Preprints
There are 1649 Preprints listed.
Withdrawn: Datathons: fostering equitability in data reuse in ecology
Published: 2023-10-06
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Genetics, Genetics and Genomics, Genomics, Life Sciences, Microbiology
Duplicate of https://doi.org/10.32942/X2389Q
Should we indulge prawns more on organismal and environmental research?
Published: 2023-10-04
Subjects: Life Sciences
The importance of prawns in organismal research is an issue of concern due to their multifaceted and unique biological characteristics. This majorly includes their tolerance to critical environmental situations, sensitivity, exceptional body morphometrics, ecogeographic occurrence and diversity. All of these make prawns a highly adaptable and evolutionary successful organism. While studying the [...]
With a little help from my friends: the roles of microbial symbionts in insect populations and communities.
Published: 2023-10-04
Subjects: Life Sciences
To understand insect abundance, distribution, and dynamics, we need to understand the relevant drivers of their populations and communities. While microbial symbionts are known to affect many aspects of insect biology, research on their ecological and evolutionary importance for wild non-model insects is scarce. We are still far from understanding the spatio-temporal dynamics of symbioses in [...]
Same data, different analysts: variation in effect sizes due to analytical decisions in ecology and evolutionary biology
Published: 2023-10-04
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Research Methods in Life Sciences
Although variation in effect sizes and predicted values among studies of similar phenomena is inevitable, such variation far exceeds what might be produced by sampling error alone. One possible explanation for variation among results is differences among researchers in the decisions they make regarding statistical analyses. A growing array of studies has explored this analytical variability in [...]
Comparing the effects of internal stem damage on aboveground biomass estimates from terrestrial laser scanning and allometric scaling models
Published: 2023-10-03
Subjects: Life Sciences
Forests and woodlands are critical carbon stores, and methods for quantifying forest aboveground biomass (AGB) are increasingly relied upon for determining sequestered CO2 traded in carbon markets. AGB is traditionally measured using allometric models, yet terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is emerging as a highly accurate remote sensing alternative. However, internal tree stem damage from biotic [...]
Bacteriostatic cells instead of bacteriostatic antibiotics?
Published: 2023-10-03
Subjects: Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences
This year we commemorate the centennial of the birth of the mature concept of bacteriostasis by John W. Churchman at Cornell University Medical School. The term bacteriostasis has primarily been applied to antibiotics (bacteriostatic antibiotics). In this Opinion paper, we are revisiting this concept by suggesting that bacteriostatic antibiotics are drugs that induce bacteria to become [...]
Hypotheses on Evolutionary Processes for Autonomous and Cooperative Mechanisms of Living Systems to Work and Evolve
Published: 2023-10-03
Subjects: Life Sciences
The internal systems of an organism are composed of many different systems of matter, phase flows, and networks that coordinate and function together to regulate the organism's autonomy and responsiveness to the external world. These systems have evolved through interactions between organisms and their environment. This study proposes several hypotheses that explain and generalize the mechanisms [...]
Robust point and variance estimation for ecological and evolutionary meta-analyses with selective reporting and dependent effect sizes
Published: 2023-10-03
Subjects: Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Statistics and Probability
Meta-analysis produces a quantitative synthesis of evidence-based knowledge, shaping not only research trends but also policy and practices in ecology and evolution. However, two statistical issues, selective reporting and statistical dependence, can severally distort meta-analytic evidence. Here, we propose a two-step procedure to tackle these challenges concurrently and re-analyse 448 [...]
Decoding Populations in the Ocean Microbiome
Published: 2023-09-30
Subjects: Life Sciences
Understanding the characteristics and structure of populations is fundamental to comprehending ecosystem processes and evolutionary adaptations. While the study of animal and plant populations has spanned a few centuries, microbial populations have been under scientific scrutiny for a considerably shorter period. In the ocean, analyzing the genetic composition of microbial populations and their [...]
Citizen science as a valuable tool for environmental review
Published: 2023-09-30
Subjects: Biodiversity
Human development and population growth are placing immense pressure on natural ecosystems, necessitating a balance between development and biodiversity preservation. Citizen science may serve as a valuable resource for monitoring biodiversity and informing decision-making processes, but its use has not been investigated within the realm of environmental review. We sought to quantify the extent [...]
Evolution of competitive ability and the response to nutrient availability: a resurrection study with the calcareous grassland herb, Leontodon hispidus
Published: 2023-09-30
Subjects: Life Sciences
1. Rapid environmental changes across Europe include warmer and increasingly variable temperatures, changes in soil nutrient availability and pollinator decline. These abiotic and biotic changes can affect natural plant populations by imposing significant selection pressures and forcing plants to optimize resource use against competitors. Although recent studies have demonstrated the rapid and [...]
The ecomorphological diversity of Amazonian stream fishes is constrained by phylogenetic relationships
Published: 2023-09-30
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Phylogenetic history and environmental conditions determine trait diversity of species pools. Stream fishes have diversified into a wide range of body and oral shapes that allow a similarly wide range of functional traits that are related to resource use and phylogenetic closeness. Herein, we analyzed 16 ecomorphological traits of nearly 400 fishes inhabiting streams distributed across the [...]
Additional notes on the taxonomy of Parakeelya Hershk. (Montiaceae)
Published: 2023-09-30
Subjects: Biodiversity
Parakeelya Hershk. (Montiaceae) has become the name conserved over the older name Rumicastrum Ulb. for a lineage of Australian plants historically classified in Calandrinia Kunth. In Candollean taxonomy persistent to the late 20th Century, Australian plants were classified in a large, heterogeneous, and polyphyletic circumscription of Calandrinia, later referred to by the designation [...]
Fundamental questions in meiofauna—how small but ubiquitous animals can help to better understand Nature
Published: 2023-09-28
Subjects: Life Sciences
Meiofauna—a collective term to define microscopic animals—represent a numerically important component of biodiversity in most of Earth’s ecosystems and play a crucial role in biogeochemical cycles. Meiofauna have also been used as models to understand fundamental adaptive processes, have contributed to a better understanding of the animal’s Tree of Life, and are believed to be a treasure trove [...]
Using the R package popharvest to assess the sustainability of offtake in birds
Published: 2023-09-28
Subjects: Life Sciences
The R package popharvest was designed to help assess the sustainability of offtake in birds when only limited demographic information is available. In this article, we describe some basics of harvest theory and then discuss several considerations when using the different approaches in popharvest to assess whether observed harvests are unsustainable. Throughout, we emphasize the importance of [...]