Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Lianas, to cut or not to cut to conserve forest biodiversity?
Published: 2024-03-16
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences, Plant Sciences
Although lianas play an important role in forest composition, structure, and functions, they are considered as structural parasites of the tree-host. Both contrasting ideas on the role of lianas in forest ecosystems challenge the practitioners and decision might be taken without specific information. Here we present a preliminary result, applied in a unique, small, old-growth forest in the [...]
Not All Mass Mortality Events are Equal
Published: 2024-03-13
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Life Sciences, Microbiology, Population Biology
Mass Mortality Events (MMEs) are defined as novel events involving many individuals dying in a relatively short period of time. In recent years, there has been an increased interest in MMEs due to their perceived increase in frequency. Current definitions are subjective and categorize mortalities varying in magnitude and frequency together. Within this manuscript, Multiple Mortality Events is a [...]
Satellite images reveal major discrepancies between mapped and operating wind turbines in a hotspot of wind energy development
Published: 2024-03-12
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Wind energy is an emerging challenge for biodiversity conservation, due to its impacts on habitats and species. Therefore, effective mitigation and zonation policies require accurate maps of operating wind turbines. However, the current pace of wind energy development raises doubts on how fast existing maps can become obsolete. We used freely available satellite imagery from Google to check the [...]
Temperature drives the divergent evolution of male harm to females
Published: 2024-03-12
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution
Strong sexual selection promotes population viability and evolvability, but sexual conflict can offset such benefits. Male harm adaptations leading to pre-copulatory (i.e. harassment) and/or copulatory (i.e. traumatic insemination) harm to females are taxonomically widespread, depress population growth, and can affect the dynamics of adaptation and evolutionary rescue, but we largely ignore what [...]
Community-wide masting improves predator satiation in North American oaks
Published: 2024-03-12
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Mast seeding, a phenomenon observed in numerous perennial plant species, is highly variable reproduction across years, synchronized among individuals within a population. One major fitness advantage of masting lies in the reduction of seed predation rates, achieved through alternating phases of seed scarcity and abundance that starve and subsequently satiate seed consumers. Proximately, the [...]
Running a queer- and trans-inclusive microbiology faculty search
Published: 2024-03-02
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Microbiology
Queer and transgender scientists face documented systemic challenges across the sciences, and as a result have a higher attrition rate than their peers. Recent calls for change within microbiology have emphasized the importance of addressing barriers to the success and retention of queer and trans microbiologists to create a more inclusive, equitable, and just scientific establishment. Crucially, [...]
Are microbes colimited by multiple resources?
Published: 2024-03-02
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Life Sciences, Microbiology, Systems Biology
Resource colimitation --- the dependence of growth on multiple resources simultaneously --- has become an important topic in microbiology due both to the development of systems approaches to cell physiology and ecology, and to the relevance of colimitation to environmental science, biotechnology, and human health. Empirical tests of colimitation in microbes suggest that it may be common in [...]
Behavioural plasticity shapes population ageing patterns
Published: 2024-02-29
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Studying the mechanisms shaping age-related changes in behaviour (“behavioural ageing”) is important for understanding population dynamics in our changing world. Yet, studies that capture within-individual behavioural changes in wild populations of long-lived animals are still scarce. Here, we used a 15-year GPS-tracking dataset of a social obligate scavenger, the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), [...]
Evaluating Compatibility between the Key Biodiversity Area Proposal Process and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Environmental Priorities with evidence from Canada and Mi'kma'ki (Nova Scotia)
Published: 2024-02-29
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration, Social and Behavioral Sciences
This report will demonstrate that no meaningful (non-random) compatibility exists between the Key Biodiversity Area proposal process – as it now exists and is being implemented globally and in Canada – and the biocultural priorities of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IP&LC’s)*. It is precisely because it is a global standard that no claim that KBA proposal meaningfully (non-randomly) [...]
Minimum reporting standards can promote animal welfare and data quality in biologging research
Published: 2024-02-28
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Biologging best practices have been carefully considered since the field’s inception six decades ago. The biologging research community has reduced instrument impacts on study animals by miniaturizing devices, employing sophisticated release mechanisms, and developing novel technological advancements. However, the field still needs standardized best practices for balancing data quality and animal [...]
Quantifying taxon-specific habitat connectivity requirements of urban wildlife using structured expert judgement
Published: 2024-02-28
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Research Methods in Life Sciences
Urban planning which enhances native biodiversity in and around cities is needed to address the impacts of urbanisation and conserve urban biodiversity. The “Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design” (BSUD) framework incorporates ecological knowledge into urban planning to achieve positive biodiversity outcomes through improved urban design and infrastructure development. BSUD includes principles to [...]
Biologging for the future: how biologgers can help solve fundamental questions, from individuals to ecosystems
Published: 2024-02-25
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Archival instruments attached to animals (biologgers) have enabled exciting discoveries and have promoted effective conservation and management for decades. Recent research indicates that the field of biologging is poised to shift from pattern description to process explanation. Here we describe how biologgers have been - and can be - used to test hypotheses and challenge theory in behavior and [...]
The response of trophic interaction networks to multiple stressors in a marine latitudinal gradient of the Southern Hemisphere
Published: 2024-02-24
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology
Ecological networks offer valuable insights into community structure, key species identification, and ecosystem management for biodiversity conservation. Understanding how these networks react to environmental and anthropogenic stressors, especially along geographical gradients, is of increasing interest. This review presents a pioneering analysis of stressor responses in marine food webs from [...]
Sex-specific discrimination of familiar and unfamiliar mates in the Tokay gecko
Published: 2024-02-23
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Social animals need to keep track of other individuals in their group to be able to adjust their behaviour accordingly and facilitate group cohesion. This recognition ability varies across species and is influenced by cognitive capacities such as learning and memory. In reptiles, particularly Squamates (lizards, snakes, and worm lizards), pheromonal communication is pivotal for territoriality, [...]
The changing landscape of text mining - a review of approaches for ecology and evolution
Published: 2024-02-20
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
In ecology and evolutionary biology, synthesis and modelling of data from published literature is a common practice for generating insight and testing theories across systems. However, the tasks of searching, screening, and extracting data from literature are often arduous. Researchers may manually process hundreds to thousands of articles for systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and compiling [...]