Flexible life-history traits and dispersal may allow generalist populations to persist across a range of habitats despite experiencing contrasting selection pressures. Invertebrates exploiting temporary ponds must develop quickly and disperse as adults, or have wide environmental tolerances. Conversely, permanent-pond invertebrates must avoid a suite of predators (e.g., fish and dragonflies). This gradient of pond permanence can result in life-history trade-offs that influence fitness, population dynamics, and genetic structure. In addition, recruitment between habitats may balance juvenile life-history trade-offs and be crucial to sustain generalist invertebrate populations in ponds with unpredictable hydrology. Through a multi-year survey of three pond complexes in the Canterbury high-country and a series of mesocosm experiments using two generalist pond invertebrates, Xanthocnemis zealandica damselflies and Sigara arguta waterboatmen, I found these two species had alternative life-history strategies that influenced their distributions across the pond-permanence gradient. With longer juvenile development, X. zealandica benefited from flexible life-history traits: temporary-pond X. zealandica had accelerated development and short-term desiccation tolerance, but were excluded from ponds with long dry periods, whereas, permanent-pond X. zealandica had extended development and predator avoidance behaviours (e.g., reduced movement and refuge-use). In contrast, S. arguta had an opportunistic life-history strategy with a fixed, rapid development response that allowed them to inhabit more temporary ponds, but they were intolerant of drying and limited to permanent ponds that contained shallow refuges from fish. These results illustrate how alternative life-history strategies enabled two generalist species to achieve broad realised niches. Recruitment between habitats also appeared to be important for balancing trade-offs and maintaining meta-populations across the pond-permanence gradient. To evaluate the importance of X. zealandica dispersal among and within pond complexes I used microsatellite analyses. While there was unique genetic population structure between the North and South Islands, at lower spatial scales there was little variability in genetic diversity and limited genetic structure in populations, likely due to gene flow among different habitat types. Overall, this work shows how an interaction of juvenile strategies and adult dispersal could reduce life-history trade-offs, resulting in weak selection pressures across an unpredictable disturbance gradient. Whether increasingly unpredictable hydrological patterns under climate-warming favour generalist species will likely depend on how well generalist life-history traits and dispersal allow exploitation of a range of habitat types and resilience to variable selection pressures. Higher mean summer rainfall in New Zealand may allow both species to exploit more temporary ponds, whereas longer dry periods between extreme precipitation events could limit X. zealandica distributions. Thus, species with generalist strategies are likely to be favoured under warming, but their specific life-history strategies will likely promote or limit their ability to exploit more unpredictable habitats.

Lamprey adults may be parasitic or non-parasitic, but the genetic basis of life history type is unknown. Although external differences between types are not apparent until metamorphosis, previous studies have suggested histological differences during ovarian differentiation. This study examined potential differences between parasitic chestnut lamprey Ichthyomyzon castaneus and non-parasitic northern brook lamprey I. fossor before, during, and after ovarian differentiation, using histological examination of the gonad, quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR, and RNA sequencing. There were no observable differences in the timing or nature of ovarian differentiation. However, there was evidence of differential expression of individual genes associated with growth, apoptosis, and fecundity and of sets of genes associated with energy and lipid metabolism. The sequence resources developed in this project will be useful for future examination of the genetic basis of lamprey life history type and of the genes controlling sex differentiation in these ancient vertebrates.

Capelin (Mallotus villosus) is the key forage fish in the north Atlantic. A short-term anomalous event in Newfoundland waters in the early 1990’s caused many changes to their biology, including excursions into alternate (subtidal) spawning habitats. Subtidal spawning sites have drastically different environmental conditions than the beach sites that they have been using since at least the 1940’s. This thesis examines various aspects of the reproductive biology of capelin to understand the mechanisms underlying the use of two environmentally divergent spawning habitats. Local adaptation in early life history stages was examined by raising artificially fertilized capelin eggs across three temperatures that capelin are likely to encounter at both spawning habitats. At cool to medium temperatures, larvae experienced higher hatching success, were larger at hatching and had more nutritional reserves relative to warm temperature conditions. There was no evidence of local adaptation, providing the first support for a facultative spawning strategy. The influence of global warming temperatures may be buffered through the utilization of either spawning habitat provided it is within this thermal optimum. A comparative analysis of adult body shape and condition between the two habitats provided further evidence that spawning habitat use in a given year is facultative. Patterns in fecundity drastically changed for capelin since it was last examined prior to the 1990’s. In addition to lower average population fecundity, a wide range of fecundities was also observed across all length-classes. I show that the strong relationship between length and fecundity in capelin has broken down in recent years, making easily collected size measurements an inappropriate proxy for the reproductive potential of this fish. Within-female variation in offspring size and developmental duration was higher when compared to among-female variation. This supports diversified bet-hedging in capelin, a strategy that would allow capelin to spawn in thermally available habitats without experiencing reproductive failure in exceedingly warm or cold years. It is likely that high variation in traits allow capelin to utilize alternate spawning habitats, ensuring that at least some larvae survive.

Until comparatively recently it was widely believed that the English medieval lay nobility was illiterate and apt to look upon literary pursuits as a degrading occupation. This view has now been effectively challenged, but no single long study of the subject exists, due primarily to the nature of the sources, which are scattered and difficult to use. Chapter I shows that there were many educational treatises, works on chivalry, and courtesy books circulating in Western Europe during the middle ages. Chapter II examines educational provisions within the royal household, a centre of education not only for the royal family, but also for other noble children. These arrangements were paralleled in the noble household - almost certainly the main place of education (Chapter III). Here education was shared between tutors in the child's own household and in other households, bishops, and resident schoolmasters. Chapter IV shows that noble education within the monasteries was uncommon after 1200. Recorded instances of nobles at school, at Oxford or Cambridge, or at the Inns of Court are rare, but by the fifteenth century educational opportunities were widening. The study of noble book-ownership and literary taste (Chapter V) reveals that many noble wills contained references to books and that noble women were considered worthy recipients. Although the composition of noble libraries changed, saints' lives and romances remained popular throughout, and the classical revival had made only a limited impact by c.lV?0. The original works and translations by noblemen represent a considerable achievement and nobles were also active as literary patrons (Chapter VI). Noble families or individuals, whose special interest in education, books, or the patronage of scholars deserves particular attention, are discussed in Chapter VII. While some nobles had no interest in literary pursuits, others were more sophisticated and brought educated minds to the political affairs of their day.

Capelin (Mallotus villosus) is the key forage fish in the north Atlantic. A short-term anomalous event in Newfoundland waters in the early 1990’s caused many changes to their biology, including excursions into alternate (subtidal) spawning habitats. Subtidal spawning sites have drastically different environmental conditions than the beach sites that they have been using since at least the 1940’s. This thesis examines various aspects of the reproductive biology of capelin to understand the mechanisms underlying the use of two environmentally divergent spawning habitats. Local adaptation in early life history stages was examined by raising artificially fertilized capelin eggs across three temperatures that capelin are likely to encounter at both spawning habitats. At cool to medium temperatures, larvae experienced higher hatching success, were larger at hatching and had more nutritional reserves relative to warm temperature conditions. There was no evidence of local adaptation, providing the first support for a facultative spawning strategy. The influence of global warming temperatures may be buffered through the utilization of either spawning habitat provided it is within this thermal optimum. A comparative analysis of adult body shape and condition between the two habitats provided further evidence that spawning habitat use in a given year is facultative. Patterns in fecundity drastically changed for capelin since it was last examined prior to the 1990’s. In addition to lower average population fecundity, a wide range of fecundities was also observed across all length-classes. I show that the strong relationship between length and fecundity in capelin has broken down in recent years, making easily collected size measurements an inappropriate proxy for the reproductive potential of this fish. Within-female variation in offspring size and developmental duration was higher when compared to among-female variation. This supports diversified bet-hedging in capelin, a strategy that would allow capelin to spawn in thermally available habitats without experiencing reproductive failure in exceedingly warm or cold years. It is likely that high variation in traits allow capelin to utilize alternate spawning habitats, ensuring that at least some larvae survive.

Climatic variation is an important driver of avian life history and population dynamics. Climate change models predict increased variability for many regions and to predict the effects on species, we need to examine how their life history characteristics influence their response to climate. I studied how environmental conditions influenced the ecology of white-tailed (Lagopus leucura) and rock ptarmigan (L. mutus) in tundra habitats of the southern Yukon Territory. Although sympatric in the study area, breeding territories were generally segregated, with white-tailed ptarmigan selecting steep, rocky slopes at higher elevations and rock ptarmigan preferring lower elevation sedge meadows. For both species, cold spring temperatures delayed the onset of breeding, resulting in smaller clutch sizes and fewer hatched young per female. However, delayed breeding led to a stronger reduction in these rates for rock ptarmigan, suggesting a lower resilience to extend reproductive effort in colder years. White-tailed ptarmigan were also more likely to re-nest following failure and had higher daily nest survival, both of which contributed to greater annual productivity compared to rock ptarmigan. Annual adult survival showed the opposite pattern to productivity as rock ptarmigan survival was 24 percent higher than white-tailed ptarmigan. This finding suggested a reproduction-survival trade-off exists for the two species, which may be driven by differing susceptibility to environmental factors in the region. Life history theory predicts that if the likelihood of future breeding opportunities is low, individuals should increase current reproductive effort, which may explain why white-tailed ptarmigan have longer breeding seasons and higher reproductive effort under unfavourable climatic conditions. Population models showed that growth rates (λ)were approximately stable for rock ptarmigan (λ=1.01), but declining for white-tailed ptarmigan (λ=0.96). Simulations showed that warmer spring temperatures over the next few decades would elevate λ by ~0.05 for both species, but the extent of increase in λ may be reduced with more variable spring conditions. Population growth will also depend on how changing winter conditions influence survival for each species. Model simulations suggest that if juvenile and adult survival are positively correlated, rock ptarmigan would be more resilient to severe years that simultaneously depress reproduction and survival.

This thesis explores the notion that we may be able to more fully understand the etiology of serial murder. Specifically, it concludes that the behaviours of serial murderers can be allegorical of unresolved childhood trauma - that in the murderous actions of the adult there can be a depth of subconscious allegorical connection to the repressed (forgotten) and unresolved trauma of the murderer's own childhood. The focus for this hermeneutic inquiry is the intersection that can be constructed between the phenomenon of serial murder and the assertion of the psychoanalyst Alice Miller that every perpetrator of violence was once a child who was (himself or herself) a victim. Alice Miller's concept of Poisonous Pedagogy is explained and critiqued. Her belief that our childhoods tell the stories of our adult behaviours is questioned in light of the similar theoretical ground of Life History, Life Narrative, Psychobiography, and Psychoanalytic Narrative. Miller's contention that there are directly allegorical connections between childhood abuse and adult murderous behaviours is illustrated by her analysis of the life of Jurgen Bartsch. A hermeneutic examination of the biographic records of two other serial murderers (Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy) is then undertaken to question the available support for Miller's contentions It is concluded that there is strong support for Miller's assertions regarding the etiology of violence, and that violent adult behaviour, even serial murder, can be allegorical of unresolved childhood trauma. It is suggested that there is a need to extend this area of research through face-to-face engagement with perpetrators of violence. It is recommended that we directly engage serial murderers in personal discourses that will allow further exploration of Miller's notion that serial murderers' behaviours are allegorical echoes of harm that was done to them.

The difference in evolutionary interests of males and females can select for traits that favour an individual??s fitness at the expense of their mate??s lifetime fitness. Despite the widespread occurrence of this sexual conflict over reproductive interactions, however, research to date has largely focused on the fitness costs imposed on females by manipulative males. Empirical evidence is particularly sparse for how mating can also be costly for males, the genetic structure of traits involved in reproductive interactions, and how sexual conflict can modify sexual selection in general. My aim was to explore the broader evolutionary consequence of sexual conflict and male-female interactions. In the nuptial-feeding Australian ground cricket, Pteronemobius sp., I used an experimental evolution approach to explore how diet and sexual conflict interact to determine the costs of mating. In the Australian black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus, I used molecular and quantitative genetic approaches to characterise the fitness consequences and genetic basis of spermatophore attachment, a trait at the centre of inter-locus sexual conflict, and then related this to both condition and male attractiveness. Finally, in T. commodus, I quantified how sexual conflict alters the sexual selection acting on male sexual traits and how this in turn shapes genetic architecture and the persistence of additive genetic variance. My results demonstrate the complex nature of reproductive interactions between males and females. Importantly, I show that diet can mediate the expression of sexual conflict in a mating system and shape the evolution of male life-span. I also show that reproductive interactions influence the fitness benefits that both male and females obtain from mating in ways that are not predicted by current theory and that much of the potential for such traits to co-evolve is via a common genetic association with condition. Finally, I demonstrate that sexual conflict can profoundly modify the process and outcome of sexual selection, thereby influencing how additive genetic variation is maintained in a suite of male sexual traits. These results highlight the need for a greater integration of sexual conflict and sexual selection theory as the evolutionary potential and significance of sexual conflict may currently be underestimated.

This study examined the demography of giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera (Linnaeus) and its interactions with understorey algae and invertebrates in southern New Zealand over two and a half years. Most of the study was done at two sites within Akaroa Harbour (Banks Peninsula) but ancillary sites at Tory Channel (Marlborough Sounds) were used for parts of the study. The kelp forests within Akaroa Harbour were generally highly productive, with a high annual turnover of giant kelp. Macrocystis plants were mostly annual and rarely reached ages greater than 12 months. Peak recruitment occurred in spring (November) during 1995-97, but lesser recruitment episodes occurred throughout the year. The maximum growth rates of Macrocystis fronds were comparable to rates reported elsewhere in southern hemisphere populations (22 mm - 24.5 mmlday), but considerably lower than those in northern hemisphere populations. The major experiment incorporated in the study tested the effects of the Macrocystis canopy and the understorey canopy of the stipitate laminarian Ecklonia radiata on macroalgae and invertebrates. The experiment was structured so that the effects of clearances at different times could be determined. One impetus for this experiment was the need to address issues relating to the commercial harvesting of giant kelp, its sustainability and its effects on other species. The effects of canopy removals on understorey algae, mostly juvenile Macrocystis, Ecklonia and Carpophyllum spp, were highly dependent on the timing of canopy removals and the combinations of canopies removed. For example, winter harvests of the Macrocystis canopy alone enhanced the survival of post-settlement Macrocystis recruits, but had little effect on Ecklonia recruitment. However, when both Macrocystis and Ecklonia canopies were removed in spring, there was heavy recruitment of Ecklonia that grew to dominate the understorey. Strong inter and intraspecific interactions from the Macrocystis surface canopy appeared to have been reduced by physical factors including water turbidity, sedimentation and the deterioration of the surface canopy during summer. These physical factors were not as limiting in Tory Channel. Fine scale extrinsic factor effects including nutrients, light and grazing on the early life history of Macrocystis were investigated in small experiments. Results suggest that recruitment may be nutrient limited even at moderately low temperatures, and that small herbivorous gastropods are an important source of mortality in the early life stages of Macrocystis. Culturing and transplantation cultivation techniques were also examined as a means of supplementing algal supplies. Macrocystis was cultured successfully through its life cycle onto culture ropes, but generally failed to produce visible sporophytes when placed in the field. Cultured plants did grow in Tory Channel, however. Juvenile plants transplanted to ropes for on-farm cultivation showed little growth during summer, but the addition of nutrients significantly enhanced growth rates of these plants during warmer months when natural nutrient levels were low. Increased growth rates at the onset of winter and with the addition of nutrients during summer confirmed that low nutrient levels during summer are growth limiting. Akaroa Harbour kelp forests exhibited considerable variation in Macrocystis canopy biomass through time. For example, the 32,000 m2 kelp forest at Wainui had a biomass of 144 t in October 1995, which then decreased to 21 t in October 1996. Canopies tended to deteriorate during summer. Thus, at Ohinepaka Bay kelp forest had a biomass of 31 t during winter 1997, which decreased to 0.06 t the following summer. The greatest reduction in biomass, however, coincided with a period of hugely increased sediment, which smothered blades in the sea-surface canopy, covered the substratum, and prevented successful recruitment of kelp for over a year. Nutrient depletion was one of several factors thought to cause the summer deterioration of the Macrocystis sea-surface canopy, which has important ramifications for the commercial harvesting of Macrocystis pyrifera in summer. Management considerations and options are discussed in relation the commercial harvesting of Macrocystis in New Zealand. The major conclusion of this study is that although Macrocystis was able to form dense surface canopies during winter its ability to dominate kelp forests was constrained by physical factors, especially sedimentation, high turbidity, nutrients, and storms. The lack of strong interactions between Macrocystis and Ecklonia are also largely a result of their different life history characteristics. Overall, there appear to be no significant negative flow-on effects resulting from kelp harvesting and it appears that Macrocystis can be harvested sustainably.

The Silver Gull is a small gull (265 - 450g), which exhibits sexual dimorphism, with males larger than females. It has a protracted laying period of about 8 months over the winter on Penguin Island in Western Australia. The Silver Gull was studied on Penguin Island from 2000 to 2002. Completed clutches were removed from breeding pairs to induce repeat laying in order to determine the effect of increased reproductive effort on maternal body condition, egg production ability, offspring sex ratio and chick rearing capacity. Increased egg production had no significant effect on maternal body condition as measured by condition index, derived from mass divided by a measure of skeletal size. The seasonal period, divided into thirty-day intervals, had a significant impact on female condition index, with a decline in condition toward the end of the breeding season. While male condition also appeared to decline at the end of the season, this pattern was not significant. The initiation of laying varied between the three years of the study. The earliest occurred in 2000, which also experienced earlier rainfall than the later two years. Egg size and mass decreased throughout the breeding season although the number of eggs in a clutch did not decline. The size and mass of the eggs was significantly affected by the laying history of the parents, although this effect was dependent on the year in which the eggs were produced. The minimum interval required by Silver Gulls to replace a lost clutch is about 14 days. This interval increased from the start of the breeding season, but then declined toward the end, as summer was approaching. Laying interval increased significantly as the number of clutches produced by the parents also increased, up to 4 clutches in total. As more clutches were produced past this point, the laying interval became shorter. The probability of a replacement clutch being produced after clutch removal, declined as the clutch number increased and as the season progressed. Individuals that laid clutches with a larger mean mass were more likely to lay a replacement clutch. Increasing reproductive output caused a decline in the proportion of clutches that were replaced after clutch removal. The proportion of clutches that were replaced also varied between the years with the highest rates of replacement seen in 2000 which was also the year that experienced the earliest start in laying. The size of the original clutch in terms of its mean mass and volume was related to the size of the replacement clutch, but this relationship varied according to the timing of laying. During 2000 and 2001 male offspring predominated in the first two clutches produced by Silver Gulls. Further clutches that were produced demonstrated a sex ratio skewed toward females, the smaller sex in this species. Offspring sex ratio was close to equality in 2002 with very little effect caused by increased egg production. There was no effect of year, season or the laying history of the parents on hatching success. Growth rate in chicks was influenced by the year in which the chick hatched, the period during the season in which the chicks hatched, its sex and the laying history of the parents. The relationship between chick growth and the laying history, however, was complex with no consistent pattern emerging in terms of the performance of chicks from each treatment group. While the chicks from control groups generally grew faster than the chicks from manipulated parents, those individuals that were laid or raised by manipulated parents that had laid at least three clutches in total also performed well. Using the two main measures of reproductive success in the current study, egg production and chick rearing, those birds that were induced to lay multiple replacement clutches, were able to maintain a high level of condition and reproductive success. It is proposed that in the Silver Gull, only those individuals with a high level of condition continue to lay replacement clutches. If the female is unable to produce well provisioned eggs with a high chance of success, the breeding attempt is abandoned. Despite no loss of condition detected in female Silver Gulls with increasing clutch number, there was a significant shift in the offspring sex ratio toward females, indicating that strategies were in place to cope with the increased reproductive effort incurred as a consequence of repeat laying. Protracted laying in this species allows replacement of lost clutches only after maternal condition has been regained after laying.