| 1. |
- Andersson, Martin N, et al.
(författare)
-
Pest control compounds targeting insect chemoreceptors: Another silent spring?
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-701X. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An emerging concept in the ongoing battle against insect pests is that compounds thatinfluence the behavior of insects by modulating their ability to smell could be developedby targeting their chemoreceptors. This idea was identified by the annual horizon scan ofglobal conservation issues as a topic of concern for their 2015 report. Unfortunately, thepublication could only afford a short discussion of the pros and cons of the approach.Here we review the concept and discuss how it might be best implemented to avoidpotential off-target effects and environmental harm. We describe the first of this classof compounds, VUAA1, outlining that its highly broad range of potential insect targetswould lead to many of the issues associated with broad-spectrum insecticides. Wealso review compounds and approaches targeting the relatively less conserved carbondioxide receptor complex and finally highly tuned receptors to conclude that focusing onspecies-specific pheromone receptors would result in fewer potential off-target effects.
|
|
| 2. |
- Cauchard, Laure, et al.
(författare)
-
An Experimental Test of a Causal Link between Problem-Solving Performance and Reproductive Success in Wild Great Tits
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : FRONTIERS MEDIA SA. - 2296-701X. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent studies have uncovered relationships between measures of various cognitive performances and proxies of fitness such as reproductive success in non-human animals. However, to better understand the evolution of cognition in the wild, we still have to determine the causality of these relationships and the underlying mechanisms. The cognitive ability of an individual may directly influence its ability to raise many and/or high quality young through for example its provisioning ability. Conversely, large and/or high quality broods may lead to high parental motivation to solve problems related to their care. To answer this question, we manipulated reproductive success through brood size and measured subsequent problem-solving performance in wild great tit parents. Our results show that brood size manipulation did not affect the probability to solve the task. Moreover, solver pairs fledged more young than non-solver pairs independently of brood size treatment in one of the two experimental years and they showed higher nestling provisioning rate in both years. Overall, it shows that problem-solving performance was not driven by motivation and suggest that problem-solvers may achieve higher fledging success through higher provisioning rates. Our study constitutes a first key step toward a mechanistic understanding of the consequences of innovation ability for individual fitness in the wild.
|
|
| 3. |
- Chi, Jinshu
(författare)
-
Carbon and Water Budgets in Multiple Wheat-Based Cropping Systems in the Inland Pacific Northwest US: Comparison of CropSyst Simulations with Eddy Covariance Measurements
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-701X. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Accurate carbon and water flux simulations for croplands are greatly dependent on high quality representation of management practices and meteorological conditions, which are key drivers of the surface-atmosphere exchange processes. Fourteen site-years of carbon and water fluxes were simulated using the CropSyst model over four agricultural sites in the inland Pacific Northwest (iPNW) US from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2015. Model performance for field-scale net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (NEE) and evapotranspiration (ET) was evaluated by comparing simulations with long-term eddy covariance measurements. The model captured the temporal variations of NEE and ET reasonably well with an overall r of 0.78 and 0.80, and a low RMSE of 1.82 g C m(-2) d(-1) and 0.84 mm d(-1) for NEE and ET, respectively. The model slightly underestimated NEE and ET by 0.51 g C m(-2) d(-1) and 0.09 mm d(-1), respectively. ET simulations showed better agreement with eddy covariance measurements than NEE. The model performed much better for the sites with detailed initial conditions (e.g., SOC content) and management practice information (e.g., tillage type). The CropSyst results showed that the winter wheat fields could be annual net carbon sinks or close to neutral with the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) ranging from 92 to -17 g C m(-2), while the spring crop fields were net carbon sources or neutral with an annual NECB of -327 to -3 g C m(-2). Simulations for the paired tillage sites showed that the no-till site resulted in lower CO2 emissions for the crop rotations of winter wheat-spring garbanzo, but had higher carbon loss into the atmosphere for spring canola compared to the conventional tillage site. Water budgets did not differ significantly between the two tillage systems. Winter wheat in the high-rainfall area had higher crop yields and water use efficiency but emitted larger amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere than in the low-rainfall area. Based on model evaluations in this study, CropSyst appears promising as a tool to simulate field-scale carbon and water budgets and assess the effects of different management practices and local meteorological conditions for the wheat-based cropping systems in this region.
|
|
| 4. |
- Friesen, Christopher R., et al.
(författare)
-
Conditional handicaps in exuberant lizards: Bright color in aggressive males is correlated with high levels of free radicals
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-701X. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2017 Friesen, Wilson, Rollings, Sudyka, Whittington, Giraudeau and Olsson. The maintenance of genetic variation and signal honesty may be explained, in part, through the genic capture hypothesis in sexual selection biology. Polygenic traits, like body condition, could help maintain variation in signaling traits under strong, directional sexual selection while maintaining signal honesty. Here we consider the genic capture hypothesis in a study of morph-specific condition and free radical effects on signaling traits (head coloration) in males of a polymorphic lizard, the Australian painted dragon (Ctenophorus pictus). Males differ in head color (red, orange, yellow, and a "blue" morph that has no yellow or red pigments). The red and yellow morphs were the first described and we have previously demonstrated that red morphs are aggressive and dominant over yellow morphs that are better at sperm completion than the red morphs. Body condition varied significantly in its relationship with superoxide among the four morphs, with males in better condition showing higher superoxide levels in "yellow-orange-reds" morphs (least so in red morphs). Blue morphs contrasted markedly by showing lower superoxide levels in males in better condition, perhaps facilitated by no (or reduced) dermal deposition of pigmentation on the head. Color degradation with loss in condition from yellow to red morphs, suggesting that red morphs are better able to maintain color with superoxide acting as a potential handicap. This result is consistent with condition-dependent signal expression and the genic capture hypothesis; males with the more pronounced signal carry a higher potential cost (higher superoxide levels) when being in better body condition, while maintaining more vivid coloration (the condition-dependent trait).
|
|
| 5. |
- Isaksson, Caroline, et al.
(författare)
-
Species-Dependent Effects of the Urban Environment on Fatty Acid Composition and Oxidative Stress in Birds
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-701X. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ecological impacts of urbanization include the loss of biodiversity and changes in species composition and population densities. However, how the urban environment affects fundamental physiological parameters is largely unknown. Here, we investigated physiological components related to health and nutrition, namely, plasma fatty acids (FA) and lipid peroxidation at inter-habitat and interspecific levels. Specifically, we compared four passerine bird species—the great tit (Parus major), the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), and the tree sparrow (P. montanus)—from urban and rural environments. Significant interactions between species and habitat were revealed for the majority of the FAs. Interestingly, the observed inter-habitat variation in FAs was frequently in opposite directions when comparing species from the two families (tits, Paridae; sparrows, Passeridae). These patterns suggest that sparrows and tits feed on different food sources, or modulate their FA metabolism differently, across the urban-rural gradient. By using canonical discriminant analyses (CDA), we further demonstrated species-specific signals in FA composition, with misclassification of species being <1% within habitats and <7% between habitats. Finally, the urban-rural FA differences between species and families were manifested in two indices of health. Firstly, urban blue tits had a higher total ω-6/ω-3 polyunsaturated FA ratio than rural conspecifics, which is believed to increase inflammatory responses. Secondly, urban sparrows of both species showed higher lipid peroxidation indices (indicating a higher susceptibility to lipid peroxidation if exposed to pro-oxidants), and consequently, a higher level of lipid peroxidation compared to their rural conspecifics. Collectively, the species- and habitat-specific differences in plasma FA composition, which are linked to nutrition and metabolism, suggest that the urban environment affect tits and sparrows primarily via two different pathways—inflammation and oxidative stress, respectively,—with potential consequences for the health of urban populations.
|
|
| 6. |
- Kleinteich, Julia, et al.
(författare)
-
Pole-to-Pole Connections : Similarities between Arctic and Antarctic Microbiomes and Their Vulnerability to Environmental Change
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : FRONTIERS MEDIA SA. - 2296-701X. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The global biogeography of microorganisms remains poorly resolved, which limits the current understanding of microbial resilience toward environmental changes. Using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we characterized the microbial diversity of terrestrial and lacustrine biofilms from the Arctic, Antarctic and temperate regions. Our analyses suggest that bacterial community compositions at the poles are more similar to each other than they are to geographically closer temperate habitats, with 32% of all operational taxonomic units (OTUs) co-occurring in both polar regions. While specific microbial taxa were confined to distinct regions, representing potentially endemic populations, the percentage of cosmopolitan taxa was higher in Arctic (43%) than in Antarctic samples (36%). The overlap in polar microbial OTUs may be explained by natural or anthropogenically-mediated dispersal in combination with environmental filtering. Current and future changing environmental conditions may enhance microbial invasion, establishment of cosmopolitan genotypes and loss of endemic taxa.
|
|
| 7. |
- Nilsson, Lovisa, et al.
(författare)
-
Ignoring Ecosystem-Service Cascades Undermines Policy for Multifunctional Agricultural Landscapes
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-701X. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Over and above food, agricultural landscapes provide citizens with crucial public-good ecosystem services, such as biodiversity conservation, cultural values, recreational opportunities, and food security. Because continuing agricultural intensification undermines the ability of landscapes to provide public goods, policies have been implemented to preserve landscape multifunctionality, but with limited success. We suggest that one reason for this lack of success is that the cascading nature of ecosystem services has not been sufficiently addressed. While different definitions of multifunctionality emphasize different parts of the service cascades, we argue that efficient policies targeting multifunctionality simultaneously need to consider ecosystem services along the entire cascade, i.e., both intermediate and final ones. By understanding how multiple final ecosystem services are promoted by single measures with effects on multiple intermediate ecosystem services or by single intermediate ecosystem services with effects on multiple final ecosystem services, measures can be identified that simultaneously benefit private and public goods, allowing the latter to hitchhike on management for the former. Even if such synergistic solutions are less efficient in terms of promoting yields compared to non-synergistic solutions, policies such as payment for ecosystem services to promote them may be cost-efficient since the private benefit reduces the need for public payment. Furthermore, by focusing on the ecosystem service cascade, social-ecological scale-mismatches along the cascade hampering the implementation of synergistic solutions can be identified and targeted by policy. We exemplify our reasoning with the potential benefit to biodiversity conservation from yield-enhancing ecosystem services.
|
|
| 8. |
- Samson, Emma, et al.
(författare)
-
Early Engagement of Stakeholders with Individual-Based Modeling Can Inform Research for Improving Invasive Species Management : The Round Goby as a Case Study
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2296-701X. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Individual-based models (IBMs) incorporating realistic representations of key range-front processes such as dispersal can be used as tools to investigate the dynamics of invasive species. Managers can apply insights from these models to take effective action to prevent further spread and prioritize measures preventing establishment of invasive species. We highlight here how early-stage IBMs (constructed under constraints of time and data availability) can also play an important role in defining key research priorities for providing key information on the biology of an invasive species in order that subsequent models can provide robust insight into potential management interventions. The round goby, Neogobius melanostomus, is currently spreading through the Baltic Sea, with major negative effects being reported in the wake of its invasion. Together with stakeholders, we parameterize an IBM to investigate the goby's potential spread pattern throughout the Gulf of Gdansk and the Baltic Sea. Model parameters were assigned by integrating information obtained through stakeholder interaction, from scientific literature, or estimated using an inverse modeling approach when not available. IBMs can provide valuable direction to research on invasive species even when there is limited data and/or time available to parameterize/fit them to the degree to which we might aspire in an ideal world. Co-development of models with stakeholders can be used to recognize important invasion patterns, in addition to identifying and estimating unknown environmental parameters, thereby guiding the direction of future research. Well-parameterized and validated models are not required in the earlier stages of the modeling cycle where their main utility is as a tool for thought.
|
|
| 9. |
- Senar, Juan Carlos, et al.
(författare)
-
Urban Great Tits (Parus major) Show Higher Distress Calling and Pecking Rates than Rural Birds across Europe
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-701X. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Environmental change associated with urbanization is considered one of the major threats to biodiversity. Some species nevertheless seem to thrive in the urban areas, probably associated with selection for phenotypes that match urban habitats. Previous research defined different “copying styles” in distress behavior during the handling of birds. These behaviors vary along a continuum from “proactive” to “reactive” copers. By studying avian distress behaviors we aimed to broaden our understanding of the relationship between coping styles and urbanization. Using a large-scale comparative study of seven paired rural and urban sites across Europe, we assayed distress behaviors during handling of urban and rural-dwelling populations of the great tit Parus major. We detected no consistent pairwise differences in breath rate between urban and rural habitats. However, urban great tits displayed more distress calling (fear screams) and higher pecking rate (handling aggression) than rural birds. These findings suggest that urban great tits have a more proactive coping strategy when dealing with stressful conditions. This finding is in line with previous studies implying that urban great tits are more explorative, less neophobic and display shorter flight distances than their rural counterparts, representing further aspects of the same “proactive”, coping strategy. Future research should investigate whether reported differences in distress behavior are due to local adaption caused by natural selection or due to phenotypic plasticity.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
| 11. |
- Zakir, Ali, et al.
(författare)
-
Herbivore-Induced Changes in Cotton Modulates Reproductive Behavior in the Moth Spodoptera littoralis
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-701X. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plants produce chemical defense compounds to resist herbivore attack either by repelling the herbivores or attracting natural enemies of the herbivores. We have previously shown that volatile compounds from cotton released in response to herbivory by conspecifics reduce oviposition in cotton leafworm moth Spodoptera littoralis. It remained, however, unclear whether herbivore-induced changes also affect moth pre-mating and mating behaviors. In this study we examined the effect of herbivore-induced changes in cotton on reproductive behaviors i.e., female calling,male attraction and investment, and mating behavior in S. littoralis. We found a reduction in the number of females calling i.e., females releasing pheromone, in the presence of cotton plants damaged by larvae of S. littoralis compared to undamaged plants. Females also spent significantly less time calling and showed a delay in calling in the presence of damaged plants. Furthermore, males exhibited significantly delayed activation and reduced attraction toward female sex pheromone in the presence of damaged plants. We also found that mating success and the number of matings were significantly reduced in the presence of damaged plants whereas male investment i.e., spermatophore weight, was not affected. Thus, our study provides evidence that herbivory by conspecifics on host plants affect pre-mating and mating behaviors in an insect herbivore.
|
|
