Improved annotation of antibiotic resistance determinants reveals microbial resistomes cluster by ecology.

PubMed

Gibson, Molly K; Forsberg, Kevin J; Dantas, Gautam

2015-01-01

Antibiotic resistance is a dire clinical problem with important ecological dimensions. While antibiotic resistance in human pathogens continues to rise at alarming rates, the impact of environmental resistance on human health is still unclear. To investigate the relationship between human-associated and environmental resistomes, we analyzed functional metagenomic selections for resistance against 18 clinically relevant antibiotics from soil and human gut microbiota as well as a set of multidrug-resistant cultured soil isolates. These analyses were enabled by Resfams, a new curated database of protein families and associated highly precise and accurate profile hidden Markov models, confirmed for antibiotic resistance function and organized by ontology. We demonstrate that the antibiotic resistance functions that give rise to the resistance profiles observed in environmental and human-associated microbial communities significantly differ between ecologies. Antibiotic resistance functions that most discriminate between ecologies provide resistance to β-lactams and tetracyclines, two of the most widely used classes of antibiotics in the clinic and agriculture. We also analyzed the antibiotic resistance gene composition of over 6000 sequenced microbial genomes, revealing significant enrichment of resistance functions by both ecology and phylogeny. Together, our results indicate that environmental and human-associated microbial communities harbor distinct resistance genes, suggesting that antibiotic resistance functions are largely constrained by ecology.

Associations among hydrologic classifications and fish traits to support environmental flow standards

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McManamay, Ryan A; Bevelhimer, Mark S; Frimpong, Dr. Emmanuel A,

2014-01-01

Classification systems are valuable to ecological management in that they organize information into consolidated units thereby providing efficient means to achieve conservation objectives. Of the many ways classifications benefit management, hypothesis generation has been discussed as the most important. However, in order to provide templates for developing and testing ecologically relevant hypotheses, classifications created using environmental variables must be linked to ecological patterns. Herein, we develop associations between a recent US hydrologic classification and fish traits in order to form a template for generating flow ecology hypotheses and supporting environmental flow standard development. Tradeoffs in adaptive strategies for fish weremore » observed across a spectrum of stable, perennial flow to unstable intermittent flow. In accordance with theory, periodic strategists were associated with stable, predictable flow, whereas opportunistic strategists were more affiliated with intermittent, variable flows. We developed linkages between the uniqueness of hydrologic character and ecological distinction among classes, which may translate into predictions between losses in hydrologic uniqueness and ecological community response. Comparisons of classification strength between hydrologic classifications and other frameworks suggested that spatially contiguous classifications with higher regionalization will tend to explain more variation in ecological patterns. Despite explaining less ecological variation than other frameworks, we contend that hydrologic classifications are still useful because they provide a conceptual linkage between hydrologic variation and ecological communities to support flow ecology relationships. Mechanistic associations among fish traits and hydrologic classes support the presumption that environmental flow standards should be developed uniquely for stream classes and ecological communities, therein.« less

Capturing the genetic makeup of the active microbiome in situ.

PubMed

Singer, Esther; Wagner, Michael; Woyke, Tanja

2017-09-01

More than any other technology, nucleic acid sequencing has enabled microbial ecology studies to be complemented with the data volumes necessary to capture the extent of microbial diversity and dynamics in a wide range of environments. In order to truly understand and predict environmental processes, however, the distinction between active, inactive and dead microbial cells is critical. Also, experimental designs need to be sensitive toward varying population complexity and activity, and temporal as well as spatial scales of process rates. There are a number of approaches, including single-cell techniques, which were designed to study in situ microbial activity and that have been successively coupled to nucleic acid sequencing. The exciting new discoveries regarding in situ microbial activity provide evidence that future microbial ecology studies will indispensably rely on techniques that specifically capture members of the microbiome active in the environment. Herein, we review those currently used activity-based approaches that can be directly linked to shotgun nucleic acid sequencing, evaluate their relevance to ecology studies, and discuss future directions.

Capturing the genetic makeup of the active microbiome in situ

PubMed Central

Singer, Esther; Wagner, Michael; Woyke, Tanja

2017-01-01

More than any other technology, nucleic acid sequencing has enabled microbial ecology studies to be complemented with the data volumes necessary to capture the extent of microbial diversity and dynamics in a wide range of environments. In order to truly understand and predict environmental processes, however, the distinction between active, inactive and dead microbial cells is critical. Also, experimental designs need to be sensitive toward varying population complexity and activity, and temporal as well as spatial scales of process rates. There are a number of approaches, including single-cell techniques, which were designed to study in situ microbial activity and that have been successively coupled to nucleic acid sequencing. The exciting new discoveries regarding in situ microbial activity provide evidence that future microbial ecology studies will indispensably rely on techniques that specifically capture members of the microbiome active in the environment. Herein, we review those currently used activity-based approaches that can be directly linked to shotgun nucleic acid sequencing, evaluate their relevance to ecology studies, and discuss future directions. PMID:28574490

Ecological relevance of current water quality assessment unit designations in impaired rivers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Layhee, Megan J.; Sepulveda, Adam; Ray, Andrew; Mladenka, Greg; Van Every, Lynn

2016-01-01

Managers often nest sections of water bodies together into assessment units (AUs) to monitor and assess water quality criteria. Ideally, AUs represent an extent of waters with similar ecological, watershed, habitat and land-use conditions and no overlapping characteristics with other waters. In the United States, AUs are typically based on political or hydrologic boundaries rather than on ecologically relevant features, so it can be difficult to detect changes in impairment status. Our goals were to evaluate if current AU designation criteria of an impaired water body in southeastern Idaho, USA that, like many U.S. waters, has three-quarters of its mainstem length divided into two AUs. We focused our evaluation in southeastern Idaho's Portneuf River, an impaired river and three-quarters of the river is divided into two AUs. We described biological and environmental conditions at multiple reaches within each AU. We used these data to (1) test if variability at the reach-scale is greater within or among AUs and, (2) to evaluate alternate AU boundaries based on multivariate analyses of reach-scale data. We found that some biological conditions had greater variability within an AU than between AUs. Multivariate analyses identified alternative, 2- and 3-group, AUs that reduced this variability. Our results suggest that the current AU designations in the mainstem Portneuf River contain ecologically distinct sections of river and that the existing AU boundaries should be reconsidered in light of the ecological conditions measured at the reach scale. Variation in biological integrity within designated AUs may complicate water quality and biological assessments, influence management decisions or affect where monitoring or mitigation resources are directed.

Transdisciplinary Application of Cross-Scale Resilience ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The cross-scale resilience model was developed in ecology to explain the emergence of resilience from the distribution of ecological functions within and across scales, and as a tool to assess resilience. We propose that the model and the underlyingdiscontinuity hypothesis are relevant to other complex adaptive systems, and can be used to identify and track changes in system parameters related to resilience. We explain the theory behind the cross-scale resilience model, review the cases where it has been applied to non-ecological systems, and discuss some examples of social-ecological, archaeological/anthropological, and economic systems where a cross-scale resilience analysis could add a quantitative dimension to our current understanding of system dynamics and resilience. We argue that the scaling and diversity parameters suitable for a resilience analysis of ecological systems are appropriate for a broad suite of systems where non-normative quantitative assessments of resilience are desired. Our planet is currently characterized by fast environmental and social change, and the cross-scale resilience model has the potential to quantify resilience across many types of complex adaptive systems. Comparative analyses of complex systems have, in fact, demonstrated commonalities among distinctly different types of systems (Schneider & Kay 1994; Holling 2001; Lansing 2003; Foster 2005; Bullmore et al. 2009). Both biological and non-biological complex systems appear t

Can you sequence ecology? Metagenomics of adaptive diversification.

PubMed

Marx, Christopher J

2013-01-01

Few areas of science have benefited more from the expansion in sequencing capability than the study of microbial communities. Can sequence data, besides providing hypotheses of the functions the members possess, detect the evolutionary and ecological processes that are occurring? For example, can we determine if a species is adapting to one niche, or if it is diversifying into multiple specialists that inhabit distinct niches? Fortunately, adaptation of populations in the laboratory can serve as a model to test our ability to make such inferences about evolution and ecology from sequencing. Even adaptation to a single niche can give rise to complex temporal dynamics due to the transient presence of multiple competing lineages. If there are multiple niches, this complexity is augmented by segmentation of the population into multiple specialists that can each continue to evolve within their own niche. For a known example of parallel diversification that occurred in the laboratory, sequencing data gave surprisingly few obvious, unambiguous signs of the ecological complexity present. Whereas experimental systems are open to direct experimentation to test hypotheses of selection or ecological interaction, the difficulty in "seeing ecology" from sequencing for even such a simple system suggests translation to communities like the human microbiome will be quite challenging. This will require both improved empirical methods to enhance the depth and time resolution for the relevant polymorphisms and novel statistical approaches to rigorously examine time-series data for signs of various evolutionary and ecological phenomena within and between species.

An Exploration of Human Well-Being Bundles as Identifiers of Ecosystem Service Use Patterns

PubMed Central

Biggs, Reinette; Reyers, Belinda

2016-01-01

We take a social-ecological systems perspective to investigate the linkages between ecosystem services and human well-being in South Africa. A recent paper identified different types of social-ecological systems in the country, based on distinct bundles of ecosystem service use. These system types were found to represent increasingly weak direct feedbacks between nature and people, from rural “green-loop” communities to urban “red-loop” societies. Here we construct human well-being bundles and explore whether the well-being bundles can be used to identify the same social-ecological system types that were identified using bundles of ecosystem service use. Based on national census data, we found three distinct well-being bundle types that are mainly characterized by differences in income, unemployment and property ownership. The distribution of these well-being bundles approximates the distribution of ecosystem service use bundles to a substantial degree: High levels of income and education generally coincided with areas characterised by low levels of direct ecosystem service use (or red-loop systems), while the majority of low well-being areas coincided with medium and high levels of direct ecosystem service use (or transition and green-loop systems). However, our results indicate that transformations from green-loop to red-loop systems do not always entail an immediate improvement in well-being, which we suggest may be due to a time lag between changes in the different system components. Using human well-being bundles as an indicator of social-ecological dynamics may be useful in other contexts since it is based on socio-economic data commonly collected by governments, and provides important insights into the connections between ecosystem services and human well-being at policy-relevant sub-national scales. PMID:27695120

An Exploration of Human Well-Being Bundles as Identifiers of Ecosystem Service Use Patterns.

PubMed

Hamann, Maike; Biggs, Reinette; Reyers, Belinda

2016-01-01

We take a social-ecological systems perspective to investigate the linkages between ecosystem services and human well-being in South Africa. A recent paper identified different types of social-ecological systems in the country, based on distinct bundles of ecosystem service use. These system types were found to represent increasingly weak direct feedbacks between nature and people, from rural "green-loop" communities to urban "red-loop" societies. Here we construct human well-being bundles and explore whether the well-being bundles can be used to identify the same social-ecological system types that were identified using bundles of ecosystem service use. Based on national census data, we found three distinct well-being bundle types that are mainly characterized by differences in income, unemployment and property ownership. The distribution of these well-being bundles approximates the distribution of ecosystem service use bundles to a substantial degree: High levels of income and education generally coincided with areas characterised by low levels of direct ecosystem service use (or red-loop systems), while the majority of low well-being areas coincided with medium and high levels of direct ecosystem service use (or transition and green-loop systems). However, our results indicate that transformations from green-loop to red-loop systems do not always entail an immediate improvement in well-being, which we suggest may be due to a time lag between changes in the different system components. Using human well-being bundles as an indicator of social-ecological dynamics may be useful in other contexts since it is based on socio-economic data commonly collected by governments, and provides important insights into the connections between ecosystem services and human well-being at policy-relevant sub-national scales.

Leveraging modern climatology to increase adaptive capacity across protected area networks

USGS Publications Warehouse

Davison, J.E.; Graumlich, L.J.; Rowland, E.L.; Pederson, G.T.; Breshears, D.D.

2012-01-01

Human-driven changes in the global environment pose an increasingly urgent challenge for the management of ecosystems that is made all the more difficult by the uncertain future of both environmental conditions and ecological responses. Land managers need strategies to increase regional adaptive capacity, but relevant and rapid assessment approaches are lacking. To address this need, we developed a method to assess regional protected area networks across biophysically important climatic gradients often linked to biodiversity and ecosystem function. We plot the land of the southwestern United States across axes of historical climate space, and identify landscapes that may serve as strategic additions to current protected area portfolios. Considering climate space is straightforward, and it can be applied using a variety of relevant climate parameters across differing levels of land protection status. The resulting maps identify lands that are climatically distinct from existing protected areas, and may be utilized in combination with other ecological and socio-economic information essential to collaborative landscape-scale decision-making. Alongside other strategies intended to protect species of special concern, natural resources, and other ecosystem services, the methods presented herein provide another important hedging strategy intended to increase the adaptive capacity of protected area networks. ?? 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Metabolite profiling of fish skin mucus: a novel approach for minimally-invasive environmental exposure monitoring and surveillance.

PubMed

Ekman, D R; Skelton, D M; Davis, J M; Villeneuve, D L; Cavallin, J E; Schroeder, A; Jensen, K M; Ankley, G T; Collette, T W

2015-03-03

The application of 'omics tools to biologically based monitoring and surveillance of aquatic environments shows considerable promise for complementing chemical monitoring in ecological risk assessments. However, few of the current approaches offer the ability to sample ecologically relevant species (e.g., fish) in a way that produces minimal impact on the health of the organism(s) under study. In the current study we employ liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to assess the potential for skin mucus-based metabolomics for minimally invasive sampling of the fathead minnow (FHM; Pimephales promelas). Using this approach we were able to detect 204 distinct metabolites in the FHM skin mucus metabolome representing a large number of metabolite classes. An analysis of the sex specificity of the skin mucus metabolome showed it to be highly sexually dimorphic with 72 of the detected metabolites showing a statistically significant bias with regard to sex. Finally, in a proof-of-concept fashion we report on the use of skin mucus-based metabolomics to assess exposures in male and female fathead minnows to an environmentally relevant concentration of bisphenol A, a nearly ubiquitous environmental contaminant and an established endocrine active chemical.

Functional neuronal processing of body odors differs from that of similar common odors.

PubMed

Lundström, Johan N; Boyle, Julie A; Zatorre, Robert J; Jones-Gotman, Marilyn

2008-06-01

Visual and auditory stimuli of high social and ecological importance are processed in the brain by specialized neuronal networks. To date, this has not been demonstrated for olfactory stimuli. By means of positron emission tomography, we sought to elucidate the neuronal substrates behind body odor perception to answer the question of whether the central processing of body odors differs from perceptually similar nonbody odors. Body odors were processed by a network that was distinctly separate from common odors, indicating a separation in the processing of odors based on their source. Smelling a friend's body odor activated regions previously seen for familiar stimuli, whereas smelling a stranger activated amygdala and insular regions akin to what has previously been demonstrated for fearful stimuli. The results provide evidence that social olfactory stimuli of high ecological relevance are processed by specialized neuronal networks similar to what has previously been demonstrated for auditory and visual stimuli.

Capturing the genetic makeup of the active microbiome in situ

DOE PAGES

Singer, Esther; Wagner, Michael; Woyke, Tanja

2017-06-02

More than any other technology, nucleic acid sequencing has enabled microbial ecology studies to be complemented with the data volumes necessary to capture the extent of microbial diversity and dynamics in a wide range of environments. In order to truly understand and predict environmental processes, however, the distinction between active, inactive and dead microbial cells is critical. Also, experimental designs need to be sensitive toward varying population complexity and activity, and temporal as well as spatial scales of process rates. There are a number of approaches, including single-cell techniques, which were designed to study in situ microbial activity and thatmore » have been successively coupled to nucleic acid sequencing. The exciting new discoveries regarding in situ microbial activity provide evidence that future microbial ecology studies will indispensably rely on techniques that specifically capture members of the microbiome active in the environment. Herein, we review those currently used activity-based approaches that can be directly linked to shotgun nucleic acid sequencing, evaluate their relevance to ecology studies, and discuss future directions.« less

Capturing the genetic makeup of the active microbiome in situ

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Singer, Esther; Wagner, Michael; Woyke, Tanja

More than any other technology, nucleic acid sequencing has enabled microbial ecology studies to be complemented with the data volumes necessary to capture the extent of microbial diversity and dynamics in a wide range of environments. In order to truly understand and predict environmental processes, however, the distinction between active, inactive and dead microbial cells is critical. Also, experimental designs need to be sensitive toward varying population complexity and activity, and temporal as well as spatial scales of process rates. There are a number of approaches, including single-cell techniques, which were designed to study in situ microbial activity and thatmore » have been successively coupled to nucleic acid sequencing. The exciting new discoveries regarding in situ microbial activity provide evidence that future microbial ecology studies will indispensably rely on techniques that specifically capture members of the microbiome active in the environment. Herein, we review those currently used activity-based approaches that can be directly linked to shotgun nucleic acid sequencing, evaluate their relevance to ecology studies, and discuss future directions.« less

Developing predictive systems models to address complexity and relevance for ecological risk assessment.

PubMed

Forbes, Valery E; Calow, Peter

2013-07-01

Ecological risk assessments (ERAs) are not used as well as they could be in risk management. Part of the problem is that they often lack ecological relevance; that is, they fail to grasp necessary ecological complexities. Adding realism and complexity can be difficult and costly. We argue that predictive systems models (PSMs) can provide a way of capturing complexity and ecological relevance cost-effectively. However, addressing complexity and ecological relevance is only part of the problem. Ecological risk assessments often fail to meet the needs of risk managers by not providing assessments that relate to protection goals and by expressing risk in ratios that cannot be weighed against the costs of interventions. Once more, PSMs can be designed to provide outputs in terms of value-relevant effects that are modulated against exposure and that can provide a better basis for decision making than arbitrary ratios or threshold values. Recent developments in the modeling and its potential for implementation by risk assessors and risk managers are beginning to demonstrate how PSMs can be practically applied in risk assessment and the advantages that doing so could have. Copyright © 2013 SETAC.

Comparative genome analysis of Pseudomonas genomes including Populus-associated isolates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jun, Se Ran; Wassenaar, Trudy; Nookaew, Intawat

The Pseudomonas genus contains a metabolically versatile group of organisms that are known to occupy numerous ecological niches including the rhizosphere and endosphere of many plants influencing phylogenetic diversity and heterogeneity. In this study, comparative genome analysis was performed on over one thousand Pseudomonas genomes, including 21 Pseudomonas strains isolated from the roots of native Populus deltoides. Based on average amino acid identity, genomic clusters were identified within the Pseudomonas genus, which showed agreements with clades by NCBI and cliques by IMG. The P. fluorescens group was organized into 20 distinct genomic clusters, representing enormous diversity and heterogeneity. The speciesmore » P. aeruginosa showed clear distinction in their genomic relatedness compared to other Pseudomonas species groups based on the pan and core genome analysis. The 19 isolates of our 21 Populus-associated isolates formed three distinct subgroups within the P. fluorescens major group, supported by pathway profiles analysis, while two isolates were more closely related to P. chlororaphis and P. putida. The specific genes to Populus-associated subgroups were identified where genes specific to subgroup 1 include several sensory systems such as proteins which act in two-component signal transduction, a TonB-dependent receptor, and a phosphorelay sensor; specific genes to subgroup 2 contain unique hypothetical genes; and genes specific to subgroup 3 organisms have a different hydrolase activity. IMPORTANCE The comparative genome analyses of the genus Pseudomonas that included Populus-associated isolates resulted in novel insights into high diversity of Pseudomonas. Consistent and robust genomic clusters with phylogenetic homogeneity were identified, which resolved species-clades that are not clearly defined by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis alone. The genomic clusters may be reflective of distinct ecological niches to which the organisms have adapted, but this needs to be experimentally characterized with ecologically relevant phenotype properties. This study justifies the need to sequence multiple isolates, especially from P. fluorescens group in order to study functional capabilities from a pangenomic perspective. This information will prove useful when choosing Pseudomonas strains for use to promote growth and increase disease resistance in plants.« less

Comparative genome analysis of Pseudomonas genomes including Populus-associated isolates

DOE PAGES

Jun, Se Ran; Wassenaar, Trudy; Nookaew, Intawat; ...

2016-01-01

The Pseudomonas genus contains a metabolically versatile group of organisms that are known to occupy numerous ecological niches including the rhizosphere and endosphere of many plants influencing phylogenetic diversity and heterogeneity. In this study, comparative genome analysis was performed on over one thousand Pseudomonas genomes, including 21 Pseudomonas strains isolated from the roots of native Populus deltoides. Based on average amino acid identity, genomic clusters were identified within the Pseudomonas genus, which showed agreements with clades by NCBI and cliques by IMG. The P. fluorescens group was organized into 20 distinct genomic clusters, representing enormous diversity and heterogeneity. The speciesmore » P. aeruginosa showed clear distinction in their genomic relatedness compared to other Pseudomonas species groups based on the pan and core genome analysis. The 19 isolates of our 21 Populus-associated isolates formed three distinct subgroups within the P. fluorescens major group, supported by pathway profiles analysis, while two isolates were more closely related to P. chlororaphis and P. putida. The specific genes to Populus-associated subgroups were identified where genes specific to subgroup 1 include several sensory systems such as proteins which act in two-component signal transduction, a TonB-dependent receptor, and a phosphorelay sensor; specific genes to subgroup 2 contain unique hypothetical genes; and genes specific to subgroup 3 organisms have a different hydrolase activity. IMPORTANCE The comparative genome analyses of the genus Pseudomonas that included Populus-associated isolates resulted in novel insights into high diversity of Pseudomonas. Consistent and robust genomic clusters with phylogenetic homogeneity were identified, which resolved species-clades that are not clearly defined by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis alone. The genomic clusters may be reflective of distinct ecological niches to which the organisms have adapted, but this needs to be experimentally characterized with ecologically relevant phenotype properties. This study justifies the need to sequence multiple isolates, especially from P. fluorescens group in order to study functional capabilities from a pangenomic perspective. This information will prove useful when choosing Pseudomonas strains for use to promote growth and increase disease resistance in plants.« less

Recombination Does Not Hinder Formation or Detection of Ecological Species of Synechococcus Inhabiting a Hot Spring Cyanobacterial Mat

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Melendrez, Melanie C.; Becraft, Eric D.; Wood, Jason M.

Recent studies of bacterial speciation have claimed to support the biological species concept—that reduced recombination is required for bacterial populations to diverge into species. This conclusion has been reached from the discovery that ecologically distinct clades show lower rates of recombination than that which occurs among closest relatives. However, these previous studies did not attempt to determine whether the more-rapidly recombining close relatives within the clades studied may also have diversified ecologically, without benefit of sexual isolation. Here we have measured the impact of recombination on ecological diversification within and between two ecologically distinct clades (A and B’) of Synechococcusmore » in a hot spring microbial mat in Yellowstone National Park, using a cultivation-free, multi-locus approach. Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries were constructed from mat samples collected at 60°C and 65°C. Analysis of multiple linked loci near Synechococcus 16S rRNA genes showed little evidence of recombination between the A and B’ lineages, but a record of recombination was apparent within each lineage. Recombination and mutation rates within each lineage were of similar magnitude, but recombination had a somewhat greater impact on sequence diversity than mutation, as also seen in many other bacteria and archaea. Despite recombination within the A and B’ lineages, there was evidence of ecological diversification within each lineage. The algorithm Ecotype Simulation identified sequence clusters consistent with ecologically distinct populations (ecotypes), and several hypothesized ecotypes were distinct in their habitat associations and in their adaptations to different microenvironments. We conclude that sexual isolation is more likely to follow ecological divergence than to precede it. Thus, an ecology-based model of speciation appears more appropriate than the biological species concept for bacterial and archaeal diversification.« less

Recombination Does Not Hinder Formation or Detection of Ecological Species of Synechococcus Inhabiting a Hot Spring Cyanobacterial Mat

DOE PAGES

Melendrez, Melanie C.; Becraft, Eric D.; Wood, Jason M.; ...

2016-01-14

Recent studies of bacterial speciation have claimed to support the biological species concept—that reduced recombination is required for bacterial populations to diverge into species. This conclusion has been reached from the discovery that ecologically distinct clades show lower rates of recombination than that which occurs among closest relatives. However, these previous studies did not attempt to determine whether the more-rapidly recombining close relatives within the clades studied may also have diversified ecologically, without benefit of sexual isolation. Here we have measured the impact of recombination on ecological diversification within and between two ecologically distinct clades (A and B’) of Synechococcusmore » in a hot spring microbial mat in Yellowstone National Park, using a cultivation-free, multi-locus approach. Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries were constructed from mat samples collected at 60°C and 65°C. Analysis of multiple linked loci near Synechococcus 16S rRNA genes showed little evidence of recombination between the A and B’ lineages, but a record of recombination was apparent within each lineage. Recombination and mutation rates within each lineage were of similar magnitude, but recombination had a somewhat greater impact on sequence diversity than mutation, as also seen in many other bacteria and archaea. Despite recombination within the A and B’ lineages, there was evidence of ecological diversification within each lineage. The algorithm Ecotype Simulation identified sequence clusters consistent with ecologically distinct populations (ecotypes), and several hypothesized ecotypes were distinct in their habitat associations and in their adaptations to different microenvironments. We conclude that sexual isolation is more likely to follow ecological divergence than to precede it. Thus, an ecology-based model of speciation appears more appropriate than the biological species concept for bacterial and archaeal diversification.« less

A scale-based approach to interdisciplinary research and expertise in sports.

PubMed

Ibáñez-Gijón, Jorge; Buekers, Martinus; Morice, Antoine; Rao, Guillaume; Mascret, Nicolas; Laurin, Jérome; Montagne, Gilles

2017-02-01

After more than 20 years since the introduction of ecological and dynamical approaches in sports research, their promising opportunity for interdisciplinary research has not been fulfilled yet. The complexity of the research process and the theoretical and empirical difficulties associated with an integrated ecological-dynamical approach have been the major factors hindering the generalisation of interdisciplinary projects in sports sciences. To facilitate this generalisation, we integrate the major concepts from the ecological and dynamical approaches to study behaviour as a multi-scale process. Our integration gravitates around the distinction between functional (ecological) and execution (organic) scales, and their reciprocal intra- and inter-scale constraints. We propose an (epistemological) scale-based definition of constraints that accounts for the concept of synergies as emergent coordinative structures. To illustrate how we can operationalise the notion of multi-scale synergies we use an interdisciplinary model of locomotor pointing. To conclude, we show the value of this approach for interdisciplinary research in sport sciences, as we discuss two examples of task-specific dimensionality reduction techniques in the context of an ongoing project that aims to unveil the determinants of expertise in basketball free throw shooting. These techniques provide relevant empirical evidence to help bootstrap the challenging modelling efforts required in sport sciences.

Tracking genes of ecological relevance using a genome scan in two independent regional population samples of Arabis alpina.

PubMed

Poncet, Bénédicte N; Herrmann, Doris; Gugerli, Felix; Taberlet, Pierre; Holderegger, Rolf; Gielly, Ludovic; Rioux, Delphine; Thuiller, Wilfried; Aubert, Serge; Manel, Stéphanie

2010-07-01

Understanding the genetic basis of adaptation in response to environmental variation is fundamental as adaptation plays a key role in the extension of ecological niches to marginal habitats and in ecological speciation. Based on the assumption that some genomic markers are correlated to environmental variables, we aimed to detect loci of ecological relevance in the alpine plant Arabis alpina L. sampled in two regions, the French (99 locations) and the Swiss (109 locations) Alps. We used an unusually large genome scan [825 amplified fragment length polymorphism loci (AFLPs)] and four environmental variables related to temperature, precipitation and topography. We detected linkage disequilibrium among only 3.5% of the considered AFLP loci. A population structure analysis identified no admixture in the study regions, and the French and Swiss Alps were differentiated and therefore could be considered as two independent regions. We applied generalized estimating equations (GEE) to detect ecologically relevant loci separately in the French and Swiss Alps. We identified 78 loci of ecological relevance (9%), which were mainly related to mean annual minimum temperature. Only four of these loci were common across the French and Swiss Alps. Finally, we discuss that the genomic characterization of these ecologically relevant loci, as identified in this study, opens up new perspectives for studying functional ecology in A. alpina, its relatives and other alpine plant species.

Determination of the Biologically Relevant Sampling Depth for Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecological Risk Assessments (Final Report)

EPA Science Inventory

The Ecological Risk Assessment Support Center (ERASC) announced the release of the final report, Determination of the Biologically Relevant Sampling Depth for Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecological Risk Assessments. This technical paper provides defensible approximations fo...

The molecular dimension of microbial species: 1. Ecological distinctions among, and homogeneity within, putative ecotypes of Synechococcus inhabiting the cyanobacterial mat of Mushroom Spring, Yellowstone National Park

PubMed Central

Becraft, Eric D.; Wood, Jason M.; Rusch, Douglas B.; Kühl, Michael; Jensen, Sheila I.; Bryant, Donald A.; Roberts, David W.; Cohan, Frederick M.; Ward, David M.

2015-01-01

Based on the Stable Ecotype Model, evolution leads to the divergence of ecologically distinct populations (e.g., with different niches and/or behaviors) of ecologically interchangeable membership. In this study, pyrosequencing was used to provide deep sequence coverage of Synechococcus psaA genes and transcripts over a large number of habitat types in the Mushroom Spring microbial mat. Putative ecological species [putative ecotypes (PEs)], which were predicted by an evolutionary simulation based on the Stable Ecotype Model (Ecotype Simulation), exhibited distinct distributions relative to temperature-defined positions in the effluent channel and vertical position in the upper 1 mm-thick mat layer. Importantly, in most cases variants predicted to belong to the same PE formed unique clusters relative to temperature and depth in the mat in canonical correspondence analysis, supporting the hypothesis that while the PEs are ecologically distinct, the members of each ecotype are ecologically homogeneous. PEs responded differently to experimental perturbations of temperature and light, but the genetic variation within each PE was maintained as the relative abundances of PEs changed, further indicating that each population responded as a set of ecologically interchangeable individuals. Compared to PEs that predominate deeper within the mat photic zone, the timing of transcript abundances for selected genes differed for PEs that predominate in microenvironments closer to upper surface of the mat with spatiotemporal differences in light and O2 concentration. All of these findings are consistent with the hypotheses that Synechococcus species in hot spring mats are sets of ecologically interchangeable individuals that are differently adapted, that these adaptations control their distributions, and that the resulting distributions constrain the activities of the species in space and time. PMID:26157420

Ecologically relevant UV-B dose combined with high PAR intensity distinctly affect plant growth and accumulation of secondary metabolites in leaves of Centella asiatica L. Urban.

PubMed

Müller, Viola; Albert, Andreas; Barbro Winkler, J; Lankes, Christa; Noga, Georg; Hunsche, Mauricio

2013-10-05

We investigated the effects of environmentally relevant dose of ultraviolet (UV)-B and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) on saponin accumulation in leaves on the example of Centella asiatica L. Urban. For this purpose, plants were exposed to one of four light regimes i.e., two PAR intensities with or without UV-B radiation. The experiment was conducted in technically complex sun simulators under almost natural irradiance and climatic conditions. As observed, UV-B radiation increased herb and leaf production as well as the content of epidermal flavonols, which was monitored by non-destructive fluorescence measurements. Specific fluorescence indices also indicate an increase in the content of anthocyanins under high PAR; this increase was likewise observed for the saponin concentrations. In contrast, UV-B radiation had no distinct effects on saponin and sapogenin concentrations. Our findings suggest that besides flavonoids, also saponins were accumulated under high PAR protecting the plant from oxidative damage. Furthermore, glycosylation of sapogenins seems to be important either for the protective function and/or for compartmentalization of the compounds. Moreover, our study revealed that younger leaves contain higher amounts of saponins, while in older leaves the sapogenins were the most abundant constituents. Concluding, our results proof that ambient dose of UV-B and high PAR intensity distinctly affect the accumulation of flavonoids and saponins, enabling the plant tissue to adapt to the light conditions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Discovering ecologically relevant knowledge from published studies through geosemantic searching

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

It is easier to search the globe for research on genes of a local plant or animal than to find local field research on that plant’s ecology. While internet applications can find the closest coffee shop, it is difficult to find where the nearest relevant research was conducted. As a result, ecologi...

On the ecological relevance of landscape mapping and its application in the spatial planning of very large marine protected areas.

PubMed

Hogg, Oliver T; Huvenne, Veerle A I; Griffiths, Huw J; Linse, Katrin

2018-06-01

In recent years very large marine protected areas (VLMPAs) have become the dominant form of spatial protection in the marine environment. Whilst seen as a holistic and geopolitically achievable approach to conservation, there is currently a mismatch between the size of VLMPAs, and the data available to underpin their establishment and inform on their management. Habitat mapping has increasingly been adopted as a means of addressing paucity in biological data, through use of environmental proxies to estimate species and community distribution. Small-scale studies have demonstrated environmental-biological links in marine systems. Such links, however, are rarely demonstrated across larger spatial scales in the benthic environment. As such, the utility of habitat mapping as an effective approach to the ecosystem-based management of VLMPAs remains, thus far, largely undetermined. The aim of this study was to assess the ecological relevance of broadscale landscape mapping. Specifically we test the relationship between broad-scale marine landscapes and the structure of their benthic faunal communities. We focussed our work at the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, site of one of the largest MPAs in the world. We demonstrate a statistically significant relationship between environmentally derived landscape mapping clusters, and the composition of presence-only species data from the region. To demonstrate this relationship required specific re-sampling of historical species occurrence data to balance biological rarity, biological cosmopolitism, range-restricted sampling and fine-scale heterogeneity between sampling stations. The relationship reveals a distinct biological signature in the faunal composition of individual landscapes, attributing ecological relevance to South Georgia's environmentally derived marine landscape map. We argue therefore, that landscape mapping represents an effective framework for ensuring representative protection of habitats in management plans. Such scientific underpinning of marine spatial planning is critical in balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders whilst maximising conservation payoff. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Distinct Role of the Amygdala, Superior Colliculus and Pulvinar in Processing of Central and Peripheral Snakes

PubMed Central

Almeida, Inês; Soares, Sandra C.; Castelo-Branco, Miguel

2015-01-01

Introduction Visual processing of ecologically relevant stimuli involves a central bias for stimuli demanding detailed processing (e.g., faces), whereas peripheral object processing is based on coarse identification. Fast detection of animal shapes holding a significant phylogenetic value, such as snakes, may benefit from peripheral vision. The amygdala together with the pulvinar and the superior colliculus are implicated in an ongoing debate regarding their role in automatic and deliberate spatial processing of threat signals. Methods Here we tested twenty healthy participants in an fMRI task, and investigated the role of spatial demands (the main effect of central vs. peripheral vision) in the processing of fear-relevant ecological features. We controlled for stimulus dependence using true or false snakes; snake shapes or snake faces and for task constraints (implicit or explicit). The main idea justifying this double task is that amygdala and superior colliculus are involved in both automatic and controlled processes. Moreover the explicit/implicit instruction in the task with respect to emotion is not necessarily equivalent to explicit vs. implicit in the sense of endogenous vs. exogenous attention, or controlled vs. automatic processes. Results We found that stimulus-driven processing led to increased amygdala responses specifically to true snake shapes presented in the centre or in the peripheral left hemifield (right hemisphere). Importantly, the superior colliculus showed significantly biased and explicit central responses to snake-related stimuli. Moreover, the pulvinar, which also contains foveal representations, also showed strong central responses, extending the results of a recent single cell pulvinar study in monkeys. Similar hemispheric specialization was found across structures: increased amygdala responses occurred to true snake shapes presented to the right hemisphere, with this pattern being closely followed by the superior colliculus and the pulvinar. Conclusion These results show that subcortical structures containing foveal representations such as the amygdala, pulvinar and superior colliculus play distinct roles in the central and peripheral processing of snake shapes. Our findings suggest multiple phylogenetic fingerprints in the responses of subcortical structures to fear-relevant stimuli. PMID:26075614

Polyphasic characterization of 10 selected ecologically relevant filamentous cyanobacterial strains from the South Shetland Islands, Maritime Antarctica.

PubMed

Jancusova, Miroslava; Kovacik, Lubomir; Pereira, Antonio Batista; Dusinsky, Roman; Wilmotte, Annick

2016-07-01

The evolutionary relationships of 10 Antarctic cyanobacterial strains of the order Oscillatoriales isolated from King George and Deception Islands, South Shetland Islands were studied by a polyphasic approach (morphology, 16S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer sequences). The studied taxa are characteristic of coastal Antarctic biotopes, where they form distinct populations and ecologically delimited communities. They were isolated from terrestrial habitats: microbial mats in seepages; crusts on soil, rocks, bones and mosses; mud, sometimes close to bird colonies; and from guano. Based on major phenotypic features, the strains were divided into four distinct morphotypes: Leptolyngbya borchgrevinkii (A), Leptolyngbya frigida (B), Microcoleus sp. (C) and Wilmottia murrayi (D). This morphological identification was in agreement with the phylogenetic relationships. For the first time, the 16S rRNA gene sequence of a strain corresponding to the L. borchgrevinkii morphotype was determined. Morphotype B is most related to sequences assigned to L. frigida isolated from microbial mats of coastal lakes in East Antarctica. Morphotype C belongs to a cluster including strains with morphotypes corresponding to Microcoleus attenuatus, Microcoleus favosus and Microcoleus sp., which are from Antarctica and other continents. Morphotype D is grouped with sequences assigned to W. murrayi mostly isolated from Antarctica. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Evolutionary distinctiveness of fatty acid and polyketide synthesis in eukaryotes

PubMed Central

Kohli, Gurjeet S; John, Uwe; Van Dolah, Frances M; Murray, Shauna A

2016-01-01

Fatty acids, which are essential cell membrane constituents and fuel storage molecules, are thought to share a common evolutionary origin with polyketide toxins in eukaryotes. While fatty acids are primary metabolic products, polyketide toxins are secondary metabolites that are involved in ecologically relevant processes, such as chemical defence, and produce the adverse effects of harmful algal blooms. Selection pressures on such compounds may be different, resulting in differing evolutionary histories. Surprisingly, some studies of dinoflagellates have suggested that the same enzymes may catalyse these processes. Here we show the presence and evolutionary distinctiveness of genes encoding six key enzymes essential for fatty acid production in 13 eukaryotic lineages for which no previous sequence data were available (alveolates: dinoflagellates, Vitrella, Chromera; stramenopiles: bolidophytes, chrysophytes, pelagophytes, raphidophytes, dictyochophytes, pinguiophytes, xanthophytes; Rhizaria: chlorarachniophytes, haplosporida; euglenids) and 8 other lineages (apicomplexans, bacillariophytes, synurophytes, cryptophytes, haptophytes, chlorophyceans, prasinophytes, trebouxiophytes). The phylogeny of fatty acid synthase genes reflects the evolutionary history of the organism, indicating selection to maintain conserved functionality. In contrast, polyketide synthase gene families are highly expanded in dinoflagellates and haptophytes, suggesting relaxed constraints in their evolutionary history, while completely absent from some protist lineages. This demonstrates a vast potential for the production of bioactive polyketide compounds in some lineages of microbial eukaryotes, indicating that the evolution of these compounds may have played an important role in their ecological success. PMID:26784357

Climate effects on historic bluefin tuna captures in the Gibraltar Strait and Western Mediterranean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganzedo, Unai; Polanco-Martínez, Josué M.; Caballero-Alfonso, Ángela M.; Faria, Sérgio H.; Li, Jianke; Castro-Hernández, José J.

2016-06-01

Historical capture records of bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus; BFT hereafter) from the Gibraltar Strait and Western Mediterranean show pronounced short- and long-term fluctuations. Some of these fluctuations are believed to be associated with biological and ecological process, as well as distinct climate factors. For the period of study (1700-1936) of this work, we found a long-term increasing trend in the BFT captures and in the climate variables. After applying a statistical time series analysis of relevant climate variables and long-term tuna capture records, it is highlighted the role played by sea-surface temperature (SST) on bluefin population variations. The most relevant result of this study is the strong correlation found between the total solar irradiance (TSI) - an external component of the climate system - and bluefin captures. The solar irradiance could have affected storminess during the period under study, mainly during the time interval 1700-1810. We suggest physico-biological mechanisms that explain the BFT catch fluctuations in two consecutive time intervals. In the first period, from 1700 to 1810, this mechanism could be high storm and wind activity, which would have made the BFT fisheries activities more difficult by reducing their efficacy. In contrast, during the interval from 1810 to 1907, the effects of wind and storms could be on spawning behaviour and larval ecology, and hence on year class strength, rather than on fish or fisherman's behaviour. These findings open up a range of new lines of enquiry that are relevant for both, fisheries and climate change research.

Ecological factors rather than temporal factors dominate the evolution of vesicular stomatitis virus.

PubMed

Rodríguez, L L; Fitch, W M; Nichol, S T

1996-11-12

Vesicular stomatitis New Jersey virus (VSV-NJ) is a rhabdovirus that causes economically important disease in cattle and other domestic animals in endemic areas from southeastern United States to northern South America. Its negatively stranded RNA genome is capable of undergoing rapid evolution, which allows phylogenetic analysis and molecular epidemiology studies to be performed. Previous epidemiological studies in Costa Rica showed the existence of at least two distinct ecological zones of high VSV-NJ activity, one located in the highlands (premontane tropical moist forest) and the other in the lowlands (tropical dry forest). We wanted to test the hypothesis that the viruses circulating in these ecological zones were genetically distinct. For this purpose, we sequenced the hypervariable region of the phosphoprotein gene for 50 VSV-NJ isolates from these areas. Phylogenetic analysis showed that viruses from each ecological zone had distinct genotypes. These genotypes were maintained in each area for periods of up to 8 years. This evolutionary pattern of VSV-NJ suggests an adaptation to ecological factors that could exert selective pressure on the virus. As previous data indicated an absence of virus adaptation to factors related to the bovine host (including immunological pressure), it appears that VSV genetic divergence represents positive selection to adapt to specific vectors and/or reservoirs at each ecological zone.

Projecting biodiversity and wood production in future forest landscapes: 15 key modeling considerations.

PubMed

Felton, Adam; Ranius, Thomas; Roberge, Jean-Michel; Öhman, Karin; Lämås, Tomas; Hynynen, Jari; Juutinen, Artti; Mönkkönen, Mikko; Nilsson, Urban; Lundmark, Tomas; Nordin, Annika

2017-07-15

A variety of modeling approaches can be used to project the future development of forest systems, and help to assess the implications of different management alternatives for biodiversity and ecosystem services. This diversity of approaches does however present both an opportunity and an obstacle for those trying to decide which modeling technique to apply, and interpreting the management implications of model output. Furthermore, the breadth of issues relevant to addressing key questions related to forest ecology, conservation biology, silviculture, economics, requires insights stemming from a number of distinct scientific disciplines. As forest planners, conservation ecologists, ecological economists and silviculturalists, experienced with modeling trade-offs and synergies between biodiversity and wood biomass production, we identified fifteen key considerations relevant to assessing the pros and cons of alternative modeling approaches. Specifically we identified key considerations linked to study question formulation, modeling forest dynamics, forest processes, study landscapes, spatial and temporal aspects, and the key response metrics - biodiversity and wood biomass production, as well as dealing with trade-offs and uncertainties. We also provide illustrative examples from the modeling literature stemming from the key considerations assessed. We use our findings to reiterate the need for explicitly addressing and conveying the limitations and uncertainties of any modeling approach taken, and the need for interdisciplinary research efforts when addressing the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of environmental resources. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Role of depletion on the dynamics of a diffusing forager

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bénichou, O.; Chupeau, M.; Redner, S.

2016-09-01

We study the dynamics of a starving random walk in general spatial dimension d. This model represents an idealized description for the fate of an unaware forager whose motion is not affected by the presence or absence of resources. The forager depletes its environment by consuming resources and dies if it wanders too long without finding food. In the exactly solvable case of one dimension, we explicitly derive the average lifetime of the walk and the distribution for the number of distinct sites visited by the walk at the instant of starvation. We also give a heuristic derivation for the averages of these two quantities. We tackle the complex but ecologically relevant case of two dimensions by an approximation in which the depleted zone is assumed to always be circular and which grows incrementally each time the walk reaches the edge of this zone. Within this framework, we derive a lower bound for the scaling of the average lifetime and number of distinct sites visited at starvation. We also determine the asymptotic distribution of the number of distinct sites visited at starvation. Finally, we solve the case of high spatial dimensions within a mean-field approach.

Big biology meets microclimatology: defining thermal niches of ectotherms at landscape scales for conservation planning.

PubMed

Isaak, Daniel J; Wenger, Seth J; Young, Michael K

2017-04-01

Temperature profoundly affects ecology, a fact ever more evident as the ability to measure thermal environments increases and global changes alter these environments. The spatial structure of thermalscapes is especially relevant to the distribution and abundance of ectothermic organisms, but the ability to describe biothermal relationships at extents and grains relevant to conservation planning has been limited by small or sparse data sets. Here, we combine a large occurrence database of >23 000 aquatic species surveys with stream microclimate scenarios supported by an equally large temperature database for a 149 000-km mountain stream network to describe thermal relationships for 14 fish and amphibian species. Species occurrence probabilities peaked across a wide range of temperatures (7.0-18.8°C) but distinct warm- or cold-edge distribution boundaries were apparent for all species and represented environments where populations may be most sensitive to thermal changes. Warm-edge boundary temperatures for a native species of conservation concern were used with geospatial data sets and a habitat occupancy model to highlight subsets of the network where conservation measures could benefit local populations by maintaining cool temperatures. Linking that strategic approach to local estimates of habitat impairment remains a key challenge but is also an opportunity to build relationships and develop synergies between the research, management, and regulatory communities. As with any data mining or species distribution modeling exercise, care is required in analysis and interpretation of results, but the use of large biological data sets with accurate microclimate scenarios can provide valuable information about the thermal ecology of many ectotherms and a spatially explicit way of guiding conservation investments. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Considerations of Environmentally Relevant Test Conditions for Improved Evaluation of Ecological Hazards of Engineered Nanomaterials

EPA Science Inventory

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are increasingly entering the environment with uncertain consequences including potential ecological effects. Various research communities view differently whether ecotoxicological testing of ENMs should be conducted using environmentally relevant ...

Deconstructing the relationships between phylogenetic diversity and ecology: a case study on ecosystem functioning.

PubMed

Davies, T Jonathan; Urban, Mark C; Rayfield, Bronwyn; Cadotte, Marc W; Peres-Neto, Pedro R

2016-09-01

Recent studies have supported a link between phylogenetic diversity and various ecological properties including ecosystem function. However, such studies typically assume that phylogenetic branches of equivalent length are more or less interchangeable. Here we suggest that there is a need to consider not only branch lengths but also their placement on the phylogeny. We demonstrate how two common indices of network centrality can be used to describe the evolutionary distinctiveness of network elements (nodes and branches) on a phylogeny. If phylogenetic diversity enhances ecosystem function via complementarity and the representation of functional diversity, we would predict a correlation between evolutionary distinctiveness of network elements and their contribution to ecosystem process. In contrast, if one or a few evolutionary innovations play key roles in ecosystem function, the relationship between evolutionary distinctiveness and functional contribution may be weak or absent. We illustrate how network elements associated with high functional contribution can be identified from regressions between phylogenetic diversity and productivity using a well-known empirical data set on plant productivity from the Cedar Creek Long-Term Ecological Research. We find no association between evolutionary distinctiveness and ecosystem functioning, but we are able to identify phylogenetic elements associated with species of known high functional contribution within the Fabaceae. Our perspective provides a useful guide in the search for ecological traits linking diversity and ecosystem function, and suggests a more nuanced consideration of phylogenetic diversity is required in the conservation and biodiversity-ecosystem-function literature. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

Modelling ecological flow regime: an example from the Tennessee and Cumberland River basins

USGS Publications Warehouse

Knight, Rodney R.; Gain, W. Scott; Wolfe, William J.

2012-01-01

Predictive equations were developed for 19 ecologically relevant streamflow characteristics within five major groups of flow variables (magnitude, ratio, frequency, variability, and date) for use in the Tennessee and Cumberland River basins using stepbackward regression. Basin characteristics explain 50% or more of the variation for 12 of the 19 equations. Independent variables identified through stepbackward regression were statistically significant in 78 of 304 cases (α > 0.0001) and represent four major groups: climate, physical landscape features, regional indicators, and land use. Of these groups, the regional and climate variables were the most influential for determining hydrologic response. Daily temperature range, geologic factor, and rock depth were major factors explaining the variability in 17, 15, and 13 equations, respectively. The equations and independent datasets were used to explore the broad relation between basin properties and streamflow and the implication of streamflow to the study of ecological flow requirements. Key results include a high degree of hydrologic variability among least disturbed Blue Ridge streams, similar hydrologic behaviour for watersheds with widely varying degrees of forest cover, and distinct hydrologic profiles for streams in different geographic regions. Published in 2011. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Differentiation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae populations from vineyards of the Azores Archipelago: Geography vs Ecology.

PubMed

Drumonde-Neves, João; Franco-Duarte, Ricardo; Vieira, Eugénia; Mendes, Inês; Lima, Teresa; Schuller, Dorit; Pais, Célia

2018-09-01

Aiming to elucidate the roles that ecology and geography play in shaping the differentiation of fermentative grape-associated Saccharomyces cerevisiae populations, several locations on six islands of the Azores Archipelago were surveyed. A total of 249 strains were isolated from spontaneous fermentations of grape samples from several varieties of two distinct grapevine species (Vitis vinifera L. and Vitis labrusca L.), in vineyards that are under regular cultivation or in abandoned vineyards. Strains were genetically analyzed using a set of nine microsatellite loci, and also phenotypically characterized using relevant physiological/biotechnological tests. Results showed that genetic divergence among populations of the same island was lower than from populations from different islands. Phenotypic comparison of the populations from each of the islands revealed significant differences between them. Strains isolated from the islands with more intensive viticultural activity - Pico, Terceira and Graciosa - showed higher levels of SO 2 tolerance, possibly resulting from selection by human activity. The percentage of strains producing low levels of H 2 S was higher in S. Jorge (60%). Our findings were supported both by genetic and phenotypic data and provide clear evidence for the prevailing role of the geography over ecology in the differentiation of S. cerevisiae populations in the Azores Archipelago. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Necessary Contributions of Human Frontal Lobe Subregions to Reward Learning in a Dynamic, Multidimensional Environment.

PubMed

Vaidya, Avinash R; Fellows, Lesley K

2016-09-21

Real-world decisions are typically made between options that vary along multiple dimensions, requiring prioritization of the important dimensions to support optimal choice. Learning in this setting depends on attributing decision outcomes to the dimensions with predictive relevance rather than to dimensions that are irrelevant and nonpredictive. This attribution problem is computationally challenging, and likely requires an interplay between selective attention and reward learning. Both these processes have been separately linked to the prefrontal cortex, but little is known about how they combine to support learning the reward value of multidimensional stimuli. Here, we examined the necessary contributions of frontal lobe subregions in attributing feedback to relevant and irrelevant dimensions on a trial-by-trial basis in humans. Patients with focal frontal lobe damage completed a demanding reward learning task where options varied on three dimensions, only one of which predicted reward. Participants with left lateral frontal lobe damage attributed rewards to irrelevant dimensions, rather than the relevant dimension. Damage to the ventromedial frontal lobe also impaired learning about the relevant dimension, but did not increase reward attribution to irrelevant dimensions. The results argue for distinct roles for these two regions in learning the value of multidimensional decision options under dynamic conditions, with the lateral frontal lobe required for selecting the relevant dimension to associate with reward, and the ventromedial frontal lobe required to learn the reward association itself. The real world is complex and multidimensional; how do we attribute rewards to predictive features when surrounded by competing cues? Here, we tested the critical involvement of human frontal lobe subregions in a probabilistic, multidimensional learning environment, asking whether focal lesions affected trial-by-trial attribution of feedback to relevant and irrelevant dimensions. The left lateral frontal lobe was required for filtering option dimensions to allow appropriate feedback attribution, while the ventromedial frontal lobe was necessary for learning the value of features in the relevant dimension. These findings argue that selective attention and associative learning processes mediated by anatomically distinct frontal lobe subregions are both critical for adaptive choice in more complex, ecologically valid settings. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/369843-16$15.00/0.

Population delimitation across contrasting evolutionary clines in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus)

PubMed Central

Yang, D-S; Kenagy, G

2011-01-01

Despite current interest in population genetics, a concrete definition of a “population” remains elusive. Multiple ecologically and evolutionarily based definitions of population are in current use, which focus, respectively, on demographic and genetic interactions. Accurate population delimitation is crucial for not only evolutionary and ecological population biology, but also for conservation of threatened populations. Along the Pacific Coast of North America, two contrasting patterns of geographic variation in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) converge within the state of Oregon. Populations of these mice diverge morphologically across an east–west axis, and they diverge in mitochondrial DNA haplotypes across a north–south axis. In this study, we investigate these geographically contrasting patterns of differentiation in the context of ecological and evolutionary definitions (paradigms) of populations. We investigate these patterns using a new and geographically expansive sample that integrates data on morphology, mitochondrial DNA, and nuclear DNA. We found no evidence of nuclear genetic differentiation between the morphologically and mitochondrially distinct populations, thus indicating the occurrence of gene flow across Oregon. Under the evolutionary paradigm, Oregon populations can be considered a single population, whereas morphological and mitochondrial differentiations do not indicate distinct populations. In contrast, under the ecological paradigm morphological differentiation indicates distinct populations based on the low likelihood of demographic interactions between geographically distant individuals. The two sympatric but mitochondrially distinct haplogroups form a single population under the ecological paradigm. Hence, we find that the difference between evolutionary and ecological paradigms is the time-scale of interest, and we believe that the more chronologically inclusive evolutionary paradigm may be preferable except in cases where only a single generation is of interest. PMID:22393480

USE OF ECOLOGICAL REGIONS IN AQUATIC ASSESSMENTS OF ECOLOGICAL CONDITION

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological regions are areas of similar climate, landform, soil, potential natural vegetation, hydrology, or other ecologically relevant variables. The makeup of aquatic biological assemblages (e.g., fish, macroinvertebrates, algae, riparian birds, etc.) varies dramatically over ...

The regional ecology of alternative states and thresholds: Strategies for ecological site descriptions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Land dynamics, ecosystem resilience, and the interaction of management decisions with them vary significantly across space. One-size-fits-all applications across distinct land types have been responsible for many failures in rangeland management. Ecological Site Descriptions (ESDs) and similar lan...

Hydrology and density feedbacks control the ecology of intermediate hosts of schistosomiasis across habitats in seasonal climates

PubMed Central

Perez-Saez, Javier; Mande, Theophile; Ceperley, Natalie; Bertuzzo, Enrico; Mari, Lorenzo; Rinaldo, Andrea

2016-01-01

We report about field and theoretical studies on the ecology of the aquatic snails (Bulinus spp. and Biomphalaria pfeifferi) that serve as obligate intermediate hosts in the complex life cycle of the parasites causing human schistosomiasis. Snail abundance fosters disease transmission, and thus the dynamics of snail populations are critically important for schistosomiasis modeling and control. Here, we single out hydrological drivers and density dependence (or lack of it) of ecological growth rates of local snail populations by contrasting novel ecological and environmental data with various models of host demography. Specifically, we study various natural and man-made habitats across Burkina Faso’s highly seasonal climatic zones. Demographic models are ranked through formal model comparison and structural risk minimization. The latter allows us to evaluate the suitability of population models while clarifying the relevant covariates that explain empirical observations of snail abundance under the actual climatic forcings experienced by the various field sites. Our results link quantitatively hydrological drivers to distinct population dynamics through specific density feedbacks, and show that statistical methods based on model averaging provide reliable snail abundance projections. The consistency of our ranking results suggests the use of ad hoc models of snail demography depending on habitat type (e.g., natural vs. man-made) and hydrological characteristics (e.g., ephemeral vs. permanent). Implications for risk mapping and space-time allocation of control measures in schistosomiasis-endemic contexts are discussed. PMID:27162339

Hydrology and density feedbacks control the ecology of intermediate hosts of schistosomiasis across habitats in seasonal climates.

PubMed

Perez-Saez, Javier; Mande, Theophile; Ceperley, Natalie; Bertuzzo, Enrico; Mari, Lorenzo; Gatto, Marino; Rinaldo, Andrea

2016-06-07

We report about field and theoretical studies on the ecology of the aquatic snails (Bulinus spp. and Biomphalaria pfeifferi) that serve as obligate intermediate hosts in the complex life cycle of the parasites causing human schistosomiasis. Snail abundance fosters disease transmission, and thus the dynamics of snail populations are critically important for schistosomiasis modeling and control. Here, we single out hydrological drivers and density dependence (or lack of it) of ecological growth rates of local snail populations by contrasting novel ecological and environmental data with various models of host demography. Specifically, we study various natural and man-made habitats across Burkina Faso's highly seasonal climatic zones. Demographic models are ranked through formal model comparison and structural risk minimization. The latter allows us to evaluate the suitability of population models while clarifying the relevant covariates that explain empirical observations of snail abundance under the actual climatic forcings experienced by the various field sites. Our results link quantitatively hydrological drivers to distinct population dynamics through specific density feedbacks, and show that statistical methods based on model averaging provide reliable snail abundance projections. The consistency of our ranking results suggests the use of ad hoc models of snail demography depending on habitat type (e.g., natural vs. man-made) and hydrological characteristics (e.g., ephemeral vs. permanent). Implications for risk mapping and space-time allocation of control measures in schistosomiasis-endemic contexts are discussed.

ECOLOGICALLY-RELEVANT QUANTIFICATION OF STREAMFLOW REGIMES IN WESTERN STREAMS

EPA Science Inventory

This report describes the rationale for and application of a protocol for estimation of ecologically-relevant streamflow metrics that quantify streamflow regime for ungaged sites subject to a range of human impact. The analysis presented here is focused on sites sampled by the U....

Ecological Concept Development of Preservice Teacher Candidates: Opaque Empty Shells

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Puk, Tom; Stibbards, Adam

2010-01-01

In the Ontario publically-funded school system, there are no provincial curriculum guidelines or distinct courses for Ecological Literacy. Rather, the Ontario Ministry of Education policy is that "environmental education" should be taught in all grades and all existing subject matter. Because there are no specific Ecological Literacy…

Detection of bacterial-reactive natural IgM antibodies in desert bighorn sheep populations

PubMed Central

Palmer, Amy L.; Zielke, Ryszard A.; Sikora, Aleksandra E.; Beechler, Brianna R.; Jolles, Anna E.; Epps, Clinton W.

2017-01-01

Ecoimmunology is a burgeoning field of ecology which studies immune responses in wildlife by utilizing general immune assays such as the detection of natural antibody. Unlike adaptive antibodies, natural antibodies are important in innate immune responses and often recognized conserved epitopes present in pathogens. Here, we describe a procedure for measuring natural antibodies reactive to bacterial antigens that may be applicable to a variety of organisms. IgM from desert bighorn sheep plasma samples was tested for reactivity to outer membrane proteins from Vibrio coralliilyticus, a marine bacterium to which sheep would have not been exposed. Immunoblotting demonstrated bighorn sheep IgM could bind to a variety of bacterial cell envelope proteins while ELISA analysis allowed for rapid determination of natural antibody levels in hundreds of individual animals. Natural antibody levels were correlated with the ability of plasma to kill laboratory strains of E. coli bacteria. Finally, we demonstrate that natural antibody levels varied in two distinct populations of desert bighorn sheep. These data demonstrate a novel and specific measure of natural antibody function and show that this varies in ecologically relevant ways. PMID:28662203

A transdisciplinary focus on drug abuse prevention: an introduction.

PubMed

Sussman, Steve; Stacy, Alan W; Johnson, C Anderson; Pentz, Mary Ann; Robertson, Elizabeth

2004-01-01

This article introduces the scope of the Special Issue. A variety of scientific disciplines are brought together to establish theoretical integration of the arenas of drug use, misuse, "abuse," and drug misuse prevention. Transdisciplinary scientific collaboration (TDSC) is utilized as a process of integration. Introductory comments regarding the strengths and limitations of TDSC are presented. Then, the relevance of genetics to substance misuse and substance misuse prevention is presented. Next, the relevance of cognition for prevention is discussed. Specifically, neurologically plausible distinctions in cognition and implicit cognition and their relevance for prevention are discussed. At a relatively molar social-level of analysis, social network theory, systems dynamic models, geographic information systems models, cultural psychology, and political science approaches to drug misuse and its prevention are introduced. The uses of both quantitative and qualitative statistical approaches to prevention are mentioned next. Finally, targeted prevention, bridging the efficacy-effectiveness gap, and a statement on overcoming disbalance round out the Special Issue. The bridges created will serve to propel drug misuse "prevention science" forward in the years to come. Advances in understanding etiological issues, translation to programs, and ecological fit of programming are desired results.

Development of ecological indicator guilds for land management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Krzysik, A.J.; Balbach, H.E.; Duda, J.J.; Emlen, J.M.; Freeman, D.C.; Graham, J.H.; Kovacic, D.A.; Smith, L.M.; Zak, J.C.

2005-01-01

Agency land-use must be efficiently and cost-effectively monitored to assess conditions and trends in ecosystem processes and natural resources relevant to mission requirements and legal mandates. Ecological Indicators represent important land management tools for tracking ecological changes and preventing irreversible environmental damage in disturbed landscapes. The overall objective of the research was to develop both individual and integrated sets (i.e., statistically derived guilds) of Ecological Indicators to: quantify habitat conditions and trends, track and monitor ecological changes, provide early warning or threshold detection, and provide guidance for land managers. The derivation of Ecological Indicators was based on statistical criteria, ecosystem relevance, reliability and robustness, economy and ease of use for land managers, multi-scale performance, and stress response criteria. The basis for the development of statistically based Ecological Indicators was the identification of ecosystem metrics that analytically tracked a landscape disturbance gradient.

Human Ecology: Persistence and Change.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawley, Amos H.

1981-01-01

Demonstrates the relevance of ecology to sociological research and discusses some of the theoretical perspectives embodied in ecology. Examines ecology's emphasis upon the population rather than the individual as the unit of observation and on organizations as products of the interaction of population and environment. (DB)

Using Algal Metrics and Biomass to Evaluate Multiple Ways of Defining Concentration-Based Nutrient Criteria in Streams and their Ecological Relevance

EPA Science Inventory

We examined the utility of nutrient criteria derived solely from total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in streams (regression models and percentile distributions) and evaluated their ecological relevance to diatom and algal biomass responses. We used a variety of statistics to cha...

An Ecology of Prestige in New York City: Examining the Relationships Among Population Density, Socio-economic Status, Group Identity, and Residential Canopy Cover

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grove, J. Morgan; Locke, Dexter H.; O'Neil-Dunne, Jarlath P. M.

2014-09-01

Several social theories have been proposed to explain the uneven distribution of vegetation in urban residential areas: population density, social stratification, luxury effect, and ecology of prestige. We evaluate these theories using a combination of demographic and socio-economic predictors of vegetative cover on all residential lands in New York City. We use diverse data sources including the City's property database, time-series demographic and socio-economic data from the US Census, and land cover data from the University of Vermont's Spatial Analysis Lab (SAL). These data are analyzed using a multi-model inferential, spatial econometrics approach. We also examine the distribution of vegetation within distinct market categories using Claritas' Potential Rating Index for Zipcode Markets (PRIZM™) database. These categories can be disaggregated, corresponding to the four social theories. We compare the econometric and categorical results for validation. Models associated with ecology of prestige theory are more effective for predicting the distribution of vegetation. This suggests that private, residential patterns of vegetation, reflecting the consumption of environmentally relevant goods and services, are associated with different lifestyles and lifestages. Further, our spatial and temporal analyses suggest that there are significant spatial and temporal dependencies that have theoretical and methodological implications for understanding urban ecological systems. These findings may have policy implications. Decision makers may need to consider how to most effectively reach different social groups in terms of messages and messengers in order to advance land management practices and achieve urban sustainability.

An ecology of prestige in New York City: examining the relationships among population density, socio-economic status, group identity, and residential canopy cover.

PubMed

Grove, J Morgan; Locke, Dexter H; O'Neil-Dunne, Jarlath P M

2014-09-01

Several social theories have been proposed to explain the uneven distribution of vegetation in urban residential areas: population density, social stratification, luxury effect, and ecology of prestige. We evaluate these theories using a combination of demographic and socio-economic predictors of vegetative cover on all residential lands in New York City. We use diverse data sources including the City's property database, time-series demographic and socio-economic data from the US Census, and land cover data from the University of Vermont's Spatial Analysis Lab (SAL). These data are analyzed using a multi-model inferential, spatial econometrics approach. We also examine the distribution of vegetation within distinct market categories using Claritas' Potential Rating Index for Zipcode Markets (PRIZM™) database. These categories can be disaggregated, corresponding to the four social theories. We compare the econometric and categorical results for validation. Models associated with ecology of prestige theory are more effective for predicting the distribution of vegetation. This suggests that private, residential patterns of vegetation, reflecting the consumption of environmentally relevant goods and services, are associated with different lifestyles and lifestages. Further, our spatial and temporal analyses suggest that there are significant spatial and temporal dependencies that have theoretical and methodological implications for understanding urban ecological systems. These findings may have policy implications. Decision makers may need to consider how to most effectively reach different social groups in terms of messages and messengers in order to advance land management practices and achieve urban sustainability.

A guide to statistical analysis in microbial ecology: a community-focused, living review of multivariate data analyses.

PubMed

Buttigieg, Pier Luigi; Ramette, Alban

2014-12-01

The application of multivariate statistical analyses has become a consistent feature in microbial ecology. However, many microbial ecologists are still in the process of developing a deep understanding of these methods and appreciating their limitations. As a consequence, staying abreast of progress and debate in this arena poses an additional challenge to many microbial ecologists. To address these issues, we present the GUide to STatistical Analysis in Microbial Ecology (GUSTA ME): a dynamic, web-based resource providing accessible descriptions of numerous multivariate techniques relevant to microbial ecologists. A combination of interactive elements allows users to discover and navigate between methods relevant to their needs and examine how they have been used by others in the field. We have designed GUSTA ME to become a community-led and -curated service, which we hope will provide a common reference and forum to discuss and disseminate analytical techniques relevant to the microbial ecology community. © 2014 The Authors. FEMS Microbiology Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Microbiological Societies.

Ecological Approaches to Understanding Human Crowding.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baron, Reuben M.

1979-01-01

Characteristics of the ecological approach to perception are presented. The affordance concept and its relevance is emphasized. Human crowding is discussed in affordance terms. There is a comparison given between present affordance analysis and ecological analysis. (Author/SA)

What data should we collect? A framework for identifying indicators of ecosystem contributions to human well being

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological data enable a range of policy relevant analyses; the right ecological data enable ecosystem analyses to be linked to human well being making them more relevant and useful. The challenge we address is how to identify the right data. Our approach, founded on the “final e...

PREFACE: MARINE AND COASTAL APPLICATIONS IN LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY

EPA Science Inventory

Landscape ecology traditionally has been limited to the study of terrestrial systems; however, the questions and methods defining the science are equally relevant for marine and coastal systems. The reciprocal relationship between spatial pattern and ecological processes and the...

Adaptation of Surface-Associated Bacteria to the Open Ocean: A Genomically Distinct Subpopulation of Phaeobacter gallaeciensis Colonizes Pacific Mesozooplankton.

PubMed

Freese, Heike M; Methner, Anika; Overmann, Jörg

2017-01-01

The marine Roseobacter group encompasses numerous species which occupy a large variety of ecological niches. However, members of the genus Phaeobacter are specifically adapted to a surface-associated lifestyle and have so far been found nearly exclusively in disjunct, man-made environments including shellfish and fish aquacultures, as well as harbors. Therefore, the possible natural habitats, dispersal and evolution of Phaeobacter spp. have largely remained obscure. Applying a high-throughput cultivation strategy along a longitudinal Pacific transect, the present study revealed for the first time a widespread natural occurrence of Phaeobacter in the marine pelagial. These bacteria were found to be specifically associated to mesoplankton where they constitute a small but detectable proportion of the bacterial community. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of 18 isolated strains were identical to that of Phaeobacter gallaeciensis DSM26640 T but sequences of internal transcribed spacer and selected genomes revealed that the strains form a distinct clade within P. gallaeciensis . The genomes of the Pacific and the aquaculture strains were highly conserved and had a fraction of the core genome of 89.6%, 80 synteny breakpoints, and differed 2.2% in their nucleotide sequences. Diversification likely occurred through neutral mutations. However, the Pacific strains exclusively contained two active Type I restriction modification systems which is commensurate with a reduced acquisition of mobile elements in the Pacific clade. The Pacific clade of P. gallaeciensis also acquired a second, homolog phosphonate transport system compared to all other P. gallaeciensis . Our data indicate that a previously unknown, distinct clade of P. gallaeciensis acquired a limited number of clade-specific genes that were relevant for its association with mesozooplankton and for colonization of the marine pelagial. The divergence of the Pacific clade most likely was driven by the adaptation to this novel ecological niche rather than by geographic isolation.

Plasticity of the Chemoreceptor Repertoire in Drosophila melanogaster

PubMed Central

Zhou, Shanshan; Stone, Eric A.; Mackay, Trudy F. C.; Anholt, Robert R. H.

2009-01-01

For most organisms, chemosensation is critical for survival and is mediated by large families of chemoreceptor proteins, whose expression must be tuned appropriately to changes in the chemical environment. We asked whether expression of chemoreceptor genes that are clustered in the genome would be regulated independently; whether expression of certain chemoreceptor genes would be especially sensitive to environmental changes; whether groups of chemoreceptor genes undergo coordinated rexpression; and how plastic the expression of chemoreceptor genes is with regard to sex, development, reproductive state, and social context. To answer these questions we used Drosophila melanogaster, because its chemosensory systems are well characterized and both the genotype and environment can be controlled precisely. Using customized cDNA microarrays, we showed that chemoreceptor genes that are clustered in the genome undergo independent transcriptional regulation at different developmental stages and between sexes. Expression of distinct subgroups of chemoreceptor genes is sensitive to reproductive state and social interactions. Furthermore, exposure of flies only to odor of the opposite sex results in altered transcript abundance of chemoreceptor genes. These genes are distinct from those that show transcriptional plasticity when flies are allowed physical contact with same or opposite sex members. We analyzed covariance in transcript abundance of chemosensory genes across all environmental conditions and found that they segregated into 20 relatively small, biologically relevant modules of highly correlated transcripts. This finely pixilated modular organization of the chemosensory subgenome enables fine tuning of the expression of the chemoreceptor repertoire in response to ecologically relevant environmental and physiological conditions. PMID:19816562

Management applications of discontinuity theory | Science ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

1.Human impacts on the environment are multifaceted and can occur across distinct spatiotemporal scales. Ecological responses to environmental change are therefore difficult to predict, and entail large degrees of uncertainty. Such uncertainty requires robust tools for management to sustain ecosystem goods and services and maintain resilient ecosystems. 2.We propose an approach based on discontinuity theory that accounts for patterns and processes at distinct spatial and temporal scales, an inherent property of ecological systems. Discontinuity theory has not been applied in natural resource management and could therefore improve ecosystem management because it explicitly accounts for ecological complexity. 3.Synthesis and applications. We highlight the application of discontinuity approaches for meeting management goals. Specifically, discontinuity approaches have significant potential to measure and thus understand the resilience of ecosystems, to objectively identify critical scales of space and time in ecological systems at which human impact might be most severe, to provide warning indicators of regime change, to help predict and understand biological invasions and extinctions and to focus monitoring efforts. Discontinuity theory can complement current approaches, providing a broader paradigm for ecological management and conservation This manuscript provides insight on using discontinuity approaches to aid in managing complex ecological systems. In part

On developing bioindicators for human and ecological health.

PubMed

Burger, J; Gochfeld, M

2001-01-01

Risk assessors and risk managers generally either examine ecological health (using bioindicators) or human health (using biomarkers of exposure or effect). In this paper we suggest that it is possible and advantageous to develop bioindicators that can be used to assess exposure and effect for both human and non-human receptors. We describe the characteristics of suitable bioindicators for both human and ecological health, using mourning doves (Zenaida macroura), raccoons (Procyon lotor), and bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) as examples, and list the general characteristics of other species that would make them useful indicators for assessing both human and ecological health. Bioindicators can be used cross-sectionally to assess the status of ecosystems and risk as well as longitudinally for monitoring changes or evaluating remediation. For both human and ecological risk assessment, there are three sets of characteristics to consider when selecting bioindicators: biological relevance, methodological relevance, and societal relevance. An indicator which fails to fulfill these is not likely to be considered cost-effective and is likely to be abandoned. The indicator should be readily measured and must measure an important range of impacts. For long-term support of a bioindicator, the indicator should be easily understood, and be cost effective. We suggest that bioindicators that can also be used for both ecological and human health risk assessment are optimal.

Management applications of discontinuity theory

USGS Publications Warehouse

Angeler, David G.; Allen, Craig R.; Barichievy, Chris; Eason, Tarsha; Garmestani, Ahjond S.; Graham, Nicholas A.J.; Granholm, Dean; Gunderson, Lance H.; Knutson, Melinda; Nash, Kirsty L.; Nelson, R. John; Nystrom, Magnus; Spanbauer, Trisha; Stow, Craig A.; Sundstrom, Shana M.

2015-01-01

Human impacts on the environment are multifaceted and can occur across distinct spatiotemporal scales. Ecological responses to environmental change are therefore difficult to predict, and entail large degrees of uncertainty. Such uncertainty requires robust tools for management to sustain ecosystem goods and services and maintain resilient ecosystems.We propose an approach based on discontinuity theory that accounts for patterns and processes at distinct spatial and temporal scales, an inherent property of ecological systems. Discontinuity theory has not been applied in natural resource management and could therefore improve ecosystem management because it explicitly accounts for ecological complexity.Synthesis and applications. We highlight the application of discontinuity approaches for meeting management goals. Specifically, discontinuity approaches have significant potential to measure and thus understand the resilience of ecosystems, to objectively identify critical scales of space and time in ecological systems at which human impact might be most severe, to provide warning indicators of regime change, to help predict and understand biological invasions and extinctions and to focus monitoring efforts. Discontinuity theory can complement current approaches, providing a broader paradigm for ecological management and conservation.

Global biogeography and evolution of Cuvierina pteropods.

PubMed

Burridge, Alice K; Goetze, Erica; Raes, Niels; Huisman, Jef; Peijnenburg, Katja T C A

2015-03-12

Shelled pteropods are planktonic gastropods that are potentially good indicators of the effects of ocean acidification. They also have high potential for the study of zooplankton evolution because they are metazoan plankton with a good fossil record. We investigated phenotypic and genetic variation in pteropods belonging to the genus Cuvierina in relation to their biogeographic distribution across the world's oceans. We aimed to assess species boundaries and to reconstruct their evolutionary history. We distinguished six morphotypes based on geometric morphometric analyses of shells from 926 museum and 113 fresh specimens. These morphotypes have distinct geographic distributions across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, and belong to three major genetic clades based on COI and 28S DNA sequence data. Using a fossil-calibrated phylogeny, we estimated that these clades separated in the Late Oligocene and Early to Middle Miocene. We found evidence for ecological differentiation among all morphotypes based on ecological niche modelling with sea surface temperature, salinity and phytoplankton biomass as primary determinants. Across all analyses, we found highly congruent patterns of differentiation suggesting species level divergences between morphotypes. However, we also found distinct morphotypes (e.g. in the Atlantic Ocean) that were ecologically, but not genetically differentiated. Given the distinct ecological and phenotypic specializations found among both described and undescribed Cuvierina taxa, they may not respond equally to future ocean changes and may not be equally sensitive to ocean acidification. Our findings support the view that ecological differentiation may be an important driving force in the speciation of zooplankton.

Impact of temperature on performance in two species of South African dwarf chameleon, Bradypodion pumilum and B. occidentale.

PubMed

Segall, Marion; Tolley, Krystal A; Vanhooydonck, Bieke; Measey, G John; Herrel, Anthony

2013-10-15

Temperature is an extrinsic factor that influences reptile behavior because of its impact on reptile physiology. Understanding the impact of temperature on performance traits is important as it may affect the ecology and fitness of ectothermic animals such as reptiles. Here, we examined the temperature dependence of performance in two species of South African dwarf chameleon (Bradypodion): one adapted to a semi-arid environment and one to a mesic environment. Ecologically relevant performance traits were tested at different temperatures to evaluate their thermal dependence, and temperature-performance breadths for 80% and 90% of each performance trait were calculated. Our results show distinct differences in the thermal dependence of speed- versus force-related performance traits. Moreover, our results show that the semi-arid species is better adapted to higher temperatures and as such has a better chance of coping with the predicted increases in environmental temperature. The mesic area-adapted species seems to be more sensitive to an increase in temperature and could therefore potentially be threatened by the predicted future climate change. However, further studies investigating the potential for acclimation in chameleons are needed to better understand how animals may respond to future climate change.

Demystifying the Capitella capitata complex (Annelida, Capitellidae) diversity by morphological and molecular data along the Brazilian coast

PubMed Central

Di Domenico, Maikon; Amaral, Antonia C. Z.; Paiva, Paulo C.

2017-01-01

The sibling species of Capitella capitata are globally known for their tolerance to disturbed habitats and the C. capitata complex is often used as an ecological indicator. A recent re-description proposed that C. capitata, originally described in Greenland is restricted to the Artic and Subarctic regions. Given their ecological relevance, we conducted a morphological and molecular analyses based on mtDNA sequences to investigate the diversity and distribution of the C. capitata complex along the Brazilian coast. Our morphological and molecular data were congruent and revealed the existence of four new species distinct from C. capitata, collected from the type locality. This study is the first characterization of the biodiversity and distribution of Capitella species made along the Brazilian coast and yielded a set of morphological characters corroborated by the mtDNA sequences for species identification. Our results increase the biodiversity of the genus along the Brazilian coast by describing four new species (Capitella aracaensis sp. n., Capitella biota sp. n., Capitella neoaciculata sp. n. and Capitella nonatoi sp. n.). One species was collected from only one sampling site, while the others are distributed along the coast. PMID:28562616

How plants connect pollination and herbivory networks and their contribution to community stability.

PubMed

Sauve, Alix M C; Thébault, Elisa; Pocock, Michael J O; Fontaine, Colin

2016-04-01

Pollination and herbivory networks have mainly been studied separately, highlighting their distinct structural characteristics and the related processes and dynamics. However, most plants interact with both pollinators and herbivores, and there is evidence that both types of interaction affect each other. Here we investigated the way plants connect these mutualistic and antagonistic networks together, and the consequences for community stability. Using an empirical data set, we show that the way plants connect pollination and herbivory networks is not random and promotes community stability. Analyses of the structure of binary and quantitative networks show different results: the plants' generalism with regard to pollinators is positively correlated to their generalism with regard to herbivores when considering binary interactions, but not when considering quantitative interactions. We also show that plants that share the same pollinators do not share the same herbivores. However, the way plants connect pollination and herbivory networks promotes stability for both binary and quantitative networks. Our results highlight the relevance of considering the diversity of interaction types in ecological communities, and stress the need to better quantify the costs and benefits of interactions, as well as to develop new metrics characterizing the way different interaction types are combined within ecological networks.

Insights from ecological niche modeling on the taxonomic distinction and niche differentiation between the black-spotted and red-spotted tokay geckoes (Gekko gecko).

PubMed

Zhang, Yueyun; Chen, Chongtao; Li, Li; Zhao, Chengjian; Chen, Weicai; Huang, Yong

2014-09-01

The black-spotted tokay and the red-spotted tokay are morphologically distinct and have largely allopatric distributions. The black-spotted tokay is characterized by a small body size and dark skin with sundry spots, while the red-spotted tokay has a relatively large body size and red spots. Based on morphological, karyotypic, genetic, and distribution differences, recent studies suggested their species status; however, their classifications remain controversial, and additional data such as ecological niches are necessary to establish firm hypotheses regarding their taxonomic status. We reconstructed their ecological niches models using climatic and geographic data. We then performed niche similarity tests (niche identity and background tests) and point-based analyses to explore whether ecological differentiation has occurred, and whether such differences are sufficient to explain the maintenance of their separate segments of environmental ranges. We found that both niche models of the black- and the red-spotted tokay had a good fit and a robust performance, as indicated by the high area under the curve (AUC) values ("black" = 0.982, SD = ± 0.002, "red" = 0.966 ± 0.02). Significant ecological differentiation across the entire geographic range was found, indicating that the involvement of ecological differentiation is important for species differentiation. Divergence along the environmental axes is highly associated with climatic conditions, with isothermality being important for the "black" form, while temperature seasonality, precipitation of warmest quarter, and annual temperature range together being important for the "red" form. These factors are likely important factors in niche differentiation between the two forms, which result in morphological replacement. Overall, beside morphological and genetic differentiation information, our results contribute to additional insights into taxonomic distinction and niche differentiation between the black- and the red-spotted tokay.

Using Flow-Ecology Relationships to Evaluate Ecosystem Service Trade-Offs and Complementarities in the Nation's Largest River Swamp.

PubMed

Kozak, Justin P; Bennett, Micah G; Hayden-Lesmeister, Anne; Fritz, Kelley A; Nickolotsky, Aaron

2015-06-01

Large river systems are inextricably linked with social systems; consequently, management decisions must be made within a given ecological, social, and political framework that often defies objective, technical resolution. Understanding flow-ecology relationships in rivers is necessary to assess potential impacts of management decisions, but translating complex flow-ecology relationships into stakeholder-relevant information remains a struggle. The concept of ecosystem services provides a bridge between flow-ecology relationships and stakeholder-relevant data. Flow-ecology relationships were used to explore complementary and trade-off relationships among 12 ecosystem services and related variables in the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana. Results from Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration were reduced to four management-relevant hydrologic variables using principal components analysis. Multiple regression was used to determine flow-ecology relationships and Pearson correlation coefficients, along with regression results, were used to determine complementary and trade-off relationships among ecosystem services and related variables that were induced by flow. Seven ecosystem service variables had significant flow-ecology relationships for at least one hydrologic variable (R (2) = 0.19-0.64). River transportation and blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) landings exhibited a complementary relationship mediated by flow; whereas transportation and crawfish landings, crawfish landings and crappie (Pomoxis spp.) abundance, and blue crab landings and blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) abundance exhibited trade-off relationships. Other trade-off and complementary relationships among ecosystem services and related variables, however, were not related to flow. These results give insight into potential conflicts among stakeholders, can reduce the dimensions of management decisions, and provide initial hypotheses for experimental flow modifications.

Using Flow-Ecology Relationships to Evaluate Ecosystem Service Trade-Offs and Complementarities in the Nation's Largest River Swamp

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozak, Justin P.; Bennett, Micah G.; Hayden-Lesmeister, Anne; Fritz, Kelley A.; Nickolotsky, Aaron

2015-06-01

Large river systems are inextricably linked with social systems; consequently, management decisions must be made within a given ecological, social, and political framework that often defies objective, technical resolution. Understanding flow-ecology relationships in rivers is necessary to assess potential impacts of management decisions, but translating complex flow-ecology relationships into stakeholder-relevant information remains a struggle. The concept of ecosystem services provides a bridge between flow-ecology relationships and stakeholder-relevant data. Flow-ecology relationships were used to explore complementary and trade-off relationships among 12 ecosystem services and related variables in the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana. Results from Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration were reduced to four management-relevant hydrologic variables using principal components analysis. Multiple regression was used to determine flow-ecology relationships and Pearson correlation coefficients, along with regression results, were used to determine complementary and trade-off relationships among ecosystem services and related variables that were induced by flow. Seven ecosystem service variables had significant flow-ecology relationships for at least one hydrologic variable ( R 2 = 0.19-0.64). River transportation and blue crab ( Callinectes sapidus) landings exhibited a complementary relationship mediated by flow; whereas transportation and crawfish landings, crawfish landings and crappie ( Pomoxis spp.) abundance, and blue crab landings and blue catfish ( Ictalurus furcatus) abundance exhibited trade-off relationships. Other trade-off and complementary relationships among ecosystem services and related variables, however, were not related to flow. These results give insight into potential conflicts among stakeholders, can reduce the dimensions of management decisions, and provide initial hypotheses for experimental flow modifications.

Ecological speciation by temporal isolation in a population of the stonefly Leuctra hippopus (Plecoptera, Leuctridae).

PubMed

Boumans, Louis; Hogner, Silje; Brittain, John; Johnsen, Arild

2017-03-01

Stream dwelling invertebrates are ideal candidates for the study of ecological speciation as they are often adapted to particular environmental conditions within a stream and inhabit only certain reaches of a drainage basin, separated by unsuitable habitat. We studied an atypical population of the stonefly Leuctra hippopus at a site in central Norway, the Isterfoss rapids, in relation to three nearby and two remote conspecific populations. Adults of this population emerge about a month earlier than those of nearby populations, live on large boulders emerging from the rapids, and are short-lived. This population also has distinct morphological features and was studied earlier during the period 1975-1990. We reassessed morphological distinctness with new measurements and added several analyses of genetic distinctness based on mitochondrial and nuclear sequence markers, as well as AFLP fingerprinting and SNPs mined from RAD sequences. The Isterfoss population is shown to be most closely related to its geographical neighbors, yet clearly morphologically and genetically distinct and homogeneous. We conclude that this population is in the process of sympatric speciation, with temporal isolation being the most important direct barrier to gene flow. The shift in reproductive season results from the particular temperature and water level regime in the Isterfoss rapids. The distinct adult body shape and loss of flight are hypothesized to be an adaptation to the unusual habitat. Ecological diversification on small spatial and temporal scales is one of the likely causes of the high diversity of aquatic insects.

Ecological partitioning and diversity in tropical planktonic foraminifera

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Ecological processes are increasingly being viewed as an important mode of diversification in the marine environment, where the high dispersal potential of pelagic organisms, and a lack of absolute barriers to gene flow may limit the occurrence of allopatric speciation through vicariance. Here we focus on the potential role of ecological partitioning in the diversification of a widely distributed group of marine protists, the planktonic foraminifera. Sampling was conducted in the tropical Arabian Sea, during the southwest (summer) monsoon, when pronounced environmental conditions result in a strong disparity in temperature, salinity and productivity between distinct northern and southern water masses. Results We uncovered extensive genetic diversity within the Arabian Sea planktonic foraminifera, identifying 13 morphospecies, represented by 20 distinct SSU rRNA genetic types. Several morphospecies/genetic types displayed non-random biogeographical distributions, partitioning between the northern and southern water masses, giving a strong indication of independent ecological adaptations. Conclusions We propose sea-surface primary productivity as the main factor driving the geographical segregation of Arabian Sea planktonic foraminifera, during the SW monsoon, with variations in symbiotic associations possibly playing a role in the specific ecological adaptations observed. Our findings suggest that ecological partitioning could be contributing to the high levels of 'cryptic' genetic diversity observed within the planktonic foraminifera, and support the view that ecological processes may play a key role in the diversification of marine pelagic organisms. PMID:22507289

It is not always tickling: distinct cerebral responses during perception of different laughter types.

PubMed

Szameitat, Diana P; Kreifelts, Benjamin; Alter, Kai; Szameitat, André J; Sterr, Annette; Grodd, Wolfgang; Wildgruber, Dirk

2010-12-01

Laughter is highly relevant for social interaction in human beings and non-human primates. In humans as well as in non-human primates laughter can be induced by tickling. Human laughter, however, has further diversified and encompasses emotional laughter types with various communicative functions, e.g. joyful and taunting laughter. Here, it was evaluated if this evolutionary diversification of ecological functions is associated with distinct cerebral responses underlying laughter perception. Functional MRI revealed a double-dissociation of cerebral responses during perception of tickling laughter and emotional laughter (joy and taunt) with higher activations in the anterior rostral medial frontal cortex (arMFC) when emotional laughter was perceived, and stronger responses in the right superior temporal gyrus (STG) during appreciation of tickling laughter. Enhanced activation of the arMFC for emotional laughter presumably reflects increasing demands on social cognition processes arising from the greater social salience of these laughter types. Activation increase in the STG for tickling laughter may be linked to the higher acoustic complexity of this laughter type. The observed dissociation of cerebral responses for emotional laughter and tickling laughter was independent of task-directed focusing of attention. These findings support the postulated diversification of human laughter in the course of evolution from an unequivocal play signal to laughter with distinct emotional contents subserving complex social functions. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Promoting the confluence of tropical cyclone research.

PubMed

Marler, Thomas E

2015-01-01

Contributions of biologists to tropical cyclone research may improve by integrating concepts from other disciplines. Employing accumulated cyclone energy into protocols may foster greater integration of ecology and meteorology research. Considering experienced ecosystems as antifragile instead of just resilient may improve cross-referencing among ecological and social scientists. Quantifying ecosystem capital as distinct from ecosystem services may improve integration of tropical cyclone ecology research into the expansive global climate change research community.

Evaluation of habitat requirements of small rodents and effectiveness of an ecologically-based management in a hantavirus-endemic natural protected area in Argentina.

PubMed

Vadell, María Victoria; García Erize, Francisco; Gómez Villafañe, Isabel Elisa

2017-01-01

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a severe cardio pulmonary disease transmitted to humans by sylvan rodents found in natural and rural environments. Disease transmission is closely linked to the ecology of animal reservoirs and abiotic factors such as habitat characteristics, season or climatic conditions. The main goals of this research were: to determine the biotic and abiotic factors affecting richness and abundance of rodent species at different spatial scales, to evaluate different methodologies for studying population of small rodents, and to describe and analyze an ecologically-based rodent management experience in a highly touristic area. A 4-year study of small rodent ecology was conducted between April 2007 and August 2011 in the most relevant habitats of El Palmar National Park, Argentina. Management involved a wide range of control and prevention measures, including poisoning, culling and habitat modification. A total of 172 individuals of 5 species were captured with a trapping effort of 13 860 traps-nights (1.24 individuals/100 traps-nights). Five rodent species were captured, including 2 hantavirus-host species, Oligoryzomys nigripes and Akodon azarae. Oligoryzomys nigripes, host of a hantavirus that is pathogenic in humans, was the most abundant species and the only one found in all the studied habitats. Our results are inconsistent with the dilution effect hypothesis. The present study demonstrates that sylvan rodent species, including the hantavirus-host species, have distinct local habitat selection and temporal variation patterns in abundance, which may influence the risk of human exposure to hantavirus and may have practical implications for disease transmission as well as for reservoir management. © 2016 International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Social-ecological influences on interpersonal support in people with physical disability.

PubMed

Devereux, Paul G; Bullock, Charles C; Gibb, Zebbedia G; Himler, Heidi

2015-10-01

People with physical disability report lower amounts of emotional and informational social support compared with other populations but it is unclear how influences at the broader societal level impact support in this population. To address this question, Berkman and Glass's social-ecological model was used to examine the influence of upstream factors on interpersonal support in people with physical disability. It was predicted that these factors would influence support even after controlling for the traditional measures linked to social support. 331 adult participants with physical disability (43% female; mean age = 42.7; 88% White) completed an online cross-sectional survey measuring types and sources of social support, social integration, disability impact in social domains, environmental barriers, and relevant psychosocial variables such as depression. A hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that level of disability, perceived tangible support, social integration, depressive symptoms, environmental barriers, occupational independence, and having family or friends as primary support sources were significantly associated with perceived support at the final step (R(2) = .60, F(22, 255) = 17.68, p < .001). The social-ecological measures, environmental barriers and social integration, had the largest associations with interpersonal support. Results demonstrate the importance of measuring distinct support constructs and how the broader social environment may matter more in interpersonal support perceptions for people with disability than typical measures studied in the literature. Improving environmental factors will help improve social support. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantifying long-term trajectories of plant community change with movement models: implication for ecological resilience

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Quantification of rates and patterns of community dynamics is central for understanding the organization and function of ecosystems. These insights may support a greater empirical understanding of ecological resilience, and the application of resilience concepts toward ecosystem management. Distinct...

Cognitive success: instrumental justifications of normative systems of reasoning.

PubMed

Schurz, Gerhard

2014-01-01

In the first part of the paper (sec. 1-4), I argue that Elqayam and Evan's (2011) distinction between normative and instrumental conceptions of cognitive rationality corresponds to deontological vs. teleological accounts in meta-ethics. I suggest that Elqayam and Evans' distinction be replaced by the distinction between a-priori intuition-based vs. a-posteriori success-based accounts of cognitive rationality. The value of cognitive success lies in its instrumental rationality for almost-all practical purposes. In the second part (sec. 5-7), I point out that the Elqayam and Evans's distinction between normative and instrumental rationality is coupled with a second distinction: between logically general vs. locally adaptive accounts of rationality. I argue that these are two independent distinctions that should be treated as independent dimensions. I also demonstrate that logically general systems of reasoning can be instrumentally justified. However, such systems can only be cognitively successful if they are paired with successful inductive reasoning, which is the area where the program of adaptive (ecological) rationality emerged, because there are no generally optimal inductive reasoning methods. I argue that the practical necessity of reasoning under changing environments constitutes a dilemma for ecological rationality, which I attempt to solve within a dual account of rationality.

Building Ecology & School Design. Technical Bulletin.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maryland State Dept. of Education, Baltimore.

To better understand construction's impact, an overview of building ecology as a concept and as a decision-making model for school systems is provided. "Building ecology" is defined as the interrelationships among people, the built environment, and the natural environment. It has special relevance for school design because most of the…

Developing ecosystem services-based assessment endpoints for determining ecological risks to estuarine environments

EPA Science Inventory

Current U.S. EPA ecological risk assessment (ERA) guidance defines an assessment endpoint (AE) as an explicit expression of the environmental value that is to be protected, and recommends that AEs are selected based on ecological relevance, susceptibility to known or potential st...

The chemical ecology of cyanobacteria

PubMed Central

Leão, Pedro N.; Engene, Niclas; Antunes, Agostinho; Gerwick, William H.; Vasconcelos, Vitor

2014-01-01

This review covers the literature on the chemically mediated ecology of cyanobacteria, including ultraviolet radiation protection, feeding-deterrence, allelopathy, resource competition, and signalling. To highlight the chemical and biological diversity of this group of organisms, evolutionary and chemotaxonomical studies are presented. Several technologically relevant aspects of cyanobacterial chemical ecology are also discussed. PMID:22237837

Biophysical model of prokaryotic diversity in geothermal hot springs.

PubMed

Klales, Anna; Duncan, James; Nett, Elizabeth Janus; Kane, Suzanne Amador

2012-02-01

Recent studies of photosynthetic bacteria living in geothermal hot spring environments have revealed surprisingly complex ecosystems with an unexpected level of genetic diversity. One case of particular interest involves the distribution along hot spring thermal gradients of genetically distinct bacterial strains that differ in their preferred temperatures for reproduction and photosynthesis. In such systems, a single variable, temperature, defines the relevant environmental variation. In spite of this, each region along the thermal gradient exhibits multiple strains of photosynthetic bacteria adapted to several distinct thermal optima, rather than a single thermal strain adapted to the local environmental temperature. Here we analyze microbiology data from several ecological studies to show that the thermal distribution data exhibit several universal features independent of location and specific bacterial strain. These include the distribution of optimal temperatures of different thermal strains and the functional dependence of the net population density on temperature. We present a simple population dynamics model of these systems that is highly constrained by biophysical data and by physical features of the environment. This model can explain in detail the observed thermal population distributions, as well as certain features of population dynamics observed in laboratory studies of the same organisms. © 2012 American Physical Society

Promoting the confluence of tropical cyclone research

PubMed Central

Marler, Thomas E

2015-01-01

Contributions of biologists to tropical cyclone research may improve by integrating concepts from other disciplines. Employing accumulated cyclone energy into protocols may foster greater integration of ecology and meteorology research. Considering experienced ecosystems as antifragile instead of just resilient may improve cross-referencing among ecological and social scientists. Quantifying ecosystem capital as distinct from ecosystem services may improve integration of tropical cyclone ecology research into the expansive global climate change research community. PMID:26480001

EVALUATION GUIDELINES FOR ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS

EPA Science Inventory

This document presents fifteen technical guidelines to evaluate the suitability of an ecological indicator for a particular monitoring program. The guidelines are organized within four evaluation phrases: conceptual relevance, feasibility of implementation, response variability...

Role of Design in the Consumer Culture Development: Ecological Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pankina, Marina V.; Khrustalyova, Christina ?.; Egarmin, Anton ?.; Shekhova, Natalia V.

2016-01-01

The relevance of the researched problem stems from ecological issues that are a reflection of the contemporary culture crisis covering the whole range of people's interactions with each other, with society and with nature. In many respects, an ecological crisis is an ideological crisis and global environmental problems are impossible to solve…

Spatial dependence of predictions from image segmentation: A variogram-based method to determine appropriate scales for producing land-management information

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A significant challenge in ecological studies has been defining scales of observation that correspond to the relevant ecological scales for organisms or processes of interest. Remote sensing has become commonplace in ecological studies and management, but the default resolution of imagery often used...

Spatial dependence of predictions from image segmentation: a methods to determine appropriate scales for producing land-management information

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A challenge in ecological studies is defining scales of observation that correspond to relevant ecological scales for organisms or processes. Image segmentation has been proposed as an alternative to pixel-based methods for scaling remotely-sensed data into ecologically-meaningful units. However, to...

Ecological periodic tables for benthic macrofaunal usage of estuarine habitats : Insights from a case study in Tillamook bay, Oregon, USA

EPA Science Inventory

This study validates the ecological relevance of estuarine habitat types to the benthic macrofaunal community and, together with previous similar studies, suggests they can serve as elements in ecological periodic tables of benthic macrofaunal usage in the bioregion. We compared...

Functional ecomorphology: Feedbacks between form and function in fluvial landscape ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, Stuart G.; Heffernan, James B.; Sponseller, Ryan A.; Welter, Jill R.

2007-09-01

The relationship between form and function has been a central organizing principle in biology throughout its history as a formal science. This concept has been relevant from molecules to organisms but loses meaning at population and community levels where study targets are abstract collectives and assemblages. Ecosystems include organisms and abiotic factors but ecosystem ecology too has developed until recently without a strong spatially explicit reference. Landscape ecology provides an opportunity to once again anneal form and function and to consider reciprocal causation between them. This ecomorphologic view can be applied at a variety of ecologically relevant scales and consists of an investigation of how geomorphology provides a structural template that shapes, and is shaped by ecological processes. Running water ecosystems illustrate several principles governing the interaction of landscape form and ecological function subsumed by the concept of "Functional Ecomorphology". Particularly lucrative are ecosystem-level interactions between geologic form and biogeochemical processes integrated by hydrologic flowpaths. While the utility of a flowpath-based approach is most apparent in streams, spatially explicit biogeochemical processing pervades all landscapes and may be of general ecological application.

Killer whale ecotypes: is there a global model?

PubMed

de Bruyn, P J N; Tosh, Cheryl A; Terauds, Aleks

2013-02-01

Killer whales, Orcinus orca, are top predators occupying key ecological roles in a variety of ecosystems and are one of the most widely distributed mammals on the planet. In consequence, there has been significant interest in understanding their basic biology and ecology. Long-term studies of Northern Hemisphere killer whales, particularly in the eastern North Pacific (ENP), have identified three ecologically distinct communities or ecotypes in that region. The success of these prominent ENP studies has led to similar efforts at clarifying the role of killer whale ecology in other regions, including Antarctica. In the Southern Hemisphere, killer whales present a range of behavioural, social and morphological characteristics to biologists, who often interpret this as evidence to categorize individuals or groups, and draw general ecological conclusions about these super-predators. Morphologically distinct forms (Type A, B, C, and D) occur in the Southern Ocean and studies of these different forms are often presented in conjunction with evidence for specialised ecology and behaviours. Here we review current knowledge of killer whale ecology and ecotyping globally and present a synthesis of existing knowledge. In particular, we highlight the complexity of killer whale ecology in the Southern Hemisphere and examine this in the context of comparatively well-studied Northern Hemisphere populations. We suggest that assigning erroneous or prefatory ecotypic status in the Southern Hemisphere could be detrimental to subsequent killer whale studies, because unsubstantiated characteristics may be assumed as a result of such classification. On this basis, we also recommend that ecotypic status classification for Southern Ocean killer whale morphotypes be reserved until more evidence-based ecological and taxonomic data are obtained. © 2012 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2012 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Advancing the integration of history and ecology for conservation.

PubMed

Szabó, Péter; Hédl, Radim

2011-08-01

The important role of humans in the development of current ecosystems was recognized decades ago; however, the integration of history and ecology in order to inform conservation has been difficult. We identified four issues that hinder historical ecological research and considered possible solutions. First, differences in concepts and methods between the fields of ecology and history are thought to be large. However, most differences stem from miscommunication between ecologists and historians and are less substantial than is usually assumed. Cooperation can be achieved by focusing on the features ecology and history have in common and through understanding and acceptance of differing points of view. Second, historical ecological research is often hampered by differences in spatial and temporal scales between ecology and history. We argue that historical ecological research can only be conducted at extents for which sources in both disciplines have comparable resolutions. Researchers must begin by clearly defining the relevant scales for the given purpose. Third, periods for which quantitative historical sources are not easily accessible (before AD 1800) have been neglected in historical ecological research. Because data from periods before 1800 are as relevant to the current state of ecosystems as more recent data, we suggest that historical ecologists actively seek out data from before 1800 and apply analytic methods commonly used in ecology to these data. Fourth, humans are not usually considered an intrinsic ecological factor in current ecological research. In our view, human societies should be acknowledged as integral parts of ecosystems and societal processes should be recognized as driving forces of ecosystem change. © 2011 Society for Conservation Biology.

Building social-ecological resilience through adaptive comanagement in the Cache River Watershed of southern Illinois

Treesearch

Kofi Akamani

2014-01-01

There is growing recognition that the sustainable governance of water resources requires building social-ecological resilience against future surprises. Adaptive comanagement, a distinct institutional mechanism that combines the learning focus of adaptive management with the multilevel linkages of comanagement, has recently emerged as a promising mechanism for building...

Disability Theatre in Australia: A Survey and a Sector Ecology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadley, Bree

2017-01-01

In this paper, I use an ecologies approach to present reflections on the history of disability and deaf theatre in Australia, in light of the distinctive local policy, industry, and production frameworks that have supported or failed to support its development in particular directions. After tracing and categorising developments in the field to…

Industrial activated sludge exhibit unique bacterial community composition at high taxonomic ranks.

PubMed

Ibarbalz, Federico M; Figuerola, Eva L M; Erijman, Leonardo

2013-07-01

Biological degradation of domestic and industrial wastewater by activated sludge depends on a common process of separation of the diverse self-assembled and self-sustained microbial flocs from the treated wastewater. Previous surveys of bacterial communities indicated the presence of a common core of bacterial phyla in municipal activated sludge, an observation consistent with the concept of ecological coherence of high taxonomic ranks. The aim of this work was to test whether this critical feature brings about a common pattern of abundance distribution of high bacterial taxa in industrial and domestic activated sludge, and to relate the bacterial community structure of industrial activated sludge with relevant operational parameters. We have applied 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes to evaluate bacterial communities in full-scale biological wastewater treatment plants sampled at different times, including seven systems treating wastewater from different industries and one plant that treats domestic wastewater, and compared our datasets with the data from municipal wastewater treatment plants obtained by three different laboratories. We observed that each industrial activated sludge system exhibited a unique bacterial community composition, which is clearly distinct from the common profile of bacterial phyla or classes observed in municipal plants. The influence of process parameters on the bacterial community structure was evaluated using constrained analysis of principal coordinates (CAP). Part of the differences in the bacterial community structure between industrial wastewater treatment systems were explained by dissolved oxygen and pH. Despite the ecological relevance of floc formation for the assembly of bacterial communities in activated sludge, the wastewater characteristics are likely to be the major determinant that drives bacterial composition at high taxonomic ranks. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Internal amino acid state modulates yeast taste neurons to support protein homeostasis in Drosophila

PubMed Central

Itskov, Pavel M; Baltazar, Célia; Moreira, José-Maria

2018-01-01

To optimize fitness, animals must dynamically match food choices to their current needs. For drosophilids, yeast fulfills most dietary protein and micronutrient requirements. While several yeast metabolites activate known gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) in Drosophila melanogaster, the chemosensory channels mediating yeast feeding remain unknown. Here we identify a class of proboscis GRNs required for yeast intake. Within this class, taste peg GRNs are specifically required to sustain yeast feeding. Sensillar GRNs, however, mediate feeding initiation. Furthermore, the response of yeast GRNs, but not sweet GRNs, is enhanced following deprivation from amino acids, providing a potential basis for protein-specific appetite. Although nutritional and reproductive states synergistically increase yeast appetite, reproductive state acts independently of nutritional state, modulating processing downstream of GRNs. Together, these results suggest that different internal states act at distinct levels of a dedicated gustatory circuit to elicit nutrient-specific appetites towards a complex, ecologically relevant protein source. PMID:29393045

Population differentiation of the Chagas disease vector Triatoma maculata (Erichson, 1848) from Colombia and Venezuela.

PubMed

Monsalve, Yoman; Panzera, Francisco; Herrera, Leidi; Triana-Chávez, Omar; Gómez-Palacio, Andrés

2016-06-01

The emerging vector of Chagas disease, Triatoma maculata (Hemiptera, Reduviidae), is one of the most widely distributed Triatoma species in northern South America. Despite its increasing relevance as a vector, no consistent picture of the magnitude of genetic and phenetic diversity has yet been developed. Here, several populations of T. maculata from eleven Colombia and Venezuela localities were analyzed based on the morphometry of wings and the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) gene sequences. Our results showed clear morphometric and genetic differences among Colombian and Venezuelan populations, indicating high intraspecific diversity. Inter-population divergence is suggested related to East Cordillera in Colombia. Analyses of other populations from Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil from distinct eco-geographic regions are still needed to understand its systematics and phylogeography as well as its actual role as a vector of Chagas disease. © 2016 The Society for Vector Ecology.

Justice- and fairness-related behaviors in nonhuman primates.

PubMed

Brosnan, Sarah F

2013-06-18

A distinctive feature across human societies is our interest in justice and fairness. People will sometimes invest in extremely costly behavior to achieve fair outcomes for themselves and others. Why do people care so much about justice? One way to address this is comparatively, exploring behaviors related to justice and fairness in other species. In this paper, I review work exploring responses to inequity, prosocial behavior, and other relevant behaviors in nonhuman primates in an effort to understand both the potential evolutionary function of these behaviors and the social and ecological reasons for the individual differences in behavior. I also consider how these behaviors relate to human behavior, particularly in the case of experimental studies using games derived from experimental economics to compare nonhuman primates' responses to those of humans in similar experimental conditions. These results emphasize the importance of a comparative approach to better understand the function and diversity of human behavior.

Folkecology and commons management in the Maya Lowlands

PubMed Central

Atran, Scott; Medin, Douglas; Ross, Norbert; Lynch, Elizabeth; Coley, John; Ek’, Edilberto Ucan; Vapnarsky, Valentina

1999-01-01

Three groups living off the same rainforest habitat manifest strikingly distinct behaviors, cognitions, and social relationships relative to the forest. Only the area’s last native Maya reveal systematic awareness of ecological complexity involving animals, plants, and people and practices clearly favoring forest regeneration. Spanish-speaking immigrants prove closer to native Maya in thought, action, and social networking than do immigrant Maya. There is no overriding “local,” “Indian,” or “immigrant” relationship to the environment. Results indicate that exclusive concern with rational self-interest and institutional constraints do not sufficiently account for commons behavior and that cultural patterning of cognition and access to relevant information are significant predictors. Unlike traditional accounts of relations between culture, cognition, and behavior, the models offered are not synthetic interpretations of people’s thoughts and behaviors but are emergent cultural patterns derived statistically from measurements of individual cognitions and behaviors. PMID:10377461

Fishpathogens.eu/noda: a free and handy online platform for Betanodavirus targeted research and data sharing.

PubMed

Mikkelsen, S S; Panzarin, V; Jonstrup, S P; Bigarré, L; Baud, M; Gray, T; Agapow, P-M; Olesen, N J

2015-08-01

Viral nervous necrosis (VNN) is a severe neuropathological disease affecting a broad variety of finfish species worldwide. The causative agents of VNN are small viruses with a bi-segmented RNA genome known as betanodaviruses. At least four species with distinct but yet insufficiently characterized epidemiological features are recognized. The spread of VNN to an increasing number of host species, its wide geographic extent and its economical and ecological impacts justify the importance of collating as much molecular data as possible for tracing the origin of viral isolates and highlight the need for a freely accessible tool for epidemiological and molecular data sharing and consultation. For this purpose, we established a web-based specific database using the www.fishpathogens.eu platform, with the aim of collecting molecular and epidemiological information on VNN viruses, with relevance to their control, management and research studies. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beck, Ashley; Hunt, Kristopher; Bernstein, Hans C.

Interest in microbial communities for bioprocessing has surged in recent years based on the potential to optimize multiple tasks simultaneously and to enhance process productivity and stability. The presence and magnitude of these desirable system properties often result from interactions between functionally distinct community members. The importance of interactions, while appreciated by some disciplines for decades, has gained interest recently due to the development of ‘omics techniques, polymicrobial culturing approaches, and computational methods which has made the systems-level analysis of interacting components more tractable. This review defines and categorizes natural and engineered system components, interactions, and emergent properties, as wellmore » as presents three ecological theories relevant to microbial communities. Case studies are interpreted to illustrate components, interactions, emergent properties and agreement with theoretical concepts. A general foundation is laid to facilitate interpretation of current systems and to aid in future design of microbial systems for the next generation of bioprocesses.« less

Mapping the changing landscape of fish-related journals: Setting a course for successful communication of scientific information

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mather, M. E.; Parrish, D.L.; Dettmers, J.M.

2008-01-01

In the last 25 years, the number and scope of fish-related journals have changed. New and existing journals are increasingly specialized. Journals that are read and cited are changing because of differential accessibility via electronic databases. In this review, we examine shifts in numbers and foci of existing fish-related journals. We ask how these fish-related metrics differ across type of application, ecological system, taxa, and discipline. Although many journals overlap to some extent in content, there are distinct groups of journals for authors to consider. By systematically reviewing the focus of an individual manuscript, comparing it to the suite of journals available and examining the audience for the manuscript, we believe that authors can make informed decisions about which journals are most suitable for their work. Our goal here is to help authors find relevant journals and deliver scientific publications to the appropriate readership.

Justice- and fairness-related behaviors in nonhuman primates

PubMed Central

Brosnan, Sarah F.

2013-01-01

A distinctive feature across human societies is our interest in justice and fairness. People will sometimes invest in extremely costly behavior to achieve fair outcomes for themselves and others. Why do people care so much about justice? One way to address this is comparatively, exploring behaviors related to justice and fairness in other species. In this paper, I review work exploring responses to inequity, prosocial behavior, and other relevant behaviors in nonhuman primates in an effort to understand both the potential evolutionary function of these behaviors and the social and ecological reasons for the individual differences in behavior. I also consider how these behaviors relate to human behavior, particularly in the case of experimental studies using games derived from experimental economics to compare nonhuman primates’ responses to those of humans in similar experimental conditions. These results emphasize the importance of a comparative approach to better understand the function and diversity of human behavior. PMID:23754407

Genetic, Ecological and Morphological Distinctness of the Blue Mussels Mytilus trossulus Gould and M. edulis L. in the White Sea.

PubMed

Katolikova, Marina; Khaitov, Vadim; Väinölä, Risto; Gantsevich, Michael; Strelkov, Petr

2016-01-01

Two blue mussel lineages of Pliocene origin, Mytilus edulis (ME) and M. trossulus (MT), co-occur and hybridize in several regions on the shores of the North Atlantic. The two species were distinguished from each other by molecular methods in the 1980s, and a large amount of comparative data on them has been accumulated since that time. However, while ME and MT are now routinely distinguished by various genetic markers, they tend to be overlooked in ecological studies since morphological characters for taxonomic identification have been lacking, and no consistent habitat differences between lineages have been reported. Surveying a recently discovered area of ME and MT co-occurrence in the White Sea and employing a set of allozyme markers for identification, we address the issue whether ME and MT are true biological species with distinct ecological characteristics or just virtual genetic entities with no matching morphological and ecological identities. We find that: (1) in the White Sea, the occurrence of MT is largely concentrated in harbors, in line with observations from other subarctic regions of Europe; (2) mixed populations of ME and MT are always dominated by purebred individuals, animals classified as hybrids constituting only ca. 18%; (3) in terms of shell morphology, 80% of MT bear a distinct uninterrupted dark prismatic strip under the ligament while 97% of ME lack this character; (4) at sites of sympatry MT is more common on algal substrates while ME mostly lives directly on the bottom. This segregation by the substrate may contribute to maintaining reproductive isolation and decreasing competition between taxa. We conclude that while ME and MT are not fully reproductively isolated, they do represent clearly distinguishable biological, ecological and morphological entities in the White Sea. It remains to be documented whether the observed morphological and ecological differences are of a local character, or whether they have simply been overlooked in other contact zones.

Cognitive success: instrumental justifications of normative systems of reasoning

PubMed Central

Schurz, Gerhard

2014-01-01

In the first part of the paper (sec. 1–4), I argue that Elqayam and Evan's (2011) distinction between normative and instrumental conceptions of cognitive rationality corresponds to deontological vs. teleological accounts in meta-ethics. I suggest that Elqayam and Evans' distinction be replaced by the distinction between a-priori intuition-based vs. a-posteriori success-based accounts of cognitive rationality. The value of cognitive success lies in its instrumental rationality for almost-all practical purposes. In the second part (sec. 5–7), I point out that the Elqayam and Evans's distinction between normative and instrumental rationality is coupled with a second distinction: between logically general vs. locally adaptive accounts of rationality. I argue that these are two independent distinctions that should be treated as independent dimensions. I also demonstrate that logically general systems of reasoning can be instrumentally justified. However, such systems can only be cognitively successful if they are paired with successful inductive reasoning, which is the area where the program of adaptive (ecological) rationality emerged, because there are no generally optimal inductive reasoning methods. I argue that the practical necessity of reasoning under changing environments constitutes a dilemma for ecological rationality, which I attempt to solve within a dual account of rationality. PMID:25071624

Molecular ecology meets remote sensing: environmental drivers to population structure of humpback dolphins in the Western Indian Ocean.

PubMed

Mendez, M; Subramaniam, A; Collins, T; Minton, G; Baldwin, R; Berggren, P; Särnblad, A; Amir, O A; Peddemors, V M; Karczmarski, L; Guissamulo, A; Rosenbaum, H C

2011-10-01

Genetic analyses of population structure can be placed in explicit environmental contexts if appropriate environmental data are available. Here, we use high-coverage and high-resolution oceanographic and genetic sequence data to assess population structure patterns and their potential environmental influences for humpback dolphins in the Western Indian Ocean. We analyzed mitochondrial DNA data from 94 dolphins from the coasts of South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania and Oman, employing frequency-based and maximum-likelihood algorithms to assess population structure and migration patterns. The genetic data were combined with 13 years of remote sensing oceanographic data of variables known to influence cetacean dispersal and population structure. Our analyses show strong and highly significant genetic structure between all putative populations, except for those in South Africa and Mozambique. Interestingly, the oceanographic data display marked environmental heterogeneity between all sampling areas and a degree of overlap between South Africa and Mozambique. Our combined analyses therefore suggest the occurrence of genetically isolated populations of humpback dolphins in areas that are environmentally distinct. This study highlights the utility of molecular tools in combination with high-resolution and high-coverage environmental data to address questions not only pertaining to genetic population structure, but also to relevant ecological processes in marine species.

Molecular ecology meets remote sensing: environmental drivers to population structure of humpback dolphins in the Western Indian Ocean

PubMed Central

Mendez, M; Subramaniam, A; Collins, T; Minton, G; Baldwin, R; Berggren, P; Särnblad, A; Amir, O A; Peddemors, V M; Karczmarski, L; Guissamulo, A; Rosenbaum, H C

2011-01-01

Genetic analyses of population structure can be placed in explicit environmental contexts if appropriate environmental data are available. Here, we use high-coverage and high-resolution oceanographic and genetic sequence data to assess population structure patterns and their potential environmental influences for humpback dolphins in the Western Indian Ocean. We analyzed mitochondrial DNA data from 94 dolphins from the coasts of South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania and Oman, employing frequency-based and maximum-likelihood algorithms to assess population structure and migration patterns. The genetic data were combined with 13 years of remote sensing oceanographic data of variables known to influence cetacean dispersal and population structure. Our analyses show strong and highly significant genetic structure between all putative populations, except for those in South Africa and Mozambique. Interestingly, the oceanographic data display marked environmental heterogeneity between all sampling areas and a degree of overlap between South Africa and Mozambique. Our combined analyses therefore suggest the occurrence of genetically isolated populations of humpback dolphins in areas that are environmentally distinct. This study highlights the utility of molecular tools in combination with high-resolution and high-coverage environmental data to address questions not only pertaining to genetic population structure, but also to relevant ecological processes in marine species. PMID:21427750

Molecular sequences derived from Paleocene Fort Union Formation coals vs. associated produced waters: Implications for CBM regeneration

USGS Publications Warehouse

Klein, Donald A.; Flores, Romeo M.; Venot, Christophe; Gabbert, Kendra; Schmidt, Raleigh; Stricker, Gary D.; Pruden, Amy; Mandernack, Kevin

2008-01-01

Coalbed methane regeneration is of increasing interest, and is gaining global attention with respect to enhancement of gas recovery. The objective of this study is to determine if there are differences in methanogen nucleic acid sequences associated with low rank coals from the Powder River Basin, Wyoming, in comparison with sequences that can be recovered from coal bed-associated produced waters. Based on results obtained to date, the sequences from the coals appear to be associated with putatively deep-rooted thermophilic autotrophic methanogens, whereas the sequences from the waters are associated with thermophilic autotrophic and heterotrophic methanogens. The recovered sequences associated with coal thus appear to be both phylogenetically and functionally distinct from those that are more closely associated with the produced water. To be able to relate such recovered sequences to organisms that might be present and possibly active in these environments, it is suggested that direct observation, followed by isolation and single cell-based physiological/molecular analyses, be used to characterize methanogenic consortia possibly associated with coals and/or produced waters. It is also important to characterize the microenvironment where these microbes might be found, in both ecological and geological contexts, to be able to develop effective, ecologically relevant coalbed methane regeneration processes.

Environmental security as related to scale mismatches of disturbance patterns in a panarchy of social-ecological landscapes

Treesearch

Giovanni Zurlini; Irene Petrosillo; Nicola Zaccarelli; Kurt Riitters

2008-01-01

Environmental security, as the opposite of environmental fragility (vulnerability), is multilayered, multi-scale and complex, existing in both the objective realm of biophysics and society, and the subjective realm of individual human perception. For ecological risk assessments (ERAs), the relevant objects of environmental security are social-ecological landscapes (...

Low levels of hybridization between sympatric Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and Dolly Varden char (Salvelinus malma) highlights their genetic distinctiveness and ecological segregation.

PubMed

May-McNally, Shannan L; Quinn, Thomas P; Taylor, Eric B

2015-08-01

Understanding the extent of interspecific hybridization and how ecological segregation may influence hybridization requires comprehensively sampling different habitats over a range of life history stages. Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and Dolly Varden (S. malma) are recently diverged salmonid fishes that come into contact in several areas of the North Pacific where they occasionally hybridize. To better quantify the degree of hybridization and ecological segregation between these taxa, we sampled over 700 fish from multiple lake (littoral and profundal) and stream sites in two large, interconnected southwestern Alaskan lakes. Individuals were genotyped at 12 microsatellite markers, and genetic admixture (Q) values generated through Bayesian-based clustering revealed hybridization levels generally lower than reported in a previous study (<0.6% to 5% of samples classified as late-generation hybrids). Dolly Varden and Arctic char tended to make different use of stream habitats with the latter apparently abandoning streams for lake habitats after 2-3 years of age. Our results support the distinct biological species status of Dolly Varden and Arctic char and suggest that ecological segregation may be an important factor limiting opportunities for hybridization and/or the ecological performance of hybrid char.

Low levels of hybridization between sympatric Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and Dolly Varden char (Salvelinus malma) highlights their genetic distinctiveness and ecological segregation

PubMed Central

May-McNally, Shannan L; Quinn, Thomas P; Taylor, Eric B

2015-01-01

Understanding the extent of interspecific hybridization and how ecological segregation may influence hybridization requires comprehensively sampling different habitats over a range of life history stages. Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and Dolly Varden (S. malma) are recently diverged salmonid fishes that come into contact in several areas of the North Pacific where they occasionally hybridize. To better quantify the degree of hybridization and ecological segregation between these taxa, we sampled over 700 fish from multiple lake (littoral and profundal) and stream sites in two large, interconnected southwestern Alaskan lakes. Individuals were genotyped at 12 microsatellite markers, and genetic admixture (Q) values generated through Bayesian-based clustering revealed hybridization levels generally lower than reported in a previous study (<0.6% to 5% of samples classified as late-generation hybrids). Dolly Varden and Arctic char tended to make different use of stream habitats with the latter apparently abandoning streams for lake habitats after 2–3 years of age. Our results support the distinct biological species status of Dolly Varden and Arctic char and suggest that ecological segregation may be an important factor limiting opportunities for hybridization and/or the ecological performance of hybrid char. PMID:26356310

Uses of ecologic analysis in epidemiologic research.

PubMed Central

Morgenstern, H

1982-01-01

Despite the widespread use of ecologic analysis in epidemiologic research and health planning, little attention has been given by health scientists and practitioners to the methodological aspects of this approach. This paper reviews the major types of ecologic study designs, the analytic methods appropriate for each, the limitations of ecologic data for making causal inferences and what can be done to minimize these problems, and the relative advantages of ecologic analysis. Numerous examples are provided to illustrate the important principles and methods. A careful distinction is made between ecologic studies that generate or test etiologic hypotheses and those that evaluate the impact of intervention programs or policies (given adequate knowledge of disease etiology). Failure to recognize this difference in the conduct of ecologic studies can lead to results that are not very informative or that are misinterpreted by others. PMID:7137430

[Ecological agriculture: future of agriculture for Chinese material medica].

PubMed

Guo, Lan-Ping; Wang, Tie-Lin; Yang, Wan-Zhen; Zhou, Liang-Yun; Chen, Nai-Fu; Han, Bang-Xing; Huang, Lu-Qi

2017-01-01

The ecological agriculture of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is generally acknowledged as the most advanced agricultural mode. However, it's still a doubt whether ecological agriculture could be widely applied in TCM agriculture. In this study, we first analyze both the differences and relationships between ecological and organic agriculture, which suggesting that ecological agriculture does not need all the inputs as traditional agriculture. After introducing the situation of ecological agriculture from all across the world, we analyze the differences and characteristics between ecological and chemical agricultures. Considered with the big challenge caused by chemical agriculture, we pointed out that ecological agriculture could definitely replace chemical agriculture. Last but not the least, combined with the situation and problems of Chinese agriculture, we analyze the distinctive advantages of TCM ecological agriculture from 3 aspects as its unique quality characteristics, its unique habitat requirements in production and its unique application and market characteristics, respectively. In conclusion, ecological agriculture is the straight way of TCM agriculture. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Linking Aquatic Ecosystems to Human Well-Being

EPA Science Inventory

While ecological indicators should have relevance to people, a clear methodology to develop and evaluate this characteristic of ecological indicators is not well developed. Economists developed the concept of “Final Ecosystem Goods and Services”. Because these featur...

Spatial distribution of earthworms in an east Texas forest ecosystem

Treesearch

Melissa A. Bozarth; Kenneth W. Farrish; George A. Damoff; James VanKley; J. Leon Young

2016-01-01

Earthworms were collected and identified in different ecological habitats of the Stephen F. Austin Experimental Forest (SFAEF) in the Piney Woods Ecoregion (PWE) of Texas. Earthworm spatial distribution data were collected over four distinct ecological habitats with a range of soil conditions and vegetative cover. A total of 128 sampling plots were surveyed in two...

From loblolly to longleaf: fifth-year results of a longleaf pine restoration study at two ecologically distinct sites

Treesearch

Benjamin O. Knapp; G. Geoff Wang; Joan L. Walker; Huifeng Hu

2015-01-01

Historical land-use and management practices in the southeastern United States have resulted in the widespread conversion of many upland sites from dominance of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) to loblolly pine (P. taeda L.) in the time following European settlement. Given the ecological, economic, and cultural...

Examining Convergence of Retrospective and Ecological Momentary Assessment Measures of Negative Affect and Eating Disorder Behaviors

PubMed Central

Wonderlich, Joseph A.; Lavender, Jason M.; Wonderlich, Stephen A.; Peterson, Carol B.; Crow, Scott J.; Engel, Scott G.; Le Grange, Daniel; Mitchell, James E.; Crosby, Ross D.

2017-01-01

Objective Data gathered via retrospective forms of assessment are subject to various recall biases. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is an alternative approach involving repeated momentary assessments within a participant's natural environment, thus reducing recall biases and improving ecological validity. EMA has been used in numerous prior studies examining various constructs of theoretical relevance to eating disorders. Method This investigation includes data from three previously published studies with distinct clinical samples: (a) women with anorexia nervosa (N=118), (b) women with bulimia nervosa (N=133), and (c) obese men and women (N=50; 9 with current binge eating disorder). Each study assessed negative affective states and eating disorder behaviors using traditional retrospective assessments and EMA. Spearman rho correlations were used to evaluate the concordance of retrospective versus EMA measures of affective and/or behavioral constructs in each sample. Bland-Altman plots were also used to further evaluate concordance in the assessment of eating disorder behaviors. Results There was moderate to strong concordance for the measures of negative affective states across all three studies. Moderate to strong concordance was also found for the measures of binge eating and exercise frequency. The strongest evidence of concordance across measurement approaches was found for purging behaviors. Discussion Overall, these preliminary findings support the convergence of retrospective and EMA assessments of both negative affective states and various eating disorder behaviors. Given the advantages and disadvantages associated with each of these assessment approaches, the specific questions being studied in future empirical studies should inform decisions regarding selection of the most appropriate method. PMID:25195932

More than a Museum: Natural History is Relevant in 21st Century Environmental Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez, R. R.; Murphy-Mariscal, M. L.; Barrows, C. W.

2015-12-01

In the Anthropocene, the relevancy of natural history in environmental science is challenged and marginalized today more than ever. We tested the hypothesis that natural history is relevant to the fields of environmental science and ecology by assessing the values, needs, and decisions related to natural history of graduate students and environmental science professionals across 31 universities and various employers, respectively, in California. Graduate students surveyed (93.3%) agreed that natural history was relevant to science, approximately 70% believed it "essential" for conducting field-based research; however, 54.2% felt inadequately trained to teach a natural history course and would benefit from additional training in natural history (> 80%). Of the 185 professionals surveyed, all felt that natural history was relevant to science and "essential" or "desirable" in their vocation (93%). Our results indicate a disconnect between the value and relevancy of natural history in 21st century ecological science and opportunities for gaining those skills and knowledge through education and training.

Life Events and Depressive Symptoms in African American Adolescents: Do Ecological Domains and Timing of Life Events Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez, Yadira M.; Lambert, Sharon F.; Ialongo, Nicholas S.

2012-01-01

Considerable research has documented associations between adverse life events and internalizing symptoms in adolescents, but much of this research has focused on the number of events experienced, with less attention to the ecological context or timing of events. This study examined life events in three ecological domains relevant to adolescents…

Essential Annotation Schema for Ecology (EASE)-A framework supporting the efficient data annotation and faceted navigation in ecology.

PubMed

Pfaff, Claas-Thido; Eichenberg, David; Liebergesell, Mario; König-Ries, Birgitta; Wirth, Christian

2017-01-01

Ecology has become a data intensive science over the last decades which often relies on the reuse of data in cross-experimental analyses. However, finding data which qualifies for the reuse in a specific context can be challenging. It requires good quality metadata and annotations as well as efficient search strategies. To date, full text search (often on the metadata only) is the most widely used search strategy although it is known to be inaccurate. Faceted navigation is providing a filter mechanism which is based on fine granular metadata, categorizing search objects along numeric and categorical parameters relevant for their discovery. Selecting from these parameters during a full text search creates a system of filters which allows to refine and improve the results towards more relevance. We developed a framework for the efficient annotation and faceted navigation in ecology. It consists of an XML schema for storing the annotation of search objects and is accompanied by a vocabulary focused on ecology to support the annotation process. The framework consolidates ideas which originate from widely accepted metadata standards, textbooks, scientific literature, and vocabularies as well as from expert knowledge contributed by researchers from ecology and adjacent disciplines.

Land Management in the Anthropocene: Is History Still Relevant?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safford, Hugh D.; Betancourt, Julio L.; Hayward, Gregory D.; Wiens, John A.; Regan, Claudia M.

2008-09-01

Incorporating Historical Ecology and Climate Change Into Land Management; Lansdowne, Virginia, 22-25 April 2008; Ecological restoration, conservation, and land management are often based on comparisons with reference sites or time periods, which are assumed to represent ``natural'' or ``properly functioning'' conditions. Such reference conditions can provide a vision of the conservation or management goal and a means to measure progress toward that vision. Although historical ecology has been used successfully to guide resource management in many parts of the world, the continuing relevance of history is now being questioned. Some scientists doubt that lessons from the past can inform management in what may be a dramatically different future, given profound climate change, accelerated land use, and an onslaught of plant and animal invasions.

Differentiating and defusing theoretical Ecology's criticisms: A rejoinder to Sagoff's reply to Donhauser (2016).

PubMed

Donhauser, Justin

2017-06-01

In a (2016) paper in this journal, I defuse allegations that theoretical ecological research is problematic because it relies on teleological metaphysical assumptions. Mark Sagoff offers a formal reply. In it, he concedes that I succeeded in establishing that ecologists abandoned robust teleological views long ago and that they use teleological characterizations as metaphors that aid in developing mechanistic explanations of ecological phenomena. Yet, he contends that I did not give enduring criticisms of theoretical ecology a fair shake in my paper. He says this is because enduring criticisms center on concerns about the nature of ecological networks and forces, the instrumentality of ecological laws and theoretical models, and the relation between theoretical and empirical methods in ecology that that paper does not broach. Below I set apart the distinct criticisms Sagoff presents in his commentary and respond to each in turn. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrated presentation of ecological risk from multiple stressors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goussen, Benoit; Price, Oliver R.; Rendal, Cecilie; Ashauer, Roman

2016-10-01

Current environmental risk assessments (ERA) do not account explicitly for ecological factors (e.g. species composition, temperature or food availability) and multiple stressors. Assessing mixtures of chemical and ecological stressors is needed as well as accounting for variability in environmental conditions and uncertainty of data and models. Here we propose a novel probabilistic ERA framework to overcome these limitations, which focusses on visualising assessment outcomes by construct-ing and interpreting prevalence plots as a quantitative prediction of risk. Key components include environmental scenarios that integrate exposure and ecology, and ecological modelling of relevant endpoints to assess the effect of a combination of stressors. Our illustrative results demonstrate the importance of regional differences in environmental conditions and the confounding interactions of stressors. Using this framework and prevalence plots provides a risk-based approach that combines risk assessment and risk management in a meaningful way and presents a truly mechanistic alternative to the threshold approach. Even whilst research continues to improve the underlying models and data, regulators and decision makers can already use the framework and prevalence plots. The integration of multiple stressors, environmental conditions and variability makes ERA more relevant and realistic.

Integrated presentation of ecological risk from multiple stressors.

PubMed

Goussen, Benoit; Price, Oliver R; Rendal, Cecilie; Ashauer, Roman

2016-10-26

Current environmental risk assessments (ERA) do not account explicitly for ecological factors (e.g. species composition, temperature or food availability) and multiple stressors. Assessing mixtures of chemical and ecological stressors is needed as well as accounting for variability in environmental conditions and uncertainty of data and models. Here we propose a novel probabilistic ERA framework to overcome these limitations, which focusses on visualising assessment outcomes by construct-ing and interpreting prevalence plots as a quantitative prediction of risk. Key components include environmental scenarios that integrate exposure and ecology, and ecological modelling of relevant endpoints to assess the effect of a combination of stressors. Our illustrative results demonstrate the importance of regional differences in environmental conditions and the confounding interactions of stressors. Using this framework and prevalence plots provides a risk-based approach that combines risk assessment and risk management in a meaningful way and presents a truly mechanistic alternative to the threshold approach. Even whilst research continues to improve the underlying models and data, regulators and decision makers can already use the framework and prevalence plots. The integration of multiple stressors, environmental conditions and variability makes ERA more relevant and realistic.

Ecological Dimensions of Information Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steinerova, Jela

2010-01-01

Introduction: We examine relationships between information literacy and information ecology with regard to conceptual innovation in information science. We aim to expand our understanding of human information behaviour and relevance assessment in the electronic environment. Method: Conceptual analysis and conceptual mapping is used and…

Amphibian molecular ecology and how it has informed conservation.

PubMed

McCartney-Melstad, Evan; Shaffer, H Bradley

2015-10-01

Molecular ecology has become one of the key tools in the modern conservationist's kit. Here we review three areas where molecular ecology has been applied to amphibian conservation: genes on landscapes, within-population processes, and genes that matter. We summarize relevant analytical methods, recent important studies from the amphibian literature, and conservation implications for each section. Finally, we include five in-depth examples of how molecular ecology has been successfully applied to specific amphibian systems. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Art of Empathy: A Mixed Methods Case Study of a Critical Place-Based Art Education Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bertling, Joy G.

2015-01-01

Bowers (2001) described how our ecological crisis is marked by metaphors of difference and separation. By adopting an ecological paradigm, students have the opportunity to move past harmful distinctions that have characterized relations with the earth. Instead, students can move to a deep recognition of the interconnectedness of living things.…

Conservation genetics of the genus Martes: Assessing within-species movements, units to conserve, and connectivity across ecological and evolutionary time [Chapter 17

Treesearch

Michael K. Schwartz; Aritz Ruiz-Gonzalez; Ryuchi Masuda; Cino Pertoldi

2012-01-01

Understanding the physical and temporal factors that structure Martes populations is essential to the conservation and management of the 8 recognized Martes species. Recently, advances in 3 distinct subdisciplines in molecular ecology have provided insights into historical and contemporary environmental factors that have created population substructure and influenced...

Emerging issues in urban ecology: implications for research, social justice, human health, and well-being

Treesearch

Viniece Jennings; Myron F. Floyd; Danielle Shanahan; Christopher Coutts; Alex Sinykin

2017-01-01

Urbanization affects landscape structure and the overall human condition in numerous ways. Green spaces include vegetated land cover (e.g., urban forests, trees, riparian zones, parks) which play a distinctive role in urban ecology. This article reviews emergent literature on the linkages between urban green spaces, social justice, and human health. We explore this...

Strain-specific functional and numerical responses are required to evaluate impacts on predator-prey dynamics.

PubMed

Yang, Zhou; Lowe, Chris D; Crowther, Will; Fenton, Andy; Watts, Phillip C; Montagnes, David J S

2013-02-01

We use strains recently collected from the field to establish cultures; then, through laboratory studies we investigate how among strain variation in protozoan ingestion and growth rates influences population dynamics and intraspecific competition. We focused on the impact of changing temperature because of its well-established effects on protozoan rates and its ecological relevance, from daily fluctuations to climate change. We show, first, that there is considerable inter-strain variability in thermal sensitivity of maximum growth rate, revealing distinct differences among multiple strains of our model species Oxyrrhis marina. We then intensively examined two representative strains that exhibit distinctly different thermal responses and parameterised the influence of temperature on their functional and numerical responses. Finally, we assessed how these responses alter predator-prey population dynamics. We do this first considering a standard approach, which assumes that functional and numerical responses are directly coupled, and then compare these results with a novel framework that incorporates both functional and numerical responses in a fully parameterised model. We conclude that: (i) including functional diversity of protozoa at the sub-species level will alter model predictions and (ii) including directly measured, independent functional and numerical responses in a model can provide a more realistic account of predator-prey dynamics.

Mercury Stable Isotopes Discriminate Different Populations of European Seabass and Trace Potential Hg Sources around Europe.

PubMed

Cransveld, Alice; Amouroux, David; Tessier, Emmanuel; Koutrakis, Emmanuil; Ozturk, Ayaka A; Bettoso, Nicola; Mieiro, Cláudia L; Bérail, Sylvain; Barre, Julien P G; Sturaro, Nicolas; Schnitzler, Joseph; Das, Krishna

2017-11-07

Our study reports the first data on mercury (Hg) isotope composition in marine European fish, for seven distinct populations of the European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax. The use of δ 202 Hg and Δ 199 Hg values in SIBER enabled us to estimate Hg isotopic niches, successfully discriminating several populations. Recursive-partitioning analyses demonstrated the relevance of Hg stable isotopes as discriminating tools. Hg isotopic values also provided insight on Hg contamination sources for biota in coastal environment. The overall narrow range of δ 202 Hg around Europe was suggested to be related to a global atmospheric contamination while δ 202 Hg at some sites was linked either to background contamination, or with local contamination sources. Δ 199 Hg was related to Hg levels of fish but we also suggest a relation with ecological conditions. Throughout this study, results from the Black Sea population stood out, displaying a Hg cycling similar to fresh water lakes. Our findings bring out the possibility to use Hg isotopes in order to discriminate distinct populations, to explore the Hg cycle on a large scale (Europe) and to distinguish sites contaminated by global versus local Hg source. The interest of using Hg sable isotopes to investigate the whole European Hg cycle is clearly highlighted.

Escherichia coli's water load affects zebrafish (Danio rerio) behavior.

PubMed

Amorim, João; Fernandes, Miguel; Abreu, Isabel; Tavares, Fernando; Oliva-Teles, Luis

2018-05-01

Traditional physico-chemical sensors are becoming an obsolete tool for environmental quality assessment. Biomonitoring techniques, such as biological early warning systems present the advantage of being sensitivity, fast, non-invasive and ecologically relevant. In this work, we applied a video tracking system, developed with zebrafish (Danio rerio), to detect microbiological contamination in water. Using the fishs' behavior response, the system was able to detect the presence of a non-pathogenic environmental strain of Escherichia coli, at three different levels of contamination: 600, 1800 and 5000 CFU/100 mL (colony forming units/100 mL). Data was collected during 50 min of exposure and analyzed with the artificial neural networks Self-organizing Map and Multi-layer Perceptron. The behavior of exposed fish was more erratic, with pronounced and rapid changes on movement direction and with significant less exploratory activity. The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity values regarding the detection capability (distinction between presence or absence of contamination) ranged from 89 to 100%. Regarding the classification capability (distinction between experimental conditions), the values ranged from 67 to 89%. This research may be a valuable contribution to improve water monitoring and management strategies, by taking as reference the effects on biosensors, without a biased anthropocentric perspective. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evolution of enzymes in a series is driven by dissimilar functional demands.

PubMed

Salvador, Armindo; Savageau, Michael A

2006-02-14

That distinct enzyme activities in an unbranched metabolic pathway are evolutionarily tuned to a single functional requirement is a pervasive assumption. Here we test this assumption by examining the activities of two consecutively acting enzymes in human erythrocytes with an approach to quantitative evolutionary design that avoids the above-mentioned assumption. We previously found that avoidance of NADPH depletion during the pulses of oxidative load to which erythrocytes are normally exposed is the main functional requirement mediating selection for high glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity. In the present study, we find that, in contrast, the maintenance of oxidized glutathione at low concentrations is the main functional requirement mediating selection for high glutathione reductase activity. The results in this case show that, contrary to the assumption of a single functional requirement, natural selection for the normal activities of the distinct enzymes in the pathway is mediated by different requirements. On the other hand, the results agree with the more general principles that underlie our approach. Namely, that (i) the values of biochemical parameters evolve so as to fulfill the various performance requirements that are relevant to achieve high fitness, and (ii) these performance requirements can be inferred from quantitative systems theory considerations, informed by knowledge of specific aspects of the biochemistry, physiology, genetics, and ecology of the organism.

External morphology of eyes and Nebenaugen of caridean decapods–ecological and systematic considerations

PubMed Central

Dobson, Nicola; De Grave, Sammy

2015-01-01

Most caridean decapods have compound eyes of the reflecting superposition kind, and additionally some possess an accessory eye-like organ of unknown function, also referred to as the nebenauge. We examined 308 caridean genera to assess the general morphology of the eye, rostrum length, eye diameter and the presence or absence and, when present, the diameter of the nebenauge. We have attempted to relate these data to ecological and taxonomic considerations. We consider there to be 6 distinct eye types based on the margin between the eyestalk and cornea. The presence of nebenaugen appears to be generally linked to an active lifestyle, as evidenced by the fact that species that have nebenaugen tend to have larger eyes and are more likely to have a distinct rostrum. We suggest that the inconsistencies in its presence/absence under both systematic and ecological lenses may indicate that when present it has various roles relating to behavioural and physiological rhythms. PMID:26312177

Ecological and evolutionary drivers of the elevational gradient of diversity.

PubMed

Laiolo, Paola; Pato, Joaquina; Obeso, José Ramón

2018-05-02

Ecological, evolutionary, spatial and neutral theories make distinct predictions and provide distinct explanations for the mechanisms that control the relationship between diversity and the environment. Here, we test predictions of the elevational diversity gradient focusing on Iberian bumblebees, grasshoppers and birds. Processes mediated by local abundance and regional diversity concur in explaining local diversity patterns along elevation. Effects expressed through variation in abundance were similar among taxa and point to the overriding role of a physical factor, temperature. This determines how energy is distributed among individuals and ultimately how the resulting pattern of abundance affects species incidence. Effects expressed through variation in regional species pools depended instead on taxon-specific evolutionary history, and lead to diverging responses under similar environmental pressures. Local filters and regional variation also explain functional diversity gradients, in line with results from species richness that indicate an (local) ecological and (regional) historical unfolding of diversity-elevation relationships. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Synthesis of lower treeline limber pine (Pinus flexilis) woodland knowledge, research needs, and management considerations

Treesearch

Robert E. Means

2011-01-01

Lower treeline limber pine woodlands have received little attention in peer-reviewed literature and in management strategies. These ecologically distinct systems are thought to be seed repositories between discontinuous populations in the northern and central Rocky Mountains, serving as seed sources for bird dispersal between distinct mountain ranges. Their position on...

Himalayan uplift shaped biomes in Miocene temperate Asia: evidence from leguminous Caragana

Treesearch

Ming-Li Zhang; Xiao-Guo Xiang; Juan-Juan Xue; Stewart C. Sanderson; Peter W. Fritsch

2016-01-01

Caragana, with distinctive variation in leaf and rachis characters, exhibits three centers of geographic distribution, i.e., Central Asia, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), and East Asia, corresponding to distinct biomes. Because Caragana species are often ecologically dominant components of the vegetation in these regions, it is regarded as a key taxon for...

A Single-Granule-Level Approach Reveals Ecological Heterogeneity in an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor

PubMed Central

Mei, Ran; Narihiro, Takashi; Bocher, Benjamin T. W.; Yamaguchi, Takashi; Liu, Wen-Tso

2016-01-01

Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor has served as an effective process to treat industrial wastewater such as purified terephthalic acid (PTA) wastewater. For optimal UASB performance, balanced ecological interactions between syntrophs, methanogens, and fermenters are critical. However, much of the interactions remain unclear because UASB have been studied at a “macro”-level perspective of the reactor ecosystem. In reality, such reactors are composed of a suite of granules, each forming individual micro-ecosystems treating wastewater. Thus, typical approaches may be oversimplifying the complexity of the microbial ecology and granular development. To identify critical microbial interactions at both macro- and micro- level ecosystem ecology, we perform community and network analyses on 300 PTA–degrading granules from a lab-scale UASB reactor and two full-scale reactors. Based on MiSeq-based 16S rRNA gene sequencing of individual granules, different granule-types co-exist in both full-scale reactors regardless of granule size and reactor sampling depth, suggesting that distinct microbial interactions occur in different granules throughout the reactor. In addition, we identify novel networks of syntrophic metabolic interactions in different granules, perhaps caused by distinct thermodynamic conditions. Moreover, unseen methanogenic relationships (e.g. “Candidatus Aminicenantes” and Methanosaeta) are observed in UASB reactors. In total, we discover unexpected microbial interactions in granular micro-ecosystems supporting UASB ecology and treatment through a unique single-granule level approach. PMID:27936088

Disease Dynamics in Ants: A Critical Review of the Ecological Relevance of Using Generalist Fungi to Study Infections in Insect Societies.

PubMed

Loreto, R G; Hughes, D P

2016-01-01

It is assumed that social life can lead to the rapid spread of infectious diseases and outbreaks. In ants, disease outbreaks are rare and the expression of collective behaviors is invoked to explain the absence of epidemics in natural populations. Here, we address the ecological approach employed by many studies that have notably focused (89% of the studies) on two genera of generalist fungal parasites (Beauveria and Metarhizium). We ask whether these are the most representative models to study the evolutionary ecology of ant-fungal parasite interactions. To assess this, we critically examine the literature on ants and their interactions with fungal parasites from the past 114years (1900-2014). We discuss how current evolutionary ecology approaches emerged from studies focused on the biological control of pest ants. We also analyzed the ecological relevance of the laboratory protocols used in evolutionary ecology studies employing generalist parasites, as well as the rare natural occurrence of these parasites on ants. After a detailed consideration of all the publications, we suggest that using generalist pathogens such as Beauveria and Metarhizium is not an optimal approach if the goal is to study the evolutionary ecology of disease in ants. We conclude by advocating for approaches that incorporate greater realism. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Land management in the Anthropocene: is history still relevant?: Incorporating historical ecology and climate change into land management; Lansdowne, Virginia, 22–25 April 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Safford, Hugh D.; Betancourt, Julio L.; Hayward, Gregory D.; Wiens, John A.; Regan, Claudia M.

2008-01-01

Ecological restoration, conservation, and land management are often based on comparisons with reference sites or time periods, which are assumed to represent “natural” or “properly functioning” conditions. Such reference conditions can provide a vision of the conservation or management goal and a means to measure progress toward that vision. Although historical ecology has been used successfully to guide resource management in many parts of the world, the continuing relevance of history is now being questioned. Some scientists doubt that lessons from the past can inform management in what may be a dramatically different future, given profound climate change, accelerated land use, and an onslaught of plant and animal invasions.

Exploring vegetation in the fourth dimension.

PubMed

Mitchell, Fraser J G

2011-01-01

Much ecological research focuses on changes in vegetation on spatial scales from stands to landscapes; however, capturing data on vegetation change over relevant timescales remains a challenge. Pollen analysis offers unrivalled access to data with global coverage over long timescales. Robust techniques have now been developed that enable pollen data to be converted into vegetation data in terms of individual taxa, plant communities or biomes, with the possibility of deriving from those data a range of plant attributes and ecological indicators. In this review, I discuss how coupling pollen with macrofossil, charcoal and genetic data opens up the extensive pollen databases to investigation of the drivers of vegetation change over time and also provides extensive data sets for testing hypotheses with wide ecological relevance. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ecology, Pollution, Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turk, Amos; And Others

Elements of environmental science and how the science is related to the more traditionally established disciplines are explored in this supplementary text. Two aspects of environmental science are considered--subject matter and decision making. Relevant background material in the physical sciences is presented under the following topics: ecology,…

Is the ecological belt zonation of the Swiss Alps relevant for moth diversity and turnover?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beck, Jan; Rüdlinger, Cecil M.; McCain, Christy M.

2017-04-01

Mountain ecosystems are traditionally envisioned as elevational belts of homogenous vegetation, separated by intervening ecotones. Recent research has cast doubt on such predictable layering at least in animal communities. We test the link of two a priori defined ecological belt zonations to noctuid moth distributions in the Swiss Alps. Predictions, in particular, were a coincidence of proposed ecotones with increased range endpoint frequencies and with increased species turnover or species richness between equidistant elevational bands. Using >320,000 distributional records for >500 noctuid species, we found no support for these three predictions despite several contrasting analytical approaches. Concurrent with recently published vertebrate data, we conclude that simple ecological belt zonations are unrelated to the moth communities found along mountain slopes. Rather, species are distributed idiosyncratically following their specific niche requirements. Additional rigorous evidence, particularly comparing insect clades spanning a spectrum of host-plant relationships, may be required to support the relevance of the ecological belt concept in structuring mountain ecosystems beyond tree and plant communities.

Essential Annotation Schema for Ecology (EASE)—A framework supporting the efficient data annotation and faceted navigation in ecology

PubMed Central

Eichenberg, David; Liebergesell, Mario; König-Ries, Birgitta; Wirth, Christian

2017-01-01

Ecology has become a data intensive science over the last decades which often relies on the reuse of data in cross-experimental analyses. However, finding data which qualifies for the reuse in a specific context can be challenging. It requires good quality metadata and annotations as well as efficient search strategies. To date, full text search (often on the metadata only) is the most widely used search strategy although it is known to be inaccurate. Faceted navigation is providing a filter mechanism which is based on fine granular metadata, categorizing search objects along numeric and categorical parameters relevant for their discovery. Selecting from these parameters during a full text search creates a system of filters which allows to refine and improve the results towards more relevance. We developed a framework for the efficient annotation and faceted navigation in ecology. It consists of an XML schema for storing the annotation of search objects and is accompanied by a vocabulary focused on ecology to support the annotation process. The framework consolidates ideas which originate from widely accepted metadata standards, textbooks, scientific literature, and vocabularies as well as from expert knowledge contributed by researchers from ecology and adjacent disciplines. PMID:29023519

Estrogenic chemical effects are independent from the degree of sex role reversal in pipefish.

PubMed

Sárria, Marisa P; Santos, Miguel M; Castro, L Filipe C; Vieira, Natividade M; Monteiro, Nuno M

2013-12-15

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have been reported to disturb several ecological relevant endpoints. Surprisingly, EDC-induced effects on fish sexual behaviour have been poorly studied despite the fact that even subtle alterations might contribute to a disruption of sexual interactions, thus negatively impacting reproduction. As the few assessments on sexual behaviour have been conducted in species with orthodox sex roles, it might be argued that sex-role reversed species might provide a potentially complementary system to further explore the effects of EDCs on reproduction. In the present study, two pipefish species with distinct degrees of sex-role reversal were selected to further elucidate the impact of chronic EE2 exposure on sexual behaviour and reproduction-related endpoints. The obtained results indicate that, independently of the degree of sex role reversal, courtship behaviour seems to resist oestrogenic chemical exposure. However, exposure to environmentally relevant EE2 levels did induce a complete absence of pregnancies at 18 ng/L. Even though pregnancies were observed at intermediate concentrations, the percentage of non-transferred or misplaced oocytes increased and a dose-dependent decrease of oocyte volume was observed. Imbalances in the oogenesis process, induction of vitellogenin in males and the absence of pregnancies highlight that environmental relevant concentrations of EE2 have the potential to negatively affect pipefish populations, most of them inhabiting coastal areas where oestrogenic contamination is more prevalent. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Operationalizing the social-ecological systems framework to assess sustainability.

PubMed

Leslie, Heather M; Basurto, Xavier; Nenadovic, Mateja; Sievanen, Leila; Cavanaugh, Kyle C; Cota-Nieto, Juan José; Erisman, Brad E; Finkbeiner, Elena; Hinojosa-Arango, Gustavo; Moreno-Báez, Marcia; Nagavarapu, Sriniketh; Reddy, Sheila M W; Sánchez-Rodríguez, Alexandra; Siegel, Katherine; Ulibarria-Valenzuela, José Juan; Weaver, Amy Hudson; Aburto-Oropeza, Octavio

2015-05-12

Environmental governance is more effective when the scales of ecological processes are well matched with the human institutions charged with managing human-environment interactions. The social-ecological systems (SESs) framework provides guidance on how to assess the social and ecological dimensions that contribute to sustainable resource use and management, but rarely if ever has been operationalized for multiple localities in a spatially explicit, quantitative manner. Here, we use the case of small-scale fisheries in Baja California Sur, Mexico, to identify distinct SES regions and test key aspects of coupled SESs theory. Regions that exhibit greater potential for social-ecological sustainability in one dimension do not necessarily exhibit it in others, highlighting the importance of integrative, coupled system analyses when implementing spatial planning and other ecosystem-based strategies.

Arcella peruviana sp. nov. (Amoebozoa: Arcellinida, Arcellidae), a new species from a tropical peatland in Amazonia.

PubMed

Reczuga, Monika K; Swindles, Graeme T; Grewling, Łukasz; Lamentowicz, Mariusz

2015-10-01

There has only been one study on the ecology of testate amoebae from Amazonian peatlands, despite Amazonia being a biodiversity hotspot of global importance. During analysis of litter samples from Aucayacu peatland, western (Peruvian) Amazonia, we discovered a testate amoeba with a distinct morphology unlike any other species reported previously. We describe a new species, Arcella peruviana, based on its distinct morphology, compare it to morphologically similar species and provide information about its ecology. This new species is characterised by a distinct cruciform aperture (diameter ranges between 12 and 17μm) which is slightly invaginated. The test is small (height 43-57μm) and polygonal in cross-section. Our discovery suggests the existence of an unknown diversity of testate amoebae in Amazonia. The absence of the new Arcella species in more intensively-sampled regions supports the view that protists have restricted distributions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Salient Ecological Sensitive Regions of Central Western Ghats, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramachandra, T. V.; Bharath, Setturu; Subash Chandran, M. D.; Joshi, N. V.

2018-05-01

Ecologically sensitive regions (ESRs) are the `ecological units' with the exceptional biotic and abiotic elements. Identification of ESRs considering spatially both ecological and social dimensions of environmental variables helps in ecological and conservation planning as per Biodiversity Act, 2002, Government of India. The current research attempts to integrate ecological and environmental considerations into administration, and prioritizes regions at Panchayat levels (local administrative unit) in Uttara Kannada district, Central Western Ghats, Karnataka state considering attributes (biological, Geo-climatic, Social, etc.) as ESR (1-4) through weightage score metrics. The region has the distinction of having highest forest area (80.48%) in Karnataka State, India and has been undergoing severe anthropogenic pressures impacting biogeochemistry, hydrology, food security, climate and socio-economic systems. Prioritisation of ESRs helps in the implementation of the sustainable developmental framework with the appropriate conservation strategies through the involvement of local stakeholders.

Salient Ecological Sensitive Regions of Central Western Ghats, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramachandra, T. V.; Bharath, Setturu; Subash Chandran, M. D.; Joshi, N. V.

2018-02-01

Ecologically sensitive regions (ESRs) are the `ecological units' with the exceptional biotic and abiotic elements. Identification of ESRs considering spatially both ecological and social dimensions of environmental variables helps in ecological and conservation planning as per Biodiversity Act, 2002, Government of India. The current research attempts to integrate ecological and environmental considerations into administration, and prioritizes regions at Panchayat levels (local administrative unit) in Uttara Kannada district, Central Western Ghats, Karnataka state considering attributes (biological, Geo-climatic, Social, etc.) as ESR (1-4) through weightage score metrics. The region has the distinction of having highest forest area (80.48%) in Karnataka State, India and has been undergoing severe anthropogenic pressures impacting biogeochemistry, hydrology, food security, climate and socio-economic systems. Prioritisation of ESRs helps in the implementation of the sustainable developmental framework with the appropriate conservation strategies through the involvement of local stakeholders.

The Challenges and Relevance of Exploring the Genetics of North Africa's "Barbary Lion" and the Conservation of Putative Descendants in Captivity.

PubMed

Black, Simon A

2016-01-01

The lions of North Africa were unique in ecological terms as well as from a human cultural perspective and were the definitive lions of Roman and Medieval Europe. Labelled "Barbary" lions, they were once numerous in North Africa but were exterminated by the mid-20th century. Despite subsequent degeneration of the Atlas Mountain ecosystem through human pressures, the feasibility of lion reintroduction has been debated since the 1970s. Research on the long-established captive lion collection traditionally kept by the sultans and kings of Morocco has enabled selective breeding coordinated across Moroccan and European zoos involving a significant number of animals. Molecular genetic research has recently provided insights into lion phylogeny which, despite previous suggestions that all lions share recent common ancestry, now indicates clear distinctions between lions in North, West, and Central Africa, the Middle East, and India versus those in Southern and Eastern Africa. A review of the evolutionary relevance of North African lions highlights the important challenges and opportunities in understanding relationships between Moroccan lions, extinct North African lions, and extant lion populations in India and West and Central Africa and the potential role for lions in ecosystem recovery in those regions.

The Challenges and Relevance of Exploring the Genetics of North Africa's “Barbary Lion” and the Conservation of Putative Descendants in Captivity

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

The lions of North Africa were unique in ecological terms as well as from a human cultural perspective and were the definitive lions of Roman and Medieval Europe. Labelled “Barbary” lions, they were once numerous in North Africa but were exterminated by the mid-20th century. Despite subsequent degeneration of the Atlas Mountain ecosystem through human pressures, the feasibility of lion reintroduction has been debated since the 1970s. Research on the long-established captive lion collection traditionally kept by the sultans and kings of Morocco has enabled selective breeding coordinated across Moroccan and European zoos involving a significant number of animals. Molecular genetic research has recently provided insights into lion phylogeny which, despite previous suggestions that all lions share recent common ancestry, now indicates clear distinctions between lions in North, West, and Central Africa, the Middle East, and India versus those in Southern and Eastern Africa. A review of the evolutionary relevance of North African lions highlights the important challenges and opportunities in understanding relationships between Moroccan lions, extinct North African lions, and extant lion populations in India and West and Central Africa and the potential role for lions in ecosystem recovery in those regions. PMID:27656310

Relevance of extracellular DNA in rhizosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pietramellara, Giacomo; Ascher, Judith; Baraniya, Divyashri; Arfaioli, Paola; Ceccherini, Maria Teresa; Hawes, Martha

2013-04-01

One of the most promising areas for future development is the manipulation of the rhizosphere to produce sustainable and efficient agriculture production systems. Using Omics approaches, to define the distinctive features of eDNA systems and structures, will facilitate progress in rhizo-enforcement and biocontrol studies. The relevance of these studies results clear when we consider the plethora of ecological functions in which eDNA is involved. This fraction can be actively extruded by living cells or discharged during cellular lysis and may exert a key role in the stability and variability of the soil bacterial genome, resulting also a source of nitrogen and phosphorus for plants due to the root's capacity to directly uptake short DNA fragments. The adhesive properties of the DNA molecule confer to eDNA the capacity to inhibit or kill pathogenic bacteria by cation limitation induction, and to facilitate formation of biofilm and extracellular traps (ETs), that may protect microorganisms inhabiting biofilm and plant roots against pathogens and allelopathic substances. The ETs are actively extruded by root border cells when they are dispersed in the rhizosphere, conferring to plants the capacity to extend an endogenous pathogen defence system outside the organism. Moreover, eDNA could be involved in rhizoremediation in heavy metal polluted soil acting as a bioflotation reagent.

Anatomy of a Natural Composite Material

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-11-01

from the vitellaria of the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica. Biochemistry 28, 6104-6110. 2. Waite, J.H., Hansen, D.C., & Little, K.T. (1989) The glue...certainly belong to distinct genera and inhabit distinct ecological niches. Adhesive protein sequences from two non-molluscan species, Fasciola hepatica...choros), Gd (Geukensia demissa), Fh ( Fasciola hepatica), Me (Mytilus edulis), Mg (Mytella guyanensis), Mms (Modiolus modiolus squamosus), Pc

Light-Induced Changes in Fatty Acid Profiles of Specific Lipid Classes in Several Freshwater Phytoplankton Species

PubMed Central

Wacker, Alexander; Piepho, Maike; Harwood, John L.; Guschina, Irina A.; Arts, Michael T.

2016-01-01

We tested the influence of two light intensities [40 and 300 μmol PAR / (m2s)] on the fatty acid composition of three distinct lipid classes in four freshwater phytoplankton species. We chose species of different taxonomic classes in order to detect potentially similar reaction characteristics that might also be present in natural phytoplankton communities. From samples of the bacillariophyte Asterionella formosa, the chrysophyte Chromulina sp., the cryptophyte Cryptomonas ovata and the zygnematophyte Cosmarium botrytis we first separated glycolipids (monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, digalactosyldiacylglycerol, and sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol), phospholipids (phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylserine) as well as non-polar lipids (triacylglycerols), before analyzing the fatty acid composition of each lipid class. High variation in the fatty acid composition existed among different species. Individual fatty acid compositions differed in their reaction to changing light intensities in the four species. Although no generalizations could be made for species across taxonomic classes, individual species showed clear but small responses in their ecologically-relevant omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in terms of proportions and of per tissue carbon quotas. Knowledge on how lipids like fatty acids change with environmental or culture conditions is of great interest in ecological food web studies, aquaculture, and biotechnology, since algal lipids are the most important sources of omega-3 long-chain PUFA for aquatic and terrestrial consumers, including humans. PMID:27014290

Biodiversity and industry ecosystem management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coleman, William G.

1996-11-01

The term biodiversity describes the array of interacting, genetically distinct populations and species in a region, the communities they comprise, and the variety of ecosystems of which they are functioning parts. Ecosystem health, a closely related concept, is described in terms of a process identifying biological indicators, end points, and values. The decline of populations or species, an accelerating trend worldwide, can lead to simplification of ecosystem processes, thus threatening the stability and sustainability of ecosystem services directly relevant to human welfare in the chain of economic and ecological relationships. The challenge of addressing issues of such enormous scope and complexity has highlighted the limitations of ecology-as-science. Additionally, biosphere-scale conflicts seem to lie beyond the scope of conventional economics, leading to differences of opinion about the commodity value of biodiversity and of the services that intact ecosystems provide. In the face of these uncertainties, many scientists and economists have adopted principles that clearly assign burdens of proof to those who would promote the loss of biodiversity and that also establish “near-trump” (preeminent) status for ecological integrity. Electric utility facilities and operations impact biodiversity whenever construction, operation, or maintenance of generation, delivery, and support facilities alters landscapes and habitats and thereby impacts species. Although industry is accustomed to dealing with broad environmental concerns (such as global warming or acid rain), the biodiversity issue invokes hemisphere-wide, regional, local, and site-specific concerns all at the same time. Industry can proactively address these issues of scope and scale in two main ways: first, by aligning strategically with the broad research agenda put forth by informed scientists and institutions; and second, by supporting focused management processes whose results will contribute incrementally to the broader agenda of rebuilding or maintaining biodiversity.

Biodiversity and industry ecosystem management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Coleman, W.G.

1996-11-01

Biodiversity describes the array of interacting, genetically distinct populations and species in a region, the communities they are functioning parts. Ecosystem health is a process identifying biological indicators, end points, and values. The decline of populations or species, an accelerating trend worldwide, can lead to simplification of ecosystem processes, thus threatening the stability an sustainability of ecosystem services directly relevant to human welfare in the chain of economic and ecological relationships. The challenge of addressing issues of such enormous scope and complexity has highlighted the limitations of ecology-as-science. Additionally, biosphere-scale conflicts seem to lie beyond the scope of conventional economics,more » leading to differences of opinion about the commodity value of biodiversity and of the services that intact ecosystems provide. In the fact of these uncertainties, many scientists and economists have adopted principles that clearly assign burdens of proof to those who would promote the loss of biodiversity and that also establish {open_quotes}near-trump{close_quotes} (preeminent) status for ecological integrity. Electric utility facilities and operations impact biodiversity whenever construction, operation, or maintenance of generation, delivery, and support facilities alters landscapes and habitats and thereby impacts species. Although industry is accustomed to dealing with broad environmental concerns (such as global warming or acid rain), the biodiversity issue invokes hemisphere-side, regional, local, and site-specific concerns all at the same time. Industry can proactively address these issues of scope and scale in two main ways: first, by aligning strategically with the broad research agenda put forth by informed scientists and institutions; and second, by supporting focused management processes whose results will contribute incrementally to the broader agenda of rebuilding or maintaining biodiversity. 40 refs., 8 figs.« less

Hypoosmotic stress in the mussel Perna perna (Linnaeus, 1758): Is ecological history a determinant for organismal responses?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rola, Regina Coimbra; Souza, Marta Marques; Sandrini, Juliana Zomer

2017-04-01

Ecological history of organisms may be related to different responses and adaptations to stressors. This study aims to evaluate whether marine brown mussels (Perna perna Linnaeus, 1758) collected from sites with distinct histories of fluctuations in abiotic parameters, including salinity, respond differently to hypoosmotic stress. Mussels were collected at different sites (a marine site, with no history of salinity variation, and an estuarine site, with usual salinity variations) and exposed in laboratory for 14 days to hypoosmotic stress (salinities 25 and 20). It was observed that mussels collected at the marine site showed increased oxygen consumption (VO2), reduced haemolymph osmolality and concentrations of Na+, Cl-, and K+; increased levels of ninhydrin-positive substances in the haemolymph, and no changes in gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity, as expected for osmoconforming organisms. For animals collected at the estuarine site, except for VO2, this same pattern was only observed on day 1 of hypoosmotic stress. Unexpectedly, on days 4 and 14, VO2 decreased, the osmolality and ionic concentration returned to near baseline values, and mussels gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity increased at day 4. This long-term response detected for estuarine mussels is similar to that observed for osmoregulating organisms, which is very unexpected for marine bivalves. Despite being novel in the relevant literature, these results suggest that in some situations mussels could adopt osmoregulating behavior, such as increasing Na+/K+-ATPase activity and thereby probably reducing water circulating inside valves. In conclusion, these results indicate that ecological history, shown here by differences in organismal origin, influence physiological parameters of mussels in response to a stressful situation.

Regional Similarities and Consistent Patterns of Local Variation in Beach Sand Bacterial Communities throughout the Northern Hemisphere

PubMed Central

Staley, Christopher

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Recent characterization of the bacterial community structure in beach sands has revealed patterns of biogeography similar to those observed in aquatic environments. Studies to date, however, have mainly focused on subtidal sediments from marine beaches. Here, we investigate the bacterial diversity, using Illumina-based sequencing of the V5-V6 region of the 16S rRNA gene, at 11 beaches representing those next to the Great Lakes, Florida, and the Pacific Ocean. The alpha diversity differed significantly among regions (P < 0.0001), while the within-region diversity was more similar. The beta diversity also differed by region (P < 0.001), where freshwater sands had significantly higher abundances of taxa within the Actinobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia than marine environments. In contrast, marine sands harbored greater abundances of Gammaproteobacteria and Planctomycetes, and those from Florida had more Deltaproteobacteria and Firmicutes. Marine beaches had significantly different phylogenetic community structures (P ≤ 0.018), but freshwater and Florida beaches showed fewer within-region phylogenetic differences. Furthermore, regionally distinct patterns in taxonomic variation were observed in backshore sands, which had communities distinct from those in nearshore sands (P < 0.001). Sample depth minimally influenced the community composition. The results of this study reveal distinct bacterial community structures in sand on a broad geographic scale but moderate regional similarity and suggest that local variation is primarily related to the distance from the shoreline. This study offers a novel comparison of the bacterial communities in freshwater and marine beach sands and provides an important basis for future comparisons and analyses to elucidate factors affecting microbial ecology in this underexplored environment. IMPORTANCE This study presents a large-scale geographic characterization of the bacterial communities present in beach sands. While previous studies have evaluated how environmental factors influence bacterial community composition, few have evaluated bacterial communities in freshwater sands. Furthermore, the use of a consistent methodology to characterize bacterial communities here allowed a novel comparison of communities across geographic regions. We reveal that while the community composition in sands at individual beaches is distinct, beach sands within the same region harbor similar assemblages of bacteria and these assemblages differ greatly between regions. In addition, moisture, associated with distance from the shoreline, strongly influences the bacteria present in sands and more strongly influences the bacteria present than sample depth does. Thus, the data presented here offer an important basis for a broader characterization of the ecology of bacteria in sands, which may also be relevant to public health and resource management initiatives. PMID:26921429

Integrated presentation of ecological risk from multiple stressors

PubMed Central

Goussen, Benoit; Price, Oliver R.; Rendal, Cecilie; Ashauer, Roman

2016-01-01

Current environmental risk assessments (ERA) do not account explicitly for ecological factors (e.g. species composition, temperature or food availability) and multiple stressors. Assessing mixtures of chemical and ecological stressors is needed as well as accounting for variability in environmental conditions and uncertainty of data and models. Here we propose a novel probabilistic ERA framework to overcome these limitations, which focusses on visualising assessment outcomes by construct-ing and interpreting prevalence plots as a quantitative prediction of risk. Key components include environmental scenarios that integrate exposure and ecology, and ecological modelling of relevant endpoints to assess the effect of a combination of stressors. Our illustrative results demonstrate the importance of regional differences in environmental conditions and the confounding interactions of stressors. Using this framework and prevalence plots provides a risk-based approach that combines risk assessment and risk management in a meaningful way and presents a truly mechanistic alternative to the threshold approach. Even whilst research continues to improve the underlying models and data, regulators and decision makers can already use the framework and prevalence plots. The integration of multiple stressors, environmental conditions and variability makes ERA more relevant and realistic. PMID:27782171

[Delineation of ecological security pattern based on ecological network].

PubMed

Fu, Qiang; Gu, Chao Lin

2017-03-18

Ecological network can be used to describe and assess the relationship between spatial organization of landscapes and species survival under the condition of the habitat fragmentation. Taking Qingdao City as the research area, woodland and wetland ecological networks in 2005 were simulated based on least cost path method, and the ecological networks were classified by their corridors' cumulative cost value. We made importance distinction of ecological network structure elements such as patches and corridors using betweenness centrality index and correlation length-percentage of importance of omitted patches index, and then created the structure system of ecological network. Considering the effects brought by the newly-added construction land from 2005 to 2013, we proposed the ecological security pattern for construction land change of Qingdao City. The results showed that based on ecological network framework, graph theory based methods could be used to quantify both attributes of specific ecological land (e.g., the area of an ecological network patch) and functional connection between ecological lands. Between 2005 and 2013, large area of wetlands had been destroyed by newly-added construction land, while the role of specific woodland and wetland played in the connection of the whole network had not been considered. The delineation of ecological security pattern based on ecological network could optimize regional ecological basis, provide accurate spatial explicit decision for ecological conservation and restoration, and meanwhile provide scientific and reasonable space guidance for urban spatial expansion.

A taxonomic framework for emerging groups of ecologically important marine gammaproteobacteria based on the reconstruction of evolutionary relationships using genome-scale data

PubMed Central

Spring, Stefan; Scheuner, Carmen; Göker, Markus; Klenk, Hans-Peter

2015-01-01

In recent years a large number of isolates were obtained from saline environments that are phylogenetically related to distinct clades of oligotrophic marine gammaproteobacteria, which were originally identified in seawater samples using cultivation independent methods and are characterized by high seasonal abundances in coastal environments. To date a sound taxonomic framework for the classification of these ecologically important isolates and related species in accordance with their evolutionary relationships is missing. In this study we demonstrate that a reliable allocation of members of the oligotrophic marine gammaproteobacteria (OMG) group and related species to higher taxonomic ranks is possible by phylogenetic analyses of whole proteomes but also of the RNA polymerase beta subunit, whereas phylogenetic reconstructions based on 16S rRNA genes alone resulted in unstable tree topologies with only insignificant bootstrap support. The identified clades could be correlated with distinct phenotypic traits illustrating an adaptation to common environmental factors in their evolutionary history. Genome wide gene-content analyses revealed the existence of two distinct ecological guilds within the analyzed lineage of marine gammaproteobacteria which can be distinguished by their trophic strategies. Based on our results a novel order within the class Gammaproteobacteria is proposed, which is designated Cellvibrionales ord. nov. and comprises the five novel families Cellvibrionaceae fam. nov., Halieaceae fam. nov., Microbulbiferaceae fam. nov., Porticoccaceae fam. nov., and Spongiibacteraceae fam. nov. PMID:25914684

Community Psychology, Planning, and Learning: A U.S. Perspective on Sustainable Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perkins, Douglas D.

An ecological framework for predicting citizen participation in grassroots community organizations and predicting community disorder problems (such as crime and fear) was developed and tested. The framework, which is called an ecological framework for sustainable community learning and development, delineates the relevant economic, political,…

Ecological Unequal Exchange: International Trade and Uneven Utilization of Environmental Space in the World System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, James

2007-01-01

We evaluate the argument that international trade influences disproportionate cross-national utilization of global renewable natural resources. Such uneven dynamics are relevant to the consideration of inequitable appropriation of environmental space in particular and processes of ecological unequal exchange more generally. Using OLS regression…

Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for Oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur - Ecological Criteria (Final Report, Dec 2008)

EPA Science Inventory

EPA announced the availability of the final report, Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for Oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur - Ecological Criteria. This document represents a concise synthesis and evaluation of the most policy-relevant science and will ultimately provide the ...

Surprises and insights from long-term aquatic datasets and experiments

Treesearch

Walter K. Dodds; Christopher T. Robinson; Evelyn E. Gaiser; Gretchen J.A. Hansen; Heather Powell; Joseph M. Smith; Nathaniel B. Morse; Sherri L. Johnson; Stanley V. Gregory; Tisza Bell; Timothy K. Kratz; William H. McDowell

2012-01-01

Long-term research on freshwater ecosystems provides insights that can be difficult to obtain from other approaches. Widespread monitoring of ecologically relevant water-quality parameters spanning decades can facilitate important tests of ecological principles. Unique long-term data sets and analytical tools are increasingly available, allowing for powerful and...

Crossing Boundaries in Undergraduate Biology Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vanderklein, Dirk; Munakata, Mika; McManus, Jason

2016-01-01

In an effort to make mathematics relevant to biology students, the authors developed two modules that sought to integrate mathematics and ecology instruction to differing degrees. The modules were developed by a team of biology and mathematics educators and were implemented in an ecology course using three different instructional methods for three…

Earthly Matters: Learning Occurs When You Hear the Grass Singing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Birt, Deborah; Krug, Don H.; Sheridan, Mary

1997-01-01

Discusses the actions and approaches advanced during the 1996 Summer Colloquium, "Art and Ecology: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Curriculum." Illustrates how action-oriented inquiry makes learning relevant to all people through exploring the poetry of place. The colloquium identified community ecological issues that could be examined through…

U.S. Geological Survey Science Support Strategy for Biscayne National Park and Surrounding Areas in Southeastern Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wolfert-Lohmann, Melinda A.; Langevin, Christian D.; Jones, Sonya A.; Reich, Chris D.; Wingard, Georgina L.; Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Cunningham, Kevin J.

2008-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey conducts a wide range of research in and around the Biscayne National Park region of southern Florida. This research encompasses the biologic, ecologic, meteorologic, geologic, and hydrologic components of the system, including water-quality analyses, ground-water modeling, hydrogeologic-data collection, ecologic-habitat evaluations, wetlands characterizations, biogeochemistry of ecosystems, and paleo-ecologic analyses. Relevant information is provided herein for researchers and managers interested in the Biscayne Bay area and about current U.S. Geological Survey efforts that address important resource protection and management issues. Specifically, managers and scientists are provided with information on current and recently completed U.S. Geological Survey projects and a sample listing of potential U.S. Geological Survey research projects addressing relevant issues that face the study area.

Moth and carabid beetle species associated with two ecological phases in northern Michigan.

Treesearch

Timothy T. Work; Deborah G. McCullough; William J. Mattson

1998-01-01

More than 12,300 moths and 2,500 carabid beetles were trapped during 3 years (1993 through 1995) in two different ecological land type phases (ELTP's) in the Huron-Manistee National Forest in Michigan. One ELTP (no. 20) was dominated by oaks, and the other (no. 45) was dominated by sugar maple; each had distinctive kinds of insects, in spite of the fact that many...

Classification and prediction of river network ephemerality and its relevance for waterborne disease epidemiology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez-Saez, Javier; Mande, Theophile; Larsen, Joshua; Ceperley, Natalie; Rinaldo, Andrea

2017-12-01

The transmission of waterborne diseases hinges on the interactions between hydrology and ecology of hosts, vectors and parasites, with the long-term absence of water constituting a strict lower bound. However, the link between spatio-temporal patterns of hydrological ephemerality and waterborne disease transmission is poorly understood and difficult to account for. The use of limited biophysical and hydroclimate information from otherwise data scarce regions is therefore needed to characterize, classify, and predict river network ephemerality in a spatially explicit framework. Here, we develop a novel large-scale ephemerality classification and prediction methodology based on monthly discharge data, water and energy availability, and remote-sensing measures of vegetation, that is relevant to epidemiology, and maintains a mechanistic link to catchment hydrologic processes. Specifically, with reference to the context of Burkina Faso in sub-Saharan Africa, we extract a relevant set of catchment covariates that include the aridity index, annual runoff estimation using the Budyko framework, and hysteretical relations between precipitation and vegetation. Five ephemerality classes, from permanent to strongly ephemeral, are defined from the duration of 0-flow periods that also accounts for the sensitivity of river discharge to the long-lasting drought of the 70's-80's in West Africa. Using such classes, a gradient-boosted tree-based prediction yielded three distinct geographic regions of ephemerality. Importantly, we observe a strong epidemiological association between our predictions of hydrologic ephemerality and the known spatial patterns of schistosomiasis, an endemic parasitic waterborne disease in which infection occurs with human-water contact, and requires aquatic snails as an intermediate host. The general nature of our approach and its relevance for predicting the hydrologic controls on schistosomiasis occurrence provides a pathway for the explicit inclusion of hydrologic drivers within epidemiological models of waterborne disease transmission.

Applying ecological models to communities of genetic elements: the case of neutral theory.

PubMed

Linquist, Stefan; Cottenie, Karl; Elliott, Tyler A; Saylor, Brent; Kremer, Stefan C; Gregory, T Ryan

2015-07-01

A promising recent development in molecular biology involves viewing the genome as a mini-ecosystem, where genetic elements are compared to organisms and the surrounding cellular and genomic structures are regarded as the local environment. Here, we critically evaluate the prospects of ecological neutral theory (ENT), a popular model in ecology, as it applies at the genomic level. This assessment requires an overview of the controversy surrounding neutral models in community ecology. In particular, we discuss the limitations of using ENT both as an explanation of community dynamics and as a null hypothesis. We then analyse a case study in which ENT has been applied to genomic data. Our central finding is that genetic elements do not conform to the requirements of ENT once its assumptions and limitations are made explicit. We further compare this genome-level application of ENT to two other, more familiar approaches in genomics that rely on neutral mechanisms: Kimura's molecular neutral theory and Lynch's mutational-hazard model. Interestingly, this comparison reveals that there are two distinct concepts of neutrality associated with these models, which we dub 'fitness neutrality' and 'competitive neutrality'. This distinction helps to clarify the various roles for neutral models in genomics, for example in explaining the evolution of genome size. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Extending nonlinear analysis to short ecological time series.

PubMed

Hsieh, Chih-hao; Anderson, Christian; Sugihara, George

2008-01-01

Nonlinearity is important and ubiquitous in ecology. Though detectable in principle, nonlinear behavior is often difficult to characterize, analyze, and incorporate mechanistically into models of ecosystem function. One obvious reason is that quantitative nonlinear analysis tools are data intensive (require long time series), and time series in ecology are generally short. Here we demonstrate a useful method that circumvents data limitation and reduces sampling error by combining ecologically similar multispecies time series into one long time series. With this technique, individual ecological time series containing as few as 20 data points can be mined for such important information as (1) significantly improved forecast ability, (2) the presence and location of nonlinearity, and (3) the effective dimensionality (the number of relevant variables) of an ecological system.

Building Interdisciplinary Research Capacity: a Key Challenge for Ecological Approaches in Public Health.

PubMed

Galway, Lindsay P; Parkes, Margot W; Allen, Diana; Takaro, Tim K

2016-01-01

The shortcomings of public health research informed by reductionist and fragmented biomedical approaches and the emergence of wicked problems are fueling a renewed interest in ecological approaches in public health. Despite the central role of interdisciplinarity in the context of ecological approaches in public health research, inadequate attention has been given to the specific challenge of doing interdisciplinary research in practice. As a result, important knowledge gaps exist with regards to the practice of interdisciplinary research. We argue that explicit attention towards the challenge of doing interdisciplinary research is critical in order to effectively apply ecological approaches to public health issues. This paper draws on our experiences developing and conducting an interdisciplinary research project exploring the links among climate change, water, and health to highlight five specific insights which we see as relevant to building capacity for interdisciplinary research specifically, and which have particular relevance to addressing the integrative challenges demanded by ecological approaches to address public health issues. These lessons include: (i) the need for frameworks that facilitate integration; (ii) emphasize learning-by-doing; (iii) the benefits of examining issues at multiple scales; (iv) make the implicit, explicit; and (v) the need for reflective practice. By synthesizing and sharing experiences gained by engaging in interdisciplinary inquiries using an ecological approach, this paper responds to a growing need to build interdisciplinary research capacity as a means for advancing the ecological public health agenda more broadly.

Building Interdisciplinary Research Capacity: a Key Challenge for Ecological Approaches in Public Health

PubMed Central

Galway, Lindsay P.; Parkes, Margot W.; Allen, Diana; Takaro, Tim K.

2016-01-01

The shortcomings of public health research informed by reductionist and fragmented biomedical approaches and the emergence of wicked problems are fueling a renewed interest in ecological approaches in public health. Despite the central role of interdisciplinarity in the context of ecological approaches in public health research, inadequate attention has been given to the specific challenge of doing interdisciplinary research in practice. As a result, important knowledge gaps exist with regards to the practice of interdisciplinary research. We argue that explicit attention towards the challenge of doing interdisciplinary research is critical in order to effectively apply ecological approaches to public health issues. This paper draws on our experiences developing and conducting an interdisciplinary research project exploring the links among climate change, water, and health to highlight five specific insights which we see as relevant to building capacity for interdisciplinary research specifically, and which have particular relevance to addressing the integrative challenges demanded by ecological approaches to address public health issues. These lessons include: (i) the need for frameworks that facilitate integration; (ii) emphasize learning-by-doing; (iii) the benefits of examining issues at multiple scales; (iv) make the implicit, explicit; and (v) the need for reflective practice. By synthesizing and sharing experiences gained by engaging in interdisciplinary inquiries using an ecological approach, this paper responds to a growing need to build interdisciplinary research capacity as a means for advancing the ecological public health agenda more broadly. PMID:29546171

Delineating ecological regions in marine systems: Integrating physical structure and community composition to inform spatial management in the eastern Bering Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, Matthew R.; Hollowed, Anne B.

2014-11-01

Characterizing spatial structure and delineating meaningful spatial boundaries have useful applications to understanding regional dynamics in marine systems, and are integral to ecosystem approaches to fisheries management. Physical structure and drivers combine with biological responses and interactions to organize marine systems in unique ways at multiple scales. We apply multivariate statistical methods to define spatially coherent ecological units or ecoregions in the eastern Bering Sea. We also illustrate a practical approach to integrate data on species distribution, habitat structure and physical forcing mechanisms to distinguish areas with distinct biogeography as one means to define management units in large marine ecosystems. We use random forests to quantify the relative importance of habitat and environmental variables to the distribution of individual species, and to quantify shifts in multispecies assemblages or community composition along environmental gradients. Threshold shifts in community composition are used to identify regions with distinct physical and biological attributes, and to evaluate the relative importance of predictor variables to determining regional boundaries. Depth, bottom temperature and frontal boundaries were dominant factors delineating distinct biological communities in this system, with a latitudinal divide at approximately 60°N. Our results indicate that distinct climatic periods will shift habitat gradients and that dynamic physical variables such as temperature and stratification are important to understanding temporal stability of ecoregion boundaries. We note distinct distribution patterns among functional guilds and also evidence for resource partitioning among individual species within each guild. By integrating physical and biological data to determine spatial patterns in community composition, we partition ecosystems along ecologically significant gradients. This may provide a basis for defining spatial management units or serve as a baseline index for analyses of structural shifts in the physical environment, species abundance and distribution, and community dynamics over time.

Camels, Cormorants, and Kangaroo Rats: Integration and Synthesis in Organismal Biology After World War II.

PubMed

Hagen, Joel B

2015-01-01

During the decades following World War II diverse groups of American biologists established a variety of distinctive approaches to organismal biology. Rhetorically, organismal biology could be used defensively to distinguish established research traditions from perceived threats from newly emerging fields such as molecular biology. But, organismal biologists were also interested in integrating biological disciplines and using a focus on organisms to synthesize levels of organization from molecules and cells to populations and communities. Part of this broad movement was the development of an area of research variously referred to as physiological ecology, environmental physiology, or ecophysiology. This area of research was distinctive in its self-conscious blend of field and laboratory practices and its explicit integration with other areas of biology such as ecology, animal behavior, and evolution in order to study adaptation. Comparing the intersecting careers of Knut Schmidt-Nielsen and George Bartholomew highlights two strikingly different approaches to physiological ecology. These alternative approaches to studying the interactions of organisms and environments also differed in important ways from the organismal biology championed by leading figures in the modern synthesis.

Variation of Oxygenation Conditions on a Hydrocarbonoclastic Microbial Community Reveals Alcanivorax and Cycloclasticus Ecotypes

PubMed Central

Terrisse, Fanny; Cravo-Laureau, Cristiana; Noël, Cyril; Cagnon, Christine; Dumbrell, Alex J.; McGenity, Terry J.; Duran, Robert

2017-01-01

Deciphering the ecology of marine obligate hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria (MOHCB) is of crucial importance for understanding their success in occupying distinct niches in hydrocarbon-contaminated marine environments after oil spills. In marine coastal sediments, MOHCB are particularly subjected to extreme fluctuating conditions due to redox oscillations several times a day as a result of mechanical (tide, waves and currents) and biological (bioturbation) reworking of the sediment. The adaptation of MOHCB to the redox oscillations was investigated by an experimental ecology approach, subjecting a hydrocarbon-degrading microbial community to contrasting oxygenation regimes including permanent anoxic conditions, anoxic/oxic oscillations and permanent oxic conditions. The most ubiquitous MOHCB, Alcanivorax and Cycloclasticus, showed different behaviors, especially under anoxic/oxic oscillation conditions, which were more favorable for Alcanivorax than for Cycloclasticus. The micro-diversity of 16S rRNA gene transcripts from these genera revealed specific ecotypes for different oxygenation conditions and their dynamics. It is likely that such ecotypes allow the colonization of distinct ecological niches that may explain the success of Alcanivorax and Cycloclasticus in hydrocarbon-contaminated coastal sediments during oil-spills. PMID:28861063

Toward refined environmental scenarios for ecological risk assessment of down-the-drain chemicals in freshwater environments.

PubMed

Franco, Antonio; Price, Oliver R; Marshall, Stuart; Jolliet, Olivier; Van den Brink, Paul J; Rico, Andreu; Focks, Andreas; De Laender, Frederik; Ashauer, Roman

2017-03-01

Current regulatory practice for chemical risk assessment suffers from the lack of realism in conventional frameworks. Despite significant advances in exposure and ecological effect modeling, the implementation of novel approaches as high-tier options for prospective regulatory risk assessment remains limited, particularly among general chemicals such as down-the-drain ingredients. While reviewing the current state of the art in environmental exposure and ecological effect modeling, we propose a scenario-based framework that enables a better integration of exposure and effect assessments in a tiered approach. Global- to catchment-scale spatially explicit exposure models can be used to identify areas of higher exposure and to generate ecologically relevant exposure information for input into effect models. Numerous examples of mechanistic ecological effect models demonstrate that it is technically feasible to extrapolate from individual-level effects to effects at higher levels of biological organization and from laboratory to environmental conditions. However, the data required to parameterize effect models that can embrace the complexity of ecosystems are large and require a targeted approach. Experimental efforts should, therefore, focus on vulnerable species and/or traits and ecological conditions of relevance. We outline key research needs to address the challenges that currently hinder the practical application of advanced model-based approaches to risk assessment of down-the-drain chemicals. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:233-248. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Recent changes in ecologically-relevant streamflows in North America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ficklin, D. L.; Abatzoglou, J. T.; Knouft, J.; Robeson, S. M.

2017-12-01

The streamflow regime is a primary regulator of the composition and functioning of freshwater ecosystems. Growth, behavior, and/or reproduction of most freshwater organisms are influenced in some way by the amount of water, including high and low flows, and seasonal fluctuations in water availability in a particular habitat. This work examines trends in ecologically-relevant measures of streamflows from 1980-2015 for over 3,000 streamflow gauges located throughout Canada and United States. Specifically, we examine trends in water year mean flow and variability, as well as trends in high (95th and 99th percentile), low (1st and 5th percentile), and 7- and 3-day maximum and minimum streamflows. The results indicate a clear regional delineation of significant increases of ecologically-relevant streamflows in the northern Central Plains/south-central Canada, upper Midwest (except Michigan and Wisconsin) and northeastern United States/southeastern Canada, while significant decreases are found throughout the southeastern and southwestern United States. The regional agreement between streamflow trends in regulated and unregulated watersheds indicate a widespread climatic influence that is not masked by human alteration of streamflows. We explore the degree to which climate factors explain both interannual variability and observed trends in streamflow to better elucidate the role of top-down climate drivers versus bottom-up land surface drivers on recent trends in ecologically-relevant streamflow. We also explore how these changes in streamflow are affecting water quality such as water temperature and sediment concentration. This type of analysis will aid in highlighting streamflow regions in the United States that are currently sensitive to changes in climate, but may also aid in understanding which regions may be sensitive to future climatic changes.

Colony impact of pesticide-induced sublethal effects on honeybee workers: A simulation study using BEEHAVE.

PubMed

Thorbek, Pernille; Campbell, Peter J; Thompson, Helen M

2017-03-01

Research on neonicotinoids and honeybees have changed focus from direct mortality to sublethal effects. In the present study, a published honeybee model, BEEHAVE, is used to compare induced colony level impact of pesticides including direct mortality, poor brood care, disorientation, and increased handling time in oilseed rape and sunflower crops. Actual effects on individual bees will depend on exposure concentrations, but in the present study large effects were enforced. In oilseed rape, poor brood care had the largest colony impact, because it created a bottleneck for spring build-up of the workforce, and colony impact for all effect types peaked 1 mo after exposure ceased. In sunflower, the later exposure changed the response so colony impact peaked during exposure, and the bottleneck was honey store build-up. In all scenarios, good forage mitigated effects substantially. It is concluded that field studies should continue at least 1 mo after exposure to ensure detection of ecologically relevant sublethal effects. The results indicated that even if a sublethal effect is difficult to detect in the field, subsequent ecologically relevant colony level impacts would be clear if studies are continued for 1 mo after exposure. Guidance for regulatory studies recommends extended observation periods, and published field studies already use extended observation periods, so it is concluded that current methods are adequate for detecting ecologically relevant sublethal effects. Although published laboratory and semifield studies conducted under controlled exposure conditions suggest that sublethal effects may occur, published field studies with neonicotinoid seed treatments, naturally foraging bees, and extended observation periods do not report colony-level effects, suggesting that in these studies no ecologically relevant sublethal effects occurred. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:831-840. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Adding a landscape ecology perspective to conservation and management planning

Treesearch

Kathryn E. Freemark; John R. Probst; John B. Dunning; Salllie J. Hejl

1993-01-01

We briefly review concepts in landscape ecology and discuss their relevance to the conservation and management of neotropical migrant landbirds. We then integrate a landscape perspective into a spatially-hierarchical framework for conservation and management planning for neotropical migrant landbirds (and other biota). The framework outlines a comprehensive approach by...

Passive monitoring techniques for evaluating atmospheric ozone and nitrogen exposure and deposition to California ecosystems

Treesearch

Mark E. Fenn; Andrzej Bytnerowicz; Susan L. Schilling

2018-01-01

Measuring the exposure of ecosystems to ecologically relevant pollutants is needed for evaluating ecosystem effects and to identify regions and resources at risk. In California, ozone (O3) and nitrogen (N) pollutants are of greatest concern for ecological effects. "Passive" monitoring methods have been developed to obtain spatially...

The ecology of forest insect invasions and advances in their management

Treesearch

Eckehard G. Brockerhoff; Andrew M. Liebhold; Herv& #233; Jactel

2006-01-01

Invasions by nonindigenous forest insects can have spectacular effects on the biodiversity, ecology, and economy of affected areas. This introduction explores several critical issues that are generally relevant to invasions by forest insects to provide an extended background for this special issue of the Canadian Journal of Forest Research and...

Transformative Sustainability: Learning from Ecological Systems and Indigenous Wisdom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Heather L.

2015-01-01

Sustainability is becoming increasingly relevant in higher education, as the need to address complex cultural and ecological problems intensifies. How sustainability is taught has a profound influence on the kind of learning that takes place and the impact it has in the world. Sustainability pedagogy is offered as a tool for creating…

Cross-system comparisons elucidate disturbance complexities and generalities

Treesearch

Debra P.C. Peters; Ariel E. Lugo; F. Stuart Chapin; Steward T.A. Pickett; Michael Duniway; Adrian V. Rocha; Frederick J. Swanson; Christine Laney; Julia Jones

2011-01-01

Given that ecological effects of disturbance have been extensively studied in many ecosystems, it is surprising that few quantitative syntheses across diverse ecosystems have been conducted. Multi-system studies tend to be qualitative because they focus on disturbance types that are difficult to measure in an ecologically relevant way. In addition, synthesis of...

Ecological and Developmental Issues in the Practice of Educational Psychology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowler, Josephine

2005-01-01

This conceptual article examines what is meant by the term "ecological-contextual" in relation to the assessment of children's needs. Revisiting the discipline of ethology, the article applies the construct of niche to the human species, including examples from children's experiences to validate the relevance of this link. Issues of…

After 100 years, is coevolution relevant?

Treesearch

Geral I. McDonald

2011-01-01

On the 100th anniversary of the introduction of Cronartium ribicola into western North America, it is fitting to assess the philosophical foundation of plant pathology and forest ecology. We should ask whether this foundation provides sufficient understanding of blister rust, other diseases of North American forests, and general forest ecology to insure the application...

Metamorphosis of a butterfly-associated bacterial community.

PubMed

Hammer, Tobin J; McMillan, W Owen; Fierer, Noah

2014-01-01

Butterflies are charismatic insects that have long been a focus of biological research. They are also habitats for microorganisms, yet these microbial symbionts are little-studied, despite their likely importance to butterfly ecology and evolution. In particular, the diversity and composition of the microbial communities inhabiting adult butterflies remain uncharacterized, and it is unknown how the larval (caterpillar) and adult microbiota compare. To address these knowledge gaps, we used Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA genes from internal bacterial communities associated with multiple life stages of the neotropical butterfly Heliconius erato. We found that the leaf-chewing larvae and nectar- and pollen-feeding adults of H. erato contain markedly distinct bacterial communities, a pattern presumably rooted in their distinct diets. Larvae and adult butterflies host relatively small and similar numbers of bacterial phylotypes, but few are common to both stages. The larval microbiota clearly simplifies and reorganizes during metamorphosis; thus, structural changes in a butterfly's bacterial community parallel those in its own morphology. We furthermore identify specific bacterial taxa that may mediate larval and adult feeding biology in Heliconius and other butterflies. Although male and female Heliconius adults differ in reproductive physiology and degree of pollen feeding, bacterial communities associated with H. erato are not sexually dimorphic. Lastly, we show that captive and wild individuals host different microbiota, a finding that may have important implications for the relevance of experimental studies using captive butterflies.

Metamorphosis of a Butterfly-Associated Bacterial Community

PubMed Central

Hammer, Tobin J.; McMillan, W. Owen; Fierer, Noah

2014-01-01

Butterflies are charismatic insects that have long been a focus of biological research. They are also habitats for microorganisms, yet these microbial symbionts are little-studied, despite their likely importance to butterfly ecology and evolution. In particular, the diversity and composition of the microbial communities inhabiting adult butterflies remain uncharacterized, and it is unknown how the larval (caterpillar) and adult microbiota compare. To address these knowledge gaps, we used Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA genes from internal bacterial communities associated with multiple life stages of the neotropical butterfly Heliconius erato. We found that the leaf-chewing larvae and nectar- and pollen-feeding adults of H. erato contain markedly distinct bacterial communities, a pattern presumably rooted in their distinct diets. Larvae and adult butterflies host relatively small and similar numbers of bacterial phylotypes, but few are common to both stages. The larval microbiota clearly simplifies and reorganizes during metamorphosis; thus, structural changes in a butterfly's bacterial community parallel those in its own morphology. We furthermore identify specific bacterial taxa that may mediate larval and adult feeding biology in Heliconius and other butterflies. Although male and female Heliconius adults differ in reproductive physiology and degree of pollen feeding, bacterial communities associated with H. erato are not sexually dimorphic. Lastly, we show that captive and wild individuals host different microbiota, a finding that may have important implications for the relevance of experimental studies using captive butterflies. PMID:24466308

Microdiversity of an Abundant Terrestrial Bacterium Encompasses Extensive Variation in Ecologically Relevant Traits

DOE PAGES

Chase, Alexander B.; Karaoz, Ulas; Brodie, Eoin L.; ...

2017-11-14

Much genetic diversity within a bacterial community is likely obscured by microdiversity within operational taxonomic units (OTUs) defined by 16S rRNA gene sequences. However, it is unclear how variation within this microdiversity influences ecologically relevant traits. Here, we employ a multifaceted approach to investigate microdiversity within the dominant leaf litter bacterium,Curtobacterium, which comprises 7.8% of the bacterial community at a grassland site undergoing global change manipulations. We use cultured bacterial isolates to interpret metagenomic data, collectedin situover 2 years, together with lab-based physiological assays to determine the extent of trait variation within this abundant OTU. The response ofCurtobacteriumto seasonal variability andmore » the global change manipulations, specifically an increase in relative abundance under decreased water availability, appeared to be conserved across sixCurtobacteriumlineages identified at this site. Genomic and physiological analyses in the lab revealed that degradation of abundant polymeric carbohydrates within leaf litter, cellulose and xylan, is nearly universal across the genus, which may contribute to its high abundance in grassland leaf litter. However, the degree of carbohydrate utilization and temperature preference for this degradation varied greatly among clades. Overall, we find that traits withinCurtobacteriumare conserved at different phylogenetic depths. We speculate that similar to bacteria in marine systems, diverse microbes within this taxon may be structured in distinct ecotypes that are key to understandingCurtobacteriumabundance and distribution in the environment. IMPORTANCE. Despite the plummeting costs of sequencing, characterizing the fine-scale genetic diversity of a microbial community—and interpreting its functional importance—remains a challenge. Indeed, most studies, particularly studies of soil, assess community composition at a broad genetic level by classifying diversity into taxa (OTUs) defined by 16S rRNA sequence similarity. However, these classifications potentially obscure variation in traits that result in fine-scale ecological differentiation among closely related strains. Here, we investigated “microdiversity” in a highly diverse and poorly characterized soil system (leaf litter in a southern Californian grassland). Here, we focused on the most abundant bacterium,Curtobacterium, which by standard methods is grouped into only one OTU. We find that the degree of carbohydrate usage and temperature preference vary within the OTU, whereas its responses to changes in precipitation are relatively uniform. These results suggest that microdiversity may be key to understanding how soil bacterial diversity is linked to ecosystem functioning.« less

Diversity spurs diversification in ecological communities

PubMed Central

Calcagno, Vincent; Jarne, Philippe; Loreau, Michel; Mouquet, Nicolas; David, Patrice

2017-01-01

Diversity is a fundamental, yet threatened, property of ecological systems. The idea that diversity can itself favour diversification, in an autocatalytic process, is very appealing but remains controversial. Here, we study a generalized model of ecological communities and investigate how the level of initial diversity influences the possibility of evolutionary diversification. We show that even simple models of intra- and inter-specific ecological interactions can predict a positive effect of diversity on diversification: adaptive radiations may require a threshold number of species before kicking-off. We call this phenomenon DDAR (diversity-dependent adaptive radiations) and identify mathematically two distinct pathways connecting diversity to diversification, involving character displacement and the positive diversity-productivity relationship. Our results may explain observed delays in adaptive radiations at the macroscale and diversification patterns reported in experimental microbial communities, and shed new light on the dynamics of ecological diversity, the diversity-dependence of diversification rates, and the consequences of biodiversity loss. PMID:28598423

Diversity spurs diversification in ecological communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calcagno, Vincent; Jarne, Philippe; Loreau, Michel; Mouquet, Nicolas; David, Patrice

2017-06-01

Diversity is a fundamental, yet threatened, property of ecological systems. The idea that diversity can itself favour diversification, in an autocatalytic process, is very appealing but remains controversial. Here, we study a generalized model of ecological communities and investigate how the level of initial diversity influences the possibility of evolutionary diversification. We show that even simple models of intra- and inter-specific ecological interactions can predict a positive effect of diversity on diversification: adaptive radiations may require a threshold number of species before kicking-off. We call this phenomenon DDAR (diversity-dependent adaptive radiations) and identify mathematically two distinct pathways connecting diversity to diversification, involving character displacement and the positive diversity-productivity relationship. Our results may explain observed delays in adaptive radiations at the macroscale and diversification patterns reported in experimental microbial communities, and shed new light on the dynamics of ecological diversity, the diversity-dependence of diversification rates, and the consequences of biodiversity loss.

Diversity spurs diversification in ecological communities.

PubMed

Calcagno, Vincent; Jarne, Philippe; Loreau, Michel; Mouquet, Nicolas; David, Patrice

2017-06-09

Diversity is a fundamental, yet threatened, property of ecological systems. The idea that diversity can itself favour diversification, in an autocatalytic process, is very appealing but remains controversial. Here, we study a generalized model of ecological communities and investigate how the level of initial diversity influences the possibility of evolutionary diversification. We show that even simple models of intra- and inter-specific ecological interactions can predict a positive effect of diversity on diversification: adaptive radiations may require a threshold number of species before kicking-off. We call this phenomenon DDAR (diversity-dependent adaptive radiations) and identify mathematically two distinct pathways connecting diversity to diversification, involving character displacement and the positive diversity-productivity relationship. Our results may explain observed delays in adaptive radiations at the macroscale and diversification patterns reported in experimental microbial communities, and shed new light on the dynamics of ecological diversity, the diversity-dependence of diversification rates, and the consequences of biodiversity loss.

Beyond exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity: A response based ecological framework to assess species climate change vulnerability

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fortini, Lucas B.; Schubert, Olivia

2017-01-01

As the impacts of global climate change on species are increasingly evident, there is a clear need to adapt conservation efforts worldwide. Species vulnerability assessments (VAs) are increasingly used to summarize all relevant information to determine a species’ potential vulnerability to climate change and are frequently the first step in informing climate adaptation efforts. VAs commonly integrate multiple sources of information by utilizing a framework that distinguishes factors relevant to species exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. However, this framework was originally developed for human systems, and its use to evaluate species vulnerability has serious practical and theoretical limitations. By instead defining vulnerability as the degree to which a species is unable to exhibit any of the responses necessary for persistence under climate change (i.e., toleration of projected changes, migration to new climate-compatible areas, enduring in microrefugia, and evolutionary adaptation), we can bring VAs into the realm of ecological science without applying borrowed abstract concepts that have consistently challenged species-centric research and management. This response-based framework to assess species vulnerability to climate change allows better integration of relevant ecological data and past research, yielding results with much clearer implications for conservation and research prioritization.

Ecological Relevance Determines Task Priority in Older Adults' Multitasking.

PubMed

Doumas, Michail; Krampe, Ralf Th

2015-05-01

Multitasking is a challenging aspect of human behavior, especially if the concurrently performed tasks are different in nature. Several studies demonstrated pronounced performance decrements (dual-task costs) in older adults for combinations of cognitive and motor tasks. However, patterns of costs among component tasks differed across studies and reasons for participants' resource allocation strategies remained elusive. We investigated young and older adults' multitasking of a working memory task and two sensorimotor tasks, one with low (finger force control) and one with high ecological relevance (postural control). The tasks were performed in single-, dual-, and triple-task contexts. Working memory accuracy was reduced in dual-task contexts with either sensorimotor task and deteriorated further under triple-task conditions. Postural and force performance deteriorated with age and task difficulty in dual-task contexts. However, in the triple-task context with its maximum resource demands, older adults prioritized postural control over both force control and memory. Our results identify ecological relevance as the key factor in older adults' multitasking. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Toward actionable science: Empowering ecologists to engage in the process of translation through decision-maker and stakeholder partnerships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Enquist, C.; Jackson, S. T.; Garfin, G. M.

2017-12-01

Translational ecology is an approach by which ecologists, stakeholders, and decision-makers work collaboratively to develop and deliver ecological research that, ideally, results in actionable science that leads to improved environmental decision-making. We analyzed a diverse array of real-world case studies and distilled six principles that characterize the practice of translational ecology: communication, commitment, collaboration, engagement, process, and decision-framing. In this talk, we highlight a subset of the case studies that illustrate these principles. Notably, we found that translational ecology is distinct from both basic and applied ecological research. As a practice, the approach deliberately extends research beyond theory or opportunistic applications, motivated by a search for outcomes that directly serve the needs of natural resource managers and decision-makers. Translational ecology is also distinct from knowledge co-production in that it does not require deep engagement between collaborators, although incorporating differing modes of co-production relative to the decision context, associated time frame, and available financial resources can greatly enhance the translational approach. Although there is a need for incentives to pursue in this type of work, we found that the creativity and context-specific knowledge of resource managers, practitioners, and decision-makers informs and enriches the scientific process, helping shape actionable science. Moreover, the process of addressing research questions arising from on-the-ground management issues, rather than from the top-down or expert-oriented perspectives of traditional science, can foster the long-term trust and commitment that is critical for long-term, sustained engagement between partners. Now, perhaps more than ever, the climate and environmental issues facing society are complex, often politicized, and value-laden. We argue that ecological science should play a key role in informing these problems and ecologists can engage as important partners committed to finding solutions. More broadly, scientists that embrace translational approaches are poised to make science-informed decision-making a reality in the face of a rapidly changing global environment.

[Towards understanding human ecology in nursing practice: a concept analysis].

PubMed

Huynh, Truc; Alderson, Marie

2010-06-01

Human ecology is an umbrella concept encompassing several social, physical, and cultural elements existing in the individual's external environment. The pragmatic utility method was used to analyze the "human ecology" concept in order to ascertain the conceptual fit with nursing epistemology and to promote its use by nurses in clinical practice. Relevant articles for the review were retrieved from the MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and CSA databases using the terms "human ecology," "environment," "nursing," and "ecology." Data analysis revealed that human ecology is perceived as a theoretical perspective designating a complex, multilayered, and multidimensional system, one that comprises individuals and their reciprocal interactions with their global environments and the subsequent impact of these interactions upon their health. Human ecology preconditions include the individuals, their environments, and their transactions. Attributes of this concept encompass the characteristics of an open system (e.g., interdependence, reciprocal).

Egg cases of the genus Apristurus (Chondrichthyes: Scyliorhinidae): phylogenetic and ecological implications.

PubMed

Flammang, Brooke E; Ebert, David A; Cailliet, Gregor M

2007-01-01

The genus Apristurus has been divided formerly into three species subgroups based on morphological and molecular phylogenies. Previous studies have agreed on the separation into distinct species groups, the largest two of which have been described as the brunneus and spongiceps groups. An examination of the egg cases produced by these oviparous catsharks corroborates the distinction in species groups: egg cases of the brunneus group have long fibrous and curly tendrils at either end, whereas egg cases of the spongiceps group lack tendrils. The egg cases of A. kampae, A. manis, A. spongiceps and Apristurus sp. D are described for the first time, and the egg cases of A. brunneus and A. riveri are re-described to include comparable morphological characteristics. The ecological implications of egg case morphology on oviposition and ventilation are also discussed.

Ecological psychology and social psychology: it is Holt, or nothing!

PubMed

Charles, Eric P

2011-03-01

What is the greatest contribution that ecological psychologists can offer social psychology? Ideally, ecological psychologists could explain how people directly perceive the unique properties of their social partners. But social partners are distinguished from mundane objects because they possess mental traits, and tradition tells us that minds cannot be seen. When considering the ideal possibility, we reject that doctrine and posit minds as perceivable. For ecological psychology, this entails asserting that minds are the types of things able to structure ambient energy. Contemporary research and theory suggests distinctly ecological ways of attacking this problem, but the problem is not new. Almost 100 years ago, Holt argued for the visibility of minds. Thus when considering these ideas, ecological psychologists face a choice that is at once about their future and their past. Extending ecological psychology's first principles into the social realm, we come to the point where we must either accept or reject Holt's arguments, and the wider context they bring. In doing so, we accept or reject our ability to study the uniquely social.

Climate change as an ecosystem architect: implications to rare plant ecology, conservation, and restoration

Treesearch

Constance I. Millar

2003-01-01

Recent advances in earth system sciences have revealed significant new information relevant to rare plant ecology and conservation. Analysis of climate change at high resolution with new and precise proxies of paleotemperatures reveals a picture over the past two million years of oscillatory climate change operating simultaneously at multiple timescales. Low-frequency...

Responsive Classroom Ecologies: Supporting Student Inquiry and Rhetorical Awareness in College Writing Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jankens, Adrienne

2014-01-01

This dissertation describes and analyzes the work of a semester-long teacher research study of inquiry-based and reflective teaching and learning strategies and their impact on students' preparation for future learning. I explore relevant scholarship on knowledge transfer, classroom ecologies, and student agency to set the stage for a discussion…

Process-based models are required to manage ecological systems in a changing world

Treesearch

K. Cuddington; M.-J. Fortin; L.R. Gerber; A. Hastings; A. Liebhold; M. OConnor; C. Ray

2013-01-01

Several modeling approaches can be used to guide management decisions. However, some approaches are better fitted than others to address the problem of prediction under global change. Process-based models, which are based on a theoretical understanding of relevant ecological processes, provide a useful framework to incorporate specific responses to altered...

Ecological divergence in the yellow-bellied kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster) at two North American biodiversity hotspots.

PubMed

McKelvy, A D; Burbrink, F T

2017-01-01

Several biogeographic barriers in the Eastern Nearctic appear to reduce gene flow among populations of many species in predictable ways, however these patterns used to infer process of divergence may be deceiving if alternative modes of diversification are not considered. By using a multilocus statistical phylogeographic approach to examine diversity within a North American snake, Lampropeltis calligaster, we find that mode and timing of speciation near the Mississippi River embayment and peninsular Florida, two main biodiversity hotspots in eastern North America, challenge previously held notions of strict vicariance as the causal factor behind patterns of divergence seen among taxa at these locations. We found three species inhabiting distinct ecological niches with divergences dating to the mid- and early-Pleistocene with subsequently stable or increasing effective population sizes, further supporting the idea that the Pleistocene was an important driver of diversification in North America. Our results lead to a revised hypothesis that ecological divergence has occurred in this group across environments associated with the Mississippi River and at the Florida peninsula. Importantly, in their western distributions, we show that species divergence is associated with the ecological transition from distinct forested habitats to grasslands, rather than the nearby Mississippi River, a barrier often implicated for many other organisms. Additionally, we stress the importance of examining each delimited lineage with respect to conservation, since ecological niche models suggest that by the end of the century changes in climate may negatively alter habitat suitability and, barring adaptation, substantially reduce the suitable range of two of the three species we identified. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Consistent avoidance of human disturbance over large geographical distances by a migratory bird

PubMed Central

Végvári, Zsolt; Barta, Zoltán; Mustakallio, Pekka; Székely, Tamás

2011-01-01

Recent work on animal personalities has demonstrated that individuals may show consistent behaviour across situations and contexts. These studies were often carried out in one location and/or during short time intervals. Many animals, however, migrate and spend their life in several geographically distinct locations, and they may either adopt behaviours specific to the local environment or keep consistent behaviours over ecologically distinct locations. Long-distance migratory species offer excellent opportunities to test whether the animals maintain their personalities over large geographical scale, although the practical difficulties associated with these studies have hampered such tests. Here, we demonstrate for the first time consistency in disturbance tolerance behaviour in a long-distance migratory bird, using the common crane Grus grus as an ecological model species. Cranes that hatched in undisturbed habitats in Finland choose undisturbed migratory stop-over sites in Hungary, 1300–2000 km away from their breeding ground. This is remarkable, because these sites are not only separated by large distances, they also differ ecologically: the breeding sites are wooded bogs and subarctic tundra, whereas the migratory stop-over sites are temperate zone alkaline grasslands. The significance of our study goes beyond evolutionary biology and behavioural ecology: local effects on behaviour may carry over large distances, and this hitherto hidden implication of habitat selection needs to be incorporated into conservation planning. PMID:21551222

Bacterial genospecies that are not ecologically coherent: population genomics of Rhizobium leguminosarum

PubMed Central

Kumar, Nitin; Lad, Ganesh; Giuntini, Elisa; Kaye, Maria E.; Udomwong, Piyachat; Shamsani, N. Jannah; Young, J. Peter W.; Bailly, Xavier

2015-01-01

Biological species may remain distinct because of genetic isolation or ecological adaptation, but these two aspects do not always coincide. To establish the nature of the species boundary within a local bacterial population, we characterized a sympatric population of the bacterium Rhizobium leguminosarum by genomic sequencing of 72 isolates. Although all strains have 16S rRNA typical of R. leguminosarum, they fall into five genospecies by the criterion of average nucleotide identity (ANI). Many genes, on plasmids as well as the chromosome, support this division: recombination of core genes has been largely within genospecies. Nevertheless, variation in ecological properties, including symbiotic host range and carbon-source utilization, cuts across these genospecies, so that none of these phenotypes is diagnostic of genospecies. This phenotypic variation is conferred by mobile genes. The genospecies meet the Mayr criteria for biological species in respect of their core genes, but do not correspond to coherent ecological groups, so periodic selection may not be effective in purging variation within them. The population structure is incompatible with traditional ‘polyphasic taxonomy′ that requires bacterial species to have both phylogenetic coherence and distinctive phenotypes. More generally, genomics has revealed that many bacterial species share adaptive modules by horizontal gene transfer, and we envisage a more consistent taxonomic framework that explicitly recognizes this. Significant phenotypes should be recognized as ‘biovars' within species that are defined by core gene phylogeny. PMID:25589577

An integrated remote sensing approach for identifying ecological range sites. [parker mountain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jaynes, R. A.

1983-01-01

A model approach for identifying ecological range sites was applied to high elevation sagebrush-dominated rangelands on Parker Mountain, in south-central Utah. The approach utilizes map information derived from both high altitude color infrared photography and LANDSAT digital data, integrated with soils, geological, and precipitation maps. Identification of the ecological range site for a given area requires an evaluation of all relevant environmental factors which combine to give that site the potential to produce characteristic types and amounts of vegetation. A table is presented which allows the user to determine ecological range site based upon an integrated use of the maps which were prepared. The advantages of identifying ecological range sites through an integrated photo interpretation/LANDSAT analysis are discussed.

Nevada Applied Ecology Information Center: a review of technical information support provided to the Nevada Applied Ecology Group

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fore, C.S.; Pfuderer, H.A.

The Nevada Applied Ecology Information Center (NAEIC) was established in January 1972 to serve the needs of the Nevada Applied Ecology Group (NAEG) by identifying, collecting, analyzing, and disseminating technical information relevant to NAEG programs. Since its inception, the NAEIC has been active in providing specialized information support to NAEG staff in the following research areas: (1) environmental aspects of the transuranics; (2) historic literature (pre-1962) on plutonium and uranium; (3) cleanup and treatment of radioactively contaminated land; (4) bioenvironmental aspects of europium and rhodium; (5) NAEG contractor reports; and (6) uptake of radioactivity by food crops.

Signals, cues and the nature of mimicry

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

‘Mimicry’ is used in the evolutionary and ecological literature to describe diverse phenomena. Many are textbook examples of natural selection's power to produce stunning adaptations. However, there remains a lack of clarity over how mimetic resemblances are conceptually related to each other. The result is that categories denoting the traditional subdivisions of mimicry are applied inconsistently across studies, hindering attempts at conceptual unification. This review critically examines the logic by which mimicry can be conceptually organized and analysed. It highlights the following three evolutionarily relevant distinctions. (i) Are the model's traits being mimicked signals or cues? (ii) Does the mimic signal a fitness benefit or fitness cost in order to manipulate the receiver's behaviour? (iii) Is the mimic's signal deceptive? The first distinction divides mimicry into two broad categories: ‘signal mimicry’ and ‘cue mimicry’. ‘Signal mimicry’ occurs when mimic and model share the same receiver, and ‘cue mimicry’ when mimic and model have different receivers or when there is no receiver for the model's trait. ‘Masquerade’ fits conceptually within cue mimicry. The second and third distinctions divide both signal and cue mimicry into four types each. These are the three traditional mimicry categories (aggressive, Batesian and Müllerian) and a fourth, often overlooked category for which the term ‘rewarding mimicry’ is suggested. Rewarding mimicry occurs when the mimic's signal is non-deceptive (as in Müllerian mimicry) but where the mimic signals a fitness benefit to the receiver (as in aggressive mimicry). The existence of rewarding mimicry is a logical extension of the criteria used to differentiate the three well-recognized forms of mimicry. These four forms of mimicry are not discrete, immutable types, but rather help to define important axes along which mimicry can vary. PMID:28202806

Analytically tractable model for community ecology with many species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dickens, Benjamin; Fisher, Charles K.; Mehta, Pankaj

2016-08-01

A fundamental problem in community ecology is understanding how ecological processes such as selection, drift, and immigration give rise to observed patterns in species composition and diversity. Here, we analyze a recently introduced, analytically tractable, presence-absence (PA) model for community assembly, and we use it to ask how ecological traits such as the strength of competition, the amount of diversity, and demographic and environmental stochasticity affect species composition in a community. In the PA model, species are treated as stochastic binary variables that can either be present or absent in a community: species can immigrate into the community from a regional species pool and can go extinct due to competition and stochasticity. Building upon previous work, we show that, despite its simplicity, the PA model reproduces the qualitative features of more complicated models of community assembly. In agreement with recent studies of large, competitive Lotka-Volterra systems, the PA model exhibits distinct ecological behaviors organized around a special ("critical") point corresponding to Hubbell's neutral theory of biodiversity. These results suggest that the concepts of ecological "phases" and phase diagrams can provide a powerful framework for thinking about community ecology, and that the PA model captures the essential ecological dynamics of community assembly.

Management applications of discontinuity theory

EPA Science Inventory

1.Human impacts on the environment are multifaceted and can occur across distinct spatiotemporal scales. Ecological responses to environmental change are therefore difficult to predict, and entail large degrees of uncertainty. Such uncertainty requires robust tools for management...

The association of positive emotion and first smoking lapse: An ecological momentary assessment study.

PubMed

Vinci, Christine; Li, Liang; Wu, Cai; Lam, Cho Y; Guo, Lin; Correa-Fernández, Virmarie; Spears, Claire A; Hoover, Diana S; Etcheverry, Paul E; Wetter, David W

2017-11-01

Individuals attempting to quit smoking typically have poor success rates, and the majority fail to maintain long-term abstinence. Although a large body of evidence documents the impact of negative affect on reducing abstinence, there is a much smaller body of research on positive emotions, which could be an important mechanism that is associated with successful cessation. As such, this study examined positive emotions in real-time via ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to determine whether discrete positive emotions were uniquely related to 2 cessation milestones: quit day lapse and first lapse. Participants were 391 smokers who received tobacco cessation treatment. EMAs were completed pre- and postquit, and positive emotion was assessed with 3 items (enthusiastic, happy, and relaxed) rated on 5-point Likert scales. Analyses examined the associations of the means and slopes of each emotion on the current day with the likelihood of lapse on the following day. When controlling for relevant covariates, prequit positive emotions were not related to quit day lapse. However, postquit positive emotions were associated with first lapse. Specifically, high levels of happiness and relaxation, as well as increasing levels of enthusiasm, happiness, and relaxation were related to a lower likelihood of next day lapse. These are some of the first real-time, real-world data to demonstrate that distinct positive emotions are associated with a lower risk of lapse during the postquit period among smokers attempting to quit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Ecological ethics in captivity: balancing values and responsibilities in zoo and aquarium research under rapid global change.

PubMed

Minteer, Ben A; Collins, James P

2013-01-01

Ethical obligations to animals in conservation research and management are manifold and often conflicting. Animal welfare concerns often clash with the ethical imperative to understand and conserve a population or ecosystem through research and management intervention. The accelerating pace and impact of global environmental change, especially climate change, complicates our understanding of these obligations. One example is the blurring of the distinction between ex situ (zoo- and aquarium-based) conservation and in situ (field-based) approaches as zoos and aquariums become more active in field conservation work and as researchers and managers consider more intensive interventions in wild populations and ecosystems to meet key conservation goals. These shifts, in turn, have consequences for our traditional understanding of the ethics of wildlife research and management, including our relative weighting of animal welfare and conservation commitments across rapidly evolving ex situ and in situ contexts. Although this changing landscape in many ways supports the increased use of captive wildlife in conservation-relevant research, it raises significant ethical concerns about human intervention in populations and ecosystems, including the proper role of zoos and aquariums as centers for animal research and conservation in the coming decades. Working through these concerns requires a pragmatic approach to ethical analysis, one that is able to make trade-offs among the many goods at stake (e.g., animal welfare, species viability, and ecological integrity) as we strive to protect species from further decline and extinction in this century.

Elemental conservation units: communicating extinction risk without dictating targets for protection.

PubMed

Wood, Chris C; Gross, Mart R

2008-02-01

Conservation biologists mostly agree on the need to identify and protect biodiversity below the species level but have not yet resolved the best approach. We addressed 2 issues relevant to this debate. First, we distinguished between the abstract goal of preserving the maximum amount of unique biodiversity and the pragmatic goal of minimizing the loss of ecological goods and services given that further loss of biodiversity seems inevitable. Second, we distinguished between the scientific task of assessing extinction risk and the normative task of choosing targets for protection. We propose that scientific advice on extinction risk be given at the smallest meaningful scale: the elemental conservation unit (ECU). An ECU is a demographically isolated population whose probability of extinction over the time scale of interest (say 100 years) is not substantially affected by natural immigration from other populations. Within this time frame, the loss of an ECU would be irreversible without human intervention. Society's decision to protect an ECU ought to reflect human values that have social, economic, and political dimensions. Scientists can best inform this decision by providing advice about the probability that an ECU will be lost and the ecological and evolutionary consequences of that loss in a form that can be integrated into landscape planning. The ECU approach provides maximum flexibility to decision makers and ensures that the scientific task of assessing extinction risk informs, but remains distinct from, the normative social challenge of setting conservation targets.

Automated Sound Recognition Provides Insights into the Behavioral Ecology of a Tropical Bird

PubMed Central

Jahn, Olaf; Ganchev, Todor D.; Marques, Marinez I.; Schuchmann, Karl-L.

2017-01-01

Computer-assisted species recognition facilitates the analysis of relevant biological information in continuous audio recordings. In the present study, we assess the suitability of this approach for determining distinct life-cycle phases of the Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis lampronotus based on adult vocal activity. For this purpose we use passive 14-min and 30-min soundscape recordings (n = 33 201) collected in 24/7 mode between November 2012 and October 2013 in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands. Time-stamped detections of V. chilensis call events (n = 62 292) were obtained with a species-specific sound recognizer. We demonstrate that the breeding season fell in a three-month period from mid-May to early August 2013, between the end of the flood cycle and the height of the dry season. Several phases of the lapwing’s life history were identified with presumed error margins of a few days: pre-breeding, territory establishment and egg-laying, incubation, hatching, parental defense of chicks, and post-breeding. Diurnal time budgets confirm high acoustic activity levels during midday hours in June and July, indicative of adults defending young. By August, activity patterns had reverted to nonbreeding mode, with peaks around dawn and dusk and low call frequency during midday heat. We assess the current technological limitations of the V. chilensis recognizer through a comprehensive performance assessment and scrutinize the usefulness of automated acoustic recognizers in studies on the distribution pattern, ecology, life history, and conservation status of sound-producing animal species. PMID:28085893

Ronald Dworkin on abortion and assisted suicide.

PubMed

Kamm, F M

2001-01-01

In the first part of this article, I raise questions about Dworkin's theory of the intrinsic value of life and about the adequacy of his proposal to understand abortion in terms of different ways of valuing life. In the second part of the article, I consider his argument in "The Philosophers' Brief on Assisted Suicide", which claims that the distinction between killing and letting die is morally irrelevant, the distinction between intending and foreseeing death can be morally relevant but is not always so. I argue that the killing/letting die distinction can be relevant in the context of assisted suicide, but also show when it is not. Then I consider why the intention/foresight distinction can be morally irrelevant and conclude by presenting an alternative argument for physician-assisted suicide.

Explicit-Implicit Distinction: A Review of Related Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jarrah, Marwan A.

2016-01-01

This paper sketches out the main views of the major pragmatic approaches (i.e., Grice's theory of conversation, Relevance Theory, and Neo-Gricean pragmatic theory) on explicit-implicit distinction. It makes clear how this distinction has been differently drawn for utterance interpretation. Additionally, it highlights several corresponding problems…

NetMap: a new tool in support of watershed science and resource management.

Treesearch

L. Benda; D. Miller; K. Andras; P. Bigelow; G. Reeves; D. Michael

2007-01-01

In this paper, we show how application of principles of river ecology can guide use of a comprehensive terrain database within geographic information system (GIS) to facilitate watershed analysis relevant to natural resource management. We present a unique arrangement of a terrain database, GIS, and principles of riverine ecology for the purpose of advancing watershed...

Bayesian Inference: with ecological applications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Link, William A.; Barker, Richard J.

2010-01-01

This text provides a mathematically rigorous yet accessible and engaging introduction to Bayesian inference with relevant examples that will be of interest to biologists working in the fields of ecology, wildlife management and environmental studies as well as students in advanced undergraduate statistics.. This text opens the door to Bayesian inference, taking advantage of modern computational efficiencies and easily accessible software to evaluate complex hierarchical models.

Studying the neurobiology of human social interaction: Making the case for ecological validity.

PubMed

Hogenelst, Koen; Schoevers, Robert A; aan het Rot, Marije

2015-01-01

With this commentary we make the case for an increased focus on the ecological validity of the measures used to assess aspects of human social functioning. Impairments in social functioning are seen in many types of psychopathology, negatively affecting the lives of psychiatric patients and those around them. Yet the neurobiology underlying abnormal social interaction remains unclear. As an example of human social neuroscience research with relevance to biological psychiatry and clinical psychopharmacology, this commentary discusses published experimental studies involving manipulation of the human brain serotonin system that included assessments of social behavior. To date, these studies have mostly been laboratory-based and included computer tasks, observations by others, or single-administration self-report measures. Most laboratory measures used so far inform about the role of serotonin in aspects of social interaction, but the relevance for real-life interaction is often unclear. Few studies have used naturalistic assessments in real life. We suggest several laboratory methods with high ecological validity as well as ecological momentary assessment, which involves intensive repeated measures in naturalistic settings. In sum, this commentary intends to stimulate experimental research on the neurobiology of human social interaction as it occurs in real life.

Using species sensitivity distribution approach to assess the risks of commonly detected agricultural pesticides to Australia's tropical freshwater ecosystems.

PubMed

Pathiratne, Asoka; Kroon, Frederieke J

2016-02-01

To assess the potential impacts of agricultural pesticides on tropical freshwater ecosystems, the present study developed temperature-specific, freshwater species protection concentrations (i.e., ecotoxicity threshold values) for 8 pesticides commonly detected in Australia's tropical freshwaters. Because relevant toxicity data for native tropical freshwater species to assess the ecological risks were mostly absent, scientifically robust toxicity data obtained at ≥20 °C were used for ecologically relevant taxonomic groups representing primary producers and consumers. Species sensitivity distribution (SSD) curves were subsequently generated for predicted chronic exposure using Burrlioz 2.0 software with mixed chronic and converted acute data relevant to exposure conditions at ≥20 °C. Ecotoxicity threshold values for tropical freshwater ecosystem protection were generated for ametryn, atrazine, diuron, metolachlor, and imidacloprid (all moderate reliability), as well as simazine, hexazinone, and tebuthiuron (all low reliability). Using these SSD curves, the retrospective risk assessments for recently reported pesticide concentrations highlight that the herbicides ametryn, atrazine, and diuron are of major concern for ecological health in Australia's tropical freshwater ecosystems. The insecticide imidacloprid also appears to pose an emerging threat to the most sensitive species in tropical freshwater ecosystems. The exposed temperature-specific approach may be applied to develop water quality guideline values for other environmental contaminants detected in tropical freshwater ecosystems until reliable and relevant toxicity data are generated using representative native species. © 2015 SETAC.

Land management in the Anthropocene: Is history still relevant?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Safford, Hugh D.; Betancourt, Julio L.; Hayward, Gregory D.; Wiens, John A.; Regan, Claudia M.

2008-01-01

Ecological restoration, conservation, and land management are often based on comparisons with reference sites or time periods, which are assumed to represent “natural” or “properly functioning” conditions. Such reference conditions can provide a vision of the conservation or management goal and a means to measure progress toward that vision. Although historical ecology has been used successfully to guide resource management in many parts of the world, the continuing relevance of history is now being questioned. Some scientists doubt that lessons from the past can inform management in what may be a dramatically different future, given profound climate change, accelerated land use, and an onslaught of plant and animal invasions.

A multi-dimensional analysis of the upper Rio Grande-San Luis Valley social-ecological system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mix, Ken

The Upper Rio Grande (URG), located in the San Luis Valley (SLV) of southern Colorado, is the primary contributor to streamflow to the Rio Grande Basin, upstream of the confluence of the Rio Conchos at Presidio, TX. The URG-SLV includes a complex irrigation-dependent agricultural social-ecological system (SES), which began development in 1852, and today generates more than 30% of the SLV revenue. The diversions of Rio Grande water for irrigation in the SLV have had a disproportionate impact on the downstream portion of the river. These diversions caused the flow to cease at Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in the late 1880s, creating international conflict. Similarly, low flows in New Mexico and Texas led to interstate conflict. Understanding changes in the URG-SLV that led to this event and the interactions among various drivers of change in the URG-SLV is a difficult task. One reason is that complex social-ecological systems are adaptive, contain feedbacks, emergent properties, cross-scale linkages, large-scale dynamics and non-linearities. Further, most analyses of SES to date have been qualitative, utilizing conceptual models to understand driver interactions. This study utilizes both qualitative and quantitative techniques to develop an innovative approach for analyzing driver interactions in the URG-SLV. Five drivers were identified for the URG-SLV social-ecological system: water (streamflow), water rights, climate, agriculture, and internal and external water policy. The drivers contained several longitudes (data aspect) relevant to the system, except water policy, for which only discreet events were present. Change point and statistical analyses were applied to the longitudes to identify quantifiable changes, to allow detection of cross-scale linkages between drivers, and presence of feedback cycles. Agricultural was identified as the driver signal. Change points for agricultural expansion defined four distinct periods: 1852--1923, 1924--1948, 1949--1978 and 1979--2007. Changes in streamflow, water allocations and water policy were observed in all agriculture periods. Cross-scale linkages were also evident between climate and streamflow; policy and water rights; and agriculture, groundwater pumping and streamflow.

Wetlands Restoration Definitions and Distinctions

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecological restoration is a valuable endeavor that has proven very difficult to define. The term indicates that degraded and destroyed natural wetland systems will be reestablished to sites where they once existed. But, what wetland ecosystems are we talki

Mapping bundles of ecosystem services reveals distinct types of multifunctionality within a Swedish landscape.

PubMed

Queiroz, Cibele; Meacham, Megan; Richter, Kristina; Norström, Albert V; Andersson, Erik; Norberg, Jon; Peterson, Garry

2015-01-01

Ecosystem services (ES) is a valuable concept to be used in the planning and management of social-ecological landscapes. However, the understanding of the determinant factors affecting the interaction between services in the form of synergies or trade-offs is still limited. We assessed the production of 16 ES across 62 municipalities in the Norrström drainage basin in Sweden. We combined GIS data with publically available information for quantifying and mapping the distribution of services. Additionally, we calculated the diversity of ES for each municipality and used correlations and k-means clustering analyses to assess the existence of ES bundles. We found five distinct types of bundles of ES spatially agglomerated in the landscape that could be explained by regional social and ecological gradients. Human-dominated landscapes were highly multifunctional in our study area and urban densely populated areas were hotspots of cultural services.

Novel RAD sequence data reveal a lack of genomic divergence between dietary ecotypes in a landlocked salmonid population

USGS Publications Warehouse

Limborg, Morten T.; Larson, Wesley; Shedd, Kyle; Seeb, Lisa W.; Seeb, James E.

2017-01-01

Preservation of heritable ecological diversity within species and populations is a key challenge for managing natural resources and wild populations. Salmonid fish are iconic and socio-economically important species for commercial, aquaculture, and recreational fisheries across the globe. Many salmonids are known to exhibit ecological divergence within species, including distinct feeding ecotypes within the same lakes. Here we used 5559 SNPs, derived from RAD sequencing, to perform population genetic comparisons between two dietary ecotypes of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in Jo-Jo Lake, Alaska (USA). We tested the standing hypothesis that these two ecotypes are currently diverging as a result of adaptation to distinct dietary niches; results support earlier conclusions of a single panmictic population. The RAD sequence data revealed 40 new SNPs not previously detected in the species, and our sequence data can be used in future studies of ecotypic diversity in salmonid species.

US EPA's Ecological Risk Assessment Support Center ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

BackgroundThe ERASC provides technical information and addresses scientific questions of concern or interest on topics relevant to ecological risk assessment at hazardous waste sites for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) personnel and the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR) staff. Requests are channeled to ERASC through the Ecological Risk Assessment Forum (ERAF). To assess emerging and complex scientific issues that require expert judgment, the ERASC relies on the expertise of scientists and engineers located throughout EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) labs and centers.ResponseERASC develops responses that reflect the state of the science for ecological risk assessment and also provides a communication point for the distribution of the responses to other interested parties. For further information, contact Ecology_ERASC@epa.gov or call 513-569-7940.

Patients as Patches: Ecology and Epidemiology in Healthcare Environments.

PubMed

Lofgren, Eric T; Egizi, Andrea M; Fefferman, Nina H

2016-12-01

The modern healthcare system involves complex interactions among microbes, patients, providers, and the built environment. It represents a unique and challenging setting for control of the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. We examine an extension of the perspectives and methods from ecology (and especially urban ecology) to address these unique issues, and we outline 3 examples: (1) viewing patients as individual microbial ecosystems; (2) the altered ecology of infectious diseases specifically within hospitals; and (3) ecosystem management perspectives for infection surveillance and control. In each of these cases, we explore the accuracy and relevance of analogies to existing urban ecological perspectives, and we demonstrate a few of the potential direct uses of this perspective for altering research into the control of healthcare-associated infections. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2016;1507-1512.

Making research relevant? Ecological methods and the ecosystem services framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Root-Bernstein, Meredith; Jaksic, Fabián. M.

2017-07-01

We examine some unexpected epistemological conflicts that arise at the interfaces between ecological science, the ecosystem services framework, policy, and industry. We use an example from our own research to motivate and illustrate our main arguments, while also reviewing standard approaches to ecological science using the ecosystem services framework. While we agree that the ecosystem services framework has benefits in its industrial applications because it may force economic decision makers to consider a broader range of costs and benefits than they would do otherwise, we find that many alignments of ecology with the ecosystem services framework are asking questions that are irrelevant to real-world applications, and generating data that does not serve real-world applications. We attempt to clarify why these problems arise and how to avoid them. We urge fellow ecologists to reflect on the kind of research that can lead to both scientific advances and applied relevance to society. In our view, traditional empirical approaches at landscape scales or with place-based emphases are necessary to provide applied knowledge for problem solving, which is needed once decision makers identify risks to ecosystem services. We conclude that the ecosystem services framework is a good policy tool when applied to decision-making contexts, but not a good theory either of social valuation or ecological interactions, and should not be treated as one.

The ecological limits of hydrologic alteration (ELOHA): A new framework for developing regional environmental flow standards

USGS Publications Warehouse

Poff, N.L.; Richter, B.D.; Arthington, A.H.; Bunn, S.E.; Naiman, R.J.; Kendy, E.; Acreman, M.; Apse, C.; Bledsoe, B.P.; Freeman, Mary C.; Henriksen, J.; Jacobson, R.B.; Kennen, J.G.; Merritt, D.M.; O'Keeffe, J. H.; Olden, J.D.; Rogers, K.; Tharme, R.E.; Warner, A.

2010-01-01

The flow regime is a primary determinant of the structure and function of aquatic and riparian ecosystems for streams and rivers. Hydrologic alteration has impaired riverine ecosystems on a global scale, and the pace and intensity of human development greatly exceeds the ability of scientists to assess the effects on a river-by-river basis. Current scientific understanding of hydrologic controls on riverine ecosystems and experience gained from individual river studies support development of environmental flow standards at the regional scale. 2. This paper presents a consensus view from a group of international scientists on a new framework for assessing environmental flow needs for many streams and rivers simultaneously to foster development and implementation of environmental flow standards at the regional scale. This framework, the ecological limits of hydrologic alteration (ELOHA), is a synthesis of a number of existing hydrologic techniques and environmental flow methods that are currently being used to various degrees and that can support comprehensive regional flow management. The flexible approach allows scientists, water-resource managers and stakeholders to analyse and synthesise available scientific information into ecologically based and socially acceptable goals and standards for management of environmental flows. 3. The ELOHA framework includes the synthesis of existing hydrologic and ecological databases from many rivers within a user-defined region to develop scientifically defensible and empirically testable relationships between flow alteration and ecological responses. These relationships serve as the basis for the societally driven process of developing regional flow standards. This is to be achieved by first using hydrologic modelling to build a 'hydrologic foundation' of baseline and current hydrographs for stream and river segments throughout the region. Second, using a set of ecologically relevant flow variables, river segments within the region are classified into a few distinctive flow regime types that are expected to have different ecological characteristics. These river types can be further subclassified according to important geomorphic features that define hydraulic habitat features. Third, the deviation of current-condition flows from baseline-condition flow is determined. Fourth, flow alteration-ecological response relationships are developed for each river type, based on a combination of existing hydroecological literature, expert knowledge and field studies across gradients of hydrologic alteration. 4. Scientific uncertainty will exist in the flow alteration-ecological response relationships, in part because of the confounding of hydrologic alteration with other important environmental determinants of river ecosystem condition (e.g. temperature). Application of the ELOHA framework should therefore occur in a consensus context where stakeholders and decision-makers explicitly evaluate acceptable risk as a balance between the perceived value of the ecological goals, the economic costs involved and the scientific uncertainties in functional relationships between ecological responses and flow alteration. 5. The ELOHA framework also should proceed in an adaptive management context, where collection of monitoring data or targeted field sampling data allows for testing of the proposed flow alteration-ecological response relationships. This empirical validation process allows for a fine-tuning of environmental flow management targets. The ELOHA framework can be used both to guide basic research in hydroecology and to further implementation of more comprehensive environmental flow management of freshwater sustainability on a global scale. ?? 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The Sphagnome Project: enabling ecological and evolutionary insights through a genus-level sequencing project

DOE PAGES

Weston, David J.; Turetsky, Merritt R.; Johnson, Matthew G.; ...

2017-10-27

Considerable progress has been made in ecological and evolutionary genetics with studies demonstrating how genes underlying plant and microbial traits can influence adaptation and even ‘extend’ to influence community structure and ecosystem level processes. The progress in this area is limited to model systems with deep genetic and genomic resources that often have negligible ecological impact or interest. Therefore, important linkages between genetic adaptations and their consequences at organismal and ecological scales are often lacking. We introduce the Sphagnome Project, which incorporates genomics into a long-running history of Sphagnum research that has documented unparalleled contributions to peatland ecology, carbon sequestration,more » biogeochemistry, microbiome research, niche construction, and ecosystem engineering. The Sphagnome Project encompasses a genus-level sequencing effort that represents a new type of model system driven not only by genetic tractability, but by ecologically relevant questions and hypotheses.« less

The Sphagnome Project: enabling ecological and evolutionary insights through a genus-level sequencing project

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weston, David J.; Turetsky, Merritt R.; Johnson, Matthew G.

Considerable progress has been made in ecological and evolutionary genetics with studies demonstrating how genes underlying plant and microbial traits can influence adaptation and even ‘extend’ to influence community structure and ecosystem level processes. The progress in this area is limited to model systems with deep genetic and genomic resources that often have negligible ecological impact or interest. Therefore, important linkages between genetic adaptations and their consequences at organismal and ecological scales are often lacking. We introduce the Sphagnome Project, which incorporates genomics into a long-running history of Sphagnum research that has documented unparalleled contributions to peatland ecology, carbon sequestration,more » biogeochemistry, microbiome research, niche construction, and ecosystem engineering. The Sphagnome Project encompasses a genus-level sequencing effort that represents a new type of model system driven not only by genetic tractability, but by ecologically relevant questions and hypotheses.« less

The Sphagnome Project: enabling ecological and evolutionary insights through a genus-level sequencing project.

PubMed

Weston, David J; Turetsky, Merritt R; Johnson, Matthew G; Granath, Gustaf; Lindo, Zoë; Belyea, Lisa R; Rice, Steven K; Hanson, David T; Engelhardt, Katharina A M; Schmutz, Jeremy; Dorrepaal, Ellen; Euskirchen, Eugénie S; Stenøien, Hans K; Szövényi, Péter; Jackson, Michelle; Piatkowski, Bryan T; Muchero, Wellington; Norby, Richard J; Kostka, Joel E; Glass, Jennifer B; Rydin, Håkan; Limpens, Juul; Tuittila, Eeva-Stiina; Ullrich, Kristian K; Carrell, Alyssa; Benscoter, Brian W; Chen, Jin-Gui; Oke, Tobi A; Nilsson, Mats B; Ranjan, Priya; Jacobson, Daniel; Lilleskov, Erik A; Clymo, R S; Shaw, A Jonathan

2018-01-01

Considerable progress has been made in ecological and evolutionary genetics with studies demonstrating how genes underlying plant and microbial traits can influence adaptation and even 'extend' to influence community structure and ecosystem level processes. Progress in this area is limited to model systems with deep genetic and genomic resources that often have negligible ecological impact or interest. Thus, important linkages between genetic adaptations and their consequences at organismal and ecological scales are often lacking. Here we introduce the Sphagnome Project, which incorporates genomics into a long-running history of Sphagnum research that has documented unparalleled contributions to peatland ecology, carbon sequestration, biogeochemistry, microbiome research, niche construction, and ecosystem engineering. The Sphagnome Project encompasses a genus-level sequencing effort that represents a new type of model system driven not only by genetic tractability, but by ecologically relevant questions and hypotheses. © 2017 UT-Battelle New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

Ecological Dynamics of Two Distinct Viruses Infecting Marine Eukaryotic Decomposer Thraustochytrids (Labyrinthulomycetes, Stramenopiles)

PubMed Central

Takao, Yoshitake; Tomaru, Yuji; Nagasaki, Keizo; Honda, Daiske

2015-01-01

Thraustochytrids are cosmopolitan osmotrophic or heterotrophic microorganisms that are considered as important decomposers in coastal ecosystems. However, because of a lack of estimation method for each genus or systematic group of them, relatively little is known about their ecology in situ. Previously, we reported two distinct types of virus infecting thraustochytrids (AuRNAV: reported as SssRNAV, and SmDNAV) suggesting they have wide distributions in the host-virus systems of coastal environments. Here we conducted a field survey from 2004 through 2005 to show the fluctuation pattern of thraustochytrids and their viruses in Hiroshima Bay, Japan. During the field survey, we monitored the dynamics of the two types of thraustochytrid-infecting virus: small viruses causing lysis of Aurantiochytrium sp. NIBH N1-27 (identified as AuRNAV) and the large viruses of Sicyoidochytrium minutum NBRC 102975 (similar to SmDNAV in physiology and morphology). Fluctuation patterns of the two distinct types of virus were different from each other. This may reflect the difference in the preference of organic substrates; i.e., it may be likely the host of AuRNAV (Aurantiochytrium sp.) increases utilizing algal dead bodies or feeble cells as the virus shows a large increase in abundance following raphidophyte blooms; whereas, the trophic nutrient supply for S. minutum may primarily depend on other constantly-supplied organic compounds because it did not show any significant change in abundance throughout the survey. Further study concerning the population composition of thraustochytrids and their viruses may demonstrate the microbial ecology (especially concerning the detrital food web) of marine environments. PMID:26203654

Ecological Dynamics of Two Distinct Viruses Infecting Marine Eukaryotic Decomposer Thraustochytrids (Labyrinthulomycetes, Stramenopiles).

PubMed

Takao, Yoshitake; Tomaru, Yuji; Nagasaki, Keizo; Honda, Daiske

2015-01-01

Thraustochytrids are cosmopolitan osmotrophic or heterotrophic microorganisms that are considered as important decomposers in coastal ecosystems. However, because of a lack of estimation method for each genus or systematic group of them, relatively little is known about their ecology in situ. Previously, we reported two distinct types of virus infecting thraustochytrids (AuRNAV: reported as SssRNAV, and SmDNAV) suggesting they have wide distributions in the host-virus systems of coastal environments. Here we conducted a field survey from 2004 through 2005 to show the fluctuation pattern of thraustochytrids and their viruses in Hiroshima Bay, Japan. During the field survey, we monitored the dynamics of the two types of thraustochytrid-infecting virus: small viruses causing lysis of Aurantiochytrium sp. NIBH N1-27 (identified as AuRNAV) and the large viruses of Sicyoidochytrium minutum NBRC 102975 (similar to SmDNAV in physiology and morphology). Fluctuation patterns of the two distinct types of virus were different from each other. This may reflect the difference in the preference of organic substrates; i.e., it may be likely the host of AuRNAV (Aurantiochytrium sp.) increases utilizing algal dead bodies or feeble cells as the virus shows a large increase in abundance following raphidophyte blooms; whereas, the trophic nutrient supply for S. minutum may primarily depend on other constantly-supplied organic compounds because it did not show any significant change in abundance throughout the survey. Further study concerning the population composition of thraustochytrids and their viruses may demonstrate the microbial ecology (especially concerning the detrital food web) of marine environments.

The genomic bases of morphological divergence and reproductive isolation driven by ecological speciation in Senecio (Asteraceae).

PubMed

Chapman, M A; Hiscock, S J; Filatov, D A

2016-01-01

Ecological speciation, driven by adaptation to contrasting environments, provides an attractive opportunity to study the formation of distinct species, and the role of selection and genomic divergence in this process. Here, we focus on a particularly clear-cut case of ecological speciation to reveal the genomic bases of reproductive isolation and morphological differences between closely related Senecio species, whose recent divergence within the last ~200,000 years was likely driven by the uplift of Mt. Etna (Sicily). These species form a hybrid zone, yet remain morphologically and ecologically distinct, despite active gene exchange. Here, we report a high-density genetic map of the Senecio genome and map hybrid breakdown to one large and several small quantitative trait loci (QTL). Loci under diversifying selection cluster in three 5 cM regions which are characterized by a significant increase in relative (F(ST)), but not absolute (d(XY)), interspecific differentiation. They also correspond to some of the regions of greatest marker density, possibly corresponding to 'cold-spots' of recombination, such as centromeres or chromosomal inversions. Morphological QTL for leaf and floral traits overlap these clusters. We also detected three genomic regions with significant transmission ratio distortion (TRD), possibly indicating accumulation of intrinsic genetic incompatibilities between these recently diverged species. One of the TRD regions overlapped with a cluster of high species differentiation, and another overlaps the large QTL for hybrid breakdown, indicating that divergence of these species may have occurred due to a complex interplay of ecological divergence and accumulation of intrinsic genetic incompatibilities. © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Ecological release and venom evolution of a predatory marine snail at Easter Island.

PubMed

Duda, Thomas F; Lee, Taehwan

2009-05-20

Ecological release is coupled with adaptive radiation and ecological diversification yet little is known about the molecular basis of phenotypic changes associated with this phenomenon. The venomous, predatory marine gastropod Conus miliaris has undergone ecological release and exhibits increased dietary breadth at Easter Island. We examined the extent of genetic differentiation of two genes expressed in the venom of C. miliaris among samples from Easter Island, American Samoa and Guam. The population from Easter Island exhibits unique frequencies of alleles that encode distinct peptides at both loci. Levels of divergence at these loci exceed observed levels of divergence observed at a mitochondrial gene region at Easter Island. Patterns of genetic variation at two genes expressed in the venom of this C. miliaris suggest that selection has operated at these genes and contributed to the divergence of venom composition at Easter Island. These results show that ecological release is associated with strong selection pressures that promote the evolution of new phenotypes.

Music as Environment: An Ecological and Biosemiotic Approach

PubMed Central

Reybrouck, Mark

2014-01-01

This paper provides an attempt to conceive of music in terms of a sounding environment. Starting from a definition of music as a collection of vibrational events, it introduces the distinction between discrete-symbolic representations as against analog-continuous representations of the sounds. The former makes it possible to conceive of music in terms of a Humboldt system, the latter in terms of an experiential approach. Both approaches, further, are not opposed to each other, but are complementary to some extent. There is, however, a distinction to be drawn between the bottom-up approach to auditory processing of environmental sounds and music, which is continuous and proceeding in real time, as against the top-down approach, which is proceeding at a level of mental representation by applying discrete symbolic labels to vibrational events. The distinction is discussed against the background of phylogenetic and ontogenetic claims, with a major focus on the innate auditory capabilities of the fetus and neonate and the gradual evolution from mere sensory perception of sound to sense-making and musical meaning. The latter, finally, is elaborated on the basis of the operational concepts of affordance and functional tone, thus bringing together some older contributions from ecology and biosemiotics. PMID:25545707

Nematode-associated microbial taxa do not correlate with host phylogeny, geographic region or feeding morphology in marine sediment habitats.

PubMed

Schuelke, Taruna; Pereira, Tiago José; Hardy, Sarah M; Bik, Holly M

2018-04-01

Studies of host-associated microbes are critical for advancing our understanding of ecology and evolution across diverse taxa and ecosystems. Nematode worms are ubiquitous across most habitats on earth, yet little is known about host-associated microbial assemblages within the phylum. Free-living nematodes are globally abundant and diverse in marine sediments, with species exhibiting distinct buccal cavity (mouth) morphologies that are thought to play an important role in feeding ecology and life history strategies. Here, we investigated patterns in marine nematode microbiomes, by characterizing host-associated microbial taxa in 281 worms isolated from a range of habitat types (deep-sea, shallow water, methane seeps, Lophelia coral mounds, kelp holdfasts) across three distinct geographic regions (Arctic, Southern California and Gulf of Mexico). Microbiome profiles were generated from single worms spanning 33 distinct morphological genera, using a two-gene metabarcoding approach to amplify the V4 region of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene targeting bacteria/archaea and the V1-V2 region of the 18S rRNA gene targeting microbial eukaryotes. Contrary to our expectations, nematode microbiome profiles demonstrated no distinct patterns either globally (across depths and ocean basins) or locally (within site); prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial assemblages did not correlate with nematode feeding morphology, host phylogeny or morphological identity, ocean region or marine habitat type. However, fine-scale analysis of nematode microbiomes revealed a variety of novel ecological interactions, including putative parasites and symbionts, and potential associations with bacterial/archaeal taxa involved in nitrogen and methane cycling. Our results suggest that in marine habitats, free-living nematodes may utilize diverse and generalist foraging strategies that are not correlated with host genotype or feeding morphology. Furthermore, some abiotic factors such as geographic region and habitat type do not appear to play an obvious role in structuring host-microbe associations or feeding preferences. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Diversity and ecological structure of vibrios in benthic and pelagic habitats along a latitudinal gradient in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean.

PubMed

Chimetto Tonon, Luciane A; Silva, Bruno Sergio de O; Moreira, Ana Paula B; Valle, Cecilia; Alves, Nelson; Cavalcanti, Giselle; Garcia, Gizele; Lopes, Rubens M; Francini-Filho, Ronaldo B; de Moura, Rodrigo L; Thompson, Cristiane C; Thompson, Fabiano L

2015-01-01

We analyzed the diversity and population structure of the 775 Vibrio isolates from different locations of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean (SAO), including St. Peter and St. Paul Archipelago (SPSPA), Abrolhos Bank (AB) and the St. Sebastian region (SS), between 2005 and 2010. In this study, 195 novel isolates, obtained from seawater and major benthic organisms (rhodoliths and corals), were compared with a collection of 580 isolates previously characterized (available at www.taxvibrio.lncc.br). The isolates were distributed in 8 major habitat spectra according to AdaptML analysis on the basis of pyrH phylogenetic reconstruction and ecological information, such as isolation source (i.e., corals: Madracis decactis, Mussismilia braziliensis, M. hispida, Phyllogorgia dilatata, Scolymia wellsi; zoanthids: Palythoa caribaeorum, P. variabilis and Zoanthus solanderi; fireworm: Hermodice carunculata; rhodolith; water and sediment) and sampling site regions (SPSPA, AB and SS). Ecologically distinct groups were discerned through AdaptML, which finds phylogenetic groups that are significantly different in their spectra of habitat preferences. Some habitat spectra suggested ecological specialization, with habitat spectra 2, 3, and 4 corresponding to specialization on SPSPA, AB, and SS, respectively. This match between habitat and location may reflect a minor exchange of Vibrio populations between geographically isolated benthic systems. Moreover, we found several widespread Vibrio species predominantly from water column, and different populations of a single Vibrio species from H. carunculata in ecologically distinct groups (H-1 and H-8 respectively). On the other hand, AdaptML detected phylogenetic groups that are found in both the benthos and in open water. The ecological grouping observed suggests dispersal and connectivity between the benthic and pelagic systems in AB. This study is a first attempt to characterize the biogeographic distribution of vibrios in both seawater and several benthic hosts in the SAO. The benthopelagic coupling observed here stands out the importance of vibrios in the global ocean health.

Diversity and ecological structure of vibrios in benthic and pelagic habitats along a latitudinal gradient in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean

PubMed Central

Silva, Bruno Sergio de O.; Moreira, Ana Paula B.; Valle, Cecilia; Alves, Nelson; Cavalcanti, Giselle; Garcia, Gizele; Lopes, Rubens M.; Francini-Filho, Ronaldo B.; de Moura, Rodrigo L.; Thompson, Cristiane C.

2015-01-01

We analyzed the diversity and population structure of the 775 Vibrio isolates from different locations of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean (SAO), including St. Peter and St. Paul Archipelago (SPSPA), Abrolhos Bank (AB) and the St. Sebastian region (SS), between 2005 and 2010. In this study, 195 novel isolates, obtained from seawater and major benthic organisms (rhodoliths and corals), were compared with a collection of 580 isolates previously characterized (available at www.taxvibrio.lncc.br). The isolates were distributed in 8 major habitat spectra according to AdaptML analysis on the basis of pyrH phylogenetic reconstruction and ecological information, such as isolation source (i.e., corals: Madracis decactis, Mussismilia braziliensis, M. hispida, Phyllogorgia dilatata, Scolymia wellsi; zoanthids: Palythoa caribaeorum, P. variabilis and Zoanthus solanderi; fireworm: Hermodice carunculata; rhodolith; water and sediment) and sampling site regions (SPSPA, AB and SS). Ecologically distinct groups were discerned through AdaptML, which finds phylogenetic groups that are significantly different in their spectra of habitat preferences. Some habitat spectra suggested ecological specialization, with habitat spectra 2, 3, and 4 corresponding to specialization on SPSPA, AB, and SS, respectively. This match between habitat and location may reflect a minor exchange of Vibrio populations between geographically isolated benthic systems. Moreover, we found several widespread Vibrio species predominantly from water column, and different populations of a single Vibrio species from H. carunculata in ecologically distinct groups (H-1 and H-8 respectively). On the other hand, AdaptML detected phylogenetic groups that are found in both the benthos and in open water. The ecological grouping observed suggests dispersal and connectivity between the benthic and pelagic systems in AB. This study is a first attempt to characterize the biogeographic distribution of vibrios in both seawater and several benthic hosts in the SAO. The benthopelagic coupling observed here stands out the importance of vibrios in the global ocean health. PMID:25699199

A perspective on stream-catchment connections

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bencala, Kenneth E.

1993-01-01

Ecological study of the hyporheic zone is leading to recognition of a need for additional hydrologic understanding. Some of this understanding can be obtained by viewing the hyporheic zone as a succession of isolated boxes adjacent to the stream. Further understanding, particularly relevant to catchment-scale ecology, may come from studies focussed on the fluid mechanics of the flow-path connections between streams and their catchments.

Serrasalmidae — Piranhas and Pacus

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nico, Leo; Jegu, Michel; Andrade, Marcelo C

2017-01-01

The family Serrasalmidae is a morphologically and ecologically diverse group of South American freshwater fishes consisting of 16 genera and about 91 valid species. This chapter is a summary of the current state of knowledge on serrasalmid taxonomy, species richness, and ecology, and provides an identification key to the genera and references to relevant literature for species-level identifications. Included is information on native and non-native populations.

Assessing the complex architecture of polygenic traits in diverged yeast populations.

PubMed

Cubillos, Francisco A; Billi, Eleonora; Zörgö, Enikö; Parts, Leopold; Fargier, Patrick; Omholt, Stig; Blomberg, Anders; Warringer, Jonas; Louis, Edward J; Liti, Gianni

2011-04-01

Phenotypic variation arising from populations adapting to different niches has a complex underlying genetic architecture. A major challenge in modern biology is to identify the causative variants driving phenotypic variation. Recently, the baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae has emerged as a powerful model for dissecting complex traits. However, past studies using a laboratory strain were unable to reveal the complete architecture of polygenic traits. Here, we present a linkage study using 576 recombinant strains obtained from crosses of isolates representative of the major lineages. The meiotic recombinational landscape appears largely conserved between populations; however, strain-specific hotspots were also detected. Quantitative measurements of growth in 23 distinct ecologically relevant environments show that our recombinant population recapitulates most of the standing phenotypic variation described in the species. Linkage analysis detected an average of 6.3 distinct QTLs for each condition tested in all crosses, explaining on average 39% of the phenotypic variation. The QTLs detected are not constrained to a small number of loci, and the majority are specific to a single cross-combination and to a specific environment. Moreover, crosses between strains of similar phenotypes generate greater variation in the offspring, suggesting the presence of many antagonistic alleles and epistatic interactions. We found that subtelomeric regions play a key role in defining individual quantitative variation, emphasizing the importance of the adaptive nature of these regions in natural populations. This set of recombinant strains is a powerful tool for investigating the complex architecture of polygenic traits. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

A Socio-Ecological Approach for Identifying and Contextualising Spatial Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Priorities at the Sub-National Level

PubMed Central

Bourne, Amanda; Holness, Stephen; Holden, Petra; Scorgie, Sarshen; Donatti, Camila I.; Midgley, Guy

2016-01-01

Climate change adds an additional layer of complexity to existing sustainable development and biodiversity conservation challenges. The impacts of global climate change are felt locally, and thus local governance structures will increasingly be responsible for preparedness and local responses. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) options are gaining prominence as relevant climate change solutions. Local government officials seldom have an appropriate understanding of the role of ecosystem functioning in sustainable development goals, or access to relevant climate information. Thus the use of ecosystems in helping people adapt to climate change is limited partially by the lack of information on where ecosystems have the highest potential to do so. To begin overcoming this barrier, Conservation South Africa in partnership with local government developed a socio-ecological approach for identifying spatial EbA priorities at the sub-national level. Using GIS-based multi-criteria analysis and vegetation distribution models, the authors have spatially integrated relevant ecological and social information at a scale appropriate to inform local level political, administrative, and operational decision makers. This is the first systematic approach of which we are aware that highlights spatial priority areas for EbA implementation. Nodes of socio-ecological vulnerability are identified, and the inclusion of areas that provide ecosystem services and ecological resilience to future climate change is innovative. The purpose of this paper is to present and demonstrate a methodology for combining complex information into user-friendly spatial products for local level decision making on EbA. The authors focus on illustrating the kinds of products that can be generated from combining information in the suggested ways, and do not discuss the nuance of climate models nor present specific technical details of the model outputs here. Two representative case studies from rural South Africa demonstrate the replicability of this approach in rural and peri-urban areas of other developing and least developed countries around the world. PMID:27227671

A Socio-Ecological Approach for Identifying and Contextualising Spatial Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Priorities at the Sub-National Level.

PubMed

Bourne, Amanda; Holness, Stephen; Holden, Petra; Scorgie, Sarshen; Donatti, Camila I; Midgley, Guy

2016-01-01

Climate change adds an additional layer of complexity to existing sustainable development and biodiversity conservation challenges. The impacts of global climate change are felt locally, and thus local governance structures will increasingly be responsible for preparedness and local responses. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) options are gaining prominence as relevant climate change solutions. Local government officials seldom have an appropriate understanding of the role of ecosystem functioning in sustainable development goals, or access to relevant climate information. Thus the use of ecosystems in helping people adapt to climate change is limited partially by the lack of information on where ecosystems have the highest potential to do so. To begin overcoming this barrier, Conservation South Africa in partnership with local government developed a socio-ecological approach for identifying spatial EbA priorities at the sub-national level. Using GIS-based multi-criteria analysis and vegetation distribution models, the authors have spatially integrated relevant ecological and social information at a scale appropriate to inform local level political, administrative, and operational decision makers. This is the first systematic approach of which we are aware that highlights spatial priority areas for EbA implementation. Nodes of socio-ecological vulnerability are identified, and the inclusion of areas that provide ecosystem services and ecological resilience to future climate change is innovative. The purpose of this paper is to present and demonstrate a methodology for combining complex information into user-friendly spatial products for local level decision making on EbA. The authors focus on illustrating the kinds of products that can be generated from combining information in the suggested ways, and do not discuss the nuance of climate models nor present specific technical details of the model outputs here. Two representative case studies from rural South Africa demonstrate the replicability of this approach in rural and peri-urban areas of other developing and least developed countries around the world.

Marker allergens of weed pollen - basic considerations and diagnostic benefits in the clinical routine: Part 16 of the Series Molecular Allergology.

PubMed

Stemeseder, Teresa; Hemmer, Wolfgang; Hawranek, Thomas; Gadermaier, Gabriele

The term weed is referring to plants used as culinary herbs and medicinal plants as well as ecologically adaptive and invasive segetal plants. In Europe, pollen of ragweed, mugwort, English plantain and pellitory are the main elicitors of weed pollen allergies. Presently, 35 weed pollen allergens have been identified. The most relevant belong to the protein families of pectate lyases, defensin-like proteins, non-specific lipid transfer proteins, and Ole e 1-like proteins. The sensitization frequency depends on geographic regions and might affect more than 50 % of pollen allergic patients in distinct regions. Due to overlapping flowering seasons, similar habitats, polysensitizations and cross-reactive (pan)-allergens, it is difficult to diagnose genuine weed pollen sensitization using pollen extracts. Marker allergens for component-resolved diagnostics are available for the important weed pollen. These are Amb a 1 (ragweed), Art v 1 (mugwort), Pla l 1 (English plantain) and Par j 2 (pellitory). Molecule-based approaches can be used to identify the primary sensitizer and thus enable selection of the appropriate weed pollen extracts for allergen immunotherapy.

Molecular characterization of Newcastle disease viruses in Ostriches (Struthio camelus L.): further evidences of recombination within avian paramyxovirus type 1.

PubMed

Yin, Yanbo; Cortey, Martí; Zhang, Yi; Cui, Shangjin; Dolz, Roser; Wang, Jianlin; Gong, Zhenhua

2011-05-05

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strains isolated from ostriches have been genotyped for the first time by partial sequencing of the F gene to determine the epidemiologic role that this species can play within ND outbreaks. Fifteen additional NDV strains, mostly isolated from chickens but also from pigeons and penguins, were also included in the study to determine genetic relationships with ostriches NDV isolates. High genetic diversity was demonstrated in ostrich NDV isolates, as the 10 isolates were grouped in four distinct NDV genotypes. In agreement with the results obtained when chicken isolates have been molecularly characterized, the predominant genotype in ostriches was the genotype VII. More interestingly, evidences of recombination between genotype II and VII were observed in one ostrich isolate and in two further chicken isolates. Therefore, it seems that ostriches may play a relevant role in the ecology and epidemiology of ND particularly in those regions where they have an increasing farming importance as minor poultry species. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Quantifying the direct use value of Condor seamount

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ressurreição, Adriana; Giacomello, Eva

2013-12-01

Seamounts often satisfy numerous uses and interests. Multiple uses can generate multiple benefits but also conflicts and impacts, calling, therefore, for integrated and sustainable management. To assist in developing comprehensive management strategies, policymakers recognise the need to include measures of socioeconomic analysis alongside ecological data so that practical compromises can be made. This study assessed the direct output impact (DOI) of the relevant marine activities operating at Condor seamount (Azores, central northeast Atlantic) as proxies of the direct use values provided by the resource system. Results demonstrated that Condor seamount supported a wide range of uses yielding distinct economic outputs. Demersal fisheries, scientific research and shark diving were the top-three activities generating the highest revenues, while tuna fisheries, whale watching and scuba-diving had marginal economic significance. Results also indicated that the economic importance of non-extractive uses of Condor is considerable, highlighting the importance of these uses as alternative income-generating opportunities for local communities. It is hoped that quantifying the direct use values provided by Condor seamount will contribute to the decision making process towards its long-term conservation and sustainable use.

The beauty of sensory ecology.

PubMed

Otálora-Luna, Fernando; Aldana, Elis

2017-08-10

Sensory ecology is a discipline that focuses on how living creatures use information to survive, but not to live. By trans-defining the orthodox concept of sensory ecology, a serious heterodox question arises: how do organisms use their senses to live, i.e. to enjoy or suffer life? To respond to such a query the objective (time-independent) and emotional (non-rational) meaning of symbols must be revealed. Our program is distinct from both the neo-Darwinian and the classical ecological perspective because it does not focus on survival values of phenotypes and their functions, but asks for the aesthetic effect of biological structures and their symbolism. Our message recognizes that sensing apart from having a survival value also has a beauty value. Thus, we offer a provoking and inspiring new view on the sensory relations of 'living things' and their surroundings, where the innovating power of feelings have more weight than the privative power of reason.

The landscape ecology and microbiota of the human nose, mouth and throat

PubMed Central

Proctor, Diana M.; Relman, David A.

2017-01-01

Landscape ecology examines the relationships between the spatial arrangement of different landforms and the processes that give rise to spatial and temporal patterns in local community structure. These relationships that underlie the patterns of the microbial communities that inhabit the human body, and in particular, those of the nose, mouth and throat, deserve greater attention. Important questions include what defines the size of a population (i.e., ‘patch’) in a given body site; what defines the boundaries of distinct patches within a single body site, and where and over what spatial scales within a body site are gradients detected. This review looks at the landscape ecology in the upper respiratory tract and mouth, and seeks greater clarity about the physiological factors, whether immunological, chemical or physical, that govern microbial community composition and function, and the ecological traits that underlie health and disease. PMID:28407480

Colour spaces in ecology and evolutionary biology.

PubMed

Renoult, Julien P; Kelber, Almut; Schaefer, H Martin

2017-02-01

The recognition that animals sense the world in a different way than we do has unlocked important lines of research in ecology and evolutionary biology. In practice, the subjective study of natural stimuli has been permitted by perceptual spaces, which are graphical models of how stimuli are perceived by a given animal. Because colour vision is arguably the best-known sensory modality in most animals, a diversity of colour spaces are now available to visual ecologists, ranging from generalist and basic models allowing rough but robust predictions on colour perception, to species-specific, more complex models giving accurate but context-dependent predictions. Selecting among these models is most often influenced by historical contingencies that have associated models to specific questions and organisms; however, these associations are not always optimal. The aim of this review is to provide visual ecologists with a critical perspective on how models of colour space are built, how well they perform and where their main limitations are with regard to their most frequent uses in ecology and evolutionary biology. We propose a classification of models based on their complexity, defined as whether and how they model the mechanisms of chromatic adaptation and receptor opponency, the nonlinear association between the stimulus and its perception, and whether or not models have been fitted to experimental data. Then, we review the effect of modelling these mechanisms on predictions of colour detection and discrimination, colour conspicuousness, colour diversity and diversification, and for comparing the perception of colour traits between distinct perceivers. While a few rules emerge (e.g. opponent log-linear models should be preferred when analysing very distinct colours), in general model parameters still have poorly known effects. Colour spaces have nonetheless permitted significant advances in ecology and evolutionary biology, and more progress is expected if ecologists compare results between models and perform behavioural experiments more routinely. Such an approach would further contribute to a better understanding of colour vision and its links to the behavioural ecology of animals. While visual ecology is essentially a transfer of knowledge from visual sciences to evolutionary ecology, we hope that the discipline will benefit both fields more evenly in the future. © 2015 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

The ecological foundations of transmission potential and vector-borne disease in urban landscapes.

PubMed

LaDeau, Shannon L; Allan, Brian F; Leisnham, Paul T; Levy, Michael Z

2015-07-01

Urban transmission of arthropod-vectored disease has increased in recent decades. Understanding and managing transmission potential in urban landscapes requires integration of sociological and ecological processes that regulate vector population dynamics, feeding behavior, and vector-pathogen interactions in these unique ecosystems. Vectorial capacity is a key metric for generating predictive understanding about transmission potential in systems with obligate vector transmission. This review evaluates how urban conditions, specifically habitat suitability and local temperature regimes, and the heterogeneity of urban landscapes can influence the biologically-relevant parameters that define vectorial capacity: vector density, survivorship, biting rate, extrinsic incubation period, and vector competence.Urban landscapes represent unique mosaics of habitat. Incidence of vector-borne disease in urban host populations is rarely, if ever, evenly distributed across an urban area. The persistence and quality of vector habitat can vary significantly across socio-economic boundaries to influence vector species composition and abundance, often generating socio-economically distinct gradients of transmission potential across neighborhoods.Urban regions often experience unique temperature regimes, broadly termed urban heat islands (UHI). Arthropod vectors are ectothermic organisms and their growth, survival, and behavior are highly sensitive to environmental temperatures. Vector response to UHI conditions is dependent on regional temperature profiles relative to the vector's thermal performance range. In temperate climates UHI can facilitate increased vector development rates while having countervailing influence on survival and feeding behavior. Understanding how urban heat island (UHI) conditions alter thermal and moisture constraints across the vector life cycle to influence transmission processes is an important direction for both empirical and modeling research.There remain persistent gaps in understanding of vital rates and drivers in mosquito-vectored disease systems, and vast holes in understanding for other arthropod vectored diseases. Empirical studies are needed to better understand the physiological constraints and socio-ecological processes that generate heterogeneity in critical transmission parameters, including vector survival and fitness. Likewise, laboratory experiments and transmission models must evaluate vector response to realistic field conditions, including variability in sociological and environmental conditions.

Unrequited: neurochemical enhancement of love.

PubMed

Bamford, Rebecca

2015-07-01

I raise several concerns with Earp and colleagues' analysis of enhancement through neurochemical modulation of love as a key issue in contemporary neuroethics. These include: (i) strengthening their deflation of medicalization concerns by showing how the objection that love should be left outside of the scope of medicine would directly undermine the goal of medicine; (ii) developing stronger analysis of the social and political concerns relevant to neurochemical modulation of love, by exploring and suggesting possible counters to ways in which 'wellbeing' may be used as a tool of oppression; (iii) providing reasons to support a broad need for ecological investigation of, and indeed ecological education concerning, neurotechnology; (iv) suggesting ways in which philosophy, and the humanities more broadly, remain directly relevant to responding effectively to issues in contemporary neuroethics.

Environmentally relevant concentrations of microplastic particles influence larval fish ecology.

PubMed

Lönnstedt, Oona M; Eklöv, Peter

2016-06-03

The widespread occurrence and accumulation of plastic waste in the environment have become a growing global concern over the past decade. Although some marine organisms have been shown to ingest plastic, few studies have investigated the ecological effects of plastic waste on animals. Here we show that exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of microplastic polystyrene particles (90 micrometers) inhibits hatching, decreases growth rates, and alters feeding preferences and innate behaviors of European perch (Perca fluviatilis) larvae. Furthermore, individuals exposed to microplastics do not respond to olfactory threat cues, which greatly increases predator-induced mortality rates. Our results demonstrate that microplastic particles operate both chemically and physically on larval fish performance and development. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Electronic BeeSpace

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stone, David; Buell, James; Naeger, Nicholas

2011-01-01

Recent press coverage of the decrease in worldwide honeybee population (Kaplan 2010) has significantly increased public awareness of its ecological and economic importance. In addition, honeybees' social nature, novel method of gender determination, distinctive caste system, and behaviorally and chemically based language make them immediately…

Taxonomy and biology of some pyemotidae (Acarina: Tarsonemoidea) inhabiting bark beetle galleries in North American conifers

Treesearch

E.A. Cross; John C. Moser

1971-01-01

The pyemotid genera Pygmephorus and Pysmotes are redefined. The former is divided into two morphologically and ecologically distinct subgenera, Pygmephorus sensu stricto and Pygmephorus (Pygmephorellus), new subgenus. Three species, Pymeotes parviscolyti, Pygmephorus (Pygmephorellus)...

MULTISTAGE CHARACTERIZATION OF RIPARIAN PATCHES IN THE ARID SOUTHWEST

EPA Science Inventory

Some ecologically critical riparian ecosystems in the and Southwest are spatially and temporally discontinuous making their location and/or condition difficult to distinguish when studying the desert landscape. When conditions permit, riparian patches in the desert are distinct b...

Big biology meets microclimatology: Defining thermal niches of ectotherms at landscape scales for conservation planning

Treesearch

Daniel J. Isaak; Seth J. Wenger; Michael K. Young

2017-01-01

Temperature profoundly affects ecology, a fact ever more evident as the ability to measure thermal environments increases and global changes alter these environments. The spatial structure of thermalscapes is especially relevant to the distribution and abundance of ectothermic organisms but the ability to describe biothermal relationships at extents and grains relevant...

How Neighborhoods Influence Health: Lessons to be learned from the application of political ecology

PubMed Central

Chitewere, Tendai; Shim, Janet K.; Barker, Judith C.; Yen, Irene H.

2017-01-01

AIM This paper articulates how political ecology can be a useful tool for asking fundamental questions and applying relevant methods to investigate structures that impact relationship between neighborhood and health. Through a narrative analysis, we identify how political ecology can develop our future agendas for neighborhood-health research as it relates to social, political, environmental, and economic structures. Political ecology makes clear the connection between political economy and neighborhood by highlighting the historical and structural processes that produce and maintain social inequality, which affect health and well-being. These concepts encourage researchers to examine how people construct neighborhood and health in different ways that, in turn, can influence different health outcomes and, thus, efforts to address solutions. PMID:28342425

Integrated structural biology and molecular ecology of N-cycling enzymes from ammonia-oxidizing archaea

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tolar, Bradley B.; Herrmann, Jonathan; Bargar, John R.

In this paper, knowledge of the molecular ecology and environmental determinants of ammonia-oxidizing organisms is critical to understanding and predicting the global nitrogen (N) and carbon cycles, but an incomplete biochemical picture hinders in vitro studies of N-cycling enzymes. Although an integrative structural and dynamic characterization at the atomic scale would advance our understanding of function tremendously, structural knowlede of key N-cycling enzymes from ecologically-relevant ammonia oxidizers is unfortunately extremely limited. Here, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for examining the ecology of ammonia-oxidizing organisms, particularly uncultivated Thaumarchaeota, though (meta)genome-driven structural biology of the enzymes ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) andmore » nitrite reductase (NirK).« less

Integrated structural biology and molecular ecology of N-cycling enzymes from ammonia-oxidizing archaea

DOE PAGES

Tolar, Bradley B.; Herrmann, Jonathan; Bargar, John R.; ...

2017-07-05

In this paper, knowledge of the molecular ecology and environmental determinants of ammonia-oxidizing organisms is critical to understanding and predicting the global nitrogen (N) and carbon cycles, but an incomplete biochemical picture hinders in vitro studies of N-cycling enzymes. Although an integrative structural and dynamic characterization at the atomic scale would advance our understanding of function tremendously, structural knowlede of key N-cycling enzymes from ecologically-relevant ammonia oxidizers is unfortunately extremely limited. Here, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for examining the ecology of ammonia-oxidizing organisms, particularly uncultivated Thaumarchaeota, though (meta)genome-driven structural biology of the enzymes ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) andmore » nitrite reductase (NirK).« less

Integrated structural biology and molecular ecology of N-cycling enzymes from ammonia-oxidizing archaea.

PubMed

Tolar, Bradley B; Herrmann, Jonathan; Bargar, John R; van den Bedem, Henry; Wakatsuki, Soichi; Francis, Christopher A

2017-10-01

Knowledge of the molecular ecology and environmental determinants of ammonia-oxidizing organisms is critical to understanding and predicting the global nitrogen (N) and carbon cycles, but an incomplete biochemical picture hinders in vitro studies of N-cycling enzymes. Although an integrative structural and dynamic characterization at the atomic scale would advance our understanding of function tremendously, structural knowledge of key N-cycling enzymes from ecologically relevant ammonia oxidizers is unfortunately extremely limited. Here, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for examining the ecology of ammonia-oxidizing organisms, particularly uncultivated Thaumarchaeota, through (meta)genome-driven structural biology of the enzymes ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) and nitrite reductase (NirK). © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

How Neighborhoods Influence Health: Lessons to be learned from the application of political ecology.

PubMed

Chitewere, Tendai; Shim, Janet K; Barker, Judith C; Yen, Irene H

2017-05-01

This paper articulates how political ecology can be a useful tool for asking fundamental questions and applying relevant methods to investigate structures that impact relationship between neighborhood and health. Through a narrative analysis, we identify how political ecology can develop our future agendas for neighborhood-health research as it relates to social, political, environmental, and economic structures. Political ecology makes clear the connection between political economy and neighborhood by highlighting the historical and structural processes that produce and maintain social inequality, which affect health and well-being. These concepts encourage researchers to examine how people construct neighborhood and health in different ways that, in turn, can influence different health outcomes and, thus, efforts to address solutions. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Impacts of road deicing salts on the early-life growth and development of a stream salmonid: Salt type matters.

PubMed

Hintz, William D; Relyea, Rick A

2017-04-01

The use of road deicing salts in regions that experience cold winters is increasing the salinity of freshwater ecosystems, which threatens freshwater resources. Yet, the impacts of environmentally relevant road salt concentrations on freshwater organisms are not well understood, particularly in stream ecosystems where salinization is most severe. We tested the impacts of deicing salts-sodium chloride (NaCl), magnesium chloride (MgCl 2 ), and calcium chloride (CaCl 2 )-on the growth and development of newly hatched rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). We exposed rainbow trout to a wide range of environmentally relevant chloride concentrations (25, 230, 860, 1500, and 3000 mg Cl -  L -1 ) over an ecologically relevant time period (25 d). We found that the deicing salts studied had distinct effects. MgCl 2 did not affect rainbow trout growth at any concentration. NaCl had no effects at the lowest three concentrations, but rainbow trout length was reduced by 9% and mass by 27% at 3000 mg Cl -  L -1 . CaCl 2 affected rainbow trout growth at 860 mg Cl -  L -1 (5% reduced length; 16% reduced mass) and these effects became larger at higher concentrations (11% reduced length; 31% reduced mass). None of the deicing salts affected rainbow trout development. At sub-lethal and environmentally relevant concentrations, our results do not support the paradigm that MgCl 2 is the most toxic deicing salt to fish, perhaps due to hydration effects on the Mg 2+ cation. Our results do suggest different pathways for lethal and sub-lethal effects of road salts. Scaled to the population level, the reduced growth caused by NaCl and CaCl 2 at critical early-life stages has the potential to negatively affect salmonid recruitment and population dynamics. Our findings have implications for environmental policy and management strategies that aim to reduce the impacts of salinization on freshwater organisms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Morphological and ecological preadaptations as the basis of bird synanthropization under transformed environment conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rakhimov, I. I.; Ibragimova, K. K.

2018-01-01

Bird synanthropization is connected with a thorough and serious reconstruction of their biology and is a demonstration of changes currently occurring in the biosphere due to human influence. Nutritional and nesting conditions as well as protection due to urban characteristics are advantage factors that affect their populations. Under these conditions, the adaptive potential of species can be realized. Adaptations to a new and in-distinctive environment appear due to preadaptations. The synanthropization process of species happens without speciation by expression of existing genetic variation of morphological and ecological characteristics.

Shades of green: Measuring the ecology of urban green space in the context of human health and well-being

Treesearch

Anna Jorgensen; Paul H. Gobster

2010-01-01

In this paper we review and analyze the recent research literature on urban green space and human health and well-being, with an emphasis on studies that attempt to measure biodiversity and other green space concepts relevant to urban ecological restoration. We first conduct a broad scale assessment of the literature to identify typologies of urban green space and...

Recent advances in vertebrate and invertebrate transgenerational immunity in the light of ecology and evolution.

PubMed

Roth, Olivia; Beemelmanns, Anne; Barribeau, Seth M; Sadd, Ben M

2018-06-18

Parental experience with parasites and pathogens can lead to increased offspring resistance to infection, through a process known as transgenerational immune priming (TGIP). Broadly defined, TGIP occurs across a wide range of taxa, and can be viewed as a type of phenotypic plasticity, with hosts responding to the pressures of relevant local infection risk by altering their offspring's immune defenses. There are ever increasing examples of both invertebrate and vertebrate TGIP, which go beyond classical examples of maternal antibody transfer. Here we critically summarize the current evidence for TGIP in both invertebrates and vertebrates. Mechanisms underlying TGIP remain elusive in many systems, but while it is unlikely that they are conserved across the range of organisms with TGIP, recent insight into epigenetic modulation may challenge this view. We place TGIP into a framework of evolutionary ecology, discussing costs and relevant environmental variation. We highlight how the ecology of species or populations should affect if, where, when, and how TGIP is realized. We propose that the field can progress by incorporating evolutionary ecology focused designs to the study of the so far well chronicled, but mostly descriptive TGIP, and how rapidly developing -omic methods can be employed to further understand TGIP across taxa.

A Risk-Based Ecohydrological Approach to Assessing Environmental Flow Regimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mcgregor, Glenn B.; Marshall, Jonathan C.; Lobegeiger, Jaye S.; Holloway, Dean; Menke, Norbert; Coysh, Julie

2018-03-01

For several decades there has been recognition that water resource development alters river flow regimes and impacts ecosystem values. Determining strategies to protect or restore flow regimes to achieve ecological outcomes is a focus of water policy and legislation in many parts of the world. However, consideration of existing environmental flow assessment approaches for application in Queensland identified deficiencies precluding their adoption. Firstly, in managing flows and using ecosystem condition as an indicator of effectiveness, many approaches ignore the fact that river ecosystems are subjected to threatening processes other than flow regime alteration. Secondly, many focus on providing flows for responses without considering how often they are necessary to sustain ecological values in the long-term. Finally, few consider requirements at spatial-scales relevant to the desired outcomes, with frequent focus on individual places rather than the regions supporting sustainability. Consequently, we developed a risk-based ecohydrological approach that identifies ecosystem values linked to desired ecological outcomes, is sensitive to flow alteration and uses indicators of broader ecosystem requirements. Monitoring and research is undertaken to quantify flow-dependencies and ecological modelling is used to quantify flow-related ecological responses over an historical flow period. The relative risk from different flow management scenarios can be evaluated at relevant spatial-scales. This overcomes the deficiencies identified above and provides a robust and useful foundation upon which to build the information needed to support water planning decisions. Application of the risk assessment approach is illustrated here by two case studies.

Eco-HAB as a fully automated and ecologically relevant assessment of social impairments in mouse models of autism.

PubMed

Puścian, Alicja; Łęski, Szymon; Kasprowicz, Grzegorz; Winiarski, Maciej; Borowska, Joanna; Nikolaev, Tomasz; Boguszewski, Paweł M; Lipp, Hans-Peter; Knapska, Ewelina

2016-10-12

Eco-HAB is an open source, RFID-based system for automated measurement and analysis of social preference and in-cohort sociability in mice. The system closely follows murine ethology. It requires no contact between a human experimenter and tested animals, overcoming the confounding factors that lead to irreproducible assessment of murine social behavior between laboratories. In Eco-HAB, group-housed animals live in a spacious, four-compartment apparatus with shadowed areas and narrow tunnels, resembling natural burrows. Eco-HAB allows for assessment of the tendency of mice to voluntarily spend time together in ethologically relevant mouse group sizes. Custom-made software for automated tracking, data extraction, and analysis enables quick evaluation of social impairments. The developed protocols and standardized behavioral measures demonstrate high replicability. Unlike classic three-chambered sociability tests, Eco-HAB provides measurements of spontaneous, ecologically relevant social behaviors in group-housed animals. Results are obtained faster, with less manpower, and without confounding factors.

Tales from the tomb: the microbial ecology of exposed rock surfaces.

PubMed

Brewer, Tess E; Fierer, Noah

2018-03-01

Although a broad diversity of eukaryotic and bacterial taxa reside on rock surfaces where they can influence the weathering of rocks and minerals, these communities and their contributions to mineral weathering remain poorly resolved. To build a more comprehensive understanding of the diversity, ecology and potential functional attributes of microbial communities living on rock, we sampled 149 tombstones across three continents and analysed their bacterial and eukaryotic communities via marker gene and shotgun metagenomic sequencing. We found that geographic location and climate were important factors structuring the composition of these communities. Moreover, the tombstone-associated microbial communities varied as a function of rock type, with granite and limestone tombstones from the same cemeteries harbouring taxonomically distinct microbial communities. The granite and limestone-associated communities also had distinct functional attributes, with granite-associated bacteria having more genes linked to acid tolerance and chemotaxis, while bacteria on limestone were more likely to be lichen associated and have genes involved in photosynthesis and radiation resistance. Together these results indicate that rock-dwelling microbes exhibit adaptations to survive the stresses of the rock surface, differ based on location, climate and rock type, and seem pre-disposed to different ecological strategies (symbiotic versus free-living lifestyles) depending on the rock type. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cross-taxa distinctions in aquatic toxicity between representative species for risk assessment

EPA Science Inventory

Standard ecological risk assessment practices often rely on larval and juvenile fish toxicity data as representative of the amphibian aquatic stage. Although empirical evidence suggests fish early life stage tests frequently are sufficiently sensitive to protect larval amphibian...

Hmong American Adolescents' Perceptions of Ethnic Socialization Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moua, MyLou Y.; Lamborn, Susie D.

2010-01-01

Guided by an ecological framework, this study explored ethnic socialization practices from the perspective of Southeast Asian American adolescents. Defined as a multidimensional construct that is conceptually distinct from racial socialization, ethnic socialization involves parents' communication to children about their ethnic heritage. The…

Host-associated differentiation in a pecan and water hickory Aphidomorpha community

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Host-Associated Differentiation (HAD) is the formation of genetically distinct, host-associated populations created and maintained by ecologically-mediated reproductive isolation. HAD potentially accounts for a high level of species diversity in parasites, including herbivorous insects. While case s...

Understanding psychiatric disorder by capturing ecologically relevant features of learning and decision-making.

PubMed

Scholl, Jacqueline; Klein-Flügge, Miriam

2017-09-28

Recent research in cognitive neuroscience has begun to uncover the processes underlying increasingly complex voluntary behaviours, including learning and decision-making. Partly this success has been possible by progressing from simple experimental tasks to paradigms that incorporate more ecological features. More specifically, the premise is that to understand cognitions and brain functions relevant for real life, we need to introduce some of the ecological challenges that we have evolved to solve. This often entails an increase in task complexity, which can be managed by using computational models to help parse complex behaviours into specific component mechanisms. Here we propose that using computational models with tasks that capture ecologically relevant learning and decision-making processes may provide a critical advantage for capturing the mechanisms underlying symptoms of disorders in psychiatry. As a result, it may help develop mechanistic approaches towards diagnosis and treatment. We begin this review by mapping out the basic concepts and models of learning and decision-making. We then move on to consider specific challenges that emerge in realistic environments and describe how they can be captured by tasks. These include changes of context, uncertainty, reflexive/emotional biases, cost-benefit decision-making, and balancing exploration and exploitation. Where appropriate we highlight future or current links to psychiatry. We particularly draw examples from research on clinical depression, a disorder that greatly compromises motivated behaviours in real-life, but where simpler paradigms have yielded mixed results. Finally, we highlight several paradigms that could be used to help provide new insights into the mechanisms of psychiatric disorders. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Microdiversity of an Abundant Terrestrial Bacterium Encompasses Extensive Variation in Ecologically Relevant Traits

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chase, Alexander B.; Karaoz, Ulas; Brodie, Eoin L.

ABSTRACT Much genetic diversity within a bacterial community is likely obscured by microdiversity within operational taxonomic units (OTUs) defined by 16S rRNA gene sequences. However, it is unclear how variation within this microdiversity influences ecologically relevant traits. Here, we employ a multifaceted approach to investigate microdiversity within the dominant leaf litter bacterium, Curtobacterium , which comprises 7.8% of the bacterial community at a grassland site undergoing global change manipulations. We use cultured bacterial isolates to interpret metagenomic data, collected in situ over 2 years, together with lab-based physiological assays to determine the extent of trait variation within this abundant OTU. Themore » response of Curtobacterium to seasonal variability and the global change manipulations, specifically an increase in relative abundance under decreased water availability, appeared to be conserved across six Curtobacterium lineages identified at this site. Genomic and physiological analyses in the lab revealed that degradation of abundant polymeric carbohydrates within leaf litter, cellulose and xylan, is nearly universal across the genus, which may contribute to its high abundance in grassland leaf litter. However, the degree of carbohydrate utilization and temperature preference for this degradation varied greatly among clades. Overall, we find that traits within Curtobacterium are conserved at different phylogenetic depths. We speculate that similar to bacteria in marine systems, diverse microbes within this taxon may be structured in distinct ecotypes that are key to understanding Curtobacterium abundance and distribution in the environment. IMPORTANCE Despite the plummeting costs of sequencing, characterizing the fine-scale genetic diversity of a microbial community—and interpreting its functional importance—remains a challenge. Indeed, most studies, particularly studies of soil, assess community composition at a broad genetic level by classifying diversity into taxa (OTUs) defined by 16S rRNA sequence similarity. However, these classifications potentially obscure variation in traits that result in fine-scale ecological differentiation among closely related strains. Here, we investigated “microdiversity” in a highly diverse and poorly characterized soil system (leaf litter in a southern Californian grassland). We focused on the most abundant bacterium, Curtobacterium , which by standard methods is grouped into only one OTU. We find that the degree of carbohydrate usage and temperature preference vary within the OTU, whereas its responses to changes in precipitation are relatively uniform. These results suggest that microdiversity may be key to understanding how soil bacterial diversity is linked to ecosystem functioning.« less

Microdiversity of an Abundant Terrestrial Bacterium Encompasses Extensive Variation in Ecologically Relevant Traits

DOE PAGES

Chase, Alexander B.; Karaoz, Ulas; Brodie, Eoin L.; ...

2017-11-14

ABSTRACT Much genetic diversity within a bacterial community is likely obscured by microdiversity within operational taxonomic units (OTUs) defined by 16S rRNA gene sequences. However, it is unclear how variation within this microdiversity influences ecologically relevant traits. Here, we employ a multifaceted approach to investigate microdiversity within the dominant leaf litter bacterium, Curtobacterium , which comprises 7.8% of the bacterial community at a grassland site undergoing global change manipulations. We use cultured bacterial isolates to interpret metagenomic data, collected in situ over 2 years, together with lab-based physiological assays to determine the extent of trait variation within this abundant OTU. Themore » response of Curtobacterium to seasonal variability and the global change manipulations, specifically an increase in relative abundance under decreased water availability, appeared to be conserved across six Curtobacterium lineages identified at this site. Genomic and physiological analyses in the lab revealed that degradation of abundant polymeric carbohydrates within leaf litter, cellulose and xylan, is nearly universal across the genus, which may contribute to its high abundance in grassland leaf litter. However, the degree of carbohydrate utilization and temperature preference for this degradation varied greatly among clades. Overall, we find that traits within Curtobacterium are conserved at different phylogenetic depths. We speculate that similar to bacteria in marine systems, diverse microbes within this taxon may be structured in distinct ecotypes that are key to understanding Curtobacterium abundance and distribution in the environment. IMPORTANCE Despite the plummeting costs of sequencing, characterizing the fine-scale genetic diversity of a microbial community—and interpreting its functional importance—remains a challenge. Indeed, most studies, particularly studies of soil, assess community composition at a broad genetic level by classifying diversity into taxa (OTUs) defined by 16S rRNA sequence similarity. However, these classifications potentially obscure variation in traits that result in fine-scale ecological differentiation among closely related strains. Here, we investigated “microdiversity” in a highly diverse and poorly characterized soil system (leaf litter in a southern Californian grassland). We focused on the most abundant bacterium, Curtobacterium , which by standard methods is grouped into only one OTU. We find that the degree of carbohydrate usage and temperature preference vary within the OTU, whereas its responses to changes in precipitation are relatively uniform. These results suggest that microdiversity may be key to understanding how soil bacterial diversity is linked to ecosystem functioning.« less

Genetic and developmental basis for parallel evolution and its significance for hominoid evolution.

PubMed

Reno, Philip L

2014-01-01

Greater understanding of ape comparative anatomy and evolutionary history has brought a general appreciation that the hominoid radiation is characterized by substantial homoplasy.(1-4) However, little consensus has been reached regarding which features result from repeated evolution. This has important implications for reconstructing ancestral states throughout hominoid evolution, including the nature of the Pan-Homo last common ancestor (LCA). Advances from evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) have expanded the diversity of model organisms available for uncovering the morphogenetic mechanisms underlying instances of repeated phenotypic change. Of particular relevance to hominoids are data from adaptive radiations of birds, fish, and even flies demonstrating that parallel phenotypic changes often use similar genetic and developmental mechanisms. The frequent reuse of a limited set of genes and pathways underlying phenotypic homoplasy suggests that the conserved nature of the genetic and developmental architecture of animals can influence evolutionary outcomes. Such biases are particularly likely to be shared by closely related taxa that reside in similar ecological niches and face common selective pressures. Consideration of these developmental and ecological factors provides a strong theoretical justification for the substantial homoplasy observed in the evolution of complex characters and the remarkable parallel similarities that can occur in closely related taxa. Thus, as in other branches of the hominoid radiation, repeated phenotypic evolution within African apes is also a distinct possibility. If so, the availability of complete genomes for each of the hominoid genera makes them another model to explore the genetic basis of repeated evolution. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Relevant Spatial Scales of Chemical Variation in Aplysina aerophoba

PubMed Central

Sacristan-Soriano, Oriol; Banaigs, Bernard; Becerro, Mikel A.

2011-01-01

Understanding the scale at which natural products vary the most is critical because it sheds light on the type of factors that regulate their production. The sponge Aplysina aerophoba is a common Mediterranean sponge inhabiting shallow waters in the Mediterranean and its area of influence in Atlantic Ocean. This species contains large concentrations of brominated alkaloids (BAs) that play a number of ecological roles in nature. Our research investigates the ecological variation in BAs of A. aerophoba from a scale of hundred of meters to thousand kilometers. We used a nested design to sample sponges from two geographically distinct regions (Canary Islands and Mediterranean, over 2500 km), with two zones within each region (less than 50 km), two locations within each zone (less than 5 km), and two sites within each location (less than 500 m). We used high-performance liquid chromatography to quantify multiple BAs and a spectrophotometer to quantify chlorophyll a (Chl a). Our results show a striking degree of variation in both natural products and Chl a content. Significant variation in Chl a content occurred at the largest and smallest geographic scales. The variation patterns of BAs also occurred at the largest and smallest scales, but varied depending on which BA was analyzed. Concentrations of Chl a and isofistularin-3 were negatively correlated, suggesting that symbionts may impact the concentration of some of these compounds. Our results underline the complex control of the production of secondary metabolites, with factors acting at both small and large geographic scales affecting the production of multiple secondary metabolites. PMID:22363236

Promise and progress in environmental genomics: a status report on the applications of gene expression-based microarray studies in ecologically relevant fish species.

PubMed

Hook, S E

2010-12-01

The advent of any new technology is typically met with great excitement. So it was a few years ago, when the combination of advances in sequencing technology and the development of microarray technology made measurements of global gene expression in ecologically relevant species possible. Many of the review papers published around that time promised that these new technologies would revolutionize environmental biology as they had revolutionized medicine and related fields. A few years have passed since these technological advancements have been made, and the use of microarray studies in non-model fish species has been adopted in many laboratories internationally. Has the relatively widespread adoption of this technology really revolutionized the fields of environmental biology, including ecotoxicology, aquaculture and ecology, as promised? Or have these studies merely become a novelty and a potential distraction for scientists addressing environmentally relevant questions? In this review, the promises made in early review papers, in particular about the advances that the use of microarrays would enable, are summarized; these claims are compared to the results of recent studies to determine whether the forecasted changes have materialized. Some applications, as discussed in the paper, have been realized and have led to advances in their field, others are still under development. © 2010 CSIRO. Journal of Fish Biology © 2010 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Identification of hydrologic indicators related to fish diversity and abundance: A data mining approach for fish community analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yi-Chen E.; Cai, Ximing; Herricks, Edwin E.

2008-04-01

This paper develops a new approach to identify hydrologic indicators related to fish community and generate a quantitative function between an ecological target index and the identified hydrologic indicators. The approach is based on genetic programming (GP), a data mining method. Using the Shannon Index (a fish community diversity index) or the number of individuals (total abundance) of a fish community, as an ecological target, the GP identified the most ecologically relevant hydrologic indicators (ERHIs) from 32 indicators of hydrologic alteration, for the case study site, the upper Illinois River. Robustness analysis showed that different GP runs found a similar set of ERHIs; each of the identified ERHI from different GP runs had a consistent relationship with the target index. By comparing the GP results with those from principal component analysis and autecology matrix, the three approaches identified a small number (six) of common ERHIs. Particularly, the timing of low flow (Dmin) seems to be more relevant to the diversity of the fish community, while the magnitude of the low flow (Qb) is more relevant to the total fish abundance; large rising rates result in a significant improvement of fish diversity, which is counterintuitive and against previous findings. The quantitative function developed by GP was further used to construct an indicator impact matrix (IIM), which was demonstrated as a potentially useful tool for streamflow restoration design.

Systematics and ecology of the Australasian genus Empodisma (Restionaceae) and description of a new species from peatlands in northern New Zealand

PubMed Central

Wagstaff, Steven J.; Clarkson, Beverley R.

2012-01-01

Abstract The genus Empodisma comprises two species that are ecologically important in wetland habitats. Empodisma gracillimum is restricted to south-western Australia, whereas Empodisma minus is found in Tasmania, eastern Australia and New Zealand. We sequenced three cpDNA genes for 15 individuals of Empodisma sampled from throughout the range of the species. The results support an Australian origin for Empodisma sometime during the late Oligocene to early Miocene with more recent dispersal, colonization and diversification in New Zealand. We recovered six genetically distinct maternal lineages: three Empodisma gracillimum haplotypes corresponding to the three accessions in our analysis, a wide-ranging Empodisma minus haplotype found in eastern Australia and Tasmania, an Empodisma minus haplotype found in New Zealand from Stewart Island to approximately 38° S latitude on the North Island, and a distinct haplotype restricted to the North Island of New Zealand north of 38° S latitude. The Eastern Australian and New Zealand haplotypes of Empodisma minus were supported by only one cpDNA gene, and we felt the relatively minor morphological differences and the small amount of genetic divergence did not warrant taxonomic recognition. However, we recommend that the northern New Zealand haplotype should be recognized as the new species Empodisma robustum and provide descriptions and a key to the species of Empodisma. Monophyly of Empodisma robustum is supported by all three cpDNA genes. Empodisma robustum can be distinguished from Empodisma gracillimum and Empodisma minus by its robust growth stature and distinct ecology. It is typically eliminated by fire and re-establishes by seed (seeder strategy), whereas Empodisma minus and Empodisma gracillimum regrow after fire (sprouter strategy). PMID:22787426

OVERVIEW: USING MODE OF ACTION AND LIFE STAGE INFORMATION TO EVALUATE THE HUMAN RELEVANCE OF ANIMAL TOXICITY DATA.

EPA Science Inventory

A manuscript summarizes a workshop aimed at developing a framework to determine the relevancy of animal modes-of-action for extrapolation to humans. A complete mode of action human relevance analysis - as distinct from mode of action (MOA) analysis alone - depends on robust info...

A statistical approach to root system classification

PubMed Central

Bodner, Gernot; Leitner, Daniel; Nakhforoosh, Alireza; Sobotik, Monika; Moder, Karl; Kaul, Hans-Peter

2013-01-01

Plant root systems have a key role in ecology and agronomy. In spite of fast increase in root studies, still there is no classification that allows distinguishing among distinctive characteristics within the diversity of rooting strategies. Our hypothesis is that a multivariate approach for “plant functional type” identification in ecology can be applied to the classification of root systems. The classification method presented is based on a data-defined statistical procedure without a priori decision on the classifiers. The study demonstrates that principal component based rooting types provide efficient and meaningful multi-trait classifiers. The classification method is exemplified with simulated root architectures and morphological field data. Simulated root architectures showed that morphological attributes with spatial distribution parameters capture most distinctive features within root system diversity. While developmental type (tap vs. shoot-borne systems) is a strong, but coarse classifier, topological traits provide the most detailed differentiation among distinctive groups. Adequacy of commonly available morphologic traits for classification is supported by field data. Rooting types emerging from measured data, mainly distinguished by diameter/weight and density dominated types. Similarity of root systems within distinctive groups was the joint result of phylogenetic relation and environmental as well as human selection pressure. We concluded that the data-define classification is appropriate for integration of knowledge obtained with different root measurement methods and at various scales. Currently root morphology is the most promising basis for classification due to widely used common measurement protocols. To capture details of root diversity efforts in architectural measurement techniques are essential. PMID:23914200

A statistical approach to root system classification.

PubMed

Bodner, Gernot; Leitner, Daniel; Nakhforoosh, Alireza; Sobotik, Monika; Moder, Karl; Kaul, Hans-Peter

2013-01-01

Plant root systems have a key role in ecology and agronomy. In spite of fast increase in root studies, still there is no classification that allows distinguishing among distinctive characteristics within the diversity of rooting strategies. Our hypothesis is that a multivariate approach for "plant functional type" identification in ecology can be applied to the classification of root systems. The classification method presented is based on a data-defined statistical procedure without a priori decision on the classifiers. The study demonstrates that principal component based rooting types provide efficient and meaningful multi-trait classifiers. The classification method is exemplified with simulated root architectures and morphological field data. Simulated root architectures showed that morphological attributes with spatial distribution parameters capture most distinctive features within root system diversity. While developmental type (tap vs. shoot-borne systems) is a strong, but coarse classifier, topological traits provide the most detailed differentiation among distinctive groups. Adequacy of commonly available morphologic traits for classification is supported by field data. Rooting types emerging from measured data, mainly distinguished by diameter/weight and density dominated types. Similarity of root systems within distinctive groups was the joint result of phylogenetic relation and environmental as well as human selection pressure. We concluded that the data-define classification is appropriate for integration of knowledge obtained with different root measurement methods and at various scales. Currently root morphology is the most promising basis for classification due to widely used common measurement protocols. To capture details of root diversity efforts in architectural measurement techniques are essential.

Functions and ecological status of eight Italian lagoons examined using biological traits analysis (BTA).

PubMed

Marchini, Agnese; Munari, Cristina; Mistri, Michele

2008-06-01

The soft-bottom communities of eight Italian lagoons were analyzed for eight biological traits (feeding, mobility, adult life habitat, body size, life span, reproductive technique, type of larva and reproductive frequency) in order to identify the dominant traits in different transitional environments. We considered the ecological quality status (EcoQS) of the stations, assessed by two biotic indices, AMBI and Bentix. Stations were categorized into EcoQS classes to investigate the relationship between biological functions and ecological quality. The results indicate that the variability of the data was governed by traits linked to resource utilization rather than to life cycle. Lagoons affected by chronic disturbance displayed a poor functional composition, which usually corresponded to poor EcoQS in some cases, correlations between ecological groups and traits modalities were ecologically relevant; however, classes of EcoQS were found to be relatively independent from the functional structure of the considered stations.

Mastering Foreign Language Competence of Ecology and Environment Managers for Mining Industry of Kuzbass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greenwald, Oksana; Islamov, Roman; Sergeychick, Tatyana

2017-11-01

The necessity to solve nature conservation problems of Kuzbass mining industry demands from postgraduate education institutions to train highly qualified specialists in ecology and environment management. As 21st century education is competence-based one, the article clarifies the concept of competence in education, focuses on key competences, namely foreign language competence and its relevance for specialists in ecology and environment management. Foreign language competence is acquired through the course of "Foreign Language" discipline which covers the following aspects: academic reading, academic writing and public speaking. The article also describes the experience of organizing students' individual work taking into account their motivation and specific conditions of the discipline as well. Thus, both the content of the discipline and the approach to organize students' learning contribute to mastering foreign language competence of ecology and environment managers as inherent condition of their professional efficiency for solving ecological problems of mining industry in Kuzbass region.

Where the wild things are: informal experience and ecological reasoning.

PubMed

Coley, John D

2012-01-01

Category-based induction requires selective use of different relations to guide inferences; this article examines the development of inferences based on ecological relations among living things. Three hundred and forty-six 6-, 8-, and 10-year-old children from rural, suburban, and urban communities projected novel diseases or insides from one species to an ecologically or taxonomically related species; they were also surveyed about hobbies and activities. Frequency of ecological inferences increased with age and with reports of informal exploration of nature, and decreased with population density. By age 10, children preferred taxonomic inferences for insides and ecological inferences for disease, but this pattern emerged earlier among rural children. These results underscore the importance of context by demonstrating effects of both domain-relevant experience and environment on biological reasoning. © 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Bringing an ecological view of change to Landsat-based remote sensing

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kennedy, Robert E.; Andrefouet, Serge; Cohen, Warren; Gomez, Cristina; Griffiths, Patrick; Hais, Martin; Healey, Sean; Helmer, Eileen H.; Hostert, Patrick; Lyons, Mitchell; Meigs, Garrett; Pflugmacher, Dirk; Phinn, Stuart; Powell, Scott; Scarth, Peter; Susmita, Sen; Schroeder, Todd A.; Schneider, Annemarie; Sonnenschein, Ruth; Vogelmann, James; Wulder, Michael A.; Zhu, Zhe

2014-01-01

When characterizing the processes that shape ecosystems, ecologists increasingly use the unique perspective offered by repeat observations of remotely sensed imagery. However, the concept of change embodied in much of the traditional remote-sensing literature was primarily limited to capturing large or extreme changes occurring in natural systems, omitting many more subtle processes of interest to ecologists. Recent technical advances have led to a fundamental shift toward an ecological view of change. Although this conceptual shift began with coarser-scale global imagery, it has now reached users of Landsat imagery, since these datasets have temporal and spatial characteristics appropriate to many ecological questions. We argue that this ecologically relevant perspective of change allows the novel characterization of important dynamic processes, including disturbances, long-term trends, cyclical functions, and feedbacks, and that these improvements are already facilitating our understanding of critical driving forces, such as climate change, ecological interactions, and economic pressures.

[Attributes of forest infrastructure].

PubMed

Gao, Jun-kai; Jin, Ying-shan

2007-06-01

This paper discussed the origin and evolution of the conception of ecological infrastructure, the understanding of international communities about the functions of forest, the important roles of forest in China' s economic development and ecological security, and the situations and challenges to the ongoing forestry ecological restoration programs. It was suggested that forest should be defined as an essential infrastructure for national economic and social development in a modern society. The critical functions of forest infrastructure played in the transition of forestry ecological development were emphasized. Based on the synthesis of forest ecosystem features, it was considered that the attributes of forest infrastructure are distinctive, due to the fact that it is constructed by living biological material and diversified in ownership. The forestry ecological restoration program should not only follow the basic principles of infrastructural construction, but also take the special characteristics of forests into consideration in studying the managerial system of the programs. Some suggestions for the ongoing programs were put forward: 1) developing a modern concept of ecosystem where man and nature in harmony is the core, 2) formulating long-term stable investments for forestry ecological restoration programs, 3) implementing forestry ecological restoration programs based on infrastructure construction principles, and 4) managing forests according to the principles of infrastructural construction management.

An analytically tractable model for community ecology with many species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dickens, Benjamin; Fisher, Charles; Mehta, Pankaj; Pankaj Mehta Biophysics Theory Group Team

A fundamental problem in community ecology is to understand how ecological processes such as selection, drift, and immigration yield observed patterns in species composition and diversity. Here, we present an analytically tractable, presence-absence (PA) model for community assembly and use it to ask how ecological traits such as the strength of competition, diversity in competition, and stochasticity affect species composition in a community. In our PA model, we treat species as stochastic binary variables that can either be present or absent in a community: species can immigrate into the community from a regional species pool and can go extinct due to competition and stochasticity. Despite its simplicity, the PA model reproduces the qualitative features of more complicated models of community assembly. In agreement with recent work on large, competitive Lotka-Volterra systems, the PA model exhibits distinct ecological behaviors organized around a special (``critical'') point corresponding to Hubbell's neutral theory of biodiversity. Our results suggest that the concepts of ``phases'' and phase diagrams can provide a powerful framework for thinking about community ecology and that the PA model captures the essential ecological dynamics of community assembly. Pm was supported by a Simons Investigator in the Mathematical Modeling of Living Systems and a Sloan Research Fellowship.

Manager Perspectives on Communication and Public ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

We argue that public engagement is crucial to achieving lasting ecological success in aquatic restoration efforts, and that the most effective public engagement mechanisms are what we term iterative mechanisms. Here we look to a particular social-ecological system – the restoration community in Rhode Island, U.S.A. and the rivers, wetlands, marshes, and estuaries, and their related species, that they work to protect – to better understand land managers’ perspectives on public engagement in restoration processes. Adopting an inductive approach to critical discourse analysis of interviews with 27 local, state, and federal restoration managers and the forms of public interaction they described, we identify three distinct models of public engagement in natural resources management employed by managers: unidirectional; bidirectional; and iterative. While unidirectional and bidirectional mechanisms can help managers achieve short-term ecological successes, we suggest that adopting an iterative approach can improve the quality of stakeholder and learning interactions and, subsequently, foster lasting ecological successes. We argue that managers can design deliberately for public engagement mechanisms that are best suited to projects in particular social-ecological systems in order to create restoration projects that achieve ecological, learning, and stakeholder successes. We attempt to synthesize the lessons learned from efforts at public engagement in restoratio

Using circuit theory to model connectivity in ecology, evolution, and conservation.

PubMed

McRae, Brad H; Dickson, Brett G; Keitt, Timothy H; Shah, Viral B

2008-10-01

Connectivity among populations and habitats is important for a wide range of ecological processes. Understanding, preserving, and restoring connectivity in complex landscapes requires connectivity models and metrics that are reliable, efficient, and process based. We introduce a new class of ecological connectivity models based in electrical circuit theory. Although they have been applied in other disciplines, circuit-theoretic connectivity models are new to ecology. They offer distinct advantages over common analytic connectivity models, including a theoretical basis in random walk theory and an ability to evaluate contributions of multiple dispersal pathways. Resistance, current, and voltage calculated across graphs or raster grids can be related to ecological processes (such as individual movement and gene flow) that occur across large population networks or landscapes. Efficient algorithms can quickly solve networks with millions of nodes, or landscapes with millions of raster cells. Here we review basic circuit theory, discuss relationships between circuit and random walk theories, and describe applications in ecology, evolution, and conservation. We provide examples of how circuit models can be used to predict movement patterns and fates of random walkers in complex landscapes and to identify important habitat patches and movement corridors for conservation planning.

Comparability and repeatability of three commonly used methods for measuring endurance capacity.

PubMed

Baxter-Gilbert, James; Mühlenhaupt, Max; Whiting, Martin J

2017-12-01

Measures of endurance (time to exhaustion) have been used to address a wide range of questions in ecomorphological and physiological research, as well as being used as a proxy for survival and fitness. Swimming, stationary (circular) track running, and treadmill running are all commonly used methods for measuring endurance. Despite the use of these methods across a broad range of taxa, how comparable these methods are to one another, and whether they are biologically relevant, is rarely examined. We used Australian water dragons (Intellagama lesueurii), a species that is morphologically adept at climbing, swimming, and running, to compare these three methods of endurance and examined if there is repeatability within and between trial methods. We found that time to exhaustion was not highly repeatable within a method, suggesting that single measures or a mean time to exhaustion across trials are not appropriate. Furthermore, we compared mean maximal endurance times among the three methods, and found that the two running methods (i.e., stationary track and treadmill) were similar, but swimming was distinctly different, resulting in lower mean maximal endurance times. Finally, an individual's endurance rank was not repeatable across methods, suggesting that the three endurance trial methods are not providing similar information about an individual's performance capacity. Overall, these results highlight the need to carefully match a measure of performance capacity with the study species and the research questions being asked so that the methods being used are behaviorally, ecologically, and physiologically relevant. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Distribution of the members of the Pipiens Assemblage in the sympatric area from Argentina: which is where and when?

PubMed Central

Cardo, María V; Rubio, Alejandra; Junges, Melania; Vezzani, Darío; Carbajo, Aníbal E

2016-01-01

Given their medical and veterinary relevance, the members of the Pipiens Assemblage are a worldwide target of ecological research. The distribution of Culex pipiens s.s. and Cx. quinquefasciatus converge in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where hybrids have been detected. Each member of the assemblage exhibits a distinct eco-physiological behaviour that can affect its efficiency in pathogen transmission. Our aim was to identify the environmental drivers for the spatio-temporal distribution of each member, focusing on latitudinal and urbanisation gradients. Immatures of mosquitoes were surveyed in artificial containers found within 11 public cemeteries, raised up to the adult stage and identified by their male genitalia. The distribution of each member was associated with the environment in a Generalized Linear Model. The variable accounting for most of the heterogeneity was latitude; Cx. quinquefasciatus was collected more frequently at northern cemeteries, whereas Cx. pipiens and hybrids were more likely at the southern extreme. The urbanisation gradient was also associated with the occurrence of Cx. quinquefasciatus and hybrids at the high and low end, respectively. Other relevant variables were cemetery total area, the proportion with graves and the presence of plastic flowers in the containers. The spatial distribution of the members of the Pipiens Assemblage within the sympatric region in South America is driven by environmental features. The information presented herein provides essential baseline data for surveillance programs and control activities. PMID:27783720

[Connotation characterization and evaluation of ecological well-being based on ecosystem service theory.

PubMed

Zang, Zheng; Zou, Xin- Qing

2016-04-22

China is advocating ecological civilization construction nowadays. Further researches on the relation between ecosystem service and humanity well-being are full of theoretical and practical significance. Combining related researches, this paper defined the concept and connotation of ecological well-being based on ecosystem service theory. Referencing theory of national economic accounting and relative researches, the evaluation indicators of ecological well-being supply and consumption were established. The quantitative characterization and evaluation method of red line of regional ecological well-being was proposed on the basis of location quotient. Then the evaluation of ecological well-being in mainland China in 2012 was set as an example for empirical research. The results showed that the net product values of 6 ecosystems, includingcultivated land, forest land, grassland, wetland, water area and unused land, were respectively 1481.925, 8194.806, 4176.277, 4245.760, 3177.084 and 133.762 billion CNY. Spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem net product in different provinces was distinct. Ecological well-being per capita of forest land, grassland, wetland, cultivated land and unused land in eastern and middle provinces were under the red line and less than the national average. The spatial distribution of 9 kinds of ecological well-being per capita split at Hu's line with high value in northwest and low value in southeast, and was aggravated by differences in density of population and land resources gift.

The Underlying Ecological Processes of Gut Microbiota Among Cohabitating Retarded, Overgrown and Normal Shrimp.

PubMed

Xiong, Jinbo; Dai, Wenfang; Zhu, Jinyong; Liu, Keshao; Dong, Chunming; Qiu, Qiongfen

2017-05-01

Increasing evidence of tight links among the gut microbiota, obesity, and host health has emerged, but knowledge of the ecological processes that shape the variation in microbial assemblages across growth rates remains elusive. Moreover, inadequately control for differences in factors that profoundly affect the gut microbial community, hampers evaluation of the gut microbiota roles in regulating growth rates. To address this gap, we evaluated the composition and ecological processes of the gut bacterial community in cohabitating retarded, overgrown, and normal shrimps from identically managed ponds. Gut bacterial community structures were distinct (P = 0.0006) among the shrimp categories. Using a structural equation modeling (SEM), we found that changes in the gut bacterial community were positively related to digestive activities, which subsequently affected shrimp growth rate. This association was further supported by intensified interspecies interaction and enriched lineages with high nutrient intake efficiencies in overgrown shrimps. However, the less phylogenetic clustering of gut microbiota in overgrown and retarded subjects may offer empty niches for pathogens invasion, as evidenced by higher abundances of predicted functional pathways involved in disease infection. Given no differences in biotic and abiotic factors among the cohabitating shrimps, we speculated that the distinct gut community assembly could be attributed to random colonization in larval shrimp (e.g., priority effects) and that an altered microbiota could be a causative factor in overgrowth or retardation in shrimp. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide an integrated overview of the direct roles of gut microbiota in shaping shrimp growth rate and the underlying ecological mechanisms.

Determining significant endpoints for ecological risk analyses. 1997 annual progress report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hinton, T.G.; Congdon, J.; Rowe, C.

1997-11-01

'This report summarizes the first year''s progress of research funded under the Department of Energy''s Environmental Management Science Program. The research was initiated to better determine ecological risks from toxic and radioactive contaminants. More precisely, the research is designed to determine the relevancy of sublethal cellular damage to the performance of individuals and to identify characteristics of non-human populations exposed to chronic, low-level radiation, as is typically found on many DOE sites. The authors propose to establish a protocol to assess risks to non-human species at higher levels of biological organization by relating molecular damage to more relevant responses thatmore » reflect population health. They think that they can achieve this by coupling changes in metabolic rates and energy allocation patterns to meaningful population response variables, and by using novel biological dosimeters in controlled, manipulative dose/effects experiments. They believe that a scientifically defensible endpoint for measuring ecological risks can only be determined once its understood the extent to which molecular damage from contaminant exposure is detrimental at the individual and population levels of biological organization.'« less

Contributions of cultural services to the ecosystem services agenda

PubMed Central

Daniel, Terry C.; Muhar, Andreas; Arnberger, Arne; Aznar, Olivier; Boyd, James W.; Chan, Kai M. A.; Costanza, Robert; Elmqvist, Thomas; Flint, Courtney G.; Gobster, Paul H.; Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne; Lave, Rebecca; Muhar, Susanne; Penker, Marianne; Ribe, Robert G.; Schauppenlehner, Thomas; Sikor, Thomas; Soloviy, Ihor; Spierenburg, Marja; Taczanowska, Karolina; Tam, Jordan; von der Dunk, Andreas

2012-01-01

Cultural ecosystem services (ES) are consistently recognized but not yet adequately defined or integrated within the ES framework. A substantial body of models, methods, and data relevant to cultural services has been developed within the social and behavioral sciences before and outside of the ES approach. A selective review of work in landscape aesthetics, cultural heritage, outdoor recreation, and spiritual significance demonstrates opportunities for operationally defining cultural services in terms of socioecological models, consistent with the larger set of ES. Such models explicitly link ecological structures and functions with cultural values and benefits, facilitating communication between scientists and stakeholders and enabling economic, multicriterion, deliberative evaluation and other methods that can clarify tradeoffs and synergies involving cultural ES. Based on this approach, a common representation is offered that frames cultural services, along with all ES, by the relative contribution of relevant ecological structures and functions and by applicable social evaluation approaches. This perspective provides a foundation for merging ecological and social science epistemologies to define and integrate cultural services better within the broader ES framework. PMID:22615401

Be meek or be bold? A colony-level behavioural syndrome in ants

PubMed Central

Bengston, S. E.; Dornhaus, A.

2014-01-01

Consistent individual variation in animal behaviour is nearly ubiquitous and has important ecological and evolutionary implications. Additionally, suites of behavioural traits are often correlated, forming behavioural syndromes in both humans and other species. Such syndromes are often described by testing for variation in traits across commonly described dimensions (e.g. aggression and neophobia), independent of whether this variation is ecologically relevant to the focal species. Here, we use a variety of ecologically relevant behavioural traits to test for a colony-level behavioural syndrome in rock ants (Temnothorax rugatulus). Specifically, we combine field and laboratory assays to measure foraging effort, how colonies respond to different types of resources, activity level, response to threat and aggression level. We find evidence for a colony level syndrome that suggests colonies consistently differ in coping style—some are more risk-prone, whereas others are more risk-averse. Additionally, by collecting data across the North American range of this species, we show that environmental variation may affect how different populations maintain consistent variation in colony behaviour. PMID:25100691

77 FR 73986 - Marine Mammals; Issuance of Permits

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-12

... distinct population segment; minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata); and gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), excluding the endangered Western North Pacific population. The LOC expires on May 31, 2017. File No. 17245: Issued to John H. Schacke, Ph.D., Georgia Dolphin Ecology Program, Commerce, GA on June 4...

[In Process Citation].

PubMed

2015-01-01

The encyclical letter of Papa Francesco on an integral ecology (with its universal, not religious or catholic approach to the theme) includes a very comprehensive "care" of the world. It appears to be of specific interest and relevance for an innovative understanding of the role of the nursing profession, which crosses also frequently the fragile victims of the violations of the "human ecology", and which is called to be among the actors of active promotion of fundamental rights to life.

Information and research: an essential partnership

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oen, C.J.; White, M.G.; Dunaway, P.B.

Information support is provided to the Nevada Applied Ecology Group (NAEG) through the Ecological Sciences Information Center (ESIC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to offer an effective, easy-to-use link between the individual researcher and the literature relevant to his work. Information within the interest areas defined by NAEG administration is identified and entered into a computerized system that provides rapid, accurate retrieval. The primary topics are the environmental aspects of the transuranic elements. (auth)

Distinct Ecological Niche of Anal, Oral, and Cervical Mucosal Microbiomes in Adolescent Women.

PubMed

Smith, Benjamin C; Zolnik, Christine P; Usyk, Mykhaylo; Chen, Zigui; Kaiser, Katherine; Nucci-Sack, Anne; Peake, Ken; Diaz, Angela; Viswanathan, Shankar; Strickler, Howard D; Schlecht, Nicolas F; Burk, Robert D

2016-09-01

Human body sites represent ecological niches for microorganisms, each providing variations in microbial exposure, nutrient availability, microbial competition, and host immunological responses. In this study, we investigated the oral, anal, and cervical microbiomes from the same 20 sexually active adolescent females, using culture-independent, next-generation sequencing. DNA from each sample was amplified for the bacterial 16S rRNA gene and sequenced on an Illumina platform using paired-end reads. Across the three anatomical niches, we found significant differences in bacterial community composition and diversity. Overall anal samples were dominated with Prevotella and Bacteriodes , oral samples with Streptococcus and Prevotella , and cervical samples with Lactobacillus . The microbiomes of a few cervical samples clustered with anal samples in weighted principal coordinate analyses, due in part to a higher proportion of Prevotella in those samples. Additionally, cervical samples had the lowest alpha diversity. Our results demonstrate the occurrence of distinct microbial communities across body sites within the same individual.

Biome-specific scaling of ocean productivity, temperature, and carbon export efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Britten, Gregory L.; Primeau, François W.

2016-05-01

Mass conservation and metabolic theory place constraints on how marine export production (EP) scales with net primary productivity (NPP) and sea surface temperature (SST); however, little is empirically known about how these relationships vary across ecologically distinct ocean biomes. Here we compiled in situ observations of EP, NPP, and SST and used statistical model selection theory to demonstrate significant biome-specific scaling relationships among these variables. Multiple statistically similar models yield a threefold variation in the globally integrated carbon flux (~4-12 Pg C yr-1) when applied to climatological satellite-derived NPP and SST. Simulated NPP and SST input variables from a 4×CO2 climate model experiment further show that biome-specific scaling alters the predicted response of EP to simulated increases of atmospheric CO2. These results highlight the need to better understand distinct pathways of carbon export across unique ecological biomes and may help guide proposed efforts for in situ observations of the ocean carbon cycle.

Ammonia concentration determines differential growth of ammonia-oxidising archaea and bacteria in soil microcosms.

PubMed

Verhamme, Daniel T; Prosser, James I; Nicol, Graeme W

2011-06-01

The first step of nitrification, oxidation of ammonia to nitrite, is performed by both ammonia-oxidising archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) in soil, but their relative contributions to ammonia oxidation and existence in distinct ecological niches remain to be determined. To determine whether available ammonia concentration has a differential effect on AOA and AOB growth, soil microcosms were incubated for 28 days with ammonium at three concentrations: native (control), intermediate (20 μg NH(4)(+)-N per gram of soil) and high (200 μg NH(4)(+)-N per gram of soil). Quantitative PCR demonstrated growth of AOA at all concentrations, whereas AOB growth was prominent only at the highest concentration. Similarly, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis revealed changes in AOA communities at all ammonium concentrations, whereas AOB communities changed significantly only at the highest ammonium concentration. These results provide evidence that ammonia concentration contributes to the definition of distinct ecological niches of AOA and AOB in soil.

Ammonia concentration determines differential growth of ammonia-oxidising archaea and bacteria in soil microcosms

PubMed Central

Verhamme, Daniel T; Prosser, James I; Nicol, Graeme W

2011-01-01

The first step of nitrification, oxidation of ammonia to nitrite, is performed by both ammonia-oxidising archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) in soil, but their relative contributions to ammonia oxidation and existence in distinct ecological niches remain to be determined. To determine whether available ammonia concentration has a differential effect on AOA and AOB growth, soil microcosms were incubated for 28 days with ammonium at three concentrations: native (control), intermediate (20 μg NH4+-N per gram of soil) and high (200 μg NH4+-N per gram of soil). Quantitative PCR demonstrated growth of AOA at all concentrations, whereas AOB growth was prominent only at the highest concentration. Similarly, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis revealed changes in AOA communities at all ammonium concentrations, whereas AOB communities changed significantly only at the highest ammonium concentration. These results provide evidence that ammonia concentration contributes to the definition of distinct ecological niches of AOA and AOB in soil. PMID:21228892

Multiple micro-predators controlling bacterial communities in the environment.

PubMed

Johnke, Julia; Cohen, Yossi; de Leeuw, Marina; Kushmaro, Ariel; Jurkevitch, Edouard; Chatzinotas, Antonis

2014-06-01

Predator-prey interactions are a main issue in ecological theory, including multispecies predator-prey relationships and intraguild predation. This knowledge is mainly based on the study of plants and animals, while its relevance for microorganisms is not well understood. The three key groups of micro-predators include protists, predatory bacteria and bacteriophages. They greatly differ in size, in prey specificity, in hunting strategies and in the resulting population dynamics. Yet, their potential to jointly control bacterial populations and reducing biomass in complex environments such as wastewater treatment plants is vast. Here, we present relevant ecological concepts and recent findings on micropredators, and propose that an integrative approach to predation at the microscale should be developed enabling the exploitation of this potential. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mind the gut: genomic insights to population divergence and gut microbial composition of two marine keystone species.

PubMed

Fietz, Katharina; Rye Hintze, Christian Olaf; Skovrind, Mikkel; Kjærgaard Nielsen, Tue; Limborg, Morten T; Krag, Marcus A; Palsbøll, Per J; Hestbjerg Hansen, Lars; Rask Møller, Peter; Gilbert, M Thomas P

2018-05-02

Deciphering the mechanisms governing population genetic divergence and local adaptation across heterogeneous environments is a central theme in marine ecology and conservation. While population divergence and ecological adaptive potential are classically viewed at the genetic level, it has recently been argued that their microbiomes may also contribute to population genetic divergence. We explored whether this might be plausible along the well-described environmental gradient of the Baltic Sea in two species of sand lance (Ammodytes tobianus and Hyperoplus lanceolatus). Specifically, we assessed both their population genetic and gut microbial composition variation and investigated not only which environmental parameters correlate with the observed variation, but whether host genome also correlates with microbiome variation. We found a clear genetic structure separating the high-salinity North Sea from the low-salinity Baltic Sea sand lances. The observed genetic divergence was not simply a function of isolation by distance, but correlated with environmental parameters, such as salinity, sea surface temperature, and, in the case of A. tobianus, possibly water microbiota. Furthermore, we detected two distinct genetic groups in Baltic A. tobianus that might represent sympatric spawning types. Investigation of possible drivers of gut microbiome composition variation revealed that host species identity was significantly correlated with the microbial community composition of the gut. A potential influence of host genetic factors on gut microbiome composition was further confirmed by the results of a constrained analysis of principal coordinates. The host genetic component was among the parameters that best explain observed variation in gut microbiome composition. Our findings have relevance for the population structure of two commercial species but also provide insights into potentially relevant genomic and microbial factors with regards to sand lance adaptation across the North Sea-Baltic Sea environmental gradient. Furthermore, our findings support the hypothesis that host genetics may play a role in regulating the gut microbiome at both the interspecific and intraspecific levels. As sequencing costs continue to drop, we anticipate that future studies that include full genome and microbiome sequencing will be able to explore the full relationship and its potential adaptive implications for these species.

Protected areas as social-ecological systems: perspectives from resilience and social-ecological systems theory.

PubMed

Cumming, Graeme S; Allen, Craig R

2017-09-01

Conservation biology and applied ecology increasingly recognize that natural resource management is both an outcome and a driver of social, economic, and ecological dynamics. Protected areas offer a fundamental approach to conserving ecosystems, but they are also social-ecological systems whose ecological management and sustainability are heavily influenced by people. This editorial, and the papers in the invited feature that it introduces, discuss three emerging themes in social-ecological systems approaches to understanding protected areas: (1) the resilience and sustainability of protected areas, including analyses of their internal dynamics, their effectiveness, and the resilience of the landscapes within which they occur; (2) the relevance of spatial context and scale for protected areas, including such factors as geographic connectivity, context, exchanges between protected areas and their surrounding landscapes, and scale dependency in the provision of ecosystem services; and (3) efforts to reframe what protected areas are and how they both define and are defined by the relationships of people and nature. These emerging themes have the potential to transform management and policy approaches for protected areas and have important implications for conservation, in both theory and practice. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Fundamental differences in diversity and genomic population structure between Atlantic and Pacific Prochlorococcus.

PubMed

Kashtan, Nadav; Roggensack, Sara E; Berta-Thompson, Jessie W; Grinberg, Maor; Stepanauskas, Ramunas; Chisholm, Sallie W

2017-09-01

The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans represent different biogeochemical regimes in which the abundant marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus thrives. We have shown that Prochlorococcus populations in the Atlantic are composed of hundreds of genomically, and likely ecologically, distinct coexisting subpopulations with distinct genomic backbones. Here we ask if differences in the ecology and selection pressures between the Atlantic and Pacific are reflected in the diversity and genomic composition of their indigenous Prochlorococcus populations. We applied large-scale single-cell genomics and compared the cell-by-cell genomic composition of wild populations of co-occurring cells from samples from Station ALOHA off Hawaii, and from Bermuda Atlantic Time Series Station off Bermuda. We reveal fundamental differences in diversity and genomic structure of populations between the sites. The Pacific populations are more diverse than those in the Atlantic, composed of significantly more coexisting subpopulations and lacking dominant subpopulations. Prochlorococcus from the two sites seem to be composed of mostly non-overlapping distinct sets of subpopulations with different genomic backbones-likely reflecting different sets of ocean-specific micro-niches. Furthermore, phylogenetically closely related strains carry ocean-associated nutrient acquisition genes likely reflecting differences in major selection pressures between the oceans. This differential selection, along with geographic separation, clearly has a significant role in shaping these populations.

Threshold concepts: implications for the management of natural resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guntenspergen, Glenn R.; Gross, John

2014-01-01

Threshold concepts can have broad relevance in natural resource management. However, the concept of ecological thresholds has not been widely incorporated or adopted in management goals. This largely stems from the uncertainty revolving around threshold levels and the post hoc analyses that have generally been used to identify them. Natural resource managers have a need for new tools and approaches that will help them assess the existence and detection of conditions that demand management actions. Recognition of additional threshold concepts include: utility thresholds (which are based on human values about ecological systems) and decision thresholds (which reflect management objectives and values and include ecological knowledge about a system) as well as ecological thresholds. All of these concepts provide a framework for considering the use of threshold concepts in natural resource decision making.

Time Use as Cause and Consequence of Youth Development

PubMed Central

Lam, Chun Bun; McHale, Susan M.

2014-01-01

From an ecological perspective, daily activities are both causes and consequences of youth development. As causes, daily activities represent distinct sets of socialization experiences that afford opportunities to acquire new competencies and behavioral patterns. As consequences, daily activities reflect youth’s force and resource characteristics, including developmental status, temperament and motivation, and pre-existing levels of adjustment. An ecological perspective also highlights the role of the larger sociocultural context in shaping and conditioning the links between daily activities and youth development. In this article, we draw on research with children and adolescents to consider how an ecological perspective can provide a flexible framework for studying time use as a developmental phenomenon. We also discuss methodological issues and suggest research that should be conducted in this broad area. PMID:25821514

Using Wetlands to Teach Ecology & Environmental Awareness in General Biology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Neal, Lyman H.

1995-01-01

Presents advantages of using wetlands educationally and their relevance to local, national, and global environmental issues. Discusses field trips to mangrove forests and freshwater marshes. (Author/MKR)

Recognition of the genus Thaumatophyllum Schott − formerly Philodendron subg. Meconostigma (Araceae) − based on molecular and morphological evidence

PubMed Central

Sakuragui, Cassia Mônica; Calazans, Luana Silva Braucks; de Oliveira, Leticia Loss; de Morais, Érica Barroso; Benko-Iseppon, Ana Maria; Vasconcelos, Santelmo; Schrago, Carlos Eduardo Guerra; Mayo, Simon Joseph

2018-01-01

Abstract Philodendron subgenus Meconostigma has been a well-circumscribed group since 1829. Members of this group are easily distinguished by diagnostic morphological characters as well as by a distinct ecology and geographical distribution. Based on molecular, morphological and cytological evidence, we propose the recognition of P. subg. Meconostigma as a distinct genus, Thaumatophyllum Schott. We also present the necessary new combinations, an emended key and some nomenclatural and taxonomic corrections regarding 21 names of Thaumatophyllum. PMID:29750071

Morphology captures diet and locomotor types in rodents.

PubMed

Verde Arregoitia, Luis D; Fisher, Diana O; Schweizer, Manuel

2017-01-01

To understand the functional meaning of morphological features, we need to relate what we know about morphology and ecology in a meaningful, quantitative framework. Closely related species usually share more phenotypic features than distant ones, but close relatives do not necessarily have the same ecologies. Rodents are the most diverse group of living mammals, with impressive ecomorphological diversification. We used museum collections and ecological literature to gather data on morphology, diet and locomotion for 208 species of rodents from different bioregions to investigate how morphological similarity and phylogenetic relatedness are associated with ecology. After considering differences in body size and shared evolutionary history, we find that unrelated species with similar ecologies can be characterized by a well-defined suite of morphological features. Our results validate the hypothesized ecological relevance of the chosen traits. These cranial, dental and external (e.g. ears) characters predicted diet and locomotion and showed consistent differences among species with different feeding and substrate use strategies. We conclude that when ecological characters do not show strong phylogenetic patterns, we cannot simply assume that close relatives are ecologically similar. Museum specimens are valuable records of species' phenotypes and with the characters proposed here, morphology can reflect functional similarity, an important component of community ecology and macroevolution.

Ecology of Avian Influenza Virus in Wild Birds in Tropical Africa.

PubMed

Gaidet, Nicolas

2016-05-01

Several ecologic factors have been proposed to describe the mechanisms whereby host ecology and the environment influence the transmission of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) in wild birds, including bird's foraging behavior, migratory pattern, seasonal congregation, the rate of recruitment of juvenile birds, and abiotic factors. However, these ecologic factors are derived from studies that have been conducted in temperate or boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere. These factors cannot be directly translated to tropical regions, where differences in host ecology and seasonality may produce different ecologic interactions between wild birds and AIV. An extensive dataset of AIV detection in wildfowl and shorebirds sampled across tropical Africa was used to analyze how the distinctive ecologic features of Afrotropical regions may influence the dynamics of AIV transmission in wild birds. The strong seasonality of rainfall and surface area of wetlands allows testing of how the seasonality of wildfowl ecology (reproduction phenology and congregation) is related to AIV seasonal dynamics. The diversity of the African wildfowl community provides the opportunity to investigate the respective influence of migratory behavior, foraging behavior, and phylogeny on species variation in infection rate. Large aggregation sites of shorebirds in Africa allow testing for the existence of AIV infection hot spots. We found that the processes whereby host ecology influence AIV transmission in wild birds in the Afrotropical context operate through ecologic factors (seasonal drying of wetlands and extended and nonsynchronized breeding periods) that are different than the one described in temperate regions, hence, resulting in different patterns of AIV infection dynamics.

Visualizing Zonation Patterns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baumgartner, Erin; Zabin, Chela J.

2006-01-01

The study of "zonation", the distribution of plants and animals into distinct spatial areas, is a great way to introduce students to basic ecological concepts. Students can conduct methodical, quantifying surveys of zones in areas as diverse as mudflats, beaches, forests, wetlands, and fields. Students collect data from these areas with field…

Urban Environments and Urban Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garbarino, James; Plantz, Margaret C.

This paper focuses on the distinctive characteristics of urban environments, the ways these environmental features affect city children, and the roles that schools can play in modifying these effects. Bronfenbrenner's multilevel framework for studying the ecology of human development is described. Recognizing the central role that families play in…

Exploring Predation and Animal Coloration through Outdoor Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fontaine, Joseph J.; Decker, Karie L.

2009-01-01

Although children often characterize animals by the animals' color or pattern, the children seldom understand the evolutionary and ecological factors that favor particular colors. In this article, we describe two activities that help students understand the distinct evolutionary strategies of warning coloration and camouflage. Because both of…

Ecological Stewardship and Gifted Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McHardy, Roberta J.; Blanchard, Pamela B.; de Wet, Catharina F.

2009-01-01

In even the earliest studies of giftedness in young children (Burks, Jensen, & Terman, 1930; Hollingworth, 1926), researchers noted distinct character traits among gifted students, which included global awareness, sensitivity to complex issues, and a tendency to worry about injustice and dangers that often are beyond a child's control.…

Ecology and America.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartley, Peter Eugene

The present basis of society implies the inevitable destruction of the environment. The considerations which make this evident also make nonsense of the distinction between capitalism and socialism. The dominant American value system affects the rest of the biota (human life, culture, and emotions) through the economic system, which not only…

Evolutionary mechanisms involved in development of fungal secondary metabolite gene clusters

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

There is extensive adaptability and diversity in fungi, even among closely related species, that enable them to occupy various ecological niches. Of particular importance for niche adaptation is the production of fungal secondary metabolites (SM) because they can offer a distinct selective advantage...

Linking short-term responses to ecologically-relevant outcomes

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Opportunity to participate in the conduct of collaborative integrative lab, field and modelling efforts to characterize molecular-to-organismal level responses and make quantitative testable predictions of population level outcomes

Using a multibiomarker approach and behavioural responses to assess the effects of anthracene in Palaemon serratus.

PubMed

Gravato, Carlos; Almeida, Joana R; Silva, Carlos; Oliveira, Cristiana; Soares, Amadeu M V M

2014-04-01

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are recognised as one of the main groups of contaminants that assume more importance in the marine environment, enhancing the need of studies concerning their adverse effects and more efficient and ecologically relevant tools for environmental monitoring purposes. This study aims to apply an integrated approach including several multi-level biological responses (accumulation levels, biochemical responses important for different physiological functions and behavioural alterations) to assess the ecological relevance of the effects induced by sub-lethal concentrations of anthracene (ANT) in Palaemon serratus (common prawn). ANT accumulation was assessed by measuring the levels of ANT-type compounds in prawn digestive gland, muscle and eye; biochemical responses were determined using biomarkers involved in biotransformation, oxidative damage, energy production and neurotransmission processes; and behavioural alterations through swimming performance after 96 h exposure bioassay (ANT:16-1,024 μg/L). The rationale behind this approach is to assess the ecologically relevant effects induced by ANT in prawn, given by the association between behavioural alterations with biochemical responses, in search for more efficient tools for environmental risk assessment. Results show a significant decrease of swimming velocity (LOEC=128 μg/L) along with increased levels of ANT-type compounds in digestive gland (LOEC=128 μg/L), muscle (LOEC=256 μg/L) and eye (LOEC=32 μg/L) in prawn exposed to ANT. Increased activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT), involved in anti-oxidant defence system, were also observed (LOEC=256 μg/L; 1024μg/L, respectively) in the digestive gland of prawn, induction of oxidative damage in lipids (LPO) also occurred (LOEC=32 μg/L). The inhibition of swimming velocity showed a correlation with some biochemical parameters measured, including the levels of ANT-type compounds in tissues and LPO, and thus these may be considered sensitive and ecologically relevant criteria as well as early warning endpoints for assessing polycyclic aromatic compounds exposure effects on marine organisms. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

77 FR 64316 - Endangered and Threatened Species; Recovery Plan South-Central California Coast Steelhead...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-19

... and Threatened Species; Recovery Plan South-Central California Coast Steelhead Distinct Population... Coast (SCCCS) (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Distinct Population (DPS). NMFS is soliciting review and comment... plan development. NMFS is hereby soliciting relevant information on SCCC Steelhead DPS populations and...

The ecology and management of moist mixed-conifer forests in eastern Oregon and Washington: a synthesis of the relevant biophysical science and implications for future land management

Treesearch

Peter Stine; Paul Hessburg; Thomas Spies; Marc Kramer; Christopher J. Fettig; Andrew Hansen; John Lehmkuhl; Kevin O' Hara; Karl Polivka; Peter Singleton; Susan Charnley; Andrew Merschel; Rachel White

2014-01-01

Land managers in the Pacific Northwest have reported a need for updated scientific information on the ecology and management of mixed-conifer forests east of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington. Of particular concern are the moist mixed-conifer forests, which have become drought-stressed and vulnerable to high-severity fire after decades of human disturbances...

Chemical investigation of predator-deterred macroalgae from the Antarctic peninsula.

PubMed

Ankisetty, Sridevi; Nandiraju, Santhisree; Win, Hla; Park, Young Chul; Amsler, Charles D; McClintock, James B; Baker, Jill A; Diyabalanage, Thushara K; Pasaribu, Albert; Singh, Maya P; Maiese, William M; Walsh, Rosa D; Zaworotko, Michael J; Baker, Bill J

2004-08-01

Chemical investigation of five Antarctic macroalgae whose tissues and crude extracts displayed ecologically relevant feeding deterrence in field bioassays was performed. Eleven compounds were characterized from the three red algae studied, of which four (1-3 and 9) were previously unreported, and four compounds were found from two brown algae, two (12 and 14) of which are new natural products. Several of these pure compounds have been individually investigated in ecological and/or pharmacological bioassays.

Insights from quantitative metaproteomics and protein-stable isotope probing into microbial ecology.

PubMed

von Bergen, Martin; Jehmlich, Nico; Taubert, Martin; Vogt, Carsten; Bastida, Felipe; Herbst, Florian-Alexander; Schmidt, Frank; Richnow, Hans-Hermann; Seifert, Jana

2013-10-01

The recent development of metaproteomics has enabled the direct identification and quantification of expressed proteins from microbial communities in situ, without the need for microbial enrichment. This became possible by (1) significant increases in quality and quantity of metagenome data and by improvements of (2) accuracy and (3) sensitivity of modern mass spectrometers (MS). The identification of physiologically relevant enzymes can help to understand the role of specific species within a community or an ecological niche. Beside identification, relative and absolute quantitation is also crucial. We will review label-free and label-based methods of quantitation in MS-based proteome analysis and the contribution of quantitative proteome data to microbial ecology. Additionally, approaches of protein-based stable isotope probing (protein-SIP) for deciphering community structures are reviewed. Information on the species-specific metabolic activity can be obtained when substrates or nutrients are labeled with stable isotopes in a protein-SIP approach. The stable isotopes ((13)C, (15)N, (36)S) are incorporated into proteins and the rate of incorporation can be used for assessing the metabolic activity of the corresponding species. We will focus on the relevance of the metabolic and phylogenetic information retrieved with protein-SIP studies and for detecting and quantifying the carbon flux within microbial consortia. Furthermore, the combination of protein-SIP with established tools in microbial ecology such as other stable isotope probing techniques are discussed.

Divergent migration within lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) populations: Multiple distinct patterns exist across an unrestricted migration corridor.

PubMed

Kessel, Steven T; Hondorp, Darryl W; Holbrook, Christopher M; Boase, James C; Chiotti, Justin A; Thomas, Michael V; Wills, Todd C; Roseman, Edward F; Drouin, Richard; Krueger, Charles C

2018-01-01

Population structure, distribution, abundance and dispersal arguably underpin the entire field of animal ecology, with consequences for regional species persistence, and provision of ecosystem services. Divergent migration behaviours among individuals or among populations are an important aspect of the ecology of highly mobile animals, allowing populations to exploit spatially or temporally distributed food and space resources. This study investigated the spatial ecology of lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) within the barrier free Huron-Erie Corridor (HEC), which connects Lake Huron and Lake Erie of the North American Laurentian Great Lakes. Over 6 years (2011-2016), movements of 268 lake sturgeon in the HEC were continuously monitored across the Great Lakes using acoustic telemetry (10 years battery life acoustic transmitters). Five distinct migration behaviours were identified with hierarchical cluster analysis, based on the phenology and duration of river and lake use. Lake sturgeon in the HEC were found to contain a high level of intraspecific divergent migration, including partial migration with the existence of residents. Specific behaviours included year-round river residency and multiple lake-migrant behaviours that involved movements between lakes and rivers. Over 85% of individuals were assigned to migration behaviours as movements were consistently repeated over the study, which suggested migration behaviours were consistent and persistent in lake sturgeon. Differential use of specific rivers or lakes by acoustic-tagged lake sturgeon further subdivided individuals into 14 "contingents" (spatiotemporally segregated subgroups). Contingents associated with one river (Detroit or St. Clair) were rarely detected in the other river, which confirmed that lake sturgeon in the Detroit and St. Clair represent two semi-independent populations that could require separate management consideration for their conservation. The distribution of migration behaviours did not vary between populations, sexes, body size or among release locations, which indicated that intrapopulation variability in migratory behaviour is a general feature of the spatial ecology of lake sturgeon in unfragmented landscapes. 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.

Characterizing fish community diversity across Virginia landscapes: Prerequisite for conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Angermeier, P.L.; Winston, M.R.

1999-01-01

The number of community types occurring within landscapes is an important, but often unprotected, component of biological diversity. Generally applicable protocols for characterizing community diversity need to be developed to facilitate conservation. We used several multivariate techniques to analyze geographic variation in the composition of fish communities in Virginia streams. We examined relationships between community composition and six landscape variables: drainage basin, physiography, stream order, elevation, channel slope, and map coordinates. We compared patterns at two scales (statewide and subdrainage-specific) to assess sensitivity of community classification to spatial scale. We also compared patterns based on characterizing communities by species composition vs. ecological composition. All landscape variables explained significant proportions of the variance in community composition. Statewide, they explained 32% of the variance in species composition and 48% of the variance in ecological composition. Typical communities in each drainage or physiography were statistically distinctive. Communities in different combinations of drainage, physiography, and stream size were even more distinctive, but composition was strongly spatially autocorrelated. Ecological similarity and species similarity of community pairs were strongly related, but replacement by ecologically similar species was common among drainage-physiography combinations. Landscape variables explained significant proportions of variance in community composition within selected subdrainages, but proportions were less than at the statewide scale, and the explanatory power of individual variables varied considerably among subdrainages. Community variation within subdrainages appeared to be much more closely related to environmental variation than to replacement among ecologically similar species. Our results suggest that taxonomic and ecological characterizations of community composition are complementary; both are useful in a conservation context. Landscape features such as drainage, physiography, and water body size generally may provide a basis for assessing aquatic community diversity, especially in regions where the biota is poorly known. Systematic conservation of community types would be a major advance relative to most current conservation programs, which typically focus narrowly on populations of imperiled species. More effective conservation of aquatic biodiversity will require new approaches that recognize the value of both species and assemblages, and that emphasize protection of key landscape-scale processes.

Attention to Distinct Goal-relevant Features Differentially Guides Semantic Knowledge Retrieval.

PubMed

Hanson, Gavin K; Chrysikou, Evangelia G

2017-07-01

A critical aspect of conceptual knowledge is the selective activation of goal-relevant aspects of meaning. Although the contributions of ventrolateral prefrontal and posterior temporal areas to semantic cognition are well established, the precise role of posterior parietal cortex in semantic control remains unknown. Here, we examined whether this region modulates attention to goal-relevant features within semantic memory according to the same principles that determine the salience of task-relevant object properties during visual attention. Using multivoxel pattern analysis, we decoded attentional referents during a semantic judgment task, in which participants matched an object cue to a target according to concrete (i.e., color, shape) or abstract (i.e., function, thematic context) semantic features. The goal-relevant semantic feature participants attended to (e.g., color or shape, function or theme) could be decoded from task-associated cortical activity with above-chance accuracy, a pattern that held for both concrete and abstract semantic features. A Bayesian confusion matrix analysis further identified differential contributions to representing attentional demands toward specific object properties across lateral prefrontal, posterior temporal, and inferior parietal regions, with the dorsolateral pFC supporting distinctions between higher-order properties and the left intraparietal sulcus being the only region supporting distinctions across all semantic features. These results are the first to demonstrate that patterns of neural activity in the parietal cortex are sensitive to which features of a concept are attended to, thus supporting the contributions of posterior parietal cortex to semantic control.

Does ecological specialization transcend scale? Habitat partitioning among individuals and species of Anolis lizards.

PubMed

Kamath, Ambika; Losos, Jonathan B

2017-03-01

Ecological specialization is common across all levels of biological organization, raising the question of whether the evolution of specialization at one scale in a taxon is linked to specialization at other scales. Anolis lizards have diversified repeatedly along axes of habitat use, but it remains unknown if this diversification into habitat use specialists is underlain by individual specialization. From repeated observations of individuals in a population of Anolis sagrei in Florida, we show that the extent of habitat use specialization among individuals is comparable to the extent of specialization in the same traits among ten sympatric Anolis habitat specialist species in Cuba. However, the adaptive correlations between habitat use and morphology commonly seen across species of Anolis were not observed across individuals in the sampled population. Our results therefore suggest that while patterns of ecological specialization can transcend scale, these parallels are the consequence of distinct ecological processes acting at microevolutionary and macroevolutionary scales. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Unofficial Road Building in the Amazon: Socioeconomic and Biophysical Explanations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perz, Stephen G.; Caldas, Marcellus M.; Arima, Eugenio; Walker, Robert J.

2007-01-01

Roads have manifold social and environmental impacts, including regional development, social conflicts and habitat fragmentation. 'Road ecology' has emerged as an approach to evaluate the various ecological and hydrological impacts of roads. This article aims to complement road ecology by examining the socio-spatial processes of road building itself. Focusing on the Brazilian Amazon, a heavily-studied context due to forest fragmentation by roads, the authors consider non-state social actors who build 'unofficial roads' for the purpose of gaining access to natural resources to support livelihoods and community development. They examine four case studies of roads with distinct histories in order to explain the socio-spatial processes behind road building in terms of profit maximization, land tenure claims, co-operative and conflictive political ecologies, and constraints as well as opportunities afforded by the biophysical environment. The study cases illustrate the need for a multi-pronged theoretical approach to understanding road building, and call for more attention to the role of non-state actors in unofficial road construction.

Investigation and optimization of performance of nano-scale Stirling refrigerator using working fluid as Maxwell-Boltzmann gases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmadi, Mohammad H.; Amin Nabakhteh, Mohammad; Ahmadi, Mohammad-Ali; Pourfayaz, Fathollah; Bidi, Mokhtar

2017-10-01

The motivation behind this work is to explore a nanoscale irreversible Stirling refrigerator with respect to size impacts and shows two novel thermo-ecological criteria. Two distinct strategies were suggested in the optimization process and the consequences of every strategy were examined independently. In the primary strategy, with the purpose of maximizing the energetic sustainability index and modified the ecological coefficient of performance (MECOP) and minimizing the dimensionless Ecological function, a multi-objective optimization algorithm (MOEA) was used. In the second strategy, with the purpose of maximizing the ECOP and MECOP and minimizing the dimensionless Ecological function, a MOEA was used. To conclude the final solution from each strategy, three proficient decision makers were utilized. Additionally, to quantify the deviation of the results gained from each decision makers, two different statistical error indexes were employed. Finally, based on the comparison between the results achieved from proposed scenarios reveals that by maximizing the MECOP the maximum values of ESI, ECOP, and a minimum of ecfare achieved.

Arctic biodiversity: Increasing richness accompanies shrinking refugia for a cold-associated tundra fauna

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hope, Andrew G.; Waltari, Eric; Malaney, Jason L.; Payer, David C.; Cook, J.A.; Talbot, Sandra L.

2015-01-01

As ancestral biodiversity responded dynamically to late-Quaternary climate changes, so are extant organisms responding to the warming trajectory of the Anthropocene. Ecological predictive modeling, statistical hypothesis tests, and genetic signatures of demographic change can provide a powerful integrated toolset for investigating these biodiversity responses to climate change, and relative resiliency across different communities. Within the biotic province of Beringia, we analyzed specimen localities and DNA sequences from 28 mammal species associated with boreal forest and Arctic tundra biomes to assess both historical distributional and evolutionary responses and then forecasted future changes based on statistical assessments of past and present trajectories, and quantified distributional and demographic changes in relation to major management regions within the study area. We addressed three sets of hypotheses associated with aspects of methodological, biological, and socio-political importance by asking (1) what is the consistency among implications of predicted changes based on the results of both ecological and evolutionary analyses; (2) what are the ecological and evolutionary implications of climate change considering either total regional diversity or distinct communities associated with major biomes; and (3) are there differences in management implications across regions? Our results indicate increasing Arctic richness through time that highlights a potential state shift across the Arctic landscape. However, within distinct ecological communities, we found a predicted decline in the range and effective population size of tundra species into several discrete refugial areas. Consistency in results based on a combination of both ecological and evolutionary approaches demonstrates increased statistical confidence by applying cross-discipline comparative analyses to conservation of biodiversity, particularly considering variable management regimes that seek to balance sustainable ecosystems with other anthropogenic values. Refugial areas for cold-adapted taxa appear to be persistent across both warm and cold climate phases and although fragmented, constitute vital regions for persistence of Arctic mammals.

Metabolic Flexibility as a Major Predictor of Spatial Distribution in Microbial Communities

PubMed Central

Carbonero, Franck; Oakley, Brian B.; Purdy, Kevin J.

2014-01-01

A better understand the ecology of microbes and their role in the global ecosystem could be achieved if traditional ecological theories can be applied to microbes. In ecology organisms are defined as specialists or generalists according to the breadth of their niche. Spatial distribution is often used as a proxy measure of niche breadth; generalists have broad niches and a wide spatial distribution and specialists a narrow niche and spatial distribution. Previous studies suggest that microbial distribution patterns are contrary to this idea; a microbial generalist genus (Desulfobulbus) has a limited spatial distribution while a specialist genus (Methanosaeta) has a cosmopolitan distribution. Therefore, we hypothesise that this counter-intuitive distribution within generalist and specialist microbial genera is a common microbial characteristic. Using molecular fingerprinting the distribution of four microbial genera, two generalists, Desulfobulbus and the methanogenic archaea Methanosarcina, and two specialists, Methanosaeta and the sulfate-reducing bacteria Desulfobacter were analysed in sediment samples from along a UK estuary. Detected genotypes of both generalist genera showed a distinct spatial distribution, significantly correlated with geographic distance between sites. Genotypes of both specialist genera showed no significant differential spatial distribution. These data support the hypothesis that the spatial distribution of specialist and generalist microbes does not match that seen with specialist and generalist large organisms. It may be that generalist microbes, while having a wider potential niche, are constrained, possibly by intrageneric competition, to exploit only a small part of that potential niche while specialists, with far fewer constraints to their niche, are more capable of filling their potential niche more effectively, perhaps by avoiding intrageneric competition. We suggest that these counter-intuitive distribution patterns may be a common feature of microbes in general and represent a distinct microbial principle in ecology, which is a real challenge if we are to develop a truly inclusive ecology. PMID:24465487

Olfactory Receptor Subgenomes Linked with Broad Ecological Adaptations in Sauropsida.

PubMed

Khan, Imran; Yang, Zhikai; Maldonado, Emanuel; Li, Cai; Zhang, Guojie; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Jarvis, Erich D; O'Brien, Stephen J; Johnson, Warren E; Antunes, Agostinho

2015-11-01

Olfactory receptors (ORs) govern a prime sensory function. Extant birds have distinct olfactory abilities, but the molecular mechanisms underlining diversification and specialization remain mostly unknown. We explored OR diversity in 48 phylogenetic and ecologically diverse birds and 2 reptiles (alligator and green sea turtle). OR subgenomes showed species- and lineage-specific variation related with ecological requirements. Overall 1,953 OR genes were identified in reptiles and 16,503 in birds. The two reptiles had larger OR gene repertoires (989 and 964 genes, respectively) than birds (182-688 genes). Overall, birds had more pseudogenes (7,855) than intact genes (1,944). The alligator had significantly more functional genes than sea turtle, likely because of distinct foraging habits. We found rapid species-specific expansion and positive selection in OR14 (detects hydrophobic compounds) in birds and in OR51 and OR52 (detect hydrophilic compounds) in sea turtle, suggestive of terrestrial and aquatic adaptations, respectively. Ecological partitioning among birds of prey, water birds, land birds, and vocal learners showed that diverse ecological factors determined olfactory ability and influenced corresponding olfactory-receptor subgenome. OR5/8/9 was expanded in predatory birds and alligator, suggesting adaptive specialization for carnivory. OR families 2/13, 51, and 52 were correlated with aquatic adaptations (water birds), OR families 6 and 10 were more pronounced in vocal-learning birds, whereas most specialized land birds had an expanded OR family 14. Olfactory bulb ratio (OBR) and OR gene repertoire were correlated. Birds that forage for prey (carnivores/piscivores) had relatively complex OBR and OR gene repertoires compared with modern birds, including passerines, perhaps due to highly developed cognitive capacities facilitating foraging innovations. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Diverse, rare microbial taxa responded to the Deepwater Horizon deep-sea hydrocarbon plume.

PubMed

Kleindienst, Sara; Grim, Sharon; Sogin, Mitchell; Bracco, Annalisa; Crespo-Medina, Melitza; Joye, Samantha B

2016-02-01

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil well blowout generated an enormous plume of dispersed hydrocarbons that substantially altered the Gulf of Mexico's deep-sea microbial community. A significant enrichment of distinct microbial populations was observed, yet, little is known about the abundance and richness of specific microbial ecotypes involved in gas, oil and dispersant biodegradation in the wake of oil spills. Here, we document a previously unrecognized diversity of closely related taxa affiliating with Cycloclasticus, Colwellia and Oceanospirillaceae and describe their spatio-temporal distribution in the Gulf's deepwater, in close proximity to the discharge site and at increasing distance from it, before, during and after the discharge. A highly sensitive, computational method (oligotyping) applied to a data set generated from 454-tag pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene V4-V6 regions, enabled the detection of population dynamics at the sub-operational taxonomic unit level (0.2% sequence similarity). The biogeochemical signature of the deep-sea samples was assessed via total cell counts, concentrations of short-chain alkanes (C1-C5), nutrients, (colored) dissolved organic and inorganic carbon, as well as methane oxidation rates. Statistical analysis elucidated environmental factors that shaped ecologically relevant dynamics of oligotypes, which likely represent distinct ecotypes. Major hydrocarbon degraders, adapted to the slow-diffusive natural hydrocarbon seepage in the Gulf of Mexico, appeared unable to cope with the conditions encountered during the DWH spill or were outcompeted. In contrast, diverse, rare taxa increased rapidly in abundance, underscoring the importance of specialized sub-populations and potential ecotypes during massive deep-sea oil discharges and perhaps other large-scale perturbations.

Gene expression analysis of E. coli strains provides insights into the role of gene regulation in diversification

PubMed Central

Vital, Marius; Chai, Benli; Østman, Bjørn; Cole, James; Konstantinidis, Konstantinos T; Tiedje, James M

2015-01-01

Escherichia coli spans a genetic continuum from enteric strains to several phylogenetically distinct, atypical lineages that are rare in humans, but more common in extra-intestinal environments. To investigate the link between gene regulation, phylogeny and diversification in this species, we analyzed global gene expression profiles of four strains representing distinct evolutionary lineages, including a well-studied laboratory strain, a typical commensal (enteric) strain and two environmental strains. RNA-Seq was employed to compare the whole transcriptomes of strains grown under batch, chemostat and starvation conditions. Highly differentially expressed genes showed a significantly lower nucleotide sequence identity compared with other genes, indicating that gene regulation and coding sequence conservation are directly connected. Overall, distances between the strains based on gene expression profiles were largely dependent on the culture condition and did not reflect phylogenetic relatedness. Expression differences of commonly shared genes (all four strains) and E. coli core genes were consistently smaller between strains characterized by more similar primary habitats. For instance, environmental strains exhibited increased expression of stress defense genes under carbon-limited growth and entered a more pronounced survival-like phenotype during starvation compared with other strains, which stayed more alert for substrate scavenging and catabolism during no-growth conditions. Since those environmental strains show similar genetic distance to each other and to the other two strains, these findings cannot be simply attributed to genetic relatedness but suggest physiological adaptations. Our study provides new insights into ecologically relevant gene-expression and underscores the role of (differential) gene regulation for the diversification of the model bacterial species. PMID:25343512

A Study of Child Variance, Volume 1: Conceptual Models; Conceptual Project in Emotional Disturbance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhodes, William C.; Tracy, Michael L.

Presented are 11 papers discussing the following six models of emotional disturbance in children: biophysical, behavioral, psychodynamic, sociological, and ecological, models, and counter theory. Emotional disturbance is defined as a distinctive human state having multiple manifestations and involving disability, deviance, and alienation. All the…

Research natural area needs in the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

C. T. Dyrness; Jerry F. Franklin; Chris Maser; Stanton A. Cook; James D. Hall; Glenda Faxon

1975-01-01

Research Natural Areas are examples of typical and distinctive natural ecosystems and habitats reserved for scientific and educational use. This outline of the minimal Research Natural Area system needed to provide adequate field laboratories for ecological, environmental, and land management research was developed by an interinstitutional, interdisciplinary working...

PROTEIN-CODING GENES AS MOLECULAR MARKERS FOR ECOLOGICALLY DISTINCT POPULATIONS: THE CASE OF TWO BACILLUS SPECIES. (R825348)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

PREDICTING REGIONAL ALLERGY HOTSPOTS IN FUTURE CLIMATE SCENARIOS – PUTTING THE WHERE & WHEN ON WHEEZING

EPA Science Inventory

This research addresses both the effects and mechanisms by which current and future climate conditions affect the risk factors related to allergic airway disease in humans. Our intensive sampling of pollen production, output, and potency in ecologically distinct ragweed popul...

Painting the Emerging Image: Portraits of Family-Informed Scholar Activism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maxis, Sophie; Janson, Christopher; Jamison, Rudy; Whaley, Keon

2017-01-01

In this article, we, two professors and two students of educational leadership, embrace the pedagogies of community engagement through the ecologies of self, organization, and community. In this article, we explore the development of community-engaged scholars and practitioners through two distinct lenses: faculty who facilitate engaged learning…

Influences of environment and disturbance on forest patterns in coastal Oregon watersheds.

Treesearch

Michael C. Wimberly; Thomas A. Spies

2001-01-01

Modern ecology often emphasizes the distinction between traditional theories of stable, environmentally structured communities and a new paradigm of disturbance driven, nonequilibrium dynamics. However, multiple hypotheses for observed vegetation patterns have seldom been explicitly tested. We used multivariate statistics and variation partitioning methods to assess...

Dimensions of Cultural Differences: Pancultural, ETIC/EMIC, and Ecological Approaches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stankov, Lazar; Lee, Jihyun

2009-01-01

We investigated the factorial structure of four major domains in social psychology (personality traits, social attitudes, values, and social norms) with an emphasis on cross-cultural differences. Three distinctive approaches--pancultural, multigroup, and multilevel--were applied to the data based on 22 measures that were collected from 2029…

Person-Oriented Approaches to Profiling Learners in Technology-Rich Learning Environments for Ecological Learner Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jang, Eunice Eunhee; Lajoie, Susanne P.; Wagner, Maryam; Xu, Zhenhua; Poitras, Eric; Naismith, Laura

2017-01-01

Technology-rich learning environments (TREs) provide opportunities for learners to engage in complex interactions involving a multitude of cognitive, metacognitive, and affective states. Understanding learners' distinct learning progressions in TREs demand inquiry approaches that employ well-conceived theoretical accounts of these multiple facets.…

Synthesizing genetic divergence and climate modeling to inform conservation planning for ponderosa pine

Treesearch

Kevin M. Potter; Douglas J. Shinneman; Robert E. Means; Valerie D. Hipkins; Mary Frances Mahalovich

2017-01-01

Geological, climatological and ecological processes partially or entirely isolate evolutionary lineages within tree species. These lineages may develop adaptations to different local environmental conditions, and may eventually evolve into distinct forms or species. Isolation also can reduce adaptive genetic variation within populations of a species, potentially...

78 FR 65249 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding and Proposed Endangered Listing...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-31

... information on the species biology, ecology, life history, threats, and conservation status from information... descriptions of the species' natural history. More details can be found in Meadows and Coll (2013). Natural History of the Adriatic Sturgeon (Acipenser naccarii) Taxonomy and Distinctive Characteristics Acipenser...

Hydrology, geomorphology, and vegetation of Coastal Plain rivers in the southeastern United States

Treesearch

Cliff R. Hupp

2000-01-01

Rivers of the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States are characteristically low-gradient meandering systems that develop broad floodplains subjected to frequent and prolonged flooding. These floodplains support a relatively unique forested wetland (Bottomland Hardwoods), which have received considerable ecological study, but distinctly less hydrogeomorphic...

Computational Cognitive Neuroscience of Early Memory Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Munakata, Yuko

2004-01-01

Numerous brain areas work in concert to subserve memory, with distinct memory functions relying differentially on distinct brain areas. For example, semantic memory relies heavily on posterior cortical regions, episodic memory on hippocampal regions, and working memory on prefrontal cortical regions. This article reviews relevant findings from…

Ecosystems and People: Qualitative Insights

EPA Science Inventory

Both qualitative and quantitative techniques are crucial in researching human impacts from ecological changes. This matches the importance of ?mixed methods? approaches in other disciplines. Qualitative research helps explore the relevancy and transferability of the foundational ...

Macroscale hydrologic modeling of ecologically relevant flow metrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wenger, Seth J.; Luce, Charles H.; Hamlet, Alan F.; Isaak, Daniel J.; Neville, Helen M.

2010-09-01

Stream hydrology strongly affects the structure of aquatic communities. Changes to air temperature and precipitation driven by increased greenhouse gas concentrations are shifting timing and volume of streamflows potentially affecting these communities. The variable infiltration capacity (VIC) macroscale hydrologic model has been employed at regional scales to describe and forecast hydrologic changes but has been calibrated and applied mainly to large rivers. An important question is how well VIC runoff simulations serve to answer questions about hydrologic changes in smaller streams, which are important habitat for many fish species. To answer this question, we aggregated gridded VIC outputs within the drainage basins of 55 streamflow gages in the Pacific Northwest United States and compared modeled hydrographs and summary metrics to observations. For most streams, several ecologically relevant aspects of the hydrologic regime were accurately modeled, including center of flow timing, mean annual and summer flows and frequency of winter floods. Frequencies of high and low flows in the summer were not well predicted, however. Predictions were worse for sites with strong groundwater influence, and some sites showed errors that may result from limitations in the forcing climate data. Higher resolution (1/16th degree) modeling provided small improvements over lower resolution (1/8th degree). Despite some limitations, the VIC model appears capable of representing several ecologically relevant hydrologic characteristics in streams, making it a useful tool for understanding the effects of hydrology in delimiting species distributions and predicting the potential effects of climate shifts on aquatic organisms.

Use of an ecologically relevant modelling approach to improve remote sensing-based schistosomiasis risk profiling.

PubMed

Walz, Yvonne; Wegmann, Martin; Leutner, Benjamin; Dech, Stefan; Vounatsou, Penelope; N'Goran, Eliézer K; Raso, Giovanna; Utzinger, Jürg

2015-11-30

Schistosomiasis is a widespread water-based disease that puts close to 800 million people at risk of infection with more than 250 million infected, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. Transmission is governed by the spatial distribution of specific freshwater snails that act as intermediate hosts and the frequency, duration and extent of human bodies exposed to infested water sources during human water contact. Remote sensing data have been utilized for spatially explicit risk profiling of schistosomiasis. Since schistosomiasis risk profiling based on remote sensing data inherits a conceptual drawback if school-based disease prevalence data are directly related to the remote sensing measurements extracted at the location of the school, because the disease transmission usually does not exactly occur at the school, we took the local environment around the schools into account by explicitly linking ecologically relevant environmental information of potential disease transmission sites to survey measurements of disease prevalence. Our models were validated at two sites with different landscapes in Côte d'Ivoire using high- and moderate-resolution remote sensing data based on random forest and partial least squares regression. We found that the ecologically relevant modelling approach explained up to 70% of the variation in Schistosoma infection prevalence and performed better compared to a purely pixel-based modelling approach. Furthermore, our study showed that model performance increased as a function of enlarging the school catchment area, confirming the hypothesis that suitable environments for schistosomiasis transmission rarely occur at the location of survey measurements.

Effects of literacy on semantic verbal fluency in an immigrant population.

PubMed

Nielsen, T Rune; Waldemar, Gunhild

2016-09-01

A significant impact of limited schooling and illiteracy has been found on numerous neuropsychological tests, which may partly be due to the ecological relevance of the tests in the context of illiteracy. The aims of this study were to compare the performance of illiterate and literate immigrants on two semantic criteria for the verbal fluency test, and examine the influence of acculturation on test performances. Performances of 20 cognitively unimpaired illiterate and 21 literate Turkish immigrants aged ≥50 years were compared on an animal and supermarket criterion for the semantic verbal fluency test. Also, the influence of acculturation on test performances was examined. Significantly poorer performance of the illiterate compared to the literate group was found for the animal criterion, whereas no differences were found for the supermarket criterion that was considered more ecologically relevant for illiterate individuals. A significant interaction effect was found between the semantic criteria and literacy group, which was mainly related to a large effect of semantic criteria within the illiterate group. Adjusting for years of residence in Denmark and acculturation score did not affect this interaction effect. Overall, our results are in line with previous studies comparing semantic fluency in illiterate and literate individuals. The results lend further support to the strong associations between literacy, semantic verbal fluency performance and ecological relevance of the semantic criterion and extend previous findings to immigrants with different cultural experiences related to the acculturation process.

Study on Remote Sensing Image Characteristics of Ecological Land: Case Study of Original Ecological Land in the Yellow River Delta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, G. Q.

2018-04-01

Takes the Yellow River Delta as an example, this paper studies the characteristics of remote sensing imagery with dominant ecological functional land use types, compares the advantages and disadvantages of different image in interpreting ecological land use, and uses research results to analyse the changing trend of ecological land in the study area in the past 30 years. The main methods include multi-period, different sensor images and different seasonal spectral curves, vegetation index, GIS and data analysis methods. The results show that the main ecological land in the Yellow River Delta included coastal beaches, saline-alkaline lands, and water bodies. These lands have relatively distinct spectral and texture features. The spectral features along the beach show characteristics of absorption in the green band and reflection in the red band. This feature is less affected by the acquisition year, season, and sensor type. Saline-alkali land due to the influence of some saline-alkaline-tolerant plants such as alkali tent, Tamarix and other vegetation, the spectral characteristics have a certain seasonal changes, winter and spring NDVI index is less than the summer and autumn vegetation index. The spectral characteristics of a water body generally decrease rapidly with increasing wavelength, and the reflectance in the red band increases with increasing sediment concentration. In conclusion, according to the spectral characteristics and image texture features of the ecological land in the Yellow River Delta, the accuracy of image interpretation of such ecological land can be improved.

Towards a morphological metric of assemblage dynamics in the fossil record: a test case using planktonic foraminifera

PubMed Central

Hsiang, Allison Y.; Elder, Leanne E.; Hull, Pincelli M.

2016-01-01

With a glance, even the novice naturalist can tell you something about the ecology of a given ecosystem. This is because the morphology of individuals reflects their evolutionary history and ecology, and imparts a distinct ‘look’ to communities—making it possible to immediately discern between deserts and forests, or coral reefs and abyssal plains. Once quantified, morphology can provide a common metric for characterizing communities across space and time and, if measured rapidly, serve as a powerful tool for quantifying biotic dynamics. Here, we present and test a new high-throughput approach for analysing community shape in the fossil record using semi-three-dimensional (3D) morphometrics from vertically stacked images (light microscopic or photogrammetric). We assess the potential informativeness of community morphology in a first analysis of the relationship between 3D morphology, ecology and phylogeny in 16 extant species of planktonic foraminifera—an abundant group in the marine fossil record—and in a preliminary comparison of four assemblages from the North Atlantic. In the species examined, phylogenetic relatedness was most closely correlated with ecology, with all three ecological traits examined (depth habitat, symbiont ecology and biogeography) showing significant phylogenetic signal. By contrast, morphological trees (based on 3D shape similarity) were relatively distantly related to both ecology and phylogeny. Although improvements are needed to realize the full utility of community morphometrics, our approach already provides robust volumetric measurements of assemblage size, a key ecological characteristic. PMID:26977067

Towards a morphological metric of assemblage dynamics in the fossil record: a test case using planktonic foraminifera.

PubMed

Hsiang, Allison Y; Elder, Leanne E; Hull, Pincelli M

2016-04-05

With a glance, even the novice naturalist can tell you something about the ecology of a given ecosystem. This is because the morphology of individuals reflects their evolutionary history and ecology, and imparts a distinct 'look' to communities--making it possible to immediately discern between deserts and forests, or coral reefs and abyssal plains. Once quantified, morphology can provide a common metric for characterizing communities across space and time and, if measured rapidly, serve as a powerful tool for quantifying biotic dynamics. Here, we present and test a new high-throughput approach for analysing community shape in the fossil record using semi-three-dimensional (3D) morphometrics from vertically stacked images (light microscopic or photogrammetric). We assess the potential informativeness of community morphology in a first analysis of the relationship between 3D morphology, ecology and phylogeny in 16 extant species of planktonic foraminifera--an abundant group in the marine fossil record--and in a preliminary comparison of four assemblages from the North Atlantic. In the species examined, phylogenetic relatedness was most closely correlated with ecology, with all three ecological traits examined (depth habitat, symbiont ecology and biogeography) showing significant phylogenetic signal. By contrast, morphological trees (based on 3D shape similarity) were relatively distantly related to both ecology and phylogeny. Although improvements are needed to realize the full utility of community morphometrics, our approach already provides robust volumetric measurements of assemblage size, a key ecological characteristic. © 2016 The Authors.

Integrating Landscape Ecology into Natural Resource Management - Series: Cambridge Studies in Landscape Ecology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jianguo Liu, Edited By; Taylor, William W.

2002-08-01

The rapidly increasing global population has dramatically increased the demands for natural resources and has caused significant changes in quantity and quality of natural resources. To achieve sustainable resource management, it is essential to obtain insightful guidance from emerging disciplines such as landscape ecology. This text addresses the links between landscape ecology and natural resource management. These links are discussed in the context of various landscape types, a diverse set of resources and a wide range of management issues. A large number of landscape ecology concepts, principles and methods are introduced. Critical reviews of past management practices and a number of case studies are presented. This text provides many guidelines for managing natural resources from a landscape perspective and offers useful suggestions for landscape ecologists to carry out research relevant to natural resource management. In addition, it will be an ideal supplemental text for graduate and advanced undergraduate ecology courses. Written, and rigorously reviewed, by many of the world's leading landscape ecologists and natural resource managers Contains numerous case studies and insightful guidelines for landscape ecologists and natural resource managers

Making ecological models adequate

USGS Publications Warehouse

Getz, Wayne M.; Marshall, Charles R.; Carlson, Colin J.; Giuggioli, Luca; Ryan, Sadie J.; Romañach, Stephanie; Boettiger, Carl; Chamberlain, Samuel D.; Larsen, Laurel; D'Odorico, Paolo; O'Sullivan, David

2018-01-01

Critical evaluation of the adequacy of ecological models is urgently needed to enhance their utility in developing theory and enabling environmental managers and policymakers to make informed decisions. Poorly supported management can have detrimental, costly or irreversible impacts on the environment and society. Here, we examine common issues in ecological modelling and suggest criteria for improving modelling frameworks. An appropriate level of process description is crucial to constructing the best possible model, given the available data and understanding of ecological structures. Model details unsupported by data typically lead to over parameterisation and poor model performance. Conversely, a lack of mechanistic details may limit a model's ability to predict ecological systems’ responses to management. Ecological studies that employ models should follow a set of model adequacy assessment protocols that include: asking a series of critical questions regarding state and control variable selection, the determinacy of data, and the sensitivity and validity of analyses. We also need to improve model elaboration, refinement and coarse graining procedures to better understand the relevancy and adequacy of our models and the role they play in advancing theory, improving hind and forecasting, and enabling problem solving and management.

Eco-HAB as a fully automated and ecologically relevant assessment of social impairments in mouse models of autism

PubMed Central

Puścian, Alicja; Łęski, Szymon; Kasprowicz, Grzegorz; Winiarski, Maciej; Borowska, Joanna; Nikolaev, Tomasz; Boguszewski, Paweł M; Lipp, Hans-Peter; Knapska, Ewelina

2016-01-01

Eco-HAB is an open source, RFID-based system for automated measurement and analysis of social preference and in-cohort sociability in mice. The system closely follows murine ethology. It requires no contact between a human experimenter and tested animals, overcoming the confounding factors that lead to irreproducible assessment of murine social behavior between laboratories. In Eco-HAB, group-housed animals live in a spacious, four-compartment apparatus with shadowed areas and narrow tunnels, resembling natural burrows. Eco-HAB allows for assessment of the tendency of mice to voluntarily spend time together in ethologically relevant mouse group sizes. Custom-made software for automated tracking, data extraction, and analysis enables quick evaluation of social impairments. The developed protocols and standardized behavioral measures demonstrate high replicability. Unlike classic three-chambered sociability tests, Eco-HAB provides measurements of spontaneous, ecologically relevant social behaviors in group-housed animals. Results are obtained faster, with less manpower, and without confounding factors. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.19532.001 PMID:27731798

Protected areas as social-ecological systems: perspectives from resilience and social-ecological systems theory

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cumming, Graeme S.; Allen, Craig R.

2017-01-01

Conservation biology and applied ecology increasingly recognize that natural resource management is both an outcome and a driver of social, economic, and ecological dynamics. Protected areas offer a fundamental approach to conserving ecosystems, but they are also social-ecological systems whose ecological management and sustainability are heavily influenced by people. This editorial, and the papers in the invited feature that it introduces, discuss three emerging themes in social-ecological systems approaches to understanding protected areas: (1) the resilience and sustainability of protected areas, including analyses of their internal dynamics, their effectiveness, and the resilience of the landscapes within which they occur; (2) the relevance of spatial context and scale for protected areas, including such factors as geographic connectivity, context, exchanges between protected areas and their surrounding landscapes, and scale dependency in the provision of ecosystem services; and (3) efforts to reframe what protected areas are and how they both define and are defined by the relationships of people and nature. These emerging themes have the potential to transform management and policy approaches for protected areas and have important implications for conservation, in both theory and practice.

Objective classification of ecological status in marine water bodies using ecotoxicological information and multivariate analysis.

PubMed

Beiras, Ricardo; Durán, Iria

2014-12-01

Some relevant shortcomings have been identified in the current approach for the classification of ecological status in marine water bodies, leading to delays in the fulfillment of the Water Framework Directive objectives. Natural variability makes difficult to settle fixed reference values and boundary values for the Ecological Quality Ratios (EQR) for the biological quality elements. Biological responses to environmental degradation are frequently of nonmonotonic nature, hampering the EQR approach. Community structure traits respond only once ecological damage has already been done and do not provide early warning signals. An alternative methodology for the classification of ecological status integrating chemical measurements, ecotoxicological bioassays and community structure traits (species richness and diversity), and using multivariate analyses (multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis), is proposed. This approach does not depend on the arbitrary definition of fixed reference values and EQR boundary values, and it is suitable to integrate nonlinear, sensitive signals of ecological degradation. As a disadvantage, this approach demands the inclusion of sampling sites representing the full range of ecological status in each monitoring campaign. National or international agencies in charge of coastal pollution monitoring have comprehensive data sets available to overcome this limitation.

Assessing the relevance of ecotoxicological studies for regulatory decision making.

PubMed

Rudén, Christina; Adams, Julie; Ågerstrand, Marlene; Brock, Theo Cm; Poulsen, Veronique; Schlekat, Christian E; Wheeler, James R; Henry, Tala R

2017-07-01

Regulatory policies in many parts of the world recognize either the utility of or the mandate that all available studies be considered in environmental or ecological hazard and risk assessment (ERA) of chemicals, including studies from the peer-reviewed literature. Consequently, a vast array of different studies and data types need to be considered. The first steps in the evaluation process involve determining whether the study is relevant to the ERA and sufficiently reliable. Relevance evaluation is typically performed using existing guidance but involves application of "expert judgment" by risk assessors. In the present paper, we review published guidance for relevance evaluation and, on the basis of the practical experience within the group of authors, we identify additional aspects and further develop already proposed aspects that should be considered when conducting a relevance assessment for ecotoxicological studies. From a regulatory point of view, the overarching key aspect of relevance concerns the ability to directly or indirectly use the study in ERA with the purpose of addressing specific protection goals and ultimately regulatory decision making. Because ERA schemes are based on the appropriate linking of exposure and effect estimates, important features of ecotoxicological studies relate to exposure relevance and biological relevance. Exposure relevance addresses the representativeness of the test substance, environmental exposure media, and exposure regime. Biological relevance deals with the environmental significance of the test organism and the endpoints selected, the ecological realism of the test conditions simulated in the study, as well as a mechanistic link of treatment-related effects for endpoints to the protection goal identified in the ERA. In addition, uncertainties associated with relevance should be considered in the assessment. A systematic and transparent assessment of relevance is needed for regulatory decision making. The relevance aspects also need to be considered by scientists when designing, performing, and reporting ecotoxicological studies to facilitate their use in ERA. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:652-663. © 2016 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). © 2016 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Implicit assimilation for marine ecological models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weir, B.; Miller, R.; Spitz, Y. H.

2012-12-01

We use a new data assimilation method to estimate the parameters of a marine ecological model. At a given point in the ocean, the estimated values of the parameters determine the behaviors of the modeled planktonic groups, and thus indicate which species are dominant. To begin, we assimilate in situ observations, e.g., the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study, the Hawaii Ocean Time-series, and Ocean Weather Station Papa. From there, we estimate the parameters at surrounding points in space based on satellite observations of ocean color. Given the variation of the estimated parameters, we divide the ocean into regions meant to represent distinct ecosystems. An important feature of the data assimilation approach is that it refines the confidence limits of the optimal Gaussian approximation to the distribution of the parameters. This enables us to determine the ecological divisions with greater accuracy.

Ontogenic retinal changes in three ecologically distinct elopomorph fishes (Elopomorpha:Teleostei) correlate with light environment and behavior.

PubMed

Taylor, Scott M; Loew, Ellis R; Grace, Michael S

2015-01-01

Unlike the mammalian retina, the teleost fish retina undergoes persistent neurogenesis from intrinsic stem cells. In marine teleosts, most cone photoreceptor genesis occurs early in the embryonic and larval stages, and rods are added primarily during and after metamorphosis. This study demonstrates a developmental paradigm in elopomorph fishes in which retinas are rod-dominated in larvae, but undergo periods of later cone genesis. Retinal characteristics were compared at different developmental stages among three ecologically distinct elopomorph fishes-ladyfish (Elops saurus), bonefish (Albula vulpes), and speckled worm eel (Myrophis punctatus). The objectives were to improve our understanding of (1) the developmental strategy in the elopomorph retina, (2) the functional architecture of the retina as it relates to ecology, and (3) how the light environment influences photoreceptor genesis. Photoreceptor morphologies, distributions, and spectral absorption were studied at larval, juvenile, and adult stages. Premetamorphic retinas in all three species are rod-dominated, but the retinas of these species undergo dramatic change over the course of development, resulting in juvenile and adult retinal characteristics that correlate closely with ecology. Adult E. saurus has high rod densities, grouped photoreceptors, a reflective tapetum, and longer-wavelength photopigments, supporting vision in turbid, low-light conditions. Adult A. vulpes has high cone densities, low rod densities, and shorter-wavelength photopigments, supporting diurnal vision in shallow, clear water. M. punctatus loses cones during metamorphosis, develops new cones after settlement, and maintains high rod but low cone densities, supporting primarily nocturnal vision. M. punctatus secondary cone genesis occurs rapidly throughout the retina, suggesting a novel mechanism of vertebrate photoreceptor genesis. Finally, in postsettlement M. punctatus, the continuous presence or absence of visible light modulates rod distribution but does not affect secondary cone genesis, suggesting some degree of developmental plasticity influenced by the light environment.

The effects of ecology and evolutionary history on robust capuchin morphological diversity.

PubMed

Wright, Kristin A; Wright, Barth W; Ford, Susan M; Fragaszy, Dorothy; Izar, Patricia; Norconk, Marilyn; Masterson, Thomas; Hobbs, David G; Alfaro, Michael E; Lynch Alfaro, Jessica W

2015-01-01

Recent molecular work has confirmed the long-standing morphological hypothesis that capuchins are comprised of two distinct clades, the gracile (untufted) capuchins (genus Cebus, Erxleben, 1777) and the robust (tufted) capuchins (genus Sapajus Kerr, 1792). In the past, the robust group was treated as a single, undifferentiated and cosmopolitan species, with data from all populations lumped together in morphological and ecological studies, obscuring morphological differences that might exist across this radiation. Genetic evidence suggests that the modern radiation of robust capuchins began diversifying ∼2.5 Ma, with significant subsequent geographic expansion into new habitat types. In this study we use a morphological sample of gracile and robust capuchin craniofacial and postcranial characters to examine how ecology and evolutionary history have contributed to morphological diversity within the robust capuchins. We predicted that if ecology is driving robust capuchin variation, three distinct robust morphotypes would be identified: (1) the Atlantic Forest species (Sapajus xanthosternos, S. robustus, and S. nigritus), (2) the Amazonian rainforest species (S. apella, S. cay and S. macrocephalus), and (3) the Cerrado-Caatinga species (S. libidinosus). Alternatively, if diversification time between species pairs predicts degree of morphological difference, we predicted that the recently diverged S. apella, S. macrocephalus, S. libidinosus, and S. cay would be morphologically comparable, with greater variation among the more ancient lineages of S. nigritus, S. xanthosternos, and S. robustus. Our analyses suggest that S. libidinosus has the most derived craniofacial and postcranial features, indicative of inhabiting a more terrestrial niche that includes a dependence on tool use for the extraction of imbedded foods. We also suggest that the cranial robusticity of S. macrocephalus and S. apella are indicative of recent competition with sympatric gracile capuchin species, resulting in character displacement. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding the Onset of Health Impacts Caused by Disturbances

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

will define the PCoD Health stage in a way that we can start to integrate ecological and physiological PCoD research. OBJECTIVES In order to...for the first time assess the relevance of adipose transcriptomic and metabolomic biomarkers as measures relevant to PCoD in cetaceans. We aim to...individuals. APPROACH The Population Consequences of Disturbances ( PCoD ) paradigm provides a mean to link perturbations of individual phenotypic

[Awareness of hazards to health caused by pollution of the environment].

PubMed

Racz, A

1993-01-01

This work deals with the results of an ecological/psychological study into the development of Zagreb inhabitants awareness of the potential health risks posed by the ten most significant forms of environmental pollution and into how each examinee influences the development of ecological consciousness. This research was conducted with representative population sample of two significantly differently ecologically critical Zagreb communities: the shanty town community of Kozari Bokand the highly urbanized community of Slobostina. The survey was conducted on site using the Liekert scale in 1990. The results have shown that air and water pollution are considered potentially most dangerous, as opposed to the total lack of awareness concerning noise pollution. The factors significant in the formation of ecological awareness are: occupation and the perception of immediate danger as opposed to age, sex and personal background. However, the subject's educational level and familiarity with the relevant facts are crucial elements affecting the awakening and development of ecological consciousness.

In Situ Estuarine and Marine Toxicity Testing: A Review, Including Recommendations for Future Use in Ecological Risk Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

testing may be a preferable or complementary strategy in certain situations utilizing a weight of evidence approach (Baird et al. 2007). One of the most...embryonic development, or post-exposure feeding rate are discussed. It is acknowledged that a plethora of additional endpoints have utility for use in situ...example, may have proven utility , it is generally preferable to evaluate toxicity using ecologically relevant species and life stages (i.e., those

Trait-based plant ecology: moving towards a unifying species coexistence theory : Features of the Special Section.

PubMed

Escudero, Adrián; Valladares, Fernando

2016-04-01

Functional traits are the center of recent attempts to unify key ecological theories on species coexistence and assembling in populations and communities. While the plethora of studies on the role of functional traits to explain patterns and dynamics of communities has rendered a complex picture due to the idiosyncrasies of each study system and approach, there is increasing evidence on their actual relevance when aspects such as different spatial scales, intraspecific variability and demography are considered.

Improving the ecological relevance of toxicity tests on scleractinian corals: Influence of season, life stage, and seawater temperature

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hedouin, Laetitia; Wolf, Ruth E.; Phillips, Jeff; Gates, Ruth D.

2016-01-01

Our data support the paradigm that upward excursions in temperature influence physiological processes in corals that play key roles in regulating metal toxicity. These influences are more pronounced in larva versus adult corals. These findings are important when contextualized climate change-driven warming in the oceans and highlight that predictions of ecological outcomes to metal pollutants will be improved by considering environmental context and the life stages of organism under study.

How Does Knowledge Promote Memory? The Distinctiveness Theory of Skilled Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rawson, Katherine A.; Van Overschelde, James P.

2008-01-01

The robust effects of knowledge on memory for domain-relevant information reported in previous research have largely been attributed to improved organizational processing. The present research proposes the distinctiveness theory of skilled memory, which states that knowledge improves memory not only through improved organizational processing but…

How Much Geology is Relevant to an Eighteen Year Old Voter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yannacone, Victor John, Jr.

1974-01-01

Discusses the earth science concepts which an informed voter should know in order to responsibly vote on ecologically-oriented issues, such as land use planning, mining exploration, and resources management. (MLH)

Urban ecological systems: scientific foundations and a decade of progress.

PubMed

Pickett, S T A; Cadenasso, M L; Grove, J M; Boone, Christopher G; Groffman, Peter M; Irwin, Elena; Kaushal, Sujay S; Marshall, Victoria; McGrath, Brian P; Nilon, C H; Pouyat, R V; Szlavecz, Katalin; Troy, Austin; Warren, Paige

2011-03-01

Urban ecological studies, including focus on cities, suburbs, and exurbs, while having deep roots in the early to mid 20th century, have burgeoned in the last several decades. We use the state factor approach to highlight the role of important aspects of climate, substrate, organisms, relief, and time in differentiating urban from non-urban areas, and for determining heterogeneity within spatially extensive metropolitan areas. In addition to reviewing key findings relevant to each state factor, we note the emergence of tentative "urban syndromes" concerning soils, streams, wildlife and plants, and homogenization of certain ecosystem functions, such as soil organic carbon dynamics. We note the utility of the ecosystem approach, the human ecosystem framework, and watersheds as integrative tools to tie information about multiple state factors together. The organismal component of urban complexes includes the social organization of the human population, and we review key modes by which human populations within urban areas are differentiated, and how such differentiation affects environmentally relevant actions. Emerging syntheses in land change science and ecological urban design are also summarized. The multifaceted frameworks and the growing urban knowledge base do however identify some pressing research needs. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identification of the fitness determinants of budding yeast on a natural substrate.

PubMed

Filteau, Marie; Charron, Guillaume; Landry, Christian R

2017-04-01

The budding yeasts are prime models in genomics and cell biology, but the ecological factors that determine their success in non-human-associated habitats is poorly understood. In North America Saccharomyces yeasts are present on the bark of deciduous trees, where they feed on bark and sap exudates. In the North East, Saccharomyces paradoxus is found on maples, which makes maple sap a natural substrate for this species. We measured growth rates of S. paradoxus natural isolates on maple sap and found variation along a geographical gradient not explained by the inherent variation observed under optimal laboratory conditions. We used a functional genomic screen to reveal the ecologically relevant genes and conditions required for optimal growth in this substrate. We found that the allantoin degradation pathway is required for optimal growth in maple sap, in particular genes necessary for allantoate utilization, which we demonstrate is the major nitrogen source available to yeast in this environment. Growth with allantoin or allantoate as the sole nitrogen source recapitulated the variation in growth rates in maple sap among strains. We also show that two lineages of S. paradoxus display different life-history traits on allantoin and allantoate media, highlighting the ecological relevance of this pathway.

From chemical risk assessment to environmental quality management: the challenge for soil protection.

PubMed

Bone, James; Head, Martin; Jones, David T; Barraclough, Declan; Archer, Michael; Scheib, Catherine; Flight, Dee; Eggleton, Paul; Voulvoulis, Nikolaos

2011-01-01

The 40 years that have passed since the beginning of the 'environmental revolution' has seen a large increase in development of policies for the protection of environmental media and a recognition by the public of the importance of environmental quality. There has been a shift from policy in reaction to high profile events, then to control of releases to single environmental media, and to the present position of moving toward integrated management of all environmental media at present. This development has moved away from classical chemical risk assessment toward environmental holism, including recognition of the ecological value of these media. This work details how policy developments have taken place for air and water, with examples from the USA and EU, in order to compare this with policy development regarding soil. Soil, with quite different policy frameworks and distinct uses, understanding, and threats compared to other environmental media, is currently attracting attention regarding the need for its protection independent of use. Challenges for soil policy are identified and evaluated, and recommendations on how these challenges can be overcome are discussed with relevance to water and air protection policy.

Human disturbance alters endocrine and immune responses in the Galapagos marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)

PubMed Central

French, Susannah S; DeNardo, Dale F.; Greives, Timothy J.; Strand, Christine R.; Demas, Gregory E.

2010-01-01

Anthropogenic disturbance is a relevant and widespread facilitator of environmental change and there is clear evidence that it impacts natural populations. While population-level responses to major anthropogenic changes have been well studied, individual physiological responses to mild disturbance can be equally critical to the long-term survival of a species, yet they remain largely unexamined. The current study investigated the impact of seemingly low-level anthropogenic disturbance (ecotourism) on stress responsiveness and specific fitness-related immune measures in different breeding stages of the marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus). Specifically, we found stress-induced elevations in plasma corticosterone among tourist-exposed populations relative to undisturbed populations. We also found changes in multiple immunological responses associated with stress-related effects of human disturbance, including bacterial killing ability, cutaneous wound healing, and hemolytic complement activity, and the responses varied according to reproductive state. By identifying health-related consequences of human disturbance, this study provides critical insight into the conservation of a well-known species that has a very distinct ecology. The study also broadens the foundation of knowledge needed to understand the global significance of various levels of human disturbance. PMID:20708010

The tarsal-metatarsal complex of caviomorph rodents: Anatomy and functional-adaptive analysis.

PubMed

Candela, Adriana M; Muñoz, Nahuel A; García-Esponda, César M

2017-06-01

Caviomorph rodents represent a major adaptive radiation of Neotropical mammals. They occupy a variety of ecological niches, which is also reflected in their wide array of locomotor behaviors. It is expected that this radiation would be mirrored by an equivalent disparity of tarsal-metatarsal morphology. Here, the tarsal-metatarsal complex of Erethizontidae, Cuniculidae, Dasyproctidae, Caviidae, Chinchillidae, Octodontidae, Ctenomyidae, and Echimyidae was examined, in order to evaluate its anatomical variation and functional-adaptive relevance in relation to locomotor behaviors. A qualitative study in functional morphology and a geometric morphometric analysis were performed. We recognized two distinct tarsal-metatarsal patterns that represent the extremes of anatomical variation in the foot. The first, typically present in arboreal species, is characterized by features that facilitate movements at different levels of the tarsal-metatarsal complex. The second pattern, typically present in cursorial caviomorphs, has a set of features that act to stabilize the joints, improve the interlocking of the tarsal bones, and restrict movements to the parasagittal plane. The morphological disparity recognized in this study seems to result from specific locomotor adaptations to climb, dig, run, jump and swim, as well as phylogenetic effects within and among the groups studies. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Morphospaces of functionally analogous traits show ecological separation between birds and pterosaurs.

PubMed

Chan, Nicholas R

2017-10-25

Birds originated and radiated in the presence of another group of flying vertebrates, the pterosaurs. Opinion is divided as to whether birds competitively displaced pterosaurs from small-body size niches or whether the two groups coexisted with little competition. Previous studies of Mesozoic birds and pterosaurs compared measurements of homologous limb bones to test these hypotheses. However, these characters probably reflect differing ancestries rather than ecologies. Here, competition and ecological separation were tested for using multivariate analyses of functionally equivalent morphological characters. As well as using characters from the fore- and hindlimbs, these analyses also included measurements of the lower jaw. The results of this study indicate that pterosaurs had relatively longer jaws, shorter metatarsals and shorter brachial regions compared with birds of similar size. Contrary to the results of previous studies, the distal wing was not important for separating the two clades in morphospace owing to the inclusion of the primary feathers in this unit. The differences found here indicate ecological separation based on differences in size, locomotory features and feeding adaptations. Thus, instead of one group displacing the other, birds and pterosaurs appear to have adopted distinctive ecological strategies throughout their period of coexistence. © 2017 The Author(s).

Tightly congruent bursts of lineage and phenotypic diversification identified in a continental ant radiation.

PubMed

Price, Shauna L; Etienne, Rampal S; Powell, Scott

2016-04-01

Adaptive diversification is thought to be shaped by ecological opportunity. A prediction of this ecological process of diversification is that it should result in congruent bursts of lineage and phenotypic diversification, but few studies have found this expected association. Here, we study the relationship between rates of lineage diversification and body size evolution in the turtle ants, a diverse Neotropical clade. Using a near complete, time-calibrated phylogeny we investigated lineage diversification dynamics and body size disparity through model fitting analyses and estimation of per-lineage rates of cladogenesis and phenotypic evolution. We identify an exceptionally high degree of congruence between the high rates of lineage and body size diversification in a young clade undergoing renewed diversification in the ecologically distinct Chacoan biogeographical region of South America. It is likely that the region presented turtle ants with novel ecological opportunity, which facilitated a nested burst of diversification and phenotypic evolution within the group. Our results provide a compelling quantitative example of tight congruence between rates of lineage and phenotypic diversification, meeting the key predicted pattern of adaptive diversification shaped by ecological opportunity. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Landscape approach to the formation of the ecological frame of Moscow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nizovtsev, Vyacheslav; Natalia, Erman

2015-04-01

The territory of Moscow, in particular in its former borders, is distinct for its strong transformation of the natural properties of virtually all types of landscape complexes. The modern landscape structure is characterized by fragmentation of natural land cover. Natural and quasinatural (natural and anthropogenic) landscape complexes with preserved natural structure are represented by isolated areas and occupy small areas. During recent years landscape diversity in general and biodiversity in particular have been rapidly declining, and many of the natural landscape complexes are under ever-increasing degradation. Ecological balance is broken, and preserved natural landscapes are not able to maintain it. Effective territorial organization of Moscow and the rational use of its territory are impossible without taking into account the natural component of the city as well as the properties and potential of the landscape complexes that integrate all natural features in specific areas. The formation of the ecological framework of the city is particularly important. It should be a single system of interrelated and complementary components that make up a single environmental space: habitat-forming cores (junctions), ecological corridors and elements of environmental infrastructure. Systemic unity of the environmental framework can support the territorial ecological compensation where a break of the ecological functions of one part of the system is compensated by maintaining or restoring them in another part and contribute to the polarization of incompatible types of land use. Habitat-forming cores should include as mandatory parts all the specifically protected natural areas (SPNAs), particularly valuable landscape complexes, as well as preserved adjacent forest areas. Their most important function should be to maintain resources and area reproducing abilities of landscapes, landscape diversity and biodiversity. Ecological corridors which perform environmental and operating transit functions should include unified landscape systems of river valleys, their hollow-beam upstreams and drained lows. The most important elements of environmental infrastructure include the most valuable forest and wetland complexes, springs and other landscape and aquatic complexes, cultural and historical landscape complexes, landscape complexes with high concentration of cultural heritage sites, sites of natural and green areas with great potential of natural and recreational resources, natural and recreational parks, natural monuments. They can serve as centers of landscape and biological diversity and perform partial transit (migration) and buffer functions. The territory of the ecological framework can be used for strictly regulated or limited recreation (tourism, short leisure). The adjacent natural and green spaces and natural parks may play a buffer role for the SPNAs and valuable landscape complexes. The spatial pattern of the landscape complexes of Moscow allows to create a single ecological framework based on the landscape, distinct for its interrelated and complementary components. Its basis may be consisted of uniform landscape complexes of valley outwash plains and river valleys, their hollow-beam upstreams and drained lows which perform system forming, environmental and transit functions. In the plan river valleys and small erosional forms are as if enclosed in the gullies and constitute single paradynamic systems unified by lateral flows. Therefore not only the edges of river valleys, but also the rear seams of the valley outwash plains should become important natural boundaries, limiting urban development of the area. Their most important functional feature is that they serve as local collectors and surface water runoff channels. These landscape complexes are distinct for most dynamic natural processes and thus negative exogenous processes. The authors have drawn indigenous (conditionally restored) and modern landscapes of Moscow on a scale of 1: 50,000 and on their basis an ecological framework map of Moscow. These maps are an important natural basis for the analysis of conditions and identification of limiting factors of the urban development of the big city.

Plunging hands into the mushroom jar: a phylogenetic framework for Lyophyllaceae (Agaricales, Basidiomycota).

PubMed

Bellanger, J-M; Moreau, P-A; Corriol, G; Bidaud, A; Chalange, R; Dudova, Z; Richard, F

2015-04-01

During the last two decades, the unprecedented development of molecular phylogenetic tools has propelled an opportunity to revisit the fungal kingdom under an evolutionary perspective. Mycology has been profoundly changed but a sustained effort to elucidate large sections of the astonishing fungal diversity is still needed. Here we fill this gap in the case of Lyophyllaceae, a species-rich and ecologically diversified family of mushrooms. Assembly and genealogical concordance multigene phylogenetic analysis of a large dataset that includes original, vouchered material from expert field mycologists reveal the phylogenetic topology of the family, from higher (generic) to lower (species) levels. A comparative analysis of the most widely used phylogenetic markers in Fungi indicates that the nuc rDNA region encompassing the internal transcribed spacers 1 and 2, along with the 5.8S rDNA (ITS) and portions of the genes for RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) is the most performing combination to resolve the broadest range of taxa within Lyophyllaceae. Eleven distinct evolutionary lineages are identified, that display partial overlap with traditional genera as well as with the phylogenetic framework previously proposed for the family. Eighty phylogenetic species are delineated, which shed light on a large number of morphological concepts, including rare and poorly documented ones. Probing these novel phylogenetic species to the barcoding method of species limit delineation, indicates that the latter method fully resolves Lyophyllaceae species, except in one clade. This case study provides the first comprehensive phylogenetic overview of Lyophyllaceae, a necessary step towards a taxonomical, ecological and nomenclatural revision of this family of mushrooms. It also proposes a set of methodological guidelines that may be of relevance for future taxonomic works in other groups of Fungi.

Inter-generational change in African elephant range use is associated with poaching risk, primary productivity and adult mortality.

PubMed

Goldenberg, Shifra Z; Douglas-Hamilton, Iain; Wittemyer, George

2018-05-30

Repeated use of the same areas may benefit animals as they exploit familiar sites, leading to consistent home ranges over time that can span generations. Changing risk landscapes may reduce benefits associated with home range fidelity, however, and philopatric animals may alter movement in response to new pressures. Despite the importance of range changes to ecological and evolutionary processes, little tracking data have been collected over the long-term nor has range change been recorded in response to human pressures across generations. Here, we investigate the relationships between ecological, demographic and human variables and elephant ranging behaviour across generations using 16 years of tracking data from nine distinct female social groups in a population of elephants in northern Kenya that was heavily affected by ivory poaching during the latter half of the study. Nearly all groups-including those that did not experience loss of mature adults-exhibited a shift north over time, apparently in response to increased poaching in the southern extent of the study area. However, loss of mature adults appeared to be the primary indicator of range shifts and expansions, as generational turnover was a significant predictor of range size increases and range centroid shifts. Range expansions and northward shifts were associated with higher primary productivity and lower poached carcass densities, while westward shifts exhibited a trend to areas with higher values of primary productivity and higher poached carcass densities relative to former ranges. Together these results suggest a trade-off between resource access, mobility and safety. We discuss the relevance of these results to elephant conservation efforts and directions meriting further exploration in this disrupted society of a keystone species. © 2018 The Author(s).

Cryptic Speciation Patterns in Iranian Rock Lizards Uncovered by Integrative Taxonomy

PubMed Central

Ahmadzadeh, Faraham; Flecks, Morris; Carretero, Miguel A.; Mozaffari, Omid; Böhme, Wolfgang; Harris, D. James; Freitas, Susana; Rödder, Dennis

2013-01-01

While traditionally species recognition has been based solely on morphological differences either typological or quantitative, several newly developed methods can be used for a more objective and integrative approach on species delimitation. This may be especially relevant when dealing with cryptic species or species complexes, where high overall resemblance between species is coupled with comparatively high morphological variation within populations. Rock lizards, genus Darevskia, are such an example, as many of its members offer few diagnostic morphological features. Herein, we use a combination of genetic, morphological and ecological criteria to delimit cryptic species within two species complexes, D. chlorogaster and D. defilippii, both distributed in northern Iran. Our analyses are based on molecular information from two nuclear and two mitochondrial genes, morphological data (15 morphometric, 16 meristic and four categorical characters) and eleven newly calculated spatial environmental predictors. The phylogeny inferred for Darevskia confirmed monophyly of each species complex, with each of them comprising several highly divergent clades, especially when compared to other congeners. We identified seven candidate species within each complex, of which three and four species were supported by Bayesian species delimitation within D. chlorogaster and D. defilippii, respectively. Trained with genetically determined clades, Ecological Niche Modeling provided additional support for these cryptic species. Especially those within the D. defilippii-complex exhibit well-differentiated niches. Due to overall morphological resemblance, in a first approach PCA with mixed variables only showed the separation between the two complexes. However, MANCOVA and subsequent Discriminant Analysis performed separately for both complexes allowed for distinction of the species when sample size was large enough, namely within the D. chlorogaster-complex. In conclusion, the results support four new species, which are described herein. PMID:24324611

Novel “Superspreader” Bacteriophages Promote Horizontal Gene Transfer by Transformation

PubMed Central

Bliskovsky, Valery V.; Malagon, Francisco; Baker, James D.; Prince, Jeffrey S.; Klaus, James S.; Adhya, Sankar L.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Bacteriophages infect an estimated 1023 to 1025 bacterial cells each second, many of which carry physiologically relevant plasmids (e.g., those encoding antibiotic resistance). However, even though phage-plasmid interactions occur on a massive scale and have potentially significant evolutionary, ecological, and biomedical implications, plasmid fate upon phage infection and lysis has not been investigated to date. Here we show that a subset of the natural lytic phage population, which we dub “superspreaders,” releases substantial amounts of intact, transformable plasmid DNA upon lysis, thereby promoting horizontal gene transfer by transformation. Two novel Escherichia coli phage superspreaders, SUSP1 and SUSP2, liberated four evolutionarily distinct plasmids with equal efficiency, including two close relatives of prominent antibiotic resistance vectors in natural environments. SUSP2 also mediated the extensive lateral transfer of antibiotic resistance in unbiased communities of soil bacteria from Maryland and Wyoming. Furthermore, the addition of SUSP2 to cocultures of kanamycin-resistant E. coli and kanamycin-sensitive Bacillus sp. bacteria resulted in roughly 1,000-fold more kanamycin-resistant Bacillus sp. bacteria than arose in phage-free controls. Unlike many other lytic phages, neither SUSP1 nor SUSP2 encodes homologs to known hydrolytic endonucleases, suggesting a simple potential mechanism underlying the superspreading phenotype. Consistent with this model, the deletion of endonuclease IV and the nucleoid-disrupting protein ndd from coliphage T4, a phage known to extensively degrade chromosomal DNA, significantly increased its ability to promote plasmid transformation. Taken together, our results suggest that phage superspreaders may play key roles in microbial evolution and ecology but should be avoided in phage therapy and other medical applications. PMID:28096488

Ecological impacts of invasive alien species along temperature gradients: testing the role of environmental matching.

PubMed

Iacarella, Josephine C; Dick, Jaimie T A; Alexander, Mhairi E; Ricciardi, Anthony

2015-04-01

Invasive alien species (IAS) can cause substantive ecological impacts, and the role of temperature in mediating these impacts may become increasingly significant in a changing climate. Habitat conditions and physiological optima offer predictive information for IAS impacts in novel environments. Here, using meta-analysis and laboratory experiments, we tested the hypothesis that the impacts of IAS in the field are inversely correlated with the difference in their ambient and optimal temperatures. A meta-analysis of 29 studies of consumptive impacts of IAS in inland waters revealed that the impacts of fishes and crustaceans are higher at temperatures that more closely match their thermal growth optima. In particular, the maximum impact potential was constrained by increased differences between ambient and optimal temperatures, as indicated by the steeper slope of a quantile regression on the upper 25th percentile of impact data compared to that of a weighted linear regression on all data with measured variances. We complemented this study with an experimental analysis of the functional response (the relationship between predation rate and prey supply) of two invasive predators (freshwater mysid shrimp, Hemimysis anomala and Mysis diluviana) across. relevant temperature gradients; both of these species have previously been found to exert strong community-level impacts that are corroborated by their functional responses to different prey items. The functional response experiments showed that maximum feeding rates of H. anomala and M. diluviana have distinct peaks near their respective thermal optima. Although variation in impacts may be caused by numerous abiotic or biotic habitat characteristics, both our analyses point to temperature as a key mediator of IAS impact levels in inland waters and suggest that IAS management should prioritize habitats in the invaded range that more closely match the thermal optima of targeted invaders.

Patterns of bacteria-host associations suggest different ecological strategies between two reef building cold-water coral species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meistertzheim, Anne.-Leila; Lartaud, Franck; Arnaud-Haond, Sophie; Kalenitchenko, Dimitri; Bessalam, Manon; Le Bris, Nadine; Galand, Pierre E.

2016-08-01

Cold-water corals (CWC) are main ecosystem engineers of the deep sea, and their reefs constitute hot-spots of biodiversity. However, their ecology remains poorly understood, particularly, the nature of the holobiont formed by corals with their associated bacterial communities. Here, we analyzed Madrepora oculata and Lophelia pertusa samples, collected from one location in a Mediterranean canyon in two different seasons (autumn and spring), in order to test for species specificity and temporal stability of the host-bacteria associations. The 16S rRNA sequencing revealed host-specific patterns of bacterial communities associated with L. pertusa and M. oculata, both in terms of community composition and diversity. All analyzed M. oculata polyps exhibited temporally and spatially similar bacterial communities dominated by haplotypes homologous to the known cnidarians-associated genus Endozoicomonas. In contrast, the bacterial communities associated with L. pertusa varied among polyps from the same colony, as well as among distinct colonies and between seasons. While the resilient consortium formed by M. oculata and its bacterial community fit the definition of holobiont, the versatility of the L. pertusa microbiome suggests that this association is more influenced by the environmental conditions or nutritional status. Our results thus highlight distinct host/microbes association strategies for these two closely related Scleractinians sharing the same habitat, suggesting distinct sensitivity to environmental change.

High Genetic Diversity and Distinctiveness of Rear-Edge Climate Relicts Maintained by Ancient Tetraploidisation for Alnus glutinosa

PubMed Central

Lepais, Olivier; Muller, Serge D.; Ben Saad-Limam, Samia; Benslama, Mohamed; Rhazi, Laila; Belouahem-Abed, Djamila; Daoud-Bouattour, Amina; Gammar, Amor Mokhtar; Ghrabi-Gammar, Zeineb; Bacles, Cécile Fanny Emilie

2013-01-01

Populations located at the rear-edge of a species’ distribution may have disproportionate ecological and evolutionary importance for biodiversity conservation in a changing global environment. Yet genetic studies of such populations remain rare. This study investigates the evolutionary history of North-African low latitude marginal populations of Alnus glutinosa Gaertn., a European tree species that plays a significant ecological role as a keystone of riparian ecosystems. We genotyped 551 adults from 19 populations located across North Africa at 12 microsatellite loci and applied a coalescent-based simulation approach to reconstruct the demographic and evolutionary history of these populations. Surprisingly, Moroccan trees were tetraploids demonstrating a strong distinctiveness of these populations within a species otherwise known as diploid. Best-fitting models of demographic reconstruction revealed the relict nature of Moroccan populations that were found to have withstood past climate change events and to be much older than Algerian and Tunisian populations. This study highlights the complex demographic history that can be encountered in rear-edge distribution margins that here consist of both old stable climate relict and more recent populations, distinctively diverse genetically both quantitatively and qualitatively. We emphasize the high evolutionary and conservation value of marginal rear-edge populations of a keystone riparian species in the context of on-going climate change in the Mediterranean region. PMID:24098677

Going coastal: shared evolutionary history between coastal British Columbia and Southeast Alaska wolves (Canis lupus).

PubMed

Weckworth, Byron V; Dawson, Natalie G; Talbot, Sandra L; Flamme, Melanie J; Cook, Joseph A

2011-05-04

Many coastal species occupying the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest in North America comprise endemic populations genetically and ecologically distinct from interior continental conspecifics. Morphological variation previously identified among wolf populations resulted in recognition of multiple subspecies of wolves in the Pacific Northwest. Recently, separate genetic studies have identified diverged populations of wolves in coastal British Columbia and coastal Southeast Alaska, providing support for hypotheses of distinct coastal subspecies. These two regions are geographically and ecologically contiguous, however, there is no comprehensive analysis across all wolf populations in this coastal rainforest. By combining mitochondrial DNA datasets from throughout the Pacific Northwest, we examined the genetic relationship between coastal British Columbia and Southeast Alaska wolf populations and compared them with adjacent continental populations. Phylogenetic analysis indicates complete overlap in the genetic diversity of coastal British Columbia and Southeast Alaska wolves, but these populations are distinct from interior continental wolves. Analyses of molecular variation support the separation of all coastal wolves in a group divergent from continental populations, as predicted based on hypothesized subspecies designations. Two novel haplotypes also were uncovered in a newly assayed continental population of interior Alaska wolves. We found evidence that coastal wolves endemic to these temperate rainforests are diverged from neighbouring, interior continental wolves; a finding that necessitates new international strategies associated with the management of this species.

Trade-offs in thermal adaptation: the need for a molecular to ecological integration.

PubMed

Pörtner, Hans O; Bennett, Albert F; Bozinovic, Francisco; Clarke, Andrew; Lardies, Marco A; Lucassen, Magnus; Pelster, Bernd; Schiemer, Fritz; Stillman, Jonathon H

2006-01-01

Through functional analyses, integrative physiology is able to link molecular biology with ecology as well as evolutionary biology and is thereby expected to provide access to the evolution of molecular, cellular, and organismic functions; the genetic basis of adaptability; and the shaping of ecological patterns. This paper compiles several exemplary studies of thermal physiology and ecology, carried out at various levels of biological organization from single genes (proteins) to ecosystems. In each of those examples, trade-offs and constraints in thermal adaptation are addressed; these trade-offs and constraints may limit species' distribution and define their level of fitness. For a more comprehensive understanding, the paper sets out to elaborate the functional and conceptual connections among these independent studies and the various organizational levels addressed. This effort illustrates the need for an overarching concept of thermal adaptation that encompasses molecular, organellar, cellular, and whole-organism information as well as the mechanistic links between fitness, ecological success, and organismal physiology. For this data, the hypothesis of oxygen- and capacity-limited thermal tolerance in animals provides such a conceptual framework and allows interpreting the mechanisms of thermal limitation of animals as relevant at the ecological level. While, ideally, evolutionary studies over multiple generations, illustrated by an example study in bacteria, are necessary to test the validity of such complex concepts and underlying hypotheses, animal physiology frequently is constrained to functional studies within one generation. Comparisons of populations in a latitudinal cline, closely related species from different climates, and ontogenetic stages from riverine clines illustrate how evolutionary information can still be gained. An understanding of temperature-dependent shifts in energy turnover, associated with adjustments in aerobic scope and performance, will result. This understanding builds on a mechanistic analysis of the width and location of thermal windows on the temperature scale and also on study of the functional properties of relevant proteins and associated gene expression mechanisms.

Habitat classification modeling with incomplete data: Pushing the habitat envelope

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zarnetske, P.L.; Edwards, T.C.; Moisen, Gretchen G.

2007-01-01

Habitat classification models (HCMs) are invaluable tools for species conservation, land-use planning, reserve design, and metapopulation assessments, particularly at broad spatial scales. However, species occurrence data are often lacking and typically limited to presence points at broad scales. This lack of absence data precludes the use of many statistical techniques for HCMs. One option is to generate pseudo-absence points so that the many available statistical modeling tools can be used. Traditional techniques generate pseudoabsence points at random across broadly defined species ranges, often failing to include biological knowledge concerning the species-habitat relationship. We incorporated biological knowledge of the species-habitat relationship into pseudo-absence points by creating habitat envelopes that constrain the region from which points were randomly selected. We define a habitat envelope as an ecological representation of a species, or species feature's (e.g., nest) observed distribution (i.e., realized niche) based on a single attribute, or the spatial intersection of multiple attributes. We created HCMs for Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis atricapillus) nest habitat during the breeding season across Utah forests with extant nest presence points and ecologically based pseudo-absence points using logistic regression. Predictor variables were derived from 30-m USDA Landfire and 250-m Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) map products. These habitat-envelope-based models were then compared to null envelope models which use traditional practices for generating pseudo-absences. Models were assessed for fit and predictive capability using metrics such as kappa, thresholdindependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plots, adjusted deviance (Dadj2), and cross-validation, and were also assessed for ecological relevance. For all cases, habitat envelope-based models outperformed null envelope models and were more ecologically relevant, suggesting that incorporating biological knowledge into pseudo-absence point generation is a powerful tool for species habitat assessments. Furthermore, given some a priori knowledge of the species-habitat relationship, ecologically based pseudo-absence points can be applied to any species, ecosystem, data resolution, and spatial extent. ?? 2007 by the Ecological Society of America.

Advantages and challenges associated with implementing an ecosystem services approach to ecological risk assessment for chemicals.

PubMed

Maltby, Lorraine; van den Brink, Paul J; Faber, Jack H; Marshall, Stuart

2018-04-15

The ecosystem services (ES) approach is gaining broad interest in regulatory and policy arenas for use in landscape management and ecological risk assessment. It has the potential to bring greater ecological relevance to the setting of environmental protection goals and to the assessment of the ecological risk posed by chemicals. A workshop, organised under the auspices of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Europe, brought together scientific experts from European regulatory authorities, the chemical industry and academia to discuss and evaluate the challenges associated with implementing an ES approach to chemical ecological risk assessment (ERA). Clear advantages of using an ES approach in prospective and retrospective ERA were identified, including: making ERA spatially explicit and of relevance to management decisions (i.e. indicating what ES to protect and where); improving transparency in communicating risks and trade-offs; integrating across multiple stressors, scales, habitats and policies. A number of challenges were also identified including: the potential for increased complexity in assessments; greater data requirements; limitations in linking endpoints derived from current ecotoxicity tests to impacts on ES. In principle, the approach was applicable to all chemical sectors, but the scale of the challenge of applying an ES approach to general chemicals with widespread and dispersive uses leading to broad environmental exposure, was highlighted. There was agreement that ES-based risk assessment should be based on the magnitude of impact rather than on toxicity thresholds. The need for more bioassays/tests with functional endpoints was recognized, as was the role of modelling and the need for ecological production functions to link measurement endpoints to assessment endpoints. Finally, the value of developing environmental scenarios that can be combined with spatial information on exposure, ES delivery and service provider vulnerability was recognized. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Accounting for both local aquatic community composition and bioavailability in setting site-specific quality standards for zinc.

PubMed

Peters, Adam; Simpson, Peter; Moccia, Alessandra

2014-01-01

Recent years have seen considerable improvement in water quality standards (QS) for metals by taking account of the effect of local water chemistry conditions on their bioavailability. We describe preliminary efforts to further refine water quality standards, by taking account of the composition of the local ecological community (the ultimate protection objective) in addition to bioavailability. Relevance of QS to the local ecological community is critical as it is important to minimise instances where quality classification using QS does not reconcile with a quality classification based on an assessment of the composition of the local ecology (e.g. using benthic macroinvertebrate quality assessment metrics such as River InVertebrate Prediction and Classification System (RIVPACS)), particularly where ecology is assessed to be at good or better status, whilst chemical quality is determined to be failing relevant standards. The alternative approach outlined here describes a method to derive a site-specific species sensitivity distribution (SSD) based on the ecological community which is expected to be present at the site in the absence of anthropogenic pressures (reference conditions). The method combines a conventional laboratory ecotoxicity dataset normalised for bioavailability with field measurements of the response of benthic macroinvertebrate abundance to chemical exposure. Site-specific QSref are then derived from the 5%ile of this SSD. Using this method, site QSref have been derived for zinc in an area impacted by historic mining activities. Application of QSref can result in greater agreement between chemical and ecological metrics of environmental quality compared with the use of either conventional (QScon) or bioavailability-based QS (QSbio). In addition to zinc, the approach is likely to be applicable to other metals and possibly other types of chemical stressors (e.g. pesticides). However, the methodology for deriving site-specific targets requires additional development and validation before they can be robustly applied during surface water classification.

Understanding protected area resilience: a multi-scale, social-ecological approach.

PubMed

Cumming, Graeme S; Allen, Craig R; Ban, Natalie C; Biggs, Duan; Biggs, Harry C; Cumming, David H M; De Vos, Alta; Epstein, Graham; Etienne, Michel; Maciejewski, Kristine; Mathevet, Raphaël; Moore, Christine; Nenadovic, Mateja; Schoon, Michael

2015-03-01

Protected areas (PAs) remain central to the conservation of biodiversity. Classical PAs were conceived as areas that would be set aside to maintain a natural state with minimal human influence. However, global environmental change and growing cross-scale anthropogenic influences mean that PAs can no longer be thought of as ecological islands that function independently of the broader social-ecological system in which they are located. For PAs to be resilient (and to contribute to broader social-ecological resilience), they must be able to adapt to changing social and ecological conditions over time in a way that supports the long-term persistence of populations, communities, and ecosystems of conservation concern. We extend Ostrom's social-ecological systems framework to consider the long-term persistence of PAs, as a form of land use embedded in social-ecological systems, with important cross-scale feedbacks. Most notably, we highlight the cross-scale influences and feedbacks on PAs that exist from the local to the global scale, contextualizing PAs within multi-scale social-ecological functional landscapes. Such functional landscapes are integral to understand and manage individual PAs for long-term sustainability. We illustrate our conceptual contribution with three case studies that highlight cross-scale feedbacks and social-ecological interactions in the functioning of PAs and in relation to regional resilience. Our analysis suggests that while ecological, economic, and social processes are often directly relevant to PAs at finer scales, at broader scales, the dominant processes that shape and alter PA resilience are primarily social and economic.

Understanding protected area resilience: a multi-scale, social-ecological approach

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cumming, Graeme S.; Allen, Craig R.; Ban, Natalie C.; Biggs, Duan; Biggs, Harry C.; Cumming, David H.M; De Vos, Alta; Epstein, Graham; Etienne, Michel; Maciejewski, Kristine; Mathevet, Raphael; Moore, Christine; Nenadovic, Mateja; Schoon, Michael

2015-01-01

Protected areas (PAs) remain central to the conservation of biodiversity. Classical PAs were conceived as areas that would be set aside to maintain a natural state with minimal human influence. However, global environmental change and growing cross-scale anthropogenic influences mean that PAs can no longer be thought of as ecological islands that function independently of the broader social-ecological system in which they are located. For PAs to be resilient (and to contribute to broader social-ecological resilience), they must be able to adapt to changing social and ecological conditions over time in a way that supports the long-term persistence of populations, communities, and ecosystems of conservation concern. We extend Ostrom's social-ecological systems framework to consider the long-term persistence of PAs, as a form of land use embedded in social-ecological systems, with important cross-scale feedbacks. Most notably, we highlight the cross-scale influences and feedbacks on PAs that exist from the local to the global scale, contextualizing PAs within multi-scale social-ecological functional landscapes. Such functional landscapes are integral to understand and manage individual PAs for long-term sustainability. We illustrate our conceptual contribution with three case studies that highlight cross-scale feedbacks and social-ecological interactions in the functioning of PAs and in relation to regional resilience. Our analysis suggests that while ecological, economic, and social processes are often directly relevant to PAs at finer scales, at broader scales, the dominant processes that shape and alter PA resilience are primarily social and economic.

Genesis, goals and achievements of Long-Term Ecological Research at the global scale: A critical review of ILTER and future directions.

PubMed

Mirtl, M; T Borer, E; Djukic, I; Forsius, M; Haubold, H; Hugo, W; Jourdan, J; Lindenmayer, D; McDowell, W H; Muraoka, H; Orenstein, D E; Pauw, J C; Peterseil, J; Shibata, H; Wohner, C; Yu, X; Haase, P

2018-06-01

Since its founding in 1993 the International Long-term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) has gone through pronounced development phases. The current network comprises 44 active member LTER networks representing 700 LTER Sites and ~80 LTSER Platforms across all continents, active in the fields of ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological research. The critical challenges and most important achievements of the initial phase have now become state-of-the-art in networking for excellent science. At the same time increasing integration, accelerating technology, networking of resources and a strong pull for more socially relevant scientific information have been modifying the mission and goals of ILTER. This article provides a critical review of ILTER's mission, goals, development and impacts. Major characteristics, tools, services, partnerships and selected examples of relative strengths relevant for advancing ILTER are presented. We elaborate on the tradeoffs between the needs of the scientific community and stakeholder expectations. The embedding of ILTER in an increasingly collaborative landscape of global environmental observation and ecological research networks and infrastructures is also reflected by developments of pioneering regional and national LTER networks such as SAEON in South Africa, CERN/CEOBEX in China, TERN in Australia or eLTER RI in Europe. The primary role of ILTER is currently seen as a mechanism to investigate ecosystem structure, function, and services in response to a wide range of environmental forcings using long-term, place-based research. We suggest four main fields of activities and advancements for the next decade through development/delivery of a: (1) Global multi-disciplinary community of researchers and research institutes; (2) Strategic global framework and strong partnerships in ecosystem observation and research; (3) Global Research Infrastructure (GRI); and (4) a scientific knowledge factory for societally relevant information on sustainable use of natural resources. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A land classification protocol for pollinator ecology research: An urbanization case study.

PubMed

Samuelson, Ash E; Leadbeater, Ellouise

2018-06-01

Land-use change is one of the most important drivers of widespread declines in pollinator populations. Comprehensive quantitative methods for land classification are critical to understanding these effects, but co-option of existing human-focussed land classifications is often inappropriate for pollinator research. Here, we present a flexible GIS-based land classification protocol for pollinator research using a bottom-up approach driven by reference to pollinator ecology, with urbanization as a case study. Our multistep method involves manually generating land cover maps at multiple biologically relevant radii surrounding study sites using GIS, with a focus on identifying land cover types that have a specific relevance to pollinators. This is followed by a three-step refinement process using statistical tools: (i) definition of land-use categories, (ii) principal components analysis on the categories, and (iii) cluster analysis to generate a categorical land-use variable for use in subsequent analysis. Model selection is then used to determine the appropriate spatial scale for analysis. We demonstrate an application of our protocol using a case study of 38 sites across a gradient of urbanization in South-East England. In our case study, the land classification generated a categorical land-use variable at each of four radii based on the clustering of sites with different degrees of urbanization, open land, and flower-rich habitat. Studies of land-use effects on pollinators have historically employed a wide array of land classification techniques from descriptive and qualitative to complex and quantitative. We suggest that land-use studies in pollinator ecology should broadly adopt GIS-based multistep land classification techniques to enable robust analysis and aid comparative research. Our protocol offers a customizable approach that combines specific relevance to pollinator research with the potential for application to a wide range of ecological questions, including agroecological studies of pest control.

Dynamics of body time, social time and life history at adolescence.

PubMed

Worthman, Carol M; Trang, Kathy

2018-02-21

Recent opposing trends towards earlier physical maturation and later social maturation present a conundrum of apparent biological-social mismatch. Here we use life history analysis from evolutionary ecology to identify forces that drive these shifts. Together with findings in developmental science, our life history analysis indicates that adolescence is a distinctive period for biological embedding of culture. Ethnographic evidence shows that mass education is a novel feature of the globalizing cultural configurations of adolescence, which are driven by transformations in labour, livelihood and lifestyle. Evaluation of the life history trade-offs and sociocultural ecologies that are experienced by adolescents may offer a practical basis for enhancing their development.

Ecological distinctions between sympatric species of Saguinus and Sciurus.

PubMed

Garber, P A; Sussman, R W

1984-10-01

Tamarins are small New World monkeys that have been described as "squirrellike." Squirrels, along with bats and birds, are the taxa most likely to utilize resources similar to those used by primates in the tropical forest canopy. In this paper we compare differences in ecology, diet, locomotion, and habitat utilization between sympatric populations of tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) and tree squirrels (Sciurus granatensis) in Panama. Data presented indicate that although there is some degree of resource overlap, patterns of habitat utilization differ significantly. Rather than being "squirrellike," the Panamanian tamarin exhibits a pattern of locomotor and feeding behavior consistent with that found in other arboreal primates.

Dynamics of body time, social time and life history at adolescence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Worthman, Carol M.; Trang, Kathy

2018-02-01

Recent opposing trends towards earlier physical maturation and later social maturation present a conundrum of apparent biological-social mismatch. Here we use life history analysis from evolutionary ecology to identify forces that drive these shifts. Together with findings in developmental science, our life history analysis indicates that adolescence is a distinctive period for biological embedding of culture. Ethnographic evidence shows that mass education is a novel feature of the globalizing cultural configurations of adolescence, which are driven by transformations in labour, livelihood and lifestyle. Evaluation of the life history trade-offs and sociocultural ecologies that are experienced by adolescents may offer a practical basis for enhancing their development.

Vegetation and Ecological Characteristics of Mixed-Conifer and Red Fir Forests at the Teakettle Experimental Forest

Treesearch

Malcolm North; Brian Oakley; Jiquan Chen; Heather Erickson; Andrew Gray; Antonio Izzo; Dale Johnson; Siyan Ma; Jim Marra; Marc Meyer; Kathryn Purcell; Tom Rambo; Dave Rizzo; Brent Roath; Tim Schowalter

2002-01-01

Detailed analysis of mixed-conifer and red fir forests were made from extensive, large vegetation sampling, systematically conducted throughout the Teakettle Experimental Forest. Mixed conifer is characterized by distinct patch conditions of closed-canopy tree clusters, persistent gaps and shrub thickets. This heterogeneous spatial structure provides contrasting...

Geographical ecology of dry forest tree communities in the West Indies

Treesearch

Janet Franklin; Riley Andrade; Mark L. Daniels; Patrick Fairbairn; Maria C. Fandino; Thomas W. Gillespie; Grizelle González; Otto Gonzalez; Daniel Imbert; Valerie Kapos; Daniel L. Kelly; Humfredo Marcano-Vega; Elvia J. Meléndez-Ackerman; Kurt P. McLaren; Morag A. McDonald; Julie Ripplinger; Julissa Rojas-Sandoval; Michael S. Ross; Jorge Ruiz; David W. Steadman; Edmund V. J. Tanner; Inge Terrill; Michel Vennetier

2018-01-01

Aim: Seasonally dry tropical forest (SDTF) of the Caribbean Islands (primarily West Indies) is floristically distinct from Neotropical SDTF in Central and South America. We evaluate whether tree species composition was associated with climatic gradients or geographical distance. Turnover (dissimilarity) in species composition of different islands or among more distant...

Spectrophotometry of Artemisia tridentata to quantitatively determine subspecies

Treesearch

Bryce A. Richardson; Alicia A. Boyd; Tanner Tobiasson; Matthew J. Germino

2018-01-01

Ecological restoration is predicated on our abilities to discern plant taxa. Taxonomic identification is a first step in ensuring that plants are appropriately adapted to the site. An example of the need to identify taxonomic differences comes from big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata). This species is composed of three predominant subspecies occupying distinct...

75 FR 77496 - Endangered and Threatened Species; Proposed Threatened and Not Warranted Status for Subspecies...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-10

... Threatened Wildlife and Plants is found to present substantial scientific and commercial information, we make... plants, and any distinct population segment of any species of vertebrate fish or wildlife which... data available. Species Information A thorough review of the taxonomy, life history, and ecology of the...

Teaching Urban Ecology: Environmental Studies and the Pedagogy of Intersectionality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Di Chiro, Giovanna

2006-01-01

Despite the recognition by early champions of the environmental movement in the United States that humans and the diverse ecosystems in which they live are indivisible, many environmental education policies and programs have tended to uphold the categorical distinction between "nature" and "culture" (e.g., Sessions; Soule and Press). In the late…

Does the Medium Make the Magic? The Effects of Cooperative Learning and Conferencing Software.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burley, Hansel

1998-01-01

Describes how using conferencing software in a computer-assisted writing environment became a catalyst for a distinctive learning ecology that interrelated prosocial student behaviors, learner-centered teaching, and assessment. Argues that the conferencing class not only helped students apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills in…

78 FR 16828 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Status Review of the West Coast Distinct...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-19

...; biology and ecology; and habitat selection. (2) Information on the effects of potential threat factors... particular physical or biological features that are essential to the conservation of the species and where such physical or biological features are found; (c) Whether any of these features may require special...

Nuclear genetic variation across the range of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa): Phylogeographic, taxonomic and conservation implications

Treesearch

Kevin M. Potter; Valerie D. Hipkins; Mary F. Mahalovich; Robert E. Means

2015-01-01

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) is among the most broadly distributed conifer species of western North America, where it possesses considerable ecological, esthetic, and commercial value. It exhibits complicated patterns of morphological and genetic variation, suggesting that it may be in the process of differentiating into distinct regional...

A framework for evaluating disciplinary contributions to river restoration

Treesearch

G. E. Grant

2008-01-01

As river restoration has matured into a global-scale intervention in rivers, a broader range of technical disciplines are informing restoration goals, strategies, approaches, and methods. The ecological, geomotphological, hydrological, and engineering sciences each bring a distinct focus and set of perspectives and tools, and are themselves embedded in a larger context...

Advancing Bullying Research from a Social-Ecological Lens: An Introduction to the Special Issue

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose, Chad A.; Nickerson, Amanda B.; Stormont, Melissa

2015-01-01

Bullying has emerged as a distinct, pervasive subset of peer aggression that affects youth worldwide. Although bullying is a complex phenomenon, some subgroups of youth are at escalated risk based on individual characteristics, skill deficits, and peer group or societal norms. Therefore, the field needs reliable measurement systems, precise…

Bureaucratic Abuse and the False Dichotomy between Intentional and Unintentional Child Injuries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kotch, Jonathan B.; And Others

This paper examines the arbitrary distinctions between intentional and unintentional child injuries, noting that a careful review of the literature of both child abuse and unintentional child injury revealed similarities among the risk factors associated with the two outcomes. A single, multifactor model of injury etiology, the ecologic model, is…

Internet addiction, problematic internet use, nonproblematic internet use among Chinese adolescents: Individual, parental, peer, and sociodemographic correlates.

PubMed

Zhou, Nan; Cao, Hongjian; Li, Xiaomin; Zhang, Jintao; Yao, Yuanwei; Geng, Xiaomin; Lin, Xiuyun; Hou, Shumeng; Liu, Fenge; Chen, Xiaoli; Fang, Xiaoyi

2018-05-01

Internet addiction has been typically conceptualized as either a continuous construct or a dichotomous construct. Limited research has differentiated adolescents with problematic Internet use (PIU) from the Internet addiction group (IA) and/or nonproblematic Internet use group (NPIU) and examined the potential correlates. To fill this gap, based on data obtained from 956 Chinese adolescents (11-19 years, 47% male), this study examined if adolescents with PIU is a distinctive group from the IA and NPIU. This study also examined factors from different ecological levels that may differentiate among the three groups, including individual, parental, peer, and sociodemographic factors. Results indicated that IA, PIU, and NPIU differed significantly on scores of Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire (YDQ). Critical factors emerging from different ecological levels could differentiate between PIU and NPIU and between IA and NPIU. Such findings suggest that PIU may represent a distinct, intermediate group of Internet users. The potential theoretical and practical implications of identifying PIU were also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Cenozoic Icehouse Forcing Mechanisms on Coccolithophorid Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henderiks, J.

2007-12-01

An overall macroevolutionary size decrease in marine unicellular calcifying algae, the coccolithophores, is punctuated by distinct size responses that correlate to major climatic and paleoceanographic events during the Cenozoic. Notably, major size decreases in the ancestors of the modern blooming species Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa oceanica are recorded at the Eocene-Oligocene transition (34 Ma) and in the late Miocene (9 Ma). Coccolithophorid cell size (as reconstructed from individual coccolith biometry) is likely influenced by a variety of passive and active evolutionary selection pressures, with specific factors, such as resource availability and climatic change, determining trends in specific intervals of time. This study presents biometric data of the Noelaerhabdacaea, Calcidiscaceae and Coccolithaceae families, which together represent the bulk of coccolith-carbonate buried in Cenozoic deep-sea sediments, from multiple Deep Sea Drilling Project and Ocean Drilling Project sites covering temperate to tropical regions in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Despite distinct regional ecologic responses at each site, striking correspondences within the global data set call for global forcing mechanisms on the size evolution and ecological success of coccolithophores in an 'icehouse' world.

An application of an ecological framework to understand risk factors of PTSD due to prolonged conflict exposure: Israeli and Palestinian adolescents in the Line of Fire

PubMed Central

Rosshandler, Yasmin; Hall, Brian J.; Canetti, Daphna

2016-01-01

Objective Adolescents living in Israel and the Palestinian authority are exposed to political violence. This review examines psychosocial risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) organized within an ecological framework. Method Relevant articles were identified through PubMed and PsycINFO. Studies measuring risk and/or protective factors for PTSD in the Palestinian and/or Israeli adolescent populations due to conflict exposure from 1990 to present were included. Results A total of 20 studies met inclusion criteria. Greater violence exposure, poor economic resources, living in rural compared to urban areas, poor family and peer relations and poor coping skills were associated with PTSD symptoms. Conclusions The ecological framework is a useful approach to understanding factors affecting adolescent PTSD. Future research should focus on socio-ecological levels that have received limited attention. PMID:26950012

[Ecological regionalization of national cotton fiber quality in China using GGE biplot analysis method].

PubMed

Xu, Nai Yin; Jin, Shi Qiao; Li, Jian

2017-01-01

The distinctive regional characteristics of cotton fiber quality in the major cotton-producing areas in China enhance the textile use efficiency of raw cotton yarn by improving fiber quality through ecological regionalization. The "environment vs. trait" GGE biplot analysis method was adopted to explore the interaction between conventional cotton sub-regions and cotton fiber quality traits based on the datasets collected from the national cotton regional trials from 2011 to 2015. The results showed that the major cotton-producing area in China were divided into four fiber quality ecological regions, namely, the "high fiber quality ecological region", the "low micronaire ecological region", the "high fiber strength and micronaire ecological region", and the "moderate fiber quality ecological region". The high fiber quality ecological region was characterized by harmonious development of cotton fiber length, strength, micronaire value and the highest spinning consistency index, and located in the conventional cotton regions in the upper and lower reaches of Yangtze River Valley. The low micronaire value ecological region composed of the northern and south Xinjiang cotton regions was characterized by low micronaire value, relatively lower fiber strength, and relatively high spinning consistency index performance. The high fiber strength and micronaire value ecological region covered the middle reaches of Yangtze River Valley, Nanxiang Basin and Huaibei Plain, and was prominently characterized by high strength and micronaire value, and moderate performance of other traits. The moderate fiber quality ecological region included North China Plain and Loess Plateau cotton growing regions in the Yellow River Valley, and was characterized by moderate or lower performances of all fiber quality traits. This study effectively applied "environment vs. trait" GGE biplot to regionalize cotton fiber quality, which provided a helpful reference for the regiona-lized cotton growing regions in terms of optimal raw fiber production for textile industry, and gave a good example for the implementation of similar ecological regionalization of other crops as well.

Defining the ecologically relevant mixed-layer depth for Antarctica's coastal seas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carvalho, Filipa; Kohut, Josh; Oliver, Matthew J.; Schofield, Oscar

2017-01-01

Mixed-layer depth (MLD) has been widely linked to phytoplankton dynamics in Antarctica's coastal regions; however, inconsistent definitions have made intercomparisons among region-specific studies difficult. Using a data set with over 20,000 water column profiles corresponding to 32 Slocum glider deployments in three coastal Antarctic regions (Ross Sea, Amundsen Sea, and West Antarctic Peninsula), we evaluated the relationship between MLD and phytoplankton vertical distribution. Comparisons of these MLD estimates to an applied definition of phytoplankton bloom depth, as defined by the deepest inflection point in the chlorophyll profile, show that the maximum of buoyancy frequency is a good proxy for an ecologically relevant MLD. A quality index is used to filter profiles where MLD is not determined. Despite the different regional physical settings, we found that the MLD definition based on the maximum of buoyancy frequency best describes the depth to which phytoplankton can be mixed in Antarctica's coastal seas.

Doors for memory: A searchable database.

PubMed

Baddeley, Alan D; Hitch, Graham J; Quinlan, Philip T; Bowes, Lindsey; Stone, Rob

2016-11-01

The study of human long-term memory has for over 50 years been dominated by research on words. This is partly due to lack of suitable nonverbal materials. Experience in developing a clinical test suggested that door scenes can provide an ecologically relevant and sensitive alternative to the faces and geometrical figures traditionally used to study visual memory. In pursuing this line of research, we have accumulated over 2000 door scenes providing a database that is categorized on a range of variables including building type, colour, age, condition, glazing, and a range of other physical characteristics. We describe an illustrative study of recognition memory for 100 doors tested by yes/no, two-alternative, or four-alternative forced-choice paradigms. These stimuli, together with the full categorized database, are available through a dedicated website. We suggest that door scenes provide an ecologically relevant and participant-friendly source of material for studying the comparatively neglected field of visual long-term memory.

Phylogeny drives large scale patterns in Australian marine bioactivity and provides a new chemical ecology rationale for future biodiscovery.

PubMed

Evans-Illidge, Elizabeth A; Logan, Murray; Doyle, Jason; Fromont, Jane; Battershill, Christopher N; Ericson, Gavin; Wolff, Carsten W; Muirhead, Andrew; Kearns, Phillip; Abdo, David; Kininmonth, Stuart; Llewellyn, Lyndon

2013-01-01

Twenty-five years of Australian marine bioresources collecting and research by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) has explored the breadth of latitudinally and longitudinally diverse marine habitats that comprise Australia's ocean territory. The resulting AIMS Bioresources Library and associated relational database integrate biodiversity with bioactivity data, and these resources were mined to retrospectively assess biogeographic, taxonomic and phylogenetic patterns in cytotoxic, antimicrobial, and central nervous system (CNS)-protective bioactivity. While the bioassays used were originally chosen to be indicative of pharmaceutically relevant bioactivity, the results have qualified ecological relevance regarding secondary metabolism. In general, metazoan phyla along the deuterostome phylogenetic pathway (eg to Chordata) and their ancestors (eg Porifera and Cnidaria) had higher percentages of bioactive samples in the assays examined. While taxonomy at the phylum level and higher-order phylogeny groupings helped account for observed trends, taxonomy to genus did not resolve the trends any further. In addition, the results did not identify any biogeographic bioactivity hotspots that correlated with biodiversity hotspots. We conclude with a hypothesis that high-level phylogeny, and therefore the metabolic machinery available to an organism, is a major determinant of bioactivity, while habitat diversity and ecological circumstance are possible drivers in the activation of this machinery and bioactive secondary metabolism. This study supports the strategy of targeting phyla from the deuterostome lineage (including ancestral phyla) from biodiverse marine habitats and ecological niches, in future biodiscovery, at least that which is focused on vertebrate (including human) health.

Positing a difference between acts and omissions: the principle of justice, Rachels' cases and moral weakness.

PubMed

Mohindra, R

2009-05-01

The difficulty in discovering a difference between killing and letting die has led many philosophers to deny the distinction. This paper seeks to develop an argument defending the distinction between killing and letting die. In relation to Rachels' cases, the argument is that (a) even accepting that Smith and Jones may select equally heinous options from the choices they have available to them, (b) the fact that the choices available to them are different is morally relevant, and (c) this difference in available choices can be used to distinguish between the agents in certain circumstances. It is the principle of justice, as espoused by Aristotle, which requires that equal things are treated equally and that unequal things are treated unequally that creates a presumption that Smith and Jones should be treated differently. The magnitude of this difference can be amplified by other premises, making the distinction morally relevant in practical reality.

Comparison of Radio Frequency Distinct Native Attribute and Matched Filtering Techniques for Device Discrimination and Operation Identification

DTIC Science & Technology

identification. URE from ten MSP430F5529 16-bit microcontrollers were analyzed using: 1) RF distinct native attributes (RF-DNA) fingerprints paired with multiple...discriminant analysis/maximum likelihood (MDA/ML) classification, 2) RF-DNA fingerprints paired with generalized relevance learning vector quantized

Using light-dependent scleractinia to define the upper boundary of mesophotic coral ecosystems on the reefs of Utila, Honduras.

PubMed

Laverick, Jack H; Andradi-Brown, Dominic A; Rogers, Alex D

2017-01-01

Shallow water zooxanthellate coral reefs grade into ecologically distinct mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) deeper in the euphotic zone. MCEs are widely considered to start at an absolute depth limit of 30m deep, possibly failing to recognise that these are distinct ecological communities that may shift shallower or deeper depending on local environmental conditions. This study aimed to explore whether MCEs represent distinct biological communities, the upper boundary of which can be defined and whether the depth at which they occur may vary above or below 30m. Mixed-gas diving and closed-circuit rebreathers were used to quantitatively survey benthic communities across shallow to mesophotic reef gradients around the island of Utila, Honduras. Depths of up to 85m were sampled, covering the vertical range of the zooxanthellate corals around Utila. We investigate vertical reef zonation using a variety of ecological metrics to identify community shifts with depth, and the appropriateness of different metrics to define the upper MCE boundary. Patterns observed in scleractinian community composition varied between ordination analyses and approaches utilising biodiversity indices. Indices and richness approaches revealed vertical community transition was a gradation. Ordination approaches suggest the possibility of recognising two scleractinian assemblages. We could detect a mesophotic and shallow community while illustrating that belief in a static depth limit is biologically unjustified. The switch between these two communities occurred across bathymetric gradients as small as 10m and as large as 50m in depth. The difference between communities appears to be a loss of shallow specialists and increase in depth-generalist taxa. Therefore, it may be possible to define MCEs by a loss of shallow specialist species. To support a biological definition of mesophotic reefs, we advocate this analytical framework should be applied around the Caribbean and extended into other ocean basins where MCEs are present.

Genetic Engineering and Human Mental Ecology: Interlocking Effects and Educational Considerations.

PubMed

Affifi, Ramsey

2017-01-01

This paper describes some likely semiotic consequences of genetic engineering on what Gregory Bateson has called "the mental ecology" (1979) of future humans, consequences that are less often raised in discussions surrounding the safety of GMOs (genetically modified organisms). The effects are as follows: an increased 1) habituation to the presence of GMOs in the environment, 2) normalization of empirically false assumptions grounding genetic reductionism, 3) acceptance that humans are capable and entitled to decide what constitutes an evolutionary improvement for a species, 4) perception that the main source of creativity and problem solving in the biosphere is anthropogenic. Though there are some tensions between them, these effects tend to produce self-validating webs of ideas, actions, and environments, which may reinforce destructive habits of thought. Humans are unlikely to safely develop genetic technologies without confronting these escalating processes directly. Intervening in this mental ecology presents distinct challenges for educators, as will be discussed.

Multiple regimes of robust patterns between network structure and biodiversity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jover, Luis F.; Flores, Cesar O.; Cortez, Michael H.; Weitz, Joshua S.

2015-12-01

Ecological networks such as plant-pollinator and host-parasite networks have structured interactions that define who interacts with whom. The structure of interactions also shapes ecological and evolutionary dynamics. Yet, there is significant ongoing debate as to whether certain structures, e.g., nestedness, contribute positively, negatively or not at all to biodiversity. We contend that examining variation in life history traits is key to disentangling the potential relationship between network structure and biodiversity. Here, we do so by analyzing a dynamic model of virus-bacteria interactions across a spectrum of network structures. Consistent with prior studies, we find plausible parameter domains exhibiting strong, positive relationships between nestedness and biodiversity. Yet, the same model can exhibit negative relationships between nestedness and biodiversity when examined in a distinct, plausible region of parameter space. We discuss steps towards identifying when network structure could, on its own, drive the resilience, sustainability, and even conservation of ecological communities.

Climate-driven range shifts of the king penguin in a fragmented ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cristofari, Robin; Liu, Xiaoming; Bonadonna, Francesco; Cherel, Yves; Pistorius, Pierre; Le Maho, Yvon; Raybaud, Virginie; Stenseth, Nils Christian; Le Bohec, Céline; Trucchi, Emiliano

2018-03-01

Range shift is the primary short-term species response to rapid climate change, but it is often hampered by natural or anthropogenic habitat fragmentation. Different critical areas of a species' niche may be exposed to heterogeneous environmental changes and modelling species response under such complex spatial and ecological scenarios presents well-known challenges. Here, we use a biophysical ecological niche model validated through population genomics and palaeodemography to reconstruct past range shifts and identify future vulnerable areas and potential refugia of the king penguin in the Southern Ocean. Integrating genomic and demographic data at the whole-species level with specific biophysical constraints, we present a refined framework for predicting the effect of climate change on species relying on spatially and ecologically distinct areas to complete their life cycle (for example, migratory animals, marine pelagic organisms and central-place foragers) and, in general, on species living in fragmented ecosystems.

Multiple regimes of robust patterns between network structure and biodiversity

PubMed Central

Jover, Luis F.; Flores, Cesar O.; Cortez, Michael H.; Weitz, Joshua S.

2015-01-01

Ecological networks such as plant-pollinator and host-parasite networks have structured interactions that define who interacts with whom. The structure of interactions also shapes ecological and evolutionary dynamics. Yet, there is significant ongoing debate as to whether certain structures, e.g., nestedness, contribute positively, negatively or not at all to biodiversity. We contend that examining variation in life history traits is key to disentangling the potential relationship between network structure and biodiversity. Here, we do so by analyzing a dynamic model of virus-bacteria interactions across a spectrum of network structures. Consistent with prior studies, we find plausible parameter domains exhibiting strong, positive relationships between nestedness and biodiversity. Yet, the same model can exhibit negative relationships between nestedness and biodiversity when examined in a distinct, plausible region of parameter space. We discuss steps towards identifying when network structure could, on its own, drive the resilience, sustainability, and even conservation of ecological communities. PMID:26632996

The status of sandy beach science: Past trends, progress, and possible futures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nel, Ronel; Campbell, Eileen E.; Harris, Linda; Hauser, Lorenz; Schoeman, David S.; McLachlan, Anton; du Preez, Derek R.; Bezuidenhout, Karien; Schlacher, Thomas A.

2014-10-01

Open-ocean sandy beaches are coastal ecosystems with growing relevance in the face of global change. They provide key ecosystem services, such as storm buffering, nutrient cycling, water purification, nursery habitats for resource species, and feeding-breeding habitats for focal species (e.g. endangered sea turtles and shorebirds), and have also become nodes for economic development and cultural use. As a result, beaches face a range of threats, primarily from extractive use, habitat modification and development, sea-level rise and coastal squeeze. Consequently, balancing conservation of the ecosystem and sustainable use of the goods and services is particularly important for sandy shores. Thus, the only way to ensure their protection and continued provision of their valuable services, especially in a period of rapid global change, will be to apply knowledge generated from sound science in beach conservation and management. Here we aim to (1) identify and outline the broad ecological paradigms in sandy beach science; (2) report on a citation analysis of the published literature of the past 63 years (1950-2013) to provide context regarding the topics and location of research, the size and institutional composition of the research teams; and (3) investigate whether beach ecology can and has been incorporated into integrated coastal zone management practices. Past research was framed by specific paradigms (chiefly the Swash Exclusion Hypothesis and derivatives), which can be identified with distinct principles and concepts unique to beaches. Most of the sandy beach literature comes from only a few countries (dominated by USA, South Africa, Brazil and Italy), published by small research teams (<4 authors), mostly from single institutes. The field has yet to establish large multi-disciplinary teams to undertake rigorous experimental science in order to contribute to general ecological theory. Despite the constraints, beach science is responding to new challenges, with increasing use of the latest techniques. However, research in conservation and management specifically remains limited, with stronger focus on anthropogenic impacts, in turn leading to management of people on beaches rather than conservation of the ecosystem itself. We conclude with a look to the future for sandy beach science, and a summary of the contributions to this Special Issue.

Exploring sensitivity of a multistate occupancy model to inform management decisions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Green, A.W.; Bailey, L.L.; Nichols, J.D.

2011-01-01

Dynamic occupancy models are often used to investigate questions regarding the processes that influence patch occupancy and are prominent in the fields of population and community ecology and conservation biology. Recently, multistate occupancy models have been developed to investigate dynamic systems involving more than one occupied state, including reproductive states, relative abundance states and joint habitat-occupancy states. Here we investigate the sensitivities of the equilibrium-state distribution of multistate occupancy models to changes in transition rates. We develop equilibrium occupancy expressions and their associated sensitivity metrics for dynamic multistate occupancy models. To illustrate our approach, we use two examples that represent common multistate occupancy systems. The first example involves a three-state dynamic model involving occupied states with and without successful reproduction (California spotted owl Strix occidentalis occidentalis), and the second involves a novel way of using a multistate occupancy approach to accommodate second-order Markov processes (wood frog Lithobates sylvatica breeding and metamorphosis). In many ways, multistate sensitivity metrics behave in similar ways as standard occupancy sensitivities. When equilibrium occupancy rates are low, sensitivity to parameters related to colonisation is high, while sensitivity to persistence parameters is greater when equilibrium occupancy rates are high. Sensitivities can also provide guidance for managers when estimates of transition probabilities are not available. Synthesis and applications. Multistate models provide practitioners a flexible framework to define multiple, distinct occupied states and the ability to choose which state, or combination of states, is most relevant to questions and decisions about their own systems. In addition to standard multistate occupancy models, we provide an example of how a second-order Markov process can be modified to fit a multistate framework. Assuming the system is near equilibrium, our sensitivity analyses illustrate how to investigate the sensitivity of the system-specific equilibrium state(s) to changes in transition rates. Because management will typically act on these transition rates, sensitivity analyses can provide valuable information about the potential influence of different actions and when it may be prudent to shift the focus of management among the various transition rates. ?? 2011 The Authors. Journal of Applied Ecology ?? 2011 British Ecological Society.

Monitoring for conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nichols, J.D.; Williams, B.K.

2006-01-01

Human-mediated environmental changes have resulted in appropriate concern for the conservation of ecological systems and have led to the development of many ecological monitoring programs worldwide. Many programs that are identified with the purpose of `surveillance? represent an inefficient use of conservation funds and effort. Here, we revisit the 1964 paper by Platt and argue that his recommendations about the conduct of science are equally relevant to the conduct of ecological monitoring programs. In particular, we argue that monitoring should not be viewed as a stand-alone activity, but instead as a component of a larger process of either conservation-oriented science or management. Corresponding changes in monitoring focus and design would lead to substantial increases in the efficiency and usefulness of monitoring results in conservation.

Simulating social-ecological systems: the Island Digital Ecosystem Avatars (IDEA) consortium.

PubMed

Davies, Neil; Field, Dawn; Gavaghan, David; Holbrook, Sally J; Planes, Serge; Troyer, Matthias; Bonsall, Michael; Claudet, Joachim; Roderick, George; Schmitt, Russell J; Zettler, Linda Amaral; Berteaux, Véronique; Bossin, Hervé C; Cabasse, Charlotte; Collin, Antoine; Deck, John; Dell, Tony; Dunne, Jennifer; Gates, Ruth; Harfoot, Mike; Hench, James L; Hopuare, Marania; Kirch, Patrick; Kotoulas, Georgios; Kosenkov, Alex; Kusenko, Alex; Leichter, James J; Lenihan, Hunter; Magoulas, Antonios; Martinez, Neo; Meyer, Chris; Stoll, Benoit; Swalla, Billie; Tartakovsky, Daniel M; Murphy, Hinano Teavai; Turyshev, Slava; Valdvinos, Fernanda; Williams, Rich; Wood, Spencer

2016-01-01

Systems biology promises to revolutionize medicine, yet human wellbeing is also inherently linked to healthy societies and environments (sustainability). The IDEA Consortium is a systems ecology open science initiative to conduct the basic scientific research needed to build use-oriented simulations (avatars) of entire social-ecological systems. Islands are the most scientifically tractable places for these studies and we begin with one of the best known: Moorea, French Polynesia. The Moorea IDEA will be a sustainability simulator modeling links and feedbacks between climate, environment, biodiversity, and human activities across a coupled marine-terrestrial landscape. As a model system, the resulting knowledge and tools will improve our ability to predict human and natural change on Moorea and elsewhere at scales relevant to management/conservation actions.

[Application of chemical ecology in controlling marine fouling organisms].

PubMed

Fang, Fang; Yan, Tao; Liu, Qing

2005-10-01

Many marine organisms can produce secondary metabolites beneficial to the protection of marine environments against fouling, and thus, applying chemo-ecological methods to extract the natural antifoulants from marine organisms to resolve the problems relevant to marine fouling is a new thinking in resent years. Its aim is to search for high efficient and non-toxic antifoulants to replace the existing chemically synthetic ones which are unfortunately found to have widespread toxic effects on marine environment. Although we know few about the antifouling mechanisms of secondary metabolites, many natural products have been proved to have antifouling activity. Therefore, basic and applied researches on the ecological roles of these natural compounds, their action mechanisms, coating compatibility, controlled release, and field test are required in the future.

Mapping social-ecological vulnerability to inform local decision making.

PubMed

Thiault, Lauric; Marshall, Paul; Gelcich, Stefan; Collin, Antoine; Chlous, Frédérique; Claudet, Joachim

2018-04-01

An overarching challenge of natural resource management and biodiversity conservation is that relationships between people and nature are difficult to integrate into tools that can effectively guide decision making. Social-ecological vulnerability offers a valuable framework for identifying and understanding important social-ecological linkages, and the implications of dependencies and other feedback loops in the system. Unfortunately, its implementation at local scales has hitherto been limited due at least in part to the lack of operational tools for spatial representation of social-ecological vulnerability. We developed a method to map social-ecological vulnerability based on information on human-nature dependencies and ecosystem services at local scales. We applied our method to the small-scale fishery of Moorea, French Polynesia, by combining spatially explicit indicators of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of both the resource (i.e., vulnerability of reef fish assemblages to fishing) and resource users (i.e., vulnerability of fishing households to the loss of fishing opportunity). Our results revealed that both social and ecological vulnerabilities varied considerably through space and highlighted areas where sources of vulnerability were high for both social and ecological subsystems (i.e., social-ecological vulnerability hotspots) and thus of high priority for management intervention. Our approach can be used to inform decisions about where biodiversity conservation strategies are likely to be more effective and how social impacts from policy decisions can be minimized. It provides a new perspective on human-nature linkages that can help guide sustainability management at local scales; delivers insights distinct from those provided by emphasis on a single vulnerability component (e.g., exposure); and demonstrates the feasibility and value of operationalizing the social-ecological vulnerability framework for policy, planning, and participatory management decisions. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Ecological speciation in an island snail: evidence for the parallel evolution of a novel ecotype and maintenance by ecologically dependent postzygotic isolation.

PubMed

Stankowski, Sean

2013-05-01

Speciation is the process by which reproductive isolation evolves between populations. Two general models of speciation have been proposed: ecological speciation, where reproductive barriers evolve due to ecologically based divergent selection, and mutation-order speciation, where populations fix different mutations as they adapt to similar selection pressures. I evaluate these alternative models and determine the progress of speciation in a diverse group of land snails, genus Rhagada, inhabiting Rosemary Island. A recently derived keeled-flat morphotype occupies two isolated rocky hills, while globose-shelled snails inhabit the surrounding plains. The study of one hill reveals that they are separated by a narrow hybrid zone. As predicted by ecological speciation theory, there are local and landscape level associations between shell shape and habitat, and the morphological transition coincides with a narrow ecotone between the two distinct environments. Microsatellite DNA revealed a cline of hybrid index scores much wider than the morphological cline, further supporting the ecological maintenance of the morphotypes. The hybrid zone does not run through an area of low population density, as is expected for mutation-order hybrid zones, and there is a unimodal distribution of phenotypes at the centre, suggesting that there is little or no prezygotic isolation. Instead, these data suggest that the ecotypes are maintained by ecologically dependent postzygotic isolation (i.e. ecological selection against hybrids). Mitochondrial and Microsatellite DNA indicate that the keeled-flat form evolved recently, and without major historical disruptions to gene flow. The data also suggest that the two keeled-flat populations, inhabiting similar rocky hills, have evolved in parallel. These snails provide a complex example of ecological speciation in its early stages. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The role of Dynamic Energy Budget theory in predictive modeling of stressor impacts on ecological systems. Comment on: ;Physics of metabolic organization; by Marko Jusup et al.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galic, Nika; Forbes, Valery E.

2017-03-01

Human activities have been modifying ecosystems for centuries, from pressures on wild populations we harvest to modifying habitats through urbanization and agricultural activities. Changes in global climate patterns are adding another layer of, often unpredictable, perturbations to ecosystems on which we rely for life support [1,2]. To ensure the sustainability of ecosystem services, especially at this point in time when the human population is estimated to grow by another 2 billion by 2050 [3], we need to predict possible consequences of our actions and suggest relevant solutions [4,5]. We face several challenges when estimating adverse impacts of our actions on ecosystems. We describe these in the context of ecological risk assessment of chemicals. Firstly, when attempting to assess risk from exposure to chemicals, we base our decisions on a very limited number of species that are easily cultured and kept in the lab. We assume that preventing risk to these species will also protect all of the untested species present in natural ecosystems [6]. Secondly, although we know that chemicals interact with other stressors in the field, the number of stressors that we can test is limited due to logistical and ethical reasons. Similarly, empirical approaches are limited in both spatial and temporal scale due to logistical, financial and ethical reasons [7,8]. To bypass these challenges, we can develop ecological models that integrate relevant life history and other information and make testable predictions across relevant spatial and temporal scales [8-10].

Planting the SEED: Towards a Spatial Economic Ecological Database for a shared understanding of the Dutch Wadden area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daams, Michiel N.; Sijtsma, Frans J.

2013-09-01

In this paper we address the characteristics of a publicly accessible Spatial Economic Ecological Database (SEED) and its ability to support a shared understanding among planners and experts of the economy and ecology of the Dutch Wadden area. Theoretical building blocks for a Wadden SEED are discussed. Our SEED contains a comprehensive set of stakeholder validated spatially explicit data on key economic and ecological indicators. These data extend over various spatial scales. Spatial issues relevant to the specification of a Wadden-SEED and its data needs are explored in this paper and illustrated using empirical data for the Dutch Wadden area. The purpose of the SEED is to integrate basic economic and ecologic information in order to support the resolution of specific (policy) questions and to facilitate connections between project level and strategic level in the spatial planning process. Although modest in its ambitions, we will argue that a Wadden SEED can serve as a valuable element in the much debated science-policy interface. A Wadden SEED is valuable since it is a consensus-based common knowledge base on the economy and ecology of an area rife with ecological-economic conflict, including conflict in which scientific information is often challenged and disputed.

A shifting paradigm: Teachers' beliefs and methods for fostering ecological literacy in two public charter schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sterling, Evan P.

Ecological literacy is measured by a person's ability to understand the natural systems that make life on earth possible and how to live in accordance with those systems. The emergence of the pedagogies of place- and community-based education during the past two decades provides a possible avenue for fostering ecological literacy in schools. This thesis explores the following research questions: 1) How is ecological literacy fostered in two Alaskan public charter schools? 2) What are teachers' beliefs in these two schools about the way children and youth develop ecological literacy? 3) What are effective teaching methods and what are the challenges in engaging students in ecological literacy? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six K--12 teachers in two public charter schools in Alaska in order to investigate these questions, and relevant examples of student work were collected for study as well. Qualitative data analysis revealed several emergent themes: the need for real-world connections to curriculum; the necessity of time spent outdoors at a young age; the long-term and holistic nature of ecological literacy development; and the importance of family and community role models in developing connections with the natural world. Based upon the research findings, several recommendations are made to support the efforts of teachers in these schools and elsewhere for fostering ecological literacy in children and youth.

Invasion of two tick-borne diseases across New England: harnessing human surveillance data to capture underlying ecological invasion processes

PubMed Central

Walter, Katharine S.; Pepin, Kim M.; Webb, Colleen T.; Gaff, Holly D.; Krause, Peter J.; Pitzer, Virginia E.; Diuk-Wasser, Maria A.

2016-01-01

Modelling the spatial spread of vector-borne zoonotic pathogens maintained in enzootic transmission cycles remains a major challenge. The best available spatio-temporal data on pathogen spread often take the form of human disease surveillance data. By applying a classic ecological approach—occupancy modelling—to an epidemiological question of disease spread, we used surveillance data to examine the latent ecological invasion of tick-borne pathogens. Over the last half-century, previously undescribed tick-borne pathogens including the agents of Lyme disease and human babesiosis have rapidly spread across the northeast United States. Despite their epidemiological importance, the mechanisms of tick-borne pathogen invasion and drivers underlying the distinct invasion trajectories of the co-vectored pathogens remain unresolved. Our approach allowed us to estimate the unobserved ecological processes underlying pathogen spread while accounting for imperfect detection of human cases. Our model predicts that tick-borne diseases spread in a diffusion-like manner with occasional long-distance dispersal and that babesiosis spread exhibits strong dependence on Lyme disease. PMID:27252022

Division of Labor in Biofilms: the Ecology of Cell Differentiation.

PubMed

van Gestel, Jordi; Vlamakis, Hera; Kolter, Roberto

2015-04-01

The dense aggregation of cells on a surface, as seen in biofilms, inevitably results in both environmental and cellular heterogeneity. For example, nutrient gradients can trigger cells to differentiate into various phenotypic states. Not only do cells adapt physiologically to the local environmental conditions, but they also differentiate into cell types that interact with each other. This allows for task differentiation and, hence, the division of labor. In this article, we focus on cell differentiation and the division of labor in three bacterial species: Myxococcus xanthus, Bacillus subtilis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. During biofilm formation each of these species differentiates into distinct cell types, in some cases leading to cooperative interactions. The division of labor and the cooperative interactions between cell types are assumed to yield an emergent ecological benefit. Yet in most cases the ecological benefits have yet to be elucidated. A notable exception is M. xanthus, in which cell differentiation within fruiting bodies facilitates the dispersal of spores. We argue that the ecological benefits of the division of labor might best be understood when we consider the dynamic nature of both biofilm formation and degradation.

Wetland Research Can Influence Policy

EPA Science Inventory

An objective of ecological research is to have a positive influence on the way natural resources are managed. The ability to influence policy with science depends on collaboration with the appropriate audience, identification of a relevant question, and awareness of the framewor...

Incorporating ecologically relevant habitat and demographic data in assessment of contaminant risk to wildlife

EPA Science Inventory

Evaluating population-level effects of contamination on wildlife requires specific information on habitat quality, species distribution, and contaminant concentration. Establishing broadly applicable thresholds for risk assessment involves an understanding of the applicability o...

Mycorrhizal Associations and Trophic Modes in Coexisting Orchids: An Ecological Continuum between Auto- and Mixotrophy.

PubMed

Jacquemyn, Hans; Waud, Michael; Brys, Rein; Lallemand, Félix; Courty, Pierre-Emmanuel; Robionek, Alicja; Selosse, Marc-André

2017-01-01

Two distinct nutritional syndromes have been described in temperate green orchids. Most orchids form mycorrhizas with rhizoctonia fungi and are considered autotrophic. Some orchids, however, associate with fungi that simultaneously form ectomycorrhizas with surrounding trees and derive their carbon from these fungi. This evolutionarily derived condition has been called mixotrophy or partial mycoheterotrophy and is characterized by 13 C enrichment and high N content. Although it has been suggested that the two major nutritional syndromes are clearly distinct and tightly linked to the composition of mycorrhizal communities, recent studies have challenged this assumption. Here, we investigated whether mycorrhizal communities and nutritional syndromes differed between seven green orchid species that co-occur under similar ecological conditions (coastal dune slacks). Our results showed that mycorrhizal communities differed significantly between orchid species. Rhizoctonia fungi dominated in Dactylorhiza sp., Herminium monorchis , and Epipactis palustris , which were autotrophic based on 13 C and N content. Conversely, Liparis loeselii and Epipactis neerlandica associated primarily with ectomycorrhizal fungi but surprisingly, 13 C and N content supported mixotrophy only in E. neerlandica . This, together with the finding of some ectomycorrhizal fungi in rhizoctonia-associated orchids, suggests that there exists an ecological continuum between the two syndromes. The presence of a large number of indicator species associating with individual orchid species further confirms previous findings that mycorrhizal fungi may be important factors driving niche-partitioning in terrestrial orchids and therefore contribute to orchid coexistence.

Mycorrhizal Associations and Trophic Modes in Coexisting Orchids: An Ecological Continuum between Auto- and Mixotrophy

PubMed Central

Jacquemyn, Hans; Waud, Michael; Brys, Rein; Lallemand, Félix; Courty, Pierre-Emmanuel; Robionek, Alicja; Selosse, Marc-André

2017-01-01

Two distinct nutritional syndromes have been described in temperate green orchids. Most orchids form mycorrhizas with rhizoctonia fungi and are considered autotrophic. Some orchids, however, associate with fungi that simultaneously form ectomycorrhizas with surrounding trees and derive their carbon from these fungi. This evolutionarily derived condition has been called mixotrophy or partial mycoheterotrophy and is characterized by 13C enrichment and high N content. Although it has been suggested that the two major nutritional syndromes are clearly distinct and tightly linked to the composition of mycorrhizal communities, recent studies have challenged this assumption. Here, we investigated whether mycorrhizal communities and nutritional syndromes differed between seven green orchid species that co-occur under similar ecological conditions (coastal dune slacks). Our results showed that mycorrhizal communities differed significantly between orchid species. Rhizoctonia fungi dominated in Dactylorhiza sp., Herminium monorchis, and Epipactis palustris, which were autotrophic based on 13C and N content. Conversely, Liparis loeselii and Epipactis neerlandica associated primarily with ectomycorrhizal fungi but surprisingly, 13C and N content supported mixotrophy only in E. neerlandica. This, together with the finding of some ectomycorrhizal fungi in rhizoctonia-associated orchids, suggests that there exists an ecological continuum between the two syndromes. The presence of a large number of indicator species associating with individual orchid species further confirms previous findings that mycorrhizal fungi may be important factors driving niche-partitioning in terrestrial orchids and therefore contribute to orchid coexistence. PMID:28912791

Tradeoff between robustness and elaboration in carotenoid networks produces cycles of avian color diversification.

PubMed

Badyaev, Alexander V; Morrison, Erin S; Belloni, Virginia; Sanderson, Michael J

2015-08-20

Resolution of the link between micro- and macroevolution calls for comparing both processes on the same deterministic landscape, such as genomic, metabolic or fitness networks. We apply this perspective to the evolution of carotenoid pigmentation that produces spectacular diversity in avian colors and show that basic structural properties of the underlying carotenoid metabolic network are reflected in global patterns of elaboration and diversification in color displays. Birds color themselves by consuming and metabolizing several dietary carotenoids from the environment. Such fundamental dependency on the most upstream external compounds should intrinsically constrain sustained evolutionary elongation of multi-step metabolic pathways needed for color elaboration unless the metabolic network gains robustness - the ability to synthesize the same carotenoid from an additional dietary starting point. We found that gains and losses of metabolic robustness were associated with evolutionary cycles of elaboration and stasis in expressed carotenoids in birds. Lack of metabolic robustness constrained lineage's metabolic explorations to the immediate biochemical vicinity of their ecologically distinct dietary carotenoids, whereas gains of robustness repeatedly resulted in sustained elongation of metabolic pathways on evolutionary time scales and corresponding color elaboration. The structural link between length and robustness in metabolic pathways may explain periodic convergence of phylogenetically distant and ecologically distinct species in expressed carotenoid pigmentation; account for stasis in carotenoid colors in some ecological lineages; and show how the connectivity of the underlying metabolic network provides a mechanistic link between microevolutionary elaboration and macroevolutionary diversification.

Wildfire disturbance impacts on streamflow from western USA watersheds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cadol, D.; Wine, M.; Makhnin, O.

2017-12-01

Worldwide rapid changes in climate overlaid on changing land management paradigms have dramatically altered ecological disturbance regimes worldwide including in western North America. Ecological disturbances impacted include woody encroachment, pest pathogen complexes, riparian forest changes, and wildfire. These disturbances impact the hydrologic cycle, though the nature of these impacts has been difficult to quantify. Perhaps the greatest challenge is that most basins worldwide are ungauged. Taking wildfire as a globally relevant example of a key ecological disturbance, even within gauged basins, post-wildfire hydrologic response is spatially and temporally variable, affected by a host of variables including fire frequency, area burned, and recovery trajectory. Hydrologic response to wildfire is further understood to be a non-linear function of watershed characteristics and climate. Here we provide a framework that utilizes remote sensing, statistical modeling, field measurements, and geospatial methods to provide first-order estimates of ecological disturbance hydrologic impacts. We apply this framework to compare ecological disturbance hydrologic impacts amongst selected watersheds in the western USA. Here we show that ecological disturbance impacts on hydrology are highly variable, and in many cases have an effect magnitude similar to that modeled for temperature and precipitation changes.

Covariations in ecological scaling laws fostered by community dynamics.

PubMed

Zaoli, Silvia; Giometto, Andrea; Maritan, Amos; Rinaldo, Andrea

2017-10-03

Scaling laws in ecology, intended both as functional relationships among ecologically relevant quantities and the probability distributions that characterize their occurrence, have long attracted the interest of empiricists and theoreticians. Empirical evidence exists of power laws associated with the number of species inhabiting an ecosystem, their abundances, and traits. Although their functional form appears to be ubiquitous, empirical scaling exponents vary with ecosystem type and resource supply rate. The idea that ecological scaling laws are linked has been entertained before, but the full extent of macroecological pattern covariations, the role of the constraints imposed by finite resource supply, and a comprehensive empirical verification are still unexplored. Here, we propose a theoretical scaling framework that predicts the linkages of several macroecological patterns related to species' abundances and body sizes. We show that such a framework is consistent with the stationary-state statistics of a broad class of resource-limited community dynamics models, regardless of parameterization and model assumptions. We verify predicted theoretical covariations by contrasting empirical data and provide testable hypotheses for yet unexplored patterns. We thus place the observed variability of ecological scaling exponents into a coherent statistical framework where patterns in ecology embed constrained fluctuations.

Hybridization at an ecotone: ecological and genetic barriers between three Iberian vipers.

PubMed

Tarroso, Pedro; Pereira, Ricardo J; Martínez-Freiría, Fernando; Godinho, Raquel; Brito, José C

2014-03-01

The formation of stable genetic boundaries between emerging species is often diagnosed by reduced hybrid fitness relative to parental taxa. This reduced fitness can arise from endogenous and/or exogenous barriers to gene flow. Although detecting exogenous barriers in nature is difficult, we can estimate the role of ecological divergence in driving species boundaries by integrating molecular and ecological niche modelling tools. Here, we focus on a three-way secondary contact zone between three viper species (Vipera aspis, V. latastei and V. seoanei) to test for the contribution of ecological divergence to the development of reproductive barriers at several species traits (morphology, nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA). Both the nuclear and mitochondrial data show that all taxa are genetically distinct and that the sister species V. aspis and V. latastei hybridize frequently and backcross over several generations. We find that the three taxa have diverged ecologically and meet at a hybrid zone coincident with a steep ecotone between the Atlantic and Mediterranean biogeographical provinces. Integrating landscape and genetic approaches, we show that hybridization is spatially restricted to habitats that are suboptimal for parental taxa. Together, these results suggest that niche separation and adaptation to an ecological gradient confer an important barrier to gene flow among taxa that have not achieved complete reproductive isolation. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Towards the development of multifunctional molecular indicators combining soil biogeochemical and microbiological variables to predict the ecological integrity of silvicultural practices.

PubMed

Peck, Vincent; Quiza, Liliana; Buffet, Jean-Philippe; Khdhiri, Mondher; Durand, Audrey-Anne; Paquette, Alain; Thiffault, Nelson; Messier, Christian; Beaulieu, Nadyre; Guertin, Claude; Constant, Philippe

2016-05-01

The impact of mechanical site preparation (MSP) on soil biogeochemical structure in young larch plantations was investigated. Soil samples were collected in replicated plots comprising simple trenching, double trenching, mounding and inverting site preparation. Unlogged natural mixed forest areas were used as a reference. Analysis of soil nutrients, abundance of bacteria and gas exchanges unveiled no significant difference among the plots. However, inverting site preparation resulted in higher variations of gas exchanges when compared with trenching, mounding and unlogged natural forest. A combination of the biological and physicochemical variables was used to define a multifunctional classification of the soil samples into four distinct groups categorized as a function of their deviation from baseline ecological conditions. According to this classification model, simple trenching was the approach that represented the lowest ecological risk potential at the microsite level. No relationship was observed between MSP method and soil bacterial community structure as assessed by high-throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene; however, indicator genotypes were identified for each multifunctional soil class. This is the first identification of multifunctional molecular indicators for baseline and disturbed ecological conditions in soil, demonstrating the potential of applied microbial ecology to guide silvicultural practices and ecological risk assessment. © 2016 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology.

Redefining yield gaps at various spatial scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, K.; Fishman, R.; Norstrom, A. V.; Diekert, F. K.; Engstrom, G.; Gars, J.; McCarney, G. R.; Sjostedt, M.

2013-12-01

Recent research has highlighted the prevalence of 'yield gaps' around the world and the importance of closing them for global food security. However, the traditional concept of yield gap -defined as the difference between observed and optimal yield under biophysical conditions - omit relevant socio-economic and ecological constraints and thus offer limited guidance on potential policy interventions. This paper proposes alternative definitions of yield gaps by incorporating rich, high resolution, national and sub-national agricultural datasets. We examine feasible efforts to 'close yield gaps' at various spatial scales and across different socio-economic and ecological domains.

Operationalising a social-ecological system perspective on the Arctic Ocean.

PubMed

Crépin, Anne-Sophie; Gren, Åsa; Engström, Gustav; Ospina, Daniel

2017-12-01

We propose a framework to support management that builds on a social-ecological system perspective on the Arctic Ocean. We illustrate the framework's application for two policy-relevant scenarios of climate-driven change, picturing a shift in zooplankton composition and alternatively a crab invasion. We analyse archetypical system dynamics between the socio-economic, the natural, and the governance systems in these scenarios. Our holistic approach can help managers identify looming problems arising from complex system interactions and prioritise among problems and solutions, even when available data are limited.

A conceptual framework for understanding the perspectives on the causes of the science-practice gap in ecology and conservation.

PubMed

Bertuol-Garcia, Diana; Morsello, Carla; N El-Hani, Charbel; Pardini, Renata

2018-05-01

Applying scientific knowledge to confront societal challenges is a difficult task, an issue known as the science-practice gap. In Ecology and Conservation, scientific evidence has been seldom used directly to support decision-making, despite calls for an increasing role of ecological science in developing solutions for a sustainable future. To date, multiple causes of the science-practice gap and diverse approaches to link science and practice in Ecology and Conservation have been proposed. To foster a transparent debate and broaden our understanding of the difficulties of using scientific knowledge, we reviewed the perceived causes of the science-practice gap, aiming to: (i) identify the perspectives of ecologists and conservation scientists on this problem, (ii) evaluate the predominance of these perspectives over time and across journals, and (iii) assess them in light of disciplines studying the role of science in decision-making. We based our review on 1563 sentences describing causes of the science-practice gap extracted from 122 articles and on discussions with eight scientists on how to classify these sentences. The resulting process-based framework describes three distinct perspectives on the relevant processes, knowledge and actors in the science-practice interface. The most common perspective assumes only scientific knowledge should support practice, perceiving a one-way knowledge flow from science to practice and recognizing flaws in knowledge generation, communication, and/or use. The second assumes that both scientists and decision-makers should contribute to support practice, perceiving a two-way knowledge flow between science and practice through joint knowledge-production/integration processes, which, for several reasons, are perceived to occur infrequently. The last perspective was very rare, and assumes scientists should put their results into practice, but they rarely do. Some causes (e.g. cultural differences between scientists and decision-makers) are shared with other disciplines, while others seem specific to Ecology and Conservation (e.g. inadequate research scales). All identified causes require one of three general types of solutions, depending on whether the causal factor can (e.g. inadequate research questions) or cannot (e.g. scientific uncertainty) be changed, or if misconceptions (e.g. undervaluing abstract knowledge) should be solved. The unchanged predominance of the one-way perspective over time may be associated with the prestige of evidence-based conservation and suggests that debates in Ecology and Conservation lag behind trends in other disciplines towards bidirectional views ascribing larger roles to decision-makers. In turn, the two-way perspective seems primarily restricted to research traditions historically isolated from mainstream conservation biology. All perspectives represented superficial views of decision-making by not accounting for limits to human rationality, complexity of decision-making contexts, fuzzy science-practice boundaries, ambiguity brought about by science, and different types of knowledge use. However, joint knowledge-production processes from the two-way perspective can potentially allow for democratic decision-making processes, explicit discussions of values and multiple types of science use. To broaden our understanding of the interface and foster productive science-practice linkages, we argue for dialogue among different research traditions within Ecology and Conservation, joint knowledge-production processes between scientists and decision-makers and interdisciplinarity across Ecology, Conservation and Political Science in both research and education. © 2017 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Studying Spatial Abundance of Ungulates: Relevance to Spatial Epidemiology

PubMed Central

Barasona, José A.; Mulero-Pázmány, Margarita; Acevedo, Pelayo; Negro, Juan J.; Torres, María J.; Gortázar, Christian; Vicente, Joaquín

2014-01-01

Complex ecological and epidemiological systems require multidisciplinary and innovative research. Low cost unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) can provide information on the spatial pattern of hosts’ distribution and abundance, which is crucial as regards modelling the determinants of disease transmission and persistence on a fine spatial scale. In this context we have studied the spatial epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) in the ungulate community of Doñana National Park (South-western Spain) by modelling species host (red deer, fallow deer and cattle) abundance at fine spatial scale. The use of UAS high-resolution images has allowed us to collect data to model the environmental determinants of host abundance, and in a further step to evaluate their relationships with the spatial risk of TB throughout the ungulate community. We discuss the ecological, epidemiological and logistic conditions under which UAS may contribute to study the wildlife/livestock sanitary interface, where the spatial aggregation of hosts becomes crucial. These findings are relevant for planning and implementing research, fundamentally when managing disease in multi-host systems, and focusing on risky areas. Therefore, managers should prioritize the implementation of control strategies to reduce disease of conservation, economic and social relevance. PMID:25551673

Comparison of four species-delimitation methods applied to a DNA barcode data set of insect larvae for use in routine bioassessment for use in routine bioassessment

EPA Science Inventory

Species delimitation (grouping individuals into distinct taxonomic groups) is an essential part of evolutionary, conservation, and molecular ecology. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) barcodes, short fragments of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, are being used in environm...

Mixed-severity fire regimes: lessons and hypotheses from the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion

Treesearch

J.E. Halofsky; D.C. Donato; D.E. Hibbs; J.L. Campbell; M. Donaghy Cannon; J.B. Fontaine; J.R. Thompson; R.G. Anthony; B.T. Bormann; L.J. Kayes; B.E. Law; D.L. Peterson; T.A. Spies

2011-01-01

Although mixed-severity fires are among the most widespread disturbances influencing western North American forests, they remain the least understood. A major question is the degree to which mixed-severity fire regimes are simply an ecological intermediate between low- and high-severity fire regimes, versus a unique disturbance regime with distinct properties. The...

The patch mosaic and ecological decomposition across spatial scales in a managed landscape of northern Wisconsin, USA

Treesearch

Sari C. ​Saunders; Jiquan Chen; Thomas D. Drummer; Thomas R. Crow; Kimberley D. Brosofske; Eric J. Gustafson

2002-01-01

Understanding landscape organization across scales is vital for determining the impacts of management and retaining structurally and functionally diverse ecosystems. We studied the relationships of a functional variable, decomposition, to microclimatic, vegetative and structural features at multiple scales in two distinct landscapes of northern Wisconsin, USA. We hoped...

On Nature, Christianity and Deep Ecology--A Response to W. S. Helton and N. D. Helton

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marangudakis, Manussos

2008-01-01

Establishing factually-based public support for the intrinsic value of nature, vis-a-vis a "domineering" or "stewardship" relation with the natural environment, necessitates the prior theoretical and methodological establishment of the above normative distinction. In this reply I argue that the Modified New Environmental Paradigm used by Helton…

Career Development Issues in the Former USSR: Implications of Political Changes for Personal Career Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yakushko, Oksana

2007-01-01

This article addresses the distinctive aspects of career development of people from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The ecological model of career development is applied to understanding how political changes can influence the career trajectories of individuals within a culture. The role of the political, social, familial,…

Restoring California black oak ecosystems to promote tribal values and wildlife

Treesearch

Jonathan W. Long; M. Kat Anderson; Lenya Quinn-Davidson; Ron W. Goode; Frank K. Lake; Carl N. Skinner

2016-01-01

This report synthesizes information to help promote the distinctive ecological and cultural benefits provided by California black oak. Production of abundant, high-quality acorns desired by Native Americans in California, as well as other valued services, requires the presence of mature, broad-crowned trees with low fuel levels and low pest levels. Although black oaks...

Functional groups show distinct differences in nitrogen cycling during early stand development: implications for forest management

Treesearch

Doug P. Aubrey; David R. Coyle; Mark D. Coleman

2012-01-01

Background and aims Nutrient acquisition of forest stands is controlled by soil resource availability and belowground production, but tree species are rarely compared in this regard. Here, we examine ecological and management implications of nitrogen (N) dynamics during early forest stand development in productive commercial tree species with narrow (Populus...

Une Vision francaise de l'environnement: les mots et les choses (A French View of Environment: Words and Things)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antoine, Gerald

1978-01-01

An examination by a French lexicologist of four terms current in ecological movements: "ecologie,""environnement,""qualite de vie," and "ambiance." For each term, several French and English dictionary definitions are given and clarifying distinctions are made. In conclusion, four composite definitions are given. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

Predicting the spatial distribution of Lonicera japonica, based on species occurrence data from two watersheds in Western Kentucky and Tennessee

Treesearch

Dongjiao Liu; Hao Jiang; Robin Zhang; Kate S. He

2011-01-01

The spatial distribution of most invasive plants is poorly documented and studied. This project examined and compared the spatial distribution of a successful invasive plant, Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), in two similar-sized but ecologically distinct watersheds in western Kentucky (Ledbetter Creek) and western Tennessee (Panther Creek)....

Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World's Languages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nettle, Daniel; Romaine, Suzanne

This book holds that the evolution of the mind has given rise to great diversity of language and culture, each going along with a distinct adaptation to life specific ecosystems or geographical areas. Much like the wealth of plant and animal species is essential to biodiversity and ecological balance, diversity in the world's languages is vital to…

Herpetofauna associated with palm oases across the Californian-Sonoran transition in northern Baja California, Mexico

Treesearch

Hart Welsh; W. H. Clark; E. Franco-Vizcaíno; J. H. Valdéz-Villavicencio

2010-01-01

Ecological boundaries have been of interest to naturalists since the time of Darwin and Wallace because they are transitional zones on the landscape across which distinct changes occur in constitution of plant and animal communities. In the xeric landscapes of the central Baja California Peninsula, fan palm (Erythea armata and ...

Ecological relationships of two todies in Hispaniola: effects of habitat and flocking

Treesearch

Steven C. Latta; JR. Wunderle

1998-01-01

We studied microhabitat use, foraging and social behavior of Broad-billed (Todus subulatus)a nd Narrow-billed (T. angustirostrisT) odies in two areaso f sympatry in the Cordillera Central of the Dominican Republic. Solitary Broad-billed and Narrow-billed Todies occupied distinct microhabitats in both shade coffee plantations and native pine forest while generally...

River networks as ecological corridors: A coherent ecohydrological perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rinaldo, Andrea; Gatto, Marino; Rodriguez-Iturbe, Ignacio

2018-02-01

This paper draws together several lines of argument to suggest that an ecohydrological framework, i.e. laboratory, field and theoretical approaches focused on hydrologic controls on biota, has contributed substantially to our understanding of the function of river networks as ecological corridors. Such function proves relevant to: the spatial ecology of species; population dynamics and biological invasions; the spread of waterborne disease. As examples, we describe metacommunity predictions of fish diversity patterns in the Mississippi-Missouri basin, geomorphic controls imposed by the fluvial landscape on elevational gradients of species' richness, the zebra mussel invasion of the same Mississippi-Missouri river system, and the spread of proliferative kidney disease in salmonid fish. We conclude that spatial descriptions of ecological processes in the fluvial landscape, constrained by their specific hydrologic and ecological dynamics and by the ecosystem matrix for interactions, i.e. the directional dispersal embedded in fluvial and host/pathogen mobility networks, have already produced a remarkably broad range of significant results. Notable scientific and practical perspectives are thus open, in the authors' view, to future developments in ecohydrologic research.

Ecological and evolutionary genomics of marine photosynthetic organisms.

PubMed

Coelho, Susana M; Simon, Nathalie; Ahmed, Sophia; Cock, J Mark; Partensky, Frédéric

2013-02-01

Environmental (ecological) genomics aims to understand the genetic basis of relationships between organisms and their abiotic and biotic environments. It is a rapidly progressing field of research largely due to recent advances in the speed and volume of genomic data being produced by next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. Building on information generated by NGS-based approaches, functional genomic methodologies are being applied to identify and characterize genes and gene systems of both environmental and evolutionary relevance. Marine photosynthetic organisms (MPOs) were poorly represented amongst the early genomic models, but this situation is changing rapidly. Here we provide an overview of the recent advances in the application of ecological genomic approaches to both prokaryotic and eukaryotic MPOs. We describe how these approaches are being used to explore the biology and ecology of marine cyanobacteria and algae, particularly with regard to their functions in a broad range of marine ecosystems. Specifically, we review the ecological and evolutionary insights gained from whole genome and transcriptome sequencing projects applied to MPOs and illustrate how their genomes are yielding information on the specific features of these organisms. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Optimization of the scheme for natural ecology planning of urban rivers based on ANP (analytic network process) model.

PubMed

Zhang, Yichuan; Wang, Jiangping

2015-07-01

Rivers serve as a highly valued component in ecosystem and urban infrastructures. River planning should follow basic principles of maintaining or reconstructing the natural landscape and ecological functions of rivers. Optimization of planning scheme is a prerequisite for successful construction of urban rivers. Therefore, relevant studies on optimization of scheme for natural ecology planning of rivers is crucial. In the present study, four planning schemes for Zhaodingpal River in Xinxiang City, Henan Province were included as the objects for optimization. Fourteen factors that influenced the natural ecology planning of urban rivers were selected from five aspects so as to establish the ANP model. The data processing was done using Super Decisions software. The results showed that important degree of scheme 3 was highest. A scientific, reasonable and accurate evaluation of schemes could be made by ANP method on natural ecology planning of urban rivers. This method could be used to provide references for sustainable development and construction of urban rivers. ANP method is also suitable for optimization of schemes for urban green space planning and design.

Metabolomics in chemical ecology.

PubMed

Kuhlisch, Constanze; Pohnert, Georg

2015-07-01

Chemical ecology elucidates the nature and role of natural products as mediators of organismal interactions. The emerging techniques that can be summarized under the concept of metabolomics provide new opportunities to study such environmentally relevant signaling molecules. Especially comparative tools in metabolomics enable the identification of compounds that are regulated during interaction situations and that might play a role as e.g. pheromones, allelochemicals or in induced and activated defenses. This approach helps overcoming limitations of traditional bioassay-guided structure elucidation approaches. But the power of metabolomics is not limited to the comparison of metabolic profiles of interacting partners. Especially the link to other -omics techniques helps to unravel not only the compounds in question but the entire biosynthetic and genetic re-wiring, required for an ecological response. This review comprehensively highlights successful applications of metabolomics in chemical ecology and discusses existing limitations of these novel techniques. It focuses on recent developments in comparative metabolomics and discusses the use of metabolomics in the systems biology of organismal interactions. It also outlines the potential of large metabolomics initiatives for model organisms in the field of chemical ecology.

Natural variation in learning rate and memory dynamics in parasitoid wasps: opportunities for converging ecology and neuroscience

PubMed Central

Hoedjes, Katja M.; Kruidhof, H. Marjolein; Huigens, Martinus E.; Dicke, Marcel; Vet, Louise E. M.; Smid, Hans M.

2011-01-01

Although the neural and genetic pathways underlying learning and memory formation seem strikingly similar among species of distant animal phyla, several more subtle inter- and intraspecific differences become evident from studies on model organisms. The true significance of such variation can only be understood when integrating this with information on the ecological relevance. Here, we argue that parasitoid wasps provide an excellent opportunity for multi-disciplinary studies that integrate ultimate and proximate approaches. These insects display interspecific variation in learning rate and memory dynamics that reflects natural variation in a daunting foraging task that largely determines their fitness: finding the inconspicuous hosts to which they will assign their offspring to develop. We review bioassays used for oviposition learning, the ecological factors that are considered to underlie the observed differences in learning rate and memory dynamics, and the opportunities for convergence of ecology and neuroscience that are offered by using parasitoid wasps as model species. We advocate that variation in learning and memory traits has evolved to suit an insect's lifestyle within its ecological niche. PMID:21106587

Transdisciplinary application of the cross-scale resilience model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sundstrom, Shana M.; Angeler, David G.; Garmestani, Ahjond S.; Garcia, Jorge H.; Allen, Craig R.

2014-01-01

The cross-scale resilience model was developed in ecology to explain the emergence of resilience from the distribution of ecological functions within and across scales, and as a tool to assess resilience. We propose that the model and the underlying discontinuity hypothesis are relevant to other complex adaptive systems, and can be used to identify and track changes in system parameters related to resilience. We explain the theory behind the cross-scale resilience model, review the cases where it has been applied to non-ecological systems, and discuss some examples of social-ecological, archaeological/ anthropological, and economic systems where a cross-scale resilience analysis could add a quantitative dimension to our current understanding of system dynamics and resilience. We argue that the scaling and diversity parameters suitable for a resilience analysis of ecological systems are appropriate for a broad suite of systems where non-normative quantitative assessments of resilience are desired. Our planet is currently characterized by fast environmental and social change, and the cross-scale resilience model has the potential to quantify resilience across many types of complex adaptive systems.

Diverse, rare microbial taxa responded to the Deepwater Horizon deep-sea hydrocarbon plume

PubMed Central

Kleindienst, Sara; Grim, Sharon; Sogin, Mitchell; Bracco, Annalisa; Crespo-Medina, Melitza; Joye, Samantha B

2016-01-01

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil well blowout generated an enormous plume of dispersed hydrocarbons that substantially altered the Gulf of Mexico's deep-sea microbial community. A significant enrichment of distinct microbial populations was observed, yet, little is known about the abundance and richness of specific microbial ecotypes involved in gas, oil and dispersant biodegradation in the wake of oil spills. Here, we document a previously unrecognized diversity of closely related taxa affiliating with Cycloclasticus, Colwellia and Oceanospirillaceae and describe their spatio-temporal distribution in the Gulf's deepwater, in close proximity to the discharge site and at increasing distance from it, before, during and after the discharge. A highly sensitive, computational method (oligotyping) applied to a data set generated from 454-tag pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene V4–V6 regions, enabled the detection of population dynamics at the sub-operational taxonomic unit level (0.2% sequence similarity). The biogeochemical signature of the deep-sea samples was assessed via total cell counts, concentrations of short-chain alkanes (C1–C5), nutrients, (colored) dissolved organic and inorganic carbon, as well as methane oxidation rates. Statistical analysis elucidated environmental factors that shaped ecologically relevant dynamics of oligotypes, which likely represent distinct ecotypes. Major hydrocarbon degraders, adapted to the slow-diffusive natural hydrocarbon seepage in the Gulf of Mexico, appeared unable to cope with the conditions encountered during the DWH spill or were outcompeted. In contrast, diverse, rare taxa increased rapidly in abundance, underscoring the importance of specialized sub-populations and potential ecotypes during massive deep-sea oil discharges and perhaps other large-scale perturbations. PMID:26230048

Modeling the winter-to-summer transition of prokaryotic and viral abundance in the Arctic Ocean.

PubMed

Winter, Christian; Payet, Jérôme P; Suttle, Curtis A

2012-01-01

One of the challenges in oceanography is to understand the influence of environmental factors on the abundances of prokaryotes and viruses. Generally, conventional statistical methods resolve trends well, but more complex relationships are difficult to explore. In such cases, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) offer an alternative way for data analysis. Here, we developed ANN-based models of prokaryotic and viral abundances in the Arctic Ocean. The models were used to identify the best predictors for prokaryotic and viral abundances including cytometrically-distinguishable populations of prokaryotes (high and low nucleic acid cells) and viruses (high- and low-fluorescent viruses) among salinity, temperature, depth, day length, and the concentration of Chlorophyll-a. The best performing ANNs to model the abundances of high and low nucleic acid cells used temperature and Chl-a as input parameters, while the abundances of high- and low-fluorescent viruses used depth, Chl-a, and day length as input parameters. Decreasing viral abundance with increasing depth and decreasing system productivity was captured well by the ANNs. Despite identifying the same predictors for the two populations of prokaryotes and viruses, respectively, the structure of the best performing ANNs differed between high and low nucleic acid cells and between high- and low-fluorescent viruses. Also, the two prokaryotic and viral groups responded differently to changes in the predictor parameters; hence, the cytometric distinction between these populations is ecologically relevant. The models imply that temperature is the main factor explaining most of the variation in the abundances of high nucleic acid cells and total prokaryotes and that the mechanisms governing the reaction to changes in the environment are distinctly different among the prokaryotic and viral populations.

Modeling the Winter–to–Summer Transition of Prokaryotic and Viral Abundance in the Arctic Ocean

PubMed Central

Winter, Christian; Payet, Jérôme P.; Suttle, Curtis A.

2012-01-01

One of the challenges in oceanography is to understand the influence of environmental factors on the abundances of prokaryotes and viruses. Generally, conventional statistical methods resolve trends well, but more complex relationships are difficult to explore. In such cases, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) offer an alternative way for data analysis. Here, we developed ANN-based models of prokaryotic and viral abundances in the Arctic Ocean. The models were used to identify the best predictors for prokaryotic and viral abundances including cytometrically-distinguishable populations of prokaryotes (high and low nucleic acid cells) and viruses (high- and low-fluorescent viruses) among salinity, temperature, depth, day length, and the concentration of Chlorophyll-a. The best performing ANNs to model the abundances of high and low nucleic acid cells used temperature and Chl-a as input parameters, while the abundances of high- and low-fluorescent viruses used depth, Chl-a, and day length as input parameters. Decreasing viral abundance with increasing depth and decreasing system productivity was captured well by the ANNs. Despite identifying the same predictors for the two populations of prokaryotes and viruses, respectively, the structure of the best performing ANNs differed between high and low nucleic acid cells and between high- and low-fluorescent viruses. Also, the two prokaryotic and viral groups responded differently to changes in the predictor parameters; hence, the cytometric distinction between these populations is ecologically relevant. The models imply that temperature is the main factor explaining most of the variation in the abundances of high nucleic acid cells and total prokaryotes and that the mechanisms governing the reaction to changes in the environment are distinctly different among the prokaryotic and viral populations. PMID:23285186

Spatiotemporal analysis of microbial community dynamics during seasonal stratification events in a freshwater lake (Grand Lake, OK, USA)

PubMed Central

Morrison, Jessica M.; Baker, Kristina D.; Zamor, Richard M.; Nikolai, Steve; Elshahed, Mostafa S.

2017-01-01

Many freshwater lakes undergo seasonal stratification, where the formation of phototrophic blooms in the epilimnion and subsequent sedimentation induces hypoxia/anoxia in the thermocline and hypolimnion. This autochthonously produced biomass represents a major seasonal organic input that impacts the entire ecosystem. While the limnological aspects of this process are fairly well documented, relatively little is known regarding the microbial community response to such events, especially in the deeper anoxic layers of the water column. Here, we conducted a spatiotemporal survey of the particle-associated and free-living microbial communities in a warm monomictic freshwater reservoir (Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees) in northeastern Oklahoma, USA. Pre-stratification samples (March) harbored a homogeneous community throughout the oxygenated water column dominated by typical oligotrophic aquatic lineages (acl clade within Actinobacteria, and Flavobacterium within the Bacteroidetes). The onset of phototrophic blooming in June induced the progression of this baseline community into two distinct trajectories. Within the oxic epilimnion, samples were characterized by the propagation of phototrophic (Prochlorococcus), and heterotrophic (Planctomycetes, Verrucomicrobia, and Beta-Proteobacteria) lineages. Within the oxygen-deficient thermocline and hypolimnion, the sedimentation of surface biomass induced the development of a highly diverse community, with the enrichment of Chloroflexi, “Latescibacteria”, Armatimonadetes, and Delta-Proteobacteria in the particle-associated fraction, and Gemmatimonadetes and “Omnitrophica” in the free-living fraction. Our work documents the development of multiple spatially and temporally distinct niches during lake stratification, and supports the enrichment of multiple yet-uncultured and poorly characterized lineages in the lake’s deeper oxygen-deficient layers, an ecologically relevant microbial niche that is often overlooked in lakes diversity surveys. PMID:28493994

A REVIEW OF SINGLE SPECIES TOXICITY TESTS: ARE THE TESTS RELIABLE PREDICTORS OF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM COMMUNITY RESPONSES?

EPA Science Inventory

This document provides a comprehensive review to evaluate the reliability of indicator species toxicity test results in predicting aquatic ecosystem impacts, also called the ecological relevance of laboratory single species toxicity tests.

Accelerating Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) development via computationally predicted AOP networks

EPA Science Inventory

The Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) framework is increasingly being adopted as a tool for organizing and summarizing the mechanistic information connecting molecular perturbations by environmental stressors with adverse outcomes relevant for ecological and human health outcomes. Ho...

Developing integral projection models for aquatic ecotoxicology

EPA Science Inventory

Extrapolating laboratory measured effects of chemicals to ecologically relevant scales is a fundamental challenge in ecotoxicology. In addition to influencing survival in the wild (e.g., over-winter survival) size has been shown to control onset of reproduction for the toxicologi...

Final ecosystem goods and services enhance societal relevance of contaminated-site remediation

EPA Science Inventory

Background/Question/Methods Exposure to environmental stressors can adversely affect both human health and ecological receptors and impacts on the latter influence the community's overall vulnerability. Risk assessment guidance promotes conceptual site models to integrate multip...

Developmental Toxicity of Louisiana Crude Oiled Sediment to Zebrafish - Abstract

EPA Science Inventory

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) cause a number of developmental abnormalities in developing fish embryos, which has been primarily demonstrated through water-accommodated fractions. PAH-bound sediment is a more ecologically relevant route of exposure to many developing fi...

Biology and ecology of Neosho Smallmouth Bass and the genetically distinct Ouachita lineage

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brewer, Shannon K.; Long, James M.; Tringali, Michael D.; Long, James M.; Birdsong, Timothy W.; Allen, Michael S.

2015-01-01

We reviewed the published and gray literature associated with Neosho Smallmouth Bass and the genetically-distinct Ouachita lineage. Substantial inter-stream variation appears to occur among these populations, particularly related to age. The Neosho subspecies is more abundant, grows faster, and lives longer than the genetically-distinct Ouachita lineage. Recruitment is highly variable among streams for both populations and appears to be related to some undescribed aspects of hydrology but also likely reflect bias due to sampling gear. Information on annual and seasonal trends is lacking for the Neosho subspecies and the Ouachita lineages, particularly as related to the spawning period. Conservation efforts for these lineages might benefit from agencies partnering to achieve goals that extend beyond a particular agencies responsibilities and state boundaries. Recognition of spatial and temporal considerations, combined with a better understanding of the population dynamics as related to abundance, growth, mortality and reproduction would benefit the creation of more effective conservation and management strategies for genetically-distinct populations of Smallmouth Bass.

The Measurement and Role of Ecological Resilience Systems Theory Across Domain-Specific Outcomes: The Domain-Specific Resilient Systems Scales.

PubMed

Maltby, John; Day, Liz; Hall, Sophie S; Chivers, Sally

2017-10-01

Research suggests that trait resilience may be best understood within an ecological resilient systems theory, comprising engineering, ecological, and adaptive capacity resilience. However, there is no evidence as to how this theory translates to specific life domains. Data from two samples (the United States, n = 1,278; the United Kingdom, n = 211) facilitated five studies that introduce the Domain-Specific Resilient Systems Scales for assessing ecological resilient systems theory within work, health, marriage, friendships, and education. The Domain-Specific Resilient Systems Scales are found to predict unique variance in job satisfaction, lower job burnout, quality-of-life following illness, marriage commitment, and educational engagement, while controlling for factors including sex, age, personality, cognitive ability, and trait resilience. The findings also suggest a distinction between the three resilience dimensions in terms of the types of systems to which they contribute. Engineering resilience may contribute most to life domains where an established system needs to be maintained, for example, one's health. Ecological resilience may contribute most to life domains where the system needs sustainability in terms of present and future goal orientation, for example, one's work. Adaptive Capacity may contribute most to life domains where the system needs to be retained, preventing it from reaching a crisis state, for example, work burnout.

Delineating Ecological Boundaries of Hanuman Langur Species Complex in Peninsular India Using MaxEnt Modeling Approach

PubMed Central

Chetan, Nag; Praveen, Karanth K.; Vasudeva, Gururaja Kotambylu

2014-01-01

Hanuman langur is one of the widely distributed and extensively studied non-human diurnal primates in India. Until recently it was believed to be a single species - Semnopithecus entellus. Recent molecular and morphological studies suggest that the Hanuman langurs consists of at least three species S. entellus, S. hypoleucos and S. priam. Furthermore, morphological studies suggested that both S. hypoleucos and S. priam have at least three subspecies in each. We explored the use of ecological niche modeling (ENM) to confirm the validity of these seven taxa and an additional taxon S. johnii belonging to the same genus. MaxEnt modeling tool was used with 19 bioclimatic, 12 vegetation and 6 hydrological environmental layers. We reduced total environmental variables to 14 layers after testing for collinearity and an independent test for model prediction was done using ENMTools. A total of 196 non-overlapping data points from primary and secondary sources were used as inputs for ENM. Results showed eight distinct ecological boundaries, corroborating the eight taxa mentioned above thereby confirming validity of these eight taxa. The study, for the first time provided ecological variables that determined the ecological requirements and distribution of members of the Hanuman langur species complex in the Indian peninsula. PMID:24498377

The Genus Cladophora Kützing (Ulvophyceae) as a Globally Distributed Ecological Engineer.

PubMed

Zulkifly, Shahrizim B; Graham, James M; Young, Erica B; Mayer, Robert J; Piotrowski, Michael J; Smith, Izak; Graham, Linda E

2013-02-01

The green algal genus Cladophora forms conspicuous nearshore populations in marine and freshwaters worldwide, commonly dominating peri-phyton communities. As the result of human activities, including the nutrient pollution of nearshore waters, Cladophora-dominated periphyton can form nuisance blooms. On the other hand, Cladophora has ecological functions that are beneficial, but less well appreciated. For example, Cladophora has previously been characterized as an ecological engineer because its complex structure fosters functional and taxonomic diversity of benthic microfauna. Here, we review classic and recent literature concerning taxonomy, cell biology, morphology, reproductive biology, and ecology of the genus Cladophora, to examine how this alga functions to modify habitats and influence littoral biogeochemistry. We review the evidence that Cladophora supports large, diverse populations of microalgal and bacterial epiphytes that influence the cycling of carbon and other key elements, and that the high production of cellulose and hydrocarbons by Cladophora-dominated periphyton has the potential for diverse technological applications, including wastewater remediation coupled to renewable biofuel production. We postulate that well-known aspects of Cladophora morphology, hydrodynamically stable and perennial holdfasts, distinctively branched architecture, unusually large cell and sporangial size and robust cell wall construction, are major factors contributing to the multiple roles of this organism as an ecological engineer. © 2013 Phycological Society of America.