Evolutionary Ecology Across Three Trophic Levels: Goldenrods, Gallmakers, and Natural Enemies.Warren G. Abrahamson , Arthur E. Weis

1998 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-233
Author(s):  
Howard V. Cornell
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Trophic Levels

How Does Nutrition Structure Ecosystems?

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Simpson ◽  
David Raubenheimer
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Nutritional Requirements ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Geometric Framework ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Fundamental Niche ◽  
Biophysical Ecology ◽  
Ecology Of Nutrition

This chapter assesses the consequences of individual nutrition for populations and the assemblages of species that comprise ecological communities. However, the ecological consequences of nutrition are not restricted to the effects of diet on individual organisms but include as well the direct and indirect interactions occurring among individuals within populations and between species. Understanding the complex network of interactions that produce food webs and structure ecosystem dynamics requires the understanding of the participants' differing nutritional requirements, priorities, and regulatory capacities. Geometric Framework analyses have shown that these features differ between species and across trophic levels. Nutritional space is one part of the fundamental niche of an organism, and there is a need to integrate nutrition with the biophysical ecology of organisms. Evolutionary processes also need to be taken into account, and agent-based models offer promise toward development of a new understanding of the evolutionary ecology of nutrition.

scholarly journals Variably hungry caterpillars: predictive models and foliar chemistry suggest how to eat a rainforest

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1866) ◽  
pp. 20171803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon T. Segar ◽  
Martin Volf ◽  
Brus Isua ◽  
Mentap Sisol ◽  
Conor M. Redmond ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Host Plant ◽  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Foliar Chemistry ◽  
Plant Phylogeny ◽  
Plant Associations ◽  
Trophic Links ◽  
Host Plant Use

A long-term goal in evolutionary ecology is to explain the incredible diversity of insect herbivores and patterns of host plant use in speciose groups like tropical Lepidoptera. Here, we used standardized food-web data, multigene phylogenies of both trophic levels and plant chemistry data to model interactions between Lepidoptera larvae (caterpillars) from two lineages (Geometridae and Pyraloidea) and plants in a species-rich lowland rainforest in New Guinea. Model parameters were used to make and test blind predictions for two hectares of an exhaustively sampled forest. For pyraloids, we relied on phylogeny alone and predicted 54% of species-level interactions, translating to 79% of all trophic links for individual insects, by sampling insects from only 15% of local woody plant diversity. The phylogenetic distribution of host-plant associations in polyphagous geometrids was less conserved, reducing accuracy. In a truly quantitative food web, only 40% of pair-wise interactions were described correctly in geometrids. Polyphenol oxidative activity (but not protein precipitation capacity) was important for understanding the occurrence of geometrids (but not pyraloids) across their hosts. When both foliar chemistry and plant phylogeny were included, we predicted geometrid–plant occurrence with 89% concordance. Such models help to test macroevolutionary hypotheses at the community level.

Evolutionary Ecology across Three Trophic Levels

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
WARREN G. ABRAHAMSON ◽  
ARTHUR E. WEIS
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Trophic Levels

scholarly journals Ubiquity of the Symbiont Serratia symbiotica in the Aphid Natural Environment: Distribution, Diversity and Evolution at a Multitrophic Level

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inès Pons ◽  
Nora Scieur ◽  
Linda Dhondt ◽  
Marie-Eve Renard ◽  
François Renoz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Aphid Species ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Potential Reservoir ◽  
Serratia Symbiotica ◽  
Insect Symbionts ◽  
Horizontal Transfers ◽  
First Time

ABSTRACTBacterial symbioses are significant drivers of insect evolutionary ecology. However, despite recent findings that these associations can emerge from environmentally derived bacterial precursors, there is still little information on how these potential progenitors of insect symbionts circulates in the trophic systems. The aphid symbiont Serratia symbiotica represents a valuable model for deciphering evolutionary scenarios of bacterial acquisition by insects, as its diversity includes intracellular host-dependent strains as well as gut-associated strains that have retained some ability to live independently of their hosts and circulate in plant phloem sap. These strains represent a potential reservoir for the emergence of new and more intimate symbioses. Here, we conducted a field study to examine the distribution and diversity of S. symbiotica found in aphid populations, as well as in different compartments of their surrounding environment. A total of 250 aphid colonies, 203 associated insects, and 161 plant samples associated with aphid colonies were screened for S. symbiotica. Twenty percent of aphids were infected with S. symbiotica, and the symbiont includes a wide diversity of strains with varied tissue tropism corresponding to different lifestyle. We also showed that the prevalence of S. symbiotica is influenced by seasonal temperatures. For the first time, we found that S. symbiotica was present in non aphid species and in host plants, and that the prevalence of the bacterium in these samples was higher when associated aphid colonies were infected. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses suggest the existence of horizontal transfers between the different trophic levels examined. These results provide a completely new picture of the ubiquity of an insect symbiont in nature. They suggest that ecological interactions promote the dissemination of strains that are still free-living and poorly specialized, and for which plants are a proabable reservoir for the acquisition of new bacterial partners in insects.

Relationship between morphometrics and trophic levels in deep-sea fishes

2020 ◽  
Vol 637 ◽  
pp. 225-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
MA Ladds ◽  
MH Pinkerton ◽  
E Jones ◽  
LM Durante ◽  
MR Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Trophic Level ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Ecosystem Model ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Fish Size ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Gape Size ◽  
Morphological Variables

Marine food webs are structured, in part, by predator gape size. Species found in deep-sea environments may have evolved such that they can consume prey of a wide range of sizes, to maximise resource intake in a low-productivity ecosystem. Estimates of gape size are central to some types of ecosystem model that determine which prey are available to predators, but cannot always be measured directly. Deep-sea species are hypothesized to have larger gape sizes than shallower-water species relative to their body size and, because of pronounced adaptive foraging behaviour, show only a weak relationship between gape size and trophic level. Here we present new data describing selective morphological measurements and gape sizes of 134 osteichthyan and chondrichthyan species from the deep sea (200-1300 m) off New Zealand. We describe how gape size (height, width and area) varied with factors including fish size, taxonomy (class and order within a class) and trophic level estimated from stable isotopes. For deep-sea species, there was a strong relationship between gape size and fish size, better predicted by body mass than total length, which varied by taxonomic group. Results show that predictions of gape size can be made from commonly measured morphological variables. No relationship between gape size and trophic level was found, likely a reflection of using trophic level estimates from stable isotopes as opposed to the commonly used estimates from FishBase. These results support the hypothesis that deep-sea fish are generalists within their environment, including suspected scavenging, even at the highest trophic levels.

ENERGY TRANSFER EFFICIENCIES ON LOWER TROPHIC LEVELS WITH INTENSIVE OYSTER FARMING IN HIROSHIMA BAY, JAPAN

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Umehara ◽  
Akira Umehara ◽  
Satoshi Asaoka ◽  
Satoshi Asaoka ◽  
Naoki Fujii ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Transfer ◽  
Primary Production ◽  
Skeletonema Costatum ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Nutrient Supply ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Phytoplankton Primary Production ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Hiroshima Prefecture ◽  
Study Species

In enclosed water areas, organic matters are actively produced by phytoplankton due to abundant nutrient supply from the rivers. In our study area of the semi-enclosed Hiroshima Bay, oyster farming consuming high primary production has been developed since the 1950s, and the oyster production of Hiroshima prefecture have had the largest market share (ca. 60%) in Japan. In this study, species composition of phytoplankton, primary production, and secondary production of net zooplanktons and oysters were determined seasonally at seven stations in the bay between November 2014 and August 2015. In the bay, diatoms including Skeletonema costatum dominated during the period of the study. The primary productions markedly increased during summer (August), and its mean values in the northern part of the bay (NB) and the southern part (SB) were 530 and 313 mgC/m2/d, respectively. The productions of net zooplankton and oyster increased during the warm season, and its mean values in the NB were 14 and 1.2 mgC/m2/d, and in SB were 28 and 0.9 mgC/m2/d, respectively. The energy transfer efficiencies from the primary producers to the secondary producers in the NB and SB were 2.8% and 9.1%, respectively. However, the transfer efficiency to the oysters was approximately 0.3% in the bay. This study clearly showed the spatial difference of the productions and transfer efficiencies, and the low contribution of the production of oysters in secondary productions in Hiroshima Bay.

Evaluation and Avoidance of False Alarm by Controlling Rhine Water with Continuously Working Biotests

1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Puzicha
Keyword(s):  
Warning System ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
River Rhine ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
River Test ◽  
Continuous Working ◽  
Range Of Variation ◽  
Contaminant Load ◽  
Rhine Water

Effluents from point sources (industries, communities) and diffuse inputs introduce pollutants into the water of the river Rhine and cause a basic contaminant load. The aim is to establish a biological warning system to detect increased toxicity in addition to the already existing chemical-physical monitoring system. To cover a wide range of biocides, continuous working biotests at different trophic levels (bacteria, algae, mussels, water fleas, fishes) have been developed and proved. These are checked out for sensitivity against toxicants, reaction time, validity of data and practical handling under field conditions at the river. Test-specific appropriate methods are found to differentiate between the normal range of variation and true alarm signals.

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