8,774 research outputs found
Odour cues rather than personality affect tadpole deposition in a Neotropical poison frog
No full textAnimals constantly need to evaluate available external and internal information to make appropriate decisions. Identifying, assessing, and acting on relevant cues in contexts such as mate choice, intra-sexual competition, and parental care is particularly important for optimizing individual reproductive success. Several factors can influence decision-making, such as external environmental cues and the animal's own internal state, yet, we have limited knowledge on how animals integrate available information. Here, we used an entire island population (57 males, 53 females, and 1,109 tadpoles) of the neotropical brilliant-thighed poison frog Allobates femoralis to investigate how 2 factors (olfactory cues and personality traits) influence the ability of males to find and use new resources for tadpole deposition. We experimentally manipulated the location of tadpole deposition sites and their associated olfactory cues, and repeatedly measured exploration and boldness in adult males. We further reconstructed tadpole deposition choices via inferred parent-offspring relationships of adult frogs and tadpoles deposited in our experimental pools using molecular parentage analysis. We found that the discovery and use of new rearing sites were heavily influenced by olfactory cues; however, we did not find an effect of the measured behavioral traits on resource discovery and use. We conclude that in highly dynamic environments such as tropical rainforests, reliable external cues likely take priority over personality traits, helping individuals to discover and make use of reproductive resources
Enseñanza de la escritura de Max Aub: comprensión y memoria
No full textEste texto analiza a obra testimonial de Max Aub sobre su experiencia en los campos de concentración en Francia desde una perspectiva de discursos comparados. Para destacar las estrategias de la escritura del autor recuperables por otros proyectos discursivos que persigan la sensibilización y la denuncia a través del cruce entre la comunicación y la éticaThis text analyses the testimonial work of Max Aub about his experience in the French concentration camps in France from comparative discourses approach. It emphasizes the writing strategies used by the author useful for other awareness and denounce discourses through the dialogue among communication and ethic
Max Brooks literary reading flier
No full text2012 Bismarck State College Visiting Writers Series and ArtsQuest present: Max Brooks. April 25, 7:30 p.m.; Belle Mehus Auditorium. Max Brooks is the author of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War and the graphic novel The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks
Reproductive behavior drives female space use in a sedentary Neotropical frog
No full textLonger-range movements of anuran amphibians such as mass migrations and habitat invasion have received a lot of attention, but fine-scale spatial behavior remains largely understudied. This gap is especially striking for species that show long-term site fidelity and display their whole behavioral repertoire in a small area. Studying fine-scale movement with conventional capture-mark-recapture techniques is difficult in inconspicuous amphibians: individuals are hard to find, repeated captures might affect their behavior and the number of data points is too low to allow a detailed interpretation of individual space use and time budgeting. In this study, we overcame these limitations by equipping females of the Brilliant-Thighed Poison Frog (Allobates femoralis) with a tag allowing frequent monitoring of their location and behavior. Neotropical poison frogs are well known for their complex behavior and diverse reproductive and parental care strategies. Although the ecology and behavior of the polygamous leaf-litter frog Allobates femoralis is well studied, little is known about the fine-scale space use of the non-territorial females who do not engage in acoustic and visual displays. We tracked 17 females for 6 to 17 days using a harmonic direction finder to provide the first precise analysis of female space use in this species. Females moved on average 1 m per hour and the fastest movement, over 20 m per hour, was related to a subsequent mating event. Traveled distances and activity patterns on days of courtship and mating differed considerably from days without reproduction. Frogs moved more on days with lower temperature and more precipitation, but mating seemed to be the main trigger for female movement. We observed 21 courtships of 12 tagged females. For seven females, we observed two consecutive mating events. Estimated home ranges after 14 days varied considerably between individuals and courtship and mating associated space use made up for ∼30% of the home range. Allobates femoralis females spent large parts of their time in one to three small centers of use. Females did not adjust their time or space use to the density of males in their surroundings and did not show wide-ranging exploratory behavior. Our study demonstrates how tracking combined with detailed behavioral observations can reveal the patterns and drivers of fine-scale spatial behavior in sedentary species
Max Frisch's novel: Stiller. A study
No full text The attempt is made in the following study to present an interpretation of the novel "Stiller" by the Swiss author, Max Frisch, by tracing through the novel the dominant themes of the graven-image or 'Bildnis' and that of the problem of freedom with reference to the novel's main character. ThesisMaster of Arts (MA
A Transfer Report on the Development of a Framework to Evaluate Search Interfaces for their Support of Different User Types and Search Tactics
No full textAs the understanding of search systems, user needs and seeking strategies is developing, the design of search user interfaces is evolving to support more complicated and exploratory forms of search. With the design of new search features that enable these richer modes of exploration, comes the need to better understand the support they provide. In this report a new evaluation framework is presented that analyses search features for how they a) contribute to an overall interface, b) allow users to carry out different search tactics, and c) support different types of users and their needs. The novel contributions of the framework improve on some of the limitations of typical user studies, and allow search systems to be systematically analysed in much more detail and in much less time. The presented evaluation framework is then validated in three ways. First the validity of the models used as the building blocks of the framework are investigated through related work. Second the method of integrating these building-block models is validated and strengthened by consensus of expert opinion. Third, the overall approach is validated by comparing its analyses to the results of previously carried out user studies. The validation process has shown both the value of the framework and identified areas of future work that should be addressed for the framework to be completed. This report concludes with the set of contributions that the framework makes, and why the remaining work will be challenging, but critical to the final design
Analysis of discrete shallow-water models on geodesic Delaunay grids with C-type staggering
No full textThe properties of C-grid staggered spatial discretizations of the shallow-water equations on regular
Delaunay triangulations on the sphere are analyzed. Mass-conserving schemes that also conserve either
energy or potential enstrophy are derived, and their features are analogous to those of the C-grid staggered
schemes on quadrilateral grids. Results of numerical tests carried out with explicit and semi-implicit time
discretizations show that the potential-enstrophy-conserving scheme is able to reproduce correctly the main
features of large-scale atmospheric motion and that power spectra for energy and potential enstrophy
obtained in long model integrations display a qualitative behavior similar to that predicted by the decaying
turbulence theory for the continuous system
Mate choice in a promiscuous poison frog
No full textIn many animal species, members of one sex, most often females, exhibit a strong preference for mating partners with particular traits or resources. However, when females sequentially mate with multiple partners, strategies underlying female choice are not very well understood. Particularly, little is known if under such sequential polyandry females mate truly randomly, or if they actively try to spread mating events across multiple partners. In the present study, we used the highly promiscuous poison frog Allobates femoralis to investigate whether promiscuity could result from a preference for novel mates. Furthermore, we examined the importance of call characteristics for mate choice. We conducted mate choice experiments in a laboratory setup, by presenting females with recent mating partners or novel males. We recorded call characteristics of both males and the time females spent close to each male. In our trials, females preferred previous mating partners over novel males and also males with shorter advertisement calls. Results from previous studies on A. femoralis suggest that females in our trials recognized previous partners based on individual call characteristics. While mating decisions in the wild and in the laboratory might differ, our study provides first evidence for female mate choice in a poison frog with sequential polyandry
Regardless of personality, males show similar levels of plasticity in territory defense in a Neotropical poison frog.
No full textAnimal personality traits are sometimes linked to an individual's degree of plasticity, with certain personality types being more plastic than others. In territorial species, consistently high levels of aggression might increase the risk of harmful fights, while consistently low aggression might lead to the loss of a territory. Consequently, reacting plastically with an appropriate territorial response should be beneficial to avoid these risks. An integrative investigation of both personality traits and plasticity can help us better understand the dynamics of aggressive interactions during male-male competition. Here, we used a free-ranging Neotropical poison frog population to investigate the role of plasticity in male territorial aggression towards intruders. We conducted repeated standardized territorial intrusion experiments mimicking frogs of different body sizes via playback calls with different peak frequencies. We found individual repeatability for the latency to reach and approach a simulated intruder and observed that both aggressive and less aggressive males decreased their level of aggression towards big intruders. However, our results do not support a correlation between personality and plasticity in the context of male territory defense during the breeding season. We discuss how such a correlation between personality and plasticity might be conditional on the costs and benefits across contexts
The subzero microbiome: Microbial activity in frozen and thawing soils
No full textMost of the Earth's biosphere is characterized by low temperatures (<5 °C) and cold-adapted microorganisms are widespread. These psychrophiles have evolved a complex range of adaptations of all cellular constituents to counteract the potentially deleterious effects of low kinetic energy environments and the freezing of water. Microbial life continues into the subzero temperature range, and this activity contributes to carbon and nitrogen flux in and out of ecosystems, ultimately affecting global processes. Microbial responses to climate warming and in particular, thawing of frozen soils are not yet well understood although the threat of microbial contribution to positive feedback of carbon flux is substantial. To date, several studies have examined microbial community dynamics in frozen soils and permafrost due to changing environmental conditions, and some have undertaken the complicated task of characterizing microbial functional groups and how their activity changes with changing conditions, either in situ or by isolating and characterizing macromolecules. With increasing temperature and wetter conditions microbial activity of key microbes and subsequent efflux of greenhouse gases also increase. In this review, we aim to provide an overview of microbial activity in seasonally frozen soils and permafrost. With a more detailed understanding of the microbiological activities in these vulnerable soil ecosystems, we can begin to predict and model future expectations for carbon release and climate change.Peer reviewe
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