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Fig. 4 in Life-history of the South American darter, Characidium pterostictum (Crenuchidae): evidence for small scale spatial variation in a piedmont stream

Fig. 4. Seasonal variation in proportion (%) of maturity stages for Characidium pterostictum at Lajeado river (southern Brazil). Values for PA and PB were pooled.

Fig. 3 in Life-history of the South American darter, Characidium pterostictum (Crenuchidae): evidence for small scale spatial variation in a piedmont stream

Fig. 3. Seasonal variation of the gonadosomatic index (GSI) of Characidium pterostictum in Lajeado river, southern Brazil.

Fig. 5 in Life-history of the South American darter, Characidium pterostictum (Crenuchidae): evidence for small scale spatial variation in a piedmont stream

Fig. 5. Boxplots comparing the total length of mature Characidium pterostictum at two sampling sites at Lajeado river (southern Brazil). PA, upstream site; PB, downstream site. Circles are outliers.

Fig. 2 in Life-history of the South American darter, Characidium pterostictum (Crenuchidae): evidence for small scale spatial variation in a piedmont stream

Fig. 2. Boxplots comparing the total length (Lt) of Characidium pterostictum in Lajeado river (southern Brazil). PA, upstream site; PB downstream site. Numbers in parenthesis are sample size; filled circles are outliers, asterisks are extreme values, dotted line is the mean Lt.

Fig. 1 in Life-history of the South American darter, Characidium pterostictum (Crenuchidae): evidence for small scale spatial variation in a piedmont stream

Fig. 1. Size frequency distribution (total length, Lt) for Characidium pterostictum in two sampling sites at Lajeado river, southern Brazil (PA, n = 62; PB, n = 188).

publicJan 2025View details →

dryad40/100

Linking spatial variations in life-history traits to environmental conditions across American black bear populations

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zenodo36/100

Quantifying the spatial heterogeneity of forest conversion costs and how it relates to biodiversity, conservation and land use history

Description: Start and end dates of salvage logging activity at the SAFE Project experimental siteProject: This dataset was collected as part of the following SAFE research project: <a href="https://www.safeproject.net/projects/project_view/6">Quantifying the spatial heterogeneity of forest conversion costs and how it relates to biodiversity, conservation and land use history</a>Funding: These data were collected as part of research funded by: <ul><li>Sime Darby (grant)</li></ul>This dataset is released under the CC-BY 4.0 licence, requiring that you cite the dataset in any outputs, but has the additional condition that you acknowledge the contribution of these funders in any outputs.Permits: These data were collected under permit from the following authorities:<ul><li>Sabah Biodiversity Council (Research licence na)</li></ul>XML metadata: GEMINI compliant metadata for this dataset is available <a href="https://www.safeproject.net/datasets/xml_metadata?id=3266827">here</a>Files: This dataset consists of 2 files: template_Symes.xlsx, SAFE_COUPE.ziptemplate_Symes.xlsxThis file contains dataset metadata and 1 data tables:<ol><li>Salvage logging records (described in worksheet Data)Description: Dates of earliest and latest known salvage logging activity in logging coupesNumber of fields: 10Number of data rows: 187Fields: <ul><li>CoupeNumber: Coupe number (Field type: Location)</li><li>StartDateTrack: Earliest date of logging activity recorded through GPS loggers on bulldozers (Field type: Date)</li><li>EndDateTrack: Last date of logging activity recorded through GPS loggers on bulldozers (Field type: Date)</li><li>StartDateLocation: Earliest date of logging activity recorded through 'Location' method (Field type: Date)</li><li>EndDateLocation: Last date of logging activity recorded through 'Location' method (Field type: Date)</li><li>StartDateMeasurement: Earliest date of logging activity recorded through 'Measurement' method (Field type: Date)</li><li>EndDateMeasurement: Last date of logging activity recorded through 'Measurement' method (Field type: Date)</li><li>Contractor: Name of the contractor responsible for the coupe (Field type: ID)</li><li>GlobalStart: Earliest date of any recorded salvage logging activity (Field type: Date)</li><li>GlobalEnd: Last date of any recorded salvage logging activity (Field type: Date)</li></ul></li></ol>SAFE_COUPE.zipDescription: SAFE coupe dataDate range: 2013-01-02 to 2015-12-31Latitudinal extent: 4.5000 to 5.0700Longitudinal extent: 116.7500 to 117.8200

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2019View details →

dryad36/100

Data from: Spatial structuring and life history connectivity of Antarctic silverfish along the southern continental shelf of the Weddell Sea

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publicMay 2020View details →

opencc-zeroOct 2020View details →

Spatial connectedness imposes local- and metapopulation-level selection on life history through feedbacks on demography

Dispersal evolution impacts the fluxes of individuals and hence, connectivity in metapopulations. Connectivity is therefore decoupled from the structural connectedness of the patches within the spatial network. Because of demographic feedbacks, local selection also drives the evolution of other life history traits. We investigated how different levels of connectedness affect trait evolution in experimental metapopulations of the two-spotted spider mite. We separated local- and metapopulation-level selection and linked trait divergence to population dynamics.

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: The influence of landscape, climate, and history on spatial genetic patterns in keystone plants (Azorella) on sub-Antarctic islands

The distribution of genetic variation in species is governed by factors that act differently across spatial scales. To tease apart the contribution of different processes, especially at intermediate spatial scales, it is useful to study simpler ecosystems such as those on sub-Antarctic oceanic islands. In this study, we characterize spatial genetic patterns of two keystone plant species, Azorella selago on sub-Antarctic Marion Island and Azorella macquariensis on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island. Although both islands experience a similar climate and vegetation structure, they differ significantly in topography and geological history. We genotyped six microsatellites for 1149 individuals from 123 sites across Marion Island and 372 individuals from 42 sites across Macquarie Island. We tested for spatial patterns in genetic diversity, including correlation with elevation and vegetation type, and clines in different directional bearings. We also examined genetic differentiation within islands, isolation-by-distance with and without accounting for direction, and signals of demographic change. Marion Island was found to have a distinct northwest-southeast divide, with lower genetic diversity and more sites with signal of population expansion in the northwest. We attribute this to asymmetric seed dispersal by the dominant northwesterly winds, and to population persistence in a southwestern refugium during the last Glacial Maximum. No apparent spatial pattern, but greater genetic diversity and differentiation between sites, was found on Macquarie Island, which may be due to the narrow length of the island in the direction of the dominant winds and longer population persistence permitted by the lack of extensive glaciation on the island.

opencc-zeroDec 2009View details →

Data from: Post-Pleistocene demographic history of the North Atlantic endemic Irish moss Chondrus crispus: glacial survival, spatial expansion and gene flow

Range expansions and gene flow as micro-evolutionary processes played a leading role in the population demographic history of marine organisms. Herein, we sequenced partial mtDNA Cox1 gene from 26 assigned geographic populations in order to understand how Irish moss (Chondrus crispus) responded to severe climatic oscillations during the Pleistocene glaciations and contemporary forces such as gene flow. Phylogeographic patterns indicated that haplotype frequency distributions were strongly skewed, with nearly half found only in single samples and thus restricted to a single population. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that most of the variation was within populations with no significant genetic structuring on either side of the Atlantic. Demographic analyses indicated that ISI (Irish Sea and Ireland) and NS (the North Sea) areas experienced a slight trend of increase in population size over time, whereas EC (the English Channel) area experienced expansion beginning approximately 170,000-360,000 BP. The observed complex genetic pattern of C. crispus is consistent with a scenario of multiple unrelated founding events by survival of this species in at least three putative Pleistocene refugia along the European coastline, and subsequent trans-Atlantic dispersal combined with contiguous northward population expansion predating the LGM and geographically gene flow.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Environment-dependent variation in selection on life history across small spatial scales

Variation in life-history traits is ubiquitous, even though genetic variation is thought to be depleted by selection. One potential mechanism for the maintenance of trait variation is spatially-variable selection. We explored spatial variation in selection in the field for a colonial marine invertebrate that shows phenotypic differences across a depth gradient of only three meters. Our analysis included life-history traits relating to module size, colony growth and phenology. Directional selection on colony growth varied in strength across depths, while module size was under directional selection at one depth but not the other. Differences in selection may explain some of the observed phenotypic differentiation among depths for one trait but not another: instead, selection should actually erode the differences observed for this trait. Our results suggest selection is not acting alone to maintain trait variation within and across environments in this system.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Demographic history influences spatial patterns of genetic diversity in recently expanded coyote (Canis latrans) populations

Human-mediated range expansions have increased in recent decades and represent unique opportunities to evaluate genetic outcomes of establishing peripheral populations across broad expansion fronts. Over the past century, coyotes (Canis latrans) have undergone a pervasive range expansion and now inhabit every state in the continental United States. Coyote expansion into eastern North America was facilitated by anthropogenic landscape changes and followed two broad expansion fronts. The northern expansion extended through the Great Lakes region and southern Canada, where hybridization with remnant wolf populations was common. The southern and more recent expansion front occurred approximately 40 years later and across territory where gray wolves have been historically absent and remnant red wolves were extirpated in the 1970s. We conducted a genetic survey at 10 microsatellite loci of 482 coyotes originating from 11 eastern U.S. states to address how divergent demographic histories influence geographic patterns of genetic diversity. We found that population structure corresponded to a north-south divide, which is consistent with the two known expansion routes. Additionally, we observed extremely high genetic diversity, which is atypical of recently expanded populations and is likely the result of multiple complex demographic processes, in addition to hybridization with other Canis species. Finally, we considered the transition of allele frequencies across geographic space and suggest the mid-Atlantic states of North Carolina and Virginia as an emerging contact zone between these two distinct coyote expansion fronts.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Do spatial scale and life history affect fish-habitat relationships?

1. Understanding how animals interact with their environment is a fundamental ecological question with important implications for conservation and management. The relationships between animals and their habitat, however, can be scale dependent. If ecologists work at suboptimal spatial scales, they will gain an incomplete picture of how animals respond to the landscape. Identifying the scale at which animal-landscape relationships are strongest (the 'scale of effect') will improve our ability to better plan management and conservation activities. 2. Several recent studies have greatly enhanced our knowledge about the scale of effect, and the potential drivers of inter-specific variability, in particular life-history traits. However, while many marine systems are inherently multi-scalar, research into the scale of effect has been mainly focussed on terrestrial taxa. As the scales of observation in fish-habitat association studies are often selected based on convention rather than biological reasoning, they may provide an incomplete picture of the scales where these associations are strongest. 3. We examined fish-habitat associations across four nested spatial scales in a temperate reef system to ask: (1.) at what scale are fish-habitat associations the strongest, (2.) are habitat elements consistently important across scales, and (3.) do scale-dependent fish-habitat associations vary in relation to either body size, geographic range size or trophic level? 4. We found that: (1.) the strongest fish-habitat associations were observed when these relationships were examined at considerably larger spatial scales than usually investigated; (2.) the importance of environmental predictors varied across spatial scales, indicating that conclusions about the importance of habitat elements will depend on the scales at which studies are undertaken; and (3.) scale-dependent fish-habitat associations were consistent across all life-history traits. 5. Our results highlight the importance of considering how animals relate to their environment and suggest the small scales often chosen to examine fish-habitat associations are likely to be suboptimal. Developing a more mechanistic understanding of animal-habitat associations will greatly aid in predicting and managing responses to future anthropogenic disturbances.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Spatially varying selection shapes life history clines among populations of Drosophila melanogaster from sub-Saharan Africa

Clines in life history traits, presumably driven by spatially varying selection, are widespread. Major latitudinal clines have been observed, for example, in Drosophila melanogaster, an ancestrally tropical insect from Africa that has colonized temperate habitats on multiple continents. Yet, how geographic factors other than latitude, such as altitude or longitude, affect life history in this species remains poorly understood. Moreover, most previous work has been performed on derived European, American and Australian populations, but whether life history also varies predictably with geography in the ancestral Afro-tropical range has not been investigated systematically. Here, we have examined life history variation among populations of D. melanogaster from sub-Saharan Africa. Viability and reproductive diapause did not vary with geography, but body size increased with altitude, latitude and longitude. Early fecundity covaried positively with altitude and latitude, whereas lifespan showed the opposite trend. Examination of genetic variance–covariance matrices revealed geographic differentiation also in trade-off structure, and QST-FST analysis showed that life history differentiation among populations is likely shaped by selection. Together, our results suggest that geographic and/or climatic factors drive adaptive phenotypic differentiation among ancestral African populations and confirm the widely held notion that latitude and altitude represent parallel gradients.

opencc-zeroApr 2022View details →

History and environment shape spatial genetic variation and predict climate maladaptation in a narrowly distributed serotinous pine, Pinus muricata

Understanding the distribution of genetic diversity and differentiation in species with disjunct and isolated populations is critical for assessing how environment shapes genetic variation and the potential response to climate change. In contrast to the large distributions and population sizes of most pine species, Pinus muricata (Bishop pine) occurs in a small number of isolated and disjunct populations occupying a narrow band of environmental conditions along the coast of western North America. We used genotyping by sequencing to generate population genomic data for trees sampled from nearly all existing populations of P. muricata (12 populations, 213 individuals, 7,828 loci) to describe the spatial arrangement of genetic differentiation and diversity. We used genetic-environment association (GEA) analyses to quantify the contribution of environmental variables to local adaptation and spatial genetic structure. Based on these results, we quantified relative levels of potential maladaptation given future climate projections at 2041 – 2060 and 2081 – 2100. Our analyses reveal pronounced spatial genetic structure across the distribution, with most populations forming genetically identifiable groups across a latitudinal gradient, and remarkable evidence for differentiation among three proximally distributed stands on Santa Cruz Island. Despite occurring in small, isolated populations, P. muricata do not exhibit strongly reduced diversity. GEA analyses suggested that specific soil and climate variables have contributed to local adaptation. Genomic offset analyses suggest geographic variation in potential maladaptation, with northern populations experiencing higher levels under projected climate change. Overall, our results suggest that isolation and local adaptation have shaped genetic variation among disjunct populations, and illustrate the consequences of this variation for P. muricata under projected climate change.

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

The relative influence of history, climate, topography and vegetation structure on local animal richness varies among taxa and spatial grains

Understanding the spatial scales at which environmental factors drive species richness patterns is a major challenge in ecology. Due to the trade-off between spatial grain and extent, studies tend to focus on a single spatial scale, and the effects of multiple environmental variables operating across spatial scales on the pattern of local species richness have rarely been investigated. Here, we related variation in local species richness of ground beetles, landbirds, and small mammals to variation in vegetation structure and topography, regional climate, biome diversity, and glaciation history for 27 sites across the USA at two different spatial grains. We studied the relative influence of broad-scale (landscape) environmental conditions using variables estimated at the site level (climate, productivity, biome diversity, and glacial era ice cover) and fine-scale (local) environmental conditions using variables estimated at the plot level (topography and vegetation structure) to explain local species richness. We also examined whether plot-level factors scale up to drive continental scale richness patterns. We used Bayesian hierarchical models and quantified the amount of variance in observed richness that was explained by environmental factors at different spatial scales. For all three animal groups, our models explained much of the variation in local species richness (85-89%), but site-level variables explained a greater proportion of richness variance than plot-level variables. Temperature was the most important site-level predictor for explaining variance in landbirds and ground beetles richness. Some aspects of vegetation structure were the main plot-level predictors of landbird richness. Environmental predictors generally had poor explanatory power for small mammal richness, while glacial era ice cover was the most important site-level predictor. Relationships between plot-level factors and richness varied greatly among geographical regions and spatial grains, and most relationships did not hold when predictors were scaled up to continental scale. Our results suggest that the factors that determine richness may be highly dependent on spatial grain, geography, and animal group. We demonstrate that instead of artificially manipulating the resolution to study multi-scale effects, a hierarchical approach that uses fine grain data at broad extents could help solve the issue of scale selection in environment-richness studies.

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

Life-history stage and the population genetics of the tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus at a fine spatial scale

As a widespread vector of disease, the mosquito species Aedes albopictus Skuse (Diptera: Culicidae) is a high priority for both public health and invasive species research and management. Like all mosquitoes, A. albopictus has a complex life history with aquatic egg, larval, and pupal stages and a terrestrial adult stage. This requires targeted management strategies for each life stage, coordinated across time and space. Researchers use population genetics to inform control of A. albopictus. However, these studies do not consider the impact on life stage on population genetic characteristics and subsequent conclusions. Our objective was to examine whether the life stage impacted patterns of A. albopictus genetic diversity and differentiation at a spatial scale relevant to management efforts. We first conducted a literature review of field-caught A. albopictus population genetic papers and identified 74 peer-reviewed publications, none of which compared results between life stages. We them examined population genetic patterns of egg and adult A. albopictus at five sites in Wake County, North Carolina USA using 8,425 single nucleotide polymorphisms. We found that level of genetic diversity and connectivity between sites varied between adults and eggs. This warrants further study and is critical for research aimed at informing local management.