Data are presented for Above ground Carbon Density (ACD) estimated from a series of forest census surveys which took place from 1992 – 2016 in a mixture of logged and unlogged tropical lowland dipterocarp forest in the Ulu Segama Forest Reserve (USFR) and Danum Valley Conservation Area (DVCA), Sabah, Malaysia. Additional data on logging method, coupe and year of logging is also presented. The USFR comprises of forested land divided into coupes that were each...

Empirical studies have documented both positive and negative density-dependent dispersal, yet most theoretical models predict positive density dependence as a mechanism to avoid competition. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the occurrence of negative density-dependent dispersal, but few of these have been formally modeled. Here, we developed an individual based model of the evolution of density-dependent dispersal. This model is novel in that it considers the effects of density on dispersal directly, and indirectly...

1. Effective evidence-based conservation requires full quantification of the impacts of targeted management interventions on focal populations. Such impacts may extend beyond target individuals to also affect demographic rates of non-target conspecifics (e.g. different age classes). However, such collateral (i.e. unplanned) impacts are rarely evaluated, despite their potential to substantially alter conservation outcomes. Subsequent management decisions may then be poorly informed or erroneous. 2. We used 15 years of individual-based demographic data in a “before-after...

1. Offshore windfarms require construction procedures that minimise impacts on protected marine mammals. Uncertainty over the efficacy of existing guidelines for mitigating near-field injury when pile-driving recently resulted in the development of alternative measures, which integrated the routine deployment of acoustic deterrent devices (ADD) into engineering installation procedures without prior monitoring by Marine Mammal Observers. 2. We conducted research around the installation of jacket foundations at the UK’s first deep-water offshore windfarm to address data...

The intensity of pastoral management in areas of High Nature Value farming is declining in some regions of Europe but increasing in others. This affects open habitats of conservation concern, such as the British uplands, where bird species that benefit from low-intensity grazing may be most sensitive to such polarisation. While experimental manipulations of livestock grazing intensities have improved our understanding of upland breeding bird responses in the short-term, none have examined the longer-term impacts...

Data comprise soil organic carbon (SOC) content from soil simulations in a small agricultural catchment (Sunjia) which is part of the Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) in southeast China (Jianxi province). The simulations were performed using the ECOSSE model (a pool-based carbon and nitrogen turnover model) and soil and climate input data were provided by the research farm at the soil science department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Simulations were conducted in 2018.

Herbivorous insects such as butterflies and moths are essential to natural and agricultural systems due to pollination and pest outbreaks. However, our knowledge of butterflies’ and moths’ nutrition is fragmented and limited to few common, charismatic, or problematic species. This gap precludes our complete understanding of herbivorous insects’ natural history, physiological and behavioural adaptations that drive how species interact with their environment, the consequences of habitat destruction and climate change to invertebrate biodiversity, and pest...

Model organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster have been key tools for advancing our fundamental and applied knowledge in biological and biomedical sciences. However, model organisms have become intertwined with the idea of controlled and stable laboratory environments, and their natural history has been overlooked. In holometabolous insects, lack of natural history information on larval ecology has precluded major advances in the field of developmental ecology, especially in terms of manipulations of population density early in...

Data comprise soil organic carbon content from a simulation using the ECOSSE model; a pool-based carbon and nitrogen turnover model. Simulations were performed using input data from the Sunjia research farm in southeast China (Jianxi province). Data here is from simulations using the global version of the ECOSSE model, a package which applies the regular model spatially. Input data for the simulations were provided by the soil science department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences....

1. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has revolutionised biomonitoring in both marine and freshwater ecosystems. However, for semi-aquatic and terrestrial animals, the application of this technique remains relatively untested. 2. We first assess the efficiency of eDNA metabarcoding in detecting semi-aquatic and terrestrial mammals in natural lotic ecosystems in the UK by comparing sequence data recovered from water and sediment samples to the mammalian communities expected from historical data. Secondly, using occupancy modelling we compared the...

Phylogenetic inference and species delimitation can be challenging in taxonomic groups that have recently radiated and where introgression produces conflicting gene trees, especially when species delimitation has traditionally relied on mitochondrial data and colour pattern. Chromodoris, a genus of colourful and toxic nudibranch in the Indo-Pacific, has been shown to have extraordinary cryptic diversity and mimicry, and has recently radiated, ultimately complicating species delimitation. In these cases, additional genome-wide data can help improve phylogenetic resolution...

1. Elucidating the full eco-evolutionary consequences of climate change requires quantifying the impact of extreme climatic events (ECEs) on selective landscapes of key phenotypic traits that mediate responses to changing environments. Episodes of strong ECE-induced selection could directly alter population composition, and potentially drive micro-evolution. However, to date, few studies have quantified ECE-induced selection on key traits, meaning that immediate and longer-term eco-evolutionary implications cannot yet be considered. 2. One widely-expressed trait that allows individuals...

Animal spatial behaviour is often presumed to reflect responses to visual cues. However, inference of behaviour in relation to the environment is challenged by the lack of objective methods to identify the information that effectively is available to an animal from a given location. In general, animals are assumed to have unconstrained information on the environment within a detection circle of a certain radius (the perceptual range; PR). However, visual cues are only available up...

Summary output data (including soil organic carbon concentration, nitrogen, available water and carbon dioxide) from simulations of soil in a small agricultural catchment (Sunjia) in Southeast China (Jianxi province). The simulations were performed using the ECOSSE model; a pool-based carbon and nitrogen turnover model. The simulations were performed using soil and climate input data from the research farm. Input data for the simulations were provided by the soil science department of the Chinese Academy of...

Bird species are declining across Europe. Current European policy, i.e. the Birds and Habitats Directives, focus on habitat management as a way of halting the declines. This paper explores the role of predation in causing bird population declines and asks if we need to reconsider our approach to the management of generalist predators. We analysed bird population trends and distribution changes across Europe, Britain and Ireland, reflecting an increasing gradient of generalist predator abundance (principally...

In light of global climate change, there is a pressing need to understand and predict the capacity of populations to respond to rising temperatures. Metabolic rate is a key trait that is likely to influence the ability to cope with climate change. Yet, empirical and theoretical work on metabolic rate responses to temperature changes has so far produced mixed results and conflicting predictions. Our study addresses this issue using a novel approach of comparing fish...

This essay for the inaugural issue of Technology and Language suggests a kind of time-travel. As the hand becomes dethroned in writing, the voice might be in speech, and it is with the technologies of the scribal and vocal arts that they can be reclaimed. In the fairly recent past, words, severed from hand and mouth, have been converted into the liquid currency of a global information and communications industry. Technologies followed in step and...

Quantifying additive genetic variances and cross-sex covariances in reproductive traits, and identifying processes that shape and maintain such (co)variances, is central to understanding the evolutionary dynamics of reproductive systems. Gene flow resulting from among-population dispersal could substantially alter additive genetic variances and covariances in key traits in recipient populations, thereby altering forms of sexual conflict, indirect selection and evolutionary responses. However, the degree to which genes imported by immigrants do in fact affect quantitative genetic...

Within-individual and among-individual variation in expression of key environmentally-sensitive traits, and associated variation in fitness components occurring within and between years, determine the extents of phenotypic plasticity and selection and shape population responses to changing environments. Reversible seasonal migration is one key trait that directly mediates spatial escape from seasonally-deteriorating environments, causing spatio-seasonal population dynamics. Yet, within-individual and among-individual variation in seasonal migration versus year-round residence, and dynamic associations with subsequent reproductive success, have not...