Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mateu Menendez-Serra, Vicente J. Ontiveros, Joan Caliz, David Alonso, Emilio O. Casamayor
Summary: This study examines the assembly processes of bacterial and microeukaryotic communities along a salinity gradient and reveals that increasing salinity leads to a dominant role of selection over dispersal, resulting in decreased community turnover. The richness of microeukaryotes decreases with increasing salinity, suggesting that the net effect of selection and dispersal is determined by environmental conditions and microbial ecologies.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Zhixin Wen, Anderson Feijo, Jinzhao Ke, Xingcheng He, Jilong Cheng, Deyan Ge, Tian Tian, Lin Xia, Yongjie Wu, Jianghong Ran, Qisen Yang
Summary: This study explored the importance of dispersal and niche processes in the assembly of small mammal communities in a mountainous region of southwestern China. The results showed that dispersal played a dominant role in shaping the taxonomic composition of these communities. Additionally, communities from higher altitudinal areas were more influenced by dispersal processes.
Article
Ecology
Yun-Ting Jang, Ake Brannstrom, Mikael Pontarp
Summary: This study links environmental gradients and organismal dispersal with phylogenetic beta diversity, revealing that different environmental gradients and dispersal conditions lead to distinct phylogenetic patterns. The results improve understanding of biodiversity and help interpret observed phylogenetic beta diversity.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ryan C. Garrick, Isis C. Arantes, Megan B. Stubbs, Nathan P. Havill
Summary: The study found that the southern pine beetle population lacks a clear spatial-genetic structure, suggesting broadscale female-biased dispersal. This has important implications for understanding range expansion and outbreak dynamics in this species, requiring further research.
Article
Ecology
Daronja Trense, Laura Jager, Klaus Fischer
Summary: Genetic connectivity and diversity play a crucial role in species' resilience to environmental change. This study aimed to investigate resilience in two butterfly species by analyzing genetic diversity and barriers to dispersal. The results revealed higher genetic diversity and pronounced genetic structure in L. hippothoe compared to L. virgaureae, with both species exhibiting a major genetic barrier in the central Alps. Valleys and high mountain ridges were identified as significant dispersal barriers impacting population genetic structure. Different conservation strategies are recommended for the two species, focusing on habitat connectivity in L. hippothoe and increasing local population sizes in L. virgaureae.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Fisheries
Jon-Ivar Westgaard, Guldborg Sovik, Torild Johansen
Summary: Our study examined the genetic structure of Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) in the Skagerrak-Kattegat and Norwegian Deep regions using DNA markers. We found no genetic structure within this region, but detected a shallow structure between Scotland and Iceland. Female lobsters showed greater genetic differences, indicating sex-biased dispersal. Ocean currents may connect Nephrops populations through larval drift. Despite evidence for one biological population, differences in fishing pressure and regulations support the current two-areas management regime.
ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
James J. Shelley, Owen J. Holland, Stephen E. Swearer, Timothy Dempster, Matthew C. Le Feuvre, Craig D. H. Sherman, Adam D. Miller
Summary: This study investigated the population genetics of freshwater fish with different dispersal syndromes on the Kimberley Plateau in Western Australia. Results showed that connectivity between catchments is limited, but gene flow within catchments varies based on dispersal potential, with landscape constraints affecting this differently. Dispersal syndromes play a key role in influencing connectivity and gene flow within catchments in this rugged and fragmented landscape.
FRESHWATER BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Daichi Iijima, Atsushi Kobayashi, Gen Morimoto, Masashi Murakami
Summary: Understanding the process underlying spatial gradients in biodiversity, particularly altitudinal gradients, is important in ecology. This study examined the phylogenetic and functional structures of breeding bird assemblages in the montane to alpine zones of Mount Norikura, Japan, and investigated the effects of natural environmental factors and human-induced landscape transformation. The findings suggest that severe natural environments play a fundamental role in community assembly in high mountain regions, while lower elevations may have weaker filtering effects.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Shuang Yin, Chuankuan Wang, Zhenghu Zhou
Summary: Mountainous regions are vulnerable to climate warming, with the elevational gradient playing an important role in soil C and N storage patterns. Mean annual temperature was found to be the most significant driver of these variations. Low latitudes showed an increase in soil C and N storage with increasing elevation, while high latitudes exhibited a decrease or no change in C and N storage. The stable C:N ratio suggests high stoichiometric homeostasis. Decreasing elevation, or increasing temperature, may result in decreased C storage in low latitudes, but increased C storage in high latitudes.
Article
Ecology
Thomas E. Dilts, Katherine A. Zeller, Samuel A. Cushman, Eveline S. Larrucea, Miranda M. Crowell, Nathan W. Byer, Kevin T. Shoemaker, Marjorie D. Matocq
Summary: In this study, a habitat modeling approach was used to assess the suitability of pygmy rabbit habitat and identify key variables that define suitability. Corridors and core areas were identified as important for enhancing habitat quality and connectivity, providing a starting point for land managers to develop site-specific plans.
Article
Plant Sciences
S. Ojeda, M. Arancibia, F. Gomez, I. B. Sepulveda, J. I. Orellana, F. E. Fonturbel
Summary: Plant spatial distribution is an important factor in determining species coexistence and biodiversity dynamics. Mistletoes are a good example of plants that exhibit clustered distributions, with aggregation being influenced more by environmental constraints than ecological constraints. The spatial structure of mistletoes primarily depends on the environment they inhabit, including the availability and arrangement of their host plants.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shahid Afzal, Humira Nesar, Zarrin Imran, Wasim Ahmad
Summary: The study found that soil-inhabiting nematode communities exhibit differences in abundance, diversity, and metabolic footprint across an elevation gradient in the temperate vegetation cover of the Pir-Panjal mountain range in Banihal-Pass. Overall, nematode abundance, diversity, and contribution to belowground carbon cycling are stronger at lower elevations and gradually decline with increasing elevation.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Delphine B. H. Chabanne, Simon J. Allen, William Bruce Sherwin, Hugh Finn, Michael Krutzen
Summary: The study conducted on Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in Perth found four behavioral communities with similar genetic structures but small differentiation due to related individuals within communities. The high levels of contemporary migration and related individuals among communities suggest a panmictic genetic population with continuous gene flow. Despite genetic similarity, each social community should be considered a distinct ecological unit for conservation due to exposure to different threats and occurrence in different habitats.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
R. L. Allgayer, A. Scarpa, P. G. Fernandes, P. J. Wright, L. Lancaster, G. Bocedi, J. M. J. Travis
Summary: Research shows that water currents have a significant impact on the dispersal evolution of populations, especially in organisms that rely on wind-based dispersal. Even a slight current can substantially reduce the overall emigration probability. In areas with stronger currents, especially in upstream regions, emigration can be drastically reduced.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Khalil Mseddi, Ahmed Alghamdi, Mohanad Abdelgadir, Sherif Sharawy, Mohamed Chaieb, Tony Miller
Summary: This study conducted in Salma Mountains in the north of Saudi Arabia found that species richness increases with altitude and the distribution of plant species and their economic value vary within different altitudinal zones of the mountains.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)