Preprints

There are 1492 Preprints listed.

A big data and machine learning approach for monitoring the condition of ecosystems

Miguel Equihua, Octavio Pérez-Maqueo, Julián Equihua, et al.

Published: 2024-01-16
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Forest Biology, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Statistical Methodology, Statistical Models, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology

Ecosystems are highly valuable as a source of goods and services and as a heritage for future generations. Knowing their condition is extremely important for all management and conservation activities and public policies. Until now, the evaluation of ecosystem condition has been unsatisfactory and thus lacks practical implementation for most countries. We propose that ecosystem integrity is a [...]

The cytoarchitecture of the telencephalon of Labroides dimidiatus (Labridae)

Dominika Chojnacka, Paweł Boguszewski, Jarosław Jerzy Barski, et al.

Published: 2024-01-16
Subjects: Life Sciences

As evidence for advanced cognitive abilities in fishes steadily increases, cytoarchitectonic studies of the Actinopterygian telencephalon receive increasing interest by neuro-ethologists. However, the amount of information concerning brain organization in this group is still rather small. Here, we present a cytoarchitectonic analysis of the telencephalon of Labroides dimidiatus, a species showing [...]

Incubation behaviour of a boreal, food-caching passerine nesting in sub-zero temperatures

Joseph Burant, Roxan Chicalo, Emily J Williams, et al.

Published: 2024-01-14
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Our understanding of avian incubation behaviour is primarily derived from species that nest in the temperate conditions of spring and summer. This leaves uncertainties about strategies employed by a relatively small number of species adapted to breed under sub-zero, winter-like conditions. We used in-nest temperature loggers (iButtons) to monitor incubation behaviours of Canada Jays, [...]

Dense Sampling Phylogenomics Reveals Highly Dynamic Evolution of Batesian Mimicry Accuracy in Two Clades of Myrmecomorphic Spiders

Michael Kelly, Shahan Derkarabetian, Jim McLean, et al.

Published: 2024-01-14
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Genetics and Genomics

Batesian mimicry is an impressive example of convergent evolution driven by predation. However, the observation that many mimics only superficially resemble their models despite strong selective pressures is an apparent paradox. Here, we tested whether inaccurate mimicry represents an optimized or transitional stage at the macro-evolutionary scale by performing the hereto largest phylogenetic [...]

The moulting arthropod: a complete genetic toolkit review

Giulia Campli, Olga Volovych, Kenneth Kim, et al.

Published: 2024-01-14
Subjects: Life Sciences

Exoskeletons are a defining character of all arthropods that provide physical support for their segmented bodies and appendages as well as protection from the environment and predation. This ubiquitous yet evolutionarily variable feature has been instrumental in facilitating the adoption of a variety of lifestyles and the exploitation of ecological niches across all environments. Throughout the [...]

The power of touch: from survival to enduring, prosocial cooperation

Michael Griesser, Nigel C Bennett, Judith M Burkart, et al.

Published: 2024-01-14
Subjects: Life Sciences

Cooperation is a pivotal biological phenomenon that occurs in many forms. In species that engage in helping, individuals vary in association time and the extent of physical proximity, influencing the extent of touching between individuals. Here, we emphasize the importance of touch in the development and maintenance of parenting and mate bonds, and its link to cooperation. Touch activates a [...]

Animal social networks are robust to changing association definitions

Alex Hoi Hang Chan, Jamie Dunning, Terry Burke, et al.

Published: 2024-01-12
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Ornithology

The interconnecting links (edges) between individuals (nodes) in an animal social network are often defined by discrete, directed behaviours (interactions). However, where interactions are difficult to observe, a network edge is instead defined as individuals sharing space or overlapping in time (an association). Despite an increasingly accessible toolkit to assemble and analyse animal social [...]

Vulnerability of amphibians to global warming

Patrice Pottier, Michael R. Kearney, Nicholas C. Wu, et al.

Published: 2024-01-11
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences

Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrates, yet their resilience to rising temperatures remains poorly understood. This is primarily because knowledge of thermal tolerance is taxonomically and geographically biased, compromising global climate vulnerability assessments. Here, we employed a novel data imputation approach to predict the heat tolerance of 60% of amphibian species and assessed [...]

Meta-analysis reveals that the effects of precipitation change on soil and litter fauna in forests depends on body size

Philip Martin, Leonora Fisher, Leticia Pérez-Izquierdo, et al.

Published: 2024-01-11
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology

Anthropogenic climate change is altering precipitation regimes at a global scale. While precipitation changes have been linked to changes in the abundance and diversity of soil and litter invertebrate fauna in forests, general trends have remained elusive due to mixed results from primary studies. We used a meta-analysis based on 352 comparisons from 30 primary studies to address associated [...]

Morphological evolution in a time of Phenomics

Anjali Goswami, Julien Clavel

Published: 2024-01-10
Subjects: Life Sciences

Organismal morphology has been at the core of study of biodiversity for millennia before the formalization of the concept of evolution. In the early to mid-twentieth century, a strong theoretical framework was developed for understanding both pattern and process of morphological evolution on a macroevolutionary scale. The past half century has been a transformational period for the study of [...]

The role of deadwood in the carbon cycle: Implications for models, forest management, and future climates

Baptiste Joseph Wijas, Steven D Allison, Amy T Austin, et al.

Published: 2024-01-10
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Forest Biology, Forest Management, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Plant Biology, Plant Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology

Deadwood represents a significant carbon pool in forests and savannas. Although previous research has focused mainly on forests, we synthesise deadwood studies across all ecosystems with woody vegetation. Storage and release of carbon from deadwood is controlled by interacting decomposition drivers including biotic consumers (animals, microbes) and abiotic factors (water, fire, sunlight, [...]

Integrating intraspecific trait variability in functional diversity: an overview of methods and a guide for ecologists

Facundo Xavier Palacio, Gianluigi Ottaviani, Stefano Mammola, et al.

Published: 2024-01-09
Subjects: Life Sciences

The variability in traits within species (intraspecific trait variability; ITV) has attracted an increased interest in functional ecology, as it can profoundly influence the detection of functional trait patterns, calculation of functional diversity (FD), and assessments of ecosystem functioning. This renewed focus stems from the recognition that species are not homogeneous entities but rather [...]

Systematic mapping of experimental approaches to studying common mycorrhizal networks

Anika Lehmann, Matthias C. Rillig

Published: 2024-01-09
Subjects: Life Sciences

Mycorrhizal fungi can interlink and connect plants in a common mycorrhizal network (CMN). Studying CMNs is challenging due to pathways of material transfer but also plant and mycorrhizal effects that have to be tested and controlled in order to be able to evaluate the presence and magnitude of a specific CMN effect. These controls let to a clear but strict definition of CMN which requires [...]

Switching to bioplastics may exacerbate ingestion of lost and discarded fishing gear by marine invertebrates

Sandra Powell, Benjamin Mos

Published: 2024-01-09
Subjects: Animal Experimentation and Research, Biology, Environmental Health Life Sciences, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Sustainability

Bioplastics are argued to be more environmentally sustainable than conventional plastics. Yet, little is known about how bioplastics degrade in marine environments or their likelihood of being ingested by animals. We measured changes in the weight of biodegradable, semi-biodegradable, and non-biodegradable fishing gears (soft plastic lures, SPLs) in or out of seawater over 14 days. We then [...]

An integrated open population distance sampling approach for modelling age-structured populations

Erlend Birkeland Nilsen, Chloé R. Nater

Published: 2024-01-09
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Population Biology

Estimation of abundance and demographic rates for populations of wild species is a challenging but fundamental issue for both management and research into ecology and evolution. One set of approaches that has been used extensively to estimate abundance of wildlife populations is Distance Sampling (DS) methods for line or point transect survey data. Historically, DS models were only available as [...]

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