Changing patterns of nest predation and predator communities along a tropical elevation gradient

Tropical montane communities host the world's highest beta diversity of birds, a phenomenon usually attributed to community turnover caused by changes in biotic and abiotic factors along elevation gradients. Yet, empirical data on most biotic factors are lacking. Nest predation is thought to be especially important because it appears to be common and can change selective pressures underlying life history traits, which can alter competitive interactions. We monitored 2538 nests, 338 of which had known nest predators, to evaluate if nest predation changes along a tropical elevational gradient. We found that nest predation decreased with elevation, reflecting the loss of lowland predators that do not tolerate colder climates. We found different “super” nest predators at each elevation that accounted for a high percentage of events, suggesting that selection pressures exerted by nest predator communities may be less diffuse than has been hypothesized, at least for birds nesting in the understory.     

Experimental analysis of patch dynamics in tallgrass prairie plant communities

Abstract. Previous research has indicated that patch structure at small spatial scales (<100m²) in tallgrass prairies was defined by a diverse array of infrequent species because dominant species occurred in all samples at this scale. Also, patch structure was not significantly different from that derived from random species associations. Based on these results, we hypothesized that remo val of a dominant species would have no effect on patch structure in these prairies. We tested this hypothesis by removing a dominant grass, Schizachyrium scoparium (Poaceae), from half of each of four 10 m × 10 m study blocks, and comparing differences in patch structure between control and removal halves before and after removal. The minimum resolution in our study was 1 m². Patches of similar species composition were defined by cluster analysis of presence/absence data and cover data. Patch sizes ranged from 1 to 34 m². Following the removal of S. scoparium there was an overall increase in the number of species in the removal half of each block compared to pre-treatment levels. However, the number of patch types and number of spatially mapped groups, based on presence/absence or cover data, did not change between control and removal plots after the removal of S. scoparium. This supports the hypothesis that removal of a large, dominant species would have no effect on patch structure at this scale of resolution in these prairies. Thus, patch structure, as defined here, is an emergent property in these grasslands that is not predictable from changes in species composition. This property of stochastic patch structure results from interactions of processes operating at scales both larger and smaller than our scale of resolution. Stochastic models may provide a reasonable approach to modelling small-scale patch dynamics in tallgrass prairie communities.     

Disentangling the historical routes to community assembly in the global epicentre of biodiversity

Aim

The exceptional turnover in biota with elevation and number of species coexisting at any elevation makes tropical mountains hotspots of biodiversity. However, understanding the historical processes through which species arising in geographical isolation (i.e. allopatry) assemble along the same mountain slope (i.e. sympatry) remains a major challenge. Multiple models have been proposed including (1) the sorting of already elevationally divergent species, (2) the displacement of elevation upon secondary contact, potentially followed by convergence, or (3) elevational conservatism, in which ancestral elevational ranges are retained. However, the relative contribution of these processes to generating patterns of elevational overlap and turnover is unknown.

Location

Tropical mountains of Central- and South-America.

Time Period

The last 12 myr.

Major Taxa Studied

Birds.

Methods

We collate a dataset of 165 avian sister pairs containing estimates of phylogenetic age, geographical and regional elevational range overlap. We develop a framework based on continuous-time Markov models to infer the relative frequency of different historical pathways in explaining present-day overlap and turnover of sympatric species along elevational gradients.

Results

We show that turnover of closely related bird species across elevation can predominantly be explained by displacement of elevation ranges upon contact (81%) rather than elevational divergence in allopatry (19%). In contrast, overlap along elevation gradients is primarily (88%) explained by conservatism of elevational ranges rather than displacement followed by elevational expansion (12%).

Main Conclusions

Bird communities across elevation gradients are assembled through a mix of processes, including the sorting, displacement and conservatism of species elevation ranges. The dominant role of conservatism in explaining co-occurrence of species on mountain slopes rejects more complex scenarios requiring displacement followed by expansion. The ability of closely related species to coexist without elevational divergence provides a direct and faster pathway to sympatry and helps explain the exceptional species richness of tropical mountains.     

大陈岛海域浮游动物群落季节变化及其影响因素

为探究大陈岛海域浮游动物群落的季节变化,于2020年9月（夏季）、11月（秋季）和2021年1月（冬季）、4月（春季）分别对大陈岛海域的浮游动物及环境因子进行了4个航次的调查。结果共鉴定浮游动物90种,包括浮游幼体15类,其中夏季种类数最多（68种）,冬季最少（20种）,常见的优势种有：百陶箭虫（Sagitta bedoti）、微刺哲水蚤（Canthocalanus pauper）、中华哲水蚤（Calanus sinicus）等12种（Y>0.02）。浮游动物的年平均丰度和生物量分别为（153.40±214.73）个/m³、（411.93±561.76） mg/m³,二者存在明显的季节变化,平均丰度为春季（380.17±296.14）个/m³>夏季（135.30±112.59）个/m³>秋季（67.88±90.52）个/m³>冬季（25.30±19.11）个/m³;平均生物量为夏季（895.01±802.54） mg/m³>春季（623.39±358.73） mg/m³>秋季（91.08±82.36） mg/m³>冬季（45.96±84.95） mg/m³。多样性指数（H''）和均匀度指数（J''）的年平均值分别为1.71±0.96和0.53±0.20,均表现出夏秋季较高、冬春季较低的特征。聚类分析结果表明调查海域的浮游动物可划分为夏季类群、秋季类群、冬季类群和春季类群4组类群。Pearson相关性分析和冗余分析（RDA）结果表明,海水温度、盐度、叶绿素a浓度是影响大陈岛海域浮游动物群落特征的重要环境因素。此外,夏季大陈岛海域水母类浮游动物暴发的现象值得关注。研究结果将为大陈岛海域的生物多样性保护及渔业资源可持续开发利用提供可参考的数据资料。     

放养鲢鱼(Hypophthalmichys molitrix C et V)对水库围隔浮游生物群落的影响

本文研究在水库围隔实验生态系统中鲢鱼对浮游生物群落的影响。结果表明,放养鲢鱼后,浮游动物生物量、浮游植物生物量、叶绿素a和浮游植物毛产量分别下降了58.7％、63.6％、52.5％和65.0％;透明度、浮游植物群落多样性指数分别提高了18.2％、32.5％;铜绿微囊藻数量减少了90.6％“水华”得到明显抑制。但小型绿藻(<20μm)数量未出现显著变化,因而其在藻类生物量中所占比例反而提高了82.3％。围隔内可被鲢鱼滤食的大型藻类(硅藻、甲藻、隐藻和绿藻(>20μm))占藻类生物量的85.8％,因此鲢鱼的存在能明显限制浮游植物的生物量。此外,放养鲢鱼还显著降低了水体中的COD,TP,DO和pH值,这表明鲢鱼对水质有净化作用。     

黄泥河林区鼠类群落演替的研究

本文研究了吉林省黄泥河林区5个次生植被类型的鼠类群落结构和生物量的变化。原始针阔混交林采伐后,大林姬鼠数量减少,棕背(鼠平)数量增加,黑线姬鼠侵入。形成次生阔叶林和人工落叶松林后,鼠类群落仍为原始针阔混交林中的大林姬鼠+棕背(鼠平)群落类型。人工红松林的形成使棕背(鼠平)数最明显减少,成为大林姬鼠群落。森林开垦成农田,相应形成黑线姬鼠+大林姬鼠群落。草甸发展成草甸森林,鼠类群落由东方田鼠+棕背(鼠平)演变成棕背(鼠平)群落。并分析了环境因素对鼠类演替的影响。     

High diversity and low specificity of fungi associated with seedless epiphytic plants

Epiphytes, which grow on other plants for support, make up a large portion of Earth's plant diversity. Like other plants, their surfaces and interiors are colonized by diverse assemblages of fungi that can benefit their hosts by increasing tolerance for abiotic stressors and resistance to disease or harm them as pathogens. Fungal communities associated with epiphytic plants and the processes that structure these communities are poorly known. To address this, we sampled seven epiphytic seedless plant taxa in a Costa Rican rainforest and examined the effects of host identity and microhabitat on external and endophytic fungal communities. We found low host specificity for both external and endophytic fungi and weak differentiation between epiphytic and neighboring epilithic plant hosts. High turnover in fungi within and between hosts and habitats reveals that epiphytic plant-associated fungal communities are highly diverse and suggests that they are structured by stochastic processes.     

Neo-tropical felid activity patterns in relation to potential prey and intraguild competitors in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve,Mexico

Predator behaviors influence, and are influenced by, prey and competitor behaviors. Jaguars (Panthera onca), pumas (Puma concolor), and ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) coexist throughout their geographic range as the three largest predators in a multi-predator community across diverse environments. This study tested for non-random segregation and overlap in the activity patterns of these felids and their shared prey in the southern buffer zone of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, in southern Mexico, using camera traps during February to August 2019. We detected little temporal segregation between the nocturnal activities of jaguars, pumas, and ocelots, although pumas were more active closer to dawn. Jaguars had low activity overlap with species likely to be common prey, whereas ocelots had high overlap with their potential prey. Pumas displayed finer-scale similarities in activity with species likely to be common prey. In an understudied area of conservation importance, this study shows that temporal segregation is an unlikely mechanism of coexistence. Further research should incorporate spatio-temporal avoidance and dietary differences to improve our understanding of the mechanisms that drive coexistence between generalist species in a diverse assemblage of threatened felids. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.