Article
Veterinary Sciences
De-Lun Wu, Han-Chun Shih, Jen-Kai Wang, Hwa-Jen Teng, Chi-Chien Kuo
Summary: On volcanic islands, the release of animals from predators and competitors can increase body size and population density as well as expand habitat use for introduced animals compared to mainland counterparts. This could facilitate disease spread when exotic animals carry pathogens. In the case of Orchid Island, the invasion of commensal rats into forests has led to an increase in chigger abundance, potentially elevating the risk of scrub typhus.
FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tom Hill, Robert L. Unckless
Summary: The study characterizes how a mycophageous fly species, Drosophila innubila, adapts to its current range in mountain forests in the south-western USA, using population genomic data from over 300 wild-caught individuals. The research reveals evidence of migration, recent expansion, and genetic variation in D. innubila, as well as different adaptation strategies in chorion proteins and immune genes. Additionally, the study shows long-term recurrent positive selection in immune pathways such as the Toll signaling system and antimicrobial peptides.
Article
Ecology
Meidong Jing, Yingjie Chen, Keying Yao, Youming Wang, Ling Huang
Summary: The colonization and demographic history of Chinese house rats, Rattus norvegicus and Rattus tanezumi, have been explored using mitochondrial DNA and 2b-RAD analyses. R. norvegicus is widely distributed in China, while R. tanezumi is mainly distributed in the south, currently invading northward. The colonization route of R. tanezumi started from the southeast coast, while R. norvegicus had a complex spread history involving both on-land colonization and shipping transportation. Climate changes and interspecies competition were important factors influencing the population size changes of both species. This study provides a valuable framework for further investigation on the phylogeography of these two species in China.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Alberto Sanchez-Vialas, Ernesto Recuero, Yolanda Jimenez-Ruiz, Jose L. Ruiz, Neus Mari-Mena, Mario Garcia-Paris
Summary: The flightless, phoretic insects of the tribe Meloini have widespread distribution and complex evolutionary relationships. Research on their molecular phylogenetics and taxonomic framework helps clarify controversial relationships within the group and reveals patterns of overseas dispersal in phoretic species of blister beetles. The high level of geographically unstructured haplotype diversity within taxa suggests multiple transmarine dispersal events in their evolutionary history.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Valentina S. Artamonova, Ivan N. Bolotov, Maxim V. Vinarski, Alexander A. Makhrov
Summary: Analysis of zoogeographic, paleogeographic, and molecular data suggests that many cold-tolerant hydrobionts in the Mediterranean region and the Danube River basin likely originated in East Asia or Central Asia and spread to Europe through the Paratethys. Intense speciation and new genus formation took place in this region. Some species migrated from the Caspian region to the Mediterranean during the Miocene, and later spread to the Atlantic Ocean and European Arctic regions. The former Paratethys region remains significant as a center of origin for new species and genera and continues to act as a migration corridor.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Pedro G. Nachtigall, Felipe G. Grazziotin, Inacio L. M. Junqueira-de-Azevedo
Summary: MITGARD is an automated pipeline that reliably recovers mitochondrial genomes from RNA-seq data of various sources. The tool can reconstruct mitogenomes across different species and sequencing schemes, demonstrating its effectiveness even in scenarios of low-sequencing depth. Additionally, MITGARD's use of phylogenetically related references allows for the recovery of entire mitogenomes or most mitochondrial genes, making it valuable for biodiversity projects and evolutionary studies.
BRIEFINGS IN BIOINFORMATICS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Laurent Granjon, Odile Fossati-Gaschignard, Emmanuelle Artige, Khalilou Ba, Carine Brouat, Ambroise Dalecky, Christophe Diagne, Mamoudou Diallo, Philippe Gauthier, Pascal Handschumacher, Mamadou Kane, Laetitia Husse, Youssoupha Niang, Sylvain Piry, Nathalie Sarr, Aliou Sow, Jean-Marc Duplantier
Summary: The text discusses the importance of studying biological invasions, specifically focusing on the invasive species black rats and domestic mice in Senegal. Data collection methods and the resulting data set are described, which provide insights into the distribution and potential determinants of these invasive species in the region.
Article
Ecology
Antonio J. Perez-Delgado, Paula Arribas, Carles Hernando, Heriberto Lopez, Yurena Arjona, Daniel Suarez-Ramos, Brent C. Emerson, Carmelo Andujar
Summary: The study reveals the diversification process within a beetle species adapted to the soil environment. Through molecular phylogenetics, population genomics, and morphometric analysis, it was found that the species consists of at least seven lineages, suggesting the presence of a cryptic species complex.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Anilei Hoare, Hui Wang, Archana Meethil, Loreto Abusleme, Bo-Young Hong, Niki M. Moutsopoulos, Philip D. Marsh, George Hajishengallis, Patricia I. Diaz
Summary: Recent studies have shown that population size plays a crucial role in determining the growth, colonization, and virulence of the human oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis, while cell-density-dependent diffusible cues exchanged between early and late colonizing species drive microbial successions, pathogen colonization, and disease development in a polymicrobial community.
Review
Plant Sciences
Hisashi Kato-Noguchi
Summary: Imperata cylindrica, a plant native to Southeast Asia and East Africa, is known to have allelopathic effects. It can inhibit the germination and growth of other plant species, contributing to its invasiveness and the formation of large monospecific stands.
Review
Ecology
Kasey E. E. Barton, Claire Fortunel
Summary: Island floras are diverse and face severe threats. The vulnerability of island species to invasive plants and their ability to resist displacement remains unclear. The assumption that island plants have evolved conservative resource use, slow growth rates, and weak competitive abilities has mixed evidence. Future studies comparing functional strategies of native island and native continental plants, as well as tests for competition between native and invasive island plants, are urgently needed to protect these biodiversity hotspots.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Francisco Fonseca Ribeiro de Oliveira, Marcelo Gehara, Mirco Sole, Mariana Lyra, Celio Fernando Baptista Haddad, Daniel Paiva Silva, Rafael Felix de Magalhaes, Felipe Sa Fortes Leite, Frank T. Burbrink
Summary: The study found that Quaternary climatic fluctuations had a significant impact on the demographic history and population structure of amphibian species endemic to high elevations in Brazil, leading to population expansion during the last glacial maximum and range contraction during interglacial periods. The diversification of these species during the Pleistocene was influenced by geographical isolation and climatic changes, highlighting the importance of landscape heterogeneity in shaping biota evolution.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Viney Kumar, Andre Nunez, Kaitlyn Brown, Kanupriya Agarwal, Samuel Hall, Michael Bode
Summary: Eradicating invasive species from islands is proven effective, but requires prioritization. This paper develops a method for prioritizing island eradications that considers the risk of reinvasion. Two case studies demonstrate the impact of reinvasion risk on optimal eradication order and conservation benefits.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Guanming Guo, Fei Zhao, Ivan Nijs, Jinbao Liao
Summary: Studying the emergence and evolution of food web complexity in island ecosystems is a challenging task in ecology. This study develops a model framework that shows oscillations in the complexity of food webs along a habitat destruction gradient, indicating that small habitat changes may have disproportionate negative effects on species diversity.
MARINE LIFE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Rolanda S. Julius, Tsungai A. Zengeya, E. Volker Schwan, Christian T. Chimimba
Summary: Poor socio-economic and unsanitary conditions in South Africa lead to infestations of commensal rodents, which harbor cestode species of zoonotic interest. These cestodes have similar transmission dynamics to traditional soil-transmitted helminths, linking them to infections associated with poverty and poor sanitation. Geospatial modelling and univariate analysis are used to predict and explain the prevalence of rodent-borne parasites, highlighting the association with rodent-related factors and environmental variables in South Africa.
FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Simon V. Fowler, Paul Peterson, D. Paul Barrett, Shaun Forgie, Dianne M. Gleeson, Helen Harman, Gary J. Houliston, Lindsay Smith
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
(2015)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Mette Lillie, Catherine E. Grueber, Jolene T. Sutton, Robyn Howitt, Phillip J. Bishop, Dianne Gleeson, Katherine Belov
BMC EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2015)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
A. J. Veale, O. J. Holland, R. A. Mcdonald, M. N. Clout, D. M. Gleeson
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Elise M. Furlan, Dianne Gleeson, Christopher M. Hardy, Richard P. Duncan
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2016)
Article
Ecology
Ana Ramon-Laca, Laura Soriano, Dianne Gleeson, Jose Antonio Godoy
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jonas Bylemans, Elise M. Furlan, Luke Pearce, Trevor Daly, Dianne M. Gleeson
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2016)
Article
Agronomy
Phil E. Cowan, Dianne M. Gleeson, Robyn L. J. Howitt, Ana Ramon-Laca, Alexandra Esther, Hans-Joachim Pelz
PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
(2017)
Article
Zoology
Jamie R. Wood, Hayley A. Lawrence, R. Paul Scofield, Graeme A. Taylor, Phil O'B. Lyver, Dianne M. Gleeson
ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2017)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Elise M. Furlan, Dianne Gleeson
CONSERVATION GENETICS RESOURCES
(2016)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Rheyda Hinlo, Mark Lintermans, Dianne Gleeson, Ben Broadhurst, Elise Furlan
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2018)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Sarah J. Wells, Weihong Ji, James Dale, Beatrix Jones, Dianne Gleeson
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2015)
Article
Ecology
Junhu Su, Weihong Ji, Yanping Zhang, Dianne M. Gleeson, Zhongyu Lou, Jing Ren, Yanming Wei
ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY OF FISHES
(2015)
Article
Zoology
Junhu Su, Weihong Ji, Yanming Wei, Yanping Zhang, Dianne M. Gleeson, Zhongyu Lou, Jing Ren
ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE
(2014)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Elise M. Furlan, Dianne G. Eeson, Chris Wisniewski, Jonah Yick, Richard P. Duncan
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
David Thuo, Elise Furlan, Femke Broekhuis, Joseph Kamau, Kyle Macdonald, Dianne M. Gleeson