The experimental manipulation of insect herbivore load by the use of an insecticide (malathion): The effect of application on plant growth

Summary The effects of insect herbivores on natural communities of plants may be demonstrated by manipulative experimetns. Such experiments, which reduce the natural levels of herbivory by application of insecticide, incorporate the assumption that the insecticide has no direct effect on the vegetation. A test of this assumption should therefore be an integral part of any study of herbivory employing chemical exclusion. Here a single compound (Malathion-60), which is commonly used in such studies, is tested both in the field and on selected plant species under controlled conditions. It was found to have no effect on a range of early successional plant species. The limitations of the tests are discussed.     

Scale in macroecology

The past 15 years have seen the development of macroecology as a respectable discipline within the biological sciences. Initial concerns about the utility of a large‐scale approach to ecology have been quietened, if not eliminated, but other arguments about spatial scale in ecology have arisen to take their place. The situation has moved from the absolute advocacy of small‐scale over large‐scale studies to an advocacy of some large scales in preference to others. Here, we argue that there is no general sense in which one scale of study (either in terms of spatial extent or sampling resolution) is better than any other. As long as there are sensible reasons for using the scale chosen, studies at all scales have the potential to inform about the structure and function of the ecological systems that clothe this planet.     

Predator diversity and density affect levels of predation upon strongly interactive species in temperate rocky reefs

Indirect effects of predators in the classic trophic cascade theory involve the effects of basal species (e.g. primary producers) mediated by predation upon strongly interactive consumers (e.g. grazers). The diversity and density of predators, and the way in which they interact, determine whether and how the effects of different predators on prey combine. Intraguild predation, for instance, was observed to dampen the effects of predators on prey in many ecosystems. In marine systems, species at high trophic levels are particularly susceptible to extinction (at least functionally). The loss of such species, which is mainly attributed to human activities (mostly fishing), is presently decreasing the diversity of marine predators in many areas of the world. Experimental studies that manipulate predator diversity and investigate the effects of this on strongly interactive consumers (i.e. those potentially capable of causing community-wide effects) in marine systems are scant, especially in the rocky sublittoral. I established an experiment that utilised cage enclosures to test whether the diversity and density of fish predators (two sea breams and two wrasses) would affect predation upon juvenile and adult sea urchins, the most important grazers in Mediterranean sublittoral rocky reefs. Changes in species identity (with sea breams producing major effects) and density of predators affected predation upon sea urchins more than changes in species richness per se. Predation upon adult sea urchins decreased in the presence of multiple predators, probably due to interference competition between sea breams and wrasses. This study suggests that factors that influence both fish predator diversity and density in Mediterranean rocky reefs (e.g. fishing and climate change) may have the potential to affect the predators' ability to control sea urchin population density, with possible repercussions for the whole benthic community structure.     

Neutral theory in macroecology and population genetics

Current neutral theory in macroecology has many parallels with neutral theory in population genetics, but it also has many distinct features that arise because it focuses mainly on questions at the community level rather than at the population level. Here we highlight the similarities and differences between these two bodies of theories from the aspects of the operational units, definitions of neutrality, basic parameters, driving forces, spatial structure and community assembly rules. Compared with neutral theory in population genetics, whose development spans more than 40 years, neutral theory in ecology, which is only a few years old, is still immature and under-developed. There are many opportunities for major theoretical contributions, some of which can be adopted directly from population genetics, while others will require new theoretical work. We critically discuss these opportunities and theoretical challenges in neutral macroecology, particularly in regard to effective community size, ecological drift, community differentiation and ecological dominance.     

The macroecology of marine cleaning mutualisms

1. Marine cleaning mutualisms generally involve small fish or shrimps removing ectoparasites and other material from cooperating 'client' fish. We evaluate the role of fish abundance, body size and behaviour as determinants of interactions with cleaning mutualists. 2. Data come from eight reef locations in Brazil, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and Australia. 3. We conducted a meta-analysis of client-cleaner interactions involving 11 cleaner and 221 client species. 4. There was a strong, positive effect of client abundance on cleaning frequency, but only a weak, negative effect of client body size. These effects were modulated by client trophic group and social behaviour. 5. This study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting a central role of species abundance in structuring species interactions.     

基于自相关模式的动态心电图RR间期数据处理方法的研究

目的：在动态心电图分析过程中,确定RR间期,对于分析心电信息起着非常重要的作用。但是,临床上,实际检测的记录中,不可避免地受到外界很多的干扰,由于这些干扰信息的存在,使得准确定位RR间期变得非常困难。本课题拟在干扰情况下,提取心电表达的最大信息,达到准确定位RR间期的目的。方法：本研究运用自相关模式数据处理方法有效地提升了主峰、次峰强度间的差别,从而为更好地判断RR间期以及埋藏在噪音之中的QRS波信息提供了可能的方法。结果：我们用了自相关模式数据处理的方法获得了以下信息：（1）对于干扰小的心电信息,主峰与次峰间的强度比值由2.7倍提升到7.7倍。（2）对于干扰大的心电信息,即那些主峰已经被现有Holter处理软件及医生人工判断都认为不可以使用的数据,因为这些数据主峰强度明显小于次峰强度（主峰/次峰〈1）,经过我们的方法处理后,可以使主峰强度与次峰强度之比提升到1.5（主峰/次峰〉1.5）,从而使得RR间期可以进行清晰分辨。结论：在心电信息受到干扰的情况下,它的RR间期很难判断,运用本研究使用的自相关模式数据处理方法,能够提升动态心电图中主峰与次峰的强度比值,提高人工判断RR间期的准确性。所以,基于自相关模式的动态心电图RR间期数据处理方法是行之有效的。     

基于自相关模式的动态心电图RR间期数据处理方法的研究

目的:在动态心电图分析过程中,确定RR间期,对于分析心电信息起着非常重要的作用。但是,临床上,实际检测的记录中,不可避免地受到外界很多的干扰,由于这些干扰信息的存在,使得准确定位RR间期变得非常困难。本课题拟在干扰情况下,提取心电表达的最大信息,达到准确定位RR间期的目的。方法:本研究运用自相关模式数据处理方法有效地提升了主峰、次峰强度间的差别,从而为更好地判断RR间期以及埋藏在噪音之中的QRS波信息提供了可能的方法。结果:我们用了自相关模式数据处理的方法获得了以下信息:(1)对于干扰小的心电信息,主峰与次峰间的强度比值由2.7倍提升到7.7倍。(2)对于干扰大的心电信息,即那些主峰已经被现有Holter处理软件及医生人工判断都认为不可以使用的数据,因为这些数据主峰强度明显小于次峰强度(主峰/次峰1),经过我们的方法处理后,可以使主峰强度与次峰强度之比提升到1.5(主峰/次峰1.5),从而使得RR间期可以进行清晰分辨。结论:在心电信息受到干扰的情况下,它的RR间期很难判断,运用本研究使用的自相关模式数据处理方法,能够提升动态心电图中主峰与次峰的强度比值,提高人工判断RR间期的准确性。所以,基于自相关模式的动态心电图RR间期数据处理方法是行之有效的。     

The macroecology of reef fish agonistic behaviour

Understanding the interplay between processes operating at large and small spatiotemporal scales in shaping biotic interactions remains challenging. Recent studies illustrate how phenotypic specialization, species life-history traits and/or resource partitioning recurrently underlie the structure of mutualistic interactions in terrestrial ecosystems along large latitudinal gradients of biodiversity. However, we know considerably less about how local processes interact with large-scale patterns of biodiversity in modulating biotic interactions in the marine realm. Considering agonistic behaviour as a proxy for contest competition, we empirically investigate whether the structure of reef fish agonistic interactions is conserved across a 34 000-km longitudinal gradient of biodiversity. By sampling coral reefs using standardized remote underwater video, we found recurrent patterns of fish agonistic behaviour in disparate communities distributed across five biogeographic provinces of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. While the sheer number of species increases with regional richness, the number of aggressive disputes at the habitat scale is similar across communities. We then combined generalized linear models and network theory to reveal that, the emergent structure of local agonistic networks is not modular but instead recurrently display a nested structure, with a core of highly interactive site-attached herbivores of the Pomacentridae family. Therefore, despite the increase in the number of species involved in agonistic interactions toward speciose communities, the network structure is conserved along the longitudinal richness gradient because local disputes are mostly driven by closely-related, functionally-similar species. These findings suggest that evolutionary and local processes interact in modulating reef fish agonistic behaviour and that fine-scale niche-partitioning can structure the ecological networks in marine ecosystems.     

Optimal behaviour sampling and autocorrelation curve: modelling data of farmed foxes

Behavioural investigations frequently make use of video recordings. In a typical study, behaviour is recorded during a 24-h period using instantaneous sampling, a method whereby consecutive samples taken from the same animal are autocorrelated. This study sought to model the autocorrelation function and to evaluate the optimal sampling interval for recording periods of different length in farmed blue foxes. The data were based on video recordings. The autocorrelation was found to have two components: short-range and long-range. The range of the short-range component was from 2 to 4 min, implying that an animal continues the same operation without interruption for several minutes. The duration of the long-range component was from 20 to 75 min and was affected by the animals mental state. The optimal sampling interval was not the same for all the behaviours studied and, moreover, depended on the length of the recording period. If the recording period lasted for 3 to 5 days, the optimal sampling interval was from 10 to 15 min; if, however, there was only one recording day, the optimal sampling interval was from 4 to 6 min.     

There's more to macroecology than meets the eye

Macroecology sits at the junction of, and can contribute to, the fields of ecology, biogeography, palaeontology and macroevolution, using a broad range of approaches to tackle a diverse set of questions. Here, we argue that there is more to macroecology than mapping, and that while they are potentially useful, maps are insufficient to assess macroecological pattern and process. The true nature of pattern can only be assessed, and competing hypotheses about process can only be disentangled, by adopting a statistical approach, and it is this that has been key to the development of macroecology as a respected and rigorous scientific discipline.     

Rarity in the tropics: biogeography and macroecology of the primates

Aim To describe rarity and elucidate its biology in a tropical mammalian order, the Primates. Location Africa, Central and South America, Asia, Madagascar. Methods A review of the literature, with some additional analyses using data from the literature. A variety of definitions of rarity are used in order to describe it and to investigate its biology by correlating the degree of rarity with a variety of biological traits indicative of resource use (e.g. size of annual home range), reproductive rate (e.g. birth interval)and specialization (e.g. number of habitat types used). Results Few primate taxa occur outside the tropics, and most taxa are rare (small geographical range size or latitudinal extent, low density or both). Latitudinal extent is narrower at lower latitudes in Africa and Asia, but the potential resultant packing of taxa appears not to explain the taxonomic diversity gradient. Whilst primate species do not show the common, positive density by range size relationship, primate genera show a significant shallow slope, and primate families/subfamilies a strongly positive slope. Rare taxa are specialized, but neither use more resources nor breed more slowly than common taxa. The correlation of rarity and specialization is via geographical range: taxa with small ranges, or small ranges for their density, are specialized, but not taxa at low density. Common taxa are generalized because they consist of more differently specialized subtaxa, not because each subtaxon is generalized. Main conclusions Most primate taxa are rare, in which case most are presumably likely to go extinct. Rare primates are specialized, but do not necessarily use more resources, nor breed more slowly. Specialization as an explanation for rarity appears to work via constriction of range size, not of density. Common primates might be common (large range size) not because subtaxa or individuals are generalized, but because they are composed of more subtaxa. A consequence could be that persistence of even common taxa will depend on conservation of several populations scattered across the taxon's geographical range.     

Scaling up: examining the macroecology of ectomycorrhizal fungi

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi play major ecological roles in temperate and tropical ecosystems. Although the richness of ECM fungal communities and the factors controlling their structure have been documented at local spatial scales, how they vary at larger spatial scales remains unclear. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Tedersoo et al. (2012) present the results of a meta‐analysis of ECM fungal community structure that sheds important new light on global‐scale patterns. Using data from 69 study systems and 6021 fungal species, the researchers found that ECM fungal richness does not fit the classic latitudinal diversity gradient in which species richness peaks at lower latitudes. Instead, richness of ECM fungal communities has a unimodal relationship with latitude that peaks in temperate zones. Intriguingly, this conclusion suggests the mechanisms driving ECM fungal community richness may differ from those of many other organisms, including their plant hosts. Future research will be key to determine the robustness of this pattern and to examine the processes that generate and maintain global‐scale gradients of ECM fungal richness.     

Multimodal Observation Method of Digital Accessibility for Elderly People

This article presents a new methodological framework for multimodal observation of digital technologies. It is based on the use of mixed methods developed in the interdisciplinary MAN project founded by CNRS. It focuses on the digital accessibility of older people. The originality of the method lies in the implementation of a method combining qualitative and quantitative measurement to determine relevant indicators. These indicators characterize the person's behavior when using a technology and its usability. We show how these indicators are built, based on the cross-referencing of data. We present the different tools (questionnaire, interviews and technological data recording tools) used in the MAN method in a living laboratory environment controlled with four volunteers. Two use scenarios are proposed to illustrate the method in assessing the accessibility of a tactile application for older people without a digital divide and without disabilities. We present the recorded qualitative and quantitative data and illustrate by an example the unrelatedness of these data through a specific annotation tool.     

Towards an integrated computational tool for spatial analysis in macroecology and biogeography

Because most macroecological and biodiversity data are spatially autocorrelated, special tools for describing spatial structures and dealing with hypothesis testing are usually required. Unfortunately, most of these methods have not been available in a single statistical package. Consequently, using these tools is still a challenge for most ecologists and biogeographers. In this paper, we present sam (Spatial Analysis in Macroecology), a new, easy-to-use, freeware package for spatial analysis in macroecology and biogeography. Through an intuitive, fully graphical interface, this package allows the user to describe spatial patterns in variables and provides an explicit spatial framework for standard techniques of regression and correlation. Moran's I autocorrelation coefficient can be calculated based on a range of matrices describing spatial relationships, for original variables as well as for residuals of regression models, which can also include filtering components (obtained by standard trend surface analysis or by principal coordinates of neighbour matrices). sam also offers tools for correcting the number of degrees of freedom when calculating the significance of correlation coefficients. Explicit spatial modelling using several forms of autoregression and generalized least-squares models are also available. We believe this new tool will provide researchers with the basic statistical tools to resolve autocorrelation problems and, simultaneously, to explore spatial components in macroecological and biogeographical data. Although the program was designed primarily for the applications in macroecology and biogeography, most of sam 's statistical tools will be useful for all kinds of surface pattern spatial analysis. The program is freely available at http://www.ecoevol.ufg.br/sam (permanent URL at http://purl.oclc.org/sam/ ).     

Microbial macroecology: highly structured prokaryotic soil assemblages in a tropical deciduous forest

Aim To assess the hypothesis that free‐living prokaryotes show a pattern of ‘no biogeography’ by examining the scaling of soil prokaryotic diversity and by comparing it with other groups’ biogeographical patterns. Location Two sites in the tropical deciduous forest of Chamela, Jalisco, on the western coast of Mexico. Methods We examined the diversity and distribution of soil prokaryotes in two 8 × 8 m quadrats divided in such manner that we could sample at four spatial scales. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms of 16S rRNA genes were used to define operational taxonomic units (OTUs) that we used in lieu of species to assess diversity. Results We found highly structured species assemblages that allowed us to reject multiple predictions of the hypothesis that soil bacteria show ‘no biogeography’. The frequency distribution of range size (measured as the occupancy of quadrats) of OTUs followed a hollow curve similar to that of vertebrates on continents. Assemblages showed high levels of beta diversity and a non‐random nested pattern of diversity. OTU diversity scaled with area followed a power function with slopes z = 0.42 and 0.47. Main conclusions We demonstrate a non‐ubiquitous dispersal for soil prokaryotes, which suggests a complex biogeography similar to that found for terrestrial vertebrates.