CONTENT - International Society of Zoological Sciences

S21 ICZ2008 - Abstracts
Changes in phenology of the ground beetle Pterostichus
madidus (Coleoptera: Carabidae) as evidenced from a longterm
dataset
Gabor Pozsgai
Craigiebuckler, AB15 8QH, Aberdeen, UK
Long-term data from the UK Environment Change Network (ECN)
were analysed to investigate whether there is a phenological
change in life history of Pterostichus madidus. Pitfall trap data
were available from 12 ECN sites across Britain, mo! st of which
have been established for over 11 years. All ECN sites follow the
same sampling protocol making data were suitable for trend
analysis. Weather and vegetation datasets were also available for
these sites. Pitfall trap lines – normally three at each site – were
categorized to broadleaf woodland, arable field, calcareous
grassland, coniferous woodland, permanent pasture, dry heather
and acid grassland vegetation types. Trend analysis was carried
out first using all the available capture data, then the datasets
grouped by vegetation type and ECN site. Few Pterostichus
madidus were caught on four sites and in three vegetation types,
so these were eliminated from the analysis. Pterostichus madidus
appeared significantly earlier, if tested the pooled data, at three
sites and in two vegetation types. There were also trends, although
not significant, of earlier appearance, in three vegetation types and
at two sites. In many cases adult beetles also disappeared
significantly earlier, possibly due to disadvantageous
environmental conditions in late summer. These results suggest
that in the last 11 years the Pterostichus madidus phenology has
changed with, the adults tending to appear earlier. Global warming
may be an important factor driving these changes.
Comparing modelling procedures for forecasting variations in
species distribution due to climate change
Raimundo Real, Ana Luz Márquez, Alba Estrada and Jesús
Olivero
Dpto. Biología Animal, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga,
Spain
Given that mountain species are presumed to be more at risk than
other species as a consequence of climate warming, we selected
one amphibian (Baetic midwife toad), one reptile (Lataste’s viper),
one bird (Bonelli’s eagle), and one mammal (Iberian wild goat)
species present in Andalusian mountains (S Spain) to model their
distributional response to climate change during this century. The
climatic forecasts for the whole century were provided by the
National Meteorological Institute of Spain, which adapted the
global circulation models CGM2 and ECHAM4 to Spain and
produced expected temperature and precipitation values according
to the A2 and B2 emission scenarios for each circulation model.
We tested several approaches to forecast future distribution. We
modelled the response of the species to spatial, topographic,
human, and climate variables separately. We compared each of
these explanatory models using Akaike Information Criterion, and
produced a combined model weighting those of each factor
(spatial, topographic, human, and climatic) according to Akaike
weights. This procedure overestimated the best model, and the
other factors were neglected in the final model. We also produced
a combined model using stepwise selection of the variables
previously selected according to each factor. In this way every
factor was represented in the final explanatory model of the
distributional response of the species to environmental conditions.
In the latest part of our approach, we forecasted the distribution of
the species by replacing current climatic values with those
expected according to each climate change scenario, while
preserving spatial, topographic and human variables.
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Global climate change and temperature effects on pest
insects
Mark Schlueter
Georgia Gwinnett College, School of Science and Technology,
1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043 USA
Global climate change or elevated annual temperatures affects
animal activity and reproduction. In insects, increased
temperatures may decrease development time from egg to adult,
increase metabolic rates, increase food consumption rates, and
affect many other factors.
In our laboratory, we have investigated the effects of temperature
on reproductive rates and development time in Tribolium
castaneum and T. confusum. Temperature has an interesting
effect on the reproduction and development of Tribolium beetles.
Increased temperature results in a much higher number of eggs
laid by females; however, higher temperatures also decrease the
chance an egg will hatch successfully. Similarly higher
temperatures speed up pupa development time; however,
increased temperature also decreases the chance of a successful
pupation. Extreme temperatures may even cause infertility. Overall,
Tribolium beetles exposed to higher temperatures exhibit faster
colonization rates, increased activity, and increased food
consumption rates.
Understanding how global warming or temperature affects pest
insects is very important to humans. Just consider the flour beetles,
Tribolium. Each gram of flour consumed by Tribolium beetles is
one less gram for humans. Stored food products have been rapidly
declining in the past few years due to increased demands by
human consumption and use of food products to create ethanol.
Any additional loss from sources like pest insects may result in
even greater food shortages.
The effects of climate change on birth seasonality in freeranging
populations of hanuman langurs: a review of
hypotheses and theoretical predications
Arun Srivastava
2000 85th Street, 07047, North Bergen, USA
This paper discusses the ultimate and proximate causes of birth
seasonality in 23 populations of Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus
entellus) and seasonal pattern shown by each population within
populations. Review of literature! and data collected through
survey questioner and direct field observations are consistent with
the hypothesis that food availability is the most important ultimate
cause of birth seasonality. Stepwise multiple regression equation
was use to estimate how the degree of birth seasonality is affected
by ecological and life history variables. This model shows that two
factors rainfall and latitude affect the degree of birth seasonality.
The degree of seasonality increases with latitude. To understand
which of the three alternative birth strategies are followed (reduce
energy stress during peak lactation; wean infants during peak food
availability; or store reserve during peak energy availability), we
compared the location of birth peak in relation to peak in food
availability for those populations from which the data were
available. Most populations can form a typical pattern of births
concentration before the peak in food availability allowing peak
lactation or weaning to take! place before the start of the lean
season. The current understanding of climate change due to
contraction of the continental ice sheet and the amount of solar
radiation it is predicted that the Asian monsoon will boost the
occurrence of severe floods in Indian subcontinent and drought in
western Indonesia through an Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). The
implications of such climatic conditions on the survival and
reproduction of other endangered primate species inhabiting south
Asian region could bring significant challenges for conservation.