| opportunistic nectar-feeding birds are effective pollinators of bird-flowers from canary islands: experimental evidence from isoplexis canariensis (scrophulariaceae). | insular floras, characterized by simple pollination networks, sometimes include novel mutualistic agents such as nonspecialist nectarivores. in this study we confirmed the effective pollination of isoplexis canariensis by opportunistic nectar-feeding birds in tenerife, canary islands, spain. this plant is among the ornithophilous species of the canarian flora that lack past and present specialist nectarivorous birds. experimental hand pollinations revealed self-compatibility, but cross-pollinate ... | 2008 | 21628148 |
| west nile virus-neutralizing antibodies in wild birds from southern spain. | west nile virus (wnv) is an emerging vector-borne arbovirus with a zoonotic life-cycle whose main reservoir hosts are birds. in humans and horses, wnv infections rarely result in clinical disease but on occasions - depending on factors such as climatic conditions, insect communities and background immunity levels in local populations - they can lead to outbreaks that threaten public and animal health. we tested for the presence of wnv antibodies in 149 birds belonging to 32 different species. sa ... | 2016 | 26846720 |
| diversity and seasonal patterns of ticks parasitizing wild birds in western portugal. | the diversity and abundance of questing ticks and ticks parasitizing birds was assessed during 1 year in two recreational forests in western portugal, a suburban forest and an enclosed game area. the aim of this study was to assess the distribution and seasonality of tick species and to understand the role of bird species as hosts for ticks. ixodes ricinus was the most abundant questing tick collected in the enclosed game area, whereas in the suburban forest, only three ticks were collected by b ... | 2012 | 22669280 |
| lateralized activation of cluster n in the brains of migratory songbirds. | cluster n is a cluster of forebrain regions found in night-migratory songbirds that shows high activation of activity-dependent gene expression during night-time vision. we have suggested that cluster n may function as a specialized night-vision area in night-migratory birds and that it may be involved in processing light-mediated magnetic compass information. here, we investigated these ideas. we found a significant lateralized dominance of cluster n activation in the right hemisphere of europe ... | 2007 | 17331212 |
| global warming and body mass decline in israeli passerine birds. | global warming may affect the physiology, distributions, phenology and adaptations of plants and animals. in israel, minimum summer temperatures increased by an average of 0.26 degrees c per decade during the second half of the 20th century. bergmann's rule predicts that, in warm-blooded animals, races from warm regions are smaller than races from cold regions. numerous studies have reported general correlations between body mass in fossil animals and independently established palaeoclimatic cha ... | 2001 | 11370968 |
| aridity influences the recovery of vegetation and shrubland birds after wildfire. | wildfires play a determining role in the composition and structure of many plant and animal communities. on the other hand, climate change is considered to be a major driver of current and future fire regime changes. despite increases in drought in many areas of the world, the effects of aridity on post-fire colonization by animals have been rarely addressed. this study aims to analyse how a regional aridity gradient affects post-fire recovery of vegetation, bird species richness and the numbers ... | 2017 | 28355225 |
| hippocampal volume in migratory and non-migratory warblers: effects of age and experience. | we tested the hypothesis that experience of migration from europe to tropical africa by garden warblers is associated with changes in the relative volume of the hippocampus, a brain region thought to be involved in processing spatial information, including that used in navigation. relative hippocampal volume was larger in birds at least one year old that had migrated to and from africa, than in naive birds approx. 3 months old. further comparisons between groups of differing age and experience o ... | 1996 | 8950002 |
| reproductive success of the canarian echium simplex (boraginaceae) mediated by vertebrates and insects. | oceanic island ecosystems favour the appearance of novel interactions as a consequence of their depauperate and disharmonic flora and fauna. we investigated echium simplex, endemic to the anaga biosphere reserve in ne tenerife, canary islands, belongs to the canarian bird-flower element. along two flowering seasons, we studied the breeding system of e. simplex, identified the floral visitors and compared the pollination effectiveness of different animal guilds (insects versus vertebrates) by mea ... | 2019 | 30334319 |
| first evidence for the joint dispersal of mycorrhizal fungi and plant diaspores by birds. | seed dispersal allows plants to colonise new sites and escape from pathogens and intraspecific competition, maintaining plant genetic diversity and regulating plant distribution. conversely, most plant species form mutualistic associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal (am) fungi in a symbiosis established immediately after seed germination. because am fungi are obligate symbionts, using the same dispersal vector as their host should be highly advantageous for their survival, but the co-dispersal ... | 2019 | 30372538 |
| seed dispersal by dispersing juvenile animals: a source of functional connectivity in fragmented landscapes. | juvenile animals generally disperse from their birthplace to their future breeding territories. in fragmented landscapes, habitat-specialist species must disperse through the anthropogenic matrix where remnant habitats are embedded. here, we test the hypothesis that dispersing juvenile frugivores leave a footprint in the form of seed deposition through the matrix of fragmented landscapes. we focused on the sardinian warbler ( sylvia melanocephala), a resident frugivorous passerine. we used data ... | 2019 | 31288682 |
| increased songbird nest depredation due to aleppo pine (pinus halepensis) encroachment in mediterranean shrubland. | in recent decades, a decrease of passerine densities was documented in mediterranean shrublands. at the same time, a widespread encroachment of aleppo pines (pinus halepensis) to mediterranean shrubland occurred. such changes in vegetation structure may affect passerine predator assemblage and densities, and in turn impact passerine densities. depredation during the nesting season is an important factor to influence passerine population size. understanding the effects of changes in vegetation st ... | 2019 | 31847851 |
| insects, birds and lizards as pollinators of the largest-flowered scrophularia of europe and macaronesia. | it has traditionally been considered that the flowers of scrophularia are mainly pollinated by wasps. we studied the pollination system of four species which stand out for their large and showy flowers: s. sambucifolia and s. grandiflora (endemics of the western mediterranean region), s. trifoliata (an endemic of the tyrrhenian islands) and s. calliantha (an endemic of the canary islands). our principal aim was to test whether these species were pollinated by birds or showed a mixed pollination ... | 2012 | 22021816 |
| serum "b" esterases as a nondestructive biomarker for monitoring the exposure of reptiles to organophosphorus insecticides. | a field study was conducted to validate serum b esterases as nondestructive biomarkers (ndbs) in lizards. serum butyrylcholinesterase (bche) and carboxylesterase (cbe) activities were measured in lizards and four species of birds collected in an area of 0.5 ha sprayed with 0.36 kg a.i./ha of folidol se5 (5% parathion). serum b esterase activities were determined in a total of 213 lizards (gallotia galloti) and 81 birds of four species (sylvia melanocephala, serinus canaria, parus caeruleus, and ... | 1997 | 9352213 |