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Preprints

There are 2563 Preprints listed.

Life history shapes variation in egg composition in the blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus

Cristina-Maria Valcu, Richard Scheltema, Ralf Schweiggert, et al.

Published: 2024-09-11
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Maternal investment directly shapes early developmental conditions and therefore has long-term fitness consequences for the offspring. In oviparous species prenatal maternal investment is fixed at the time of laying. To ensure the best survival chances for most of their offspring, females must equip their eggs with the resources required to perform well under various circumstances, yet the actual [...]

Adaptive sampling for ecological monitoring using biased data: A stratum-based approach

Oliver L. Pescott, Gary D. Powney, Rob James Boyd

Published: 2024-09-10
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Indicators of biodiversity change across large extents of geographic, temporal and taxonomic space are frequent products of various types of ecological monitoring and other data collection efforts. Unfortunately, many such indicators are based on data that are highly unlikely to be representative of the intended statistical populations. Where there is full control over sampling processes, [...]

Harnessing social media data to track species range shifts

Shawan Chowdhury, Niloy Hawladar, Ripon C Roy, et al.

Published: 2024-09-10
Subjects: Biodiversity, Life Sciences

Biodiversity monitoring programs and citizen science data remain heavily biased towards the Global North. Incorporating social media data can complement existing gaps, especially in megadiverse countries with limited records, but whether such data can significantly improve our understanding of range-shifting species is unknown. Here, we collated locality data from Flickr and Facebook, in addition [...]

The evolution of sex ratio strategies in cooperative breeders

Mirjam Borger, Franz J. Weissing, Hanno Hildenbrandt, et al.

Published: 2024-09-09
Subjects: Life Sciences

1. The offspring sex ratio is often biased in cooperative breeders. Two hypotheses explain why this could be adaptive: 1) the local resource enhancement hypothesis, and 2) the local resource competition hypothesis. The first poses that offspring of the helping sex should be overproduced, as helpers provide fitness benefits to parents and future siblings. The second poses that offspring of the [...]

Bridging local and global knowledges to classify, describe and map ecosystems

Alys Rhiannon Young, Hugh F Davies, Margaret L Ayre, et al.

Published: 2024-09-08
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Effective ecosystem management for biodiversity and human well-being relies on accurate information. Consistent approaches to classifying, describing, and assessing ecosystems can improve the understanding of the ecological processes, threats, and management. We explored how the Global Ecosystem Typology – a global classification framework based on ecosystem function – could support the [...]

Climate change is associated with a higher extinction risk of a subshrub in anthropogenic landscapes

Eva Conquet, Arpat Ozgul, Susana Gómez-González, et al.

Published: 2024-09-06
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Population Biology

In most ecosystems, the increasingly strong effects of climate change on biodiversity co-occur with other anthropogenic pressures, most importantly land-use change. However, many long-term demographic studies focus on populations monitored in protected areas, and our understanding of how climate change will affect population persistence under anthropogenic land use is still limited. To fill this [...]

Not by selection alone: expanding the scope of gene-culture coevolution

Sven Michael Kasser, Kevin N. Lala, Laura Fortunato, et al.

Published: 2024-09-05
Subjects: Anthropology, Biological and Physical Anthropology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Genetics and Genomics, Genomics, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Gene-culture coevolution (GCC) - an ambitious synthesis of biological and social sciences - is often used to explain the evolution of key human traits. Despite the framework’s broad conceptual appeal however, empirical evidence is often perceived as limited to a few key examples like lactase persistence. We argue this apparent gap between theoretical appeal and empirical evidence stems [...]

Collapse and recovery of livestock systems shape fire regimes on the Eurasian steppe: a review of ecosystem and biodiversity implications

Johannes Kamp, Tejas Bhagwat, Norbert Hölzel, et al.

Published: 2024-09-04
Subjects: Biodiversity, Botany, Natural Resources and Conservation, Plant Sciences, Sustainability

Shifts in fire regimes can trigger rapid changes in ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. We synthesize evidence for patterns, causes and consequences of recent change in fire regimes across the Eurasian steppes, a neglected global fire hotspot. Political and economic turmoil following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 triggered abrupt land abandonment over millions of hectares and a [...]

Molecular plasticity contributes to thermal resilience in two coastal fish species

Breana Marie Riordan, Ludovic Dutoit, Tania King, et al.

Published: 2024-09-03
Subjects: Life Sciences, Zoology

Understanding species capacities to adjust to shifting thermal environments is crucial amidst current climate-mediated ocean warming. Fish populations displaying high thermal plasticity can undergo molecular, metabolic, and mitochondrial modifications in response to heat stress. Under the context of heat stress, such acclimation provides a means to maintain normal biological functions through [...]

Evidence of the Impacts of Pharmaceuticals on Aquatic Animal Behaviour (EIPAAB): a systematic map and open access database

Jake Mitchell Martin, Marcus Michelangeli, Michael Grant Bertram, et al.

Published: 2024-09-03
Subjects: Life Sciences

BackgroundOver the last decade, pharmaceutical pollution in aquatic ecosystems has emerged as a pressing environmental issue. Recent years have also seen a surge in scientific interest in the use of behavioural endpoints in chemical risk assessment and regulatory activities, underscoring their importance for fitness and survival. In this respect, data on how pharmaceuticals alter the behaviour of [...]

Genetic adaptation to climate change in wild populations: a systematic literature review identifies opportunities to strengthen our evidence base

Natalie E. van Dis

Published: 2024-09-02
Subjects: Life Sciences

To understand to what extent evolution can contribute to bending the curve of ongoing biodiversity losses, we urgently need to characterize the adaptive potential of populations. This systematic literature review comprehensively gathers existing examples of genetic adaptation to climate change to (1) guide efforts to assess genetic adaptation to climate change in a wider variety of species and [...]

The role of forests in global climate adaptation

Josephine Elena Reek, Gabriel Smith, Constantin M Zohner, et al.

Published: 2024-09-02
Subjects: Life Sciences

Forests play a crucial role in regulating the global climate. Yet, forests also influence the local climate conditions through biophysical processes that directly impact human wellbeing. With growing policy emphasis on these climate adaptation effects, we review the scale dependent impacts of forests on climate conditions and their implications for human wellbeing. Generally, existing forests [...]

Fear of supernatural punishment can harmonize human societies with nature: an evolutionary game-theoretic approach

Shota Shibasaki, Yo Nakawake, Wakaba Tateishi, et al.

Published: 2024-09-02
Subjects: Life Sciences

Human activities largely impact the natural environment negatively and radical changes in human societies would be required to achieve their sustainable relationship with nature. Although frequently overlooked, previous studies have suggested that supernatural beliefs can protect nature from human overexploitation via beliefs that supernatural entities punish people who harm nature. Studies of [...]

Cultural integration of invasive species

Ivan Jaric, Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares, Zsolt Molnár, et al.

Published: 2024-09-02
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Studies, Natural Resources and Conservation, Sustainability

Many invasive non-native species gradually become embedded within local cultures. Such species can increasingly be perceived by society as familiar or even native elements of the social-ecological system and become an integral part of local cultures. Here, we explore this phenomenon and refer to it as the cultural integration of invasive species. Although culturally integrated species can [...]

Untangling the impact of live baitfish restrictions on recreational fishing participation in the United States

Victoria DeRooy, Amanda Hansen

Published: 2024-08-29
Subjects: Environmental Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences

In recent decades, many jurisdictions have established regulations governing the use of live baitfish in recreational fishing. These regulations are usually motivated by environmental concerns, such as the role that live baitfish play in the spread of invasive species and aquatic diseases. One question that might be posed by policymakers is whether limiting the use of live baitfish could impact [...]

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