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Shifts in life history traits and in the behaviour of species can potentially alter ecosystem functioning. The reproduction of the central European fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra), which usually deposits its larvae in first-order streams, in small pool and pond-like habitats, is an example of a recent local adaptation in this species. Here we aimed to quantify the direct and indirect effects...
Food availability and pond desiccation are two of the most studied factors that condition amphibian metamorphosis. It is well known that, when food is abundant, organisms undergo metamorphosis early and when they are relatively large. The capability of anurans to accelerate their developmental rate in response to desiccation is also common knowledge. These two variables must act together in nature,...
Large floral displays receive more pollinator visits but involve higher production and maintenance costs. This can result in indirect costs which may negatively affect functions like reproductive output. In this study, we explored the relationship between floral display and indirect costs in two pairs of coflowering sympatric Mediterranean Cistus of contrasting flower size. We hypothesized that: (1)...
It is important to identify the factors that affect the evolutionary potential of populations to respond to environmental changes. Such processes are for example the ones affecting the amount of heritable phenotypic variation in a population. We examined factors explaining the wide phenotypic variation in the genetically determined black-brown dorsal colouration of male pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca...
The nutritional value of alternative host plants for leaf-feeding insects such as caterpillars is commonly measured in terms of protein quantity. However, nutritional value might also depend on the quality of the foliar protein [i.e., the composition of essential amino acids (EAAs)]. A lack of comparative work on the EAA compositions of herbivores and their host plants has hampered the testing of...
While the common conceptual role of resource subsidies is one of bottom-up nutrient and energy supply, inputs can also alter the structural complexity of environments. This can further impact resource flow by providing refuge for prey and decreasing predation rates. However, the direct influence of different organic subsidies on predator–prey dynamics is rarely examined. In forested wetlands, leaf...
Hemiparasitic plants can substantially change plant community structure; the drainage of host resources has a direct negative effect on host biomass and, as a consequence, promotes non-host biomass production (parasitism pathway); on the other hand, hemiparasitic litter inputs can enhance nutrient cycling which may have an indirect positive effect on both host and non-host biomass production (litter...
For socially hibernating mammals, the effectiveness of huddling as a means of energy conservation should increase with group size. However, group size has only been linked to increased survival in a few hibernating species, and the relative importance of social structure versus winter conditions during hibernation remains uncertain. We studied the influence of winter weather conditions, social group...
Animals often announce their unprofitability to predators through conspicuous coloured signals. Here we tested whether the apparently conspicuous colour designs of the four European Coraciiformes and Upupiformes species may have evolved as aposematic signals, or whether instead they imply a cost in terms of predation risk. Because previous studies suggested that these species are unpalatable, we hypothesized...
Several studies across species have linked leaf functional traits with shade tolerance. Because evolution by natural selection occurs within populations, in order to explain those interspecific patterns it is crucial to examine variation of traits associated with shade tolerance and plant fitness at an intraspecific scale. In a southern temperate rainforest, two climbing plant species coexist but...
Ants and spiders are ubiquitous generalist predators that exert top-down control on herbivore populations. Research shows that intraguild interactions between ants and spiders can negatively affect spider populations, but there is a lack of long-term research documenting the strength of such interactions and the potentially different effects of ants on the diverse array of species in a spider assemblage...
Ecologically isolated habitats (e.g., oceanic islands) favor the appearance of small assemblages of pollinators, generally characterized by highly contrasted life modes (e.g., birds, lizards), and opportunistic nectar-feeding behavior. Different life modes should promote a low functional equivalence among pollinators, while opportunistic nectar feeding would lead to reduced and unpredictable pollination...
Reproducing parents face the difficult challenge of trading-off investment in current reproduction against presumed future survival and reproduction. Glucocorticoids are supposed to mediate this trade-off because the adrenocortical response to stress disrupts normal reproductive behaviour in favour of self-maintenance and own survival. According to the brood-value hypothesis, individuals with a low...
In many environments recruitment of dispersive propagules (e.g. seeds, spores and larvae) can vary from situations when particular taxa recruit in relative isolation to times when they recruit simultaneously with other, functionally quite different taxa. Differences in the identity and density of recruiting taxa can have important consequences on community structure, but it is still not clear how...
To comprehend the potential consequences of biodiversity loss on the leaf litter decomposition process, a better understanding of its underlying mechanisms is necessary. Here, we hypothesize that positive litter mixture effects occur via complementary resource use, when litter species complement each other in terms of resource quality for detritivores. To investigate this, monocultures and mixtures...
Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) breeding success in Ithaca, NY, USA, over the past quarter century has shown generally healthy fledgling production punctuated by years of high nestling mortality. This study tested the potential effects that temperature may have on the food supply and breeding success of swallows. Data from 17 years of daily insect samples were used to relate flying insect abundances...
The crash phase of vole populations with cyclic dynamics regularly leads to vast areas of uninhabited habitats. Yet although the capacity for cyclic voles to re-colonize such empty space is likely to be large and predicted to have become evolved as a distinct life history trait, the processes of colonization and its effect on the spatio-temporal dynamics have been little studied. Here we report from...
Estimating the nutritional value of a herbivore’s diet is difficult because it requires knowing what the animal eats, the relative quality of each component and how these components interact in relation to animal physiology. Current methods are cumbersome and rely on many assumptions that are hard to evaluate. We describe a new method for estimating relative diet quality directly from faeces that...
Although many species may be vulnerable to changes in climate, forecasting species-level responses can be challenging given the array of physiological, behavioral, and demographic attributes that might be affected. One strategy to improve forecasts is to evaluate how species responded to climatic variation in the past. We used 22 years of capture-recapture data for Sonoran desert tortoises (Gopherus morafkai...
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