The Infona portal uses cookies, i.e. strings of text saved by a browser on the user's device. The portal can access those files and use them to remember the user's data, such as their chosen settings (screen view, interface language, etc.), or their login data. By using the Infona portal the user accepts automatic saving and using this information for portal operation purposes. More information on the subject can be found in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. By closing this window the user confirms that they have read the information on cookie usage, and they accept the privacy policy and the way cookies are used by the portal. You can change the cookie settings in your browser.
Phenotypic plasticity, the ability of one genotype to produce different phenotypes in different environments, plays a central role in species' response to environmental changes. Transgenerational plasticity (TGP) allows the transmission of this environmentally‐induced phenotypic variation across generations, and can influence adaptation. To date, the genetic control of TGP, its long‐term stability,...
Accurate occurrence data is necessary for the conservation of keystone or endangered species, but acquiring it is usually slow, laborious and costly. Automated acoustic monitoring offers a scalable alternative to manual surveys but identifying species vocalisations requires large manually annotated training datasets, and is not always possible (e.g. for lesser studied or silent species). A new approach...
We note the continuing widespread use of regressions of mathematically dependent (derived or confounded) variables [e.g. comparisons of standardized ratios: X/Y versus Z/Y, or the part versus the whole: X versus (X + Y)] in all disciplines of biology and ecology. These may lead to ‘spurious' correlations as even random numbers would produce similarly statistically significant results. We developed...
Due to the speed of climate changes, rapid buffering mechanisms such as phenotypic plasticity – which may depend on breeding phenology – could be key to avoid extinction. The links between phenology and plasticity, however, remain understudied. Here we explored the matching between phenology and the thermal sensitivity of standard (SMR) and routine metabolic rates (RMR), metabolic scope (i.e. the...
The impact of global change on biodiversity is commonly assessed in terms of changes in species distributions, community richness and community composition. Whether and how much associations between species are also changing is much less documented. In this study, we quantify changes in large‐scale patterns of species associations in bird communities in relation to changes in species composition....
A long‐standing puzzle in ecology is coexistence of many species despite relatively few limiting resources. Studies using competitive community models have found that temporal environmental stochasticity (TES) can provide a solution by providing a rare‐species advantage, for example by creating temporal niches. However, this appears to contradict studies using population models, which have found that...
Population performance is predicted to be more strongly influenced by detrimental species interactions such as predation under benign climatic conditions, and by climate forcing under harsh conditions, reflected in geographical gradients in biotic interaction strength. Less appreciated is the potential for site‐specific changes in drivers with the advent of anthropogenic alteration of predator–prey...
Rainfall and biocrusts are important sources of temporal and spatial environmental heterogeneity and niche differentiation for annual plants, a major component of diversity in drylands. Therefore, global change processes comprising shifts in rainfall timing and drought exacerbation, together with biocrust disturbance may affect species coexistence and result in disrupted diversity patterns. In this...
Patterns of resource use by animals can clarify how ecological communities have assembled in the past, how they currently function and how they are likely to respond to future perturbations. Bumble bees (Hymentoptera: Bombus spp.) and their floral hosts provide a diverse yet tractable system in which to explore resource selection in the context of plant–pollinator networks. Under conditions of resource...
Ontogenetic development can strongly shape species interactions. Yet, rarely is stage‐structure considered when analyzing species interaction networks, particularly networks that can account for more than feeding relationships. Here, we assess 1) if body size or trophic level regulate the importance of species' ontogeny on their interactions and 2) how including relevant stage‐structure affects the...
Obligate parasites need one or more hosts to complete their life cycle. However, hosts might show intraspecific variation in quality with respect to the parasites themselves, thus affecting on‐host and off‐host parasite performance. High heritability in host quality for the parasite may therefore exert long‐lasting selective pressures on the parasite and influence host–parasite coevolution. However,...
Environmental conditions experienced by individuals early in life can extend into adult phenotypes with potential fitness consequences. Such environmental effects can be relevant for host species affected by parasitism, because poor early life conditions may lower parasite recognition or anti‐parasite defenses and increase the risk of future parasitism. Here we provide a first test of this possibility...
Intraguild predation (IGP) is a common interaction between generalist predators when they competitively exploit similar resources and prey on each other. Theoretical models predict limitations for intraguild predator coexistence unless some mechanisms, such as the utilization of alternative prey (i.e. trophic niche partitioning) and cannibalism, increase the relative intraspecific clustering and interspecific...
Dispersal emerges as a consequence of how an individual's phenotype interacts with the environment. Not all dispersing individuals have the same phenotype, and variation among individuals can generate complex variation in the distribution of dispersal distances and directions. While active locomotion performance is an obvious candidate for a dispersal phenotype, its effects on dispersal are difficult...
Floral traits often display sexual dimorphism in insect‐pollinated dioecious plant species, with male individuals typically being showier than females. While this strategy is theorized to be optimal when pollinators are abundant, it might represent a risk when they become scarce, because the disproportionately high number of visits on the most attractive sex, males, might preclude efficient pollen...
Set the date range to filter the displayed results. You can set a starting date, ending date or both. You can enter the dates manually or choose them from the calendar.