Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
From eggs to adulthood: sustained effects of early developmental temperature and corticosterone exposure on physiology and body size in an Australian lizard
Published: 2024-06-28
Subjects: Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology, Biology, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
As global temperatures continue to rise due to climate change, developing animals may be increasingly exposed to elevated temperatures. Additionally, elevated temperatures could affect developing animals through indirect effects such as increased exposure to maternal glucocorticoid hormones. Exposure to elevated levels of glucocorticoids during development can have immediate and sustained effects [...]
Species lists of the Koffler Scientific Reserve at Jokers Hill, Ontario, Canada
Published: 2024-06-24
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
This document includes taxonomically-organized lists of all vascular plants, amphibians and reptiles, birds, and mammals recorded from the 350 ha Koffler Scientific Reserve of the University of Toronto, in King Township, Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada (44° 01' N, 79° 31' W). These lists were initially compiled by C.S. Blaney and were published as an appendix to his M.Sc. thesis [...]
Is the audience gender-blind? Smaller audience in female talks highlights prestige differences in academia
Published: 2024-05-28
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Evolution, Gender Equity in Education, Higher Education, Inequality and Stratification, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Psychological Phenomena and Processes
Although diverse perspectives are fundamental for fostering and advancing science, power relations have limited the development, propagation of ideas, and recognition of minority groups in academia. Gender bias is one of the most well-documented processes, leading women to drop out of their academic careers due to fewer opportunities and lower prestige. Using long-term data (2008-2019) on talks [...]
Light Pollution at Sea: Implications and Potential Hazards of Human Activity for Offshore Bird and Bat Movements in the Greater North Sea
Published: 2024-05-24
Subjects: Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Nature and Society Relations, Ornithology, Other Animal Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Water Resource Management, Zoology
Human activity in the North Sea is intensifying, as emerging uses, such as offshore wind farms (OWFs) and liquid natural gas (LNG) terminals, are added to fishing, freight shipping and fossil fuel production as traditional forms of resource exploitation. The volume and scale of these additional installations are projected to increase substantially in the coming decades, which amplifies the need [...]
Quantifying intermediary processes in ecology using causal mediation analyses
Published: 2024-05-13
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Longitudinal Data Analysis and Time Series, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Statistical Methodology
Ecologists seek to understand the intermediary ecological processes through which changes in one attribute in a system affect other attributes. Yet, quantifying the causal effects of these mediating processes in ecological systems is challenging. Researchers must define what they mean by a “mediated effect”, determine what assumptions are required to estimate mediation effects without bias, and [...]
Global review of shorebird tracking publications: Gaps and priorities for research and conservation
Published: 2024-05-08
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Ornithology, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Research Methods in Life Sciences
Electronic tracking has enabled rapid advances in knowledge of the movement behaviour and habitat use of shorebirds (Charadriiformes), and is thus making a growing contribution to their conservation. However, developing a useful coherent global strategy for tracking these taxa requires an overview of the current availability of data and how it varies along regional and ecological lines. To this [...]
Guidance framework to apply best practices in ecological data analysis: Lessons learned from building Galaxy-Ecology
Published: 2024-04-12
Subjects: Bioinformatics, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Numerous conceptual frameworks exist for best practices in research data and analysis (e.g. Open Science and FAIR principles). In practice, there is a need for further progress to improve transparency, reproducibility, and confidence in ecology. Here, we propose a practical and operational framework for researchers and experts in ecology to achieve best practices for building analytical [...]
Effectiveness of toxic baiting for the control of canines and felines
Published: 2024-04-12
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Toxic baiting is used for the lethal control of mammalian predators. It is easily applied over large areas and can be highly effective, but also receives significant criticism. We conducted a meta-analysis of the efficacy of lethal baiting for the feral cat, red fox and dingo; our outcome of interest was predator survival. Our dataset contained 125 effects from 35 studies, comprising 1560 [...]
Cryptic species and hybridisation in corals: challenges and opportunities for conservation and restoration
Published: 2024-02-14
Subjects: Genomics, Marine Biology, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Conservation and management of coral reef ecosystems will depend on accurate assessments of reef-building coral species diversity. However, the true diversity of corals may be obfuscated by the presence of cryptic species, which are likely much more pervasive than is currently recognised. Additionally, cryptic species may sometimes hybridize, resulting in gene introgression between species. Here, [...]
The Distraction Function of Extrafloral Nectaries: Keeping Ants Away From Flowers and Preventing Disruption of Pollination
Published: 2024-01-31
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 [...]
Multiple habitat graphs: how connectivity brings forth landscape ecological processes
Published: 2024-01-31
Subjects: Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Purpose: Habitat connectivity is integral to current biodiversity science and conservation strategies. Originally, the connectivity concept stressed the role of individual movements for landscape-scale processes. Connectivity determines whether populations can survive in sub-optimal patches (i.e., source-sink effects), complete life cycles relying on different habitat types (i.e., landscape [...]
The genetic basis of a regionally isolated sexual dimorphism involves cortex
Published: 2024-01-30
Subjects: Biology, Evolution, Genetics and Genomics, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology
Sexual dimorphisms represent a source of phenotypic variation and result from differences in how natural and sexual selection act on males and females within a species. Identifying the genetic basis of dimorphism can be challenging, especially once it is fixed within a species. However, studying polymorphisms, even when fixed within a population, can provide insights into the genetic basis of [...]
Predicting organismal response to marine heatwaves using mechanistic thermal landscape models
Published: 2024-01-23
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Marine heatwaves (MHWs) can cause thermal stress in marine ectotherms, experienced as a pulse against the press of anthropogenic warming. When thermal stress exceeds organismal capacity to maintain homeostasis, organism survival becomes time-limited and can result in mass mortality events. Current methods of detecting and categorizing MHWs rely on statistical analysis of historic climatology, and [...]
A universal DNA barcode for the Tree of Life
Published: 2024-01-18
Subjects: Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Species identification using DNA barcodes has revolutionized biodiversity sciences and society at large. However, conventional barcoding methods do not reflect genomic complexity, may lack sufficient variation, and rely on limited genomic loci that are not universal across the Tree of Life. Here, we develop a novel barcoding method that uses exceptionally low-coverage genome skim data to create a [...]
A big data and machine learning approach for monitoring the condition of ecosystems
Published: 2024-01-16
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Forest Biology, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Statistical Methodology, Statistical Models, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Ecosystems are highly valuable as a source of goods and services and as a heritage for future generations. Knowing their condition is extremely important for all management and conservation activities and public policies. Until now, the evaluation of ecosystem condition has been unsatisfactory and thus lacks practical implementation for most countries. We propose that ecosystem integrity is a [...]