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62 results for “niche size”
Data and script: Community size can affect the signals of ecological drift and niche selection on biodiversity
<p>Updated version of the code. Data files are the same. This is the final version of the code, associated with a manuscript published in Ecology (doi: 10.1002/ecy.3014). A preprint is also available: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/515098v1.abstract</p> <p>This is a unique dataset on insect communities sampled identically in a total of 200 streams in climatically highly different regions (100 in Brazil and 100 in Finland). The sampling design included 5 streams (communities) per watershed and provided us replicates of metacommunities (watersheds). Data also include information on in-stream variables (such as current velocity (m/s), depth (cm), stream width (cm), % of sand (0.25-2 mm), gravel (2-16 mm), pebble (16-64 mm), cobble (64-256 mm), and boulder (256-1024 mm), % of canopy cover by riparian vegetation, pH, conductivity, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus) and catchment level variables (such as average slope, % of native forest cover, pasture, agriculture, planted forests, urban areas, mining, water bodies, bare soil, secondary forest cover, and mixed land uses).</p> <p>In addition to the dataset, here we also provide and R code used to investigate the relationship between beta diversity and community size. This code calculates 4 types of beta-diversity metric for each of 100 watersheds (5 streams) in Brazil and Finland. Beta diversity: Sorensen and Bray-Curtis dissimilarity between all pairs. Beta deviation from null models: Raup-Crick (vegan version) and Bray-Curtis beta-deviation (based on the scripts by Chris Catano and Jonathan Myers). These beta diversity metrics are modelled against community size, environmental heterogeneity and spatial extent.</p> <p> </p>
FIGURE 2 in Trophic niche size and overlap in temperate forest land snails are affected by their lifestyle and body size
FIGURE 2 Variation in SEAc of land snail species from the four studied assemblages in relation to their lifestyle (a) and body size (b). Variation in percentages of overlapping SEAc for pairwise species combinations are compared between study sites (c) and three types of lifestyle (d). Different letters refer to significant differences at p<0.0, tested by GEE (a, b) and GLM-qp (c, d). The central line of each box refers to the median value, box height to the interquartile range, whiskers to the non-outlier range (i.e., 1.5 times the interquartile range at each side), and small circles to outliers.
FIGURE 1 in Trophic niche size and overlap in temperate forest land snails are affected by their lifestyle and body size
FIGURE 1 Isotopic niches represented by Standard ellipse area corrected for small sample size (SEAc) of the land snail species collected in four study sites (A, B, C, D) at least in five individuals per site.
Data from: Ecological responses of <em>Orientallactaga sibirica</em>: Variations in body size and trophic niche across changing habitats
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Data from: Effects of grain size and niche breadth on species distribution modeling
Scale is a vital component to consider in ecological research, and spatial resolution or grain size is one of its key facets. Species distribution models (SDMs) are prime examples of ecological research in which grain size is an important component. Despite this, SDMs rarely explicitly examine the effects of varying the grain size of the predictors for species with different niche breadths. To investigate the effect of grain size and niche breadth on SDMs, we simulated four virtual species with different grain sizes/niche breadths using three environmental predictors (elevation, aspect, and percent forest) across two real landscapes of differing heterogeneity in predictor values. We aggregated these predictors to seven different grain sizes and modeled the distribution of each of our simulated species using MaxEnt and GLM techniques at each grain size. We examined model accuracy using the AUC statistic, Pearson's correlations of predicted suitability with the true suitability, and the binary area of presence determined from suitability above the maximum True Skill Statistic (TSS) threshold. Habitat specialists were more accurately modeled than generalist species, and the models constructed at the grain size from which a species was derived generally performed the best. The accuracy of models in the homogenous landscape deteriorated with increasing grain size to a greater degree than models in the heterogenous landscape. Variable effects on the model varied with grain size, with elevation increasing in importance as grain size increased while aspect lost importance. The area of predicted presence was drastically affected by grain size, with larger grain sizes over predicting this value by up to a factor of 14. Our results have implications for species distribution modeling and conservation planning, and we suggest more studies include analysis of grain size as part of their protocol.
Taxonomic Uncertainty on Range Size and Niche Estimation in a Southern Ocean Cryptic Species Complex
<p>R code and data related to assessing the effect of taxonomic uncertainty on range size and environmental niche estimates for a Southern Ocean invertebrate. </p> <p>Clarke, D.A., Wilson, N.G. and McGeoch, M.A. (2025) ‘Effects of Taxonomic Uncertainty on Range Size and Niche Estimation in a Southern Ocean Cryptic Species Complex’, Journal of Biogeography, n/a(n/a), p. e15182. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.15182.</p>
Population size shapes trade-off dilution and adaptation to a marginal niche unconstrained by sympatric habitual conditions
<p>How does niche expansion occur when the habitual (high-productivity) and marginal (low-productivity) niches are simultaneously available? Without spatial structuring, such conditions should impose fitness maintenance in the former while adapting to the latter. Hence, adaptation to a given marginal niche should be influenced by the identity of the simultaneously available habitual niche. This hypothesis remains untested. Similarly, it is unknown if larger populations, which can access greater variation and undergo more efficient selection, are generally better at niche expansion. We tested these hypotheses using a large-scale evolution experiment with <em>Escherichia</em> <em>coli</em>. While we observed widespread niche expansion, larger populations consistently adapted to a greater extent to both marginal and habitual niches. Owing to diverse selection pressures in different habitual niches (constant versus fluctuating environments; environmental fluctuations varying in both predictability and speed), fitness in habitual niches was significantly shaped by their identities. Surprisingly, despite this diversity in habitual selection pressures, adaptation to the marginal niche was unconstrained by the habitual niche's identity. We show that in terms of fitness, two negatively correlated habitual niches can still have positive correlations with the marginal niche. This allows the marginal niche to dilute fitness trade-offs across habitual niches, thereby allowing costless niche expansion. Our results provide fundamental insights into sympatric niche expansion.</p>
Data from: revisiting niche divergence hypothesis in dimorphic birds: is diet overlap correlated with sexual size dimorphism?
<p>The evolution of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is a long-standing topic in evolutionary biology, but there is little agreement on the extent to which SSD is driven by the different selective forces. While sexual selection and fecundity selection have traditionally been proposed as the two leading hypotheses, SSD may also result from natural selection through mechanisms such as sexual niche divergence, which might have reduced resource competition between sexes. Here, we revisited the niche divergence hypothesis by testing the relationship between the sexual overlap in diet and SSD of 56 bird species using phylogenetic comparative analyses. We then assessed how SSD variation relates to the three main hypotheses: sexual selection, fecundity selection, and sexual niche divergence using phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS). Then, we compared sexual selection, fecundity selection, and niche divergence selection as SSD drivers through phylogenetic confirmatory path analyses to disentangle the possible causal evolutionary relationships between SSD and the three hypotheses. Phylogenetic generalized least squares showed that SSD was negatively correlated with diet overlap, i. e., the greater the difference in body size between males and females, the less diet overlap. As predicted by sexual selection theory, the difference in body size between sexes was higher in polygynous species. Confirmatory phylogenetic path analyses suggested that the most likely evolutionary path might include mating system as a main driver in SSD and niche divergence as a result of SSD. We found no evidence of a role of fecundity selection in the evolution of female-biased SSD. Our study provides evidence that sexual selection has likely been the main cause of SSD and that dietary divergence is likely an indirect effect of SSD.</p>
Energetic constraints on body-size niches in a resource-limited marine environment
<p><span>Body size of life on Earth spans many orders of magnitude, and with it scales the energetic requirements of organisms. Thus, changes in environmental energy should impact community body-size distributions in predictable ways by reshaping ecological and niche dynamics. We examine how carbon, oxygen, and temperature, three energetic drivers, impact community size-based assembly in deep-sea bivalves. We demonstrate that body-size distributions are influenced by multiple energetic constraints. Relaxation in these constraints leads to an expansion of body-size niche space through the addition of novel large size classes, increasing the standard deviation and mean of the body-size distribution. With continued Anthropogenic increases in temperature and reductions in carbon availability and oxygen in most ocean basins, our results point to possible radical shifts in invertebrate body size with the potential to impact ecosystem function.</span></p>
Data for the article entitled: Linking sexual size dimorphism to trophic niche partitioning in a generalist predator
<p>Sexual size dimorphism is a common phenomenon in mammals, and researchers have been trying to demonstrate the evolutionary causes leading to sexual dimorphism. Two main hypotheses emerged: (i) the sexual selection hypothesis and (ii) the sexual competition hypothesis (also called resource partitioning hypothesis). Here, we attempted to link sexual dimorphism in fishers (Pekania pennanti (Erxleben, 1777)) with their fall diet using stable isotope profiling and body and skull measurements. We used the carcasses of 39 fishers which were caught in eastern Québec during fall 2014 by volunteer trappers as well as several potential prey items ranging from small rodents to cervids. We expected minimal niche overlap between sexes, as males should be able to exploit different prey species than females. We also expected to observe an effect of age class (adults vs. juveniles) on trophic niche. As expected, we found great evidence of sexual dimorphism in both body mass and skull measurements: males were heavier and longer than females and had a larger zygomatic and intracanine width and a longer skull. While proportions of prey in diet according to sex and age did not vary greatly, we found some evidence of niche partitioning using Layman's metrics. Indeed, females tended to have a less diversified and more similar diet compared to one another, whereas males showed more diversified and contrasted diets. Despite our limited sample size, our findings provide partial support to the sexual competition hypothesis, as the difference in body and skull size based on sex could have evolved to lessen intraspecific competition in fishers.</p>
Data for: Beyond latitude: Temperature, productivity, and thermal niche conservatism drive global body size variation in Odonata
<p><strong><span>Aim</span></strong><span>: </span><span>So far, </span><span>latitudinal body size-clines have been primarily discussed in the context of thermoregulation, sensu Bergmann. However, body size patterns are ambiguous in ectotherms and this heterogeneity remains poorly understood. We tested whether Bergmann's rule and the resource availability rule which states that energetic requirements determine species' body size, apply to damselflies and dragonflies (Odonata). Furthermore, we hypothesised that the contrasting effects of thermoregulation and resource availability (e.g. productivity) can obscure the overall gradient in body size variation.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Location</strong>: </span><span>Global</span></p> <p><span><strong>Time</strong> <strong>period</strong>: </span><span>Contemporary</span></p> <p><span><strong>Major</strong> <strong>taxa</strong> <strong>studied</strong>: </span><span>Odonata</span></p> <p><span><strong>Methods</strong>:</span><span> Using data for 43% of all odonate species described so far, we tested our hypotheses in phylogenetically and spatially comparative analyses at assemblage and species level. </span><span>For the distribution data, we integrated expert range maps and ecoregional ranges based on all available occurrence records. To distinguish between long-term versus evolutionarily recent responses of environmental drivers in body size, we constructed a phylogenetically informed classification of all odonate species and decomposed the body size into its phylogenetic and specific component for our subset of species.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Results</strong>: </span><span>We documented a weak positive relationship between body length and latitude but found strong and contrasting effects for temperature between dragonflies and damselflies and consistent positive effects for productivity that explained 35%–57% of body size variation. Moreover, we showed a strong phylogenetic signal in sized-based thermoregulation that shaped the distribution of dragonflies, but not of damselflies.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Main</strong> <strong>conclusion</strong>: </span><span>We concluded that temperature, productivity, and conservatism in size-based thermoregulation synergistically determine the distribution of ectotherms, while the taxon-specific importance of these factors can lead to contrasting results and weak latitude–size relationships. Our results reinforce the importance of body size as a determinant of species distributions and responses to climate change.</span></p>
Niche breadth explains the range size of European-centred butterflies, but dispersal ability does not
<p><strong><span>Aim</span></strong><span>:</span><span> The breadth of ecological niches and dispersal abilities have long been discussed as important determinants of species' range sizes. However, studies directly comparing the relative effects of both factors are rare, taxonomically biased and revealed inconsistent results.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Location</strong>:</span> <span>Europe.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Time period</strong>:</span><span> Cenozoic.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Major taxa</strong>:</span><span> Butterflies, Lepidoptera.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Methods</strong>:</span><span> We relate climate, diet, and habitat niche breadth and two indicators of dispersal ability, wingspan and a dispersal tendency index, to the global range size of 369 European-centred butterfly species. The relative effects of these five predictors and their variation across the butterfly phylogeny were assessed by means of phylogenetic generalized least squares models and phylogenetically weighted regressions, respectively.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Results</strong>:</span><span> Climate niche breadth was the most important single predictor, followed by habitat and diet niche breadth, while dispersal tendency and wingspan showed no relation to species' range size. All predictors together explained 59% of the variation in butterfly range size. However, the effects of each predictor varied considerably across families and genera.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Main</strong> <strong>conclusions</strong>:</span><span> Range sizes of European-centred butterflies are strongly correlated with ecological niche breadth but apparently independent of dispersal ability. The magnitude of range size – niche breadth relationships is not stationary across the phylogeny and is often negatively correlated across the different dimensions of the ecological niche. This variation limits the generalizability of range size–trait relationships across broad taxonomic groups.</span></p>
Data from: Effects of grain size and niche breadth on species distribution modeling
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Data from: revisiting niche divergence hypothesis in dimorphic birds: is diet overlap correlated with sexual size dimorphism?
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Data for: Beyond latitude: Temperature, productivity, and thermal niche conservatism drive global body size variation in Odonata
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Population size shapes trade-off dilution and adaptation to a marginal niche unconstrained by sympatric habitual conditions
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Niche breadth explains the range size of European-centred butterflies, but dispersal ability does not
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Energetic constraints on body-size niches in a resource-limited marine environment
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Data for the article entitled: Linking sexual size dimorphism to trophic niche partitioning in a generalist predator
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Data from: Prey size and dietary niche of Rafinesque's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii)
Bats in the genus Corynorhinus possess a suite of morphological characters that permit them to effectively use both gleaning and aerial-hawking foraging strategies to capture Lepidoptera. Consequently, they occupy a specialized feeding niche within North American bat assemblages and are of particular interest for dietary studies. We collected fecal pellets from a colony of C. rafinesquii (Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat) at Mammoth Cave National Park during August–October 2011 and amplified cytochrome-c oxidase subunit 1 fragments of prey from these pellets. We used the Barcode of Life Database to identify prey, and evaluated the size of prey species based on published values. The mean wingspan of prey we recorded from our samples was smaller than average values reported for Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat using traditional methods (P ≤ 0.01), suggesting that surveys of culled insect parts beneath roosting sites may lead to biased estimates of the size and breadth of prey species eaten by gleaning bats. Mean wingspan of lepidopteran prey consumed by Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat in our study was larger (P ≤ 0.01) than values reported for the Myotis septentrionalis (Northern Long-Eared Bat ), which is a smaller, sympatric gleaner in eastern North America. Further, comparisons of our diet data with abundance of prey suggest macrolepidopteran taxa are consistently consumed by Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat to greater degree than microlepidotera. Our findings suggest that North American Corynorhinus consume a wider range of sizes and species of Lepidoptera than previously reported in studies based solely on identification of culled prey-wings beneath feeding roosts.
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