Ecological restoration and plant re-introductions aim to create plant populations that are genetically similar to natural populations to preserve the regional gene pool, yet genetically diverse to allow adaptation to a changing environment. For this purpose, seeds for restoration are increasingly sourced from multiple populations in the target region. However, it has only rarely been tested whether using regional seed indeed leads to genetically diverse restored populations which are genetically similar to natural populations. We...

This dataset contains raw data from the manuscript entitled "Adult sex ratio and male body condition affect alternative reproductive tactics in a spider", from Daniel Heimerl, Pavla Dudová, Karoline Wacker, Elisa Schenkel, Garance Despréaux, Cristina Tuni, accepted for publication in the journal Behavioral Ecology, The study investigates how biases in adult sex ratios can affect mating tactics in a spider. Sex ratio variation can alter the intensity of sexual selection by enhancing competition for mates....

The Theory of Island Biogeography postulates that size and isolation are key drivers of biodiversity on islands. This theory has been applied not only to true (e.g. oceanic) islands but also to terrestrial island-like systems (e.g. edaphic islands). Recently, a debate has opened as to whether terrestrial island-like systems function like true islands. However, identifying the effect of insularity in terrestrial systems is conceptually and methodologically challenging because recognizing species source(s) and measuring isolation is...

The nutrient-rich tubers of the greater yam, Dioscorea alata L., provide food and income security for millions of people around the world. Despite its global importance, however, greater yam remains an ‘orphan crop.’ Here we address this resource gap by presenting a highly contiguous chromosome-scale genome assembly of D. alata combined with a dense genetic map derived from African breeding populations. The genome sequence reveals an ancient allotetraploidization in the Dioscorea lineage, followed by extensive...

Conversion of rainforests into agriculture resulted in massive changes in species diversity and community structure. Although the conservation of the remaining rainforests is of utmost importance, identifying and creating biodiversity-friendly agriculture landscape is vital for preserving biodiversity and their functions. Biodiversity studies in agriculture have often been conducted at low elevations. In this study, we compared the functional diversity (FD), phylogenetic diversity (PD), and community structure of birds along an interacting gradient of land-use (protected...

The subtribe Malinae (Rosaceae) comprises close to 1,000 species and up to 30 genera. It is defined, among other characters, by a derived base chromosome number of x = 17. A parsimonious pattern of chromosome breakage and fusion explains the derivation of the x = 17 karyotype from a polyploidisation event of two x = 9 genomes. High collinearity between the genetic and physical maps of Pyrus and Malus as well as their identical karyotypes...

Broadleaf forests are critical habitats for biodiversity and this biodiversity is in turn essential for their proper functioning. Mites (Acari) are a numerous and functionally essential component of these forests. We report the diversity of two important groups, Oribatida and Mesostigmata, in a broadleaf forest in Eastern Norway which is considered to be a biodiversity hotspot. Eighteen samples, each 500 cm3, were collected from diverse microhabitats (moss on ground, lichens on tree twigs lying on...

The relationship between species richness and productivity (SRPR) has been a long-studied and hotly debated topic in ecology. Different studies have reported different results with variable shapes (i.e. unimodal, linear) and directions (i.e. positive, negative) of SRPRs depending on spatial grain (i.e. size of sampling unit for species richness), productivity estimates, and study extent. In this study, we quantified the effect of multiple estimates of productivity (aboveground, belowground and total biomass, and various measures of...

Aims: The rapid increase in the number of species that have naturalized beyond their native range is among the most apparent features of the Anthropocene. How alien species will respond to other processes of future global changes is an emerging concern and remains largely misunderstood. We therefore ask whether naturalized species will respond to climate and land-use change differently than those species not yet naturalized anywhere in the world. Location: Global Methods: We investigated future...

While seasonal trends in testosterone levels are known from cross-cohort studies, data on testosterone inter-annual individual repeatability in wild birds are rare. Also, our understanding of hormonal age-dependent changes in testosterone levels is limited. We assessed plasma testosterone levels in 105 samples originating from 49 repeatedly captured free-living great tits (Parus major) sampled during the nesting to investigate their relative long-term repeatability and within-individual changes. Furthermore, we examined the inter-annual repeatability of condition-related traits (carotenoid-...

1. European forests are facing a rapid decline of light-demanding biota. This has prompted active interventions to re-establish and maintain partial habitat openness in protected areas. Managers of protected areas, however, need substantially more scientific evidence to support their decisions on where, when, and how to intervene. 2. We investigated the importance of spatial continuity of open forest habitats in different years of succession, using six pairs of experimental clearings established in the formerly open,...

Males often experience shorter lifespans than females. Despite extensive research, it is poorly understood how lifespan differences between the sexes are modulated by an interplay among genetic, environmental and social factors. Using four African annual killifish species, we combined comparative data from sex ratios in natural populations with experimental results on sex differences in lifespan and aging in replicated captive populations. In the wild, females consistently outlived males. In socially-housed experimental groups, this sex-specific survival...

Dataset contains data on biomass distribution, soil characteristics and trait data for 52 temperate grasslands. Data are presented at community level. Biomass distribution (aboveground biomass, rhizome biomass, and root biomass) and soil chemistry data are original. The trait data are from existing databases and are presented as averages for a community (not weighted by species abundance).

Trophic niche differentiation may explain coexistence and shape functional roles of species. In complex natural food webs, however, trophic niche parameters depicted by single and isolated methods may simplify the multidimensional nature of consumer trophic niches, which includes feeding processes such as food choice, ingestion, digestion, assimilation and retention. Here we explore the correlation and complementarity of trophic niche parameters tackled by four complementary methodological approaches, i.e., visual gut content-, digestive enzyme-, fatty acid- and...

Since the last revision in 2015, the taxonomy of section Flavipedes evolved rapidly along with the availability of new species delimitation techniques. This study aims to re-evaluate the species boundaries of section Flavipedes members using modern delimitation methods applied to an extended set of strains (n=90) collected from various environments. The analysis used DNA sequences of three house-keeping genes (benA, CaM, RPB2) and consisted of two steps: application of several single-locus (GMYC, bGMYC, PTP, bPTP)...

Although spatial and temporal variation are both important components structuring microbial communities, the exact quantification of temporal turnover rates of fungi and bacteria has not been performed to date. In this study, we utilized repeated resampling of bacterial and fungal communities at specific locations across multiple years to describe their patterns and rates of temporal turnover. Our results show that microbial communities undergo temporal change at a rate of 0.010-0.025 per year (in units of...

The midpoint attractor models (MPA) of species richness integrate a unimodal environmental favourability gradient and neutral effects forced by geometric constraints and thus extend ecologically neutral mid-domain model. However, both alternative MPA algorithms assume that underlying environmental favourability peaks within the modeling domain. Here, we used elevational distribution data for 1054 plant species occurring in NW Himalaya to explore species richness gradients and MPA performance in species groups defined by biogeography, taxonomy and life form....

1. The thermal biology of ectotherms largely determines their abundance and distributions. In general, tropical species inhabiting warm and stable thermal environments tend to have low tolerance to cold and variable environments, which may restrict their expansion into temperate climates. However, the distribution of some tropical species does extend into cooler areas such as tropical borders and high elevation tropical mountains. Behavioural and morphological differences may therefore play important roles in facilitating tropical species to...

Increased drought is predicted to have a major impact on plant performance under environmental change. Yet leaf hydraulic traits directly related to drought tolerance, such as leaf turgor loss point (πtlp), are underrepresented in trait-based studies and have been largely overlooked within the main frameworks evaluating trait–trait coordination and trade-offs: the leaf economics spectrum and the global spectrum of plant form and function. Using 122 herbaceous species from the Central European temperate grasslands, we investigated...

1. Free-living parasite life stages may contribute substantially to ecosystem biomass and thus represent a significant source of energy flow when consumed by non-host organisms. However, ambient temperature and the predator’s own infection status may modulate consumption rates towards parasite prey. 2. We investigated the combined effects of temperature and predator infection status on the consumer functional response of three-spined sticklebacks towards the free-living cercariae stages of two common freshwater trematode parasites (Plagiorchis, Trichobilharzia). 3....

Body-size dependence of metabolic rate, body surface and scale morphology complicate disentangling the contribution of these characteristics to adaptive changes in total evaporative water loss (TEWL) of reptiles. To separate adaptive changes from size-related dependence, we compared intra- and interspecific scaling of several candidate traits in eyelid geckos (Eublepharidae), a group exhibiting large variation in body size and TEWL. The intraspecific allometry of TEWL of an eublepharid species fits the geometric surface-mass relationship. However, evolutionary...

Antagonistic interactions between hosts and parasites may drive the evolution of novel host defenses, or new parasite strategies. Host immunity is therefore one of the fastest evolving traits. But where do the novel immune traits come from? Here, we test for phylogenetic conservation in a rapidly evolving immune trait – peritoneal fibrosis. Peritoneal fibrosis is a costly defense against a specialist tapeworm, Schistocephalus solidus (Cestoda), expressed in some freshwater populations of threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus...

The Ethiopian highlands represent a remarkable biodiversity “hotspot” with a very high number of endemic species, even among vertebrates. Ethiopian representatives of a species complex of speckled brush-furred rats (Lophuromys flavopunctatus sensu lato) inhabit highland habitats ranging from low-elevation forests to Afroalpine grasslands. These may serve as a suitable model for understanding evolutionary processes leading to high genetic and ecological diversity in montane biodiversity hot-spots. Here, we analyze the most comprehensive genetic dataset of this...

Brood parasites delegate all parental duties to unrelated hosts. Hosts resistance against brood parasitism is most effective during egg laying and is best countered by surreptitious oviposition. This may be aided through distraction of host attention by the male partner or a larger cooperative group. Cuckoo catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus) parasitize the broods of mouthbrooding cichlids, which collect their eggs immediately after oviposition. Cuckoo catfish must time their intrusion precisely, as the temporal window for parasitism...

This dataset contains data on the cultivated alien and native flora of Southern Africa associated with data on geographic origins, growth form, functional traits, and naturalization status extracted from different data sources described in Omer, A. et al. 2021. Characteristics of the naturalized flora of Southern Africa largely reflect the non-random introduction of alien species for cultivation– Ecography. doi: 10.1111/ecog.05669. It is frequently overlooked, however, that patterns in origin, phylogeny, and traits of naturalized alien...