The Science of Nature最新文献_第6页

Larger particle size distribution of environmental RNA compared to environmental DNA: a case study targeting the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene in zebrafish (Danio rerio) using experimental aquariums 与环境 DNA 相比，环境 RNA 的粒径分布更大：利用实验水族箱针对斑马鱼（Danio rerio）线粒体细胞色素 b 基因进行的案例研究

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-03-19 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01904-w

Toshiaki S. Jo

{"title":"Larger particle size distribution of environmental RNA compared to environmental DNA: a case study targeting the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene in zebrafish (Danio rerio) using experimental aquariums","authors":"Toshiaki S. Jo","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01904-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01904-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Environmental RNA (eRNA) analysis is conventionally expected to infer physiological information about organisms within their ecosystems, whereas environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis only infers their presence and abundance. Despite the promise of eRNA application, basic research on eRNA characteristics and dynamics is limited. The present study conducted aquarium experiments using zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) to estimate the particle size distribution (PSD) of eRNA in order to better understand the persistence state of eRNA particles. Rearing water samples were sequentially filtered using different pore-size filters, and the resulting size-fractioned mitochondrial cytochrome b (CytB) eDNA and eRNA data were modeled with the Weibull complementary cumulative distribution function (CCDF) to estimate the parameters characterizing the PSDs. It was revealed that the scale parameter (<i>α</i>) was significantly higher (i.e., the mean particle size was larger) for eRNA than eDNA, while the shape parameter (<i>β</i>) was not significantly different between them. This result supports the hypothesis that most eRNA particles are likely in a protected, intra-cellular state, which mitigates eRNA degradation in water. Moreover, these findings also imply the heterogeneous dispersion of eRNA relative to eDNA and suggest an efficient method of eRNA collection using a larger pore-size filter. Further studies on the characteristics and dynamics of eRNA particles should be pursued in the future.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140167964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Population declines of a widespread amphibian in agricultural landscapes 农业景观中一种广泛分布的两栖动物的数量下降。

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-03-18 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01905-9

Matthias Renoirt, Frédéric Angelier, Marion Cheron, Laure Jabaud, Sabrina Tartu, François Brischoux

{"title":"Population declines of a widespread amphibian in agricultural landscapes","authors":"Matthias Renoirt, Frédéric Angelier, Marion Cheron, Laure Jabaud, Sabrina Tartu, François Brischoux","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01905-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01905-9","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Modern agricultural practices are suspected to play a major role in the ongoing erosion of biodiversity. In order to assess whether this biodiversity loss is linked to past habitat modifications (e.g. land consolidation) or to current consequences of modern agriculture (e.g. use of agrochemicals), it remains essential to monitor species that have persisted in agricultural landscapes to date. In this study, we assessed the presence, abundance and recent population trends of one such species, the spined toad (<i>Bufo spinosus</i>) along a gradient of habitats from preserved (forests) to highly agricultural sites in rural Western France. Our results showed that both presence and abundance of spined toads were markedly lower in reproductive ponds surrounded by intensive agriculture. The most salient result of our study is the ongoing decline of this species in farmland habitats. Indeed, this result suggests that unknown factors are currently affecting a widespread terrestrial amphibian previously thought to persist in agricultural landscapes. These factors have recently induced strong population declines over the course of a few years. Future investigations are required to identify these factors at a time when anthropogenic activities are currently leading to unprecedented rates of biodiversity loss.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140157367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Fungal heat shock proteins: molecular phylogenetic insights into the host takeover 真菌热休克蛋白：对宿主接管的分子系统学见解。

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-03-14 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01903-x

João Pedro Nunes Sagini, Rodrigo Ligabue-Braun

引用次数: 0

Ice cage: new records and cryptic, isolated lineages in wingless snow flies (Diptera, Limoniidae: Chionea spp.) in German lower mountain ranges 冰笼：德国低山地区无翅雪蝇（双翅目，雪蝇科：Chionea spp.）的新记录和隐性孤立品系

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-03-13 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01900-0

Robert Klesser, Theo Blick, Michael-Andreas Fritze, Andreas Marten, Michael Hemauer, Laura Kastner, Hubert Höfer, Gero Jäger, Martin Husemann

{"title":"Ice cage: new records and cryptic, isolated lineages in wingless snow flies (Diptera, Limoniidae: Chionea spp.) in German lower mountain ranges","authors":"Robert Klesser, Theo Blick, Michael-Andreas Fritze, Andreas Marten, Michael Hemauer, Laura Kastner, Hubert Höfer, Gero Jäger, Martin Husemann","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01900-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01900-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In Earth’s history warm and cold periods have alternated. Especially, during the Pleistocene, the alternation between these different climatic conditions has led to frequent range expansions and retractions of many species: while thermophilic species dispersed during warm periods, cold adapted species retracted to cold refugia and vice versa. After the last Pleistocene cycle many cold adapted taxa found refuges in relict habitats in mountain ranges. One example for such a cold adapted relict is the flightless snow fly <i>Chionea araneoides</i> (Dalman, 1816). It can be found in lower mountain ranges of Central Europe exclusively in stone runs and stony accumulations which provide cold microclimates. Imagines develop only in winter. They have strongly restricted ranges and hence experienced strong isolation predicting that local populations may show local adaptation and hence also genetic differentiation. We investigated this for several middle mountain ranges of Germany using the COI barcoding gene. Our analyses revealed two distinct lineages, one in the Bavarian Forest and a second one in all other more northern locations up to Scandinavia. These lineages likely go back to post-Pleistocene isolation and should be studied in more detail in the future, also to confirm the taxonomic status of both lineages. Further, we confirmed former records of the species for Germany and report new records for the federal states of Saxony, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. Finally, we provide the first evidence of two types of males for the species, a small and a larger male type.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00114-024-01900-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140116070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Japanese honey bees (Apis cerana japonica) have swarmed more often over the last two decades 在过去二十年里，日本蜜蜂（Apis cerana japonica）的蜂群数量增加了。

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-03-06 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01902-y

Kiyohito Morii, Yoshiko Sakamoto

{"title":"Japanese honey bees (Apis cerana japonica) have swarmed more often over the last two decades","authors":"Kiyohito Morii, Yoshiko Sakamoto","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01902-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01902-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The impacts of temperature increase are a concern for honey bees, which are major pollinators of crops and wild plants. Swarming is the reproductive behavior of honey bees that increases colony numbers. Honey bee colonies sometimes swarm multiple times, with each swarming termed a “swarming event” and a series of these events called a “swarming cycle.” The number of swarming events per swarming cycle varies widely depending on climatic conditions and subspecies, and the recent temperature increase due to global warming might be affecting the number of swarming events per swarming cycle of native honey bees. We clarified long-term changes in the number of swarming events per swarming cycle of Japanese honey bees (<i>Apis cerana japonica</i>) by collecting beekeepers’ swarming logbooks. The survey showed that between 2000 and 2022, Japanese honey bees swarmed 1 to 8 times per swarming cycle. Generalized linear model analysis indicated that year had a significant positive effect (coefficient, 0.03; 95% CI, 0.01–0.04); that is, the number of swarming events per swarming cycle showed a moderate increase over time. In addition, we found that colonies swarmed more often in a cycle when the swarming process began in early spring, especially in March. Considering the notably strong trend in Japan of warmer temperatures in March, the number of swarming events per swarming cycle may be increasing because reproduction is beginning earlier in the year. Further analyses are needed to verify the causal relationship of temperature increase on the number of swarming events per swarming cycle.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10917875/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140038537","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Function of snail shell hairs in anti-predator defense 蜗牛壳毛在抵御掠食者方面的功能

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-02-27 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01901-z

Nozomu Sato, Akihiro Yoshikawa

{"title":"Function of snail shell hairs in anti-predator defense","authors":"Nozomu Sato, Akihiro Yoshikawa","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01901-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01901-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The function and evolutionary background of the hairs on the shells of terrestrial gastropods is largely unknown. Many hypotheses proposed by malacologists have never been proven, and the long-held hypothesis of mechanical stability in wet environments has been rejected by recent studies. It would therefore be worthwhile to reexamine other hypotheses regarding the adaptive significance of shell hairs. We investigated the defense function of shell hairs against a specialist predator, the snail-eating firefly, in the long-haired snail <i>Moellendorffia diminuta</i>. The firefly larvae, which hunt snails using abdominal suckers, were unable to attach to the shell because of the shell hairs but were able to attach to the shells that had lost their hairs. About half of the hairy snails successfully defended themselves by swinging their shells and dropping firefly larvae, but most of the snails without hair failed to defend. The hairs reduce the ability of the larva to attach to the shell and increase the effectiveness of the shell-swinging defense behavior in removing the larva from the shell. As shell hairs grow longer with shell development, they may confer an advantage based on the predator’s growth stage. Our findings highlight the anti-predator defense role of shell hairs in land snails, introducing a hypothesis previously overlooked in the evolutionary context of hairy snails.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10899286/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139970570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Plumage and eggshell colouration covary with the level of sex-specific parental contributions to nest building in birds 鸟类的羽毛和蛋壳颜色与父母对筑巢的性别特异性贡献水平有关。

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-02-27 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01899-4

Jenő Nagy, Mark E. Hauber, Viktor Löki, Mark C. Mainwaring

{"title":"Plumage and eggshell colouration covary with the level of sex-specific parental contributions to nest building in birds","authors":"Jenő Nagy, Mark E. Hauber, Viktor Löki, Mark C. Mainwaring","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01899-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01899-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Interspecific variation in sex-specific contributions to prenatal parental care, including avian nest building, is becoming increasingly better understood as we amass more information on more species. We examined whether sex-specific nest building contributions covary with the colouration of parents and their eggs in 521 species of Western Palearctic birds. Having colourful plumage and laying colourful eggs are costly because of the deposition of pigments in feathers and eggs and/or forming costly nanostructural substrates in feathers, and so it might be expected that those costs covary with the costs of nest building at the level of individuals and/or across species to produce of a suite of codivergent traits. Using a phylogenetically informed approach, we tested the hypothesis that species in which females alone invest energy building nests exhibit less sexual plumage dichromatism. However, we found comparative support for the opposite of this prediction. We then tested that species in which females alone build nests lay more colourful, and costlier, eggs because the dual costs of building nests and laying colourful eggs can only be borne by higher quality individuals. As expected, we found that species in which females build nests alone or together with males are more likely to lay colourfully pigmented eggs relative to species in which only males build nests. Finally, stochastic character mapping provided evidence of the repeated evolution of female-only nest building. Interspecific sex differences in plumage colouration therefore covary in a complex manner with female pre- (nest building) and post-copulatory (egg production) investment in reproduction.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10899274/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139970571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Quasispecies productivity 准物种生产力

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-02-19 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01897-6

Esteban Domingo, Guenther Witzany

引用次数: 0

Life in a Central European warm-temperate to subtropical open forest: Paleoecology of the rhinocerotids from Ulm-Westtangente (Aquitanian, Early Miocene, Germany) 中欧暖温带至亚热带疏林中的生活：乌尔姆-Westtangente（阿奎坦纪，早中新世，德国）犀牛类的古生态学。

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-02-14 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01893-w

Manon Hullot, Céline Martin, Cécile Blondel, Gertrud E. Rössner

{"title":"Life in a Central European warm-temperate to subtropical open forest: Paleoecology of the rhinocerotids from Ulm-Westtangente (Aquitanian, Early Miocene, Germany)","authors":"Manon Hullot, Céline Martin, Cécile Blondel, Gertrud E. Rössner","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01893-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01893-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The Ulm-Westtangente locality has yielded the most abundant vertebrate fauna from the Aquitanian stage in Germany. Its dating to the Mammal Neogene Zone 2a, a turnover in Cenozoic climate, makes it a crucial source for the understanding of faunal, paleoecological and paleoenvironmental specifics of the European Aquitanian. However, while most taxa from Ulm-Westtangente have been studied, little to no research has been conducted on the large herbivores, particularly on the two rhinocerotids <i>Mesaceratherium paulhiacense</i> and <i>Protaceratherium minutum</i>. Here, we used a multi-proxy approach to investigate the paleoecology of these two species. The remains of the smaller species <i>P. minutum</i> (438 to 685 kg) are twice as abundant as those of the larger <i>M. paulhiacense</i> (1389 to 2327 kg), but both display a similar age structure (~ 10% of juveniles, 20% of subadults and 70% of adults), mortality curves, and mild prevalence of hypoplasia (~ 17%). Results from dental mesowear, microwear, and carbon isotopes indicate different feeding preferences: both were C3 feeders but <i>M. paulhiacense</i> had a more abrasive diet and was probably a mixed feeder. Our study on rhinocerotids also yielded new paleoenvironmental insights, such as the mean annual temperature (15.8 °C) and precipitation (317 mm/year) suggesting rather warm and dry conditions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11401789/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139728713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

A novel approach using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and chemometric analysis to distinguish male and female human hair samples 利用 ATR-FTIR 光谱和化学计量分析区分男性和女性人类头发样本的新方法。

IF 2.1 3区生物学

The Science of Nature Pub Date : 2024-02-11 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01896-7

Sukriti Thakur, Akanksha Sharma, Rafał Cieśla, Pawan Kumar Mishra, Vishal Sharma

{"title":"A novel approach using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and chemometric analysis to distinguish male and female human hair samples","authors":"Sukriti Thakur, Akanksha Sharma, Rafał Cieśla, Pawan Kumar Mishra, Vishal Sharma","doi":"10.1007/s00114-024-01896-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00114-024-01896-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This article presents an attempt to discriminate between human male and female hair samples using a single strand of scalp hair. The methodology involves the non-destructive application of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy coupled with chemometric analysis. A total of 96 hair samples, evenly distributed between 48 male and 48 female volunteers from India, were collected. Spectral analysis revealed subtle differences between the two groups, and reliance on visual interpretation might introduce biasness. To avoid subjective biases, chemometric techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were employed for enhanced data visualization and separation. PCA results revealed that the first 10 principal components accounted for 93% of the total variance, with three significant PCs. The PLS-DA model demonstrated a remarkable sensitivity and specificity in sex discrimination from hair samples, establishing its efficacy as a robust classification tool. Furthermore, the proposed model exhibited 100% accuracy in predicting unknown samples, underscoring its potential applicability in real-world scenarios. These outcomes affirm the viability of our approach for non-invasive classification of human male and female hair based on single-strand scalp hair analysis.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":794,"journal":{"name":"The Science of Nature","volume":"111 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139717286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0