Pub Date : 2024-09-03DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.02.610820
Leon Brueggemann, Pragya Singh, Caroline Mueller
Over the course of their lives, organisms can be repeatedly exposed to stress, which shapes their phenotype. At certain life stages, known as sensitive phases, individuals might be more receptive to such stress than at others. One of these stresses is nutritional stress, such as food limitation. However, little is known about how plastic responses differ between individuals experiencing nutritional stress early versus later in life or repeatedly, particularly in species with distinct ontogenetic niches. Moreover, there may be sex-specific differences due to distinct physiology. The turnip sawfly, Athalia rosae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae), is a holometabolous herbivore, whose larvae consume leaves and flowers, while the adults take up nectar. We examined the effects of starvation experienced at different life stages on life-history traits as well as adult behavioural and metabolic traits to determine which life-stage may be more sensitive to nutritional stress and how specific these traits respond. We exposed individuals to four distinct nutritional regimes, no, larval, or adult starvation, or starvation periods during both larval and adult stage. Larvae exposed to starvation had a prolonged developmental time, and starved females reached a lower initial adult body mass than non-starved individuals. However, males did not differ in initial adult body mass regardless of larval starvation, suggesting the ability to conform well to poor nutritional conditions, possibly through changes in development and metabolism. Adult behaviour, measured as activity, was not significantly impacted by larval or adult starvation in either sex. Individuals starved as larvae had similar carbohydrate and lipid (i.e. fatty acid) contents as non-starved individuals, potentially due to building up energy reserves during their prolonged development, while starvation during adulthood or at both stages led to reduced energy reserves in males. This study indicates that the sensitivity of a life stage to nutritional stress depends on the specific trait under consideration. Life-history traits were mainly affected by larval nutritional stress, while activity appeared to be more robust and metabolism mostly impacted by the adult nutritional conditions. Individuals differed in their ability to conform to the given environment, with the responses being life stage- and sex-specific.
{"title":"Life stage- and sex-specific sensitivity to nutritional stress in a holometabolous insect","authors":"Leon Brueggemann, Pragya Singh, Caroline Mueller","doi":"10.1101/2024.09.02.610820","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.02.610820","url":null,"abstract":"Over the course of their lives, organisms can be repeatedly exposed to stress, which shapes their phenotype. At certain life stages, known as sensitive phases, individuals might be more receptive to such stress than at others. One of these stresses is nutritional stress, such as food limitation. However, little is known about how plastic responses differ between individuals experiencing nutritional stress early versus later in life or repeatedly, particularly in species with distinct ontogenetic niches. Moreover, there may be sex-specific differences due to distinct physiology. The turnip sawfly, Athalia rosae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae), is a holometabolous herbivore, whose larvae consume leaves and flowers, while the adults take up nectar. We examined the effects of starvation experienced at different life stages on life-history traits as well as adult behavioural and metabolic traits to determine which life-stage may be more sensitive to nutritional stress and how specific these traits respond. We exposed individuals to four distinct nutritional regimes, no, larval, or adult starvation, or starvation periods during both larval and adult stage. Larvae exposed to starvation had a prolonged developmental time, and starved females reached a lower initial adult body mass than non-starved individuals. However, males did not differ in initial adult body mass regardless of larval starvation, suggesting the ability to conform well to poor nutritional conditions, possibly through changes in development and metabolism. Adult behaviour, measured as activity, was not significantly impacted by larval or adult starvation in either sex. Individuals starved as larvae had similar carbohydrate and lipid (i.e. fatty acid) contents as non-starved individuals, potentially due to building up energy reserves during their prolonged development, while starvation during adulthood or at both stages led to reduced energy reserves in males. This study indicates that the sensitivity of a life stage to nutritional stress depends on the specific trait under consideration. Life-history traits were mainly affected by larval nutritional stress, while activity appeared to be more robust and metabolism mostly impacted by the adult nutritional conditions. Individuals differed in their ability to conform to the given environment, with the responses being life stage- and sex-specific.","PeriodicalId":501320,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142181009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-03DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.02.610792
Nils Anthes, Julia Staggenborg, Markus Handschuh
Farmland bird populations continue to decline despite intense conservation efforts, possibly also because of incomplete knowledge on the drivers of local productivity. We therefore investigated spatial and temporal variation in nest site selection, breeding phenology, and nest survival for 225 nests of the Corn Bunting, a species of conservation concern in Central and Western Europe, in cropland-dominated, mixed, and grassland-dominated landscapes in SW Central Europe. Nesting phenology spread from April to August, started earlier at lower altitudes and progressed from grassland habitats to arable crops and eco-scheme flower fields. Most nests were placed in cultivated land, with substantial variation between landscape types but also between years within sites, so that large fractions of breeding attempts are prone to fail through land use operations in particular years. When nests were individually protected from land use, 'apparent' and 'Mayfield' survival rates differed substantially between nest habitats, with lowest survival in 2nd year flower fields and highest survival in fallow grassland. Accounting for land use survival from patch-specific mowing, harvesting, and grazing dates, 'total Mayfield nest survival' estimates dropped by about half to 21 %, 13 %, and 20 % for (hay) meadows, alfalfa / clover-grass leys, and pastures, respectively, which held about 2/3 of nests in mixed landscapes. To enhance productivity beyond the thresholds required for local population persistence, we propose refined conservation schemes that improve survival within production farmland, best coupled with the development of prolific 'Corn Bunting Landscapes'.
{"title":"Spatial and temporal variation in farmland bird nesting ecology: Implications for effective Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra conservation","authors":"Nils Anthes, Julia Staggenborg, Markus Handschuh","doi":"10.1101/2024.09.02.610792","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.02.610792","url":null,"abstract":"Farmland bird populations continue to decline despite intense conservation efforts, possibly also because of incomplete knowledge on the drivers of local productivity. We therefore investigated spatial and temporal variation in nest site selection, breeding phenology, and nest survival for 225 nests of the Corn Bunting, a species of conservation concern in Central and Western Europe, in cropland-dominated, mixed, and grassland-dominated landscapes in SW Central Europe. Nesting phenology spread from April to August, started earlier at lower altitudes and progressed from grassland habitats to arable crops and eco-scheme flower fields. Most nests were placed in cultivated land, with substantial variation between landscape types but also between years within sites, so that large fractions of breeding attempts are prone to fail through land use operations in particular years. When nests were individually protected from land use, 'apparent' and 'Mayfield' survival rates differed substantially between nest habitats, with lowest survival in 2nd year flower fields and highest survival in fallow grassland. Accounting for land use survival from patch-specific mowing, harvesting, and grazing dates, 'total Mayfield nest survival' estimates dropped by about half to 21 %, 13 %, and 20 % for (hay) meadows, alfalfa / clover-grass leys, and pastures, respectively, which held about 2/3 of nests in mixed landscapes. To enhance productivity beyond the thresholds required for local population persistence, we propose refined conservation schemes that improve survival within production farmland, best coupled with the development of prolific 'Corn Bunting Landscapes'.","PeriodicalId":501320,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142181011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In recent years, the volume of accessible marine pelagic observations has increased exponentially and now incorporates a wealth of new data types, including information derived from metagenomics and quantitative imaging. This calls for standardized modelling protocol across taxonomically harmonized observations, to better predict biogeographic patterns in space and time, and thus investigate marine ecosystem structure and functioning on a macroecological scale. In this context, we introduce CEPHALOPOD (Comprehensive Ensemble Pipeline for Habitat modelling Across Large-scale Ocean Pelagic Observation Datasets), a standardized and flexible framework to perform multi-species marine habitat modelling across data types and data sources. We built this new framework on observational data from federating initiatives such as AtlantECO, OBIS, GBIF, associated with already existing statistical and machine learning methods that enable to extract and model information from heterogeneous, scarce, and biased field observations. Here, we first document our statistical ensemble modelling approach and then assess its strength and limitations with a virtual ecologist approach. We show how our framework performs in reproducing a range of distributions from biased field samples. Then, we illustrate its performance and comparability across data types by investigating the global diversity patterns of coccolithophores from both abundance and metagenomic data. Our modelling framework serves as a foundation for the consistent generation of Essential Biodiversity and Ocean Variables (EBVs and EOVs) and carries the potential to significantly advance our comprehension of biodiversity and marine ecosystems functioning. Finally, it provides an unprecedented opportunity to foster collaborations in the field of marine science, sustainable ecological practices, and, ultimately, contribute to the preservation of global marine biodiversity.
{"title":"Standardizing marine habitat modelling practices to enhance inter-comparability across biological observations","authors":"Alexandre Schickele, Corentin Clerc, Fabio Benedetti, Daniele De Angelis, Urs Hofmann Elizondo, Matthias Muennich, Jean-Olivier Irisson, Meike Vogt","doi":"10.1101/2024.09.02.610745","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.02.610745","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, the volume of accessible marine pelagic observations has increased exponentially and now incorporates a wealth of new data types, including information derived from metagenomics and quantitative imaging. This calls for standardized modelling protocol across taxonomically harmonized observations, to better predict biogeographic patterns in space and time, and thus investigate marine ecosystem structure and functioning on a macroecological scale. In this context, we introduce CEPHALOPOD (Comprehensive Ensemble Pipeline for Habitat modelling Across Large-scale Ocean Pelagic Observation Datasets), a standardized and flexible framework to perform multi-species marine habitat modelling across data types and data sources. We built this new framework on observational data from federating initiatives such as AtlantECO, OBIS, GBIF, associated with already existing statistical and machine learning methods that enable to extract and model information from heterogeneous, scarce, and biased field observations. Here, we first document our statistical ensemble modelling approach and then assess its strength and limitations with a virtual ecologist approach. We show how our framework performs in reproducing a range of distributions from biased field samples. Then, we illustrate its performance and comparability across data types by investigating the global diversity patterns of coccolithophores from both abundance and metagenomic data. Our modelling framework serves as a foundation for the consistent generation of Essential Biodiversity and Ocean Variables (EBVs and EOVs) and carries the potential to significantly advance our comprehension of biodiversity and marine ecosystems functioning. Finally, it provides an unprecedented opportunity to foster collaborations in the field of marine science, sustainable ecological practices, and, ultimately, contribute to the preservation of global marine biodiversity.","PeriodicalId":501320,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142223728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-03DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.03.610747
Chogyal Tshering Dolkar, Yonten Dorji
Rhododendron kesangiae is a species endemic to the Eastern Himalayas named after the Queen mother of Bhutan, HRH Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuk. The study on the regeneration and conservation threat of Rhododendron kesangiae is of utmost importance in this changing climate and growing human interference in the natural population of Rhododendrons. However, there is limited documentation and study on this species' ecology, regeneration, and conservation status. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess the regeneration ecology and conservation status of R. kesangiae in one of Bhutan's National Botanical Park at Lungchutse, Dochula. The study area was divided into six transects along the North East and North West aspects. The regeneration status of R. kesangiae was determined by counting the number of seedlings, saplings and adults in the 5 x 5 m transects. Composite soil samples were collected from the 5 x 5 m quadrant. Associated tree species data were gathered from 20 x 20 m quadrants in each plot. The study found that the regeneration status of R. kesangiae was fair regeneration with the seedlings ≤ saplings > adults. The most dominant tree species found were Tsuga Dumosa and the least dominant species was Juniperus recurva. Soil parameters such as soil moisture significantly impacted the regeneration of R. kesangiae (r = 0.52, p = 0.003). Precipitation had a significant impact on the regeneration and growth of R. kesangiae (r = 0.37, p = 0.043), while other environmental variables such as slope, temperature and elevation did not show a significant impact. The conservation threats were documented using Miradi. This study sheds important light on the species' regeneration ecology and conservation status highlighiting the importance of monitoring and conservation efforts to ensue their long-term survival and keeping them from falling into the highest conservation threat categories. Keywords: Conservation Threats, Eastern Himalaya, Miradi, Regeneration, R. kesangiae, soil parameters, Ecology
杜鹃花（Rhododendron kesangiae）是东喜马拉雅山脉特有的一个物种，以不丹王后 Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuk 殿下的名字命名。在气候不断变化、人类对杜鹃花自然种群的干扰日益增加的情况下，对杜鹃花的再生和保护威胁进行研究至关重要。然而，有关该物种的生态、再生和保护状况的文献和研究十分有限。因此，本研究旨在评估不丹国家植物园之一多丘拉隆丘茨（Lungchutse）的 R. kesangiae 的再生生态和保护状况。研究区域沿东北和西北方向分为六个横断面。通过计算 5 x 5 米横断面上的幼苗、树苗和成虫数量，确定 R. kesangiae 的再生状况。从 5 x 5 米的区域采集了复合土壤样本。从每个地块的 20 x 20 米象限收集相关树种数据。研究发现，R. kesangiae 的再生状况良好，幼苗 ≤ 树苗 > 成苗。最主要的树种是杜松，最不主要的树种是杜松。土壤水分等土壤参数对 R. kesangiae 的再生有显著影响（r = 0.52，p = 0.003）。降水量对 R. kesangiae 的再生和生长有明显影响（r = 0.37，p = 0.043），而坡度、温度和海拔等其他环境变量则没有明显影响。利用米拉迪记录了保护威胁。这项研究揭示了该物种的再生生态学和保护现状，强调了监测和保护工作的重要性，以确保它们的长期生存，避免它们落入最高保护威胁类别。关键词保护威胁 东喜马拉雅 米拉迪 再生 R. kesangiae 土壤参数 生态学
{"title":"Exploring the Regeneration Dynamics and Conservation Threats to Endemic Rhododendron kesangiae (D.G. Long & Rushforth) in Bhutan's National Botanical Park at Lungchutse, Dochula","authors":"Chogyal Tshering Dolkar, Yonten Dorji","doi":"10.1101/2024.09.03.610747","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.03.610747","url":null,"abstract":"Rhododendron kesangiae is a species endemic to the Eastern Himalayas named after the Queen mother of Bhutan, HRH Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuk. The study on the regeneration and conservation threat of Rhododendron kesangiae is of utmost importance in this changing climate and growing human interference in the natural population of Rhododendrons. However, there is limited documentation and study on this species' ecology, regeneration, and conservation status. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess the regeneration ecology and conservation status of R. kesangiae in one of Bhutan's National Botanical Park at Lungchutse, Dochula. The study area was divided into six transects along the North East and North West aspects. The regeneration status of R. kesangiae was determined by counting the number of seedlings, saplings and adults in the 5 x 5 m transects. Composite soil samples were collected from the 5 x 5 m quadrant. Associated tree species data were gathered from 20 x 20 m quadrants in each plot. The study found that the regeneration status of R. kesangiae was fair regeneration with the seedlings ≤ saplings > adults. The most dominant tree species found were Tsuga Dumosa and the least dominant species was Juniperus recurva. Soil parameters such as soil moisture significantly impacted the regeneration of R. kesangiae (r = 0.52, p = 0.003). Precipitation had a significant impact on the regeneration and growth of R. kesangiae (r = 0.37, p = 0.043), while other environmental variables such as slope, temperature and elevation did not show a significant impact. The conservation threats were documented using Miradi. This study sheds important light on the species' regeneration ecology and conservation status highlighiting the importance of monitoring and conservation efforts to ensue their long-term survival and keeping them from falling into the highest conservation threat categories. Keywords: Conservation Threats, Eastern Himalaya, Miradi, Regeneration, R. kesangiae, soil parameters, Ecology","PeriodicalId":501320,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142181010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-03DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.01.610666
Naohiro I Ishii, Satoshi Yamamoto, Yuki Iwachido, Kei Uchida
Urbanization exerts substantial pressures on genetic diversity of plant species. However, depending on species-specific life history, the direction/magnitude of urbanization impacts can vary. To elucidate relationships between life history and urbanization effects, there are needs to accumulate the knowledge on genetic diversity/differentiation along urban-rural gradients for species with unique traits. We examined these facets based on genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms of a mycoheterotrophic and vegetative-dormant orchid, Cymbidium macrorhizon, for eleven populations in remnant forests along an urban gradient within the Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan. The reduced inbreeding coefficient and increased genetic differentiation were observed with increased proportion of surrounding urban land-use 50 years ago rather than in recent years. This pattern might reflect lowest heterozygosity under intensive urbanization due to population bottleneck and genetic drift due to habitat shrinkage and fragmentation. The significant impacts of past landscape on the indices might indicate time lags of genetic erosion, namely intra-specific extinction debt, due to longevity and dormancy. Therefore, 30% increase of urban land-use since 1970s has not yet affected genetic erosion, resulting in its progression in the future. We emphasize the importance not only to assess genetic diversity but also to connect the assessments with life history and spatiotemporal urbanization impacts.
{"title":"Genetic diversity and differentiation of a mycoheterotrophic orchid (Cymbidium macrorhizon) under urbanization","authors":"Naohiro I Ishii, Satoshi Yamamoto, Yuki Iwachido, Kei Uchida","doi":"10.1101/2024.09.01.610666","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.01.610666","url":null,"abstract":"Urbanization exerts substantial pressures on genetic diversity of plant species. However, depending on species-specific life history, the direction/magnitude of urbanization impacts can vary. To elucidate relationships between life history and urbanization effects, there are needs to accumulate the knowledge on genetic diversity/differentiation along urban-rural gradients for species with unique traits. We examined these facets based on genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms of a mycoheterotrophic and vegetative-dormant orchid, <em>Cymbidium macrorhizon</em>, for eleven populations in remnant forests along an urban gradient within the Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan. The reduced inbreeding coefficient and increased genetic differentiation were observed with increased proportion of surrounding urban land-use 50 years ago rather than in recent years. This pattern might reflect lowest heterozygosity under intensive urbanization due to population bottleneck and genetic drift due to habitat shrinkage and fragmentation. The significant impacts of past landscape on the indices might indicate time lags of genetic erosion, namely intra-specific extinction debt, due to longevity and dormancy. Therefore, 30% increase of urban land-use since 1970s has not yet affected genetic erosion, resulting in its progression in the future. We emphasize the importance not only to assess genetic diversity but also to connect the assessments with life history and spatiotemporal urbanization impacts.","PeriodicalId":501320,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142181012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-03DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.01.610685
Martin Philippe-Lesaffre, Ugo Arbieu, Alok Bang, Morelia Camacho, Ross Cuthbert, Piero Genovesi, Sabrina Kumschick, Arman Pili, Hanno Seebens, Shengyu Wang, Guillaume Latombe
Biological invasions pose significant threats to biodiversity, while impacting ecosystem services, human health, and cultural heritage. Despite these far-ranging effects, their impacts are generally underappreciated by both the public and policymakers, resulting in insufficient management and inadequate conservation outcomes. Recognizing the gap in effective quantitative measurement tools, we introduce the Extinction Potential Metric (EPM) and its derivative, EPM for Unique species (EPM-U; adjusted for phylogenetic uniqueness) to quantify the ecological damage caused by invasive alien species (IAS). These metrics estimate the number of current and projected extinct species within a 50-year horizon under a business-as-usual scenario due to specific IAS. We applied EPM and EPM-U to assess threats to native terrestrial vertebrates from IAS, examining impacts on 2178 amphibians, 920 birds, 865 reptiles, and 473 mammals. The analysis identified that damage mostly stems from a limited number of IAS, notably two pathogenic fungi affecting amphibians (up to 380 equivalent extinct species) and primarily cats (139 equivalent extinct species) and rats (50 equivalent extinct species) impacting other groups, through mechanisms such as predation, disease, and reduced reproductive success in birds. The proposed metrics not only provide a standardised measure of ecological impacts but are sufficiently versatile to be tailored for specific spatial and temporal scales or taxonomic groups. Furthermore, EPM could serve as a model for developing unified indicators to monitor global biodiversity targets, such as those defined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), by assessing the ecological effects of various individual and combined anthropogenic stresses. Also, EPM and EPM-U could support the enforcement of Target 6 of the GBF, by establishing lists of IAS requiring urgent prevention and control. Thus, EPM and EPM-U offer critical tools for improving the management of biological invasions and enhancing global conservation strategies.
{"title":"Extinction potential from invasive alien species","authors":"Martin Philippe-Lesaffre, Ugo Arbieu, Alok Bang, Morelia Camacho, Ross Cuthbert, Piero Genovesi, Sabrina Kumschick, Arman Pili, Hanno Seebens, Shengyu Wang, Guillaume Latombe","doi":"10.1101/2024.09.01.610685","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.01.610685","url":null,"abstract":"Biological invasions pose significant threats to biodiversity, while impacting ecosystem services, human health, and cultural heritage. Despite these far-ranging effects, their impacts are generally underappreciated by both the public and policymakers, resulting in insufficient management and inadequate conservation outcomes. Recognizing the gap in effective quantitative measurement tools, we introduce the Extinction Potential Metric (EPM) and its derivative, EPM for Unique species (EPM-U; adjusted for phylogenetic uniqueness) to quantify the ecological damage caused by invasive alien species (IAS). These metrics estimate the number of current and projected extinct species within a 50-year horizon under a business-as-usual scenario due to specific IAS.\u0000We applied EPM and EPM-U to assess threats to native terrestrial vertebrates from IAS, examining impacts on 2178 amphibians, 920 birds, 865 reptiles, and 473 mammals. The analysis identified that damage mostly stems from a limited number of IAS, notably two pathogenic fungi affecting amphibians (up to 380 equivalent extinct species) and primarily cats (139 equivalent extinct species) and rats (50 equivalent extinct species) impacting other groups, through mechanisms such as predation, disease, and reduced reproductive success in birds.\u0000The proposed metrics not only provide a standardised measure of ecological impacts but are sufficiently versatile to be tailored for specific spatial and temporal scales or taxonomic groups. Furthermore, EPM could serve as a model for developing unified indicators to monitor global biodiversity targets, such as those defined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), by assessing the ecological effects of various individual and combined anthropogenic stresses. Also, EPM and EPM-U could support the enforcement of Target 6 of the GBF, by establishing lists of IAS requiring urgent prevention and control. Thus, EPM and EPM-U offer critical tools for improving the management of biological invasions and enhancing global conservation strategies.","PeriodicalId":501320,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142181035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-03DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.02.610744
Anjali Yadav, Namiko Mitarai, Kim Sneppen
Phages and bacteria coexist under widely different conditions, ranging from liquid cultures to oceans, soil, and the human gut. However, our models are typically limited to well-mixed liquid cultures governed by mass-action kinetics. Here, we suggest a modification to the Lotka-Volterra dynamics by including the formation of microcolonies. By analyzing the model in an open system with a steady influx of bacteria, we predict that the colony size distribution is power-low distributed with steeper exponents for the stronger external influx. In the realistic case where the phage attack rate to individual colonies is proportional to their radius, we obtain self-organization to a steady state where the maximal colony size is smaller for stronger external driving.
{"title":"Self-organized coexistence of phage and a population of host colonies","authors":"Anjali Yadav, Namiko Mitarai, Kim Sneppen","doi":"10.1101/2024.09.02.610744","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.02.610744","url":null,"abstract":"Phages and bacteria coexist under widely different conditions, ranging from liquid cultures to oceans, soil, and the human gut. However, our models are typically limited to well-mixed liquid cultures governed by mass-action kinetics. Here, we suggest a modification to the Lotka-Volterra dynamics by including the formation of microcolonies. By analyzing the model in an open system with a steady influx of bacteria, we predict that the colony size distribution is power-low distributed with steeper exponents for the stronger external influx. In the realistic case where the phage attack rate to individual colonies is proportional to their radius, we obtain self-organization to a steady state where the maximal colony size is smaller for stronger external driving.","PeriodicalId":501320,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142181033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-03DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.01.610694
Suyeon Kim
This study investigates the digitization of insect collections and the application of deep learning models to improve this process. During a one-hour filming session, 141 images of dragonfly specimens from the Cornell University Insect Collection were captured and preprocessed using five distinct methods: (1) adding box annotations around the wings, (2) adding polygon annotations to outline the forewings and hindwings, (3) removing vein system images, (4) retaining only the wing outline images, and (5) grouping by automatically measured wing size and classifying species within those groups. By comparing YOLOv8 models trained on datasets with these different preprocessing methods, the study revealed three key findings: (1) datasets with bounding box annotations result in shorter preprocessing times and superior model performance compared to polygon annotations; (2) although models trained with polygon annotations may have lower accuracy, they provide more detailed information on wing length and phenotypic traits; and (3) the wing vein system, rather than the wing outline, is the critical factor in classification accuracy.
{"title":"YOLOv8 Enables Automated Dragonfly Species Classification Using Wing Images","authors":"Suyeon Kim","doi":"10.1101/2024.09.01.610694","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.01.610694","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the digitization of insect collections and the application of deep learning models to improve this process. During a one-hour filming session, 141 images of dragonfly specimens from the Cornell University Insect Collection were captured and preprocessed using five distinct methods: (1) adding box annotations around the wings, (2) adding polygon annotations to outline the forewings and hindwings, (3) removing vein system images, (4) retaining only the wing outline images, and (5) grouping by automatically measured wing size and classifying species within those groups. By comparing YOLOv8 models trained on datasets with these different preprocessing methods, the study revealed three key findings: (1) datasets with bounding box annotations result in shorter preprocessing times and superior model performance compared to polygon annotations; (2) although models trained with polygon annotations may have lower accuracy, they provide more detailed information on wing length and phenotypic traits; and (3) the wing vein system, rather than the wing outline, is the critical factor in classification accuracy.","PeriodicalId":501320,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142181039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-03DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.02.609945
Macy J Kailing, Joseph R Hoyt, J Paul White, Jennifer A Redell, Heather M Kaarakka, Kate E Langwig
Mating dynamics can govern species impacts from novel pressures by influencing demographic processes that affect mortality risk. Understanding how mating systems shape interactions among individuals can improve predictions of the effects of environmental change on populations. Here, we examined sex differences in mating phenology in populations where mating activity coincides with exposure to P. destructans, a lethal fungal pathogen, to understand how reproductive strategies contribute to disease impacts. As P. destructans can replicate only at the cool temperatures at which bats hibernate, we expected differences in activity among sexes to modify disease dynamics. We used passive antenna systems installed at the entrances of hibernacula to characterize activity patterns of bats impacted by white-nose syndrome. We also measured pathogen loads on bats during autumn mating and early hibernation to assess how infection severity changed according to host phenology. We found that females spent fewer days active during autumn, arrived after males, and were primarily active on the warmest nights. Males remained highly active throughout the mating period and later in autumn than females. Importantly, these differences in mating phenology likely led to more severe infections in females during early hibernation as male activity and thus warm body temperatures inhibited pathogen growth. Differences in activity between sexes and in the transition from swarm to hibernation likely reflects males maximizing their mating opportunities while females conserve energy to meet the cost of spring migration and reproduction. More broadly, our results show how mating phenology can contribute to sex-biased impacts of a novel disease and highlight the value of understanding species mating systems to anticipate the impacts of environmental change.
{"title":"Mating strategies explain sex-biased infections in an emerging fungal disease","authors":"Macy J Kailing, Joseph R Hoyt, J Paul White, Jennifer A Redell, Heather M Kaarakka, Kate E Langwig","doi":"10.1101/2024.09.02.609945","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.02.609945","url":null,"abstract":"Mating dynamics can govern species impacts from novel pressures by influencing demographic processes that affect mortality risk. Understanding how mating systems shape interactions among individuals can improve predictions of the effects of environmental change on populations. Here, we examined sex differences in mating phenology in populations where mating activity coincides with exposure to P. destructans, a lethal fungal pathogen, to understand how reproductive strategies contribute to disease impacts. As P. destructans can replicate only at the cool temperatures at which bats hibernate, we expected differences in activity among sexes to modify disease dynamics. We used passive antenna systems installed at the entrances of hibernacula to characterize activity patterns of bats impacted by white-nose syndrome. We also measured pathogen loads on bats during autumn mating and early hibernation to assess how infection severity changed according to host phenology. We found that females spent fewer days active during autumn, arrived after males, and were primarily active on the warmest nights. Males remained highly active throughout the mating period and later in autumn than females. Importantly, these differences in mating phenology likely led to more severe infections in females during early hibernation as male activity and thus warm body temperatures inhibited pathogen growth. Differences in activity between sexes and in the transition from swarm to hibernation likely reflects males maximizing their mating opportunities while females conserve energy to meet the cost of spring migration and reproduction. More broadly, our results show how mating phenology can contribute to sex-biased impacts of a novel disease and highlight the value of understanding species mating systems to anticipate the impacts of environmental change.","PeriodicalId":501320,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142181008","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-02DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.30.610513
Tohar Tal, Diego Jansen, Erik Jansen, Arthur W. Green, Elien Hoekstra, Marc Heetkamp, Filiep T'jollyn, Dries Engelen, Bart Hoekstra, Triin Kaasiku, Wouter M.G. Vansteelant
The extent to which geographical features like coastlines and mountain ranges funnel migrating birds depends on the seasonal context and direction of migration. Near Batumi, in the Republic of Georgia, the eastern Black Sea coast and Lesser Caucasus funnel over one million raptors through a 10-20 km wide coastal strip every autumn. The funnelling effect of the Lesser Caucasus appears much less evident for northbound migrants. Yet historical data suggest tens of thousands of raptors pass through the region in spring. To elucidate the composition and timing of spring raptor migration we conducted full-season migration surveys near Batumi in 2019, 2020 and 2022. In total, we recorded 33 species and, on average, counted 542,161 raptors (min. 455,799 - max. 618,848) annually. The bulk of the spring passage consisted of Black Kite Milvus migrans (239,649 +- 22,547) and Steppe Buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus (194,029 +- 102,702). The most diverse and intense spring migration occurred from late March through mid-April, when the median passage date of 12 of 15 common species (>100 ind. y-1) occurred. Species with longer autumn migration periods tended to have longer spring migration periods, and most species had a longer migration period in spring than in autumn, likely due to larger age differences in timing during spring. Species abundance was up to an order of magnitude lower in spring than in autumn, consistent with a weaker bottleneck-effect in spring. Nevertheless, our results confirm the eastern Black Sea coast as a principal spring flyway and help redraw the map of East African-Eurasian migration for several Palearctic raptors. While we will not continue annual spring migration surveys, our data provides a baseline for detecting changes in raptor migration through short-term surveys and can help plan migration-based conservation and research at Batumi in spring.
{"title":"Full-season spring migration counts reveal seasonal contrasts in raptor migration through the eastern Black Sea flyway","authors":"Tohar Tal, Diego Jansen, Erik Jansen, Arthur W. Green, Elien Hoekstra, Marc Heetkamp, Filiep T'jollyn, Dries Engelen, Bart Hoekstra, Triin Kaasiku, Wouter M.G. Vansteelant","doi":"10.1101/2024.08.30.610513","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.30.610513","url":null,"abstract":"The extent to which geographical features like coastlines and mountain ranges funnel migrating birds depends on the seasonal context and direction of migration. Near Batumi, in the Republic of Georgia, the eastern Black Sea coast and Lesser Caucasus funnel over one million raptors through a 10-20 km wide coastal strip every autumn. The funnelling effect of the Lesser Caucasus appears much less evident for northbound migrants. Yet historical data suggest tens of thousands of raptors pass through the region in spring. To elucidate the composition and timing of spring raptor migration we conducted full-season migration surveys near Batumi in 2019, 2020 and 2022. In total, we recorded 33 species and, on average, counted 542,161 raptors (min. 455,799 - max. 618,848) annually. The bulk of the spring passage consisted of Black Kite Milvus migrans (239,649 +- 22,547) and Steppe Buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus (194,029 +- 102,702). The most diverse and intense spring migration occurred from late March through mid-April, when the median passage date of 12 of 15 common species (>100 ind. y-1) occurred. Species with longer autumn migration periods tended to have longer spring migration periods, and most species had a longer migration period in spring than in autumn, likely due to larger age differences in timing during spring. Species abundance was up to an order of magnitude lower in spring than in autumn, consistent with a weaker bottleneck-effect in spring. Nevertheless, our results confirm the eastern Black Sea coast as a principal spring flyway and help redraw the map of East African-Eurasian migration for several Palearctic raptors. While we will not continue annual spring migration surveys, our data provides a baseline for detecting changes in raptor migration through short-term surveys and can help plan migration-based conservation and research at Batumi in spring.","PeriodicalId":501320,"journal":{"name":"bioRxiv - Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142181041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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