Urbanisation and agriculture are paradigmatic cases of habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation that imperil wildlife. Anthropogenic landscape modifications can harm species such as freshwater turtles that rely on both aquatic and surrounding terrestrial habitats to survive and reproduce. We tested...
Larger plants of course generally produce more seed offspring than smaller plants. The vast majority of species, however (and resident reproductive plants within a given species’ population), are relatively small. To help interpret why this may be so, we controlled...
In migratory animals, the degree to which individuals return to the same wintering sites across multiple years can affect fitness and population dynamics, and thus has important implications for conservation. Despite this, long-term evaluations of wintering-site fidelity are rare for...
Salt, primarily NaCl, is commonly used to de‐ice winter roads. The usage of road salt is steadily increasing as the area of urbanised land expands, and chloride concentrations in many lakes and flowing waters near roads have been steadily increasing...
Many territorial animals are less aggressive towards neighbours than they are towards strangers. This phenomenon is known as the ‘dear enemy’ effect and it occurs because strangers represent a considerably higher threat to territory take-over compared to neighbours. Some evidence...
A sample of woody angiosperm species was used to test a central prediction of the ‘leafing intensity premium’ hypothesis: higher leafing intensity (number of leaves produced per unit dry mass of shoot vegetative tissue produced in the same growing season)...
Behavioral thermoregulation is expected to be critical in determining the capacity of reptiles to respond to climate warming and how that response will vary with latitude. We used radio-telemetry to compare behavioral thermoregulation among ratsnake (Elaphe obsoleta) populations...
The ecology of ectotherms should be particularly affected by latitude because so much of their biology is temperature dependent. Current latitudinal patterns should also be informative about how ectotherms will have to modify their behavior in response to climate change...
In recreational fisheries, a correlation has been established between fishing‐induced selection pressures and the metabolic traits of individual fish. This study used a population of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) with lines of low vulnerability fish (LVF) and high...
Little is known about the long-term consequences of surgically implanted telemetry devices on wild fish, as they are rarely recaptured. We used wild largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides as a model to evaluate the long-term impacts of telemetry devices on fish...
Population density and infection with parasites often are important factors affecting the growth and development of individuals. How these factors co-occur and interact in nature should have important consequences for individual fitness and higher-order phenomena, such as population dynamics of...
Management policies related to catch‐and‐release (CR) angling of smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu vary widely across the geographic distribution of the species. Some jurisdictions, principally in the northern latitudes, prohibit or limit angling efforts that target nesting male smallmouth bass, whereas...
Geographical variation in birdsong is taxonomically widespread and behaviourally salient, with females often preferring local over non-local song. However, the benefits associated with this preference remain poorly understood. One potential explanation is that song may reflect a male's place of...
Despite the fundamental role played by long-distance dispersal in population dynamics, the mechanisms promoting or inhibiting dispersal by migratory songbirds are poorly understood. We used stable-hydrogen isotopes (δD) to evaluate several long-distance dispersal hypotheses in the Cerulean Warbler ( Dendroica cerulea...
A fundamental assumption of sexual selection theory is that the reproductive advantage of large size is balanced by a survival disadvantage. Previous studies of the sexually size-dimorphic red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) have indicated that the largest adult males...
Habitat loss and large-scale climate phenomena are widely implicated as causing decline in animal populations. I examined how both factors contributed to a precipitous decline in an Ontario red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) population using 16 years of data...
We assessed the effect of radiotelemetry on the growth, reproduction, and survival of black ratsnakes (Elaphe obsoleta) using data from a 6‐year study. Transmitters were surgically implanted for more than one year and were <2.5% of the snakes'...
Life history theory predicts that ectotherms living in warm thermal environments should mature early because of fast juvenile growth, but it is unclear whether such early maturity will occur in the absence of conditions that promote fast juvenile growth. To...
Catch‐and‐release angling of black bass Micropterus spp. during the parental care period may lead to brood predation and premature nest abandonment. Furthermore, physiological disturbance incurred while landing angled males may impair their ability to provide parental care long after release...
The loss of traits that no longer increase fitness is a pervasive feature of evolution, although detailed studies of the genetic, developmental, and evolutionary factors involved are few. Most perennial plants practice both sexual and clonal reproduction, and it has...
We take issue with a recent study by Gowaty (1993) that finds evidence in support of the idea that fledgling sex ratios in birds are influenced by Local Resource Competition. After controlling for the lack of independence among species due...
Correlations were sought between insect species richness and abundance, and the chemical traits of foliage of 33 species of broad-leaved deciduous trees in southern Ontario. Number of Leipdopteran species collected by the Canadian Forest Insect Survey was not significantly correlated...
The tympanate, arctiid moth,Cycnia tenera responds to pulsed, 30 kHz acoustic stimuli resembling bat echolocation signals by emitting trains of clicks. This phonoresponse was used to determine that this moth is maximally sensitive to stimulus pulse repetition rates of...
