Laura Rogers-Bennett, Scott D Groth, James T Carlton
{"title":"Steep Decline in the Rare Flat Abalone, Haliotis walallensis, Following Fishing Exploitation and a Marine Heat Wave: The Next Neoextinction?","authors":"Laura Rogers-Bennett, Scott D Groth, James T Carlton","doi":"10.1093/icb/icae126","DOIUrl":"10.1093/icb/icae126","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ocean warming is impacting marine systems directly and indirectly via intensifying multiple stressors such as hypoxia, acidification, and kelp forest collapse potentially exacerbating neoextinctions. Abalones are extremely vulnerable to both ocean warming and fishing stressors making them marine \"canaries in the coal mine\". The rare flat abalone, Haliotis walallensis, has been subject to a targeted commercial fishery and then exposed to an extreme marine heat wave. We examine the current status of flat abalone before and after a marine heat wave of 2014-2016 and the concomitant collapse of the bull kelp (Nereocystis leutkeana) forest in 2015. We find that flat abalone density (as assessed in surveys) and abundances (inside deployed \"abalone modules\") in the core of the range dropped to near-zero after the marine heat wave and have not recovered. Further, we examine the status of flat abalone in southern Oregon after both overfishing and the kelp forest collapse and find dramatic declines, especially in former fishery hot spots. Our results show that flat abalone have experienced a major decline and may be an example of a neoextinction in the making. A standardized and well-funded status review and proactive restoration plan, if not too late, are both critically needed for flat abalone throughout its range.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1586-1600"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141857243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Integrating Spatial Analyses of Genomic and Physiological Data to Understand Avian Responses to Environmental Change.","authors":"Phred M Benham, Elizabeth J Beckman","doi":"10.1093/icb/icae059","DOIUrl":"10.1093/icb/icae059","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Projected rates of climate change over the next century are expected to force species to shift ranges, adapt, or acclimate to evade extinction. Predicting which of these scenarios may be most likely is a central challenge for conserving biodiversity in the immediate future. Modeling frameworks that take advantage of intraspecific variation across environmental gradients can be particularly important for meeting this challenge. While these space-for-time approaches are essential for climatic and genomic modeling approaches, mechanistic models that incorporate ecological physiology data into assessing species vulnerabilities rarely include intraspecific variation. A major reason for this gap is the general lack of empirical data on intraspecific geographic variation in avian physiological traits. In this review, we outline the evidence for and processes shaping geographic variation in avian traits. We use the example of evaporative water loss to underscore the lack of research on geographic variation, even in traits central to cooling costs in birds. We next demonstrate how shifting the focus of avian physiological research to intraspecific variation can facilitate greater integration with emerging genomics approaches. Finally, we outline important next steps for an integrative approach to advance understanding of avian physiological adaptation within species. Addressing the knowledge gaps outlined in this review will contribute to an improved predictive framework that synthesizes environmental, morphological, physiological, and genomic data to assess species specific vulnerabilities to a warming planet.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1792-1810"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141236427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Maria Byrne, Paula Cisternas, Timothy D O'Hara, Mary A Sewell, Paulina Selvakumaraswamy
{"title":"Evolution of Maternal Provisioning and Development in the Ophiuroidea: Egg Size, Larval Form, and Parental Care.","authors":"Maria Byrne, Paula Cisternas, Timothy D O'Hara, Mary A Sewell, Paulina Selvakumaraswamy","doi":"10.1093/icb/icae048","DOIUrl":"10.1093/icb/icae048","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Ophiuroidea is the most speciose class of echinoderms and has the greatest diversity of larval forms, but we know less about the evolution of development (evo-devo) in this group than for the other echinoderm classes. As is typical of echinoderms, evo-devo in the Ophiuroidea resulted in the switch from production of small eggs and feeding (planktotrophic) larvae to large eggs and non-feeding (lecithotrophic) larvae. Parental care (ovoviviparity or viviparity/matrotrophy) is the most derived life history. Analysis of egg data for 140 species (excluding viviparity and facultative planktotrophy) indicated a bimodal distribution in egg volume corresponding to planktotrophy and lecithotrophy + ovoviviparity, with three significant egg size groups due to the very large eggs of the ovoviviparous species. The marked reduction in fecundity in species with extremely large eggs is exemplified by the ovoviviparous species. Egg size in the two species with facultative planktotrophy was intermediate with respect to the two modes. Identifying the ancestral larval life history pattern and the pathways in the switch from feeding to non-feeding larvae is complicated by the two patterns of metamorphosis seen in species with planktotrophic development: Type I (ophiopluteus only) and Type II (ophiopluteus + vitellaria larva). The variability in arm resorption at metamorphosis across ophiuroid families indicates that the Type I and II patterns may be two ends of a morphological continuum. This variability indicates ancestral morphological plasticity at metamorphosis, followed by canalization in some taxa to the vitellaria as the metamorphic larva. Vestigial ophiopluteal traits in lecithotrophic ophioplutei and vitellaria indicate evolution from the ancestral (feeding larva) state. Parental care has evolved many times from an ancestor that had a planktonic ophiopluteus or vitellaria and is often associated with hermaphroditism and paedomorphosis. A secondary reduction in egg size occurred in the viviparous species.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1536-1555"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11659680/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141089343","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andrea L Liebl, Andrew J Steen, Louis G O'Neill, James L Savage, Andrew F Russell
{"title":"Clutch Size, but Not Egg Volume, Increases with Rainfall in an Arid-Dwelling Bird.","authors":"Andrea L Liebl, Andrew J Steen, Louis G O'Neill, James L Savage, Andrew F Russell","doi":"10.1093/icb/icae063","DOIUrl":"10.1093/icb/icae063","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding how animals maximize reproductive success in variable environments is important in determining how populations will respond to increasingly extreme weather events predicted in the face of changing climates. Although temperature is generally considered a key factor in reproductive decisions, rainfall is also an important predictor of prey availability in arid environments. Here, we test the impact of weather (i.e., rainfall and temperature) on female reproductive investment in an arid-dwelling bird (i.e., clutch size and egg volume) and tradeoffs between the two. We predicted that female chestnut-crowned babblers (Pomatostomus ruficeps), endemic to the arid region of Australia, would increase clutch size at the expense of egg volume in response to variation in rainfall and temperature. We found that over 14 breeding seasons, clutch size decreased with increasing temperature, but increased following more rain. Egg volume, on the other hand, became larger as temperatures increased and, although not related to the amount of rain, was related to the number of days since the last rainfall. Finally, egg size decreased as clutch size increased, indicating a tradeoff between the two reproductive parameters. Our results suggest that chestnut-crowned babblers breed reactively in response to variable environments. We expect that clutch size variation in response to rain may reflect the impact of rain on arthropod abundance, whereas the effect of temperature may represent an established decline in clutch size observed in other seasonal breeders. As the tradeoff between clutch size and egg volume was modest and clutch sizes were modified to a greater extent than egg volumes in response to rainfall, we suggest selection is more likely to increase offspring number than quality, at least in favorable years. Our results support the idea that reproductive investment is variable in fluctuating environments, which has implications for species living in habitats experiencing more extreme and less predictable weather as the global climate changes.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1633-1642"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141249068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Once Is Not Enough: Seasonal Patterns in Abundance of Hydromedusae Are Not Consistent in the Coastal Waters of the Bay of Panama.","authors":"Alexandra De León, Rachel Collin","doi":"10.1093/icb/icae055","DOIUrl":"10.1093/icb/icae055","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hydromedusae and other gelatinous zooplankton are poorly understood but important consumers in the plankton. Blooms of large-bodied medusae, which may have detrimental ecological impacts, have captured significant attention, yet the seasonal patterns of local abundance and diversity, and the factors that control them, are not well documented for the much more diverse tiny hydromedusae. There is virtually no published information on their phenology or ecology in tropical coastal systems. It has previously been suggested that increased productivity stimulated by upwelling promotes production of tiny hydromedusa and blooms as their abundance can be much higher during upwelling than during non-upwelling periods in the tropics. However, this conclusion was based on a single year of sampling in the Bay of Panama. To determine if a single year of sampling is sufficient to understand seasonal patterns in abundance and occurrence of blooms, we repeated this study 20 years later. Sampling 153 times between April 2022 and April 2023, we found similar genus-level diversity and overall counts of animals compared to the previous study, with medusae of Bougainvillia, Campalecium, Obelia, and Turritopsis accounting for 79% of the animals collected. However, we found that relative abundance was much higher during the non-upwelling season compared to the upwelling season, the opposite result compared to the previous study. These results highlight how strong baseline understanding of phenologies and the ecological conclusions drawn from them must be based on multiple years of data, even in regions with very strong seasonal changes in environmental conditions. In the case of the upwelling regions of the Tropical Eastern Pacific, further research is necessary to understand the generalizability of these patterns and to determine if contrasting results are due to inter-annual differences in oceanographic drivers or changing environmental baselines.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1556-1567"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141177031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A Kelsey Lewis, Chloe C Josefson, Teri J Orr, Breanna N Harris
{"title":"Let's Talk About Sex: Instructor Views and Hesitancies Related to Sex and Gender in the Biology Classroom.","authors":"A Kelsey Lewis, Chloe C Josefson, Teri J Orr, Breanna N Harris","doi":"10.1093/icb/icae100","DOIUrl":"10.1093/icb/icae100","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is much current debate in the United States regarding how sex and gender are approached in science and medical classrooms. There does not seem to be sufficient consensus around why it must be taught and how it should be implemented. State-enacted restrictions to both education and healthcare in recent years demonstrate the relevance and importance of sex and gender in the college classroom, not only including but especially in the biology classroom. Given the areas comprising the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB), these topics of sex and gender in biology instruction are incredibly salient to our members. Thus, this survey aimed to determine instructors' views of and experiences with sex-diverse gender-inclusive biology. College-level biology instructors who are members of SICB were surveyed about their views of science, views of sex and gender, teaching philosophy, and their experiences with inclusive teaching and with sex-diverse gender-inclusive teaching. The resulting data lead us to implore academic biology to provide more sex-diverse and gender-inclusive teaching tools and resources to educators, while minimizing potential fear of retaliation and backlash to instructors who utilize these teaching methods.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1679-1693"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141565153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emma M Rhodes, Kang Nian Yap, Geoffrey E Hill, Wendy R Hood
{"title":"A Comparison of the Mitochondrial Performance between Migratory and Sedentary Mimid Thrushes.","authors":"Emma M Rhodes, Kang Nian Yap, Geoffrey E Hill, Wendy R Hood","doi":"10.1093/icb/icae137","DOIUrl":"10.1093/icb/icae137","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Birds exhibit a variety of migration strategies. Because sustained flapping flight requires the production of elevated levels of energy compared to typical daily activities, migratory birds are well-documented to have several physiological adaptations to support the energy demands of migration. However, even though mitochondria are the source of ATP that powers flight, the respiratory performance of the mitochondria is almost unstudied in the context of migration. We hypothesized that migratory species would have higher mitochondrial respiratory performance during migration compared to species that do not migrate. To test this hypothesis, we compared variables related to mitochondrial respiratory function between two confamilial bird species-the migratory Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) and the non-migratory Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). Birds were captured at the same location along the Alabama Gulf Coast, where we assumed that Gray Catbirds were migrants and where resident Northern Mockingbirds live year-round. We found a trend in citrate synthase activity, which suggests that Gray Catbirds have a greater mitochondrial volume in their pectoralis muscle, but we observed no other differences in mitochondrial respiration or complex enzymatic activities between individuals from the migrant vs. the non-migrant species. However, when we assessed the catbirds included in our study using well-established indicators of migratory physiology, birds fell into two groups: a group with physiological parameters indicating a physiology of birds engaged in migration and a group with the physiology of birds not migrating. Thus, our comparison included catbirds that appeared to be outside of migratory condition. When we compared the mitochondrial performance of these three groups, we found that the mitochondrial respiratory capacity of migrating catbirds was very similar to that of Northern Mockingbirds, while the catbirds judged to be not migrating were lowest. One explanation for these observations is these species display very different daily flight behaviors. While the mockingbirds we sampled were not breeding nor migrating, they are highly active birds, living in the open and engaging in flapping flights throughout each day. In contrast, Gray Catbirds live in shrubs and fly infrequently when not migrating. Such differences in baseline energy needs likely confounded our attempt to study adaptations to migration.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1859-1870"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141914629","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kathryn Wilsterman, Anna Isabel Bautista, Chloe E Butler, Makenna Y Juergens, Ashley M Larson
{"title":"Evolution of Litter Size: Proximate and Ultimate Mechanisms.","authors":"Kathryn Wilsterman, Anna Isabel Bautista, Chloe E Butler, Makenna Y Juergens, Ashley M Larson","doi":"10.1093/icb/icae052","DOIUrl":"10.1093/icb/icae052","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Relative reproductive success and failure are the ultimate determinants of Darwinian fitness. As such, reproductive traits and variations therein have an immediate and considerable impact on the evolutionary trajectory of lineages. Historically, significant attention has been paid to the ecological and evolutionary processes (ultimate factors) that shape the diversity and canalization of reproductive traits within groups to better our understanding of organismal diversity and population or species resilience. In contrast, the physiological systems that mediate variation within and among species (i.e., the proximate factors) in reproductive traits remain a significant black box. To date, there is comparatively little information about how proximate mechanisms constrain or promote evolutionary potential in reproductive traits. In this mini-review, we focus on litter size in Eutherian mammals as a trait with relatively well-defined diversity (litter sizes are well-described both within and across species) and for which some genetic determinants have been identified. We discuss both the ultimate and potential proximate determinants of litter size with special attention to the breadth of physiological traits that may act as \"toggle\" switches for evolution of litter size. We close with a brief discussion of the role that physiological plasticity may play in the evolution of litter size and lay out several forward-looking areas for future research.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1643-1660"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11659681/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141157635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"\"The PO-Driven Model\": A Basic Science Pipeline for the Bioeconomy with Solutions Inspired by Convergent Evolution for Connecting Parallel Research Ideas.","authors":"Tilottama Roy, Jung-Youn Lee, Tomokazu Kawashima, Grey Monroe, Prosanta Chakrabarty","doi":"10.1093/icb/icae156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icae156","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Basic science research, also called \"curiosity-driven research,\" is fundamental work done with no immediate economic goals but rather a focus on discovery for discovery's sake. However, basic science research is often needed to seed more applied, economically-oriented, research. Both basic and applied research efforts are important aspects of the \"bioeconomy\" defined here as the contributions to the overall economy from various biology-related fields spanning everything from museum-based natural history research to agricultural food and material production to healthcare. Here we propose that more collaborative efforts across federal granting agencies in a venture-capitalist-like \"PO-driven model\" can help drive applied innovation from collaborations facilitated by Program Officers (PO). Program Officers from NSF, DOE, DARPA, USDA, NASA, and other federal agencies should seek out parallel and complementary research ideas from grantees and provide funds to build teams of researchers who may otherwise be unaware of one another. Researchers working in different field may also be unaware that the different organisms they are studying independently may have evolved similar traits (i.e., convergent evolution) that POs may recognize and who can then facilitate novel research avenues connecting those independent researchers (we provide examples of some projects inspired by convergent evolution here). In this top-down approach to research funding the U.S. bioeconomy will be pouring fuel on the fire of scientific productivity in this country.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142866487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kevin H Wong, Natalia Andrade Rodriguez, Nikki Traylor-Knowles
{"title":"Exploring the Unknown: How Can We Improve Single-cell RNAseq Cell Type Annotations in Non-model Organisms?","authors":"Kevin H Wong, Natalia Andrade Rodriguez, Nikki Traylor-Knowles","doi":"10.1093/icb/icae112","DOIUrl":"10.1093/icb/icae112","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) is a powerful tool to describe cell types in multicellular organisms across the animal kingdom. In standard scRNAseq analysis pipelines, clusters of cells with similar transcriptional signatures are given cell type labels based on marker genes that infer specialized known characteristics. Since these analyses are designed for model organisms, such as humans and mice, problems arise when attempting to label cell types of distantly related, non-model species that have unique or divergent cell types. Consequently, this leads to limited discovery of novel species-specific cell types and potential mis-annotation of cell types in non-model species while using scRNAseq. To address this problem, we discuss recently published approaches that help annotate scRNAseq clusters for any non-model organism. We first suggest that annotating with an evolutionary context of cell lineages will aid in the discovery of novel cell types and provide a marker-free approach to compare cell types across distantly related species. Secondly, machine learning has greatly improved bioinformatic analyses, so we highlight some open-source programs that use reference-free approaches to annotate cell clusters. Lastly, we propose the use of unannotated genes as potential cell markers for non-model organisms, as many do not have fully annotated genomes and these data are often disregarded. Improving single-cell annotations will aid the discovery of novel cell types and enhance our understanding of non-model organisms at a cellular level. By unifying approaches to annotate cell types in non-model organisms, we can increase the confidence of cell annotation label transfer and the flexibility to discover novel cell types.</p>","PeriodicalId":54971,"journal":{"name":"Integrative and Comparative Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1291-1299"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141629321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}