Article
Behavioral Sciences
Sydney F. Hope, William A. Hopkins, Frederic Angelier
Summary: With 68% of the world's population expected to live in cities by 2050, it is crucial to understand how animals respond to urbanization. This study examines the effects of urbanization on parental care and incubation behavior in great tits. The results show that urban females spent more time incubating, had shorter off-bouts, and ended their last daily off-bouts at a later hour compared to forest females. However, there were no significant differences in egg temperatures or fitness-related offspring variables between urban and forest populations.
Article
Biology
Marcel E. Visser, Melanie Lindner, Phillip Gienapp, Matthew C. Long, Stephanie Jenouvrier
Summary: Climate change has caused phenological shifts in different species and trophic levels, with a recent slowdown in the rate of advance due to a decrease in late spring temperatures. It is projected that prey phenology will advance faster than predator phenology in the coming decades, intensifying phenological mismatches.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Miklos Laczi, Gabor Herczeg, Gyula Szabo, Helga Gyarmathy, Fanni Sarkadi, Janos Torok, Gergely Hegyi
Summary: This study investigated sexual dichromatism in great tits. The results showed marked differences between the breast section of males and the throat and belly sections, with the female's breast appearing less bright. This sexual dichromatism is not easily detected by the human eye. Additionally, a hidden ultraviolet patch was discovered in the male's breast, which may serve as a sexual ornament or signal amplifier.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biology
Cesare Pacioni, Marina Sentis, Catherine Hambly, John R. Speakman, Anvar Kerimov, Andrey Bushuev, Luc Lens, Diederik Strubbe
Summary: Understanding how birds allocate energy to cope with changing environmental conditions and physiological states is crucial. This study on great tits found that their energy requirements increase during the breeding season compared to winter, but overall they maintain a relatively stable energy budget.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Joanne C. Stonehouse, Lewis G. Spurgin, Veronika N. Laine, Mirte Bosse, Martien A. M. Great Tit HapMap Consortium, Martien A. M. Groenen, Kees van Oers, Ben C. Sheldon, Marcel E. Visser, Jon Slate
Summary: The unprecedented rate of climate change emphasizes the urgency of understanding how organisms can adapt. Great tits are an attractive model system for studying the genomics of climate adaptation. Through genome-environment analysis, 36 genes linked to climate adaptation were identified. Enrichment analysis revealed that climate adaptation is polygenic and genetically complex. The study also suggests that great tits have been adapting geographically to climate changes since the last ice age. Furthermore, substantial climate-associated genetic variation remains in contemporary great tit populations.
Article
Ecology
Natalie E. van Dis, Kamiel Spoelstra, Marcel E. Visser, Davide M. Dominoni
Summary: Artificial light at night (ALAN) can impact bird incubation behavior, leading to lower nest temperatures, fewer but longer off-bouts, and potentially severe consequences for embryo development. However, no clear effects on hatchling number or weight were found in this study. The subtle alterations in natural behaviors due to ALAN may not have immediate fitness consequences, but could potentially accumulate and negatively affect parent condition, survival, and offspring recruitment in the long term, especially in urban environments with high levels of environmental pollutants.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ella F. Cole, Charlotte E. Regan, Ben C. Sheldon
Summary: Studies have found small-scale spatial variation in the timing of egg laying for great tits, linked to the health of nearby oak trees, in response to climate change. This suggests spatial differences in the impact of climate change on animals and plants, highlighting the importance of local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity in responding to climate change, as well as the role of behavioral responses like habitat selection and dispersal in mitigating challenges from climate extremes.
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Evy Goossens, Roschong Boonyarittichaikij, Daan Dekeukeleire, Lionel Hertzog, Sarah Van Praet, Frank Pasmans, Dries Bonte, Kris Verheyen, Luc Lens, An Martel, Elin Verbrugghe
Summary: This study investigates the impact of forest structure on the gut microbiome of wild great tit nestlings. The results show an interaction effect of edge density with tree species richness or composition on the microbial richness and community structure. There is no significant short-term impact of the overall fecal microbiome on host characteristics, but specific bacterial genera have adverse effects on fledging success.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Timothee Bonnet, Michael B. Morrissey, Pierre de Villemereuil, Susan C. Alberts, Peter Arcese, Liam D. Bailey, Stan Boutin, Patricia Brekke, Lauren J. N. Brent, Glauco Camenisch, Anne Charmantier, Tim H. Clutton-Brock, Andrew Cockburn, David W. Coltman, Alexandre Courtiol, Eve Davidian, Simon R. Evans, John G. Ewen, Marco Festa-Bianchet, Christophe de Franceschi, Lars Gustafsson, Oliver P. Honer, Thomas M. Houslay, Lukas F. Keller, Marta Manser, Andrew G. McAdam, Emily McLean, Pirmin Nietlisbach, Helen L. Osmond, Josephine M. Pemberton, Erik Postma, Jane M. Reid, Alexis Rutschmann, Anna W. Santure, Ben C. Sheldon, Jon Slate, Celine Teplitsky, Marcel E. Visser, Bettina Wachter, Loeske E. B. Kruuk
Summary: This study analyzed long-term data from 19 wild bird and mammal populations and found that additive genetic variance in relative fitness is often substantial and, on average, twice that of previous estimates. These rates of contemporary adaptive evolution can affect population dynamics and suggest that natural selection has the potential to partly mitigate effects of current environmental change.
Article
Ecology
Christoph Thies, Richard A. Watson
Summary: Multilevel selection theory proposes that selection can occur on multiple levels of organization, however, the methods used to determine group selection may disagree on its presence. Experimental intervention is necessary to determine the correct approach.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ornithology
Xudong Li, Wenyu Xu, Jiangping Yu, Wutong Zhang, Haitao Wang
Summary: The reproductive behaviors of birds are controlled by the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad axis, and hormone levels are closely related to the breeding sub-stages. This study investigated the changes in LH and PRL concentrations in different reproductive stages of the facultative double-brooded Great Tit. Results showed sex-based differences in LH and PRL levels at different stages of reproduction, and the concentrations of LH and PRL varied between different reproductive periods for both males and females.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Adam Kalinski, Michal Gladalski, Marcin Markowski, Joanna Skwarska, Jaroslaw Wawrzyniak, Jerzy Banbura
Summary: Ketone body levels are important indicators of the physiological condition of birds. This study found that ketone body levels differ between different winter habitats, with higher levels found in areas with irregular artificial feeding, indicating more intense fasting.
CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Nina Bircher, Kees van Oers, Marc Naguib
Summary: Observing interactions between male songbirds can provide important information to eavesdroppers. However, the study found that female great tits did not use the information gathered from eavesdropping on male singing interactions in their reproductive decisions.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Javier Sierro, Selvino R. de Kort, Ian R. Hartley
Summary: Birdsong is both repetitive and diverse. Research shows that consistent repetition is an indicator of fitness in male blue tits and song diversity reduces habituation during singing displays. Female blue tits are sexually aroused by male songs with high levels of vocal consistency, supporting the role of vocal consistency in mate choice. Switching song types elicits significant dishabituation, indicating that habituation drives song diversity in birds.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Nuria Playa-Montmany, Erick Gonzalez-Medina, Julian Cabello-Vergel, Manuel Parejo, Jose M. Abad-Gomez, Juan M. Sanchez-Guzman, Auxiliadora Villegas, Jose A. Masero
Summary: The study found no significant relationship between the relative bill or tarsi size and thermoregulatory traits in Great tits, but males with larger tarsi areas showed higher cooling efficiencies at high temperatures. This suggests that leg surface areas may play a role in males' physiological responses to heat stress, while bill surface area does not seem to have a significant impact.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Oscar Vedder, Maria Moiron, Coraline Bichet, Christina Bauch, Simon Verhulst, Peter H. Becker, Sandra Bouwhuis
Summary: The study found that telomere length in wild seabirds is highly heritable and strongly positively genetically correlated with lifespan, indicating that the heritable differences between individuals set at conception may present an important component of somatic state variation.
Article
Physiology
Michael J. Lawrence, Hanna Scheuffele, Stephen B. Beever, Peter E. Holder, Colin J. Garroway, Steven J. Cooke, Timothy D. Clark
Summary: There is no correlation between an individual fish's metabolic phenotype and the latency to feed after exercise, suggesting that interindividual differences in biochemical and endocrine processes may play a more influential role in mediating feeding latency after exercise.
PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL ZOOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Joe P. P. Woodman, Ella F. F. Cole, Josh A. A. Firth, Christopher M. M. Perrins, Ben C. C. Sheldon
Summary: Age has significant effects on behavior, survival, and reproduction. Age-assortative mating is common, but the mechanisms driving it are not well understood. This study compares breeding data from great tits and mute swans to investigate the contributions of pair retention, cohort age structure, and active age-related mate selection to age assortment. The results show that the drivers of age assortment differ between the species, likely due to their different life histories and demographic differences. Understanding these mechanisms and their consequences is important for wild populations.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Britta S. Meyer, Maria Moiron, Calvinna Caswara, William Chow, Olivier Fedrigo, Giulio Formenti, Bettina Haase, Kerstin Howe, Jacquelyn Mountcastle, Marcela Uliano-Silva, Jonathan Wood, Erich D. Jarvis, Miriam Liedvogel, Sandra Bouwhuis
Summary: Senescence, an age-related decline in survival and/or reproductive performance, occurs in various species. We explored the age-specific changes in DNA methylation in common terns, a relatively long-lived migratory seabird species known to undergo senescence. Our findings showed a decrease in autosomal methylation levels with age in females, but not in males, and no evidence of selective appearance/disappearance of birds based on their methylation level. These results lay the foundation for further investigations on the functional consequences of methylation patterns and their relationship to the ageing phenotype.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
M. J. Lawrence, P. Grayson, J. D. Jeffrey, M. F. Docker, C. J. Garroway, J. M. Wilson, R. G. Manzon, M. P. Wilkie, K. M. Jeffries
Summary: The control of sea lamprey in the Laurentian Great Lakes often involves the use of a mixture of 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) and niclosamide to kill its larvae. The study aimed to understand the mechanisms of tolerance and toxicity of niclosamide and TFM in non-target fishes. The results showed that bluegills have high detoxification capacity and flexible detoxification response to these compounds, explaining their high tolerance to the lampricides.
COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY D-GENOMICS & PROTEOMICS
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Chloe Schmidt, Sean Hoban, Margaret Hunter, Ivan Paz-Vinas, Colin J. Garroway
Summary: The IUCN Red List is an important tool for assessing extinction risk, but it does not consider genetic diversity. Previous studies have shown that species with higher extinction risk tend to have lower genetic diversity across all marker types.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Anne Pohlmann, Ole Stejskal, Jacqueline King, Sandra Bouwhuis, Florian Packmor, Elmar Ballstaedt, Bernd Haelterlein, Veit Hennig, Lina Stacker, Annika Graaf, Christin Hennig, Anne Guenther, Yuan Liang, Charlotte Hjulsager, Martin Beer, Timm Harder
Summary: Mass mortality of colony-breeding seabirds occurred in the German Wadden Sea area due to high-pathogenicity avian influenza virus (HPAIV) subtype H5N1. The virus spread from the affected colonies in Germany to breeding colonies in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Poland, potentially entering the region via the British Isles.
JOURNAL OF GENERAL VIROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Riikka P. Kinnunen, Chloe Schmidt, Adrian Hernandez-Ortiz, Md Niaz Rahim, Colin J. Garroway
Summary: Through sampling and testing of squirrels in Winnipeg, Canada, it was found that urban squirrels are not highly exposed to Toxoplasma gondii infection, indicating that they may not be important intermediate hosts in cities. Consumption of oocysts in the soil may also not be a significant contributor to transmission in colder environments.
JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE DISEASES
(2023)
Review
Ecology
Takuji Usui, David Lerner, Isaac Eckert, Amy L. Angert, Colin J. Garroway, Anna Hargreaves, Lesley T. Lancaster, Jean-Philippe Lessard, Federico Riva, Chloe Schmidt, Karin van der Burg, Katie E. Marshall
Summary: Phenotypic plasticity allows organisms to quickly adapt to environmental changes and facilitates species' range shifts in response to climate change. The factors driving the evolution of plasticity at range edges and the ability of range-edge individuals to be plastic are still unclear. Integrating knowledge on the demography and evolution of edge populations is crucial for accurately predicting the evolution and adaptive role of plasticity at expanding range edges. Our spatially explicit synthesis provides potential improvement in predicting range shifts under climate change.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biology
Kristina B. Beck, Ben C. Sheldon, Josh A. Firth
Summary: The emergence and spread of novel behaviors through social learning can result in rapid changes at the population level, as social connections shape information flow. However, little is known about how information flow is influenced by individuals' learning mechanisms. By comparing four different learning mechanisms on wild great tit networks, we found that individuals with increased social connectivity and reduced social clustering acquired new behaviors faster. However, when the adoption of behaviors depended on the ratio of social connections to informed versus uninformed individuals, social connectivity had no impact on the order of acquisition. Additionally, specific learning mechanisms were found to limit behavioral spread within networks.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Marta Maziarz, Richard K. Broughton, Kristina B. Beck, Robert A. Robinson, Ben C. Sheldon
Summary: Human activity has affected natural resources and the species that depend on them, resulting in changes in interspecific competition dynamics. This study used automated data collection to examine competition among species with different population trends. Specifically, it focused on the foraging behavior of subordinate marsh tits among socially and numerically dominant blue tits and great tits. The findings showed that marsh tits were less likely to join larger groups of heterospecifics and accessed food less frequently in larger groups. This suggests that subordinate species exhibit temporal avoidance of dominant heterospecifics but have limited spatial avoidance, indicating partial reduction in interspecific competition.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Maria Moiron, Celine Teplitsky, Birgen Haest, Anne Charmantier, Sandra Bouwhuis
Summary: By analyzing the arrival dates of 1,715 individual common terns over a 27-year period, researchers found that their spring migration time had advanced by 9.3 days, with about 5% of the change attributed to advances in breeding values. Through estimation of genetic patterns, the study also found that the observed genetic changes were consistent with theoretical predictions. Overall, this study provides rare evidence for micro-evolution in the wild as an adaptive response to climate change, and illustrates how a combination of adaptive micro-evolution and phenotypic plasticity facilitated an earlier spring migration in common terns.
Article
Ecology
Kristina B. Beck, Damien R. Farine, Josh A. Firth, Ben C. Sheldon
Summary: The structure of animal societies is influenced by factors such as habitat configuration and population size. In this study, the researchers investigated how population size and habitat configuration affect the social structure of great tits. They found that population size was consistent within locations and predicted by habitat configuration, and that it influenced social structure as measured by network metrics. Additionally, the researchers discovered that social decisions made by individuals played a significant role in shaping social network features.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Teresa Militao, Nathalie Kurten, Sandra Bouwhuis
Summary: Sex-specific foraging behavior was observed in common terns, with females resting less and foraging closer to the colony in more coastal waters compared to males. Males showed higher variability in their foraging distribution throughout the tide cycle and foraged more outside of protected areas. This study highlights the importance of considering sex-specific foraging distributions when assessing the impact of at-sea threats on seabirds.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
M. J. Lawrence, P. Grayson, J. D. Jeffrey, M. F. Docker, C. J. Garroway, J. M. Wilson, R. G. Manzon, M. P. Wilkie, K. M. Jeffries
Summary: This study characterized the transcriptomic responses of sea lamprey to niclosamide and a TFM:niclosamide mixture, and identified their impacts on mRNA transcript abundance of genes associated with the cell cycle, immune function, and mitochondrial dysregulation.
COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY D-GENOMICS & PROTEOMICS
(2023)
