Find research datasets worth reusing
Search datasets from major research repositories and use ShareScore to quickly assess how well each record supports discovery, access, and reuse.
1,868
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.9.0
Dataset results
1,868 results for “Spatial Data”
Data from: Partitioning the effects of regional, spatial and local variables on beta diversity of salt marsh arthropods in Chile
Aim: We examined the influence of regional, spatial and local variables (edaphic characteristics and vegetation structure) on patterns of arthropod variation along the Chilean coast by partitioning beta diversity into its turnover and nestedness components. Location: 2000 km along the coast of Chile Methods: We collected ground-dwelling arthropod samples from 9 marshes during two seasons. A clustering method was used to examine patterns of arthropod similarity across salt marshes. We also calculated multiple site beta diversity and partitioned it into its turnover and nestedness components. Variation partitioning was then used to identify the major drivers of their variation (regional, spatial and local variables). We compared results for the whole arthropod community and for the most abundant, speciose and functionally different groups, Crustacea, Coleoptera and Araneae. Results: Salt marsh arthropod similarities did not depend on the geographic proximity of sites. Arthropod beta diversity was mainly determined by its turnover component. A significant fraction of community variation was structured according to regional (i.e. climate differences) or local (i.e. soil salinity) differences among marshes depending on the studied group. However, the exclusive contribution of spatial variables had also a role. Main conclusions: Each salt marsh on the Chilean coast has the capacity to accommodate unique invertebrate taxa. Niche sorting along the climatic gradient together with dispersal-based processes seem the key structuring force of the arthropods and Crustacean variation in the marshes we studied, while niche sorting alone might be more important for Coleoptera variation.
Data from: Seasonality in spatial distribution: climate and land use have contrasting effects on the species richness of breeding and wintering birds
Aim: Many studies have examined large-scale distributions of various taxa and their drivers, emphasizing the importance of climate, topography, and land-use. Most studies have dealt with distributions over a single season or annually without considering seasonality. However, animal distributions and their drivers can differ among seasons because many animals migrate to suitable climates and areas with abundant prey resources. We aim to clarify seasonality in bird distributions and their drivers. Location: Japan. Methods: We examined the effects of climate (annual mean temperature, snow depth), topography (elevation), and land use (extent of surrounding habitat) on bird species richness, in the breeding and wintering seasons separately, using nationwide data (254 forest and 43 grassland sites, respectively). We separately analyzed the species richness of all species, residents, short-, and long-distance migrants in forests and grasslands. Results: In the breeding season, the annual mean temperature negatively affected all groups (except for forest and grassland residents), and the extent of surrounding habitat positively affected many groups. By contrast, in the wintering season, temperature positively affected all groups (except for forest residents), and the extent of surrounding habitat positively affected only grassland long-distance migrants. In both seasons, the species richness of forest and grassland residents was high in regions of moderate and high temperature, respectively. Moreover, snow depth negatively affected all forest groups in the wintering season. Mapping expected species richness suggested that regions with different climates served as habitats for different groups during different seasons. Main conclusions: All regions were important bird habitats depending on the season, reflecting the contrasting effects of temperature across seasons. In the breeding season, surrounding land-use was also an important driver. To understand the seasonal role that each region and environment plays in maintaining species/communities, a large-scale study considering both environmental seasonality and species distribution is needed.
Data from: Genetic structure, spatial organization, and dispersal in two populations of bat-eared foxes
We incorporated radio-telemetry data with genetic analysis of bat-eared foxes (Otocyon megalotis) from individuals in 32 different groups to examine relatedness and spatial organization in two populations in South Africa that differed in density, home-range sizes, and group sizes. Kin clustering occurred only for female dyads in the high-density population. Relatedness was negatively correlated with distance only for female dyads in the high-density population, and for male and mixed-sex dyads in the low-density population. Home-range overlap of neighboring female dyads was significantly greater in the high compared to low-density population, whereas overlap within other dyads was similar between populations. Amount of home-range overlap between neighbors was positively correlated with genetic relatedness for all dyad-site combinations, except for female and male dyads in the low-density population. Foxes from all age and sex classes dispersed, although females (mostly adults) dispersed farther than males. Yearlings dispersed later in the high-density population, and overall exhibited a male-biased dispersal pattern. Our results indicated that genetic structure within populations of bat-eared foxes was sex-biased, and was interrelated to density and group sizes, as well as sex-biases in philopatry and dispersal distances. We conclude that a combination of male-biased dispersal rates, adult dispersals, and sex-biased dispersal distances likely helped to facilitate inbreeding avoidance in this evolutionarily unique species of Canidae.
Data from: Functional responses in animal movement explain spatial heterogeneity in animal-habitat relationships
1. Understanding why heterogeneity exists in animal-habitat spatial relationships is critical for identifying the drivers of animal distributions. Functional responses in habitat selection – whereby animals adjust their habitat selection depending on habitat availability – are useful for describing animal-habitat spatial heterogeneity. However, they could be yielded by different movement tactics, involving contrasting inter-specific interactions. 2. Identifying functional responses in animal movement, rather than in emergent spatial patterns like habitat selection, could disentangle the effects of different movement behaviours on spatial heterogeneity in animal-habitat relationships. This would clarify how functional responses in habitat selection emerge and provide a general tool for understanding the mechanistic drivers of animal distributions. 3. We tested this approach using data from GPS-collared woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus), a prey species under top-down control. We tested how caribou selected and moved with respect to a key resource (lichen-conifer stands) as a function of the availability of surrounding refuge land-cover (closed-conifer stands), using step selection functions. 4. Caribou selected resource patches more strongly in areas richer in refuge land-cover – a functional response in habitat selection. However, adjustments in multiple movement behaviours could have generated this pattern: stronger directed movement towards resources patches and/or longer residency within resource patches, in areas richer in refuges. Different contributions of these behaviours would produce contrasting forager spatial dynamics. 5. We identified functional responses in both movement behaviours: caribou were more likely to move towards resource patches in areas richer in refuge land-cover, and to remain in these patches during movement steps. This tactic enables caribou to spend longer foraging in safer areas where they could rapidly seek refuge in dense cover when predators are detected. 6. Our study shows that functional responses in movement can expose the context-dependent movement decisions that generate heterogeneity in animal-habitat spatial relationships. We used these functional responses to characterise anti-predator movement tactics employed by a large herbivore, but they could be applied in many different scenarios. The movement rules from functional responses in movement are well-suited to integration in spatial explicit individual-based models for forecasting animal distributions in landscapes undergoing environmental change.
Data from: Spatial and temporal escape from fungal parasitism in natural communities of anciently asexual bdelloid rotifers
Sexual reproduction is costly, but it is nearly ubiquitous among plants and animals, whereas obligately asexual taxa are rare and almost always short-lived. The Red Queen hypothesis proposes that sex overcomes its costs by enabling organisms to keep pace with coevolving parasites and pathogens. If so, the few cases of stable long-term asexuality ought to be found in groups whose coevolutionary interactions with parasites are unusually weak. In theory, antagonistic coevolution will be attenuated if hosts disperse among patches within a metapopulation separately from parasites and more rapidly. We examined whether these conditions are met in natural communities of bdelloid rotifers, one of the longest-lived asexual lineages. At any life stage, these microscopic invertebrates can tolerate the complete desiccation of their ephemeral freshwater habitats, surviving as dormant propagules that are readily carried by the wind. In our field experiments, desiccation and wind transport enabled bdelloids to disperse independently of multiple fungal parasites, in both time and space. Surveys of bdelloid communities in unmanipulated moss patches confirmed that fungal parasitism was negatively correlated with extended drought and increasing height (exposure to wind). Bdelloid ecology therefore matches a key condition of models in which asexuals persist through spatio-temporal decoupling from coevolving enemies.
Data from: Integrating genetic analysis of mixed populations with a spatially-explicit population dynamics model
Inferring the dynamics of populations in time and space is a central challenge in ecology. Intra-specific structure (for example genetically distinct sub-populations or meta-populations) may require methods that can jointly infer the dynamics of multiple populations. This is of particular importance for harvested species, for which management must balance utilization of productive populations with protection of weak ones. Here we present a novel method for simultaneous learning about the spatio-temporal dynamics of multiple populations that combines genetic data with prior information about abundance and movement in an integrated population modelling approach. We apply the Bayesian genetic mixed stock analysis to 17 wild and 10 hatchery-reared Baltic salmon (S. salar) stocks, quantifying uncertainty in stock composition in time and space, and in population dynamics parameters such as migration timing and speed. Our results indicate that the commonly used "equal prior probabilities" assumption may not be appropriate for all mixed stock analyses. Incorporation of prior information about stock abundance and movement resulted in more precise and plausible estimates of mixture compositions in time and space. Inclusion of a population dynamics model also allowed robust interpolation of expected catch composition at areas and times with no genetic observations. The genetic data were informative about stock-specific movement patterns, updating priors for migration path, timing and speed. The model we present here forms the basis for optimizing the spatial and temporal allocation of harvest to support the management of mixed populations of migratory species.
Data from: Spatial genetic and morphologic structure of wolves and coyotes in relation to environmental heterogeneity in a Canis hybrid zone
Eastern wolves have hybridized extensively with coyotes and gray wolves and are listed as a 'species of special concern' in Canada. However, a distinct population of eastern wolves has been identified in Algonquin Provincial Park (APP) in Ontario. Previous Canis studies have not linked genetic analysis with field data to investigate genotype-specific morphology or determine how resident animals of different ancestry are distributed across the landscape in relation to heterogeneous environmental conditions. Accordingly, we studied resident wolves and coyotes in and adjacent to APP to identify distinct Canis types, clarify the occurrence of eastern wolves adjacent to APP, and investigate spatial genetic structure and landscape-genotype associations in the hybrid zone. We documented 3 genetically distinct Canis types that also differed morphologically, corresponding to putative gray wolves, eastern wolves, and coyotes. We also documented a substantial number of hybrid individuals (36%). Breeding eastern wolves were less common outside of APP, but occurred in some unprotected areas. We identified a steep cline extending west from APP where the dominant genotype shifted abruptly from eastern wolves to coyotes and hybrids. The genotypic pattern to the south and northwest was a more complex mosaic of alternating genotypes. We modeled genetic ancestry in response to prey availability and human disturbance and found positive and negative associations between wolf ancestry and 1) moose density and 2) road densities, respectively. Our results clarify the structure of the Canis hybrid zone adjacent to APP and provide unique insight into environmental conditions influencing hybridization dynamics between wolves and coyotes.
Data from: Demographic history influences spatial patterns of genetic diversity in recently expanded coyote (Canis latrans) populations
Human-mediated range expansions have increased in recent decades and represent unique opportunities to evaluate genetic outcomes of establishing peripheral populations across broad expansion fronts. Over the past century, coyotes (Canis latrans) have undergone a pervasive range expansion and now inhabit every state in the continental United States. Coyote expansion into eastern North America was facilitated by anthropogenic landscape changes and followed two broad expansion fronts. The northern expansion extended through the Great Lakes region and southern Canada, where hybridization with remnant wolf populations was common. The southern and more recent expansion front occurred approximately 40 years later and across territory where gray wolves have been historically absent and remnant red wolves were extirpated in the 1970s. We conducted a genetic survey at 10 microsatellite loci of 482 coyotes originating from 11 eastern U.S. states to address how divergent demographic histories influence geographic patterns of genetic diversity. We found that population structure corresponded to a north-south divide, which is consistent with the two known expansion routes. Additionally, we observed extremely high genetic diversity, which is atypical of recently expanded populations and is likely the result of multiple complex demographic processes, in addition to hybridization with other Canis species. Finally, we considered the transition of allele frequencies across geographic space and suggest the mid-Atlantic states of North Carolina and Virginia as an emerging contact zone between these two distinct coyote expansion fronts.
Data from: Postglacial range expansion shaped the spatial genetic structure in a marine habitat-forming species: implications for conservation plans in the Eastern Adriatic Sea
Aim: Understanding how historical and contemporary processes shaped and maintain spatial patterns of genetic diversity is a major goal for conservation biologists. Here, we characterized the pattern of neutral genetic diversity and we inferred underlying processes in the habitat-forming octocoral Paramuricea clavata in the Adriatic Sea, a peculiar phylogeographic region of the Mediterranean Sea. Location: Eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. Methods: We genotyped seven microsatellites in 454 individuals of P. clavata from 13 populations recolonized after the last glacial maximum (LGM). We estimated the levels of contemporary connectivity and genetic drift and we reconstructed the demographic history of these populations. Results: The pattern of spatial genetic structure resulted from the combination of hierarchical genetic clusters and isolation by distance (IBD). A significant decrease in genetic diversity and an increase of the frequencies of individual alleles likely due to allele surfing from the south to the north of the area were observed as expected after a postglacial sequential recolonization. Based on maximum likelihood analyses, the foundation of these populations was not linked to dramatic change in population size. Main conclusion: Oceanographic barriers to gene flow combined to the restricted dispersal of P. clavata likely maintain the hierarchical structure and the IBD pattern. We suggest that the latitudinal genetic gradient results from a northward 'serial founder events' recolonization. By integrating patterns and processes, we bridge the gap between the evolutionary and the conservation biology of P. clavata, providing management guidelines, which will benefit the associated coralligenous biodiversity.
Data from: Using satellite AIS to improve our understanding of shipping and fill gaps in ocean observation data to support marine spatial planning
1. A key stage underpinning marine spatial planning (MSP) involves mapping the spatial distribution of ecological processes and biological features, as well the social and economic interests of different user groups. One sector, merchant shipping (vessels that transport cargo or passengers), however, is often poorly represented in MSP due to a perceived lack of fine-scale spatially explicit data to support decision making processes. 2. Here, using the Republic of Congo as an example, we show how publicly accessible satellite derived Automatic Identification System (S-AIS) data can address gaps in ocean observation data for shipping at a national scale. We also demonstrate how fine-scale (0.05 km2 resolution) spatial data layers derived from S-AIS (intensity, occupancy) can be used to generate maps of vessel pressure to provide an indication of patterns of impact on the marine environment and potential for conflict with other ocean-user groups. 3. We reveal that passenger vessels, offshore service vessels, bulk carrier and cargo vessels and tankers account for 93.7% of all vessels and vessel traffic annually, and that these sectors operate in a combined area equivalent to 92% of Congo's exclusive economic zone(EEZ) – far exceeding the areas allocated for other user-groups (conservation, fisheries and petrochemicals). We also show that the shallow coastal waters and habitats of the continental shelf are subject to more persistent pressure associated with shipping; and that the potential for conflict among user groups is likely to be greater with fisheries, whose zones are subject to the highest vessel pressure scores than with conservation or petrochemical sectors. 4. Synthesis and applications. Shipping dominates ocean use, and so excluding this sector from decision making could lead to increased conflict among user groups, poor compliance and negative environmental impacts. This study demonstrates how Satellite derived Automatic Identification System data can provide a comprehensive mechanism to fill gaps in ocean observation data and visualise patterns of vessel behaviour and potential threats to better support marine spatial planning at national scales.13-Feb-2018
Data from: Does cooperation mean kinship between spatially discrete ant nests?
Eusociality is one of the most complex forms of social organization, characterized by cooperative and reproductive units termed colonies. Altruistic behavior of workers within colonies is explained by inclusive fitness, with indirect fitness benefits accrued by helping kin. Members of a social insect colony are expected to be more closely related to one another than they are to other conspecifics. In many social insects, the colony can extend to multiple socially connected but spatially separate nests (polydomy). Social connections, such as trails between nests, promote cooperation and resource exchange, and we predict that workers from socially connected nests will have higher internest relatedness than those from socially unconnected, and noncooperating, nests. We measure social connections, resource exchange, and internest genetic relatedness in the polydomous wood ant Formica lugubris to test whether (1) socially connected but spatially separate nests cooperate, and (2) high internest relatedness is the underlying driver of this cooperation. Our results show that socially connected nests exhibit movement of workers and resources, which suggests they do cooperate, whereas unconnected nests do not. However, we find no difference in internest genetic relatedness between socially connected and unconnected nest pairs, both show high kinship. Our results suggest that neighboring pairs of connected nests show a social and cooperative distinction, but no genetic distinction. We hypothesize that the loss of a social connection may initiate ecological divergence within colonies. Genetic divergence between neighboring nests may build up only later, as a consequence rather than a cause of colony separation.
Data from: Spatial patterns of the frog Oophaga pumilio in a plantation system are consistent with conspecific attraction
The conspecific attraction hypothesis predicts that individuals are attracted to conspecifics because conspecifics may be cues to quality habitat and/or colonists may benefit from living in aggregations. Poison frogs (Dendrobatidae) are aposematic, territorial, and visually oriented – three characteristics which make dendrobatids an appropriate model to test for conspecific attraction. In this study, we tested this hypothesis using an extensive mark-recapture dataset of the strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) from La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. Data were collected from replicate populations in a relatively homogenous Theobroma cacao plantation, which provided a unique opportunity to test how conspecifics influence spatial ecology of migrants in a controlled habitat with homogeneous structure. We predicted that (1) individuals entering a population would aggregate with resident adults, (2) migrants would share sites with residents at greater frequency than expected by chance, and (3) migrant home-ranges would have shorter nearest-neighbor distances (NND) to residents than expected by chance. The results were consistent with these three predictions: relative to random simulations, we observed significant aggregation, home-range overlap, and NND distribution functions in four, five, and six, respectively, of the six migrant-resident groups analyzed. Conspecific attraction may benefit migrant O. pumilio by providing cues to suitable home sites and/or increasing potential for social interactions with conspecifics; if true, these benefits should outweigh the negative effects of other factors associated with aggregation. The observed aggregation between migrant and resident O. pumilio is consistent with conspecific attraction in dendrobatid frogs, and our study provides rare support from a field setting that conspecific attraction may be a relevant mechanism for models of anuran spatial ecology.
Data from: Can facilitation influence the spatial genetics of the beneficiary plant population?
Plant facilitation is a positive interaction where a nurse or nurse plant community alters the local conditions, improving the life-time fitness of other beneficiary plants. In stressful environments, a common consequence is the formation of discrete vegetation patches under nurse plants, surrounded by open space. The consequences of such spatial patterns have been studied mostly at the community level. At the population level, facilitation causes a distribution of beneficiary individuals that could have intra-specific genetic consequences. The spatial patchiness and the increase in local aggregation can potentially affect the population fine-scale genetic structure. In addition, marked microenvironmental differences under nurses versus outside could lead to plastic phenotypic variation between facilitated and non-facilitated individuals, as for example reproductive asynchrony, potentially producing assortative mating. This study tests the hypothesis that plant facilitation can have genetic consequences for the population of a beneficiary plant (Euphorbia nicaeensis) by affecting its spatial genetic structure and mating patterns between subpopulations of facilitated and non-facilitated individuals. Facilitation in this system creates an aggregated distribution of beneficiary individuals compared to a minority of non-facilitated individuals that grow on the open ground. Facilitation also leads to slight phenological differences mediated by strong microenvironmental differences created by nurses compared to the open ground. Yet a molecular analysis showed that, although there is fine scale spatial genetic structure in this system, there is no evidence that it is caused by facilitation. Numerical simulations further showed that spatial genetic patterns in the population are little influenced by the phenological mismatch observed in the field. Synthesis. Facilitation leads to the strong spatial aggregation of beneficiary plants and desynchronizes their flowering phenology, but the magnitude of these effects is not enough to have local genetic consequences in our study system. Facilitation seems thus to have a homogenizing role by allowing the persistence of a diverse gene pool in populations in harsh environments, rather than fomenting genetic differentiation. Further information on other systems where facilitation produces stronger spatial or phenological effects on facilitated plants is needed to fill the large knowledge gap we have on the genetic effects of facilitation.
Data from: Grains of connectivity: analysis at multiple spatial scales in landscape genetics
Landscape genetic analyses are typically conducted at one spatial scale. Considering multiple scales may be essential for identifying landscape features influencing gene flow. We examined landscape connectivity for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) at multiple spatial scales using a new approach based on landscape graphs that creates a Voronoi tessellation of the landscape. To illustrate the potential of the method, we generated five resistance surfaces to explain how landscape pattern may influence gene flow across the range of this population. We tested each resistance surface using a raster at the spatial grain of available landscape data (200 m grid squares). We then used our method to produce up to 127 additional grains for each resistance surface. We applied a causal modelling framework with partial Mantel tests, where evidence of landscape resistance is tested against an alternative hypothesis of isolation-by-distance, and found statistically significant support for landscape resistance to gene flow in 89 of the 507 spatial grains examined. We found evidence that major roads as well as the cumulative effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbance may be contributing to the genetic structure. Using only the original grid surface yielded no evidence for landscape resistance to gene flow. Our results show that using multiple spatial grains can reveal landscape influences on genetic structure that may be overlooked with a single grain, and suggest that coarsening the grain of landcover data may be appropriate for highly-mobile species. We discuss how grains of connectivity and related analyses have potential landscape genetic applications in a broad range of systems.
Data from: Land abandonment and intensification diminish spatial and temporal β-diversity of grassland plants and herbivorous insects within paddy terraces
1. Although traditional land-use and management practices are known to enhance environmental heterogeneity in agricultural lands, loss of heterogeneity resulting from recent land-use changes can lead to spatiotemporal β-diversity losses (biotic homogenization). However, patterns and causes of β-diversity loss, especially at a within-field scale, have remained unexplored. 2. We examined β-diversity declines in plants, butterflies and orthopterans resulting from land abandonment and intensification in semi-natural grasslands on paddy margins at a within-field scale in relation to changes in disturbance frequency and surrounding landscapes by surveying eight abandoned, thirteen traditional and ten intensive paddy terraces. Three indices, the additive partitioning of species richness (βadd) and the turnover (βtu) and nestedness (βne) components of Jaccard dissimilarity of plants and herbivores, were used to evaluate different aspects of β-diversity. We hypothesized that biotic homogenization due to abandonment and intensification would be expressed as low spatiotemporal βadd and βtu, low spatial βne and high temporal βne. 3. The spatial and temporal βadd of plants and herbivores were higher in traditional terraces than in others. Changes in mowing frequency caused direct declines in butterfly βadd and indirectly decreased herbivore βadd through diminished plant βadd in abandoned and intensified terraces. 4. Neighbouring forests increased plant spatial and butterfly temporal βadd and βtu. Abandoned terraces had higher orthopteran spatial and plant temporal βtu than traditional terraces. Mowing frequency generally did not influence spatial and temporal βtu of plants and herbivores. In intensive terraces, temporal βne of plants were higher than in traditional terraces, suggesting dominance by plant species sharing similar phenologies. 4. Synthesis and applications. These results suggest that traditional mowing practices are essential for maintaining plant and herbivore βadd, and consequently, species pools within terraces. The higher spatial or temporal species turnover of plants and orthopterans in abandoned terraces and higher temporal plant nestedness in intensive than in traditional terraces were not due to increases in species pools within terraces. Because within-terrace environmental heterogeneity is thought to remain in abandoned and intensive terraces, we recommend reduction in mowing frequency in intensive terraces and reintroduction of mowing in abandoned terraces for biodiversity restoration.
Data from: Varying the spatial arrangement of synthetic herbivore-induced plant volatiles and companion plants to improve conservation biological control
1.Conservation biological control aims to control pests by promoting wild populations of natural enemies. One challenge is to attract and retain efficient natural enemies in crop fields, which often are a suboptimal environment. Towards this goal, the attract-and-reward strategy relies on combining attractive synthetically produced herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) with companion plants (non-crop plants which provide alternative resources to the targeted natural enemies). Although severely overlooked, the spatial arrangement of HIPV dispensers and rewards inside crop fields may strongly influence the foraging behaviour and persistence of natural enemies and thus the success of this pest management strategy. 2.We tested the impact of two contrasting spatial arrangements of HIPV dispensers and rewards, alternatively inside and around a block of target apple trees, on the efficacy of the biological control of Aphis citricola populations by the common predatory ladybird Propylea japonica in apple orchards in northern China. We used synthetic methyl salicylate (MeSA) as an attractant and the companion plant Calendula officinalis as a reward. To better understand how the spatial arrangement of MeSA dispensers and companion plants affected the attraction and foraging behaviour of adult ladybirds, we conducted indoor experiments in a flight mill, an olfactometer and a wind-tunnel. 3.Blocks of target trees treated with MeSA dispensers inside and companion plants around provided the most efficient pest control in orchards, compared with the opposite spatial arrangement. 4.The synthetic MeSA dispenser and the companion plant synergistically attracted ladybirds in the olfactometer and enhanced their flight activity in the flight mill. In the wind-tunnel, MeSA served as a spatial cue for ladybirds to find nearby prey, while companion plants were sought in the absence of prey. 5.Synthesis and applications. The present study will help further improvements of aphid control in apple orchards through a careful spatial arrangement of herbivore-induced plant volatiles dispensers (HIPVs) and rewards (companion plants) in optimized attract-and-reward strategies. Without such assessment, these strategies may be hazardous even with well-identified targeted natural enemies. Associated lab experiments highlight that HIPVs and companion plants interactively influence ladybird foraging pattern, and that their spatial arrangement can modulate the ability of such key predators to find their prey.
Data from: Spatial-temporal dynamics of Neotropical velvet ant (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) communities along a forest-savanna gradient
Understanding how and why biological communities are organized over space and time is a major challenge and can aid biodiversity conservation in times of global changes. Herein, spatial-temporal variation in the structure of velvet ant communities was examined along a forest-savanna gradient in the Brazilian Cerrado to assess the roles of environmental filters and interspecific interactions upon community assembly. Velvet ants were sampled using 25 arrays of Y-shaped pitfall traps with drift fences for one year along an environmental gradient from cerrado sensu stricto (open canopy, warmer, drier) to cerradão (closed canopy, cooler, moister). Dataloggers installed on each trap recorded microclimate parameters throughout the study period. The effects of spatial distances, microclimate parameters and shared ancestry on species abundances and turnover were assessed with canonical correspondence analysis, generalized dissimilarity modelling and variance components analysis. Velvet ant diversity and abundance were higher in the cerrado sensu stricto and early in the wet season. There was pronounced compositional turnover along the environmental gradient, and temporal variation in richness and abundance was stronger than spatial variation. The dry season blooming of woody plant species fosters host abundance and, subsequently, velvet ant captures. Species were taxonomically clustered along the gradient with Sphaeropthalmina (especially Traumatomutilla spp.) and Pseudomethocina more associated, respectively, with cerrado sensu stricto and cerradão. This suggests a predominant role of environmental filters on community assemble, with physiological tolerances and host preferences being shared among members of the same lineages. Induced environmental changes in Cerrado can impact communities of wasps and their hosts with unpredictable consequences upon ecosystem functioning and services.
Data from: Fragmentation can increase spatial genetic structure without decreasing pollen-mediated gene flow in a wind-pollinated tree
Fragmentation reduces population sizes, increases isolation between habitats, and can result in restricted dispersal of pollen and seeds. Given that diploid seed dispersal contributes more to shaping fine-scale spatial genetic structure than haploid pollen flow, we tested whether fine-scale SGS can be sensitive to fragmentation even if extensive pollen dispersal is maintained. Castanopsis sclerophylla (Lindley & Paxton) Schottky (Fagaceae), a wind-pollinated and gravity seed-dispersed tree, was studied in an area of Southeast China where its populations have been fragmented to varying extents by human activity. Using different age classes of trees in areas subject to varying extents of fragmentation, we found no significant difference in genetic diversity between pre- and post-fragmentation C. sclerophylla subpopulations. Genetic differentiation among post-fragmentation subpopulations was also only slightly lower than among post-fragmentation subpopulations. In the most fragmented habitat, selfing rates were significantly higher than zero in pre-fragmentation, but not post-fragmentation, cohorts. These results suggest that fragmentation had not decreased gene flow among these populations and that pollen flow remains extensive. However, significantly greater fine-scale SGS was found in post-fragmentation subpopulations in the most fragmented habitat, but not in less fragmented habitats. This alteration in SGS reflected more restricted seed dispersal, induced by changes in the physical environments and the prevention of secondary seed dispersal by rodents. An increase in SGS can therefore result from more restricted seed dispersal, even in the face of extensive pollen flow, making it a sensitive indicator of the negative consequences of population fragmentation.
Data from: From animal tracks to fine-scale movement modes: a straightforward approach for identifying multiple, spatial movement patterns
1. Thanks to developments in animal tracking technology, detailed data on the movement tracks of individual animals are now attainable for many species. However, straightforward methods to decompose individual tracks into high-resolution, spatial modes are lacking but are essential to understand what an animal is doing. 2. We developed an analytical approach that combines separately-validated methods into a straightforward tool for converting animal GPS tracks to short-range movement modes. Our three-step analytical process comprises: (1) decomposing data into separate movement segments using behavioural change point analysis; (2) defining candidate movement modes and translating them into non-linear or linear equations between net squared displacement (NSD) and time; and (3) fitting each candidate equation to NSD segments and determining the best-fitting modes using Concordance Criteria, Akaike's Information Criteria and other fine-scale segment characteristics. We illustrate our approach for three sub-adults, male wild boar Sus scrofa tracked at 15 min intervals over 4 months using GPS collars. We defined five candidate movement modes based on previously published studies of short-term movements: encamped, ranging, round trips (complete and partial), and wandering. 3. Our approach successfully classified over 80% of the tracks into these movement modes lasting between 5 and 54 hours and covering between 300 m to 20 km. Repeated analyses of GPS data resampled at different rates indicated that one positional fix every 3-4 h was sufficient for >70% classification success. Classified modes were consistent with published observations of wild boar movement, further validating our method. 4. The proposed approach advances the status quo by permitting classification into multiple movement modes (where these are adequately discernable from spatial fixes) facilitating analyses at high temporal and spatial resolutions, and is straightforward, largely objective, and without restrictive assumptions, necessary parameterizations or visual interpretation. Thus, it should capture the complexity and variability of tracked animal movement mode for a variety of taxa across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales.
Data from: Signatures of human impact: size distributions and spatial organization of wetlands in the prairie pothole landscape
More than 50% of global wetland area has been lost over the last 200 years, resulting in losses of habitat and species diversity as well as decreased hydrologic and biogeochemical functionality. Recognition of the magnitude of wetland loss as well as the wide variety of ecosystem services provided by wetlands has in recent decades led to an increased focus on wetland restoration. Restoration activities, however, often proceed in an ad-hoc manner, with a focus on maximizing the total restored area rather than on other spatial attributes of the wetland network, which are less well understood. In this study, we have addressed the question of how human activities have altered the size distribution and spatial organization of wetlands over the Prairie Pothole Region of the Des Moines Lobe using high-resolution LIDAR data. Our results show that as well as the generally accepted 90% loss of depressional wetland area, there has been a disproportionate loss of both smaller and larger wetlands, with a marked alteration of the historical power-law relationship observed between wetland size and frequency and a resulting homogenization of the wetland size distribution. In addition, our results show significant decreases in perimeter-to-area ratios, increased mean distances between wetlands, particularly between smaller wetlands, and a reduced likelihood that current wetlands will be located in upland areas. Such patterns of loss can lead to disproportionate losses of ecosystem services, as smaller wetlands with larger perimeter-to-area ratios have been found to provide higher rates of biogeochemical processing and groundwater recharge, while increased mean distances between wetlands hinder species migration and thus negatively impact biodiversity. These results suggest the need to gear restoration efforts towards understanding and recreating the size distribution and spatial organization of historical wetlands, rather than focusing primarily on an increase in overall area.
ScienceDex guides
Understand access before you commit
These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.