Many species show replicated ecophenotypy due to recurring patterns of natural selection. Based on the presence or absence of pursuit predators, at least 17 species of fish repeatedly differentiated in body shape in a manner that increases burst swimming speed and the likelihood of predator escape. The predator-associated burst speed (PABS) ecophenotype is characterized by a small head and trunk and enlarged caudal region. Mechanisms promoting replicated phenotype-environment association include selection (without evolution), a single...

For ecosystem models to be applicable outside their context of development, temporal and spatial transferability must be demonstrated. This presents a challenge for modeling intertidal ecosystems where spatiotemporal variation arises at multiple scales. Models specializing in tidal dynamics are generally inhibited from having wider ecological applications by coarse spatiotemporal resolution or high user competency. The Tidal Inundation Model of Shallow-water Availability (TiMSA) uniquely simulates tides to empirically derive a time-integrated measure of availability for a...

Genetic variation is a fundamental component of biodiversity, and studying population structure, gene flow, and demographic history can help guide conservation strategies for many species. Like other aerial insectivores, the purple martin (Progne subis) is in decline, and yet their genetic background remains largely unknown. To address this knowledge gap, we assessed population structure in the nominate eastern subspecies (P. s. subis) with relation to natal dispersal and examined historical genetic patterns in all three...

In this study we present the first genetic evidence of the phylogenetic position of Tarsius pumilus, the mountain tarsier of Sulawesi, Indonesia. This mysterious primate is the only Eastern tarsier species that occurs exclusively in cloud forests above 1800 m asl. It exhibits striking morphological peculiarities – most prominently its extremely reduced body size, which led to the common name of “pygmy tarsier”. However, our results indicate that T. pumilus is not an aberrant form...

Aim: Understanding the spatial ecology of animal movements is a critical element in conserving long-lived, highly mobile marine species. Analysing networks developed from movements of six sea turtle species reveals marine connectivity and can help prioritize conservation efforts. Location: Global. Methods: We collated telemetry data from 1,235 individuals and reviewed the literature to determine our dataset’s representativeness. We used the telemetry data to develop spatial networks at different scales to examine areas, connections, and their...

In an era of climate change, impacts on the marine environment include warming and ocean acidification. These effects can be amplified in shallow coastal regions where conditions often fluctuate widely. This type of environmental variation is potentially important for many nearshore species that are broadcast spawners, releasing eggs and sperm into the water column for fertilization. We conducted two experiments to investigate: 1) the impact of water temperature on sperm swimming characteristics and fertilization rate...

Hoopes G., Meng X., Hamilton J.P., Achakkagari S.R., de Alves Freitas Guesdes F., Bolger M.E., Coombs J.J., Esselink D., Kaiser N.R., Kodde L., Kyriakidou M., Lavrijssen B., van Lieshout N., Shereda R., Tuttle H.K., Vaillancourt B., Wood J.C., de Boer J.M., Bornowski N., Bourke P., Douches D., van Eck H.J., Ellis D., Feldman M.J., Gardner K.M., Hopman J.C.P., Jiang J., De Jong W.S., Kuhl J.C., Novy R.G., Oome S., Sathuvalli V., Tan E.H., Ursum R.A.,...

To understand the genetic basis of main culm panicle node number, maximum node production rate, and degree-days to heading in rice (Oryza sativa), we conducted genome-wide association studies using a diversity panel of 220 rice accessions and 854,832 SNP markers generated using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), with 1X coverage. The raw genotype data was filtered, selecting single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) having less than 50% missing data and minimum allele frequency (MAF) >5%. After initial filtering, imputation was...