Byholm, P. 2005: Site-specific variation in partial brood loss in northern goshawks. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 81–90.
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Vepsäläinen, V., Pakkala, T., Piha, M. & Tiainen, J. 2005: Population crash of the ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana in agricultural landscapes of southern Finland. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 91–107.
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Amo, L., López, P. & Martín, J. 2005: Flexibility in antipredatory behavior allows wall lizards to cope with multiple types of predators. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 109–121.
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Pellikka, J., Rita, H. & Lindén, H. 2005: Monitoring wildlife richness — Finnish applications based on wildlife triangle censuses. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 123–134.
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Dapporto, L., Palagi, E. & Turillazzi, S. 2005: Sociality outside the nest: helpers in pre-hibernating clusters of Polistes dominulus. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 135–139.
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Grapputo, A., Kumpulainen, T. & Mappes, J. 2005: Phylogeny and the evolution of parthenogenesis in Finnish bagworm moth species (Lepidoptera: Psychidae: Naryciinae) based on mtDNA-markers. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 141–160. Byholm, P. 2005: Site-specific variation in partial brood loss in northern goshawks. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 81–90. Back to the top
Vepsäläinen, V., Pakkala, T., Piha, M. & Tiainen, J. 2005: Population crash of the ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana in agricultural landscapes of southern Finland. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 91–107. Back to the top
Amo, L., López, P. & Martín, J. 2005: Flexibility in antipredatory behavior allows wall lizards to cope with multiple types of predators. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 109–121. Back to the top
Pellikka, J., Rita, H. & Lindén, H. 2005: Monitoring wildlife richness — Finnish applications based on wildlife triangle censuses. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 123–134. Back to the top
Dapporto, L., Palagi, E. & Turillazzi, S. 2005: Sociality outside the nest: helpers in pre-hibernating clusters of Polistes dominulus. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 135–139. Back to the top
Grapputo, A., Kumpulainen, T. & Mappes, J. 2005: Phylogeny and the evolution of parthenogenesis in Finnish bagworm moth species (Lepidoptera: Psychidae: Naryciinae) based on mtDNA-markers. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 141–160.
Abstract
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While many studies have shown that patterns of partial brood loss often differ with offspring sex, food availability or between years, the question of whether family-size adjustment varies between sites has achieved little attention. I investigated this in Finnish northern goshawks Accipiter gentilis, and found that partial brood loss varied considerably between locations. This variation was present both between territories and between two larger regions with different densities of goshawks' main prey, grouse. Partial brood loss was inversely related to natural main-prey densities, but the relationship was far from straightforward: spatial nonlinearities arising from between-territorial differences influenced the results. Brood-loss patterns also differed between years and between initial clutch-size categories. Potential sex-biased post-hatching mortality was not related to grouse density and partial brood loss did not alter the original population-wide egg sex ratio. Between-territory variance in offspring sex ratios was low. The lack of the spatial dimension in earlier studies might have undermined a correct interpretation of the causes and consequences of brood-loss patterns, irrespective of whether sex ratios were biased.
The ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana is a bird species that has shown a particularly dramatic decline during recent decades within the agricultural areas of Europe. We studied the population density changes and environment associations of the ortolan bunting within agricultural landscapes in southern Finland, from territory to landscape scale, in 1984–2002. The crash of the ortolan bunting population took place synchronously during the early 1990s in all the subpopulations, resulting in a total decrease of 72% by the end of the study period. The decline was associated with the amount of small-scale environmental heterogeneity and with agricultural practices. Bush- or tree-covered ditches and springtime non-vegetated fields (mainly spring cereal and root crops) were the habitat factors showing a clear positive effect on the occurrence of the ortolan bunting. However, the European-wide decrease of the ortolan bunting is probably also due to changes in migration and wintering areas. All these factors should be taken into consideration when planning conservation measures.
Animals in natural environments usually face different types of predators, and conflicting prey defenses can increase risk of predation if prey responses to one predator result in a greater risk from another predator. Wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) respond to predators in the open, such as birds or mammals, by hiding inside rock crevices, where they may be exposed to predation by ambushing saurophagous smooth snakes (Coronella austriaca). This offers an excellent system to study how prey behave to avoid multiple predators acting simultaneously. We first performed a field study to examine the escape behavior and refuge use of wall lizards. Lizards mainly responded to the simulated attack by fleeing to hide in the nearest refuge. However, lizards that were far from known refuges sometimes used an alternative escape behavior; lizards fled for longer while passing potential refuges without hiding, thus, presumably avoiding hiding when their reliance in refuge safety was low. This was supported by a further analysis of movement patterns of wall lizards. Spontaneous locomotor patterns could be described as an amount of bursts of locomotion separated by short and long pauses. Lizards stopped near refuges more often, but previously they spent more time in short pauses when moving in or close to refuges exploring them by tongue flicking, than in open rocks. This agreed with a laboratory experiment where we analyzed responses of lizards to substrate scent deposits of smooth snakes. Lizards detected the snake's scent, and responded by increasing their movement rate in an effort to leave the risky area. However, in the field, after a simulated attack in the open, lizards emerged from the refuge and left the area quickly, decreasing the frequency of short pauses, probably to avoid a new attack in the open. Flexibility in antipredatory behavior may help wall lizards to avoid the risk enhancing effect of two types of predators requiring conflicting prey defenses.
Studying human impact on ecological communities may require monitoring of wildlife communities on many spatial scales. Monitoring based on early and sensitive indicators of ecological change can be used administratively in ensuring the sustainability of populations. Wildlife richness is a multispecies concept which describes a general change in the abundance of an assemblage of wildlife species with reference to time and space. This is measured with the wildlife richness index (WRI), which is a sum of changes in the abundance of individual wildlife species. In this study, we present the administrative background of the needs for developing the multispecies monitoring. In order to meet the administrative need for ecological information, we introduce several applications, which are based on the interplay between the wildlife triangle scheme (WTS) and the concept of the WRI. In addition, we illustrate the usability of these applications with wildlife triangle data.
After mating and leaving the maternal nest, gynes of several paper wasp species living in temperate climates aggregate in sheltered places. Some authors state that the social stage of paper wasps ends at the beginning of autumn. Here, we show that the death of workers and the abandonment of the nest do not imply the end of the social phase in Polistes dominulus, and that many social interactions also occur in pre-hibernating clusters. In particular, a few individuals performed external tasks, i.e. foraging and providing food via trophallaxis to other wasps. These "helpers" died early in winter, as workers generally do, but they were fertilised like gynes.
We investigated species diversity and evolution of parthenogenesis among bagworm moth species of Dahlica and Siederia using mitochondrial DNA sequencing. Parthenogenesis is rare among Lepidoptera other than Psychidae. Genera Dahlica and Siederia form a confusing group with controversial species boundaries and widely overlapping morphological features that make species determination difficult. We evaluated the reliability of species determination based on wing scale morphology by comparing it with a phylogenetic tree obtained using mtDNA. Species determination based on morphological characteristics did not correspond to species determination based on mtDNA markers. On the basis of the molecular phylogeny, the status of these two genera is questionable. Our results indicate that parthenogenetic D. fennicella, D. triquetrella and D. lichenella evolved independently from different sexual ancestors suggesting that asexual reproduction is favoured in this group.