-
Resource use and food preferences in understory ant communities along a complete elevational gradient in Papua New Guinea
-
Elevational gradients provide an interesting opportunity for studying the effect of climatic drivers over short distances on the various facets of biodiversity. It is globally assumed that the decrease in species richness with increasing elevation follows mainly the decrease in ecosystem productivity, but studies on functional diversity still remain limited. Here, we investigated how resource use and food preferences by both individual ant species and communities foraging in the understory vary with elevation along a complete elevational gradient (200 to 3200 m asl). Five bait types reflecting some of the main ecosystem processes in which ants are involved were tested: mutualism (sucrose and melezitose), predation (live termites), and detritivory (crushed insects and chicken feces). The observed monotonic decrease in both species richness and occurrences with elevation increase was accompanied by changes in some of the tested ecosystem processes. Such variations can be explained by resource availability and/or resource limitation: Predation and bird feces removal decreased with increasing elevation possibly reflecting a decline in species able to use these resources, while insect detritivory and nectarivory were most probably driven by resource limitation (or absence of limitation), as their relative use did not change along the gradient. Consequently, resource attractiveness (i.e., food preferences at the species level) appears as an important factor in driving community structuring in ants together with the abiotic environmental conditions.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2018
-
Response to Akcali et al.: What keeps them from mingling
-
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2017
-
Response to the Technical Comment on 'A Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur from Siberia with both feathers and scales'
-
Lingham-Soliar questions our interpretation of integumentary structures in the Middle-Late Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur Kulindadromeus as feather-like appendages and alternatively proposes that the compound structures observed around the humerus and femur of Kulindadromeus are support fibres associated with badly degraded scales. We consider this hypothesis highly unlikely due to the taphonomy and morphology of the preserved structures.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications
-
Responses of summer phytoplankton biomass to changes in top-down forcing: Insights from comparative modelling
-
Abstract The present study describes the responses of summer phytoplankton biomass to changes in top-down forcing (expressed as zooplankton mortality) in three ecosystems (the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Nordic Seas) across different 3D ecosystem models. In each of the model set-ups, we applied the same changes in the magnitude of mortality (±20%) of the highest trophic zooplankton level (Z1). Model results showed overall dampened responses of phytoplankton relative to \Z1\ biomass. Phytoplankton responses varied depending on the food web structure and trophic coupling represented in the models. Hence, a priori model assumptions were found to influence cascades and pathways in model estimates and, thus, become highly relevant when examining ecosystem pressures such as fishing and climate change. Especially, the different roles and parameterizations of additional zooplankton groups grazed by Z1, and their importance for the outcome, emphasized the need for better calibration data. Spatial variability was high within each model indicating that physics (hydrodynamics and temperature) and nutrient dynamics also play vital roles for ecosystem responses to top-down effects. In conclusion, the model comparison indicated that changes in top-down forcing in combination with the modelled food-web structure affect summer phytoplankton biomass and, thereby, indirectly influence water quality of the systems.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2018
-
Restoration of tropical peat swamp rotifer communities after perturbation: An experimental study of recovery of rotifers from the resting egg bank
-
In order to assess the recovery potential of tropical freshwater communities after disturbance, we performed an experimental study on the effects of exposure conditions and durations of storage on hatching of rotifer resting eggs in sediment. Well-mixed surface sediment samples from Mai Khao peat swamp on Phuket Island, Thailand, were stored under three conditions (cold -4°C & dark: CD; ambient -32-42°C & dark: AD; and ambient & daylight conditions: AL), for different periods of time (1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months). The number of species hatching from the sediment was significantly affected by treatment for both short- (1-6 months) and long-term (6-20 months) exposure. Significant effects of short- and long-term exposure within treatments were also present. Both factors interacted significantly. Regarding numbers of specimens hatching, no short-term effects of differences in treatment condition were found, but increasing the duration did have an effect. Significant effects of treatment occurred after 6 months, in addition to prolonged effects of duration. Again, both factors interacted significantly. These experiments indicate that exposure time has a strong impact on the viability of resting eggs, whereas, an effect of exposure condition appears only after 6 months. So, recovery of rotifer communities from resident sediment egg banks in disturbed peat swamps can only be effectively attained when restoration occurs within a relatively short period after perturbation. © Springer 2005.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications
-
Restoration of tropical peat swamp rotifer communities after perturbation: An experimental study of recovery of rotifers from the resting egg bank
-
In order to assess the recovery potential of tropical freshwater communities after disturbance, we performed an experimental study on the effects of exposure conditions and durations of storage on hatching of rotifer resting eggs in sediment. Well-mixed surface sediment samples from Mai Khao peat swamp on Phuket Island, Thailand, were stored under three conditions (cold -4°C & dark: CD; ambient -32-42°C & dark: AD; and ambient & daylight conditions: AL), for different periods of time (1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months). The number of species hatching from the sediment was significantly affected by treatment for both short- (1-6 months) and long-term (6-20 months) exposure. Significant effects of short- and long-term exposure within treatments were also present. Both factors interacted significantly. Regarding numbers of specimens hatching, no short-term effects of differences in treatment condition were found, but increasing the duration did have an effect. Significant effects of treatment occurred after 6 months, in addition to prolonged effects of duration. Again, both factors interacted significantly. These experiments indicate that exposure time has a strong impact on the viability of resting eggs, whereas, an effect of exposure condition appears only after 6 months. So, recovery of rotifer communities from resident sediment egg banks in disturbed peat swamps can only be effectively attained when restoration occurs within a relatively short period after perturbation. © Springer 2005.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications
/
Pending Duplicate Bibliography Entries
-
Restudy of the Lower Carboniferous Scaphopoda described by de Koninck (1843, 1883)
-
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications
-
Resurrection and neotype designation of Pilumnus spinulosus Kessler, 1861 (Crustacea: Decapoda)
-
ABSTRACT. The scientific name Pilumnus spinulosus Kessler, 1861 is resurrected for the representatives of the brachyuran genus Pilumnus Leach, 1816 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Pilumnidae), occurring along the northern coastal line of the Black Sea. This species has been mistakenly identified as P. hirtellus (Linnaeus, 1761) and recently, based on DNA data, referred to as P. aestuarii Nardo, 1869. Furthermore, a neotype of P. spinulosus Kessler, 1861 is designated as the original material is presently considered as lost. P. hirtellus ponticus Czerniavsky, 1868, P. aestuarii Nardo, 1869, P. hirtellus intermedia Czerniavsky, 1884 are considered as junior synonyms of P. spinulosus Kessler, 1861. РЕЗЮМЕ. Научное название Pilumnus spinulosus Kessler, 1861 восстановлено для представителей рода Pilumnus Leach, 1816 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Pilumnidae), встречающегося вдоль северной бере- говой линии Черного моря. Ранее этот вид был ошибочно идентифицирован как P. hirtellus (Linnaeus, 1761), а позднее, на основании данных ДНК, отнесён к P. aestuarii Nardo, 1869. Видовые назва- ния P. hirtellus ponticus Czerniavsky, 1868, P. aestuarii Nardo, 1869, P. hirtellus intermedia Czerniavsky, 1884 рассматриваются как младшие синонимы P. spinulosus Kessler, 1861. How to cite this article: Marin I.N., d’Udekem d’Acoz C. 2019. Resurrection and neotype designation of Pilumnus spinulosus Kessler, 1861 (Crustacea: Decapoda) // Arthropoda Selecta. Vol.28. No.4. P.545– 548. doi: 10.15298/arthsel. 28.4.06
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2019
-
Return to sender: Hydrozoa collected by Emperor Hirohito of Japan in the 1930s and studied in Brussels
-
A small number of Hydrozoa specimens, collected by Emperor Hirohito of Japan in Sagami Bay in the 1930s, was re-discovered in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels. The history of the collection is described here; part of it has been returned to the Showa Memorial Institute in Japan., Een klein aantal Hydrozoa specimens ingezameld door de Japanse Keizer Hirohito in de Baai van Sagami in de jaren 1930 werd gevonden op de schappen van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen in Brussel. De geschiedenis van de collectie wordt hier beschreven; een deel ervan werd teruggestuurd naar het Showa Herdenkingsinstituut in Japan.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications
-
Revalidation of Enteromius alberti and presence of Enteromius cf. mimus (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) in the Lake Edward system, East Africa
-
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2020
