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42 results for “selection gradient”
Data from: Bateman gradients reflect variation in sexual selection in a species with dynamic sex roles
<p class="MsoNormal">Bateman gradients, the slope of the regression of reproductive success on mating success, are among the most commonly reported measures of sexual selection. They are particularly insightful in species with reversed sex roles, where females are expected to be under sexual selection. We measured Bateman gradients in replicate experimental populations of the spermatophore gift-giving bushcricket <em>Kawanaphila nartee </em>(Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). In this species, the operational sex ratio (OSR) and thus the sex competing for mates varies depending on the availability of pollen food resources: under pollen-limited regimens females are more competitive, whereas under pollen-rich regimens males are more competitive. We maintained populations in enclosures with either limited or supplemented pollen, and calculated Bateman gradients for males and females under both conditions. Bateman gradients were significantly positive in males, and the slope was steeper in pollen-supplemented populations where the OSR was more male-biased. Bateman gradients for females were shallow and nonsignificant regardless of pollen availability. Our results show that the strength of sexual selection on males can depend on environmental context. The lack of significant gradients among females may reflect experimental limitations on our ability to estimate Bateman gradients in female <em>K. nartee</em>.</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: Bateman gradients reflect variation in sexual selection in a species with dynamic sex roles
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Signatures of natural selection in a foundation tree along Mediterranean climatic gradients
<p>Temperature and precipitation regimes are rapidly changing, resulting in forest dieback and extinction events, particularly in Mediterranean-type climates (MTC). Forest management that enhance forests' resilience is urgently required, however adaptation to climates in heterogeneous landscapes with multiple selection pressures is complex. For widespread trees in MTC we hypothesized that: patterns of local adaptation are associated with climate; precipitation is a stronger factor of adaptation than temperature; functionally related genes show similar signatures of adaptation; and adaptive variants are independently sorting across the landscape. We sampled 28 populations across the geographic distribution of Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah), in South-west Western Australia, and obtained 13,534 independent single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) markers across the genome. Three genotype-association analyses that employ different ways of correcting population structure were used to identify putatively adapted SNPs associated with independent climate variables. While overall levels of population differentiation were low (<i>F</i><sub>ST</sub> = 0.04), environmental association analyses found a total of 2,336 unique SNPs associated with temperature and precipitation variables, with 1,440 SNPs annotated to genic regions. Considerable allelic turnover was identified for SNPs associated with temperature seasonality and mean precipitation of the warmest quarter, suggesting that both temperature and precipitation are important factors in adaptation. SNPs with similar gene functions had analogous allelic turnover along climate gradients, while SNPs among temperature and precipitation variables had uncorrelated patterns of adaptation. These contrasting patterns provide evidence that there may be standing genomic variation adapted to current climate gradients, providing the basis for adaptive management strategies to bolster forest resilience in the future.</p>
Data from: Multivariate selection mediated by aridity predicts divergence of drought resistant traits along natural aridity gradients of an invasive weed
<p><span>Geographic variation in the environment underpins selection for local adaptation and evolutionary divergence among populations. Because many environmental conditions vary across species' ranges, identifying the specific environmental variables underlying local adaptation is profoundly challenging. </span></p> <p><span>We tested whether natural selection mediated by aridity predicts clinal divergence among invasive populations of capeweed (<i><span>Arctotheca calendula</span></i>) that established and spread across southern Australia during the last two centuries. </span></p> <p><span>Using common garden experiments with two environmental treatments (wet and dry) that mimic aridity conditions across capeweed's invasive range, we estimated clinal divergence and effects of aridity on fitness and multivariate phenotypic selection in populations sampled along aridity gradients in Australia. We show that: (<i>i</i>) capeweed populations have relatively high fitness in aridity environments similar to their sampling locations; (<i>ii</i>) the magnitude and direction of selection strongly differs between wet and dry treatments, with drought stress increasing the strength of selection; and (<i>iii</i>) differences in directional selection between wet and dry treatments predict patterns of clinal divergence across the aridity gradient, particularly for traits affecting biomass, flowering phenology and putative antioxidant expression. </span></p> <p><span>Our results suggest that aridity-mediated selection contributes to trait diversification among invasive capeweed populations, possibly facilitating the expansion of capeweed across southern Australia. </span></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>
Evaluating the roles of drift and selection in trait loss along an elevational gradient
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The evolution of sexually dimorphic traits in ecological gradients: An interplay between natural and sexual selection in hummingbirds
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Signatures of natural selection in a foundation tree along Mediterranean climatic gradients
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Linking genomic offset statistics to the shape of selection gradients
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Chronic selection for early reproductive phenology in an annual plant across a steep, elevational gradient of growing season length
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Data from: Multivariate selection mediated by aridity predicts divergence of drought resistant traits along natural aridity gradients of an invasive weed
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Raw data from: Consumer-resource interactions along urbanization gradients drive natural selection
<p>Urbanization is an important component of global change. Urbanization affects species interactions, but the evolutionary implications are rarely studied. We investigate the evolutionary consequences of a common pattern: the loss of high trophic-level species in urban areas. Using a gall-forming fly, Eurosta solidaginis, and its natural enemies that select for opposite gall sizes, we test for patterns of enemy loss, selection, and local adaptation along five urbanization gradients. Eurosta declined in urban areas, as did predation by birds, which preferentially consume gallmakers that induce large galls. These declines were linked to changes in habitat availability, namely reduced forest cover in urban areas. Conversely, a parasitoid which attacks gallmakers that induce small galls was unaffected by urbanization. Changes in patterns of attack by birds and parasitoids resulted in stronger directional selection, but loss of stabilizing selection in urban areas, a pattern which we suggest may be general. Despite divergent selective regimes, gall size did not very systematically with urbanization, suggesting but not conclusively demonstrating that environmental differences, gene flow, or drift, may have prevented the adaptive divergence of phenotypes. We argue that the evolutionary effects of urbanization will have predictable consequences for patterns of species interactions and natural selection.</p>
Data from: Selection by pollinators on floral traits in generalized Trollius ranunculoides (Ranunculaceae) along altitudinal gradients
Abundance and visitation of pollinator assemblages tend to decrease with altitude, leading to an increase in pollen limitation. Thus increased competition for pollinators may generate stronger selection on attractive traits of flowers at high elevations and cause floral adaptive evolution. Few studies have related geographically variable selection from pollinators and intraspecific floral differentiation. We investigated the variation of Trollius ranunculoides flowers and its pollinators along an altitudinal gradient on the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and measured phenotypic selection by pollinators on floral traits across populations. The results showed significant decline of visitation rate of bees along altitudinal gradients, while flies was unchanged. When fitness is estimated by the visitation rate rather than the seed number per plant, phenotypic selection on the sepal length and width shows a significant correlation between the selection strength and the altitude, with stronger selection at higher altitudes. However, significant decreases in the sepal length and width of T. ranunculoides along the altitudinal gradient did not correspond to stronger selection of pollinators. In contrast to the pollinator visitation, mean annual precipitation negatively affected the sepal length and width, and contributed more to geographical variation in measured floral traits than the visitation rate of pollinators. Therefore, the sepal size may have been influenced by conflicting selection pressures from biotic and abiotic selective agents. This study supports the hypothesis that lower pollinator availability at high altitude can intensify selection on flower attractive traits, but abiotic selection is preventing a response to selection from pollinators.
Data from: Introducing resprouters to enhance Mediterranean forest resilience: importance of functional traits to select species according to a gradient of pine density
Resprouter species are important for Mediterranean ecosystem resilience, but they are scarce in landscapes dominated by pioneer pines. Sound knowledge of resprouter seedling functional responses and establishment success across different pine habitats would help guide forest restoration efforts. Four broadleaved resprouter species, that is two shrubs – Arbutus unedo and Pistacia terebinthus – and two trees – Fraxinus ornus and Sorbus domestica – were planted under an experimentally created gradient of pine cover from totally open conditions to dense pine cover. Seedling survival and growth were monitored for 5 years. Phenological, physiological and morphological traits were measured to gain insight into the mechanisms of pine–seedling interaction. Interaction outcomes varied according to species identity, pine cover treatment and time. Light-to-moderate pine cover induced greater height growth and little or no effects on diameter and survival of the two trees. Competition was always detected for shrubs, whereas competition and facilitation were noted for trees. Within pine stands, negative interactions increased with tree cover, making dense stands the most limiting. Interactions were only detectable after 2–3 years, but increased in intensity with time. Functional responses to increasing pine cover indicated a seedling strategy of carbon gain optimization in the shade (increased specific leaf area and leaf area, decreased leaf dry matter content), particularly in tree species seedlings. Increasing pine cover induced higher water stress, but lower photochemical stress. The deciduous species had a longer vegetation season under pine canopies, whereas the evergreen shrub Arbutus unedo showed a lower polycyclism rate and flower production. Synthesis and applications. Moderate pine cover facilitates the establishment of deciduous trees at the expense of shrubs. This pattern can be attributed to a higher shade tolerance of the trees than the shrubs combined with a low tolerance of trees to photoinhibition. We therefore recommend using evergreen shrubs for the restoration of open land and high-specific-leaf-area deciduous trees for pine stand diversification. However, in dense forests, thinning is needed to increase light availability prior to seedling introduction.
Data from: Consumer-resource interactions along urbanization gradients drive natural selection
<p>Urbanization is an important component of global change. Urbanization affects species interactions, but the evolutionary implications are rarely studied. We investigate the evolutionary consequences of a common pattern: the loss of high trophic-level species in urban areas. Using a gall-forming fly, Eurosta solidaginis, and its natural enemies that select for opposite gall sizes, we test for patterns of enemy loss, selection, and local adaptation along five urbanization gradients. Eurosta declined in urban areas, as did predation by birds, which preferentially consume gallmakers that induce large galls. These declines were linked to changes in habitat availability, namely reduced forest cover in urban areas. Conversely, a parasitoid which attacks gallmakers that induce small galls was unaffected by urbanization. Changes in patterns of attack by birds and parasitoids resulted in stronger directional selection, but loss of stabilizing selection in urban areas, a pattern which we suggest may be general. Despite divergent selective regimes, gall size did not very systematically with urbanization, suggesting but not conclusively demonstrating that environmental differences, gene flow, or drift, may have prevented the adaptive divergence of phenotypes. We argue that the evolutionary effects of urbanization will have predictable consequences for patterns of species interactions and natural selection.</p>
Data from: The role of selection and historical factors in driving population differentiation along an elevational gradient in an island bird
Adaptation to local environmental conditions and the range dynamics of populations can influence evolutionary divergence along environmental gradients. Thus, it is important to investigate patterns of both phenotypic and genetic variation among populations to reveal the respective roles of these two types of factors in driving population differentiation. Here, we test for evidence of phenotypic and genetic structure across populations of a passerine bird (Zosterops borbonicus) distributed along a steep elevational gradient on the island of Réunion. Using eleven microsatellite loci screened in 401 individuals from 18 localities distributed along the gradient, we found that genetic differentiation occurred at two spatial levels: (i) between two main population groups corresponding to highland and lowland areas, respectively, and (ii) within each of these two groups. In contrast, several morphological traits varied gradually along the gradient. Comparison of neutral genetic differentiation (FST) and phenotypic differentiation (PST) showed that PST largely exceeds FST at several morphological traits, which is consistent with a role for local adaptation in driving morphological divergence along the gradient. Overall, our results revealed an area of secondary contact mid-way up the gradient between two major, cryptic, population groups likely diverged in allopatry. Remarkably, local adaptation has shaped phenotypic differentiation irrespective of population history, resulting in different patterns of variation along the elevational gradient. Our findings underscore the importance of understanding both historical and selective factors when trying to explain variation along environmental gradients.
Figure 3 in Evidence for a geographical gradient selection in the distribution of breeding Podicipedidae and Rallidae in the south-western Mediterranean
Figure 3. Variograms of the residuals of the best GLMM models of predicted occupancy probabilities for breeding (a) black-necked grebes and (b) red-knobbed coots in Morocco. NSR is the nugget-tosill ratio.
Figure 2 in Evidence for a geographical gradient selection in the distribution of breeding Podicipedidae and Rallidae in the south-western Mediterranean
Figure 2. Variation in PC2 wetland geographic location estimates by applying GLMM logistic model: model estimates Podni – Podiceps nigricollis, Podcr – Podiceps cristatus, Tacru – Tachybaptus ruficollis, Galch – Gallinula chloropus, Fulat – Fulica atra, Porpo – Porphyrio porphyrio.
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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.