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opencc-zeroJul 2020View details →

Data from: Multiple glacial refugia and contemporary dispersal shape the genetic structure of an endemic amphibian from the Pyrenees

Historical factors (colonization scenarios, demographic oscillations) and contemporary processes (population connectivity, current population size) largely contribute to shaping species' present-day genetic diversity and structure. In this study, we use a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers to understand the role of Quaternary climatic oscillations and present-day gene flow dynamics in determining the genetic diversity and structure of the newt Calotriton asper (Al. Dugès, 1852), endemic to the Pyrenees. Mitochondrial DNA did not show a clear phylogeographic pattern and presented low levels of variation. In contrast, microsatellites revealed five major genetic lineages with admixture patterns at their boundaries. Approximate Bayesian computation analyses and linear models indicated that the five lineages likely underwent separate evolutionary histories and can be tracked back to distinct glacial refugia. Lineage differentiation started around the Last Glacial Maximum at three focal areas (western, central and eastern Pyrenees) and extended through the end of the Last Glacial Period in the central Pyrenees, where it led to the formation of two more lineages. Our data revealed no evidence of recent dispersal between lineages, whereas borders likely represent zones of secondary contact following expansion from multiple refugia. Finally, we did not find genetic evidence of sex-biased dispersal. This work highlights the importance of integrating past evolutionary processes and present-day gene flow and dispersal dynamics, together with multilocus approaches, to gain insights into what shaped the current genetic attributes of amphibians living in montane habitats.

opencc-zeroJul 2020View details →

Data from: Transoceanic dispersal of terrestrial species by debris rafting

Rare, long-distance dispersal events are a key process in generating and maintaining patterns in biological diversity and species distributions across space and time. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the eastern coast of Japan in 2011, and the subsequent 38 m high tsunami washed large amounts of shoreline debris into the Pacific Ocean that led to a large-scale biological rafting event carrying nearly 300 marine species to the western shores of North America. Whether oceanic, trans-Pacific dispersal via rafting generates long distance dispersal events for small, flightless, terrestrial species is unknown. By sampling beach debris associated with known hot-spots of tsunami debris along the north and east shores of Graham Island, Haida Gwaii, Canada, I document significantly dissimilar invertebrate communities associated with tide-line beach debris and the occurrence of several putative Japanese species of soil-dwelling mites (Acari: Oribatida). Previous explanations of Haida Gwaii's unique flora and fauna have been attributed to a proximity to the Beringian land bridge and the accumulated evidence of near-offshore glacial refugia during the last glacial period. However, my research also suggests that stochastic, trans-Pacific rafting events contribute to the biodiversity and biogeography of soil communities on the west coast of North America.

opencc-zeroJun 2020View details →

Mate-finding dispersal reduces local mate limitation and sex bias in dispersal

1. Sex-biased dispersal (SBD) often skews the local sex ratio in a population. This can result in a shortage of mates for individuals of the less-dispersive sex. Such mate limitation can lead to Allee effects in populations that are small or undergoing range expansion, consequently affecting their survival, growth, stability and invasion speed. 2. Theory predicts that mate shortage can lead to either an increase or a decrease in the dispersal of the less-dispersive sex. However, neither of these predictions have been empirically validated. 3. To investigate how SBD-induced mate limitation affects dispersal of the less-dispersive sex, we used Drosophila melanogaster populations with varying dispersal propensities. To rule out any mate-independent density effects, we examined the behavioral plasticity of dispersal in presence of mates as well as same-sex individuals with differential dispersal capabilities. 4. In the presence of high-dispersive mates, the dispersal of both male and female individuals was significantly increased. However, the magnitude of this increase was much larger in males than in females, indicating that the former show greater mate-finding dispersal. Moreover, the dispersal of either sex did not change when dispersing alongside high- or low-dispersive individuals of the same sex. This suggested that the observed plasticity in dispersal was indeed due to mate-finding dispersal, and not mate-independent density effects. 5. Strong mate-finding dispersal can diminish the magnitude of sex bias in dispersal. This can modulate the evolutionary processes that shape range expansions and invasions, depending on the population size. In small populations, mate-finding dispersal can ameliorate Allee effects. However, in large populations, it can dilute the effects of spatial sorting. 28-May-2020

opencc-zeroJul 2020View details →

Data from: Inducing seed dispersal by generalist frugivores: A new technique to overcome dispersal limitation in restoration

1. Dispersal limitation severely impairs the trajectory of restoration, mainly due to the lack of seed vectors bringing seeds from nearby habitats; a role played by many frugivorous vertebrates that can be absent or reduced in restored or degraded sites. 2. Here we propose a new technique named Induced Seed Dispersal, that amplifies the role that many generalist frugivores have in seed dispersal. It consists in the offering of seeds embedded in the pulp of commercial fruits or whole native fleshy fruits in feeders to generalist frugivores, which ingest the seeds and defecate them elsewhere. We set feeders in a restored site and monitored the visiting pattern of these frugivores with cameras-traps. We also set seed traps to retrieve seeds dispersed by frugivores and offered around 1500 seeds of Cecropia hololeuca (Urticaceae) per week for one year. 3. We recorded at least 24 generalist frugivore species of terrestrial mammals, bats, and birds, which ingested/removed the seeds/fruits from the feeders. Seeds of C. hololeuca dispersed by marmosets were retrieved in the seed traps and germinated. We estimated a potential seed rain of more than 600 C. hololeuca seeds ha-1 mo-1. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our study demonstrates that this new technique can make use of generalist frugivores to assist restoration or regeneration into sites where seed dispersal is compromised by the lack of dispersers or limited seed arrival. Inducing seed dispersal by generalist frugivores is a low-cost and easy-managed technique that can be applied year-round in restoration and forest enrichments at all scales.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2020View details →

Model simulation data used in "Modelling mineral dust emissions and atmospheric dispersion with MADE3 in EMAC v2.54" (Beer et al., Geosci. Model Dev., 2020)

This dataset contains the output and the namelist setups of the EMAC-MADE3 global model simulations analysed and discussed in Beer et al. (Geosci. Model Dev., 2020).

openother-openAug 2020View details →

Data from - Secondary metabolites in a neotropical shrub: spatiotemporal allocation and role in fruit defense and dispersal

Data from "Secondary metabolites in a neotropical shrub: spatiotemporal allocation and role in fruit defense and dispersal" published in Ecology in 2020. doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3192

Data from: Interactions between seed-dispersing ant species affect plant community composition in field mesocosms

1. In generalized mutualisms, species vary in the quality of services they provide to their partners directly via traits that affect partner fitness and indirectly via traits that influence interactions with mutualist species that play similar functional roles. Myrmecochory, or seed dispersal by ants, is a generalized mutualism with ant species varying in the quality of dispersal services they provide to their plant partners. Variation in ant species identity can directly impact seed dispersal patterns and plant community composition; however, we know less about how interactions among seed-dispersing ant species indirectly influence plant partners. 2. The invasive ant, Myrmica rubra, is a high-quality seed-disperser in its native range and interacts with myrmecochores (ant-dispersed plants) and the high-quality seed disperser Aphaenogaster sp. in its invaded range. We use this system to examine how interactions between two functionally similar mutualist ant species influence the recruitment and community composition of ant-dispersed plants. 3. We performed a field mesocosm experiment and a lab behavioral experiment to compare discovery and dominance behaviors between ant species, and seed dispersal and seedling recruitment of four myrmecochore species among intraspecific interaction treatments of each ant species and an interspecific interaction treatment. 4. We found that M. rubra was better at discovering and dispersing seeds, but that Aphaenogaster sp. was dominantly aggressive over M. rubra. Interspecific interactions dampened seed dispersal relative to dispersal by the better disperser. Despite this dampening, we found no effect of interspecific interaction on seedling recruitment. However, community composition of seedlings in the interspecific interaction treatment was more similar to composition in the aggressively dominant ant (Aphaenogaster sp.) treatment than in the better discoverer ant (M. rubra) treatment. 5. We show that interspecific interaction between mutualist species in the same functional guild affects the outcome of mutualistic interactions with partner species. Despite the native ant dispersing fewer seeds, its dominance over the subordinate (invasive) ant has the potential to allow for some level of biotic resistance against the effects of M. rubra on plant communities when these species co-exist.

Dispersal and migration have contrasting effects on butterfly flight morphology and reproduction

Movement may fundamentally alter morphology and reproductive states in insects. In long-distance migrants, reproductive diapause is associated with trade-offs between diverse life history traits such as flight morphology and lifespan. However, many non-diapausing insects engage in shorter resource-driven dispersals. How diapause and other reproductive states alter flight morphology in migrating versus dispersing insects is poorly understood. To find out, we compared flight morphology in different reproductive states of multiple butterfly species. We found that dispersers consisted of ovulating females with higher egg-loads compared to non-dispersing females. This trend was in stark contrast to that of migrating female butterflies in reproductive diapause that made substantially higher investment in flight tissue compared to reproductively active, non-migrating females. Thus, long-distance migration and shorter resource-driven dispersals had contrasting effects on flight morphology and egg-loads. In contrast, male flight morphology was not affected by dispersal, migration, or associated reproductive states. Thus, dispersal and migration affected resource allocation in flight and reproductive tissue in a sex-specific manner across relatively mobile versus non-dispersing individuals of different species. These findings suggest that dispersals between fragmented habitats may put extra stress on egg-carrying females by increasing their flight burdens.

Bonds of bros and brothers: Kinship and social bonding in post-dispersal male macaques

Group-living animals often maintain a few very close affiliative relationships – social bonds – that can buffer them against many of the inevitable costs of gregariousness. Kinship plays a central role in the development of such social bonds. The bulk of research on kin biases in sociality has focused on philopatric females, who typically live in deeply kin-structured systems, with matrilineal dominance rank inheritance and life-long familiarity between kin. Closely related males, in contrast, are usually not close in rank or familiar, which offers the opportunity to test the importance of kinship per se in the formation of social bonds. So far, however, kin biases in male social bonding have only been tested in philopatric males, where familiarity remains a confounding factor. Here, we studied bonds between male Assamese macaques, a species in which males disperse from their natal groups, and in which male bonds are known to affect fitness. Combining extensive behavioural data on 43 adult males over a 10-year period with DNA microsatellite relatedness analyses, we find that post-dispersal males form stronger relationships with the few close kin available in the group than with the average non-kin. However, males form the majority of their bonds with non-kin, and may choose non-kin over available close kin to bond with. Our results show that kinship facilitates bond formation, but is not a prerequisite for it, which suggests that strong bonds are not restricted to kin in male mammals and that animals cooperate for both direct and indirect fitness benefits.

Shared geographic histories and dispersal contribute to congruent phylogenies between amphipods and their microsporidian parasites at regional and global scales

In parasites that strongly rely on a host for dispersal, geographic barriers that act on the host will simultaneously influence parasite distribution as well. If their association persists over macroevolutionary time it may result in congruent phylogenetic and phylogeographic patterns due to shared geographic histories. Here, we investigated the level of congruent evolutionary history at a regional and global scale in a highly specialised parasite taxon infecting hosts with limited dispersal abilities: the microsporidians Dictyocoela spp. and their amphipod hosts. Dictyocoela can be transmitted both vertically and horizontally and is the most common microsporidian genus occurring in amphipods in Eurasia. However, little is known about its distribution elsewhere. We started by conducting molecular screening to detect microsporidian parasites in endemic amphipod species in New Zealand; based on phylogenetic analyses, we identified nine species-level microsporidian taxa including six belonging to Dictyocoela. With a distance-based cophylogenetic analysis at the regional scale, we identified overall congruent phylogenies between Paracalliope, the most common New Zealand freshwater amphipod taxon, and their Dictyocoela parasites. Also, hosts and parasites showed similar phylogeographic patterns suggesting shared biogeographic histories. Similarly, at a global scale, phylogenies of amphipod hosts and their Dictyocoela parasites showed broadly congruent phylogenies. The observed patterns may have resulted from covicariance and/or codispersal, suggesting that the intimate association between amphipods and Dictyocoela may have persisted over macroevolutionary time. We highlight that shared biogeographic histories could play a role in the codiversification of hosts and parasites at a macroevolutionary scale.

opencc-zeroDec 2019View details →

First come, first served: possible role for priority effects in marine populations under different degrees of dispersal potential

Aim Studying clearly delineated populations in marine lakes, islands of sea, we investigate the interplay of habitat size, immigration, and priority effects in shaping marine population genetic structure. Location Marine lakes and coastal locations in Indonesia, Palau, Papua New-Guinea and Australia. Taxon Mussels (Mytillidae, Brachidontes spp.) Methods Populations were sampled from four coastal locations and 22 marine lakes of similar age (~8,000 years), yet differing in size (0.04 - 4.7 km2) and degree of connection to the adjacent sea. While some lakes are highly connected, allowing potential influx of larvae from the sea, others have very limited water exchange. We assessed the phylogeographic structure and demographic history using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data, and combined this with geometric morphometrics. The effects of lake characteristics on population genetic diversity and structure were tested using linear regression and Mantel tests. Results Each lake contained one of six distinct genetic lineages, which were characterized by deep phylogenetic splits and significant morphometric differences. These lineages likely represent separate species. The lineages showed similar demographic patterns, with lakes containing founder populations that rapidly expanded and diverged. Genetic diversity within lake populations was significantly correlated with lake area, but not with physical connection to the adjacent sea. Within lineages that occurred in multiple lakes there was strong population structure (average ΦST 0.65), which did not conform to an isolation-by-distance pattern or to the degree of dispersal potential. Main Conclusions Marine lakes across a gradient of physical isolation show strong population structure and evidence for in situ divergence. We hypothesize that the observed genetic structure is the result of priority effects. In addition, reduction of habitat size appears to reduce genetic diversity, even at very small spatial scales. Our findings are relevant in the context of ongoing alterations to coastal hydrodynamics, which lead to habitat reduction and influence migration among populations at fine spatial scales.

opencc-by-4.0Apr 2016View details →

Figure 2 in Diversity and dispersal history of the talitrids (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae) of Bermuda

Figure 2. Map of the Bermudian archipelago showing sampling locations.

Intersexual differences in density-dependent dispersal and their evolutionary drivers

Dispersal is well recognised as a major driver of evolutionary processes in local populations. Nevertheless, dispersal abilities should also be perceived as a life history trait, being subject to evolutionary changes in response to various drivers. Empirical studies investigating these drivers rarely consider that they may influence male and female dispersal differently. The purpose of our study was to document intersexual differences in density-dependent emigration from local habitat patches. As a model system we used a metapopulation of Maculinea (Phengaris) teleius butterfly, in which densities of both sexes vary greatly throughout the flying season. Following intensive mark-release-recapture surveys, the parameters and predictors of dispersal were analysed with the Virtual Migration model and the multi-state recapture model. The emigration rate in males was substantially higher in the early season, especially at smaller habitat patches. With the proportion of females increasing with the season progression, males became reluctant to emigrate from their natal patches. In turn, higher female emigration in the later part of the season was most strongly associated with female tendency to reduce intraspecific competition experienced by their offspring. Our findings provide evidence for the impact of reproductive strategies on dispersal in both sexes. The difference in reproductive strategies of males and females explain sex-biased dispersal in different parts of the season, which carries important implications for metapopulation functioning.

Data from: Cycles of trans‐Arctic dispersal and vicariance, and diversification of the amphi‐boreal marine fauna

The amphi‐boreal faunal element comprises closely related species and conspecific populations with vicarious distributions in the North Atlantic and North Pacific basins. It originated from an initial trans‐Arctic dispersal in the Pliocene after the first opening of the Bering Strait, and subsequent vicariance through the Pleistocene when the passage through the Arctic was severed by glaciations and low sea levels. Opportunities for further dispersal have risen at times however, and molecular data now expose more complex patterns of inter‐oceanic affinities and dispersal histories. For a general view on the trans‐Arctic dynamics and of the roles of potential dispersal‐vicariance cycles in generating systematic diversity we produced new phylogeographic data sets for amphi‐boreal taxa in 21 genera of invertebrates and vertebrates, and combined them with similar published data sets of mitochondrial coding gene variation, adding up to 89 comparisons involving molluscs, crustaceans, echinoderms, polychaetes, fishes and mammals. Only 39% of the cases correspond with a simple history of Pliocene divergence; in most taxonomical groups, the range of divergence estimates implies connections through the entire Pliocene–Pleistocene‐Holocene time frame. Repeated inter‐oceanic exchange was inferred for 23 taxa, and the latest connection was usually post‐glacial. Such repeated invasions have usually led to secondary contacts and occasionally to widespread hybridization between the different invasion waves. Late‐ or post‐glacial exchange was inferred in 50% of the taxa, stressing the importance of the relatively recent invasions to the current diversity in the Northern Atlantic. Individual taxa also showed complex idiosyncratic patterns and histories, and several instances of cryptic speciation were recognized. In contrast to a simple inter‐oceanic vicariance scenario underlying amphi‐boreal speciation, the data expose complex patterns of reticulation and introgression that complicate the interpretation of taxon boundaries in the region.

The degree of spatial variation relative to temporal variation influences evolution of dispersal

In the face of ongoing global climate an land use change, organisms have multiple possibilities to cope with the modification of their environment. The two main possibilities are to either adapt locall or disperse to a more suitable habitat. The evolution of both local adaptation and dispersal interacts and can be influenced by the spatial and temporal variation (of e.g. temperature or precipitation). In an individual based model (IBM), we explore evolution of phenotypes in landscapes with varying degree of spatial relative to global temporal variation in order to examine it's influence on the evolution of dispersal, niche optimum and niche width. The relationship between temporal and spatial variation did neither influence the evolution of local adaptation in the niche optimum nor of niche widths. Dispersal probability is highly influenced by the spatio-temporal relationship: with increasing spatial variation, dispersal probability decreases. Additionally, the shape of the distribution of the trait values over patch attributes switches from hump- to U-shaped. At low spatial variance more individuals emigrate from average habitats, at high spatial variance more from extreme habitats. The comparatively high dispersal probability in extreme patches of landscapes with a high spatial variation can be explained by evolutionary succession of two kinds of adaptive response. Early in the simulations, extreme patches in landscapes with a high spatial variability act as sink habitats, where population persistence depends on highly dispersive individuals with a wide niche. With ongoing evolution, local adaptation of the remaining individuals takes over, but simultaneously a possible bet-hedging strategy promotes higher dispersal probabilities in those habitats. Here, in generations that experience extreme shifts from the temporal mean of the patch attribute, the expected fitness becomes higher for dispersing individuals than for philopatric individuals. This means under certain circumstances, both local adaptation and high dispersal probability can be selected for.

opencc-by-4.0Feb 2015View details →

Figure 1 in Phoretic behaviour of Attacobius attarum (Roewer, 1935) (Araneae: Corinnidae: Corinninae) dispersion not associated with predation?

Figure 1. The clustering of males and females of Attacobious attarum.

Data and code from: Vector demography, dispersal, and the spread of disease: Experimental epidemics under elevated resource supply

1. The spread of many diseases depends on the demography and dispersal of arthropod vectors. Classic epidemiological theory typically ignores vector dynamics and instead makes the simplifying assumption of frequency-dependent transmission. Yet vector ecology may be critical for understanding the spread of disease over space and time and how disease dynamics respond to environmental change. 2. Here, we ask how environmental change shapes vector demography and dispersal, and how these traits of vectors govern the spatiotemporal spread of disease. 3. We developed disease models parameterized by traits of vectors and fit them to experimental epidemics. The experiment featured a viral pathogen (CYDV-RPV) vectored by aphids (Rhopalosiphum padi) among populations of grass hosts (Avena sativa) under two rates of environmental resource supply (i.e., fertilization of the host). We compared a non-spatial model that ignores vector movement, a lagged dispersal model that emphasizes the delay between vector reproduction and dispersal, and a travelling wave model that generates waves of infections across space and time. 4. Resource supply altered both vector demography and dispersal. The lagged dispersal model fit best, indicating that vectors first reproduced and then dispersed among hosts in the experiment. Elevated resources decreased vector population growth rates, nearly doubled their carrying capacity per host, increased dispersal rates when vectors carried the virus, and homogenized disease risk across space. 5. Together, the models and experiment show how environmental eutrophication can shape spatial disease dynamics – for example, homogenizing disease risk across space – by altering the demography and behavior of vectors.

Supplementary material from "Possible fates of the dispersion of SARS-COV-2 in the Mexican context"

The determination of the adequate time for house confinement and when social distancing restrictions should end are now two of the main challenges that any country has to face in an effective battle against. The possibility of a new outbreak of the pandemic and how to avoid it is, nowadays, one of the primary objectives of epidemiological research. In this work, we go deep in this subject by presenting an innovative compartmental model, that explicitly introduces the number of active cases, and employing it as a conceptual tool to explore the possible fates of the dispersion of SARS-COV-2 in the Mexican context. We incorporated the impact of starting, inattention, and end of restrictive social policies on the time evolution of the pandemics via time-in-run corrections to the infection rates. The magnitude and impact on the epidemic due to post-social restrictive policies are also studied. The scenarios generated by the model can help authorities to determine an adequate time and population load that may be allowed to reassume normal activities.

Data from: Current ecology, not ancestral dispersal patterns, influences menopause symptom severity

All human females who reach midlife experience menopause, however, it is currently unclear why women experience this period of infertility, and why it is accompanied by many unpleasant symptoms. Using primary data from four ethnic groups in China, we test an existing theory that age of menopause and its symptoms are the result of intragenomic conflict between maternally and paternally inherited genes, with the outcome of such conflict predicted to be contingent on the ancestral post-marital residence pattern of the female (Úbeda et al., 2014). The model predicts that being ancestrally patrilocal results in less intragenomic conflict, causing a shorter, less symptomatic peri-menopause that terminates in a later menopause. Our findings show no support for this hypothesis, and suggest current, rather than ancestral, residence patterns better predict aspects of the menopausal transition. Furthermore, current patrilocality when compared to duolocality is associated with more severe menopause symptoms, which may be due to sexual, rather than intragenomic, conflict.

Mechanisms of male-male interference during dispersal of orchid pollen

Siring success of flowering plants depends on the fates of male gametophytes, which compete for access to stigmas, stylar resources and ovules. Although rarely considered, pollen may often compete during dispersal, affecting the processes required for export to stigmas; pollen pickup, transport and deposition. We quantified dispersal interference by tracking bee dispersal of stained Anacamptis morio (Orchidaceae) pollen from individual donor flowers and inferred the affected dispersal mechanisms based on the fit of a process-based model. During individual trials, all recipient flowers were either emasculated, precluding interference with donor pollen, or intact, adding potentially interfering pollen to the pollinator. The presence of competing pollinaria on bees reduced pickup of additional pollinaria, doubled the overall proportion of lost donor pollen and reduced total pollen export by 27%. Interference specifically increased loss of donor pollen between successive flower visits and variation in deposition among trials, and likely also reduced pollen contact with stigmas and pollen deposition when contact occurred. Thus, by altering pollen removal, transport and deposition, male-male interference during pollen dispersal can significantly, and perhaps commonly, limit plant siring success.