Despite the known links between climate and biogeochemical cycling of N in tropical forests, fundamental knowledge of N cycling is still far from complete. Our objective was to ascertain differences in the N cycle of two tropical dry forests under contrasting precipitation regime (1240 or 642 mm of mean annual rainfall). To do so, we examined a short-term metric of N cycling (N concentration) and a more integrated metric of N cycling (natural abundance 15N)...

1. Sequential damage by attackers is hypothesized to result in reciprocal antagonism (cross-talk) between jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) defence signalling pathways in plants. However, evidence for this cross-talk is not universal and several studies have found positive (synergistic) or no interaction whatsoever between JA and SA pathways. 2. Here we conducted a meta-analysis of studies on plant-mediated effects of initial attackers on performance of subsequent attackers to test the hypothesis of cross-talk...

Background: Understanding mechanisms driving insecticide resistance in vector populations remains a public health priority. To date, most research has focused on the genetic mechanisms underpinning resistance, yet it is unclear what role environmental drivers may play in shaping phenotypic expression. One of the key environmental drivers of Aedes aegypti mosquito population dynamics is resource-driven intraspecific competition at the larval stage. We experimentally investigated the role of density-dependent larval competition in mediating resistance evolution in Ae....

Skin and coat pigmentation are two of the best-studied examples of traits under natural selection given their quantifiable fitness interactions with the environment (e.g. camouflage) and signaling with other organisms (e.g. warning coloration). Previous morphological studies have found that skin pigmentation variation in the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is associated with variation in precipitation and temperatures across its distribution range following Gloger’s rule (lighter pigmentation in temperate environments). To investigate the molecular mechanism associated with...

Biodiversity affects the structure of ecological communities, but little is known about the interactive effects of diversity across multiple trophic levels. We used a large-scale forest diversity experiment to investigate the effects of tropical tree species richness on insectivorous birds, and the subsequent indirect effect to predation rates by birds. Diverse plots (4 tree species) had higher bird abundance (61%), phylogenetic diversity (61%), and functional diversity (55%) than predicted based on single-species monocultures, which corresponded...

Insecticide resistance has evolved in disease vectors worldwide, creating the urgent need to either develop new control methods or restore insecticide susceptibility to regain the use of existing tools. Here we show that phenotypic susceptibility can be restored in a highly resistant field-derived strain of Aedes aegypti in only ten generations through rearing them in the absence of insecticide.