Article
Plant Sciences
Juan Jose Cantero, Sebastian Rodolfo Zeballos, Cesar Omar Nunez, Jorge Sfragulla, Alicia T. R. Acosta, Guillermo Funes, Andrea Amuchastegui, Jose Mulko, Aldo Bonalumi, Marcelo Ruben Cabido
Summary: This study in Central Argentina explored the classification and diagnostic species of plant communities in different types of rocky outcrops, and found significant heterogeneity in vegetation composition influenced by elevation and rock type. The results revealed a high level of endemisms and a low number of non-native species, emphasizing the importance of conservation of local and regional biodiversity in the study area.
APPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Ecology
Sakshi Watts, Satinderpal Kaur, Rupesh Kariyat
Summary: Plants have both physical and chemical defenses, but they are still attacked and damaged by insects with different feeding habits. Trade-offs between growth and defense traits play a crucial role in deterring herbivores, but a comprehensive understanding of the integrated defense system is still lacking.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Luisa Genes, Rodolfo Dirzo
Summary: The review of 127 articles regarding habitat restoration and trophic rewilding showed that seed dispersal and pollination are the most studied interactions, with higher frequency in restored sites. Mammals were the most studied group, and both habitat restoration and trophic rewilding were found to effectively improve seed dispersal and pollination compared to degraded areas.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Alan E. Gelfand
Summary: This article reviews the development of species distribution modeling and emphasizes the role of spatial statistics in the interplay between ecological process needs and stochastic modeling tools.
SPATIAL STATISTICS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Elicia Bell, Jason T. T. Fisher, Chris Darimont, Henry Hart, Christopher Bone
Summary: In seasonal environments, mustelids in the northern Canadian Rocky Mountains use adaptive behavioral strategies to acquire carrion and mitigate competition. Scavenging is influenced by both competition threats and environmental factors. Snow depth affects scavenging for all species, while wolverines and American martens segregate in space but track each other temporally. Short-tailed weasels scavenge less when martens use sites more frequently. Complex spatial and temporal avoidance strategies facilitate carrion resource partitioning.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Kelly G. Lyons, Michael Mann, Molly Lenihan, Olivia Roybal, Kelly Carroll, Kyle Reynoso, Stephanie N. Kivlin, D. Lee Taylor, Jennifer A. Rudgers
Summary: The study found that fungi at high elevations declined under climate warming, while those at low elevations remained stable or increased. Different plant host species showed strong specificity in fungal community composition along altitudinal gradients.
Article
Plant Sciences
Ricardo Quinto Canas, Ana Cano-Ortiz, Giovanni Spampinato, Sara del Rio, Mauro Raposo, Jose Carlos Pinar Fuentes, Carlos Pinto Gomes
Summary: The study aims to compare chasmo-chomophytic communities in southern Portugal, specifically in the Algarve, Monchique, and the Marianica Range biogeographical sectors. Through phytosociological and numerical analysis, two new communities were identified due to floristic and biogeographical differences, distinguishing them from previously described associations within the Phagnalo saxatilis-Rumicetea indurate class.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Thomas J. Trott
Summary: This study examined the similarity of macroinvertebrate species assemblages from exposed rocky headlands in the Gulf of Maine to understand the mesoscale patterns and their relationship with environmental factors. The study found that species assemblage similarity was correlated with latitude, and there was a distinct grouping of sampling sites separating two Gulf regions. Species turnover accounted for a large portion of the regional dissimilarity, with molluscs and crustaceans contributing the most. Satellite-derived temperatures explained a significant amount of the regional variation. These findings suggest that hydrographic features and associated environmental conditions influence community dynamics and shape the dissimilarity between Gulf regions.
Review
Plant Sciences
Anurag A. Agrawal, John L. Maron
Summary: The long-term impact of insect herbivores on plant populations and communities remains unclear, but existing research suggests they can have important effects on plant abundance, competitive ability, and community structure.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mirjam Barrueto, Anne Forshner, Jesse Whittington, Anthony P. Clevenger, Marco Musiani
Summary: Protected areas are crucial for species conservation, but human-caused mortality and recreational activities can have negative impacts on wildlife populations. A study conducted in southwestern Canada revealed that wolverine density within protected areas was three times higher than outside, but it declined over a ten-year period. Wolverine density and detection probability were positively associated with snow cover and negatively influenced by human recreational activity and development. The annual harvest rate exceeded the maximum sustainable rate. The study emphasizes the importance of monitoring population trends and addressing key conservation concerns to prevent unnoticed declines.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Lili Li, Chengzhang Zhao, Xiawei Zhao, Dawei Wang, Yu Li
Summary: In the natural grassland of the upper reaches of the Heihe River in the Qilian Mountains, the plant and grasshopper communities exhibit an aggregated spatial distribution pattern, forming a patchy structure under the altitude gradients.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Martin Aguirrebengoa, Caroline Mueller, Adela Gonzalez-Megias
Summary: Pre-dispersal seed predation can negatively impact plant fitness and population growth rate, but the study found that detritivores do not affect plant responses to PSPs. Instead, plants overcompensate for seed predation by almost doubling seed production, through mechanisms like meristem activation and changes in reproductive traits. This is the first experimental evidence of a positive effect of PSPs on plant lifetime fitness.
Article
Forestry
Kiera A. P. Macauley, Neal McLoughlin, Jennifer L. Beverly
Summary: Wildfires create a diverse pattern of burned and unburned areas and provide important ecosystem services. The formation of fire boundaries is influenced by factors such as fuel, weather, and topography, as well as human activities. Non-fuel vegetation, wetlands, and sparse shrub assemblages associated with avalanche paths play a significant role in fire boundary formation, while fire cessation is more likely near waterways.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Paul Glaum, John Vandermeer
Summary: Demographic heterogeneity can affect how populations respond to density dependent competition and trophic interactions. Ontogenetic stage structure in consumer populations can lead to categorical differences in population dynamics and community dynamics. It is important to consider the ontogenetic stage structure of both consumers and resources, particularly plants, when studying trophic interactions.
Article
Forestry
Thomas D. Stokely, Urs G. Kormann, Matthew G. Betts
Summary: Understanding the interaction between management practices and ecological processes on biodiversity structuring is a central challenge in ecology. Experimental results demonstrate complex effects of intensive forest management practices and herbivores on vegetation development and diversity, highlighting the importance of testing interactions between natural and anthropogenic agents on vegetation development.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Eva Conquet, Arpat Ozgul, Daniel T. Blumstein, Kenneth B. Armitage, Madan K. Oli, Julien G. A. Martin, Tim H. Clutton-Brock, Maria Paniw
Summary: The effects of changes in the strength of vital-rate periodicity on different species were investigated in this study. It was found that these changes had strong effects on population dynamics across all three study species. This suggests that environmentally driven vital-rate periodic patterns may have significant impacts on population dynamics, even for populations that are adapted to inter-annual vital-rate variation.
Article
Zoology
B. E. Barbee, M. K. R. Lin, I. A. Min, A. M. Takenami, C. S. Philson, D. T. Blumstein
Summary: This study examined the effects of nutrient enrichment on risk assessment in giant clams. The results showed that nutrient-enriched clams increased their hiding time when faced with simulated predators. This provides support for previous research on state-dependent risk assessment and suggests that nutrient-enriched clams are less likely to take risks to forage.
JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Conner S. Philson, Daniel T. Blumstein
Summary: The frequency and type of individual's social interactions have important fitness consequences. This study used social network analysis to quantify social group structure and found that female yellow-bellied marmots living in more fragmentable social groups weaned larger litters. This suggests that the individual's position within the group and its social phenotype may be more important for fitness than the group's social phenotype.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Leanne K. van der Weyde, Daniel T. Blumstein, Mike Letnic, Katherine Tuft, Ned Ryan-Schofield, Katherine E. Moseby
Summary: Prey species that are naive to novel predators are at increased risk of predation and potential extinction. Exposure to native predators can improve anti-predator traits in prey, but this advantage may not apply to novel predators with different behaviors. Predator naivety negatively affects reintroduction success, especially when prey encounters predators without evolutionary experience. Exposing prey to native predators first may be an effective way to improve their responses to evolutionarily novel predators.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Zoology
Elle Overs, Sydney Stump, Isabel Severino, Daniel T. Blumstein
Summary: Visual cues play an important role in communication among different species as well as within the same species. The species confidence hypothesis suggests that animals are more attracted to their own color and repelled by other colors. A study on dusky damselfish in the marine environment tested this hypothesis and found that individuals tolerated a closer approach when the approaching stimulus was of the same color. This research is relevant to ecotourists' choice of swimsuit and wetsuit colors as it may influence natural antipredator behavior.
Article
Biology
Rebecca M. Prather, Rebecca M. Dalton, Billy Barr, Daniel T. Blumstein, Carol L. Boggs, Alison K. Brody, David W. Inouye, Rebecca E. Irwin, Julien G. A. Martin, Rosemary J. Smith, Dirk H. Van Vuren, Caitlin P. Wells, Howard H. Whiteman, Brian D. Inouye, Nora Underwood
Summary: Climate can influence the timing of life events. Studies from around the world show that climate cues and species' responses can vary. We collected data on phenological events for multiple species in a high-elevation environment over 45 years and found significant variation in how climate affects phenology across taxa. Comparing the phenological responses of different taxa at a single location, we found that important cues often differ among species, which suggests that climate change may disrupt the synchrony of timing among taxa.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Ecology
Daniel T. Blumstein, Loren D. Hayes, Noa Pinter-Wollman
Summary: Social behavior is crucial in understanding the impact of human-induced environmental changes on animal population resilience. Social structures of animal groups, which often have demographic consequences for group members, can be directly influenced or indirectly modified by environmental drivers through social interactions, group composition, or group size. We have developed a framework to study these demographic consequences and estimating the strength of direct and indirect pathways will provide insights for understanding and potentially managing the effects of human-induced rapid environmental changes.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Dana M. Williams, Samantha Beckert, Julien G. A. Martin, Daniel T. Blumstein
Summary: Individuals vary in their acceptance of predation risks and social relationships play a role in risk management. However, the specific ways in which different types of social relationships influence individual risk response are not well understood. This study focused on yellow-bellied marmots and found that docile individuals were less socially integrated and that certain measures of their positions in their agonistic social networks were associated with individual docility. These findings suggest that social network measures are part of a docility syndrome in yellow-bellied marmots.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Daniel T. Blumstein, McKenna Sanchez, Conner S. Philson, Louis Bliard
Summary: A study on flight initiation distance (FID) found no clear association with summer survival or winter survival, indicating that FID decisions may not have longer-term fitness consequences.
Article
Biology
Joanie Van de Walle, Remi Fay, Jean-Michel Gaillard, Fanie Pelletier, Sandra Hamel, Marlene Gamelon, Christophe Barbraud, F. Guillaume Blanchet, Daniel T. Blumstein, Anne Charmantier, Karine Delord, Benjamin Larue, Julien Martin, James A. Mills, Emmanuel Milot, Francine M. Mayer, Jay Rotella, Bernt-Erik Saether, Celine Teplitsky, Martijn van de Pol, Dirk H. Van Vuren, Marcel E. Visser, Caitlin P. Wells, John Yarrall, Stephanie Jenouvrier
Summary: The slow-fast continuum is commonly used to describe variation in life-history strategies across species. However, it remains unclear whether this continuum explains life-history variation among individuals within a population.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biology
Eleanor S. Diamant, Ian MacGregor-Fors, Daniel T. Blumstein, Pamela J. Yeh
Summary: After the COVID-19 pandemic, human activity in cities significantly changed as people worldwide stayed home. This provided an opportunity for researchers to study how urban animals respond to human disturbance, testing fundamental questions on the impact of urban behaviors on animal behavior. However, as human activity returned to cities, the effects of these shifts on wildlife in the short and long term became a concern.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Madison Pfau, Sam Degregori, Gina Johnson, Stavi R. Tennenbaum, Paul H. Barber, Conner S. Philson, Daniel T. Blumstein
Summary: There is a significant relationship between gut microbiome composition and social behavior in wild social mammals. Microbial diversity is negatively correlated with the number of social interactions an individual engaged in, and the relative abundance of certain microbes is negatively correlated with social network measures that quantify an individual's position in their social group.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biology
Conner S. Philson, Daniel T. Blumstein
Summary: For social animals, the group social structure has significant consequences on disease and information spread. A long-term study on a wild population of yellow-bellied marmots showed that social structure had little to no relationship with survival, indicating that individual social phenotypes may not scale up to the group social phenotype. Winter survival showed a contrasting direction of selection between the group and previous research on the individual level, where less social individuals in more social groups had greater survival rates. This work provides valuable insights into the evolutionary implications of social phenotypic scales.
Article
Ecology
Sophia St. Lawrence, Daniel T. Blumstein, Julien G. A. Martin
Summary: With global climate change, animals must adjust the timing of reproduction to adapt to new environmental conditions. This study focused on how the timing of reproduction of yellow-bellied marmots changed with changing spring conditions over the past 50 years. The research showed that the timing of reproduction was not only linked to the date of emergence from hibernation, but also affected by spring snowpack. The timing of marmot reproduction might evolve via natural selection, but plastic changes are also crucial.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Daniel T. Blumstein, Norman A. Johnson, Nurit D. Katz, Samuel Kharpatin, Xochitl Ortiz-Ross, Eliseo Parra, Amanda Reshke
Summary: Biological resistance to pesticides, vaccines, antibiotics, and chemotherapies results in significant costs to society, including disease and death. Understanding biological resistance can provide insights into social resistance to change. By reviewing key insights from managing biological resistance, a framework of seven strategies to overcome resistance is developed and applied to understanding social resistance, generating potentially novel hypotheses.
EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS
(2023)