Locomotor specialists, such as accelerators and cruisers, have clearly differing body designs. For physical reasons these designs are mu- tually exclusive, i.e. cruisers necessarily have poor accelerating capabilities and vice versa. For the first time, we examine whether differ- ences in the anatomy of the musculo-tendinous system of the trunk are present in addition to [...]
The distinct morphological regions of the typical tripartite pharynx found in the nematode taxon Secernentea have distinctive functions. Besides the basic functions of sucking and pumping food against the pressure in the body cavity, the pharynx of Secernentea such as rhabditids serves two additional functions restricted to two pharyngeal subunits. The corpus traps bacteria behind [...]
We raised leatherback posthatchlings in the laboratory for up to 7 weeks to study the role of visual and chemical cues in food recogni- tion and food-seeking behavior. Turtles were reared on a formulated (artificial gelatinous) diet and had no contact with test materials until experiments began. Subjects were presented with visual cues (a plastic [...]
We assessed the effects of both biotic processes and abiotic factors on the community composition of vascular plant species and invertebrates at a site in northern Norway. Plant species were assigned to functional (woody versus herbaceous) and biogeographic (boreal versus alpine) groups. Invertebrate species were classified as either herbivore or [...]
Five experiments investigated the importance of herbivory by Sminthurus viridis in structuring botanical composition in developing grasslands, and how these effects may be modified by diversity in collembolan and plant species. Differential susceptibility to S. viridis feeding was demonstrated in 23 dicotyledonous and three monocotyledonous plants assayed as seedlings at the first true [...]
In the present work we examined the composition and distribution across three soil layers of the buried soil seed bank under three different overstory types (Fagus sylvatica, Quercus robur, Pinus sylvestris) and in logging areas in a 4383-ha forest in central Belgium. The objectives were: (1) to investigate whether species [...]
