Article
Ecology
Shu Wang, Lei Li, Dao-Wei Zhou
Summary: The study showed that plant root response to population density varies depending on soil conditions and growth stages, with early root allocation being promoted by neighbor roots and abundant resources, while competition intensifies as plants grow, leading to decreased root allocation in response to density.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Thibaut Barra, Vincent A. Viblanc, Claire Saraux, Jan O. Murie, F. Stephen Dobson
Summary: It has been found that mothers in better physical condition tend to produce male offspring, while those in worse condition tend to produce female offspring. Competitive interactions within families and relative maternal condition both influence the offspring sex ratio, with no strong support for any single-factor model.
Review
Ecology
Meredith L. Biedrzycki, Harsh P. Bais
Summary: This article explores kin recognition in plants, including its impact on nutrient and resource allocation and its role in multispecies interactions, with a focus on the involvement of plant roots in these processes. Future research directions are also discussed.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jun Abe, Ryosuke Iritani, Koji Tsuchida, Yoshitaka Kamimura, Stuart A. West
Summary: Melittobia australica females exhibit a sophisticated sex ratio behavior, producing consistently female-biased offspring sex ratios when they have not dispersed and adjusting their sex ratio based on the number of females laying eggs when they have dispersed. This indicates that dispersal status serves as an indirect cue for relatedness and influences their sex ratio adjustments.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Habba F. F. Mahal, Tianna Barber-Cross, Charlotte Brown, Dean Spaner, James F. F. Cahill
Summary: This study explores the root and shoot behavioural responses of wheat in different environmental and fertilization conditions. Contrary to expectations, wheat did not change its relative reproductive effort when grown with neighbors, in nutrient-rich soil, or in homogeneous conditions. The plants showed high levels of plasticity in their tendency to use potentially shared space above and below ground.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Andrea Romano, Michelangelo Morganti, Giacomo Assandri, Gaia Bazzi, Alejandro Corregidor-Castro, Jennifer Morinay, Jacopo G. Cecere, Andrea Pilastro, Diego Rubolini
Summary: This study tested the kin selection theory in nestlings of the lesser kestrel and found that nestlings stole prey more frequently when competing with unrelated, unfamiliar competitors than when competing with siblings. This suggests that relatedness may influence within-brood competition and implies that kin recognition and kin selection play important roles in determining individual competitive strategies and care allocation in multiparous species.
Review
Plant Sciences
Niels P. R. Anten, Bin J. W. Chen
Summary: The phenomenon of kin recognition in plants can have significant implications for the evolution of plant traits, diversity of plant populations, ecological networks, and community structures. Kin selection may result in improved population performance, offering potential promise for crop breeding.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Sara Tomiolo, Claire Thomas, Michael K. Jespersen, Christian F. Damgaard, Bodil K. Ehlers
Summary: Plant genotypes show variation in kin competition avoidance and competitive ability, with some genotypes exhibiting avoidance of kin competition. However, there is no evidence of complementary resource use among genotypes. The study suggests that designing experiments pairing unrelated genotypes with similar competitive abilities, combined with silencing root exudates, can help detect whether plants exhibit kin competition avoidance.
BASIC AND APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Michael A. Nannini, Joseph J. Parkos, David Wahl
Summary: Populations composed of diverse behavioral types are better for individual growth, as they have more efficient use of prey resources and reduced competition between individuals. Mixed populations of different behavioral types grow faster and may also differ in their food web interactions.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Guillermo P. Murphy, Rhythm Shah, Susan A. Dudley
Summary: Invasive species in monocultures in introduced habitats experience different competitive conditions compared with their native habitats. Invasive monospecific stands can consist of closely related individuals, leading to high opportunities for kin selection in invaded habitats. The responses of North American and European ecotypes of garlic mustard to aspects of the competitive environment were investigated. The results showed that the North American ecotypes allocated more resources to roots, particularly the taproot portion, while the elongation of petioles was density-dependent with reduced elongation in high density compared to European ecotypes. The ability for kin recognition in garlic mustard was also indicated by differential responses to neighbor identity.
Article
Entomology
Tae-Sung Kwon, Dae-Seong Lee, Young-Seuk Park
Summary: The study revealed that the mortality rate due to food competition in ant communities in forests showed a hump-shaped trend with temperature, with interspecific competition leading to higher mortality than intraspecific competition. In dominant species, mortality due to intraspecific competition was higher, while subordinate species saw an increase in intraspecific competition mortality as interspecific competition decreased. Temperature, density of other species, and species characteristics such as body size, dominance, feeding strategy, and aggressiveness were all factors associated with mortality due to competition for food.
Article
Plant Sciences
Xiu Zhang, Jingfan Yan, Fengzhi Wu
Summary: Cucumis sativus plants exhibit species-specific behavior strategies in response to different neighbors. They tend to avoid or maintain their allocation when growing together with nearby plants. The larger the biomass of the neighbors, the stronger the inhibition of the focal plants.
Article
Mathematics
Ningning Lang, Lin Wang, Quanbo Zha
Summary: This paper develops a game theoretical model to study marketing resource allocation in networks. The study shows that network structure can impact firm utility, and firms should allocate marketing resources based on consumers' initial opinions, beliefs, and network positions.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Ryosuke Iritani, Stuart A. West, Jun Abe
Summary: Hamilton's theory of local mate competition explains female-biased sex ratios in various organisms, but in some wasp species, the bias is more extreme than predicted. Research shows that cooperation between related females can result in even more female-biased sex ratios, especially when cooperation occurs between mothers and offspring before dispersal. This suggests that additional factors, such as cooperative interactions, play a role in determining sex ratio biases in certain species.
Article
Management
Pin Gao, Xiaoshuai Fan, Yangguang Huang, Ying-Ju Chen
Summary: This study investigates the optimal allocation of resources to support multiple potentially competing innovators and finds that the diversification of investment may exhibit a nonmonotone pattern with increasing resources. A nonprofit principal tends to invest more diversely compared to a for-profit counterpart, seeking to maximize successful innovations and total social welfare.
MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
(2022)