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Previous studies of Eurasian grasslands have suggested that nutrient ratios, rather than absolute nutrient availabilities and associated productivity, may be driving plant species richness patterns. However, the underlying assumption that species occupy distinct niches along nutrient ratio gradients remains to be tested. We analysed plant community composition and nutrient status of 644 Eurasian wet...
Despite low in situ primary productivity, tropical oligotrophic rivers support highly diverse fish assemblages and productive fisheries. This raises the question, what energy sources support fish production in these ecosystems? We sampled fish and food resources in the floodplain of a nearly pristine, large, oligotrophic river in western Amazonia. We combined data from stomach contents and stable...
Anthropogenic degradation of natural habitats is a global driver of wildlife population declines. Local population responses to such environmental perturbations are generally well understood, but in socially structured populations, interactions between environmental and social factors may influence population responses. Thus, understanding how habitat degradation affects the dynamics of these populations...
Habitat coupling is a concept that refers to consumer integration of resources derived from different habitats. This coupling unites fundamental food web pathways (e.g., cross-habitat trophic linkages) that mediate key ecological processes such as biomass flows, nutrient cycling, and stability. We consider the influence of water transparency, an important environmental driver in aquatic ecosystems,...
Few species of insect herbivores are highly polyphagous, but those few species are disproportionately ecologically and economically important and include many of the most destructive crop pests. Common correlates of extreme polyphagy across insects include the related behaviors of cannibalism and omnivory, though any functional consequences of these behaviors on the host range are unknown. I hypothesized...
Differences among individuals within species affect community and ecosystem processes in many systems, and may rival the importance of differences between species. Intraspecific variation consists of both plastic and genetic components that are regulated by different processes and operate on different time scales. Therefore, probing which mechanisms can affect traits sufficiently strongly to affect...
Herbivore-induced changes in host quality mediate indirect interactions between herbivores. The nature of these indirect interactions can vary depending on the identity of herbivores involved, species-specific induction of defense-signaling pathways, and sequence of attack. However, our understanding of the role of these signaling pathways in the success of multiple exotic herbivores is less known...
Seagrasses are globally declining and often their loss is due to synergies among stressors. We investigated the interactive effects of eutrophication and burial on the Mediterranean seagrass, Posidonia oceanica. A field experiment was conducted to estimate whether shoot survival depends on the interactive effects of three levels of intensity of both stressors and to identify early changes in plants...
Predators influence communities through either consuming prey (consumptive effects, CEs) or altering prey traits (non-consumptive effects, NCEs), which has cascading effects on lower trophic levels. CEs are well known to decrease in physically stressful environments, but NCEs may be reduced at physically benign levels that affect the ability of prey to detect and respond to predators (i.e., sensory...
Populations of the same species can vary substantially in their behavioral and morphometric traits when they are subject to different environmental pressures, which may lead to the development of different adaptive strategies. We quantified variation in exploratory behavior and morphometric traits among two rufous-collared sparrow populations that occur at low and high elevations in central Chile...
Plant–soil feedbacks (PSFs) describe the effect of a plant species on soil properties, which affect the performance of future generations. Here we test the hypothesis that drought alters PSFs by reducing plant–microbe associations and nutrient uptake. We chose two grassland forb species, previously shown to respond differently to soil conditioning and drought, to test our hypothesis. We conditioned...
Interaction modifications can arise when a third species alters the physical and chemical environment within which two other species interact. On coral reefs, corals and algae commonly interact amid a suite of other species that may modify their interaction. Massive Porites coral and algal turfs often are covered by mucus nets cast by the vermetid gastropod, Ceraesignum maximum. Previously, vermetid...
In resource-limited savannas, the distribution and abundance of fine roots play an important role in acquiring essential resources and structuring vegetation patterns and dynamics. However, little is known regarding the three-dimensional distribution of fine roots in savanna ecosystems at the landscape scale. We quantified spatial patterns of fine root density to a depth of 1.2 m in a subtropical...
Species that span large latitudinal gradients face strong differences in voltinism and in winter conditions within their range. Latitudinal gradients in winter survival and especially their underlying mechanisms and association with voltinism patterns are poorly studied. We tested in the damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum whether high-latitude populations were better in dealing with the longer winters...
Seed predation and resource competition are fundamental biotic filters that affect the assembly of plant communities, yet empirical studies rarely assess their importance relative to one another. Here, we used rodent exclosures and experimental seed additions to compare how rodent granivory and resource competition affected the net establishment of an exotic invader (Bromus tectorum) and two native...
Juvenile growth strongly impacts life-history traits during adulthood. Yet, in juveniles with delayed maturity, elusiveness has hindered age-specific studies of growth, precluding any detailed research on its consequences later in life. Different complex growth patterns have been extracted from captive animals, suggesting species-specific trajectories occur in free-ranging animals. How pronounced...
Variation in seed availability shapes plant communities, and is strongly affected by seed predation. In some plant species, temporal variation in seed production is especially high and synchronized over large areas, which is called ‘mast seeding’. One selective advantage of this phenomenon is predator satiation which posits that masting helps plants escape seed predation through starvation of predators...
Lethal carnivore management is a prevailing strategy to reduce livestock predation. Intensity of lethal management varies according to land-use, where carnivores are more intensively hunted on farms relative to reserves. Variations in hunting intensity may result in the formation of a source–sink system where carnivores disperse from high-density to low-density areas. Few studies quantify dispersal...
Dispersal limitation, niche-based processes as well as historical legacies shape microbial biodiversity, but their respective influences remain unknown for many groups of microbes. We analysed metacommunity structure and functional trait variation in 148 communities of desmids, freshwater green algae, distributed throughout Europe. We delineated biogeographic modules for both taxa and sites using...
Seed predation can cause substantial seed losses and influence plant population dynamics, but the impact depends on the extent to which populations are limited by seed availability or favorable microsites for recruitment. Harvester ants are the dominant post-dispersal seed predators in Australia’s tropical savannas, and their abundance and foraging efficiency, as well as the availability of seed and...
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