scholarly journals Adaptations to different habitats in sexual and asexual populations of parasitoid wasps: a meta-analysis

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Amat ◽  
Jacques J.M. van Alphen ◽  
Alex Kacelnik ◽  
Emmanuel Desouhant ◽  
Carlos Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Egg Load ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Multiple Traits ◽  
Venturia Canescens ◽  
Grain Stores ◽  
Asexual Populations ◽  
Thermal Variability ◽  
Sexual Form

BackgroundCoexistence of sexual and asexual populations remains a key question in evolutionary ecology. We address the question how an asexual and a sexual form of the parasitoidVenturia canescenscan coexist in southern Europe. We test the hypothesis that both forms are adapted to different habitats within their area of distribution. Sexuals inhabit natural environments that are highly unpredictable, and where density of wasps and their hosts is low and patchily distributed. Asexuals instead are common in anthropic environments (e.g., grain stores) where host outbreaks offer periods when egg-load is the main constraint on reproductive output.MethodsWe present a meta-analysis of known adaptations to these habitats. Differences in behavior, physiology and life-history traits between sexual and asexual wasps were standardized in term of effect size (Cohen’sdvalue; Cohen, 1988).ResultsSeeking consilience from the differences between multiple traits, we found that sexuals invest more in longevity at the expense of egg-load, are more mobile, and display higher plasticity in response to thermal variability than asexual counterparts.DiscussionThus, each form has consistent multiple adaptations to the ecological circumstances in the contrasting environments.

scholarly journals Estimation accuracy of species abundance based on environmental DNA with relation to its production source, state, and assay methodology suggested by meta-analyses

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiaki Jo ◽  
Hiroki Yamanaka
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Environmental Dna ◽  
Efficient Estimation ◽  
Estimation Accuracy ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Abundance Estimation ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Promising Tool

Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis is a promising tool for non-disruptive and cost-efficient estimation of species abundance. However, its practical applicability in natural environments is limited because it is unclear whether eDNA concentrations actually represent species abundance in the field. Although the importance of accounting for eDNA dynamics, such as transport and degradation, has been discussed, the influences of eDNA characteristics, including production source and state, and methodology, including collection and quantification strategy and abundance metrics, on the accuracy of eDNA-based abundance estimation were entirely overlooked. We conducted a meta-analysis using 56 previous eDNA literature and investigated the relationships between the accuracy (R2) of eDNA-based abundance estimation and eDNA characteristics and methodology. Our meta-regression analysis found that R2 values were significantly lower for crustaceans than fish, suggesting that less frequent eDNA production owing to their external morphology and physiology may impede accurate estimation of their abundance via eDNA. Moreover, R2 values were positively associated with filter pore size, indicating that selective collection of larger-sized eDNA, which is typically fresher, could improve the estimation accuracy of species abundance. Furthermore, R2 values were significantly lower for natural than laboratory conditions, while there was no difference in the estimation accuracy among natural environments. Our findings shed a new light on the importance of what characteristics of eDNA should be targeted for more accurate estimation of species abundance. Further empirical studies are required to validate our findings and fully elucidate the relationship between eDNA characteristics and eDNA-based abundance estimation.

scholarly journals Cognitive Restoration from Nature Across Multiple Exposure Types - A Meta-Analysis Delineating the Effects of Test Order and Affect

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Stenfors ◽  
Stephen Charles Van Hedger ◽  
Kathryn E Schertz ◽  
Francisco Calvache Meyer ◽  
Karen Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digit Span ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Repeated Testing ◽  
Directed Attention ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Unpublished Studies ◽  
Test Order

Interactions with natural environments and nature-related stimuli have been found to be beneficial to cognitive performance, in particular on executive cognitive tasks with high demands on directed attention processes. However, results vary across different studies.The aim of the present study was to perform a meta-analysis of all our published and unpublished studies testing the effect of different interactions with nature versus urban/built control environments, on an executive test with high demands on directed attention: the backwards digit span (BDS) task. Specific aims were to evaluate the effect of nature versus urban environment interactions on BDS across different exposure types (e.g. being in real environments, or viewing videos, images, or listening to sounds) and disentangle the effects of testing order (i.e. practice with repeated testing) and the role of affective changes on BDS performance. We also reviewed the literature and compared and contrasted our meta-analysis with results from other studies. Results from our meta-analysis comprising 12 studies (N=567 participants) showed significant environment-by-time interactions with beneficial effects of nature compared to urban environments on BDS performance. This effect was magnified after parceling out initial practice effects on the BDS. Changes in positive or negative affect did not mediate the beneficial effects of nature on BDS performance. These results mirrored effects that we reviewed from outside of our laboratories. Uncontrolled and confounding order effects may explain some of the inconsistent findings in the literature. In all, these results highlight the robustness of the effects of natural environments on cognition when confounding order effects have been considered, and also provide a more nuanced account of when a nature intervention will be most effective.

scholarly journals A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Nature-Based Mindfulness: Effects of Moving Mindfulness Training into an Outdoor Natural Setting

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (17) ◽  
pp. 3202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Djernis ◽  
Lerstrup ◽  
Poulsen ◽  
Stigsdotter ◽  
Dahlgaard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Natural Setting ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Registration Number ◽  
Mindfulness Interventions ◽  
Meta Analyses

Research has proven that both mindfulness training and exposure to nature have positive health effects. The purpose of this study was to systematically review quantitative studies of mindfulness interventions conducted in nature (nature-based mindfulness), and to analyze the effects through meta-analyses. Electronic searches revealed a total of 25 studies to be included, examining 2990 participants. Three analyses were conducted: Nature-based mindfulness interventions evaluated as open trials (k = 13), nature-based mindfulness compared with groups in non-active control conditions (k = 5), and nature-based mindfulness compared with similar interventions but without contact with nature (k = 7). The overall combined psychological, physiological, and interpersonal effects from pre- to post-intervention were statistically significant and of medium size (g = 0.54, p < 0.001). Moderation analyses showed that natural environments characterized as forests/wild nature obtained larger numerical effects than environments characterized as gardens/parks, as did informal mindfulness compared with formal mindfulness. The small number of studies included, as well as the heterogeneity and generally low quality of the studies, must be taken into consideration when the results are interpreted. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42017065639.

Meta-analysis at the intersection of evolutionary ecology and conservation

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1237-1252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle M. Côté ◽  
John D. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Meta Analysis

scholarly journals Signals of polygenic adaptation on height have been overestimated due to uncorrected population structure in genome-wide association studies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mashaal Sohail ◽  
Robert M. Maier ◽  
Andrea Ganna ◽  
Alex Bloemendal ◽  
Alicia R. Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Multiple Traits ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Polygenic Adaptation ◽  
The Uk

AbstractGenetic predictions of height differ among human populations and these differences are too large to be explained by genetic drift. This observation has been interpreted as evidence of polygenic adaptation. Differences across populations were detected using SNPs genome-wide significantly associated with height, and many studies also found that the signals grew stronger when large numbers of subsignificant SNPs were analyzed. This has led to excitement about the prospect of analyzing large fractions of the genome to detect subtle signals of selection and claims of polygenic adaptation for multiple traits. Polygenic adaptation studies of height have been based on SNP effect size measurements in the GIANT Consortium meta-analysis. Here we repeat the height analyses in the UK Biobank, a much more homogeneously designed study. Our results show that polygenic adaptation signals based on large numbers of SNPs below genome-wide significance are extremely sensitive to biases due to uncorrected population structure.

Coral adaptation to climate change: Meta‐analysis reveals high heritability across multiple traits

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin R. Bairos‐Novak ◽  
Mia O. Hoogenboom ◽  
Madeleine J. H. Oppen ◽  
Sean R. Connolly
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Multiple Traits ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
High Heritability

scholarly journals Meta-GWAS for quantitative trait loci identification in soybean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnathon M Shook ◽  
Jiaoping Zhang ◽  
Sarah E Jones ◽  
Arti Singh ◽  
Brian W Diers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Candidate Genes ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Genome Wide Association Study ◽  
Seed Quality ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Genomic Region ◽  
Multiple Traits ◽  
Robust Detection

Abstract We report a meta-Genome Wide Association Study involving 73 published studies in soybean (Glycine max L. [Merr.]) covering 17,556 unique accessions, with improved statistical power for robust detection of loci associated with a broad range of traits. De novo GWAS and meta-analysis were conducted for composition traits including fatty acid and amino acid composition traits, disease resistance traits, and agronomic traits including seed yield, plant height, stem lodging, seed weight, seed mottling, seed quality, flowering timing, and pod shattering. To examine differences in detectability and test statistical power between single- and multi-environment GWAS, comparison of meta-GWAS results to those from the constituent experiments were performed. Using meta-GWAS analysis and the analysis of individual studies, we report 483 peaks at 393 unique loci. Using stringent criteria to detect significant marker trait associations, 59 candidate genes were identified, including 17 agronomic traits loci, 19 for seed related traits, and 33 for disease reaction traits. This study identified potentially valuable candidate genes that affect multiple traits. The success in narrowing down the genomic region for some loci through overlapping mapping results of multiple studies is a promising avenue for community-based studies and plant breeding applications.

scholarly journals Thermal sensitivity of the Spiroplasma-Drosophila hydei protective symbiosis: The best of climes, the worst of climes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Corbin ◽  
Jordan E. Jones ◽  
Ewa Chrostek ◽  
Andy Fenton ◽  
Gregory D. D. Hurst
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Transmission ◽  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Thermal Sensitivity ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Protective Capacity ◽  
Drosophila Hydei ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe outcome of natural enemy attack in insects has commonly been found to be influenced by the presence of protective symbionts in the host. The degree to which protection functions in natural populations, however, will depend on the robustness of the phenotype to variation in the abiotic environment. We studied the impact of a key environmental parameter – temperature – on the efficacy of the protective effect of the symbiont Spiroplasma on its host Drosophila hydei, against attack by the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina heterotoma. In addition, we investigated the thermal sensitivity of the symbiont’s vertical transmission, which may be a key determinant of the ability of the symbiont to persist. We found that vertical transmission was more robust than previously considered, with Spiroplasma being maintained at 25 °C, 18 °C and with 18/15 °C diurnal cycles, with rates of segregational loss only increasing at 15 °C. Protection against wasp attack was ablated before symbiont transmission was lost, with the symbiont failing to rescue the fly host at 18 °C. We conclude that the presence of a protective symbiosis in natural populations cannot be simply inferred from presence of a symbiont whose protective capacity has been tested under narrow controlled conditions. More broadly, we argue that the thermal environment is likely to represent an important determinant of the evolutionary ecology of defensive symbioses in natural environments, potentially driving seasonal, latitudinal and altitudinal variation in symbiont frequency, and modulating the strength of selection for symbiotic protective systems compared to defensive systems encoded in the nuclear genomes.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document