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Sampling Months (sampling + month)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	80%

Selected Abstracts

Intra- and Interannual Vegetation Change: Implications for Long-Term Research

RESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2008
Julie E. Korb
Abstract To draw reliable conclusions from forest restoration experiments, it is important that long-term measurements be repeatable or year-to-year variability may interfere with the correct interpretation of treatment effects. We used permanent plots in a long-term restoration study in southwestern Colorado to measure herbaceous and shrub vegetation at three dates within a single year (June, July, and August), and between years (2003 and 2005), on untreated control plots in a warm, dry mixed conifer forest. Growing season precipitation patterns were similar between 2003 and 2005, so differences in vegetation should be related primarily to differences in the sampling month. Significant indicator species for each sampling month were present within a single year (2005), primarily reflecting early-season annuals. We found no significant differences for total species abundance (2005). Species richness, abundance, and indicator species were significantly different between years for different sampling months indicating that sampling should be conducted within a similar time frame to avoid detecting differences that are not due to treatment effects or variations in year-to-year climate. These findings have implications for long-term research studies where the objectives are to detect changes over time in response to treatments, climate variation, and natural processes. Long-term sampling should occur within a similar phenological time frame each year over a short amount of time and should be based on the following criteria: (1) the sampling period is congruent with research objectives such as detecting rare species or peak understory abundance and (2) the sampling period is feasible in regard to personnel and financial constraints. [source]

Feeding ecology and habitat of the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus microcephalus, in a remnant population of northwestern Baja California, México

ECOLOGY OF FRESHWATER FISH, Issue 4 2001
S. Sánchez-Gonzáles
Abstract , The feeding ecology and habitat of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus microcephalus Girard, 1854) was studied from November 1996 to May 1997 in a remnant population of northwestern Baja California, México. The analysis of the stomach content of 179 individuals (25 to 56 mm standard length [SL]) showed a diet dominated by cyclopoid copepods (43.8%) and chironomid larvae (39.1%). Diet in relation to size and sex of the fish was dominated by copepods in autumn and winter and by chironomid larvae during spring. Diet overlap (Schoener's index) was significant (,60%) between fish size-classes in January, March and April and between sexes for most sampling months. The average size of prey consumed was independent of fish mouth size. The feeding strategy of the threespine stickleback shifted from opportunist in winter to specialist in spring., [source]

Feeding ecology of silverperch, Terapon plumbeus Kner, and the impact of fish-pens in Laguna de Bay, Philippines

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ICHTHYOLOGY, Issue 6 2000
M. Kock
Summary Aquaculture is an important factor in the fishery of Laguna de Bay in the Philippines; fish-pens and net-cages covered ,10% of the lake surface in the late 1990s. The present study was carried out to assess the possible influences of aquaculture on a wild fish species, silverperch, Terapon plumbeus Kner, with a special emphasis on the feeding ecology of this fish. For the purposes of the investigation, 24-h samples were taken at 2-month intervals close to a fish-pen as well as in open water over a one-year period to acquire more information on this species. Significant differences in standard length and total weight were found between stations and sampling months. In open water, a mean standard length of 53.6 mm and a mean total weight of 4.2 g were found, whereas close to the fish-pen, the corresponding values were 57.6 mm and 5.4 g, respectively. The maximum mean standard length was attained around December 1996 and February 1997 (59.5 mm in open water; 66.1 mm close to the fish-pen), and the minimum was found in June 1996 (49.1 mm in open water; 46.2 mm close to the fish-pen). Noticeable differences were found in the food spectrum between the two sampling stations. Zooplankton, the major food source at both stations, was more important in the stomach content of fish in open water. The same was true for insects (i.e. chironomid larvae), although these did not make up such a large fraction of the diet. On the other hand, close to the fish-pen, aufwuchs- algae, phytoplankton and fish were more important. Generally, benthic organisms were consumed more frequently close to the fish-pen. Zooplankton was more important in the diet of smaller fish. In all size groups, the importance of zooplankton decreased during the rainy season. [source]

Intra- and Interannual Vegetation Change: Implications for Long-Term Research

Partitioning of temporal activity among desert lizards in relation to prey availability and temperature

AUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
CHRISTOPHER E. GORDON
Abstract Partitioning of activity time within ecological communities potentially reduces interspecific competition and increases the number of species that can coexist. We investigated temporal activity in a highly diverse lizard assemblage in the Simpson Desert, central Australia, to determine the degree of partitioning that occurs. Three periods were defined, daytime (sunrise to sunset), early night (sunset to midnight) and late night (midnight to sunrise), and live captures of lizards were tallied for each period during two sampling months (September and November 2007). We also quantified the activity times of potential invertebrate prey and measured ambient temperatures during the different time periods to investigate any associations between these factors and lizard activity. Some 77% of captures of 13 lizard species were made by day, with Ctenotus pantherinus, Egernia inornata (Scincidae) and Nephrurus levis (Gekkonidae) the only species showing extended nocturnal activity. Activity of both species of skink was recorded at temperatures 4°C lower than those for agamid and varanid lizards early in the night, and at temperatures as low as 18,20°C. Surface-active invertebrates differed in composition between time periods and were less abundant during the late night period in the drier of the two sample months (September), but were distributed equally over time in the other month. Termites were active in subterranean galleries at night in September and mostly by day in November, but available at all times on surface/subsurface baits. We conclude that activity is distributed unevenly within this lizard assemblage, with partitioning facilitated by the ready availability of invertebrate prey and by lizards having relatively broad temperature tolerances that, in some cases, permit opportunistic exploitation of resources beyond usual times of activity. [source]