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Diurnal variability of turbidity and light attenuation in the southern North Sea from the SEVIRI geostationary sensor.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Divergent feeding habits of sister species of the Antarctic amphipod genus Charcotia
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Climate change and resource exploitation in the Southern Ocean are important anthropogenic pressures on Antarctic food webs. Understanding the eco-functional roles of Antarctic communities is essential for ecosystem management and conservation. Amphipods are among the most dominant and ecologically important benthic taxa in the Southern Ocean. The amphipod genus Charcotia is part of the scavenger guild playing a dominant role in nutrient recycling. To study the trophic habits of two sister species C. amundseni and C. obesa, stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen were measured along geographical and bathymetrical gradients. Charcotia obesa belongs to the fourth and C. amundseni to the fifth trophic level, based on significant differences in δ15N values. Both benthic and pelagic primary producers dominate the diet in both species as derived from their low δ13C values. Charcotia obesa, the species with the narrowest depth range of the two studied species, did not show a depth-related pattern in isotopic ratios. An increasing geographic gradient of both δ15N and δ13C values was observed for C. obesa, ranging from the northern most tip of the Western Antarctic Peninsula to the southwestern most part in the Bellingshausen Sea. This might be linked to nutrient rich glacial meltwater in the latter part of the Southern Ocean. Nitrogen stable isotope ratios of C. amundseni showed a significant difference between Crown Bay and the other locations; this might be explained by the close location of the Filchner Area to nutrient rich upwelling in the Weddell Sea Gyre. Our study provides evidence for niche differentiation between two closely related amphipod species. Incorporation of additional samples from other locations and depth ranges in combination with isotope analysis and DNA-based prey identification might clarify the trophic position of benthic amphipods.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Divergent ontogenies of trophic morphology in two closely related haplochromine cichlids
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Fish develop morphological specializations in their trophic and locomotor systems as a result of varying functional demands in response to environmental pressures at different life stages. These specializations should maximize particular performances in specialists, adapting them to their trophic and habitat niches at each ontogenetic stage. Because differential growth rates of the structural components comprised in the head are likely to be linked to the diet of a fish throughout its development, we investigated the ontogenetic development of two haplochromine cichlid species belonging to different trophic guilds. We employed geometric morphometric techniques to evaluate whether starting from morphologically similar fry they diverge into phenotypes that characterize trophic guilds and locomotor types. Our examination of overall body shape shows that certain specialized morphological features are already present in fry, whereas other traits diverge through ontogeny due to differences in species-specific allometric variation. Allometric shape variation was found to be more relevant for the biter specialist than for the sucker morphotype. Our results confirm that phenotypic changes during ontogeny can be linked to dietary and habitat shifts in these fish. Furthermore, evidence for an integrated development of trophic and locomotor specializations in morphology was observed.
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Diverse assemblages of Mid Devonian megaspores from Libya.
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A restudy of Devonian palynological assemblages of samples from the A1-69 borehole, drilled in the Ghadamis Basin, western Libya, North Africa has led to the discovery of numerous well-preserved megaspores amongst abundant miospores, rare acritarchs and rare chitinozoans. Thirteen samples from base to top, 1496 ft (456 m) up to 965 ft (294 m), contain the richest Devonian megaspore assemblages from northwestern Gondwana. The section is dated by a rich diverse miospore assemblage indicating the presence of the upper part of the AD pre-Lem Biozone up to the lower part of the TCo Oppel Zone, ranging from a latest Eifelian or earliest Givetian age up to a latest Givetian or an earliest Frasnian age. Seventeen megaspore taxa have been identified. Among them, two new species (Biharisporites lugardonii and Lagenicula milleri) and four new varieties (Corystisporites acutispinosus var. acutispinosus and var. bullatus, Heliotriletes longispinosus var. longispinosus and var. radiatus) are described. One new possible megaspore species is also described: Verruciretusispora labiosa sp. nov. One core sample (1293 ft, 394 m) contains several specimens of very large megaspores (ca. 1 mm), the largest known from Devonian localities (except for one specimen observed in the Givetian from Belgium). Among the 17 megaspore taxa from Libya, 6 are present on the Euramerican Continent. This observation is in accordance with previous palynological conclusions that favour the absence of palaeogeographic barriers between the Euramerican and Gondwanan continents that are suggested to be grouped together in a “Pre-Pangea” land mass.
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Diversity among fossil micrometeorites in the late Devonian.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Diversity among fossil micrometeorites in the late Devonian.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Diversity and assembly composition of arboreal ants in a west African humid forest-savannah mosaic
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In the tropical forest-savannah mosaic of Lamto Reserve in Ivory Coast ants play an important role in the biodiversity conservation. This work aimed to explore the structure and composition of the arboreal ant assemblages in a forest-savannah mosaic located in central Côte d'Ivoire. Ants were collected by baited trap (Protein bait: tuna and sugar bait: sweet milk) and beating of low vegetation. During the entire sampling campaign, 59 ant species belonging to 18 genera and five subfamilies (Formicinae, Ponerinae, Myrmicinae, Dolichoderinae and Pseudomyrmecinae) were recorded. The mean ant species richness of shrub savannah (SS) was significantly lower than of both forest island (FI) and forest gallery. Likewise, a significant difference was observed for species composition when comparing the arboreal ant communities of SS, gallery forest and FI.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Diversity and distribution of Brachionidae (Rotifera) in Thailand, with a key to the species
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Diversity and Distributional Patterns of New Guinea Termites.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Diversity and endemicity of Recent non-marine ostracods (Crustacea, Ostracoda) from Africa and South America: a faunal comparison
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RBINS Staff Publications