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Turner WC, Périquet S, Goelst CE, Vera KB, Cameron EZ, Alexander KA, Belant JL, Cloete CC, du Preez P, Getz WM, Hetem RS, Kamath PL, Kasaona MK, Mackenzie M, Mendelsohn J, Mfune JK, Muntifering JR, Portas R, Scott HA, Strauss WM, Versfeld W, Wachter B, Wittemyer G, Kilian JW. Africa’s drylands in a changing world: Challenges for wildlife conservation under climate and land-use changes in the Greater Etosha Landscape. Glob Ecol Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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Shidemantle G, Blackwood J, Horn K, Velasquez I, Ronan E, Reinke B, Hua J. The morphological effects of artificial light at night on amphibian predators and prey are masked at the community level. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2022; 308:119604. [PMID: 35691446 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Revised: 06/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a pervasive pollutant that influences wildlife at both the individual and community level. In this study, we tested the individual-level effects of ALAN on three species of tadpole prey and their newt predators by measuring prey pigmentation and predator and prey mass. Then we evaluated whether the individual-level effects of ALAN on pigmentation and mass had cascading community-level effects by assessing the outcome of predator-prey interactions. We found that spring peepers exposed to ALAN were significantly darker than those reared under control conditions. Additionally, wood frogs reared in ALAN conditions were significantly smaller than those reared in control conditions. In contrast, Eastern newts collected earlier in the spring that were exposed to ALAN were significantly larger than controls while those collected later in the spring were not affected by ALAN, suggesting phenological differences in the effect of ALAN. To understand how changes in pigmentation and size due to ALAN influence predation rates, we ran predation assays in both ALAN-polluted and ALAN-free outdoor environments. After the predation assay, the size disparity in wood frogs reared in ALAN was eliminated such that there was no longer a treatment difference in wood frog size, likely due to size-selective predation. This demonstrates the beneficial nature of predators' selective pressure on prey populations. Lastly, despite individual-level effects of ALAN on pigmentation and mass, we did not detect cascading community-level effects on predation rates. Overall, this study highlights important species-level distinctions in the effects of ALAN. It also emphasizes the need to incorporate ecological complexity to understand the net impact of ALAN.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jurnee Blackwood
- Binghamton University, 4400 Vestal Pkway East, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA
| | - Kelsey Horn
- Binghamton University, 4400 Vestal Pkway East, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA
| | - Isabela Velasquez
- Binghamton University, 4400 Vestal Pkway East, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA
| | - Emily Ronan
- Binghamton University, 4400 Vestal Pkway East, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA
| | - Beth Reinke
- Northeastern Illinois University, 5500 N St Louis Ave, Chicago, IL, 60625, USA
| | - Jessica Hua
- Binghamton University, 4400 Vestal Pkway East, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA
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Does Exposure to Predator Cues Influence Movement Behavior of Postmetamorphic Juvenile Rana aurora? J HERPETOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1670/21-035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Du WG, Shine R. The behavioural and physiological ecology of embryos: responding to the challenges of life inside an egg. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2022; 97:1272-1286. [PMID: 35166012 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2021] [Revised: 02/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Adaptations of post-hatching animals have attracted far more study than have embryonic responses to environmental challenges, but recent research suggests that we have underestimated the complexity and flexibility of embryos. We advocate a dynamic view of embryos as organisms capable of responding - on both ecological and evolutionary timescales - to their developmental environments. By viewing embryos in this way, rather than assuming an inability of pre-hatching stages to adapt and respond, we can broaden the ontogenetic breadth of evolutionary and ecological research. Both biotic and abiotic factors affect embryogenesis, and embryos exhibit a broad range of behavioural and physiological responses that enable them to deal with changes in their developmental environments in the course of interactions with their parents, with other embryos, with predators, and with the physical environment. Such plasticity may profoundly affect offspring phenotypes and fitness, and in turn influence the temporal and spatial dynamics of populations and communities. Future research in this field could benefit from an integrated framework that combines multiple approaches (field investigations, manipulative experiments, ecological modelling) to clarify the mechanisms and consequences of embryonic adaptations and plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei-Guo Du
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Richard Shine
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia
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Heterothermy as a mechanism to offset energetic costs of environmental and homeostatic perturbations. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19038. [PMID: 34561468 PMCID: PMC8463709 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-96828-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Environmental and biotic pressures impose homeostatic costs on all organisms. The energetic costs of maintaining high body temperatures (Tb) render endotherms sensitive to pressures that increase foraging costs. In response, some mammals become more heterothermic to conserve energy. We measured Tb in banner-tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis) to test and disentangle the effects of air temperature and moonlight (a proxy for predation risk) on thermoregulatory homeostasis. We further perturbed homeostasis in some animals with chronic corticosterone (CORT) via silastic implants. Heterothermy increased across summer, consistent with the predicted effect of lunar illumination (and predation), and in the direction opposite to the predicted effect of environmental temperatures. The effect of lunar illumination was also evident within nights as animals maintained low Tb when the moon was above the horizon. The pattern was accentuated in CORT-treated animals, suggesting they adopted an even further heightened risk-avoidance strategy that might impose reduced foraging and energy intake. Still, CORT-treatment did not affect body condition over the entire study, indicating kangaroo rats offset decreases in energy intake through energy savings associated with heterothermy. Environmental conditions receive the most attention in studies of thermoregulatory homeostasis, but we demonstrated here that biotic factors can be more important and should be considered in future studies.
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Noseband sensor validation and behavioural indicators for assessing beef cattle grazing on extensive pastures. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2021.105402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Hammond TT, Ortiz-Jimenez CA, Smith JE. Anthropogenic Change Alters Ecological Relationships via Interactive Changes in Stress Physiology and Behavior within and among Organisms. Integr Comp Biol 2020; 60:57-69. [PMID: 31960928 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icaa001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Anthropogenic change has well-documented impacts on stress physiology and behavior across diverse taxonomic groups. Within individual organisms, physiological and behavioral traits often covary at proximate and ultimate timescales. In the context of global change, this means that impacts on physiology can have downstream impacts on behavior, and vice versa. Because all organisms interact with members of their own species and other species within their communities, the effects of humans on one organism can impose indirect effects on one or more other organisms, resulting in cascading effects across interaction networks. Human-induced changes in the stress physiology of one species and the downstream impacts on behavior can therefore interact with the physiological and behavioral responses of other organisms to alter emergent ecological phenomena. Here, we highlight three scenarios in which the stress physiology and behavior of individuals on different sides of an ecological relationship are interactively impacted by anthropogenic change. We discuss host-parasite/pathogen dynamics, predator-prey relationships, and beneficial partnerships (mutualisms and cooperation) in this framework, considering cases in which the effect of stressors on each type of network may be attenuated or enhanced by interactive changes in behavior and physiology. These examples shed light on the ways that stressors imposed at the level of one individual can impact ecological relationships to trigger downstream consequences for behavioral and ecological dynamics. Ultimately, changes in stress physiology on one or both sides of an ecological interaction can mediate higher-level population and community changes due in part to their cascading impacts on behavior. This framework may prove useful for anticipating and potentially mitigating previously underappreciated ecological responses to anthropogenic perturbations in a rapidly changing world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talisin T Hammond
- San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, Escondido, CA 92027, USA
| | - Chelsea A Ortiz-Jimenez
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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González-Tokman D, Córdoba-Aguilar A, Dáttilo W, Lira-Noriega A, Sánchez-Guillén RA, Villalobos F. Insect responses to heat: physiological mechanisms, evolution and ecological implications in a warming world. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2020; 95:802-821. [PMID: 32035015 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 168] [Impact Index Per Article: 42.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2019] [Revised: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 01/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Surviving changing climate conditions is particularly difficult for organisms such as insects that depend on environmental temperature to regulate their physiological functions. Insects are extremely threatened by global warming, since many do not have enough physiological tolerance even to survive continuous exposure to the current maximum temperatures experienced in their habitats. Here, we review literature on the physiological mechanisms that regulate responses to heat and provide heat tolerance in insects: (i) neuronal mechanisms to detect and respond to heat; (ii) metabolic responses to heat; (iii) thermoregulation; (iv) stress responses to tolerate heat; and (v) hormones that coordinate developmental and behavioural responses at warm temperatures. Our review shows that, apart from the stress response mediated by heat shock proteins, the physiological mechanisms of heat tolerance in insects remain poorly studied. Based on life-history theory, we discuss the costs of heat tolerance and the potential evolutionary mechanisms driving insect adaptations to high temperatures. Some insects may deal with ongoing global warming by the joint action of phenotypic plasticity and genetic adaptation. Plastic responses are limited and may not be by themselves enough to withstand ongoing warming trends. Although the evidence is still scarce and deserves further research in different insect taxa, genetic adaptation to high temperatures may result from rapid evolution. Finally, we emphasize the importance of incorporating physiological information for modelling species distributions and ecological interactions under global warming scenarios. This review identifies several open questions to improve our understanding of how insects respond physiologically to heat and the evolutionary and ecological consequences of those responses. Further lines of research are suggested at the species, order and class levels, with experimental and analytical approaches such as artificial selection, quantitative genetics and comparative analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel González-Tokman
- CONACYT, CDMX, 03940, Mexico.,Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A. C, Xalapa, 91073, Mexico
| | - Alex Córdoba-Aguilar
- Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Circuito exterior s/n Ciudad Universitaria, CDMX, 04510, Mexico
| | - Wesley Dáttilo
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A. C, Xalapa, 91073, Mexico
| | - Andrés Lira-Noriega
- CONACYT, CDMX, 03940, Mexico.,Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología A. C, Xalapa, 91073, Mexico
| | | | - Fabricio Villalobos
- Red de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología A. C, Xalapa, 91073, Mexico
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