Evolution of Complexity. Molecular Aspects of Preassembly

An extension of neo-Darwinism, termed preassembly, states that genetic material required for many complex traits, such as echolocation, was present long before emergence of the traits. Assembly of genes and gene segments had occurred over protracted time-periods within large libraries of non-coding genes. Epigenetic factors ultimately promoted transfers from noncoding to coding genes, leading to abrupt formation of the trait via de novo genes. This preassembly model explains many observations that to this present day still puzzle biologists: formation of super-complexity in the absence of multiple fossil precursors, as with bat echolocation and flowering plants; major genetic and physical alterations occurring in just a few thousand years, as with housecat evolution; lack of precursors preceding lush periods of species expansion, as in the Cambrian explosion; and evolution of costly traits that exceed their need during evolutionary times, as with human intelligence. What follows in this paper is a mechanism that is not meant to supplant neo-Darwinism; instead, preassembly aims to supplement current ideas when complexity issues leave them struggling.

Increasing temporal variance leads to stable species range limits

What prevents populations of a species from adapting to the novel environments outside the species' geographic distribution? Previous models highlighted how gene flow across spatial environmental gradients determines species expansion vs. extinction and the location of species range limits. However, space is only one of two axes of environmental variation — environments also vary in time, and we know temporal environmental variation has important consequences for population demography and evolution. We used an individual based evolutionary model to explore how temporal stochasticity in environmental conditions influences the spread of populations across a spatial environmental gradient. We find that temporal stochasticity greatly alters our predictions for range dynamics compared to temporally static environments. When temporal variance is equal across the landscape, the fate of species (expansion vs. extinction) is determined by the interaction between the degree of temporal autocorrelation in environmental fluctuations and the steepness of the spatial environmental gradient. When the magnitude of temporal variance changes across the landscape, stable range limits form where this variance becomes large enough to prevent local population adaptation and persistence. These results illustrate the pivotal influence of temporal stochasticity on the likelihood of populations colonizing novel habitats and the location of species range limits.

Introgression dynamics from invasive pigs into wild boar following the March 2011 natural and anthropogenic disasters at Fukushima

Natural and anthropogenic disasters have the capability to cause sudden extrinsic environmental changes and long-lasting perturbations including invasive species, species expansion and influence evolution as selective pressures force adaption. Such disasters occurred on 11 March 2011, in Fukushima, Japan, when an earthquake, tsunami and meltdown of a nuclear power plant all drastically reformed anthropogenic land use. Using genetic data, we demonstrate how wild boar ( Sus scrofa leucomystax ) have persevered against these environmental changes, including an invasion of escaped domestic pigs ( Sus scrofa domesticus ). Concurrently, we show evidence of successful hybridization between pigs and native wild boar in this area; however in future offspring, the pig legacy has been diluted through time. We speculate that the range expansion dynamics inhibit long-term introgression and introgressed alleles will continue to decrease at each generation while only maternally inherited organelles will persist. Using the gene flow data among wild boar, we assume that offspring from hybrid lineages will continue dispersal north at low frequencies as climates warm. We conclude that future risks for wild boar in this area include intraspecies competition, revitalization of human-related disruptions and disease outbreaks.

Are Large Carnivores the Real Issue? Solutions for Improving Conflict Management through Stakeholder Participation

Social conflicts around large carnivores are increasing in Europe, often associated to the species expansion into human-modified and agricultural landscapes. Large carnivores can be seen as an added value by some but as a source of difficulties by others, depending on different values, attitudes, livelihoods, and everyday activities. Therefore, the effective involvement of the different interest groups is important to identify and shape tailored solutions that can potentially be implemented, complementing top-down approaches that might, on their own, result in lack of implementation and buy-in. To improve dialogue in conflictual situations, as part of a European project promoted by the European Parliament, we assessed the practical implementation of participatory processes in three sample areas in Europe where wolves and bears have recently been increasingly impacting human activities. Our results demonstrate that collaboration among different and generally contrasting groups is possible. Even in situations where large-carnivore impacts were seen as unsatisfactorily managed for many years, people were still willing and eager to be involved in alternative discussion processes hoping this would lead to concrete solutions. An important and common highlight among the three study areas was that all the management interventions agreed upon shared the general scope of improving the conditions of the groups most impacted by large carnivores. The process showed the importance of building trust and supporting dialogue for knowledge co-production and mitigation of conflicts between stakeholders and that controversial environmental issues have the potential to trigger a meaningful dialogue about broader societal issues. The direct involvement and support of competent authorities, as well as the upscaling of this process at larger administrative and social scales, remain important challenges.

European river lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis L. in the Baltic and Caspian seas basins of Tver region

Представлена дополненная информация о распространении и условиях обитания речной миноги (Lampetra fluviatilis L.) на территории Тверской области. Ареал на территории области представляет собой сочетание исторического (водотоки бассейна Балтийского моря) и инвазионного (водотоки бассейна Каспийского моря) компонентов. Обоснована идея вселения миноги в систему р. Волга по системам искусственных судоходных каналов. Состояние популяций в Каспийском бассейне указывает на продолжающийся процесс освоения новых местообитаний. Additional information on the distribution and habitat of the European river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis L.) in the Tver Region is presented. The areal of the European river lamprey in the Region consists of the historical (watercourses of the Baltic Sea Basin) and invasive (watercourses of the Caspian Sea Basin) components. The idea of the lamprey invasion in the Volga River through the system of manmade shipping canals is substantiated. The condition of the lamprey’s populations in the Caspian Sea Basin indicates the ongoing process of the species expansion.

Settlement dynamics of the Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina (Temm.) on the Crimean Peninsula

The expansion of Oenanthe isabellina in Ukraine began at the end of 1950s - early 1960s. The Isabelline Wheatear settled along the coast of the Sea of Azov from east to west and appeared on the Crimean Peninsula later than in the regions located to the west of it. Since the late 1960s, this species has been nesting near the mouth of the Dnipro River which located in the west of the Crimean Peninsula. The nesting of Oenanthe isabellina was found in the northern part of the Crimean Peninsula in 1973. In the mid-1980s, the Isabelline Wheatear inhabited the northwestern coast of Crimea and appeared far in the east - on the Kerch Peninsula. In the southeastern part of the peninsula the range of the Wheatear reached the Black Sea coast by the end of the 1980s, when the species nesting was found near Feodosia. In the southeastern part of Crimea, the Isabelline Wheatear continued to settle along the Black Sea coast in a westerly direction in the 1990s: its nesting was found near Sudak. In the central Crimea, the species range reached the northern foothills of the Crimean Mountains at this time. The species expansion to the south slowed down by the beginning of the 2000s. In the western Crimea, the southernmost settlement of the Isabelline Wheatear was found near Evpatoria. In the northern foothills of the Crimean Mountains (Central Crimea), the range border has not changed. There were no significant changes in the southeastern Crimea during this period - in the 2000s, O. isabellina nested near Sudak as in the 1990s. The species expansion almost stopped in Crimea in the 2010s. The settling of the Isabelline Wheatear in the steppe regions of the southwestern Crimea did not occur, possibly due to the absence of little ground squirrel settlements, whose burrows birds usually use for nesting. The border of the O. isabellina range has moved southward on about 100 km for three decades - from the beginning of the 1970s to the beginning of the 2000s -, i.e. the settlement speed of the species in Crimea was about 3 km per year.

Rhipicephalus microplus and its vector-borne haemoparasites in Guinea: further species expansion in West Africa

Rhipicephalus microplus is an ixodid tick with a pantropical distribution that represents a serious threat to livestock. West Africa was free of this tick until 2007, when its introduction into Benin was reported. Shortly thereafter, the further invasion of this tick into West African countries was demonstrated. In this paper, we describe the first detection of R. microplus in Guinea and list the vector-borne haemoparasites that were detected in the invader and indigenous Boophilus species.In 2018, we conducted a small-scale survey of ticks infesting cattle in three administrative regions of Guinea: N`Zerekore, Faranah, and Kankan. The tick species were identified by examining their morphological characteristics and by sequencing their COI gene and ITS-2 gene fragments. R. microplus was found in each studied region. In the ticks, we found DNA of Babesia bigemina, Anaplasma marginale, Anaplasma platys, and Ehrlichia spp. The results of this study indicate that R. microplus was introduced into Guinea with cows from Mali and/or Ivory Coast.