Density-dependent feedback is recognized as important regulatory mechanisms of population size. Considering the spatial scales over which such feedback operates has advanced our theoretical understanding of metapopulation dynamics. Yet, metapopulation models are rarely fit to time-series data and tend to omit details of the natural history and behavior of long-lived, highly mobile species such as ...

Whole-genome duplications (WGDs) have long been considered the causal mechanism underlying dramatic increases to morphological complexity due to the neo-functionalization of paralogs generated during these events. Nonetheless, an alternative hypothesis suggests that behind the retention of most paralogs is not neo-functionalization, but instead the degree of the inter-connectivity of the intended ...

DNA i vannprøver og jordprøver kan gi verdifull informasjon om hvilke organismer som er til stede i økosystemene i dag, og hvordan livet har utviklet seg over tid.

DNA metabarcoding is an increasingly popular method to characterize and quantify biodiversity in environmental samples. Metabarcoding approaches simultaneously amplify a short, variable genomic region, or “barcode,” from a broad taxonomic group via the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), using universal primers that anneal to flanking conserved regions. Results of these experiments are reported as ...

Colonial breeding is an evolutionary puzzle, as the benefits of breeding in high densities are still not fully explained. Although the dynamics of existing colonies are increasingly understood, few studies have addressed the initial formation of colonies, and empirical tests are rare. Using a high-resolution larval drift model, we here document that the distribution of seabird colonies along the ...

To associate specimens identified by molecular characters to other biological knowledge, we need reference sequences annotated by Linnaean taxonomy. In this study, we (1) report the creation of a comprehensive reference library of DNA barcodes for the arthropods of an entire country (Finland), (2) publish this library, and (3) deliver a new identification tool for insects and spiders, as based on ...

About fifty larvae of Cephenemyia ulrichii Brauer (Diptera: Oestridae), some of them nearly fullgrown third instars, were found in the throat of a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in June 2007 near Helsinki in Finland. The parasite is considered to be host specific, occurring only in the moose (Alces alces), and this paper is apparently the first report of a successful infestation in an aberrant host.

The Streaked Horned Lark (SHL: Eremophila alpestris strigata) is the Northwest subspecies of the Horned Lark listed as endangered in Washington State, critical in Oregon, and is now being considered for listing as threatened by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. Some of the important breeding areas of SHL are associated with airports in western Washington and Oregon which raises concern over possible ...

The article argues that we legitimise the use of nature through cultural nature rationales. We adapt our understanding of nature to how we want to use it in a cultural sense. The material for the discussion is equine husbandry, using a past and contemporary perspective. The treatment of the horses that Robert Falcon Scott brought with him on his south pole expedition in 1910–1912, and the treatment ...

In 1929, the geologist Väinö Tanner (1881–1948) published an extensive study in human geography on the economic and social adaptation of the Skolt Sami. Tanner aimed at an understanding and respectful approach, and today he enjoys the reputation of a culturally sensitive scholar: one who tried to see the Skolt Sami culture from within, and who wrote against the most aggressive discourses of his time. ...