Detecting context dependence in the expression of life history trade-offs.

Life history trade-offs are one of the central tenets of evolutionary demography. Trade-offs, depicting negative covariances between individuals' life history traits, can arise from genetic constraints, or from a finite amount of resources that each individual has to allocate in a zero-sum game between somatic and reproductive functions. While theory predicts that trade-offs are ubiquitous, empirical studies have often failed to detect such negative covariances in wild populations.

Trait-specific sensitive developmental windows: Wing growth best integrates weather conditions encountered throughout the development of nestling Alpine swifts.

The size and growth patterns of nestling birds are key determinants of their survival up to fledging and long-term fitness. However, because traits such as feathers, skeleton and body mass can follow different developmental trajectories, our understanding of the impact of adverse weather on development requires insights into trait-specific sensitive developmental windows. We analysed data from nestling Alpine swifts in Switzerland measured throughout growth up to the age of 50 days (i.

[Wound healing after trabeculectomy : What and when in postoperative aftercare?].

Excessive wound healing in filtering glaucoma surgery is a key factor for a failed surgery. After the introduction of trabeculectomy in the 1960s many factors associated with an increased fibrotic reaction were recognized and methods were developed to influence postoperative wound healing. These range from the perioperative use of anti-inflammatory drugs and antimetabolites to the use of newer chemical compounds that influence the morphology of postoperative fibroblast growth.

Adult body mass is heritable, positively genetically correlated and under selection of differing shapes between the sexes in a bird with little apparent sexual dimorphism.

In most animals, body mass varies with ecological conditions and is expected to reflect how much energy can be allocated to reproduction and survival. Because the sexes often differ in their resource acquisition and allocation strategies, variations in adult body mass and their consequences on fitness can differ between the sexes. Assessing the relative contributions of environmental and genetic effects (i.

The timing of reproduction is responding plastically, not genetically, to climate change in yellow-bellied marmots ().

With global climates changing rapidly, animals must adapt to new environmental conditions with altered weather and phenology. The key to adapting to these new conditions is adjusting the timing of reproduction to maximize fitness. Using a long-term dataset on a wild population of yellow-bellied marmots () at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL), we investigated how the timing of reproduction changed with changing spring conditions over the past 50 years.

Dispersal mediates trophic interactions and habitat connectivity to alter metacommunity composition.

Dispersal contributes vitally to metacommunity structure. However, interactions between dispersal and other key processes have rarely been explored, particularly in the context of multitrophic metacommunities. We investigated such a metacommunity in naturally fragmented habitats populated by butterfly species (whose dispersal capacities were previously assessed), flowering plants, and butterfly predators.

Individual life histories: neither slow nor fast, just diverse.

The slow-fast continuum is a commonly used framework to describe variation in life-history strategies across species. Individual life histories have also been assumed to follow a similar pattern, especially in the pace-of-life syndrome literature. However, whether a slow-fast continuum commonly explains life-history variation among individuals within a population remains unclear.

The effect of heterospecific and conspecific competition on inter-individual differences in tungara frog tadpole () behavior.

Repeated social interactions with conspecifics and/or heterospecifics during early development may drive the differentiation of behavior among individuals. Competition is a major form of social interaction and its impacts can depend on whether interactions occur between conspecifics or heterospecifics and the directionality of a response could be specific to the ecological context that they are measured in. To test this, we reared tungara frog tadpoles () either in isolation, with a conspecific tadpole or with an aggressive heterospecific tadpole, the whistling frog tadpole ().

Rapid prototyping for quantifying belief weights of competing hypotheses about emergent diseases.

Emerging diseases can have devastating consequences for wildlife and require a rapid response. A critical first step towards developing appropriate management is identifying the etiology of the disease, which can be difficult to determine, particularly early in emergence. Gathering and synthesizing existing information about potential disease causes, by leveraging expert knowledge or relevant existing studies, provides a principled approach to quickly inform decision-making and management efforts.

Demographic consequences of changes in environmental periodicity.

The fate of natural populations is mediated by complex interactions among vital rates, which can vary within and among years. Although the effects of random, among-year variation in vital rates have been studied extensively, relatively little is known about how periodic, nonrandom variation in vital rates affects populations. This knowledge gap is potentially alarming as global environmental change is projected to alter common periodic variations, such as seasonality.

Open removal models with temporary emigration and population dynamics to inform invasive animal management.

Removal sampling data are the primary source of monitoring information for many populations (e.g., invasive species, fisheries).

RocTest: A standardized method to assess the performance of root organ cultures in the propagation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

Over the past three decades, root organ cultures (ROCs) have been the gold standard method for studying arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) under conditions, and ROCs derived from various plant species have been used as hosts for AM monoxenic cultures. While there is compelling evidence that host identity can significantly modify AMF fitness, there is currently no standardized methodology to assess the performance of ROCs in the propagation of their fungal symbionts. We describe , a robust methodological approach that models the propagation of AMF in symbiosis with ROCs.

An invasive prey provides long-lasting silver spoon effects for an endangered predator.

The natal environment can have long-term fitness consequences for individuals, particularly via 'silver spoon' or 'environmental matching' effects. Invasive species could alter natal effects on native species by changing species interactions, but this potential remains unknown. Using 17 years of data on 2588 individuals across the entire US breeding range of the endangered snail kite (), a wetland raptor that feeds entirely on snails, we tested for silver spoon and environmental matching effects on survival and movement and whether the invasion of a non-native snail may alter outcomes.

Hibernation slows epigenetic ageing in yellow-bellied marmots.

Species that hibernate generally live longer than would be expected based solely on their body size. Hibernation is characterized by long periods of metabolic suppression (torpor) interspersed by short periods of increased metabolism (arousal). The torpor-arousal cycles occur multiple times during hibernation, and it has been suggested that processes controlling the transition between torpor and arousal states cause ageing suppression.

End-tidal Carbon Dioxide for Diagnosing Anaphylaxis in Patients with Severe Postinduction Hypotension.

Background: Perioperative hypersensitivity reactions may be difficult to diagnose during general anesthesia. Postinduction hypotension is the most common sign but is not specific. It was recently suggested that low end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETco2) might be a marker of anaphylaxis (Ring and Messmer grades III to IV immediate hypersensitivity reactions) in hypotensive patients under mechanical ventilation.

Evaluating the effect of expert elicitation techniques on population status assessment in the face of large uncertainty.

Population projection models are important tools for conservation and management. They are often used for population status assessments, for threat analyses, and to predict the consequences of conservation actions. Although conservation decisions should be informed by science, critical decisions are often made with very little information to support decision-making.

Distinguishing within- from between-individual effects: How to use the within-individual centring method for quadratic patterns.

Any average pattern observed at the population level (cross-sectional analysis) may confound two different types of processes: some processes that occur among individuals and others that occur within individuals. Separating within- from among-individual processes is critical for our understanding of ecological and evolutionary dynamics. The within-individual centring method allows distinguishing within- from among-individual processes and this method has been widely used in ecology to investigate both linear and quadratic patterns.

MiR-100 overexpression attenuates high fat diet induced weight gain, liver steatosis, hypertriglyceridemia and development of metabolic syndrome in mice.

Background: Diet-induced obesity can result in the development of a diverse spectrum of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, non-alcoholic liver steatosis and atherosclerotic disease. MicroRNAs have been described to be important regulators of metabolism and disease development.

Methods: In the current study, we investigated the effects of ubiquitous miR-100 overexpression on weight gain and the metabolic phenotype in a newly generated transgenic mouse strain under normal chow and high fat diet and used microarray expression analysis to identify new potential target genes of miR-100.

Monitoring abundance of aggregated animals (Florida manatees) using an unmanned aerial system (UAS).

Imperfect detection is an important problem when counting wildlife, but new technologies such as unmanned aerial systems (UAS) can help overcome this obstacle. We used data collected by a UAS and a Bayesian closed capture-mark-recapture model to estimate abundance and distribution while accounting for imperfect detection of aggregated Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) at thermal refuges to assess use of current and new warmwater sources in winter. Our UAS hovered for 10 min and recorded 4 K video over sites in Collier County, FL.