Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201

The Theory of Island Biogeography

The influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals was investigated by analyzing animals grown in the laboratory on diets of constant nitrogen isotopic composition. 
The isotopic composition of the nitrogen in an animal reflects the nitrogen isotopic composition of its diet. The δ^(15)N values of the whole bodies of animals are usually more positive than those of their diets. Different individuals of a species raised on the same diet can have significantly different δ^(15)N values. The variability of the relationship between the δ^(15)N values of animals and their diets is greater for different species raised on the same diet than for the same species raised on different diets. Different tissues of mice are also enriched in ^(15)N relative to the diet, with the difference between the δ^(15)N values of a tissue and the diet depending on both the kind of tissue and the diet involved. The δ^(15)N values of collagen and chitin, biochemical components that are often preserved in fossil animal remains, are also related to the δ^(15)N value of the diet. 
The dependence of the δ^(15)N values of whole animals and their tissues and biochemical components on the δ^(15)N value of diet indicates that the isotopic composition of animal nitrogen can be used to obtain information about an animal's diet if its potential food sources had different δ^(15)N values. The nitrogen isotopic method of dietary analysis probably can be used to estimate the relative use of legumes vs non-legumes or of aquatic vs terrestrial organisms as food sources for extant and fossil animals. However, the method probably will not be applicable in those modern ecosystems in which the use of chemical fertilizers has influenced the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in food sources. 
The isotopic method of dietary analysis was used to reconstruct changes in the diet of the human population that occupied the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico over a 7000 yr span. Variations in the δ^(15)C and δ^(15)N values of bone collagen suggest that C_4 and/or CAM plants (presumably mostly corn) and legumes (presumably mostly beans) were introduced into the diet much earlier than suggested by conventional archaeological analysis.

Influence of Diet On the Distribtion of Nitrogen Isotopes in Animals

I. the origin of species by means of natural selection

Natural history of the major histocompatibility complex

Measuring Behaviour: An Introductory Guide, Paul Martin, Patrick Bateson. University of Cambridge Press, Cambridge (1986), x, +200. Price £20.00 (hardback), £6.95 (paperback)

This introduction to the topical collection on Pace-of-life syndromes: a framework for the adaptive integration of behaviour, physiology, and life history provides an overview of conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and empirical progress in research on pace-of-life syndromes (POLSs) over the last decade. The topical collection has two main goals. First, we briefly describe the history of POLS research and provide a refined definition of POLS that is applicable to various key levels of variation (genetic, individual, population, species). Second, we summarise the main lessons learned from current POLS research included in this topical collection. Based on an assessment of the current state of the theoretical foundations and the empirical support of the POLS hypothesis, we propose (i) conceptual refinements of theory, particularly with respect to the role of ecology in the evolution of (sexual dimorphism in) POLS, and (ii) methodological and statistical approaches to the study of POLS at all major levels of variation. This topical collection further holds (iii) key empirical examples demonstrating how POLS structures may be studied in wild populations of (non)human animals, and (iv) a modelling paper predicting POLS under various ecological conditions. Future POLS research will profit from the development of more explicit theoretical models and stringent empirical tests of model assumptions and predictions, increased focus on how ecology shapes (sex-specific) POLS structures at multiple hierarchical levels, and the usage of appropriate statistical tests and study designs. As an introduction to the topical collection, we summarise current conceptual, theoretical, methodological and empirical progress in research on pace-of-life syndromes (POLSs), a framework for the adaptive integration of behaviour, physiology and life history at multiple hierarchical levels of variation (genetic, individual, population, species). Mixed empirical support of POLSs, particularly at the within-species level, calls for an evaluation and refinement of the hypothesis. We provide a refined definition of POLSs facilitating testable predictions. Future research on POLSs will profit from the development of more explicit theoretical models and stringent empirical tests of model assumptions and predictions, increased focus on how ecology shapes (sex-specific) POLSs structures at multiple hierarchical levels and the usage of appropriate statistical tests and study designs.

/pdf/pace-of-life-syndromes-a-framework-for-the-adaptive-3bwml4kwlf.pdf

Pace-of-life syndromes: a framework for the adaptive integration of behaviour, physiology and life history

Is risk taking during foraging a personality trait? A field test for cross-context consistency in boldness

The pace-of-life syndrome (i.e., POLS) hypothesis posits that behavioral and physiological traits mediate the trade-off between current and future reproduction. This hypothesis predicts that life history, behavioral, and physiological traits will covary under clearly defined conditions. Empirical tests are equivocal and suggest that the conditions necessary for the POLS to emerge are not always met. We nuance and expand the POLS hypothesis to consider alternative relationships among behavior, physiology, and life history. These relationships will vary with the nature of predation risk, the challenges posed by resource acquisition, and the energy management strategies of organisms. We also discuss how the plastic response of behavior, physiology, and life history to changes in ecological conditions and variation in resource acquisition among individuals determine our ability to detect a fast-slow pace of life in the first place or associations among these traits. Future empirical studies will provide most insights on the coevolution among behavior, physiology, and life history by investigating these traits both at the genetic and phenotypic levels in varying types of predation regimes and levels of resource abundance. We revisit the pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis, suggesting that behaviors involving a risk of death or injury should coevolve with higher metabolic rates, higher fecundity, faster growth, and heightened mortality rates. Empirical support for this hypothesis is mixed. We show how relaxing some of the assumptions underlying the pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis allows us to consider alternative relationships among behavior, physiology, and life history, and why we fail to meet the predictions posed by the pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis in some populations. Our discussion emphasizes the need to re-integrate the role of the species’ natural history, ecological conditions, and phenotypic plasticity in shaping relationships among behavior, physiology, and life history.

The pace-of-life syndrome revisited : the role of ecological conditions and natural history on the slow-fast continuum

Despite increasing interest, animal personality is still a puzzling phenomenon. Several theoretical models have been proposed to explain intraindividual consistency and interindividual variation in behaviour, which have been primarily supported by qualitative data and simulations. Using an empirical approach, I tested predictions of one main life-history hypothesis, which posits that consistent individual differences in behaviour are favoured by a trade-off between current and future reproduction. Data on life-history were collected for individuals of a natural population of grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus). Using open-field and novel-object tests, I quantified variation in activity, exploration and boldness for 117 individuals over 3 years. I found systematic variation in boldness between individuals of different residual reproductive value. Young males with low current but high expected future fitness were less bold than older males with high current fecundity, and males might increase in boldness with age. Females have low variation in assets and in boldness with age. Body condition was not related to boldness and only explained marginal variation in exploration. Overall, these data indicate that a trade-off between current and future reproduction might maintain personality variation in mouse lemurs, and thus provide empirical support of this life-history trade-off hypothesis.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2012.0212

Are personality differences in a small iteroparous mammal maintained by a life-history trade-off?

Summary
Phenotypic flexibility is a major mechanism in compensating climate-driven changes in resource availability. Heterotherms can use daily torpor to overcome resource shortages and adverse environmental conditions. The expression of this adaptive energy-saving strategy varies among individuals, but the factors constraining individual flexibility remain largely unknown.
As energy availability depends on individual stores and/or on the ability to acquire food, the propensity and flexibility in torpor use are expected to be constrained by body condition and/or size, respectively. The aim of this study was to test whether the dependency of torpor depth on air temperature was constrained by body condition and/or body size in a small heterothermic primate, the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus). During the onset of the dry season, we monitored air temperature as well as skin temperatures of 14 free-ranging individuals (12 females, two males) of known body mass and size.
Unexpectedly, torpor depth depended as much on air temperature as on body condition and size. Fatter, or larger, mouse lemurs underwent deeper torpor than smaller, or leaner, ones. Individual reaction norms of torpor depth to air temperature also revealed that the propensity to undergo deep torpor and the flexibility in torpor depth were enhanced by large body size and high body condition, whereas small, lean individuals remained normothermic.
Our study illustrates that alternative physiological strategies to overcome temperature constraints co-occur in a population, with body size and condition being key determinants of the energy conservation strategy that an individual can launch.

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2435.12069

Melanie Dammhahn

Papers

Pace-of-life syndromes: a framework for the adaptive integration of behaviour, physiology and life history

Is risk taking during foraging a personality trait? A field test for cross-context consistency in boldness

The pace-of-life syndrome revisited : the role of ecological conditions and natural history on the slow-fast continuum

Are personality differences in a small iteroparous mammal maintained by a life-history trade-off?

Individual flexibility in energy saving: body size and condition constrain torpor use