Seagrass ecosystem multifunctionality under the rise of a flagship marine megaherbivore

Large grazers (megaherbivores) have a profound impact on ecosystem functioning. However, how ecosystem multifunctionality is affected by changes in megaherbivore populations remains poorly understood. Understanding the total impact on ecosystem multifunctionality requires an integrative ecosystem approach, which is especially challenging to obtain in marine systems. We assessed the effects of experimentally simulated grazing intensity scenarios on ecosystem functions and multifunctionality in a tropical Caribbean seagrass ecosystem. As a model, we selected a key marine megaherbivore, the green turtle, whose ecological role is rapidly unfolding in numerous foraging areas where populations are recovering through conservation after centuries of decline, with an increase in recorded overgrazing episodes. To quantify the effects, we employed a novel integrated index of seagrass ecosystem multifunctionality based upon multiple, well-recognized measures of seagrass ecosystem functions that reflect ecosystem services. Experiments revealed that intermediate turtle grazing resulted in the highest rates of nutrient cycling and carbon storage, while sediment stabilization, decomposition rates, epifauna richness, and fish biomass are highest in the absence of turtle grazing. In contrast, intense grazing resulted in disproportionally large effects on ecosystem functions and a collapse of multifunctionality. These results imply that (i) the return of a megaherbivore can exert strong effects on coastal ecosystem functions and multifunctionality, (ii) conservation efforts that are skewed toward megaherbivores, but ignore their key drivers like predators or habitat, will likely result in overgrazing-induced loss of multifunctionality, and (iii) the multifunctionality index shows great potential as a quantitative tool to assess ecosystem performance. Considerable and rapid alterations in megaherbivore abundance (both through extinction and conservation) cause an imbalance in ecosystem functioning and substantially alter or even compromise ecosystem services that help to negate global change effects. An integrative ecosystem approach in environmental management is urgently required to protect and enhance ecosystem multifunctionality.     

The significance of partial migration for food web and ecosystem dynamics

Migration is ubiquitous and can strongly shape food webs and ecosystems. Less familiar, however, is that the majority of life cycle, seasonal and diel migrations in nature are partial migrations: only a fraction of the population migrates while the other individuals remain in their resident ecosystem. Here, we demonstrate different impacts of partial migration rendering it fundamental to our understanding of the significance of migration for food web and ecosystem dynamics. First, partial migration affects the spatiotemporal distribution of individuals and the food web and ecosystem-level processes they drive differently than expected under full migration. Second, whether an individual migrates or not is regularly correlated with morphological, physiological, and/or behavioural traits that shape its food-web and ecosystem-level impacts. Third, food web and ecosystem dynamics can drive the fraction of the population migrating, enabling the potential for feedbacks between the causes and consequences of migration within and across ecosystems. These impacts, individually and in combination, can yield unintuitive effects of migration and drive the dynamics, diversity and functions of ecosystems. By presenting the first full integration of partial migration and trophic (meta-)community and (meta-)ecosystem ecology, we provide a roadmap for studying how migration affects and is affected by ecosystem dynamics in a changing world.     

The ecological drivers and consequences of wildlife trade

Wildlife trade is a key driver of extinction risk, affecting at least 24% of terrestrial vertebrates. The persistent removal of species can have profound impacts on species extinction risk and selection within populations. We draw together the first review of characteristics known to drive species use – identifying species with larger body sizes, greater abundance, increased rarity or certain morphological traits valued by consumers as being particularly prevalent in trade. We then review the ecological implications of this trade-driven selection, revealing direct effects of trade on natural selection and populations for traded species, which includes selection against desirable traits. Additionally, there exists a positive feedback loop between rarity and trade and depleted populations tend to have easy human access points, which can result in species being harvested to extinction and has the potential to alter source–sink dynamics. Wider cascading ecosystem repercussions from trade-induced declines include altered seed dispersal networks, trophic cascades, long-term compositional changes in plant communities, altered forest carbon stocks, and the introduction of harmful invasive species. Because it occurs across multiple scales with diverse drivers, wildlife trade requires multi-faceted conservation actions to maintain biodiversity and ecological function, including regulatory and enforcement approaches, bottom-up and community-based interventions, captive breeding or wildlife farming, and conservation translocations and trophic rewilding. We highlight three emergent research themes at the intersection of trade and community ecology: (1) functional impacts of trade; (2) altered provisioning of ecosystem services; and (3) prevalence of trade-dispersed diseases. Outside of the primary objective that exploitation is sustainable for traded species, we must urgently incorporate consideration of the broader consequences for other species and ecosystem processes when quantifying sustainability.     

Trophic ecology of juvenile bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) in the Coyote estuary,Costa Rica

Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) is a near-threatened elasmobranch species capable of moving between the fresh and salty waters of tropical and subtropical coastal areas, for which we still lack important ecological information. During their first years of life, bull sharks use estuarine systems as nursery areas, making them highly susceptible to environmental and anthropogenic pressures. We studied the trophic ecology of juveniles found in the Coyote estuary, a potential nursery area in Costa Rica, to understand the potential impact of further bull shark declines and gain knowledge that could aid in their conservation. We analysed the trophic ecology of juvenile bull sharks [81–103 cm total length (TL)] in the Coyote estuary, Costa Rica, using stable isotopes of δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C. Since one problem using this technique in juveniles is the confounding effect of the maternal signature, we sampled different tissues (muscle and plasma), verified the status of the shark's umbilical scar and identified the size at which the isotope signature is a result of the animal's current diet. The isotopic values of the muscle tissue reflected the maternal isotopic signature. In contrast, plasma values reflected the diet of juvenile bull sharks >95 cm TL and with a closed umbilical scar. Juvenile bull sharks fed primarily on teleost fishes of the order Anguilliformes and Siluriformes, and have a high trophic position (≥4.0) in the Coyote estuary. Our findings suggest that this estuary is an important feeding site for juvenile bull sharks of the Pacific of Costa Rica. Thus, the protection of essential habitats such as the Coyote estuary will benefit not only bull shark conservation, but also the conservation of an array of fish species that also use this habitat as a rookery, many of which are of commercial interest.     

Climatic niche divergence explains angiosperm diversification across clades in China

Diversification rates are critically important for understanding patterns of species richness among clades. However, the effects of climatic niche width on plant diversification rates remain to be elucidated. Based on the phylogenetic, climatic, and distributional information of angiosperms in China, a total of 26 906 species from 182 families were included in this study. We aimed to test relationships between diversification rate and climatic niche width and climatic niche width related variables (including climatic niche divergence, climatic niche position, geographic extent, and climatic niche evolutionary rate) using phylogenetic methods. We found that climatic niche divergence had the largest unique contribution to the diversification rate, while the unique effects of climatic niche width, climatic niche position, geographic extent, and climatic niche evolutionary rate on the diversification rate were negligible. We also observed that the relationship between diversification rate and climatic niche divergence was significantly stronger than the null assumption (artefactual relationship between diversification and clade-level climatic niche width by sampling more species). Our study supports the hypothesis that wider family climatic niche widths explain faster diversification rates through a higher climatic niche divergence rather than through higher geographic extent, higher climatic niche evolutionary rate, or separated climatic niche position. Hence, the results provide a potential explanation for large-scale diversity patterns within families of plants.     

具有竞争指针的短时记忆神经网络模型

在我们以前提出的短时记忆神经网络模型基础上［３］,我们在新模型中引入突触竞争机制,提出了一个新的短时记忆神经网络模型。模型仍由两个神经网络所组成;其一为与长时记忆共有的信息内容表达网络,另一个为指针神经元环路。由于表达区神经元与指针神经元间的突触权重的竞争,使得模型可以表现出由干扰引起的短时记忆的遗忘。相应于自由回忆序列位置效应和汉字组块两个心理学实验,对模型做了计算机仿真。仿真结果显示模型的行为与两个心理实验定量地符合得很好。由此表明现在的模型更合适于作为短时记忆的模型。     

基于结构比较的蛋白质同源模建系统及其评估Ⅱ侧链的安装

至今,有关蛋白质侧链的同源模建,除了在本体模板上安装侧链和少数限制条件下在同源模板上安装侧链的报道外,系统的研究和实施似乎还未见报道。本软件系统ＰＭＯＤＥＬＩＮＧ采用同源移植和“死端排除“相结合的侧链安装策略,对与模板蛋白相应践基具有相似大小和形状的目标残基采用直接移植的方法。其余铡链则用广义“死端排除定则”安装。经众多蛋白的测试,达到了较好的模建品质。     

A method for determining the position and size of optimal sequence regions for phylogenetic analysis

The availability of fast and accurate sequencing procedures along with the use of PCR has led to a proliferation of studies of variability at the molecular level in populations. Nevertheless, it is often impractical to examine long genomic stretches and a large number of individuals at the same time. In order to optimize this kind of study, we suggest a heuristic procedure for detection of the shortest region whose informational content can be considered sufficient for significant phylogenetic reconstruction. The method is based on the comparison of the pairwise genetic distances obtained from a set of sequences of reference to those obtained for different windows of variable size and position by means of a simple index. We also present an approach for testing whether the informative content in the stretches selected in this way is significantly different from the corresponding content shown by the larger genomic regions used as reference. Application of this test to the analysis of the VP1 protein gene of foot-and-mouth-disease type C virus allowed us to define optimal stretches whose informative content is not significantly different from that displayed by the complete VP1 sequence. We showed that the predictions made for type C sequences are valid for type O sequences, indicating that the results of the procedure are consistent. Correspondence to: J. Dopazo     

Do the effects of piscivorous largemouth bass cascade to the plankton?

Ecologists have hypothesized that an increase in the biomass of piscivorous fish in lakes will cause a decrease in populations of planktivorous fish, an increase in the size of herbivorous zooplankton and a decrease in the biomass of phytoplankton. Here we present an experimental test of whether the effects of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) cascade to the planktivorous fish, zooplankton and phytoplankton of a 15-ha water storage reservoir. A pilot study indicated that the reservoir was eutrophic with dense populations of planktivorous fish dominated by threadfin shad (Dorosoma petenense). No piscovorous fish were present in the reservoir. We conducted a one-month mesocosm experiment using water and plankton from the reservoir showing that the presence of threadfin shad reduced large-sized zooplankton and increased the productivity and biomass of phytoplankton. To test whether the effects of piscivorous fish could cascade to the plankton, we assessed the effects of the addition of piscivorous largemouth bass on the planktivorous fish, zooplankton and biomass of phytoplankton of the reservoir by monitoring the reservoir during the year before and the two years after largemouth bass were stocked. In the second year after the addition of largemouth bass, the number of planktivorous fish decreased and the relative abundance of threadfin shad declined. Although the abundance of cladocerans increased after the addition of largemouth bass, the average size of zooplankton did not change. We did not detect changes in chlorophyll a, Secchi depth, or concentrations of total phosphorus and total nitrogen as a result of the addition of largemouth bass.