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53 results for “habitat specialization”
Data from: Cryptic diversity hides host and habitat specialization In a gorgonian-algal symbiosis
Shallow water anthozoans, the major builders of modern coral reefs, enhance their metabolic and calcification rates with algal symbionts. Controversy exists over whether these anthozoan-algae associations are flexible over the lifetimes of individual hosts, promoting acclimative plasticity, or are closely linked, such that hosts and symbionts coevolve across generations. Given the diversity of algal symbionts and the morphological plasticity of many host species, cryptic variation within either partner could potentially confound studies of anthozoan-algal associations. Here, we used ribosomal, organelle, and nuclear sequences, along with microsatellite variation, to study the relationship between lineages of a common Caribbean gorgonian and its algal symbionts. The gorgonian Eunicea flexuosa is a broadcast spawner, composed of two recently diverged, genetically distinct lineages largely segregated by depth. We sampled colonies of the two lineages across depth gradients at three Caribbean locations. We find that each host lineage is associated with a unique Symbiodinium B1/184 phylotype. This relationship between host and symbiont is maintained when host colonies are reciprocally transplanted, although cases of within phylotype switching were also observed. Even when the phylotypes of both partners are present at intermediate depths, the specificity between host and symbiont lineages remained absolute. Unrecognized cryptic diversity may mask host-symbiont specificity and change the inference of evolutionary processes in mutualistic associations. Symbiotic specificity thus likely contributes to the ecological divergence of the two partners, generating species diversity within coral reefs.
Data from: Habitat specialization of birds in the Czech Republic: comparison of objective measures with expert opinion
CAPSULE: Expert-based classification of bird species as habitat specialists and as generalists agrees with objective measures of species' habitat requirements based on large-scale monitoring data. AIMS: To compare habitat specialization of 137 common bird species breeding in the Czech Republic using three different measures and to test their relationships to species' abundance and habitat associations. METHODS: Data on bird abundance and surveyed habitats were collected through a standardized monitoring scheme of common breeding species in the Czech Republic. From these data we calculated a quantitative species specialization index (SSI). Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was applied to calculate species' habitat niche breadth and the level of association of each species to the main habitats. A panel of 11 local bird experts classified each species as habitat generalist or habitat specialist. RESULTS: Species classified as habitat specialists by expert opinion showed higher habitat specialization according to the SSI, as well as according to CCA-based habitat niche breadth. These species were also more closely associated with one of the main habitat types. These relationships were significant even after controlling for abundance. CONCLUSIONS: As expert opinion accords with the level of species' habitat specialization expressed using two quantitative objective measures, we suggest that these characteristics reflect real interspecific variation in the breadth of habitat requirements in birds. Interspecific differences in habitat specialization are not caused solely by the variability in abundance among species.
Data from: Consequences of habitat change and resource selection specialization for population limitation in cavity-nesting birds
Resource selection specialization may increase vulnerability of populations to environmental change. One environmental change that may negatively impact some populations is the broad decline of quaking aspen Populus tremuloides, a preferred nest tree of cavity-nesting organisms who are commonly limited by nest-site availability. However, the long-term consequences of this habitat change for cavity-nesting bird populations are poorly studied. I counted densities of woody plants and eight cavity-nesting bird species over 29 years in 15 high elevation riparian drainages in Arizona, USA. I also studied nest tree use and specialization over time based on 4946 nests across species. Aspen suffered a severe decline in availability over time, while understorey woody plants and canopy deciduous trees also declined. The decline of plants resulted from increased elk Cervus canadensis browsing linked to declining snowfall. Woodpeckers exhibited very high specialization (>95% of nests) on aspen for nesting, and densities of all six species declined with aspen over time. Mountain chickadees Poecile gambeli and house wrens Troglodytes aedon exhibited increasingly less specialization on aspen. Chickadees strongly increased in density over time, despite a relatively high specialization on aspen. House wren densities declined moderately over time, but nest box addition experiments demonstrated that nest-site availability was not limiting their population. House wren densities increased with understorey vegetation recovery in elk exclosures via increased generality of nest site use, demonstrating that the decline in understorey vegetation on the broader landscape was the cause of their population decline. Synthesis and applications. Management should target species that specialize in resource selection on a declining resource. Species with greater resource selection generalization can reduce population impacts of environmental change. Resource generalization can allow a species like the wren to take advantage of habitat refuges, such as those provided by the elk exclosures. Yet, resource generalization cannot offset the negative impacts of broad-scale declines in habitat quality on the landscape, as demonstrated by the general decline of wrens. Ultimately, aspen is an important habitat for biodiversity, and land management programs that protect and aid recovery of aspen habitats may be critical.
Data from: Aphid specialization on different summer hosts is associated with strong genetic differentiation and unequal symbiont communities despite a common mating habitat
Specialization on different host plants can promote evolutionary diversification of herbivorous insects. Work on pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) has contributed significantly to the understanding of this process, demonstrating that populations associated with different host plants exhibit performance trade-offs across hosts, show adaptive host choice and genetic differentiation, and possess different communities of bacterial endosymbionts. Populations specialized on different secondary host plants during the parthenogenetic summer generations are also described for the black bean aphid (Aphis fabae complex) and are usually treated as different (morphologically cryptic) subspecies. In contrast to pea aphids, however, host choice and mate choice are decoupled in black bean aphids, because populations from different summer hosts return to the same primary host plant to mate and lay overwintering eggs. This could counteract evolutionary divergence, and it is currently unknown to what extent black bean aphids using different summer hosts are indeed differentiated. We addressed this question by microsatellite genotyping and endosymbiont screening of black bean aphids collected in summer from the goosefoot Chenopodium album (subspecies A. f. fabae) and from thistles of the genus Cirsium (subspecies A. f. cirsiiacanthoides) across numerous sites in Switzerland and France. Our results show clearly that aphids from Cirsium and Chenopodium show strong and geographically consistent genetic differentiation, and that they differ in their frequencies of infection with particular endosymbionts. The dependence on a joint winter host has thus not prevented the evolutionary divergence into summer host-adapted populations that appear to have evolved mechanisms of reproductive isolation within a common mating habitat.
Data from: The excreted microbiota of bats: evidence of niche specialization based on multiple body habitats
Animal-associated microbiotas form complex communities, which play crucial functions for their host, including susceptibility to infections. Despite increasing attention to bats as reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens, their microbiota is poorly documented, especially for samples potentially implicated in pathogen transmission such as urine and saliva. Here, using low-biomass individual samples, we examined the composition and structure of bacterial communities excreted by insectivorous bats, focusing on three body habitats (saliva, urine and faeces). We show that niche specialisation occurs as bacterial community composition was distinct across body habitats with the majority of phylotypes being body habitat specific. Our results suggest that urine harbours more diverse bacterial communities than saliva and faeces and reveal potentially zoonotic bacteria such as Leptospira, Rickettsia, Bartonella and Coxiella in all body habitats. Our study emphasised that, in addition to the traditional use of gut-associated samples such as faeces, both urine and saliva are also of interest because of their diverse microbiota and the potential transmission of pathogenic bacteria. Our results represent a critical baseline for future studies investigating the interactions between microbiota and infection dynamics in bats.
Data from: Habitat choice meets thermal specialization: competition with specialists may drive suboptimal habitat preferences in generalists
Limited dispersal is classically considered as a prerequisite for ecological specialization to evolve, such that generalists are expected to show greater dispersal propensity compared with specialists. However, when individuals choose habitats that maximize their performance instead of dispersing randomly, theory predicts dispersal with habitat choice to evolve in specialists, while generalists should disperse more randomly. We tested whether habitat choice is associated with thermal niche specialization using microcosms of the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila, a species that performs active dispersal and habitat choice. We found that thermal specialists preferred optimal habitats as predicted by theory, a link that should make specialists more likely to track suitable conditions under environmental changes than expected under the random dispersal assumption. Surprisingly, generalists also performed habitat choice but with a preference for suboptimal habitats. Since this result challenges current theory, we developed a simple metapopulation model to understand under which circumstances such a preference for suboptimal habitats should evolve. We showed that competition between generalists and specialists may favor a preference for niche margins in generalists under environmental variability. Our results demonstrate that the behavioral dimension of dispersal—here, habitat choice—fundamentally alters our predictions of how dispersal evolve with niche specialization, making dispersal behaviors crucial for ecological forecasting facing environmental changes.
Data from: Soil abiotic variables are more important than Salicaceae phylogeny or habitat specialization in determining soil microbial community structure
Predicting the outcome of interspecific interactions is a central goal in ecology. The diverse soil microbes that interact with plants are shaped by different aspects of plant identity, such as phylogenetic history and functional group. Species interactions may also be strongly shaped by abiotic environment, but there is mixed evidence on the relative importance of environment, plant identity, and their interactions in shaping soil microbial communities. Using a multi-factor, split-plot field experiment, we tested how hydrologic context, and three facets of Salicaceae plant identity - habitat specialization, phylogenetic distance, and species identity - influence soil microbial community structure. Analysis of microbial community sequencing data with generalized dissimilarity models showed that abiotic environment explained up to 25% of variation in community composition of soil bacteria, fungi, and archaea, while Salicaceae identity influenced less than 1% of the variation in community composition of soil microbial taxa. Multivariate linear models indicated that the influence of Salicaceae identity was small, but did contribute to differentiation of soil microbes within treatments. Moreover, results from a microbial niche breadth analysis show that soil microbes in wetlands have more specialized host associations than soil microbes in drier environments - showing that abiotic environment changed how plant identity correlated with soil microbial communities. This study demonstrates the predominance of major abiotic factors in shaping soil microbial community structure; the significance of abiotic context to biotic influence on soil microbes; and the utility of field experiments to disentangling the abiotic and biotic factors that are thought to be most essential for soil microbial communities.
FIGURES 313–320. Drasteria habitats. 313. Kulyab environs, Tajikistan. 314. Pyandzh river near kishlak Padkhinov, Tajikistan. 315. Dunkeldyk lake, Tajikistan. 316. Vezdara river valley near Kishlak Vezd, Tajikistan. 317 in A revision of the genus Drasteria of Central Asia and Kazakhstan with special attention to the adjacent areas (Lepidoptera: Erebidae)
FIGURES 313–320. Drasteria habitats. 313. Kulyab environs, Tajikistan. 314. Pyandzh river near kishlak Padkhinov, Tajikistan. 315. Dunkeldyk lake, Tajikistan. 316. Vezdara river valley near Kishlak Vezd, Tajikistan. 317. Khaburobot Pass, Darvaz Mts., Tajikistan. 318. Shore of the Lake Karakul, Tajikistan. 319. Kalai-Khumb environs, Tajikistan. 320. Khorog, botanical garden environs, Tajikistan. Photos: S.K. Korb.
FIGURES 305–312. Drasteria habitats. 305 in A revision of the genus Drasteria of Central Asia and Kazakhstan with special attention to the adjacent areas (Lepidoptera: Erebidae)
FIGURES 305–312. Drasteria habitats. 305. Sary-Kaiky gorge, Dzhumgaltoo Mts., Kyrgyzstan. 306. Arashan environs near Bishkek, Kirghiz Mts., Kyrgyzstan. 307. Kok-Moynok environs, Terskey Ala-Too Mts., Kyrgyzstan. 308. Aksu environs, Terskey Ala-Too Mts., Kyrgyzstan. 309. Koro-Goo Pass, Moldo-Too Mts., Kyrgyzstan. 310. Alai valley, Kyrgyzstan. 311. Archaty environs, Alai Mts., Kyrgyzstan. 312. The same locality, light trapping. Photos: 305–309: S.K. Korb; 310–312: E. Komarov.
FIGURES 297–304. Drasteria habitats. 297. 25 in A revision of the genus Drasteria of Central Asia and Kazakhstan with special attention to the adjacent areas (Lepidoptera: Erebidae)
FIGURES 297–304. Drasteria habitats. 297. 25 km N of Panfilov, Dzhungarian Alatau, Kazakhstan (one of the authors in the collecting trip 2010). 298. Ili river valley near Koktal bridge, Almaty Prov., Kazakhstan (Russian Entomological Society and Institute of Zoology of Kazakhstan collecting trip, 2010). 299. Sands near Dosang environs, Astrakhan Prov., Russia. 300. Saksaul forest near Bakanas, Almaty Prov., Kazakhstan. 301. Chulak gorge, foothills of Dzhungarian Alatau Mts. in the Altyn-Emel Nature Reserve, Kazakhstan. 302. Ili river shore near Singing Dunes, Altyn-Emel Nature Reserve, Kazakhstan. 303. Katutau mountains, Altyn-Emel Nature Reserve, Kazakhstan. 304. Koram environs, northern slopes of Transilian Alatau Mts., Kazakhstan. Photos: S.K. Korb.
Data from: The grass was greener: repeated evolution of specialized morphologies and habitat shifts in ghost spiders following grassland expansion in South America
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Data from: Does habitat specialization shape the evolutionary potential of wild bird populations?
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Data from: Aphid specialization on different summer hosts is associated with strong genetic differentiation and unequal symbiont communities despite a common mating habitat
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Data from: Habitat specialization predicts genetic response to fragmentation in tropical birds
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Data from: Soil abiotic variables are more important than Salicaceae phylogeny or habitat specialization in determining soil microbial community structure
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Data from: Habitat choice meets thermal specialization: competition with specialists may drive suboptimal habitat preferences in generalists
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Data from: Natural selection favors local specialization in a widespread habitat generalist
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Data from: Habitat specialization of birds in the Czech Republic: comparison of objective measures with expert opinion
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Data from: The excreted microbiota of bats: evidence of niche specialization based on multiple body habitats
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Data from: Environmental gradients and the evolution of successional habitat specialization: a test case with 14 Neotropical forest sites
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