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Weight-length relations of fishes are useful for estimation of biomass from length observations, e.g., in fisheries or conservation research. Here we provide some guidance to authors of such papers, in order to facilitate the publication and review process

Burying beetles conceal small vertebrate carcasses underground and prepare them for consumption by their young. This review places their complex social behavior in an ecological context that focuses on the evolution of biparental care and communal breeding. Both males and females provide extensive parental care, and the major benefit of male assistance is to help defend the brood and carcass from competitors. As intensity and type of competition vary, so do the effectiveness and duration of male care. In many species, a single brood may be reared on large carcasses by more than one male and/or female. Limited reproductive opportunities, the greater effectiveness of groups in preventing the probability of brood failure (especially that caused by competing flies), and the superabundance of food on large carcasses have contributed to the evolution of this cooperative behavior.

Japanese Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus niphonius is a commercially important species in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea, but there is limited knowledge of its genetic population structure. In order to detect its genetic structure, sequence variation of the first hypervariable segment of the control region was analyzed among eight populations of S. niphonius from the East China Sea and Yellow Sea. A total of 119 polymorphic sites were detected in the 505-bp segment of the control region among 134 individuals of S. niphonius, defining 112 haplotypes. Mean haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity for the eight populations were 0.9963+-0.0017 and 0.0236+-0.0119, respectively. As expected, analysis of molecular variance detected no significant differences at all hierarchical levels, and most of the conventional population Phisub(ST) statistics were negative, indicating that no significant population genetic structure exists in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea. Moreover, the exact test of differentiation supported the null hypothesis that S. niphonius within the East China Sea and Yellow Sea constitutes a panmictic mtDNA gene pool. Neutrality tests and mismatch distribution revealed that S. niphonius underwent population expansion in the late Pleistocene. Strong dispersal capacity of larvae and adults, long-distance migrations, and ocean currents in the studied area could be the reasons for genetic homogeneity in this species in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea. Insufficient time to accumulate genetic variation might be another explanation for the lack of genetic structure in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea.

In a project on the biodiversity of chickens funded by the European Commission (EC), eight laboratories collaborated to assess the genetic variation within and between 52 populations from a wide range of chicken types. Twenty-two di-nucleotide microsatellite markers were used to genotype DNA pools of 50 birds from each population. The polymorphism measures for the average, the least polymorphic population (inbred C line) and the most polymorphic population (Gallus gallus spadiceus) were, respectively, as follows: number of alleles per locus, per population: 3.5, 1.3 and 5.2, average gene diversity across markers: 0.47, 0.05 and 0.64, and proportion of polymorphic markers: 0.91, 0.25 and 1.0. These were in good agreement with the breeding history of the populations. For instance, unselected populations were found to be more polymorphic than selected breeds such as layers. Thus DNA pools are effective in the preliminary assessment of genetic variation of populations and markers. Mean genetic distance indicates the extent to which a given population shares its genetic diversity with that of the whole tested gene pool and is a useful criterion for conservation of diversity. The distribution of population-specific (private) alleles and the amount of genetic variation shared among populations supports the hypothesis that the red jungle fowl is the main progenitor of the domesticated chicken

We investigated three procedures that may lead to rapid and accurate assessment of epigaeic arthropod biodiversity. They are: (1) the identification of taxa whose diversity is correlated with that of others: (2) the identification of times and methods of sampling that produce estimates of diversity representative of more intensive sampling; and (3) the use of morphospecies inventories generated by non-specialists. Ants, beetles, and spiders were sampled from four forest types, in three seasons, using two collecting methods: pitfall trapping and extraction from litter. Specimens were sorted by a non-specialist to morphospecies and by specialist taxonomists to species. Richness ($\\alpha$-diversity) and turnover ($\\beta$-diversity) were compared for different sampling regimes using morphospecies and species inventories. We found no significant positive correlations between ant, beetle, and spider species richness but there was a strong negative correlation between ant and beetle richness. For beetles alone, richness within the families Carabidae, Scarabaeidae, and Pselaphidae (i.e, avoiding taxonomically problematic families) was significantly correlated with richness within all other families. Assessment of turnover revealed that: (1) the four forest types contained significantly different assemblages of ants and beetles but not spiders and 92) the four forests were less clearly discriminated using species from the three beetle families Carabidae, Scarabaeidae, and Pselaphidae when compared to species from all beetle families pooled. Analyses of single sampling periods and methods revealed that summer and spring pitfall samples were most representative of more intensive sampling. That is: (1) the richness of ants and beetles in these samples was significantly positively correlated with the richness of all other samples and 92) turnover of beetles and ants among the four forests revealed by summer pitfall samples was similar to turnover using all samples. The three beetle surrogate families recorded by pitfall samples in spring, and to a lesser extent summer, showed significant correlations in richness with all other beetle species recorded in the same samples. However, the assessment of turnover was less accurate when only surrogate families were used. The most accurate and cost-effective assessment of turnover was generated by a summer pitfall sample in which data for ants, carabid, and scarab beetles were combined and analyzed as a single data set. Results were largely consistent regardless of whether species or morphospecies were used, which suggests that monitoring and assessment of terrestrial invertebrate biodiversity may be achieved by the careful use of morphospecies. Our results also suggest those invertebrate taxa, sampling methods, and sampling periods that yield the most consistent and reliable assessment of epigaeic invertebrate biodiversity in Australian temperate hardwood forests. However, empirical studies that follow the protocols discussed in this paper are urgently required in different environments. These studies may point the way to more representative monitoring and assessment of terrestrial biodiversity.

Empirical studies have shown that animal populations from a wide array of taxa exhibit spatial patterns of correlation in fluctuating abundance. In the search for explanations for this phenomenon it has been proposed that subpopulation interactions in the form of spatial dispersal, or variability in external factors, such as weather, would be the crucial driving forces responsible for spatial synchrony. Nevertheless, dispersal and external factors have been shown to produce different patterns of synchrony. We show here that observed patterns in synchronous dynamics can be reproduced by using a spatially linked population model. Further, we analyse how local and global environmental stochasticity and dispersal influence the pattern of spatial synchrony. We contrast our theoretical results with data on long-term dynamics of North American game animals and emphasize that the data and our spatial population dynamics models are compatible.

Spatial Capture-Recapture provides a comprehensive how-to manual with detailed examples of spatial capture-recapture models based on current technology and knowledge. Spatial Capture-Recapture provides you with an extensive step-by-step analysis of many data sets using different software implementations. The authors' approach is practical - it embraces Bayesian and classical inference strategies to give the reader different options to get the job done. In addition, Spatial Capture-Recapture provides data sets, sample code and computing scripts in an R package. Comprehensive reference on revolutionary new methods in ecology makes this the first and only book on the topicEvery methodological element has a detailed worked example with a code template, allowing you to learn by exampleIncludes an R package that contains all computer code and data sets on companion website

Development in the Baltic ringed (Phoca hispida) and grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) populations during the past century is reconstructed using uniquely detailed hunting records from the Nordic countries and published data on demographic parameters. A projection model was elaborated where annual variations in the composition of catches by sex and age were taken into account. Grey seals decreased from 88 000-100 000 in the beginning of the century to approximately 4000 in the late 1970s. The Baltic ringed seal population decreased during the same period from 190 000-220 000 to approximately 5000. In the mid-1960s, the remaining populations were afflicted by sterility, probably caused by organochlorines, which inhibited natural growth during a 25-years period. Thus, the decrease in seal numbers was a consequence of excessive hunting, but the present low numbers are due to lowered fertility rates after 1965.