Laser scanners provide a three-dimensional sampled representation of the surfaces of objects. The spatial resolution of the data is much higher than that of conventional surveying methods. The data collected from different locations of a laser scanner must be transformed into a common coordinate system. If good a priori alignment is provided and the point clouds share a large overlapping region, existing registration methods, such as the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) or Chen and Medioni’s method, work well. In practical applications of laser scanners, partially overlapping and unorganised point clouds are provided without good initial alignment. In these cases, the existing registration methods are not appropriate since it becomes very difficult to find the correspondence of the point clouds. A registration method, the Geometric Primitive ICP with the RANSAC (GPICPR), using geometric primitives, neighbourhood search, the positional uncertainty of laser scanners, and an outlier removal procedure is proposed in this thesis. The change of geometric curvature and approximate normal vector of the surface formed by a point and its neighbourhood are used for selecting the possible correspondences of point clouds. In addition, an explicit expression of the position uncertainty of measurement by laser scanners is presented in this dissertation and this position uncertainty is utilised to estimate the precision and accuracy of the estimated relative transformation parameters between point clouds. The GP-ICPR was tested with both simulated data and datasets from close range and terrestrial laser scanners in terms of its precision, accuracy, and convergence region. It was shown that the GP-ICPR improved the precision of the estimated relative transformation parameters as much as a factor of 5. / In addition, the rotational convergence region of the GP-ICPR on the order of 10°, which is much larger than the ICP or its variants, provides a window of opportunity to utilise this automated registration method in practical applications such as terrestrial surveying and deformation monitoring.

This study examined patterns of coral reproduction and recruitment on lagoonal reefs adjacent to Mombasa in Kenya, at latitude 4ºS. Very little detailed research has been done on the reproductive patterns of scleractinian corals on equatorial reefs, where it has been suggested that seasonality and spawning synchrony may break down due to the weak environmental cues that are thought to govern the onset and timing of reproduction. Gametogenic data were collected for three faviid (Echinopora gemmacea, Platygyra daedalea and Leptoria phrygia) and three Acropora species (A. tenuis, A. valida and Acropora sp.1) in the Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve between April 2003 – May 2005. A further 20 species of Acropora were identified (9 species represented range extensions) and marked to examine intra- and inter-specific spawning synchrony within this genus. In comparison to other regions, the overall pattern of coral reproduction in Kenya was found to be asynchronous, with spawning occurring over 9 months of the year from August – April, with some level of ‘temporal reproductive isolation’ occurring between species in relation to the main lunar month and lunar quarter when spawning occurred. Proximate cues governing the timing of reproduction could not be clearly discerned in Kenya with spawning occurring during both rising and maximum temperatures, during both neap and spring tides and across all lunar phases. Acropora species spawned over a 7-month period between October – April and faviid species over a 5-month period from December - April. The timing of reproduction in Acropora varied both within and among species, with the main release of gametes occurring from January – March when sea surface temperatures were at their summer maximum. Individual species released gametes over 2-5 months. The greatest overlap in spawning Acropora species occurred in February, which coincided with the spawning months of P. daedalea and E. gemmacea and suggests that some degree of multispecific spawning is a characteristic of Kenyan reefs. Within the main spawning period individual Acropora species had their main spawning in different lunar months. Acropora species released gametes in all lunar quarters, with the highest number of colonies and species spawning in the 3rd lunar quarter (i.e. in the 7 nights after full moon). Spawning in the faviids was more synchronised than Acropora species with the majority of faviid corals spawning in the 3rd lunar quarter. Single annual cycles of gametogenesis were recorded in E. gemmacea, A. tenuis, L.phrygia, most colonies of A. valida and Acropora sp.1, and in 84% of P. daedalea colonies. Biannual cycles of gametogenesis were recorded in 16% of P.daedalea colonies, which included two morphotypes identified in the Mombasa lagoon through morphometric and genetic studies. The presence of different oocyte sizes in L.phrygia during gametogenesis suggested that in some colonies there were two slightly overlapping oogenic cycles, which terminated in spawning within 1-2 months of each other. Overlapping oogenic cycles have not previously been recorded in hermaphroditic broadcast spawning corals in the tropics. The findings from Kenya support the hypothesis of protracted breeding seasons and a breakdown of spawning synchrony nearer the equator. It is hypothesised that the high fecundities recorded in faviid and Acropora species in Kenya compared to other regions, may allow reef corals to stagger their reproduction over 2-5 months, without incurring a significant reduction in fertilisation rates. Spat from the Family Pocilloporidae dominated settlement tiles in the Marine National Park and Reserve comprising 93.7% of spat, which contrasts with other tropical reefs where Acroporidae spat dominate. Patterns of settlement of Acroporidae spat generally coincided with the timing and extended spawning season in Acropora species in Kenya. The density and relative composition of coral recruits and juvenile corals on natural substrata recorded during this study were similar to those recorded before the 1997-98 bleaching event. There is no evidence to suggest that Kenya’s reefs have undergone a phase-shift in community structure, and reef recovery is occurring post-bleaching with mean percent hard coral cover currently at 25%. The slow rate of recovery of Kenya’s reefs is likely to reflect the scale of the mortality, source and availability of coral larvae as well as post-settlement processes operating at individual sites. In the medium-term, the recovery of Kenya’s reefs appears to be more strongly dependent on larvae from local reefs.

Baited pitfall traps were used to sample the lizard fauna at Birdlings Flat on Kaitorete Spit, Canterbury. Four species had been recorded previously from this area; Leiolopisma maccanni Patterson and Daugherty, Leiolopisma nigriplantare polychroma Patterson and Daugherty, Leiolopisma lineoocellatum (Dumeril and Dumeril) and Hoplodactylus maculatus (Gray). Three of these species (L. maccanni, L. n. polychroma and H. maculatus) were captured during the course of the study. The aim of this present study was to examine the nature of the ecological relationship among these three species at Birdlings Flat. Capture data indicated that L. maccanni was almost entirely confined to the dunelands while L. n. polychroma was associated exclusively with shrublands on old dune ridges behind the sand dunes. H. maculatus' distribution encompassed both of these major habitats. Separation on the basis of habitat was thought to be the most important niche variable for these two diurnal skinks. There was some temporal separation in activity of these two species, with L. maccanni active earlier in the day than L. n. polychroma. However, there was a high degree of overlap in the activity periods of these two species. Temporal differentiation between the nocturnal gecko H. maculatus and the two diurnal skinks is thought to be an important means by which these species coexist. The most common prey items consumed by all three species were Diptera, Araneae, C. propinqua seeds, Hemiptera, unidentified arthropod eggs, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. Dietary differences between the two skink species were apparent although these differences appeared to be related to the preferred habitats of the respective species. Density estimates for L. maccanni varied between 1050/ha and 1850/ha while L. n. polychroma density varied between 200/ha and 400/ha. The density of H. maculatus was not calculated but appeared to be intermediate to the density of the two skink species. The apparent disappearance of L. lineoocellatum from an area where they were once relatively common is cause for concern. There is no obvious reason for this decline although it may be related to the combined impacts of predation, collection and habitat disturbance.

The breeding success of the Little Penguin was significantly higher in northern populations compared with documented southern colonies. Several southern colonies including Phillip Island in Victoria and colonies in Tasmania, have been characterised by poor breeding success, increasingly later commencement of breeding, and declining populations. This study aimed to compare and contrast the ecological attributes of a thriving northern population with other documented colonies. I collected long term data on breeding success (1987 to 1997) of the Little Penguin on Bowen Island, and related variability in breeding success to ocean currents and climate patterns, foraging behaviour and diet, nesting habitat, and inter-specific and fisheries competition. The benefits of successional changes to nesting habitat on Bowen Island since active habitat management commenced in 1989 were examined, including the importance of burrow depth, aspect, distance to water from the burrow, and vegetation type on breeding success of the Little Penguin. Morphological measurements of east coast penguins indicated a north-south cline, similar to that described in New Zealand. The Little Penguin was larger at higher latitudes. Whilst adults were sedentary and displayed a high degree of nest site fidelity, juveniles dispersed widely in their first three years, but then returned to the colony, sometimes to their natal burrow, to breed. This appears to be an adaptive mechanism, which selects for high quality nesting habitat. The study confirmed earlier findings that mature vegetation assemblages, namely woodland and forest, support higher breeding success than structurally simpler grassland and herbland habitat. This may contribute to observed differences in breeding success between northern and southern colonies, because many of the southern colonies have degraded nesting habitat. Most important to the diet of the Little Penguin were clupeoids, which dominated the fish species of Jervis Bay. The substantial clupeoid resources were targeted by the tuna fishery for bait, in the same areas and coinciding with maximum demands (chick raising and fledging), as penguins. The potential quantity of baitfish taken from Jervis Bay was over 10, 000 tonnes per year, which was well beyond the quantities raising concerns in other regions, although the fishery remains unregulated. Nevertheless, the foraging range of Bowen Island penguins was smaller than has previously been described Little Penguins on Bowen Island had a heavy reliance on relatively shallow waters of the Bay, within 5 km of the island. Daily foraging distances exceeding 20 km coincided with low breeding success, sometimes below that required for population replacement. Greater daily foraging range during the breeding season in southern Victoria may explain in part why these populations are declining. The principal mechanism for nutrient enrichment of Jervis Bay waters was the East Australia Current (EAC). This is a large and powerful, warm water boundary current of 250 km diameter and 1000 feet depth, which promoted slope water intrusion through upwelling along the New South Wales coast during the study, particularly during the penguin breeding season. The EAC effects northern colonies, but less so southern colonies. The Bowen Island colony was prone to periodic breeding failure, which was related to the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, indicated in Australia by the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). ENSO warm events, corresponding with negative values of the SOI, depressed the EAC and caused downwelling, leading in some seasons to increased breeding failure. There was a correlation between both fledging success and adult mortality, and the SOI. The mean breeding success of the Bowen Island colony, at 1.46 chicks per pair over the ten-year study, was the highest recorded for the Little Penguin, and the population was increasing.

<p>The social organization of animal societies has important implications for several fields of biology, from managing wild populations to developing new ecological and evolutionary theory. Although much attention has been given to the formation and maintenance of societies of group living individuals, less is known about how societies of solitary individuals have been shaped and maintained. Traditionally, the evolution of social organizations in the mammalian order Carnivora has been regarded as a directional selection process from a solitary ancestry into progressively more advanced forms of sociality. In this thesis, I tested this model against an alternative model, assuming radiation from a socially flexible ancestry. I further explored sociality, resource use and dispersal of a solitary carnivore, the wolverine (<i>Gulo gulo</i>), in the light of these two evolutionary models. Phylogenetic reconstruction generally supported that carnivore social organizations evolved through directional selection from a solitary ancestor. However, results from captive wolverine females indicated that they might have rudimentary social tendencies, which rather support that sociality in carnivores radiated from a socially flexible ancestry. Wild wolverines in northwestern Brooks Range, Alaska, adhered to the commonly found ecological niche as a largely ungulate dependent generalist carnivore. Lack of sexual asymmetry in dispersal tendencies indicated that resource competition among wolverine females probably was high. I suggest that wolverines have latent abilities to aggregate, but that their phylogenetic legacy in terms of morphology has constrained them into an ecological niche where resource abundance and distribution generally inhibit aggregations. Due to contradictory results, I suggest further research to test evolutionary theory regarding carnivore social evolution, and particularly to explore new avenues into social evolution that better explain intra-specific variation in sociality, as well as formation and maintenance of solitary social systems.</p>

<p>A low content of organic matter, which is largely refractory in nature, is characteristic of most sediments, meaning that aquatic deposit-feeders live on a very poor food source. The food is derived mainly from sedimenting phytodetritus, and in temperate waters like the Baltic Sea, from seasonal phytoplankton blooms. Deposit-feeders are either bulk-feeders, or selective feeders, which preferentially ingest the more organic-rich particles in the sediment, including phytodetritus, microbes and meiofauna.</p><p>The soft-bottom benthos of the Baltic Sea has low species biodiversity and is dominated by a few macrobenthic species, among which the most numerous are the two deposit-feeding amphipods <i>Monoporeia affinis</i> and<i> Pontoporeia femorata</i>, and the bivalve <i>Macoma balthica</i>. This thesis is based on laboratory experiments on the feeding of these three species, and on the priapulid <i>Halicryptus spinulosus.</i> </p><p>Feeding by benthic animals is often difficult to observe, but can be effectively studied by the use of tracers. Here we used the radioactive isotope ¹⁴C to label food items and to trace the organic matter uptake in the animals, while the stable isotopes ¹³C and¹⁵N were used to follow feeding on aged organic matter in the sediment. </p><p>The abundance of<i> M. balthica</i> and the amphipods tends to be negatively correlated, i.e., fewer bivalves are found at sites with dense populations of amphipods, with the known explanation that newly settled <i>M. balthica</i> spat are killed by the amphipods. Whether the postlarvae are just accidentally killed, or also ingested after being killed was tested by labelling the postlarvae with ¹⁴C and Rhodamine B. Both tracer techniques gave similar evidence for predation on and ingestion of postlarval bivalves. We calculated that this predation was likely to supply less than one percent of the daily carbon requirement for <i>M. affinis</i>, but might nevertheless be an important factor limiting recruitment of <i>M. balthica. </i></p><p>The two amphipods <i>M. affinis</i> and <i>P. femorata </i>are partly vertically segregated in the sediment, but whether they also feed at different depths was unknown. By adding fresh 14C-labelled algae either on the sediment surface or mixed into the sediment, we were able to distinguish surface from subsurface feeding. We found <i>M. affinis</i> and <i>P. femorata</i> to be surface and subsurface deposit-feeders, respectively. </p><p>Whether the amphipods also feed on old organic matter, was studied by adding fresh ¹⁴C-labelled algae on the sediment surface, and using aged, one-year-old ¹³C- and ¹⁵N-labelled sediment as deep sediment. Ingestion of old organic matter, traced by the stable isotopes, differed between the two species, with a higher uptake for <i>P. femorata</i>, suggesting that <i>P. femorata</i> utilises the older, deeper-buried organic matter to a greater extent.</p><p>Feeding studies with juveniles of both <i>M. affinis</i> and <i>P. femorata</i> had not been done previously. In an experiment with the same procedure and treatments as for the adults, juveniles of both amphipod species were found to have similar feeding strategies. They fed on both fresh and old sediment, with no partitioning of food resources, making them likely to be competitors for the same food resource. </p><p>Oxygen deficiency has become more wide-spread in the Baltic Sea proper in the last half-century, and upwards of 70 000km² are now devoid of macrofauna, even though part of that area does not have oxygen concentrations low enough to directly kill the macrofauna. We made week-long experiments on the rate of feeding on ¹⁴C-labelled diatoms spread on the sediment surface in different oxygen concentrations for both the amphipod species, <i>M. balthica</i> and <i>H. spinulosus. </i>The amphipods were the most sensitive to oxygen deficiency and showed reduced feeding and lower survival at low oxygen concentrations.<i> M. balthica</i> showed reduced feeding at the lowest oxygen concentration, but no mortality increase. The survival of <i>H. spinulosus</i> was unaffected, but it did not feed, showing that it is not a surface deposit-feeder. We conclude that low oxygen concentrations that are not directly lethal, but reduce food intake, may lead to starvation and death in the longer term.</p>

<p>In this thesis we have studied speciation in three butterfly genera <i>Polygonia</i> (Nymphalidae, Nymphalini), <i>Pararge </i>(Nymphalidae, Satyrinae) and <i>Celastrina</i> (Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae). In the first paper a dated phylogeny, based on molecular data, of <i>Polygonia</i> was constructed. We found strong conflict between the nDNA and mtDNA datasets. Possibly this can be explained by ancestral and recent hybridizations between contemporary taxa. The results point to the importance in using different markers when we try to resolve evolution of taxa. In the second paper a sister group comparison was made in order to discover whether host plant range has had an effect on species diversity in <i>Polygonia</i>. Our result indicated higher diversification rates in clades which included species with larvae feeding on different, or additional, plants compared to the ”urticalean rosids” specialists. In the third paper our focus was on the colonization abilities in polyphagous butterflies. The haplotype structures of the mtDNA <i>cytochromeoxidase I</i> (COI) within the Nearctic species of <i>Celastrina</i> as well as within<i> P. c-album</i> and <i>P. faunus</i> were analysed in a network. We found little variation in <i>Celastrina</i> and <i>P. c-album.</i> This results imply that the genera have expanded recently and rapidly. There are indications of differentiation in COI in <i>Celastrina</i> and, possibly, host plant use is involved. However, in <i>P.</i> <i>faunus</i> we found structure among the haplotypes. We believe that several different haplotypes of this species have been preserved during glaciations in the Nearctic. In the fourth paper the evolution of the grassfeeding <i>Pararge</i> was analysed. The phylogeny was based on the mtDNA COI and the nDNA <i>wingless</i> (wgl) and times of divergences were calculated. We found a deep divergence between the European and Moroccan populations of <i>P. aegeria</i> which indicates the importance of the Mediterranean as a barrier for gene flow. </p>

<p>Denna undersökning gjordes för att studera solitära steklars boplatsval speciellt med avseende på spatiala mönster. Aggregat av lämpliga bohål (<em>bibatterier</em>) tillverkades och gjordes tillgängliga förfrilevande steklar. Resultatet visade att steklar tenderar att anlägga bon i närheten av andra stekelbon. Ingen tendens fanns att anlägga bon i centralt belägna positioner. Steklarna verkar också föredra att anlägga bon till vänster om en tänkt mittllinje på bibatterierna. Aggregation kan vara ett sätt att undgå parasitering och predation vid boplatsen. Om detta orsakade aggregationstendensen var det dock något oväntat att inte också en central tendens kunde påvisas. Att steklarna föredrog bohål i bibatteriernas vänstra del är svårt att förklara.</p>

<p>Three species of burnet moths (<em>Zygaena</em> <em>filipendulae</em>,<em> Z</em>. <em>lonicerae</em> and <em>Z</em>. <em>viciae</em>) were studied on the Baltic island Öland, Sweden, in order to reveal the habitat requirements of different life stages. Larvae were found among a higher cover of their most important host plant, <em>Lotus corniculatus</em>, <em>Trifolium medium</em>/<em>pratense </em>or<em> Vicia </em>spp., than were pupae or imagines, and were also observed on plants larger than randomly examined plants. Imagines actively selected nectar plants of <em>Centaurea </em>and <em>Cirsium</em>, growing in sunny conditions, but other red and violet Asteraceae flowers were also favoured. Pupae of <em>Z</em>.<em> filipendulae</em> appeared in taller vegetation than larvae and imagines, probably because the cocoons are spun high on stems of grasses and other plants. The chance of finding such suitable substrates rises with increasing vegetation height. A large scale analysis of occupancy patterns was also made, evaluating the relationship between burnet presence or absence and the area of meadows and pastures within 10 x 10 km grid cells in southern Sweden. All three species showed a positive relationship with increasing area of semi-natural grassland. Thresholds for the amount of habitat, below which the likelihood of occurrence declined more rapidly, could be distinguished around a 40-50 % probability of occurrence. Conservational work should aim at preserving and restoring open and sunny areas, rich in the respective host plants and nectar sources, but vegetation management must be executed with great care or late in the season to not harm unhatched pupae and to maintain substrates suitable for <em>Z</em>. <em>filipendulae</em> pupation.</p>

<p>The tropical palm <em>Mauritia flexuosa </em>has highly nutritious fruits and is an important food resource for both humans and wildlife throughout its geographic range in South America. Unsustainable harvesting threatens wild populations. <em>Mauritia f</em>. occurs primarily in wetlands called Aguajales where it can become the dominating canopy species. Seed predation and dispersal can dramatically affect the survival and distribution of plant species in tropical rainforests (Janzen 1970, Connell 1971, Bleher & Böhning-Gaese 2001, Paine & Beck 2007, Mari et al. 2008). Increased knowledge of seed predation and germination requirements is essential for successful management of this commercially and ecologically important palm. Four experiments were conducted in Manu National Park in southeastern Peru to study: (1) Seed survival in the Aguajal, (2) Quantify seed predators on dry land, (3) Insect visitors and consumers of fruits and seeds, and (4) Germination in greenhouse experiments. Seed survival was significantly higher below water compared to on dry micro sites within the Aguajal. Seeds and fruits placed on dry land were preyed upon by both insects and mammals. Terrestrial insects were the most important predators. Different insects visited fruits and seeds, indicating a successive breakdown of different tissues. Seed survival was also higher below water and/or soil in the greenhouse experiment. This may suggest that the distribution of <em>Mauritia f</em>. is highly influenced by seed predation and that water protects seeds from their insect enemies.</p>