scholarly journals The role of ecological opportunity in shaping disparate diversification trajectories in a bicontinental primate radiation

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1781) ◽  
pp. 20131979 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy A. P. Tran
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Dietary Specialization ◽  
Ecological Opportunity ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Key Innovation ◽  
Colobine Monkeys ◽  
Foregut Fermentation ◽  
Herbivorous Species ◽  
African Clade

Exceptional species and phenotypic diversity commonly are attributed to ecological opportunity (EO). The conventional EO model predicts that rates of lineage diversification and phenotypic evolution are elevated early in a radiation only to decline later in response to niche availability. Foregut fermentation is hypothesized to be a key innovation that allowed colobine monkeys (subfamily Colobinae), the only primates with this trait, to successfully colonize folivore adaptive zones unavailable to other herbivorous species. Therefore, diversification rates also are expected to be strongly linked with the evolution of traits related to folivory in these monkeys. Using dated molecular phylogenies and a dataset of feeding morphology, I test predictions of the EO model to evaluate the role of EO conferred by foregut fermentation in shaping the African and Asian colobine radiations. Findings from diversification methods coupled with colobine biogeographic history provide compelling evidence that decreasing availability of new adaptive zones during colonization of Asia together with constraints presented by dietary specialization underlie temporal changes in diversification in the Asian but not African clade. Additionally, departures from the EO model likely reflect iterative diversification events in Asia.

scholarly journals The Role of Geography and Ecological Opportunity in the Diversification of Day Geckos (Phelsuma)

2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke J. Harmon ◽  
Jane Melville ◽  
Allan Larson ◽  
Jonathan B. Losos
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Opportunity

scholarly journals Distance from Africa, not climate, explains within-population phenotypic diversity in humans

2008 ◽  
Vol 276 (1658) ◽  
pp. 809-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lia Betti ◽  
François Balloux ◽  
William Amos ◽  
Tsunehiko Hanihara ◽  
Andrea Manica
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Morphological Diversity ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Relative Role ◽  
Morphometric Traits ◽  
Perfect Agreement ◽  
Skull Measurements ◽  
Sub Saharan

The relative importance of ancient demography and climate in determining worldwide patterns of human within-population phenotypic diversity is still open to debate. Several morphometric traits have been argued to be under selection by climatic factors, but it is unclear whether climate affects the global decline in morphological diversity with increasing geographical distance from sub-Saharan Africa. Using a large database of male and female skull measurements, we apply an explicit framework to quantify the relative role of climate and distance from Africa. We show that distance from sub-Saharan Africa is the sole determinant of human within-population phenotypic diversity, while climate plays no role. By selecting the most informative set of traits, it was possible to explain over half of the worldwide variation in phenotypic diversity. These results mirror those previously obtained for genetic markers and show that ‘bones and molecules’ are in perfect agreement for humans.

scholarly journals Assessing “Results-Based” Payment Determinants in Forest Carbon Emission Reduction Initiatives: Case of Forest Carbon Projects in Cameroon

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Eugene L Chia ◽  
Augustin Corin B Bi Bitchick ◽  
Didier Hubert ◽  
Mirrande M Azai ◽  
Maxime M Nguemadji
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Forest Carbon ◽  
Project Design ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Land Owners ◽  
Key Innovation ◽  
Design Documents ◽  
Technical Capacity

The international community has acknowledged the critical role of results-based avoided deforestation and forest degradation, sustainable management of forest, conservation and enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+) activities in curbing climate change. However, ensuring that REDD+ programs and projects deliver carbon and non-carbon results, remains a challenge. This paper analyses results-based determinants in REDD+ projects in Cameroon. Experiences from these projects are expected to inform the design and implementation of sustainable and effective REDD+ projects. It draws on data collected from feasibility study reports, project design documents, project evaluation reports and the opinions and perspectives of 86 REDD+ stakeholders. Findings indicate that projects employed a combination of incentives, disincentives and enabling measures towards achieving the intended REDD+ results. However, none of the projects proposed conditional incentives (direct payments) to land owners and users, the key innovation brought by REDD+. Despite the fact that these projects are branded REDD+ projects, they offer little or no experiences on the relationship between REDD+ payments and carbon and non-carbon outcomes. Achieving results from REDD+ projects depend on how effective choices are made by stakeholders in relation to the type of instruments/interventions and the location of projects, and the ability to make choices further depends on the technical capacity of stakeholders. Thus, the capacity of stakeholders to be involve in REDD+ project design and implementation should be strengthened, in order for them to better appraise the results-based requirements of REDD+.

scholarly journals The Genomic Ecosystem of Transposable Elements in Maize

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle C. Stitzer ◽  
Sarah N. Anderson ◽  
Nathan M. Springer ◽  
Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra
Keyword(s):  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Genomic Environment ◽  
Single Category ◽  
The Impact

Transposable elements (TEs) constitute the majority of flowering plant DNA, reflecting their tremendous success in subverting, avoiding, and surviving the defenses of their host genomes to ensure their selfish replication. More than 85% of the sequence of the maize genome can be ascribed to past transposition, providing a major contribution to the structure of the genome. Evidence from individual loci has informed our understanding of how transposition has shaped the genome, and a number of individual TE insertions have been causally linked to dramatic phenotypic changes. But genome-wide analyses in maize and other taxa have frequently represented TEs as a relatively homogeneous class of fragmentary relics of past transposition, obscuring their evolutionary history and interaction with their host genome. Using an updated annotation of structurally intact TEs in the maize reference genome, we investigate the family-level ecological and evolutionary dynamics of TEs in maize. Integrating a variety of data, from descriptors of individual TEs like coding capacity, expression, and methylation, as well as similar features of the sequence they inserted into, we model the relationship between these attributes of the genomic environment and the survival of TE copies and families. Our analyses reveal a diversity of ecological strategies of TE families, each representing the evolution of a distinct ecological niche allowing survival of the TE family. In contrast to the wholesale relegation of all TEs to a single category of junk DNA, these differences generate a rich ecology of the genome, suggesting families of TEs that coexist in time and space compete and cooperate with each other. We conclude that while the impact of transposition is highly family- and context-dependent, a family-level understanding of the ecology of TEs in the genome can refine our ability to predict the role of TEs in generating genetic and phenotypic diversity.‘Lumping our beautiful collection of transposons into a single category is a crime’-Michael R. Freeling, Mar. 10, 2017

scholarly journals The Role of Stochasticity in the Origin of Epigenetic Variation in Animal Populations

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1544-1557 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Biwer ◽  
B Kawam ◽  
V Chapelle ◽  
F Silvestre
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Genetic Mutation ◽  
Epigenetic Variation ◽  
Epigenetic Variability ◽  
Evolutionary Potential ◽  
Environmental Variance ◽  
Animal Populations

Synopsis Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation modulate gene expression in a complex fashion are consequently recognized as among the most important contributors to phenotypic variation in natural populations of plants, animals, and microorganisms. Interactions between genetics and epigenetics are multifaceted and epigenetic variation stands at the crossroad between genetic and environmental variance, which make these mechanisms prominent in the processes of adaptive evolution. DNA methylation patterns depend on the genotype and can be reshaped by environmental conditions, while transgenerational epigenetic inheritance has been reported in various species. On the other hand, DNA methylation can influence the genetic mutation rate and directly affect the evolutionary potential of a population. The origin of epigenetic variance can be attributed to genetic, environmental, or stochastic factors. Generally less investigated than the first two components, variation lacking any predictable order is nevertheless present in natural populations and stochastic epigenetic variation, also referred to spontaneous epimutations, can sustain phenotypic diversity. Here, potential sources of such stochastic epigenetic variability in animals are explored, with a focus on DNA methylation. To this day, quantifying the importance of stochasticity in epigenetic variability remains a challenge. However, comparisons between the mutation and the epimutation rates showed a high level of the latter, suggesting a significant role of spontaneous epimutations in adaptation. The implications of stochastic epigenetic variability are multifold: by affecting development and subsequently phenotype, random changes in epigenetic marks may provide additional phenotypic diversity, which can help natural populations when facing fluctuating environments. In isogenic lineages and asexually reproducing organisms, poor or absent genetic diversity can hence be tolerated. Further implication of stochastic epigenetic variability in adaptation is found in bottlenecked invasive species populations and populations using a bet-hedging strategy.

On the role of enemies in divergence and diversification of prey: a review and synthesis

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (7) ◽  
pp. 894-910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M Vamosi
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Diversification Rates ◽  
Extinction Rates ◽  
Phenotypic Divergence ◽  
Experimental Approaches

Understanding the contribution of ecological interactions to the origin and maintenance of diversity is a fundamental challenge for ecologists and evolutionary biologists, and one that is currently receiving a great deal of attention. Natural enemies (e.g., predators, parasites, and herbivores) are ubiquitous in food webs and are predicted to have significant impacts on phenotypic diversity and on speciation, and extinction rates of their prey. Spurred by the development of a theoretical framework beginning in the late 1970s, there is now a growing body of literature that addresses the effects of enemy–prey interactions on the evolution of prey. A number of theoretical models predict that enemies can produce phenotypic divergence between closely related species, even in the absence of interspecific competition for resources. Effects on diversification of prey are more variable, and enemies may either enhance or depress speciation and extinction rates of their prey. Empirical evidences from a number of study systems, notably those involving predators and prey in aquatic environments and interactions between insects and flowering plants, confirm both predictions. There is now considerable evidence for the role of enemies, especially those that are size-selective or use visual cues when identifying suitable prey, on phenotypic divergence of sympatric and allopatric taxa. Enemies may spur diversification rates in certain groups under some circumstances, and hinder diversification rates in other cases. I suggest that further research should focus on the role of enemies in diversification of prey, with significant insights likely to be the product of applying traditional experimental approaches and emerging comparative phylogenetic methods.

scholarly journals Mobile Elements in Ray-Finned Fish Genomes

Life ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Carducci ◽  
Marco Barucca ◽  
Adriana Canapa ◽  
Elisa Carotti ◽  
Maria Assunta Biscotti
Keyword(s):  
Deep Sea ◽  
Genetic Resource ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Mountain Streams ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Model Group ◽  
Biological Interest ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Molecular Bases

Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) are a very diverse group of vertebrates, encompassing species adapted to live in freshwater and marine environments, from the deep sea to high mountain streams. Genome sequencing offers a genetic resource for investigating the molecular bases of this phenotypic diversity and these adaptations to various habitats. The wide range of genome sizes observed in fishes is due to the role of transposable elements (TEs), which are powerful drivers of species diversity. Analyses performed to date provide evidence that class II DNA transposons are the most abundant component in most fish genomes and that compared to other vertebrate genomes, many TE superfamilies are present in actinopterygians. Moreover, specific TEs have been reported in ray-finned fishes as a possible result of an intricate relationship between TE evolution and the environment. The data summarized here underline the biological interest in Actinopterygii as a model group to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the high biodiversity observed in this taxon.

scholarly journals Blurring the Lines between Physical and Digital Spaces: Business Model Innovation in Retailing

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-117
Author(s):  
Milan Jocevski
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Data Analytics ◽  
Retail Store ◽  
Business Model Innovation ◽  
Significant Challenge ◽  
Mobile Channel ◽  
Customer Interaction ◽  
Key Innovation ◽  
Digital Spaces

Traditional retail practices are under stress as retailers ponder various ways of setting up a sustainable omnichannel business model. A significant challenge in their endeavor relates to the blurring lines between physical and digital worlds. This article analyzes three retailers’ exploratory efforts of alternative physical retail spaces. There are five key innovation areas to revamp for such a retail store: in-store technology, the role of sales associates, leveraging a mobile channel, data analytics, and collaborations. Moreover, physical retail space can serve as an aggregation hub that connects various retailer-customer interaction points across physical and digital spaces.

scholarly journals Environmental Heterogeneity and Phenotypic Divergence: Can Heritable Epigenetic Variation Aid Speciation?

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Flatscher ◽  
Božo Frajman ◽  
Peter Schönswetter ◽  
Ovidiu Paun
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Environmental Heterogeneity ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Adaptive Strategies ◽  
Epigenetic Variation ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Adaptive Traits ◽  
Phenotypic Differentiation ◽  
Genome Wide

The dualism of genetic predisposition and environmental influences, their interactions, and respective roles in shaping the phenotype have been a hot topic in biological sciences for more than two centuries. Heritable epigenetic variation mediates between relatively slowly accumulating mutations in the DNA sequence and ephemeral adaptive responses to stress, thereby providing mechanisms for achieving stable, but potentially rapidly evolving phenotypic diversity as a response to environmental stimuli. This suggests that heritable epigenetic signals can play an important role in evolutionary processes, but so far this hypothesis has not been rigorously tested. A promising new area of research focuses on the interaction between the different molecular levels that produce phenotypic variation in wild, closely-related taxa that lack genome-wide genetic differentiation. By pinpointing specific adaptive traits and investigating the mechanisms responsible for phenotypic differentiation, such study systems could allow profound insights into the role of epigenetics in the evolution and stabilization of phenotypic discontinuities, and could add to our understanding of adaptive strategies to diverse environmental conditions and their dynamics.

scholarly journals Boosting Service Innovation: The Role of Consultancies

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 41-68
Author(s):  
Manuela Rezende Pinto ◽  
Irina Saur-Amaral ◽  
Carlos Brito
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Service Innovation ◽  
Previous Literature ◽  
Service Companies ◽  
Innovation Intermediaries ◽  
Key Innovation ◽  
Initial Focus ◽  
Innovation Outcomes

This paper seeks to make a particular contribution in what are the roles of consultancies as key innovation intermediaries in service industry. In line with previous literature, the research purposes to test the application of Pinto et al (2016) framework within service companies, triangulating the findings of Pinto et al (2017). Four in-depth case studies of service companies were developed, resulting on detailed descriptions of the phenomenon using constructs to order the data and relate to earlier literature. Key findings highlight changes in motivations for consultancy engagement, from an initial focus on knowledge (output) to a focus on methodology (process). The adequacy of the framework proposed by Pinto et al (2016) is confirmed, and a new function of intermediaries arises from this study, related with “evaluation of innovation outcomes”. The study highlights the contribution of consultancies in preparing companies to innovate.

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