Fuelling rates of garganey (Anas querquedula) staging in the Camargue, Southern France, during spring migration

Most species of long-distance migratory birds put on energy stores to fuel their travels. However, recent studies have highlighted the potential costs associated with carrying too much fuel, either through increased predation risk or decreased flight efficiency. Consequently, it is now widely accepted that migratory birds should carry optimal rather than maximum fuel loads. Information from 372 garganey (Anas querquedula) ringed and recaptured at least once during the same spring in the Camargue, southern France, was used to document fuelling rates of individual ducks in relation to environmental variation and individual variation in condition. On average, garganey added very little fuel stores in the Camargue (mean gain per day = 0.33 g, less than 0.5% of mean body-mass in total over an average stay of 5 days). Fuelling rates were negatively correlated with body mass at capture, but it cannot be excluded that this pattern was a statistical artefact. Given their body-mass at ringing, garganey could potentially still fly long distances when they stop in the Camargue. It is therefore likely that the aim of their stay in southern France is more for resting than refuelling, a finding that may have implications for the proper management of stop-over sites.

Seasonal timing of the spring departure of waders from the Banc D'Arguin, Mauritania

The northward departure of 13 wader species was studied in the Baie d' Aouatif, Bane d'Arguin, Mauritania, in the springs of 1985, 1986 and 1988. Waders left the area in the late afternoon. Wind speed and direction were registered near ground level (all years) and at altitudes up to 5 km (in 1988). A total of 31 000 waders were observed heading northwards, with those species wintering locally in largest numbers being most common. The majority of wader species showed fairly short periods of departure and unimodal departure peaks. Redshank and Dunlin departed over extended periods. Average departure dates of species correlated positively with the estimated midpoints of ranges in breeding latitude (ca. 2 d per 0 latitude).  Since winds at ground level did not correlate with winds at higher altitudes, and since it is likely that the departing waders traveled at great heights, it was not surprising that there is no correlation between the average afternoon tail wind vector at ground level and the daily departure intensity. We suggest that the timing ofdeparture from the Bane d'Arguin is largely under internal, instead of under direct environmental, control.

Multi-scale simulation using a hybrid mass-spring system and finite element model

Ply-scale finite element (FE) models are widely used to predict the performance of a composite structure based on material properties of individual plies. When simulating damage, these models neglect microscopic fracture processes which may have a significant effect on how a crack progresses within and between plies of a multidirectional laminate. To overcome this resolution limitation a multi-scale modelling technique is employed to simulate the effect micro-scale damage events have on the macro-scale response of a structure. The current paper discusses the development and validation of a hybrid mass-spring system and finite element modelling technique for multi-scale analysis. The model developed here is limited to elastic deformations; however, it is the first key step towards an efficient multi-scale damage model well suited to simulation of fracture in fibre reinforced composite materials. Various load cases have been simulated using the model developed here which show excellent accuracy compared to analytical and FE results. Future work is discussed, including extension of the model to incorporate damage modelling.

Streptomyces caldifontis sp. nov., isolated from a hot water spring of Tatta Pani, Kotli, Pakistan

A Gram-staining positive, non-motile, rod-shaped, catalase positive and oxidase negative bacterium, designated NCCP-1331(T), was isolated from a hot water spring soil collected from Tatta Pani, Kotli, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. The isolate grew at a temperature range of 18-40 °C (optimum 30 °C), pH 6.0-9.0 (optimum 7.0) and with 0-6 % NaCl (optimum 2 % NaCl (w/v)). The phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain NCCP-1331(T) belonged to the genus Streptomyces and is closely related to Streptomyces brevispora BK160(T) with 97.9 % nucleotide similarity, followed by Streptomyces drosdowiczii NRRL B-24297(T) with 97.8 % nucleotide similarity. The DNA-DNA relatedness values of strain NCCP-1331(T) with S. brevispora KACC 21093(T) and S. drosdowiczii CBMAI 0498(T) were 42.7 and 34.7 %, respectively. LL-DAP was detected as diagnostic amino acid along with alanine, glycine, leucine and glutamic acid. The isolate contained MK-9(H8) as the predominant menaquinone. Major polar lipids detected in NCCP-1331(T) were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and unidentified phospholipids. Major fatty acids were iso-C16: 0, summed feature 8 (18:1 ω7c/18:1 ω6c), anteiso-C15:0 and C16:0. The genomic DNA G + C content was 69.8 mol %. On the basis of phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic analysis, it is concluded that strain NCCP-1331(T) represents a novel species of the genus Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces caldifontis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NCCP-1331(T) (=KCTC 39537(T) = CPCC 204147(T)).