Article
Behavioral Sciences
Shawn McEachin, Jonathan P. Drury, Christopher N. Anderson, Gregory F. Grether
Summary: Species can avoid costly fights by differentiating territorial signals and microhabitat preferences.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Gail Scho, Kostas Papafitsoros, Chloe Chapman, Akanksha Shah, Lucy Westover, Liam C. D. Dickson, Kostas A. Katselidis
Summary: This study investigates the influence of agonistic interactions on the social structuring of loggerhead sea turtles. The findings show that loggerhead turtles occupy distinct patches on the reef and interactions occur when they are adjacent to or passing through occupied patches. Interactions consume more energy than swimming and foraging, and aggression is primarily won by more aggressive individuals. The hierarchical structuring varies across years, with individuals dominating for a limited period before being replaced.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Adam Lorincz, Alida Anna Habenczyus, Andras Kelemen, Bonita Ratkai, Csaba Tolgyesi, Gabor Lorinczi, Kata Frei, Zoltan Batori, Istvan Elek Maak
Summary: Wood-pastures are one of the most ancient land use forms in Europe and have significant natural and social values. This study reveals that wood-pastures can support the coexistence of four ecologically and functionally distinct ant communities, making them ideal targets for biodiversity conservation.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Juliana Silveira dos Santos, Pavel Dodonov, Julia Emi F. Oshima, Felipe Martello, Andrelisa Santos de Jesus, Manuel Eduardo Ferreira, Carlos M. Silva-Neto, Milton Cezar Ribeiro, Rosane Garcia Collevatti
Summary: Recent studies have highlighted the influence of agroecosystems on biodiversity, but certain components related to the management of these areas are still overlooked in landscape-level research. The resources and conditions provided by agroecosystems to different species vary significantly in space and time, and failing to take this variation into account may lead to misleading conclusions about biodiversity status. In-depth exploration of agroecosystems can assist in the development of effective landscape management strategies and green-way policies.
PERSPECTIVES IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Review
Agronomy
Rui-Peng Yu, Hao Yang, Yi Xing, Wei-Ping Zhang, Hans Lambers, Long Li
Summary: Crop diversity plays a crucial role in supporting various ecosystem functions through root-root interactions. However, there are still research gaps in the design and management of multi-species and multi-cultivar systems. Both competition-based and facilitation-based intercropping systems have advantages and challenges, and further research is needed to understand the effects of belowground processes on soil fertility and ecosystem stability, to establish sustainable agroecosystems.
Article
Ecology
Peter Meyer, Marcus Schmidt, Eike Feldmann, Juergen Willig, Robert Larkin
Summary: The study found that the mechanisms driving species richness after disturbances are more complex than suggested by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH), and these mechanisms vary with species group. Legacy effects, facilitation, habitat heterogeneity, and random saturation of the species pool are also important factors driving species richness.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Gregory F. Grether, Kenichi W. Okamo
Summary: This study establishes an eco-evolutionary model to investigate the coexistence mechanisms of interference competitors. The study finds that coexistence between interference competitors can occur in various ecological scenarios, even at the highest levels of resource overlap. However, coexistence requires co-evolution between species, and reductions in population size and levels of genetic variation may disrupt the coexistence mechanisms.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Gabriela Agostini, Camila Deutsch, David N. Bilenca
Summary: The study revealed different responses of anuran assemblages among ecological units to breeding habitat and surrounding landscape features. Vegetation cover of ponds and land use were found to be significant factors influencing anuran richness and abundance. A positive correlation was observed between anuran diversity and land-use heterogeneity, as well as pond density, highlighting the importance of conservation efforts in altered agricultural landscapes.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Kathleen D. W. Church, Jean-Michel Matte, James W. A. Grant
Summary: Territorial and non-territorial animals respond differently to habitat complexity. Territorial species are less aggressive, have smaller territories, and are more abundant, while non-territorial species show higher activity and more aggression in response to habitat complexity. Additionally, the expected decrease in predation risk in complex habitats was observed for non-territorial animals but not for territorial animals.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jay J. Falk, Michael S. Webster, Dustin R. Rubenstein
Summary: The study demonstrates that ornamentation in a dichromatic hummingbird species cannot be explained by sexual selection, but rather by nonsexual social selection, particularly in females. This finding challenges the traditional assumption that spectacular ornamentation is solely the result of sexual selection, highlighting the importance of considering nonsexual social factors in trait evolution.
Article
Ecology
Helin Zhang, Daniel Bearup, Gyorgy Barabas, William F. Fagan, Ivan Nijs, Dongdong Chen, Jinbao Liao
Summary: Previous studies have assumed that habitat destruction has consistently negative effects on biodiversity, but there has been ongoing debate about whether habitat fragmentation also has negative effects. Using a simple model, researchers demonstrate that a competition-colonization trade-off can result in non-linear oscillatory responses to both habitat loss and fragmentation, which can explain the mixed responses of species richness to habitat fragmentation observed in nature.
Article
Entomology
Eric G. Middleton, Ian MacRae, Christopher R. Philips
Summary: Pollinators and insect predators are declining due to commercial agricultural land use. Planting wildflowers in unused margins can help conserve them. Wildflower plantings attract more pollinators and predators, but do not increase their numbers in adjacent crops.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Gabriel Pompozzi, Hugo J. Marrero, Justina Panchuk, Sofia Graffigna, Joana P. Haedo, Lucia C. Martinez, Juan P. Torretta
Summary: The study revealed that spider reproduction activities take place outside semi-natural habitats in agricultural landscapes, with a decrease in eggsacs within soybean crops and an increase within alfalfa crops. Spider oviposition was higher in alfalfa with minimal use of agrochemicals and lesser seasonal disturbance compared to semi-natural habitats.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Hannah K. Levenson, David R. Tarpy
Summary: Planting of augmented pollinator habitat can positively impact bee communities, leading to increases in abundance and diversity. However, the effectiveness of these habitats depends on the quality of the habitat, with areas of higher flower cover and diversity supporting larger, more diverse bee communities. It is important to develop seed mixes that include late season resources and to regularly maintain the habitat to support bee communities.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Jung-Ya Hsu, Chun-Chia Chou, Chen-Pan Liao, Jhan-Wei Lin, Ren-Chung Cheng, Wen-San Huang
Summary: Territoriality is a behavioral adaptation that reflects how individuals share limited resources in the environment. Population density has a strong influence on territorial contests and aggression levels. However, empirical evidence regarding the positive relationship between population density and intraspecific competition is inconclusive. This ambiguity may be attributed to the neglect of potential interactions between multiple phenotypic characteristics and population dynamics in previous studies. In this study, we found that males from higher density populations engage in less intense fights, exhibit a weaker resident advantage, and have lower rates of injuries, weaker bite forces, and smaller body sizes compared to males from lower density populations. The variation in fight behavior, morphology, and performance along a density gradient suggests different evolutionary equilibria in territoriality influenced by local costs and benefits. Our study highlights the significant role of negative density dependence as a fundamental regulator of eco-evolutionary dynamics and emphasizes the importance of ecological and social factors in shaping ontogenetic growth and life-history strategies. These findings provide a basis for future investigations into pace-of-life syndromes and shed light on how phenotypic adaptation may shape population structure.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Bakri Nadhurou, Roberta Righini, Marco Gamba, Paola Laiolo, Ahmed Ouledi, Cristina Giacoma
Article
Ecology
Javier Seoane, Paola Laiolo, Jose R. Obeso
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2017)
Article
Ecology
Paola Laiolo, Joaquina Pato, Jose Ramon Obeso
Article
Ecology
Joaquina Pato, Juan Carlos Illera, Jose Ramon Obeso, Paola Laiolo
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2019)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Juan Carlos Illera, Miguel Arenas, Carlos A. Lopez-Sanchez, Jose Ramon Obeso, Paola Laiolo
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Paola Laiolo, Joaquina Pato, Borja Jimenez-Alfaro, Jose Ramon Obeso
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2020)
Article
Ecology
Paola Laiolo, Joaquina Pato, Juan Carlos Illera, Jose Ramon Obeso
Summary: The study found that metal enrichment in insect cuticles plays a role in adaptive variation, with a relationship to environmental and dietary factors. However, there are also important environmental influences among individuals that may limit the potential for diversification of the hardening mechanism.
Article
Ecology
Borja Jimenez-Alfaro, Sylvain Abdulhak, Fabio Attorre, Ariel Bergamini, Maria Laura Carranza, Alessandro Chiarucci, Renata Custerevska, Stefan Dullinger, Rosario G. Gavilan, Gianpietro Giusso del Galdo, Nevena Kuzmanovic, Paola Laiolo, Javier Loidi, George P. Malanson, Corrado Marceno, Dordije Milanovic, Elizabeth R. Pansing, Jose V. Roces-Diaz, Eszter Ruprecht, Jozef Sibik, Angela Stanisci, Riccardo Testolin, Jean-Paul Theurillat, Kiril Vassilev, Wolfgang Willner, Manuela Winkler
Summary: The study investigated major determinants of regional species pools in alpine grasslands in European mountains below 50 degrees N between 1928 and 2019, finding that the number of alpine species is influenced by area, bedrock type, topographic heterogeneity, and regional isolation, while non-alpines are more affected by connectivity and climate.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Maria del Mar Delgado, Raphael Arlettaz, Chiara Bettega, Mattia Brambilla, Miguel de Gabriel Hernando, Antonio Espana, Angel Fernandez-Gonzalez, Angel Fernandez-Martin, Juan Antonio Gil, Sergio Hernandez-Gomez, Paola Laiolo, Jaime Resano-Mayor, Jose Ramon Obeso, Paolo Pedrini, Isabel Roa-Alvarez, Christian Schano, Davide Scridel, Eliseo Strinella, Ignasi Toranzo, Franzi Korner-Nievergelt
Summary: In winter, many animals exhibit gregarious behavior as a common strategy to cope with harsh conditions. The size and timing of group gatherings are influenced by weather conditions, with individuals balancing between seeking resources and reducing risks.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Gabriele Andrea Lugli, Ines Calvete-Torre, Giulia Alessandri, Christian Milani, Francesca Turroni, Paola Laiolo, Maria Cristina Ossiprandi, Abelardo Margolles, Lorena Ruiz, Marco Ventura
Summary: Ten new Bifidobacterium strains were isolated from various animals and proposed as novel species based on phylogenetic analyses and distinctive phenotypic characteristics compared to known Bifidobacterium species.
SYSTEMATIC AND APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Paola Laiolo, Juan Carlos Illera, Jose Ramon Obeso
Summary: Dispersal limitations have an impact on the assembly of mountaintop communities and species diversity. Grasshoppers and bumblebees show a trend of reduced wingspan at higher elevations. Mountaintop communities are richer or share more species with lowlands when the average wingspan of their member species is larger. Dispersal processes significantly affect the species composition of mountaintops, with their species richness being more correlated with that of their foothills.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Ignasi Bartomeus, Jose B. Lanuza, Thomas J. Wood, Luisa Carvalheiro, Francisco P. Molina, Miguel Angel Collado, Luis Oscar Aguado-Martin, David Alomar, Marian Alvarez Fidalgo, Piluca Alvarez Fidalgo, Montse Arista, Blanca Arroyo-Correa, Josep D. Asis, Celeste Azpiazu, Laura Banos-Picon, Pedro Beja, Mario Boieiro, Paulo A. V. Borges, Guillermo Gonzalez Bornay, Rafael Carvalho, Ramon Casimiro-Soriguer, Silvia Castro, Joana Costa, Ian Cross, Pilar De la Rua, Luis Miguel de Pablos, Victor de Paz, Joan Diaz-Calafat, Victoria Ferrrero, Hugo Gaspar, Guillaume Ghisbain, Jose M. Gomez, Carmelo Gomez-Martinez, Miguel A. Gonzalez-Estevez, Ruben Heleno, Jose M. Herrera, Jose I. Hormaza, Jose M. Iriondo, Michael Kuhlmann, Paola Laiolo, Carlos Lara-Romero, Amparo Lazaro, Jesus Lopez-Angulo, Francisco A. Lopez-Nunez, Joao Loureiro, Ainhoa Magrach, Vicente Martinez-Lopez, Carlos Martinez-Nunez, Denis Michez, Marcos Minarro, Ana Montero-Castano, Bruno Moreira, Javier Morente-Lopez, Nacho Noval Fonseca, Alejandro Nunez Carbajal, Jose R. Obeso, Concepcion Ornosa, Francisco J. Ortiz-Sanchez, Daniel Pareja Bonilla, Sebastien Patiny, Andreia Penado, Ana Picanco, Emilie F. Ploquin, Pierre Rasmont, Carla Rego, Pedro J. Rey, Elisa Ribas-Marques, Stuart P. M. Roberts, Marta Rodriguez, Natalia Rosas-Ramos, Ana M. Sanchez, Silvia Santamaria, Estefania Tobajas, Jose Tormos, Felix Torres, Alejandro Trillo, Javier Valverde, Montserrat Vila, Elisa Vinuela
Summary: This study presents a collaborative effort to create a database of Iberian bee occurrences, which is crucial for understanding and conserving bee biodiversity in the Iberian Peninsula.
Review
Ecology
Daniel Garcia, Susana Suarez-Seoane, Borja Jimenez-Alfaro, David alvarez, Pedro Alvarez-alvarez, Jose Manuel Alvarez-Martinez, Jose Barquin, Leonor Calvo, Juan Carlos Illera, Paola Laiolo, Ignacio Perez-Silos, Mario Quevedo, Jose Valentin Roces-Diaz, Cristina Santin
Summary: Passive rewilding refers to the spontaneous regeneration of ecosystems after human land use abandonment. It can lead to biodiversity recovery and ecosystem service restoration, but also cause declines in certain species and changes in disturbance regimes. This review integrates current knowledge on the ecological patterns and processes of passive rewilding in the Cantabrian Cordillera, providing a scientific basis for environmental management guidelines.
Article
Ornithology
Javier Garcia, Paola Laiolo, Susana Suarez-Seoane
Summary: Understanding the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on sexual signals (such as bird song) can provide insights into individual quality, habitat degradation, and social environment. This study on Iberian Bluethroat birds found that song performance is influenced by genetic and environmental factors, and song differentiation is correlated with environmental dissimilarity.
Review
Ecology
Jose Ramon Obeso, Paola Laiolo
Summary: Climate change is accelerating life histories of organisms, leading to species having different life cycles at different elevations, adapting to local environmental conditions and changing survival strategies.