American Naturalist最新文献

Species Traits Mediate Environmental Responses but Not Conspecific Density Dependence in Tropical Tree Saplings. 物种性状介导热带树苗的环境响应，而非同种密度依赖。

IF 2.7 2区环境科学与生态学

American Naturalist Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2026-03-06 DOI: 10.1086/739608

Xiaohua Ma, Rong Gu, Guoshan Shi, Feng Liu, Guanghong Cao, Yun Deng, Shangwen Xia, Xiaodong Yang, Zhiming Zhang, Luxiang Lin

{"title":"Species Traits Mediate Environmental Responses but Not Conspecific Density Dependence in Tropical Tree Saplings.","authors":"Xiaohua Ma, Rong Gu, Guoshan Shi, Feng Liu, Guanghong Cao, Yun Deng, Shangwen Xia, Xiaodong Yang, Zhiming Zhang, Luxiang Lin","doi":"10.1086/739608","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/739608","url":null,"abstract":"AbstractUnderstanding how functional traits mediate species-specific responses to environmental variation and neighborhood interaction is fundamental for linking individual performance to community assembly. We used a hierarchical framework to examine how functional traits along the acquisitive-conservative spectrum mediate growth responses to environmental effects and density dependence. We monitored the growth of 16,717 saplings from 115 tree species over 5 years in a tropical rainforest and measured 10 functional traits reflecting the acquisitive-conservative spectrum. We employed Bayesian hierarchical models to quantify the relative importance of environmental and density factors on sapling growth and investigate how functional traits mediate species-specific responses to these factors. Sapling growth rates were primarily influenced by soil conditions, light availability (canopy closure), and conspecific adult neighbor density. Acquisitive species exhibited enhanced growth under high light, favorable soil resources, and low aluminum conditions compared with conservative species. However, we found no significant relationship between functional traits and conspecific density dependence. Functional traits mediate environmental responses through divergent resource use strategies rather than conspecific density dependence. Trait-based mechanisms underlying species coexistence may operate through pathways beyond the acquisitive-conservative spectrum. Our hierarchical modeling provides a framework for disentangling the complex relationships between functional traits, environmental responses, and density dependence in diverse tropical forests.","PeriodicalId":50800,"journal":{"name":"American Naturalist","volume":"207 5","pages":"710-727"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147788349","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}

引用次数: 0

Exploring the Genotype-to-Phenotype Map Using Quantifiable Patterns in Metazoan Genomic and Morphological Data. 利用后生动物基因组和形态学数据的可量化模式探索基因型-表型图谱。

IF 2.7 2区环境科学与生态学

American Naturalist Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2026-03-19 DOI: 10.1086/739490

Kevin J Peterson, Alexander W Clarke, Grygoriy Zolotarov, Bradley Deline, Trevor D Lamb, Mark A McPeek, Pedro Martinez, Bastian Fromm

{"title":"Exploring the Genotype-to-Phenotype Map Using Quantifiable Patterns in Metazoan Genomic and Morphological Data.","authors":"Kevin J Peterson, Alexander W Clarke, Grygoriy Zolotarov, Bradley Deline, Trevor D Lamb, Mark A McPeek, Pedro Martinez, Bastian Fromm","doi":"10.1086/739490","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/739490","url":null,"abstract":"AbstractA prevailing problem in evolutionary biology is elucidating the genotype-to-phenotype map that characterizes how genomic activities regulate different aspects of organismal morphology and their variability in both space and time. Here, we explore potential causality between genome content and both morphological complexity and disparity by compiling the regulatory components (i.e., transcription factors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNA families) as well as a representative set of nonregulatory housekeeping genes in 32 species belonging to a wide variety of animal phyla spanning a range of morphological, ecological, and genomic characteristics. A principal component analysis of these four nonoverlapping genomic components from each of these 32 species in relation to their last common ancestor revealed that no relationship exists between genome space and disparity, as changes to animal body plans appear to be largely the result of changes to the regulatory networks that govern animal development rather than gaining or losing specific sets of regulatory genes. However, using both phylogenetically correlated and phylogenetically uncorrelated statistical tests, we find a strong relationship between the loss of all considered gene types in some parasitic taxa, an exacerbation of a trend that characterizes animal genomes in general. We also find a strong correlation, and a likely causal relationship, between microRNA innovations and organismal complexity. While this analysis of genomic features suggests how complexity and disparity are each encoded in the genome, further analysis of the regulatory networks in which they participate should provide a more comprehensive description of how organisms diversify their morphologies through time.","PeriodicalId":50800,"journal":{"name":"American Naturalist","volume":"207 5","pages":"666-692"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147788263","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}

引用次数: 0

Density Dependence Impacts Our Understanding of Population Resilience. 密度依赖影响我们对人口弹性的理解。

IF 2.7 2区环境科学与生态学

American Naturalist Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2026-03-06 DOI: 10.1086/739605

Christina M Hernández, Iain Stott, David N Koons, Roberto Salguero-Gómez

{"title":"Density Dependence Impacts Our Understanding of Population Resilience.","authors":"Christina M Hernández, Iain Stott, David N Koons, Roberto Salguero-Gómez","doi":"10.1086/739605","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/739605","url":null,"abstract":"AbstractCurrent metrics of demographic resilience (e.g., resistance, recovery) summarize how populations respond to the frequent, varied disturbances that ecological systems experience. Much of the application of these metrics has focused on the potential response of populations represented by time-invariant, density-independent structured population models to hypothetical disturbances. Here, we show that density dependence has profound and complex impacts on our understanding of resilience. We examine resilience measures in a flexible structured model with five vital rate parameters (juvenile survival, adult survival, juvenile progression, adult retrogression, and adult reproductive output) with density dependence operating on one vital rate at a time. Depending on which vital rate was subject to density effects, existing measures of demographic resilience (compensation, resistance, and recovery time) either increased or decreased with population density. Moreover, the density-independent model underpredicted the recovery time of the corresponding density-dependent model, with a greater offset for species with longer generation times and higher iteroparity. Our findings demonstrate the importance of underlying nonlinear processes when examining demographic resilience, particularly if we hope to predict how natural populations will respond to real disturbances.","PeriodicalId":50800,"journal":{"name":"American Naturalist","volume":"207 5","pages":"693-709"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147788261","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}

引用次数: 0

Molting Strategy Influences Vulnerability to Climate Change in Migratory Birds. 候鸟换羽策略对气候变化脆弱性的影响

IF 2.7 2区环境科学与生态学

American Naturalist Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2026-03-09 DOI: 10.1086/739609

Paul J Dougherty, Ryan S Terrill, Matthew D Carling

{"title":"Molting Strategy Influences Vulnerability to Climate Change in Migratory Birds.","authors":"Paul J Dougherty, Ryan S Terrill, Matthew D Carling","doi":"10.1086/739609","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/739609","url":null,"abstract":"AbstractMolting, the process by which birds replace their feathers, is a necessary annual event with major ramifications for fitness. However, few studies have described threats to birds during molt. Here, we combine long-term climate and bird occurrence datasets to investigate the potential for ongoing anthropogenic shifts in precipitation volume and phenology in southwestern North America to influence bird populations that molt in the region. Our analyses of eBird records reveal intraspecific variation in molting location, which may heighten resistance to interannual variation in precipitation. However, we demonstrate widespread declines among molt-migrant populations following weak and late monsoons, suggesting that this variation is insufficient to buffer many against the current rate of environmental changes. We hypothesize that deviations from historical precipitation regimes increasingly deprive birds of sufficiently predictable resources to supply molt, elevating mortality. Finally, we present associations between sensitivity to precipitation variation and recent population trends, demonstrating that anthropogenic shifts in resource availability during molt have already contributed to population declines and pose a growing threat to western North American birds. Overall, our study demonstrates that anthropogenic shifts away from historical patterns of resource availability may compromise the self-maintenance and recovery of individual organisms, representing an overlooked threat to biodiversity.","PeriodicalId":50800,"journal":{"name":"American Naturalist","volume":"207 5","pages":"646-665"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147788345","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}

引用次数: 0

When Does the Probability of Evolutionary Rescue Increase with the Strength of Selection despite a Potential Demographic Cost? 什么时候，尽管存在潜在的人口成本，进化拯救的概率会随着选择的强度而增加？

IF 2.7 2区环境科学与生态学

American Naturalist Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2026-03-06 DOI: 10.1086/739607

Kuangyi Xu, Matthew M Osmond

引用次数: 0

Decision-Making in the Wild: Urgency and Complexity Drive Feeding Decision Speed and the Likelihood of Revising a Choice in a Sex-Dependent Manner in Great Tit (Parus major) Parents. 野外决策：紧迫性和复杂性驱动摄食决策速度和大山雀（Parus major）父母以性别依赖的方式修改选择的可能性。

IF 2.7 2区环境科学与生态学

American Naturalist Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2026-03-24 DOI: 10.1086/738498

Shana M Caro, Rebeca M Villareal, Adara C Velasco, Tjomme van Mastrigt, Kees van Oers, Camilla A Hinde, Hans A Hofmann

{"title":"Decision-Making in the Wild: Urgency and Complexity Drive Feeding Decision Speed and the Likelihood of Revising a Choice in a Sex-Dependent Manner in Great Tit (Parus major) Parents.","authors":"Shana M Caro, Rebeca M Villareal, Adara C Velasco, Tjomme van Mastrigt, Kees van Oers, Camilla A Hinde, Hans A Hofmann","doi":"10.1086/738498","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/738498","url":null,"abstract":"AbstractDeciding which offspring to feed is one of the most critical decisions parents make for both parental and offspring fitness. Despite knowing much about what choices parents make, we know little about how parents choose. What we do know about how the brain integrates sensory evidence when choosing between options comes from laboratory studies and models. However, such studies may not adequately reflect decisions made in nature-with real-world complexity and consequences. Our naturalistic experiment on decision-making in 62 wild Parus major parents addresses this issue. Decision speed was impacted by whether parents chose to feed a typically preferred chick, offspring starvation risk, decision complexity, and parental sex. Parents regularly moved food between chicks before committing, suggesting that parents perhaps were not confident in their initial decision, had made a mistake, were continuing to collect evidence, or could not execute their initial decision. Such decision changes were predicted by similar factors as speed. After moving food, parents were more likely to continue gathering evidence after their decision, and their next decision was slower. These results demonstrate several factors impacting cognition, and perhaps metacognition, in wild birds. More broadly, our study demonstrates how crucial evolutionarily relevant experiments in natural settings are.","PeriodicalId":50800,"journal":{"name":"American Naturalist","volume":"207 5","pages":"728-750"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147788270","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}

引用次数: 0

The Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of Sexual Traits That Increase Mate Encounter Rates. 增加交配率的性特征的生态进化动力学。

IF 2.7 2区环境科学与生态学

American Naturalist Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2026-03-12 DOI: 10.1086/739604

J Colton Watts, Courtney L Fitzpatrick

{"title":"The Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of Sexual Traits That Increase Mate Encounter Rates.","authors":"J Colton Watts, Courtney L Fitzpatrick","doi":"10.1086/739604","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/739604","url":null,"abstract":"AbstractSexual selection theory focuses on variation in mating success caused by a shortage of mates relative to same-sex competitors, but variation in mating success can also arise if mates are limited in an absolute sense (e.g., due to low encounter rates). To assess the potential for absolute mate limitation to contribute to sexual trait evolution, we develop a quantitative genetic model of a costly trait that increases mate encounter rates but is expressed solely in the operationally limiting sex. We show that sexual selection favors the elaboration of such a trait provided the marginal increase in offspring production exceeds the marginal increase in mortality. The conditions in which this occurs depends on population dynamic variables that change as the trait evolves. The resulting eco-evolutionary dynamics generally cause the sexual trait to converge on a single eco-evolutionary equilibrium value that, once established, cannot be replaced. These findings suggest a broader set of ecological contexts in which sexual selection can in principle occur and highlight promising directions for future research on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of sexual selection, sexual coevolution, and causes of variation in mating success in the limiting sex.","PeriodicalId":50800,"journal":{"name":"American Naturalist","volume":"207 5","pages":"627-645"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147788273","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}

引用次数: 0

Longevity Hinders Evolutionary Rescue through Slower Growth but Not Necessarily Slower Adaptation. 长寿通过缓慢的生长阻碍进化拯救，但不一定是缓慢的适应。

IF 2.7 2区环境科学与生态学

American Naturalist Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-26 DOI: 10.1086/739606

Scott W Nordstrom, Brett A Melbourne

{"title":"Longevity Hinders Evolutionary Rescue through Slower Growth but Not Necessarily Slower Adaptation.","authors":"Scott W Nordstrom, Brett A Melbourne","doi":"10.1086/739606","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/739606","url":null,"abstract":"AbstractEvolutionary rescue is the process by which populations experiencing severe environmental change avoid extinction through adaptation. Applying theory to natural populations and conservation targets requires investigating the effects of several life history traits, including longevity. Theory demonstrates that longevity can inhibit rescue through slower phenotypic adaptation when selection acts once per lifetime, leaving open questions about longevity's effects when individuals face multiple rounds of selection. We developed a model integrating evolutionary rescue with concepts from life history theory, particularly the trade-off where increasing longevity produces slower population growth rates. Our model varies longevity by modifying the balance of survival and reproduction, with selection acting on survival, allowing for adaptation within cohorts. We used this model to study life history strategies with different longevities responding to sudden environmental change. Simulations demonstrated that higher longevity resulted in more time at low density and increased extinction. With perfect trait heritability, rates of adaptation were nearly identical across longevities. But at lower heritabilities, repeated selection under longevity decoupled mean population phenotypes and genotypes, producing a transient phase of rapid phenotypic change. Our results demonstrate that longevity impedes rescue by slowing population growth but does not always slow rates of adaptation.","PeriodicalId":50800,"journal":{"name":"American Naturalist","volume":"207 5","pages":"599-614"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147788315","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}

引用次数: 0

Deconstructing the Morphological Basis of Ecogeographic Variation in the Hand-Wing Index, a Widely Used Proxy for Avian Mobility, in the Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia). 黄莺（Setophaga petechia）手翼指数生态地理变异的形态学基础解析

IF 2.7 2区环境科学与生态学

American Naturalist Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-03 DOI: 10.1086/739176

Teresa M Pegan, Vera Ting, Brett W Benz, Benjamin M Winger

{"title":"Deconstructing the Morphological Basis of Ecogeographic Variation in the Hand-Wing Index, a Widely Used Proxy for Avian Mobility, in the Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia).","authors":"Teresa M Pegan, Vera Ting, Brett W Benz, Benjamin M Winger","doi":"10.1086/739176","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/739176","url":null,"abstract":"AbstractBird species with high demand for efficient flight (e.g., migrants) tend to have more pointed wing tips than sedentary birds, and indices describing wing tip pointedness, such as the hand-wing index (HWI), are often used as proxies for dispersal propensity in comparative studies. Wing pointedness also varies among closely related populations of the same species that experience different selection pressures on flight, but we know surprisingly little about how variation in bone versus feather lengths contributes to wing pointedness. Here, we compare wing tip shape (HWI) of migratory versus sedentary populations of a widespread songbird, the Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia), to deconstruct variation in the individual skeletal and feather components of the hand-wing. Our results reveal that the relatively pointed wing shape of migrants is a consequence of shorter secondary feathers (i.e., a narrower wing) compared with nonmigrants, rather than longer wings. Indeed, despite having more pointed wings, migratory populations have similar wing length (i.e., wing chord) as sedentary continental populations. These populations show similar trunk size, but migrants have significantly shorter limb bones. Our results reveal the morphological underpinnings of a wing shape metric that has been widely used in macroevolutionary and macroecological studies of avian dispersal.","PeriodicalId":50800,"journal":{"name":"American Naturalist","volume":"207 4","pages":"578-589"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147488084","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}

引用次数: 0

The Evolutionary and Ecological Consequences of Cooperation. 合作的进化和生态后果。

IF 2.7 2区环境科学与生态学

American Naturalist Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-12 DOI: 10.1086/739292

Stuart A West, Anna E Dewar, Ryosuke Iritani, Laurence J Belcher, Ashleigh S Griffin

引用次数: 0