body sizes would be found again on the largest islands. The biogeographical patterns predicted by the island rule have been described and analysed for vertebrates only (mainly mammals), but remain largely untested for insects or other invertebrates. I analyse here the pattern of body size variation between seven isolated insular populations of a flightless beetle, Asida planipennis (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae). This is an endemic species of Mallorca, Menorca and a number of islands and islets in the Balearic archipelago (western Mediterranean). The study covers seven of the 15 known populations (i.e., there are only 15 islands or islets inhabited by the species). The populations studied fit the pattern advanced above and we could, therefore, extrapolate the island rule to a very different kind of organism. However, the small sample size of some of the populations invites some caution at this early stage.

DWARFISM IN INSULAR SLOTHS: BIOGEOGRAPHY, SELECTION, AND EVOLUTIONARY RATE

The islands of Bocas del Toro, Panama, were sequentially separated from the adjacent mainland by rising sea levels during the past 10,000 years. Three-toed sloths (Bradypus) from five islands are smaller than their mainland counterparts, and the insular populations themselves vary in mean body size. We first examine relationships between body size and physical characteristics of the islands, testing hypotheses regarding optimal body size, evolutionary equilibria, and the presence of dispersal in this system. To do so, we conduct linear regressions of body size onto island area, distance from the mainland, and island age. Second, we retroactively calculate two measures of the evolutionary rate of change in body size (haldanes and darwins) and the standardized linear selection differential, or selection intensity (i). We also test the observed morphological changes against models of evolution by genetic drift. The results indicate that mean body size decreases linearly with island age, explaining up to 97% of the variation among population means. Neither island area nor distance from the mainland is significant in multiple regressions that include island age. Thus, we find no evidence for differential optimal body size among islands, or for dispersal in the system. In contrast, the dependence of body size on island age suggests uniform directional selection for small body size in the insular populations. Although genetic drift cannot be discounted as the cause for this evolution in body size, the probability is small given the consistent direction of evolution (repeated dwarfism). The insular sloths show a sustained rate of evolution similar to those measured in haldanes over tens of generations, appearing to unite micro- and macroevolutionary time scales. Furthermore, the magnitude and rate of this example of rapid differentiation fall within predictions of theoretical models from population genetics. However, the linearity of the relationship between body size and island age is not predicted, suggesting that either more factors are involved than those considered here, or that theoretical advances are necessary to explain constant evolutionary rates over long time spans in new selective environments.Corresponding Editor: J. Wiens

The behavioural ecology of the island fox (Urocyon littoralis)

AbstractInsular populations typically occur at higher densities, have higher survivorship, reduced fecundity, decreased dispersal, and reduced aggression compared to their mainland counterparts. Insularity may also affect mating system and genetic population structure. However, these factors have not been examined simultaneously in any island vertebrate. Here we report on the ecological, behavioural and genetic characteristics of a small carnivore, the island fox Urocyon littoralis, from Fraser Point, Santa Cruz Island, California. Dispersal distances in island foxes are very low (mean 1.39 km, sd 1.26, range 0.16–3.58 km, n=8). Home‐range size is one of the smallest (mean annual home range=0.55 km2, sd 0.2, n= 14) and density is nearly the highest recorded for any canid species (2.4–15.9 foxes/km2). Similar to other fox species, island foxes are distributed as mated pairs that maintain discrete territories. Overlap among mated pairs was always high (mean 0.85, sd 0.05), while overlap among neighbours (mean 0.11, sd 0.13), regardless of sex, was low. Despite this high degree of territoriality, island foxes are not strictly monogamous. Four of 16 offspring whose parents were identified by paternity analysis were a result of extra‐pair fertilizations. Mated pairs were unrelated, however, suggesting inbreeding avoidance. Substantial population differentiation was found between the Fraser Point subpopulation and one only 13 km away (Fst= 0.11). We suggest that the primary effect of finite island area is to limit dispersal, which then influences the demography, behaviour and genetic structure of island fox populations.

An Empire Divided: the American Revolution and the British Caribbean

There were twenty-six, not thirteen British colonies in America in 1776. Of these, the eleven colonies in the Caribbean -- Jamaica, Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Tortola, and Tobago -- were among the wealthiest. These island colonies were closely related to the mainland by social ties and tightly connected by trade. In a period when most British colonists in North America lived less than two hundred miles inland and the major cities were all situated along the coast, the ocean often acted as a highway between islands and mainland rather than a barrier. The plantation system of the islands was so similar to that of the southern mainland colonies that these regions had more in common with each other, some historians argue, than either had with New England. Political developments in all the colonies moved along parallel tracks, with elected assemblies in the Caribbean, like their mainland counterparts, seeking to increase their authority at the expense of colonial executives. Yet when revolution came, the majority of the white island colonists did not side with their compatriots on the mainland. A major contribution to the history of the American Revolution, An Empire Divided traces a split in the politics of the mainland and island colonies after the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765-66, when the colonists on the islands chose not to emulate the resistance of the patriots on the mainland. Once war came, it was increasingly unpopular in the British Caribbean; nevertheless, the white colonists cooperated with the British in defense of their islands. O'Shaughnessy decisively refutes the widespread belief that there was broad backing among theCaribbean colonists for the American Revolution and deftly reconstructs the history of how the island colonies followed an increasingly divergent course from the former colonies to the north.

The origin and extinction of the large endemic Pleistocene mammals of Cyprus

Biogeographia - vol. XXI - 2000 (Pubblicato il 30 giugno 2000) Biogeografia deI|’Anatolia The origin and extinction of the large endemic Pleistocene mammals of Cyprus ELEFTHERIOS I-IAD]ISTERKOTIS*, BRUNO MASALA**, DAVID S. REESE *** *Gzzme and Fzzunzl Service, Ministry of Interior — Nicosia (Cyprus) “Department of Physiological Bioc/aemiczzl and Cell Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of S[l55ll7’i - Sizssrzri (Italy) ***Depimment of/lntbropology, Field Museum 0fNzztzmzl Histmy — Chicago (USA) Key words: Fossils, hippopotamus, elephant, Cyprus, Pleistocene, extinction, Mediterranean SUMMARY All fossil terrestrial mammal sites on the island of Cyprus are dated from the Late Pleistocene period and consist almost exclusively of the remains of two terrestrial mammals, pygmy hippopotamus (P/J/mmzrios nzizzz/ms) and pygmy elephant (Elep/ms cypriater). Two theories exist on the arrival of these species on Cyprus. The first is that they arrived by a land bridge. This took place during the Pliocene about five to six million years ago when the Mediterranean sea was sealed at both ends clue to tectonic movements and its water evaporated creating a land bridge. However, there are no fossils dating from the Pliocene The second theory is that they arrived under circumstances described by the Island Sweepstakes model. The latter theory refers to cases in which animals may venture far from the coast, reach an isolated island from which they cannot return and are Forced to settle there. We reject the possibility that the Late Pleistocene mammals of Cyprus arrived by a land bridge, because during the Pleistocene such a bridge never existed. The cause of extinction of the earlier Cypriot endemic large mammals remain unclear. The discovery at the site ofAltrotiri /letokrenmos of the above pygmy mammal species together with man—made artefacts has been interpreted by some researchers as proof of a human role in the extinction of these mammals. Others rejected this view. We review the facts about this discovery and believe that humans did play a role in the final extinction of these species. THE ORIGIN OF THE LARGE PLEISTOCENE MAMMALS OF CYPRUS In Cyprus, Late Pleistocene fossil and subfossil sites consist almost exclusively of pygmy hippopotamus (P/annourios minzitus) (Forsyth Major, 1902; Bate 1906; Boekschoten and Sondaar, 1972; Houtekamer and Sondaar, 1979; Faure et al., 1983, Hadjisterkotis and Masala, 1995; Reese, 1975, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1996; Simmons, 1988a, b, 1989, 1991a,b,c, 1992, 1996; Swiny, 1988, 1995; Simmons and Reese, 1993; Simmons and Wigand, 1994) and pygmy elephant (Elepnczs Q)/priotes) (Bate, 19033, 1904a,b,c; Hadjisterkotis and Masala, 1995; Reese, 1995, 1996b; Simmons, 1988, 1989, 1991a,b,c, 1992, 1996). Both species were considerably smaller than their mainland counterparts, and most researchers believe that the dvvarfism was an evolutionary response both to the lack of predators and to the limited resources available (Sondaar, 1977; Azzaroli, 1982).

Plumage polymorphism in Terpsiphone and the rule of island drabness

Plompen, W. 2000. Plumage polymorphism in Terpsiphone and the rule of island drabness. Ostrich 71 (1 & 2): 316. Many related bird species differ through their conspicuous plumage coloration characteristics. On islands, birds often have a drabber plumage coloration than their mainland counterpart. This rule is regarded as the main evidence for the species recognition hypothesis, because on islands mostly only one species per genus is present. In the absence of congeners there may be no benefit from a species specific badge, with drabness as a result. However drabness as such is not predicted by this species recognition hypothesis. In fact the only selective pressure caused by a species recognition mechanism, works in sympatry. Therefore on an island with no related species present, the elaborate coloration that originated in the mainland situation, is allowed to evolve in any sense, or may even not evolve at all. Taking this all together, if under the. species recognition hypothesis island taxa may evolve at random with respect to colouration, and island drabness is a well known phenomenon, then an additional mechanism inherent to the island situation is needed, that causes the degradation of any bright plumage colouration. As a consequence, island drabness in itself does not provide any information at all on the original mechanism that caused plumage elaboration on the mainland.

One talk, two tables: A study of the 1998 Koo-Wang meeting across the Taiwan Strait

From October 14 to October 19, 1998, Koo Chen-fu, Chairman of the Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), met his mainland counterpart, Wang Daohan, Chairman of the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS). This paper uses the Koo-Wang meeting to examine the question of how two divergent parties either come to terms or fail to reach agreement and what factors may be involved in their calculations. How significant are those “shadow participants”—domestic constituencies—during the push and pull process at the international negotiations? In this case study, domestic factors claimed more weight than international factors because domestic constituencies had set up strict conditions for each delegation team before the meeting. The result was more of an appearance of dialogue than an effort at sincere problem solving.