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2,608 results for “breed”
Migratory and winter movements of Arctic Alaska breeding Sabine's Gulls (Xema sabini)
<p>The Sabine's Gull (<em>Xema sabini</em>) is a pelagic, Arctic-breeding species with a circumpolar breeding distribution. Little is known about migration routes for Sabine's Gulls breeding in the Alaskan Arctic. We tagged Sabine's Gulls on their northern Alaska breeding grounds to identify migration routes and wintering areas and compare geolocators and GPS pinpoint tags for use on small-bodied gulls. Twelve geolocators were deployed in northern Alaska in 2011 (Colville River Delta) of which four were recovered, and five GPS pinpoint tags in 2021 (Qupaluk). Although the GPS pinpoint tags provided more accurate locations allowing for finer-scale habitat evaluation, and did not require recapture of birds, the overall coverage provided by geolocators was superior in this study given the constraints of the number of locations GPS pinpoint tags can record. Broadly, the four (one tag failed) tracked Sabine's Gulls migrated away from the breeding grounds as expected, passing along the west coast of Alaska and south along the west coast of the Americas to winter in the Humboldt Current off the coast of Peru. Our tracked gulls used the same migratory staging and wintering areas as did Sabine's Gulls breeding in the Canadian Arctic (Davis <em>et al.,</em> 2016). Such reliance on specific marine areas presents risks from climate-related changes or ecological damage to those areas.</p>
Urban peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) breeding season diet in UK, 2020–2022
<p>Diets of urban peregrine falcons in UK were monitored via nest cameras during the breeding season (March-June) from 2020–2022. All prey items were then identified to species level where possible, by Ed Drewitt. This dataset contains the prey items recorded during each year of the study and location of the sites. </p>
Data for: Preening correlates with lower feather bacteria abundance but not feather coloration in a lek-breeding bird
<p>Feathers are structures unique to birds that serve important functions such as flight, thermoregulation, and communication. Bacteria that live on the feathers, particularly ones that can break down keratin, have the potential to damage feathers and disrupt their use in communication. We predicted that birds could behaviorally manage their feather bacterial abundances by preening their feathers. We also predicted that individuals with lower feather bacterial abundances would have brighter and more colorful feathers. To test these predictions, we measured the amount of time individuals in a colony of captive Indian peafowl (<em>Pavo cristatus</em>) spent preening their feathers. We also collected feathers to determine bacteria abundance on the feather surface and to measure feather coloration. We found that birds had lower feather bacteria levels when they spent more time preening their own feathers, but only in female birds. We also found that bacteria abundances were not correlated with any feather color variables we measured. These results suggest that birds can manage feather bacterial abundances by preening but feather bacteria may not influence feather coloration in this species.</p>
Data for: Estimation of genetic parameters for the implementation of selective breeding in commercial insect production
<p><strong>Background</strong></p> <p>There is a burgeoning interest in using insects as a sustainable source of food and feed, particularly by capitalising on various waste materials and by-products that are typically considered of low value. Enhancing the commercial production of insects can be achieved through two main approaches: optimising environmental conditions and implementing selective breeding strategies. In order to successfully target desirable traits through selective breeding, having a thorough understanding of the genetic parameters pertaining to those traits is essential. In this study, a full-sib half-sib mating design was used to estimate variance components and heritabilities for larval size and survival at day seven of development, development time and survival from egg to adult, and to estimate correlations between these traits, within an outbred population of house flies (<em>Musca domestica</em>), using high-throughput phenotyping for data collection.</p> <p><strong>Results</strong></p> <p>The results revealed low to intermediate heritabilities and positive genetic correlations between all traits except development time and survival to day seven of development and from egg to adulthood. Surprisingly, larval size at day seven exhibited a comparatively low heritability (0.10) in contrast to development time (0.25), a trait that is believed to have a stronger association with overall fitness. A decline in family numbers resulting from low mating success and high overall mortality reduced the amount of available data which resulted in large standard errors for the estimated parameters. Environmental factors made a substantial contribution to the phenotypic variation, which was overall high for all traits.</p> <p><strong>Conclusions</strong></p> <p>There is potential for genetic improvement in all studied traits and estimates of genetic correlations indicate a partly shared genetic architecture among the traits. All estimates have large standard errors. Implementing high-throughput phenotyping is imperative for the estimation of genetic parameters in fast developing insects, and facilitates age synchronisation, which is vital in a breeding population. In spite of endeavours to minimise non-genetic sources of variation, all traits demonstrated substantial influences from environmental components. This emphasises the necessity of thorough attention to the experimental design before breeding is initiated in insect populations.</p>
Figure 4 in Breeding biology of the Maguari Stork Ciconia maguari (Aves, Ciconiidae) in the Pampa, and an outline in other Brazilian biomes
Figure 4. Seasonal occurrence of records of the Maguari Stork (Ciconia maguari) involving juveniles in the Pampa biome, in Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil. Records were obtained by citizens and gathered in the WikiAves database in June 2020. Arabic numerals after each month represent 10-days long periods – (I):– days 1-10, (II): days 11-20, (III): days 21-31 of each month.
Figure 2 in Species diversity and composition of Oribatida (Acari: Sarcoptiformes) in former breeding colonies of the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) in Poland
Figure 2. Number of species from individual ecological groups in each studied site.
Figure 1 in Species diversity and composition of Oribatida (Acari: Sarcoptiformes) in former breeding colonies of the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) in Poland
Figure 1. The abundance of oribatid mites from individual ecological groups in each studied site.
Data required for "Redefining awn development in rice through the breeding history of Japanese awn reduction"
<p>The study challenges the conventional understanding of awn loss as a domestication syndrome, showing instead that many awned varieties continued to be widely grown in Japan until the early twentieth century and that selection for awn reduction was active at that time, demonstrating that awn loss is not a domestication syndrome but “a trait that emerged during crop improvement”. Although selection for awnless mutants was carried out independently using different types of awned cultivars in the early twentieth century in Japan, awn loss was caused by the mutation in <em>OsEPFL1</em>. This suggests that a single mutant haplotype of <em>OsEPFL1</em> was conserved in the genomes of different cultivars and subsequently selected within each line to meet the demand for awnless varieties. The study also conducts phylogenetic analyses of EPFL1 in 48 grass plants, revealing its unique involvement in awn formation in rice while potentially playing a different role in the domestication of other grass plants. Finally, an attempt is made to isolate an awn-forming gene that has not been identified from the awned rice cultivar “Omachi”, which is still cultivated in Japan. The results presented in this paper provide a new perspective on domestication against the conventional understanding of awn development, shedding light on its potential as a useful organ for breeding to mitigate environmental stress.</p>
Data from: Carry-over effects of seasonal migration on reproductive success through breeding site retention in a partially migratory bird
<p>Understanding the maintenance and dynamics of phenotypic polymorphisms requires unpicking key ecological mechanisms shaping the fitness costs and benefits of expressing alternative phenotypes, generating selection. Seasonal migration versus year-round residence expressed in partially migratory populations represents one common polymorphism that can experience strong selection through differential reproductive success. Yet, key hypothesised pathways that could generate such selection remain to be empirically tested.</p> <p>One hypothesis is that migratory tactics affect subsequent reproductive success through carry-over effects on breeding site retention and resulting breeding dispersal. By remaining in breeding areas all year round, residents could retain their preferred breeding site between years, and consequently have higher reproductive success. Conversely, migrants that escape harsh non-breeding season conditions could return in better condition, with high resource holding potential, and outcompete residents to retain their site. Such effects could further depend on migration timing and vary between years. Yet, such pathways have not been quantified, precluding empirical parameterisation of partial migration theory. </p> <p>We used four years of breeding and non-breeding season data from partially migratory European shags (<em>Gulosus aristotelis</em>) to test whether the three most frequent migratory tactics in this population (full resident, early migrant departing soon after breeding, and late migrant departing in late autumn) differed in their breeding site retention; whether site retention predicted reproductive success; and hence whether effects of migratory tactic on reproductive success were explicable through site retention.</p> <p>Overall, residents were much more likely to retain their breeding site between years than both early and late migrants, and site retention was associated with increased reproductive success. Yet, these effects varied somewhat among years: late migrants were always least likely to retain their site but had variable relative reproductive success. Path analyses revealed that effects of migratory tactic on reproductive success were only partly attributable to breeding site retention.</p> <p>These results indicate that multiple mechanisms underlie reproductive selection on migratory tactics, potentially contributing to maintaining behavioural polymorphisms. Yet, the clear associations between migratory tactics and local breeding dispersal reveal that these movements can be strongly interlinked across seasons, shaping overall spatio-seasonal dynamics in partially migratory systems.</p>
Transcriptomic Analysis Data for MSTN Mutations and Mechanisms of Muscle Hypertrophy in a New Guinea Pig Breed
<p>This dataset contains raw RNA-seq data from six guinea pig muscle samples, split into two groups:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Native guinea pigs (B1 to B3):</strong> Control group with no selective breeding.</li> <li><strong>Kuri breed guinea pigs (B4 to B6):</strong> Synthetic hybrid group selectively bred for increased muscle mass.<br>Each sample has paired-end FASTQ files (e.g., B1_1.fq.gz and B1_2.fq.gz).</li> </ul>
Wheat breeding phenotyping and yield dataset
<p>This is a wheat breeding phenotyping and yield dataset, including canopy height (CH, m), canopy volume (CV, m3), and leaf area index (LAI) collected in the field; vegetation index (VI) generated by multispectral data acquired by UAV remote sensing; trial site weather (Weather); and yield (Yield, kg). The data comes from field trials.</p> <p>Data acquisition and processing are described in the relevant part of the manuscript.</p> <p>This dataset will be continuously updated in the future to help breeders carry out their work efficiently and accelerate the breeding process of excellent varieties.</p>
The canine vaginal microbiome in heat does not influence fertility in healthy breeding bitches
<p>A healthy and balanced vaginal microbiome is often thought to be an important prerequisite for successful breeding and healthy litters. Previous studies investigating the influence of canine vaginal bacteria on fertility mostly relied on aerobic culturing. In recent years, culture-independent methods, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), have become popular. With the ability to analyze the microbiome as a whole, research in this field has made notable advances. This is the first study to correlate NGS data of the canine vaginal microbiome in heat with fertility data. Healthy breeding bitches (n=80) presented for routine pre-breeding examination were sampled during early heat and mated after ovulation. A vaginal sample was taken for NGS analysis and microbiological culture. Additionally, a blood sample was collected. Fertility data (mating, pregnancy, delivery, litter size) were assessed. NGS revealed a diverse microbiome in all the samples. Bioinformatics and statistical analysis did not provide evidence of larger differences in the microbiome of those bitches that became pregnant and those that did not. </p> <p> </p>
Do nest boxes breed the target species or its competitors? A case study of a critically endangered bird
<p>Nest boxes are widely used for habitat restoration. Unfortunately, competitors of the target species may exploit nest boxes, creating perverse outcomes. Avoiding habitats preferred by nontarget species, while favoring those of the target species, requires an adaptive management approach if limited information about species preferences is available when deploying boxes. Using nest boxes intended for Swift Parrots Lathamus discolor, we identify factors associated with nontarget species occupancy (Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris and Tree Martin Petrochelidon nigricans) in newly deployed boxes in 2016, and then again after 3 years had elapsed in 2019. Box occupancy by different species depended on the interaction between distance of individual boxes to the forest edge and year. Although the target species exploited similar numbers of nest boxes in both years, competitors were the main beneficiaries of established boxes. A subordinate native nest competitor increased box occupancy likelihood at greater distances from forest edges in both years, but the relationship was stronger in 2019. Introduced Common Starlings S. vulgaris were most likely to occupy boxes close to forest edges, but the magnitude of this relationship was much greater for established than newly deployed boxes. We suggest that permanent box deployments for Swift Parrots may produce perverse outcomes by increasing nesting habitat for Common Starlings. We suggest that for species that only use cavities for part of their life cycle, managers should limit access to boxes outside of critical times to reduce the likelihood that pest populations can exploit restoration efforts and create new problems.</p>
Data from: Family dynamics reveal that female house mice preferentially breed in their maternal community
<p>Whether females breed in their natal group is an important factor in the evolution of extended families in animal sociality. Breeding in natal groups comes with costs and benefits, depending on group size and presence of older relatives, including mothers. Studying the consequences of breeding in the natal versus another group provides insight into the decisions and trade-offs governing the formation and structure of family groups. We investigated the family dynamics of a population of free-ranging commensal house mice. Using dynamic community detection on long term datasets, we determined which females first bred in their natal group. We then looked at how this influenced breeding success. We found most females (77%) exhibited strong philopatry, breeding in their natal groups. Breeding elsewhere was only somewhat predictable at very large and very small group sizes. Despite their philopatric preference, breeding elsewhere made no difference in how quickly and successfully a female bred. However, presence of their mother did lead females to breed sooner when born during high breeding activity, when competition over reproduction is high. Based on these results, potential loss of reproductive success from leaving the natal group does not seem to be the main driver of philopatry in female house mice. The effect of the presence of mothers suggests that benefiting from established social connections promotes breeding in the natal group. Mothers providing benefits also implies a lack of conflict between generations, which will be important for the development of stable social groups.</p>
Optimising flower fields as an effective farmland eco-scheme also during non-breeding
<p>1. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union implements several farmland eco-schemes, but most are considered ineffective in halting the population declines of farmland birds. Sown flower fields are among the few eco-scheme types that rate as clearly beneficial. Yet, current CAP regulations lack minimum criteria for flower fields to qualify as eco-scheme, and thus only partially exploit their potential biodiversity benefits.</p> <p>2. Earlier research on the attraction of farmland birds to different types of sown flower fields has focused on the breeding season. We know far less about relative use of these fields during the non-breeding season, when food limitation can become severe. We therefore compared the attractiveness of four flower field types in SW Germany to 17 bird species during autumn and winter. Based on replicate surveys on 75–168 fields, we analysed bird incidences across these four types, and in relation to vegetation structure and landscape features.</p> <p>3. Flower field types showed little variation in species richness, but striking differences in selection by particular species. Finches and tits were disproportionally abundant on fields in their first year since sowing, buntings and whinchat on fields in later successional stages. Most flower fields established under CAP greening regulations were ploughed between September and November of their first year. Therefore, such fields cannot support farmland birds and other wildlife during a critical phase in their annual cycle.</p> <p>4. Birds were consistently more abundant on larger fields with a differentiated vegetation structure. Flower fields along hedgerows and groves primarily attracted inhabitants of woodland ecotones, while farmland birds had higher incidences on fields embedded in open landscapes.</p> <p>5. 'Policy implications'. EU member states currently revise their farmland eco-schemes. We propose to formulate minimum quality standards to assure that flower fields effectively support farmland birds also during the non-breeding season. These include an at least biennial cycle, more diversified seed mixtures, field sizes exceeding 12 m width or 0.18 ha area, and local diversity in their placement relative to other landscape elements such as hedgerows.</p>
The contributions of individual traits to survival among terrestrial juvenile pond-breeding salamanders
<p>Individual survival is influenced by interactions between local environmental conditions and an organism's morphological, behavioral, and physiological traits. Studies examining the effects of individual phenotypes on survival under variable conditions are relatively rare among early transitional life stages, though the vital rates of these life stages can importantly influence population dynamics. We experimentally examined the effects of initial body mass, movement, standard metabolic rate (SMR), and respiratory surface area water loss (RSAWL) on survival in the transitional juvenile life stage of two biphasic amphibian species (Ambystoma maculatum and A. opacum) in a seven-month mark-recapture study under semi-natural conditions. Juveniles with a larger initial body mass, lower initial SMR, and/or a lower tendency to change locations had a higher likelihood of known survival. In contrast, we found no significant effect of RSAWL on juvenile survival. The relationships between individual phenotypes and survival did not differ between species, but equivalent species-specific survival rates may have been attributed to larger initial body sizes in A. maculatum and lower SMR in A. opacum. Our results illuminate the complex ways in which individual traits influence survival during the early transitional life stage of two ambystomatid species under varying abiotic conditions. More generally, our findings illustrate potential advantages of simultaneously examining multiple traits to evaluate survival.</p>
Supplementary files from: Improving inference and avoiding over-interpretation of hidden-state diversification models: Specialized plant breeding has no effect on diversification in frogs
<p>The hidden-state speciation and extinction (HiSSE) model helps avoid spurious results when testing whether a character affects diversification rates. However, care must be taken to optimally analyze models and interpret results. Recently, Tonini et al. (2020; TEA hereafter) studied anuran (frog and toad) diversification with HiSSE methods. They concluded that their focal state, breeding in phytotelmata, increases net diversification rates. Yet this conclusion is counterintuitive, because the state that purportedly increases net diversification rates is 14 times rarer among species than the alternative. Herein I revisit TEA's analyses and demonstrate problems with inferring model likelihoods, conducting post-hoc tests, and interpreting results. I also re-evaluate their top models and find that diverse strategies are necessary to reach the parameter values that maximize each model's likelihood. In contrast to TEA, I find no support for an effect of phytotelm breeding on net diversification rates in Neotropical anurans. In particular, even though the most highly supported models include the focal character, averaging parameter estimates over hidden states shows that the focal character does not influence diversification rates. Finally, I suggest ways to better analyze and interpret complex diversification models – both state-dependent and beyond – for future studies in other organisms.</p>
Fig. 2 in New whitefly genus and species (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae) breeding on Orophea katschallica Kurz in India
Fig. 2. Rudisculptus caudalis gen. et sp. nov., puparium, paratype (ANRC-ZSI), habitus on leaf.
Fig. 1 in New whitefly genus and species (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae) breeding on Orophea katschallica Kurz in India
Fig. 1. Collection locality of the new taxa marked with red circle.
Fig. 7 in New whitefly genus and species (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae) breeding on Orophea katschallica Kurz in India
Fig. 7. Aleuropleurocelus ceanothi (Sampson, 1945), habitus. A. Dorsal view. B. Ventral view.
ScienceDex guides
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These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.