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16 results for “Niche construction”
Model, data, and analysis for Negative Niche Construction Favors the Evolution of Cooperation
<p>This repository contains the model, data, and analysis corresponding to <em>Negative Niche Construction Favors the Evolution of Cooperation</em> as submitted for review by Brian D. Connelly, Katherine J. Dickinson, Sarah P. Hammarlund, and Benjamin Kerr. Contents are released to the public domain under the Creative Commons CC0 License.</p>
7,000 years of turnover: historical contingency and human niche construction shape the Caribbean's Anthropocene biota
The human-mediated movement of species across biogeographic boundaries—whether intentional or accidental—is dramatically reshaping the modern world. Conservation biologists are grappling with the present-day effects of these introductions, but humans have in fact been reshaping ecosystems and translocating species for millennia. Acknowledging the effects of human-mediated species introductions through time is important for understanding present-day biodiversity loss, ecosystem functioning, and management needs. Here, we present the first database of terrestrial vertebrate species introductions spanning the entire anthropogenic history of a system. This ~7,000 year Caribbean dataset allows us to assess the roles of historical contingency and priority effects in shaping present-day conservation outcomes. We analyzed the spatial and temporal dynamics of species introductions in the context of cultural practices and human population histories spanning Indigenous, colonial, and modern human societies. We highlight how serial human colonization contributed to habitat modifications and species extinctions that then shaped subsequent species introductions by other human groups, altering ecosystem processes dramatically. We quantify how the taxonomic and biogeographical diversity of species introductions increases over time, reflecting diversifying reasons for species introductions. Importantly, we use the record to highlight gaps in the archaeological record, ongoing management challenges, and research opportunities in today's Caribbean biota.
7,000 years of turnover: historical contingency and human niche construction shape the Caribbean’s Anthropocene biota
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Data from: Niche construction by growth forms is as strong a predictor of species diversity as environmental gradients
We present a conceptual framework that describes how species belonging to a growth form collectively can be niche constructors (i.e. modify niches) and affect species diversity in plant communities. We use an empirical assessment of tundra plant communities to illustrate the framework's utility. In doing so, we make a first investigation of collective niche construction in ecological communities. In tundra plant communities, growth forms differently affect ecosystem process rates and cause environmental modifications; thus, growth forms are strong candidates for being niche constructors. To assess the impact of growth form niche construction on plant species diversity, we excluded the species of the growth form applied as niche constructor when estimating the community species diversity. We assessed niche construction in 70 tundra meadow communities and 1450 randomly selected tundra plant communities that are distributed along ecological gradients in temperature, resource availability, competitive interference and herbivory. These gradients allowed us to concomitantly assess to what extent the niche construction is independent of environmental conditions. Growth forms varied from strong positive to neutral predictors of both species richness and Simpson index in the order of forbs, grasses, sedges, deciduous shrubs and evergreen shrubs, suggesting that growth forms have important roles as niche constructors in tundra plant communities. Also, the environmental conditions were strong predictors of species diversity, but they did not interact with or confound the effects of growth forms. Forbs and grasses were the least abundant growth forms, yet they were the strongest positive predictors of species diversity. Therefore, our results suggest a particular niche-constructing role of these growth forms for enhancing species diversity in tundra plant communities. Synthesis. In this study, we provide conceptual and empirical evidence for collective niche construction as a powerful ecological process that affects species diversity and that can act independently of environmental conditions. Species sharing a single trait or species belonging to a growth form can act as collective niche constructors, and as exemplified for growth forms in this study, be important predictors of species diversity in ecological communities.
Data for: Aphids increase their rate of survival on emergent aquatic plants through niche construction
<p>Flooding or rain is a threat to many insects in nature, and herbivorous invertebrates whose hosts are emergent aquatic plants. They may thus have developed particular adaptations to enable them to withstand the flooding that is a feature of emergent plants' environment. The aphid <em>Hyalopterus</em> <em>pruni</em> (Hemiptera: Aphididae) modifies the physical and chemical conditions of its habitat by periodically spreading wax around itself with its hind legs. This behaviour constitutes a form of niche construction. We hypothesized that the aphid decreases its risk of death of own or around other individuals when submerged in water by spreading wax powder secreted from its body onto the leaves of its host plant <em>Phragmites australis</em>. We compared the hydrophobicity of waxed and normal leaf surfaces. Next, we compared the survival rates of wax-powdering and non-wax-powdering aphids under submerged and rainy conditions in the laboratory and in the field. Finally, we examined whether the aphids' wax powdering behaviour increased as a result of experiencing brief submergence or rain. The surface of the waxed area was significantly more water-repellent than the surface of unwaxed leaves. The waxed areas held bubbles of air when underwater. In experiments, aphids without wax around themselves exhibited lower survival rates: 22.9% in laboratory conditions and 15.7% in field conditions after 48 hours underwater. In contrast, aphids that secreted wax had higher survival rates, with 41.5% and 38.2% under laboratory and field conditions, respectively, after the same duration. Aphids exposed to rainfall showed similar results. Moreover, aphids that had experienced rain or submersion for 24 h engaged in increased wax powdering behaviour. These results indicate that aphids reduce their risk of drowning by powdering secreted wax onto the surface of leaves around them. Our findings suggest that niche construction by herbivorous invertebrates supports their ability to utilise host plants that grow under stressful conditions, such as emergent plants that are subject to periodic inundation.</p>
Behavioral responses by a bumble bee to competition with a niche-constructing congener
<ul> <li><span>While feeding, foragers can alter their environment. Such alteration constitutes ecological niche construction (ENC) if it enables future benefits for the constructor and conspecific individuals. The environmental modification may also affect non-constructing, bystander species, especially if they share resources with constructor species. If so, ENC could confer the constructor species a competitive advantage by both enhancing its foraging returns and reducing those of bystander species. </span></li> <li><span>Expectations – (E1) ENC frequency should vary positively with the recent and current density of the constructor species, and (E2) constructors should use modifications disproportionately. In contrast, bystanders should (E3) experience intensified competition for the affected resource, and (E4) exhibit diverse, possibly mitigating, responses to ENC, depending on opportunity and relative benefits. </span></li> <li><span>We investigated these expectations in Argentina for competition for <i>Fuchsia magellanica</i> nectar between an invasive bumble bee, <i>Bombus terrestris</i> (<i>terr</i>: putative constructor), that often bites holes at the bases of floral tubes to rob nectar, and native <i>B. dahlbomii</i> (<i>dahl</i>: bystander), which normally accesses <i>Fuchsia</i> nectar through the flower mouth (front visits). Robbing holes constitute ENC, as they persist until the 7-day flowers wilt. The dynamics of the incidence of robbed flowers, abundance of both bees, and the number and types of their flower visits (front or robbing) were characterised by alternate-day surveys of plants during 2.5 months.</span></li> <li><span>After initially accessing <i>Fuchsia</i> nectar via front visits, <i>terr</i> switched to robbing and its abundance on <i>Fuchsia</i> increased 20-fold within 10 days (E2). Correspondingly, the incidence of robbed flowers varied positively with recent and past <i>terr</i> abundance (E1). In contrast, <i>dahl</i> abundance remained low and varied negatively with the incidence of robbed flowers (E3). When <i>terr</i> ceased visiting <i>Fuchsia</i>, <i>dahl</i> abundance increased six-fold within 10 days (E3), possibly because many <i>dahl</i> previously had avoided competition with <i>terr</i> by feeding on other plant species (E4). While <i>terr</i> was present, <i>dahl</i> on <i>Fuchsia</i> used front visits (tolerance) or used existing robbing holes (adoption: E4). The diverse <i>dahl</i> responses suggest partial compensation for competition with<i> terr</i>.</span></li> <li><span>ENC alters competitive asymmetry, favouring constructor species. However, bystander responses can partially offset this advantage, perhaps facilitating coexistence. </span></li> </ul>
Supplementary data for Yeoman's et al. in review "Waterfowl eggshell refines palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and multi-species niche construction at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the Levant"
<p>This upload contains MALDI-TOF mass spectra, averaged from replicates or as single-best spectrum, as .txt files. Data derive from archaeological eggshells samples for the paper "Waterfowl eggshell refines palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and multi-species niche construction at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the Levant". </p> <p>Sample preparation:</p> <p>Eggshell was recovered from multiple contexts at Shubayqa 1 and Shubayqa 6 from flotation samples [screened with 1mm mesh]. A sample of 34 eggshell fragments were selected for preliminary analysis across seven excavation contexts. Samples were processed according to Demarchi et al., (2022). Briefly, 10-30 mg of sample were ground to a powder and treated with bleach (NaOCl 12-15% w/v) for 72 hours. Samples were washed thoroughly and demineralised in 0.6M hydrochloridric acid (HCl) prior to filtration with 3000 Da Nanosep micro-ultrafiltration cells. Sulfide bonds were reduced and alkylated using dithiothreitol (1M, aqueous solution) and iodoacetamide (0.5 M, aqueous solution) and the samples were digested in trypsin overnight at 37 °C. Following digestion, peptide digests were purified using C18 Zip-tips according to the manufacturer’s directions, prior to spotting. Samples were analysed in triplicate or duplicate by MALDI-MS (Bruker Microflex MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer).</p>
Data from: Functional trait evolution in Sphagnum peat mosses and its relationship to niche construction
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Data from: Niche construction by growth forms is as strong a predictor of species diversity as environmental gradients
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Data for: Aphids increase their rate of survival on emergent aquatic plants through niche construction
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Data from: Evidence of developmental niche construction in dung beetles: effects on growth, scaling and reproductive success
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Behavioral responses by a bumble bee to competition with a niche-constructing congener
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Data from: Niche construction affects the variability and strength of natural selection
Consideration of the properties of the sources of selection potentially helps biologists to account for variation in selection. Here we explore how the variability of natural selection is affected by organisms that regulate the experienced environment through their activities (whether by constructing components of their local environments such as nests, burrows, or pupal cases, or by choosing suitable resources). Specifically, we test the prediction that organism-constructed sources of selection that buffer environmental variation will result in reduced variation in selection gradients, including reduced variation between (i) years (temporal variation), and (ii) locations (spatial variation), and (iii) weaker directional selection, relative to non-constructed sources. Using compiled datasets of 1045 temporally replicated, 257 spatially replicated, and a pooled dataset of 1230 selection gradients, we find compelling evidence for reduced temporal variation and weaker selection, in response to constructed compared to non-constructed sources, and some evidence for reduced spatial variation in selection. These findings, which remained robust to alternative datasets, taxa, analytical methods, definitions of constructed/non-constructed, and other tests of reliability, suggest that organism-manufactured or chosen components of environments may have qualitatively different properties from other environmental features.
Data from: Niche construction affects the variability and strength of natural selection
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Data from: Positive plant-soil feedbacks trigger tannin evolution by niche construction: a spatial stoichiometric model
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Data from: Rapid evolution of adaptive niche construction in experimental microbial populations
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