bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Shyness in late childhood: relations with attributional styles and self‐esteem
Authors: Chan S. M. , Wong A. K. Y. 
Published: November 2011

AbstractBackground  Shyness in late childhood is related to social and psychological problems. The present study examined the relations among shyness, attributional styles and self‐esteem. It was hypothesized that self‐esteem mediated the effects of attributional styles on shyness.Methods  Self‐reported data on degree of shyness, attributional styles and self‐esteem were obtained from 326 Chinese children with mean age of 10.85 years.Results  It was found that positive attributional styles predicted shyness in the negative direction and the effects were fully mediated by self‐esteem, and negative attributional styles predicted shyness in the positive direction both directly and through self‐esteem.Conclusion  The results imply that how children attribute positive and negative outcomes affect both self‐esteem and shyness. It is suggested that practitioners should conduct attribution‐retraining workshops for shy children and help teachers and parents learn how to mitigate negative attributional style and foster positive attributional styles in children.
The effect of filleting and ice application on the quality and safety of Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda) at refrigerated storage
Authors: Koral Serkan , Köse Sevim 
Published: November 2011

SummaryFilleting effect of refrigerated bonito with and without ice on the quality changes and food safety was investigated. Significant variations occurred (P < 0.05) in sensory, chemical and microbiological values amongst groups. The best sensory results were found for filleted bonito with ice (FBRI) with a shelf‐life of 13 days. While sensory values decreased significantly during storage, opposite situation occurred for both chemical and microbiological results (P < 0.05). The lowest total volatile basic nitrogen value was also observed with FBRI and was within the acceptable levels for 15 days as 17.86 mg 100 g−1. All samples contained acceptable trimethylamine levels for 15 days despite unacceptable sensory values after certain days. Although filleting seemed to increase the lipid oxidation, ice application resulted in lowering thiobarbituric acid content. Histamine results closely supported sensory values in terms of legally permitted levels usually by set FDA. While WBR contained histamine value over EU permitted level as 113.78 ppm on the 7th day, the value for FBRI was 56.13 ppm on the 15th day. Histamine‐forming bacteria counts supported histamine formation in most groups, while total bacteria counts were in agreement with sensory results. This study suggests that using ice and filleting can improve shelf‐life of bonito stored at refrigerated temperatures in terms of food quality and safety.
Similarity and difference among rainforest fruit‐feeding butterfly communities in Central and South America
Authors: DeVries Philip J. , Alexander Laura G. , Chacon Isidro A. , Fordyce James A. 
Published: November 2011

Summary1. Documenting species abundance distributions in natural environments is critical to ecology and conservation biology. Tropical forest insect faunas vary in space and time, and these partitions can differ in their contribution to overall species diversity.2. In the Neotropics, the Central American butterfly fauna is best known in terms of general natural history, but butterfly community diversity is best documented by studies on South American fruit‐feeding butterflies. Here, we present the first long‐term study of fruit‐feeding nymphalid species diversity from Central America and provide a unique comparison between Central and South American butterfly communities.3. This study used 60 months of sampling among multiple spatial and temporal partitions to assess species diversity in a Costa Rican rainforest butterfly community. Abundance distributions varied significantly at the species and higher taxonomic group levels, and canopy and understorey samples were found to be composed of distinct species assemblages.4. Strong similarities in patterns of species diversity were found between this study and one from Ecuador; yet, there was an important difference in how species richness was distributed in vertical space. In contrast to the Ecuadorian site, Costa Rica had significantly higher canopy richness and lower understorey richness.5. This study affirms that long‐term sampling is vital to understanding tropical insect species abundance distributions and points to potential differences in vertical structure among Central and South American forest insect communities that need to be explored.
Weed risk assessment: a way forward or a waste of time?
Authors: Hulme Philip E. 
Published: November 2011

Summary1. Many alien weeds pose significant environmental and/or economic threats across the globe, and methods to assess the potential risk of species introductions are key components in the management of plant invasions. Three broad approaches have been adopted in weed risk assessment: quantitative statistical models, semi‐quantitative scoring and qualitative expert assessment. Yet, the effectiveness of these different approaches is rarely evaluated. By bringing together perspectives drawn from statistics, complexity theory, bioeconomics and cognitive psychology, this review presents the first interdisciplinary appraisal of whether weed risk assessment is a valuable tool in the management of plant invasions.2. Problems in obtaining an objective measure of the hazards posed by weeds, challenges of predicting complex hierarchical and nonlinear systems, difficulties in quantifying uncertainty and variability, as well as cognitive biases in expert judgement, all limit the utility of current risk assessment approaches. The accuracy of weed risk assessment protocols is usually insufficient, given inherent low base‐rates even when the costs and benefits of decisions are taken into account, and implies that the predictive value of weed risk assessment is questionable.3. Current practices could be improved to address consistent hazard identification, encompass a hierarchy of spatio‐temporal scales, incorporate uncertainty, generate realistic base‐rates, and train risk assessors to limit cognitive biases. However, such refinements may still fail to predict weed risks any better than a knowledge of prior invasion history and quality of climate match.4. Alternative approaches include scenario planning that seeks qualitative inputs regarding hypothetical events to facilitate long‐range planning using multiple alternatives each explicit in their treatment of uncertainty. This represents a change from prevention towards adaptive management where the difficulty in prediction is acknowledged and investment targets early detection, mitigation and management.5. Synthesis and applications. Scenario planning may be particularly suitable for weeds as they can be rapidly surveyed and have sufficiently long lag phases between naturalisation and invasion that early detection is often feasible. If integrated with assessments of ecosystem vulnerability to invasion and interventions to improve ecosystem resilience, it would deliver a robust post‐border approach to invasive plant management. This approach would address threats from new introductions as well as ‘sleeper weeds’ already present in a region.
Abundance and diversity of wild bees along gradients of heavy metal pollution
Authors: Moroń Dawid , Grześ Irena M. , Skórka Piotr , Szentgyörgyi Hajnalka , Laskowski Ryszard , Potts Simon G. , Woyciechowski Michał 
Published: November 2011

Summary1. Wild bees are one of the most important groups of pollinators in the temperate zone. Therefore, population declines have potentially negative impacts for both crop and wildflower pollination. Although heavy metal pollution is recognized to be a problem affecting large parts of the European Union, we currently lack insights into the effects of heavy metals on wild bees.2. We investigated whether heavy metal pollution is a potential threat to wild bee communities by comparing (i) species number, (ii) diversity and (iii) abundance as well as (iv) natural mortality of emerging bees along two independent gradients of heavy metal pollution, one at Olkusz (OLK), Poland and the other at Avonmouth (AVO), UK. We used standardized nesting traps to measure species richness and abundance of wild bees, and we recorded the heavy metal concentration in pollen collected by the red mason bee Osmia rufa as a measure of pollution.3. The concentration of cadmium, lead and zinc in pollen collected by bees ranged from a background level in unpolluted sites [OLK: 1·3, 43·4, 99·8 (mg kg−1); AVO: 0·8, 42·0, 56·0 (mg kg−1), respectively] to a high level on sites in the vicinity of the OLK and AVO smelters [OLK: 6·7, 277·0, 440·1 (mg kg−1); AVO: 9·3, 356·2, 592·4 (mg kg−1), respectively].4. We found that with increasing heavy metal concentration, there was a steady decrease in the number, diversity and abundance of solitary, wild bees. In the most polluted sites, traps were empty or contained single occupants, whereas in unpolluted sites, the nesting traps collected from 4 to 5 species represented by up to ten individuals. Moreover, the proportion of dead individuals of the solitary bee Megachile ligniseca increased along the heavy metal pollution gradient at OLK from 0·2 in uncontaminated sites to 0·5 in sites with a high concentration of pollution.5. Synthesis and applications. Our findings highlight the negative relationship between heavy metal pollution and populations of wild bees and suggest that increasing wild bee richness in highly contaminated areas will require special conservation strategies. These may include creating suitable nesting sites and sowing a mixture of flowering plants as well as installing artificial nests with wild bee cocoons in polluted areas. Applying protection plans to wild pollinating bee communities in heavy metal‐contaminated areas will contribute to integrated land rehabilitation to minimize the impact of pollution on the environment.
Microclimate and vegetation function as indicators of forest thermodynamic efficiency
Authors: Norris Catherine , Hobson Peter , Ibisch Pierre L. 
Published: November 2011

Summary1. Resilient and functional landscapes are essential for climate change adaptation. Thermodynamic theory has been applied increasingly to ecological studies to understand ecosystem resilience and integrity. Resilient ecosystems have complex structure and greater levels of biomass and functional diversity, which act to enhance the degradation of solar energy. Forests that exhibit these characteristics express thermodynamic efficiency through a greater capacitance effect that promotes cooler surface temperatures under extreme weather conditions.2. With forest disturbance, complex structures and functional linkages are simplified, reducing the capacity of the system to degrade energy. Such changes can lead to dysfunctional ecosystem states, impaired provision of ecosystem services and a weakened resilience.3. This study has applied indicators based on thermodynamic theory to a chronosequence of forest ecosystems in the UK, Germany and Ukraine. Surface temperatures were measured to test thermodynamic theories relating to energy degradation and temperature moderation. Grime’s CSR model was applied to plant data to compare functional complexity in vegetation between stands.4. Old‐growth woodlands are shown to attenuate surface temperature more effectively than native species plantations. Consistently lower temperatures were observed in European old‐growth forests with high proportions of biomass when compared to managed stands of similar species composition, suggesting a greater efficiency of energy degradation in complex forest ecosystems, particularly at higher temperatures.5. Analysis of plant species data using Grime’s CSR model indicated that old‐growth forests ordinate towards competitive and stress‐tolerant communities in contrast to intensively managed forests, which had a greater proportion of generalist and ruderal species. High CSR functional scores were associated with moderated temperature extremes.6. Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest an important thermodynamic basis for conservation in the context of climate change. Conservation practice and management policy, which is based on preserving ecosystem complexity and function, can aid in mitigating the effects of extreme temperatures, enhancing vital services such as climate regulation, primary production and water retention. Old‐growth forests have a significant climate mitigation role alongside other recognised ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration.
Predicting species vulnerability with minimal data to support rapid risk assessment of fishing impacts on biodiversity
Authors: Le Quesne Will J.F. , Jennings Simon 
Published: November 2011

Summary1. Large‐bodied species are especially vulnerable to fishing in mixed fisheries. Their effective conservation requires predictions of sensitivity and exposure to fishing mortality, but such predictions are hard to make when the population dynamics of most of these species have not been described.2. We present a method for assessing sensitivity and conservation management reference points using widely available life‐history data. The method allows the sensitivity of all fish species in a community to be assessed in relation to conservation‐ and yield‐based fishery reference points.3. Knowledge of sensitivity is used to (i) rank species by sensitivity, (ii) conduct a risk assessment to identify species potentially vulnerable to current fishing pressure and (iii) examine potential trade‐offs between fishery catches and the conservation status of sensitive species.4. The method is applied to the Celtic Sea bottom‐dwelling fish community. For the species present, conservation threshold fishing mortalities ranged from 0·05 per year for the most sensitive large elasmobranchs to over 1 per year for small teleosts. The assessment predicts that current levels of fishing mortality may place all the elasmobranchs and over a quarter of the teleosts below conservation reference points.5. Depending on the relative mortality rates affecting commercially targeted species and species of conservation concern, up to 65% of the potential yield‐per‐recruit of commercially important species may have to be forgone to reduce fishing mortality below conservation limit reference points for the most sensitive species.6. Synthesis and applications.The method presented provides a clear objective procedure to construct ranked species sensitivity lists that can inform management, monitoring and research. The Celtic Sea case study demonstrated that limiting fishing pressure on key commercial stocks to meet fisheries production targets may be insufficient to guarantee the persistence of more sensitive species. Management actions that effectively decouple the mortality rates on commercial species and ‘conservation’ species are likely to be required to make progress in relation to conservation objectives. The method would support rapid assessment of sensitivity to fishing in many regions around the world as only taxonomic lists and estimates of body size are required.
Biogeographical modules and island roles: a comparison of Wallacea and the West Indies
Authors: Carstensen Daniel W. , Dalsgaard Bo , Svenning Jens‐Christian , Rahbek Carsten , Fjeldså Jon , Sutherland William J. , Olesen Jens M. 
Published: November 2011

AbstractAim In order to advance our understanding of the assembly of communities on islands and to elucidate the function of different islands in creating regional and subregional distribution patterns, we identify island biogeographical roles on the basis of the distribution of the islands’ biota within the archipelago. We explore which island characteristics determine island biogeographical roles. Furthermore, we identify biogeographical subregions, termed modules.Location Wallacea in Indonesia, and the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea.Methods We use a network approach to detect island biogeographical roles and avian biogeographical modules. To designate the biogeographical role of an island, each island is assigned two coordinates,landr. The position of an island inl–rspace characterizes its role, namely as peripheral, connector, module hub, or network hub. Island characteristics are tested as predictors oflandr.Results Both Wallacea and the West Indies were found to be significantly modular and divided into four biogeographical modules. The four modules identified within Wallacea each contain all existing island roles, whereas no module in the West Indies represents all possible roles. Island area and elevation appeared to be the most important determinants of an island’slscore, while measurements of isolation essentially determined therscore.Main conclusions In both Wallacea and the West Indies, the geographic structuring into biogeographical modules corresponds well with our knowledge of past connections and contemporary factors. In both archipelagos, large, mountainous islands are identified as hubs and are thus responsible for faunal coherence within modules (module hubs) and across the entire archipelago (network hubs). We thus interpret these as source islands for the surrounding islands in their module (module hubs) or for the entire archipelago (network hubs). Islands positioned marginally in their module and distant from the mainland are identified as connectors or network hubs, behaving as sinks and stepping stones for dispersing species. Modularity and predictors of biogeographical roles are similar for Wallacea and the West Indies, whereas the build‐up of biogeographical modules and the assortment of roles depend on the spatial constellation of islands in each archipelago.
Isolation and gene flow: inferring the speciation history of European house mice
Authors: DUVAUX LUDOVIC , BELKHIR KHALID , BOULESTEIX MATTHIEU , BOURSOT PIERRE 
Published: November 2011

AbstractInferring the history of isolation and gene flow during species differentiation can inform us on the processes underlying their formation. Following their recent expansion in Europe, two subspecies of the house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus and Mus musculus musculus) have formed a hybrid zone maintained by hybrid incompatibilities and possibly behavioural reinforcement, offering a good model of incipient speciation. We reconstruct the history of their divergence using an approximate Bayesian computation framework and sequence variation at 57 autosomal loci. We find support for a long isolation period preceding the advent of gene flow around 200 000 generations ago, much before the formation of the European hybrid zone a few thousand years ago. The duration of the allopatric episode appears long enough (74% of divergence time) to explain the accumulation of many post‐zygotic incompatibilities expressed in the present hybrid zone. The ancient contact inferred could have played a role in mating behaviour divergence and laid the ground for further reinforcement. We suggest that both subspecies originally colonized the Middle East from the northern Indian subcontinent, domesticus settling on the shores of the Persian Gulf and musculus on those of the Caspian Sea. Range expansions during interglacials would have induced secondary contacts, presumably in Iran, where they must have also interacted with Mus musculus castaneus. Future studies should incorporate this possibility, and we point to Iran and its surroundings as a hot spot for house mouse diversity and speciation studies.
Nutrition and division of labor: Effects on foraging and brain gene expression in the paper wasp Polistes metricus
Authors: DAUGHERTY T. H. F. , TOTH A. L. , ROBINSON G. E. 
Published: November 2011

AbstractDeeply conserved molecular mechanisms regulate food‐searching behaviour in response to nutritional cues in a wide variety of vertebrates and invertebrates. Studies of the highly eusocial honey bee have shown that nutritional physiology and some conserved nutrient signalling pathways, especially the insulin pathway, also regulate the division of labour between foraging and non‐foraging individuals. Typically, lean workers leave the nest to forage for food, and well‐nourished workers perform tasks inside the nest. Here we provide the first direct test of whether similar mechanisms operate in a primitively eusocial insect in an independently evolved social lineage, the paper wasp Polistes metricus. We found that food deprivation caused reduced lipid stores and higher levels of colony and individual foraging. Individuals with greatly reduced lipid stores foraged at extremely elevated levels. In addition, brain expression of several foraging‐related genes was influenced by food deprivation, including insulin‐like peptide 2 (ilp2). Together with previous findings, our results demonstrate that nutrition regulates foraging division of labour in two independently evolved social insect lineages (bees and wasps), despite large differences in social organization. Our results also provide additional support for the idea that nutritional asymmetries among individuals, based on differences in nutritional physiology and expression of conserved nutrient signalling genes in the brain, are important in the division of labour in eusocial societies.
Interspecific hybridization increases MHC class II diversity in two sister species of newts
Authors: NADACHOWSKA‐BRZYSKA KRYSTYNA , ZIELIŃSKI PIOTR , RADWAN JACEK , BABIK WIESŁAW 
Published: November 2011

AbstractOur understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms generating variation within the highly polymorphic major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes remains incomplete. Assessing MHC variation across multiple populations, of recent and ancient divergence, may facilitate understanding of geographical and temporal aspects of variation. Here, we applied 454 sequencing to perform a large‐scale, comprehensive analysis of MHC class II in the closely related, hybridizing newts, Lissotriton vulgaris (Lv) and Lissotriton montandoni (Lm). Our study revealed an extensive (299 alleles) geographically structured polymorphism. Populations at the southern margin of the Lv distribution, inhabited by old and distinct lineages (southern Lv), exhibited moderate MHC variation and strong population structure, indicating little gene flow or extensive local adaptation. Lissotriton vulgaris in central Europe and the northern Balkans (northern Lv) and almost all Lm populations had a high MHC variation. A much higher proportion of MHC alleles was shared between Lm and northern Lv than between Lm and southern Lv. Strikingly, the average pairwise FST between northern Lv and Lm was significantly lower than between northern and southern Lv for MHC, but not for microsatellites. Thus, high MHC variation in Lm and northern Lv may result from gene flow between species. We hypothesize that the interspecific exchange of MHC genes may be facilitated by frequency‐dependent selection. A marginally significant correlation between the MHC and microsatellite allelic richness indicates that demographic factors may have contributed to the present‐day pattern of MHC variation, but unequivocal signatures of adaptive evolution in MHC class II sequences emphasize the role of selection on a longer timescale.