Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
On the inadequacy of species distribution models for modelling the spread of SARS-CoV-2: response to Araújo and Naimi
Published: 2020-03-28
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Other Medicine and Health Sciences
The ongoing pandemic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is causing significant damage to public health and economic livelihoods, and is putting significant strains on healthcare services globally. This unfolding emergency has prompted the preparation and dissemination of the article “Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus likely to be constrained by climate” by Araújo [...]
Towards a generalizable framework of disturbance ecology through crowdsourced science
Published: 2020-03-24
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Disturbances fundamentally alter ecosystem functions, yet predicting their impacts remains a key scientific challenge. While the study of disturbances is ubiquitous across many ecological disciplines, there is no agreed-upon, cross-disciplinary foundation for discussing or quantifying the complexity of disturbances, and no consistent terminology or methodologies exist. This inconsistency presents [...]
The sixth R: Revitalizing the natural phosphorus pump
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Humans and natural systems face three pressing concerns: the loss of large animal biodiversity, eutrophication of many aquatic systems, and the need to better recycle phosphorus. Here we propose a mechanism to help alleviate these problems. Some have hypothesized that we are approaching “peak phosphorus,” where phosphorus may become more expensive as it becomes rarer, thus endangering the green [...]
Epicuticular compounds of Protopiophila litigata (Diptera: Piophilidae): identification and sexual selection across two years in the wild
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Evolution, Life Sciences
The epicuticular compounds (ECs) of insects serve both to waterproof the cuticle and, in many taxa, as pheromones that are important for various social interactions including mate choice within populations. However, ECs have not been individually identified in many species and most studies of their role in mate choice have been performed in a laboratory setting. Here we newly identify and [...]
Poor nutritional condition promotes high-risk behaviours: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Animal behaviour can lead to varying levels of risk, and an individual’s physical condition can alter the potential costs and benefits of undertaking risky behaviours. How risk-taking behaviour depends on condition is subject to contrasting hypotheses. The asset protection principle proposes that individuals in better condition should be more risk averse, as they have higher future reproductive [...]
Pre-maturation social experience affects female reproductive strategies and offspring fitness in a highly polyandrous insect
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The pre-maturation social environment experienced by females may affect their post-maturation reproductive strategies, including mating preferences and investment in offspring. Whether the pre-maturation social environment also affects other aspects of females’ reproductive strategies, such as the degree of polyandry and post-copulatory decisions, is still an open question. To address this [...]
Development time mediates the effect of larval diet on ageing and mating success of male antler flies in the wild
Published: 2020-03-16
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Evolution, Life Sciences, Population Biology
High-quality developmental environments often improve individual performance into adulthood, but allocating toward early-life traits, such as growth, development rate, and reproduction, may lead to trade-offs with late life performance. It is therefore uncertain how a rich developmental environment will affect the ageing process (senescence), particularly in wild insects. To investigate the [...]
Natural variation in the growth and development of Protopiophila litigata (Diptera: Piophilidae) developing in three moose (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) antlers
Published: 2020-03-16
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Evolution, Life Sciences, Population Biology
In animals, the early-life environment influences growth and development, which can have lasting effects on life history and fitness into adulthood. We investigated patterns of growth, pupal development time, and their covariation, in wild antler fly larvae (Protopiophila litigata; Diptera: Piophilidae) of both sexes collected from three discarded moose antlers of varying size, chewing damage [...]
Infected or informed? Social structure and the simultaneous transmission of information and infectious disease
Published: 2020-03-06
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Immunology and Infectious Disease, Life Sciences
Social interactions present opportunities for both information and infection to spread through populations. Social learning is often proposed as a key benefit of sociality, while disease epidemics are proposed as a major cost. Multiple empirical and theoretical studies have demonstrated the importance of social structure for either information or infectious disease, but rarely in combination. We [...]
Estimation of environmental and genetic contributions to telomere length variation in a wild mammal
Published: 2020-03-04
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Understanding individual variation in fitness-related traits requires separating the environmental and genetic determinants. Telomeres are protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that are thought to be a biomarker of senescence as their length predicts mortality risk and reflect the physiological consequences of environmental conditions. The relative contribution of genetic and environmental [...]
Intergroup food transfers in wild golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia)
Published: 2020-03-01
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Zoology
Transfers of food between adults are uncommon in primates. Although golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia), are unique among primates in the extent of food transfers, reports of food transfers between adults have so far been restricted to captive or reintroduced individuals. Here, I report the first six recorded events of adult-adult food transfers between individuals belonging to [...]
A synthesis of dryland restoration lessons relevant to the San Joaquin Valley
Published: 2020-02-29
Subjects: Desert Ecology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Scientific synthesis is a set of tools relevant to evidence-informed decision making for the drylands of California. Tools include comprehensive theory and formal scientific syntheses of the published primary literature examining restoration in drylands. Restoration lessons consistently reported in the literature provide insights into applicable theory, species-specific practices, and [...]
Forest thinning in ponderosa pines increases carbon use efficiency and energy flow from primary producers to primary consumers
Published: 2020-02-29
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
A better understanding of carbon use efficiency and carbon allocation during disturbance is critical to improve simulations of the global carbon cycle and understanding future climate impacts. Forest thinning of high stem density, high elevation dry western US forests is becoming more common to reduce severe fire danger but there are uncertainties about how forest thinning may impact forest [...]
The molecular clock as a tool for understanding host-parasite evolution
Published: 2020-02-29
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
The molecular clock in combination with evidence from the geological record can be applied to infer the timing and dynamics of evolutionary events. This has enormous potential to shed light on the complex and often evasive evolution of parasites. Here, we provide an overview of molecular clock methodology and recent advances that increase the potential for the study of host-parasite [...]
StableClim, continuous projections of climate stability from 21000 BP to 2100 CE at multiple spatial scales
Published: 2020-02-22
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Paleoclimatic data are used in eco-evolutionary models to improve knowledge of biogeographical processes that drive patterns of biodiversity through time, opening windows into past climate–biodiversity dynamics. Applying these models to harmonised simulations of past and future climatic change can strengthen forecasts of biodiversity change. StableClim provides continuous estimates of climate [...]