Article
Ecology
Crinan Jarrett, Daniel T. Haydon, Juan M. Morales, Diogo F. Ferreira, Francis Alemanji Forzi, Andreanna J. Welch, Luke L. Powell, Jason Matthiopoulos
Summary: Estimation methods that combine different types of data can improve accuracy and precision of parameter estimates and predictions. Integrating mark-recapture data with passive acoustic detections improves estimates of population size. Acoustic data collection could be a cost-efficient addition to traditional mark-recapture population estimation.
Article
Fisheries
Kyle Dettloff
Summary: This paper compares the statistical performance of common closed population mark-recapture estimators through simulation, finding that a new bias-adjusted version of the Schumacher-Eschmeyer estimator outperforms the original estimator at small sample sizes. The authors propose minimum sample sizes to achieve approximately unbiased estimates, providing guidance for practitioners using these estimators for simple closed population mark-recapture data.
FISHERIES RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Rassim Khelifa, Hayat Mahdjoub, Leithen K. M'Gonigle, Claire Kremen
Summary: The use of high-speed videos (HSV) improves resighting rates and survival rate estimations for dragonfly species, compared to conventional eye observations. Including HSV in studies increased resights and survival probability estimates, enhancing the credibility intervals for these demographic parameters in dragonfly species. This method shows potential for expanding research possibilities on traditionally difficult-to-monitor species, such as insects and birds.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Aurelien Delaval, Victoria Bendall, Stuart J. Hetherington, Hans J. Skaug, Michelle Frost, Catherine S. Jones, Leslie R. Noble
Summary: This study evaluates the suitability of close-kin mark-recapture (CKMR) as a demographic modelling tool and provides important ecological parameters for the critically endangered blue skate in the Celtic Sea. The study also identifies a potential critical habitat that may require protection.
EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Entomology
Brandon M. Quinby, J. Curtis Creighton, Elizabeth A. Flaherty
Summary: Successful conservation and management of protected wildlife populations rely on reliable population abundance data. Photographic mark-recapture (PMR) provides a cost-effective and minimally invasive method to study population dynamics in species with distinct markings. The study tested the feasibility and application of PMR using Hotspotter software to identify Nicrophorus spp. based on elytral spot patterns, demonstrating its utility in estimating population abundance.
ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Diana Sanchez-Bernal, Jose Gregorio Martinez, Izeni Pires Farias, Tomas Hrbek, Susana Caballero
Summary: The Neotropics are home to a diverse range of freshwater fish species, including the cardinal tetra, which is widely traded in the ornamental fish market. This study investigated the phylogeography and population structure of the cardinal tetra, as well as potential migration routes between the Orinoco and Negro basins. The results suggest that river capture, physical barriers, and ecological factors may have played a role in shaping the distribution and genetic patterns of the cardinal tetra.
Article
Parasitology
Danilo O. Carvalho, Rachel Morreale, Steven Stenhouse, Daniel A. Hahn, Maylen Gomez, Aaron Lloyd, David Hoel
Summary: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the sterile insect technique in suppressing the population of Aedes aegypti and identifies the biological parameters for the technique. The findings provide a foundation for the operational phase of mosquito population suppression.
PARASITES & VECTORS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Brooke A. Biddlecombe, Steven H. Ferguson, Mads Peter Heide-Jorgensen, Darren M. Gillis, Cortney A. Watt
Summary: Using genetic mark recapture analyses, the total abundance of the Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whale population was estimated to be 5173 individuals from 2012 to 2021. This suggests that the population may be plateauing well below the pre-commercial whaling carrying capacity estimate. The population estimate is important for updating conservation efforts.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Biology
Wei Zhang, Simon J. J. Bonner, Rachel S. S. McCrea
Summary: Batch marking is a common and useful approach in capture-recapture studies when individual marks cannot be applied. However, fitting traditional models to batch marked data can be computationally challenging. This paper proposes a latent multinomial model and demonstrates its efficacy through simulation studies.
Article
Ecology
Katherine T. Bickerton, John G. Ewen, Stefano Canessa, Nik C. Cole, Fay Frost, Rouben Mootoocurpen, Rachel Mccrea
Summary: This study provides methods to correct Jolly-Seber models by incorporating a separate likelihood component for translocated individuals to account for known initial population size. The simulation results and case study demonstrate that unconstrained JS models may overestimate the size of translocated populations, while the corrected model greatly reduces errors in parameter estimates and prevents boundary estimates.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Zoology
Erin Ashe, Philip S. Hammond
Summary: Quantifying and dealing with uncertainty are crucial in ecological studies. This study focuses on the subjective process of matching photographs in photo-identification experiments and demonstrates how different levels of certainty in matching can affect estimates of abundance and survival.
Article
Fisheries
Manuel Dureuil, William H. Aeberhard, Michael Dowd, Sebastian A. Pardo, Frederick G. Whoriskey, Boris Worm
Summary: The somatic growth of individuals is crucial in the life history of a species and for assessing populations. This study evaluates seven techniques for estimating growth parameters using mark-recapture tagging data and finds that Bayesian implementations of Fabens and Francis methods are the most reliable in simulated data with errors. When applied to observed data of 14 elasmobranch stocks, only BFa gives biologically plausible results. BFa is a reliable alternative to conventional length-at-age methods, especially in data-limited situations for elasmobranchs.
FISHERIES RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Helena Turner, Richard A. Griffiths, Mark E. Outerbridge, Gerardo Garcia
Summary: The study reports on the status and population estimates of the Critically Endangered Bermuda skink, with findings showing unstable populations facing various threats. Continued monitoring and conservation efforts are recommended for these two populations.
Article
Entomology
Pawel Adamski
Summary: Understanding metapopulation structures is important in ecological studies and conservation. This article analyzes catch effectiveness data of two subpopulations of the Apollo butterfly metapopulation, and finds significant variation in catch effectiveness between sites, possibly due to differences in microrelief and plant cover. A method is also proposed to estimate the sizes of specific subpopulations and elucidate the structure of the entire metapopulation.
ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Matthew J. Silk, Robbie A. McDonald, Richard J. Delahay, Daniel Padfield, David J. Hodgson
Summary: Long-term capture-mark-recapture data can provide valuable information on individual movements and social structures in populations. The CMRnet package introduced in this study generates social and movement networks from spatially explicit capture-mark-recapture data, with important applications in wildlife management and conservation.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anastasija Zaiko, Paul Greenfield, Cathryn Abbott, Ulla von Ammon, Jaret Bilewitch, Michael Bunce, Melania E. Cristescu, Anthony Chariton, Eddy Dowle, Jonathan Geller, Alba Ardura Gutierrez, Mehrdad Hajibabaei, Emmet Haggard, Graeme J. Inglis, Shane D. Lavery, Aurelija Samuiloviene, Tiffany Simpson, Michael Stat, Sarah Stephenson, Judy Sutherland, Vibha Thakur, Kristen Westfall, Susanna A. Wood, Michael Wright, Guang Zhang, Xavier Pochon
Summary: Advances in high-throughput sequencing technology are changing marine monitoring by enabling rapid and accurate detection of species in complex samples. An international experiment showed that while there was variation in results from different laboratories, the primary signal in the data was consistent, with samples grouping by geographical origin. Post hoc data clean-up, such as removing low-quality samples, improved sample classification accuracy significantly.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Vanessa Arranz, Rachel M. Fewster, Shane D. Lavery
Summary: This study proposes a new method for comparative multi-species meta-analysis of published population genetic data. It uses a genogeographic clustering technique to capture common spatial patterns of genetic diversity among species and enables statistical comparison of these patterns. The method provides a novel approach to discern multiple common spatial patterns and allows for more rigorous comparative studies from diverse published data.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Priscila M. Salloum, Anna W. Santure, Shane D. Lavery, Pierre de Villemereuil
Summary: Genome scans are powerful tools to understand genetic adaptation to future environmental conditions. However, low gene flow and population structure can lead to errors in these scans. This study compared different methods and identified candidate loci associated with environmental factors in a marine mollusc. The results highlight the importance of careful statistical controls in genome scans and suggest that further research is needed to determine the potential of non-model species to adapt to future environments.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Oceanography
Annabelle S. Cranswick, Rochelle Constantine, Hannah Hendriks, Emma L. Carroll
Summary: Social media content is increasingly being used as a valuable source of data in conservation science, particularly for monitoring rare and threatened species. The recovering population of Southern right whales around mainland New Zealand is slow, but sightings reports from social networking sites provide additional information.
OCEAN & COASTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Correction
Biodiversity Conservation
Petra Neveceralova, Emma L. Carroll, Debbie Steel, Els Vermeulen, Simon Elwen, Jakub Zidek, Jason K. Stafford, Wilfred Chivell, Pavel Hulva
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Emma L. Carroll, Leena Riekkola, Virginia Andrews-Goff, C. Scott Baker, Rochelle Constantine, Ros Cole, Kim Goetz, Robert Harcourt, David Lundquist, Catherine Meyer, Mike Ogle, Richard O'Rorke, Nathalie Patenaude, Rodney Russ, Esther Stuck, Aimee L. van der Reis, Alexandre N. Zerbini, Simon Childerhouse
Summary: This study conducted surveys on the habitat use of southern right whales in Auckland Islands, New Zealand and found changes in behavior and population composition. However, it confirmed the significance of this area as a key habitat for southern right whales in New Zealand waters.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kristina Steinmetz, Sinead Murphy, Oliver O. Cadhla, Emma L. Carroll, Aubrie B. Onoufriou, Debbie J. F. Russell, Michelle Cronin, Luca Mirimin
Summary: The present study used genetic data to assess the population structure of harbour seals in Irish waters. The results revealed three genetically distinct local populations within Ireland, with high genetic diversity. This study highlights the importance of considering genetic information for conservation strategies.
AQUATIC CONSERVATION-MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS
(2023)
Letter
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Emma L. Carroll, Mariano Sironi
MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Claire E. Schraidt, Amanda S. Ackiss, Wesley A. Larson, Mark D. Rowe, Tomas O. Hook, Mark R. Christie
Summary: Identifying drivers of population connectivity is challenging in aquatic environments due to dynamic currents and high levels of dispersal and gene flow. Using RAD-Seq and integrative models, we found that highly dispersive currents are the main driver of population connectivity in Lake Michigan. Populations in the main basin showed low genetic differentiation due to high gene flow, while populations from Green Bay and the main basin exhibited high divergence. This study demonstrates the importance of combining biophysical and eco-genetic models with genomic data to understand population connectivity.
EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Andrew D. Foote, Alana Alexander, Lisa T. Ballance, Rochelle Constantine, Barbara Galletti Vernazzani Munoz, Christophe Guinet, Kelly M. Robertson, Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding, Mariano Sironi, Paul Tixier, John Totterdell, Jared R. Towers, Rebecca Wellard, Robert L. Pitman, Phillip A. Morin
Summary: Genomic characterization of type D killer whales reveals the severe inbreeding and low recombination rate in this distinct eco/morphotype. Comparison with historical and modern genomes suggests a shared demographic history among geographically dispersed social groups. This study provides insights into the effects of inbreeding on genetic diversity and population health.
JOURNAL OF HEREDITY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Blair P. Bentley, Tomas Carrasco-Valenzuela, Elisa K. S. Ramos, Harvinder Pawar, Larissa Souza Arantes, Alana Alexander, Shreya M. Banerjee, Patrick Masterson, Martin Kuhlwilm, Martin Pippel, Jacquelyn Mountcastle, Bettina Haase, Marcela Uliano-Silva, Giulio Formenti, Kerstin Howe, William Chow, Alan Tracey, Ying Sims, Sarah Pelan, Jonathan Wood, Kelsey Yetsko, Justin R. Perrault, Kelly Stewart, Scott R. Benson, Yaniv Levy, Erica V. Todd, H. Bradley Shaffer, Peter Scott, Brian T. Henen, Robert W. Murphy, David W. Mohr, Alan F. Scott, David J. Duffy, Neil J. Gemmell, Alexander Suh, Sylke Winkler, Francoise Thibaud-Nissen, Mariana F. Nery, Tomas Marques-Bonet, Agostinho Antunes, Yaron Tikochinski, Peter H. Dutton, Olivier Fedrigo, Eugene W. Myers, Erich D. Jarvis, Camila J. Mazzoni, Lisa M. Komoroske
Summary: Sea turtles are ancient marine vertebrates that have evolved from terrestrial ancestors. Their unique physiological and ecological traits and the genomic basis behind them remain largely unknown. This study generated and analyzed high-quality reference genomes for leatherback and green turtles, revealing divergent evolution in certain gene families that may be responsible for immunological and sensory adaptations. Microchromosomes were found to play a critical role in vertebrate evolutionary adaptation. Furthermore, diversity and demographic histories differed significantly between the two species, indicating concerns over the persistence of leatherback turtles under future climate scenarios.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Danielle L. Buss, Lane M. Atmore, Maria H. Zicos, William P. Goodall-Copestake, Selina Brace, Frederick I. Archer, C. Scott Baker, Ian Barnes, Emma L. Carroll, Tom Hart, Andrew C. Kitchener, Richard Sabin, Angela L. Sremba, Caroline R. Weir, Jennifer A. Jackson
Summary: Fin whales have been extensively hunted, causing significant reductions in population size. Genetic samples from historical sources, such as bones and baleen, were used to assess the pre-whaling diversity of Southern Hemisphere fin whales. The results suggest that Southern Hemisphere fin whales are highly diverse and genetically distinct from Northern Hemisphere populations.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Jennifer A. Jackson, Amy S. Kennedy, Connor C. G. Bamford, Ian Hart, Stephanie Martin, Darryl MacDonald, Michael M. Moore, Emma L. Carroll
MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Morgan M. Sparks, Claire E. Schraidt, Xiaoshen Yin, Lisa W. Seeb, Mark R. Christie
Summary: In this study, the effects of genetic drift and rapid genetic adaptation in pink salmon introduced to the Great Lakes were investigated. It was found that despite a decrease in genetic diversity during the introduction process, the introduced salmon populations showed evidence of selection at multiple loci, suggesting a rapid response to the new environment.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna C. Clark, Rey Edison, Kevin Esvelt, Sebastian Kamau, Ludovic Dutoit, Jackson Champer, Samuel E. Champer, Philipp W. Messer, Alana Alexander, Neil J. Gemmell
Summary: This manuscript introduces a framework for identifying and evaluating target genes based on biological gene function, gene expression, and results from mouse knockout models. The framework identifies 16 genes essential for male fertility and 12 genes important for female fertility that may be feasible targets for mammalian gene drives and other genetic pest control technologies.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2023)