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495 results for “spatial scale”

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dryad36/100

Contrasting intra-annual population dynamics of two codominant species are consistent across spatial and temporal scales

1. Despite asymmetric competition and a wide array of functional similarities, two ecologically important C4 perennial grasses, Andropogon gerardii and Sorghastrum nutans, frequently codominate areas of the mesic tallgrass prairie of the US Great Plains. A subtle difference in their vegetative reproduction strategies may play a role in preventing exclusion of S. nutans, the presumed weaker competitor in this region. 2. While A. gerardii vegetative tiller densities peak in the early growing season and decline thereafter (determinate recruitment), those of S. nutans may continue to increase throughout the growing season (indeterminate recruitment), providing a potential avenue for recovery from more intensive early season competition. However, until now these patterns have only been informally observed in the field. 3. We examined the year-to-year consistency of growing season vegetative tiller dynamics (measured as seasonal change in tiller densities) of each grass species from at an intact tallgrass prairie in Kansas - a site within the core of both species' distributions - over a period of 8 years. Then, to investigate environmental effects on these dynamics, we examined whether they differ across a Kansas landscape varying in topography, fire management regimes and the abundances of the study species. Finally, we expanded the investigation of environmental effects on growing season tiller dynamics by observing them at the periphery of the species' distributions in central Colorado, where climatic conditions are dryer and the study species' abundances are reduced. 4. Synthesis: We found that the tiller densities of A. gerardii decline within seasons with striking consistency regardless of spatio-temporal scale or environmental factors (topography and fire regimes). In contrast, we found the seasonal dynamics of S. nutans tiller densities were dependent on environmental factors, with seasonal tiller density increases occurring only within the Kansas populations but not consistently between years. These observations lay the groundwork for establishing differences in tiller recruitment determinacy as a potentially important yet underappreciated mechanism for promoting coexistence and codominance among perennial plant species.

opencc-zeroNov 2022View details →

dryad36/100

Behavioral responses of a large, heat-sensitive mammal to climatic variation at multiple spatial scales

1. Climate warming creates energetic challenges for endothermic species by increasing metabolic and hydric costs of thermoregulation. Although endotherms can invoke an array of behavioral and physiological strategies for maintaining homeostasis, the relative effectiveness of those strategies in a climate that is becoming both warmer and drier is not well understood. 2. In accordance with the heat dissipation limit theory, which suggests that allocation of energy to growth and reproduction by endotherms is constrained by the ability to dissipate heat, we expected that patterns of habitat use by large, heat-sensitive mammals across multiple scales are critical for behavioral thermoregulation during periods of potential heat stress and that they must invest a large portion of time to maintain heat balance. 3. To test our predictions, we evaluated mechanisms underpinning the effectiveness of bed sites for ameliorating daytime heat loads and potential heat stress across the landscape while accounting for other factors known to affect behavior. We integrated detailed data on microclimate and animal attributes of moose Alces alces, into a biophysical model to quantify costs of thermoregulation at fine and coarse spatial scales. 4. During summer, moose spent an average of 67.8% of daylight hours bedded, and selected bed sites and home ranges that reduced risk of experiencing heat stress. For most of the day, shade could effectively mitigate the risk of experiencing heat stress up to 10°C, but at warmer temperatures (up to 20℃) wet soil was necessary to maintain homeostasis via conductive heat loss. Consistent selection across spatial scales for locations that reduced heat load underscores the importance of the thermal environment as a driver of behavior in this heat-sensitive mammal. 5. Moose in North America have long been characterized as riparian-obligate species because of their dependence on woody plant species for food. Nevertheless, the importance of dissipating endogenous heat loads conductively through wet soil suggests riparian habitats also are critical thermal refuges for moose. Such refuges may be especially important in the face of a warming climate in which both high environmental temperatures and drier conditions will likely exacerbate limits to heat dissipation, especially for large, heat-sensitive animals.

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

dryad36/100

Biogeographic inferences across spatial and evolutionary scales

The field of biogeography unites landscape genetics and phylogeography under a common conceptual framework. Landscape genetics traditionally focuses on recent-time, population-based, small geographic scale, spatial genetics processes, while phylogeography typically investigates deep past, lineage- and species-based processes at large geographic scales. Here, we evaluate the link between landscape genetics and phylogeographic methods using the Western Fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) as a model species. First, we conducted replicated landscape genetics studies across several geographic scales to investigate how population genetics inferences change depending on the spatial extent of the study area. Then, we carried out a phylogeographic study of population structure at two evolutionary scales informed by inferences derived from landscape genetics results to identify concordance and conflict between these sets of methods. We found significant concordance in landscape genetics processes at all but the largest geographic scale. Phylogeographic results indicate major clades are restricted to distinct river drainages or distinct hydrologic regions. At a more recent timescale, we find minor clades are restricted to single river canyons in the majority of cases, while the remainder of river canyons include samples from at most two clades. Overall, the broad scale pattern implicating stream and river valleys as key features linking populations in the landscape genetics results, and high degree of clade specificity within major topographic subdivisions in the phylogeographic results, is consistent. As landscape genetics and phylogeography share many of the same objectives, synthesizing theory, models, and methods between these fields will help bring about a better understanding of ecological and evolutionary processes structuring genetic variation across space and time.

opencc-zeroJan 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Data from: Philopatry influences the genetic population structure of the blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) at multiple spatial scales

Understanding how interactions among microevolutionary forces generate genetic population structure of exploited species is vital to the implementation of management policies that facilitate population persistence. Philopatry displayed by many coastal shark species can impact gene flow and facilitate selection, and thus has direct implications for the spatial scales of management plans. Here, genetic structure of the blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) was examined using a mixed-marker approach based on mitochondrial control region sequences and 4,339 SNP-containing loci generated using ddRAD-Seq. Genetic variation was assessed among young-of-the-year sampled in 11 sites in waters of the United States in the western North Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico. Spatial and environmental analyses detected 68 nuclear loci putatively under selection, enabling separate assessments of neutral and adaptive genetic structure. Both mitochondrial and neutral SNP data indicated three genetically distinct units – the Atlantic, eastern Gulf, and western Gulf – that align with regional stocks and suggest regional philopatry by males and females. Heterogeneity at loci putatively under selection, associated with temperature and salinity, was observed among sites within Gulf units, suggesting local adaptation. Furthermore, five pairs of siblings were identified in the same site across timescales corresponding with female reproductive cycles. This indicates that females re-used a site for parturition, which has the potential to facilitate the sorting of adaptive variation among neighboring sites. The results demonstrate differential impacts of microevolutionary forces at varying spatial scales and highlight the importance of conserving essential habitats to maintain sources of adaptive variation that may buffer species against environmental change.

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

zenodo36/100

Influence of small-scale spatial variability of soil properties on yield formation of winter wheat

This is a data set of soil properties and plant properties of winter wheat. The data derived from a long-term field trial for the year 2016 at the Asendorf field station 70 km north of Hanover, Germany (49 m above sea level, 52°45′48.4′′N 9°01′24.3′′E) and a field site in Triesdorf, located in Northern Bavaria (450 m a.s.l., 49°12'36.5"N 10°38'33.9"E). Data includes soil (OC, bulk density, texture, pH-value) and plant data (grain yield, thousand grain weight, tillers per m², spikes per m²).  All methods and data will be described in an upcoming journal article in the Journal Plant and Soil (DOI:10.1007/s111104-023-06212-2).

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2022View details →

dryad36/100

Consistent predictors of microbial community composition across spatial scales in grasslands reveal low context-dependency

Environmental circumstances shaping soil microbial communities have been studied extensively. However, due to disparate study designs, it has been difficult to resolve whether a globally consistent set of predictors exists, or context-dependency prevails. Here, we used a network of 18 grassland sites (11 of those containing regional plant productivity gradients) to examine i) if similar abiotic or biotic factors predict both large-scale (across sites) and regional-scale (within sites) patterns in bacterial and fungal community composition, and ii) if microbial community composition differs consistently at two levels of regional plant productivity (low vs high). We found that bacteria were consistently associated with certain soil properties and both bacteria and fungi were consistently associated with plant community composition within different sites. Moreover, there was a microbial community signal that clearly distinguished high and low-productivity soils that was shared across different grasslands independent of their location in the world. In this study, we show that there is high congruence between predictors of bacterial and fungal community composition at different spatial scales and that regional productivity differences are typified by characteristic soil microbial communities across the grassland biome. These results suggest that it might be feasible to predict the overall effects of global changes on soil microbial community composition in different grasslands, as well as to discriminate fertile from infertile systems using generally applicable microbial indicators.

opencc-zeroAug 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Fine-scale environmentally associated spatial structure of Lumpfish ( Cyclopterus lumpus) across the Northwest Atlantic

Lumpfish, Cyclopterus lumpus, have historically been harvested throughout Atlantic Canada and are increasingly in demand as a solution to controlling sea lice in Atlantic salmon farms – a process which involves both the domestication and the transfer of lumpfish between geographic regions. Here, we have 70K SNP array data and whole genome re-sequencing data (WGS) for a variety of sample sites across the Northwest Atlantic.

opencc-zeroSep 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Early life telomeres are influenced by environments acting at multiple temporal and spatial scales

An individual's telomere length early in life may reflect or contribute to key life history processes sensitive to environmental variation. Yet, the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors in shaping early life telomere length is not well understood as it requires samples collected from multiple generations with known developmental histories. We used a confirmed pedigree and conducted an animal model analysis of telomere lengths obtained from nestling house sparrows (Passer domesticus) sampled over a span of 22 years. We found significant additive genetic variation for early life telomere length, but it comprised a relatively small proportion (9%) of the total biological variation. Three sources of environmental variation were important: among cohorts, among breeding attempts within years and families, and among nestmates. The magnitude of variation among breeding attempts and among nestmates also differed by cohort, suggesting that interactive effects of environmental factors across time or spatial scales were important, yet we were unable to identify the specific causes of these interactions. The mean amount of precipitation during the breeding season positively predicted telomere length, but neither weather during a given breeding attempt nor date in the breeding season contributed to an offspring's telomere length. At the residual level, level of individual nestlings, offspring sex, size, and mass at 10 days of age also did not predict telomere length. Environmental effects appear especially important in shaping early life telomere length in some species, and an array of complex more focus on how environmental factors that interactions across scales may help to explain some of the variation observed among studies.

opencc-zeroSep 2023View details →

dryad36/100