scholarly journals Variation of foliar silicon concentrations in temperate forbs: effects of soil silicon, phylogeny and habitat

Oecologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Klotz ◽  
Jörg Schaller ◽  
Susanne Kurze ◽  
Bettina M. J. Engelbrecht
Keyword(s):  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
Related Species ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Interspecific Variation ◽  
Temperate Grasslands ◽  
Ecological Consequences ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Abiotic Stressors ◽  
Species Pairs ◽  
Dicotyledonous Plants

AbstractSilicon (Si) accumulation is known to alleviate various biotic and abiotic stressors in plants with potential ecological consequences. However, for dicotyledonous plants our understanding of Si variation remains limited. We conducted a comparative experimental study to investigate (1) interspecific variation of foliar Si concentrations across 37 dicotyledonous forbs of temperate grasslands, (2) intraspecific variation in foliar Si concentration in response to soil Si availability, the influence of (3) phylogenetic relatedness, and (4) habitat association to moisture. Foliar Si differed markedly (approx. 70-fold) across the investigated forbs, with some species exhibiting Si accumulation similar to grasses. Foliar Si increased with soil Si availability, but the response varied across species: species with higher Si accumulation capacity showed a stronger response, indicating that they did not actively upregulate Si uptake under low soil Si availability. Foliar Si showed a pronounced phylogenetic signal, i.e., closely related species exhibited more similar foliar Si concentrations than distantly related species. Significant differences in foliar Si concentration within closely related species pairs nevertheless support that active Si uptake and associated high Si concentrations has evolved multiple times in forbs. Foliar Si was not higher in species associated with drier habitats, implying that in dicotyledonous forbs of temperate grasslands high foliar Si is not an adaptive trait to withstand drought. Our results demonstrated considerable inter- and intraspecific variation in foliar Si concentration in temperate forbs. This variation should have pervasive, but so far understudied, ecological consequences for community composition and functioning of temperate grasslands under land-use and climate change.

Phenological displacement is uncommon among sympatric angiosperms

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Park ◽  
Ian K. Breckheimer ◽  
Aaron M. Ellison ◽  
Goia M. Lyra ◽  
Charles C. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Flowering Time ◽  
Related Species ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Character Displacement ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
Reproductive Character Displacement ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Species Pairs

AbstractInteractions between species can influence access to resources and successful reproduction. One possible outcome of such interactions is reproductive character displacement. Here, the similarity of reproductive traits – such as flowering time – among close relatives growing in sympatry differ more so than when growing apart. However, evidence for the overall prevalence and direction of this phenomenon, or the stability of such differences under environmental change, remains untested across large taxonomic and spatial scales. We apply data from tens of thousands of herbarium specimens to examine character displacement in flowering time across 110 animal-pollinated angiosperm species in the eastern USA. We demonstrate that the degree and direction of phenological displacement among co-occurring closely related species pairs varies tremendously. Overall, flowering time displacement in sympatry is not common. However, displacement is generally greater among species pairs that flower close in time, regardless of direction. We additionally identify that future climate change may alter the nature of phenological displacement among many of these species pairs. On average, flowering times of closely related species were predicted to shift further apart by the mid-21st century, which may have significant future consequences for species interactions and gene flow.

scholarly journals Legs morphometric characters of the Dolichopus Latreille species, 1796 (Diptera, Dolichopodidae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-112
Author(s):  
Mariya Alexandrovna Chursina ◽  
Oleg Pavlovich Negrobov
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Hind Tibia ◽  
Interspecific Variation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Insertion Point ◽  
Morphometric Traits ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Morphometric Characters

A comparative analysis of 30 species of the Dolichopodidae family in a phylogenetic context was conducted to examine interspecific variation in the legs morphometry. Five relative traits of legs from 12 and seven absolute traits from nine showed significant phylogenetic signal. A set of traits, such as relatively short hind tibia and relatively long fore and middle tibia and the first segments of the hind legs allowed to allocate Dolichopus species from the other ones. The projection of the phylogenetic tree of Dolichopus species into the morphospace allowed us to divide it into four individual areas: not closely related species, but species having similar modifications of males legs tended to cluster. This suggests that the legs morphometric traits should be mainly under pressure of sexual selection. It has also been revealed that the elongation of the first segment of hind tarsi in Dolichopus species is associated with the distal displacement of the insertion point of dm-m with M4 and the decrease of the length of R4+5 . The functional significance of these characters set is discussed.

scholarly journals The outcomes of most aggressive interactions among closely related bird species are asymmetric

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R Martin ◽  
Cameron Freshwater ◽  
Cameron K Ghalambor
Keyword(s):  
Related Species ◽  
Selective Pressure ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Evolutionary Strategies ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Aggressive Interactions ◽  
Species Pairs ◽  
Using Data

Aggressive interactions among closely related species are common. These can play an important role as a selective pressure shaping species, traits and assemblages. The nature of this selective pressure depends on whether the outcomes of aggressive contests are asymmetric between species (i.e., one species is consistently dominant), yet few studies have estimated the prevalence of asymmetric versus symmetric outcomes to aggressive contests. Here we use previously published data involving 26,656 interactions between 270 species pairs of birds from 26 taxonomic families to address the question: How often are aggressive interactions among closely related bird species asymmetric? We define asymmetry using (i) the proportion of contests won by one species, and (ii) statistical tests for asymmetric outcomes of aggressive contests. We calculate these asymmetries using data summed across different sites for each species pair, and compare results to asymmetries calculated using data separated by location. We find that 80% of species pairs had aggressive outcomes where one species won 80% or more of aggressive contests. We also find that the majority of aggressive interactions among closely related species show statistically significant asymmetries, and above a sample size of 52 interactions, all outcomes are asymmetric following binomial tests. Results using data partitioned by location showed similar patterns. Species pairs with dominance data from multiple sites showed the same dominance relationship across locations in 93% of the species pairs. Overall, our results suggest that the outcome of aggressive interactions among closely related species are usually consistent and asymmetric, and should thus favor ecological and evolutionary strategies specific to the position of a species within a dominance hierarchy.

scholarly journals Do closely related species interact with similar partners? Testing for phylogenetic signal in bipartite interaction networks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît Perez-Lamarque ◽  
Odile Maliet ◽  
Marc-André Selosse ◽  
Florent Martos ◽  
Hélène Morlon
Keyword(s):  
Related Species ◽  
Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Type I ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Mantel Tests

AbstractWhether interactions between species are conserved on evolutionary time-scales is a central question in ecology and evolution. It has spurred the development of both correlative and model-based approaches for testing phylogenetic signal in interspecific interactions: do closely related species interact with similar sets of partners? Here we test the statistical performances of some of these approaches using simulations. We find that one of the most widely used model-based approach, the Phylogenetic Bipartite Linear Model (PBLM), often detects phylogenetic signal when it should not. Simple Mantel tests investigating the correlation between phylogenetic distances and dissimilarities in sets of interacting partners instead have low type-I error rates and satisfactory statistical power, especially when using weighted interactions and phylogenetic dissimilarity metrics; however, they often artifactually detect anti-phylogenetic signals. Partial Mantel tests, which are used to partial out the phylogenetic signal in the number of partners, actually fail at correcting for this confounding effect, and we instead propose the sequential use of simple Mantel tests. We also explore the ability of simple Mantel tests to analyze clade-specific phylogenetic signal, while current methods only measure an overall signal. We provide general guidelines and an empirical application on an interaction network between orchids and mycorrhizal fungi.

scholarly journals Is Host Filtering the Main Driver of Phylosymbiosis across the Tree of Life?

mSystems ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florent Mazel ◽  
Katherine M. Davis ◽  
Andrew Loudon ◽  
Waldan K. Kwong ◽  
Mathieu Groussin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Related Species ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Real World Data ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Ecological Filtering ◽  
Main Driver

ABSTRACTHost-associated microbiota composition can be conserved over evolutionary time scales. Indeed, closely related species often host similar microbiota; i.e., the composition of their microbiota harbors a phylogenetic signal, a pattern sometimes referred to as “phylosymbiosis.” Elucidating the origins of this pattern is important to better understand microbiota ecology and evolution. However, this is hampered by our lack of theoretical expectations and a comprehensive overview of phylosymbiosis prevalence in nature. Here, we use simulations to provide a simple expectation for when we should expect this pattern to occur and then review the literature to document the prevalence and strength of phylosymbiosis across the host tree of life. We demonstrate that phylosymbiosis can readily emerge from a simple ecological filtering process, whereby a given host trait (e.g., gut pH) that varies with host phylogeny (i.e., harbors a phylogenetic signal) filters preadapted microbes. We found marked differences between methods used to detect phylosymbiosis, so we proposed a series of practical recommendations based on using multiple best-performing approaches. Importantly, we found that, while the prevalence of phylosymbiosis is mixed in nature, it appears to be stronger for microbiotas living in internal host compartments (e.g., the gut) than those living in external compartments (e.g., the rhizosphere). We show that phylosymbiosis can theoretically emerge without any intimate, long-term coevolutionary mechanisms and that most phylosymbiosis patterns observed in nature are compatible with a simple ecological process. Deviations from baseline ecological expectations might be used to further explore more complex hypotheses, such as codiversification.IMPORTANCEPhylosymbiosis is a pattern defined as the tendency of closely related species to host microbiota whose compositions resemble each other more than host species drawn at random from the same tree. Understanding the mechanisms behind phylosymbiosis is important because it can shed light on rules governing the assembly of host-associated microbiotas and, potentially, their coevolutionary dynamics with hosts. For example, is phylosymbiosis a result of coevolution, or can it be generated by simple ecological filtering processes? Beyond qualitative theoretical models, quantitative theoretical expectations can provide new insights. For example, deviations from a simple baseline of ecological filtering may be used to test more-complex hypotheses (e.g., coevolution). Here, we use simulations to provide evidence that simple host-related ecological filtering can readily generate phylosymbiosis, and we contrast these predictions with real-world data. We find that while phylosymbiosis is widespread in nature, phylosymbiosis patterns are compatible with a simple ecological model in the majority of taxa. Internal compartments of hosts, such as the animal gut, often display stronger phylosymbiosis than expected from a purely ecological filtering process, suggesting that other mechanisms are also involved.

scholarly journals A test of altitude-related variation in aerobic metabolism of Andean birds

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Gutierrez-Pinto ◽  
Gustavo A. Londoño ◽  
Mark A. Chappell ◽  
Jay F. Storz
Keyword(s):  
Related Species ◽  
Aerobic Metabolism ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Aerobic Scope ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Related Variation ◽  
Species Pairs ◽  
Aerobic Exercise Capacity ◽  
Summary Statement ◽  
Broad Scale

AbstractEndotherms at high altitude face the combined challenges of cold and hypoxia. Cold increases thermoregulatory costs, and hypoxia may limit both thermogenesis and aerobic exercise capacity. Consequently, in comparisons between closely related highland and lowland taxa, we might expect to observe consistent differences in basal metabolism (BMR), maximal metabolism (MMR), and aerobic scope. Broad-scale comparative studies of birds reveal no association between BMR and native elevation, and altitude effects on MMR have not been investigated. We tested for altitude-related variation in aerobic metabolism in 10 Andean passerines representing five pairs of closely related species with contrasting elevational ranges. Mass-corrected BMR and MMR were significantly higher in most highland species relative to their lowland counterparts, but there was no uniform elevational trend across all pairs of species.Summary statementWe tested for altitude-related variation in aerobic metabolism in species pairs with contrasting elevational ranges. Metabolic rates were significantly higher in most highland species but there was no uniform elevational trend.

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