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Siqueira T, Hawkins CP, Olden JD, Tonkin J, Comte L, Saito VS, Anderson TL, Barbosa GP, Bonada N, Bonecker CC, Cañedo-Argüelles M, Datry T, Flinn MB, Fortuño P, Gerrish GA, Haase P, Hill MJ, Hood JM, Huttunen KL, Jeffries MJ, Muotka T, O'Donnell DR, Paavola R, Paril P, Paterson MJ, Patrick CJ, Perbiche-Neves G, Rodrigues LC, Schneider SC, Straka M, Ruhi A. Understanding temporal variability across trophic levels and spatial scales in freshwater ecosystems. Ecology 2024; 105:e4219. [PMID: 38037301 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 09/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
A tenet of ecology is that temporal variability in ecological structure and processes tends to decrease with increasing spatial scales (from locales to regions) and levels of biological organization (from populations to communities). However, patterns in temporal variability across trophic levels and the mechanisms that produce them remain poorly understood. Here we analyzed the abundance time series of spatially structured communities (i.e., metacommunities) spanning basal resources to top predators from 355 freshwater sites across three continents. Specifically, we used a hierarchical partitioning method to disentangle the propagation of temporal variability in abundance across spatial scales and trophic levels. We then used structural equation modeling to determine if the strength and direction of relationships between temporal variability, synchrony, biodiversity, and environmental and spatial settings depended on trophic level and spatial scale. We found that temporal variability in abundance decreased from producers to tertiary consumers but did so mainly at the local scale. Species population synchrony within sites increased with trophic level, whereas synchrony among communities decreased. At the local scale, temporal variability in precipitation and species diversity were associated with population variability (linear partial coefficient, β = 0.23) and population synchrony (β = -0.39) similarly across trophic levels, respectively. At the regional scale, community synchrony was not related to climatic or spatial predictors, but the strength of relationships between metacommunity variability and community synchrony decreased systematically from top predators (β = 0.73) to secondary consumers (β = 0.54), to primary consumers (β = 0.30) to producers (β = 0). Our results suggest that mobile predators may often stabilize metacommunities by buffering variability that originates at the base of food webs. This finding illustrates that the trophic structure of metacommunities, which integrates variation in organismal body size and its correlates, should be considered when investigating ecological stability in natural systems. More broadly, our work advances the notion that temporal stability is an emergent property of ecosystems that may be threatened in complex ways by biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tadeu Siqueira
- Institute of Biosciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Charles P Hawkins
- Department of Watershed Sciences, National Aquatic Monitoring Center, and Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
| | - Julian D Olden
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Jonathan Tonkin
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- Te Pūnaha Matatini, Centre of Research Excellence in Complex Systems, Bioprotection Aotearoa, Centre of Research Excellence, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Lise Comte
- School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, USA
| | - Victor S Saito
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
| | - Thomas L Anderson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Illinois, USA
| | - Gedimar P Barbosa
- Institute of Biosciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
| | - Núria Bonada
- FEHM-Lab (Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles
- FEHM-Lab, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Thibault Datry
- INRAE, UR RiverLy, Centre Lyon-Grenoble Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Villeurbanne Cedex, France
| | - Michael B Flinn
- Hancock Biological Station, Biological Sciences, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, USA
| | - Pau Fortuño
- FEHM-Lab (Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management), Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gretchen A Gerrish
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Center for Limnology-Trout Lake Station, Boulder Junction, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Peter Haase
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Matthew J Hill
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
| | - James M Hood
- Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Translational Data Analytics Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | | | | | - Timo Muotka
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Daniel R O'Donnell
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Riku Paavola
- Oulanka Research Station, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Petr Paril
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Michael J Paterson
- International Institute for Sustainable Development Experimental Lakes Area, Kenora, Ontario, Canada
| | | | | | | | | | - Michal Straka
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
- T.G. Masaryk Water Research Institute p.r.i., Brno Branch Office, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Albert Ruhi
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
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Hensley NM, Rivers TJ, Gerrish GA, Saha R, Oakley TH. Collective synchrony of mating signals modulated by ecological cues and social signals in bioluminescent sea fireflies. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20232311. [PMID: 38018106 PMCID: PMC10685132 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Individuals often employ simple rules that can emergently synchronize behaviour. Some collective behaviours are intuitively beneficial, but others like mate signalling in leks occur across taxa despite theoretical individual costs. Whether disparate instances of synchronous signalling are similarly organized is unknown, largely due to challenges observing many individuals simultaneously. Recording field collectives and ex situ playback experiments, we describe principles of synchronous bioluminescent signals produced by marine ostracods (Crustacea; Luxorina) that seem behaviorally convergent with terrestrial fireflies, and with whom they last shared a common ancestor over 500 Mya. Like synchronous fireflies, groups of signalling males use visual cues (intensity and duration of light) to decide when to signal. Individual ostracods also modulate their signal based on the distance to nearest neighbours. During peak darkness, luminescent 'waves' of synchronous displays emerge and ripple across the sea floor approximately every 60 s, but such periodicity decays within and between nights after the full moon. Our data reveal these bioluminescent aggregations are sensitive to both ecological and social light sources. Because the function of collective signals is difficult to dissect, evolutionary convergence, like in the synchronous visual displays of diverse arthropods, provides natural replicates to understand the generalities that produce emergent group behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholai M. Hensley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9620, USA
| | - Trevor J. Rivers
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66405, USA
| | - Gretchen A. Gerrish
- Center for Limnology, Trout Lake Station, University of Wisconsin, Boulder Junction, Madison, WI 54512, USA
| | - Raj Saha
- Roux Institute, Northeastern University, Portland, ME 04101, USA
| | - Todd H. Oakley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9620, USA
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3
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Ellis EA, Goodheart JA, Hensley NM, González VL, Reda NJ, Rivers TJ, Morin JG, Torres E, Gerrish GA, Oakley TH. Sexual Signals Persist over Deep Time: Ancient Co-option of Bioluminescence for Courtship Displays in Cypridinid Ostracods. Syst Biol 2023; 72:264-274. [PMID: 35984328 PMCID: PMC10448971 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syac057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the diversity, beauty, and intricacy of sexually selected courtship displays command the attention of evolutionists, the longevity of these traits in deep time is poorly understood. Population-based theory suggests sexual selection could either lower or raise extinction risk, resulting in high or low persistence of lineages with sexually selected traits. Furthermore, empirical studies that directly estimate the longevity of sexually selected traits are uncommon. Sexually selected signals-including bioluminescent courtship-originated multiple times during evolution, allowing the empirical study of their longevity after careful phylogenetic and divergence time analyses. Here, we estimate the first transcriptome-based molecular phylogeny and divergence times of Cypridinidae. We report extreme longevity of bioluminescent courtship, a trait important in mate choice and probably under sexual selection. Our relaxed-clock estimates of divergence times coupled with stochastic character mapping show luminous courtship evolved only once in Cypridinidae-in a Sub-Tribe, we name Luxorina-at least 151 millions of years ago from cypridinid ancestors that used bioluminescence only in antipredator displays, defining a Tribe we name Luminini. This time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of cypridinids will serve as a foundation for integrative and comparative studies on the biochemistry, molecular evolution, courtship, diversification, and ecology of cypridinid bioluminescence. The persistence of luminous courtship for hundreds of millions of years suggests that sexual selection did not cause a rapid loss of associated traits, and that rates of speciation within the group exceeded extinction risk, which may contribute to the persistence of a diverse clade of signaling species. [Ancestral state reconstruction; Biodiversity; co-option; divergence time estimates; macroevolution; Ostracoda; phylogenomics; sexual selection.].
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily A Ellis
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of
California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Jessica A Goodheart
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of
California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
- Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92037,
USA
| | - Nicholai M Hensley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of
California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University,
Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Vanessa L González
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Institution, National
Museum of Natural History, 10th and Constitution NW, Washington, DC
20560-0105, USA
| | - Nicholas J Reda
- Biology Department, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, La
Crosse, WI 54601, USA
| | - Trevor J Rivers
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
| | - James G Morin
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell
University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Elizabeth Torres
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Los
Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA
| | - Gretchen A Gerrish
- Biology Department, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, La
Crosse, WI 54601, USA
- Trout Lake Station, Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin –
Madison, Boulder Junction, WI 54512, USA
| | - Todd H Oakley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of
California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
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Hensley NM, Ellis EA, Leung NY, Coupart J, Mikhailovsky A, Taketa DA, Tessler M, Gruber DF, De Tomaso AW, Mitani Y, Rivers TJ, Gerrish GA, Torres E, Oakley TH. Selection, drift, and constraint in cypridinid luciferases and the diversification of bioluminescent signals in sea fireflies. Mol Ecol 2021; 30:1864-1879. [PMID: 33031624 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2020] [Revised: 09/09/2020] [Accepted: 09/18/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the genetic causes of evolutionary diversification is challenging because differences across species are complex, often involving many genes. However, cases where single or few genetic loci affect a trait that varies dramatically across a radiation of species provide tractable opportunities to understand the genetics of diversification. Here, we begin to explore how diversification of bioluminescent signals across species of cypridinid ostracods ("sea fireflies") was influenced by evolution of a single gene, cypridinid-luciferase. In addition to emission spectra ("colour") of bioluminescence from 21 cypridinid species, we report 13 new c-luciferase genes from de novo transcriptomes, including in vitro assays to confirm function of four of those genes. Our comparative analyses suggest some amino acid sites in c-luciferase evolved under episodic diversifying selection and may be associated with changes in both enzyme kinetics and colour, two enzymatic functions that directly impact the phenotype of bioluminescent signals. The analyses also suggest multiple other amino acid positions in c-luciferase evolved neutrally or under purifying selection, and may have impacted the variation of colour of bioluminescent signals across genera. Previous mutagenesis studies at candidate sites show epistatic interactions, which could constrain the evolution of c-luciferase function. This work provides important steps toward understanding the genetic basis of diversification of behavioural signals across multiple species, suggesting different evolutionary processes act at different times during a radiation of species. These results set the stage for additional mutagenesis studies that could explicitly link selection, drift, and constraint to the evolution of phenotypic diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholai M Hensley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Emily A Ellis
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Nicole Y Leung
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - John Coupart
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Alexander Mikhailovsky
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Daryl A Taketa
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Michael Tessler
- American Museum of Natural History and New York University, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Biology, St. Francis College, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - David F Gruber
- Department of Biology and Environmental Science, City University of New York Baruch College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Anthony W De Tomaso
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Yasuo Mitani
- Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Sapporo, Japan
| | - Trevor J Rivers
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Gretchen A Gerrish
- Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, La Crosse, WI, USA
| | - Elizabeth Torres
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Todd H Oakley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
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5
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Reda NJ, Morin JG, Torres E, Cohen AC, Schawaroch V, Gerrish GA. Maristella, a new bioluminescent ostracod genus in the Myodocopida (Cypridinidae). Zool J Linn Soc 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
One new species from Belize and six described species from Panama of bioluminescent ostracods (Myodocopida: Cypridinidae) are compared and placed in the new genus, Maristellagen. nov.. Maristella belongs to a diverse Caribbean clade of bioluminescent ostracods in which males perform species-specific luminescent courtship displays. Other genera of the clade include Enewton, Photeros, Konickeria and, nominally, Vargula.Maristella is likely the most species-rich genus in the clade. Maristella chicoi sp. nov., from Belize, is described as the type species. Species from Panama reassigned to Maristella are Vargula ignitula, V. lucidella, V. micamacula, V. noropsela, V. psammobia, V. scintilla. New information is presented on the sixth and eighth limbs of the species from Panama, providing additional characters for distinguishing taxa. Maristella is the only genus that contains species with lateral or diagonal luminescent courtship displays. Maristella chicoi has male displays oriented horizontal to the substrate and showing high levels of entrainment. The displays run in near-parallel bifurcations resulting in spectacular fan-like radiations of light pulse trains. The description of Maristella advances the taxonomy of the highly diverse Caribbean clade that has become a model system for studying the evolution of bioluminescence and the role of luminescent displays in speciation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas J Reda
- Biology Department and River Studies Center, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
| | - James G Morin
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Elizabeth Torres
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Anne C Cohen
- PO Box 192, Bodega Bay, California, USA
- California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA
| | | | - Gretchen A Gerrish
- Biology Department and River Studies Center, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
- Center for Limnology – Trout Lake Station, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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Hensley NM, Ellis EA, Gerrish GA, Torres E, Frawley JP, Oakley TH, Rivers TJ. Phenotypic evolution shaped by current enzyme function in the bioluminescent courtship signals of sea fireflies. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20182621. [PMID: 30963873 PMCID: PMC6367180 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.2621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Accepted: 12/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Mating behaviours are diverse and noteworthy, especially within species radiations where they may contribute to speciation. Studying how differences in mating behaviours arise between species can help us understand how diversity is generated at multiple biological levels. The bioluminescent courtship displays of cypridinid ostracods (or sea fireflies) are an excellent system for this because amazing variety evolves while using a conserved biochemical mechanism. We find that the evolution of one aspect in this behavioural phenotype-the duration of bioluminescent courtship pulses-is shaped by biochemical function. First, by measuring light production from induced bioluminescence in 38 species, we discovered differences between species in their biochemical reactions. Then, for 16 species for which biochemical, phylogenetic and behavioural data are all available, we used phylogenetic comparative models to show that differences in biochemical reaction are nonlinearly correlated with the duration of courtship pulses. This relationship indicates that changes to both enzyme (c-luciferase) function and usage have shaped the evolution of courtship displays, but that they differentially contribute to these phenotypic changes. This nonlinear dynamic may have consequences for the disparity of signalling phenotypes observed across species, and demonstrates how unappreciated diversity at the biochemical level can lead to inferences about behavioural evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholai M. Hensley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9620, USA
| | - Emily A. Ellis
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9620, USA
| | | | - Elizabeth Torres
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA
| | - John P. Frawley
- Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, WI 54601, USA
| | - Todd H. Oakley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9620, USA
| | - Trevor J. Rivers
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66405, USA
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Fleischner TL, Espinoza RE, Gerrish GA, Greene HW, Kimmerer RW, Lacey EA, Pace S, Parrish JK, Swain HM, Trombulak SC, Weisberg S, Winkler DW, Zander L. Teaching Biology in the Field: Importance, Challenges, and Solutions. Bioscience 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/biosci/bix036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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Rypien KL, Anderson J, Andras J, Clark RW, Gerrish GA, Mandel JT, Nydam ML, Riskin DK. Students unite to create State of the Planet course. Nature 2007; 447:775. [PMID: 17568725 DOI: 10.1038/447775a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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