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Full-Text Articles in Biology
The Abundant-Centre Is Not All That Abundant: A Comment To Osorio-Olvera Et Al. 2020, Tad Dallas, Samuel Pironon, Luca Santini
The Abundant-Centre Is Not All That Abundant: A Comment To Osorio-Olvera Et Al. 2020, Tad Dallas, Samuel Pironon, Luca Santini
Faculty Publications
Species abundance is expected to decrease from the centre towards the edge of their ecological niches (abundant niche-centre hypothesis). Recently, Osorio-Olvera et al. (2020) reported strong support for the abundant niche-centre relationship in North American birds. We demonstrate here that methodological decisions strongly affected perceived support. Avoiding these issues casts doubt on conclusions by Osorio-Olvera et al. and the putative support for the abundant nichecentre hypothesis in North American birds.
Complex Gene Loss And Duplication Events Have Facilitated The Evolution Of Multiple Loricrin Genes In Diverse Bird Species, Anthony C. Davis, Matthew J. Greenwold, Roger H. Sawyer
Complex Gene Loss And Duplication Events Have Facilitated The Evolution Of Multiple Loricrin Genes In Diverse Bird Species, Anthony C. Davis, Matthew J. Greenwold, Roger H. Sawyer
Faculty Publications
The evolution of a mechanically resilient epidermis was a key adaptation in the transition of amniotes to a fully terrestrial lifestyle. Skin appendages usually form via a specialized type of programmed cell death known as cornification which is characterized by the formation of an insoluble cornified envelope (CE). Many of the substrates of cornification are encoded by linked genes located at a conserved genetic locus known as the epidermal differentiation complex (EDC). Loricrin is the main protein component of the mammalian CE and is encoded for by a gene located within the EDC. Recently, genes resembling mammalian loricrin, along with …
Multiple Species Of Cuckoos Are Superior Predictors Of Bird Species Richness In Asia, Anders Pape Møller, Federico Morelli, Yanina Benedetti, Timothy Mousseau, Tongping Su, Bo Zhou, Piotr Tryjanowski, Wei Liang
Multiple Species Of Cuckoos Are Superior Predictors Of Bird Species Richness In Asia, Anders Pape Møller, Federico Morelli, Yanina Benedetti, Timothy Mousseau, Tongping Su, Bo Zhou, Piotr Tryjanowski, Wei Liang
Faculty Publications
The abundance and the presence of common cuckoos Cuculus canorus have been shown to predict species richness of birds across Europe, while there are no such analyses available for other continents where species richness of parasitic cuckoos is larger. Here, we tested whether species richness of birds increased with the number of cuckoo species in two study areas in China and one in Japan. We also tested whether species richness of birds can be predicted by the number of cuckoo individuals. Furthermore, we compared the strength of association between overall bird species richness and species richness of cuckoos, Paridae, Corvidae, …
Does Nonrandom Nest Placement Imply Nonrandom Nest Predation?: A Reply, Robert J. Cooper, R. Randy Wilson, Gary D. Zenitsky, Stephen J. Mullin, Jennifer A. Dececco, Matthew R. Marshall, Dorothy J. Wolf, Lars Y. Pomara
Does Nonrandom Nest Placement Imply Nonrandom Nest Predation?: A Reply, Robert J. Cooper, R. Randy Wilson, Gary D. Zenitsky, Stephen J. Mullin, Jennifer A. Dececco, Matthew R. Marshall, Dorothy J. Wolf, Lars Y. Pomara
Faculty Publications
In response to the critique by Schmidt and Whelan (Condor 101 (4): 916-920, 1999), we find that the relationship between nest success and tree selectivity is dependent upon inclusion or exclusion of particular tree species, whether or not years are pooled, and the selectivity index used. We question their use of point estimates of nest success with extremely high variances, defend our index, question the application of the Chesson (1983) index to our data, and explain the need to analyze years separately. Bottomland hardwood forest systems are extremely variable; hydroperiods alter the suitability of nesting substrates, availability of alternative food, …