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Article Reference Intraskeletal histovariability, allometric growth patterns, and their functional implications in bird-like dinosaurs
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference Intraskeletal histovariability, allometric growth patterns, and their functional implications in bird-like dinosaurs
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference Introduction history and genetic diversity of the invasive ant Solenopsis geminata in the Gala´pagos Islands
The Gala´pagos Islands constitute one of the most pristine tropical systems on Earth. However, the complex and fragile equilibrium of native species is threatened by invasive species, among which is one of the most successful ants in the world, the tropical fire ant, Solenopsis geminata. We characterized the genetic structure and diversity of populations of S. geminata in the Galapagos Islands and unravelled the archipelago colonization by combining Bayesian clustering methods and coalescent-based scenario testing. Using 12 microsatellite markers and one mitochondrial DNA fragment (COI), we analysed individuals collected in all main invaded islands of the archipelago and from the native areas in Costa Rica and mainland Ecuador. We also used mitochondrial DNA to infer evolutionary relationships of samples collected in Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Costa Rica and other Latin American countries. Our results showed that genetic diversity was significantly lower in Galapagos Islands and mainland Ecuador populations when compared to Costa Rican populations, and that samples from Galapagos Islands and mainland Ecuador (Guayaquil) clustered in a single group and all share a single mtDNA haplotype. Approximate Bayesian Computation favoured a scenario assuming that populations from Galapagos Islands diverged from mainland Ecuador. The city of Guyaquil, an obligatory hub for tourism and trade, could act as a bridgehead.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Techreport Reference Invasive American razor clam Ensis directus in Belgian waters: a true opportunity for shell-fisheries?
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Invasive process and repeated cross-sectional surveys of the mosquito Aedes japonicus japonicus establishment in Belgium
When accidentally introduced in a new location, a species does not necessarily readily become invasive, but it usually needs several years to adapt to its new environment. In 2009, a national mosquito survey (MODIRISK) reported the introduction and possible establishment of an invasive mosquito species, Aedes j. japonicus, in Belgium. First collected in 2002 in the village of Natoye from a second-hand tire company, then sampled in 2003 and 2004, the presence of adults and larvae was confirmed in 2007 and 2008. A repeated cross-sectional survey of Ae. j. japonicus was then conducted in 2009 in Natoye to study the phenology of the species on two different sites using three kinds of traps: Mosquito Magnet Liberty Plus traps, BG sentinel traps and CDC Gravid traps. An analysis of the blood meals was done on females to assess the epidemiological risks. Five species of mosquitos were caught using the different kind of traps: Culex pipiens, Cx. torrentium, Anopheles claviger, Aedes geniculatus and Ae. j. japonicus, Cx. pipiens being the most abundant. The CDC gravid traps gave the best results. Surprisingly Ae. j. japonicus was only found on one site although both sites seem similar and are only distant of 2.5 km. Its population peak was reached in July. Most of the engorged mosquitoes tested acquired blood meals from humans (60\%). No avian blood meals were unambiguously identified. Larvae were also collected, mostly from tires but also from buckets and from one tree hole. Only one larva was found in a puddle at 100 m of the tire storage. A first local treatment of Ae. j. japonicus larvae population was done in May 2012 using Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (Bti) and was followed by preventive actions and public information. A monitoring is also presently implemented.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Octet Stream Invertebrate and avian predators as drivers of chemical defensive strategies in tenthredinid sawflies
BACKGROUND: Many insects are chemically defended against predatory vertebrates and invertebrates. Nevertheless, our understanding of the evolution and diversity of insect defenses remains limited, since most studies have focused on visual signaling of defenses against birds, thereby implicitly underestimating the impact of insectivorous insects. In the larvae of sawflies in the family Tenthredinidae (Hymenoptera), which feed on various plants and show diverse lifestyles, two distinct defensive strategies are found: easy bleeding of deterrent hemolymph, and emission of volatiles by ventral glands. Here, we used phylogenetic information to identify phylogenetic correlations among various ecological and defensive traits in order to estimate the relative importance of avian versus invertebrate predation. RESULTS: The mapping of 12 ecological and defensive traits on phylogenetic trees inferred from DNA sequences reveals the discrete distribution of easy bleeding that occurs, among others, in the genus Athalia and the tribe Phymatocerini. By contrast, occurrence of ventral glands is restricted to the monophyletic subfamily Nematinae, which are never easy bleeders. Both strategies are especially effective towards insectivorous insects such as ants, while only Nematinae species are frequently brightly colored and truly gregarious. Among ten tests of phylogenetic correlation between traits, only a few are significant. None of these involves morphological traits enhancing visual signals, but easy bleeding is associated with the absence of defensive body movements and with toxins occurring in the host plant. Easy bleeding functions through a combination of attributes, which is corroborated by an independent contrasts test indicating a statistically significant negative correlation between species-level integument mechanical resistance and hemolymph feeding deterrence against ants. CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses evidence a repeated occurrence of easy bleeding, and no phylogenetic correlation including specific visual signals is significant. We conclude that the evolution of chemically-based defenses in tenthredinids may have been driven by invertebrate as much as by avian predation. The clear-cut visual signaling often encountered in the Nematinae would be linked to differential trends of habitat use by prey and predators. Further studies on (prey) insect groups should include visual signals and other traits, as well as several groups of natural enemies, to better interpret their relative significance and to refine our understanding of insect chemical defenses.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Investigating Infectious Organisms of Public Health Concern Associated with Wild Meat
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
Article Reference Investigating urban ant community (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in port cities and in major towns along the border in Côte d’Ivoire: a rapid assessment to detect potential introduced invasive ant species
Objective: This study aimed at examining ant communities of port and border cities in order to identify introduced and potential invasive ant species and microhabitats likely to contribute to the spread of these ant species. Therefore, the sampling design are linear transects of 200 metres on which ants were collected using tuna baits at 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes in the two port cities of Abidjan and San Pedro, and seven cities that are Man, Touba, Odienne, Ferkéssedougou, Bouna, Bondoukou and Abengourou located near the borders of Côte d’Ivoire. The results showed 83 ant species including 9 potential introduced or invasive ant species. These invasive ants contributed importantly to the ant assemblage in port cities (23.95±2.7 % of total richness and 37±6.1 % of total abundance) and border cities (20.17±4.7 % / 30.6±7 %). In addition two notorious invaders, Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius, 1804) (Tropical fire ant) and Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793) (Big-headed ant) were detected during this study. The results also indicated that potential introduced or invasive ant species were mostly detected in microhabitats where human activities are uninterrupted such port zones, markets, domestic streets and residential. Conclusion: In the end, this study has shown that ant communities in port and border cities harbour invasive potential ant species, particularly microhabitats characterized by high human activities such as port areas, markets, domestic streets and residential areas.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Inbook Reference Irish-type deposits in Tunisia: a new perspective to assign the Pb-Zn deposits of the Nefza District
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Iron and sulfur cycling in the cGENIE.muffin Earth system model (v0.9.21)
The coupled biogeochemical cycles of iron and sulfur are central to the long-term biogeochemical evolution of Earth’s oceans. For instance, before the development of a persistently oxygenated deep ocean, the ocean interior likely alternated between states buffered by reduced sulfur (“euxinic”) and buffered by reduced iron (“ferruginous”), with important implications for the cycles and hence bioavailability of dissolved iron (and phosphate). Even after atmospheric oxygen concentrations rose to modern-like values, the ocean episodically continued to develop regions of euxinic or ferruginous conditions, such as those associated with past key intervals of organic carbon deposition (e.g. during the Cretaceous)and extinction events (e.g. at the Permian–Triassic boundary). A better understanding of the cycling of iron and sulfur in an anoxic ocean, how geochemical patterns in the ocean relate to the available spatially heterogeneous geological observations, and quantification of the feedback strengths between nutrient cycling, biological productivity, and ocean redox requires a spatially resolved representation of ocean circulation together with an extended set of (bio)geochemical reactions. Here, we extend the “muffin” release of the intermediate complexity Earth system model cGENIE to now include an anoxic iron and sulfur cycle (expanding the existing oxic iron and sulfur cycles), enabling the model to simulate ferruginous and euxinic redox states as well as the precipitation of reduced iron and sulfur minerals (pyrite, siderite, greenalite) and attendant iron and sulfur isotope signatures, which we describe in full. Because tests against present-day (oxic) ocean iron cycling exercises only a small part of the new code, we use an idealized ocean configuration to explore model sensitivity across a selection of key parameters. We also present the spatial patterns of concentrations and d56Fe and d34S isotope signatures of both dissolved and solid-phase Fe and S species in an anoxic ocean as an example application. Our sensitivity analyses show that the first-order results of the model are relatively robust against the choice of kinetic parameter values within the Fe–S system and that simulated concentrations and reaction rates are comparable to those observed in process analogues for ancient oceans (i.e. anoxic lakes). Future model developments will address sedimentary recycling and benthic iron fluxes back to the water column, together with the coupling of nutrient (in particular phosphate) cycling to the iron cycle.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021