Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Life Sciences
A review of contemporary Indigenous cultural fire management literature in southeast Australia
Published: 2020-07-04
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Indigenous cultural fire management is being recognised and revived across Australia, primarily in the centre and across the north. To explore the benefits of contemporary cultural fire management in southeast Australia and barriers to its revival, we undertook a systematic analysis of the literature. Seventy documented applications of cultural fire management projects were found with the [...]
Fossil Constraints on the Timescale of Parasitic Helminth Evolution
Published: 2020-06-30
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
The fossil record of parasitic helminths is often stated to be severely limited. Many studies have therefore used host constraints to constrain molecular divergence time estimates of helminths. Here we review direct fossil evidence for several of these parasitic lineages belong to various phyla (Acanthocephala, Annelida, Arthropoda, Nematoda, Nematomorpha, Pentastomida, Platyhelminthes). Our [...]
Timing and intensity of weather events shape nestling development strategies in three alpine breeding songbirds
Published: 2020-06-30
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Across taxa, offspring size traits are linked to survival, and life-time fitness. Inclement weather can be a major constraint on offspring growth and parental care. Despite the adaptive benefits of larger offspring, we have a limited understanding of the effects of severe environmental conditions across developmental stages and how coping strategies differ among species. We assessed the influence [...]
Calandrinia jompomae (MONTIACEAE), another overlooked species in the Chilean flora
Published: 2020-06-30
Subjects: Biodiversity, Life Sciences
Calandrinia jompomae Hershk. is described as a distinct species of C. sect. Calandrinia from south-central Chile. The species was described by Barnéoud, but he erroneously identified it as C. glauca Schrad. ex DC. Calandrinia jompomae is similar to C. bonariensis Hauman endemic to Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, here recognized as distinct from C. ciliata (Ruiz & Pavon) DC. But the [...]
FIRED (Fire Events Delineation): An open, flexible algorithm & database of US fire events derived from the MODIS burned area product (2001-19)
Published: 2020-06-27
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Harnessing the fire data revolution, i.e., the abundance of information from satellites, government records, social media, and human health sources, now requires complex and challenging data integration approaches. Defining fire events is key to that effort. In order to understand the spatial and temporal characteristics of fire, or the classic fire regime concept, we need to critically define [...]
Ecosystem-based metrics provide better targets than explicit extinction targets for biodiversity frameworks
Published: 2020-06-27
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
The post-2020 global biodiversity framework has the potential to shape the future of life on Earth, so great care must be taken in deciding its aims. The failure of all but one of the Aichi Targets requires a rethinking of prior agreements [1], and conservationists are now exploring new types of targets that are more likely to succeed. One commonly-suggested potential metric is extinction, with [...]
(0001–0003) Proposals to reject the names Tutuca, T. chilensis, and T. fistulosa (Poaceae)
Published: 2020-06-26
Subjects: Biodiversity, Life Sciences
[Nomenclatural proposal, in press in Taxon, abstract not applicable]
Variation in regrowth ability in relation to land use intensity and predictability in three common grassland herbs
Published: 2020-06-26
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Aims Plant populations in managed grasslands are subject to strong selection exerted by grazing, mowing and fertilization. Many previous studies showed that this can cause evolutionary changes in mean trait values, but little is known about the evolution of adaptive plant phenotypic plasticity in response to grassland management. Methods We conducted an outdoor common garden experiment to test [...]
Online conferences for better learning
Published: 2020-06-23
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Conferences provide an invaluable set of opportunities for professional development. Online, virtual, and distributed conferences do not necessarily mean less opportunity for growth and innovation in science but varied and novel options for communicating the scientific process. Open science and many existing tools and structures are in place in the practice of contemporary ecology and evolution [...]
Online conferences for better learning
Published: 2020-06-23
Subjects: Biology, Life Sciences, Other Life Sciences
Conferences provide an invaluable set of opportunities for professional development. Online, virtual, and distributed conferences do not necessarily mean less opportunity for growth and innovation in science but varied and novel options for communicating the scientific process. Open science and many existing tools and structures are in place in the practice of contemporary ecology and evolution [...]
Delineating fragmented grassland patches in the tropical region using multi-seasonal SAR and Optical Satellite Images
Published: 2020-06-20
Subjects: Life Sciences
Globally grasslands are declining and are in highly degraded conditions. In south Asia grasslands are neglected and treated as wastelands. They remain unprotected, highly fragmented, and poorly understood which has led to a loss of unique biodiversity and livelihoods. Mapping grasslands accurately is a challenge and current maps based on optical remote sensing often over- or underestimate [...]
Ten simple rules for building an anti-racist lab
Published: 2020-06-19
Subjects: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Demographics of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce and student body in the U.S. and Europe continue to show severe underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). Among the documented causes of the persistent lack of diversity in STEM include bias, discrimination, and harassment of members of underrepresented minority groups (URMs). These [...]
Shade-tree rehabilitation in vanilla agroforests is yield neutral and may translate into landscape-scale canopy cover gains
Published: 2020-06-19
Subjects: Agriculture, Biodiversity, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences
Agroforestry can contribute to an increase in tree cover in historically forested tropical landscapes with associated gains in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, but only if established on open land instead of underneath a forest canopy. However, declines in yields with increasing shade are common across agroforestry crops, driving shade-tree removal in forest-derived agroforests and [...]
PRIORITY EFFECTS AND ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION
Published: 2020-06-19
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Priority effects refer to the order or timing of species arrival, including how species that arrive early to a site either positively or negatively affect establishment, growth, or reproduction of species that arrive later. Despite clear implications of priority effects on ecological restoration, to date there are no reviews of how and where priority effects have been studied and the extent to [...]
Husby, Reed & Visser - Demonstrating temperature induced phenological mismatch does not require negative effects on fitness or population growth: A comment on Samplonius et al.
Published: 2020-06-19
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Population Biology
In a recent article Samplonius et al. (2020; preprint on EcoEvoRxiv, Version 1, Submitted 05, 2020 | Last edited: May 06, 2020) argue that there are “systematic weaknesses in the evidence for temperature mediated phenological mismatch”. While we appreciate their review of the literature on this topic and their call for a broadening of the taxonomic and geographic scope of mismatch research, their [...]