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Nanglu K, de Carle D, Cullen TM, Anderson EB, Arif S, Castañeda RA, Chang LM, Iwama RE, Fellin E, Manglicmot RC, Massey MD, Astudillo‐Clavijo V. The nature of science: The fundamental role of natural history in ecology, evolution, conservation, and education. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10621. [PMID: 37877102 PMCID: PMC10591213 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Revised: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
There is a contemporary trend in many major research institutions to de-emphasize the importance of natural history education in favor of theoretical, laboratory, or simulation-based research programs. This may take the form of removing biodiversity and field courses from the curriculum and the sometimes subtle maligning of natural history research as a "lesser" branch of science. Additional threats include massive funding cuts to natural history museums and the maintenance of their collections, the extirpation of taxonomists across disciplines, and a critical under-appreciation of the role that natural history data (and other forms of observational data, including Indigenous knowledge) play in the scientific process. In this paper, we demonstrate that natural history knowledge is integral to any competitive science program through a comprehensive review of the ways in which they continue to shape modern theory and the public perception of science. We do so by reviewing how natural history research has guided the disciplines of ecology, evolution, and conservation and how natural history data are crucial for effective education programs and public policy. We underscore these insights with contemporary case studies, including: how understanding the dynamics of evolutionary radiation relies on natural history data; methods for extracting novel data from museum specimens; insights provided by multi-decade natural history programs; and how natural history is the most logical venue for creating an informed and scientifically literate society. We conclude with recommendations aimed at students, university faculty, and administrators for integrating and supporting natural history in their mandates. Fundamentally, we are all interested in understanding the natural world, but we can often fall into the habit of abstracting our research away from its natural contexts and complexities. Doing so risks losing sight of entire vistas of new questions and insights in favor of an over-emphasis on simulated or overly controlled studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karma Nanglu
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary BiologyHarvard UniversityCambridgeMassachusettsUSA
| | - Danielle de Carle
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of TorontoTorontoOntarioCanada
- Department of Invertebrate ZoologyRoyal Ontario MuseumTorontoOntarioCanada
| | - Thomas M. Cullen
- Department of GeosciencesAuburn UniversityAuburnAlabamaUSA
- Negaunee Integrative Research CenterField Museum of Natural HistoryChicagoIllinoisUSA
| | - Erika B. Anderson
- The HunterianUniversity of GlasgowGlasgowUK
- Department of Earth and SpaceRoyal Ontario MuseumTorontoOntarioCanada
| | - Suchinta Arif
- Department of BiologyDalhousie UniversityHalifaxNova ScotiaCanada
| | - Rowshyra A. Castañeda
- Ecosystems and Ocean SciencesPacific Region, Fisheries and Oceans CanadaSidneyBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | | | - Rafael Eiji Iwama
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de BiociênciasUniversidade de São PauloSão PauloBrazil
| | - Erica Fellin
- Department of BiologyMcGill UniversityMontrealQuebecCanada
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Millien V, Leo SST, Turney S, Gonzalez A. It's about time: small mammal communities and Lyme disease emergence. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14513. [PMID: 37667029 PMCID: PMC10477272 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41901-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Theory predicts that biodiversity changes due to climate warming can mediate the rate of disease emergence. The mechanisms linking biodiversity-disease relationships have been described both theoretically and empirically but remain poorly understood. We investigated the relations between host diversity and abundance and Lyme disease risk in southern Quebec, a region where Lyme disease is rapidly emerging. We found that both the abundance of small mammal hosts and the relative abundance of the tick's natural host, the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), influenced measures of disease risk in tick vectors (Borrelia burgdorferi infection abundance and prevalence in tick vectors). Our results suggest that the increase in Lyme disease risk is modulated by regional processes involving the abundance and composition of small mammal assemblages. However, the nature and strength of these relationships was dependent both on time and geographic area. The strong effect of P. leucopus abundance on disease risk we report here is of significant concern, as this competent host is predicted to increase in abundance and occurrence in the region, with the northern shift in the range of North American species under climate warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Millien
- Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montréal, QC, H3A 0C4, Canada.
- Department of Biology, McGill University, Montréal, QC, H3A 1B1, Canada.
| | - S S T Leo
- Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montréal, QC, H3A 0C4, Canada
- Department of Biology, McGill University, Montréal, QC, H3A 1B1, Canada
| | - S Turney
- Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montréal, QC, H3A 0C4, Canada
- Department of Biology, McGill University, Montréal, QC, H3A 1B1, Canada
| | - A Gonzalez
- Department of Biology, McGill University, Montréal, QC, H3A 1B1, Canada
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André A, Michaux J, Gaitan J, Millien V. Long-term stress level in a small mammal species undergoing range expansion. MAMMALIA 2021. [DOI: 10.1515/mammalia-2020-0041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Rapid climate change is currently altering species distribution ranges. Evaluating the long-term stress level in wild species undergoing range expansion may help better understanding how species cope with the changing environment. Here, we focused on the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), a widespread small mammal species in North-America whose distribution range is rapidly shifting northward. We evaluated long-term stress level in several populations of P. leucopus in Quebec (Canada), from the northern edge of the species distribution to more core populations in Southern Quebec. We first tested the hypothesis that populations at the range margin are under higher stress than more established populations in the southern region of our study area. We then compared four measures of long-term stress level to evaluate the congruence between these commonly used methods. We did not detect any significant geographical trend in stress level across our study populations of P. leucopus. Most notably, we found no clear congruence between the four measures of stress level we used, and conclude that these four commonly used methods are not equivalent, thereby not comparable across studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrien André
- Redpath Museum , McGill University , Montreal , QC H3A 0C4 , Canada
- Conservation Genetics Laboratory , University of Liège , Boulevard du rectorat 26 , 4000 Liège , Belgium
| | - Johan Michaux
- Conservation Genetics Laboratory , University of Liège , Boulevard du rectorat 26 , 4000 Liège , Belgium
- Animal Santé Territoire Risque Environnement, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique , Unité Mixe de Recherche 117 (ASTRE) Univ. Montpellier, Centre International de Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) , 34398 Montpellier , France
| | - Jorge Gaitan
- Redpath Museum , McGill University , Montreal , QC H3A 0C4 , Canada
| | - Virginie Millien
- Redpath Museum , McGill University , Montreal , QC H3A 0C4 , Canada
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Benham PM, Bowie RCK. The influence of spatially heterogeneous anthropogenic change on bill size evolution in a coastal songbird. Evol Appl 2021; 14:607-624. [PMID: 33664798 PMCID: PMC7896719 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Revised: 09/27/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural history collections provide an unparalleled resource for documenting population responses to past anthropogenic change. However, in many cases, traits measured on specimens may vary temporally in response to a number of different anthropogenic pressures or demographic processes. While teasing apart these different drivers is challenging, approaches that integrate analyses of spatial and temporal series of specimens can provide a robust framework for examining whether traits exhibit common responses to ecological variation in space and time. We applied this approach to analyze bill morphology variation in California Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis). We found that bill surface area increased in birds from higher salinity tidal marshes that are hotter and drier. Only the coastal subspecies, alaudinus, exhibited a significant increase in bill size through time. As with patterns of spatial variation, alaudinus populations occupying higher salinity tidal marshes that have become warmer and drier over the past century exhibited the greatest increases in bill surface area. We also found a significant negative correlation between bill surface area and total evaporative water loss (TEWL) and estimated that observed increases in bill size could result in a reduction of up to 16.2% in daily water losses. Together, these patterns of spatial and temporal variation in bill size were consistent with the hypothesis that larger bills are favored in freshwater-limited environments as a mechanism of dissipating heat, reducing reliance on evaporative cooling, and increasing water conservation. With museum collections increasingly being leveraged to understand past responses to global change, this work highlights the importance of considering the influence of many different axes of anthropogenic change and of integrating spatial and temporal analyses to better understand the influence of specific human impacts on population change over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phred M. Benham
- Museum of Vertebrate ZoologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeley, BerkeleyCAUSA
| | - Rauri C. K. Bowie
- Museum of Vertebrate ZoologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeley, BerkeleyCAUSA
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeley, BerkeleyCAUSA
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Garcia-Elfring A, Barrett RDH, Millien V. Genomic Signatures of Selection along a Climatic Gradient in the Northern Range Margin of the White-Footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus). J Hered 2020; 110:684-695. [PMID: 31300816 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esz045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Accepted: 07/10/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Identifying genetic variation involved in thermal adaptation is likely to yield insights into how species adapt to different climates. Physiological and behavioral responses associated with overwintering (e.g., torpor) are thought to serve important functions in climate adaptation. In this study, we use 2 isolated Peromyscus leucopus lineages on the northern margin of the species range to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showing a strong environmental association and test for evidence of parallel evolution. We found signatures of clinal selection in each lineage, but evidence of parallelism was limited, with only 2 SNPs showing parallel allele frequencies across transects. These parallel SNPs map to a gene involved in protection against iron-dependent oxidative stress (Fxn) and to a gene with unknown function but containing a forkhead-associated domain (Fhad1). Furthermore, within transects, we find significant clinal patterns in genes enriched for functions associated with glycogen homeostasis, synaptic function, intracellular Ca2+ balance, H3 histone modification, as well as the G2/M transition of cell division. Our results are consistent with recent literature on the cellular and molecular basis of climate adaptation in small mammals and provide candidate genomic regions for further study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Garcia-Elfring
- Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Rowan D H Barrett
- Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Virginie Millien
- Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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