| 1. |
- Albouy, Camille, et al.
(författare)
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The marine fish food web is globally connected
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2397-334X. ; 3:8, s. 1153-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The productivity of marine ecosystems and the services they provide to humans are largely dependent on complex interactions between prey and predators. These are embedded in a diverse network of trophic interactions, resulting in a cascade of events following perturbations such as species extinction. The sheer scale of oceans, however, precludes the characterization of marine feeding networks through de novo sampling. This effort ought instead to rely on a combination of extensive data and inference. Here we investigate how the distribution of trophic interactions at the global scale shapes the marine fish food web structure. We hypothesize that the heterogeneous distribution of species ranges in biogeographic regions should concentrate interactions in the warmest areas and within species groups. We find that the inferred global metaweb of marine fish-that is, all possible potential feeding links between co-occurring species-is highly connected geographically with a low degree of spatial modularity. Metrics of network structure correlate with sea surface temperature and tend to peak towards the tropics. In contrast to open-water communities, coastal food webs have greater interaction redundancy, which may confer robustness to species extinction. Our results suggest that marine ecosystems are connected yet display some resistance to perturbations because of high robustness at most locations.
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| 2. |
- Ament-Velásquez, S. Lorena, Ph.D. 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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Allorecognition genes drive reproductive isolation in Podospora anserina
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Nature. - 2397-334X. ; 6:7, s. 910-923
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Allorecognition, the capacity to discriminate self from conspecific non-self, is a ubiquitous organismal feature typically governed by genes evolving under balancing selection. Here, we show that in the fungus Podospora anserina, allorecognition loci controlling vegetative incompatibility (het genes), define two reproductively isolated groups through pleiotropic effects on sexual compatibility. These two groups emerge from the antagonistic interactions of the unlinked loci het-r (encoding a NOD-like receptor) and het-v (encoding a methyltransferase and an MLKL/HeLo domain protein). Using a combination of genetic and ecological data, supported by simulations, we provide a concrete and molecularly defined example whereby the origin and coexistence of reproductively isolated groups in sympatry is driven by pleiotropic genes under balancing selection.
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| 3. |
- Antonelli, Alexandre, 1978
(författare)
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Drivers of bioregionalization
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology and Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 1
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)
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| 4. |
- Antonelli, Alexandre, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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The science and ethics of extinction
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology and Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 2
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 5. |
- Bannasch, DL, et al.
(författare)
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Dog colour patterns explained by modular promoters of ancient canid origin
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature ecology & evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 5:10, s. 1415-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Distinctive colour patterns in dogs are an integral component of canine diversity. Colour pattern differences are thought to have arisen from mutation and artificial selection during and after domestication from wolves but important gaps remain in understanding how these patterns evolved and are genetically controlled. In other mammals, variation at the ASIP gene controls both the temporal and spatial distribution of yellow and black pigments. Here, we identify independent regulatory modules for ventral and hair cycle ASIP expression, and we characterize their action and evolutionary origin. Structural variants define multiple alleles for each regulatory module and are combined in different ways to explain five distinctive dog colour patterns. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that the haplotype combination for one of these patterns is shared with Arctic white wolves and that its hair cycle-specific module probably originated from an extinct canid that diverged from grey wolves more than 2 million years ago. Natural selection for a lighter coat during the Pleistocene provided the genetic framework for widespread colour variation in dogs and wolves.
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| 6. |
- Barabas, György, et al.
(författare)
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Self-regulation and the stability of large ecological networks
- 2017
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Ingår i: NATURE ECOLOGY and EVOLUTION. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2397-334X. ; 1:12, s. 1870-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The stability of complex ecological networks depends both on the interactions between species and the direct effects of the species on themselves. These self-effects are known as self-regulation when an increase in a species abundance decreases its per-capita growth rate. Sources of self-regulation include intraspecific interference, cannibalism, time-scale separation between consumers and their resources, spatial heterogeneity and nonlinear functional responses coupling predators with their prey. The influence of self-regulation on network stability is understudied and in addition, the empirical estimation of self-effects poses a formidable challenge. Here, we show that empirical food web structures cannot be stabilized unless the majority of species exhibit substantially strong self-regulation. We also derive an analytical formula predicting the effect of self-regulation on network stability with high accuracy and show that even for random networks, as well as networks with a cascade structure, stability requires negative self-effects for a large proportion of species. These results suggest that the aforementioned potential mechanisms of self-regulation are probably more important in contributing to the stability of observed ecological networks than was previously thought.
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| 7. |
- Barabas, György
(författare)
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The coexistence problem revisited
- 2017
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Ingår i: NATURE ECOLOGY and EVOLUTION. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2397-334X. ; 1:10, s. 1425-1426
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A new theoretical study warns against common misinterpretations of classical ideas on the limits to species diversity.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Barnes, Andrew D., et al.
(författare)
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Direct and cascading impacts of tropical land-use change on multi-trophic biodiversity
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology and Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 1:10, s. 1511-1519
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The conversion of tropical rainforest to agricultural systems such as oil palm alters biodiversity across a large range of interacting taxa and trophic levels. Yet, it remains unclear how direct and cascading effects of land-use change simultaneously drive ecological shifts. Combining data from a multi-taxon research initiative in Sumatra, Indonesia, we show that direct and cascading land-use effects alter biomass and species richness of taxa across trophic levels ranging from microorganisms to birds. Tropical land use resulted in increases in biomass and species richness via bottom-up cascading effects, but reductions via direct effects. When considering direct and cascading effects together, land use was found to reduce biomass and species richness, with increasing magnitude at higher trophic levels. Our analyses disentangle the multifaceted effects of land-use change on tropical ecosystems, revealing that biotic interactions on broad taxonomic scales influence the ecological outcome of anthropogenic perturbations to natural ecosystems.
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| 10. |
- Baur, Julian, et al.
(författare)
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Experimental evidence for effects of sexual selection on condition-dependent mutation rates
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2397-334X. ; 4:5, s. 737-744
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sexual selection depletes genetic variation but depleted genetic variation limits the efficacy of sexual selection-a long-standing enigma known as the lek paradox. Here we offer a twist to this paradox by showing that sexual selection and the generation of new genetic variation via mutation may be entangled in an evolutionary feedback loop. We induced DNA damage in the germline of male seed beetles evolved under regimes manipulating the opportunity for natural and sexual selection, and quantified de novo mutations in F2-F7 generations by measuring mutation load. Sexually selected males passed on smaller loads, suggesting that selection for male quality not only purges segregating deleterious alleles, but can also reduce the rate at which such alleles originate de novo. However, when engaging in socio-sexual interactions, males evolved exclusively under sexual selection transferred greater loads, suggesting that trade-offs between naturally and sexually selected fitness components can increase mutation rate. These results offer causality to the widely observed male mutation bias and have implications for the maintenance of genetic variation in fitness. Experimental evolution in male seed beetles subjected to different levels of natural and sexual selection reveals that trade-offs between naturally and sexually selected fitness components can increase mutation rate.
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| 11. |
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| 12. |
- Bellot, S., et al.
(författare)
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The likely extinction of hundreds of palm species threatens their contributions to people and ecosystems
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology and Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 6, s. 1710-1722
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Protecting nature’s contributions to people requires accelerating extinction risk assessment and better integrating evolutionary, functional and used diversity with conservation planning. Here, we report machine learning extinction risk predictions for 1,381 palm species (Arecaceae), a plant family of high socio-economic and ecological importance. We integrate these predictions with published assessments for 508 species (covering 75% of all palm species) and we identify top-priority regions for palm conservation on the basis of their proportion of threatened evolutionarily distinct, functionally distinct and used species. Finally, we explore palm use resilience to identify non-threatened species that could potentially serve as substitutes for threatened used species by providing similar products. We estimate that over a thousand palms (56%) are probably threatened, including 185 species with documented uses. Some regions (New Guinea, Vanuatu and Vietnam) emerge as top ten priorities for conservation only after incorporating machine learning extinction risk predictions. Potential substitutes are identified for 91% of the threatened used species and regional use resilience increases with total palm richness. However, 16 threatened used species lack potential substitutes and 30 regions lack substitutes for at least one of their threatened used palm species. Overall, we show that hundreds of species of this keystone family face extinction, some of them probably irreplaceable, at least locally. This highlights the need for urgent actions to avoid major repercussions on palm-associated ecosystem processes and human livelihoods in the coming decades. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
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| 13. |
- Bengtson, Stefan, 1947-, et al.
(författare)
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Fungus-like mycelial fossils in 2.4-billion-year-old vesicular basalt.
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 1:6, s. 1-6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fungi have recently been found to comprise a significant part of the deep biosphere in oceanic sediments and crustal rocks. Fossils occupying fractures and pores in Phanerozoic volcanics indicate that this habitat is at least 400 million years old, but its origin may be considerably older. A 2.4-billion-year-old basalt from the Palaeoproterozoic Ongeluk Formation in South Africa contains filamentous fossils in vesicles and fractures. The filaments form mycelium-like structures growing from a basal film attached to the internal rock surfaces. Filaments branch and anastomose, touch and entangle each other. They are indistinguishable from mycelial fossils found in similar deep-biosphere habitats in the Phanerozoic, where they are attributed to fungi on the basis of chemical and morphological similarities to living fungi. The Ongeluk fossils, however, are two to three times older than current age estimates of the fungal clade. Unless they represent an unknown branch of fungus-like organisms, the fossils imply that the fungal clade is considerably older than previously thought, and that fungal origin and early evolution may lie in the oceanic deep biosphere rather than on land. The Ongeluk discovery suggests that life has inhabited submarine volcanics for more than 2.4 billion years.
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| 14. |
- Bloch, Natasha, I, et al.
(författare)
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Early neurogenomic response associated with variation in guppy female mate preference
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 2:11, s. 1772-1781
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the evolution of mate choice requires dissecting the mechanisms of female preference, particularly how these differ among social contexts and preference phenotypes. Here, we studied the female neurogenomic response after only 10 min of mate exposure in both a sensory component (optic tectum) and a decision-making component (telencephalon) of the brain. By comparing the transcriptional response between females with and without preferences for colourful males, we identified unique neurogenomic elements associated with the female preference phenotype that are not present in females without preference. A network analysis revealed different properties for this response at the sensory-processing and the decision-making levels, and we show that this response is highly centralized in the telencephalon. Furthermore, we identified an additional set of genes that vary in expression across social contexts, beyond mate evaluation. We show that transcription factors among these loci are predicted to regulate the transcriptional response of the genes we found to be associated with female preference.
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| 15. |
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| 16. |
- Botting, Joseph P., et al.
(författare)
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A Middle Ordovician Burgess Shale-type fauna from Castle Bank, Wales (UK)
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Nature. - 2397-334X. ; 7:5, s. 666-674
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Burgess Shale-type faunas are critical to our understanding of animal evolution during the Cambrian, giving an unrivalled view of the morphology of ancient organisms and the ecology of the earliest animal-dominated communities. Rare examples in Lower Ordovician strata such as the Fezouata Biota illustrate the subsequent evolution of ecosystems but only from before the main phase of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Later Ordovician Konservat-Lagerstätten are not directly comparable with the Burgess Shale-type faunas as they do not represent diverse, open-shelf communities, limiting our ability to track ecological development through the critical Ordovician biodiversification interval. Here we present the Castle Bank fauna: a highly diverse Middle Ordovician Burgess Shale-type fauna from Wales (UK) that is directly comparable with the Burgess Shale and Chengjiang biotas in palaeoenvironment and preservational style. The deposit includes animals with morphologies similar to the iconic Cambrian taxa Opabinia, Yohoia and Wiwaxia, combined with early examples of more derived groups such as barnacles. Many taxa such as kinorhynchs show the small sizes typical of modern faunas, illustrating post-Cambrian miniaturization. Castle Bank provides a new perspective on early animal evolution, revealing the next chapter in ecosystem development following the Chengjiang, Burgess Shale and Fezouata biotas.
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| 17. |
- Brazeau, Martin D., et al.
(författare)
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Endochondral bone in an Early Devonian 'placoderm' from Mongolia
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 4:11, s. 1477-1484
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Endochondral bone is the main internal skeletal tissue of nearly all osteichthyans—the group comprising more than 60,000 living species of bony fishes and tetrapods. Chondrichthyans (sharks and their kin) are the living sister group of osteichthyans and have primarily cartilaginous endoskeletons, long considered the ancestral condition for all jawed vertebrates (gnathostomes). The absence of bone in modern jawless fishes and the absence of endochondral ossification in early fossil gnathostomes appear to lend support to this conclusion. Here we report the discovery of extensive endochondral bone in Minjinia turgenensis, a new genus and species of ‘placoderm’-like fish from the Early Devonian (Pragian) of western Mongolia described using X-ray computed microtomography. The fossil consists of a partial skull roof and braincase with anatomical details providing strong evidence of placement in the gnathostome stem group. However, its endochondral space is filled with an extensive network of fine trabeculae resembling the endochondral bone of osteichthyans. Phylogenetic analyses place this new taxon as a proximate sister group of the gnathostome crown. These results provide direct support for theories of generalized bone loss in chondrichthyans. Furthermore, they revive theories of a phylogenetically deeper origin of endochondral bone and its absence in chondrichthyans as a secondary condition.
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| 18. |
- Burdon, Francis
(författare)
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A meeting framework for inclusive and sustainable science
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature ecology & evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 4, s. 668-671
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ABCD conference format (All continents, Balanced gender, low Carbon transport, Diverse backgrounds) mixes live-streamed and pre-recorded talks with in-person ones to reflect a diverse range of viewpoints and reduce the environmental footprint of meetings while also lowering barriers to inclusiveness.
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| 19. |
- Buschke, F. T., et al.
(författare)
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Random population fluctuations bias the Living Planet Index
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology and Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 5:8, s. 1145-1152
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Living Planet Index (LPI) is a standardized indicator for tracking population trends through time. Due to its ability to aggregate many time series in a single metric, the LPI has been proposed as an indicator for the Convention on Biological Diversity’s post-2020 Global Biodiversity Strategy. However, here we show that random population fluctuations introduce biases when calculating the LPI. By combining simulated and empirical data, we show how random fluctuations lead to a declining LPI even when overall population trends are stable and imprecise estimates of the LPI when populations increase or decrease nonlinearly. We applied randomization null models that demonstrate how random fluctuations exaggerate declines in the global LPI by 9.6%. Our results confirm substantial declines in the LPI but highlight sources of uncertainty in quantitative estimates. Randomization null models are useful for presenting uncertainty around indicators of progress towards international biodiversity targets. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
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| 20. |
- Calatayud, Joaquín, et al.
(författare)
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Positive associations among rare species and their persistence in ecological assemblages
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2397-334X. ; 4:1, s. 40-45
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- According to the competitive exclusion principle, species with low competitive abilities should be excluded by more efficient competitors; yet, they generally remain as rare species. Here, we describe the positive and negative spatial association networks of 326 disparate assemblages, showing a general organization pattern that simultaneously supports the primacy of competition and the persistence of rare species. Abundant species monopolize negative associations in about 90% of the assemblages. On the other hand, rare species are mostly involved in positive associations, forming small network modules. Simulations suggest that positive interactions among rare species and microhabitat preferences are the most probable mechanisms underpinning this pattern and rare species persistence. The consistent results across taxa and geography suggest a general explanation for the maintenance of biodiversity in competitive environments. Analysing spatial association networks among >300 terrestrial and aquatic assemblages, the authors find that the majority of negative associations involve abundant species. In contrast, rare species form mostly positive associations, potentially explaining their persistence in natural communities.
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| 21. |
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| 22. |
- Capek, P. T., et al.
(författare)
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A plant-microbe interaction framework explaining nutrient effects on primary production
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 2:10, s. 1588-1596
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In most terrestrial ecosystems, plant growth is limited by nitrogen and phosphorus. Adding either nutrient to soil usually affects primary production, but their effects can be positive or negative. Here we provide a general stoichiometric framework for interpreting these contrasting effects. First, we identify nitrogen and phosphorus limitations on plants and soil microorganisms using their respective nitrogen to phosphorus critical ratios. Second, we use these ratios to show how soil microorganisms mediate the response of primary production to limiting and non-limiting nutrient addition along a wide gradient of soil nutrient availability. Using a meta-analysis of 51 factorial nitrogen-phosphorus fertilization experiments conducted across multiple ecosystems, we demonstrate that the response of primary production to nitrogen and phosphorus additions is accurately predicted by our stoichiometric framework. The only pattern that could not be predicted by our original framework suggests that nitrogen has not only a structural function in growing organisms, but also a key role in promoting plant and microbial nutrient acquisition. We conclude that this stoichiometric framework offers the most parsimonious way to interpret contrasting and, until now, unresolved responses of primary production to nutrient addition in terrestrial ecosystems.
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| 23. |
- Carpentier, Camille, et al.
(författare)
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Reinterpreting the relationship between number of species and number of links connects community structure and stability
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Nature. - 2397-334X. ; 5:8, s. 1102-1109
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For 50 years, ecologists have examined how the number of interactions (links) scales with the number of species in ecological networks. Here, we show that the way the number of links varies when species are sequentially removed from a community is fully defined by a single parameter identifiable from empirical data. We mathematically demonstrate that this parameter is network-specific and connects local stability and robustness, establishing a formal connection between community structure and two prime stability concepts. Importantly, this connection highlights a local stability-robustness trade-off, which is stronger in mutualistic than in trophic networks. Analysis of 435 empirical networks confirmed these results. We finally show how our network-specific approach relates to the classical across-network approach found in literature. Taken together, our results elucidate one of the intricate relationships between network structure and stability in community networks. This paper demonstrates that the scaling relationship between the number of species and the number of interactions (links) in a network can explain its local stability and robustness to secondary extinctions.
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| 24. |
- Chapron, Guillaume, et al.
(författare)
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Bolster Legal Boundaries to Stay within Planetary Boundaries
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 1:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The mounting threats posed to the global environment by harmful human activities cannot be averted without effective legislation controlling those activities. However, the environmental laws designed for this purpose are themselves under global attack. Because it is binding and enforceable, legislation is a unique and essential instrument in the overall effort to keep humanity’s impacts on the planet from transgressing critical thresholds. For instance, biodiversity laws do so by designating and protecting natural areas and controlling the exploitation of wildlife populations. Yet, due to short-term economic and other interests, such laws face constant pressures aimed at weakening their regulating impact on human activities. This new study reveals and illustrates the staggering number and diversity of tactics used to weaken biodiversity legislation across the globe. This ‘taxonomy of tactics’ encompasses dozens of categories, ranging from the creative re-definition of terms to the ‘fast-tracking’ of environmentally harmful projects, and from limiting concerned citizens’ access to court, to the silent or even express refusal of appointed authorities to enforce biodiversity laws.Whereas the predicament of the planet’s wild fauna and flora would have been even worse without the legal protection they have received so far, the onslaught against biodiversity laws has prevented these from fully performing their assigned function. The global acceleration of wildlife population declines bears witness to this. To stem the tide, strategic approaches are needed to anticipate and counter attacks on biodiversity legislation; to make the most of existing laws, including in court if need be; and to develop new or improved laws where necessary.
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| 25. |
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