OecologiaPub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-09-20DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05623-x
Jeremy D Chamberlain, Ian T Clifton, Matthew E Gifford
{"title":"Variable juvenile growth rates and offspring size: a response to anthropogenic shifts in prey size among populations.","authors":"Jeremy D Chamberlain, Ian T Clifton, Matthew E Gifford","doi":"10.1007/s00442-024-05623-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00442-024-05623-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Environmental variables, such as resource quality, shape growth in organisms, dictating body size, an important correlate of fitness. Variation in prey characteristics among populations is frequently associated with similar variation in predator body sizes. Anthropogenic alterations to prey landscapes impose novel ecological pressures on predators that may shift predator phenotypes. Research has focused on determining the adaptability of the phenotypic response by testing its genetic heritability. Here, we asked if anthropogenic shifts in prey size across the landscape correlate with juvenile growth rates among populations of watersnakes with divergent life-history phenotypes. We sought to determine if growth rate variation is the product of genetic adaptation or a non-heritable phenotypic response. Using a common-garden design, we measured growth of neonate snakes from fish farms varying in prey size. We found juvenile growth rates are faster for snakes with larger initial body sizes and from populations with larger average prey sizes. Our data suggest variability in juvenile grow rates within and among populations are not the product of genetic adaptation, but the indirect consequence of initial offspring size variation and prey consumption. We propose larger offspring sizes may favor increased juvenile growth rates, mediated through a larger morphological capacity to consume and process energy resources relative to smaller individuals. This experiment provides evidence supporting the growing body of literature that non-heritable responses may be significant drivers of rapid phenotypic divergence among populations across a landscape. This mechanism may explain the stability and colonization of populations in response to rapid, human-mediated, landscape changes.</p>","PeriodicalId":19473,"journal":{"name":"Oecologia","volume":" ","pages":"163-173"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142292397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OecologiaPub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-09-03DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05612-0
Andreas Bühler, Rabea Schweiger
{"title":"Niche construction and niche choice by aphids infesting wheat ears.","authors":"Andreas Bühler, Rabea Schweiger","doi":"10.1007/s00442-024-05612-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00442-024-05612-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The niche of aphids is largely defined by their consumption of plant phloem sap and its composition, including nutrients and specialized metabolites. Niche construction is the change of the environment by organisms, which may influence the fitness of these organisms and their offspring. To better understand interactions between plants and aphids, it is necessary to investigate whether aphids modify the chemical composition of the phloem sap of their host plants and whether conspecifics are affected by previous infestation. In the current study, ears of wheat (Triticum aestivum) plants were infested with clonal lineages of the English grain aphid (Sitobion avenae) or were left uninfested. The metabolic composition of ear phloem sap exudates was analyzed through amino acid profiling and metabolic fingerprinting. Aphids of the clonal lineages were either put on previously aphid-infested or on uninfested ears and their colony sizes followed over time. Furthermore, it was investigated whether aphids choose one treatment group over another. Sitobion avenae infestation affected the relative concentrations of some metabolites in the phloem exudates of the ears. Compared to uninfested plants, the relative concentration of asparagine was higher after aphid infestation. Colonies grew significantly larger on previously aphid-infested ears, which the aphids also clearly chose in the choice experiment. The pronounced positive effect of previous infestation on aphid colonies indicates niche construction, while the choice of these constructed niches reveals niche choice by S. avenae on wheat. The interplay between these different niche realization processes highlights the complexity of interactions between aphids and their hosts.</p>","PeriodicalId":19473,"journal":{"name":"Oecologia","volume":" ","pages":"47-59"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11489299/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142126308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OecologiaPub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05624-w
Alberto L Teixido, Camila S Souza, Gudryan J Barônio, Maria R Sigrist, Josué Raizer, Camila Aoki
{"title":"Correction: Post-fire temporal dynamics of plant-pollinator communities in a tropical savanna.","authors":"Alberto L Teixido, Camila S Souza, Gudryan J Barônio, Maria R Sigrist, Josué Raizer, Camila Aoki","doi":"10.1007/s00442-024-05624-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00442-024-05624-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19473,"journal":{"name":"Oecologia","volume":" ","pages":"211"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142378050","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OecologiaPub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-09-04DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05613-z
Francesca Malcangi, Andreas Lindén, Janne Sundell, John Loehr
{"title":"Correlation between mammal track abundance and Forest Landscape Integrity Index validates actual forest ecological integrity.","authors":"Francesca Malcangi, Andreas Lindén, Janne Sundell, John Loehr","doi":"10.1007/s00442-024-05613-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00442-024-05613-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human disturbance compromises the ecological integrity of forests, negatively affecting associated species. Assessing the impact of forest integrity on biodiversity is complex due to the interplay of various human activities, ecological factors, and their interactions. Current large-scale indices assess forest integrity but often lack a direct connection to the biotic environment. We tested the effectiveness of the global Forest Landscape Integrity Index (FLII) in evaluating aspects of anthropogenic forest degradation on the biotic community. We analyzed the relationship between changes in the ecological integrity of Finnish forests and variations in mammal species abundance, using the number of tracks from 17 different species collected during the winter seasons between 2016 and 2020 in south-central Finland. Beyond the FLII, we analyzed forest and canopy cover to enhance the accuracy of habitat preference assessments. We found that the FLII captures the varying degrees of forest integrity, as reflected by the correlation between the abundance of winter tracks and the FLII for most mammals. Species that were positively associated with forest integrity were all native to the boreal forest, while mammals that adapt well to human-disturbed environments including two invasive species were more common in lower FLII forests. Significant differences in habitat preferences were also observed in relation to forest and canopy cover, revealing additional nuances that the FLII alone did not capture. This study demonstrates that the FLII, when combined with a comprehensive dataset and supplemented with region-specific factors, can assess species' adaptability to human-modified forests, aiding in the development of conservation strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":19473,"journal":{"name":"Oecologia","volume":" ","pages":"61-72"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11489168/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142126307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OecologiaPub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05622-y
Marcus Salton, Vincent Raoult, Ian David Jonsen, Matt Carr, Robert Harcourt
{"title":"Correction: Niche partitioning and individual specialisation in resources and space use of sympatric fur seals at their range margin.","authors":"Marcus Salton, Vincent Raoult, Ian David Jonsen, Matt Carr, Robert Harcourt","doi":"10.1007/s00442-024-05622-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00442-024-05622-y","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19473,"journal":{"name":"Oecologia","volume":" ","pages":"213"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11489199/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142292309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OecologiaPub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-09-08DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05610-2
Zuzanna M Filipiak, Carolina Mayoral, Sophie A Mills, Scott A L Hayward, Sami Ullah
{"title":"Elevated atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> alters the multi-element stoichiometry of pollen-bearing oak flowers, with possible negative effects on bees.","authors":"Zuzanna M Filipiak, Carolina Mayoral, Sophie A Mills, Scott A L Hayward, Sami Ullah","doi":"10.1007/s00442-024-05610-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00442-024-05610-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Increasing atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> levels change the elemental composition in plants, altering their nutritional quality and affecting consumers and ecosystems. Ecological stoichiometry provides a framework for investigating how CO<sub>2</sub>-driven nutrient dilution in pollen affects bees by linking changes in pollen chemical element proportions to the nutritional needs of bees. We investigated the consequences of five years of Free Air CO<sub>2</sub> Enrichment (FACE) in a mature oak-dominated temperate forest on the elemental composition of English oak (Quercus robur) pollen. We measured the concentrations and proportions of 12 elements (C, N, P, S, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn) in Q. robur pollen-bearing flowers collected from the Birmingham Institute for Forest Research (BIFoR) FACE facility. An elevated CO<sub>2</sub> (eCO<sub>2</sub>) level of 150 ppm above ambient significantly reduced the S, K, and Fe levels and altered the multi-element ratio, with different elements behaving differently. This shift in pollen multi-element composition may have subsequent cascading effects on higher trophic levels. To assess the impact on bees, we calculated the stoichiometric mismatch (a measure of the discrepancy between consumer needs and food quality) for two bee species, Osmia bicornis (red mason bee) and Apis mellifera (honey bee), that consume oak pollen in nature. We observed stoichiometric mismatches for P and S, in pollen under eCO<sub>2</sub>, which could negatively affect bees. We highlight the need for a comprehensive understanding of the changes in pollen multi-element stoichiometry under eCO<sub>2</sub>, which leads to nutrient limitations under climate change with consequences for bees.</p>","PeriodicalId":19473,"journal":{"name":"Oecologia","volume":" ","pages":"101-114"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11489284/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142154727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OecologiaPub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-09-28DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05626-8
Jouni Sorvari, Esa Huhta, Harri Hakkarainen
{"title":"Coexistence of territorial competitor ants in fragmented boreal forest landscape.","authors":"Jouni Sorvari, Esa Huhta, Harri Hakkarainen","doi":"10.1007/s00442-024-05626-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00442-024-05626-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The distribution of species in a patchy habitat may be influenced by competitive interactions. The dominant and highly competitive boreal ant species belong to the Formica rufa group. A pair of species, Formica aquilonia and Formica polyctena, require extensive territories due to their multi-nest breeding habits. The coexistence and habitat patterns of these two wood ant species in the boreal forest landscape were investigated. Forest characteristics in the vicinity of nests in forest patches were similar for both species, but they did not coexist in the same sampling plots of 0.79 ha in forest patches, indicating competitive exclusion. The sampling plots in large forest patches were more occupied by F. aquilonia, while no such association was found for F. polyctena. At a larger spatial scale (78.5 ha), we found that F. polyctena was more tolerant of smaller forest patches than F. aquilonia suggesting that these two ant species can coexist in moderately fragmented forest landscapes. However, forest habitat loss, fragmentation and climate-induced changes in forest tree structure may shift the species balance in favour of F. polyctena over F. aquilonia in the future.</p>","PeriodicalId":19473,"journal":{"name":"Oecologia","volume":" ","pages":"187-197"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11489285/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142351155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"River-estuary continuum highlighted by variabilities in carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of the catadromous eel Anguilla japonica.","authors":"Atsushi Nishimoto, Masuo Iida, Kazuki Yokouchi, Nobuto Fukuda, Toshihiro Yamamoto","doi":"10.1007/s00442-024-05618-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00442-024-05618-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Estuaries exhibit high physicochemical variability and the properties of estuaries and the constituent segments are not yet systematically understood. This study aims to reveal the spatial heterogeneity of predominant organic sources using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ<sup>13</sup>C and δ<sup>15</sup>N, respectively) of Japanese eels (Anguilla japonica), one of the ideal natural samplers. In the Miyakoda River, Japan, our study site, the effectiveness of eel δ<sup>13</sup>C and δ<sup>15</sup>N values as standard indices of predominant organic sources was tested by employing the River Continuum Concept. This study then extended the application of these indices to the estuary, i.e., the Hamana Lake system, into which the Miyakoda River flows. Once in the upper estuary, eel δ<sup>13</sup>C and δ<sup>15</sup>N values became high, with the latter peaking in this river-estuary continuum, indicating that artificial labile subsidies (nutrients and organic matter) with high δ<sup>15</sup>N values were rapidly assimilated into the food web. Eel δ<sup>15</sup>N values decreased again in the middle estuary. Nevertheless, the influence of terrestrial organic subsidies extended into this segment, as evidenced by the low δ<sup>13</sup>C values of eels. These results suggest that refractory organic matter with low δ<sup>15</sup>N values, such as plant-derived ones, is slowly assimilated into the food web in the downstream estuarine segments. The higher δ<sup>13</sup>C values in the lower estuary suggested that the contribution of eelgrass or macroalgae occurred in addition to benthic microalgae. Thus, our results emphasize the need to consider the multiple energy flows to understand the estuary as a continuum.</p>","PeriodicalId":19473,"journal":{"name":"Oecologia","volume":" ","pages":"151-162"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142292310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OecologiaPub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-08-12DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05605-z
Xinhou Zhang, Wen Xiao, Changchun Song, Jinbo Zhang, Xueyan Liu, Rong Mao
{"title":"Nutrient responses of vascular plants to N<sub>2</sub>-fixing tree Alnus hirsuta encroachment in a boreal peatland.","authors":"Xinhou Zhang, Wen Xiao, Changchun Song, Jinbo Zhang, Xueyan Liu, Rong Mao","doi":"10.1007/s00442-024-05605-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00442-024-05605-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The N<sub>2</sub>-fixing trees Alnus spp. have been widely encroaching into boreal peatlands, but the nutrient responses of native vascular plants remain unclear. Here, we compared nutrient concentrations and isotope signal of six common plants (Betula fruticosa, Salix rosmarinifolia, Vaccinium uliginosum, Rhododendron tomentosum, Chamaedaphne calyculata, and Eriophorum vaginatum) between Alnus hirsuta island and open peatland and assessed plant nutrient responses to A. hirsuta encroachment in boreal peatlands. Alnus hirsuta encroachment increased nitrogen (N) concentration of leaf, branch, and stem. Despite no significant interspecific difference in branch and stem, the increment magnitude of leaf N concentration varied among species, with greatest magnitude for R. tomentosum (55.1% ± 40.7%) and lowest for E. vaginatum (9.80% ± 4.40%) and B. fruticosa (18.4% ± 10.7%). Except for E. vaginatum, the significant increase in δ<sup>15</sup>N occurred for all organs of shrubs, with interspecific differences in change of leaf δ<sup>15</sup>N. According to the mass balance equation involving leaf δ<sup>15</sup>N, R. tomentosum and E. vaginatum, respectively, obtained highest (40.5% ± 19.8%) and lowest proportions (-14.0% ± 30.5%) of N from A. hirsuta. Moreover, the increment magnitudes of leaf N concentration showed a positive linear relationship with the proportion of N from A. hirsuta. In addition, A. hirsuta encroachment reduced leaf phosphorus (P) concentration of deciduous shrubs (i.e., B. fruticosa, S. rosmarinifolia, and V. uliginosum), thus increasing N:P ratio. These findings indicate that Alnus encroachment improves native plant N status and selectively intensifies P limitation of native deciduous shrubs, and highlight that the N acquisition from the symbiotic N<sub>2</sub>-fixing system regulates plant N responses in boreal peatlands.</p>","PeriodicalId":19473,"journal":{"name":"Oecologia","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141917222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OecologiaPub Date : 2024-10-01Epub Date: 2024-09-04DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05615-x
Md Ekramul Haque, Maria Rinke, Ting-Wen Chen, Mark Maraun, Stefan Scheu
{"title":"Colonization of mudflat substrate by microarthropods: the role of distance, inundation frequency and body size.","authors":"Md Ekramul Haque, Maria Rinke, Ting-Wen Chen, Mark Maraun, Stefan Scheu","doi":"10.1007/s00442-024-05615-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00442-024-05615-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Salt marshes represent a unique ecosystem at the marine-terrestrial boundary of shallow protected coastlines. Microarthropods form an essential component of soil food webs, but how they colonize new intertidal habitats is little understood. By establishing two experimental systems without animals, we investigated microarthropod colonization (1) at the seashore from the pioneer zone to the lower and upper salt marsh and (2) at the same tidal height on artificial islands 500 m from the seashore. Potential source populations of microarthropods in the respective zones were also investigated. Colonization of microarthropods after 5 years was consistently faster on the seashore than on the artificial islands. Collembola and Mesostigmata colonized all the zones both on the seashore and on the artificial islands, with colonization being faster in the upper salt marsh and in the pioneer zone than in the lower salt marsh. Oribatida colonized the new habitats on the seashore, but only little on the artificial islands. Variations in species composition were more pronounced between salt marsh zones than between experimental systems, indicating that local environmental conditions (i.e., inundation frequency) are more important for the assembly of microarthropod communities than the distance from source populations (i.e., dispersal processes). Variations in community body size of Oribatida and Mesostigmata indicated environmental filtering of traits, with smaller species suffering from frequent inundations. Notably, Mesostigmata most successfully colonized the new habitats across salt marsh zones on both systems. Overall, the results document major mechanisms of colonization of intertidal habitats by microarthropods with different life histories and feeding strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":19473,"journal":{"name":"Oecologia","volume":" ","pages":"87-100"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11489214/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142133315","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}