In the California Current Ecosystem (CCE), krill represent a key link between primary production and higher trophic level species owing to their central position in the food web and tendency to form dense aggregations. However, the strongly advective circulation associated with coastal upwelling may spatiotemporally decouple the occurrence and persistence of krill hotspots from phytoplankton biomass and nutrient sources. Results from a physical-biological model provide insights into fundamental mechanisms controlling the phenology of krill hotspots...

Recognition systems evolve to reduce the risk and costs of making recognition errors. Two sources of recognition error include perceptual error (error arising from inability to discriminate between objects) and template error (error arising from using the wrong recognition template). We focus on how template error shapes host defense against avian brood parasites. Prior experiments in American coots (Fulica americana), a conspecific brood parasite, demonstrated how hosts learn to recognize brood parasitic chicks by using...

Ant-hemipteran mutualisms can have positive and negative effects on host plants depending on the level of hemipteran infestation and plant protection conferred by ants against folivory. Differential effects of such mutualisms on plant survival are well documented in undisturbed and ant-invaded systems, but few have explored how anthropogenic disturbance affects interactions between hemipterans and native ant species and what the consequences may be for recovering ecosystems. Within a fragmented landscape in Costa Rica, restored tropical...

Asymmetries in power, the ability to influence the outcome of conflict, are ubiquitous in social interactions because interacting individuals are rarely identical. It is well-documented that asymmetries in power influence the outcome of reproductive conflict in social groups. Yet power asymmetries have received little attention in the context of negotiations between caring parents, which is surprising given that parents are often markedly different in size. Here we built on an existing negotiation model to examine...

Many marine fish species change sex during their lifetimes, and many of them are targets of commercial and recreational fishing. The timing of sex change in these animals is often related to body size, so populations typically consist of many small fish of the initial sex (usually female) and few large fish of the other sex (usually male). In nature, smaller fish are at a greater risk of mortality due to predation, but fishermen tend...

Premise of study: Large genomic datasets offer the promise of resolving historically recalcitrant species relationships. However, different methodologies can yield conflicting results, especially when clades have experienced ancient, rapid diversification. Here, we analyzed the ancient radiation of Ericales and explored sources of uncertainty related to species tree inference, conflicting gene tree signal, and the inferred placement of gene and genome duplications. Methods: We used a hierarchical clustering approach, with tree-based homology and orthology detection, to...

Male walruses produce the longest continuous reproductive displays known in the animal kingdom to convey their individual fitness to potential rivals, and possibly to potential mates. Here we document the ability of a captive walrus to produce intense, rhythmic sounds through a non-vocal pathway involving deliberate, regular collision of the fore flippers. High-speed videography linked to an acoustic onset marker revealed sound production through cavitation, with the acoustic impulse generated by each forceful clap exceeding...

The Ensatina ring species represents a classic example of locally adapted lineages. The Monterey Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii eschscholtzii) is a cryptic subspecies with brown coloration, however, a recently discovered polymorphic population within a wind-blown sand region also contains leucistic (pink) and xanthistic (orange) morphs. Leucism/xanthism frequency was mapped across the subspecies’ range revealing that these morphs are generally rare or absent except within regions containing light-colored substrate. Attack rates were estimated using clay models of...

Heteranthery, the presence of two or more anther types in the same flower, is taxonomically widespread among bee-pollinated angiosperms, yet has puzzled botanists since Darwin. We test two competing hypotheses for its evolution: the longstanding “division of labour” hypothesis, which posits that some anthers are specialized as food rewards for bees whereas other are specialized for surreptitious pollination, and our new hypothesis that heteranthery is a way to gradually release pollen that maximizes pollen delivery....

Global biotic and abiotic threats,particularly from pervasive human activities, are progressively pushing large, apex carnivorous mammals into the functional role of mesopredator. Hunters are now becoming the hunted. Despite marked impacts on these animals and the ecosystems in which they live, little is known about the physiological repercussions of this role downgrading from ultimate to penultimate predator. Here we examine how such ecological role reversals alter the physiological processes associated with energy expenditure, and ultimately...

This dataset is for use in the Couse-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) titled Effects of Invasion on Plant Morphology of Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). The dataset is meant to be used as a practice, or ready-to-use dataset for instructors so that all instructors can start from the same point with the same data. If you would like to download additional data, or use a species other than L. salicaria, please visit the CUREnet website and...