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547 results for “Model Tests”
Data from: Testing models of reciprocal relations between social influence and integration in STEM across the college years
<p class="CxSpFirst">The present study tests predictions from the Tripartite Integration Model of Social Influences (TIMSI) concerning processes linking social interactions to social integration into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) communities and careers. Students from historically overrepresented groups in STEM were followed from their senior year of high school through their senior year in college. Based on TIMSI, we hypothesized that interactions with social influence agents (operationalized as mentor network diversity, faculty mentor support, and research experiences) would promote both short- and long-term integration into STEM via social influence processes (operationalized as science self-efficacy, identity, and internalized community values). Moreover, we examined the previously untested hypothesis of reciprocal influences from early levels of social integration in STEM to future engagement with social influence agents. Results of a series of longitudinal structural equation model-based mediation analyses indicate that, in the short term, higher levels of faculty mentorship support and research engagement, and to a lesser degree more diverse mentor networks in college promote deeper integration into the STEM community through the development of science identity and science community values. Moreover, results indicate that, in the long term, earlier high levels of integration in STEM indirectly influences research engagement through the development of higher science identity. These results extend our understanding of the TIMSI framework and advance our understanding of the reciprocal nature of social influences that draw students into STEM careers.</p>
z4ch4ry/leadershipdata: Garfield, Hubbard, & Hagen, 2019, Evolutionary models of leadership: Tests and synthesis
<p>Public release of data associated with publication in Human Nature 30 (1) 2019 and Evolution and Human Behavior 31 (2) 2020.</p> <p>Updated to reflect additional data used in the second publication in Evolution and Human Behavior, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2020.07.012">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2020.07.012</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p>
Integrating QSAR models predicting acute contact toxicity and mode of action profiling in honey bees (A. mellifera): Data curation using open source databases, performance testing and validation
<p>This excel file (DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3755675">https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3755675</a>) provides the collection of raw data used for developing the first integrative Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) model using EFSA's OpenFoodTox, US-EPA ECOTOX and Pesticide Properties DataBase i) to predict acute contact toxicity (LD<sub>50</sub>) and ii) to profile the Mode of Action (MoA) of pesticides active substances in honey bees (<em>Apis mellifera</em>)<em>. </em>Chemical identifiers (e.g. SMILES, CAS n., InChI) and acute contact toxicity data (LD<sub>50</sub>) on honey bees were used to develop and validate i) a two-category QSAR model (toxic/non-toxic; n=411) (sensitivity =0.93), specificity =0.85), balanced accuracy =0.90), Matthews correlation coefficient MCC=0.78), and ii) a regression-based model (n=113) (R2=0.74; MAE=0.52). Similarly, current study proposes the first MoA profiling for 113 pesticides active substances and the first harmonised MoA classification scheme for acute contact toxicity in honey bees, including LD<sub>50s</sub> data points from three different databases such as EFSA's OpenFoodTox, US-EPA ECOTOX and Pesticide Properties DataBase. Such classification allows to further define MoAs and the target site of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) active substances, thus enabling regulators and scientists to refine chemical grouping and toxicity extrapolations for single chemicals and component-based mixture risk assessment of multiple chemicals.</p> <p>The full data collection and analysis of QSAR models, toxicity data (LD<sub>50</sub>) and Mode of Action (Moa) data are described in Carnesecchi et al., 2020 (DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139243).</p> <p>This work was supported by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) [contract number: OC/EFSA/SCER/2018/01 and NP/EFSA/AFSCO/2016/02 (Edoardo Carnesecchi)].</p>
Avian point-counts from Rhode Island and Connecticut used to test species distribution models
<p>Spatial-biases are a common feature of presence-absence data from citizen scientists. Spatial thinning can mitigate errors in species distribution models (SDMs) that use these data. When detections or non-detections are rare, however, SDMs may suffer from class imbalance or low sample size of the minority (i.e. rarer) class. Poor predictions can result, the severity of which may vary by modeling technique. To explore the consequences of spatial bias and class imbalance in presence-absence data, we used eBird citizen science data for 102 bird species from the northeastern USA to compare spatial thinning, class balancing, and majority-only thinning (i.e., retaining all samples of the minority class). We created SDMs using two parametric or semi-parametric techniques (generalized linear models and generalized additive models) and two machine-learning techniques (random forest and boosted regression trees). We tested the predictive abilities of these SDMs using an independent and systematically collected reference dataset with a combination of discrimination (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve; true skill statistic; area under the precision-recall curve) and calibration (Brier score; Cohen's kappa) metrics. We found large variation in SDM performance depending on thinning and balancing decisions. Across all species, there was no single best approach, with the optimal choice of thinning and/or balancing depending on modeling technique, performance metric, and the baseline sample prevalence of species in the data. Spatially thinning all the data was often a poor approach, especially for species with baseline sample prevalence < 0.1. For most of these rare species, balancing classes improved model discrimination between presence and absence classes, but hindered model calibration. Baseline sample prevalence, sample size, modeling approach, and the intended application of SDM output – whether discrimination or calibration – should guide decisions about how to thin or balance data, given the considerable influence of these methodological choices on SDM performance. For prognostic applications requiring good model calibration (vis-à-vis discrimination), the match between sample prevalence and true species prevalence may be the overriding feature and warrants further investigation.</p>
Supplementary Material to Context-tailored Workload Model Generation for Continuous Representative Load Testing
<p>This package contains files and instructions to replicate our experiments on context-tailored workload model generation for continuous representative load testing. Please download and extract the <code>context-tailoring.tar.gz</code> file and view <code>index.html</code> (also contained in the tarball) for further instructions.</p> <p><code>cobra-db.tar.gz </code>is only required for skipping parts of the steps (see the detailed instructions).</p>
Data from: Testing gradual and speciational models of evolution in extant taxa: the example of ratites
Ever since Eldredge and Gould proposed their model of punctuated equilibria, evolutionary biologists have debated how often this model is the best description of nature and how important it is compared to the more gradual models of evolution expected from natural selection and the neo-Darwinian paradigm. Recently, Cubo proposed a method to test whether morphological data in extant ratites are more compatible with a gradual or with a speciational model (close to the punctuated equilibrium model). As shown by our simulations, a new method to test the mode of evolution of characters (involving regression of standardized contrasts on their expected standard deviation) is easier to implement and more powerful than the previously proposed method, but the Mesquite module CoMET (aimed at investigating evolutionary models using comparative data) performs better still. Uncertainties in branch length estimates are probably the largest source of potential error. Cubo hypothesized that heterochronic mechanisms may underlie morphological changes in bone shape during the evolution of ratites. He predicted that the outcome of these changes may be consistent with a speciational model of character evolution because heterochronic changes can be instantaneous in terms of geological time. Analysis of a more extensive dataset confirms his prediction despite branch length uncertainties: evolution in ratites has been mostly speciational for shape-related characters. However, it has been mostly gradual for size-related ones.
Data from: Conspicuous plumage does not increase predation risk: a continent-wide test using model songbirds
The forces shaping female plumage color have long been debated but remain unresolved. Females may benefit from conspicuous colors but are also expected to suffer costs. Predation is one potential cost, but few studies have explicitly investigated the relationship between predation risk and coloration. The fairy-wrens show pronounced variation in female coloration and reside in a wide variety of habitats across Australasia. Species with more conspicuous females are found in denser habitats, suggesting that conspicuousness in open habitat increases vulnerability to predators. To test this, we measured attack rates on 3D printed models mimicking conspicuously colored males and females, and dull females, in eight different fairy-wren habitats across Australia. Attack rates were higher in open habitats, and at higher latitudes. Contrary to our predictions, dull female models were attacked at similar rates to the conspicuous models. Further, the probability of attack in open habitats increased more for both types of female model than for the conspicuous male model. Across models, the degree of contrast (chromatic and achromatic) to environmental backgrounds was unrelated to predation rate. These findings do not support the long-standing hypothesis that conspicuous plumage, in isolation, is costly due to increased attraction of predators. Our results indicate that conspicuousness interacts with other factors in driving the evolution of plumage coloration.
Data from: Can collective memories shape fish distributions? A test, linking space-time occurrence models and population demographics
Social learning can be fundamental to cohesive group living, and schooling fishes have proven ideal test subjects for recent work in this field. For many species, both demographic factors, and inter- (and intra-) generational information exchange are considered vital ingredients in how movement decisions are reached. Yet key information is often missing on the spatial outcomes of such decisions, and questions concerning how migratory traditions are influenced by collective memory, density-dependent and density-independent processes remain open. To explore these issues, we focused on Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), a long-lived, dense-schooling species of high commercial importance, noted for its unpredictable shifts in winter distribution, and developed a series of Bayesian space-time occurrence models to investigate wintering dynamics over 23 years, using point-referenced fishery and survey records from Icelandic waters. We included covariates reflecting local-scale environmental factors, temporally-lagged prey biomass and recent fishing activity, and through an index capturing distributional persistence over time, derived two proxies for spatial memory of past wintering sites. The previous winter's occurrence pattern was a strong predictor of the present pattern, its influence increasing with adult population size. Although the mechanistic underpinnings of this result remain uncertain, we suggest that a 'wisdom of the crowd' dynamic may be at play, by which navigational accuracy towards traditional wintering sites improves in larger and/or denser, better synchronized schools. Wintering herring also preferred warmer, fresher, moderately stratified waters of lower velocity, close to hotspots of summer zooplankton biomass, our results indicative of heightened environmental sensitivity in younger cohorts. Incorporating spatiotemporal correlation structure and time-varying regression coefficients improved model performance, and validation tests on independent observations one-year ahead illustrate the potential of uniting demographic information and non-stationary models to quantify both the strength of collective memory in animal groups and its relevance for the spatial management of populations.
Data from: Variation in growth drives the duration of parental care: a test of Ydenberg's model
The duration of parental care in animals varies widely, from none to lifelong. Such variation is typically thought to represent a trade-off between growth and safety. Seabirds show wide variation in the age at which offspring leave the nest, making them ideal to test the idea that a trade-off between high energy gain at sea and high safety at the nest drives variation in departure age (Ydenberg's model). To directly test the model assumptions, we attached time-depth recorders to murre parents (fathers [which do all parental care at sea] and mothers; of each). Except for the initial mortality experienced by chicks departing from the colony, the mortality rate at sea was similar to the mortality rate at the colony. However, energy gained by the chick per day was ∼2.1 times as high at sea compared with at the colony because the father spent more time foraging, since he no longer needed to spend time commuting to and from the colony. Compared with the mother, the father spent ∼2.6 times as much time diving per day and dived in lower-quality foraging patches. We provide a simple model for optimal departure date based on only (1) the difference in growth rate at sea relative to the colony and (2) the assumption that transition mortality from one life-history stage to the other is size dependent. Apparently, large variation in the duration of parental care can arise simply as a result of variation in energy gain without any trade-off with safety.
Data from: Predation's role in life-history evolution of a livebearing fish and a test of the Trexler-DeAngelis model of maternal provisioning
Populations experiencing consistent differences in predation risk and resource availability are expected to follow divergent evolutionary trajectories. For example, live-history theory makes specific predictions for how predation should drive life-history evolution, and according to the Trexler-DeAngelis model for the evolution of matrotrophy, post-fertilization maternal provisioning is most likely to evolve in environments with consistent, high levels of resource availability. Using the model system of Bahamas mosquitofish (Gambusia hubbsi) inhabiting blue holes with and without the piscivorous bigmouth sleeper (Gobiomorus dormitor), we provide some of the strongest tests of these predictions to date, as resource availability does not co-vary with predation regime in this system, and we examine numerous (14) isolated natural populations. We found clear evidence for the expected life-history divergence between predation regimes, and empirical support of the Trexler-DeAngelis model. Moreover, based on molecular and lab-rearing data, our study offers strong evidence for convergent evolution of similar life histories in similar predation regimes, largely matching previous phenotypic patterns observed in other poeciliid lineages (Brachyrhaphis spp., Poecilia reticulata), and further supports the notion that matrotrophy is most likely to evolve in stable high-resource environments.
Data from: Testing species assemblage predictions from stacked and joint species distribution models
Aim: Predicting the spatial distribution of species assemblages remains an important challenge in biogeography. Recently, it has been proposed to extend correlative species distribution models (SDMs) by taking into account (a) covariance between species occurrences in so-called joint species distribution models (JSDMs) and (b) ecological assembly rules within the SESAM (spatially explicit species assemblage modelling) framework. Yet, little guidance exists on how these approaches could be combined. We, thus, aim to compare the accuracy of assemblage predictions derived from stacked and from joint SDMs. Location: Switzerland Taxon Birds, tree species Methods: Based on two monitoring schemes (national forest inventory and Swiss breeding bird atlas), we built SDMs and JSDMs for tree species (at 100m resolution) and forest birds (at 1km resolution). We tested accuracy of species assemblage and richness predictions on holdout data using different stacking procedures and ecological assembly rules. Results Despite minor differences, results were consistent between birds and tree species. Cross-validated species-level model performance was generally higher in SDMs than JSDMs. Differences in species richness and assemblage predictions were larger between stacking procedures and ecological assembly rules than between stacked SDMs and JSDMs. On average, predictions were slightly better for stacked SDMs compared to JSDMs, probabilistic stacks outperformed binary stacks, and ecological assembly rules yielded best predictions. Main conclusions: When predicting the composition of species assemblages, the choice of stacking procedure and ecological assembly rule seems more decisive than differences in underlying model type (SDM vs. JSDM). JSDMs do not seem to improve community predictions compared to SDMs or improve predictions for rare species. Still, JSDMs may provide additional insights into community assembly and may help deriving hypotheses about prevailing biotic interactions in the system. We provide simple rules of thumb for choosing appropriate modelling pathways. Future studies should test these preliminary guidelines for other taxa and biogeographic realms as well as for other JSDM algorithms.
Data from: Context-dependence of maternal effects: testing assumptions of optimal egg size, differential- and sex-allocation models
If offspring develop in adverse conditions, the maternal component of their phenotypic variation might increase due to the stronger dependence of offspring traits on parental investment. This should result in increased parental investment to individual offspring, as assumed by the model of optimal egg size. The opposite pattern, i.e., stronger dependence of offspring fitness on parental investment and consequently larger parental investment under good conditions is assumed by both the theory of differential allocation if attractive males provide material benefits, and reproductive compensation if they invest less into paternal care. Another influential idea is the Trivers-Willard model, which assumes sex-specific dependence of offspring fitness on parental investment. Here we tested these ideas by examining the effects of egg size on offspring fitness across many postnatal contexts in the Collared Flycatcher Ficedula albicollis. We employed a cross-fostering design that generated variation in egg size within nests and used brood means of fledgling mass as a functional measure of the quality of rearing conditions. Effects of egg size on three offspring traits, including lifetime reproductive success of recruits, were more pronounced in low-quality broods. These results support the assumption of the model of optimal egg size. Based on female preference for males providing material benefits, this pattern could support differential allocation, if attractive males invest less in paternal care, or reproductive compensation, if they invest more. By comparison, we did not find any evidence for sex specificity of fitness returns that might explain sex monomorphism of egg size in this species. The challenge for future studies will be the integration of components of parental investment and offspring fitness into their global measures and testing how the former affects the latter across gradients of postnatal conditions.
Data from: The contribution of maternal effects to selection response: an empirical test of competing models
Maternal effects can dramatically influence the evolutionary process, in some cases facilitating and in others hindering adaptive evolution. Maternal effects have been incorporated into quantitative genetic models using two theoretical frameworks: the variance-components approach, which partitions variance into direct and maternal components, and the trait-based approach, which assumes that maternal effects are mediated by specific maternal traits. Here, we demonstrate parallels between these models and test their ability to predict evolutionary change. First, we show that the two approaches predict equivalent responses to selection in the absence of maternal effects mediated by traits that are themselves maternally influenced. We also introduce a correction factor that may be applied when such cascading maternal effects are present. Second, we use several maternal effect models, as well as the standard breeder's equation, to predict evolution in response to artificial selection on flowering time in American bellflower, Campanulastrum americanum. Models that included maternal effects made much more accurate predictions of selection response than the breeder's equation. Maternal effect models differed somewhat in their fit, with a version of the trait-based model providing the best fit. We recommend fitting such trait-based models when possible and appropriate to make the most accurate evolutionary predictions.
Data from: Tests of species-specific models reveal the importance of drought in postglacial range shifts of a Mediterranean-climate tree: insights from integrative distributional, demographic and coalescent modelling and ABC model selection
Past climate change has caused shifts in species distributions and undoubtedly impacted patterns of genetic variation, but the biological processes mediating responses to climate change, and their genetic signatures, are often poorly understood. We test six species-specific biologically informed hypotheses about such processes in canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis) from the California Floristic Province. These hypotheses encompass the potential roles of climatic niche, niche multidimensionality, physiological trade-offs in functional traits, and local-scale factors (microsites and local adaptation within ecoregions) in structuring genetic variation. Specifically, we use ecological niche models (ENMs) to construct temporally dynamic landscapes where the processes invoked by each hypothesis are reflected by differences in local habitat suitabilities. These landscapes are used to simulate expected patterns of genetic variation under each model and evaluate the fit of empirical data from 13 microsatellite loci genotyped in 226 individuals from across the species range. Using approximate Bayesian computation (ABC), we obtain very strong support for two statistically indistinguishable models: a trade-off model in which growth rate and drought tolerance drive habitat suitability and genetic structure, and a model based on the climatic niche estimated from a generic ENM, in which the variables found to make the most important contribution to the ENM have strong conceptual links to drought stress. The two most probable models for explaining the patterns of genetic variation thus share a common component, highlighting the potential importance of seasonal drought in driving historical range shifts in a temperate tree from a Mediterranean climate where summer drought is common.
Data from: Wear, tear and systematic repair: testing models of growth dynamics in conodonts with high-resolution imaging
Conodont elements are the earliest mineralised vertebrate dental tools and the only ones capable of extensive repair. Two models of conodont growth, as well as the presence of a larval stage, have been hypothesised. We analysed normally and pathologically developed elements to test these hypotheses and identified three ontogenetic stages characterised by different anisometric growth and morphology. The distinction of these stages is independently corroborated by differences in tissue strontium content. The onset of the last stage is marked by the appearance of wear resulting from mechanical food digestion. At least five episodes of damage and repair could be identified in the normally developed specimen. In the pathological element, function was compromised by development of abnormal denticles. This development can be reconstructed as addition of new growth centres out of the main growth axis during an episode of renewed growth. Our findings support the model of periodic retraction of elements and addition of new growth centres. Changes in strontium content coincident with distinct morphology and lack of wear in the early life stage indicate that conodonts might have assumed their mature feeding habit of predators or scavengers after an initial larval stage characterised by a different feeding mode.
Data from: Higher rates of pre‐breeding condition gain positively impacts clutch size: a mechanistic test of the condition‐dependent individual optimization model
1. A combination of timing of and body condition (i.e., mass) at arrival on the breeding grounds interact to influence the optimal combination of the timing of reproduction and clutch size in migratory species. This relationship has been formalized by Rowe et al. in a condition-dependent individual optimization model (American Naturalist, 1994, 143, 689-722), which has been empirically tested and validated in avian species with a capital-based breeding strategy. 2. This model makes a key, but currently untested prediction; that variation in the rate of body condition gain will shift the optimal combination of laying date and clutch size. This prediction is essential because it implies that individuals can compensate for the challenges associated with late timing of arrival or poor body condition at arrival on the breeding grounds through adjustment of their life history investment decisions, in an attempt to maximize fitness. 3. Using an 11-year data set in arctic-nesting common eiders (Somateria mollissima), quantification of fattening rates using plasma triglycerides (an energetic metabolite), and a path analysis approach, we test this prediction of this optimization model; controlling for arrival date and body condition, females that fatten more quickly will adjust the optimal combination of lay date and clutch size, in favour of a larger clutch size. 4. As predicted, females fattening at higher rates initiated clutches earlier and produced larger clutch sizes, indicating that fattening rate is an important factor in addition to arrival date and body condition in predicting individual variation in reproductive investment. However, there was no direct effect of fattening rate on clutch size (i.e., birds laying on the same date had similar clutch sizes, independent of their fattening rate). Instead, fattening rate indirectly affected clutch size via earlier lay dates, thus not supporting the original predictions of the optimization model. 5. Our results demonstrate that variation in the rate of condition gain allows individuals to shift flexibly along the seasonal decline in clutch size to presumably optimize the combination of laying date and clutch size.
Data from: The effects of temporal resolution on species turnover and on testing metacommunity models
Patterns of low temporal turnover in species composition found within long paleoecological time series contrast with the high turnover predicted by dispersal-limited neutral metacommunity models and thus have been used to support non-neutral models. However, predictions assume temporal resolution on the scale of a season or year whereas individual fossil assemblages are typically time-averaged to decadal or centennial time scales. Here, we simulate the effects of time averaging by building time-averaged assemblages from local dispersal-limited non-averaged (living) assemblages and compare the predicted species turnover with observed patterns in mollusk and ostracod fossil records. Time averaging substantially reduces temporal turnover such that neutral predictions converge with those of trade-off and density-dependent models, and tends to decrease species dominance and increase the proportion of rare species. Observed turnover rates are comparable to an appropriately scaled neutral model: patterns of high community stability can be produced or reinforced by time averaging alone. The community attributes of local time-averaged assemblages approach those of the metacommunity. Time-averaged assemblages are thus unlikely to capture attributes arising from processes operating at small spatial scales, but should do well at capturing the turnover and diversity parameters of metacommunities, and thus will be a valuable basis for analyzing the large-scale processes that determine metacommunity evolution.
Data from: A test of the "flexible stem" model of evolution: ancestral plasticity, genetic accommodation, and morphological divergence in the threespine stickleback radiation
If an ancestral stem group repeatedly colonizes similar environments, developmental plasticity specific to that group should consistently give rise to similar phenotypes. Parallel selection on those similar phenotypes could lead to the repeated evolution of characteristic ecotypes, a property common to many adaptive radiations. A key prediction of this "flexible stem" model of adaptive radiation is that patterns of phenotypic divergence in derived groups should mirror patterns of developmental plasticity in their common ancestor. The threespine stickleback radiation provides an excellent opportunity to test this prediction because the marine form is representative of the ancestral stem group, which has repeatedly given rise to several characteristic ecotypes. We examined plasticity of several aspects of shape and trophic morphology in response to diets characteristic of either the derived benthic or limnetic ecotypes. When marine fish were reared on alternative diets, plasticity of head and mouth shape paralleled phenotypic divergence between the derived ecotypes, supporting the flexible stem model. Benthic and limnetic fish exhibited patterns of plasticity similar to the marine population; however, some differences in population means were present, as well as subtle differences in shape plasticity in the benthic population, indicating a role for genetic accommodation in this system.
Data from: How do foragers decide when to leave a patch? A test of alternative models under natural and experimental conditions
1. A forager's optimal patch-departure time can be predicted by the prescient marginal value theorem (pMVT), which assumes they have perfect knowledge of the environment, or by approaches such as Bayesian-updating and learning rules, which avoid this assumption by allowing foragers to use recent experiences to inform their decisions. 2. In understanding and predicting broader scale ecological patterns, individual-level mechanisms, such as patch-departure decisions, need to be fully elucidated. Unfortunately, there are few empirical studies that compare the performance of patch-departure models that assume perfect knowledge with those that do not, resulting in a limited understanding of how foragers decide when to leave a patch. 3. We tested the patch-departure rules predicted by fixed-rule, pMVT, Bayesian-updating and learning models against one another, using patch residency times recorded from 54 chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) across two groups in natural (n = 6,594 patch visits) and field-experimental (n = 8,569) conditions. 4. We found greater support in the experiment for the model based on Bayesian-updating rules, but greater support for the model based on the pMVT in natural foraging conditions. This suggests that foragers may place more importance on recent experiences in predictable environments, like our experiment, where these experiences provide more reliable information about future opportunities.5. Furthermore, the effect of a single recent foraging experience on patch residency times was uniformly weak across both conditions. This suggests that foragers' perception of their environment may incorporate many previous experiences, thus approximating the perfect knowledge assumed by the pMVT. Foragers may, therefore, optimise their patch-departure decisions in line with the pMVT through the adoption of rules similar to those predicted by Bayesian-updating.
Data from: Testing the validity of functional response models using molecular gut content analysis for prey choice in soil predators
Analysis of predator - prey interactions is a core concept of animal ecology, explaining structure and dynamics of animal food webs. Measuring the functional response, i.e. the intake rate of a consumer as a function of prey density, is a powerful method to predict the strength of trophic links and assess motives of prey choice, particularly in arthropod communities. However, due to their reductionist set-up, functional responses, which are based on laboratory feeding experiments, may not display field conditions, possibly leading to skewed results. Here, we tested the validity of functional responses of centipede predators and their prey by comparing them with empirical gut content data from field-collected predators. Our predator - prey system included lithobiid and geophilomorph centipedes, abundant and widespread predators of forest soils and their soil-dwelling prey. First, we calculated the body size-dependent functional responses of centipedes using a published functional response model in which we included natural prey abundances and animal body masses. This allowed us to calculate relative proportions of specific prey taxa in the centipede diet. In a second step, we screened field-collected centipedes for DNA of eight abundant soil-living prey taxa and estimated their body size-dependent proportion of feeding events. We subsequently compared empirical data for each of the eight prey taxa, on proportional feeding events with functional response-derived data on prey proportions expected in the gut, showing that both approaches significantly correlate in five out of eight predator - prey links for lithobiid centipedes but only in one case for geophilomorph centipedes. Our findings suggest that purely allometric functional response models, which are based on predator-prey body size ratios are too simple to explain predator - prey interactions in a complex system such as soil. We therefore stress that specific prey traits, such as defence mechanisms, must be considered for accurate predictions.
ScienceDex guides
Understand access before you commit
These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.