During incubation, most birds require the presence of at least one parent to ensure suitable incubation conditions for embryo development. The main factors that affect the development of the embryo are temperature, humidity and egg turning. In this work, incubation conditions were investigated in two biparental Lapwing species (genus Vanellus), the Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), which faces the risk of egg cooling in temperate areas, and the Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus), which faces the risk of egg overheating in the subtropics. A laboratory experiment testing the thermal properties of the Red-wattled Lapwing nest lining showed that it selects lining material that slows down temperature growth during egg heating, thus ensuring suitable thermal conditions during parental absence at high ambient temperatures. Temperature and egg turning during incubation were recorded by an artificial egg with a built-in sensors placed in the nests of both target species; data collected by the sensors were stored by a base-station located nearby. The average egg temperature was 32.5 řC for the Northern Lapwing, and 35.0 řC for the Red-wattled Lapwing. Egg temperature in both species fluctuated significantly, affected by many factors. Egg temperature increased with increasing ambient temperature, it...

This thesis summarizes findings on a recognition and categorization of different sorts of stimuli at birds, it deals with predator recognition in the Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) in its practical part. The aim of my study was to examine if Red-backed Shrikes follow by sign stimuli or colour of stimulus during the predator recognition. I performed my research by means of experiments with dummies, I have observed antipredatory reactions of Red-backed Shrikes on various types of dummies which differ in the presence or absence of features of raptor or in the different coloration. I concluded according to Shrikes' reactions that during the predator recognition the information on sign stimuli playes the principal role, but only this information alone is not fully sufficient. Antipredatory behaviour of the Red-backed Shrike was also influenced by sex of bird apart from type of dummy, males were more active during the nest defence than females.

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THESIS submitted by Wannisinghe Mudiyanselage Jayantha to Hong Kong Baptist University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and entitled "Emerging Femininities in Selected Sri Lankan English Fiction" May 2019. The study documents the rise of emerging Sri Lankan feminine subjectivities as portrayed in post-independence novels in English by Punyakante Wijenaike, Nihal de Silva, and Chandani Lokuge. It attempts to interpret the rise of socially constructed traits of new womanhood and shifting gender norms responding to significant transformations in post-independence Sri Lanka economy and society during which the nation has rapidly shifted from a traditional rural economy to an industrialized since the 1978 free market reforms embraced with policies of globalization and neoliberalism. The selected novels are historicized by means of specific data indicating that any compensations traditionally afforded to Sri Lankan women through the collusion of colonialism with patriarchy are being challenged by the current globalization of opportunity and risk, even as Sri Lankan women continue to engage in the far older struggles for respect in traditional contexts and spaces (Wijenaike), take up arms in service in the name of nation-building projects (De Silva), or search for greater life opportunities by means of out- migration and eventual return (Lokuge). Challenges to conventional colonial-patriarchal ideology, with attention to specific objects symbolizing alternative (or even "deviant") femininity long preceding modernity, are the central focus of Punyakante Wijenaike's Giraya and Amulet. The use of a Marxist-feminist approach, localized in the setting of the walauwe, allows for the examination of potentials and limits for women's subjectivities as they emerged in the earliest 1970s-era post-independence novels. Nihal de Silva's The Road from Elephant Pass explores the fictionalized portrayal of women soldiers, conscripted to the LTTE in the early 1980s, and the effects of a revolutionary posture upon traditional gender roles. The tension in de Silva's novel between the political liberation project as national/romantic allegory uniting Sinhala and Tamil causes as ultimately endorsing patriarchal claims of Anderson's "imagined communities" thesis in the dramatic context of women's participation in the civil war. Using a "Fourth World" sovereignty frame, the final chapter of the project analyzes the potential rewards and risks of diasporic experience, for women protagonists in Chandani Lokuge's If the Moon Smiled and Turtle Nest. Collectively, the analyses indicate how Sri Lankan novels in English have documented the struggles, potentials, and continuing vulnerabilities around the emergence of new feminine subjectivities for post-independence Sri Lankan women.

Insular fauna face disproportionate risks of extinction owing to direct human perturbation and intrinsic factors that are enhanced at small population sizes. Currently, our understanding of the processes that promote long-term persistence of naturally small populations and the cryptic processes that may contribute to accelerating their decline is limited by lack of empirical investigations across the range of natural conditions. Implementing effective protections for rare and understudied taxa requires the identification and examination of factors that limit recruitment at critical life stages. Predicting population health outcomes of future perturbations further necessitates an understanding a taxon’s behavioral ecology. Finally, cryptic threats to viability, such as inbreeding depression, must be investigated with an appreciation for taxon-specific life history, as these attributes can alter the context in which severe fitness reductions are expressed. In this project I enlist integrative and cross-disciplinary approaches to study the behavioral ecology and conservation genetics of a critically endangered West Indian Rock Iguana, Cyclura nubila caymanensis, on Little Cayman Island. I demonstrate how coastal communal nesting areas, a critical limiting resource on the island, serve a diverse population demographic and contribute to significantly enhanced nesting outcomes. These data emphasize the importance of expanding protections for major sites, as aggregative nesting appears to be perpetuated by both habitat suitability and adaptive fitness benefits. I next evaluate the possibility of evolved inbreeding avoidance strategies, including natal dispersal, non-assortative mate choice, and genetic bet-hedging. I conclude that the contribution of pre-reproductive dispersal to inbreeding avoidance likely outweighs that of active mate choice. Importantly, observed patterns of siring success imply constrained female choice and sexual conflict over genetic mating outcomes – a pattern that may extend to many territorial, male-driven mating systems and therefore should be an important consideration in genetic management. Finally, I investigate age-dependent inbreeding effects and the degree to which inbreeding depression may limit recruitment to the breeding population. I fail to reveal significant correlations of multi-locus heterozygosity with hatchling fitness; however, negative effects of parental inbreeding on fecundity and hatching success imply fitness consequences of inbreeding depression could be felt at other life stages.

Snowy plovers (Charadrius nivosus) are small, ground-nesting shorebirds that are a species of conservation concern throughout North America. Despite increased efforts to understand factors contributing to the decline of snowy plover, little is known about habitat selection and breeding ecology of snowy plover for the large population found in the Great Basin. We tested hypotheses concerning the occupancy and nesting success of snowy plover. First, we identified factors influencing snowy plover nest survival at Great Salt Lake, Utah. We hypothesized that snowy plover would demonstrate differences in nest survival rates across years due to differences in habitat characteristics, predator abundance, human influence, resource availability, and fluctuating water levels. We conducted nest surveys at five sites along the Great Salt Lake to locate new nests or monitor known nests until nest fate was determined. We found 608 nests between 2003, 2005-2010, and 2012. The most common cause of nest failure was predation, followed by weather, abandonment, and trampling. Nest survival estimates ranged from 4.6 -- 46.4% with considerable yearly variation. There was no correlation between researcher activity (visits to nests and trapping of adults) and nest survival. Nests in close proximity to roads had lower survival than nests far from roads. Nests located on barren mudflats also had lower survival than nests in vegetated areas or near debris. We found that nests had a higher probability of survival as they increased in incubation stage. Because nesting areas around the Great Salt Lake host some of the largest concentrations of breeding snowy plover in North America, we suggest that managers consider measures to maintain suitable nesting habitat for snowy plover. Second, we determined factors affecting snowy plover occupancy and detection probabilities in western Utah between 2011 and 2012. We hypothesized that snowy plover would be associated with spring water flows and sparsely vegetated salt flats. We made repeated visits to randomly selected survey plots recording the number of snowy plover adults and habitat characteristics within each plot. We modeled the relationship between snowy plover detection probability and habitat and environmental characteristics. The detection probability was 77% (95% CI = 64 -- 86%) and did not vary by year. There was a positive relationship between ambient temperature and detection probability. Next, we modeled the relationship between snowy plover occupancy and individual habitat characteristics including distance to water, distance to roads, land cover types, and vegetative characteristics. Snowy plover occupancy did not vary by year and was estimated at 12% (95% CI = 7 -- 21%). Occupancy was best predicted by close proximity to water, playa land cover, and minimal shrub cover. We used habitat characteristics that best predicted snowy plover occupancy to generate a predictive habitat model that can help prioritize future snowy plover surveys and guide conservation efforts.

Population growth for species with long lifespans and low reproductive rates (i.e., K-selected species) is influenced primarily by both survival of adult females and survival of young. Because survival of adults and young is influenced by habitat quality and resource availability, it is important for managers to understand factors that influence habitat selection during the period of reproduction. My thesis contains two chapters addressing this issue for K-selected species in Utah. Chapter one evaluates habitat selection of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercusurophasianus) on Diamond Mountain during the critical nesting and brood-rearing period. Chapter two address selection of birth sites by bison (Bison bison) on Antelope Island, Utah. We collected micro-habitat data for 88 nests and 138 brood locations of greater sage-grouse from 2010-2012 to determine habitat preferences of nesting and brooding sage-grouse. Using random forests modeling techniques, we found that percent sagebrush, percent canopy cover, percent total shrubs, and percent obscurity (Robel pole) best differentiated nest locations from random locations with selection of higher values in each case. We used a 26-day nesting period to determine an average nest survival rate of 0.35 (95% CI = 0.23 – 0.47) for adults and 0.31 (95% CI = 0.14 – 0.50) for juvenile grouse.Brood sites were closer to habitat edges, contained more forbs and less rock than random locations. Average annual adult female survival across the two-year study period was 0.52 (95% CI= 0.38 – 0.65) compared to 0.43 (95% CI= 0.28 – 0.59) for yearlings.Brooding and nesting habitat at use locations on Diamond Mountain met or exceeded published guidelines for everything but forb cover at nest sites. Adult and juvenile survival rates were in line with average values from around the range whereas nest success was on the low end of reported values. For bison, we quantified variables surrounding 35 birth sites and 100 random sites during 2010 and 2011 on Antelope Island State Park. We found females selected birth sites based on landscape attributes such as curvature and elevation, but also distance to anthropogenic features (i.e., human structures such as roads or trails). Models with variables quantifying the surrounding vegetation received no support.Coefficients associated with top models indicated that areas near anthropogenic features had a lower probability of selection as birth sites. Our model predicted 91% of observed birth sites in medium-high or high probability categories. This model of birthing habitat, in cooperation with data of birth timing, provides biologists with a map of high-probability birthing areas and a time of year in which human access to trails or roads could be minimized to reduce conflict between recreation and female bison.

В диссертационном исследовании рассматривается жилой квартал Дворянское гнездо, расположенный в микрорайоне Уралмаш города Екатеринбурга. Объект исследования - дворовая территория ансамбля, которая проанализирована с точки зрения качества и удобства пространства, комфортного ее использования всеми категориями проживающих граждан. Используя методику датского архитектора Яна Гейла выявлены проблемы комплекса по двенадцати критериям и предложены варианты их решений. Дана оценка жилого комплекса с точки зрения устойчивой архитектуры. Разработано концептуальное решение благоустройства прилегающей территории с учетом доступности для всех групп населения. Проведена оценка проекта по критериям устойчивости по системе экологической сертификации GreenZoom. В заключение о важности сохранения жилого фонда первой половины XX века, а также рассматривается вопрос о необходимости проведения реновации на территории общественного пространства Дворянского гнезда. / The dissertation research examines the residential quarter of the Noble Nest (Dvoryanskoe gnezdo), located in the Uralmash microdistrict of the city of Yekaterinburg. The object of the study is the courtyard area of the ensemble, which is analyzed from the point of view of the quality and convenience of space, its comfortable use by all categories of living citizens. Using the methodology of the Danish architect Jan Gale, the problems of the complex were identified according to twelve criteria and options for their solutions were proposed. An assessment of the residential complex from the point of view of sustainable architecture is given. A conceptual solution for the improvement of the adjacent territory has been developed, taking into account accessibility for all groups of the population. The project was evaluated according to sustainability criteria according to the Green Zoom environmental certification system. In conclusion, the importance of preserving the housing stock of the first half of the XX century, as well as the need for renovation on the territory of the public space of the Noble Nest (Dvoryanskoe gnezdo).

Les causes de l'affaiblissement du nasa yuwe étant multiples, les stratégies de revitalisation sont également variées. Le nid linguistique de Tóez Caloto est un exemple des nombreuses façons de revitaliser une langue. Ainsi qu'un exemple des facteurs qui influencent le transfert linguistique, résultant d'aspects personnels tels que les traumatismes liés à l'utilisation de la langue à la suite d'abus physiques et psychologiques, la discrimination linguistique, la migration, la nécessité d'intégrer le marché du travail et l'accès à l'éducation scolaire. Ensemble avec des facteurs communautaires, sociaux, économiques, environnementaux et politiques. En ce sens, l'enseignement et l'apprentissage du nasa yuwe dans l'espace éducatif du nid linguistique de Tóez Caloto visent non seulement à enseigner la langue, mais aussi, à travers elle, à transmettre la culture nasa. En plus d’autres éléments liés à l'identité qui se construit dans l'imbrication de la vision du monde, de l'histoire, de l'organisation sociale, de la politique et de la vie communautaire. Éléments considérés comme des inséparables dans ce processus, qui vise à laisser derrière eux les sentiments de honte et d'humiliation vécus par les générations précédentes, en créant une relation de bonheur, d'amour et de fierté dans la langue, qui conduira également à la récupération de la valeur des langues indigènes au sein des communautés et des sociétés nationales. / As the causes of the weakening of Nasa Yuwe are multiple, the strategies for revitalization are also varied. The linguistic nest of Tóez Caloto is an example of the many ways to revitalize a language. As well as an example of the factors that influence language transfer, resulting from personal aspects such as trauma related to language use because of physical and psychological abuse, language discrimination, migration, the need to integrate the labor market, and access to school education. Together with community, social, economic, environmental, and political factors. In this sense, the teaching and learning of Nasa Yuwe in the educational space of the linguistic nest of Tóez Caloto aims not only to teach the language, but also, through it, to transmit the Nasa culture. In addition to other elements related to the identity that is built in the interweaving of the world view, history, social organization, politics, and community life. Elements considered inseparable in this process, which aims to leave behind the feelings of shame and humiliation experienced by previous generations, creating a relationship of happiness, love, and pride in the language, which will also lead to the recovery of the value of indigenous languages within communities and national societies.

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