Obligate brood parasites lay their eggs in nests of other species, relying on these host parents to care for their offspring. This phenomenon has been a curiosity amongst researchers since its first description and has become a model study system for testing such ideas as coevolution and species recognition. This thesis examines a few of the many questions that arise from this breeding system. The New Zealand Grey Warbler (Gerygone igata) and its brood parasite, the Shining Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx lucidus) are used as the main study species, although research on the eviction behaviour of Common Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) has also been conducted. First, the current state of knowledge and recent discoveries regarding nestling rejection abilities of hosts is reviewed in chapter one. Second, a comparative study of New Zealand passerine begging calls has been conducted to test for begging call similarity between a brood parasite and its host, as well as developing a new technique for detecting the mode of coevolution that may be occurring in the parasite – host relationship. Parent-offspring communication in Grey Warblers is also examined to test for both parental and nestlings Parents use both alarm calls to warn offspring of potential danger, and also parental feeding calls to elicit a begging response from nestlings. By contrast, nestlings are able to signal both age and short term levels of need to parents through the acoustic structure of the begging call. The evolutionary costs and benefits of egg eviction behaviour in the Common Cuckoo are also tested. An experimental approach showed that egg eviction had a growth cost, but this cost was temporary and restricted to during and immediately after the egg eviction phase. A pattern of compensatory growth was observed after the eviction period, so that during the later nestling stages there was no difference in mass, and no difference in fledging age. Finally, variation in the Grey Warbler breeding biology and Shining Cuckoo parasitism rates are examined through both time and across latitudes. This research has shown a counterintuitive pattern of breeding phenology across latitudes. These patterns have implications for Shining Cuckoos both in terms of timing of available nests and host selection. Keywords: Begging call, breeding phenology, brood parasitism, coevolution, Common Cuckoo, eviction, Grey Warbler, parent-offspring communication, Shining Cuckoo.

Esta tese estabelece uma abordagem evolucionária de sistemas de relações de trabalho (SRT- e), a qual consiste em propor uma ferramenta analítica que possibilite estudar as mudanças em sistemas de relações de trabalho ao longo do tempo como um processo evolutivo movido pelos avanços tecnológicos. Para esse intuito, o modelo de SRT desenvolvido por John Dunlop foi tomado como base, sendo modificado para compatibilizá-lo com as contribuições da Teoria Evolucionária. A alteração foi feita no sentido de tornar endógena ao modelo as fontes de geração de variedade no SRT desenvolvido por Dunlop, através de uma maior centralidade da firma, como aquela que desenvolve e introduz novas tecnologias na economia para obter vantagem competitiva em seu processo de concorrência no mercado, e da alteração na concepção do contexto do sistema de relações de trabalho. Desse modo, a mudança proposta permite que o nexo entre tecnologias físicas, rotinas organizacionais (tecnologia social), formas de regulação das relações de trabalho constantes nas regras (tecnologia social) e a teia de regras do SRT-e (instituições) seja estabelecido, consistindo no uso da “ponte” entre tecnologias e instituições, conforme sugerida por Richard Nelson. Com base na ferramenta de análise de SRT-e, o esforço teórico da tese foi, também, o de identificar como ocorre o alinhamento entre as inovações tecnológicas de um novo paradigma tecno- econômico e as instituições das relações de trabalho. Para tanto, foi explorada a ideia da “ponte” proposta por Richard Nelson, identificando do ponto de vista teórico, como ocorre a compatibilização entre as tecnologias e as instituições das relações de trabalho, que se constitui em um dos principais alinhamentos ao pleno estabelecimento de um novo paradigma tecno-econômico, ao permitir a efetividade de exploração do potencial de desenvolvimento econômico de um dado país. A proposta da tese está centrada em quatro áreas de pesquisa: relações de trabalho, teoria institucional, organização industrial e economia da tecnologia. Nessas áreas, o embasamento teórico é dado pelos campos de Industrial Relations e pela Economia Evolucionária: Neoschumpeteriana e Neoinstitucionalista. Em relação ao primeiro, é feita uma descrição desse campo de estudo e a apresentação do modelo de análise de relações de trabalho de John T. Dunlop, tal como proposto originalmente na sua obra Industrial Relations Systems, publicada em 1958. Indicam-se as suas propriedades e também as suas limitações para tratar com a mudança em relações de trabalho em sentido evolutivo. É sobre esse modelo que se aplica os construtos teóricos daquelas outras duas correntes que compõem a Teoria Evolucionária para torná-lo, então, um Sistema de Relações de Trabalho evolutivo (SRT-e). O esforço teórico consiste em modificar o modelo de SRT dunlopiano para assimilar e adaptar os princípios da teoria da evolução de Darwin. Os princípios darwinianos de uma abordagem evolucionária são a ocorrência endógena ao modelo de: variedade, seleção e herança. Da Teoria Neoschumpeteriana se toma emprestado a concepção de concorrência schumpeteriana, da tecnologia como um determinante básico da dinâmica da economia capitalista, da firma como a instituição que introduz as novidades tecnológicas no sistema, bem como o conceito de paradigma tecno-econômico, para explicar como os avanços tecnológicos modificam o SRT-e. A Teoria Neoinstitucionalista contribui com o conceito de instituição, na sua influência na vida econômica e para dar efetividade às inovações que são lançadas na economia. É feita, então, uma junção de conceitos dessas duas correntes de modo a mostrar como é feita a co-evolução entre as tecnologias e as instituições das relações de trabalho. / This thesis provides an evolutionary industrial relations systems approach (SRT-e), which consists in proposing an analytical tool that allows to study the changes in industrial relations systems over time as an evolutionary process driven by technological advances. For this purpose, the SRT model developed by John Dunlop was taken as a base and modified to bring them into line with the contribution of the Evolutionary Theory. The change occurs towards making endogenous to the model the sources that generates variety in the SRT developed by Dunlop, through greater centrality of the firm, as the one that develops and introduces new technologies into the economy to gain competitive advantage in the process of market competition, and by changing the conception of the context of the industrial relations system. Therefore, the proposed change allows that the link between physical technologies, organizational routines (social technology), forms of regulation of labor relations contained in the rules (social technology) and the web of rules of the SRT (institutions) is established, consisting in the use of the "bridge" between technologies and institutions suggested by Richard Nelson. Based on the analysis tool of SRT-e, the theoretical effort of the thesis was also aimed to identify how the alignment between technological innovations of a new techno- economic paradigm, and labor relations institutions occurs. It was explored the idea of the “bridge”, as suggested by Richard Nelson, identifying from a theoretical point of view, how the match between technologies and the institutions of industrial relations occurs, which is one of the main alignments necessary to the full establishment of a new techno-economic paradigm, allowing to the full deployment of the economic development potential of a given country to be achieved. The thesis proposal is centered on four areas of research: industrial relations, institutional theory, industrial organization theory, and technological economy. In these areas, the theoretical basis comes from the fields of Industrial Relations and Evolutionary Theory: Neoschumpeterian and Neo-institutionalist theories. Regarding to the first one, it is made a description of this field of study and a presentation of the model of analysis of IRS, as originally proposed by John T. Dunlop in his book Industrial Relations Systems, published in 1958. It will be indicated its proprieties and limitations in dealing with change in an evolutionary sense. It is on this model that will be applied the theoretical constructs from the other two stream of economic thought (Neoschumpeterian and Neo- institutionalist) to make it, then, an evolutionary industrial relations systems (SRT-e). The theoretical effort consists in modifying the dunlopian SRT model to assimilate and to adapt the principles of Darwin's theory of evolution. The darwinian principles of an evolutionary approach are the occurrence of variety, selection and inheritance as being endogenous to the model. From Neoschumpeterian Theory, it borrows the concept of Schumpeterian competition, and technology as a basic determinant of the dynamics of the capitalist economy, and the firm as the institution that introduces technological innovations in the system. Another relevant concept used from that theory is the techno-economic paradigm, which is used to explain how the technological advances modify the SRT-e. The Neo-Institutionalist Theory contributes with the concept of institution, its influence on the economic life, and the way that it gave effectiveness to the innovations that are introduced into the economy. Then, it will be make a junction of concepts of these two currents of economic thoughts so as to show that there is a co-evolution between technologies and the institutions of industrial relations.

Esta tese estabelece uma abordagem evolucionária de sistemas de relações de trabalho (SRT- e), a qual consiste em propor uma ferramenta analítica que possibilite estudar as mudanças em sistemas de relações de trabalho ao longo do tempo como um processo evolutivo movido pelos avanços tecnológicos. Para esse intuito, o modelo de SRT desenvolvido por John Dunlop foi tomado como base, sendo modificado para compatibilizá-lo com as contribuições da Teoria Evolucionária. A alteração foi feita no sentido de tornar endógena ao modelo as fontes de geração de variedade no SRT desenvolvido por Dunlop, através de uma maior centralidade da firma, como aquela que desenvolve e introduz novas tecnologias na economia para obter vantagem competitiva em seu processo de concorrência no mercado, e da alteração na concepção do contexto do sistema de relações de trabalho. Desse modo, a mudança proposta permite que o nexo entre tecnologias físicas, rotinas organizacionais (tecnologia social), formas de regulação das relações de trabalho constantes nas regras (tecnologia social) e a teia de regras do SRT-e (instituições) seja estabelecido, consistindo no uso da “ponte” entre tecnologias e instituições, conforme sugerida por Richard Nelson. Com base na ferramenta de análise de SRT-e, o esforço teórico da tese foi, também, o de identificar como ocorre o alinhamento entre as inovações tecnológicas de um novo paradigma tecno- econômico e as instituições das relações de trabalho. Para tanto, foi explorada a ideia da “ponte” proposta por Richard Nelson, identificando do ponto de vista teórico, como ocorre a compatibilização entre as tecnologias e as instituições das relações de trabalho, que se constitui em um dos principais alinhamentos ao pleno estabelecimento de um novo paradigma tecno-econômico, ao permitir a efetividade de exploração do potencial de desenvolvimento econômico de um dado país. A proposta da tese está centrada em quatro áreas de pesquisa: relações de trabalho, teoria institucional, organização industrial e economia da tecnologia. Nessas áreas, o embasamento teórico é dado pelos campos de Industrial Relations e pela Economia Evolucionária: Neoschumpeteriana e Neoinstitucionalista. Em relação ao primeiro, é feita uma descrição desse campo de estudo e a apresentação do modelo de análise de relações de trabalho de John T. Dunlop, tal como proposto originalmente na sua obra Industrial Relations Systems, publicada em 1958. Indicam-se as suas propriedades e também as suas limitações para tratar com a mudança em relações de trabalho em sentido evolutivo. É sobre esse modelo que se aplica os construtos teóricos daquelas outras duas correntes que compõem a Teoria Evolucionária para torná-lo, então, um Sistema de Relações de Trabalho evolutivo (SRT-e). O esforço teórico consiste em modificar o modelo de SRT dunlopiano para assimilar e adaptar os princípios da teoria da evolução de Darwin. Os princípios darwinianos de uma abordagem evolucionária são a ocorrência endógena ao modelo de: variedade, seleção e herança. Da Teoria Neoschumpeteriana se toma emprestado a concepção de concorrência schumpeteriana, da tecnologia como um determinante básico da dinâmica da economia capitalista, da firma como a instituição que introduz as novidades tecnológicas no sistema, bem como o conceito de paradigma tecno-econômico, para explicar como os avanços tecnológicos modificam o SRT-e. A Teoria Neoinstitucionalista contribui com o conceito de instituição, na sua influência na vida econômica e para dar efetividade às inovações que são lançadas na economia. É feita, então, uma junção de conceitos dessas duas correntes de modo a mostrar como é feita a co-evolução entre as tecnologias e as instituições das relações de trabalho. / This thesis provides an evolutionary industrial relations systems approach (SRT-e), which consists in proposing an analytical tool that allows to study the changes in industrial relations systems over time as an evolutionary process driven by technological advances. For this purpose, the SRT model developed by John Dunlop was taken as a base and modified to bring them into line with the contribution of the Evolutionary Theory. The change occurs towards making endogenous to the model the sources that generates variety in the SRT developed by Dunlop, through greater centrality of the firm, as the one that develops and introduces new technologies into the economy to gain competitive advantage in the process of market competition, and by changing the conception of the context of the industrial relations system. Therefore, the proposed change allows that the link between physical technologies, organizational routines (social technology), forms of regulation of labor relations contained in the rules (social technology) and the web of rules of the SRT (institutions) is established, consisting in the use of the "bridge" between technologies and institutions suggested by Richard Nelson. Based on the analysis tool of SRT-e, the theoretical effort of the thesis was also aimed to identify how the alignment between technological innovations of a new techno- economic paradigm, and labor relations institutions occurs. It was explored the idea of the “bridge”, as suggested by Richard Nelson, identifying from a theoretical point of view, how the match between technologies and the institutions of industrial relations occurs, which is one of the main alignments necessary to the full establishment of a new techno-economic paradigm, allowing to the full deployment of the economic development potential of a given country to be achieved. The thesis proposal is centered on four areas of research: industrial relations, institutional theory, industrial organization theory, and technological economy. In these areas, the theoretical basis comes from the fields of Industrial Relations and Evolutionary Theory: Neoschumpeterian and Neo-institutionalist theories. Regarding to the first one, it is made a description of this field of study and a presentation of the model of analysis of IRS, as originally proposed by John T. Dunlop in his book Industrial Relations Systems, published in 1958. It will be indicated its proprieties and limitations in dealing with change in an evolutionary sense. It is on this model that will be applied the theoretical constructs from the other two stream of economic thought (Neoschumpeterian and Neo- institutionalist) to make it, then, an evolutionary industrial relations systems (SRT-e). The theoretical effort consists in modifying the dunlopian SRT model to assimilate and to adapt the principles of Darwin's theory of evolution. The darwinian principles of an evolutionary approach are the occurrence of variety, selection and inheritance as being endogenous to the model. From Neoschumpeterian Theory, it borrows the concept of Schumpeterian competition, and technology as a basic determinant of the dynamics of the capitalist economy, and the firm as the institution that introduces technological innovations in the system. Another relevant concept used from that theory is the techno-economic paradigm, which is used to explain how the technological advances modify the SRT-e. The Neo-Institutionalist Theory contributes with the concept of institution, its influence on the economic life, and the way that it gave effectiveness to the innovations that are introduced into the economy. Then, it will be make a junction of concepts of these two currents of economic thoughts so as to show that there is a co-evolution between technologies and the institutions of industrial relations.

Esta tese estabelece uma abordagem evolucionária de sistemas de relações de trabalho (SRT- e), a qual consiste em propor uma ferramenta analítica que possibilite estudar as mudanças em sistemas de relações de trabalho ao longo do tempo como um processo evolutivo movido pelos avanços tecnológicos. Para esse intuito, o modelo de SRT desenvolvido por John Dunlop foi tomado como base, sendo modificado para compatibilizá-lo com as contribuições da Teoria Evolucionária. A alteração foi feita no sentido de tornar endógena ao modelo as fontes de geração de variedade no SRT desenvolvido por Dunlop, através de uma maior centralidade da firma, como aquela que desenvolve e introduz novas tecnologias na economia para obter vantagem competitiva em seu processo de concorrência no mercado, e da alteração na concepção do contexto do sistema de relações de trabalho. Desse modo, a mudança proposta permite que o nexo entre tecnologias físicas, rotinas organizacionais (tecnologia social), formas de regulação das relações de trabalho constantes nas regras (tecnologia social) e a teia de regras do SRT-e (instituições) seja estabelecido, consistindo no uso da “ponte” entre tecnologias e instituições, conforme sugerida por Richard Nelson. Com base na ferramenta de análise de SRT-e, o esforço teórico da tese foi, também, o de identificar como ocorre o alinhamento entre as inovações tecnológicas de um novo paradigma tecno- econômico e as instituições das relações de trabalho. Para tanto, foi explorada a ideia da “ponte” proposta por Richard Nelson, identificando do ponto de vista teórico, como ocorre a compatibilização entre as tecnologias e as instituições das relações de trabalho, que se constitui em um dos principais alinhamentos ao pleno estabelecimento de um novo paradigma tecno-econômico, ao permitir a efetividade de exploração do potencial de desenvolvimento econômico de um dado país. A proposta da tese está centrada em quatro áreas de pesquisa: relações de trabalho, teoria institucional, organização industrial e economia da tecnologia. Nessas áreas, o embasamento teórico é dado pelos campos de Industrial Relations e pela Economia Evolucionária: Neoschumpeteriana e Neoinstitucionalista. Em relação ao primeiro, é feita uma descrição desse campo de estudo e a apresentação do modelo de análise de relações de trabalho de John T. Dunlop, tal como proposto originalmente na sua obra Industrial Relations Systems, publicada em 1958. Indicam-se as suas propriedades e também as suas limitações para tratar com a mudança em relações de trabalho em sentido evolutivo. É sobre esse modelo que se aplica os construtos teóricos daquelas outras duas correntes que compõem a Teoria Evolucionária para torná-lo, então, um Sistema de Relações de Trabalho evolutivo (SRT-e). O esforço teórico consiste em modificar o modelo de SRT dunlopiano para assimilar e adaptar os princípios da teoria da evolução de Darwin. Os princípios darwinianos de uma abordagem evolucionária são a ocorrência endógena ao modelo de: variedade, seleção e herança. Da Teoria Neoschumpeteriana se toma emprestado a concepção de concorrência schumpeteriana, da tecnologia como um determinante básico da dinâmica da economia capitalista, da firma como a instituição que introduz as novidades tecnológicas no sistema, bem como o conceito de paradigma tecno-econômico, para explicar como os avanços tecnológicos modificam o SRT-e. A Teoria Neoinstitucionalista contribui com o conceito de instituição, na sua influência na vida econômica e para dar efetividade às inovações que são lançadas na economia. É feita, então, uma junção de conceitos dessas duas correntes de modo a mostrar como é feita a co-evolução entre as tecnologias e as instituições das relações de trabalho. / This thesis provides an evolutionary industrial relations systems approach (SRT-e), which consists in proposing an analytical tool that allows to study the changes in industrial relations systems over time as an evolutionary process driven by technological advances. For this purpose, the SRT model developed by John Dunlop was taken as a base and modified to bring them into line with the contribution of the Evolutionary Theory. The change occurs towards making endogenous to the model the sources that generates variety in the SRT developed by Dunlop, through greater centrality of the firm, as the one that develops and introduces new technologies into the economy to gain competitive advantage in the process of market competition, and by changing the conception of the context of the industrial relations system. Therefore, the proposed change allows that the link between physical technologies, organizational routines (social technology), forms of regulation of labor relations contained in the rules (social technology) and the web of rules of the SRT (institutions) is established, consisting in the use of the "bridge" between technologies and institutions suggested by Richard Nelson. Based on the analysis tool of SRT-e, the theoretical effort of the thesis was also aimed to identify how the alignment between technological innovations of a new techno- economic paradigm, and labor relations institutions occurs. It was explored the idea of the “bridge”, as suggested by Richard Nelson, identifying from a theoretical point of view, how the match between technologies and the institutions of industrial relations occurs, which is one of the main alignments necessary to the full establishment of a new techno-economic paradigm, allowing to the full deployment of the economic development potential of a given country to be achieved. The thesis proposal is centered on four areas of research: industrial relations, institutional theory, industrial organization theory, and technological economy. In these areas, the theoretical basis comes from the fields of Industrial Relations and Evolutionary Theory: Neoschumpeterian and Neo-institutionalist theories. Regarding to the first one, it is made a description of this field of study and a presentation of the model of analysis of IRS, as originally proposed by John T. Dunlop in his book Industrial Relations Systems, published in 1958. It will be indicated its proprieties and limitations in dealing with change in an evolutionary sense. It is on this model that will be applied the theoretical constructs from the other two stream of economic thought (Neoschumpeterian and Neo- institutionalist) to make it, then, an evolutionary industrial relations systems (SRT-e). The theoretical effort consists in modifying the dunlopian SRT model to assimilate and to adapt the principles of Darwin's theory of evolution. The darwinian principles of an evolutionary approach are the occurrence of variety, selection and inheritance as being endogenous to the model. From Neoschumpeterian Theory, it borrows the concept of Schumpeterian competition, and technology as a basic determinant of the dynamics of the capitalist economy, and the firm as the institution that introduces technological innovations in the system. Another relevant concept used from that theory is the techno-economic paradigm, which is used to explain how the technological advances modify the SRT-e. The Neo-Institutionalist Theory contributes with the concept of institution, its influence on the economic life, and the way that it gave effectiveness to the innovations that are introduced into the economy. Then, it will be make a junction of concepts of these two currents of economic thoughts so as to show that there is a co-evolution between technologies and the institutions of industrial relations.

Abstract Social information use is a widespread phenomenon across the animal kingdom and it affects various important aspects of animal behaviour. Animals observe and copy the behaviour of conspecifics and other species on the same trophic level in their own decision-making, e.g., in habitat or mate choice. Copying is adaptive only when it is selective. Thus, it would be important to understand when and which individuals should copy others, and which individuals they choose to copy and what are the consequences of social information use. In this thesis, I experimentally study these questions in wild animals living in natural conditions. By simulating arbitrary preference of great tits (Parus major), I demonstrated that the portrayed fitness does not affect the nest site choices of conspecifics, but the tit pairs with an old male prefer the nest site choices of good and poor conspecifics. Social information use among tits appears to be age- and sex-dependent. Pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca), however, selectively copy or reject a novel nest site feature preference (symbol attached to the nest box) of great tits experimentally manipulated to exhibit high or low fitness (clutch size), respectively. By offering pied flycatchers choice in nest boxes with alternative contents, I showed that nest take-overs of flycatchers are not a form of social information use, but seem to result from the reduced building effort required. Furthermore, by conducting a decoy and playback experiment, I showed that great tits covered eggs more efficiently in the presence of pied flycatchers. One function of egg covering behaviour seems to be a counter-adaptation to reduce information parasitism by pied flycatchers. My results demonstrate that the social transmission of behaviours across species can be highly selective in response to observed fitness, plausibly making the phenomenon adaptive. In contrast with the current theory of species coexistence, overlap between realized niches of species could dynamically increase or decrease, depending on the observed success of surrounding individuals. The social information revealed by success and behaviour of animals is a resource that can be used or concealed. It is a new kind of evolutionary and ecological factor which may affect the formation of ecosystems and species coevolution. / Tiivistelmä Sosiaalinen informaationkäyttö on yleinen ilmiö eläinkunnassa, ja sitä tavataan aina hyönteisistä valaisiin. Yksilöt tarkkailevat ja kopioivat sekä lajitovereiden että toisen ekologialtaan samankaltaisen lajin yksilöiden käyttäytymistä erilaisissa tilanteissa, kuten pesäpaikan tai parittelukumppanin valinnassa. Sosiaalinen informaationkäyttö on adaptiivista ainoastaan ollessaan valikoivaa. Siksi on tärkeää selvittää kenen, koska ja ketä kannattaa kopioida, ja mitä ekologisia ja evolutiivisia seurauksia siitä koituu informaation lähteelle ja käyttäjälle. Väitöskirjassani tutkin kokeellisesti informaation hankkijan (kirjosieppo Ficedula hypoleuca) valikoivaa kopioimista ja siitä mahdollisesti johtuvaa informaation lähteen (talitiainen Parus major) vasta-adaptaatiota luonnonoloissa. Symbolikokeilla selvitin, että talitiaisten lajinsisäinen kopiointi on iästä ja sukupuolesta riippuvaa, mutta informaationlähteen havaittu kelpoisuus ei vaikuta kopioinnin todennäköisyyteen. Kirjosiepot puolestaan kopioivat valikoivasti keinotekoisesti luotuja tiaisten mieltymyksiä pesäpönttöön kiinnitettyjä symboleja kohtaan, riippuen tiaisten havaitusta manipuloidusta kelpoisuudesta (munamäärästä pesässä). Siepot kopioivat tiaisia, joiden pesässä on paljon munia (13 munaa), ja rejektoivat tiaisia (valitsevat vaihtoehtoisen symbolin), joilla munia on vähän (5 munaa). Tarjoamalla kirjosiepoille vaihtoehtoisia pesäpönttöjä osoitin, että sieppojen luontainen mieltymys vallata ja rakentaa pesänsä toisten pesien päälle ei ole sosiaalisen informaationkäytön muoto, vaan se näyttää olevan pesänrakennuksen kustannusten minimointia. Playback-kokeilla osoitin, että talitiaisten munienpeittelykäyttäytymisellä on useita funktioita. Se on vasta-adaptaatio kirjosiepon informaatioloisintaa vastaan ja toimii mahdollisesti suojana kylmää vastaan. Väitöskirjani tulokset osoittavat, että eläinten käyttäytymisen paljastama sosiaalinen informaatio on resurssi, jota voidaan hyödyntää tai salata. Se on myös uudenlainen ekologinen ja evolutiivinen tekijä, joka vaikuttaa eliöyhteisöjen muodostumiseen ja lajien koevoluutioon. Lajienvälinen valikoiva sosiaalinen informaationkäyttö -hypoteesi haastaa nykyisen koevoluutioteorian. Se ennustaa, että informaatiota hyödyntävän lajin ja informaationlähteen ominaisuudet voivat joko samankaltaistua tai erilaistua, informaationlähteen havaittavasta menestyksestä riippuen.

The study focuses on the development path of a tourism destination area centered around a special nature reserve and adjacent rural communities in the northern part of Serbia. Utilizing evolutionary economic geography (EEG) as an increasingly present theoretical and conceptual framework in the studies of tourism, this research project employs key EEG concepts of ‘path dependence’ and ‘co-evolution’. ‘Path dependence’ examines different social, economic, institutional and sectoral factors that direct, propel and/or hinder destination development, while ‘co-evolution’ analyzes causal and relational exchanges of stakeholders within and associated with the destination. The objective of this study is to trace developmental and relational trajectories of the nature reserve, tourism enterprises in its vicinity, and the place and role of public sector in these processes. The study, therefore, aims to analyze: (1) how the concept of ‘path dependence’ applies to the tourism development path of the nature reserve; (2) the dynamics of co-evolutionary and relational exchange processes in the nature reserve destination area, namely those occurring between actors operating in both public and private sectors. The two combined EEG approaches, previously not applied within the outlined geographical context, serve to illustrate and explain overall development mechanisms within a tourism destination, relevant economically, socio-culturally as well as environmentally for its region and on the tourism market of Serbia. When methodology is concerned, the study is in form of a case study, with primary data drawn from semi-structured, in-depth interviews and supported with complementary data from relevant scientific articles, government documents, web sites and other publications. The study findings show that the nature reserve in its tourism growth displays a path dependence determined by two seemingly diverging factors: (1) rules and regulations pertaining to protected areas such as nature reserves dictate tourism development and (2) the reserve management entrepreneurial skills play a noteworthy role in shaping its tourism growth. Apart from path dependence, the tourism development path associated with the nature reserve displays path plasticity, which represents a new direction in tourism growth based on the existing infrastructural and managerial framework. Moreover, the study outcomes indicate that levels, directions and intensity of co-evolutionary and relational exchanges among all stakeholders included demonstrate several different patterns. While there is detectable relationship between the nature reserve and most local tourism-related stakeholders, relationships among local stakeholders themselves are rather uneven. Similar patterns are found regarding the involvement of public sector. Public sector is closely linked with the nature reserve, however, its association with other tourism stakeholders in the destination area is uneven.  These findings support the idea that each destination area stands as a unique and complex entity, with various endogenous and exogenous factors shaping its growth.

Dans une première partie de mon projet de thèse, je me suis intéressée aux hybridations interspécifiques et à l’histoire évolutive des espèces de pommiers en Europe. L’analyse de génomes complets m’a permis de confirmer que l’ancêtre du pommier cultivé est bien le pommier sauvage asiatique M. sieversii, mais aussi que de nombreuses variétés cultivées originaires de l’Europe forment un groupe génétique distinct de cette espèce sauvage. Ces variétés montrent des traces d’introgressions par le pommier sauvage européen M. sylvestris et une structuration de populaton selon un axe est-ouest. Les introgressions depuis le pommier cultivé sont également abondantes dans les populations de pommier sauvage européen M. sylvestris, et menacent leur intégrité génétique. Les niveaux des introgressions étaient corrélés aux activités anthropiques d’exploitation des pommiers et les hybrides n’avaient pas de réduction détectable de valeur sélective sur les caractères mesurés. Notre étude de la phylogéographie du pommier sauvage européen dans l’ensemble de son aire de distribution nous a permis de détecter des groupes génétiques différenciés résultant de l’histoire climatique passée de la planète. Ces groupes représentent autant d’unités de conservation différentes.Dans une seconde partie, j'ai étudié la coévolution entre espèces de plantes et espèces de champignons pathogènes dans deux systèmes différents. Je me suis tout d'abord intéréssée à l’histoire évolutive combinée des pommiers cultivés et sauvages d’Asie centrale et du champignon causant la tavelure, Venturia inaequalis. Dans les montagnes du Kazakhstan, le pommier cultivé a été réintroduit au cours des deux derniers siècles, créant une zone de contact secondaire, non seulement entre M. domestica et M. sieversii, mais aussi entre les populations de V. inaequalis de types agricole et sauvage. Alors que l’invasion des populations sauvages par le pommier cultivé semble encore limité géographiquement, le pathogène de type agricole est largement répandu dans les forêts et sur l’hôte sauvage. Cependant, le nombre d’hybrides détectés chez le pathogène reste limité, probablement en raison de barrières intrinsèques à la reproduction, puisque les deux types de pathogènes infectent les mêmes arbres hôtes. Dans un second temps, j’ai comparé les structures génétiques et spatiales à l’échelle européenne de la plante Silene latifolia et de son pathogène Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae. Notre jeu de données constitué du génotype d’un pathogène et de la plante qu’il infectait nous a permis de comparer la structure à très fine échelle et celle-ci apparait remarquablement congruente. Trois groupes phylogéographiques ont été identifiés chez les deux organismes, correspondant à l’histoire de contraction-expansion des aires de distribution des espèces tempérées lors de la dernière glaciation. Une structure génétique plus fine a également été détectée chez le pathogène, suggérant la possibilité d’une histoire plus complexe. / In the first part of my thesis project, I studied the evolutive history of apple tree species in Europe, including interspecific hybridizations. Analyses of whole genome data confirmed that the progenitor species of the cultivated apple tree was M. sieversii, a Central Asia wild apple tree, but also that a high proportion of European cultivated varieties form a genetic group distinct from the wild species. These varieties show traces of introgressions from M. sylvestris and of population subdivision along an East-West axis. Microsatellite markers also showed that introgressions from the cultivated apple were also quite frequent in wild apple tree populations and thus threaten their genetic integrity. We found that introgression levels were correlated to anthropic activities of apple tree cultivation and gave rise to hybrids with no detectable reduced fitness on the traits measured. Our study of the European wild apple tree phylogeography allowed us to detect differentiated genetic groups resulting from the past climatic history of the planet and which should be considered as different evolutionary significant units in conservation.In the second part of my thesis project, I studied coevolution between plant species and their pathogenic fungi in two different systems. I first compared the evolutive history of cultivated and wild apple trees in Central Asia and that of their scab pathogen, Venturia inaequalis. In the Kazakhstan Mountains, the cultivated apple tree has been reintroduced back from Europe during the last two centuries. This created a secondary contact zone, not only between the two apple tree species, but also between the agricultural and the wild types of V. inaequalis. While the invasion of natural populations by the cultivated apple trees still seems geographically limited, the agricultural pathogen is widespread in the forests and on the wild host trees. However, the number of hybrids in the pathogen was limited, probably because of intrinsic reproductive barriers since no ecological barriers were found. I also compared spatial genetic structures at the European scale in the plant Silene latifolia and its anther-smut pathogen Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae. Our dataset included genotypes from the pathogens and the plants on which they were collected, and the population structures appeared remarquably congruent. Three phylogenetic groups were identified in these both species, corresponding with the temperate species range contraction-expansion cycles during the past glaciations. A substructure was identified in the pathogen suggesting the possibility of a more complex history.

The mitochondrial genome of the nematode Romanomermis culicivorax encodes for miniaturized hairpin-like tRNA molecules that lack D- as well as T-arms, strongly deviating from the consensus cloverleaf. The single tRNA nucleotidyltransferase of this organism is fully active on armless tRNAs, while the human counterpart is not able to add a complete CCA-end. Transplanting single regions of the Romanomermis enzyme into the human counterpart, we identified a beta-turn element of the catalytic core that—when inserted into the human enzyme—confers full CCA-adding activity on armless tRNAs. This region, originally identified to position the 30 -end of the tRNA primer in the catalytic core, dramatically increases the enzyme’s substrate affinity. While conventional tRNA substrates bind to the enzyme by interactions with the T-arm, this is not possible in the case of armless tRNAs, and the strong contribution of the beta-turn compensates for an otherwise too weak interaction required for the addition of a complete CCA-terminus. This compensation demonstrates the remarkable evolutionary plasticity of the catalytic core elements of this enzyme to adapt to unconventional tRNA substrates.

No description available.

[pt] Em diversos problemas encontrados na literatura, se faz necessária alguma coordenação entre os agentes para que a tarefa seja realizada de forma ótima. Entretanto, pode ser difícil a obtenção desta coordenação por conta da quantidade e características dos agentes, dinâmica do ambiente e/ou complexidade da tarefa. O objetivo principal deste estudo é propor um modelo que possa se adaptar a problemas heterogêneos de coordenação e de dimensões elevadas, com aprendizado autônomo e que tenha convergência satisfatória, o qual foi denominado Modelo de Neuro Co-Evolução com Inspiração Quântica (NCoQ). O modelo se utiliza dos paradigmas da física quântica e da co-evolução biológica, evoluindo concomitantemente sub-populações de indivíduos quânticos para obter ganhos de convergência. A representação dos indivíduos por pulsos quânticos consegue reduzir o número de indivíduos em cada população, além de ser a mais recomendada para a utilização de neuro-evolução por conta da representação real. Ressalta-se também a capacidade do modelo em obter de forma autônoma a melhor configuração de arquitetura para as redes neurais de cada agente, não exigindo do programador a escolha deste parâmetro. Foram propostos novos operadores quânticos de crossover e mutação que foram comparados na otimização de funções de diversas dimensões. Para testar o desempenho do modelo, foram desenvolvidas, em linguagem MATLAB, simulações para o problema presa predador, para o benchmark multi-rover de exploração de ambientes e uma simulação para cobertura telefônica. Foram feitas comparações com outros modelos neuro-evolutivos encontrados na literatura, tendo o modelo NCoQ apresentado os melhores resultados. / [en] Many problems in the literature require some coordination among agents so a specific task can be executed more efficiently. However, this coordination can be difficult because of the quantity and characteristics of the agents, environment dynamics and/or task complexity. The main contribution of this Thesis is the proposal of a model, called Quantum Inspired Neuro Co-Evolution (NCoQ), that can adapt to heterogeneous multi-agent problems in high dimensions utilizing self-learning and that has satisfactory convergence. The model is inspired in quantum physics and biological co-evolution paradigms and evolves concomitantly subpopulations of quantum individuals to get convergence gains. The representation of individuals for quantum functions is able to reduce the numbers of individuals in each population and it is the most recommended for real neuro-evolution representation. It s also important to point out the model capacity in self-finding the best architecture of the neural networks agents, not requiring an a priori definition of this parameter. New crossover and mutation quantum operators were also proposed and compared in functions optimization of multiple dimensions. To test the model performance, three MATLAB simulations were developed: prey-predator task, multi-rover task and cell phone coverage area simulation. Comparisons were made against others neuro-evolution models found in literature and the NCoQ model attained the best results.