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81 results for “heterogeneous environment”
Data from: Invasive alien plants benefit more from clonal integration in heterogeneous environments than natives
What confers invasive alien plants a competitive advantage over native plants remains open to debate. Many of the world's worst invasive alien plants are clonal and able to share resources within clones (clonal integration), particularly in heterogeneous environments. Here, we tested the hypothesis that clonal integration benefits invasive clonal plants more than natives and thus confers invasives a competitive advantage. We selected five congeneric and naturally co-occurring pairs of invasive alien and native clonal plants in China, and grew pairs of connected and disconnected ramets under heterogeneous light, soil nutrient and water conditions that are commonly encountered by alien plants during their invasion into new areas. Clonal integration increased biomass of all plants in all three heterogeneous resource environments. However, invasive plants benefited more from clonal integration than natives. Consequently, invasive plants produced more biomass than natives. Our results indicate that clonal integration may confer invasive alien clonal plants a competitive advantage over natives. Therefore, differences in the ability of clonal integration could potentially explain, at least partly, the invasion success of alien clonal plants in areas where resources are heterogeneously distributed.
Data from: Quantifying the effects of migration and mutation on adaptation and demography in spatially heterogeneous environments
How do mutation and gene flow influence population persistence, niche expansion, and local adaptation in spatially heterogeneous environments? In this article, we analyse a demographic and evolutionary model of adaptation to an environment containing two habitats in equal frequencies, and we bridge the gap between different theoretical frameworks. Qualitatively, our model yields four qualitative types of outcomes: (i) global extinction of the population (ii) adaptation to one habitat only, but also adaptation to both habitats with (iii) specialized phenotypes, or (iv) with generalized phenotypes; and we determine the conditions under which each equilibrium is reached. We derive new analytical approximations for the local densities and the distributions of traits in each habitat under a migration--selection--mutation balance, compute the equilibrium values of the means, variances and asymmetries of the local distributions of phenotypes, and contrast the effects of migration and mutation on the evolutionary outcome. We then check our analytical results by solving our model numerically, and also assess their robustness in the presence of demographic stochasticity. While increased migration results in a decrease in local adaptation, mutation in our model does not influence the values of the local mean traits. Yet, both migration and mutation can have dramatic effects on population size and even lead to metapopulation extinction when selection is strong. Niche expansion, the ability for the population to adapt to both habitats, can also be prevented by small migration rates and a reduced evolutionary potential characterised by rare mutation events of small effects; but niche expansion is otherwise the most likely outcome. Although our results are derived under the assumption of clonal reproduction, we finally show and discuss the links between our model and previous quantitative genetics models.
Data from: Ecological specialization in populations adapted to constant versus heterogeneous environments
Populations vary in their degree of ecological specialization. An intuitive, but often untested, hypothesis is that populations evolving under greater environmental heterogeneity will evolve to be less specialized. How important is environmental heterogeneity in explaining among-population variation in specialization? We assessed juvenile viability of 20 Drosophila melanogaster populations evolving under one of four regimes: (i) a salt-enriched environment, (ii) a cadmium-enriched environment, (iii) a temporally varying environment, and (iv) a spatially varying environment. Juvenile viability was tested in both the original selective environments and a set of novel environments. In both the original and novel environments, populations from the constant cadmium regime had the lowest average viability and the highest variance in viability across environments but populations from the other three regimes were similar. Our results suggest that variation in specialization among these populations is most simply explained as a pleiotropic by-product of adaptation to specific environments rather than resulting from a history of exposure to environmental heterogeneity.
Data from: Roles of pathogens on replacement of tree seedlings in heterogeneous light environments in a temperate forest: a reciprocal seed sowing experiment
1. In forest communities, the Janzen–Connell (J-C) hypothesis proposes that species diversity is maintained by non-competitive distance- and/or density-dependent seedling mortality caused by host-specific natural enemies. However, the effects of pathogen associations from nearby conspecifics vs. heterospecifics remain unknown in spatially heterogeneous light environments. 2. Seeds of hardwood species Cornus controversa (Cornus) and Prunus grayana (Prunus) were sown beneath 6–7 Cornus and Prunus adults in both the forest understory (FU) and in gaps (Gap) created by felling all woody vegetation near the focal adults. Seedling growth, mortality, killing agents (e.g. pathogens that cause damping-off and leaf diseases), and root infection by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) were investigated. 3. We found strong habitat effects on the expression of soil fungi beneath both tree species. Seedling mortality caused by soil-borne damping-off pathogens was greater in FU than in Gap, and AMF infection, which enhanced relative seedling growth rate, was greater in Gap than in FU. Seedling mortality caused by damping-off pathogens did not differ between Cornus and Prunus seedlings beneath the adults of conspecific or heterospecific adults in both FU and Gap, suggesting little distance-dependence or host preference in the fungus. 4. Beneath the adults of Cornus and Prunus, the most prevalent leaf diseases were zonate leaf blight and angular leaf spot caused by the airborne pathogenic fungi Haradamyces foliicola and Phaeoisariopsis pruni-grayanae, respectively. Although these pathogens attacked the seedlings of both species, conspecific seedlings (i.e. home) showed more severe leaf damage, earlier leaf shedding and/or less defensive behaviour (cell wall defence) relative to heterospecific seedlings (i.e. away), suggesting negative distance-dependent attack (i.e. host preference) for these leaf diseases. As a result, greater seedling mortality was observed for conspecific seedlings under both FU and Gap treatments. 5. Synthesis. In the temperate forest, the J-C hypothesis is largely mediated through the strong negative influence of airborne leaf diseases rather than through soil-borne damping-off pathogens. We found that airborne diseases demonstrated distance-dependent host preferences, which led to greater conspecific seedling damage regardless of environmental light conditions.
Data from: Bayesian inference of selection in a heterogeneous environment from genetic time-series data
Evolutionary geneticists have sought to characterize the causes and molecular targets of selection in natural populations for many years. Although this research program has been somewhat successful, most statistical methods employed were designed to detect consistent, weak to moderate selection. In contrast, phenotypic studies in nature show that selection varies in time and that individual bouts of selection can be strong. Measurements of the genomic consequences of such fluctuating selection could help test and refine hypotheses concerning the causes of ecological specialization and the maintenance of genetic variation in populations. Herein, I proposed a Bayesian non-homogenous hidden Markov model to estimate effective population sizes and quantify variable selection in heterogeneous environments from genetic time-series data. The model is described and then evaluated using a series of simulated data, including cases where selection occurs on a trait with a simple or polygenic molecular basis. The proposed method accurately distinguished neutral loci from non-neutral loci under strong selection, but not from those under weak selection. Selection coefficients were accurately estimated when selection was constant or when the fitness values of genotypes varied linearly with the environment, but these estimates were less accurate when fitness was polygenic or the relationship between the environment and the fitness of genotypes was non-linear. Past studies of temporal evolutionary dynamics in lab populations have been remarkably successful. The proposed method makes similar analyses of genetic time-series data from natural populations more feasible, and thereby could help answer fun damental questions about the causes and consequences of evolution in the wild.
Data from: Lizards paid a greater opportunity cost to thermoregulate in a less heterogeneous environment
The theory of thermoregulation has developed slowly, hampering efforts to predict how individuals can buffer climate change through behaviour. Mixed results of field and laboratory experiments underscore the need to test hypotheses about thermoregulation explicitly, while measuring costs and benefits in different thermal landscapes. We simulated body temperature and energy expenditure of a virtual lizard that either thermoregulates optimally or thermoconforms in a landscape of either low or high quality (one or four basking sites, respectively). We then compare the predicted values in each landscape with the observed values for real lizards in experimental arenas. Lizards thermoregulated more accurately in the high-quality landscape than they did on the low-quality landscape, albeit only slightly so, but spent similar amounts of energy in these landscapes. Basking, rather than shuttling between heat sources, accounted for the majority of the energy consumed in both landscapes. These results did not support the predictions of our model. In the low-quality landscape, real lizards thermoregulated intensely despite the potential to save energy by thermoconforming. In the high-quality landscape, lizards moved more than expected, suggesting that lizards explored their surroundings despite being able to thermoregulate without doing so. Our results suggest that non-energetic benefits drive thermoregulatory behaviour in costly environments, despite the missed opportunities arising from thermoregulation. We propose that energetic costs associated with thermoregulatory movement will become substantial in homogeneous environments such as flat plains and dense forests. The theory of thermoregulation should incorporate these aspects if biologists wish to predict responses of ectotherms to changing climates and habitats.
Data from: Environmental heterogeneity generates opposite gene-by-environment interactions for two fitness-related traits within a population
Theory predicts that environmental heterogeneity offers a potential solution to the maintenance of genetic variation within populations, but empirical evidence remains sparse. The livebearing fish Xiphophorus variatus exhibits polymorphism at a single locus, with different alleles resulting in up to five distinct melanistic "tailspot" patterns within populations. We investigated the effects of heterogeneity in two ubiquitous environmental variables (temperature and food availability) on two fitness-related traits (upper thermal limits and body condition) in two different tailspot types (wildtype and upper cut crescent). We found gene-by-environment (GxE) interactions between tailspot type and food level affecting upper thermal limits (UTL), as well as between tailspot type and thermal environment affecting body condition. Exploring mechanistic bases underlying these GxE patterns, we found no differences between tailspot types in hsp70 gene expression despite significant overall increases in expression under both thermal and food stress. Similarly, there was no difference in routine metabolic rates between the tailspot types. The reversal of relative performance of the two tailspot types under different environmental conditions revealed a mechanism by which environmental heterogeneity can balance polymorphism within populations through selection on different fitness-related traits.
Assessing methods for representing soil heterogeneity through a flexible approach within the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) at version 3.4.1
<p>This is the JULES input and output data and plotting scripts used in the paper titled "Assessing methods for representing soil heterogeneity through a flexible approach within the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) at version 3.4.1.</p> <p>The tar file contains the following:</p> <p>outputs/cardwfdei_gl4_uncompressed.mon.nc<br> outputs/cardwfdei_gl4_surf_ft_dom_soil.mon.nc<br> outputs/cardwfdei_gl4_gb_dom_soil_decompr_loam.mon.nc<br> outputs/cardwfdei_gl4_surf-soil_consolidated.mon.nc<br> outputs/cardwfdei_gl4_gb_dom_soil_compr_loam.mon.nc<br> plotting_scripts/utils.py<br> plotting_scripts/gb_flux_summary.py<br> plotting_scripts/tile_fsmc_summary.py<br> plotting_scripts/gb_smcl_closure_summary.py<br> plotting_scripts/colors_names.py<br> inputs/drive-file-WFDEI-79-10.txt<br> inputs/WFDEI_data/README.txt<br> inputs/extract_cardwfdei_point.py</p> <p>uncompressed is the output for experiment HResTex.<br> surf_ft_dom_soil is the output for experiment SurfDom.<br> gb_dom_soil_decompr_loam is the output for experiment SurfGB.<br> surf-soil_consolidated is the output for experiment HResTexAgg.<br> gb_dom_soil_compr_loam is the output for experiment DC.</p> <p>Descriptions about the individual plotting scripts are given within each file.</p> <p>The WFDEI data is freely available from a separate source and inputs/WFDEI_data/README.txt describes how to obtain this dataset.</p> <p>inputs/extract_cardwfdei_point.py extracts the WFDEI data for the single latitude/longitude point used in this paper.</p> <p>inputs/drive-file-WFDEI-79-10.txt is the input file required by JULES to read in the WFDEI driving data files.</p>
Data from: Roles of pathogens on replacement of tree seedlings in heterogeneous light environments in a temperate forest: a reciprocal seed sowing experiment
In forest communities, the Janzen–Connell (J-C) hypothesis proposes that species diversity is maintained by non-competitive distance- and/or density-dependent seedling mortality caused by host-specific natural enemies. However, the effects of pathogen associations from nearby conspecifics versus heterospecifics remain unknown in spatially heterogeneous light environments. Seeds of hardwood species Cornus controversa (Cornus) and Prunus grayana (Prunus) were sown beneath 6–7 Cornus and Prunus adults in both the forest understory (FU) and in gaps (Gap) created by felling all woody vegetation near the focal adults. Seedling growth, mortality, killing agents (e.g. pathogens that cause damping-off and leaf diseases), and root infection by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) were investigated. We found strong habitat effects on the expression of soil fungi beneath both tree species. Seedling mortality caused by soil-borne damping-off pathogens was greater in FU than in Gap, and AMF infection, which enhanced relative seedling growth rate, was greater in Gap than in FU. Seedling mortality caused by damping-off pathogens did not differ between Cornus and Prunus seedlings beneath the adults of conspecific or heterospecific adults in both FU and Gap, suggesting little distance-dependence or host preference in the fungus. Beneath the adults of Cornus and Prunus, the most prevalent leaf diseases were zonate leaf blight and angular leaf spot caused by the airborne pathogenic fungi Haradamyces foliicola and Phaeoisariopsis pruni-grayanae, respectively. Although these pathogens attacked the seedlings of both species, conspecific seedlings (i.e. home) showed more severe leaf damage, earlier leaf shedding and/or less defensive behaviour (cell wall defence) relative to heterospecific seedlings (i.e. away), suggesting negative distance-dependent attack (i.e. host preference) for these leaf diseases. As a result, greater seedling mortality was observed for conspecific seedlings under both FU and Gap treatments. Synthesis. In the temperate forest, the J-C hypothesis is largely mediated through the strong negative influence of airborne leaf diseases rather than through soil-borne damping-off pathogens. We found that airborne diseases demonstrated distance-dependent host preferences, which led to greater conspecific seedling damage regardless of environmental light conditions.
Data from: Carrying capacity in a heterogeneous environment with habitat connectivity
A large body of theory predicts that populations diffusing in heterogeneous environments reach higher total size than if non-diffusing, and, paradoxically, higher size than in a corresponding homogeneous environment. However, this theory and its assumptions have not been rigorously tested. Here, we extended previous theory to include exploitable resources, proving qualitatively novel results, which we tested experimentally using spatially diffusing laboratory populations of yeast. Consistent with previous theory, we predicted and experimentally observed that spatial diffusion increased total equilibrium population abundance in heterogeneous environments, with the effect size depending on the relationship between r and K. Refuting previous theory, however, we discovered that homogeneously distributed resources support higher total carrying capacity than heterogeneously distributed resources, even with species diffusion. Our results provide rigorous experimental tests of new and old theory, demonstrating how the traditional notion of carrying capacity is ambiguous for populations diffusing in spatially heterogeneous environments.
Data from: On the evolution of migration in heterogeneous environments
Populations often experience variable conditions, both in time and space. Here we develop a novel theoretical framework to study the evolution of migration under the influence of spatially and temporally variable selection and genetic drift. First we examine when polymorphism is maintained at a locus under heterogeneous selection, as a function of the pattern of spatial heterogeneity and the migration rate. In a second step, we study how levels of migration evolve under the joint action of kin competition and local adaptation at a polymorphic locus. This analysis reveals the existence of evolutionary bistability where a low or a high migration rate may evolve depending on the initial conditions. Last, we relax several assumptions regarding selection heterogeneity commonly made in previous studies and explore the consequences of more complex spatial and temporal patterns of variability in selection on the evolution of migration. We found that small modifications in the pattern of environmental heterogeneity may have dramatic effects on the evolution of migration. This work highlights the importance of considering more general scenarios of environmental heterogeneity when studying the evolution of life history traits in ecologically complex settings.
Data from: The genetics of adaptation to discrete heterogeneous environments: frequent mutation or large-effect alleles can allow range expansion
Range expansions are complex evolutionary and ecological processes. From an evolutionary standpoint, a populations' adaptive capacity can determine the success or failure of expansion. Using individual-based simulations, we model range expansion over a two-dimensional, approximately continuous landscape. We investigate the ability of populations to adapt across patchy environmental gradients and examine how the effect sizes of mutations influence the ability to adapt to novel environments during range expansion. We find that genetic architecture and landscape patchiness both have the ability to change the outcome of adaptation and expansion over the landscape. Adaptation to new environments succeeds via many mutations of small effect or few of large effect, but not via the intermediate between these cases. Higher genetic variance contributes to increased ability to adapt, but an alternative route of successful adaptation can proceed from low genetic variance scenarios with alleles of sufficiently large effect. Steeper environmental gradients can prevent adaptation and range expansion on both linear and patchy landscapes. When the landscape is partitioned into local patches with sharp changes in phenotypic optimum, the local magnitude of change between subsequent patches in the environment determines the success of adaptation to new patches during expansion.
Data from: Strain differences in the collective behaviour of zebrafish (Danio rerio) in heterogeneous environment
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Data from: Bayesian inference of selection in a heterogeneous environment from genetic time-series data
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Data from: Roles of pathogens on replacement of tree seedlings in heterogeneous light environments in a temperate forest: a reciprocal seed sowing experiment
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Data from: Experimental demonstration of the impact of hard and soft selection regimes on polymorphism maintenance in spatially heterogeneous environments
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Data from: Spatially structured intraspecific trait variation can foster biodiversity in disturbed, heterogeneous environments
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Data from: Larval foraging decisions in competitive heterogeneous environments accommodate diets that support egg-to-adult development in a polyphagous fly
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Data from: Invasive alien plants benefit more from clonal integration in heterogeneous environments than natives
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Data from: Adaptation of Drosophila to a novel laboratory environment reveals temporally heterogeneous trajectories of selected alleles
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Allen Brain Atlas
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