Ecology and Evolution最新文献

{"title":"Hybridisation as a Potential Extinction Threat to an Endangered Australian Frog","authors":"Gracie Liu,&nbsp;Jodi J. L. Rowley","doi":"10.1002/ece3.71494","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71494","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Of the many threats to species' survival, genetic threats such as hybridisation and introgression are often overlooked. Threatened or range-restricted species that hybridise with more abundant and widespread relatives can be particularly vulnerable to declines or extinction via demographic or genetic swamping. Conservation of these species requires detection of hybridisation, but this can be difficult when hybrids are morphologically indistinguishable from parental species (i.e., cryptic). We used single nucleotide polymorphism data to examine hybridisation and introgression between the endangered Booroolong frog (<i>Litoria booroolongensis</i>) and the more abundant eastern stony creek frog (<i>Litoria wilcoxii</i>), two Australian stream frog species not previously reported to hybridise. To assess whether hybrids and parental individuals could be identified by phenotype, we compared morphological and genotypic classifications of individuals. Genotyping revealed relatively high rates of hybridisation and introgression (19% (24/126) were F1 or F2 hybrids, or backcrosses) in the New South Wales Central Tablelands. Hybrids were present in all sites where the species were syntopic (five of seven sites), suggesting that hybridisation is constrained primarily by a lack of opportunity. Within these sites, the median rate of hybridisation was 31.8% (range: 5.3–100%). Based on the likely extent of syntopy, hybridisation is plausible across more than 70% of the geographic range of <i>L. booroolongensis</i>, with potentially negative consequences for the species' persistence. Concerningly, only 42% of hybrids were correctly identified by morphology. Our results emphasise the need for genetic data to accurately distinguish hybrids and suggest that hybridisation could be occurring undetected between many related species, representing a potentially insidious threat to threatened and range-restricted species. Conservation policies will need to consider the possibility of hybridisation and evaluate its consequences to appropriately manage and prevent further declines of threatened species.</p>","PeriodicalId":11467,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Evolution","volume":"15 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ece3.71494","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144171620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Submersed Aquatic Vegetation Enhances Density and Diversity of Epifaunal Invertebrates Compared to Filamentous Mats in the Central Baltic Sea","authors":"Chiara D'Agata,&nbsp;Thomas A. B. Staveley,&nbsp;Johan S. Eklöf,&nbsp;Jonathan S. Lefcheck,&nbsp;Gunilla Rosenqvist,&nbsp;Lina Mtwana Nordlund","doi":"10.1002/ece3.71498","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71498","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) provides essential habitat and food to numerous coastal invertebrate species. In the eutrophic Baltic Sea, fast-growing drifting algae form extensive mats that can negatively impact SAV. However, these mats also offer additional habitat and food to epifauna. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of SAV and filamentous mats on epifaunal communities in shallow soft-bottom habitats around Gotland, Sweden, in the central Baltic Sea. We used generalised linear models (GLMs) to evaluate the influence of SAV vertical structure, biomass and macrophyte species richness (including macroalgae) and filamentous mat biomass on epifaunal community properties as well as on those of key grazer species. Diversity, vertical structure and biomass of SAV were positively associated with higher total epifaunal abundance and greater abundance gastropod grazers. In contrast, filamentous mats only increased gastropod abundance and biomass. In addition to introducing a rapid tool for quantifying vegetation structural complexity, this study highlights the selective effects of different habitat types on invertebrate communities in a relatively understudied region of the Baltic Sea. As warming temperatures and eutrophication promote filamentous mat growth, reducing nutrient pollution and protecting SAV will be crucial for sustaining abundant and diverse epifaunal communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":11467,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Evolution","volume":"15 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ece3.71498","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144171624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Anthropogenic and Climatic Variables Jointly Shape the Global Geographical Pattern of Hybrid Plant Diversity","authors":"Sirui Song,&nbsp;Yadong Zhou","doi":"10.1002/ece3.71512","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71512","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The emergence and dispersal of hybrid plants are influenced by a complex interplay of climatic, environmental, and anthropogenic factors. However, systematic investigations into the global patterns of hybrid plant diversity and their underlying drivers remain scarce. In this study, we compiled a comprehensive dataset encompassing 3543 hybrid plants and their parental species across 274 geographical regions. We analyzed the species richness, species density (SD), and hybridization index (which quantifies the spatial overlap between hybrids and their parental species), along with their associations with climatic, vegetation, and anthropogenic variables. Our results reveal that hybrid plant diversity is highest in Europe and Japan, whereas Africa, Oceania, and the Atlantic Ocean exhibit significantly lower diversity. Notably, hybrid plant diversity shows strong correlations with both anthropogenic and climatic factors, with anthropogenic influences playing a more dominant role in shaping global hybrid distributions. This is particularly evident in hybrid-rich regions such as Europe and Japan, where locally distributed hybrids display reduced overlap with their parental species—a pattern likely driven by human-mediated dispersal or other anthropogenic activities. Our findings provide novel insights into the global diversity and dispersal dynamics of hybrid plants.</p>","PeriodicalId":11467,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Evolution","volume":"15 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ece3.71512","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144171594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"To What Extent Can Life History Strategies Inform Reptile Conservation Planning?","authors":"Emily A. Stevenson,&nbsp;Sol Lucas,&nbsp;Philip J. K. McGowan,&nbsp;Isabel M. Smallegange,&nbsp;Louise Mair","doi":"10.1002/ece3.71488","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71488","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Global policy aims to prevent species extinctions; to support these aims, conservation planners must effectively target interventions to reduce the extinction risk of species. However, there is often a lack of knowledge on the magnitude and direction of species responses to interventions and, in turn, the extent to which a species extinction risk is reduced. If we can use a species' life history strategies to predict their responses to interventions, this offers a promising approach to better understand species extinction risks and conservation potential. Here we apply Dynamic Energy Budget Integral Projection Models to 23 reptile species to investigate whether their derived life history traits can be summarised into a life history strategy framework using principal component analysis, and whether species' positions along these axes predict their population growth rate, demographic resilience, sensitivity to perturbations and extinction risk. We found that species' positions on reproductive and pace of life axes predicted reptile population growth rate and demographic resilience but not sensitivity to perturbations or extinction risk. Our findings show that reptile life history strategies can inform our understanding of reptile species conservation potential and could be applied to influence management decisions such as establishing monitoring timelines.</p>","PeriodicalId":11467,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Evolution","volume":"15 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ece3.71488","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144171528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hatcheries to High Seas: Climate Change Connections to Salmon Marine Survival","authors":"Shuichi Kitada,&nbsp;Katherine W. Myers,&nbsp;Hirohisa Kishino","doi":"10.1002/ece3.71504","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71504","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We investigated variations in the marine survival of Japanese hatchery chum salmon (<i>Oncorhynchus keta</i>) during 25 years of climate change (1998–2023). Japan is the world's largest producer of hatchery salmon and is located near the global southern distribution limit of chum salmon. Our goal was to identify local- and context-specific metrics related to the observed coastwide decline in salmon marine survival over the past 2 decades. We hypothesized multiple metrics in three categories of stressors: hatchery carryovers, ocean conditions, and predators and competitors. The hatchery carryovers are stressors related to hatchery rearing that affect survival at a different life stage. We collected, processed, and collated large publicly available datasets into a comprehensive open-access database encompassing the life cycle of Japanese chum salmon, from eggs to adult spawners. Multivariate regression models showed that associations between stressors and adult salmon return rate (marine survival) varied by coastal management region, salmon life stage, and seasonal high-seas distribution area. In the early marine life-history stage, parental egg size, and fry size-at-release had the largest positive model effects on marine survival. The sea surface temperature (SST) at the time of fry release and a predator of fry had significant negative effects. In the offshore and high-seas life stages, summer SST had negative effects, while winter SST had positive effects. Russian chum and/or pink salmon abundance had negative effects, while no effect was found for North American pink and chum salmon abundance. Generalized additive models (GAMs) identified a nationwide decline in egg size and fry size-at-release. Our study highlights the need for an experimental approach to hatchery practices, including monitoring and analyses with updated information, leading to effective management decisions and policies for future sustainability and conservation of salmon resources.</p>","PeriodicalId":11467,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Evolution","volume":"15 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ece3.71504","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144171621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of Marine Reference on Inferred Evolutionary Patterns of Freshwater Stickleback","authors":"Brandon Tsai,&nbsp;Elizabeth Tapanes,&nbsp;Ainsley L. Fraser,&nbsp;Rana El-Sabaawi,&nbsp;Diana J. Rennison","doi":"10.1002/ece3.71461","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71461","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Threespine stickleback are a model system for studying rapid and parallel evolution. Studies characterizing freshwater evolution often use contemporary marines as an ancestral proxy, an approach that relies on untested assumptions about the lack of phenotypic variance in these marine fish. Here, we survey marine individuals collected from several sites, asking whether there is evidence of phenotypic variation. We identified considerable phenotypic variation among fish from different sites. Thus, we investigated the impact of this phenotypic variance on the inferred pattern of freshwater evolution. We tested whether estimates of the magnitude of phenotypic divergence or parallelism were affected by the choice of marine reference. We found that for freshwater populations, the magnitude of phenotypic divergence was dependent on marine sampling location—with divergence estimates differing by up to 65% with the substitution of marine reference site. Geographic distance and environmental similarity between marine and freshwater sites explained some of the variance in these divergence estimates. In contrast, across marine sites, neither geographic distance nor environmental similarity predicted morphological similarity, suggesting other factors drive morphological divergence among marine fish. The magnitude of phenotypic parallelism, estimated using a multivariate vector-based approach, also differed significantly depending on the marine reference used. Together these results suggest that the choice of marine reference population, particularly its geographic distance from the focal population, is an important consideration when trying to characterize patterns of evolution in freshwater stickleback.</p>","PeriodicalId":11467,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Evolution","volume":"15 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ece3.71461","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144171447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An Environmental Niche Exploration Tool for Kelp Forest Management","authors":"Aaron M. Eger,&nbsp;Georgina V. Wood,&nbsp;Jarrett Byrnes","doi":"10.1002/ece3.71459","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71459","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Sustainably managing kelp forest ecosystems is critical to maintaining marine biodiversity, supporting coastal communities, and meeting global conservation targets such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's 30 × 30 and Kelp Forest Challenge. Effective kelp forest management frequently depends on selecting environmentally suitable sites that align with species-specific environmental requirements. This paper introduces a novel kelp forest environmental niche mapping tool that synthesizes the realized environmental niche of 65 kelp species across 25 biophysical factors. Using over 426,000 global observations of kelp and high-resolution oceanographic datasets, the tool provides quantitative environmental niche data summarized by species and ecoregion. It focuses on key biophysical variables such as temperature, salinity, light, and nutrient availability, offering users practical guidance to identify optimal locations for kelp growth and survival. The tool is accessible via an interactive web application and supports conservation practitioners, policymakers, and researchers by enabling evidence-based site selection, maximizing conservation success, and informing broader marine ecosystem management. This tool presents a useful advancement in kelp forest management, facilitating global restoration efforts and contributing to the ambitious goal of restoring one million hectares of kelp forest by 2040. Future developments will address qualitative ecological factors and socio-cultural considerations to enhance its utility.</p>","PeriodicalId":11467,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Evolution","volume":"15 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ece3.71459","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144171795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hard Mating Aggregation as Evidence of Polyandry in the Red-Tailed Boa, Boa constrictor (Squamata: Boidae), in a Brazilian Caatinga Population","authors":"Selma Maria de Almeida-Santos,&nbsp;Renan Augusto Ramalho","doi":"10.1002/ece3.71514","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71514","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study reports a reproductive aggregation of a female <i>Boa constrictor</i> with five males in the Brazilian Caatinga. The observation reinforces the evidence of a polyandrous system, favoring larger females that copulate with different males. Our record highlights the influence of sexual size dimorphism in the formation of aggregations.</p>","PeriodicalId":11467,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Evolution","volume":"15 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ece3.71514","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144171338","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Supermatrix Phylogenetic Tree of Passerine Birds From the Indo-Australian Archipelago Highlights Contrasting Histories of Regional Endemism","authors":"Audrey Miranda Prasetya,&nbsp;Frederick R. Jaya,&nbsp;Craig Moritz,&nbsp;Leo Joseph,&nbsp;Paul M. Oliver","doi":"10.1002/ece3.71471","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71471","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA) is a biodiversity hotspot characterized by high levels of biotic endemism and turnover. Explanations for these biodiversity patterns tend to focus on the role of the complex and dynamic geological history of the region. However, it is only in the last decade that large-scale phylogenetically informed analyses of macroevolutionary dynamics across the region have become feasible. A recent study of bird distributions and diversity across the archipelago highlighted marked turnover of species across geographically proximate areas in the IAA and the overarching role of sea barriers in shaping turnover. To build on this work and better understand the relative histories of bird diversification in the different areas of the IAA, we compile an updated and as-complete-as-possible supermatrix phylogenetic tree for passerine birds from the region and use this to estimate and compare levels of endemism in different areas of the IAA. This genetic framework further emphasizes contrasting histories of diversification in different areas of the archipelago. As expected for this clade, we found that Australia is consistently inferred as a hotspot of paleoendemism, the islands of East Melanesia and possibly Maluku are characterized by neoendemism, while the world's largest and highest tropical island, New Guinea, is inferred to be a center of superendemism, that is, both paleo- and neoendemism. Our updated tree also highlights a significant increase in the number of recognized bird species across the IAA in the last 10 years, as well as improved completeness of genetic sampling.</p>","PeriodicalId":11467,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Evolution","volume":"15 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ece3.71471","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144171696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On the Northward Expansion of Scallops (Pecten maximus) Along the Norwegian Coastline","authors":"Ingrid A. Johnsen,&nbsp;Ellen Sofie Grefsrud","doi":"10.1002/ece3.71460","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71460","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The Norwegian coastline spans from 58° N to 71° N and exhibits an environmental gradient with decreasing temperatures from south to north. Historically, the distribution of the great scallop (<i>Pecten maximus</i>) along the Norwegian coastline has been from Skagerrak in the south to Bodø (67° N) in the north. The northernmost distribution was documented in 2001 by scientific diving. Since 2011, monitoring has revealed a northward shift, where small populations of <i>P. maximus</i> have established themselves beyond the previous distribution boundaries along the coastline and in the mid-western part of the Lofoten Islands at 68° N. The northward expansion of the great scallops' distribution is believed to be limited by low temperatures. However, over the past 15 years, coastal water temperatures have increased by approximately 1°C. Although a 1° temperature increase may seem modest, it reduced the time during winter with temperatures below 4°C from three to one month at the coastal station Skrova at 68° N. As the great scallop's preference for warm water is widely documented, and the timing of the northward shift seems to occur at the same time as the warmer waters are observed, we believe that the temperature increase is the main explanation for the observed northward shift in established populations of <i>P. maximus</i>.</p>","PeriodicalId":11467,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Evolution","volume":"15 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ece3.71460","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144171697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}