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5,828 results for “Traits”
Quality-quantity tradeoffs drive functional trait evolution in a model microalgal "climate change winner"
<p>Phytoplankton are the unicellular photosynthetic microbes that form the base of aquatic ecosystems, and their responses to global change will impact everything from food web dynamics to global nutrient cycles. Some taxa respond to environmental change by increasing population growth rates in the short-term, and are projected to increase in frequency over decades. To gain insight into how these projected "climate change winners" evolve, we grew populations of microalgae in ameliorated environments for several hundred generations. Most populations evolved to allocate a smaller proportion of carbon to growth while increasing their ability to tolerate and metabolise reactive oxygen species (ROS). This tradeoff drives the evolution of traits that underlie the ecological and biogeochemical roles of phytoplankton. This offers evolutionary and a metabolic frameworks for understanding trait evolution in projected "climate change winners", and suggests that short-term population booms have the potential to be dampened or reversed when environmental amelioration persists.</p>
Data from Stranger Things: Organismal traits of two octocorals associated with singular Symbiodiniaceae in a high-latitude coral community from northern Taiwan
<p>Scrutinizing the traits of octocorals that could affect their physiological performance becomes increasingly important as several of these species are observed to become dominant on reefs pressured by the Anthropocene. In the present study, we compare the organismal traits of two branching octocorals <em>Litophyton</em><em> </em>sp. and <em>Stereonephthya</em><em> </em>sp. commonly populating in sympatry the high-latitude coral communities of northern Taiwan. Using 13 traits, we describe and compare performance traits in these two symbiotic species that we discuss in light of the association they maintain with their algal partners. <em>Litophyton</em><em> </em>sp. and <em>Stereonephthya</em><em> </em>sp. hosted <em>Durusdinium</em><em> </em>and <em>Gerakladium</em>, respectively. Both genera represent singular associations, with the latter further establishing the first solid report of <em>Gerakladium</em><em> </em>in octocorals. Traits distinguished two groups explained by the two partnerships considered. <em>Litophyton</em><em> </em>sp. associated with <em>Durusdinium</em><em> </em>had significantly higher organic matter, chlorophyll (chl) <em>a</em>, total lipid and lower chl <em>c</em>/chl <em>a</em> ratio than <em>Stereonephthya</em><em> </em>sp. associated with <em>Gerakladium</em>. The δ<sup><sup>15</sup></sup>N in the host and algae, as well as δ<sup><sup>13</sup></sup>C in the host were also higher in <em>Litophyton</em><em> </em>species. Although no significant difference was observed in the δ<sup><sup>13</sup></sup>C of the algae, <em>Litophyton</em><em> </em>sp. presented a significantly higher variance for this trait and for chl <em>a</em> content than <em>Stereonephthya</em><em> </em>species. Altogether, the traits examined suggested contrasting performances among the two octocorals. Both octocoral species clearly deviate from an autotrophic diet. <em>Litophyton</em><em> </em>sp. appears to complement its heterotrophic diet with photosynthetically acquired energy, while <em>Stereonephthya</em><em> </em>sp. tends to be more specialized and benefits relatively little from its symbiotic relationship. Our study calls for greater consideration of the individual variation in octocoral physiology and in the definition of their ecological strategies.</p> <p> </p>
Data from: Contrasting patterns of leaf trait variation among and within species during tropical dry forest succession in Costa Rica
A coordinated response to environmental drivers amongst individual functional traits is central to the plant strategy concept. However, whether the trait co-ordination observed at the global scale occurs at other ecological scales (especially within species) remains an open question. Here, for sapling communities of two tropical dry forest types in Costa Rica, we show large differences amongst traits in the relative contribution of species turnover and intraspecific variation to their directional changes in response to environmental changes along a successional gradient. We studied the response of functional traits associated with the leaf economics spectrum and drought tolerance using intensive sampling to analyse inter- and intra-specific responses to environmental changes and ontogeny. Although the overall functional composition of the sapling communities changed during succession more through species turnover than through intraspecific trait variation, their relative contributions differed greatly amongst traits. For instance, community mean specific leaf area changed mostly due to intraspecific variation. Traits of the leaf economics spectrum showed decoupled responses to environmental drivers and ontogeny. These findings emphasise how divergent ecological mechanisms combine to cause great differences in changes of individual functional traits over environmental gradients and ecological scales.
Dataset for Ongole at al. - Functional traits predict tree-level phenological strategies in a mesic Indian savanna
<p>Leaf phenology influences terrestrial primary production by determining the period of carbon uptake. While dominant leaf habit (evergreen/deciduous) is predictable at large scales based on environmental factors, there is substantial variability in the timing of key events such as leaf flush and senescence at smaller site-level scales. How much of this variability is explained by species functional traits related to a plant's carbon economy? We monitored leaf phenology for 113 individual trees of eleven dominant species in an Indian mesic savanna. Specifically, we related leaf functional traits and wood density to the (i) timing of leaf flush, leaf maturity, peak canopy and senescence, (ii) duration of leaf deployment, (iii) duration from start of senescence to leaflessness, and (iv) time to attainment of peak mature canopy following leaf flush. We expected species that use resources conservatively (low specific leaf area (SLA), high leaf dry matter content, low leaf nitrogen and high wood density) to senesce later and retain their leaves longer. For all species, leaflessness was most pronounced in early dry season and leaf flushing occurred in the late dry season. Species with high leaf carbon and dry matter content showed earlier leaf maturation, attained peak mature canopies sooner and deployed leaves longer. Species with high SLA, leaf nitrogen and low wood density showed earlier senescence but relationships were weak. In this savanna, phenology at fine scales was indeed associated with species functional traits relating to carbon investment, but these relationships were strong only when intra-specific variation in phenology was low.</p>
Diversity of response and effect traits provides complementary information about avian community dynamics linked to ecological function
<p>Functional diversity metrics based on species traits are widely used to investigate ecosystem functioning. In theory, such metrics have different implications depending on whether they are calculated from traits mediating responses to environmental change (response traits) or those regulating function (effect traits), yet trait choice in diversity metrics is rarely scrutinized. Here, we compile effect and response traits for British bird species supplying two key ecological services – seed dispersal and insect predation – to assess the relationship between functional diversity and both mean and stability of community abundance over time. As predicted, functional diversity correlates with stability in community abundance of seed dispersers when calculated using response traits. However, we found a negative relationship between functional diversity and mean community abundance of seed dispersers when calculated using effect traits. Subsequently, when combining all traits together, we found inconsistent results with functional diversity correlating with reduced stability in insectivores, but greater stability in seed dispersers. Our findings suggest that trait choice should be considered more carefully when applying such metrics in ecosystem management.</p>
Life history traits and abundance of Northeast Atlantic fish
<p>Life history characteristics such as asymptotic length <i>L</i><sub><i>∞</i></sub>, growth rate<i> K</i>, the length at which 50% of the individuals have reached maturity <i>L</i><sub><i>mat</i></sub>, and natural mortality <i>M</i> are therefore often used to indicate the sensitivity of different species to fishing. When species-specific information is missing, an estimate of the maximum length<i> L<sub>max</sub></i> of a species can be used to infer asymptotic length, growth rate, natural mortality, and proportion mature at length. Here, we provide a data base containing life history parameters of 271 species along with the references of these values and gear efficiency estimates for all species. Further, we provide average annual catch indices within inhabitated areas for each species. </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>
Data from: Vocal traits and diet explain avian sensitivities to anthropogenic noise
Global population growth has caused extensive human-induced environmental change, including a near-ubiquitous transformation of the acoustical environment due to the propagation of anthropogenic noise. Because the acoustical environment is a critical ecological dimension for countless species to obtain, interpret and respond to environmental cues, highly novel environmental acoustics have the potential to negatively impact organisms that use acoustics for a variety of functions, such as communication and predator/prey detection. Using a comparative approach with 308 populations of 183 bird species from 14 locations in Europe, North American and the Caribbean, I sought to reveal the intrinsic and extrinsic factors responsible for avian sensitivities to anthropogenic noise as measured by their habitat use in noisy versus adjacent quiet locations. Birds across all locations tended to avoid noisy areas, but trait-specific differences emerged. Vocal frequency, diet and foraging location predicted patterns of habitat use in response to anthropogenic noise, but body size, nest placement and type, other vocal features and the type of anthropogenic noise (chronic industrial vs. intermittent urban/traffic noise) failed to explain variation in habitat use. Strongly supported models also indicated the relationship between sensitivity to noise and predictive traits had little to no phylogenetic structure. In general, traits associated with hearing were strong predictors – species with low-frequency vocalizations, which experience greater spectral overlap with low-frequency anthropogenic noise tend to avoid noisy areas, whereas species with higher frequency vocalizations respond less severely. Additionally, omnivorous species and those with animal-based diets were more sensitive to noise than birds with plant-based diets, likely because noise may interfere with the use of audition in multimodal prey detection. Collectively, these results suggest that anthropogenic noise is a powerful sensory pollutant that can filter avian communities nonrandomly by interfering with birds' abilities to receive, respond to and dispatch acoustic cues and signals.
Data from: PalmTraits 1.0, a species-level functional trait database for palms worldwide
Plant traits are critical to plant form and function —including growth, survival and reproduction— and therefore shape fundamental aspects of population and ecosystem dynamics as well as ecosystem services. Here, we present a global species-level compilation of key functional traits for palms (Arecaceae), a plant family with keystone importance in tropical and subtropical ecosystems. We derived measurements of essential functional traits for all (>2500) palm species from key sources such as monographs, books, other scientific publications, as well as herbarium collections. This includes traits related to growth form, stems, armature, leaves and fruits. Although many species are still lacking trait information, the standardized and global coverage of the data set will be important for supporting future studies in tropical ecology, rainforest evolution, paleoecology, biogeography, macroecology, macroevolution, global change biology and conservation. Potential uses are comparative eco-evolutionary studies, ecological research on community dynamics, plant-animal interactions and ecosystem functioning, studies on plant-based ecosystem services, as well as conservation science concerned with the loss and restoration of functional diversity in a changing world.
Genetic architecture of a key reproductive isolation trait differs between sympatric and non-sympatric sister species of Lake Victoria cichlids
One hallmark of the East African cichlid radiations is the rapid evolution of reproductive isolation that is robust to full sympatry of many closely related species. Theory predicts that species persistence and speciation in sympatry with gene flow are facilitated if loci of large effect or physical linkage (or pleiotropy) underlie traits involved in reproductive isolation. Here we investigate the genetic architecture of a key trait involved in behavioural isolation, male nuptial coloration, by crossing two sister species pairs of Lake Victoria cichlids of the genus <i>Pundamilia</i> and mapping nuptial coloration in the F2 hybrids. One is a young sympatric species pair, representative of an axis of colour motif differentiation, red-dorsum vs blue, that is highly recurrent in closely related sympatric species. The other is a species pair representative of colour motifs, red-chest vs blue, that are common in allopatric but uncommon in sympatric closely related species. We find significant QTLs with moderate to large effects (some overlapping) for red and yellow in the sympatric red-dorsum x blue cross, whereas we find no significant QTLs in the non-sympatric red-chest x blue cross. These findings are consistent with theory predicting that large effect loci or linkage/pleiotropy underlying mating trait differentiation could facilitate speciation and species persistence with gene flow in sympatry.
Data for 'Phenotypic plasticity and genetic variation in leaf traits of Yushania niitakayamensis (Bambusoideae; Poaceae) in contrasting light environments'
<p>This is the Data for the article entitled 'Phenotypic plasticity and genetic variation in leaf traits of Yushania niitakayamensis (Bambusoideae; Poaceae) in contrasting light environments' submitted to 'Journal of Plant Research'</p> <p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-021-01327-y">https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-021-01327-y</a></p> <p>Traits' names are listed below:</p> <p>Leaf length (LL), Leaf width (LW), Specific leaf area (SLA), Stomatal density (SD), Leaf thickness (LT), Relative frequency of cavities formed by the collapsed fusoid cells (CFC), Leaf chlorophyll content per unit area ([Chl]area), Ratio of chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b (Chl a/b), Leaf nitrogen content per unit area ([N]area), Leaf stable carbon isotope ratio (δ13C), Photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), Actual quantum yield of PSII electron transport (ΦPSII), Electron transport rate (ETR), Light-saturated photosynthetic rate (Asat), Stomatal conductance (gs), Dark respiration rate (Rd), Apparent quantum yield (AQY), The ratio of intercellular to ambient CO2 concentration (Ci/Ca), Photosynthetic water use efficiency (WUE)</p>
Similar but different: Revealing the relative roles of species‐traits versus biome properties structuring genetic variation in South American marsh rats
<p>Aim: Wetland habitats, and the ecological restrictions imposed by them, structure patterns of genetic variation in constituent taxa. As such, genetic variation may reflect properties of the specific biomes species inhabit, or shared life history traits among species may result in similar genetic structure. We evaluated these hypotheses jointly by quantifying the similarity of genetic structure in three South American marsh rat species (Holochilus), and test how genetic variation in each species relates to biome‐specific environmental space and historical stability.</p> <p>Location: South America.</p> <p>Taxon: Rodentia.</p> <p>Methods: Using complementary analyses (Mantel tests, dbRDA, Procrustes, covariance structure of allele frequencies and environmental niche models [ENMs]) with 8,000–32,000 SNPs per species, we quantified the association between genomic variation and geographic and/or environmental differences.</p> <p>Results: Significant association between genetic variation and geography was identified for all species. Similarity in the strength of the association suggests connectivity patterns dictated by shared species‐traits predominate at the biome scale. However, substantial amounts of genetic variation are not explained by geography. Focusing on this portion of the variance, we demonstrate a significant quantitative association between genetic variation and the environmental space of a biome, and a qualitative association with varying regional stability. Specifically, historically stable areas estimated from ecological niche models are correlated with local levels of geographic structuring, suggesting that local biome‐specific histories affect population isolation/ connectivity.</p>
Data from: Phenotypic selection on floral traits in an urban landscape
Native species are increasingly living in urban landscapes associated with abiotic and biotic changes that may influence patterns of phenotypic selection. However, measures of selection in urban and non-urban environments, and exploration of the mechanisms associated with such changes, are uncommon. Plant-animal interactions have played a central role in the evolution of flowering plants and are sensitive to changes in the urban landscape, and thus provide opportunities to explore how urban environments modify selection. We evaluated patterns of phenotypic selection on floral and resistance traits of Gelsemium sempervirens in urban and non-urban sites. The urban landscape had increased florivory and decreased pollen receipt, but showed only modest differences in patterns of selection. Directional selection for one trait, larger floral display size, was stronger in urban compared to non-urban sites. Neither quadratic nor correlational selection significantly differed between urban and non-urban sites. Pollination was associated with selection for larger floral display size in urban compared to non-urban sites, due to differences in the translation of pollination into seeds rather than pollinator selectivity. Thus, our data suggest that urban landscapes may not result in sweeping differences in phenotypic selection but rather modest differences for some traits, potentially mediated by species interactions.
Data from: Ecosystem nitrogen retention is regulated by plant community trait interactions with nutrient status in an alpine meadow
1.Biotic nitrogen (N) retention is an important ecosystem function in the context of ongoing land use intensification, N deposition and global warming. However, a paucity of experimental evidence limits understanding of how different plant community components influence N retention in terrestrial ecosystems. 2.In this investigation we conducted a 15N labelling experiment to test how plant community properties, including plant species richness/diversity, dominance and functional traits, influence plant N uptake and retention under different nutrient availabilities. A three-year experiment examined the effects of adding N (10 g N m−2 year−1) and phosphorus (P) (5 g P m−2 year−1) to an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. 3.Results show that 15N retention increased with the addition of N and P; the addition of P produced the largest increase of 15N retention in plant and soil N pools. Changes in soil nutrient conditions also facilitated different plant community controls on ecosystem N retention. Ecosystem 15N retention was influenced by species richness and root biomass in the control plots; whereas the N addition treatment showed an important effect of community-weighted means (CWM) of specific leaf area (SLA), and plots with additional P recorded lower CWM of root nitrogen content (root N) and larger CWM root:shoot ratios (R/S) as important determinants. 4.Synthesis. Ecosystem N retention was influenced by conservative and exploitative plant species and/or their traits under N deficient and abundant conditions, respectively, whereas species richness and community plant biomass were most influential under control conditions. The discovery of an interaction between plant community traits and nutrient biogeochemistry as a mechanism for ecosystem N retention offers a means to predict how vegetation in alpine meadow ecosystems will respond to expected global change.
Data from: Aphid symbionts and endogenous resistance traits mediate competition between rival parasitoids
Insects use endogenous mechanisms and infection with protective symbionts to thwart attacks from natural enemies. Defenses that target specific enemies, however, potentially mediate competition between rivals and thereby impact community composition. Following its introduction to North America to control pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum), the parasitoid Aphidius ervi competitively displaced other parasitoids, except for the native Praon pequodorum. The pea aphid exhibits tremendous clonal variation in resistance to A. ervi, primarily through infection with the heritable bacterial symbiont Hamiltonella defensa, although some symbiont-free aphid genotypes encode endogenous resistance. Interestingly, H. defensa strains and aphid genotypes that protect against A. ervi, provide no protection against the closely related, P. pequodorum. Given the specificity of aphid defenses, we hypothesized that aphid resistance traits may contribute to the continued persistence of P. pequodorum. We conducted multiparasitism assays to determine whether aphid resistance traits mediate internal competition between these two solitary parasitoid species, but found this was not the case; P. pequodorum was the successful internal competitor across lines varying in susceptibility to A. ervi. Next, to determine whether resistance traits influence competitive interactions resulting in the stable persistence of P. pequodorum, we established replicated cages varying in the proportion of resistant aphids and recorded successful parasitism for each wasp species over time. As expected, A. ervi outcompeted P. pequodorum in cages containing only susceptible aphids. However, P. pequodorum not only persisted, but was the superior competitor in populations containing any proportion (20–100%) of resistant aphids (20–100%). Smaller scale, better replicated competition cage studies corroborated this finding, and no-competition and behavioral assays provide insight into the processes mediating competition. Genetic variation, including that acquired via infection with protective symbionts, may provide a supply of hosts susceptible only to particular enemies, mediating competition with effects on community richness and stability.
Data from: Carotenoid pigmentation in salmon: Variation in expression at BCO2-l locus controls a key fitness trait affecting red colouration
Carotenoids are primarily responsible for the characteristic red flesh colouration of salmon. Flesh colouration is an economically and evolutionarily significant trait that varies inter- and intra-specifically, yet the underlying genetic mechanism is unknown. Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) represent an ideal system to study carotenoid variation as, unlike other salmonids, they exhibit extreme differences in carotenoid utilization due to genetic polymorphisms. Here, we crossed populations of Chinook salmon with fixed differences in flesh colouration (red vs. white) for a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify loci associated with pigmentation. Here, the beta-carotene oxygenase 2-like (BCO2-l) gene was significantly associated with flesh colour, with the most significant SNP explaining 66% of the variation in colour. BCO2 gene disruption is linked to carotenoid accumulation in other taxa, therefore we hypothesize that an ancestral mutation partially disrupting BCO2-l activity (i.e., hypomorphic mutation) allowed the deposition and accumulation of carotenoids within Salmonidae. Indeed, we found elevated transcript levels of BCO2-l in white Chinook salmon relative to red. The long-standing mystery of why salmon are red, while no other fishes are, is thus likely explained by a hypomorphic mutation in the proto-salmonid at the time of divergence of red-fleshed salmonid genera (~30 MYA).
Data from: Marine protected areas rescue a sexually selected trait in European lobster
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly implemented worldwide to maintain and restore depleted populations. However, despite our knowledge on the myriad of positive responses to protection, there are few empirical studies on the ability to conserve species' mating patterns and secondary sexual traits. In male European lobsters (Homarus gammarus), the size of claws relative to body size correlates positively with male mating success and is presumably under sexual selection. At the same time, an intensive trap fishery exerts selection against large claws in males. MPAs could therefore be expected to resolve these conflicting selective pressures and preserve males with large claws. We explored this hypothesis by contrasting claw size of males and females in three pairs of MPAs and nearby fished areas in Southern Norway. By finding that male lobsters have up to 8 % larger claws inside MPAs compared to similarly sized males in fished areas, our study provides evidence that MPAs rescue a secondary sexual trait. Recovery from harvest selection acting on claws is the most likely explanation, however, the higher abundance of lobster inside MPAs does not rule out a plastic response on claw size due to increased competition. Regardless of the underlying cause, our study demonstrates (1) the value of protected areas as a management tool for mitigating fishery-induced evolution, and (2) that MPAs help maintaining the scope for sexual selection in populations with vulnerable life-histories and complex mating system.
Data from: Divergent trait and environment relationships among parallel radiations in Pelargonium (Geraniaceae): a role for evolutionary legacy?
Functional traits in closely related lineages are expected to vary similarly along common environmental gradients due to shared evolutionary and biogeographic history, or legacy effects, and due to biophysical tradeoffs in construction. We test these predictions in Pelargonium, a relatively recent evolutionary radiation. Bayesian phylogenetic mixed effects models assessed, at the subclade level, associations between plant height, leaf area, leaf nitrogen content and leaf mass per area (LMA), and five environmental variables capturing temperature and rainfall gradients across the Greater Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. Trait-trait integration was assessed via pairwise-correlations within subclades. Of 20 trait-environment associations, 17 differed among subclades. Signs of regression coefficients diverged for height, leaf area and leaf nitrogen content, but not for LMA. Subclades also differed in trait-trait relationships and these differences were modulated by rainfall seasonality. Leave-one-out cross-validation revealed that whether trait variation was better predicted by environmental predictors or trait-trait integration depended on the clade and trait in question. Legacy signals in trait-environment and trait-trait relationships were apparently lost during the earliest diversification of Pelargonium, but then retained during subsequent subclade evolution. Overall, we demonstrate that global-scale patterns are poor predictors of patterns of trait variation at finer geographic and taxonomic scales.
Data from: Fast life history traits promote invasion success in amphibians and reptiles
Competing theoretical models make different predictions on which life history strategies facilitate growth of small populations. While 'fast' strategies allow for rapid increase in population size and limit vulnerability to stochastic events, 'slow' strategies and bet-hedging may reduce variance in vital rates in response to stochasticity. We test these predictions using biological invasions since founder alien populations start small, compiling the largest dataset yet of global herpetological introductions and life history traits. Using state-of-the-art phylogenetic comparative methods, we show that successful invaders have fast traits, such as large and frequent clutches, at both establishment and spread stages. These results, together with recent findings in mammals and plants, support 'fast advantage' models and the importance of high potential population growth rate. Conversely, successful alien birds are bet-hedgers. We propose that transient population dynamics and differences in longevity and behavioural flexibility can help reconcile apparently contrasting results across terrestrial vertebrate classes.
Data from: Deconstruction of a plant-arthropod community reveals influential plant traits with nonlinear effects on arthropod assemblages
1. Studies of herbivores and secondary consumer communities rarely incorporate a comprehensive characterization of primary producer trait variation, thus limiting our understanding of how plants mediate community assembly of consumers. 2. We took advantage of recent technological developments for efficient generation of phytochemical, microbial, and genomic data to characterize individual alfalfa plants (Medicago sativa; Fabaceae) growing in an old-field, semi-naturalized state for 770 traits (including 753 chemical features). Using random forest modeling, we investigated the effect of variation in these traits on arthropod and fungal assemblages while accounting for plant genetic structure. 3. We found that traits indicative of plant vigor, including size, percentage of flowering stems, and leaf area, were positively associated with arthropod richness and abundance. Most phytochemicals were, by comparison, poor predictors, although phytochemical diversity and several individual phenolic compounds were important. Plants with a higher proportion of flowering stems were hotspots of inter-trophic interactions with higher species richness of secondary consumers. The effects of many traits on plant-associated assemblages were best modeled as nonlinear functions, often incorporating threshold effects. Foliar fungal richness was not well predicted by our models, suggesting we have much to learn regarding the role of plant traits on phyllosphere fungi at small spatial scales. 4. Our results support the need for characterization of multiple axes of plant phenotypes in studies of plant-arthropod-microbe communities, and demonstrate the value of modern analytical techniques for understanding the nonlinear ways in which plant traits mediate the structure of associated biotic communities.
Data from: Phenotypic integration in an extended phenotype: among‐individual variation in nest‐building traits of the alfalfa leafcutting bee (Megachile rotundata)
Structures such as nests and burrows are an essential component of many organisms' life-cycle and requires a complex sequence of behaviors. Because behaviors can vary consistently among individuals and be correlated with one another, we hypothesized that these structures would 1) show evidence of among-individual variation, 2) be organized into distinct functional modules, and 3) show evidence of trade-offs among functional modules due to limits on energy budgets. We tested these hypotheses using the alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata, a solitary bee and important crop pollinator. M. rotundata constructs complex nests by gathering leaf materials to form a linear series of cells in pre-existing cavities. In this study, we examined variation in the following nest construction traits: reproduction (number of cells per nest and nest length), nest protection (cap length and number of leaves per cap), cell construction (cell size and number of leaves per cell), and cell provisioning (cell mass) from 60 nests. We found a general decline in investment in cell construction and provisioning with each new cell built. In addition, we found evidence for both repeatability and plasticity in cell provisioning with little evidence for trade-offs among traits. Instead, most traits were positively, albeit weakly, correlated (r ~ 0.15), and traits were loosely organized into covarying modules. Our results show that individual differences in nest construction are detectable at a level similar to that of other behavioral traits and that these traits are only weakly integrated. This suggests that nest components are capable of independent evolutionary trajectories.
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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.
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DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
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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.
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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.