Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Life Sciences
Don’t ask “when is it coevolution?” — ask “how?”
Published: 2024-12-09
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
Coevolution is widely defined as specific, simultaneous, reciprocal adaptation by pairs of interacting species. This strict-sense definition arose from a desire for conceptual clarity, but it has never reflected the much wider diversity of ways in which interacting species may shape each other's evolution. As a result, much of the literature on the evolutionary consequences of species [...]
The feasibility principle in community ecology
Published: 2024-12-09
Subjects: Life Sciences
The structure and function of ecological communities emerge from the interactions among populations within specific environmental contexts. Yet, it remains unclear whether general principles can explain the patterns and transitions of ecological communities across diverse settings. Identifying such principles is crucial for guiding conservation and restoration efforts aimed at mitigating the [...]
Code-sharing policies are associated with increased reproducibility potential of ecological findings
Published: 2024-12-09
Subjects: Life Sciences
Software code (e.g., analytical code) is increasingly recognised as an important research output because it improves transparency, collaboration, and research credibility. Many scientific journals have introduced code-sharing policies; however, surveys have shown alarmingly low compliance with these policies. In this study, we expanded on a recent survey of ecological journals with code-sharing [...]
Transparency and reproducibility in invasion science
Published: 2024-12-06
Subjects: Botany, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Plant Sciences
Policymakers and practitioners overseeing invasive species management depend on reliable research for guidance. Transparency and reproducibility are core features of reliable research, and prerequisites for outcomes to be independently replicated within the same or different systems. These features are evidently lacking in many science disciplines, including Ecology. In this Discussion [...]
Unbaited underwater video evidences the presence of previ-ously unrecorded fish species, sea krait (Laticauda sp.) and a high frequency of sharks at a remote reef complex (Coral Sea Marine Park, Southwest Pacific)
Published: 2024-12-06
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology
The Chesterfield-Bellona atolls and reefs are a vast reef complex located in the Coral Sea Marine Park, estab-lished in 2014 in the New Caledonian Economic Exclusive Zone. In 2013, the New Caledonia government supported the first assessment of fish and benthic habitats conducted in all habitats and over the entire area. The assessment provided a primary knowledge base for establishing the [...]
Advancing Plant Biomass Measurements: Integrating Smartphone-based 3D Scanning Techniques for Enhanced Ecosystem Monitoring
Published: 2024-12-06
Subjects: Life Sciences
New technological developments open novel possibilities for widely applicable methods of ecosystem analyses. We investigated a novel approach using smartphone-based 3D scanning for non-destructive, high-resolution monitoring of above-ground plant biomass. This method leverages Structure from Motion (SfM) techniques with widely accessible smartphone apps and subsequent computing to generate [...]
Experimental tests on the evolution of sex and recombination and their adaptive significance
Published: 2024-12-06
Subjects: Life Sciences
Sex and recombination generate genetic variation and facilitate adaptation by reducing selective interference, but they can also disrupt genotype combinations maintained by selection. We here synthesize recent experimental evolution studies on the adaptive consequences of sex and recombination in constant environments, emphasizing insights gained from population genomic data. We discuss evidence [...]
One Earth + One Health: An agile, evolutionary, system-of-systems, convergence paradigm for societal challenges of the Anthropocene
Published: 2024-12-06
Subjects: Education, Engineering, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Evolutionary mechanisms enabled humans to profoundly transform Earth systems. Because the resulting Anthropocene systems are highly interdependent and dynamically evolving, often with accelerating rates of cultural and technological evolution, the ensuing family of societal challenges must be framed and addressed in a holistic fashion. An agile, evolutionary, system-of-systems, convergence [...]
Self-organising natural selection from replicating molecules to multicellular sexually reproducing organisms
Published: 2024-12-02
Subjects: Life Sciences
During their evolution from molecular replicators over unicellular prokaryotes and protozoa to multicellular sexually reproducing organisms, biological lifeforms increased in size with heritable gene replication increasingly embedded in more and more organised replicating units. Natural selection theory did not explain this evolutionary unfolding for 150 years, consolidating Darwinian evolution [...]
Evolutionary principles shape the health of humanity as a planetary-scale organism
Published: 2024-12-02
Subjects: Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
A study of human social systems at planetary scale examines whether our technology, economy, culture, and flows of information are component-processes in a unified, living system. Through a biological lens of structure, function, and geographic mapping of social systems, we consider this total human ecosystem from evolutionary and developmental principles. The health of this system depends on its [...]
Home of the brave: is similarity of defensive behavior of Neotropical snakes (Dipsadidae: Pseudoboini) predicted by sympatry?
Published: 2024-11-29
Subjects: Life Sciences
Predation is a strong driver of prey behavior and sympatric species are exposed to similar selective predatory pressures.We test the hypothesis that this leads to similar anti-predator behaviors using the widespread Neotropical snake tribe Pseudoboini. We reviewed and compiled documented defensive behaviors for all species, adding new unreported behaviors for three species. We used a cluster [...]
Stronger together? A framework for studying population resilience to climate change impacts via social shielding
Published: 2024-11-28
Subjects: Life Sciences
1. Climate change is driving a rapid increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events, leading to substantial alterations in climate patterns and other environmental conditions. These changes are often degrading habitats and increasing thermal, water, and nutritional stress for animals, thereby elevating general stress levels and imposing energetic costs. 2. Social behaviours [...]
IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, Mangroves of the Galapagos
Published: 2024-11-28
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Mangroves of the Galapagos is a regional ecosystem subgroup (level 4 unit of the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology). It includes the marine ecoregions of Eastern Galapagos Islands, Northern Galapagos Islands, and Western Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos province mapped extent in 2014 was 36.6 km2, representing 0.03% of the global mangrove area. The biota is characterized by four species of true [...]
Stability in the Face of Global Decline: A 20-Year Study of Arthropods in an Oceanic Archipelago
Published: 2024-11-27
Subjects: Life Sciences
Insect declines have been reported globally but whilst island ecosystems are potentially facing exacerbated challenges, no long-term studies (LTER) have confirmed this trend. This study utilises the first available LTER data on island invertebrates, targeting epigeal and canopy arthropods from the Azores, and covering over 20 years in three distinct sampling events from 30 standard sites. We [...]
Fine-tuning mast seeding: as resources accumulate, plants become more sensitive to weather cues
Published: 2024-11-26
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences
Interannual variability of seed production, known as masting, has far-reaching ecological impacts including effects on forest regeneration and the population dynamics of seed consumers. It is important to understand the mechanisms driving masting to predict how plant populations and ecosystem dynamics may change into the future, and for short-term forecasting of seed production to aid management. [...]