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Data from: Scale-dependent effects of terrestrial habitat on genetic variation in the great crested newt (Triturus cristatus)

Context Terrestrial landscapes surrounding aquatic habitat influence the persistence of amphibian spatially structured populations (SSPs) via their crucial role in providing estivation and overwintering sites, facilitating or hampering dispersal and colonisation, and consequently the maintenance or loss of genetic diversity. Objectives To highlight the landscape drivers of genetic variation, we investigated the relationship between the level of genetic variation measured within ponds of the great crested newt (Triturus cristatus), and the composition of the surrounding landscape at various spatial scales. Methods Based on the sampling of 40 ponds in thirteen SSPs, the influence of landscape features on several estimators of genetic variation was investigated via linear mixed models, with effects within and between SSPs incorporated. Results The best models depended on the spatial scale, with more significant associations within radii of 50 and 100 m of core ponds, particularly for allelic richness. Responses within and between SSPs were mostly similar. The availability of aquatic habitat in the landscape had a positive effect, while woodland, arable land and pasture had different effects depending on scale and response variable. Total length of roads within a 250 m radius influenced effective population size negatively. Conclusions Our results stress the need to investigate the influence of environmental predictors at multiple spatial scales for an adequate understanding of ongoing processes. Generally, the landscape affected genetic variation similarly within and between SSPs. This allowed us to provide general guidelines for the persistence of great crested newt populations, with an emphasis on the importance of the aquatic habitat.

Condition-dependence of phenotypic integration and the evolvability of genitalic traits in a neriid fly

The spectacular diversity of insect male genitalia, and their relative insensitivity to the environment, have long puzzled evolutionary biologists and taxonomists. We asked whether the unusual evolvability of male genitalia could be associated with low morphological integration of genitalic traits, by comparison with male somatic traits and female traits. We also asked whether this pattern was robust to variation in resource availability during development, which affects adult condition. To address these questions, we manipulated larval diet quality in a split-brood design and compared levels of integration of male and female genitalic and somatic traits in the neriid fly, Telostylinus angusticollis. We found that male genitalic traits were substantially less integrated than male somatic traits, and less integrated than female genitalic traits. Female genitalic traits were also less integrated than female somatic traits, but the difference was less pronounced than in males. However, integration of male genitalic traits was negatively condition-dependent, with high-condition males exhibiting lower trait integration than low-condition males. Finally, genitalic traits exhibited lower larval diet family interactions than somatic traits. These results could help explain the unusually high evolvability of male genitalic traits in insects.

Data from: Meiofauna promotes litter decomposition in stream ecosystems depending on leaf species

Litter decomposition, a fundamental process of nutrient cycling and energy flow in freshwater ecosystems, is driven by a diverse array of decomposers. As an important component of the heterotrophic food web, meiofauna can provide a trophic link between leaf-associated microbes (i.e., bacteria and fungi)/plant detritus and macroinvertebrates, though their contribution to litter decomposition is not well understood. To investigate the role of different decomposer communities in litter decomposition, especially meiofauna, we compared the litter decomposition of three leaf species with different lignin to nitrogen ratios in litter bags with different mesh sizes (0.05, 0.25, and 2 mm) in a forested stream, in China for 78 days. The meiofauna significantly enhanced the decomposition of leaves of high- and medium-quality, while decreasing (negative effect) or increasing (positive effect) the fungal biomass and diversity. Macrofauna and meiofauna together contributed to the decomposition of low-quality leaf species. The presence of meiofauna and macrofauna triggered different aspects of the microbial community, with their effects on litter decomposition varying as a function of leaf quality. This study reveals that the meiofauna increased the trophic complexity and modulated their interactions with microbes, highlighting the important yet underestimated role of meiofauna in detritus-based ecosystems.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2021View details →

"The current-voltage characteristics and partial pressure dependence of defect controlled electrochemical reactions on mixed conducting oxides"

Oxygen exchange reaction rates on mixed conducting perovskite electrodes are described as a function of defect concentrations, see <a href="http://elchinfo.cta.tuwien.ac.at/pmwiki/uploads/Profiles/Schmid_JESoc.pdf">The current-voltage characteristics and partial pressure dependence of defect controlled electrochemical reactions on mixed conducting oxides</a> for a detailed description. Here, (exchange) currents, polarization resistances, \(p_{\rm{O_2}}\) dependencies and Tafel-slopes are calculated as function of \(p_{\rm{O_2}}\) and overpotential for different possible reaction mechnisms. The defect concentrations are taken from the model material La0.6Sr0.4FeO3-\(\delta\), and listed in Brouwer_Bias.csv as a function of \(p_{\rm{O_2}}\) and overpotential. Model 7 describes a molecular mechanisms wothout adsorption limitation, model 8 includes adsorption limitation. Likewise Models 10 and 11 describe atomic mechanisms without and with adsorption limitation, respectively. Overpotentials are listed in V, oxygen partial pressures in bar, defect concentrations in defects per unit cell and currents are in arbitrary units as are resistances. Partial pressure and overpotential dependencies (p and n slopes) are given as \(\frac{\partial \ln j}{\partial\ln p_{\rm{O_2}}}\)(unitless) and \(\frac{\partial \ln j}{\partial\eta}\)(/V), and likewise with resistances instead of currents (rp and rn slopes), respectively. The source code for this project is available at: https://github.com/AlexSchmid22191/EIS_R_Sim

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2021View details →

Non-Coordinative Binding of O2 at the Active Center of a Copper-Dependent Enzyme

Data underlying the figures in the publication “Non-Coordinative Binding of O2 at the Active Center of a Copper-Dependent Enzyme”, published in Angew.Chem. Int. Ed., 2021, 60,6154 –6159. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.202014981">https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.202014981</a> Table of contents: 1. Dataset; Zip file containing the data and model validation report of X-ray crystallography diffraction data of complexes in the publication, collected at the swiss light source at 100K. Data processed and refined according to standard procedure.

Context-dependent dispersal determines relatedness and genetic structure in a patchy amphibian population

Dispersal is a central process in ecology and evolution with far reaching consequences for the dynamics and genetics of spatially structured populations (SSPs). Individuals can adjust their decisions to disperse according to local fitness prospects, resulting in context-dependent dispersal. By determining dispersal rate, distance, and direction, these individual-level decisions further modulate the demography, relatedness, and genetic structure of SSPs. Here, we examined how context-dependent dispersal influences the dynamics and genetics of a Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) SSP. We collected capture-recapture data of 5564 individuals and genetic data of 950 individuals across a SSP in northern Germany. We added genetic data from six sites outside this SSP to assess genetic structure and gene flow at a regional level. Dispersal rates within the SSP were high but dispersal distances were short. Dispersal was context-dependent: individuals preferentially immigrated into high-quality ponds where breeding probabilities were higher. The studied SSP behaved like a patchy population, where subpopulations at each pond were demographically interdependent. High context-dependent dispersal led to weak but significant spatial genetic structure and relatedness within the SSP. At the regional level, a strong hierarchical genetic structure with very few first-generation migrants as well as low effective dispersal rates suggest the presence of independent demographic units. Overall, our study highlights the importance of habitat quality for driving context-dependent dispersal and therefore demography and genetic structure in SSPs. Limited capacity for long-distance dispersal seems to increase genetic structure within a population and leads to demographic isolation in anthropogenic landscapes.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2021View details →

Data for "Joint Dependence of Longwave Feedback on Surface Temperature and Relative Humidity"

The datasets provided here are for the paper, "Joint Dependence of Longwave Feedback on Surface Temperature and Relative Humidity", by Brett A. McKim, Nadir Jeevanjee, and Geoffrey K. Vallis The datasets provided here includes the longwave clear-sky feedback and OLR used in Figures 1, 3, 4, 5.  The datasets also includes the transmission to space as a function of wave number used in Figure 2. These datasets are the output of calculations from PyRads, a python-based column model with line-by-line radiative transfer (https://github.com/danielkoll/PyRADS).

Data from: Density-dependent sex-biased development of macroptery in a water strider

In wing-polymorphic insects, wing morphs differ not only in dispersal capability but also in life history traits because of trade-offs between flight capability and reproduction. When the fitness benefits and costs of producing wings differ between males and females, sex-specific trade-offs can result in sex differences in the frequency of long-winged individuals. Furthermore, the social environment during development affects sex differences in wing development, but few empirical tests of this phenomenon have been performed to date. Here, I used the wing-dimorphic water strider Tenagogerris euphrosyne to test how rearing density and sex ratio affect the sex-specific development of long-winged dispersing morphs (i.e., sex-specific macroptery). I also used a full-sib, split-family breeding design to assess genetic effects on density-dependent, sex-specific macroptery. I reared water strider nymphs at either high or low densities and measured their wing development. I found that long-winged morphs developed more frequently in males than in females when individuals were reared in a high-density environment. However, the frequency of long-winged morphs was not biased according to sex when individuals were reared in a low-density environment. In addition, full-sib males and females showed similar macroptery incidence rates at low nymphal density, whereas the macroptery incidence rates differed between full-sib males and females at high nymphal density. Thus complex gene-by-environment-by-sex interactions may explain the density-specific levels of sex bias in macroptery, although this interpretation should be treated with some caution. Overall, my study provides empirical evidence for density-specific, sex-biased wing development. My findings suggest that social factors as well as abiotic factors can be important in determining sex-biased wing development in insects.

Colony-age-dependent variation in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles in subterranean termite colonies

Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) have, in insects, important physiological and ecological functions, such as protection against desiccation and as semiochemicals in eusocial taxa, including termites. CHCs are, in termites, known to vary qualitatively and/or quantitatively among species, populations, or seasons. Changes to hydrocarbon profile composition have been linked to varying degrees of aggression between termite colonies, although the variability of results among studies suggests that additional factors might have been involved. One source of variability may be colony age; however, this factor has never been investigated. We studied caste-specific patterns of CHC profiles in Coptotermes gestroi colonies of four different age classes (6, 18, 30, and 42 months). The CHC profiles were variable among castes in the youngest colonies, but progressively converged with increasing colony age. Young colonies had a less-defined CHC identity compared to older ones, which likely obscures the colony's ability to detect non-nestmates. Our data suggest that there is no selective pressure on an early-defined colony CHC profile, potentially allowing incipient colonies to merge non-agonistically with competing conspecifics as an indirect result.

opennotspecifiedMar 2010View details →

Figure 3 in Temperature-dependent geographic variation in the flashes of the firefly Luciola cruciata (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)

Figure 3. The relationship between flash types and DNA types. The phylogenic tree was constructed on the basis of mitochondrial DNA studies (Yoshikawa et al. 2001; Suzuki et al. 2002). Notes: The three flash types are shown in Figure 2; in the DNA types, II-i, II-ii, and I-ii denote Suzuki et al.'s (2002) classification, and II, II-a, and I-b denote Yoshikawa et al.'s (2001) classification.

opennotspecifiedMar 2010View details →

Figure 2 in Temperature-dependent geographic variation in the flashes of the firefly Luciola cruciata (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)

Figure 2. Linear regressions of interflash intervals on ambient air temperatures at the five study sites. Notes: Mean interflash intervals and their standard errors are given; however, the standard errors at Shimobe, Kofu, Chino, and Matsuo-kyo were too small (<0.06) to be shown.

opennotspecifiedMar 2010View details →

Figure 1 in Temperature-dependent geographic variation in the flashes of the firefly Luciola cruciata (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)

Figure 1. Locations of the five study sites, Tomioka, Chino, Matsuo-kyo, Kofu, and Shimobe in central Japan. For reference, the location of Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is also shown.

Do human infrastructures shape nest distribution in the landscape depending on individual personality in a farmland bird of prey?

1. Individuals´ distribution across habitats may depend on their personality. Human activities and infrastructures are critical elements of the landscape that may impact the habitat selection process. However, depending on their personality, individuals may respond differently to these unnatural elements. 2. In the present study, we first investigated whether some human infrastructures (buildings, roads and paths) shaped Montagu's harrier nest spatial distribution in the landscape according to female personality (boldness). Second, we tested if the reproductive success of females depended on their boldness and nest location regarding infrastructures. 3. Using a long-term (19 years) data set, we calculated the distance from each nest to the nearest infrastructure type and the density of each infrastructure type around the nest. We tested the effects of female boldness (bold vs. shy) and its interaction with egg-laying date on these six metrics. 4. Nest location in the landscape depended on female personality and on some human infrastructures: the building density was smaller around nests from shy females than from bold ones. Nest distribution related to other infrastructure metrics did not depend on female boldness. The pattern related to building density is consistent with some habitat choice hypotheses which are discussed. Path density around nests negatively affected reproductive success regardless of female boldness, and late breeders nested further away from paths than early breeders. Human activities on paths (more common later in the season) could lead to disturbance and a decrease in parental care, reducing reproductive success. 5. Increasing human presence in farmlands implies a need to better understand its impact on population composition, in terms of personality. Our results suggest that individual behavioural differences should be taken into account in studies assessing the effects of human disturbance on animal populations, to propose more appropriate conservation measures.

Age- and sex-dependent variation in relatedness corresponds to reproductive skew, territory inheritance and workload in cooperatively breeding cichlids

Kin selection plays a major role in the evolution of cooperative systems. However, many social species exhibit complex within-group relatedness structures, where kin selection alone cannot explain the occurrence of cooperative behaviour. Understanding such social structures is crucial to elucidate the evolution and maintenance of multi-layered cooperative societies. In lamprologine cichlids, intragroup relatedness seems to correlate positively with reproductive skew, suggesting that in this clade dominants tend to provide reproductive concessions to unrelated subordinates to secure their participation in brood care. We investigate how patterns of within-group relatedness covary with direct and indirect fitness benefits of cooperation in a highly social vertebrate, the cooperatively breeding, polygynous lamprologine cichlid Neolamprologus savoryi. Behavioural and genetic data from 43 groups containing 578 individuals show that groups are socially and genetically structured into subgroups. About 17% of group members were unrelated immigrants, and average relatedness between breeders and brood care helpers declined with helper age due to group membership dynamics. Hence the relative importance of direct and indirect fitness benefits of cooperation depends on helper age. Our findings highlight how both direct and indirect fitness benefits of cooperation and group membership can select for cooperative behaviour in societies comprising complex social and relatedness structures.

Optimal Stopover Model: a state dependent habitat selection model for staging passerines during migration

1. During their seasonal migration, birds stage in areas comprising stopover sites of varying quality. Given that migrating birds have a limited information about their environments, they may land at a low-quality stopover site in which their fuel deposition rate (FDR) is low. Birds landing at such sites, should decide either to extend their stopover duration or to quickly depart in search for a better site. These decisions, however, strongly depend on their body condition upon landing. 2. To understand the decision-making process of passerines within a stopover area, comprising stopover sites of varying quality, prior to the crossing of a large ecological barrier, we constructed a state-dependent habitat selection model. The model assumes that even if migrating birds have an expectation of encountered area quality, they cannot control for their initial landing site. Once landing, movement between a low to high quality stopover site will occur only if the body condition of these birds is high to the extent that they can entail the energetic cost of movement. Birds in the model aim to maximize their fuel load at the end of the stopover period, to suffice for successfully crossing a large ecological barrier. 3. The model is based on empirical data on autumn migrating Blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla), collected at two important stopover sites in the Negev desert of Israel. Migrating passerines staging at these two sites differ in their fuel deposition rate and body condition. The model shows that the optimal behavior when arriving at a low-quality stopover site is to abandon it quickly. However, as lean individuals cannot entail the costs of searching for an alternative site, they have no other choice but to stay there even if their chances to successfully cross the Sahara Desert ahead are low. 4. Our model can be applied to other ecological systems. Proper use of this model may allow good assessment of stopover site quality, as indicated by the bird's fuel deposition rate, regardless of specific site characteristics. Hence it can help applying targeted management decisions regarding the maintenance of stopover sites or establishment of new ones.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2018View details →

Supplementary Table S1 from "Temperature-Dependent Estimation of Gibbs Energies Using an Updated Group-Contribution Method"

Supplementary Table S1 containing reaction and compound thermodynamic data used for making temperature and ion concentration corrections to thermodynamic estimates for aqueous biochemical reactions.

opennotspecifiedDec 2020View details →

Fig. 2 in A Report On Optimal pricing and replenishment strategies for non-instantaneous decaying items with selling price and current stock level dependent demand

Fig. 2. Experimental results of Callosobruchus analis parental crosses. A) Hatch rate, B) Apterous offspring ratio, C) Offspring sex ratio. Replicates were eight for ap/ap females mated with ap/ap, +/ap, and +/+ males, eight for +/+ females with +/+ males, seven for +/ap females mated with ap/ap, +/ap males, and 11 for +/+ females mated with ap/ap males.

opencc-zeroDec 2020View details →

Attractiveness of sown wildflower strips to flower-visiting insects depends on seed mixture and establishment success

Establishing wildflower strips has been suggested as an effective measure to promote pollination services, pest control or general insect biodiversity, but little is known about the integration of these different objectives when selecting flower seed mixtures. In ten agricultural landscapes in the Netherlands, we established a wildflower strip (0.4 – 4.9 ha) with half of each strip sown with a mixture targeting longer-tongued pollinators and the other half sown with a mixture targeting shorter-tongued pollinators and natural enemies. We determined establishment success of sown wildflowers and evaluated the attractiveness of the established flower communities to multiple functional groups of flower visitors: bumblebees (long-tongued pollinators), hoverflies (short-tongued pollinators and natural enemies), and butterflies and total flower-visitor richness (indicators of wider biodiversity values). Bumblebees clearly preferred the pollinatortargeted seed mixture and were positively associated with cover of Fabaceae and negatively with Apiaceae. Hoverflies consistently preferred the natural enemy mixture and were positively associated with Apiaceae. The other target groups displayed no clear responses to seed mixture type but instead were associated with local flower richness within strips. Across sites, responses of flower-visitors to sown mixture types did not depend on wildflower strip size, proportion of surrounding semi-natural habitat, or flower variables. However, all flower-visitors except butterflies increased with increasing cover or richness of (sown) flower species across sites. Our results suggest that, although species-rich wildflower strips may benefit several species groups, maximising different objectives involves trade-offs between functional groups that prefer short- or long-corolla flowers. Furthermore, our study suggests that sowing a wildflower mixture does not necessarily result in a vegetation with the same composition as the seed mixture as species may establish poorly or not at all. Selection of flower species for seed mixtures should therefore, in addition to insect target group, take the establishment characteristics of plant species into account.

opencc-zeroSep 2021View details →

Life‐stage‐dependent supergene haplotype frequencies and metapopulation neutral genetic patterns of Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, from Canada's Northern cod stock region and adjacent areas

Among highly migratory fish species, nursery areas occupied by juveniles often differ from adult habitats. To better understand the spatial dynamics of Canada's Northern cod stock, juveniles caught off the east coast of Newfoundland and Labrador were compared to adults from the same region as well as individuals from other areas in Atlantic Canada using ddRAD-derived SNPs. A reduced proportion of homozygotes with a chromosomal inversion located in LG1 was detected between juvenile and adult samples in the Northern cod stock region, potentially indicating age-dependent habitat use or ontogenetic selection for attributes associated with the many genes located in LG1. No neutral genetic differences were found between samples from the Northern cod stock; however, significant differences were found between some of these samples and cod collected from St. Pierre Bank, Bay of Fundy, Browns Bank and the southern Scotian Shelf. Clustering analysis of variants at neutral loci provided evidence for three major genetic units: 1) the Newfoundland Atlantic Coast, 2) eastern and southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and Burgeo Bank, and 3) the Bay of Fundy, Browns Bank and southern Scotian Shelf. Both adaptive and neutral population structure within the Northern cod stock should be considered by managers to promote rebuilding.