Ecological and genetic basis of metapopulation persistence of the Glanville fritillary butterfly in fragmented landscapes.

Ecologists are challenged to construct models of the biological consequences of habitat loss and fragmentation. Here, we use a metapopulation model to predict the distribution of the Glanville fritillary butterfly during 22 years across a large heterogeneous landscape with 4,415 small dry meadows. The majority (74%) of the 125 networks into which the meadows were clustered are below the extinction threshold for long-term persistence.

Spatial and temporal genetic structure at the fourth trophic level in a fragmented landscape.

A fragmented habitat becomes increasingly fragmented for species at higher trophic levels, such as parasitoids. To persist, these species are expected to possess life-history traits, such as high dispersal, that facilitate their ability to use resources that become scarce in fragmented landscapes. If a specialized parasitoid disperses widely to take advantage of a sparse host, then the parasitoid population should have lower genetic structure than the host.

The Glanville fritillary genome retains an ancient karyotype and reveals selective chromosomal fusions in Lepidoptera.

Previous studies have reported that chromosome synteny in Lepidoptera has been well conserved, yet the number of haploid chromosomes varies widely from 5 to 223. Here we report the genome (393 Mb) of the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia; Nymphalidae), a widely recognized model species in metapopulation biology and eco-evolutionary research, which has the putative ancestral karyotype of n=31. Using a phylogenetic analyses of Nymphalidae and of other Lepidoptera, combined with orthologue-level comparisons of chromosomes, we conclude that the ancestral lepidopteran karyotype has been n=31 for at least 140 My.

Long-term metapopulation study of the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia): survey methods, data management, and long-term population trends.

Long-term observational studies conducted at large (regional) spatial scales contribute to better understanding of landscape effects on population and evolutionary dynamics, including the conditions that affect long-term viability of species, but large-scale studies are expensive and logistically challenging to keep running for a long time. Here, we describe the long-term metapopulation study of the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia) that has been conducted since 1991 in a large network of 4000 habitat patches (dry meadows) within a study area of 50 by 70 km in the Åland Islands in Finland. We explain how the landscape structure has been described, including definition, delimitation, and mapping of the habitat patches; methods of field survey, including the logistics, cost, and reliability of the survey; and data management using the EarthCape biodiversity platform.

Extracellular glutamate and GABA in the ventral tegmental area of alcohol-preferring AA and alcohol-avoiding ANA rats treated repeatedly with morphine.

Glutamate and gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) have been implicated in neuronal plasticity related to behavioral sensitization. In the present study, we examined morphine-induced changes in the extracellular concentrations of glutamate and GABA in the ventral tegmental area in alcohol-preferring Alko Alcohol (AA) and alcohol-avoiding Alko Non-Alcohol (ANA) rats that have previously been shown to differ in morphine-induced sensitization. The rats were given escalating doses (5-20 mg/kg) of morphine every other day for five days.

Enhanced morphine-induced ethanol drinking in alcohol-preferring alko alcohol rats sensitized to morphine.

Background: Alcohol-preferring alko alcohol (AA) rats are more susceptible to morphine-induced behavioral and neurochemical sensitization than alcohol nonpreferring alko nonalcohol (ANA) rats. Alko alcohol rats sensitized to morphine, however, do not show enhanced acquisition of ethanol drinking. The purpose of the present study was to clarify further interactions between morphine-induced behavioral sensitization and voluntary ethanol drinking in the AA rats.

Behavioral sensitization and voluntary ethanol drinking in alcohol-preferring AA rats exposed to different regimens of morphine treatment.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of three different regimens of morphine treatment on subsequent voluntary ethanol drinking in alcohol-preferring AA (Alko Alcohol) rats. The rats were given morphine subcutaneously either intermittently on alternating days (15 x 10 mg/kg or 5 x 5-20 mg/kg in escalating doses) or subchronically on four consecutive days (3-20 mg/kg/d). Horizontal locomotor activity was monitored after challenges with additional morphine injections (3 mg/kg) ten days and six weeks after termination of the pretreatment to test if behavioral sensitization was induced by repeated morphine administration.

Differential behavioural sensitization to intermittent morphine treatment in alcohol-preferring AA and alcohol-avoiding ANA rats: role of mesolimbic dopamine.

Alcohol-preferring AA (Alko Alcohol) and alcohol-avoiding ANA (Alko Non-Alcohol) rats have well-documented differences in their voluntary ethanol consumption and brain opioidergic systems. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether these rat lines differ in their susceptibility to morphine-induced behavioural and neurochemical sensitization. The rats were given 15 injections of morphine (10 mg/kg, s.