Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Paola Cerrito, Jeffrey K. Spear
Summary: Maternal resource availability and metabolism have a limiting effect on reproductive output. Allomaternal care and domestication increase maternal energy, leading to an increase in reproductive output. Different forms of external energetic supplementation have varying effects on fertility increase.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dustin J. Marshall, Michael Bode, Marc Mangel, Robert Arlinghaus, E. J. Dick
Summary: Research shows that the assumption of isometry in the management models of fisheries leads to an overestimation of the replenishment potential of exploited fish stocks, risking systematic overharvesting. By considering hyperallometric reproduction, management strategies could be optimized to increase yields and maintain target replenishment levels.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Review
Zoology
Marcus Clauss, Philipp Zerbe, Laurie Bingaman Lackey, Daryl Codron, Dennis W. H. Muller
Summary: This article discusses the commonality of seasonal reproduction in mammals and the importance of comparisons between natural habitats and zoos for understanding species that cannot be experimentally studied. It analyzes the relationship between seasonal physiology and photoperiodic triggers, as well as the driving factors behind reproductive seasonality. It summarizes the relationship between life history strategies and seasonality, with a focus on the shortening of gestation periods in seasonal mammals.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Fay Morland, John G. Ewen, Mirre J. P. Simons, Patricia Brekke, Nicola Hemmings
Summary: Through long-term data analysis on a threatened songbird, we find that early-life telomere length can predict the senescence of reproductive traits, such as clutch size and hatching success. However, early-life telomere length does not predict lifespan or lifetime reproductive success. These findings provide insights on the role of telomeres in reproductive senescence and individual fitness, and suggest telomere length as a predictor for future life history in threatened species.
Article
Biology
Anais Degut, Klaus Fischer, Martin Quque, Francois Criscuolo, Peter Michalik, Michael Beaulieu
Summary: Phenotypic plasticity within populations allows for adaptive phenotypic variation in response to seasonal changes, with long-term effects on adult morphology and performance. This plasticity may facilitate life-history strategies to cope with climate change.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biology
Jennifer C. French, Andrew T. Chamberlain
Summary: The principle of demographic uniformitarianism is the basis of research in prehistoric demography, suggesting continuity in human demographic processes between past and present. This principle provides a cross-disciplinary foundation for the reconstruction and analysis of ancient populations.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Allison Edgar, Jose Miguel Ponciano, Mark Q. Martindale
Summary: Research shows that ctenophores, specifically Mnemiopsis leidyi, do not have separate phases of early and adult reproduction. They start reproducing at a small body size and continue spawning under suitable environmental conditions. The constraints on reproductive capacity are similar in both small and large animals. These findings have significant implications for understanding resource partitioning and managing the species in its invaded range.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Roberto C. Rodriguez-Caro, Pol Capdevila, Eva Gracia, Jomar M. Barbosa, Andres Gimenez, Rob Salguero-Gomez
Summary: This study investigates the reproductive and survival strategies of Testudo graeca in drought conditions using field data and model simulations. The results show that drought negatively affects egg laying probability, but the impact on overall survival rate can be negligible under certain conditions. However, frequent drought events have a significant impact on population stability.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Jose Luis Viveros-Legorreta, S. S. S. Sarma, Maria Elena Castellanos-Paez, S. Nandini
Summary: In this study, we investigated the effects of phenolic compounds from hydrophytes on the survival and reproduction of rotifers. The results showed that these compounds influenced the age-specific survival, lifespan, and reproductive rates of the rotifers, but their effects depended on other chemicals released into the medium.
Article
Plant Sciences
Hai-Qin Sun, Ting-Hong Zhou, Nina Sletvold
Summary: This study experimentally demonstrated the variation in demographic costs of reproduction among different plant species, which is associated with divergence in life-history traits. This trait-dependent variation in costs may reduce competition among coexisting species and facilitate diversity.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Wendell R. Haag, James A. Stoeckel
Summary: The demographics of young-of-year Pondmussels and Giant Floaters in ponds showed variations in size, sex ratios, and gravidity among ponds due to differences in environmental conditions or demographic stochasticity. Size and fecundity were not related to male density, and acquired immunity did not affect YOY performance in both species. The rapid growth, early maturity, efficient fertilization, and high fecundity of YOY contradict traditional views of mussel life history, but may enable them to colonize disturbed, unstable habitats quickly.
Article
Entomology
Stephen M. Shuster, Brandy Pyzyna, Courtney Ray, Loretta P. Mayer
Summary: Controlling rodent populations is a worldwide problem, intensified by their resistance to rodenticide treatment. Contraceptives could be a solution, but their effectiveness in resistant populations is still uncertain. Through a demographic model, we found that early fertility reduction is more effective in managing rodent populations than later reduction, and it works even for expanding populations. Our simulations were confirmed by field experiments using contraceptive bait, which showed decreased proportions of juvenile rats and a lower total population size. These results support fertility control as an effective method for managing rodent populations.
JOURNAL OF PEST SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jonas Mueller, Thassya C. dos Santos C. Schmidt, Gaute Wilhelmsen Seljestad, Catriona Clemmesen, Joachim Paul Groger, Florian Berg
Summary: Atlantic herring has a complex population structure and displays various reproductive strategies. Mixing between spring and autumn spawning herring occurs on the spawning ground, with differences in reproductive traits observed. The high variability in reproductive investment within spring spawners suggests the co-occurrence of groups with different behaviors.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Britt J. Heidinger, Samuel P. Slowinski, Aubrey E. Sirman, Jeffrey Kittilson, Nicole M. Gerlach, Ellen D. Ketterson
Summary: Elevated testosterone in male dark-eyed juncos leads to increased telomere shortening with age, potentially affecting longevity. This suggests that the impact of testosterone on telomeres may be a long-term cost of reproduction in male vertebrates.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jade Carver, Morgan Meidell, Zachary J. Cannizzo, Blaine D. Griffen
Summary: Research on the breeding strategy of mangrove tree crabs found that they exhibit patterns consistent with both capital breeding and income breeding. Additionally, energy acquisition and storage patterns supporting reproduction were influenced by unequal tidal patterns.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Michelle R. Gibson, Claire A. Runge, Philip A. Stephens, Richard A. Fuller, Stephen G. Willis
Summary: Nomadism is a movement strategy in response to non-seasonal environmental variability, with most arid bird species showing low site persistence and movement along a continuum rather than distinct nomadic and non-nomadic groups. Species classified as nomadic exhibit higher variation in abundance and lower site persistence, and the findings closely replicate existing expert-derived movement classifications.
Article
Ecology
Hagen M. O'Neill, Sean D. Twiss, Philip A. Stephens, Tom H. E. Mason, Nils Ryrholm, Joseph Burman
Summary: Ecosystem engineers, such as red deer, can have both trophic and non-trophic effects on other organisms, potentially impacting the abundance of species of conservation concern. Understanding these interactions is crucial for conservation objectives.
Article
Ecology
Solene Marion, Urska Demsar, Althea L. Davies, Philip A. Stephens, R. Justin Irvine, Jed A. Long
Summary: Outdoor recreational activities have the potential to affect the interactions between wildlife and livestock, leading to increased temporal overlap in areas further from hiking paths. This impact on spatio-temporal interactions can have consequences for animal welfare, vegetation, management, and disease transmission.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Solene Marion, Urska Demsar, Althea L. Davies, Philip A. Stephens, R. Justin Irvine, Jed A. Long
Summary: This study used camera traps to investigate the behavior of red deer in interactions with outdoor hikers in Scotland. The study found that red deer in the vicinity of hiking paths choose to spatially avoid instead of displaying intense behavior, suggesting habituation to the presence of hikers.
JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Sian E. Green, Philip A. Stephens, Mark J. Whittingham, Russell A. Hill
Summary: Camera traps are commonly used in wildlife monitoring and citizen science, but concerns over video performance have led to the majority of studies collecting still images. However, a study conducted in the UK found no difference in ecological outputs between video and photo datasets. Additionally, citizen scientists were able to classify videos more accurately and provide more additional information compared to experts. This suggests that using video in camera-trapping projects, especially when combined with citizen science, can yield higher quality data.
REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Peter S. Stewart, Philip A. Stephens, Russell A. Hill, Mark J. Whittingham, Wayne Dawson
Summary: Occupancy models are commonly used in ecology to study species occurrence, but selecting among models with different sets of covariates can lead to inaccurate parameter estimates. This study investigated the consequences of collider bias in occupancy and detection processes and explored the implications for model selection using information criteria. The results showed that information criteria can accurately select detection covariates regardless of the model's purpose, but caution is needed when selecting occupancy covariates for understanding environmental variables. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between parameter inference and prediction tasks in ecological modeling.
Editorial Material
Biodiversity Conservation
Rafael D. Zenni, Jos Barlow, Nathalie Pettorelli, Phil Stephens, Romina Rader, Tadeu Siqueira, Rowena Gordon, Thomas Pinfield, Martin A. Nunez
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Ecology
Rachele Vada, Sonia Illanas, Pelayo Acevedo, Tim Adriaens, Marco Apollonio, Olgirda Belova, Jose Antonio Blanco-Aguiar, Sandor Csanyi, Guillaume Body, Isabel G. Fernandez-De-Mera, Ezio Ferroglio, Patrick A. Jansen, Jonathan M. Jeschke, Oliver Keuling, Santiago Palazon, Kamila Plis, Tomasz Podgorski, Fiona Rickowski, Massimo Scandura, Vasilij Shakun, Graham C. Smith, Philip A. Stephens, Koen Van Den Berge, Rauno Veeroja, Stefania Zanet, Ilgvars Zihmanis, Joaquin Vicente
Summary: The American mink is an invasive species in Europe that poses a threat to endemic biodiversity and can transmit zoonotic diseases like SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we updated the distribution map of feral American minks and analyzed their temporal trends. Our findings show that the species has continued to spread across Europe in the past 15 years, increasing its potential extent of occurrence in most countries.
Article
Biology
Richard D. Gregory, Mark A. Eaton, Ian J. Burfield, Philip V. Grice, Christine Howard, Alena Klvanova, David Noble, Eva Silarova, Anna Staneva, Philip A. Stephens, Stephen G. Willis, Ian D. Woodward, Fiona Burns
Summary: This article models temporal change in species' abundance and biomass by using extensive data describing the population sizes and trends of native breeding birds in the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU). It finds significant change in the bird assemblages of the UK and EU, with overall bird abundance decreasing and losses concentrated in abundant and smaller sized species. The study also highlights the correlation between abundance trends and species' traits, migration strategy, and niche associations linked to diet.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Carl Chalmers, Paul Fergus, Serge Wich, Steven. N. N. Longmore, Naomi Davies Walsh, Philip. A. A. Stephens, Chris Sutherland, Naomi Matthews, Jens Mudde, Amira Nuseibeh
Summary: Birds are crucial for monitoring biodiversity and habitat health, and they play a vital role in ecosystem management. Declining bird populations can lead to reduced ecosystem services such as seed dispersal, pollination, and pest control. While monitoring birds is important for ecologists, it is often time-consuming, expensive, and challenging to manage. This paper proposes using deep learning to overcome the challenges and automate bird monitoring in camera trap data.
Article
Ecology
Sarah E. Beatham, Philip A. Stephens, Julia Coats, John Phillips, Giovanna Massei
Summary: Effective wildlife population management requires understanding species abundance. In the United Kingdom, the increase of non-native invasive grey squirrels poses a threat to native red squirrels, tree health, and the forestry industry. A camera trap index was developed to estimate target densities of grey squirrels in woodlands to guide control measures. The index had a strong linear relationship with squirrels removed in trapping operations, and results could be obtained within 6 days.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Nicolas Fuentes-Allende, Philip A. Stephens, Lynne M. MacTavish, Dougal MacTavish, Stephen G. Willis
Summary: Large herbivores in highly seasonal savanna habitats often experience significant changes in body mass due to availability of critical resources and breeding events. However, documentation of this mass variation has been rarely explored. In this study, we developed a method using mineral-baited scales and camera traps to track body mass of three bovid species across wet and dry seasons in a South African savanna ecosystem. The method proved to be effective in monitoring and revealed significant changes in body mass, which were related to factors such as vegetation productivity and rainfall frequency. This non-lethal and non-invasive method has various potential applications, including informing management decisions and assessing ecological states. It may also be valuable for monitoring long-term body condition in animals affected by environmental change in arid systems.
REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Jamie E. T. McKaughan, Philip A. Stephens, Russell A. Hill
Summary: Mesocarnivores are important in wildlife management, but estimating their densities is challenging. This study used camera trapping to estimate the densities of four carnivores in commercial farmland in South Africa. The study highlights the importance of careful selection of parameters and suggests the need for more studies to increase confidence in accuracy.
ECOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS AND EVIDENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Sarah E. Beatham, Julia Coats, Philip A. Stephens, Giovanna Massei
Summary: The study aimed to estimate the efficacy of delivering baits via feeders to grey squirrels and determine the most important factors for bait uptake. The findings showed that baits delivered via feeders can target the majority of grey squirrels in woodland environments. This implies that oral contraceptives could be a cost-effective tool to reduce the population of grey squirrels and mitigate their negative impacts on native wildlife and tree health.
Article
Ecology
Pen-Yuan Hsing, Russell A. Hill, Graham C. Smith, Steven Bradley, Sian E. Green, Vivien T. Kent, Samantha S. Mason, Jonathan Rees, Mark J. Whittingham, Jim Cokill, Philip A. Stephens
Summary: Given the global biodiversity loss, there is an increasing demand for large-scale wildlife monitoring. However, monitoring mammals has been challenging due to their elusive and nocturnal nature. In the United Kingdom, there is a lack of systematic and widespread mammal monitoring, leading to a deficiency of data. To address this issue, MammalWeb, a citizen science-based camera trapping portal, was developed to facilitate monitoring across the UK. The project has successfully collected and classified a significant amount of camera trap data, contributing to the understanding of wild mammal populations.
ECOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS AND EVIDENCE
(2022)
