Preprints
There are 2919 Preprints listed.
A framework for improving the reproducibility of data extraction for meta-analysis
Published: 2022-12-14
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Psychology, Research Methods in Life Sciences
Extracting data from studies is the norm in meta-analyses, enabling researchers to generate effect sizes when raw data are otherwise not available. While there has been a general push for increased reproducibility in meta-analysis, the transparency and reproducibility of the data extraction phase is still lagging behind. Unfortunately, there is little guidance of how to make this process more [...]
Hybridization boosters diversification in a Neotropical orchid group
Published: 2022-12-14
Subjects: Biodiversity, Genomics, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Plant Biology, Population Biology
Genetic data shows that cryptic hybrids are more common than previously thought and that hybridization and introgression are widespread processes in nature. Regardless of this, studies on hybridization are scarce for the highly speciose Bulbophyllum. The genus presents more than 2,200 species and many examples of recent radiations, in which hybridization is expected to be frequent. Currently, [...]
Zooplankton as a model to study the effects of anthropogenic sounds on aquatic ecosystems
Published: 2022-12-13
Subjects: Life Sciences
There is a growing interest in the impact of acoustic pollution on aquatic ecosystems. Currently, research has primarily focused on hearing species, particularly fishes and mammals. However, species from lower trophic levels, including many invertebrates, are less studied despite their ecological significance. Among these taxa, studies examining the effects of sound on holozooplankton are [...]
Co-crediting system for carbon and biodiversity
Published: 2022-12-13
Subjects: Life Sciences
Carbon crediting and land offsets for biodiversity protection are implemented to tackle the challenges of increasing greenhouse gas emissions and loss of global biodiversity, but these two mechanisms are not optimal when considered separately. Focusing solely on carbon capture – the primary goal of most carbon-focused offsetting commitments – often results in the establishment of non-native, [...]
Evolutionary repeatability of emergent properties of ecological communities
Published: 2022-12-11
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Most species belong to ecological communities where their interactions give rise to emergent community-level properties, such as diversity and productivity. Understanding and predicting how these properties change over time has been a major goal in ecology, with important practical implications for sustainability and human health. Less attention has been paid to the fact that community-level [...]
Offspring sex ratio increases with male reproductive success in the polygynous southern elephant seals
Published: 2022-12-10
Subjects: Life Sciences
In polygynous species, most dominant males sire a disproportionate number of offspring and dominance rank is assumed to be age dependent. Yet, extreme inter-male competition and high early male mortality prevent most males from reaching a social status that could guaranty a high reproductive success. Alternative reproductive tactics may have evolved to maximize male reproductive success despite a [...]
Imagining Kant’s Theory of Scientific Knowledge: Philosophy and Education in Microbiology
Published: 2022-12-10
Subjects: Education, Life Sciences
In the field of observational and experimental natural sciences (as is the case for microbiology), recent decades have been overinfluenced by overwhelming technological advances, and the space of abstraction has been frequently disdained. However, the predictable future of biological sciences should necessarily recover the synthetic dimension of “natural philosophy”. We should understand the [...]
Comprehensive biodiversity survey of Wategora Reserve and Everley Park along Duck River, western Sydney
Published: 2022-12-09
Subjects: Life Sciences
Although much of suburban Sydney is heavily urbanised, there are also many pockets of remnant vegetation scattered throughout the region, even in the most built-up areas. From 2020-2022 I conducted a comprehensive biodiversity survey of Wategora Reserve, and the riparian vegetation adjacent to Everley Park directly south of the reserve, a small fragment of remnant bushland on the western bank of [...]
Power and limitations of the mutations-area relationship to assess within-species genetic diversity targets for post-2020 Sustainable Development Goals
Published: 2022-12-09
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Genetics and Genomics, Life Sciences
To evaluate the United Nation’s preliminary post-2020 sustainable goals on protecting high levels of genetic diversity per species, Exposito-Alonso et al. (2022) proposed a new framework to predict a species’ loss of genetic diversity given its loss of habitat area. This method, called the mutations-area relationship (MAR), is analogous to the species-area relationship (SAR), often used to assess [...]
Two species of montane redstarts (Myioborus) in Costa Rica differ in their elevational range shifts over four decades
Published: 2022-12-07
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Tropical montane bird species may be vulnerable to climate change as they often have narrow elevational ranges that are expected to shift upslope in response to increasing temperatures. If highland endemics near mountaintops are forced upslope, these species may be especially at risk of local extinction. We investigated the elevational ranges of two species of montane cloud forest warblers, the [...]
Comparative analysis reveals assortative mate preferences in darters independent of sympatry and sex
Published: 2022-12-07
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution
A preference for mating with conspecifics over heterospecifics is fundamental to the maintenance of species diversity in sexually reproducing organisms. This type of positive assortative mating results in sexual isolation, a reduction in gene flow between species due to differences in mate choice. Sexual isolation is often stronger between closely related sympatric species as compared to [...]
Parasites during early life mediate the strength of phenotypic selection on sexual traits.
Published: 2022-12-07
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Sexually selected phenotypes are key to understanding population and eco-evolutionary dynamics since the expression of these traits is tightly linked to reproduction and population viability. Parasites are major agents of selection that alter both phenotypic expression and fitness. However, the carry-over effects of parasites in early life in selection on phenotypes expressed later in life are [...]
Boldness and physiological variation in round goby populations along their Baltic Sea invasion front
Published: 2022-12-07
Subjects: Life Sciences
The round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is a fish native to the Ponto-Caspian region that is highly invasive through freshwater and brackish habitats in northern Europe and North America. Individual behavioural variation appears to be an important factor in their spread, for example a round goby’s personality traits can influence their dispersal tendency, which may also produce variation in the [...]
Quantifying between-individual variation using high-throughput phenotyping of behavioural traits in the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster)
Published: 2022-12-07
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Behavioural phenotyping is often time and labour-intensive, which can come at a cost to sample size and statistical precision. This is particularly a concern given that behaviours are often highly variable within and between individuals, so naturally requires a larger sample size. Drosophila melanogaster is a common model system in many research fields, and behavioural observations are frequently [...]
The Changing Dynamics of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1: Next Steps for Management & Science in North America
Published: 2022-12-06
Subjects: Life Sciences
Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) H5N1 was introduced in North America in late 2021 through trans-Atlantic pathways via migratory birds. These introductions have resulted in an unprecedented epizootic, a widespread disease event in animals, heavily affecting poultry, wild birds, and recently mammals. The North American incursions occurred during the largest epidemic season (2021 – [...]