| 1. |
- Elmberg, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Movements and habitat choice of resident and translocated adult female Grass Snakes (Natrix natrix) during the egg-laying period
- 2019
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Ingår i: Herpetological Journal. - : BRITISH HERPETOL SOC. - 0268-0130. ; 29:4, s. 244-250
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We used externally applied transmitters to study movements of female grass snakes (Natrix natrix) during the egg-laying period in a near-urban landscape in Sweden. Half of the studied snakes were residents while the other half were translocated individuals with no previous experience of the area. As predicted, resident females moved more goal-oriented and shorter distances than did translocated individuals. Habitat use did not differ between resident and translocated snakes; they were typically found in bushes, reeds, and tall vegetation. Habitat preference (use in relation to availability) showed that bushy habitats, tall grassy vegetation and reedbeds were over-used in proportion to availability, whereas forest and open grass lawns were used less than expected based on availability. Our study highlights the importance of preserving and restoring linear habitat components providing shelter and connectivity in conservation of grass snakes. We suggest that externally applied transmitters are a better option than surgically implanted ones in movement studies of grass snakes, and that translocation as a conservation method for snakes has drawbacks.
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| 2. |
- Hagman, Helga, et al.
(författare)
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Protein array profiling of circulating angiogenesis-related factors during bevacizumab containing treatment in metastatic colorectal cancer
- 2018
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 13:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Prolonged angiogenesis inhibition may improve treatment outcome in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. However, due to the complexity of the angiogenic pathways there is a lack of valid predictive biomarkers for anti-angiogenic agents. Here, we describe and optimize a procedure for simultaneous dynamic profiling of multiple angiogenesis related proteins in patient serum to explore associations with the response and acquired resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy. Materials and methods Patients (n=22) were selected from a clinical trial investigating maintenance treatment with bevacizumab alone after response to induction chemotherapy + bevacizumab in mCRC. Serum samples were analysed for 55 unique angiogenesis related proteins using a commercial proteome profiler array and a publicly available image analysis program for quantification. Samples were collected at baseline before induction treatment start, at start of maintenance treatment, and at end of treatment after tumour progression. Main results and conclusion For eight proteins, the antibody array signals were below detection range in all patient samples. None of the proteins showed levels at baseline or at start of maintenance with strong evidence for correlation to time to progression (lowest nominal p-value 0.03). The dynamic ranges of protein levels measured during the induction treatment period and during the maintenance period were analysed separately for time trends. Evidence for changing trends (up/down) in the levels of MMP-8, TIMP-4 and EGF was observed both during response to induction treatment and at progressive disease, respectively. For three of the proteins (IL-8, Activin A and IGFBP-2), weak evidence for correlation between increasing protein levels during induction with chemotherapy and bevacizumab and time to progression was observed. In conclusion, semi-quantitative profiling of angiogenesis related proteins in patient serum may be a versatile tool to screen for protein patterns aiming at identifying resistance mechanisms of anti-angiogenic treatment in patients with mCRC.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Hagman, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Determinants of anti-predator tactics in hatchling grass snakes (Natrix natrix)
- 2015
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Ingår i: Behavioural Processes. - : Elsevier BV. - 0376-6357 .- 1872-8308. ; 113, s. 60-65
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many organisms exhibit diverse anti-predator tactics, influenced by genetics and prior experience. In ectothermic taxa, offspring phenotypes are often sensitive to developmental temperatures. If the effectiveness of alternative anti-predator responses depends on thermally sensitive traits, then the temperatures experienced during embryonic life should also affect how offspring respond to an approaching predator. We incubated 16 clutches of Swedish grass snakes (Natrix natrix) at a range of developmental temperatures, and scored body size, colour pattern, locomotor performance and anti-predator responses of 213 hatchlings from those clutches. A hatchling snake’s size and locomotor abilities were affected by its clutch of origin, its developmental temperature, and by an interaction between these two factors. Anti-predator tactics were strongly linked to locomotor ability, such that slower snakes tended to rely upon aggressive displays rather than flight. Incubation temperatures that generated slow (and thus aggressive) snakes also modified the colour of the snake’s nuchal spot. Temperatures in the low to medium range generated mostly cream, white and orange spots, whereas medium to high temperatures generated more yellow spots. Incubation effects, and gene X environment interactions, thus may generate complex correlations between morphology, locomotor ability, and anti-predator tactics.
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| 5. |
- Hagman, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Many Paths to a Common Destination : Morphological Differentiation of a Functionally Convergent Visual Signal
- 2016
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Ingår i: American Naturalist. - : University of Chicago Press. - 0003-0147 .- 1537-5323. ; 188:3, s. 306-318
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the interacting outcomes of selection and historical contingency in shaping adaptive evolution remains a challenge in evolutionary biology. While selection can produce convergent outcomes when species occupy similar environments, the unique history of each species can also influence evolutionary trajectories and result in different phenotypic end points. The question is to what extent historical contingency places species on different adaptive pathways and, in turn, the extent to which we can predict evolutionary outcomes. Among lizards there are several distantly related genera that have independently evolved an elaborate extendible dewlap for territorial communication. We conducted a detailed morphological study and employed new phylogenetic comparative methods to investigate the evolution of the underlying hyoid that powers the extension of the dewlap. This analysis showed that there appear to have been multiple phenotypic pathways for evolving a functionally convergent dewlap. The biomechanical complexity that underlies this morphological structure implies that adaptation should have been constrained to a narrow phenotypic pathway. However, multiple adaptive solutions have been possible in apparent response to a common selection pressure. Thus, the phenotypic outcome that subsequently evolved in different genera seems to have been contingent on the history of the group in question. This blurs the distinction between convergent and historically contingent adaptation and suggests that adaptive phenotypic diversity can evolve without the need for divergent natural selection.
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| 6. |
- Löwenborg Di Marino, Kristin, 1985-
(författare)
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Nesting ecology of the grass snake (Natrix natrix) and its implications for conservation
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The onset of agriculture about 12,000 years ago has had a major influence on the biodiversity of plants and animals. Unfortunately, the rapid changes in agricultural practices that has occurred in recent times has negatively affected many farmland species. One such species is the grass snake (Natrix natrix), which has been reported to decline in many parts of Europe, including Sweden. The grass snake is unique, not only in that it is the most northerly distributed oviparous reptile in the world, but also because of its habit of using anthropogenic heat sources such as manure heaps and composts as nesting-sites. Unfortunately changes in manure management and abandonment of farmlands have resulted in a decline and fragmentation of these environments. This may pose a threat for the northernmost populations of the grass snake, because natural nests in these areas may not provide sufficient heat for the eggs to hatch. The eggs and embryos of reptiles are highly sensitive to incubation temperatures, which can influence not only hatching success but also many phenotypic traits in the hatchlings. In this thesis I used a series of laboratory and field experiments to investigate the importance of anthropogenic heat sources for the reproductive ecology of cold-climate populations of grass snakes. More specifically, I aimed to investigate thermal regimes of nests and how they influence embryonic development and offspring traits associated with survival and fitness. The results showed that manure heaps and composts are significantly warmer than potential natural nests and that natural nests do not provide sufficient heat to sustain embryonic development. Further, manure heaps were warmer and more constant in temperature than composts, resulting in higher hatching success and earlier hatching in manure heaps. The higher thermal variability in composts increased the frequency of abnormalities that are likely to negatively affect survival and fitness. In conclusion, this thesis shows that the use of anthropogenic heat sources has enabled grass snakes to expand their range farther north than any other oviparous reptile and that the thermal dichotomy in the primary nesting environments used by grass snakes contribute to important life-history variation in this species. These findings have important implications for conservation of reptile populations in general and grass snakes in particular.
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| 7. |
- Löwenborg, Kristin, et al.
(författare)
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Scale asymmetries and lateral rib duplication in snakes : correlates and effects on locomotor performance
- 2017
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Ingår i: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0024-4066 .- 1095-8312. ; 120:1, s. 189-194
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thermally-induced scale asymmetries in reptiles are often considered to be indicative of underlying osteological deformities that incur fitness costs. However, this typically rests on subjective plausibility arguments and anecdotal reports about links between deformities and fitness, as well as between superficial asymmetries and deeper deformities rather than on empirical data. To shed light on these issues, we used a combination of Xrays of museum specimens and locomotor performance trials of hatchlings grass snakes (Natrix natrix) incubated in the laboratory at either 25 degrees C or 31 degrees C. We found that 30% of the museum specimens with asymmetrical ventral scales also had a rib duplication on one side of the underlying vertebrae associated with a scale asymmetry. In some cases, there was also a second extra rib on the opposite side of the vertebrae. However, although there was a statistically significant association between asymmetric ventral scales and rib duplication, a relatively weak correlation coefficient (r(s) = 0.35) indicated that scale asymmetries are not a very strong predictor of rib duplication. In the performance trials, scale asymmetries had a significant effect on terrestrial but not aquatic locomotor ability of the hatchlings, and the magnitude of this effect depended on the temperature regimes that they experienced as embryos during incubation. Although both asymmetrical and normal snakes incubated at the higher temperature had more stamina than their respective counterparts incubated at the lower temperature, asymmetrical hatchlings overall became exhausted much sooner than normal snakes across the two treatments.
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