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Bumble bees (species of Bombus Latreille, 1802) are important pollinators that are generally in population decline, but species presence and relative abundance are unknown in forested wetlands of the Acadian forest. To address this knowledge gap, we sampled bumble bees in forested wetlands and harvested sites (clearcuts) using vane and pan traps. We collected 617 specimens representing 11 species. We also included observations from iNaturalist (n = 70) in disturbed sites. We found that species-specific abundance in Acadian forested wetlands differed significantly from that in harvested sites. Wet coniferous forests with moderate to high herbaceous cover had greater overall bumble bee abundance than harvest sites. Species interactions may also influence community structure: sites with higher abundance of Bombus borealis Kirby, 1837 and B. ternarius Say, 1837 had fewer B.fervidus (Fabricius, 1798); B.flavidus Eversmann, 1852; and B. terricola Kirby, 1837. Differences in presence and abundance of bumble bee species maybe explained by forested wetlands having a greater variety of flowering plants than forest harvest sites. Key words: Bombus, clearcut, diversity, forested wetland. Les bourdons (des especes de Bombus Latreille, 1802) sont d'importants polinisateurs dont les populations subissent generalement un declin, mais la presence et l'abondance relative des especes sont inconnues dans les zones humides boisees de la foret acadienne. Pour combler ce manque de connaissance, nous avons echantillonne les bourdons dans les zones humides boisees et les stations qui ont ete recoltees (coupe rase) a l'aide de pieges a ailettes et de pieges a eau. Nous avons collecte 617 specimens appartenant a 11 especes. Nous avons aussi inclus des observations tirees du iNaturalist (n = 70) dans des stations perturbees. Nous avons trouve que l'abondance propre a chaque espece dans les zones humides boisees acadiennes differait significativement de celle des stations qui ont ete recoltees. Globalement, l'abondance des bourdons etait plus grande dans les forets de coniferes avec un couvert herbacee modere a abondant que dans les stations qui ont ete recoltees. Les interactions entre les especes peuvent egalement influencer la structure de la communaute : on observait moins de Bombus fervidus (Fabricius, 1798); B. flavidus Eversmann, 1852; et B. terricola Kirby, 1837 dans les stations ou l'abondance de B. borealis Kirby, 1837 et B. ternarius Say, 1837 etait plus elevee. Les differences dans la presence et l'abondance des especes de bourdons peuvent s'expliquer par le fait qu'on trouve une plus grande variete de plantes a fleur dans les zones humides boisees que dans les stations qui ont ete recoltees. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: Bombus, coupe rase, diversite, zone humide boisee., Introduction Forested wetlands are important and diverse ecosystems, ranging from bogs to shallow open waters. These types of habitats are abundant in the core of the Acadian forest (e.g., New [...]

Most studies investigating the function and evolution of ornaments have focused on males. Variation in ornaments may also reflect individual quality and convey information in females. We examined correlations between female plumage colour and reproductive variables in the sexually dichromatic songbird, the American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla (L., 1758)). Female American Redstarts display yellow, carotenoid-based plumage patches on their tails, wings, and flanks. Using reflectance spectrometry, we quantified brightness (feather structure) and 'yellowness' (hue and chroma) of tail and flank feathers to examine whether female plumage colour varies with age, reproductive success, parental care, and the plumage colour of mates. Female plumage varied with age, with adult (after-second-year) females having brighter tail feathers than first-year females. We failed to find a relationship between female plumage colour and pairing or first-egg dates. However, adult females with brighter tails visited their nests less frequently and first-year females with brighter tails fledged fewer offspring. Adult females with brighter tails also mated with males who provided less care. In addition, adult females with yellower flanks paired with males with brighter flanks and with males who provided less parental care. We suggest that plumage colouration in female American Redstarts can act as a signal of individual age and quality. Key words: American Redstart, carotenoid, colour, female ornament, plumage, Setophaga ruticilla, sexual selection. La plupart des etudes sur la fonction et revolution des ornements se sont interessees aux males. Les variations des ornements des femelles pourraient egalement refleter la qualite des individus et transmettre de l'information. Nous avons examine les correlations entre la couleur du plumage des femelles et des variables relatives a la reproduction chez la paruline flamboyante (Setophaga ruticilla (L., 1758)), un oiseau chanteur caracterise par un dichroisme sexuel. Les femelles de cette espece presentent des zones de plumage jaune a base de carotenoide sur leur queue, leurs ailes et leurs flancs. Nous avons quantifie la clarte (structure de la plume) et le caractere jaune (tonalite et saturation) de plumes de queue et de flanc par spectrometrie par reflectance afin de determiner si la couleur du plumage des femelles varie selon l'age, le succes de reproduction, le soin parental et la couleur du plumage du compagnon. Le plumage des femelles variait selon l'age, les femelles adultes (apres la deuxieme annee) presentant des plumes de queue plus claires que les femelles d'un an. Nous n'avons trouve aucun lien entre la couleur du plumage des femelles et le moment de l'appariement ou des premiers ceufs. Toutefois, les femelles adultes presentant une queue plus claire visitaient leur nid moins frequemment et les femelles d'un an presentant une queue plus claire produisaient moins d'oisillons envoles. Les femelles adultes avec une queue plus claire s'accouplaient egalement avec des males faisant preuve de moins de soin parental. En outre, les femelles adultes presentant des flancs plus jaunes s'accouplaient avec des males avec des flancs plus clairs et des males faisant preuve de moins de soin parental. Nous postulons que la coloration du plumage des femelles de la paruline flamboyante peut constituer un indice de l'age et de la qualite individuels. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: paruline flamboyante, carotenoide, couleur, ornement de la femelle, plumage, Setophaga ruticilla, selection sexuelle., Introduction The historic tendency to view female ornaments as evolutionary products of natural selection for crypsis and genetic correlation with males (Lande 1980, 1987; Amundsen 2000; Amundsen and Parn 2006; [...]

We review the role of biogeochemical signatures, such as stable isotopes and trace elements, in the cornified claw tissue as a means of studying movement and foraging behaviour of vertebrates because this approach is noninvasive and can capture contemporary and historic signatures. Because biogeochemical techniques are still relatively new in studies of animal movement, we are only beginning to understand how the growth patterns of the cornified claw sheath may affect our ability to interpret the biogeochemical signals in these tissues. To move towards resolving this, we review the morphology of the epidermal cornified claw sheath in several taxa that illustrate substantial variation in growth patterns both between taxa and between individual distinct claw regions. For instance, in mammalian claws, deposition of keratinizing cells from the epidermis is nonlinear because the claw tip is composed of old and new cornified epidermal cells, whereas the cornified blade horn covering the claw's lateral walls is deposited continuously and without assortment, providing unbroken time-series data. We also consider patterns of growth in mammalian hooves, as well as reptilian, avian, and amphibian cornified claw sheaths, and address the need for expanded research in this field. We conclude this synthesis by describing a noninvasive technique for monitoring growth rates in a model mammal, the American badger {Taxidea taxus (Schreber, 1777)), and provide guidelines for future sampling of claw keratin, which will improve our ability to back-calculate the time of biogeochemical integration into this tissue. Nous faisons une revue du role des signatures biogeochimiques, telles que les isotopes stables et les elements en traces, dans le tissu corne des griffes comme moyens d'etudier les deplacements et le comportement alimentaire chez les vertebres, puisqu'il s'agit d'une methodologie non invasive qui peut retenir des signatures actuelles et passees. Puisque les techniques biogeochimiques sont d'usage relativement recent dans les etudes des deplacements animaux, nous commencons tout juste a comprendre comment les patrons de croissance de l'etui corne des griffes peuvent affecter notre capacite a interpreter les signaux biogeochimiques dans ces tissus. Pour faire du progres dans ce domaine, nous passons en revue la morphologie de l'etui corne epidermique de la griffe chez divers taxons, ce qui revele une importante variation dans les patrons de croissance, tant entre les taxons qu'entre les differentes regions distinctes de la griffe. Par exemple, dans les griffes de mammiferes, la deposition des cellules keratinisantes par l'epiderme ne se fait pas de facon lineaire parce que la pointe de la griffe est composee de cellules epidermiques cornees anciennes et recentes, alors que la lame cornee qui couvre les parois laterales de la griffe est deposee de maniere continue et sans assortiment, ce qui fournit une serie chronologique continue. Nous examinons aussi les patrons de croissance des sabots de mammiferes et des etuis cornes des griffes de reptiles, d'oiseaux et d'amphibiens. Nous terminons notre synthese en decrivant une technique non invasive pour suivre les taux de croissance chez un mammifere modele, le blaireau d'Amerique (Taxhka taxus (Schreber, 1777)), et fournissant des regles pour l'echantillonnage futur de la keratine des griffes, qui permettront d'ameliorer notre capacite de retrocalculer le moment de l'integration biogeochimique dans ce tissu. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction Understanding movement and foraging behaviour of animals on a daily, seasonal, or annual basis is fundamental to ecological, evolutionary, and conservation studies. Until recently, studying animal movement required trapping [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.09.024 Byline: Susan A. Crowe (a), Oddmund Kleven (b), Kira E. Delmore (a), Terje Laskemoen (b), Joseph J. Nocera (c), Jan T. Lifjeld (b), Raleigh J. Robertson (a) Abstract: Frequent copulation is assumed to be an important male reproductive strategy for paternity assurance in species with female sexual promiscuity. However, the empirical evidence supporting this hypothesis is limited. We examined copulation behaviour in relation to within-pair paternity in the socially monogamous tree swallow, Tachycineta bicolor, a passerine bird species with frequent copulation, a lack of mate guarding and high levels of extrapair paternity. We found that the frequency of within-pair copulation attempts increased and peaked just before the appearance of the first egg. A marked drop in the frequency of copulation attempts was observed once the first egg was laid. Furthermore, the frequency of successful within-pair copulations was highly repeatable for particular pairs within the 3 days prior to appearance of the first egg. Finally, males that obtained a higher number of successful within-pair copulations during this time also sired a larger proportion of the offspring in their own brood. Our findings suggest that frequent copulations just before the start of egg laying is an adaptation to decrease the risk of being cuckolded in the presence of sperm competition, and thus provide empirical support for the paternity assurance hypothesis. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada (b) National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Norway (c) Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada Article History: Received 29 May 2008; Revised 26 August 2008; Accepted 8 September 2008 Article Note: (miscellaneous) MS. number: A08-00353R

Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) are commonly used, alongside traditional methods, to study the presence/absence of vocal species. ARUs are useful in monitoring species that are secretive or vocalise at night. We endeavoured to develop a method to monitor avian reproductive activity using ARUs. Olive-sided flycatchers (Contopus cooperi), an at-risk passerine, are an ideal species with which to develop this method as they have a loud distinct call and have large territories without much intrusion from conspecifics. Olive-sided flycatchers have a distinct call pattern during the breeding season. We used a change-point analysis to determine the dates of significant changes in their call pattern to determine if individuals were successfully breeding. We monitored 22 Olive-sided flycatchers in central New Brunswick in 2018 and 2019. We found that using a combination of ARUs and change-point analyses was a viable method for studying reproductive activity of Olive-sided flycatchers. We found that 27% of Olive-sided flycatchers were successfully breeding which, when considering erroneous classifications, is within the range of nest success (30–65%) documented elsewhere. Our method shows promise for studying other bird species as well as other vocal non-avian species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]