Morphometric analysis of Loch Rannoch charr indicated that in addition to the pelagic morph previously described, the benthic morph previously described consists of two distinct morphs. Thus one form had a relatively small head, short gill rakers and consumed only benthic invert…
Individuals have limited time and energy and so they face a trade-off between the resources they allocate to parental, mating and self-maintenance activities and between care of current and future offspring. Within a biparental system, models predict that an individual will do b…
Leishmania resides inside mammalian macrophages, from where it is thought to manipulate the host immune system by releasing virulence factors. The cysteine peptidase CPB has been shown to be secreted by the parasite and act as such a virulence factor. CPB is released through the…
Conservation of phenotypically variable taxa such as the European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) can be particularly challenging. In this thesis it is argued that the recent designation of seven native C. lavaretus populations as three endemic species (C. clupeoides, C. stigmat…
There is now strong epidemiological and animal research showing that undernutrition in gestation and early postnatal life is linked with a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. The physiological processes involved are not yet clear. The aim of this thesis was …
Coronella austriaca is the United Kingdom’s rarest snake, being confined to the lowland heathlands of Dorset, Hampshire and Surrey. As a result, it remains the least understood; despite being listed as a key biodiversity action plan species. Substantial loss and fragmentation of…
Ecologists would like to understand how complexity persists in nature. In this thesis I have taken two fundamentally different routes to study ecosystem stability of model ecosystems: classical community ecology and classical population ecology. In community ecology models, we c…
This study constructed phylogenies for the Nectariniidae from up to 20 parameters derived from quantitative analyses of their vocalisations and used these to test hypotheses on whether or not the origin of sunbirds is African or Asian. In addition to standard sonographic measure…
A basic aim of evolutionary biology is to explain the enormous diversity among animal and plant species. But also within species there is often large genetic and phenotypic variation, and such variation is necessary for evolution to create new reproductively isolated species. Th…
Due to mounting evidence that the early environment experienced by a juvenile can affect the morphology and physiology of the adult, there is currently great interest in how environmental variability may shape the behavioural phenotype, and whether such shaping has adaptive bene…
Population numbers change in space and time. The construction of models to investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics of populations may offer a means to identify the processes driving this change. In this thesis, we make use of models to examine the population ecology of thr…
Trade-offs occur where different physiological systems compete for the same limited resource. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can potentially damage all endogenous cells and processes, and antioxidants help prevent this oxidative stress. Since dietary acquired antioxidants are a l…
Stereotypic behaviour is characterised as repetitive, topographically invariant, rigid behaviour patterns, often displayed by captive, domestic and laboratory animals. The cause of these behaviours is thought primarily to be related to impoverished or species-atypical living env…
An extensive literature has documented the existence of suites of correlated behavioural traits (called behavioural syndromes) in a range of vertebrate species, as well as in some invertebrates. The existence and persistence of such behavioural syndromes is of both fundamental a…
The aim of the project was to investigate the behavioural and physiological strategies used by wigeon to maximise their nutrient intake during winter. The reasons for selecting this species were its totally herbivorous diet, its simple digestive physiology and its small body siz…
The physical environment has a strong influence on the lives or organisms by limiting the way energy is gained and expended determining the capacity of organisms to invest in activities like reproduction. The avian nest site and structure, through its effects on the thermal cond…
In this study I investigated Procellariiformes (albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters) at sea in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. Fourteen species and 301 individuals were sampled non-destructively using a cast net method described here. A method is described for ageing Atlantic …