Published in Encyclopedia of Biodiversity
Predators occur in all of the planet's ecosystems. In many ecosystems, top-down forces and trophic cascades that derive from predators can govern the strength of plant–herbivore interactions and thus major features of ecosystem structure and function. Shifts in plant abundance and species composition resulting from the altered effects of predators ...
Published in Encyclopedia of Biodiversity
Mammals constitute only approximately 12% of all vertebrates and only 0.3% of all known species of organisms, yet endangered mammals (mammals facing an imminent threat of extinction) have received a disproportionate amount of attention and conservation efforts. To a large extent, this is the result of the higher visibility and appeal of mammals com...
Published in Brain Research Bulletin
Here we provide a brief overview of recent research on memory manipulation. We focus primarily on memories for which the hippocampus is thought to be required due to its central importance in the study of memory. The repertoire of methods employed is expanding and includes optogenetics, transcranial stimulation, deep brain stimulation, cued reactiv...
Published in Encyclopedia of Biodiversity
This article reviews existing models linking land-use change to biodiversity dynamics, both when native habitats are lost or when the landscape structure of countryside areas is modified. It covers both phenomenological models such as the species–area relationship and process-based models such as source-sink population models.
Published in Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior
Disorientation is frequent after brain damage. It is a constituent component of post-traumatic amnesia and was part of the original definition of the Korsakoff syndrome, together with amnesia and confabulations. Orbitofrontal reality filtering is a pre-conscious memory control process that has been held accountable for disorientation and a specific...
Published in Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is argued to be the neural locus of Pavlovian outcome expectancies. Reinforcement learning theories argue that extinction learning in Pavlovian procedures is caused by the discrepancy between the expected value of the outcome (US) that is elicited by a predictive stimulus (CS), and the lack of experienced US. If the O...
Ichthyosauria is a group of reptiles that colonized numerous niches in Mesozoic marine ecosystems. Their Cretaceous representatives were however regarded as undiversified, especially compared to their Triassic and Jurassic ancestors, because only a few species are regarded as valid in the Cretaceous. Besides, most of them belong to a single genus, ...
Published in Advances in Ecological Research
Natural ecosystems are increasingly exposed to multiple anthropogenic stressors, including land-use change, deforestation, agricultural intensification, and urbanisation, all of which have led to widespread habitat fragmentation, which is also likely to be amplified further by predicted climate change. The potential interactive effects of these dif...
Published in Encyclopedia of Biodiversity
Threatened birds are best identified on the basis of specific objective criteria, such as those employed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. By those criteria, approximately 13% of the world’s avifauna is at immediate risk of extinction, and altogether 22% of species give cause for concern. These species occur disproportionately ...
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