Lethal effects of habitat degradation on fishes through changing competitive advantage

Coral bleaching has caused catastrophic changes to coral reef ecosystems around the world with profound ecological, social and economic repercussions. While its occurrence is predicted to increase in the future, we have little understanding of mechanisms that underlie changes in the fish community associated with coral degradation. The present study uses a field-based experiment to examine how the intensity of interference competition between juveniles of two species of damselfish changes as healthy corals degrade through thermal bleaching. The mortality of a damselfish that is a live coral specialist (Pomacentrus moluccensis) increased on bleached and dead coral in the presence of the habitat generalist (Pomacentrus amboinensis). Increased mortality of the specialist was indirectly owing to enhanced aggression by the generalist forcing the specialist higher up and further away from shelter on bleached and dead coral. Evidence from this study stresses the importance of changing interspecific interactions to community dynamics as habitats change.     

Effects of elevated CO2 on the interspecific competition between two sympatric species of Aphis gossypii and Bemisia tabaci fed on transgenic Bt cotton

Abstract Effects of elevated CO₂ (twice ambient vs. ambient) and Bt Cry1Ac transgene (Bt cotton cv. 33^B vs. its nontransgenic parental line cv. DP5415) on the interspecific competition between two ecologically similar species of cotton aphid Aphis gossypii and whitefly biotype‐Q Bemisia tabaci were studied in open‐top chambers. The results indicated that elevated CO₂ and Bt cotton both affected the population abundances of A. gossypii and biotype‐Q B. tabaci when introduced solely (i.e., without interspecific competition) or two species coexisted (i.e., with interspecific competition). Compared with ambient CO₂, elevated CO₂ increased the population abundances of A. gossypii and biotype‐Q B. tabaci as fed on Bt and nontransgenic cotton on 45 (i.e., seedling stage) and 60 (i.e., flowering stage) days after planting (DAP), but only significantly enhanced aphid abundance without interspecific competition on the 45‐DAP nontransgenic cotton and 60‐DAP Bt cotton, and significantly increased whitefly abundance with interspecific competition on the 45‐DAP Bt cotton and 60‐DAP nontransgenic cotton. In addition, compared with nontransgenic cotton at elevated CO₂, Bt cotton significantly reduced biotype‐Q B. tabaci abundances without and with interspecific competition during seedling and flowering stage, while only significantly decreasing A. gossypii abundances without interspecific competition during the seedling stage. When the two insect species coexisted, the proportions of biotype‐Q B. tabaci were significantly higher than those of A. gossypii on Bt and nontransgenic cotton at the same CO₂ levels, and elevated CO₂ only significantly increased the percentages of biotype‐Q B. tabaci and significantly reduced the proportions of A. gossypii on seedling and flowering nontransgenic cotton. Therefore, the effects of elevated CO₂ were favorable for biotype‐Q B. tabaci to out‐compete A. gossypii under the predicted global climate change.     

Environmental change as a driver of diversification in temporary aquatic habitats: does the genetic structure of extant fairy shrimp populations reflect historic aridification?

1. Over the past 65 my, the Australian continent experienced a pronounced shift from predominantly wet, tropical, conditions to a much drier climate. Little is known, however, about the effect of this important continent‐wide event on freshwater organisms and ecosystems. Fairy shrimps (Crustacea; Anostraca) are ancient and specialist inhabitants of temporary and saline aquatic habitats that typically prevail under semiarid conditions. Therefore, they present suitable evolutionary models to study scenarios of historic environmental change and the impact of a drying climate on aquatic ecosystems in particular.
2. Focussing on both macro‐ and micro‐evolution in the fairy shrimp genus Branchinella and using mitochondrial DNA data (16S and COI), we evaluated whether patterns of contemporary genetic variation reflect historic climate change.
3. There is a close match between episodes of Cenozoic climate change and macro‐evolutionary diversification in Australian fairy shrimps, presumably mediated by a progressive increase in the abundance and diversity of temporary aquatic habitats on the continent. Micro‐evolutionary patterns reflect both range expansion and recent contraction, linked to extreme drying events during the Pleistocene glacial periods.
4. This study effectively illustrates the potential long‐term effects of environmental change on the diversity and the evolutionary trajectories of the fauna of temporary waters. Moreover, it demonstrates the importance of adaptation to new environments and non‐adaptive processes, such as divergence in isolation, for explaining extant diversity patterns in this particular environment.

     

Interspecific effects of grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) on the space use and population demography of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in conifer plantations

Interspecific competition between red squirrels and grey squirrels was investigated by comparing the population demography, spacing behavior and habitat use of red squirrels in two large conifer plantations in northern England: one site had only red squirrels (the red-only site), in the other both red and grey squirrels occurred (the red–grey site). Despite more abundant food at the red–grey site, red squirrel densities (0.26 ha^–1 at the red–grey site, 0.29 ha^–1 at the red-only site), adult survival rates and the breeding rates of females were similar at both study sites. Grey squirrels at the red–grey site occurred at higher densities (0.92–1.1 ha^–1) than did the reds and tended to have higher breeding rates. In the presence of grey squirrels, the recruitment pattern of red squirrels changed and there was little recruitment of subadults. The juvenile recruitment rate in the red–grey site (13%) was much lower than in the red-only site (50%). Grey squirrels, in contrast, had higher juvenile recruitment rates at the red–grey site (41%). The core areas of the home ranges of red squirrels in the red–grey site were more strongly overlapped by grey squirrels than by conspecifics. Red squirrels did not select the habitat with the best tree seed crop (Scots pine) but preferred dense Sitka spruce plantations; they appeared to avoid the Scots pine area with its high grey squirrel density. Data on foot length and body condition indicated decreased body growth in young red squirrels when grey squirrels were present. Our data suggest that adult red squirrels suffered little from interspecific competition with grey squirrels and that the key factor is decreased juvenile recruitment in red squirrels.     

Interspecific variations in responses of <Emphasis Type=Italic>Festuca rubra</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type=Italic>Trifolium pratense</Emphasis> to a severe clipping under environmental changes

Understanding and predicting possible responses of grassland species to global change is of important meaning for adapting grassland management to a changed and changing environment. A laboratory clipping experiment was conducted to examine the interspecific responses in an ecological context of competition and environmental changes. Festuca rubra and Trifolium pratense, either in monoculture or two- and three-species mixtures, were grown in three environmental combinations (ambient and increased temperature, repetitive N supply, and simulated acid rain), respectively. After a growth time of three months, plants were clipped at the height of 1.0 cm above soil surface. Plant height and aboveground biomass prior clipping, and survival rate and regrowth (height and biomass) after clipping were analyzed. F. rubra and T. pratense responded differently in compensatory growth and competition intensity to environmental change and co-existing species. The differences in their physiological and ecological traits may account for species-dependent responses. The present study emphasizes that predicting the plant assemblage response in the face of global change requires in understanding the integrating effects of abiotic and biotic factors.     

破碎栖息地中物种灭绝机制

栖息地毁坏既会直接降低物种多度,又会间接地降低物种迁移繁殖力,同时还会改变原有的种间平衡.尽管已有研究表明栖息地毁坏是物种灭绝的主要原因之一,但是尚未揭示破碎的栖息地中物种灭绝的驱动机制.通过元胞自动机模拟了物种灭绝对栖息地毁坏空间异质性响应的基础上,进一步研究了栖息地毁坏和种间竞争对物种灭绝的影响.结果发现:强物种的灭绝主要来自栖息地毁坏,而弱物种的灭绝,在随机毁坏下,主要由栖息地毁坏与种间竞争共同决定,而在边缘毁坏下则主要由种间竞争所引起的.栖息地毁坏与种间竞争共同引起的物种灭绝的时间非常短,而栖息地毁坏或种间竞争所引起的物种灭绝时间则较长.     

Spatial heterogeneity in the effects of climate and density-dependence on dispersal in a house sparrow metapopulation

Dispersal plays a key role in the response of populations to climate change and habitat fragmentation. Here, we use data from a long-term metapopulation study of a non-migratory bird, the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), to examine the influence of increasing spring temperature and density-dependence on natal dispersal rates and how these relationships depend on spatial variation in habitat quality. The effects of spring temperature and population size on dispersal rate depended on the habitat quality. Dispersal rate increased with temperature and population size on poor-quality islands without farms, where house sparrows were more exposed to temporal fluctuations in weather conditions and food availability. By contrast, dispersal rate was independent of spring temperature and population size on high-quality islands with farms, where house sparrows had access to food and shelter all the year around. This illustrates large spatial heterogeneity within the metapopulation in how population density and environmental fluctuations affect the dispersal process.