Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yuta Morii, Munehiro Kitazawa, Theodore E. Squires, Megumi Watanabe, Yoshiaki Watanabe, Takumi Saito, Daishi Yamazaki, Akitomo Uchida, Yoshiyasu Machida
Summary: This study presents a new database reviewing dietary information for all Japanese bird species, with detailed data on molluscan prey. Information was collected through intense literary review and historical bird species distribution surveys in Japan, aiding research projects around the Japanese archipelago.
Article
Ecology
Thomas Dorey, Florian P. Schiestl
Summary: Many organisms exhibit phenotypic plasticity in response to the environment. This study investigates the link between plasticity and selection using Brassica rapa plants. The researchers observed strong plasticity in morphology, nectar, and floral scent in response to different soil types and aphid herbivory. Positive selection was found on nectar and morphological traits in hand- and bumblebee-pollinated plants.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jaume Izquierdo-Palma, Maria del Coro Arizmendi, Carlos Lara, Juan Francisco Ornelas
Summary: The plant-pollinator networks exhibit modular structures, where plants belonging to different specialized modules optimize pollination function by integrating floral traits. However, biological processes derived from both trait matching and forbidden links may play a more important role in tropical plant-hummingbird systems. More research with larger datasets is needed to determine whether phenotypic floral integration increases with morphological specialization in plant-hummingbird networks.
Article
Plant Sciences
N-N Lu, Y. Ma, M. Hou, Z-G Zhao
Summary: This study investigated the adaptive significance of galea height and entrance width in Aconitum gymnandrum flowers through a flower manipulation experiment and phenotypic selection analysis. Results showed that increasing galea height increased pollinator visitation rate, while increasing floral entrance width led to more seeds per fruit. However, neither trait was associated with pollinator-mediated selection, suggesting that current selection pressures may be more influenced by plant height.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Goran Arnqvist, Johanna Ronn, Christopher Watson, Julieta Goenaga, Elina Immonen
Summary: Male-female coevolution takes different paths among closely related species, and resource competition affects metabolic processes, thereby influencing life history evolution and reproduction.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Myo Min Thein, La-Mei Wu, Richard T. Corlett, Rui-Chang Quan, Bo Wang
Summary: The study examined seed-animal interactions along an elevation gradient in western Myanmar and found that the removal pattern of seeds by animals varied between seasons and among plant species. This suggests that a one-off survey with few species may not accurately represent overall macroecological patterns of biotic interactions. Future studies should take into account the seasonal and species-specific variability in these interactions.
Article
Ecology
Kai Hao, Ting-Ting Liu, David H. Hembry, Shi-Xiao Luo
Summary: This study found that trait matching between mutualistic species varies among populations, indicating varying adaptation responses to different partner species. Seed-predatory moths are able to track changes in host plant tissue depth for oviposition.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Facundo X. Palacio, Mariano Ordano
Summary: Urbanization is a significant factor in the Anthropocene, altering evolutionary processes and ecological interactions on a short-term basis. However, the impact of urban environments on phenotypic selection in multispecies interactions has been rarely studied. In this research, a seed-dispersal mutualism was used to examine the magnitude and direction of phenotypic selection by frugivores on fruit and seed traits across plant populations with varying degrees of urbanization. The results indicated that urbanization weakened phenotypic selection through positive effects on fruit production, fitness, and species visitation rates. This study demonstrates that urban ecosystems can have diverse effects on the selection of traits in the short term, emphasizing the influence of humans in shaping the eco-evolutionary dynamics of multispecies interactions.
Article
Virology
Jigme Wangchuk, Anirvan Chatterjee, Supriya Patil, Santhosh Kumar Madugula, Kiran Kondabagil
Summary: Sequence variability exists among TerL and TerS homologs in different phages, yet they exhibit strict functional conservation and follow a coevolutionary framework. High purifying selection indicates strong structural constraints on both TerL and TerS, with coevolving residues identified in T4 and lambda phages.
Article
Plant Sciences
Nonoy B. B. Bandillo, Diego Jarquin, Luis G. G. Posadas, Aaron J. J. Lorenz, George L. L. Graef
Summary: This study provides the first empirical validation of using genomic selection to increase soybean seed yield. Genomic selection has advantages over phenotypic selection in terms of genetic gain and identification of top-performing lines. However, measures should be taken to protect genetic diversity when using genomic selection.
Article
Plant Sciences
Michal Bogdziewicz, Jakub Szymkowiak, Andrew J. Tanentzap, Rafael Calama, Shealyn Marino, Michael A. Steele, Barbara Seget, Lukasz Piechnik, Magdalena Zywiec
Summary: Masting is a common reproductive strategy in long-lived plants that helps reduce reproduction costs and increase biological fitness. Seed predators select for specific traits in masting plant phenotypes, such as interannual variability and synchrony, supporting individual benefits of mast seeding. However, interactions between seed predators may impose contradictory selective pressures on the benefits of masting.
Article
Plant Sciences
Yun Wu, Xuyu Duan, Zhaoli Tong, Qingjun Li
Summary: Abiotic environmental factors have predicted effects on plant traits and plant-pollinator interactions. This study found that soil water and nutrient availability have significant effects on pollinator-mediated selection on floral traits of Primula tibetica. The strength of pollinator-mediated selection varied depending on soil water content and nutrient addition levels. These results support the hypothesis that abiotic environmental factors influence the importance of pollinators in floral evolution.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Gregg Dieringer, R. Leticia Cabrera
Summary: This study investigates the impact of filament trichome number on pollen transfer dynamics, showing contrasting effects on different bee foraging behaviors. The short-lived flowers may favor rapid pollen loss for vibrating visits, contributing to time-dependent fertilization.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PLANT SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Thiyagarajan Thulasinathan, Bharathi Ayyenar, Rohit Kambale, Sudha Manickam, Gopalakrishnan Chellappan, Priyanka Shanmugavel, Manikanda B. Narayanan, Manonmani Swaminathan, Raveendran Muthurajan
Summary: Rice cultivation worldwide is severely affected by blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae, resulting in significant yield loss. To combat this, the marker-assisted introduction of blast-resistant genes has been proposed as a rapid strategy. This study successfully demonstrated the introgression of blast resistance genes into an elite rice cultivar using marker-assisted methods, resulting in lines with high levels of resistance against blast disease.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andrew I. Furness, Chris Venditti, Isabella Capellini
Summary: The study analyzes data from over 800 amphibian species and finds that amphibians with direct development and those that lay eggs in terrestrial environments have larger eggs and smaller clutches. The effects of different care behaviors and adaptations on the trade-off vary.
Article
Plant Sciences
Elsa Fogelstrom, Giulia Zacchello, Daniela Guasconi, Johan P. Dahlgren, Johan Ehrlen
Summary: Climate warming has affected the timing of growing seasons in temperate regions, but little is known about how previous seasonal life-history events, temperature, and plant-resource state simultaneously influence the phenology of plant individuals. In this study, the relationships between leaf-out and shoot senescence were studied in a natural population of the understory herb Lathyrus vernus over 3 years. It was found that plant size, reproductive status, and spring temperature all had effects on spring and autumn phenology.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Froukje M. Postma, Jon Agren
Summary: This study examines the cascading effects of seed dormancy on the expression of subsequent life-history traits and fitness in Arabidopsis thaliana. The results show that seed dormancy affects trait expression and fitness components across the life cycle and suggest that among-year variation in the incidence of drought during the germination period should be considered when predicting the consequences of climatic change for population growth and evolution.
Article
Plant Sciences
Torbjorn Lindell, Johan Ehrlen, Johan P. Dahlgren
Summary: This study utilized a 34-year individual-based dataset to investigate the effects of precipitation and temperature variations on flowering and population dynamics. Results showed that climatic variables had a significant impact on flowering, with increased precipitation and lower temperatures leading to more flowering instances, but had no significant effects on individual growth or survival. Furthermore, simulations indicated that persistent changes in precipitation and temperature could result in considerable reductions in population sizes compared to current conditions.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ditte Marie Christiansen, Lars Lonsmann Iversen, Johan Ehrlen, Kristoffer Hylander
Summary: The study found that after clear-cutting, the temperature preference values of understorey plant communities increase, while they decrease as the forest becomes denser. During forest regeneration and post-inventory periods, changes in CTI values are driven by species colonization and extinction. Changes in understorey CTI values are primarily influenced by changes in forest density, rather than macroclimate change.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Laura J. A. an Dijk, Johan Ehrlen, Ayco J. M. Tack
Summary: Plant pathogen traits, such as transmission mode and overwintering strategy, have significant effects on disease dynamics. Combining experimental assays, theory and field surveys, this study shows that pathogen life-history traits can predict pathogen metapopulation dynamics. Fungal pathogens infecting new plants via spores had higher patch occupancies and colonization rates compared to pathogens causing systemic infections and overwintering in rhizomes. Host patch size was positively related to patch occupancy and colonization rates for all pathogens.
Article
Ecology
Elsa Fogelstrom, Giulia Zacchello, Johan Ehrlen
Summary: The timing of different life-history events is often correlated, and selection might only rarely be exerted independently on the timing of a single event. In this study, we found that direct selection favored earlier flowering and shorter timespans between leaf-out and flowering. However, the direction of selection on leaf-out day varied among years and weakened the selection for early flowering. We found no evidence of correlational selection.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
P. Fernandez-Fernandez, P. Sanczuk, T. Vanneste, J. Brunet, J. Ehrlen, P-O Hedwall, K. Hylander, S. Van Den Berge, K. Verheyen, P. De Frenne
Summary: This study investigates the effects of warming temperatures on plant performance and population growth of Geum urbanum in forests versus hedgerows. The results showed that warming treatments negatively affected population growth in forests, but not in hedgerows. This difference may be due to the overall lower warming achieved in hedgerows.
Article
Plant Sciences
Alicia Valdes, Vigdis F. Helmutsdottir, Bryndis Marteinsdottir, Johan Ehrlen
Summary: This study found that increasing spring temperatures in high-latitude environments have an impact on phenotypic selection of flowering time in plants. Later flowering is favored in heated soils, while earlier flowering is favored in unheated soils. The mismatch between plants and pollinators may be an important factor causing the maladaptive plastic response. Additionally, the study found that abiotic factors also play a role in this selection.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Hampus Petren, Hanna Thosteman, Marc Stift, Per Toreang, Jon Agren, Magne Friberg
Summary: Mating system shifts from outcrossing to selfing are common in plant evolution. Selfing reduces parental conflict over seed provisioning, potentially leading to postzygotic, asymmetric, reproductive isolation between populations. In a crossing experiment with Arabis alpina, we found strong reproductive isolation between self-compatible and self-incompatible populations, resulting in smaller and less viable seeds. Differences in parental conflict also influenced seed mass, with larger seeds produced when the paternal plant had the stronger genome. These findings suggest that differences in mating system and parental conflict can contribute to strong post-pollination reproductive barriers and speciation.
Article
Plant Sciences
Irene Bisang, Johan Ehrlen, Lars Hedenas
Summary: This study found that sex expression levels, sex ratios, and genetic diversity in two moss species were not directly associated with the frequency of sexual reproduction. These relationships and patterns of variation differed between species. It suggests that species-specific life histories, such as longevity, overall degree of successful sexual reproduction and recruitment, and historical factors are important factors in explaining this variation.
Article
Ecology
Fernando Pulido, Bastien Castagneyrol, Francisco Rodriguez-Sanchez, Yonatan Caceres, Adara Pardo, Eva Moracho, Johannes Kollmann, Fernando Valladares, Johan Ehrlen, Alistair S. Jump, Jens-Christian Svenning, Arndt Hampe
Summary: By conducting a meta-analysis on global populations of plants and animals, it was found that marginal populations perform significantly worse than central populations, especially those at low latitudes. This performance difference is likely to be influenced by global climate change, and changes in demographic rates of marginal populations can serve as early-warning signals for range shifts.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Christopher G. Oakley, Douglas W. Schemske, John K. McKay, Jon Agren
Summary: This study on the self-pollinating Arabidopsis thaliana found that local adaptation involves multiple loci, which have significant effects on average fitness. The results also indicate that both genetic trade-offs and conditional neutrality play important roles in local adaptation.
Article
Ecology
Ditte M. Christiansen, Gesa Romer, Johan P. Dahlgren, Malin Borg, Owen R. Jones, Sonia Merinero, Kristoffer Hylander, Johan Ehrlen
Summary: Climate has a strong influence on species distribution and population growth. However, the coarse spatial resolution of climate data used to model distributions can lead to inaccurate assessments of climate effects. This study highlights the importance of using high-resolution climate data to examine the effects of climate on individual performance, population dynamics, and species distributions.
Article
Plant Sciences
Matilda Arnell, Ove Eriksson, Johan Ehrlen
Summary: In this study, the spatial distribution of Daphne mezereum in a forest in Sweden was mapped, showing a positive correlation between the density of individuals and proximity to the forest edge. The number of flowers produced, fruit set, and fruit removal also showed a positive relationship with proximity to forest edges. The study also found that individuals of D. mezereum were aggregated within approximately 10 meters. The flower production of neighboring individuals within 10 meters was negatively related to fruit set, while the fruit production of neighbors was positively related to fruit removal. The spatial distribution of D. mezereum affects reproductive success and fruit removal, which can, in turn, influence the spatial distribution pattern.
NORDIC JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ditte Marie Christiansen, Tanya Strydom, Caroline Greiser, Ryan McClory, Johan Ehrlen, Kristoffer Hylander
Summary: The study shows the potential importance of past and present microclimate heterogeneity for the co-existence of species with different temperature preferences in the same landscape, and the possibility to manage microclimates to mitigate climate change impacts on forest biodiversity.
JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE
(2023)
