scholarly journals Trait-mediated indirect interactions of ant shape on the attack of caterpillars and fruits

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 20160401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley Dáttilo ◽  
Armando Aguirre ◽  
Pedro Luna De la Torre ◽  
Lucas A. Kaminski ◽  
Juan García-Chávez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Indirect Interactions ◽  
High Diversity

Mainly owing to their high diversity and abundance, ants are formidable as predators and defenders of foliage. Consequently, ants can exclude both invertebrate and vertebrate activity on plants via direct and indirect interactions as already shown in many previous studies. Here we present empirical evidence that objects resembling ant shape on dummy caterpillars were able to repel visually oriented predators. Moreover, we also show that rubber ants on dummy fruits can repel potential fruit dispersers. Our results have direct implications on the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of interactions in ant-based systems, as ant presence could affect the fitness of its partners. In short, our study highlights the importance of visual cues in interspecific interactions and opens a new way to study the effects of ant presence to test ecological and evolutionary hypotheses.

The Ecology and Evolution of Model Microbial Mutualisms

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy M. Chacón ◽  
Sarah P. Hammarlund ◽  
Jonathan N.V. Martinson ◽  
Leno B. Smith ◽  
William R. Harcombe
Keyword(s):  
Future Study ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Controlled Experiments ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Ecological Features ◽  
Open Questions

Mutually beneficial interspecific interactions are abundant throughout the natural world, including between microbes. Mutualisms between microbes are critical for everything from human health to global nutrient cycling. Studying model microbial mutualisms in the laboratory enables highly controlled experiments for developing and testing evolutionary and ecological hypotheses. In this review, we begin by describing the tools available for studying model microbial mutualisms. We then outline recent insights that laboratory systems have shed on the evolutionary origins, evolutionary dynamics, and ecological features of microbial mutualism. We touch on gaps in our current understanding of microbial mutualisms, note connections to mutualism in nonmicrobial systems, and call attention to open questions ripe for future study. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, Volume 52 is November 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Habitat selection by the Puerto Rican yellow-chinned anole, Anolis gundlachi

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (7) ◽  
pp. 983-988 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier A Rodríguez-Robles ◽  
Manuel Leal ◽  
Jonathan B Losos
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Woody Substrates ◽  
Selection Of

Habitat selection can directly affect the fitness of an individual and the evolutionary dynamics of the population to which that organism belongs. We studied habitat use of the Puerto Rican yellow-chinned anole (Anolis gundlachi Peters, 1876) to examine whether this arboreal lizard uses its environment in a nonrandom manner. Males and females preferred woody vegetation substrates over nonwoody plants and sierra palms (Prestoea acuminata var. montana (Graham) A. Henderson and G. Galeano) as perching sites, and they also selected wider vegetation than what was randomly available. Selection for minimizing conspicuousness to potential predators and for increased locomotion capacity may help explain the preference for woody substrates and broader surfaces, respectively. Anolis gundlachi relies almost exclusively on visual cues for foraging and social interactions, and using wider perches also increases an individual's ability to scan a larger proportion of its territory. Our findings thus indicate that the nonrandom habitat use of free-ranging A. gundlachi leads to the selection of perching substrates that may increase performance of ecologically relevant capabilities.

scholarly journals High functional diversity stimulates diversification in experimental microbial communities

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. e1600124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Jousset ◽  
Nico Eisenhauer ◽  
Monika Merker ◽  
Nicolas Mouquet ◽  
Stefan Scheu
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Resource Competition ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Focal Species ◽  
Evolutionary Diversification ◽  
The Impact ◽  
High Diversity

There is a growing awareness that biodiversity not only drives ecosystem services but also affects evolutionary dynamics. However, different theories predict contrasting outcomes on when do evolutionary processes occur within a context of competition. We tested whether functional diversity can explain diversification patterns. We tracked the survival and diversification of a focal bacterial species (Pseudomonas fluorescens) growing in bacterial communities of variable diversity and composition. We found that high functional diversity reduced the fitness of the focal species and, at the same time, fostered its diversification. This pattern was linked to resource competition: High diversity increased competition on a portion of the resources while leaving most underexploited. The evolved phenotypes of the focal species showed a better use of underexploited resources, albeit at a cost of lower overall growth rates. As a result, diversification alleviated the impact of competition on the fitness of the focal species. We conclude that biodiversity can stimulate evolutionary diversification, provided that sufficient alternative niches are available.

scholarly journals Spatial eco-evolutionary feedbacks mediate coexistence in prey-predator systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo H. Colombo ◽  
Ricardo Martínez-García ◽  
Cristóbal López ◽  
Emilio Hernández-García
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Perceptual Range ◽  
Limited Mobility ◽  
Extinction Probabilities ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Predator Community

AbstractEco-evolutionary frameworks can explain certain features of communities in which ecological and evolutionary processes occur over comparable timescales. Here, we investigate whether an evolutionary dynamics may interact with the spatial structure of a prey-predator community in which both species show limited mobility and predator perceptual ranges are subject to natural selection. In these conditions, our results unveil an eco-evolutionary feedback between species spatial mixing and predators perceptual range: different levels of mixing select for different perceptual ranges, which in turn reshape the spatial distribution of prey and its interaction with predators. This emergent pattern of interspecific interactions feeds back to the efficiency of the various perceptual ranges, thus selecting for new ones. Finally, since prey-predator mixing is the key factor that regulates the intensity of predation, we explore the community-level implications of such feedback and show that it controls both coexistence times and species extinction probabilities.

scholarly journals Spatial eco-evolutionary feedbacks mediate coexistence in prey-predator systems

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo H. Colombo ◽  
Ricardo Martínez-García ◽  
Cristóbal López ◽  
Emilio Hernández-García
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Evolutionary Processes ◽  
Species Extinction ◽  
Limited Mobility ◽  
Extinction Probabilities ◽  
The Stability

AbstractEco-evolutionary frameworks can explain certain features of communities in which ecological and evolutionary processes occur over comparable timescales. In the particular case of prey-predator systems, a combination of empirical and theoretical studies have explored this possibility, showing that the evolution of prey traits, predator traits or the coevolution of both can contribute to the stability of the community, as well as to the emergence of various types of population cycles. However, these studies overlook that interactions are spatially constrained, a crucial ingredient known to foster species coexistence per se. Here, we investigate whether evolutionary dynamics interacts with the spatial structure of a prey-predator community in which both species show limited mobility and predators perceptual ranges are subject to natural selection. In these conditions, our results unveil an eco-evolutionary feedback between species spatial mixing and predators perceptual range: different levels of species mixing select for different perceptual ranges, which in turn reshape the spatial distribution of preys and their interaction with predators. This emergent pattern of interspecific interactions feeds back to the efficiency of the various perceptual ranges, thus selecting for new ones. Finally, since prey-predator mixing is the key factor that regulates the intensity of predation, we explore the community-level implications of such feedback and show that it controls both coexistence times and species extinction probabilities.Author summaryEvolutionary processes occurring on temporal scales that are comparable to those of ecological change can result in reciprocal interactions between ecology and evolution termed eco-evolutionary feedbacks. Such interplay is clear in prey-predator systems, in which predation alters the distribution of resources (preys). In turn, changes in the abundance and spatial distribution of preys may lead to the evolution of new predation strategies, which may change again the properties of the prey population. Here, we investigate the interplay between limited mobility, species mixing, and finite perception in a prey-predator system. We focus on the case in which predator perceptual ranges are subject to natural selection and examine, via coexistence times and species extinction probabilities, whether the resulting eco-evolutionary dynamics mediates the stability of the community. Our results confirm the existence of such eco-evolutionary feedback and reveal its potential impact on community-level processes.

scholarly journals Evolutionary dynamics of DIRS-like and Ngaro-like retrotransposons in Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis genomes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Borges Gazolla ◽  
Adriana Ludwig ◽  
Joana Gama Moura ◽  
Daniel Pacheco Bruschi
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Structure ◽  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Transcriptional Activity ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
Xenopus Tropicalis ◽  
Molecular Signatures ◽  
Reading Frames ◽  
High Diversity

Anuran genomes have a large number and diversity of transposable elements, but are little explored, mainly in relation to their molecular structure and evolutionary dynamics. Here, we investigated the retrotransposons containing tyrosine recombinase (YR) (order DIRS) in the genome of Xenopus tropicalis and Xenopus laevis. These anurans show 2n = 20 and the 2n = 36 karyotypes, respectively. They diverged about 48 million years ago (mya) and X. laevis had an allotetraploid origin (around 17-18 mya). Our investigation is based on the analysis of the molecular structure and the phylogenetic relationships of 95 DIRS families of Xenopus belonging to DIRS-like and Ngaro-like superfamilies. We were able to identify molecular signatures in the 5' and 3' non-coding terminal regions, preserved open reading frames (ORFs) and conserved domains that are specific to distinguish each superfamily. We recognize two ancient amplification waves of DIRS-like elements that occurred in the ancestor of both species and a higher density of the old/degenerate copies detected in the X. laevis. X. tropicalis showed more recent amplification waves estimated around 16 mya and 3.2 mya and corroborate with high diversity-level of families in this species and with transcriptional activity evidence. Ngaro-like elements presented less diversity and quantity in the genomes, although potentially active copies were also found. Our findings highlight a differential diversity-level and evolutionary dynamics of the YR retrotransposons in the diploid X. tropicalis and X. laevis species expanding our comprehension of the behavior of these elements in both genomes during the diversification process

scholarly journals The evolutionary game of interspecific mutualism in the multi-species model

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shota Shibasaki
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Evolutionary Game ◽  
Evolutionary Rates ◽  
The Other ◽  
Nonlinear Relationship ◽  
Stable Equilibria ◽  
Antagonistic Interactions ◽  
Evolutionary Fate

AbstractMutualistic interspecific interactions, including Müllerian mimicry and division of labor, are common in nature. In contrast to antagonistic interactions, where faster evolution is favored, mutualism can favor slower evolution under some conditions. This is called the Red King effect. After Bergstrom and Lachmann (2003) proposed Red King effect, it has been investigated in two species models. However, biological examples suggest that the mutualisms can include three or more species. Here, I modeled the evolutionary dynamics of mutualism in communities where there exist two or more species, and all species mutually interact with one another. Regardless of the number of species in the community, it is possible to derive conditions for the stable equilibria. Although there exist nonlinear relationship between the evolutionary rates and the evolutionary fate of each species in the multi-species communities, the model suggests that it is possible to predict whether the faster evolution is favored or disfavored for the relatively fast species; on the other hand, it is difficult to predict the evolutionary fate of relatively slow species because the evolutionary dynamics of the slow species is affected by the evolutionary fate of the fast species.

scholarly journals Artificial selection of communities drives the emergence of structured interactions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jules Fraboul ◽  
Giulio Biroli ◽  
Silvia De Monte
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Ecological Resilience ◽  
Interaction Matrix ◽  
Volterra Equations ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Multiple Parameters ◽  
Selection Of

Species-rich communities, such as the microbiota or environmental microbial assemblages, provide key functions for human health and ecological resilience. Increasing effort is being dedicated to design experimental protocols for selecting community-level functions of interest. These experiments typically involve selection acting on populations of communities, each of which is composed of multiple species. Numerical explorations allowed to link the evolutionary dynamics to the multiple parameters involved in this complex, multi-scale evolutionary process. However, a comprehensive theoretical understanding of artificial selection of communities is still lacking. Here, we propose a general model for the evolutionary dynamics of species-rich communities, each described by disordered generalized Lotka-Volterra equations, that we study analytically and by numerical simulations. Our results reveal that a generic response to selection for larger total community abundance is the emergence of an isolated eigenvalue of the interaction matrix that can be understood as an effective cross-feeding term. In this way, selection imprints a structure on the community, which results in a global increase of both the level of mutualism and the diversity of interactions. Our approach moreover allows to disentangle the role of intraspecific competition, interspecific interactions symmetry and number of selected communities in the evolutionary process, and can thus be used as a guidance in optimizing artificial selection protocols.

scholarly journals Niche and neutral processes leave distinct structural imprints on indirect interactions in mutualistic networks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benno I. Simmons ◽  
Andrew P. Beckerman ◽  
Katrine Hansen ◽  
Pietro K. Maruyama ◽  
Constantinos Televantos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Indirect Interactions ◽  
Indirect Interaction ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Bipartite Networks ◽  
Hummingbird Pollination ◽  
Generate Plant ◽  
Network Metrics

AbstractIndirect interactions are central to ecological and evolutionary dynamics in pollination communities, yet we have little understanding about the processes determining patterns of indirect interactions, such as those between pollinators through shared flowering plants. Instead, research has concentrated on the processes responsible for direct interactions and whole-network structures. This is partly due to a lack of appropriate tools for characterising indirect interaction structures, because traditional network metrics discard much of this information. The recent development of tools for counting motifs (subnetworks depicting interactions between a small number of species) in bipartite networks enable detailed analysis of indirect interaction patterns. Here we generate plant-hummingbird pollination networks based on three major assembly processes – neutral effects (species interacting in proportion to abundance), morphological matching and phenological overlap – and evaluate the motifs associated with each one. We find that different processes produce networks with significantly different patterns of indirect interactions. Neutral effects tend to produce densely-connected motifs, with short indirect interaction chains, and motifs where many specialists interact indirectly through a single generalist. Conversely, niche-based processes (morphology and phenology) produced motifs with a core of interacting generalists, supported by peripheral specialists. These results have important implications for understanding the processes determining indirect interaction structures.

Effects of visual cues and self-explanation prompts: empirical evidence in a multimedia environment

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 799-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lijia Lin ◽  
Robert K. Atkinson ◽  
Wilhelmina C. Savenye ◽  
Brian C. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Multimedia Environment
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