Acta Oecologica-International Journal of Ecology最新文献

Effects of fires on carnivores are still poorly understood, particularly in the fire-prone Mediterranean basin. For instance, whether the effects are mainly mediated by prey abundance (Prey Abundance Hypothesis, PAH), prey catchability (Prey Catchability Hypothesis, PCH) or habitat suitability is unclear. Our objective was to investigate the role of fire, mammalian prey abundance, habitat suitability and their interactions in shaping the use of space and time of two carnivores, i.e., the red fox Vulpes vulpes and the stone marten Martes foina. The study area was Monte Pisano (Italy), where 12 km² of surface burned in 2018. In early summer 2021 a stratified random sampling design was implemented, with fire and forest type as main strata. Fifty sites were selected, and two infrared cameras were placed at each site. Camera data were used to develop single-species occupancy models for the two predators, whereas time overlap between theme and their prey was evaluated through the Mardia-Watson-Wheeler test. Fox occupancy decreased with increasing herbaceous cover, but only when “mouse and voles” abundance was medium to high, regardless of habitat type. Fox also had significant differences in temporal activity between burnt and unburnt areas, not coupled by a similar pattern for its prey. In contrast, stone marten occupancy mainly depended on canopy cover. The fox could have adapted its hunting strategy to features of the environment and prey abundance, somehow supporting both PCH and PAH. In time, this species could optimize its activity in burnt and unburnt areas according to the brightness of the night. Differences in activity in “mice and voles” were interpreted as anti-predatory responses to the fox. Lastly, the stone marten did not pursue its prey in open areas. In conclusion, carnivores’ habitat use and mammalian predator-prey relationships were overall influenced by fire and post-fire successions.

There is still no consensus regarding the ultimate cause of the famous 3–4-year population cycles of lemmings. According to the plant stress hypothesis, herbivore population peaks are caused by stress factors that force plants to reallocate stored defensive proteins to transportable and easily digestible N-compounds. One possible plant stress factor is ionization caused by exhalation of the radioactive noble gas radon, which is enhanced after spring tides, i.e., tides at new or full Moon. I hypothesized that increased ionization caused by radon accumulation in the subnivean space after peak spring tides, which occur close to perihelion (31 December–05 January, when the Earth–Sun distance is shortest), and at 3.8-year intervals, results in increased protein digestibility of mosses, which are important food for lemmings. Population outbreaks of Norway lemming Lemmus lemmus occurred two years after peak spring tides during 1871–1910, when also perigee (the time when the Earth–Moon distance is shortest) coincided with spring tides and perihelion. Thereafter this relationship weakened, and lemming peaks became less pronounced and more related to plant seed indices. As we have now entered a new 30-year period with coincidence of spring tide, perihelion and perigee, I predict more regular and pronounced lemming outbreaks in the next decades, unless radon accumulation is prevented by frequent lack of a stable snow cover due to global warming.

The mutualism between the fig tree and the pollinating fig wasps is a keystone interaction in tropical forests. However, many antagonistic interactions also occur in the system, taking advantage of the fig trees and the pollinator. One such example is an antagonistic gall midge (Cecidomyiidae) that develops inside figs. Gall midges inside figs have been documented in a few Ficus species around the world, but to our knowledge they have not previously been observed in Panama. In this study the newly observed Panamanian fig gall midge is documented, together with its parasitoid wasp. The fig gall midge was only found in Ficus citrifolia figs. We investigated the effect of fig gall midge presence on the number of seeds and the number of pollinating wasps (Pegoscapus tonduzi) in a fig and aimed to identify the species based on morphology and barcoding of the COI region. We found that the fig gall midge had no, or a negligible effect, on the reproduction of the fig tree - fig wasp mutualism. The fig gall midge most likely belongs to the genus Ficiomyia, close to Ficiomyia perarticulata. The parasitoid belongs to the genus Physothorax, close to Physothorax russelli. This study suggests that the potentially newly arrived fig gall midge currently has no major effect on the fig tree - fig wasp mutualism. However, should infestation rates increase, it is likely that the fig gall midge would affect the mutualism negatively as it has in other parts of the world. More studies on the fig gall midge species distributions in this region would be valuable and would connect these newly observed species to a larger community, adding yet another species to this complex but classic example of a mutualism.

Many plant functional traits exhibit variations along spatial gradients, and exploring such geographical variations is of great reference value for understanding the evolutionary process of plant distribution and response mechanisms to biotic and abiotic factors. Fruit type (fleshy vs. dry fruits), a key reproductive characteristic of plants, plays an important role in seed dispersal processes. Environmental factors, plant growth form, and phylogeny are the most frequently discussed factors that explain the geographical patterns of fruit type. Disentangling the relative contribution of each factor is challenging, and previous studies have not been consistent. In the present study, we compiled a dataset of 2668 plant species from 22 ecological research stations of the Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, including diverse ecosystems across 26° latitude. The pattern of fruit type divergence (i.e., flesh vs. dry fruits) was primarily explained by phylogeny (partial R²_lik = 65.60%), whereas growth form and environmental factors revealed little variation. Interestingly, the relative contribution of phylogeny in explaining fruit-type divergence was larger in the flora at low latitudes than that at high latitudes. Temperature variables, particularly low-temperature variables, were correlated with partial R²_lik, with the results revealing that the higher the temperature, the stronger the explanatory degree of phylogeny. Our findings provide a detailed explanation for the ecological and evolutionary patterns underlying the divergence of fruit types, shedding light on understanding the geographic distribution of fruit types.

The foraging behavior of ants may be linked to the body size of workers, which serves as an adaptation to suboptimal external temperatures. The relationship between foraging behavior and body size is especially noticeable in polymorphic species, which display a broad range of variation in worker body size. An increasing number of studies have found that body size plays an important role in the division of labor among monomorphic ants, which do not display physical subcastes of workers. This study aimed to investigate whether the workers of the monomorphic ant Lasius niger respond to temperature in a similar way to polymorphic species. Surprisingly, our findings indicate that the mean body size of workers foraging in high temperatures during the afternoon is significantly smaller than that of workers foraging in much lower temperatures during the morning. Our study supports the idea, proposed by other authors, that simple radiative heat transfer does not fully explain the significance of body size for thermal tolerance. We hypothesize that allocating smaller workers when the temperature is high protects the colony from overheating.

Competition for nest site resources among sympatric bird species leads to differences in occupying superior resources, which can directly influence their breeding performance. However, how sympatric congeneric bird species alleviate interspecific competition in nest site selection and achieve coexistence remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted a long-term investigation on the nest site selection and breeding performance of two sympatric congeneric species, Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura striata) and White-rumped Munia (Lonchura punctulata) in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, southwest China, from 2017 to 2021. Our findings revealed that White-rumped Munia and Scaly-breasted Munia shared overlapped breeding period, but had significant spatial segregation. Regarding the impact of nest site selection on the breeding performance of these two bird species, we found that increasing nest concealment led to higher nestling numbers, fledgling numbers, and breeding success rate. Conversely, greater proximity to nests of heterologous species was correlated with reduced nestling numbers, hatching rates, and breeding success rates. Additionally, nests located in closer proximity to water edges exhibited reduced fledgling numbers, whereas choosing trees with larger diameter at breast height positively correlated with higher fledgling numbers. Compared to White-rumped Munia, Scaly-breasted Munia were inclined to occupy more concealed nests, tree with larger diameters, and closer to heterologous nests. Therefore, the nestling numbers, the fledgling rate, and the breeding success rate of the Scaly-breasted Munia were significantly higher than those of the White-rumped Munia. This study further showed that the increase of nest concealment and decrease of nearest distance to the nest of heterologous species decreased nest predation rate, therefore, increased the breeding success rate. Our study unveiled that, by spatial segregation and different nest site selection, two sibling bird species with highly overlapped breeding period can achieve coexistence in tropical areas.

Anthropogenic climate change has been identified as one of the main threats to current biodiversity, particularly for mountain species, which are especially sensitive to reductions of suitable habitat. Climate change impact assessments through correlative models have become a widely used tool for evaluating vulnerability of species to global warming. However, interpreting these results in an evolutionary context is essential to understand the phylogenetic structure of the predicted impact, as well as the potential evolutionary responses. The present study evaluates the impact of climate change on the Andean-Patagonian genus Onuris, interpreting the effect on its species and main phylogenetic groups. We first estimated a species phylogeny using both nuclear ribosomal and plastid data, which was then used to interpret the evolution of climatic niches and characterize the vulnerability of different species, evolutionary significant units (ESUs), and main lineages to climate change. Evaluations were conducted at the species level using species-specific metrics and at the genus level with emergent metrics such as richness, phylogenetic diversity, and shared response to local extirpation. Analyses showed that closely related species exhibit greater climatic niche similarity, suggesting a possible pattern of phylogenetic niche conservatism for divergence in the genus, with the greatest niche divergence recovered between lineages distributed in central-northern and southern Andean-Patagonian region. Species and ESUs of the lineage distributed in the southernmost portion of Patagonia (ca. 47°S–55°S) were most negatively affected under the different scenarios and models tested. The results also indicated a greater impact on richness than on phylogenetic diversity, mainly due to the establishment of the northern lineage in future projections over the range of the southern lineage. However, predictions show a pronounced negative effect of climate change for the entire genus. Likewise, results obtained suggest the high vulnerability of the current biota in the southern end of the Andean-Patagonian region.

Insect pollinators are declining worldwide due to many challenges and several approaches have been implemented to mitigate their loss. Farming with Alternative Pollinators (FAP) uses marketable habitat enhancement plants (MHEP) that yield substantial benefits for farmers from the first year. Studies with small-scale farmers have shown that FAP sustains high diversity and abundance of flower visitors and natural enemies, resulting in significant increases in smallholders' incomes, on average 121% higher. For the first time, we analyzed this approach in large-scale fields. Trials were conducted in 16 farms in two regions of Morocco, Sidi Slimane and Ksar El-Kebir, in 2021. We used melon (Cucumis melo) as the main crop and coriander, anise and sunflower as MHEP and selected in each farm 1 ha as trial area in larger monocultures. We compared FAP and control fields regarding abundance and richness of flower visitors, natural enemies and pests as well as net income of the whole field (1 ha). Flower visitors and natural enemies were significantly more diverse and abundant in FAP fields and there were also fewer pests. Our economic results show 17% higher net income per ha in FAP fields versus control fields in the Ksar El-Kebir region, and 12% higher net income in FAP fields compared to control fields in Sidi Slimane region. Although the mean yield difference was statistically significant, the income difference was not. We suggest more FAP trials are needed in different large-scale fields systems.

Water scarcity in arid and semi-arid regions affects ecosystem development. Therefore, elucidation of the mechanisms by which plant species in a given region respond to drought conditions may allow us to improve global vegetation. Encelia species are drought-tolerant and an important component of shrub communities in the arid and semi-arid regions of southern California, U.S.A.; these species are widely used for vegetation restoration in the region. This study aimed to investigate the morphological, and physiological responses in E. farinosa in relation to changes in soil properties under drought conditions. Plants were subjected to two levels of soil water regimes, drought and well-watered conditions (5% and 12% of gravimetric water content, respectively). After 3 months, above-ground biomass, basal diameter, leaf area, leaf and root relative water content, and root length were measured. The shoot:root ratio in dry mass and specific leaf area (SLA) were calculated. We also analyzed leaf and soil nutrients, including total C, N, and available P. In the drought treatment, E. farinosa showed significantly lower above-ground biomass, stem diameter, and shoot and root relative water content. Also, the drought treatment resulted in significantly lower leaf areas, while the SLA and root length were significantly higher. Leaf total C and N were higher in the drought treatment while leaf P was not affected by soil water content. The reduction in plant leaf area, root elongation and the increase in SLA under drought are known as drought avoidance strategies of plants, suggesting that E. farinosa hampers water loss by morphological regulations. Additionally, higher leaf content of C and N seems to be important for metabolic drought adaptation. Further research on osmotic adjustment and antioxidant defense systems will clarify the detailed drought tolerance mechanisms of E. farinosa in relation to C and N accumulation under drought conditions.

Scripus mariqueter is a native endangered plant species with both sexual and asexual reproduction in a coastal salt marsh wetland, eastern China. Understanding the patterns of growth and reproduction of S. mariqueter populations in different tidal flats and the main driving factors is necessary and urgent for the effective restoration of this species. The characteristics of growth and reproduction of S. mariqueter populations were investigated in the seaward, middle and landward habitats along the north, east and south directions of the Dongtan salt marsh wetland. Results showed that when individually and comprehensively analyzing the effect of soil physicochemical properties on the differentiation patterns of the growth and reproduction, based on the pairwise index analysis, SEM (structural equation model) and PCA (principal component analysis), soil salinity was the most important driving factor, and comprehensive factor (Y) played a major role than tidal levels and directions. Soil physicochemical factors independently explained 61.63% of the growth-reproduction variation, in which soil salinity explained 13.78% and the comprehensive factor explained 69.20%. Correlation between sexual and asexual reproduction was negative in series habitats in the north direction, and positive in series habitats in the east and south direction, where soil physicochemical properties in the series habitats in the south direction was relatively unfavorable or stressful than those in the east and north direction in term of sexual reproduction. Our results provided a theoretical and practical basis for the sustainable conservation and restoration of S. mariqueter population, which may further help enhance its ecological functions in protecting beaches, reducing waves, facilitating siltation and maintaining biodiversity in the coastal salt marsh wetland, eastern China.