Preprints

Filtering by Subject: Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Density dependence and disease dynamics: moving towards a predictive framework

Gregory Albery

Published: 2022-02-16
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

High population density is thought to exacerbate parasite exposure rates, leading to increased transmission and greater disease burdens. Different types of interactions exhibit different relationships with density, and therefore so do parasites that are spread by these interactions. Epidemiological models often assume a given density-transmission relationship, and the validity of this assumption [...]

Mismatch between IUCN range maps and species interactions data illustrated using the Serengeti food web

Gracielle Higino, Fredric Windsor, Francis Banville, et al.

Published: 2022-02-06
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology

Background. Range maps are a useful tool to describe the spatial distribution of species. However, they need to be used with caution, as they essentially represent a rough approximation of a species’ suitable habitats. When stacked together, the resulting communities in each grid cell may not always be realistic, especially when species interactions are taken into account. Here we show the extent [...]

Inferring trends in pollinator distributions across the Neotropics from publicly available data remains challenging despite mobilisation efforts

Rob James Boyd, Marcelo Aizen, Rodrigo Barahon-Segovia, et al.

Published: 2022-01-24
Subjects: Bioinformatics, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Aim: Aggregated species occurrence data are increasingly accessible through public databases for the analysis of temporal trends in species’ distributions. However, biases in these data present challenges for robust statistical inference. We assessed potential biases in data available through GBIF on the occurrences of four flower-visiting taxa: bees (Anthophila), hoverflies (Syrphidae), [...]

Plant community data from a statewide survey of paired serpentine and non-serpentine soils in California, USA

Jesse E. D. Miller, Stella Copeland, Kendi Davies, et al.

Published: 2022-01-13
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Soils derived from ultramafic parent materials (hereafter serpentine) provide habitat for unique plant communities containing species with adaptations to the low nutrient levels, high magnesium: calcium ratios, and high metal content (Ni, Zn) that characterize serpentine. Plants on serpentine have long been studied in evolution and ecology, and plants adapted to serpentine contribute [...]

Molecular Paleobiology of the Echinoderm Skeleton

Jeffrey Thompson

Published: 2022-01-09
Subjects: Cell and Developmental Biology, Developmental Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Molecular paleobiology provides a promising avenue to merge data from deep time, molecular biology and genomics, gaining insights into the evolutionary process at multiple levels. The echinoderm skeleton is a model for molecular paleobioloogical studies. I begin with an overview of the skeletogenic process in echinoderms, as well as a discussion of what gene regulatory networks are, and why they [...]

Identify, quantify, act: tackling the unused potential of ecological research

Marija Purgar, Tin Klanjscek, Antica Culina

Published: 2021-12-21
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

‘Ignorance is expensive’. The statement also applies to ignorance of research inefficiencies that can generate huge waste: 85% of health research, amounting to $170 billion annually, is avoidably wasted. This alarming finding elicited a number of responses that have since reduced the waste in health research. Commonality of research and dissemination practices implies that other scientific fields [...]

Source and seasonality of epizootic mycoplasmosis in free-ranging pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)

Marguerite Johnson, Christopher MacGlover, Erika Peckham, et al.

Published: 2021-12-20
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Microbiology, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Pathogenic Microbiology, Veterinary Infectious Diseases, Veterinary Medicine

Mycoplasma bovis is an economically important bacterial pathogen of cattle and bison that most commonly causes pneumonia, polyarthritis and mastitis. M. bovis is prevalent in cattle and commercial bison; however, infections in other species are rare. In early 2019, we identified M. bovis in free-ranging pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) in northeastern Wyoming, USA. Here we report on additional [...]

LONG-TERM MONITORING OF THE EUROPEAN ROLLER (CORACIAS GARRULUS) IN UKRAINE: IS CLIMATE BEHIND THE CHANGES?

Tatiana Shupova, Volodymyr Tytar

Published: 2021-12-20
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Since the 1980s there has been a long-term decline in numbers and contraction of range in Europe, including Ukraine. Our specific goals were to reconstruct the climatically suitable range of the species in Ukraine before the 1980s, gain better knowledge on its requirements, compare the past and current suitable areas, infer the regional and environmental variables that best explain its [...]

Multiple anthropogenic stressors have inconsistent cumulative effects across a large spatial gradient

Ben Kefford, Susan J. Nichols, Richard Duncan

Published: 2021-12-08
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology

Biodiversity is declining, typically because of multiple anthropogenic stressors. Cumulative effects of multiple stressors are classified as additive, when cumulative effects are as expected from the stressor’s singular effects, synergistic when greater than additive or antagonistic when less than additive. Less attention has been given to the consistency of cumulative effects. We analysed stream [...]

Idea Paper: improving forecasts of community composition with lightweight biodiversity monitoring across ecological and anthropogenic disturbance gradients

Jamie M. Kass, Nao Takashina, Nicholas R Friedman, et al.

Published: 2021-11-29
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Accurate and up-to-date biodiversity forecasts enable robust planning for environmental management and conservation of landscapes under a wide range of uses. Future predictions of the species composition of ecological communities complement more frequently reported species richness estimates to better characterize the different dimensions of biodiversity. The models that make community [...]

A review of chemical defense in harlequin toads (Bufonidae; Atelopus)

Kannon Pearson, Rebecca Tarvin

Published: 2021-11-29
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Other Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health

Toads of the genus Atelopus are chemically defended by a unique combination of endogenously synthesized cardiotoxins (bufadienolides) and neurotoxins which may be sequestered (guanidinium alkaloids). Investigation into Atelopus small-molecule chemical defenses has been primarily concerned with identifying and characterizing various forms of these toxins while largely overlooking their ecological [...]

Impact of heat stress on the fitness outcomes of symbiotic infection in aphids: a meta-analysis

Kévin Tougeron, Corentin Iltis

Published: 2021-11-24
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Evolution, Life Sciences, Microbiology, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Other Microbiology

Beneficial microorganisms shape the evolutionary trajectories of their hosts, facilitating or constraining the colonization of new ecological niches. One convincing example entails the responses of insect-microbe associations to rising temperatures. Indeed, the insect resilience to stressful high temperatures depends on the genetic identity of the obligate symbiont and the presence of heat [...]

Ocean acidification and bivalve byssus: explaining variable responses using meta-analysis

Jeff Clements, Matthew George

Published: 2021-10-16
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Numerous studies have documented weakened byssal attachment strength under ocean acidification (OA); however, a comparable number report no effect, even within the same species. We used meta-analysis to explore factors that could potentially explain observed effect size variation in byssal attachment strength following OA exposure. A systematic literature search uncovered 19 studies [...]

Selective Breeding to Support the Long-Term Persistence of Coral Reefs

Crawford Drury, Carlo Caruso, Kate Quigley

Published: 2021-10-13
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

The decline of coral reefs has prompted an emergent field of research on the potential for various biological interventions focused on increasing stress tolerance in corals. Among these is selective breeding, the selection and reproductive crossing of parental stock based on a trait of interest with the goal of enhancing the frequency or intensity of the trait in subsequent generations. Selective [...]

Learning from your mistakes: a novel method to predict the response to directional selection

Lisandro Milocco, Isaac Salazar-Ciudad

Published: 2021-09-27
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Computational Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Genetics, Genetics and Genomics, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology

Predicting how populations respond to selection is a key goal of evolutionary biology. The field of quantitative genetics provides predictions for the response to directional selection through the breeder’s equation. However, differences between the observed responses to selection and those predicted by the breeder’s equation occur. The sources of these errors include omission of traits under [...]

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