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opencc-zeroOct 2022View details →

Site fidelity and behavioral plasticity regulate an ungulate's response to extreme disturbance

1. With rapid global change, the frequency and severity of extreme disturbance events are increasing worldwide. The ability of animal populations to survive these stochastic events depends on how individual animals respond to their altered environments, yet our understanding of the immediate and short-term responses of animals to acute disturbances remains poor. 2. We focused on animal responses to the environmental disturbance created by megafire. Specifically, we explored the effects of the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire in northern California, USA on the behaviour and body condition of black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus). We predicted that deer would be displaced by the disturbance or experience high mortality post-fire if they stayed in the burn area. 3. We used data from GPS collars on 18 individual deer to quantify patterns of home range use, movement, and habitat selection before and after the fire. We assessed changes in body condition using images from a camera trap grid. The fire burned through half of the study area, facilitating a comparison between deer in burned and unburned areas. 4. Despite a dramatic reduction in vegetation in burned areas, deer showed high site fidelity to pre-fire home ranges, returning within hours of the fire. However, mean home range size doubled after the fire and corresponded with increased daily activity in a severely resource-depleted environment. Within their home ranges, deer also selected strongly for patches of surviving vegetation and woodland habitat, as these areas provided forage and cover in an otherwise desolate landscape. Deer body condition significantly decreased after the fire, likely as a result of a reduction in forage within their home ranges, but all collared deer survived for the duration of the study. 5. Understanding the ways in which large mammals respond to disturbance like wildfire is increasingly important as the extent and severity of such events increases across the world. While many animals are adapted to disturbance regimes, species that exhibit high site fidelity or otherwise fixed behavioural strategies may struggle to cope with increased climate instability and associated extreme disturbance events.

Morphological integration, canalization, and plasticity in response to emergence time in Abutilon theophrasti

The relationships between trait plasticity and canalization, and between phenotypic integration and plasticity, have been under debate, largely because direct evidence is still scarce for their associations, especially in response to environments. To investigate the relationships between canalization, integration and phenotypic plasticity in response to emergence time, we conducted a field experiment with an annual herbaceous species of Abutilon theophrasti, by subjecting plants to four treatments of emergence time (spring, late spring, summer and late summer), to measure a number of morphological traits and analyze correlations of plasticity with canalization and integration in these traits, at two stages of plant growth. Results showed plants with delayed emergence had higher phenotypic integration and more positive correlations between integration and plasticity, but less negative correlations between decreased canalization and plasticity, compared to those emerged in spring. Results suggested significant environmental changes that induce plastic responses, rather than environmental stress, can result in greater phenotypic integration in plants. Negative correlations between decreased canalization and plasticity occurred more frequently in plants emerging in spring and the least frequently in those emerging in summer, suggesting their relationship depends on specific environmental conditions and the degree of plasticity. Both increased phenotypic integration and decreased canalization might merely be the outcome of plastic responses, rather than mechanisms constraining or facilitating plasticity.

Data and code from: Opposite, but insufficient, phenological responses to climate in two circumpolar seabirds: relative roles of phenotypic plasticity and selection

The magnitude of climate change has been greatest in the Arctic, accelerating climate-induced shifts in phenology, but wildlife responses vary. Variation may be due to the relative importance of phenotypic plasticity or phenotypic selection. Here, we examine and contrast the environmental drivers of plasticity in breeding phenology of two circumpolar seabirds at their receding summer range limit using unique datasets of marked individuals covering 25 and 30 years. Based on prior knowledge of the local ecosystems, we predicted that climate would generate opposing patterns of plasticity in the two populations. Laying phenology of kittiwakes in the Gulf of Alaska was associated with a large-scale climate oscillation (Pacific Decadal Oscillation) while the Arctic-breeding murres adjusted laying to sea-ice conditions. Kittiwakes laid earlier after experiencing colder climate about two years prior and laying dates did not advance over the study, but murres laid earlier when warmer climate led to earlier spring sea-ice break-up, and murre laying dates advanced by one week since 1990. Selection favoured earlier laying in both species. Both populations adjusted breeding phenology to environmental variation, but we anticipate opposing effects on phenology with continued climate change. Ice-constrained species can likely adapt to some extent because plasticity can provide the necessary shift to this physical barrier, although individuals were only able to adjust by ~one week while ice conditions advanced by over a month. In more temperate regions, where phenology is driven by bottom-up effects, plasticity and selection counteract one another leading to limited adaptability. We provide insights into the likely adjustments by Arctic marine animals to an increasingly warmer and ice-less summer.

Data for: Individual differences in song plasticity in response to social stimuli and singing position

Individual animals can react to the changes in their environment by exhibiting behaviours in an individual-specific way leading to individual differences in phenotypic plasticity. However, the effect of multiple environmental factors on multiple traits is rarely tested. Such a complex approach is necessary to assess the generality of plasticity and to understand how among-individual differences in the ability to adapt to changing environments evolve. This study examined whether individuals adjust different song traits to varying environmental conditions in the collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis), a passerine with complex song. We also aimed to reveal among-individual differences in behavioural responses by testing whether individual differences in plasticity were repeatable. The presence of general plasticity across traits and/or contexts was also tested. To assess plasticity, we documented 1) short-scale temporal changes in song traits in different social contexts (after exposition to male stimulus, female stimulus or without stimuli), and 2) changes concerning the height from where the bird sang (singing position), used as a proxy of predation risk and acoustic transmission conditions. We found population-level relationships between singing position and both song length and complexity, as well as social context-dependent temporal changes in song length and maximum frequency. We found among-individual differences in plasticity of song length and maximum frequency along both the temporal and positional gradients. These among-individual differences in plasticity were repeatable. Some of the plastic responses correlated across different song traits and environmental gradients. Overall, our results show that the plasticity of bird song 1) depends on the social context, 2) exists along different environmental gradients and 3) there is evidence for trade-offs between the responses of different traits to different environmental variables. Our results highlight the need to consider individual differences and to investigate multiple traits along multiple environmental axes when studying behavioural plasticity.

Morphological plasticity in response to emergence time and population density in Abutilon theophrasti (Malvaceae)

Increased density and delayed emergence are two major biotic factors in nature that have profound and complex effects on plants. No studies have attempt to compare the responses of plants to the two factors via morphological plasticity, particularly in dynamic patterns. We subjected plants of Abutilon theophrasti to four emergence times and three planting densities and measured and analyzed a number of mass and morphological traits at different growth stages. Across both stages, plants emerged in late spring had the highest total mass, and spring and late-spring plants had higher stem mass allocation than later germinants, but plants with delayed emergence had higher leaf and reproductive mass allocation, more leaves and less lateral roots, but lower stem length, stem and root diameter than early-emerged plants. Plants at high density performed lower in total mass and most other traits, but performed better in stem allocation and length, with shorter petioles and lateral roots, than at lower densities. In competition for resources, plants will prefer stem elongation to leaf/root growth, and even at the cost of reproduction to ensure the survival of the present generations when competition is intense or lethal. By contrast, plants will prefer the investment into leaf and reproductive growth to stem/root growth, for offspring persistence, when shortened lifetime does not threaten the contemporary survival. The contrasting strategies revealed the intelligence of plants in balancing between survival, growth and reproduction, depending on environmental contexts.

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

Raw data for: Plastic responses of males and females interact to determine mating behaviour

Individuals can respond plastically to variation in their social environment. However, each sex may respond to different cues and contrasting aspects of competition. Theory suggests that the plastic phenotype expressed by one sex can influence evolutionary dynamics in the other, and that plasticity simultaneously expressed by both sexes can exert sex-specific effects on fitness. However, data are needed to test this theory base. Here, we examined whether the simultaneous expression of adaptive plasticity by both sexes of Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies in response to their respective social environments interacts to determine the value of key reproductive traits (mating latency, duration and fecundity). To vary social environments, males were kept alone, or with same sex rivals, and females were kept alone, in same-sex, or mixed-sex groups. Matings were then conducted between individuals from all of these 5 social treatments in all combinations, and the resulting reproductive traits measured in both 'choice' and 'no choice' assays. Mating latency was determined by an interaction between the plastic responses of both sexes to their social environments. Interestingly, the mating latency response occurred in opposing directions in the different assays. In females exposed to same-sex social treatments, mating latency was more rapid with rival treatment males in the choice assays, but slower with those same males in no choice assays. In contrast, mating duration was determined purely by responses of males to their social environments, and fecundity purely by responses of females. Collectively, the results show that plastic responses represent an important and novel facet of sexual interactions.

opencc-zeroJun 2022View details →

Plasticity across levels: relating epigenomic, transcriptomic, and phenotypic responses to osmotic stress in a halotolerant microalga

Phenotypic plasticity, the ability of a given genotype to produce alternative phenotypes in response to its environment of development, is an important mechanism for coping with variable environments. While the mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity are diverse, their relative contributions need to be investigated quantitatively to better understand the evolvability of plasticity across biological levels. This requires relating plastic responses of the epigenome, transcriptome, and organismal phenotype, and investigating how they vary with the genotype. Here we carried out this approach for responses to osmotic stress in Dunaliella salina, a green microalga that is a model organism for salinity tolerance. We compared two strains that show markedly different demographic responses to osmotic stress, and showed that these phenotypic responses involve strain- and environment-specific variation in gene expression levels, but a relative low - albeit significant - effect of strain × environment interaction. We also found an important genotype effect on the genome-wide methylation pattern, but little contribution from environmental conditions to the latter. However, we did detect a significant marginal effect of epigenetic variation on gene expression, beyond the influence of genetic differences on epigenetic state, and we showed that hypomethylated regions are correlated with higher gene expression. Our results indicate that epigenetic mechanisms are either not involved in the rapid plastic response to environmental change in this species, or involve only few changes in trans that are sufficient to trigger concerted changes in the expression of many genes, and phenotypic responses by multiple traits.

openother-openJul 2022View details →

Cutaneous Evaporative Water Loss in Lizards is Variable across Body Regions and Plastic in Response to Humidity

Data and code associated with the 2022 publication in Herpetologica (doi:10.1655/Herpetologica-D-21-00030.1).

opencc-zeroAug 2022View details →

Gene expression underlying parenting and being parented shows limited plasticity in response to different ambient temperatures

Flexible interactions between parents and offspring are essential for buffering families against variable, unpredictable, and challenging environmental conditions. In the subsocial carrion beetle, Nicrophorus orbicollis, mid-summer temperatures impose steep fitness costs on parents and offspring but do not elicit behavioral plasticity in parents. Here, we ask if plasticity of gene expression underpins this behavioral stability or facilitates independent compensation by larvae. To test this, we characterized gene expression of parents and offspring before and during active parenting under benign (20°C) and stressful (24°C) temperatures to identify genes of parents and offspring associated with thermal response, parenting/being parented, and gene expression plasticity associated with behavioral stability of parental care. The main effects of thermal and social condition each shaped patterns of gene expression in females, males, and larvae. In addition, we implicated 79 genes in females as 'buffering' parental behavior across environments. The majority of these underwent significant changes in expression in actively parenting mothers at the benign temperature, but not at the stressful temperature. Our results suggest that neither genetic programs for parenting nor their effects on offspring gene expression are fundamentally different under stressful conditions, and that behavioral stability is associated primarily with the maintenance of existing genetic programs rather than replacement or supplementation. Thus, while selection for compensatory gene expression could expand the range of thermal conditions parents will tolerate, without expanding the toolkit of genes involved selection is unlikely to lead to adaptive changes of function.

openother-openAug 2022View details →

Data and code from: Great tits differ in glucocorticoid plasticity in response to spring temperature

No description provided. This repository contains R-codes used for a project on glucocorticoid plasticity using data from a free-living great tit population. Specifically, the repository contains R-codes used in the following study: Hau M, Deimel C, Moiron M (2022) Great tits differ in glucocorticoid plasticity in response to spring temperature.BioRxiv (doi: 10.1101/2022.04.21.489013) Link to paper: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.04.21.489013v1">https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.04.21.489013v1</a> For any further information, please get in touch with at least one (preferably both) of the following researchers: Dr. Maria Moiron, email: <a href="mailto:mariamoironc@gmail.com">mariamoironc@gmail.com</a> Prof. Dr. Michaela Hau, email: <a href="mailto:mhau@orn.mpg.de">mhau@orn.mpg.de</a> Code: All R code is available in the main folder and scripts are numbered in order of use from 001 to 004. Scripts titles should be self-explanatory, but each script contains a "Description of script and Instructions" section with further information.

opencc-by-4.0May 2024View details →

Data associated with manuscript: "Foliar flavonoids across an elevation gradient: plasticity in response to UV, and links with floral pigmentation patterning"

There are two datasets provided in this excel file. The data are flavonoid abundances of Argentina anserina [=Potentilla anserina] exposed to two levels of ultraviolet light in a greenhouse. The "leaf only data" tab has the combined foliar abundances of the major classes of flavonoids detected: chalcone, flavonone, flavone, flavonol, flavon-3-ol, and proanthocyanidin. This dataset was used to analyze the effect of UV treatment and elevation on flavonoid production in leaves. The "leaf and petal matching cmpnds" is the abundance of the major flavonoid classes in leaves and petals for only the compounds that were detected in both tissue types. This dataset was used for all analyses that related leaf flavonoids with petal flavonoids and petal UV pigmentation.

opencc-zeroJun 2024View details →

Data from: Phenotypically plastic responses to environmental variation are more complex than life history theory predicts

For insects that exhibit wing polyphenic development, abiotic and biotic signals dictate the adult wing morphology of the insect in an adaptive manner such that in stressful environments the formation of a flight-capable morph is favored and in low stress environments a flightless morph is favored. While there is a relatively large amount known about the environmental cues that dictate morph formation in wing polyphenic hemipterans like planthoppers and aphids, whether those cues dictate the same morphs in non-hemipteran (i.e. cricket) wing polyphenic species has not been explicitly investigated. To experimentally test the generality of environmental cue determination of wing polyphenism across taxa with diverse life histories, in this study we tested the importance of food quantity, parasitic infection, and tactile cues on wing morph determination in the wing polyphenic sand field cricket, Gryllus firmus. Our results also show that certain stress cues, such as severe diet quantity limitation and parasitic infection, actually led to an increase in the production of flightless morph. Based on these findings, our results suggest that physiological and genetic constraints are important to an organism's ability to respond to environmental variation in an adaptive manner beyond simple life history trade-offs.

opencc-zeroJun 2024View details →

Data from: Helper plasticity in response to breeder turnover in gray wolves

Nonbreeding helpers can greatly improve the survival of young and reproductive fitness of breeders in many cooperatively breeding species. Breeder turnover, in turn, can have profound effects on dispersal decisions made by helpers. Despite its importance in explaining group size and predicting population demography of cooperative breeders, our current understanding of how individual traits influence animal behavior after disruptions to social structure is incomplete particularly for terrestrial mammals. We used 12 years of genetic sampling and group pedigrees of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Idaho, USA, to ask questions about how breeder turnover affected the apparent decisions by mature helpers (>2-year-old) to stay or leave a group over a one-year time interval. We found that helpers showed plasticity in their responses to breeder turnover. Most notably, helpers varied by sex and appeared to base dispersal decisions on the sex of the breeder that was lost as well. Male and female helpers stayed in a group slightly more often when there was breeder turnover of the same sex, although males that stayed were often recent adoptees in the group. Males, however, appeared to remain in a group less often when there was breeding female turnover likely because such vacancies were typically filled by related females from the males' natal group (i.e., inbreeding avoidance). We show that helpers exploit instability in the breeding pair to secure future breeding opportunities for themselves. The confluence of breeder turnover, helper sex, and dispersal and breeding strategies merge to influence group composition in gray wolves.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2024View details →

Supporting data and code for: Individual plasticity in response to rising sea temperatures contributes to an advancement in green turtle nesting phenology.

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opencc-by-4.0Nov 2019View details →

Data and R code used in Baudson et al (2019) Developmental plasticity of Brachypodium distachyon in response to P deficiency: modulation by inoculation with phosphate-solubilizing bacteria

This repository contains the raw data and R code used for the following paper: Baudson et al (2019) Developmental plasticity of Brachypodium distachyon in response to P deficiency: modulation by inoculation with phosphate-solubilizing bacteria

opencc-zeroFeb 2020View details →

The mark of captivity: plastic responses in the ankle bone of a wild ungulate (Sus scrofa)

Deciphering the plastic (non-heritable) changes induced by human control over wild animals in the archaeological record is challenging. We hypothesized that changes in locomotor behaviour in a wild ungulate due to mobility control could be quantified in the bone anatomy. To test this, we experimented the effect of mobility reduction on the skeleton of wild boar (Sus scrofa), using the calcaneus shape as a possible phenotypic marker. We first assessed differences in shape variation and covariation in captive reared and wild caught wild boars, taking into account differences in sex, body mass, available space for movement, and muscle force. This plastic signal was then con-trasted with the phenotypic changes induced by selective breeding in domestic pigs. We found that mobility reduction induces a plastic response beyond the shape variation of wild boars in their natural habitat, associated with a reduction in the range of locomotor behaviors and muscle loads. This plastic signal of captivity in the calcaneus shape differ from the main changes induced by selective breeding for larger muscle and earlier development that impacted the pigs' calcaneus shape in a much greater extent than the mobility reduction during the domestication process of their wild ancestors.

opencc-zeroAug 2021View details →

Plasticity of the gastrocnemius elastic system in response to decreased work and power demand during growth

Elastic energy storage and release can enhance performance that would otherwise be limited by the force-velocity constraints of muscle. While functional influence of a biological spring depends on tuning between components of an elastic system (the muscle, spring, driven mass, and lever system), we do not know whether elastic systems systematically adapt to functional demand. To test whether altering work and power generation during maturation alters the morphology of an elastic system, we prevented growing guinea fowl (Numida Meleagris) from jumping. At maturity, we compared the jump performance of our treatment group to that of controls and measured the morphology of the gastrocnemius elastic system. We found that restricted birds jumped with lower jump power and work, yet there were no significant between-group differences in the components of the elastic system. Further, subject-specific models revealed no difference in energy storage capacity between groups, though energy storage was most sensitive to variations in muscle properties (most significantly operating length and least dependent on tendon stiffness). We conclude that the gastrocnemius elastic system in the guinea fowl displays little to no plastic response to decreased demand during growth and hypothesize that neural plasticity may explain performance variation.

publicJul 2020View details →

Data from: Does local adaptation along a latitudinal cline shape plastic responses to combined thermal and nutritional stress?

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publicMar 2024View details →

Data from: Foraging-induced craniofacial plasticity is associated with an early, robust, and dynamic transcriptional response

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