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Isolation and limited migration among populations and differences in the environments they inhabit set up conditions for population differentiation of life‐history traits, even across a regional spatial scale, such as a statewide landscape of lakes and reservoirs. Our objective was to understand how largemouth bass (Micropterus nigricans) life histories differ across a regional spatial scale (Ohio, USA) and whether environmental differences are influencing this variation. To address this, we (1) described spatial variation in largemouth bass life‐history traits, with a specific interest in potential correlations between early‐life growth and later‐life traits and (2) tested whether life‐history traits can be predicted by reservoir characteristics. We found two groups of correlated population traits: the inverse relationship of early‐life growth rate with population density and asymptotic length and the positive relationship between adult size and asymptotic length. Early‐life growth had a positive relationship (and population density and asymptotic length had a negative relationship) with littoral habitat availability and other environmental conditions expected to enhance early growth. Despite the strong influence of reservoir characteristics on life‐history traits in our analysis, the most plausible model could not give precise predictions of these life‐history traits, suggesting that the availability of data on other aspects of the populations and environments may improve our ability to understand life‐history differences. Overall, our results suggest that, even among recently separated populations, we should expect differences in growth patterns and that we cannot understand drivers of these differences without considering possible correlations in growth patterns across the lifespan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Better understanding of the responses of algal biodiversity to multiple pressures, such as climate warming and eutrophication, is a key issue in aquatic ecology. Alpha and beta diversity may have various patterns over temporal scales, especially in the Anthropocene, when external pressures became more multifaceted. However, the limited availability of historical data hampers the exploration of algal biodiversity through time.Recently, sediment DNA has emerged as a potential tool for elucidating temporal patterns in algal communities. Here, we used sediment DNA to reconstruct temporal turnover and diversity of algal communities in four remote lakes in northern China over the past 200 years. Furthermore, to distinguish the contributions of possible influencing environmental factors, we conducted structural equation modelling.Our results revealed that algal communities have experienced rapid shifts since the Anthropocene, characterized by increased alpha diversity and decreased temporal beta diversity. Warmer climate and eutrophication were associated with changes in alpha diversity, while temporal environmental variation was associated with temporal beta diversity.This study revealed opposing patterns in alpha and beta diversity for algal communities, possibly caused by warming, eutrophication and lower temporal environmental variation, respectively. While climatic factors played a major role in remote lakes with a natural environment, lakes that are more human impacted may be more structured by nutrient‐related factors.Under climate warming and intensified human activities, remote lakes may encounter complex pressures in the near future. Our findings offer valuable insights into patterns in aquatic biodiversity and possible factors underlying multiple pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reef-building corals live in close mutualism with dinoflagellate algae (family Symbiodiniaceae), which play key roles in coral physiological performance and survival. Association patterns between host species and endosymbiont algae and their significance are still not fully understood, but they seem to affect the ability of hosts to inhabit different environments and their resilience to climate change. In this work, we used next-generation sequencing of the Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 region of ribosomal DNA to determine the diversity and composition of the Symbiodiniaceae community in Pocillopora corals from Colombia, in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP). We sampled 243 colonies from four localities characterized by distinct sea surface temperature, turbidity, and proximity to the coast. Two genera of Symbiodiniaceae, Durusdinium and Cladocopium were found associated with Pocillopora mitochondrial Open Reading Frame (mtORF) types. Cladocopium latusorum was highly specific to Pocillopora mtORF type 1, while C. pacificum was found exclusively associated with Pocillopora mtORF type 3. In contrast, Durusdinium glynnii was found in both Pocillopora mtORF types. Furthermore, a Cladocopium-dominated symbiont community occurred in cooler and less turbid localities, while a Durusdinium- dominated community was found in localities with high sea surface temperature and high water turbidity, irrespective of mtORF type. These results suggest that Pocillopora mtORF lineages associate with different Symbiodiniaceae genera in response to local environmental conditions. The ability to associate with a different partner under particular environmental conditions (Pocillopora-Durusdinium combination), and also maintain a specific partnership (Cladocopium species and Pocillopora mtORF types) may be key to understanding the resilience of the genus Pocillopora on ETP coral reefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lizard species of wide distribution can show differences in morphology and many other characteristics, in particular in the scutelation. In this study, we analyzed the variation of 22 meristic characters between sexes and among populations of Sceloporus variabilis from the state of Hidalgo in central Mexico. The variables such as dorsal scales, scales around the body, ventral scales, femoral pores, interfemoral scales, and lamellae of the fourth digit of the hindlimbs were different among populations; the population of San Pablo Tetlapayac presented the highest average values in these variables. A positive and significant relationship between snout–vent length and the number of ventral scales was found only in the females of San Pablo Tetlapayac and Santa Catarina. The variations recorded in the present study indicate an effect of environmental variation in the pattern of the number of scales, and suggest that both environmental conditions, such as precipitation and temperature, and ecological conditions, such as substrate or microhabitats, may be influencing differences in the number and size of scales among populations. Further studies on physiology and ecomorphology are necessary to determine the direction of variations in scutelation between sexes and populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystems worldwide are increasingly being invaded by multiple species, and the rate of biological invasion is accelerating, leading to more interactions among invasive species. One such interaction that has received little attention is the phenomenon of 'serial replacement' or 'over-invasion', where an established invasive species is supplanted by a second invasive species. Understanding this interaction is important as controlling the second species could inadvertently lead to an increase in the abundance of the first species. We used a hierarchical state-space model to analyse changes in annual abundances (commercial catch-per-unit-effort) of three invasive fish species, tench (Tinca tinca), common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and redfin perch (Perca fluviatilis), in the Murray-Darling River system (MDRS), Australia between 1954–2002. Tench were present at low abundances until the mid-1970 s, before declining to the point of no commercial catch post-1989. This rapid decline coincided with a significant increase in carp abundance, suggesting that carp may have driven the tench decline through habitat modification (particularly the destruction of aquatic plants), consistent with findings from European studies that show the disappearance of tench from ponds with intensive carp farming. Redfin perch populations, were inferred to be much less impacted by the invading carp population. While carp were present in the MDRS for the duration of the study, the rapid increase in carp abundance in the early 1970 s coincided with the introduction of a specific genetic lineage—the "Boolarra strain". Our analysis provides compelling evidence of serial replacement of long-established tench by invading common carp triggered by the introduction of a novel carp strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science is as dynamic as the world around us. Our ideas continually change, as do the approaches we use to study science. Few things remain invariant in this changing landscape, but a fascination with pattern and process is one that has endured throughout the history of science. Paying homage to this long-held tradition, the 2023 Vice Presidential Symposium of the American Society of Naturalists focused on the role of pattern and process in ecology and evolution. It brought together a group of early-career researchers working on topics ranging from genetic diversity in microbes to changing patterns of species interactions in the geological record. Their work spanned the taxonomic spectrum from microbes to mammals, the temporal dimension from the Cenozoic to the present, and approaches ranging from manipulative experiments to comparative approaches. In this introductory article, I discuss how these diverse topics are linked by the common thread of elucidating processes underlying patterns and how they collectively generate novel insights into diversity maintenance at different levels of organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite enthusiasm for big data in the life sciences, challenges arise because of biases and incomplete data. Demographic studies often overlook dormant life stages, which can skew inferences. They also tend to focus on few populations and short time spans. We assessed omissions of seed banks in demographic studies, exploring trends across life forms, climates, and taxonomic groups. We compared 172 species (192 cases) with independent seed bank and demographic studies. Approximately 25% of the demographic studies excluded known seed bank stages. The probability of omissions was lower for annuals and shrubs and higher for perennial herbs. We found no evidence that ecoregion or phylogeny explained these omissions. Modeling choices and study designs may explain patterns of seed bank omissions. Considering more populations reduced the chance of omissions. Omissions raise concerns for ecological analyses using databases. Leveraging large data is important, but we must be careful to understand their biases and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental variation can shape the gut microbiome, but broad/large‐scale data on among and within‐population heterogeneity in the gut microbiome and the associated environmental factors of wild populations is lacking. Furthermore, previous studies have limited taxonomical coverage, and knowledge about wild avian gut microbiomes is still scarce.We investigated large‐scale environmental variation in the gut microbiome of wild adult great tits across the species' European distribution range. We collected fecal samples to represent the gut microbiome and used the 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize the bacterial gut microbiome.Our results show that gut microbiome diversity is higher during winter and that there are compositional differences between winter and summer gut microbiomes. During winter, individuals inhabiting mixed forest habitat show higher gut microbiome diversity, whereas there was no similar association during summer. Also, temperature was found to be a small contributor to compositional differences in the gut microbiome. We did not find significant differences in the gut microbiome among populations, nor any association between latitude, rainfall and the gut microbiome.The results suggest that there is a seasonal change in wild avian gut microbiomes, but that there are still many unknown factors that shape the gut microbiome of wild bird populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many species, a few individuals produce most of the next generation. How much of this reproductive skew is driven by variation among individuals in fixed traits, how much by external factors, and how much by random chance? And what does it take to have truly exceptional lifetime reproductive output (LRO)? In the past, we and others have partitioned the variance of LRO as a proxy for reproductive skew. Here we explain how to partition LRO skewness itself into contributions from fixed trait variation, four forms of "demographic luck" (birth state, fecundity luck, survival trajectory luck, and growth trajectory luck), and two kinds of "environmental luck" (birth environment and environment trajectory). Each of these is further partitioned into contributions at different ages. We also determine what we can infer about individuals with exceptional LRO. We find that reproductive skew is largely driven by random variation in lifespan, and exceptional LRO generally results from exceptional lifespan. Other kinds of luck frequently bring skewness down rather than increasing it. In populations where fecundity varies greatly with environmental conditions, getting a good year at the right time can be an alternate route to exceptional LRO, so that LRO is less predictive of lifespan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The response of plant species to the variation in abiotic factors affects the regeneration capacity and, consequently, the structure of the forest community. This study aims to describe the structure of the regenerating stratum in a Brazilian montane rainforest and investigate its relationship with environmental and spatial variables along an altitudinal gradient. Data on the height and diameter at soil height of regenerating individuals and environmental variables were collected from 28 sample units, distributed in seven altitudinal sites. To understand the spatial influence on species distribution, spatial variables (MEMs - Moran’s Eigenvector Maps) were created based on geographic coordinates. Phytosociological parameters were calculated by species. Floristic similarity between the altitudinal quota was determined by the Bray-Curtis index (UPGMA), and the species that characterize each group were determined by the Indicator Species Analysis. Redundancy Analysis (RDA) was performed, and generalized linear models were adjusted to verify the influence of environmental and spatial factors on regenerating vegetation. The species Palicourea sessilis had the highest Importance Value in the regenerating community. Two floristic groups were formed: the highest sites (1420 to 1550 m a.s.l.) were floristically more similar to each other (Group 1) than to the sites in the 1112 to 1391 m elevation range (Group 2). Overall, 11 species were indicators of Group 1 and only one of Group 2. Finally, a pattern of species substitution was verified as a function of abiotic factors. The first two axes of the RDA explained 51.02% of the variation in the floristic composition of the regenerating community. Natural regeneration demonstrated environmental preferences, being influenced by luminosity, abundance in adult components, calcium and sodium contents, plant litter accumulation, altitude, and the spatial structure of the environment. Altitude did not seem to influence the pattern of abundance or richness of regenerating species.

Abstract In recent years considerable interest has been generated in a new approach known as resist–accept–direct, or RAD, for managing ecosystems in the face of climate change. Under RAD, strategic responses to climate change are described in terms of three broad categories: resisting climate transformation, accepting the transformation and continuing to manage as best one can, and directing the transformed system toward novel ecological conditions. In particular, the potential for integrating RAD and adaptive management has been broadly considered, though absent a decision‐making framework needed for implementation. We propose a hierarchical decision scheme for RAD that accounts for strategy selection among the three RAD options, as well as adaptive decision making within each option. We use stochastic models and uncertainties about ecosystem processes to account for the dynamics of climate‐transformed ecosystems, and show how these features can be used to inform RAD strategies. Operationally, the approach involves decisions at two levels: one level involves choosing a policy for each strategy, and the second level involves deciding which strategy has the greatest policy value. The structure described here extends recent work in climate change adaptation, by including Markovian decisions under climate change, strategy‐specific policies, and value functions for assessing and selecting RAD strategies. We provide a hierarchical accounting of decisions and responses, and develop rules for the timing of those decisions. Combining RAD and adaptive management can help to organize thinking about ecological conservation under climate change, and focus attention on mechanisms for making decisions. We believe the structure presented here can facilitate conservation efforts under the non‐stationary climate conditions we are sure to face for the foreseeable future.

The study of host–parasite co‐evolution is a central topic in evolutionary ecology. However, research is still fragmented and the extent to which parasites influence host life history is debated. One reason for this incomplete picture is the frequent omission of environmental conditions in studies analyzing host–parasite dynamics, which may influence the exposure to or effects of parasitism. To contribute to elucidating the largely unresolved question of how environmental conditions are related to the prevalence and intensity of infestation and their impact on hosts, we took advantage of 25 years of monitoring of a breeding population of pied flycatchers, Ficedula hypoleuca, in a Mediterranean area of central Spain. We investigated the influence of temperature and precipitation during the nestling stage at a local scale on the intensity of blowfly (Protocalliphora azurea) parasitism during the nestling stage. In addition, we explored the mediating effect of extrinsic and intrinsic factors and blowfly parasitism on breeding success (production of fledglings) and offspring quality (nestling mass on day 13). The prevalence and intensity of blowfly parasitism were associated with different intrinsic (host breeding date, brood size) and extrinsic (breeding habitat, mean temperature) factors. Specifically, higher average temperatures during the nestling phase were associated with lower intensities of parasitism, which may be explained by changes in blowflies’ activity or larval developmental success. In contrast, no relationship was found between the prevalence of parasitism and any of the environmental variables evaluated. Hosts that experienced high parasitism intensities in their broods produced more fledglings as temperature increased, suggesting that physiological responses to severe parasitism during nestling development might be enhanced in warmer conditions. The weight of fledglings was, however, unrelated to the interactive effect of parasitism intensity and environmental conditions. Overall, our results highlight the temperature dependence of parasite–host interactions and the importance of considering multiple fitness indicators and climate‐mediated effects to understand their complex implications for avian fitness and population dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dynamics of early potato yield formation at 40 days depending on the weather conditions of the research years and the adaptive potential of early potato cultivars. During 2018-2024, 10 cultivars of early potatoes common in the Forest-Steppe zone were investigated in the field (Uman, 48°46′N, 30°14′E). To analyse the results obtained, the study employed generally accepted methods of field and genetic-statistical research. During the study, the number and weight of marketable tubers in the bush, the dynamics of crop formation on the 40th day after germination, and the strength of the correlation between yield and rainfall were investigated. As a result of the data obtained, the most promising cultivars were identified for early potato harvest in the Forest-Steppe region of Ukraine. It was found that this climatic zone is best suited to the cultivars Bazaliia, Tornado and Madison with a yield of 11.0-11.7 t/ha and a large weight of marketable tubers - 58-60 g. In the full ripeness phase, the most productive cultivars were Madison - 37.2 t/ha (+18.6 t/ha of control), Tornado - 34.7 t/ha (+16.1 t/ha of control), Duma and Bazaliia - 31.4 and 32.2 t/ha, respectively (+12.8 t/ha 13.6 t/ha of control, respectively). The study found that the Tornado and Madison cultivars form the largest number of marketable tubers in the bush. Analysis of the semi-ratio of plasticity and stability parameters contributed to the grouping of cultivars into intensive ones (Sanibel, Radomysl, Duma, Bazaliia and Madison had indicators bi > 1, σ2d > 0 and plastic (Povin, Vzirets, Skrabnytsia, Bernina and Tornado). As a result of the study, the most productive potato cultivars for early production were identified, which will ensure the stable development of the vegetable growing industry in the Forest-Steppe zone of Ukraine, and the calculated statistical models will allow predicting and directing the programming of potato yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Biological traits are mainly determined by genotype and are also influenced by environmental factors, especially in the process of adapting to different environments, corresponding phenotypic variations may occur. Even for the same animal, there may be some morphological differences due to its long-term adaptation to different habitat environments. Molar teeth are the direct contact point between animals and the environment, which are of great significance in the study of animal adaptability to different environments. Methods: To explore the relationship between the morphology of the molars (upper molars and lower molars) of tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri) and environmental variations in different regions, we applied geometric morphometric methods to measure the morphological characteristics of the molars of T. belangeri in 12 different regions of China (Hainan, Daxin, Leye, Xingyi, Xichang, Hekou, Kunming, Mengla, Dali, Tengchong, Pianma, Laboratory bred F1 generation). Result: The results showed that the morphological variations of the lower molars of T. belangeri in 12 different regions were larger, which was more suitable and reference valuable for studying the morphological differences among different geographical populations. The Principal component analysis showed that T. belangeri from 12 regions were clustered into 4 branches: Hainan was clustered into one branch, Daxin was clustered into one branch, Pianma and Tengchong were clustered into one branch and Leye, Xingyi, Hekou, Kunming, Xichang, Mengla, Dali and laboratory bred F1 generation were clustered into one branch. The thin plate spline analysis showed that deformations in the upper molars were mostly concentrated in the alveolar and dental margins. The deformations of the lower molars were mainly concentrated in the alveolar, marginal and occlusal surfaces. Multidimensional scaling showed that there were differences in molars morphology among the 12 locations, with significant variations in Hainan, Daxin, Pianma and Tengchong regions, reflecting the adaptive variation of T. belangeri to different ecological environments. The present results can provide a certain basis for the study of phenotypic adaptation in T. belangeri. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animals migrate to access seasonally variable resources or to escape unfavorable local conditions. Partial (flexible) migration strategies offer animals a fitness trade-off in which individuals may choose whether to incur the energetic costs of migration depending on the potential benefits associated with avoiding adverse conditions. Partial migration patterns may shift because of anthropogenic land use and climate change, possibly reducing the benefits of migration and resulting in unpredictable migration cues. We examined causes, consequences, and changes in individuallevel partial migration of white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus by analyzing archival telemetry data (1986-2014) across four distinct populations in the Great Lakes region, North America. We hypothesized that if the costs of migration outweigh benefits, we would see migratory behavior decline. Migratory behavior declined from 75% in 1987 to 11% in 2014 independent of population identity. Annual mortality was higher for migratory white-tailed deer, whereas increasing minimum temperatures positively impacted survival but did not influence migration. Our results suggest that migratory behavior in white-tailed deer is declining over time and may be associated with declining winter severity. The loss of migratory behavior in large mammals may have ecosystem-level impacts and our study emphasizes the need to better understand and conserve these migratory traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carotenoid-dependent ornaments can reflect animals' diet and foraging behaviors. However, this association should be spatially flexible and variable among populations to account for geographic variation in optimal foraging behaviors. We tested this hypothesis using populations of a marine predator (the brown booby, Sula leucogaster) that forage across a gradient in ocean depth in and near the Gulf of California. Specifically, we quantified green chroma for two skin traits (foot and gular color) and their relationship to foraging location and diet of males, as measured via global positioning system tracking and stable carbon isotope analysis of blood plasma. Our three focal colonies varied in which foraging attributes were linked to carotenoid-rich ornaments. For gular skin, our data showed a shift from a benthic prey-green skin association in the shallow waters in the north to a pelagic prey-green skin association in the deepest waters to the south. Mean foraging trip duration and distance of foraging site from coast also predicted skin coloration in some colonies. Finally, brown booby colonies varied in which trait (foot versus gular skin color) was associated with foraging metrics. Overall, our results indicate that male ornaments reflect quality of diet and foraging–information that may help females select mates who are adapted to local foraging conditions and therefore, are likely to provide better parental care. More broadly, our results stress that diet-dependent ornaments are closely linked to animals' environments and that we cannot assume ornaments or ornament signal content are ubiquitous within species, even when ornaments appear similar among populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal changes in environmental conditions may play a major role in the year-to-year variation in fitness consequences of behaviours. Identifying environmental drivers of such variation is crucial to understand the evolutionary trajectories of behaviours in natural contexts. However, our understanding of how environmental variation influences behaviours in the wild remains limited. Using data collected over 14 breeding seasons from a collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) population, we examined the effect of environmental variation on the relationship between survival and risk-taking behaviour, a highly variable behavioural trait with great evolutionary and ecological significance. Specifically, using annual recapture probability as a proxy of survival, we evaluated the specific effect of predation pressure, food availability, and mean temperature on the relationship between annual recapture probability and risk-taking behaviour (measured as flight initiation distance [FID]). We found a negative trend, as the relationship between annual recapture probability and FID decreased over the study years and changed from positive to negative. Specifically, in the early years of the study, risk-avoiding individuals exhibited a higher annual recapture probability, whereas in the later years, risk-avoiders had a lower annual recapture probability. However, we did not find evidence that any of the considered environmental factors mediated the variation in the relationship between survival and risk-taking behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across animal systems, abiotic environmental features, including timing of seasonal events and weather patterns, affect fitness. An individual's degree of social integration also has fitness consequences, but we lack an understanding of how abiotic features relate to patterns of individual sociality. A deeper understanding of this relationship could be developed from studying systems where these two links with fitness have already been identified. We explored the relationship between individual social behavior and seasonal timing, seasonal length, and weather patterns. We used social network analysis on a sixteen-year dataset of a wild population of hibernating yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer). We fit a series of generalized linear mixed models and found that longer growing seasons before winter hibernation and longer winters were associated with increased individual sociality in the following spring. However, later snowmelt was associated with decreased sociality that spring. We found no relationship between individual sociality and various measures of precipitation and temperature. This suggests that seasonal timing and length may be a more important driver of sociality than weather patterns in this system, both as a lag and contemporary effect. Seasonal timing and length may mediate the opportunity or intensity of social interactions. The entwined relationships between the seasonal schedule and weather, and the seemingly contradictory role of winter length and snowmelt, suggests the timing of seasons and its relationship with sociality is complex and further exploration of environment-sociality relationships is required across taxa. Significance statement: While the adaptive benefits of social behavior are well studied, less is known about how features of the abiotic environment drive variation in individual social behavior. Given increasing stochasticity in the timing of seasonal events and weather patterns, mapping the environment-sociality relationship will provide important insights to the drivers of sociality in the wild. This is particularly salient for species most vulnerable to climate and environmental change, such as seasonal hibernators, like yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer). We found that features of seasonal duration were positively associated with increased sociality, whereas the timing of seasonal onset was negatively associated. This work provides empirical evidence towards an important gap in the behavioral ecology literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years considerable interest has been generated in a new approach known as resist–accept–direct, or RAD, for managing ecosystems in the face of climate change. Under RAD, strategic responses to climate change are described in terms of three broad categories: resisting climate transformation, accepting the transformation and continuing to manage as best one can, and directing the transformed system toward novel ecological conditions. In particular, the potential for integrating RAD and adaptive management has been broadly considered, though absent a decision‐making framework needed for implementation.We propose a hierarchical decision scheme for RAD that accounts for strategy selection among the three RAD options, as well as adaptive decision making within each option. We use stochastic models and uncertainties about ecosystem processes to account for the dynamics of climate‐transformed ecosystems, and show how these features can be used to inform RAD strategies. Operationally, the approach involves decisions at two levels: one level involves choosing a policy for each strategy, and the second level involves deciding which strategy has the greatest policy value.The structure described here extends recent work in climate change adaptation, by including Markovian decisions under climate change, strategy‐specific policies, and value functions for assessing and selecting RAD strategies. We provide a hierarchical accounting of decisions and responses, and develop rules for the timing of those decisions.Combining RAD and adaptive management can help to organize thinking about ecological conservation under climate change, and focus attention on mechanisms for making decisions. We believe the structure presented here can facilitate conservation efforts under the non‐stationary climate conditions we are sure to face for the foreseeable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant responses to multiple environmental conditions in the habitat are characterized by intra-species variety. Ferula assa-foetida L. is a native medical plant in Iran, which has a wide range of therapeutic and pharmacological properties. The objective of the current study was to identify changes in phenolic content, antioxidant capacity and essential oil (EO) composition in different tissues (leaf, flower and fruit) of three populations of F. assa-foetida L. (Sarbisheh, Nehbandan, located in South Khorasan province of Iran). The results showed that total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity in the leaves of Sarbisheh were higher than in other treatments. The amount of TPC, TFC and DPPH scavenging activity in leaves was higher than in other tissues in the Sarbisheh population, increasing by 31 and 70%, 41 and 20%, 8 and 13%, respectively, over that of flowers and fruits. The main EO compounds of leaves were α -pinene (11.86–13.56%), β -pinene (6.80–7.99%), bornyl acetate (15.80–17.33%). The main EO constitutes of flowers were Z-propenyl-sec-butyldisulfide (10.12–12.4%), eco-fenchyl acetate (10.87–12.4%), myrcisticin (13.43–15.87%) and α -bisabolol (11.23–13.76%). The primary compounds of fruit EO were β -pinene (9.32–11.26%), (Z)-1-propenyl sec butyldisulf (17.54–18.87%) and (E)-1-propenyl sec butyldisulf (28.32–30.02%). The agglomerative hierarchical clustering showed that three distinguished clusters were identified for population, where Nehbandan and Qaen had the higher similarity and Sarbisheh completely differed from the two ones. Different plant tissues contain varying types of chemicals, with leaves exhibiting higher levels of phenolic content and antioxidant capacity. This characteristic can be beneficial for industries such as food and pharmaceuticals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As wildlife is increasingly affected by environmental change, identifying how vital rates vary with ecological factors is essential to predict the consequences of environmental perturbations on wild population dynamics. We explored the effects of habitat constraints on the demographic and life history patterns of two Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) populations living in two contrasted habitats in Algeria. Using 11 years of field data, we estimated age‐specific survival rates of females and of infants of both sexes, as well as female reproduction rates. We investigated how these vital rates were influenced by both intra‐ and inter‐habitat environmental variations. We parameterized age‐structured female‐only transition matrices and conducted a prospective analysis to estimate the contribution of each vital rate to the populations' asymptotic growth rates (λ). A retrospective analysis (LTRE, Life Table Response Experiment) was also conducted to determine how each vital rate contributed to the observed differences in λ between populations. The macaques exhibited common patterns of survival and reproduction (low rates at young ages, and then high and stable until a decrease at old ages), with first evidence of both actuarial and reproductive senescence. Both populations were growing. In both populations, adult and immature survival had the highest elasticities, and remained stable in changing environmental conditions. By contrast, infant survival and female reproduction had low elasticities, and varied more with environmental variations. As Barbary macaque habitats are increasingly degrading, we provide robust estimates of their vital rates with conservation implications, in particular to predict population responses to anthropogenic perturbations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introgression is pervasive across the tree of life but varies across taxa, geography, and genomic regions. However, the factors modulating this variation and how they may be affected by global change are not well understood. Here, we used 200 genomes and a 15-y site-specific environmental dataset to investigate the effects of environmental variation and mating system divergence on the magnitude of introgression between a recently diverged outcrosser-selfer pair of annual plants in the genus Clarkia. These sister taxa diverged very recently and subsequently came into secondary sympatry where they form replicated contact zones. Consistent with observations of other outcrosser-selfer pairs, we found that introgression was asymmetric between taxa, with substantially more introgression from the selfer to the outcrosser. This asymmetry was caused by a bias in the direction of initial F1 hybrid formation and subsequent backcrossing. We also found extensive variation in the outcrosser's admixture proportion among contact zones, which was predicted nearly entirely by interannual variance in spring precipitation. Greater fluctuations in spring precipitation resulted in higher admixture proportions, likely mediated by the effects of spring precipitation on the expression of traits that determine premating reproductive isolation. Climate-driven hybridization dynamics may be particularly affected by global change, potentially reshaping species boundaries and adaptation to novel environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatiotemporal allocation of activity is fundamental to how organisms balance energetic intake and predation risk. Activity patterns fluctuate daily and seasonally, and they are proximately affected by exogenous and endogenous conditions. For birds, flight activity is often necessary for relocating between foraging patches but is energetically expensive and can increase mortality risk. Hunted species may have to adjust their behavior and activity patterns to minimize anthropogenic mortality risk. We used hourly locations from 336 GPS-marked mallards Anas platyrhynchos to examine how hunting pressure affected flight activity in response to weather conditions and habitat availability during winter in western Tennessee, USA. Mallards were more likely to fly during crepuscular times, particularly dusk, across winter months. Mallards conducted more flights after shooting hours when habitat availability increased during open hunting season; conversely, mallard flights decreased with increasing habitat availability when hunters were present on the landscape. Mallards were least active during periods open to hunting. However, indicators of approaching inclement weather (i.e. increased wind speed, precipitation, and decreasing barometric pressure) increased flights during periods open to hunting. Mallard flights decreased at lower temperatures except when hunting season was closed, wherein mallards increased nighttime flights. Flight activity was directly influenced by hunting disturbance which constrained when and how mallards reacted to environmental and habitat conditions. An understanding of the temporal shifts in waterfowl flight patterns can be used by natural resource managers to better manage stakeholder satisfaction and expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the phenotypic plasticity between fertilized (F) and unfertilized (UF) Q. variabilis seedlings developed in a nursery using small, medium, and large seeds. Design/methodology/approach: By analyzing the phenotypic traits of growth (height and diameter at root collar) and root and stem dry biomass, plasticity indices and allocation patterns were assessed, and phenotypic traits in which the interaction effect of the seedling fertilization and seed size was observed. Results: The results showed significant differences (p-value≥0.05) in the growth and biomass traits except for the root dry biomass, and significant differences were found both in the fertilization and seed size factors and in the fertilization and seed size interaction in phenotypic traits. For plasticity, all traits showed marked changes in response to the nutrient application, and small seeds had the highest plasticity indices. With respect to phenotypic change indices, medium seeds reached the highest values (0.94 for height and 0.92 for diameter). Large seeds recorded the highest index for root dry biomass (1.01), and medium seeds had the highest values of plasticity for stem dry biomass (0.81). Allometric differences were observed (intercepts were 1.8374 and 3.4956, and slopes were 4.0943 and 1.7038 for UF and F seedlings, respectively), and variations in the study factors (fertilization and seed size). Limitations on study/implications: In order to improve the survival of plants in the field it is necessary to use seeds with high quality. Findings/conclusions: Fertilization of Q. variabilis seedlings increases their biomass production, which allows for greater growth and survival compared to unfertilized ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genes ECERIFERUM1 (CER1) and ECERIFERUM3 (CER3) encode the biosynthesis of alkane waxes, a key component of the plant cuticle. To study the evolution of CER1 and CER3 in a highly diverse group of eucalypts, we performed a genome-wide survey using recently released genome assemblies of 28 Myrtaceae species, with 22 species from the main eucalypt lineage and 6 non-eucalypt Myrtaceae tree species. We manually annotated 250 genes and pseudogenes, identifying a near-ubiquitous single copy of CER3 and 2 to 10 CER1 gene copies per Myrtaceae species. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that copy number variation in eucalypts is due to multiple tandem duplication events, both ancient (shared by all Myrtaceae species studied) and relatively recent (present only in eucalypts). Inter-chromosomal translocations were discovered for both CER1 and CER3, along with recurrent loss of often the same CER1 introns in the WAX2 domain, the domain that is essential for wax production. Despite the varied environments occupied by the eucalypt species in this study, we did not find statistically significant associations between intra-genic structural changes or CER1 copy number and aspects of the environment they occupy (including aridity). The challenge is now to explain the species-specific evolutionary histories that contributed to the observed variation in CER1 and the extent to which it may contribute to the adaptability of eucalypts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolutionary correlations between phenotypic and environmental traits characterize adaptive radiations. However, the lizard genus Liolaemus, one of the most ecologically diverse terrestrial vertebrate radiations on earth, has so far shown limited or mixed evidence of adaptive diversification in phenotype. Restricted use of comprehensive environmental data, incomplete taxonomic representation and not considering phylogenetic uncertainty may have led to contradictory evidence. We compiled a 26-taxon dataset for the Liolaemus gracilis species group, representing much of the ecological diversity represented within Liolaemus and used environmental data to characterize how environments occupied by species' relate to phenotypic evolution. Our analyses, explicitly accounting for phylogenetic uncertainty, suggest diversification in phenotypic traits toward the present, with body shape evolution rapidly evolving in this group. Body shape evolution correlates with the occupation of different structural habitats indicated by vegetation axes suggesting species have adapted for maximal locomotory performance in these habitats. Our results also imply that the effects of phylogenetic uncertainty and model misspecification may be more extensive on univariate, relative to multivariate analyses of evolutionary correlations, which is an important consideration in analyzing data from rapidly radiating adaptive radiations.

The Amazon forests are under threat from multiple human land uses, but the effect of the different types of land uses on environmental heterogeneity and the α- and β-diversity of aquatic insects remains unclear. We studied how habitat features of streams and aquatic insect diversity in the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (hereafter, EPT) responded to different land uses in the Brazilian Amazon. By sampling and analyzing EPT community data from 83 streams distributed in multiple land uses and land covers, we found that the impact of forest conversion was mixed. Despite contiguous and fragmented forest streams presenting similar environmental conditions, they differed in insect diversity metrics. α-diversity was highest in contiguous forest streams and EPT β-diversity was higher in streams surrounded by livestock farming and primary oil palm plantations. The association between land use and habitat degradation may not be so direct, mainly when streams are inserted into or surrounded by forest fragments. This has important implications because politicians and policymakers often regard forest fragments as degraded landscapes, to justify their conversion to other land uses. Our study shows that forest fragments must be protected and restored to reduce the risks of degrading the ecological condition of Amazonian streams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental perturbations are encountered by microorganisms regularly and will require metabolic adaptations to ensure an organism can survive in the newly presenting conditions. In order to study the mechanisms of metabolic adaptation in such conditions, various experimental and computational approaches have been used. Genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) are one of the most powerful approaches to study metabolism, providing a platform to study the systems level adaptations of an organism to different environments which could otherwise be infeasible experimentally. In this review, we are describing the application of GEMs in understanding how microbes reprogram their metabolic system as a result of environmental variation. In particular, we provide the details of metabolic model reconstruction approaches, various algorithms and tools for model simulation, consequences of genetic perturbations, integration of '-omics' datasets for creating context-specific models and their application in studying metabolic adaptation due to the change in environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinopodium nepeta subsp. spruneri is an aromatic herb with a mint-oregano flavor, used in Mediterranean regions in traditional medicine. The aerial parts of the plant are rich in essential oil that has antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties as well as insecticidal activity. The aim of our work was to determine the yield and composition of the essential oil of the plant, in relation to the harvest season and cultivation method, i.e., outdoor, greenhouse and in vitro culture, using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as an analytical tool. Essential oil yield fluctuated similarly in outdoor and greenhouse plants during the year (0.9–2.6%), with higher percentages (2.1–2.6%) in the hottest periods June–October (flowering stage) and April (vegetative stage), and was similar to the yield in in vitro plants (1.7%). More compounds were identified in the oil of outdoor and greenhouse plants (35) compared to that of in vitro plants (21), while the main compounds were the same, i.e., pulegone (13.0–32.0%, highest in February–April, 15.0% in vitro), piperitenone oxide (3.8–31.8%, lowest in February, 34.2% in vitro), piperitone epoxide (4.6–16.4%, highest in February, 15.5% in vitro), D-limonene (2.1–8.8%, lowest in February, 10.0% in vitro), isomenthone (2.3–23.0%, highest in February, 4.6% in vitro), germacrene D (1.9–6.5% highest in December-April, 2.9% in vitro) and dicyclogermacrene (2.1–5.3%, highest in December–April, 5.2% in vitro). Therefore, greenhouse and in vitro cultures were equally efficient in yielding essential oil and its constituents as outdoor cultivation, while in outdoor and greenhouse cultivations, the harvest season, mainly due to the prevailing ambient temperatures, affected the essential oil yield and its percentage composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document provides a comprehensive overview of the role of mosquito microbiota in the transmission of vector-borne diseases. It emphasizes the influence of environmental factors and human activities on disease risk and vector competence. The document includes a literature review and original research articles that explore the factors affecting mosquito microbiota composition and its implications for public health. It discusses the interplay between seasonality and land cover on mosquito abundance and microbial communities, as well as the effects of competition and Wolbachia infection on host fitness and vector competence. The document also highlights the role of the mycobiome in providing temporary niches for bacterial survival and alternative transmission routes. It explores regulatory mechanisms in mosquito host selection behavior and the potential of disrupting bacterial communication for control purposes. Additionally, it discusses the presence of bacteria in mosquito saliva and their potential to colonize mammalian hosts, suggesting the possibility of mosquitoes serving as vectors of bacterial infection. Overall, this document contributes to our understanding of the interactions between vectors, their microbiota, and the transmission of pathogens. [Extracted from the article]

Ziziphus lotus is an underappreciated natural genetic resource widespread in Algeria. This study aimed to compare the fruit phytochemical composition of nine populations of Z. lotus from different areas to highlight its diversity. Fruits were harvested from the semiarid, dry steppe and Saharan stages. Primary and secondary metabolites and minerals contents were determined. Significant variations in the fruit phytochemical composition between populations of Z. lotus and between pulp and seeds were recorded. Z. lotus is dry fruit with 8.768 ± 0.449 to 13.468 ± 1.303% water in pulp and 6.7 to 12.12% in seeds. Significantly higher values were recorded in the fruit pulp for sugar (35.25 to 48.87%), phosphorus (63.114 to 155.269 mg 100−1g), sodium (34.8 to 56.91 ppm), calcium (91.78 to 382.69 ppm), β-carotene (36.4 to 46 μg g−1), lycopene (59.15 to 100.25 μg g−1) and chlorophyll a (3.6 to 7.2 μg g−1) contents. Seeds had much higher protein (8.37 to 27.75%), lipid (35.39 to 48.01%), potassium (125.874 to 325.408 mg. 100−1 g), polyphenol (439.465 to 1349.46 mg.GAE.100 g−1), flavonoid (83.908 to 98.259 mg.QE.100 g−1), tannins (55.268 to 277.94 mg.GAE.100 g−1) and chlorophyll b (11.2 to 30.4 μg g−1) contents. Bougtob, Boghar and Mougheul populations had higher primary metabolites and mineral values. Oued Nougued, Maarif and Mougheul populations were the richest in phenolic compounds. Oued Nougued, Maarif and Mougheul populations had more liposoluble pigments. This research is the beginning of investigating the variety of Z. lotus as phylogenetic sources. Further comparative investigations over a larger distribution region and further study of variations in the composition in fruit composition using GC-MS are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While researchers have investigated mating decisions for decades, gaps remain in our understanding of how behaviour influences social mate choice. We compared spatial cognitive performance and food caching propensity within social pairs of mountain chickadees inhabiting differentially harsh winter climates to understand how these measures contribute to social mate choice. Chickadees rely on specialized spatial cognitive abilities to recover food stores and survive harsh winters, and females can discriminate among males with varying spatial cognition. Because spatial cognition and caching propensity are critical for survival and likely heritable, pairing with a mate with such enhanced traits may provide indirect benefits to offspring. Comparing the behaviour of social mates, we found that spatial cognitive performance approached a significant correlation within pairs at low, but not at high elevation. We found no correlation within pairs in spatial reversal cognitive performance at either elevation; however, females at high elevation tended to perform better than their social mates. Finally, we found that caching propensity correlated within pairs at low, while males cached significantly more food than their social mates at high elevations. These results suggest that cognition and caching propensity may influence social mating decisions, but only in certain environments and for some aspects of cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of within-population variation in germination behavior and associated traits such as seed size has long fascinated evolutionary ecologists. In annuals, unpredictable environments are known to select for bet-hedging strategies causing variation in dormancy duration and germination strategies. Variation in germination timing and associated traits is also commonly observed in perennials and often tracks gradients of environmental predictability. Although bet-hedging is thought to occur less frequently in long-lived organisms, these observations suggest a role of bet-hedging strategies in perennials occupying unpredictable environments. We use complementary analytical and evolutionary simulation models of within-individual variation in germination behavior in seasonal environments to show how bet-hedging interacts with fluctuating selection, life-history traits, and competitive asymmetries among germination strategies. We reveal substantial scope for bet-hedging to produce variation in germination behavior in long-lived plants, when "false starts" to the growing season results in either competitive advantages or increased mortality risk for alternative germination strategies. Additionally, we find that lowering adult survival may, in contrast to classic bet-hedging theory, result in less spreading of germination by decreasing density-dependent competition. These models extend insights from bet-hedging theory to perennials and explore how competitive communities may be affected by ongoing changes in climate and seasonality patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidal rivers are peculiar, yet vastly unknown. These rivers are characterized by dynamic tides without saline intrusion. This unusual environmental configuration should affect the biological communities present in these habitats. Therefore, our main goal was to identify the temporal patterns of the zooplankton communities in tidal rivers and the influence of the environment on these patterns. We applied an approach that investigates the local diversity and turnover of species (i.e., alpha and temporal beta diversities, respectively) to disentangle the temporal dynamics of individual taxonomic groups at tidal rivers. Our findings evidenced that periods of high diversity are always followed by periods of low diversity. We suggest that the temporal variation in the resources exploited by zooplankton, specifically algal biomass, is the major factor driving this temporal pattern. Periods of high rainfall led to species homogenization, whereas periods of high insolation and wind speed (i.e., dry periods) led to heterogenization. Moreover, we evidenced that protozoa was the group with the highest alpha diversity, and its species turnover was constrained by seasonality in a similar way to that of rotifers, with both groups undergoing homogenization during rainy periods. Here, we describe the zooplankton community dynamics in tidal rivers over time, which is a scale often disregarded in ecological studies, and suggest that future research should consider temporal variation associated with extensive spatial replication to disentangle ecological patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For organisms living in unpredictable environments, timing important life-history events is challenging. One way to deal with uncertainty is to spread the emergence of offspring across multiple years via dormancy. However, timing of emergence is not only important among years, but also within each growing season. Here, we study the evolutionary interactions between germination strategies that deal with among- and within-season uncertainty. We use a modelling approach that considers among-season dormancy and within-season germination phenology of annual plants as potentially independent traits and study their separate and joint evolution in a variable environment. We find that higher among-season dormancy selects for earlier germination within the growing season. Furthermore, our results indicate that more unpredictable natural environments can counter-intuitively select for less risk-spreading within the season. Furthermore, strong priority effects select for earlier within-season germination phenology which in turn increases the need for bet hedging through among-season dormancy.

For organisms living in unpredictable environments, timing important life-history events is challenging. One way to deal with uncertainty is to spread the emergence of offspring across multiple years via dormancy. However, timing of emergence is not only important among years, but also within each growing season. Here, we study the evolutionary interactions between germination strategies that deal with among- and within-season uncertainty. We use a modelling approach that considers among-season dormancy and within-season germination phenology of annual plants as potentially independent traits and study their separate and joint evolution in a variable environment. We find that higher among-season dormancy selects for earlier germination within the growing season. Furthermore, our results indicate that more unpredictable natural environments can counter-intuitively select for less risk-spreading within the season. Furthermore, strong priority effects select for earlier within-season germination phenology which in turn increases the need for bet hedging through among-season dormancy.

Abstract Background Grafting is a horticultural practice used widely across woody perennial crop species to fuse together the root and shoot system of two distinct genotypes, the rootstock and the scion, combining beneficial traits from both. In grapevine, grafting is used in nearly 80% of all commercial vines to optimize fruit quality, regulate vine vigor, and enhance biotic and abiotic stress-tolerance. Rootstocks have been shown to modulate elemental composition, metabolomic profiles, and the shape of leaves in the scion, among other traits. However, it is currently unclear how rootstock genotypes influence shoot system gene expression as previous work has reported complex and often contradictory findings. Results In the present study, we examine the influence of grafting on scion gene expression in leaves and reproductive tissues of grapevines growing under field conditions for three years. We show that the influence from the rootstock genotype is highly tissue and time dependent, manifesting only in leaves, primarily during a single year of our three-year study. Further, the degree of rootstock influence on scion gene expression is driven by interactions with the local environment. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that the role of rootstock genotype in modulating scion gene expression is not a consistent, unchanging effect, but rather an effect that varies over time in relation to local environmental conditions.

The gut microbiota have important consequences for host biological processes and there is some evidence that they also affect fitness. However, the complex, interactive nature of ecological factors that influence the gut microbiota has scarcely been investigated in natural populations. We sampled the gut microbiota of wild great tits (Parus major) at different life stages allowing us to evaluate how microbiota varied with respect to a diverse range of key ecological factors of two broad types: (1) host state, namely age and sex, and the life history variables, timing of breeding, fecundity and reproductive success; and (2) the environment, including habitat type, the distance of the nest to the woodland edge, and the general nest and woodland site environments. The gut microbiota varied with life history and the environment in many ways that were largely dependent on age. Nestlings were far more sensitive to environmental variation than adults, pointing to a high degree of flexibility at an important time in development. As nestlings developed their microbiota from one to two weeks of life, they retained consistent (i.e., repeatable) among‐individual differences. However these apparent individual differences were driven entirely by the effect of sharing the same nest. Our findings point to important early windows during development in which the gut microbiota are most sensitive to a variety of environmental drivers at multiple scales, and suggest reproductive timing, and hence potentially parental quality or food availability, are linked with the microbiota. Identifying and explicating the various ecological sources that shape an individual's gut bacteria is of vital importance for understanding the gut microbiota's role in animal fitness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecologists have put forward many explanations for coexistence, but these are only partial explanations; nature is complex, so it is reasonable to assume that in any given ecological community, multiple mechanisms of coexistence are operating at the same time. Here, we present a methodology for quantifying the relative importance of different explanations for coexistence, based on an extension of the Modern Coexistence Theory. Current versions of Modern Coexistence Theory only allow for the analysis of communities that are affected by spatial or temporal environmental variation, but not both. We show how to analyze communities with spatiotemporal fluctuations, how to parse the importance of spatial variation and temporal variation, and how to measure everything with either mathematical expressions or simulation experiments. Our extension of Modern Coexistence Theory shows that many more species can coexist than originally thought. More importantly, it allows empiricists to use realistic models and more data to better infer the mechanisms of coexistence in real communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation and management of biological systems involves decision‐making over time, with a generic goal of sustaining systems and their capacity to function in the future. We address four persistent and difficult conservation challenges: (1) prediction of future consequences of management, (2) uncertainty about the system's structure, (3) inability to observe ecological systems fully, and (4) nonstationary system dynamics. We describe these challenges in terms of dynamic systems subject to different sources of uncertainty, and we present a basic Markovian framework that can encompass approaches to all four challenges. Finding optimal conservation strategies for each challenge requires issue‐specific structural features, including adaptations of state transition models, uncertainty metrics, valuation of accumulated returns, and solution methods. Strategy valuation exhibits not only some remarkable similarities among approaches but also some important operational differences. Technical linkages among the models highlight synergies in solution approaches, as well as possibilities for combining them in particular conservation problems. As methodology and computing software advance, such an integrated conservation framework offers the potential to improve conservation outcomes with strategies to allocate management resources efficiently and avoid negative consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reproductive ecology of geese that breed in the Arctic and subarctic is likely susceptible to the effects of climate change, which is projected to alter the environmental conditions of northern latitudes. Nest survival is an important component of productivity in geese; however, the effects of regional environmental conditions on nest survival are not well understood for some species, including the Emperor Goose (Anser canagicus), a species of conservation concern that is endemic to the Bering Sea region. We estimated nest survival and examined how indices of regional environmental conditions, nest traits (nest age, initiation date, and maximum number of eggs in the nest), and researcher disturbance influenced daily survival probability (DSP) of Emperor Goose nests using hierarchical models and 24 years of nest monitoring data (1994--2017) from the Yukon--Kuskokwim Delta (Y--K Delta) in western Alaska. Our results indicate that overall nest survival was generally high (µ = 0.766, 95% CRI: 0.655--0.849) and ranged from 0.327 (95% CRI: 0.176--0.482) in 2013 to 0.905 (95% CRI: 0.839--0.953) in 1995. We found that DSPs of nests were influenced by nest traits, negatively influenced by major tidal flooding events and by researcher disturbance, but were not influenced by regional indices of spring timing, temperature and precipitation during nesting, or fox and vole abundance on the Y--K Delta. However, the number of nests found each year was negatively related to our index of fox abundance, suggesting nests that failed as a result of fox predation may have never been discovered due to our limited nest-searching efforts during egg laying. Our results suggest that regional environmental variation had minimal influence on the nest survival of Emperor Geese, although major flooding events were important. Nevertheless, we suspect that within-year variation in local weather conditions and local abundance of predators and alternative prey may be important and should be considered in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Grafting is a horticultural practice used widely across woody perennial crop species to fuse together the root and shoot system of two distinct genotypes, the rootstock and the scion, combining beneficial traits from both. In grapevine, grafting is used in nearly 80% of all commercial vines to optimize fruit quality, regulate vine vigor, and enhance biotic and abiotic stress-tolerance. Rootstocks have been shown to modulate elemental composition, metabolomic profiles, and the shape of leaves in the scion, among other traits. However, it is currently unclear how rootstock genotypes influence shoot system gene expression as previous work has reported complex and often contradictory findings. Results: In the present study, we examine the influence of grafting on scion gene expression in leaves and reproductive tissues of grapevines growing under field conditions for three years. We show that the influence from the rootstock genotype is highly tissue and time dependent, manifesting only in leaves, primarily during a single year of our three-year study. Further, the degree of rootstock influence on scion gene expression is driven by interactions with the local environment. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that the role of rootstock genotype in modulating scion gene expression is not a consistent, unchanging effect, but rather an effect that varies over time in relation to local environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populations and chromosomal races of a species often show variation in life-history characteristics due to phylogeny and environmental factors. We analysed variation in snout–vent length (SVL) and reproductive variables, such as minimum SVL at sexual maturity, litter size and embryo volume in females of the Sceloporus grammicus lizard complex, which includes seven chromosomal races as well as hybrid zones among different combinations of races (F5, F5 + 6, potential but unverified F5 + 6, F6, FM1, FM2, FM2 × F5 hybrid zone, FM3, LS and unverified SGG). The SGG, F5 and LS females were larger than F6 and FM3 females. Females with non-vitellogenic follicles and vitellogenic follicles were smaller than females with embryos. The SVL of females containing embryos varied among chromosomal races, the largest being the same as indicated above, but the smallest was the FM2 × F5 hybrid zone. Litter size was similar among chromosomal races (5.8 embryos), while embryo volumes varied among them. Two patterns of reproductive activity were found: seasonal and continuous reproduction. Our results showed the influence of environmental factors of each locality, which supports the ecological hypothesis. The use of chromosomal races did not reveal a significant phylogenetic effect, because allozyme and molecular data show only small pairwise genetic distances among the S. grammicus populations on the Mexican Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]