High rates of dispersal can breakdown coadapted gene complexes. However, concentrated genomic architecture (i.e., genomic islands of divergence) can suppress recombination to allow evolution of local adaptations despite high gene flow. Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) is a highly dispersive anadromous fish. Observed trait diversity and evidence for genetic basis of traits suggests it may be locally adapted. We addressed whether concentrated genomic architecture could influence local adaptation for Pacific lamprey. Using two new whole genome...

Premise of the study: The young seedling life stage is critical for reforestation after disturbance and for species migration under climate change, yet little is known regarding their basic hydraulic function or vulnerability to drought. Here, we sought to characterize responses to desiccation including hydraulic vulnerability, xylem anatomical traits, and impacts on other stem tissues that contribute to hydraulic functioning. Methods: Larix occidentalis , Pseudotsuga menziesii , and Pinus ponderosa (all < 6 weeks-old) were...

Due to the mediating role of body size in determining fitness, the ‘bigger is better’ hypothesis still pervades evolutionary ecology despite evidence that natural selection on phenotypic traits varies in time and space. For Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus), most individual studies quantify selection across a narrow range of sizes and ages; therefore, uncertainties remain concerning how selection on size may differ among diverse life-histories. Here, we quantify the direction and magnitude of natural selection on...

These datasets provide information on radiotelemetry tagging, migration and fate of adult spring, summer, and fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), sockeye salmon (O. nerka) and steelhead (O. mykiss) in the Columbia River Basin, 1996-2014. The tagging database provides tagging metrics that include date collected at time of capture and release, size, fin clips, condition, injuries, marks or tags, release site, etc. The migration databases includes complete migration histories and integrates all coded radio detections, PIT-tag...

In herbivores, survival and reproduction are influenced by quality and quantity of forage and, hence, diet and foraging behavior are the foundation of an herbivore’s life history strategy. Given the importance of diet to most herbivores, it is imperative that we know the species of plants they prefer, especially for herbivorous species that are at risk for extinction. However, it is often difficult to identify the diet of small herbivores because: 1) they are difficult...

Landscape genomics studies focus on identifying candidate genes under selection via spatial variation in abiotic environmental variables, but rarely by biotic factors such as disease. The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is found only on the environmentally heterogeneous island of Tasmania and is threatened with extinction by a nearly 100% fatal, transmissible cancer, devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). Devils persist in regions of long-term infection despite epidemiological model predictions of species’ extinction, suggesting possible adaptation to...

The primary objective of this study was to provide a feasibility assessment for estimating snow interception volume with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), providing information on challenges and opportunities for future research. During the winters of 2017 and 2018, intercepted snow masses were continuously measured for two model trees suspended from load-cells. Simultaneously, autonomous terrestrial lidar scanning (ATLS) was used to develop volumetric estimates of intercepted snow.

Woody bioenergy is a viable source of alternative energy; however, questions remain on how purpose-grown bioenergy feedstock production management impact surface soil chemistry. In order to understand the soil processes under poplar (Populus spp.) trees and adjacent agricultural sites, surface (0-15 cm) soil samples were collected from four northwestern United States locations over a four-year period. Initial and final surface soil samples were analyzed for various soil chemical parameters, including organic matter, pH, cation exchange...

Telomere length dynamics are an established biomarker of health and aging in animals. The study of telomeres in numerous species has been facilitated by methods to measure telomere length by real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR). In this method, telomere length is determined by quantifying the amount of telomeric DNA repeats in a sample and normalizing this to the total amount of genomic DNA. This normalization requires the development of genomic reference primers suitable for qPCR, which...

Several soil science education studies over the last 15 years have focused on the number of students enrolled in soil science programs. However, no studies have quantitatively addressed the number of undergraduate soil science preparatory programs that exist in the United States, which means we do not have solid data concerning whether overall program numbers are declining, rising, or holding steady. This also means we do not have complete data on the same trends for...

1. Heat dissipation limit theory posits that energy available for growth and reproduction in endotherms is limited by their ability to dissipate heat. In mammals, endogenous heat production increases markedly during gestation and lactation, and thus female mammals may be subject to greater thermal constraints on energy expenditure than males. Such constraints likely have important implications for behavior and population performance in a warming climate. 2. We used a mechanistic simulation model based on first...

Adaptation to local environments involves the evolution of ecologically important traits and underlying physiological processes. Here, we used low coverage whole-genome resequencing (lcWGR) on individuals to identify genome regions involved in thermal adaptation in wild redband trout Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri, a subspecies of rainbow trout that inhabits ecosystems ranging from cold montane forests to high elevation deserts. This study includes allele frequency-based analyses for selective sweeps among populations, followed by multiple association tests for specific...

Maintenance of a portfolio of adaptive alleles may provide resilience of populations to natural environmental variability. We used Pacific ocean perch (POP; Sebastes alutus) to test for the maintenance of adaptive variation across overlapping generations. POP are a long-lived species characterized by widespread larval dispersal in their first year and a longevity of over 100 years. In order to understand how early marine dispersal affects POP survival and population structure, we used Restriction Site Associated...

Rough-skinned newts (Taricha granulosa) use tetrodotoxin (TTX) to block voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels as a chemical defense against predation. Interestingly, newts exhibit extreme population-level variation in toxicity attributed to a coevolutionary arms race with TTX-resistant predatory snakes, but the source of TTX in newts is unknown. Here, we investigated whether symbiotic bacteria isolated from toxic newts could produce TTX. We characterized the skin-associated microbiota from a toxic and non-toxic population of newts and established pure...

Species delimitation is ever more critical for assessing biodiversity in threatened regions of the world, especially when undescribed lineages may be at risk from habitat loss. Mouse lemurs (Microcebus) are an example of a rapid radiation of morphologically cryptic species that are distributed throughout Madagascar in its rapidly vanishing forested habitats. Here, we focus on two pairs of sister lineages that occur in a region in northeastern Madagascar that shows high levels of microendemism. We...

Genetically engineered transgenes evolve in the same way as other genetic material. However, evolution in engineered genes is often undesirable and can negatively affect their stability, frequency, and efficacy over time. Methods that maintain the stability of engineered genomes are therefore critical to the successful design and use of genetically engineered organisms. One potential method to limit unwanted evolution is by taking advantage of the ability of gene-flow to counter local adaption, a process of...

This dataset contains RGB photographs acquired from drone surveys. There are 741 harvest plots from 38 surveys at 36 sites around the world. Each site was approximately 1 ha in area. Included with the photographic images are the coordinates of ground control markers, biomass, taxonomic and location data for harvest plots and ancillary metadata. The observations can be used to obtain allometric size-biomass models. This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council award...

• Although linkages of leaf and whole-plant traits to leaf lifespan have been rigorously investigated, there is a limited understanding of similar linkages of whole-plant and fine root traits to root lifespan. In comparisons across species, do suites of traits found in leaves also exist for roots, and can these traits be used to predict root lifespan? • We observed the fine root lifespan of 12 temperate tree species using minirhizotrons in a common garden...

Evidence from natural systems suggests that hybridization between animal species is more common than traditionally thought, but the overall contribution of introgression to standing genetic variation within species remains unclear for most animal systems. Here, we use targeted exon-capture to sequence thousands of nuclear loci and complete mitochondrial genomes from closely related chipmunk species in the Tamias quadrivittatus group that are distributed across the Great Basin and the central and southern Rocky Mountains of North...

The danger posed by infectious agents necessitates the development of new tools to both predict and manage emerging diseases. One promising approach is the development of recombinant viral vaccines that are themselves infectious. Transmissible vaccines have been shown to greatly reduce the effort required to control the spread of zoonotic pathogens in their animal reservoirs, thereby limiting the chances of human infection. While this approach can be immensely useful in combating emerging diseases, the ability...