Ecosphere最新文献

{"title":"Long-term change and seasonal spillover risks of fatal acanthocephalan infection in southern sea otters","authors":"Richard E. Grewelle,&nbsp;Colleen Young,&nbsp;Corinne Gibble,&nbsp;Katherine Greenwald,&nbsp;Laird Henkel,&nbsp;Giulio A. De Leo,&nbsp;Melissa Miller","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70330","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecs2.70330","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Southern sea otters (<i>Enhydra lutris nereis</i>) face numerous risks to population recovery from infectious disease, shark attacks, and biotoxins. Recently, the most significant contributor to fatal infectious disease in sea otters has been acanthocephalan peritonitis (AP) caused by <i>Profilicollis altmani</i>. Despite the importance of AP-associated otter mortality, long-term and seasonal risks for spillover of this parasite from its avian definitive hosts (seabirds and shorebirds) and crustacean intermediate hosts, Pacific mole crabs (<i>Emerita analoga</i>), are poorly resolved. We analyzed a 30-year dataset of sea otter strandings (<i>n</i> = 4460 cases) within the extant southern sea otter range to assess the contributions of temporal, demographic, geographic, and environmental risk factors to the prevalence of AP in southern sea otters. We found the incidence of AP was driven by high prevalence in immature otters near or in Morro and Monterey Bays, primarily in the late spring. The seasonal fluctuations in AP prevalence aligned closely with the presence of Pacific mole crabs in the gastrointestinal tracts of stranded otters. For Monterey Bay otters, AP prevalence was also higher during El Niño years. Long-term trend analyses suggest that seasonal, demographic, and geographic patterns of AP prevalence in southern sea otters have shifted. Southern sea otter population recovery efforts can be informed by long-term monitoring that assesses the evolving risks of AP and other sources of mortality.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70330","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144897771","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Assessing the vulnerability and conservation potential of old-growth forests in British Columbia, Canada","authors":"Nick Pochailo,&nbsp;Leonardo Viliani,&nbsp;Jessica Stolar,&nbsp;Diana Stralberg,&nbsp;Scott E. Nielsen","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70373","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecs2.70373","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Climate change is predicted to have widespread effects on the distribution of many species and ecosystems, including old-growth forests. Because of the slow development time of old-growth forests, it is especially important for their management to map and understand areas of “climate change refugia.” British Columbia (BC), Canada, holds globally significant areas of old-growth forests with varying levels of threats from climate change. To better understand these threats, we used Maxent to model climate envelopes of BC's ecosystems, as represented by Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification units. We then projected ecosystem changes for the 2050s climate period and overlaid them with current and potential future old-growth forests (projected to become old growth in the absence of fire) to identify where these forests are likely to persist (“old-growth refugia”) and develop a provincial Refugia Probability Index. Finally, we assessed to what extent BC's current protected areas network represents current and future old-growth forest. Our analysis identified 110,545 km² of old-growth forest in BC as of 2021, which has the potential to increase via natural succession by up to an additional 69,410 km² by 2055, barring future wildfires or other disturbances. We also found that up to 54% of the province and 63% of current old growth fell within the projected area of maximum total refugia for the 2050s climate period. Our results indicate that less than 12% of these forests are currently within protected climate refugia, with under 0.2% in areas of “high” refugia probability. Thus, we demonstrate that almost all old growth in BC is susceptible to climate change, human development, or both, highlighting the vulnerability of these forests into the middle of the century. Overall, over 51% of BC's old growth was identified as susceptible to human development and within the projected area of maximum total refugia. We suggest future planning to focus on conserving elements of these areas, as their projected climate stability potentially translates into long-term protection. We provide a framework for forest and conservation managers to assess the future effects of climate change on old-growth forests in BC or beyond.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70373","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144897770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Multigenerational emergence trends of Brood X Magicicada spp. across habitat types in southwestern Ohio","authors":"Alfredo Ascanio,&nbsp;Brianna Louis,&nbsp;Andrew Cannizzaro,&nbsp;Victor Fitzgerald,&nbsp;Jason T. Bracken,&nbsp;Nicholas L. Rodenhouse,&nbsp;Thomas O. Crist,&nbsp;Tereza Jezkova","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70377","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecs2.70377","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Periodical cicadas (<i>Magicicada</i> spp.) emerge from the ground every 13- or 17-year intervals across the eastern and midwestern continental United States. Due to their long generation times, these animals are vulnerable to rapid environmental change, which has contributed to decreased densities and even extinction of different <i>Magicicada</i> broods. We investigated trends in population density and emergence phenology of Brood X cicadas across three reproductive events (1987, 2004, and 2021) in southwestern Ohio, comparing habitats with different levels of anthropogenic disturbance or origin: old-growth forest, rural woodlots, rural fencerows, and urban woodlots (added in 2021). Overall, we found that <i>Magicicada cassini</i>, <i>M. septendecim,</i> and <i>M. septendecula</i> were present in all studied sites, though the most abundant for the region was <i>M. cassini</i>. Our results revealed a generational decline in cicada density in old-growth forest and rural woodlots, while fencerows, often considered heavily disturbed habitats, showed a doubling in density across generations. Phenological data showed consistent protandry (earlier male emergence), with an increased offset between sexes in the 2021 emergence compared to 1987. Emergence timing also varied across habitats, with rural woodlots showing the earliest emergence and urban woodlots and fencerows (mainly composed by edge habitat) showing the latest. These findings challenge assumptions that disturbed habitats universally reduce insect populations and suggest that treed fencerows may serve as important reproductive refuges under certain conditions. However, variance and delay in female emergence may indicate changing environmental cues or phenological mismatches, potentially reducing reproductive success. To aid conservation efforts, we recommend continued and expanded monitoring of future Brood X emergences, expansion of sampling in old-growth forest sites, along with incentives to preserve and manage treed fencerows while also expanding existing tracts of forest.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70377","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144897772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Late season frosts and changing snowpack may exacerbate human–bear conflicts","authors":"Kevin T. Shoemaker,&nbsp;Heather E. Reich,&nbsp;Perry J. Williams,&nbsp;Megan J. Osterhout,&nbsp;Joshua P. Vasquez,&nbsp;Jon P. Beckmann,&nbsp;Carl W. Lackey,&nbsp;Kelley M. Stewart","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70379","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecs2.70379","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The North American black bear (<i>Ursus americanus</i>) is an opportunistic omnivore that depends on seasonal availability of fruits, nuts, grasses, and forbs for survival. Black bears on the urban–wildland interface also use anthropogenic food resources, especially when natural food resources are scarce. Consequently, natural food failure can exacerbate human–bear conflict, resulting in increases in human-caused mortality via vehicle strikes and management removal. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including drought or late frost. These climatic events may affect the spring growth resulting in loss of natural foods for bears and lead to heightened human–bear conflict in the future. In this study, we examined the effects of weather (snowpack and final freeze dates) on natural survival and cause-specific mortality (management removal and vehicle collision) of black bears in northwestern Nevada, using an extensive capture–recapture database (509 bears captured between 1998 and 2022). Our results indicated that late freeze dates were associated with a higher probability of conflict, increased probability of management removal, and reduced natural survival. Snowpack (snow-water equivalent) was weakly correlated with the probability of management removal, but the association was much weaker than the effect of late freeze dates. Anticipating the effects of late frost and snowpack on human–black bear conflict will help managers better anticipate and respond to potential high-conflict events.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70379","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144905622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Spatial and temporal patterns of mammalian roadkill across subtropical protected areas in Nepal","authors":"Dayaram Pandey,&nbsp;Pemba Sherpa,&nbsp;Dipesh Kumar Sharma,&nbsp;Pratistha Shrestha,&nbsp;Gopal Khanal","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70383","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecs2.70383","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Wildlife–vehicle collisions are a major source of anthropogenic wildlife mortality, making it essential to understand their spatial and temporal patterns for effective mitigation. In this study, we conducted a multisite, multiyear analysis of wildlife roadkill incidents recorded across six subtropical protected areas in Nepal over a five-year period (2017–2022). A total of 618 individual animals from 37 vertebrate species were killed in vehicle collisions, averaging five roadkills per 10 km annually. Roadkill accounted for approximately 27% of all recorded wildlife mortalities, highlighting it as a significant source of mortality and a growing threat to wildlife in protected areas. We found a clear taxonomic bias in roadkill, with ungulates and primates accounting for ~65% of all incidents. However, during the COVID-19 lockdown, carnivores were disproportionately affected, suggesting a potential shift in risk linked to altered traffic conditions. Multiscale regression modeling showed that roadkill risk increased with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), annual rainfall, and canopy cover, with consistent effects across scales of analysis (100-, 250-, and 500-m buffers). Seasonal differences were evident, with peak roadkill in winter, followed by autumn. Roadkill incidents increased modestly (3%) over the five-year period, but trends varied, with three of six protected areas showing an increasing trend. Importantly, the three key metrics (total magnitude, kill rate, and temporal trend) did not align; the protected area with the highest number of total roadkill did not exhibit the highest kill rate per km or increasing trend, but the one with the shortest road length passing through its area experienced an increasing trend. This mismatch likely reflects a complex interplay of factors, including road length and site-specific factors. This variation suggests that protected areas vary in their vulnerability to roadkill, underscoring the need for context-specific mitigation strategies tailored to each metric and site condition. As Nepal's road network continues to expand, targeted research and monitoring will be essential for identifying roadkill hotspots, assessing mitigation effectiveness, and informing conservation planning.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70383","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144861676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Successful eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) recruitment on intertidal artificial substrates in Virginia, USA","authors":"Rochelle D. Seitz,&nbsp;Kathleen E. Knick,&nbsp;Emily Suchonic,&nbsp;Amanda Pysher","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70380","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecs2.70380","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Declines of eastern oyster (<i>Crassostrea virginica</i>) populations and scarcity of natural oyster shell necessitate quantifying the effectiveness of artificial oyster reef substrates over varying environmental conditions. Oyster castles are often used in intertidal areas with moderate wave energy; however, new concrete, natural-looking substrates, GROW Reef Tiles, are now available. Eastern oyster recruitment and size on oyster castles (OC) and GROW Reef Tiles (GT), with 27% higher surface area on OC, were assessed three times over 25 months in locations with varying salinity. Four sites in the Chesapeake Bay region were examined: Cherrystone Inlet, Mockhorn Bay, Elizabeth River, and Lynnhaven Bay. At each site, 10 OC and 10 GT were randomly placed parallel to shore in the low-intertidal zone in May 2019. Sites were sampled non-destructively in October 2019, July 2020, and June 2021. A quadrat (0.30 m × 0.30 m) was placed on top of the structure, and one of four quadrants was randomly chosen to count and measure oysters for shell height and mortality status. Data from each year and combined data (2019–2021) were analyzed using the response variables oyster density and shell height along with combinations of year, site, and substrate type. Both substrate types had high oyster recruitment (&gt;400 oysters m⁻²). At 25 months post-deployment, mean oyster densities differed significantly by substrate, with 553.3 oysters m⁻² on OC and 423.0 oysters m⁻² on GT (24% higher on OC). Oyster densities differed by site, with highest densities in Mockhorn Bay. Growth was ~60–70 mm over the 25 months, and oysters were smallest at the highest-salinity and highest-density site. Mean oyster shell height was greater on GT (61.7 ± 2.2 mm) than on OC (57.3 ± 2.1). Both substrates had high oyster recruitment (well above the Chesapeake Bay success metric: 50 oysters m⁻²), large oysters, and developed multiple cohorts, suggesting that both substrates could be used effectively for restoration. Given that GT is a natural-looking substrate, it may be preferable for nearshore restoration. This is important particularly for management agencies concerned with both appearance and functionality in large-scale restoration projects.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70380","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144861678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Reduction in nitrification during the early transition from conventional to organic farming practices","authors":"Jacob R. Price,&nbsp;Diana Oviedo-Vargas,&nbsp;Marc Peipoch,&nbsp;Melinda D. Daniels,&nbsp;Jinjun Kan","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70375","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecs2.70375","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Little is known about the nitrogen transformation dynamics during the early transition phase from conventional to organic farming. We investigated changes in microbial N-cycling in agricultural fields transitioning from conventional to organic farming practices by quantifying nitrification/mineralization rates, extracellular enzyme activity (EEA), and nitrogen transformation genes (nitrification and denitrification). The farming practices we investigated contained three binary treatments: Management System (denoting both general approach and fertility source), Tillage, and Cover Crop. Four years after the transition, we found that the process of converting conventionally managed fields to organic agricultural practices significantly reduced net nitrification rates, likely as a result of lower abundances of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). In addition to terms pertaining to the experimental treatments, we included a term, Year, in our models to control for noise due to the cash/cover crop rotation and weather-related differences. We found that the Year covariate to have highly significant variation related to net nitrification, soil NH₄⁺-N concentration, the EEA ratio of NAG:BG, and the abundances of AOA, AOB, and the denitrifying gene <i>nos</i>Z. In contrast to much of the published literature, our results showed the absence of a significant response to the Tillage and Cover Crop treatments after four years of conversion. Combined with year-to-year variation being generally more important of an influence than the Tillage and Cover Crop treatments, our results suggest that nutrient processes change gradually in response to farming practices. Therefore, incorporating research about the inter-year variations may yield predictive models that would be useful not just to researchers but also to guide farmers engaged in conventional-to-organic conversion projects.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70375","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144843299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Different processes and constraints drive the assembly of deep-sea hydrothermal vent and sunken wood communities","authors":"Joan M. Alfaro-Lucas,&nbsp;Florence Pradillon,&nbsp;Daniela Zeppilli,&nbsp;Maurício Shimabukuro,&nbsp;Gauthier Schaal,&nbsp;Loïc N. Michel,&nbsp;Pedro Martinez-Arbizu,&nbsp;Hayato Tanaka,&nbsp;Martin Foviaux,&nbsp;Jozée Sarrazin","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70351","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecs2.70351","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Niche processes mainly dictate the successful establishment and coexistence of species along gradients of community drivers such as energy availability and environmental stress. Deep-sea chemosynthetic habitats such as hydrothermal vents and wood falls show concomitant gradients of energy availability and stress because productivity is fueled by potentially toxic, chemically reduced compounds. However, the specific processes and constraints driving the assembly of these eco-evolutionarily related communities remain poorly understood. Here, we infer community assembly processes from species, functional, and isotopic diversity patterns of vent and wood-fall assemblages using a colonization experiment along a hydrothermal gradient, from vent periphery to diffuse-flow habitats. We hypothesized that despite the high environmental stress, the high productivity of vent diffuse-flow and wood-fall habitats increases niche space due to niche partitioning and/or competitive exclusion processes, allowing more species to coexist in high densities. As predicted, at moderate levels of stress at vent diffuse-flow habitats, productivity increases niche space and supports denser and more species-rich assemblages with many ecological strategies, suggesting niche partitioning and/or competitive exclusion of functionally similar species. However, as stress increases at habitats under higher venting influence, species richness, abundance, and functional diversity decrease, suggesting environmental filtering and/or competitive dominance of better adapted species. Similarly, the vent periphery supports fewer species, individuals, trophic levels, and reduced niche space, suggesting that the scarcer food resources act as an environmental filter. Unexpectedly, food resources at wood substrata at the vent periphery, harboring typical wood-fall communities, support very speciose and dense assemblages of reduced functional diversity. This suggests that compared to vent diffuse-flow habitats, the reduced habitat availability, or longevity, of wood falls reduces niche space and promotes environmental filtering and/or competitive dominance processes. Thus, different processes and constraints appear to drive the assembly of communities along hydrothermal vent gradients and between the eco-evolutionarily related vent and wood-fall communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70351","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144843275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Some of these are not like the others: Relative thermal sensitivity among anuran species of the Southeast United States","authors":"Traci P. DuBose,&nbsp;Chloe E. Moore,&nbsp;Vincent R. Farallo,&nbsp;Abigail L. Benson,&nbsp;William A. Hopkins,&nbsp;Sam Silknetter,&nbsp;Meryl C. Mims","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70366","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecs2.70366","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Estimating how close a species is to its upper thermal limits (i.e., warming tolerance, a thermal sensitivity index) and how that proximity changes across space enables spatially explicit identification of species with increased extinction risk as temperatures increase. Yet, thermal sensitivity is often difficult to calculate because it is the result of many traits. We aimed to synthesize multiple traits into a single estimate of relative terrestrial thermal sensitivity for 13 anuran species in the southeastern United States. We employed models that incorporate traits and microclimate variation to (1) estimate species warming tolerance (the difference between species critical thermal maximum and modeled operative temperature, an estimate of body temperature) and (2) investigate how warming tolerance varied with latitude (whereby latitude represents different temperature regimes and external drivers of thermal sensitivity). We ran mechanistic niche models across a 12° latitudinal gradient and 10 years to estimate individual operative temperature. We calculated the minimum, 25th percentile (hottest quarter), and median daily minimum warming tolerance. Estimates of minimum warming tolerance spanned −5 to 10°C (<i>Lithobates palustris</i> and <i>Gastrophryne carolinensis</i> respectively) and differed among species. For most species, modeled operative temperatures exceeded species' critical thermal maximum during extreme warm temperatures (i.e., heat waves) in part of their range, and warming tolerance increased with latitude. During heat waves, five species had lower warming tolerance at higher latitudes, and three species' warming tolerance did not change with latitude. We identified species that are approaching their thermal limits in the Southeast and characterized spatial patterns of warming tolerance. Increased temperatures could increase anuran extinction risk, posing an additional challenge for threatened anuran species. Spatial patterns of warming tolerance were not consistent among species in our study, highlighting that patterns identified at higher taxonomic categories could be inconsistent at lower taxonomic categories.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70366","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144843276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Dung beetles, but not rodents, contribute to brown bear feces removal, disaggregation, and secondary seed dispersal","authors":"Grégoire Pauly,&nbsp;Cécile Vanpé,&nbsp;Mélanie Roy,&nbsp;Jérôme Sentilles,&nbsp;Jean-David Chapelin-Viscardi,&nbsp;Tanguy Daufresne,&nbsp;Christophe Baltzinger","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70382","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecs2.70382","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Seed dispersal by endozoochory is essential to plant dynamics, but once released in the feces, the seeds face a hostile environment that is not always favorable to germination. Indeed, feces may contain inhibitors, have high seed density, and be densely structured. However, feces visitors such as vertebrates and invertebrates may play an essential role in secondary seed dispersal (SSD) and can alleviate the chemical and physical constraints of the feces. Yet, their relative roles in the dispersal of small- and medium-sized seeds are not well documented. In this study, we designed a field experiment in the French Pyrénées mountains to disentangle the relative role of vertebrate and invertebrate on feces removal, disaggregation, and secondary dispersal of small- and medium-sized seeds. We thus used 30 brown bear (<i>Ursus arctos</i>) fresh feces and separated each of them into three sub-samples submitted to different treatments allowing total access of any visitor, access restricted to invertebrates, and no visitor access, respectively. We inserted eight raspberry (<i>Rubus idaeus</i>) and five blueberry (<i>Vaccinium myrtillus</i>) marked seeds in each sub-sample to assess SSD. In parallel, we used camera and pitfall traps to document the presence of vertebrate and invertebrate visitors, respectively. After ten days, we weighed the fecal matter remaining, counted the remaining seeds, and assessed the feces disaggregation based on visual examination and objective criteria. We observed a significant effect of invertebrates on feces removal, disaggregation, and secondary dispersal of both seed species. Vertebrates did not visit the feces. Dung beetles caught in pitfall traps appear as the main secondary seed dispersers and disaggregation agents in this area. We also pinpointed that diet composition and structure of brown bear feces affect dung beetle attraction and activities. Our study in a temperate mountainous area identifies dung beetles as key agents in the disaggregation of large feces and secondary dispersal of small- and medium-sized seeds, with no evidence of rodents. Diet composition and the fecal matter trapping the seeds affect seed fate by modulating dung beetle activity. By releasing variable fecal contents, omnivorous primary seed vectors have an even more complex effect on seed fate than expected.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70382","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144843272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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}