Summary1. Plants are known to respond to heterogeneous distribution of nutrients in the soil, and they also respond to the presence of neighbouring roots. However, it is unclear whether plants are able to distinguish between these factors and adjust their root responses accordingly. 2. We investigated whether the simultaneous response to nutrient heterogeneity and competition could be predicted from the responses to these factors separately. As a null model, we hypothesized that the responses to nutrients and competition are additive and thus no interactions occur. We performed a short-term competition experiment in the greenhouse with two floodplain species in homogeneous and heterogeneous conditions. The consequences of different root distributions for nutrient uptake were tested using 15 N pulse-labelling.3. Both species responded to nutrient heterogeneity by investing significantly more roots in the nutrient-rich patch, and both species showed a significant reduction in root growth in response to competition, albeit that the reduction was much more pronounced for the grass species. For Rumex palustris, the effects of heterogeneity and competition were additive. However, the response to nutrient heterogeneity of Agrostis stolonifera was reversed by competition: instead of proliferating in the nutrient-rich patch, it significantly increased root investments in the 'empty' (nutrient-poor) patches. As the partitioning of total N was less asymmetric than 15 N uptake from the nutrient-rich patch, it appears that these altered root investments of A. stolonifera in the 'empty' patches have also been functional with respect to compensating N uptake. 4. Our results suggest that root responses to nutrient distribution in a competitive environment depend on the competitive strength of the neighbouring species. The foraging response of the superior species (R. palustris) was hardly affected, but that of the inferior species (A. stolonifera) was greatly inhibited and even reversed by competition: instead of proliferating in the nutrientrich patch, it increased root growth and foraging activity in less favourable patches. Incorporating competitive hierarchy into root foraging studies may help to explain the ambiguous results found in previous studies.

Summary 1.The consequences of plastic responses of the avian digestive tract for the potential of birds to disperse other organisms remain largely uninvestigated. 2. To explore how a seasonal diet switch in Mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos L.) influences their potential to disperse plants and invertebrates, we recorded the retention time of markers, following exposure to two diets of contrasting digestibility (trout chow vs seeds). 3. We then recorded the retrieval and germination of Fennel Pondweed ( Potamogeton pectinatus L.) seeds and Brine Shrimp ( Artemia franciscana Kellogg) cysts ingested by the same birds. 4. Gut passage rates of markers were increasingly longer in birds on the seed-based, high-fibre diet and shorter in birds on the animal-based, low-fibre one. 5. Propagule digestibility, and thus survival to gut passage, differed between diet groups, with more seeds and fewer cysts retrieved from ducks on the animal-based diet. Germination decreased with retention time, but was not affected by diet. 6. Differences in passage rates of markers but not of seeds and cysts suggest no change in dispersal distances of plants and invertebrates between seasons, while differences in digestibility would affect the numbers of propagules dispersed.

Landmarks play an important role in successful navigation. To successfully find your way around an environment, navigationally relevant information needs to be stored and become available at later moments in time. Evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies shows that the human parahippocampal gyrus encodes the navigational relevance of landmarks. In the present event-related fMRI experiment, we investigated memory consolidation of navigationally relevant landmarks in the medial temporal lobe after route learning. Sixteen right-handed volunteers viewed two film sequences through a virtual museum with objects placed at locations relevant (decision points) or irrelevant (nondecision points) for navigation. To investigate consolidation effects, one film sequence was seen in the evening before scanning, the other one was seen the following morning, directly before scanning. Event-related fMRI data were acquired during an object recognition task. Participants decided whether they had seen the objects in the previously shown films. After scanning, participants answered standardized questions about their navigational skills, and were divided into groups of good and bad navigators, based on their scores. An effect of memory consolidation was obtained in the hippocampus: Objects that were seen the evening before scanning (remote objects) elicited more activity than objects seen directly before scanning (recent objects). This increase in activity in bilateral hippocampus for remote objects was observed in good navigators only. In addition, a spatial-specific effect of memory consolidation for navigationally relevant objects was observed in the parahippocampal gyrus. Remote decision point objects induced increased activity as compared with recent decision point objects, again in good navigators only. The results provide initial evidence for a connection between memory consolidation and navigational ability that can provide a basis for successful navigation.

Humans differ widely in their navigational abilities. Studies have shown that self-reports on navigational abilities are good predictors of performance on navigation tasks in real and virtual environments. The caudate nucleus and medial temporal lobe regions have been suggested to subserve different navigational strategies. The ability to use different strategies might underlie navigational ability differences. This study examines the anatomical correlates of self-reported navigational ability in both gray and white matter. Local gray matter volume was compared between a group (N = 134) of good and bad navigators using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), as well as regional volumes. To compare between good and bad navigators, we also measured white matter anatomy using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and looked at fractional anisotropy (FA) values. We observed a trend toward higher local GM volume in right anterior parahippocampal/rhinal cortex for good versus bad navigators. Good male navigators showed significantly higher local GM volume in right hippocampus than bad male navigators. Conversely, bad navigators showed increased FA values in the internal capsule, the white matter bundle closest to the caudate nucleus and a trend toward higher local GM volume in the caudate nucleus. Furthermore, caudate nucleus regional volume correlated negatively with navigational ability. These convergent findings across imaging modalities are in line with findings showing that the caudate nucleus and the medial temporal lobes are involved in different wayfinding strategies. Our study is the first to show a link between self-reported large-scale navigational abilities and different measures of brain anatomy.