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1

Differences in Troglomorphism and Sexual Dimorphism in Two Sympatric Subtroglophile Crickets of Genus Troglophilus (Insecta: Orthoptera)

Jugovic Jure, Šumer Nika

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2021

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Vol. 69, nr 1

35--50

EN

We investigated morphological variation and sexual dimorphism in two species of syntopic cave crickets (Troglophilus neglectus and T. cavicola) from Northern Balkans. T. cavicola is able to penetrate deeper in caves and stays there for longer periods than T. neglectus. Yet, it has not exhibited clearly stronger constructive (body size, elongation of appendages, increased spinulation) or reductive (eye reduction) traits than T. neglectus. Moreover, contrary to expectation, there is no clear association between more prolonged staying in a stable cave environment and overall lower morphological variability in T. cavicola. Only some of its morphological traits actually showed less while other showed more variation than in T. neglectus. While T. cavicola males are larger than females, there is no such difference in T. neglectus. This may help males of T. cavicola being more competitive towards overall larger T. neglectus. With the exception of the body size, overall sexual dimorphism was better expressed in larger T. neglectus. The morphospaces occupied by males and females overlap more strongly in T. cavicola than in T. neglectus, indicating that ecological niches of both sexes are better separated in the latter species.

2

Sporadoceratid ammonoids from the Shotori Range (east-central Iran) - a case of putative gigantism caused by hydraulic sorting?

Korn Dieter, Ghaderi Abbas, Devaere Léa, Hairapetian Vachik, Khanehbad Mohammad, Belka Zdzisław

Acta Geologica Polonica

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2019

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Vol. 69, no. 1

27--49

EN

The Shotori Range of east-central Iran (east of Tabas) has yielded Famennian ammonoid assemblages dominated by the family Sporadoceratidae. Four genera Maeneceras Hyatt, 1884, Iranoceras Walliser, 1966, Sporadoceras Hyatt, 1884 and Erfoudites Korn, 1999 are represented. The conodont assemblage of one sample containing Iranoceras revealed an Upper marginifera Zone age. The ammonoid assemblages are characterised by comparatively large specimens; they reach conch diameters of 300 mm (including the body chamber) and the mean size is larger than 100 mm. The preservation of the material from the Shotori Range and size comparison with sporadoceratid assemblages from the Anti-Atlas of Morocco and the Rhenish Mountains of Germany suggest that hydraulic sorting has resulted in a bias towards large conchs, explaining the size distribution, rather than latitudinal differences. The new species Maeneceras tabasense is described; the genus Iranoceras is revised with a new description of the two species Iranoceras pachydiscus (Walliser, 1966) and Iranoceras pingue (Walliser, 1966).

3

Improvment of Clothes Fit for Different Female Bodies

Surikova O. V., Kuzmichev V. E., Surikova G. I.

Autex Research Journal

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2017

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Vol. 17, no. 2

111--119

EN

The factors influencing for fit and suit of women’s clothing have been studied. The main reason of misfit is the nonconformity between the front and back width of pattern block, the corresponding body sizes taken across the hipline, and the textile materials properties. To predict the behavior of textile fabrics in real clothes including the shear deformation and wrinkles appearing, the special test and device have been designed. The developed method of pattern block making includes the test of clothes proportionality based on the female bodies sizes, pattern block indexes, and textile fabrics properties. Features of “figure-clothes” systems in-cluding the vertical designing lines, styles, volume of clothes, ease allowance and its distribution between the back, armhole, and front of the pattern blocks were taken into consideration. Recommendations in terms of selecting the proper design of style for different sizes of female bodies have been made.

4

Size Does Not Matter - No Evidence for Assortative Mating by Body Size in the Mute Swan Cygnus olor

Włodarczyk R., Minias P., Janiszewski T.

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2016

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Vol. 64, nr 2

296--301

EN

Finding a mate of high quality is of key importance for reproducing birds, and thus positive assortative mating is commonly observed in avian populations. Although assortative mating by age, body size, condition or ornamental traits was reported for many bird taxa, there is a scarcity of empirical evidence for such mating patterns in wildfowl. We studied mating patterns in the Mute Swan Cygnus olor from the Central-European population. We analysed four body measurements (total wing length, forearm length, head length, foot web width) in 91 different breeding pairs. Contrary to our expectations, we found no evidence for assortative mating by any of the collected biometrical measurements and by overall structural size (PC1 from all measured skeletal traits). Further, Mute Swans mated randomly by the size of bill knob, which is considered a sexually selected ornament in this species. We suggest that in the species with long-term pair bonds and monogamous breeding system, such as the Mute Swan, the benefits from large size of mates may be less important for positive reproductive output than other individual traits, e.g., age or previous breeding experience.

5

Clutch size variation in agile frog Rana dalmatica on post-mining areas

Solský M., Smolová D., Doležalová J., Šebková K., Vojar J.

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2014

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Vol. 62, nr 4

789--799

EN

Clutch size is an important life history trait in amphibians, and it varies among and within species, populations and individuals. Within a population, its variation has been attributed to a positive relationship between females’ age or size and their fecundity as well as to spatio-temporal differences in environmental conditions. Therefore, clutch size has been shown to be both spatially and seasonally variable. We examined spatial and seasonal clutch size variation based upon two years of study involving 160 clutches of the Agile Frog Rana dalmatina Bonaparte, 1840 in 14 ponds within one spoil bank in the Czech Republic’s North Bohemian brown coal basin. The overall mean clutch size was 1295 (SD 596), which is one of the largest that has been reported. However, both clutch size and its variance differed considerably between the years. Clutch size also varied among the ponds. We found no relationship between clutch size and the distance of a breeding pond from alluvial forest, a typical wintering habitat. Despite existence at the site of many suitable reproduction habitats, the spoil bank does not offer the complex of all habitats needed for persistence of the R. dalmatina population. To protect that population, it is necessary to preserve not only breeding ponds on the spoil bank but also alluvial forest and, most importantly, the connectivity between these two crucial habitats.

6

Evidences of zooplankton vertical migration in stocked and never-stocked alpine lakes in Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy)

Tiberti R., Barbieri M.

Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies

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2011

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Vol. 40, No.3

36-42

EN

Zooplankton vertical migration was described in four high altitude lakes in Gran Paradiso National Park (Northern Italy) during 2008 summertime. The authors succeeded in describing the vertical distribution of 6 species: diel vertical migrations were observed in the case of adult crustacean species (Cyclops gr. abyssorum, Arctodiaptomus alpinus and Daphnia gr. longispina), whereas the remaining rotifer species (Keratella quadrata, Polyarthra gr. dolichoptera and Synchaeta gr. stylata-pectinata) and naupliar stages of copepods did not undergo migrations. Migratory behavior of Daphnia gr. longispina and Cyclops gr. abyssorum was influenced by the size of individuals, especially larger individuals use to migrate deeper during the day compared to the smaller conspecific. This study provides new evidences of zooplankton vertical migration in never-stocked lakes and highlights the need to consider the zooplankton migration as result of multiple causal factors.

7

Differences in global biomass and energy use between dinosaurs and mammals

Trammer J.

Acta Geologica Polonica

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2011

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Vol. 61, no. 2

125-132

EN

Estimates derived from the literature suggest that dinosaurs, even if they had a mammalian-type metabolism, produced globally much more biomass than mammals for the same amount of energy consumed. The average body mass of an individual dinosaur was several thousand times greater than in the case of mammals. Dinosaurs were one to several hundred times less numerous than mammals and, in comparison to mammals, the average number of individuals per dinosaur species was several to a dozen or so times lower than in mammals.

8

Body size and reproductive traits of Palaemon elegans Rathke, 1837 (Crustacea, Decapoda), a recent colonizer of the Baltic Sea

Janas U., Mańkucka A.

Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies

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2010

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Vol. 39, No.2

3-24

EN

Palaemon elegans is a species of prawn new (since 2000) to the southern Baltic. The aim of this study was to find out whether there are differences in the sizes of individuals and in the reproductive traits of P. elegans inhabiting different areas of the southern Baltic Sea and to compare the data obtained with existing data for populations from other coastal areas. The present study was carried out in the summers of 2005 and 2007 in three areas differing in their hydrological conditions (primarily in salinity): Puck Bay (PB), the Vistula Delta (VD) and the Vistula Lagoon (VL), Poland. The maximum body lengths of these prawns (females = 60 mm, males = 41 mm), and body masses (1201 mg and 533 mg respectively) found in the southern Baltic were less than those reported from many other parts of the geographical range of this species. The increase in body mass with length was the smallest in the prawns inhabiting VL, and the maximum lengths they grew to were also shorter (females – 52 mm and males – 39 mm) than in PB. The numbers of eggs carried by P. elegans in the southern Baltic were smaller than those found in females in its native regions. Differences were also found in the numbers and sizes of eggs between prawns inhabiting different locations in the southern Baltic. It was concluded that the low salinity of the southern Baltic Sea (even below 7 PSU), while not preventing this prawn from reproducing, caused a shift to the production of fewer but larger eggs. The reproductive strategy that Baltic populations of P. elegans has adopted is one of the factors responsible for its very rapid and large-scale colonization of the southern Baltic Sea.

9

Why life histories are diverse

Kozlowski Jan

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2006

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Vol. 54, nr 4

585-605

EN

Why do some animals weigh a fraction of a milligram and others many tons? Why do some animals mature after a few days and others need several years? Why do some animals grow and then reproduce without growing, while others continue growing after maturation? Why are growth curves so often well-approximated by von Bertalanffy's equation? Why do some animals produce myriads of tiny eggs and others produce only a few large offspring? Evolution of life histories is driven basically by the size-dependences of three parameters: the resource acquisition rate, metabolic rate and mortality risk. The combinations of size-dependences of this trio produce a plethora of locally optimal life histories, and even more sub-optimal strategies which must coexist with optimal ones in the real world. Additionally, selection forces differ depending on whether a population stays most of the time at equilibrium or in an expansion phase. Life history evolution cannot be understood without mathematical modelling, and optimization of life-time resource allocation is a powerful approach to that, though not the only one. Modelling outcomes from studies based on resource allocation optimization are presented here mainly as graphs.

10

Spatial segregation of foraging sites in winter mixed-species flocks of forest birds near seoul, Korea

Lee Sang-don, Jabłoński Piotr G.

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2006

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Vol. 54, nr 3

481-490

EN

The wintering mixed flocks of tits (Paridae) and associated birds, are good objects for studying ecological niche division. In this respect the mixed species flocks on the Asian continent are poorly studied in comparison to European and North American ones. In this report we describe spatial distribution of foraging sites of eight bird species in 39 winter flocks near Seoul, Korea: Varied tit - Parus varius Temminck & Schlegel, Great tit - P. major Temminck & Schlegel, Marsh tit - P. palustris Bianchi, Coal tit - P. ater Buturlin, Long-tailed tit - Aegithalos caudatus Clark, Nuthatch - Sitta europaea Swinhoe, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker - Dendrocopos kizuki Taka-Tsukasa, and Goldcrest - Regulus regulus Blakiston. Foraging sites (in coniferous and mixed forests) were classified into five height layers: on the ground, <1.5 m above the ground, 1.5-4 m, 4-7m, and > 7m. Trees were divided into three horizontal zones depending on the distance from trunk: crown interior, intermediate zone, and external twigs. Species differed significantly in the use of height layers: P. major foraged mostly on the ground, P. ater and A. caudatus foraged mostly in the highest forest layer, P. palustris was often seen in bushes, and P. varius occurred in the middle tree layer. There was no clear correlation between height of foraging and species body size. However, body size played an important role for segregation in horizontal zones, and two species, the larger P. major and the smaller P. ater differed significantly in the mean distance from trunk. Species of large body size like P. varius and P. major, foraged mostly in the interior of the tree crown, while the smaller species, P.ater and A. caudatus, foraged mostly in the external zone; the intermediate in size, P. palustris, foraged equally often in each of the three zones. The sites used most often by Korean populations of three tit species, P major, P. palustris and P ater, were similar to the sites used by European populations of the respective species. These results represent one of a few quantitative studies on mixed species flocks in continental Asia.

11

Daphnia: model herbivore, predator and prey

Lampert Winfried

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2006

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Vol. 54, nr 4

607-620

EN

In the past 30 years, Daphnia has become a model organism in aquatic ecology. I review the changing concepts and paradigms in plankton ecology as reflected in the work on Daphnia. The availability of radiotracers favoured a new physiological approach that resulted in better energetic models and more reliable estimates of filtering rates. This led to deeper insights into the role of herbivore grazing on phytoplankton and microbial communities, and nutrient recycling. It provided a conceptual basis for general hypotheses on predictable seasonal successions (e.g. the PEG model). On the other hand, increasing knowledge about selective predation on zooplankton triggered population dynamic models and gave explanations for changing community structures. The Size-Efficiency-Hypothesis generated a framework for studies on trade-offs between competitive ability and susceptibility to predation. Daphnia was now in the centre of interaction-based concepts, being predator and prey at the same time. It was the backbone of practical applications of the theory in food-web manipulations. When ultimate factors came into the focus, Daphnia played an important role in explaining striking phenomena like diel vertical migration and cyclomorphosis. Its central position in food-webs, the unique propagation mode, easy cultivation and accessibility by molecular genetic methods made it a favourite object for studies in evolutionary ecology, concerning local adaptation, evolution of defences and life histories, induced phenotypic change, and genetic diversity. The large advantage of Daphnia over other biological model organisms is that its importance in pelagic freshwater systems is undoubtedly known. Hence there is a direct way of applying the results to ecological systems.

12

Potential rate of reproduction for some geographically separate populations of Pseudocalanus spp.

Dzierzbicka-Głowacka L., Zieliński A.

Oceanologia

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2004

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No. 46 (1)

65-83

EN

Quantitative expressions are presented describing the potential reproductive rate per individual female of Pseudocalanus spp. in several different waters (not reduced by food limitation) as a function of both temperature and cephalothorax length of females (one equation for each studied region). The calculations were made for some geographically separate populations of Pseudocalanus spp. from southwest Baffin Island, Nova Scotia, Long Island Sound, Scotland, as well as the southern North Sea and its adjacent waters (e.g. the English Channel). On the basis of the findings presented in this work and from other studies, the reproductive rate was computed as the mean number of eggs per sac divided by 1.25 times the embryonic duration at the given temperature. Also computed was the amount of egg matter produced per day as a percentage of body carbon (and dry weight) of female weight for all localities. The relationships for females from the southern North Sea were obtained for "viable eggs", but they should be treated with reserve. A more suitable expression describing egg production in the southern North Sea is the equation for females from the English Channel obtained here. Our assumptions and approximations appear to predict quite well the temperature-length of female dependent daily rates of egg production of well-fed females of Pseudocalanus spp. for the above waters, and we suggest that they can be used to test the hypothesis more thoroughly.