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5,828 results for “Traits”
Data from: Functional traits, not productivity, predict openness to seedling recruitment in alpine plant communities under climatic warming
Understanding the degree to which plant communities are open to seedling recruitment is key to predicting how they will be impacted by climate change. We experimentally assessed whether communities assembled under colder climates were inherently more open to recruitment than warmer-climate communities, after controlling for differences in the current climate under which the communities were growing. We then tested whether variation in openness to recruitment could be explained by community biomass or by the plant functional traits of the community. The study was conducted in a climate grid of twelve grassland sites across southern Norway, differing systematically in temperature and precipitation. Along a 2000 mm precipitation gradient, we transplanted turfs with intact plant communities from alpine and sub-alpine sites into 2℃ warmer sites, and measured natural seedling emergence in these transplanted turfs vs. locally replanted control turfs at the transplant destination sites. Mixed effect models were used to assess the effect of origin (cold vs warm climate), biomass, and functional trait composition of the communities on seedling emergence. We further assessed variation in these effects across different climatic contexts (the temperature and precipitation gradients). Communities originating from colder climates were consistently more open to recruitment, with on average 44% more seedlings emerging, than the locally replanted control communities. The higher rates of seedling emergence in colder-climate communities were attributable to systematic differences in plant functional traits, but not in biomass. The colder-climate communities were composed of species with smaller leaves and lower maximum plant heights; traits that may make these communities less effective at excluding new recruits. These trait-related responses were not significant in the warmest sites and did not very across the precipitation gradient. Our results suggest that alpine species lack the competitive effect traits required to make their communities resistant to invasion by novel competitors under climate change.
Data from: The demographic effects of functional traits: an integral projection model approach reveals population-level consequences of reproduction-defense tradeoffs
Quantitatively linking individual variation in functional traits to demography is a necessary step to advance our understanding of trait-based ecological processes. We constructed a population model for Asclepias syriaca to identify how functional traits affect vital rates and population growth and whether tradeoffs in chemical defense and demography alter population growth. Plants with higher foliar cardenolides had lower fiber, cellulose, and lignin levels, as well as decreased sexual and clonal reproduction. Average cardenolide concentrations had the strongest effect on population growth. In both the sexual and clonal pathway, the tradeoff between reproduction and defense affected population growth. We found that both increasing the mean of the distribution of individual plant values for cardenolides and herbivory decreased population growth. However, increasing the variance in both defense and herbivory increased population growth. Functional traits can impact population growth and quantifying individual-level variation in traits should be included in assessments of population-level processes.
Plant biomass, not plant economics traits, determines responses of soil CO2 efflux to precipitation in the C4 grass Panicum virgatum
<p>1. Plant responses to major environmental drivers like precipitation can influence important aspects of carbon (C) cycling like soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux (J<sub>CO2</sub>). These responses may be predicted by two independent classes of drivers: plant size—larger plants respire more and produce a larger quantity of labile C, and plant economics—plants possessing more acquisitive plant economics strategies (i.e., high metabolic rate and tissue nutrient content) produce higher-quality tissue that respires rapidly and decomposes quickly.</p> <p>2. At two sites in central Texas, USA with similar climates and differing soil characteristics, we examined the response of eight <i>Panicum virgatum</i> genotypes to three annual precipitation levels defined by the driest, average, and wettest years from each site's precipitation history. We evaluated the individual and joint influence of plant genotypes and precipitation on J<sub>CO2</sub> and traits related to plant economics and plant size. We then used confirmatory path analysis to evaluate whether effects of precipitation on J<sub>CO2</sub> were in part related to effects of precipitation on plant economics traits or size ('mediated' effects).</p> <p>3. These genotypes exhibited variation in plant economics traits and aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), an aboveground measure of plant size. Increasing precipitation increased J<sub>CO2</sub> and ANPP more than plant economics traits. At both sites, ANPP was the single best predictor of J<sub>CO2</sub>. Moreover, the sites differed in the ways that plant size and plant economics traits combined with precipitation to influence J<sub>CO2</sub>. At the Austin site, the positive effect of precipitation on J<sub>CO2</sub> was mediated primarily by ANPP, offset by a smaller effect of leaf nitrogen content; no direct precipitation effect was detected. At the Temple site, increasing precipitation had positive direct and ANPP-mediated effects on J<sub>CO2</sub>. This suggests that greater water limitation at Austin may strengthen the links between plant size and J<sub>CO2</sub>.</p> <p>4. Synthesis Estimates of C cycling can be improved by accounting for mediation of precipitation effects on J<sub>CO2</sub> by plant economics traits and plant size in resource-limited environments.</p>
Data from: Architectural differences associated to functional traits among 45 coexisting tree species in central Africa
1. Architectural traits that determine the light captured in a given environment are an important aspect of the life-history strategies of tropical tree species. In this study, we examined how interspecific variation in architectural traits is related to the functional traits of 45 coexisting tree species in central Africa. 2. At the tree level, we measured tree diameter, total height and crown dimensions for an average of 30 trees per species (range 14–72, total 968 trees) distributed over a large range of diameters (up to 162 cm). Using log-log models, we fitted species-specific allometric relationships between tree diameter, height and crown dimensions. At the species level, we derived architectural traits (height and crown dimensions) at 15 cm and maximum diameters from species-specific allometries. The architectural traits were then related to functional traits, including light requirements, wood density, leaf habit, and dispersal mode. 3. Among the 45 coexisting tree species, we identified strong variations in height and crown allometries, along with architectural traits derived from these species-specific allometries. There was a positive correlation among architectural traits, suggesting that large-statured canopy species were taller and had larger and deeper crowns than small-statured understory species at all ontogenic stages. The relationships between architectural and functional traits highlighted a continuum of species between the large-statured canopy species and the small-statured understory species. In this moist and seasonal forest, large-statured canopy species tended to be light-demanding, wind-dispersed, deciduous and large contributors to forest biomass (high basal area), while small-statured understory species tended to be shade-tolerant, animal-dispersed, evergreen and most abundant in terms of stem density. 4. Our results highlighted strong architectural differences among coexisting tropical tree species in central Africa. The relationships between architectural and functional traits provided insights into the life-history strategy of tropical tree species.
A large-scale assessment of plant dispersal mode and seed traits across human-modified Amazonian forests
1. Quantifying the impact of habitat disturbance on ecosystem function is critical for understanding and predicting the future of tropical forests. Many studies have examined post-disturbance changes in animal traits related to mutualistic interactions with plants, but the effect of disturbance on plant traits in diverse forests has received much less attention. 2. Focusing on two study regions in the eastern Brazilian Amazon, we used a trait-based approach to examine how seed dispersal functionality within tropical plant communities changes across a landscape-scale gradient of human modification, including both regenerating secondary forests and primary forests disturbed by burning and selective logging. 3. Surveys of 230 forest plots recorded 26,533 live stems from 846 tree species. Using herbarium material and literature, we compiled trait information for each tree species, focusing on dispersal mode and seed size. 4. Disturbance reduced tree diversity and increased the proportion of lower wood-density and smaller-seeded tree species in study plots. Unexpectedly, disturbance also increased the proportion of stems with seeds that are ingested by animals and reduced those dispersed by other mechanisms (e.g. wind). Older secondary forests had functionally similar plant communities to the most heavily disturbed primary forests. 5. <i>Synthesis</i>. Anthropogenic disturbance has major effects on the seed traits of tree communities, with implications for mutualistic interactions with animals. The higher importance of animal-mediated seed dispersal in disturbed and recovering forests highlights the importance of avoiding defaunation or promoting faunal recovery. The changes in mean seed width suggest larger vertebrates hold especially important functional roles in these human-modified forests. Monitoring fruit and seed traits can provide a valuable indicator of ecosystem condition, emphasising the importance of developing a comprehensive plant traits database for the Amazon and other biomes.
Species niches, not traits, determine abundance and occupancy patterns: a multi-site synthesis
<p> </p> <p>Aim: Locally abundant species are usually widespread, and such pattern has been related to properties of the niches and traits of species. However, such explanations fail to account for the potential of traits to determine species niches, and often overlook statistical artifacts. Here we examine how trait distinctiveness determines species abilities to exploit either common habitats (niche position) or a range of habitats (niche breadth), and how niche position and breadth in turn affect abundance and occupancy. We also examine how statistical artifacts moderate these relations.<br> Location: Sixteen sites in the Neotropics.<br> Time period: 1993-2014.<br> Major taxa studied: Aquatic invertebrates from tank bromeliads.<br> Methods: We measured the environmental niche position and breadth of each species and calculated its trait distinctiveness, as the average trait difference with all other species at each site. Then, we used a combination of Structural Equations Models and a meta-analytic approach to test trait-niche relationships, and a null model to control for statistical artifacts.<br> Results: The trait distinctiveness of each species was unrelated to its niche properties, abundance, and occupancy. In contrast, niche position was the main predictor of abundance and occupancy; species that used the most common environmental conditions found across bromeliads were locally abundant and widespread. Contributions of niche breadth to such patterns were due to statistical artifacts, indicating that niche breadth effects may have been overestimated in previous studies.<br> Main conclusions: Our study reveals the generality of niche position in explaining one of the most common ecological patterns. The robustness of this result is underscored by the geographic extent of our study and our control of statistical artifacts. We call for a similar examination across other systems – an essential task to understanding the drivers of commonness across the tree of life.</p>
Data from: Müllerian mimicry of a quantitative trait despite contrasting levels of genomic divergence and selection
<p>Hybrid zones, where distinct populations meet and interbreed, give insight into how differences between populations are maintained despite gene flow. Studying clines in genetic loci and adaptive traits across hybrid zones is a powerful method for understanding how selection drives differentiation within a single species, but can also be used to compare parallel divergence in different species responding to a common selective pressure. Here, we study parallel divergence of wing colouration in the butterflies <i>Heliconius erato</i> and <i>H</i><i>. melpomene</i>, which are distantly related Müllerian mimics that show parallel geographic variation in both discrete variation in pigmentation, and quantitative variation in structural colour. Using geographic cline analysis, we show that clines in these traits are positioned in the roughly the same geographic region for both species, which is consistent with direct selection for mimicry. However, the width of the clines varies markedly between species. This difference is explained in part by variation in the strength of selection acting on colour traits within each species, but may also be influenced by differences in the dispersal rate and total strength of selection against hybrids between the species. Genotyping-by-sequencing also revealed weaker population structure in <i>H. melpomene</i>, suggesting the hybrid zones may have evolved differently in each species; which may also contribute to the patterns of phenotypic divergence in this system Overall, we conclude that multiple factors are needed to explain patterns of clinal variation within and between these species, although mimicry has probably played a central role.</p>
Data from: Acceleration or deceleration of litter decomposition by herbivory depends on nutrient availability through intraspecific differences in induced plant resistance traits
1. Herbivores often induce changes in plant defensive chemistry or nutrient content that may respectively inhibit or promote microbial decomposition of senesced litter. Often the directional impact of herbivores on decomposition is considered to be a property of a species or ecosystem. While rarely explored, intraspecific plasticity in the induction of defensive strategies across environmental gradients may also result in divergent impacts of herbivores on decomposition (deceleration vs. acceleration). 2. Here, we examined how soil nutrient conditions determine after-life effects of herbivory, using nine goldenrod (Solidago altissima) genotypes grown across four levels of nutrient supply and with or without grasshopper herbivory. In this species, herbivory induces defensive traits in genotypes grown in high soil nutrient conditions but induces tolerance (compensatory growth) in low nutrient conditions. We combined senesced litter from each treatment with a common soil inoculum in experimental microcosms and measured soil respiration and litter mass loss over 100 days as estimates of decomposition. 3. Plant genotype, nutrient environment, and herbivory all had significant effects on decomposition. The legacy effect of herbivory overwhelmed the positive effects of high soil nutrient supply on decomposition. This significant herbivory nutrient environment interaction meant that herbivore-induced plants grown in high nutrient environments produced litter that was more resistant to microbial breakdown than litter from the same genotype not exposed to herbivory. But the opposite occurred at low nutrient levels where litter from herbivore-induced plants was most readily decomposed. Further we mechanistically tie nutrient and herbivory legacy treatments to decomposition rates through predictable changes in leaf trait expression. Lastly, we demonstrate a significant correlation among herbivore growth rates on the living tissue and decomposition efficiencies by the microbial community of the senesced tissue, suggesting that herbivores and microbes perceive the "quality" of the induced substrate similarly. 4. Synthesis: Herbivore-induced changes in leaf palatability and trait expression due to defense induction or compensatory growth can cascade through to either promote or inhibit the decomposability of leaf litter within a single species. These findings offer mechanistic understanding of how spatial heterogeneity in ecosystem process rates can be generated by spatial variation in herbivory and nutrient availability.
Data from: Context-dependent costs and benefits of tuberculosis resistance traits in a wild mammalian host
Disease acts as a powerful driver of evolution in natural host populations, yet individuals in a population often vary in their susceptibility to infection. Energetic trade-offs between immune and reproductive investment lead to the evolution of distinct life-history strategies, driven by the relative fitness costs and benefits of resisting infection. However, examples quantifying the cost of resistance outside of the laboratory are rare. Here, we observe two distinct forms of resistance to bovine tuberculosis (bTB), an important zoonotic pathogen, in a free-ranging African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) population. We characterize these phenotypes as 'infection resistance', in which hosts delay or prevent infection, and 'proliferation resistance', in which the host limits the spread of lesions caused by the pathogen after infection has occurred. We found weak evidence that infection resistance to bTB may be heritable in this buffalo population (h2=0.10) and comes at the cost of reduced body condition and marginally reduced survival once infected, but also associates with an overall higher reproductive rate. Infection resistant animals thus appear to follow a 'fast' pace of life syndrome, in that they reproduce more quickly but die upon infection. In contrast, proliferation resistance had no apparent costs and was associated with measures of positive host health- such as having a higher body condition and reproductive rate. This study quantifies striking phenotypic variation in pathogen resistance and provides evidence for a link between life history variation and a disease resistance trait in a wild mammalian host population.
Data from: Leaf drought tolerance cannot be inferred from classic leaf traits in a tropical rainforest
<ol> <li>Plants are enormously diverse in their traits and ecological adaptation, even within given ecosystems, such as tropical rainforests. Accounting for this diversity in vegetation models poses serious challenges. Global plant functional trait databases have highlighted general trait correlations across species that have considerably advanced this research program. However, it remains unclear whether trait correlations found globally hold within communities, and whether they extend to drought tolerance traits.</li> <li>For 134 individual plants spanning a range of sizes and life forms (tree, liana, understory species) within an Amazonian forest, we measured leaf drought tolerance (leaf water potential at turgor loss point, π<sub>tlp</sub>), together with 17 leaf traits related to various functions, including leaf economics traits and nutrient composition (leaf mass per area, LMA; and concentrations of C, N, P, K, Ca, and Mg per leaf mass and area), leaf area, water use efficiency (carbon isotope ratio), and time-integrated stomatal conductance and carbon assimilation rate per leaf mass and area. We tested trait coordination and the ability to estimate π<sub>tlp</sub> from the other traits through model selection. Performance and transferability of the best predictive model were assessed through cross-validation.</li> <li>π<sub>tlp</sub> was positively correlated with leaf area, and with N, P and K concentrations per leaf mass, but not with LMA or any other studied trait. Five axes were needed to account for >80% of trait variation, but only three of them explained more variance than expected at random. The best model explained only 30% of the variation in π<sub>tlp</sub>, and out-sample predictive performance was variable across life forms or canopy strata, suggesting a limited transferability of the model.</li> <li> <i>Synthesis</i>. We found a weak correlation among leaf drought tolerance and other leaf traits within a forest community. We conclude that higher trait dimensionality than assumed under the leaf economics spectrum may operate among leaves within plant communities, with important implications for species coexistence and responses to changing environmental conditions, and also for the representation of community diversity in vegetation models.</li> </ol>
Data from: Insect pollinators show constancy for different flower traits between the most‐ and less‐preferred plants: a case study of the long‐proboscid tangle‐veined fly
<p>1. The coevolution of insect pollinators and their host plants is a typical example of natural selection; however, it remains unclear as to how insect pollinators avoid overdependence on one peculiar plant. As most insect pollinators exhibit a diet breadth when showing flower constancy, to determine the difference and similarity of most and less-preferred flowers by insect pollinators may be helpful to understand their trade-off between flower constancy and overdependence.</p> <p>2. We addressed this question in the long-proboscid tangle-veined fly (<i>Nemetrinus spp.</i>). Dietary investigation indicates that the flies show constancy for the morphological characteristic of the <i>Delphinium caeruleum</i>, which is the most preferred plant for this Nemestrinidae fly that has blue, long-tubed flowers.</p> <p>3. In a colour selection experiment, focal individuals showed obvious preference for white, which is the colour of less-preferred flowers by the fly in the natural environment. In a scent selection experiment, focal individuals showed obvious preference for <i>D. caeruleum </i>and <i>Dracocephalum heterophyllum</i>, but avoidance to <i>Dasiphora</i><i> fruticosa</i> and <i>Dasiphora davurica</i>. This indicates that long-proboscid tangle-veined flies can forage on other flowers, even the existing of constancy for <i>D. caeruleum</i>, as long as they do not hate the scent. It seems that long-proboscid tangle-veined flies can maximize foraging efficiency by showing constancy for the morphological characteristic of the most preferred plant and for the scent and colour of less-preferred plants.</p> <p>4. The tradeoff of long-proboscid tangle-veined fly in selection of nectar sources may be an adaptation to the risk of overdependence on one plant in evolution.</p>
Data from: Herbivores and plant defenses affect selection on plant reproductive traits more strongly than pollinators
Pollinators and herbivores can both affect the evolutionary diversification of plant reproductive traits. However, plant defenses frequently alter antagonistic and mutualistic interactions and therefore variation in plant defenses may alter patterns of herbivore- and pollinator-mediated selection on plant traits. We tested this hypothesis by conducting a common garden field experiment using 50 clonal genotypes of white clover (Trifolium repens) that varied in a Mendelian inherited chemical antiherbivore defense—the production of hydrogen cyanide (HCN). To evaluate whether plant defenses alter herbivore- and/or pollinator-mediated selection, we factorially crossed chemical defense (25 cyanogenic and 25 acyanogenic genotypes), herbivore damage (herbivore suppression) and pollination (hand-pollination). We found that herbivores weakened selection for increased inflorescence production, suggesting that large displays are costly in the presence of herbivores. In addition, herbivores weakened selection on flower size but only among acyanogenic plants, suggesting that plant defenses reduce the strength of herbivore-mediated selection. Pollinators did not independently affect selection on any trait, although pollinators weakened selection for later flowering among cyanogenic plants. Overall, cyanogenic plant defenses consistently increased the strength of positive directional selection on reproductive traits. Herbivores and pollinators both strengthened and weakened the strength of selection on reproductive traits, although herbivores imposed ~2.7× stronger selection than pollinators across all traits. Contrary to the view that pollinators are the most important agents of selection on reproductive traits, our data show that selection on reproductive traits is driven primarily by variation in herbivory and plant defenses in this system.
Data from: Environmental variation is a major predictor of global trait turnover in mammals
Aim: To evaluate how environment and evolutionary history interact to influence global patterns of mammal trait diversity (a combination of 14 morphological and life-history traits). Location: The global terrestrial environment. Taxon: Terrestrial mammals. Methods: We calculated patterns of spatial turnover for mammalian traits and phylogenetic lineages using the mean nearest taxon distance. We then used a variance partitioning approach to establish the relative contribution of trait conservatism, ecological adaptation and clade specific ecological preferences on global trait turnover. Results: We provide a global scale analysis of trait turnover across mammalian terrestrial assemblages, which demonstrates that phylogenetic turnover by itself does not predict trait turnover better than random expectations. Conversely, trait turnover is consistently more strongly associated with environmental variation than predicted by our null models. The influence of clade-specific ecological preferences, reflected by the shared component of phylogenetic turnover and environmental variation, was considerably higher than expectations. Although global patterns of trait turnover are dependent on the trait under consideration, there is a consistent association between trait turnover and environmental predictive variables, regardless of the trait considered. Main conclusions: Our results suggest that changes in phylogenetic composition are not always coupled with changes in trait composition on a global scale and that environmental conditions are strongly associated with patterns of trait composition across species assemblages, both within and across phylogenetic clades.
Data from: Why do bugs perish? range size and local vulnerability traits as surrogates of Odonata extinction risk
<p>Despite claims of an insect decline worldwide, our understanding of extinction risk in insects is incomplete. Using bionomic data of all odonate (603 dragonflies and damselflies) North American species, we assessed: a) regional extinction risk and whether this is related to local extirpation; b) whether these two patterns are similar altitudinally and latitudinally; and, c) areas of conservation concern. We used geographic range size as a predictor of regional extinction risk and body size, thermal limits and habitat association as predictors of local extirpation. We found that: a) greater regional extinction risk is related to narrow thermal limits, lotic habitat use and large body size (this in damselflies but not dragonflies); b) southern species are more climate-tolerant but with limited geographic range size than northern species; and, c) two priority areas for odonate conservation are the cold-temperate to sub-boreal Northeast USA and the Transversal Neo-Volcanic System. Our approach can be used to estimate insect extinction risk as it compensates for the lack of abundance data. </p>
Distinguishing Impatiens capensis from Impatiens pallida (Balsaminaceae) using leaf traits
<p><i>Impatiens capensis</i> (orange jewelweed) and <i>Impatiens pallida</i> (yellow jewelweed) are annual species with similar phenotypes that grow in similar environments throughout the eastern United States. This makes them extremely difficult to distinguish when (chasmogamous) flowers are absent. We use morphometric analyses to identify leaf characters that distinguish these species. After collecting and scanning 342 leaves from plants of each species growing in co-occurring populations in Madison, WI, we quantified: leaf size, shape (using elliptical Fourier analysis), serratedness, and color. Using leaf size and shape traits, a linear discriminate analysis assigned up to 100% of leaves to the correct species. The uppermost fully expanded leaf yielded the most accurate species assignments based on size and shape traits. This leaf was on average, smaller, less deeply serrated, with a more acute base, apex, and elliptical shape in <i>I. capensis</i> as compared to <i>I. pallida. Impatiens pallida </i>leaves had more color contrast (lighter veins and margins) than <i>I. capensis</i>, which were solid green throughout. Morphometric analysis is a promising technique to identify species-distinguishing characters in the absence of binary traits or molecular genetic analyses. Leaves from across these species' ranges should be analyzed to test the robustness of the species-distinguishing characters we present.</p>
Manipulation of trait expression and pollination regime reveal the adaptive significance of spur length
<p class="Standardmedindrag">Understanding the mechanisms of adaptive population differentiation requires that both the functional and adaptive significance of divergent traits are characterized in contrasting environments. Here, we (a) determined the effects of floral spur length on pollen removal and receipt using plants with artificial spurs representing the species-wide variation in length, and (b) quantified pollinator-mediated selection on spur length and three traits contributing to floral display in two populations each of the short-spurred and the long-spurred ecotype of the orchid <i>Platanthera bifolia</i>. Both pollen receipt and removal reached a maximum at 28-29 mm long spurs in a short-spurred population visited by short-tongued moths. In contrast, pollen receipt increased linearly across the tested range (4-52 mm) and pollen removal was unrelated to spur length in a long-spurred population predominantly visited by a long-tongued moth. The experimentally documented effects on pollen transfer were not reflected in pollinator-mediated selection through female fitness or pollen removal indicating that the natural within-population variation in spur length was insufficient to result in detectable variation in pollen limitation. Our study illustrates how combining trait manipulation with analysis of causes and strength of phenotypic selection can illuminate the functional and adaptive significance of trait expression when trait variation is limited.</p>
Data from: In situ genetic association for serotiny, a fire-related trait, in Mediterranean maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton)
Wildfire is a major ecological driver of plant evolution. Understanding the genetic basis of plant adaptation to wildfire is crucial, because impending climate change will involve fire regime changes worldwide. We studied the molecular genetic basis of serotiny, a fire-related trait, in Mediterranean maritime pine using association genetics. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) set was used to identify genotype : phenotype associations in situ in an unstructured natural population of maritime pine (eastern Iberian Peninsula) under a mixed-effects model framework. RR-BLUP was used to build predictive models for serotiny in this region. Model prediction power outside the focal region was tested using independent range-wide serotiny data. Seventeen SNPs were potentially associated with serotiny, explaining approximately 29% of the trait phenotypic variation in the eastern Iberian Peninsula. Similar prediction power was found for nearby geographical regions from the same maternal lineage, but not for other genetic lineages. Association genetics for ecologically relevant traits evaluated in situ is an attractive approach for forest trees provided that traits are under strong genetic control and populations are unstructured, with large phenotypic variability. This will help to extend the research focus to ecological keystone non-model species in their natural environments, where polymorphisms acquired their adaptive value.
Data from: Personality traits change after an opportunity to mate
<p>There is growing evidence that personality traits can change throughout the life course in humans and nonhuman animals. However, the proximate and ultimate causes of personality trait change are largely unknown, especially in adults. In a controlled, longitudinal experiment, we tested whether a key life event for adults – mating – can cause personality traits to change in female threespine sticklebacks. We confirmed that there are consistent individual differences in activity, sociability and risk taking, and then compared these personality traits among three groups of females: 1) control females; 2) females that physically mated; 3) females that socially experienced courtship but did not mate. Both the physical experience of mating and the social experience of courtship caused females to become less willing to take risks and less social. To understand the proximate mechanisms underlying these changes, we measured levels of excreted steroids. Both the physical experience of mating and the social experience of courtship caused levels of dihydroxyprogesterone (<span>17α,20β-P)</span> to increase, and females with higher <span>17α,20β-P </span>were less willing to take risks and less social. These results provide experimental evidence that personality traits and their underlying neuroendocrine correlates are influenced by formative social and life-history experiences well into adulthood.</p>
Multiple traits and multifarious environments: integrated divergence of morphology and life history
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Understanding complex responses of multiple character suites (e.g., behaviour, life history, morphology) to multifarious environments is a challenging task. Here we use a multivariate approach (partial least squares structural equation modelling) to disentangle drivers (i.e., predation, resource availability, and population demographics) of phenotypic divergence among populations of Bahamas mosquitofish (<i>Gambusia hubbsi</i>) inhabiting blue holes. We further employ a two-block partial least squares analysis in a novel approach to uncovering integrated and independent aspects of divergence in correlated character suites. Results suggest that phenotypic divergence mainly resulted from differences in predation regimes, with population demography and resource availability also influencing particular aspects of divergence. We uncovered statistically significant covariation of life histories and morphologies, and revealed that phenotypic divergence between predation regimes involved both integrated and independent responses. For instance, female life histories diverged mostly independently of morphology, although some morphological shifts (abdominal distension) resulted from changes in fecundity. In contrast, males showed strong morphological divergence independent of life history, but much of their life-history shifts reflected joint morphological changes (lean weight and body shape). Our study illustrates the utility of gathering disparate data types from multiple populations/species to understand the causes and nature of phenotypic divergence in the wild.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
Learning from dynamic traits: Seasonal shifts yield insights into ecophysiological tradeoffs across scales from macroevolutionary to intra-individual
<p><strong>Premise of the Research.</strong> Phylogenetic comparative methods provide a powerful approach for exploring the macroevolution of plant functional traits. Such approaches can uncover trait-trait correlations through evolutionary time, as well as provide evidence of the role of traits in adaptation across environmental gradients. For continuous traits, most phylogenetic comparative approaches to date employ a single trait value per species, often a mean of sampled individuals, or alternatively incorporate intraspecific variation as a distribution around such a mean. It has been known for quite some time that many of the most physiologically and ecologically important plant traits are actually highly plastic, changing dynamically across a growing season, with whole-plant development, or in response to environmental conditions. Here we demonstrate one possible approach to assessing the evolution of such dynamic traits, the use of function-valued phylogenetic comparative methods.<br> <strong>Methodology.</strong> Leaf traits were sampled across 25 taxa in the genus <em>Cornus</em> at six time points throughout the growing season in a common garden context, followed by contrasting sets of alternative analyses to demonstrate the consequences of researcher decisions on study conclusions.<br> <strong>Pivotal Results. </strong>The vast majority of assessed traits exhibit substantial seasonal shifts. These shifts cause traditional macroevolutionary correlations assessed at different sampling dates to yield conflicting results. Function-valued approaches indicate that seasonal shifts in many traits are evolutionarily correlated, with implications for the origin of trait-trait tradeoffs. Seasonal trait plasticity is also evolutionarily correlated with native habitat environmental gradients across <em>Cornus</em>.<br> <strong>Conclusions.</strong> Because a very large number of plant functional traits are not fixed, but vary dynamically over time or with environmental conditions, stronger insights into the evolution of plant functional traits can emerge when this dynamism is explicitly incorporated into phylogenetic comparative approaches. We encourage the adoption of such approaches, as well as the development of better tools for doing so.</p>
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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.
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.