Haascarstens7727

We also uncovered SNP markers that could help determine the sex of the salmon louse. A large portion of the SNPs identified to be under directional selection was also ranked highly important by random forest. According to our findings, there is a regional population structure of salmon lice associated with the geographical location along the Norwegian coastline.This study aims at supporting the maintenance of representative functional habitat networks as green infrastructure for biodiversity conservation through transdisciplinary macroecological analyses of wet grassland landscapes and their stewardship systems. We chose ten north European wet grassland case study landscapes from Iceland and the Netherlands in the west to Lithuania and Belarus in the east. We combine expert experiences for 20-30 years, comparative studies made 2011-2017, and longitudinal analyses spanning >70 years. Wader, or shorebird, (Charadrii) assemblages were chosen as a focal species group. We used evidence-based knowledge and practical experience generated in three steps. (1) Experts from 8 wet grassland landscapes in northern Europe's west and east mapped factors linked to patterns and processes, and management and governance, in social-ecological systems that affect states and trends of wet grasslands as green infrastructures for wader birds. (2) To understand wader conservation problems and their dynamic in wet grassland landscapes, and to identify key issues for successful conservation, we applied group modeling using causal loop diagram mapping. (3) Validation was made using the historic development in two additional wet grassland landscapes. Wader conservation was dependent on ten dynamically interacting ecological and social system factors as leverage points for management. Re-wetting and grazing were common drivers for the ecological and social system, and long-term economic support for securing farmers' interest in wader bird conservation. Financial public incentives at higher levels of governance of wetland management are needed to stimulate private income loops. Systems analysis based on contrasting landscape case studies in space and over time can support (1) understanding of complex interactions in social-ecological systems, (2) collaborative learning in individual wet grassland landscapes, and (3) formulation of priorities for conservation, management, and restoration.Increasing damage of pests in agriculture and forestry can arise both as a consequence of changes in local species and through the introduction of alien species. In this study, we used population genetics approaches to examine population processes of two pests of the tree-of-heaven trunk weevil (TTW), Eucryptorrhynchus brandti (Harold) and the tree-of-heaven root weevil (TRW), E. Marimastat cost scrobiculatus (Motschulsky) on the tree-of-heaven across their native range of China. We analyzed the population genetics of the two weevils based on ten highly polymorphic microsatellite markers. Population genetic diversity analysis showed strong population differentiation among populations of each species, with F ST ranges from 0.0197 to 0.6650 and from -0.0724 to 0.6845, respectively. Populations from the same geographic areas can be divided into different genetic clusters, and the same genetic cluster contained populations from different geographic populations, pointing to dispersal of the weevils possibly being human-mediated. Redundancy analysis showed that the independent effects of environment and geography could account for 93.94% and 29.70% of the explained genetic variance in TTW, and 41.90% and 55.73% of the explained genetic variance in TRW, respectively, indicating possible impacts of local climates on population genetic differentiation. Our study helps to uncover population genetic processes of these local pest species with relevance to control methods.Patterns of genetic differentiation within and among animal populations might vary due to the simple effect of distance or landscape features hindering gene flow. An assessment of how landscape connectivity affects gene flow can help guide management, especially in fragmented landscapes. Our objective was to analyze population genetic structure and landscape genetics of the native wild boar (Sus scrofa meridionalis) population inhabiting the island of Sardinia (Italy), and test for the existence of Isolation-by-Distance (IBD), Isolation-by-Barrier (IBB), and Isolation-by-Resistance (IBR). A total of 393 Sardinian wild boar samples were analyzed using a set of 16 microsatellite loci. Signals of genetic introgression from introduced non-native wild boars or from domestic pigs were revealed by a Bayesian cluster analysis including 250 reference individuals belonging to European wild populations and domestic breeds. After removal of introgressed individuals, genetic structure in the population was investigated bynia.Estimates of demographic rates for animal populations and individuals have many applications for ecological and conservation research. In many animals, survival is size-dependent, but estimating the form of the size-survival relationship presents challenges. For elusive species with low recapture rates, individuals' size will be unknown at many points in time. Integrating growth and capture-mark-recapture models in a Bayesian framework empowers researchers to impute missing size data, with uncertainty, and include size as a covariate of survival, capture probability, and presence on-site. If there is no theoretical expectation for the shape of the size-survival relationship, spline functions can allow for fitting flexible, data-driven estimates. We use long-term capture-mark-recapture data from the endangered San Francisco gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia) to fit an integrated growth-survival model. Growth models showed that females reach longer asymptotic lengths than males and that the magnitude of sexual size dimorphism differed among populations. The capture probability and availability of San Francisco gartersnakes for capture increased with snout-vent length. The survival rate of female snakes exhibits a nonlinear relationship with snout-vent length (SVL), with survival flat between 300 mm and 550 mm SVL before decreasing for females between 550 mm and 700 mm SVL. For male snakes, survival decreased for adult males >550 mm SVL. The survival rates of the smallest and largest San Francisco gartersnakes were highly uncertain because recapture rates were very low for these sizes. By integrating growth and survival models and using penalized splines, we found support for size-dependent survival in San Francisco gartersnakes. Our results have applications for devising management activities for this endangered subspecies, and our methods could be applied broadly to the study of size-dependent demography among animals.Host density is an important factor when it comes to parasite transmission and host resistance. Increased host density can increase contact rate between individuals and thus parasite transmission. Host density can also cause physiological changes in the host, which can affect host resistance. Yet, the direction in which host density affects host resistance remains unresolved. It is also unclear whether food limitation plays a role in this effect. We investigated the effect of larval density in monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus, on the resistance to their natural protozoan parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha under both unlimited and limited food conditions. We exposed monarchs to various density treatments as larvae to mimic high densities observed in sedentary populations. Data on infection and parasite spore load were collected as well as development time, survival, wing size, and melanization. Disease susceptibility under either food condition or across density treatments was similar. However, we found high larval density impacted development time, adult survival, and wing morphology when food was limited. This study aids our understanding of the dynamics of environmental parasite transmission in monarch populations, which can help explain the increased prevalence of parasites in sedentary monarch populations compared to migratory populations.Evaluating species responses to anthropogenic infrastructures and other habitat changes is often used to assess environmental impacts and to guide conservation actions. However, such studies are generally carried out at the population level, disregarding inter-individual variability. Here, we investigate population- and individual-level responses toward power lines of a territorial raptor, the Bonelli's eagle Aquila fasciata. We used GPS-PTT tracking data of 17 adult eagles to model space use as a function of distance to transmission and distribution lines, while accounting for other habitat features known to affect this species. At population level, eagles increased the intensity of space use in the proximity of power lines (up to 1,000 m), suggesting an attraction effect. At individual level, some eagles shared the general population attraction pattern, while others showed reduced intensity of space use in the proximity of power lines. These differential responses were unrelated to the sex of individuals, but were affected by the characteristics of the power grid, with a tendency for apparent attraction to be associated with individuals occupying home ranges with a denser network of transmission lines and transmission pylons. However, the study could not rule out the operation of other potentially influential factors, such as individual idiosyncrasies, the spatial distribution of prey availability, and the availability of natural perches and nesting sites. Overall, these results suggest that power lines may drive different behaviors and have differential impacts across individuals, with those attracted to the proximity of power lines potentially facing increased risk of mortality through electrocution and collision, and those avoiding power lines being potentially subject to exclusion effects. More generally, our results reinforce the need to understand individual variability when assessing and mitigating impacts of anthropogenic infrastructures.Understanding how microbial communities of aquatic ecosystems respond to environmental change remains a critical challenge in microbial ecology. In this study, we used light-dependent oxic-anoxic micro-ecosystems to understand how the functioning and diversity of aerobic and anaerobic lake analog communities are affected by a pulse light deprivation. Continuous measurements of oxygen concentration were made and a time series of full-length 16S rRNA sequencing was used to quantify changes in alpha- and beta diversity. In the upper oxic layer, oxygen concentration decreased significantly under light reduction, but showed resilience in daily mean, minimum, and maximum after light conditions were restored to control level. Only the amplitude of diurnal fluctuations in oxygen concentrations did not recover fully, and instead tended to remain lower in treated ecosystems. Alpha diversity of the upper oxic layer communities showed a delayed increase after light conditions were restored, and was not resilient in the longer term. In contrast, alpha diversity of the anoxic lower layer communities increased during the light reduction, but was resilient in the longer term. Community composition changed significantly during light reduction, and showed resilience in the oxic layer and lack of resilience in the anoxic layer. Alpha diversity and the amplitude of daily oxygen fluctuations within and among treatments were strongly correlated, suggesting that higher diversity could lead to less variable oxygen concentrations, or vice versa. Our experiment showed that light deprivation induces multifaceted responses of community function (oxygen respiration) and structure, hence focusing on a single stability component could potentially be misleading.