Enhancing the structural diversity between forest patches—A concept and real-world experiment to study biodiversity,multifunctionality and forest resilience across spatial scales

Intensification of land use by humans has led to a homogenization of landscapes and decreasing resilience of ecosystems globally due to a loss of biodiversity, including the majority of forests. Biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) research has provided compelling evidence for a positive effect of biodiversity on ecosystem functions and services at the local (α-diversity) scale, but we largely lack empirical evidence on how the loss of between-patch β-diversity affects biodiversity and multifunctionality at the landscape scale (γ-diversity). Here, we present a novel concept and experimental framework for elucidating BEF patterns at α-, β-, and γ-scales in real landscapes at a forest management-relevant scale. We examine this framework using 22 temperate broadleaf production forests, dominated by Fagus sylvatica. In 11 of these forests, we manipulated the structure between forest patches by increasing variation in canopy cover and deadwood. We hypothesized that an increase in landscape heterogeneity would enhance the β-diversity of different trophic levels, as well as the β-functionality of various ecosystem functions. We will develop a new statistical framework for BEF studies extending across scales and incorporating biodiversity measures from taxonomic to functional to phylogenetic diversity using Hill numbers. We will further expand the Hill number concept to multifunctionality allowing the decomposition of γ-multifunctionality into α- and β-components. Combining this analytic framework with our experimental data will allow us to test how an increase in between patch heterogeneity affects biodiversity and multifunctionality across spatial scales and trophic levels to help inform and improve forest resilience under climate change. Such an integrative concept for biodiversity and functionality, including spatial scales and multiple aspects of diversity and multifunctionality as well as physical and environmental structure in forests, will go far beyond the current widely applied approach in forestry to increase resilience of future forests through the manipulation of tree species composition.     

Environmental DNA reveals a mismatch between diversity facets of Amazonian fishes in response to contrasting geographical,environmental and anthropogenic effects

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most endangered ecosystem in the world. Understanding how human activities affect these ecosystems requires disentangling and quantifying the contribution of the factors driving community assembly. While it has been largely studied in temperate freshwaters, tropical ecosystems remain challenging to study due to the high species richness and the lack of knowledge on species distribution. Here, the use of eDNA-based fish inventories combined to a community-level modelling approach allowed depicting of assembly rules and quantifying the relative contribution of geographic, environmental and anthropic factors to fish assembly. We then used the model predictions to map spatial biodiversity and assess the representativity of sites surveyed in French Guiana within the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and highlighted areas that should host unique freshwater fish assemblages. We demonstrated a mismatch between the taxonomic and functional diversity. Taxonomic assemblages between but also within basins were mainly the results of dispersal limitation resulting from basin isolation and natural river barriers. Contrastingly, functional assemblages were ruled by environmental and anthropic factors. The regional mapping of fish diversity indicated that the sites surveyed within the EU WFD had a better representativity of the regional functional diversity than taxonomic diversity. Importantly, we also showed that the assemblages expected to be the most altered by anthropic factors were the most poorly represented in terms of functional diversity in the surveyed sites. The predictions of unique functional and taxonomic assemblages could, therefore, guide the establishment of new survey sites to increase fish diversity representativity and improve this monitoring program.     

The evolution and ecology of multiple antipredator defences

Prey seldom rely on a single type of antipredator defence, often using multiple defences to avoid predation. In many cases, selection in different contexts may favour the evolution of multiple defences in a prey. However, a prey may use multiple defences to protect itself during a single predator encounter. Such “defence portfolios” that defend prey against a single instance of predation are distributed across and within successive stages of the predation sequence (encounter, detection, identification, approach (attack), subjugation and consumption). We contend that at present, our understanding of defence portfolio evolution is incomplete, and seen from the fragmentary perspective of specific sensory systems (e.g., visual) or specific types of defences (especially aposematism). In this review, we aim to build a comprehensive framework for conceptualizing the evolution of multiple prey defences, beginning with hypotheses for the evolution of multiple defences in general, and defence portfolios in particular. We then examine idealized models of resource trade-offs and functional interactions between traits, along with evidence supporting them. We find that defence portfolios are constrained by resource allocation to other aspects of life history, as well as functional incompatibilities between different defences. We also find that selection is likely to favour combinations of defences that have synergistic effects on predator behaviour and prey survival. Next, we examine specific aspects of prey ecology, genetics and development, and predator cognition that modify the predictions of current hypotheses or introduce competing hypotheses. We outline schema for gathering data on the distribution of prey defences across species and geography, determining how multiple defences are produced, and testing the proximate mechanisms by which multiple prey defences impact predator behaviour. Adopting these approaches will strengthen our understanding of multiple defensive strategies.     

Ontogenetic change in effectiveness of chemical defence against different predators in Oxycarenus true bugs

Many prey species change their antipredator defence during ontogeny, which may be connected to different potential predators over the life cycle of the prey. To test this hypothesis, we compared reactions of two predator taxa – spiders and birds – to larvae and adults of two invasive true bug species, Oxycarenus hyalinipennis and Oxycarenus lavaterae (Heteroptera: Oxycarenidae) with life-stage-specific chemical defence mechanisms. The reactions to larvae and adults of both true bug species strikingly differed between the two predator taxa. The spiders were deterred by the defences of adult bugs, but the larval defences were ineffective against them. By contrast, birds attacked the larvae considerably less often than the adult bugs. The results indicate a predator-specific ontogenetic change in defence effectiveness of both Oxycarenus species. The change in defence is likely linked to the life-stage-specific composition of secretions in both species: whereas secretions of larvae are dominated by unsaturated aldehydes, secretions of adults are rich in terpenoids, which probably serve dual function of defensive chemicals and pheromones. Our results highlight the variation in defence between different life stages and the importance of testing responses of different types of predators.     

Visual performance of the toad (Bufo bufo) at low light levels: retinal ganglion cell responses and prey-catching accuracy

The accuracy of toad snapping towards moving worm dummies under various levels of dim illumination (from absolute threshold to moonlight) was videorecorded and related to spike responses of retinal ganglion cells exposed to equivalent stimuli. Some toads (at ca. 16 °C) successfully snapped at dummies that produced only one photoisomerization per 50 rods per second in the retina, in good agreement with thresholds of sensitive retinal ganglion cells. One factor underlying such high sensitivity is extensive temporal summation by the ganglion cells. This, however, is inevitably accompanied by very long response latencies (around 3 s near threshold), whereby the information reaching the brain shows the dummy in a position where it was several seconds earlier. Indeed, as the light was dimmed, snaps were displaced successively further to the rear of the dummy, finally missing it. The results in weak but clearly supra-threshold illumination indicate that snaps were aimed at the advancing head as seen by the brain, but landed further backwards in proportion to the retinal latency. Near absolute threshold, however, accuracy was too good, suggesting that the animal had recourse to a neural representation of the regularly moving dummies to correct for the slowness of vision.     

The distribution of coastal fish eDNA sequences in the Anthropocene

Aim

Coastal fishes have a fundamental role in marine ecosystem functioning and contributions to people, but face increasing threats due to climate change, habitat degradation and overexploitation. The extent to which human pressures are impacting coastal fish biodiversity in comparison with geographic and environmental factors at large spatial scale is still under scrutiny. Here, we took advantage of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to investigate the relationship between fish biodiversity, including taxonomic and genetic components, and environmental but also socio-economic factors.

Location

Tropical, temperate and polar coastal areas.

Time period

Present day.

Major taxa studied

Marine fishes.

Methods

We analysed fish eDNA in 263 stations (samples) in 68 sites distributed across polar, temperate and tropical regions. We modelled the effect of environmental, geographic and socio-economic factors on α- and β-diversity. We then computed the partial effect of each factor on several fish biodiversity components using taxonomic molecular units (MOTU) and genetic sequences. We also investigated the relationship between fish genetic α- and β-diversity measured from our barcodes, and phylogenetic but also functional diversity.

Results

We show that fish eDNA MOTU and sequence α- and β-diversity have the strongest correlation with environmental factors on coastal ecosystems worldwide. However, our models also reveal a negative correlation between biodiversity and human dependence on marine ecosystems. In areas with high dependence, diversity of all fish, cryptobenthic fish and large fish MOTUs declined steeply. Finally, we show that a sequence diversity index, accounting for genetic distance between pairs of MOTUs, within and between communities, is a reliable proxy of phylogenetic and functional diversity.

Main conclusions

Together, our results demonstrate that short eDNA sequences can be used to assess climate and direct human impacts on marine biodiversity at large scale in the Anthropocene and can further be extended to investigate biodiversity in its phylogenetic and functional dimensions.     

Determination of a new antibacterial agent (Ro 23-9424) by multidimensional high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection and direct plasma injection

Analysis of a new antibacterial agent, Ro 23-9424 (I), in plasma has been complicated by the fact that its metabolite, fleroxacin (II), is formed not only in vivo, but also nonenzymatically by the hydrolysis of the ester bond of I. In order to minimize sample preparation time and possible hydrolysis during sample preparation, a high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure was developed which features direct injection of plasma and multidimensional chromatography. The first dimension size-exclusion separation allows plasma proteins to elute with the column void volume. The second dimension reversed-phase column provides a high-resolution separation dependent upon the hydrophobicity of the sample species. With a 5-μl injection, the limit of quantitation of the method is 0.35 μg/ml for I and 0.27 μg/ml for II. The method was used to determine steady state plasma vs. time profiles for I and II from 750 mg i.v. doses of I administered twice daily.     

Identifying Mozambique's most critical areas for plant conservation: An evaluation of protected areas and Important Plant Areas

Successful protected area networks must represent biodiversity across taxonomic groups. However, too often plant species are overlooked in conservation planning, and the resulting protected areas may, as a result, fail to encompass the most important sites for plant diversity. The Mozambique Tropical Important Plant Areas project sought to promote the conservation of Mozambique's flora through the identification of Important Plant Areas (IPAs). Here, we use the Weighted Endemism including Global Endangerment (WEGE) index to identify the richest areas for rare and endemic plants in Mozambique and subsequently evaluate how well represented these hotspots are within the current protected area and IPA networks. We also examine the congruence between IPA and protected areas to identify opportunities for strengthening the conservation of plants in Mozambique. We found that high WEGE scores, representing areas rich in endemic/near-endemic and threatened species, predict the presence of IPAs in Mozambique, but do not predict the presence of protected areas. We also find that there is limited overlap between IPAs and protected areas in Mozambique. We demonstrate how IPAs could be an important tool for ensuring priority sites for plant diversity are included within protected area network expansions, particularly following the adoption of the “30 by 30” target agreed within the post-2020 Convention on Biological Diversity framework, with great potential for this method to be replicated elsewhere in the global tropics.     

Egg attendance and brooding by males of the giant water bugLethocerus medius (Guerin) in the field (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae)

Males of the giant water bug Lethocerus medius(Guerin) typify their monobasic subfamily, the Lethocerinae, in that they do not brood eggs attached to their backs as do males of all members of the subfamily Belostomatinae. Exclusive male parental investment as expressed in the Belostomatinae is extremely rare behavior among animals, and evolution of the trait is obscure. Lethocerus mediusmales apparently remain with their mates through oviposition and are consistently found in attendance of eggs after the female has departed. This behavior may enhance paternity assurance at no cost in opportunity for polygyny. Two double clutches of eggs were found, from which we infer the potential for polygynous matings and shared parental investment. Male L. mediusbrood attended egg clutches above the surface of the water, where they may moisten them, shade them, and defend them against predation. Egg attendance/brooding by L. mediusand other Lethocerusspecies may represent a plesiomorphic state from which paternal back- brooding evolved in the Belostomatinae.