| 1. |
- Kotrschal, Alexander, et al.
(författare)
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A Noninvasive Method to Determine Fat Content in Small Fish Based on Swim Bladder Size Estimation
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Experimental Zoology. Part A. - : Wiley. - 1932-5223 .- 1932-5231. ; 315A:7, s. 408-415
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The presence of fat stores in fish is widely used as a correlate of fish health and fitness. Techniques to measure fat content with some accuracy are available for medium-sized and large fish, but apart from morphometric indices, a noninvasive method to determine fat content in small fish has hitherto been lacking. In this study, we introduce a novel method to measure the fat content in live fish that can be applied also to small fish of less than 0.5 g of body mass. This approach relies on a precise measurement of the swim bladder volume, from which fat content can subsequently be deduced. As fat is positively buoyant, fish with larger fat stores require a smaller swim bladder to attain neutral buoyancy. To determine swim bladder volume, we developed a measuring device, which makes use of the differential compressibility of air and water. A fish is placed in a pressure-tight chamber to which a standardized amount of water is added. The resulting change in pressure Delta p is inversely proportional to the volume of the swim bladder. Using juveniles and adults of Simochromis pleurospilus (Nelissen, '78; Pisces: Tropheini) a small cichlid fish, we show that Delta p is tightly related to structural size, mass, and body condition. Most importantly, this approach allows to predict the visceral fat content of small fish more precisely than the six most commonly used morphometric body indices.
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| 2. |
- Fischer, Stefan, et al.
(författare)
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Rearing-Group Size Determines Social Competence and Brain Structure in a Cooperatively Breeding Cichlid
- 2015
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Ingår i: American Naturalist. - : University of Chicago Press. - 0003-0147 .- 1537-5323. ; 186:1, s. 123-140
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Social animals can greatly benefit from well-developed social skills. Because the frequency and diversity of social interactions often increase with the size of social groups, the benefits of advanced social skills can be expected to increase with group size. Variation in social skills often arises during ontogeny, depending on early social experience. Whether variation of social-group sizes affects development of social skills and related changes in brain structures remains unexplored. We investigated whether, in a cooperatively breeding cichlid, early group size (1) shapes social behavior and social skills and (2) induces lasting plastic changes in gross brain structures and (3) whether the development of social skills is confined to a sensitive ontogenetic period. Rearing-group size and the time juveniles spent in these groups interactively influenced the development of social skills and the relative sizes of four main brain regions. We did not detect a sensitive developmental period for the shaping of social behavior within the 2-month experience phase. Instead, our results suggest continuous plastic behavioral changes over time. We discuss how developmental effects on social behavior and brain architecture may adaptively tune phenotypes to their current or future environments.
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| 3. |
- Kasper, Claudia, et al.
(författare)
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Genetics and developmental biology of cooperation
- 2017
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Ingår i: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083. ; 26:17, s. 4364-4377
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite essential progress towards understanding the evolution of cooperative behaviour, we still lack detailed knowledge about its underlying molecular mechanisms, genetic basis, evolutionary dynamics and ontogeny. An international workshop “Genetics and Development of Cooperation,” organized by the University of Bern (Switzerland), aimed at discussing the current progress in this research field and suggesting avenues for future research. This review uses the major themes of the meeting as a springboard to synthesize the concepts of genetic and nongenetic inheritance of cooperation, and to review a quantitative genetic framework that allows for the inclusion of indirect genetic effects. Furthermore, we argue that including nongenetic inheritance, such as transgenerational epigenetic effects, parental effects, ecological and cultural inheritance, provides a more nuanced view of the evolution of cooperation. We summarize those genes and molecular pathways in a range of species that seem promising candidates for mechanisms underlying cooperative behaviours. Concerning the neurobiological substrate of cooperation, we suggest three cognitive skills necessary for the ability to cooperate: (i) event memory, (ii) synchrony with others and (iii) responsiveness to others. Taking a closer look at the developmental trajectories that lead to the expression of cooperative behaviours, we discuss the dichotomy between early morphological specialization in social insects and more flexible behavioural specialization in cooperatively breeding vertebrates. Finally, we provide recommendations for which biological systems and species may be particularly suitable, which specific traits and parameters should be measured, what type of approaches should be followed, and which methods should be employed in studies of cooperation to better understand how cooperation evolves and manifests in nature.
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| 4. |
- Kotrschal, Alexander, et al.
(författare)
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Life-stage specific environments in a cichlid fish : implications for inducible maternal effects
- 2012
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Ingår i: Evolutionary Ecology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0269-7653 .- 1573-8477. ; 26:1, s. 123-137
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Through environmentally induced maternal effects females may fine-tune their offspring's phenotype to the conditions offspring will encounter after birth. If juvenile and adult ecologies differ, the conditions mothers experienced as juveniles may better predict their offspring's environment than the adult females' conditions. Maternal effects induced by the environment experienced by females during their early ontogeny should evolve when three ecological conditions are met: (1) Adult ecology does not predict the postnatal environmental conditions of offspring; (2) Environmental conditions for juveniles are correlated across successive generations; and (3) Juveniles occasionally settle in conditions that differ from the juvenile habitat of their mothers. By combining size-structured population counts, ecological surveys and a genetic analysis of population structure we provide evidence that all three conditions hold for Simochromis pleurospilus, a cichlid fish in which mothers adjust offspring quality to their own juvenile ecology. In particular we show (1) that the spatial niches and the habitat quality differ between juveniles and adults, and we provide genetic evidence (2) that usually fish of successive generations grow up in similar habitats, and (3) that occasional dispersal in populations with a different habitat quality is likely to occur. As adults of many species cannot predict their offspring's environment from ambient cues, life-stage specific maternal effects are likely to be common in animals. It will therefore be necessary to incorporate parental ontogeny in the study of parental effects when juveniles and adults inhabit different environments.
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| 5. |
- Taborsky, Barbara, et al.
(författare)
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An evolutionary perspective on stress responses, damage and repair
- 2022
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Ingår i: Hormones and Behavior. - : Elsevier BV. - 0018-506X .- 1095-6867. ; 142
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Variation in stress responses has been investigated in relation to environmental factors, species ecology, life history and fitness. Moreover, mechanistic studies have unravelled molecular mechanisms of how acute and chronic stress responses cause physiological impacts (‘damage’), and how this damage can be repaired. However, it is not yet understood how the fitness effects of damage and repair influence stress response evolution. Here we study the evolution of hormone levels as a function of stressor occurrence, damage and the efficiency of repair. We hypothesise that the evolution of stress responses depends on the fitness consequences of damage and the ability to repair that damage. To obtain some general insights, we model a simplified scenario in which an organism repeatedly encounters a stressor with a certain frequency and predictability (temporal autocorrelation). The organism can defend itself by mounting a stress response (elevated hormone level), but this causes damage that takes time to repair. We identify optimal strategies in this scenario and then investigate how those strategies respond to acute and chronic exposures to the stressor. We find that for higher repair rates, baseline and peak hormone levels are higher. This typically means that the organism experiences higher levels of damage, which it can afford because that damage is repaired more quickly, but for very high repair rates the damage does not build up. With increasing predictability of the stressor, stress responses are sustained for longer, because the animal expects the stressor to persist, and thus damage builds up. This can result in very high (and potentially fatal) levels of damage when organisms are exposed to chronic stressors to which they are not evolutionarily adapted. Overall, our results highlight that at least three factors need to be considered jointly to advance our understanding of how stress physiology has evolved: (i) temporal dynamics of stressor occurrence; (ii) relative mortality risk imposed by the stressor itself versus damage caused by the stress response; and (iii) the efficiency of repair mechanisms.
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| 6. |
- Taborsky, Barbara, et al.
(författare)
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Towards an Evolutionary Theory of Stress Responses
- 2021
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Ingår i: Trends in Ecology & Evolution. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-5347 .- 1872-8383. ; 36:1, s. 39-48
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- All organisms have a stress response system to cope with environmental threats, yet its precise form varies hugely within and across individuals, populations, and species. While the physiological mechanisms are increasingly understood, how stress responses have evolved remains elusive. Here, we show that important insights can be gained from models that incorporate physiological mechanisms within an evolutionary optimality analysis (the 'evo-mecho' approach). Our approach reveals environmental predictability and physiological constraints as key factors shaping stress response evolution, generating testable predictions about variation across species and contexts. We call for an integrated research programme combining theory, experimental evolution, and comparative analysis to advance scientific understanding of how this core physiological system has evolved.
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