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Article Reference Site Fidelity of Formica rufa: Micro-Scaled and Persistent Despite Disturbance (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Long-term site fidelity or Ortstreue is an individual foraging strategy typical of ants exploiting stable and predictable food sources in space and time. Red wood ant workers (Formica s. str.) are central-place foragers feeding on honeydew secreted by stable aphid populations. In this field study, temporal site fidelity of Formica rufa honeydew tenders was investigated on a micro-scaled level for a period of time. Additionally, the effect of exchanging honeydew workers between two trees on site fidelity was examined. Site fidelity of the honeydew tenders was very high and they returned repeatedly to particular micro-sites (branches, set of leaves) on a tree. The transfer to a new feeding site apparently did not influence site fidelity as honeydew tenders mainly return to their initial tree. Small-scale site fidelity decreased with time and was not so rigid as larger-scale fidelity. We discuss how site fidelity on one hand and flexibility in foraging and recruiting on the other hand promote foraging efficiency of the colony.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference The importance of biological factors affecting trace metal concentration as revealed from accumulation patterns in co-occurring terrestrial invertebrates
As physicochemical properties of the soil highly influence the bioavailable fraction of a particular trace metal, measured metal body burdens in a particular species are often assumed to be more reliable estimators of the contamination of the biota. To test this we compared the Cd, Cu and Zn content of three spiders (generalist predators) and two amphipods (detritivores), co-occurring in seven tidal marshes along the river Schelde, between each other and with the total metal concentrations and the concentrations of four sequential extractions of the soils. Correlations were significant in only one case and significant site x species interactions for all metals demonstrate that factors affecting metal concentration were species and site specific and not solely determined by site specific characteristics. These results emphasize that site and species specific biological factors might be of the utmost importance in determining the contamination of the biota, at least for higher trophic levels. A hypothetical example clarifies these findings. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Acceptance of two native myrmecophilous species, Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii (Isopoda : Oniscidea) and Cyphoderus albinus (Collembola : Cyphoderidae) by the introduced invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) in Belgium
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Ant biodiversity conservation in Belgian calcareous grasslands: active management is vital
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Changes in the distribution of carabid beetles in Belgium revisited: Have we halted the diversity loss?
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Establishment of ant communities in forests growing on former agricultural fields: Colonisation and 25 years of management are not enough (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference A mitochondrial phylogeographic scenario for the most widespread African rodent species , Mastomys natalensis
In order to evaluate the contribution of geological, environmental, and climatic changes to the spatial distri- bution of genetic variation of Mastomys natalensis, we analysed cytochrome b sequences from the whole dis- tribution area of the species to infer its phylogeographic structure and historical demography. Six well-supported phylogroups, differentiated during the Pleistocene, were evidenced. No significant correlation between genetic and geographic distances was found at the continental scale, and the geographic distributions of the observed phylogroups have resulted from extensive periods of isolation caused by the presence of putative geographic and ecological barriers. The diversification events were probably influenced by habitat contraction/expansion cycles that may have complemented topographic barriers to induce genetic drift and lineage sorting. According to our results, we propose a scenario where climate-driven processes may have played a primary role in the differ- entiation among phylogroups.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference A molecular diagnostic for identifying central African forest artiodactyls from faecal pellets
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Discovery of a new duiker species (Bovidae: Cephalophinae) from the Dahomey Gap, West Africa
Among the two most widely distributed duiker species, Philantomba monticola (Thunberg, 1789) and Philantomba maxwelli (C.H. Smith, 1827), the latter shows geographic variation in pelage color and body size. This issue was not investigated in detail so far, especially in the eastern region of its distribution area, notably due to the lack of material from the Dahomey Gap. We undertook a species-level revision of Philantomba in West Africa, notably including a series of specimens collected in Togo, Benin and Nigeria. Using morphological measurements (craniometry) and genetic data (two mitochondrial and three nuclear markers), we describe a new duiker species occurring in the Dahomey Gap (Togo, Benin) and the Niger delta, Philantomba walteri sp. nov. This discovery highlights the importance of the Dahomey Gap for the evolutionary history of the West African forest faunas. It also has conservation implications given that the new species is one of the main targets of the local bushmeat trade.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Incollection Reference DNA Barcoding Amphibians and Reptiles
Only a few major research programs are currently targeting COI barcoding of amphibians and reptiles (including chelonians and crocodiles), two major groups of tetrapods. Amphibian and reptile species are typically old, strongly divergent, and contain deep conspecifi c lineages which might lead to problems in species assignment with incomplete reference databases. As far as known, there is no single pair of COI primers that will guarantee a suffi cient rate of success across all amphibian and reptile taxa, or within major subclades of amphibians and reptiles, which means that the PCR amplifi cation strategy needs to be adjusted depending on the specifi c research question. In general, many more amphibian and reptile taxa have been sequenced for 16S rDNA, which for some purposes may be a suitable complementary marker, at least until a more comprehensive COI reference database becomes available. DNA barcoding has successfully been used to identify amphibian larval stages (tadpoles) in species-rich tropical assemblages. Tissue sampling, DNA extraction, and amplifi cation of COI is straightforward in amphibians and reptiles. Single primer pairs are likely to have a failure rate between 5 and 50\% if taxa of a wide taxonomic range are targeted; in such cases the use of primer cocktails or subsequent hierarchical usage of different primer pairs is necessary. If the target group is taxonomically limited, many studies have followed a strategy of designing specifi c primers which then allow an easy and reliable amplifi cation of all samples.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications