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Id | Title * ▲ | Authors * | Abstract * | Picture * | Thematic fields * | Recommender | Reviewers | Submission date | |
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08 Aug 2020
![]() Trophic cascade driven by behavioural fine-tuning as naïve prey rapidly adjust to a novel predatorChris J Jolly, Adam S Smart, John Moreen, Jonathan K Webb, Graeme R Gillespie and Ben L Phillips https://doi.org/10.1101/856997While the quoll’s away, the mice will play… and the seeds will payRecommended by Denis Réale based on reviews by 2 anonymous reviewersA predator can strongly influence the demography of its prey, which can have profound carryover effects on the trophic network; so-called density-mediated indirect interactions (DMII; Werner and Peacor 2003; Schmitz et al. 2004; Trussell et al. 2006). Furthermore, a novel predator can alter the phenotypes of its prey for traits that will change prey foraging efficiency. These trait-mediated indirect interactions may in turn have cascading effects on the demography and features of the basal resources consumed by the intermediate consumer (TMIII; Werner and Peacor 2003; Schmitz et al. 2004; Trussell et al. 2006), but very few studies have looked for these effects (Trusell et al. 2006). The study “Trophic cascade driven by behavioural fine-tuning as naïve prey rapidly adjust to a novel predator”, by Jolly et al. (2020) is therefore a much-needed addition to knowledge in this field. The authors have profited from a rare introduction of Northern quolls (Dasyurus hallucatus) on an Australian island, to examine both the density-mediated and trait-mediated indirect interactions with grassland melomys (Melomys burtoni) and the vegetation of their woodland habitat. References -Bell G, Gonzalez A (2009) Evolutionary rescue can prevent extinction following environmental change. Ecology letters, 12(9), 942-948. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01350.x | Trophic cascade driven by behavioural fine-tuning as naïve prey rapidly adjust to a novel predator | Chris J Jolly, Adam S Smart, John Moreen, Jonathan K Webb, Graeme R Gillespie and Ben L Phillips | <p>The arrival of novel predators can trigger trophic cascades driven by shifts in prey numbers. Predators also elicit behavioural change in prey populations, via phenotypic plasticity and/or rapid evolution, and such changes may also contribute t... | ![]() | Behaviour & Ethology, Biological invasions, Evolutionary ecology, Experimental ecology, Foraging, Herbivory, Population ecology, Terrestrial ecology, Tropical ecology | Denis Réale | 2019-11-27 21:39:44 | View | |
06 May 2021
![]() Trophic niche of the invasive gregarious species Crepidula fornicata, in relation to ontogenic changesThibault Androuin, Stanislas F. Dubois, Cédric Hubas, Gwendoline Lefebvre, Fabienne Le Grand, Gauthier Schaal, Antoine Carlier https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.30.229021A lack of clear dietary differences between ontogenetic stages of invasive slippersnails provides important insights into resource use and potential inter- and intra-specific competitionRecommended by Matthew BrackenThe slippersnail (Crepidula fornicata), originally from the eastern coast of North America, has invaded European coastlines from Norway to the Mediterranean Sea [1]. This species is capable of achieving incredibly high densities (up to several thousand individuals per square meter) and likely has major impacts on a variety of community- and ecosystem-level processes, including alteration of carbon and nitrogen fluxes and competition with native suspension feeders [2]. Given this potential for competition, it is important to understand the diet of C. fornicata and its potential overlap with native species. However, previous research on the diet of C. fornicata and related species suggests that the types of food consumed may change with age [3, 4]. This species has an unusual reproductive strategy. It is a sequential hermaphrodite, which begins life as a somewhat mobile male but eventually slows down to become sessile. Sessile individuals form stacks of up to 10 or more individuals, with larger individuals on the bottom of the stack, and decreasingly smaller individuals piled on top. Snails at the bottom of the stack are female, whereas snails at the top of the stack are male; when the females die, the largest males become female [5]. Thus, understanding these potential ontogenetic dietary shifts has implications for both intraspecific (juvenile vs. male vs. female) and interspecific competition associated with an abundant, invasive species. To this end, Androuin and colleagues evaluated the stable-isotope (d13C and d15N) and fatty-acid profiles of food sources and different life-history stages of C. fornicata [6]. Based on previous work highlighting the potential for life-history changes in the diet of this species [3,4], they hypothesized that C. fornicata would shift its diet as it aged and predicted that this shift would be reflected in changes in its stable-isotope and fatty-acid profiles. The authors found that potential food sources (biofilm, suspended particulate organic matter, and superficial sedimentary organic matter) differed substantially in both stable-isotope and fatty-acid signatures. However, whereas fatty-acid profiles changed substantially with age, there was no shift in the stable-isotope signatures. Because stable-isotope differences between food sources were not reflected in differences between life-history stages, the authors conservatively concluded that there was insufficient evidence for a diet shift with age. The ontogenetic shifts in fatty-acid profiles were intriguing, but the authors suggested that these reflected age-related physiological changes rather than changes in diet. The authors’ work highlights the need to consider potential changes in the roles of invasive species with age, especially when evaluating interactions with native species. In this case, C. fornicata consumed a variety of food sources, including both benthic and particulate organic matter, regardless of age. The carbon stable-isotope signature of C. fornicata overlaps with those of several native suspension- and deposit-feeding species in the region [7], suggesting the possibility of resource competition, especially given the high abundances of this invader. This contribution demonstrates the potential difficulty of characterizing the impacts of an abundant invasive species with a complex life-history strategy. Like many invasive species, C. fornicata appears to be a dietary generalist, which likely contributes to its success in establishing and thriving in a variety of locations [8].
References [1] Blanchard M (1997) Spread of the slipper limpet Crepidula fornicata (L. 1758) in Europe. Current state dans consequences. Scientia Marina, 61, 109–118. Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00423/53398/54271.pdf [2] Martin S, Thouzeau G, Chauvaud L, Jean F, Guérin L, Clavier J (2006) Respiration, calcification, and excretion of the invasive slipper limpet, Crepidula fornicata L.: Implications for carbon, carbonate, and nitrogen fluxes in affected areas. Limnology and Oceanography, 51, 1996–2007. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2006.51.5.1996 [3] Navarro JM, Chaparro OR (2002) Grazing–filtration as feeding mechanisms in motile specimens of Crepidula fecunda (Gastropoda: Calyptraeidae). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 270, 111–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-0981(02)00013-8 [4] Yee AK, Padilla DK (2015) Allometric Scaling of the Radula in the Atlantic Slippersnail Crepidula fornicata. Journal of Shellfish Research, 34, 903–907. https://doi.org/10.2983/035.034.0320 [5] Collin R (1995) Sex, Size, and Position: A Test of Models Predicting Size at Sex Change in the Protandrous Gastropod Crepidula fornicata. The American Naturalist, 146, 815–831. https://doi.org/10.1086/285826 [6] Androuin T, Dubois SF, Hubas C, Lefebvre G, Grand FL, Schaal G, Carlier A (2021) Trophic niche of the invasive gregarious species Crepidula fornicata, in relation to ontogenic changes. bioRxiv, 2020.07.30.229021, ver. 4 peer-reviewed and recommended by Peer Community in Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.30.229021 [7] Dauby P, Khomsi A, Bouquegneau J-M (1998) Trophic Relationships within Intertidal Communities of the Brittany Coasts: A Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis. Journal of Coastal Research, 14, 1202–1212. Retrieved May 4, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4298880 [8] Machovsky-Capuska GE, Senior AM, Simpson SJ, Raubenheimer D (2016) The Multidimensional Nutritional Niche. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 31, 355–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.02.009
| Trophic niche of the invasive gregarious species Crepidula fornicata, in relation to ontogenic changes | Thibault Androuin, Stanislas F. Dubois, Cédric Hubas, Gwendoline Lefebvre, Fabienne Le Grand, Gauthier Schaal, Antoine Carlier | <p style="text-align: justify;">The slipper limpet Crepidula fornicata is a common and widespread invasive gregarious species along the European coast. Among its life-history traits, well-documented ontogenic changes in behavior (i.e., motile male... | ![]() | Food webs, Life history, Marine ecology | Matthew Bracken | 2020-08-01 23:55:57 | View | |
26 Aug 2024
![]() Urban Cepaea nemoralis snails are less likely to have nematodes trapped within their shellsMaxime Dahirel, Hannah Reyné, Katrien De Wolf, Dries Bonte https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.07.583959Urbanisation linked to a decline in the proportion of snails with trapped nematodes in their shellRecommended by Alison Duncan based on reviews by Robbie Rae and 1 anonymous reviewerUrbanisation modifies species’ habitats affecting their density, distribution, fitness, and behaviour with knock-on effects for their parasites’ abundance and transmission (Bradley & Altizer 2007). A meta-analysis found that changes in resource provisioning due to anthropogenic change can have both positive and negative effects on parasite infection in wildlife populations, but that feeding on urban waste had an effect of reducing infection, especially for helminths and protozoa (Becker, Streicker & Altizer 2015). Another study found that urbanisation reduced ectoparasite load in birds, but had no effect on endoparasites or avian flu (Reid et al. 2024). These changes may be due to novel diets reducing transmission via predation upon trophic hosts (Becker, Streicker & Altizer 2015) or behavioural, leading to more time available to preen (Reid et al. 2024). Less is known about how urbanisation affects invertebrates (but see Lewthwaite et al., 2024) and their parasites. This is important considering that invertebrates are often intermediate hosts of, and/or vector other parasites. Recent work has found that snails and slugs can trap nematodes in their shells to prevent infection (Rae 2017). This newly discovered resistance mechanism reveals that the shell serves an immune defence function. It also provides a record of nematode exposure and documents incidences of resistance to infection as the trapped nematode becomes fixed onto the shell surface (Rae 2017). Dahirel and co-authors exploit this to investigate whether snail-nematode interactions change in response to increasing levels of urbanisation (Dahirel et al. 2024). They explore whether the proportion of Cepaea nemoralis snails with trapped nematodes in their shell changes across an urbanisation gradient. They also explore whether different phenotypic snail traits, notably shell size, colour, band number and fusion explain the likelihood of having trapped nematodes in their shells. An increase in urbanisation was associated with a decrease in the proportion of snails with trapped nematodes in their shells. At the same time larger shells were more likely to have trapped nematodes, but this effect did not change across the urbanisation gradient. The authors discuss that reduced nematode encapsulation in urban environments may be due to lower encounter rate due to either fewer nematodes in urban environments, changes in snail behaviour reducing exposure, or alternatively that urban snails were less resistant to nematode infection. It will be interesting to investigate how this resistance mechanism is related to other forms of snail immunity and whether high rates of nematode encapsulation are an indicator of high resistance or high exposure. This will enable nematode trapping to be used as a marker to indicate environments and/or snail populations harbouring high levels of parasitism and further exploitation of museum collections to understand host-parasite interactions in the past (Rae 2017). References Becker, D.J., Streicker, D.G. & Altizer, S. (2015) Linking anthropogenic resources to wildlife-pathogen dynamics: a review and meta-analysis. Ecol Lett, 18, 483-495. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12428 Bradley, C.A. & Altizer, S. (2007) Urbanization and the ecology of wildlife diseases. Trends Ecol Evol, 22, 95-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2006.11.001 Maxime Dahirel, Hannah Reyné, Katrien De Wolf, Dries Bonte (2024) Urban Cepaea nemoralis snails are less likely to have nematodes trapped within their shells. bioRxiv, ver.4 peer-reviewed and recommended by PCI Ecology https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.07.583959 Lewthwaite, J.M.M., Baiotto, T.M., Brown, B.V., Cheung, Y.Y., Baker, A.J., Lehnen, C., McGlynn, T.P., Shirey, V., Gonzalez, L., Hartop, E., Kerr, P.H., Wood, E. & Guzman, L.M. (2024) Drivers of arthropod biodiversity in an urban ecosystem. Sci Rep, 14, 390. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-50675-3 Rae, R. (2017) The gastropod shell has been co-opted to kill parasitic nematodes. Sci Rep, 7, 4745. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04695-5 Reid, R., Capilla-Lasheras, P., Haddou, Y., Boonekamp, J. & Dominoni, D.M. (2024) The impact of urbanization on health depends on the health metric, life stage and level of urbanization: a global meta-analysis on avian species. Proc Biol Sci, 291, 20240617. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.0617 | Urban *Cepaea nemoralis* snails are less likely to have nematodes trapped within their shells | Maxime Dahirel, Hannah Reyné, Katrien De Wolf, Dries Bonte | <p style="text-align: justify;">Urbanisation is a major human-induced environmental change which can impact not only individual species, but also the way these species interact with each other. As a group, terrestrial molluscs interact frequently ... | ![]() | Host-parasite interactions, Human impact | Alison Duncan | 2024-03-11 11:35:15 | View | |
23 Jan 2024
![]() Use of linear features by red-legged partridges in an intensive agricultural landscape: implications for landscape management in farmlandCharlotte Perrot, Antoine Berceaux, Mathias Noel, Beatriz Arroyo, Leo Bacon https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.07.27.550774The importance of managing linear features in agricultural landscapes for farmland birdsRecommended by Ricardo Correia based on reviews by Matthew Grainger and 1 anonymous reviewerEuropean farmland bird populations continue declining at an alarming rate, and some species require urgent action to avoid their demise (Silva et al. 2024). While factors such as climate change and urbanization also play an important role in driving the decline of farmland bird populations, its main driver seems to be linked with agricultural intensification (Rigal et al. 2023). Besides increased pesticide and fertilizer use, agricultural intensification often results in the homogenization of agricultural landscapes through the removal of seminatural linear features such as hedgerows, field margins, and grassy strips that can be beneficial for biodiversity. These features may be particularly important during the breeding season, when breeding farmland birds can benefit from patches of denser vegetation to conceal nests and improve breeding success. It is both important and timely to understand how landscape management can help to address the ongoing decline of farmland birds by identifying specific actions that can boost breeding success. Perrot et al. 2023 contribute to this effort by exploring how red-legged partridges use linear features in an intensive agricultural landscape during the breeding season. Through a combination of targeted fieldwork and GPS tracking, the authors highlight patterns in home range size and habitat selection that provide insights for landscape management. Specifically, their results suggest that birds have smaller range sizes in the vicinity of traffic routes and seminatural features structured by both herbaceous and woody cover. Furthermore, they show that breeding birds tend to choose linear elements with herbaceous cover whereas non-breeders prefer linear elements with woody cover, underlining the importance of accounting for the needs of both breeding and non-breeding birds. In particular, the authors stress the importance of providing additional vegetation elements such as hedges, grassy strips or embankments in order to increase landscape heterogeneity. These landscape elements are usually found in the vicinity of linear infrastructures such as roads and tracks, but it is important they are available also in separate areas to avoid the risk of bird collision and the authors provide specific recommendations towards this end. Overall, this is an important study with clear recommendations on how to improve landscape management for these farmland birds. References Perrot, C., Séranne, L., Berceaux, A., Noel, M., Arroyo, B., & Bacon, L. (2023) "Use of linear features by red-legged partridges in an intensive agricultural landscape: implications for landscape management in farmland." bioRxiv, ver. 2 peer-reviewed and recommended by Peer Community in Ecology. | Use of linear features by red-legged partridges in an intensive agricultural landscape: implications for landscape management in farmland | Charlotte Perrot, Antoine Berceaux, Mathias Noel, Beatriz Arroyo, Leo Bacon | <p>Current agricultural practices and change are the major cause of biodiversity loss. An important change associated with the intensification of agriculture in the last 50 years is the spatial homogenization of the landscape with substantial loss... | ![]() | Agroecology, Behaviour & Ethology, Biodiversity, Conservation biology, Habitat selection | Ricardo Correia | 2023-08-01 10:27:33 | View | |
05 Apr 2019
![]() Using a large-scale biodiversity monitoring dataset to test the effectiveness of protected areas at conserving North-American breeding birdsVictor Cazalis, Soumaya Belghali, Ana S.L. Rodrigues https://doi.org/10.1101/433037Protected Areas effects on biodiversity: a test using bird data that hopefully will give ideas for much more studies to comeRecommended by Paul Caplat based on reviews by Willson Gaul and 1 anonymous reviewerIn the face of worldwide declines in biodiversity, evaluating the effectiveness of conservation practices is an absolute necessity. Protected Areas (PA) are a key tool for conservation, and the question “Are PA effective” has been on many a research agenda, as the introduction to this preprint will no doubt convince you. A challenge we face is that, until now, few studies have been explicitly designed to evaluate PA, and despite the rise of meta-analyses on the topic, our capacity to quantify their effect on biodiversity remains limited. References [1] Cazalis, V., Belghali, S., & Rodrigues, A. S. (2019). Using a large-scale biodiversity monitoring dataset to test the effectiveness of protected areas at conserving North-American breeding birds. bioRxiv, 433037, ver. 4 peer-reviewed and recommended by PCI Ecology. doi: 10.1101/433037 | Using a large-scale biodiversity monitoring dataset to test the effectiveness of protected areas at conserving North-American breeding birds | Victor Cazalis, Soumaya Belghali, Ana S.L. Rodrigues | <p>Protected areas currently cover about 15% of the global land area, and constitute one of the main tools in biodiversity conservation. Quantifying their effectiveness at protecting species from local decline or extinction involves comparing prot... | ![]() | Biodiversity, Conservation biology, Human impact, Landscape ecology, Macroecology | Paul Caplat | 2018-10-04 08:43:34 | View | |
06 Jan 2025
![]() Using informative priors to account for identifiability issues in occupancy models with identification errorsCélian Monchy, Marie-Pierre Etienne, Olivier Gimenez https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.07.592917Accounting for false positives and negatives in monitoring data from sensor networks and eDNARecommended by Damaris Zurell based on reviews by Saoirse Kelleher, Jonathan Rose and 2 anonymous reviewersBiodiversity monitoring increasingly relies on modern technologies such as sensor networks and environmental DNA. These high-throughput methods allow biodiversity assessments with unprecedented detail and are especially useful to detect rare and secretive species that are otherwise difficult to observe with traditional survey-based methods. False negatives through imperfect detection are a typical problem in survey data and depend on intrinsic characteristics of the species, site characteristics of the survey site as well as survey characteristics (Guillera 2017). While imperfect detection might be reduced in modern sensor data and eDNA data, also these types of data are by no means error-free and may bare other challenges. In particular, the bioinformatics and image classification approaches used for species identification from these data can induce a higher rate of false positives than would be expected in expert-based survey data (Hartig et al. 2024). Occupancy models (or occupancy-detection models) have been widely used to map species distributions by fitting a hierarchical model that estimates the paramaters of both the species-environment relationship and an observation submodel. They account for false negatives by inferring detectability from the detection history of a survey location, for example from replicate visits or multiple observers (Guillera 2017). These basic occupancy-detection models assume no false positive errors in the data. Other authors have proposed extensions for false positives that typically rely on unambiguous (known truth) information for some sites or observations (Chambert et al. 2015). In their preprint, Monchy et al. (2024) propose an extension of classic occupancy models that considers a two-step observation process modelling the detection probability at occupied sites and the associated identification probability, separated into the true positive identification rate and the true negative identification rate. Using a simulation approach, the authors compare the effectiveness of a frequentist (maximum likelihood-based) and Bayesian approach for parameter estimation and identifiability, and additionally test the effectiveness of different priors (from non-informative to highly informative). Results of the maximum-likelihood approach indicated biased parameter estimates and identifiability problems. In the Bayesian approach, inclusion of prior information greatly reduces biases in parameter estimates, especially in detection and positive identification rate. Importantly, informative priors for the identification process are a by-product of the classifiers that are developed for processing the eDNA data or sensor data. For example, species identification from acoustic sensors is based on image classifiers trained on labelled bird song spectrograms (Kahl et al. 2021) and as part of the evaluation of the classifier, the true positive rate (sensitivity) is routinely being estimated and could thus be readily used in occupancy models accounting for false positives. Thus, the approach proposed by Monchy et al. (2024) is not only highly relevant for biodiversity assessments based on novel sensor and eDNA data but also provides very practical solutions that do not require additional unambiguous data but recycle data that are already available in the processing pipeline. Applying their framework to real-world data will help reducing biases in biodiversity assessments and through improved understanding of the detection process it could also help optimising the design of sensor networks. References Thierry Chambert, David A. W. Miller, James D. Nichols (2015), Modeling false positive detections in species occurrence data under different study designs. Ecology, 96: 332-339. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1507.1 Gurutzeta Guillera-Arroita (2017) Modelling of species distributions, range dynamics and communities under imperfect detection: advances, challenges and opportunities. Ecography, 40: 281-295. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.02445 Florian Hartig, Nerea Abrego, Alex Bush, Jonathan M. Chase, Gurutzeta Guillera-Arroita, Mathew A. Leibold, Otso Ovaskainen, Loïc Pellissier, Maximilian Pichler, Giovanni Poggiato, Laura Pollock, Sara Si-Moussi, Wilfried Thuiller, Duarte S. Viana, David I. Warton, Damaris Zurell D, Douglas W. Yu (2024) Novel community data in ecology - properties and prospects. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 39: 280-293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.09.017 Stefan Kahl, Connor M. Wood, Maximilian Eibl, Holger Klinck (2021) BirdNET: A deep learning solution for avian diversity monitoring. Ecological Informatics, 61: 101236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2021.101236 Célian Monchy, Marie-Pierre Etienne, Olivier Gimenez (2024) Using informative priors to account for identifiability issues in occupancy models with identification errors. bioRxiv, ver.3 peer-reviewed and recommended by PCI Ecology https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.07.592917 | Using informative priors to account for identifiability issues in occupancy models with identification errors | Célian Monchy, Marie-Pierre Etienne, Olivier Gimenez | <p> Non-invasive monitoring techniques like camera traps, autonomous recording units and environmental DNA are increasingly used to collect data for understanding species distribution. These methods have prompted the development of statistica... | ![]() | Statistical ecology | Damaris Zurell | 2024-05-11 12:04:10 | View | |
29 May 2023
![]() Using integrated multispecies occupancy models to map co-occurrence between bottlenose dolphins and fisheries in the Gulf of Lion, French Mediterranean SeaValentin Lauret, Hélène Labach, Léa David, Matthieu Authier, Olivier Gimenez https://doi.org/10.32942/osf.io/npd6uMapping co-occurence of human activities and wildlife from multiple data sourcesRecommended by Paul Caplat based on reviews by Mason Fidino and 1 anonymous reviewerTwo fields of research have grown considerably over the past twenty years: the investigation of human-wildlife conflicts (e.g. see Treves & Santiago-Ávila 2020), and multispecies occupancy modelling (Devarajan et al. 2020). In their recent study, Lauret et al. (2023) combined both in an elegant methodological framework, applied to the study of the co-occurrence of fishing activities and bottlenose dolphins in the French Mediterranean. A common issue with human-wildlife conflicts (and, in particular, fishery by-catch) is that data is often only available from those conflicts or interactions, limiting the validity of the predictions (Kuiper et al. 2022). Lauret et al. use independent data sources informing the occurrence of fishing vessels and dolphins, combined in a Bayesian multispecies occupancy model where vessels are "the other species". I particularly enjoyed that approach, as integration of human activities in ecological models can be extremely complex, but can also translate in phenomena that can be captured as one would of individuals of a species, as long as the assumptions are made clearly. Here, the model is made more interesting by accounting for environmental factors (seabed depth) borrowing an approach from Generalized Additive Models in the Bayesian framework. While not pretending to provide (yet) practical recommendations to help conserve bottlenose dolphins (and other wildlife conflicts), this study and the associated code are a promising step in that direction. REFERENCES Devarajan, K., Morelli, T.L. & Tenan, S. (2020), Multi-species occupancy models: review, roadmap, and recommendations. Ecography, 43: 1612-1624. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04957 Kuiper, T., Loveridge, A.J. and Macdonald, D.W. (2022), Robust mapping of human–wildlife conflict: controlling for livestock distribution in carnivore depredation models. Anim. Conserv., 25: 195-207. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12730 Lauret V, Labach H, David L, Authier M, & Gimenez O (2023) Using integrated multispecies occupancy models to map co-occurrence between bottlenose dolphins and fisheries in the Gulf of Lion, French Mediterranean Sea. Ecoevoarxiv, ver. 2 peer-reviewed and recommended by PCI Ecology. https://doi.org/10.32942/osf.io/npd6u Treves, A. & Santiago-Ávila, F.J. (2020). Myths and assumptions about human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. Conserv. Biol. 34, 811–818. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13472 | Using integrated multispecies occupancy models to map co-occurrence between bottlenose dolphins and fisheries in the Gulf of Lion, French Mediterranean Sea | Valentin Lauret, Hélène Labach, Léa David, Matthieu Authier, Olivier Gimenez | <p style="text-align: justify;">In the Mediterranean Sea, interactions between marine species and human activities are prevalent. The coastal distribution of bottlenose dolphins (<em>Tursiops truncatus</em>) and the predation pressure they put on ... | ![]() | Marine ecology, Population ecology, Species distributions | Paul Caplat | 2022-10-21 11:13:36 | View | |
07 Nov 2024
![]() Using multiple datasets to account for misalignment between statistical and biological populations for abundance estimationMichelle L. Kissling, Paul M. Lukacs, Kelly Nesvacil, Scott M. Gende, Grey W. Pendleton https://doi.org/10.32942/X2W03TDiving into detection process to solve sampling and abundance issues in a cryptic speciesRecommended by Guillaume SouchayEstimating population parameters is critical for analysis and management of wildlife populations. Drawing inference at the population level requires a robust sampling scheme and information about the representativeness of the studied population (Williams et al. 2002). In their textbook, Williams et al. (see chapter 5, 2002) listed several sampling issues, including both temporal and spatial heterogeneity and especially imperfect detection. Several methods, either sampling-based or model-based can be used to circumvent these issues. In their paper, Kissling et al. (2024) addressed the case of the Kittlitz’s murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris), a cryptic ice-associated seabird, combining spatial variation in its distribution, temporal variation in breeding propensity, imperfect detection and logistical challenges to access the breeding area. The Kittlitz’s murrelet is thus the perfect species to illustrate common issues and logistical difficulties to implement a standard sampling scheme. The authors proposed a modelling framework unifying several datasets from different surveys to extract information on each step of the detection process: the spatial match between the targeted population and the sampled population, the probability of presence in the sample area, the probability of availability given presence in the sample area and finally, the probability of detection given presence and availability. All these components were part of the framework to estimate abundance and trend for this species. They took advantage of a radiotracking survey during several years to inform spatial match and probability of presence. They performed a behavioural experiment to assess the probability of availability of murrelets given it was present in sampling area, and they used a conventional distance-sampling boat survey to estimate detection of individuals. This is worth noting that the most variable components were the probability of presence in the sample area, with a global mean of 0.50, and the probability of detection given presence and availability ranging from 0.49 to 0.77. The estimated trend for Kittlitz’s murrelet was negative and all the information gathered in this study will be useful for future conservation plan. Coupling a decomposition of the detection process with different data sources was the key to solve problems raised by such “difficult” species, and the paper of Kissling et al. (2024) is a good way to follow for other species, allowing to inform the detection components for the targeted species - and also for our global understanding of detection process, and to infer about the temporal trend of species of conservation concern. References Williams, B. K., Nichols, J. D., and Conroy, M. J. (2002). Analysis and management of animal populations. Academic Press. Michelle L. Kissling, Paul M. Lukacs, Kelly Nesvacil, Scott M. Gende, Grey W. Pendleton (2024) Using multiple datasets to account for misalignment between statistical and biological populations for abundance estimation. EcoEvoRxiv, ver.3 peer-reviewed and recommended by PCI Ecology https://doi.org/10.32942/X2W03T | Using multiple datasets to account for misalignment between statistical and biological populations for abundance estimation | Michelle L. Kissling, Paul M. Lukacs, Kelly Nesvacil, Scott M. Gende, Grey W. Pendleton | <p style="text-align: justify;">A fundamental aspect of ecology is identifying and characterizing population processes. Because a complete census is rare, we almost always use sampling to make inference about the biological population, and the par... | ![]() | Euring Conference, Population ecology | Guillaume Souchay | 2023-12-28 19:59:21 | View | |
26 May 2023
Using repeatability of performance within and across contexts to validate measures of behavioral flexibilityMcCune KB, Blaisdell AP, Johnson-Ulrich Z, Lukas D, MacPherson M, Seitz BM, Sevchik A, Logan CJ https://doi.org/10.32942/X2R59KDo reversal learning methods measure behavioral flexibility?Recommended by Aurélie CoulonAssessing the reliability of the methods we use in actually measuring the intended trait should be one of our first priorities when designing a study – especially when the trait in question is not directly observable and is measured through a proxy. This is the case for cognitive traits, which are often quantified through measures of behavioral performance. Behavioral flexibility is of particular interest in the context of great environmental changes that a lot of populations have to experiment. This type of behavioral performance is often measured through reversal learning experiments (Bond 2007). In these experiments, individuals first learn a preference, for example for an object of a certain type of form or color, associated with a reward such as food. The characteristics of the rewarded object then change, and the individuals hence have to learn these new characteristics (to get the reward). The time needed by the individual to make this change in preference has been considered a measure of behavioral flexibility. Although reversal learning experiments have been widely used, their construct validity to assess behavioral flexibility has not been thoroughly tested. This was the aim of McCune and collaborators' (2023) study, through the test of the repeatability of individual performance within and across contexts of reversal learning, in the great-tailed grackle. This manuscript presents a post-study of the preregistered study* (Logan et al. 2019) that was peer-reviewed and received an In Principle Recommendation for PCI Ecology (Coulon 2019; the initial preregistration was split into 3 post-studies).
The first hypothesis was tested by measuring the repeatability of the time needed by individuals to switch color preference in a color reversal learning task (colored tubes), over serial sessions of this task. The second one was tested by measuring the time needed by individuals to switch solutions, within 3 different contexts: (1) colored tubes, (2) plastic and (3) wooden multi-access boxes involving several ways to access food. Despite limited sample sizes, the results of these experiments suggest that there is both temporal and contextual repeatability of behavioral flexibility performance of great-tailed grackles, as measured by reversal learning experiments. Those results are a first indication of the construct validity of reversal learning experiments to assess behavioral flexibility. As highlighted by McCune and collaborators, it is now necessary to assess the discriminant validity of these experiments, i.e. checking that a different performance is obtained with tasks (experiments) that are supposed to measure different cognitive abilities. Coulon, A. (2019) Can context changes improve behavioral flexibility? Towards a better understanding of species adaptability to environmental changes. Peer Community in Ecology, 100019. https://doi.org/10.24072/pci.ecology.100019 Logan, CJ, Lukas D, Bergeron L, Folsom M, & McCune, K. (2019). Is behavioral flexibility related to foraging and social behavior in a rapidly expanding species? In Principle Acceptance by PCI Ecology of the Version on 6 Aug 2019. http://corinalogan.com/Preregistrations/g_flexmanip.html McCune KB, Blaisdell AP, Johnson-Ulrich Z, Lukas D, MacPherson M, Seitz BM, Sevchik A, Logan CJ (2023) Using repeatability of performance within and across contexts to validate measures of behavioral flexibility. EcoEvoRxiv, ver. 5 peer-reviewed and recommended by Peer Community in Ecology. https://doi.org/10.32942/X2R59K | Using repeatability of performance within and across contexts to validate measures of behavioral flexibility | McCune KB, Blaisdell AP, Johnson-Ulrich Z, Lukas D, MacPherson M, Seitz BM, Sevchik A, Logan CJ | <p style="text-align: justify;">Research into animal cognitive abilities is increasing quickly and often uses methods where behavioral performance on a task is assumed to represent variation in the underlying cognitive trait. However, because thes... | Behaviour & Ethology, Evolutionary ecology, Preregistrations, Zoology | Aurélie Coulon | 2022-08-15 20:56:42 | View | ||
18 Dec 2019
Validating morphological condition indices and their relationship with reproductive success in great-tailed gracklesJennifer M. Berens, Corina J. Logan, Melissa Folsom, Luisa Bergeron, Kelsey B. McCune https://github.com/corinalogan/grackles/blob/master/Files/Preregistrations/gcondition.RmdAre condition indices positively related to each other and to fitness?: a test with gracklesRecommended by Marcos Mendez based on reviews by Javier Seoane and Isabel López-RullReproductive succes, as a surrogate of individual fitness, depends both on extrinsic and intrinsic factors [1]. Among the intrinsic factors, resource level or health are considered important potential drivers of fitness but exceedingly difficult to measure directly. Thus, a host of proxies have been suggested, known as condition indices [2]. The question arises whether all condition indices consistently measure the same "inner state" of individuals and whether all of them similarly correlate to individual fitness. In this preregistration, Berens and colleagues aim to answer this question for two common condition indices, fat score and scaled mass index (Fig. 1), using great-tailed grackles as a model system. Although this question is not new, it has not been satisfactorily solved and both reviewers found merit in the attempt to clarify this matter.  Figure 1. Hypothesized relationships between two condition indices and reproductive success. Single arrow heads indicate causal relationships; double arrow heads indicate only correlation. In a best case scenario, all relationships should be positive and linear. A problem in adressing this question with grackles is limited population, ergo sample, size and limited possibilites of recapture individuals. Some relationships can be missed due to low statistical power. Unfortunately, existing tools for power analysis fall behind complex designs and the one planned for this study. Thus, any potentially non significant relationship has to be taken cautiously. Nevertheless, even if grackles will not provide a definitive answer (they never meant to do it), this preregistration can inspire broader explorations of matches and mismatches across condition indices and species, as well as uncover non-linear relationships with reproductive success. **References** [1] Roff, D. A. (2001). Life history evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford. [2] Labocha, M. K.; Hayes, J. P. (2012). Morphometric indices of body condition in birds: a review. Journal of Ornithology 153: 1–22. doi: [10.1007/s10336-011-0706-1](https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10336-011-0706-1) | Validating morphological condition indices and their relationship with reproductive success in great-tailed grackles | Jennifer M. Berens, Corina J. Logan, Melissa Folsom, Luisa Bergeron, Kelsey B. McCune | Morphological variation among individuals has the potential to influence multiple life history characteristics such as dispersal, migration, reproductive fitness, and survival (Wilder, Raubenheimer, and Simpson (2016)). Theoretically, individuals ... | Behaviour & Ethology, Conservation biology, Demography, Morphometrics, Preregistrations, Zoology | Marcos Mendez | 2019-08-05 20:05:56 | View |
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