Abstract The preference–performance hypothesis (PPH) states that herbivorous female insects prefer to oviposit on those host plants that are best for their offspring. Yet, past attempts to show the adaptiveness of host selection decisions by herbivores often failed. Here, we tested the PPH by including often neglected oviposition-induced plant responses, and how they may affect both egg survival and larval weight. We used seven Brassicaceae species of which most are common hosts of two cabbage white butterfly species, the solitary Pieris rapae and gregarious P. brassicae. Brassicaceous species can respond to Pieris eggs with leaf necrosis, which can lower egg survival. Moreover, plant-mediated responses to eggs can affect larval performance. We show a positive correlation between P. brassicae preference and performance only when including the egg phase: 7-day-old caterpillars gained higher weight on those plant species which had received most eggs. Pieris eggs frequently induced necrosis in the tested plant species. Survival of clustered P. brassicae eggs was unaffected by the necrosis in most tested species and no relationship between P. brassicae egg survival and oviposition preference was found. Pieris rapae preferred to oviposit on plant species most frequently expressing necrosis although egg survival was lower on those plants. In contrast to the lower egg survival on plants expressing necrosis, larval biomass on these plants was higher than on plants without a necrosis. We conclude that egg survival is not a crucial factor for oviposition choices but rather egg-mediated responses affecting larval performance explained the preference–performance relationship of the two butterfly species.

Mutualists can vary in the quantity and quality of service which they provide to their partners. Variation in seed disperser quality depends on seed-processing traits, dispersal distance, and deposition location, all of which ultimately affect plant fitness. Here, we compared these aspects of seed dispersal quality between a native and an invasive ant species, and examined how they affect competition and plant performance. Using experimental mesocosm communities, we examined how these two ant species affect the spatial pattern of recruitment and establishment for four myrmecochorous plant species, including one invasive species. We measured the locations of dispersed seedlings relative to ant nests, adult plants, and other dispersed seedlings, as well as measured the effects of location on plant performance. The invasive ant, Myrmica rubra, secondarily dispersed seeds farther from its nests, creating a less clumped pattern of seedling recruitment compared to the native ant, Aphaenogaster rudis. Plant species responded differently to dispersal. Invasive seedlings recruited farther from adult plants than native seedlings, and had higher survival the farther they were from conspecifics. In contrast, native plants had higher survival and grew taller when dispersed farther from invasive plants. We show that seed-dispersing ant partners differ in mutualist quality creating differences in dispersal distance and deposition location that affects a plant's competitive environment. Our results reveal the potential for long-term consequences on plant community structure with changing ant partner identity. We emphasize the need to examine dispersal quality in addition to quantity to uncover the importance of partner identity in structuring communities.

The DOI link to the data in the Acknowledgments section of the article was incorrect. The proper link to the data is.

Biological invasions are responsive to changing wildfire regimes related to human activities that are altering biological communities. Our objective was to investigate how fire, rodent activity, and competition among plant species modify plant community structure, invasion patterns, and vulnerability to altered fire regimes. We imposed experimental fires, and reduced rodent density using fencing in a full factorial design and quantified competitive interactions among plant species in the northeast Mojave Desert that has experienced dramatic increases in plant invasion and fire in recent years. Vegetation surveys were conducted in the experimental plots to determine plant density, cover, and biomass of herbaceous plants over a 5-year period. Rodent exclusion increased the density, cover, and biomass of Bromus rubens, an invasive annual grass, and density of forb species. In contrast, rodent exclusion decreased the density, cover, and biomass of Schismus spp. another dominant annual invader. Fire increased Schismus spp. and forb species density, cover, and biomass but decreased B. rubens density. Negative spatial correlation between B. rubens and Schismus spp., and forbs indicated interspecific competition among the dominant plant species. Fire reduced rodent community diversity (Shannon's) 2.5-fold, which was correlated with increases in B. rubens cover and biomass, and native forb diversity. Fire, high rodent diversity, and competition from the other plant species may decrease fire potential in our study system by reducing the density and biomass of B. rubens, which because of its taller growth form tends to ignite and carry fire better than Schismus spp. and forbs.

Recent analyses on the length of drought recovery in forests have shown multi-year legacies, particularly in semi-arid, coniferous ecosystems. Such legacies are usually attributed to ecophysiological memory, although drought frequency itself, and its effect on overlapping recovery times, could also contribute. Here, we describe a multi-decadal study of drought legacies using tree-ring carbon-isotope ratios (δ13C) and ring-width index (RWI) in Pinus ponderosa at 13 montane sites traversing a winter-summer precipitation gradient in the Southwestern U.S. Sites and trees were selected to avoid collection biases that exist in archived tree-ring databanks. The spatial hydroclimate gradient and winter-summer seasonal patterns were well predicted by seasonal and inter-annual correlations between δ13C and atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Using VPD, we found that the probability of extreme drought has increased up to 70% in this region during the past two decades. When the recent increase in drought frequency was not considered, multi-year legacies in both δ13C and RWI were observed at most sites. When the increase in drought frequency was detrended from tree-ring chronologies, some sites exhibited short legacies (1-2 years) in both δ13C and RWI, and there was a sight trend for longer legacies in RWI. However, when considered broadly across the region and multiple decades, no significant legacies were observed, which contrasts with past studies. Our results reveal that a contribution to observed multi-year legacies is related to shifts in the climate system itself, an exogenous factor, that must be considered along with physiological memory.

Abstract In forest communities, conspecific density/distance dependence (CDD) is an important factor regulating diversity. It remains unknown how and the extent to which gap creation alters the mode and strength of CDD via changes in the relative importance of pathogens and mycorrhizae. Seeds of two hardwoods (i.e., Acer mono associated with arbuscular mycorrhizae [AM] and Quercus serrata associated with ectomycorrhizae [EM]) were sown reciprocally at four distances from the boundary between Acer- and Quercus-dominated forests towards forest interior in each of forest understories (FUs) and gaps. The causes of seed and seedling mortality, seedling growth and colonization of mycorrhizal fungi were investigated. In Acer, seed and seedling mortality were highest in Acer forests and gradually decreased towards the interior of Quercus forests in FU, mainly due to severe attack of soil pathogens, invertebrates, and leaf diseases. The reverse was true in gaps, due to reduction of damping-off damage caused by distance-dependent colonization of AM. In Quercus, most seeds and seedlings were eaten by vertebrates in FUs. The seedling mortality caused by leaf diseases was not high, even beneath conspecific forests with higher colonization of EM in gaps, suggesting a positive EM influence. In both species, seedling mass was greatest in conspecific forests and gradually decreased towards the interior of heterospecific forests in gaps, due to higher colonization of mycorrhizae near conspecifics. In conclusion, light conditions strongly altered the mode of CDD via changes in relative influence of pathogens and mycorrhizae, suggesting that gap creation may regulate species diversity via changes in the mode of CDD.

Inducible defenses against predators are widespread among plants and animals. For example, some Daphnia species form neckteeth against predatory larvae of the dipteran genus Chaoborus. Though thoroughly studied in D. pulex, knowledge about neckteeth in other Daphnia species is limited. The occurrence of this trait in the D. longispina species complex is only sporadically reported and the specific shape of neckteeth or the occurrence of other morphological defense traits is scarcely known in this widespread group. Here, we explored neckteeth occurrence in a large number of D. longispina populations across Scandinavia and studied neckteeth formation and other morphological defense traits on three D. longispina clones in the laboratory. In the study region, neckteeth on juvenile D. longispina s. str. were observed frequently in permanent ponds, but only when Chaoborus spp. larvae were present. In the laboratory experiments, all three D. longispina clones developed neckteeth (very similar to D. pulex) in response to Chaoborus kairomone exposure. The D. longispina clones also developed a longer tail spine, wider body, and larger neckteeth pedestal in response to predation threat—likely as a defense against the gape-limited predator. The intensity of neckteeth expression also depended on the clone studied and the concentration of Chaoborus kairomone. Our results demonstrate that neckteeth on D. longispina can be common in nature and that D. longispina can also induce other morphological defenses against predators. The similarity of neckteeth in D. longispina and D. pulex imposes yet unresolved questions on the evolutionary origin in these distantly related Daphnia groups.

Biodiversity loss and climate warming are occurring in concert, with potentially profound impacts on ecosystem functioning. We currently know very little about the combined effects of these changes on the links between the community structure, dynamics and the resulting in situ CO2 concentrations in freshwater ecosystems. Here we aimed to determine both individual and combined effects of temperature and non-resource diversity (species inedible for a given consumer) on CO2 concentration. Our analysis further aimed to establish both direct effects on CO2 concentrations and potential indirect effects that occur via changes to the phytoplankton and zooplankton biomasses. Our results showed that there were no interactive effects of changes in temperature and diversity on CO2 concentration in the water. Instead, independent increases in either temperature or non-resource diversity resulted in a substantial reduction in CO2 concentrations, particularly at the highest non-resource diversity. The effects of non-resource diversity and warming on CO2 were indirect, resulting largely from the positive impacts on total biomass of primary producers. Our study is the first to experimentally partition the impacts of temperature and diversity on the consumer–resource dynamics and associated changes to CO2 concentrations. It provides new mechanistic insights into the role of diverse plankton communities for ecosystem functioning and their importance in regulating CO2 dynamics under ongoing climate warming.

Abstract Amongst oviparous animals, the spatial distribution of individuals is often set initially by where females lay eggs, with potential implications for populations and species coexistence. Do the spatial arrangements of oviposition sites or female behaviours determine spatial patterns of eggs? The consequences of spatial patterns may be context independent if strong behaviours drive patterns; context dependent if the local environment dominates. We tested these ideas using a guild of stream-dwelling caddisflies that oviposit on emergent rocks, focussing on genera with contrasting behaviours. In naturally occurring oviposition landscapes (riffles with emergent rocks), we surveyed the spatial arrangement and environmental characteristics of all emergent rocks, identified and enumerated egg masses on each. Multiple riffles were surveyed to test for spatially invariant patterns and behaviours. In landscapes, we tested for spatial clumping of oviposition sites exploited by each species and for segregation of congeneric species. At oviposition sites, we characterised the frequency distributions of egg masses and tested for species associations. Genus-specific behaviours produced different spatial patterns of egg masses in the same landscapes. Congregative behaviour of Ulmerochorema spp. at landscape scales and an aggregative response at preferred oviposition sites led to clumped patterns, local aggregation and species overlap. In contrast, avoidance behaviours by congeners of Apsilochorema resulted in no or weak clumping, and species segregation in some landscapes. Spatial patterns were consistent across riffles that varied in area and oviposition site density. These results suggest that quite different oviposition behaviours may be context independent, and the consequences of spatial patterns may be spatially invariant also.

Abstract Population projections coupled with downscaled climate projections are a powerful tool that allows predicting future population dynamics of vulnerable plants in the face of a changing climate. Traditional approaches used to predict the vulnerability of plants to climate change (e.g. species distribution models) fail to mechanistically describe the basis of a population’s dynamics and thus cannot be expected to correctly predict its temporal trends. In this study, we used a 23-year demographic dataset of the acuña cactus, an endangered species, to predict its population dynamics to the end of the century. We used integral projection models to describe its vital rates and population dynamics in relation to plant volume and key climatic variables. We used the resulting climate-driven IPM along with climatic projections to predict the population growth rates from 1991 to 2099. We found the average population growth rate of this population between 1991 and 2013 to be 0.70 (95% CI 0.61–0.79). This result confirms that the population of acuña cactus has been declining and that this decline is due to demographic structure and climate conditions. However, the projection model also predicts that, up to 2080, the population will remain relatively stable mainly due to the survival of its existing adult individuals. Notwithstanding, the long-term viability of the populations can only be achieved through the recruitment of new individuals.

Abstract The adaptive value of correlations among phenotypic traits depends on the prevailing environmental conditions. Differences in selection pressures during species range expansions may therefore shape phenotypic integration. In this study, we assessed variation in behavioral and morphological traits, as well as their covariations, in replicated southern and northern European populations of the northward expanding dragonfly Crocothemis erythraea. Larvae from northern populations were, on average, darker in color, and therefore, better camouflaged than larvae from southern populations. However, there was no difference in activity level. Darkness and activity were positively correlated in larvae from northern populations, whereas this trait covariation was missing in southern populations. This suggests the emergence of alternative strategies in time-limited northern populations, a higher activity level that required better camouflage through darker coloration, while less active larvae benefited from an energy-saving strategy by reducing the investment in costly traits, such as body darkness. We further found that larger larvae emerged into larger adults, with a higher investment in flight morphology. Our findings imply that phenotypic integration is associated with the northward range shift, potentially differentially shaping fitness consequences, and ecological interactions in southern versus northern populations.

Grassland ecosystems are comprised of plants that occupy a wide array of phenological niches and vary considerably in their ability to resist the stress of seasonal soil–water deficits. Yet, the link between plant drought resistance and phenology remains unclear in perennial grassland ecosystems. To evaluate the role of soil water availability and plant drought tolerance in driving phenology, we measured leaf hydraulic conductance (Ksat), resistance to hydraulic failure (P50), leaf gas exchange, plant and soil water stable isotope ratios (δ18O), and several phenology metrics on ten perennial herbaceous species in mixed-grass prairie. The interaction between P50 and δ18O of xylem water explained 67% of differences in phenology, with lower P50 values associated with later season activity, but only among shallow-rooted species. In addition, stomatal control and high water-use efficiency also contributed to the late flowering and late senescence strategies of plants that had low P50 values and relied upon shallow soil water. Alternatively, plants with deeper roots did not possess drought-tolerant leaves, but had high hydraulic efficiency, contributing to their ability to efficiently move water longer distances while maintaining leaf water potential at relatively high values. The suites of traits that characterize these contrasting strategies provide a mechanistic link between phenology and plant–water relations; thus, these traits could help predict grassland community responses to changes in water availability, both temporally and vertically within the soil profile.

Abstract Trait variation among populations is important for shaping ecological dynamics. In marine intertidal systems, seawater temperature, low tide emersion temperature, and pH can drive variation in traits and affect species interactions. In western North America, Nucella dogwhelks are intertidal drilling predators of the habitat-forming mussel Mytilus californianus. Nucella exhibit local adaptation, but it is not known to what extent environmental factors and genetic structure contribute to variation in prey selectivity among populations. We surveyed drilled mussels at sites across Oregon and California, USA, and used multiple regression and Mantel tests to test the effects of abiotic factors and Nucella neutral genetic relatedness on the size of mussels drilled across sites. Our results show that Nucella at sites characterized by higher and less variable temperature and pH drilled larger mussels. Warmer temperatures appear to induce faster handling time, and more stable pH conditions may prolong opportunities for active foraging by reducing exposure to repeated stressful conditions. In contrast, there was no significant effect of genetic relatedness on prey size selectivity. Our results emphasize the role of climate in shaping marine predator selectivity on a foundation species. As coastal climates change, predator traits will respond to localized environmental conditions, changing ecological interactions.

Abstract Spatial synchrony between populations emerges from endogenous and exogenous processes, such as intra- and interspecific interactions and abiotic factors. Understanding factors contributing to synchronous population dynamics help to better understand what determines abundance of a species. This study focuses on spatial and temporal dynamics in the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) using snow-track data from Finland from 29 years. We disentangled the effects of bottom-up and top-down forces as well as environmental factors on population dynamics with a spatiotemporally explicit Bayesian hierarchical approach. We found red squirrel abundance to be positively associated with both the abundance of Norway spruce (Picea abies) cones and the predators, the pine marten (Martes martes) and the northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), probably due to shared habitat preferences. The results suggest that red squirrel populations are synchronized over remarkably large distances, on a scale of hundreds of kilometres, and that this synchrony is mainly driven by similarly spatially autocorrelated spruce cone crop. Our research demonstrates how a bottom-up effect can drive spatial synchrony in consumer populations on a very large scale of hundreds of kilometres, and also how an explicit spatiotemporal approach can improve model performance for fluctuating populations.

As acute stress induced by predation risk can generate significant oxidative damage, prey organisms are forced to balance their defence reaction and the cost of activating the cellular defence system. Stress tolerance differs significantly among species; therefore predator pressure indirectly shapes the community structure. To test adaptation abilities of amphipod crustaceans (Dikerogammarus villosus and Gammarus jazdzewskii) we exposed them to acute (35 min.) and chronic (1 or 7 days) predation risk (the Eurasian perch). We measured respiration (related to metabolic rate), cellular defence systems (antioxidant enzyme (catalase) activity and heat shock protein (Hsp70) concentration), and the level of oxidative damage (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) concentration). Both amphipods increased their respiration rate in the presence of predation cues, irrespective of the duration of their pre-exposure to danger. This increase in D. villosus was initiated more quickly (immediately vs. after 10 min. of the test) and lasted for a longer time (20 vs. 10 min.) than in G. jazdzewskii. However, only G. jazdzewskii after a short exposure to predation risk exhibited an increase in its catalase activity, Hsp70 concentration and oxidative damage. No changes in these parameters were exhibited by D. villosus or after a chronic exposure of G. jazdzewskii to predation cues. Our results show that prey organisms are able to reconfigure their physiology to maintain increased metabolic rate under prolonged predator pressure and, at the same time, reduce oxidative damage as well as costs related to anti-oxidant defence.

The sudden interruption of recurring larch budmoth (LBM; Zeiraphera diniana or griseana Gn.) outbreaks across the European Alps after 1982 was surprising, because populations had regularly oscillated every 8–9 years for the past 1200 years or more. Although ecophysiological evidence was limited and underlying processes remained uncertain, climate change has been indicated as a possible driver of this disruption. An unexpected, recent return of LBM population peaks in 2017 and 2018 provides insight into this insect’s climate sensitivity. Here, we combine meteorological and dendrochronological data to explore the influence of temperature variation and atmospheric circulation on cyclic LBM outbreaks since the early 1950s. Anomalous cold European winters, associated with a persistent negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation, coincide with four consecutive epidemics between 1953 and 1982, and any of three warming-induced mechanisms could explain the system’s failure thereafter: (1) high egg mortality, (2) asynchrony between egg hatch and foliage growth, and (3) upward shifts of outbreak epicentres. In demonstrating that LBM populations continued to oscillate every 8–9 years at sub-outbreak levels, this study emphasizes the relevance of winter temperatures on trophic interactions between insects and their host trees, as well as the importance of separating natural from anthropogenic climate forcing on population behaviour.

An animal’s diet contributes to its survival and reproduction. Variation in diet can alter the structure of community-level consumer-resource networks, with implications for ecological function. However, much remains unknown about the underlying drivers of diet breadth. Here we use a network approach to understand how consumer diet changes in response to local and landscape context and how these patterns compare between closely-related consumer species. We conducted field surveys to build 36 quantitative plant-pollinator networks using observation-based and pollen-based records of visitation across the gulf-coast cotton growing region of Texas, US. We focused on two key cotton pollinator species in the region: the social European honey bee, Apis mellifera, and the solitary native long-horned bee, Melissodes tepaneca. We demonstrate that diet breadth is highly context-dependent. Specifically, local factors better explain patterns of diet than regional factors for both species, but A. mellifera and M. tepaneca respond to local factors with contrasting patterns. Despite being collected directly from cotton blooms, both species exhibit significant preferences for non-cotton pollen, indicating a propensity to spend substantial effort foraging on remnant vegetation despite the rarity of these patches in the intensely managed cotton agroecosystem. Overall, our results demonstrate that diet is highly context- and species-dependent and thus an understanding of both factors is key for evaluating the conservation of important cotton pollinators.

Abstract While foliar photosynthetic relationships with light, nitrogen, and water availability have been well described, environmental factors driving vertical gradients of foliar traits within forest canopies are still not well understood. We, therefore, examined how light availability and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) co-determine vertical gradients (between 12 and 42 m and in the understorey) of foliar photosynthetic capacity (Amax), 13C fractionation (∆), specific leaf area (SLA), chlorophyll (Chl), and nitrogen (N) concentrations in canopies of Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba growing in a mixed forest in Switzerland in spring and summer 2017. Both species showed lower Chl/N and lower SLA with higher light availability and VPD at the top canopy. Despite these biochemical and morphological acclimations, Amax during summer remained relatively constant and the photosynthetic N-use efficiency (PNUE) decreased with higher light availability for both species, suggesting suboptimal N allocation within the canopy. ∆ of both species were lower at the canopy top compared to the bottom, indicating high water-use efficiency (WUE). VPD gradients strongly co-determined the vertical distribution of Chl, N, and PNUE in F. sylvatica, suggesting stomatal limitation of photosynthesis in the top canopy, whereas these traits were only related to light availability in A. alba. Lower PNUE in F. sylvatica with higher WUE clearly indicated a trade-off in water vs. N use, limiting foliar acclimation to high light and VPD at the top canopy. Species-specific trade-offs in foliar acclimation to environmental canopy gradients may thus be considered for scaling photosynthesis from leaf to canopy to landscape levels.

Abstract Mutualistic interactions between plants and pollinators play an essential role in the organization and persistence of biodiversity. The structure of interaction networks mediates the resilience of local communities and ecosystem functioning to environmental changes. Hence, network structure conservation may be more critical for maintaining biodiversity and ecological services than the preservation of isolated species in changing landscapes. Here, we intensively surveyed seven 36 km2 landscapes to empirically investigate the effects of forest loss and landscape configuration on the structure of plant–pollinator networks in understory vegetation of Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Our results indicate that forest loss and isolation affect the structure of the plant–pollinator networks, which were smaller in deforested landscapes, and less specialized as patch isolation increased. Lower nestedness and degree of specialization (Hʹ2) indicated that the remaining plant and bee species tend to be generalists, and many of the expected specialized interactions in the network were already lost. Because generalist species generate a cohesive interaction core in these networks, these simplified networks might be resistant to loss of peripheral species, but may be susceptible to the extinction of the most generalist species. We suggest that such a network pattern is an outcome of landscapes with a few remaining isolated patches of natural habitat. Our results add a new perspective to studies of plant–pollinator networks in fragmented landscapes, showing that those interaction networks might also be used to indicate how changes in natural habitat affect biodiversity and biotic interactions.

Organisms allocate limited resources to competing activities such as reproduction, growth, and defense against parasites and predators. The introduction of a novel parasite may create new life history trade-offs. As hosts increase their investment in self-maintenance or defense, the cost of parasitism may carry over to other aspects of host biology. Here, in an experimental field study, we document delayed effects of an introduced nest parasite, Philornis downsi, on reproduction of Galápagos mockingbirds (Mimus parvulus). Parasitism of first nests reduced both the number and size of chicks that parents hatched when they re-nested several weeks later. The delayed effect of P. downsi on future reproduction may have been mediated by behavioral shifts by the parents to avoid or resist parasitism. Our results demonstrate that effects of parasitism can persist even after immediate exposure ends. We draw attention to the potential implications that introduced parasites have for host reproductive strategies.

Abstract Vertical niche partitioning might be one of the main driving forces explaining the high diversity of forest ecosystems. However, the forest’s vertical dimension has received limited investigation, especially in temperate forests. Thus, our knowledge about how communities are vertically structured remains limited for temperate forest ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the vertical structuring of an arboreal caterpillar community in a temperate deciduous forest of eastern North America. Within a 0.2-ha forest stand, all deciduous trees ≥ 5 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) were felled and systematically searched for caterpillars. Sampled caterpillars were assigned to a specific stratum (i.e. understory, midstory, or canopy) depending on their vertical position and classified into feeding guild as either exposed feeders or shelter builders (i.e. leaf rollers, leaf tiers, webbers). In total, 3892 caterpillars representing 215 species of butterflies and moths were collected and identified. While stratum had no effect on caterpillar density, feeding guild composition changed significantly with shelter-building caterpillars becoming the dominant guild in the canopy. Species richness and diversity were found to be highest in the understory and midstory and declined strongly in the canopy. Family and species composition changed significantly among the strata; understory and canopy showed the lowest similarity. Food web analyses further revealed an increasing network specialization towards the canopy, caused by an increase in specialization of the caterpillar community. In summary, our study revealed a pronounced stratification of a temperate forest caterpillar community, unveiling a distinctly different assemblage of caterpillars dwelling in the canopy stratum.

The Novel Defense Hypothesis predicts that introduced plants may possess novel allelochemicals which act as a defense against native generalist enemies. Here, we aim to test if the chemicals involved in allelopathy in the invasive plant Wedelia trilobata can contribute to higher resistance against generalist herbivore and pathogen enemies by comparing with its native congener W. chinensis in controlled laboratory conditions. The allelopathic effects of the leaf extract from W. trilobata on the generalist enemies were also assessed. We showed that the larvae of two moth species preferred W. chinensis over W. trilobata. The growth rate of larvae feeding on W. trilobata leaves was significantly lower than those feeding on W. chinensis leaves. When detached leaves were inoculated with phytopathogens, the infected leaf area of W. trilobata was significantly smaller than that of W. chinensis. In addition, the leaf extract of W. trilobata also effectively inhibited the growth of the larvae and the mycelial growth of the phytopathogens. Our results indicate that the defenses of invasive W. trilobata against generalist herbivore and pathogen enemies are stronger than that of its native congener, which may be attributed to the allelopathic effects. This study provides novel insights that can comprehensively link the Novel Defense, Behavioral Constraint and Enemy Release hypotheses. These combined hypotheses would explain how invasive plants escape from their natural specialist enemies, where their allelopathic chemicals may deter herbivorous insects and inhibit pathogen infection.

Drylands are predicted to become more arid and saline due to increasing global temperature and drought. Although species from the Caatinga, a Brazilian tropical dry forest, are tolerant to these conditions, the capacity for germination to withstand extreme soil temperature and water deficit associated with climate change remains to be quantified. We aimed to evaluate how germination will be affected under future climate change scenarios of limited water and increased temperature. Seeds of three species were germinated at different temperatures and osmotic potentials. Thermal time and hydrotime model parameters were established and thresholds for germination calculated. Germination performance in 2055 was predicted, by combining temperature and osmotic/salt stress thresholds, considering soil temperature and moisture following rainfall events. The most pessimistic climate scenario predicts an increase of 3.9 °C in soil temperature and 30% decrease in rainfall. Under this scenario, soil temperature is never lower than the minimum and seldomly higher than maximum temperature thresholds for germination. As long as the soil moisture (0.139 cm3 cm3) requirements are met, germination can be achieved in 1 day. According to the base water potential and soil characteristics, the minimum weekly rainfall for germination is estimated to be 17.5 mm. Currently, the required minimum rainfall occurs in 14 weeks of the year but will be reduced to 4 weeks by 2055. This may not be sufficient for seedling recruitment of some species in the natural environment. Thus, in future climate scenarios, rainfall rather than temperature will be extremely limiting for seed germination.

Abstract Identifying resources driving long-term trends in predators is important to understand ecosystem changes and to manage populations in the context of conservation or control. The arctic fox population in Iceland has increased steadily over a period of 30 years, an increase that has been attributed to an overall increase in food abundance. We hypothesized that increasing populations of geese or seabirds were driving this growth. We analyzed stable isotopes in a long-term series of collagen samples to determine the role of these different resources. The isotopic signatures of arctic foxes differed consistently between coastal and inland habitats. While δ15N displayed a non-linear change over time with a slight increase in the first part of the period followed by a decline in both habitats, δ13C was stable. Stable isotope mixing models suggested that marine resources and rock ptarmigan were the most important dietary sources, with marine resources dominating in coastal habitats and rock ptarmigan being more important inland. Our results suggest that seabirds may have been driving the arctic fox population increase. The rapidly increasing populations of breeding geese seem to have played a minor role in arctic fox population growth, as rock ptarmigan was the most important terrestrial resource despite a considerable decrease in their abundance during recent decades. This study shows that a long-term population trend in a generalist predator may have occurred without a pronounced change in main dietary resources, despite ongoing structural changes in the food web, where one species of herbivorous birds increased and another decreased.

Understanding the mechanisms by which populations are regulated is critical for predicting the effects of large-scale perturbations. While discrete mortality events provide clear evidence of direct impacts, indirect pathways are more difficult to assess but may play important roles in population and ecosystem dynamics. Here, we use multi-state occupancy models to analyze a long-term dataset on nesting bald eagles in south-central Alaska with the goal of identifying both direct and indirect mechanisms influencing reproductive output in this apex predator. We found that the probabilities of both nest occupancy and success were higher in the portion of the study area where water turbidity was low, supporting the hypothesis that access to aquatic prey is a critical factor limiting the reproductive output of eagles in this system. As expected, nest success was also positively related to salmon abundance; however, the negative effect of spring warmth suggested that access to salmon resources is indirectly diminished in warm springs as a consequence of increased glacial melt. Together, these findings reveal complex interrelationships between a critical prey resource and large-scale weather and climate processes which likely alter the accessibility of resources rather than directly affecting resource abundance. While important for understanding bald eagle reproductive dynamics in this system specifically, our results have broader implications that suggest complex interrelationships among system components.

High-severity wildfires, which can homogenize floral communities, are becoming more common relative to historic mixed-severity fire regimes in the Northern Rockies of the U.S. High-severity wildfire could negatively affect bumble bees, which are typically diet generalists, if floral species of inadequate pollen quality dominate the landscape post-burn. High-severity wildfires often require more time to return to pre-burn vegetation composition, and thus, effects of high-severity burns may persist past initial impacts. We investigated how wildfire severity (mixed- vs. high-severity) and time-since-burn affected available floral pollen quality, corbicular pollen quality, and bumble bee nutrition using percent nitrogen as a proxy for pollen quality and bumble bee nutrition. We found that community-weighted mean floral pollen nitrogen, corbicular pollen nitrogen, and bumble bee nitrogen were greater on average by 0.82%N, 0.60%N, and 1.16%N, respectively, in mixed-severity burns. This pattern of enhanced floral pollen nitrogen in mixed-severity burns was likely driven by the floral community, as community-weighted mean floral pollen percent nitrogen explained 87.4% of deviance in floral community composition. Only bee percent nitrogen varied with time-since-burn, increasing by 0.33%N per year. If these patterns persist across systems, our findings suggest that although wildfire is an essential ecosystem process, there are negative early successional impacts of high-severity wildfires on bumble bees and potentially on other pollen-dependent organisms via reductions in available pollen quality and nutrition. This work examines a previously unexplored pathway for how disturbances can influence native bee success via altering the nutritional landscape of pollen.

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) and bumblebees (Bombus spp.) often undergo exploitative competition for shared floral resources, which can alter their foraging behaviour and flower choice, even causing competitive exclusion. This may be strongest in summer, when foraging conditions are most challenging for bees, compared to other times of the year. However, the seasonal dynamics of competition between these major pollinator groups are not well understood. Here, we investigate whether the strength of exploitative competition for nectar between honeybees and bumblebees varies seasonally, and whether competitive pressure is greatest in summer months. We carried out experimental bee exclusion trials from May to late September, using experimental patches of lavender, variety Grosso, in full bloom. In each trial, we compared the numbers of honeybees (HB) foraging on patches from which bumblebees had been manually excluded (bumblebee excluded, BBE) versus control (CON) patches, HB(BBE-CON). This measure of exploitative competition varied significantly with season. As expected, mean HB(BBE-CON) was significantly greater in summer trials than in spring or autumn trials. This was despite high nectar standing crop volumes in BBE patch flowers in spring and autumn trials. Mean HB(BBE-CON) was not different between spring and autumn trials. Our results show that nectar competition between honeybees and bumblebees varies seasonally and is stronger in summer than spring or autumn, adding to current understanding of the seasonality of resource demand and competition between bee species. This information may also help to inform conservation programs aiming to increase floral resources for bees by showing when these resources are most needed.

Free-living parasite infectious stages, such as motile cercariae of trematodes (flatworms), can constitute substantial biomass within aquatic ecosystems and are frequently eaten by various consumers, potentially serving as an important source of nutrients and energy. However, quantitative data on their nutritional value (e.g., essential fatty acids [EFA]) are largely lacking. As EFA are leading indicators of nutritional quality and underpin aquatic ecosystem productivity, we performed fatty acid (FA) analysis on an aggregate of ~ 30,000 cercariae of the freshwater trematode, Ribeiroia ondatrae. Individual cercariae contained 15 ng of total FA, and considerable quantities of EFA, including eicosapentaenoic (EPA, at 0.79 ng cercaria−1) and docosahexaenoic (DHA, at 0.01 ng cercaria−1) acids. We estimated annual EFA production by R. ondatrae cercariae for a series of ponds in California to be 40.4–337.0 μg m−2 yr−1 for EPA and 0.7–6.2 μg m−2 yr−1 for DHA. To investigate viability of cercariae as prey, we also compared growth and FA profiles of dragonfly larvae (naiads of Leucorrhinia intacta) fed equivalent masses of either R. ondatrae or zooplankton (Daphnia spp.) for 5 weeks. Naiads raised on the two diets grew equally well, with no significant differences found in their EFA profiles. While zooplankton are widely recognized as a vital source of energy, and an important conduit for the movement of EFA between algae and higher trophic levels, we suggest a similar role for trematode cercariae by ‘unlocking’ EFA from the benthic environment, highlighting their potential importance as a nutrient source that supports animal health.

The production and fate of seaweed detritus is a major unknown in the global C-budget. Knowing the quantity of detritus produced, the form it takes (size) and its timing of delivery are key to understanding its role as a resource subsidy to secondary production and/or its potential contribution to C-sequestration. We quantified the production and release of detritus from 10 Laminaria hyperborea sites in northern Norway (69.6° N). Kelp biomass averaged 770 ± 100 g C m−2 while net production reached 499 ± 50 g C m−2 year−1, with most taking place in spring when new blades were formed. Production of biomass was balanced by a similar formation of detritus (478 ± 41 g C m−2 year−1), and both were unrelated to wave exposure when compared across sites. Distal blade erosion accounted for 23% of the total detritus production and was highest during autumn and winter, while dislodgment of whole individuals and/or whole blades corresponded to 24% of the detritus production. Detachment of old blades constituted the largest source of kelp detritus, accounting for > 50% of the total detrital production. Almost 80% of the detritus from L. hyperborea was thus in the form of whole plants or blades and > 60% of that was delivered as a large pulse within 1–2 months in spring. The discrete nature of the delivery suggests that the detritus cannot be retained and consumed locally and that some is exported to adjacent deep areas where it may subsidize secondary production or become buried into deep marine sediments as blue carbon.

Fluxes of materials or organisms across ecological boundaries, often termed “resource subsidies,” directly affect recipient food webs. Few studies have addressed how such direct responses in one ecosystem may, in turn, influence the fluxes of materials or organisms to other habitats or the potential for feedback relationships to occur among ecosystems. As part of a large-scale, multi-year experiment, we evaluated the hypothesis that the input of a marine-derived subsidy results in a complex array of resource exchanges (i.e., inputs, outputs, feedbacks) between stream and riparian ecosystems as responses disperse across ecological boundaries. Moreover, we evaluated how the physical properties of resource subsidies mediated complex responses by contrasting carcasses with a pelletized salmon treatment. We found that salmon carcasses altered stream–riparian food webs by directly subsidizing multiple aquatic and terrestrial organisms (e.g., benthic insect larvae, fishes, and terrestrial flies). Such responses further influenced food webs along indirect pathways, some of which spanned land and water (e.g., subsidized fishes reduced aquatic insect emergence, with consequences for spiders and bats). Subsidy-mediated feedbacks manifested when carcasses were removed to riparian habitats where they were colonized by carrion flies, some of which fell into the stream and acted as another prey subsidy for fishes. As the effects of salmon subsidies propagated through the stream–riparian food web, the sign of consumer responses was not always positive and appeared to be determined by the outcome of trophic interactions, such that localized trophic interactions within one ecosystem mediated the export of organisms to others.

With the increasing imperative for societies to act to curb climate change by increasing carbon stores and sinks, it has become critical to understand how organic carbon is produced, released, transformed, transported, and sequestered within and across ecosystems. In freshwater and open-ocean systems, shredders play a significant and well-known role in transforming and mobilizing carbon, but their role in the carbon cycle of coastal ecosystems is largely unknown. Marine plants such as kelps produce vast amounts of detritus, which can be captured and consumed by shedders as it traverses the seafloor. We measured capture and consumption rates of kelp detritus by sea urchins across four sampling periods and over a range of kelp detritus production rates and sea urchin densities, in northern Norway. When sea urchin densities exceeded 4 m−2, the sea urchins captured and consumed a high percentage (ca. 80%) of kelp detritus on shallow reefs. We calculated that between 1.3 and 10.8 kg of kelp m−2 are shredded annually from these reefs. We used a hydrodynamic dispersal model to show that transformation of kelp blades to sea urchin feces increased its export distance fourfold. Our findings show that sea urchins can accelerate and extend the export of carbon to neighboring areas. This collector–shredder pathway could represent a significant flow of small particulate carbon from kelp forests to deep-sea areas, where it can subsidize benthic communities or contribute to the global carbon sink.

In tropical forests, epiphytes increase habitat complexity and provision services rare to canopy environments, such as water retention, nutrient cycling, and microclimate refuge. These services facilitate species diversity and coexistence in terrestrial ecosystems, and while their utility in forest ecosystems is appreciated for the Bromeliaceae of the Neotropics, fewer studies have examined the role of Paleotropic epiphytes in ecological niche theory. Here, we compare herpetofaunal presence, abundance, and diversity of in bird’s nest fern (Asplenium nidus complex; BNF) to other microhabitats in Madagascar and the Philippines. We measure BNF fern microclimates, examine temporal use of canopy microhabitats, and test models of fern characteristics hypothesized to predict herpetofaunal use. In both countries, one in five BNFs were occupied by herpetofauna, mostly amphibians, and species using BNFs were highly dissimilar from those in other microhabitats. Herpetofaunal presence and abundance were greater in BNFs than in other canopy microhabitats and were most commonly used during the day when fern temperatures were highly buffered. Finally, BNF area was the best predictor of herpetofaunal presence and abundance, compared to canopy cover and BNF height. Importantly, these patterns remained consistent despite the distinct phylogenetic histories of our two communities (Asian versus African). Our results suggests that BNFs and their microclimate services play a critical role in the ecology of two Paleotropic forests, and facilitate the use of canopy habitats by climate-sensitive species. However, future studies are needed to assess the consistency of BNFs’ utility as a microclimate refuge across their large range.

Abstract Prey modify their behavior in response to variation in predation risk, and such modifications can affect trophic processes such as disease transmission. However, variation in predation risk is complex, arising from direct risk from the predator itself and indirect risk due to the environment. Moreover, direct risk typically stems from multiple predators and varies over timescales (e.g., a predator nearby vs. its seasonal activities). We implemented a field-based experiment to disentangle these sources of risk and relate them to antipredator behavior in rodents. We modeled rodent occurrence and activity as a function of short- and long-term risk from a primary predator, red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), long-term risk from a second predator, coyotes (Canis latrans), and environmental variables. We found that long-term red fox activity strongly reduced rodent occurrence and that cues of nearby red fox presence decreased rodent activity by > 50%. In addition, this activity reduction was dynamic in that varied according to the background level of long-term red fox activity. Importantly, rodents did not respond to environmental variables (moonlight, temperature, and habitat) or long-term coyote activity. These results bear upon recent work that suggests predators can alter tick-borne disease dynamics via induced antipredator behavior of rodents, which are hosts for pathogens and ticks. Specifically, our study corroborates the hypothesis that red foxes act as important proximal agents in regulating tick-borne diseases by reducing rodent activity. More generally, this study highlights the need to consider the dynamic nature of prey antipredator response across landscapes with variable long-term predation risk.

Species diversity has been proposed to decrease prevalence of disease in a wide variety of host–pathogen systems, in a phenomenon labeled the dilution effect. This phenomenon was first proposed and tested for vector-borne diseases but was later extended to directly transmitted parasite systems such as hantavirus. Though there seems to be clear evidence for the dilution effect in some hantavirus/rodent systems, the generality of this hypothesis remains debated. In the present meta-analysis, we examined the evidence supporting the dilution effect for hantavirus/rodent systems in the Americas. General linear models employed on data from 56 field studies identified the abundance of the reservoir rodent species and its relative proportion in the community as the only relevant variables explaining the prevalence of antibodies against hantavirus in the reservoir. Thus, we found no clear support for the dilution effect hypothesis for hantavirus/rodent systems in the Americas.

Coastal ecosystems are often formed through two-way interactions between plants and their physical landscape. By expanding clonally, landscape-forming plants can colonize bare unmodified environments and stimulate vegetation–landform feedback interactions. Yet, to what degree these plants rely on clonal integration for overcoming physical stress during biogeomorphological succession remains unknown. Here, we investigated the importance of clonal integration and resource availability on the resilience of two European beach grasses (i.e. Elytrigia juncea and Ammophila arenaria) over a natural biogeomorphic dune gradient from beach (unmodified system) to foredune (biologically modified system). We found plant resilience, as measured by its ability to recover and expand following disturbance (i.e. plant clipping), to be independent on the presence of rhizomal connections between plant parts. Instead, resource availability over the gradient largely determined plant resilience. The pioneer species, Elytrigia, demonstrated a high resilience to physical stress, independent of its position on the biogeomorphic gradient (beach or embryonic dune). In contrast, the later successional species (Ammophila) proved to be highly resilient on the lower end of its distribution (embryonic dune), but it did not fully recover on the foredunes, most likely as a result of nutrient deprivation. We argue that in homogenously resource-poor environments as our beach system, overall resource availability, instead of translocation through a clonal network, determines the resilience of plant species. Hence, the formation of high coastal dunes may increase the resistance of beach grasses to the physical stresses of coastal flooding, but the reduced marine nutrient input may negatively affect the resilience of plants.

Abstract Multiple mechanisms may act synergistically to promote success of invasive plants. Here, we tested the roles of three non-mutually exclusive mechanisms—founder effects, post-introduction evolution and phenotypic plasticity—in promoting invasion of Chromolaena odorata. We performed a common garden experiment to investigate phenotypic diversification and phenotypic plasticity of the genetically impoverished invader in response to two rainfall treatments (ambient and 50% rainfall). We used ancestor–descendant comparisons to determine post-introduction evolution and the QST-FST approach to estimate past selection on phenotypic traits. We found that eight traits differed significantly between plants from the invasive versus native ranges, for two of which founder effects can be inferred and for six of which post-introduction evolution can be inferred. The invader experienced strong diversifying selection in the invasive range and showed clinal variations in six traits along water and/or temperature gradients. These clinal variations are likely attributed to post-introduction evolution rather than multiple introductions of pre-adapted genotypes, as most of the clinal variations were absent or in opposite directions from those for native populations. Compared with populations, rainfall treatments explained only small proportions of total variations in all studied traits for plants from both ranges, highlighting the importance of heritable phenotypic differentiation. In addition, phenotypic plasticity was similar for plants from both ranges although neutral genetic diversity was much lower for plants from the invasive range. Our results showed that founder effects, post-introduction evolution and phenotypic plasticity may function synergistically in promoting invasion success of C. odorata.

Multiple mechanisms may act synergistically to promote success of invasive plants. Here, we tested the roles of three non-mutually exclusive mechanisms-founder effects, post-introduction evolution and phenotypic plasticity-in promoting invasion of Chromolaena odorata. We performed a common garden experiment to investigate phenotypic diversification and phenotypic plasticity of the genetically impoverished invader in response to two rainfall treatments (ambient and 50% rainfall). We used ancestor-descendant comparisons to determine post-introduction evolution and the QST-FST approach to estimate past selection on phenotypic traits. We found that eight traits differed significantly between plants from the invasive versus native ranges, for two of which founder effects can be inferred and for six of which post-introduction evolution can be inferred. The invader experienced strong diversifying selection in the invasive range and showed clinal variations in six traits along water and/or temperature gradients. These clinal variations are likely attributed to post-introduction evolution rather than multiple introductions of pre-adapted genotypes, as most of the clinal variations were absent or in opposite directions from those for native populations. Compared with populations, rainfall treatments explained only small proportions of total variations in all studied traits for plants from both ranges, highlighting the importance of heritable phenotypic differentiation. In addition, phenotypic plasticity was similar for plants from both ranges although neutral genetic diversity was much lower for plants from the invasive range. Our results showed that founder effects, post-introduction evolution and phenotypic plasticity may function synergistically in promoting invasion success of C. odorata.

Maternal effects affect offspring phenotype and fitness. However, the roles of offspring sex-specific sensitivity to maternal glucocorticoids and sex-biased maternal investment remain unclear. It is also uncertain whether telomere length (a marker associated with lifespan) depends on early growth in a sex-specific manner. We assessed whether maternal traits including corticosterone (CORT; the main avian glucocorticoid) and in ovo growth rate are sex-specifically related to offspring CORT exposure, relative telomere length (RTL) and body condition in eiders (Somateria mollissima). We measured feather CORT (fCORT), RTL and body condition of newly hatched ducklings, and growth rate in ovo was expressed as tarsus length at hatching per incubation duration. Maternal traits included baseline plasma CORT, RTL, body condition and breeding experience. We found that fCORT was negatively associated with growth rate in daughters, while it showed a positive association in sons. Lower offspring fCORT was associated with higher maternal baseline plasma CORT, and fCORT was higher in larger clutches and in those hatching later. The RTL of daughters was negatively associated with maternal RTL, whereas that of males was nearly independent of maternal RTL. Higher fCORT in ovo was associated with longer RTL at hatching in both sexes. Duckling body condition was mainly explained by egg weight, and sons had a slightly lower body condition. Our correlational results suggest that maternal effects may have heterogeneous and even diametrically opposed effects between the sexes during early development. Our findings also challenge the view that prenatal CORT exposure is invariably associated with shorter telomeres.

Multiple brooding, reproducing twice or more per year, is an important component of life-history strategies. However, what proximate factors drive the frequency of multiple brooding and its fitness consequences for parents and offspring remains poorly known. Using long-term longitudinal data, we investigated double brooding in a barn owl population in France. We assessed the effects of both extrinsic and intrinsic factors and the consequences of double brooding on fledgling recruitment and female lifetime reproductive success. The occurrence of double brooding in the population, ranging from 0 to 87%, was positively related to the number of rodent prey stored at the nest. Females laying early in the season were more likely to breed twice and the probability of double brooding increased with smaller initial brood size, female age and the storage of wood mice at the nest early in the season. Fledglings from first broods recruited more often (8.2%) than those from single broods (3.8%) or second broods (3.3%), but this was primarily the consequence of laying dates, not brood type per se. Females producing two broods within a year, at least once in their lifetime, had higher lifetime reproductive success and produced more local recruits than females that did not (15.6 ± 8.1 vs. 6.1 ± 3.8 fledglings, 0.96 ± 1.2 vs. 0.24 ± 0.6 recruits). Our results suggests that the fitness benefits of double brooding exceed costs and that within-year variability in double brooding may be related to heterogeneity in individual/territory quality.

Land-use intensification represents one major threat to the diversity and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. In the face of concurrent climate change, concerns are growing about the ability of intensively managed agroecosystems to ensure stable food provisioning, as they may be particularly vulnerable to climate extreme-induced harvest losses and pest outbreaks. Extensively managed systems, in contrast, were shown to mitigate climate change based on plant diversity-mediated effects, such as higher functional redundancy or asynchrony of species. In this context, the maintenance of soils is essential to sustain key ecosystem functions such as nutrient cycling, pest control, and crop yield. Within the highly diverse soil fauna, nematodes represent an important group as their trophic spectrum ranges from detritivores to predators and they allow inferences to the overall state of the ecosystem (bioindicators). Here, we investigated the effects of simulated climate change and land-use intensity on the diversity and abundance of soil nematode functional groups and functional indices in two consecutive years. We revealed that especially land use induced complex shifts in the nematode community with strong seasonal dynamics, while future climate led to weaker effects. Strikingly, the high nematode densities associated with altered climatic conditions and intensive land use were a consequence of increased densities of opportunists and potential pest species (i.e., plant feeders). This coincided with a less diverse and less structured community with presumably reduced capabilities to withstand environmental stress. These degraded soil food web conditions represent a potential threat to ecosystem functioning and underline the importance of management practices that preserve belowground organisms.

Autumn canopy phenological transitions are increasing in length as a consequence of climate change. Here, we assess how well hyperspectral indices in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths predict nitrogen (N) concentrations in lower-canopy leaves in the autumn phenological transition as they are generally understudied in leaf trait research. Using a Bayesian framework, we tested how well published indices are able to predict N concentrations in Fagus grandifolia Ehrh., Liriodendron tulipifera L., and Betula lenta L. from mid-summer through senescence, and how related the indices are to autumn phenological change. No indices were able to determine a trend in differences in N in mid-summer leaves. Indices that included wavelengths in the green and NIR ranges were the first indices able to detect a trend and had among the highest correlations with N concentration in both the last green collection and the senescing collection. Models were unique when indices were fit to data from different phenophases. Indices that focused on only the red edge (i.e., the sharp increase in reflectance between the red and NIR wavelengths) had the strongest explanatory power across the autumn phenological transition, but had less explanatory power for individual collections. These indices, as well as those that have been correlated with chlorophyll (CCI) and carotenoids (PRI), were the strongest descriptors of autumn progression. This study provides insights on challenges and capabilities to monitor a leaf's N concentration throughout and across canopy senescence.

Despite being a major selective force, predation can induce puzzling variability in anti-predator responses-from lack of predator aversion to lifelong predator-induced fear. This variability is hypothesised to result from variation in the trade-offs associated with avoiding predators. But critical information on fitness outcomes of these trade-offs associated with anti-predator behaviours is lacking. We tested this trade-off hypothesis in Aedes aegypti, by examining oviposition site selection decisions in response towards larval predation risk and comprehensively measuring the fitness implications of trade-offs of avoiding larval predators, using three fitness measures: larval survival, development time and size. In a field study, we find that adult females show a surprisingly variable response to predators, ranging from attraction to avoidance. This variation is explained by fitness outcomes of oviposition along a predation-risk gradient that we measured in the laboratory. We show that ovipositing females could gain fitness benefits from ovipositing in pools with a low density of predators, rather than in predator-free pools, as predators provide a release from negative density effects of conspecific larvae that might co-occur in a pool. Interacting selection pressures may thus explain diverse prey responses. We suggest other systems in which similarly unexpected prey behaviour is likely to occur.

The ability of an organism to adapt to short-term environmental changes within its lifetime is of fundamental importance. This adaptation may occur through phenotypic plasticity. Insects and mites, in particular, are sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity, especially during the juvenile stages. We studied the role of phenotypic plasticity in the adaptation of eggs to different relative humidity conditions, in the predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis, used worldwide as a biological control agent of the spider mite Tetranychus urticae. The biocontrol efficacy of P. persimilis decreases under dry conditions, partly because P. persimilis eggs are sensitive to drought. We exposed P. persimilis adult females from two different strains to constant and variable humidity regimes and evaluated the hatching rate of their eggs in dry conditions, as well as the survival and oviposition rates of these females. Whereas the eggs laid by P. persimilis females exposed to constant high humidity did not survive in dry conditions, females exposed to constant low humidity started laying drought-resistant eggs after 24 h of exposure. Survival and oviposition rates of the females were affected by humidity: females laid fewer eggs under constant low humidity and had a shorter lifespan under constant high and constant low humidity. The humidity regimes tested had similar effects across the two P. persimilis strains. Our results demonstrate that transgenerational phenotypic plasticity, called maternal effect, allows P. persimilis females to prepare their offspring for dry conditions.

In South America the biogeographic history has produced different biomes with different vegetation types and distinct floras. As these vegetation types may diverge in evolutionary histories, we analysed how alpha and beta phylogenetic diversity vary across them and determine the main drivers of variation in phylogenetic diversity. To this end, we compiled a list of 205 sites and 1222 tree species spread over four biomes and eight vegetation types in central South America. For each site we evaluated six measures of evolutionary alpha diversity (species richness, phylogenetic diversity sensu stricto and the standardized effect size of phylogenetic diversity, mean phylogenetic distance and mean nearest taxon distance) and beta diversity (phylogenetic Sorensen's similarity). We checked the influence of spatial and environmental variables using generalized least squares models. The greatest phylogenetic differentiation was found between west and east of central South America, mainly between the Chaco communities and the other vegetation types, suggesting that species found in this biome come from different lineages, comparing with the others vegetation types. Our results also showed a clustered phylogenetic structure for the Dry Chaco woodlands, which may be associated with harsh environmental conditions. In addition to historical process, climatic conditions are the main drivers shaping phylogenetic patterns among the distinct vegetation types. Understanding patterns of phylogenetic diversity and distribution can greatly improve conservation planning and management since it allows the conservation of unique biome characteristics.

The global phenomenon of mangrove encroachment into saltmarshes has been observed across five continents. It has been proposed that this encroachment is driven in part by rising atmospheric CO2 concentration and reduced salinity in saltmarshes resulting from rising sea levels enhancing the establishment success of mangrove seedlings. However, this theory is yet to be empirically tested at the community-level. In this study, we examined the effect of CO2 and salinity on seedling growth of two mangrove species, Aegiceras corniculatum and Avicennia marina, grown individually and in a model saltmarsh community in a glasshouse experiment. We found that the shoot (210%) and root (91%) biomass of the saltmarsh species was significantly greater under elevated CO2. As a result, both mangrove species experienced a stronger competitive effect from the saltmarsh species under elevated CO2. Nevertheless, A. marina seedlings produced on average 48% more biomass under elevated CO2 when grown in competition with the saltmarsh species. The seedlings tended to allocate this additional biomass to growing taller suggesting they were light limited. In contrast, A. corniculatum growth did not significantly differ between CO2 treatments. However, it had on average 36% greater growth under seawater salinity compared to hypersaline conditions. Avicennia marina seedlings were not affected by salinity. From these results, we suggest that although CO2 and salinity are not universal drivers determining saltmarsh-mangrove boundaries, it is likely that rising atmospheric CO2 concentration and reduced salinity associated with sea level rise will enhance the establishment success of mangrove seedlings in saltmarshes, which may facilitate mangrove encroachment in the future.

Plant reproduction is highly sensitive to stress from severe weather. While facilitation has been shown to buffer negative impacts along stress gradients, less is known about facilitating plant reproduction in drought periods. Because intensity and frequency of drought are predicted to increase, plant reproductive facilitation has important implications for a species ability to adapt to changes in climate. Our primary study objective is to test if nurse shrubs act as reproductive micro-refugia across soil types, by improving reproductive potential of perennial bunchgrass neighbors subjected to severe drought. To investigate this objective, we designed a fully factored study testing direct interaction between shrub and bunchgrasses in eastern Oregon sagebrush steppe, at two sites with different soil types. The study consisted of six simple effect treatments combining three moisture regimes (moist, ambient, and drought) with two shrub conditions (shrub intact or shrub removed). Our results indicate when facilitation of reproductive potential occurs, it occurs strongly and particularly in drought, consistent with the stress gradient hypothesis (SGH), where several species produced at least 54% more inflorescences in the presence of shrub neighbors. In addition, we found facilitation to be consistent with the SGH at the species level likely reflecting differences in plant strategy and perception of strain, but to follow alternative SGH models more closely at the site level where facilitation declined on the drier soil. Ultimately, our findings highlight the importance of facilitation in improving plant reproductive potential in drought, and support the role of nurse shrubs as micro-refugia in a changing climate.

Climate change can negatively impact plant-pollinator interactions, and reduce outcross pollination. For reproductive assurance, an increased capacity for autonomous selfing should benefit the persistence of plants under new temperature conditions. Plastic responses of the autonomous selfing capacity to climate change may occur indirectly due to changes in floral traits associated with this capacity. We tested whether the mixed mating plant Mimulus guttatus is capable of plastic changes in floral traits favoring autonomous selfing in response to temperature changes. In seven growth chambers, we grew M. guttatus originating from a large range of latitudes (from 37.89° N to 49.95° N) and thus home temperatures in North America, and experimentally assessed the (autonomous) selfing and outcrossing capacities of the plants. With an increase in the difference between the overall mean daytime and nighttime experimental test temperature and home temperature, flower length and width decreased. The plastic response in flower size suggests that plants may be more successful at autonomous selfing. However, we did not find direct evidence that M. guttatus responded to increased temperature by an increased autonomous selfing capacity. With an increase in temperature difference, the odds of seed production, number of seeds, and individual seed mass decreased. Our results indicate that global warming and the associated increase in extreme temperature events may be detrimental to the reproduction and thus persistence of some plants.

Myrmecochory (seed dispersal by ants) is a unique seed dispersal syndrome among invertebrates. It comprises three main phases: seed removal, seed manipulation, and seed deposition. However, the contribution of each phase to seed and seedling fate remains unclear. Here, we experimentally quantified the effects of each phase of myrmecochory on seed germination and seedling establishment, the two most critical life history stages involved in plant recruitment. We established 30 sample points, and each included an adult Mabea fistulifera tree, an Atta sexdens nest entrance, and six seed depots. We monitored the germination of M. fistulifera seeds for 3 months and subsequently followed the growth and mortality of the resulting seedlings for 12 months. Only the dispersal distance influenced plant establishment, reducing seed germination and increasing seedling growth, but with no effect of seed manipulation and deposition site. Despite the contrasting effects of distance on seed germination and seedling growth, the positive effect of dispersal distance on seedling growth was ten times greater than the negative effect on seed germination. Moreover, A. sexdens behaved neither as granivore nor as herbivore of M. fistulifera seeds or seedlings, which suggests that seed dispersal by A. sexdens is advantageous to M. fistulifera. Thus, the joint occurrence of these two species in disturbed areas could have a positive effect on this pioneer plant population, which might promote forest regeneration.

Invasions can trigger cascades in ecological communities by altering species interactions. Following the introduction of cats and foxes into Australia, one tenth of Australia's terrestrial mammal species became extinct, due to predation, while many continue to decline. The broader consequences for Australian ecosystems are poorly understood. Soil-dwelling invertebrates are likely to be affected by the loss of fossorial native mammals, which are predators and disturbance agents. Using reintroductions as a model for ecosystems prior to species loss, we tested the hypothesis that mammal reintroduction leads to reduced vegetation cover and altered termite assemblages, including declines in abundance and biomass and changed species composition. We hypothesised that the magnitude of mammal reintroduction effects would diminish with increasing aridity, which affects resource availability. We compared six paired sites inside and outside three reintroduction sanctuaries across an aridity gradient. We sampled termite assemblages using soil trenches and measured habitat availability. Reintroductions were associated with increased bare ground and reduced vegetation, compared with controls. Aridity also had an underlying influence on vegetation cover by limiting water availability. Termite abundance and biomass were lower where mammals were reintroduced and the magnitude of this effect decreased with increasing aridity. Termite abundance was highest under wood, and soil-nesting wood-feeders were most affected inside sanctuaries. Ecological cascades resulting from exotic predator invasions are thus likely to have increased termite biomass and altered termite assemblages, but impacts may be lower in less-productive habitats. Our findings have implications for reserve carrying capacities and understanding of assemblage reconstruction following ecological cascades.

Temperature is one of the most influential drivers of physiological performance and behaviour in ectotherms, determining how these animals relate to their ecosystems and their ability to succeed in particular habitats. Here, we analysed the largest set of acceleration data compiled to date for elasmobranchs to examine the relationship between volitional activity and temperature in 252 individuals from 8 species. We calculated activation energies for the thermal performance response in each species and estimated optimum temperatures using an Arrhenius breakpoint analysis, subsequently fitting thermal performance curves to the activity data. Juveniles living in confined nursery habitats not only spent substantially more time above their optimum temperature and at the upper limits of their performance breadths compared to larger, less site-restricted animals, but also showed lower activation energies and broader performance curves. Species or life stages occupying confined habitats featured more generalist behavioural responses to temperature change, whereas wider ranging elasmobranchs were characterised by more specialist behavioural responses. The relationships between the estimated performance regimes and environmental temperature limits suggest that animals in confined habitats, including many juvenile elasmobranchs within nursery habitats, are likely to experience a reduction of performance under a warming climate, although their flatter thermal response will likely dampen this impact. The effect of warming on less site-restricted species is difficult to forecast since three of four species studied here did not reach their optimum temperature in the wild, although their specialist performance characteristics may indicate a more rapid decline should optimum temperatures be exceeded.

The persistence and distribution of species under changing climates can be affected by both direct effects of the environment and indirect effects via biotic interactions. However, the relative importance of direct and indirect climate effects on recruitment stages is poorly understood. We conducted a manipulative experiment to test the multiway interaction of direct and competition-mediated effects of climate change on vegetation dynamics. Following stand-replacing fire in California mixed-conifer forest, we seeded two conifer species, Pinus ponderosa and Abies concolor, in two consecutive years, one relatively normal and the other with an unusually wet and snowy winter followed by a hot summer. We additionally manipulated snow amount and competitive environment for both years. We found the effects of the snowpack treatment were contingent upon other abiotic factors (year of seeding) and biotic factors (shrub competition). Under ambient snowpack, shrubs reduced recruitment of P. ponderosa seedlings, but this negative effect disappeared with reduced snowpack. Additionally, the effects of shrubs on seedlings differed between cohorts and by life stage. In a warmer future, decreased snowpack may increase seedling emergence, but hotter and drier summers will decrease seedling survival; the effects of shrubs on conifers may become less negative as temperatures increase.

The responses of organisms to organic farming depend on the taxonomic group and landscape complexity. Following the intermediate landscape complexity hypothesis, organic farming can compensate for the lack of complexity in simple landscapes. Argentinian farmlands are simple with large fields and scarce linear habitat array, and conventional agriculture is almost the only agriculture practice. We hypothesize that there is an interaction effect of landscape complexity and farming practices on occupancy and species richness of small mammals in farmland of central Argentina. We selected circular landscapes under organic farming and low- and high-intensity conventional farming and quantified heterogeneity in each landscape considering different cover types (crops, resting plots, fallow land, border habitats, grasslands and man-made structures). We used multi-species occupancy models accounting for multiple seasons with a Bayesian approach to make the estimates. Landscapes under organic farms had the highest level of landscape heterogeneity. In simple Argentinian farmlands, organic farming benefited species richness and occupancy of all small mammal species. Some management strategies used in organic farming (wide and vegetated border habitats, diversity in types of production, winter cover crops, natural or semi-natural patches) should be taken into account to increase landscape complexity in conventional farming.

The relative importance of stochastic- and niche-based processes shifts during successional time and across different types of habitats. Microbial biofilms are known to undergo such successional shifts. However, little is known about the interaction between these successional trajectories and habitat filters. Harsh habitat filters could affect biofilm successional trajectories by strengthening niche-based processes and weakening stochastic processes. We used mesocosms to track successional trajectories in bacterial communities associated with the striped shore crab (Pachygrapsus transversus). We followed replicated microbial communities under strong and weak habitat filters associated with the crab's gut and carapace. For bacteria, colonization of the crab's gut is constrained by strong chemical and physical filtering, while the carapace remains relatively open for colonization. Consistent with successional models of bacterial biofilms, carapace microbial communities initially converged in community composition at day 8 and diverged thereafter. We expected gut microbial communities to deviate from the trajectory in the carapace and converge towards a subset of tolerant species. Instead, bacterial communities in the gut exhibited low richness, unchanging similarity in composition and turnover in species identities throughout the duration of our study. These habitat filter effects were linked with weak species interactions and low influence from colonization in the gut. If these findings are representative of differences in filter strength in a continuum of successional trajectories, habitat filters may provide basis for predictions that link successional models and habitat types.

Predicting the effects of predator diversity loss on food webs is challenging, because predators can both consume and induce behavioral responses in their prey (i.e., non-consumptive effects or NCEs). Studies manipulating predator diversity and investigating NCEs are rare, especially in marine systems. Recently, a severe outbreak of sea star wasting syndrome (SSWS) on the west coast of North America resulted in unprecedented declines of the sea star Pisaster ochraceus. We investigated the consequences of Pisaster loss on an abundant grazer, the black turban snail Tegula funebralis, through NCEs. We combined a laboratory experiment and field surveys to examine the importance of identity vs. diversity in a predator assemblage (Pisaster, crabs, and octopuses) on Tegula behavior, feeding, and growth. Laboratory and field results indicated that predator identity, not diversity, drives Tegula behavior and causes NCEs. Mesocosm treatments with Pisaster caused greater NCEs on Tegula than assemblages without Pisaster. Tegula's distribution in the field, which is driven primarily by anti-predator behavior, was strongly associated only with Pisaster abundance, and not with the abundance of crabs, octopuses, and other predatory sea stars (Leptasterias spp.). We conclude that Pisaster primarily drives Tegula vertical distribution and may be having strong NCEs on Tegula on northern California rocky shores. Furthermore, predator diversity in northern California does not provide functional redundancy, in terms of NCEs on Tegula, to buffer the system from Pisaster loss. Thus, predator-induced vertical distributions and grazing suppression may not be maintained in areas where Pisaster populations are reduced or slow to recover from SSWS.

Herbivore attack can alter plant interactions with pollinators, ranging from reduced to enhanced pollinator visitation. The direction and strength of effects of herbivory on pollinator visitation could be contingent on the type of plant tissue or organ attacked by herbivores, but this has seldom been tested experimentally. We investigated the effect of variation in feeding site of herbivorous insects on the visitation by insect pollinators on flowering Brassica nigra plants. We placed herbivores on either leaves or flowers, and recorded the responses of two pollinator species when visiting flowers. Our results show that variation in herbivore feeding site has profound impact on the outcome of herbivore-pollinator interactions. Herbivores feeding on flowers had consistent positive effects on pollinator visitation, whereas herbivores feeding on leaves did not. Herbivores themselves preferred to feed on flowers, and mostly performed best on flowers. We conclude that herbivore feeding site choice can profoundly affect herbivore-pollinator interactions and feeding site thereby makes for an important herbivore trait that can determine the linkage between antagonistic and mutualistic networks.

Understanding the differences in fine-root traits among different species is essential to gain a detailed understanding of resource conservation and acquisition strategies of plants. We aimed to explore whether certain root traits are consistent among subsets of species and characterize species together into meaningful community groups. We selected 11 woody species from different microbial symbiotic groups (ectomycorrhiza, arbuscular mycorrhiza, and rhizobia) and phylogenetic groups (broad-leaved angiosperms and coniferous gymnosperms) from the cool temperate forests of Nagano, Japan. We measured root architectural (branching intensity), morphological (root tissue density and specific root length), chemical (N and K concentrations), and anatomical (total stele and total cortex) traits. Significant differences were observed in all root traits, although many species did not differ from one another. Branching intensity was found to be the greatest variation in the measured root traits across the 11 woody species. The results of a principal component analysis of root traits showed a distinct separation between angiosperms and gymnosperms. We identified clusters of species based on their multidimensional root traits that were consistent with the different phylogenetic microbial association groups. Gymnosperm roots may be more resource conservative, while angiosperm roots may be more acquisitive for water and nutrients. We consider that the advances in root traits combination will make a breakthrough in our ability to differentiate the community groups rather than individual root trait.

A classic question in evolutionary biology is whether behavioral flexibility hastens or hinders evolutionary change. The latter idea, that behavior reduces the number of environmental states experienced by an organism and buffers that organism against selection, has been dubbed the "Bogert Effect" after Charles Bogert, the biologist who first popularized the phenomenon using data from lizards. The Bogert Effect is pervasive when traits like body temperature, which tend to be invariant across space in species that behaviorally thermoregulate, are considered. Nevertheless, behavioral thermoregulation decreases or stops when spatial variation in operative temperature is low. We compared environmental temperatures, thermoregulatory behavior, and a suite of physiological and morphological traits between two populations of the southern rock agama (Agama atra) in South Africa that experience different climatic regimes. Individuals from both populations thermoregulated efficiently, maintaining body temperatures within their preferred temperature range throughout most of their activity cycle. Nevertheless, they differed in the thermal sensitivity of resting metabolic rate at cooler body temperatures and in morphology. Our results support the common assertion that thermoregulatory behavior may prevent divergence in traits like field-active body temperature, which are measured during periods of high environmental heterogeneity. Nevertheless, we show that other traits may be free to diverge if they are under selection during times when environments are homogenous. We argue that the importance of the Bogert Effect is critically dependent on the nature of environmental heterogeneity and will therefore be relevant to some traits and irrelevant to others in many populations.

An animal's diet contributes to its survival and reproduction. Variation in diet can alter the structure of community-level consumer-resource networks, with implications for ecological function. However, much remains unknown about the underlying drivers of diet breadth. Here we use a network approach to understand how consumer diet changes in response to local and landscape context and how these patterns compare between closely-related consumer species. We conducted field surveys to build 36 quantitative plant-pollinator networks using observation-based and pollen-based records of visitation across the gulf-coast cotton growing region of Texas, US. We focused on two key cotton pollinator species in the region: the social European honey bee, Apis mellifera, and the solitary native long-horned bee, Melissodes tepaneca. We demonstrate that diet breadth is highly context-dependent. Specifically, local factors better explain patterns of diet than regional factors for both species, but A. mellifera and M. tepaneca respond to local factors with contrasting patterns. Despite being collected directly from cotton blooms, both species exhibit significant preferences for non-cotton pollen, indicating a propensity to spend substantial effort foraging on remnant vegetation despite the rarity of these patches in the intensely managed cotton agroecosystem. Overall, our results demonstrate that diet is highly context- and species-dependent and thus an understanding of both factors is key for evaluating the conservation of important cotton pollinators.

Central to understanding animal ecology is how prey cope with the interacting risks of starvation and predation. This trade-off is modulated by the energy requirements of prey, yet relatively few studies have incorporated physiological mechanisms for energy savings when considering the behavioural response of prey to predation risk. In our study, we aimed to determine individual variation in behaviour, resting metabolism, body temperature and response to 24-h starvation within a captive population of fat-tailed dunnarts (Sminthopsis crassicaudata; 15-g insectivorous marsupials), and then, using semi-outdoor enclosures, test whether foraging effort and thermal energetics are adjusted in response to manipulation of ground cover, which for small mammals can simulate predation risk. We found that, under the low cover (high predation risk) treatment, dunnarts consumed less food and employed a greater daily reduction in body temperature between their active and rest phase. This result supports the hypothesis that rest-phase thermoregulatory energy savings are employed, even when food is available, if predation risk is perceived to increase the cost of foraging. Individuals exhibited correlated variation along two orthogonal axes incorporating the measured behavioural and metabolic variables, but these differences were not correlated with responses to starvation and predation risk. Our experiment demonstrates that flexibility in daily energy requirements provided by heterothermy can have important consequences for how small mammals respond to both starvation and predation risks. Such challenges are amplified in degraded habitat with introduced predators, making the capacity for heterothermy an even more important mechanism for survival.

Plant species can be characterized by different growth strategies related to their inherent growth and recovery rates, which shape their responses to stress and disturbance. Ecosystem engineering, however, offers an alternative way to cope with stress: modifying the environment may reduce stress levels. Using an experimental study on two seagrass species with contrasting traits, the slow-growing Zostera marina vs. the fast-growing Zostera japonica, we explored how growth strategies versus ecosystem engineering may affect their resistance to stress (i.e. addition of organic material) and recovery from disturbance (i.e. removal of above-ground biomass). Ecosystem engineering was assessed by measuring sulphide levels in the sediment porewater, as seagrass plants can keep sulphide levels low by aerating the rhizosphere. Consistent with predictions, we observed that the fast-growing species had a high capacity to recover from disturbance. It was also more resistant to stress and still able to maintain high standing stock with increasing stress levels because of its ecosystem engineering capacity. The slow-growing species was not able to maintain its standing stock under stress, which we ascribe to a weak capacity for ecosystem engineering regarding this particular stress. Overall, our study suggests that the combination of low-cost investment in tissues with ecosystem engineering to alleviate stress creates a new path in the growth trade-off between investment in strong tissues or fast growth. It does so by being both fast in recovery and more resistant. As such low-cost ecosystem engineering may occur in more species, we argue that it should be considered in assessing plant resilience.