The ecology and evolution of reduced wings in forest macrolepidoptera

Summary Loss of flying ability has been related to habitat stability, but even within stable habitats most species retain the ability to fly. What other factors are associated with flightlessness in forest species? I used both simple and phylogeny-based comparative methods to examine traits associated with the evolution of reduced wings in temperate forest Macrolepidoptera. Non-phylogenetic comparisons show that the 33 species with reduced wings in this data set tend to be spring feeding, overwinter as eggs, place eggs in clusters or a single mass, have winter-active adults and have high host breadth, high fecundity and outbreaking population dynamics. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the seven independent origins of reduced wings occurred only in springfeeding lineages. The origins of reduced wings were also related to the other variables, although correlations were much less strong for egg clustering and host breadth. The fecundity of wing-reduced species and their macropterous sister species were not different, but few data were available.     

结球甘蓝植株相关主要农艺性状 的遗传及相关性分析

利用主要农艺性状上具有显著差异的结球甘蓝高代纯合自交系01-88和02-12杂交获得F1,通过游离小孢子培养获得含有189个基因型的DH群体为试验材料,采用主基因+多基因混合遗传模型对结球甘蓝外叶数、开展度、株高、外叶颜色、外叶长和外叶宽6个与植株相关的主要农艺性状进行遗传和相关性分析。结果表明,在DH分离群体中6个主要农艺性状呈连续的、单峰、偏态分布,说明这些性状为多基因控制的数量性状。除外叶宽和外叶颜色性状受多基因控制外,其余4个农艺性状均受2对主基因+多基因控制。主基因遗传率大小顺序为株高(59.16%)>外叶长(56.56%)>外叶数(55.67%)>开展度(19.56%)。株高、外叶长和外叶数性状具有较高的主基因遗传率,早代选择效果较好。这6个农艺性状间存在一定的相关性,其中外叶数与开展度、外叶长与外叶宽等成对性状呈极显著正相关;外叶数与外叶宽成对性状呈极显著负相关,在育种实践中可利用其相关性实行间接选择。     

Body Size and Geographic Range Do Not Explain Long Term Variation in Fish Populations: A Bayesian Phylogenetic Approach to Testing Assembly Processes in Stream Fish Assemblages

We combine evolutionary biology and community ecology to test whether two species traits, body size and geographic range, explain long term variation in local scale freshwater stream fish assemblages. Body size and geographic range are expected to influence several aspects of fish ecology, via relationships with niche breadth, dispersal, and abundance. These traits are expected to scale inversely with niche breadth or current abundance, and to scale directly with dispersal potential. However, their utility to explain long term temporal patterns in local scale abundance is not known. Comparative methods employing an existing molecular phylogeny were used to incorporate evolutionary relatedness in a test for covariation of body size and geographic range with long term (1983 – 2010) local scale population variation of fishes in West Fork White River (Indiana, USA). The Bayesian model incorporating phylogenetic uncertainty and correlated predictors indicated that neither body size nor geographic range explained significant variation in population fluctuations over a 28 year period. Phylogenetic signal data indicated that body size and geographic range were less similar among taxa than expected if trait evolution followed a purely random walk. We interpret this as evidence that local scale population variation may be influenced less by species-level traits such as body size or geographic range, and instead may be influenced more strongly by a taxon’s local scale habitat and biotic assemblages.     

Secular Trends in Measures of Cephalo-Facial Traits among Bengalee Boys Aged 7.0–16.0 Years from Kolkata between 1982–1983 and 1999–2001

While a large number of studies on secular trends have been performed on measures of stature, weight, trunk and limb dimensions, subcutaneous fatness and body composition, etc., less attention has been paid to cephalo-facial traits. This study reports on secular trends in five cephalo-facial traits (head length, head breadth, head circumference, bizygomatic breadth and morphological facial height) and two indices (cephalic index and facial index) in Bengalee Hindu boys between ages 7.0 and 16.0 years. The data set comes from two cross-sectional growth surveys carried out among the students of one particular Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) boys school with an interval of about 20 years (1982–1983 and 1999–2001). Identical protocol with respect to sampling, data collection, measuring technique and data analysis has been followed in both surveys. Except for morphological facial height (which showed negative secular trends), the other four cephalo-facial traits showed positive secular trends with varying magnitudes over the two decades. Cephalic index did not reveal any consistent pattern of change, while facial index showed a declining trend in the later survey.     

The role of maternal effects in adaptation to different diets

The environmental influences of mothers on offspring traits, or maternal effects, often arise from dietary differences experienced by mothers. However, few studies have explored if and how maternal effects facilitate adaptation to new host plants. To address this, we compared the maternal and direct effects arising from dietary differences in two populations of the large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus that live on and feed on the seeds from different hosts. We compared a laboratory population, which has been reared for over 400 generations on sunflower seeds and is now adapted to use these as a host, to the wild population, which is adapted to the ancestral diet of toxic milkweed seeds. We first tested for changes in maternal effects, and then examined offspring performance and survivorship. We found evidence for evolution of the maternal effect facilitating the use of a novel host. However, the strongest effects were population differences and direct dietary effects for all traits. Offspring performance was more strongly influenced by diet than maternal effects. Survivorship depended on population and offspring diet, and their interaction, but was unaffected by maternal diet or other interactions. In the artificially evolved population, diet breadth was increased rather than evolving specialization. Our results suggest changes in maternal effects are likely to be weak compared to direct effects of host plants and other adaptations in adaptation to a novel host. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 114 , 202–211.     

Longitudinal age changes in a fishermen population of West Bengal

The longitudinal anthropological age changes in a sample of coastal fishermen in West Bengal are discussed. The results show that some traits follow the trends observed in ageing of Western populations, for instance nasal length and breadth continue to increase throughout life in both sexes. Stature follows also the trend generally observed: a decrease occurs indeed from 35 years of age in both sexes, the decline is becoming higher with increasing age. The typical ecological conditions of our population influence the rate of change in other traits, such as weight and biacromial diameter. Weight is known to be influenced by the nutritional status and the way of life. It explains that in our study of males an early increase of weight and biacromial diameter is observed first and a decrease afterwards. In females, however, a decrease is observed already from 35 years of age. This kind of analysis was only possible with the help of longitudinal data and in a well defined population: only longitudinal data is free from the effect of secular changes and of selective death.     

Dermatoglyphic studies in eastern and south-eastern Europe

In nine population samples from Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Republic of Macedonia (Skopje and Aromuns from Stip region), Romania, Serbia and Slovakia 12 dermatoglyphic variables have been studied. There are distinct differences between the populations and between males and females. The Macedonian Aromuns are clearly separated from the other populations.     

Low genetic variability and strong differentiation among isolated populations of the rare steppe grass Stipa capillata L. in Central Europe

Stipa capillata L. (Poaceae) is a rare grassland species in Central Europe that is thought to have once been widespread in post‐glacial times. Such relict species are expected to show low genetic diversity within populations and high genetic differentiation between populations due to bottlenecks, long‐term isolation and ongoing habitat fragmentation. These patterns should be particularly pronounced in selfing species. We analysed patterns of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) variation in the facultatively cleistogamous S. capillata to examine whether genetic diversity is associated with population size, and to draw initial conclusions on the migration history of this species in Central Europe. We analysed 31 S. capillata populations distributed in northeastern, central and western Germany, Switzerland and Slovakia. Estimates of genetic diversity at the population level were low and not related to population size. Among all populations, extraordinarily high levels of genetic differentiation (amova : φ_ST = 0.86; Bayesian analysis: θ^B = 0.758) and isolation‐by‐distance were detected. Hierarchical amova indicated that most of the variability was partitioned among geographic regions (59%), or among populations between regions when the genetically distinct Slovakian populations were excluded. These findings are supported by results of a multivariate ordination analysis. We also found two different groups in an UPGMA cluster analysis: one that contained the populations from Slovakia, and the other that combined the populations from Germany and Switzerland. Our findings imply that S. capillata is indeed a relict species that experienced strong bottlenecks in Central Europe, enhanced by isolation and selfing. Most likely, populations in Slovakia were not the main genetic source for the post‐glacial colonization of Central Europe.     

Biological relations of Egyptian and eastern Mediterranean populations during Pre-dynastic and Dynastic times

During the migrations and population increases and decline in health accompanying the Eighth-Sixth millennia B.C. farming revolution spread of the new mutant falciparum malaria from Greece and Italy crossed the flow of genes from Africa northward, as indicated by porotic hyperostosis increase (abnormal hemoglobins and anemia) and Negroid traits (nose breadth, prognathism). Disease selection shaped slightly Negroid and paedomorphic Dynastic Upper Egyptians. Lower Egyptians share Eastern Mediterranean traits and population growth and communication steadily lessens contrast between groups down to the XXX Dynasty.     

Testing of divergent patterns of butterfly niche breadth in a peninsula

The butterfly fauna on the Korean peninsula are comprised of both the Palearctic and Oriental species. We hypothesized that the Oriental species (immigrated across the sea) tend to have a wider niche breadth compared with the Palearctic species (immigrated from the continent) since the former migrates long distances across the sea and has to adapt to new environments. We tested this hypothesis using Korean butterfly data on distribution, habitat, food and life history traits. The distribution and ecological traits such as habitat breadth, overwintering stage, and voltinism of the Oriental species were found to be significantly different from the Palearctic species. However, the diet breadth and food plant type were not different. These results partly confirm the peninsula niche breadth hypothesis, which predicted that Oriental species have a broader niche breadth than Palearctic species.     

The role of species traits in the establishment success of exotic birds

There is now abundant evidence that propagule pressure, a composite measure of the number of individuals released into the nonnative location that varies between introduction events, is the most consistent predictor of success in the establishment of exotic species. However, the reasons why we expect propagule pressure to be important – because larger propagules ameliorate the effects of demographic, environmental or genetic stochasticity, or of Allee effects – also predict an influence of species traits on success. Here, we use a quantitative meta-analytical approach to assess the effect of three categories of species-level traits in the successful establishment of nonnative bird species: traits relating to population growth rates, traits that predispose species to Allee effects, and traits that enable a species to cope with novel environments. Traits that predispose species to Allee effects tend to decrease introduction success, whereas traits that enable a species to cope with novel environments tend to increase success. The breadth of habitats a species uses has the strongest mean effect of all variables analysed here. Mean effects for traits relating to population growth rates conflict in sign: in general, success is greater for species with large body mass whereas clutch size is not consistently related to establishment success. These results suggest a likely influence of some species-level traits on exotic bird establishment success, especially traits that enable a species to cope with novel environments. We suggest that considering such traits in terms of the small-population paradigm from conservation biology may be a productive avenue for future research.     

The effects of morphology,phylogeny and prey availability on trophic resource partitioning in an anuran community

Several factors influence the partitioning of trophic resources in ecological communities, such as morphology, evolutionary history, and resource availability. Although the effects of morphology, phylogeny, and resource availability on trophic ecology have long been explored by theoretical studies, little has been done to empirically test these relationships. Here, we tested whether phylogenetic and morphological distances correlate with trophic niche overlap using a path analysis of multiple partial regression of distance matrices. Also, we tested whether niche breadth is influenced by body size using Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares analysis. Trophic niche overlap was better explained by morphology per se than by the phylogenetic distance. We also found that predator's body size influences niche breadth calculated considering prey traits and availability, but not when we do not include these availability data. Additionally, trophic niche breadth was usually smaller when we considered prey traits and availability, differently from niche overlap, whose values increased when we did not consider these data. Our findings show that the interpretation of trophic niche in communities changes if we consider availability data, affecting inferences about coexistence and trophic specialization. Our study contributes to understanding trophic specialization and emphasizes the importance of incorporating prey availability and their traits into diet analysis.     

Reproductive parameters of invasive topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva (Temminck and Schlegel, 1846) from Slovakia

Females of an invasive population of topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva (Temmick and Schlegel, 1846) from the Šúr pond (Bratislava, Slovakia) were examined to analyze their fecundity and other life history traits. Samples were collected during both pre-spawning (n = 137) and post-spawning (n = 89) periods. Standard length of the females from the pre-spawning period ranged from 23.42 to 59.71 mm (mean 32.80 mm), body weight from 0.260 to 5.442 g (mean 0.965 g), and eviscerated body weight from 0.207 to 4.882 g (mean 0.748 g). Absolute fecundity varied between 121 and 7124 oocytes (mean 1106 oocytes). In 75.22% of the females, two or three size groups of oocytes were clearly distinguished. Overall, the life history traits observed in invasive topmouth gudgeon from the Šúr pond demonstrated a high flexibility in their reproductive strategy. This, together with previously described great morphological variability, is likely to make this species such a successful invader.     

缙云山大头茶(Gordonia acuminata)生态位研究

基于四川缙云山森林群落演替系列群落取样, 采用Ｌｅｖｉｎｓ 生态位宽度、Ｆｅｉｎｓｉｎｇ 和Ｓｐｅａｒｓ相似性比例生态位宽度及Ｌｅｖｉｎｓ 生态位重叠、Ｐｅｔｒａｉｔｉｓ 生态位重叠等计测公式, 对大头茶（ Ｇｏｒ ｄｏｎｉａ ａｃｕｍｉｎａｔａ） 种群的生态位特征及动态进行了研究。结果表明, 大头茶种群生态位宽度在演替系列群落中由小到大再减小, 它与缙云山森林群落其它优势乔木种群的生态位特定重叠主要表现在同针叶林中的川灰木（ Ｓｙｍｐｌｏｃｏｓ ｓｅｔｃｈｕｎｅｎｓｉｓ） 、杉木（ Ｃｕｎｎｉｎｇｈａｍｉａ ｌａｎｃｅｏｌａｔａ） 、马尾松（Ｐｉｎｕｓ ｍａｓｓｏｎｉａｎａ） 种群上; 反之, 其它优势乔木种群在大头茶种群上的生态位特定重叠在大头茶纯林中表现较显著; 从总体上, 所选１５ 个优势种群在各类群落中均不表现出显著的生态位普遍重叠。反映了大头茶种群在缙云山森林群落演替中的先锋拓殖作用, 亦为其常绿阔叶林的重要种群之一, 但它更重要的是一森林群落演替过渡类型的优势种群。     

A trait‐based approach to predict population genetic structure in bees

Understanding population genetic structure is key to developing predictions about species susceptibility to environmental change, such as habitat fragmentation and climate change. It has been theorized that life‐history traits may constrain some species in their dispersal and lead to greater signatures of population genetic structure. In this study, we use a quantitative comparative approach to assess if patterns of population genetic structure in bees are driven by three key species‐level life‐history traits: body size, sociality, and diet breadth. Specifically, we reviewed the current literature on bee population genetic structure, as measured by the differentiation indices Nei's G_ST, Hedrick's G′_ST, and Jost's D. We then used phylogenetic generalised linear models to estimate the correlation between the evolution of these traits and patterns of genetic differentiation. Our analyses revealed a negative and significant effect of body size on genetic structure, regardless of differentiation index utilized. For Hedrick's G′_ST and Jost's D, we also found a significant impact of sociality, where social species exhibited lower levels of differentiation than solitary species. We did not find an effect of diet specialization on population genetic structure. Overall, our results suggest that physical dispersal or other functions related to body size are among the most critical for mediating population structure for bees. We further highlight the importance of standardizing population genetic measures to more easily compare studies and to identify the most susceptible species to landscape and climatic changes.     

西鄂尔多斯高原北缘四合木群落优势灌木种群生态位研究

利用Shannon-Wiener生态位宽度、生态位相似比例及Pianka生态位重叠值等指标对西鄂尔多斯高原北缘四合木(Tetraena mongolica Maxim.)群落内的11种优势灌木种群进行研究。结果表明,群落中主要种类的生态位宽度均较高,其中绵刺(Potaninia mongolica Maxim.)和四合木的生态位宽度分别为1.702 6和1.532 8;各种类的生态位相似比例均较小;绵刺与其他种类的生态位重叠值较高,四合木和其他种类的生态位重叠值较低。表明四合木群落内许多耐干旱灌木逐渐占据较宽的生态位,群落层次结构比较单一,四合木与其他种类间的相互作用强度不高,整个群落抵御外来干扰的能力较弱,四合木种群有衰退的趋势。     

Anthropometric variation and the genetic structure of the Jirels of Nepal

Anthropometric measurements (head length, head breadth, bizygomatic diameter, minimum frontal diameter, head circumference, and stature) for 526 adult Jirels are utilized to establish the pattern of phenotypic relationships between seven villages in eastern Nepal. An analytical framework is provided that justifies the interpretation of biological distances as minimum genetic distances. Using this approach, estimates of the minimum pairwise genetic distances between villages and the minimum FST for the population are derived from the purely phenotypic data. The FST obtained in this way is consistent with results obtained from other data available for this population, confirming the utility of phenetic analysis of quantitative traits for elucidating genetic structure.     

Temperature during egg formation and the effect of climate warming on egg size in a small songbird

The predicted effects of recent climate warming on egg size in birds are controversial, as only two long-term studies have been reported, with contrasting results. Long-term data on egg size variation are analyzed in relation to ambient temperatures in a southern European population of pied flycatchers where breeding phenology has not matched the spring advancement in the last decades. Cross-sectional, population analyses indicated that egg breadth, but not egg length, has decreased significantly along the 16-year period, leading to marginally non-significant decreases in egg volume. Longitudinal, individual analyses revealed that despite females consistently laying larger eggs when they experienced warmer temperatures during the prelaying and laying periods, there was an overall negative response – i.e. decreasing egg volume and breadth with increasing spring (May) average temperatures – across individuals. This trend is hypothesised to be caused by the mismatched breeding phenology, in relation to climate warming, of this population. Except in the unlikely cases of populations capable of perfectly synchronising their phenology to changes in their environment, maladjustments are likely for traits such as egg size, which depend strongly on female condition. Slight changes or absence thereof in breeding dates may be followed by mismatched dates, in terms of food abundance, for optimal egg formation, which would be reflected in smaller average egg size, contrary to early predictions on the effects of climate warming on bird egg size.     

Genetic distances,geographic distances and migration between four villages of a single region in Slovakia

Genetic microdifferentiation has been studied among four endogamous villages of the Bystrica Valley in the Kysuce region of northwest Slovakia, which arose from a single ancestral population about 15 generations ago. Genetic distances and sample kinship between the villages were estimated from the gene frequencies of seven serum-group and isozyme genetic markers. The genetic distance was found to correlate positively (though insignificantly) with the geographic distance, and negatively with the intensity of migration between villages; the sample kinship correlates negatively with geography as well as with the genetic distance. This pattern of genetic structure within the area indicates that the genetic variation among the villages is attributable to the genetic drift. Thus, drift has brought about a detectable differentiation in the area within a limited period of approximately 300 years, in spite of the fact that the villages were not completely genetically isolated from each other. The finding of a negative correlation between the sample kinship and geographic distance indicates that the recent breakdown of genetic isolates in Slovakia is likely to be accompanied with an overall increase of heterozygosity.