1
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Charmouh AP, Reid JM, Bilde T, Bocedi G. Eco-evolutionary extinction and recolonization dynamics reduce genetic load and increase time to extinction in highly inbred populations. Evolution 2022; 76:2482-2497. [PMID: 36117269 PMCID: PMC9828521 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Understanding how genetic and ecological effects can interact to shape genetic loads within and across local populations is key to understanding ongoing persistence of systems that should otherwise be susceptible to extinction through mutational meltdown. Classic theory predicts short persistence times for metapopulations comprising small local populations with low connectivity, due to accumulation of deleterious mutations. Yet, some such systems have persisted over evolutionary time, implying the existence of mechanisms that allow metapopulations to avoid mutational meltdown. We first hypothesize a mechanism by which the combination of stochasticity in the numbers and types of mutations arising locally (genetic stochasticity), resulting local extinction, and recolonization through evolving dispersal facilitates metapopulation persistence. We then test this mechanism using a spatially and genetically explicit individual-based model. We show that genetic stochasticity in highly structured metapopulations can result in local extinctions, which can favor increased dispersal, thus allowing recolonization of empty habitat patches. This causes fluctuations in metapopulation size and transient gene flow, which reduces genetic load and increases metapopulation persistence over evolutionary time. Our suggested mechanism and simulation results provide an explanation for the conundrum presented by the continued persistence of highly structured populations with inbreeding mating systems that occur in diverse taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anders P. Charmouh
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of AberdeenAberdeenAB24 2TZUnited Kingdom
| | - Jane M. Reid
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of AberdeenAberdeenAB24 2TZUnited Kingdom,Centre for Biodiversity DynamicsInstitutt for Biologi, NTNUTrondheim7491Norway
| | - Trine Bilde
- Department of BiologyAarhus UniversityAarhus C8000Denmark
| | - Greta Bocedi
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of AberdeenAberdeenAB24 2TZUnited Kingdom
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2
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Chak STC, Harris SE, Hultgren KM, Duffy JE, Rubenstein DR. Demographic inference provides insights into the extirpation and ecological dominance of eusocial snapping shrimps. J Hered 2022; 113:552-562. [PMID: 35921239 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esac035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Although eusocial animals often achieve ecological dominance in the ecosystems where they occur, many populations are unstable, resulting in local extinction. Both patterns may be linked to the characteristic demography of eusocial species-high reproductive skew and reproductive division of labor support stable effective population sizes that make eusocial groups more competitive in some species, but also lower effective population sizes that increase susceptibility to population collapse in others. Here, we examine the relationship between demography and social organization in Synalpheus snapping shrimps, a group in which eusociality has evolved recently and repeatedly. We show using coalescent demographic modelling that eusocial species have had lower but more stable effective population sizes across 100,000 generations. Our results are consistent with the idea that stable population sizes may enable competitive dominance in eusocial shrimps, but they also suggest that recent population declines are likely caused by eusocial shrimps' heightened sensitivity to environmental changes, perhaps as a result of their low effective population sizes and localized dispersal. Thus, although the unique life histories and demography of eusocial shrimps have likely contributed to their persistence and ecological dominance over evolutionary timescales, these social traits may also make them vulnerable to contemporary environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Solomon T C Chak
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, SUNY College at Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, USA
| | - Stephen E Harris
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.,Biology Department, SUNY Purchase College, Purchase, NY, USA
| | | | - J Emmett Duffy
- Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network, Smithsonian Institution, Edgewater, MD, USA
| | - Dustin R Rubenstein
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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3
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Palacino-Rodríguez F, Lozano MA, Altamiranda-Saavedra M, Beltrán NJ, Penagos AC, Hueso-Olaya D, Morales IT, Ríos KJ, Camacho-Contreras P, Palacino-Penagos DA, Penagos-Arevalo A, Arbeláez-Cortés E. Knowledge on Colombian insects and arachnids: a bibliometric approach. STUDIES ON NEOTROPICAL FAUNA AND ENVIRONMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/01650521.2022.2035119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Fredy Palacino-Rodríguez
- Grupo de Investigación En Biología, Departamento de Biología, Universidad El Bosque, Bogotá, Colombia
- Grupo de Investigación En Odonatos Y Otros Artrópodos de Colombia, Centro de Investigación En Acarología, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - María Alejandra Lozano
- Grupo de Investigación En Odonatos Y Otros Artrópodos de Colombia, Centro de Investigación En Acarología, Bogotá, Colombia
| | | | - Nini Johana Beltrán
- Grupo de Investigación En Odonatos Y Otros Artrópodos de Colombia, Centro de Investigación En Acarología, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Andrea Carolina Penagos
- Grupo de Investigación En Odonatos Y Otros Artrópodos de Colombia, Centro de Investigación En Acarología, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Dayana Hueso-Olaya
- Grupo de Investigación En Odonatos Y Otros Artrópodos de Colombia, Centro de Investigación En Acarología, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Irina Tatiana Morales
- Grupo de Investigación Biodiversidad Y Conservación, Programa de Biología, Universidad Pedagógica Y Tecnológica de Colombia. Avenida Central Del Norte, Tunja, Colombia
| | - Kelly Johana Ríos
- Grupo de Investigación En Odonatos Y Otros Artrópodos de Colombia, Centro de Investigación En Acarología, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Paola Camacho-Contreras
- Grupo de Investigación En Odonatos Y Otros Artrópodos de Colombia, Centro de Investigación En Acarología, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Diego Andrés Palacino-Penagos
- Grupo de Investigación En Odonatos Y Otros Artrópodos de Colombia, Centro de Investigación En Acarología, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Alexander Penagos-Arevalo
- Grupo de Investigación En Biología, Departamento de Biología, Universidad El Bosque, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Enrique Arbeláez-Cortés
- Grupo de Estudios En Biodiversidad, Escuela de Biología, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia
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4
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Vásárhelyi Z, Scheuring I, Aviles L. The ecology of spider sociality – A Spatial Model. Am Nat 2022; 199:776-788. [DOI: 10.1086/719182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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5
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Batova ON, Vasilieva NA, Titov SV, Savinetskaya LE, Tchabovsky AV. Female polyandry dilutes inbreeding in a solitary fast-living hibernator. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-021-03086-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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6
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Gatchoff L, Stein LR. Venom and Social Behavior: The Potential of Using Spiders to Evaluate the Evolution of Sociality under High Risk. Toxins (Basel) 2021; 13:388. [PMID: 34071320 PMCID: PMC8227785 DOI: 10.3390/toxins13060388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2021] [Revised: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Risks of sociality, including competition and conspecific aggression, are particularly pronounced in venomous invertebrates such as arachnids. Spiders show a wide range of sociality, with differing levels of cannibalism and other types of social aggression. To have the greatest chance of surviving interactions with conspecifics, spiders must learn to assess and respond to risk. One of the major ways risk assessment is studied in spiders is via venom metering, in which spiders choose how much venom to use based on prey and predator characteristics. While venom metering in response to prey acquisition and predator defense is well-studied, less is known about its use in conspecific interactions. Here we argue that due to the wide range of both sociality and venom found in spiders, they are poised to be an excellent system for testing questions regarding whether and how venom use relates to the evolution of social behavior and, in return, whether social behavior influences venom use and evolution. We focus primarily on the widow spiders, Latrodectus, as a strong model for testing these hypotheses. Given that successful responses to risk are vital for maintaining sociality, comparative analysis of spider taxa in which venom metering and sociality vary can provide valuable insights into the evolution and maintenance of social behavior under risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Gatchoff
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA;
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7
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Braude S, Holtze S, Begall S, Brenmoehl J, Burda H, Dammann P, Marmol D, Gorshkova E, Henning Y, Hoeflich A, Höhn A, Jung T, Hamo D, Sahm A, Shebzukhov Y, Šumbera R, Miwa S, Vyssokikh MY, Zglinicki T, Averina O, Hildebrandt TB. Surprisingly long survival of premature conclusions about naked mole‐rat biology. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2020; 96:376-393. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2020] [Revised: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Stan Braude
- Biology Department Washington University, One Brookings Drive St. Louis MO 63130 U.S.A
| | - Susanne Holtze
- Department of Reproduction Management Leibniz‐Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research Berlin 10315 Germany
| | - Sabine Begall
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology University of Duisburg‐Essen, Universitätsstr Essen 45147 Germany
| | - Julia Brenmoehl
- Institute for Genome Biology Leibniz‐Institute for Farm Animal Biology Dummerstorf 18196 Germany
| | - Hynek Burda
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Praha 16500 Czech Republic
| | - Philip Dammann
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology University of Duisburg‐Essen, Universitätsstr Essen 45147 Germany
- University Hospital Essen Hufelandstr Essen 45141 Germany
| | - Delphine Marmol
- Molecular Physiology Research Unit (URPhyM), NARILIS University of Namur Namur 5000 Belgium
| | - Ekaterina Gorshkova
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilova str. 32 Moscow 119991 Russia
- Faculty of Biology Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow 119991 Russia
| | - Yoshiyuki Henning
- University Hospital Essen Hufelandstr Essen 45141 Germany
- Institute of Physiology Department of General Zoology University of Duisburg Essen Germany
| | - Andreas Hoeflich
- Division Signal Transduction Institute for Genome Biology, Leibniz‐Institute for Farm Animal Biology, FBN Dummerstorf, Wilhelm‐Stahl‐Allee 2 Dummerstorf 18196 Germany
| | - Annika Höhn
- Department of Molecular Toxicology German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE) Potsdam‐Rehbrücke Nuthetal 14558 Germany
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) München‐Neuherberg 85764 Germany
| | - Tobias Jung
- Department of Molecular Toxicology German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE) Potsdam‐Rehbrücke Nuthetal 14558 Germany
| | - Dania Hamo
- Charité ‐ Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin Institute of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT) Berlin 13353 Germany
- German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ) Berlin 10117 Germany
| | - Arne Sahm
- Computational Biology Group Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute Jena 07745 Germany
| | - Yury Shebzukhov
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilova str. 32 Moscow 119991 Russia
- Charité ‐ Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin Institute of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT) Berlin 13353 Germany
| | - Radim Šumbera
- Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia České Budějovice 37005 Czech Republic
| | - Satomi Miwa
- Biosciences Institute, Edwardson building, Campus for Ageing and Vitality Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5PL U.K
| | - Mikhail Y. Vyssokikh
- Belozersky Institute of Physico‐Chemical Biology Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow 119991 Russia
| | - Thomas Zglinicki
- Biosciences Institute, Edwardson building, Campus for Ageing and Vitality Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5PL U.K
| | - Olga Averina
- Belozersky Institute of Physico‐Chemical Biology Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow 119991 Russia
| | - Thomas B. Hildebrandt
- Department of Reproduction Management Leibniz‐Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research Berlin 10315 Germany
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8
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Wells DA, Cant MA, Hoffman JI, Nichols HJ. Inbreeding depresses altruism in a cooperative society. Ecol Lett 2020; 23:1460-1467. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.13578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2020] [Revised: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David A. Wells
- Department of Animal Behaviour University of Bielefeld Postfach 100131 Bielefeld33501Germany
- School of Natural Science and Psychology Liverpool John Moores University LiverpoolL3 3AFUK
| | - Michael A. Cant
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Exeter PenrynTR10 9FEUK
| | - Joseph I. Hoffman
- Department of Animal Behaviour University of Bielefeld Postfach 100131 Bielefeld33501Germany
- British Antarctic Survey High Cross, Madingley Road CambridgeCB3 OETUnited Kingdom
| | - Hazel J. Nichols
- Department of Animal Behaviour University of Bielefeld Postfach 100131 Bielefeld33501Germany
- Department of Biosciences Swansea University SwanseaSA2 8PPUK
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9
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10
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Najm GM, Pe A, Pruitt JN, Pinter-Wollman N. Physical and social cues shape nest-site preference and prey capture behavior in social spiders. Behav Ecol 2020; 31:627-632. [PMID: 32595269 PMCID: PMC7303816 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Revised: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 01/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals often face conflicting demands when making movement decisions. To examine the decision process of social animals, we evaluated nest-site preferences of the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola. Colonies engage in collective web building, constructing 3D nests and 2D capture webs on trees and fences. We examined how individuals and groups decide where to construct a nest based on habitat structure and conspecific presence. Individuals had a strong preference for 3D substrates and conspecific presence. Groups were then provided with conflicting options of 3D substrates versus 2D substrates with a conspecific. Groups preferred the 3D structures without presettled conspecifics over a 2D substrate with conspecifics. When a group fragmented and individuals settled on both substrates, the minority group eventually joined the majority. Before rejoining, the collective prey capture behavior of divided groups improved with the size of the majority fragment. The costs of slow responses to prey for split groups and weak conspecific attraction may explain why dispersal is rare in these spiders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriella M Najm
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Angelika Pe
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jonathan N Pruitt
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Noa Pinter-Wollman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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11
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Cordellier M, Schneider JM, Uhl G, Posnien N. Sex differences in spiders: from phenotype to genomics. Dev Genes Evol 2020; 230:155-172. [PMID: 32052129 PMCID: PMC7127994 DOI: 10.1007/s00427-020-00657-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2019] [Accepted: 01/31/2020] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Sexual reproduction is pervasive in animals and has led to the evolution of sexual dimorphism. In most animals, males and females show marked differences in primary and secondary sexual traits. The formation of sex-specific organs and eventually sex-specific behaviors is defined during the development of an organism. Sex determination processes have been extensively studied in a few well-established model organisms. While some key molecular regulators are conserved across animals, the initiation of sex determination is highly diverse. To reveal the mechanisms underlying the development of sexual dimorphism and to identify the evolutionary forces driving the evolution of different sexes, sex determination mechanisms must thus be studied in detail in many different animal species beyond the typical model systems. In this perspective article, we argue that spiders represent an excellent group of animals in which to study sex determination mechanisms. We show that spiders are sexually dimorphic in various morphological, behavioral, and life history traits. The availability of an increasing number of genomic and transcriptomic resources and functional tools provides a great starting point to scrutinize the extensive sexual dimorphism present in spiders on a mechanistic level. We provide an overview of the current knowledge of sex determination in spiders and propose approaches to reveal the molecular and genetic underpinnings of sexual dimorphism in these exciting animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Cordellier
- Department of Biology, Institute of Zoology, Universität Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Jutta M Schneider
- Department of Biology, Institute of Zoology, Universität Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Gabriele Uhl
- Zoological Institute and Museum, Research Group General and Systematic Zoology, Universität Greifswald, Loitzer Straße 26, 17489, Greifswald, Germany.
| | - Nico Posnien
- Department of Developmental Biology, Göttingen Center for Molecular Biosciences (GZMB), University Göttingen, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
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12
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Purcell J, Pruitt JN. Are personalities genetically determined? Inferences from subsocial spiders. BMC Genomics 2019; 20:867. [PMID: 31752670 PMCID: PMC6873478 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-019-6172-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2019] [Accepted: 10/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Recent research has revealed that polymorphic behavioral strategies shape intra-and interspecific interactions and contribute to fitness in many animal species. A better understanding of the proximate mechanisms underlying these behavioral syndromes will enhance our grasp this phenomenon. Spiders in the genus Anelosimus exhibit inter-individual behavioral variation on several axes: individuals have consistent responses to stimuli (e.g. bold vs. shy individuals) and they are subsocial (exhibiting extended maternal care and sibling cooperation) across most of their range, but they sometimes form permanent social groups in northern temperate regions. Here, we seek genetic variants associated with boldness and with social structure in a socially polymorphic population of the spider Anelosimus studiosus. We also develop preliminary genomic resources, including a genome assembly and linkage map, that support this and future genomic research on this group. Results Remarkably, we identify a small genomic scaffold (~ 1200 bp) that harbors seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with boldness. Moreover, heterozygotes are less common than expected based on Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, suggesting that either assortative mating or selection against heterozygotes may be occurring in this system. We find no loci significantly associated with social organization. Our draft genome assembly allows us to localize SNPs of interest in this study and to carry out genetic comparisons with other published genomes, although it remains highly fragmented. Conclusions By identifying a locus associated with a well-studied animal personality trait, this study opens up avenues for future research to link behavioral studies of animal personality with genotype and fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Purcell
- Department of Entomology, University of California Riverside, 900 University Ave, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.
| | - Jonathan N Pruitt
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
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13
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Lin 林宇恆 YH, Chan 詹仕凡 SF, Rubenstein DR, Liu 劉彥廷 M, Shen 沈聖峰 SF. Resolving the Paradox of Environmental Quality and Sociality: The Ecological Causes and Consequences of Cooperative Breeding in Two Lineages of Birds. Am Nat 2019; 194:207-216. [PMID: 31318278 DOI: 10.1086/704090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Cooperatively breeding animals occur in virtually every ecosystem on earth. Comparative and biogeographic studies suggest that both benign and harsh-as well as stable and fluctuating-environments can favor the evolution of cooperative breeding behavior. The fact that cooperative societies occur in environments of such contrasting quality creates a paradox of environmental quality and sociality. The dual benefits framework-which leads to the prediction that the ecological consequences of sociality (e.g., range size) vary depending on the benefits that individuals of each species receive by forming social groups-offers a potential resolution to this paradox. Here we use a case study of two avian lineages, starlings (Sturnidae) and hornbills (Bucerotidae), in which environmental unpredictability appears to have opposite effects on the evolution of cooperation to test the dual benefits framework. Consistent with previous work, harsh and unpredictable environments promote cooperative breeding behavior in starlings, which in turn leads to larger geographic ranges. However, cooperatively breeding hornbills occur in benign and stable environments, but sociality does not influence range size. Our study suggests that the paradox of environmental quality and sociality arises largely because cooperative breeding is an umbrella term encompassing social species that form groups for different reasons. We demonstrate that differentiating among the functional causes of social group formation is critical for developing a predictive framework for understanding the evolution of cooperative breeding behavior.
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14
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15
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Brooks KC, Maia R, Duffy JE, Hultgren KM, Rubenstein DR. Ecological generalism facilitates the evolution of sociality in snapping shrimps. Ecol Lett 2017; 20:1516-1525. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.12857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2017] [Revised: 03/22/2017] [Accepted: 08/23/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Katherine C. Brooks
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology; Columbia University; New York NY 10027 USA
| | - Rafael Maia
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology; Columbia University; New York NY 10027 USA
| | - J. Emmett Duffy
- Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network; Smithsonian Institution; Washington DC 20013 USA
| | | | - Dustin R. Rubenstein
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology; Columbia University; New York NY 10027 USA
- Center for Integrative Animal Behavior; Columbia University; New York NY 10027 USA
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16
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Wright CM, Lichtenstein JLL, Montgomery GA, Luscuskie LP, Pinter-Wollman N, Pruitt JN. Exposure to predators reduces collective foraging aggressiveness and eliminates its relationship with colony personality composition. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2017; 71:126. [PMID: 29606787 PMCID: PMC5871624 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-017-2356-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2017] [Revised: 07/11/2017] [Accepted: 07/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Predation is a ubiquitous threat that often plays a central role in determining community dynamics. Predators can impact prey species by directly consuming them, or indirectly causing prey to modify their behavior. Direct consumption has classically been the focus of research on predator-prey interactions, but substantial evidence now demonstrates that the indirect effects of predators on prey populations are at least as strong as, if not stronger than, direct consumption. Social animals, particularly those that live in confined colonies, rely on coordinated actions that may be vulnerable to the presence of a predator, thus impacting the society's productivity and survival. To examine the effect of predators on the behavior of social animal societies, we observed the collective foraging of social spider colonies (Stegodyphus dumicola) when they interact with dangerous predatory ants either directly, indirectly, or both. We found that when colonies were exposed directly and indirectly to ant cues, they attacked prey with approximately 40-50% fewer spiders, and 40-90% slower than colonies that were not exposed to any predator cues. Furthermore, exposure to predatory ants disassociated the well-documented positive relationship between colony behavioral composition (proportion of bold spiders) and foraging aggressiveness (number of attackers) in S. dumicola, which is vital for colony growth. Thus, the indirect effects of predator presence may limit colony success. These results suggest that enemy presence could compromise the organizational attributes of animal societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin M Wright
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - James L L Lichtenstein
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Graham A Montgomery
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Lauren P Luscuskie
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Noa Pinter-Wollman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Jonathan N Pruitt
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
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17
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Hoffman CR, Avilés L. Rain, predators, and spider sociality: a manipulative experiment. Behav Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arx010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Catherine R. Hoffman
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Blvd., Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Leticia Avilés
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Blvd., Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
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18
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Sharpe RV, Avilés L. Prey size and scramble vs. contest competition in a social spider: implications for population dynamics. J Anim Ecol 2016; 85:1401-10. [PMID: 27300160 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2015] [Accepted: 06/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
There are many benefits of group living, but also substantial costs, one of which is competition for resources. How scarce food resources are distributed among different members of a population or social group - whether via scramble or contest competition - can influence not only the variance in individual fitness, but also the stability and therefore survival of the group or population. Attributes of the food resources themselves, such as their size, may influence the type of intraspecific competition that occurs and therefore the intrinsic stability of a group or population. By experimentally manipulating the size of prey fed to artificial colonies of the social spider Anelosimus eximius, we investigated whether prey size could alter the degree of scramble vs. contest competition that takes place and, thus, potentially influence colony population dynamics. We found that large prey were shared more evenly than small prey and that individuals in poor condition were more likely to feed when prey were large than when prey were small. Additionally, we show that individuals participating in prey capture are also more likely to feed on the captured prey. We developed a simple mathematical model to explore the prey sizes that would be energetically worth defending, i.e. prey that are 'economically defendable'. The model shows that neither very small prey, nor prey above a certain size is worth monopolizing, with only intermediate size prey being 'economically defendable'. We therefore suggest the small and large prey in our experiment corresponds to our model's intermediate and large prey categories, respectively. As the size of prey captured by social spider colonies increases with colony size, our findings suggest that scramble competition may predominate in large colonies. Scramble competition, combined with the fact that prey biomass per capita declines as colonies grow beyond a certain size, would then explain why extremely large colonies of this social spider may suddenly go extinct. Our project thus illustrates the potential triple link between characteristics of the resources, individual behaviour and population dynamics, a link rarely considered in an empirical setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth V Sharpe
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Leticia Avilés
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Gohli J, Selvarajah T, Kirkendall LR, Jordal BH. Globally distributed Xyleborus species reveal recurrent intercontinental dispersal in a landscape of ancient worldwide distributions. BMC Evol Biol 2016; 16:37. [PMID: 26877088 PMCID: PMC4753646 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-016-0610-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2015] [Accepted: 02/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Invasive species can have devastating effects on native ecosystems and therefore impose a significant threat to human welfare. The introduction rate of invasive species has accelerated dramatically in recent times due to human activity (anthropogenic effects), with a steadily growing pool of widespread tramp species. We present an in-depth analysis of four pantropical species of Xyleborus ambrosia beetles (Xyleborus volvulus, Xyleborus perforans, Xyleborus ferrugineus, and Xyleborus affinis) with similar ecology (fungus cultivation in dead wood), reproductive biology (permanent inbreeding) and genetic system (haplodiploidy). The unique combination of reproductive traits and broad host plant usage pre-adapts these beetles for colonizing of new areas. RESULTS We found that all four species were broadly distributed long before human-assisted dispersal became common, and that the impact of anthropogenic effects varied among the species. For X. volvulus, X. perforans, and X. affinis there was evidence of ancient establishment in numerous regions, but also of abundant recent introductions into previously colonized areas. For X. ferrugineus, we found clear biogeographical structuring of old clades, but little evidence for recent successful introductions. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that current human-aided transoceanic dispersal has strongly affected the genetic makeup of three of the species in this study. However, current biogeographical patterns of all four species are equally, if not more strongly, influenced by ancient establishment on different continents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jostein Gohli
- Natural History Collections, University Museum of Bergen, University of Bergen, P.O. box 7800, 5020, Bergen, Norway.
| | - Tina Selvarajah
- Department of Biology, University of Bergen, P.O. box 7800, 5020, Bergen, Norway
| | | | - Bjarte H Jordal
- Natural History Collections, University Museum of Bergen, University of Bergen, P.O. box 7800, 5020, Bergen, Norway
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Abstract
When relatives mate, their inbred offspring often suffer a reduction in fitness-related traits known as "inbreeding depression." There is mounting evidence that inbreeding depression can be exacerbated by environmental stresses such as starvation, predation, parasitism, and competition. Parental care may play an important role as a buffer against inbreeding depression in the offspring by alleviating these environmental stresses. Here, we examine the effect of parental care on the fitness costs of inbreeding in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, an insect with facultative parental care. We used a 2 × 2 factorial design with the following factors: (i) the presence or absence of a caring female parent during larval development and (ii) inbred or outbred offspring. We examined the joint influence of maternal care and inbreeding status on fitness-related offspring traits to test the hypothesis that maternal care improves the performance of inbred offspring more than that of outbred offspring. Indeed, the female's presence led to a higher increase in larval survival in inbred than in outbred broods. Receiving care at the larval stage also increased the lifespan of inbred but not outbred adults, suggesting that the beneficial buffering effects of maternal care can persist long after the offspring have become independent. Our results show that parental care has the potential to moderate the severity of inbreeding depression, which in turn may favor inbreeding tolerance and influence the evolution of mating systems and other inbreeding-avoidance mechanisms.
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Berger-Tal R, Tuni C, Lubin Y, Smith D, Bilde T. Fitness consequences of outcrossing in a social spider with an inbreeding mating system. Evolution 2013; 68:343-51. [PMID: 24111606 DOI: 10.1111/evo.12264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2013] [Accepted: 08/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Inbreeding mating systems are uncommon because of inbreeding depression. Mating among close relatives can evolve, however, when outcrossing is constrained. Social spiders show obligatory mating among siblings. In combination with a female-biased sex ratio, sib-mating results in small effective populations. In such a system, high genetic homozygosity is expected, and drift may cause population divergence. We tested the effect of outcrossing in the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola. Females were mated to sib-males, to a non-nestmate within the population, or to a male from a distant population, and fitness traits of F1s were compared. We found reduced hatching success of broods from between-population crosses, suggesting the presence of population divergence at a large geographical scale that may result in population incompatibility. However, a lack of a difference in offspring performance between inbred and outbred crosses indicates little genetic variation between populations, and could suggest recent colonization by a common ancestor. This is consistent with population dynamics of frequent colonizations by single sib-mated females of common origin, and extinctions of populations after few generations. Although drift or single mutations can lead to population divergence at a relatively short time scale, it is possible that dynamic population processes homogenize these effects at longer time scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reut Berger-Tal
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boker Campus, 84990, Israel; Genetics, Ecology and Evolution, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade, 116, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
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Avilés L, Harwood G, Koenig W. A Quantitative Index of Sociality and Its Application to Group-Living Spiders and Other Social Organisms. Ethology 2012; 118:1219-1229. [PMID: 23335829 PMCID: PMC3546379 DOI: 10.1111/eth.12028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2012] [Accepted: 03/16/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Species are often classified in discrete categories, such as solitary, subsocial, social and eusocial based on broad qualitative features of their social systems. Often, however, species fall between categories or species within a category may differ from one another in ways that beg for a quantitative measure of their sociality level. Here, we propose such a quantitative measure in the form of an index that is based on three fundamental features of a social system: (1) the fraction of the life cycle that individuals remain in their social group, (2) the proportion of nests in a population that contain multiple vs. solitary individuals and (3) the proportion of adult members of a group that do not reproduce, but contribute to communal activities. These are measures that should be quantifiable in most social systems, with the first two reflecting the tendencies of individuals to live in groups as a result of philopatry, grouping tendencies and intraspecific tolerance, and the third potentially reflecting the tendencies of individuals to exhibit reproductive altruism. We argue that this index can serve not only as a way of ranking species along a sociality scale, but also as a means of determining how level of sociality correlates with other aspects of the biology of a group of organisms. We illustrate the calculation of this index for the cooperative social spiders and the African mole-rats and use it to analyse how sex ratios and interfemale spacing correlate with level of sociality in spider species in the genus Anelosimus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leticia Avilés
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Agnarsson I, Avilés L, Maddison WP. Loss of genetic variability in social spiders: genetic and phylogenetic consequences of population subdivision and inbreeding. J Evol Biol 2012; 26:27-37. [PMID: 23145542 PMCID: PMC3588177 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2012] [Accepted: 09/20/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The consequences of population subdivision and inbreeding have been studied in many organisms, particularly in plants. However, most studies focus on the short-term consequences, such as inbreeding depression. To investigate the consequences of both population fragmentation and inbreeding for genetic variability in the longer term, we here make use of a natural inbreeding experiment in spiders, where sociality and accompanying population subdivision and inbreeding have evolved repeatedly. We use mitochondrial and nuclear data to infer phylogenetic relationships among 170 individuals of Anelosimus spiders representing 23 species. We then compare relative mitochondrial and nuclear genetic variability of the inbred social species and their outbred relatives. We focus on four independently derived social species and four subsocial species, including two outbred–inbred sister species pairs. We find that social species have 50% reduced mitochondrial sequence divergence. As inbreeding is not expected to reduce genetic variability in the maternally inherited mitochondrial genome, this suggests the loss of variation due to strong population subdivision, founder effects, small effective population sizes (colonies as individuals) and lineage turnover. Social species have < 10% of the nuclear genetic variability of the outbred species, also suggesting the loss of genetic variability through founder effects and/or inbreeding. Inbred sociality hence may result in reduction in variability through various processes. Sociality in most Anelosimus species probably arose relatively recently (0.1–2 mya), with even the oldest social lineages having failed to diversify. This is consistent with the hypothesis that inbred spider sociality represents an evolutionary dead end. Heterosis underlies a species potential to respond to environmental change and/or disease. Inbreeding and loss of genetic variability may thus limit diversification in social Anelosimus lineages and similarly pose a threat to many wild populations subject to habitat fragmentation or reduced population sizes.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Agnarsson
- Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.
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