Biology subjects

Campioni, L.

Publications and source records attributed to Campioni, L..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Fine-scale movement data of the endangered Bermuda petrel highlights surface foraging and greater nocturnal flight activity.

Foraging behavior plays a fundamental role in animal fitness and population dynamics, particularly in marine ecosystems where seabirds like petrels (small Procellariiformes) showcase a diverse array of foraging strategies finely adapted to the pelagic environment. The extent and remote nature of their foraging grounds makes direct observation of foraging behaviour impractical, thereby requiring the use of remote tracking technologies. We deployed miniaturized multi-sensor biologgers and collected fine scale movement data to investigate the at-sea behaviours of the Bermuda petrel Pterodroma cahow, a poorly studied and highly threatened gadfly petrel, specialised on mesopelagic prey. GPS-tracking data revealed extensive foraging trips, in consistent directions, over remote oceanic regions. Time-depth-recorders provided new insights into petrel feeding techniques suggesting that the meso-bathypelagic prey targeted by petrels must be available in the very upper layer of the water surface, given their very limited diving activity (99.99% of dives had 0.1 m of depth). Accelerometer data revealed 3 flying- and 3 water-related behaviours. Flying behaviours reflected the expected dynamic soaring flight strategy of procellariforms; individuals spent more than three-quarters of their time in flight with flying-non-flapping being the most common behaviour under all conditions. The behaviour classified as "flying-intensive" was infrequently observed but could indicate aerial dipping, a characteristic foraging technique of Pterodroma species. The remaining time was spent in three water behaviours: active, inactive and intensive, with the latter being less common but thought to reflect scavenging and prey seizing. Flying-related behaviours increased with negative sun elevation values, highlighting greater flight activity during night compared to the day, while water behaviours were more common during the day. While some of our findings may require further validation to confirm their relevance to foraging behaviour, our work offers new and valuable insights to consider when assessing the extent and nature of offshore anthropogenic-related risks faced by petrels.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2023

Connectivity of marine predators over the Patagonian Shelf during the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak

Animal movement and population connectivity are key areas of uncertainty in efforts to understand and predict the spread of infectious disease. The emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in South America poses a significant threat to globally significant populations of colonial breeding marine predators in the South Atlantic. Yet, there is a poor understanding of which species or migratory pathways may facilitate disease spread. Compiling one of the largest available animal tracking datasets in the South Atlantic, we examine connectivity and inter-population mixing for colonial breeding marine predators tagged at the Falkland Islands. We reveal extensive connectivity for three regionally dominant and gregarious species over the Patagonian Shelf. Black browed albatrosses (BBA), South American fur seals (SAFS) and Magellanic penguins (MAG) used coastal waters along the Atlantic coast of South America (Argentina and Uruguay). These behaviours were recorded at or in close proximity to breeding colonies and haul-out areas with dense aggregations of marine predators. Transit times to and from the Falkland Islands to the continental coast ranged from 0.2 - 70 days, with 84% of animals making this transit within 4 days - a conservative estimate for HPAI infectious period. Our findings show the incursion of HPAI to the Falkland Islands marine predator community is a highly credible threat, which may be facilitated by BBA, SAFS and MAG connectivity with South America. This information is vital in supporting HPAI disease surveillance, risk assessment and marine management efforts across the region. SignificanceThe recent emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in South America poses a major threat to globally significant marine predator populations in the South Atlantic. There is extensive connectivity over the southern Patagonian Shelf between regionally dominant seal and seabird populations, with potential for large-scale pathogen spread. Despite this connectivity, outbreaks of HPAI are unevenly distributed across the region. Connectivity information is integral for regional disease surveillance, predictive modelling and population viability assessments.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2018

Spectral and topological analysis of the cortical representation of the head position: does hypnotizability matter?

The aim of the study was to assess the EEG correlates of head positions, which have never been studied in humans, in participants with different psychophysiological characteristics, as encoded by their hypnotizability scores. This choice is motivated by earlier studies suggesting different processing of the vestibular/neck proprioceptive information in subjects with high (highs) and low (lows) hypnotizability scores maintaining their head rotated toward one side (RH). We analysed EEG signals recorded in 20 highs and 19 lows in basal conditions (head forward) and during RH, using spectral analysis, which captures changes localized to specific recording sites, and Topological Data Analysis (TDA), which instead describes large-scale differences in processing and representing sensorimotor information. Spectral analysis revealed significant differences related to the head position for alpha1, beta2, beta3, gamma bands, but not to hypnotizability. TDA instead revealed global hypnotizability-related differences in the strengths of the correlations among recording sites during RH. Significant changes were observed in lows on the left parieto-occipital side and in highs in right fronto-parietal region. Significant differences between the two groups were found in the occipital region, where changes were larger in lows than in highs. The study reports findings of the EEG correlates of the head posture for the first time, indicates that hypnotizability modulates its representation/processing on large-scale and that spectral and topological data analysis provide complementary results.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Topology highlights mesoscopic functional equivalence between imagery and perception

The functional equivalence between mental images and perception or motion has been proposed on the basis of neuroimaging evidence of large spatially overlapping activations between real and imagined sensori-motor conditions. However, similar local activation patterns do not imply the same mesoscopic integration of brain regions active during imagery and perception or action. Here we present the first EEG evidence of topological equivalence between functional network organization at intermediate and global scales during tasks. We show that the degree of functional equivalence varies in the population and is associated with different magnitudes in the restructuring of the functional connectivity between imagery and real tasks. In particular, changes observed during imagery with respect to basal conditions account for the cognitive effort experienced during imagery, and subjects characterized by stronger functional equivalence exhibit smaller topological deviations in the imagination tasks performed after real tasks, thus showing learning effects. Altogether, our findings point to different sensori-cognitive information processing in the subjects showing different functional equivalence. We anticipate our results to be a starting point for a novel dynamical description of functional equivalence, which will be relevant for socio-cognitive theories of embodiment and cognitive formulations of how different selves emerge from neurophysiological assets.

neuroscience↗