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Maag N, Korner-Nievergelt F, Szymkowiak J, Hałas N, Maziarz M, Neubauer G, Luepold SB, Carlotti S, Schaub M, Flade M, Scherrer D, Grendelmeier A, Riess M, Stelbrink P, Pasinelli G. Wood warbler population dynamics in response to mast seeding regimes in Europe. Ecology 2024; 105:e4227. [PMID: 38038276 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [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: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 06/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
Mast seeding is the episodic, massive production of plant seeds synchronized over large areas. The resulting superabundance of seeds represents a resource pulse that can profoundly affect animal populations across trophic levels. Following years of high seed production, the abundance of both seed consumers and their predators increase. Higher predator abundance leads to increased predation pressure across the trophic web, impacting nonseed consumers such as the wood warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix through increased nest predation after tree mast years. Over the past 30 years, the frequency of tree seed masts has increased, while wood warbler populations have declined in several regions of Europe. We hypothesized that increasing mast frequencies may have contributed to the observed population declines by creating suboptimal breeding conditions in years after masting. We measured reproductive output in four study areas in central Europe, which was between 0.61 and 1.24 fledglings lower in the years following masting than nonmasting. For each study area, we used matrix population models to predict population trends based on the estimated reproductive output and the local mast frequencies. We then compared the predicted with the observed population trends to assess if the frequency of mast years had contributed to the population dynamics. In Wielkopolska National Park (PL) and Hessen (DE), masting occurred on average only every 4 years and populations were stable or nearly so, whereas in Jura (CH) and Białowieża National Park (PL), masting occurred every 2 and 2.5 years, respectively, and populations were declining. The simple matrix population models predicted the relative difference among local population trends over the past 10-20 years well, suggesting that the masting frequency may partly explain regional variation in population trends. Simulations suggest that further increases in mast frequency will lead to further declines in wood warbler populations. We show that changes in a natural process, such as mast seeding, may contribute to the decline in animal populations through cascading effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nino Maag
- Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach, Switzerland
| | | | - Jakub Szymkowiak
- Population Ecology Research Unit, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
- Forest Biology Center, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Natalia Hałas
- Population Ecology Research Unit, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Marta Maziarz
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | | | | | | | - Martin Flade
- Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve, Angermünde, Germany
| | - Daniel Scherrer
- Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | | | - Michael Riess
- Department of Biology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Pablo Stelbrink
- Department of Biology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Gilberto Pasinelli
- Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach, Switzerland
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
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Maier SR, Brooke S, De Clippele LH, de Froe E, van der Kaaden AS, Kutti T, Mienis F, van Oevelen D. On the paradox of thriving cold-water coral reefs in the food-limited deep sea. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:1768-1795. [PMID: 37236916 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12976] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/01/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The deep sea is amongst the most food-limited habitats on Earth, as only a small fraction (<4%) of the surface primary production is exported below 200 m water depth. Here, cold-water coral (CWC) reefs form oases of life: their biodiversity compares with tropical coral reefs, their biomass and metabolic activity exceed other deep-sea ecosystems by far. We critically assess the paradox of thriving CWC reefs in the food-limited deep sea, by reviewing the literature and open-access data on CWC habitats. This review shows firstly that CWCs typically occur in areas where the food supply is not constantly low, but undergoes pronounced temporal variation. High currents, downwelling and/or vertically migrating zooplankton temporally boost the export of surface organic matter to the seabed, creating 'feast' conditions, interspersed with 'famine' periods during the non-productive season. Secondly, CWCs, particularly the most common reef-builder Desmophyllum pertusum (formerly known as Lophelia pertusa), are well adapted to these fluctuations in food availability. Laboratory and in situ measurements revealed their dietary flexibility, tissue reserves, and temporal variation in growth and energy allocation. Thirdly, the high structural and functional diversity of CWC reefs increases resource retention: acting as giant filters and sustaining complex food webs with diverse recycling pathways, the reefs optimise resource gains over losses. Anthropogenic pressures, including climate change and ocean acidification, threaten this fragile equilibrium through decreased resource supply, increased energy costs, and dissolution of the calcium-carbonate reef framework. Based on this review, we suggest additional criteria to judge the health of CWC reefs and their chance to persist in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra R Maier
- Greenland Climate Research Centre, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Kivioq 2, PO Box 570, Nuuk, 3900, Greenland
- Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Korringaweg 7, Yerseke, 4401 NT, The Netherlands
| | - Sandra Brooke
- Coastal & Marine Laboratory, Florida State University, 3618 Coastal Highway 98, St. Teresa, FL, 32327, USA
| | - Laurence H De Clippele
- Changing Oceans Research Group, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Grant Institute, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3FE, UK
| | - Evert de Froe
- Centre for Fisheries Ecosystem Research, Fisheries and Marine Institute at Memorial University of Newfoundland, 155 Ridge Rd, St. John's, NL A1C 5R3, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
- Department of Ocean Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), PO Box 59, Den Burg (Texel), 1790 AB, The Netherlands
| | - Anna-Selma van der Kaaden
- Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Korringaweg 7, Yerseke, 4401 NT, The Netherlands
| | - Tina Kutti
- Institute of Marine Research (IMR), PO box 1870 Nordnes, Bergen, NO-5817, Norway
| | - Furu Mienis
- Department of Ocean Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), PO Box 59, Den Burg (Texel), 1790 AB, The Netherlands
| | - Dick van Oevelen
- Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Korringaweg 7, Yerseke, 4401 NT, The Netherlands
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de Moura GW, Mustin K, Pinto FAS, Sineiro SCA, Xavier BDS, Costa LM, Esbérard CEL, Barufatti A, Carvalho WD. Global review and guidelines to avoid opportunistic predation of birds and bats in mist nets. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10390. [PMID: 37529592 PMCID: PMC10388402 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10390] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Mist nets are one of the most widely used techniques in the study of birds and bats worldwide. However, a number of risks are involved, including opportunistic predation. Given this potential cost, here we: (1) review the global literature to understand the factors that might contribute to predation risk for birds and bats captured in mist nets; (2) review existing guidelines for best practice use of mist nets; and (3) based on our reviews, recommend new guidelines for the use of mist nets to minimize the risk of opportunistic predation. Based on keyword in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French, and using Google Scholar, Scopus, SciElo, and Web of Science, we found 48 articles reporting opportunistic predation. In the included articles, 178 predation events, involving 52 predator and 84 prey species, were reported. In most of the reports, the mist nets were placed at ground level, the bats and birds were preyed on from the shelf closest to the ground, the mist-net checks occurred at intervals of 1 h or 30 min and the most common predators were arboreal and scansorial species (primates and marsupials). Despite the occurrences of predation in 13 countries, guidelines for best practice mist-net use were found in only three, despite extensive searches and contact with key people in each country. Based on the existing guidelines and our results, we recommend that mist nets be fixed with the lowest shelf at least 50 cm above ground level and be checked at 15-min intervals; when predators are observed near mist nets, the nets either be constantly observed, closed, or relocated; suppressed the vegetation around the mist nets; captured animals be removed from the mist nets as soon as possible, and more than one researcher/technician should be in the field at all times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme Wince de Moura
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biodiversidade e Meio AmbienteUniversidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD)DouradosBrazil
| | - Karen Mustin
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biodiversidade TropicalUniversidade Federal do Amapá (UNIFAP)MacapáBrazil
- Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and EvolutionComplutense University of MadridMadridSpain
| | | | - Sylvia Coelho Alves Sineiro
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação Educação em Ciências e SaúdeUniversidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de JaneiroBrazil
| | - Bruna da Silva Xavier
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em EcologiaUniversidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)Rio de JaneiroBrazil
| | - Luciana Moraes Costa
- Laboratório de Ecologia de Mamíferos, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de BiologiaUniversidade do Estado do Rio de JaneiroRio de JaneiroBrazil
| | - Carlos Eduardo Lustosa Esbérard
- Laboratório de Diversidade de Morcegos, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de BiologiaUniversidade Federal Rural do Rio de JaneiroSeropédicaBrazil
| | - Alexeia Barufatti
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biodiversidade e Meio AmbienteUniversidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD)DouradosBrazil
| | - William Douglas Carvalho
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biodiversidade e Meio AmbienteUniversidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD)DouradosBrazil
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biodiversidade TropicalUniversidade Federal do Amapá (UNIFAP)MacapáBrazil
- Terrestrial Ecology Group (TEG‐UAM), Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de CienciasUniversidad Autónoma de MadridMadridSpain
- Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC‐UAM)Universidad Autónoma de MadridMadridSpain
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Chen S, Liu Y, Patrick SC, Goodale E, Safran RJ, Pagani‐Núñez E. A multidimensional framework to quantify the effects of urbanization on avian breeding fitness. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10259. [PMID: 37404704 PMCID: PMC10316489 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10259] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Urbanization has dramatically altered Earth's landscapes and changed a multitude of environmental factors. This has resulted in intense land-use change, and adverse consequences such as the urban heat island effect (UHI), noise pollution, and artificial light at night (ALAN). However, there is a lack of research on the combined effects of these environmental factors on life-history traits and fitness, and on how these interactions shape food resources and drive patterns of species persistence. Here, we systematically reviewed the literature and created a comprehensive framework of the mechanistic pathways by which urbanization affects fitness and thus favors certain species. We found that urbanization-induced changes in urban vegetation, habitat quality, spring temperature, resource availability, acoustic environment, nighttime light, and species behaviors (e.g., laying, foraging, and communicating) influence breeding choices, optimal time windows that reduce phenological mismatch, and breeding success. Insectivorous and omnivorous species that are especially sensitive to temperature often experience advanced laying behaviors and smaller clutch sizes in urban areas. By contrast, some granivorous and omnivorous species experience little difference in clutch size and number of fledglings because urban areas make it easier to access anthropogenic food resources and to avoid predation. Furthermore, the interactive effect of land-use change and UHI on species could be synergistic in locations where habitat loss and fragmentation are greatest and when extreme-hot weather events take place in urban areas. However, in some instances, UHI may mitigate the impact of land-use changes at local scales and provide suitable breeding conditions by shifting the environment to be more favorable for species' thermal limits and by extending the time window in which food resources are available in urban areas. As a result, we determined five broad directions for further research to highlight that urbanization provides a great opportunity to study environmental filtering processes and population dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sihao Chen
- Department of Health and Environmental SciencesXi'an Jiaotong‐Liverpool UniversitySuzhouChina
- Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, School of Environmental SciencesUniversity of LiverpoolLiverpoolUK
| | - Yu Liu
- Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Ministry of Education, College of Life SciencesBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Samantha C. Patrick
- Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, School of Environmental SciencesUniversity of LiverpoolLiverpoolUK
| | - Eben Goodale
- Department of Health and Environmental SciencesXi'an Jiaotong‐Liverpool UniversitySuzhouChina
| | - Rebecca J. Safran
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of ColoradoBoulderColoradoUSA
| | - Emilio Pagani‐Núñez
- Department of Health and Environmental SciencesXi'an Jiaotong‐Liverpool UniversitySuzhouChina
- School of Applied SciencesEdinburgh Napier UniversityEdinburghUK
- Centre for Conservation and Restoration ScienceEdinburgh Napier UniversityEdinburghUK
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Gao MW, Dong XQ, Zhang CL, Xu BD, Ji YP, Ren YP, Xue Y. Influencing factors of predation on five keystone prey species in Haizhou Bay based on Delta-GAMMs. Ying Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao 2023; 34:1137-1145. [PMID: 37078335 DOI: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.202304.030] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/21/2023]
Abstract
Trophic dynamics is one of the major regulators of fishery production in marine ecosystems, which is important for the implementation of ecosystem-based fisheries management. Based on data collected form bottom trawl surveys in Haizhou Bay and adjacent waters during autumn of 2011 and 2018, Delta-GAMMs (Delta-generalized additive mixed models) were constructed to evaluate the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on the predation of five key prey species (including Leptochela gracilis, Alpheus japonicus, Loligo spp., Larimichthys polyactis, and Oratosquilla oratoria) in the Haizhou Bay. Percent frequency of occurrence and predation pressure index were used to identify their major predators. Variance inflation factor and full subsets regression were analyzed to quantify the degree of multicollinearity between these factors. The results showed that the occurrence frequency of keystone prey species in the stomach of predators ranged from 8.5% to 42.2%, and the weight percentage ranged from 4.2% to 40.9%. The average deviance explanation rate of the "binomial" model was 16.1%, and the average deviance explanation rate of the "positive" model was 23.8%. Body length of predator, predator population density, and sea bottom temperature were important factors influencing prey-predator trophic interactions. Predator length was the most important factor, with feeding probability and weight percentage of keystone prey species all increasing with body length of predator. Feeding probability and weight percentage of key prey species decreased with predator population density. The effects of environmental factors such as sea bottom temperature, depth of water, latitude, and sea bottom salinity showed different trends, depending on the prey-predator assemblage. This study showed that the Delta-GAMMs was an effective method to explore the trophic interactions between prey and predators in marine ecosystems, and could provide a theoretical basis for the conservation and sustainable use of fisheries resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Wei Gao
- Fisheries College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China
- Field Observation and Research Station of Haizhou Bay Fishery Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China
| | - Xiu-Qiang Dong
- Shandong Fishery Development and Resource Conservation Station, Yantai 264003, Shandong, China
| | - Chong-Liang Zhang
- Fisheries College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China
- Field Observation and Research Station of Haizhou Bay Fishery Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China
| | - Bin-Duo Xu
- Fisheries College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China
- Field Observation and Research Station of Haizhou Bay Fishery Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China
| | - Yu-Peng Ji
- Fisheries College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China
- Field Observation and Research Station of Haizhou Bay Fishery Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China
| | - Yi-Ping Ren
- Fisheries College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China
- Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao 266237, Shandong, China
- Field Observation and Research Station of Haizhou Bay Fishery Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China
| | - Ying Xue
- Fisheries College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China
- Field Observation and Research Station of Haizhou Bay Fishery Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China
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Wenda C, Gaitán-Espitia JD, Solano-Iguaran JJ, Nakamura A, Majcher BM, Ashton LA. Heat tolerance variation reveals vulnerability of tropical herbivore-parasitoid interactions to climate change. Ecol Lett 2023; 26:278-290. [PMID: 36468222 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14150] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Revised: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Assessing the heat tolerance (CTmax) of organisms is central to understand the impact of climate change on biodiversity. While both environment and evolutionary history affect CTmax, it remains unclear how these factors and their interplay influence ecological interactions, communities and ecosystems under climate change. We collected and reared caterpillars and parasitoids from canopy and ground layers in different seasons in a tropical rainforest. We tested the CTmax and Thermal Safety Margins (TSM) of these food webs with implications for how species interactions could shift under climate change. We identified strong influence of phylogeny in herbivore-parasitoid community heat tolerance. The TSM of all insects were narrower in the canopy and parasitoids had lower heat tolerance compared to their hosts. Our CTmax-based simulation showed higher herbivore-parasitoid food web instability under climate change than previously assumed, highlighting the vulnerability of parasitoids and related herbivore control in tropical rainforests, particularly in the forest canopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Wenda
- School of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen, China.,State Key Laboratory of Biological Control, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Juan Diego Gaitán-Espitia
- SWIRE Institute of Marine Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jaiber J Solano-Iguaran
- Departamento de Salud Hidrobiológica, División de Investigación en Acuicultura, Instituto de Fomento Pesquero, Puerto Montt, Chile
| | - Akihiro Nakamura
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, China
| | - Bartosz M Majcher
- Ecology and Biodiversity Area, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Louise A Ashton
- Ecology and Biodiversity Area, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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Li Y, Wang WX. Internalization of the Metal-Organic Framework MIL-101(Cr)-NH 2 by a Freshwater Alga and Transfer to Zooplankton. Environ Sci Technol 2023; 57:118-127. [PMID: 36503235 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c03780] [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] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The common metal-organic framework (MOF) MIL-101(Cr)-NH2 has attracted considerable attention due to its great potential applications in the environmental field. Nevertheless, its behavior and fate in aquatic systems are unknown. This study quantified and visualized the interactions of MIL-101(Cr)-NH2 with the freshwater phytoplanktonic alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and its potential trophic transfer to zooplankton. The unicellular alga absorbed and accumulated the MOF by surface attachment, forming agglomerates and eventually cosettling out from water. Bioimaging revealed that MIL-101(Cr)-NH2 was internalized by the algal cells and mainly occurred in the pyrenoid. Without algae in a freshwater system, MIL-101(Cr)-NH2 was ingested by Daphnia magna, showing steadily increasing concentrations approaching 1-9% of dry body weight. Addition of algae substantially suppressed D. magna uptake of MIL-101(Cr)-NH2 by 63.8-97.9%. Such inhibition could be explained by the competitive uptake of MOF by the algae and the inductive effects of algal food on MOF elimination by D. magna. The MOF (≤1 mg/L) ingested by D. magna was centered in the gut regions, whereas large MOF or algae-MOF aggregates were adsorbed onto the carapace and appendages, including the antennae, at 10 mg/L. Overall, the algae were the major targets for MIL-101(Cr)-NH2, with nearly all algal cells settling out at 10 mg/L within 24 h. The possibility of trophic transfer of MIL-101(Cr)-NH2 to D. magna in aquatic systems with algae present was limited due to its low accumulation potential and short retention time in D. magna.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiling Li
- School of Energy and Environment and State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China
- Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, People's Republic of China
| | - Wen-Xiong Wang
- School of Energy and Environment and State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon 999077, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China
- Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, People's Republic of China
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Zhang S, Zhang H, Liu H, Wang H, Xiu W, Li G, Zhang G, Zhou Z, Jiang N, Zhang H, Zhao J, Yang D. Fertilization drives distinct biotic and abiotic factors in regulating functional groups of protists in a 5-year fertilization system. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:1036362. [PMID: 36545203 PMCID: PMC9760849 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1036362] [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] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Protists play an important role in nutrient cycling, microbiome stability and soil fertility maintenance. However, the driving force of protistan functional groups remains poorly understood in agricultural ecosystems. Methods We investigated the impacts of fertilization regimes on the diversity, composition and functional groups of protists and further disentangled the effects of multiple factors shaping the community composition of functional groups in a 5-year fertilization regime (CK, no fertilization; M, organic fertilization; MNPK, combined inorganic and organic fertilization; NPK, inorganic fertilization). Results Fertilization significantly changed the community composition of protists rather than diversity. The MNPK treatment significantly increased the relative abundance of phototrophs and decreased that of the parasites and consumers. Partial least squares path modeling indicated that fertilization indirectly regulated protistan consumers via changes in the P content, which affected the composition of consumers mainly by regulating fungal community composition. Soil moisture (SM) and available phosphorus (AP) were identified as the top predictors for the composition of parasites, and the composition of phototrophs was mainly affected by SM, indicating that parasites and phototrophs were more sensitive to abiotic factors in the fertilization system. Discussion Taken together, our findings highlight that fertilization significantly affects the composition of functional groups of protists and their biotic or abiotic regulatory processes, which have implications for the potential changes in their ecosystem functions for soil management systems.
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Chaparro-Pedraza PC, Roth G, Seehausen O. The enrichment paradox in adaptive radiations: Emergence of predators hinders diversification in resource rich environments. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:802-813. [PMID: 35032146 PMCID: PMC9303570 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Revised: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Adaptive radiations are known for rapid niche diversification in response to ecological opportunity. While most resources usually exist prior to adaptive radiation, novel niches associated with novel resources can be created as a clade diversifies. For example, in African lake cichlid radiations some species prey upon other species of the clade (intraclade consumers). Using a trait‐based eco‐evolutionary model, we investigate the evolution of intraclade consumers in adaptive radiations and the effect of this novel trophic interaction on the diversification process of the radiating clade. We find that the evolutionary emergence of intraclade consumers halts the diversification processes of other ecomorphs as a result of increased top‐down control of density. Because high productivity enables earlier evolution of intraclade consumers, highly productive environments come to harbour less species‐rich radiations than comparable radiations in less productive environments. Our results reveal how macroevolutionary and community patterns can emerge from ecological and microevolutionary processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Catalina Chaparro-Pedraza
- Aquatic Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Kastanienbaum, Switzerland.,Department Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Gregory Roth
- Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Ole Seehausen
- Aquatic Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
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Albert G, Gauzens B, Loreau M, Wang S, Brose U. The hidden role of multi- trophic interactions in driving diversity-productivity relationships. Ecol Lett 2021; 25:405-415. [PMID: 34846785 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Revised: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Resource-use complementarity of producer species is often invoked to explain the generally positive diversity-productivity relationships. Additionally, multi-trophic interactions that link processes across trophic levels have received increasing attention as a possible key driver. Given that both are integral to natural ecosystems, their interactive effect should be evident but has remained hidden. We address this issue by analysing diversity-productivity relationships in a simulation experiment of producer communities nested within complex food-webs, manipulating resource-use complementarity and multi-trophic animal richness. We show that these two mechanisms interactively create diverse communities of complementary producer species. This shapes diversity-productivity relationships such that their joint contribution generally exceeds their individual effects. Specifically, multi-trophic interactions in animal-rich ecosystems facilitate producer coexistence by preventing competitive exclusion despite overlaps in resource-use, which increases the realised complementarity. The interdependence of food-webs and producer complementarity in creating biodiversity-productivity relationships highlights the importance to adopt a multi-trophic perspective on biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg Albert
- EcoNetLab, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Benoit Gauzens
- EcoNetLab, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Michel Loreau
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS, Moulis, France
| | - Shaopeng Wang
- Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Ulrich Brose
- EcoNetLab, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
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11
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Richards RL, Drake JM, Ezenwa VO. Do predators keep prey healthy or make them sicker? A meta-analysis. Ecol Lett 2021; 25:278-294. [PMID: 34738700 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 07/17/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Ecological theory suggests that predators can either keep prey populations healthy by reducing parasite burdens or alternatively, increase parasitism in prey. To quantify the overall magnitude and direction of the effect of predation on parasitism in prey observed in practice, we conducted a meta-analysis of 47 empirical studies. We also examined how study attributes, including parasite type and life cycle, habitat type, study design, and whether predators were able to directly consume prey contributed to variation in the predator-prey-parasite interaction. We found that the overall effect of predation on parasitism differed between parasites and parasitoids and that whether consumptive effects were present, and whether a predator was a non-host spreader of parasites, were the most important traits predicting the parasite response. Our results suggest that the mechanistic basis of predator-prey interactions strongly influences the effects of predators on parasites and that these effects, although context dependent, are predictable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert L Richards
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.,Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
| | - John M Drake
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.,Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
| | - Vanessa O Ezenwa
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.,Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.,Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
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12
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Tang Q, Huang J, Zhang S, Qin H, Dong Y, Wang C, Li D, Zhou R. Keystone microbes affect the evolution and ecological coexistence of the community via species/strain specificity. J Appl Microbiol 2021; 132:1227-1238. [PMID: 34427980 DOI: 10.1111/jam.15255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Revised: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
AIM Microbial communities exhibit different diversity and fluctuations in the ecological functions due to time and environmental migration. Despite a long history of research and a plethora of data, the factors determining the biodiversity and stability of ecosystems is still elusive. METHODS AND RESULTS Here, the Chinese Xiaoqu fermentation system was used as a template to explore the mechanism in which the species specificity and strain in the initial phase affect the community structure and metabolites in the subsequent micro-ecosystem. The micro-ecosystem has been applied for hundreds of years, and the main metabolic function can be reproduced and traced. CONCLUSIONS The result proved that Rhizopus spp. is a keystone microbe with a species/strain specificity affecting the trophic interaction niche and function of modules in the complex community through glucose. The fungal community was demonstrated to have a high sealing and stability, while the bacterial community was generally found to change the community structure, physiological function, and interaction relationship, producing strains with connector functions to adapt to fluctuations. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY This study shows that the taxonomic level of key microbial strains can be changed to affect the evolution of coexistence and functional realisation of the community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiuxiang Tang
- College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Jun Huang
- College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Suyi Zhang
- Luzhoulaojiao Company Limited, Luzhou, China
| | - Hui Qin
- Luzhoulaojiao Company Limited, Luzhou, China
| | - Yi Dong
- Luzhoulaojiao Company Limited, Luzhou, China
| | - Chao Wang
- Luzhoulaojiao Company Limited, Luzhou, China
| | - Delin Li
- Luzhoulaojiao Company Limited, Luzhou, China
| | - Rongqing Zhou
- College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.,National Engineering Research Centre of Solid-State Brewing, Luzhou, China
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13
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Sohlström EH, Archer LC, Gallo B, Jochum M, Kordas RL, Rall BC, Rosenbaum B, O'Gorman EJ. Thermal acclimation increases the stability of a predator-prey interaction in warmer environments. Glob Chang Biol 2021; 27:3765-3778. [PMID: 34009702 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Revised: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Global warming over the next century is likely to alter the energy demands of consumers and thus the strengths of their interactions with their resources. The subsequent cascading effects on population biomasses could have profound effects on food web stability. One key mechanism by which organisms can cope with a changing environment is phenotypic plasticity, such as acclimation to warmer conditions through reversible changes in their physiology. Here, we measured metabolic rates and functional responses in laboratory experiments for a widespread predator-prey pair of freshwater invertebrates, sampled from across a natural stream temperature gradient in Iceland (4-18℃). This enabled us to parameterize a Rosenzweig-MacArthur population dynamical model to study the effect of thermal acclimation on the persistence of the predator-prey pairs in response to warming. Acclimation to higher temperatures either had neutral effects or reduced the thermal sensitivity of both metabolic and feeding rates for the predator, increasing its energetic efficiency. This resulted in greater stability of population dynamics, as acclimation to higher temperatures increased the biomass of both predator and prey populations with warming. These findings indicate that phenotypic plasticity can act as a buffer against the impacts of environmental warming. As a consequence, predator-prey interactions between ectotherms may be less sensitive to future warming than previously expected, but this requires further investigation across a broader range of interacting species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esra H Sohlström
- EcoNetLab (Theory in Biodiversity Science), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Louise C Archer
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Bruno Gallo
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Malte Jochum
- Experimental interaction Ecology, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Björn C Rall
- EcoNetLab (Theory in Biodiversity Science), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Benjamin Rosenbaum
- EcoNetLab (Theory in Biodiversity Science), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Eoin J O'Gorman
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
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14
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Kim TG, Knudsen GR. Indigenous Fungivorous Nematodes Affect the Biocontrol Efficacy of Trichoderma harzianum through Reducing the Hyphal Density. J Microbiol Biotechnol 2021; 31:815-822. [PMID: 33782223 PMCID: PMC9705935 DOI: 10.4014/jmb.2102.02003] [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] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Indigenous fungus-feeding nematodes may adversely affect the growth and activity of introduced biocontrol fungi. Alginate pellets of the biocontrol fungus Trichoderma harzianum ThzID1-M3 and sclerotia of the fungal plant pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum were added to nonsterile soil at a soil water potential of -50 or -1,000 kPa. The biomass of ThzID1-M3, nematode populations, and extent of colonization of sclerotia by ThzID1-M3 were monitored over time. The presence of ThzID1-M3 increased the nematode population under both moisture regimes (p < 0.05), and fungivores comprised 69-75% of the nematode population. By day 5, the biomass of ThzID1-M3b and its colonization of sclerotia increased and were strongly correlated (R2 = 0.98), followed by a rapid reduction, under both regimes. At -50 kPa (the wetter of the two environments), fungal biomass and colonization by ThzID1-M3 were less, in the period from 5 to 20 days, while fungivores were more abundant. These results indicate that ThzID1-M3 stimulated the population growth of fungivorous nematodes, which in turn, reduced the biocontrol ability of the fungus to mycoparasitize sclerotia. However, colonization incidence reached 100% by day 5 and remained so for the experimental period under both regimes, although hyphal fragments disappeared by day 20. Our results suggest that indigenous fungivores are an important constraint for the biocontrol activity of introduced fungi, and sclerotia can provide spatial refuge for biocontrol fungi from the feeding activity of fungivorous nematodes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tae Gwan Kim
- Department of Microbiology, Pusan National University, Pusan 46241, Republic of Korea,Corresponding author Phone: +82-515102268 Fax: +82-515141778 E-mail:
| | - Guy R. Knudsen
- Soil and Land Resources Division, Department of Plant, Soil, and Entomological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
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15
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Aoyagi T, Katayama Y, Aizawa H, Takasaki M, Hori T. Nitrate-Driven Trophic Association of Sulfur-Cycling Microorganisms in Tsunami-Deposited Marine Sediment Revealed by High-Sensitivity 13C-Bicarbonate Probing. Environ Sci Technol 2021; 55:8410-8421. [PMID: 34078080 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c08191] [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] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Although denitrification-dependent chemolithotrophic sulfur oxidizers proliferated in tsunami-deposited marine sediment with nitrate amendment, their ecophysiological roles in biogeochemical carbon transfer are not addressed. We employed time-resolved high-sensitivity 13C-bicarbonate probing of rRNA to unveil the carbon fixation and resulting trophic relationship of the nitrate-amended sediment microorganisms. Nitrate reduction and sulfur oxidation co-occurred along with significant decreases in the 13CO2 and dissolved bicarbonate concentrations for the first 4 days of the incubation, during which the denitrification-dependent sulfur-oxidizing chemolithotrophs, i.e., the Sulfurimonas sp. HDS01 and Thioalkalispira sp. HDS22 relatives, and the sulfate-reducing heterotrophs, i.e., the Desulfobulbus spp. and Desulfofustis glycolicus relatives, actively incorporated 13C. These indicated that the sulfur oxidizers and sulfate reducers were tightly associated with each other through the direct carbon transfer. Relatives of the fermentative Thalassomonas sediminis and the hydrolytic Pararheinheimera aquatica, in addition to various sulfur-cycling microorganisms, significantly assimilated 13C at day 14. Although the incorporation of 13C was not detected, a syntrophic volatile-fatty-acid oxidizer and hydrogenotrophic methanogens significantly expressed their 16S rRNA molecules at day 21, indicating the metabolic activation of these final decomposers under the latter nutrient-limited conditions. The results demonstrated the nitrate-driven trophic association of sulfur-cycling microorganisms and the subsequent microbial activation and diversification, triggering the restoration of the marine ecosystem function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomo Aoyagi
- Environmental Management Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan
| | - Yoko Katayama
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 3-5-8 Saiwai-cho, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-8509, Japan
| | - Hidenobu Aizawa
- Environmental Management Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan
| | - Mitsuru Takasaki
- Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Ishinomaki Senshu University, 1 Shinmito Minamisakai, Ishinomaki, Miyagi 986-8580, Japan
| | - Tomoyuki Hori
- Environmental Management Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan
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16
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Pinto‐Coelho D, Martins M, Guimarães Junior PR. Network analyses reveal the role of large snakes in connecting feeding guilds in a species-rich Amazonian snake community. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:6558-6568. [PMID: 34141240 PMCID: PMC8207408 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2020] [Revised: 03/04/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
In ecological communities, interactions between consumers and resources lead to the emergence of ecological networks and a fundamental problem to solve is to understand which factors shape network structure. Empirical and theoretical studies on ecological networks suggest predator body size is a key factor structuring patterns of interaction. Because larger predators consume a wider resource range, including the prey consumed by smaller predators, we hypothesized that variation in body size favors the rise of nestedness. In contrast, if resource consumption requires specific adaptations, predators are expected to consume distinct sets of resources, thus favoring modularity. We investigate these predictions by characterizing the trophic network of a species-rich Amazonian snake community (62 species). Our results revealed an intricate network pattern resulting from larger species feeding on higher diversity of prey and therefore promoting nestedness, whereas snakes with specific lifestyles and feeding on distinct resources, promoting modularity. Species removal simulations indicated that the nested structure is favored mainly by the presence of five species of the family Boidae, which because of their body size and generalist lifestyles connect modules in the network. Our study highlights the particular ways traits affect the structure of interactions among consumers and resources at the community level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Pinto‐Coelho
- Departamento de EcologiaInstituto de BiociênciasUniversidade de São PauloSão PauloBrazil
| | - Marcio Martins
- Departamento de EcologiaInstituto de BiociênciasUniversidade de São PauloSão PauloBrazil
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17
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Duchardt CJ, Porensky LM, Pearse IS. Direct and indirect effects of a keystone engineer on a shrubland-prairie food web. Ecology 2020; 102:e03195. [PMID: 33006165 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2020] [Revised: 05/19/2020] [Accepted: 06/09/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Keystone engineers are critical drivers of biodiversity throughout ecosystems worldwide. Within the North American Great Plains, the black-tailed prairie dog is an imperiled ecosystem engineer and keystone species with well-documented impacts on the flora and fauna of rangeland systems. However, because this species affects ecosystem structure and function in myriad ways (i.e., as a consumer, a prey resource, and a disturbance vector), it is unclear which effects are most impactful for any given prairie dog associate. We applied structural equation models (SEM) to disentangle direct and indirect effects of prairie dogs on multiple trophic levels (vegetation, arthropods, and birds) in the Thunder Basin National Grassland. Arthropods did not show any direct response to prairie dog occupation, but multiple bird species and vegetation parameters were directly affected. Surprisingly, the direct impact of prairie dogs on colony-associated avifauna (Horned Lark [Eremophila alpestris] and Mountain Plover [Charadrius montanus]) had greater support than a mediated effect via vegetation structure, indicating that prairie dog disturbance may be greater than the sum of its parts in terms of impacts on localized vegetation structure. Overall, our models point to a combination of direct and indirect impacts of prairie dogs on associated vegetation, arthropods, and avifauna. The variation in these impacts highlights the importance of examining the various impacts of keystone engineers, as well as highlighting the diverse ways that black-tailed prairie dogs are critical for the conservation of associated species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Courtney J Duchardt
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Management and Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E University Avenue, Laramie, Wyoming, 82070, USA
| | - Lauren M Porensky
- USDA-ARS Rangeland Resources and Systems Research Unit, 1701 Centre Avenue, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80526, USA
| | - Ian S Pearse
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Avenue #C, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80526, USA
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18
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Yang D, Miao XY, Wang B, Jiang RP, Wen T, Liu MS, Huang C, Xu C. System-Specific Complex Interactions Shape Soil Organic Carbon Distribution in Coastal Salt Marshes. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020; 17:ijerph17062037. [PMID: 32204427 PMCID: PMC7142412 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17062037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2020] [Revised: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Coastal wetlands provide many critical ecosystem services including carbon storage. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the most important component of carbon stock in coastal salt marshes. However, there are large uncertainties when estimating SOC stock in coastal salt marshes at large spatial scales. So far, information on the spatial heterogeneity of SOC distribution and determinants remains limited. Moreover, the role of complex ecological interactions in shaping SOC distribution is poorly understood. Here, we report detailed field surveys on plant, soil and crab burrowing activities in two inter-tidal salt marsh sites with similar habitat conditions in Eastern China. Our between-site comparison revealed slight differences in SOC storage and a similar vertical SOC distribution pattern across soil depths of 0–60 cm. Between the two study sites, we found substantially different effects of biotic and abiotic factors on SOC distribution. Complex interactions involving indirect effects between soil, plants and macrobenthos (crabs) may influence SOC distribution at a landscape scale. Marked differences in the SOC determinants between the study sites indicate that the underlying driving mechanisms of SOC distribution are strongly system-specific. Future work taking into account complex interactions and spatial heterogeneity is needed for better estimating of blue carbon stock and dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Yang
- School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; (D.Y.); (X.-Y.M.); (B.W.); (R.-P.J.); (C.H.)
| | - Xin-Yu Miao
- School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; (D.Y.); (X.-Y.M.); (B.W.); (R.-P.J.); (C.H.)
| | - Bo Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; (D.Y.); (X.-Y.M.); (B.W.); (R.-P.J.); (C.H.)
| | - Ren-Ping Jiang
- School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; (D.Y.); (X.-Y.M.); (B.W.); (R.-P.J.); (C.H.)
| | - Teng Wen
- School of Geography Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China;
| | - Mao-Song Liu
- School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; (D.Y.); (X.-Y.M.); (B.W.); (R.-P.J.); (C.H.)
- Correspondence: (M.-S.L.); (C.X.)
| | - Cheng Huang
- School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; (D.Y.); (X.-Y.M.); (B.W.); (R.-P.J.); (C.H.)
| | - Chi Xu
- School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; (D.Y.); (X.-Y.M.); (B.W.); (R.-P.J.); (C.H.)
- Correspondence: (M.-S.L.); (C.X.)
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19
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Maitra S, Harikrishnan M, Nidhin B. Feeding strategy, dietary overlap and resource partitioning among four mesopredatory catfishes of a tropical estuary. J Fish Biol 2020; 96:130-139. [PMID: 31697401 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2019] [Accepted: 11/06/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The feeding strategy, overlap and trophic interactions of four demersal catfishes inhabiting Cochin Estuary, Arius maculatus (n = 67), A. subrostratus (n = 63), A. arius (n = 21) and Mystus gulio (n = 69) were investigated through gut-content analyses. The indices of relative importance revealed that the prey items in their stomachs were dominated by crustaceans except in A. arius where molluscs constituted the major prey item. The highest diet and niche breadth values (3.93, 0.36 respectively) were recorded in A. subrostratus, while the lowest was recorded in A. arius (2.64, 0.23 respectively). Pianka's overlap, calculated through null models constructed by Ecosim 7.0, revealed significant niche overlap between A. maculatus and A. subrostratus (O-0.91, P < 0.001), between A. maculatus and M. gulio (O-0.72, P < 0.05) and between A. subrostratus and M.gulio (O-0.64 P < 0.05). However, no overlap was recorded between A. arius and other species. The trophic niche breadth along with prey specific abundance confirmed that these fishes are highly specific feeders. The present results on trophic level status indicate that these catfishes are mid-level carnivores that can be considered as moderate benthic mesopredators and are specialist feeders unlike most catfishes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saswata Maitra
- School of Industrial Fisheries, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Cochin, India
| | - Mahadevan Harikrishnan
- School of Industrial Fisheries, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Cochin, India
| | - Balachandran Nidhin
- School of Industrial Fisheries, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Cochin, India
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20
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Preston DL, Falke LP, Henderson JS, Novak M. Food-web interaction strength distributions are conserved by greater variation between than within predator-prey pairs. Ecology 2019; 100:e02816. [PMID: 31287561 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2816] [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] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2018] [Revised: 04/10/2019] [Accepted: 06/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Species interactions in food webs are usually recognized as dynamic, varying across species, space, and time because of biotic and abiotic drivers. Yet food webs also show emergent properties that appear consistent, such as a skewed frequency distribution of interaction strengths (many weak, few strong). Reconciling these two properties requires an understanding of the variation in pairwise interaction strengths and its underlying mechanisms. We estimated stream sculpin feeding rates in three seasons at nine sites in Oregon to examine variation in trophic interaction strengths both across and within predator-prey pairs. Predator and prey densities, prey body mass, and abiotic factors were considered as putative drivers of within-pair variation over space and time. We hypothesized that consistently skewed interaction strength distributions could result if individual interaction strengths show relatively little variation, or alternatively, if interaction strengths vary but shift in ways that conserve their overall frequency distribution. Feeding rate distributions remained consistently and positively skewed across all sites and seasons. The mean coefficient of variation in feeding rates within each of 25 focal species pairs across surveys was less than half the mean coefficient of variation seen across species pairs within a survey. The rank order of feeding rates also remained conserved across streams, seasons and individual surveys. On average, feeding rates on each prey taxon nonetheless varied by a hundredfold, with some feeding rates showing more variation in space and others in time. In general, feeding rates increased with prey density and decreased with high stream flows and low water temperatures, although for nearly half of all species pairs, factors other than prey density explained the most variation. Our findings show that although individual interaction strengths exhibit considerable variation in space and time, they can nonetheless remain relatively consistent, and thus predictable, compared to the even larger variation that occurs across species pairs. These results highlight how the ecological scale of inference can strongly shape conclusions about interaction strength consistency and help reconcile how the skewed nature of interaction strength distributions can persist in highly dynamic food webs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel L Preston
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Landon P Falke
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Jeremy S Henderson
- Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, 305 North Canyon Boulevard, Canyon City, Oregon, 97820, USA
| | - Mark Novak
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 97330, USA
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21
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Drymon JM, Feldheim K, Fournier AMV, Seubert EA, Jefferson AE, Kroetz AM, Powers SP. Tiger sharks eat songbirds: scavenging a windfall of nutrients from the sky. Ecology 2019; 100:e02728. [PMID: 31112297 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2019] [Revised: 03/20/2019] [Accepted: 03/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- J M Drymon
- Coastal Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University, 1815 Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi, Mississippi, 39532, USA.,Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, 39564, USA
| | - K Feldheim
- Field Museum, Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 60605, USA
| | - A M V Fournier
- Coastal Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University, 1815 Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi, Mississippi, 39532, USA.,Forbes Biological Station-Bellrose Waterfowl Research Center, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Havana, Illinois, 62644, USA
| | - E A Seubert
- Coastal Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University, 1815 Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi, Mississippi, 39532, USA
| | - A E Jefferson
- Coastal Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University, 1815 Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi, Mississippi, 39532, USA.,Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, 39564, USA
| | - A M Kroetz
- National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, 3500 Delwood Beach Road, Panama City Beach, Florida, 32408, USA
| | - S P Powers
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama, 5871 USA Drive North, Mobile, Alabama, 36688, USA
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Abstract
Dung beetles are increasingly used as a study taxon—both as bioindicators of environmental change, and as a model system for exploring ecosystem functioning. The advantages of this focal taxon approach are many; dung beetles are abundant in a wide range of terrestrial ecosystems, speciose, straightforward to sample, respond to environmental gradients and can be easily manipulated to explore species-functioning relationships. However, there remain large gaps in our understanding of the relationship between dung beetles and the mammals they rely on for dung. Here we review the literature, showing that despite an increase in the study of dung beetles linked to ecosystem functioning and to habitat and land use change, there has been little research into their associations with mammals. We summarize the methods and findings from dung beetle–mammal association studies to date, revealing that although empirical field studies of dung beetles rarely include mammal data, those that do, indicate mammal species presence and composition has a large impact on dung beetle species richness and abundance. We then review the methods used to carry out diet preference and ecosystem functioning studies, finding that despite the assumption that dung beetles are generalist feeders, there are few quantitative studies that directly address this. Together this suggests that conclusions about the effects of habitat change on dung beetles are based on incomplete knowledge. We provide recommendations for future work to identify the importance of considering mammal data for dung beetle distributions, composition and their contributions to ecosystem functioning; a critical step if dung beetles are to be used as a reliable bioindicator taxon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth H Raine
- 1 Department of Zoology, University of Oxford , South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS , UK
| | - Eleanor M Slade
- 1 Department of Zoology, University of Oxford , South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS , UK.,2 Lancaster Environment Centre, University of Lancaster , Lancaster LA1 AYQ , UK
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23
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Soininen EM, Henden J, Ravolainen VT, Yoccoz NG, Bråthen KA, Killengreen ST, Ims RA. Transferability of biotic interactions: Temporal consistency of arctic plant-rodent relationships is poor. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:9697-9711. [PMID: 30386568 PMCID: PMC6202721 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2018] [Revised: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 07/02/2018] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Variability in biotic interaction strength is an integral part of food web functioning. However, the consequences of the spatial and temporal variability of biotic interactions are poorly known, in particular for predicting species abundance and distribution. The amplitude of rodent population cycles (i.e., peak-phase abundances) has been hypothesized to be determined by vegetation properties in tundra ecosystems. We assessed the spatial and temporal predictability of food and shelter plants effects on peak-phase small rodent abundance during two consecutive rodent population peaks. Rodent abundance was related to both food and shelter biomass during the first peak, and spatial transferability was mostly good. Yet, the temporal transferability of our models to the next population peak was poorer. Plant-rodent interactions are thus temporally variable and likely more complex than simple one-directional (bottom-up) relationships or variably overruled by other biotic interactions and abiotic factors. We propose that parametrizing a more complete set of functional links within food webs across abiotic and biotic contexts would improve transferability of biotic interaction models. Such attempts are currently constrained by the lack of data with replicated estimates of key players in food webs. Enhanced collaboration between researchers whose main research interests lay in different parts of the food web could ameliorate this.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Rolf A. Ims
- UiTThe Arctic University of NorwayTromsøNorway
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24
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Alberts JM, Fritz KM, Buffam I. Response to basal resources by stream macroinvertebrates is shaped by watershed urbanization, riparian canopy cover, and season. Freshw Sci 2018; 37:640-652. [PMID: 31428513 PMCID: PMC6699631 DOI: 10.1086/699385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Riparian reforestation is a common restoration action in urban streams, but relatively little is known about the influence of local riparian vegetation in the face of watershed-scale urban land cover. Allochthonous organic matter and benthic algae are important basal energy resources in streams, but the roles of watershed urbanization vs near-stream vegetation in the availability of these resources are not well understood. Our goal was to understand how the interaction of land cover at 2 spatial scales (watershed vs reach) and seasonal dynamics shape basal resources and their effects on macroinvertebrate communities. We assessed relationships between seasonal patterns in standing stocks of particulate organic matter (POM) and benthic periphyton and macroinvertebrate community composition in openand closed-canopy reaches of 4 urban and 4 reference streams in northern Kentucky, USA. POM standing stocks were not strongly influenced by watershed or riparian condition. Benthic algal biomass was greater in urban than in reference streams in all seasons and in open than in closed riparian canopies in summer when light levels are most affected by a deciduous canopy. Relationships between macroinvertebrate functional feeding group (FFG) biomass and their primary food resources were influenced by watershed land use and season, but riparian canopy effects were minor. The proportion of collectors varied by season, whereas the proportion of shredders was higher in reference than urban streams. Scraper biomass was influenced by benthic algal biomass and varied seasonally, whereas predator biomass was driven by prey-insect biomass. Periphyton density was affected by the interaction of watershedand reach-scale land cover and was the only basal resource strongly related to consumer taxa. Watershed land use influences the stream ecosystem, but local riparian canopy may be important in limiting benthic algal accumulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy M Alberts
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221 USA
| | - Ken M Fritz
- Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio 45269 USA
| | - Ishi Buffam
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221 USA
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25
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Zhang P, Grutters BMC, van Leeuwen CHA, Xu J, Petruzzella A, van den Berg RF, Bakker ES. Effects of Rising Temperature on the Growth, Stoichiometry, and Palatability of Aquatic Plants. Front Plant Sci 2018; 9:1947. [PMID: 30671079 PMCID: PMC6331454 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2018.01947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 12/14/2018] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Global warming is expected to strengthen herbivore-plant interactions leading to enhanced top-down control of plants. However, latitudinal gradients in plant quality as food for herbivores suggest lower palatability at higher temperatures, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. If plant palatability would decline with temperature rise, then this may question the expectation that warming leads to enhanced top-down control. Therefore, experiments that directly test plant palatability and the traits underlying palatability along a temperature gradient are needed. Here we experimentally tested the impact of temperature on aquatic plant growth, plant chemical traits (including stoichiometry) and plant palatability. We cultured three aquatic plant species at three temperatures (15, 20, and 25°C), measured growth parameters, determined chemical traits and performed feeding trial assays using the generalist consumer Lymnaea stagnalis (pond snail). We found that rising temperature significantly increased the growth of all three aquatic plants. Plant nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) content significantly decreased, and carbon (C):N and C:P stoichiometry increased as temperature increased, for both Potamogeton lucens and Vallisneria spiralis, but not for Elodea nuttallii. By performing the palatability test, we found that rising temperatures significantly decreased plant palatability in P. lucens, which could be explained by changes in the underlying chemical plant traits. In contrast, the palatability of E. nuttallii and V. spiralis was not affected by temperature. Overall, P. lucens and V. spiralis were always more palatable than E. nuttallii. We conclude that warming generally stimulates aquatic plant growth, whereas the effects on chemical plant traits and plant palatability are species-specific. These results suggest that the outcome of the impact of temperature rise on macrophyte stoichiometry and palatability from single-species studies may not be broadly applicable. In contrast, the plant species tested consistently differed in palatability, regardless of temperature, suggesting that palatability may be more strongly linked to species identity than to intraspecific variation in plant stoichiometry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peiyu Zhang
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
- *Correspondence: Peiyu Zhang
| | - Bart M. C. Grutters
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Casper H. A. van Leeuwen
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Jun Xu
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Antonella Petruzzella
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Reinier F. van den Berg
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Elisabeth S. Bakker
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
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26
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Watson SA, Fields JB, Munday PL. Ocean acidification alters predator behaviour and reduces predation rate. Biol Lett 2017; 13:rsbl.2016.0797. [PMID: 28148828 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2016] [Accepted: 12/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Ocean acidification poses a range of threats to marine invertebrates; however, the emerging and likely widespread effects of rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels on marine invertebrate behaviour are still little understood. Here, we show that ocean acidification alters and impairs key ecological behaviours of the predatory cone snail Conus marmoreus Projected near-future seawater CO2 levels (975 µatm) increased activity in this coral reef molluscivore more than threefold (from less than 4 to more than 12 mm min-1) and decreased the time spent buried to less than one-third when compared with the present-day control conditions (390 µatm). Despite increasing activity, elevated CO2 reduced predation rate during predator-prey interactions with control-treated humpbacked conch, Gibberulus gibberulus gibbosus; 60% of control predators successfully captured and consumed their prey, compared with only 10% of elevated CO2 predators. The alteration of key ecological behaviours of predatory invertebrates by near-future ocean acidification could have potentially far-reaching implications for predator-prey interactions and trophic dynamics in marine ecosystems. Combined evidence that the behaviours of both species in this predator-prey relationship are altered by elevated CO2 suggests food web interactions and ecosystem structure will become increasingly difficult to predict as ocean acidification advances over coming decades.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sue-Ann Watson
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
| | | | - Philip L Munday
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
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27
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Bompard A, Amat I, Fauvergue X, Spataro T. Trophic interactions may reverse the demographic consequences of inbreeding. Ecology 2017; 97:3131-3142. [PMID: 27870041 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.1544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2015] [Revised: 07/05/2016] [Accepted: 07/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Extinctions have no simple determinism, but rather result from complex interplays between environmental factors and demographic-genetic feedback that occur at small population size. Inbreeding depression has been assumed to be a major trigger of extinction vortices, yet very few models have studied its consequences in dynamic populations with realistic population structure. Here we investigate the impact of Complementary Sex Determination (CSD) on extinction in parasitoid wasps and other insects of the order Hymenoptera. CSD is believed to induce enough inbreeding depression to doom simple small populations to extinction, but we suggest that in parasitoids CSD may have the opposite effect. Using a theoretical model combining the genetics of CSD and the population dynamics of host-parasitoid systems, we show that CSD can reduce the risk of parasitoid extinction by reducing fluctuations in population size. Our result suggests that inbreeding depression is not always a threat to population survival, and that considering trophic interactions may reverse some pervasive hypotheses on its demographic impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anaïs Bompard
- Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris, UMR 7618, UPMC-CNRS, Paris, 75005, France.,Department of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, University of London Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine, Norfolk Place, W21PG London, UK
| | - Isabelle Amat
- UMR 5558 Laboratoire Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Université Lyon 1 - CNRS, Villeurbanne, F-69622, France
| | - Xavier Fauvergue
- INRA - CNRS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis, UMR 1355 - 7254 Institut Sophia Agrobiotech, Sophia Antipolis, 06903, France
| | - Thierry Spataro
- Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris, UMR 7618, UPMC-CNRS, Paris, 75005, France.,AgroParisTech, Paris, F-75005, France
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28
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Dong HJ, Wu XW, Wang HJ, Xia SS, Pan Y. [Effects of spatial structure on predator-prey interactions: A review.]. Ying Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao 2017; 28:712-720. [PMID: 29749181 DOI: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.201702.040] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
With increasing human disturbances (e.g., spatial fragmentation), drastic changes have taken place in spatial structure, which further affects the structure and function of ecosystem. The consequences of spatial changes on ecological processes are significantly associated with change in predator-prey interactions. Thus, exploring the relationships between spatial structure andpredator-prey interactions was of significance in understanding the underlying mechanisms of ecological changes in fragmented landscapes. This paper summarized current studies about the effects of typical spatial structures on predator-prey interactions, including the spatial size, spatial shape, spatial orientation, spatial distribution and spatial connectivity. Researches indicated that the stability and continuation of predator-prey system generally decreases with decreasing spatial size and connectivity, and excessive increase in the fragmentation of space, as well as changes in spatial shape and orientation which result in excessive increase in the grazing rate of predators. Effect of complicated spatial structure (coupled from above-mentioned structures) on predator-prey interactions, especially multispecies predator-prey interactions, should be focused on in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong Juan Dong
- School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
- Technology Counseling Center, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
- Yunnan Xietong Environmental Protection Enginee-ring Co., Ltd, Kunming 650000, China
| | - Xin Wei Wu
- College of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Hong Jiao Wang
- School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
| | - Shan Shan Xia
- Yunnan Xietong Environmental Protection Enginee-ring Co., Ltd, Kunming 650000, China
| | - Ying Pan
- School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
- College of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
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29
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Nichols E, Peres CA, Hawes JE, Naeem S. Multitrophic diversity effects of network degradation. Ecol Evol 2016; 6:4936-46. [PMID: 27547324 PMCID: PMC4979718 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2016] [Revised: 05/12/2016] [Accepted: 05/16/2016] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Predicting the functional consequences of biodiversity loss in realistic, multitrophic communities remains a challenge. No existing biodiversity–ecosystem function study to date has simultaneously incorporated information on species traits, network topology, and extinction across multiple trophic levels, while all three factors are independently understood as critical drivers of post‐extinction network structure and function. We fill this gap by comparing the functional consequences of simulated species loss both within (monotrophic) and across (bitrophic) trophic levels, in an ecological interaction network estimated from spatially explicit field data on tropical fecal detritus producer and consumers (mammals and dung beetles). We simulated trait‐ordered beetle and mammal extinction separately (monotrophic extinction) and the coextinction of beetles following mammal loss (bitrophic extinction), according to network structure. We also compared the diversity effects of bitrophic extinction models using a standard monotrophic function (the daily production or consumption of fecal detritus) and a unique bitrophic functional metric (the proportion of daily detritus production that is consumed). We found similar mono‐ and bitrophic diversity effects, regardless of which species traits were used to drive extinctions, yet divergent predictions when different measures of function were used. The inclusion of information on network structure had little apparent effect on the qualitative relationship between diversity and function. These results contribute to our growing understanding of the functional consequences of biodiversity from real systems and underscore the importance of species traits and realistic functional metrics to assessments of the ecosystem impacts of network degradation through species loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Nichols
- Department of Biology Swarthmore College Swarthmore Pennsylvania 19081; Department of Ecology University of São Paulo Sao Paulo 05508-090 Brazil
| | - Carlos A Peres
- School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Norwich Research Park Norwich NR47TJ U.K
| | - Joseph E Hawes
- School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Norwich Research Park Norwich NR47TJ U.K; Animal and Environment Research Group Department of Life Sciences Anglia Ruskin University East Road Cambridge CB1 1PT U.K
| | - Shahid Naeem
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology Columbia University New York New York 10027
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30
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Meunier CL, Gundale MJ, Sánchez IS, Liess A. Impact of nitrogen deposition on forest and lake food webs in nitrogen-limited environments. Glob Chang Biol 2016; 22:164-79. [PMID: 25953197 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2014] [Revised: 03/26/2015] [Accepted: 04/29/2015] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Increased reactive nitrogen (Nr ) deposition has raised the amount of N available to organisms and has greatly altered the transfer of energy through food webs, with major consequences for trophic dynamics. The aim of this review was to: (i) clarify the direct and indirect effects of Nr deposition on forest and lake food webs in N-limited biomes, (ii) compare and contrast how aquatic and terrestrial systems respond to increased Nr deposition, and (iii) identify how the nutrient pathways within and between ecosystems change in response to Nr deposition. We present that Nr deposition releases primary producers from N limitation in both forest and lake ecosystems and raises plants' N content which in turn benefits herbivores with high N requirements. Such trophic effects are coupled with a general decrease in biodiversity caused by different N-use efficiencies; slow-growing species with low rates of N turnover are replaced by fast-growing species with high rates of N turnover. In contrast, Nr deposition diminishes below-ground production in forests, due to a range of mechanisms that reduce microbial biomass, and decreases lake benthic productivity by switching herbivore growth from N to phosphorus (P) limitation, and by intensifying P limitation of benthic fish. The flow of nutrients between ecosystems is expected to change with increasing Nr deposition. Due to higher litter production and more intense precipitation, more terrestrial matter will enter lakes. This will benefit bacteria and will in turn boost the microbial food web. Additionally, Nr deposition promotes emergent insects, which subsidize the terrestrial food web as prey for insectivores or by dying and decomposing on land. So far, most studies have examined Nr -deposition effects on the food web base, whereas our review highlights that changes at the base of food webs substantially impact higher trophic levels and therefore food web structure and functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cédric L Meunier
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Michael J Gundale
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, 901 83, Sweden
| | - Irene S Sánchez
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Antonia Liess
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden
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31
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Miller DG, Lawson SP, Rinker DC, Estby H, Abbot P. The origin and genetic differentiation of the socially parasitic aphid Tamalia inquilinus. Mol Ecol 2015; 24:5751-66. [PMID: 26460808 DOI: 10.1111/mec.13423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2014] [Revised: 10/07/2015] [Accepted: 10/09/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Social and brood parasitisms are nonconsumptive forms of parasitism involving the exploitation of the colonies or nests of a host. Such parasites are often related to their hosts and may evolve in various ecological contexts, causing evolutionary constraints and opportunities for both parasites and their hosts. In extreme cases, patterns of diversification between social parasites and their hosts can be coupled, such that diversity of one is correlated with or even shapes the diversity of the other. Aphids in the genus Tamalia induce galls on North American manzanita (Arctostaphylos) and related shrubs (Arbutoideae) and are parasitized by nongalling social parasites or inquilines in the same genus. We used RNA sequencing to identify and generate new gene sequences for Tamalia and performed maximum-likelihood, Bayesian and phylogeographic analyses to reconstruct the origins and patterns of diversity and host-associated differentiation in the genus. Our results indicate that the Tamalia inquilines are monophyletic and closely related to their gall-forming hosts on Arctostaphylos, supporting a previously proposed scenario for origins of these parasitic aphids. Unexpectedly, population structure and host-plant-associated differentiation were greater in the non-gall-inducing parasites than in their gall-inducing hosts. RNA-seq indicated contrasting patterns of gene expression between host aphids and parasites, and perhaps functional differences in host-plant relationships. Our results suggest a mode of speciation in which host plants drive within-guild diversification in insect hosts and their parasites. Shared host plants may be sufficient to promote the ecological diversification of a network of phytophagous insects and their parasites, as exemplified by Tamalia aphids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald G Miller
- Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Water and the Environment, California State University, Chico, CA, 95929, USA
| | - Sarah P Lawson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA
| | - David C Rinker
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA
| | - Heather Estby
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA
| | - Patrick Abbot
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA
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32
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Wu X, Griffin JN, Xi X, Sun S. The sign of cascading predator effects varies with prey traits in a detrital system. J Anim Ecol 2015; 84:1610-7. [PMID: 26010127 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2015] [Accepted: 05/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Theory and experiments show that the nature of 'green' trophic cascades, between predators, herbivores and plants, varies with several key species traits: predator hunting mode and predator and prey habitat domains. Meanwhile, 'brown' cascades between predators, environment-modifying detritivores and plants have been largely overlooked and the roles of species traits, particularly prey traits, in determining the nature of these cascades remains unclear. We hypothesize that, in predator-detritivore-plant interaction chains, the burrowing ability of plant-facilitating detritivores determines their response to predators and thus the sign of indirect effect transmitted. In the dung-decomposer food web of an alpine meadow, we predicted that in the presence of above-ground predacious beetles: (i) non-burrowing detritivores will suffer mortality due to predation and transmit negative indirect effects to plants, whereas (ii) burrowing detritivores will escape predation by retreating deeper into the soil, transmitting positive indirect effects to plants. In support of predictions, experiments showed that a single species of predacious beetle (i) reduced the density of the non-burrowing species and indirectly reduced dung loss rate, soil nutrient concentrations and plant biomass, but (ii) drove the burrowing species deeper, indirectly improved soil conditions and increased plant biomass. These results show that the burrowing ability of a detritivore can determine whether it transmits a negative indirect effect mediated by a reduction in its density, or a positive indirect effect mediated by its behavioural response to predation risk. We call for further tests of our detritivore-trait hypothesis in different regions and ecosystems to further develop a general trait-based framework for trophic cascades in detrital food webs. We further advance the general hypothesis that the locomotion traits of prey species (e.g. burrowing/flying ability) may help explain their behavioural response to predation risk and the nature of indirect effect they transmit from predators to plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinwei Wu
- Department of Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - John N Griffin
- Department of Biosciences, Wallace Building, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK
| | - Xinqiang Xi
- Department of Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Shucun Sun
- Department of Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.,Center for Ecological Studies, Chengdu Institute of Biology, 9 Section 4 Renminnan Rd, Chengdu, 610041, China
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33
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McDermott SP, Bransome NC, Sutton SE, Smith BE, Link JS, Miller TJ. Quantifying alosine prey in the diets of marine piscivores in the Gulf of Maine. J Fish Biol 2015; 86:1811-1829. [PMID: 25943427 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2014] [Accepted: 03/09/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The objectives of this work were to quantify the spatial and temporal distribution of the occurrence of anadromous fishes (alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, blueback herring Alosa aestivalis and American shad Alosa sapidissima) in the stomachs of demersal fishes in coastal waters of the north-west Atlantic Ocean. Results show that anadromous fishes were detectable and quantifiable in the diets of common marine piscivores for every season sampled. Even though anadromous fishes were not the most abundant prey, they accounted for c. 5-10% of the diet by mass for several marine piscivores. Statistical comparisons of these data with fish diet data from a broad-scale survey of the north-west Atlantic Ocean indicate that the frequency of this trophic interaction was significantly higher within spatially and temporally focused sampling areas of this study than in the broad-scale survey. Odds ratios of anadromous predation were as much as 460 times higher in the targeted sampling as compared with the broad-scale sampling. Analyses indicate that anadromous prey consumption was more concentrated in the near-coastal waters compared with consumption of a similar, but more widely distributed species, the Atlantic herring Clupea harengus. In the context of ecosystem-based fisheries management, the results suggest that even low-frequency feeding events may be locally important, and should be incorporated into ecosystem models.
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Affiliation(s)
- S P McDermott
- Greater Atlantic Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930, U.S.A
| | - N C Bransome
- Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, P. O. Box 38, Solomons, MD 20688, U.S.A
| | - S E Sutton
- Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543, U.S.A
| | - B E Smith
- Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543, U.S.A
| | - J S Link
- Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543, U.S.A
| | - T J Miller
- Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, P. O. Box 38, Solomons, MD 20688, U.S.A
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Kharouba HM, Vellend M. Flowering time of butterfly nectar food plants is more sensitive to temperature than the timing of butterfly adult flight. J Anim Ecol 2015; 84:1311-21. [PMID: 25823582 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2014] [Accepted: 03/06/2015] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
1. Variation among species in their phenological responses to temperature change suggests that shifts in the relative timing of key life cycle events between interacting species are likely to occur under climate warming. However, it remains difficult to predict the prevalence and magnitude of these shifts given that there have been few comparisons of phenological sensitivities to temperature across interacting species. 2. Here, we used a broad-scale approach utilizing collection records to compare the temperature sensitivity of the timing of adult flight in butterflies vs. flowering of their potential nectar food plants (days per °C) across space and time in British Columbia, Canada. 3. On average, the phenology of both butterflies and plants advanced in response to warmer temperatures. However, the two taxa were differentially sensitive to temperature across space vs. across time, indicating the additional importance of nontemperature cues and/or local adaptation for many species. 4. Across butterfly-plant associations, flowering time was significantly more sensitive to temperature than the timing of butterfly flight and these sensitivities were not correlated. 5. Our results indicate that warming-driven shifts in the relative timing of life cycle events between butterflies and plants are likely to be prevalent, but that predicting the magnitude and direction of such changes in particular cases is going to require detailed, fine-scale data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather M Kharouba
- The Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, 2212 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.,Center for Population Biology, University of California at Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Mark Vellend
- The Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, 2212 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.,Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, J1K 2R1, Canada
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Queirós AM, Fernandes JA, Faulwetter S, Nunes J, Rastrick SPS, Mieszkowska N, Artioli Y, Yool A, Calosi P, Arvanitidis C, Findlay HS, Barange M, Cheung WWL, Widdicombe S. Scaling up experimental ocean acidification and warming research: from individuals to the ecosystem. Glob Chang Biol 2015; 21:130-43. [PMID: 25044416 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2014] [Revised: 06/23/2014] [Accepted: 07/01/2014] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Understanding long-term, ecosystem-level impacts of climate change is challenging because experimental research frequently focuses on short-term, individual-level impacts in isolation. We address this shortcoming first through an interdisciplinary ensemble of novel experimental techniques to investigate the impacts of 14-month exposure to ocean acidification and warming (OAW) on the physiology, activity, predatory behaviour and susceptibility to predation of an important marine gastropod (Nucella lapillus). We simultaneously estimated the potential impacts of these global drivers on N. lapillus population dynamics and dispersal parameters. We then used these data to parameterize a dynamic bioclimatic envelope model, to investigate the consequences of OAW on the distribution of the species in the wider NE Atlantic region by 2100. The model accounts also for changes in the distribution of resources, suitable habitat and environment simulated by finely resolved biogeochemical models, under three IPCC global emissions scenarios. The experiments showed that temperature had the greatest impact on individual-level responses, while acidification had a similarly important role in the mediation of predatory behaviour and susceptibility to predators. Changes in Nucella predatory behaviour appeared to serve as a strategy to mitigate individual-level impacts of acidification, but the development of this response may be limited in the presence of predators. The model projected significant large-scale changes in the distribution of Nucella by the year 2100 that were exacerbated by rising greenhouse gas emissions. These changes were spatially heterogeneous, as the degree of impact of OAW on the combination of responses considered by the model varied depending on local-environmental conditions and resource availability. Such changes in macro-scale distributions cannot be predicted by investigating individual-level impacts in isolation, or by considering climate stressors separately. Scaling up the results of experimental climate change research requires approaches that account for long-term, multiscale responses to multiple stressors, in an ecosystem context.
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Oliva J, Stenlid J, Martínez-Vilalta J. The effect of fungal pathogens on the water and carbon economy of trees: implications for drought-induced mortality. New Phytol 2014; 203:1028-1035. [PMID: 24824859 DOI: 10.1111/nph.12857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jonàs Oliva
- Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7026, S-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jan Stenlid
- Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7026, S-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jordi Martínez-Vilalta
- CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès 08193, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Autònoma Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès 08193, Barcelona, Spain
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Wirta HK, Hebert PD, Kaartinen R, Prosser SW, Várkonyi G, Roslin T. Complementary molecular information changes our perception of food web structure. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:1885-90. [PMID: 24449902 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1316990111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
How networks of ecological interactions are structured has a major impact on their functioning. However, accurately resolving both the nodes of the webs and the links between them is fraught with difficulties. We ask whether the new resolution conferred by molecular information changes perceptions of network structure. To probe a network of antagonistic interactions in the High Arctic, we use two complementary sources of molecular data: parasitoid DNA sequenced from the tissues of their hosts and host DNA sequenced from the gut of adult parasitoids. The information added by molecular analysis radically changes the properties of interaction structure. Overall, three times as many interaction types were revealed by combining molecular information from parasitoids and hosts with rearing data, versus rearing data alone. At the species level, our results alter the perceived host specificity of parasitoids, the parasitoid load of host species, and the web-wide role of predators with a cryptic lifestyle. As the northernmost network of host-parasitoid interactions quantified, our data point exerts high leverage on global comparisons of food web structure. However, how we view its structure will depend on what information we use: compared with variation among networks quantified at other sites, the properties of our web vary as much or much more depending on the techniques used to reconstruct it. We thus urge ecologists to combine multiple pieces of evidence in assessing the structure of interaction webs, and suggest that current perceptions of interaction structure may be strongly affected by the methods used to construct them.
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Dzul-Cauich JF, Hernández-Ortiz V, Parra-Tabla V, Rico-Gray V. Seasonal dynamics of the flower head infestation of Smallanthus maculatus by two nonfrugivorous tephritids. J Insect Sci 2014; 14:189. [PMID: 25368091 PMCID: PMC5443603 DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/ieu051] [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] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2012] [Accepted: 02/22/2013] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Seasonal dynamics of the capitula infested by Dictyotrypeta sp. and Rhynencina spilogaster (Steyskal) (Diptera: Tephritidae) was evaluated throughout the flowering cycle of their host plant the sunflower, Smallanthus maculatus (Cavanilles) Robinson (Asterales: Asteraceae). In central Veracruz, Mexico, along 16 consecutive weeks, a total of 1,017 mature capitula were collected, recording the presence and abundance of immature stages (larvae and pupae) and their related parasitoids. Both fly species were present throughout the entire season, with overall infestation of 51.5% of the capitula examined. However, Dictyotrypeta sp. infested 11.3%, representing about one-fifth of them, and R. spilogaster was most abundant infesting four times as many capitula (42.9%), whereas both species were found together in only 2.6% of the capitula examined. Based on the temporal occurrence of larvae and pupae into flower heads as well as their associated parasitoids and times of emergence, Dictyotrypeta sp. had two yearly generations, and it seems that the second generation could enter a seasonal diapause; in contrast, R. spilogaster was a univoltine species that entered diapause that lasted until the next year.
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Affiliation(s)
- José F Dzul-Cauich
- Instituto de Ecología A.C., Red de Interacciones Multitróficas, Carretera Antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico
| | - Vicente Hernández-Ortiz
- Instituto de Ecología A.C., Red de Interacciones Multitróficas, Carretera Antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico
| | - Victor Parra-Tabla
- Departamento de Ecología Tropical, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Km 15.5 Carretera Mérida-Xtmakuil, Mérida, Yucatán 97000, Mexico
| | - Victor Rico-Gray
- Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Calle Dr. Luis Castelazo s/n, Col. Industrial Ánimas, Xalapa, Veracruz 91190, México
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Büntgen U, Liebhold A, Jenny H, Mysterud A, Egli S, Nievergelt D, Stenseth NC, Bollmann K. European springtime temperature synchronises ibex horn growth across the eastern Swiss Alps. Ecol Lett 2013; 17:303-13. [PMID: 24341995 PMCID: PMC4257578 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2013] [Revised: 10/09/2013] [Accepted: 11/12/2013] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Direct effects of climate change on animal physiology, and indirect impacts from disruption of seasonal synchrony and breakdown of trophic interactions are particularly severe in Arctic and Alpine ecosystems. Unravelling biotic from abiotic drivers, however, remains challenging because high-resolution animal population data are often limited in space and time. Here, we show that variation in annual horn growth (an indirect proxy for individual performance) of 8043 male Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) over the past four decades is well synchronised among eight disjunct colonies in the eastern Swiss Alps. Elevated March to May temperatures, causing premature melting of Alpine snowcover, earlier plant phenology and subsequent improvement of ibex food resources, fuelled annual horn growth. These results reveal dependency of local trophic interactions on large-scale climate dynamics, and provide evidence that declining herbivore performance is not a universal response to global warming even for high-altitude populations that are also harvested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulf Büntgen
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, CH-8903, Switzerland; Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR), University of Bern, Bern, CH-3012, Switzerland; Global Change Research Centre AS CR, v.v.i., Bělidla 986/4a, Brno, CZ-60300, Czech Republic
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Wallinger C, Staudacher K, Schallhart N, Mitterrutzner E, Steiner EM, Juen A, Traugott M. How generalist herbivores exploit belowground plant diversity in temperate grasslands. Mol Ecol 2013; 23:3826-37. [PMID: 24188592 PMCID: PMC4285316 DOI: 10.1111/mec.12579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2013] [Revised: 10/17/2013] [Accepted: 10/28/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Belowground herbivores impact plant performance, thereby inducing changes in plant community composition, which potentially leads to cascading effects onto higher trophic levels and ecosystem processes and productivity. Among soil-living insects, external root-chewing generalist herbivores have the strongest impact on plants. However, the lack of knowledge on their feeding behaviour under field conditions considerably hampers achieving a comprehensive understanding of how they affect plant communities. Here, we address this gap of knowledge by investigating the feeding behaviour of Agriotes click beetle larvae, which are common generalist external root-chewers in temperate grassland soils. Utilizing diagnostic multiplex PCR to assess the larval diet, we examined the seasonal patterns in feeding activity, putative preferences for specific plant taxa, and whether species identity and larval instar affect food choices of the herbivores. Contrary to our hypothesis, most of the larvae were feeding-active throughout the entire vegetation period, indicating that the grassland plants are subjected to constant belowground feeding pressure. Feeding was selective, with members of Plantaginaceae and Asteraceae being preferred; Apiaceae were avoided. Poaceae, although assumed to be most preferred, had an intermediate position. The food preferences exhibited seasonal changes, indicating a fluctuation in plant traits important for wireworm feeding choice. Species- and instar-specific differences in dietary choice of the Agriotes larvae were small, suggesting that species and larval instars occupy the same trophic niche. According to the current findings, the food choice of these larvae is primarily driven by plant identity, exhibiting seasonal changes. This needs to be considered when analysing soil herbivore-plant interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corinna Wallinger
- Mountain Agriculture Research Unit, Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
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Watson SA, Lefevre S, McCormick MI, Domenici P, Nilsson GE, Munday PL. Marine mollusc predator-escape behaviour altered by near-future carbon dioxide levels. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 281:20132377. [PMID: 24225456 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.2377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Ocean acidification poses a range of threats to marine invertebrates; however, the potential effects of rising carbon dioxide (CO2) on marine invertebrate behaviour are largely unknown. Marine gastropod conch snails have a modified foot and operculum allowing them to leap backwards rapidly when faced with a predator, such as a venomous cone shell. Here, we show that projected near-future seawater CO2 levels (961 µatm) impair this escape behaviour during a predator-prey interaction. Elevated-CO2 halved the number of snails that jumped from the predator, increased their latency to jump and altered their escape trajectory. Physical ability to jump was not affected by elevated-CO2 indicating instead that decision-making was impaired. Antipredator behaviour was fully restored by treatment with gabazine, a GABA antagonist of some invertebrate nervous systems, indicating potential interference of neurotransmitter receptor function by elevated-CO2, as previously observed in marine fishes. Altered behaviour of marine invertebrates at projected future CO2 levels could have potentially far-reaching implications for marine ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sue-Ann Watson
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, , Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia, Programme for Physiology and Neurobiology, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, , Oslo 0316, Norway, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, , Torregrande, Oristano 09072, Italy
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Gauthier G, Bêty J, Cadieux MC, Legagneux P, Doiron M, Chevallier C, Lai S, Tarroux A, Berteaux D. Long-term monitoring at multiple trophic levels suggests heterogeneity in responses to climate change in the Canadian Arctic tundra. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2013; 368:20120482. [PMID: 23836788 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Arctic wildlife is often presented as being highly at risk in the face of current climate warming. We use the long-term (up to 24 years) monitoring records available on Bylot Island in the Canadian Arctic to examine temporal trends in population attributes of several terrestrial vertebrates and in primary production. Despite a warming trend (e.g. cumulative annual thawing degree-days increased by 37% and snow-melt date advanced by 4-7 days over a 23-year period), we found little evidence for changes in the phenology, abundance or productivity of several vertebrate species (snow goose, foxes, lemmings, avian predators and one passerine). Only primary production showed a response to warming (annual above-ground biomass of wetland graminoids increased by 123% during this period). We nonetheless found evidence for potential mismatches between herbivores and their food plants in response to warming as snow geese adjusted their laying date by only 3.8 days on average for a change in snow-melt of 10 days, half of the corresponding adjustment shown by the timing of plant growth (7.1 days). We discuss several reasons (duration of time series, large annual variability, amplitude of observed climate change, nonlinear dynamic or constraints imposed by various rate of warming with latitude in migrants) to explain the lack of response by herbivores and predators to climate warming at our study site. We also show how length and intensity of monitoring could affect our ability to detect temporal trends and provide recommendations for future monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gilles Gauthier
- Département de biologie and Centre d'études nordiques, Université Laval, 1045 avenue de la Médecine, Pavillon Vachon, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada G1V 0A6.
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Abstract
Individual species respond to climate change by altering their abundance, distribution and phenology. Less is known, however, about how climate change affects multitrophic interactions, and its consequences for food-web dynamics. Here, we investigate the effect of future changes in rainfall patterns on detritivore-plant-herbivore interactions in a semiarid region in southern Spain by experimentally manipulating rainfall intensity and frequency during late spring-early summer. Our results show that rain intensity changes the effect of below-ground detritivores on both plant traits and above-ground herbivore abundance. Enhanced rain altered the interaction between detritivores and plants affecting flower and fruit production, and also had a direct effect on fruit and seed set. Despite this finding, there was no net effect on plant reproductive output. This finding supports the idea that plants will be less affected by climatic changes than by other trophic levels. Enhanced rain also affected the interaction between detritivores and free-living herbivores. The effect, however, was apparent only for generalist and not for specialist herbivores, demonstrating a differential response to climate change within the same trophic level. The complex responses found in this study suggest that future climate change will affect trophic levels and their interactions differentially, making extrapolation from individual species' responses and from one ecosystem to another very difficult.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adela González-Megías
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
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Rodríguez A, Andrés VS, Cervera M, Redondo A, Alquézar B, Shimada T, Gadea J, Rodrigo M, Zacarías L, Palou L, López MM, Castañera P, Peña L. The monoterpene limonene in orange peels attracts pests and microorganisms. Plant Signal Behav 2011; 6:1820-3. [PMID: 22212123 PMCID: PMC3329358 DOI: 10.4161/psb.6.11.16980] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Plant volatiles include terpenoids, which are generally involved in plant defense, repelling pests and pathogens and attracting insects for herbivore control, pollination and seed dispersal. Orange fruits accumulate the monoterpene limonene at high levels in the oil glands of their fruit peels. When limonene production was downregulated in orange fruits by the transgenic expression of a limonene synthase (CitMTSE1) in the antisense configuration, these fruits were resistant to the fungus Penicillium digitatum (Pers.) Sacc. and the bacterium Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri and were less attractive to the medfly pest Ceratitis capitata. These responses were reversed when the antisense transgenic orange fruits were treated with limonene. To gain more insight into the role of the limonene concentration in fruit responses to pests and pathogens, we attempted to overexpress CitMTSE1 in the sense configuration in transgenic orange fruits. Only slight increases in the amount of limonene were found in sense transgenic fruits, maybe due to the detrimental effect that excessive limonene accumulation would have on plant development. Collectively, these results suggest that when limonene reaches peak levels as the fruit develops, it becomes a signal for pest and pathogen attraction, which facilitate access to the fruit for pulp consumers and seed dispersers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Rodríguez
- Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología; Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias; Valencia, Spain
| | - Victoria San Andrés
- Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología; Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias; Valencia, Spain
- Departamento Biología de Plantas; Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas-CSIC; Madrid, Spain
| | - Magdalena Cervera
- Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología; Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias; Valencia, Spain
| | - Ana Redondo
- Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología; Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias; Valencia, Spain
| | - Berta Alquézar
- Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología; Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias; Valencia, Spain
| | - Takehiko Shimada
- Department of Citrus Research; National Institute of Fruit Tree Science; Ibaraki, Japan
| | - José Gadea
- Homeostasis Iónica; Estrés Celular y Genómica; Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas; Valencia, Spain
| | - María Rodrigo
- Departamento de Ciencia de los Alimentos; Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos-CSIC; Valencia, Spain
| | - Lorenzo Zacarías
- Departamento de Ciencia de los Alimentos; Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos-CSIC; Valencia, Spain
| | - Lluís Palou
- Centro de Tecnología Postcosecha; Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias; Valencia, Spain
| | - María M. López
- Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología; Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias; Valencia, Spain
| | - Pedro Castañera
- Departamento Biología de Plantas; Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas-CSIC; Madrid, Spain
| | - Leandro Peña
- Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología; Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias; Valencia, Spain
- Correspondence to: Leandro Peña,
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Carta LK, Bauchan G, Hsu CY, Yuceer C. Description of Parasitorhabditis frontali n. sp. (Nemata: Rhabditida) from Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). J Nematol 2010; 42:46-54. [PMID: 22736836 PMCID: PMC3380509] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2009] [Indexed: 06/01/2023] Open
Abstract
A new Parasitorhabditis species with males and females was discovered from the southern pine beetle Dendroctonus frontalis and its galleries in loblolly pine, Pinus taeda, growing in Mississippi. Females of the new species have a cupola-shaped tail with a small spike; males possess a 2 + (3+2) + 3 ray pattern on the tail fan with ray 10 reaching the margin, and a distinctive stomatal tooth. Parasitorhabditis frontali n. sp. has some similarities to P. hylurgi Massey, 1974 from Hylurgops pinifex in New York, USA, P. terebranus Massey, 1974 from D. terebrans (Olivier, 1795) in Texas USA, P. ligniperdae Fuchs, 1915 from Hylergops ligniperda (Fabricius, 1787) and P. dendroctoni Rühm, 1956 from D. micans (Kugelann, 1794) in Europe, P. ateri Fuchs, 1915 isolated from the beetle Hylastes ater (Paykull, 1800) in Germany, and P. malii Devdariani and Kakulia,1970 from Scolytus mali (Bechstein, 1805) within the republic of Georgia. Morphometrics for 44 species of Parasitorhabditis are provided to update older keys. Parasitorhabditis frontali n. sp. was initially grown on Malt Extract (ME) agar with its own microbial contaminants that included a bacterium and fungus. The nematode also grew and reproduced after slices of ME agar with nematodes and microbial contaminants were transferred to water agar. It was killed by E. coli on NGM agar plates commonly used to raise other Rhabditida. Drawings of diagnostic anatomy and low-temperature SEM images of bodies, heads, and tails are provided for cultured specimens from pine beetle frass.
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Affiliation(s)
- L K Carta
- USDA-ARS, Nematology Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
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Ha DH, Robertson RT, Weiss JH. Distinctive morphological features of a subset of cortical neurons grown in the presence of basal forebrain neurons in vitro. J Neurosci 1998; 18:4201-15. [PMID: 9592099 PMCID: PMC6792795] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCNs) provide the major subcortical source of cholinergic input to cerebral cortex and play an important role in regulating cortical activity. The present study examined the ability of BFCNs to influence neocortical neuronal growth by examining effects of the presence of BFCNs on certain cortical neurons grown under the controlled conditions of dissociated cell culture. Initial experiments demonstrated distinctive morphological features of a population of neurons (labeled with SMI-32, a monoclonal antibody to nonphosphorylated neurofilament proteins that labels pyramidal neurons in vivo) in cocultures containing basal forebrain (BF) and cortical cells. These neurons (large neurons immunoreactive for SMI-32 [SMI-32(+) neurons]) were characterized as having extensive axons, greater soma size, and more dendritic growth than did most SMI-32(+) neurons in the cultures. Staining for SMI-32 in cocultures in which the cortical neurons were labeled with a fluorescent marker before adding the BF cells indicated that virtually all large SMI-32(+) neurons were of cortical origin. Eliminating BFCNs with the selective cholinergic immunotoxin 192 IgG-saporin resulted in a >80% decrease in the number of large SMI-32(+) neurons, although causing little damage to other cells in the treated cultures; this suggests that survival or maintenance of large SMI-32(+) neurons may depend on ongoing trophic support from BFCNs. Thus, present findings suggest that BFCNs may provide powerful growth- and/or survival-enhancing signals to a subset of cortical neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- D H Ha
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-4292, USA
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Yeates GW, Bongers T, De Goede RG, Freckman DW, Georgieva SS. Feeding habits in soil nematode families and genera-an outline for soil ecologists. J Nematol 1993; 25:315-331. [PMID: 19279775 PMCID: PMC2619405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Because research on nematode involvement in trophic interactions, foodweb structure, and biodiversity is constrained by lack of an overview of nematode feeding habits, this outline presents a consensus of current thought on nematode feeding habits. The source of food is fundamental to trophic interactions and provides the basis for our definitions of the essential feeding types: 1) plant feeder, 2) hyphal feeder, 3) bacterial feeder, 4) substrate ingester, 5) predator of animals, 6) unicellular eucaryote feeder, 7) dispersal or infective stage of parasites, and 8) omnivore. Lists of families and genera with their presumed feeding types are given. Major gaps in knowledge of feeding in the smaller tylenchids and many dorylaims are noted.
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