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Amarasekare P. Pattern and Process in a Rapidly Changing World: Ideas and Approaches. Am Nat 2024; 204:361-369. [PMID: 39326058 DOI: 10.1086/731993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/28/2024]
Abstract
AbstractScience is as dynamic as the world around us. Our ideas continually change, as do the approaches we use to study science. Few things remain invariant in this changing landscape, but a fascination with pattern and process is one that has endured throughout the history of science. Paying homage to this long-held tradition, the 2023 Vice Presidential Symposium of the American Society of Naturalists focused on the role of pattern and process in ecology and evolution. It brought together a group of early-career researchers working on topics ranging from genetic diversity in microbes to changing patterns of species interactions in the geological record. Their work spanned the taxonomic spectrum from microbes to mammals, the temporal dimension from the Cenozoic to the present, and approaches ranging from manipulative experiments to comparative approaches. In this introductory article, I discuss how these diverse topics are linked by the common thread of elucidating processes underlying patterns and how they collectively generate novel insights into diversity maintenance at different levels of organization.
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Kemp ME. Assembly, Persistence, and Disassembly Dynamics of Quaternary Caribbean Frugivore Communities. Am Nat 2024; 204:400-415. [PMID: 39326059 DOI: 10.1086/731994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/28/2024]
Abstract
AbstractHow communities assemble and restructure is of critical importance to ecological theory, evolutionary theory, and conservation, but long-term perspectives on the patterns and processes of community assembly are rarely integrated into traditional community ecology, and the utility of communities as an ecological concept has been repeatedly questioned in part because of a lack of temporal perspective. Through a synthesis of paleontological and neontological data, I reconstruct Caribbean frugivore communities over the Quaternary (2.58 million years ago to present). Numerous Caribbean frugivore lineages arise during periods coincident with the global origins of plant-frugivore mutualisms. The persistence of many of these lineages into the Quaternary is indicative of long-term community stability, but an analysis of Quaternary extinctions reveals a nonrandom loss of large-bodied mammalian and reptilian frugivores. Anthropogenic impacts, including human niche construction, underlie the recent reorganization of frugivore communities, setting the stage for continued declines and evolutionary responses in plants that have lost mutualistic partners. These impacts also support ongoing and future introductions of invader complexes: introduced plants and frugivores that further exacerbate native biodiversity loss by interacting more strongly with one another than with native plants or frugivores. This work illustrates the importance of paleontological data and perspectives in conceptualizing ecological communities, which are dynamic and important entities.
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Krebs SA, Schummer ML. A review of plant phenolics and endozoochory. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e70255. [PMID: 39290664 PMCID: PMC11405292 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.70255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2024] [Revised: 08/15/2024] [Accepted: 08/19/2024] [Indexed: 09/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Phenolic compounds (phenolics) are secondary metabolites ubiquitous across plants. The earliest phenolics are linked to plants' successful transition from an aquatic to a terrestrial environment, serving as protection against damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and as antioxidants to reduce oxidative stress in an atmosphere with an increasingly high O2:CO2 ratio. In modern plants, phenolics are best known for the defense against fungal and bacterial pathogens and as antifeedants that deter herbivory. Phenolics also play a role in seed dormancy, delaying germination, and lengthening viability in the seed bank. Many plants' seeds are endozoochorous - dispersed by animals, like birds, who eat and later excrete the seeds. Plants send visual signals to attract birds with UV-sensitive (UVS) vision for pollination and seed dispersal. As fruits ripen, antioxidant activity and phenolic content decrease. The waxy cuticle of fruits increases in UV reflection as phenolic rings, which absorb UV light, degrade. The UV contrast that birds detect may act as an honest signal, indicating nutritional changes in the fruit. However, there is little evidence to support the evolution of UV coloration during ripening being driven by frugivore selection. Antioxidant properties of fruit phenolics may be dually adaptive in plants and avian frugivores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel A Krebs
- Department of Environmental Biology State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) Syracuse New York USA
| | - Michael L Schummer
- Department of Environmental Biology State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) Syracuse New York USA
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Messeder JVS, Carlo TA, Zhang G, Tovar JD, Arana C, Huang J, Huang CH, Ma H. A highly resolved nuclear phylogeny uncovers strong phylogenetic conservatism and correlated evolution of fruit color and size in Solanum L. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2024; 243:765-780. [PMID: 38798267 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Mutualisms between plants and fruit-eating animals were key to the radiation of angiosperms. Still, phylogenetic uncertainties limit our understanding of fleshy-fruit evolution, as in the case of Solanum, a genus with remarkable fleshy-fruit diversity, but with unresolved phylogenetic relationships. We used 1786 nuclear genes from 247 species, including 122 newly generated transcriptomes/genomes, to reconstruct the Solanum phylogeny and examine the tempo and mode of the evolution of fruit color and size. Our analysis resolved the backbone phylogeny of Solanum, providing high support for its clades. Our results pushed back the origin of Solanum to 53.1 million years ago (Ma), with most major clades diverging between 35 and 27 Ma. Evolution of Solanum fruit color and size revealed high levels of trait conservatism, where medium-sized berries that remain green when ripe are the likely ancestral form. Our analyses revealed that fruit size and color are evolutionary correlated, where dull-colored fruits are two times larger than black/purple and red fruits. We conclude that the strong phylogenetic conservatism shown in the color and size of Solanum fruits could limit the influences of fruit-eating animals on fleshy-fruit evolution. Our findings highlight the importance of phylogenetic constraints on the diversification of fleshy-fruit functional traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Vitor S Messeder
- Department of Biology, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
- Graduate Program in Ecology, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Tomás A Carlo
- Department of Biology, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
- Graduate Program in Ecology, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Guojin Zhang
- Department of Biology, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Juan David Tovar
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM, 69060-001, Brazil
| | - César Arana
- Museo de Historia Natural and Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, 15072, Peru
| | - Jie Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Plant Biology, Center of Evolutionary Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Chien-Hsun Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Plant Biology, Center of Evolutionary Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
- State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation & Breeding of Grassland Livestock, Key Laboratory of Herbage & Endemic Crop Biology of Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010000, China
| | - Hong Ma
- Department of Biology, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
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Lopes JC, Fonseca LHM, Johnson DM, Luebert F, Murray N, Nge FJ, Rodrigues-Vaz C, Soulé V, Onstein RE, Lohmann LG, Couvreur TLP. Dispersal from Africa to the Neotropics was followed by multiple transitions across Neotropical biomes facilitated by frugivores. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2024; 133:659-676. [PMID: 37968940 PMCID: PMC11082516 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcad175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM Plant disjunctions have fascinated biogeographers and ecologists for a long time. We use tribe Bocageeae (Annonaceae), a predominantly Neotropical plant group distributed across several present-day Neotropical biomes and with an African-American disjunction, to investigate long-distance dispersal mediated by frugivorous animals at both intercontinental and intracontinental scales. METHODS We reconstructed a species-level phylogeny of tribe Bocageeae with a dataset composed of 116 nuclear markers. We sampled 70 % of Bocageeae species, covering their geographical range and representing all eight genera. We estimated divergence times using BEAST, inferred ancestral range distributions and reconstructed ancestral states for fruit traits related to long-distance dispersal in a Bayesian framework. KEY RESULTS The ancestral Bocageeae date to the Early Eocene and were inferred to occur in Africa and proto-Amazonia. Their ancestral fruits were large and dehiscent. The first lineage split gave rise to an exclusively Neotropical clade during the Middle Eocene, in proto-Amazonia. Range exchange between the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest occurred at least once during the Miocene, and from Amazonia to Central America and Mexico during the Early Miocene. Transitions in different sets of fruit morphologies were inferred to be related to dispersal events across South American regions/biomes. CONCLUSIONS In Bocageeae, mammals might have been responsible for long-distance dispersal through the Boreotropics. In the Neotropics, proto-Amazonia is proposed to be the source for dispersal to other tropical American biomes. Long-distance dispersal might have happened via a wide range of dispersal guilds, depending on frugivore radiations, diversity and abundance in particular time periods and places. Hence, inter- and intracontinental dispersal might not rely on a single dispersal syndrome or guild, but more on the availability of frugivorous lineages for seed dispersal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenifer C Lopes
- Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - David M Johnson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH, USA
| | - Federico Luebert
- Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales y Recursos Naturales Renovables Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Departmento de Silvicultura y Conservación de la Naturaleza, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Nancy Murray
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH, USA
| | - Francis J Nge
- IRD, UMR DIADE, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Carlos Rodrigues-Vaz
- IRD, UMR DIADE, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle-CNRS-SU-EPHE-UA, Paris, France
| | - Vincent Soulé
- IRD, UMR DIADE, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Renske E Onstein
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Lúcia G Lohmann
- Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- University and Jepson Herbaria, and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Thomas L P Couvreur
- IRD, UMR DIADE, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Naware D, Benson R. Patterns of variation in fleshy diaspore size and abundance from Late Triassic-Oligocene. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:430-457. [PMID: 38081480 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
Vertebrate-mediated seed dispersal is a common attribute of many living plants, and variation in the size and abundance of fleshy diaspores is influenced by regional climate and by the nature of vertebrate seed dispersers among present-day floras. However, potential drivers of large-scale variation in the abundance and size distributions of fleshy diaspores through geological time, and the importance of geographic variation, are incompletely known. This knowledge gap is important because fleshy diaspores are a key mechanism of energy transfer from photosynthesis to animals and may in part explain the diversification of major groups within birds and mammals. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain variation in the abundance and size distribution of fleshy diaspores through time, including plant-frugivore co-evolution, angiosperm diversification, and changes in vegetational structure and climate. We present a new data set of more than 800 georeferenced fossil diaspore occurrences spanning the Triassic-Oligocene, across low to mid- to high palaeolatitudes. We use this to quantify patterns of long-term change in fleshy diaspores, examining the timing and geographical context of important shifts as a test of the potential evolutionary and climatic explanations. We find that the fleshy fruit sizes of angiosperms increased for much of the Cretaceous, during the early diversification of angiosperms from herbaceous ancestors with small fruits. Nevertheless, this did not cause a substantial net change in the fleshy diaspore size distributions across seed plants, because gymnosperms had achieved a similar size distribution by at least the Late Triassic. Furthermore, gymnosperm-dominated Mesozoic ecosystems were mostly open, and harboured low proportions of specialised frugivores until the latest Cretaceous, suggesting that changes in vegetation structure and plant-frugivore co-evolution were probably not important drivers of fleshy diaspore size distributions over long timescales. Instead, fleshy diaspore size distributions may be largely constrained by physical or life-history limits that are shared among groups and diversify as a plant group expands into different growth forms/sizes, habitats, and climate regimes. Mesozoic gymnosperm floras had a low abundance of fleshy diaspores (<50% fleshy diaspore taxa), that was surpassed by some low-latitude angiosperm floras in the Cretaceous. Eocene angiosperm floras show a mid- to high latitude peak in fleshy fruit abundance, with very high proportions of fleshy fruits that even exceed those seen at low latitudes both in the Eocene and today. Mid- to high latitude proportions of fleshy fruits declined substantially over the Eocene-Oligocene transition, resulting in a shift to more modern-like geographic distributions with the highest proportion of fleshy fruits occurring in low-latitude tropical assemblages. This shift was coincident with global cooling and the onset of Southern Hemisphere glaciation, suggesting that rapid cooling at mid- and high latitudes caused a decrease in availability of the climate conditions most favourable for fleshy fruits in angiosperms. Future research could be focused on examining the environmental niches of modern fleshy fruits, and the potential effects of climate change on fleshy fruit and frugivore diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duhita Naware
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Roger Benson
- American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY, 10024-5102, USA
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Borin JM, Lee JJ, Lucia-Sanz A, Gerbino KR, Weitz JS, Meyer JR. Rapid bacteria-phage coevolution drives the emergence of multiscale networks. Science 2023; 382:674-678. [PMID: 37943920 DOI: 10.1126/science.adi5536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
Interactions between species catalyze the evolution of multiscale ecological networks, including both nested and modular elements that regulate the function of diverse communities. One common assumption is that such complex pattern formation requires spatial isolation or long evolutionary timescales. We show that multiscale network structure can evolve rapidly under simple ecological conditions without spatial structure. In just 21 days of laboratory coevolution, Escherichia coli and bacteriophage Φ21 coevolve and diversify to form elaborate cross-infection networks. By measuring ~10,000 phage-bacteria infections and testing the genetic basis of interactions, we identify the mechanisms that create each component of the multiscale pattern. Our results demonstrate how multiscale networks evolve in parasite-host systems, illustrating Darwin's idea that simple adaptive processes can generate entangled banks of ecological interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua M Borin
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Justin J Lee
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Adriana Lucia-Sanz
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Krista R Gerbino
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Joshua S Weitz
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Institut de Biologie, École Normale Supérieure, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Justin R Meyer
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
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Nevo O, Filla C, Valenta K, Schupp EW. What drives seed dispersal effectiveness? Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10459. [PMID: 37664501 PMCID: PMC10468987 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Seed dispersal is a critical phase in plant reproduction and forest regeneration. In many systems, the vast majority of woody species rely on seed dispersal by fruit-eating animals. Animals differ in their size, movement patterns, seed handling, gut physiology, and many other factors that affect the number of seeds they disperse, the quality of treatment each individual seed receives, and consequently their relative contribution to plant fitness. The seed dispersal effectiveness framework (SDE) was developed to allow systematic and standardized quantification of these processes, offering a potential for understanding the large-scale dynamics of animal-plant interactions and the ecological and evolutionary consequences of animal behavior for plant reproductive success. Yet, despite its wide acceptance, the SDE framework has primarily been employed descriptively, almost always in the context of local systems. As such, the drivers of variation in SDE across systems and the relationship between its components remain unknown. We systematically searched studies that quantified endozoochorous SDE for multiple animal species dispersing one or more plant species in a given system and offered an integrative examination of the factors driving variation in SDE. Specifically, we addressed three main questions: (a) Is there a tradeoff between high dispersal quality and quantity? (b) Does animal body mass affect SDE or its main components? and (c) What drives more variation in SDE, seed dispersal quality, or quantity? We found that: (a) the relationship between quality and quantity is mediated by body size; (b) this is the result of differential relationships between body mass and the two components, while total SDE is unaffected by body mass; (c)neither quality nor quantity explain more variance in SDE globally. Our results also highlight the need for more standardized data to assess large-scale patterns in SDE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omer Nevo
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐LeipzigLeipzigGermany
- Institute of BiodiversityFriedrich Schiller University JenaJenaGermany
| | - Caitlynn Filla
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of FloridaGainesvilleFloridaUSA
| | - Kim Valenta
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of FloridaGainesvilleFloridaUSA
| | - Eugene W. Schupp
- Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology CenterUtah State UniversityLoganUtahUSA
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD‐CSIC)Integrative Ecology GroupSevillaSpain
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Kahnt B, Theodorou P, Grimm-Seyfarth A, Onstein RE. When lizards try out a more plant-based lifestyle: The macroevolution of mutualistic lizard-plant-interactions (Squamata: Sauria/Lacertilia). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2023:107839. [PMID: 37290582 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107839] [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: 09/12/2022] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Pollination and seed dispersal of plants by animals are key mutualistic processes for the conservation of plant diversity and ecosystem functioning. Although different animals frequently act as pollinators or seed dispersers, some species can provide both functions, so-called 'double mutualists', suggesting that the evolution of pollination and seed dispersal may be linked. Here, we assess the macroevolution of mutualistic behaviours in lizards (Lacertilia) by applying comparative methods to a phylogeny comprising 2,838 species. We found that both flower visitation (potential pollination) (recorded in 64 species [2.3% of total] across 9 families) and seed dispersal (recorded in 382 species [13,5% of total] across 26 families) have evolved repeatedly in Lacertilia. Furthermore, we found that seed dispersal activity pre-dated flower visitation and that the evolution of seed dispersal activity and flower visitation was correlated, illustrating a potential evolutionary mechanism behind the emergence of double mutualisms. Finally, we provide evidence that lineages with flower visitation or seed dispersal activity have higher diversification rates than lineages lacking these behaviours. Our study illustrates the repeated innovation of (double) mutualisms across Lacertilia and we argue that island settings may provide the ecological conditions under which (double) mutualisms persist over macroevolutionary timescales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Belinda Kahnt
- General Zoology, Institute of Biology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Hoher Weg 8, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Panagiotis Theodorou
- General Zoology, Institute of Biology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Hoher Weg 8, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Annegret Grimm-Seyfarth
- Department of Conservation Biology and Social-Ecological Systems, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Renske E Onstein
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg, 2 2333CR Leiden, the Netherlands
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Chen X, Qin Y, Jia D. The fruit morphometric variation and fruit type evolution of the stone oaks (Fagaceae, Lithocarpus). BMC PLANT BIOLOGY 2023; 23:229. [PMID: 37120523 PMCID: PMC10148511 DOI: 10.1186/s12870-023-04237-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The great species diversity of Lithocarpus is associated with interspecific fruit morphological variation, represented by acorn (AC) and enclosed receptacle (ER) fruit types. Species representing both fruit types co-occur in the same forests and share two distribution centers in southern China and southeastern Asia. The predation selection hypothesis suggests that the fruit morphological mechanical trade-off between two fruit types could represent divergent dispersal strategies under varied predation pressures. By integrating phylogenetic construction with fruit morphometric study, we tried to verify the predation selection hypothesis and elucidate the fruit type evolution of Lithocarpus, which is critical in interpreting the distribution and diversification of the genus. RESULTS We identified the functional trade-off between the two fruit types: ER species have bigger seeds which are enclosed mainly by receptacle representing stronger physical defense; whereas the seeds of AC species are smaller and enclosed mainly by thin pericarp representing lower mechanical protection. Despite some reversals from ER back to AC, the ancestral state reconstruction in combination with thermal analysis supports the hypothesis that ER is the derived fruit type from AC-like ancestors independently across all clades. CONCLUSION Our results support the predation selection hypothesis by verifying the mechanical trade-off between the two fruit types. We propose a divergent selection theory for the two fruit types: the seed size and mechanical defense of AC species become smaller, whereas those of ER species become larger and require more morphological modifications in the receptacle. This signified the importance of the receptacle in differentiating the two fruit types and in the fruit morphological modification through evolutionary time. We found that the ER-type species evolved independently in all clades and across varied climates from tropical to warm temperate regions. As ER fruits are products of convergent evolution, we propose to examine the predation and dispersal variation between two fruit types in the future to verify whether predation selection is the reason behind fruit type evolution of the stone oaks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xi Chen
- School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, China.
- Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Adaptation and Evolutionary Ecology and Institute of Biodiversity, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650504, Yunnan, China.
| | - Yuanyi Qin
- School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, China
| | - Dongrui Jia
- School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, China
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Rehling F, Jongejans E, Schlautmann J, Albrecht J, Fassbender H, Jaroszewicz B, Matthies D, Waldschmidt L, Farwig N, Schabo DG. Common seed dispersers contribute most to the persistence of a fleshy-fruited tree. Commun Biol 2023; 6:330. [PMID: 36973362 PMCID: PMC10043030 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04647-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Mutualistic interactions are by definition beneficial for each contributing partner. However, it is insufficiently understood how mutualistic interactions influence partners throughout their lives. Here, we used animal species-explicit, microhabitat-structured integral projection models to quantify the effect of seed dispersal by 20 animal species on the full life cycle of the tree Frangula alnus in Białowieża Forest, Eastern Poland. Our analysis showed that animal seed dispersal increased population growth by 2.5%. The effectiveness of animals as seed dispersers was strongly related to the interaction frequency but not the quality of seed dispersal. Consequently, the projected population decline due to simulated species extinction was driven by the loss of common rather than rare mutualist species. Our results support the notion that frequently interacting mutualists contribute most to the persistence of the populations of their partners, underscoring the role of common species for ecosystem functioning and nature conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Finn Rehling
- University of Marburg, Department of Biology, Conservation Ecology, Marburg, Germany.
- University of Marburg, Department of Biology, Animal Ecology, Marburg, Germany.
| | - Eelke Jongejans
- Radboud University, RIBES, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- NIOO-KNAW, Department of Animal Ecology, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Jan Schlautmann
- University of Marburg, Department of Biology, Conservation Ecology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Jörg Albrecht
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Hubert Fassbender
- University of Marburg, Department of Biology, Conservation Ecology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Bogdan Jaroszewicz
- University of Warsaw, Faculty of Biology, Białowieża Geobotanical Station, Białowieża, Poland
| | - Diethart Matthies
- University of Marburg, Department of Biology, Plant Ecology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Lina Waldschmidt
- University of Marburg, Department of Biology, Conservation Ecology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Nina Farwig
- University of Marburg, Department of Biology, Conservation Ecology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Dana G Schabo
- University of Marburg, Department of Biology, Conservation Ecology, Marburg, Germany
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Hazell RJ, Sam K, Sreekar R, Yama S, Koagouw W, Stewart AJA, Peck MR. Bird preferences for fruit size, but not color, vary in accordance with fruit traits along a tropical elevational gradient. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9835. [PMID: 36818525 PMCID: PMC9929344 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9835] [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: 09/27/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Birds constitute one of the most important seed dispersal agents globally, especially in the tropics. The feeding preferences of frugivorous birds are, therefore, potentially of great ecological importance. A number of laboratory-based and observational studies have attempted to ascertain the preferences of certain bird species for certain fruit traits. However, little attention has been paid to community-wide preferences of frugivorous birds and the impact this may have on fruit traits on a broader scale. Here, we used artificial fruits of different colors and sizes to investigate community-wide fruit trait preferences of birds at three sites along an elevational gradient in Papua New Guinea. We recorded attack rates on artificial fruits as visible impressions made by a bird's beak during a feeding attempt. We also measured the colors and sizes of real fruits at each site, and the gape widths of frugivorous birds, allowing for comparisons between bird feeding preferences and bird and fruit traits. Regardless of elevation, red and purple fruits were universally preferred to green and attacked at similar rates to one another, despite strong elevational patterns in real fruit color. However, elevation had a significant effect on fruit size preferences. A weak, non-significant preference for large fruits was recorded at 700 m, while medium fruits were strongly preferred at 1700 m and small fruits at 2700 m. These patterns mirror those of both real fruit size and frugivorous bird gape width along the gradient, suggesting the potential for selective pressure of birds on fruit size at different elevations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J. Hazell
- Department of Evolution, Behaviour and Environment, School of Life SciencesUniversity of SussexBrightonUK
| | - Katerina Sam
- Biology Centre of Czech Academy of SciencesInstitute of EntomologyCeske BudejoviceCzech Republic
- Faculty of ScienceUniversity of South BohemiaCeske BudejoviceCzech Republic
| | - Rachakonda Sreekar
- Biology Centre of Czech Academy of SciencesInstitute of EntomologyCeske BudejoviceCzech Republic
| | - Samson Yama
- New Guinea Binatang Research CentreMadangPapua New Guinea
| | - Wulan Koagouw
- National Research and Innovation AgencyCentral JakartaIndonesia
| | - Alan J. A. Stewart
- Department of Evolution, Behaviour and Environment, School of Life SciencesUniversity of SussexBrightonUK
| | - Mika R. Peck
- Department of Evolution, Behaviour and Environment, School of Life SciencesUniversity of SussexBrightonUK
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13
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Leslie AB, Benson RBJ. Neontological and paleontological congruence in the evolution of Podocarpaceae (coniferales) reproductive morphology. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.1058746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
IntroductionPodocarpaceae are a diverse, primarily tropical conifer family that commonly produce large leaves and highly reduced, fleshy seed cones bearing large seeds. These features may result from relatively recent adaptation to closed-canopy angiosperm forests and bird-mediated seed dispersal, although determining precisely when shifts in leaf and seed cone morphology occurred is difficult due to a sparse fossil record and relatively few surviving deep lineages.MethodsWe compare the fossil record of Podocarpaceae with results from ancestral state reconstruction methods and correlated character models using neontological data and a previously published molecular time-tree.ResultsAncestral state reconstructions suggest that small leaves, small seeds, and multi-seeded cones are ancestral in crown Podocarpaceae, with reduced cones bearing few seeds appearing in the Early Cretaceous and the correlated evolution of large leaves and large seeds occurring from the Late Cretaceous onwards. The exact timing of these shifts based on neontological data alone are poorly constrained, however, and estimates of leaf and seed size are imprecise.DiscussionThe fossil record is largely congruent with results based on the molecular time-tree, but provide important constraints on the range of leaf and seed sizes that were present in Cretaceous Podocarpaceae and the time by which changes in cone morphology and seed size likely occurred. We suggest in particular that reduced seed cones appeared in the Early Cretaceous and are linked to the contemporaneous diversification of small bodied avialans (birds), with shifts to larger seed sizes occurring after the Cretaceous in association with the spread of closed-canopy angiosperm forests.
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14
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Hagen EH. The Biological Roots of Music and Dance : Extending the Credible Signaling Hypothesis to Predator Deterrence. HUMAN NATURE (HAWTHORNE, N.Y.) 2022; 33:261-279. [PMID: 35986877 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-022-09429-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
After they diverged from panins, hominins evolved an increasingly committed terrestrial lifestyle in open habitats that exposed them to increased predation pressure from Africa's formidable predator guild. In the Pleistocene, Homo transitioned to a more carnivorous lifestyle that would have further increased predation pressure. An effective defense against predators would have required a high degree of cooperation by the smaller and slower hominins. It is in the interest of predator and potential prey to avoid encounters that will be costly for both. A wide variety of species, including carnivores and apes and other primates, have therefore evolved visual and auditory signals that deter predators by credibly signaling detection and/or the ability to effectively defend themselves. In some cooperative species, these predator deterrent signals involve highly synchronized visual and auditory displays among group members. Hagen and Bryant (Human Nature, 14(1), 21-51, 2003) proposed that synchronized visual and auditory displays credibly signal coalition quality. Here, this hypothesis is extended to include credible signals to predators that they have been detected and would be met with a highly coordinated defensive response, thereby deterring an attack. Within-group signaling functions are also proposed. The evolved cognitive abilities underlying these behaviors were foundations for the evolution of fully human music and dance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward H Hagen
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Ave, Vancouver, WA, 98686, USA.
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15
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The strawberry-derived permeation enhancer pelargonidin enables oral protein delivery. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2207829119. [PMID: 35943988 PMCID: PMC9388159 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2207829119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Although patients generally prefer oral drug delivery to injections, low permeability of the gastrointestinal tract makes this method impossible for most biomacromolecules. One potential solution is codelivery of macromolecules, including therapeutic proteins or nucleic acids, with intestinal permeation enhancers; however, enhancer use has been limited clinically by modest efficacy and toxicity concerns surrounding long-term administration. Here, we hypothesized that plant-based foods, which are well tolerated by the gastrointestinal tract, may contain compounds that enable oral macromolecular absorption without causing adverse effects. Upon testing more than 100 fruits, vegetables, and herbs, we identified strawberry and its red pigment, pelargonidin, as potent, well-tolerated enhancers of intestinal permeability. In mice, an oral capsule formulation comprising pelargonidin and a 1 U/kg dose of insulin reduced blood glucose levels for over 4 h, with bioactivity exceeding 100% relative to subcutaneous injection. Effects were reversible within 2 h and associated with actin and tight junction rearrangement. Furthermore, daily dosing of mice with pelargonidin for 1 mo resulted in no detectable side effects, including weight loss, tissue damage, or inflammatory responses. These data suggest that pelargonidin is an exceptionally effective enhancer of oral protein uptake that may be safe for routine pharmaceutical use.
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16
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Rojas TN, Zampini IC, Isla MI, Blendinger PG. Fleshy fruit traits and seed dispersers: which traits define syndromes? ANNALS OF BOTANY 2022; 129:831-838. [PMID: 34918034 PMCID: PMC9292605 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcab150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Fruit traits and their inter-relationships can affect foraging choices by frugivores, and hence the probability of mutualistic interactions. Certain combinations of fruit traits that determine the interaction with specific seed dispersers are known as dispersal syndromes. The dispersal syndrome hypothesis (DSH) states that seed dispersers influence the combination of fruit traits found in fruits. Therefore, fruit traits can predict the type of dispersers with which plant species interact. Here, we analysed whether relationships of fruit traits can be explained by the DSH. To do so, we estimated the inter-relationships between morphological, chemical and display groups of fruit traits. In addition, we tested the importance of each trait group defining seed dispersal syndromes. METHODS Using phylogenetically corrected fruit trait data and fruit-seed disperser networks, we tested the relationships among morphological, chemical and display fruit traits with Pearson's correlations and phenotypic integration indices. Then, we used perMANOVA to test if the fruit traits involved in the analysis supported the functional types of seed dispersers. KEY RESULTS Morphological traits showed strong intragroup relationships, in contrast to chemical and display traits whose intragroup trait relationships were weak or null. Accordingly, only the morphological group of traits supported three broad seed disperser functional types (birds, terrestrial mammals and bats), consistent with the DSH. CONCLUSIONS Altogether, our results give some support to the DSH. Here, the three groups of traits interacted in different ways with seed disperser biology. Broad functional types of seed dispersers would adjust fruit consumption to anatomical limitations imposed by fruit morphology. Once this anatomical filter is sovercome, seed dispersers use almost all the range of variation in chemical and display fruit traits. This suggests that the effect of seed dispersers on fruit traits is modulated by hierarchical decisions. First, morphological constraints define which interactions can actually occur; subsequently, display and composition determine fruit preferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Nicolas Rojas
- Instituto de Ecología Regional, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán & CONICET, CC 34, 4107 Yerba Buena, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Iris Catiana Zampini
- Instituto de Bioprospección y Fisiología Vegetal, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán & CONICET, San Lorenzo 1469, 4000 San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Miguel Lillo 2005, 4000 San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - María Inés Isla
- Instituto de Bioprospección y Fisiología Vegetal, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán & CONICET, San Lorenzo 1469, 4000 San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Miguel Lillo 2005, 4000 San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Pedro G Blendinger
- Instituto de Ecología Regional, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán & CONICET, CC 34, 4107 Yerba Buena, Tucumán, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Miguel Lillo 2005, 4000 San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina
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17
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The Synergy of Patterns vs. Processes at Community Level: A Key Linkage for Subtropical Native Forests along the Urban Riparian Zone. FORESTS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/f13071041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Riparian zones possesses unique ecological position with biota differing from aquatic body and terrestrial lands, and plant–animal coevolution through a propagule-dispersal process may be the main factor for the framework of riparian vegetation was proposed. In the current study, the riparian forests and avifauna along with three subtropical mountainous riparian belts of Chongqing, China, were investigated, and multivariate analysis technique was adopted to examine the associations among the plants’ and birds’ species. The results show that: (1) the forest species’ composition and vertical layers are dominated by native catkins of Moraceae species, which have the reproductive traits with small and numerous propagules facilitating by frugivorous bird species, revealing an evolutionary trend different from the one in the terrestrial plant climax communities in the subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests. The traits may provide a biological base for the plant–bird coevolution; (2) there are significant associations of plant–bird species clusters, i.e., four plant–bird coevolution groups (PBs) were divided out according to the plant species’ dominance and growth form relating to the fruit-dispersing birds’ abundance; (3) the correlation intensity within a PB ranks as PB I > II > IV > III, indicating the PB I is the leading type of coevolution mainly shaped by the dominant plant species of Moraceae; (4) the PB correlation may be a key node between patterns vs. process of a riparian ecosystem responsible for the riparian native vegetation, or even the ecosystem health. Our results contribute understanding the plant–animal coevolution interpreting the forests’ structures in riparian environments. The results may also be used by urban planner and managers to simulate the patterns for restoring a more stable riparian biota, a better functioning ecosystem in subtropical zone.
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18
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de Raad J, Päckert M, Irestedt M, Janke A, Kryukov AP, Martens J, Red'kin YA, Sun Y, Töpfer T, Schleuning M, Neuschulz EL, Nilsson MA. Speciation and population divergence in a mutualistic seed dispersing bird. Commun Biol 2022; 5:429. [PMID: 35534538 PMCID: PMC9085801 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03364-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Bird-mediated seed dispersal is crucial for the regeneration and viability of ecosystems, often resulting in complex mutualistic species networks. Yet, how this mutualism drives the evolution of seed dispersing birds is still poorly understood. In the present study we combine whole genome re-sequencing analyses and morphometric data to assess the evolutionary processes that shaped the diversification of the Eurasian nutcracker (Nucifraga), a seed disperser known for its mutualism with pines (Pinus). Our results show that the divergence and phylogeographic patterns of nutcrackers resemble those of other non-mutualistic passerine birds and suggest that their early diversification was shaped by similar biogeographic and climatic processes. The limited variation in foraging traits indicates that local adaptation to pines likely played a minor role. Our study shows that close mutualistic relationships between bird and plant species might not necessarily act as a primary driver of evolution and diversification in resource-specialized birds. Genomic and phylogeographic analyses indicate that resource-specialization did not play a major role in the diversification and speciation of seed dispersing nutcrackers
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordi de Raad
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt, Germany.,Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Martin Päckert
- Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen Dresden, Museum für Tierkunde, Königsbrücker Landstraße 159, 01109, Dresden, Germany
| | - Martin Irestedt
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Frescativägen 40, 114 18, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Axel Janke
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt, Germany.,Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Alexey P Kryukov
- Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Russian Academy of Sciences, Stoletiya Avenue 159, 690022, Vladivostok, Russia
| | - Jochen Martens
- Institut für Organismische und Molekulare Evolutionsbiologie (iomE), Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099, Mainz, Germany
| | - Yaroslav A Red'kin
- Department of Ornithology, Zoological Museum of Moscow State University, Bol'shaya Nikitskaya Street 2, 125009, Moscow, Russia
| | - Yuehua Sun
- Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, CN-100101, Beijing, PR China
| | - Till Töpfer
- Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 127, 53113, Bonn, Germany
| | - Matthias Schleuning
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Eike Lena Neuschulz
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Maria A Nilsson
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. .,LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt, Germany.
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19
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Draper JP, Young JK, Schupp EW, Beckman NG, Atwood TB. Frugivory and Seed Dispersal by Carnivorans. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.864864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Seed dispersal is critical to the ecological performance of sexually reproducing plant species and the communities that they form. The Mammalian order Carnivora provide valuable and effective seed dispersal services but tend to be overlooked in much of the seed dispersal literature. Here we review the literature on the role of Carnivorans in seed dispersal, with a literature search in the Scopus reference database. Overall, we found that Carnivorans are prolific seed dispersers. Carnivorans’ diverse and plastic diets allow them to consume large volumes of over a hundred families of fruit and disperse large quantities of seeds across landscapes. Gut passage by these taxa generally has a neutral effect on seed viability. While the overall effect of Carnivorans on seed dispersal quality is complex, Carnivorans likely increase long-distance dispersal services that may aid the ability of some plant species to persist in the face of climate change.
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20
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Using a Phylogenetic Framework to Assess the Role of Fruit Size in Food Selection by the Andean Night Monkey (Aotus lemurinus). INT J PRIMATOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-021-00274-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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21
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Fuzessy L, Silveira FAO, Culot L, Jordano P, Verdú M. Phylogenetic congruence between Neotropical primates and plants is driven by frugivory. Ecol Lett 2021; 25:320-329. [PMID: 34775664 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Seed dispersal benefits plants and frugivores, and potentially drives co-evolution, with consequences to diversification evidenced for, e.g., primates. Evidence for macro-coevolutionary patterns in multi-specific, plant-animal mutualisms is scarce, and the mechanisms driving them remain unexplored. We tested for phylogenetic congruences in primate-plant interactions and showed strong co-phylogenetic signals across Neotropical forests, suggesting that both primates and plants share evolutionary history. Phylogenetic congruence between Platyrrhini and Angiosperms was driven by the most generalist primates, modulated by their functional traits, interacting with a wide-range of Angiosperms. Consistently similar eco-evolutionary dynamics seem to be operating irrespective of local assemblages, since co-phylogenetic signal emerged independently across three Neotropical regions. Our analysis supports the idea that macroevolutionary, coevolved patterns among interacting mutualistic partners are driven by super-generalist taxa. Trait convergence among multiple partners within multi-specific assemblages appears as a mechanism favouring these likely coevolved outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisieux Fuzessy
- Department of Biodiversity, Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP campus Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil.,CREAF, Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Foresta, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain.,Estación Biológica de Doñana, EBD-CSIC, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Fernando A O Silveira
- Department of Genetics, Ecology and Evolution, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Laurence Culot
- Department of Biodiversity, Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP campus Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Pedro Jordano
- Estación Biológica de Doñana, EBD-CSIC, Sevilla, Spain.,Facultad de Biología, Department Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Miguel Verdú
- Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación, CSIC-UV-GV, Moncada, Valencia, Spain
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22
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Pollination success increases with plant diversity in high-Andean communities. Sci Rep 2021; 11:22107. [PMID: 34764375 PMCID: PMC8586006 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01611-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Pollinator-mediated plant–plant interactions have traditionally been viewed within the competition paradigm. However, facilitation via pollinator sharing might be the rule rather than the exception in harsh environments. Moreover, plant diversity could be playing a key role in fostering pollinator-mediated facilitation. Yet, the facilitative effect of plant diversity on pollination remains poorly understood, especially under natural conditions. By examining a total of 9371 stigmas of 88 species from nine high-Andean communities in NW Patagonia, we explored the prevalent sign of the relation between conspecific pollen receipt and heterospecific pollen diversity, and assessed whether the incidence of different outcomes varies with altitude and whether pollen receipt relates to plant diversity. Conspecific pollen receipt increased with heterospecific pollen diversity on stigmas. In all communities, species showed either positive or neutral but never negative relations between the number of heterospecific pollen donor species and conspecific pollen receipt. The incidence of species showing positive relations increased with altitude. Finally, stigmas collected from communities with more co-flowering species had richer heterospecific pollen loads and higher abundance of conspecific pollen grains. Our findings suggest that plant diversity enhances pollination success in high-Andean plant communities. This study emphasizes the importance of plant diversity in fostering indirect plant–plant facilitative interactions in alpine environments, which could promote species coexistence and biodiversity maintenance.
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Rehling F, Jaroszewicz B, Braasch LV, Albrecht J, Jordano P, Schlautmann J, Farwig N, Schabo DG. Within-Species Trait Variation Can Lead to Size Limitations in Seed Dispersal of Small-Fruited Plants. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.698885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
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.
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Rojas TN, Bruzzone OA, Zampini IC, Isla MI, Blendinger PG. A combination of rules govern fruit trait preference by frugivorous bat and bird species: nutrients, defence and size. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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25
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Bello C, Barreto E. The footprint of evolution in seed dispersal interactions. Science 2021; 372:682-683. [PMID: 33986166 DOI: 10.1126/science.abi8160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carolina Bello
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
| | - Elisa Barreto
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland.,Laboratório de Ecologia Teórica e Síntese, Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
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26
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Burin G, Guimarães PR, Quental TB. Macroevolutionary stability predicts interaction patterns of species in seed dispersal networks. Science 2021; 372:733-737. [DOI: 10.1126/science.abf0556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Assessing deep-time mechanisms affecting the assembly of ecological networks is key to understanding biodiversity changes on broader time scales. We combined analyses of diversification rates with interaction network descriptors from 468 bird species belonging to 29 seed dispersal networks to show that bird species that contribute most to the network structure of plant–frugivore interactions belong to lineages that show higher macroevolutionary stability. This association is stronger in warmer, wetter, less seasonal environments. We infer that the macroevolutionary sorting mechanism acts through the regional pool of species by sorting species on the basis of the available relative differences in diversification rates, rather than absolute rates. Our results illustrate how the interplay between interaction patterns and diversification dynamics may shape the organization and long-term dynamics of ecological networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo Burin
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Paulo R. Guimarães
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Tiago B. Quental
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
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27
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Messeder JVS, Silveira FAO, Cornelissen TG, Fuzessy LF, Guerra TJ. Frugivory and seed dispersal in a hyperdiverse plant clade and its role as a keystone resource for the Neotropical fauna. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2021; 127:577-595. [PMID: 33151331 PMCID: PMC8052926 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcaa189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Much of our understanding of the ecology and evolution of seed dispersal in the Neotropics is founded on studies involving the animal-dispersed, hyperdiverse plant clade Miconia (Melastomataceae). Nonetheless, no formal attempt has been made to establish its relevance as a model system or indeed provide evidence of the role of frugivores as Miconia seed dispersers. METHODS We built three Miconia databases (fruit phenology/diaspore traits, fruit-frugivore interactions and effects on seed germination after gut passage) to determine how Miconia fruiting phenology and fruit traits for >350 species interact with and shape patterns of frugivore selection. In addition, we conducted a meta-analysis evaluating the effects of animal gut passage/seed handling on Miconia germination. KEY RESULTS Miconia produce numerous small berries that enclose numerous tiny seeds within water- and sugar-rich pulps. In addition, coexisting species provide sequential, year long availability of fruits within communities, with many species producing fruits in periods of resource scarcity. From 2396 pairwise interactions, we identified 646 animal frugivore species in five classes, 22 orders and 60 families, including birds, mammals, reptiles, fish and ants that consume Miconia fruits. Endozoochory is the main dispersal mechanism, but gut passage effects on germination were specific to animal clades; birds, monkeys and ants reduced seed germination percentages, while opossums increased it. CONCLUSIONS The sequential fruiting phenologies and wide taxonomic and functional diversity of animal vectors associated with Miconia fruits underscore the likely keystone role that this plant clade plays in the Neotropics. By producing fruits morphologically and chemically accessible to a variety of animals, Miconia species ensure short- and long-distance seed dispersal and constitute reliable resources that sustain entire frugivore assemblages.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Vitor S Messeder
- Biology Department & Ecology Program, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
- Centre for Ecological Synthesis and Conservation, Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Fernando A O Silveira
- Centre for Ecological Synthesis and Conservation, Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Tatiana G Cornelissen
- Centre for Ecological Synthesis and Conservation, Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Lisieux F Fuzessy
- Departamento de Biodiversidade, Instituto de Biociências de Rio Claro, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Rio Claro, Brazil
| | - Tadeu J Guerra
- Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- For correspondence. E-mail
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28
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Lyu T, Wang Y, Luo A, Li Y, Peng S, Cai H, Zeng H, Wang Z. Effects of Climate, Plant Height, and Evolutionary Age on Geographical Patterns of Fruit Type. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:604272. [PMID: 33796123 PMCID: PMC8007967 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.604272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Accepted: 02/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Fruit type is a key reproductive trait associated with plant evolution and adaptation. However, large-scale geographical patterns in fruit type composition and the mechanisms driving these patterns remain to be established. Contemporary environment, plant functional traits and evolutionary age may all influence fruit type composition, while their relative importance remains unclear. Here, using data on fruit types, plant height and distributions of 28,222 (∼ 90.1%) angiosperm species in China, we analyzed the geographical patterns in the proportion of fleshy-fruited species for all angiosperms, trees, shrubs, and herbaceous species separately, and compared the relative effects of contemporary climate, ecosystem primary productivity, plant height, and evolutionary age on these patterns. We found that the proportion of fleshy-fruited species per grid cell for all species and different growth forms all showed significant latitudinal patterns, being the highest in southeastern China. Mean plant height per grid cell and actual evapotranspiration (AET) representing ecosystem primary productivity were the strongest drivers of geographical variations in the proportion of fleshy-fruited species, but their relative importance varied between growth forms. From herbaceous species to shrubs and trees, the relative effects of mean plant height decreased. Mean genus age had significant yet consistently weaker effects on proportion of fleshy-fruited species than mean plant height and AET, and environmental temperature and precipitation contributed to those of only trees and shrubs. These results suggest that biotic and environmental factors and evolutionary age of floras jointly shape the pattern in proportion of fleshy-fruited species, and improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying geographical variations in fruit type composition. Our study also demonstrates the need of integrating multiple biotic and abiotic factors to fully understand the drivers of large-scale patterns of plant reproductive traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tong Lyu
- School of Urban Planning and Design, Shenzhen Graduate School, Peking University, Shenzhen, China
- Institute of Ecology and Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes of Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yunyun Wang
- Institute of Ecology and Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes of Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
- National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology of Forestry & Ecology in Southern China, College of Life Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China
| | - Ao Luo
- Institute of Ecology and Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes of Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yaoqi Li
- Institute of Ecology and Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes of Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Shijia Peng
- Institute of Ecology and Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes of Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Hongyu Cai
- Institute of Ecology and Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes of Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Hui Zeng
- School of Urban Planning and Design, Shenzhen Graduate School, Peking University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhiheng Wang
- Institute of Ecology and Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes of Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
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29
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Heymann EW, Fuzessy LF. Are palms a good model to explain primate colour vision diversification? A comment on Onstein et al. 2020. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20201423. [PMID: 33468014 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Eckhard W Heymann
- Verhaltensökologie und Soziobiologie, Deutsches Primatenzentrum-Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Lisieux Franco Fuzessy
- Zoology Department, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
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30
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Cabral FN, Trad RJ, Amorim BS, Maciel JR, Amaral MDCED, Stevens P. Phylogeny, divergence times, and diversification in Calophyllaceae: Linking key characters and habitat changes to the evolution of Neotropical Calophylleae. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2021; 157:107041. [PMID: 33476719 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2020.107041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2020] [Revised: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 12/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The clusioid clade comprises five monophyletic families: Bonnetiaceae, Calophyllaceae, Clusiaceae s.s., Hypericaceae, and Podostemaceae. Even though the circumscription of these families is well established, phylogenetic relationships within some families remain unresolved. This study aims to infer phylogenetic relationships within the Neotropical Calophylleae based on a broad sampling of taxa and a multilocus approach. We then use our phylogenetic framework as basis to investigate the evolution and biogeography of Calophylleae and diversification shifts in Calophyllaceae. To reconstruct the phylogeny of the Neotropical Calophylleae, we used five plastid (matK, ndhF, rbcL, psbA-trnH, and trnK), two mitochondrial (matR and rps3), and two nuclear (EMB2765 and ITS) markers, including previously published and newly generated sequences. We sampled 74 species, increasing sampling of Neotropical taxa by 500%. Our phylogenetic hypothesis for Calophyllaceae provides additional support for the monophyly of all genera and allowed us to identify four main clades: Calophyllum, Kayea, Mammea, and the Neotropical clade. The Neotropical clade includes three main lineages, a small clade composed of Clusiella and Marila, and a large HaCaKi clade (i.e., Haplocarpa, Caraipa, and Kilmeyera) that is sister to Mahurea exstipulata. The evolution of three morphological traits (i.e., fleshy fruits, anther glands, and winged seeds) were shown to be associated with changes in evolutionary dynamics in Calophyllaceae, while a biome shift was detected in Kielmeyera, affecting net diversification within this genus. Major geological and climatic events such as the Andean uplift and a gradual decrease in temperatures seem to have influenced diversification rates within the Neotropical Calophylleae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernanda Nunes Cabral
- Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, 13083-862 Campinas, SP, Brazil; Departamento de Ciências e Linguagens, Instituto Federal de Minas Gerais - Campus Bambuí, 38900-000 Bambuí, MG, Brazil.
| | - Rafaela Jorge Trad
- Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, 13083-862 Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | - Bruno Sampaio Amorim
- Museu da Amazônia, MUSA, 69099-415 Manaus, AM, Brazil; Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia e Recursos Naturais da Amazônia (PPGMBT-UEA), Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, 69065-001 Manaus, AM, Brazil
| | | | - Maria do Carmo Estanislau do Amaral
- Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, 13083-862 Campinas, SP, Brazil
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31
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Rudall PJ. Evolution and patterning of the ovule in seed plants. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 96:943-960. [PMID: 33432779 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2020] [Revised: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The ovule and its developmental successor, the seed, together represent a highly characteristic feature of seed plants that has strongly enhanced the reproductive and dispersal potential of this diverse group of taxa. Ovules encompass multiple tissues that perform various roles within a highly constrained space, requiring a complex cascade of genes that generate localized cell proliferation and programmed cell death during different developmental stages. Many heritable morphological differences among lineages reflect relative displacement of these tissues, but others, such as the second (outer) integuments of angiosperms and Gnetales, represent novel and apparently profound and independent innovations. Recent studies, mostly on model taxa, have considerably enhanced our understanding of gene expression in the ovule. However, understanding its evolutionary history requires a comparative and phylogenetic approach that is problematic when comparing extant angiosperms not only with phylogenetically distant extant gymnosperms but also with taxa known only from fossils. This paper reviews ovule characters across a phylogenetically broad range of seed plants in a dynamic developmental context. It discusses both well-established and recent theories of ovule and seed evolution and highlights potential gaps in comparative data that will usefully enhance our understanding of evolutionary transitions and developmental mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula J Rudall
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, U.K
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32
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Abstract
Fossilized gut contents suggest that seeds consumed by dinosaurs may have remained intact in their stomachs, and since seed dispersal distance increases with body-mass in extant vertebrates, dinosaurs may have moved seeds long distances. I simulated seed dispersal by dinosaurs across body-masses from 1 × 101 to 8 × 104 kg using allometric random walk models, informed by relationships between (i) body-mass and movement speed, and (ii) body-mass and seed retention time. Seed dispersal distances showed a hump-shaped relationship with body-mass, reflecting the allometric relationship between maximum movement speed and body-mass. Across a range of assumptions and parameterizations, the simulations suggest that plant-eating dinosaurs could have dispersed seeds long distances.
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Affiliation(s)
- George L W Perry
- School of Environment, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand
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33
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Cruzan MB, Hendrickson EC. Landscape Genetics of Plants: Challenges and Opportunities. PLANT COMMUNICATIONS 2020; 1:100100. [PMID: 33367263 PMCID: PMC7748010 DOI: 10.1016/j.xplc.2020.100100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2020] [Revised: 06/03/2020] [Accepted: 07/17/2020] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Dispersal is one of the most important but least understood processes in plant ecology and evolutionary biology. Dispersal of seeds maintains and establishes populations, and pollen and seed dispersal are responsible for gene flow within and among populations. Traditional views of dispersal and gene flow assume models that are governed solely by geographic distance and do not account for variation in dispersal vector behavior in response to heterogenous landscapes. Landscape genetics integrates population genetics with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to evaluate the effects of landscape features on gene flow patterns (effective dispersal). Surprisingly, relatively few landscape genetic studies have been conducted on plants. Plants present advantages because their populations are stationary, allowing more reliable estimates of the effects of landscape features on effective dispersal rates. On the other hand, plant dispersal is intrinsically complex because it depends on the habitat preferences of the plant and its pollen and seed dispersal vectors. We discuss strategies to assess the separate contributions of pollen and seed movement to effective dispersal and to delineate the effects of plant habitat quality from those of landscape features that affect vector behavior. Preliminary analyses of seed dispersal for three species indicate that isolation by landscape resistance is a better predictor of the rates and patterns of dispersal than geographic distance. Rates of effective dispersal are lower in areas of high plant habitat quality, which may be due to the effects of the shape of the dispersal kernel or to movement behaviors of biotic vectors. Landscape genetic studies in plants have the potential to provide novel insights into the process of gene flow among populations and to improve our understanding of the behavior of biotic and abiotic dispersal vectors in response to heterogeneous landscapes.
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34
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Guimarães PR. The Structure of Ecological Networks Across Levels of Organization. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS 2020. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-012220-120819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Interactions connect the units of ecological systems, forming networks. Individual-based networks characterize variation in niches among individuals within populations. These individual-based networks merge with each other, forming species-based networks and food webs that describe the architecture of ecological communities. Networks at broader spatiotemporal scales portray the structure of ecological interactions across landscapes and over macroevolutionary time. Here, I review the patterns observed in ecological networks across multiple levels of biological organization. A fundamental challenge is to understand the amount of interdependence as we move from individual-based networks to species-based networks and beyond. Despite the uneven distribution of studies, regularities in network structure emerge across scales due to the fundamental architectural patterns shared by complex networks and the interplay between traits and numerical effects. I illustrate the integration of these organizational scales by exploring the consequences of the emergence of highly connected species for network structures across scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulo R. Guimarães
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 05508-090, Brazil
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35
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Messeder JVS, Guerra TJ, Dáttilo W, Silveira FAO. Searching for keystone plant resources in fruit‐frugivore interaction networks across the Neotropics. Biotropica 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- João Vitor S. Messeder
- Departamento de Botânica Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Minas Gerais Brazil
- Center for Ecological Synthesis and Conservation Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Minas Gerais Brazil
| | - Tadeu J. Guerra
- Departamento de Botânica Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Minas Gerais Brazil
| | - Wesley Dáttilo
- Red de Ecoetología Instituto de Ecología A.C. Veracruz Mexico
| | - Fernando A. O. Silveira
- Center for Ecological Synthesis and Conservation Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Minas Gerais Brazil
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36
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Reginato M, Vasconcelos TNC, Kriebel R, Simões AO. Is dispersal mode a driver of diversification and geographical distribution in the tropical plant family Melastomataceae? Mol Phylogenet Evol 2020; 148:106815. [PMID: 32278864 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2019] [Revised: 04/01/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Species of plants with different life history strategies may differ in their seed dispersal mechanisms, impacting their distribution and diversification patterns. Shorter or longer distance dispersal is favored by different dispersal modes, facilitating (or constraining) population isolation, which can, in turn, impact speciation and species range sizes. While these associations are intuitive, few studies have explicitly tested these hypotheses for large clades of angiosperms. The plant family Melastomataceae is found on disparate habitats with different dispersal modes, representing a good model to address these questions. In this study, we reconstruct the phylogeny of Melastomataceae and gather data on their dispersal mode and range size to test the impact of dispersal mode on diversification and range size evolution. We found that abiotic dispersal is ancestral in the family, while biotic dispersal evolved multiple times. Species richness distribution is very similar across dispersal modes, although abiotically dispersed species tend to be relatively more diverse in seasonal environments. Range sizes across dispersal modes are not significantly different, although biotically dispersed species have slightly wider distributions. Model comparisons indicate that factors other than dispersal mode might have driven diversification heterogeneity. We did not find evidence for the role of dispersal mode driving diversification rates or range size in the Melastomataceae, suggesting a complex macroevolutionary scenario for this diverse angiosperm family. The bulk of changes to biotic dispersal coinciding with an increase in passerine diversification suggests a possible "past" key innovation in Melastomataceae. Future studies should investigate the role of other diversification drivers in the family and the relatively higher diversity of abiotically dispersed species in open habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcelo Reginato
- Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
| | - Thais N C Vasconcelos
- Laboratório de Sistemática Vegetal, Departamento de Botânica, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Ricardo Kriebel
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - André Olmos Simões
- Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil
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Close RA, Benson RBJ, Alroy J, Carrano MT, Cleary TJ, Dunne EM, Mannion PD, Uhen MD, Butler RJ. The apparent exponential radiation of Phanerozoic land vertebrates is an artefact of spatial sampling biases. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200372. [PMID: 32259471 PMCID: PMC7209054 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
There is no consensus about how terrestrial biodiversity was assembled through deep time, and in particular whether it has risen exponentially over the Phanerozoic. Using a database of 60 859 fossil occurrences, we show that the spatial extent of the worldwide terrestrial tetrapod fossil record itself expands exponentially through the Phanerozoic. Changes in spatial sampling explain up to 67% of the change in known fossil species counts, and these changes are decoupled from variation in habitable land area that existed through time. Spatial sampling therefore represents a real and profound sampling bias that cannot be explained as redundancy. To address this bias, we estimate terrestrial tetrapod diversity for palaeogeographical regions of approximately equal size. We find that regional-scale diversity was constrained over timespans of tens to hundreds of millions of years, and similar patterns are recovered for major subgroups, such as dinosaurs, mammals and squamates. Although the Cretaceous/Palaeogene mass extinction catalysed an abrupt two- to three-fold increase in regional diversity 66 million years ago, no further increases occurred, and recent levels of regional diversity do not exceed those of the Palaeogene. These results parallel those recovered in analyses of local community-level richness. Taken together, our findings strongly contradict past studies that suggested unbounded diversity increases at local and regional scales over the last 100 million years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger A Close
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Roger B J Benson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - John Alroy
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Matthew T Carrano
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA
| | - Terri J Cleary
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Emma M Dunne
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Philip D Mannion
- Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Mark D Uhen
- Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
| | - Richard J Butler
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
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Nascimento LFD, Guimarães PR, Onstein RE, Kissling WD, Pires MM. Associated evolution of fruit size, fruit colour and spines in Neotropical palms. J Evol Biol 2020; 33:858-868. [PMID: 32198956 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2019] [Revised: 01/23/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Understanding how ecological interactions have shaped the evolutionary dynamics of species traits remains a challenge in evolutionary ecology. Combining trait evolution models and phylogenies, we analysed the evolution of characters associated with seed dispersal (fruit size and colour) and herbivory (spines) in Neotropical palms to infer the role of these opposing animal-plant interactions in driving evolutionary patterns. We found that the evolution of fruit colour and fruit size was associated in Neotropical palms, supporting the adaptive interpretation of seed-dispersal syndromes and highlighting the role of frugivores in shaping plant evolution. Furthermore, we revealed a positive association between fruit size and the presence of spines on palm leaves, bracteas and stems. We hypothesize that interactions between palms and large-bodied frugivores/herbivores may explain the evolutionary relationship between fruit size and spines. Large-bodied frugivores, such as extinct megafauna, besides consuming the fruits and dispersing large seeds, may also have consumed the leaves or damaged the plants, thus simultaneously favouring the evolution of large fruits and defensive structures. Our findings show how current trait patterns can be understood as the result of the interplay between antagonistic and mutualistic interactions that have happened throughout the evolutionary history of a clade.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Paulo R Guimarães
- Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Renske E Onstein
- German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - W Daniel Kissling
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Mathias M Pires
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil
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39
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Felice RN, Tobias JA, Pigot AL, Goswami A. Dietary niche and the evolution of cranial morphology in birds. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 286:20182677. [PMID: 30963827 PMCID: PMC6408879 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.2677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Cranial morphology in birds is thought to be shaped by adaptive evolution for foraging performance. This understanding of ecomorphological evolution is supported by observations of avian island radiations, such as Darwin's finches, which display rapid evolution of skull shape in response to food resource availability and a strong fit between cranial phenotype and trophic ecology. However, a recent analysis of larger clades has suggested that diet is not necessarily a primary driver of cranial shape and that phylogeny and allometry are more significant factors in skull evolution. We use phenome-scale morphometric data across the breadth of extant bird diversity to test the influence of diet and foraging behaviour in shaping cranial evolution. We demonstrate that these trophic characters are significant but very weak predictors of cranial form at this scale. However, dietary groups exhibit significantly different rates of morphological evolution across multiple cranial regions. Granivores and nectarivores exhibit the highest rates of evolution in the face and cranial vault, whereas terrestrial carnivores evolve the slowest. The basisphenoid, occipital, and jaw joint regions have less extreme differences among dietary groups. These patterns demonstrate that dietary niche shapes the tempo and mode of phenotypic evolution in deep time, despite a weaker than expected form–function relationship across large clades.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan N Felice
- 1 Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London , London WC1E 6BT , UK.,3 Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum , London SW7 5DB , UK
| | - Joseph A Tobias
- 4 Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London , Ascot , UK
| | - Alex L Pigot
- 2 Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London , London WC1E 6BT , UK
| | - Anjali Goswami
- 2 Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London , London WC1E 6BT , UK.,3 Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum , London SW7 5DB , UK
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40
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Zanette EM, Fuzessy LF, Hack ROE, Monteiro-Filho ELA. Potential role in seed dispersal revealed by experimental trials with captive southern muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides). Primates 2020; 61:495-505. [PMID: 32026150 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-020-00796-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 03/21/2023]
Abstract
Primates are great fruit consumers and disperse intact seeds from most of the plants they consume, but effective seed dispersal depends, amongst other factors, on handling behavior. Likewise, the treatment in gut and mouth may alter seed fate. Overall, frugivore and folivore-frugivore primates are recognized to provide beneficial gut treatment for Neotropical plant species, but this effect might be overlooked at species-specific levels. In this study, we assessed the role of the southern muriqui (Brachyteles arachnoides), an endangered and endemic primate living in restricted fragments of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, on potential quality of seed dispersal of native plants. Our main goals were to understand the effect of seed ingestion by this large-bodied atelid on germination of defecated seeds and in seed recovery by offering wild fruits of native species to captive individuals. We found that seven out of nine plant species were defecated intact and were able to germinate. Of those seven, one species showed enhanced and another showed decreased germination potential after defecation, while three species germinated faster after being defecated. The remaining species showed no differences from control seeds. The two non-germinating species were heavily predated, and average seed recovery was lower than expected, suggesting high levels of seed predation. The largest species offered (Inga vulpina) showed the highest dispersal potential. Our data support an overall neutral or potentially positive role of southern muriquis in seed dispersal quality for seven out of nine Atlantic Forest plant species, highlighting these primates' potential to produce an effective seed rain.
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Affiliation(s)
- E M Zanette
- Zoology Department, Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal Do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
| | - L F Fuzessy
- Zoology Department, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
| | - R O E Hack
- Environment Department, Institute of Technology for Development (LACTEC), Curitiba, PR, Brazil
| | - E L A Monteiro-Filho
- Zoology Department, Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal Do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil.,Instituto de Pesquisas Cananéia, IPeC, Cananéia, SP, Brazil
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41
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Grossnickle DM. Feeding ecology has a stronger evolutionary influence on functional morphology than on body mass in mammals. Evolution 2020; 74:610-628. [PMID: 31967667 DOI: 10.1111/evo.13929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2019] [Revised: 12/27/2019] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Ecological specialization is a central driver of adaptive evolution. However, selective pressures may uniquely affect different ecomorphological traits (e.g., size and shape), complicating efforts to investigate the role of ecology in generating phenotypic diversity. Comparative studies can help remedy this issue by identifying specific relationships between ecologies and morphologies, thus elucidating functionally relevant traits. Jaw shape is a dietary correlate that offers considerable insight on mammalian evolution, but few studies have examined the influence of diet on jaw morphology across mammals. To this end, I apply phylogenetic comparative methods to mandibular measurements and dietary data for a diverse sample of mammals. Especially powerful predictors of diet are metrics that capture either the size of the angular process, which increases with greater herbivory, or the length of the posterior portion of the jaw, which decreases with greater herbivory. The size of the angular process likely reflects sizes of attached muscles that produce jaw movements needed to grind plant material. Further, I examine the impact of feeding ecology on body mass, an oft-used ecological surrogate in macroevolutionary studies. Although body mass commonly increases with evolutionary shifts to herbivory, it is outperformed by functional jaw morphology as a predictor of diet. Body mass is influenced by numerous factors beyond diet, and it may be evolutionarily labile relative to functional morphologies. This suggests that ecological diversification events may initially facilitate body mass diversification at smaller taxonomic and temporal scales, but sustained selective pressures will subsequently drive greater trait partitioning in functional morphologies.
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Conserving the Diversity of Ecological Interactions: The Role of Two Threatened Macaw Species as Legitimate Dispersers of “Megafaunal” Fruits. DIVERSITY 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/d12020045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
The extinction of ecological functions is increasingly considered a major component of biodiversity loss, given its pervasive effects on ecosystems, and it may precede the disappearance of the species engaged. Dispersal of many large-fruited (>4 cm diameter) plants is thought to have been handicapped after the extinction of megafauna in the Late Pleistocene and the recent defaunation of large mammals. We recorded the seed dispersal behavior of two macaws (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus and Anodorhynchus leari) in three Neotropical biomes, totaling >1700 dispersal events from 18 plant species, 98% corresponding to six large-fruited palm species. Dispersal rates varied among palm species (5%–100%). Fruits were moved to perches at varying distances (means: 17–450 m, maximum 1620 m). Macaws also moved nuts after regurgitation by livestock, in an unusual case of tertiary dispersal, to distant perches. A high proportion (11%–75%) of dispersed nuts was found undamaged under perches, and palm recruitment was confirmed under 6%–73% of the perches. Our results showed that these macaws were legitimate, long-distance dispersers, and challenge the prevailing view that dispersal of large-fruited plants was compromised after megafauna extinction. The large range contraction of these threatened macaws, however, meant that these mutualistic interactions are functionally extinct over large areas at a continental scale.
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Costea M, El Miari H, Laczkó L, Fekete R, Molnár AV, Lovas-Kiss Á, Green AJ. The effect of gut passage by waterbirds on the seed coat and pericarp of diaspores lacking "external flesh": Evidence for widespread adaptation to endozoochory in angiosperms. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0226551. [PMID: 31856213 PMCID: PMC6922415 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2019] [Accepted: 11/28/2019] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The widely accepted "endozoochory syndrome" is assigned to angiosperm diaspores with a fleshy, attractive tissue and implies the existence of adaptations for protection against digestion during gut passage. This syndrome has led diaspore fleshiness to be emphasized as the exclusive indicator of endozoochory in much of the ecology and biogeography research. Crucially, however, endozoochory in nature is not limited to frugivory, and diaspores without "external flesh" are commonly dispersed, often over long distances, via birds and mammals by granivory. A key question is: are such diaspores somehow less prepared from an architectural point of view to survive gut passage than fleshy diaspores? To answer this question, we selected 11 European angiosperm taxa that fall outside the classical endozoochory syndrome yet are known to be dispersed via endozoochory. We studied their seed coat/pericarp morphology and anatomy both before and after gut passage through granivorous waterfowl, and determined their seed survival and germinability. We found no fundamental differences in the mechanical architecture of the seed coat and pericarp between these plants dispersed by granivory and others dispersed by frugivory. Neither diaspore traits per se, nor dormancy type, were strong predictors of diaspore survival or degree of damage during gut passage through granivores, or of the influence of gut passage on germinability. Among our 11 taxa, survival of gut passage is enabled by the thick cuticle of the exotesta or epicarp; one or several lignified cell layers; and diverse combinations of other architectural elements. These protection structures are ubiquitous in angiosperms, and likely to have evolved in gymnosperms. Hence, many angiosperm diaspores, dry or fleshy, may be pre-adapted to endozoochory, but with differing degrees of specialization and adaptation to dispersal mechanisms such as frugivory and granivory. Our findings underline the broad ecological importance of "non-classical endozoochory" of diaspores that lack "external flesh".
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Affiliation(s)
- Mihai Costea
- Department of Biology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
| | - Hiba El Miari
- Department of Biology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
| | - Levente Laczkó
- Department of Botany, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Réka Fekete
- Department of Botany, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
| | | | - Ádám Lovas-Kiss
- Department of Tisza Research, Wetland Ecology Research Group, MTA Centre for Ecological Research-DRI, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Andy J. Green
- Wetland Ecology Department, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Sevilla, Spain
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Moreno SA, Gelambi M, Biganzoli A, Molinari J. Small nutrient molecules in fruit fuel efficient digestion and mutualism with plants in frugivorous bats. Sci Rep 2019; 9:19376. [PMID: 31852966 PMCID: PMC6920426 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-55915-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Frugivorous bats often possess short intestines, and digest rapidly. These characters are thought to be weight-saving adaptations for flight. The hypothesis that they limit digestive efficiency was tested by assaying glucose and protein in fecal samples of a free-ranging bat, and in fruit of its main food plant. To assure the correct calculation of digestive efficiencies, seeds were used as a mass marker for nutrients in fruit and feces. Glucose represents 32.86%, and protein 0.65%, of the nutrient content of fruit. Digestive efficiencies for these nutrients respectively are 92.46% and 84.44%, clearly negating the hypothesis for glucose. Few studies have quantified protein in fruit. Instead, "crude protein", a dietary parameter solely based on nitrogen determinations, is used as a surrogate of protein content. This study shows that, for fruit consumed by bats, crude protein estimates typically are much greater than true protein values, implying that a large fraction of the crude protein reported in previous studies consists of free amino acids. The rapid digestion of frugivores has the potential to limit protein digestion, thus it may require free amino acids for efficient assimilation of nitrogen; therefore, the crude protein approach is inadequate for the fruit that they consume because it does not differentiate free amino acids from protein. Adding simple sugars and free amino acids, instead of protein, to fruit reduce metabolic costs for plants. Direct assimilation of these small nutrient molecules increases digestive and foraging efficiencies. Both factors contribute to the persistence of the mutualism between plants and frugivores, with community-wide repercussions.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Andrea Moreno
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, 05101, Venezuela
| | - Mariana Gelambi
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, 05101, Venezuela
| | - Alejandro Biganzoli
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, 05101, Venezuela
| | - Jesús Molinari
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, 05101, Venezuela.
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Blanco G, Tella JL, Díaz-Luque JA, Hiraldo F. Multiple External Seed Dispersers Challenge the Megafaunal Syndrome Anachronism and the Surrogate Ecological Function of Livestock. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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46
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Grossnickle DM, Smith SM, Wilson GP. Untangling the Multiple Ecological Radiations of Early Mammals. Trends Ecol Evol 2019; 34:936-949. [PMID: 31229335 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2019] [Revised: 05/14/2019] [Accepted: 05/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The ecological diversification of early mammals is one of the most globally transformative events in Earth's history and the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution (KTR) and end-Cretaceous mass extinction are commonly hailed as catalysts. However, a confounding issue when examining this diversification is that it comprised nested radiations of mammalian subclades within the broader scope of mammalian evolution. In the past 200 million years, various independent groups experienced large-scale radiations, each involving ecological diversification from ancestral lineages of small insectivores; examples include Jurassic mammaliaforms, Late Cretaceous metatherians, and Cenozoic placentals. Here, we review these ecological radiations, highlighting the nuanced complexity of early mammal evolution, the value of ecomorphological fossil data, and the importance of phylogenetic context in macroevolutionary studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stephanie M Smith
- Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Gregory P Wilson
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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47
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Ercoli MD, Álvarez A, Candela AM. Sciuromorphy outside rodents reveals an ecomorphological convergence between squirrels and extinct South American ungulates. Commun Biol 2019; 2:202. [PMID: 31231692 PMCID: PMC6546766 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-019-0423-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2018] [Accepted: 04/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Notoungulates were a diverse group of South American ungulates that included the rodent-like typotherians. However, they are typically compared with other ungulates and interpreted as grazers. Here we present the first detailed reconstruction of the masticatory muscles of the pachyrukhine typotherians Paedotherium and Tremacyllus. An outstanding feature is the presence of a true sciuromorph condition, defined by an anterior portion of the deep masseter muscle originating from a wide zygomatic plate that reaches the rostrum, a trait traceable since the Oligocene pachyrukhines. Consequently, pachyrukhines are the first case of sciuromorph non-rodent mammals. This morphology would have allowed them to explore ecological niches unavailable for the exclusively hystricomorph coexisting rodents. This innovative acquisition seems to be synchronous in Pachyrukhinae and sciuromorph rodents and related to hard-food consumption. We postulate the expansion of nut and cone trees during the major environmental changes at Eocene-Oligocene transition as a potential trigger for this convergence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcos D. Ercoli
- Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas (INECOA), Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, CONICET, IdGyM, Av. Bolivia 1661, 4600 San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy Argentina
| | - Alicia Álvarez
- Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas (INECOA), Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, CONICET, IdGyM, Av. Bolivia 1661, 4600 San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy Argentina
| | - Adriana M. Candela
- División de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, FCNyM, UNLP, CONICET, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Buenos Aires Argentina
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48
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Lacher TE, Davidson AD, Fleming TH, Gómez-Ruiz EP, McCracken GF, Owen-Smith N, Peres CA, Vander Wall SB. The functional roles of mammals in ecosystems. J Mammal 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyy183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas E Lacher
- Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
- Global Wildlife Conservation, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Ana D Davidson
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
- Colorado Natural Heritage Program, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Theodore H Fleming
- Emeritus, Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
| | - Emma P Gómez-Ruiz
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, México
| | - Gary F McCracken
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Norman Owen-Smith
- Centre for African Ecology, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa
| | - Carlos A Peres
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen B Vander Wall
- Department of Biology and the Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
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Lemaire-Chamley M, Mounet F, Deborde C, Maucourt M, Jacob D, Moing A. NMR-Based Tissular and Developmental Metabolomics of Tomato Fruit. Metabolites 2019; 9:metabo9050093. [PMID: 31075946 PMCID: PMC6571556 DOI: 10.3390/metabo9050093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Revised: 04/30/2019] [Accepted: 05/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Fruit is a complex organ containing seeds and several interconnected tissues with dedicated roles. However, most biochemical or molecular studies about fleshy fruit development concern the entire fruit, the fruit without seeds, or pericarp only. We studied tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit at four stages of development (12, 20, 35, and 45 days post-anthesis). We separated the seeds and the other tissues, exocarp, mesocarp, columella with placenta and locular tissue, and analyzed them individually using proton NMR metabolomic profiling for the quantification of major polar metabolites, enzymatic analysis of starch, and LC-DAD analysis of isoprenoids. Pericarp tissue represented about half of the entire fruit mass only. The composition of each fruit tissue changed during fruit development. An ANOVA-PCA highlighted common, and specific metabolite trends between tissues e.g., higher contents of chlorogenate in locular tissue and of starch in columella. Euclidian distances based on compositional data showed proximities within and between tissues. Several metabolic regulations differed between tissues as revealed by the comparison of metabolite networks based on correlations between compounds. This work stressed the role of specific tissues less studied than pericarp but that impact fruit organoleptic quality including its shape and taste, and fruit processing quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martine Lemaire-Chamley
- UMR1332 Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie, INRA, University Bordeaux, Centre INRA de Nouvelle Aquitaine-Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
| | - Fabien Mounet
- UMR1332 Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie, INRA, University Bordeaux, Centre INRA de Nouvelle Aquitaine-Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
| | - Catherine Deborde
- UMR1332 Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie, INRA, University Bordeaux, Centre INRA de Nouvelle Aquitaine-Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
- Plateforme Métabolome du Centre de Génomique Fonctionnelle Bordeaux, MetaboHUB, IBVM, Centre INRA de Nouvelle Aquitaine-Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
| | - Mickaël Maucourt
- UMR1332 Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie, INRA, University Bordeaux, Centre INRA de Nouvelle Aquitaine-Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
- Plateforme Métabolome du Centre de Génomique Fonctionnelle Bordeaux, MetaboHUB, IBVM, Centre INRA de Nouvelle Aquitaine-Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
| | - Daniel Jacob
- UMR1332 Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie, INRA, University Bordeaux, Centre INRA de Nouvelle Aquitaine-Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
- Plateforme Métabolome du Centre de Génomique Fonctionnelle Bordeaux, MetaboHUB, IBVM, Centre INRA de Nouvelle Aquitaine-Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
| | - Annick Moing
- UMR1332 Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie, INRA, University Bordeaux, Centre INRA de Nouvelle Aquitaine-Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
- Plateforme Métabolome du Centre de Génomique Fonctionnelle Bordeaux, MetaboHUB, IBVM, Centre INRA de Nouvelle Aquitaine-Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
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50
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Amartuvshin N, Hülber K, Plutzar C, Tserenbaljid G. Functional traits but not environmental gradients explain seed weight in Mongolian plant species. PLANT BIOLOGY (STUTTGART, GERMANY) 2019; 21:559-562. [PMID: 30427106 DOI: 10.1111/plb.12938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2017] [Accepted: 11/07/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Seed weight varies by several orders of magnitude among vascular plant species. However, the importance of potential drivers such as environmental conditions and plant functional traits have rarely been assessed for a larger taxonomic sample. We collected seeds of 148 species from 237 sites spread across Mongolia and compared their weight among the major zonal vegetation types, taxonomic groups and a set of functional traits (growth form, dispersal mode, fruit type, storage organs and palatability). Seed weight strongly varied among all functional traits and taxonomic groups, but no differences among vegetation zones were detected. These results suggest a low impact of environmental conditions on the evolution of seed weight, contrasting the strong phylogenetic signal.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Amartuvshin
- Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - K Hülber
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - C Plutzar
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Institute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - G Tserenbaljid
- Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
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