Otolith traits such as size and mass were investigated in 60 fish specimens of C. kais and C. macrostomum collected from the Tigris River, Şırnak region, Türkiye collected from September 2015 to ...December 2015. The purpose of this work was to determine the asymmetry level in the otolith length (OL), otolith width (OW), and otolith mass (OM). OL's rate of asymmetry was greater than OW’s and OM's. The asymmetry in the three otolith traits rose with the fish length. The plausible reason for asymmetry in the otolith features explored has been considered relative to the inconsistency of growth triggered by ecological influence associated with the inconsistency in water temperature, salinity, depth, and contaminants occurring in the Tigris River System.
Raising crop yields and quality through plant ecological research has become an important approach to sustainably improving crop products. Stevia rebaudiana is widely introduced and cultivated around ...the world because of the continuous increase in demand for steviol glycosides. When selecting regions or plots suitable for high-yield and high-quality cultivation, it is necessary to understand the main ecological factors that contribute to the formation of S. rebaudiana yield and quality. In this study, sampling plots from different geographic and climatic regions in Xinjiang and Jiangsu were selected for S. rebaudiana cultivation. The geographic, climatic and soil ecological factors were analyzed based on a PLSR (partial least squares regression) model to discover the potentially influential factors in the yield and quality formation of the crop. The results suggest that not all geographic and climatic ecological factors contributed to yield formation; however, these factors, such as latitude, altitude and annual sunshine duration, had high or moderate influences on the concentration of each steviol glycoside and total steviol glycoside. Soil organic matter (OM), total potassium (TK), available potassium (AK), zinc (Zn), and catalase (CAT) had high or moderate effects on the concentrations of each steviol glycoside and total steviol glycoside. However, the other soil factors showed variability in the extent to which they drove the steviol glycosides. The study contributes to a more profound understanding of the ecological driving mechanisms of S. rebaudiana yield and quality formation. The yield or steviol glycoside concentrations of sweetleaf may be improved by modifying certain key ecological factors.
•Application of PLSR model found potential drivers of sweetleaf yield and quality.•Some key ecological factors driving yield and steviol glycoside formation.•The PLSR model provide explanations and predictions for sweetleaf cultivation.•Sweetleaf yield and quality can be improved based on PLSR model results.
Reproductive Decisions in Anurans BUXTON, VALERIE L.; SPERRY, JINELLE H.
BioScience/Bioscience,
01/2017, Volume:
67, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The selection of breeding habitat has broadscale implications for species distributions and community structure and smaller-scale ramifications for offspring survival and parental fitness. In ...anurans, offspring deposition is a decisionmaking process that involves the assessment of multiple factors at a breeding site, including the presence of predators and competitors. Evolutionary theory predicts that adult anurans should seek to minimize the risk of predation to offspring, reduce the pressure of competition, and maximize offspring survival. Many experimental studies have demonstrated the ability of anurans to assess deposition sites for predation and competition and to choose accordingly, but our understanding of the various ecological factors involved in site choice and the broader consequences of choice is still limited. Here, we review and synthesize the literature on the influence of predators and competitors on anuran deposition behavior. We highlight current gaps in our understanding of this topic and outline future avenues of research.
This study explores English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' perceptions of the ecological factors influencing students' use of informal digital learning of English (IDLE). 26 EFL teachers ...participated in semi-structured interviews and complete a narrative frame. The results of conventional content analysis yielded four categories: macro-system factors (e.g., technological development, educational systems, and English status), micro-system factors (e.g., school and family), chrono-system factors (e.g., current EFL learners’ digital experiences) and personal factors (e.g., age, personality traits, digital literacy, awareness and attitude, and prior experiences with technology). The implications of the findings are discussed for stakeholders in EFL education.
•The study explored EFL teachers' views on ecological factors affecting students' IDLE.•The data analysis revealed macro-system, micro-system, and personal factors as key influences.•The findings can inform stakeholders on how to implement IDLE in EFL contexts effectively.
Emodiversity and the Emotional Ecosystem Quoidbach, Jordi; Gruber, June; Mikolajczak, Moïra ...
Journal of experimental psychology. General,
12/2014, Volume:
143, Issue:
6
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Bridging psychological research exploring emotional complexity and research in the natural sciences on the measurement of biodiversity, we introduce-and demonstrate the benefits of-emodiversity: the ...variety and relative abundance of the emotions that humans experience. Two cross-sectional studies across more than 37,000 respondents demonstrate that emodiversity is an independent predictor of mental and physical health-such as decreased depression and doctor's visits-over and above mean levels of positive and negative emotion. These results remained robust after controlling for gender, age, and the 5 main dimensions of personality. Emodiversity is a practically important and previously unidentified metric for assessing the health of the human emotional ecosystem.
Given the challenges facing African agriculture resulting from climate-induced stresses, building resilience is a priority. Seed systems are important for enhancing such resilience as seed security ...has direct links to food security, and resilient livelihoods in general. Using data from a case study in West Nile region in Uganda, we studied practices in farmer seed systems and decisions, particularly in response to climate-induced stress. Results helped to generate recommendations for enhancing seed system resilience. We used social-ecological framework and multinomial logit model to analyze seed systems and factors influencing farmers' decisions about seed use respectively. Farmers ranked drought as the most important climate factor affecting crop production. With over 50% of farmer seed sourced on farm, the effect of climate factors on seed system functioning was perceived in relation to diminishing levels in quantity and quality of yield. Decline in yield affected farmer seed saving, increased grain prices due to high demand, affecting seed availability and affordability. The relative importance of seed sources varied during normal and stress periods, and by crop. Farmers tended to shift from farm-saved seed to social networks and local markets during stress periods. Local Seed Businesses emerged as an alternative source of planting material during stress periods. Formal seed enterprises were important in delivering improved seed, especially for maize, though their importance during stress periods diminished. Farmer characteristics and ecological factors played a role in defining the type of seed used, though their significance varied by crop. We recommend an approach that integrates farmer seed systems with the formal system in general, but specifically focusing on strengthening social networks, promoting farmer seed enterprises and crop adaptation practices at farm scale.
•Farmers ranked drought as the most important climate factor affecting crop production and seed systems.•Over 50% of farmer seed is farmer-saved seed.•Climate stresses diminished levels and quality of yield affecting farmer seed saving, grain prices and subsequently seed access.•Relative importance of seed sources varied during normal and stress periods, with farmers shifting to off farm sources during stress periods.•Farmer characteristics and ecological factors played a role in defining the type of seed used, though their significance varied by crop.
Modulation of Tonic Immobility (TI) concerns environmental and individual factors. TI is modulated by processes of habituation and sensitization. In poikilotherm frog and lizard, TI duration is much ...shorter at usual environmental temperatures and is potentiated at higher or lower temperatures, as the last resource for survival. During ontogeny, age may differentially affect TI susceptibility to the induction procedures, as in the case of newborn ectothermic and older endothermic rabbits. TI duration displays a daily rhythm, with longer TI in the night. Its resistance to habituation indicates that in the dark TI is the most prominent defense against nocturnal predators. In all studied species, there is synchronization of the prey's defensive responses with the feeding activity of predators. Ecological factors and exposure to different anthropogenic environmental pressures may alter morphology, behavior and TI in wild populations. TI duration has been associated with a genomic region comprising the dystrophin gene on quail chromosome 1.
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