Tropical forest loss and geographic location drive the functional genomic diversity of an endangered palm tree

Human activity has diminished forests in different terrestrial ecosystems. This is well illustrated in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, which still hosts high levels of species richness and endemism, even with only 28% of its original extent remaining. The consequences of such forest loss in remaining populations can be investigated with several approaches, including the genomic perspective, which allows a broader understanding of how human disturbance influences the genetic variability in natural populations. In this context, our study investigated the genomic responses of Euterpe edulis Martius, an endangered palm tree, in forest remnants located in landscapes presenting different forest cover amount and composed by distinct bird assemblage that disperse its seeds. We sampled 22 areas of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest in four regions using SNP markers inserted into transcribed regions of the genome of E. edulis, distinguishing neutral loci from those putatively under natural selection (outlier). We demonstrate that populations show patterns of structure and genetic variability that differ between regions, as a possible reflection of deforestation and biogeographic histories. Deforested landscapes still maintain high neutral genetic diversity due to gene flow over short distances. Overall, we not only support previous evidence with microsatellite markers, but also show that deforestation can influence the genetic variability outlier, in the scenario of selective pressures imposed by these stressful environments. Based on our findings, we suggest that, to protect genetic diversity in the long term, it is necessary to reforest and enrich deforested areas, using seeds from populations in the same management target region.

Evaluation for the spatiotemporal patterns of ecological vulnerability and habitat quality: implications for supporting habitat conservation and healthy sustainable development

Currently, the rapid socioeconomic development and urbanization around the world have caused the ecological environment on the earth surface to become extremely fragile and destroyed. In addition, the increasing demand of human beings for material also leads to the unsustainable development of resources and environment. However, how to achieve the win-win goal between socioeconomic development and ecological protection in the context of these impacts? It is becoming a major problem for governments and policy makers. To further reveal the contradiction between man and land, taking Wuhan metropolitan area as the study area, this study mainly proposed a framework for the comprehensive optimization of landscape pattern and ecological environment and constructed the ecological vulnerability mixed evaluation model. Then, the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and trade-offs (InVEST) model was employed to evaluate the changes in habitat quality, focusing on the analysis of the impact mechanism of the evolution of ecological environment. This study found that the hybrid model of landscape vulnerability can successfully explore the landscape ecological vulnerability of Wuhan metropolitan area from 2000 to 2020, and its spatiotemporal differentiation pattern was obvious. The InVEST model showed that the habitat quality had obvious spatial differentiation. On the whole, the overall quality of the habitat was low and the degradation degree was high. Furthermore, our study also showed that the change of landscape ecological environment was influenced by the common potential of local nature and social economy, rather than a single factor. Finally, the main purpose of this study is to help scientifically formulate habitat protection and landscape planning strategies through in-depth study of landscape ecological environment, so as to alleviate man-land contradiction and support regional sustainable development.

Cascading Impacts of Seed Disperser Loss on Plant Communities and Ecosystems

Seed dispersal is key to the persistence and spread of plant populations. Because the majority of plant species rely on animals to disperse their seeds, global change drivers that directly affect animals can cause cascading impacts on plant communities. In this review, we synthesize studies assessing how disperser loss alters plant populations, community patterns, multitrophic interactions, and ecosystem functioning. We argue that the magnitude of risk to plants from disperser loss is shaped by the combination of a plant species’ inherent dependence on seed dispersal and the severity of the hazards faced by their dispersers. Because the factors determining a plant species’ risk of decline due to disperser loss can be related to traits of the plants and dispersers, our framework enables a trait-based understanding of change in plant community composition and ecosystem functioning. We discuss how interactions among plants, among dispersers, and across other trophic levels also mediate plant community responses, and we identify areas for future research to understand and mitigate the consequences of disperser loss on plants globally.

Phenotypic variation in urban environments: mechanisms and implications

In the past decade, numerous studies have explored how urbanisation affects the mean phenotypes of populations, but it remains unknown how urbanisation impacts phenotypic variation, a key target of selection that shapes, and is shaped by, eco-evolutionary processes. Our review suggests that urbanisation may often increase intraspecific phenotypic variation through several processes; a conclusion aligned with results from our illustrative analysis on tit morphology across 13 European city/forest population pairs. Urban-driven changes in phenotypic variation will have immense implications for urban populations and communities, particularly through urbanisation's effects on individual fitness, species interactions, and conservation. We call here for studies that incorporate phenotypic variation in urban eco-evolutionary research alongside advances in theory.

Within-Species Trait Variation Can Lead to Size Limitations in Seed Dispersal of Small-Fruited Plants

The inability of small-gaped animals to consume very large fruits may limit seed dispersal of the respective plants. This has often been shown for large-fruited plant species that remain poorly dispersed when large-gaped animal species are lost due to anthropogenic pressure. Little is known about whether gape-size limitations similarly influence seed dispersal of small-fruited plant species that can show a large variation in fruit size within species. In this study, fruit sizes of 15 plant species were compared with the gape sizes of their 41 animal dispersers in the temperate, old-growth Białowieża Forest, Poland. The effect of gape-size limitations on fruit consumption was assessed at the plant species level, and for a subset of nine plant species, also at the individual level, and subindividual level (i.e., fruits of the same plant individual). In addition, for the species subset, fruit-seed trait relationships were investigated to determine whether a restricted access of small-gaped animals to large fruits results in the dispersal of fewer or smaller seeds per fruit. Fruit sizes widely varied among plant species (74.2%), considerably at the subindividual level (17.1%), and to the smallest extent among plant individuals (8.7%). Key disperser species should be able to consume fruits of all plant species and all individuals (except those of the largest-fruited plant species), even if they are able to consume only 28-55% of available fruits. Fruit and seed traits were positively correlated in eight out of nine plant species, indicating that gape size limitations will result in 49% fewer (in one) or 16–21% smaller seeds (in three plant species) dispersed per fruit by small-gaped than by large-gaped main dispersers, respectively. Our results show that a large subindividual variation in fruit size is characteristic for small-fruited plant species, and increases their connectedness with frugivores at the level of plants species and individuals. Simultaneously, however, the large variation in fruit size leads to gape-size limitations that may induce selective pressures on fruit size if large-gaped dispersers become extinct. This study emphasizes the mechanisms by which gape-size limitation at the species, individual and subindividual level shape plant-frugivore interactions and the co-evolution of small-fruited plants.