The way that animals balance foraging needs with predation is a very interesting and widely studied subject in ecology. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) have a response to the increased danger that a specialized predator, the fisher (Martes pennanti), poses over a general predator, the coyote (Canis latrans...

Burrow-nesting petrels use their well-developed sense of smell for foraging, homing to their nest, and mate recognition. The chicks of burrow-nesting petrels can apparently learn odours associated with prey while still in the nest, but the development of individual-specific odour recognition is less well understood. We used a simple two-choice test to determine whether 4- to 6-week-old chicks o...

Successful communication is critical to the fitness of individuals and maintenance of populations, but less is known regarding the social contexts and reactions to scent marking by other individuals in solitary carnivores, including pumas. We evaluated the responses of resident male pumas to visitation and scent marking by potential competitors (other male pumas) and potential mates (female pum...

We report on a striking asymmetry in search behaviour observed in honeybees trained to forage alternately at one of two feeder sites in a narrow tunnel. Bees were trained by periodically switching the position of a sucrose reward between relatively short and long distances in the tunnel. Search behaviour was examined in the training tunnel itself and in a fresh tunnel devoid of scent cues depos...

Our understanding of how floral visitors integrate visual and olfactory cues when seeking food, and how background complexity affects flower detection is limited. Here, we aimed to understand the use of visual and olfactory information for bumblebees (Bombus terrestris terrestris L.) when seeking flowers in a visually complex background. To explore this issue, we first evaluated the effect of f...

The chemical composition of floral scents has been extensively investigated for hundreds of years because of the commercial value of floral volatiles in perfumery. More recently, several ecological studies have examined the roles of floral scent in the biology of the plant. However, in contrast to the chemical emphasis of the perfumers and the organismal emphasis of the ecologists, until recent...

15 Social complexity, often estimated by group size, is seen as driving the complexity of vocal 16 signals, but its relation to olfactory signals, that arguably arose to function in nonsocial realms, 17 remains underappreciated. That olfactory signals also may mediate within-group interaction, may 18 vary with social complexity, and may promote social cohesion underscores a potentially crucial ...

Olfactory communication appears to be an important aspect of the biology of most ground squirrels. Several scent-producing glands have been described as having scent-marking behavior. Although the adaptive significance of these glands has not been determined, possible functions are discussed. The potential of using pheromones in an integrated ground squirrel management program is discussed.

Blood cell production is tightly regulated by cell-intrinsic mechanisms and environmental factors. The study by Utpal Banerjee and colleagues and colleagues reveals that, in Drosophila, olfactory signals control hematopoietic progenitor maintenance, thus uncovering a physiological link between sensory perception and hematopoietic response to environmental stress.

abstract background: stress, anxiety, and postpartum depression are the most common problems among women in their childbearing age. research has shown that aromatherapy administered during labor reduces anxiety in mothers. with regard to the specific biological conditions in postpartum period and the subsequent drop in hormone levels, this study investigated the effect of lavender on prevention...