Preprints

Filtering by Subject: Life Sciences

Location-scale Meta-analysis and Meta-regression as a Tool to Capture Large-scale Changes in Biological and Methodological Heterogeneity: a Spotlight on Heteroscedasticity

Shinichi Nakagawa, Ayumi Mizuno, Kyle Morrison, et al.

Published: 2025-02-11
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Heterogeneity is a defining feature of ecological and evolutionary meta-analyses. While conventional metal-analysis and meta-regression methods acknowledge heterogeneity in effect sizes, they typically as-sume this heterogeneity is constant across studies and levels of moderators (i.e., homoscedasticity). This assumption could mask potentially informative patterns in the data. Here, we introduce [...]

Variations in epifaunal assemblages among different algal species in the coastal waters of the Noto Peninsula, Japan

Keito Tsunoda, Yukimasa Higashide, Kenji Toyota

Published: 2025-02-10
Subjects: Life Sciences

Algal beds are biodiversity hotspots in coastal ecosystems, forming complex food webs based on seaweeds. Epifauna serve as important indicators of algal productivity and environmental change, interacting closely with their host seaweeds. This study compared the composition of epifaunal assemblages associated with different seaweed species in the Noto Peninsula, Japan, to elucidate their [...]

Seeing herbaria in a new light: leaf reflectance spectroscopy unlocks predictive trait and classification modeling in plant biodiversity collections

Dawson M White, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Charles Davis, et al.

Published: 2025-02-10
Subjects: Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Botany, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences

Reflectance spectroscopy is a non-destructive, rapid, and robust method for estimating functional traits and distinguishing species. Spectral reflectance libraries generated from herbarium specimens are an untapped and promising resource for generating broad phenomic datasets across space, time, and species. We conducted a proof-of-concept study using functional trait data and spectra from [...]

Multiplayer videogames to analyze behavior during ecological interactions

Pierre-Olivier Montiglio, Maxime Fraser Franco, Francesca Santostefano

Published: 2025-02-10
Subjects: Life Sciences

Behavior shapes population and community dynamics through feedbacks with habitat configuration and interaction networks. Work on this interplay includes longitudinal surveys, experiments, and models. Multiplayer online videogames foster real-time interactions among lots of players in virtual spaces. Data from these games could complement theoretical and empirical work but research on them is only [...]

Geography, taxonomy, extinction risk and exposure of fully migratory birds to droughts and cyclones

Henry Hakkinen, Rhys G. G. Preston-Allen

Published: 2025-02-10
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences

Anthropogenic climate change is predicted to drive unprecedented increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events, such as drought and cyclones. The impacts of these events on fully migratory species could be particularly severe and have cascading effects on the functioning of many ecosystems. We explore the relationships between geography, taxonomy, extinction risk and the [...]

Monogenea on exotic Indian freshwater fish. 8. Co-translocation of Cichlidogyrus tilapiae (Monogenea, Dactylogyridae) with pindani Chindongo socolofi (Cichliformes, Cichlidae), the first report of this parasite genus in India

Amit Tripathi, Chawan Matey, Antoine Pariselle, et al.

Published: 2025-02-07
Subjects: Aquaculture and Fisheries Life Sciences, Life Sciences, Parasitology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Zoology

Chindongo socolofi (Cichliformes, Cichlidae) is a popular freshwater ornamental fish from Lake Malawi in Africa. Although identifying parasites associated with the global ornamental trade is critical for developing biosecurity practices, little is known about the parasite fauna of C. socolofi. Therefore, this study sought to determine what monogenean parasites C. socolofi harbours in India. Adult [...]

Harnessing Large Language Models for Ecological Literature Reviews: A Practical Pipeline

Sruthi M Krishna Moorthy, Man Qi, Alice Rosen, et al.

Published: 2025-02-07
Subjects: Life Sciences

Hundreds of thousands of peer-reviewed articles and grey literature reports are published every year in ecology and conservation biology. This ever-growing body of knowledge presents new challenges. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly challenging for researchers to stay current on new information and to identify knowledge gaps. Here, we argue that Large Language Models (LLMs) such as OpenAI’s [...]

A new perspective on Squamate social cognition – the use of semiochemicals

Birgit Szabo

Published: 2025-02-07
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences

The Social Intelligence Hypothesis suggests that cognition might be key to enable animals to live in social groups. Especially social cognition is important as it allows animals to respond appropriately to conspecifics and ensure group cohesion. Social cognition is extensively studied in mammals and birds but to gain a broad understanding of the benefits of social cognitive processes in social [...]

Shaped from an early age: behavioural and hormonal phenotypes in juvenile male guinea pigs living in distinct social environments

Melanie Gleske, Carolin Mundinger, S. Helene Richter, et al.

Published: 2025-02-05
Subjects: Animal Studies, Biology, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences

The individualised social niche results from interactions of an individual with its social environment. The social environment can change during lifetime. Thus, individuals need to be able to conform to different individualised social niches over lifetime. Our goal was therefore to elucidate when and how social niche conformance in guinea pigs occurs. We focused on juvenility, an important [...]

Integrating spatiotemporal and cultural dimensions of animal behavior can enhance conservation

William K Oestreich, Dawn R Barlow, Taylor A Hersh

Published: 2025-02-05
Subjects: Life Sciences

Behavioral ecology has seen a recent integration of the spatiotemporal and cultural elements of animal behavior. However, similar integration in ecosystem management and wildlife conservation remains an important gap. Here we explore how the intersections among space, time, and culture in animal behavior can inform and enhance conservation practices. Drawing on instructive examples from [...]

Coinfection interactions systematically influence parasite diversity estimates in simulated host populations

July Pilowsky, Greg Albery, Barbara Han, et al.

Published: 2025-02-05
Subjects: Life Sciences, Parasitology

Parasite diversity is a central component of epidemiological dynamics. Parasite diversity is commonly studied across animal populations and species using metrics like parasite species richness; although these metrics generally assume no interactions among parasite species within a community, such interactions are common and important, and could affect parasite diversity estimates in ways that are [...]

Integrating Phylogeny and Functional Traits into Evaluations of Nestedness in Island Floras

Fabio Mologni, Peter J. Bellingham, Ewen K. Cameron, et al.

Published: 2025-02-03
Subjects: Botany, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences

Questions Understanding the composition and structure of island floras is crucial for making informed conservation decisions. Island floras are often nested, i.e. lower species richness assemblages are frequently subsets of those higher in richness. However, the circumstances under which this occurs on islands are often unclear. Moreover, research in island biogeography rarely integrates [...]

Diverse hosts, diverse immune systems: evolutionary variation in bat immunology

Daniel J Becker, Amanda Vicente-Santos, Ashley Reers, et al.

Published: 2025-02-03
Subjects: Life Sciences

The ability of multiple bat species to host zoonotic pathogens without showing disease has fostered growing interest in bat immunology, indicating ways immune systems may differ between bats and other vertebrates. However, interspecific variation in immunological diversity among bats has only begun to be recognized. The order Chiroptera accounts for over 20% of all mammal species and shows [...]

Land use gradients drive spatial variation in Lassa fever host communities in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone.

David Simons, Rory Gibb, Umaru Bangura, et al.

Published: 2025-02-03
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Epidemiology, Life Sciences, Virus Diseases

The natal multimammate mouse (Mastomys natalensis) is the primary reservoir host of Lassa mammarenavirus (LASV), a zoonotic pathogen causing Lassa fever that is endemic to West Africa. The occurrence and abundance of this species is regulated by the human environment and biotic interactions with other small-mammal species, but these ecological drivers remain poorly understood in the regions [...]

Proposing a socialecological framework for successful grassland restoration in Germany – an overview and insights from the Grassworks project

Vicky M. Temperton

Published: 2025-02-03
Subjects: Life Sciences

Bending the biodiversity curve and delivering on biodiversity promises from international agreements and laws, including Kunming-Montreal and the EU Restoration Law, requires upscaling ecological restoration from smaller to larger spatial and temporal dimensions and across different spheres of society. Achieving this depends on a strong scientific evidence base and synthesis of effective [...]

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