Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The response of trophic interaction networks to multiple stressors along a large-scale latitudinal range in 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. Understanding how these networks respond to global change stressors is of increasing interest, especially along geographical gradients. This review summarizes potential stressor responses in marine food webs from the Southwest Atlantic to the Antarctic (45 - 78°S), [...]
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 [...]
Tempo and mode of diapause evolution in butterflies
Published: 2024-02-19
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences
Quantifying the tempo and mode via modern phylogenetic comparative methods can provide insights into how selection and constraints shape trait evolution. Here we elucidate the evolution of diapause, a complex and key trait that allows temporal escape from unfavorable conditions in many insects, including our model system, butterflies. Using a thorough literature survey, we first scored the [...]
Reduced plasticity and variance in physiological rates of ectotherm populations under climate change
Published: 2024-02-17
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Climate change is expected to result in warmer and more variable thermal environments globally. Maintaining phenotypic variability in physiological rates and adjusting them in response to extreme temperatures (plasticity) is essential for allowing populations to adapt to climate change. Yet, incorporating both plasticity and changes in phenotypic variation when predicting the impacts of climate [...]
Assessing the risk of climate maladaptation for Canadian polar bears
Published: 2024-02-10
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Abstract The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the world, threatening the persistence of Arctic species. It is uncertain if Arctic wildlife will have sufficient time to adapt to such rapidly warming environments. We used genetic forecasting to measure the risk of maladaptation to warming temperatures and sea ice loss in polar bears (Ursus maritimus) sampled across the Canadian [...]
Survival patterns and population stability of cliff plants suggest high resistance to environmental variability
Published: 2024-02-10
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Cliffs are marginal and poorly studied habitats that are home to a high proportion of endemic or threatened species. Here, we review the survival patterns and population dynamics of plants growing on vertical cliffs and compare them to other plants with similar life histories that grow on the ground. To this end, we have compiled studies of cliff and ground plants from two main sources: MONITO [...]
Ten Simple Rules to build a Model Life Cycle
Published: 2024-02-09
Subjects: Bioinformatics, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Software Engineering
Just like data, models have their own life cycle. By recognizing how one’s model fits within the life cycle of the data (or at least, ensuring that the model life cycle is understood), we can identify opportunities to foster new collaborations, encourage better practices in data analysis, and ultimately accelerate research. In this manuscript, we introduce the Model Life Cycle and develop a [...]
Global exposure risk of frogs to increasing environmental dryness
Published: 2024-02-08
Subjects: Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Zoology
Species exposed to prolonged drying are at risk of population declines or extinctions. Understanding species' sensitivity to water loss and microhabitat preference, or ecotype, is therefore vital for assessing climate change risks. Here, we mapped global areas where water-sensitive vertebrates, i.e., anurans, will face increasing aridity and drought, analysed ecotype sensitivity to water loss, [...]
Large-scale spatiotemporal variation in vital rates and population dynamics of an alpine bird
Published: 2024-02-01
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology, Statistical Models
Quantifying temporal and spatial variation in animal population size and demography is a central theme in ecological research and important for directing management and policy. However, this requires field sampling at large spatial extents and over long periods of time, which is not only prohibitively costly but often politically untenable. Participatory monitoring programs (also called citizen [...]
What is the evidence that counter-wildlife crime interventions are effective for conserving African, Asian, and Latin American wildlife directly threatened by exploitation? A Systematic Map
Published: 2024-02-01
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
1. Counter-wildlife crime interventions ̶ those that directly protect target wildlife from illegal harvest/persecution, detect and sanction rule-breakers, and interdict and control illegal wildlife commodities ̶ are widely applied to address biodiversity loss. This systematic map provides an overview of the literature on the effectiveness of counter-wildlife crime interventions for conserving [...]
How bottlenecks shape adaptive potential: from theory and microbiology to conservation biology
Published: 2024-02-01
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
Wild populations frequently undergo demographic changes that can destabilize their persistence and, thus, the equilibrium of ecosystems. For instance, habitat loss due to human activities leads to a drastic population size reduction, a process called a bottleneck. By reducing genetic diversity, a bottleneck may prevent a population from adapting to subsequent environmental changes. In the context [...]
The relative contribution of acoustic signals versus movement cues in group coordination and collective decision-making
Published: 2024-01-30
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
To benefit from group living, individuals need to maintain cohesion and coordinate their activities. Effective communication thus becomes critical, facilitating rapid coordination of behaviours and reducing consensus costs when group members have differing needs and information. In many bird and mammal species, collective decisions rely on acoustic signals in some contexts but on movement cues in [...]
The Distraction Function of Extrafloral Nectaries: Keeping Ants Away From Flowers and Preventing Disruption of Pollination
Published: 2024-01-30
Subjects: Desert Ecology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
In exchange for extrafloral nectar, ants deter herbivores from the plants, reducing the amount of herbivory they suffered. However, this defensive mutualism can sometimes have negative effects on plants, as ants may also visit flowers, deterring pollinators and reducing plant fitness. The Distraction Hypothesis posits that extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) have the function of attracting ants and [...]
Comparing conservation land acquisition strategies using agent-based models
Published: 2024-01-29
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Most unprotected biodiversity is found outside state-owned protected areas, so developing effective conservation initiatives on privately and communally-owned land is critical. Conservationists have a long history of working with these landowners and their actions can be divided into two broad categories. The first is where they agree to take over responsibility for management, either by buying [...]