The Experts below are selected from a list of 282 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
P. Heneberg - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
Soil particle composition affects the physical characteristics of Sand Martin Riparia riparia holes
Ibis, 2003Co-Authors: P. HenebergAbstract:The importance of correlations between soil particle composition and the physical characteristics of Sand Martin Riparia riparia breeding holes has received very little attention. I used dry sieve analysis and decantation to examine 14 particle size ranges of samples from 654 breeding holes collected at 106 breeding colonies in the Czech Republic and at three in Great Britain. All five measured physical characteristics (tunnel depth, width and height of the entrance opening, slope of the tunnel and the distance to the bank top) were significantly correlated with measured soil particle size ranges. Tunnel depth, which is one of the most important factors influencing breeding success in this species, increased as the proportion of small particles (
-
soil particle composition affects the physical characteristics of Sand Martin riparia riparia holes
Ibis, 2003Co-Authors: P. HenebergAbstract:The importance of correlations between soil particle composition and the physical characteristics of Sand Martin Riparia riparia breeding holes has received very little attention. I used dry sieve analysis and decantation to examine 14 particle size ranges of samples from 654 breeding holes collected at 106 breeding colonies in the Czech Republic and at three in Great Britain. All five measured physical characteristics (tunnel depth, width and height of the entrance opening, slope of the tunnel and the distance to the bank top) were significantly correlated with measured soil particle size ranges. Tunnel depth, which is one of the most important factors influencing breeding success in this species, increased as the proportion of small particles (<900 pm) in the soil increased.
Tibor Szep - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
Older birds have better feathers: A longitudinal study on the long-distance migratory Sand Martin, Riparia riparia
PLoS ONE, 2019Co-Authors: Tibor Szep, Anders Pape Moller, János Dobránszky, Gareth Dyke, Adam LendvaiAbstract:Feather quality is of critical importance to long-distance migratory birds. Here, we report a series of analyses of a unique data set encompassing known-age individuals of the long-distance migratory Sand Martin (Riparia riparia). Sampling over 17 years along the Tisza River, eastern Hungary, has resulted in the recapture of numerous individuals enabling longitudinal and cross-sectional investigation of the role of adaptation to variable environmental conditions on feather morphology. We show that older individuals tend to possess better quality feathers, measured using bending stiffness, feather length and thickness as proxies. Bending stiffness and feather thickness do not change with individual age, in contrast with increases in feather length and declines in daily feather growth versus age of individual alongside moult duration. Individuals who live to older ages tend to have similar, or higher, feather growth rates and better feather quality than individuals captured at younger ages. Thus, on the basis of strong selection against individuals with slow feather growth, as seen in other species of swallows and Martins, which causes a delay in moult completion, the results of this analysis highlight the potential cost of producing better quality feathers when this depends on moult duration. Feather length also does change during the lifetime of the individual and thus enabled us to further investigate influence of individual and environmental conditions during the moult. The results of this analysis provide important insights on the adaptive significance of these traits, and the potential use of physical characteristics in unravelling the reasons why long distance migratory bird populations are in global decline.
-
Modelling date of Sand Martin capture.
2019Co-Authors: Tibor Szep, Anders Pape Moller, János Dobránszky, Gareth Dyke, Ádám Z. LendvaiAbstract:Modelling date of Sand Martin capture.
-
Modelling the size, width, and bending stiffness of Sand Martin feathers.
2019Co-Authors: Tibor Szep, Anders Pape Moller, János Dobránszky, Gareth Dyke, Ádám Z. LendvaiAbstract:Modelling the size, width, and bending stiffness of Sand Martin feathers.
-
A high level of nest predation observed in a large Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) colony
Ornis Hungarica, 2016Co-Authors: Tibor Szep, Jenifer Für, Edit MolnárAbstract:Abstract During the 2016 field season, we investigated the influence of intense nest digging predation at a Sand Martin colony that is situated in natural habitat along the Tisza river. Over this season, foxes dug a large number of holes which either partly or fully destroyed 39% of burrows in a large colony, comprising over 1,500 pairs. This high level of predation caused death and/or injury to between 7% and 44% of breeding individuals and lowered the reproductive success of the colony as on average 20% (between 5% and 43%) less nestlings were fledged. The level of digging showed a negative exponential growth with burrow density. Our observations show that the burrows were most at threat between 0 m and 0.4 m from the top and between 0 m and 1.4 m from the bottom of the wall. These observations show that it is critically important to decrease the number of foxes and other potential nest predators, whose numbers have increased well above ‘natural’ levels over the last decade, in regions where Sand Martins are nesting as this species is in drastic decline.
-
Identification of novel microsatellite loci in the Sand Martin, , and cross-amplification of loci from other bird species
Journal für Ornithologie = Journal of Ornithology, 2010Co-Authors: Wouter F. D. Dongen, Tibor Szep, Gopi K. Munimanda, Jakob Augustin, Donald Blomqvist, Richard H. WagnerAbstract:We isolated and characterised six novel microsatellite loci for paternity analysis in the Sand Martin , by screening an enriched genomic library. In addition, we tested 16 already published microsatellite markers, five of which were also polymorphic in the Sand Martin. Only one of these 11 loci exhibited evidence of null alleles, and all were polymorphic (mean = 0.68, range of number of alleles per locus = 4–24), making them suitable for individual heterozygosity quantification and paternity assessment in this species (exclusion probability of 11 unlinked loci = 0.999997).
Matthew R. Evans - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
The function and evolution of the tail streamer in hirundines
Behavioral Ecology, 2001Co-Authors: Louise V. Rowe, Matthew R. Evans, Katherine L. BuchananAbstract:The morphology of a bird’s tail may result from compromises between aerodynamic efficiency, phylogenetic constraints and selection for non-aerodynamic characteristics, such as mate attraction. A good example of a trait shaped by trade-offs between aerodynamic efficiency and reproductive benefits mediated through female preference is the tail streamer of the barn swallow. Here we use a standardized task to measure the impact of manipulated tail streamer lengths on maneuvering flight in the barn swallow and in the Sand Martin, a closely related species that lacks a streamer. Our results show that the tail streamer of the barn swallow has a role in maneuvering flight. However, the outer tail feather is approximately 12 mm (9–20%) longer than the aerodynamic optimum for maneuvering flight. Furthermore, we show that the addition of artificial tail streamers to the Sand Martin, enhances maneuverability even at small streamer lengths, thereby implying that tail streamers may have evolved via natural selection for increased flight performance. Our results therefore suggest that initial tail streamer elongation in the barn swallow has a functional explanation in terms of increased aerodynamic performance. However, female choice has become associated with this trait, promoting the development of a costly handicap.
-
Sexy streamers? The role of natural and sexual selection in the evolution of hirundine tail streamers.
Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, 2001Co-Authors: Kirsty J. Park, Katherine L. Buchanan, Matthew R. EvansAbstract:Matyjasiak et al. (2000) reported recently on experiments designed to mimic the early stages of tail streamer evolution in barn swallows (Hirundo rustic) by adding small streamers onto a closely related species that lacks them, the Sand Martin (Riparia riparia). This work was interpreted as providing evidence that there is a cost associated with the initial evolutionary stage of a tail streamer and that higher-quality individuals are better able to withstand this cost than lowerquality individuals. The authors suggest that these results give support to the hypothesis that tail streamers initially evolved as a handicap (Zahavi 1975), rather than as a result of Fisherian selection (Fisher 1958), to advertise male quality. We would like to raise a number of issues, which may offer an alternative interpretation.
Katherine L. Buchanan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
The function and evolution of the tail streamer in hirundines
Behavioral Ecology, 2001Co-Authors: Louise V. Rowe, Matthew R. Evans, Katherine L. BuchananAbstract:The morphology of a bird’s tail may result from compromises between aerodynamic efficiency, phylogenetic constraints and selection for non-aerodynamic characteristics, such as mate attraction. A good example of a trait shaped by trade-offs between aerodynamic efficiency and reproductive benefits mediated through female preference is the tail streamer of the barn swallow. Here we use a standardized task to measure the impact of manipulated tail streamer lengths on maneuvering flight in the barn swallow and in the Sand Martin, a closely related species that lacks a streamer. Our results show that the tail streamer of the barn swallow has a role in maneuvering flight. However, the outer tail feather is approximately 12 mm (9–20%) longer than the aerodynamic optimum for maneuvering flight. Furthermore, we show that the addition of artificial tail streamers to the Sand Martin, enhances maneuverability even at small streamer lengths, thereby implying that tail streamers may have evolved via natural selection for increased flight performance. Our results therefore suggest that initial tail streamer elongation in the barn swallow has a functional explanation in terms of increased aerodynamic performance. However, female choice has become associated with this trait, promoting the development of a costly handicap.
-
Sexy streamers? The role of natural and sexual selection in the evolution of hirundine tail streamers.
Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, 2001Co-Authors: Kirsty J. Park, Katherine L. Buchanan, Matthew R. EvansAbstract:Matyjasiak et al. (2000) reported recently on experiments designed to mimic the early stages of tail streamer evolution in barn swallows (Hirundo rustic) by adding small streamers onto a closely related species that lacks them, the Sand Martin (Riparia riparia). This work was interpreted as providing evidence that there is a cost associated with the initial evolutionary stage of a tail streamer and that higher-quality individuals are better able to withstand this cost than lowerquality individuals. The authors suggest that these results give support to the hypothesis that tail streamers initially evolved as a handicap (Zahavi 1975), rather than as a result of Fisherian selection (Fisher 1958), to advertise male quality. We would like to raise a number of issues, which may offer an alternative interpretation.
Anders Pape Moller - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
Older birds have better feathers: A longitudinal study on the long-distance migratory Sand Martin, Riparia riparia
PLoS ONE, 2019Co-Authors: Tibor Szep, Anders Pape Moller, János Dobránszky, Gareth Dyke, Adam LendvaiAbstract:Feather quality is of critical importance to long-distance migratory birds. Here, we report a series of analyses of a unique data set encompassing known-age individuals of the long-distance migratory Sand Martin (Riparia riparia). Sampling over 17 years along the Tisza River, eastern Hungary, has resulted in the recapture of numerous individuals enabling longitudinal and cross-sectional investigation of the role of adaptation to variable environmental conditions on feather morphology. We show that older individuals tend to possess better quality feathers, measured using bending stiffness, feather length and thickness as proxies. Bending stiffness and feather thickness do not change with individual age, in contrast with increases in feather length and declines in daily feather growth versus age of individual alongside moult duration. Individuals who live to older ages tend to have similar, or higher, feather growth rates and better feather quality than individuals captured at younger ages. Thus, on the basis of strong selection against individuals with slow feather growth, as seen in other species of swallows and Martins, which causes a delay in moult completion, the results of this analysis highlight the potential cost of producing better quality feathers when this depends on moult duration. Feather length also does change during the lifetime of the individual and thus enabled us to further investigate influence of individual and environmental conditions during the moult. The results of this analysis provide important insights on the adaptive significance of these traits, and the potential use of physical characteristics in unravelling the reasons why long distance migratory bird populations are in global decline.
-
Modelling date of Sand Martin capture.
2019Co-Authors: Tibor Szep, Anders Pape Moller, János Dobránszky, Gareth Dyke, Ádám Z. LendvaiAbstract:Modelling date of Sand Martin capture.
-
Modelling the size, width, and bending stiffness of Sand Martin feathers.
2019Co-Authors: Tibor Szep, Anders Pape Moller, János Dobránszky, Gareth Dyke, Ádám Z. LendvaiAbstract:Modelling the size, width, and bending stiffness of Sand Martin feathers.
-
use of trace elements in feathers of Sand Martin riparia riparia for identifying moulting areas
Journal of Avian Biology, 2003Co-Authors: Tibor Szep, Anders Pape Moller, Judit Vallner, Bela Kovacs, David NormanAbstract:We investigated whether trace elements in tail feathers of an insectivorous and long-distance migratory bird species could be used to identify moulting areas and hence migratory pathways. We analysed tail feathers from birds of different age and sex collected from a range of different breeding sites across Europe. The site of moult had a large effect on elemental composition of feathers of birds, both at the European and African moulting sites. Analysis of feathers of nestlings with known origin suggested that the elemental composition of feathers depended largely upon the micro-geographical location of the colony. The distance between moulting areas could not explain the level of differences in trace elements. Analysis of feathers grown by the same individuals on the African wintering grounds and in the following breeding season in Europe showed a large difference in composition indicating that moulting site affects elemental composition. Tail feathers moulted in winter in Africa by adults breeding in different European regions differed markedly in elemental composition, indicating that they used different moulting areas. Analysis of tail feathers of the same adult individuals in two consecutive years showed that Sand Martins in their first and second wintering season grew feathers with largely similar elemental composition, although the amounts of several elements in tail feathers of the older birds was lower. There was no difference between the sexes in the elemental composition of their feathers grown in Africa. Investigation of the trace element composition of feathers could be a useful method for studying similarity among groups of individuals in their use of moulting areas.
-
exposure to ectoparasites increases within brood variability in size and body mass in the Sand Martin
Oecologia, 2000Co-Authors: T. Szép, Anders Pape MollerAbstract:Parasites often have detrimental effects on their hosts, and only host individuals able to cope with parasitism are likely to display induced or genetic resistance. Hosts may respond to parasitism by differential investment in offspring depending on their ability to cope with parasitism, because offspring that perform better than their siblings are themselves likely to have superior induced or genetic resistance. We tested whether nestlings of the highly colonial Sand Martin Riparia riparia were affected by the haematophagous tick Ixodes lividus by experimentally manipulating parasite loads of nests [nests sprayed with pyrethrum to remove parasites (sprayed), or nests sprayed with water (control)] at three stages of the breeding season. Prevalence and intensity of ticks were significantly affected by treatments. Breeding success was not significantly affected by treatment, although post-fledging survival was twice as high among nestlings from sprayed nests than from controls. Mean phenotypic traits of nestlings generally did not differ significantly among treatments, while within-brood variance in keel length (a skeletal character) and body mass were higher in control treatment broods than sprayed ones. Sedimentation rate, which reflects blood protein and immunoglobulin content, was significantly higher and less variable in sprayed than control broods. These findings are consistent with the suggestion that parasitism effects on host reproductive success act through an increase in the variance of offspring quality.
