Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Life Sciences
Impacts of the invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) on benthic invertebrate fauna: a case study from the Baltic Sea
Published: 2021-06-11
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
The round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) was first observed in the Baltic Sea in 1990 and has since displayed substantial secondary dispersal, establishing numerous dense populations where they may outcompete native fish and negatively impact prey species. There have been multiple round goby diet studies from both the Baltic Sea and the North American Great Lakes where they are similarly invasive. [...]
Analysing the distance decay of community similarity in river networks using Bayesian methods
Published: 2021-06-10
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Life Sciences
The distance decay of community similarity (DDCS) is a pattern that is widely observed in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Niche-based theories argue that species are sorted in space according to their ability to adapt to new environmental conditions. The ecological neutral theory argues that community similarity decays due to ecological drift. The continuum hypothesis provides an [...]
Evidence-based guidelines for automated conservation assessments of plant species
Published: 2021-06-04
Subjects: Biodiversity, Life Sciences
Assessing species’ extinction risk is vital to setting conservation priorities. However, assessment endeavours like the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species have significant gaps in coverage of some taxonomic groups. Automated assessment (AA) methods are gaining popularity to fill these gaps, leveraging improvements in computing and digitally-available information. Choices made in developing, [...]
An outline summary document of the current knowledge about prescribed vegetation burning impacts on ecosystem services compared to alternative mowing or no management
Published: 2021-06-02
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
A lay summary of our discussion paper: A critical review of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme’s “Burning and Peatlands” position statement (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13157-021-01400-1). In short, we discuss the prescribed burning on blanket bog evidence base and its interpretation within a UK context - specifically in relation to the International Union for Conservation of Nature UK [...]
Constructive criticism of “Misinterpreting carbon accumulation rates in records from near-surface peat” by Young et al: Further evidence of charcoal impacts in relation to long-term carbon storage on blanket bog under rotational burn management
Published: 2021-06-01
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
t is with great interest that we read the recent paper by Young et al. entitled “Misinterpreting carbon accumulation rates in records from near-surface peat”. However, we have some concerns about: (i) the use of an unvalidated deep drainage model to criticise studies investigating the impact of heather burning; (ii) the model scenarios and underlying model assumptions used; and (iii) misleading [...]
Incubation mound-building by megapodes creates novel, high-resource patches in a semi-arid woodland
Published: 2021-06-01
Subjects: Desert Ecology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
1. Desert ecosystems have sparse and heterogeneous resources. Discrete high-resource patches, associated with landscape modulators such as perennial vegetation, act as nutrient sinks in contrast to open, low-resource areas (interpatch matrix). In semi-arid mallee woodlands, malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata: Megapodiidae) create large incubation mounds by raking leaf litter and soil from high-resource [...]
UAS for Forest Inventory Traits: A Review
Published: 2021-05-31
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Traits are notoriously challenging to measure at a desirably large spatial extent with traditional field methods, which limits the discoveries that forest ecologists can make with these data. There is a ripe opportunity for uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to contribute to ecology through forest inventory trait mapping. UAS can help overcome the challenge of scale by collecting data at a larger [...]
The macroevolutionary consequences of niche construction in microbial metabolism
Published: 2021-05-31
Subjects: Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Evolution, Genetics and Genomics, Life Sciences, Microbiology, Population Biology, Systems Biology
Microorganisms display a stunning metabolic diversity. Understanding the origin of this diversity requires understanding how macroevolutionary processes such as innovation and diversification play out in the microbial world. Metabolic networks, which govern microbial resource use, can evolve through different mechanisms, e.g. horizontal gene transfer or de novo evolution of enzymes and pathways. [...]
A Community Convention for Ecological Forecasting: Output Files and Metadata
Published: 2021-05-27
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
This paper summarizes the open community conventions developed by the Ecological Forecasting Initiative (EFI) for the common formatting and archiving of ecological forecasts and the metadata associated with these forecasts. Such open standards are intended to promote interoperability and facilitate forecast communication, distribution, validation, and synthesis. For output files we first describe [...]
On the Multifunctionality of Feathers and the Evolution of BIrds
Published: 2021-05-27
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences
Abstract The ability feathers have to perform many functions simultaneously and at different times is integral to the evolutionary history of all birds. Many studies focus on single functions of feathers; but any given feather performs many functions over its lifetime. Here, we review the known functions of feathers and discuss the interactions of these functions with avian evolution. Recent [...]
Community context matters for bacteria-phage ecology and evolution
Published: 2021-05-26
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Bacteria-phage symbioses are ubiquitous in nature and serve as valuable biological models. Historically, the ecology and evolution of bacteria-phage systems have been studied in either very simple or very complex communities. Although both approaches provide insight, their shortcomings limit our understanding of bacteria and phages in multispecies contexts. To address this gap, here we synthesize [...]
Urbanization negatively impacts frog diversity at continental, regional, and local scales
Published: 2021-05-25
Subjects: Biodiversity, Life Sciences
Urban environments are novel ecosystems, with increased chemical, sound, and light pollution differentially impacting many animals. Understanding the impacts of urban environments on biodiversity is the first step to understanding how to best mitigate biodiversity losses in an increasingly urbanizing world. Analyses with broad geographic and taxonomic coverage can offer critical context for [...]
Social capital: an independent dimension of healthy ageing
Published: 2021-05-24
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences, Physiology, Public Health, Research Methods in Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Zoology
Resources that are embedded in social relationships, such as shared knowledge, access to food, services, social support or cooperation, are all examples of social capital. Social capital is recognized as an important age-related mediator of health in humans and of fitness-related traits in animals. A rich social capital in humans can slow senescence and reverse age-related deficits. Animals have [...]
Seasonality, niche management, and vertical migration in landscapes of relief
Published: 2021-05-20
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Landscapes of vertical relief, such as mountains and continental slopes, intensify ecological and climatological variation within narrow spatial windows. Seasonal vertical migrants exploit this variation during their residence in, and movements between, vertically stratified seasonal ranges. Animals in terrestrial, marine, and even human-ecological systems undergo similar patterns of seasonal [...]
Individualised niches: an integrative conceptual framework across behaviour, ecology, and evolution
Published: 2021-05-20
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Individuals differ. This seemingly trivial statement has nevertheless led to paradigm shifts, as three different fields of organismal biology have seen a marked change in key concepts over the past few decades. In animal behaviour, it has increasingly been realised that behavioural differences among individuals can be stable over time and across contexts, giving rise to the concept of animal [...]