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97 results for “ecosystem engineers”
Replication Data for: "Ocean acidification increases susceptibility to sub-zero air temperatures in ecosystem engineers and limit poleward range shifts"
<p>These datasets contain all the raw data needed to replicate the results from our paper <em>Ocean acidification increases susceptibility to sub-zero air temperatures in ecosystem engineers and limit poleward range shifts</em> published in eLife - <a href="https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81080">https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81080</a></p>
Design Methodologies and Engineering Applications for Ecosystem Biomimicry: An Interdisciplinary Review Spanning Cyber, Physical, and Cyber-Physical Systems
<p>This is the data for the interdisciplinary review on ecosystem biomimicry for engineering applications. </p>
Mapping ecosystem types and land cover types in the Seychelles granitic islands, using Earth Engine and Sentinel-2
<p>We share here maps produced using Earth Engine: https://code.earthengine.google.com/?accept_repo=users/bsenterre/gis</p> <p>The maps include a land cover classification based on Sentinel-2, at 10m resolution, using an Object-Based Image Analysis approach, for the Seychelles granitic islands. Based on the land cover, landform (modeled using TauDEM), altitude and expert knowledge, we then derived a model of ecosystem types, with 3 maps: current distribution, potential distribution and prehuman distribution.</p> <p>A report exists (18th May 2022) that describes in detail the methodology, and it is being used for the preparation of a publication. The maps uploaded here are in raster format (geotif), crs=4326, and are accompanied by QGIS legend files (.qml), so they should load in QGIS with their legend automatically.</p>
Heterogeneous environmental seascape across a biogeographic break influences the thermal physiology and tolerances to ocean acidification in an ecosystem engineer
<p>Dataset for the metabolic rates of limpets under two different pCO2/pH conditions</p> <p>MR are in O2 mg h−1g−1</p>
Data and R code from: Pollination interactions reveal direct costs and indirect benefits of plant–plant facilitation for ecosystem engineers
Ecosystem engineers substantially modify the environment via their impact on abiotic conditions and the biota, resulting in facilitation of associated species that would not otherwise grow. Yet, reciprocal effects are poorly understood as studies of plant–plant interactions usually estimate only benefits for associated species while hardly considering how another trophic level may mediate direct and indirect effects for ecosystem engineers. We run a field experiment with ecosystem engineers blooming either alone or with associated plants to decompose net effects and to test the hypothesis that pollinator-mediated interactions provide benefits which balance costs of facilitation by ecosystem engineers. We found that net costs of facilitation are accompanied by pollinator-mediated benefits. Despite ecosystem engineers producing less flowers per plant, they were visited by more and more diverse pollinators per flower when blooming with associated plants than when blooming alone. However, fruit set was unaffected by the presence of associated plants and seed production per plant was higher when ecosystem engineers bloomed alone. Our findings suggest that besides experiencing direct costs, ecosystem engineers can also benefit from facilitating other species via increasing their own visibility to pollinators. This study illuminates how the outcome of direct plant–plant interactions might be mediated by indirect interactions including third players.
Data and R code from: Relics of beavers past: time and population density drive scale-dependent patterns of ecosystem engineering
<p><span>Like many ecological processes, natural disturbances exhibit scale-dependent dynamics that are largely a function of the magnitude, frequency, and scale at which they are assessed. Ecosystem engineers create patch-scale disturbances that affect ecological processes, yet we know little about how these effects scale across space or vary through time. Here, we investigate how patch disturbances by beavers (<i>Castor canadensis</i>), ecosystem engineers renowned for their pond-creation behavior, affect ecological processes across space and time. We evaluated how beaver population recovery influenced surface water dynamics in relation to population density over 70 years across multiple spatial scales (pond, watershed, and regional) in northern Minnesota. Surface water area was positively related to population density at the watershed scale; however, despite variation in beaver densities (and therefore surface water area) at the watershed scale, regional-scale surface water area was stable through time. This stability appears to have been driven by asynchronous beaver density fluctuations among watersheds, combined with the increasing importance of abandoned ponds. Beavers initially created and occupied larger ponds with greater surface water area, but through time shifted towards occupying smaller ponds. As ponds accumulated on the landscape proportionally more surface water was stored within abandoned ponds, which offset the smaller size of occupied ponds. Beaver engineering—driven by density-dependent mechanisms and the legacy effects from abandoned ponds—not only follows general patterns of patch disturbance dynamics by creating a spatial mosaic of patches, but the organism-created mosaic also appears to generate ecological stability at greater spatial scales. We suggest restoring beavers to landscapes is a viable method for increasing surface water storage and will ultimately help advance numerous conservation and rewilding objectives. Our study demonstrates that ecosystem engineering effects can be scale-dependent, indicating researchers should evaluate the ecological impact of engineers across diverse spatiotemporal scales to fully understand their functional roles in ecosystems.</span></p>
Ecosystem engineers spill-over of biodiversity: beavers affect breeding bird assemblage on wetland, but also on adjacent terrestrial habitats
<p>Abundance of breeding bird species recorded on Eurasian beaver and reference sites in Poland (central Europe).</p>
Eurasian beaver – A semi-aquatic ecosystem engineer rearranges the assemblage of terrestrial mammals in winter - dataset
<p>Dataset to paper of Fedyń, I., Przepióra, F., Sobociński, W., Wyka, J., & Ciach, M. (2022). Eurasian beaver–A semi-aquatic ecosystem engineer rearranges the assemblage of terrestrial mammals in winter. <em>Science of The Total Environment</em>, <em>831</em>, 154919 (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154919">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154919</a>).</p>
Data from: Exotic megaherbivores as ecosystem engineers in Australian savannas: Do they facilitate predator movement?
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Data and R code from: Relics of beavers past: time and population density drive scale-dependent patterns of ecosystem engineering
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Data and R code from: Pollination interactions reveal direct costs and indirect benefits of plant–plant facilitation for ecosystem engineers
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Ecosystem engineers show variable impacts on habitat availability for cavity nesters in South American temperate forests
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Data from: A pattern-oriented simulation for forecasting species spread through time and space: A case study on an ecosystem engineer on the move
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Consumer movement dynamics as hidden drivers of stream habitat structure: suckers as ecosystem engineers on the night shift
Ecosystem engineers engineering can control the spatial and temporal distribution of resources and movement by engineering organisms within an ecosystem can transport mobilize resources across boundaries and distribute engineering effects. Movement patterns of fishes can cause physical changes to stream aquatic habitats though nesting or feeding, both of which often vary in space and time. Here we present evidence of ecosystem engineering by the Sonora sucker (Catostomus insignis), a dominant fish in streams of the southwestern United States, and show how cryptic nocturnal movement patterns and bioturbation activities control heterogeneity in benthic substrates, and in sediment and carbon export. Sonora suckers exhibit distinct diel movement patterns, spending daylight hours in refuge habitats (typically deep pools) while moving into shallow habitats at night to feed. Feeding by suckers creates substantial disturbance in soft sediments that are patchy in space and time. These disturbances moved up to 2.4 × 104 cm3 of sediment per square meter per week in locations that are up to hundreds of meters away from sucker daytime refuges. The diel cycles in feeding activity (i.e., nocturnal digging in benthic substrates) caused nighttime pulses in suspended sediment that comprised up to 32% of the daily suspended load and organic matter transport of a stream reach. During the daytime, this particulate transport settles in habitats beyond the location of the initial disturbance, thus redistributing both sediment and organic matter. Our data indicate that cryptic movement by ecosystem engineers can distribute their effects in space and time generating heterogeneity in resources and suggest that habitat modifications restricting consumer movement may alter the impact of engineering activities.
Data from: Environmental gradients determine the potential for ecosystem engineering effects
Understanding processes that determine biodiversity is a fundamental challenge in ecology. At the landscape scale, physical alteration of ecosystems by organisms, called ecosystem engineering, enhances biodiversity worldwide by increasing heterogeneity in resource conditions and enhancing species coexistence across engineered and non-engineered habitats. Engineering-diversity relationships can vary along environmental gradients due to changes in the amount of physical structuring created by ecosystem engineering, but it is unclear how this variation is influenced by the responsiveness of non-structural abiotic properties to engineering. Here we show that environmental gradients determine the capacity for engineering to alter resource availability and species diversity, independent of the magnitude of structural change produced by engineering. We created an experimental rainfall gradient in an arid grassland where rodents restructure soils by constructing large, long-lasting burrows. We found that greater rainfall increased water availability and productivity in both burrow and inter-burrow habitats, causing a decline in local (alpha) plant diversity within both of these habitats. However, increased rainfall also resulted in greater differences in soil resources between burrow and inter-burrow habitats, which increased species turnover (beta diversity) across habitats and stabilized landscape-level (gamma) diversity. These responses occurred regardless of rodent presence and without changes in the extent of physical alteration of soils by rodents. Our results suggest that environmental gradients can influence the effects of ecosystem engineering in maintaining biodiversity via resource heterogeneity and species turnover. In an era of rapid environmental change, accounting for this interaction may be critical to conservation and management.
Parasitism in ecosystem engineer species: a key factor controlling marine ecosystem functioning
<p>1. Although parasites represent a substantial part of marine communities' biomass and diversity, their influence on ecosystem functioning, especially via the modification of host behaviour, remains largely unknown. Here, we explored the effects of the bopyrid ectoparasite Gyge branchialis on the engineering activities of the thalassinid crustacean Upogebia pusilla and the cascading effects on intertidal ecosystem processes (e.g. sediment bioturbation) and functions (e.g. nutrient regeneration).</p> <p>2. Laboratory experiments revealed that the overall activity level of parasitized mud shrimp is reduced by a factor 3.3 due to a decrease in time allocated to burrowing and ventilating activities (by a factor 1.9 and 2.9 respectively).</p> <p>3. Decrease in activity level led to strong reductions of bioturbation rates and biogeochemical fluxes at the sediment-water interface.</p> <p>4. Given the worldwide distribution of mud shrimp and their key role in biogeochemical processes, parasite-mediated alteration of their engineering behaviour has undoubtedly broad ecological impacts on marine coastal systems functioning.</p> <p>5. Our results illustrate further the need to consider host-parasite interactions (including trait-mediated indirect effects) when assessing the contribution of species to ecosystem properties, functions and services.</p>
Unraveling the cavity-nesting network at large spatial scales: The biogeographic role of woodpeckers as ecosystem engineers
<p><strong>Aim</strong>: Cavities are usually a limiting resource for several forest-dwelling vertebrates, with effects that propagate through ecological networks. Although diverse assemblages of primary excavators (e.g., woodpeckers) are assumed to increase cavities, other forest resources can also limit populations of primary excavators and cavity users, thus undermining the ecological role of excavators over different scales. We aim to test the biogeographical-scale relationships between primary excavators and cavity users by distinguishing the contribution of forest characteristics.</p> <p><strong>Location</strong>: Southern South America</p> <p><strong>Methods</strong>: We used species distribution models, which combine bioclimatic and remote sensing derived variables, to map the richness of vertebrates composing the cavity network of temperate and Mediterranean forests of South America. Based on a resampling procedure for ensuring spatial independence, we fitted structural equation models to estimate causal relationships between forest characteristics and cavity-user vertebrates.</p> <p><strong>Results</strong>: Secondary cavity users (obligated, habitat generalists and forest specialists) were positively and strongly influenced by the richness of primary excavators, while mammal richness was more influenced by tree richness. The richness of trees and <em>Nothofagus</em> tree species influenced positively the richness of primary excavators and secondary cavity users. Canopy height and net primary productivity affected positively secondary cavity users.</p> <p><strong>Main conclusions</strong>: Our results confirm the role of primary excavators as ecosystem engineers but highlight the importance of considering large spatial scales when analyzing cavity-nesting networks. Biogeographical patterns of tree diversity and forest structure can be important drivers of cavity-nesting networks that remain hidden when studies are conducted over fine spatial scales. </p>
Data from: Exploring the macroevolutionary impact of ecosystem engineers using an individual-based eco-evolutionary simulation
<p>Ecosystem engineers can radically reshape ecosystems by modulating the availability of resources to other organisms through modifying either physical or biological aspects of the environment. The introduction or removal of ecosystem engineers from otherwise stable ecosystems can impact the diversity of co-occurring species, such as driving local extinctions of native taxa. While these impacts are well established over ecological timescales for a wealth of taxa, the macroevolutionary implications of the onset of ecosystem engineering behaviours are less clear. Despite this uncertainty, ecosystem engineering has been implicated in several major transitions in Earth's history including the appearance of extensive bioturbation during the Cambrian substrate revolution and associated Ediacaran-Cambrian turnover and the Great Oxygenation Event. Whether ecosystem engineers are frequently associated with turnover and extinction in deep time is not known. Here we investigate this with an eco-evolutionary simulation framework in which we assign lineages the ability to impact the fitness of co-occurring taxa through phenotype-environment feedback. We explore numerous conditions, including how frequently these feedbacks occur, and whether ecosystem engineers modify or create niches. We show that there is no general expected outcome from the introduction of ecosystem engineers. In a minority of runs, ecosystem engineering lineages completely dominate, rendering all others extinct, but in others, they persist (but do not dominate), or die out. We suggest that ecosystem engineers have complex impacts but possess the capacity to profoundly shape diversity, and it is appropriate to consider them alongside other exogenous extinction drivers in deep time. </p>
Data from: Size matters: when resource accessibility by ecosystem engineering elicits wood-boring beetle demographic responses
<p>This data was used to investigate how the age and size of beaver disturbances act as predictors for primary wood-boring beetle abundance and species richness around beaver-altered habitat patches. To do so, we sampled beetles around 16 beaver-disturbed and unaltered watercourses within the Kouchibouguac National Park (Canada) and modeled beetle demographical responses to site conditions and their physical characteristics, distance from the watercourse, deadwood biomass, and the geographical location of the sites.</p>
Supporting data (cave length, area and volume) - Bats as ecosystem engineers in iron ore caves in the Carajás National Forest, Brazilian Amazonia
<p>Supporting data for the manuscript "Bats as ecosystem engineers in iron ore caves in the Carajás National Forest, Brazilian Amazonia", in PLOS ONE. Cave length (PH: horizontal projection, in meters), cave area (Área, in square meters) and cave volume (Volume, in cubic meters) for 1,309 caves in the Carajás National Forest area, Pará State, Brazilian Amazonia.</p>
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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.