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126 results for “Ecological selection”
Data from: Biotic-drivers of seedling establishment in Neotropical savannas: selective granivory and seedling herbivory by leaf-cutter ants as an ecological filter
Herbivory has been shown to have prominent top-down effects on vegetation in Paleotropical savannas, where consumers of early stages of life history act as demographic bottlenecks. Such impact has been largely ignored in Neotropical savannas, however, despite insect consumption being linked to reduced recruitment of woody species. We hypothesize that Atta leaf-cutter ants – the prevalent herbivores in the Neotropics – alter the establishment of woody plant seedlings in the Brazilian Cerrado by reducing seed availability and seedling survival. We also hypothesize that the demographic effects will be species-specific. To test these hypotheses, we experimentally (i) compared seed removal in areas with and without Atta foraging and (ii) compared the survivorship of seedlings exposed to or protected from Atta foraging. Both experiments were performed with the same common Cerrado species which allowed us to evaluate the potential net effects of consumers at the population and community levels. Overall seed removal rates in sites with Atta foraging were greater than those where ants were absent (59.2% and 39.2% of seeds removed, respectively). There were differences in removal for 10 of the 12 tested species, with per species removal 1.1- to 3.8-fold greater in areas with Atta foraging. On transplanted plants, 45% of seedlings exposed to Atta were attacked, resulting in a survival 7.6% lower than that of protected seedlings. Seedling survival was 11.8–31.5% lower in five species, with the largest differences in survival between treatments during the dry season. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that consumers can lead to demographic bottlenecks in Neotropical savanna plant species, with effects varying among life-history stages and between species. Synthesis. Granivory by ants has been linked to reduced seedling recruitment of woody species in the Brazilian Cerrado. Our results show that leaf-cutter ants may largely limit early seedling establishment of woody species by reducing seed availability and seedling survival with differential species-specific effects. Atta ants may therefore be acting as an ecological filter, which coupled with potential selectivity in foraging on reproductive life-history stages, may ultimately influence the relative abundance of different species and hence the structure and composition of Cerrado vegetation.
Data from: Ecological segregation in a small mammal hybrid zone: habitat-specific mating opportunities and selection against hybrids restrict gene flow on a fine spatial scale
The degree to which closely related species interbreed is determined by a complex interaction of ecological, behavioral, and genetic factors. We examine the degree of interbreeding between two woodrat species, Neotoma bryanti and N. lepida, at a sharp ecological transition. We identify the ecological association of each genotypic class, assess the opportunity for mating between these groups, and test whether they have similar patterns of year-to-year persistence on our study site. We find that 13% of individuals have a hybrid signature but that the two parental populations and backcrosses are highly segregated by habitat type and use. Also, we find that adult hybrids are comparable to parental types in terms of year-to-year persistence on our site but that, among juveniles, significantly fewer hybrids reach adulthood on site compared to their purebred counterparts. Our analyses show that this hybrid zone is maintained by occasional nonassortative mating coupled with hybrid fertility, but that these factors are balanced by lower apparent survival of juvenile hybrids and habitat-based preference or selection that limits heterospecific mating while promoting backcrossing to habitat-specific genotypes. This system presents a novel example of the role that sharp resource gradients play in reproductive isolation and the potential for genetic introgression.
Data from: The interplay between local ecology, divergent selection and genetic drift in population divergence of a sexually antagonistic female trait
Genetically polymorphic species offer the possibility to study maintenance of genetic variation and the potential role for genetic drift in population divergence. Indirect inference of the selection regimes operating on polymorphic traits can be achieved by comparing population divergence in neutral genetic markers with population divergence in trait frequencies. Such an approach could further be combined with ecological data to better understand agents of selection. Here, we infer the selective regimes acting on a polymorphic mating trait in an insect group; the dorsal structures (either rough or smooth) of female diving beetles. Our recent work suggests that the rough structures have a sexually antagonistic function in reducing male mating attempts. For two species (Dytiscus lapponicus and Graphoderus zonatus), we could not reject genetic drift as an explanation for population divergence in morph frequencies, while for the third (Hygrotus impressopunctatus) we found that divergent selection pulls morph frequencies apart across populations. Furthermore, population morph frequencies in H. impressopunctatus were significantly related to local bioclimatic factors, providing an additional line of evidence for local adaptation in this species. These data therefore suggest that local ecological factors and sexual conflict interact over larger spatial scales to shape population divergence in the polymorphism.
Data from: Experimental evidence for ecological selection on genome variation in the wild
Understanding natural selection's effect on genetic variation is a major goal in biology, but the genome-scale consequences of contemporary selection are not well known. In a release and recapture field experiment we transplanted stick insects to native and novel host plants and directly measured allele frequency changes within a generation at 186 576 genetic loci. We observed substantial, genome-wide allele frequency changes during the experiment, most of which could be attributed to random mortality (genetic drift). However, we also documented that selection affected multiple genetic loci distributed across the genome, particularly in transplants to the novel host. Host-associated selection affecting the genome acted on both a known colour-pattern trait as well as other (unmeasured) phenotypes. We also found evidence that selection associated with elevation affected genome variation, although our experiment was not designed to test this. Our results illustrate how genomic data can identify previously underappreciated ecological sources and phenotypic targets of selection.
Data from: Ecology and sexual selection: evolution of wing pigmentation in calopterygid damselflies in relation to latitude, sexual dimorphism and speciation
Our knowledge about how the environment influences sexual selection regimes and how ecology and sexual selection interact is still limited. We performed an integrative study of wing pigmentation in calopterygid damselflies, combining phylogenetic comparative analyses, field observations and experiments. We investigated the evolutionary consequences of wing pigmentation for sexual dimorphism, speciation and extinction and addressed the possible thermoregulatory benefits of pigmentation. First, we reconstructed ancestral states of male and female phenotypes and traced the evolutionary change of wing pigmentation. Clear wings are the ancestral state and that pigmentation dimorphism is derived, suggesting that sexual selection results in sexual dimorphism. We further demonstrate that pigmentation elevates speciation and extinction rates. We also document a significant biogeographic association with pigmented species primarily occupying northern temperate regions with cooler climates. Field observations and experiments on two temperate sympatric species suggest a link between pigmentation, thermoregulation and sexual selection, although body temperature is also affected by other phenotypic traits such as body mass, microhabitat selection and thermoregulatory behaviors. Taken together, our results suggest an important role for wing pigmentation in sexual selection in males and in speciation. Wing pigmentation might not increase ecological adaptation and species longevity, and its primary function is in sexual signalling and species recognition.
Evolution of social organization: phylogenetic analyses of ecology and sexual selection in weavers
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Crook published a landmark study on the social organization of weavers (or weaverbirds, family Ploceidae) that contributed to the emergence of sociobiology, behavioral ecology, and phylogenetic comparative methods. By comparing ecology, spatial distribution, and mating systems, Crook suggested that the spatial distribution of food resources and breeding habitats influence weaver aggregation, both during the breeding season (colonial vs solitary breeding) and non-breeding season (flocking vs solitary foraging), and the food resources distribution and breeding aggregation of individuals in turn impact mating systems and sexual selection. Although Crook's study stimulated much follow-up research, his conclusions have not been scrutinized using phylogenetically controlled analyses. We revisited Crook's hypotheses using modern phylogenetic comparative methods and an extended dataset of 107 weaver species. We showed that both diet and habitat type are associated with spatial distribution and the latter predicts mating system, consistent with Crook's propositions. The best supported phylogenetic path model (PPA) also supported Crook's arguments, and uncovered a direct relationship between non-breeding distribution and mating system. Taken together, our phylogenetically corrected analyses confirm Crook's conjectures on the roles of ecology in social organizations of weavers; however, our analyses also uncovered an association between non-breeding distributions and mating systems, which was not envisaged by Crook.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
The roles of recombination and selection in shaping genomic divergence in an incipient ecological species complex
<p>Speciation genomic studies have revealed that genomes of diverging lineages are shaped jointly by the actions of gene flow and selection. These evolutionary forces acting in concert with processes such as recombination and genome features such as gene density shape a mosaic landscape of divergence. We investigated the roles of recombination and gene density in shaping the patterns of differentiation and divergence between the cyclically parthenogenetic ecological sister-taxa, <i>Daphnia pulicaria </i>and <i>Daphnia pulex. </i>First, we assembled a phased chromosome-scale genome assembly using trio-binning for <i>D. pulicaria</i> and constructed a genetic map using an F2-intercross panel to understand sex-specific recombination rate heterogeneity.<i> </i>Finally, we used a ddRADseq dataset with broad geographic sampling of <i>D. pulicaria, D. pulex, </i>and their hybrids to understand the patterns of genome-scale divergence and demographic parameters. Our study provides the first sex-specific estimates of recombination rates for a cyclical parthenogen, and unlike other eukaryotic species, we observed male-biased heterochiasmy in <i>D. pulicaria</i>, which may be related to this somewhat unique breeding mode. Additionally, regions of high gene density and recombination are generally more divergent than regions of suppressed recombination. Outlier analysis indicated that divergent genomic regions are likely driven by selection on <i>D. pulicaria</i>, the derived lineage colonizing a novel lake habitat. Together, our study supports a scenario of selection acting on genes related to local adaptation shaping genome-wide patterns of differentiation despite high local recombination rates in this species complex. Finally, we discuss the limitations of our data in light of demographic uncertainty.</p>
Fig. 1 in Reproductive ecology and nest-site selection of Siamese fireback in lowland forest
Fig. 1. Location of Sakaerat Environmental Research Station, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand including 21 nests and 60 control
Nonideal nest box selection by tree swallows breeding in farmlands: evidence for an ecological trap?
<p>Animals are expected to select a breeding habitat using cues that should reflect, directly or not, the fitness outcome of the different habitat options. However, human-induced environmental changes can alter the relationships between habitat characteristics and their fitness consequences, leading to maladaptive habitat choices. The most severe case of such nonideal habitat selection is the ecological trap, which occurs when individuals prefer to settle in poor-quality habitats while better ones are available. Here we studied the adaptiveness of nest box selection in a tree swallow (<i>Tachycineta bicolor</i>) population breeding over a 10-year period in a network of 400 nest boxes distributed along a gradient of agricultural intensification in southern Québec, Canada. We first examined the effects of multiple environmental and social habitat characteristics on nest box preference to identify potential settlement cues. We then assessed the links between those cues and habitat quality as defined by the reproductive performance of individuals that settled early or late in nest boxes. We found that tree swallows preferred nesting in open habitats with high cover of perennial forage crops, high spring insect biomass, and high density of house sparrows (<i>Passer domesticus</i>), their main competitors for nest sites. They also preferred nesting where the density of breeders and their mean number of fledglings during the previous year were high. However, we detected mismatches between preference and habitat quality for several environmental variables. The density of competitors and conspecific social information showed severe mismatches, as their relationships to preference and breeding success went in opposite direction under certain circumstances. Spring food availability and agricultural landscape context, while related to preferences, were not related to breeding success. Overall, our study emphasizes the complexity of habitat selection behavior and provides evidence that multiple mechanisms may potentially lead to an ecological trap in farmlands. </p>
Supplemental data of the comment on "Sexual selection promotes giraffoid head-neck evolution and ecological adaptation"
<p>This dataset is the supplemental data of the comment paper on "Sexual selection promotes giraffoid head-neck evolution and ecological adaptation" (Hou et al., 2023, Science 379, eadd9559). 333 codings are rescored and the statements of 10 characters are modified, with notes and explanations in the Microsoft Excel file. </p>
Fig. 3 in Ecological fitting: Chemical profiles of plant hosts provide insights on selection cues and preferences for a major buprestid pest
Fig. 3. Average time spent (s ± 1SE) of gravid emerald ash borer females (Agrilus planipennis) in arms of Y-tube olfactometer with foliage emissions of olive (OL, Olea europaea), white fringetree (WF, Chionanthus virginica), green ash (GA, Fraxinus pennsylvanica), Manchurian ash (MA, F. mandshurica) or blank air (BL). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
Fig. 1 in Ecological fitting: Chemical profiles of plant hosts provide insights on selection cues and preferences for a major buprestid pest
Fig. 1. Mean emission rates of volatiles (ng/hour/g/foliage ± 1SE) of black ash (BA, Fraxinus nigra), blue ash (Blue, F. quadrangulata), Manchurian ash (MA, F. mandshurica), olive (OL, Olea europaea), and white fringetree (WF, Chionanthus virginicus), five plant hosts of emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) collected in summer 2017. a) Overall plant profiles, b) antennally active compounds c) Green leaf volatile (GLV) profiles, d) sesquiterpene profiles, and e) Monoterpene profiles. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
Fig. 2 in Ecological fitting: Chemical profiles of plant hosts provide insights on selection cues and preferences for a major buprestid pest
Fig. 2. Ordination (nonmetric multidimensional scaling) plots of volatiles profiles of black ash (BA, Fraxinus nigra), blue ash (Blue, F. quadrangulata), Manchurian ash (MA, F. mandshurica), olive (OL, Olea europaea), and white fringetree (WF, Chionanthus virginicus), five plant hosts of emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis). a) Overall plant profiles, b) Green leaf volatile (GLV) profiles, c) monoterpene profiles, d) sesquiterpene profiles, and e) antennally active compounds. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
The Influence of a High Intensity Physical Activity Intervention on a Selection of Health Related Outcomes: An Ecological Approach
ClinicalTrials.gov study NCT01027156. IPD Sharing: Not stated. Countries: 1. Publications: 2.
Data from: The interplay between local ecology, divergent selection and genetic drift in population divergence of a sexually antagonistic female trait
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Data from: Biotic-drivers of seedling establishment in Neotropical savannas: selective granivory and seedling herbivory by leaf-cutter ants as an ecological filter
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Nonideal nest box selection by tree swallows breeding in farmlands: evidence for an ecological trap?
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Data from: Experimental evidence for ecological selection on genome variation in the wild
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Data from: Impacts of selective logging on inbreeding and gene flow in two Amazonian timber species with contrasting ecological and reproductive characteristics
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Data from: Tasting novel foods and selecting nutrient content in a highly successful ecological invader, the common myna
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