Reevaluating Scorpion Ecomorphs using a Naïve Approach

BackgroundEcomorphs create the opportunity to investigate ecological adaptation because they encompass organisms that evolved characteristic morphologies under similar ecological demands. For over 50 years, scorpions have been empirically assigned to ecomorphs based on the characteristic morphologies that rock, sand, vegetation, underground, and surface dwellers assume. This study aims to independently test the existence of scorpion ecomorphs by quantifying the association between their morphology and ecology across 61 species, representing 14 families of the Scorpiones order.ResultsWithout a priori categorization of species into ecomorphs, we identified four groups based on microhabitat descriptors, which reflect how scorpion ecospace is clustered. Moreover, these microhabitat groups, i.e. ecotypes, have significantly divergent morphologies; therefore, they represent ecomorphs. These ecomorphs largely correspond with the ones previously described in the literature. Therefore, we retained the names Lithophilous, Psammophilous, and Pelophilous, and proposed the name Phytophilous for vegetation dwellers. Finally, we sought to map the morphology-ecology association in scorpions. We provide evidence that the morphological regions most tightly associated with ecology are the walking legs and pedipalps. Moreover, the major trend in ecomorphological covariation is that longer walking legs and relatively slender pedipalps (pincers) are associated with sandy microhabitats, while the inverse morphological proportions are associated with rocky microhabitats. ConclusionsScorpion ecomorphs are validated in a naïve approach, from ecological descriptors and whole body anatomy. This places them on a more solid quantitative footing for future studies of ecological adaptation in scorpions. Our results verify some of the previously defined ecomorphotypes and can be used as a starting point to understand the adaptive significance of ecological morphology.

Ecological morphology of Saxifraga hirculus L. in the North-east oF European Russia

Изучено географическое и экологическое своеобразие распределения представителей двух подвидов Saxifraga hirculus в пределах северо-востока Европейской России. Показано, что в условиях холодного климата на переменно влажных субстратах разных типов тундр произрастают растения subsp. compacta, при постоянном сильном увлажнении и в более тёплых условиях - subsp. hirculus. Произрастание в разных условиях привели к значительным различиям в жизненных формах: основная биоморфа северного подвида - это дерновый рыхлокустовой поликарпик, типового - поликарпик дерновый корневищный. We studied the geographical and ecological identity of the distribution of representatives of the two subspecies of Saxifraga hirculus in northeastern European Russia. They showed that plants of subsp. compacta grow in cold climates on alternately wet substrates of different types of tundras; plants of subsp. hirculus grow under conditions warmer conditions with constant strong humidification. Growth in different conditions led to significant differences in biomorphs of both subspecies. The basic biomorph of the northern subspecies is loose turfy polycarpic perennial herbaceous plants, while that of the typical one is the rhizomatous turfy plant.

Applied Functional Biology: Linking Ecological Morphology to Conservation and Management

Synopsis Many researchers work at the interface of organisms and environment. Too often, the insights that organismal, or functional, biologists can bring to the understanding of natural history, ecology, and conservation of species are overlooked. Likewise, natural resource managers are frequently focused on the management of populations and communities, while ignoring key functional traits that might explain variation in abundance and shifts in species composition at these ecological levels. Our intention for this symposium is two-fold: (1) to bring to light current and future research in functional and ecological morphology applicable to concerns and goals of wildlife management and conservation and (2) to show how such studies can result in measurable benchmarks useful to regulatory agencies. Symposium topics reveal past, present, and future collaborations between functional morphologists/biomechanists and conservation/wildlife biologists. During the SICB 2020 Annual Meeting, symposium participants demonstrated how data gathered to address fundamental questions regarding the causes and consequences of organismal form and function can also help address issues of conservation and wildlife management. Here we review how these, and other, studies of functional morphology, biomechanics, ecological development morphology and performance can inform wildlife conservation and management, principally by identifying candidate functional traits that have clear fitness consequences and population level implications.