Riparian habitats have high insect abundance and consequently provide good foraging opportunities for insectivorous bats. Here we investigate how insect abundance, temperature, season, and elevation affect the foraging behaviour of Daubenton’s (Myotis daubentonii) and common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) bats along the river Wharfe in north Yorkshire. Insect abundance correlated positively with ambient air temperature. Abundance reached a maximum around sunset before dropping to low levels with frequent zero captures throughout the middle of the night. There was often a second smaller peak in insect abundance around sunrise. Insects at all elevation habitats were mainly dipterans, and most (92%) of these were nematocerans. There was a mismatch between peak insect abundance and bat detections, with highest insect detection just before bats arrived in the evening or after they left in the morning. Insect abundance and bat Feeding Buzz Ratios (FBR) did not differ significantly between treeless and tree-lined habitats. Significantly more M. daubentonii detections were recorded in August than in May, but there was no significant difference in the number of mean feeding buzzes between months. More P. pipistrellus FBRs were recorded at lower elevations; however, there was no elevational difference in FBR for M. daubentonii, although more FBRs were recorded for this species. Detections of M. daubentonii were fairly constant throughout the night, while P. pipistrellus exhibited large variations in number of passes per hour. P. pipistrellus arrived c.a. half an hour earlier at tree-lined habitats than tree-less habitats, likely taking advantage of protective tree cover to gain additional foraging time when insects are more abundant. M. daubentonii, on the other hand, generally arrived later. There was no correlation between FBR and number of aerial insects for either species. Bat detections (and therefore presence) is influenced by factors other than the availability of aerial prey.

Scientists are increasingly using volunteer efforts of citizen scientists to classify images captured by motion-activated trail-cameras. The rising popularity of citizen science reflects its potential to engage the public in conservation science and accelerate processing of the large volume of images generated by trail-cameras. While image classification accuracy by citizen scientists can vary across species, the influence of other factors on accuracy are poorly understood. Inaccuracy diminishes the value of citizen science derived data and prompts the need for specific best practice protocols to decrease error. We compare the accuracy between three programs that use crowdsourced citizen scientists to process images online: Snapshot Serengeti, Wildwatch Kenya, and AmazonCam Tambopata. We hypothesized that habitat type and camera settings would influence accuracy. To evaluate these factors, each photo was circulated to multiple volunteers. All volunteer classifications were aggregated to a single best answer for each photo using a plurality algorithm. Subsequently, a subset of these images underwent expert review and were compared to the citizen scientist results. Classification errors were categorized by the nature of the error (e.g. false species or false empty), and reason for the false classification (e.g. misidentification). Our results show that Snapshot Serengeti had the highest accuracy (97.9%), followed by AmazonCam Tambopata (93.5%), then Wildwatch Kenya (83.4%). Error type was influenced by habitat, with false empty images more prevalent in open-grassy habitat (27%) compared to woodlands (10%). For medium to large animal surveys across all habitat types, our results suggest that to significantly improve accuracy in crowdsourced projects, researchers should use a trail-camera set up protocol with a burst of three consecutive photos, a short field of view, and consider appropriate camera sensitivity. Accuracy level comparisons such as this study can improve reliability of future citizen science projects, and subsequently encourage the increased use of such data.

Abstract Phenotypic plasticity allows organisms to cope with variable environmental conditions increasing both performance and fitness. We studied within-generation plasticity and transgenerational effects of thermal conditions on temperature tolerance and demographic parameters in Drosophila melanogaster. We employed a fully factorial design, in which both parental (P) and offspring generations (F1) were reared in a constant or a variable thermal environment. Thermal variability during ontogeny increased heat tolerance in P, but with demographic cost as this treatment resulted in substantially lower survival, fecundity and net reproductive rate. The adverse effects of thermal variability (V) on demographic parameters were less drastic in flies from the F1, which exhibited higher net reproductive rates than their parents. These compensatory responses could not totally overcome the challenges of the thermally variable regime, contrasting with the offspring of flies raised in a constant temperature (C) that showed no reduction in fitness with thermal variation. Thus, the parental thermal environment had effect on thermal tolerance and demographic parameters in fruit-fly. These results demonstrate how transgenerational effects of environmental conditions on heat tolerance, as well as their potential costs on other fitness components, can have a major impact on populations’ resilience to warming temperatures and more frequent thermal extremes.

The host-associated microbiome plays a significant role in health. However, the roles of factors such as host genetics and microbial interactions in determining microbiome diversity remain unclear. We examined these factors using amplicon-based sequencing of 175 Thoropa taophora frog skin swabs collected from a naturally fragmented landscape in southeastern Brazil. Specifically, we examined (1) the effects of geography and host genetics on microbiome diversity and structure; (2) the structure of microbial eukaryotic and bacterial co-occurrence networks; and (3) co-occurrence between microeukaryotes with bacterial OTUs known to affect growth of the fungal frog pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (including anti-Bd bacteria commonly referred to as “antifungal”). Microbiome structure correlated with geographic distance, and microbiome diversity varied with both overall host genetic diversity and diversity at the frog MHC IIB immunity locus. Our network analysis showed the highest connectivity when both eukaryotes and bacteria were included, implying that ecological interactions occur among Domains. Lastly, anti-Bd bacteria did not demonstrate broad negative co-occurrence with fungal OTUs in the microbiome, indicating that these bacteria are unlikely to be broadly antifungal. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering both Domains in microbiome research, and suggest that probiotic strategies for amphibian disease management should be considered with caution.

Cricket Velarifictorus micado is widely distributed in East Asia and colonized North America since 1959. It has been reported that they had two modes of life cycle and distributed in southern and northern Asia respectively. Aimed to investigate the biogeographic boundary between the two groups and the causes of differentiation, mitochondrial fragments including COI and CytB were used for phylogenetic analysis, time estimation and demographic analysis. The results showed that, (i) Haplotype network indicated that V. micado has diversified to three lineages based on COI. Individuals with egg diapause lived in northern Asia, whereas those with egg and nymph diapause lived in southern Asia, and the populations colonized North America belongs to the egg diapause group from both North and South Asia. (ii) The molecular chronograms indicated that the first diversification between individuals in the northern and southern Asia occurred during ~0.79 Ma BP in the Middle Pleistocene Transition. The second event occurred in southern individuals during ~0.49 Ma BP, when the glaciers developed in Yulong mountain (Yunnan province). (iii) V. micado has diversified to two main clades based on CytB. The individuals distributed in southern China have not been differentiated. Haplotype network indicated that the egg diapause lived in southern China most possibly originated from Yunnan, where lies at the foot of the Tibetan plateau. Our study suggested that the twice divergence of V. micado co-occurred with tendency of cooling climatic in Asia after the Mid-Pleistocene.

Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum is described as an icon of Africa’s wetlands and grasslands and is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened species. Efforts towards its conservation actions are nonetheless hindered by among others, lack of knowledge on factors influencing breeding productivity such as nest-site selection. Factors influencing the probability of nest-site selection were investigated at Lake Ol’ Bolossat, a 43.3 km2 wetland located in the central Kenya highlands as a breeding resident. The number and distribution pattern of breeding pairs was also determined. A total of 123 breeding pairs were recorded, 103 in the lake and 20 in the surveyed satellite wetlands thus providing the largest database of breeding Grey Crowned Cranes reported in Kenya to date. Mean breeding pair density for the lake’s marshes was 6.50±0.84 (SE) pairs/km2 with a mean distance between nests of 302.53±17.02 (SE) m. Generalized Linear Models were used to select the most important environmental variables explaining nest-sites selection. The model selection algorithm yielded a subset of 8 best models, where the most important predictor variables (i.e. those with ΔAICc <2) were determined as water depth (preferred above 50 cm), vegetation height (above 60-90 cm) and distance from the water edge (ca.100 m). Water depth and vegetation height had positive effects on nesting probability while the distance to water edge exhibits quadratic tendency. These findings provide key insight into Grey Crowned Crane nesting ecology and a basis for breeding habitat modification and management. This study underscores the importance of Lake Ol’ Bolossat as a critical breeding site and its significant role in the species’ population recovery and survival. The lake should consequently be re-gazetted as a National Park to ensure effective and sustainable control of anthropogenic activities in and around the lake in favour of Grey Crowned Crane.

In district Haripur, KPk, Pakistan Treepie Dendrocitta vagabunda parvula (Latham, 1790) (Passeriformes: Corvidae), is a widespread resident bird commonly found. Feeding and Food habits of Treepie were studied by direct focal observation method analysis of gut content and faecal matter. Treepie prefers tree and cultivation areas insects for foraging activities, feeding on animal and plant is an omnivore items ranging from vertebrate species to invertebrate. Feeding upon like red palm weevil, grasshopper, cockroaches, banana stem weevil, nestlings of squirrel and house rat, it feeds up on many pests of agricultural crops Treepie is an important biocontrol agent in the agro ecosystem of the region

Honey bees and bumble bees are generalist eusocial bees that collect resources from a variety of plant taxa. Both bee species have distinct foraging strategies that affect patterns of resource collection, with implications for designing pollinator friendly habitat management schemes. Using a comparative approach, we examined the pollen foraging patterns of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) and common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) in a suburban-agricultural landscape. We tested predictions stemming from the bees’ known foraging strategies of dance communication or trapline foraging, respectively, and collected pollen from returning foragers of each bee species over five time periods at each of three sites. We quantified the frequency of flower constant foragers, the richness and diversity of pollen collected by a colony, and whether honey bees or bumble bees show preferences by comparing the taxonomic identity of pollen collected to resources available. Analyses were done at the pollen morphotype and plant family levels. Within a foraging trip, honey bees foraged on a single plant family more frequently than bumble bees throughout the summer, except during July, when both species demonstrated a similar frequency of flower constancy. Pollen diversity was greater for bumble bees relative to honey bees, and both bee species collected less diverse pollen in June. Finally, bumble bees preferred the Fabaceae_Tricolporate pollen morphotype (Trifolium repens or Medicago sativa), but avoided Apiaceae, while honey bees foraged randomly showing no evidence of preference. These results support the hypothesis that species level foraging strategies affect how bees exploit pollen resources. Explicitly considering pollinator foraging strategy when designing agri-environment schemes will inform the most appropriate arrangement of floral resources within developed landscapes, thereby promoting both pollinator health and pollination services of bee-dependent crops.

We evaluated the richness, diversity and composition of medium and large mammalian community in the Loka Abaya National Park (LANP), southern Ethiopia, and how these parametrs differ among four habitat types: wooded grassland, riverine forest, hilly scrubland and wetland) and between seasons.We recorded total of 2,573 individual animals of 28 medium and large mammal species in the park. This included three globally threatened species: the endangered African wild-dog (Lycaon pictus) and the ‘vulnerable’ Leopard (Penthra pardus) and Hippopotamus (Hippopothamus amphibus). Season had little effect on species richness, diversity and composition both across and within habitat types. However, species richness across season was significantly different among the four habitat types, in declining order of: wooded grassland > riverine forest > hilly scrubland > wetland. The strongest similarity in species composition, both across and within seasons, was found between wooded grassland and riverine forest. In terms of relative abundance, mammalia assemblage of the wooded grassland and wetland habitats had more evenly distributed number of species with different relative abundance categories. Overall, Papio anubis, Chlorocebus aethiops and Tragelephus strepsiceros were the three most abundant species across habitat types. In conclusion, findings of our study reveal that LANP plays an important role in Ethiopia’s mammal conservation. Our findings will serve as a base-line information for managers of the park to make effective conservation decisions and as a baseline for researchers wishing to conduct related ecological studies.

Extensive range loss for the Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) has occurred in areas of intrusion by the Blue-winged Warbler (V. cyanoptera) potentially related to their close genetic relationship. We compiled data on social pairing from nine studies for 2,679 resident Vermivora to assess evolutionary divergence. Hybridization between pure phenotypes occurred with 1.2% of resident males for sympatric populations. Pairing success rates for Golden-winged Warblers was 83% and for Blue-winged Warblers was 77%. Pairing success for the hybrid Brewster’s Warbler was significantly lower from both species at 54%, showing sexual selection against hybrids. Backcross frequencies for Golden-winged Warblers at 4.9% was significantly higher than for Blue-winged Warblers at 1.7%. More frequent backcrossing by Golden-winged Warblers, which produces hybrid phenotypes, may contribute to the replacement of Golden-winged by Blue-winged Warblers. Reproductive isolation due to behavioral isolation plus sexual selection against hybrids was 0.966. Our analyses suggest that plumage differences are the main driving force for this strong isolation with reduced hybrid fitness contributing to a lesser degree. The major impact of plumage differences to reproductive isolation is compatible with genomic analyses (Toews et al. 2016), which showed the largest genetic difference between these phenotypes occurred with plumage genes. These phenotypes have maintained morphological, behavioral, and ecological differences during two centuries of hybridization. Our estimate of reproductive isolation supports recognition of these phenotypes as two species. The decline and extirpation of the Golden-winged Warbler in almost all areas of recent sympatry suggest that continued coexistence of both species will require eco-geographic isolation.

One of the most important drivers of the coexistence of species is the resource heterogeneity of a certain environment. Thus, many studies in different ecosystems have been carried out to test whether species richness is affected by resource heterogeneity. To date, only few studies have measured light and soil resources heterogeneity in forests to investigate its influence on plant diversity. In this study, the aim was to determine (1) which resources have major influences on forest understory plant diversity; (2) the influence of the forest canopy on the heterogeneous distribution of light and soil resources; (3) whether heterogeneity of resources increases understory plant species richness; and (4) if stand structural complexity is an indicator for understory plant species richness. Measures of stand structural complexity were obtained through inventories and remote sensing techniques in 135 study plots of temperate forests, established along a gradient of forest structural complexity. We surveyed vegetation, measured light conditions and soil properties six times in each of all plots. We calculated the standard deviations of these parameters to receive a measure of heterogeneity. Results showed that heterogeneity of light and soil C:N ratio increases with increasing stand structural complexity, increasing light heterogeneity leads to increased understory plant species richness, and finally, an increase of stand structural diversity predicts an increase in understory plant diversity. The study clearly shows that resource heterogeneity theory plays a major role in the coexistence of understory plant species and hence its diversity. These results suggest that understory plant diversity could be increased in forests managed by single tree harvesting by spatially varying the quantities of trees to be logged to create a more heterogeneous understory light environment.

Recent research in island biogeography has highlighted the important role of late Quaternary sea-level fluctuations in shaping biogeographical patterns in insular systems, but largely focused on volcanic oceanic systems. Through this study we aim to extend this work by investigating the role of late Quaternary sea-level fluctuations in shaping species richness patterns in continental shelf island systems. Focusing on the Aegean archipelago, we first reconstructed the area’s geography using published data, under three sea-level stands: 1) current; 2) median over the last nine Glacial-Interglacial cycles; 3) Late Glacial Maximum (LGM). We compiled taxon-island occupancy for angiosperms (70 islands) and centipedes (56 islands). We investigated the impact of present-day and past geographical settings on chorological groups by analysing Island Species-Area Relationships (ISARs) and using Generalized Linear Mixed Models selection based on multiple metrics of goodness-of-fit. Our results confirm that the Aegean’s geography has changed dramatically since the LGM, while the median sea-level scenario only modestly differs from the present configuration. Paleogeographical changes largely shaped Aegean plant diversity patterns, and to a lesser degree centipede species richness patterns. The LGM geographic configuration affected both native and endemic species diversity through establishing connections between land-bridge islands and the mainland. Particularly on land-bridge islands we detected supersaturation of native species and stronger underrepresentation of endemics on those same islands. Unlike oceanic islands, where the longer lasting median configuration has ample effect on the current species diversity, the shorter lasting LGM configurations promoted increased connectivity with the mainland counteracting processes promoting endemism. Our study shows that in terms of processes affecting species richness patterns, continental archipelagos differ fundamentally from oceanic systems, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between them while studying biota from the perspective of historical biogeography.

Understanding the scaling between leaf size and leafing intensity is crucial for comprehending theories about light interception and leaf carbon uptake and adjustments in life history strategies. To test whether have the broad scope predictions between leaf size variation and leafing intensity on first year stem in evergreens and deciduous. A comprehensive data set of minimum (Mmin) and maximum (Mmax) leaf mass and total leaf number in twig was compiled, as well as data for the stem volume and mass. The datasets provide measurements of 123 woody species in subtropical mountain forests. Standardized major axis (SMA) analysis was used to determine the effects of the variation in leaf size (i.e., Mmin to Mmax) and the effects of different functional groups on the trade-off between leaf size and leafing intensity, i.e., the leafing intensity based on stem volume (LIV) and stem mass (LIM). Leaf size plasticity variation did not differ between evergreen and deciduous functional groups, but Mmin scaled as the 1.19 power of Mmax. Across the 123 species, the scaling exponents of the pooled data ranged between -1.14 to -0.96 for Mmin and Mmax vs. the leafing intensity based on stem volume (LIV) and from -1.24 to -1.04 for Mmin and Mmax vs. the leafing intensity based on stem mass (LIM). Across the subtropical woody species examined in this study, the results show the scaling relationship between leaf mass and leafing intensity is constrained to be ≤ -1.0. More importantly, the scopes in twig leaf size and the leafing intensity correlate with the biomass allocation to minimum and maximum leaf mass, and not sensitive to plant functional groups in subtropical mountain forests.

The peninsular effect is a geographical phenomenon that explains patterns of species richness. Hypotheses regarding the peninsular effect in bird taxa should be more focused on testing not only recent deterministic processes but also migrant inflow associated with recent environmental variations. We aimed to identify the latitudinal patterns of passerine species richness and test hypotheses regarding recent deterministic processes (climate, primary productivity, habitat diversity, forest area, and anthropogenic disturbances) and migration influence (ratio of migrant species richness) in the Korean peninsula. We used the distribution data of 147 passerine species from 2006 to 2012. Single regression between passerine species richness and latitude supported the existence of the peninsular effect. Mean temperature induced by latitude gradient negatively affected LAI and forest area, and positively habitat diversity. However, passerine species richness was only influenced by LAI and forest area. Ratio of migrant species richness increased as decreasing habitat diversity and was not influenced by LAI and forest area. And we found that ratio of migrant species richness increased with increasing latitude, and contributed to the increasing in passerine species richness. No. of patches did not influenced passerine species richness. These results support the existence of the peninsular effect in the distribution of passerine birds induced by recent deterministic processes such as primary productivity and habitat area, and migrant species inflow caused by competition.

Biodiversity and community assembly are central topics in ecological studies, and mountains present natural laboratories for studying these issues. Most previous studies have focused on biodiversity hotspots and tropical regions, and relevant research in the middle and high latitudes is relatively limited. We hypothesized that species dispersion and habitat filtering simultaneously might drive the assembly of the current plant community in temperate region mountains. We studied the plant community of the Kunlun Mountains, an independent physical geographic unit located in northwest China on the northern edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We integrated measures of species distribution, geological history, and phylogeography, and analyzed the taxonomic richness, phylogenetic diversity, and phylogenetic community structure of the current plant community in the area. The distribution patterns of 1,911 seed plants showed that species were distributed mainly in the eastern and the southeastern parts of the Kunlun Mountains, which were considered as conservation targets for biodiversity. Similarities of genera and species strongly indicated that mass species migrations exist among the Kunlun Mountains and adjacent biodiversity hotspots. This indicated that the current patterns of species diversity were from species recolonization, and the plant species of the Kunlun Mountains originated primarily from the Hengduan Mountains which are a biodiversity hotspot. The net relatedness index (NRI) indicated that 17 of the 28 communities were phylogenetic clustering, and the others were phylogenetic dispersion. The nearest taxon index (NTI) indicated that 27 of the 28 communities were phylogenetic clustering, and the phylogenetic community structure of Banma County was the only example of overdispersion. By combining the standard effect size phylogenetic diversity (SES-PD) with the two indexes, we showed that species recolonization was likely to be an important evolutionary process affecting the assembly of current plant communities, and that habitat filtering may have drove the ecological processes of these communities.

1. Trees are characterised by the large number of seeds they produce. Although most of those seeds will never germinate, plenty will. Of those which germinate, many die young, and eventually only a minute fraction will grow to adult stage and reproduce. Is this just a random process? Do variations in germination and survival at very young stages rely on variations in adaptations to microgeographic heterogeneity? and do these processes matter at all in determining tree species distribution and abundance? 2. We have studied these questions with the Neotropical Symphonia syngameon. In the Guiana shield, Symphonia are represented by at least two sympatric taxa or ecotypes, Symphonia globulifera found almost exclusively in bottomlands, and a yet undescribed more generalist taxon/ecotype, Symphonia sp1. A reciprocal transplantation experiment (510 seeds, 16 conditions) was set-up and followed over the course of 6 years to evaluate the survival and performance of individuals from different ecotypes and provenances. 3. Germination, survival, growth, and herbivory showed signs of local adaptation, with some combinations of ecotypes and provenances growing faster and surviving better in their own habitat or provenance region. S. globulifera was strongly penalised when planted outside its home habitat but showed the fastest growth rates when planted in its home habitat, suggesting it’s a specialist of a high-risk high-gain strategy. Conversely, S. sp1 behaved as a generalist, performing well in a variety of environments. 4. Synthesis: The differential performance of seeds and seedlings in the different habitats matches the known distribution of both ecotypes, indicating that environmental filtering at the very early stages can be a key determinant of tree species distributions, even at the microgeographic level and among very closely related taxa. Furthermore, such differential performance also contributes to explain, in part, the maintenance of the different ecotypes in the Symphonia syngameon living in intimate sympatry despite occasional gene flow.

Scavenging can have important consequences for food web dynamics, for example, it may support additional consumer species and affect predation on live prey. Still, few food web models include scavenging. We develop a dynamic model that includes predators, scavengers, live prey, and a carrion pool to show ramifications of scavenging for predation in simple food webs. We explicitly model carrion biomass and scavenging behavior and investigate the effect of scavenging for predation under different assumptions. Our modeling suggests that the presence of scavengers can both increase and decrease predator kill rates and overall predation in model food webs and the impact varies (in magnitude and direction) with context. In particular, we explore the impact of the amount of dynamics allowed in the predator, scavenger, and prey populations as well as the direction and magnitude of interference competition between predators and scavengers. We provide a road map to the different outcomes and link these theoretical outcomes to evidence from different empirical studies.

The Qilian Mountain Grassland is an important animal husbandry production base in northwestern China. Horses, cattle and sheep are the main livestock, which are widely distributed in the desert grassland and alpine meadow around the Qilian Mountains. Grazing livestock produce large amounts of feces, and the germinated seeds in the feces constitute the dung seed bank of the grassland. Research on the size, composition and distribution of livestock manure seed bank in the Qilian Mountain grassland may provide a deeper understanding of the interaction between grass and livestock and help inform comprehensive management practices for grazing livestock. In mid-October 2018, we collected the dung of horses, cattle and sheep in the alpine meadows and desert grasslands of the Qilian Mountains and measured the composition and size of the dung seed bank by the greenhouse germination method. The dominant species of seeds in the dung collection site were also collected to determine the relationship between the size and composition of the dung seed bank and the seed traits (mass and shape). A total of 30 different species of seedlings germinated from the dung of the three livestock. Of these, 22 species (73% of total) were perennial. The seedling densities (g-1 dung) of horse, cattle and sheep were 5.23, 3.27 and 0.72, respectively. The species richness, species diversity, and the Jaccard coefficients of similarity between dung seedling and aboveground vegetation of horse dung were significantly greater than those of cattle and sheep (P < 0.05). Regression analyses indicated that medium-sized (10–30 mg) and spherical (0.04–0.10 shape index) seeds had the greatest germination potential. Our study suggests that, of the three livestock species tested, the horse dung seed bank contributes most to grassland recovery and restoration of the Qilian Mountains.

The cultivation of artificial grassland, which requires regular sowing and harvesting, is an important and common practice in grassland management and restoration on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). However, the key factors and successional processes that determine its interannual variability of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed 6 years of eddy covariance observations, quantified seasonal and annual NEE, net carbon uptake period length (CUP), two largest carbon emission periods length (CEPs), and daily minimum and maximum NEE (NEEmin, NEEmax) responses to management measures in an alley silvopasture system with planted Elymus nutans on the QTP. We examined NEE variations before and after sowing and harvesting and investigated how sowing and harvesting managements affect NEE. The five-year life cycle study revealed that this artificial perennial grassland was a weak net carbon sink with an uptake of -180 g C m–2 per plant cycle (2012–2016). Inter-annual variations in NEE was determined by CUP and the first largest carbon emission periods (CEP1). Sowing delayed the beginning of CUP (BCUP) by about 42 days and caused spring C uptake to decline by -36 g C m–2. In contrast, harvesting caused the ending of CUP (ECUP) to advance about 25 days, and caused a decease of autumn C uptake about -33 g C m–2. Sowing and harvesting shortened the CUP and extended the CEP1, which reduces the carbon sequestration potential of the artificial grassland. Based on our results, we recommend that policy makers and authorities consider the effect of timing of sowing and harvesting on C sequestration. Our results provide a new insight for grassland management and the inter-annual variability of NEE on climate mitigation and regional sustainability.

Birds have been observed to have dietary preferences for unsaturated fatty acids (FAs) during migration. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) increase the exercise performance of migrant birds; however, PUFAs are also peroxidation prone and might therefore incur increased costs in terms of enhanced oxidative stress in migratory individuals. To shed light on this potential constraint, we analysed plasma FA composition and estimated the susceptibility to peroxidation of migrants and residents of the partially migratory common blackbird (Turdus merula) at a stop-over site during autumn migration. As predicted, migrant birds had higher relative and absolute levels of PUFAs compared to resident birds. This included the strictly dietary ω-3 PUFA α-linoleic acid, suggesting a dietary preference for these fatty acids in migrants. Interestingly, the FA unsaturation index, which is an index of lipid peroxidation susceptibility, did not differ between migrants and residents. These findings suggest a mechanism where birds alter their levels of metabolic substrate to increase exercise performance without simultaneously increasing the risk of lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress. In summary, our results are in line with the hypothesis of increased exercise performance being constrained by oxidative stress during migration, which is manifested in changes in the composition of key FAs to retain the unsaturation index constant despite the increased levels of peroxidizable PUFAs.

Leaf soluble sugars and starch are important components of nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs), which are crucial for plant growth, development, and reproduction. Although there is a large body of research focusing on the regulation of plant NSC (soluble sugars and starch) concentrations, the response of foliar NSC concentrations to continuous nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) addition is still unclear, especially in tropical forests. Here, we used a long-term manipulative field experiment to investigate the response of leaf NSC concentrations to continuous N and P addition (3-, 5-, and 8-year fertilization) in a tropical forest in southern China. We found significant species-specific variation in leaf NSC concentrations in this tropical forest. Phosphorus addition dramatically decreased both leaf soluble sugar and starch concentrations, while N addition had no significant effects on leaf soluble sugar and starch concentrations. These results suggest that, in plants growing in P-limiting tropical soil, leaf NSC concentrations are regulated by soil P availability rather than N availability. Moreover, the negative relationships between NSC concentrations and leaf mass per area (LMA) revealed that NSCs could supply excess carbon (C) for leaf expansion under P addition. This was further supported by the increased structural P fraction after P fertilization in our previous study at the same site. We conclude that soil P availability strongly regulates leaf starch and soluble sugar concentrations in the tropical tree species included in this study. The response of leaf NSC concentrations to long-term N and P addition can reflect the close relationships between plant C dynamics and soil nutrient availability in tropical forests. Maintaining relatively higher leaf NSC concentrations in tropical plants can be a potential mechanism for adapting to P-deficient conditions.

Despite centuries of exploration, our perception of potential mechanisms determining the species community assemblage is still in infancy . Longhorn beetle as an insect with larval stage feeds on the xylem of plants or trees, the relative importance of biotic (host-specificity) and abiotic (climate gradients) processes to determining their community compositional variation is unknown. In the aim of exploring the knot, we therefore designed the experiment throughout multiple spatial scales (macro/regional and micro/local) along tropical to temperate climate gradients at the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, to examine to what extent biotic and abiotic factors may exert a significant influence on longhorn beetle species composition assembly, and whether this relationship is scale dependent. The relationships between longhorn beetles species composition variation and biotic and abiotic factors were examined using β-dissimilarity indices comparison，NMDS analysis , variation partitioning based on RDA, linear mixed-effect model and mantel test. We found a positive relationship between the species compositional variation of both beetle and plants, in which longhorn beetle species dissimilarity apparently track changes in plant dissimilarity both at macro/regional and micro/local scales. NMDS analysis showed that abiotic factors have prominent influence to the longhorn beetle community assemblage. Variation partitioning and linear mixed-effect model retained significantly correlated Environment and plant diversity metrics for beetle diversity. Thus, we concluded that: 1) biotic and abiotic factors collaboratively shaped longhorn beetle community composition along various spatial scales; 2) the relative importance of abiotic and biotic variation explaining the longhorn beetle community composition vary by spatial scale; and 3) biotic interactions have prominent effect to longhorn beetle community composition at local-scale while macroclimatic gradients impose the most control on it at macro-scale. Besides, our study showed that the influence of dispersal limitation in the species assembly of longhorn beetles from tropical to temperate area was minor compared with plant communiti

Leaf shape is a defining feature of how we recognise and classify plant species. Although there is extensive variation in leaf shape within many species, few studies have disentangled the underlying genetic architecture. We characterised the genetic architecture of leaf shape variation in Eurasian aspen (Populus tremula L.) by performing a genome wide association studies (GWAS) for physiognomy traits. To ascertain the roles of identified GWAS candidate genes within the leaf development transcriptional program, we performed gene co-expression network analyses from a developmental series, which is publicly available at http://aspleaf.plantgenie.org. We additionally used gene expression measurements across the population to analyse GWAS candidate genes in the context of a population-wide co-expression network and to identify genes that were differentially expressed between groups of individuals with contrasting leaf shapes. These data were integrated with expression GWAS (eQTL) results to define a set of candidate genes associated with leaf shape variation. Our results identified no clear adaptive link to leaf shape variation and indicate that leaf shape traits are genetically complex, likely determined by numerous small-effect variations in gene expression. Genes associated with shape variation were peripheral within the population-wide co-expression network, were not highly connected within the leaf development co-expression network and exhibited signatures of relaxed selection. As such, our results are consistent with the omnigenic model.

Misunderstanding of the function of the plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) results in diminishing the diversity of both fauna and flora species and collapse of the the food on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. We used data obtained during an 11-year period to observe evolutionary habitat selection by the plateau pika in relation to an irrelevant phylogeny agent of livestock management. We hypothesized that local nomads are the irrelevant phylogeny agent in the Kobresia ecosystem of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. In order to verify the above hypothesis, distance to nearest yak-bedding areas and dung management are the variables that most strongly explains variation in pika occupancy probability and probability of occupancy detection based on free-ranging livestock. Both occupancy and detection probability of pikas decrease sharply with increasing distance to nearest yak-bedding area, strongly suggesting that pika population densities are highest closest to yak-bedding areas. There is a strong correlation between dung cover and occupancy of the plateau pika—namely, the more dung drying on the ground; the more plateau pikas occupy the area. After the dung has damaged the grass, plateau pikas are apparently detected there. Thus, rangeland dominated by sedges of the genus Kobresia on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is modified by livestock grazing and management, especially dung management. This is the first reported evidence that local nomads may cause expansion of the habitat of the plateau pika and its occupancy.