The body condition, lipid reserves and mortality of 0 and 1 year-old perch Perca fluviatilis and ruffe Gymnocephalus cernuus, sampled during the winter in Lake Constance, Germany, were compared. Length-frequency analyses did not provide evidence for overwinter mortality in either species. The fresh and dry mass of perch as well as their lipid contents decreased during winter, while ruffe were h...

Despite its presumed significance, the association between immune defence, energy expenditures and overwinter survival is rarely studied. We analysed individual variation in immunocompetence quantified as neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (N/L), total white blood cells (WBC) and natural antibody levels, along with resting (RMR) and peak metabolic rates (PMR) and mortality during three consecutive ...

Two experiments were carried out during summer and winter conditions to determine if Dictyocaulus vivipams infective larvae could survive on pasture during these seasons in Louisiana. Pairs of tracer calves were grazed in August and September on a pasture that was heavily contaminated in May and then left free of cattle during June-July. These tracers were not infected with D. vivipams, indicat...

—Winter severity (temperature, duration, and photocycle), geographic origin, food availability, and initial body size likely influence growth, survival, and, therefore, recruitment of age0 largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides. We collected age-0 largemouth bass (70–160 mm total length) from low (338N), intermediate (408N), and high (458N) latitudes throughout their natural range (origin), and ...

Due to its commercial value and status as a research model there is an extensive body of knowledge concerning Saccharomyces cerevisiae's cell biology and genetics. Investigations into S. cerevisiae's ecology are comparatively lacking, and are mostly focused on the behaviour of this species in high sugar, fruit-based environments; however, fruit is ephemeral, and presumably, S. cerevisiae has ev...

Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV) is widespread in the major soybean-growing areas in the southern and southeastern United States. A severe outbreak of BPMV in the north central and northern Great Plains states is currently causing serious concern to soybean growers and to the soybean industry in this region (30). BPMV is efficiently transmitted in nature, within and between soybean fields, by sever...

The acceleration of flowering by a long period of low temperature, vernalization, is an adaptation that ensures plants overwinter before flowering. Vernalization induces a developmental state that is mitotically stable, suggesting that it may have an epigenetic basis. The VERNALIZATION2 (VRN2) gene mediates vernalization and encodes a nuclear-localized zinc finger protein with similarity to Pol...

Semiaquatic frogs may not breathe air for several months because they overwinter in ice-covered ponds. In contrast to many vertebrates that experience decreased motor performance after inactivity, bullfrogs, Lithobates catesbeianus, retain functional respiratory motor processes following cold-submergence. Unlike mammalian hibernators with unloaded limb muscles and inactive locomotor systems, re...

Philopatric behavior has been demonstrated in a wide taxonomic spread of animals. In temperate environments, overwintered Polistes wasp foundresses often return to their natal nest prior to initiating colony construction. Previous research has shown that these spring foundresses can identify the natal nest in the absence of landmark and gross morphological cues. Hydrocarbons are essential recog...