Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The hierarchy-of-hypotheses approach: A synthesis method for enhancing theory development in ecology and evolution
Published: 2019-07-29
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
In the current era of Big Data, existing synthesis tools (e.g. formal meta-analysis) are useful for handling the deluge of data and information. However, there is a need for complementary tools that help to (i) structure data and information, (ii) closely connect evidence to theory and (iii) further develop theory. We present the hierarchy-of-hypotheses (HoH) approach to address these issues. In [...]
Relationships between mycorrhizal type and leaf flammability in the Australian flora
Published: 2019-07-22
Subjects: Biodiversity, Botany, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Evolution, Life Sciences, Microbiology, Plant Sciences
Mycorrhizal fungi have been linked to fire processes in natural ecosystems via their effects on litter decomposability but, to our knowledge, relationships between mycorrhizal fungi and leaf traits directly associated with aspects of flammability have not been studied. Here, we assessed the relationships among leaf traits and host mycorrhizal type for 77 species of Australian trees and shrubs to [...]
Resource allocation to growth or luxury consumption drives mycorrhizal responses
Published: 2019-07-18
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Life Sciences, Microbiology, Plant Biology, Plant Sciences
Highly variable phenotypic responses in mycorrhizal plants challenge our functional understanding of plant-fungal mutualisms. Using non-invasive high-throughput phenotyping, we observed that arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi relieved phosphorus (P) limitation and enhanced growth of Brachypodium distachyon under P-limited conditions, while photosynthetic limitation under low nitrogen (N) was [...]
Moving on from the insect apocalypse narrative: engaging with evidence-based insect conservation
Published: 2019-07-16
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences
Recent studies showing temporal changes in local and regional insect populations received exaggerated global media coverage. Confusing and inaccurate science communication on this important issue could have counter-productive effects on public support for insect conservation. The ‘insect apocalypse’ narrative is fuelled by a limited number of studies that are restricted geographically [...]
Male age and its association with reproductive traits in captive and wild house sparrows
Published: 2019-06-29
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
Evolutionary theory predicts that females seek extra-pair fertilisations from high-quality males. In socially monogamous bird species, it is often old males that are most successful in extra-pair fertilisations. Adaptive models of female extra-pair mate choice suggest that old males may produce offspring of higher genetic quality than young males because they have proven their survivability. [...]
Pet or pest? Stable isotope methods for the early detection of invasive alien species
Published: 2019-06-29
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The illegal pet trade facilitates the global dispersal of invasive alien species (IAS), providing opportunities for new pests to establish in novel recipient environments. Despite the increasing threat of IAS to the environment and economy, biosecurity efforts often lack suitable, scientifically-based methods to make effective management decisions; such as identifying an established IAS [...]
Toward a Pluralistic Conception of Resilience
Published: 2019-06-29
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Computer Sciences, Dynamic Systems, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Numerical Analysis and Computation, Other Medicine and Health Sciences, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Systems Biology
The concept of resilience occupies an increasingly prominent position within contemporary efforts to confront many of modernitys most pressing challenges, including global environmental change, famine, infrastructure, poverty, and terrorism, to name but a few. Received views of resilience span a broad conceptual and theoretical terrain, with a diverse range of application domains and settings. In [...]
The ‘Holy Grail’ in Phylogenetic Reconstruction: Seeing the Forest for the Trees?
Published: 2019-06-18
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Systematic/macroevolutionary biology has dedicated much of the past 50 years of its energy and resources in an effort to resolve definitively the one true ‘tree of life’ and to explain materially its cause. But, no matter the quantity/quality of data, experimentation, and analysis, the effort is hampered by persistent and ever-accumulating contradictory observations. This may be an indication [...]
Accurate forest projections require long-term wood decay experiments because trait effects change.
Published: 2019-06-15
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Deadwood is a large aboveground carbon (C) pool that regulates how forests respond to global change. Due to slow decomposition, CWD delays C emissions following major forest disturbances so predicting how carbon balance will respond to changing disturbance regimes requires identifying factors that influence the full temporal trajectory of wood decay from senescence to complete mineralization. [...]
On the importance of the megabiota to the functioning of the biosphere
Published: 2019-06-15
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
A prominent signal of the Anthropocene is the extinction and population reduction of the megabiota – the largest animals and plants on the planet. However, we lack a predictive framework for the sensitivity of megabiota during times of rapid global change and how they impact the functioning of ecosystems and the biosphere. Here, we extend metabolic scaling theory and use global simulation models [...]
Little difference in average fish growth and maximum size across temperatures
Published: 2019-06-06
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Ectotherms typically increase growth and reduce body size when temperature increases. This physiological response to temperature, termed the temperature-size rule (TSR), is often used to predict how rising temperatures with climate change will affect higher levels of organization, i.e. guilds, communities and ecosystems. Here we study whether faster growth and reduction in adult body size are [...]
Does internal egg carrying impair foraging ability as much as external egg carrying in a neotropical spider?
Published: 2019-06-05
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
Females not only produce costly gametes, but also store the eggs until oviposition, a period called pregnancy. The volume that eggs occupy in the female abdomen may decrease female foraging ability by making females slow. Although females of all species are subjected to these potential costs, it remains an unexplored matter in invertebrates. Females of the spider Paratrechalea ornata carry their [...]
Transgenerational plasticity and bet-hedging: a framework for reaction norm evolution
Published: 2019-06-04
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
Decision-making under uncertain conditions favors bet-hedging (avoidance of fitness variance), whereas predictable environments favor phenotypic plasticity. However, entirely predictable or entirely unpredictable conditions are rarely found in nature. Intermediate strategies are required when the time lag between information sensing and phenotype induction is large (e.g. transgenerational [...]
A future without stocking? The importance of harvest and river regulation for long-term population viability of migratory salmonids
Published: 2019-05-28
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Population Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
1. Humans are influencing animal and plant populations both directly (e.g. through harvest) and indirectly by altering environments. For many exploited species, stocking with captive-bred individuals is a common strategy to mitigate negative human impacts and sustain populations over time. However, accumulating knowledge of negative side effects of stocking calls for quantification of [...]
Understanding the Evolution of Ecological Sex Differences: Integrating Character Displacement and the Darwin-Bateman Paradigm
Published: 2019-05-27
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
Sex differences in selection arise for two possible reasons: 1) differences originating from anisogamy – the Darwin-Bateman paradigm – and 2) competition-driven ecological character displacement (ECD), agnostic of anisogamy. Despite mounting evidence of ECD and increasing focus on the ecological causes and consequences of sexual dimorphism, progress in understanding the evolution of ecological [...]