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Results for “Extinction, Biological”

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PubMed2002

An analysis of dinosaurian biogeography: evidence for the existence of vicariance and dispersal patterns caused by geological events.

As the supercontinent Pangaea fragmented during the Mesozoic era, dinosaur faunas were divided into isolated populations living on separate continents. It has been predicted, therefore, that dinosaur distributions should display a branching ('vicariance') pattern that corresponds with the sequence and timing of continental break-up. Several recent studies, however, minimize the importance of plate tectonics and instead suggest that dispersal and regional extinction were the main controls on dinosaur biogeography. Here, in order to test the vicariance hypothesis, we apply a cladistic biogeographical method to a large dataset on dinosaur relationships and distributions. We also introduce a methodological refinement termed 'time-slicing', which is shown to be a key step in the detection of ancient biogeographical patterns. These analyses reveal biogeographical patterns that closely correlate with palaeogeography. The results provide the first statistically robust evidence that, from Middle Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous times, tectonic events had a major role in determining where and when particular dinosaur groups flourished. The fact that evolutionary trees for extinct organisms preserve such distribution patterns opens up a new and fruitful direction for palaeobiogeographical research.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Extinction dynamics of Lotka-Volterra ecosystems on evolving networks.

We study a model of a multispecies ecosystem described by Lotka-Volterra-like equations. Interactions among species form a network whose evolution is determined by the dynamics of the model. Numerical simulations show power-law distribution of intervals between extinctions, but only for ecosystems with sufficient variability of species and with networks of connectivity above certain threshold that is very close to the percolation threshold of the network. The effect of slow environmental changes on extinction dynamics, degree distribution of the network of interspecies interactions, and some emergent properties of our model are also examined.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed1984

Incentive theory III: Adaptive clocks.

Incentive theory is extended to address the phenomenon of autoshaping. To do so, it is necessary to permit the speed of the animal's internal clock to vary with rates of reinforcement; clock speed is the basis for the animal's calculations of reinforcement densities. This notion of an "adaptive clock" is consistent with other effects, such as the partial-reinforcement extinction effect, and permits us to deal with the various experimental manipulations that are found in autoshaping experiments from a unified perspective.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Modelling species' range shifts in a changing climate: the impacts of biotic interactions, dispersal distance and the rate of climate change.

There is an urgent need for accurate prediction of climate change impacts on species ranges. Current reliance on bioclimatic envelope approaches ignores important biological processes such as interactions and dispersal. Although much debated, it is unclear how such processes might influence range shifting. Using individual-based modelling we show that interspecific interactions and dispersal ability interact with the rate of climate change to determine range-shifting dynamics in a simulated community with two growth forms--mutualists and competitors. Interactions determine spatial arrangements of species prior to the onset of rapid climate change. These lead to space-occupancy effects that limit the rate of expansion of the fast-growing competitors but which can be overcome by increased long-distance dispersal. As the rate of climate change increases, lower levels of long-distance dispersal can drive the mutualists to extinction, demonstrating the potential for subtle process balances, non-linear dynamics and abrupt changes from species coexistence to species loss during climate change.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Expression, purification, and characterization of recombinant human interleukin-13 from NS-O cells.

Interleukin-13 is a cytokine which is secreted by activated T lymphocytes and primarily impacts monocytes, macrophages, and B cells. A synthetic gene coding for human interleukin-13 has been prepared and cloned into expression vector pEE12. The construct was transfected into NS-O cells, which showed stable expression of the recombinant protein. A four-step purification procedure consisting of S-Sepharose, Q-Sepharose, hydroxyapatite, and Sephacryl-100 chromatographies yielded bioactive interleukin-13 of > 98% purity. The purified protein was structurally characterized. The extinction coefficient at 280 nm was determined to be 5678 M-1 cm-1. Amino acid sequencing confirmed that the N-terminus of the purified protein was intact. Electrospray mass spectrometric analysis, size-exclusion chromatography, and SDS-PAGE revealed that the biologically active protein is monomeric and unglycosylated. Mass spectrometry and a chemical assay for free sulfhydryls indicated that the four cysteine residues of interleukin-13 are involved in two intramolecular disulfide bonds. The circular dichroism spectrum confirms that interleukin-13 belongs to the alpha-helical family of cytokines. A biologically inactive covalent trimer also forms in the cell culture, but can be separated from the monomer by the hydroxyapatite and size-exclusion chromatographies. These data indicate that human interleukin-13 retains many structural similarities to human interleukin-4, from which it arose by a gene duplication event.

Base Sequence↗

PubMed1977

Fundamental aspects of electron transfer: experimental verification of vibronically coupled electron tunneling.

A detailed investigation of the applicability of the vibronically coupled electron tunneling theory in biomolecules can be made by a quantitative study of a weak charge-transfer optical absorption band that has been predicted by this theory. The measurement of the position, width, and molar extinction coefficient of this band is examined in the bound model system cytochrome c-Fe(CN)6 at room temperature and demonstrates that the theory is quantitatively applicable in this system. The size of the parameters measured is typical of those relevant for biological electron transfers. The comparisons lend credibility to the generality of vibronically coupled electron theory in biomolecules and its short transfer distances.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Slow late component in conditioned stimulus-evoked potentials from the amygdala after fear conditioning in the rat.

Male Wistar rats were subjected to a differential Pavlovian fear conditioning procedure in which one of two tones (6 or 10 kHz) was followed by an electric shock (CS+) and the other was not (CS-). Before and after fear conditioning, we recorded the evoked potentials elicited by CS+ and CS- from electrodes aimed at the lateral nucleus of the amygdala. Before conditioning, a slow, negative component with peak amplitude around 150 ms was present in the evoked potentials. This component was sensitive to habituation. After fear conditioning, both CS+ and CS- elicited the same late component, albeit with a larger amplitude. This enhancement was temporary: decreasing amplitude was observed in the course of CS test presentations under extinction. Prior research revealed a comparable slow component in the amygdala of the cat under similar experimental conditions. The collective results indicate that the large late component in the amygdala is enhanced by fear conditioning, suggesting that such enhancement reflects the anticipation of a biologically significant event.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1996

[Psychological stress and neuronal plasticity. An expanded model of the stress reaction process as the basis for understand central nervous system adaptation processes].

A short survey on results and theories in psychosomatic and neurobiologic stress research is presented. Based on a comprehensive definition of the stress-reaction process, the biological and psychological consequences are described which are elicited by either controllable or uncontrollable stress. We conclude that controllable stress triggers the stabilization and facilitation of neuronal networks involved in the generation of appropriate patterns of appraisal and coping, whereas uncontrollable stress favours the extinction of inappropriate patterns and the reorganisation of neuronal connections underlying certain inappropriate behaviors. Both, controllable an uncontrollable stress-reaction-processes are therefore essential prerequisites of, and inherent challenges to, the development and adaptation of an individual in an ever changing external world but may also lead to psychodevelopmental failures and psychosomatic diseases.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

Population dynamics of RNA viruses: the essential contribution of mutant spectra.

Cells and their viral and cellular parasites are genetically highly diverse, and their genomes contain signs of past and present variation and mobility. The great adaptive potential of viruses, conferred on them by high mutation rates and quasispecies dynamics, demands new strategies for viral disease prevention and control. This necessitates a more detailed knowledge of viral population structure and dynamics. Here we review studies with the important animal pathogen Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) that document modulating effects of the mutant spectra that compose viral populations. As a consequence of interactions within mutant spectra, enhanced mutagenesis may lead to viral extinction, and this is currently investigated as a new antiviral strategy, termed virus entry into error catastrophe.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

The founder effect theory: quantitative variation and mdg-1 mobile element polymorphism in experimental populations of Drosophila melanogaster.

One of the main points of Mayr's 'founder's principle' is the role played by inbreeding in the first generations after the foundation of a population. To test this role, we studied 10 experimental populations of Drosophila melanogaster, each founded by one brother-sister pair; these sib pairs differed for their values of viability components of their F1 offsprings. The populations so formed were maintained en masse with non-overlapping generations. Under our uniform laboratory environmental conditions, the mean viability and within-family component of variance (measured on wing length) values of the first generations depended on the viability component values of the founders. After about twenty generations, all but one of these populations reached equilibrium values similar to those of the parental population. Moreover, the insertion patterns of the mdg-1 mobile element were analysed in the founded populations by in situ hybridization on polytene chromosomes. The patterns differed between the founded populations. More than forty generations were needed before movements of transposable elements reshaped the genome in a significant way. Although it is classically admitted that inbreeding resulting from founder event ultimately leads to extinction, our results show that once the first generations are over, the founded populations become firmly established and present the characteristics of the parental population.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Persistence and extinction of a population in a polluted environment.

Models of the persistence and extinction of a population or community in a polluted environment have been investigated in several papers. But all of those papers have a basic assumption that the capacity of the environment is so large that the change of toxicants in the environment that comes from uptake and egestion by the organisms can be neglected. This assumption is not made in this article. Some sufficient conditions on persistence or extinction of a population have been obtained, and the threshold between the two has also been obtained for most situations.

Environmental Pollution↗

PubMed1986

The reaction of 2-thiobarbituric acid with biologically active alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes.

The standard assay for lipid peroxidation is the measurement of the pink, 532 nm absorbing chromogen which is formed upon reaction of 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) with the lipid peroxidation product malonaldehyde (MDA). The present studies indicate that the toxic lipid peroxidation product trans-4-hydroxynonenal and its dehydration product trans,trans-nonadienal react with TBA to form chromogens which absorb maximally at 530 and 532 nm, respectively. Other biologically active alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes, such as acrolein and crotonaldehyde, short-chain homologs of alkenals formed during lipid peroxidation, and trans,trans-muconaldehyde, a novel diene dialdehyde, react with TBA to form products which absorb maximally at 495 nm. The molar extinction coefficients of the aldehyde:TBA chromogens formed were found to vary widely, suggesting that only small contributions to the 532 nm absorption by TBA adducts of reactive aldehydes other than MDA may be encountered during the use of the TBA assay.

Aldehydes↗

PubMed2005

Reproductive behaviour of captive Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis).

The Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is on the verge of extinction in Malaysia. At the Sumatran rhinoceros Conservation Centre in Sungai Dusun, the reproductive behaviour of two female and two male rhinoceroses were studied for 8-10 months during attempts to breed them in captivity. Due to the paucity of scientific information on the reproductive biology of the Sumatran rhinoceros, this study was conducted to obtain information on the reproductive behaviour of this species. The male rhino was introduced to a female rhino in the morning for 1-2 h daily in order to observe for behavioural oestrus. Observations were made on the signs of oestrus and mating behaviour. Oestrus was determined by receptivity towards the male and lasted about 24 h. Common signs of oestrus were an increase in frequency of urine spraying, tail raising or swinging, anogenital and other contacts. Although the males exhibited mounting, the inability of the male to achieve intromission was poor. The study demonstrated that the pattern of courtship and copulation of the captive Sumatran rhinos were comparable with those of other rhino species, reported previously by other scientists and flehmen reflex was also exhibited by the male Sumatran rhinos. In a captive breeding programme, it is recommended that only an oestral female is introduced into a male enclosure due to the male solitary behaviour and to avoid serious injuries inflicted onto the females.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Seasonal population dynamics of ticks, and its influence on infection transmission: a semi-discrete approach.

In this paper, a simple semi-discrete (ticks' feeding is assumed to occur only during the summers of each year) model for tick population dynamics is presented. Conditions for existence, uniqueness, and stability of a positive equilibrium are found; the system is then studied numerically using parameter estimates calibrated for the tick Ixodes ricinus in Trentino, Italy, and the sensitivity to parameters is examined. Then, this model is extended to consider a tick-transmitted infection of one species of hosts, while other hosts are incompetent to the infection. Assuming, for simplicity, that the infection is not affecting the total number either of hosts or ticks, a threshold condition for infection persistence is obtained. The dependence of the equilibrium infection prevalence on parameters is studied numerically; in particular, we considered how infection prevalence depends on host densities. This analysis reveals that a 'dilution effect' occurs both for competent and for incompetent hosts; this means that, besides a lower threshold for host densities for infection to persist, there exists also an upper threshold: if host densities were higher than the upper threshold, the infection would go to extinction. Numerically, it is found that, for realistic parameter values, the upper threshold is not much higher than observed densities.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Spatiotemporal complexity of patchy invasion in a predator-prey system with the Allee effect.

Invasion of an exotic species initiated by its local introduction is considered subject to predator-prey interactions and the Allee effect when the prey growth becomes negative for small values of the prey density. Mathematically, the system dynamics is described by two nonlinear diffusion-reaction equations in two spatial dimensions. Regimes of invasion are studied by means of extensive numerical simulations. We show that, in this system, along with well-known scenarios of species spread via propagation of continuous population fronts, there exists an essentially different invasion regime which we call a patchy invasion. In this regime, the species spreads over space via irregular motion and interaction of separate population patches without formation of any continuous front, the population density between the patches being nearly zero. We show that this type of the system dynamics corresponds to spatiotemporal chaos and calculate the dominant Lyapunov exponent. We then show that, surprisingly, in the regime of patchy invasion the spatially average prey density appears to be below the survival threshold. We also show that a variation of parameters can destroy this regime and either restore the usual invasion scenario via propagation of continuous fronts or brings the species to extinction; thus, the patchy spread can be qualified as the invasion at the edge of extinction. Finally, we discuss the implications of this phenomenon for invasive species management and control.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Tumor micro-ecology and competitive interactions.

Three nested models describing the growth of individual subpopulations in a heterogeneous environment are described. The models represent the dynamics of two populations which compete, to varying degrees, for common resources. The first model describes growth in a totally non-competitive micro-environment, the second model describes an ecology in which competition is proportional to competitor population size, and the third model ecology extends the model described by Jansson & Revesz (1974), which allows one population to emerge from the other. The critical points for each model are defined using the isoclines derived from the Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE's) describing competitive growth. The critical points for each model are characterized by the signs of the eigenvalues of the variational matrix at each point. The theoretical results of the analysis show that a competitive model ecology with Verhulstian logistics allows four critical points: the origin which is a repeller, two competitive exclusion points, and an equilibrium state (Waltman, 1983). The extended model ecology of Jansson & Revesz (1974), allows three critical points: the origin which is a repeller, competitive exclusion of the first population, and an equilibrium point. Data from a human adenocarcinoma of the colon and murine mammary tumors are used as qualitative measures of the dynamics of the three micro-ecologies. Issues such as stochastic extension to model small populations either for clonal extinction or heterogeneous emergence are discussed.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1999

A basic result on the integral for birth-death Markov processes.

In this paper a regenerative argument is used to derive an expression for the expectation of the integral under the stochastic path of a birth-death Markov process up to extinction time as well as for the expected time to extinction. Some applications to classical-birth-death processes are given.

Birth Rate↗

PubMed2004

Extinction in population dynamics.

We study a generic reaction-diffusion model for single-species population dynamics that includes reproduction, death, and competition. The population is assumed to be confined in a refuge beyond which conditions are so harsh that they lead to certain extinction. Standard continuum mean field models in one dimension yield a critical refuge length L(c) such that a population in a refuge larger than this is assured survival. Herein we extend the model to take into account the discreteness and finiteness of the population, which leads us to a stochastic description. We present a particular critical criterion for likely extinction, namely, that the standard deviation of the population be equal to the mean. According to this criterion, we find that while survival can no longer be guaranteed for any refuge size, for sufficiently weak competition one can make the refuge large enough (certainly larger than L(c)) to cause extinction to be unlikely. However, beyond a certain value of the competition rate parameter it is no longer possible to escape a likelihood of extinction even in an infinite refuge. These unavoidable fluctuations therefore have a severe impact on refuge design issues.

Animals↗