Tristan da Cunha is the world’s remotest inhabited island, with a population of around 270 people. Ship rats (Rattus rattus) and house mice (Mus musculus) are present on the main island of Tristan and house mice are present on Gough Island, also part of the UK Overseas Territory of Tristan da Cunha. The impacts of invasive rodents on both islands have been well documented and detailed plans to ...

CpG-island margins and non-island-CpG sites round the transcription start sites of CpG-island-positive and -negative genes are methylated to various degrees in a tissue-specific manner. These methylation-variable CpG sites were analyzed to delineate a relationship between the methylation and transcription of the tissue-specific genes. The level of tissue-specific transcription was estimated by ...

Genetic diversity generally underpins population resilience and persistence. Reductions in population size and absence of gene flow can lead to reductions in genetic diversity, reproductive fitness, and a limited ability to adapt to environmental change increasing the risk of extinction. Island populations are typically small and isolated, and as a result, inbreeding and reduced genetic diversi...

MacArthur and Wilson's theory of island biogeography predicts that island species richness should increase with island area. This prediction generally holds among large islands, but among small islands species richness often varies independently of island area, producing the so-called 'small-island effect' and an overall biphasic species-area relationship (SAR). Here, we develop a unified theor...

Dramatic declines of native Hawaiian avifauna due to the human-mediated emergence of avian malaria and pox prompted an examination of whether island taxa share a common altered immunological signature, potentially driven by reduced genetic diversity and reduced exposure to parasites. We tested this hypothesis by characterizing parasite prevalence, genetic diversity and three measures of immune ...

In the Ge on Si model heteroepitaxial system, metal patterns on the silicon surface provide unprecedented control over the morphology of highly ordered Ge islands. Island shape including nanorods and truncated pyramids is set by the metal species and substrate orientation. Analysis of island faceting elucidates the prominent role of the metal in promoting growth of preferred facet orientations ...

A low-energy electron microscopy study of two-dimensional Si~001! island shapes near thermal equilibrium on 10315 mm large single-domain terraces reveals a continuous increase of island aspect ratio and a shape transition from elliptical to ‘‘American-football’’-like with increasing island size. The size-dependent island shapes are driven by elastic relaxation caused by the intrinsic surface st...

Strained islands formed in heteroepitaxy sometimes change shape during growth. Here we show that there is typically a first-order shape transition with island size, with the discontinuous introduction of steeper facets at the island edge. We present a phase diagram for island shape as a function of volume and surface energy, showing how surface energy controls the sequence of island shapes with...

Three new Brachinus species namely B. grootaerti n. sp. (Palawan Island), B. palawanensis n. sp. (Palawan Island), B. mindanaoensis n. sp. (Mindanao Island) from Philippines were described. In addition, a modified key to the known Brachinus Philippine species is provided.

Aim Although bats of the Caribbean have been studied extensively, previous work is largely restricted to zoogeography, phylogeography or the effects of island characteristics on species richness. Variation among islands in species composition that is related to geographical or environmental variation remains poorly understood for much of the Caribbean. Location Caribbean islands, including the ...