Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Dominic Muenzel, Kay Critchell, Courtney Cox, Stuart J. Campbell, Raymond Jakub, Wahid Suherfian, La Sara, Iliana Chollett, Eric A. Treml, Maria Beger
Summary: This study used larval dispersal connectivity to design networks of no-take reserves in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. Different methods, such as decision trees and Marxan, were used to consider the setting and expansion of marine reserve networks at different scales. The study found that there were differences in priority areas for protection and expected benefits among different species, and that reef quality should also be taken into account when interpreting larval dispersal patterns and evaluating conservation measures.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Fisheries
J. A. Rodrigues-Filho, B. C. Araujo, P. H. Mello, C. E. O. Garcia, V. F. D. Silva, W. Li, B. Levavi-Sivan, R. G. Moreira
Summary: The reproductive activity of captive dusky groupers was evaluated using non-lethal tools. The plasma profile of gonadal steroids and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) was measured, and the effects of human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) and 17 beta-estradiol (E2) implants on vitellogenesis were investigated. Results showed that captivity had a negative impact on vitellogenesis in E. marginatus.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jussara Oliveira Vaini, Rodrigo Rodrigues Domingues, Bruno Lopes da Silva Ferrette, Eric M. Hallerman, Kenneth Gabriel Mota, Joao Pedro Barreiros, Alexandre Wagner Silva Hilsdorf
Summary: The dusky grouper is experiencing a demographic decline due to factors such as late maturity, protogynous hermaphroditism, and overfishing. There is high genetic differentiation among populations in different regions, and the effective population size is low. Conservation efforts at local and regional levels will be crucial for maintaining the genetic integrity of dusky grouper populations.
AQUATIC CONSERVATION-MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS
(2021)
Article
Fisheries
Romain Chaput, Pierre Sochala, Philippe Miron, Vassiliki H. Kourafalou, Mohamed Iskandarani, David M. Kaplan
Summary: This study investigates the impacts of seven uncertain biological parameters on larval connectivity in the Florida Keys using Polynomial chaos surrogates. The results show that the biological input parameters have different influences on connectivity depending on dispersal distance and release location. The dominant contributors to settlement uncertainty are found to be the interactions between detection distance threshold, orientation ontogeny, and orientation accuracy, while uncertainties in swimming speed and mortality contribute less to dispersal uncertainty.
ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Graeme S. Cumming, Rafael A. Magris, Kristi Maciejewski
Summary: Context connectivity between habitat patches plays a vital role in ecological processes. Traditional metrics do not measure the contribution of individual habitat patches to overall connectivity. This study develops a new landscape metric, cross-scale centrality, which integrates measurements of patch centrality at different scales to quantify the cross-scale contribution of each patch. The results show that cross-scale centrality is faster and more efficient than standard conservation planning software in capturing locations with high cross-scale connectivity.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Magdalena de la Mora, Nathan J. Bennett, Stuart Fulton, Adrian Munguia-Vega, Cristina Lasch-Thaler, Mariana Walther-Mendoza, Jose Alberto Zepeda-Dominguez, Elena Marie Finkbeiner, Alison L. Green, Alvin Suarez, Amy Hudson Weaver, Ana Luisa R. Figueroa Carranza, Armando Vega Velazquez, Calina Zepeda, Celerino Montes, David Antonio Fuentes Montalvo, Fiorenza Micheli, Hector Reyes-Bonilla, Iliana Chollett, Ines Lopez-Ercilla, Juan Francisco Torres Origel, Leonardo Vazquez-Vera, Maria del Carmen Garcia-Rivas, Maria del Mar Mancha-Cisneros, Maria Jose Espinosa-Romero, Mirian Martin Ruiz, Nur Arafeh-Dalmau, Ollin T. Gonzalez-Cuellar, Oswaldo Huchim, Salvador Rodriguez Van Dyck
Summary: This paper discusses a participatory process to co-produce biophysical, socio-economic, and governance principles for marine reserves design and management in Mexico. The integrative approach aims to achieve more effective, equitable, inclusive, and robust marine policies and practices. The process includes convening a coordination team, reviewing science, holding multi-stakeholder workshops, developing principles, and promoting their uptake and application in policy and practice.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Felio Lozano-Quijada, Jose Miguel Gonzalez-Correa, Just Tomas Bayle-Sempere
Summary: This study observed the reproductive behavior of dusky grouper at Tabarca Island Marine Protected Area (TIMPA) in the Mediterranean Sea, revealing the influences of environmental factors such as temperature and visibility on their reproductive activity, as well as the positive correlation between reproductive activity and the presence of large-sized individuals in their social structure.
Article
Environmental Sciences
David Abecasis, Eliza Fragkopoulou, Bruno Claro, Jorge Assis
Summary: Connectivity is crucial for the functioning of marine protected area (MPA) networks, but it is often overlooked in marine spatial planning. This study used biophysical modeling and graph theory to identify key Mediterranean marine reserves that support connectivity between different ecoregions and contribute to recruitment and rescue effects. The results identified 19 reserves with distinct patterns of connectivity, providing important information for the implementation and management of an efficient MPA network in the Mediterranean.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lucien Besnard, Brandyn M. M. Lucca, Oliver N. N. Shipley, Gael Le Croizier, Raul O. Martinez-Rincon, Jeroen E. E. Sonke, David Point, Felipe Galvan-Magana, Edouard Kraffe, Sae Yun Kwon, Gauthier Schaal
Summary: The management of migratory taxa relies on understanding their movements, including ontogenetic habitat shifts from nurseries to adult habitats. In the Mexican Pacific, research has found that smooth hammerhead sharks rely heavily on coastal habitats for 2 years after birth, supporting the need for management decisions regarding size limits in coastal fisheries.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kira A. A. Krumhansl, Wendy C. C. Gentleman, Yongsheng Wu, Xiaoyi Wang, Claudio DiBacco
Summary: Understanding metapopulation dynamics is crucial for effective species conservation, but marine species are often overlooked due to difficulties in assessing connectivity in marine environments. Using Lagrangian Particle Tracking, the study assesses metapopulation dynamics of the Atlantic Mud Piddock (AMP) and provides spatial management measures for this threatened marine bivalve mollusk in Canada. The study reveals that sub-populations along the southern coastline of the Minas Basin are most strongly connected to other sub-populations, acting as sources and sinks of simulated larvae. The study emphasizes the need to protect critical source sites for the regional persistence of AMP and demonstrates the potential application of Lagrangian Particle Tracking in conservation planning.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Debbie A. Chamberlain, Hugh P. Possingham, Stuart R. Phinn
Summary: Marine protected areas are designated to reduce human impacts on biodiversity and enhance fish production, but there is inadequate consideration of other ecological processes in coastal and marine conservation planning. Incorporating ecological processes in conservation planning is important for the persistence of coastal and marine ecosystems, although there is significant variation in scope and method. Future research should focus on identifying appropriate ecosystem objectives and incorporating multiple sources of uncertainty into conservation planning.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Santiago Jose Elias Velazco, Jean-Christian Svenning, Bruno R. Ribeiro, Livia Maira Orlandi Laureto
Summary: The study revealed that future climate change will have a negative impact on the phylogenetic diversity of Neotropical palms, especially within established protected areas. It is recommended to improve the conservation of palm species by expanding protected areas, particularly in strategic regions.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Dominic Muenzel, Kay Critchell, Courtney Cox, Stuart J. Campbell, Raymond Jakub, Iliana Chollett, Nils Krueck, Daniel Holstein, Eric A. Treml, Maria Beger
Summary: This study compared two methods for incorporating larval dispersal connectivity into spatial planning of marine reserve networks and found that different methods are suitable for different contexts. The spatial dependency method is more appropriate when dispersal is limited, habitats are highly degraded, or the target amount of habitat protected is low. On the other hand, protecting individual sites with high connectivity scores is a better strategy when subpopulations are well connected and more habitat is protected. Spatial dependency methods generally produce more spatially clustered solutions with more benefits inside reserves compared to site-based methods.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Chelsea N. Miller, Monica Papes, Edward E. Schilling, Charles Kwit
Summary: The study found that reproductive traits play a significant role in explaining the difference between potential and occupied distributions within Trillium species. Flower type, ovule number, and seed mass were identified as key factors influencing these distribution differences.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2021)
Review
Zoology
Lukas Landler
Summary: This paper summarizes the knowledge concerning specific topics of early amphibian life history stages and proposes several testable hypotheses. The author argues that studying the spatial behavior of larval and juvenile amphibians is an understudied field, yet could significantly improve our understanding of amphibian ecology.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Ioan Sabin Taranu, Samuel Somot, Antoinette Alias, Julien Boe, Christine Delire
Summary: Important disparities in summer climate change projections were found between global and regional climate models. These discrepancies are mainly generated by differences in aerosols representation and atmospheric physics, while the role of plant physiology is limited. Additionally, these discrepancies are unlikely to be caused by the effects of increased resolution in the models.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Pierre Gauzere, Benjamin Blonder, Pierre Denelle, Bertrand Fournier, Matthias Grenie, Leo Delalandre, Tamara Munkemuller, Francois Munoz, Cyrille Violle, Wilfried Thuiller
Summary: In addition to local species abundance, functional trait distinctiveness of species is now recognized as a key driver of community dynamics and ecosystem functioning. The scale at which species pool is defined has a significant impact on assessing the functional distinctiveness of species. Our study provides empirical evidence that measures of ecological originality are strongly scale-dependent, and emphasizes the importance of considering scale dependencies in ecological research to avoid biased or wrong conclusions.
Article
Ecology
Francois Munoz, Christopher A. Klausmeier, Pierre Gauzere, Gaurav Kandlikar, Elena Litchman, Nicolas Mouquet, Annette Ostling, Wilfried Thuiller, Adam C. Algar, Arnaud Auber, Marc W. Cadotte, Leo Delalandre, Pierre Denelle, Brian J. Enquist, Claire Fortunel, Matthias Grenie, Nicolas Loiseau, Lucie Mahaut, Anthony Maire, David Mouillot, Catalina Pimiento, Cyrille Violle, Nathan J. B. Kraft
Summary: Recent work has demonstrated that evaluating the distinctiveness of functional traits, which is the average trait distance of a species to other species in a community, can provide valuable insights into the dynamics of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. However, the underlying ecological mechanisms that drive the emergence and persistence of functionally distinct species are not well understood. In this study, we address this issue by considering a heterogeneous fitness landscape, where functional dimensions encompass peaks that represent trait combinations resulting in positive population growth rates in a community. We identify four ecological cases that contribute to the emergence and persistence of functionally distinct species and provide examples and guidelines to distinguish between them. Additionally, we explore how stochastic dispersal limitation can lead to functional distinctiveness. Our framework offers a novel perspective on the relationship between fitness landscape heterogeneity and the functional composition of ecological assemblages.
Article
Ecology
Laetitia Mathon, Virginie Marques, Stephanie Manel, Camille Albouy, Marco Andrello, Emilie Boulanger, Julie Deter, Regis Hocde, Fabien Leprieur, Tom B. Letessier, Nicolas Loiseau, Eva Maire, Alice Valentini, Laurent Vigliola, Florian Baletaud, Sandra Bessudo, Tony Dejean, Nadia Faure, Pierre-Edouard Guerin, Meret Jucker, Jean-Baptiste Juhel, Kadarusman, Andrea F. Polanco, Laurent Pouyaud, Dario Schworer, Kirsten F. Thompson, Marc Troussellier, Hagi Yulia Sugeha, Laure Velez, Xiaowei Zhang, Wenjun Zhong, Loic Pellissier, David Mouillot
Summary: In this study, environmental DNA analysis was used to investigate the relationship between fish biodiversity and environmental as well as socio-economic factors. The results showed a strong correlation between coastal fish biodiversity and environmental factors worldwide, while also revealing a negative correlation with human dependence on marine ecosystems. Additionally, the study found that a diversity index based on DNA sequences could reliably assess phylogenetic and functional diversity.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Lucie Mahaut, Philippe Choler, Pierre Denelle, Eric Garnier, Wilfried Thuiller, Jens Kattge, Servane Lemauviel-Lavenant, Sandra Lavorel, Francois Munoz, Delphine Renard, Josep M. Serra-Diaz, Nicolas Viovy, Cyrille Violle
Summary: The productivity of grasslands is influenced by both environmental factors and biodiversity, while the temporal stability of grasslands can display both positive and negative covariations with productivity. It is crucial to consider the multiple components of stability and the interaction between environment and biodiversity for sustainable grassland management.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Giovanni Poggiato, Pierre Gauzere, Camille Martinez-Almoyna, Gabrielle Deschamps, Julien Renaud, Cyrille Violle, Tamara Munkemueller, Wilfried Thuiller
Summary: Understanding how combinations of ecological traits at the community-level vary with environmental conditions is crucial for addressing the biodiversity crisis. However, most previous studies have overlooked the inherent correlations between these traits, leading to unrealistic predictions. We propose a framework that incorporates joint trait distribution models to account for these correlations and provide more accurate predictions. Our framework enhances the understanding and prediction of trait distributions, moving functional biogeography towards a more predictive science. Overall, this framework has a high level of importance and would receive a score of 8 out of 10.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Marc Ohlmann, Catherine Matias, Giovanni Poggiato, Stephane Dray, Wilfried Thuiller, Vincent Miele
Summary: Separating the effects of environmental factors and interspecific interactions on species distributions has been a major challenge in community ecology. A new statistical model called ELGRIN has been developed to address this challenge by combining knowledge on interspecific interactions, environmental data, and species occurrences. The model has been successfully tested on simulated and empirical data, and applied to vertebrate trophic networks in the European Alps. It has been found that factors such as altitude, species richness, and connectance significantly influence the overall effect of biotic interactions on species distributions.
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Nicolas Le Guillarme, Wilfried Thuiller
Summary: This paper presents a practical approach to constructing a biodiversity knowledge graph from heterogeneous and distributed data sources, and shows how information can be retrieved from the graph to support multi-trophic studies.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Clement Valle, Giovanni Poggiato, Wilfried Thuiller, Frederic Jiguet, Karine Prince, Isabelle Le Viol
Summary: The study examines the influence of data type, resolution, and sampling size on the species associations identified by joint species distribution models (jSDM). It finds that the associations are mainly affected by resolution and sampling size, rather than data type. The study also reveals a positive correlation between species associations and functional similarity, challenging the expectation of negative biotic interactions. Furthermore, the high-resolution residual species associations are shown to contain valuable information for enhancing predictive performance through conditional predictions.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Wilfried Thuiller, Irene Calderon-Sanou, Loic Chalmandrier, Pierre Gauzere, Louise M. J. O'Connor, Marc Ohlmann, Giovanni Poggiato, Tamara Munkemuller
Summary: Biotic interactions, the backbone of ecological communities, can be studied through empirical observation, inference from co-occurrences, and construction of potential interaction networks. These three approaches have respective strengths and limitations, but integration of these approaches shows promise for enhancing our understanding and application of interaction biogeography.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Franz Essl, Adrian Garcia-Rodriguez, Bernd Lenzner, Jake M. Alexander, Cesar Capinha, Pierre Gauzere, Antoine Guisan, Ingolf Kuehn, Jonathan Lenoir, David M. Richardson, Sabine B. Rumpf, Jens-Christian Svenning, Wilfried Thuiller, Damaris Zurell, Stefan Dullinger
Summary: The rapid environmental changes in the Anthropocene era have caused shifts in species' spatial distributions, with lagged responses leading to disequilibrium states. The effects of different types of environmental change and time lags on species responses have not been adequately explored, which has implications for biodiversity assessments, scenarios, and models, thus impacting policymaking and conservation science. This perspective piece examines lagged species responses to environmental change and discusses ways to improve the calibration of species distribution models (SDMs) to account for time lags and enhance biodiversity science and policy.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Gabrielle Deschamps, Giovanni Poggiato, Philipp Brun, Clovis Galiez, Wilfried Thuiller
Summary: Directly modeling community-level indices provides more accurate spatial predictions and avoids over-prediction of species compared to the predict-first approach.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Trishna Dutta, Marta De Barba, Nuria Selva, Ancuta Cotovelea Fedorca, Luigi Maiorano, Wilfried Thuiller, Andreas Zedrosser, Johannes Signer, Femke Pflueger, Shane Frank, Pablo M. Lucas, Niko Balkenhol
Summary: Connected landscapes can enhance the effectiveness of protected areas by promoting movement and gene flow between populations, thus increasing species persistence in fragmented habitats. This study develops a quantitative method to identify connectivity umbrellas at multiple scales and demonstrates its application to the large mammal community in continental Europe. The results show that the number, identity, and attributes of connectivity umbrellas are influenced by spatial scale and human influence on the landscape.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yue Dou, Cecilia Zagaria, Louise O'Connor, Wilfried Thuiller, Peter H. Verburg
Summary: This study uses a novel scenario approach to assess the various ways in which biodiversity targets can be achieved. The results show that meeting these targets will result in significant changes to Europe's land systems, with different impacts in different regions. These simulations go beyond existing methods and can facilitate constructive dialogue and consensus-building.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE-HUMAN AND POLICY DIMENSIONS
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
Simone Giachello, Isabel Cantera, Alexis Carteron, Silvio Marta, Cristina Cipriano, Alessia Guerrieri, Wilfried Thuiller, Gentile Francesco Ficetola
Summary: Protists are important in soil communities but their functional diversity is not well understood. This study proposes a functional framework for soil protists and applies it to a global dataset. The results reveal different nutritional and habitat preferences among soil protists. The framework can be used to estimate functional diversity and analyze food webs.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
