Local adaptation to annually changing environments has evolved in numerous species. Seasonal coat colour change is an adaptation that has evolved in multiple mammal and bird species occupying areas that experience seasonal snow cover. It has a critical impact on fitness as predation risk may increase when an individual is mismatched against its habitat’s background colour. In this paper we investigate the impact of landscape covariates on moult timing in a native winter-adapted herbivore, the mountain hare (Lepus timidus), throughout Norway. Data was collected between 2011 and 2019 at 678 camera trap locations deployed across an environmental gradient. Based on this data, we created a Bayesian multinomial logistic regression model that quantified the correlations between landscape covariates and coat colour phenology and analysed among season and year moult timing variation. Our results demonstrate that mountain hare moult timing is strongly correlated with altitude and latitude with hares that live at higher latitudes and altitudes keeping their winter white coats for longer than their conspecifics that inhabit lower latitudes and altitudes. Moult timing was also weakly correlated with climate zone with hares that live in coastal climates keeping their winter white coats for longer than hares that live in continental climates. We found evidence of some among year moult timing variation in spring, but not in autumn. We conclude that mountain hare moult timing has adapted to local environmental conditions throughout Norway.

Bird diversity has declined as native birds have avoided using the green desert after the Smooth Cordgrass Spartina alterniflora invaded coastal China. After many years of coexistence, a few passerine birds began to enter and use Smooth Cordgrass, but only birds of nonspecialised habitat. In this study, we first found that a native reed-specific bird, the Parrotbill Calamornis heudei, flocked and sang in a Smooth Cordgrass habitat in the whole overwintering period near Sheyang Port in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. This phenomenon indicates that native obligate birds may be forced to adapt to exotic Smooth Cordgrass habitats after long-term coexistence; obviously, the distribution, feeding and reproduction of birds would be affected. Is this an ecological trap? Which may lead to unknown ecological consequences. We suggest that more research attention should be given to this process occurring along the Chinese coast.

A document by Avril Harder. Click on the document to view its contents.

Monitoring the effect of ecosystem restoration can be difficult and time consuming. Autonomous sensors, such as acoustic recorders, can aid monitoring across long time scales. This project successfully developed, tested and implemented call recognisers for eight species of frog in the Murray-Darling Basin. Recognisers for all but one species performed well and substantially better than many species recognisers reported in the literature. We achieved this through a comprehensive development phase, which carefully considered and refined the representativeness of training data, as well as the construction (amplitude cut-off) and the similarity thresholds (score cut-offs) of each call template used. Recogniser performance was high for almost all species examined. Recognisers for C. signifera, L. fletcherii, L. dumerilii, L. peronii, and C. parinsignifera all performed well, with most templates having ROC values (the proportion of true positive and true negatives) over 0.7, and some much higher. Recognisers for L. peronii, L. fletcherii and L. dumerilii performed particularly well in the training dataset, which allowed for responses to environmental watering events, a restoration activity, to be clearly observed. While slightly more involved than building recognisers using commercial packages, the workflows ensure that a high quality recogniser can be built and the performance fine-tuned using multiple parameters. Using the same framework, recognisers can be improved in future iterations. We believe that multi-species recognisers are a highly effective and precise way to detect the effects of ecosystem restoration.

1. Otoliths have been widely studied as natural recorders of the entire life cycle of aquatic teleosts. Trace elements and stable isotope rations in otoliths are well understood and used as proxies of migration histories, however few elements have shown the potential to reconstruct the migration history of oceanodromous fish. 2. This study reports the first use of radiocarbon in otolith to reconstruct the horizontal migration history of fish. We analyzed three different stocks of walleye pollock Gadus chalcogrammus around Hokkaido, Japan. 3. Radiocarbon concentration from the outermost edge of otoliths showed a general consistency with seawater radiocarbon concentration of the sampling region, validating the application of otolith radiocarbon concentration to fish migration studies. Pollocks of all three stocks generally inhabited the nearby sampling area throughout their life cycle, though some pollocks of the Okhotsk and Japan Sea stocks respectively showed a possibility of migration between different sea regions. 4. This study confirmed a novel method using radiocarbon concentrations to reconstruct the migration history of marine teleost. Using the high sensitivity of otolith radiocarbon concentration observed in this study, it may be possible to detect fish migration with higher spatial resolution than previous studies using conventional proxies.

Urbanization and the expansion of human activities foster radical ecosystem changes with cascading effects also involving host-pathogen interactions. Urban pollinator insects face several stressors related to landscape and local scale features such as green habitat loss, fragmentation, and availability reduction of floral resources with unpredictable effects on parasite transmission. Furthermore, beekeeping may contribute to the spread of parasites to wild pollinators by increasing the number of parasite hosts. Here we used DNA-based diagnostics tools to evaluate how the occurrence of parasites, namely microsporidians (Nosema spp.), trypanosomatids (Crithidia spp.) and neogregarines (Apicystis bombi), is shaped by the above-mentioned stressors in two bumblebee species (i.e, Bombus terrestris and B. pascuorum). Infection rates of the two species were different and generally higher in B. terrestris. Moreover, they showed different responses towards the same ecological variables, possibly due to differences in body size and foraging habits supposed to affect their susceptibility to parasite infection. The probability of infection was found to be reduced in B. pascuorum by green habitat fragmentation, while increased along with floral resource availability. Unexpectedly, B. terrestris had a lower parasite richness nearby apiaries probably because parasites are prone to be transmitted among the most abundant species. Our finding supports the need to design proper conservation measures based on species-specific knowledge, as suggested by the variation in the parasite occurrence of the two species. Moreover, conservation policies aiming at safeguarding pollinators through flower planting should consider the indirect effects of these measures for parasite transmission together with pollinator biodiversity issues.

Eucalyptus snout beetles (Curculionidae: Gonipterus scutellatus complex), native to mainland Australia and Tasmania, defoliate Eucalyptus trees and are considered important pests. Since the 19th century, species of the G. scutellatus complex have been introduced to other continents. Here, we document the presence of Eucalyptus snout beetles in Ecuador and use ecological niche models to analyze their potential distribution in South America. Phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences unambiguously demonstrated that the Ecuadorian specimens belong to the species G. platensis, which has low genetic diversity compared with other species in the complex. Ecological niche models revealed several areas of high to intermediate climatic suitability for the pest in South America, even in countries where it has not been registered, like Peru and Bolivia. Accurate identification of species in the Gonipterus scutellatus complex and understanding of their potential distribution are essential tools for improved management and prevention tactics.

The extended phenotype of helical burrowing behavior in animals has evolved independently many times since first appearing after the Cambrian explosion (~540 million years ago). A number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of helical burrowing in certain taxa, but no study has searched for a general explanation encompassing all taxa. We reviewed helical burrowing in both extant and extinct animals and from the trace fossil record and compiled from the literature 10 possible hypotheses for why animals construct helical burrows, including our own ideas. Of these, six were post-construction hypotheses—-benefits to the creator or offspring, realized after burrow construction—-and four were construction hypotheses reflecting direct benefits to the creator during construction. We examined the fit of these hypotheses to a total of 21 extant taxa and ichnotaxa representing 59–184 spp. Only two hypotheses—-antipredator, biomechanical advantage—-could not be rejected for any species (possible in 100% of spp.), but six of the hypotheses could not be rejected for most species (possible in 86–100 % of spp.): microclimate buffer, reduced falling sediment (soil), anticrowding, vertical patch, and the above two hypotheses. Four of these six were construction hypotheses, raising the possibility that helical burrowing might have evolved without providing post-construction benefits. Our analysis showed that increased drainage, deposit feeding, microbial farming, and offspring escape could not explain helical burrowing behavior in the majority of taxa (5–48%). Overall, the evidence does not support a general explanation for the evolution of helical burrowing in animals. The function and evolution of the helix as an extended phenotype would seem, at least in some cases, to provide different advantages for different taxa. Although direct tests of many of the hypotheses would be difficult, we nevertheless offer ways to test some of the hypotheses for selected taxa.

Maternal lineages of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are recognized as important components of intra- and inter-specific biodiversity and help us to disclose the phylogeny and divergence times of many taxa. Species of the genus Capra are canonical mountain dwellers. Among these is the Siberian ibex (Capra sibirica), which is regarded as a relic species whose intra-specific classification has been controversial so far. We collected 54 samples in Xinjiang, China, and analyzed the mtDNA genes to shed light on the intra-specific relationships of the C. sibirica populations and estimate the divergence time. Intriguingly, we found that the mtDNA sequences of C. sibirica split into two main lineages in both phylogenetic and network analyses: the southern lineage, sister to C. falconeri, consisting of samples from India, Ulugqat, and Kagilik in Xinjiang; and the northern lineage further divided into four monophyletic clades A–D corresponding to their geographic origins. Samples from Urumqi, Sawan, and Arturk formed a distinct monophyletic clade C within the northern lineage. The genetic distance between the C. sibirica clades ranges from 3 to 8.6 percent, with values of FST between 0.72 and 0.95, indicating notable genetic differentiation. The split of the genus Capra occurred approximately 6.75 Mya during the late Miocene. The northern lineage diverged around 5.88 Mya, following the divergence of Clades A–D from 3.3 Mya to 1.9 Mya during the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene. The radiation between the southern lineage and C. falconeri occurred at 2.29 Mya during the early Pleistocene. Our results highlight the importance of extensive sampling when relating to genetic studies of alpine mammals and call for further genomic studies to draw definitive conclusions.

Tetraodontiformes is a special group of higher teleosts, with a long and problematic taxonomic history due to their wide distribution and species diversity. It is a difficult task for both professionals and nonprofessionals to accurately identify all species only according to morphological characteristics. DNA barcoding can identify species at the molecular level. In this study, we collected 616 specimens of Tetraodontiformes and their DNA barcodes from the coastal waters of China. According to the morphological characteristics, 50 species were preliminarily identified, belonging to 23 genera, 6. Among them, DNA barcoding analysis showed that Takifugu pseudommus and Takifugu chinensis are the synonyms of Takifugu rubripes. And Lagocephalus wheeleri is the synonym of Lagocephalus Spadiceus. The third important finding is that the species of Takifugu have close genetic relationship. If T. rubripes, T. pseudommus and T. chinensis are taken as one species, the average interspecific genetic distance of Takifugu is 6.21 times of the average intraspecific genetic distance, which does not reach the DNA barcode threshold of more than 10 times proposed by Hebert. Among them, the genetic distance between T. oblongus and T. stictonotus is the largest, 0.045; And between T. bimaculatus and T. flavidus is the smallest, only 0.013. However, species can be clustered into separate clades in the NJ tree. In conclusion, this study provided molecular basis for solving the problem of confusion in the classification of Tetraodontiformes, it found that there are synonym phenomena in the order, and provided molecular evidence for clarifying the valid species names of Lagocephalus Spadiceus and Takifugu rubripes. The results can provide reliable DNA barcoding information for the identification and classification of Tetraodontiformes, and also provide technical support for the development and utilization of puffer fish resources and the identification of the original components of related commodities on the aquatic product market.

1 Gravel beaches in the Mediterranean ecoregion represent an economically important and unique habitat type. Yet, burgeoning tourism, intensive coastal development and artificial nourishment of beaches may jeopardize their ecological communities. To date, species that reside on gravel beaches and the consequences of beach alterations are poorly understood, which hampers the development of a sustainable coastal tourism industry along the region’s shorelines. 2 Using a simple collection method based on dredging buckets through the intertidal section of beaches, we quantified the microhabitat association of two sympatric clingfish species in the genus Gouania at seven natural and an artificial gravel beach based on sediment characteristics. We hypothesized that slender (G. pigra) and stout (G. adriatica) morphotypes would partition interstitial niche space based on sediment size, which may affect the vulnerability of the species to changes in gravel beach composition due to coastal development. 3 We detected substantial differences in gravel composition within and among the sampled beaches which suggests scope for microhabitat partitioning in Gouania. Indeed, we found significant relationships between species identity and the presence/absence and abundance of individuals in hauls based on their positioning on PC1. 4 Our results suggest that modifications of gravel beaches through coastal development, including beach nourishment, intensifying coastal erosion, or artificial beach creation, may have detrimental consequences for the two species if sediment types or sizes are altered. We posit that, given the simplicity and efficacy of our sampling method and the sensitivity of Gouania species to prevailing gravel composition, the genus could serve as an important indicator for gravel beach management in the Mediterranean ecoregion.

Ontogenetic color change in animals is an interesting evolution-related phenomenon that has been studied by evolutionary biologists for decades. However, the performance of quantitative and continuous color measurements throughout the life cycle of animals is a challenge. To understand the rhythm of change in tail color and sexual dichromatism, we used a spectrometer to measure the tail color of blue-tailed skink (Plestiodon elegans) from birth to sexual maturity. Lab color space was selected due to its simple, fast, and accurate and depends on the visual sense of the observer for measuring the tail color of skinks. A strong relationship was observed between color indexes (values of L*, a*, b*) and growth time of skink. The luminance of tail color decreased from juveniles to adults in both sexes. Moreover, we observed differences in color rhythms between the sexes, which may be influenced by different behavioral strategies employed by them. This study provides continuous measurements of change in tail color in skinks from juveniles to adults and offers insights into their sex-based differences. Our findings explain the potential factors that drive dichromatism between the sexes of lizards and is expected to serve as a reference for future studies that explore possible mechanisms of ontogenetic color change in reptiles.

Ant societies are primarily composed of females, whereby labor is divided into reproductive and non-reproductive, worker, castes. Workers and reproductive queens can differ greatly in behavior, longevity, physiology, and morphology, but their differences are usually modest relative to the differences relative to males. Males are short-lived, typically do not provide the colony with labor, often look like a different species, and only occur seasonally. It is these differences that have historically led to their neglect in social insect research, but also why they may facilitate novel phenotypic variation – by increasing the phenotypic variability that is available for selection. In this study, worker variation along a size-shape axis corresponded with variation in male-queen size and shape. As worker variation increased within species, so did sexual variation. Across species in two independent genera, sexual size dimorphism correlated with worker polymorphism regardless of whether the ancestral condition was large or small worker/sexual dimorphism. These results, along with mounting molecular data showing that process of queen-worker caste determination has co-opted many genes/pathways from sex determination, lead to the hypothesis that sexual selection and selection on colony-level traits are non-independent and that sexual dimorphism may even have facilitated the evolution of the distinct worker caste.

Animals show among-individual variation in behaviours, including migration behaviours, which are often repeatable across time periods and contexts, commonly termed “personality”. These behaviours can be correlated, forming a behavioural syndrome. In this study, we assessed the repeatability and correlation of different behavioural traits i.e., boldness, exploration and sociality and the link to migration patterns in Atlantic cod juveniles. To do so, we collected repeated measurements within two short-term (three days) and two long-term (two months) intervals of these traits and genotypes of the Pan I locus, which is indirectly correlated to feeding migration patterns in this species. We found that mainly exploration behaviour was repeatable in the short- and long-term intervals, and a trend for the relationship between exploration and the Pan I locus. Boldness and sociality were only repeatable in the second short-term interval indicating a possible development of stability over time and did not show a relation with the Pan I locus. We found no indication of behavioural syndromes among the studied traits. Although we were unable to identify the existence of a migration syndrome for the migratory genotype (Pan IBB), this study is the first one to highlight the existence of a possible link between the personality trait exploration and the migration-linked Pan I locus. This supports the need for further research that should focus on the effect of exploration tendency and other personality traits on cod movement, including the migratory (frontal) ecotype, to develop management strategies based on behavioural units, rather than treating the population as a single homogeneous stock.

A general reaction norm model of any order can be formulated as a linear mixed model. From this follows that estimates of mean phenotypic traits in a population (fixed effects), and predictions of individual additive genetic deviations from mean reaction norm parameter values (random effects), can be found from the best linear unbiased predictions (BLUP) equation in matrix form. The resulting BLUP model is dynamical in the sense that the incidence matrix varies with time. This leads to a straightforward and multivariate alternative to infinite-dimensional and random regression modeling of reaction norms. Based on such a BLUP model, the within-generation changes in predicted mean reaction norm parameter values can be found by use of the Robertson-Price identity, applied on the predicted random effects. From this follows that the between-generation change in the mean values are found from Robertson’s secondary theorem of natural selection, applied on the predicted random effects. This explains why and to which extent the variances of BLUP random effects are underestimated, which is a well-known observation. The dynamical BLUP model will thus produce the mean reaction norms over time, which makes it possible to disentangle the microevolutionary and plasticity components in for example climate change responses. The BLUP responses will depend on the additive genetic relationship matrix A_t. When A_t is an identity matrix, the results will be identical to the results from a variant of the multivariate breeder’s equation, based on the selection gradient with respect to the individual phenotypic trait values. Parameters are assumed to be known and constant, but it is discussed how they can be estimated by means of a prediction error method. Generations are assumed to be non-overlapping, but adjustments for overlapping generations can easily be done.

Changing climate and growing human impacts are resulting in globally rising temperatures and the widespread loss of habitats. How species will adapt to these changes is not well understood. The Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) can be found across the Holarctic but is coming under more intense pressure in many places. Studies of recent populations in Finland and Denmark have shown a marked decline in body size of Northern Goshawks over the past century. Here we investigate long-term changes to Norwegian populations of Northern Goshawk by including material from the Middle Ages and Viking Age. We measured 240 skeletons of modern Northern Goshawks from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, and 89 Medieval Goshawk bones. Our results show that Norwegian and Swedish female Goshawks have decreased in size over the past century, whilst males showed little decline. Medieval female Goshawks were larger than contemporary females. The Viking Age specimens showed little difference to modern populations but appeared smaller than specimens from the Medieval period. A decline in forest habitats and a concomitant shift towards smaller prey likely drove a shift to smaller body size in Northern Goshawks. Our study shows that significant body size changes in birds can occur over relatively short time spans in response to environmental factors, and that these effects can sometimes differ between sexes.

The biogeography research of orchids through species distribution models (SDMs), a vital tool in the biogeography field, is critical to understanding the fundamental geographic distribution patterns and identifying conservation priorities. The correspondence between species occurrence and environmental information is crucial to the model’s performance. However, ecological preferences unique to different orchid species, such as their life forms, are often overlooked during the modeling process. This oversight can introduce bias and increase model uncertainty. Additionally, human activities, as an important potential predictor, have not been quantified in any orchid SDMs. Taking the Hengduan Mountains as an example, we preprocessed all orchid species’ occurrences based on physiological characteristics. Choosing five spatial factors related to human activities to quantify the interference and enter into models as HI factor. Using different modeling methods (GLM, MaxEnt, and RF) and evaluation indices (AUC, TSS, and Kappa), diverse modeling strategies have been constructed in the study. A double-ranking method has been adopted to select the critical orchid distribution regions. The results showed that classification models based on physiological characteristics significantly improved the model’s accuracy while adding the HI factor had the same effect but the absence of enough significance. Suitability maps indicated that highly heterogeneous mountainous areas were vital for the distribution of orchids in the Hengduan Mountains. Different distribution patterns and critical regions existed between various orchid life forms geographically - terrestrial orchids were dominant in the mountain, and mycoherterophical orchids were primarily located in the north, more influenced by vegetation and temperature. Critical regions of epiphytic orchids were in the south due to a greater dependence on precipitation and temperature. These studies are informative for understanding the orchids’ geographic distribution patterns in the Hengduan Mountains, promoting conservation, and providing references for similar research beyond orchids.

Sharks, rays and chimaera form the clade Chondrichthyes, an ancient group of morphologically and ecologically diverse vertebrates that has played an important role in our understanding of gnathostome evolution. Increasingly studies have are seeking to investigate evolutionary processes operating within the chondrichthyan crown group, with the broad aim of understanding the driving forces behind the vast phenotypic diversity observed amongst its constituent taxa. Genetic, morphological and behavioural studies have all contributed to our understanding of phenotypic evolution yet are typically considered in isolation in the context of Chondrichthyes. I argue that integrating these core fields of organismal biology is vital if we are to understand the evolutionary processes operating in contemporary chondrichthyan taxa, and how such processes have contributed to past phenotypic evolution. In light of the global extinction crisis facing this clade, this understanding is crucial if we are to successfully conserve rapidly declining chondrichthyan populations.