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93 results for “ecological gradient”
Wildlife in urban neighborhoods of the greater Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area: patterns that span a social-ecological gradient in 2021
Wildlife communities are structured by numerous ecological filters in cities that influence their populations, and some species even manage to thrive in urban landscapes. CAP researchers were the first to observe “the luxury effect”, the hypothesis that biodiversity is positively related to income of residents. The luxury effect is still being tested worldwide twenty years later and has led to important new research on other socio-demographic factors that shape biodiversity but are vastly understudied, such as race and ethnicity, as well as the interaction of these factors with urban structural inequalities that may be hidden by income. This research aims to unpack the luxury effect by considering other landscape and socio-demographic factors that may influence wildlife communities across neighborhoods of metro Phoenix. Specifically, we are investigating if neighborhood income and ethnicity independently influence mammal occupancy in neighborhoods across the CAP ecosystem. To answer this question, we leveraged a wildlife camera array across CAP within community parks, in which cameras are placed across a gradient of average median household income and percent Latinx of residents. Incorporating socioeconomic data into urban mammal research will allow for the advancement in the understanding of socio-ecological patterns.
Data from: Fluctuation of ecological niches and geographic range shifts along chile pepper's domestication gradient
<p>Domestication is an ongoing well-described process. However, while many have stud- ied the changes domestication causes in plant genetics, few have explored its impact on the portion of the geographic landscape in which the plants exist. Therefore, the goal of this study was to understand how the process of domestication changed the geographic space suitable for chile pepper (<em>Capsicum annuum</em>) in its center of origin (domestication). <em>C. annuum</em> is a major crop species globally whose center of domes- tication, Mexico, has been well-studied. It provides a unique opportunity to explore the degree to which ranges of different domestication classes diverged and how these ranges might be altered by climate change. To this end, we created ecological niche models for four domestication classes (wild, semiwild, landrace, modern cultivar) based on present climate and future climate scenarios for 2050, 2070, and 2090. Considering present environment, we found substantial overlap in the geographic niches of all the domestication classes. Yet, environmental and geographic aspects of the current ranges did vary among classes. Wild and commercial varieties could grow in desert conditions, while landraces could not. With projections into the future, habitat was lost asymmetrically, with wild, semiwild, and landraces at greater risk of territorial declines than modern cultivars. Further, we identified areas where future suitability overlap between landraces and wilds is expected to be lost. While range expansion is widely associated with domestication, we found little support of a con- stant niche expansion (either in environmental or geographical space) throughout the domestication gradient in chile peppers in Mexico. Instead, particular domestication transitions resulted in loss, followed by capturing or recapturing environmental or geographic space. The differences in environmental characterization among domes- tication gradient classes and their future potential range shifts increase the need for conservation efforts to preserve landraces and semiwild genotypes</p>
Data from: An environmental habitat gradient and within-habitat segregation enable co-existence of ecologically similar bird species
<p>Niche theory predicts that ecologically similar species can co-exist through multidimensional niche partitioning. However, due to the challenges of accounting for both abiotic and biotic processes in ecological niche modelling, the underlying mechanisms that facilitate co-existence of competing species are poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated potential mechanisms underlying the co-existence of ecologically similar bird species in a biodiversity-rich transboundary montane forest in east-central Africa by computing niche overlap indices along an environmental elevation gradient, diet, forest strata, activity patterns, and within-habitat segregation across horizontal space. We found strong support for abiotic environmental habitat niche partitioning, with 55% of species pairs having separate elevation niches. For the remaining species pairs that exhibited similar elevation niches, we found that within-habitat segregation across horizontal space and to a lesser extent vertical forest strata provided the most likely mechanisms of species co-existence. Co-existence of ecologically similar species within a highly diverse montane forest was determined primarily by abiotic factors (e.g., environmental elevation gradient) that characterize the Grinnellian niche and secondarily by biotic factors (e.g., vertical and horizontal segregation within habitats) that describe the Eltonian niche. Thus, partitioning across multiple levels of spatial organization is a key mechanism of co-existence in diverse communities.</p>
Impact of forest disturbance on microarthropod communities depends on underlying ecological gradient and species traits
<p>Dataset and R scripts used in the publication "Impact of forest disturbance on microarthropod communities depends on underlying ecological gradient and species traits", PeerJ</p>
Data from: Inferring ecological selection from multidimensional community trait distributions along environmental gradients
<p>Understanding the drivers of community assembly is critical for predicting the future of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecological selection ubiquitously shapes communities by selecting for individuals with most suitable trait combinations. Detecting selection types on key traits across environmental gradients and over time has the potential to reveal underlying abiotic and biotic drivers of community dynamics. Here we present a model-based predictive framework to quantify multidimensional trait distributions of communities (community trait niches), which we use to identify ecological selection types shaping communities along environmental gradients. We apply the framework to over 3600 boreal forest understory plant communities with results indicating that directional, stabilizing, and divergent selection all modify community trait niches and that the selection type acting on individual traits may change over time. Our results provide novel and rare empirical evidence for divergent selection within a natural system. Our approach provides a framework for identifying key traits under selection and facilitates the detection of processes underlying community dynamics.</p>
Data from: Inferring ecological selection from multidimensional community trait distributions along environmental gradients
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Data from: Fluctuation of ecological niches and geographic range shifts along chile pepper's domestication gradient
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: An environmental habitat gradient and within-habitat segregation enable co-existence of ecologically similar bird species
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Change in sexual signalling traits outruns morphological divergence across an ecological gradient in the post‐glacial radiation of the songbird genus Junco
<p>The relative roles of natural and sexual selection in promoting evolutionary lineage divergence remains controversial and difficult to assess in natural systems. Local adaptation through natural selection is known to play a central role in promoting evolutionary divergence, yet secondary sexual traits can vary widely among species in recent radiations, suggesting that sexual selection may also be important in the early stages of speciation. Here we compare rates of divergence in ecologically relevant traits (morphology) and sexually selected signaling traits (coloration) relative to neutral structure in genome-wide molecular markers, and examine patterns of variation in sexual dichromatism to explore the roles of natural and sexual selection in the diversification of the songbird genus <i>Junco </i>(Aves: Passerellidae). Juncos include divergent lineages in Central America and several dark-eyed junco (<i>J. hyemalis</i>) lineages that diversified recently as the group recolonized North America following the last glacial maximum (c.a. 18,000 years ago). We found an accelerated rate of divergence in sexually selected characters relative to ecologically relevant traits. Moreover, sexual dichromatism measurements suggested a positive relationship between the degree of color divergence and the strength of sexual selection when controlling for neutral genetic distance. We also found a positive correlation between dichromatism and latitude, which coincides with the geographic axis of decreasing lineage age in juncos but also with a steep ecological gradient. Finally, we found significant associations between genome-wide variants linked to functional genes and proxies of both sexual and natural selection. These results suggest that the joint effects of sexual and ecological selection have played a prominent role in the junco radiation.</p>
Data from: Population variation, environmental gradients, and the evolutionary ecology of plant defense against herbivory
A central tenet of plant defense theory is that adaptation to the abiotic environment sets the template for defense strategies, imposing a tradeoff between plant growth and defense. Yet, this tradeoff, commonly found among species occupying divergent resource environments, may not occur across populations of single species. We hypothesized that more favorable climates and higher levels of herbivory would lead to increases in growth and defense across plant populations. We evaluated whether plant growth and defense traits co-varied across 18 populations of showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) inhabiting an east-west climate gradient, spanning 25° of longitude. A suite of traits impacting defense (e.g., latex, cardenolides), growth (e.g., size), or both (e.g., SLA, trichomes) were measured in natural populations and in a common garden, allowing us to evaluate plastic and genetically based variation in these traits. In natural populations, herbivore pressure increased towards warmer sites with longer growing seasons. Growth and defense traits showed strong clinal patterns and were positively correlated. In a common garden, clines with climatic origin were only recapitulated for defense traits. Correlations between growth and defense traits were also weaker and more negative in the common garden compared to the natural populations. Thus, our data suggest that climatically favorable sites likely facilitate the evolution of greater defense at minimal costs to growth, likely because of increased resource acquisition.
Data from: Genomic divergence across ecological gradients in the Central African rainforest songbird (Andropadus virens)
The little greenbul, a common rainforest passerine from sub-Saharan Africa, has been the subject of long-term evolutionary studies to understand the mechanisms leading to rainforest speciation. Previous research found morphological and behavioural divergence across rainforest–savannah transition zones (ecotones), and a pattern of divergence with gene flow suggesting divergent natural selection has contributed to adaptive divergence and ecotones could be important areas for rainforests speciation. Recent advances in genomics and environmental modelling make it possible to examine patterns of genetic divergence in a more comprehensive fashion. To assess the extent to which natural selection may drive patterns of differentiation, here we investigate patterns of genomic differentiation among populations across environmental gradients and regions. We find compelling evidence that individuals form discrete genetic clusters corresponding to distinctive environmental characteristics and habitat types. Pairwise FST between populations in different habitats is significantly higher than within habitats, and this differentiation is greater than what is expected from geographic distance alone. Moreover, we identified 140 SNPs that showed extreme differentiation among populations through a genomewide selection scan. These outliers were significantly enriched in exonic and coding regions, suggesting their functional importance. Environmental association analysis of SNP variation indicates that several environmental variables, including temperature and elevation, play important roles in driving the pattern of genomic diversification. Results lend important new genomic evidence for environmental gradients being important in population differentiation.
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>
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>
Competition components along productivity gradients – revisiting a classic dispute in ecology
Competition is ubiquitous in plant communities with various effects on plant fitness and community structure. A long-standing debate about different approaches to explain competition is the controversy between David Tilman and Philip Grime. Grime stated that the importance of competition relative to the impact of the environment increases along a productivity gradient, while Tilman argued that the intensity of competition is independent of productivity. To revisit this controversy, we assumed that the effects of plant-plant interactions are additive and applied the new competition indices by Diaz-Sierra et al. (2017) in a field experiment along a productivity gradient in S-Germany, using the rare arable plant Arnoseris minima as a study species. The 'target technique' was applied, to separate the effects of root and shoot competition. The study plants were exposed to five competition treatments with three replicates in 18 sites, respectively. We investigated the expectation that root competition is more intense in unproductive sites than shoot competition. Additionally, we predicted survival to be less affected by competition than growth-related plant parameters. Using the biomass of individuals without competition as a proxy for site productivity there was a positive relationship with competition importance but no relationship with competition intensity when plants experienced full competition. Survival of the target plants was unaffected by competition. Root competition was the main mechanism determining the performance of the target plants, whereas the effect of shoot competition was relatively low albeit increasing with productivity. We conclude that when considering plant-plant interactions additive both Grime's and Tilman's theories can be supported
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>
Shifts in dominance and complementarity between sessile oak and beech along ecological gradients
<p>Whether tree species benefit from growing in a mixed forest depends on the relative importance of positive versus negative interactions, which varies according to abiotic conditions. In mixture with sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.), European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is often competitively dominant. Sessile oak, however, is more resistant to water deficit stress. Under water-limiting conditions, facilitation or even competition exerted by oak may gain in importance.</p> <p>We investigated the relative importance of dominance and complementarity in 7 triplets of pure and mixed forests in Belgium's temperate oceanic climate. We analysed ring width data of 145 oaks and 138 beech trees along three distinct gradients: a spatial (i) and a temporal (ii) water availability gradient and a temporal gradient in growing conditions (iii). Gradient (ii) was represented by a precipitation variable, obtained by defining a large set of candidate climate variables over variable time frames, narrowed down using a species and site-specific lasso model. Growing conditions on a temporal gradient (iii) were represented by standardized tree growth. Two sets of linear mixed-effects models were used. Growth models assess mixing effects on ring width along gradients (i) and (ii). Mixing index models test for all three gradients how they affect the relative difference in average ring width of trees in mixed and pure stands.</p> <p>Beech trees grew faster than oak trees, and mixing further increased beech growth while decreasing oak growth, except on drier sites where the negative effect on oak growth disappeared. Low precipitation years, in contrast, reduced the beneficial effect of mixing on beech. In years of low growth, the positive mixing effect on beech growth was reinforced, and the negative mixing effect on oak growth decreased.</p> <p>Synthesis. Mixing buffered against growth limitations in general, though this depends on the nature of the limitation and the gradient over which it is measured. On dry sites, competitive dominance of beech was replaced by higher complementarity between species. During dry years, however, oak did not profit from a decreased mixing benefit of beech.</p>
Data and supplementary materials from: Large genetic divergence underpins cryptic local adaptation across ecological and evolutionary gradients
<p><span>Environmentally covarying local adaptation is a form of cryptic local adaptation in which the covariance of the genetic and environmental effects on a phenotype obscures the divergence between locally adapted genotypes. Here, we systematically document the magnitude and drivers of the genetic effect (V<sub>G</sub>) for two forms of environmentally covarying local adaptation: counter- and cogradient variation. Using a hierarchical Bayesian meta-analysis, we calculated the overall effect size of V<sub>G</sub> as 1.05 and 2.13 for populations exhibiting countergradient or cogradient variation, respectively. These results indicate that the genetic contribution to phenotypic variation represents a 1.05 to 2.13 standard deviation change in trait value between the most disparate populations depending on if populations are expressing counter- or cogradient variation. We also found that while there was substantial variance among abiotic and biotic covariates, the covariates with the largest mean effects were temperature (2.41) and gamete size (2.81). Our results demonstrate the pervasiveness and large genetic effects underlying environmentally covarying local adaptation in wild populations and highlights the importance of accounting for these effects in future studies.</span></p>
Data from: The paleobiologic implications of modern nonmarine ecological gradients
<p>In modern nonmarine settings, previous studies have demonstrated the importance of elevation-correlated ecological gradients, but such studies tend to focus on relatively small areas and only one higher taxon. Here, we analyze GBIF occurrence records from a wide variety of taxa across the southeastern United States coastal plain. Many taxa display ecological gradients (gradients in proportional or relative abundance) correlated with elevation, distance to the coast, and latitude. These gradients tend to be steepest within a few tens of kilometers near the coast and at elevations less than 25 m. Some taxa, notably terrestrial mammals, do not display gradients correlated with elevation and distance to the coast. The small sample sizes of these groups and their heterogeneous sampling raise concerns about whether sufficient data exists. Coupled with previous studies of these ecological gradients, their common presence over distances of tens to hundreds of kilometers and elevations of tens to hundreds of meters suggests they are likely important in the nonmarine fossil record. Because elevation and distance to the coast change predictably with cycles of accommodation and sediment flux, these ecological gradients are predicted to occur in the nonmarine stratigraphic record, especially through intervals that record transgression or regression. Such gradients will affect the local composition of species associations and occurrences, even in the absence of regional species origination, immigration, and extinction and in the absence of regional change in the structure of ecological gradients. The ordination of taxon counts in stratigraphically limited samples has great potential for establishing their existence.</p>
The evolution of sexually dimorphic traits in ecological gradients: An interplay between natural and sexual selection in hummingbirds
<p><span>Traits that exhibit differences between the sexes have been of special interest in the study of phenotypic evolution. Classic hypotheses explain sexually dimorphic traits via intrasexual competition and mate selection, yet natural selection may also act differentially on the sexes to produce dimorphism. Natural selection can act either through physiological and ecological constraints on one of the sexes or by modulating the strength of sexual/social selection. This predicts an association between the degree of dimorphism and variation in ecological environments. Here, we characterise the variation in hummingbird dimorphism across ecological gradients using rich databases of morphology, colouration, and song. We show that morphological dimorphism decreases with elevation in the understorey and increases with elevation in mixed habitats, that dichromatism increases at high altitudes in open and mixed habitats, and that song is less complex in mixed habitats. Our results are consistent with flight constraints, lower predation pressure at high elevations, and with habitat effects on song transmission. We also show that dichromatism and song complexity are positively associated, while tail dimorphism and song complexity are negatively associated. Our results demonstrate that key ecological factors shape sexually dimorphic traits and that different communication modalities do not always evolve in tandem.</span></p>
Ecological niches of epiphyllous bryophytes along afrotropical elevation gradient
<p><span>Understanding multiple environmental drivers governing tropical organisms' distribution and ecological niches is crucial for predicting their responses to ongoing rapid deforestation. While macroclimatic effects via energy and water availability are well predicted, less is known about locally modulating factors such as canopy structure, light and edaphic conditions. Here we show that minimum temperatures and ambient humidity drive the abundance and richness of leaf-inhabiting epiphyllous bryophytes across a 4-km elevation gradient on Mount Cameroon, West Africa, separating epiphyll-rich rainforests (0–2200 m) from epihyll-poor fire-driven afromontane savanna (2300</span><span>–</span><span>4000 m). However, local factors contribute more than half to the total abundance and richness variation, either directly (light) or indirectly (edaphic conditions) via their effects on host plant composition. The most abundant epiphyllous communities occur in vertically stratified upland rainforests between 600 and 1100 m elevation, where N-fixing tree legumes dominate. Their canopy is relatively sparse, due to nutrient-poor soils leached by high rainfall, leaving room for the development of diverse subcanopy tree and understory shrub and herb layers with epiphyll-rich communities. Vertically homogenous lowland rainforests on fertile soils below 500 m, with dense overstory and shaded and species-poor understory, have less developed epiphylls, as do seasonally dry montane forests between 2000 and 2300 m, or elephant fragmented forests between 1200 and 1600 m. We conclude that high temperature and humidity together with a vertically stratified canopy support epiphylls, whereas precipitation seasonality, disturbed vegetation with unstable microclimate, or dense, unstratified canopy discourage the development of epiphyllous communities. Our study illustrates that ecological niches of epiphyllous bryophytes are shaped by a complex interplay of multiple drivers, knowledge of which is essential for more realistic predictions of the impacts of current accelerated habitat loss on species distribution and diversity changes in the tropics.</span></p>
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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.