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16 results for “rapid environmental change”
Congruence among multiple indices of habitat preference for species facing human-induced rapid environmental change: A case study using the Brewer's sparrow
<p>Accurate evaluations of habitat preference are key to understanding optimal conditions for wildlife survival and reproduction. Habitat selection, however, usually is evaluated using a single index of preference, and congruence among multiple, relevant indices of preference is examined rarely.</p> <p>We assessed the concordance between patterns of habitat preference using three different indices of breeding site preference in a migratory songbird. Specifically, we compared the chronology of territorial establishment, pair formation, and reproductive initiation of the Brewer's sparrow (<em>Spizella breweri</em>) along a gradient of surface disturbance associated with natural gas development in Wyoming, USA during 2019.</p> <p>We expected all three indices to demonstrate a preference for breeding sites with less surface disturbance, where reproductive success typically is higher. By contrast, all indices suggested suboptimal preference with respect to surface disturbance, with some discrepancy among them. The chronology of settlement and pairing did not vary across the disturbance gradient, whereas nest initiation tended to occur earlier at sites with more disturbance.</p> <p>If the pattern of suboptimal selection of breeding sites that we identified is generalizable across other populations of migratory birds affected by energy development, the resultant lower fitness in those areas may exacerbate population declines.</p> <p>Our results suggest that traditional, single-index approaches to the study of habitat selection, if chosen carefully, may provide adequate inference on habitat preferences. Different metrics, however, can lead to at least subtle differences in patterns of habitat selection. The simultaneous examination of multiple indices of preference across a diversity of systems would help clarify the contexts under which preference metrics can become decoupled.</p>
Understanding behavioural responses to human-induced rapid environmental change: A meta-analysis
<p>Behavioural responses are often the first reaction of an organism to human induced rapid environmental change (HIREC), yet current empirical evidence provides no consensus about the main environmental features that animals respond to behaviourally or which behaviours are responsive to HIREC. To understand how changes in behaviour can be predicted by different forms of HIREC, we conducted a meta-analysis of the existing empirical literature focusing on behavioural responses to five axes of environmental change (climate change, changes in CO<sub>2</sub>, direct human impact, changes in nutrients and biotic exchanges) in five behavioural domains (aggression, exploration, activity, boldness and sociability) across a range of taxa but with a focus on fish and bird species. Our meta-analysis revealed a general absence of directional behavioural responses to HIREC. However, the absolute magnitude of the effect sizes was large. This means that animals have strong behavioural responses to HIREC, but the responses are not clearly in any particular direction. Moreover, absolute magnitude of the effect sizes differed between different behaviours and different forms of HIREC: Exploration responded more strongly than activity, and climate change induced the strongest behavioural responses. Model heterogeneities identified that effect sizes varied primarily because of study design, and the specific sample of individuals used in a study; phylogeny also explains significant variation in our bird model. Based on these results, we make four recommendations to further our understanding: 1) a more balanced representation of laboratory and field studies, 2) consideration of context dependency, 3) standardisation of the methods and definitions used to quantify and study behaviours, and 4) consideration of the role for individual differences in behaviour.</p>
Understanding behavioural responses to human-induced rapid environmental change: A meta-analysis
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Congruence among multiple indices of habitat preference for species facing human-induced rapid environmental change: A case study using the Brewer’s sparrow
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High buffering potential of winter wheat composite cross populations to rapidly changing environmental conditions
<p><span>A winter wheat composite cross population (CCP), created in the UK in 2001, has been grown in Germany, Hungary and the UK since 2005 (F<sub>5</sub> generation). In 2008/9 (F<sub>8</sub>), a cycling pattern for the populations was developed between partners to test the effects of rapidly changing environments on agronomic performance. One CCP was grown by eight partners for one year and subsequently sent to the next partner, creating "cycling CCPs" with different histories. In 2013, all eight cycling CCPs and the three non-cycling CCPs (from Germany, Hungary and UK) were included in a two-year experiment in Germany with three line varieties to compare agronomic performance and morphological characteristics. Differing seed weight of the F<sub>13</sub> at sowing affected some agronomic parameters under drought conditions in 2014/15, but not under less stressful conditions in 2013/14. In both experimental years, the CCPs were comparable to the line varieties in terms of agronomic performance, with some CCPs outyielding the varieties under drought conditions of 2015. The results highlight the potential of CCPs to compete with line varieties while the</span> <span>overall similarity of the CCPs based on their origin and cycling history for agronomic traits indicate a high buffering potential under highly variable environmental conditions. </span></p>
High buffering potential of winter wheat composite cross populations to rapidly changing environmental conditions
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Data from: Consistent declines in wing lengths of Calidridine sandpipers suggest a rapid morphometric response to environmental change
A recent study demonstrated that semipalmated sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) wing lengths have shortened from the 1980s to the present-day. We examined alternative and untested hypotheses for this change at an important stopover site, James Bay, Ontario, Canada. We evaluated morphometric patterns in wing length and bill length by age and sex, when possible, and assessed if wing shape has also changed during this time-period. We investigated patterns of morphological change in two additional Calidridine sandpipers, white-rumped sandpipers (Calidris fuscicollis) and least sandpipers (Calidris minutilla), to determine if shorter wing lengths are a widespread pattern in small sandpipers. We also examined allometric changes in wing and bill lengths to clarify if wing length declines were consistent with historical scaling relationships and indicative of a change in body size instead of only wing length change. We found that including sex and wing shape in analyses revealed important patterns in morphometric change for semipalmated sandpipers. Wing lengths declined for both sexes, but the magnitude of decline was smaller and not significant for males. Additionally, semipalmated sandpiper wings have become more convex, a shape that increases maneuverability in flight. Wing lengths, but not bill lengths, declined for most species and age classes, a pattern that was inconsistent with historical allometric scaling relationships. For juvenile semipalmated sandpipers, however, both bill and wing lengths declined according to historical scaling relationships, which could be a consequence of nutritional stress during development or a shift in the proportion of birds from smaller-sized, western breeding populations. Except for juvenile semipalmated sandpipers, we did not find evidence for an increase in the proportion of birds from different breeding populations at the stopover site. Given the wide, hemispheric distribution of these sandpipers throughout their annual cycles, our results, paired with those from a previous study, provide evidence for wide-spread reduction in wing lengths of Calidridine sandpipers since the 1980s. The shorter wing lengths and more convex wing shapes found in this study support the hypothesis that selection has favored more maneuverable wing morphology in small sandpipers.
Data from: Toward a mechanistic understanding of human-induced rapid environmental change: a case study linking energy development, nest predation, and predators
1. Demographic consequences of human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC) have been widely documented for many populations. The mechanisms underlying such patterns, however, are rarely investigated and yet are critical to understand for effective conservation and management. 2. We investigated the mechanisms underlying reduced avian nest survival with intensification of natural gas development, an increasing source of HIREC globally. We tested the hypothesis that energy development increased the local activity of important nest predator species thereby elevating nest predation rates. During 2011–2012, we surveyed predators and monitored 668 nests of Brewer's sparrows Spizella breweri, sagebrush sparrows Artemisiospiza nevadensis and sage thrashers Oreoscoptes montanus breeding at twelve sites spanning a gradient of habitat loss from energy development in western Wyoming, USA. 3. Nine species, representing four mammalian and three avian families, were video-recorded depredating eggs and nestlings. Important nest predator species differed across songbird species, despite similar nesting habitats. Approximately 75% of depredation events were by rodents. 4. Consistent with our predictions, detections of most rodent nest predators increased with surrounding habitat loss due to natural gas development, which was associated with increased probability of nest predation for our three focal bird species. 5. An altered nest predator assemblage was therefore at least partly responsible for elevated avian nest predation risk in areas with more surrounding energy development. 6. Synthesis and applications. We demonstrate one mechanism, i.e. the local augmentation of predators, by which human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC) can influence the demography of local populations. Given the accelerating trajectory of global energy demands, an important next step will be to understand why the activity and/or abundance of rodent predators increased with surrounding habitat loss from energy development activities.
Data from: Adult plasticity in African Cichlids: rapid changes in opsin expression in response to environmental light differences
Phenotypic plasticity allows organisms to adapt quickly to local environmental conditions and could facilitate adaptive radiations. Cichlids have recently undergone an adaptive radiation in Lake Malawi where they inhabit diverse light environments and tune their visual sensitivity through differences in cone opsin expression. While cichlid opsin expression is known to be plastic over development, whether adults remain plastic is unknown. Adult plasticity in visual tuning could play a role in cichlid radiations by enabling survival in changing environments and facilitating invasion into novel environments. Here we examine the existence of and temporal changes in adult visual plasticity of two closely related species. In complementary experiments, wild adult Metriaclima mbenji from Lake Malawi were moved to the lab under UV-deficient fluorescent lighting; while lab raised M. benetos were placed under UV-rich lighting designed to mimic light conditions in the wild. Surprisingly, adult cichlids in both experiments showed significant changes in the expression of the UV-sensitive single cone opsin, SWS1, in only three days. Modeling quantum catches in the light environments revealed a possible link between the light available to the SWS1 visual pigment and SWS1 expression. We conclude that adult cichlids can undergo rapid and significant changes in opsin expression in response to environmental light shifts that are relevant to their habitat and evolutionary history in Lake Malawi. This could have contributed to the rapid divergence characteristic of these fantastic fishes.
Data from: Toward a mechanistic understanding of human-induced rapid environmental change: a case study linking energy development, nest predation, and predators
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Data from: Consistent declines in wing lengths of Calidridine sandpipers suggest a rapid morphometric response to environmental change
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Data from: Adult plasticity in African Cichlids: rapid changes in opsin expression in response to environmental light differences
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Data from: The genetic architecture of fitness drives population viability during rapid environmental change
<p>The rapid global loss of biodiversity calls for improved predictions of how populations will evolve and respond demographically to ongoing environmental change. The heritability (<i>h</i><sup>2</sup>) of selected traits has long been known to affect evolutionary and demographic responses to environmental change. However, effects of the genetic architecture underlying the <i>h</i><sup>2</sup> of a selected trait on population responses to selection are less well understood. We use deterministic models and stochastic simulations to show that the genetic architecture underlying <i>h</i><sup>2</sup> can dramatically affect population viability during environmental change. Polygenic trait architectures (many loci, each with a small phenotypic effect) conferred higher population viability than genetic architectures with the same initial <i>h</i><sup>2</sup> and large-effect loci under a wide range of scenarios. Population viability also depended strongly on the initial frequency of large-effect beneficial alleles, with moderately low initial allele frequencies conferring higher viability than rare or already-frequent large-effect alleles. Greater population viability associated with polygenic architectures appears to be due to higher short term evolutionary potential compared to architectures with large-effect loci. These results suggest that integrating information on the trait genetic architecture into quantitiative genetic analysis will substantially improve our understanding and prediction of evolutionary and demographic responses to environmental change.</p>
Comment on Krüger (2023): Decreasing Trends of Chinstrap Penguin Breeding Colonies in a Region of Major and Ongoing Rapid Environmental Changes Suggest Population Level Vulnerability. Diversity 2023, 15, 327
<p>Data and analyis scripts for:</p> <p><strong>Comment on Krüger (2023): Decreasing Trends of Chinstrap Penguin Breeding Colonies in a Region of Major and Ongoing Rapid Environmental Changes Suggest Population Level Vulnerability. Diversity 2023, 15, 327</strong></p> <p>W. Chris Oosthuizen, Murray Christian, Mzabalazo Ngwenya</p> <p>Centre for Statistics in Ecology, Environment and Conservation, Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, 7701, South Africa</p> <p><strong>Abstract</strong></p> <p>Historical data on chinstrap penguin (<em>Pygoscelis antarctica</em>) breeding population sizes are sparse and sometimes highly uncertain, making it hard to estimate true population trajectories. Yet, information on population trends is desirable as changes in population size can help inform conservation assessments. Krüger (2023) (<em>Diversity</em> 2023, 15, 327) used chinstrap penguin nest count data to predict breeding colony size trends between 1960 and 2020, to estimate whether the level of population change within three generations exceeded IUCN Red List Criteria for "Vulnerable" populations. Chinstrap penguin population trends are an important research topic, but we caution that Krüger (2023)’s statistical analyses (intended to form the foundation for drawing valid, evidence-based inferences from sparse data) contain fundamental errors that invalidate that paper's findings. We discuss these oversights to help others detect and avoid some of the pitfalls associated with estimating population trends with mixed models. While we do not address all challenges, we also show through reanalysis that improved statistical modelling can yield better predictions of chinstrap penguin population trends, at least within the range of observed data. This case study highlights (1) the profound influence that seemingly minor differences in modelling procedures (both unintentional errors and other decisions) can have on predictions of population trends, and (2) the substantial inherent uncertainty in population trend predictions derived from sparse, heterogenous data.</p> <p> Keywords: Antarctic Peninsula, IUCN red list criteria, Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Projected Dynamics (MAPPPD), population assessment, population trend, <em>Pygoscelis antarctica, </em>reproducible research</p>
Data from: The genetic architecture of fitness drives population viability during rapid environmental change
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Rapid, transcript-specific changes in splicing in response to environmental stress
GEO Series GSE8817. Saccharomyces cerevisiae. 72 samples. Type: Expression profiling by array.
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Allen Brain Atlas
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DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
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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.