The occurrence of additive genetic variance (VA) for male sexual traits remains a major problem in evolutionary biology. Directional selection normally imposed by female choice is expected to reduce VA greatly, yet recent surveys indicate that a substantial amount remains in many species. We addressed this problem, also known as the 'lek paradox', in Achroia grisella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), an acoustic moth in which males advertise to females with a pulsed ultrasonic song. Using a standard half-sib/full-sib breeding design, we generated F1 progeny from whom we determined VA and genetic covariance (COVA) among seven traits: three song characters, an overall index of song attractiveness, nightly singing period, adult lifespan, and body mass at adult eclosion. Because A. grisella neither feed nor drink as adults, the last trait, eclosion body mass, is considered a measure of 'condition'. We found significant levels of VA and narrow-sense heritabilities (h2) for all seven traits and significant genetic correlations (= COVAi,j / radical (VA i x VA j)) between most pairs of traits (i, j). Male attractiveness was positively correlated with body mass (condition), adult lifespan, and nightly singing period, which we interpret as an energy constraint preventing males in poor condition from singing attractively, from singing many hours per night, and from surviving an extended lifespan. The positive genetic correlation (r = 0.79) between condition and attractiveness, combined with significant levels of VA for both traits, indicates that much of the variation in male song can be explained by VA for condition. Finally, we discuss the morphological and physiological links between condition and song attractiveness, and the ultimate factors that may maintain VA for condition.

Maderas Rainforest Conservancy (MRC) was incorporated as a conservation nonprofit organization in 2008, and manages two sites where biological field courses have been offered since the 1990s: La Suerte Biological Research Station in Costa Rica, and Ometepe Biological Research Station in Nicaragua. MRC employs a One Health approach to conservation education, and can serve as a model for other biological field sites. The Nicaraguan Molina family, who owns the sites, partnered with primatologist Paul Garber in 1994 to develop a primate field course aimed at introducing university students to field research. Through using their land to further conservation education and research, the Molina family has preserved the forest and engaged the local communities near their sites. Eight graduate theses and 46 refereed publications have been completed since 2010 based on research undertaken at MRC sites. While primate field courses have been offered at least once annually since 1994 and remain popular, a range of other ecological courses are now additionally offered. MRC operates from a One Health perspective, engaging in forest restoration and ecological monitoring projects, and has gradually expanded community outreach initiatives. MRC now conducts regular medical and veterinary missions in the communities surrounding the research stations which provide health care to local people and limit the population growth of domestic animals, thereby increasing the survival of wild animals. MRC is also active in ESL‐teaching and conservation education, and funds Proyecto Jade, which empowers local women to make and sell organic jewelry. Through these programs, MRC works to help the local communities live more sustainably with the environment around them. MRC's support of research, commitment to education, medical and veterinary missions, and outreach initiatives to the local community all work together for the well‐being of both the people and the environment, thus exemplifying the One Health perspective.

Basic economic models adapted from foraging theory predict that decisions in mate choice may be determined either by Ôbest-of-nÕ preference functions or by sequential rules incorporating acceptance thresholds. However, in some species, more complex determinations that incorporate versions of both protocols are found. To understand the functions of co-occurring protocols, we studied mating decisions in the lesser wax moth, Achroia grisella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), an acoustic species in which females prefer males, the advertisement songs of which are delivered at relatively high Ôpulse-pairÕ rates. In addition to this preference, A. grisella females avoid mating with a male, the song of which does not exceed a minimum pulse-pair rate, and they hold to this criterion even when no other singing males are present and regardless of song amplitude. Thus, mating decisions are not simply based on acoustic power (pulse-pair rate · amplitude). We recorded male songs and female responses in an A. grisella population and found that male pulse-pair rates showed a median of 87/s and ranged from 50 to 115/s, while female acceptance thresholds for male song showed a median of 60/s and ranged from 30 to 105/s. The distributions of thresholds were approximately normal and were not significantly skewed toward the right. Male song rates declined slightly with age, but female thresholds remained stable over the adult lifespan. Both the male and female traits showed significant repeatability within individuals. Whereas phylogenetic inference indicates that hearing in pyralid moths originated as a means of avoiding predation by insectivorous bats, the specific distribution of female acceptance thresholds suggests that currently this protocol does not primarily function to preclude inappropriate, and potentially lethal, responses to bat echolocations: pulse rates in the searching-phase echolocations used by either aerial-hawking or substrate-gleaning bats mostly range from 10 to 20/s, and the lack of positive skew in the distribution of thresholds indicates an absence of directional selection from the left. Rather, we infer that thresholds augment preference functions in A. grisella by precluding mating with males which are markedly inferior in a critical song character. In Ethology 111, 609-625 (2005) Ó 2005 Blackwell Verlag, Berlin general, co-occurring protocols may be important where population density fluctuates markedly, as preference functions may be ineffective in preventing mating with inferior males when density is low.

No abstract

Widely recognized as the largest terrestrial mammal in the Neotropics, the globally endangered, IUCN Red-listed, Baird’s tapir Tapirus bairdii has been in a continual decline due to habitat loss, localized hunting, and their low reproductive rates. Because of its ecological role, the loss of this species is likely to have a cascading effect on a number of species that are important to the ecological functioning of the remaining fragments of tropical forests across Central America. As efforts continue to identify regions where this species still persists throughout its known range, we report here a new record of T. bairdii in the Caribbean lowlands of northeast Costa Rica. Although T. bairdii may have historical existed in the region surrounding the field station, they were believed to be extirpated with only anecdotal reports suggesting their continued existence.