Niche diversity influences psychometric properties of a brief personality scale – evidence from representative samples during the COVID-19 pandemic

Recent studies using more diverse samples have questioned the applicability of the Big Five. It needs to be shown how robust measures of the big five are and whether any deviations are systematic or random. We present validity information on a ten-item personality measure applied to population samples in 16 nations during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (N=35,052). Overall, we found poor replicability and low reliability of the five-factor structure of personality. We then test whether variation is systematically related to ecological, economic or stress-related variables. Personality structure replicability measured via averaged Tucker’s Φ values was correlated with niche diversity data (Human development index, rate of urbanization, diversity of export goods) and national wealth, but not reliably related with COVID-19 (gross domestic product per capita). and death rates per million citizens during the study period. These patterns overall suggest that a) personality structure in brief measures need to be carefully tested prior to any substantive interpretations of the personality data and b) that systematic socioecological factors have an impact on survey responses to personality inventories.

Evidence of Constrained Divergence and Conservatism in Climatic Niches of the Temperate Maples (Acer L.)

Research highlights: The availability of global distribution data and new, fossil-calibrated phylogenies has made it possible to compare the climatic niches of the temperate maple (Acer L.) taxa and assess phylogenetic and continental patterns in niche overlap. Background and Objectives: The maples have radiated from East Asia into two other temperate continental bioregions, North America and Eurasia (Europe and West Asia), over a roughly 60-million-year period. During this time, the Earth’s climate experienced pronounced cooling and drying, culminating in cyclic periods of widespread temperate glaciation in the Pliocene to Pleistocene. The objective of this study is to use newly available data to model the climatic niches of 60% of the temperate maples and assess patterns of niche divergence, constraint, and conservatism in the genus’s radiation out of East Asia. Materials and Methods: I assembled global occurrence data and associated climatic information for 71 maple taxa, including all species endemic to temperate North America and Eurasia and their closely related East Asian congeners. I constructed Maxent niche models for all taxa and compared the climatic niches of 184 taxa pairs and assessed phylogenetic signal in key niche axes for each taxon and in niche overlap at the continental and global scale. Results: Maxent models define a fundamental climatic niche for temperate maples and suggest that drought-intolerant taxa have been lost from the Eurasian maple flora, with little continental difference in temperature optima or breadth. Niche axes and niche overlap show minimal evidence of phylogenetic signal, suggesting adaptive evolution. Pairwise niche comparisons reveal infrequent niche overlap continentally and globally, even among sister pairs, with few taxa pairs sharing ecological niche space, providing evidence for constrained divergence within the genus’s fundamental climatic niche. Evidence of niche conservatism is limited to three somewhat geographically isolated regions of high maple diversity (western North America, the Caucasus, and Japan). Conclusions: Over 60 million years of hemispheric radiation on a cooling and drying planet, the maple genus experienced divergent, though constrained, climatic niche evolution. High climatic niche diversity across spatial and phylogenetic scales along with very limited niche overlap or conservatism suggests that the radiation of the genus has largely been one of adaptive diversification.

Composition and Specialization of the Lichen Functional Traits in a Primeval Forest—Does Ecosystem Organization Level Matter?

Current trends emphasize the importance of the examination of the functional composition of lichens, which may provide information on the species realized niche diversity and community assembly processes, thus enabling one to understand the specific adaptations of lichens and their interaction with the environment. We analyzed the distribution and specialization of diverse morphological, anatomical and chemical (lichen secondary metabolites) traits in lichen communities in a close-to-natural forest of lowland Europe. We considered these traits in relation to three levels of forest ecosystem organization: forest communities, phorophyte species and substrates, in order to recognize the specialization of functional traits to different levels of the forest complexity. Traits related to the sexual reproduction of mycobionts (i.e., ascomata types: lecanoroid apothecia, lecideoid apothecia, arthonioid apothecia, lirellate apothecia, stalked apothecia and perithecia) and asexual reproduction of mycobionts (pycnidia, hyphophores and sporodochia) demonstrated the highest specialization to type of substrate, tree species and forest community. Thallus type (foliose, fruticose, crustose and leprose thalli), ascospore dark pigmentation and asexual reproduction by lichenized diaspores (soredia and isidia) revealed the lowest specialization to tree species and substrate, as well as to forest community. Results indicate that lichen functional trait assemblage distribution should not only be considered at the level of differences in the internal structure of the analyzed forest communities (e.g., higher number of diverse substrates or tree species) but also studied in relation to specific habitat conditions (insolation, moisture, temperature, eutrophication) that are characteristic of a particular forest community. Our work contributes to the understanding of the role of the forest structure in shaping lichen functional trait composition, as well as enhancing our knowledge on community assembly rules of lichen species.

Thiocyanate and Organic Carbon Inputs Drive Convergent Selection for Specific Autotrophic Afipia and Thiobacillus Strains Within Complex Microbiomes

Thiocyanate (SCN–) contamination threatens aquatic ecosystems and pollutes vital freshwater supplies. SCN–-degrading microbial consortia are commercially adapted for remediation, but the impact of organic amendments on selection within SCN–-degrading microbial communities has not been investigated. Here, we tested whether specific strains capable of degrading SCN– could be reproducibly selected for based on SCN– loading and the presence or absence of added organic carbon. Complex microbial communities derived from those used to treat SCN–-contaminated water were exposed to systematically increased input SCN concentrations in molasses-amended and -unamended reactors and in reactors switched to unamended conditions after establishing the active SCN–-degrading consortium. Five experiments were conducted over 790 days, and genome-resolved metagenomics was used to resolve community composition at the strain level. A single Thiobacillus strain proliferated in all reactors at high loadings. Despite the presence of many Rhizobiales strains, a single Afipia variant dominated the molasses-free reactor at moderately high loadings. This strain is predicted to break down SCN– using a novel thiocyanate desulfurase, oxidize resulting reduced sulfur, degrade product cyanate to ammonia and CO2 via cyanate hydratase, and fix CO2 via the Calvin–Benson–Bassham cycle. Removal of molasses from input feed solutions reproducibly led to dominance of this strain. Although sustained by autotrophy, reactors without molasses did not stably degrade SCN– at high loading rates, perhaps due to loss of biofilm-associated niche diversity. Overall, convergence in environmental conditions led to convergence in the strain composition, although reactor history also impacted the trajectory of community compositional change.

Contrasting strategies of osmotic and ionic regulation in freshwater crabs and shrimps: gene expression of gill ion transporters

Owing to their extraordinary niche diversity, the Crustacea are ideal for comprehending the evolution of osmoregulation. The processes that effect systemic hydro-electrolytic homeostasis maintain hemolymph ionic composition via membrane transporters located in highly specialized gill ionocytes. We evaluated physiological and molecular hyper- and hypo-osmoregulatory mechanisms in two phylogenetically distant, freshwater crustaceans, the crab Dilocarcinus pagei and the shrimp Macrobrachium jelskii, when osmotically challenged for up to 10 days. When in distilled water, D. pagei survived without mortality, hemolymph osmolality and [Cl−] increased briefly, stabilizing at initial values, while [Na+] decreased continually. Gill V(H+)-ATPase, Na+/K+-ATPase and Na+/K+/2Cl− gene expressions were unchanged. In M. jelskii, hemolymph osmolality, [Cl−] and [Na+] decreased continually for 12 h, the shrimps surviving only around 15 to 24 h exposure. Gill transporter gene expressions increased 2- to 5-fold. After 10-days exposure to brackish water (25 ‰S), D. pagei was isosmotic, iso-chloremic and iso-natriuremic. Gill V(H+)-ATPase expression decreased while Na+/K+-ATPase and Na+/K+/2Cl− expressions were unchanged. In M. jelskii (20 ‰S), hemolymph was hypo-regulated, particularly [Cl−]. Transporter expressions initially increased 3- to 12-fold, declining to control values. Gill V(H+)-ATPase expression underlies the ability of D. pagei to survive in fresh water while V(H+)- and Na+/K+-ATPase and Na+/K+/2Cl− expressions enable M. jelskii to confront hyper/hypo-osmotic challenge. These findings reveal divergent responses in two unrelated crustaceans inhabiting a similar osmotic niche. While D. pagei does not secrete salt, tolerating elevated cellular isosmoticity, M. jelskii exhibits clear hypo-osmoregulatory ability. Each species has evolved distinct strategies at the transcriptional and systemic levels during its adaptation to fresh water.

Migratory Zooplankton Excreta and Its Influence on Prokaryotic Communities

Particulate organic matter (POM) (fecal pellets) from zooplankton has been demonstrated to be an important nutrient source for the pelagic prokaryotic community. Significantly less is known about the chemical composition of the dissolved organic matter (DOM) produced by these eukaryotes and its influence on pelagic ecosystem structure. Zooplankton migrators, which daily transport surface-derived compounds to depth, may act as important vectors of limiting nutrients for mesopelagic microbial communities. In this role, zooplankton may increase the DOM remineralization rate by heterotrophic prokaryotes through the creation of nutrient rich “hot spots” that could potentially increase niche diversity. To explore these interactions, we collected the migratory copepod Pleuromamma xiphias from the northwestern Sargasso Sea and sampled its excreta after 12–16 h of incubation. We measured bulk dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved free amino acids (DFAA) via high performance liquid chromatography and dissolved targeted metabolites via quantitative mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MSMS) to quantify organic zooplankton excreta production and characterize its composition. We observed production of labile DOM, including amino acids, vitamins, and nucleosides. Additionally, we harvested a portion of the excreta and subsequently used it as the growth medium for mesopelagic (200 m) bacterioplankton dilution cultures. In zooplankton excreta treatments we observed a four-fold increase in bacterioplankton cell densities that reached stationary growth phase after five days of dark incubation. Analyses of 16S rRNA gene amplicons suggested a shift from oligotrophs typical of open ocean and mesopelagic prokaryotic communities to more copiotrophic bacterial lineages in the presence of zooplankton excreta. These results support the hypothesis that zooplankton and prokaryotes are engaged in complex and indirect ecological interactions, broadening our understanding of the microbial loop.

Interactions between specific breeding system and ploidy play a critical role in increasing niche adaptability in a global food crop

Understanding the factors driving ecological and evolutionary interactions of economically important plant species is important for sustainability. Niches of crop wild relatives, including wild potatoes (Solanum section Petota), have received attention, however, such information has not been analyzed in combination with phylogenetic histories, genomic composition and reproductive systems. We used a combination of ordinary least-squares (OLS) and phylogenetic generalized least-squares (PGLM) analyses to identify the discrete climate classes that wild potato species inhabit in the context of breeding system and ploidy. Self-incompatible diploid or self-compatible polyploid species significantly increase the number of discrete climate niches inhabited. This result was sustained when correcting for phylogenetic non-independence in the linear model. Our results support the idea that specific breeding system and ploidy combinations increase niche divergence through the decoupling of geographical range and niche diversity, and therefore, these species may be of particular interest for crop adaptation to a changing climate.

Niche diversity predicts personality structure across 115 nations

The niche diversity hypothesis proposes that personality structure arises from the affordances of unique trait-combinations within a society. Prior tests of the hypothesis in 55 nations suffer from potential confounds associated with differences in the measurement properties of personality scales across groups. Using recently developed psychometric methods for the approximation of cross-national measurement invariance, we test the niche diversity hypothesis in a novel sample of 115 nations (N = 685,089). Niche diversity was robustly related to both inter-factor covariance and personality dimensionality but was not consistently related to intra-factor variance across nations. These findings generally bolster the core of the niche diversity hypothesis, demonstrating the contingency of human personality structure on socioecological contexts.

Thiocyanate and organic carbon inputs drive convergent selection for specific autotrophic Afipia and Thiobacillus strains within complex microbiomes

Thiocyanate (SCN-) contamination threatens aquatic ecosystems and pollutes vital fresh water supplies. SCN- degrading microbial consortia are commercially deployed for remediation, but the impact of organic amendments on selection within SCN- degrading microbial communities has not been investigated. Here, we tested whether specific strains capable of degrading SCN- could be reproducibly selected for based on SCN- loading and the presence or absence of added organic carbon. Complex microbial communities derived from those used to treat SCN- contaminated water were exposed to systematically increased input SCN concentrations in molasses-amended and -unamended reactors and in reactors switched to unamended conditions after establishing the active SCN- degrading consortium. Five experiments were conducted over 790 days and genome-resolved metagenomics was used to resolve community composition at the strain level. A single Thiobacillus strain proliferated in all reactors at high loadings. Despite the presence of many Rhizobiales strains, a single Afipia variant dominated the molasses-free reactor at moderately high loadings. This strain is predicted to breakdown SCN- using a novel thiocyanate dehydrogenase, oxidize resulting reduced sulfur, degrade product cyanate (OCN−) to ammonia and CO2 via cyanase, and fix CO2 via the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. Removal of molasses from input feed solutions reproducibly led to dominance of this strain. Neither this Afipia strain nor the thiobacilli have the capacity to produce cobalamin, a function detected in low abundance community members. Although sustained by autotrophy, reactors without molasses did not stably degrade SCN- at high loading rates, perhaps due to loss of biofilm-associated niche diversity. Overall, convergence in environmental conditions led to convergence in the strain composition, although reactor history also impacted the trajectory of community compositional change.

Osmotic and ionic regulation by hololimnetic freshwater crustaceans: a molecular role for gill ion transporters

Owing to their extraordinary niche diversity, the Crustacea are ideal for comprehending the evolution of osmoregulation. The processes that effect systemic hydro-electrolytic homeostasis maintain hemolymph ionic composition via membrane transporters located in highly specialized gill ionocytes. We evaluated physiological and molecular hyper- and hypo-osmoregulatory mechanisms in two phylogenetically distant, freshwater crustaceans, the crab Dilocarcinus pagei and the shrimp Macrobrachium jelskii, when osmotically challenged for up to 10 days. When in distilled water, hemolymph osmolality and [Cl−] increased briefly in D. pagei, stabilizing at initial values, while [Na+] decreased continually. Gill V(H+)-ATPase, Na+/K+-ATPase and Na+/K+/2Cl− gene expressions were unchanged. In M. jelskii, hemolymph osmolality, [Cl−] and [Na+] decreased continually for 12 h, the shrimps no longer surviving. Gill transporter gene expressions increased 2- to 5-fold. After 10-days exposure to brackish water, D. pagei was isosmotic, iso-chloremic and iso-natriuremic. Gill V(H+)-ATPase expression decreased while Na+/K+-ATPase and Na+/K+/2Cl− expressions were unchanged. In M. jelskii, the hemolymph was hypo-regulated, particularly [Cl−]. Transporter expressions initially increased 3- to 12-fold, declining to control values. Gill V(H+)-ATPase expression underlies the ability of D. pagei to survive in fresh water while Na+/K+-ATPase and Na+/K+/2Cl− expressions enable M. jelskii to deal with osmotic challenge. These findings reveal divergent responses in two unrelated crustaceans habiting a similar osmotic niche. While D. pagei has maintained the capacity to tolerate elevated cellular isosmoticity despite its inability to secrete salt, M. jelskii displays clear hypo-osmoregulatory ability. Each species has developed distinct strategies at the transcription and systemic levels during adaptation to fresh water.Summary statementDuring their evolutionary adaptation to fresh water, unrelated hololimnetic crustaceans have developed physiological strategies like tolerating elevated cellular isosmoticity or regulating hypo-osmoregulatory ability at the gene transcription level.