Spatial partitioning and asymmetric hybridization among sympatric coastal steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus), coastal cutthroat trout (O. clarki clarki) and interspecific hybrids

Hybridization between sympatric species provides unique opportunities to examine the contrast between mechanisms that promote hybridization and maintain species integrity. We surveyed hybridization between sympatric coastal steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus) and coastal cutthroat trout (O. clarki clarki) from two streams in Washington State, Olsen Creek (256 individuals sampled) and Jansen Creek (431 individuals sampled), over a 3-year period. We applied 11 O. mykiss-specific nuclear markers, 11 O. c. clarki-specific nuclear markers and a mitochondrial DNA marker to assess spatial partitioning among species and hybrids and determine the directionality of hybridization. F1 and post-F1 hybrids, respectively, composed an average of 1.2% and 33.6% of the population sampled in Jansen Creek, and 5.9% and 30.4% of the population sampled in Olsen Creek. A modest level of habitat partitioning among species and hybrids was detected. Mitochondrial DNA analysis indicated that all F1 hybrids (15 from Olsen Creek and five from Jansen Creek) arose from matings between steelhead females and cutthroat males implicating a sneak spawning behaviour by cutthroat males. First-generation cutthroat backcrosses contained O. c. clarki mtDNA more often than expected suggesting natural selection against F1 hybrids. More hybrids were backcrossed toward cutthroat than steelhead and our results indicate recurrent hybridization within these creeks. Age analysis demonstrated that hybrids were between 1 and 4 years old. These results suggest that within sympatric salmonid hybrid zones, exogenous processes (environmentally dependent factors) help to maintain the distinction between parental types through reduced fitness of hybrids within parental environments while divergent natural selection promotes parental types through distinct adaptive advantages of parental phenotypes.     

Spatially explicit models of divergence and genome hitchhiking

Strong barriers to genetic exchange can exist at divergently selected loci, whereas alleles at neutral loci flow more readily between populations, thus impeding divergence and speciation in the face of gene flow. However, ‘divergence hitchhiking’ theory posits that divergent selection can generate large regions of differentiation around selected loci. ‘Genome hitchhiking’ theory suggests that selection can also cause reductions in average genome‐wide rates of gene flow, resulting in widespread genomic divergence (rather than divergence only around specific selected loci). Spatial heterogeneity is ubiquitous in nature, yet previous models of genetic barriers to gene flow have explored limited combinations of spatial and selective scenarios. Using simulations of secondary contact of populations, we explore barriers to gene flow in various selective and spatial contexts in continuous, two‐dimensional, spatially explicit environments. In general, the effects of hitchhiking are strongest in environments with regular spatial patterning of starkly divergent habitat types. When divergent selection is very strong, the absence of intermediate habitat types increases the effects of hitchhiking. However, when selection is moderate or weak, regular (vs. random) spatial arrangement of habitat types becomes more important than the presence of intermediate habitats per se. We also document counterintuitive processes arising from the stochastic interplay between selection, gene flow and drift. Our results indicate that generalization of results from two‐deme models requires caution and increase understanding of the genomic and geographic basis of population divergence.     

Ecological significance of seed desiccation sensitivity in Quercus ilex

Background and Aims

Several widespread tree species of temperate forests, such as species of the genus Quercus, produce recalcitrant (desiccation-sensitive) seeds. However, the ecological significance of seed desiccation sensitivity in temperate regions is largely unknown. Do seeds of such species suffer from drying during the period when they remain on the soil, between shedding in autumn and the return of conditions required for germination in spring?

Methods

To test this hypothesis, the Mediterranean holm oak (Quercus ilex) forest was used as a model system. The relationships between the climate in winter, the characteristics of microhabitats, acorn morphological traits, and the water status and viability of seeds after winter were then investigated in 42 woodlands sampled over the entire French distribution of the species.

Key Results

The percentages of germination and normal seedling development were tightly linked to the water content of seeds after the winter period, revealing that in situ desiccation is a major cause of mortality. The homogeneity of seed response to drying suggests that neither intraspecific genetic variation nor environmental conditions had a significant impact on the level of desiccation sensitivity of seeds. In contrast, the water and viability status of seeds at the time of collection were dramatically influenced by cumulative rainfall and maximum temperatures during winter. A significant effect of shade and of the type of soil cover was also evidenced.

Conclusions

The findings establish that seed desiccation sensitivity is a key functional trait which may influence the success of recruitment in temperate recalcitrant seed species. Considering that most models of climate change predict changes in rainfall and temperature in the Mediterranean basin, the present work could help foresee changes in the distribution of Q. ilex and other oak species, and hence plant community alterations.     

Estimating co-extinction threats in terrestrial ecosystems

The biosphere is changing rapidly due to human endeavour. Because ecological communities underlie networks of interacting species, changes that directly affect some species can have indirect effects on others. Accurate tools to predict these direct and indirect effects are therefore required to guide conservation strategies. However, most extinction-risk studies only consider the direct effects of global change—such as predicting which species will breach their thermal limits under different warming scenarios—with predictions of trophic cascades and co-extinction risks remaining mostly speculative. To predict the potential indirect effects of primary extinctions, data describing community interactions and network modelling can estimate how extinctions cascade through communities. While theoretical studies have demonstrated the usefulness of models in predicting how communities react to threats like climate change, few have applied such methods to real-world communities. This gap partly reflects challenges in constructing trophic network models of real-world food webs, highlighting the need to develop approaches for quantifying co-extinction risk more accurately. We propose a framework for constructing ecological network models representing real-world food webs in terrestrial ecosystems and subjecting these models to co-extinction scenarios triggered by probable future environmental perturbations. Adopting our framework will improve estimates of how environmental perturbations affect whole ecological communities. Identifying species at risk of co-extinction (or those that might trigger co-extinctions) will also guide conservation interventions aiming to reduce the probability of co-extinction cascades and additional species losses.     

黄土丘陵区植被与地形特征对土壤和土壤微生物生物量生态化学计量特征的影响

研究黄土丘陵区植被与地形特征对土壤和土壤微生物生物量生态化学计量特征影响有助于深入理解黄土丘陵区不同植被带下土壤和土壤微生物相互作用及养分循环规律.选择黄土丘陵区延河流域3个植被区(森林区、森林草原区、草原区)和5种地形部位(阴/阳沟坡、阴/阳梁峁坡、峁顶)的土壤作为研究对象,利用生态化学计量学理论研究植被和地形对土壤和土壤微生物生物量生态化学计量特征的影响.结果表明: 土壤及土壤微生物生物量碳、氮、磷含量在不同地形之间的差别主要表现在沟坡位置和阴坡高于其他坡位和阳坡.植被类型的变化对两个土层(0～10、10～20 cm)土壤和土壤微生物生物量碳、氮、磷的影响均达到显著水平,坡向对表层(0～10 cm)土壤和土壤微生物生物量碳、氮、磷的影响强于坡位,而在10～20 cm土层,坡位对土壤和土壤微生物生物量碳、氮、磷影响更显著.植被类型显著影响土壤C∶N、C∶P、N∶P和土壤微生物生物量C∶N、C∶P,坡向和坡位仅影响土壤C∶P和N∶P,植被类型的变化是影响土壤C∶N的主要因素.同时,植被类型对土壤养分和微生物生物量碳、氮、磷含量及其生态化学计量特征的影响大于地形因子.标准化主轴分析结果表明,黄土丘陵区不同植被带土壤微生物具有内稳性,特别在草原带,土壤微生物生物量生态化学计量学特征具有更加严格的约束比例.在黄土丘陵区,土壤微生物生物量N∶P或许可以作为判断养分限制的另一个有力工具,若将土壤微生物生物量N∶P与植物叶片N∶P配合使用可能有助于我们更加精确地判断黄土丘陵区的土壤养分限制情况.