Preprints
There are 1657 Preprints listed.
The Orchard Plot: Cultivating a Forest Plot for Use in Ecology, Evolution and Beyond
Published: 2019-12-29
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
‘Classic’ forest plots show the effect sizes from individual studies and the aggregate effect from a meta-analysis. However, in ecology and evolution meta-analyses routinely contain over 100 effect sizes, making the classic forest plot of limited use. We surveyed 102 meta-analyses in ecology and evolution, finding that only 11% use the classic forest plot. Instead, most used a ‘forest-like plot’, [...]
Cultural conformity and persistence in the context of differing site fidelity
Published: 2019-12-18
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Animal culture often shows geographic structure, with nearby individuals sharing more cultural features than individuals further apart. However, spatial extent of cultural features, along with the degree of conformity to local cultures, vary within and among species. Further, rates of cultural change presumably also vary, though documentation of temporal variability lags behind documentation of [...]
Assessing biomarkers of ageing as measures of cumulative animal welfare
Published: 2019-12-17
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Life Sciences, Other Animal Sciences
In order to determine which conditions provide the best overall quality of life for nonhuman animals, it is important to be able to measure their cumulative welfare experience. The ideal measure of cumulative welfare would be comprehensive, objectively measurable, and easy to transfer across species; however, existing approaches fall far short of this ideal. Recent academic work has suggested [...]
Social effects on age-related and sex-specific immune cell profiles in a wild mammal
Published: 2019-12-16
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Evidence for age-related changes in innate and adaptive immune responses is increasing in wild populations. Such changes have been linked to fitness, and understanding the factors driving variation in immune responses is important for the evolution of immunity and senescence. Age-related changes in immune profiles may be due to sex-specific behaviour, physiology and responses to environmental [...]
The need for a nationally consistent ecosystem monitoring framework for Australian rangelands.
Published: 2019-12-12
Subjects: Desert Ecology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
The need for a national ecosystem monitoring system for the Australian rangelands has been regularly identified. Against a background of natural variability, rangeland ecosystems face both short and longer-term impacts. These pressures, including overstocking, climate change, deforestation, altered fire regimes and invasion by feral species, are expected to drive changes to the structure, [...]
Cross-scale interaction of host tree size and climatic water deficit governs bark beetle-induced tree mortality
Published: 2019-12-12
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
The recent Californian hot drought (2012-2016) precipitated unprecedented ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) mortality, largely attributable to the western pine beetle (Dendroctonus brevicomis; WPB). Broad-scale climate conditions can directly shape tree mortality patterns, but mortality rates respond non-linearly to climate when local-scale forest characteristics influence the behavior of [...]
Multivariate Mixed Models in Ecology and Evolutionary biology: Inferences and implementation in R
Published: 2019-12-12
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Multivariate mixed models (MMM) are generalized linear models with both fixed and random effect having multiple response variables. MMM allow partitioning of total (phenotypic) (co)variances for multiple traits into (co)variances on hierarchically lower levels. We outline why ecologists and evolutionary biologists should be interested in such partitioning as well as the levels of analyses that [...]
Post-release exploration and diel activity of hatchery, wild and crossbred strain brown trout in semi-natural streams
Published: 2019-12-11
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Aquaculture and Fisheries Life Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Behaviours that are adaptive in captivity may be maladaptive in the wild and hence compromise after-release survival of hatchery fish. Understanding behavioural differences displayed straight after the release could help improving hatchery protocols and developing behavioural tests for assessing the fitness of fish reared for releases. We characterized the post-release behaviour in two [...]
Measurement and analysis of interspecific spatial associations as a facet of biodiversity
Published: 2019-12-06
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Research Methods in Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Interspecific spatial associations (ISA), which include co-occurrences, segregations, or attractions among two or more species, can provide important insights into the spatial structuring of communities. However, ISA has primarily been examined in the context of understanding interspecific interactions, while other aspects of ISA, including its relations to other biodiversity facets and how it [...]
Behavioral Modification of Eastern Hoolock Gibbon in Non-Protected Fragmented Rainforest Patches of North Eastern Himalayas
Published: 2019-12-06
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Life Sciences, Zoology
Presence of Eastern Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock leuconydes) was confirmed recently in and around Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, where the last remnant rainforest region of Eastern Himalaya still exists. A total of 13 groups of Eastern Hoolock Gibbon were located in this Lower Dibang valley in the outskirts and periferi of Mehao WLS where they coexist with humans at the non-protected [...]
Time is money. Waiting costs explain why selection favors steeper time discounting in deprived environments.
Published: 2019-12-04
Subjects: Other Psychology, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences, Psychology, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Individuals exposed to deprivation tend to show a characteristic behavioural syndrome suggestive of a short time horizon. This pattern has traditionally been attributed to the intrinsically higher unpredictability of deprived environments, which renders waiting for long term rewards more risky (i.e. collection risks are high). In the current paper, based on a simple dynamic life history model, we [...]
Relative contribution of plant traits and soil properties to the functioning of a temperate forest ecosystem in the Indian Himalayas
Published: 2019-12-04
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Plant-soil interactions are a major determinant of changes in forest ecosystem processes and functioning. We conducted a trait-based study to quantify the contribution of plant traits and soil properties to above- and below-ground ecosystem properties in temperate forest in the Indian Himalayas. Nine plant traits (leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf water content, leaf dry matter content, leaf [...]
Effects of ambient climate and three different warming treatments on fruit production in an alpine meadow community
Published: 2019-12-02
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Plant Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Climate change is already having a major impact on alpine and arctic regions, and inter-annual variations in temperature are likely to increase. In a four-year study focusing on fruit production by an alpine plant community in northern Sweden, we applied three different warming regimes over the years. Treatments consisted of (a) a static level of warming with open-top chambers (OTC), (b) press [...]
Effective ecological monitoring requires a multi-scaled approach.
Published: 2019-11-28
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Environmental monitoring data is fundamental to our understanding of environmental change and is vital to evidence-based policy and management. However, different types of ecological monitoring, along with their different applications, are often poorly understood and contentious. Varying definitions and strict adherence to a specific monitoring type can inhibit effective ecological monitoring, [...]
Sex- and context-specific associations between personality and a measure of fitness but no link with life history traits
Published: 2019-11-22
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
The pace of life syndrome hypothesis posits that personality traits (i.e., consistent individual differences in behaviour) are linked to life history and fitness. Specifically, fast-paced individuals are predicted to be proactive (i.e., active and aggressive) with an earlier age at first reproduction, a shorter lifespan, and a higher fecundity than slow-paced individuals. Environmental conditions [...]