Usherwood, James R Granatosky, Michael C
Published in
Proceedings. Biological sciences
Quadrupedal animal locomotion is energetically costly. We explore two forms of mechanical work that may be relevant in imposing these physiological demands. Limb work, due to the forces and velocities between the stance foot and the centre of mass, could theoretically be zero given vertical limb forces and horizontal centre of mass path. To prevent...
Lasky, Jesse R Hooten, Mevin B Adler, Peter B
Published in
Proceedings. Biological sciences
An urgent challenge facing biologists is predicting the regional-scale population dynamics of species facing environmental change. Biologists suggest that we must move beyond predictions based on phenomenological models and instead base predictions on underlying processes. For example, population biologists, evolutionary biologists, community ecolo...
Yurkowski, David J Brown, Thomas A Blanchfield, Paul J Ferguson, Steven H
Published in
Proceedings. Biological sciences
Climate change is altering the biogeochemical and physical characteristics of the Arctic marine environment, which impacts sea ice algal and phytoplankton bloom dynamics and the vertical transport of these carbon sources to benthic communities. Little is known about whether the contribution of sea ice-derived carbon to benthic fauna and nitrogen cy...
Moyen, Nicole E Crane, Rachel L Somero, George N Denny, Mark W
Published in
Proceedings. Biological sciences
Climate change is not only causing steady increases in average global temperatures but also increasing the frequency with which extreme heating events occur. These extreme events may be pivotal in determining the ability of organisms to persist in their current habitats. Thus, it is important to understand how quickly an organism's heat tolerance c...
Lymbery, Rowan A Berson, Jacob D Evans, Jonathan P
Published in
Proceedings. Biological sciences
The capacity for parents to influence offspring phenotypes via nongenetic inheritance is currently a major area of focus in evolutionary biology. Intriguing recent evidence suggests that sexual interactions among males and females, both before and during mating, are important mediators of such effects. Sexual interactions typically extend beyond ga...
Harris, Stephanie M Descamps, Sébastien Sneddon, Lynne U Cairo, Milena Bertrand, Philip Patrick, Samantha C
Published in
Proceedings. Biological sciences
Carry-over effects describe the phenomenon whereby an animal's previous conditions influence its subsequent performance. Carry-over effects are unlikely to affect individuals uniformly, but the factors modulating their strength are poorly known. Variation in the strength of carry-over effects may reflect individual differences in pace-of-life: slow...
Leihy, Rachel I Chown, Steven L
Published in
Proceedings. Biological sciences
Terrestrial species on islands often show reduced dispersal abilities. For insects, the generality of explanations for island flight loss remains contentious. Although habitat stability is considered the most plausible explanation, others are frequently highlighted. Adopting a strong inference approach, we examined the hypotheses proposed to accoun...
Kadak, Kevin Miller, Noam
Published in
Proceedings. Biological sciences
Animal groups often make decisions sequentially, from the front to the back of the group. In such cases, individuals can use the choices made by earlier ranks, a form of social information, to inform their own choice. The optimal strategy for such decisions has been explored in models which differ on, for example, whether or not agents take into ac...
du Toit, C J Chinsamy, A Cunningham, S J
Published in
Proceedings. Biological sciences
Some probe-foraging birds locate their buried prey by detecting mechanical vibrations in the substrate using a specialized tactile bill-tip organ comprising mechanoreceptors embedded in densely clustered pits in the bone at the tip of their beak. This remarkable sensory modality is known as 'remote touch', and the associated bill-tip organ is found...
Mammola, Stefano Riccardi, Nicoletta Prié, Vincent Correia, Ricardo Cardoso, Pedro Lopes-Lima, Manuel Sousa, Ronaldo
Published in
Proceedings. Biological sciences
Through the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and the financial investments of the LIFE projects, Europe has become an experimental arena for biological conservation. With an estimated annual budget of €20 billion, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 has set an ambitious goal of classifying 30% of its land and sea territory as Protected Areas and en...
