1. The interaction between the nurse plant Larrea tridentata and the cacti Cylindropuntia leptocaulis is thought to follow cyclical-replacement dynamics. However, the required changing nature of their interaction, from facilitation to competition, has not been investigated through their full life cycle. 2. In order to test the hypothesised cyclical dynamics, we compared the demography of four sub-populations (LA = Larrea associated to Cylindropuntia; CA = Cylindropuntia associated to Larrea, LS = solitary Larrea; CS =...

1. Climate change is driving a redistribution of species and reconfiguration of ecological communities at a global scale. Persistent warming in many regions has caused species to extend their geographical ranges into new habitats, with thermally-tolerant species often becoming competitively dominant over species with colder affinities. Although these climate-driven changes in species abundance and diversity are well documented, their ecosystem-level implications are poorly understood, and resolving whether reconfigured communities can maintain fundamental ecosystem functions represents...

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a pathogen killing amphibians worldwide. Its impact across much of Asia is poorly characterised. This study systematically surveyed amphibians for Bd across rocky plateaus in the northern section of the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot, India, including for the first surveys of the plateaus in the coastal region. These ecosystems offer an epidemiological model system since they are characterised by differing levels of connectivity, edaphic and climatic conditions, and anthropogenic stressors. One...

Primates interpret conspecific behaviour as goal-directed and expect others to achieve goals by the most efficient means possible. While this teleological stance is prominent in evolutionary and developmental theories of social cognition, little is known about the underlying mechanisms. In predictive models of social cognition, a perceptual prediction of an ideal efficient trajectory would be generated from prior knowledge against which the observed action is evaluated, distorting the perception of unexpected inefficient actions. To test...

Preservation of genetic diversity is critical to successful conservation and there is increasing demand for the inclusion of ecologically meaningful genetic information in management decisions. Supportive breeding programmes are increasingly implemented to combat declines in many species, yet their effect on adaptive genetic variation is understudied. This is despite the fact that supportive breeding may interfere with natural evolutionary processes. Here, we assessed the performance of neutral and adaptive markers (Major Histocompatibility Complex; MHC) to...