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685 results for “biotic”
Data from: Increases in local richness (α-diversity) following invasion are offset by biotic homogenization in a biodiversity hotspot
The world's ecosystems are experiencing unparalleled rates of biodiversity change with invasive species implicated as one of the drivers that restructure local assemblages. Here we focus on the processes leading to biodiversity change in a biodiversity hotspot, the Brazilian Cerrado. The null expectation that invasion leads to increase in local species richness is supported by our investigation of the grass layer in two key habitats (campo sujo and campo úmido). Our analysis uncovered a linear relationship between total richness and invasive richness at the plot level. However, because the invasive species – even though few in number - are widespread, their contribution to local richness (α-diversity) is offset by their homogenizing influence on composition (β-diversity). We thus identify a mechanism that can help explain the paradox that species richness is not declining in many local assemblages, yet compositional change is exceeding the predictions of ecological theory. As such, our results emphasize the importance of quantifying both α-diversity and β-diversity in assessments of biodiversity change in the contemporary world.
Data from: Controls on niche stability in geologic time Congruent responses to biotic and abiotic environmental changes among Cincinnatian (Late Ordovician) marine invertebrates
The set of environmental conditions under which a taxon can survive and maintain viable populations, known as the ecological niche, is a fundamental determinant of a taxon's distribution. Because of the central importance of ecological niches, they have been assumed to remain relatively stable during intervals of morphological stasis. However, the assumption of niche stability has rarely been tested directly with fossil data spanning multiple temporal intervals. Thus, the conditions under which this assumption is likely to be accurate are not well understood. In this study, we use ecological niche modeling (ENM) to reconstruct the ecological niche for 11 genera of marine benthos (crinoids, trilobites, molluscs, bryozoans, and corals) from the Type Cincinnatian Series (Late Ordovician, Katian Stage) across nine temporal intervals spanning approximately three million years. This interval includes both abiotic environmental change (gradual sea-level fall) and biotic change (rapid pulses of the Richmondian Invasion), thus allowing the relative effect of different environmental perturbations to be constrained. A previous symmetrical analysis of niche stability of brachiopod species recovered an increase in niche evolution following the Richmondian Invasion. Herein we test the generality of the brachiopod pattern within the community. Niche stability was evaluated in geographic space, ecological space, and niche parameter space. Niche stability varied through time; during the Pre-Invasion interval, taxa exhibited niche stability during gradual shallowing of sea level in the basin, whereas niche evolution became more common during the Richmondian Invasion. Taxa adjusted to the increased competition by altering aspects of their niche. Notably, surviving taxa contracted their niche into a subset of their previous niche parameters. This represents an adaptive response to increased competition for resources with the newly established invader taxa, and it was employed most successfully by generalist taxa. Patterns of niche evolution were congruent between clades, among feeding styles, and across taxonomic levels.
Beneficial microbes ameliorate abiotic and biotic sources of stress on plants
1. Global climate change and shifting land-use are increasing plant stress due to abiotic factors such as drought, heat, salinity and cold, as well as via the intensification of biotic stressors such as herbivores and pathogens. The ability of plants to tolerate such stresses is modulated by the bacteria and fungi that live on or inside of plant tissues and comprise the plant microbiome. However, the impacts of diverse classes of beneficial microbes and the contrasting stresses that impact plant performance are most commonly studied independently of each other. 2. Our meta-analysis of 288 experiments across 89 studies moves beyond previous studies in that we simultaneously compare the roles of bacterial versus fungal microbiome members that live within plant tissues and colonize plant surfaces in ameliorating biotic versus abiotic sources of plant stress. 3. The magnitude of microbial stress amelioration can be measured as the greater proportional impact of beneficial microbes on plant performance in more stressful environments. In the plant experiments we examine, the magnitude of microbial stress amelioration is substantial: it is 23% of the effect size of the typical impact of stress and 56% of the effect size of beneficial microbes in the absence of stress. 4. The amount of benefit microbes confer to plants differs among classes of microbes, depending on whether plants are grown in stressful or non-stressful environments. In the absence of stress, beneficial bacteria tend to confer greater plant benefits than do fungi. However, symbiotic fungi, especially arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, more strongly ameliorate plant stress than do bacteria. In particular, beneficial microbes ameliorate salinity, foliar herbivory, and fungal pathogen stress. 5. These results highlight the fact that the impacts of beneficial and antagonistic components of the microbiome on plant performance depend on biotic and abiotic environmental contexts. Furthermore, beneficial microbiota are especially critical for plant health in stressful environments and thus present opportunities to mitigate negative consequences of global change.
Data from: Effect of distance to edge and edge interaction on seedling regeneration and biotic damage in tropical rainforest fragments: a long‐term experiment
In forest fragments, edge effects can influence forest regeneration, but little is known about how edge effects influence seedling performance and the interaction between seedlings and their natural enemies over time. In central Amazonia, we recorded survival and growth (in height and leaf number) and damage by insect herbivores and leaf‐fungal pathogens of Chrysophyllum pomiferum (Sapotaceae) seedlings that were exposed to different numbers of edges and to different distances from the forest edge. Grown seedlings were transplanted into one‐square‐metre plots within 1‐ha blocks located in the centre (no edge), the edge (one edge), and the corner (two edges), and at different distances from the edge towards the interior (i.e., 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 m) of two rectangular fragments (10‐ and 100‐ha in size). Plots were visited once every 2 months for 1 year (1992–1993) and thereafter every 2 years for almost 8 years (1993–2001). Overall, results showed that seedling survival, height, leaf number, and biotic damage varied over time with the presence of nearby edges and with the distance from the edge. Survival was lower in fragment edges and corners than in centres. Increase in height was similar for all positions within the 100‐ha fragment, whereas in the 10‐ha fragment seedling height had a greater increase at the edge and corner than in the centre. Furthermore, survival increased with distance from the edge as did leaf number, whereas height showed a lower increase closer to the edge than farther away. Regarding biotic damage, for both fragments herbivory was greater at the centres and decreased with edge proximity over time, whereas leaf‐fungal damage was greater at the corners than in the edges and increased significantly over time. Biotic damage was correlated with seedling size. Small seedlings were more susceptible to fungal attack, whereas larger seedlings were so to herbivores. Synthesis. This study demonstrated that despite stochastic environmental factors seedling survival, growth, and biotic damage by herbivores and fungal pathogens varied with the level of edge exposure and proximity, which may threaten forest regeneration in the long term.
Interdependent phenotypic and biogeographic evolution driven by biotic interactions
<p></p><p>Biotic interactions are hypothesized to be one of the main processes shaping trait and biogeographic evolution during lineage diversification. Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that species with similar ecological requirements either spatially exclude each other, by preventing the colonization of competitors or by driving coexisting populations to extinction, or show niche divergence when in sympatry. However, the extent and generality of the effect of interspecific competition in trait and biogeographic evolution has been limited by a dearth of appropriate process-generating models to directly test the effect of biotic interactions. Here, we formulate a phylogenetic parametric model that allows interdependence between trait and biogeographic evolution, thus enabling a direct test of central hypotheses on how biotic interactions shape these evolutionary processes. We adopt a Bayesian data augmentation approach to estimate the joint posterior distribution of trait histories, range histories, and co-evolutionary process parameters under this analytically intractable model. Through simulations, we show that our model is capable of distinguishing alternative scenarios of biotic interactions. We apply our model to the radiation of Darwin's finches—a classic example of adaptive divergence—and find limited support for in situ trait divergence in beak size, but stronger evidence for convergence in traits such as beak shape and tarsus length and for competitive exclusion throughout their evolutionary history. These findings are more consistent with pre-sympatric, rather than post-sympatric, niche divergence. Our modeling framework opens new possibilities for testing more complex hypotheses about the processes underlying lineage diversification. More generally, it provides a robust probabilistic methodology to model correlated evolution of continuous and discrete characters.</p><p></p>
Data from: Biotic-drivers of seedling establishment in Neotropical savannas: selective granivory and seedling herbivory by leaf-cutter ants as an ecological filter
Herbivory has been shown to have prominent top-down effects on vegetation in Paleotropical savannas, where consumers of early stages of life history act as demographic bottlenecks. Such impact has been largely ignored in Neotropical savannas, however, despite insect consumption being linked to reduced recruitment of woody species. We hypothesize that Atta leaf-cutter ants – the prevalent herbivores in the Neotropics – alter the establishment of woody plant seedlings in the Brazilian Cerrado by reducing seed availability and seedling survival. We also hypothesize that the demographic effects will be species-specific. To test these hypotheses, we experimentally (i) compared seed removal in areas with and without Atta foraging and (ii) compared the survivorship of seedlings exposed to or protected from Atta foraging. Both experiments were performed with the same common Cerrado species which allowed us to evaluate the potential net effects of consumers at the population and community levels. Overall seed removal rates in sites with Atta foraging were greater than those where ants were absent (59.2% and 39.2% of seeds removed, respectively). There were differences in removal for 10 of the 12 tested species, with per species removal 1.1- to 3.8-fold greater in areas with Atta foraging. On transplanted plants, 45% of seedlings exposed to Atta were attacked, resulting in a survival 7.6% lower than that of protected seedlings. Seedling survival was 11.8–31.5% lower in five species, with the largest differences in survival between treatments during the dry season. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that consumers can lead to demographic bottlenecks in Neotropical savanna plant species, with effects varying among life-history stages and between species. Synthesis. Granivory by ants has been linked to reduced seedling recruitment of woody species in the Brazilian Cerrado. Our results show that leaf-cutter ants may largely limit early seedling establishment of woody species by reducing seed availability and seedling survival with differential species-specific effects. Atta ants may therefore be acting as an ecological filter, which coupled with potential selectivity in foraging on reproductive life-history stages, may ultimately influence the relative abundance of different species and hence the structure and composition of Cerrado vegetation.
Data from: Biotic resistance to tropical ornamental invasion
We examined invasive, casual (found occasionally outside cultivation) and non-invasive (found only in cultivation) species to investigate the role of species traits and two forms of biotic resistance (plant neighbours and herbivores) in limiting invasion in Hawaiian lowlands. Seeds of 21 species of common woody ornamentals from three plant families (Acanthaceae, Apocynaceae, Bignoniaceae) that are non-invasive, casual or invasive in Hawai'i were outplanted at two field sites. We measured germination of seeds and growth and survival of seedlings for one year in plots with and without neighbours from the naturally-assembled community. The presence of neighbours reduced survival in some species, mostly non-invasive or casual species and completely excluded two non-invasive species from community plots. Damage from the existing community of herbivores was correlated with lower survival in the Acanthaceae and Bignoniaceae, but not the Apocynaceae. Non-invasive and casual species had lower survival and growth rates than invasive species and lower photosynthetic rates in the presence of neighbours than invasive species. Non-invasives without neighbours also had lower specific leaf area than invasives and casuals. We found evidence for barriers to invasion in some non-invasive and casual species, including low growth rate, low survival, or low survival in the presence of neighbours. By contrast, five of the six invasives flowered and three began setting fruit within the duration of the experiment, as did one of the casual species. Synthesis: Our research demonstrates biotic resistance, presumably as a result of competition. Neighbouring plants reduced survival and growth for most species. For non-invasive species with low survival and growth even without competition from neighbouring plants, this resulted in complete exclusion from community plots or such low growth rates that exclusion over longer time frames was likely. We also provide evidence for traits-based barriers to invasion in non-invasive and casual species. However, no single barrier to invasion was shared across all non-invasive and casual species.
Data from: Biotic and abiotic factors shape the microbiota of wild-caught populations of the arbovirus vector Culicoides imicola
Biting midges of the genus Culicoides are known vectors of arboviruses affecting human and animal health. However, little is known about Culicoides imicola microbiota and its influence on this insect's biology. In this study, the impact of biotic and abiotic factors on C. imicola microbiota was characterized using shotgun-metagenomic sequencing of whole body DNA samples. Wild-caught C. imicola adult nulliparous females were sampled in two locations from Sicily, Italy. The climatic variables of temperature and soil moisture from both localities were recorded together with potential host blood meal sources. Shared core microbiome among C. imicola populations included Pseudomonas, Escherichia, Halomonas, Candidatus Zinderia, Propionibacterium, and Schizosaccharomyces. Specific and unique taxa were also found in C. imicola from each location, highlighting similarities and differences in microbiome composition between both populations. DNA and protein identification showed differences in host preferences between both populations with Homo sapiens and Canis lupus familiaris L. being the preferred blood meal source in both locations. A principal component analysis showed that the combined effect of host preferences (H. sapiens) and local soil moisture factors shape the microbiome composition of wild-caught populations of C. imicola. These results contribute to characterizing the role of the microbiome in insect adaptation and its utility in predicting geographic expansion of Culicoides species with potential implications for the control of vector-borne diseases.
Data from: The role of abiotic and biotic factors in determining coexistence of multiple pollinators in the yucca-yucca moth mutualism
The determinants of a species' geographic distribution are a combination of both abiotic and biotic factors. Environmental niche modeling of climatic factors has been instrumental in documenting the role of abiotic factors in a species' niche. Integrating this approach with data from species interactions provides a means to assess the relative roles of abiotic and biotic components. Here, we examine whether the high host specificity typically exhibited in the active pollination mutualism between yuccas and yucca moths is the result of differences in climatic niche requirements that limit yucca moth distributions or the result of competition among mutualistic moths that would co-occur on the same yucca species. We compared the species distribution models of two Tegeticula pollinator moths that use the geographically widespread plant Yucca filamentosa. Tegeticula yuccasella occurs throughout eastern North America whereas T. cassandra is restricted to the southeastern portion of the range, primarily occurring in Florida. Species distribution models demonstrate that T. cassandra is restricted climatically to the southeastern United States and T. yuccasella is predicted to be able to live across all of eastern North America. Data on moth abundances in Florida demonstrate that both moth species are present on Y. filamentosa; however, T. cassandra is numerically dominant. Taken together, the results suggest that moth geographic distributions are heavily influenced by climate, but competition among pollinating congeners will act to restrict populations of moth species that co-occur.
Data from: Negative biotic interactions drive predictions of distributions for species from a grassland community
Understanding the factors that determine species' geographic distributions is important for addressing a wide range of biological questions, including where species will be able to maintain populations following environmental change. New methods for modelling species distributions include the effects of biotic interactions alongside more commonly used abiotic variables such as temperature and precipitation; however, it is not clear which types of interspecific relationship contribute to shaping species distributions and should therefore be prioritised in models. Even if some interactions are known to be influential at local spatial scales, there is no guarantee they will have similar impacts at macroecological scales. Here we apply a novel method based on information theory to determine which types of interspecific relationship drive species distributions. Our results show that negative biotic interactions such as competition have the greatest effect on model predictions for species from a California grassland community. This knowledge will help focus data collection and improve model predictions for identifying at-risk species. Furthermore, our methodological approach is applicable to any kind of species distribution model that can be specified with and without interspecific relationships.
Data from: Environmental conditions and biotic interactions acting together promote phylogenetic randomness in semi-arid plant communities: new methods help to avoid misleading conclusions
QUESTIONS: Molecular phylogenies are increasingly used to better understand the mechanisms structuring natural communities. The prevalent theory is that environmental factors and biotic interactions promote the phylogenetic clustering and over-dispersion of plant communities, respectively. However, both environmental filtering and biotic interactions are very likely to interact in most natural communities, jointly affecting community phylogenetic structure. How do environmental filters and biotic interactions jointly affect the phylogenetic structure of plant communities across environmental gradients? LOCATION: Eleven Stipa tenacissima L. grasslands located along an environmental gradient from central to southeast Spain, covering the core of the distribution area of this vegetation type in Europe. METHODS: We jointly evaluated the effects of environmental conditions and plant–plant interactions on the phylogenetic structure – measured with the mean phylogenetic distance index of the studied communities. As an indicator of environmental conditions, we used a PCA ordination including eight climatic variables. Different metrics were used to measure the following processes: (1) competition/facilitation shifts at the entire community level (species combination index), and (2) the effect of microclimatic amelioration provided by the two most important nurse plants on neighbour composition (similarity indices and comparison of the phylogenetic pattern between canopy patches and bare ground areas). RESULTS: Biotic interactions and, to a less extent, environmental conditions affected the phylogenetic pattern of the studied communities. While positive plant–plant interactions (both at community level and the scale of individual nurse plants) increased phylogenetic overdispersion, higher rainfall increased phylogenetic clustering. The opposing effects of environmental conditions and biotic interactions could be the main cause of the overall random phylogenetic structure found inmost of these communities. CONCLUSIONS: Our results illustrate, for the first time, how an overall random phylogenetic pattern may not only be promoted by the lack of influence of either environmental filtering or biotic interactions, but rather by their joint and opposing effects. They caution about making inferences on the underlying mechanisms shaping plant communities from the sole use of their phylogenetic pattern. We also provide a comprehensive set of easy-to-measure tools to avoid misleading conclusions when interpreting phylogenetic structure data obtained from observational studies.
Data from: Early and Middle Triassic trends in diversity, evenness, and size of foraminifers on a carbonate platform in south China: Implications for tempo and mode of biotic recovery from the end-Permian mass extinction
Delayed biotic recovery from the end-Permian mass extinction has long been interpreted to result from environmental inhibition. Recently, evidence of more rapid recovery has begun to emerge, suggesting the role of environmental inhibition was previously overestimated. However, there have been few high-resolution taxonomic and ecological studies spanning the full Early and Middle Triassic recovery interval, leaving the precise pattern of recovery and underlying mechanisms poorly constrained. In this study, we document Early and Middle Triassic trends in taxonomic diversity, assemblage evenness, and size distribution of benthic foraminifers on an exceptionally-exposed carbonate platform in south China. We observe gradual increases in all metrics through Early Triassic and earliest Middle Triassic time, with stable values reached early in the Anisian. There is little support in our dataset for a substantial Early Triassic lag interval during the recovery of foraminifers or for a step-wise recovery pattern. The recovery pattern of foraminifers on the GBG corresponds well with available global data for this taxon and appears to parallel that of many benthic invertebrate clades. Early Triassic diversity increase in foraminifers was more gradual than in ammonoinds and conodonts. However, foraminifers continued to increase in diversity, size, and evenness into Middle Triassic time, whereas diversity of ammonoids and conodonts declined. These contrasts suggest decoupling of recovery between benthic and pelagic environments; it is unclear whether these discrepancies reflect inherent contrasts in their evolutionary dynamics or the differential impact of Early Triassic ocean anoxia or associated environmental parameters on benthic ecosystems.
Data from: Complex biotic interactions drive long-term vegetation dynamics in a subarctic ecosystem
Predicting impacts of global warming requires understanding of the extent to which plant biomass and production are controlled by bottom-up and top-down drivers. By annually monitoring community composition in grazed control plots and herbivore-free exclosures at an Arctic location for 15 years, we detected multiple biotic interactions. Regular rodent cycles acted as pulses driving synchronous fluctuations in the biomass of field-layer vegetation; reindeer influenced the biomass of taller shrubs, and the abundance of plant pathogenic fungi increased when densities of their host plants increased in exclosures. Two outbreaks of geometrid moths occurred during the study period, with contrasting effects on the field layer: one in 2004 had marginal effects, while one in 2012 severely reduced biomass in the control plots and eliminated biomass that had accumulated over 15 years in the exclosures. The latter was followed by a dramatic decline of the dominant understory dwarf-shrub Empetrum hermaphroditum, driven by an interaction between moth herbivory on top buds and leaves, and increased disease severity of a pathogenic fungus. We show that the climate has important direct and indirect effects on all these biotic interactions. We conclude that long time series are essential to identify key biotic interactions in ecosystems, since their importance will be influenced by climatic conditions, and that manipulative treatments are needed in order to obtain the mechanistic understanding needed for robust predictions of future ecosystem changes and their feedback effects.
Data from: Leaf litter nutrient uptake in an intermittent blackwater river: influence of tree species and associated biotic and abiotic drivers
1. Organic matter may sequester nutrients as it decomposes, increasing in total N and P mass via multiple uptake pathways. During leaf litter decomposition, microbial biomass and accumulated inorganic materials immobilize and retain nutrients, and therefore, both biotic and abiotic drivers may influence detrital nutrient content. We examined the relative importance of these types of nutrient immobilization and compared patterns of nutrient retention in recalcitrant and labile leaf litter. 2. Leaf packs of water oak (Quercus nigra), red maple (Acer rubrum) and Ogeechee tupelo (Nyssa ogeche) were incubated for 431 days in an intermittent blackwater stream and periodically analysed for mass loss, nutrient and metal content, and microbial biomass. These data informed regression models explaining temporal changes in detrital nutrient content. Informal exploratory models compared estimated biologically associated nutrient stocks (fungal, bacterial, leaf tissue) to observed total detrital nutrient stocks. We predicted that (i) labile and recalcitrant leaf litter would act as sinks at different points in the breakdown process, (ii) plant and microbial biomass would not account for the entire mass of retained nutrients, and (iii) total N content would be more closely approximated than total P content solely from nutrients stored in leaf tissue and microbial biomass, due to stronger binding of P to inorganic matter. 3. Labile litter had higher nutrient concentrations throughout the study. However, lower mass loss of recalcitrant litter facilitated greater nutrient retention over longer incubations, suggesting that it may be an important long-term sink. N and P content were significantly related to both microbial biomass and metal content, with slightly stronger correlation with metal content over longer incubations. 4. Exploratory models demonstrated that a substantial portion of detrital nutrients was not accounted for by living or dead plant and microbial biomass, especially in the case of N. This suggests increased importance of both N and P sorption to inorganic matter over time, with possible additional storage of N complexed with lignin. A better understanding of the influence of these mechanisms may improve our understanding of detrital nutrient uptake, basal resource quality and retention and transport of nutrients in aquatic ecosystems.
The role of abiotic and biotic factors in the unequal body shape diversification of a Gondwanan fish radiation (Otophysi:Characiformes)
<p>Understanding why some clades diversify greatly, while others do not, is a major goal of evolutionary biology. Both abiotic and biotic factors are important in driving unequal morphological diversity across the tree of life. However, few studies have quantified how differences in abiotic habitat and community composition influence unequal morphological diversification in spatiotemporally diffuse radiations. Here we use geometric morphometrics, abiotic habitat data generated by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyses, evolutionary simulations, and phylogenetic comparative methods to determine whether random evolution, habitat variation, competition for niches or a combination of factors influenced the unequal body shape diversity of a Gondwanan freshwater fish radiation. We find that neotropical characiform lineages, which exhibit substantially more body shape diversity than their African counterparts, occupy significantly more slope and elevation habitats than African lineages. Differences in habitat occupation between the continental radiations occur by a combination of competition with cypriniform fishes in Africa restricting access to higher slope and elevation habitats and significantly more low elevation and slope habitat available in the neotropics. Our findings suggest that spatiotemporally widespread radiations, like the Characiformes, do not diversify across homogenized habitats and biotic assemblages, with differences in community structure and physical habitat important in driving unequal morphological diversification. </p>
Data from: dispersal sweepstakes: biotic interchange propelled air-breathing fishes across the globe
<p>Synbranchiformes is a phenotypically diverse and species rich clade of freshwater acanthomorph fishes, which include eel- and perch-like, air-breathing and non-air-breathing fishes. The ability to breathe out of water has presumably aided lineages of Synbranchiformes in dispersing across all southern continents except Antarctica. The lack of a well-resolved, time-calibrated phylogeny of Synbranchiformes limits our understanding of the timing and geographic patterns of diversification of these anatomically and ecologically diverse fishes. As a consequence, contemporary interpretations of synbranchiform biogeography invoke scenarios as disparate as Gondwana vicariance and pan-global rafting to explain their modern-day geographic distribution. In this study, we use high-throughput sequencing of ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) to infer a phylogeny for all major synbranchiform lineages. We combine this dataset with existing Sanger sequenced genes and fossil calibrations to infer a comprehensive time-calibrated phylogeny of Synbranchiformes. Then, we use Bayesian methods of biogeographical reconstruction to document the history of dispersal of synbranchiforms, finding support for Southeast Asia as the likely ancestral area of all major lineages. Our results reject the hypothesis of Gondwanan vicariance explaining synbranchiform biogeography, and instead the historical biogeographic analyses support a hypothesis of independent continental invasions by snakeheads, anabantids, and spiny eels. However, there is no signal of elevated lineage diversification rates after these invasions. Instead, higher rates of lineage diversification in spiny eels pre-dates their arrival to Africa, while the high levels of lineage diversification observed in <em>Betta</em> were initiated prior to the flooding of insular Sundaland in SE Asia.</p>
An evidence map of research assessing the effects of timber harvesting on water quality, biotic and biodiversity indicators in running waters: Data and R code
<p>These are the data and R code that accompany the Forest Ecology and Management publication titled "An evidence map of research assessing the effects of timber harvesting on water quality, biotic and biodiversity indicators in running waters". </p>
Genetic basis of growth, spring phenology and susceptibility to biotic stressors in maritime pine
<p>Forest ecosystems are increasingly challenged by extreme events, e.g. drought, storms, pest and pathogenic fungi outbreaks, causing severe ecological and economical losses. Understanding the genetic basis of adaptive traits in tree species is of key importance to preserve forest ecosystems, as genetic variation in a trait (i.e. heritability) determines its potential for human-mediated or evolutionary change. Maritime pine (<i>Pinus pinaster</i> Aiton), a conifer widely distributed in southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa, grows under contrasted environmental conditions promoting local adaptation. Genetic variation at adaptive phenotypes, including height, growth phenology and susceptibility to two fungal pathogens (<i>Diplodia sapinea</i> and <i>Armillaria ostoyae</i>) and an insect pest (<i>Thaumetopoea pityocampa</i>), were assessed in a range-wide clonal common garden of maritime pine. Broad-sense heritability was significant for height (0.219), growth phenology (0.165-0.310) and pathogen susceptibility (necrosis length caused by <i>D. sapinea</i>, 0.152; and by <i>A. ostoyae</i>, 0.021) measured after inoculation under controlled conditions, but not for pine processionary moth incidence in the common garden. The correlations of trait variation among populations revealed contrasting trends for pathogen susceptibility to <i>D. sapinea</i> and <i>A. ostoyae</i> with respect to height. Taller trees showed longer necrosis length caused by <i>D. sapinea </i>while shorter trees were more affected by <i>A. ostoyae</i>. Moreover, maritime pine populations from areas with high summer temperatures and frequent droughts were less susceptible to <i>D. sapinea </i>but more susceptible to <i>A. ostoyae</i>. Finally, an association study using 4,227 genome-wide SNPs revealed several loci significantly associated to each trait (range of 3-26), including a possibly disease-induced translation initiation factor, eIF-5. This study provides important insights to develop genetic conservation and breeding strategies integrating species responses to biotic stressors.</p>
Strong genotype-by-genotype interactions between aphid-defensive symbionts and parasitoids persist across different biotic environments
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>The dynamics of coevolution between hosts and parasites are influenced by their genetic interactions. Highly specific interactions, where the outcome of an infection depends on the precise combination of host and parasite genotypes (G × G interactions), have the potential to maintain genetic variation by inducing negative frequency-dependent selection. The importance of this effect also rests on whether such interactions are consistent across different environments or modified by environmental variation (G × G × E interaction). In the black bean aphid, <i>Aphis fabae</i>, resistance to its parasitoid <i>Lysiphlebus fabarum</i> is largely determined by the possession of a heritable bacterial endosymbiont, <i>Hamiltonella defensa</i>, with strong G × G interactions between <i>H. defensa</i> and <i>L. fabarum</i>. A key environmental factor in this system is the host plant on which the aphid feeds. Here, we exposed genetically identical aphids harbouring three different strains of <i>H. defensa</i> to three asexual genotypes of <i>L. fabarum </i>and measured parasitism success on three common host plants of <i>A. fabae</i>, namely <i>Vicia faba</i>, <i>Chenopodium album</i> and <i>Beta vulgaris</i>. As expected, we observed the pervasive G × G interaction between <i>H. defensa</i> and <i>L. fabarum</i>, but despite strong main effects of the host plants on average rates of parasitism, this interaction was not altered significantly by the host plant environment (no G × G × E interaction). The symbiont-conferred specificity of resistance is thus likely to mediate the coevolution of <i>A. fabae </i>and <i>L. fabarum</i>, even when played out across diverse host plants of the aphid.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
Data from: Topography in tropical forests enhances growth and survival differences within and among species via water availability and biotic interactions
<p class="Cuerpo">Topography is associated with variation in soil water, biogeochemical properties and climate, which drive diversity by filtering species and promoting niche differences. However, the potential for topography to promote fitness differences and diversity among tree species and populations remains poorly tested in tropical rainforests, especially at small spatial scales in everwet climates.</p> <p class="Cuerpo">We reciprocally transplanted tree seedlings between ridge and riparian sites and manipulated neighbour abundance and water availability to assess growth and survival differences both among species and between populations within species in response to changes in biotic interactions and soil water gradients associated with topographic heterogeneity.</p> <p class="Cuerpo">Seedling growth rates were higher on the ridge, but probability of survival was lower on the ridge than the riparian site. Topography also altered growth and survival responses to water availability such that seedlings in the inundated soils in the riparian site had the lowest growth and survival but increased rapidly with moderate soil drying. By contrast, growth and survival on the ridge were generally unresponsive to drying, although severe drought on the ridge reinforced differences among species in growth rates and probability of survival.</p> <p class="Cuerpo">The patterns of growth and survival within species did not provide evidence of local adaptation between seedlings from lowland and upslope origins. However, within species, topographic seed-origin determined the response of seedling growth and survival to increasing neighbour abundance, indicative of divergent selective pressures between individuals growing in different topographic environments.</p> <p class="Cuerpo">Combined, these results suggest that topographic heterogeneity promotes tropical forest diversity both at the species level via environmental filtering due to water availability and at the population level via functional responses to the density of neighbouring vegetation.</p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.