Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The Development and Evolution of Arthropod Tagmata
Published: 2024-12-11
Subjects: Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Developmental Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Evolution, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences
The segmented body plan is a hallmark of the arthropod body plan. Morphological segments are formed during embryogenesis, through a complex procedure involving the activation of a series of gene regulatory networks. The segments of the arthropod body are organized into functional units known as tagmata, and these tagmata are different among the arthropod classes (e.g. head, thorax and abdomen in [...]
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 [...]
Assessing Transparency and Reproducibility in Invasion Science
Published: 2024-12-07
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 successful study replication, but are evidently lacking in many science disciplines. Whether this shortfall characterizes invasion science remains unknown. We evaluated a sample of invasion [...]
Synthesis of nature’s extravaganza: an augmented meta-meta-analysis on (putative) sexual signals
Published: 2024-12-07
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution
Why have conspicuous characteristics evolved? Our augmented meta-meta-analysis of 41 meta-analyses, encompassing 375 animal species and 7,428 individual effect sizes, shows that the conspicuousness of (putative) sexual signals is positively related to attractiveness and benefits to mates, as well as to the fitness, condition, and other traits (e.g. body size) of their bearers. These patterns are [...]
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: 2024-12-07
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 [...]
Temperature-related developmental plasticity, not selection, affects offspring body size and shape in a bird of prey
Published: 2024-11-30
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Recent climate warming has led to a reduction in bird body size and a relative elongation of their appendages, consistent with Bergmann’s and Allen’s ecogeographical rules. These changes are generally interpreted as thermoregulatory adaptations for more efficient passive heat dissipation; however, direct evidence supporting this assumption is currently missing, and laboratory studies failed to [...]
Enhancing Canopy Research in Africa: Insights from Tree Climbing Workshop in Ghana
Published: 2024-11-29
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology
The report shares the background and experience executing a tree climbing workshop in Ghana. In most cases, canopy research in Africa is conducted under the umbrella of parachute science, leaving local scientists deprived of canopy access skills and equipment. Consequently, tropical Africa experiences a closed canopy so far as canopy ecology is concerned. In May 2024, ten (10) early career [...]
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 [...]
Overcoming the disconnect between interaction networks and biodiversity conservation and management
Published: 2024-11-28
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Decision-makers need to act now to halt biodiversity loss, and ecologists must provide them with relevant species interaction indicators to inform on community- and ecosystem-level changes. Yet, the integration of ecological networks into conservation is still virtually nonexistent. Here, we discuss challenges and opportunities related to uncertainty, interpretability and relevance of network [...]
Individual foraging specialization and success change with experience in a virtual predator-prey system
Published: 2024-11-28
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The capacity of predators to match their tactic to their prey and to optimize their skills at implementing a given tactic are expected to drive the outcome of predator-prey interactions. Hence, successive interactions of predators with their prey may result in increased flexibility in tactic use or in individual foraging specialization. Yet, there are limited empirical assessments showing links [...]
Understanding Host-Microbiome Evolution through the Lens of Evolutionary Theory: New Tricks for Old Dogs
Published: 2024-11-27
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Microbiology
All plants and animals are host to a community of microorganisms, their microbiomes, that have crucial influences on the life history and performance of their hosts. Despite the importance of such host-microbiome relationships, relatively little is known about the role microbiomes play in mediating evolution of the host as well as entire host-microbe assemblages. This knowledge gap is partly due [...]
Fine-tuning mast seeding: as resources accumulate, plants become more sensitive to weather cues
Published: 2024-11-27
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. [...]
Traditional water structures in villages support amphibian populations within a protected landscape
Published: 2024-11-26
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology
Amphibians are among the most globally threatened vertebrates, with habitat loss and degradation being the primary drivers of their decline. While natural wetlands are essential for amphibian survival, artificial habitats can also play a significant role as refuges, especially in human-altered landscapes. This study examines the role of artificial waterbodies in supporting amphibian populations [...]
Life, Death and Energy: Nature Selects No Free Lunch
Published: 2024-11-26
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Brown et al. (2024) highlight that organisms invest a constant amount of energy into the production of viable offspring per unit of body mass per generation. This explains how diversity in life can exist. We interpret their result in relation to balancing offspring costs in real vs. physiological time.
New technology for an ancient fish: A lamprey life cycle modeling tool with an R Shiny application
Published: 2024-11-25
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Applied Statistics, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Population Biology, Systems Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Lampreys (Petromyzontiformes) are an ancient group of fishes with complex life histories. We created a life cycle model that includes an R Shiny interactive web application interface to simulate abundance by life stage. This will allow scientists and managers to connect available demographic information in a framework that can be applied to questions regarding lamprey biology and conservation. We [...]