#functional ecology

Killing Large Non-Native Herbivores May Be A Conservation Mistake

Kangaroo rat defensive kicking of rattlesnake while jumping

A student-led team from the University of California at Riverside, San Diego State University and the University of California at Davis set up high-speed cameras to see how North American desert-dwelling kangaroo rats deal with rattlesnake attacks. The slow-motion footage is startling.

"The resultant videos provide the first ever detailed look at the maneuvers that kangaroo rats use to defend themselves against a deadly predator," the University of California Riverside says.

The rats have long hind feet reminiscent of kangaroos. Those tootsies come in handy for kicking rattlesnakes and elevating the rats away from strikes with impressive jumps.

The team discovered that while rattlesnakes could strike and reach a rat in under 100 milliseconds, the rats had typical reactions times of around 70 milliseconds. That small margin is enough to escape becoming dinner.

The researchers also found that some rats that weren't fast enough were still able to avoid snakes by reorienting mid-jump and kicking the reptiles. San Diego State University biology professor Rulon Clark describes this as "ninja-style."

The researchers published papers on their findings on Wednesday in the journals Functional Ecology and the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.

IDENTIFYING ANCIENT LAND USE THROUGH THE FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY OF CROP WEED.

RESEARCH PROJECT TOPIC ON IDENTIFYING ANCIENT LAND USE THROUGH THE FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY OF CROP WEED.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title Page———i

Certification——–ii

Dedication———iii

Acknowledgement——-iv

Abstract ———vi

Table of Content——–vii

Chapter One

1.0 Introduction ——-1

1.1 Statement of Problem——4

1.2 Purpose of the Study——5

1.3 Significance of Study——8

1.4 Limitation——–9

1.5 Scope of Study——-11

Chapter Two

Le mamme e i cuccioli di megattere si parlano a bassa voce, per evitare le orche e i maschi

Una forma di comunicazione fortemente disturbata dai rumori delle navi

Le megattere (Megaptera novaeangliae) sono note per i loro canti ipnotici che possono essere ascoltati a decine di Km di distanza, ma lo studio “High suckling rates and acoustic crypsis of humpback whale neonates maximise potential for mother–calf energy transfer”, pubblicato su Functional Ecology da un team di ricercatori…

Host trait combinations drive abundance and canopy distribution of atmospheric bromeliad assemblages

Two individuals of Tillansia loliacea growing in the trunk of Pseudobombax tomentosum, a deciduous tree with reticulated trunk.(Photo credit: Davi Rodrigo Rossatto) Anyone interested in plants may already have asked themselves why some trees host a wide diversity and large numbers of epiphytes while others have none. This may occur by chance or could be derived from specific patterns driven by…