| 1. |
- Abalos, Javier, et al.
(författare)
-
No evidence for differential sociosexual behavior and space use in the color morphs of the European common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis)
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 10:20, s. 10986-11005
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Explaining the evolutionary origin and maintenance of color polymorphisms is a major challenge in evolutionary biology. Such polymorphisms are commonly thought to reflect the existence of alternative behavioral or life-history strategies under negative frequency-dependent selection. The European common wall lizard Podarcis muralis exhibits a striking ventral color polymorphism that has been intensely studied and is often assumed to reflect alternative reproductive strategies, similar to the iconic “rock–paper–scissors” system described in the North American lizard Uta stansburiana. However, available studies so far have ignored central aspects in the behavioral ecology of this species that are crucial to assess the existence of alternative reproductive strategies. Here, we try to fill this gap by studying the social behavior, space use, and reproductive performance of lizards showing different color morphs, both in a free-ranging population from the eastern Pyrenees and in ten experimental mesocosm enclosures. In the natural population, we found no differences between morphs in site fidelity, space use, or male–female spatial overlap. Likewise, color morph was irrelevant to sociosexual behavior, space use, and reproductive success within experimental enclosures. Our results contradict the commonly held hypothesis that P. muralis morphs reflect alternative behavioral strategies, and suggest that we should instead turn our attention to alternative functional explanations.
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| 2. |
- Abrego, Nerea, et al.
(författare)
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Higher host plant specialization of root-associated endophytes than mycorrhizal fungi along an arctic elevational gradient
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 10:16, s. 8989-9002
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How community-level specialization differs among groups of organisms, and changes along environmental gradients, is fundamental to understanding the mechanisms influencing ecological communities. In this paper, we investigate the specialization of root-associated fungi for plant species, asking whether the level of specialization varies with elevation. For this, we applied DNA barcoding based on the ITS region to root samples of five plant species equivalently sampled along an elevational gradient at a high arctic site. To assess whether the level of specialization changed with elevation and whether the observed patterns varied between mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi, we applied a joint species distribution modeling approach. Our results show that host plant specialization is not environmentally constrained in arctic root-associated fungal communities, since there was no evidence for changing specialization with elevation, even if the composition of root-associated fungal communities changed substantially. However, the level of specialization for particular plant species differed among fungal groups, root-associated endophytic fungal communities being highly specialized on particular host species, and mycorrhizal fungi showing almost no signs of specialization. Our results suggest that plant identity affects associated mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi differently, highlighting the need of considering both endophytic and mycorrhizal fungi when studying specialization in root-associated fungal communities.
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| 3. |
- Ah-King, Malin, et al.
(författare)
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A conceptual review of mate choice : stochastic demography, within-sex phenotypic plasticity, and individual flexibility
- 2016
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 6:14, s. 4607-4642
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mate choice hypotheses usually focus on trait variation of chosen individuals. Recently, mate choice studies have increasingly attended to the environmental circumstances affecting variation in choosers' behavior and choosers' traits. We reviewed the literature on phenotypic plasticity in mate choice with the goal of exploring whether phenotypic plasticity can be interpreted as individual flexibility in the context of the switch point theorem, SPT (Gowaty and Hubbell ). We found >3000 studies; 198 were empirical studies of within-sex phenotypic plasticity, and sixteen showed no evidence of mate choice plasticity. Most studies reported changes from choosy to indiscriminate behavior of subjects. Investigators attributed changes to one or more causes including operational sex ratio, adult sex ratio, potential reproductive rate, predation risk, disease risk, chooser's mating experience, chooser's age, chooser's condition, or chooser's resources. The studies together indicate that choosiness of potential mates is environmentally and socially labile, that is, induced - not fixed - in the choosy sex with results consistent with choosers' intrinsic characteristics or their ecological circumstances mattering more to mate choice than the traits of potential mates. We show that plasticity-associated variables factor into the simpler SPT variables. We propose that it is time to complete the move from questions about within-sex plasticity in the choosy sex to between- and within-individual flexibility in reproductive decision-making of both sexes simultaneously. Currently, unanswered empirical questions are about the force of alternative constraints and opportunities as inducers of individual flexibility in reproductive decision-making, and the ecological, social, and developmental sources of similarities and differences between individuals. To make progress, we need studies (1) of simultaneous and symmetric attention to individual mate preferences and subsequent behavior in both sexes, (2) controlled for within-individual variation in choice behavior as demography changes, and which (3) report effects on fitness from movement of individual's switch points.
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| 4. |
- Alerstam, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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Hypotheses and tracking results about the longest migration : The case of the arctic tern
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 9:17, s. 9511-9531
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The arctic tern Sterna paradisaea completes the longest known annual return migration on Earth, traveling between breeding sites in the northern arctic and temperate regions and survival/molt areas in the Antarctic pack-ice zone. Salomonsen (1967, Biologiske Meddelelser, Copenhagen Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, 24, 1) put forward a hypothetical comprehensive interpretation of this global migration pattern, suggesting food distribution, wind patterns, sea ice distribution, and molt habits as key ecological and evolutionary determinants. We used light-level geolocators to record 12 annual journeys by eight individuals of arctic terns breeding in the Baltic Sea. Migration cycles were evaluated in light of Salomonsen's hypotheses and compared with results from geolocator studies of arctic tern populations from Greenland, Netherlands, and Alaska. The Baltic terns completed a 50,000 km annual migration circuit, exploiting ocean regions of high productivity in the North Atlantic, Benguela Current, and the Indian Ocean between southern Africa and Australia (sometimes including the Tasman Sea). They arrived about 1 November in the Antarctic zone at far easterly longitudes (in one case even at the Ross Sea) subsequently moving westward across 120–220 degrees of longitude toward the Weddell Sea region. They departed from here in mid-March on a fast spring migration up the Atlantic Ocean. The geolocator data revealed unexpected segregation in time and space between tern populations in the same flyway. Terns from the Baltic and Netherlands traveled earlier and to significantly more easterly longitudes in the Indian Ocean and Antarctic zone than terns from Greenland. We suggest an adaptive explanation for this pattern. The global migration system of the arctic tern offers an extraordinary possibility to understand adaptive values and constraints in complex pelagic life cycles, as determined by environmental conditions (marine productivity, wind patterns, low-pressure trajectories, pack-ice distribution), inherent factors (flight performance, molt, flocking), and effects of predation/piracy and competition.
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| 5. |
- Alexandre, Ana, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of CO2 enrichment on photosynthesis, growth, and nitrogen metabolism of the seagrass Zostera noltii
- 2012
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 2:10, s. 2620-2630
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Seagrass ecosystems are expected to benefit from the global increase in CO2 in the ocean because the photosynthetic rate of these plants may be C-i-limited at the current CO2 level. As well, it is expected that lower external pH will facilitate the nitrate uptake of seagrasses if nitrate is cotransported with H+ across the membrane as in terrestrial plants. Here, we investigate the effects of CO2 enrichment on both carbon and nitrogen metabolism of the seagrass Zostera noltii in a mesocosm experiment where plants were exposed for 5 months to two experimental CO2 concentrations (360 and 700 ppm). Both the maximum photosynthetic rate (Pm) and photosynthetic efficiency (alpha) were higher (1.3- and 4.1-fold, respectively) in plants exposed to CO2-enriched conditions. On the other hand, no significant effects of CO2 enrichment on leaf growth rates were observed, probably due to nitrogen limitation as revealed by the low nitrogen content of leaves. The leaf ammonium uptake rate and glutamine synthetase activity were not significantly affected by increased CO2 concentrations. On the other hand, the leaf nitrate uptake rate of plants exposed to CO2-enriched conditions was fourfold lower than the uptake of plants exposed to current CO2 level, suggesting that in the seagrass Z. noltii nitrate is not cotransported with H+ as in terrestrial plants. In contrast, the activity of nitrate reductase was threefold higher in plant leaves grown at high-CO2 concentrations. Our results suggest that the global effects of CO2 on seagrass production may be spatially heterogeneous and depend on the specific nitrogen availability of each system. Under a CO2 increase scenario, the natural levels of nutrients will probably become limiting for Z. noltii. This potential limitation becomes more relevant because the expected positive effect of CO2 increase on nitrate uptake rate was not confirmed.
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| 6. |
- Alfieri, James M., et al.
(författare)
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Genomic investigation refutes record of most diverged avian hybrid
- 2023
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 13:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The most diverged avian hybrid that has been documented (Numida meleagris × Penelope superciliaris) was reported in 1957. This identification has yet to be confirmed, and like most contemporary studies of hybridization, the identification was based on phenotype, which can be misleading. In this study, we sequenced the specimen in question and performed analyses to validate the specimen's parentage. We extracted DNA from the specimen in a dedicated ancient DNA facility and performed whole-genome short-read sequencing. We used BLAST to find Galliformes sequences similar to the hybrid specimen reads. We found that the proportion of BLAST hits mapped overwhelmingly to two species, N. meleagris and Gallus gallus. Additionally, we constructed phylogenies using avian orthologs and parsed the species placed as sister to the hybrid. Again, the hybrid specimen was placed as a sister to N. meleagris and G. gallus. Despite not being a hybrid between N. meleagris and P. superciliaris, the hybrid still represents the most diverged avian hybrid confirmed with genetic data. In addition to correcting the “record” of the most diverged avian hybrid, these findings support recent assertions that morphological and behavioral-based identifications of avian hybrids can be error-prone. Consequently, this study serves as a cautionary tale to researchers of hybridization.
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| 7. |
- Allen, Andrew, et al.
(författare)
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Habitat-performance relationships of a large mammal on a predator-free island dominated by humans
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 7, s. 305-319
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The demographic consequences of changes in habitat use driven by human modification of landscape, and/or changes in climate, are important for any species. We investigated habitat-performance relationships in a declining island population of a large mammal, the moose (Alces alces), in an environment that is predator-free but dominated by humans. We used a combination of demographic data, knowledge of habitat selection, and multiannual movement data of female moose (n = 17) to understand how space use patterns affect fecundity and calf survival. The calving rate was 0.64 and was similar to calving rates reported in other populations. Calf survival was 0.22 (annually) and 0.32 (postsummer), which are particularly low compared to other populations where postsummer survival is typically above 0.7. Home ranges were mainly composed of arable land (>40%), and selection for arable land was higher in winter than in summer, which contrasts with previous studies. Females that spent more time in broadleaf forest in the summer prior to the rut had higher fecundity rates, while more time spent in arable land resulted in lower fecundity rates. Females that spent more time in thicket/scrubland habitats during winter had lower calf survival, while females that had higher use of mixed forests tended to have higher calf survival. The dominance, and subsequent use, of suboptimal foraging habitats may lead to poor body condition of females at parturition, which may lower calf body weights and affect the mother's ability to lactate. In addition, our results indicated that the growing season has advanced significantly in recent decades, which may be causing a mismatch between parturition and optimal resource availability. These effects may exacerbate the female's ability to meet the energetic demands of lactation. Therefore, the observed low calf survival appears to be caused by a combination of factors related to current land use and may also be due to changing vegetation phenology. These results have important implications for the management of species in human-dominated landscapes in the face of climate change, and for an increased understanding of how species may adapt to future land use and climate change.
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| 8. |
- Alshwairikh, Yara A., et al.
(författare)
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Influence of environmental conditions at spawning sites and migration routes on adaptive variation and population connectivity in Chinook salmon
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 11:23, s. 16890-16908
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many species that undergo long breeding migrations, such as anadromous fishes, face highly heterogeneous environments along their migration corridors and at their spawning sites. These environmental challenges encountered at different life stages may act as strong selective pressures and drive local adaptation. However, the relative influence of environmental conditions along the migration corridor compared with the conditions at spawning sites on driving selection is still unknown. In this study, we performed genome–environment associations (GEA) to understand the relationship between landscape and environmental conditions driving selection in seven populations of the anadromous Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)—a species of important economic, social, cultural, and ecological value—in the Columbia River basin. We extracted environmental variables for the shared migration corridors and at distinct spawning sites for each population, and used a Pool-seq approach to perform whole genome resequencing. Bayesian and univariate GEA tests with migration-specific and spawning site-specific environmental variables indicated many more candidate SNPs associated with environmental conditions at the migration corridor compared with spawning sites. Specifically, temperature, precipitation, terrain roughness, and elevation variables of the migration corridor were the most significant drivers of environmental selection. Additional analyses of neutral loci revealed two distinct clusters representing populations from different geographic regions of the drainage that also exhibit differences in adult migration timing (summer vs. fall). Tests for genomic regions under selection revealed a strong peak on chromosome 28, corresponding to the GREB1L/ROCK1 region that has been identified previously in salmonids as a region associated with adult migration timing. Our results show that environmental variation experienced throughout migration corridors imposed a greater selective pressure on Chinook salmon than environmental conditions at spawning sites.
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| 9. |
- Amundin, Mats, et al.
(författare)
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Estimating the abundance of the critically endangered Baltic Proper harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) population using passive acoustic monitoring
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 12:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Knowing the abundance of a population is a crucial component to assess its conservationstatus and develop effective conservation plans. For most cetaceans, abundanceestimation is difficult given their cryptic and mobile nature, especially when thepopulation is small and has a transnational distribution. In the Baltic Sea, the numberof harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) has collapsed since the mid-20thcenturyand the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCNand HELCOM; however, its abundance remains unknown. Here, one of the largestever passive acoustic monitoring studies was carried out by eight Baltic Sea nationsto estimate the abundance of the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise for the first time. Bylogging porpoise echolocation signals at 298 stations during May 2011–April2013,calibrating the loggers’ spatial detection performance at sea, and measuring the clickrate of tagged individuals, we estimated an abundance of 71–1105individuals (95% CI,point estimate 491) during May–Octoberwithin the population's proposed managementborder. The small abundance estimate strongly supports that the Baltic Properharbour porpoise is facing an extremely high risk of extinction, and highlights theneed for immediate and efficient conservation actions through international cooperation.It also provides a starting point in monitoring the trend of the populationabundance to evaluate the effectiveness of management measures and determine itsinteractions with the larger neighboring Belt Sea population. Further, we offer evidencethat design-basedpassive acoustic monitoring can generate reliable estimatesof the abundance of rare and cryptic animal populations across large spatial scales.
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| 10. |
- Andersson, Matilda L., et al.
(författare)
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The interaction between metabolic rate, habitat choice, and resource use in a polymorphic freshwater species
- 2022
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 12:8
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. Resource polymorphism is common across taxa and can result in alternate ecotypes with specific morphologies, feeding modes, and behaviours that increase performance in a specific habitat. This can result in high intraspecific variation in the expression of specific traits and the extent to which these traits are correlated within a single population. Although metabolic rate influences resource acquisition and the overall pace of life of individuals it is not clear how metabolic rate interact with the larger suite of traits to ultimately determine individual fitness.2. We examined the relationship between metabolic rates and the major differences (habitat use, morphology, and resource use) between littoral and pelagic ecotypes of European perch (Perca fluviatilis) from a single lake in Central Sweden.3. Standard metabolic rate (SMR) was significantly higher in pelagic perch but did not correlate with resource use or morphology. Maximum metabolic rate (MMR) was not correlated with any of our explanatory variables or with SMR. Aerobic scope (AS) showed the same pattern as SMR, differing across habitats, but contrary to expectations was lower in pelagic perch.4. This study helps to establish a framework for future experiments further exploring the drivers of intraspecific differences in metabolism. In addition, since metabolic rates scale with temperature and determine predator energy requirements, our observed differences in SMR across habitats will help determine ecotype-specific vulnerabilities to climate change and differences in top-down predation pressure across habitats.
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| 11. |
- Andren, Henrik
(författare)
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Environmental and seasonal correlates of capercaillie movement traits in a Swedish wind farm
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 11, s. 11762-11773
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Animals continuously interact with their environment through behavioral decisions, rendering the appropriate choice of movement speed and directionality an important phenotypic trait. Anthropogenic activities may alter animal behavior, including movement. A detailed understanding of movement decisions is therefore of great relevance for science and conservation alike. The study of movement decisions in relation to environmental and seasonal cues requires continuous observation of movement behavior, recently made possible by high-resolution telemetry. We studied movement traits of 13 capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), a mainly ground-moving forest bird species of conservation interest, over two summer seasons in a Swedish windfarm using high-resolution GPS tracking data (5-min sampling interval). We filtered and removed unreliable movement steps using accelerometer data and step characteristics. We explored variation in movement speed and directionality in relation to environmental and seasonal covariates using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs). We found evidence for clear daily and seasonal variation in speed and directionality of movement that reflected behavioral adjustments to biological and environmental seasonality. Capercaillie moved slower when more turbines were visible and faster close to turbine access roads. Movement speed and directionality were highest on open bogs, lowest on recent clear-cuts (<5 y.o.), and intermediate in all types of forest. Our results provide novel insights into the seasonal and environmental correlates of capercaillie movement patterns and supplement previous behavioral observations on lekking behavior and wind turbine avoidance with a more mechanistic understanding.
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| 12. |
- Angeler, David, et al.
(författare)
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A comparative analysis reveals weak relationships between ecological factors and beta diversity of stream insect metacommunities at two spatial levels
- 2015
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 5, s. 1235-1248
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The hypotheses that beta diversity should increase with decreasing latitude and increase with spatial extent of a region have rarely been tested based on a comparative analysis of multiple datasets, and no such study has focused on stream insects. We first assessed how well variability in beta diversity of stream insect metacommunities is predicted by insect group, latitude, spatial extent, altitudinal range, and dataset properties across multiple drainage basins throughout the world. Second, we assessed the relative roles of environmental and spatial factors in driving variation in assemblage composition within each drainage basin. Our analyses were based on a dataset of 95 stream insect metacommunities from 31 drainage basins distributed around the world. We used dissimilarity-based indices to quantify beta diversity for each metacommunity and, subsequently, regressed beta diversity on insect group, latitude, spatial extent, altitudinal range, and dataset properties (e.g., number of sites and percentage of presences). Within each metacommunity, we used a combination of spatial eigenfunction analyses and partial redundancy analysis to partition variation in assemblage structure into environmental, shared, spatial, and unexplained fractions. We found that dataset properties were more important predictors of beta diversity than ecological and geographical factors across multiple drainage basins. In the within-basin analyses, environmental and spatial variables were generally poor predictors of variation in assemblage composition. Our results revealed deviation from general biodiversity patterns because beta diversity did not show the expected decreasing trend with latitude. Our results also call for reconsideration of just how predictable stream assemblages are along ecological gradients, with implications for environmental assessment and conservation decisions. Our findings may also be applicable to other dynamic systems where predictability is low.
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| 13. |
- Angeler, David
(författare)
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A method to detect discontinuities in census data
- 2018
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 8, s. 9614-9623
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The distribution of pattern across scales has predictive power in the analysis of complex systems. Discontinuity approaches remain a fruitful avenue of research in the quest for quantitative measures of resilience because discontinuity analysis provides an objective means of identifying scales in complex systems and facilitates delineation of hierarchical patterns in processes, structure, and resources. However, current discontinuity methods have been considered too subjective, too complicated and opaque, or have become computationally obsolete; given the ubiquity of discontinuities in ecological and other complex systems, a simple and transparent method for detection is needed. In this study, we present a method to detect discontinuities in census data based on resampling of a neutral model and provide the R code used to run the analyses. This method has the potential for advancing basic and applied ecological research.
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| 14. |
- Angeler, David
(författare)
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Fire legacies in eastern ponderosa pine forests
- 2019
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 9, s. 1869-1879
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Disturbance legacies structure communities and ecological memory, but due to increasing changes in disturbance regimes, it is becoming more difficult to characterize disturbance legacies or determine how long they persist. We sought to quantify the characteristics and persistence of material legacies (e.g., biotic residuals of disturbance) that arise from variation in fire severity in an eastern ponderosa pine forest in North America. We compared forest stand structure and understory woody plant and bird community composition and species richness across unburned, low-, moderate-, and high-severity burn patches in a 27-year-old mixed-severity wildfire that had received minimal post-fire management. We identified distinct tree densities (high: 14.3 +/- 7.4 trees per ha, moderate: 22.3 +/- 12.6, low: 135.3 +/- 57.1, unburned: 907.9 +/- 246.2) and coarse woody debris cover (high: 8.5 +/- 1.6% cover per 30m transect, moderate: 4.3 +/- 0.7, low: 2.3 +/- 0.6, unburned: 1.0 +/- 0.4) among burn severities. Understory woody plant communities differed between high-severity patches, moderate- and low-severity patches, and unburned patches (all p<0.05). Bird communities differed between high- and moderate-severity patches, low-severity patches, and unburned patches (all p<0.05). Bird species richness varied across burn severities: low-severity patches had the highest (5.29 +/- 1.44) and high-severity patches had the lowest (2.87 +/- 0.72). Understory woody plant richness was highest in unburned (5.93 +/- 1.10) and high-severity (5.07 +/- 1.17) patches, and it was lower in moderate- (3.43 +/- 1.17) and low-severity (3.43 +/- 1.06) patches. We show material fire legacies persisted decades after the mixed-severity wildfire in eastern ponderosa forest, fostering distinct structures, communities, and species in burned versus unburned patches and across fire severities. At a patch scale, eastern and western ponderosa system responses to mixed-severity fires were consistent.
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| 15. |
- Angelstam, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Barriers and bridges for sustaining functional habitat networks : A macroecological system analysis of wet grassland landscapes
- 2022
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 12:4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study aims at supporting the maintenance of representative functional habitat networks as green infrastructure for biodiversity conservation through transdisciplinary macroecological analyses of wet grassland landscapes and their stewardship systems. We chose ten north European wet grassland case study landscapes from Iceland and the Netherlands in the west to Lithuania and Belarus in the east. We combine expert experiences for 20–30 years, comparative studies made 2011–2017, and longitudinal analyses spanning >70 years. Wader, or shorebird, (Charadrii) assemblages were chosen as a focal species group. We used evidence-based knowledge and practical experience generated in three steps. (1) Experts from 8 wet grassland landscapes in northern Europe's west and east mapped factors linked to patterns and processes, and management and governance, in social-ecological systems that affect states and trends of wet grasslands as green infrastructures for wader birds. (2) To understand wader conservation problems and their dynamic in wet grassland landscapes, and to identify key issues for successful conservation, we applied group modeling using causal loop diagram mapping. (3) Validation was made using the historic development in two additional wet grassland landscapes. Wader conservation was dependent on ten dynamically interacting ecological and social system factors as leverage points for management. Re-wetting and grazing were common drivers for the ecological and social system, and long-term economic support for securing farmers’ interest in wader bird conservation. Financial public incentives at higher levels of governance of wetland management are needed to stimulate private income loops. Systems analysis based on contrasting landscape case studies in space and over time can support (1) understanding of complex interactions in social-ecological systems, (2) collaborative learning in individual wet grassland landscapes, and (3) formulation of priorities for conservation, management, and restoration.
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| 16. |
- Appelqvist, Christin, 1972, et al.
(författare)
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A phenological shift in the time of recruitment of the shipworm, Teredo navalis L., mirrors marine climate change
- 2016
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 6:12, s. 3862-3870
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For many species, seasonal changes in key environmental variables such as food availability, light, and temperature drive the timing ("phenology") of major life-history events. Extensive evidence from terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats shows that global warming is changing the timings of many biological events; however, few of these studies have investigated the effects of climate change on the phenology of larval recruitment in marine invertebrates. Here, we studied temperature-related phenological shifts in the breeding season of the shipworm Teredo navalis (Mollusca, Bivalvia). We compared data for the recruitment period of T. navalis along the Swedish west coast during 20042006 with similar data from 1971-1973, and related differences in recruitment timing to changes in sea surface temperature over the same period. We found no significant shift in the timing of onset of recruitment over this similar to 30-year time span, but the end of recruitment was an average of 26 days later in recent years, leading to significantly longer recruitment periods. These changes correlated strongly with increased sea surface temperatures and coincided with published thermal tolerances for reproduction in T. navalis. Our findings are broadly comparable with other reports of phenological shifts in marine species, and suggest that warmer sea surface temperatures are increasing the likelihood of successful subannual reproduction and intensifying recruitment of T. navalis in this region.
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| 17. |
- Arct, Aneta, et al.
(författare)
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Parental genetic similarity and offspring performance in blue tits in relation to brood size manipulation
- 2019
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : WILEY. - 2045-7758. ; 9:18, s. 10085-10091
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In birds, as in many other taxa, higher genetic similarity of mates has long been known to reduce offspring fitness. To date, the majority of avian studies have focused on examination whether the genetic similarity of social mates predicts hatching success. Yet, increased genetic similarity of mates may also reduce offspring fitness during later life stages, including the nestling period and beyond. Here, we investigated whether parental genetic similarity influences offspring performance using data from free-living blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) collected across three breeding seasons. Additionally, we tested whether brood size manipulation affects the magnitude and direction of the relationship between genetic similarity of mates and offspring performance. Sixteen microsatellite markers were used to measure genetic similarity between biological parents. We found that the genetic similarity of parents negatively affects offspring immune response and this effect was independent of the experimental brood size manipulation.
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| 18. |
- Ardalan, Arman, et al.
(författare)
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Comprehensive study of mtDNA among Southwest Asian dogs contradicts independent domestication of wolf, but implies dog–wolf hybridization
- 2011
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 1:3, s. 373-385
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity indicate explicitly that dogs were domesticated, probably exclusively, in southern East Asia. However, Southwest Asia (SwAsia) has had poor representation and geographical coverage in these studies. Other studies based on archaeological and genome-wide SNP data have suggested an origin of dogs in SwAsia. Hence, it has been suspected that mtDNA evidence for this scenario may have remained undetected. In the first comprehensive investigation of genetic diversity among SwAsian dogs, we analyzed 582 bp of mtDNA for 345 indigenous dogs from across SwAsia, and compared with 1556 dogs across the Old World. We show that 97.4% of SwAsian dogs carry haplotypes belonging to a universal mtDNA gene pool, but that only a subset of this pool, five of the 10 principal haplogroups, is represented in SwAsia. A high frequency of haplogroup B, potentially signifying a local origin, was not paralleled with the high genetic diversity expected for a center of origin. Meanwhile, 2.6% of the SwAsian dogs carried the rare non-universal haplogroup d2. Thus, mtDNA data give no indication that dogs originated in SwAsia through independent domestication of wolf, but dog–wolf hybridization may have formed the local haplogroup d2 within this region. Southern East Asia remains the only region with virtually full extent of genetic variation, strongly indicating it to be the primary and probably sole center of wolf domestication. An origin of dogs in southern East Asia may have been overlooked by other studies due to a substantial lack of samples from this region.
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| 19. |
- Ardehed, Angelica, et al.
(författare)
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Complex spatial clonal structure in the macroalgae Fucus radicans with both sexual and asexual recruitment
- 2015
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 5:19, s. 4233-4245
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In dioecious species with both sexual and asexual reproduction, the spatial distribution of individual clones affects the potential for sexual reproduction and local adaptation. The seaweed Fucus radicans, endemic to the Baltic Sea, has separate sexes, but new attached thalli may also form asexually. We mapped the spatial distribution of clones (multilocus genotypes, MLGs) over macrogeographic (>500km) and microgeographic (<100m) scales in the Baltic Sea to assess the relationship between clonal spatial structure, sexual recruitment, and the potential for natural selection. Sexual recruitment was predominant in some areas, while in others asexual recruitment dominated. Where clones of both sexes were locally intermingled, sexual recruitment was nevertheless low. In some highly clonal populations, the sex ratio was strongly skewed due to dominance of one or a few clones of the same sex. The two largest clones (one female and one male) were distributed over 100-550km of coast and accompanied by small and local MLGs formed by somatic mutations and differing by 1-2 mutations from the large clones. Rare sexual events, occasional long-distance migration, and somatic mutations contribute new genotypic variation potentially available to natural selection. However, dominance of a few very large (and presumably old) clones over extensive spatial and temporal scales suggested that either these have superior traits or natural selection has only been marginally involved in the structuring of genotypes.
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| 20. |
- Arlt, Debora, et al.
(författare)
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Marked reduction in demographic rates and reduced fitness advantage for early breeding is not linked to reduced thermal matching of breeding time
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 7, s. 10782-10796
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Warmer springs may cause animals to become mistimed if advances of spring timing, including available resources and of timing of breeding occur at different speed. We used thermal sums (cumulative sum of degree days) during spring to describe the thermal progression (timing) of spring and investigate its relationship to breeding phenology and demography of a long-distant migrant bird, the northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe L.). We first compare 20-year trends in spring timing, breeding time, selection for breeding time, and annual demographic rates. We then explicitly test whether annual variation in selection for breeding time and demographic rates associates with the degree of phenological matching between breeding time and thermal progression of spring. Both thermal progression of spring and breeding time of wheatears advanced in time during the study period. But despite breeding on average 7days earlier with respect to date, wheatears bred about 4days later with respect to thermal spring progression. Over the same time period, selection for breeding time changed from distinct within-season advantage of breeding early to no or very weak advantage. Furthermore, demographic rates (nest success, fledgling production, recruitment, adult survival) and nestling weight declined markedly by 16%-79%. Those temporal trends suggest that a reduced degree of phenological matching may affect within-season fitness advantage of early breeding and population demographic rates. In contrast, when we investigate links based on annual variation, we find no significant relationship between either demographic rates or fitness advantage of early breeding with annual variation in the degree of phenological matching. Our results show that corresponding temporal trends in phenological matching, selection for breeding time and demographic rates are inconclusive evidence for demographic effects of changed phenological matching. Instead, we suggest that the trends in selection for breeding time and demographic rates are due to a general deterioration of the breeding environment.
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| 21. |
- Arnqvist, Göran, Professor, 1961-, et al.
(författare)
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A possible genomic footprint of polygenic adaptation on population divergence in seed beetles?
- 2022
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 12:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Efforts to unravel the genomic basis of incipient speciation are hampered by a mismatch between our toolkit and our understanding of the ecology and genetics of adaptation. While the former is focused on detecting selective sweeps involving few independently acting or linked speciation genes, the latter states that divergence typically occurs in polygenic traits under stabilizing selection. Here, we ask whether a role of stabilizing selection on polygenic traits in population divergence may be unveiled by using a phenotypically informed integrative approach, based on genome-wide variation segregating in divergent populations. We compare three divergent populations of seed beetles (Callosobruchus maculatus) where previous work has demonstrated a prominent role for stabilizing selection on, and population divergence in, key life history traits that reflect rate-dependent metabolic processes. We derive and assess predictions regarding the expected pattern of covariation between genetic variation segregating within populations and genetic differentiation between populations. Population differentiation was considerable (mean F-ST = 0.23-0.26) and was primarily built by genes showing high selective constraints and an imbalance in inferred selection in different populations (positive Tajima's D-NS in one and negative in one), and this set of genes was enriched with genes with a metabolic function. Repeatability of relative population differentiation was low at the level of individual genes but higher at the level of broad functional classes, again spotlighting metabolic genes. Absolute differentiation (d(XY)) showed a very different general pattern at this scale of divergence, more consistent with an important role for genetic drift. Although our exploration is consistent with stabilizing selection on polygenic metabolic phenotypes as an important engine of genome-wide relative population divergence and incipient speciation in our study system, we note that it is exceedingly difficult to firmly exclude other scenarios.
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| 22. |
- Aronsson, Malin, et al.
(författare)
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Intensity of space use reveals conditional sex-specific effects of prey and conspecific density on home range size
- 2016
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 6, s. 2957-2967
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Home range (HR) size variation is often linked to resource abundance, with sex differences expected to relate to sex-specific fitness consequences. However, studies generally fail to disentangle the effects of the two main drivers of HR size variation, food and conspecific density, and rarely consider how their relative influence change over spatiotemporal scales. We used location data from 77 Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) from a 16-year Scandinavian study to examine HR sizes variation relative to prey and conspecific density at different spatiotemporal scales. By varying the isopleth parameter (intensity of use) defining the HR, we show that sex-specific effects were conditional on the spatial scale considered. Males had larger HRs than females in all seasons. Females' total HR size declined as prey and conspecific density increased, whereas males' total HR was only affected by conspecific density. However, as the intensity of use within the HR increased (from 90% to 50% isopleth), the relationship between prey density and area showed opposing patterns for females and males; for females, the prey density effect was reduced, while for males, prey became increasingly important. Thus, prey influenced the size of key regions within male HRs, despite total HR size being independent of prey density. Males reduced their HR size during the mating season, likely to remain close to individual females in estrous. Females reduced their HR size postreproduction probably because of movement constrains imposed by dependent young. Our findings highlight the importance of simultaneously considering resources and intraspecific interactions as HR size determinants. We show that sex-specific demands influence the importance of prey and conspecific density on space use at different spatiotemporal scales. Thus, unless a gradient of space use intensity is examined, factors not related to total HR size might be disregarded despite their importance in determining size of key regions within the HR.
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| 23. |
- Astor, Tina, et al.
(författare)
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Underdispersion and overdispersion of traits in terrestrial snail communities on islands
- 2014
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 4:11, s. 2090-2102
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding and disentangling different processes underlying the assembly and diversity of communities remains a key challenge in ecology. Species can assemble into communities either randomly or due to deterministic processes. Deterministic assembly leads to species being more similar (underdispersed) or more different (overdispersed) in certain traits than would be expected by chance. However, the relative importance of those processes is not well understood for many organisms, including terrestrial invertebrates. Based on knowledge of a broad range of species traits, we tested for the presence of trait underdispersion (indicating dispersal or environmental filtering) and trait overdispersion (indicating niche partitioning) and their relative importance in explaining land snail community composition on lake islands. The analysis of community assembly was performed using a functional diversity index (Rao's quadratic entropy) in combination with a null model approach. Regression analysis with the effect sizes of the assembly tests and environmental variables gave information on the strength of under- and overdispersion along environmental gradients. Additionally, we examined the link between community weighted mean trait values and environmental variables using a CWM-RDA. We found both trait underdispersion and trait overdispersion, but underdispersion (eight traits) was more frequently detected than overdispersion (two traits). Underdispersion was related to four environmental variables (tree cover, habitat diversity, productivity of ground vegetation, and location on an esker ridge). Our results show clear evidence for underdispersion in traits driven by environmental filtering, but no clear evidence for dispersal filtering. We did not find evidence for overdispersion of traits due to diet or body size, but overdispersion in shell shape may indicate niche differentiation between snail species driven by small-scale habitat heterogeneity. The use of species traits enabled us to identify key traits involved in snail community assembly and to detect the simultaneous occurrence of trait underdispersion and overdispersion.
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| 24. |
- Audusseau, Helene, et al.
(författare)
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Implications of a temperature increase for host plant range : predictions for a butterfly
- 2013
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 3:9, s. 3021-3029
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although changes in phenology and species associations are relatively well-documented responses to global warming, the potential interactions between these phenomena are less well understood. In this study, we investigate the interactions between temperature, phenology (in terms of seasonal timing of larval growth) and host plant use in the polyphagous butterfly Polygonia c-album. We found that the hierarchy of larval performance on three natural host plants was not modified by a temperature increase as such. However, larval performance on each host plant and temperature treatment was affected by rearing season. Even though larvae performed better at the higher temperature regardless of the time of the rearing, relative differences between host plants changed with the season. For larvae reared late in the season, performance was always better on the herbaceous plant than on the woody plants. In this species, it is likely that a prolonged warming will lead to a shift from univoltinism to bivoltinism. The demonstrated interaction between host plant suitability and season means that such a shift is likely to lead to a shift in selective regime, favoring specialization on the herbaceous host. Based on our result, we suggest that host range evolution in response to temperature increase would in this species be highly contingent on whether the population undergoes a predicted shift from one to two generations. We discuss the effect of global warming on species associations and the outcome of asynchrony in rates of phenological change.
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| 25. |
- Austin, Suzanne H., et al.
(författare)
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Nest attendance by tropical and temperate passerine birds : Same constancy, different strategy
- 2019
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 9:23, s. 13555-13566
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Parental care in birds varies among species and geographic regions. Incubation behavior influences embryonic development rate and varies substantially among species. We studied attendance at the nest by videoing nests or collecting data from the literature for 112 species in north temperate and lowland tropical sites, then associated patterns of incubation on- and off-bouts with species and environmental traits. Songbirds nesting at low elevations incubate their eggs for an average of 74.1% (±12.9 SD, n = 60 species) of the time in temperate regions and 71.0% (±12.2 SD, n = 52 species) in tropical regions during daylight hours, and 84.3% (±8.2 SD) and 85.3% (±6.2 SD), respectively, of each 24-hr cycle. While these attendance percentages do not differ significantly between latitudes, our data also show that lowland tropical songbirds make fewer visits to the nest and, consequently, have longer on-bouts and off-bouts during incubation. This pattern in attendance reflects a latitudinal contrast in parental care strategy, where lowland tropical birds reduce visits to the nest by increasing on- and off-bout lengths while maintaining the same proportion of time spent incubating their eggs (constancy). Similar constancy across latitude suggests that tropical and temperate birds may be similarly constrained to maintain elevated egg temperatures for normal embryo growth. The different attendance strategies adopted in each region may reflect differences in ambient temperature, adult foraging time, and nest predation rate. Consistently warm ambient temperatures likely allow tropical birds to take longer off-bouts, and thereby to reduce activity around the nest, compared to temperate birds.
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