Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Forest restoration treatments increase native plant diversity but open the door to invasion in the Colorado Front Range
Published: 2025-04-08
Subjects: Forest Biology, Forest Management, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Forest restoration treatments in dry conifer forests of the western United States are often done with objectives to move current forest structure toward historical conditions and, in turn, increase the system’s resilience to future wildfires. But little is known about their effects on understory plant composition, particularly over the long-term. This is especially true in the Colorado Front [...]
Preprint for: Diurnal temperature range drives understory plant community composition in micro-climatically complex temperate forests
Published: 2025-04-03
Subjects: Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Diurnal temperature range (DTR) is hypothesized to be a key driver of plant community assembly, because areas with high DTR are exposed to both extreme high and extreme low temperatures on a daily basis. We established networks of temperature and relative humidity sensors along DTR gradients in two montane forest basins, and conducted plant surveys around each sensor (n=46). We examined which [...]
Increased Arctic fire occurrence related to human activity calls for improved management
Published: 2025-03-20
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Arctic fires have become more frequent in recent decades. They release carbon to the atmosphere through burning organic material and degrading permafrost and thus accelerate global warming. Previous research highlighted climate variables as the driving factor of fire occurrence in the Arctic, largely ignoring the contribution of human activity. Here, we analyzed the relationship between fire [...]
Recovery of forest structural complexity during secondary succession in the tropics
Published: 2025-03-19
Subjects: Agricultural Science, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences, Plant Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Forest structural complexity is an essential determinant of forest ecosystem functions and biodiversity. The natural dynamics of structural complexity of tropical forests remain largely unexplored, especially for naturally regenerating forest during secondary succession. Better understanding the trajectories of forest structural complexity recovery is crucial to inform the development of forest [...]
Belowground communities in lowlands are less stable to heat extremes across seasons
Published: 2025-02-24
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Ecological responses to climate extremes vary drastically in different spatiotemporal contexts. Here, we investigate how soil communities at high- and low-elevation sites respond to extreme heat events in different seasons (spring, summer and autumn). We simulated 1-week heat events based on site-specific climatic history in laboratory experiments using 360 field-collected soil cores and measured [...]
A meta-analysis reveals PFAS concentrations double with each trophic level across aquatic and terrestrial food webs
Published: 2025-02-11
Subjects: Other Environmental Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) threaten ecosystems worldwide due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. Through a global-scale meta-analysis of 122 aquatic and terrestrial food webs from 64 studies, we analyse 1,009 trophic magnification factors (TMFs) for 72 PFAS and identify key variability drivers. PFAS concentrations systematically doubled with each trophic level [...]
Monogenea on exotic Indian freshwater fish. 8. Co-translocation of Cichlidogyrus tilapiae (Monogenea, Dactylogyridae) with pindani Chindongo socolofi (Cichliformes, Cichlidae), the first report of this parasite genus in India
Published: 2025-02-07
Subjects: Aquaculture and Fisheries Life Sciences, Life Sciences, Parasitology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Zoology
Chindongo socolofi (Cichliformes, Cichlidae) is a popular freshwater ornamental fish from Lake Malawi in Africa. Although identifying parasites associated with the global ornamental trade is critical for developing biosecurity practices, little is known about the parasite fauna of C. socolofi. Therefore, this study sought to determine what monogenean parasites C. socolofi harbours in India. Adult [...]
Measuring critical thermal maximum in aquatic ectotherms: a practical guide
Published: 2025-02-03
Subjects: Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Zoology
Critical thermal limits, commonly quantified as CTmax (maximum) or CTmin (minimum), are core metrics in the thermal biology of aquatic ectotherms. CTmax, in particular, has recently surged in popularity due to its various applications, including understanding and predicting the responses of animals to climate warming. Despite its growing popularity, there is a limited literature aimed at [...]
Assessment of Urban Bias in Iberian Butterfly Sampling through Citizen Science Data
Published: 2025-01-24
Subjects: Entomology, Life Sciences, Research Methods in Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Citizen science platforms have revolutionized biodiversity monitoring by enabling large-scale data collection. However, concerns about potential biases, such as urban sampling bias, have raised questions about the quality and representativeness of these datasets. This study assesses the spatial distribution of butterfly observations collected through the citizen science platform Biodiversidad [...]
Weather and catchment morphology drive thermal regime variation among sub-Arctic ponds, and possible effects on resident Arctic charr
Published: 2025-01-21
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Thermal stratification, which is a common feature of lentic freshwater systems, has extensive effects on ecological interactions and ecosystem function, including processes that may determine which ponds can support fish populations and affect growth, phenology, and metabolism where populations exist. Because these habitats are important for Northern freshwater fishes, improvement of our ability [...]
Using seed germination as a proxy of restoration success
Published: 2025-01-16
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Ecological restoration of post-mining landscapes is critical to mitigating the environmental impacts of extraction activities. This study compares the effectiveness of geomorphic restoration (GR) versus conventional restoration (CR) techniques in improving soil water availability and seed germination dynamics in the Fortuna quarry, a Mediterranean post-mining site in Spain. Soil water content [...]
Eccentric trees, biased estimates: sampling design reduces error in basal area increment estimates under stem and pith eccentricity
Published: 2024-12-23
Subjects: Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Accurate tree growth quantification is crucial in ecological research. Basal area increment (BAI) is often calculated from tree rings on increment cores, assuming the stems form perfect circles with centered piths. However, piths are often offset and rings not perfectly round, which leads to BAI estimation errors. Yet, we do not know how much estimation error results from these two types of [...]
Environmental RNA mitigates fish ghosts related to fish feeds for aquaculture in molecular ecological survey in a bay.
Published: 2024-12-20
Subjects: Aquaculture and Fisheries Life Sciences, Biodiversity, Genomics, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
The use of environmental DNA for molecular ecological surveys has become widely utilized in ecological assessments of various water environments, from rivers to coastal and marine areas. However, it is important to consider the scenarios of potential contamination of environmental nucleic acids in interpreting the results. In this study, we analyzed the fish species present in the feed that may [...]
Forecasting patterns of shifting biodiversity refuges in an increasingly flammable world
Published: 2024-12-20
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
In a warming and rapidly changing world, biodiversity is increasingly threatened by more frequent, severe, and larger fires. Variation in the life history attributes and habitat preferences of species mean that they may be affected differently by fire, and hence, decision makers must account for this. Understanding how fire affects the distribution of important areas of habitat and refuges for [...]
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 [...]