The central peaks of the isolated island of St Helena (in the south Atlantic Ocean) are home to an extraordinary set of ground beetles of the tribe Bembidiini, and belong to three endemic genus-group taxa. These beetles are strikingly different in overall body form from the many bembidiines found elsewhere in the world. At least some of the St Helena species are likely extinct, and all are threatened by habitat destruction and invasive species. Through...

In this study, we aimed to evaluate to what extent different assays of innate immunity reveal similar patterns of variation across ungulate species. We compared several measures of innate antibacterial immune function across seven different ungulate species using blood samples obtained from captive animals maintained in a zoological park. We measured mRNA expression of two receptors involved in innate pathogen detection, toll-like receptors 2 and 5 (TLR2 and 5), the bactericidal capacity of plasma, as...

Files for 'Sex identification PCR-RFLP assay tested in eight species of Sebastes rockfish'. Files include a sampling spreadsheet for eight species of Sebastes rockfish, and a .fasta file of DNA sequences for a male and female from each species for the Sch.182255-210250 locus.

1. The identification of geographic areas where the densities of animals are highest across their annual cycles is a crucial step in conservation planning. In marine environments, however, it can be particularly difficult to map the distribution of species, and the methods used are usually biased towards adults, neglecting the distribution of other life-history stages even though they can represent a substantial proportion of the total population. 2. Here we develop a methodological framework for...

Contents: two folders that contain a total of nine files; one folder contains seven files, and the other folder, two files. The folder "redFlakeSite" contains: The thermal infrared hyperspectral airborne image, and its header file, of the Red Flake site, processed to emissivity values: 1) emissivityImage 2) emissivityImage.hdr The lithologic contact boundary lines for the Red Flake site, in a set of shape files: 3) allRFlakeClasses.shp 4) allRFlakeClasses.shx 5) allRFlakeClasses.dbf 6) allRFlakeClasses.prj The thermal infrared...

Aim: Contemporary species’ distributions are shaped by both geography and historical events, such as extinction, diversification in specific areas and long-distance dispersals. In the most diverse family of lichen-forming fungi, Parmeliaceae, the Hypogymnioid clade, is an example of an evolutionary lineage comprised of species occurring in temperate to subpolar regions in both hemispheres. Here, we elucidate the timing of diversification events and the impact of historical events on the species distribution in this lineage. Location:...

Purposeful provisioning of food to wild animals is a widespread and growing activity that has the potential to impact populations and communities. Nevertheless, studies assessing use of recreational feeders by free-living birds during winter are surprisingly rare and largely limited to regions with continental climates characterized by freezing temperatures and snow cover. In contrast, there is little information available regarding bird use of feeders within warmer climates during winter, despite widespread recreational feeding in these...

Little is known about intraspecific variation within the deacon rockfish (Sebastes diaconus), a recently described species found in the northeast Pacific Ocean. We investigated population structure among fish sampled from two nearshore reefs (Siletz Reef and Seal Rock) and one offshore site (Stonewall Bank) within a <50 km2 area off the Oregon coast. Fish from the three sample sites exhibited small but statistically significant differences based on genetic variation at >15,000 neutral loci, whether analyzed...

Nitrogen additions are known to elicit variable responses in semi-arid ecosystems, with responses increasing with precipitation. The response of semi-arid ecosystems to nitrogen are important to understand due to their large spatial extent worldwide and the global trend of increasingly available nitrogen. In this study, we evaluated the impact of a single nitrogen addition pulse on a semi-arid big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) ecosystem in western Wyoming. This is important given that sagebrush ecosystems are poorly...

Pacific salmon are a keystone resource in Alaska, generating annual revenues of well over ~US$500 million/yr. Due to their anadromous life history, adult spawners distribute amongst thousands of streams, posing a huge management challenge. Currently, spawners are enumerated at just a few streams because of reliance on human counters and, rarely, sonar. The ability to detect organisms by shed tissue (environmental DNA, eDNA) promises a more efficient counting method. However, although eDNA correlates generally with...

Plant invasions result in biodiversity losses and altered ecological functions, though quantifying loss of multiple ecosystem functions presents a research challenge. Plant phylogenetic diversity correlates with a range of ecosystem functions, and can be used as a proxy for ecosystem multifunctionality. Laurentian Great Lakes coastal wetlands are ideal systems for testing invasive species management effects because they support diverse biological communities, provide numerous ecosystem services, and are increasingly dominated by invasive macrophytes. Invasive cattails are...

Invasive animals depend on finding a balanced nutritional intake to colonize, survive, and reproduce in new environments. This can be especially challenging during situations of fluctuating cold temperatures and food scarcity, but phenotypic plasticity may offer an adaptive advantage during these periods. We examined how lifespan, fecundity, pre-oviposition periods, and body nutrient contents were affected by dietary protein and carbohydrate (P:C) ratios at variable low temperatures in two morphs (winter morphs WM and summer morphs...

Interspecific hybridization is recognized as an important process in the evolutionary dynamics of both speciation and the reversal of speciation. However, our understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns of hybridization that erode versus promote species boundaries is incomplete. The endangered, endemic koloa maoli (or Hawaiian duck, Anas wyvilliana) is thought to be threatened with genetic extinction through ongoing hybridization with an introduced congener, the feral mallard (A. platyrhynchos). We investigated spatial and temporal variation...

MANUSCRIPT ABSTRACT As global terrestrial biodiversity declines via land-use intensification, society has placed increasing value on non-commercial species as providers of ecosystem services. Yet, many deer species and non-crop plants are perceived negatively when they decrease crop productivity, leading to reduced economic gains and human-wildlife conflict. We hypothesized that deer provide an ecosystem service in forest plantations by controlling competition and promoting crop-tree growth, although the effects of herbivory may depend on forest management intensity....

The western North American genus Lionepha is shown to contain at least 11 species through a combination of eight-gene species delimitation analyses and morphological study. In order to confirm the names of several species, we sequence DNA of primary types of several names, including a LeConte lectotype collected in the 1850s, using next-generation sequencing. We examine chromosomes of eight species, and show that all have 12 pairs of autosomes and an X0/XX sex-chromosome system. The...

1.Studies of succession have a long history in ecology, but rigorous tests of general, unifying principles are rare. One barrier to these tests of theory is the paucity of longitudinal studies that span the broad gradients of disturbance severity that characterize large, infrequent disturbances. The cataclysmic eruption of Mount St. Helens (Washington, USA) in 1980 produced a heterogeneous landscape of disturbance conditions, including primary to secondary successional habitats, affording a unique opportunity to explore how...

Invasive alien species often have reduced genetic diversity and must adapt to new environments. Given the success of many invasions, this is sometimes called the genetic paradox of invasion. Phytophthora ramorum is invasive, limited to asexual reproduction within four lineages, and presumed clonal. NA1 is responsible for sudden oak death in the USA, NA1, NA2 and EU1 are responsible for ramorum blight in the USA and Canada and EU1 and EU2 are responsible for sudden...

Dispersal among breeding sites in territorial animals (i.e. breeding dispersal) is driven by numerous selection pressures, including competition and spatiotemporal variation in habitat quality. The scale and trend of dispersal movements over time may signal changing conditions within the population or on the landscape. We examined 2,158 breeding dispersal events from 694 male and 608 female individually-marked Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) monitored over 28 years on seven study areas to assess the relative...

Woody-plant encroachment represents a global threat to grasslands. Although the causes and consequences of this regime shift have received substantial attention, the processes that constrain reassembly of the grassland state remain poorly understood. We experimentally tested two potentially important controls on reassembly—the past influence of trees and the effects of fire—in conifer-invaded grasslands (mountain meadows) of western Oregon. Previously, we had reconstructed the history of tree invasion at fine spatial and temporal resolution. Using small...

Domestic livestock influence patterns of secondary succession across forest ecosystems. However, the effects of cattle on the regeneration of tropical dry forests (TDF) in Mexico are poorly understood, largely because it is difficult to locate forests that are not grazed by cattle or other livestock. We describe changes in forest composition and structure along a successional chronosequence of TDF stands with and without cattle (chronic grazing or exclusion from grazing for ~8 yr). Forest stands...

Aim: We investigate geographic patterns across taxonomic, ecological, and phylogenetic diversity to test for spatial (in)congruency and identify aggregate diversity hotspots in relation to present land-use and future climate. Simulating extinctions of imperiled species, we demonstrate where losses across diversity dimensions and geography are predicted. Location: North America Time period: Present-day, future Major taxa studied: Rodentia Methods: Using geographic range maps for rodent species, we quantified spatial patterns for eleven dimensions of diversity: taxonomic (species,...

Community-based conservation models have been widely implemented across Africa to improve wildlife conservation and livelihoods of rural communities. In Tanzania, communities can set aside land and formally register it as Wildlife Management Area (WMA), which allows them to generate revenue via consumptive or non-consumptive utilization of wildlife. The key, yet often untested, assumption of this model is that economic benefits accrued from wildlife motivate sustainable management of wildlife. To test the ecological effectiveness (here defined...

Data comprise measurements of spectral reflectance for quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) trees at a range of sites in southwestern Colorado near the town of Crested Butte. Spectra were measured in three different ways: hyperspectral measurements of leaves, hyperspectral measurements of bark, and multispectral measurements of canopies. The first two measurements were made using a handheld spectrometer, while the latter were made via airborne imaging from an unmanned aerial system. In addition to these reflectance...

Background Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) surveys regarding zoonotic diseases are crucial to understanding the extent of knowledge among citizens and for guiding health-related education programs. Method Employing a structured questionnaire, we interviewed residents (n=388) in three districts of northern Tanzania (Karatu n=128, Monduli n=114, Babati n=146) to assess knowledge, attitudes and reported practices regarding three zoonotic diseases that occur in the region (anthrax, brucellosis, and rabies). We used generalized linear mixed effects models and...

The cultivated strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) is an octoploid, and the identity of its four subgenomes has long been a mystery. In their recent strawberry genome publication, Edger et al. present a novel hypothesis: each subgenome originated from a different extant diploid progenitor, and the hexaploid species Fragaria moschata was a direct ancestor. We reanalyzed the four octoploid subgenomes in a phylogenomic context and our results support only two extant diploids progenitors; we also found no...