Understanding the relative importance of environment and life history strategies in determining leaf chemical traits remains a key objective of plant ecology. We assessed 20 foliar chemical properties among 12 African savanna woody plant species and their relation to environmental variables (hillslope position, precipitation, geology) and two functional traits (thorn type and seed dispersal mec...

T here is no need to remember complex combinations of random numbers and characters. From now on, you are the password: your fingerprint, face, iris, gait or odour—any of your potentially unique attributes—can theoretically be used to identify you. This is the idea behind biometrics, which was once confined to the realm of spy movies and high-security facilities, but is now increasingly common ...

The genomic locations and identities of the genes that regulate voluntary physical activity are presently unknown. The purpose of this study was to search for quantitative trait loci (QTL) that are linked with daily mouse running wheel distance, duration, and speed of exercise. F(2) animals (n = 310) derived from high active C57L/J and low active C3H/HeJ inbred strains were phenotyped for 21 da...

Genetic selection in primary broiler breeders may modify skeletal structure, possibly impeding semen transfer, and could alter the size and degree of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of bilateral traits associated with fertility. Hence, we hypothesized specific morphometric traits could predict differential fertility. Sixty primary broiler breeder males from Strains A and B (n = 30/strain) were indiv...

Genetic selection for high yield in primary broiler breeder males may result in skeletal modifications that impede sperm transfer upon mating. In addition, fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in bilateral traits has been shown to reliably indicate male reproductive potential in some avian species. The goal of this study was to determine if physical variation due to genetic selection and FA could explain...

We recently identified several (4-8) quantitative trait loci (QTL) for 3 physical activity traits (daily distance, duration, and speed voluntarily run) in an F(2) population of mice derived from an original intercross of 2 strains that exhibited large differences in activity. These QTL cumulatively explained from 11% to 34% of the variation in these traits, but this was considerably less than t...

OBJECTIVES Existing literature has shown that volunteering is related to better physical and mental health outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine whether personality traits and volunteering are independent predictors of physical and mental health. METHODS The current study utilizes data from the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network (SPAN), a representative sample of community-ba...

Plant diversity loss impairs ecosystem functioning, including important effects on soil. Most studies that have explored plant diversity effects belowground, however, have largely focused on biological processes. As such, our understanding of how plant diversity impacts the soil physical environment remains limited, despite the fundamental role soil physical structure plays in ensuring soil fun...