Preprints
There are 1649 Preprints listed.
Perturbations highlight importance of social history in parakeet rank dynamics
Published: 2022-06-01
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Dominance hierarchies can provide many benefits to individuals, such as access to resources or mates, depending on their ranks. In some species, rank can emerge as a product of the history of social interactions within a group. However, it can be difficult to determine whether social history is critical to rank in observation-based studies. Here, we investigated rank dynamics in three captive [...]
Temporal variability declines with increasing trophic levels and spatial scales in freshwater ecosystems
Published: 2022-05-31
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
The temporal variability of ecological properties tends to decrease with spatial scale and levels of biological organization, but how does it propagate across trophic levels? We compiled metacommunity time-series datasets spanning basal resources to top predators from 355 freshwater sites across three continents. Temporal variability in abundance decreased from producers to tertiary consumers [...]
Increasing inclusion & competency in STEM: Understanding LGBTQ+ history, barriers, and heteronormativity
Published: 2022-05-31
Subjects: Life Sciences
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and other marginalized gender and sexual identities (LGBTQ+) face unique barriers to participation in the sciences rooted in cis-heteronormativity and heterosexism. We need to expand conversations on LGBTQ+ advocacy in science beyond personal beliefs and actions, and toward the recognition of structural and societal barriers to participation. In this paper, [...]
The light spectrum for plant cultivation: a source of colourful arguments
Published: 2022-05-31
Subjects: Agriculture, Food Science, Life Sciences
The concept of ``wasted illumination'' and its application to the design of light sources for plant cultivation is a good example of misuse of reductionism. Equating instantaneous rate of photosynthesis to crop yield is a prevailing but nonsensical idea, and in the case of the design of red plus blue light sources an extreme case of ignoring the multiple regulatory mechanisms and interactions [...]
Best practices for LGBTQ+ inclusion during ecological fieldwork: Considering safety, cis/heteronormativity, and structural barriers
Published: 2022-05-31
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and other marginalized gender and sexual identities (LGBTQ+) face unique barriers to participation in applied ecology. Such barriers are particularly relevant during fieldwork, including physical and discriminatory risks, increased isolation, and non-inclusive infrastructure.To be more inclusive, fieldwork should address LGBTQ+ safety and survival needs. [...]
Its time to manage mountain lions in Texas
Published: 2022-05-28
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Mountain lions, also called cougars, pumas and Florida panthers, are a wide-ranging, large felid in the western hemisphere. Every U.S. state in which there are breeding populations of mountain lions offer the species some level of protection, except Texas. Here, we summarize historical research on mountain lions in Texas, human perceptions about the species, and historical discussions within [...]
Evolution and impact of socially transferred materials
Published: 2022-05-27
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Cell and Developmental Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Genetics and Genomics, Life Sciences, Physiology, Systems Biology
Since the dawn of life, transfers of metabolized material between individuals have led to great innovations of evolution. When metabolized material is transferred from one individual’s body to another (as with sperm, eggs, milk, symbionts), secondary manipulative molecules that induce a physiological response in the receiver are often transferred along with the primary cargo. The bioactive and [...]
The role of climate change and niche shifts in divergent range dynamics of a sister-species pair
Published: 2022-05-25
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Species ranges are set by limitations in factors including climate tolerances, habitat use, and dispersal abilities. Understanding the factors governing species range dynamics remains a challenge that is ever more important in our rapidly changing world. Species ranges can shift if environmental changes affect available habitat, or if the niche or habitat connectivity of a species changes. We [...]
One hand washes the other: cooperation and conflict in hygiene and immunity
Published: 2022-05-25
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
In humans and wild animals, pathogens impose costs on both the individual and the social group as a whole. To minimise these costs, group-living species have evolved many hygienic and immune traits that benefit from cooperation between individuals, thereby subjecting them to the laws of social evolution. Such social contracts include reciprocal grooming, altruistic self-isolation, spiteful [...]
GridDER: Grid Detection and Evaluation in R
Published: 2022-05-23
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Observations and collections of organisms form the basis of our understanding of Earth’s biodiversity and are an indispensable resource for global change studies. Geographic information is key, serving as the link between organisms and the environments they reside in. However, the geographic information associated with these records is often inaccurate, thus limiting their efficacy for research. [...]
A robust and readily implementable method for the meta-analysis of response ratios with and without missing standard deviations
Published: 2022-05-19
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The log response ratio, lnRR, is the most frequently used effect size statistic for meta-analysis in ecology. However, often missing standard deviations (SDs) prevent estimation of the sampling variance of lnRR. We propose new methods to deal with missing SDs via a weighted average coefficient of variation (CV) estimated from studies in the dataset that do report SDs. Across a suite of simulated [...]
Brood thermoregulation effectiveness is positively linked to the amount of brood but not to the number of bees in honeybee colonies
Published: 2022-05-18
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences
To ensure the optimal development of brood, a honeybee colony needs to regulate its temperature within a certain range of values (thermoregulation), regardless of environmental changes in biotic and abiotic factors. While the set of behavioural and physiological responses implemented by honeybees to regulate the brood temperature has been well studied, less is known about the factors that may [...]
Within-colony segregation of foraging areas: from patterns to processes
Published: 2022-05-18
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Spatial segregation of foraging areas among conspecifics breeding in different colonies has been observed in several colonial vertebrates and is assumed to originate from competition and information use. Segregation between sub-groups of foraging animals from the same colony (hereafter sub-colonies) has comparatively received limited attention, even though it may have strong impacts on colony [...]
A Systematic Map of Research Exploring the Ecological Modifiers and Consequences of Bark Damaging Behaviour in Squirrel Species
Published: 2022-05-17
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Forest Management, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences, Zoology
Bark-stripping and browsing by mammals in woodlands can cause widespread damage to trees, inhibiting tree growth and leading to whole tree or canopy death. Sciurid species worldwide are known to incorporate inner bark or cambium tissue into their diets, and outer bark can additionally be used as nesting material. The drivers and causes of bark-stripping behaviour have been investigated and [...]
Warmer springs lead to earlier and higher peaks of arboreal caterpillars
Published: 2022-05-14
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Advances in spring phenology are among the clearest biological responses to climate warming. In the ephemeral temperate deciduous forest food webs, at the vanguard of research on temperature’s effect on trophic interactions, most work has focused on the average timing of phenological events. In comparison, effects of temperature on the abundance of individuals and their seasonal spread is [...]