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419 results for “Elevational gradient”
Micro- and macroclimate interactively shape diversity, niches, and traits of Orthoptera communities along elevational gradients
<p>Temperature is one of the main drivers shaping species diversity and assembly processes. Yet, site-specific effects of the local microclimate on species and trait compositions of insect communities have rarely been assessed along macroclimatic temperature clines. Bavarian Alps, Germany Bayesian joint species distribution models were applied to investigate how ecological and morphological traits drive variation in the climatic niches of 32 Orthoptera species on 93 grassland sites with contrasting microclimatic conditions along a steep elevational macroclimatic gradient in an Alpine region in Central Europe. Species richness and abundance decreased along the elevational macroclimatic gradient, and both benefitted from warm microclimate. Interactive effects of elevation and microclimate on the abundance were, however, species-specific, and partly mediated by traits: Warm microclimatic conditions facilitated the occurrence of demanding xerophilic and late-hatching species, resulting in marked community dissimilarities at mid-elevations where colder sites harboured only a subset of the species. The latter mainly occurred at low elevations together with long-winged species. Abundance peaks of non-xerophilic species were further upslope when microclimate was warm. Intraspecifically, the body sizes and wing lengths of the larger females, but not the males, decreased with elevation akin the community mean, and brown colour morphs were more frequent at sites with warm microclimate. Our nuanced results reveal that trait-dependent responses of species to microclimate play a key role in the assembly and structuring of insect communities along macroclimatic gradients. Since microclimate preferences changed with elevation, we conclude that species temperature niches are narrower than the elevational range suggests and both macro- and microclimatic conditions must be considered when predicting species responses to climate change. Microclimatic contrasts among sites at similar elevations enhanced species turnover mediated by moisture preferences and phenology, highlighting the importance of mountains for conservation as climatic refugia where species with diverging niches can persist in proximity.</p>
Bromeliad populations perform distinct ecological strategies across a tropical elevation gradient
<ol> <li>The effect of environmental gradients on the remarkable diversity of mountain-associated plants and on the species' abilities to cope with climate change transcends species-specific strategies. For instance, our understanding of the impact of thermal gradients on ecological divergences in populations of widely distributed species is limited, although it could provide important insights regarding species' response to climate change.</li> <li>Here, we investigated whether populations of an endemic species broadly distributed across an elevation gradient employ unique or multiple divergent ecological strategies according to specific environmental conditions. We hypothesized that populations employ distinct strategies, producing a tolerance-avoidance trade-off related to the thermal conditions they experience across elevations.</li> <li>We conducted our research with 125 individuals of <em>Pitcairnia</em> <em>flammea</em> (Bromeliaceae) sampled from various elevations spanning from sea level to ~2,200 meters and cultivated under the same conditions. To assess specific ecological strategies of <em>P. flammea</em> populations across elevations, we examined leaf temperature, heat and cold tolerances, as well as other structural/morphological, optical, physiological, and biochemical leaf traits.</li> <li>We majorly observed that water-saving traits diminish as elevation increases while membrane fluidity, majorly associated with unsaturated and very-long-chain lipids, enhances. Low-elevation individuals of <em>P. flammea</em> invest in water storage tissues, which likely prevent excessive water loss through the intense transpiration rates under warming periods. Conversely, high-elevation plants exhibit increased membrane fluidity, a possible response to the stiffening induced by low temperature.</li> <li>Our results revealed a tolerance-avoidance trade-off related to thermal strategies of populations distributed across an elevation gradient. Low-elevation plants avoid excessive leaf temperature by investing in water-saving traits to maintain transpiration rates. High-elevation individuals, in turn, tend to invest in membrane properties to tolerate thermal variations, particularly cold events.</li> <li>Our findings challenge the conventional notion that plants' vulnerability to warming depends on species-specific thermal tolerance by showing diverse thermal strategies on populations across an elevation gradient.</li> </ol>
Morphological trait matching in plant–Hymenoptera and plant–Diptera mutualisms across an elevational gradient
<p>Morphological trait-matching and species abundance are thought to be the main factors affecting the frequency and strength of mutualistic interactions. However, the relative importance of trait-matching and species abundance in shaping species interactions across environmental gradients remains poorly understood, especially for plant–insect mutualisms involving generalist species.</p> <p>Here, we characterised variation in species and trait composition and the relative importance of trait-matching and species abundance in shaping plant–Hymenoptera and plant–Diptera mutualisms in four meadows across an elevational gradient (2,725–3,910 m) in Yulong Snow Mountain, Southwest China. We also evaluated the effects of morphological traits of flower visitors and plant composition on their foraging specialisation (d' and normalised degree).</p> <p>There was a high degree of dissimilarity in the composition of Hymenoptera and Diptera visitors and their visited plants between communities. This variation was mainly driven by the spatial replacement of species. Both for plant–Hymenoptera and plant–Diptera networks, trait-matching between nectar tube depth and proboscis length was a stronger predictor of the interactions between temporally co-occurring plants and flower visitors than species abundance. Fourth-corner analyses revealed statistically significant trait-matching between nectar tube depth and proboscis length in plant–Hymenoptera networks at all sites, suggesting that Hymenoptera consistently foraged on plant species with nectar tube depths matching their proboscis lengths. By contrast, significant trait-matching in plant–Diptera networks was only observed at the two lower elevation sites. The species-level specialisation d' of flower visitors increased significantly as the proboscis length and the difference in nectar tube depth between the plant community and the plants visited by flower visitors increased.</p> <p>Our results highlight that the importance of trait-matching in shaping pairwise interactions and niche partitioning depends on the specific features (e.g. species composition and trait availability) of the plant-pollinator system. For specialised plant-Hymenoptera systems, trait-matching is an important determinant of species interactions, whereas for generalist plant-Diptera systems, trait-matching is relatively unimportant.</p>
Phylogenetic α- and β-diversities jointly reveal leaf-litter ant community assembly mechanisms along a tropical elevational gradient
<p>This study was conducted along the eastern slope of the Cofre de Perote mountain, in Veracruz, Mexico. This region is located at the junction of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt and the Sierra Madre Oriental. We selected eight study sites spanning an elevational gradient of 3500 meters of altitude. Regardless of the geographical distance, all sites were systematically separated with an elevational difference of 500 meters on average between each other. We placed our study sites at the following elevations above sea level: 30-50 m, 610-670 m, 900-1010 m, 1470-1650 m, 2020-2230 m, 2470-2600 m, 3070-3160 m and 3480-3540 m, however, for simplicity, we will refer to each site as discrete units (i.e. 0, 600, 1000, 1500, 2100, 2500, 3100, 3500 m).</p> <p>Sampling sites were old-growth forests characterized by no obvious forest use and highly dominance of mature forests, except in the case of the lowest site (i.e., La Mancha), where most of its original vegetation has been transformed. To overcome the effect of perturbation in the studied patterns, we sampled La Mancha in a secondary forest with up to 30 years of regeneration. All sampling sites were closed-canopy forests in which a leaf-litter layer could be guaranteed. During the rainy season (July-September) of 2018 one 300-m transversal transect was located at each one of the eight study locations where we established 10 equidistantly sampling points (i.e., 30 meters between each other). Two independent 1-m2 samples were taken perpendicularly to each sampling point: one 10 meters on the right side and the other 10 meters from the left side. This procedure was repeated in a second transect placed during the dry season (March-May) of 2019 to increase community characterization as well as reduce any seasonality effect on our diversity patterns. Transects within an elevational site were separated at least 1 km away from each other. Thus, we obtained 320 m<sup>2</sup> leaf-litter samples characterized the whole mountain (8 study sites x 20 m<sup>2 </sup>per transect x 2 transects = 320 m<sup>2</sup>). In each 1-m<sup>2</sup> quadrat, we collected the leaf litter inside and sifted it through a coarse mesh screen of 1-cm grid size to remove the largest fragments and concentrate the fine litter. The concentrated fine litter from each sample was suspended in independent mini-Winkler sacks for 3 days in the laboratory. Falling arthropods were collected into a container with 95% ethanol. Ant workers were removed from each container for identification. When possible, specimens were identified at the species level. If not, we assigned a morphospecies number.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Phylogenetic tree constructions</strong></p> <p>Ideally, one would use a complete, species-level phylogeny of all ant species present in your study area to calculate phylogenetic diversity, yet our current understanding of ant relationships is still limited. As an alternative, we built a genus-level phylogeny based on the tree by Moreau & Bell, (2013), but using the phylogenetic relationships and divergence times within Myrmicinae from Ward et al. (2015). This phylogeny was then pruned to keep only a single species per genus to generate a genus-level phylogeny. To maximize taxonomic coverage, we replaced genera that were missing from those studies by closely-related lineages that were not present in our dataset using other phylogenetic studies (Borowiec, 2016; Lapolla et al., 2010; Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014). We then used the list of species (Supporting Information Table S1) in our dataset to simulate a species-level phylogeny in which the relationships within genera were obtained from a Yule (pure-birth) process using the <em>genus.to.species.tree</em> function in the “phytools” package (Revell, 2012). A total of 1000 simulated trees were obtained to account for phylogenetic uncertainty [see Arnan et al. (2018) and Divieso et al. (2020) for similar approach]. Additionally, we constructed a maximum clade credibility tree (hereafter MCC tree) which was used to summarize the uncertainty of the 1000 simulated trees. The MCC tree was constructed from the sample of the 1000 trees with the <em>maxCladeCred</em> function incorporated in the “ape” package (Paradis et al., 2019). Both the 1000 hypothetical trees and the MCC tree were used in downstream analyses (Supporting Information Fig. 1).</p>
Habitat area and environmental filters determine avian richness along an elevation gradient in mountain peatlands
<p>Globally, relationships between avian richness and elevation in mountain ecosystems typically reflect one of four well-documented patterns, but the mechanisms responsible for these patterns are poorly understood. We investigated which pattern best described bird species richness in peatlands of the Upper Bow Basin of the Canadian Rocky Mountains (1300 to 2000 m a.s.l.) and used a model competition framework to investigate possible mechanisms. Avian richness displayed a plateauing (cubic) relationship in response to increasing elevation (AICc weight = 0.48). Log richness was significantly positively related to log peatland area (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.42, p = 0.001); however, once we accounted for the richness-area relationship (area was not related to elevation (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.13, p = 0.083)), the richness-elevation relationship was best described by a negative linear model rather than a cubic model (AICc weight = 0.69, R<sup>2</sup> = 0.39). Consequently, we reject the neutral model of the mid-domain effect and conclude that peatland area and one or more environmental filters are simultaneously driving relationships between avian richness and elevation in Rocky Mountain peatlands. Multi-causality likely explains why researchers in different geographies observe inconsistent patterns between richness and elevation: drivers and interactions among drivers may vary spatially. Importantly, Natural Subregion was a stronger predictor of avian species richness than elevation per se (AICc weight = 0.96), suggesting that the responsible environmental filter(s) is relatively homogenous within ecological land classes (e.g., primary productivity) rather than directly variable with elevation (e.g., temperature). The results also lend insight into priorities for future research on richness-elevation patterns in mountain birds.</p>
Changes in community-weighted trait mean, functional diversity, soil chemical properties and temperature along an elevational gradient in Tenerife, Canary Islands
<p>This dataset comprises community-weighted trait means and functional diversity of leaf traits, chemical soil properties and temperature recorded in roadside (disturbed) and interior (less disturbed) plots, along an elevational gradient of 2,300 m in Tenerife, Canary Islands. The leaf traits measured were specific leaf area (SLA), nitrogen, nitrogen to phosphorus ratio, leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and carbon to phosphorus ratio. The soil chemical properties measured were pH, nitrogen, nitrogen to phosphorus ratio, carbon to phosphorus ratio, calcium, potassium, magnesium and cation exchange capacity. Also the scores of the three first axes derived from a PCA analysis including the soil chemical properties are included. The temperature variables consist of bioclimatic variables Bio10 (mean temperature of the warmest quarter) and Bio11 (mean temperature of the coldest quarter). This dataset has been used for the analysis presented in Ratier Backes et al. (2021).</p>
Ecological and evolutionary processes shape belowground springtail communities along an elevational gradient
<p> The data sets were analyzed during the current study. Data from: Ecological and evolutionary processes shape belowground springtail communities along an elevational gradient</p>
Lianas and trees exhibit divergent intrinsic water-use efficiency along elevational gradients in South American and African tropical forests
<p>Elevational gradients provide excellent opportunities to explore long-term morphological and physiological responses of plants to environmental change. We determined the difference in the elevational pattern of foliar carbon isotope composition (<i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C) between lianas and trees, and assessed whether this difference arises from changes in photosynthesis or stomatal conductance. We also explored the pattern of nutrient limitations with the elevation of these two growth forms. We conducted inventories of lianas and trees using standardized techniques along elevational gradients in Ecuador and Rwanda. We determined the values of several foliar traits including <i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C and chemical traits in dominant liana and tree species. We set up Bayesian linear mixed-effect models to quantify the effects of elevation and these two growth forms, and the difference of the effect of elevation between the two growth forms on each of the foliar traits. We found consistent growth form specific divergences in foliar<i> δ</i><sup>13</sup>C and carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N) responses to elevation. While we noted a meaningful increase in foliar <i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C and C:N with elevation for trees, lianas did not exhibit such a trend. Foliar <i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C and C:N remained relatively constant for lianas along the transects. The physiological processes at the basis of foliar carbon isotope fractionation shift differently in lianas and trees along elevation. Lianas operate at relatively constant intrinsic water- and nitrogen- use efficiencies with elevation as opposed to trees. Altogether, the study suggests the existence of a functional divergence of water and nutrient use strategies between lianas and trees along tropical elevational transects.</p>
Tree-ring dataset of black pine (Pinus nigra) along an elevation gradient in the Cazorla Mountains (South of Spain)
<p>Tree-ring dataset in Heidelberg and Tucson formats of <em>Pinus nigra</em> samples from living trees in four sites along an elevation gradient in the Cazorla and Segura Mountains (South of Spain). There are two types of files: the ones that contain the mean curves per tree (file code contains "mc"), and the ones containing the measurements of each individual core (files coded as "sm", single measurements). These samples were researched within the scope of the NWO-funded project <em>Filling in the blanks in European dendrochronology</em>. The results were published in the following article:</p> <p>Domínguez-Delmás, M., Alejano-Monge, R., Wazny, T., García González, I<em>.</em>, 2013. Radial growth variations of black pine along an elevation gradient in the Cazorla Mountains (South of Spain) and their relevance for historical and environmental studies. <em>Eur J Forest Res</em> <strong>132, </strong>635–652. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-013-0700-7</p> <p>Refer to the article for further information.</p> <p> </p>
Root traits along a subarctic tundra elevational gradient
<p>While root trait research has received increasing attention over the past two decades, the relationship between root traits and environmental factors remains elusive. At the same time, knowledge about these relationships is necessary if we are to understand plant community responses to environmental change. Here, we assessed the relationships between elevation (i.e., temperature) and fine root traits of plant species and communities. We focused on the sub-arctic tundra where plant communities are expected to experience extreme environmental change by the end of the century.</p>
Dataset for: Aboveground carbon stocks, woody and litter productivity along an elevational gradient in the Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Montane forests are characterized by high</span><span> biodiversity</span><span>, endemism and strong </span><span>elevational environmental gradients</span><span>. The latter attribute makes them also suitable as a 'natural laboratory' for studying the effects of environmental parameters on ecosystem functions. To provide better insight into the carbon cycle of Afromontane ecosystems, we used an elevational gradient approach to quantify carbon stocks, woody and litter productivity, and their constraining factors. Twenty plots were established, covering five elevations from Kibale Forest at 1250 m to 3000 m in the Rwenzori Mountains. Results revealed aboveground carbon stocks of between </span><span>185.4 <span>± 48.9 Mg C ha<sup>-1</sup></span></span><span> and </span><span>70.8 ±18.6</span><span> </span><span>Mg C ha<sup>-1</sup></span><span> at 1250-1300 m and 2700-3000 m respectively</span><span>. Aboveground</span><span> carbon tended to decrease with elevation, but this trend was not significant.<span> This was due to similarities in stem diameter combined with different effects of tree height and stem density. Similarly, woody productivity did not change with elevation, ranging from </span></span><span>8.3 ± 4.1 Mg C ha<sup>-1</sup> year<sup>-1</sup> to 3.4 ± 1.5 Mg C ha<sup>-1</sup> year<sup>-1</sup> at 2500-2600 m and 2700-3000 m respectively. </span><span>However, litter productivity decreased linearly by </span><span>0.14 ± 0.04 Mg C ha<sup>-1</sup> year<sup>-1</sup> per 100 m of elevation increase</span><span>, ranging from </span><span>4.0 ± 0.7 Mg C ha<sup>-1</sup> year<sup>-1 </sup>at 1750-1850 m to 1.2 Mg C ha<sup>-1</sup> year<sup>-1 </sup>at 2700-3000 m. Topsoil physicochemical properties varied with elevation, but showed no significant relationship with carbon stocks and woody productivity. </span><span>However, <span>litter productivity </span>increased with mean soil temperature, whereas it decreased with soil total nitrogen.</span></p>
Combining point counts and autonomous recording units improves avian survey efficacy across elevational gradients on two continents
<p>Accurate biodiversity and population monitoring is a requirement for effective conservation decision-making. Survey method bias is therefore a concern, particularly when research programs face logistical and cost limitations.</p> <p>We employed point counts (PCs) and autonomous recording units (ARUs) to survey avian biodiversity within comparable, high elevation, temperate mountain habitats at opposite ends of the Americas: 9 mountains in British Columbia (BC), Canada and 10 in southern Chile. We compared detected species richness against multi-year species inventories and examined method-specific detection probability by family. By incorporating time costs, we assessed the performance and efficiency of single vs. combined methods.</p> <p>Species accumulation curves indicate ARUs can capture ~93% of species present in BC but only ~58% in Chile, despite Chilean mountain communities being less diverse. The avian community, rather than landscape composition, appears to drive this dramatic difference. Chilean communities contain less-vocal species, which ARUs missed. Further, 6/13 families in BC were better detected by ARUs while 11/11 families in Chile were better detected by PCs. Where survey conditions differentially impacted method performance, PCs mostly varied over the morning and with canopy cover in BC, while ARUs mostly varied seasonally in Chile. Within a single year of monitoring, neither method alone was predicted to capture the full avian community, with the exception of ARUs in the alpine and subalpine of BC. PCs contributed little to detected diversity in BC, but including this method resulted in negligible increases in total time costs. Combining PCs with ARUs in Chile significantly increased species detections, again, for little cost.</p> <p>Combined methods were among the most efficient and accurate approaches to capturing diversity. We recommend conducting point counts while ARUs are being deployed and retrieved in order to capture additional diversity with minimal additional effort and to flag methodological biases using a comparative framework.</p>
Genomic and phenotypic divergence‐with‐gene‐flow across an ecological and elevational gradient in a neotropical bird
<p>Aim: Along with environmental gradients, some species show significant differences in morphological, ecological-related traits. Those differences are commonly related to past events of allopatry but, alternatively, could be caused by natural selection in the presence of gene flow. We aimed to explore the prevalence of the divergence-with-gene-flow model across the Chaco-Andes dry forest belt, testing competing models of evolution in a Neotropical bird.</p> <p>Location: Central Andes Mountain range and Chaco region of Argentina and Bolivia. </p> <p>Taxon: Phytotoma rutila (Aves, Cotingidae).</p> <p>Methods: We studied ddRADseq loci (4,893 SNPs) of 21 tissue samples and body size variation of 146 specimens. We evaluated population genetic structure and tested the effects of altitude and distance on genomic divergence. To evaluate allopatry and divergence-with-gene-flow, we compared the divergence on phenotypic traits (bill, tarsus, and wing measurements) versus neutral genomic variation, conducted coalescent analyses to estimate gene flow and divergence time among populations, and calculated relative (FST) versus absolute (DXY) genomic divergence.</p> <p>Results: a) there is a genomic and phenotypic differentiation in P. rutila matched the highland-lowland axis, where the altitude variation explains genomic variation; b) A larger phenotypic than neutral genomic variation was found. c) there is an asymmetric gene flow between populations; d) a pattern of relative and absolute genomic differentiation compatible with divergence-with-gene-flow.</p> <p>Main conclusions: The mechanism behind the morphological and genomic diversification along the Chaco-Andes dry forest belt in P. rutila is divergence‐with‐gene‐flow. Far more complex than we traditionally thought, diversification in South America implicates gene flow between populations and also natural selection along with the environmental gradients, as well as vicariance, contrasting with the idea of tropical speciation primarily based on allopatric models.</p> <p> </p>
Assessment of the stream invertebrate β-diversity along an elevation gradient using a bidimensional null model analysis
<p><strong>Aim:</strong> β-Diversity, commonly defined as the compositional variation among localities that links local diversity (α‐diversity) and regional diversity (γ‐diversity), can arise from two different ecological phenomena, namely the spatial species turnover (i.e. species replacement) and the nestedness of assemblages (i.e. species loss). However, any assessment that does not account for stochasticity in community assembly could be biased and misinform conservation management. In this study, we aimed to provide a better understanding of the overall ecological phenomena underlying stream β-diversity along elevation gradients, and at contributing to the rich debate on null model approaches to identify non-random patterns in the distribution of taxa.</p> <p><strong>Location:</strong> Swiss Alpine region.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> Based on presence-absence data of 78 stream invertebrate families from 309 sites, we analyzed the effect size of non-random spatial distribution of stream invertebrates on the β-diversity and its two components (i.e. turnover and nestedness). We used a modelling framework that allows exploring the complete range of existing algorithm sused in null model analysis, and to assess how distribution patterns vary according to an array of possible ecological assumptions.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> Overall, the turnover of stream invertebrates and the nestedness of assemblages were significantly lower and higher, respectively, than the ones expected by chance. This pattern increased with elevation, and the consistent trend observed along the altitudinal gradient, even in the most conservative analysis, strengthened our findings.</p> <p><strong>Main conclusions:</strong> Our study suggests that deterministic distribution of stream invertebrates in the Swiss Alpine region is significantly driven by differential dispersal capacity and environmental stress gradients. As long as the ecological assumptions for constructing the null models and their implications are acknowledged, we believe that they still represent useful tools to measure the effect size of non-random spatial distribution of taxa on β-diversity.</p>
Genetic diversity and differentiation of populations of Anthyllis vulneraria along elevational and latitudinal gradients
<p>The abundant centre model (ACM) predicts that the suitability of environmental conditions for a species decreases from the centre of its distribution towards its range periphery and consequently its populations will become scarcer, smaller and more isolated, resulting in lower genetic diversity and increased differentiation. However, little is known about whether genetic diversity shows similar patterns along elevational and latitudinal gradients with similar changes in important environmental conditions. Using microsatellite markers we studied the genetic diversity and structure of 20 populations each of <em>Anthyllis vulneraria </em>along elevational gradients in the Alps from the valleys to the elevational limit (2500 m), and along a latitudinal gradient (2500 km) from Central Europe to the range margin in northern Scandinavia. Both types of gradients corresponded to a 11.5 °C difference in mean annual temperature. Genetic diversity strongly declined and differentiation increased with latitude in line with the predictions of the ACM. However, as population size did not decline with latitude and genetic diversity was not related to population size in <em>A. vulneraria</em>, this pattern is not likely to be due to less favourable conditions in the North, but due to serial founder effects during the post-glacial recolonization process. Genetic diversity was not related to elevation, but we found significant isolation by distance along both gradients, although the elevational gradient was shorter by orders of magnitude. Subarctic populations differed genetically from alpine populations indicating that the northern populations did not originate from high elevational Alpine ones. Our results support the notion that postglacial latitudinal colonization over large distances resulted in a larger loss of genetic diversity than elevational range shifts. The lack of genetic diversity in subarctic populations may threaten their long-term persistence in the face of climate change, whereas alpine populations could benefit from gene flow from low-elevation populations.</p>
Leaf enzyme plays a more important role in leaf nitrogen resorption efficiency than soil properties along an elevation gradient
<p>1. Nitrogen (N) resorption is a strategy for plant N conservation through which plants withdraw N from senescing leaves prior to litterfall and its underlying mechanisms are important for better understanding of N cycling. However, most current studies focused on the impacts of soil and leaf nutrients on leaf N resorption efficiency (NRE), and plant physiological regulation that is species-dependent is still unclear.</p> <p>2. Here, we conducted a field experiment to investigate the variations of leaf NRE along an altitudinal gradient in a temperate forest of Northeastern China.</p> <p>3. Results showed that leaf NRE of Q. mongolica and F. mandshurica increased with altitude, while leaf NRE of T. amurensis, A. mono and A. pseudosieboldianum exhibited an opposite trend, although the relationships were not significant for F. mandshurica and A. mono. The inconsistent responses of leaf NRE of different species to increasing altitude were primarily due to the effect of leaf Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), an enzyme responsible for N translocation. Leaf GDH activity in senescing leaves explained the variation of NRE more than soil and climate factors did, suggesting that different plant species had different physiological regulation strategies for their N conservation under similar environment.</p> <p>4. Synthesis. Our study highlights the role of leaf enzyme as a pivotal regulator of leaf NRE and helps us better understand and predict N cycling under climate change in forest ecosystems.</p>
Bamboo climatic tolerances are decoupled from leaf functional traits across an Andean elevation gradient
Widespread changes in temperature and precipitation patterns present plant species with new and combined stresses that affect their performance and distribution. Functional traits are indicators of plant resource use-acquisition strategies and thus they are commonly used to understand the geographic distributions of plant species and species' potential responses to climate change. To date, most studies have targeted a few easy-to-measure leaf traits even though other traits, such as climatic tolerances, could provide valuable information directly related with species' current and future distributions. Here, we measured both leaf functional traits and indices of physiological tolerance to heat (T50) and drought (Cell Membrane Stability) in 28 woody bamboo populations from 22 narrow-ranged species along a > 3000 m elevation gradient in the southern Peruvian Andes. We found that bamboo leaf functional traits remain fairly constant with a combination indicative of an acquisitive strategy (low leaf mass area and high nitrogen per mass) along the elevation gradient, despite drastic changes in environment and fast species turnover. Heat and drought tolerances of bamboos varied widely along the gradient and were negatively correlated to each other. Drought tolerance of bamboo populations was positively related with elevation and with precipitation seasonality while heat tolerance decreased at higher, colder elevations. When analyzed for individuals within each species or for individuals within each elevation, the two metrics of climatic tolerances did not show a consistent relationship, contrasting with the expectation of a potential trade-off between heat and drought tolerance. We also found that the measured leaf functional traits were not good predictors of climatic tolerances. Our results illustrate the diversity and complexity of the relationships between functional strategies and environmental gradients and highlight the limitations of using basic (i.e., "soft") leaf traits to understand plant distributions and climatic tolerances.
Data_Changes in Tree Diversity, Structure and Functional Trait Identity Drive Biomass Increase along Elevational Gradients in Subtropical Forests of Southern China
<p>In this article "Changes in Tree Diversity, Structure and Functional Trait Identity Drive Biomass Increase along Elevational Gradients in Subtropical Forests of Southern China", these files contain community inventory data collected at our three study sites.</p>
Ecuadorian Plant-Hummingbird interactions over an elevation gradient in the Andes, sampled with camera traps in 11 localities
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Community ecologists have made great advances in understanding how natural communities can be both diverse and stable by studying communities as interaction networks. However, focus has been on interaction networks aggregated over time, neglecting the consequences of the seasonal organization of interactions, henceforth seasonal structure, for community stability. Here, we extended previous theoretical findings on the topic in two ways: (i) by integrating empirical seasonal structure of 11 plant-hummingbird communities into dynamic models, and (ii) by tackling multiple facets of network stability together. We show that, in a competition context, seasonal structure enhances community stability by allowing diverse and resilient communities while preserving their robustness to species extinctions. The positive effects of empirical seasonal structure on network stability vanished when using randomized seasonal structures, suggesting that eco-evolutionary dynamics produce stabilizing seasonal structures. We also show that the effects of seasonal structure on community stability are mainly mediated by changes in network structure and productivity, suggesting that the seasonal structure of a community is an important and yet neglected aspect in the diversity-stability and diversity-productivity debates.</span></p>
Dataset of Dipteran species observed along an elevational gradient from Ecuador.
<p>This dataset contains count data for Dipteran specimens collected at five elevations along an altitudinal gradient in the Eastern slope of tropical Andes, in Ecuador. Samples were collected to determine changes in forensically relevant Diptera community assembly as elevation changes.</p> <p>DipteraAltitudeEcuador_Data.csv is a file that contains the raw count data for species separated by both elevations of the identified specimens.</p> <p>DipteraAltitudeEcuador_Methods.docx is a summarized version of the sampling method relevant to interpreting the data.</p> <p>DipteraAltitudeEcuador_Descriptive.txt is a file describing the column headers in "DipteraAltitudeEcuador_Data.csv".</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.