BMC ecology and evolution最新文献

{"title":"Complementing aculiferan mitogenomics: comparative characterization of mitochondrial genomes of Solenogastres (Mollusca, Aplacophora).","authors":"Franziska S Bergmeier, Andreas Brachmann, Kevin M Kocot, Francesca Leasi, Albert J Poustka, Michael Schrödl, Joseph L Sevigny, W Kelley Thomas, Christiane Todt, Katharina M Jörger","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02311-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-024-02311-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>With the advances in high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatic pipelines, mitochondrial genomes have become increasingly popular for phylogenetic analyses across different clades of invertebrates. Despite the vast rise in available mitogenomic datasets of molluscs, one class of aplacophoran molluscs - Solenogastres (or Neomeniomorpha) - is still neglected.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Here, we present six new mitochondrial genomes from five families of Solenogastres (Amphimeniidae, Gymnomeniidae, Proneomeniidae, Pruvotinidae, Simrothiellidae), including the first complete mitogenomes, thereby now representing three of the four traditional orders. Solenogaster mitogenomes are variable in size (ranging from approximately 15,000 bp to over 17,000 bp). The gene order of the 13 protein coding genes and two rRNA genes is conserved in three blocks, but considerable variation occurs in the order of the 22 tRNA genes. Based on phylogenetic analyses and reconstruction of ancestral mitochondrial genomes of Aculifera, the position of (1) trnD gene between atp8 and atp6, (2) trnT and P genes between atp6 and nad5, and (3) trnL1 gene between G and E, resulting in a 'MCYWQGL1E'-block of tRNA genes, are all three considered synapomorphies for Solenogastres. The tRNA gene block 'KARNI' present in Polyplacophora and several conchiferan taxa is dissolved in Solenogastres.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our study shows that mitogenomes are suitable to resolve the phylogenetic relationships among Aculifera and within Solenogastres, thus presenting a cost and time efficient compromise to approach evolutionary history in these clades.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"24 1","pages":"128"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11488289/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142483015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Do morphometric data improve phylogenetic reconstruction? A systematic review and assessment.","authors":"Emma J Holvast, Mélina A Celik, Matthew J Phillips, Laura A B Wilson","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02313-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-024-02313-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Isolating phylogenetic signal from morphological data is crucial for accurately merging fossils into the tree of life and for calibrating molecular dating. However, subjective character definition is a major limitation which can introduce biases that mislead phylogenetic inferences and divergence time estimation. The use of quantitative data, e.g., geometric morphometric (GMM; shape) data can allow for more objective integration of morphological data into phylogenetic inference. This systematic review describes the current state of the field in using continuous morphometric data (e.g., GMM data) for phylogenetic reconstruction and assesses the efficacy of these data compared to discrete characters using the PRISMA-EcoEvo v1.0. reporting guideline, and offers some pathways for approaching this task with GMM data. A comprehensive search string yielded 11,123 phylogenetic studies published in English up to Oct 2023 in the Web of Science database. Title and abstract screening removed 10,975 articles, and full-text screening was performed for 132 articles. Of these, a total of twelve articles met final inclusion criteria and were used for downstream analyses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Phylogenetic performance was compared between approaches that employed continuous morphometric and discrete morphological data. Overall, the reconstructed phylogenies did not show increased resolution or accuracy (i.e., benchmarked against molecular phylogenies) as continuous data alone or combined with discrete morphological datasets.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>An exhaustive search of the literature for existing empirical continuous data resulted in a total of twelve articles for final inclusion following title/abstract, and full-text screening. Our study was performed under a rigorous framework for systematic reviews, which showed that the lack of available comparisons between discrete and continuous data hinders our understanding of the performance of continuous data. Our study demonstrates the problem surrounding the efficacy of continuous data as remaining relatively intractable despite an exhaustive search, due in part to the difficulty in obtaining relevant comparisons from the literature. Thus, we implore researchers to address this issue with studies that collect discrete and continuous data sets with directly comparable properties (i.e., describing shape, or size).</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"24 1","pages":"127"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11487705/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142483016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Snake-like bird hisses induce anti-predator responses in a frog.","authors":"Longhui Zhao, Yuanyu Qin, Yanjun Jin, Jichao Wang, Wei Liang","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02312-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-024-02312-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Some snakes emit hissing calls which are imitated by birds to deter potential predators. However, the effect of these snake and bird hisses on anuran risk recognition is not yet explored. Here we hypothesize that these hisses may advertise dangers to frogs and evoke their anti-predator responses. We used little torrent frogs (Amolops torrentis) as subjects and conducted sound playbacks to test their anti-predator behaviors. We found that little torrent frogs changed their calling behaviors during sympatric snake hiss playbacks, but showed no response to white noise and allopatric snake hiss playbacks. They did not respond to sympatric avian hiss that has low acoustic similarity with snake sounds. However, they decreased calling activity in response to sympatric avian hiss that has high acoustic similarity with snakes. As compared to other treatments, more individuals ceased calling during the playbacks of the highly similar bird hiss. These results suggest that frogs may recognize risks from snake and snake-like hissing calls and perform anti-predator responses.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"24 1","pages":"126"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11475202/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142407363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lost in space and time: robust demography and enhanced resilience buffer adverse environmental effects in a highly isolated and sedentary pre-pleistocene landscape vertebrate.","authors":"Philippe J R Kok, Tessa L Broholm, Loïc van Doorn, Bruno Ferreto Fiorillo, Carl Smith","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02314-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-024-02314-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Few animal populations have been studied under the framework of the OCBIL theory, which addresses the ecology and evolution of biodiversity on old climatically buffered infertile landscapes. Available genetic data challenge the low connectivity and high genetic differentiation predicted for isolated tepui-summit vertebrate communities, suggesting potential dispersal among summits. However, the OCBIL theory posits reduced dispersibility, enhanced resilience to habitat fragmentation and inbreeding due to small populations. We tested these hypotheses by conducting the first analytic evaluation of the spatial ecology and population biology of a tepui-summit vertebrate at multiple spatial scales.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We used harmonic radar tracking (100 individuals/448 points of contact) and capture-mark-recapture data (596 individuals captured/52 recaptured) to reveal the temporal niche, microhabitat use, population size, and dispersal abilities of the tepui-summit endemic toad Oreophrynella quelchii on Roraima-tepui. Abundance was determined using a closed population model incorporating sources of variation in capture probability. We tested the relative influence of biotic and abiotic variables on distances moved through model selection. Our data indicate that the population size of O. quelchii is remarkably large (ca. 12 million individuals), with strong seasonal demographic fluctuations. Ecology and observed limited spatial movements challenge the likelihood of active dispersal among tepui tops in this species. Our results are counter to those predicted by the available genetic data but support two hypotheses of the OCBIL theory: reduced dispersibility and enhanced resilience. However, they do not support the expectation of a small refugial population size.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We postulate that the insular, hostile tepui-summit environment tends to produce robust demographic populations, likely to buffer stochastic adverse environmental effects, rather than diversity, as observed in much younger post-Pleistocene Neotropical landscapes. Our results draw attention to the value of faunal studies using an OCBIL framework to better understand the ecology and evolution of this unique biota worldwide.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"24 1","pages":"125"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11468910/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142407362","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Xanthium strumarium L., an invasive species in the subtropics: prediction of potential distribution areas and climate adaptability in Pakistan.","authors":"Muhammad Waheed, Sheikh Marifatul Haq, Fahim Arshad, Ivana Vitasović-Kosić, Rainer W Bussmann, Abeer Hashem, Elsayed Fathi Abd-Allah","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02310-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-024-02310-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Invasive species such as Xanthium strumarium L., can disrupt ecosystems, reduce crop yields, and degrade pastures, leading to economic losses and jeopardizing food security and biodiversity. To address the challenges posed by invasive species such as X. strumarium, this study uses species distribution modeling (SDM) to map its potential distribution in Pakistan and assess how it might respond to climate change. This addresses the urgent need for proactive conservation and management strategies amidst escalating ecological threats. SDM forecasts a species' potential dispersion across various geographies in both space and time by correlating known species occurrences to environmental variables. SDMs have the potential to help address the challenges posed by invasive species by predicting the future habitat suitability of species distributions and identifying the environmental factors influencing these distributions. Our study shows that seasonal temperature dependence, mean temperature of wettest quarter and total nitrogen content of soil are important climatic factors influencing habitat suitability of X. strumarium. The potential habitat of this invasive species is likely to expand beyond the areas it currently colonizes, with a notable presence in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regions. These areas are particularly vulnerable due to threats to agriculture and biodiversity. Under current conditions, an estimated 21% of Pakistan's land area is infested by X. strumarium, mainly in upper Punjab, central Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The range is expected to expand in most regions except Sindh. The central and northeastern parts of the country are proving to be particularly suitable habitats for X. strumarium. Effective strategies are crucial to contain the spread of X. strumarium. The MaxEnt modeling approach generates invasion risk maps by identifying potential risk zones based on a species' climate adaptability. These maps can aid in early detection, allowing authorities to prioritize surveillance and management strategies for controlling the spread of invasive species in suitable habitats. However, further research is recommended to understand the adaptability of species to unexplored environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"24 1","pages":"124"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11465908/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142402327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Population connectivity and size reductions in the Anthropocene: the consequence of landscapes and historical bottlenecks in white forsythia fragmented habitats.","authors":"Homervergel G Ong, Eui-Kwon Jung, Yong-In Kim, Jung-Hoon Lee, Bo-Yun Kim, Dae-Hyun Kang, Jae-Seo Shin, Young-Dong Kim","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02308-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-024-02308-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>White forsythia (Abeliophyllum distichum) is an endangered Korean Peninsula endemic that has been subjected to recent population genomics studies using SNPs via RAD sequencing. Here, we primarily employed the often underutilized haplotype information from RAD loci to further describe the species' previously uninvestigated haplotype-based genomic variation and structure, and genetic-geographic characteristics and gene flow patterns among its five earlier identified genetic groups. We also inferred the time of past events that may have impacted the effective population size of these groups, as well as the species' potential future distribution amidst the warming climate and anthropogenic threats.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our findings emphasized the recognition of the species' regional patterns of genetic structure, and the role of topography and its associated gene flow patterns as some of the possible factors that may have influenced the species' present-day fragmented population distribution. The inferred bottleneck events during the Anthropocene, some of which aligned with the time of historical catastrophic events on the Peninsula (e.g., the Korean War), were revealed to have contributed to the generally low effective population size of its five lineages, particularly those with marginal distributional range. Future distribution under both optimistic and pessimistic climatic scenarios suggests unlikely suitable habitats for these populations to expand from their current range limits, at least in the next 80 years.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The small effective population size and landscape-driven limited gene flow among white forsythia populations will remain a big challenge for the conservation management of the species' already fragmented population distribution. To help mitigate these impacts, the merging of various research approaches and the use of genomic data to their full potential is recommended to provide the optimized knowledge-based tools for the conservation of this endangered species, and other similar plants under pressure.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"24 1","pages":"123"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11465745/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142402326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pelage variation and morphometrics of closely related Callithrix marmoset species and their hybrids.","authors":"Joanna Malukiewicz, Kerryn Warren, Vanner Boere, Illaira L C Bandeira, Nelson H A Curi, Fabio T das Dores, Lilian S Fitorra, Haroldo R Furuya, Claudia S Igayara, Liliane Milanelo, Silvia B Moreira, Camila V Molina, Marcello S Nardi, Patricia A Nicola, Marcelo Passamani, Valeria S Pedro, Luiz C M Pereira, Bruno Petri, Alcides Pissinatti, Adriana Alves Quirino, Jeffrey Rogers, Carlos R Ruiz-Miranda, Daniel L Silva, Ita O Silva, Monique O M Silva, Juliana L Summa, Ticiana Zwarg, Rebecca R Ackermann","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02305-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-024-02305-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Hybrids are expected to show greater phenotypic variation than their parental species, yet how hybrid phenotype expression varies with genetic distances in closely-related parental species remains surprisingly understudied. Here, we investigate pelage and morphometric trait variation in anthropogenic hybrids between four species of Brazilian Callithrix marmosets, a relatively recent primate radiation. Marmoset species are distinguishable by pelage phenotype and morphological specializations for eating tree exudates. In this work, we (1) describe qualitative phenotypic pelage differences between parental species and hybrids; (2) test whether significant quantitative differences exist between parental and hybrid morphometric phenotypes; and (3) determine which hybrid morphometic traits show heterosis, dysgenesis, trangression, or intermediacy relative to the parental trait. We investigated cranial and post-cranial morphometric traits, as most hybrid morphological studies focus on the former instead of the latter. Finally, we estimate mitogenomic distances between marmoset species from previously published data.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Marmoset hybrid facial and overall body pelage variation reflected novel combinations of coloration and patterns present in parental species. In morphometric traits, C. jacchus and C. penicillata were the most similar, while C. aurita was the most distinct, and C. geoffroyi trait measures fell between these species. Only three traits in C. jacchus x C. penicillata hybrids showed heterosis. We observed heterosis and dysgenesis in several traits of C. penicillata x C. geoffroyi hybrids. Transgressive segregation was observed in hybrids of C. aurita and the other species. These hybrids were also C. aurita-like for a number of traits, including body length. Genetic distance was closest between C. jacchus and C. penicillata and farthest between C. aurita and the other species.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We attributed significant morphometric differences between marmoset species to variable levels of morphological specialization for exudivory in these species. Our results suggest that intermediate or parental species-like hybrid traits relative to the parental trait values are more likely in crosses between species with relatively lesser genetic distance. More extreme phenotypic variation is more likely in parental species with greater genetic distance, with transgressive traits appearing in hybrids of the most genetically distant parental species. We further suggest that fewer developmental disturbances can be expected in hybrids of more recently diverged parental species, and that future studies of hybrid phenotypic variation should investigate selective pressures on Callithrix cranial and post-cranial morphological traits.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"24 1","pages":"122"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11414090/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142303339","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Age and environment are the main drivers shaping the wild common sole (Solea solea) microbiota.","authors":"Marco Basili, Laura Sabatini, Giulio Pellini, Naomi Massaccesi, Elena Manini, Fortunata Donato, Giuseppe Scarcella, Gian Marco Luna, Grazia Marina Quero","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02303-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-024-02303-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Microbiota plays an essential role in fish growth and health and may be influenced by the changing environmental conditions. Here, we explored the microbiota of wild common sole, one of the most important fishery resources in the Mediterranean Sea, collected from different areas in the North Adriatic Sea. Our results show that the sole microbiota differs from that of the surrounding environment and among the different body sites (gill, skin and gut). Gut microbiota composition showed to be strongly related to fish age, rather than maturity, sex or sampling site. Age-related shifts in gut microbial communities were identified, with increased abundances of Bacteroidia and Desulfobacteria, unveiling potential microbial proxies for age estimation crucial for fisheries management. Our results expand the limited knowledge of the wild common sole microbiota, also in the light of the potential usefulness of the fish microbiota as a tool for future stock identification and connectivity studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"24 1","pages":"118"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11378504/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142142049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatially heterogeneous selection and inter-varietal differentiation maintain population structure and local adaptation in a widespread conifer.","authors":"Pablo Peláez, Gustavo P Lorenzana, Kailey Baesen, Jose Ruben Montes, Amanda R De La Torre","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02304-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-024-02304-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) plays a critical role in the ecology and economy of Western North America. This conifer species comprises two distinct varieties: the coastal variety (var. menziesii) along the Pacific coast, and the interior variety (var. glauca) spanning the Rocky Mountains into Mexico, with instances of inter-varietal hybridization in Washington and British Columbia. Recent investigations have focused on assessing environmental pressures shaping Douglas-fir's genomic variation for a better understanding of its evolutionary and adaptive responses. Here, we characterize range-wide population structure, estimate inter-varietal hybridization levels, identify candidate loci for climate adaptation, and forecast shifts in species and variety distribution under future climates.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Using a custom SNP-array, we genotyped 540 trees revealing four distinct clusters with asymmetric admixture patterns in the hybridization zone. Higher genetic diversity observed in coastal and hybrid populations contrasts with lower diversity in inland populations of the southern Rockies and Mexico, exhibiting a significant isolation by distance pattern, with less marked but still significant isolation by environment. For both varieties, we identified candidate loci associated with local adaptation, with hundreds of genes linked to processes such as stimulus response, reactions to chemical compounds, and metabolic functions. Ecological niche modeling revealed contrasting potential distribution shifts among the varieties in the coming decades, with interior populations projected to lose habitat and become more vulnerable, while coastal populations are expected to gain suitable areas.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Overall, our findings provide crucial insights into the population structure and adaptive potential of Douglas-fir, with the coastal variety being the most likely to preserve its evolutionary path throughout the present century, which carry implications for the conservation and management of this species across their range.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"24 1","pages":"117"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11373507/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142127642","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Game theory elucidates how competitive dynamics mediate animal social networks.","authors":"Frédérique Dubois","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02302-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-024-02302-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>While most game theoretical models assume that individuals randomly interact with all other group members, strong evidence indicates that individuals tend to preferentially interact with some of them. The position of an individual in a network affects, among other factors related to survival, its predation risk and competitive success. Here I then modified the Hawk-Dove game to explore the effect of social network structure on competitive strategy of individuals that differ in their fighting ability and may adjust their use of the Hawk, Dove and Assessor tactics to maximize their foraging success when they meet opponents they are connected with.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>From randomly generated networks, I demonstrate that phenotypic assortment by fighting ability reduces individuals' aggressiveness and, as such, favours cooperative interactions. Furthermore, the success of individuals with the weakest fighting ability is usually highest within networks where they most frequently meet opponents with the same fighting ability as their own, suggesting they might benefit from breaking connections with strong contestants. This might be the case when strong contestants systematically rely on the aggressive Hawk tactic or the risk of being predated is low and independent of the number of neighbours. Thus, I extended the model and built a dynamic model to allow individuals not only to adjust their behaviour to local conditions but also to modify the structure of the social network. The number of connections and degree of phenotypic assortment are then affected by ecological factors (e.g. resources value and predation risk), but above all by whether individuals can reliably assess the competitive ability of their opponents and adjust their behaviour accordingly.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings provide strong evidence that behaviour can play a key role in shaping network structure and highlight the importance of considering the coevolution of network and behaviour to apprehend its consequences on population dynamics.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"24 1","pages":"116"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11365163/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142115894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}