Immune function differs among tropical environments but is not downregulated during reproduction in three year-round breeding equatorial lark populations.

Seasonal variation in immune function can be attributed to life history trade-offs, and to variation in environmental conditions. However, because phenological stages and environmental conditions co-vary in temperate and arctic zones, their separate contributions have not been determined. We compared immune function and body mass of incubating (female only), chick-feeding (female and male), and non-breeding (female and male) red-capped larks Calandrella cinerea breeding year-round in three tropical equatorial (Kenya) environments with distinct climates.

Geographical and temporal variation in environmental conditions affects nestling growth but not immune function in a year-round breeding equatorial lark.

Background: Variation in growth and immune function within and among populations is often associated with specific environmental conditions. We compared growth and immune function in nestlings of year-round breeding equatorial Redcapped Lark from South Kinangop, North Kinangop and Kedong (Kenya), three locations that are geographically close but climatically distinct. In addition, we studied growth and immune function of lark nestlings as a function of yearround variation in breeding intensity and rain within one location.

Year-round breeding equatorial Larks from three climatically-distinct populations do not use rainfall, temperature or invertebrate biomass to time reproduction.

Timing of reproduction in birds is important for reproductive success and is known to depend on environmental cues such as day length and food availability. However, in equatorial regions, where day length is nearly constant, other factors such as rainfall and temperature are thought to determine timing of reproduction. Rainfall can vary at small spatial and temporal scales, providing a highly fluctuating and unpredictable environmental cue.

The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project.

The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.

Climate and soil attributes determine plant species turnover in global drylands.

Aim: Geographic, climatic, and soil factors are major drivers of plant beta diversity, but their importance for dryland plant communities is poorly known. This study aims to: i) characterize patterns of beta diversity in global drylands, ii) detect common environmental drivers of beta diversity, and iii) test for thresholds in environmental conditions driving potential shifts in plant species composition.

Location: 224 sites in diverse dryland plant communities from 22 geographical regions in six continents.

New taxa of the family Syringophilidae (Acari: Prostigmata) from African barbets and woodpeckers (Piciformes: Lybiidae, Picidae).

New taxa of quill mites (Acari: Syringophilidae) are described from African barbets and woodpeckers in the Ethiopian region. A new monotypic genus Picineoaulonastus gen. nov.

Interphyletic relationships in the use of nesting cavities: mutualism, competition and amensalism among hymenopterans and vertebrates.

Although competition is usually assumed to be the most common interaction between closely related organisms that share limiting resources, the relationships linking distant taxa that use the same nesting sites are poorly understood. In the present study, we examine the interactions among social hymenopterans (honeybees and wasps) and vertebrates in tropical ecosystems of East Africa. By analysing the preferences of these three groups for nest boxes that were empty or previously occupied by a different taxon, we try to establish whether the relationships among them are commensal, mutualistic, competitive or amensal.

Detection of avian influenza viruses in wild waterbirds in the Rift Valley of Kenya using fecal sampling.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus A/H5N1 has been reported in 11 African countries. Migratory waterbirds have the potential of introducing A/H5N1 into east Africa through the Rift Valley of Kenya. We present the results of a wild bird surveillance system for A/H5N1 and other avian influenza viruses based on avian fecal sampling in Kenya.

Fluctuating asymmetry and environmental stress: understanding the role of trait history.

While fluctuating asymmetry (FA; small, random deviations from perfect symmetry in bilaterally symmetrical traits) is widely regarded as a proxy for environmental and genetic stress effects, empirical associations between FA and stress are often weak or heterogeneous among traits. A conceptually important source of heterogeneity in relationships with FA is variation in the selection history of the trait(s) under study, i.e.